Seizing the Pass: First Crack

 Well, what can I say, its been a rough week and I was tired..........

The ambush is sprung. Artillery, an MG and rifles open up from cover. Damn that smokeless powder! I think I need to make some little under fire markers, maybe some little dust clouds being kicked up when the bullets hit and some artillery shell explosions.

Nonetheless, I grabbed an hour this morning in between chores and played the game. Started OK but the the vulnerability of the armoured cars to rifle and machine gunfire came as a surprise, not what I remembered from past games. I quickly perused the 2 page rules, without bothering to hunt down one of my 1/2 dozen pairs of reading glasses, then decided to worry about it later. It was still 2:1 odds. 

The Advance Guard has been driven back but Ross's Rifles have a foothold in the village and are moving up the road. Behind them the guns are putting a hot fire down on the gun on the rocky hill while the Royals move up to support the attack. 

Ah! An assault on the village! hmm...perhaps I should have decided on troop qualities, morale, shock, etc before I started playing....... Oh well, all average then!

Ah, the enemy had reserves too.....the Advance Guard has pulled back to rally, the artillery has deployed and opened fire, Ross' Rifles have stormed the first farm and the Royals are moving up in support. So far so good but the game is half over.

The next problem was the dice and the initiative/chance deck, they were supposed to be impartial.......  Ah well, it was close enough at the end despite all, and I enjoyed it. 

Game Over  (13 of 15 turns played with 2 more being cancelled by jokers) 
The Oerbergers and villagers have suffered some heavy losses but rallied well and their rifles are still in the fight and holding the pass. The Queen's infantry seemed to have been discouraged by the vulnerability of the armoured cars and are mostly huddling in cover and refusing to rally. 

 The table is still set up so I think I'll have a "do over" tomorrow using the same battle plans, but the correct rules. Except maybe I should do something about the Irregular leader with sidekick who somehow became a company of mounted rifles midgame....

Lets see how the armoured cars affect things then!