British Grenadier Game, Billericay War Rooms

A "scratch" game made up for the occasion, partly inspired by the "Sons of Liberty" series recently shown on Sky TV.

The British have heard through spies that the colonists have got their hands on some cannon and the British commander orders that these be captured and brought back to HQ.

Hessian Jaegers in the foreground, British infantry centre and Queen's Rangers over the back move purposefully towards the rebel camp

Enemy militiamen lurk in the woods awaiting their attack

as others are ordered forwards by their general

Continentals are assembling in the camp ready to defend the guns

The redcoats exchange fire with the first militia unit

and then charge sending the rebels reeling back out of the woods

The Americans have got one gun in action bedsides the mill

and it targets the Queen's Rangers coming down the road

with some success !

White coated rebels behind rough ground fire upon the advancing Queen's Rangers

The redcoats press on through the woods 

  as the Continentals form up behind the stream, right of the mill

The rebels thrown out of the woods know whats coming !

Their blood up, the British prepare to charge again

and their Hessian allies move up in support

In they go once more with the bayonet ...

The Continentals watch this with some discomfort

The militiamen are thrown back again in disarray, unforming the unit behind them as they run through

The British C-in-C gets his light gun and amusette in action against the pesky rebel whitecoats 

and bodies begin to tumble.

The Queen's Rangers join in the assault from the road

and the rebel DPs build up to the max ...

They break again

The commander of the Continentals on the right decides to cross the stream to try and stem the tide

The redcoats are over the fence and after the disordered militia

as the Hessians eye the Continentals in front of them

Seeing the militia flee past them, even the Continental units crack

One regiment flees the other tries to hold on.

British and Loyalists surge forwards again with the enemy gun in sight

With the British at the stream and the Queen's Rangers readying themselves for a charge at the cannon, the American commander calls for a full retreat in an attempt to save the guns in the camp

A civilian comes forward to declare his loyalty to the King !

as the local landlord prepares to serve drinks for the thirsty British troops !

Game over.

Obviously early war, as the Americans cracked as soon as the British came at them.

Glad I won the toss and chose the Brits for this game !

Good game with a nice break in the middle for a trip to The Coach & Horses for a pie and a pint - living the dream !

Dux Britanniarum down at the Club

Several of our club members had requested a game of Dux Britanniarum as they had heard Steve Clarke and I singing their praises and one or two of the guys have taken the plunge and bought some forces and painted them up.

We decided upon a battle around a village with a church at its centre with some wood land scattered around the battlefield edges.

First off, a combat between the opposing champions was chosen. The Saxon got the better of it and the Romano-British champion withdrew hurt which boosted the Saxon morale !

The  Saxons arrived over on their right and dashed forwards en masse.

The Romano-British were left and behind the village with their Levy facing left of the small wood.

The levy were pushed forwards as slingers made for the edge of the village

A Saxon warrior formation charged an advanced group of levy as the R-B nobles hurried their warrior formation up to join in.

A Saxon noble is down wounded and the R-B levy are holding there own.

Certainly long enough for the warriors to crash into the fight from the right.

This combination wears down the Saxons

The Saxon Lord orders forwards his elite troops

and the R-B warriors turn to fight them

The British are thrown back with half their number gone 

and after an aborted further attack, one group has been destroyed completely

In the end, the British levy saved the day by finishing off the Saxon warriors and their army morale tumbled to zero.

The Saxon dream of burning the church - like this - remained a dream as they fled the field !

We had enough time to play another game, this time using the Raiders Supplement to the rules, so Steve C removed his Saxons and Alan brought on his Pictish force.

Nice to see some cavalry for a change ...

The Picts also have bows and crossbows ...

Here's the view from the Pict side as they advance against a solid looking Roman-British force

The British Lord's elite group stand side by side with their levy

The Pictish cavalry are ordered forwards by their Lord

as the warrior raiders make ready

encouraged by their leaders

Right, let's get on with it !

A big melee ensues

The levy formed shield wall for protection but the British elite troops are having to fight two groups at once 

The levy win and the Picts retire as the Elites fight on

Both sides have fought to a standstill here and need a breather

One group of British levy had been rushed around the church and manage to pin the Pictish cavalry into a fight

The Pict Lord and his retinue are in a serious fight now with more Levy men

and the British warriors have got stuck in on the flank of the more advanced Picts 

The British Lord lead the attack with his champion (who goes down in the struggle, saving his Lord)

A curious stage in the battle where two opposing command teams pass each other! 

The successful British warriors are ordered forwards to complete their victory

With the depleted Pict group to their fore and the enemy leader with them,

the British charge and defeat them.

The Pictish bard and poet has to re-write his text as the predicted outcome does not appear to have come to fruition !

Its not supposed to end like this, he thinks !

Two tense and enjoyable games, evenly balanced right to the end.

Hopefully, our four new players will want to have another go at Dux Britanniarum soon.