La Rothiere Part 1

Yesterday I was fortunate to participate in the Avon Napoleonic Fellowship’s bicentennial game of La Rothiere.  Their initial post can be found here: http://avonnapoleonicfellowship.blogspot.com.au/2014/02/readying-for-la-rothiere.html

Not only did I get to play but I also got to field some of my own figures.  This included the figure I use for my Sun of York Avatar which was one of the first metal figures I ever painted back in the 1970s.  In fact I am pretty sure all the figures I took to the game were painted in the late 1970s or very early 1980s.  I am also pretty sure they have never seen action, well, certainly not on this scale.

Initial deployment looking east from the icy river of Aube.  The Allies are just starting to enter on the southern edge of the table (right hand side of the picture).

Twelve of my chasseur figures representing a regiment in the first brigade of the first cavalry corps.  All Airfix conversions.

Eight of my dragoons pretending to be the 11e although eagle eyes will be able to spot the ability of my once teenage eyes to paint them as the 14e.  Remember these figures have not been used in a game before, unlike I guess the extra figures that were supplied to beef them up to the required configuration.

Another eight of my figures, this time Airfix hussar conversions.  The paints I used back then were all Humbrol enamels.  I remember I was particularly fond of the blue and also really liked the scarlet.

My two trusty Airfix French artillery batteries. 

A heavily converted Airfix French Foreign Legion officer posing as GdD Doumerc who was in command of my chasseurs and hussars.

Purely for representational purposes, my favoured Napoleonic 25mm figure posing as Marshall Marmont in command of the VI Corps on the far French left.

After a few turns some more of my boys arrived.  There are sixteen Minifigs painted as Young Guard with a number of Airfix French Infantry (painted as Light Infantry) representing more of the YG.  There are twenty four painted by me and sixteen painted by, and rescued from, my friend Brenton.

The French Dragoons are sent into counterattack around 14:30.  There was some vicious fighting, one battle going through three draws before an outcome was decided.  It was a battle of the "sixes".  My figures are yet to see action, but they can be seen cheering in the immediate foreground.

Final shot of the day of my part of the battle.  The enemy are approaching from the east as well as the south and appear to be in overwhelming numbers.  I Cavalry and Young Guard are deploying to the east .  The dragoon battle in the centre continues (I hope numbers will tell as I suffered some set backs in a couple of combats that saw one of my French cavalry divisions' moral to break; it doesn't always pay to roll sixes).

We are probably about a third of the way through the game and it will continue next month.  Despite the warm weather the wind whistling through the window of the games room provided some realistic atmosphere at times, and, along with the special terrain, kept things cool.

It was the first time they used labels and while I found them helpful, they did spoil some of the aesthetics - luckily they were printed on white paper that blended in well.  They also took time to apply, although this should be repaid when we next pick up the game.   How best to represent unit information, status etc is something that continues to vex me.

Maiden Flight

Well, I finally too the plunge and bought a Wings of Glory Duel pack, Albatross versus Spad.  Last night was the maiden flight for the Albatross.

Ste up saw two German Albatrosses jump the English bomber and its two escorts.  That is me closest to camera, the one with the white insignia on the side.

The escorts peeled off but we stuck to the bomber getting in aimed shots.  My guns jammed at this point and I was trailing smoke from taking hits from the rear gunner.

But I kept at it, hopefully giving more damage than I was taking.

Mission accomplished.  I head for home having shot down the bomber.  I had sixty percent damage to my plane, but made a safe landing.

A very successful maiden flight!

The British were controlled by the one player and while this gives some coordination benefits it does put the player under pressure.  Each German plane had a player which made us quick to select our movement cards and gave plenty of time to attack the English player with deadly banter.

Generation War

Not my normal post, but if you are interested in WW2, this film has some good small scale action scenes.  Regardless, it is well worth watching and being reminded about the horrors and waste of war and the lies that get told and believed.

Find out more here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1883092/

Flight of the Giants

I guess I will keep on posting on the regular Wings of Glory games while I can continue to come up with catchy titles - time will tell.  I have to say playing on the terrain mats makes for a very photogenic games.  Trying to get the "good shots" is almost a game in itself.

I was in the plane with black stripes.  We had four Sopwith Camels attacking two Gothas protected by a Fokker Triplane.  Six players including three juniors.

I had taken engine damage and was having trouble catching up.  Other of our planes suffered gun jams, but we got the big purple bomber and the Fokker, but lost a few of our planes, including mine which blew up.

7 Wonders

While in Canberra I caught up with my what was the regular Tuesday night boardgame/wargame crew.  We had started back in the 1980s and had moved around a bit, locations and days of the week.

So it was a Monday and Bruce's place and we played 7 Wonders which was a new game for me.

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/68448/7-wonders



Good quick game with interesting strategies and player interactions, but what made it extra special that with six players, we had Bruce and Ian who I had been gaming with since the 1980s, then there was Bruce's son Joel and Ian's son Edward and finally myself and my daughter Zoe.  Very special.

Eight Years in Undercoat

Well I suppose you could say the shakos, boots and gaiters were done...

I thought it would be nice for my Middle Guard to be expertly painted and asked my friend Brenton.  I cleaned them up and undercoated them, as well as providing a print of the required uniform.  This was eight years ago.  Since then Brenton has fathered at least three children and the only additional coverage my figures got was dust and cobwebs.  :-(

They have now been retrieved and are on the project list for 2014.  Will they have better luck with me?

Cancon 2014 - DBA Competition Day 2

Enter the Burgundians

The armies that were fielded for Day 2 were from Books II and IV as follows:

III/10b Rajputs 747-1300AD
III/20b T'ang Chinese 618-755AD
III/21a Italian Lombard 584-774AD
IV/03 Anglo-Norman 1072-1181AD
IV/03 Anglo-Norman 1072-1181AD
IV/13a Medieval German 1106-1235AD
IV/14a Jurchen-Chin 1114-1234AD
IV/22 Serbian Empire 1180-1459AD
IV/43c Later Hungarian 1397-1526AD
IV/48 Yuan Chinese 1260-1368AD
IV/54c Medieval Scandanavian Swedish 1391-1523AD
IV/62 100 Years War 1322-1455AD
IV/64b Medieval French 1346-1418AD
IV/64b Medieval French 1346-1418AD
IV/74 Free Companty or Armagnac 1357-1410AD
IV/80 Hussite 1419-1434Ad and 1464-1471AD
IV/80 Hussite 1419-1434Ad and 1464-1471AD
IV/84 Burgundian Ordonnance 1471-1477 AD
IV/85a Wars of the Roses Engliah 1455-1485AD
IV/85b Wars of the Roses English 1487AD

Game seven was against Medieval Scandanavian commanded by my friend Brenton S.  It was a very bloody affair.  We were tied at four all, then five all until I was able to luckily score a sixth casualty and my first win of the day.

The battle developed over the hill on my left.

And this was how it finished.  What is you is what is left of the two armies.  My knights in the centre had just killed their opponents.

Game eight was against an identical Burgundian Ordonnance army, but my lads were better and I was a lot older than the opposing general and didn't hesitate to take advantage when presented with an exposed flank.  This was the first game in which I was not the attacker and got to deploy some of my terrain, most notably my new road.

I lost one element on my left, but my knights on my right ran down the enemy line killing the necessary four elements to achieve victory.

Game nine saw a medieval German army commanded by another junior general blown away by my mighty bombard.  No photos unfortunately.

Game ten was a loss against Anglo-Normans.  I foolishly had my bombard blocking my deployment and was unable to get my army into grips before it was all too late.

Bombard looks good, but is damned hard to maneuver if you ever want to get it out of the way.

Game eleven and I fought a 100 Years War English army commanded by a general only a fraction of that age.  I was the defender.

The enemy launched an isolated attack on my left.  I think the road intrigued them.  I lost one element to their four.

Game twelve and the final in the competition was against an army from the War of the Roses.  Another young general.  After going two down I was able to come back to a four to two win.

I was defending again.  In such situations I always deployed the Keep as my camp.  I had also decided to keep my bombard out of the action.  The enemy had a light element that they left in the rear as well so we effectively fought with eleven elements each.

I was mightily chuffed to come in overall second place!