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.

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!

  

 

Redoing

 The Fiddler's Bottom game has been replayed, this time using my original 3 hit version of OHW Horse & Musket, plus a bonus for embedded Generals. This time the attacking force out numbered the defenders. Again no specific artillery units were present. To win Red need to exit 3 units within 10 turns.

The opening position

Early cavalry clashes have taken their toll for Blue

Red's Infantry move forward cautiously.
Red cavalry have brushed aside the Blues.

Red in a position to exit three units

Red almost reaches his objective, luckily as casualties are high 

Red achieves his objective and is victorious!

Blocking

 The following action was based on a game that featured in Wargame Tactics by Charles Grant, namely The Battle of Fiddler's Bottom. As in the original, neither side has artillery support and the two sides are of equal strength and composition; in this case, 6 units of line infantry, 4 units of cavalry and 2 units of Light Infantry. The rules were an experimental variant of OHW rules. Units initial dispositions were based on the original.

Situation

Army Red has sent a relief force to break the siege of a nearby town. Their route is blocked at Pleasant Valley by a force from Army Blue. The objective for Army Red is to exit at least six units (half of their force) across the North edge of the battlefield to form a viable relief force. The game length is 10 turns.

Pleasant Valley - The Battlefield

 The Battle

General Wells (Army Blue) had been ordered to block the approaching Red relief force at any cost. Situating himself on the high ground at Grimstone Ridge, which commanded a fine view of the valley and the large farm complex of Fiddler's Bottom, he ordered his cavalry to form up on his right and the Infantry to hold the ridge. He dispatched one unit of Light Infantry to the wooded area known as Grant's Copse in case the enemy should attempt to slip any troops past to the West. Assuming that the hedges and buildings in the farm area would slow down any units sufficiently, he determined that no troops need be sent there.
General Orderves (Army Red) planned to throw everything forward and smash his way through the blocking force.

Opening positions

Contact!

Red's Light Infantry scramble into the farm

Blue holds back the tide

Blue's cavalry under pressure

Red's Light Infantry have passed through the farm...

and exit the battlefield. General Orderves leads his Guard Cavalry into combat

A Red Infantry unit has also exited and the cavalry look like they may too

Disaster for Red! Too many losses make victory impossible

General Orderves flees the field. Army Blue victory.

Had Red used his Light Infantry to engage the enemy before exiting the outcome may have been different, then again the dice may have fallen differently... 

A fun scenario, however this rule variant proved to be a bit too fast to provide a truly satisfying game, though some elements will be retained. On to the next battle.

Bridges

 Today saw time for a very quick game, so a PW 3x3 was set up. This time it was a Mini Trimsos that was fought. Each side needs to control both the Old and New Bridges for a complete victory.

As with the original Battle of Trimsos, this game was set in Hyboria and saw Corinthia fighting Brythunia.

The two armies arrived...

Fighting around the bridges plus archery fire across the river

Corinthian Infantry stoically hold the New Bridge

The Brythunians driving back the Corinthians on both flanks!

The Corinthians have struck back late in the day

and by nightfall controlled both the bridges for an emphatic victory! 

Ten

On Sunday there was a small window of opportunity for a game, squeezed in between domestic duties and watching the Queen Stage of the Giro d'Italia. The RISK armies were employed to fight a battle based on Scenario 10 from Scenarios for All Ages; The Important Bridge. The single built up area is The Bridge Inn and its surrounding out-houses.

Armies Red and Blue both need to capture the bridge. The River is fordable at each end and by using the bridge. The rules were OHW Horse & Musket but with the 3 hit variant (HERE). The Armies were larger than a usual OHW game making the simpler to record variant very useful. The objective is total control of the bridge after 15 turns.

Initial positions of the opposing forces

Action immediately begins North of the river

Red fords the river to the East, Blue attempts to counter this

Blue begins to dominate the centre 

Late in the day, Red might just out flank Blue...

At turn 12 Army Red runs out of viable units and concedes