Romans and Macedonians- Ancients

( A report from about two years ago- that I wrote up- and never posted!) Some of the Brothers were summoned to a game of monumental importance. Well, it wasn't all that important, but someone must have thought it was important because there was an almost full house with 9 assembled in the understated elegance of my overdone car park spaces. Ross, Paul, Geoff, Richard, Roger, Lochlainn, Nick, Phil and I piled in on a cold winter's night to watch two large armies, Romans and Macedonians vie for the right to be proclaimed victor for the night- a rather dubious honour! It was good to have a big gathering again for an ancient game- coffee was on the boil, chocolate biscuits were on the table and the game was on. Geoff, Nick, Paul, Roger and Lochlainn were the Romans and Richard, Phil, Ross and I were the Macedonian.
Given my record with my Roman armies of late- no one was willing to let me side with the Legions!

ACW 28mm The Battle of Groveton ( Brawner's Farm) 28th August 1862

This was the opening round of Second Manassas and using Nick's (formerly Phil's) figures I had the table ready at the moment when Stonewall Jackson turned to his Brigade Commanders behind the railway embankment and said 'Bring out your men, gentlemen'. His artillery then fired on Gibbon's Brigade!

Zouaves march past Dogan's farm on the way to Groveton.

Crusaders vs Mamluks

Unable to take the humiliation of the last defeat for Nick's Ayyubids, the gauntlet was thrown down by my Mamluks ( well my Ottomans pretending to be Mamluks) to avenge the shame of the last blog.

Phil and I were the Mamluks and Ross and Paul were the 'men of God'- and if I hear Ross scream 'God Wills It!!' one more time I'm gonna throw a brick at him.

The Mamluks were almost all cavalry except for a few paltry skirmishers.
The stinky ones were a combination of Heavy Knights and solid infantry core with spear and crossbow- a deadly combination.

Mamluks and Turcopoles

On the Mamluk left I had plenty of room to dance around and gave Paul a hard time in trying to pin me down. On the right Ross managed to squash Phil and I between the table edge and his heavy infantry line-- but we had a substantial reserve that was commanded by Phil- who just at the right moment unleashed his cavalry into Ross' and Paul's infantry line......

Crusaders vs Ayyubids - 28mm

A 28mm stoush between Ayyubids and Crusaders one evening provided some very cheap laughs at the loser's expense! It would be nice to say it was a tough battle, drawn out and close fought, but that would be lying on all three counts! Nick and I were the Ayyubid forces and Paul and Ross played the mighty Crusaders.
It was a resounding victory for the 'Men of God' as Ross calls them, the heavy Crusader nights tore thru their opponents, it was not pretty!!

The right of the Muslim force- Cavalry!

SEVEN YEARS WAR- Prussians vs Prussians

Nick brought his beautifully painted Prussians to increase the value of my garage substantially. (doubled the value in fact!) So we also took the opportunity to play a game. A nice simple scenario, two identical forces are marching towards each other and have to capture the hills to pave the way for the main body. (the vanguard of their respective Prussian armies- yes it was Prussians vs Prussian, although Nick says the Russians are a work in progress!) 

Two Hussar Regiments, 6 Infantry battalions, 1 Cuirassier each, 1 Dragoon and two guns was the total OOB for both sides. Equal forces- it always happened historically didn't it?

The Prussian Light Cavalry leading the column. Which one? Both of course!

D-Day Bolt Action

Spyros has one of the best terrain boards for D-Day. Built by Joe, its an amazing piece of wargames terrain and I've been hanging to give it a go!
Phil and I went to Spyros' for a game...and I forgot my camera...damn!!
So apologies to Spyros, I pinched some the pictures from his blog. Go to No Duff Gamer Blog for a full write up and lots more pics!
It was the first wave of Omaha with the German defenders giving the Americans a hard time. Full write up on Spyros' blog!

Spanish vs Swiss

Nick recently bought Ralph's large Swiss army. This naturally meant that challenges were issued to all and sundry.  Some of the lads assembled in amongst the detritus of my garage to see the pike armed fanatics from central Europe take on the Catholic fanatics of south western Europe- my Spanish.

We played quite a large game and Nick fielded over 20 pike units. The Swiss were in their traditional 3 block formation with the Duke of Lorraine providing some much needed cavalry support. Nick and Ralph were the Swiss.

My Spanish, the army of Gonsalvo de Cordoba, went with his usual formation- fortifications in the field!! I also had a preponderance of cavalry and lots of very shooty types with arquebus, and some poor quality pikes. Phil and Ross joined me to command the Spanish.

The Spanish Left Flank. Jinetes, Knights and arquebus

Army of Louis XIV vs The Grand Alliance

Four brothers assembled to fight an early 18th Century clash that had nearly all of my Louis XIV and Marlborough's army on the table. Nearly 30 Battalions per side and over 30 squadrons on each side battled it out over the course of a long hot bloody day.

The Battlefield: in the foreground to the left, the Redcoats commanded by Chris, The Prussians arriving to support. And to the right the French regiments commanded by yours truly.

The game was loosely modelled on Ramilles, one of Marlborough's great victories. On the allied side the majority of the infantry were on the right and the cavalry were in the left, representing the deployment of the armies of the day. The terrain on the allied right was very hilly with a number of woods. On the extreme left a small town with the area in between a large open area of rolling fields.

Honours of War

Nick has been amassing a large Prussian army, superbly painted and ready for action. As his Seven Years War Russian army is not yet ready we decided to give a dry run of the Honours of War rules , with his Prussians engaged in 'Kriegspiel'.

2 Brigades of infantry (4 battalions each) and Brigade of cavalry and a gun battery each made for a pleasant evening as Chris and I played Paul and Nick and Ross umpired and called out the rules!
Nick was happy as his troops were on the table, and no matter what- the Prussians would win!

American War of Independence: 53rd Regiment of Foot.

Well it's started. I'm painting landsknechts and Spanish Jinetes but I'm blogging my first AWI Unit: clearly the workings of a severely disturbed mind with multiple addictions. Don't ask why; I just saw them on eBay- bought them, rebased them and have been admiring them for the last couple of months.
The 53rd Regiment was originally raised in 1755 as the 55th Regiment. Changed to the 53rd at the end of the Seven Years War due to reductions in the regimental establishment, it sailed for Canada in 1776. It served in operations for the relief of Quebec and then joined General John Burgoyne's army advancing into New England via the Hudson Valley.

Taking part in the initial capture of Fort Ticonderoga, the 53rd was part of 'Gentleman Johnny' Burgoyne's 1st Brigade along with the 9th and 47th Regiments. The Battalion Companies were left behind to defend the fort and its outlying defences.

Jinetes: Great Italian Wars Spanish Army

I bought these guys half painted on eBay- to round out my Spanish army- Now finished, based and ready to go!
Pikes: Check,
Arquebusiers: Check.
Gente d'Armas: check.
Crossbow men: check
Nearly ready to put them on the battlefield- against Ross' French!

American Revolutionary War

   Well, like most wargamers I tend to have more than one project running at a time and found myself making a purchase that had nothing at all to do with anything I was working on at all. I can change my mind while being in the bathroom about a period that I'm a 'fanatic' on and have a new obsession within minutes of picking up a book on a given topic.
    About two years ago I read a book called 'Fusiliers'  by Mark Urban on the 23rd Welch Fusiliers and their time in the Revolutionary War. Well, I had another book on Battles of the Revolutionary War, then picked up a cheap one ($3.95) on the Battle of Guildford Courthouse and it slowly dawned on me that I really liked this period- so I bought a few more books (Black Powder's 'Rebellion' and the British Grenadier rules)......... You know where this is going!!
   Also I've been a regular reader of the Tarleton's Quarter Blog (see down the right hand side). It is by far and away one of the most amazing and informative blogs on all things wargaming and the AWI! (among others!)- I thoroughly recommend it- it's fantastic.
   Wouldn't you know it.....there were some lovely figures for sale on ebay- so having a little spare cash I bought them. Now regular readers would know that I'm also working on a Spanish Army for the Italian Wars, and playing a Modern Africa campaign, and about to start a 3rd Century BC campaign in Roman Italy.....but I couldn't resist!!!! ....yes  I know there were no Landsknechts during the AWI!!!
I'm still painting pikemen and jinetes- but I guess I'll just have to work on two periods at once...ouch.....don't tell the missus!

MODERN AFRICA ( PART 3 )SENSATION AT THE UN: T’Mbolo M’shombou wins a double victory.

A recent emergency gathering of the UN Security Council has expressed concern over the recent escalating violence in the small central African nation of Zogo. News reports from creditable sources and Zogo state media have reported a double success for the forces loyal to His Imperial Majesty, Royal Highness, The Right Honorable , His Eminence, General President T’Mbolo M’shombou, father to his people and Messiah of the Nation of Zogo. The President, known for his willingness to drown dissenters in a golden bathtub, was in fine form at a recent 29 hour press conference, where only one question was asked; by a reporter from the New York Times. The reporter was then invited to view the presidential golden bath. And never returned. The rest of the conference was a speech by the Great Leader.

Government troops awaiting the Rebel onslaught!

The Big Man himself overseeing his armoured support

Modern Africa- Trouble on the Zogo (PART 2)

The President was in his Palace when the news came.

He was not happy. His Imperial Majesty, Royal Highness, The Right Honourable, His Eminence, General President  T'Mbolo M'shombou was a father to his people. His loved them all. Some more than others. It was a measure of their ingratitude that again, the trouble making Baako tribesmen of the south were causing trouble.
Did they not have work? Working 14 hour days in the Uranium Mines? Digging underground for diamond? Did they not have food? They were given a coconut and rice each day? His advisers had warned him that the Baako were trouble. Their spokesman, Beeko Mumfasa was stirring up dissent.
Well, his uncle, the Great and Wondrous Aboiye had been forced to lop off a few heads. It was time to do so again.
So confident was the General President of Victory, that he left his Presidential Palace Grenadier Life Guards in the Capital, M'shombou City.  He went south with some of his beloved Zogo African Rifles.

The Village at the center of the rebellion

Modern Africa- A small campaign (PART1)

Spyros once posed the notion of a game in Modern Africa with our forces.  We'd played Rhodesian Bush war scenarios and fighting in Mali, but he wanted a more involved game. So, after a few sources of inspiration (Force on Force, a few movies like Tears of the Sun and the Wild Geese,  the AK-47 Republic rules as well as countless other stuff!) I came up with a game that was a small campaign using amendments for Modern Bolt Action.

His Royal Highness, Imperial Majesty, The Most Enlightened, Highly Exalted,
Commander -In Chief, Field Marshal General, Commodore Admiral and President of Zogo for Life:
T'mbolo M'shombou

Burgundian Ordonnance vs French Ordonannce

Two armies that I have fought, and lost to, fought it out on the table top last week. I dropped in to grab some photos of Richard's Burgundian Ordonnance Army facing off against Ross' French Ordonnance Army in a late 15th Century clash. The battle  had bombards, super heavy knights, Swiss pike men, longbows, light cavalry and lots more besides. It was a very close game with Ross and Ralph going down to Richard and Nick.

The pictures came out very nicely- for more info see 'Tarty's Tin' blog down the right hand side.

The Knights Clash

Bagradas 255BC- A nice big refight!!

My Romans emerged from their cupboard alongside Paul's Romans to take on a fraction of Nick's Carthaginians, to refight the battle of Bagradas in 255BC. 

Nick has enough Carthaginian lead to create Hannibals army in a 1:2 scale.....yes he has two figures for every one of Hannibal's. I may be overstating the case but to lay his Carthaginians edge to edge requires 30 feet of table. But in this instance he brought a small fraction with him to fight this historical refight.

Historically the Carthaginians, under the command of the Spartan Xanthippus defeated the Consul Regulus...saving Carthage. So it was time to give it a go......... (maybe the Romans (Ross and Paul) could reverse History!)

Ottomans Vs French Ordonnance

Ross finally got his French Ordonnance Army together- and challenged my Spanish to a game. If you saw my previous blog, my Spanish only have about 12 Units...not enough. But I had another contemporary opponent available- My Ottomans! So a challenge was issued forthwith and I made an appropriate selection of Janissaries, akinjis, spahis, Qapiqulu guard and other assorted rubbish.

Ross' French knights.

Italian Wars- Rennaissance

If you take a look at some of the Blogs I regularly read, many of them are dedicated to, or have great sections on the Italian Wars 1494-1559. There is a lot of colour and pageantry in this period along with diverse troop types. Swiss mercenaries, French Gendarmes, Italian crossbowmen, Landsknechts, arquebusiers, Spanish Jinetes- you name it, it's there. And some very colourful personalities- Pope Julius II, the French Kings Charles VIII, Louis XII, Francis I. Add to this mix El Gran Capitan -Gonsalvo de Cordoba and a host of other characters from France, the Empire, Spain and the Italian States- Naples, Venice, Milan, Florence...you get my drift! There is enough stuff to keep any wargamer occupied for a few weeks at least!! And when Ross recently told me that he would be doing a French Ordonnance army to cover the second half of the 15th Century I figured that's close enoughfor me. By adding Swiss and some extra artillery he could have Charles VIII's army that invaded Italy in 1494, I decided is was time for me to get my act together and make an opposing force.

Zombies in Africa!!

Now many of you 'serious' gamers who play 'proper' games may be horrified at the title...but I gotta confess, the sheer laugh aspect in this game was the motivating factor!
After the game in Mali with the Legion, ( see last post) as we were packing up someone suggested that in future, would anyone like to play a game,  'Walking Dead" style.
I thought 'Why not?'. It was still early afternoon, so we had time. I told the boys to pick any figure from all the ranges I've got.
Dumb order.
With 3 minutes I had a Games Workshop giant, a Polish Winged Hussar, a horned demon, two ogres, a dog and a US special forces figure on the table.
I clarified my instruction....'Any HUMAN figure ON FOOT!'.
Well there were some complaints, a death threat or two and a punch thrown, but 5 minutes later there was a Japanese Samurai (Evan),  a Spartan from '300'(George), a little old lady with a stick (Chris), a 'Clint Eastwood' style character with small repeating crossbow (Connor), a US special forces figure on foot (Spyros' choice never changed), and a strange man in a long grey coat (Nick) with a funny moustache who screamed a lot...please don't ask....you'll see.

Zombies in the shanty town!