Summer Rerun: 10 Years Ago

Ah summer, a thousand and one chores outside, especially cutting firewood for the coming winter now that my usual supplier has retired. Effort vs cash.
(Our wood stove is a main source of heat when the winter nights drop to -15C,-20C....... )

Since I'm also rearranging my game room when I have time, any game or figure additions are likely to be a few days away. So here's a look at the 2016 Fall In wargame convention, I think the last HMGS Con that I drove 1,500 km each way. Portland Maine was only 1/2 that distance and I've missed meeting with some of my American friends, but, my passport has expired.  .

F&IW 40mm homecast figures from the collectons
 of 2 of the HAWKS club and their Canadian mascot.

For a bit more on my blog report on HMGS  2016 Fall In Con, see:

Falllllll Out!

Any future wargame convention, if any, will be the same distance from Nova Scotia but in Canada. 

Hopefully, in a day or two I'll have time for figures or a solo game with a blog post to follow.

Maintaining the Aim

There are many things to think about when preparing to run a participation game at a convention but the primary aim  MUST be to provide an enjoyable experience for the gamers who have committed their money and time to sign up and play. 

Sunday's game using the Tin Army variant of the Square Brigadier.

From my experience, there are some key elements to keep in mind for a multi-player game with strict time limits where the players will be unfamiliar with the rules. It must be possible for gamers to pick up enough from the briefing to be able to make a battle plan  and make reasonable tactical decisions and be able to play fast enough to reach a conclusion before the time is up. Beyond that players should each have enough of a force to keep them busy without being overwhelmed and should have the opportunity to make small decisions throughout the game rather than just being woken up periodically to roll some dice. Its also best if the game is somewhat interactive so they stay focused on the game during the enemy's turn rather than wandering off to see what's happening elsewhere.  I also prefer to avoid all or nothing situations or rules where one or two unlucky die rolls can put a player out of the game early on. 

Another midgame shot.  The Allies are feeling confident of another victory but the day is not yet over.

The game on Saturday was OK but I didn't feel like it would deliver what I described above. I let it stew awhile and decided to try again with changing the sequence of play to A moves, B fires, resolve melee while stripping out some of the finicky bits as well as bringing back the option to cancel a hit by "going to ground" (ie "pinned"). These are all part of the 2014 Square Brigadier variant that I called "the Tin Army".

So much for rules, I also fiddled with the OB's to provide 4 clear commands on each side, each with  a battalion or equivalent. Artillery was shared out with the hope that players will negotiate the best use for it in the absence of an on table player CinC. 

End of the game, the Germans have seized the outlying farm but their attempts to go further were blocked by the armoured car and artillery. 

The result was a game that flowed much better and was interactive all the way through. It also saw repeated German attacks being repulsed while allied losses grew until finally, some of  the gaps couldn't be filled. A final push followed by a weak 11th hour counterattack saw the game end with the Germans ahead by 3 VP's to 2.

End of game on the far flank. 

This was the first time the Germans had even come close and it was close. I liked the flow and I think the rules will be easy for people to grasp. I'm comfortable that I can take this to Huzzah so now I can focus on adding some missing figures and working on terrain before another play through in late April or early May, hopefully with live guinea pigs again.

Link to the Tin Army variant of the Square Brigadier

Falllllll OUT!

Its a pity that the title "There and Back Again" has already been taken but yes I am once again "Home from the War(games)".

I'll skip over the travelogue except to say that it was a lonnnng drive with enjoyable stopovers with friends and an even longer drive home without the visiting. The convention itself was excellent, most enjoyable and almost worth the travel.  For those who are hoping for detailed accounts of games seen or played and awesome pictures, SORRY. Just more poorly lit cell phone snaps and few brief accounts low on details plus a few very brief observations filtered through the various games and long hours of driving. (For the curious, about 24 hours road time each way spread over 3 uneven days and that feels about like what it sounds like if you are also a person who is not fond of driving and Hates the periods of heavy traffic ).  OK lets skip to Day 1.

Fall In 2016 Day 1.

My Highlanders land on the north shore south of Quebec. These figures are my conversions of various Meisterzinn castings which were moulded and cast for us by John McEwan of Reviresco, somewhere around 2000.

Friday started with a walk about and visit to the dealer hall where I snagged a clearance sale on about a dozen 40mm 17thC Drabant Russian and Polish infantry. No, I won't be building an army around them, just adding them in as more Hungarian or other European levies in my 16thC Ottoman army-to-be which uses a Morschauser inspired unit organization of 4 infantry or 2 cavalry to a base. Imagination coupled with wilful ignorance allows such travesties and they are such beautiful castings, too beautiful to be passed up.  Later at the flea market an attempt to buy a used Osprey on Pavia from a friend turned into a gifting of said book which is pretty darned good no matter how you look at it.

There was, as usual, a vast assortment of games in various styles, periods and scales, bother historical and fantasy/scifi. Some showed daunting levels of talent and dedication with regards to figures and terrain, some were pleasingly basic of the "you too can easily do this and have fun.." type but most were  somewhere in between. Rules ranged from common published ones through new or old but uncommon ones through the gamut to homegrown rules while the games varied from well thought out scenarios tbrough semi role playing or straight forward punch ups to organized competitions and anything else. I always find the variety refreshing and well, reassuring,

By 2pm it was time for my first game as player.

Lil Britain's and Irregular 40mm Toy Soldiers . A gallant charge on my battery was narrowly repulsed by my RHA gunners who bravely stood to their guns and refused to take shelter with the infantry. (OK There was a 5/6 chance they were going to be over run but I mean very fashionable busbies and lace vs old fashioned metal helmets,  was there any doubt?)

 This was my preregistered game, a 40mm Toy Soldier game run by Howard Whitehouse using a simple but effective, fun set of rules which he is developing. I was one of three British players in a fairly straight forward encounter with our aim being to prevent the foreigners from being able to march farther up the road. Since neither of my teammates wanted to take the prime command I took it and we agreed to a general plan and fairly equitable distribution of force. I figured the centre was no place for cavalry in the 1880's so placed 2 light regiments on the left hoping they could exploit an open area while detailing some heavies to the right. The guns, infantry and guns were spread across the front.

Rather than having fixed turns the game runs in a continuous loop with actions triggered by the turn of a card with Jokers triggering chance effects and end of turn things including shuffling. To keep the game going each pair of players had a deck with the occasional cross-deck interactions being handled as they came up. This kept the game running smoothly and the players constantly acting with little or no respite for players to take a breather and look around so I had but vague impressions of what was happening on either flank except when the boundaries between sectors wavered. I did notice the gallant but futile charge of our light cavalry very few of whom ran away and eventually noticed that near the end of the game, the British troops on my left had been replaced by French ones. Luckily by then I had pretty much cleared my front and was able to shift forces. I also noticed when there were no enemy between my riflemen and the gun shelling our right wing and took that one out before taking out the gun shelling me.   Still, all in all, I was relieved when the rest of the French army decided to retire against the General's wishes.

Wonderful toy soldiers, great game master and fellow players, fun game, everything a convention game should be.

The end.  In my imagination a few stragglers from the Fusiliers are still guarding the flank of my gun until the Highlanders and some Engineers arrive.

Once Howard's game was done I had to hotfoot back to the HAWK's room to help Rob set up our game. This was based loosely on an historical event during the siege of Quebec in 1759. In an effort to draw Montcalm out Wolfe sent raiding parties up and down the river, burning farms and destroying or disrupting the flow of supplies bound for Quebec. In this particular case they had information about a warehouse and one raid had already been repulsed. The French began with a handful of militia on hand with reinforcements of picked units, Indians and regulars arriving on table.

We ran the game previously in 2005 but that seemed like a long time ago now and my partial tests had taken place as solo games on a table less than 1/2 the size of this one. It had also been 2 1/2 years since the last time I had GM'd this sort of multi-player game so I was feeling just a little bit rusty and apprehensive as the start time approached.   Its always a bit tense waiting to see if you have a quorum but between preregisters and walk ups we filled all eight spots.

Pregame. Picked units of militia and a company of Colony Troops arrive. Three units of Rob's Irregular Miniatures.

This may sound odd but I was so busy with managing the flow and resolving rules questions that I have only a vague idea of how the game went other than that, as usual, the advantage seemed to ebb and flow from side to side. When we finally ran out of time the British were occupying the target but were too hard pressed by the defenders to have managed to identify and destroy the stores cache. Losses were heavy on both sides but I called it a winning draw for the British since they held the objective and were not so hard pressed that they couldn't have fired the building before withdrawing. It was certainly a relief that the players seem to have enjoyed the game on the whole.

The bulk of the troops were conversions of homecast Prince August or Meisterzinn figures. About 1/3rd were done by Chris Palmer with the rest being Rob's. Only the Highlanders and boat's crew were mine.  Here Gage's Light Infantry are Rob's work while the Royal Americans were done by Chris.

The next game came Saturday morning. This was based on the Battle of Bloody Creek during Pontiac's Rebellion. The previous day's toy soldier game had gotten me thinking about play sequencing and while I didn't want to go that far I decided to unilaterally change the sequence slightly between games.

In Friday's games each player on a side activated one unit each time a card was drawn. That was actually a new idea I hadn't tried before the game. I had also introduced a new "final fire phase" which allowed units that had held fire to fire at the end of the turn if their fire had not been triggered by enemy actions. That was contrary to the original rule and muddled the play sequence a little. In addition, the original rally when activated rule which allowed player's to slowly accumulate hits before rallying had been replaced  by a rule requiring rallying at the end of every turn to avoid having to drag 'hits' around from turn to turn. Melee's had always been fought at the end of turn which was contrary to every other combat.

What I decided was to activate 1 player or "command" per card and have those active units conclude their action, any enemy reaction, melee and rallying right away. To my mind this not only fit my idea of how the game was meant to work but was smoother and felt more natural as the game played out so this will be the new standard.

Roger's Rangers and a company of Grenadiers form the advance guard. Rangers by Chris, Grenadiers by Rob.

The British mission was to make a night march across the board to Pontiac's camp and attack it. The historical action developed around two key things: the Indians got word of the attack and the camp had actually been abandoned months ago. The game began with reduced visibility which increased as the day went on. possibly more quickly than it should. Once the British Advance Guard had fought their way through to the clearing they were informed that there was no camp and that their new mission was to get as many men as possible back to the fort.

The Indians had been told that their sole mission was to kill as many British as possible, that they would receive reinforcements through out the game and that their own "casualties" did not matter (most casualties being assumed to be warriors who had slipped away rather than actual dead or seriously wounded).  What I didn't explain, on purpose, was that their losses were the main source of reinforcements, I wanted to encourage bold attacks but not not suicidal ones. Despite repeating the victory conditions several times, I don't think I ever made it clear enough to the players as most of them were quite cautious through out the game in typical Indian fashion, unlike Pontiac's men on the day who seemed to have displayed unusually aggressive and persistent tactics on the day. This wasn't a problem when we first brought the scenario out about a decade ago but if we ever bring it out for a third time, I will have to prepare a better briefing.

The set up prior to the hidden Indian units being placed.

As it was, the British were still hard pressed but not as hard pressed as on the day. The players handled the mid game change of orders well with only minimal delay for it to sink in and have them react effectively. One of my favourite moments came here as the remnants of the Advance Guard came stampeding back past the main column with a brief order from the senior commander to "cover me". Almost instantly a chance card was pulled resulting in a bayonet charge by said new rearguard. Perfect, though random, timing.    

We didn't quite play to the end of the gaming session as it seemed pretty clear that the British were going to be able to escape with the bulk of their units intact. If I'm not mistaken, the rangers of the advance guard were the only unit routed. All in all, despite some occasionally heavy casualties, the British did much better than they did on the day. To my mind this was largely due to not having been pressed closely and kept under close range fire as they were in the actual engagement however, it may also be because the British were too crowded without enough gaps for the Indians to infiltrate through. Using eight figure units instead of 12 for the British line units might have been a better idea. This would have made each unit more vulnerable to losses as well as making it easier for the Indians to find gaps. Extending the hours of darkness would also have helped encourage close in fighting. Something to keep in mind should we ever run the scenario again.

The end of the game.  Rogers himself and his oft rallied Rangers were still holding the road open as they did on the day. (These are Rob's rangers and this unit are Irregulars).  The gunboat has arrived to provide cover fire.

I was hoping to get away mid morning on Sunday after a round of goodbyes and a last sweep of the dealer hall and flea market so all that remained of Fall In for me  was to find a game to play Saturday night. There were some interesting ones to consider but in several cases beautiful looking games in periods of interest used rules I knew I didn't like. Luckily there was a spot open in Roy Jones' Sword & The Flame game set in German South East Africa. Tick! Tick!  It turned out to be a good choice and a very enjoyable game despite our utter failure to secure victory over the Herero freedom fighters.

25mm The Sword and The Flame German South West Africa game. A good relaxing way to end a convention.

So now its back to "what next?"  In the near future there are some Mounties and friends waiting as well as the re-awakened desire to add a 12 -16 figure battalion, late 19th Century, Toy Soldier game (thank you Howard). Mostly though I want to do more with my enlarged collection of Elastolin figures.

Huzzah in May is fast approaching and while it is likely to be 5 or more years before I make the long haul again, Huzzah is an easy drive and gives me everything I need in a con, esp if my partner in crime can make it. The traffic on Sunday was too heavy, hour after wearing hour, for me to think about future games but on Monday I was cruising north on easy roads and ideas, obstacles, memories and inspirations kept surfacing of their own free will  until a thought (no doubt fed by having flipped through the Pavia book and talked about the 2005 Haddington game) popped into my head: "Prince Valiant and the Relief of Haddington 2 - with magic and maybe some monsters."  In other words a reworking of our successful 2005 historical game in a different setting using my Elastolin collection. Needs a bit of work but that might just be where I'm headed.

Home Again Home Again Jiggity Jig.

Here I am, Home from Huzzah!   Lets kill any suspense right off the top and say that I think the organizers did a great job and I greatly enjoyed my weekend. As much as I enjoy Cold Wars and Historicon, I sometimes find the smaller shows more enjoyable, less fuss and bother, easier to see all or at least most of what's going on and generally enough games and well stocked dealer tables to make it easy to spend money. The hotel chosen was easy to get to, easy to get around, and while not overly fancy, was more than reasonably priced with the convention discount and suited me to a tee, they provided great service, including cookies that were both good and free. They were also within easy walking distance of alternate eating places if you didn't like the menu. I would cheerfully go to any future Huzzah that I can manage. SWMBO and Warchest willing.

On a related note it was really great to meet some blog readers in person and even have a few join into games. Great gentlemen gamers that would be welcome at my table any time.

One of the theme Boxer Rebellion games caught between rounds. I think the Major General would have approved.

Hopefully some one will write a marvelous report with lots of pictures, my camera remained buried in a bag and I only took a few cell snaps. There seemed to be a good mix of popular games and (I'm trying to think of a neutral term here to avoid appearing to diss popular things which many people enjoy) lets say more personal approaches to the hobby. Games on land, in the air and on the sea in just about every scale and every style of rules and many periods.

28mm SYW, Teddy Bear fur and Carnage & Glory.

My friends the Deans, Rob and sons Norman and William had driven up from Maryland, Huzzah being almost precisely 1/2 way between us, a 1,000 km from either end, and we started the weekend with an introductory game of Basic Impetus using an old collection of micro-ancients dancing on heads of pins. (Mind you by the end of the game I was able to distinguish (just) cavalry from infantry by leaning close and peering.) Oh, by the way, a warning about the pictures on Rob's and Norman's blog reports, they seem to have photo shopped some ancient hermit or Saxon Thane into where I should be.



I didn't exactly fill up all the empty spaces in my car (until I looted my sister's place on the way home)  but I did pick up some more Trident 40mm figures to flush out my AR Loyalist rangers, bring my 7 Jaegers up to a more comfortable 8 and so on. The real treat though was a copy of Deneys Reitz's Commando, his experiences as a young Boer during the 2nd Anglo-Boer War. This war has been on my "todo" list since I was knee high to a grasshopper but recently my mind had started to wander towards a 10mm General's eye view of the battle but while I'm not finished, like when I ret de Wet's memoirs and various Canadian accounts, not to mention Churchill, this book is snapping me back to a 40mm toy soldier version of the Boer War, possibly a question of revisiting and extending MacDuff.

A poor snap of the magnificent Boxer theme games. Suddenly I missed the old MacDuff games.

OK one last distraction, I spent most of the convention parked beside Eureka/AB miniatures. I had been a big fan of Tony Barton since I saw the first ad for 15mm French Revolution in the first WI and they formed the bulk of my 15mm collection after that, bulked out by OG for largely financial reasons, FRW French, Austrians, Russians, Turks, ACW Rebs,....all gone now since I have resigned from 15mm. I was aware of Eureka 28's but this was the first time I'd really seen them in person. What marvelous figures! These are the first 28's I've ever seen and liked. Its not just that they aren't exaggerated its that the sculptor seems to really understand movement, balance, weight etc of people and other beings but also of inanimate things and clothing. I could cheerfully build armies of these, if I was still working and well paid. So like a diabetic standing beside the cake displays in a bakery, I spent my weekend!

Friday night saw the Aroostock War heat up, an aggressive American defence almost beat back the Brits but while the British managed to spread their hits around and rally them, the American forces got trapped into concentrated hits with losses of stands and eventually their army's morale cracked.

My "boys" watch the on coming Redcoats. The subtle grid corners are just visible.

Saturday morning, I played in Chris Parker's 40mm Brandywine game, played on a square grid using a mix of Battlecry with modifications including, I believe, some things borrowed from his own Day of Battle. This means that I finally got to use some of those funny dice with the sabers and flags etc. I really hate to admit this, but, they were fun to use!  Over all the game went well, provided a smooth, easy to pick up game which was fun but still seemed to capture the flavour of the period and delivered what felt like a reasonable result in a squeaker of a game. More grist for the thought mill.

I like to think having one of my Riflemen pick off Cornwallis, when he appeared at the head of some Grenadiers at about where this picture was taken from, was a factor in the American win.

Saturday afternoon and evening saw 2 games of Rough Wooing. The evening one was short handed so Rob and I pitched and played which we don't often get to do and it was a pleasure to play. Neither of these games were as close as the Friday games but since the French won in the morning and the English in the evening, it would seem that Mr. Kinch's scenario from Battle Games stood the test.  

Sunday morning, ended with a no-show of players so after hanging around a bit,  I quickly packed up and hit the road two hours early to my great relief. I hadn't been looking forward to navigating deer and porcupine infested, washed out back roads after dark as I made my way back to her place Sunday night.

So a good convention weekend, the planning, preparation is almost done, and the playing is all done, so its time to start looking at the year ahead. More on that in a day or so.

Ashley & Amelia, two of my sister's kids. 

Once more unto the breach. The 3rd siege and the Relief (or not) of Adelheim

The sort of damage a Ricochet Battery can inflict. This also shows the sort of compromises that are often necessary when making practical terrain for 40mm games. The Ravelin needed a gateway, wide enough to admit a wagon. To include a gun port on the same wall would have threatened the structural  integrity beyond tolerated standards and so we simply sealed the gateway with gabions once the siege got under way. The gabions, by the way, are solid wood doweling cut to lengths with wicker work being suggested with paint and a coating of sand filling in (sic) for the earthen stuffing. 

One of the things that happened to me during my solo test was that I placed the 2nd parallel too far from the fort, at a range where there was no serious threat of a sortie. When it came time for the 3rd parallel, either it would be too far from the covered way or too far from its supports. Digging 4 parallels would be time consuming and smack of not knowing what I was doing. I opted to go too far from  my supports and was hit by a sortie. Looking at the 2nd game, where the defenders hadn't chosen the location of the 2nd parallel, I realized that we had inflicted the same difficult choice on them, They had taken the same option as I did and suffered the same fate. Hmm How about that, again very simple rules gave the right results. The first team, those who had placed the parallel had chosen the first option and extended their siege by several days. When it came to the 3rd game, I suggested that we push the second parallel forward slightly and let them start from there.

The 3rd game proceeded smoothly with the attackers advancing methodically, alternating batteries with partial parallels and giving the defenders no opening for a successful sortie. At last the 2 armies were entrenched within a grenade toss of each other. It was time to "crown the covered way". The front parallel filled with troops and at the assault went in.

Losses amongst the infantry on both sides had been relatively light to this point and the resulting battle was fierce and bloody. The attackers were not successful every where but they drove enough of the defenders back that they were able to rally then storm two of the redoubts.

On the next siege turn they succeeded in digging breaching batteries into 2 of the redoubts and alongside one face of the Southern bastion. At that point, time was up and we decided that if the fortress was not relieved, it would have to surrender.  

We cleared the rear 1/2 of the table and set up a prison depot for prisoners taken during the storming of the covered way and a small supply depot. Four squadrons were deployed to defend the depots and 1 company of infantry split between the 2 compounds as a garrison. Two additional companies of infantry were detailed  to march from the trenches as a reaction force.

The relief force, an advance guard presumably, was composed of 4 squadrons of cavalry and a light infantry battalion. Their goal was to free the prisoners, destroy the supply depot and inflict more damage than they suffered. The more of these tasks that they accomplished, the more likely that the siege would have to be broken off.

We weren't sure that this was a large enough force but a very interesting little game ensued.  

The relief force caused itself a little trouble by having a squadron ride between the light infantry and their target, the prisoner compound, and then back again, but they managed to throw a squadron of heavies against the heads of two  columns of  light cavalry. After 2 turns of melee, the light cavalry which had been unable to exploit their numbers, were defeated and removed from the game for 3 turns. Beyond them a series of charges between the Allied Hussars  and Fitzjames Horse finally resulted in the Hussars being driven from the field.

Once the way was clear, the light infantry showed its worth by shooting up the garrison until it was understrength  and had to retreat. Unfortunately, the time lost meant that supports were entering from the back just as the jaegers went in the front. An even melee resulted in the light infantry being narrowly evicted.

A squadron of cavalry, slightly weakened by previous shooting, now tried a frontal charge on the remaining company of infantry. A risky business but necessary. The infantry won the toss, fired at short range and fired well. The cavalry did well in the melee but only well enough to draw. They pressed ahead and were suddenly  faced with overwhelming numbers of infantry. By the end of the melee they were understrength.

It was all down to the light infantry. As they deployed to fire on the cavalry, a squadron each of the rallied Carabiniers and Fitzjames Horse crashed into them. Firing high, the light infantry broke and ran. There was to be no relief for Adelheim.

So that was it, another HMGS con over and done. I greatly enjoyed my part in this series of games. Many thanks to all those who played and to my comrades in arms who worked so hard on the fortress and on running the game. Discussions are already underway for next year. The NQSYW may appear again, then as well as before, but look for pikes and cannon the next time I head south.

Unto The Breach - Friday's Siege Games

The Colours of MacDuff's Fusiliers wave proudly as the grenadiers move up for an assault.

When we started out to stage a siege game, I wasn't sure it could be done as an interesting convention game, or an interesting game at all for that matter. The solo play test was enough to alleviate fears on both scores but many questions remained.

Friday Afternoon, the 1st saps are planted.

The original plan called for a 10 foot wide fortress front with 3 bastions and enough pieces were cut to allow for that but once it became apparent that the fortress was going to need over 3 feet of depth, we became uncertain that the remaining space was sufficient for the besiegers. After my play test, I was afraid that a 6 feet front would not be wide enough  for zig-zag saps and batteries but a depth of only 3 feet for the attackers would mean starting at the 2nd parallel at best, in other words skipping the beginning of the siege.  After discussing the pro's and con's we ended up agreeing to lay out a 6 foot front and start the 1st parallel 6 feet from the walls. After the play test, we moved the parallel slightly forward to put it 5 feet from the ravelin, allowing effecting fire by the besiegers from turn 1 (well, for most of the besiegers.)  One thing that became obvious during the playtest, was that the compressed front made it difficult to plant richochet batteries against any point except the ravelin but that the saps were easily enfiladed if the players weren't careful. Both items went into player briefings  and didn't seem to present any great difficulties during the games though some of the saps were less zig-zaggy than our test ones had been. (it was easier to just point them off table and sap forward in leaps and bounds, the end result and purpose was the same.)  We were also afraid that a single 3-4 hour game might not be enough so allowed for a 2nd game to follow on from where the first left off.

Friday afternoon, a second parallel has been planted and the saps continue.

As we prepared for this game, it became obvious that many things had been glossed over or assumed when the brief rules were laid out. How many troops and guns should be used? How many engineers? Could you pack several into a sap? Why are the tactical rules so close to Charge! without being precisely the same? Abridgment or amendment? Can you fight from a sap?

To avoid confusing people, we opted to follow Charge! where ever possible. This meant that guns firing from over 2 feet were inflicting 1/4 casualties rather than 1/2 but, on the other hand, it looks like we might have fielded more guns per foot than Duffy did.

Initially we planned to limit the supply of engineers so that the siege might be ended by losing them all but in the end, we treated them as a limited but inexhaustible supply. The besiegers had 3 each turn, 1 and only 1 of which could supervise a battery or sap. If a parallel were to be dug, even a partial one, each engineer could supervise 1/3rd of it. That  meant that a few lucky 6's wouldn't end the siege but the loss of an engineer meant the loss of a day's work on that section of work.  Rather than fussing about where the engineer was placed and dicing a la Charge! to see which figures were hit, we merely rolled a die with a 6 indicating that the engineer was hit. We did the same for gunnery officers.

Rob and his son, Norman who did the finishing work after Duncan's wizardry with power tools did the basic construction, watch the besiegers sap forward.  (My only input this year was in planning)

When a sortie or assault was announced, we made players declare which troops they were committing. Only committed troops could fight and only against other committed troops. Any troops committed to a tactical turn were not available when we got back to the siege turn. We did consider not carrying out a siege turn if there was a tactical but that seemed like it might encourage the besieger to launch feeble sorties every day so we laid out digging and did troop moves, then resolved tactical combat then finally did the siege bombardment. Troops who had been deployed to dig were not allowed to fire but were allowed to defend themselves in melee. (For that matter, no firing was allowed from a sap and only 1 rank of figures allowed to occupy it. Parallels included a firing step and had room for 2 ranks.) If enough survived the sortie, the sap etc was built. In practice, it was up to the supports in the parallels to drive off the sortie and as in play tests, attempts to drive forward too quickly without supports tended to be costly to the attackers. If an attack, or counter attack, went beyond the initial goals then more troops could be committed once the situation changed (for example, an escalade following a repulsed sortie)

    Friday afternoon, the 3rd parallel is placed  

Once again, Duffy made no mention of reduced moves if "obstructed" or firing but we adhered to Charge! on both accounts. In retrospect, I am interesting in trying Duffy's simplified tactical rules as written to see of it picks up the pace and captures that desperate scramble aspect that I imagine for sorties and especially for forlorn hope assaults. On the other hand, the sorties and assaults were exciting as it was so why mess with something that works?

The last game had to be called shortly after the relentless advance of the siege had led to the defenders being forced out of the covered way with insufficient reserves of men and guns to stop the attackers from planting Breaching Batteries and forcing a surrender  within a few days time. Another hour of play would have reached a more satisfying conclusion but we just didn't have it. Unfortunately, the game had progressed too far to start the 2nd game at that point. After a quick huddle, we stripped every thing back to the 2nd parallel and started the 2nd game from there. All that would be lost would be a few turns of relatively ineffectual fire and some practice at digging. (yes this means we probably could have played across a 3 bastion front, starting from the 2nd parallell, maybe next time.)

 The Grenadiers of MacDuff's Fusilers have moved forward for the Big Push. Supported by the Queen's Brigade, they wait for the word to go........

 "Over the Top" 

So far, the first game had been quite different from the play test apart from the ability of the besiegers to smother the defender's fire. We were eager to see if the next game would be different again.  Oh...yeah! Unfortunately, while I had had my cell phone in hand to take a few snaps of the 1st game, I got too wrapped up in the 3rd game and completely forgot to take pictures!  I'm trusting that Rob who had his real camera out during the weekend will be able to provide some.

Its always hard in a system like Charge! to figure out the exact impact of potentially widely varying combat results dice. In the 2nd game, a pair of veteran gamers, each claiming a reputation for "Cold Dice"  were matched up against two younger but not inexperienced gamers defending the Family Fortress.  I have to say that as far as I can tell, the attackers rolled just as many 6's as the defenders but the defenders rolled 6's while trying to claim special effects or officer casualties while the attackers seemed to like to roll them looking for say "2 or better" to hit, saving the 1's for when they wanted to destroy a gun or do some real damage with a volley of musketry.

The end result was that by the game's end, the attackers who had started with 12 guns to the defender's 9, (hmm wasn't that supposed to be 8?) were out gunned by the end.  That doesn't tell the whole story however as the attackers, despite heavy losses,    sapped forward,  planting a parallel almost crowning the covered way. The defenders launched a massive sortie but the attackers reacted with full force, rushing reinforcements up the saps and across the open ground. The ferocity of the counter attack and the doggedness of the defence of the saps, catching the fortress commanders a bit by surprise. Two thirds of the parallel was delayed by a day but the sortie took such heavy casualties that it restored the balance of power between attack and defender.

Undaunted by losses of time, men, guns and engineers, the siege continued. The parallel was finished and the saps pushed forward. As the defenders evacuated the covered way to conserve manpower, the attackers launched  a surprise escalade of the now undefended ravelin (they had expected it to be lightly held).  It was the turn of the defenders to be caught off guard and forced to choose between abandoning the redoubt and covered way thus allowing the attackers to place their breaching batteries, or counter attack with every available man. Like a ant's nest that had been stirred, men came racing to the defence of the ravelin. A confused melee took place in the gorge of the ravelin, a series of 1 to 1 combats. Its no wonder that I forgot to take pictures, amid such excitement of sorties and assaults. Perhaps if the Rosish troops hadn't been evicted from the ravelin in the end.... 

 
In the next post I will conclude with the 3rd siege and the Relief game.

Rolling, rolling, rolling, keep them wagons rolling. Game 1.

I would love to be in a position to present 5 detailed battle reports but alas I took few pictures, no notes  and wasn't on the ball enough to grab the order pads, therefore as memory's lamp is already dimming, only the most vague and disjointed accounts are possible. The only saving grace is that some interesting tactical and gaming lessons remain reasonably clear and hopefully may be of some interest. (More pictures of the games may be seen at Rob's blog and Norman's blog.)  BTW, if any of the players are willing and able to add a comment explaining their plan or relating their experience of the game, please do so) 


The Situation.  Notionally, this year's games comprised a reprisal for last year's Raid on St. Michel.  The Northern Alliance led by Rosmark, has invaded Schoeffen-Buschhagen seeking compensation for damage done. To enforce their demands, they are planning to lay siege to the fortress of Adelheim.  Some of the Pragmatic Allies who had composed the raiding force last year came to the defence of Adelheim,  one joined the Northern Alliance, and the rest stayed home.  (in reality based on what troops were required for the games rather than on any political machinations)


GAME 1. Stocking the Fort. The 1st game was a variation on the Wagon Train scenario from CS Grant's Scenarios for Wargamers played as a straight up Charge! game with 3 infantry or 2 cavalry or light infantry companies/squadrons per scenario unit .  The goal for the Pragmatic force was to get 4 or more wagon loads of supplies into the fortress. The goal of the Northern Alliance was to capture at least 4 wagons.  Their force was the largest but they were scattered and marching on at randomly selected times and places.  As it turns out, they came on in a remarkably compact fashion with only 1 gun arriving from the North.    1 cavalry regiment failed to show but alas it was due to GM confusion rather than the dice.  (Sorry lads!)

The only picture I snapped, Not exactly an ideal shot. There is at least 1 more on Rob's blog.

Four notable things stand out in my memory. 


Light Infantry vs Cavalry. The first was a charge by 2 squadrons of Dragoons upon the Pandours, a light infantry battalion. The authors's commented that a unit of light infantry must shoot well to survive a cavalry charge, and the Pandours had heeded their advice. Winning the toss, they fired at short range and scored incredibly well, despite the 1/2 casualties for cavalry. In the melee, they did quite well in the 2:1 combats and at the end of the 1st round, the melee was drawn with the cavalry being only a few figures above being below strength. I think I would have pulled back, content to have done damage to the light infantry and  tying them up for two turns but the cavalry commander was made of sterner stuff and demanded a 2nd round of melee. Being heavily outnumbered, these combats were all even up. If the dice in the 2nd round hadn't favoured the cavalry, they would have been wiped out but as it was, the final result was a drawn melee with the cavalry being 1 figure above under strength.     


Grudge Match.  The 2nd was a clash between old enemies the Allied Hussars and Rosmark's Yellow Hussars. Last year the Yellow Hussars won every encounter hands down, filling the prisoner cages with Wachovian Hussars. This year, in a straight up fight,  the Wachovians and their Schoeffen-Buschhagen allies routed the Yellow Hussars in 1 turn of melee taking several prisoners and driving them under strength. OH the humanity! At least I now have a reason to paint up a new light cavalry regiment, I'm thinking Uhlans.  Anyone want to buy 20 slightly used Hussars?  I suppose I could just melt down every 1oth man........


Infantry Tactics. The 3rd was an example of simple rules working effectively. It just doesn't pay in Charge! to be in a hurry when the enemy is nearby unless you are pressing an assault.  On several occasions, Northern Alliance infantry, in their rush to get at the enemy, moved forward full speed, in penny packets, either in line, or deploying from column as they went, when the enemy were advancing in good order at a measured pace (i.e. 6") towards them from outside musket range. The result? The Pragmatic infantry were able to unleash their initial volleys without reply. On the other side, the infantry had not only been unable to fire, they had also been unable to close to the point where they could charge next turn without defensive fire.  Luckily for the Northern Alliance, numbers told as wave after wave was fed in  but either an orderly advance in line in 18thC fashion, a massed assault by overwhelming numbers or a rush in column from beyond musket range to within in 3"  would likely have served their purpose  with fewer casualties and more effect.


Command & Control. The last was  an example of how command and control rules aren't really needed in a multi-player setting.  The Carabiniers were tasked with protecting the left flank of the Northern infantry. After some bumping and shuffling, they eventually cleared the way and took up positions just inside cannister range from the forts guns, facing down any attempt to sally from the fort onto the flank of the infantry.  Despite some increasingly less subtle hints that the rules allowed them to fall back the necessary inch to reduce their losses, they stalwartly maintained their position.  Even the approach of the undefended convoy, moving past their flank and towards their front was insufficient to elicit a squadron to run them over. Finally the rallied remnants of the  Schoeffen-Buschhagen Dragoons hit them in the flank just as more cavalry finally sallied from the fort, hitting them as they rallied. 


In the end, the Voluntaires de St. Lambert, under the command of the same player,  pushed through a gap in the lines, nabbed the last 3 wagons and beat off a rescue attempt by the Pragmatic Hussars.  A draw despite the best efforts of both sides.
    
I think this is long enough for 1 entry so tomorrow I will start on the siege games.


  




  

Histori-gone

Well, 4,300 km and 12 days later and I am back where I started. There is a lot of catch up to do both on line and off, not to mention some resting up  so I am going to break down my AAR (after action report) into 3 Blog entries, a mercifully brief travelogue,  a review of the Sieges of Adelheim concentrating on the rules and sieges in general and a look at some of the "future of my wargaming" thoughts which always seem to follow when I  spend too much time by myself cruising down various interstates after 4 days of games and discussions.  I will add a few pictures but the siege has been well covered by various members of the Dean family at the Sharp End of the Brush and  Junkyard Planet.(and thank you to Norman and Rob for not mentioning the membership and end product of the mysterious 5th team in the Iron brush made of of various spectators swept together at the last minute)

The 1st & 2nd day of my vacation were family days. On July 4th, I crossed over to the US at Calais Maine and was promptly hauled over for a car inspection and extended questioning, supposedly due to random computer selection. Having been reluctantly released as neither a terrorist nor a smuggler of either drugs or valuable miniatures, with a compliment on my miniature painting, I proceeded on. The plan had been to replace my missing maps and get some US cash at an ABM but having strayed off the Interstate and it being a holiday to boot, both items proved illusive. The price of foreign roaming charges for data and voice discouraged me from using my "smart"-ish phone but eventually when I arrived in Brewer when my little google route planner seemed to indicate that I should be on my way to the coast before arriving in any urban areas, I decided to ante up and connected  to find out just where I was. Right on target apparently, google just didn't consider Brewer to be map worthy. I wonder what they did? or didn't do?  Anyway in no time at all I had located cash and a map, a bag of apples and the right road and was parked watching an Independence Day parade cross the road ahead of me. Upon learning that it was no where near the end, I decided to explore alternate routes. Eventually I found myself enjoying a holiday ice cream cone in 32 degree weather, gazing across the hazy Penobscott River, briefly the border between Canada and the US during the War of 1812, staring at Fort Knox and trying to figure out how to get there.

    Fort Knox, Maine. A typical mid-19thC coastal battery, seen through the haze. 

By now, I was nearly 2 hours behind schedule and tired so I decided to skip a look at the remains of the British encampment at Castine as well as skipping the admission price to walk through yet another 19thC fort that never fired a shot in anger. (The haze makes it hard to see the layout but it was much clearer in person and very similar to various other forts I have visited. The position on a bend in the river is magnificent.)  It turned out to be a good call as I hit heavy thunderstorms which reduced traffic on the Interstate to about 20 kph for nearly an hour but I still hit my campsite in the the hills of New Hampshire well before dark.

Fortunately no M'qma warparties struck during the night.

Extracting myself from the backwoods of New Hampshire took  a little longer that I expected and yet another traffic jam on an Interstate didn't help (no wonder I have long leaned towards variable length moves). but eventually,  I arrived at Rob's place and as usual we sat up too late talking. On Wednesday I had the pleasure of defending the fort against Norman, the stone mason and wicker-worker whose paint brush had brought the fortress of Adelheim to life. 

One of the dangers of trying to plant breaching batteries without a supporting parallel. I have no memory of why a wooden slat is slicing the air just as I snapped the shot.

 Thursday saw us loading up 2 cars and heading North to Pennsylvania, me following trustingly behind Rob with his navigator Norman. My internal navigation sensors were already tingling and I was starting to sneak peeks at my not-nearly-detailed-enough map when Rob pulled into a parking lot. A brief council of navigation was held which condemned Pennsylvania's Dept of Highways sign posting habits (or the lack there of) and approved Norman's proposed minor course correction to get back on track and in due course we arrived at the convention center and had our 10 am game laid out and ready to go, almost on time. 

This was my first experience of the convention center and despite the excellence and size of the facility, frankly, I didn't care for it. The main issue for me is that our convention was spread out over a labyrinth of rooms and it was hard to find anything or see much in a quick tour. It was also hard to judge attendance. It felt light to me, not because our own games were sparsely attended but because I saw only a handful of crowded games, more empty/near empty tables than usual and thinner viewing crowds but due to the layout of the place that could have been because there was more total space and just bad timing on my few quick tours. Just an impression. There was certainly no shortage of cars in the parking lots. Speaking of which, as a born again country mouse, the sight of acres, nay square miles  of concrete and asphalt stretching from the highways   beyond the center to somewhere  beyond our hotel a mile or so down the road, not even broken by sidewalks and with only token trees planted here and there in holes poked through to the earth, were unsettling to the soul. 

The dealers hall was large enough for me to get lost in, several times. I probably should have worn my driving spectacle to aid in navigation. Being light on cash and in the throes of trying to reduce my over all mass of figures, all I bought was a copy of Featherstone's Lost Tales. A worthwhile book despite some disappointment with the introductions and comments but more on that another day.  Ok, to be more precise that was all I bought the first day...........    Additional loot included two dvd movies that I have had on my "to see" list, Errol Flynn's Charge of the Light Brigade and the last Sharpe movie, set in one of my periods of interest, post-Napoleonic India, some Italeri Union cavalry and a box of supposedly quick assemble trucks for my 1960's forces in case they ever take the field again. The flea market also turned up some "bargains" an old Courier that . caught my eye with articles on the Mexican-American War in California, a 1/48th early 20thC automobile to go with my Zinnbrigade 1900 Prussians in case that ever comes to anything, and the crowning glory, a short score of 40mm Elastolin Prince Valiant kits, no cavalry alas but a few of the poses that I was missing.

I did manage to get in one game as a player, Swedes vs Russians playing Fire as She Bears.

At last, a naval game that made sense to me and played smoothly! 

 . 

I'll get into our games in another post so its time to dash off north again. By 8pm on Sunday, I was encamped by Lake George. After a quick drive by the reconstructed fort in the morning (couldn't find my way into the miniscule pay for parking lot), I decided that I was too mentally and emotionally tired for sight seeing and did the theoretically 11 hour drive back to my sister's, (technically, my niece's little farm where they both live) in just over 12 hours thanks to construction, downpours and thunderstorms, a closed highway and various other distractions, mostly after night fall  (variable moves? activation rolls?). Finally on Tuesday I rolled home to Nova Scotia, pausing at my favorite fort, the twice besieged Fort Beausejour, for some pictures since the topic of sieges was on my mind. In particular I wanted to see if there was evidence of a glacis and covered way despite its hill top location. There is, but more on that at a later date.

  

I am fairly sure that Fort Macduff bore a strong resemblance to both Fort Beausejour and Fort Anne. More research is needed (not to mention much model construction!) 

   In short, a good vacation, well worth the cost and effort. Not because of the games, shopping or any sights seen, but because of the  friendships renewed (some stretching back over 30 years) and new friends encountered.

The next post will look at the 5 Charge! / Fire& Stone games we ran, the one after will look at some of the things that I saw/read/experienced that got the little grey cells working. 

          

Marching Orders

The Rosmark army begins emabarkation for the Siege of Adelheim. Under the watchful eyes of the Engineers, the marines of the Starborde Battery load packing material as soldiers of the Irish and King's companies mount the gangway.

Two days until I depart for Historicon. Loaded up with anti-biotics, pain killers in reserve. According to Google Maps, I have a 4,000 km round trip planned. (Roughly the same as last time and the time before though the stops along the way are different.)  thats an average of  three 8 hour days of driving each way if anyone is wondering. Due to the various stops, it never works out to even days though, so usually a 5 hoiur day, a 9 hour day and a 10 hour day. I need to keep a close eye on myself this year given health concerns and am prepared to add a day or so on the way home if I need  to take a break and may skip some attractions that are off the path if I need to shorten the drive a little.

 In keeping with the siege theme of the games that Rob & I have planned and the fortress that Duncan, Norman and Rob have built, my en route touristing will have a fortress theme but will also link to my planned alternate history Aroostock War campaigns. After visiting family near Fredericton NB, I will cross the border on July 4th, the 1st anniversary of my heart attack, I understand the Americans have been gracious enough to declare it a holiday.

The first stop will be the remains of Fort George at Castine, Maine which the British occupied during the Revolution and again during the War of 1812, temporarily moving the border south to the Penobscot River. Something they just may try again in 1843. However, should they wait that long they will face a new obstacle.

Fort Knox, Maine.  Built in the 1840's to protect Bangor from British/Canadian invasion.

My 2nd stop will be to visit the nearby Fort Knox. (Who knew  there were was more than one Fort Knox? Not me until 2 days ago.)  This diversion in Maine means there will be no time to visit Gettysburg again, but it will give me a feel for another area of War of 1812 operations as well as some potential battlefields south of the border for my alternate history campaigns. I have had a tendency in the past to zoom down the Interstate missing Maine altogether apart from 100's of kilometers of trees and distant mountains.

On the way back I hope to stop at Ticonderoga if I have the energy after the convention, or at least take a look at Fort George. I have been to both locations before, but never while they were open to the public! Also on the list is Fort Lennox on Ile Aux Noix in Quebec. This fort was a main base of operations for the British during the War of 1812 and would have been prominent if relations with the US worsened in the 1830's and 40's.   I went to school just down river at the College Militaire Royal de St. Jean but never made the trip to see it, something I find hard to explain. Too much time playing ancients and drinking beer I suppose.  There is a hitch here as the Richelieu River experienced its worst flooding in decades and clean up is still in progress at Ft Lennox so it may be off the menu. I'll keep an eye on the website and make plans accordingly.

Fort Lennox above water from the Parks Canada website. 

One last stop if all goes well, will be to slip into the US again and see the blockhouse called Fort Kent. The seat of war on the Arroostock. Then home again to rescue my wife after 11 days of double shifts looking after  her mom and her menagerie and running her new in-house grooming shop. 

The route below is approximate only. I appreciate having google lay out the broad strokes for me but I rarely go exactly where and how they tell me.

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