7th Cavalry: A Troop in trouble- F Troop relieved. A Plains Wars Solo Game

 Being in Lockdown, I dragged out some figures that I've had for years and haven't used! Some very nicely painted Plains Wars in 28mm. 

A Troop did get in Trouble....F Troop was relieved..not as in 'hold until relieved' but relieved in the sense that they didn't have to fight!

Now the following incident is not really about F Troop ( A Troop really gets it) but how could I play a Plains Wars game without a reference to the show? Anyway,  most of the humour is from the show- so I won't take any credit! So with apologies to the writers and cast of the old show...........

A TYPICAL DAY AT FORT COURAGE:

A wagon train was to be escorted by the brave boys of F Troop. 

Inside Fort Courage, the Boys in Blue were told: 

'An easy job, boys,' says Captain Parmenter , ' You'll be back before sundown!'

A TROOP - on the march because F Troop was lost.

The men grumbled under their breath. The Captain might think he's the man who keeps the peace....but all the men know that the local Indians - the Hekawi tribe- call him 'The Great White Pigeon'.

Great Northern War Russians

 So the Swedes need someone to pick on and these boys are the ones. I intend to get a few Saxon battalions- a change of flags from my War of the Spanish Succession redcoats and there will be even more for the Swedes to beat up. 

This is a nice little force with 18 squadrons of dragoons and 12 Infantry Regiments- all pike and musket armed. Plenty of artillery rounds out the review....now just to get them all on the table and fight the Swedes!

Russian guns!

Romans and Carthaginians

 A few weeks ago, lockdown in NSW was called....so we had a few hours to get a game in before it all began at 11:59pm.....I drove to the East- we set up and played between 7:45 and 11:22. 

Then I raced home!

My early Carthaginians vs Ross' Romans. I always like the early Carthaginians as they don't have the same reputation as Hannibal's mob- and I am reminded of Phil Barker's comments in the old WRG DBM  army lists-  "The tactics of early Carthaginian armies were uninspired. Without Hannibal's genius to make optimum use of different capabilities of their varied mercenary troops, the heterogeneity of their forces was a liability rather than an asset. .... no doubt wargames generals, however,  will supply the necessary genius to lift this army out of its tactical rut"

So- naturally I chose to field an early Carthaginian force- extra elephants, a number of Numidians, a splash of Spanish, a grab bag of Gauls, a smattering of spearmen  (see what i did there with the alliteration?) and a handful of hoplites- Greek Mercenaries. 

Paul (unimpressed with my literary skills- he thinks I can't speak English) commanded my right wing - I held the centre and the left.

Ross chose a Roman force. Of course he chose loads of f*cking legionaries, some Thracian allies, the regular useless Roman cavalry and a few other bits and pieces.

My elephants- looking to stomp Romans!

The main action took place on the flanks where Paul and I tried to overcome the assorted rubbish that Ross had assembled to protect his legionaries. 

More painting- 105 figures!

 A couple of boxes have arrived recently with 5 regiments of Great Northern War Swedes- from Warfare Miniatures and a packet of gun crew. These are the last of my GNW figures to finish off the Swedes. 

And yes I still blame Barry Hilton- it's not enough that he sells me the figures but the relevant books as well. The man just keeps feeding my addiction. ( Thanks Barry!) 

Russians are ready. Ottomans are ready.

Now I just have to finish off the Swedes. 5 Infantry Regiments to go: the first unit is undercoated and ready to go!

Undercoated- first regiment to get started on.

SPANISH CIVIL WAR - encounter battle.

 

A period the Brothers come back to every so often- The Spanish Civil war gives us the opportunity to display the full spectrum of political views within our group.....and as i have said- I hold the correct ones- the others are just fascist bastards.

In this encounter battle, the Nationalists and the Republicans were advancing towards a town to capture the three bridges and halt the advance of the opposing force. What turned into a bloody stalemate was an enjoyable game as neither side managed to capture more than one bridge each. Time ran out- so neither side could declare victory!

The Table

A change of pace- 40K

 Well I don't normally post games that are Sci-Fi, but my son and his "Band of Wargame Brothers" often play 40k. I decided to join in...but got lost is a flurry of 'Sons of Nurgle' , 'Forge World', 'Power Armour', 'Saving throws', 'Invulnerable saves' and loads of dice throwing. Using a table that had been left out and slightly modified from a previous day's Spanish Civil War game. 

I hadn't played in a long time, but it was an interesting experience!!  I did get a tad confused but lots of things got killed- and we rolled a lot of dice!!

I learnt a few new tricks...I am wondering if I can include a 'Drop Ship' in my next American Civil War game?? The Texas Brigade 'dropping in' behind Union lines??

Or some 'Terminators' against the Army of Louis XIV???....I know.!!!...."Khorne Beserkers" to help out my poor performing Republican Romans!!!

Great Northern War- Solo Effort. Swedes vs Russians.

 

Taking my Great Northern War Russians and Swedes out I decided to give them a solo run on the table on the  back deck one afternoon.

The Swedes had to cross the shallow slow flowing river and push the Russians off their defensive position.  The Russian position was held with only Infantry and Artillery , but was well sited, facing the river. The Russian flank was a little in the air, but the expected arrival of a Brigade of Russian Dragoons was supposed to fix that.....it nearly worked.

A fun little game that saw my some of GNW stuff on the table for the first time.

The Plan of attack for the Swedes- white arrows.
The arriving Russian cavalry indicated by the red arrow.
The Blue square indicates the Dal Regiment which was ordered to just hold that bank....but they did a lot more than that....

The Army of Louis XIV vs the Grand Alliance

A game from a long while ago ( a year or two??) that was played one evening.  I took the photos, wrote up the report and then forgot to post!

     

    The Army of Louis XIV was ordered to hold a small hill line anchored on each flank and in the center on three villages: Oberglau, Mittelglau and Unterglau.  The French were told that the villages were the key to victory.  The Allies ( MiLord Duke of Marlborough) were ordered to defeat the French and Bavarian forces by ignoring the villages and capturing the hills between each village.

Reminiscent of the Battle of Blenheim,  without the Nebel stream, this was quite a big fight with over 40 battalions on the table and nearly 50 squadrons. 

On the left, the Bavarians with French Dragoons, held their own very effectively against the Prussians and Dutch. 

The French center came under enormous pressure but held without buckling. On the allied left, the pressure was mounting, but time, rather than troops ran out after a long game. A French victory! Louis XIV would be proud!

Ottomans and Byzantines

I was sitting in front of the Idiot Box early one Saturday morning when my phone rang. 

Ross hurled insults down the phone. 

I caught the words, 'lazy', 'evil' , 'useless' ' poor dice' , 'lousy generalship' and ' stinking Turk'. 

At first I thought he was describing his new Facebook profile but then I realised he was challenging my Ottomans to a game- I can be a bit slow at times- or his English is so poor that he couldn't make himself understood.

So packing the forces of Osman into my car I headed to the far east to teach him some respect. 

Ross fielded his Nikephorian Byzantines and I was using my early 15th Century Ottomans. Now this anachronistic match up is not to everyone's taste- most gamers like to be 'in period' but occasionally it can be fun. Especially when I have to teach Ross a lesson.

What ensued was a very tough fight against two quite well matched armies.

Ross' left flank (Norman mercenaries and his clibanophoroi) swept away my light cavalry and the two supporting sipahi units. 

In the center, my voynuks and sipahis fought a hard brawl with his skutatoi and kataphractoi, which he eventually won.

On my left flank however , my combination of Janissaries and Sipahis made his flank crumble, but I couldn't get my guys to swing inwards fast enough. A close fought game, but Battle Honours to Ross.

Well done mate...until next time ....when I will kick your a**e.

ARMY REVIEW- The Ottomans

I must be getting old and reminiscing way way too much.

I decided the other day to put the Ottomans on Parade- the whole army hasn't been on the table top in years, although sections of it have seen action quite a lot of action.

I've had the core of this army for over 30 years with bits added over time- and it's my all time favourite. 

I've insisted that I be buried with it when my time comes!!

Because of it's sentimental value, I decided to photo every unit and stand, just so I can look at the photos when I'm bored in a meeting at work! So now you will all have to suffer a blog with all the photos!

This army has won a couple of competitions ( I still have the two trophies) - lost a hell of a lot more- but has always taken pride of place on my shelves! The figures are a combination of Hinchcliffe, Essex and Dixon, Redoubt,  Warlord Games and a few Foundry ( I think!!).

Painting in progress- Winged Hussars and British Napoleonics

 Years and years ago ( yes, you've all done this) I bought a couple of boxes of figures and put them in a cupboard where they sat ( on the Lead Mountain) for over a decade. Then in a burst of painting inspiration I took them out a few weeks ago and thought...yes...now I want to paint them.

The figures were Warlord Games Polish Winged Hussars- for me not the easiest to paint and to be honest I'd always figured I might send them to a pro to get them done...but in a fit of impulsiveness i decided to give them a go.

It's funny how we spend all this money on stuff...just to put them away for 'later use'.

So as my GNW war collection is growing I have these based to fight my Ottomans for the Renaissance but the frontage can double up for the GNW.

The Napoleonic Brits were from Front Rank.

Why buy them?     I don't know, I just liked them.

Do I have any other British Napoleonic 28mm?     No.

Do I have any Napoleonic 28mm?     No

Do I intended building an army?    Not really.

Do i just want to spend money and paint them.? Well..yes. 

Why? ...well...I stupidly bought a book on Waterloo, and another one of the War of 1812......just had the urge. So they came out of the Lead Mountain.

Operation "Peace for Galilee' 1982

 

Spyros has some extraordinary collections- one of which is the Israeli and Syrian forces for the 1982 invasion of Lebanon.

In this scenario an Israeli armoured column was tasked with clearing a small town of Syrian troops. The Syrians were supported by some militia. They also had 2 T-55 and 4 BMP-1s.

The Israeli support was 3 tanks ( one a Merkava, one  Centurion Sho't and an M60 variant) as well as 6 M113 APCs and  4 recon jeeps.

See the photos below with the captions for much of the story. 

See Spyros Blog for more Photos and more details : NO DUFF GAMER

A close gritty encounter that saw substantial numbers of Israeli vehicles take damage or be destroyed. The Syrians were, in effect, wiped out. The militia took out a number of jeeps and one APC but then ran off after the Israeli Vulcan M113 opened up on the building they were hiding in.

                                       

VALE- A good friend and dedicated wargamer

Sadly, we have lost one of The Band of Brothers. 

Our Brother and good friend, Nick Malanos, passed away last week after a very long battle with cancer. 

The man with a sharp mind,  a cheeky grin and the uncanny ability to roll more sixes than anyone I know,  almost always just when he needed them.

Now at the great wargames table in the sky; 

may you always roll sixes and may your troops always be victorious. 

Rest in Peace.

Vale.

Αιωνία η μνήμη 

Boxer Rebellion: The Allies take the field- The Relief expedition Part 1.

    The dusty plains of northern China...summer of 1900.......

The allied contingents under the command of Admiral Seymour have launched the expedition to relieve the besieged allied legations at Peking. Forced to disembark off the train, the various contingents deployed, and prepared to attack the common enemy- the Boxer, who were backed up by Imperial troops!

    A multiplayer game using the Men Who Would Be Kings rules- and all players- six in fact all on the same side.

    Ralph played the Austrians and Italians, Ross the British and Americans, Geoff the Germans, Paul the French, Richard the Russians and Phil the Japanese. Each contingent was given specific objective on the table - but then given a briefing card that they could not show the other players.  (see the end of the Blog)

Table with the Allied contingents ready to go.

AWI - Monmouth- Washington saves the day.

An AWI game refighting the second phase of the battle of Monmouth. This was the first game we had a couple of months ago after the lockdown was lifted.
We did the second half of the Battle of Monmouth June 28 1778.
In this stage, the Continental Army under Washington was rallied after fleeing when being led by General Charles Lee.
We used the British Grenadier scenario booklet for the positioning of forces.
The rules were the quick play set from 'Der Alte Fritz' Blog.

I made some notes as I went along...then lost them. All I remember is that the game pretty much followed the historical outcome - The Redcoats would call off the fight as both sides were taking losses.

Cornwallis' Brigade ( on the bottom right) facing Wayne's Brigade.

Cornwallis' Brigade- 

Boxer Rebellion

Putting some of my Boxers and their enemies thru their paces last week, Phil was the US Marines, Russians, British Sailors , Japanese and Austrians and I played the Boxers.
Rules were The Men Who Would Be Kings.

A simple scenario- the Allied column(s) were ordered to clear a Boxer held village.

British sailors and a supporting Nordenfelt machine gun.

Great Northern War- How many periods can a figure junkie be collecting??

It had to happen: I've got books, I read other people's blogs and have cut out all the relevant articles in wargames magazines.....Barry Hilton and the League of Augsburg blog- I blame you......And now that I'm sitting on my butt in isolation.......

It's fascinated me for years, so I've started putting together a Great Northern War collection.
I don't intend to let this get too big- perhaps a 8-10 or so battalions a side with 12-15 squadrons plus some guns- I've got Danes from my WSS and Prussians ( for the later stages) as well as Ottomans to fight the Russians and my red coated British troops could double up, with a suitable flag change,  as Saxons.....

I think I'm nuts.
The Brothers think I'm nuts.
My wife knows I'm nuts.
More figures.
More space taken up on the my shelves.
Less cash in my wallet.
Oh well alea iacta est!

The Swedes.- I know the infantry need flags and I will need a lot more if i'm going to take on all those others!

Army in Review : Vignettes, Officers and stuff

After my Army on Review of Louis XIV, I realised that I had a lot of small vignettes that I had never photoed - so here they are.
The officer vignettes are mostly Front Rank with some Foundry and Dixon.
All the vignettes are from Eureka Miniatures!

Army in Review- Louis XIV

I took to cleaning out my cupboard and putting the whole Louis XIV force on display. I didn't realise how big! Most of the units come from the War of the Spanish Succession, but quite a few are from the 1670s, 80s and 90s. So there is a mix of uniforms and many have pikes too.

Force on Force: War on Drugs- Special forces strike on Cartel base

Evan, Nick, Connor and James wanted a game of Force and Force as they sat in the garage, waxing lyrical about the games from long ago.  So Spyros said- I've got the armed civilians and the special forces team, a couple of planes and other bits- do you have any terrain?
I rummaged around and found some bits and pieces and behold we were ready to go.

Sicario on the edge of the airfield

One side of the table- one plantation.

 SITUATION: The US President, after solving the Middle East, the problems in Africa, the coronavirus problem and the Pepsi vs Coke war decided to deal with the major social issue confronting the nation- The War on Drugs.