Old Macdonald wasn't as rich as his neighbor Mr. Hook, so his farm was on a smaller hill with smaller fields, but he was happy with his home, until the Red & Blue armies invaded his property and made an awful mess with not even so much as "Sorry about that, but it was their fault, not ours", let alone a note offering to pay damages!
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Here we have a Balloon's eye view of the two armies advancing on the disputed ridge. The Dominion cavalry had a sly commander and rather than take the obvious route around the end of the ridge, he decided to drive his men and horses over a pass in the middle of the ridge. It might have worked if he hadn't spent half the first turn giving the men an inspirational address. Apparently many of the Red battalion Commanders decided to do the same, or stopped and swore like troopers because the cavalry was blocking their way! |
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| While the Red commanders were cursing and damning, the Blue army took the first move on the next turn and carried out the cavalry flanking move, while their infantry seized the high ground. The red artillery commanders, happy to not have to drag their guns up the hill, just swung their guns around and opened fire on the Blue infantry while their cavalry commander led his troops at the gallop to meet their mounted rivals, apart from the troop of Mounted Rifles who dismounted, opened fire on the Bluecoats on the hill while trying their best to look like 3 companies of infantry. |
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Welllll, it didn't take long for both sides to get at it, infantry and artillery blazing away and cavalry dancing up and back, clacking their swords together and generally having a good time. |
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| But, there's always some spoilsport who gets poked in the eye or something and gets all angry and next thing you know the two sides were going at each other hammer and tongs, no holds barred. |
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It sure looked like those blue guys were gonna sweep the field clean and take home the pennant for game but on the other side of the field, the Red General gave the order: it was Jack Tar vs the Redbacks for a case of spirit's from the Farmhouse cellar. That charge "done it" BUT Blue still held Church Hill, so the Generals got together and agreed on a another draw. For the series, that's two draws and one victory for Red so they get the pennant for '24. |
Personally, alcohol beats a hill every time.
ReplyDeleteExactly, that was the point, they had to take the hill before they could get at it. He wasn't about to offer them something he already had!
Delete"made an awful mess with not even so much as "Sorry about that, but it was their fault, not ours", let alone a note offering to pay damages!"
ReplyDeleteWell, that was rather rude of them. ha ha
Amusing and enjoyable report!
Glad you enjoyed it!
DeleteRoss, that was very entertaining. I appreciate your sharing it. Good stuff.
ReplyDeleteEric
My pleasure, literally.
DeleteA cracking read, very enjoyable, and another draw seems a fair result.
ReplyDeleteThe commanders just know their opponent too well.
DeleteMost enjoyable time had taking in the words and pictures over coffee this morning
ReplyDeleteAlan Gruber
Thanks, makes it worth the effort.
DeleteGreat looking game, fitting of the era of the great HG Wells himself.
ReplyDeleteBought both Wells and Lawford & Young with my first pay cheque. (the rest went for beer at the officer-cadets mess).
DeleteRip roaring stuff Ross…
ReplyDeleteA fine looking battle indeed.
All the best. Aly
Glad you enjoyed it.
DeleteClassic stuff that never fails to entertain, thanks for posting. And I notice a sailor firing a rocket launcher I'd not noticed before. I hope it's not one of those boring modern ones that fire in the intended direction rather than it whizzing all over the place in a more amusing manner!
ReplyDelete"Our rockets are equipped with what the vendor called a "D6-Guidance-Control-device". They rarely explode on the launcher these days, or on our troops, .......or their's for that matter... but sometimes... Wham Blam! Just the thing" .
DeleteA most entertaining battle report and splendid pictures. Your troops and terrain would be perfect for creating colour illustrations for a new edition of Little Wars!
ReplyDeleteWhen I play this style of game, I don't think of it as representing a real battle, but as portraying a game of Little Wars between HG Wells and Jerome K Jerome, or between two Edwardian school children who have read Wells' book and mustered their own armies of toy soldiers. So no moral qualms about adopting a light-hearted tone.
I'm working on a campaign system which distinguishes casualties into knocked over but undamaged, paint badly chipped and will need touching up/repainting before they can take the field again, and broken beyond repair (hollow cast Britain's troops were quite fragile; a bolt from a 4.7 inch gun might knock off a head or make a massive hole in the body) who are gone forever. Reinforcements/replacements are limited by the amount the young players can save from their pocket money and priced as they were in 1912 - a shilling for eight infantry or five cavalry, and two shillings for a gun.
I can imagine how someine could enjoy that sort of campaign, but my imagination turns in a different way. The scenario is a joy to read HG Wells version and it still works in various as a scenario for various settings and rules.
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