Forcing the Boinksyka River: Crimean War in 28mm, sort of.......

I've been keen to get my Crimean collection on the table again for a while so when Conrad asked to come up for a game I thought it'd be a perfect opportunity, knowing how much he likes gaming 19thC conflicts.

Now as we all know, the Crimean War (or at least the bit actually in the Crimea) is lacking in large numbers of battles to refight, but does that matter when you consider the command and control problems to be faced by all the armies involved, the effect of new(er) technologies on old tactics (e.g. Minee rifles vs assault column) and the glorious uniforms (ok, except for the Russians and Turks)? Of course not!

Anyway, I recently rediscovered my copy of  "Scenarios for All Ages" by Charles S Grant and Stuart Asquith. One of the scenarios sets the scene for an assault across a river while a flanking attack goes in further upstream. The attackers are restricted by limited crossing points and don't have a significant numerical superiority. The scenario is of course loosely based on the crossing of the Boyne, which in this game has been transported several hundred miles to the east and 165 years into the future.

Russians: CinC 7
Main Force.....
Infantry brigade: 4 infantry battalions (Command 6)
Infantry brigade: 4 infantry battalions (Command 8)
Cavalry brigade: 2 uhlan regiments (Command 7)
Cossack brigade: 2 cossack regiments (Marauders)
Rifle detachment: 1 small unit of riflemen (Command off CinC)
Artillery brigade: 2 heavy artillery batteries, 4 gun models (Command 7)

Flanking force:
Infantry brigade: 4 infantry battalions (command 6)
Cavalry brigade: 2 hussar regiments (command 8)
Artillery brigade: 2 medium artillery batteries, 4 gun models (Command 7)

Allied Force: CinC 6
Main Force:
Infantry brigade: 3 Foot guards battalions (Command  9)
Infantry brigade: 3 line infantry battalions (Command 7)
Cavalry brigade: 5 small regiments heavy cavalry (Command 8)
2 batteries foot artillery

Flank Force:
Infantry brigade: 3 line infantry battalions (Command 7)
Turkish brigade: 4 small infantry battalions, 1 regiment attached French cavalry, 1 light battery (Command 7)

Reinforcements (Random arrival anytime after our lunch break)
Infantry brigade: 3 highland battalions (Command 8)

Infantry battalions were all 24 figures strong. The Russian rifle detachment was represented by a small unit of 12 skirmishers. The British cavalry were represented by small units/squadrons of 6 figures. The Russian and Turkish cavalry units were all 12 figures. Allied artillery were represented by a single gun model and crew. My Turkish cavalry were finished and ready for the table but as I'd not blunted the lances, for health and safety reasons they were substituted by a regiment of less hazardous French Chasseurs d'Afrique! The Russian artillery establishment of the time was for 12-gun batteries. An infantry division had four of these batteries attached! I represented these by 2 gun models and crews, effectively a 'double' battery. However, while they had the advantage of twice as many 'shots' per  turn they weren't allowed to split their fire and as they are clearly a 'large' unit their stamina was set at '4' for the pair of guns in a 'heavy' battery and '3' for medium and horse batteries. Morale saves were 4+. My thinking behind this was that that the bigger Russian batteries should be pretty dangerous but hampered by poor command and control they may not be the dominant feature on the table given that they could be outshot at longer ranges by Minee-armed British troops.

The river was fordable around the whole curve of the big bend but at reduced speed. It was possibly crossable on a score of 5 or 6 on 1D6 for each section, except at the bridge where it was too deep, crossing only being possible in march column across a very long bridge. The marsh slowed movement and the cultivated areas blocked line of sight. The main village with the church was class '3' i.e. very tough. The other village was a '2'.

We threw for sides and randomised the command levels. Conrad got the Allies. I have yet to play in command of the Allied troops but was ok about that as I have become quite used to how to handle the Russians.....a least in theory.

The Russians began off table. Most of their army appeared in turn 1, but very slowly. Conspicuous by their tardiness were the ALL artillery and half of the flanking force. Hey ho!

 (Above, the Russians, or some of them at least, begin their advance while below HM 23rd Foot and the Royal Artillery prepare to defend the village of Staryymoct).

 (Above, the Russian left crest the hill to the front of the British while below the Brigade of Guards and the Heavy Brigade wait in reserve).

 (Above, Russian Orthodox priests. I give the Russians a re-roll on a break test if they're within 12" of this group. Below, the Russian right).

 (Above, its those Gypseys again! Below, the Turks redeploying from the Allied left to fill the large gap in the centre. Behind are the Chasseurs d'Afrique masquerading as Turkish cavalry)

 (Above, the dung heap of despair is passed to the Russian right flank commander after he threw a double six. Below, the intrepid Russians launch their first assault across the river).

 (Above, the far right flank. Russian guns finally in position to give the Turks a good battering, and the remains of the 6th Uhlan Brigade after its ill-fated attack across the river. In the far distance the Moscow Regiment lining up to cross the bridge).

 (Above, better later than never the Highland Brigade advance onto the table as below, the Russian assault is above to overcome the gallant defenders of the village).

 (Above, the lead battalion of the Moscow Regiment takes a volley from HM 7th Foot while below, the Guards move into action).

 (Above, The Russians close with the British over the river while below the 6th Hussar Brigade fails to find any crossings further upriver).

 (Above, more Russians begin to cross the river while below, the yawning gap in the centre of the Allied line is evident).

 (Above, Russians backed up nose to tail on a very narrow and long bridge while below the Lord Raglan looks on as the Guards prepare to counter attack and assault the village). 

As can be seen from the photos, the Russians were successful in taking the village by the river crossing. What can't be seen is their failure in the centre when the Uhlans charged across the river but fell sort of their target before being hit in the flank by two squadrons from the Heavy brigade. One Uhlan regiment was destroyed and the other was forced to withdraw but only after breaking one of the British heavy cavalry squadrons. The Turks were eventually forced to retire rather than face a rather one-sided duel when the Russian artillery deployed to their front. 

On the right flank the Russians were dogged by blunders and poor command, meaning that they never really got up enough steam (for their steamroller?) to mount a coordinated attack over the bridge. The Hussars were similarly unable to get into action or find a way to cross the river. The didn't stop them from being hit quite hard by long-range Minee fire.

Around the village the Russians made hard work of throwing the British out but in the end the garrison were thrown out and broken. Immediately Conrad counter attacked with the Guards but they were unable to break in.

At the close of play neither side had achieved their objectives in full, nor had sufficient brigades been broken for one side to claim a victory. It was a tough battle as the Russians were rightly struggled to get anything resembling a coordinated attack together anywhere but the British and Turks had to be very wary of the Russian artillery. Overall I believe Black Powder worked well. The Russians were hard to hurt, but it was clearly quite possible to damage them from afar with long-range rifle fire. The Turks did quite well and as usual the cavalry looked very pretty but didn't do much after the first inconclusive scuffle. A great and very enjoyable game. Thanks to Conrad for coming. 

War is no picnic!

I couldn't resist this after a comment Clive made about this North Star 1866 casualty figure. My Brunswicker is now relaxing with a bottle of bubbly and a nice big pie!

Another Tabletop Teaser: Reserve Demolition - Franco-Prussian War

Over 20 years ago when I had a proper job I worked in the same company as a chap called Clive. Neither of us knew the other was a war-game player or collector, but recently through the magic of the war-games blogosphere we 'bumped' into each other again. Anyway, to cut a long story short I invited Clive up for a game this week. As I'm currently in the mood to try out as many of the scenarios in Charles S Grant's Tabletop Teaser book I thought I'd set another one up. I'd originally planned to set it in the Crimea but at the last minute, due largely to having finally got enough French completed (but also because I couldn't find the box with the British in under my table), I decided to move it 16 years into the future and to a sunny Alsace during the early days of the Franco-Prussian War.

In this version of the classic scenario, the French were tasked with denying the bridge to the Prussians long enough to prepare it for demolition, withdraw across the river into Metzburg or Sedatz or some other fictitious (or not) fortress city where they could be bottled up and surrender ignominiously, and then blow the bridge.

The forces available were as follows.

French: CinC command 8 

On the south, i.e. wrong side of the river.....
Infantry brigade of 4 battalions, 1 gun and 1 mitrailleuse (command 8)
Infantry brigade of 5 battalions, 1 gun and 1 mitraileuse (command 9)
Reserve Cavalry division of 4 regiments (yes 4!) of cuirassiers and 1 horse battery (command 7)

On t'other side:
Infantry brigade of 4 battalions (including 2 of Guard) and a gun (command 8)
Light cavalry brigade of 1 regiment of Chasseurs d'Afrique, 2 of Chasseurs and a gun (command 7)
1 heavy gun (in the fortress)

The command levels were decided randomly so its a shame that the French cavalry ended up with poor commanders for both brigades, which was to prove decisive in the the game.

Prussians: CinC command 9 
Prussian infantry brigade of 6 battalions and 2 guns (Command 9)
Bavarian infantry brigade of 5 battalions and 2 guns (Command 7)
Prussian infantry brigade of 5 battalions and 2 guns (Command 8)
Prussian cavalry brigade of 1 regiment each of Hussars and Cuirassiers (command 8)
Bavarian cavalry brigade of 2 regiments of Cuirassiers and 1 horse gun (command 7)

The French had to hold the Prussians off long enough for their engineers to prepare the bridge for demolition. Once ready, they would have to wait for the order to set the fuses and blow the charges, at which point it'd be a race against time to get as many troops across the river before the bridge vanished in a cloud of dust and debris. The Prussian objective was to seize the bridge before the French could blow it or to prevent too many French from escaping by keeping them from making an organised withdrawal. All these points in time were dictated by the alarm on my phone and a few dice rolls. Tense stuff eh?

We threw for sides and Clive got the French. There were three roads onto the table that the Prussians could enter on. Two were on the short edge furthest from the bridge, the other was close to the top corner and much nearer to the bridge. Where and when (and which brigade) the Prussians would enter was to be decided for randomly.

 (Above, French dispositions on the south bank defending the bridge, while below, a close up of the Cuirassiers of the Reserve Cavalry division. Prussian entry points were off the top right hand/south east corner and from the north or south west, about six feet below the bottom of this picture)

The first couple of moves saw the Prussian cavalry and a brigade of infantry enter on the north western entry point while a brigade of Bavarian cuirassiers entered on the south western road. The French countered by moving their reserve cavalry division up past the village, which was put into a state of defence by a battalion of infantry. The remainder of the French deployed behind the village in case the Prussians made an entry from the south east, and on the ridge line and orchard west of the village.

 (Above, the French deploying to defend the village. Below, heavy artillery on one of the fortress's outer works covering the bridge)  

The Bavarian cuirassiers crossed the river by the bridge, formed up and charged the lead unit of French cuirassiers. The slightly smaller 'Irregular miniatures' figures struggled against the much more chunky 'Hero's of the Dark Age' models (no, seriously, the Bavarians lost the melee due to a very obvious lack of enthusiasm when it came to saving rolls and had to take a break test) and were thrown back, but the French were also shaken and chose to withdraw.

 (Above: Bavarian cuirassiers march onto the battlefield. Below: The French Cuirassiers thunder towards the Prussians and finally engage in a short sharp melee with the Bavarians)

Meanwhile the Prussians were steadily forming up and attempting to close with the French. The superior chassepots did severe damage to several battalions, breaking one and pinning another, but once the Prussian artillery got into play the damage was repaid with interest. A battalion of French Marine infantry were destroyed by a maelstrom of artillery fire and two battalions of zouaves were pinned or shaken on the ridge. Slowly the Prussians gained the upper hand and drove the exhausted Zouaves back to the shelter of the orchard and village.

 (Above, its those Gypsies again........ while below the Imperial Guard march across the bridge to lend support to the defence of the south bank)

Clive decided to commit the Guard to help support the troops across the river. They formed column and marched across, only for one battalion to blunder and head off to the east. More Prussians and Bavarians arrived on the western entry-points and when it became clear that none would be entering from the southern road, the Guard were quickly withdrawn back to the safety of the north bank.

 (Above, the French ready to try and and ultimately fail to throw the coming Prussian attack back. Below the Prussian cavalry manoeuvring into position after I remembered the small river was fordable!)

 (Above, the Prussian second wave attacks the French line, the first having been stopped in its tracks or repulsed. Below, the Bavarians deploy in preparation for their attack. Before anyone asks, the Bavarians shown are painted for the 1866 campaign in which they dispensed with the Raupenhelm and wore a soft peaked cap instead. My 'proper' FPW-uniformed Bavarians are not quite ready).

 At around this point I suddenly remembered that the stream in front of my Bavarian brigades was in fact easily crossable, so having got over my 'Burnside Antietam moment' I deployed as quickly as my unenthusiastic Bavarians would allow me. The opposing cuirassiers clashed again, and my second unit of Bavarian cuirassiers were forced back shaken. Thankfully the French were in no position to pursue so I was able to slowly deploy in the face of an increasing number of French infantry which had moved up from behind the village.

 (Above, the French light cavalry brigade that spent the entire battle with nowhere to go. Below, the Imperial Guard reformed after their brief road-trip across the bridge and back again).

 (Above, the French CinC ponders, head in hands, wondering what wine to have with 'le dejeauner', while below the Prussians succeed in their final assault to drive the French back, off the ridge and out of the orchard).

The Prussians finally got into position to assault the withdrawing French in the orchard which they managed, albeit not without losses. The French were ejected but fell back to the village. At about this time there was a massive explosion as the French engineers blew the bridge, trapping the remaining French on the wrong side of the river. Clive tried to launch his cuirassiers in a final series of charges to buy some time for his infantry to retire but sadly, and luckily for the cuirassiers, they failed to move largely due to their poor commander.

 (Above, as the long shadows cast by the setting sun bring the day to a close, Prussian wounded being taken to the rear by wheelbarrow, while below the retreating French reach the village to find the bridge already blown).

So honours were about even. We had each had a brigade broken. I had failed to prevent the demolition of the bridge but the majority of the French army were trapped on the south (i.e. wrong) side of the river. No doubt they would be able to extricate a few troops from the eastern edge of the table so a draw with both sides able to claim a moral victory. I enjoyed the game and I hope Clive did too and wasn't put off BP forever. A good day spent playing with my toys.

And so, to the fading and haunting sounds of violins and the clash and gentle tapping of tambourines, the battle ends......

More photos can be found on Clive's own blog 'Vintage Wargaming'; I think the title has more to do with the age of the figures rather than of the players! Clive, we can try the promised Crimean game next time assuming I can find the British!

Flames of War World War 1? London Bus found on the Moon! Shock! Horror! Vicar Expose!

I saw on TMP and at the back of my latest edition of Flames of War Illustrated, er, sorry Wargames Illustrated that we are to be blessed by the arrival of a new set of rules and presumably models covering the Great War. I am still recoiling in shock and horror at the thought of reading the Flames of War version of the First World War.  Legions of massed panzers tearing through the Allied lines, poor Tommy seriously outclassed by the genius Hun, no sign of the troops from across the British Empire, French, Russians, Belgians, Austrians or maybe a disproportionate and perhaps over-egged representation of the Americans (yes, their numbers made all the difference in the end, but there were other factors too).

Anyway, having nothing much else to do at 5 a.m. today I then delved deeper and on the Battlefront Miniatures website is a piece heralding the arrival of this new range, together with the now very familiar army lists (and yes Andy, I wholly agree with your article in MW this month). The blurb puts the players on opposite sides as "Blitz's Battlegroup vs Mitchell's Marauders" (OMG!), during the Battle of Villers Bretonneux, one of the very few tank v tank actions of the war. Lt. Blitz did command one of the A7Vs and Lieutenant Mitchell commanded the British MkIV tank platoon in the real battle so I guess thats  +1 for historical accuracy?

The German player can have a platoon of A7V tanks supported by an other of captured British MkIVs. To quote the blurb about the A7V:

"The panzer is a new and unstoppable weapon. Our A7V is more powerful, faster, and better armoured than Tommy’s tanks. These steel beasts will break the British frontline, opening the way to victory." 

 "The cutting edge of your attack is the imposing A7V panzer and Stoss (shock) platoons. This tank is superior to British tanks in practically every way. Mass them against a weak point in the enemy line and use its overwhelming firepower to tear open a gap in Tommy’s trenches."

Bollocks. OK, the German tanks did see very limited success on one or two occasions but they were not new (er, it was us Brits who invented and had considerable success with tanks), and were not unstoppable (see the full account of Battle of Villers Bretonneux)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Villers-Bretonneux

They broke down or were unable to actually get into combat so much that they were not thought to be a very successful piece of kit, they were perhaps more powerful in terms of guns and machine guns stuffed into every corner of the lumbering beast (but its not what you have but what you do with it that matters), their road speed was marginally faster than that of a British Whippet tank and they were faster than the MkIV  but their cross country performance was very poor by comparison. The driver had a 10m blind spot to his front for heaven's sake! Better armoured? Certainly, and losses to direct enemy action were few compared to those that broke  down or got stuck, but they could still be knocked out. So hardly superior to British tanks in every way and indeed the Germans used about 50 captured British tanks with far more success. Only 20 or so A7Vs were actually constructed.

I'm sure someone can pick holes in my argument (not a challenge) but not I hope the underlying sentiment in response to the "oh no! its the centenary of the start of dubya dubya one so lets cash in on it somehow and give it our own particular ahistorical twist!!!!" Of course, there's nothing necessarily wrong with gaming the Great War per se (and I have) but please, not the FoW way. The models of the tanks do however look very nice and you wouldn't need very many of them, for the Germans anyway.  Armoured cars, FT17s and other nationalities and theatres of war on the way by any chance....? Time for coffee and more mid-altering drugs.......

SEVEN YEARS WAR: Bridgehead Breakout Tabletop Teaser after action report.

As planned Paul came up today (or yesterday by the time I post this) for our monthly game. As outlined in my last post we were going to try No 21 from Charles S Grant's Tabletop Teaser book. The objectives and forces involved are detailed in the earlier post but essentially the Prussians had established a small bridgehead across an impassable river facing a slightly smaller Russian force tasked with preventing them from getting enough troops over the river to force the Russians to retire. There were only two bridges across the very wide river so the Prussian's had quite a job on their hands to ensure that they would be able to reinforce the brigade already across the river before the Russians descended upon them. That was the theory at least.

As noted last time, the command levels for all the generals were to be decided randomly. Randomly is not quite the correct term as the Prussian generals were historically much better than their Russian counterparts so they had a bit of an advantage when it came to chucking dice. As it transpired, the Prussian heavy cavalry brigade commander was a 9 and the remainder of the Prussian commanders, including the CinC, were 8's. Pretty good given that much of the Prussian army were classed as 'reliable' with some as 'superbly drilled' so getting them to move wouldn't be too difficult. The Russians by comparison  were rather pedestrian. I always have at least one 6 and one level 7 commanders in the Russian army, but in the game their line up was even worse than that! Two of their brigadiers ended up being classed as 'idiot commanders', rated 6, two others (including the CinC) were poor, rated 7, and the remaining two were rated 8. Paul got to play with the Prussians and I had the Russians. I wasn't phased too much by my poor commanders as I had a plan, based on what I thought the Prussians would do. Wrong!

At the start of the game the Prussian advance guard advanced slightly to make room for the expected reinforcements and Hussars of HR5 von Reusch swept out onto their left flank, facing the Russian Serbski Hussars and a band of Cossacks. Paul then managed to throw some annoyingly low command dice and in the blink of an eye both bridges were full of Prussian infantry, with the lead elements already deploying into line on the Russian side of the river.

I had planned to advance my entire line and try and crush the Prussians before they could establish themselves in sufficient strength  to cause me any grief. Sadly, my nitwit generals failed all their command throws, with the exception of the Hussars out on the right wing. They successfully charged the Prussian Hussars but, unsupported as the Cossacks had failed to move up with them, the melee was inconclusive and both sides had to withdraw, both somewhat battered.

(Above, the immobile Russian left wing. Below, Prussian queuing to cross the river)

(Above: Russian Serbski Hussar regiment. Below the Prussian HR No 5)

Meanwhile, the Prussians were advancing into my 'trap' in the centre (ha! not really); well they were advancing and after more troops had deployed over the river Paul moved them up into close range and let rip with a volley or two. The three lead Prussian battalions were IR13 Itzenplitz, IR 19 Markgraf Karl and the Guard Grenadiers of IR 6. I allow the Prussians the advantage of platoon fire so with the extra D6 for first fire they had 5D6 in their first volley. The Russians on the other hand were not so good at shooting but were very good at soaking up damage. I don't allow them first fire or platoon firing so they were at an immediate disadvantage, but being classed as 'Valiant' and/or 'Stubborn' they were able to stand up to the Prussians, for a while at least. One battalion of the 1st Grenadier regiment was shaken and forced to retire and a battalion of the Moskovski regiment was broken. They were replaced in the line by a combined Grenadier battalion and regiment of dismounted Dragoons.

(Above, the Russian heavy cavalry wait while below, the Prussian Cuirassiers and Dragoons cross the river)

The Prussians took some damage and were also hit quite hard by the Russian artillery. IR 19 was broken. After holding the Russians at bay for several moves, all the while soaking up a tremendous amount of fire, the gallant Grenadiers of IR6 finally broke. This meant that the remaining battalion from that brigade, IR13,  had to withdraw.

On the Russian left the brigade positioned there steadfastly refused to advance, thus loosing the opportunity to flank the main Prussian line. We reckoned that they were too scared of advancing into range of the Prussian artillery positioned over the river.

(Above, the Prussian right with the Grenadiers of IR6 just before they broke, while below HR7 Malachovski cross the river.)

While all this was going on, the rest of the Prussian infantry had crossed the river and deployed facing the Russian centre. The Grenadiers of III/15 covered the Prussian left while the remaining three battalions of that brigade advanced to fill the gap left by the spent advance guard brigade. The Prussian heavy cavalry was also across the river and deploying on the Prussian left. In a series of fierce charge and counter charges my Hussars were driven back and retreated off the table shaken. My cavalry brigadier ordered a 'follow me' command to the Lifeguard Cuirassiers and crunched into the Prussian von Ruesch Hussars who were predictably destroyed. One of the supporting regiments of Cuirassiers had to withdraw but so did my shaken Cuirassiers. My other cuirassier regiment (Prince Fedorovich) charged the front of IR18 Prinz von Preussen and after surviving the closing fire crashed home and thanks to some great dice throwing from me and some dreadful saves from Paul the infantry were scattered. My Cuirassiers followed up with a sweeping advance into the flank of the Guard Grenadiers of III/15 but although the Grenadiers were shaken, so were my Cuirassiers. The Grenadiers just shrugged off the attack, so I withdrew my shaken cavalry while I had the chance. Once recovered the heroic Grenadiers assaulted the village from where Russian Pandours had been taking annoying (i.e. from my perspective wholly ineffective!) potshots at anyone who came in range. No surprise but the Grenadiers drove the Pandours out easily.

Back in the centre, the Prussians were starting to suffer, especially at the hands of the Russian heavy artillery on the hill. The Frei Battalion von Mayr and then the orange-faced and underwear-clad fusiliers of IR49 Sers were  broken, forcing my favourite unit (nothing to do with their pink facings and small clothes) IR 40 von Kraytzen to withdraw. The Russian left-hand brigade finally moved forward and helped in the driving the Prussians back, despite offering a tempting target for the Prussian artillery who finally after waiting for the Russians to get in range, got to fire their cannon at the enemy! Paul tried to get his Hussars of HR7 Malachowski out of the bridgehead and onto the Russian flank but there wasn't enough space so they had to pull back. The Croats of von Kleist's Freikorps had been hiding in the wood for the entire battle and stayed there right to the end, trading a few shots with the Russian infantry line, but to no effect.

Meanwhile on the Russian right it was all going T**s Up! My dismounted Dragoons were totally outclassed  by the Prussian Guard of IR I/15 and destroyed and the surviving elements of the
brigade, the Apcheronski regiment, had to retire. The result was a massive gap. All I could do was try and plug it with what was left of my heavy cavalry. The Kargopolski Horse Grenadiers charged the Prussian line but this time the effects of the closing fire and subsequent melee was enough to break them. My already shaken Lifeguard Cuirassier regiment were destroyed by Prussian 12th von Kayau Cuirassiers who then followed up their victory by hitting the retiring Apcheronksi regiment in the flank. They too not surprisingly were ridden over and destroyed. With two out of three of its regiments destroyed my heavy cavalry brigade was deemed spent, the surviving regiment, the Prince Fedorovich Cuirassiers, having to retire. Meanwhile, the Cossacks had been driven from the field by the Prinz von Preusen Cuirassier regiment. As a result I had lost over half of my brigades so under the rules I had lost the game. I had lost the game by any interpretation anyway as the Prussians were in a perfect position to roll me up from the flank. My artillery battery was in danger of being overrun by Cuirassiers, I had no cavalry left, and although the Prussians on my left and in the centre had been driven off, those on my right were hardly touched and in a position to give me a good old-fashioned stomping! A hard won Prussian victory was agreed. Actually, had the Prussians lost their surviving Hussar regiment, and therefore their third brigade, before I lost the Cossacks in my third brigade then the tables would have been turned so it was actually a very close game indeed.

                                       

This teaser again provided a great challenge for both sides and a very enjoyable game it was too. Its interesting to think that even though the scenario was written maybe thirty-odd (or thereabouts!)  years ago, it has survived the test of time and makes for a cracking game using 21st C rules such as Black Powder. And if there's one thing to say about the rules, like 'em or hate 'em, this was a big game with lots of toys on the table, and we played in a very civilised way between about 10:45 and 15:30 including a lunch break and numerous cups of tea and illegal chocolate cookies, and got a result without feeling rushed in any way. And my back, so far at least, appears to have survived the experience!

Next week its back to the Crimea.