War of Spanish Succession with Monday Morning Gamers part 2

 

  Sad to say my narrative of the game will be short.  Due to real life difficulties I could not attend the game.  Interviews for possible jobs and family issues had came up.  But some players sent Pictures and reports and I can tell the story if what transpired.

  On the Allied right flank the Austrians And friends continued the advance.  Their cavalry defeated the French horse and sent it off the field.  Although the "Wild Geese" put up a gallent fight they too were forced to retreat.  Eventually the flank cleared the Austrians pivoted to attack the village.

  On the Allied left flank he Dutch were less then successful.  The French drive them from the field and then they pivoted to take the Allied center in flank.

 And in the center the English and Hessians defeated the French infantry and cavalry outside the village.  But although they got a toe hold in the village they could not push the defenders out.  

  So, who won?  A tactical victory for the French. They held the village. But they could not reinforce it.  While they had defeated the Dutch they had little left to relieve the village.  On the other hand the Austrians were now feeding into the attack.  So, perhaps a strategic victory for the Allies?

  No matter it was a great game and all hoped we could continue to play with these rules again.  I think the War of Spanish Succession was a crowd pleaser and we will see it again.

War of Spanish Succession with Monday Morning Gamers

 

  Something different for me, a War of Spanish Succession game.  Peter brought over his figures and set up the game ahead of time.  It was in 25mm and rules used were Blenheim 2004.  The scenario was a meeting engagement with both sides trying to capture the town or reduce the other side to a breaking point.   There were six player (three per side) and each commanded two infantry brigades, and artillery piece and two or three cavalry regiments.  The French had a unified command and could freely reinforce each other.  The Allies were anything but.  You could not reinforce another command or talk to your co- commanders after the game started and your game plan shredded to.  Basically it really hurt not having Marlborough in charge.

My command was in the Allied center and had A British brigade of infantry, a artillery piece and a Brigade of Hessian type infantry (who I referred to as sub contractors).  I also had two cavalry regiments.  I was to go forward and try and drive the French from the village while my Allies to either flank drove off their opponents.

On both of our flanks massive cavalry battles ensued.  On the right flank the Austrians cavalry defeated the French and drive them off.  The Austrian infantry then marched forward to engage the French.

But on the left flank the French handily drove off the Dutch cavalry.  While the infantry of both sides moved against against each other the French cavalry started to swing wide to take that flank.

In the center my artillery destroyed the French gun.  The French cavalry moved forward towards my infantry which then mowed them down with musket fire.

My infantry moved around the village and engaged the French infantry.  I thought I would drive off the infantry and isolate the troops in the town.

At thus point, after five hours we called a halt to the game and will continue next week.  Stay tuned!

Club Game Night 25 September

 

Kevin Kane – Franco-Prussian War
Rules: Modified Nach Paris, 24mm, 4-6 Players
A French Corp has been ordered to turn and face the Prussians once again. They are fortunate to have a heavy gun emplacement protecting one of their flanks. Will it be enough? Already dark blue masses are surging towards the French line with more marching fast behind. Krupp guns move into position. A mitrailleuse battery rattles into action…

I will be doing a separate write up for this battle which I played in.  More to follow!

John Macone – Saving General Paulus
Rules: Modified/simplified Battlefront (basically Fire & Fury for WW2) , 15mm, 4-6 Players
It’s mid December in 1942, and the battle of Stalingrad has taken a dramatic turn. The Soviets have encircled Paulus’ 6th Army and are steadily strangling it. 6th Army’s only hope is Operation Winter Storm, a German counteroffensive intended to break through the Soviet bearhug. The German armored advance moves quickly through the surprised Soviet defense, until it hits a little crossroads village called Verkhny-Kumsky. The fate of Paulus and his men will be decided by a head-on armored engagement at this town, pitting Mark IIIs and IVs vs. T-70s, T-34s and KV1s. And some infantry, Stukas and Katyuskas just to round things out.

AJ Wright – Kampfgruppe Counter Attack
Rules: AJ’s Iron Cross multi-player variant, “Iron Cross Action”, 28mm, 4-7 Players
Date: 28 June 1944, 1330 hours
Location: Just South of Granville at Le Valtru, Normandy
History: Nearly simultaneously with the attack along the Villers-Bocage-Caen road, Kampfgrouppe Weidinger attacked to the south of Granville to secure the structures and orchards of Le Valtru. Just prior to the German attack, elements of D-Company Seaforth Highlanders had occupied this important and defensible terrain. The British were just consolidating their position when the German attack began.

Impudent Mortal Buildings Are Back!

 

  Back in 2019 I bought my first MDF buildings.  These were from a company with an unusual name called Impudent Mortal.  They were easy to put together and looked very good.  My table terrain instantly looked better.  I bought a set of buildings including a Georgian Manor house, a Grist  Mill and a covered bridge.  I wanted to buy more buildings but sad to say the owner of the company died and the company was closed.  

  Well all that has now changed.  The company is back in business.  There is a Facebook site and a Esty site you can order buildings from.  This is great!

  The buildings are very nice and priced right;  very affordable.  Compared to other MDF buildings these are slightly larger.  What Ed on the Fife and Drum miniature forum calls "heroic scale."  In the picture above the Imputant Mortal building is on the right and a building by Things From the Basement on the left.

If you are interested in ordering any of these buildings their Esty site here:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/ImpudentMortal1

Test game The Sword and The Warclub

  To test out the rules I set up a small game that I played out solo.  It was more to familiarize myself with the rules which I have not played in along time. I hope to iron out the kinks before playing with a actual  opponents.  Again, I plan on using the rules pretty much straight out of the box with a few variables I mentioned last post.

 A small company of  colonial militia are tasked with escorting a supply wagon to a garrison house.  The company had ten figures and there is another ten figure company within the house.  They cannot leave the house until they hear gunfire.  The company is marching up the road with five figures in front and five figures behind the wagon.

Set up in the woods to both sides of the woods are three Native Warrior bands of ten figures each.  They will not reveal themselves until the firing phase.

The wagon and its escort move up the road unaware of the danger.  Although there is the spotting rule I have cut back the distance to half. They then roll a D6 and spot the enemy on a 4-5-6.   This is due historically the colonial inability to find a ambush force before it found them!

  The first two cards drawn in the firing phase are red!  musket fire from the woods hit three figures who are wounded.  When a black card is drawn the return fire hits one warrior. I am using the charts from the rules as is.  Egyptian infantry for colonist militia and the Pathan chart for native warriors. I am not worried too much about ranges.  

  Next turn the wagon and its escort race up the road. They use a charge move.  For the game I will take stragglers for a charge move to an object or to simulate a run.  When charging  opponent for close combat I don't worry about it.   The militia from the house move out to support the wagon. The two warrior bands move forward also.

At the start of the firing phase the third warrior band revels itself and its fire kills the leader of the wagon train escort.  But fire from the militia from the house kills or wounds wounds half of the band (good die rolling!)   

 In the moral phase both the wagon train escort and third  warriors band fail their morale. The warriors retreats towards the ridge while the militia abandoned the wagon and race for the house.   Because they failed moral I have them abandon the wagon (which is now immobile)  and flee to the house.  Again, because they failed moral they do not stop to carry the wounded.  Its every man for himself. 

Out numbered the militia from the garrison house fall back behind the stone wall in front of the house.  The other two bands if warriors more closer.  Both groups have a long range shoot out with no casualties but lots of smoke (Note, both groups are under cover).  At this point some of the warriors charge towards the wagon.  The wounded are killed and the wagon is set on fire (roll a D6 with a 5-6 start fire).   Satisfied with the results they leave the field to head home and celebrate their victory.

Conclusion:

The rules came through and delivered a fun game.  It struck the right balance between a skirmish and big battle game which was something I was looking for.  Although the ranges for weapons might appear extreme I think they work within the terrain and size of my table.  Its hard to hit a figure within cover.  A future problem could be with the reduced size units.  A twenty figure unit can take more casualties then a ten figure unit.  But until I build bigger units these work fine.

On game balance I think both sides have their advantages and disadvantages.  Both have similar weapons and similar results for firing.  But the colonists have slightly better moral while the warriors can more quickly through the terrain.  Its harder for the colonists to detect a ambush due to the spotting rules.  With the addition of Christian Indians added to a colonial militia company that will change.  Historically later in the war this is what happened and it was a new ball game.  

I am most happy with the results and plan on using  these rules for further battles. And comments or suggestions are welcome as thus will be a work in progress.

The Sword and War Club

 

  In searching for a set of rules to play my King Philips War games with I have decided to try out a old favorite; "The Sword and the Flame."  Although written for 19th Century Colonial battles it has been adapted for many other conflicts throughout the ages.  It is also a fun game to play and a set of rules most people I game with are familiar with.  In the past I have had a number of very fun and most memorable games.  The French intervention into Mexico game where I killed "El Guapo" (and made Larry Brom fall off his chair laughing)  comes to mind. But that is another story for another day as they say.

  I am not planning in doing a lot of  reversions;  more of a "vanilla" version where Colonists use the Egyptian charts and Native Warriors use the Pathan charts.  Due to lack of figures I will be using commands of 10, 12 and 15 figures per unit for infantry.  Mix them up in the same game to add variety.  Each unit gets only one leader. A special or elite unit might get two but that will be unusual.

  The Colonists will use the Egyptian charts.  The Natives use the Pathan chart.  Ranges are as is. Both sides used flint lock muskets.  Match locks went out very very quickly with the colonists and the natives never liked them.  So both sides have the same  "technology. " 

  Formations are loose Skirmishers lines and massed groups.  Colonists were know to occasionally form line for volley ( but not very often) and some occasions  a back to back or circle rather then square.  But those were desperate affairs.  

  I am not worried about using stragglers for charging,  but am using it if using a charge move to get to a location quickly. Not everyone can keep up!   Carrying away the wounded is requiring a lot of thought.  From my reading it might not be required.  There was a lot of " there but for the grace of God goes I" and days later we recovered and buried the bodies.   At the retreat after The Turner's Fall Fight the main body of Colonists knowing left the rear guard, the commander saying each man for himself.  But we will see.

The colonies secret weapon were the Christian or Praying Indians.  They were excellent at scouting and preventing an ambush.  I have not read of any difference in their fighting abilities;  So I am thinking of using  them as scouts.  They will be attached to a command but operate independently and can only be hit with a special card (king, queen joker).   this way they can find and warn about an ambush before it happens.

Another unusual unit will be Colonists cavalry.  They appeared to be mounted Infantry.  So rude to the battlefield and dismount to fight.  But there were a few (very few) mounted cavalry charges.  

That's its for now.  More after a couple play tests.  I will post A solo game soon to show how it plays.

And, as always feedback is appreciated and looked wanted.