WMMS, Alumwell

 For the first time in three years Steve and I set off down the M6 this Sunday to visit the Alumwell show.  The venue remained the same and it was a good day out.  With the trade stalls and the Bring and Buy around the edge of the sports hall and the games and model displays in the centre there was plenty of room to wander around.  There was a good range of games on offer and photos of some of them follow.  Not all the games advertised who had organised them, or even what particular action was being represented which is a shame when it was clear that a lot of effort had gone in to what had been produced.

 First, the Potteries Old Boys with their game of the assault on Plancenoit using Perry and Warlord plastic 28mm figures.

The Phoenix group also had a 28mm Napoleonic game which seemed to have elements of Borodino, with a redoubt,  Polish troops attacking on the right flank and the presence of Bagration.

The Border Warriors had a game of the battle of Lauffeld from the War of Austrian Succession.  Quite a spectacle.

The Guards Wargames Club had a scenario set in the mid 15th century

Wyre Forest Gamers had a WWII game using the Chain of Command rules

Another WWII game was set in  the early days of Barbarossa

 

And one was set on the Western Front in the winter of 44/45

 

One of the advantages of visiting a show and not putting on a game is that you are free to try out a participation game.  Steve and I liked the look of the "Dragon and Peacock Wars" game by Tiger Miniatures.  Although we were unfamiliar with the war and the rules, Charles was on hand to talk us through it.  The rules are rather 'bloody' ie if you are defending and roll a '1' , your unit is destroyed.  Nevertheless we both enjoyed it.

Back in Western Europe the Shrewsbury Wargames Society had a Dark Ages/Medieval 'what if 'game based on the idea that Harold lost the Battle of Stamford Bridge and was killed in the battle.  William  landed in the south and established himself there while Tostig and Hardrada were in charge further North.  The game is set near Newark and features a Viking raid and the local resistance to it.

On more familiar territory, the ECW

and the Sudan, though slightly different in that it is the Mahdists who are on the defensive, with the Imperial troops attacking.

 Finally the 2nd Mysore War from the Leamington Spa group.

As usual at Alumwell there was an extensive display of modelling and painting skill.

It was good to see that the Alumwell show has survived the enforced break due to Covid.  Perhaps the number of traders was down slightly, but there seemed to be a good public attendance.  They were rewarded  by seeing a very good selection of games in a spacious setting.

Battle of Shklov, August 12th 1654

  By the treaty of Pereyaslav(1654),  between Muscovy and the Cossacks, the Ukraine fell under Muscovy suzerainty.  This led to heightened tensions between Muscovy and the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth which saw the Ukraine as part of its territory. In the summer of 1654 the forces of Tsar Alexis I of Russia invaded the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth, initiating the Thirteen Years War and proving to be the precursor to the Deluge, which devastated the Commonwealth over the next few years.  At the beginning of the campaigning season, the Poles sent two armies to recover the Ukraine, but these were held in check by the Cossaack forces with a little Muscovite assistance.  Rather than provide aid to the Cossacks, Alexis had made his main effort directly against Lithuania and the main Muscovite army under his personal command was directed westwards towards Smolensk.

To oppose this force, (estimated to be 30-40,000 men), the local commander, Hetman Janusz Radziwill, could at best assemble 11,000 men, but as this was 'paper strength' the actual numbers were probably considerably lower.  As the Muscovite army advanced Radziwill moved what troops he had eastwards to try and hold the line of the Dneiper near Shklov.  For this scenario, which represented the clash of the Muscovite advanced guard and Radziwill's force, I selected the following forces.

Muscovy

Three brigades of cavalry; two with three 'regiments' of Old-Style cavalry and one with one regiment of Old-Style cavalry and two 'New Formation' regiments.  These latter regiments were similar to the western reiter regiments.

Poland Lithuania

Three units of pancerni type Cossack cavalry.  Two small dragoon regiments and a small Hussar regiment.  

The table layout, with the Russians nearest the camera

The Muscovite force arrives along the road leading to the bridge over the Dneiper.  The three brigades are strung out along the road with gaps between each brigade decided by rolling a d3, the result being the number of turns before the next brigade arrives.  The river is fordable but units may become disorganised.  Pancerni and  New Formation regiments are classed as tough fighters and may re-roll one failed attack dice per round of melee.  'Old-Style' cavalry are raw and cannot be issued a brigade order, making coordinated movement difficult.  Nor surprisingly the Hussar unit is tough, having the lance modifier and also the heavy cavalry bonus.  They are also classed as stubborn, allowing them to re-roll one failed morale save when in melee and being shot at. 
 

The pancerni await the attack 

The Muscovite objective was to cross the river, disperse the enemy and make all speed towards Smolensk.  On the Polish Lithuanian side the objective was to try and prevent passage of the river if possible, but more importantly, not to lose too many troops by making suicidal attacks.

The leading 'brigade' of Russian troops advance to the bridge 

As the attackers, the Muscovites had the initiative and unfortunately for them, their lead unit did not press on across the bridge, but sat and waited for the other units to form up on their flanks.  This gave Radziwill a chance to push his men forward and be in a position to hit the Muscovites as they crossed the river.  The leading brigade paid dearly for this hesitation with the first regiment across being charged before it could reform.  Although it held the first impact, it was shaken and in the subsequent round of melee it was driven back across the Dneiper in rout.

The first attempt to cross the Dneiper

By now the second brigade of Muscovite troops was arriving and this contained the New Formation regiments.  The overall commander of the advanced guard, Prince Yakov Cherkassky sent these units to the right of the bridge, trying to outflank the Polish Lithuanian defenders.  This manoeuvre pushed back a unit of Polish dragoons who had been adding their fire to the defence of the river line.  Afraid of being flanked they took up position on a hill on the Polish Lithuanian left.  To plug the gap, Radziwill committed his reserve pancerni regiment.  It was only just in time as Cherkassky sent four units of cavalry across the river, so each of the Polish Lithuanian regiments was now engaged in melee.  The Hussars dealt with their opponent fairly quickly, but the pancerni unit to their left took a lot of casualties.  Even though they were victorious they had to fall back to rally.  

Another attempt on the other side of the bridge

Beyond the bridge the New Formation cavalry regiments had entered the fray and proved tougher opponents than the Old Style regiments.  In the melee on the left of the Polish Lithuanian line the two units slugged it out and in the end both had to fall back to reform.   The other New Formation cavalry regiment defeated the pancerni, routing them, but at a cost, meaning they needed to reform before they could move forward.  

The 'new formation' cavalry enter the fray

The Third brigade of Muscovite cavalry now arrived and were able to take advantage of the work of their comrades.  Although disordered by crossing the river they nevertheless were unopposed.  Pressure on the Polish Lithuanian force was increasing and the line was buckling.  A second pancerni unit being routed decided Radziwill; better to pull back what forces he had than risk losing them all against such numbers.

A decisive breakthrough

A victory for the Muscovites, as historically.  Both sides claimed a victory.  Radziwill, because historically Cherkassky did delay his advance by a day; Cherkassky because he was able to cross the river.  The historic order of battle did give the Polish Lithuanians two full strength units of dragoons whose fire was very effective in breaking up the Old Style cavalry attacks.  Unfortunately I did not have sufficient figures to field two full strength units.

I did try and mitigate the lance effect of the Polish Hussars.  The lances they carried were hollow and reports suggest they tended to shatter on impact, so the lance 'bonus' was only available for one charge.  I did provide a wagon with a resupply of lances (just sufficient for one 'resupply'), but in the event the Hussars did not get the chance to re-equip before the Polish Lithuanian line crumbled.

All the details for the battle came from Michael Fredholm Von Essen's book, "Charles X's Wars: volume 2 - The Wars in the East, 1655-1657."  which is available from Helion books.  

The Combat at Osma: a General d'Armee scenario

 This week's scenario comes from the "Vitoria"  supplement for General d'Armee published by Reisswitz Press.  It is the first of the 6 in the book and is a fairly straightforward affair involving infantry only, except for a battery of artillery for each side.  The British and Allies need to demoralise two of the three French brigades to win, the French win by avoiding this condition.  Speed is of the essence as the scenario lasts only 10 turns.

An overhead view of the battlefield

The French baseline is at the bottom of the photograph.  They have three brigades of infantry (a total of 11 battalions) plus one battery of field artillery.  One of the brigades is held in reserve on the baseline; the other two each must deploy at least two of their four battalions 24" forward (approximately the front edge of the two fields).  The rationale for this is that Reille, the c in c initially decided to attack what he thought was an isolated brigade of enemy troops.  As more British and Portuguese troops arrived and deployed it became obvious he was outnumbered and he therefore switched to the defensive.  His reserve brigade will only be released if one of the other two brigades has a sauve qui peut or retire result.

The British start with four brigades deployed up to 8" in from their table edge; a fifth brigade will arrive at the beginning of turn 5's movement phase.

The action began almost immediately in our game and as I was commanding an army I had little time for photographs or making detailed notes of events; but I will give a quick resume of events.  Napoleonic gamers will recognise straight away that there are no British or Portuguese troops in the photographs.  I do not have any, so I used Austrian, Prussian and Russian units instead.

The highlight for the Allies in the first game, the attack on the French left goes in.

For the first game I commanded the Allies and Steve the French with Bob umpiring.  I decided to use a veteran brigade with an attached horse artillery battery to outflank the French on their left, with a second brigade, without attached artillery, would attempt the same on the French right.  The two remaining brigades, plus the reserve brigade, would try and pin the French frontally.  A simple enough plan, but the dice intervened and the two flanking brigades were both hesitant and therefore did not move.   

The two 'pinning' brigades did advance and the opposing skirmisher screens were soon in action.  Their line brethren deployed from column and then advanced to musketry range to begin the fire fight.   In this they came off second best and with little help appearing from the flanking brigades they decided to try a charge.  These also failed to make progress and it was just as well that the reserve brigade appeared on the scene as both were beginning to waver.

On turn 9, far too late, the flanking brigades got into position and launched their charges.  That against the French left was successful as the target unit had been 'softened up' by the attached artillery and skirmishers.  On the opposite flank, my brigade failed to attack, (it failed its command roll - again).  With only one turn remaining, there was no way the Allies would reach their victory conditions, so we decided the result was a French victory.

After lunch, Steve and I swapped sides and tried again.  He also tried an outflanking manoeuvre and was making good progress until he failed a command roll and the brigade went hesitant.  This allowed me the time to charge the skirmishers screening his artillery before it deployed.  A volley from one of my battalions rolled double 6 which caused a 'destiny' check and the result was his brigadier was killed by a stray shot.  This meant his brigade was faltering and having failed another command roll it retreated.

The Allies ready to push back my skirmisher screen

The Allied guns exposed

This severely disorganised the attack on my right and bought valuable time.  A similar thing happened in the centre, where a successful French charge caused morale problems for one of the Allied brigades.  Once again time ran out for the Allies and the French were victorious.

A post match review brought up one glaring error on my part, I had neglected to give all the 'British' battalions the superior volley rating.  This undoubtedly made things more difficult for them and went some way to explain their poor showing in the volley exchanges and the ease with which the French were able to avoid the Allied victory conditions.

How did the rules play this time?

 Firstly, things moved a good bit quicker for this second game.  We were better acquainted with the rules of course and had less recourse to checking things in the rulebook.  The look of the game was  improved by increasing the size of the units from 3 to 4 bases.  This meant that attack columns could be easily seen to be different to columns of route.  There are some reservations around the amount of 'friction' caused by the hesitant status for brigades, but this may be a hangover from our familiarity with the Shako rules where all brigades can move each turn.  Looking at accounts of Napoleonic battles not all sectors of the battlefield are active at the same time, apart from mutual bickering between the opposing skirmish lines and artillery bombardments.  There are some areas of the rules which could be clearer, but the Too Fat Lardies website does have a Forum where the questions can be asked.  There is also a FAQ available for download and news on a proposed 2nd ed of GdA.

This particular scenario did not have any cavalry involved, trial run 3 will address that.

Vapnartak 2023

 Another year, another crisp February morning start to venture over the border to the Vapnartak show at York.  The Lance & Longbow Society were putting on our 'Lion Rampant' participation game based on the siege of Buda (1541).  Although we only had a couple of members of the public join in there were a good number who stopped and chatted about the rules, figures and general 'colour and pageantry' of warfare in this period.  This was easier in the afternoon as the crowds tended to thin, as they always  do, after the initial rush.

Ottoman skirmishing light horse prepare to advance

Photographs of a larger scale depiction of the raising of the siege of Buda can be seen on the Camisado blog here .  After a busy morning of play in which a closely fought game was narrowly won by the Ottomans, I managed to have a look around the show and see what other games were on offer.  

Also on the ground floor was this "Predator" game by The Bunker.

One of my favourite games was the "Skirmish at Mooste Bridge April 1242" by the Brompton Bankers.  They also use the Lion Rampant rules but base their figures singly as suggested.

I particularly liked the sled.  It is scratch built from various mdf kits

Next to the 'Bankers' was the League of Extraordinary Kriegspielers with their Far East game set in the turmoil of post 1917 Russia.  As is usual the presentation was excellent and demonstrated the possibilities of games set in "the back of beyond"

An overview of the table

Out east there is still a place for cavalry on the battlefield

Some new-fangled technology meets with disaster

Grimsby Wargaming Club had an eye-catching Vicksburg game

As usual at Vapnartak there was a strong trade presence and I think the wargamer should be able to find almost anything they required for the hobby.  The Lance and Longbow Society had a good day with people buying society publications and freezywater flag  sheets.  We ran the game twice with the Ottomans being successful on each occasion.  Thanks to the gallant members of the public who joined in, the many who stopped to chat and of course to Andy, Bob, Steve and Will who helped with the game and Dave and Lynne for providing refreshments.  

One of the main things about going to a show is that it gives us the opportunity to meet up with friends who we may see only infrequently and I would like to thank Alasdair and Phil who both made long journeys to visit Vapnartak to meet up and chat.  It is that sort of camaraderie which is the essence of our hobby.