Retreat from Moscow - 1812 edition

On the cold road home......

Another “Trumpeter Salute” convention by the local Trumpeter Tabletop Society club is over and leaving me with a bit of a “wargamer hangover”  This can be described as a worn out feeling, sore feet, weak voice, throbbing head, aching back, and always that slight regret of not purchasing that good deal…..

the 'Vodka Wagon' pulled along

I hosted my “Retreat from Moscow” game.  For those two fellows in the back row unaware of the history (or myth…) Napoleon’s Grand Armee consisting of most of Europe’s armies was making its way back from the disastrous campaign in Russia in 1812 and through the snows of winter.

The game has very simple rules using measuring sticks and lots of randomness which helps in the fun atmosphere. Because the Russians (mostly armed peasants but a smattering of Cossacks and Jagers) are on ‘auto-pilot’ they can act in unforeseen ways but in this game with my rather low rolls, generally did not give the Allies much grief.  This, at least to me, rather boring state of affairs would change when one of the players, having safely crossed the bridge with his two units abruptly turned about and starting shooting at his compatriots!!

The peasants make a rare stand near the log pile

a close up of the Polish contingent

Apparently he decided on gaining the ‘Vodka Wagon’ for himself and the points.  He had asked me before doing this nefarious act, if he "could shoot at any unit?".  I said “yeah, sure I guess” not thinking it would be his friends.   JimD, up from the States, after this action, said he moved closer to me so I would hold him back from lunging at “the traitor”. He later said he was really angry.  I totally missed his reaction and thought the whole thing amusing and made the game that more interesting…….

congestion on the bridge

the 'traitors' (on the left) fire upon their erstwhile compatriots who retreat from the fire and abandon the wagon

As a note I made up a rule, on the spot, about the bridge, over which they must cross lest they chance dying in the frozen waters of the creek, a chance of partial collapse.  1 in 6 chance.  Of course, it would break three times each time having a greater chance.  PeterM, our statistician, wryly was calculating if it were better to chance the cold water instead!  

the Old Guard form a powerful rear guard...that is until JimF orders his unit to break rank to run for the bridge leaving PeterM to hold on his own with only half the firepower.  Only his good dice and random fate (aka my poor dice rolling for the Russian aggression) allow him to retreat intact also. (the bridge held intact long enough!)

Battle of the road apples....

“Oh for the love of !*#!”,exclaimed the infantry General.  “That is it!  I have had it with those damned idiots on horses! I am tired of stepping in horse dung. If they want their forage then they can MARCH and step in their own sh!t”

And so it passed that elements of the French 5th Dragoons and 8th Cuirassiers would be foot soldiers escorting the wagon to the forage depot.  The convoy will be the target of the local Hungarian Grenzer militia [ their history ] in this solo fictional game using the new Rebels and Patriots ruleset.

Both side had 12 points apiece. The Dragoons elements were the lead elite troop of 6 skirmishers - but not being so elite - along with 2 units of poor shooting line (unaccustomed to being on foot and armed with only carbines) following with the wagon and the large line unit Cuirassiers also poor shots.

My "foot cuirassiers" are Perry plastic dragoons with the lapels scraped away and a new color scheme. Note the one bloke still wearing his armour which I added with a torso swap. Plastics can be fun; to create what you want.

The Hungarian Grenzers were formed into two light units, one to hit the front of the column, the other the rear in a classic guerrilla attack.

The 'Grenzers' and cuirassiers in the distance trade shots

The attack starts with the front Grenzer unit “missing the start-time” and failing to move!  Luckily the rear unit fires upon the cuirassiers, who, with only the benefit of the commander with the unit, pass morale and so not disordered and then could move into the protective woods.
A unit of Dragoons move to help the beleaguered Cuirassiers while the other moves to protect the wagon.  The lead elite Skirmishers are frozen in place.  This seemed to be the pattern in the front as both the Skirmishers would not activate or not produce enough firepower to frighten the Grenzers.  They would eventually fall back on the wagon guards and together would keep the Hungarians at bay.

The wagoners await the opportunity to continue the march.

In the rear, the Cuirassiers would fire at the Grenzer light infantry (gaining the benefit of cover even in the open vs the weak return fire being in the woods).  With generally only 6s hitting and 3 hits = a kill, casualties and thus important enemy morale tests were hard to obtain.  The Grenzers with 5+ hits were a bit better but at a simple 7+ morale fails are 50/50 and so most could be passed (often with the help of the officer however!).  The Dragoons assisting the cuirassiers from across the stream were particularly unhelpful as their fire was desultory at best.

However the fire, weak that is was, was finally able, to have the Hungarians retreat (failing to rally) for successive turns.  At this point I would roll double ones on activations which trigger fun chance occurrences.   The Grenzers had a disorder marker added automatically (which they would roll off) and for the Dragoons are now “running of ammunition” - which might explain their poor fire!

more shots traded

The Grenzers (in the distance with the knapsack markers) having a only one disorder need not rally should they choose, but having such disorder is a large hinderance...

Back at the front… the Skirmishers finally got out of the way to allow the ‘reserve’ Dragoon unit to fire upon the Hungarians.  Together they held off the light infantry.  I did not conduct any attacks as both sides were not upgraded to being “fighty”.  Shooting by poor shooters frankly was not effective and so attacks might be in order.  While the rules are simple they are uncommonly tactics sensitive so different styles of play would be best at different times.  Very interesting indeed.

Nevertheless in this play and battle, the light infantry of the Hungarians would not press the issue and would retire intact, while the dismounted cavalry would be thankful not to sustain more damage.  Nonetheless, the losses were 8 of 24 figures for the Hungarians (30% losses) and 14 of 48 French (28%)

Continued firing, and thus the chance of any hits forcing a morale test, seems to be the way of the rules (and frankly of the era’s method of fighting) so gives the correct impression.  I like the effect even though one can have turn after turn of little effect.
Even with half the recommended points, it was a fun little game.

Panzer Schaden

“What a Tanker” game from a month back.  My Pzkw III would charge up to take on some little Frenchie thing, but heavily armoured.... apparently, so did no damage.  I got shot up, tried to reverse out of trouble, ran out of command chits and was brewed.  No Iron Cross for me.

Craig's nice layout.  Will's effective Char B can be seen in the middle left of the scene. 1/56 (28mm) scale.

Having reversed but not out of trouble, I am finally put out of commission but the "little Frenchie thing" unseen to the far left.

a Tercey battle

The Tercey Campaign:  fictional solo game : Battle of Sticksley

With the return of the main armies to the Shire, and Earl of Rockforth’s Red faction’s command of the area, the Tawney party was on its heels.  However the knowledge of one of the Red’s wagon was a prize to tempting not to resist,  and so Lord Pomsby sought to plan its ambush near the town of Sticksley.
The area was very flat and with crops not of any height, he needed to place his ambush units some distance and widely spaced.  Longe’s Musketeers were to be the main unit, hidden as it was in a graveyard near the important crossroads.  Ballard’s Pike were to march from its hidden location to block the bridge and support Longe.  Ballard’s Shotte would then advance from its hiding of a farm house to the creek’s far edge offering protection as it would offer volleys into the flank of the enemy column.

Robarte's Shotte at the bridge

The Red column was led by Urry’s experienced horse.  However there seemed to be no overall command of the column which was to led to problems during the battle. The wagons for example continued their slow trek only to clog up the bridge and be lost in during the battle.

Urry's horsemen about to be shot upon by Longe's musketeers

The battle commenced with Longe’s very effective volley into the surprised horsemen. The following column too were put into confusion by the start of the fighting, rolling not to activate at all.  Bravely charging their tormentors, Urry’s horsemen, hurled themselves at Longe but the musketeers calmly met the charge.  Urry’s remaining troopers morale finally collapsed as they fell back to the bridge now cluttered with wagons, packhorses and men from the musketeers of Robartes Regiment. The latter had advanced to meet Ballard’s counterparts who had rapidly moved through an early growth wheat field to line the creek edge.  They would continue to shoot at each other for most of the remainder of the battle bravely matching casualties.“the valley was all smoke and fire such as the bowels of hades” wrote one participant, “and such bravery the devil himself could not conceive”
(Successive courage tests were passed regardless of the casualties)

Ballard's await word to advance.  The sheep look on.

Tawny forces converge on the Red position at the bridge. Longe is in the field on the left, Ballard along the creek on the right, Ballard's Pike coming down the road.  Robarte's red-coated shotte facing Ballard while the useless Nerne dragoons are unable to find ammunition to fire upon Longe's unit in the field. The abandoned wagon blocks the bridge.

While Robarte’s Shotte was effective, Nerne’s Dragoons were still on the far side of the creek, the wagon abandoned at the bridge, its horses shot down and driver having legged it.

Robarte’s officer now ordered a retreat hoping to take the remaining pack animals back to the other side of the creek to safety but obviously his men’s ardour overwhelmed them. (I sought to have the unit save themselves but it failed its move activation!) It took further casualties and a courage test to have them break and run.

Meanwhile, Nerne’s Dragoons, true to form based on their rather poor previous performances in battle, failed numerous activations and stood about without effect. (it failed 70% of its activations this game!)

Pomsby's ambush has been a success. The wagon, not surprisingly stocked with liquor, was quickly ransacked by the troops.  An officer managed to recover one bottle of claret which the Lord accepted gracefully. He toasted the troops for their victory which was met with resounding cheers. The Tawneys may have found their new leader to challenge the command of the Earl of Rockforth’s dominance of the Shire.

Walk in the woods..

With our penchant for ‘Rampanty” rules, the new “Rebels and Patriots” was exciting so JimF brought over his French and Indian Wars figures for a go.  I played the French while Peter took the ‘Injuns’ while Clayton commanded most of the British with Jim handling the single cannon (as he suggested he would be doing enough to consult the rules)

Now as with all Rampant rules, a poor die roll will most likely change things immensely.  Clayton found that out as his Provincials ran off very early in the game (and later, Jim’s cannoneers would but sit around failing many successive activations  (no more ammunition perhaps??) .

The French on the left, British Highlanders in the distance facing the natives (right)

Peter’s natives flittered about in the wood edge targeting the aggressive highlanders which Clayton could not seem to get into contact.  Meanwhile my French “marines” (regulars of the New France) performed light infantry duties against the Highlanders also while my Coureur de Bois (skirmishers) harassed the British light gun.

"the eagle's view"

The big units of natives did well, and the Highlanders finally gave way but not until one unit was totally eliminated!  The new way of testing for morale certainly can result in lots of loss before breaking….as long as you roll well, of course……

Flying and Dying

Once again a game of Canvas Eagles the other day.  And once again, I fail as a pilot.
First plane…blew up. I drew the wrong ‘red chit”
Second plane…on fire and would crash. Started as smoke but of course I would roll a 1, not to extinguish, but to have it turn into a blaze!

My Sopwith Triplane on fire over the lines and above my custom made stand

Overall, a typical game for me. Planely tragic......

Plunder, sir!

I love the movie "Waterloo" (1970) I was very young seeing it for the first time but already I was a confirmed military history buff.  I still think it a very good movie for the accuracy of the uniforms, history and even the acting portrayals of the characters. (Having read some of Napoleon's letters, his 'ranting' on screen is not far off the mark!) Alright, the terrain of the Ukraine is not correct for the battle site but can't have everything! The famous building important to the battle were good however.

One of the humorous scenes is when Wellington questions a soldier of the Inniskilling Regiment about the contents of his pack. The soldier had just plundered a pig and sought to defend his hopeless position to the commander-in-chief.

Wargaming mate, WillB, won, as the club door prize, the Warlord figure done for the Historicon 2015 convention and was kind enough to present him to me.  I just HAD to do it up quickly!

I put it in behind my element of the Inniskilling which represents Lambert's Brigade.  'Wellington' is a Essex French officer of which I heavily carved the bicorne to more represent the distinctive curvature of the headdress.

"I knew something queer wa' scratching me back..."

The Inniskillings is my representative unit for Lambert's Brigade at Waterloo

here is the scene from the movie:
link to Youtube movie scene

Near a bridge in Russia....

"Where are we, Francois?", the recruit asks of his veteran friend.  "Near a bridge somewhere in Russia which the Major is ordered to control. That is all I know and that is more than you need to know", responded the much older and worn French cavalryman.

This could only be the exchange between the miniatures, as I dragged them out of the box, about the rather simple scenario I came up with placing the terrain randomly upon the green mats.  As we would have WillB's Russians ( Perry metals ) and JimF's newly painted French (Essex metals) along with my French (Perry) plastics, the small wooden bridge was called the objective for the game.  Honestly it was only going to be a playtest of sorts for our "Hussar Rampant" rules; these really just a minor version from the popular 'Lion Rampant' medieval rules.

WillB's Russians on the left, JimF's dragoons near the bridge, and my French lights centre top

Will pushing his Russian cuirassiers into position while Jim's dragoons cross the stream.

Now this version has had many editions as I struggled to give them a more horse and musket formal feel to them and thus, they got more complicated.  My final version got so complicated that I believed them somewhat unplayable!  However, the new 'Rampanty' rules of "Rebels and Patriots" has a new and brilliantly simple incorporation of random charge movement with the activation which, in a head-slap moment, solved many of the issues which I struggled with.  Essentially, as you make your charge activation, the two-dice total you rolled also indicates the total inches you can move in that charge.  The higher the dice total the further your unit can move.  It can also come to pass that your unit, while able to charge, was slow off the mark and could come up short to actually contacting the enemy.  Oops. Such is friction of war.  This randomized movement also works very well for evades; so now units further away probably have a greater chance to get away but the chargers may still catch them.  Now incorporated seamlessly in the rules, any complicated ordering sequence is unnecessary.

With that rule in place we were joined by DennisC taking one of Will's commands and off we went charging about.  Jim had to cross a small stream, worried about my "Death in Rough Terrain!!" rule......he passed the rolls without issue!.  The armoured cuirassiers are tough buggers, units die quickly but usually stick around for awhile, and counter-charges are important...are some of the things we learnt.

My depleted Chasseurs, having failed their charge activation,  hold up the larger number of  Hussars behind them

The white clad Russian cuirassiers charge in. The French fail to make a mark on them.....

...so the cuirassiers could meet my hussars, and attached commander, next turn. 

But while we maintained formations, the movement was point-to-point without the care of wheeling or changes of facing.  Not what we might consider for the "formal formations and tactics of the day" but it was simple, and lessened any complications to the moves.  The rules seemed to work and all the players had fun without issues.

"Frankensteins" painted

....my new "Frankenstein" militia Grenzers painted.  Made from various extra parts -see previous post for details.

on the painting stick

and on the table ready to engage the French dismounted dragoons

advancing 

Perry plastic dismounted dragoons move along a road unaware they now have opposition on the tabletop

My little frankensteins

OK, Mary Shelley I am not.   However, I do feel similar to her character, Dr. Frankenstein.   He of the famous fictional novel created life and horrified by what he has made ( the low-key button-counter in me). And like in Frankenstein, this monster was a composite of parts grafted together from cadavers of various abandoned plastic sprues.  It is with these that I have created these... ahem….Napoleonic Hungarian Militia.

my original prototype

They are, of course, an abomination from the historical but perhaps close enough to act the role.

The list of body parts:
Legs: Warlord ancient Celtic warriors (c.1st century BC)*
Torso: Warlord War of Spanish Succession (c 1700 AD)**
Arms: Perry French Dismounted Dragoons (c 1809 AD)***
Hat: extras from Perry box

Cartridge Box: cut from discarded sprues

Canteen: cut off from previously altered Austrian infantry (c 1809 AD)

author notes:
*I had picked up a bunch of these half-built ancients from the B&B but were left with lots of legs remaining.  Very odd posing due to excessively bent knees and the top of the hips at a 45 degree angle - or more!  The creations certainly have a Games Workshop Orc-ish pose look to them.  Monsters indeed!
** These torsos are offered as a few alternatives within the Warlord WSS boxes. Luckily a group of us collected enough to allow me to have sufficient amount of one type to make 24 of these in total.
*** These Perry arms are one-part with both arms/hands attached to the weapon so specific to their dismounted dragoon body.  I happened to try these onto the extra Warlord WSS torsos and they fit surprisingly well and thus unexpectedly launching this whole project.


I loosely describe them as Hungarian to justify the ankle-tight trousers of the Celts. The Hungarians were known for similar attire.   Unlike official or parade ground proper uniforms, reality would be a different story with unfulfilled supply especially to the lower rungs of the military establishment.  It is my thinking that Hungarian militia would be very low indeed on the priority list and so liberties in their equipment could be made.    Yes, the corsehut hat was probably not worn by any Hungarians but so very definitively Austro-Hungarian as not to use!  As fashionistas say: the headdress makes the outfit!

I think I will go the 'traditional' red-brown tunics, light blue tight trousers of the Hungarians, and black belts to have them "blend in with true Napoleonics". The heavy cavalry gloves (too much of a pain to modify) will be painted as red cuffs and flesh coloured hands.  As the saying goes: a layer of paint hides all sort of imperfections!

So my existing French Dismounted Dragoons ( link ) will eventually have an opposition in my little frankensteins

Sengoku battle

Fictional Battle of Zenrokkumura

Oh, this is but one of the multitude of minor squabbles occurring during the Sengoku period of Japanese history - the time of the classic Samurai we all know and game.

Having no idea who will show at host’s Francis’ place, the scenario has to be, well, ‘loose’ to allow for various number of players.  I deployed a triad of forces, with small one in the village to protect the sacred ‘Zen White Stone’ , the other equally matched forces on each side.

The village defended by the Oyamada.  The Zen white rock with stool in the center. Peasants to the left, Samurai at lower right.  

Being a Lion Rampant game, it is hard to describe the action but the Okurdaira and the Takeda aimed for each other while controlling the Oyamada protecting the village I sought to stay out of the fight only entering once one side was weakened thus being on the winning end ( much like Stanley at Bosworth Field )

The mass of Takeda early in the game.  I ignore the 3" rule....obviously.

But like any plan, it went for nought, as while Rene left my Samurai alone as he moved against DaveS’ and Kev’s red and white flagged Okurdaira,  his compatriot Francis promptly charged my Oyamada samurai and lost the combat.  “They are samurai?!” Francis exclaimed in his defence,  “I thought they were peasants. Aren’t peasants easy to kill?”

The Takeda mounted Samurai (Kingsford Miniatures)

Okudaira army advances ( the red/white sashimono was a common theme for several clans it would appear)

However with that, I decided to help the Okurdaira but as I came out of the village DaveS and his Okurdaira teppo (handgunners) then shot at me “They were the nearest and best target!” he would say.  You do get the idea that these players do not care a wit about strategy and just want “to throw dice and kill things”

I retreated but to the village to let them sort it out, which, after quite the bloodbath, the Takeda with their black flags, won the attrition battle.

WAT the heck am I doing?

I ask myself, "What the heck am I doing?"   "Well", I answer myself, "having fun, and besides, you already got some tanks do you not?!"

The why and how is of course the all-tank game "What a Tanker" which has been nicely promoted by Craig within The Club for the past months. He set up a very nice looking game at the local hobby store last week with a lay out of a town and hill for the Shermans and PzkwIIIs to roam around.   Interesting choices based on your dice rolls.  I managed with my little 'ol Sherman to come up behind a German PzkwIII within the streets of the town to blast its backside and later played a very, very close dance with another German.   So close that he could not shoot at me as his barrel could not rotate enough in the small street!
He backed up, I hit him well, but not sufficient to render him hor-de-combat and with only throwing two command dice, got exactly the right combo of rolls to take me out. Sigh.

Stoked by the game,  I immediately thought of gaining my own model.   Interestingly I already have models I bought very cheaply a few years ago at the B&B and planned to use the KV-1b as a Leman Russ for my small 40K contingent. I spent a bit of time yesterday refurbishing that model to have the commander either in a open hatch or with a cover for buttoned up - which is an important distinction in the rules.

I also have a T-34 but not a great model and a previously built (by others)  Panther but it is not painted. All models are 1:56 scale as is played at club.

Generally I don't play in WW2 games as the rules tend to be complicated, the size of game way too large to play safely in an evening and I have no interest in expanding my collections in that direction.  But with these rules, one tank is all it should take to have a fun lengthy game -  assuming you don't run into a big gun with hot dice early!

My refurbished KV-1b with (ahem) a MDF wooden base as the commander's hatch cover.  Dodgy construction and painting but it was cheap enough at the B&B.

with commander in place (yes, yes a 'Valhallan' 40K model but close to the part), the ad-hoc hatch cover (it has to be thick enough to vacillate easy removal if needed), and the "required" color-matching dice for Russian command rolls!.

a French unit of the AWI

Left over plastic bits and bobs can be useful, even for the ‘metal’ crowd.  I this case I had years ago built an American Revolution French force for the siege of Savannah in 1779.  I had moved away from that project but had one last unit primed and ready to paint.  But with sprue full of extra Zulu (read: negro) plastic heads available I was now able to create the rarely seen Chasseurs-Voluntaires de Saint-Domingue which played a role covering the French re-embarkment.

Clipping off the metal hats, then heads, of the Front Rank figures, I inserted the plastic heads. I wanted some variety from the identical heads so did not try to be too exact in the cuts.  In hindsight I probably should have done a more identical approach as the other Front Rank French have a straight ahead, ‘no-neck’ look to them.  I guess I have been influenced by the more recent ‘realistically proportioned’ renderings than the style of the decades old “thick and squat” sculpting style epitomized by old Front Rank poses.

As you can see, I took the photo shortly after gluing but before adding a black undercoat so the work can be better seen.  I will eventually get to them but no real rush as they have currently no opponent to battle with!

Saxon forces of the GNW

During the holidays I finally finished my Saxony contingent for the Great Northern War for which two of the local boys independently started the same project.  They twisted my ‘rather rubber wargame arm’ to have me create some reinforcements for WillB’s Russians to face the fury of KevinA’s elite Swedish foe.

For the most part the other two have used Warlord’s (ex-Wargames Factory) plastic WSS figures and I have followed in that path and also altered my usual painting style to give them a very basic paint coat then cover the lot with Army Painters ‘Soft Tone’ (from the small bottle)  While it certainly darkens the tones, it provides a similar effect as the other collectors forces.

It might be noted that they were rebased from individual stands to square multiples (40mm) given the more formal lines of battle.   I have large enough force of line infantry and cavalry and contingents of dragoons and grenadiers along with artillery support to satisfy most of our scenario requirements.

Fun minor project and interesting to gather the campaign and indeed uniform information as it is one of the few major wars I was not really familiar with.  I like the colour red so this would be the army for me, it would appear!

Saxon cuirassier without their red overcoats!

newly painted dragoons

My red coated mass of the Electorate of Saxony c 1706

Me and dice

No Year-in-Review for me.  I painted lots in 2018 but didn't make any lists. During previous years I made lists of unit 'birthdays' but going back upon them I would remember painting a particular unit but, what!?  that was five years ago?!! How the *bleep* did the time go by? I do not want to be reminded......

But while continued painting and playing was moderately consistent, so to was my dice luck.  A funny thing with me and dice:  I roll very poor dice. Very poorly.  I won’t even think of getting near a craps table.  I rolled 36d6 consecutive dice recently in a game without recording a 6 among them (.014% chance of doing that apparently I was reminded)

So when depositing two new dice on my wargame table from my pocket - a gift from our LFGS hobby store owner - I was not surprised when both icons representing the ‘1’ came up.  For me the ‘6’ is always hidden…….