Peninsular War Game Revisited

John and I made another trip to the Durham Wargames Group last night to finish the Peninsular game we left 'hangin' last week. Cutting right to the chase, here are the photos of how the game concluded.

Conrad's right wing was faltering but managed to rally when it was time to take the faltering test.  It was still worn out as a fighting force but was doggedly hanging on and slowing the French assault that was suffering heavy losses. 

John's brigade in the village was also taking a battering but was still hanging on to the village grimly.  One assault had already been beaten off, 

The 42nd Foot crest the brow of the hill as my left wing advanced very slowly and hesitantly towards the French.

The French skirmishers had been driven off or destroyed. Had I not been hesitant  I might have been able to catch the French in square.  

The King's Dragoon Guards had niftily sidestepped the French squares and valiantly charged the French artillery. Despite heavy casualties the cavalry made it to the guns and overran them. 

After the KDGs had ridden over the first battery I threw 21" for the 'charge on!" so they hit the battery behind  and destroyed that one as well!

The French centre was meanwhile inching slowly towards the slightly unsteady British line.

Another assault on the village by the French went to a second round so the English were able to reinforce the melee, throwing the French back in confusion.

Meanwhile the KDG had completed the remaining 19" of the 'Charge on!" move and hit  a French  column. 

The KDG broke the French thus to all intents and purposed ending the game.

So, it was a British victory, which is always good. We got a few things wrong in the rules, but we're getting better as we gain experience and overall GdA produced a great game played by gentlemen who played with great integrity, eschewing any ideas of 'wargamery' moves even at a cost to their own troops.

Man of the match has to go to the King's Dragoon Guards. They survived a 'faltering' test early in the battle and then saw off an entire brigade of French cavalry without even crossing sabres (see last week's report), rode over and destroyed two batteries of cannon and broke a French infantry battalion, making the brigade in the French centre falter, as was their left brigade attacking the village. It was all made even more fun by using Shaun's wonderful and gorgeous collection of figures.

I really do like GdA especially as we now have a far greater understanding of the mechanics, which are actually dead simple, certainly as simple as BP in my opinion.

Big game here at The Burrow on Saturday. My French Revolutionary Wars Flanders 1793 Campaign is also ready to kick off, of which more in another post.

Monthly progress January 2020

A new year and the same old lead mountain, plus or minus the couple of thousand figures that passed through during the course of last year, or emerged from the darkness after a furlough of several years in the case of the Sikh Wars stuff.

January has been quiet by my standards due to health and other commitments but I've done my best to keep going as I've found that my painting mojo is still there, 'mojoing' quite happily about.

Painted and based wholly by me:

3 Btns Austrian Grenadiers, French Revolutionary Wars (FRW)  - 72 figures
1 battery Bavarian artillery, FRW - 12 figures and 3 cannon
Anglo-Hanoverian ADCs, FRW - 4
1 battery Hanoverian artillery, FRW - 12 figures and 3 cannon
1 Regt Piedmontese Cavalry FRW - 12 figures
1 battery French Emigre artillery - 15 figures and 3 cannnon

Painted by somebody else, based etc. by me:
1 btn plus skirmishers and gunners, Polish Legion, FRW - 40 figures (Rob)
4 btns Dutch infantry, FRW - 96 figures (Barry)
1 regt Austrian Hussars, FRW - 24 figures (Barry)
1 regt Austrian Dragoons, FRW - 24 figures (Barry)
1 regt French Chasseurs a Cheval, FRW - 24 figures (Barry)


I seem to have quite a few (half a dozen) units on the go in various stages of completion, so I hope that these will be done by the end the month.

Games: 3

Not a bad month.

"A Grand Day Out....but no Cheese" York 2020

Yesterday, John yet again very kindly piloted the drop ship on our annual trip to Vapnatark in York. We arrived very early but thanks to John's blagging and me looking all pitiful we were allowed in before 9.30 and went straight for a coffee. York is the first big show of the year in the North and while it never really changes its great to emerge from hibernation and see whats on offering to see who's around and can't walk fast enough to escape me in my trundlulator in stealth mode.

The positives:

• I met up with dozens of friends and acquaintances (as one does at these things, although I didn't get to speak to a couple of mates I was on the lookout frond didn't spot) and got to wear myself out talking 'sodjers'. In fact that was by far the best bit and made the day worthwhile;
• A couple of nice games were in evidence (more on this later). There were a couple I didn't get to see as they were upstairs somewhere;
• Loads of trade, many of whom were only too happy to exchange goods for my cash. Thankfully, I was very restrained and mainly stocked up on consumables rather than figures, apart from some (three US and six Canadian militia btns) War of 1812 stuff which rounds off the figures needed for that collection;
• The York Wargames Club members were very helpful, i.e. letting us in early and pointing me in the direction of one trader in particular I wanted to speak to but couldn't find as they'd not got any signage. I never did speak to them in the end;
• Everybody was friendly and courteous when I was trying to navigate myself around the show;
• There were no fire alarms this year.

Here are some pictures of a couple of the games. These are the best off my phone and were not the only games (Lance and Longbow's Tannenberg and Grimsby's WW2 Russian to name but two):

Steve Langan and friends with the Incident at Fiume; the background to the game can be found here

A very large warship offshore at Fiume.

Dan from WI circling the tables.

Raid on Entebe. This looked great, especially all the 1/72 scale C130's that I failed to photograph!

Dark Age game. Deja-Vu hit me here as the terrain and town/habour remind me of the ECW game put on last year, but with different figures. 

As for the negatives, or areas for improvement, here we go.....

• There was the usual distinct lack of games. I only saw four or five demo games (there were more), run in the main by the same clubs as usual. That is fine as most of them were pretty good, but its less fine if one were to consider that there are more people willing and able to put on comparably visual games who don't get a look in as it seems to be a bit of a closed shop. (Not that I would wish to offer my services). I know a fair bit of space was taken up by competition games on a higher floor but they're not exactly the sort of game thats oozing eye candy (my opinion of course);
• The venue soon became very warm and in a Greta Thunberg moment when I was manoeuvring around the crowds wondered what the carbon footprint of a typical UK wargames event was and how many years/months/weeks each event brought us closer to planetary disaster;
• This is a big one for me and one I would like to pursue further. The venue has a lift for those of us like me who find stairs difficult/impossible which is excellent and as one would expect. YET AGAIN ON ONE FLOOR I HAD TO FIGHT MY WAY THROUGH (ACTUALLY BETWEEN THE DISPLAY RACKS) A TRADE STAND TO USE SAID LIFT. NOT GOOD!

Would I go again? Of course. It was a grand day out and a fine show. But no cheese eh Gromit?

Finally a very big thanks to John for the lift which was much appreciated.

UPDATE. I MESSAGED YORK WARGAMES SOCIETY RE THE 
IFT ACCESS ISSUE AND SOMEONE GOT BACK TO ME RIGHT AWAY RECOGNISING THE PROBLEM AND COMMITTING TO TRY AND JIGGLE THINGS AROUND TO CLEAR THE ACCESS TO THE LIFT.  

A Trip to the Club. Peninsular War with General d’Armee

John and I parachuted into a Napoleonic Peninsular War game at the Durham Wargames Group last night as two of the British commanders were unable to be there. The British were hard pressed, with their right wing under assault by half the French army, and their left had suffered a reverse when a regiment of KGL Light Dragoons were driven off the table. Conrad was already in command of the right so John had the centre and I took the left. Shaun and Nigel were the French. The gorgeously painted figures are all from Shaun's collection.

British heavy dragoons on the left flank.

The British centre is deployed behind the ridgeline, with the exception of skirmishers and a battery of artillery.

The French had captured half of the village but were now massing for a major assault against the battered British right. 

John's brigade in the centre makes a move forward to break the deadlock. Our artillery withdrew out of sight as it had been acting as a cannonball magnet for most of the game and was on the brink of dispersing.

The French hussars (right at the back in blue) had declared a charge on my troop of RHA just out of shot. My heavy dragoons launched an opportunity charge so both groups of cavalry thundered towards each other. In the charge resolution phase I threw an 11 and Neil, even with a re-roll, managed a 6 or 7. When the other factors were included there was a seven point difference and the French routed before we got to cross sabres. Their supports had to retreat and ran out of table. The British cavalry then had to charge on and hit a regiment of  chasseurs. We both managed to repeat our extreme dice rolls so again the French fled. Victory and strike one French cavalry brigade. Neil hastily formed some of central infantry into squares.

Conrads troops held off several French attacks, causing heavy casualties, but in the end one battalion routed, leaving a massive hole in the line.

There was little the British could do on the right as the centre and left wings were by now advancing  towards the French. 

We had to stop then as it was time almost 10pm but the game will continue next week.  It’s good to see GdA being given a run out at the Club. They’re certainly now the go to set of rules of choice for my French Revolutionary Wars games instead of Black Powder. I would probably still use the latter in one of my big multi-player FRW games where players were unfamiliar with GdA as BP are maybe easier to get into. GdA require a great deal more cerebral activity (in a good way) to get the most of the game, especially given the many nuances of the ADC command tasking.

York on Sunday, which I’m looking forward to. 

Novi part 2: a postscript

Once the dust had settled on Saturday's game I thought it might be interesting to play a few more turns solo before clearing away the troops.

The Russian Cossacks charged the flank of a battery of French horse artillery. The artillery passed their test and were able to limber up and evade.

The French gunners making a tactical redeployment  (fleeing from the Cossacks).

Mike's division in the centre had  been taking a battering from enemy artillery in the shape of two batteries of 12pdrs, one of which was a Russian large battery. This round of firing tipped the balance and saw one battalion disperse, making the brigade faltering. 

I noticed thus battery of French cannon on the rear deployment area. Surely the French hadn't forgotten about it and left it off the table? Seems so.

The Russian grenadiers advanced towards the now faltering French centre, as did the remains of Neil's brigade in order to cover the grenadiers flank. Consequently they weren't bothered by the French cavalry to their front. Brave men. Indeed, the French cavalry did charge but were unable to close and were driven back.

The Austrian grenadiers had been repulsed once but would soon be ready to have another go.

Another shot of the Russian grenadiers.

In the following turn the Austrian/Russian army won the initiative. The Austrian grenadiers charged again, as did the regiment to their flank. This time the grenadiers made it to contact but the line battalion was driven back.

Winning the initiative meant the Cossacks could charge the limbered up French horse artillery, which failed to escape and was overrun and destroyed.

The Austrian grenadiers defeated the French line, forcing them to retreat. This was not good news as the. Brigade was now faltering due to losses elsewhere.

Both the Austrian and Russian heavy batteries targeted Johns battery, taking it over the point at which they would disperse. The gunners fled, abandoning their cannon. 

The French are in real trouble as their centre is collapsing.

I quickly rolled for the two French faltering brigades. The one that had been to the left of Novi had been forced to retreat off the table and was lost. The one in and to the right of Novi threw a 1 in its Faltering test and so it was every man for himself! They too disappeared off the table!

It is always interesting how just a couple more turns can have such a difference on the outcome, as we now had a resounding Coalition victory.

Great stuff and now to put everything away.

Not Quite the Battle of Novi, 15 August 1799

The Battle of Novi, by Alexander Kotzebue

On Saturday I hosted another large French Revolutionary Wars game, this time set in Northern Italy in 1799. It was based on the Battle of Novi, a major French defeat at the hands of the great Field Marshall Alexander Suvorov, which saw them almost expelled from Italy. The actual battle was a massive sprawling and bloody affair, so the game was heavily bath-tubbed and as a result only bore a passing resemblance to the real thing, but that doesn't bother me really for a game at home. A full account of the actual battle can be found here. It’s been ages since my 1799 Russians have been on the table so that was as good a reason as any for the game, pitching an Austrian-Russian  army under Suvorov against  French force under General Barthelemy Catherine Joubert.

Field Marshall Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov 

General Barthelemey Catherine Joubert

I also wanted to introduce a different army, the Russians, into our General d’Armee learning process. The key to success in GdA, apart from throwing the right scores on dice, is the ADC tasking phase. Understanding what can or can’t be done under each of the ‘taskings’ is critical and intuitive, and creates plenty of fascinating/annoying challenges. Anyway, on to the game.

The Battle of Novi, with the French at the bottom holding the heights and the  walled town of Novi.

John the Red and Mike were the French, while Paul, Conrad and Neil took the Coalition forces, under Paul’s command as Suvorov. I umpired (no mean feat given I’m only a step or two ahead of the others in learning the rules), so in the time honoured manner I will attempt to get the following photos to describe the course of events as the game unfolded.

Something is attracting some serious attention down the table. l to r John, Mike, Neil, Paul,  Conrad . The French had three 'Divisions' plus two cavalry brigades. The cavalry were all deployed on the left with the exception of the Polish Legion uhlans. The Polish and Ligurian Legions held the right while the other two divisions massed largely in the centre. The Russians were deployed on the right half of their baseline, the Austrians on the left and massed reserve artillery in the centre. A brigade of Austrian cavalry was on each wing.

Austrian uhlans on their left flank.

The town of Novi, garrisoned by a demi-brigade of French. Novi was a walled town.

Conrad's infantry brigade advancing on the Coalition left, preceded by a screen of Grenz skirmishers.

The Grenz can be heard shouting "sheep! sheep!" as they neared the enemy.

On the other flank the cavalry of each side was itching for a fight.

Two regiments of French chasseurs a cheval crash into Austrian hussars and cheveau-leger forcing both enemy units and their supports back in retreat.  

French horse artillery supporting the advance of Mike's heavy cavalry in the centre.

One unit of Mike's chasseurs take heavy casualties, canistered in the flank by Austrian horse artillery, but the other charged the rallying Austrian hussars (they had just passed a faltering test), forcing them to retreat off the table. The Austrian cavalry were done for on this flank, although the French were carrying a great many casualties.

Conrad played a 'forwards' order and his brigade advanced rapidly. Being Austrians they spent the next turn pulling back from their slightly exposed position.

In the centre the Austrian grenadiers had been left off the table, not by design but  by accident, but soon appeared and snaked towards Novi very slowly as the brigade kept failing activation rolls. Conrad's Austrians and the combined Polish and Ligurian Legions were locked in a fierce firefight, but the Austrians seemed content to hold their ground.

Neil ordered his six battalions of Russian line infantry to advance. They took heavy casualties from French artillery on the heights outside Novi.

Mike moved his heavy cavalry forward and the Russians formed square. Mike then ordered the brigade to charge. The first regiment drove the enemy skirmishers off then the two remaining regiments each attacked a Russian square. Predictably, especially given the poor dice throws from the French, they bounced and pulled back to safety.

Mike then ordered his battered chasseurs to charge the Austrian artillery that had been peppering them with canister. In another predicable outcome the French recoiled, by now only one hit away from dispersing! 

Austrian dragoons advanced behind their Grenz then charged the French skirmish screen, driving them off. 

Polish legion in the village.

The Russian infantry in the centred to pull back due to the French superiority in cavalry in this sector.

Cossacks!

Conrad's Austrians advance on the French skirmish screen, forcing them back.

Paul ordered his grenadiers to charge the French line outside Novi. They took something like  eight casualties as they attempted to close and were driven back. The French were well supported so John was able to re-roll twice during the melee contact phase. Just as well as he first threw snake eyes before getting the reroll! The Austrians didn't have enough support, hadn't really prepared the way with artillery fire,  and the `French were fresh so the attack didn't work this time. A lesson learnt.

The Russian grenadiers, all four battalions, made a very late advance across the table. They would have gone through the battered and shattered French to their front like a knife through butter had they been able to close. The French were all graded as recruits, six battalions of them.

So that was it. The French had won a tactical victory but had failed in their objective of weakening the Coalition forces sufficiently to enable them to escape the noose that had been closing around them. The Coalition forces had prevented the French escape but the latter were still very much a force to contend with. I know how I would have played it, but its easy to say that in hindsight, so shall keep my own counsel.

It was a great game and everyone expressed their enjoyment, which is always good.  The rules also got largely positive feedback, which is also good as I intend to use them as my rules of choice for the FRW until/unless something better comes along. There are some things we/I still got wrong but we are on a learning curve of ill-defined and flexible curviness so onwards and upwards till the next time.

Vapnatark in York next Sunday, which is always a good show and a good day out where I will no doubt buy more stuff I didn't know I needed and talk soldiers all day.