Mark D's Game Site

Smalle Wars

2012-02-05T12:55:00.000-05:00

Played in a great 17th Century Skirmish level game yesterday at Ed M's. The scenario was Poles vs. Cossacks. I had an opportunity to play the Poles and got to command the cavalry arm (Paneceri, Reiters and Winged Hussars) which is very appropriate for that army in that time period! Never had the opportunity to charge with the Hussars as the German mercenaries devastated the Cossack with massed musket fire and the players on that side conceded before I could get them in action.

The figures were beautiful and the company was great so I had a fantastic time. Ed is putting the game on this coming Friday at NC Game Night so hopefully there will be photos so I can show the figures we used.

Overall, a great day of wargaming!

January Game Night

2012-01-21T20:54:00.000-05:00

I had a chance to attend the Northern Conspiracy January Game Night. I played in a Brother Against Brother ACW Skirmish game. It was a ton of fun! The rules are pretty simple while giving a good feel for the period and the level of game. I have played in a couple of games using this system before, but this is definitely my favorite game of BAB so far. I have a bunch of photos of the game on my phone, just need to figure out how to get them from there to this blog.

Last Gaming of the Year

2011-12-31T14:57:00.000-05:00

The last week of 2011 has been a gaming bonanza! I played two games of War at Sea with my friend Andrew, his son Thomas and my son Andrew! It was great fun as we played two complete games of my 1942 Mediterranean Convoy Scenario. We learned quite a bit about the significance of air power in the WaS game system. The Allied convoy to Malta did not get through in either game we played, as swarms of Stukas and Ju-88's bombed the transports out of existence! I will change the air mix in the orders of battle and we will give the game another go as soon as possible.

I also had a chance to play in an interesting Crete scenario at our monthly club game night. The rules are a derivative of "Behind Enemy Lines" and the game plays pretty well. To be successful as the German player in the game you have to understand how the rules work and you need the luck of the dice. I didn't have either of those attributes as I tried to play the game and I was appropriately unsuccessful! It was overall a fun time.

Have a Happy New Year! Hope you have great gaming experiences in 2012!

British Foreign Units

2011-12-03T22:34:00.000-05:00

Here are some photos of the Swiss and Brunswick units that I have painted for my 28mm Volley and Bayonet Wing Scale project.

The first unit is the Brunswickers of the "Black Horde" in English Service. The figures, even though they are almost totally black in color, still have many interesting details such as the white gloves of the officers and NCO's and the red officer sashes. I based painted the figures black and then highlighted them with dry brushing a couple of lighter shades of dark gray and then gray. The other detail I like is the well known "Death's Head" shako plate. Let me know what you think.

The other unit is De Mueron's Regiment of Swiss troops in British Service. This unit served in North America during the War of 1812, but I am going to use them in our Peninsula Campaign games. The unit consists of three center company stands, a light company stand in front and a grenadier company stand behind the unit. To the far right is a single command figure which will represent a "unit commander" in the rules. I painted the two flank companies and the unit commander recently. I tried a technique to include eyes for the figures, and I think I will redo the faces at some point to get rid of the "pop-eyed" effect.

Here is a close-up of the unit command figure.

Game Stuff Done

2011-11-21T21:36:00.000-05:00

Got the new War at Sea ships based and name tags put on today. Also, during the last game I played with my friend Dave, he recommended that I work out a system to mark my aircraft units more effectively. Dave had pointed out that it was difficult to identify units accurately during a game. So, I made up bases for each aircraft and marked them with the name of the aircraft and put them in the same national colors as my ship models. I am surprised how easy it makes the aircraft to identify. Now I should have that issue taken care of - thanks Dave! I will get photos up of these new bases as soon as I get a chance.

I also started finishing bases for my War of 1812 Brother Against Brother units. I got eight of my eleven units painted and ready for flocking. I have been reading the rules and I will be getting a test game together which I hope to play-test sometime in December.

I also got out a couple of War of 1812 terrain pieces together and prepped for painting.

Overall, a pretty good hobby day!

War at Sea Game

2011-11-14T20:46:00.001-05:00

Friend and fellow Northern Conspirator Dave Bostwick came to the house today and we played a small War at Sea game to introduce Dave to the rules. Well Dave quickly figured out the rules and about turn 2 Dave's dice rolling came around. The results - I had my butt handed to me and Dave found a WWII Naval Game that he really liked!

We played a British vs. Italian game with each side at approximately 160 points. Each side had one Battleship, three cruisers and some destroyers. The Italians had one submarine. Each side also had a small mix of A/C to illustrate the rules for Dave.

I will not bore you with the turn by turn results of the game, but suffice it to say that the British suffered greatly at the big guns of the Roma! The British ended up losing all four of their destroyers (Witte de With, Javelin, Cossack, and Vasilissa Olga) and all three cruisers (Kent, Sydney, and de Ruyter). Only the Prince of Wales survived to fight another day.

Dave and I talked about starting a Mediterranean campaign. We have plenty of ships and with just a few additional units we should be ready to go! Dave has decided to look into War at Sea in more detail and said that he may want to get into the game system with some Pacific forces as I have the Atlantic and Med pretty well covered. Sounds good to me!

Here are some photos of the game for you to take a look at:

This photo shows shows the Italians in the right foreground with Roma, Gorizia, Giuseppe Garibaldi and Scipio Africanus. The British have de Ruyter and Prince of Wales on the left. The Kent and Sydney along with two other destroyers are out of the picture at the upper right hand corner.

I took this picture as I had finished off an Italian destroyer (ship with orange explosion). Little did I know that in just a few short minutes HMS Kent (and two British destroyers) would join the Italian at the bottom of the Med!

The De Meuron Regiment is Complete!

2011-11-09T16:14:00.000-05:00

The De Meuron Regiment Light and Grenadier Companies as well as the Unit Commander are complete and mounted on bases. I still have to flock the bases, but as soon as they are done I will post pictures of them.

The 90th Regiment of Foot

2011-11-09T16:08:00.001-05:00

The 90th Regiment of Foot, also called the Perthshire Volunteers, was a British unit in the Napoleonic Wars. The Battalion was a trained as a "Light" unit and so for our Wing Scale games they are mounted on elite company stands, not the regular center company stands. Here is how they are going to be mounted in various ways during our Wing Scale games. Other "Light" units such as selected French Legere, Austrian Jagers, etc. will be mounted in a similar manner. Notice that the unit can be mounted so they are "formed" similar to center company stands, "formed" by company stands and in "Skirmish" or Open order.

The 90th Light in Battalion Line Formation

A close-up of the 90th Light Company Stands

The 90th Light with two Skirmish stands screening in Front

The Stands

The top stand allows two individual company stands to become a "wing" or center company stand. The bottom stand is used as a sabot to convert a formed elite company into a "Skirmisher" or "Open" order stand.

The Wing Scale Napoleonic Game System

2011-11-06T13:16:00.003-05:00

Here is a photo showing the deployment of two opposing forces which will be part of our Wing Scale Napoleonic Campaign.

At the top right of the photo there is a three battalion French Regiment de Ligne deployed in "l'Ordre Mixte". My US infantry is standing in for the French. The two battalions on the flanks of the formation are in attack column while the battalion in the center is in line formation. Light companies are deployed in front of their battalions and grenadier companies are deployed in the rear of each formation. A battery of two sections is to the right of the regimental formation. Each of the French battalions is two center company stands, a light company elite stand and a grenadier elite stand.

At the bottom of the photo is a British infantry brigade of three battalions supported by two artillery sections all in a line formation. The battalion on the far left of the line is made up of three center company stands instead of the more prevalent two center company stands.

A couple of things we learned during the recent play-test include:

1. Don't try to attack a line like this without prepping it with artillery before sending the infantry into a melee against it. Artillery fired into a line like this will not be that effective at Long Range. It will be much more effective if it is brought into short range so the hit numbers go up from "6" to "4,5,or 6".
2. Players will need to be reminded that the Wing Scale is played at the battalion level and combat is resolved by stand. Just like the Regimental Scale V&B, other stands can add more dice into a combat resolution, however, the combat is one stand against another and the results apply to a single stand.
3. Units attacking any formed enemy units will need at least a 2-1 or 3-1 local superiority to be pretty well assured of success.

War at Sea - French Navy

2011-11-05T10:31:00.000-04:00

I really like the models of the French Naval units and aircraft in the War at Sea range. I have several of the ships and planes so I can do some historical as well as fictitious scenarios for the Mediterranean. Here are some of my French ships including the Carrier Bearn, Battleship Dunkerque, Cruisers Algerie and Lamotte-Picquet and a couple of destroyers.

Here is a close-up of the Dunkerque which is one of my favorite pieces. I really think the French playing pieces stand out with the khaki nametags.

War at Sea - The Royal Navy

2011-11-05T09:14:00.001-04:00

Here are a couple of photos of my War at Sea British Navy collection. I have included the Aircraft Carrier Victorious and Battleship Prince of Wales and Cruiser Leander along with three destroyers and supporting aircraft. Note that even though these are all part of my Royal Navy collection I have identified allied ships with their national naval ensigns such as the Australian Leander, Canadian Haida, and Dutch Witte de With.

Here is a close-up of the Victorious with her aircraft the Dive Bomber Barracuda and Fighter Martlet Mk II.

The Italian Navy

2011-11-04T14:17:00.002-04:00

Here are a couple of pictures of the War at Sea Italian Naval Forces that I have collected. I like the boats to be on stands instead of just using the ships themselves on the table. By having the stands I can put the name of the ship and a national flag on the stand which I think really adds to the look of the playing pieces.

The ships I am showing are: Aircraft Carrier Aquila, Battleship Roma, Cruiser Gorizia, two destroyers and a stand of MTB's. Note that I identify the type of aircraft and which carrier they come from by their own stand.

Here is a close-up of the Roma

War at Sea

2011-11-04T13:37:00.000-04:00

I have a pretty sizable collection of ships now for War at Sea scenarios. I enjoy the game quite a bit. It is really the only playable set of rules for WWII Naval gaming that I have ever come across. The rules are simply, yet I think they pretty accurately simulate the conflict. I am going to post some photos of the set up I use for my War at Sea collection.

New Books Added to the Library

2011-11-01T15:17:00.001-04:00

I have three new Osprey Men-at-Arms series books added to the Library. I got Wellington's Light Cavalry, Wellington's Heavy Cavalry and British Forces in N. America 1793-1815. All three titles are very interesting and they add facets of British Uniforms during the Napoleonic/War of 1812 period that I did not previously have in my collection. I think that each one of these books will be a great reference for me as I continue to build my British/Canadian collection for the War of 1812 and as I build my British forces for our Volley & Bayonet Wing Scale Peninsula Campaign.

Figures Have Arrived!

2011-11-01T14:57:00.001-04:00

My War of 1812 figures painted by Fernando Enterprises have arrived. They are very well painted and with more than 100 figures, this really takes my collection forward. I am going to use figures in a skirmish level game using a modified version of Brother Against Brother. There were a couple of battles during the Wo1812 which were too small even for Volley & Bayonet Wing Scale. This Brother Against Brother should be a good level of game to recreate these smaller battles. I will be unpacking the figures over the next couple of days and I will try to get some photos up.

Work on the Brits Continues

2011-10-28T17:09:00.001-04:00

Good Day! I am really working hard on my British force for our Wing Scale Campaign. I am going to finish the two Brunswick Oels Sharpshooters and all of the British stands are ready to be flocked. I also did some reorganization of my artillery and realized that I have figures and guns on hand for two stands of horse artillery! This will give me 4 foot field guns, 1 foot howitzer, 1 horse rocket, and 2 horse light/field guns. A great support group for my infantry. I also got 4 Light Dragoons in Tarleton helmets together so I have a couple of squadrons of cavalry all painted and ready to go. Overall a pretty good time for the day!

Painting Table Active Again!

2011-10-27T21:02:00.002-04:00

Today I got back into figure painting as part of my recovery "therapy". I am working on my British Army for Volley & Bayonet Wing Scale games that we are working on in our club. I finished a unit commander for the British 1st Foot Regiment and started painting a couple of Brunswick Oels Jager figures for Brigade supports. Good to be painting again!

Wargame Happenings Today

2011-10-25T09:31:00.001-04:00

Today I received notice that my 1812 skirmish figures are painted and on their way back to me. I have over 120 28mm figures on their way, which is going to mean I will have the ability to put on some nice sized games. The figures include some US and British Regulars as well as lights and rifles for both sides. I also have some "specials" such as Royal Marines and West Indies Regiment to add some variety. I am really looking forward to getting the figures back and will get photos on the blog as soon as they arrive.

I also placed my order for the ships and planes that I have been waiting for from the new War at Sea set, Surface Action. I ordered several units including the Shore Battery, Strasbourg (French Battleship), Eagle (British Carrier), Andria Doria (Italian Battleship), Hawkins (British Cruiser), LST (Allied Landing Ships), Fw-190 (German Fighter), and Vosper MTB (British Torpedo Boat). There were some other smaller units that I will detail later. This should give me a very good mix of combat units that I need to complete both the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean scenarios that I want to do.

Why Continue to Wargame?

2011-10-17T14:14:00.004-04:00

I am sure that given my last post many would ask why I would ever continue to have Wargaming as my hobby. Well, first of all it was something that Marc Paul and I enjoyed doing together. We traveled to HISTORICON together when he was younger and we had a great time manning the German defenses on Sword Beach and turning back the invading British forces with some absolute lights out die rolling by Marc! It was great fun and we did it together as father and son.

When Marc came home in December of 2009 before his deployment to Afghanistan we played my 15mm Volley & Bayonet game - Quatre Bras. Marc did an outstanding job attacking as the French player and I barely escaped with a victory for the Allies. We enjoyed drinking Cokes, eating chips and rolling dice just the two of us. It was our special time together and I will always cherish that evening.

Wargaming does not represent the blood and gore and loss of war. It is a study of history and in a way a celebration of those who have answered the call of their country throughout the ages. As a person who has experienced the loss of war in a very personal way, I am not glorifying war itself, but I want to honor the soldier who has done his duty for his country and learn more about how military things have happened throughout history.

So, there you have it. The reasons I still wargame are to remember my relationship with my son and to honor all who have gone before us in duty to their country and to learn about history. Agree or not, those are my reasons.

I am back!

2011-10-17T13:43:00.004-04:00

I am back here on my blog. The last posts I made were in January, 2010. On January 29, 2010 we lost our son, Marc Paul, during his deployment to Afghanistan. Marc was killed along with a US Special Forces Captain who commanded the unit Marc was attached to. Marc was a great person and an outstanding soldier. Our family has been devastated by Marc's death, but we know that God has a plan for everything that happens.
Hundreds came to his funeral service at Plymouth Regional High School. During that service all of those people the message of Christian Salvation, some perhaps for the first time. If even one person made a decision to follow Christ because of that service, we will rejoice with Marc Paul when we all meet together in Heaven someday.
Through this tough time we have also seen the love of our family, friends and community manifested in so many ways. Donations were made in Marc's honor to benefit his HS Lacrosse Program. So much was donated that a new set of bleachers at the Soccer/Lacrosse Field were built along with a coaches filming booth. Also, we have been able to donate to other local charities. The Town of WV and the Waterville Valley Foundation made donations and purchased the very first flag pole for the WV Elementary School which was dedicated to Marc Paul. It is really something to see that flag flying so proudly over our community everyday, knowing that our son has joined the long list of those in a United States uniform who have given their lives to defend that flag and our nation.

15mm WWII SPEARHEAD Game

2010-01-05T12:39:00.002-05:00

I will be hosting a SPEARHEAD game at the club game night in January. It is a 15mm WWII game using the White Star Rising scenario book - Home By Christmas! This is a "Bridge Too Far" game and has a US Parachute Regiment holding a town with the British Guards Armored Division coming to the rescue. In between is a hodge-podge of German units trying to block the Brits and take the town from the Americans. We have played it once at the club and everyone seemed to enjoy it. The change I have made for this game is to have a larger playing table which should allow for more maneuver on the Allies' part and make the Germans' tasks a little harder. I will post an After Action Review (AAR) with photos after we play.

Games for 2010

2010-01-05T10:33:00.001-05:00

I will be hosting three games during 2010 at the Northern Conspiracy Gaming Club. The first game will be a WWII SPEARHEAD 15mm game for the January Game Night. I will also be hosting a Napoleonic Volley & Bayonet game and a Modern CROSSFIRE game later in the year. I will provide details on my first game in a post later this week.

Talavera Game

2009-07-12T21:06:00.003-04:00

I played in a Volley & Bayonet, Road to Glory game on Friday night at our wargames club. It was an excellent game. I commanded the British forces under Wellesley. The game played pretty close to what I understand to be the historical flow of the battle. The French massed the majority of their forces against the British flank and used their cavalry and a small infantry force to screen the Spanish. Actually, this game very closely mirrored the historical battle with my British force holding along the stream which cut directly across the battlefield. The Spanish even sent the same amount of assistance in the form of one of their infantry divisions and some cavalry assets to reinforce our British forces as the French attack developed. The French attack was ferocious with great use of their artillery to try and blast their way across the water obstacle. Although they did get across the stream, I squeezed out a couple of local counter-attacks which restored most of the line. I have to admit, I didn't expect any of my counter-attacks to be successful given the huge numbers of French attacking me.

Although we didn't get to finish all of the turns because of time considerations, it was generally agreed that the French couldn't get to the objective roads behind the Spanish/British lines by the end of the game turns allowed in the scenario.

It was a very enjoyable game and my thanks go out to Charlie for putting on a great scenario. I look forward to playing it again sometime, perhaps as the French. I learned that you have to defend along a stream or river if you have one on your front. The imposition of disorders for the attackers is critical in being able to defend with even a numerically inferior force. The other thing is that you cannot mass forces in the attack. If your lead units are disordered or rout and they hit your follow-on forces then your entire attack will end up getting very messed up. You have to set up an attack in echelon and leave some distance between units in case you run into problems with the initial wave. Sort of just like they did it in Napoleon's time!

Pegasus Bridge Wargame Report

2009-06-13T20:42:00.004-04:00

As my previous post shows, we played a Pegasus Bridge scenario using the CROSSFIRE rules at the club game day last week.

The game was played by two British Players (Alan "AJ" Wright and Andrew Simpson) against two German players (Tom DiGiuseppe and Ed Mueller). The game starts with the placement of British gliders on the board where the allies want them to land. Each glider is then diced for using 1d10 and a direction die from WH40k (don't tell the rest of the club!). The Brits gambled a bit and placed two of their gliders on the west side of the Caen Canal. This gave them 1/3 of their force (and both HMG's) attacking the Pegasus Bridge from the less defended side.

Under my scenario rules the German garrison has to be "alerted" before it can react to the British. This is done on a certain die roll once the British start firing or crossing wire obstacles and assaulting positions.

The British managed to move in towards the defenses without being spotted and they eliminated the AT Gun crew on the East side of the Pegasus Bridge before the Germans started waking up. The glider troops on the West side of the canal also eliminated the HMG posts at the end of the bridge and held German troops in the western trench system at bay. Soon the Bridges were pretty well in hand and the Grondee Cafe was captured in a short hand to hand fight.

As German reinforcements (including a couple of Stug III's and PzrGren Platoon) began to arrive the Brit players had worried looks on their faces. The timely arrival of two No. 6 Commando Platoons and a couple of Shermans evened the score. In one of the better moments of the game, one of the German assault guns took out the two Shermans as they came on the board and the Brits again lapsed into a bit of concern. They quickly recovered and started to use their superior infantry by fire and maneuver as well as close assault to overcome the German defenses. The Germans tried to secure the bridges with the assault guns and managed to get one on each bridge. By that point in time they were getting short of infantry and soon the vehicles were isolated from any support. Once the PzrGren's were suppressed or destroyed the Germans capitulated and the game ended. In tallying up the victory points, the British were judged to have a marginal victory.

Some of the feedback I got included the need for a time limit on the game. As one German player pointed out, if the Germans have to hold on indefinitely then they will always lose. I can see what he means from the results of this game, however, I have seen the British crash into the river losing one entire glider worth of attackers and in other games I have seen the initial assaults turned into bloody massacres. In a couple of results the British force was so mauled that they couldn't generate enough firepower to get an attack going. Perhaps having some German indirect fire will make it a bit more balanced of a scenario. I also need to let German forces maneuver around the board once they are alerted. The players both liked and disliked the 360 degree nature of the battlefield with German reinforcements apt to come in at either bridge. This kind of helps balance out the great flexibility the Brits enjoy in picking the point of attack.

All of the commanders played a great game. As always, the camaraderie of the club was outstanding and everyone seemed to have a very good time. Overall I am pretty happy with the scenario and with just a couple of additional refinements I think it will be an even more enjoyable game.

I have heard that CROSSFIRE 2 is due out soon and I am really looking forward to seeing what changes/improvements have been made! I will soon be setting up another scenario for a club game night/day which pits some regular infantry types against each other in a more conventional battle. Stay tuned for that battle report.

D-Day Memorial Wargame

2009-06-13T10:24:00.006-04:00

I hosted a D-Day Memorial wargame last Saturday at the Northern Conspiracy game day. The Scenario was Pegasus Bridge using the CROSSFIRE rules set and my 20mm figure collection. The scenario pits elements of the 2d Bn, Oxs and Bucks against garrison troops around the bridge and some reinforcements including assault guns and mechanized troops. Here is a photo of the game table as we started:

As you can see the game is set from Benoville to the Orne River. The silver bridge represents the Benoville (Pegasus) Bridge across the Caen Canal and the black bridge represents the Orne River (Horsa) Bridge. The building closest to Pegasus Bridge is the Grondee Cafe and the other buildings are representations of Benoville and Le Port.

The British arrive by glider and here is a couple of photos of the British with Horsa Gliders I made from card stock:

The British come from 6th Airborne Division, 2d Battalion, The Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, D Company. This unit was commanded by MAJ John Howard. They were highly trained and historically carried out their assigned tasks against the bridges in an extraordinary manner.

The Germans defending the bridges came from the 736th Grenadier Regiment, 716th Division which was a static defense unit of Ost troops led by German officers and NCO's. Historically, these troops put up a less than stellar defense of the bridge which they lost within one hour of the British gliders touching down. Here are a couple of photos of the German defenders:

In the next post I will recap the game we played.

Game Report - Napoleonic Tournament Campaign

2009-04-23T21:56:00.008-04:00

My first game in the Napoleonic Tournament Campaign we are running at the Northern Conspiracy was against Andrew S. and his Russian horde. I am playing with a later French allied army composed of Polish and Italian troops. I have two quality line infantry divisions and one regular infantry division and a conscript line infantry division. I also have one light cavalry division and one heavy cavalry division. My corps and army commands have artillery support and the army commander has an independent cavalry brigade.
Our game was set up using an interesting book that I have with 100 tournament game maps in it. You roll two ten-sided die and refer to the book for the set up. It includes hills, rivers, roads, swamps, fields, basically everything you could think of for terrain.
Our terrain ended up being pretty simple. Two hills and a large forest on my left, a swamp in the left center of the table and one smaller hill on my right. The center and right center of the table were pretty flat and open. This picture shows the initial deployment of our armies on the table.

Andrew and I drew basically the same card with most of our forces leaving the battlefield on turn 1 and coming back on the table as returning detachments. My troops returned sooner and I began to move across the board towards Andrew's LOC. Andrew designed his army to be strong defensively and he immediately picked a strong position anchored on the swamp, which he knew I couldn't cross. With skirmishers and dedicated guns on every stand he had quite a strong position once he went stationary. This picture shows the battle evolving around turn 3.

I attempted to set my light cavalry division on a flank attack around my left, his right. The division actually got into a position where it could attack one of his two cavalry divisions. Here is the one moment of glory for the Polish forces on this day as two cavalry brigades and a horse gun take on the mounted Russian hordes!

Much to Andrew's credit he didn't throw any dice at me as he repeatedly missed the heroic 2nd Light Horse Brigade (shown here).

I think we counted something in excess of 25 die rolls which all missed. I managed to exhaust the cavalry division, however, he had reserves coming onto the board just as I broke through and he stabilized the situation. My own cavalry division became exhausted and retired to the hill on my left to wait out the rest of the battle.

Finally, I realized that I had to try and get around a flank - so I tried both at the same time! Here is my Italian division trying to get through the forest and into his right flank. They would not succeed!

Andrew deftly countered each of my maneuvers using his interior lines and continued to set a very strong defensive line every time I moved. Notice the defensive front already forming even before the Italians can get through the woods in the picture above. At turn 10 we decided to conclude the battle and count up victory points. Andrew won the game by one point.
Hats off to my valiant opponent. He learned from the last two games of V&B that we played. He protected his flanks and set up a strong defense to try and entice me in. I couldn't maneuver him out of position and I didn't want to get into a situation where my troops were out of position either.
Once we concluded the battle for the tournament we continued with a few moves and I decided to throw in a couple of attacks to see how I could do against his line. Given his stationary status, and the significant number of heavy gun stands that he has, my attacks were predictably non-starters. I lost several strength points and he was in a great position to conduct a counter attack at the end.
Lessons learned include the following:
1. Don't attack a stationary enemy who has dedicated guns and skirmishers. Too many defensive dice to take on. One must maneuver to a point of strength and put in an overwhelming attack.
2. Cavalry do not stand a chance against any kind of formed infantry if there are dedicated guns and skirmishers. Too many dice to fight as the cavalry cannot take any amount of punishment due to their low exhaustion levels.
3. Don't wait too long to put in your assault, especially if there is difficult terrain to cross to get into the attack.
I should have decided to attack from the very beginning and then gone for it. If I had infantry support for the cavalry flanking maneuver (or vice-versa) than my assault would have been much more successful. Hindsight, as always, is 20/20. Hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I am enjoying the campaign.

Hosted a Quatre Bras Game

2009-04-13T13:05:00.003-04:00

I hosted a Volley & Bayonet game recreating the Battle of Quatre Bras 1815. As you may or may not know this was one of several small battles preceding the Battle of Waterloo. Armies were the Anglo-Allies under the Duke of Wellington against the Left Wing of the French Armee du Nord under Marshal Ney.

The scenario was very balanced and played very well for the four players involved. The French got off to a rocky start with a single stand of Dutch skirmishers defeating two massed stands of French in melee. This exhausted a French division when they routed off the board and were removed from play!

The French recovered sufficiently to resume the advance, however, by the time they got into a general assault the Allied line was too strong and the French never managed to get to threaten the crossroads.

The armies I have painted look great on the table and I am really glad that I have put together this scenario. I look forward to running the game again soon so we can see if a better first turn or two can make any difference for the French in the long run.

I think some photos were taken of the game so I will try to get copies to post here at the blog so you can see them.

First Campaign Games in the Book

2009-04-13T12:55:00.003-04:00

The first several games of our Volley & Bayonet "Tournament Campaign" are in the book. So far we have had a good mix of results and the rest of the tournament should prove very interesting as different armies face off. In my first game against Andrew Simpson's Russian army we maneuvered all across the board but didn't do much fighting as each of us was reluctant to make the first charge. Our battle ended up as a tie.

One thing the tournament has done is generate lively debate about different facets of the rules. One of the major issues has been the impact of dedicated guns and reinforcing skirmishers on combat. All combat is significantly more deadly than it was in the past making the Napoleonic game just as bloody as the the later 19th century combat. Another major change is the different rules regarding infantry voluntarily moving into musket range of cavalry. Infantry now can move into range of a cavalry stand and blast away. If the cavalry survives the infantry still has an advantage in melee, even when it is not stationary. I will post more when I have a chance on the battle results.

The War Begins!

2009-03-08T14:46:00.003-04:00

The Napoleonic Campaign Tournament using the Volley & Bayonet Road to Glory game system has started in our club. We have six Coalition players competing against five French and French Allied players. We will take the next two to three weeks to play the first round games. As the games are played, I will post battle reports here.

New Airborne Warrior!

2009-03-04T16:27:00.004-05:00

As you can see from the set up of my site, I just returned from Fort Benning, Georgia, home of the US Army Airborne School. It was a homecoming for me as I went through the training back in 1988. The reason I went back was to attend my son's graduation from the school! What a proud moment it was to pin his wings on and welcome him into the brotherhood of the airborne trooper. Here is a photo on Marc in his ACU's with the coveted red beret on his head and jump wings on his chest!

The New Campaign

2009-03-04T16:21:00.003-05:00

It just seems like all of my campaign ideas have fizzled, however, there is a new one starting and it looks like it will happen!

We have 10 or 11 guys at the Northern Conspiracy who are participating in a Napoleonic Campaign using the relatively new Volley & Bayonet "Road to Glory" rule set. We have 5 French players on a "team" and 6 Allied players on the other "team". Each player will play a full V&B game against each of the opposing team players. Points will be earned in each game and added to the team total. Team with the highest number of points at the end of the campaign will be the "VICTORS".

We are almost set to start the gaming. I will be posting results and comments here as well as on our club website.

Maybe if this campaign goes over well we can get guys interested in giving the Ware of 1812 a try!

The 2nd US Dragoons

2008-11-16T16:20:00.003-05:00

The 2nd Dragoons are currently the longest continuously serving regiment in the US Army. In March of 1814 the 1st Light Dragoons and the 2nd Light Dragoons were combined into the Regiment of Light Dragoons with eight companies. During the War of 1812 rarely more than 200 dragoons served in one place at one time. Both mounted and dismounted dragoons are represented in my army and are shown here. The dragoons are shown in the 1812 regulation uniform in all blue. The uniform was pretty much the same cut as the 1810 pattern uniform, however, the red collar and cuffs were replaced by blue. The headgear changed the most with the high front piece and leopard skin turnban were gone. The black comb was reinforced by metal and held a white horsehair crest. There was a white over blue plume on the left side of the helmet. Note that the dismounted troopers carry their carbines at the ready and still have their high topped cavalry boots and sabers. These figures are all from the Foundry 1812 Range.

The 1st US Infantry

2008-11-16T16:03:00.005-05:00

The 1st US Infantry is the oldest unit in the United States Army. During the War of 1812 the 1st Infantry was spread out among several outpost on the Western border of the fledgling nation. Because they were very dispersed, they were among the last units to get the new 1813 regulation uniform. Additionally, the uniforms that they did have after several years in the field were probably not as standardized as I show them in these figures. However, I have to present the oldest unit in the Army in a presentable way! The unit is shown in the 1812 regulation uniform of blue coats with red facings. The officer wears the regulation bicorne and the drummer is in the regulation red coat with blue facings. The color bearer carries the distinctive National Colors of the 1st Infantry which includes a star-burst area around the national symbol as well as a "1st US Inf" on the upper corner of the flag away from the staff. These figures were also painted by Fernando Enterprises in Sri Lanka. They did an outstanding job on my 25mm War of 1812 figures and 15mm Napoleonic figures that I sent them. I highly recommend them to any wargamer looking to get a large number of figures painted in a relatively short amount of time. These figures are also from the Old Glory 1812 Range.

The 16th US Infantry

2008-11-16T15:46:00.006-05:00

The 16th US Infantry was organized on January 11, 1812 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It served at the captures of Fort York and Fort George and at the Battle of Crysler's Farm. The regiment is clothed in the 1812 regulation uniform in all green. This uniform includes the felt cylinderical shako with plume centered on the front. The US Army had a serious supply problem throughout the War of 1812. These problems led to uniforms being turned out not only in the regulation blue, but also in black, green, drab and gray. The gray uniforms were made famous by Brigadier General Winfield Scott and the troops he led during the 1814 Niagara Campaign. Note that the officer is in a completely regulation uniform. This often happened as officers provided their own clothing and could often afford to have the correct uniform to be made. In some sources, the uniform of the 16th is stated as "black" but with poor quality dyes and with fading, this would have quickly changed to some other color such as the green shown. I had these figures painted by Fernando Enterprises in Sri Lanka. I was very happy with the 25mm War of 1812 figures I had painted by Fernando. They also did some 15mm Napoleonic figures which turned out very nicely. It is a bit pricey for the shipping, so I would only recommend using such a service if you have a large number of figures to be painted. These figures are from the Old Glory 1812 Range.

The 23rd US Infantry

2008-11-16T15:33:00.005-05:00

The Twenty-Third US Infantry was raised in New York state. It was one of the units making up a part of the Brigadier General Eleazar Ripley's 2nd Brigade of Jacob Brown's Division in the Niagara Campaign of 1814. This unit is painted in the normal blue uniform of the American infantry. This is the regulation uniform of 1813 which includes the blue facings on the cuffs and collars. Also, the headgear is the "Belgic" leather shako. The crossbelts are black leather. The color shown is the "Battalion Colors" which was a buff or yellow flag. Mine is shown with the complete National Arms. In reality, the colors included only a red scroll and at some point - usually at the upper corner of the flag closest to the staff - there would be an embroidered number of the regiment. These figures are from the Foundary Range of the War of 1812.

The American Photo Gallery Starts

2008-11-16T15:30:00.004-05:00

To add to the US 13th Infantry the following posts will add some photos of my American 1814 army. Some are very old figures and some are from the past year or two. I have painted most myself, although I purchased some painted Native Americans and I sent figures to Sri Lanka for painting. I identify those units with my narrative on the photos. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Another State Championship

2008-11-15T21:31:00.003-05:00

Our youngest, Andrew, completed another successful football season this afternoon when the Plymouth Regional High School Bobcats defeated Laconia High School for the NH Division IV Football Championship. Andrew, a Sophomore, started on special teams for the Bobcats and did a great job during the game.

This is the fourth state title game for our sons in the past four years. Andrew's brother Marc played on the Bobcat teams which won the previous three state titles at the Division III level.

The Plymouth Bobcats are on a 44 - 0 run during these four championship seasons.

Congratulations to Andrew and all of his fellow players for another great season!

Niagara 1814 Campaign Inches Closer

2008-10-21T17:54:00.002-04:00

The campaign rules are complete and we are getting closer to the start of the 1814 Campaign. I have secured a second player and we have some candidates for subordinates as we get into the campaign. I will give a complete run-down of the campaign details as soon as I have a moment. The first battle should be in early November.

Marc Graduates US Army Basic

2008-10-21T17:49:00.003-04:00

My apologies for not being more faithful with this blog. I just wanted to get it out there that our son, Marc has completed his US Army Basic Combat Training at Ft. Jackson, SC and is now undergoing Advanced Individual Training (AIT) at Ft. Bragg, NC. His military specialty is Psychological Operations Specialist (37F). So far, so good. Once he finishes AIT he will go on to US Army Airborne School. He is looking forward to me giving him his "blood wings" on graduation day from Airborne School - almost as much as I am looking forward to giving them to him!! When I have some pictures of him to post I will do so.

Marc Training to Become a Soldier

2008-08-17T21:04:00.004-04:00

Our son Marc is at Basic Combat Training at Ft. Jackson, SC. He is in C Co., 3-13th Infantry. He is currently starting his 4th week of training - almost halfway through.
We can't wait to see him at graduation the first week of October.

The 13th US Infantry

2008-08-17T20:31:00.006-04:00

Here is a photo of the 13th US Infantry. This is the most recent unit I completed for my War of 1812 campaign game. The reason I painted the 13th is because me eldest son is currently in Basic Combat Training at Ft. Jackson, SC. His unit is C Co., 3-13th Infantry. So this is for Marc. The unit is a pretty basic US Infantry unit for the 1814 Niagara Campaign. The troops are clothed in tan coats faced red. The officer and drummer are fairly regulation dress. The unit has a battalion color which includes a "13" to designate the regiment.

2008-06-16T21:17:00.003-04:00

How can a month go by so quickly? This has been a very busy time for us as a family and the hobby has really suffered. We had a graduation, my oldest son/middle child Marc graduated from High School and is getting ready to go into the US Army. The rest of the summer - at least until Marc's departure on July 21st - will be kind of hectic.

What little hobby time I have had lately has been spent working on a new idea. Still a very small idea, but it could grow into one of the best yet. Given the success of my Niagara Campaign and other War of 1812 games, I began to toy with the idea of a true Napoleonic, Wing Scale, Volley & Bayonet game. I began to think about all of the "Smaller" Napoleonic battles I could recall. One battle which has always fascinated me is Quatre Bras just before Waterloo. Besides, I have always wanted to have a "Black Brunswicker" wargames army so here is my perfect excuse!

I have started to research Orders of Battle and started to make up a list of the figures necessary to put on a Wing Scale game of Quatre Bras. I even bought enough Old Glory figures to raise the Brunswick force of 1815. The first troops are on the painting table and I hope to have pictures ready for this site within a few weeks.

Stay tuned!

Volley & Bayonet War of 1812 Game

2008-05-17T11:01:00.006-04:00

I hosted a Volley & Bayonet Wing Scale scenario last night at the Northern Conspiracy game night. The game pitted relatively even forces against each other in a meeting engagement with the Americans at the top of the map and the British at the bottom. The Americans, slightly inferior in troop quality, held the objective (a farm homestead) at the beginning of the game and the British had to take it from them. The terrain between the British side of the table and the farm was several fields surrounded by fence lines which caused disorder to formed troops trying to cross them.

Overall the game was very close for the first eight turns. On Turn 9 the British finally put in a massive assault on the farm and in one great round of dice rolling (killing 7 strength points) they turned around the entire game and the Americans threw in the towel.
Both sides played the game really well. The player on the American left flank used the Light Brigade to great effect, thoroughly trouncing a brigade of British/Canadian light troops and Indians. The American Rifle Regiments were especially devastating in both long range fire and in close combat. On the British side the player on the British left flank conducted an excellent assault on the defending American brigade which left two of the regiments in complete disarray.

The quality of the British units told in the end. With a couple of morale grade 6 units and one unit with a "shock" rating, the British could close with the American defensive line and overcome it with relative ease.

Thanks to all of the players (John, Leo, Ed and Andrew on the American side and Ralph and Byron on the British side). I am glad that everyone seemed to have a good time. It was nice to get all of the newly painted 1812 stuff on the table.

British Order of Battle:

1 Brigade
41st Foot
56th Foot
90th Foot (Light)
DeMeuron Regiment

2 Brigade
93rd Foot (Highlanders)
100th Foot
5th West Indies

Canadian Light Brigade
5/60 Rifles
Voltiguers Canadians
Quebec Foot Dragoons
Niagara Mounted Guides

Naval Brigade
1 Royal Marine Battalion
3 Royal Marine Battalion
2 Glengarry Militia

4 batteries of artillery (2 field and 2 heavy)

American Order of Battle:

2nd Brigade
1st US Infantry
21st US Infantry
23rd US Infantry

3rd (Militia) Brigade
5th Pennsylvania Volunteers
Dobbins' NY Militia Regiment
Pennsylvania Volunteer Rifles
NY Mounted Volunteers

Light Brigade
1st US Rifles
4th US Rifles
Swift's Regiment of NY Militia
Indians

5th Brigade
14th US Infantry
16th US Infantry
3rd US Volunteers

5 batteries of artillery (2 heavy, 2 light, 1 howitzer)

The Start of a New Game

2008-04-07T20:11:00.005-04:00

I have been painting over the last few months. Right now I am closing in on completion of two new units - The 5th West Indies Regiment and the 15th US Infantry. These two units will complete the core forces of both sides for my upcoming fictitious Niagara Campaign. These units bring the totals to 37 US Infantry stands, 3 Cavalry stands (Regulars, Volunteers and Militia) and 30 British/Canadian Infantry stands, 2 Cavalry stands (Regulars and Militia). Added to these are 9 US gun stands and 11 British/Canadian gun stands and numerous skirmisher stands on both sides. Each side also has the requisite Native American stands.
It has taken a few years to get all of these forces ready to go, but they are almost finished! Now if I can recruit some commanders, we can get started with the campaign! More photos to come in the next couple of weeks.

Last Game of 2007 - WWII SPEARHEAD

2008-01-01T14:53:00.000-05:00

Just a quick update on the last game of 2007. I hosted a WWII SPEARHEAD game at the Northern Conspiracy game night on December 28th. The Game is called "Home By Christmas" and it is a slightly modified version of the same scenario from the White Star Rising book. In this game the British Armored force moving up a road must link-up with an American airborne regiment holding a small town. The Germans have a hodge-podge of forces between the two allied forces.
At the game night the Germans decided to defend as far forward as possible to the British deployment. This forced the British to fight towards the Americans from the very start of the game. The Germans initially fighting the British included a motorized SS Infantry Battalion and an SS Panzerjager Battalion. These units fought a British Infantry Brigade of two battalions and an armored battalion to a standstill for about 7 turns. The Americans made quick work of the Luftwaffe training unit surrounding them and ended up attacking the German reserve of one motorized SS Infantry battalion by the end of the game. Even a regular army fusilier battalion reinforced by Stug-III's couldn't prevent the Americans from breaking out and counterattacking the surrounding forces.
While the Germans were very successful at the beginning of the game, I think that the British reserve armored battalion would have tilted the game in favor of the allies if it had played out the total 18 turns. The Americans were so successful in the breakout from the town, that they would have put significant pressure on the Germans trying to hold off the British and basically "turned the Germans" out of their defenses.
We are limited to some extent at game night by time. We completed 8 turns of the 18 turns for this game before we had to pack up. Overall, I believe everyone had a good time in this game. It was much closer than I anticipated with the Germans really making the British fight for every inch of ground along the road. The British didn't conduct a cavalry charge that one would anticipate. They were very patient in their attack using the infantry battalions to push the Germans off of some very dominant terrain.
Overall, a great game that I hope to host again at some point in the future.

Back on Line - CD Test of Battle Game Report

2007-12-01T19:53:00.001-05:00

Man! Does time fly! I can't believe it has been so long since my last post. I haven't been doing much gaming. Last weekend I had a chance to play in a Command Decision - Test of Battle game at a friends house. The rules are really interesting and the figures we used were great, however, the scenario needs some work. It was a British vs. Italian Western Desert game. I played on the British side and we got our heads handed to us. The Italians were dug in and the Brits had basically just tanks to attack with. The rules really favor dug in defenses because they are so difficult to spot and return fire on. I think the rules have some promise, however, I think they are a bit involved unless you play them often. I think at this point in my life I want to play a simpler set of rules. that I can be away from and come back to easily. I'll let you know if I play the rules again.

Modern SPEARHEAD Game

2007-09-03T20:29:00.001-04:00

Had a great game of Modern SPEARHEAD this afternoon. I was a Russian Tank Regiment commander with reinforcements of an additional BMP armed MRB and the Independent Tank Battalion (ITB). We attacked (well, attempted to attack) a well placed French battle-group of one armor battalion and one mech battalion. The French units were reinforced with an engineer company and a divisional ATGM company. The French tanks were LeClerc's, APC's were AMX-10P. The Russian tanks were T-80U's with the MRB's equipped with BMP-2's. The ITB was equipped with T-72'sBM's. We were pulling out the rules after several months since we last played so we did not use many of the advanced rules and we did not include any aircraft in the game. The bottom line is my good friend Andrew playing the French rolled lights out and had a great battle plan. He halted my entire attack within four turns destroying an entire MRB and tanks equal to at least half of a Tank Battalion. My attack plan stunk and his defense plan couldn't have worked better. I learned that one must play the game just like the Russians planned to attack. Lots and Lots of artillery, close air support, move quickly and get in close before NATO takes out too much stuff. The rules came back to us very quickly and we are going to add some of the advanced rules and aircraft with the next game. We were doing this game to make sure we are ready to start our campaign. I hope we will have the campaign started within the next couple or three weeks.

The 1st Regiment of Foot

2007-08-25T11:25:00.002-04:00

This is the senior regiment in the British Army. Also known as the "Royal Scots" the 1st Foot had the blue facings of a royal regiment. This unit has three stands because of the relatively large number of troops in this battalion. Note that the command stand on the far left includes a pioneer or sapper. These men were equipped with an axe and tasked with duties of clearing the route of march through the forest. Also, note that there are several different colors of pants. In the field, and especially in North America at the end of a very long supply line, troops wore whatever they could procure. Finally, note the sergeant on the stand on the right has a musket instead of a pike just like the sergeant in the 100th Foot posted earlier. All of these figures are from the Foundry Napoleonic British Range.

British Rocket Detachments

2007-08-23T15:48:00.002-04:00

These two detachments represent Royal Artillery heavy rockets (L) and Royal Marines light rockets (R). All of the figures come from the Old Glory Rockets and Crews pack in their 25mm Napoleonics range. I converted the Marines by removing the heads from the figures provided in the pack and replacing them with Marine heads from the Napoleonic Marines pack. Although not 100% historical, I think the Marines look good. I needed to make the Marine rocket detachment to complete my British Order of Battle for Lundy's Lane. Overall I think that every Napoleonic British force should have a rocket unit to provide a little "color".

The 19th Light Dragoons and Canadian Light Dragoons

2007-08-22T21:58:00.001-04:00

The 19th Light Dragoons were the only regular British cavalry regiment to serve in Canada during the War of 1812. The uniform is completely regulation with shako and all lace. I think the expressions on these figures is excellent as they yell and urge their mounts into the charge! Didn't happen much in Canada, but that is something we can overlook. The Canadian Light Dragoons that I have painted are not totally accurate. The historical unit wore a felt round hat with black bearskin crest. I didn't have the ability to correct the hat on these Foundry figures so I used the early Napoleonic light dragoons with Tarleton helmet as presented. I really like the officer figure with his oil cloth covered bicorne. These are the only two cavalry units in my British force at this time. What I really want is some dismounted figures for these units to use as skirmishers. Redoubt makes excellent dismounted hussars, I am hopeful that they will someday do at least two or three dismounted light dragoons.

The 100th Regiment of Foot

2007-08-22T21:37:00.001-04:00

The 100th Regiment of Foot received the title of "HRH The Prince Regent's County of Dublin Regiment" in 1812. They were with the Royal Scots (1st Regiment of Foot) at the Battle of Chippewa. Their commander, George Hay, the Marquis of Tweeddale, was the commander who stated that he would easily dispose of the grey coated "Buffalo Militia" of the American brigade under the command of General Winfield Scott. As the Americans advanced, the British soon learned that, "those are Regulars, By God!" During the Battle of Chippewa the 100th Foot suffered 204 casualties out of 450 engaged - a casualty rate of 45%! This unit is dressed in regular British uniforms including the 'Belgic' shako which was issued to the regiment in 1813. The unit includes a sergeant armed with a musket. In Canada most sergeants turned in their spontoons and took up firearms, especially in the Niagara region, due to the close nature of the terrain. I converted the sergeant by removing the spontoon and gluing in a musket. He retains his sword and red sash as badges of rank. Given the unit's ability to take casualties and keep on fighting, I have included a wounded officer and private. All of the figures are Front Rank.

The 2nd Glengarrys

2007-08-22T20:44:00.002-04:00

This unit actually existed. I have used a little artistic license and combined uniforms described by Charles Glenn & Stephen Manley in "The War of 1812, A Wargamer's Guide - Part II, The King's Army" for the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the historical Glengarry's. This unit includes six privates and one officer. The officer wears a shako with diced border. The privates all wear a forage cap with diced border as well as trews. Along with the green coats with red facings they have a very 'regular' appearance. I think the color combination really works for these guys and they are one of my favorite units in the army. Although they look very military in bearing they are still militia. I think they hope that Americans seeing them on the field of battle would give them a wide berth mistaking them for true highlanders!

1812 Figures

2007-08-22T20:34:00.001-04:00

I have taken some photos of my 25mm War of 1812 figures and will be posting them on the blog. The first set of figures are British and Canadians. Most of the figures are Foundry with some Old Glory and Front Rank included. I painted probably 90% of the figures. I am not a prolific painter and it sometimes takes quite a while to complete a new unit. I have most of the figures in both the British/Canadian and American armies ready for an 1814 Niagara Campaign ready to go. Most of the units are historical for the area of operations and time frame. The only units I have taken extreme artistic license with are some of the militia units and planning to include the 93rd Foot (Highlanders) and a couple of West Indies regiments. All of the figures are mounted to be used with the Volley & Bayonet rules set in the Wing Scale. the Wing Scale divides each battalion into two or three stands. Some units at extremely low strength may be represented by one stand. Our club uses a "hinch" scale for the bases which is 2/3" equals 1" in the rules set. This lets us use smaller bases and smaller table tops for our games. It would be kind of a problem if it wasn't used by all of the club because you have to make and use special rulers, however, it works for us. I hope you enjoy the figures.

Game Night Last Friday

2007-08-22T17:13:00.001-04:00

I had an opportunity to play in an Indian Mutiny Game last Friday hosted by Byron Champlin and used the Brother Against Brother rules set. I had a great time playing on the British side. The game was a fictional scenario with a medium sized British force against a fairly large gaggle of mutineers. I commanded a mixed force of British cavalry (7th Hussars) and Sikhs (no unit). There were also two units of British regulars and a Naval Brigade unit of infantry and elephant drawn heavy guns. The mutineers had sepoy units, irregulars, cavalry and a two gun light battery. There was a town in the center of the board with one mutineer force occupying it at the start of the game. Our British force entered on one side of the board and the balance of the mutineers entered on the opposite side of the board. We were fortunate to rout two of the mutineer units out of their building positions within the first two turns. This allowed us to get our forces into the buildings and force the mutineers to assault us. Once in the buildings we basically shot the stuffing out of the mutineers and left them begging for the end of the game! I have to admit, I lost all but one trooper and the officer commanding the 7th Hussars. Just couldn't get the hang of maneuvering the horsemen around the board. Oh well, it gave the mutineers an opportunity to cheer for a couple of turns. My Sikhs gave as well as my cavalry got though so I was very satisfied with the game. Had a great time laughing with the other members of the club during the game! I will try to get a couple of the photos taken during the evening. Byron set up a beautiful game with great figures and wonderful terrain. Overall a very fun evening.

Getting Ready for Modern SPEARHEAD

2007-07-28T11:56:00.000-04:00

I am currently getting a game ready for Modern SPEARHEAD. I have played the WWII version of the rules set many times and have played a couple of games for the Modern version. I really enjoyed the modern games I have played. A couple of friends and I are going to try a matrix campaign based loosely on the board game "Donau Front". The campaign is a modern NATO vs. WARPAC scenario set around Munich and southern Germany. This first game is an introduction to the rules and a review of the campaign system. It should be fun to see how this matrix works. If we like it, I think it can be adapted to virtually any time period or rules set.

Battle of Linz Orders of Battle

2007-07-10T21:15:00.000-04:00

Battle of Linz

Austrian Order of Battle

Army Commander – General Kollowrat-Krakowsky

III Armee Korps – General Kollowrat

Corps Troops

Reserve Artillery Battalion 3 M6 O O O Heavy

Right Division – General Somariva Exhaustion – O O O O O O O O O

IR20 Kaunitz M4 O O O O NE, BG

IR32 Esterhazy (H) M5 O O O O O NE, BG

IR51 Splenyi (H) M4 O O O O O NE, BG

GR5 Kreutzer M4 S S S NE, BG

Artillery Battery 4 M6 O Field

Center Division – General Vukassovich Exhaustion – O O O O O O O O O O O O

IR56 Wenzel Colloredo M4 O O O O O O NE, BG

IR7 Karl Schroeder M5 O O O O O O O NE, BG

GR9 Peterwardeiner M4 S S S NE, BG

3^rd Jager Battalion M5 SS NE

7^th Jager Battalion M5 SS NE

3^rd Hussar Regt M5 O O Light

1^stUhlan Regt M5 O O Light, Lancer

Horse Artillery Battery 5 M6 O Horse

Left Division – General St. Julien Exhaustion – O O O O O O O O O O

IR1 Kaiser M6 O O O O NE BG

IR23 Wurzburg M4 O O O O NE BG

IR12 Manfredini M4 O O O O O NE BG

Vienna Volunteer Regt M4 O O O NE PT

von Rosen Volunteer Regt M4 O O O NE PT

Artillery Battery 6 M6 O Field

Battle of Linz

French Allied Order of Battle

Army Commander – General Vandamme

VIII (Wurttemburg) Corps – General Vandamme

Corps Troops

Heavy Artillery Battalion(Fr) M5 O O O Heavy

Infantry Division – General Neubronn Exhaustion – O O O O O O O O

1^st Infantry Brigade M5 O O O O S

2^nd Infantry Brigade M5 O O O O S

Light Infantry Brigade M5 S S SS SS

Foot Artillery Battalion 1 M5 O O Field

Cavalry Division – General Wollwrath Exhaustion – O O O

1^st Cavalry Brigade M5 O O Light

2^nd Cavalry Brigade M5 O O Light

Horse Artillery Battalion M5 O O Horse

IX (Saxon) Corps – General Bernadotte

Corps Troops

Lieb Garde Regiment M6 O O Linear

2^nd Lt. Infantry Battalion M5 O NE, Skirmisher

Horse Artillery Battery M5 O Horse

1^st Division – BG Zezschwitz Exhaustion – O O O O O O O

Converged Grenadiers M5 O O O Linear

Inf Regt von Low M4 O O NE, Linear

Inf Regt Kurfurst M4 O O NE, Linear

Kuirrassier Regt Konig M6 O O Heavy

Regt Prinz Albrecht M5 O Light, Linear

Artillery Battalion 1 M5 O O Field

2^nd Division – BG von Brucke Exhaustion – O O O O O O O O

Inf Regt Prinz Xavier M4 O O NE, Linear

Inf Regt Prinz Anton M4 O O NE, Linear

Inf Regt von Thummel M4 O O NE, Linear

Inf Regt Frederick August M4 O O NE, Linear

Inf Regt von Rechten M4 O O NE, Linear

Kuirrassier Regt Zastrow M6 O O Heavy

Regt von Polenz M5 O Light, Linear

Artillery Battalion 2 M5 O O Field

Battle Report - Linz 1809

2007-07-10T21:10:00.000-04:00

The Set-up

This battle pits Austrians against Saxon and Wurttemburg allies in a battle along the lines of communication of La Grande Armee during the 1809 campaign.

During this game played in June at a gaming session of the Northern Conspiracy we used Volley & Bayonet Regimental Scale. The troops are 15mm – primarily Old Glory. The Austrians and Saxons are from the collection of my friend Andrew Simpson. The Wurttemburgers are from my own collection.

The game was played by several members of the Northern Conspiracy. Leo Murphy, Kevin Kane and John Magnifico played the Austrians. Tom DiGiuseppe and Dave Mesquita played the Wurttemburgers and Saxons respectively.

Scenario/Unit Organizations

In this battle the Austrians have to attack and take the towns of Urfahr and Linz and the bridge across the Danube River. If successful, the Austrians will be across the French supply lines and this should force the French to abandon their attack on Vienna.

The Austrians are from III Armee Korps under the command of General Kolowrat. They are not organized into regular divisions. For this battle they are organized into three “columns.” The columns are shown on the attached Order of Battle.

The Wurttemburgers form the VIII Corps of La Grande Armee with one infantry division and one cavalry division. The corps heavy artillery is provided by a French battalion. The organization of VIII Corps is shown on the attached Order of Battle.

The Saxons form the IX Corps of La Grande Armee. The Saxon organization is unique in that they form two mixed divisions including infantry, cavalry and artillery into a single unit. Additionally, the Saxon units are organized as “linear” which means that they are smaller units than the brigade stands of the Austrians and Wurttemburgers and have less combat dice. The organization of IX Corps is shown on the attached Order of Battle.

Historically the Wurttemburgers and Saxons held off the Austrian attack primarily because the Austrians committed forces piecemeal and the Right Column never entered the battle. Even with a limited attack by the Austrians, in the historical battle the Austrians made it nearly into Urfahr before the French allies stopped them.

Battle Report

In this battle, the initial Austrian attack was blunted by the Wurttemburg Infantry Division around the Town of Dornach. Two-thirds of the Austrian attack force was stopped around this town and by the time the Wurttemburgers had been ejected from the town they had exhausted one of the attacking Austrian divisions and severely hurt the other division. In the final analysis, once they had incurred the losses around Dornach, the Austrians could never mount an effective attack on the bridge at the Town of Steeg. The following is a turn by turn recap of the battle.

8:00 a.m. – The Austrian Center Column begins the attack by charging forward from Katzbach towards Dornach. The cavalry brigades of the column move to the right flank and charge the Wurttemburg cavalry division. The Wurttemburgers are pushed back with losses. The Wurttemburgers counter-charge pushing back the Uhlans and destroying the horse artillery battery. General Vandamme is red-faced and swearing at his German subordinates he resolves to hold out on his current line.

9:00 a.m. – In the second hour of the battle the Austrians continue to assault Dornach without success. The Wurttemburg 1^st Infantry Brigade repulses all attacks with heavy losses to the Austrians. The Austrian cavalry brigade reforms east of Auhof and prepares to advance again. The center column’s Grenzer regiment moves to outflank the Wurttemburg cavalry forcing them back. In response, the Wurttemburger cavalry moves back towards Harbach. The Saxons enter the field of battle with the 1^st Division moving along the road towards Harbach.

10:00 a.m. – At the start of the third hour of battle the Austrian cavalry again charges the Wurttemburgers. After an intense melee North of Steeg the Austrian cavalry, Hussars and Uhlans, stream to the rear. None of the efforts of their officers can reform the broken squadrons and the cavalry is out of the battle for the day. After their rout of the Austrian horse, the Wurttemburger cavalrymen are in a blood lust. They crash into the Kreutzer Grenz Regiment and force them back. General Somariva leads the Right Column onto the field and they begin a quick advance to the bridge northeast of Harbach. The Saxons of the 1^st division have taken up strong positions around the bridge area. The Austrians suffer casualties immediately.

11:00a.m. – Undaunted by the reversal of his cavalry units and Grenzers, General Vukassovich continues to assault Dornach. The Wurttemburg 1^st Infantry Brigade gallantly continues to defend the increasingly battered houses of the town. Now the 2^nd Brigade comes into the battle defending to the South of Dornach against the attacks of the Left Column under General St. Julien. Advancing in a division mass the Left Column runs into immediate trouble. A defensive artillery bombardment and a failure of morale leads to a disorderly retreat by the leading regiments of the Austrian advance. The retreating units turn and run and crash headlong into the second line brigades disordering them in turn. As the Austrians retreat they are chased by well served Wurttemburg guns. General Vandamme, who never grants praise, has to let a small smile cross his face as his Wurttemburgers inflict casualties far beyond their theoretical combat capabilities. The artillery fire turns the retreat into a rout for several units. The Saxons and the Right Column continue to fight over the fateful Harbach bridge. The Austrians force their way across the stream at several crossings. Their advance is disordered by crossing the water barrier and the Saxons soon send them packing back to the north.

Noon – Finally, the incensed General Vukassovich leads his tattered regiments into the blazing ruins of Dornach ejecting the dogged Wurttemburgers for the last time. The Wurttemburg infantry division is exhausted and can no longer take offensive action. The Wurttemburg cavalry conducts a daring flank charge reaching all the way to Katzbach. When they reach the town they find the fleeing troops of St Julien’s command. An irresistible charge by the horsemen crashes into mobs of fleeing Austrians. St. Julien becomes a part of the refugees streaming to the east as his column disintegrates and leaves the field.

1:00 p.m. – The Austrians pause outside of Dornach. Vukassovich is exhausted and has to have several wounds dressed before he mounts his seventh horse of the day to continue his advance towards Steeg. During this pause the Wurttemburg commanders urge their battered units back to Steeg and to the west end of the stream bridge at that town. In the north the Saxons continued to cause serious casualties among the Right Column.

2:00 p.m. – Grimly determined, the Austrians quickly take Steeg, however, the assault has caused them even more casualties. The units begin to drift to the rear or simply stop when they push the Wurttemburg remnants out of the town. Even the urging of the indomitable Vukassovich cannot return them to the assault. In the north General Somariva is facing a similar situation. The Saxons have stood like a granite wall at the Harbach bridge and Somariva has ruined his battalions against the wall. The Austrian commanders meet in Dornach and decide that they have to call off the attack. They quickly pull back leaving the field to the Saxons and Wurttemburgers by 3:00 p.m.

Summary/Lessons Learned

The Austrians committed two errors which turned out to be fatal. The first error belonged to General Vukkasovich when he allowed his attack on Dornach to get out of control and cost him troops to no real purpose. The Wurttemburgers did not have enough troops to defend everywhere and a flank movement around Dornach would have forced the Wurttemburg divisions to retreat back behind the Steeg bridge. Even the general admitted after the battle that he allowed his emotions to get the better of him and he continued to attack when he should have stopped. Maneuver would have saved casualties for the Austrians and forced the Wurttemburgers to give up their stationary status to retreat. The other major error was committed by General St. Julien when he attacked in a division mass. The retreat by his first line units disordered his second line units. This disorder turned into a rout on the next turn. After that his column became a non-entity in the rest of the battle as the Wurttemburg cavalry crushed the routing units. In order to not have this happen, the general should have spread out his command more and attacked the seriously outnumbered French allies in waves.

Niagara 1814 Campaign

2007-07-08T19:56:00.000-04:00

This weekend I worked on a new campaign game - Niagara 1814. This is a War of 1812 game pitting British/Canadians against Americans. I am using the Perfect Captain's Obstinate Beyond Description rules and campaign map as the basis for the game. For the most part the armies are historic orders of battle for the actual 1814 campaign. I have added a few units (such as the 93rd Highlanders and one or two West Indies Regiments as well as one additional American Brigade) because they are interesting and they increase the size of the armies to make it more interesting. Right now I have the majority of units painted based and ready to go. Hopefully, we will have a chance to play the first game or two by the end of the month. I will keep you informed.

Game Results - Battle of Linz

2007-07-04T20:37:00.000-04:00

The battle was very interesting. The Saxon/Wurttemburgers won a resounding victory. The outcome of the battle was determined by the extraordinary performance of the Wurttemburg Infantry Division (actually one brigade of the division did most of the damage). The Austrians never really got any momentum going in the attack. I will be posting a complete battle report in the next few days. I want to have another go at the battle to see if the Austrians have any chance of winning at all.

Game Preparation - Linz 1809

2007-06-05T20:54:00.000-04:00

I am currently preparing a scenario for our club game day. I am running a Volley & Bayonet game based on the Battle of Urfahr-Linz in 1809. During this battle an Austrian force under General Kollwrat attempted to cut the French lines of communications by crossing the Danube at Linz. The lines of communication were defended by Wurttemberg and Saxon troops under General Vandamme and General Bernadotte respectively. In the historical battle General Kollwrat did not coordinate his advance properly and the Wurttemberg troops fought very well resulting in a solid French Allied victory.
Right now I have all of the paperwork prepared and all of the troops are ready to go. I will post some pictures when the game is played and provide an after action review.

First Entry of a new blogger

2007-06-01T14:00:00.000-04:00

Hi, this is my first attempt at a blog site. I hope to use this to communicate my wargame experiences - games and campaigns that I participate in, terrain and figure painting - everything.