Disastro!

 After last weeks Chain of Command game I thought Matt and I could try something different for a change and offered Italian Wars, it would be something different for Matt and I could once again get my troops out for some exercise.

I kept it small and settled on the Battle of La Motta from Rodolfo Verginella's book, where the Spanish defeated the Venetians, I tweaked it a little to give the Venetians more of a chance allowing them some better infantry while I downrated the Spanish a tad, unfair but in the spirit of the game. When Matt turned up I gave him a choice and he settled on the Venetians as he was sat next to them. I explained the rules and we dove right in. Matt slowly advanced his right and held his left on a hill. I sent my men straight at the enemy as I thought that if I didn't my right might be outflanked by the enemy cavalry.

Spanish on the left, Venetians on the right.

Baggage train and looters.

Spanish left.

The cavalry met first and I routed the Stradiots in the centre, my heavy cavalry also looked like doing well, on the right I managed to almost break one of the Venetian light cavalry units but then found my men outflanked as I had thought as more cavalry thundered into their flank. As these fights continued my pikemen had at last managed to come to grips with the enemy foot, the Landsknechts as I thought defeated their opponents but the enemy had put up a fight and did not go easily. On my left it was very different for the Spanish, although outclassed they put up a stout defence and it looked at one point that they could come out on top. It was about this time that Matt suffered a 'Hazard' and quite a few of his men deserted, it did look bad for his infantry although his cavalry were obviously winning.

Venetian left (yes I know there are Spanish flags there).

Landsknechts advance quickly.

Spanish left also advance.

As usual I took too much for granted, Matt's Italians recovered and put my Spanish to flight, as we looked over the battlefield it was obvious the Venetians had had the better part of the fight, although the Landsknecht blocks were still on the battlefield they had been badly decimated (they also suffered from desertion). I had one cavalry unit left but it was facing a Venetian gun which had already caused severe casualties on it and it would not survive another volley. I handed my sword over.

Landsknechts clear the hill.

Venetian right and desperate fighting.

We had a discussion of the rules over a beer (zero) at the end. Matt brought up some points and I confess I am not completely happy with the way the game plays but I do like the main part which has a melee then a melee combat morale phase, I do like this. I do think however that I will look at it later, I won't go into detail as most of you, or maybe all, will not use Furioso. I do have Pike and Shotte and the Italian Wars supplement which a lot of people use and may be tempted to try this at some stage despite not being keen on Warlord rules sets.

Despite having packs of new sojers on my desk I have not been able to get to them as I am busy with maps at the moment, I might though manage to get a squad cleaned up and primed over the weekend in order to look at putting paint to brush next week.

I have an ECW game at Erik's next Wednesday evening but otherwise nothing on the cards for now, I might try and look at P&S again with a solo game to try them out. Who knows.

I spent a few days last weekend down South in Chorleywood at my son's, it really is a nice part of the country, very English and genteel and of course very expensive, in case anyone gets ideas above their station they can visit Watford almost next door. My granddaughter came back with us for a week and as usual is a delight to have around the house.

There we have it. 

The Battle of Ravenna

 Back at the club again, Bolt Action against 'Lucky' Jimi. I took the British and Jimi brought his winter Jerries, I debated whether to penalise his movement due to ski's but thought better of it, it was a friendly game after all. I stole Matt Crump's scenario from a couple of weeks ago, we both had a senior officer stranded with his vehicle and we had to protect him while capturing the enemy one.

I took four infantry squads a MMG, Cromwell tank, Humber armoured car and a truck, Jimi had four squads a truck, halftrack, MMG, panzerschreck and a StuG III. I have not played Bolt Action for a long time and cannot muster the enthusiasm to read through Version 3, you almost need scaffolding to hold it up due to the amount of guff in it, so we went with version 2 and some common sense.

I decided to put a squad and the armoured car on defender duty while I attempted to take the rest to capture the Party bigwig on my right. There was a tank duel at first and I lost the Cromwell but still decided to push my infantry forward, I had also managed to get the Humber into a position where it could fire on the flank of the StuG, I needed a lot of luck to penetrate but I could deal out pins, there was so much going on around the StuG that Jimi forgot to move it. The British get a free (no idea why) artillery observer, losing my tank forced me to use him and my artillery barrage caused a lot of disarray in the German defenders, no more mister nice guy.

Fat Hermann, party big wig.

 

Major Bracegirdle.

 

That changed things.

Slowly but surely I closed in on the Party faithful while Jimi lost several morale throws and failed to move, this happened to me as well but only once, in keeping with his usual bad fortune Jimi also got two FUBAR's and several units fled for the rear. This meant he now brought a couple of squads in to attempt to take my Officer, but I was ready and brought in my last unit to ensure he couldn't manage this while I took fat Hermann prisoner, game over.

Welcome support for the Major.

Easy target.

Potential game winner.

The game moved swiftly and was a bit of fun, the artillery bombardment really played havoc with the German morale, I have always been more than dubious of the 'free' units in Bolt Action but with the loss of my only tank and the Jerries having upgraded MG fire I felt it necessary to give me a fighting chance. I still feel guilty, although I have been on the recieving end many times of the 'free' something rule. 

I found myself with a free week and in desperation I decided to go solo in order to get my Italian Wars collection on the table, I looked for inspiration in my three scenario books and settled on the Battle of Ravenna from 'All is Lost Save Honour' published by Helion and Co. and on which I worked along with the authors Colin Ashton and Conrad Cairns, a must for beginners to the period. I use Furioso rules which are well suited to solo play as once the initial deployment is set the Initiative system can take over and the battle runs itself. One good thing about solo is you can use your common sense in all situations despite what the rules say. Not shown on the map are the arquebusiers I allowed to line the ditch.

To the battle, the duel between the artillery of both sides which I allowed for a couple of moves changed little as the French especially could not hit a barn door, which was a shame as they had far more guns. One unit of Gendarmes on the right threw caution to the wind and charged the enemy, they managed to defeat some Papal men-at-arms who had tried to intercept them and then charge the Spanish gun line wiping out a complete crew. They were then in turn charged by some Spanish men-at-arms, beaten and dispersed.

View from the French positions.

The Imperial defence.

The battlefield.

Meanwhile the French and Spanish light cavalry skirmished with each other on the French left while the French infantry slowly, very slowly made their way forward, they immediately began to suffer from the arquebusiers lining the ditch, they needed to get a move on before their casualties increased. It was now apparent that the French wanted to crush the Spanish centre before their flanks were attacked.

The French reach the ditch.

French pikes break the Imperial gun line.

The Landsknechts break through.

Imperial right.

Attacking across ditches or other defences in Furioso is difficult and this was proven as most of the French assaults became disordered, but the opposition were mainly arquebusiers and these were all swept away, although some put up a struggle before running. As the French breasted the ditch the Spanish pike blocks moved forward, several brutal melees ensued, the Italian's on the French side failed miserably and were defeated however the Landsknechts destroyed their enemy and the French pike engaged more of the Spanish in a to and fro melee. On the right the artillery still hammered away at each other while more French pikes drove into the Imperial left, the Imperial cavalry falling back from the pikes or faltering and failing to change direction. The fight here was still anyone's, as both sides now manouvered for an edge.The crises of the battle was fast approaching.

Landsknechts meet more Papal infantry.

Spanish pikes undecided, left or right?

French artillery.

French pikes pushed back.

Renaissance Uber Eats arrives.

Most of the infantry cresting the ditch were held or actually routed apart from the Landsknechts who smashed their way forward, to their right a French pike block which had kept up with them was then pushed back by some incredibly tough Spaniards just as it seemed the whole Imperial centre would break. 

At this point the Imperial army had reached its break point despite from a wargamers standpoint looking like it could overturn the result and maybe, just maybe grab the win as the French also were one point away from breaking. As I pondered this a look at the casualties on the side showed the Imperials, despite outnumbering the French had been roughly handled so I let the rules dictate the winner. I have to say that throughout the French seemed way more keen than the Imperials to get to grips with the enemy, their Initiative dice were generally much higher than the enemy who, as in reality, were far more cautious. The attack on the works was a daring move but paid off just in time. 

I have a lot coming up over the next four weeks, I have mate Billy coming for a couple of days from north of the Wall for some Chain of Command, then my son for the same on the following Sunday, then a week later I will be fighting Rob Broom over a weekend of War and Conquest, and after that a little holiday for a week in darkest Northumberland. I also hope to fit something in with Matt Crump as well.

So, that's it for now, still nothing on the paint tray although spent time doing a few map projects for Helion while waiting for the Atlas author to get back to me, nothing complicated. I almost forgot, Ken Reilly (Yarkshire Gamer) wants to take his outstanding 'Relief of Forli' to Claymore this year and is asking for volunteers, I have put my name down and if available I will be there.

I did start looking into a CoC mini campaign and I have the framework ready along with the German OOB based on 6th Panzer Divisions attempted relief of Stalingrad, but I have put it aside at the moment due to visits from family and the large IW game, but like Macarthur "I shall return" but will keep my feet dry.

New Rules and Italian Wars

 First visit to the club in a while and an introduction to the much touted Chain of Command 2. I had planned a 1v1 game against Mike who had not played before but somewhere along the line we ended up in a 2v2 game of Big Chain of Command, something I had not played before. 

Stuart had sorted out a Normandy game where the British were attacking a German position, we all had a platoon each along with supports, I chose a Priest, a model I have had for a long time but like many it has never fired in anger. My thoughts were that the Jerries would not have enough points for anything like a dangerous tank so the artillery would sort out their infantry. I had the right wing and headed for the objective in the village church, sure enough there were only German infantry in front of me and one squad found themselves in the open as they made for some cover. I brought on the Priest and gave them a fright, I didn't kill many but their Shock rose considerably and they bolted back into the church.

The British are coming!

At last I get it on the table.

Jerries hiding from the Priest.

Paul on my left was the target of most of the German support, medium machine guns and a 'door knocker' Pak 36, he had a Sherman and it tried to hide from the little anti-tank gun as the Steilgranate round could potentially knock it out. The British did well with extra phases and these allowed me to make it to the bocage hedges on the outskirts of the village while the Priest continued to rain down fire on the defenders, German morale took some hits and began to fall. We had to call a halt as time was up and it looked like only a matter of time before a British victory would be sealed.

What did I think, well the game was fine as a learning tool but too big for a club game at this stage as we checked the book on several occasions and poor Mike simply looked lost, I remember my first game and I know how he felt. There are a lot of little changes and overall I think they will make for a much better and more dynamic game. To get the best from the game you need to commit 100%, it is not the kind of game you throw down when you have a couple of spare hours, the myriad decisions and uses of the Command points are vital to winning as well as enjoying the challenge. I have another game set for this coming Tuesday at the club against Rob, Soviets vs Germans.

I do have to say that I am not totally sold on the new army lists, there have been some changes, especially to the Soviets but having researched the Russians and Volksgrenadiers for my own platoons I would prefer to use my own. However for now I will toe the line and see how it goes.

My third game now that I am back in the swing of things, Italian Wars and the battle of Ceresole. Now I have fought this battle a couple of times, the main reason is because it is fairly easy to do and the forces are almost on a par. A couple of points about the terrain, I have not added the low hill around Cascini Alfiere because it was not an obstacle to line of sight, you can check on Google maps but best of all friend Simon Miller has been there and assured me the French guns would not have been impeded by the 'rise'. I also substituted a small field for the fish ponds, I don't have anything suitable and this was the right size.

The battle opened with the French left advancing rapidly while I held my right back, I moved my own left forward albeit tardily to keep away from the fish ponds and possible disorder, Charles also was a bit reluctant to move his right forward. I did not do will in the exchange of fire despite outnumbering the French in shot troops and failed to shoot away their skirmishers, although the Italians in the woods on the French right stayed put in safety for the duration of the battle. 

Ceresole.

 

Swiss at the ready.

Imperials on the left, French on the right.

Imperial left flank.

The first clashes came on my right as my light cavalry were pushed back and my skirmishers rode down, I did manage to meet a large Swiss pike block with my Spanish/German pike, my troops put up a brave fight but in the end they were dispersed, my whole right flank had gone. Meanwhile on my left I eventually managed to circumvent the fish pond and hit a French pike block, this time my luck changed and although knocked back my men found fresh reserves of courage and threw their opponents back disordered. At the same time a force of Gendarmes did what Gendarmes do and hit another Landsknecht unit head on, again after a bit of a fright my numbers told as the cavalry here also fell back disordered.

My left advances.

The centre and my left.

Looking good.

The end.

At this point we called it a day, both sides had been successful on their respective left flanks and the French were beginning to reorganise to take on the Imperial left, what would have happened, who knows. The French still had their Swiss and another large mixed pike block and several Gendarme units against three Imperial pike units some skirmishers but no cavalry.

We had some fun, it takes time to get to grips with Furioso but when you do you can never take things for granted in the melees due to the combat morale part of the fight. I was lucky to hold on as Charles' die rolling was quite exceptional up until the last couple of turns. I still have some work to do with the rules but I do enjoy them, I just need to play them more and get things sorted in my head.

I have managed to get some painting done in between map work and might have another vexillation finished by next weekend hopefully. I now have to choose an ACW scenario to play against Matt Crump on Tuesday when I introduce him to JR2, that same evening I shall be playing Chain of Command at the club so might need some R&R on Wednesday. I wanted to push my luck and get something for Thursday afternoon but I lost that fight.

I have had my first yearly meeting to review my health and overall it is all positive, I have been treated fairly quickly and my only gripe is that the admin side of things take forever, instead of results in two weeks it takes five, or more. I cannot fault the people at the coal face. 

Swiss!

 Helion Wargames and other stuff editor Charles Singleton was in the hood so we decided to have a game with his newly painted Italian Wars army, and a beautiful thing it is too. I let Charles choose a scenario from the new 'Wargaming the Italian Wars' book and he chose Marignano 1515AD, mainly I think to get his Swiss on the table. 

The battle was a two day affair, on the first there was ferocious fighting as the Swiss tried to breach the French defences and silence their artillery, it was only the onset of darkness which called a halt. The next day the Swiss again assaulted the French line to no avail as the artillery and massed arquebusier fire scythed their ranks, charges by the French cavalry also pinned them and with the arrival of the Venetians even the vaunted Swiss had had enough.

I set the game up as per the new book using Furioso rules, immediately I had my doubts just how effective the cavalry would be, the Gendarmes like the real battle could only throw themselves at the pike blocks to wear them down, they probably could not actually stop them. This meant that for most of the action I simply repositioned the heavy cavalry to attack any pike block which made it across the bulwark, the light cavalry to my front I hoped would annoy the Swiss and cause some casualties and weaken them before they came to push of pike. In the end they too were pulled off to the flanks to give my guns a clear line of fire.

A view from the French position.

The French camp.

The French.

As the Swiss advanced they too had a problem getting the best use out of their artillery and the Milanese cavalry as the battlefield funneled troops between the road and the dry ditch. My artillery at first was desultory to say the least and even with the addition of my missile troops the Swiss easily shrugged off the odd casualty. I decided to let my men at the breastworks take the brunt of the enemy attack then hopefully when they were disordered and struggling send in my Landsknechts to finish them off. A heavy fusilade forced back the first block that tried to force the works but it came back again and managed to maintain its order as it cut down some crossbowmen along with a smaller French pike block. I had moved two Landsknecht blocks up for just this occurance as a large hole appeared in my line, one failed to contact while the other charged in but was pushed back by the victorious Swiss. 

The Swiss left.

Milanese and artillery.

The Swiss advance.

 A second and then a third enemy kiel smashed into my entrenchments, I lost an artillery piece but the defenders held helped by the fact that both of the new combatants had become disordered by the terrain. The main Swiss block on my right was now beginning to suffer as casualties mounted and a second Landsknecht block hit them. I rained down curses on the Germans as even with a wounded Swiss kiel to their front they were pushed back, my cavalry, now set up to hit the enemy in the flank looked on waiting their moment. The Landsknechts took the hint and reversed their backward slide and dealt out enough hurt to disorder their opponents.

Nearly there.

The French in disarry.

A fight between mortal enemies.

 

 

 With all three Swiss blocks held and disordered and with fresh mercenaries ready to enter the fray supported by Gendarmes on the wings we called a halt. Despite the fact that my cavalry had not made one charge due to the outstanding performance of my infantry they would no doubt have mopped up any Swiss survivors who cleared the breastworks. The battle is a huge ask for the Swiss commander but once we got to grips it kept us amused for several hours of fighting back and forth along the defences. I would be tempted to fight it again despite the long odds.

The rest of the Swiss hit the breastwork.

The end.

Charles kindly left me with a copy of the Helion book and if I say so myself it is an excellent wargame guide for the period which covers every aspect from the history to flags and scenarios.

I was in Darlington over Easter for my granddaughters sixteenth birthday and on the Monday we had a walk in a local park and I came upon a Russian cannon from the Crimean War, two had been requested but a political battle ensued between the Quakers, who did not want it, and the locals who did. One was eventually awarded and after a long history ended up in its present position in South Park.

Another unit has now joined the army of Maximinus Thrax, Lanciarii skirmishers. I have decided with almost half the army complete I now need to work on my officers and Thrax himself so commanders are up next.