Historicon 2024: Wednesday

I had a great time at Historicon this year, once again. I was unusually organized this year, and had the car all packed up by Tuesday night. With plans to run 9 games, and provide figures for Tim and David's multiple smaller games with their new Test of Resolve: Hundred Years War rules, that was a necessity! I actually managed not to forget anything this trip, either. Perhaps because of those things, I actually slept well the night before the drive to Lancaster, which was unusual!  The drive was exceptionally smooth, and I arrived circa 2:30, and was able to check into my room at the convention center, and unload the car. Tim and David arrived from the UK circa 5 PM, so I set up the table and troops for the Battle of Tewkesbury, and then we headed out for dinner. 

 I was too busy GM'ing to take many pictures, but this is the crisis of the battle: Somerset's flank marching command is being intercepted by the Reserve Battle commanded by Gloucester, who just became aware of Somerset's presence as the Lancastrians crested the small ridge that had heretofore concealed them. At the same time, the Yorkist ambush has been sprung, and the mounted Scurrers hidden in the woods have struck the flank of Somerset's Battle with effect. At the top of the picture, Devon (L) and Hastings (Y) have been battling it out, with the action rather favoring the Yorkist cause. After much exchange of arrows and cannon fire, the centre battles of Wenlock (L) and King Edward IV (Y) have met, with the figurehead Prince Edward and his small retinue deciding who they might best aid (without losing the vital Prince in the process!). At this moment, in a furious melee, both King Edward AND Wenlock are simultaneously laid low (both rolled 1's in melee against one another at the same time!).  The Yorkist lose heart and the victory goes to the Lancastrians!

Some Weds night table setups for the following morning

Gettysburg - Pickett's charge in 54 mm on three 6 x 20 foot tables!

Union defensive position

The wide open field to be traversesd, with some fences to hinder the advance without providing much cover! 

Picket's boys and their supporting artillery. 

Pratzen heights assault in 3mm

All of Austerlitz in 3 mm. 

Jumble in the Jungle!

I spent all of 10 minutes in the dealer hall this year, picking up a bottle of super glue for repairs for $5; just too busy running all of those games! I browsed Wally's basement every evening, finding little of interest to me.  Unfortunately, I did pick up something else at the Con. Saturday night I started felling hoarse (not unusual at game #8, but then later developed a runny nose and a cough. I felt worse Sunday AM, donned a mask, and had Tim and David take over for me, then drove home feeling gradually more flu symptoms. A test upon return home confirmed that I had finally gotten COVID after 3.5 years of avoiding same. Went straight to bed for 36 hours! Resumed working remotely yesterday and will do so again tomorrow. Hence the big delay in Historicon posts this year!

Pike's Point

Tim My friends from the UK, Tim Couper and David Knight, will be running 8 games at Historicon with their newly released Test of Resolve: Hundred Years War rules.

   

One of them involves a number of units of Scottish Spearmen.

Rummaging about, I found these chaps in the Lead Pile from ? 20 years ago.

They are Essex figures IIRC. 

I gave the unit Scottish an Burgundian flags, so with some shuffling, they could represent either. 

The Scottish Royal flag was created from an image on the web. 

The Burgundian flag is a download from Warflag. 

All ready for the trip to Lancaster, if not the House of Lancaster! Packing the car starts tomorrow for Wednesday AM departure...

Carinthian Landwehr, 1809

 

A unit of Inner Austrian Landwehr is next to march off the painting table. 

The uniform coats of the Inner Austrian Landwehr were dark green with facing colors according to the Province... at least officially. 

Most likely the officers and wealthier men approximated the regulations, while many other probably wore grey uniforms faced in the provincial color... if they were lucky. 

The facing color for Carinthia (Kärnten in German) was red, with the cockade being red-yellow- red-white, for Styria (Steirermark) white facings, cockade white-green, Carniola (Krain) light blue with white-blue-red cockade, and Salzburg yellow facings with cockades white-red. 

The figures are once again from Piano Wargames, and the flag is from the previously referenced Mal's Small World blog site. The coat of arms of Carinthia are displayed on this side. 

Lower Austrian Landwehr, 1809

 

I finally got around to painting this unit of Austrian Landwehr, which will appear in my "Rapp n' Raupenhelms" games at Historicon later this month. 

These fellows are wearing fairly standard Austrian Landwehr gear for 1809, although probably far more uniform and neat than would likely have been reality. Hey, they're toy soldiers!

These wonderful sculpts are yet again by Lucas Luber of Piano Wargames in Germany. 

The flag is printed out from Mal's small World flags. There was a total embarrassment of riches for selection there! 

Für König und Kaiser!

Announcement: Next Snappy Nappy Campaign in a Day is set for Saturday, October 5, 2024

 

Napoleon and the struggle for Germany, Spring 1813:

A Snappy Nappy Campaign-in-a-Day Event

Where: The Portal, Manchester, CT When: Saturday, October 5, 2024 10 AM – 5 PM

Rules: Snappy Nappy, by Russ Lockwood GM: Mike Seibert;  AGM Peter Anderson, Mark T. Contact Gonsalvo@aol.com

After the devastating retreat from Moscow during the winter of 1812 - 1813, there was little left of the 500,00 men who invaded Russia less than a year earlier. However, Napoleon has raised new armies, and along with his increasingly shaky allies of the Confederation of the Rhine, seeks to re-establish his dominance over Europe. The battered Russians and their new Prussian allies aim to thwart his plans. If they do well, perhaps they can draw Austria into the Coalition, too!

SnappyCon's Tenth (10!!) campaign-in-a-day event will use over a thousand 28 mm miniatures to maneuver across a 100-mile wide campaign map, simulated using fifteen 4'x6' tables. Players maneuver their figures from table to table to engage, out-flank and combat their opponents!

Each player commands roughly half to a full Corps of troops, with 8 French Commands plus Napoleon as C-in-C, and 3 Prussian and 5 Russian Commands, plus Kutuzov as C-in-C (with two Coalition Monarchs for moral support.)

This event is free, but to support our host, The Portal, we encourage you to make some gaming purchases while you attend.

If interested in playing, register for the event and let us know with preference for side if any, (French or Prussian/Russian Coalition)… especially any players interested in being the C-in-C (Kutuzov or Napoleon).

Further information and pre-event planning will be provided via email by the GMs. All registration should be sent to Peter Anderson at Gonsalvo@aol.com

Napoleon at Lutzen

Project Waterloo: Hanoverians... and (free) flags from Mal's Small World.

This project required 3 units of Hanoverian infantry. Perry makes a nice range of these troops, but I didn't really want to incur the expense of buying them (and the necessary time to paint them!). 

Roughly 25 years ago I bought roughly 100 very neatly painted Minifigs British from Jamie, who had brough them to Historicon in the hopes that I might want to purchase them. 

I had no British Napoleonics at the time, nor had I any plans to start a British Napoleonic army at the time, either. 

If I recall, he offered them at $1 per figure. At that price and with the very fine paint jobs, I couldn't resist... could I? Of course not. 

The troops were more than enough to make up 3 units of infantry in my scheme, but not enough for 4. The regulation Hanoverian Line infantry uniform was all but indistinguishable form that of standard British troop.  I realized that I could use the spare figures (and a few spare Old Glory command figures) to just add Hanoverian Command stands (just the flags, really). Then the three units could be used as either British or Haoverian just by changing one stand per unit. 

Jamie's original troops formed one unit of 30 in light yellow facings, and one in medium green facings. While I was at it, I changed the facing colors of the requisite figures  so that there is now a black faced unit, that once again can be used as British or Hanoverian. These wonderful flags are from Mal's Small World blog: https://mal4955.blogspot.com/p/mals-small-world-guide-to-flags-and.html

Among the gems there are numerous flags for the British Yeomanry units of the Napoleonic Wars, Foreign units in British service, ALL of the British Infantry units of the Napoleonic Wars (one of the pedants on TMP sniffed that devices are too large; he's correct, but really for our purposes the flags look much better and are more easily recognizable with  the exaggerated devices. In any event, if you don't like them, I'm sure your money will be cheerfully refunded (my standard answer to those who complain about aspects of thigs they didn't pay anything for!). 

Anyway, there are  flags for all three battalions of the Hanoverian regiments of 1815; it's likely the regimental (not the sovereign's) flags had fields in the facing color (and perhaps white for black faced regiments). Anyway, the flags I used, left to right, were for the Luneburg, Calenberg, and Verden regiments. 

But wait, there's still more vexillogic goodness on Mal's blog: Flags for all the Danish Napoleonic infantry regiments, eight sheets for flags for the Swedish Napoleonic infantry and cavalry regiments, flags for the Russian Cossacks and Opolochenie, far more than 100 flags for the Austrian Landwehr of 1809, the Erzherzog Karl Legion, and the infantry and cavalry of the Hungarian Insurrectio. Not satisfied? There a few dozen flags for the Tyrolean uprising, too! 

Still not impressed? How about flags for the Napoleonic Army of Mysore, the Sikhs, Rajput, Mehwari, Muhgals. There are flags as described by Kipling for  Jaipur, Lahore, Bikanir, Udaipur, and others. Still more sheets of flags are on the site for the Mahratta, an illustration of the flags of the French Corps of Hyderbad, flags of the Honorable East India Company,  the Bombay Native Infantry, Bengal infantry and cavalry in British service, and the same for Madras. There arter probably well over 1,00 flags on this site, and all are free!  Check it out; yopu will be blown away!

 

Project Waterloo - The Playtest

 We wound up having 5 of us for the game; unfortunately. Kevin had to bow out at the last minute due to work obligations. Either that, or it was his recent election to the Board of HMGS making him feel overwhelmed, LOL!  As I wrote to him, I voted for you even though I like you!"  :-) Anyway, on the Allied aside we had Kyle, Chris, and Thomas; it was the first visit to the Table for Kyle and Chris. Chris plays more board games, but had played miniatures with William Keyser years ago (a fellow Connecticut resident, and the author of the From Valmy to Waterloo rules. Kyle had never played historical miniatures before, but is starting a D&D Campaign which my older daughter (who likes games, unlike my wife and younger daughter, neither of which is much for games) is evidently going to be a participant!

Barry and I took the French; Barry once again drove all the way from his home in Maine and back for the game. Now that's a dedicated grognard! Our initial advance was finely synchronized, while our artillery bombarded Hougoumont and La Haye Sainte.

I got bold with my three units of Light cavalry on the far left flank of our army; probably unwisely so!

I destroyed rthe Brunswicj Hussars, but the Horse Guards were another matter altogether. I put some hurt on this Brunswick line infantry as well, but that meant that on their turn they would shoot back, which is just about as effective as a frontal cavalry charge. 

Note the lack of French Light Cavalry now, and the brooding masses of British cavalry arriving. It is Turn 4, and Napoleon has released the Guard Cavalry... and not a moment to soon, then Chasseurs a Cheval of the Imperial Guard can be seen moving up in support. 

Chris' British cavalry charge; The Legere unit took double hits; 8 dice, needing 3+ to hit. Not a pretty sight (at least if you were playing French, that is!). 

Red Lancers countercharge to Life Guards. With so much British cavalry around, most of my linen units form Square. Squares cannot be attacked in melee, but cannot move or fire, so they really lose all offensive power. In retrospect, it may not have been worthwhile. 

On the French right, Barry has taken Pappelotte, and is making progress against the Allied Left. 

Not looking good for my command (Reille).  I thought the Allies were the ones who formed square?!

Old Guard Infantry arrives to bolster the crumbling French Left! I got lucky when Kyle got really cold dice - 1 hit on 8 dice needing a 3+ to hit!

Meanwhile, Barry (D'Erlon and part Lobau) has destroyed Picton's entire command and is rolling up Hill's now, too. 

View from D'Erlon's starting positions. The "reluctance" of the DB cavalry to charge really handicapped them. Game ended turn 11, and at that point French had lost 11 units of 30 vs 19 of 29 for the Allies. With over 60% losses losses suffered by the Allies, Napoleon is victorious! "Give me night or give me Blucher!"

Thanks so much to Barry, Thomas, Kyle and Chris for playing! I had a blast!

Rules/Scenario Changes from Playtest

Game took about 3 hours to reach a conclusion. Therefore I am going reduce the hits taken by each unit by one across the board. That should see units eliminated faster.

Add Zone of Control (none for LI and Units in BUA's) and diagonal movement rules similar to those in To the Strongest!

Eliminate most of the special rules: the retreat from fire rule, Conscript, Steady, Impetuous, Reluctant and Shock attributes (In the end, they didn't really add much to the game, and some were often forgotten). KISS!

Change rules for Ney so that he simply acts as additional commander who may lead units of any command. 

Earlier release of  Guard Cavalry Turn 3 vs 4), Guard Infantry Infantry (Turn 6 vs 8)

Transfer one Line Infantry from D'Erlon to Reille; that will make all 3 French commands have 10 units each. 

Finally, perceiving the grid on the hills was sometimes difficult. I had planned on making custom ridge lines for the game, and even bought a new foam cutter to do it. Barry has been doing some terrain boards and had a nifty idea about using ceramic magnets to hold the components together. Barry explains "The magnets are from JoAnns fabric, I used a 3/4” speed bit to drill the holes in the foam insulation. The metal tabs were cut from thin sheet metal(from Home Depot or Lowe’s HVAC isle) and then I cut the area they are to go into with a utility knife.  Both magnet and metal plate were hot glued in place."

Sheet metal inset flush into the edge of the foam board

Magnet inset flush into the foam boar edge

Tools and supplies!

    However, I am planning to transfer the bulk of my Geohex terrain to another gamer who will pick them up at Historicon, and space in the car will be tight, so it makes sense to use the Geohex (prior to transfer) for this event at least. We had a variety of ideas for marking the grid, but I think I may just go with rocks on 1" bases, which I already use as casualty markers for other games. I may need to make some new ones, though. That is pretty quick to do, however. If I am happy with how the game goes such that I might run it again at other and/or future conventions, I may tackle some custom hill/ridge terrain for the 6" grid.