Hunting The Hunters - Twice

This is semi fictious scenario that is supplied with the Torpedoes and Tides rules:

Intercepting MTBs was not easy, especially before reliable radar became available. The British developed a special type of fast attack craft, the Motor Gunboat, to hunt down German S-boats. They would lie in wait near a German base and pounce on boats returning from a sortie.

The returning S-boats are coming in from the right.

Mark B has four MGB hoping to intercept them.

So far the Germans have not been spotted.

But that all changed quickly.

The black smoke indicates damage

most of which they commence with.

One German boat is speeding off, but the second boat looks like it might be trapped.

The last German boat is having some difficulties maintaining a course

The second German boat is having a hard time 

and that last German boat seems to have lost its course.

Well, the first German boat might have escaped, but the second one has been sunk.

What will be the fate of the last German boat?

It is struggling to make progress and is close to the shore 

A triple roll of ones on the red dice!

Understandably the crew lost its nerve and ran the boat aground.

Time For A Rematch

No blinds this time, action was immediate.

I have control of the MGBs,

The S-boats are keen to get home.

The MGBs attack but lack firepower

In the confusion collisions occur.

It is a moonless night.

One S-boat has been sunk, but the other two look like they are getting away.

Only one MGB seems able to give chase and it is battered.

The MGB crew lose their nerve and decide to break off.

The Germans escape. 

Truely a delightful game!

The Peninsula War - A New History

My Orthez inspired research continues.

This 2002 publication was an uncorrected proof copy and contained no maps, although it did intend to do so.  This didn't bother me as my previous book had supplied what I needed.

I only intended reading Chapter 17 - Pyrenees: The Invasion of France, July-November 1813.  However, I enjoyed it so much I went on to read the final chapter Bascara: Peace and Thereafter.

What was unique about this book was the coverage of the political (especial Spanish) and diplomatic aspects of the closing stages of the war.  It didn't concentrate on the day-to-day location of forces as the first book I read or only minutiae of a privileged officer's life contained in the second book.  However, it was "spiced up" by the inclusion of various passages related to the fighting based on eyewitness accounts, something that was missing in the other books.

The destabilizing effect of the French occupation on both Portugal and Spain was detailed and that it led to the loss of Americas and further civil strife.  Both countries were much the poorer for their involvement in the Napoleonic Wars.

Later Visigoths versus Old Saxons

My Dark Ages figures have been fielded against Dave's Saxons before (14 February 2026).  I had planned to use my most recently painted chaps but sadly misplaced them. 

This time the Saxons miraculously out scouted the Visigoths.

and seized the hill, avoiding the reflecting pool on their right.

The Visigoths advance pushing their wings forward.

The Saxons rush to meet their adversaries.

Despite winning the initiative (every time),

the Saxons fall short of making an impact.

The Saxons are starting to feel surrounded,

but push on hoping to break the Visigoth infantry.

The Visigoth infantry grimly hang on, passing their morale tests and regaining their order.

But the Saxon commander and his nobles have been slaughtered by the Visigoth heavy cavalry.

Again we see why the Saxons never settled in Spain back then.

Big Boss and Union Stockyards

Two games played last week by Simon, Stefan, Jeff, Richard and myself.

Sadly missed taking a photo of the finished game.  Jeff was too keen to help packing it up.  Not surprising seeing the final amassed fortunes.

Then on to Union Stockyards which had the advantage that I had played it before.  However, as a five player game, it was quiet a different exercise. Everyone scored fairly close and I was surprised to win.

A Guard's Officer in the Peninsula

A GUARDS OFFICER IN THE PENINSULA. The Peninsula War letters of John Rous, Coldstream Guards, 1812-1814. Edited by Ian Fletcher.

My reading continues...

I paid $17.95 (reduced from $44.95) for this book in 1998.While a hardback it is only 144 pages all up and more a celebration of the 2nd Earl of Stradbroke as this young Guard's Officer became.  Maps were excellent.  His letters were amusing, but more about food, waiting for promotions and generally not doing much, even though he was present at a number of major engagements.  I guess you don't write home to your mum and dad about the fighting least the parentals worry about their son.

Wellington - The Crossing of the Gaves and the Battle of Orthez

I've had this book for thirty years, give or take, I may have read it in the past or dipped into it, but a recent post in the Napoleon's Battles user group provided the necessary inspiration for me to read this book cover to cover. 

It was first published in 1925 and reprinted in 1994.  My copy had a stamp saying: "This book was warehouse damaged and is now being sold at a special price."  Not sure what the damage was, but the book does have two flaws.  The images included are very poor quality (the one on the cover is probably the best).  This is a pity as the author went to some trouble to photograph the battlefields.  Maybe the 1925 edition had better reproductions.  However, more serious is that there are no maps at all.  Given the subject of this book, I found it a serious disadvantage.  Not to be at a loss, I searched my library for suitable books that might have maps as well as a Google search.  

In the last and least likely book I found just what I was looking for:

From Page 107 A Guards Officer in the Peninsula edited by Ian Fletcher

The inspiring post was a scenario for the Battle of Orthez, February 27, 1814.  It can be found here: 

Berthier: Orthez

At this time it also lacked a map, and part of my reading was an attempt to work out what the terrain was like.  The answer appears to be rolling hills with spurs and ravines.  Perhaps significant at a battalion level, but perhaps less so at the brigade level represented by Napoleon's Battles (and at one inch is 100 yards).

While reading this book I was constantly distracted by ideas for a campaign and how to represent the various overarching aspects.  These included: 

The weather (obviously given the campaign season). 

The need for Wellington to wait until funds arrived (and also to hold ports at which such ships could arrive in safety given the weather) noting also that funds were needed to pay the muleteers on which the Allied army depended for its transport.

The risk that Spain would come to a separate peace with France (which would make for a very interesting situation).

The need to keep the Portuguese happy (they were demanding their own army structure, rather than being just brigades attached to British divisions).

The bulk of the book is providing background (and importance of securing various places by siege or storm) and the manoeuvring leading to the battle. Hence my need for a map.

It took me a while to understand "the Gaves."  It was not defined in the book, or in the map and it is not a word you can Google.  My old French/English dictionary came to my rescue and provided the obvious answer: (n,m) torrent, mountain stream (in the Pyrenees).  Just as an aside, the same word (n,f) means crop (of birds).  I will go with the former meaning, but continuing the French lesson: le gave and la gave have two distinct meanings, but les gaves requires context.

The actual battle, like some others when Soult had not been forced to retire by being outflanked on his right), was initially hard fought with the Allied attacks held until they were able to break through the centre.  There was then a successful rearguard, but it eventually fell apart leading to a rout, with the French saved by nightfall and lack of allied cavalry to lead an active pursuit.  The terrain was both an aid and a hindrance.

My thinking had gone from trying to conceive of a Snappy Nappy style game to a more Scharnhorst (of the Blucher ruleset) pregame map manoeuvre.  There is still the idea of being able to portrait various encounters with differently scaled rulesets, from something like Songs of Drums and Shakos for very small-scale skirmishes, through to Napoleon's Battles for the big battle.  Other rules popular at the club (if I was to go that way) are Sharp Practice and General d'Armee.

At the very least I am now painting my way through a heap of Portuguese infantry, picking regiments based on locations I visited last year.  The particular interest in this campaign is also aided by having visited the area as part of a battlefield tour in the mid 1990s (for which I must find my photos).  The tour was more about Soult's counterattack across the Pyrenees in 1813.

Now I am reading A Guards Officer in the Peninsula.

Burgundian Ordonnance versus 100 Years War English - Further Practice

Curtis again tries his hand with 100 Years War English against my mighty Burgundians.

The English are a mix of my Dark Ages figures and Syrian archers from my Crusader army.

The Burgundians, who were out scouted deploy between two woods.  

There is a lake on their extreme right.

The English, who chose Aggressive Deployment, start to advance.

The Burgundians start to shoot.

The shooting continues with both sides having some success.

But the weight of the Burgundian fire is telling.

In go the pikes and the Burgundian knights move up ready to charge.

The Burgundians fight the dismounted English men-at-arms.

And prevail.