"On my command unleash hell.."

It was certainly one of those nights as we fought the second of the battles of Roman conquest of the Germanic tribes. The battlefield this time was divided by a river, with the bulk of the German tribesmen deployed waiting in a large forest area.

The Romans pushed their cavalry forward to try to cross the river and threaten the German flank. A '6', damn.. a very difficult river to cross.. a torrent after sudden summer rainstorms perhaps.

As the Romans attempted to work a crossing, the Germans pushed a line of warriors forward to defend the river bank.

The Roman cavalry pushed around the flank, having finally managed a crossing of the river. The Roman ballista poured fire into the warriors in support of their cavalry.

One unit of cavalry was caught by the German war band. A 1 to a 5, and it was 'night night nurse' for the cavalry as they were pushed off the table edge, first blood to the Germans.

The Romans then started to push auxilia across the river on the opposite flank.

Meanwhile a unit of legionaries had also managed to cross on the Roman right, probably saving the remaining unit of Roman cavalry.

The auxilia were held by the German psiloi as their general rushed up to support them.

However the Roman ballista struck twice in succession, destroying two units of war band, while the legionaries that had crossed the river accounted for another. The Roman artillery crew had taken their Emperor at his word, and had certainly unleashed hell.

The Roman subjugation of the Germanic tribes was looking much more certain, although there was something about the spirit of these tribesmen that worried the Roman commander!!!

A night of DBA...

A night of DBA 'gaming with Nick, a fine opponent and good company. We dragged out two 20mm armies: Early Imperial Roman, and Early german - Trajan perhaps attempting to subdue the German tribes.

The first game saw the action take p;lace alongside the Rhine. The German tribes held their right flank back to protect themselves form the Roman cavalry, while pushing forward on their left to attack the legionaries. Light troops had raced on ahead to pin the legionaries, preventing them from taking up position on some high ground.

The Roman cavalry, lead by the Emperor, moved along the banks of the Rhine to attack the German flank.

The Germans had taken up their camp in some ruins.

The first wave of war band attacked the legionaries on the hill, but the legionaries held against the first charge. One unit of legionaries ran, but there was a second reserve line behind to hold the war band.

Meanwhile the Roman cavalry had moved onto the German flank.

However some deft fighting by the legionaries cut holes in the German line.

And the first German tribes were subdued.

Wargaming Butterfly? Me? NEVER!!!!!

I am truly a wargaming 'social butterfly. Last week it was a 28mm Warmachine Steam Robot, and the week before 20mm British colonial infantry, both for the VSF HotT army.

Now it's 6mm German mid war armoured infantry for the mid war Spearhead armies. These Ros Heroics Sdkfz 251 and infantry will supplement the infantry and armour that already sit in their draws waiting expectantly for action. Their Russian opposition are also getting a little jumpy with lack of action.

Still to come are a couple of battalions of PzIV F2, and some Flak.

Also on the paint board are the 17pdr and 6pdr AT supplement for the late war British, and infantry for another infantry battalion. Looking forward to some action with these guys.

By Gad, Suh!!!

Friday night... games night, and 'By Gad Suh'.. the British are out in force tonight. Nick G and I played a very cool HotT game pitting Nick's British VSF against the Undead.

Nick's army was:
1xAirboat General
2xFlyers
1xHero
1xSteam tank Behemoth
4xShooters

Most of the army was created by our good friend Andy Gorman, and the steam tank was on its inaugural outing after Nick finished it last week.

The Undead army was:
2xMagician (one was the general)
1xHero
1xShooter
3xBlades
3xHordes

(This was one point short, as originally the army included a sneaker, but we had a problem resolving an one aspect of use of sneakers I'll have to ask on the Yahoo HotT list) so we reclassified it as a Blade .. expediency.. and that's just fine).

Nick deployed with his aerials on his left, and advanced these towards the Undead, slowly bringing up the behemoth and Hero in support. His shooters remained behind on the hill awaiting events.

The Flyers (air balloons), Airboat, and Nick's new steam tank behemoth.

Undead magic crackled through the air pushing the airboat backwards.

Nick attacked the Blade on the left flank of the Undead army with the air boat and one flyer.

The first combat was drawn, and the airboat remained locked in combat, so the Undead shooters flanked the airboat. Meanwhile Nick advanced his second flyer into the Undead rear. But the Undead hero used his longer movement distance to attack the flyer... one dead flyer.. ouch!!!!!

A 6 to 3, and the airboat was dead.. I think Nick was feeling as if this was going to be one of those nights.

The British hero advanced forward with the Steam tank in support, making short work of the shooter base!!

Again bolts of magic energy raced through the air, and the british hero disappeared in a puff of smoke, ensorcelled. This was a damned un-british way to fight a war!!! Finally the Undead hero attacked the second British flyer, bringing the balloon down in a raging inferno, and the game was over.

Another fine evening spent with good company, reasonable coffee, and lots of good conversation, hence only one HotT game played, but after all what do we follow this hobby for? Hmm.. best not answer that too quickly..

Finishing the Great War Spearhead half time action

Well I've finally written up the photo after action report of the 1914 Great War Spearhead game Nick and I played waaaayyyy back in January..

Titled 'Backs against the wall', the completed report is here. If you are interested, go to the After Action Reports section.

This was exciting stuff.. hopefully the AAR reflects at least some of the 'gaming tension we both felt as we battled it out. I felt that Nick actually deserved to win this none: he planned his attacks well, supported them in the right places at the right times with his artillery assets, was prepared to take casualties to achieve his aims, and committed reserves in a very timely manner, keeping his foot on my throat all the time. I was very lucky to squeak a minor victory from the game.. I suspect it was more of a draw to tell the truth.

However it illustrates one of the things that keeps me in the hobby ... genuinely exciting nail biting games filled with positive tension and great fun!!

Good old fashioned model making...

A couple of weeks ago I blogged on the fantastic model galleon that my Father had built (the Golden Hind). Here are a few more of my Father's models, all constructed from plans that came with his magazine subscription 'Hobbies Weekly'.

The first is a lighthouse table lamp stand. The bulb sits in the top (exactly where you'd expect the light to be in a light house I guess). The ocean waves were formed using modeling putty, then hand painted.

This next model is of a small church.

 The roof lifted up to reveal a spray on velvet coated box for storing trinkets of various kinds, the opening of which would start a music box hidden beneath the box. This was very much a 'style of the day'. I recall as a child being enthralled by the plastic bottle 'puffer' used to apply the fine velvet over a surface of wet glue. Fascinating what captures our imaginations and cements into our memory from our childhood.

The detailing was interesting, the stained glass windows were hand painted on heavy 'cellophane', while the climbing plants were shaped using modeling putty (it was called DAP as I recall), and then painted.

Finally is this 'Swiss Chalet', again a music box activated when the roof is lifted back. The music boxes are clockwork mechanical movements, wound up to play.

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"Fusiliers"

I've just finished reading 'Fusiliers' by Mark Urban (Faber and faber, 2007). Subtitled 'How the British army lost America but learned how to fight', this is an account of the American War of Independence written from many previously unpublished primary sources, focussed mainly (but not exclusively) on the 23rd Royal Welch Fusiliers.

Urban manages to write a well paced and engaging piece of history, developing within it the story of the revolution in British tactics that developed on the North American continent, and the subsequent battle to have these adopted by the British Army in the early days of the French revolutionary wars.

His chronicling of Cornwallis' campaign through the southern states, and his accounts of the battles in which the protagonists engaged (Camden and Guildford Courthouse stand out), are engaging and memorable.

Most profound for me is his account in his last two chapters of the regression of British tactics in the 1890s  (as the Duke of York pushed the emulation of the Prussian linear tactics that he saw on show at the 1785 Prussian maneuvers) and the work of Calvert and Cornwallis to re-introduce the 'light infantry' tactics that Cornwallis had developed with the British Army in North America 25 years before, with line infantry fighting in 2 ranks, with larger spaces between files, and dedicated light infantry.

The book is compelling reading, and ought to be on the reading list of any 'gamer (or scholar for that matter) with an interest in 18th and 19th century warfare.

Here is the Independent's review of the book.