Tuesday, December 31, 2013

NQSYW: Anything to declare?

As the convoy approached the bridge that marked the exit from Wentworth Pass and safety, nerves tightened. If the rebels were going to try to stop them, it was now or never. It was now!



To escape the hail of bullets the Hussars  spurred forward leaving the Pandours to deploy and clear the rocks overlooking the road. There was no escape however and the Hussars were met by a charge of the Orleans Light Horse, oldest of the Rosmark cavalry regiments and now apparently part of the Rebel army.
At first the Hussars held their own but soon the weight of numbers told and those not cut down were taken prisoner.


The remaining  Royal troops, now reinforced by the Queen's Regiment and the 2nd squadron of Hussars, pushed to cover the vital convoy from all angles as the old King's Regiment appeared rushing to block the road ahead and an unidentified body of light troops emerged from cover behind the convoy.


Amidst the smoke and confusion the Hussars, pushing their way to the front, suddenly found themselves mere yards from a company of grey coated infantry and drawing sabers, were upon them before they could fire. The infantry recoiled in disorder but the Hussars could not allow themselves the luxury of finishing them off. They rallied back. Behind them, the Pandours having already suffered heavy casualties from Rebel sharpshooters, had been hit by the Orleans cavalry and despite their Colonel taking his pipe out his mouth long enough to personally lay low an enemy trooper, had collapsed and run.



As the Hussars rallied back, the 2nd company of the Queen's pushed forward to cover the front while the 1st company spread out as far as possible to cover the flank and rear. Through the smoke ahead them the ghostly shapes of infantry appeared. It was the 2nd company of the King's rushing to fill the gap. After a short sharp melee, both side fell back  and prepared to resume the fight in a more disciplined fashion.

Although their ranks were much thinned, the Orlean's Regiment gathered it and once again spurred forward crashing into the Queen's men around the carriages. With horses blown and men tired they could make no headway but they had forced the infantry to fall back and rally while they rallied themselves.


To give the Queen's regiment time to rally, the Hussars pushed to the front once again. Passing through the enemy skirmishers before these had time to fire they galloped against the old King's men. Now rallied, these delivered  a shattering close range volley and the Hussars were held. Behind them the sharpshooters closed in on those hated Red Pants from front and rear.At point blank range their fire was deadly and soon the Queen's Regiment joined the flow to the rear.

Surrounded by enemies and abandoned by friends, the Colonel of the Hussars signaled for a parley. While the rebel citizen sharpshooters tended to the enemy dead and wounded the so far unidentified light infantry in their dashing fur caps pushed forward to take possession of the carriage and caissons earning them selves the nickname of Customs Inspectors. With a heavy blow struck against the Royal army and with fresh supplies of gold and munitions the Rebellion is well placed to establish itself.

Full fledged Civil War looms!


Happy New to all!  Here's to toy soldiers  and bloodless battles a plenty in 2014.

23 comments:

  1. Neatly staged, sharp engagement - a good win for the rebels

    -- Allan

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    1. Thanks, I suspect it will sustain the rebellion (which of course means more games)

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  2. A brisk and bloody little action, close-fought between determined opponents. As usual, an evocative narrative with pictures to match. Looking forward to more...

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  3. Replies
    1. And how have you done it? I mean : Simultaneous movement, writing orders...seems difficult.

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    2. Yes it took me a long time to find something that worked for me. One day I must write it up properly but this link explains it briefly. This is the 2nd game that I used this and so far it works and has a good feel. Of course I am lazy so I do not write anything down, it is just in my head.

      http://gameofmonth.blogspot.ca/2012/09/wentworth-pass-2-simultaneous-solo-blues.html

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  4. A fun report and game!

    Happy New Year!

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  5. Hi Ross,
    Great battle report, written so that I couldn't tell what rules were used without checking the labels.
    Regards,
    John

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    1. One of the things I like about Charge! Is that it is not very intrusive so it easier to see the action without them getting in the way.

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  6. "and despite their Colonel taking his pipe out his mouth long enough to personally lay low an enemy trooper"
    A great line and an exciting battle. I'm not sure if I should cheer for Crown or Rebels, but I'm looking forward to what happens next. All the best in 2014,
    MP

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    1. When I gave the Colonel a pipe I wasn't expecting him to have to fight hand to hand with cavalry in melee.

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  7. Nice and fun, great figures...I love the Hussars! Happy New Year!

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  8. What a stunning battle report with great, dusty pictures. So realistic! I like very much your yellow hussars - you staged them well. Thanks for sharing
    _Peter

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    1. Thanks, the dust is natural :) The Yellow Hussars are a favorite unit.

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  9. where oh where did you get that amazing horses and carriage... I WANT one so badly. Absolutely love your blog :))))

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    1. Thanks Manic (Or do you prefer Gnome?)

      The coach began life as a toy in a cheap bag of underscale asian knockoff cowboys and indians from a Dollar store. Marvelous source of raw materials. I forget now where the back wheels came from (it was in the last century) but the front is made from a Prince August home cast moulds for limber and limber horses, so you could say the horses are from County Cork.

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    2. It`s Steve really (Stephen Gilbert), Manic or Gnome is an old account name that keeps cropping up from time to time (and for some reason I cant seem to get rid of it LOL). But I come to anything really, even "Oi, you". ^^

      Wow, what a lucky find with that coach, I`m in total awe of it.

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  10. Proves a point nicely. New is not always better... Charge is a dash darn excellent set of rules. VERY nice looking game.

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    1. One of my first sets and still "dash darn excellent" as you say. Its the "official" rules for our group for games with our PA collections but my home table is a bit small and I do find that the rules lose a little when played solo, esp with regard to simultaneous written orders, hard to surprise myself when doing something sneaky!

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