David Bickley's Wargames Blog

The occasional ramblings of an average gamer, journeyman painter, indifferent modeller, games designer, sometime writer for Wargames Illustrated and host of games in GHQ.



Wednesday 21 August 2019

As night fell...

...only the moans of the wounded and the dying disturbed the silence across the plains of Peenedeforde. Or rather it was the final turn in a SYW battle fought here in GHQ with Lord Rawnsley (Phil) and the Comte du Merde (moi) failing to force a victory over 12 Turns. As is usual now, I'll let the pictures and captions give some feel for the action ~
The French right is held by the Gardes Francais & Swisse,
supported by the Cavalry of the Maison du Roi.
The cavalry of the Maison du Roi advances boldly to attack
the British Household Cavalry brigade.
The Comte du Merde watches as the Infantry in the centre
March forward slowly. The ground must have been softened
by heavy rain.
The British infantry are finding the going very slow in the
early stages of the battle. In the foreground the Horse Guards
sweep boldly forward to the attack.
The British infantry find firmer ground and begin their
advance, aiming to occupy the farm before the French can
reach it.

The solid ranks of French infantry move steadily forward. The
Wild Geese in the foreground supporting the French line
battalions.

The French are attacking in echelon hoping to turn the British
out of the occupied farm and isolate the British right wing. The
French cavalry, out of shot, wait impatiently for their moment!

On the French right disaster strikes! The Cuirassier du Roi are
driven back and the Gendarmes are Routed! Mon Dieu!

The French reserves arrive in the centre and are immediately
dispatched by Du Merde to shore up the Guards on theFrench
right flank.In the centre the British have finally cleared the soft
ground and close with the stalled French infantry.

The last of the Maison du Roi cavalry flee in rout! The Garde
Swisse are attacked by the Dragoon Guards, but drive them off
with a devastation volley and the bayonet! Huzzah!

The British Household Brigade is Broken, despite its heroic
performance. The Garde savour the moment and prepare to
advance once again!

All along the front the Battle rages.Although the Cuirasier Du
Roi have rallied, the Brigade is Broken and so they cannot
exploit their opportunity! Merde!!!

The far is still in British hands! Meanwhile, the French left
wing of cavalry of the Line and the Hussards de Bykli await
the order to Charge!

As night falls {Turn 12 ends the game!} the French have failed
to press home their attacks. Both sides have fought valiantly,
but to no avail, and will withdraw to lick their wounds, bury
their dead and carouse the night away!
A hard fought battle and no mistake with both sides bloodied but unbowed as night fell (Turn 12 ended of course.) For both sides Command Rolls were unusually poor restricting movement in the earlier phases of the battle. The ground must have been soft and wet I thought! French powder was also damp it seemed resulting in exchanges of fire which favoured the British without ever delivering a knockout blow. Both the Household cavalry Brigade and that of the Maison du Roi were Broken, while on the opposite wing the Brigades of Line Cavalry cancelled each other out. The British could not be driven from the farm they had occupied early in the battle, restricting the advance of the French centre. Despite it all though a grand and exciting tussle! Time for supper ~

16 comments:

  1. A game of slow manoeuvre and poor fire, must of been damp as you say. Most enjoyable all the same.

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    Replies
    1. Perhaps steady rather than slow might be acceptable?

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    2. 30 views has so far only produced your reply Phil. Frankly I can no longer see the point of blogging if folk are unwilling to even post a short comment.

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  2. As always a lovely looking game and one with that you obviously enjoyed, despite the vagaries of the command die.

    I know how you feel re: replies as often I will only get one or two from regular contributors, despite supposedly having quite a few followers. Whether they are still active I'm not sure. As for views, they can often be from Russia and automated for wont of a better word. I had planned on replying earlier this week but it's been a busy one and I was simply too tired to put fingers to keyboard!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for taking the time to leave your thoughts, Steve J. Perhaps Facebook, with its ease of posting pictures and it’s Like button, is displacing Blogs? I know I seem to garner more feedback to my Facebook pictures than my Blog. Cheers!

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  3. Great looking game David table literally sinking under the figures ! Damp powder for the French sounds like some underhand business

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for those kind words Matt. The French neither fired nor saved effectively all game!

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  4. Lovely looking game and figures,bit of a result for Phil, halfway to a victory! I have no idea how many people view my blog posts and thats probably best!
    Best Iain

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    Replies
    1. I think you are becoming a bit of a cheerleader for Phil you know 😉 As to visits, well, I'm interested to know if it's worth the time wrestling with Blogger's oddities.

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    2. Somebody has too! By the way I bought Wargames Illustrated only because of your pallazo article and was pleasantly surprised, it wasn't all flames of war and there was more than one article I found interesting!
      Best Iain

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  5. Came late to this one but very inspiring as my interest leans towards WWII again despite having SYW troops to paint. I have about half a dozen regulars who comment on the blog and then receive the odd one or two from out of the blue, these are all welcome and appreciated. I do the blog mainly for myself but it is nice to know others do read it, I don't like reading more than a quick line on FB and prefer when a link is given to a proper page. Don't give up there will be a silent majority out there.

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    Replies
    1. I would be pleased to see more SYW from you George. If you don't mind me saying,you seem to be slipping into the BA morass more and more. If you are not careful you will become one of those Goldfish Gamers ��

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    2. I was hoping to get the troops out for an Honours of War game but I am finding it difficult to get an opponent. WWII seems to be holding my attention at the moment.

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  6. Nice looking game. Don't worry about viewing figures. It's nice if they are viewed but it is essentially a diary of events in your wargaming life.
    Who knows, you may gain prominence after passing from this mortal coil by wargamers yet to come.

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    Replies
    1. I hope you won't mind if I hang on a bit?

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  7. I'm pleased you bought the copy of WI, but more so that it provided you with a pleasant surprise and useful pieces to read. The current issue I've found very interesting, especially the inspiration in a long terrain article. The piece on Frontier Wars in Australia is also interesting I think.

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