Big Bashes.....

Sometimes you just want to line them up and knock them down....

A couple of big games, with plenty of toys on the table. First up a stand up fight between the Brits and French, the whistle of cannon ball and the clouds of black smoke as the French columns looked to break the British line.

In true French style the heavy cavalry charged down the meadow looking to break the thin red line.

Will the British line hold?

Should they have formed a square?

Will 3 rounds a minute put paid to the valiant French attack?

Several hundred years earlier and the Ancient Brits aim to hold back the Roman invaders.

A blood soaked field.

But the Romans hold the line, drill and training beating naked (literally) aggression.

Next up back to the desert.

Cotswold Wargaming Day 2022 - Kadesh (lite)

Somewhat later than planned a brief summary of the Cotswold outing of Kadesh (lite) and the 1274BC clash between the New Kingdom of Egypt under Ramessess II and the Hittite Empire under Muwatalli II and one of the earliest recorded pitched battles.

First the map of the real events...

We were using Too Fat Lardies Infamy Infamy rules with a couple of tweaks to represent the various elements of the battle.

A birds eye view of the table with Ramesses II to the left and the Kadesh on the hill. The Re Corps can be seen entering the table on the right.

The Re Corp enter the table made up on a light chariot, Nubians and a couple of shield and archer units accompanied by camels and livestock, The Corp were hindered by a number of poor-quality leaders.

The Hittite chariot force had up to 1D6 turns to cross the river (Wadi) and advance on the RE Corp before the Egyptians were able to react. 4 Heavy Chariots and Big Men rumble on to the table.

The Hittites bear down on the Re Corp who head just enough time to turn to face the chariots. The Hittites loaded up with fervour raced towards their foe.

As the battle began. At the far end of the table. The Royal camp could do nothing to influence or react to the forthcoming encounter. Neither Egyptian or Hittite were aware of when Ramesses would react. There were two small markers on the table, the Egyptian King would only spring into action when friend or foe crossed the line.

The Hittite chariots smashed into the Re Corp, the battle swirls and despite damaging a number of the chariots the Egyptians are broken and shattered. So far history was being followed.

The Hittite chariots were having such a good time, running down the scattered units, remnants of the New Kingdom Egyptian Corp fled towards the Royal camp, which allowed Ramesses II to organise his defence. By the time the Hittite attack force had reorganised and dropped off their chariot runners the Royal camp was alert to the threat.

The Hittie force closed on the royal camp, who had now been bolstered by the Ne'arin Detachment who had arrived on the table, it was 2.00pm and the clock was winding down.

Battle is joined between the two chariot forces, the Egyptian medium chariots were out classed, but the Hittite's had a mounting level of casualties from their earlier clash.

The Egyptian chariot force was broken but every Hittite chariot was now below half strength.

The battered Hittite force was no match for the elite defenders, they bounced off and were forced backwards while others were destroyed where they stood.

The Ptah Division enter the table to support the Ramesses II at the rear of the Hittite attack force, it was 3.00pm.

Muwatalli II seeing his chariot force had finally seen their morale drop to 5 (which was the trigger to bring on this infantry) urged his troops forwards, but it was late in the day and the bulk of the Egyptian forces were rapidly deploying to face off against the Infantry who struggling to cross the wadi.

A great day's gaming.... and elements very close to history.

Highs and lows for both sides, the Hittites were distracted sweeping up the Re Corp, they were almost too successful because their morale held up which stopped Muwatalli II from committing his infantry. 

The Egyptian's Re Corp fought valiantly when perhaps they should have turned and ran which would have brought Ramesses and the Amum Division defending the camp into battle sooner.

The Infamy rules held up really well and whilst we were lite on chariots compared to our near neighbours it had a great feel to the battle.

and one of the earliest recorded pitched battles. successful it allowed the 

Cotswold Wargaming Day 2022

Sunday and an early morning excursion down to Northleach in the Cotswolds and Keith Flint's annual wargaming get together.... a great bunch of games many with a serious amount of lead on the table.

It's a very relaxed affair with no traders or competition games, just a bunch of gamers playing a multitude of games for fun.... the hall has plenty of room, even if Keith had to source tables from elsewhere.

You can find full details here on Keith's blog - KEITH'S WARGAMING BLOG (keefsblog.blogspot.com)

I am afraid I did not get around all the games and chat with all those present but here's a selection of some of the games on offer.

The Nine Years War gets an outing....  so many cavalry, it had a real old school feel to it with the opposing forces on a wide frontage but so very close so units were straight into the action.

A fantastic looking AWI game, great figures, great terrain and rightly awarded the best terrain award. Using British Grenadier Rule set it really captured the feel of the period.

Nice to see the Cigar Box Mat's up close, they really looked durable and flowed well over the hills, perfect if you were looking to take on major battles such as Leipzig shown above. 

Great to see Spencer Smith Miniatures on display, so hardwearing due to their clean and simple design.

A cracking game from Steve aka the Wargaming addict with his Imagination forces of Prusskian army taking on that of the Ruthenians, the game had a lovely feel to it and got me seriously thinking about my own 6/10mm project for the FRW on a grand scale. You can read more of Steve's day on his blog, well worth a follow. Wargaming Addict: Cotswold Wargames Day 2022 (wwiiwargaming.blogspot.com)

Meanwhile me and the gang put on a lite version of Kadesh using Infamy Infamy. More on that in a future post.

Sharing the room with the Farnborough Wargames Society who were also fielding an ancient Hittite force taking on the Yamhad/Syrian Kingdom 1615 BC. Quite the spectacle with so many chariots.

I have a serious case of chariot envy.

A great day out, great company, great chat and a close fought battle .... The downside I now have perhaps 3 more projects to think about....  thanks guys :-)

Hittite & New Kingdom Egyptian Chariots.

Running a series of linked games has driven me to complete the last of the bare metal for the Kings of Bronze Project - The adaption of Infamy Infamy by the Two Fat Lardies to the Bronze Age.

The last couple of pieces are extra chariots for the Hittites and NKE's from Warlord games, picked up in one of their annual sales, on face value in bare metal I much prefer the Foundry one's over Warlord, they feel that little bit more sturdy, but once painted and based they look fine and mix well together.

The Hittite addition is another Medium Chariot, although how you are expected to cram another crewman in here is beyond me.

Heavy throwing spear vs bow makes for us interesting contests and adapted uses within engagements.

I figured the final New Kingdom Chariot will be a medium chariot, with bronze barding on the horse and matching protection for the archer.

Then finally mounted Egyptian scouts. I found reference to these in the Warhammer Ancient Battles campaign book, these Foundry figures had been hanging around since the beginning of the Covid years... They will make an interesting scout unit, they might need another pack but for now I am calling these done.

Project complete......

Ok I say complete but looking at the storage boxes now and there is room for another foot unit and a single skirmish unit. so perhaps we might see for more Sea People or some Libyans who knows in the future but for now the draw is empty of any additional spare metal.

Next up the final linked game for this campaign session with an attack on the Hittite camp.

Hittites vs New Kingdom Egyptians - Kings of Bronze #4

It's been just under a year since the Hittites have graced the table on home turf.... blimey that went quick, but the recent burst of ancient activity gave me a nudge to get the troops back on the table and the Overseer Huharmati's drive to push back the Egyptians. 

After the last encounter having beaten back the Egyptians, word reaches Huharmati that the Egyptians have captured a number of Hittite nobles being held in a small village to the East. The object is to reach the village and free the prisoners or break the force morale of the defenders.

I adapted Platoon Forward and added a number of potential Egyptian forces on blinds markers on the table in Yellow, Orange and Pink forces these had the potential to be light, medium or heavy forces. Roll low and the blind could be nothing, roll high and the defenders get tougher.

Without knowing the strength of the New Kingdom forces the Hittite's advanced rushing forwards to seize ground and perhaps supress the blinds before they can be unearthed.

A number of flags were pulled from the bag and units started to cover the approach to the village and the village centre. You guessed it lots of high rolls.

The Egyptians are quick to re-organised and formed a battle line as the Hittite chariots pressure the left flank masked by the high dune.

Luka Sea People mercenaries and allies of the Hittites crash into the Egyptian line from the dune but are swiftly bounced backwards taking a number of casualties.

The mass ranks of Egyptians hold the centre ground as a unit of Sherden Guard emerge from the village with the intention of bolstering the line, if only they could get an officer to activate them.

However the New Kingdom lines fixed in the centre of the table, they were unable to react to the horns of the Antelope the heavy chariots pushed around the left flank, would two light Egyptian chariots be enough to counter the threat?

Having tweaked the chariot runs recently and a good use of the heavy throwing spears. The medium Hittite chariot forced the Pharaoh's chariots backwards, the heavy Hittite chariot moves to exploit the gap.

Hittite spearmen catch the close order Egyptian troops with shields up after having been peppered by archers on the flank. Having spent all of their command flags they were unable to react to the charging Hittite warriors.

Having seen their close assault troops beaten back the Egyptian spearmen risked exposing their backs by wheeling into the Hittite ranks to beat back the Hittite warriors, however this saw them caught from behind by a fast moving spear unit, stepping out and crashing into the disorganised spearmen and their short lived victory. - 6",6",5" mighty lucky if you ask me....

The New Kingdom Egyptians morale dropped to zero as the Heavy Chariot tore through the unarmoured archers and the Sea People drove back the badly beaten shield wall.

Another victory for Overseer Huharmati's forces who simply walked into the village to release the Hittite nobles from captivity....

Great to get the Ancients back on the table, the blinds for Platoon Forward make for a varied scenario whether you are playing solo or multiple players. Perhaps the Egyptian centre could have been more aggressive before the Hittites got organised? The bows on the flank forced a poor tactical decision when the actual casualties were minimal. The Hittite chariots are tough and did well to stay away from the close order troops, but made a real mess of the light chariots and unarmoured archers.

If only the Sherden Guard could have gotten moving would it have been different?