A Nail-biter

Over the years I've been quietly, and sometimes not so quietly critical of Flames of War and the game mechanics.  But I have to confess that last Sunday I had a tense but very fun game that came down to the wire.

Our "Ranger" group was teaching the rules to an interested player but I was paired off for a solo game.  Late war Falschirmjagers against the British rifle company.  1500 points each.  The scenario we rolled for was a Meeting Engagement with Delayed and Scattered Reserves.  As such we each had to choose half our force to be kept off table to be diced for.  I chose to start with a Falschirmjager platoon, a platoon of 12 cm mortars, and a platoon of three Marder tank destroyers.  My opponent Tim opted for two platoons of infantry and a platoon of Vickers machine guns.

The British moved first and made rapid gains, bounding across the table covered by a withering fire from the Vickers, compounded by my wretched saves.  They even managed to bail one of my tissue paper armored Marders.

On turn 3 we began rolling for reserves, needing a "5" or better on a d6.  Tim got none and to my relief I got the platoon of StuG IIIs, right where I needed them.

On Tim's turn he got a Sherman platoon and the random placement put them in a position to threated my weak right flank.  So thinking I had to deal with the threat to my center (objective) I assaulted the British infantry, thinking it would be easy.

Alas, I did little to him and his counter-attack with Gammon bombs in the end destroyed three of four StuGs, though the fourth gamely held on.  So it appeared I was defending the center objective with a half strength platoon of Falschirmjagers and one StuG, while on the right I was facing a platoon of infantry with tank support against two active Marders and some mortars.

Tim got two reserve elements, another infantry platoon and a platoon of heavy mortars.  Though in the wrong corner as far as he was concerned.  They raced forward and the others closed on me.  My 12 cm mortars had done little damage but had managed to pin his Vickers and then the infantry platoon to their front, buying some time.  I then rolled for reserves and got both my remaining.  A HMG platoon in the center and a Falschirmjager platoon on my right.  Exactly where they were needed most.

I concentrated all the firepower I could on the British platoon threatening the center objective and it was here that the dice deserted Tim.  Up till now he was way above average on saves, but now it was just a disaster.  The entire platoon disappeared in the proverbial hail of gunfire.  On the right the newly arrived Falschirmjagers hunkered down in the woods to interpose themselves between the tanks and the objective.

Undocumented by pictures my three Marders (I remounted the one after several tries) and remaining StuG engaged the three Shermans and were victorious.  Indicative of how badly the dice deserted Tim, at one point he missed with four shots needing only a "4" or better on a d6. 

Needless to say, my armor was now able to double time it to the enemy objective and the game ended. 

But one full of drama and swinging fortunes of war.  Requiring no special planning or scenario design the game itself gave us all we needed.  Kudos to Tim for taking in stride the savage swing of luck at the end. 



 

Little Green Men....

I've always hated little green men.  Ever since the days of Santa Claus Conquers the Martians I've neither trusted nor liked them.  And I especially don't like them when they are armed with a Baker rifle and can sit outside of musket range and inflict a small but steady drain of casualties.  But I digress.

Spain, 1809 and the British are moving.  Part of an on-going campaign I make the decisions for Marechal Soult outside Oporto.  So Portugal really.  The Iberian Peninsula.  You get the idea. 

The French forces were badly mangled in the last engagement so while one division licks their wounds in Oporto another boldly holds the south side of the river for future operations.  Various light cavalry actively patrol the d'Ouro river to prevent surprises while we hold the ground near to the Arrabida Bridge.

We have 12 battalions, fresh and ready to fight, supported by Vistula Uhlans, Dragoons, Chasseurs and some Cuirassiers.  Ten cannons complete our army.

We are "attacked" by oodles of skirmishers.  We see hardly any formed troops.  Howitzer shells cut huge swaths in our ranks.  Some new units of Portuguese attempt to turn our left flank.  Given the choice of dying slowly in place, retiring or attacking, we naturally attack.  I'll let the pictures tell the story, click to enlarge.  Rules are modified Batailles de l'Ancien Regimes for the Napoleonic era.

 

In the end the cavalry on both sides was never really engaged except to run down some Portuguese skirmishers, our attack penetrated deep and took some buildings but was stopped, and their attack failed.  Casualties were only 3:2 against us, so..... la victoire?  No worse than a draw.  But a pattern is forming.  Time to start painting some Young Guard battalions and more cannons.
 

Batailles des Ancien Regimes

The forces of Prussia and Russia (Litharus imagi-nation) squared off to introduce three players to Batailles de l'Ancien Regimes, or B

 

AR for short.  I have played many games at 10:1 figure ratio and 60 figure battalions, but recently was (re)introduced using smaller units.  Since my table cannot adequately handle such large formations, all our battalions were either 24 or 30 figures.  Cavalry units were 12 figures each.

As an introductory game we each had three brigades of infantry and one of cavalry.  The Russians were line and grenadier infantry with cuirassiers, dragoons and horse grenadiers in support.  The Prussians had line, fusilier, grenadier, frei korps and jagers.  Cuirassiers and hussars were their mounted element and both sides had four light guns.

We rolled off to see who had to place a brigade on the table, one at a time.  In the end both sides put their cavalry on their right, so no cavalry duel was forth-coming.  Initial deployments looked like this.

The Prussian right,

Tight Prussian center brigade.

Looking down the Russian line from right to left.

The Prussians quickly fanned out of their dense formations and formed a double line to face the already deployed Russians.

Almost completed forming line of battle.

The Prussian far left with my new units.

Russian cavalry eyeing targets.

Battle was joined quickly.  A 16" move in line and 40" musket range will do that for you.  The Prussian cavalry attempted to flank the Russian line but had the misfortune to face their grenadier brigade.  Still, getting on their flank should be worth something, right?

Early on, looking at the Prussian lines.

Cavalry maneuvers as Prussian jagers just evade a charge.

In game terms each side got to move a brigade on the flip of a card.  Red for Russian and black for Prussian.  And the critical flip....

The Russian cavalry, after initially pausing, began to move forward which forced the Prussians to deploy forward.  As both moved towards each other the Prussians took the chance to close the range and get the opening volley bonus.  While several Russian cuirassier saddles were emptied, it was fewer than hoped.

Meanwhile on the right the infantry clashed while the Prussian cavalry tested the resolve of the Russian grenadiers.  As the day went on one ever-shrinking Russian grenadier battalion repelled four Prussian attempts, which included armored cuirassiers.

Grenadiers crossed bayonets.....

The Russian cavalry crashed into some Prussian grenadiers....

And the infantry lines hammered at each other.  Some units broke and were rallied, some artillery were run off, and little movement occurred.  A long string of good Prussian saving throws probably saved the center at one point.

Regrettably, with the issue very much in doubt we had to quit.  Being the first time for 75% of the players we weren't as fast as normal.  However all players came out of the experience having enjoyed it and wanting to play more.  Nothing quite matches the visual grandeur of the "big battalion" games but clearly the smaller units work fine for a pleasing and exciting time.


 

Sons and Guns

The plan was to give some table time to our new/old collections of American Revolution figures and have another play test of Guns of Liberty 2nd Edition.  We only accomplished half the objectives, but had fun along the way.  Click the pictures below to enlarge them.

So with four Rebel brigades facing three British/Hessian (Prussians really) we rolled off to see who placed a brigade at a time.  Then we had at it across the generic table.  Somewhere along here we noticed that the QRS for the rules set Paul had bought were different than mine.  Unsure of which was most current we deferred to Paul's version, noting it was similar but quite different.

On the Crown forces side we had a light and loyalist brigade with two converged light battalions, Butler's Rangers, and a basic loyalist unit along with the American Legion cavalry.  The center had the 17th, 33rd, 44th, 54th, and 60th regiments of foot with highly variable size.  The right had a pair of mercenary musketeer units along with two converged grenadier battalions.  Four 6 pound guns scattered along the line completed the roster.

The rebels had a large proportion of Continental regulars, some state troops, two light battalions, a rifles battalion, one militia battalion, two light dragoon regiments and four guns.  Numbers were roughly even with a slight numeric edge to the rebels, but quality to the Crown.

The Crown forces started out with the idea of holding the center, attacking on the right and launching a delayed attack on the left.  The rebels seemed intent on advancing across the front.  Action quickly became general across the front.  After a few times of "wow, they really changed a lot" and "I'm not sure I like this difference" we discovered that Paul had brought "Sons of Liberty" instead of "Gun of Liberty."  But being a half dozen turns into the game we just soldiered on.  (pun intended)

The marksmanship of the British lights gave an edge on the left.  A cavalry charge was repulsed by the loyalists.  The center slowly came together and the firing seemed to slightly favor the Redcoats.  On the right the superior numbers of rebels allowed them to gradually turn our flank as troops were stripped from the center to strengthen their attack.  Judging the bayonet to be their friend, the British initiated a series of melees.  The grenadiers in particular were effective. 

Despite a routing light battalion, the British were slowly pressing forward on the left.  In the center the redcoats were beginning to come to grips with the enemy and the grenadiers, despite getting hit in the flank, were able to turn and defeat them in turn.  Wanting to preserve the army for another day the rebels began to disengage and yielded the field to the British.

We all agreed that Sons of Liberty was not our game of choice and will try Guns of Liberty again in the near future.  Especially since Paul and I are painting up even more forces. 

End of Summer Activity

Not much gaming lately and less blogging.  So since you've no doubt wondered, "what's up with Michael?" I thought I'd bring you up to date.  :-) 

After gaming my biggest hobby is historic reenacting.  With school starting we knew we were going to have little time so we decided to cram as many events as possible into the mix.

End of July - Rendezvous on the Sault; Sault Ste. Marie, MI

The "Hard Core Four" - Phillip, me, "Gilbert" and Michel

 

I found myself acting as sergeant for the combined French forces

 

With la Compagnie Franche de la Marine du Fort la Jonquiere.  This was a fun little event for us despite the tornado that came entirely too close Friday night.  The event was all French, so with no British there to tell us what we were doing wrong, it was quite enjoyable.  Definitely a candidate for going back next year.

First weekend of August - Pike River Rendezvous; Kenosha, WI

With pomp and circumstance as we search for our mid-day meal

"What do you mean, more!?"

Your standard Rendezvous that thoroughly enjoys having our Napoleonic era 21e Regiment d'Infanterie de Ligne attend.  We even made the front page of their Sunday paper.  Besides a lot of drill and marching about, we chased pirates and enjoyed meals and merriment with the Black Horse Inn. 

Mid-August - Tall Ships Festival; Green Bay, WI

The USS Niagara provides the backdrop

"Come cheer up me lads, tis to glory we steer...."

We were invited to be part of the "color" for the Tall Ships gathering at Green Bay.  Many familiar and some new tall ships came in.  As the lines were long and hot, I just cruised along representing the Royal Navy as HMS Nancy (1812) while engaging the public in music and jokes.  A good time and no camping!

Last weekend of August - Pioneer Village; Freedonia, WI

"Disperse ye rebels!"

His Majesty's 55th RoF

Since joining the 55th Regt. of Foote we have enjoyed a small number of semi-local events.  We weren't able to go to go with them out east to Colonial Williamsburg so we try not to miss the close ones.  The 55th is a very active group when out, always running a skit if not drilling or engaging the public in conversation.  My kind of people.

So finally, to complete the five events in six weeks run, we finally get to wear the same uniform again at:
Last weekend - Platteville Historic Encampment; Platteville, WI

The Troopes des Colonie, wondering where the artillerists had wandered off to. 
Our colors in the background.

The infantry tents.  Not pictured, the family wall tents and the Captain marquee

This is an educational opportunity for our unit.  No opposed tacticals, but a school day, city parade, and various demos all weekend.  The Saturday evening fare was especially enjoyable as it finally cooled down a bit and the music, song and adult beverages flowed freely.  A good ending to the run.

Now we have two whole weekends off before our last event in North America this year.  I have to word it that way because in October we go to Germany for the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Leipzig, the Battle of Nations.

So that's what I've been doing on weekends.  You?