The WHC - An Anniversary Post

The anniversary of my blog that is, not the Wargames Holiday Centre.

[Pre-Cabinette Archives c.1980s]

It's a year since I started my blog so, as a sort of commemoration, I thought I'd post the photos of my visit to the Wargame Holiday Centre back in the 80s when it was still up near Scarborough and being run by Peter Gilder.  The photos have already featured on the Peter Gilder tribute site but I rather fancied putting them up on my blog as well.  

Back then it was all film, no digital, so I've had to scan in the printed photos that I still have.  The quality isn't great, but it's in line with what we were used to seeing in the magazines of the time.  But nonetheless, classic units like these Saxon Cuirassiers still look pretty good to me.

I went with a couple of friends to do a 'Leipzig Weekend'; well, if you're going to go big, that's surely the one to do.  The table was probably the same dimensions as that featured in Peter's magazine articles[1] called 'Let's Fight Leipzig' which included the map shown below (north is at the top).

The first of my photos was taken looking east along the upper / northern edge of the table.

And then one looking east along the bottom / southern edge of the table.

This final one showing some of the players (luckily old-fashioned cameras didn't do selfies), is taken from the middle, looking north-east towards the deployment area of the Army of Silesia.

Comparing this with the map, shows that Peter was either using different 3-foot square terrain boards or had assembled them differently from the map.  Also, the gap in the western edge was the same width all the way, but there was a spare terrain board that could be used to fill it if required - leaving the French players surrounded in the middle.

IIRC I was in charge of Marmont's VI Corps and Latour-Maubourg's I Cavalry Corps.  Unfortunately, I was assigned the north-east corner to defend.  This meant was that I was advancing out of a corner and into a terrible cross-fire.

My cavalry corps, suffered terribly, as units were destroyed or driven back through those following up behind, which prevented them from advancing while being interpenetrated.  And so was born the amazing 'disappearing cavalry corps'!

Into the Jaws of Death ...

Into the Mouth of Hell ...

... rode the six hundred!

Clearly someone had blundered, or had I just been set up?  Never mind, aside from being disappointed by my cavalry's poor showing I remember it as a closely fought action.  In fact, I recall it being a fairly bloody draw.

And, as I can recall not much more at this remove, I'll just post some more photos without comment.

All in all, a memorable weekend.

What do you reckon ... shall we call it a draw?

Notes:

[1.] Miniature Wargames issues 4 and 5.

The Combat of Dva Mosta

[Pre-Cabinette Archives c.2017]

I had been hoping to round off this month's posts with a final Chain of Command (CoC) AAR wrapping up the Caesar's Camp campaign.  Unfortunately, John, my opponent, has had to postpone the final showdown while he fights off a bout of 'the Lurgy'.  

So instead, I've dug out, what I think is the last of the pieces I wrote for the short-lived Wargamer's Notes Quarterly (an e-magazine), and here it is from back in 2017:

The Combat of Dva Mosta

Ignoring parental warnings about the dangers of meeting up with ‘e-friends’ I took the plunge and invited a fellow Spencer Smith Miniatures (SSMs) fancier over for a game with my collection.  Iain and I had met up online and corresponded courtesy of Henry Hyde after I spotted Iain’s figures in an issue of Miniature Wargames and asked Henry (the editor) to pass on my compliments.   

With a game looming, I cast about for a table-top teaser not wanting to present Iain (of Gateway Alliance and General E Pickled fame) with a ‘fair fight’.  Scrabbling through my bookshelves I came across my copy of Bruce Quarrie’s Napoleonic Wargaming.  

Like many rules this contains a short description of a game to illustrate the rules ‘in action’, albeit the game is not played to a conclusion.  I had always thought that the scenario was unbalanced, which was just what I was looking for.  Perhaps I should explain my philosophy: one, war is seldom fair, so why should wargames be any different; and two, imbalanced games can help keep the level of competitiveness in check, not a bad thing with an untried opponent.  Surprisingly, Iain, when offered the choice, opted for the challenge of trying to cross the river crossing; an impulsive act of bravado that was later regretted.

The Scenario: involves a Russian force attempting to cross a river in the face of strong French opposition posted behind the two bridges from which this battle takes its name.  The book does not list the orders of battle so, going from the various photos, like that below, I substituted CHARGE units (infantry battalions, light companies, cavalry squadrons and artillery batteries) for the units in the book. 

Order of Battle (OOB): owing to the, MUCH, larger unit sizes in CHARGE this resulted in fair sized game involving about two thirds of my infantry and artillery and a third of my cavalry.   The OOBs are as follows.

Russian – General E Mal'chik 

1. 3 sqn.s Rostovski Dragoons (30 fig.s)

2. 1 sqn. Grouzinski Hussars (10 fig.s)

3. Novyy Rossiya Inf. Regt. (60 fig.s)

4. Shveytsarskiyh Inf. Regt. (60 fig.s)

5. 1st Bavarskiy Inf. Regt. (60 fig.s)

6. 2nd Bavarskiy Inf. Regt. (60 fig.s)

7. Khorvat Pandour coy. (15 fig.s)

8. Zheltyy Freikorps coy. (15 fig.s)

9. 2 Artillery batteries, (4 x 6 pdrs)

Mal'chik and the 2nd Bavarskiy Inf. Regt.

French – Comte de Grasse

A. 1 sqn. Gendarmerie du Roi (16 fig.s)

B. 3 sqn.s Condé Cuirassiers (30 fig.s)

C. 1 sqn. Berry Horse (10 fig.s)

D. Converged Grenadier Bn. (60 fig.s)

E. D’Eu Inf. Regt. (60 fig.s)

F. Soissonnais Inf. Regt. (60 fig.s)

G. Los Rios Inf. Regt. (60 fig.s)

H. 2 coy.s Arquebusiers de Grassin (30 fig.s)

I. 2 Artillery batteries, (4 x 6 pdrs)

The French force has an edge in the quality of their cavalry and a slight numerical advantage from the large Gendarmerie squadron.  As the Russians have to force a river crossing in the face of such odds, I upgraded the morale (but not firepower) of all their infantry to ‘grenadier’ status, i.e. units become ‘defeated’ when reduced below third-strength (as opposed to below half-strength).

Deployment (see map): was based on starting positions from the original game, or at least as far as they could be inferred from the available photographs. 

The units on the map are labelled as per the orders of battle and the location of the opposing generals is shown by a star.  As can be seen from the map (which I think is more squashed toward the right than it was in the game), the French (mostly Austrian figures) under de Grasse heavily favoured their right while General Mal’chik had more evenly spread his Russians between the two bridges.  Here's the reality (back in the day before I got my cabin).

The Game: started with the Russians pouring across the bridges and ford as rapidly as possible while the French advanced to deny them space to deploy. 

While most of the opening moves were aggressive, an element of caution generated some confusion, and curses, amongst one company of Grassins.  Their orders were to advance to the river to bring the enemy artillery under effective fire however, they were also tasked to maintain a safe distance from any enemy cavalry.  Like some bizarre form of the game ‘Twister’, these conflicting requirements saw the Grassins squashed like the jam in a Russian cavalry sandwich.  

Mal’chik’s amused grin was soon wiped from his face as both sides artillery fired their opening rounds.  The Russian fire was largely ineffective but the French dismounted a gun with their first shot.

The inevitable charge declaration by the Grouzinski Hussars against the Grassins saw the Arquebusiers dismayed to find their ‘safe distance’ ineffective against cavalry that can move 30” (having none, the French had overlooked the fact the Russians had Light cavalry)!  

Charge declarations were rounded off with the leading squadron of Condé Cuirassiers charging the Rostovski Dragoons as they emerged from the ford.  Nearby, the Novvy Rossiya infantry having crossed the western bridge reformed for the inevitable confrontation with the white-coated Los Rios infantry awaiting them on the ridge ahead.  With the artillery supporting the Austrian infantry already inflicting losses it was clear the Novvy Rossiya were in for a rough time.

The Condé Cuirassiers attack on the Rostovski Dragoons proved indecisive, a second round of combat being required to determine the victor.  The Languedoc Dragoons did better, thrashing the Rostovski squadron that had crossed the eastern bridge.  To complete a trio of unexpected results, the Arquebusiers de Grassin rolled a splendid set of dice to hold the Grouzinski Hussars to a draw despite odds of two to one!  A further die roll then forced the hussars to rally back and reconsider their options[1].  The end result of all these shenanigans can be seen in the photo below of the table after two moves, with Mal’chik frantically scribbling orders for turn three.

The game continued with the Russian left and French right glowering at each other across the eastern bridge, but neither prepared to risk crossing under fire.  On the Russian right, the advancing Novyy Rossiya took heavy losses from artillery fire while the Shveytsarskiyh Regiment crossed to form up behind them in support. 

Mal’chik, disinclined to force the eastern bridge, decided to double-down on the western crossing and ordered the 2nd Bavarskiy infantry across to reinforce his right flank (they can be seen in the distance below marching from right to left).  

In the centre, the Grassins rallied in place after unfairly escaping the attentions of the Russian hussars and the Languedoc Dragoons rallied back in readiness to charge again.  The Condé Cuirassiers and Rostovski Dragoons both rallied back after another drawn mêlée opening the way for their supporting squadrons to get to grips with each other.  The resulting combat between these squadrons was overshadowed by the bloodbath resulting from the Russian infantry advancing to exchange volleys with the Los Rios regiment on the ridge.  

This resolved the infantry contest on the western ridge as both sides went understrength[2] and were consequently forced to retire for two turns.  This result reflected more credit on Mal’chik than de Grasse as the latter had failed to hold his nerve and withdrawn his artillery from the ridge in response to an imagined threat.   

Mal’chik also managed another bloody draw in the nearby cavalry mêlée thanks to an adroit move allowing the Russian infantry to assist their dragoons with a timely salvo.  The 3rd squadron of the Condé cuirassier promptly charged the infantry responsible and wreaked a terrible revenge courtesy of some exceptional combat dice.

There was now lull in the action as both sides rallied in western half of the field and brought over more troops from the east.  These manoeuvres effectively saw the Russians abandon any attempt to cross the eastern bridge as the last of their infantry marched off to reinforce the western bridgehead, here being held by eth recently arrived 2nd Bavarskiy infantry.  

As the strengthened Russian right flank prepared for another attack Mal’chik realised that the French had responded in kind.  Surveying the field, he realised he was facing odds of two to three in infantry, two to one in artillery, and while nearly at parity in cavalry his surviving dragoons were close to their defeat threshold while the elite French Gendarmerie were as yet untouched.  

Against these odds and with his army dangerously close to its break-point (50% losses) Mal’chik conceded and yielded the field to de Grasse.

The Victorious Comte de Grasse

Digging out this old account has made me realise my SSMs don't get much play these days; I really must squeeze in some more games.

Notes:

[1.]  This was mistake: cavalry only dice to determine if a second of mêlée is allowed when fighting cavalry.

[2.]  The CHARGE rules are exceptionally bloody, and I do now use a modified set which, while still pretty deadly, means units do hang around a bit longer.

Conington Contraband

[Pre-Cabinette Archives c.2014!]

The shocking age of this article explains the appalling photographs and the rather basic terrain on show with chalk roads and outlines to the woods.

This Table-top Teaser was designed give my new scratch-built houses a baptism of fire under Brig. Young’s CHARGE! rules.  It was also an experiment on adding in the roll-of-shot stick and templates for canister and howitzer shells from C S Grant’s ‘The Wargame’. 

The Scenario: involves a government force dispatched by the Elector to locate and seize contraband defended by a rebel militia supported by a small expeditionary force from a foreign, ‘francophone’, power.  Spies in the service of the Elector have reported that the rebel war-chest and records have been moved to Conington; their capture would deny the rebellion badly needed funds and provide the Electoral forces with an intelligence wind-fall.  Scouting patrols indicate the location is not well guarded and a rapid strike by a small force could get in and out before the main rebel army could respond.   To this end the Elector commanded Oberst Franz Schmidt to take a brigade of infantry, with attached cavalry and artillery, and seize any, and all, contraband in Conington, but with strict orders to return to camp before nightfall (i.e. a time limit of 15 moves within which to find the contraband – the return march is not played).  The contraband is in Conington but its precise location is unknown, therefore each house must be entered and searched.   To search a house, after any enemy have been ejected, requires 4 figures and takes a full turn.  A D6 is thrown to determine if the contraband is found; a ’6’ is required for success in the first house searched and the score reduces by one for each subsequent house searched (a house can only be searched once).  Because there are only five houses in Conington (see map below) there is a small chance that it will never be found; in which case, it was either never there or was conveyed to safety by the rebels.   

Oberst Schmidt’s brigade (organised for CHARGE!) can deploy anywhere within the area marked ‘A’ on the map (8x5 ft) and takes the first move and consists of:

• 4 Coy.s Arberg Inf. Regt. (80 fig.s)
• 4 Coy.s Diesbach Inf. Regt. (80 fig.s)
• 2 Sqn.s Hohenzollern Dragoons (20 fig.s)
• 1 Artillery btty, (2 x 6 pdrs; 1 x 5” howitzer)

The rebel force, under Chevalier Pierre Réverie, may deploy anywhere in or north of the southernmost woods and consists of:

• 2 Coy.s of Rebel Militia (33 fig.s)
• 2 Coy.s of French Militia (33 fig.s)
• 2 Coy.s Grassins Light Inf. (33 fig.s)
• ½ Sqn. Fischer Chasseurs Cav. (5 fig.s)
• 1 Foreign Cannon (6 pdr)

The rebel force is actually weaker than the Electoral forces believe as one of the foot companies only exists in their imagination.  The rebel player secretly determines which company is only a decoy by rolling a D6: 1= Rebel Militia; 2-3 = French Militia; 4-6 = Grassins.   The decoy unit is deployed like any other but is removed once it would be visible to Electoral troops. 

Special rules: the rebel militia are allowed to skirmish like light troops but at half effect, i.e. only every second figure can fire.  Also, on each turn the rebels throw a D6 and if a ‘6’ is rolled any dead rebel militia figures may enter as a new unit through one of the zones labelled ‘X’ on the map.  To re-enter the militia casualties must include an officer or NCO to lead them.

The Game: started with rebel militia occupying the farmhouse at Dawes Lot and the wood immediately south of it (1 on map) while the wood to the north held a Grassins company (2).  The Fischer chasseurs waited further north (3) with the Grassins in the wood behind them (4).  The Chevalier posted the French militia companies in the town of Conington (no doubt to show off my new houses)...

...and set up his artillery piece to fire down the road approaching Conington (5).

The Chevalier's deployment was bold, but risky, as the Grassins in the wood by Prescott House (2) were only a decoy leaving the approach through woods to west of the Conington road unguarded.  However, the gamble paid off as the Electoral forces massed their forces along the road and against the militia in and around Dawes Lot (see photo, NB: house shell has been placed alongside the internal ruins to show the garrison within).  

To cut, what could be, a very long story short, the Electoral forces after taking Dawes Lot realised advancing on such a narrow front would take too long. Instead, orders were issued to advance on a wide front through woods on both sides of the road to exploit their superior numbers and swamp the defenders.  

In the preceding photo, the furthest wood on the left can now be seen to be occupied by local militia.  The approach on a wide front by Herr Oberst's men meant that they had clocked that the rumour of Grassins in the that wood was just that, a rumour, as the figures were removed.  The rebels were then lucky enough to roll a '6' and 'resurrect' the militia lost at Dawes Lot to oppose this line of approach.  

The change in approach by the Electoral troops proved the turning point as each line of defence was overwhelmed in turn.  Despite this, time was running short when the Electoral troops reached Conington and started storming the houses in search of contraband.  As the fifteenth move arrived a fourth house had just been seized but the church remained untaken (again house 'shells' have been placed next to their internal 'ruin' in the photo).  

Then, as the recall was sounded, Schmidt heaved a sigh of relief as the last house search ‘located’ the contraband.  Success had been snatched from the jaws of failure and the lack of progress in the early turns would go unnoticed in the warm glow of victory.

The game turned out to be a nail-biter and the houses proved functional and looked the part.  The artillery experiment was not a success, as we both found the devices too unwieldy despite the entertainment afforded by a randomised howitzer shell landing on friendly troops.  

PS: I never took any photos of the round shot bounce stick during the game, but it can be seen in the final photo of an earlier post entitled 'Tool Time'.  It is the stick at the top of the photo and alongside it can be seen the die with faces coloured to match the white, yellow and green bounce zones that determines where casualties will be inflicted.

Stringbags vs Bismarck - a Fletcher-Pratt Game

[Pre-Cabinette Archives c.2017.]

Again, a bit of ill-health has killed my painting mojo, meaning that topping up the Old-School 25mm Ancients has temporarily come to a halt.  So, taking a leaf from last time I thought I'd knock up a quick post on the next fight in the Bismarck campaign; Ark Royal's strike.  

Unfortunately for this game I was captaining Bismarck and forgot to take photos so I only have a few small thumbnail images that one of the Swordfish players took on their phone.  

As I didn't like the rules for aircraft in Fletcher-Pratt (F-P) I made up my own.  First was the Swordfish movement, the options being shown in the grey box at the top of the play-sheet.

The planes move three times each turn and write their orders by drawing three arrows picked from the options at the top of the sheet.  Essentially, each move segment is a straight line of about 15" (NB: scale is ½" per knot) using one of the arrows with an optional 90° turn to left or right at the beginning, or end, of the move.   This was done to stop the aircraft outmanoeuvring Bismarck too easily.  I made cardboard templates for these move segments to speed play.

The torpedoes were played as per F-P, as was Bismarck except its movement (in only two segments) and its anti-aircraft fire.  For the latter I pinched the approach used in Wings of War as follows:

1). At the beginning of each Swordfish move segment, Bismarck places a number of small flak bursts, about 2" in diameter for its smaller calibre rapid firing guns.  If any Swordfish ends its move with its base overlapping a burst it tests for damage.

2). Bismarck also places a number of much larger, heavier, flak bursts, about 5" in diameter, that remain in place for all three Swordfish move segments but are only active in the second two segments.

So, with these simple rules in place the game cracked on at quite a good pace.  At first, I found avoiding the torpedoes, which were not much faster than Bismarck, quite easy to avoid and no doubt started to get a bit cocky.

But then I got confused about how my own move sequence worked and thought I could quickly cut across the path of some incoming torpedoes.  This was a catastrophic mistake!

What was more, the torpedo struck the stern while I was turning to port.

A quick die roll was called for to test for damage, and the result?  You guessed it, the rudder jammed - just like the real thing.  So, for the rest of the campaign Bismarck would have to perform a port turn at the start of its move and another free turn at the mid-way point.      

And, to rub it in, only one Swordfish got damaged; none were shot down.

So, the next action will be Vian's night attack with the Destroyers, HMS Cossack, Sikh, Zulu and Maori, and the ORP Piorun (Polish).