World War 1 Naval

 Today, Ian, Nigel and myself had a go at gaming with Nigel's 1/2400 WW1 ships and his own rules for the period. We set up a 4' x 12ft' table with the objective being for my German fleet to reach the safety of the harbour at the far eastern side of the board whilst Ian had to try and stop me. Knowing nothing about WW1 naval warfare I was happy to have help from Nigel with my deployment.

At the front you can see my deployment with the first part of Ian's British fleet in the distance moving parallel to mine. 

A close up of the main part of the German fleet. Nigel has done a great job painting and basing these in a really effective way.  

A view down the table showing how far I needed to travel to escape. 

On the left you can see that Ian has his first extra ships. 

Another close up as some of my smaller ships move out to try and cover the escape of my larger ships. 

We then fired smoke to cover their advance. Sadly shortly after this, with my first batch of torpedoes having been launched time defeated us all once again. 

So we all had a very enjoyable day full of the usual gaming banter and ideas for future projects. As for Nigel's rules, they worked well despite me finding some of the maths involved a little perplexing at times. This was a first play test and we all came up with some ideas to help tweak and improve them. Ian and Nigel are playing them again next week. 

More 15mm Medieval Mayhem

 Ian and I fought it out again today using Hail Caesar rules and our 15mm English and French armies. We used a scenario I found online tweaked a bit to make the terrain a little more symmetrical and the game fairer. Each force could deploy 2 divisions on the table with the rest of their force arriving on a turn decided by the throw of a d3. Ian added a further tweak that the defender could mark 3 areas of rough terrain on the map and then could deploy these areas after the attackers had deployed. A quick dice throw decided that I was the defender with Ian playing the role of attacker. 

Two divisions each deploy, my English on the left and Ian's French on the right. 

Turn 1 and the English reserves arrive, hurrah! 

Marching through the village of L'Athers, the Duke of York took up his position on the right of the English line. 

In a change from my usual army selection I used two units of mounted knights today.

 To my surprise reduced from three mounted units of knights to just the one. 

The English line takes shape. 

Turn two and the French reserve arrive with a rapid advance on the far end of their line. 

I sent my knights forward on the right flank to intimidate the French Infantry.

On my left flank there was a hill held by Richard de Vere and his men. Ian attacked the hill with first his French Sergeants then some Scottish  spear and peasants , my units of bill and bow held out against all these but it was a hard fought victory. 

Despite this success on my left flank, Sir Thomas Erpingham in command of my centre division blundered his whole division command and the whole division moved back two moves. My order dice throws were awful today often frustrating my plans. 

On the right flank my knights managed to charge a unit of French Crossbow men and destroy them, otherwise it was developing into a bit of a stand off. Thankfully Erpingham finally got his troops moving again to return to their central position. Once again, time defeated us with the battle at a well balanced point we called it a draw but we both fully enjoyed our afternoon of gaming. Hail Caesar always gives a great game. 

'The Hill of Sleng' a first game of Warlords of Erehwon

 It was great fun today to have a first game of Warlords of Erehwon with long time friend Chris. We hadn't had chance to play a game for a while but had both been busy painting up some old school minis so we felt it was time to get them on the table. Originally we were planning on using the old school mini's for games of Dragon Rampant but felt that whilst we like those rules we wanted something with more fantasy flavour, where dwarves can be dwarves and orcs can be orcs! So we decided to give Warlords of Erehwon a try. Thus my random collection of Asgard, Hinchliffe, Dixon and Grenadier Dwarves took on Chris's mix of Citadel and Marauder orcs, all figures designed before the year 2,000; great stuff, what more could fantasy gamers in their 60's want!

Well we wanted a scenario for a start so for our first game we felt it best to try the 1st scenario first but with an added twist to give the game some background story. As host I kept the scenery fairly simple and came up with the following...

The Hill of Sleng

A first game of ‘Warlords of Erehwon’ scenario 1 with a slight tweak. 

“Orcs west of the Twin Peak Mountains” roared Amlodi, a veteran Dwarf Lord, “Never in my lifetime!” Moments later he spotted the smoke in the valley below, the large, crooked figures rushing around and the guttural shouts. “Orcs!” spat Amlodi, “Lads, let's bathe our axes in Orc blood”

The objective for the game remains as on p115 in the rulebook, to destroy more enemy units than you suffer, the side that loses the least points in troops is the winner. Players must also try to take possession of a large central hill, the Hill of Sleng. 

Sleng was a celebrated Dwarf hero of old and in the centre of the hill there is a statue to Sleng. For added kudos the Orcs may wish to topple the statue, if so use the following rules which are an adaptation from some of the rules for buildings.  

Only one unit at a time may attempt to topple the statue on a ‘Advance’ order and the unit must be in base to base contact with the statue. Once each turn throw a d10 and read the result as below…

1: The statue topples to the floor and breaks into several pieces. 

2-5: the statue rocks on its base but stubbornly refuses to topple.

6-9: the statue remains firmly fixed in place.   

Players may deduct -1 from the dice score for each successive turn/attempt that the unit remains in uninterrupted contact with the statue. Of course the dwarf player will wish to stop this from happening.

We found the rules for deployment easy to follow and our forces of Dwarves and Orcs were soon rushing towards each other in an attempt to get atop the hill of Sleng. It was seven Orc units v 5 dwarf units.

The dwarves deploy at the base of this photo with the orcs in the distance.

You can see the Sleng's statue on the hill.

A group shot of some of Chris's wonderful Orcs, led by the Orc Chieftain 'Krushitel'

My dwarven archers take cover in an old ruin.

Pulling an order dice from the bag Chris got to move first and Krushitel was quick to claim the hill and surround the statue.

Krushitel about to smite the Statue of Sleng.

The orc archers also occupied a ruin, seemed a good idea?

At this point, with the two forces poised ready to fight from turn 2, I got so busy with the game and with the rules I forgot to take any more photo's.

The dwarves sent Gunnar and the Dwarf Guard charging into the Orc chieftain and his orc warriors. Much to my surprise Gunnar and his dwarves trounced the Orc Warlord and his warriors wiping out the entire unit (it has to be said that Chris threw just about the worst score on his dice that I have ever seen!). 

Chris then charged another Orc unit at Gunnar and his stout guard with their 'blooming big axes'. Another awful dice score from Chris and that unit was also dispatched to Orc heaven. 

Half time score: Gunnar 2 v 0 Orcs.

 

Elsewhere the goblin wolf riders charged poor old Drokk the dwarf runesmith and again, shocking dice from Chris meant that Drokk survived.

Emboldened by the dwarf success the dwarf archers moved forward and shot an orc archer. In reply the orc archers missed. 

Drokk now fired off a thunderbolt spell at the goblins who this time made their save. 

As another Orc unit moved towards the hill, Gunnar and his dwarves chopped up a few of them before Amlodi the Dwarf Lord charged his bodyguard into those Orcs and soon defeated them.  

Three turns gone and game over with more than half the Orc warband destroyed for just 5 brave dwarven souls, the statue of Sleng was still standing. 

So, what did we think of the rules, with my dwarves certainly enjoying the game more than Chris's Orcs. 

1: the game certainly allows Dwarves to act as Dwarves and Orcs act as Orcs.  

2: combat is short, quick and brutal.

3: The dwarf high Resolution of 8 made it difficult for the orcs to harm them, compared to the Dwarves being armed with 'bloomin big axes' and their Strike Value of 3, and the axes seem cheap at only a point each.

4: we enjoyed the order dice system, pulling a dice from the bag not knowing whose it would be.

5: army selection and in particular weapon choice seem key to the rules.  

Obviously, now we have tried the rules our army selection may well be different for a second game. Chris and I always have fun trying a new set of rules but I suspect that I enjoyed this game more than Chris. We will give the rules a second go soon and I am sure that Chris will have better luck next time?

  

French v English Hundred Years War in 15mm

 For this week's medieval game I tweaked a scenario from the first edition of the Hail Caesar rulebook, adapting it to our chosen period. Player one sets up south of the stream that runs across the centre of the board. The stream is classed as a linear obstacle and takes one move to cross without penalty. As well as the bridge there is a small ford on the right flank. He has one division deployed immediately south of the central bridge and another in reserve on the left flank which enters play from the start of turn 3. The rest of his army is deployed in and around the village which they are raiding and trying to set alight. He must also keep one unit in the village to try and set it alight. Player one must note down where each division is deployed. 

To set the village alight on turn 1 player one must throw a double six, turn 2, a double 5 or 6, turn 3 double 4, 5 or 6, turn 4 on a double 3,4,5 or 6, turn 5 double 2,3,4,5 or 6. and any double on any turn from now on. 

Player 2 must deploy their whole force first, within 12" of the northern table edge. Then Player 1 deploys his divisions as previously noted apart from the flanking force of course. 

Objectives:

Player 1 must hold onto the village and hopefully set it alight.

Player 2 must try to come to the aid of the village and prevent it from being burnt down. 

Here is the table just before deployment. We use coffee stirrers to mark out deployment areas. The dice decided that the French (Ian) would be player 2 and deploy in mass on the left whilst my English would deploy to the right of the stream. 

After deployment, the French to the north have to try and recover the village, currently occupied by the English. The English reserve will enter play in the marked area on the left some time from turn 3 onwards. 

Ian's newly painted Scottish Schiltron. They advanced over the bridge and got beaten back by some English knights on foot. 

The French Knights cross the stream at the ford in force. 

Ian had also painted up a medium cannon, first shot it scored a '6', damaging the longbowmen at the top of the photo but this proved to be the only damage it did all game. 

The English knights take up position on top of a hill facing the advancing French. 

Meanwhile, in the village my light infantry were failing miserably to set the buildings alight, they must have bought wet matches!

On my left flank the French Infantry advanced up to the stream. 

The French Knights take up position opposite my knights, this was going to be bloody. 

I managed to get my dismounted unit of knights in position to help. 

Finally, on turn 5 the Earl of Oxford arrives with his flanking force. On the three turns they were involved in the game he failed his command throws twice at the first order. Thus this division had little impact on the game apart from making Ian keep a division over there to watch them.  

Knights in combat that lasted about 3 turns. Finally the French broke through the English line but were badly damaged themselves. 

At this point we had to end the game. A badly mauled division of French knights had broken through my troops on the left but elsewhere the French had not even got over the stream in any sort of force. I had failed to torch the village but with so many units still left on the table of both sides we called the game probably a draw but with the French perhaps edging it!

 

15mm Hundred Years War with Hail Caesar.

 It was just Ian and I battling it out today so we opted to play Hail Caesar with our 15mm Hundred Years War armies; borrowing a scenario from a recent magazine but converting it to our medieval era. Using dice to help us, it was decided that my English Army led by Henry Vth himself would enter the table one division at a time whilst Ian's French army would all deploy facing my one division. 

The numerous French Army look across at the one English division and decide to do a rapid advance before help arrives. 

A view along the French line, we both love the colour of all the livery and flags. 

Henry Vth wondering where the rest of his army is? 

Ian's French army is certainly very colourful as shown on these pavise and spear units. 

The view from behind the small English army.

The French Knights advance, quite a worrying sight for the English. 

At last, the rest of the English army arrives but is beset by blunders preventing them from getting into position alongside Henry's division. 

Boom! English guns fire at the French line but were not very effective apart from squashing some Bidet's. At 50pts for the guns I may opt for a different unit choice next game.  

Finally the English get into position and their longbows start to wreak havoc in the centre and on my left flank. We also deployed stakes where we could which helped deter the French mounted troops.

Here come the French Knights, my medium guns only managed to dent one of them. 

Henry Vth orders his hobliars forward and for his Knights to charge the right most unit of French Knights, only for them to Blunder and withdraw instead. The Hobliars rode into a storm of crossbow bolts and were destroyed. 

The longbowmen behind the stakes do so well they force a unit of French Knights to withdraw. The central unit of knights smash into the billmen only to end up in a prolonged melee. 

The English Knights recover their pride and charge a unit of French Knights and both units caused equal casualties and were both Shaken in one mighty clash. 

Ian withdrew the French Knights whilst Henry quickly rallied his Knights and went charging into some French crossbowmen who were swept aside with ease but then Henry charged his knights into some French spear who not only won the melee but managed to kill Henry. 

With Henry dead and his division now forced to withdraw due to units lost the French were dominating my right flank and as we were running out of time the rest of the English withdrew and conceded the field of battle to the victorious French but until Henry's untimely demise it was a close one. 

A French commander surveying some of the English dead.

Yet again we had great fun playing Hail Caesar and it was another very close battle. But did Henry Vth really die today or will he ride again next week? 

6mm Hail Caesar, battling in the desert again.

 For today's game I adopted ideas from some of the scenario's in the HC 'Age of Bronze' supplement, tweaking things a bit to suit our collection of figures and terrain. 

I randomly set up the scenery and then allowed the players (Ian and Nigel) to dice for who deployed first, highest chose. The first player to deploy also had to place the whole of one of their divisions within 6" of the oasis which was  in the centre of the table. 

Then each player chose a card with their battle objectives and scenario specific rules on. These were as follows...

Player A: Ian

1: You must try and get one of your chariot units off your opponents table edge as it is carrying important messages. Please mark which chariot unit it is. 

2: You must be in control of the Oasis (the only water supply for miles) by the end of the game. 

3: Assign a baggage base to one of your divisions. The baggage represents the baggage and several hostages belonging to the enemy. It is vital that you are still in possession of these hostages at the end of the game. 

Player B: Nigel

1: You must be in control of the Oasis (the only water supply for miles) by the end of the game. 

2: The enemy has several important hostages, (sons and princes) which are being kept by their baggage. You must try and capture them back. 

3: The enemy is trying to escape off your table edge with important messages, you must prevent this from happening. 

So with Ian as first player he had to deploy a division by the oasis and 'lucky' for him the dice decided I as on his side and he put me in charge of the left most chariot division of Elamites and the infantry division in charge of the Oasis. Ian placed the army general  mid-table and another division on the right flank. Nigel then placed his tough, 5 unit strong Assyrian chariots division left of centre from our viewpoint with infantry divisions either side. I should also point out that Nigel was using the Earlier Assyrian list today as that is more compatible with our armies. 

Elamites on the left, Assyrians to the right. You should be able to make out the oasis top centre, now surrounded by Elamite infantry. 

Assyrian Cavalry which hardly moved all game? Forward a bit, back a bit!

In the centre, Nigel tried to charge his chariots into our General's division but an amazing round of 'closing shots' from the Elamite archers halted and dis-ordered the attack on my left and then the other chariots drew their combat. We won the next round. 

At this point it became clear that today was never going to be Nigel's day as he twice threw a double 1 on break tests so the units involved broke and fled. 

A shot along the battle lines, note the red disorder counters still on the Assyrian Chariots. 

The non-disordered Assyrian chariots charge in again only to be repulsed by the Elamite infantry. Withdrawing, Nigel re-grouped his chariot division and came after my chariots who opted to evade as they were outnumbered. His left most division (from my side) finally broke and had to withdraw. By this time it was looking bad for Nigel and his troops and none of his game objectives looked achievable so he nobly conceded the game and was last heard muttering about useless dice and the need to order some new ones!

Great fun as always. Next week we move forward to medieval times.