Thursday, April 21, 2022

Scotts Covenanter Foot #3 - John Lindsay of Edzell

 

This latest addition to the forces of the Covenanters is this  regiment, which was raised in Angus and Dundee. 


The flag is one of many on the Dux Humunculorum blog (part 2 of the Covenanter flags doesn't have the label, so has to be searched for separately). The Moto on the saltire reads "Reviresco"; "I flourish again", with the palm tree, itself a symbol of renewal. 


The regiment had a strength of roughly 400 men, according to the BCW Regimental Wiki project.


It fought at Dunbar, Stirling, and probably Worchester. 


More tartan blankets!


That will likely be it for Scotts units for a while, but there is lead on hand for a lot more, eventually!

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!