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.

Boxer Rebellion - 1900! New project ...yes another one.

Well we've all seen '55 Days in Peking' with Charlton Heston and David Niven. There have been some great games replicating the siege of the Allied Legations and I still have the Wargames Illustrated and Miniatures Wargames editions that both had the participation game by the Staines Wargamers. I think those articles are amongst my all time favourites. Well I sold my Indian Mutiny to Chris about a year ago and put it into some Boxers...and some imperial Chinese troops....soon there were Russian infantry, Italian, Austrian and French sailors, US Marines...etc etc....

British Sailors

Battle of Atlanta July 22nd 1864- ACW

Some of the brothers assembled for an ACW stoush- the battle of Atlanta July 1864- using the scenario in the old Fire and Fury Western scenario booklet.  We even had Noel join us all the way from South Africa.
In this battle John Bell Hood's Army of Tennessee was trying to break the tightening ring of the Union army approaching Atlanta. He sent Hardee's corp to outflank the Union Army of  The Tennessee of General James B McPherson. Cheatham's corp was to hit the Union line at the same time. Well, that was the plan, but Hardee was held up by the terrain- and some very tough fighting Union soldiers ( under Ross' command) .
Nick played Hardee with Noel, Chris and Paul as his subordinates. Cheatham's command was also ( when it finally arrived) played by Paul and Chris.  Ross was McPherson, Richard and Phil commanded Dodge's and Logan's Corps.

The game went very much as per the historical battle. Hardee's corp hit the Union flank hard, but didn't completely get around behind - so two of the encircling Confederate divisions hit the Union entrenchments and had great difficulty in dislodging the Union defenders. Two others got behind but were held up by several union brigades redeployed from the main line. In the end the Reb losses were very heavy and Hood called it a day!

View from the Confederate flank attack- Hardee's corp move didn't quite get around the entrenchments. 

Thracians vs Hellenistic Greeks- A fight and rematch.

Ross was impressed with his new Thracian army. So months ago he invited me over to admire the paint job- and get my butt kicked by his new army.
Thracians? Ptooi. ( That's a spitting sound to the uninitiated.)
Now I do know my ancient literature. Herodotus had claimed that the Thracians were amongst the fiercest warriors in the world and could have conquered everyone- but they were too busy fighting each other.
Okay- so what? - this was 2019. And besides Ross is a sh*tty general. My Greeks were going to teach these northern barbarians a lesson.

The report below was found by archaeologists digging in central Greece, just last week in fact. It was the despatch of an Achaean League general, Crapistos, a well known general, who went missing shortly after this engagement.  Strangely enough, it seems to follow the course of the battle that I fought with Ross.

Trouble on the Frontier again

Nick, Evan and James were fascinated by the Indigenous Warriors I had sitting on my shelf.
They demanded a game! So, being a congenial and willing host- the table was set up, the scenario was explained- and we had a good little game!

The warriors arrive- it's been a log summer, food is scarce- but the whitemen seem to have some to spare.

Romans and Seleucids

A post I started writing a year ago but never finished until now!
The Romans came out of hiding- (as readers of the blog would know, my record with my Republican Romans has been pretty appalling) to fight my Macedonians, parading as a Early Seleucid army.
Romans: Lochlainn and myself.
Seleucids: Richard, Phil and Paul. ( Ross was advisor in chief)
Two well matched armies with elephants, good infantry but the Romans were completely outnumbered in cavalry.

The Romans in line: Looking good lads!

Sydney- The Frontier Wars.

Inspired by 'A Grab Bag of Games' Blog  and 'Mac's Little Friends'  (see down the right hand side) I couldn't resist a game that represented historically what happened in my own back yard- So I bought some figures, made the terrain- bought some trees and hey presto- a nice little game!!

My solo effort was meant to give the rules a dry run- a group of warriors ( Just over 30) were hunting- and found a shearing shed and group on their traditional lands- a dozen or so Redcoats were in the area- they had to be - it wouldn't be much of a game if they weren't!