Mackay,s Farm: an AWI Sharp Practice scenario

    The crown forces have recently carried out a patrol in a 'rebel' area and discovered a cache of arms in a barn on James Mackay's farm.  It has been decided that an example must be made to deter any further insurrection; therefore Mackay's farmhouse is to be burnt to the ground.  A  force of Queen's Rangers and native allies has been sent to carry out the operation.

Word has reached the local patriot commander of what is intended and a hastily assembled force of militia is on it's way to secure the farmhouse. 

The road to Mackay's Farm from the patriot entry point

The Crown forces consist of 3 companies of Queen's Rangers, a unit of riflemen and two unit of First Nations allies.  The Patriot forces are three units of militia, two groups of skirmishers armed with muskets and one skirmisher group armed with rifles.  

The Loyalist commander sent his allies forward to screen the advance of the Queen's Rangers.  Tuapene led his men to the enclosure around the farmhouse, they took cover behind the fence and were soon engaged in a long range skirmish with the militia riflemen.  Hiawasha led his men towards the wood from which the riflemen were firing, but the riflemen had another skirmish unit in support and this opened fire on the warband, causing significant casualties.

While this skirmishing was going on the formed units on both sides were pushing forward towards the farm.  The fire from the militia riflemen began to tell on Tuapene's warband and they fell back into the farmhouse and began to try and start a fire to burn it down. 

The main body of militia advance towards the farmhouse.

Two units of the militia were now exchanging volleys with the Queen's Rangers, but as this was at long range few casualties were being inflicted.  The loyalist riflemen now moved forward to take on the militia riflemen, but, being in the open, came off worst in the exchange of fire. 

Hiawasha's warband prepare to advance 

The second militia skirmishing unit had moved onto the flank of the Queen's Rangers firing line and opened fire trying to disrupt them.  The reserve unit of Queen's Rangers moved to oppose them and once again a long range exchange of fire began.

The Queen's Rangers form a firing line

In an attempt to eject Tuapene's men from the farmhouse the reserve militia unit was sent forward in attack.  They attempted to force their way in through the backdoor but were met with tomahawks and then axe-wielding braves.  Lacking bayonets and constricted by the doorway they suffered very heavy casualties and routed.  This allowed Tuapene to complete his setting of the fire and after waiting to make sure the farmhouse was well alight he led his surviving braves back towards the Queen's Rangers line.

Tuapene's men escape from the burning farmhouse

A definite success for the Loyalist force and an important lesson for the patriot commander; don't send militia into melee, they are much better shooting from a distance.

We ran the scenario again after lunch and the First Nations allies once again played a major part in a loyalist victory.  The patriot commander had moved forward quickly and established his riflemen in the enclosure around the farm.  They were exchanging shots with the loyalist riflemen, but their officer was wounded, reducing their effectiveness.  This allowed Tuapene and Hiawasha to advance and then attack.  Once again the fragility of the militia in melee was demonstrated and the riflemen were swept away, as were a unit of militia skirmishers.  This cleared the way for loyalist troops to move forward to the farmhouse and set it alight. 

Vapnartak 2025

 Once again the first Sunday in February saw Steve and I have an early start for our annual trip over the Pennines to York for the Vapnartak Show.  The Lance & Longbow was putting on our usual Lion Rampant participation game and this year it featured the Battle of Stamford Bridge, from the Wars of the Roses.  We had run the game  about 8 years ago, but this time we tried it with 'Billhooks' sized units and it gave the players a bit more room for manoeuvre.

The scenario involved a force led by Thomas Percy, Lord Egremont intent on raiding Neville family manors in the region of Stamford Bridge, but finding that John Neville, Marquess of Montague with a large body of retainers was waiting for him.  Historically the affair was over very quickly, with some of Percy's men quitting the field when they saw the size of the Neville force.  To even things up the Percy force does not suffer these losses and also the Nevilles are deemed to be still forming up after deploying across the river.  This gives Egremont a chance to do some damage to the Nevilles before their better quality begins to tell.  Also we introduced some uncertainty by creating a flank force of Raby Nevilles, whose ultimate allegiance is unknown.  They were on poor terms with Montague's branch of the family and once the War of the Roses began they backed Henry VI, whereas Montague backed Richard of York.

Egremont's forces prepare to advance

Montague's men hastening to form up

Montague's right wing attacking the Percy left

The Raby Nevilles joined Montague and caused
mayhem amongst the levy infantry on Egremont's right

We ran the game twice and on each occasion the Raby contingent kept it in the family.  However this did not guarantee success.  You lose if half your units are eliminated, or your C in C is killed.  In both games Egremont was on the verge of defeat but was saved by Montague being killed in melee.

During our lunch break I managed a quick tour around the other games all but one of which were on the 2nd mezzanine floor.  Ken Riley (aka Yarkshire Gamer), had brought along his Siege of Forli Italian Wars game.

The East Leeds Militaria Society had the battle of Tabaruzaka which took place in the Satsuma Rebellion when Samurai rebelled against the Imperial government.  Traditional samurai took on the new Imperial Army which was equipped with modern weapons.

Brompton Bankers had an AWI game, Clash on the Alloway Creek.

Finally there was Sally Forth's game, Midshipman Hornblower and the Pirates which had a very nice walled harbour and town as the scene of the action.

My apologies to Lancaster Wargamers, Harrogate Wargamers and the Westow Academy who all produced very nice games, but a combination of shortage of time and the very bright sunlight which bleached out photos meant I did not any photos for the blog.  That being said they have all featured in video reports on Youtube from 'Storm of Steel' and 'Shakos and Spruces'.

This year the organisers made significant changes to the layout of the show meaning more space is available on the ground floor, greatly improving the flow of visitors.  The organisers stress the trade aspect of the show and indeed the show seemed quite busy, but the number of games on view has declined significantly over the last couple of years, only 14 this year and one of those didn't appear.  This may be replicated at shows elsewhere, I don't attend enough to judge and there are probably several factors at play here: fewer people offering games, organisers facing increased costs and needing more traders to cover expenses, I don't know.  It is just an observation of what may be a trend.

All that being said we had a very good day.  Interaction with the public was high, with plenty of people stopping to ask about the game, rules etc.  We also had a good number of volunteers to actually join in, which is gratifying.  Our thanks to Alan, Jim, John. Jeff and James and to anyone who I have forgotten.  Thanks also to Andy, Si, Steve and Will for their work on the game and the society stand.  As always Dave kept us going with tea and coffee.

"O Brother , where art thou" : a Ruckus scenario and Vapnartak

 For our game last week, Steve set up this scenario from the Ruckus rule book.  Ambrose of Longfield has returned from the continent with news of a plot to depose the king.  The red force is keen to talk to Ambrose so that they can forestall the coup, whereas the blue force is equally keen to find Ambrose to find out what they can do to further their cause to reinstate "the deposed one".  Ambrose is known to have taken refuge in a monastery, but neither side knows what he looks like, except that when fighting abroad he has been injured, losing a finger.

Both camps have sent a force to the monastery tasked with finding Ambrose.  When the forces enter the table they find the monastery grounds and 5 monks placed at random along the centre line.  Bob and I each had 3 leaders and allocated 9 retainers between them.   I commanded the 'red' force led by Sir Arthur, Baron Leyland, with two sub leaders Sir John Lonsdale and Martin Furness,  Bob had the 'blue' force led by Sir William, Baron Ryedale, with Sir Henry Buckrose and Harry Ewecross.

The view from behind the red forces right flank

I had allocated 4 of my 9 retainers to Sir Arthur, as he had the widest command radius, Sir John had 3 and Martin Furness 2, Bob had divided his retainers equally between his three commanders.  At the start of the game, Sir Arthur set off up the road as three of the five monks were within a reasonable distance it.  Furness was on the left and Sir John the centre.  Within a couple of moves Sir Arthur was in long range of the opposing archers, he was of course well protected, but his retainers, who were close to him, were not.  A combination of high dice from Bob and low ones from me quickly reduced Sir Arthur's contingent to a single billman.  Nevertheless, Sir John had contacted one of the monks and discovered it was not Ambrose.  To attempt to sow a bit of confusion he began to bring the monk back to the baseline, hoping to convince the white force that he had Ambrose.

Meanwhile, against the odds, Sir Arthur had actually found Ambrose and was bringing him back to the baseline.  Unfortunately,    Sir William was nearby and moving more quickly attacked Sir John, forcing him back and capturing Ambrose.  By this time Sir Arthur had lost his remaining billman and was wounded; faced by odds of 3 to 1 he had to retire and cede the day to his opponent.

Sir Arthur advances down the road

We ran the game a second time after lunch and once again the white forces prevailed.  This time they discovered Ambrose fairly quickly.  Sir John was close by, but his attempt to 'rescue' Ambrose came to an abrupt end when he was felled in combat with Sir Henry,  This left his retainers 'feckless' and gave Sir John ample time to escort Ambrose back to the white baseline.

Sir John escorting Ambrose to 'safety'

This coming Sunday Steve and I will be at the Vapnartak show at York with a Lion Rampant participation game.  If you are attending, please feel free to stop by and perhaps roll a few dice.

Never Mind the Matchlocks trial

 Steve, Bob and I have played quite a few games of 'Billhooks', so we thought we would give this set of rules a go.  As you would expect they are very similar, though matchlocks replace bows and cavalry are more numerous.  Brigades replace Battles as the element of command.  One interesting change is that there is now an army commander, who can either carry out an action himself, or, give an extra action to one of his commanders.  As with 'Billhooks' it is a card driven system so not all commanders will have the opportunity to act each turn.

An infantry brigade ready to advance

Preparing to exchange volleys

We tried out a simple scenario featuring a roadside inn.  The two cavalry forces entered combat fairly quickly and it was fairly bloody!  Starting with 4 brigades, each with 2 units in no time half had been eliminated, having failed their morale tests or had been wiped out.  Of the remaining four, three were below half strength.

The remains of two cavalry units after a round of melee

Cavalry charging a gun

Infantry are either musketeers, pikemen or forlorn hope skirmishers.  Ammunition for formed musketeer units (including those in composite units with pike, is limited to 6 rounds (with an extra one on the basis that the unit is assumed to be already loaded.  This does encourage advancing into close range (9" or less), as at long range hits are only scored with '6's.  Saving throws are 5+, so hits can 'stick' and build up quickly.  Interestingly, on mixed pike/musket units all the hits are assumed to fall on the muskets, which some may find odd and wish to change.  

Morale is the same as for 'Billhooks'.  The composite matchlock and pike units add 2 to their morale test so only a double 1 spells disaster.  Nevertheless, I did manage it.

Very rarely a good result

Our first attempt seemed to run ok, and with use I can see we could easily play a game in a three hours.  If you have played 'Billhooks' and like the system and also have some Pike and Shot troops they could give a small scale action alternative to Pike and Shotte or one of the other rule sets available.  

My apologies for the grommets in use as casualty counters.  The rules require figure removal and all our figures  are on multiple figure bases.

Not been a particularly productive year on the blog, but I hope to post more frequently next year.  In closing, I would like to wish all my readers a peaceful and prosperous 2025.

RECON Show 2024 at Pudsey

 Fortunately, the weather was not as severe as anticipated for the trip over the Pennines to Pudsey for our final wargames show of 2024.  Our game was positioned just by the door in the main hall so we were the first game seen as the visitors entered.  Quite a few stopped to ask questions and a few joined in the game.  As usual the show was busy in the morning before quietening down later.  There was a reasonable mix of traders and I was able to obtain the few items on my shopping list. The majority of games were participation and here are some examples.

First a game based on the film "Hot Fuzz" which was just being re-set for another run.

Then a game set during the Battle of Britain

and one based on I think "Space Cadets" with some insects you would rather not meet!

In the upstairs room Ken Riley (aka Yarkshire Gamer) had his Battle of Mentana game which has been at several shows this year.

We ran our game twice with the morning game going down to the wire with both armies on the brink of defeat and resulting in a narrow English victory.  The afternoon game was slightly more in favour of the English but was called a draw.

Thank you to Andy, Simon, Steve and Will for helping with the game.  Also Charles, Jim, John and Oliver for joining us.

RECON Dec 2024

 Next weekend it is the RECON Show at Pudsey, the traditional end to our wargaming travels.  Once again Steve, Bob and I will be at the show putting on a game in support of the Lance and Longbow Society.  This year our game will be a fictional encounter from the short-lived War of Saint Sardos which took place in the 1320's between England and France.  The action takes place in Gascony where a dispute over rights to establish a new town resulted in the destruction of the town and the violent death of a French sergeant.  Armies have been despatched by Charles IV of France and Edward II of England to resolve the dispute.

Below are a few photos from our test run of the scenario, the top two were taken before we introduced the stakes to protect the archers.

 If you are attending the show please drop by and say hello.  Or even better, join in as it will be a participation game.

Summer 2024

It has been some time since I posted on the blog.  Some games have been taking place, but I just haven't got around to reporting them.  Being summer other commitments come to the fore and so this is by way of a postcard from my travels.

At the Riverside Museum in Glasgow I came across this display featuring the Glasgow built ships which ran the Union blockade to trade with the Confederate states,

The last picture was a trip down memory lane.  Way back in my youth a company which produced bubblegum decided to boost sales by including rather graphic picture cards depicting the ACW.  In addition the packs included facsimiles of Confederate currency.  Now I have never liked bubblegum, but like all my classmates I collected the cards and the money.  The latter was used in games of pontoon, fortunately not leading to a life of gambling.

I have posted about the Riverside Museum before, and included photos of ship models, but here are two more

On another day, further west we visited Tarbert on Loch Fyne.  Of interest to me here were the remains of the castle.

It was quite a climb, but the view over the harbour was worth it

Earlier ion the summer we went to Cornwall and while there we visited St Michael's Mount.  In the museum there were several artefacts collected by the family.

Flag captured at the battle of El Teb

A shield from the same source