Three Bloody Skirmishes or The Bishop's War

 

I dug out some old Medievals this weekend with the intention of playing another Mini-Campaign in the style of the recent ACW one. I went for some fast, brutal rules (an OHW 3-hit variation) which generally lead to bloody battles, which seemed fitting for Medieval religious conflicts.

Two Bishops find themselves on opposing sides of a schism in the church (neither side could agree on a theological technicality relating to how many Angels could dance on the head of a pin*). The result is armed conflict. (*the answer of course depends on how much space is taken up by the band...)

Opposing Clerics

Battle 1

The first game was a straight-forward encounter. 

Army White quickly got the upper hand (so much depends on initiative) with some high dice rolls.

Very soon Army Red was overwhelmed and destroyed (one unit of archers hightailed it for the nearest village with a hostelry). 

Battle 2

Seeking revenge for the ignominious defeat, the Red Bishop sent a force to burn down some villages and generally harass the domain of his rival. The White Bishop, getting news of the approaching Red Army, quickly blocked the road with a weak looking force to lure in the Red Knights while his own Knights formed up to attack the flank.

The impetuous White Knights rushed in a little early...

and some found themselves outflanked.

Army Red swept away the White Bishop's Knights

 and then cleared the road of his men at arms and peasantry.

Battle 3

In the deciding game of the Mini-Campaign, the White Bishop's force found itself surrounded and needing to break out through the Red Army lines. (The objective for White was to get the units off the board to the North).

The White Commander knew his force would benefit from their defensive spot on the hill, however staying there wasn't going to win the day. He therefore decided to attack and destroy the enemy to the South first, and only then tackle those to the North.

Winning the initiative White attacked

The plan worked, and White had soon removed the threat to his rear

In the meantime, Red had attacked the hill, but the defenders were able to hold on with ease.

All that remained was to chase off the last stragglers of Red's Army and march off the board.

A decisive victory for the White Bishop. 

Paper Gallies & a box of shame

 Whilst searching the dark corners of the Toy Cupboard for some figures for another Mini-Campaign, I came across a plastic box (one of those the takeaway food arrives in); it was full of half painted miniatures that I had cleared from the painting table some years ago in a bid to tidy up. I say half painted, but really some weren't even that complete. I suspect that there are probably a number of such caches hidden away and waiting to be brought out into the light. I've put some of them back onto the painting table; optimistic, I know... Anyone else want to confess to having similar assemblages?

Contents of a box of shame
These represent a multitude of different projects
awaiting completion (or properly starting...)

In other news, I had a quick go at a sea battle with Ancient type gallies using the simple rules from Archduke Piccolo, and paper ships (slightly edited) from the Junior General site. 

It was quick and bloody and will be useful for resolving any Naval conflicts in Campaigns.

My ancient laptop died a few weeks ago, after nine years before the mast (there will be a simple service. No flowers please.) Hopefully its replacement will appear soon. It's amazing how much of life now depends on having access to a computer. Right, tea break's over. Back on your heads.

Mapless Mini Campaign - Finale

 For the third and final battle I rolled a 3, Flank attack. The Federal Army (Attackers) are attempting to outflank the advancing Rebel force. The CSA's scouts have alerted their Commander, who takes refuge on a defendable hill. Both sides objective in the game is total control of the high ground. The bulk of the US Army force arrives on the flank of the Confederate Army and straight into the fray.

I decided at the start that this was going to be a very difficult task for the attackers, so I gave them a numerical advantage and, as this was the deciding game, I set EP at 50%. This all proved to be unnecessary. 

The US Army piled in from their flanking position and the Rebs were in trouble from the outset.

The CSA cavalry, despite their reputation, were quickly dispatched and the Federals got down to business.

Outstanding dice rolling from the Blues rapidly reduced the Confederate force to EP (not that they were going to move from the hill...)

The Union regiments surrounded their adversaries and demanded surrender.

A bit of an anti-climax as a game, probably due to my generosity towards the attackers, but a success as a Mini Campaign system and one I'd like to use again; "Chapeau!" to Mark.

A Mapless Mini Campaign - Battle 2

 After his defeat at the hands of the Confederate Army, Colonel Baudebridges falls back towards the Federal lines with his remaining force. Realising that they will soon be over run, the US force makes a stand...

For this game I threw a 6 (see rules on the previous post) and set up the OHW Bottleneck scenario (more or less). The US Army (defending) has a smaller force but may enter the woods (on their right). The objective for the CSA is to clear the road of Union forces to allow their main force through.

Start of the game - the lakes are impassable

CSA cavalry rush off to clear the road

The CSA cavalry limp back after a catastrophic encounter.
The Union's Zouaves take to the trees 

The Union's line holds and the Zouaves create holes in the
Reb's flank, despite his artillery firing blindly into the woods

The CSA reach Exhaustion Point

Despite having a numerical advantage, the Confederate Commander (let's call him Colonel Sanders) was forced to withdraw. This defeat puts the Union back in the lead and they will be attackers in the third (and final) battle of the mini campaign...

A Mapless Mini Campaign - Battle 1

 

I started a three battle mini-campaign over the weekend, squeezing in a couple of games between work and domestic distractions. I was inspired to use my ACW figures by Ross Mac's recent games. The rules for the mapless mini campaign are from Mark Cordone, originally posted on the PW FB page, and are his intellectual property:

For the first game I rolled a 5; Seize Ground. I used inspiration from OHW to layout a battlefield but gave a slight advantage to the defenders (CSA) who started a little closer to the objective (the hill). The winner must have control of the objective once both sides reach exhaustion point (EP).

The chocked gully on the right of the hill is impassable

The CSA grabbed the objective whist the Federals attempted to out flank them

Despite reducing the CSA to EP, the Union Army could not get on to the hill

The Blues reach EP and victory goes to the Confederates

So the Confederate Army wins the first battle and, buoyed by their success, go on the offensive, pursuing their retreating adversaries...  

General Wells - An early defeat

 

The General, from H G Well's Little Wars, has been my Army Blue Leader for some years. Here follows a brief description of an early battle from his illustrious career in which he was defeated - it has to be brief as the General doesn't like to dwell on it.

Battlefield promotion to the first reader to spot the actual field of battle

Army Blue arrived from the South; their objective, to push through the defending Army Red (advance 4 units across Red's baseline). Red has reinforcements arriving (on a die roll) between turns 7 and 9; Blue has an additional unit arriving on turn 7 and another on turn 8.

Red established his defence on a ridge

Red's Light Infantry hold the LH BUA and hold out for a LONG time

Blue manages to get a unit across Red's line (top left) but otherwise is struggling

Red is reinforced on turn 7 by 3 regiments from Army Black (top right)

Blue is unable to break through despite his own reinforcements

A few holes have appeared in Red's line but Blue is unable to capitalize on them
General Wells admits defeat and withdraws.

A nice scenario and a tough nut to crack for Blue - thanks to Old Trousers for the inspiration regarding turning this battlefield into a grid. David Crook has also played this battle on a grid and you can find details on his blog.

This and that

 Below are a few of the things I've been fiddling around with between game reports - hopefully something may be of interest...

First off, I found a couple of buildings to make on Hugh Walter's Small Scale World blog (here) that are quite fun and would look nice for a 20th Century game or Railway layout (if made better then I managed of course); Matchbox cars for scale.

I tried an Inter War period Portable Wargame using block units made from MDF bases with images from the Junior General site stuck on to them which worked ok and seemed a good way of testing out a period for which I didn't have two completed forces - not everyone's cup of tea but really no different from playing a Boardgame (and its a very cheap option!)

Many years ago I created a game called Giant! - I've since lost the rules (that were on the back of an envelope) however I found some of the figures (6mm from Irregular and Bacchus) and scenery (6mm buildings from Irregular) which are quite fun. The stand-in Giant is a Prehistoric Man in 28mm.

At the time I'd started making a couple of Fantasy game armies in 6mm (my eyesight was better then....)

Army of the Dead

Elves

Talking of Giants, here are a pair from many years ago - both are still available (Hinchliffe from Broadsword Miniatures, and MiniFigs from Caliver Books)

On the Left Hinchliffe Giant from 1980. On the Right MiniFigs Giant 1973

Next post will hopefully be a game report...