Merry Christmas To One And All

Broadside, Saturday 4th December 2021

Yesterday I attended my first wargames show since 2019 with my club, the South East Essex Military Society (SEEMS), at the Broadside show in Kent. I must say it was a most fun and friendly event which reminded me of the shows of yore. We put on a Peninsular Napoleonic game (using Neil's toys) playing two linked scenarios. I did not take pictures of the other games as we were very busy chatting at the table.

The French had decided to make a nuisance of themselves and sent a not inconsiderable force to investigate the strength of a local fort. In scenario one the British occupied a a hill overlooking the plain and sent news of the French deployment. The French simply had to push the British off the hill to win Day One. Numerical superiority and British reinforcements arriving in dribs and drabs made for an easy French victory.

Two units of skirmishers ready to take on the pesky French.

However the British had a secret weapon. I was the French C in C.  

My advance was a muddled affair with the dice gods leaving me with units failing their activation rolls meaning the units arrived piecemeal. Also my "great idea", to post a battery just out of range of the British in an attempt to tie down two British was folly. At the end of the scenario I discovered my heavier guns outranged the British by 12".

It's a shame the Voltigeurs are being shot to pieces, Pierre. But we are safe!

The farce continued as my advancing columns took fire from that blasted hill.. At least my second battery did some damage.

Incidentally, those Dragoons are some of the best painted Hinchliffe figures I have ever seen.

By the end of the day the hill was still stubbornly occupied, the disordered advance units created a log jam for those behind. All I, as C in C, had was a headache and a burning desire for red wine, baguettes and onion soup!

Merde!

Day Two  was based upon the British retiring overnight to their village stronghold. I did not take any pictures and the matter was inconclusive as by then we were pretty much chatting away to all and sundry in the best atmosphere I can remember for many a year.

The lull before the storm(ing).

The rules were "Rebels and Patriots" with an on-line unofficial extension for the Napoleonic period, "Flags and Eagles". I thoroughly enjoyed it; so much so that I bought a few boxes of Perry Austrians to pit against the French juggernaut. The infantry figures are glued up and the undercoat is on. First results next weekend!

Battle of Bryson's Crossroads

Club night last night and my first opportunity to try out my Union troops and (some of) my Confederates. I was a few minutes late and so was not able to deploy all my snake fencing as a lot had already been laid out but also I got to use The Little House On The Prairie plus my new apple orchard.

Rules were Rebels and Patriots and the scenario was devised by Neil (who also provided the bulk of the Confederates). The Union were in possession of the hill and the rebels controlled the crossroads. Victory was to the player who controlled both by games end.

My plan was simple, use my veteran 54th Massachusetts to assault the crossroads on my left and use my smaller green volunteer infantry and cannon to hold the hill on my right. 

First thing I learnt was the Commanding Officer does not need to be attached to a unit. Doh! The errant rebel figure in the 54th colour party unit is to make up numbers while Gould-Shaw is free to influence wherever he is most needed.

The 54th push forward to the crossroads.

While on the right the skirmishers cover the ground between the woods and the precious hill (complete with my orchard atop!).

A mix of my rebels and Neil's spent a lot of the game just trying to mass for an assault on the hill.

Quite early on the artillery ran out of targets due to line of sight being blocked. Without a limber trying to manhandle the artillery 2" at a time proved laborious.

The assault by the 54th plunges on while the volunteer infantry colour party repeatedly failed activation rolls (even with Gould-Shaw being close enough to add to their rolls).

Eventually they occupied the wood, the artillery dragged onward and supported the skirmishers. The other volunteer unit fired some rather effective volleys on the gathering rebel forces.

However the rebel left never really managed to get it together. By the last turn the mounted skirmishers had just managed to cross over the snake fencing.

The 54th were unstoppable and the crossroads was open for the taking with rebel units retreating everywhere.

So that was it, the last move had the Union poised to take the crossroads and the rebel attack on the right flank effectively covered off before it ever started. Together with the sheer number of rebel casualties confirmed this as a great victory for the Union. Hurrah!!!

This was a lot of fun and already has me thinking about different periods for R&P plus other Osprey rulesets. The figures numbers are achievable, the games take a few entertaining hours and everybody has fun without being bogged down in rule interpretation. Watch this space!

Little House on the Prairie...

 Finished at last! The addition of these three units brings the Union up to strength, for now at least. The 12 figure marching unit are Perry metal figures and the skirmishers are Perry plastics with metal command figures.

I still have enough figures left to add to both sides over time (and I do have a hankering to add some cavalry) but for the moment there are enough figures completed to run a club game.

For the 54th Mass. I only had three heads left to swap and so the figures biting off the cartridge's are just a paint job conversion.

And of course The Little House on the Prairie is the Perry plastic farmstead. I have a few lengths of snake fencing left to paint and the Perry weatherboard church will grace the table eventually.

The next few weeks are going to be busy so I am not sure when my next post will be but if I get time I want to play a quick solo game with my new collection just to get my head around the rules (I have played several games at the club but kindly someone else has been umpire and done all the thinking for me!).

Three Months Later...

So after three months my 28mm Union "Army" is the same size and composition as my Confederates. The Confederates took considerably longer at over a year.

It's the 54th Mass. again, this time marching forward with purpose into the fray also showcasing more snake fencing (3 metres and counting). I do have some figures left to complete - two six figure skirmish units and another twelve figure infantry unit (which is complete but just needs basing). Hopefully that will all be complete by Sunday leaving me to return to the other 20mm "America's" projects which I would like to complete by early 2022.