Oporto Update - Ready to Go

With the anniversary game on Sunday we're ready to go and it's time to get the armies ready. First up is II Corps commanded by Marechal Nicolas Soult.

Soult with his seventeen battalions plus the three battalions of combined voltigeurs, supported by the two cavalry brigades, two foot and one horse battery

Soult (left), GdD Merle (right) with his foot artillery and GdB Reynard's brigade behind

The eight battalions forming GdB Reynard's brigade

The six battalions of GdB Foy's brigade

GdD Delaborde and his reserve brigade, the 86e Ligne

GdD Franceschi and his horse battery

GdB Girardin and his brigade (8e Dragons & Hanoverian Chasseurs)

GdB Debelle and his brigade (1e Hussars & 22e Chasseurs)

 The Army of Sir Arthur Wellesley

Sir Arthur with his artillery and cavalry forward of his infantry brigades

MG Sir Stapleton Cotton and his cavalry 

MG Sir John Murray and his brigade (1st, 2nd, 5th, 7th KGL)

BG Sir Alan Cameron's brigade (2/9th, 2/83rd & 2/10th Portuguese). Not the Brigade light battalion on the left.
At the back BG Richard Stewart's brigade (29th, 1st Bn. Detachments, 1/16th Portuguese)

Sir Arthur and his RFA brigades of (Sillery, Lawson, Heise & Rettenberg)

MG Sir Roland Hill's brigade (1/3rd, 2/48th & 2/66th)

Sir John Sherbroke in front of BG Sir Archibald Campbell's brigade (2/7th, 2/53rd & 1/10th Portuguese)

BG Henry Campbell's brigade (1/3rd Guards, 1/2nd Guards)

At the back, BG John Sontag's brigade (97th, 2nd Bn. Detachments, 2/16th Portuguese)

And finally, the Seminary. I have an update on the progress with the model which will not be ready for Sunday but will star in the follow up games I have planned. More details will follow once it is completed.

This should make a nice centre piece to the table when it's done.

Anyway I'm off to the DWG meet up tomorrow and then we play Oporto on the Sunday, so more posts to follow.

Oporto Orders of Battle & Off Table Management

With the game set up and scenario worked out, I've been putting the finishing touches to the game management on the day.

I have set this game up to focus on the part of the table where the action is, that is around the Seminary, and the road off table that is the French escape route. As the French command becomes aware of the danger they're in, messages will start to be sent to the various off table commands and they will start to move; in addition that movement will present opportunities for further British units to arrive on the French bank off table and pursue them through the streets of Oporto. All this command and movement will need monitoring to determine when units appear on the table edge and where; hence the Cyberboard map above to make it relatively simple for the gamemeister, yours truly, to keep track of things as C&G handles when messages get received and how commanders respond to said messages.

The orders of battle are sorted, with attachments to be agreed by the table top commanders on the day. The British list was relatively straight forward, but there are variations on the theme for the French with some references referring to the 17th Legere as the 17th Line. I have consulted several orders of battle and decided to follow one of the more recent versions, namely Nick Luscombe's Peninsular War Atlas.

I should say that the strengths of the units are based on the nearest too date order of battle I could use, usually Oman, and then with the application of a useful button on the C&G program I am able to slightly adjust them up or down, randomly to produce a much more realistic look to the strengths of the units.

The final bit of admin that comes with a computer set of rules like C&G is to print out, cut and prepare the base labels for the various commanders and units. All my bases have magnetic tape on them so the simple addition of a bit of steel paper to the labels make the adhesion of the labels fairly straight forward; and by keeping them stored afterwards, I can run the scenario again, with much less effort.

The other advantage of the base labels is that the numbers on them make it very easy to follow the action in the game pictures as very often you can see which commander or unit is pictured in the thick of the action. A big help for someone whose memory is not quite as sharp as it used to be!

May Bank Holiday - Jobs

This Bank Holiday weekend has enabled me to finish off a few jobs before next weekends games. I have a busy weekend lined up with our monthly club meet up on Saturday and the Oporto game for the Sunday.

So I have added a bits of detail to Oporto town with a few waggons, boxes and barrels to the warehouse end of town, together with some more walls to the outskirts and roads leading out. Several accounts make reference to the walled enclosures keeping the British cavalry at bay as the French made good their escape.

I am just awaiting the model for the Bishop's Seminary and we will be good to go.

In addition I did make mention of getting a few projects done for friends that have been on the "back burner" whilst I completed the Oporto forces. So I have four units of French Seven Years War cavalry to do and I got the first unit completed today. These figures are true 15mm and seem tiny after doing 18mm. I can't see myself doing armies in this scale any more as my eyes can't take it!!

Next up, continuing the Seven Years War theme and picking up the French Indian War figures I was doing back in October last year.

http://jjwargames.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/muskets-tomahawks.html

I'm hoping to play my first game of "Muskets and Tomahawks" next Saturday at the club and I have just put this familiar chap together, if you have seen the "Black Powder" book "The Last Argument of Kings" as another contribution to the game.

I thought I would practice the blood smeared sword technique ready for commencing the 28mm Dacian Wars collection later in the year.

Legionary 2014 - Exeter

Legionary 2014

Today was spent in the company of Tom my son wandering around the show at this years Legionary in Exeter, put on by the guys at  Exmouth Wargames Club, a neighbouring club to ourselves. As someone who was involved in the first regular wargame shows set up in Exeter, I know the work that is needed from club members to make these events a success, so well done to the Exmouth Club for making Legionary one of the premier shown in the South West.

http://www.exmouthwargames.org.uk/index.php/legionary-show.html

Usually I would be running a game myself to support our own local show, and it was only last year that I put on the Vimeiro Hill game at Legionary 2013. However with Oporto coming up next weekend, I excused myself from duty. I am pleased to say we had a good turn out from the DWG and Jason and Nathan were there representing us with a roll out in public of their Chain of Command Cold War game.

I have to say I was very pleased to see how well attended the show was with a very busy car park and some excellent traders present seeming to be doing some brisk business. I did my bit by relieving the Warlords chaps of a box of Dacian Nobles and a new model Testudo, something that is not very easy to get hold of on email. In addition I got a copy of the Osprey Campaign book on the Philadelphia Campaign 1777 for £6 and a little scenario book for doing the fighting at Hougomont for £2. Tom, who is starting to get into his Romans got a couple of Simon Scarrow books for a bit of light reading in between his life guarding duties down in Cornwall this summer for the RNLI.

With a lot of the guys from the Devon Group at the show there was time to "shoot the breeze" over lunch at the pub and to line up the guys who couldn't make next weekend for some new dates to replay Oporto.

As you know I like to include pictures of games that caught my eye at shows so have gathered a bit of "eye candy" for your pleasure.

First up is Operation Lightfoot from the Society of Gentlemen Gamers, whose work has featured several times on this blog and whose games are always beautifully staged with lots of attention to detail. There is some very fine modelling here on display and the table really did give the casual onlooker the idea of depth that these desert battles would often have between the two opposing front lines. Well done chaps.

Another WWII game to take my fancy was this rendition of Seelow Heights by Tus an Orlewen. Again this game seemed to capture the sweep of a massive armoured attack without having the tanks hub to hub. I somehow think this is a better representation of these kind of battles.

I was very happy to see that Graham Cookson et al had picked up where I left off last year with their depiction of Vimiero, this time in 28mm, using some home grown rules by the looks of things with an email link to check them out. I am really looking forward to next weekend after seeing this game!

And last but by no means least, Jason and Nathan turning the Cold War hot with their modern Chain of Command game. I love the Carl Gustav rocket streaking out towards that Soviet armour. Nice work Jason

So that is another Legionary show for another year, great fun and a very enjoyable day

Bob Hoskins RIP

I was very sad to hear the news that the actor Bob Hoskins passed away last week at the, young age of 71.

In a glittering career spanning four decades Bob Hoskins became famous in the 1980's with films such as "The Long Good Friday" playing the London gangster Harold Shand, "Mona Lisa" and "Who Framed Roger Rabbit".

Not surprisingly it is not for these films that I principally remember Bob Hoskins, but more for his masterly portrayal of the loud and aggressive Colour Sergeant-Major Williams in "Zulu Dawn". A film I went to see during its premier in Leicester Square, London.

As a sequel to the original film "Zulu" made in the 60's, and having seen it many times since its release I think Zulu Dawn makes it into the list of "happy to sit down on a weekend and watch" series of films. It clearly benefits from a great cast of British character actors of which I would include Bob Hoskins.

CSM Williams was portrayed as the firm but fair, no nonsense, senior NCO who commanded instant respect from his men but had the common touch to offer a reassuring wink to one of his new recruits as he looked anxiously at the oncoming mass of Zulu warriors. His demeanour instantly portrayed a veteran soldier of the late Victorian Empire who led his men from the front when the fighting got up close and personal, finally succumbing to stab thrusts to his back as he went to the aid of one of his boys.

My sincerest condolences to Bob Hoskins family for their loss.

Bob Hoskins

26/10/1942 - 29/4/2014