Busy Weekend

Occasionally it's quite fun to run several projects side by side. I find it helps ease the monotony of just doing the same thing, being able to break off and paint or model something completely different. It just so happens that this weekend such an opportunity has arisen as having finished my British Infantry for Rolica and Vimiero, I have some Portuguese cavalry, Peninsular buildings and trees that need to be done towards the same project. I will update the blog with my progress.

First up, the buildings. I had been searching for the best 15/18mm Peninsular style buildings and saw a recommendation from  Fat Wally's blog that the Rusus  buildings were some of the best on the market. I decided to ask Santa to see what he could do and with some help from my family, he came up with the total collection of their Bella Italia range which I think you'll agree tick the box. I should also say that when I got the models out of the box and grouped them in the order of the collection as advertised, I found that they had included extra village items as a bonus, so "hats off" to Rusus.
I really like the character of these models, if you haven't already, check them out.

The Rusus large town houses with added doors and staircases that come in the extras box to add variety to the buildings

The Farm collection, with dung heaps and water troughs, very nice!

I love the little entrance archway to complete the entrance and exits to the village

The guide that I will be using to paint up my buildings is a very handy little book from Karwansaray Publishing  who produce Wargames Soldiers and Strategy Magazine, but also sell some excellent modelling guides under the Touching History title.  The booklet for Napoleonic Peninsular War buildings is very good.
http://www.karwansaraypublishers.com/shop/digital-content/touching-history.html

The next up is my Portuguese cavalry, which is going to be a unit of AB Wurtemburg Chevauleger
that I picked up from Fighting 15s at Colours last year.

These chaps will be supporting my British light dragoons when I roll out my Vimiero scenario in a couple of months!!

I hope my Portuguese cavalry will look as gallant as these chaps

I usually paint two units at a time, and I am planning to paint up these casualty markers for indicating units under a compulsory movement when using Carnage and Glory rules. I always prefer figures to counters when producing markers.

British casualty markers from Fantassin

French casualties from AB

And last but by no means least I like Jason have been planning to upgrade my tree collection so have also been busy with the Woodlands Scenics range to get some much needed new trees ready for a new season of wargaming fun.

 



 

 

Rolica Update

The Rolica scenario play tests are underway. Two weekend ago Jason ,Gus, Nathan and Steve gathered in my "man-cave" to play test the Carnage & Glory II version of this scenario. We aim to replay this game and so I have resisted the temptation to give a precise blow by blow account of events, suffice to say that all commanders took the learning from the set up and the way the rules work and are keen to put that experience into play test two.

An overall impression of the terrain with Rolica and Rolica Hill in the centre

For this first test I selected the commanders based on my observations of their style of play and how I thought they might work to the scenario requirements, thus Jason took the role of General DeLaborde, Steve, Sir Arthur and the two central columns, Nathan as General Hill on the Allied right and Gus as General Fane with the Rifle Brigade on the left.

Sir Arthur Wellesley's centre columns under Generals Crauford and Nightingale pursue the French from Rolica

 This scenario will be a classic rearguard with both commanders aiming to out perform their historical predecessors in gaining more time, losing fewer casualties and inflicting greater damage to the enemy.

French troops followed by the 4th Swiss move to occupy the heights above Rolica

Our initial run through suggests this could be a close run affair, but we need to see it run again to give a better impression.

The 3/2me Legere leave Rolica heading for the heights pursued by British Light troops

So I aim to give a second report and offer up this scenario for "peer review" next month. In the meantime I hope you like the pics of our first run through.

The 3/4me Legere occupy the French right on the heights

Battle of Sadras 1782 - Devon Wargames Group

Yesterday was spent having fun and laughs at my local club the Devon Wargames Group in Exeter.

Devon Wargames Group blog

I have put up a description of our game on the blog.

 

I had a lot of fun getting my Langton collection of Age of Sail naval ships out to refight the Battle of Sadras 1782. My collection of ships is built around the fleets of Hughes and Suffren as I find the history of these two well matched adversaries more compelling than the many one sided affairs of the later Napoleonic period.

 

Langton Miniatures

 

Over the years I have tried several rule sets starting with "Action under Sail" by S Birnie that we played all the time in the late 70's and early 80's. In the 90's I moved over to the computer using "Clear for Action" by Malcolm Smalley, which I have recently resurrected to play on my laptop with DOSBOX. These are great for smaller actions with an excellent level of detail.

 

Broadsides exchanged in the Indian Ocean

More recently I had moved to Too Fat Lardies and Kiss Me Hardy (KMH), really enjoying the freedom from order writing that card driven games bring togther with the unexpected.

However I recently came across a free App on the web called "Eight Bells"

Eight Bells Naval Rules App

This App offered the possibility of combining the fun aspects of card play with the game management of the computer. Having just recently acquired an Ipad for Xmas I was keen to try the rules out.

The pdf rules and scenarios are simple and straightforward and give an easy to follow structure for your game using the App to randomise movement, weather and wind, and combat. Entering ship data is simple and the game can be put down and come back to easily.
In addition, if like some, you prefer to roll your own dice, you can and by inputting the results on the App can use them to influence the system.

I immediately saw that the simple card play system that the rules come supplied with which are used to decide when each side can command their ships and conduct combat are easily adapted to more complex options that KMH has to offer, and yesterday I added in the Command Rules that KMH can use, which played very well.

We played the system for the first time yesterday with a good number of ships on each side and we quickly were running through the card play using the App. The system was flexible enough to allow us to adapt rule changes as we went along and the game was a lot of fun.

The ships come pre-loaded on the system offering options from 1st rate 130 gun vessels to unrated 10 gun cutters. The crew numbers are set at specific round numbers ie 50 to 1100 men. There are five crew ratings from Poor, Average, Good, Veterans and Elite. Once you have created a ship you can simply reproduce it in your "dry dock" giving each version its own name and for my game an identifying number.

When you want to create your game fleets you simply choose the ships required from your dry dock and place them in the fleet selected. This means that your creation is kept as built whist the copy is used by the game during your battle and will record casualties and damage.

Movement is governed by the system. You set the wind speed and direction. The system will remind you when this should be checked for changes. Each ship can set several (six or seven) sail settings from Let Fly to Full Sail which combined with the ships attitude to the wind and the score of three dice ends up giving you the option to move your model at the speed in cms of the single highest dice score or the sum of all three, with a bonus added to each according to the proceeding factors. This randomises movement enough to roughly predict what your ship will do under a particular sail set but still make it a challenge to sail several ships in company with each other. There are additional rules to customise your ships as poor or fast sailors by adding six cm to the score or only using two dice as the modifier. There is a suggested turning regimen of two points turned per move, however we simply used the KMH turning circles printed in cm moves with different radii for ship class.

All the gunnery options are included for pistol and musketry, ball, double shot, triple shot and chain, with suggested range restrictions as appropriate.

Damage is recorded by the system in percentage terms, thus your rigging, crew and hull start at 100% with damage degrading that figure as you play. The system automatically alerts you to any critical hits like shot up rudders, masts falling, captains killed or wounded, fires etc (the usual stuff!) Repairs are simply resolved by rolling a dice with a 4,5or 6 usually being required. The game master then updates the ship record manually to record the repair. Boarding requires your models to be locked together. You let the system know which side is attempting to board and depending which attempt this is, ie first second or third will determine what dice score on three d6 is required to succeed. The number of attempts being equal to the number of decks on the target vessel. When all decks are taken the target is deemed as captured. The score required often increases as the fight is carried below decks. If you make a mistake you can go into the ship record and correct any misplaced damage results, which is really good, as we all know mistakes can happen.

If I were to suggest improvements it would be to allow more options around the ship stats when creating the fleets, ie the crew numbers are fixed and standard to the nearest 100 men. Being able to vary those numbers together with adding in specific numbers of specialists like marines would be a good addition.

As a gamer for 40 years I think it's a brave person who predicts the future in wargaming. However with the advent of tablet computers and Apps that allow data to be easily computed and recorded through the game allowing the players to concentrate on the important stuff of commanding their toys, I would be surprised not to see more of these kind of aids appearing in our hobby in future.

These rules are great option for a large fleet action, and as a freebie, I think they are well worth a look. In addition complexity and detail are easily added in by the game master as required and I am going to try out some single ship actions with more cards added to control options as per the KMH suggestions.

Peninsular Light Infantry & Foot Artillery

Tomorrow I will be joined by Jason , Nathan, Gus and Steve to play test my Rolica scenario. Time permitting we will try to play using Carnage & Glory Carnage & Glory II computer rules and Napoleon at War. These are two rule sets that I plan to use as my default Napoleonic rules and am keen to see how my scenario works with each set.

Once we have identified any pitfalls and applied any tweaks I will post the scenario and an AAR for info.

In the meantime I have put up some more pics of my growing Anglo-Portuguese army with the Light Troops of the Light Brigade which would become the Light Division. I think the Cacadores really make brown look cool.

Fane's Rifle Brigade, 60th on the left, 95th on the right (Fantassin from Stonewall Figures, Skirmishers at front are AB)

43rd Light Infantry & 95th Rifles

43rd & 95th

1st and 3rd Cacadores (Fantassin from Stonewall)

Royal Artllery 6lbrs and howitzer (AB)

As in the real affair all my Anglo Portuguese are untried in battle so tomorrow will be their first time under fire, more anon.

PAW 2013 Plymouth

Hi all,

I drove down to Plymouth today to attend my first convention of 2013, PAW. Living about 40 minutes up the A38 means that this has become an annual trek to kick off the new year, and it seemed to be well supported and with a good number of traders in attendance.

As well as picking up "stuff" that would save me a bit of postage, I really enjoy seeing games that inspire the "creative juices", and two games close by the entrance to the hall grabbed my attention.

First off was "The Battle of Hampton Roads" with some lovely large scale ACW ships and monitors
presented by the BAD Wargamers. The models and scenery were very eye catching,

The other game I spent some time looking over was the marvellous Pegasus Bridge scenario in 20mm run by The Society of Gentlemen Gamers. A lot of time and effort in modelling and research had gone into this lovely game, and having put together the kit for this in 15mm I really must get my version up and running. Thanks to Don for sharing his knowledge about this battle as I picked up some very interesting info about the defences around the bridge when the Ox and Bucks landed.

Peninsular War - The British are Coming!!


In December I moved out of my "comfort zone" and added to my Fantassin and AB collection of British Peninsular figures with my first purchase of the Campaign Game Miniatures (CGM) range (see my December 10th post). I was very pleased with the figures on first inspection, and I hope you will agree, they compliment the rest of my collection.

I have included some comparison shots to help others embarking into Napoleonic 18mm and are wondering if the various ranges are compatible.

My impression of the CMG figures are very positive.
Positives
1. Little or no flash to contend with.
2. Excellent clear detail, which is easy to pick out with the brush
3. The range of poses are very good and of equal quality, with no "dodgy" poses.
Negatives
1. My only quibble and it's a very small one, is that the rolled great coats on the packs seem a little small.





Campaign Game Miniatures - 36th & 6th Foot




Campaign Game Miniatures
 (Mounted Colonels AB, Colour Bearers and drummers Fantassin, Flags GMB)

As you will see I have used AB mounted colonels and Fantassin colour bearers and drummers. The current range of British from CGM are very much aimed at the 100 Days Campaign and thus the officers are in shakos rather than bicornes. Also when it comes to anything using a horse, AB are very hard to ignore, their horses are superb.

For the Peninsular War I would look at using the CGM British Line in stovepipe shakos but not the commands, For the Light's and Riflemen I would use the ordinary ranks and the commands.




CGM on left, Fantassin on Right

I think the all various ranges are very compatible, with differences so inconsequential that when they are together on the table they become irrelevant.

That being said, because the ranges are so compatible, I have given some thought to my future planned purchases.

The Fantassin figures certainly bring a lot of character to the table with an excellent range of poses, and I am very pleased with them. The small downsides with them is that the quality of some of the poses and the detail leaves a little bit to be desired. The overly small back pack and rolled coat on some of the figures can be slightly disconcerting. The metal is also quite hard and can be difficult to trim any flash, particularly on the bottom of the bases. However they "paint up" nicely and bring a nice variety to any army.

AB are to my mind and many others still the "Gold Standard" when it comes to 18mm, but the price of the figures makes using them as the sole contribution to my collection prohibitive. As I am working to a budget and I would like to complete my army before I die, the other ranges are a welcome addition. Not only that but I feel the collection benefits from the variety offered by the different makes of figure.




CGM on the left, Fantassin on the right




CGM on left AB on Right with Fantassin colour party and skirmishers




CGM on the left, AB on the right

So in conclusion. I think at present CGM figures are going to form a significant core of my British infantry with a smattering of AB and Fantassin to add variety. None of the current ranges are able to tick all my boxes when I put a battalion of figures together and as you can see I have found no problem in mixing various figure ranges into my units. Times have never been better than now for Napoleonic wargamers when it comes to choosing figures and I have as yet to try out the new offerings from Blue Moon. As this range grows I will be looking at recruiting a few of their "stout fellows" to help liberate the Peninsular from the Corsican Ogre, and I have a mind to sending a force of them to deal with those troublesome Yankees in Canada.

Busy New Year!!

Well we're already 13 days into 2013 and I haven't posted a word.

The reason I have been so remiss is down to several things. Firstly the day job is taking up more focus with the need to get a good start to 2013. Secondly I got a big present from Santa Claus (whose been a good boy then!!) that has been taking up my time namely an IPad 2

Needless to say this little toy has been at my side since Xmas day and I have busily setting it up to do the things I want, mainly storing my digital wargames literature, including books and rules. I now have all seven volumes of Oman's History of the Peninsular War at a finger tips touch away amongst other goodies so my reading time will now be vastly enhanced, happy days.

Anyway it has become a bit of a time hoover and I am conscious that the figures will not paint themselves so next week I am back in the routine to get my Napoleonics up and running.

It looks like I will be play testing the Rolica scenario first weekend in February. When I am happy with the set up I will post a copy for anyone whose interested.

I will also post some pictures of my Campaign Game British that I'm painting up for Vimiero. These figures are lovely and I am really pleased with the results.

Yesterday I got in my first wargame of 2013, at the Devon Wargames Group where some of the guys pulled together a  Battlegroup Kursk game which gave me my first look at these rules. I have posted my impressions of these rules together with a report on the Devon Wargames Blog. See my links to find the blog report.

Up Close and Personal on the Russian Front - Battlegroup Kursk

I am now really thinking about building up my Russian front stuff using Plastic Soldier Company's growing collection of 15mm offerings. In addition several of the guys at club are interested in building Perry plastic 28mm Wars of the Roses figures to use with "A Coat of Steel" rules from the Perfect Captain. I really would like to play these rules.

However I must stay focused and get projects completed before embarking on others.