Sunday, April 17, 2022

Austerlitz a la Morschauser, solo continuation.

 

I finally picked up with the rest of the Austerlitz game solo, the French being next to move. 


In the process, i decided a few tweaks were needed for internal consistency, and to address a few weaknesses in the rules. 


This past Thursday was gorgeous - sunny and 80 degrees, so the dogs went for a trip to Lake Waramaug.


Get the Ball!


"Smoke" is now used to mark units that have fired; units without smoke may shoot during the opposing move under certain circumstances. 

All "smoke" is removed at the start of a player's move. 


Lots of shooting as the infantry lines close to close range! 


Austrian cavalry follows up on their previous success with new charges! 


The Allies issue some very effective musket fire! The yellow and green dice indicates hits; the red die is the Morale Test for units taking 2 or more hits. 


Even long range musketry can do some damage. 


Mostly Russian cannons firing at the Southern end of the battlefield. 


Resolving the second big cavalry charge; the French Chasseurs are overwhelmed and destroyed, whilst the Austrian Hussars are severely outclassed by the French Cuirassiers; not only the Hussars are eliminated...


but Liechtenstein, who was leading the charge, is as well! The Austrian cavalry now lack command as well as rallying ability. 


Overview from the South at the end of the Allied move. 


Murat's cavalry reserved has taken 50% losses and is SHAKEN; it had to retreat 4 boxes!


On the following French move, some sharp shooting by the artillery on the Santon and the Legere in the village eliminates another Austrian Hussar unit. 


Limited French shooting in the South. 


Somewhat disappointing volleys by Lannes' infantry.
 

The beginning of the assault upon the Pratzen heights. 


Situation in the South; there are a lot of crippledunits on both sides!


Overview from the South at the end of the French move. 


Very effective fire by the Allies in the Northern sector!


To the South, Russian Dragoons charge boldly across the Goldbach bridge at Tellnitz.. 

With no "smoke, the French infantry may fire at their attackers, and they score a big 3 hits; the Russian cavalry passe morale, and thus continues the charge!


Down to just 1 hit left, the Dragons score a hit on the infantry in the melee, but are eliminated by the French infantry who score a great many hits themselves. 


Overview of the center. 


Russians manage but a few hits on the French around Sokolnitz. 


Overview of the North after the Allied move.


Overview of the Center and South from the Allied lines. 


French start their move with some effective fire on the far North, driving back one of the Austrian Cuirassier units with heavy losses. 


French fire by Lannes' boys  is more effective this time. 


French infantry and cavalry are threatening to isolate Kolowrat's Austrian infantry from the center. 


Situation in the North after all combat is resolved. 


Another view; bioth sides have several badly battered units. 


The attack on the Pratzen Heights reaches close musket range!


In the South, Davout's infantry boldly retakes Tellnitz, eliminating another unit of Russian cavalry in the process with their shooting. 


At this point, needing to get everything organized and packed up for the actual game next weekend, I ceased play. Another move by both sides would likely have seen several more commands go Shaken! I'll publish the revised rules after that game is played out...

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Wars of the Roses: Plantagenet Archers


More of the many merry men in Murrey (and Azure)!


The deep burgundy color does make a striking contrast with the blue!


There is a pretty comprehensive listing of WotR livery colors at The Waving Flag site. 


The database also lists the battles that each particular retinue participated in, which can be interesting and helpful. 


In the true spirit of the Wars of the Roses, these lads will probably fight for whomever I need them to!


That finishes the first group of WotR figures, but never fear, there are another 5 units almost done to join them...


Sunday, April 10, 2022

1st Quarter 2022 Statistics

This is a fitting image for me for this quarter, and it has nothing to do with inflation!


Expenses:

January 2022
BigRedBat Ventures $299.59 (3 gaming mats plus assorted TTS/FK&P chits), Piano Games $700.45 (huge Wurttemburg Kickstarter... due for delivery by the end of this month!), Old Glory $185.20 (Wars pf the Roses figures), Wargames Vault (Stars and Lasers rules and multiple scenarios) $20.00. History of Wargaming Project $42.79 (new copy of Morschauser plus Miniature Wargames d du temps de Napoleon by John Candler), Litko Aerosystems (bases) $100.46   Total $1,348.49

February 2022
Perry Miniatures  $171.39 (Spanish Napoleonics - Infantry, Cavalry Limber)

March 2022
Perry Miniatures $114.84 (French Legere, Gardes'd Honneur, some odds and ends), Helion Company $108.99 (Italian Wars Volumes 1-3, Dunbar 1650) Total $223.83

1st Quarter Total:  $1,743.71

* Well, January 2022 has to be an all time record for hobby spending in a month, and Q1  for a quarter as well! The big killer was the amazing Wurttemburg Kickstarter(thanks to Mark "Gamespoet" for pointing it out to me.. I think!). The bad news is they're ready to launch another in may covering Hessen-Darmstadt, too - including the cavalry and artillery!)  Add in purchases for the WotR games for Historicon, bases for all the painting I'm doing, books for the games I'll be running in the next several months, and the Perry "beat the price increase" purchases, well, wow!  Just staggering! Aside from perhaps the next Kickstarter and Historicon expenses, spending for the rest of the year had better be minimal! The one saving grace is that, having worked WAY more hours than I was supposed to have in FY 2020 - 2021, and having maxed out all the quality incentives, I got a large "year end"  incentive payment this quarter as well. There should be very little lead purchased otherwise the next two quarters at least!



Painting:

January 2022
Mauryan Indian Spearmen (24 =120 points), Mauryan Indian Archers (12 = 60 points), Mauryan Indian Swordsmen (12 = 60 points)   Total 240 points

February 2022
Mauryan Indian Archers (12 = 60 points), Mauryan Indian Spearmen (12 = 60 points), Mauryan Indian Commanders and heroes (6 = 30 points)   Total 150 points

March 2022
Mauryan Indian Infantry Refurb (14 new figures added = 70 points), Scots Covenanter Foot x 2 (40 figures = 200 points), Wars of the Roses Billmen (24 = 120 points), Wars of the Roses Archers (24 = 120 points)   Total  510 points

1st Quarter Total:  900 points

* Not my highest quarter ever, but certainly respectable. 


Games:

January 2022
First Battle of Azukizaka 1542 (Remote with Jon Freitag's wonderful Samurai and a hexed version of Basic Impetus with period adaptations). It was the perfect break for a month of COVID Omicron craziness, victory was made possible chiefly by my hot dice and Jon's terrible die rolling rather than any tactical brilliance on my part!) 

February 2022
Austerlitz a la Morschauser

March 2022
Nil

1st Quarter Total:  2 games

* Well below goal; blame winter weather, Omicron surge, continuing to work well more than my scheduled hours, heavy responsibilities for orienting the new University of Vermont 3rd year medical students during March, and Tim being in the US himself all winter, so no remote Test of Resolve Gaming all winter! I am due to ruin a game for NextGen in Gardner New York in a few weeks, followed by another game here at home, so April alone should equal the total for Q1. 

Thursday, April 7, 2022

Wars of the Roses: Northumberland Billmen

This unit of Levy Billmen wears the red and black livery used by the Earl of Northumberland.

 Doesn't the fellow in the foreground look like Marty Feldman?


The Earl is better known by his actual name, Henry Percy. 


The red and black livery is striking; it reminds me a bit of Swiss in Cantonal colors!


Considering the overlap between that conflict and the WotR, I suppose that is hardly surprising.
 

Some of these troops could certainly be used as Catholic "Crusaders" for the Hussite Wars as well... and vice versa!

Monday, April 4, 2022

Plans for Historicon 2022

    It was recently announced that the Theme for Historicon 2022 will be "World in Conflict: Italy".  This has been taken to mean wars either taking place in Italy and/or involving Italy/Italians. Many years the Historicon theme has little impact on my game selection; that was certainly the case for 2021 ("Aircraft of War: Balloons, Bombers, Helicopters, and more..."), 2019 ("Extreme Terrain Edition: Jungle Warfare"), 2017 ("100 Years of Tanks"), 2013 ("American Civil War, 1863 - the Year of Decision", 2012 ("Colonial Warfare, Imperialism and Gunboat Diplomacy, 1836-1937"), 2011 ("Brother Against Brother: The American Civil War," 1861–1865), and even 2010 ("Pike and Shotte: Seventeenth Century Warfare," 1600–1699) because my English Civil War figures were languishing in their decades long underuse for lack of a rule set that I liked (To the Strongest and For King and Parliament were yet to arrive on the scene!). 

   That was decidedly NOT the case in 2009 (“Ride to the Sound of the Guns… -Napoleon’s 1809 Campaign and the Spanish Ulcer”), when Barry, Joe, Rodger, Thomas, Dan, and I ran SIX 1809 Napoleonic games in 3 days (plus the battlem of Agnadello 1509 with the late and much lamented Peter Hess, champion of all things Renaissance). This year's theme certainly has tremendous scope, and has thus altered ALL of the games that I planned to run! Here is the bare bones outline of planned games, followed by the detailed listings as submitted. It looks like all four games will be run under the auspices of HMGS NextGen once again. 


Illustration is from Histories: Pyrrhic Wars, Heraclea Battle 
https://kmhistories.wordpress.com/2018/08/21/heraclea/



Thursday  9 -1
Romans vs Pyrrhus Heraclea 280 BC,  with TTS!

Thursday  6 - 10
Great Italian Wars - Pavia 1525, with TTS!

Friday 3 - 7 
Marengo 1800, with Morschauser inspired rules 

Saturday  6 - 10
Caldiero 1805 with FoB3


Event Title: One more such victory and we are undone! Battle of Heraclea, 220 BC
Theme Game?: Yes
Club Name: HMGS NextGen
Running Time: 4 hours
Max Number of Players: 8
Period: Ancients
Event Scale: 28 mm
Rules Used: To the Strongest! by Simon Miller
Description: Pyrrhus of Epirus has a well trained  army composed of veteran Macedonian and Greek troops. He invades Italy to support the Greek colonies there that are under threat by the upstart Roman Republic. His famously costly triumphs resulted in the term, "Pyrrhic Victory". 
Comments: Ages 13 and up welcome; rules are easily learned
Special Requirements:
Table Size:  6' x 12.5'
Day:  Thursday
Start Time: 9 AM

Event Title: All is lost save Honor!  Battle of Pavia, February 24, 1525
Theme Game?: Yes
Club Name: HMGS NextGen
Running Time: 4 hours
Max Number of Players: 8
Period: Renauissance
Event Scale: 28 mm
Rules Used: To the Strongest! by Simon Miller
Description: The decisive battle of the Great Italian Wars, which resulted in the capture of French king Francis I. A glorious cacaphony of armored Gendarmes (knights) and other cavalry, pikemen, arquebusiers, crossbomen, and cannons!
Comments: Ages 13 and up welcome; rules are easily learned
Special Requirements:
Table Size:  :  6' x 12.5'
Day: Thursday
Start Time: 6 PM

Event Title: Marengo a la Morschauser
Theme Game?: Yes
Club Name: HMGS NextGen
Running Time: 4 hours
Max Number of Players: 8
Period: Napoleonic
Event Scale: 28 mm
Rules Used: Morschauser-inspired simple rules on a gridded table
Description: First Consul Napoleopn Bonaparte has crossed the Alps and placed himself astride the lines of communication of Austrian General Melas and his army. The French are hard pressed when the Austrians attack first! 
Comments:  Ages 13 and up welcome; rules are easily learned
Special Requirements: 2 hour minimum set up time
Table Size:  :  6' x 12.5'
Day: Friday 
Start Time:  3 PM

Event Title: Massena's Victory - Battle of Caldiero, October 30, 1805
Theme Game?: Yes
Club Name: HMGS NextGen
Running Time 4 hours
Max Number Players: 10
Period: Napoleonic
Event Scale: 28 mm
Rules Used: Field of Battle, 3rd edition by Brent Oman
Description: While Napoleon is off encircling Ulm, Massena faces Archduke Charlesin Northern Italy, who commands a larger army. Naturally, the French attack!
Comments:
Special Requirements: 3 hour  minimum set up time
Table Size: :  6' x 12.5'
Day: Saturday
Start Time: 6 PM


Meanwhile, my friends Tim Couper and David Knight from the UK will be running FIVE games using their rules for the Wars of the Roses, Test of Resolve:


Thursday 2-5: 
 Mortimers Cross
Friday 11-2: Towton
Friday 7-10: Stoke Field
Saturday 11-2: Hexham
Sunday 9-12: Empingham


Those games are what all of the WotR troops I've been painting are for! 


Thus it appears the Indians and the Napoleonic Spanish will have to wait for next year to appear... unless HMGS come up with another Theme with broad appeal for 2023!

Thursday, March 31, 2022

Wars of the Roses: Oxford Archers

These archers join their pole-armed fellows in the cause of John  de Vere, Earl of Oxford... and whomever he might be supporting this season!



These less well equipped fellows are intended to reflect more hastily armed Levy troops, as opposed to formal "Retinue" of a major Lord. 


Archery was important during the Wars of the Roses, but not the battle winning force it (seemed) to be during the Hundred Years War.


That's probably due to combination of both sides having men so armed, and some degree of exaggeration of the effectiveness of Longbows stemming from the famous battles of Crecy, Potiers, and Agincourt... three major victories over a century of conflict.


They once again are distinguished by the "Tawney" of  Oxford's livery.


"And the multitude of their arrows darkened the sky..." or not; ammunition could be limited. Accounts of battles in this era include the archers foraging for arrows to be re-used.