Another OHW posting

 OHW Scenario 2 has been posted over at my Battling through OHW blog. It features another pitched battle in Hyboria.

Inevitable

 I feel that, since reading the books pictured below, it has been an inevitability that I'd one day make an 18th Century ImagiNation Army. Having said this, it's taken a few attempts to get this far. Youthful exuberance led to attempts at 24 (or larger) figure units in plastic being planned; far too big for me to ever get painted. Later I wanted to do the whole thing "properly" with Spencer Smiths', but these proved too expensive for my modest means. The publication of The Portable Eighteenth Century Horse & Musket Wargame Rules in The Portable Wargame Companion (ed. Bob Cordery) led to a reappraisal of my former ideas, and some rebasing of figures.

Glorious tomes

Finally, I have pulled together one modest force, with plans to expand it of course. I now have to raise an equally sized army for the opposition. I have still to dream up some suitably daft names for each regiment etc.

As I have no game to report today, here is a parade instead.

Army of the Margravate of Moulle

Two regiments (12 figures) of Line Infantry at the back, divide into two battalions (6 figures)

Three battalions of Light Infantry (4 figures each) in the centre wearing fancier uniforms

Two squadrons of cavalry on the flanks

 Two batteries of artillery (the one on the right being manned by Sailors)

At the front, hatless, is the Margrave Edouard de Moulle, sporting his new bluecoat and best fighting wig. He appeared recently, unpainted, in the Box of Shame (could be a play by Voltaire?). To the Margrave's extreme right, the head of the Margravate's Armie de Terre, General Antoine Fond-de-la-Mer.

That's it for this subject for now; hopefully there'll be an update soon, assuming I get a bit of paint daubing done.

This parade was inspired by Neil Patterson's far nicer parades, for example THIS, and brought to you by the colour blue.

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. 

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...  

Rescue - A Fantasy Forces Skirmish Game

 Thanks to Martin S for suggesting a go at Fantasy Forces, a "light-weight" (their words) skirmish type game aimed at introducing new players to the hobby. Consequently it's nice and easy and doesn't tax the old grey matter too much. I did find it involved a lot of dice rolling but all the measuring was done with a single 20cm bit of card, so that was easy to remember (ignore the grid on the board). 

So I dug out a few single based figures and had a play. Friar Bernard has been kidnapped by some Hollywood-Vikingesque raiders and is being held hostage in a ruin. Sir Percy rounds up some "volunteers" to help in the rescue.

The bad guys are found

 

Bill the Bow takes down a raider

and another

and another!

Bill's luck runs out

The Good Guys didn't have it all their own way

Sir Percy takes out a raider

before dueling with Godwin Greybeard, the enemy Leader

Sir Percy and "Friend" celebrate his success 

Encircled

Today's offering is a one-off game between those old adversaries Army Red and Army Blue. I used for inspiration Scenario 4 from Scenarios For All Ages (Grant and Asquith), Encirclement or Breakout.

Setting

A column from Army Red has gone too deeply into Blue territory and has become encircled by a far larger enemy force. Sending out scouts under cover of darkness, Red's General identifies a weak spot to the West and determines to attempt a breakout at first light.

Mechanics

I used the Portable Wargame but with reduced movement as the scenario really calls for a much larger playing area. I started off with 30% EP but dropped it as the game progressed as I deemed that the Red force was determined to evade capture and would fight on. The objective was for Red to get at least 3 units plus the C-in-C off the board by the 12th turn, using either the North, East or West sides, as South would take them further into Blue territory. As Blue's force was twice the size of that of Red, I burdened them with a Poor Communication handicap: When rolling for turn initiative, Blue had to throw a d8 to determine how many units could move that turn - all could fire and melee.

The encircled Red force at daybreak

Leaving some of his men to slow down the enemy, the Red General moved West; his scouts had reported that only two battalions of Grenadiers blocked the way and he felt confident that he could push straight through them. Meanwhile Red's artillery was involved in a duel with some of Blue's guns and Heavy Cavalry beset Red's remaining infantry.

Blue's tenacious grenadiers block the way West 

Despite the Red General's confidence, by late morning Blue's Grenadiers held on, his artillery was destroyed and his rearguard was involved in a fighting retreat that would soon join the main force.

Finally one battalion of Blue's stubborn Grenadiers broke, though the second was still stopping Red's Hussars from making headway; however more of Blue's units were approaching from the East.

Red's two potential escapee Units stopped at the board's edge to give covering fire for the rearguard - two units escaping would not be sufficient for victory and it looked like the Hussar's were not going to make it, so all hope was pinned on the third Infantry unit breaking away from Blue's attack.

With the enemy closing in, Red was forced to advance one unit again to try and extricate the Rearguard..

Red's Hussars eventually lost the will and broke and Blue closed in on the beleaguered Red force.

Dwindling numbers make Red's escape unlikely!

At the close of day Red's losses were too heavy to affect a victorious breakout. A few stragglers from the raiding force made it back to Redina, harried all the way by Blue's cavalry.

Defeat for Army Red!