Sometime in late summer 1914...

For health related reasons Phil and I fought our regular Monday game here in GHQ over the same terrain layout Jon & I had used last week for our Rapid Fire2 WWII game, only on this occasion in 28mm and set in the early stages of the Great War, using Black Powder rules with our developing in-house modifications. The figures are from both our collections, Phil’s Germans and my own BEF, while the buildings were painted and landscaped for me by Colin & Sue Rumford. Mostly the figures are from the Great War Miniatures range, supplemented by some from Footsore and Foundry. The hedges, walls, trees and woodland are from The Last Valley of course.

A Battery of Royal Artillery 18lb quick fire guns support the
BEF's right flank

The scenario sees the Germans pressing the BEF’s Rearguard as they make a stand in the open countryside. Our main modification sees Companies treated as Battalions, Battalions as Brigades, and Brigades (or Regiments in the German’s case) as Divisions. This allows commands to be given to individual companies to better reflect the fighting of the period while preserving the rule integrity of Black Powder. When a Battalion looses two of its four Rifle Companies then it is treated as Broken, unable to Rally off casualties or it’s already Shaken status. {No HQ Companies can be targeted and any Machine Gun Companies failing a Morale Save are simply removed.} Machinegun Companies are treated as artillery, but have three dice at under 24" and two at 24-48, in both instances jamming on a double one. All troops not in Column are considered to be in Skirmish formation, which helps to reflect the nature of the BEF's tactics especially.
Anyway, enough of that for now, a few images of the game so far to give you a flavour of how it plays ~

The vile Hun sweeping down on the gallant BEF's rearguard

The Gordon Highlanders defend La Ferme Rouge

The South Staffords defend the left of the BEF line

By Turn 9 the South Stafford's losses are mounting

We have played nine Turns so far in this game but have had to call a halt prematurely as my hip was sore. We plan to pick up the action again next Monday and play up to another 15 Turns if needed.

Casualty evacuation under fire from the enemy front and left

To be continued next week...