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Saturday 15 June 2024

OHW32

 Today's offering is a two for one; well, two play tests of one OHW style Scenario.

The Scenario is my version of the battle at the Fords of Isen, the battle in which Theodred, the son of the King of Rohan was killed. It is alluded to in The Lord of the Rings but a more detailed account appears in Unfinished Tales (1980). The rules were OHW (3 hit variant). To replicate the story, Blue's force defending the fords is the dismounted troops (Infantry here) left to guard them, while the relief force is Cavalry. Red's force is a mix of types.

 

The first play test was an early medieval style battle.

Two units of Infantry guard the fords - the enemy approach

The enemy cavalry have hit and withdrawn to be replaced by infantry

More enemy forces arrive on the East bank

Reinforcements hurtle towards the fords; the troops on the knoll are beset

The relief force makes an impression, but...

The disaster of turn 9! One badly battered unit fights on

The enemy take the fords

The second attempt was a Horse and Musket affair, again with 3 hit variant OHW rules.

Musket armed infantry guard the ford against a mix of arms

Enemy cavalry breaks through onto the eyot

The fords are surrounded

The Cavalry arrive!

Blue's cavalry repeatedly charge the enemy until they break through.
The troops on the knoll have finally succumbed to musket and cannon fire.

The slashing sabres of Blue's cavalry destroy the remaining enemy force
One artillery battery holds on

Amazing shooting by Red's cannons take out a cavalry unit as it crosses the fords,
however they are finally cut down by the remaining cavalry. Blue wins the day.

18 comments:

  1. Question for you... Picture #3 caption says "The enemy cavalry have hit and withdrawn to be replaced by infantry"

    Are you playing a variant where units can disengage? I thought, and maybe I'm misremembering, that OHW combat was "fight to the death"?

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  2. Maudlin Jack Tar,

    A very interesting idea! Fight the same scenario twice set in different historical periods and then see how they compare. (I am willing to concede that Fantasy is a historical period.)

    I hope that you will pursue this concept further.

    All the best,

    Bob

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    1. Thanks Bob! As the OHW scenarios are all for multi-periods I thought I might try mine in a couple.

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  3. In OHW as written you are correct, close combat would only conclude with the destruction of one of the units involved. In my house rules I allow units to disengage if they have space to do so.

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    1. Nice! I had considered such house rules but never implemented them.

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  4. Nicely done. Every time I see your Irregular Miniatures 10mm’s I’m tempted. I have a draft order for more IM stuff - admittedly mostly 2mm & 6mm figure strips - but surely a few 10mm’s wouldn’t go amiss? 😉
    Cheers,
    Geoff

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    1. Thanks Geoff. The Irregular 10s are quite nicely sculpted but what I really like about them is that they are sold individually so you can buy the number you want rather than say 30 at once!

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  5. Great scenario and sure colourful set up.
    Alan Tradgardland

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  6. Good to see your scenario given a couple of run throughs, MJT…and a one-all tally for red and blue suggests it’s pretty balanced. 👍🏼

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    1. Cheers Martin - I'll have to try using slightly larger forces in the Ancient/Medieval period next time.

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  7. An interesting double header! Looks like alot of fun. Out of curiosity, how long did the games take to play?

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    1. Thanks Mark. I find these games usually last no more than 30 minutes. A "One Hour" wargame with 10mm size figures for me playing solo would include setting up and dismantling the game!

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    2. Interesting. About the dame as my Big Battles Small Armies games. My 3x3 games usually take about 15 minutes.

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    3. 3x3 actions are usually 15-20 mins for me too. Looking forward to reading your BBSA rules 👍

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  8. Interesing comparison between medieval and musket periods...A nice Fords scenario!

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