Back to the Peninsula

The Volley and Bayonet rules have a great scenario generation system included. For me it works well, but it doesn't always suit the needs of every 'gamer.  For this reason I at times try to create a fictional scenario that might be challenging, that might appeal to others. It is however something of a black art (which is a euphemism for 'I'm not very good at it').

This week I tried to create something very different, set on the Peninsula, using my 25mm Spanish and French armies. The setting was a French attempt to clear a road for its future advance. There was a somewhat tired garrison of Spanish troops in a town (M4), and the French advance was led by some second rate French dragoons, also M4. Reinforcements for both sides fed into the battle on predetermined turns. The Spanish force included some guerillas, for which I created some bespoke rules.

Some candid shots from along the way..

The issues were:

1. The guerilla units were too strong... sharp shooters who could be deployed in any terrain feature, and could be redeployed in following turns if 'eliminated' by melee contact. If destroyed by shooting, they were permanently removed from the game, if contacted in melee they simply melted away, able to reappear next turn (just not in the same terrain feature).
2. The French 'escalation' was too slow.. they needed more troops earlier in the game. They had 10 turns to clear the town and road along the 6' length of the table.
3. Rating the dragoons as M4 made them too fragile, and even though the opposing Spanish cavalry was also M4, they were a part of the larger divisions. The French were an independent cavalry division. The M4 rating made their exhaustion level too low, and so they were far too fragile.
4. The French needed a greater cavalry superiority if they were to successfully push along the entire length of the road.

That said, it was great to get to push the 25mm napoleonics around the table again, and as you might expect there was plenty of wargamer chat and banter to make the evening enjoyable (and oh, did I mention sausage rolls?). I am again remind however that these figures would now be older than many of the 'gamers in our city.

Back on the Peninsula .. 1809

 Had a few of the lads around this week for a bit of a bash using the 25mm napoleonic armies. The armies are a good 40 years old, as I've posted before. They are brittle (lead rot), and were painted in the style we used in the 70s and 80s. However none of us is a rivet counter, and it's all about the chance to push figures around a table while enjoying good company. We had both. We fought the game using our standard Volley and Bayonet rules.

This battle is not an historical refight, but rather a 'situation' modelled on the Battle of Tamames on the Peninsular in 1809. As is usually my habit these days, this isn't a full blown AAR, but rather just a few selected photos.

The Spanish forces, a mic of M5, M4, and militia, troops occupy a steep ridge, ands the village of Tamames at its foot. The French are attacking. As I've already said, our game was not a refight.

The buildings are my own, scratch built after the style of Kevin Dallimore who featured similar buildings in Wargames Illustrated in the 1990s.

The second Prussian VSF airboat

I'm in that 'creative groove' again .. this time with the second of the planned air boats for the Hordes of the Things (HotT) Prussian VSF army, an air boat in helicopter/VTO mode.

This is the completed air boat.

Here's how it began.

Again, the air boat began with one of these plastic eggs

This air boat has a 'gondola' slung beneath. It's a surplus turret for a Russian KV1 from the spares box.

The basic gondola ...

Trial assembly for the basic air boat

The completed airboat .. view from above

The 'armament' visible here, canisters attached to the sides of the gondola, and bombs sitting on top of the gondola ready to be tipped over the side - a crude bombing mechanism

The air boats of the Prussian air service/air navy so far. I have one more planned, something quite different again, but also based around the plastic egg

As I mentioned previously, this army will have three air boats. One of the many things I like about HotT is that there are no super troops.. each troop type has its +'s and -'s, and airboats are no exception. I chose these because first of all they 'felt' like something suitable for a Prussian VSF force. Secondly, while I have several armies with an airboat, I don't have any with several airboats.

For this model, my concept was clear. I'm not too happy with my 'execution of the concept though. It looks okay from a distance, but close scrutiny shows up a number of construction flaws. The gondola idea was interesting. In hindsight, my design decision to turn the turret upside down hasn't made the best use of the detail that came ready moulded onto the turret. I wanted it to look like a mix between a gondola and a basket. It may have looked better left the 'right way up'.

My lack of precision in drilling the locating hole for the clear plastic upright on which the whole air boat sits meant that the gondola doesn't quite sit square against the main body of the airship. This meant compromises with the structural 'struts'. The overall effect is fine, but ..... 

Anyway.. recruitment is in full swing, so on to the next airboat for the ever victorious Prussian army <ahem>

Romans repulse Early German advances

Another DBA 3.0 game played with the 20/25mm armies. This time Nick and I swapped sides. I commanded the Early Germans, Nick the Early Imperial Romans. Despite the relative aggression factors, yet again Nick ended up defending (this has happened in EVERY game we have played during his visit so far). He chose a hamlet amongst the terrain features.

I decided to deploy in a way that might disrupt his attack on me. Knowing the damage that the knight base causes against warband, I deployed my Cav general in the expectation that I would match that up against his knight base which he had deployed in his centre. I had done the same to great effect the previous evening.

My attempt at disrupting Nick's attack is clear from this view

Nick pushed his general and mounted troops around his right, but was constrained by the terrain features.

The Roman knights in the centre

The German general in amongst the warband

German cavalry on their right wing

I misjudged the angles of Nick's wheel to meet me, and so my general would end up matched against his blade while his knight was set to cause mayhem amongst the warband

Roman cavalry pinned in the threat zone of the right flank warband

German psiloi stand off, pinning the Roman right of auxilia

Nick simply 'went for it'. His knight killed a warband, and a blade killed my general (a 1:6 die roll)

The space in front of the blade where the German general once fought

The Roman cavalry also killed a warband base

The Roman reserve line never batted an eyelid, remaining uncommitted throughout the short game.

The Roman general remained uncommitted

A quick victory to the Romans, having killed the German general and more elements than they had lost (in fact they'd lost nothing).. a convincing beating delivered to the Early German army, but a really interesting game.

In the forests of Germany with DBA

Our week and a half of DBA saw another game tonight, this time a Roman vs Early german game, using my 20/25mm armies. These haven't seen any genuine ancients action for a long time. These days they typically double as HotT armies. 

Nick was 'defending' using the Early Germans, and chose a river as one of his terrain pieces. This deployment resulted

The Roman left

The German 'solid warband' were deployed double ranked in their centre/left

The Roman general deployed with two unit of blade as the reserve

German light troops/psiloi advanced through the forest

The Roman front line pushed forward possibly a little too enthusiastically trying to gain the advantage of the high ground. With a single PIP roll, I advanced the front line when perhaps I shouldn't

The German warband and cavalry charge in

The Roman Bow are recoiled, the German centre holds against the knights and kills a unit of blade, while a unit of German psiloi is killed centre left in the photo

Another unit of Roman blade on their extreme right is killed

On the Roman left their mounted troops clash, the German cavalry general recoiling the Numidian Light Horse

The Roman knights kill a unit of warband

The warband attack the Roman Bow, lapping around their flank the bow survive with a drawn combat

The knights break through

The reserve takes the flank pressure off the Bow

The knights break out and destroy a unit of warband in the rear

The game went the way of the Romans, although there was as always quiet an element of luck. Nick's warband didn't win the number of combats against the blade that he ought to have despite some clever manoeuvring.  A number of 6:1 and 6:2 die rolls in my favour gave me several 'get out of jail' moments. Nick's choice of a river was clever. It allowed him to reduce his frontage and double rank the warband, adding an extra combat factor when fighting against foot.

This won't be the last game before Nick heads back home.