5th battalion, King's German Legion

Although my existing "British" army has a small contingent of cavalry of the King's German Legion, this is the first such infantry regiment in my collection.

The King of England was also, from 1714, the Elector of Hanover, under a personal union of the two states. The army of  Hanover was disbanded in July 1803, as a result of a combination of  invasion by a French cops under Marshal Mortier, and some double dealing diplomatic actions by the French. Before the month was out, plans were already begun to recruit a "King's German Regiment, and by December of 1803, the nucleus of the newly named  King's German Legion had formed.

The uniform of the Legion was essentially the same as their British counterparts, with just about the only distinction I could find that would be discernible on 28 mm figures being the addition of  silver stripes to the trousers of the officers. These are Old Glory figures. 

My battalion caries the 1815 version of their Regimental color, with the "peninsula" battle honor upon it. Tne Hanoverian army was disbanded a second time in 1867, when Hanover became part of the Prussian empire; the units of the former Hanoverian army were allowed to continue the traditions of the KGL effective in 1899. 

The maximum strength of the KGL was 8 Line battalions ("regiments") of 1,000 men each, 2 Light battalions also of 1,000 men each, 2 Heavy Dragoon regiments and 3 Light Dragoon regiments each of 500 men, 2 Horse Artillery and 4 Foot Artillery companies. The Heavy Dragoons were later re-designated as Light Dragoons, and the former Light Dragoons as Hussars. In addition to extensive service in the Peninsula and at Quatre Bras and Waterloo, units of the KGL participated in the assault on Copenhagen in 1807, the Walcheren expedition in 1809, operations in Northern Germany in 1813, and operations in Sicily and Genoa in 1814. 

Snappy Nappy Rides Again!

Citizen-General Bonaparte at the Battle of Rivoli, January 15, 1797

Many Roads to Mantua: Northern Italy, January 1797

A Snappy Nappy Campaign in a Day event, based upon the Rivoli Campaign

The relatively unknown French General, Naploeone Buonaparte, burst upon the world scene with his rapid conquest of Northern Italy in then Spring of 1796, culminating in the siege of the great fortress of Mantua. Three Austrian attempts to relieve the siege have failed by the narrowest of margins. The garrison there is beset by disease and starvation, and cannot hold out much longer. Both the French and the Austrians know that the fourth and final attempt to relieve the siege will decide the fate of Northern Italy, and perhaps the War of the Second Coalition against revolutionary France.

Where: The Portal, Manchester, CT When: Saturday, October 16, 10 AM – 5 PM

Rules: Snappy Nappy, by Russ Lockwood GM: Peter Anderson, MD – contact Gonsalvo@aol.com

The Theater of War
 

The event will be played across multiple tables with multiple players each commanding roughly a Division of troops. Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic,. We ask that all players be fully immunized against COVID (honor system), and due to the delta variant, the wearing of masks is strongly encouraged (required if required by The Portal or the State of Connecticut at the time of event).

Event limited to 11 players and 2 alternates, also due to infection control issues.

Libyan LI Javelinmen # 1-3

Along with Kadesh, I have two other games using the To the Strongest! rules scheduled, all featuring the exploits of Ramses II. The first features him confronting an alliance of traditional opponents - the Libyans to the West, and the Canaanites to the West. 

 In TTS!, the bulk of the Libyan force will likely be made up of combined light uinits, which should be interesting to play. 

As has been noted before, even in Ancient times, fighting in what amounts to a towel and a designer jockstrap must have been a bit unsettling for both the warrior and his opponent!

"Young man, I say young man..."

These are all Old Glory figures. 

With so little clothing, I suppose Gym time was mandatory for these fellows!  :-)

I used the colored Micron pens to suggests designs on their capes. 

As usual, the "Desert" basing works especially well on these light infantry stands. 

Javelins at the ready!

Delta CC "green Tea" was once again used for these capes.

The black "magic Wash" worked well to bring out detail on these figures. 

From Libya, with love!

    We have Tropical storm/Hurricane Henri due to hit Connecticut in the morning. Hopefully it will stay well East of us, although some models have it turning West after landfall and potentially passing straight over us. Definitely staying home tomorrow. We have a generator, and it seems likely we'll need it!

Kadesh Playtest, and revised scenario for To the Strongest!

We played the test game for Kadesh yesterday, which was both fun and very helpful!

Charge by the "Green" Hittite Chariot Division. They didn't pull very good hit cards, so the Egyptians of Division Re, hit in the flank, escaped with limited damage. There are 3 more Divisions yet to act, though!

Situation at the end of Hittite Turn 1, after the remaining 3 Hittite Chariot Divisions have acted; one unit each of Spearmen and Bowmen are already lost... as expected. The other two Egyptian formed foot units each have 1 hit on them. We decided the first turn Hittite bonus ambush replay was unnecessary. 

Situation at the end of Egyptian Move 1; the Egyptian Light Chariots are fleeing for their lives, wisely leaving the infantry as a lost cause! 

Situation at the end of Hittite Turn 2; the Hittite Chariots are sweeping the lighter Egyptian Chariots before them as they evade their heavier brethren. The light infantry have survived, surprisingly, and a lone unit spearmen has managed to avoid elimination as well.

One of the Light Chariots of Division Re has managed to come within 1 box of Division Amun, thus automatically activating both if its commands!

The rest of Division Re can accomplish little but turning to face the rampaging Hittite Chariotry, , however.

At this pointy it became obvious that the fancy rules for activating the Pharaoh's command were unnecessary overkill (the arrival of the fugitives from Re obviated the need to activate Amun anyway). Positions at the end Egyptian Turn 2, the infantry and Chariot commands of Division Amun, and the Pharaoh's bodyguards having all moved. From a game standpoint, it became clear that both of these commands really have to activate normally starting onTurn1. This is an advantage really - much fewer  special rules needed!

Hittite Turn 3 - situation after movements by the Blue, Green, and Red Chariot Divisions. There is just a single unit of slingers and the General left of the Infantry of Division Re!

The Yellow Chariot Division is pressing a pair of Egyptian Light Chariots of Division Re off the table, shrugging off the occasional arrow in the process! The Chariots of Division Ptah, seen off in the distance, are scenic only... although they probably need to start testing for arrival on Turn 2 for game purposes (the distance will keep them from having much influence for a while anyway. Historically, these troops arrived after the battle was over. 

The Chariots of Division Set arrived on Turn 3, and made good use of a Group March Move along the road.  They probably need to start entering automatically on Turn 1, given the distance they are from the action. The same is true for their Infantry contingent. 

Situation after Egyptian Move 3 and most of  Hittite Move 4 - Pharaoh and the Infantry of Division Ammun have moved forwards whilst the Chariots of Amun are protecting their right. However, the Hittite Chariot Reserve has entered the table! This is probably a turn too  soon. 

More of Hittite Move 4 - the Chariots of the Hittite Reserve have moved boldly up in front of the Infantry of Division Amun... a risky undertaking, but it may pin the opposing Egyptians in place.

More of Hitite Move 4 - the two stray chariots of Division Re have been driven off the table.!

Egyptian Move 4 - the Chariots and Infantry of Division Set race towards the action. 

More of Egyptian Move 4 - the Chariots to the front of the Division Amun infantry (plus lousy card draws) are impairing their maneuvering; not a good thing with 16 more Chariot units to your flank!

Meanwhile, using his double replays as a great leader, Ramses and his Chariots have gotten perhaps a but too far ahead of his tough Sherdan bodyguards.  

Still more Egyptian Turn 4; the light chariots of Division Amun (4) and the survivors of Re (2) are trying to harass the Heavier Hittite chariotry, albeit with a notable lack of success!

More overview of the end of Egyptian Turn 4.

Hittite Turn 5 - off to the right, Hittite Chariots have ridden down the unit of Spearmen that was to their front... 1 Hit card for the charge, one for striking a flank, and one for their shock Lance bonus, plus a replay by the General = never had a chance!  Across the River Orontes, the first command of Hittite Infantry have arrived (historically, they also never fought, for unclear reasons). Pharaoh is looking.... exposed. 

Situation at the end of Hittite Turn 5.

Overview of the end of Hittite Turn 5.

Egyptian Turn 5 - Division Set to the Rescue?

Ramses again uses his replays to charge the opposing  Light Chariots of the Hittite Reserve... to little effect for either side. The Sherdan Guardsmen advance, seeking to discourage the mass of Hittite infantry looking for fords over the Orontes. 

Situation at the end of Egyptian Turn 5; the light chariots of Divisions Amun and Re do a bunch of "Shoot and retire" moves, to very limited effect. The Hittites have yet to lose a single unit!

    At this point we ended the game as the Egyptians had lost half of their Victory medals., and we had been playing for almost 4 hours. Unfortunately, it was just Peter C and John on the Hittite side, with myself playing the Egyptians. Thomas couldn't make it at the last minute, so that slowed the action down somewhat, especially for a scenario which was designed for 4 players per side. I will be making some major changes to the scenario, chiefly, stepping up the pace of the early game; reinforcement entry games are always a challenge to time, especially with many players and in a convention setting. This will change the game a bit to one where the Hittite Chariot ambush crushes Division Re as expected, but is then at risk to be trapped between the Egyptian forces, with the still later arrival of the Hittite infantry etc potentially salvaging the situation. Simpler and faster is almost always better!

   It  also makes sense to consolidate the Veteran and no Veteran Hittite Chariots into their own Divisions rather than having a mix in both. That will be easier for players to remember, at it appears that each of the Hittite commands came from different regions of their empire, so it makes sense from that standpoint as well.

Scenario Special Rules:

1) The Hittites move first, and may move all of their 4 Chariot Divisions, ambushing Egyptian Division Re. There is no penalty for their movement out of cover and across the stream. 

2) The Chariot command of Division Set enters along the road starting on Turn 1

5) The Infantry command of Division Set enters along the road behind the Chariots.

6) The Chariot command of Division Ptah starts testing to enter along the road on Turn 2 by turning a single card; a 7+ is required to enter. Should they fail to enter, the following turn a 4+ is needed, and should that fail, the following turn their entry is automatic

7) The infantry command of Division Ptah enters along the road after the Chariots.

8) The Hittite Chariot Reserve may enter along the road into Kadesh starting after Division Ptah arrives, needing a 7+ to enter, and decreasing by 3 each subsequent turn if they are unsuccessful.  They may ignore the troops of the Royal Guard for movement and interpenetration purposes

9) The first Hittite Infantry command starts testing to enter the turn after the Chariot Reserve  has entered the tabletop, needing a 7+ to enter and decreasing by 3 thereafter as above.

10) The second Hittite Infantry Command starts testing the turn after the first infantry Command has entered the table, needing a 7+ to enter, and being adjusted as above for each subsequent turn they fail to enter. 

11) The Hittite Royal Guard may start testing to exit from Kadesh the turn after the 2ndInfantry Command  has entered the table, needing a pip count of 9 to do so, decreasing by two for each subsequent turn. 

Terrain Notes

The River Orontes may be crossed by infantry only, as a doubly difficult activation. It may be crossed by Chariots only at the Bridge at Kadesh. 

The stream running into the Orontes  does not effect movement across it

EGYPT

Pharaoh's Guard

CMD	Description	Save	Spec/Ammo	Pts	VMs
PC	Ramses Senior Heroic Attached  Mounted Great Leader	3+	Replay x 2 Best of 2 cards when hit	10	2
PC	Light Chariots, Bow, Veteran	7+	4	6	1
PC	Light Chariots, Bow, Veteran	7+	4	6	1
PC	Chariot Runners LI Javelin	7+	2	4	1
PC	Chariot Runners LI Javelin	7+	2	4	1
PC	Shardanna Royal Gd - Auxiliaries	6+		8	2
PC	Shardanna Royal Gd - Auxiliaries	6+		8	2
PC	Camp			1	3
PC	Command Cost, Medals			47	13

Army Totals                                                                                           343       95

VM Break point = 32     Reserve Ammo = 30

Division Amun

CMD	Description	Save	Spec/Ammo	Pts	VMs
1D	Attched General Chariot Heroic	3+	Replay	5	2
1D	Light Chariots, Bow, Veteran	7+	4	6	1
1D	Light Chariots, Bow, Veteran	7+	4	6	1
1D	Light Chariots, Bow, Veteran	7+	4	6	1
1D	Light Chariots, Bow, Veteran	7+	4	6	1
1D	Hero		Replay	1
1D	Camp			1	3
1D	Command Cost, Medals			31	9

CMD	Description	Save	Spec/Ammo	Pts	VMs
1A	Attached General	2+	Replay	4	2
1A	Medium Infantry, Shieldwall	7+		7	2
1A	Medium Infantry, Shieldwall	7+		7	2
1A	Medium Infantry, 2 H Mace/Aaxe	7+		7	2
1A	Medium Bowmen, Veteran Nubian	7+	7	8	2
1A	Light Infantry - Bow/Sling	8+	3	4	1
1A	Light Infantry - Bow/Sling	8+	3	4	1
1A	Light Infantry - Bow/Sling	8+	3	4	1
1A	Hero		Replay	1	-
1A	Camp			1	3
1A	Command Cost, Medals			47	16

Division Re

CMD	Description	Save	Spec/Ammo	Pts	VMs
2A	Attached General Chariot Heroic	3+	Replay	5	2
2A	Light Chariots, Bow, Veteran	7+	4	6	1
2A	Light Chariots, Bow, Veteran	7+	4	6	1
2A	Light Chariots, Bow, Veteran	7+	4	6	1
2A	Light Chariots, Bow, Veteran	7+	4	6	1
2A	Light Chariots, Bow, Veteran	7+	4	6	1
2A	Command Cost, Medals			35	7

CMD	Description	Save	Spec/Ammo	Pts	VMs
2B	Attached General	2+		4	2
2B	Medium Infantry, Shieldwall	7+		7	2
2B	Medium Infantry, Shieldwall	7+		7	2
2B	Medium Bowmen	8+	6	7	2
2B	Medium Bowmen	8+	6	7	2
2B	Light Infantry - Bow/Sling	8+	3	4	1
2B	Light Infantry - Bow/Sling	8+	3	4	1
2B	Light Infantry - Bow/Sling	8+	3	4	1
2B	Hero		replay	1
2B	Command Cost, Medals			45	13

Division Set (Nearin)

CMD	Description	Save	Spec/Ammo	Pts	VMs
3B	Attached General Chariot, Heroic	3+		5	2
3B	Light Chariots, Bow	8+	3	5	1
3B	Light Chariots, Bow	8+	3	5	1
3B	Light Chariots, Bow	8+	3	5	1
3B	Light Chariots, Bow	8+	3	5	1
3B	Hero			1
3B	Command Cost, Medals			26	6

CMD	Description	Save	Spec/Ammo	Pts	VMs
3D	Attached General	2+		4	2
3D	Medium Infantry, Shieldwall	7+		7	2
3D	Medium Infantry, Shieldwall	7+		7	2
3D	Medium Bowmen	8+	6	7	2
3D	Medium Bowmen	8+	6	7	2
3D	Light Infantry - Bow/Sling	8+	3	4	1
3D	Light Infantry - Bow/Sling	8+	3	4	1
3D	Hero		Replay	1
3D	Command Cost, Medals			41	12