Return to the Seven Years War

My old friend Paul came up the other day for a game. We both used to be in the Durham club many many years ago and then we set up the Durham Old Boys with John Ingleby for a couple of years putting on games at shows in the late 80's and early 90's but I don't think we'd played a wargame together for maybe 20 or so years! Paul was always keen on the SYW so I dug out my 28mm Russians and Prussians, gave them a good dusting off and set up a game.

The forces were as follows:

Russians:
Brigade of cavalry with 2 regts each of Cuirassiers and Horse Grenadiers
Brigade of cavalry with 2 regts of Cuirassiers and 1 of Dragoons
Two brigades of infantry each with 4 btns of infantry
One brigade of infantry with 4 btns of grenadiers

They also had 3 heavy guns, 2 units of hussars and a unit of Cossacks.

Prussians:
Brigade of cavalry with 4 regts of Cuirassiers
Brigade of cavalry with 1 regt of Cuirassiers and 2 of Dragoons
Brigade of infantry with 1 btn each of Guard, grenadiers and line
Brigade of infantry with 2 btns fusiliers and 1 of line
Brigade of infantry with 2 btns of line and 1 of Freikorps

2 heavy guns and 2 units of hussars.

My infantry are organised in 36 figure battalions and the cavalry in 24's or 36's so we kept the infantry as they were but the cavalry were fielded as 'squadrons' of 12 figures. We used Black Powder with the amendments and unit specifications from LAoK. This made the Prussians quite (potentially) deadly in terms of firing and getting around the table and while the Russians might suffer from poor command they were very tough and hard to kill. Russian cavalry were poorly mounted in the SYW so they were weaker than their Prussian opponents.

(Above and below: Russian left flank cavalry)

The scenario was simple. Three objectives: the bridge, the crossroads and of course stuff the enemy! The only terrain features that would impact on movement or visibility were the hills, woods and the river. All other items were there for esoteric and visual reasons only.  We diced for sides and Paul got the Russians. He deployed his weaker cavalry brigade and his Cossacks and hussars on his left flank. The artillery were brigaded on the hill in the centre. The grenadier infantry brigade was on the left centre with another infantry brigade on their right. The second cavalry brigade (the strong one) was deployed on the right of centre while the final infantry brigade was over the river on the right. I deployed my Cuirassiers brigade on my right with two infantry brigades and the artillery in the centre. One of these was the stronger one containing the Guards and a unit of grenadiers and the other clouded a Friekorps battalion. I deployed my remaining forces, one brigade each of infantry and cavalry plus the hussars on the left.

(Above and below: the struggle in the centre around the windmill)

The game turned out to be a very bloody and hard fought slog. The Russians enjoyed some early success on my right with their cavalry but in the end my Cuirassiers were able to grind their Russian counterparts down, although this was slowed down by some pretty poor saving rolls on my part and some amazing ones from Paul.  Paul had to throw in his hussars and Cossacks in order to slow my advance down and threaten the flank of my infantry in the centre, which did work well for a little while but in the end they were driven off.

In the centre my infantry, despite a blunder or two on the way, made straight for the Russian centre. We engaged in a serious firefight, which was to my advantage. In the end Paul reckoned that cold steel would be a better option given the Prussian superior firepower (potential) and charged his infantry into contact. We then enjoyed (?) several turns of furious hand-to-hand combat. The Russians were on the verge of winning these thanks to being stubborn which gave them a re-roll on one failed morale test every turn. Thankfully I survived some potentially battle loosing break tests and held on despite having several shaken units. Eventually some of the Russians began to falter, withdraw or break. Black Powder can be pretty bloody and unforgiving if poor dice are rolled, and this is what happened to Paul with a couple of his units in the centre. Sadly in the last move my tough brigade containing the Guards and grenadiers became shaken and would have been forced to withdraw.

Meanwhile, on my left the cavalry clashed with the Russians who gained the upper hand to start with. I had rather foolishly exposed the flank of my infantry facing the Russians across the river but thankfully the Russians were either fully engaged or the brigade was classed as spent and prevented from offensive action. One of my hussar units blundered and absented themselves from the table for several moves (I forgot to try and get them back so that was my fault!). Paul sent his surviving Hussars from the opposite flank to try snd plug the gap but they were beaten by my recently returned hussars. The cavalry fight ended up with both the Prussian and Russian brigades becoming 'spent' due to the number of broken and shaken units which effectively removed both from the battle.

My infantry made it to the river and crossed it, engaging in a firefight with the Russian infantry, which had been slow to get into action due to some low command rolls. Neither side was going to get anywhere as the superior Prussian firepower (I gave them the platoon fire rule gaining an extra dice for firing) was more than balanced by the stubborn Russian infantry.

 

  

 

 

 

 

By the end of the game the two Russian cavalry brigades were spent (broken), as were one of mine plus an infantry brigade, so although a couple of other brigades on each side were close to being broken we declared it a bloody draw, which is a fairly historical outcome for Prussian v Russians in the SYW. Paul had never played BP before so i hope he liked the rules, and I as usual forgot a few important bits and pieces, but without any detrimental effect on the game.

The Battle of Fort Reidevich, Crimean War battle report, Black Powder

Saturday saw another outing for my Crimean collection. Rob and John (Reidy) together with John (McCann) from the Durham club joined me for a game using Black Powder. John R and I ended up being the Russians while Rob and John M took the combined British, French and Turkish army.

The scenario was set shortly after Balaklava, therefore there were no British light cavalry (although I do have them and they had an impressive debut during the last Crimean game). Basically the Russians had constructed Fort Reidevich across the Tractir river and a little to the east of the scene of the Light Brigade's 15 minutes of fame several days earlier. They had to hold the earthwork and control the bridge. The Allies had to cross the river and take the earthwork. The river was deemed to be wide but shallow so movement was reduced to half when in it. Forces were as follows:

Allies:
Heavy cavalry brigade of 5 small units of British heavy dragoons with attached horse artillery
Guards brigade - 3 btns plus a battery of field artillery
Highland brigade - 3 btns plus a battery of field artillery
The 'Light' Division made up of two brigades, each of 3 btns of line infantry, half a btn of rifles and a battery of artillery
French brigade of 4 btns of infantry
Turkish brigade of 4 small btns of infantry

The British CinC (Raglan) was rated at 6, the cavalry and Turkish commanders were 7s, the French and the Highland brigade were rated 9 and the rest were 8s.

Russians:
2 Regts of Cossacks acting independently with attached horse battery
Hussar brigade of 2 regiments and a horse artillery battery
Uhlan brigade of 2 regiments and a horse artillery battery
Four brigades (actually regiments) each of 4 btns plus a large battery of artillery represented by two guns models each as Russian artillery batteries had 12 guns!
Two of the brigades had half a btn of riflemen attached.
The fort was garrisoned by a very large smooth bore cannon!

Russian cavalry commanders were rated 7 and everyone else was rated 8.

 (The leading Allied troops advance in the centre: l to r British, Turks, The Highlanders and French)

(Russian infantry in the centre make for the bridge, behind them the Reidevski redoubt and Hussars and Cossacks in the far distance)

(French infantry reach the bridge)

(Close up of the Russian cavalry on the right flank)

(On the Russian left, Cossacks are pinned mid-river while the 6th Uhlan Brigade finds itself with nowhere to go once across the river)

(The distinctive Russian Moscow infantry regiment advancing towards the bridge supported by their attached artillery)

(The Reidevski Redoubt)

(The heros of the day make an appearance: The Turks!)

(The Russian left with the Cossacks still stuck in the river!))

(Allied right flank, the severely battered English hanging on in the face of Russian cavalry on their flank and massed artillery to their front)

(Highlanders and Guards advance)

(Zouaves storming across the bridge)

(The Turks crossing the river just before they beat off a Russian counter attack)

(The Guards across the river about to assault the redoubt)

(Picture found on the body of a dead British staff officer)

The battle was long and bloody, punctuated by some heroic (and less than heroic) actions. On the Allied left the heavy cavalry failed, with one exception, to get across the river, as they steadfastly refused to become engaged. One Russian hussar regiment was seen off but apart from that very little happened apart from artillery exchanging fire throughout the day.

Around the bridge and redoubt, the French were quick to storm across the bridge. They defeated one Russian battalion but were broken by another. In fact three out of four French battalions were broken in and around the village and bridge area. The Highland brigade did manage to get into action despite some dreadful command scores and a blunder, but were held up and then forced back by heavy artillery fire and a counter attack by several Russian battalions. The Guards fared little better as they suffered heavily in crossing the river and their assault on the redoubt. They overwhelmed the gunners but were then ejected by two Russian battalions.

In the centre it was very different. The Russian artillery had blundered in move 1 and ended up right on the riverbank limbered up in full view of the English artillery and a battalion of infantry. Half the battery remained disordered and limbered up for the entire game! The Turkish brigade advanced steadily across the river, exchanging shots with Russian riflemen until they were able to drive them off. Two Russian battalions then charged the Turks but after two rounds of melee were destroyed or driven off. On the Russian left their Uhlans managed to ride over one English battalion which failed to form square properly but otherwise the arrival of further English reinforcements prevented any more aggressive moves by the Russian cavalry, although the infantry on this flank did make a belated and unnecessary advance into the middle of the river.

We called it a day at that point. Neither army was broken, although the Allies were perilously close having got three spent brigades. The valiant Turks were almost, but not quite, a spent force. Nevertheless, the Allies had failed in gaining their objectives and the Russians still held the redoubt.

I think everyone enjoyed the game. With hindsight I might have made the Russians a little too tough and hard to kill, but I was expecting the British and French Minee rifle-armed troops to shoot up the densely packed Russian columns. Next time perhaps.....

Gypseys

Down at the bottom of my drawer of doom I came across this little bunch of figures, a band of gypsies together with their caravan. I have checked and I think they are West Wind figures from their Vampire Wars range but from what I can see on their website the caravan is no longer available, which is a shame. Why did I buy them many years ago? What project was on my mind at the time? No idea. Anyway, these came as a pleasant diversion to painting and basing up yet more troops for my Crimean and 1866 projects, and  actually, I am already formulating an evil plan to weave the gypsies into one or more scenarios somehow. Hehehehehehehehe! Actually, they could feasibly be present during quite a few of the periods I have collections for as well as the two just mentioned, such as the Thirty Years War, First Carlist War and the SYW.

Colonel W.E.Wynn, Stan and Ollie and stuff....

I've been researching my family tree for many years, picking up where my late dad and Uncle John left off in the 1980's and 90's. So far our combined efforts have got us back as far as the first half of the 17th century, but the family also spread out across the world around my great grandfather's generation, to Canada, the USA and Australia, which makes a pleasant change to Durham via Chortlon cum Medlock and prior to that North Nottinghamshire.

Anyway, my partner's mum has also been researching her family tree. Far more interesting.  Her father was Colonel Wynn E Wynn. He had a very interesting and exciting career. In WW1 he served, among other places, in East Africa, chasing down the Germans under von Lettow Vorbeck. He published a book about the campaign which I have been lucky enough to be lent and am about to start reading....very carefully as it's a bit fragile.

I might come back to some of his other wartime adventures but for me the most interesting element of his career was when he worked in Hollywood in the 1930's and is credited as a military adviser on such films as the Oscar winning 'Lives of a Bengal Lancer', and best of all, one of my favorites, 'Bonnie Scotland' starring Laurel and Hardy, where they were serving in  a Scots regiment on the NW Frontier.