Attack on Fort Découragement

As I mentioned in the previous Blog post,Phil and I tackled a second F&IW game in our regular Monday meeting here in GHQ last week. Phil as Lord Rawnsley assumed command of the British force, keen to follow up its success under Lord Walton, while I had the task of rallying my defeated French force and halting the British advance. In this I was aided by being able to fall back towards Fort Decouragement to give my battered force a secure base at least. I also had the very faint hope for the timely arrival of my Paddoquoi Allies who had taken the previous defeat very badly.

At the start of the game, the Fort and its environs as the armies
deploy.

De Bykli overseas the deployment of the defenders as the
British under Lord Rawnsley hasten to the attack.

Some early success for the French! The British attack falters
under French fire!

The Rangers advance on the British right flank. But those
treacherous Padoquoi have been seduced to the British cause!

Local French settlers have flanked the British infantry to aid
their regulars and woodsmen.

A group of Rangers are in the French rear, an ominous sign...

Oblivious to the new threat, the French look to their front.

Fire from the fort disrupts the Rangers and eases the threat on
the French positions.

But in the next turn, its all up for the French and they march
away from the fort a broken force...

While on the French left the treacherous Paddoquoi massacre
the surviving French settlers!

At least De Bykli saves his face, marching out with the Honours
of War as the fort is put to the flame!

Again Black Powder proved robust enough to deliver an excellent and gripping game going almost to the wire despite our tinkering with the parameters of unit sizes and the nature of command and control. It will be a while until we revisit the F&IW here in GHQ. I hope to add a few more figures this coming year, the usual riders to ambition being added of course. No games here in GHQ next week, as Phil is away on a tad of R&R and Jon is unavailable,but don't despair I have some finished units ready to show you next week. Now there's a treat to look forward to...or not.

Attack on Petit-St Mellon

Jon and I were trying out a few ideas for a French and Indian War game using my collection of Redoubt Enterprise figures and Black Powder 2, including the recent dedicated theatre supplement. The scenario sees a British attack on a small French settlement, Petit-St Mellon. Lord Walton assumed command of the British force sent to burn the French out and hopefully secure more Paddoquoi allies, while De Bykli assumed the mantle of French commander charged with the defence of the settlement ~

The Rangers just fail to make contact with the Padoquoi village in Turn 1.

Meanwhile the British Regulars, their left screened by their Light Company,
advance on the French left.

The inhabitants of Petit-St Mellon prepare to defend their homes. In the
background the French artillery makes slow progress towards the left flank.

"Not quite time for the last rites, Father." ...not just yet anyway!

French regulars have been wrong-footed by the British attack on the weaker
French left flank.

The French left is held by two elements of Coureur Du Bois, who will very
soon be driven in by the British infantry advancing on their position.

The British advance relentlessly supported by their native allies. We treated
each base as a separate unit in BP terms for firing and fighting and it seemed
to work just fine throughout the game.

The French infantry attempt to take the British in the flank, while the folk of
Petit-St Mellon hold off the Light Company. It was looking very good for the
French cause at that point!

The remaining Paddoquoi have been persuaded to come over to the French
side and set off with a whoop to take a few scalps! Or so I hoped!!

Four Morale Save failures later, the French are being driven back by Turn 8.

In Turn 9 a further two Morale Save failures sees the French force Broken.
The French commander orders a retreat and Petit-St Mellon will burn!

We both thoroughly enjoyed our game and felt that until very late on in proceedings it was very open as to which side might triumph. In the end my superb firing throws, sadly matched by Jon's equally good Saving throws, could not be repeated by my Morale saves. Four on the bounce failed at less than 4 each for my first four attempts! But then I find this the real beauty of Black Powder in action, the very unpredictability of events keeps the game alive until the last throw of the dice! Al being well with the sick and ailing on Monday Phil and I will be giving the rules another outing in the F&IW setting with a follow up scenario I'm busy devising this weekend.

Despair at Fort Desperation

Three weeks on from my discharge after the hip replacement operation  Phil and I met up in GHQ for a second try at the Black Powder F&IW game, with Phil commanding the British and yours truly the French. We employed the same modifications and additions to the rules as in the previous game, mainly to test out their possible inclusion in other periods we play using them, though the British added some support from a Great Lakes sloop. The French won the initiative dice off, at the third attempt, and proceeded to fail all Command rolls in their first turn! Pretty much the story of the whole game from my perspective. The game lasted 15 turns in about 21/2 hours and the following pictures capture the flow rather nicely I feel ~

While the irregulars and the Paddoquoi warriors make their opening move the

French regulars and artillery do not enter the table! In contrast the British 

seize the high ground blocking the route to the fort!

The Woodsmen fail to each their objective and the Regulars are able to

refuse their flank! Their Light Company hurry to cover the flank but are

attacked by a band of Paddoquoi.

Settlers from the lakeside village defend their homes from French Canadian

militia. For several turns neither side could hit the barn door!

At last the French Regulars enter the table but fail to deploy into firing line!

Yet another awful Command roll! The artillery blunder forward so cannot

fire! The Woodsmen are unable to break the Regulars and the Light Company

sees off the Paddoqoi! Sacre Bleu!

Just as the Paddoquoi war party lands to attack the village HM Sloop Achilles

rakes the landing area with canister. Mon Dieu!

The British Regulars are 'Shaken' so the French rush in with the bayonet!

"A Moi! A Moi!" Now as a result of the Hand-to-Hand combat they are

'Shaken' as well! Merde!

Both sides must test Morale. Both fail and Route! The British leave the table,

and the game, but the French may try to Rally! The Light Company are routed

by the Woodsmen while along the waterfront the Paddoquoi are holding their

own against Robinson's Rangers and the settlers.

In Turn 14 it looks all up for the British, the way to the fort lies undefended!

Mais naturellement de Bykli fails his Command rolls allowing the rallied 

Light Company and a Company of Rangers to enter the fort!

Turn 15 sees the French Regulars rally, but too far from the fort to effect the

outcome. While the Paddoquoi war party has seized the village elsewhere the

French cause est perdu! From a French win to a British triumph in one turn!

C'est le Guerre mes amis!

I was shattered after about two and a quarter hours of play, but also elated to have played a game much sooner than I thought possible before the operation! I've also been able to start some short painting sessions this week and have almost finished a Command base for my mercenary Landsknechts in the pay of Cesare Borgia and the service of the Papal States army. Phil will be here tomorrow again and we hope to have a go at Wings of War, the WWII version. Now, time for my nap I think...

The Attack on Fort Desperation

For the first, and possibly only, game here in GHQ in May Jon and I played a French and Indian War game. We used Black Powder for the rules with two adaptations: firstly, you could give orders to each base of figures as well as to units, with each unit having its own commander under the CinC; secondly, units which routed could try to rally on a -2 in the next turn and a -1 in the turn following. After that, Routed units left the table. Both adaptations worked smoothly we thought and the game swung back and forth over 10 Turns before a clear winner emerged. I took a few pictures to capture the essence of the game which I hope will let you see how it all panned out ~

The defenders of Fort Desperation push out to engage the enemy. Local

settlers support the Regulars in the fort. The Light Company heads for the 

high ground.

French woodsmen emerge from cover in front of the Lights. The artillery

engage the partially concealed French Regulars. Robinson's Rangers make 

their appearance to bolster the defenders.

The Rangers move off  swiftly to engage the Padoquoi Indians who had 

landed further up the shoreline.

The French Regulars crest the hill and are engaged by the British Regulars.

The local settlers have fled and the Light Company has been forced back but

more Rangers are hurrying to secure the flank as more Padoquoi emerge from

the woods.

The British Regulars and the Colonial gunners drive back the French but

Disorder is beginning to effect the efficiency of the defenders.

The Padoquoi warriors have been driven of by the Rangers to give the hard

pressed defenders a short respite.

The Rangers and the Light Company find themselves out numbered by the 

enemy Militia Woodsmen and allied Padoquoi warriors. A crisis has been

reached for the Defenders of Fort Desperation.

Although the British Regulars still hold Fort Desperation the settlers and the

Rangers have fled the scene leaving the French under Colonel Le Blanc to

claim the victory.

Although I had originally hoped to play out the game with Sharp Practice 2 as the rules I found I was too preoccupied with my coming hip operation and fell back on our favourite Black Powder rules instead with the additions noted above. The game went very smoothly and the rules proved versatile enough to cope with our changes. I've left the game out on the table in GHQ as I hope to play it again with Phil when I'm just a little stronger in the hip department.

Dipping the toes...

...into Sharp Practice 2 in the F&IW. As I mentioned a while ago I've expanded my F&IW collection to enable us to dabble in the F&IW using these rules. Phil and I had our first run out on Monday, perhaps not the best choice of timing as we were both rather tired after our busy Sunday. We decided to concentrate on mastering the mechanisms of play so set up a Raid scenario, with a French force of Regulars supported by Indians and Coureurs du Bois, attacking across a stream to burn and pillage the Robinson homestead. The Homestead was defended by two groups of Civilians and two groups of Robinson's Rangers, supported by British Regulars and a group of Light Infantry. We set a limit of 12 Turns and just got them in either side of lunch. The table ~

As we were tying to give full attention to the rules and working out what to do I only took one other photo during the game ~

We both enjoyed our first experience of the rules. Phil as the British lost four points and I lost 3 off our  respective Force Morale ratings, but as neither of us achieved our objective we settled on a draw at the end. We really felt that there was a story clearly unfolding in front of us as we played. As the game progressed we found ourselves using more complex arrangements for our Leaders and making better use of the Command Cards. Managing our Shock Points also came more naturally as the game wore on, though shooting left a lot to be desired generally by both sides! The Dice Gods are not fooled by a new game...

I bought a pack of Woodsmen and another pack of Indians, with knives and clubs, from Redoubt at Partizan to boost the French forces and when they have been painted we'll try a second game and see how we go. In the meantime, the next game here in GHQ should be against Jon next week on my birthday. We've not settled on a choice of game as yet, so it will come as a nice surprise to you and to me equally. Toodle Pip!

Hors de Combat!

I have been for another cortisone injection in my right hip area as walking has become increasingly both painful and difficult these last few weeks, not to mention a couple of minor falls along the way. As Sue and I are off on a small ship cruise along the Dalmatian Coast at the start of June it's really important to me that I'm in as good a knick as possible! To that end I've also been following a weight reduction programme and have shed 1 stone 5 1/4 lbs so far. Keeping busy has helped a lot there, especially in the painting department! Which brings me nicely to today's offering: a Dixon Miniatures ACW Reb unit, the 10th Georgia, and the French Command group from Redoubt Enterprises for my F&IW Sharp Practice project ~

When Duncan was editing Wargames Illustrated he used to tease me good naturedly about being the High Priest of Dixon Miniatures but I really do think them the most characterful, animated and comprehensive range for the period in 28mm. I also know they are like Marmite to wargamers with others unable to comprehend my judgement! Each to their own of course, but for me the wonderful faces make each one a unique personality, not to mention that the hair is just right also!

Redoubt Enterprises too are another company who from time to time enjoy a mixed reputation amongst gamers, mainly when the issue of worn molds and miscasting issues arise. I have myself suffered slightly from the odd figure which simply wasn't up to snuff, but I have always found Trevor and Sue willing and able to put things right straight away. The joy for me of their F&IW figures is that I can clearly see the details and that the figures seem to love the paint job, just like Pulp Figures do for example. Given my problem with arthritis in my right hand and the occasional uncooperative eye these are important considerations to the 'geriatric gamer in waiting'!

Now, back to the next batch of ACW ragged Rebs from Dixon Miniatures. Its such a pleasure for a change after all these years to paint just what takes my fancy...

Expanding, and not my waistline for once!

As I believe I've banged on about before I have no new projects in the pipeline this year, for the first time since I retired from teaching in April 2002. Strangely I've found this unusual situation to be unexpectedly liberating rather than depressing as I had feared. I've found myself painting only when and what I felt like painting rather than feeling as if I were on a self imposed treadmill, pressing on with numerous figures and units towards the goal of getting a 'new game' on the table in GHQ.
One period of peripheral interest I've painted extra figures for is the French & Indian War. We've played occasional games here in GHQ using amended Astounding Tales rules and had great fun, but last year I bought the new Sharpe Practice 2 ruleset with a view to playing F&IW games with them instead, as I had enjoyed several games at Phil's of their WWII rules, Chain of Command. Working through their helpful lists showed me that I was short of figures for the core of Regulars on both sides. I rectified this at Warfare in Reading last November, buying the figures from Redoubt Enterprises to match those I already owned. I've been painting and basing them off and on and now the whole is finished I thought you'd like to see them for yourselves ~

One unexpected consequence of this photo session is that I've realised I have only 3 French command figures to the 6 British ones! Doh! I really should write things down rather than trust to memory now a days! In the short term I can borrow figures from my main SYW collection until I cross paths with Redoubt at some show or other and pick up the French High Command set.
As I started by mentioning painting, I thought that I would finish on the same theme. I'm currently working on a French National Guard unit for my FRW project, using Foundry early French in bicornes for the unit. I've managed 12/24 so far and am surprised to find that even though on the small side I am managing to make a decent fist of them. A by product of the lack of pressure perhaps leading to more relaxed and focused painting? Who can say, but I'm pleased by the end product so far. A Bientot Mes Amis!