Classical Indian 2-Horse Chariots

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Regular visitors will know that one of my current projects is to build a Classical Indian army using the excellent 15mm CAD designed “Z” range from Museum Miniatures.

I already had enough figures to field a standard 130 point army for To The Strongest, which has already and quite successfully hit the tabletop a couple of time, but I wanted to add some units to increase it’s flexibility.

I say ‘increase its flexibility’ to mean two different things.

Firstly, I wanted to extend the figures’ use into other TTS armies, looking at the Vedic Indians as a starting point. This is an earlier army mainly consisting of chariots and javelinmen.

Secondly, I wanted to increase the tactical flexibility of the Classicial Indians. At the moment, I only have three commands, with my impact units being Elephants and Heavy 4-Horse Chariots. These are great, but risk being outflanked by armies with loads of lights. I therefore need more, slightly less powerful units as potential substitutes for the usual mighty, but inflexible, fist.

The lists all mention two-horse chariots as a slightly less powerful version of the heavy four-horse variety: less powerful so you get more of them. These would be ideal, except for the fact that Museum didn’t do them in their Z range.

Or at least they didn’t!

A quick e-mail to Dave, proprietor, with the request and justification, and within a couple of days (yes, days!) a two-horse chariot option hit the shop.

I bought nine!

These are, like the other figures in the range, lovely models and highly recommended. Great service from Museum as well. I feel ready for Alexander now!

SdKfz 7 Half-Tracks

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Finally managed to get some units off the painting table and into the finished pile!

Here are four SdKfz 7 half-tracks from Battlefront:

These are intended as tows for my early war German artillery: I painted up four 10.5cm le FH18 howitzers last year that are in need of transport.

Those of you who know these sorts of things will know that that sort of howitzer was actually pulled by the smaller SdKfz 6 half-track but, as far as I know, Battlefront don’t do those, and I got these in one of their 40% off sales…which shows how long they’ve been waiting for a coat of paint!

What’s the difference between the two, you ask?

Well, the SdKfz 7 is bigger: 50cms longer, 15cms wider and 14cms taller, and weighs a third more. There were also a lot more of them: about 12,000 built versus about 3,500.

Hopefully no-one will notice when they’re on the tabletop!

TFL Painting Challenge: Third February Update

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It’s raining outside, and the first coat on the bases of the artillery tows I’m painting are drying, so the perfect time to do a quick Painting Challenge update.

Plenty of entries despite the fact that only a week has gone by since the last update: lockdown is proving productive for many of you!

A special mention to Mr Plowman who, after a somewhat disappointing 16 points last year, bounces back with a 101 figure Dwarf army. Lovely work.

Visit the individual galleries, but here’s a taster of this week’s entries:

TTS AAR: Classicial Indians and the Achaemenids

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Two remote games of To The Strongest played at the weekend: both featuring my newly painted Classical Indians against a cobbled together army of Achaemenid Persians.

I say cobbled together because I don’t have an Achaemenid Persian army, so what ended up on the tabletop were Assyrians as Persian cavalry, some Medes from an Alexandrian army, some Greek types as Ionians, some Scythian types as horse archers, then Sassanid Persian infantry as Sparabara and, embarrassingly and perhaps the most heinous crime, Greek Hoplites as the Immortals!

Due to lockdown, the game was played remotely i.e. the table and figures were set up at my house, with my opponent being able to see what was going on over Zoom from his house. After last week’s first attempt, I’d invested in a new webcam, so the picture was much improved:

I also bought a little tripod for my mobile ‘phone (you can see it in position, above) so it was also a lot easier to move the “battlefield reporter” camera around as well.

Game One

So a victory for the Indians: a couple of enemy units killed by missile fire, but the main damage was from the heavy chariots punching their way through the centre. After the game, Bevan mentioned that he wasn’t expecting to find “cavalry” in the centre of my line, and this discombobulated his battle plan!

I also feel honour bound to mention that the cards were most certainly not falling for the Achaemenids!

Game 2

So a second victory for the Persians, although things were a lot closer this time.

Massed longbow fire, and the elephants/heavy chariots at the schwerepunkt, proved a winning combination. Both sides had infantry with strong missile fire but weak melee skills supported by decent melee troops (his cavalry, my elephants and chariots) but I had the advantage in both areas: my longbows outranged his bows, and my elephants/chariots were a bit better than his cavalry. These two advantages gave me the win despite having less units (by one!) and less flexibility (three commands to his four).

Still, I suspect Bevan will have his revenge. Next encounter will see me fielding the Indians again, but against an Alexandrian army…gulp!

IABNM Reborn!

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I knew there was a reason I spend so much time on keeping this site going!

One of Tim’s collection, taken from the IABNM Facebook Group

One of Tim’s collection, taken from the IABNM Facebook Group

Fellow Lardy Tim Whitworth was browsing the other day, and came across the battle reports that I have taken from Nick Overland’s currently hibernating Maxim to Milan blog.

Nick wrote a variation of IABSM called I Ain’t Been Nuked Mum or IABNM for short which made some brief but very successful appearances at various Lardy days.

Inspired by what he read, Tim has set up a Facebook Group for IABNM, which you can get to by clicking here. It’s got the latest draft of the rules on there, and some lists, so hopefully we’ll see a few games taking place shortly.

It’s certainly inspired me to get all those boxes of Soviet armour out of the cupboard, the ones I bought in the last Battlefront sale…!

TFL Painting Challenge: Second February Update

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As so many people are sending in entries at the moment, I thought I’d keep on top of things with a quick Painting Challenge update after only a week rather than the usual two.

As usual, some lovely figures submitted, so I do recommend that you visit the individual galleries, but here’s a taster to keep you inspired:

Lloyd also gives us the story behind the ships he’s submitted: a tale that shows that although wargamers may pass on to the great table in the sky, their collections continue…and that there’s a value in cleaning out the cupboards!

Thought I might send in some pictures of my latest project. The first picture is of merchant ships and some escorts, 42 total. These are all 1/2400 scale and the merchant ship models have an interesting history. My first gaming group in the north coast broke up about 25 years ago due to people moving out of the area and one very unexpected death. I inherited some the deceased’s collection .

I gleaned all the merchants from the old collection and bought a few more to make up a decent sized convoy. Only one of these ships had been painted in in something other than basic battleship grey, a very boring sight! Most of the models are Panzerschiffe models, very basic resin cast models, some of which went directly into the bin since they were so poorly cast! All were repainted in differing schemes which I hope are close to what might have been seen at the time. The Hunt and Flower escorts are recent purchases from GHQ since there were none of these ships in the old collection.

The second photo shows a further 11 escorts, all DDs from the old collections and all repainted. Most are Panzershiffe, thought there are a few metal models mixed in.

The third photo is my homage to our cousins to the north. At the end of the war the RCN was the third largest navy in the world and they had fought everyday in the Battle of the Atlantic. Again most of these are Panzerschiffe and I’ve snuck the GHQ Flowers into this photo since they are Canadian ships.

This project was another “clean out the cupboard” projects. I feel pretty good about it!

Napoleonic AAR: Austerlitz on Zoom!

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Another remote game: this time a re-fight of Austerlitz.

The set up was similar to that for Ostrolenka (see earlier this year) but with a few improvements. Two teams of three players each: the French (Mark, Peter and I) and the Austro-Russians (Dave, Steve and Trevor) each in their own Zoom breakout room.

Each team could see each other and a limited view of the battlefield, and each was periodically visited by an Aide de Camp (Bevan) who took our orders and passed them on to the Umpire (Edward) who ran the table.

Eight participants, eight different locations: the wonders of modern communication!

Set Up

The game would be played with the Age of Eagles ruleset but scaled at divisional level i.e. the smallest units were divisions grouped into corps.

Each turn would be one hour of battle time, and the battlefield was about 8 by 9 miles in size. Each side would decide their deployment and send in orders for their first (7.00am battle time) turn before the day of the game itself, with the aim being that each turn would take 20 minutes to play, meaning that playing nine turns would give us all a game lasting from 7pm to about 10pm.

Each turn, each team would be able to move their Army Command location and issue orders to each of their Corps. Or the team could decide to “ride about a mile and a half round your army to inspect things for yourself” instead of issuing orders.

As a guideline, we could issue a one sentence order with a one sentence advisory to each corps:

  • "V Corps to deploy between villages A and B. Artillery well to the front"

  • "II Corps to attack enemy to front. Cavalry in reserve prepared to take opportunities"

  • "IX Corps to assault village C. Watch out for enemy Corps behind hill to your left"

  • "III Corps to advance and pin enemy to front. Attack only if enemy corps disordered"

  • "VII Corps to withdraw behind XX stream line. Conscripts to form rearguard"

Corps would continue to follow their previous order until changed. We were further warned that:

  • If you issue an order to each Division you will run out of competent Aides de Camp to take orders before you get very far.

  • If you issue long and complicated orders with multiple conditions and sub clauses the Aide de camp will pass on a random selection that he remembers to the Corps commander.

Background

For those of you unfamiliar with Austerlitz, our briefing was as follows:

Napoleon’s successes against the Austrians during the second half of 1805 have been extraordinary, with Vienna taken and many prisoners seized. However, Czar Alexander of the Russian Empire has now come west to help his ally Emperor Francis. Despite the French triumphs, Paris is swirling with rumours about Napoleon’s imminent defeat and fall from power, especially after Nelson’s victory at Trafalgar. The French Emperor needs one final triumph on the battlefield, and the hilly ground near Austerlitz makes a perfect setting.

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Deployment

Our army could deploy anywhere in the western third of the map (roughly bordered by the line of the stream running between Kritschen and Tellnitz). The Emperor Napoleon could place his HQ wherever he likes within that area, but the battle is lost instantly if he is captured or killed.

Terrain

Streams were all easy to cross with only a modest loss of pace. Ponds and marshes were frozen, but would hinder movement somewhat. The battlefield was very hilly, with various plateaus. Santon Hill and the Goldbach Heights tower above all the other ground.

Victory Conditions

Our victory conditions were simple: victory would be achieved if significantly more casualties were inflicted on the enemy than were suffered by the French army, or if Czar Alexander was captured or killed. In either case, Austria would sue for peace and the Confederation of the Rhine could be established.

Our Troops

Our army consisted of six corps:

  • Bernadotte

    • Rivaux’s Infantry Division (some 5,500 men)

    • Drouet’s Infantry Division (some 6,500 men)

    • 1 Foot Artillery Detachment

  • Davout

    • Friant’s Infantry Division (some 7,700 men)

    • Bourcier’s Heavy Cavalry Division (2,700 Dragoons)

  • Soult

    • Vandamme’s Infantry Division (some 8,700 men)

    • St Hilaire’s Infantry Division (some 9,000 men)

    • Legrand’s Infantry Division (some 8,600 men)

    • Beaumont’s Heavy Cavalry Division (2,700 Dragoons)

    • 2 Foot Artillery Detachments (1 with heavy guns)

  • Lannes

    • Suchet’s Infantry Division (some 8,600 men)

    • Cafarelli’s Infantry Division (some 7,600 men)

    • Oudinot’s Infantry Division (some 5,400 Grenadiers)

    • 2 Foot Artillery Detachments

  • Murat

    • Kellerman’s Light Cavalry Division (about 2,100 Chasseurs and Hussars)

    • Wathier’s Heavy Cavalry Division (1,700 Dragoons)

    • Nansouty’s Armoured Heavy Cavalry Division (1,700 Cuirassiers)

    • d’Hautpol’s Armoured Heavy Cavalry Division (1,600 Cuirassiers)

    • 1 Horse Artillery Detachment

  • Bessieres (Imperial Guard)

    • Hulin’s Old Guard Foot Division (some 4,500 of the finest veterans)

    • Savary’s Old Guard Heavy Cavalry Division (1,600 elite horsemen)

    • 1 Foot Artillery Detachment

The Plan

As we didn’t expect the enemy to follow history and conveniently deploy in two easily-beatable chunks, we decided that we would go for the Pratzen Heights and then hold against all comers, waiting for the opportunity to exploit an opportunity.

We therefore issued the following orders to our corps commanders:

  • SOULT:

    • Deploys on Schlappanitz.

    • Turn 1 Orders:

    • Orders: Move as fast as possible east, keeping south of Girschkowitz and Blasowitz and up onto the northern end of the Heights.

    • Commentary: You must get up onto the Heights before the enemy.

    • Anticipation: Deploy along the edge of the Heights facing N-NE, with left flank covering Krug.

  • LANNES:

    • Deploys on Puntowitz.

    • Turn 1 Orders:

    • Orders: Move as fast as possible east keeping north of Pratzen and up onto the central mass of the Heights.

    • Commentary: You must get up onto the Heights before the enemy.

    • Anticipation: Form on Soult's right flank.

  • BERNADOTTE:

    • Deploys on Kobelnitz (or as close as our deployment limit allows)

    • Turn 1 Orders:

    • Orders: Move as fast as possible east via Pratzen and up onto the southern part of the northern end of the Heights.

    • Commentary: You must get up onto the Heights before the enemy.

    • Anticipation: Form on Lannes' right flank.

  • DAVOUT:

    • Deploys on Marxdorf

    • Turn 1 Orders:

    • Orders: Move to Puntowitz.

    • Commentary: Keep a sharp eye for Allied troops approaching from the south.

    • Anticipation: Guard against an Allied approach from the South

  • MURAT:

    • Deploys on Kritschen

    • Turn 1 Orders:

    • Orders: Move east to where the road crosses the Bosenitz Brook.

    • Commentary: Send scouts up onto the Santon Hill

    • Anticipation: Be ready to head either east or south dependent on what the enemy does.

  • BESSIERES:

    • Deploys on the Zurian Heights.

    • Turn 1 Orders:

    • Orders: Move to Girschkowitz.

  • FRENCH HQ & NAPOLEON:

    • Deploys with Lannes.

    • Turn 1 Orders:

    • Orders: Establish yourselves at the juncture between Soult and Lannes.

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The idea was that once our strong centre had encountered the enemy, we would either crush them straight on (if they had come straight at us) or pin them so that a flank could roll them up (if they had weighted their opposite flank).

We actually predicted to ourselves that they would go strong up north, so we were anticipating Soult and Lannes being engaged, Murat pinning, and Bernadotte swinging north and rolling the enemy up from the south.

The Game

In the event, I think it fair to say that things went sort, but not entirely to plan!

Here’s a series of snapshots from the game, with commentary where appropriate:

From left to right:

  • Bessieres takes the Guard forward to Girschkowitz to protect the left flank.

  • Soult (the three central columns) heads up the hill and encounters Russians

  • Lannes (top centre right) is already engaged!

  • Bernadotte is moving forward slowly, Davoult is in reserve. Why is all our artillery (the grey blocks) in a stream bed?

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The Guard have been hit by three divisions of Austrian Cuirassiers. Better send Murat to help.

Soult has a 3:2 advantage: should be okay.

Lannes still going strong.

Come on Bernadotte: get moving!

And will someone please get our artillery out of the stream!

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The Guard have been smashed backwards! How can this be? Bessieres is sacked!

Murat (off screen to the left) is engaged and reports that he’s doing well.

Soult has been pushed back? Does not compute: we had a massive advantage! Get back up the hill immediately!

Lannes is still going strong.

Urgent messages going to Bernadotte, and don’t even talk to me about our artillery!

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Murat still doing well to the left, but there seem to be lots of Russians coming towards him. No probs, we’ll break their centre and turn their right flank soon!

The Guard have retreated to a village and are sorting themselves out.

Soult goes back up the hill…but why has one division stayed behind?

Bernadotte is finally moving forward on the right. We bring Davoult forward to breakthrough the centre.

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Murat is starting to feel the pressure…but he needs to keep fighting to hold our left.

Soult is knocked back again! What is wrong with you, man, you are French and outnumber the enemy! Get up that hill now!

Lannes (lovely boy, lovely boy) is back moving forwards again.

Bernadotte est un escargot (snail) reborn as a French marshal. Will you please hurry up and hit them hard on the right so you can swing round and roll them up!

The guns! The guns!

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Murat has been dispersed, with only one division left, holding the Santon Hill. This is not good, but his sacrifice should have bought us time to win the centre and right and, as he said himself, any Hussar who is still alive at 30 is a blaggard and a coward!

The Guard have been pushed back (again!) but have determined to re-take the village. They’d better, Bessieres, as your future prospects are right in the middle of it!

Soult, Lannes and Bernadotte are pushing forward hard. Looking good: lots of blue, not so much green and white!

The guns are finally moving as well!

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Hmmm…there are some Russian coming from the left now but (Gallic shrug) the battle seems to be won in the centre and on the right.

We just need Bernadotte to push forward, but he’s whining about Austrian cavalry holding him up!

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A pity the battle didn’t end last picture: the enemy is resurgent!

This is where the battle ended.

Soult is barely holding, Davolut is under pressure, but Lannes and Bernadotte seem to be doing okay.

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The End

And that is, indeed where the battle ended.

Up to that last picture, we thought we’d been doing pretty well, but we were starting to come under lots of pressure.

Remembering the victory conditions, casualties were counted. We had taken 50% more than the opposition! Oops! Throwing Murat away like that had not been very helpful, and it was hard fighting all the way.

The Austro-Russians were claiming a glorious victory, but we thought that, situationally, we were on the cusp of a massive roll up, and we had taken the Heights and pushed the enemy back. That said, the victory claims from the French camp were much more muted: we knew that, whatever the situation, we had been quite badly roughed up.

Analysis

What did we do wrong?

Well, we deployed to perfection, but underestimated how long it would take to get our guns into play.

We were also a bit passive in issuing orders sometimes. I think we could have pushed some divisional orders onto our marshals to improve the tactical situation (although there wasn’t that much room for tactics given our charge forward!) and definitely used ADCs to get the guns and Bernadotte moving forwards more quickly.

Using Capitaine ‘Indsight again, Soult initial set back was a real surprise and really turned the tide against us really early on. The unit that turned him back was the Russian Guard, who were, to coin a phrase “immense” and held us up far too long. Without their resistance, we’d have been over the hill and into Austerlitz by lunchtime!

Our huge mistake, however, was not going to see what was going on with Murat. We left him to get on with it, even when things turned against him. we then threw him away…in that he should have disengaged and pinned the Russian right flank advance. That’s how cavalry do things, after all, but we just ordered him to keep fighting. Funnily enough, it’s what the Austrian cavalry did to Bernadotte on our right.

So, in summary, a good plan, that could have worked, but we should have been more active. I blame the hours I’d already spent on Zoom working that day: my equivalent of Napoleon’s Waterloo malaise!

Good play from the enemy too. We might have had a good plan, but I think it fair to say that they made no serious mistakes once battle was joined. Well done Dave, Trevor and Steve!

Anyway, onto…

The Result

For a final decision, let’s hear from the Umpire:

It was something of a heavy-weight bout, with both sides launching head-on attacks! It felt like two battering rams crashing into each other!

I'd call it a costly draw, although strategically more of a set-back for Napoleon perhaps.

To be honest, as one of the French players, I think we were relieved to be awarded a draw, but a draw had been declared and all that now remained was for Napoleon’s excellent propaganda machine to spin it into glorious victory!

To finish, my thanks to Edward and Bevan for running the game so smoothly, and to all the players for participating. It was a brilliant experience, and one I look forward to repeating soon.

From the Austro-Russians

A very enjoyable account, much like the reports I think Le Moniteur printed from time to time! 

Very roughly, the Allies anticipated where your main attack would come from and placed our strongest Corps to block it. Sadly, Buxhowden was apparently a little hungover and they moved very slowly at the start.  Our main plan was to hold the French on the Heights, with as compact a line as possible, whilst Bagration’s huge cavalry Corps savaged whatever you had on your left and then swung down the valley to smash into your advancing infantry on their flank.  The Russian Imperial Guard were nicely positioned to help stop and then drive back the initial French attack.  

Like a lot of things on the battlefield it don’t quite work out that way! Still Kutusov fought like a lion whilst always being outnumbered, Constantine’s Guards were magnificent, Bagration’s Cavalry did the business (Murat was always all trousers and whiskers) and once Buxhowden sobered up he know what to do. Oh and I suspect we got a few very timely dice rolls…

However our troops were all ordered to cut out the glorious but fatal charges on the French and to cause maximum casualties in defence.  This seemed to work and according to our victory conditions it looked like an Allied victory – but half way through we would have settled on the draw, so no complaints about the decision.

Yes, a really good idea which produced a great game. Well done Edward & Bevan.

Finally…

Here are some final, Umpire’s, shots of the game:

TFL Painting Challenge: First February Update

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A huge update this time round: lockdown is obviously proving a fruitful time for painting!

Some very fine work here: don’t forget to visit the individual galleries to see more…

TTS Remotely: Marian Romans versus Gauls

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Having now played in three remote games, I decided that I should try and run my own: seems only fair that I should host once in a while! I recruited a willing volunteer (thank you Bevan!) and set about, er, setting up.

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With the wargames room turned into a yoga studio until fitness clubs are open again, I had to set my tables up upstairs: plenty of room, but not as much light as usual. On the plus side, however, the wardrobe-like cupboard doors provided a useful place for the overall table camera to sit. This would give a bird’s-eye view of the battlefield whilst close up images were provided via a mobile ‘phone.

Connectivity was via Zoom. The laptop that you can see in the picture hosted the meeting, with the mobile ‘phone calling in as another participant. The overall camera gave a pretty rubbish picture, but it did at least allow Bevan to see everything that was happening, but his moves were mainly made based on the mobile ‘phone “roving camera” which I hovered over the table wherever the action was.

Testing the Set Up: this is what the remote player would see

Testing the Set Up: this is what the remote player would see

I had decided on To The Strongest as the grid-based system would mean no measuring and would be easier for Bevan to judge what to do. It would be a suitably un-anachronistic clash between my Marian Romans and Bevan’s Gauls.

In order to help Bevan keep track of his troops, I had bought a whole load of little stands to carry numbered tags. Although not really visible on the overall camera, they worked very well in close up, and allowed me to call out unit numbers rather than long explanations involving “this unit that’s near this thing” etc.

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The Sides

The Marian Romans consisted of four commands. The Proconsul commanded two legionary units (one veteran) and a unit of light archers. His first Legate also commanded two legionary units (one veteran) but with a unit of ballistae artillery. His second Legate once again commanded two legionary units (one veteran) but with a unit of eastern horse archers. Finally, he had an alae of two units of veteran auxiliary cavalry allegedly from Macedonia. I usually use Gauls as the auxiliary cavalry, but they were on the other side of the table so that I had to use some Persian-looking types instead.

Note the markers allowing Bevan to see which units were which

Note the markers allowing Bevan to see which units were which

Bevan’s Galling Gauls also had four commands. Two commands consisted of three deep warrior-warbands bristling with heroes; one command consisted of three cavalry units; and the final command was two units of iouantoues (youths) light infantry with javelins and another unit of cavalry.

There did seem to be an awful lot of Gauls!

The Battle

The battle opened with the entire Gallic line thundering forward, with the Romans advancing more cautiously towards them.

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The Gauls had their warbands on the left and centre, their light unit just to the left of the trees in the middle of the battlefield, and their cavalry on the far right.

The Romans had their Macedonian cavalry on the left, then a long line of legionary units with their associated light troops in front of them, except for the ballistae that were opposite the camp.

The Gauls come thundering forward

The Gauls come thundering forward

First action was on the Roman left, where the two cavalry forces clashed. The trees meant that the Gauls couldn’t use their superior numbers, and my horse was veteran, so I was hoping for some success here.

Regrettably, the Macedonians were obviously not enjoying the rather damper climes of Gaul, and were either pushed back in disorder or just disordered. Not a very good start!

Meanwhile, the two battle line drew together.

I quickly lost my light bowmen and horse archers to rampaging hairies, which meant that I would be one unit down in the main clash. On reflection, I should have sent my light bowmen into the trees on the right to threaten the left flank of the Gallic line, but unfortunately I didn’t think of that at the time!

Once the two lines clashed, it was actually all over pretty fast!

Although I held my own on either of the side combats you can see above, the warband in the centre moved forward towards the artillerymen (who were having a very bad day). I snapped one unit of legionaries backwards and left to plug the gap, which was quite impressive and shows the Romans’ manouevrability, but poor cards lost me a Legate and the nearest legionary unit.

Meanwhile, my left flank was crumbling. My usually impressive veteran horse were being very unimpressive, and the legionaries were getting surrounded. A foolish decision to help the cavalry didn’t help, and I lost the last of my coins to a charge from the rear!

Below is the position at the end of the battle. My left flank is just about gone: the legionaries having tried to help the cavalry out with, er, fatal results. My centre is holding, but Gauls have punched through and are about to engage the artillery hand-to-hand and then take my camp. My right could go either way.

Aftermath

All in all, a fairly conclusive drubbing for the Romans, but lessons learnt and I’m sure they will do better next time!

On the plus side, however, the “remote gaming” side of things worked nicely, and it is something I will run again…and I got to push some lead around a table for a change!

Robert Avery

Slow Painting!

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I’ve finally got around to finishing another unit of javelinmen for my 15mm Classical Indian army: seems to have taken me ages!

I’m not sure why things have slowed down so much, but I suspect it’s something to do with playing three remote games over the last couple of weeks. I don’t know if this is something that happens to you, but I find that I am either painting or playing, but not both in the same phase, as it were. Weird, as you would have thought that playing would encourage you to paint.

I think what I really need is a new project.

I have got projects to finish - another legion of Romans, more Classical Indians, more ECW, more Hoplites, more Alexandrian pikemen - but am not enthusiastic about any of them at the moment…and there’s nothing worse that trying to paint a unit when you’re not enthused. I shall have to have a hunt around for something new to start…so feel free to make some suggestions. Must be 15mm though, as I only game in that scale (and to mix scales is, I feel, the road to madness and bankruptcy).

That said, I am going to try and run my first remote game on Sunday, so am busy working out how to get the best position for the camera, laptop etc. A report will follow the game, so watch this space!

SP AAR: Ball's Bluff at Virtual Lard IV

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Yesterday I took part in my third virtual game in ten days, this time as part of Virtual Lard IV: the equivalent of a regular Lardy Day, but with all the games being played remotely.

Today’s game was a re-fight of Ball’s Bluff. It’s the beginning of the war and a super-keen Union artilleryman has advanced his guns forward over the James river into Reb territory. The Rebs have cottoned on to the fact that the gunners are out on their own and have sent a force to capture the guns; Union high command have seen this coming and dispatched troops to bring the guns safely home. The stage is set for an epic clash!

Click on the picture below to see what happened:

TFL Painting Challenge: Last January Update

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Just a quick update today as I’m playing in Virtual Lard 4 this morning.

A last set of entries from some of our most prolific painters: Carole, Travis, Chris and Sapper. Check out their galleries, but here’s a selection of what’s new:

Napoleonic AAR: Ostrolenka by Zoom

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Having very much enjoyed my first remote wargame last week, I took part in another last night: a Napoleonic clash between the Russians and the French based on the battle of Ostrolenka, 16th February 1807.

Re-enactors fight Ostrolenka

This was run quite differently to my last remote game. Three players a side, with initial briefings sent out a couple of days before the battle itself. Once all on Zoom and initial banter done, each side was put into its own breakout room, where we waited until our “Chief of Staff” (Edward: the gamemaster, or GM, for want of a better word) arrived to either (a) give a report on the progress of our troops and take orders or (b) escort us on a tour of the battlefield, or at least those parts of it that it was judged that we could see.

Screenshot of a battlefield tour

Screenshot of a battlefield tour

This last was particularly clever, as the GM had hooked up two mobile phones to the Zoom session, so each breakout room had four participants: three players and a camera. Rather than being the traditional wargame helicopter view, however, the ‘phone (with its camera) was only turned on when we elected to tour the battlefield, and was held in a way that showed us only what we could see from horseback. As it was a misty day, this meant that we could only see certain sectors of the battlefield each time we toured, and only see a short way in front of our most forward troops.

This meant that, as commanders, we really felt the “fog of war”: issuing orders based only on the reports we received and, if we did tour the battlefield, we had to wait until our next turn to issue orders based on what we had seen. A novel experience for those used to the traditional wargamer omniscience!

Introduction To The Game

Steve, Bevan and I were the Russians, facing Dave, Peter and Trevor as the French. Here’s an extract from the Russian briefing that sets the scene:

Following the costly battles, especially the blood-bath at Eylau, which drew the 1806 campaigning to a close, the opposing armies of France and Russia have both paused as the winter takes grip. Prussia has collapsed and Berlin fallen to Napoleon, but the French have found it harder to make headway against the Russian forces.

General Bennigsen, who has the bulk of the Russian army to your North, has ordered you to threaten and throw back the French right flank, which is anchored at Ostrolenka, so as to cause Napoleon to withdraw from his winter quarters. To achieve this you have been given a significant portion of the Army of Moldavia: Volkonski’s and Sedmarkatzki’s Divisions.

Well before dawn your two divisional commanders, who have their units ranged North of Ostrolenka on both sides of the River Narew, have arrived to receive your instructions.

They’ve both assured you that they are ready to move before sunrise, and that cavalry scouts have located French units at Ostrolenka. A captured enemy soldier says that they are not expected to break camp soon.

The Russian Plan

Seeking to achieve a concentration of force, we elected to keep all our forces west of the river Narew, effectively attempting to attack down the axis of the Kadzidlo Road. We didn’t necessarily expect to get that far west and south without first encountering the French, but the plan was to follow that strategy as much as possible until we did run into the enemy.

Our strongest division, Volkonski’s, would therefore march down the Zbotna Road until the end of the Sandy Hills, then loup around to the west. Our second division, Sedmarkatzki’s, would march down the line of the west bank of the river.

Once we encountered the enemy, we planned to deploy all our artillery and pound them to death, with Sedmarkatzki covering the guns and awaiting an opportunity to punch forward, whilst Volkonski kept edging around Ostrolenka to the west, pushing forward against what we assumed would be the far left of the French line.

GM’s Summary of the Action

(my thanks to Edward, who has also provided an excellent time-lapse video of the action, link below )

Before dawn the Russian leader General Essen sent both his divisions, led by Generals Volkonski and Sedmarkatzski, South towards the important town of Ostrolenka, in the valley West of the River Narew, hoping to concentrate his force and overwhelm the French. The strategic Russian aim was to threaten Napoleon’s southern flank, as he settled into his Winter quarters following the battle at Eylau.

The French corps commander, General Savary, made his dispositions as dawn broke, with Suchet’s division out to the East of the town, Gazan’s men to the North in the valley, Becker’s cavalry covering the left flank, and Oudinot’s three brigades of elite grenadiers held in reserve.

The Russians proceeded cautiously, deploying guns and spreading their rather crowded forces up onto the hills North-West of the town.

Becker’s dragoons mounted some charges up the hill, attacking Volkonski’s division, which was on the Russian right flank. Casualties mounted, with the Russians generally coming off the best and one of Becker’s brigades routed.

Savary, hearing that there were no Russians East of the river, eventually re-called Suchet back to Ostrolenka, but meanwhile the Russians increased the pace of their attacks and pressed on. Gazan came under increasingly heavy pressure, falling back, while Oudinot’s French grenadiers, which had been held in reserve, were committed by Savary to shore up his left flank. In fact, they took the attack to Volkonski’s forces with considerable success as the afternoon wore on.

As the light faded, Sedmarkatzki’s lead brigades pressed the attack more forcefully down the line of the river, advancing to within a few hundred paces of the town and capturing some French guns. Suchet having been inexplicably slow in coming West was too late to buttress the French position satisfactorily. Oudinot’s successes on the French left flank could not be followed up.

Although not a disaster for Savary, the French casualties were significantly higher, and as night fell he pulled his shaken corps away to the South, leaving Ostrolenka to the Russians. Napoleon, with the main French army to the North, was forced to detach a further corps to rescue his right flank. Historians have recorded this as a minor but important victory for the Russians under General Ivan Essen.

Historical Note

In reality Sedmarkatzki’s powerful division never made it to this battle, having been ordered North the day before. Essen none-the-less planned two separate attacks from the North against Ostrolenka. Savary, with the advantages of interior lines and numbers, was able to repulse the Russian probes in detail and secure the French position.

French Commander’s Report

(my thanks to Dave for this)

My Emperor,

I am hoping that Gerard has carried the news to you of our tactical withdrawal from Ostrlenka. Knowing how you planned to stetch the Russian Army and make it fight over too large an area for its pathetic logistic chain, I’m sure you will appreciate the efforts which have gone into this achievement.

I would wish to pay due respects to the brave men who fell for La France on the 16me, and also to the tenacity and audacity of Generals Gazan and Oudinot who fought against great odds with all their might.

Sadly I have to recommend to you that certain officers be recalled from their posts for not achieving the standards you so reasonable expect of your senior officers. Gen Debelle, although commanding one of the finest Light Cavalry Brigades in the Army, somehow failed to observe and report the entire Russian army being within a km of his position whilst Gen Becker sadly failed to maintain sufficient discipline of his Division, such that one Brigade of our finest heavy cavalry charged the enemy without orders and were effectively destroyed. Such indiscipline cannot be tolerated in the Grande Armee, we pride ourselves on not behaving like British cavalry!

You may well wish to interview Gen Suchet yourself, his tardiness in obeying his orders to withdraw cost us many casualties and compounded his initial error in advancing too far from his assigned position, although he did later make every effort to redeem himself and valiantly led his men into the fray.

I believe the Russians will now be critically extended and ripe for your offensive.

Vive La France

Anne-Jean-Marie-Rene Savary, General de V Corps

Conclusion

A narrow victory for the Russians and a great evening’s gaming. The fog of war experience worked really well, with our command team very much having to issue division-level orders as we didn’t really know the exact position of any of the brigades: ours or the enemy’s!

Our plan worked, although not as overwhelmingly as we had thought it would. Our guns, although acting to the overall plan, could have done with a better deployment tactically to maximise the effect of their fire; and we needed to keep better control of Volkonski out on the far right. We only just got Sedmarkatzki into the fight in time, although that did mean that our reserve cavalry were perfectly positioned to repulse the French infantry crossing the frozen river. The French Grenadiers, under Oudinot, really caused us problems. Without their intervention, or rather their highly successful intervention, we would have won a more resounding victory.

An excellent experience, and one I’m looking forward to repeating soon.


TFL Painting Challenge: A Third January Update

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Lots of entries in again this week, with some people submitting their third of even fourth entry of the year.

As usual, my advice is to browse the individual galleries, but here’s a taster for you to enjoy:

IABSM AAR: IABSM via Zoom!

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With no sign of any real-life games on the horizon, I decided to bite the bullet and ask to join a virtual game of I Ain’t Been Shot Mum run by my friend Bevan.

My previous reluctance to try anything virtual was mainly down to the fact that I spend a lot of the day working via Zoom now, and although it is truly a marvelous communication tool, it’s also quite draining to use. Nevertheless, with the Beardless King (daughter #2) busy with schoolwork and Kavan (daughter #1’s boyfriend) back at Uni, it was Zoom or nowt!

The scenario was a simple one set in France 1940. I would play the Germans, and would start the game in situ defending a bridge against an anticipated attack by a French armoured column. At my disposal I had three Big Men, a platoon of infantry, a platoon of anti-tank guns, and a support platoon consisting of a couple of MMG teams.

Click on the picture below to see what happened:

Even More Grudd (Space Dwarves)

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Finally got around to finishing the last of the latest batch of 15mm Grudd space dwarves from Onslaught Miniatures.

Absolutely lovely figures with loads of character and a really chunky physique that takes the paint very well. These are undercoated with a metallic spray from Halfords, then spot painted with normal acrylics.

First up is a platoon of Grudd Jarlsmen. This is the fourth or maybe even the fifth basic infantry type from Onslaught, making it easy to add variety and differentiate between units.

You can see the detail and character in the figures in the strip of individuals, below:

Finally, for the moment I hope, is a Grudd Ancient One carried by his retinue. Not exactly sure how useful this figure will be on the battlefield - I think he might be a bit easy to spot and, as you know, when playing Q13 if you can see it you can generally kill it! - but it’s a great fun piece anyway.

Let’s hope Onslaught keep going with the range: perhaps some AFVs now?

TFL Painting Challenge: A Second January Update

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I can see that you are all now gearing up for this year’s Challenge! Today we have five first entries of the year, one newcomer’s first entry ever, and three people already adding to their score. Impressive!

As always, I recommend a visit to the individual galleries, but here’s a taster of what you will find there:

More Grudd (Space Dwarves)

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Onslaught Miniatures produce a wide selection of sci-fi figures that are available in the UK from Vanguard Miniatures. My interest is in their 15mm Grudd or space dwarf range.

This beautifully chunky range of figures has formed a solid chunk of my space dwarf army since they were first launched, so I was really please about a year ago when they added three types of artillery to the collection. I ordered these, then realised that there weren’t really any crew figures to go with them. I could have used normal infantry, but putting the two together just didn’t look right.

Not one to be easily put-off, I e-mailed Onslaught suggesting they do some crew, and got a fairly rapid “great idea” response. So I added the guns to the lead mountain and thought no more about them.

Until, that is, Onslaught announced the next wave of Grudd were now ready for pre-order…and what a wave it was!

Not only was there a new pack of infantry (Jarlsmen, but more of them at a later date) but a whole new selection of officer types and, drum roll please, a pack of weapons engineers to crew the artillery.

Look at those beauties: not just generic empty-hand types but properly thought out castings that lift the entire range.

I am loving all of the five, especially the chap with the huge spanner and the two with the extra arm. Proper dwarf engineers!

These went straight to the front of the painting queue (although it did take me a bit of time to find the guns again!) joining four of the Big Men types: the Warlord, the Old One, the Engineer Lord, and the Warlord on a motortrike. Here are the Big Men:

I do like the Engineer Lord with his two extra arms!

I’ve also had a chance to produce the three artillery pieces as well:

Cracking models, and I like the idea of the Seismic Inducers. All I have to do now is work out how to chrome them in Q13!

All the Grudd are painted with a metallic car spray bought from Halfords: Vauxhall Nautilus Green IIRC. I use that both as an undercoat and as an overcoat on armour and metal. I then paint various bits of detail using standard acrylic metallics (mainly silver and a dull gold) and then anything else with standard acrylics as well.

TFL Painting Challenge: First Update of the Year

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I see some of you are using lockdown wisely and getting your first entries of the year under your collective belts!

Today we have first entries from Lloyd Bowler, Chris Kay, John Emmett and Jason Ralls; and more entries from Travis Hiett and Joe McGinn. Do check out the individual galleries, but here’s a selection of what they’ve sent in so far:

Still plenty of time to get started. It’s lockdown inside, so no gaming to be done. It’s cold outside, very cold, so no gardening or other chores to distract! Let’s pick up those brushes and get painting!