The Battle of Atzoff

Phil and I have recently played out a second game of Maurice, this time using my SYW armies. The game, which we named the Battle of Atzoff, sees the French assaulting the British position in and around the town of Atzoff. The town itself features several of the versatile Conflix buildings and the well, also by Conflix, marked the objective for the game. All my figures are from the Foundry SYW range, sculpted by Rob Baker I believe. They seem to divide opinion amongst wargamers I know, but for me they have that very C18th look. The opening picture shows the battlefield as the forces deployed. Phil, as the Attacker, got 8 Action Cards to start with while I, as the Defender, got 5. The story of the game unfolds in the following pictures, each one captioned to draw your attention to the salient feature in the game at that moment. To Atzoff then!

In the early morning mists the armies deploy

The French centre right begins to grind forward to attack the enemy

The French, led by the Garde Swisse, sweep forward

While to their right the French cavalry move to attack the British left wing

A desperate fight ensues, but the British falter

They are fatally disrupted and flee



The weight of the attack is still on the British left, allowing the right
to move forward



On the French left fire breaks a British regiment!

The Garde Swisse carry the town of Atzoff!

The Wilde Geese are on the wing!

Another firefight favours the French cause!

The French army's morale collapses and they flee!

Exhausted troops cheer their general!

While Phil's French were very successful on his right, he rather neglected his left wing where, in two rounds of decisive volley fire I was able to fatally disrupt three infantry regiments. To be fair to Phil, his dice throws for Army Morale points lost as a result could n't have been worse, while over on my left mine could not have been better. Hence, the French army suddenly exceeded its Army Morale and broke as a result, leaving the hard pressed British army victorious.
A super game we both agreed lasting about three hours in all, with a break for lunch kindly provided by my wife Sue. We think in our next outing with Maurice we may try the Advanced Rules, or some aspects of them at least. In the meantime we have a Bolt Action WWI game to look forward to next week after my trip up to Scotland to take in Carronade at Falkirk on Saturday.

Not the Grand Old Duke

I've been painting all sorts of late it seems amongst my ongoing Wars of the French Revolution project, but I thought I ought to show the progress I've made on that project first. They are all from Trent Miniatures of course, although some of the later 'British' troops were not sculpted by Matt. {You'll easily spot the more recent attempts I think!} First of all, the command base for the British army ~

Not the 'Grand Old Duke of York'

The mounted figure comes with three separate right arms ~ pointing with a sword, with a pistol and resting, which latter I chose to use this time. The foot figure is from the Artillery set. but I thought at least one figure on the base ought to be pointing to something!

Next up is the second Infantry regiment, the Iniskilling Regiment, the 27th Foot ~

Amongst these I've also painted an ACW command base, in this case for the Rebs. There were some Redoubt figures left over from the two 'Personality' conversions Matt did for me and I did n't know what I would do with them. Trevor of Dixon Miniatures kindly provided me with some spare heads for me to use instead of the Redoubt ones, the only aspect of their range I really don't like, and I had some spare Dixon horses to mount the appropriate figures on in stock. The result is pleasing to me, giving an extra Brigade command base with different figures from the rest, but fitting in with the look of my collections. Judge for yourself anyway ~

Finally, a Victorian gentleman from the older Foundry Victorian {or Wild West range?} to appear in our Great Detective game: Josiah Robinson, owner and overseer of the Empire Works ~

The other painting I mentioned has been featured over on the companion blog, Tales from Rhanzlistan in the form of personality figures for the 'Pulp Adventures' aspect of that world. Pop over to see those for yourself if you've time, the link is in the side bar.

Up the Jungle!

Recently Jon and I managed a Bolt Action game here in GHQ. We opted for a game set in Burma in the mid war period, with Jon commanding the Japanese force and myself the British. We are not ones for points and lists, so we more or less put my entire collection on the table in a six turn encounter game, starting a foot in from the table's edges. The first picture shows the general table layout: the Japanese deploy on the right as you look at the picture, the British the left ~

The ruined temple proved useful to the British to anchor their position

The Japanese attacked strongly on the British left but ran into stiff resistance from the British infantry in Ambush positions.

The Japs find their path blocked!

Meanwhile, the British tank attacked in their rear while more infantry took position on the high ground to enfilade any attack.

As you can see, the attack was a costly failure!


Meanwhile there was an exchange of mortar fire between the two sides.

The British 3" mortar team do stirling service!



Even under heavy fire the Jap mortar team stick to their task!



Finally the Japanese begin to get the upper hand, despite some serious losses of their own, including the tankette knocked out by British mortar fire.

The Japs attack the British left flank in numbers and carry the day.

The game lasted seven turns in the end and took about two hours. In the end the large number of pin markers I accumulated on two units proved the tipping point. The Japanese had lost 290 points but the British 380 plus, so clearly a Japanese win. I must get some more figures for this game later in the year: a Japanese tank and anti tank gun I think and a 25lber for the British if I can find the money!



The Great Detective ~ progress report

Despite some new glasses I've found that painting 28mm figures has caused some tiredness in the eyes of late, so I decided to switch to something altogether larger, namely my buildings and ephemera picked up at Salute from Oshiro Models for my Great Detective pulp style games. For those of you who've not come across this before on my Blog, its simply a pseudo-Victorian setting for Pulp games, using our tried and trusted rules, Astounding Tales. The figures are mostly from Foundry { old and newer Victorians} and Ironclad. The central 2' x 2' board which houses the urban core of the game marries up, in my mind anyhow, with the harbour and cemetery boards from the 1920's pulp Gangster games. I decided to see how the game might look in action, even though I've work still to do on several areas, so here are a few pictures to give a flavour of what it might look like ~

A general view from the harbour area

Isambard Kingdom Bykleigh explains his latest design...

Market Street ~ self evident really

Sales of an altogether different nature...

Market Blandings Cycle Club outing

Lord Rawnsley arrives to consult Holmes...

Josiah Robinson's Empire Works

Castle Street

I'd be interested in any feedback from visitors, so do feel free to leave a comment or two if you'd like. My next job will be to paint the roads and pavement areas to help it all blend in nicely. Each group of buildings will be mounted on some 2mm MDF then so that some groundwork bits and bobs can be added to taste. Pop back later in the summer to see the finished article.

The Battle of Pender's Spring

Over the Bank Holiday break Jon and I got together here in GHQ for an American Civil War game. What follows is a photo montage of the unfolding action. We used my Bull Run to Gettysburg rules. The figures are all from my collection, mostly the excellent Dixon Miniatures of course, and the terrain dressing is from The Last Valley. The objective of the game is to control the central hill which 'dominates' the battlefield. The Rebs enter from the top right, the Blue Bellies from the left side as you look at the first picture.

The brave defenders of the Union march to glory

Rebel troops pour forward

Boys from New York rush to claim the High Ground

Both sides are trying to turn the enemy's flank

Struggle for the High Ground is developing

U S Bykleigh oversees dispositions of his forces

Fierce fighting has erupted along the line

Midpoint in the game shows the Union plan unfolding

Turning the Flank?

Pennsylvanians Forward!

The steady tread of the US Regulars reinforcing the centre

Vicious hand to hand fighting for control of the summit

Reb forces build on the Union left flank

Both sides vie for control in the centre

Union troops surge onto the High Ground

But their left is beginning to give ground

Trying to stem the tide, more Union troops advance

Though hard pressed, the Union troops drive the Rebs off the hill

It seems the Union left has stabilized

Almost looks like its all up for the Rebs now

But no, Union morale breaks under heavy fire

Troops flee to their rear and its all up for the Union's cause today!