The Football season properly got underway this weekend (although the hard workers were already on their second weekend) after the summer break and it kind of gels with my view of the wargaming calendar year.
My off season is spring and summer. Well yes I know there are lots of wargamers who are of the 24/7 variety and make up the engine room of this fine hobby.
I am much more the peripheral player – wargaming fits in with lots of other activities. In summer I like to get out in the daylight and enjoy the warm rays of sunshine – not too warm though!
So it occurred to me the other day that it was odd that I might post a plan for the year at the turn of the year. Yes thats when many other things get planned and reflected upon – makes sense to do the wargame planning stuff at the same time in those dark months.
The reality is that my transfer season (= all those painting plans or rules/gaming period changes) and this disruption really happens between May and August. And thats because as my painting tails of in Spring my mind starts wandering.
Looking back I have noticed Summer has been quite fruitful for projects going awry and new ideas popping up.
I mentioned earlier those 24/7 wargamers. Well even if I dont paint much in Spring and Summer I do tend to read and that is the devil in my wargaming. Or rather it is the seed point for another idea or ideas.
What has seeded this summer?
Back in early spring I was on a roll (no pun intended!) painting, well inspired by the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge XIV.
Trojan horse…..
My main project – Schleswig Holstein Wars were well served yet also some new material like a kit airplane – first in decades, retro citadel fantasy figures, gameshow freebies and even a magazine WW2 freebie figure Sci Fi carve up.
And then the finale posting by Karl at AHPCXIV featured a trojan horse. How apt, as it drove the Bronze Age front and square into my wargames thinking.
Soon I had the books out, which rules, which figures to paint, heck which scale? I am the sad possessor of 15mm and 1/72 chariot armies none of which are complete – in the case of 15mm not even started……
Scale – not a chariot in sight….25mm subs for those non existent 15mm chariots – in dba cavalry or chariots it matters not!High water mark of this summers Bronze Age push!
In the end I managed a strip or two of Assyrians undercoated and then opted for my version of 2mm armies. A successful campaign with DBA using a previous mapped world followed and then nothing.
Back to reading again. Suddenly William the chivalrous knight sprung upon me – I got all medieval and then it passed: And so did the book.
A great period for heraldic colour
The same happened to my wild west thoughts.
The cowboys got as far as the rockery before getting shot to pieces…..
The season of scenery challenge popped up. and I briefly made progress on a long overdue Italian hilltop town.
And then the Pike and Shot 16th century erupted with books on history, rules and uniforms spilling out of cupboards. A whole set of stockpiled figures got cleaned, reading progressed and rules were contemplated. Taking a lead from my Bronze Age moment I created some 0mm, yes 0mm armies for the Italian Wars – France versus Spain. I had intended them for testing rules including Pike and Shot by Warlord but bailed out using Neil Thomas Wargaming an Introduction instead – Pike and Shot Rules. These are easy and simple to use.
A promising start with 0mm scale armies to test a myriad of pike and shot era wargames rules including warlords pike and shot soon petered out….
One wargame later and dust started to gather on the abandoned field – no second game.
The pike and shot did get washed and desprued but alas that was it…..
So you see spring and summer has been properly, my fragmented wargames season. Its not an “off season” or indeed a “low season” but its definitely a season of sorts.
And its still going on………….pretty much what you would expect from a wargaming erratic I guess.
I had previously encountered Bob’s grid rules in the History of Wargaming publication of Joe Morschausers early 1960’s book on wargames. Although a contemporary of Donald Featherstone, Joe’s rules better resonate with 21st century rulesets in my view.
This purchase collided with my stop-start diversion into “pound store warriors” and ultimately a bit of sci fi gaming. Man of Tin had been instrumental in starting me to look at these figures that did not even look like green army men. It is a measure of my lack of progress (the figures arrived during lockdown……) that my recent first game only fielded half a “sci-fi” set up. Some WW2 Russians and Americans filled in as opponents and neatly delivered the unexpected scenario and indeed a back story into the bargain.
Captain Parker of the US 21st Army held the edge of Exetown along the river Exe. In the town were the Russian 33rd Army forces led by Senior Lieutenant Yashin.
The front such that it was involved nothing so much as a watching brief. There had been “no action” when the two forces had closed up to each other – just looking and with even the odd conversation exchanged across the river.
When the Russians were surprised by the Aliens in Exetown all that changed, Yashins troops just ran hell for leather at the Americans who fortunately hesitated to fire long enough to spot the new enemy beyond. Somehow the Americans could sense that the Russians were not trying on a surprise attack – they were genuinely running for their lives.
So the scenario made itself – The renewed Allies have to fight off the Aliens and at least hold the river line. The Aliens have to drive the humanoids off the table.
Rules
Rules used were The Portable Wargame by Bob Cordery. I used the solo option.
Only rule change of note was to assign the “alien blasters” 5 dice per firing round. So they were like super heavy machine guns in effect. But they had only a grid range of 2 instead of 3.
I also permitted some unit size differences. The Aliens had fewer units but 4 or more figures per unit. The Allies were basically 3 man units.
In the event the Allies had a higher break point for exhaustion yet got there quicker as their units were destroyed more easily.
I had just played a game so had the table set up plus some figures that in turn fed the scenario and storyline. My grid was 8 long x 12 wide, using 6 inch (150mm) grids. Not very portable!
Opposing Forces
Allies (Exhaustion Point is at 6 units left)
American (First Lieutenant Osteen)
CO unit 3 figures
rifle squad 3 figures each
rifle squad
rifle squad
rifle squad
rifle squad
Russian (Senior Lieutenant Yashin)
CO unit 2 figures
Machine gun unit 2 figures
machine gun unit 2 figures
rifle squad
assault squad
rifle squad
Aliens (Exhaustion Point is at 3 units left)
Blue Troop (Colonel Blue)
Colonel Blue and Heavy Machine Gun 2 figures
Blaster unit A1 3 figures (one figure armed with what looks like a bazooka)
Blaster unit A2 3 figures (one figure armed with what looks like a bazooka)
Yellow Troop (Colonel Yellow)
Colonel Yellow unit
Attack unit A3
Attack unit A4
What happened?
First up – the Allies (US/Russian) threw high in the first 6 moves for “first to move”. The Aliens took heavier losses as they advanced, then at close range they began to wear down the Allies. Exhausted the Allies had to hold their line and so my scenario backstory kicked in and the allies retired rather than simply continuing to hold under the rules.
So a new ruleset, some abandoned figures and also a new grid surface** combined with a storyline from nowhere, resulted in an excellent game.
The game played out in 12 moves and took half a day as I left it quite a few times to do some real life activity! So I guess maybe it took about 1 hour to 1h30m to play the 12 turns including set up and take down. Remember I already had the table set and in fact the US/Russian troops were from that game.
I suspect that this sort of game is easily a one hour set up, play and put away operation.
Biggest impact for me was the ease of play and how it simply connected with my rather mad scenario. So very high on the Enjoyment scale.
Here are some episodes from the game.
The Russians race across the bridge towards the stunned AmericansAs First Lieutenant Osteen gathered his men Senior Lieutenant Yashin called his men in and sent a squad to the sawmill.Lieutenant Yashin finally gets a sighting on what appear to be different types of enemy foot soldiersA brisk firefight at the edge of town as the Russians retreat across the unfordable river Exe by the main bridgeThe enemy pursue the russian squad to the sawmillOn the right flank the US troops, in the morning sun, began to get a sighting of their opponentsagain what seemed to be a mixture of enemy troops in their bright uniforms loomed into view
The brightly uniformed enemy had been easy targets and the allies gained an early advantage decimating the orange unit that tried to reach the main bridge first – the remnants retreated to the hedged half timbered house where they stayed for the remainder of the battle
The defenders in the sawmill got a shock as the blue unit and orange units combined fire felled many russiansIn the centre the firefight was heating up with one Lieutenant Osteens squad falling victim to the accurate enemy fire. On his right the remaining russian machine gun team continued to stop any enemy advance on the bridge.As Yashin crossed over to the now threatened right flank a US squad took aim at the enemyin the open the allies were decimated – Petrov and Lefebvre fell hereThings were going from bad to worse on the right flankAnd now on the left flank the orange unit stormed over the foot bridgein the centre it was still a stand offYashin managed a counter attack on the right which drove back the blue blaster unit and weakened the orange unit.but the enemy responded in turn and Yashin fellOn the left flank the footbridge looked lost as the US defenders were being overrunbut a heroic effort by the left and centre threw the enemy back, they even silenced one of those dreaded “blasters”only for the enemy to attack again – the last allied squad moving up to the footbridge at that momentThe uneven contest at the footbridge was short and the allies lost and with it their left flank as well
With both flanks destroyed Osteen, Kachalin and the remnants of both Russian and US combat teams retreated from the field.
The Aliens move on the main bridge over the River Exe as Osteen prepares to retreat.
* – tacfos or “the aliens came from outer space!”
**- for this game I used one of my new grid sheets. I have been experimenting with different surfaces when it comes to grid games. Like most Board games, the grid surface is integral to the game. So I have not yet settled on the best grid surface for any one game. Given I have quite a few cloths and boards for my “measured” table top games this should come as no surprise.
The empty field – the trees wonder what will happen next?
In the third battle of Oeversee – a Neil Thomas scenario, the same forces were deployed but slightly differently. Would these minor changes have an impact? The Danes were only very slightly forward and the Austrians attacked in multiple columns.
9th Hussars taking hits while the Artillery has an immediate impact on the Bell shako regimentThe 9th Hussars are dispersed by the blue kepi regiment while the artillery continue to dismay the Bell Shako regimentThe Elite Jaeger charged home suffer terrible lossesin the melee they lost more men and brokeThe Danish Artillery deployed on the road with Regular Austrian Battalions green and red/orange taking hitsThree battalions charge home – the Austrians adopted charge home tactics after 1859 war with France.The kepi Regiment are driven backThe Artillery are overrun – things are collapsing for the DanishOnly the rump of the Bell Shako Regiment survivesThe Red Shako Regiment are able to dispatch the red infantry battalion before Austrian the artillery shatter them.The Austrian battalions pursue the Blue Kepi Regiment destroying themNow just the rear Danish line remains – sky blue kepi regiment and the dark blue kepi regimentAlas the Elite Skirmishers have again worked their way round to take take these forces in the rear.The Austrians charge home and sweep away the sky blue kepi regimentNext the Orange Battalion takes on the Dark Blue Kepi RegimentThey are soon dispatched Game over within the time limit – the Austrians have met the objective and no Danes are left on the road. Soon the Imperial Forces will resume their march towards Jutland.
This was a quicker game and the Austrians were not delayed so much as in the previous two games. Crucially the Austrians attacked in force early.
I do think the three games show there is some subtlety in Neil Thomas’ rules and they repay attention to his design thinking which is comprehensive in achieving such brevity in the mechanisms.
My only issue is that for my bases the “4 in column” for a column look wrong so I may well switch to 2×2 although for the small scenarios like this one might need tweaking.
Wargames in Print has been on a rocky road – I was a subscriber to Battlegames (BG) not long after I found it by chance on a WHSmith railway station stall back in 2008. I abandoned that journey when it really disappeared into Miniature Wargames (MW). MW had always been a mixed blessing for me while Wargames Illustrated (WI) had been a favorite before leaving the hobby.
Henry Hyde and BG brought me back into the hobby. And I returned to the Wargames Publication world transformed by the Internet with Blogging/Being online all the rage.
I started reading blogs about 2011 and the print market now seemed terminal although BG helped sustain my interest. WSS I luckily discovered at another WHSmith when that shops footfall was in serious decline.
Today I am fully erratic! If I buy at all, it is mainly WSS but occasionally WI and MW.
The WSS focus was Hundred Years War and although at the wrong end of the war for my latest interest I decided to take a punt. I enjoyed it and I liked the range of scenarios/actions.
The Slap Chop/Grisaille method painting article was a bonus. I have read quite a few online articles on this subject yet some printed paper words and pictures were still enticing. That is the “print preference” still in me. I could contrast it (sorry) with the Speedpaint article in WI425, but I won’t, it was another very effective print article on a subject I have read round on the internet.
Now MW484. The last word was by Brenden Wheatley who talked about the importance of the Solo Wargamers Association and solo wargaming that sustained his hobby which he now pursues in both Budapest (see some hussars and music at the end of this post in Budapest) and Brecon!
Mid 19th Century warfare was a topic in WI425 – Perry French Franco Prussian War (FPW) plastics painting class while MW484 led with the Schlieswig Holstein Question.
Dave Tuck gave an excellent taster for the two wars – 1st and 2nd (1848 and 1864 respectively). Given MW style and content he did the subject justice and I would definitely recommend it to anyone wanting a clear straighforward way into the subject.
FREE RULES – Dave Tuck offers his ruleset via a link on the MW web page. FREE WARGAME RULES
Interestingly Dave Tuck started his journey before the FPW range from Perrys appeared and after the Helion range had ceased production. He had also used the North Star range. For coverage of the second war (1864) the one he opted to develop, he also resorted to conversions.
And I do think you should not be put off by the lack of a “go to” range. in 28mm 1864 can draw on Perrys FPW and any number of ACW ranges as well as other mid century wars in the Americas as well as the Crimean war of 1854.
If you are a uniform purist then that lack of exact replicas will probably drive you mad!
For the 1st war in 28mm, if you want to literally start at the beginning you can steal lots of Napoleonic era forces. 1815 to 1848 saw new uniform ideas but a lot of conservatism while weapons technology appeared to have stalled. A few months into the 1849/50 war and its all changing with kepis and pickelhaubes gathering pace alongside frockcoats, breechloaders, rifling and even the very early machine gun. Given quartermasters stores and regulations were never up to the minute, you can have lots of leeway in my view. You can borrow both back, forward and sideways for these wars!
I have grown to like the 1st Schlieswig Holstein war period simply because I get the best of both worlds – with the early versions of FPW uniforms and weapons still mixed up with Napoleonics. You have tailcoats, frockcoats, all types of shako, kepis, pickelhaubes, flat caps, smoothbores and rifled weapons in the mix plus of course emerging railways and telegraph.
If I was doing 28mm I would follow Dave Tucks approach and start with 1864 (the 2nd War) using FPW/ACW resources.
If your more Napoleonic in outlook opt for the 1848 or slightly earlier uniforms – the Danes are clearly still Napoleonic as are many German Confederation troops which just leaves the Prussians and Bavarians in their iconic pickelhaubes and combed helmets to be sourced from ACW/FPW era. And you don’t need fancy rifled/breechloading artillery yet – smooth bores will still work. You can also consider Crimea War for 1850’s era uniforms.
I would look at Ed M’s Wargames Meanderings for further inspiration if Dave Tuck’s article does not convince you.
I wanted as, with many of my projects, a low cost option. 1/72 plastics used to be low cost. Now they are no longer so cheap. Yet you can still pick up around 50 figures for £10. The key issue is sculpting quality, figure poses and paintability. You have to love the sculpts, I have grown to like their roughness in an age of 3D marketed perfection. To get the repetitous poses you may want you have to buy multiple boxes. My advice then is that if multiple poses is a problem go with 25/28mm sector metals. Finally paintability – the internet provides an astonishing window into the art of those who wash, prime and then successfully paint bendy plastics. My favorite site for inspiration is Pauls Bods – he can even make venerable airfix ranges look compelling. Also Philotep is worth a look. And you can always look at weather like Crimea, being winter wars there is a greatcoats crossover which can hide a multitude of things. Tumbling Dice Miniatures do ranges of 1/72 sculpts which are excellent – cast in pewter. I prefer the figures in summer gear with greatcoats packed away and blankets rolled. So Crimea ranges might also help here for those who want correct season clothing. Also Jacklex relaunched a few years ago in 20mm.
I opted for 20/25mm and have accepted a complete mash up of ranges both plastic and metal and the inevitable conversions.
20/25mm or 1/72 is small enough to hide the imperfections at 3 feet yet not so small that you can’t enjoy each figure in its own right. The scale remains my perfect compromise for the “table top” game.
WW1 Austrians repainted to 1850’s Danish in transition (Irregular Miniatures Metals)
Hat – Prussians from Zulu War British and ACW mash ups while WW1 Germans just get a repaint to become German Confederation troops. Nassau troops become well Nassauers for 1848 and offer also another take on Danish Bell Shako infantry.
Strelets – 1877 Russian dragoons become Danish Sharpshooters, 1806 Prussian Hussars become 1848 Prussian Hussars with a repaint
Airfix – WW1 British flat caps join ACW frock coats from strelets/hat to become Danish Riflemen in 1848
My latest addition is B&B Miniatures SH Rebel Dragoons and SH Rebel Artillery (in Prussian gear)
All this 20/25mm focus spun out of my Italian Wars of Independence 1848/1859 project (Italian wars of independence) when again I baulked at 28mm metal costs as the project was only meant to be a minor detour…….
Danish Line Infantry 1849 (Irregular Metals from their Colonial Range)
Alas the sheer variety of infantry types has overun my imagination and SHQ remains a questionable (sorry again) project with slow yet very enjoyable progress! Most units and figures are stuck on the paint table because I keep being distracted by mechanised warfare, medievals, Sci-Fi and yes even some FPW french figures daliance – Emhar – You can’t keep a good kepi down.
Which brings me back to WSS125 again and the 100YW. I have succumbed to yet more diversity in my painting – digging out my various unpainted medieval figures. My aim had always been Italy for this period, but it seems alighting on the battle of Shrewsbury 1403 while reading a biography of Henry IV caused me to re-examine an english force.
Who can avoid Hotspur…..thin end of a new wedge?
It remains to be seen what progress I make. And of course the next butterfly moment armed with a chance magazine purchase is probably just round the corner………
The Second battle using my “Buildings Blast” set up saw a mid 19th century action with Austrians and Piedmontese in play. It was a solo play this time.
I used the rules published by John Curry and the “history of wargaming project” with some adaption for solo play.
Using Neil Thomas grading of troops I adjusted the firing and melee rules.
I also used the Roster system unaltered. Infantry got 4 circles and a cross while Artillery got just 2 circles in this game. Essentially in the basic game a hit meant a unit (= 1 base) was destroyed. Roster rules gave units/bases lives in the form of circles and crosses on the roster which you ticked off as they were lost.
The Scenario was that the Austrians were retreating and the force here was ordered to hold the bridge in the town. The crossing was one of only a few that allowed artillery and logistics easy crossing of the river. The Piedmontese advancing from the north west had orders to seize the bridge as quickly as possible.
Forces were randomly assigned using playing card allocations along with a portion of blank entriesUnits deployed in contact and units were recognised as such at about 6 inches – the card only turned on a 2-6 D6. Here the right hand Piedmontese were certain nothing was in front of them – a heart was a dummy card while the left hand unit was not so sure so hesitated (on a d1) with no card turn. The right hand units poured forward towards the “old millhouse” spotting some real Austrian defendersThe lefthand Piedmontese units were suddenly exposed to Austrian infantry fire from a slightly sunken roadon the east side of the main road two piedmontese artillery batteries dropped into action again to be surprised by enemy troops in a slightly sunken and walled road. These were riflemen and on good form – one battery was quickly silencedHowever infantry units (white coated British Legion 1860) quickly drove them awayfierce fire was exchanged between the Bersaglieri and Austrians in the sunken road while Garibaldeans stormed the defended houses at the entrance to the townOn the east side 1859 Piedmontese infantry stormed the defended housesElsewhere Piedmontese forces had pushed on meeting little resistance (= dummy cards) to their front. A lone Austrian Artillery battery on the west side of town faces artillery and some more Bersaglieri Stubborn resistance at the Old Millhouse Finally the sunken road defenders are driven offAnd the west side Austrian defenders give up rather too quicklyexchange of fire results in another Austrian lossEven as west side Austrian defenders gather but………The Piedmontese quickly move towards their target – the river crossing. Another Artillery Battery blocks their wayOn the west side the Austrian defenders put up a good defence and with support nearby………The defended houses at the north end of town finally are overrunThe mill house and its defenders are abandoned by the Austrians who can retreatAustrian artillerists put up a stern defenceCrunch time at the town square as the Austrians are hemmed inThe Bersaglieri try to rush the ArtilleryThe Town centre defence collapses The Bersaglieri inexplicably turned tail on the west side while Lancers arrive to their rear. The British Legion finish off the town centre defenders on the left pictureThe Artillery of Piedmont watch as the last Austrian defenders in the town square are defeatedThe defended westside town square buildings are assaultedin a last desparate throw Austrian Hussars ride up the main street to halt the Piedmontese tide.The Hussars beat off the Lancers but to their rear the Artillerists are finally beaten while the East side is alive with Piedmontese. Everywhere Austrian defenders have melted away into the fields or across the bridge.The Hussars beat a retreat across the bridge bringing to an end the defence of the bridgePiedmontese Lancers cautiously follow.
The defended buildings were randomly determined and contained one unit each – no other benefits were given the building defenders. So they simply were a delaying factor assisting the mobile defenders fighting outside.
The scenario I played used a 25 step countdown and 1xd6 reduction per turn. The Austrians had to retire at countdown 16 from the edge of town, 7 – the town square and at 0 abandon the north river bank. Victory to Piedmont required they took the bridge before the countdown reached 0.
The game turns 1 to 3 were spent on the edge of town, then turns 4, 5 and 6 fighting over the town square. Turn 7 forced the Austrians back to the north bank but here ended the action as the Austrians actually ran out of defenders.
So the victorious Piedmontese captured the bridge intact and within the timescale set. There were no Austrian Engineers with a lit fuse to spoil their day! Anyway the Austrians would be back soon enough they thought…. Do I hear a Radetzky March in the distance?
For a very old ruleset Joe Morschauser’s rules played easy as I guess you would expect. With the tweaks to aid solo play they actually played very well.
I had bought the rule book for the Grid rules both the originals and Bob Cordery’s modernised version – Bob co edited the book with John Curry.
So this was a pleasant surprise to find a very playable set of “measurement based” rules into the bargain.
I have slowly started to look at some grid gaming set ups. My starting point has been that they would aid campaigns and to that end allow quicker solo games. I opted for two 3’x2′ boards which could then give me a 4’x3′ table which also figures in Neil Thomas rulesets.
ideas still in play – how to represent rivers and buildings? hills are simply another gridded block shape to suit.
As a bit of a test I used a Neil Thomas scenario from the C19th European Wars book (NT19e) – the Cristinos v Carlists, in my case Piedmont squared up to Austria.
I use 40mm square bases for my 19th century games and I have chosen a 50mm grid – i.e. no perfect fit of base to grid square. And for this test I used essentially formations from Neil Thomas NT19e. The exception being that my square 40×40 basing really distorts the column or line option choice.
Garibaldeans march in my attack column option – I reserve a single base wide column of 4 bases for marching only. Firing lines are 4 bases side by side and don’t advance or retreat, but can wheel.I have Artillery men both on one large base and also individually as shown hereAbstraction – these Neapolitan Riflemen in a built up area may still simply be on a block of a different colour or with buildings/features!I quite like Neil Thomas unit conditions – Fire and Fury and other rulesets in mid 19th century warfare also seem to opt for this type gradationI did not find the grid a problem and it did the job of of having a tape measure on the board at all times everywhere. Also manoeuvring is hard work once you move to multi based units. NT19e allows turning (spinning)on the unit centre (abstraction again) so fits nicely with a grid approach.The undersizing of base to grid feels right for me.Neil Thomas rules do not feature command bases but other rules I like do – so I plan to use single grid base for lowest discrete command with next up having two grids covered and the top man having three of even four bases covered. The bigger the command base the further back from the action is better for them – having no attack or defence values if contacted.Bare bones – right now it feels like I am heading in the right direction.
Having played out Neil Thomas’s minigame scenario I was left wondering if the unlikely Danish victory was just that.
In the first battle with this scenario the Austrians attacked straight up the road that was to be cleared yet they simply ran out of time.
This second battle was again run exactly as per the basic scenario suggestion by Neil Thomas.
same board size
same terrain
same units
units deployed at the start in the same way as the first battle except as below
At least the Danish Artillery put in an appearance.
The Austrian units arrived at the same point on the road but moved differently.
The Hussars charged up the road as before……..
The Hussars take a critical 4 hits from musketry and fail the required morale test – losing 2 bases at a stroke while the Austrian Artillery can’t seem to get the range right.The Danish Artillery push up the roadThe Elite Jaegar Infantry square up to the Danish Infantry (1866 style on the left and 1850 on the right!) Or Irregular Metals versus Hat Plastics – both are welcome in 20-25mm scaleThe 1866 dark blue caps drew their first melee with the Elite Jaegar (forcing their retreat) so had to advance in column to regain position in their own turn, meanwhile the artillery deploy. The 1850 Sky Blue caps decide to advance having suffered little damage from the austrian artilleryMove 5 and the 1866 Dark Blue caps have been driven off while a devastating artillery barrage has all but destroyed the 1850 sky blue caps. The Danish artillery made little impression on the remaining Elite Jaegar. Things are going wrong for the Danish With low morale to start with the Danish artillery fleeThe 1848 Danish Redcoats square up to the next assault by the Austrian Infantry. The Austrian Artillery fire blanks again but the 1850 Sky blue caps can only watch the austrian infantry charge past – they cannot attack unless they have more bases than the defender whereas the Austrians in this scenario get to attack anything anytime for the loss of their firing line capability. In the bottom right the Austrian skirmishers have sneaked round through the wood.Move 7 and the Austrians have been pummelled. Both Austrian Infantry columns have been shot away by the Danish defenders. The Austrian Artillery are still firing blanks while the Austrian Skirmishers are getting some hits on the Danish rear. Another assault and the 1848 Red coats have gone while the last danish infantry unit is taking hits from the skirmishers on their flankFinally the Austrian artillery are getting going – they blast away the last danish infantry alongside the skirmishers and remaining Austrain Infantry unit.Move 10 arrives and the Austrians have achieved their objective – time for some Radetsky Marching music………
A close run to the end but this time the expected outcome.
The Skirmishers had more effect by circling the eastern flank of the Danish. The dice throwing favoured the Austrians at critical moments – triggering morale collapse amongst the danish. As the danes were mainly levy this was to be expected and again its was more a case of their saving morale throws that meant the action went to 9 of the 10 permitted moves.
Neil Thomas offered this battle as an example of a small action using his mini battle setting. His rules assumed a 2’x 2′ or 600mm square. So thats board game sized.
His rules say you do not need to rebase. Always a positive these days.
I have a mixture of units – a result of my lock down era painting activity tending to paint what I fancied than worrying about actual armies!
The action is straightforward – the Danes are retreating and use a bottleneck on the key route north towards Jutland. The Danish rearguard are buying time for their main forces to retreat to their last defence line in Schlieswig – the Duppel fortifications.
suggested set up from book – copyright Neil Thomas.
Their opponent was the geographic “Empire” effectively still the Holy Roman Empire but now really the German Confederation post Waterloo with Austrian and Prussian interference/support.
In this case the Austrians were attacking the rearguard.
The Danish Rearguard
Infantry Unit A
Infantry Unit B
Infantry Unit C
Infantry Unit D
Artillery Battery E
The Artillery was Bronze Rifled while the Infantry were all Levy in loose order armed with rifled muskets.
The Danish troops are all deployed in the bottleneck.
The Austrians Attack starting at the river line comprise
9th Hussars – Average
Artillery – 2 batteries both with bronze rifled cannon
Their main forces arrive from move 1 on the main road
Jaeger Infantry unit – elite, rifled musket, loose order
Skirmishers – elite, rifled musket
On moves 2 & 3 the following units arrive via the same southern road access
Infantry Unit 6 – move 2 – average, rifled musket, loose order
Infantry Unit 7 – move 3 – average, rifled musket, loose order
Infantry Unit 8 – move 3 – average, rifled musket, loose order
Battle Narrative
With the objective to clear all danish forces from the road (at least 12cm from the road) essentially the Austrians simply went through the Front Door.
They had 10 moves to do it in with a win lose outcome and no draw.
Special Rules as suggested by Neil Thomas were used
Colonel Muller personal leadership of the Danes means any one unit at the start of any turn can be elite.
The Danish Artillery were quite ineffectual so get half the nortmal values in defence and attack
The Austrians fresh from rough handling by the French in 1859 adopt bayonet charges in preference to distance firefights. They stay in column the whole game and can charge without restriction (no unit base quantity advantage required)
Some shots of the action
Danish defence face the Austrian advance guard
The stream has no effect on movement except Artillery must use the bridge. The town can be accessed only by Infantry. The lake is impassable to all troops while infantry can move through the wood.
The Austrian battery drops into action as the 9th Hussars begin their fateful attack
The Danish front line are in line and not moving, supported by more mobile Column units behind. If infantry want to move in Neil Thomas’ rules they must be in column.
The 9th Hussars much reduced by musket fire charge home. The Austrian Skirmishers have made little impact but the Artillery have seriously depleted the Danish infantry to their front.The Danish front line has been blown away by the Austrian Artillery and the Elite Jaeger unit
Note in this game I chose not to field the woeful Danish Artillery ( i.e. I forgot to place them on the board!)
The second line of Danish infantry eventually destroy the Elite JaegerBut at the cost of another Danish unit when more Austrians charge homeIts the end of move 10 and the final Danish defence was about to be overrun by the Austrians
An Austrian victory seemed to confirm Neil Thomas’ view that history repeats itself with his suggested set up. In his notes he offers several options to up the defence capability of the Danes.
In this case a very narrow Danish Victory suggests a well thought out scenario by Neil Thomas. Generally I have found Neil Thomas scenarios are fun to play because they tend to lead to a lot of action and no quick outcomes. So although asymmetrical in set up they seem to be well balanced games.
Footnote:
The Figures are Irregular Miniatures and Hat for the Danish
In this picture top right clockwise – 1848 Danish Infantry, 1849 Danish Infantry then 1864 Danish and finally some rogue 1860 Piedmontese.The Austrians are top left clockwise Hat Grenzers – being Skirmishers then Minifigs (1970’s) French Hussars posing as the 9th, Waterloo1815 1859 Austrian Artillery and finally the elite Jaeger are WW1 Belgians painted as Neapolitan 1859 Cracciatori Light Infantry
Elsewhere in the photographs the regular Austrian Infantry on show are Waterloo1815 1859 Austrians in their white coats – in 1864 it was bitter winter weather so soldiers actually fought in their greatcoats.
Neil Thomas offers the mini game as a quick affair and it certainly was. Lots of enjoyment from a two foot square, scenery, dice and some figures.
Colonel Ansaldi was fretting – having gained so much from the raid on Austrian storehouses he was worried that none of his scouts had been able to stay in touch with the Imperial troops known to be in the area. What he would give for a decent squadron of guides…….
Meanwhile not far away Colonel Albrecht considered the recent reports, nearby Austrian Hussars were watering their mounts. They had ridden hard to report finding the raiders. Now we shall obtain some satisfaction from those Sardinians thought the Colonel……..
Colonel Ansaldi cursed as the nearby hill was clearly occupied by troops – and they were not friendly – Austrians! To arms, to arms, went up the shout.
Looking South the Austrians were well placed on the hillThe Scenario 25 straight from One Hour WargamesThe random force generator gave Blue (Sardinians) only infantry while Red (Austrians) gained some Cavalry to support their infantry
The Sardinian force consisted of 3 infantry units and 1 skirmisher unit. The Skirmisher unit headed for the Austrians on the hill
The Scenario Set up required one unit of Austrians on the table before the Sardinians arrived from the south west heading north. The Zone 1 was the required deployment area for the one Austrian unit, in this case some skirmishers (note I used 4 bases per unit for both line and skirmisher foot troops)
Already a brisk firefight had broken out between the two sides.
There was no time time to lose and anyway there was only one direction the Sardinians could take and that was straight past those Austrians on the hill.
Despite orders there was hesitancy on the part of the Sardinians who still traded fire with the lone Austrian unit. Now other forces appeared – infantry and cavalry!
Cavalry and Infantry appeared from the north on the main road the Sardinians had avoided. (the rules included random arrival of reinforcements)Things are not looking good for the Sardinians
Panic breaks out in the Sardinian ranks. I used the solo rules chance table which offered confusion, ammunition shortages, demoralisation, initiative, rallying and enemy panic.
the skirmisher firefight was prolongedsome good luck (chance) means the Sardinians move swiftly past the hill.The Austrian Hussars close in on the Milan GuardIt looks like the Sardinians are moving clear.
The Sardinians continue to push on with their escape.
The Hussars clash with the Milan GuardIt all hinges on whether the Hussars can hold up the escaping Sardinians
The Austrians continue to press with a further charge by the Austrian cavalry despite them being demoralised.
The Sardinian firing slackens off – Colonel Ansaldi sends a runner to find out what is going on. (chance intervenes)
Suddenly there are Austrians everywhereMore Austrians troops arrive on the Main Road from the South. Aiming for the road was now a problem for the SardiniansMore chance favours the Austrians whose Infantry march rapidly up the road while the Cavalry catch the Sardinian SkirmishersThings are looking bleak for Colonel Ansaldi as the Milan Guard break before the Hussars repeated attacks
But finally the Austrian cavalry also retreat as things are just too hot. Meanwhile the Austrian fire is good and effective and they continue to press the Sardinians.
The Hussars break while the Austrian Infantry close in on the remaining two Sardinian unitsThe Sardinians must exit the road northwards with two units to secure victory. Despite the Piedmontese Infantry driving off the Hussars, the Sardinian Skirmishers fail to reach the safety of the woods before being crushed by the Austrian Cavalry
Now on the point of victory the Austrians seem confused. Yet with a final effort they corner the Sardinians.
The Piedmont Infantry leave the field while the second Milan Guard unit is decimated by the pursuing Austrians.Its all over as Blue force Sardinians fail in their mission to exit two units northwards on the main road.
Colonel Albrecht curses his cavalry – they are blown and clearly fit for nothing as some of the Sardinians are still making good their escape. He calls for some scouts.
Later Colonel Ansaldi manages to regroup his shattered forces and with poor pursuit from the Austrians is able to restart his march back to Sardinian lines by a new route. Later many more of his dispersed men come in.
The solo rules regarding random confusion, demoralisation, panic and ammunition shortage added that “unknown/unexpected” element to the game that a real opponent usually brings. The interventions were not gigantic but did chip away at each forces potential.
Early on the Sardinians were stalled, then gained initiative before the Austrians finally gained lots of initiative to enable them to hem in the Sardinians even with a hesitation at the end.
Next up the Sardinians, having continued their march, encounter more Austrian forces intent on preventing their escape.
Ok so it was just two days – well it was that hot for two days. My optimum operating temperature is 22.333333333 degrees centigrade – either side by a degree and I am too cold or too hot, so 40 degrees was simply too much for this soul. Even the light was dazzling – queue troglodyte behaviour.
Neil Thomas’s one hour wargames ruleset is probably the ultimate “pick up” game for historical miniatures gaming, six units a side on a game area of 3×3 feet or 90cm square.
So I reached for the book and then remembered it not only has 30 scenarios and 9 period rulesets but also campaign and solo gaming suggestions.
I opted for Horse and Musket plus a best of 5 battles campaign – Blue versus Red. I was playing solo as well.
I randomly chose the 5 scenarios getting 6,9,13,24 and 25. Now Neil Thomas suggests for narrative purposes ordering the games. And you could include some consequences game to game but I did not go for that extra step.
Looking at the scenario types I opted for the following and the narrative fell into place. Local Blue forces go on a raid while Red forces try to find and destroy the raiders. The finale sees their activities ended as they are both ordered to support their main army forces…….
25 – Infiltration – Blue is plundering Red’s supply lines
13 – Escape – Blue now turns for home but is blocked by Red forces
24 – Bottleneck – Blue attempts to clear another Red blocking force (while still escaping with their plunder)
6 – Flank Attack I – Blue encounters yet another Red blocking force
9 – Double Delaying Action – Forget that raiding, the local forces are both ordered to seize the same town in support of their main armies actions
That was easy. For this set of battles the Blue forces were Sardinianish
while the Red were Austrianish.
The figures were mid nineteenth century with smoothbore artillery and inaccurate musketry still to the fore. The cavalry still strutted about with the confident self importance of being the premier arm.
I used the scenario scenery layouts as per the book with a few slight adjustments for my table and the items to hand.
I will cover the various specific rules as each scenario occurs.
I used the random deployment from the “solo wargaming” chapter. The campaign is basically straight out of that chapter, and it generated my scenario list, except I took a chance and drew from all 30 available scenarios each time rather than segment the list as suggested by Neil Thomas.
I also used the chance rule as per the chapter on campaigns.
In the next post I will cover Scenario 25 – Infiltration.
6 units a side using my Piquet Field of Battle 4 bases per unit.
The Wargaming Erratic 