The Siege of Dien Bien Phu by Bernard B Fall

This book has the subtitle "Hell in a very small space" which is certainly a good description of the place under siege.

This book was published in 1966 and I wondered if the author had published an updated edition with the release of files etc since the conflict.  Nope. His entry in Wikipedia makes for interesting reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_B._Fall and also explains why there was no sequel.

The book has a lot of detail about French troop movements during the siege, almost down to the platoon level.  The Vietminh are more handled at the division and sometimes battalion level.  Lots of anecdotes and the author was well connected having been in Indochina during the 1950s and later, as well as having access to a range of people, including Ho Chi Minh.

What comes across in the book is the bravery of the combatants, as well as the ultimately pointless slaughter.

The politics are interesting as one forgets that people making decision in the 1950s have been shaped by events going back to the 1930s.

I'm glad I was too young (just) to avoid the wider conflict.

Burgundian Ordonnance versus New Kingdom Egyptian - The Final

The final miniatures game of the year and the final in the club's Basic Impetus competition, my Burgundians face Karl's New Kingdom Egyptians.  What could go wrong?

The Egyptians find themselves out scouted and defending a hill, 

with their left flank protected by a lake and a wood.

The Burgundians are very much a full-frontal army

and so the enemy's flanks are rarely worth trying to exploit.

Shooting commences.

Burgundian crossbowmen get ready.

The Egyptian chariots advance and deliver a devastating volley of missiles.

The Burgundian left flank withers.

Oh oh!

The Burgundian left flank dissolves.

The Burgundian pike advance, pushing back the enemy to their front.

The Burgundian longbow are successfully targeting the Egyptian infantry.

The Egyptian chariots commence to wheel round to rejoin to the fight.

The Burgundian pikes keep pushing

and the Burgundian knights get ready.

Will the Egyptian chariots return to the fray in time?

Almost, but not quite...

The Egyptian army moral breaks.

And now to test out the siege rules.

The Egyptians have 4 units, 7 steps/manpower and 16 combat factors.  The resistance factor of their stronghold was 5 (no port and they have lost their leader).

The Burgundians have 7 units, 12 steps/manpower and 30 combat factors.  More importantly they still have their commander who promptly demanded the Egyptians surrender.  They did not.  It would have  saved a lot of bloodshed as we shall see.

The Burgundians implement a blockade and set about besieging the Egyptian stronghold.

There are rats in the Egyptian's food supply (#43). RF drops to 3.

The Egyptians break the blockade (#20) inflicting 4 step losses on the Burgundians.

The Burgundians construct a siege tower (#32) but the Egyptians burn it down (#45).

The Burgundians start filling in the moat (#11) dropping the RF to 2.

Then they fill in the moat some more (#12) reducing the RF to 1.

Deploying ladders and mantlets (#15) they reduce the RF to 0 and assault.

However the Egyptians have secondary defences (#29) and raise the RF to 1.

With the RF shift the attackers and defenders are on the same column on the assault table.  The defenders have a plus 2, while the Burgundian leader gives them a plus 1.  Both sides throw a 6.  The Burgundians lose 6 steps, 75% of their force!  The Egyptians lose 5 steps and are wiped out.  A very bloody victory to the Burgundians.

Burgundian Ordonnance versus 100 Years War English - The semi-final

This time my Burgundians, particularly the knights and pike, did everything expected of them against Dave's 100 Years War English.

It was a bit touch and go, but the English were finally out-scouted.

The Burgundians found them hiding behind a low hill with a wood on one flank and a lake on the other.

The English advanced.

Shooting began.

Lots of shooting.

The English claimed the initiative and charged but failed to either make the distance or follow up.

The Burgundians riposte! 

And what a riposte it was.

The knights and pike all pursued when needed,

and while not without casualties,

the Burgundian losses were nothing compared to those of the English.

As is my want, following the game I worked out the siege parameters.  

The English had 1 unit, 2 steps, 2 manpower and 2 combat factors.  The resistance factor of their stronghold was 4 (as I am assuming they didn't have time to make it to a port).

The Burgundians had 9 units, 15 steps, 22 manpower and 32 combat factors.  More importantly they still had their commander who promptly demanded the English surrender.  They did (a roll of 5 on the dice with 4 needed).

I'm still refining the siege system and think I will make manpower equivalent to steps.  

On to the final now to face the New Kingdom Egyptians.

Salerno 43

New game but known (if slightly forgotten by the players) system.  Small scale made it interesting but also subject to outlier dice rolls.  As the Allies I needed 8 VPs by the end of Turn 8.  I fell one short, but a number had only been picked up by, in one case, Richard throwing a double 1 on 2D6.

It was good to play a game where I had actually travelled in part of the area, namely in this case, Sorrento and Capri.  My dad would have been near this area closer to the time this game is set.

Generic Goths

Or, still in my Spanish phase, Visigoths.  These figures are from all sorts of manufacturers now lost in the mists of time.