Marengo a la Shako

It has been a while since we gamed with some of the chaps in the Avon valley, but last Sunday Stephen N, Mark B and I joined Julian and Mark W for a recreation of the Battle of Marengo using their adaption of Shako.

Bataille de Marengo

Louis Francois Lejeune (1775-1848)

Battle of Marengo 

Mark W 2024

Mark W had organised everything and hosted it as his place.  He also umpired which was very much appreciated (my knowledge of the rules was limited and rusty at best).

Stephen N and Mark B were the Austrians while Julian and I were the French.  We knew where we started, but not really when and where our respective reinforcements would arrive.

Chambarlhac's division moves up through the town of Marengo

A magnificent charge by Rivaud's cavalry put their opponents to flight

securing the French left flank for the duration of the battle.

The Austrian right flank trying to recover after the loss of their cavalry.

The Austrians trying to make progress in the centre, using their artillery but suffering all the same.

Kellerman's cavalry can be seen redeploying to cover the French right.

Rivaud's cavalry.

Note the shadows showing that it is still morning time in the game. :-)

After routing the Austrians,

the French now face a lot, a real lot, of Austrian reinforcements.

Rivaud's cavalry, Chambarlac's division and the remanent of Gardanne's division

will have to hold on a bit longer.

Austrian grenadiers are crossing the Fontanone creek

as more of their cavalry arrive.

Meanwhile on the other side of the battlefield

both sides had brought up troops but declined to close.

Stay tuned for Part 2.

Bikes and Trikes - More For My WW2 Italians

I painted these at the same time as the colonial troops but decided to make a separate post.  I had a dreadful time trying to photograph them as you will see.

Natural light seemed to work best.

The flash shows the detail better but gives annoying shadows.

Heading to the Heart of Darkness.

Appropriate for colonial times.

Not to be confused for Belgians,

these are Bersaglieri.

Then I found a different camera setting on my phone.

Still not sure if this is any better...

Back to natural light.

Tried an outdoor setting to get better natural light.

Went back to trying flash.

Back to no flash.

Back to full flash.

The other flash setting.

Coming

Going

I know there are too many photos, but they are such cute models!

The Lamps Have Gone Out - Again

Game over.

By the end of 1917 it's getting very dim in Russia.

No revolution, but a hard-fought military defeat.

Well...

It was looking good for the Central Powers,

but then the Yanks arrived and spoilt everything.

Richard provided a bit more detail:

Looking back through your Blog, I'm surprised to see this is only our third game. I thought we'd played it a few more times given the quality, low time commitment and high enjoyment factor. Such a great game and always an exciting tussle.

The final scoring was as follows:

Russia conquered: +4 VPs

Serbia Conquered:  +1 VP

East Africa held by Entente: -1 VP

Hanover held by Entente: -1 VP

For a net total of +3VP, with a +7 VP needed for a Central Powers Victory.

This is the first game where the Americans made a big impact, mainly in terms of being able to lend production points, but also with the double attack possibility.

I suppose they also had a big impact on the last game we played (in that they didn't enter the war at all) with the CP winning that one by a narrow margin.

Of the three games, the Entente has won twice and the Central Powers once. It's very much an uphill battle for the Central Powers to win. Still, it's fun to try.

Look forward to playing this again soon.

WW2 Italian Colonial Infantry

Add a bit of colour to my Italian army although these troops are more East Africa than North Africa.  Never mind, I am happy how they turned out.

The Lamps Are Going Out - Again

In a break from the Crusades, Richard and I went back to an old favourite. I was the Central Powers.

Germany got off to a very good start, capturing Poland and

even capturing the Verdun area but was unable to hold it.

1915 saw Austria conquer Serbia,

but all was quiet on the Western and Eastern fronts

with both sides trying to build up their forces. 

Bulgaria and Italy joined the war.

Our session finished with 1916 with the Central Powers breaking into Russia.

Turkey is hanging on, but East Africa looks bleak for Germany.

The US has also just entered the war.

Casualty Markers

I've been using the Napoleon's Battles rules ever since they came out and they are my preferred set for Napoleonics.  Someone once said to me, and the original developer being Avalon Hill lends credence to this, that the tabletop gets too cluttered with counters (card chits).  As a result, and because I would want to improve the aesthetics anyway, in recent times I have been working on ways to reduce the use of counters.

Labels are essential and over time I have gone for larger to aid visibility.

The amount of info on the label could be reduced,

but would require players to be familiar with the troops,

something that can be challenging, particularly with 15mm.

Here we have a 16 figure brigade of French Light Infantry,

part of the 6th Division of the II Corps.

Their dispersal number is 8 - they are removed when they drop to this strength,

(effectively after two bases are removed due to casualties).

The same unit after taking a casualty and also being marked with disorder

(it actually takes 2 casualties to disorder this type of unit).

Note wear and tear on the markers🙂

Casualty marker adjusted to show two losses,

but disorder marker replaced with riderless horse with blue saddle cloth.

Casualty marker shows 3 casualties, 1 more and a base will be removed.

Accumulating three casualties in one phase might well cause rout,

and the flip side of the disorder markers shows this change in status.

Very handy as once rallied the unit reverts to disordered before attaining its formed state.

Now I have a new rout marker - riderless horse with red saddle cloth (even has red flowers on the base).

Also, there is an upgrade to the casualty marker.

As will be appreciated, there is a problem with the casualty markers.

Apart from a tendency to get left behind, they are also hard to read.

So, I came up with this idea.

a specific casualty base (for cavalry in this example)

using a chit for marking casualties.

I started to implement this using spare figures as well as dedicated casualty figures.

I then thought using a cube to show casualties rather than a chit would reduce fiddling around.

However...

I then started to think, wouldn't it be better if this casualty stand was actually part of the unit?

It would save handling and further reduce clutter,

clutter now being mainly the disorder and rout riderless horse bases,

and they looked good on the tabletop anyway.

So, I came up with this for cavalry.

It is hard to see but there is a peg/stick thing at the rear edge (near the label).

The black part is metal.

All my bases have magnetic bases.

Here it is in use.

The cube (which were a bugger to cut) are now bracelets beads that I found in a $2 dollar shop.

(Adjust for inflation - the bag of 50 cost $A5.50)

Same unit with two casualties and disordered.

The new casualty base is part of the unit and therefore stays with the unit.  The way it is separate from the figures means I just need to cut a few cavalry bases in pairs, something that I started doing anyway.  Alternatively, I can make up some pairs based on excess figures I have, particularly command.  Should work well for cavalry, infantry with the smaller base perhaps not.

One improvement I have since found is that using flat head nails - cleats - and just cutting them to size makes for an excellent pin on which to place the casualty bead.

A future improvement is to use the top of the bead to aid in identifying parent formation.  Currently just using a green tuft to cover the hole and match in with the base.

 

Napoleon's Battles - Testing Out New Casualty Markers Again

After last week's game I was inspired to make some more casualty markers.  These are designed to be part of the formal unit and have a counter that rotates to show casualties.

This time Stefan was the Allies, and I was the French.

Deployment using one of the club's fancy mats, special trees and a built up area.

The terrain pieces were just for show.

The Dutch-Belgian cavalry charged a French brigade,

but Pire's lancers came to their rescue.

Kellerman, who was to prove the hero of the battle,

launches a devastating attack with his heavy cavalry

on some poor Brunswick infantry.

Not to be out done the divisions of Picton and Cooke attack the French left held by their 5th Division.

The full battlefield as that attack goes in on the French left.

Picton's attack failed miserably,

but Cooke with the British Guard powered on.

Jerome gets in trouble in the French centre.

Cooke keeps on pushing, but with limited success.

Unfortunately, I failed to take any more photos.  Cooke, hit in the flank by Pire's lancers, failed to form square and was routed.  Meanwhile, the French heavy cavalry, led by Kellerman, wiped out the Brunswick corps in some deadly pursuit and controlled recalls.

Kingdom of Heaven - Audita Tremendu Duo

This time I was the Muslims and Richard the Christians in the excellent but frustrating game.

1187 AD

The Christians strengthen their castles in the knowledge of what's to come.

Saladin goes to Damascus and promptly falls ill.  Al-Afdal takes over but doesn't have the command power to move the army that Saladin had assembled. 

Cyprus declares for the Muslims.

Al-Afdal feels he must do something and takes what force he can to besiege Tripoli (RF4).

Raymond moves to Acre.

The wells at Tripoli run dry (RF-3).

Raymond moves to Tripoli. Al-Afdal fails to avoid battle, and his force is wiped out, but he escapes to Damascus.

However, even with the lost battle and breaking the siege, Diplomatic Advantage has gone to the Muslims.

1188 AD

The Christians try to influence Cyprus to leave the Muslim embrace but fail.

The Muslim forces gather in Damascus, where Saladin joins them.  He then marches on Tiberia and demands it surrender. But al-Afdal, who should have accompanied him, is aggrieved that he's no longer in command and stays put, keeping three units with him, units Saladin needs.  Tiberia does not surrender as it has a friendly army nearby that matches the reduced force Saladin now has.  

Saladin starts a siege, but his supplies run low, so he gives up and goes back to Damascus to collect more troops before heading to Acre, the Christian garrison of which has been weakened by a raid by corsairs.

The siege of Acre.  RF starts at 6.  Sappers and miners reduce it by 3.  Then catapults reduce it by a further 1.  Saladin tries fortunes of war, but to no avail.  He assaults.  He has 29 factors with a +1.  He rolls a 1 and inflicts 1 casualty.  The 5 defending factors have a +2.  They roll a 5 and inflict 2 casualties.  The assault fails.  The RF increases by 1.  Saladin decides to maintain the siege over winter.

1189 AD

Acre's RF stands at 3.  Saladin's message for more sappers and miners is intercepted.  Annoyed he flings severed heads over the battlements, but this only stiffens the defender's resolve.  RF is now 4.  

Saladin's supplies run low and the RF of Acre increases to 5.  Acre must be captured to avoid a sudden Crusader victory at the end of this turn.

Siege towers are built reducing the RF to 3.  The place is blockaded, RF now 2.  More siege towers are built, and the RF is reduced to 0.  Acre falls to an assault.

Saladin uses a vassal move to gather reinforcements before moving to Jerusalem and asking it to surrender (a 5 or 6 needed), but it says no.  He blockades it and settles in for a siege.

Raymond moves to besiege Acre and attempts to undo all Saladin's hard work by implementing a siege.

Saladin sits down to starve the Christians out of Jerusalem.

A unit of Muslim cavalry go to Acre to try and break siege, but it comes to nothing (battle fought, but no casualties).  The garrison of Acre gets hungry.  The Muslim cavalry try again, but fail, giving the Christian a major Victory (although the forces involved were miniscule - need to check rules?). 

With winter the sieges of Jerusalem and Acre are called off and diplomatic advantage goes to the Christians. Having avoided an early Christian victory, the game continues...

1190 AD

... with the arrival of Richard I and Phillip II and Barbarossa and 18 Crusader units.

The Crusaders are in the off-map boxes.

The Muslims concentrate their forces in Damascus.

Richard lands at Acre (RF=6).

Philip lands in Tyre.

Saladin goes to Damascus ready to strike before the Christians can combine their forces.

The Christians call a truce.

The Muslims try diplomacy with Antioch (fail) and Armenia (success).

Richard builds a fortified camp.

Saladin goes to Tyre and attacks Philip.  Richard goes to his rescue.  The Christians are impetuous giving the Saladin an advantage.  His force numbers 24 factors to Richard's 30.  He has a +1 and they have a +2.  He throws a 4 and they throw a 6.  The Muslims suffer 13 losses and inflict 6.  A major victory to the Christians and Saladin is gravely wounded and his army wiped out.   

Richard follows up his victory by going to Damascus.

1191 AD

Damascus is blockaded and under siege, but an epidemic breaks out in the Christian camps and Richard falls ill.

The wells run dry in Damascus and the RF drops to 2.

Philip moves to Damascus.

Muslim cavalry attempting to block off the Christians are overrun after they fail to avoid Reynald who also heads to Damascus.

The Christians fill in the moat at Damascus and launch an assault capturing the city.  The local commander, al-Afdal dies.

Just to make things worse, Cyprus abandons the Muslims and goes neutral.

1192 AD

An Italian engineer arrives at Acre which is still besieged.

Corsairs raid the Crusaders at Acre again.

Richard returns from his sick bed and goes to Acre, unfortunately bringing the plague with him.  He deploys catapults (RF drops to 4), but his supplies run low (RF raises to 5).  Siege towers are constructed (fancy Italian ones) and RF plummets to 2).

Saldin returns and moves to Baalbek.

Richard calls on the Fortunes of War, but there is nothing.

Saladin moves to Acre.  It is an even fight, but Saladin forgets about Richards fortified camp.  Still, he inflicts 5 casualties but receives 6 and retreats.

Richard calls on Philip for help and gets much need reinforcements.

Next, he calls on Fortunes of War and his Italian engineer builds him some really good catapults.  RF drops to 1.  He assaults the city and captures it.

The Muslims try some diplomacy on Cyprus, but without effect.

The Third Crusade ends in a Christain victory, 22 VPs to 12.

Barbarossa never came out of his box.

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