Sunday 29 December 2013

Napoleon beats Wellington !

 
Well, we assembled the big 25/28mm battalions for a Christmas special, a sort of Waterloo game with much of my British and French collection on show
 
here's the massed French army deploying to attack



here's the British left flank anchored on a farm defended by Dutch Nassauers
 
skirmishers out front and defence lines in depth


the French start to move
 
and battle commences with artillery fire at long range
 



 
Two divisions of infantry in column march towards the enemy

 
with a third division following behind
 
The Imperial Guard infantry and Red Lancers wait in reserve

 
Wellington has decided to put all his cavalry over on the left behind the farm house

his gunners pour fire on the advancing French columns
 
Over on the French left, Carabiniers advance threateningly towards the Scots in front of the farm adjacent to the woods with French horse artillery in support
 
most of the French columns reach the British lines despite their fire power

and melees ensue


the Nassauers fire at the passing French infantry

 
some of the French recoil
 
and one squadron of British light dragoons try and take advantage of this
 
the first British defence lines crumble and the columns carry on again


one British infantry unit steps up onto the high ground in front of where they had been hidden
 
two squadrons of French chasseurs a cheval attack them, drive them from the hillock and send them back through the ranks of the Brunswickers behind the stream 
 
 
This time, the Chasseurs fail to penetrate the enemy line and withdraw
 
but French grenadiers succeed here and a hole opens up in the British centre


other French infantry push on in the direction of the allied cavalry
 
the British light cavalry form up and threaten the French right
 
the French lancers of the line are spurred forwards to counter this

melee ensues

but the British emerge the victors leaving the French right wide open
 
just as the Imperial Guard infantry march onto the centre of the battlefield

 
Napoleon and his staff watch their right anxiously
 
but with French infantry exploiting the gaps in the British centre, and with the RHA either retreating or over run
 
a Scottish battalion in reserve tries to make a stand

whilst their remaining comrades on the right prepare to be pounded by the French horse artillery
 
a final charge breaks their resistance and the day belongs to Napoleon
 
The Guard infantry were not needed after all.
 
This game took the best part of twelve hours (12 noon until midnight) apart from a short break for lunch, using the old In The Grand Manner rules, so Steve Clarke and I were both shattered at the end - but it was worth it ! 
 
Next up, a 15mm Napoleonic game at Raph's on 2nd January using Shako rules, then a game at Steve Clarke's on 3rd (probably a Wild West one) and then Sunday 5th is the Essex Warriors' AGM.


Tuesday 24 December 2013

Essex Warriors Christmas Game

 
Well, I failed miserably in 2013 and only got along to the Warriors once or twice but the lure of mince pies and Christmas cake got me over to Writtle last Sunday, even though the Saturday hang over was kicking in.
 
Raph had invited me to join in an AWI British Grenadier game but by the time I crawled down there, things were well under way ...
 
They had  picked a scenario out of one of the supplements where the Americans were trying to get their guns away, a fighting retreat

 
The British had elite grenadiers aplenty but were struggling to deploy them

 
and the American skirmishers were making a damned nuisance of themselves, screening the more suspect militia

 
 
The British commanders sitting this side of the table ponder their next move.  It has to be said on the other side of the table, we have two genuine Americans in command !
 
The dice fell nicely every time for the Rebels and the guns careered along, much to the chagrine of the Brits
 
The skirmish screen eventually ran back to cross the stream
 
Giving momentary hope to the British who gave chase

 




 
But the pursuing British were too late, the guns disappeared off the table, leaving the Grenadiers a brigade of Rebel militia to beat up.
 
Here's the sun shining on the righteous !
 
Behind us. Les, Ian and crew had an interesting looking FIW game going on with plenty of Les's home made buildings and scenery on show










 
No captions, as I haven't a clue what they were up to !
 
Happy Christmas everyone !
 
Next report will be after the In The Grand Manner Napoleonic battle on Friday.