[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.
