Hold the Pass!

For a week the tired Maritime army had marched hard in pursuit of the retreating Rosmark forces. It was almost a relief when they approached Grant's Pass and saw the enemy guns posted atop the crest of the narrow pass.

The army had been marching in two columns along parallel roads which converged to run through the pass.  The order went out for the cavalry to deploy and clear the enemy guns off the ridge.

The Light Dragoons, eager to retrieve their reputation after the fight at the Boinne, galloped forward on the right giving the gunners time for a single blast of canister before cutting them down. The heavy cavalrymen of the Council Guards were not as quick and recoiled with heavy losses from the well handled guns on that side. The Naval Battalion and the Grenadiers were then ordered to deploy and hasten to attack the battery before the Rosish infantry could come forward to support the guns.

 The gallant but ill advised attempt was met with blast after blast of musketry from  the Queen's Foreign Regiment which had stepped up onto the crest to stand beside the guns as well as canister from the battery itself. The Naval Battalion was cut to pieces and sent reeling back without firing a shot but the Grenadiers stood firm, closed ranks and eventually, the survivors began to return fire. Grenadier after Grenadier fell but they were determined to fight to the last man and never yield an inch.

At last the rest of the infantry arrived and deployed and the line began to advance, muskets blazing. Thick clouds of smoke rolled across the field as neither side showed any inclination to retreat but suddenly the Light Dragoons appeared through the smoke taking the Provincial Regiment by surprise and driving them back. The Council Guards followed their example and drove back the Queen's regiment at great cost while step by step the Red line, a handful of Grenadiers showing the way, advanced pouring volley after volley into the enemy until at last they broke and ran.

Beyond the fleeing Rosish troops could be seen the end of the convoy full of the FTC Governors personal effects, company ledgers and a year's profits as well as the army's  pay chest and supplies. To the victor the spoils! 

Never yet had any army given King Michael's soldiers such a sustained drubbing as they suffered in this campaign. Already there was talk of a National Levy of men and money to form an army to take back what had been lost.

____________________

Thus ended the Maritime Alliance's first joint campaign.  The scenario was a Holding Action from CS Grant's Scenarios for Wargames, the rules were once again A Gentleman's War. Once again these rules worked well with lots of unexpected bits but nothing untoward and despite all the cards and dice, the player's decisions still felt like they were more important. However, once again trying to keep track of both armies, place markers etc while constantly running (sic)  from  one side of the table to the other to move troops or get back to the card deck,  turned the game into a minor athletic event as well. I don't have an answer for that beyond finding an opponent but its the same thing that was a major factor in my decision to stop playing MacDuff at home.

What next? We'll all of us just have to wait and see!

When the Hurley Burley's Done

Actually it is done. But I haven't written up the battle yet.

Hopefully I'll do that tonight after I get home from playing in a Big Napoleonic game with Little 15mm guys.

The Battle of the Boinne (2/2)

When the battle resumed, I decided it was time for the Maritime army to press the attack.

A bridgehead has been established.

With the bridgehead finally secured, Maritime reinforcements poured into it.....until they ran out of room. The Rosmark forces had fallen back, brought up reserves and established a line on the heights.

The attention shifted again to the flank.

The flanking forces on both sides reform.

With both river crossings appearing secure and several defending units routed, I was tempted to call the game but the victory conditions require the defending army to be destroyed or driven off. A draw in this game would be a Rosmark victory and a quick review of troops and situation  soon showed me that the battle was not yet won for the Maritime Alliance.

A slow advance of reserves and several firefights followed as the Redcoats prepared for the final assault. At last the battle lines formed and advanced, one on the Bluecoats on the hill, one against the rallied frontiersmen in the marsh.

With 2:1 odds the red infantry marched up to point blank range then prepared to fire but the Bluecoats were ready... black court card BOOM  a handful of 4's, 5's and 6's, the Redcoats wavered, black Ace! (Yikes) BOOM  (they can't do that  ag...what?! A 2nd Ace BOOM! In seconds, two fresh battalions had been demolished with only a handful of stragglers running for the ford!

Only one unit escaped the storm of fire, the tardy Nordmark battalion was finally across the river, just in time to plug the gap. 

Again I was about ready to call the game after that unexpected blood bath but the toy soldiers had stouter morale and insisted that the fight was not over. The infantry assault in the bridgehead stopped to be replaced by a long range firefight between the Normark battalion, the garrison of the village and the long range artillery firing hilltop to hilltop on one side and the remains of the Rosmark infantry on the other. The Maritimers picked away at the enemy but the Rosmark troops seemed to have shot their bolt. As man after man fell they began to waver, their Brigadier rode forward but was immediately shot down and the remnant gave way.

On the flank, the Grenadiers cleared out the remaining frontiersmen while the Naval Battalion overran the gun.  When the Rosmark cavalry wheeled around for a 3rd charge, the Red infantry fell back into the marsh and began peppering them with musket balls while their artillery enfiladed the cavalry at long range from across the river. There was no choice but for the cavalry to fall back and dare the enemy infantry to advance in the open.

In the bridgehead, the Maritime cavalry finally moved to the fore. The 1st squadron charged the Carabiniers and was duly routed but not without doing some damage. Before the Carabiniers could rally, the Council Guards were on them with sword and pistol and scattered them to the winds.

The battle was over. There was only one option left to Rosmark. Fall back to the mountain passes. The Maritime army was too battered to pursue close on their heels. The question now is whether Rosmark can maintain a foothold east of the mountains.

The Battle of the Boinne (1/2)

Life does have a habit of interfering, instead of a tight series of games, this mini-mini-campaign has been dragging its heels with this game being played in three sessions over the course of a week. I haven't the time and "Mental Oomph" (technical term) to create a proper narrative so it'll have to be a quick recap, game thoughts and pictures, all rolled together.

Before I go further I would like to thank everyone who left a comment on the last post about Stuart Asquith and apologize for not answering any of them. I couldn't think of any reply other than "Thank you" and "I agree".   Being an Asquith & Grant Scenario and a Solo game with occasional bits drawn from Stuart's book on the subject, this game could be considered a sort of tribute but it was already in progress and is just the way my gaming has developed under those and other influences. However, I am planning an intentional Big Wars, Toy Soldier, Stuart Asquith tribute game for the near future.

But for now, "On with the Battle!".

The Maritime Attack Begins.

(See https://gameofmonth.blogspot.com/2019/11/theres-going-to-be-fight.html for the set up and forces). The rules used were A Gentleman's War by Howard Whitehouse ably assisted by Dan Foley. You should really buy a copy if you haven't yet. Its available from https://www.wingedhussarpublishing.com/ or from Amazon.

The rules were played straight up except for a) making the occasional mistake and b) being the biggest AGW game I had played, especially being solo on a 6'x4'6" table, (meaning lots of rushing back and forth from one side to the other)  with initial deployment set out by the scenario and thus beyond my control,  I fielded a few extra commanders to  increase the number of group moves I could make. To keep things under control I ruled that they had to stick with their own "brigades" and had the Generals sit at the back. I won't bother next time, afterwards I realized that it would have worked just fine out 'of the box' with the commanders being sort of "Wing Commanders" rather than "Brigadiers" and the Generals earning their place in history. ("Lee to the rear!")

I also used a minimum of unit attributes largely because I'm just getting this campaign set up and haven't sat down yet to review all unit histories and assign attributes, nor did I want to assign too many blindly. Still some units have already earned them or worse, in one case, assigned them and once assigned, in campaign terms, they need to carry them 'til proved inappropriate. So, the Red Grenadiers remained Brave and the Bluecoats were Slow, and they were slow, apparently they thought they weren't supposed to roll higher than 3 on their single die. I'm thinking of getting them their own Colonel and a burly Sergeant Major with a big stick.

MacDuff's Fusiliers are one of those regiments with a 20 year history of gallant, sometimes desperate battle winning charges and stubborn defences from their first game on, so I left them in the capital to guard the King. I'll figure that out another day.

Now I had intended to make most of the Rosmark cavalry Gallant based on past history but I forgot. They didn't though and rolled handfuls of 5's and 6's in every charge and never any melee die lower than 4!

___________________________________

The game started out with the lead Red Brigade rushing across the ford and assailing the house but the Grenadiers took horrendous casualties and their Brigadier chickened out from storming the house though mid-battle analysis suggested it might have been safer to do so. A theory later proved correct as well as reasonable.  

Point blank volleys blasted holes in the plaster walls and occasionally hit someone on the inside.

The artillery on both sides proved remarkably deadly at fairly long ranges despite my forgetting that they get 1 die per gunner not 1 for 2. Halfway through the game I remembered but decided that it was best to just carry on. Perhaps the powder was wet on both sides.

Now the Furland Trading Company's brown coated troops, despite being used to garrison duties at trading posts and occasional irregular warfare, fought like lions. Both battalions were reduced below 1/2 strength without leaving the field while one fought to the last man. Just as well I hadn't laid some Metropolitan prejudiced negative attributes on them.  I'll have to take a note for the future.

The view from the other side as the Redcoats charge the gun and struggle in melee for THREE turns before they finally capture it by killing ONE gunner! (Lets see that was something like 24 dice for one 5 ...Argghh). Best note this battery as Stalwart.

At the far end of the table, the Maritimers made good use of Aces  to hurry across the bridge and deploy before the slow moving Frontier troops could wade through the marshy stream. (Why bother? Not sure, I'd ask the Colonel if he could be found.) The Frontiersmen were pummelled by musketry from the converged Flank Companies and raked by enfilading artillery fire and soon headed back to the marshy ground.

The Rosmark cavalry however, doesn't really like going backwards so they spurred forward.

The clash by the bridge, phase one. Please note the heap of red horsemen from the 1st Squadron and the hasty tactical retreat of the remaining 2nd Squadron Dragoons. 

At this point I had to leave the battle half done as I was overdue for a trip to New Brunswick to visit my big sister and the kids. 

Oh, and my brother and succeeding generations as well.

The battle however has already been concluded and this report will itself be concluded tomorrow. (If this approaching  snowstorm permits). 

There's Going To Be a Fight

Time has passed, the Maritime Alliance has landed on the Mainland, established a base camp and set out to drive the Rosmark forces back into the Mountains. Rosmark has had time to regroup and reinforce and General Eh has picked a good defensive position behind the Boinne River.

Rosmark is ready!

After studying the enemy position and sending out patrols to reconnoitre the surrounding countryside,  General Bee has decided to send a detachment of Maritime troops upstream to a bridge in hopes of turning the Rosmark flank or at least drawing off some of their forces.

The Alliance is keen to be at them!

Rosmark has managed to muster 3 squadrons of cavalry, 6 battalions of infantry and 2 batteries. The Maritime Alliance has taken the field with 4 squadrons, 8 battalions and 2 batteries but the river is a major obstacle. Scouts have only found one  fordable area, right in the bend of the river.

Dawn breaks.

Kell Island Technical Discussion. 5/5

Kell Island was the opening engagement of the First Rosmark-Maritime Alliance War, a war whose outbreak was triggered by the 10 Year Readers' Commemeration Poll.

The capture of the island allowed the Alliance to land their army on the mainland and consolidate their position before the King's army could complete its passage over the Hye Mountains.

The armies would soon clash again at the River Boinne.

The King's Carabiniers halt on a small rise to observe the enemy before deciding what to do. (5-6 Be Bold: charge and try to drive the first units back into the see while a farmer carries the news, 1-4 Be Cautious: send a rider back, observe and threaten the enemy hoping to draw off forces from the main attack )

Orders of Battle for Kell Island

Maritime Alliance Forces 
General  Milligan
1 Sq Black Horse (nicknamed for their facings not their horses)
1 Sq Fitzjames Horse
1 Unit Marines (Light Infantry)
1 Unit of Grenadiers (Gallant)
3 Units of Infantry
1 Unit of Nordmark Infantry (Bluecoats) (Slow)

Rosmark Forces
General Thadiweh

1 Sq King Michael Carabiniers
2 Units of Infantry
1 Unit Native Scouts (Skirmishers)
1 Unit Fisher Folk  Skirmishers, Gallant, Poor shots)
1 Unit Farmton Militia (Skirmishers, Timid, Good shots)
Garrison. 1 battery with 4 gunners able to fire 1 gun fixed towards town and/or 1 heavy gun fixed towards the sea), plus 6 infantry, may not leave the fort.)

The native scouts rushed across the pass through the high ground. The entire hill is bad going but the 2nd and 3rd contours are impassible to all but light infantry.

This was my 7th game using AGW (no duds yet), my 3rd go at playing solo and my 1st attempt at using them for a CS Grant Scenario.

A straight translation of units worked well as did the victory conditions but I still haven't mastered an accurate translation of the game turn limit with this or any othf ruleset.

I had hoped that counting Jokers might work but in the heat of the game I forgot to count! (I think I was nearing 20 Jokers which was about right but that was flukey) As for the rule about ferrying units ashore, I just moved the boats on the passenger unit's card. Two moves each way plus a turn to embark or to dismount in disorder.

Luckily the number of turns didn't matter this time either since I decided that an army reduced  to 1/2 strength would retreat or concede. Essentially I counted the number of units on each side as sort of 'army morale' and reduced it by 1 for a unit which lost 50% and another one if it was destroyed or routed (ran away etc).

In this case the attackers had 8 units and only had 2 reduced to 1/2 and none destroyed or routed though several were close to 1/2. The defenders started with 7 units (but only 2 infantry) and ended with 4 effectively destroyed and  2 more below 1/2. Only the weak garrison unit which was confined to the fort was still at full strength

The Marine Light Infantry found sharpshooters behind cover to be too tough a nut to crack.

I wanted to use some of the special attributes but to do so in a persistent way for the length of the campaign at least. Years of WRG Ancients has left me with a dislike for counting points so I went for the net zero pts approach: a negative for every positive.

For the attackers I made the Grenadiers Gallant and the blue coated Not Hessians Slow. For the defenders I gave each militia light infantry unit one positive and one negative attribute.

The farmers were marksmen which they used to excellent effect to the dismay of the attackers but they were also brittle and fled the field when charged, regusing to rally.

The fishermen also stuck with classic image and were classed as poor shots but were gallant as they were keen to brawl. In retrospect this was a bad choice since 6 skirmishers were probably never going to charge anyone.

Anyway it added a bit more flavour without complication or supertroops.

A look at the battle as the tide of victory suddenly turned relentlessly as unit after unit of  Rosmark troops suddenly collapsed. 

The card decks were easy to manage, possibly due to 10 years of solo play but I never had any problem deciding how to use the cards to best advantage for either side. The Jokers were getting a bit problematic since 5 times the 2nd Joker appeared in the first third of the deck and twice the Joker reappeared when dealing the new Hold cards! However, eventually they calmed down. The damage had been done though.

The attackers had a hand full of Court cards and used them as well as their General to make use of groups of units and some Aces to speed through the deck hurrying up reinforcements and then got a second Joker starting things over and replenishing their hand in time to do it again. The defenders chose that moment to roll a 1 on a 1/3 morale test on one of their infantry units!

In very short order the game switched from 'Advantage Defenders' to 'Hopeless' as the low morale proved to be no fluke.

Well this has been long enough and more so I'll finish by saying that the more I play, the more the cards become a means to execute a sound plan efficiently and less a source of random opportunity.

Elements of the game reminded me in a good way of MacDuff but more sophisticated, more effective, and basically better designed.  A "Keeper" as it were.

Kell Island: Lost and Won 4/5

The fierce defence put up by the militia and Scouts came as a shock to the Alliance troops. The Marine Light Infantry was cut to pieces but stubbornly held on and soon the second and third waves were ashore.

A long range firefight soon broke out between the opposing regulars with the Rosmark Provincials taking a steady trickle of hits while seemingly firing over their enemy's heads.

Across the island by the village, the fire of sharpshooters caused the Nordmark Bluecoats to waver then suddenly break for the boats, heedless of their officers desperate attempt to rally them. The Marines bravely spread out to cover the gap.

It began to look like the defenders might be able to drive back this invasion but suddenly 1st Battalion of the Provincials found the enemy fire too hot. They wavered for a moment then broke to the rear forcing the 2nd Battalion to fall back to avoid being flanked.

As the last infantry battalion and the first cavalry squadron landed, the Alliance infantry advanced on their tormentors and began to answer their aimed fire with point blank volleys and soon the remaining scouts were fleeing back into the hills while the farmers fell back to defend their own fields.

With the whole invasion force present and advancing, it began to look bleak but so far no important ground had been lost, the Bluecoats had rallied  and the remaining defenders had good cover.  There was still hope for a good outcome.

A line of Maritime redcoats steadily advanced on Fishington, firing as they came. Despite the cover, more Bluecoats fell but they stood their ground.

On the farside of the island the Maritime infantry cleared the villagers from their fields at the point of the bayonet while the cavalry advanced with swords drawn. With a sharp "Huzzah!" they charged and moments later the Carabiniers had been scattered to the wind and the village was taken with hardly any losses. The road forward was open!

As the Redcoats closed in on the surviving Provincials, the Furland Trading Company Governor took stock of the situation. Of his seven original units, all that was left was the Company's garrison and the half strength Provincial Regiment. He knew when to cut his losses. He ordered the commander of the King's troops to cease fire and sent forward a white flag requesting a parley to discuss terms.

_____________________________

Next post, orders of battle and a bit of discussion about A Gentleman's Wargame, the rules which were used to regulate this battle and what the next step in this minicampaign might be.

Kell Island: The Redcoats Have Landed! 3/5

It was midday before the Alliance fleet anchored off the coast and boats began ferrying troops ashore. With five battalions of infantry, two squadrons of cavalry and a detachment of Marine Light Infantry to ferry ashore, it was going to take a while. Hopefully the enemy was not watchful.

The first boatloads hit the beach. 

The invaders hopes were dashed when a cavalry patrol topped a low rise to the South before the boats had even reached the ships to embark the second wave. Still, there were enough troops ashore to hold off the cavalry until the next wave landed.  

A messenger galloped back (trust me, you should have seen his die rolls!) with the news while the local militia mustered and the cavalry fell back, ready to intervene if the village was attacked..

Being already on alert, the garrison was soon on the march, heading straight to the enemy landing spot by the shortest route while sending the Scouts across the rugged pass through the hills to harass the invaders and support the Farmington militia. If the village could hold and the garrison launch its attack before the enemy grew too strong there was hope of a good outcome.

The Bluecoats marched out leaving the Company troops to hold the fort.

To be continued.

Kell Island: Ready For Action. 2/5

News has arrived that a Maritime Alliance Fleet has been spotted. With the news and reinforcements came an officer of Engineers who took one look at the ramshackle earthworks and went up one side of the Captain in charge of the garrison, and down the other then set the men to work.

The Engineer accompanied by the FTC Governor inspects the new redoubt while the garrison falls in.

Three days later a better  bastion had been built  whose guns could cover both the harbour and the bridge as well allowing infantry to enfilade any assault on two faces of the fort.

Plans were under away to begin a similar bastion on the far corner of the fort when a fisherman from the village brought word that sails had been spotted approaching the pass.

The Commandant ordered the garrison to stand to.

Native Scouts from the mainland react as drummers in the fort start to beat the Long Roll.

Muster for Kell Island Garrison.
King Michael Carabiniers 1 Sq. (6)
Provincial Regiment 2 Btn (12@)
Royal Rosmark Artillery 1 Co. (4)
Furland Trading Company Garrison. 1 Co. (6)
Native Scouts. 1 Co (6)
Island Militia. 2 Co (6@)

All Quiet on Kell Island 1/5

As war loomed, King Michael of Rosmark ordered the Governor of Furland to place a strong garrison  on Kell Island and to mount a battery to control traffic through the Strait.

A battery of 24 pounders stands to for gun drill,

The island has a largely rocky coast but there are three beaches suitable for an amphibious assault. One of these is under the guns of the fort but the other two are on the far side. Each day, a cavalry patrol makes a circuit of the island to look out for invaders and poachers alike.

The morning patrol leaves the fort. Will they go East or West?

Digging into some Not Quite History

It seems that while I was distracted by Rosmark's latest war with Schoeffen-Buschhagen, there had been some serious political shifts closer to home. Shifting alliances were not unusual during the Not Quite Seven Years War and in this case it seemed to me that something must have triggered a falling out between the Duchy and the Alliance on one hand and a reconciliation between the Duchy and Rosmark on the other.

It had been two years earlier that a combined Duchy and Maritime Army last stood together in battle against Rosmark and almost a year since the Dowager's White Coats were last seen at all while the Red coats of the Maritime  troops had continued to battle against Rosish forces.

I decided to dig a little deeper.

The last Allied battle. 

The coast of Rosmark is shallow with few natural harbours in which to shelter against the fierce storms that blow in from the north so it had never developed a strong maritime presence. The acquisition by marriage of what became known as the Maritime or Dowry Province to the West gave Rosmark an interest in the coastal trade between the Duchy and the Furland East of the Hye Mountains.

With the outbreak of civil war between the King and the Duchess, that maritime trade was lost to Rosmark and the Rosish merchants of lobbied the King to open a land route to Furland through the mountains, thus threatening the Duchy's trading posts and native relations. The idea appealed to him and he had sent his Frontier Guards over the mountains.

(See Battle of Newlanding).

The decision by the Duchy's Council to send companies from the  Irish Regiment to guard their trading posts proved to be an unfortunate one for them.

This regiment had been raised largely from Iremark, an island which was not only a member of the Northern or Maritime Alliance but also much closer to Furland than the Duchy itself. When the soldiers spread stories of the richness of the Eastern lands, the other members of the Alliance began to expand their own trade with Furland to the dismay of Duchy merchants.

Rosish troops in pursuit of Schoeffen-Bushhagen forces in May.

With the successful conclusion of his spring campaign against Schoeffen-Buschhagen, the King's eye turned back to the Duchy.  The Dowager, having lost some of the fire of her youth and now subject to the pleas of her subjects to end the expensive war, succumbed and negotiated an agreement with Rosmark. The Duchy would retain its special privileges and laws but would acknowledge King Michael as Regent and as Heir to the Ducal seat.

With his southern and Western borders secure, but the Maritime Alliance showing an ever increasing interest in the Furland trade, King Michael once again turned his eyes to the East.