There's no such thing as a free figure

This is a cautionary tale familiar to most of you.

At Partizan several years ago I was admiring a war of Spanish Succession demo game. This was focused on the English attack across the stream at the battle of Ramillies, nice 28mm figures, good terrain, and a quiz question I knew the answer to! So I duly entered and went off round the rest of the show.

Come the afternoon, I went back to see if I'd got the answer right (the year of the battle - 1706) and was surprised to find I'd won the raffle for the prize, a battle pack of Front Rank figures.
Great, just what I needed, 24 28mm WSS figures when I've already got between 2000 - 3000 6mm figures of that period!

On asking the nice people on the Front Rank stand if I could have different pack and they allowed me to pick any battle pack. So, knowing my mate David had FIW figures in 28mm, I chose their British in campaign dress pack.



The next time I met up with David I offered him the figures, but the sneaky b****r said no, that I was to keep them so he'd have someone to play against when we found the right set of rules!!
They have spent the last few years forgotten in that embarrassing pile of lead we all hide from the wife.

Last year saw the release of Muskets and Tomahawks from Studio Tomahawks which seemed our kind of game. A few test skirmishes later and we were hooked, and the Brits were needed for the big multi player game we had planned for January. Queue frantic painting.....

The figures are typical Front Rank; chunky, well detailed with not much flash/ seams. Painted up well and I'm pleased with them.They are very versatile figures useable as regulars or light infantry.

So why the cautionary tale? Well you can't have an army of 24 figures can you? So the "free" figures have now cost me over 60 Indians, 21 Rangers, 36 French 80-100 trees, 2 buildings and plans for more. Hope you enjoyed the pictures, and yes I have rushed the varnishing, (anyone got some hints on tidying it up?).
Tim

David's Birthday Bash part 2

Ok, players suitably refreshed, time to restart the games.

For the organisers, the most interesting thing was to see if the players had learned anything from the morning games.

The players had a choice of restarting their games in the final positions of the morning session but with their troop numbers back to full strength. Alternatively, they could re-group and restart with a different mix of troops in their deployment area.

In the British home game, the Brits stayed where they finished the morning, that's in the fort. The French regrouped, beefed up their forces and redeployed. The extra forces included their grenadiers, some light infantry and 2 guns, a light gun, and the heavy gun recaptured by the French in the morning. A successful matrix roll by the French had unspiked the gun overnight, thanks mainly to survival of the crew.

Btitish defenders awaiting the enevitable onslaught

                                                                                                                                                             

The French attacked the fort much more vigorously, managing to get a unit of Indians over the wall. The Brits counterattacked and successfully pushed them back out (just), so when the dust settled the garrison had been reduced to Colonel Fitzmartin and 2 infantrymen. The game ended with the Brits still in command of the fort but it had been a close run thing.

British reinforcements relieving things at the end of the game



 Table 2's Brits were still mainly irregulars but the French had reinforced themselves with extra line troops. As the table was still heavily wooded the advantage was still with the Brits, so when I managed a quick look late in proceedings the French had been pushed back to their table edge facing inevitable defeat. In fact, the big question, was could a British officer get at the Indian he was sworn to kill in hand to hand combat and achieve his sub plot victory condition, before anyone else dispatched him. I never did see if he managed it, he was 5mm short when I left the table.


The Brits pushing the French back to thier table edge









Table 3's game had a similar makeup to the morning, with the French as before, the Brits with extra provincials. The Brits again got an engagement objective, the French got slaughter.
The Brits managed to protect the civilians in some buildings and the extra numbers gave them the edge over the French irregulars. The French again decided that discretion was the better part of valour, and retired off the table, forcing the Brits to settle for a draw from a winning situation (I thought you had to let the Birthday Boy win).


The French home table saw both sides maintaining their closing positions at full strength. The Brits, learning from the morning, decided to burn down the first homestead they came to rather than risk hand to hand combat with the fearsome civilians. Once the building was on fire the locals had to take a reaction test, which they failed, leading to civilians running round like headless chickens.

building in background burning and the civilians leaving the various buildings in panic.









 The Canadians kept up a withering fire on the Brits, slowing the advance down almost to a complete stop. Meanwhile, on the beach, the Brits who arrived late in the morning now set up their guns which would pot way at various buildings with little effect (terrible dice). Their infantry advanced towards the blockhouse which they set alight (again not risking melee, this time with militia). The French were now under extreme pressure, which was relieved by the arrival of 2 regular units. The opposing regular forces now faced off in a devastating firefight which left the Brits with the upper hand, but greatly weakened.

French reinforcements enter stage right,


























The 2 regular forces face off in a firing line dual, French Indians in the Governors house are firing from the 2nd storey at  the stalled advance at the other side of the village. The blockhouse to the right of the picture is now on fire.
                                                                                                                                                                     There was now an opportunity on the French side to strike a significant blow. Their Indians in the
Governors House were still at full strength and by lucky coincidence they had temporary elite status in melee thanks to a matrix roll and a moral advantage due to the eclipse random event. But despite encouragement and pleading from the senior French officer the Indians stayed put carrying out long range musket fire at the Brits at the other end of the village. When eventually the Indians did leave the building to attack the Brits it was after their regulars had been forced back,which left them exposed to musket fire from the remains of 2 units and 2 officers, so discretion proved the better part of valour they returned to the house.


Both sides were now under 1/2 strength and the dreaded moral test cards were added to the pack. In pretty quick succession the cards came up, and after a flurry of dice throws, most troops decided enough was enough and left the field. The only troops that could now affect the outcome were a French officer in the Governors House and a British office and 3 regulars just outside. The Brits stormed the building leading to the demise of the poor isolated French officer.
So at the end of the game the Brits occupied the governors house and had destroyed the blockhouse - 3 - 0 victory to the British but it was very close.



So at the end of the day everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. There were no major disagreements, and most things ran pretty smoothly.
The result? A resounding 20 - 11 victory to the Brits, but a few dice the other way and things would have been very different.
How did the rules handle the game? Considering the numbers and inexperience of most players, the rules worked very well. The built-in randomness of the rules stopped people taking things too seriously and getting overly competitive. We enjoyed the day, have learned a few things to change/ improve, and are planning the next bash in the not to distant future.

David's Birthday Bash Part 1

Fifty is one of those birthdays that you either hide from or have a do. David decided on a do, and being a wargamer, he chose to have an all day game with as many of his friends present as possible.

So which game to play? Well that was easy, we had just used a variation of Muskets and Tomahawks as a participation game at Derby, to great success. David had plenty of figures, and I was daft enough to help umpire.

David then had to set a scenario. With between 12 and 24 people, most of whom had never played the game before, playing for as long as they wanted, and to what level they wanted, we needed a lot of flexibility built in. So the game was to be a mini campaign with 2 big tables, which would stage the 2 main engagements, and 2 small tables to be used to link the large tables. The scenario was the British from fort Westmorland had decided to attack the French at Ottawa point via lake Elk, to allow freedom of movement on the lake by taking their guns out of action. The French meanwhile, had set out, over land, to attack the British fort. That covered the main tables. The small tables would allow men and materials to move between the big tables, or give people a chance to play small independent games depending on how many people turned up.

The 4 tables at the start of play, British fort in the far distance, The French blockhouse & Governor's house in the foreground,


The troops involved were basically what David had, with what others could bring, and what I finished painting in time. The aim was to give players about 180 points each, a few mixed commands, but most would be either regular, irregular or Indian. Thus cooperation between commands would be a good idea.
Troops available (most got used, I think):

British
1x 12 grenadiers
1x 8 grenadiers
1x 8 elite light infantry
6x 10 regulars
1x 8 rangers
1x 8 elite rangers
1x 6 elite rangers
3x 6 colonial rangers
1x 4 Indians
1x 6 Indians
3x 8 provincials
2 heavy guns
1 General and 3 ADCs all mounted, these could act as a mounted unit or as messengers between the tables.

French
1x 12 grenadiers
8x 10 regulars
1x 10 company de la marines
1x 4 Indians
6x 6 Indians
1x 6 Coer de Bois
1x 8 Canadian militia
2x 6 Canadian militia
2 heavy guns
1 General and 3 ADCs (as above)

Each player would have an officer appropriate to the troops they had been given from the above lists. Players were allocated a side as they arrived and we tried to put playing partners on opposite sides, while keeping regular opponents apart where possible.
Sides then chose or elected their General who then allocated commands to the tables as he wished.

Points would be awarded for achieving the victory conditions 3pts. Achieving their side plot (or umpire choice). 1pt
Possession of fort/ blockhouse and governor's house 3pts

There were a few house rules for movement between tables; the ADC messengers and runners etc.
We also use a limited matrix system on top, which helped players unfamiliar with the rules, who suddenly found they weren't allowed to perform a task, just had a cunning plan, or needed a change of weather etc if they could come up with 3 good arguments to do so.


Proceedings started around 10.00 am with Rob setting up the British 'home' board and me setting up the French. (Sorry photos not brilliant, bit short of time to do the full David Bailey).

The 4 tables at the start of play, British fort in the far distance, The French blockhouse & Governor's house in the foreground



David set up a game on a small table to demonstrate the rules, where the French were attempting to move a heavy gun overland to bombard the British fort. This was a heavily wooded table, with most of the table assumed to be covered, and open spaces placed in a reversal of normal games. Once the demo bit was over, opposing forces really got going. The British force, largely irregulars, used the terrain well against their regular opponents and managed to capture the gun and spike it. Unfortunately for the rangers, they were now in the open and the firing lines of the French forced them back so that the game ended with the French in command of the gun and, most importantly, they still had the gun crew who had withdrawn earlier rather than try anything to heroic. A phyrric victory for the French.

French recapturing the gun

The other small table was a low key skirmish, again on a heavily wooded table. Both sides made sure they were contesting the table to avoid giving an easy victory to their opponent, and to keep communication channels open between the tables. The forces were all irregular, rangers and Indians for the Brits and Canadians and Indians for the French. The British objective was engagement, the French raid. During the game the Brits pushed the Canadians away from the building with heavy casualties. The French player saw he was not going to destroy the buildings to achieve his victory conditions, and decided to withdraw his forces before the British killed 2/3 of his men and achieve his. So this game ended in a draw.

The assault on the British fort, without artillery seemed to lack numbers and punch and failed to get close to carrying the fort once the British regulars managed to scramble home. The game was one of long range exchanges of fire and fights over possession of the road. British victory.

The British fort prior to kick off



The British scrambling to reinforce the fort before the French could mount an attack

2 views of the French 'home' table with the blockhouse over looking the bay and the Governors house at the centre of the village.

The assault on the French village and blockhouse (where I was stationed) was made by a force of
regulars, with some provincials, arriving as reinforcements.The regulars advance up the road was hampered by the woods to the flanks and the stream to their front and when the French advanced to the edge of the village they were nearly bottled up completely. Numbers started to tell as the Brits got into firing lines, and pushed the French back.

Brits bunched up on the table edge

Canadians arriving





Canadians lining the log barracade top right, British regulars and provincials attemping to cross the river.

Further progress was slowed by flanking fire from some Canadian militia, but with the arrival of the provincials the village was reached as the French regulars were forced to give ground

We had relaxed the rules on civilians staying close to each other to allow occupation of all the buildings, which meant the Brits would have to fight hard for each house. The civilians put up a spirited resistance matching the regulars and provincials for casualties. This meant they didn't test moral even though they had lost a 1/3 - 1/2 their number. They managed to remain in possession of the buildings when the game ended at lunch. The French Indians on this board didn't achieve much, as one group fell victim to a house 'event' of running off after the livestock. The other group occupied the governors house to fire at the British only to be 'matrixed' by the British into plundering the house instead.

British reinforcements arrive via the lake behind the French late in the game but without time to influence the outcome before nightfall (lunch, well the essentials must be observed)

So the game ended with the French still in command of the Governors house and the Blockhouse. Side plots were played (not that I can remember what they were) but neither achieved them. So 3 - 0 to the French for the morning.


The moral of the morning for the Brits, 
Don't mess with Granny !!!








Now Lunch,

Will post the next thrilling instalment, the afternoon events, soon.

Dublin Vikings

I'd like to to introduce my new friends just over from Ireland. Meet Olaf the Stout and a few of his crew. As they are the first 28mm figures I've managed to finish in 30+ years of gaming I'm pleased with them.
They are based up for Saga and form the start of my first warband.

So here is Olaf, his standard bearer, and a few of the warband.

Work is to be continued after the French and Indian War project that has elbowed them out of the way has been done, but more of that in the next post.
(Need to work out how to put text between photos now.)