Peninsular War Skirmish Game Setup

Did a preliminary, test, setup for my other game at Enfilade in May. This time it's a Peninsular War game, again using One-Hour Wargames Skirmish for rules. It'll have six players, three each for the French and British/Spanish Guerillas. Right now, I'm thinking of having the capture of the French general as the victory condition for the British and Spanish.

The French start the game occupying the village - which should give some balance as they'll have good cover against the Rifles better shooting stats.

A staged shot of the three units of attacking British ans Spanish. They'll start at the table edge, so they may not be so well-numbered by the time they get close to the French.

Spanish Guerillas. They'll have the Bruiser trait for hand to hand combat. They are supposed to capture the French general alive, but I may add some mechanism which they may end up killing him, thereby not getting a major victory.

The French general and his aide, defended by Nassauers - who've yet to have changed sides. I'm using the same figures along with the KGL in the La Haye Sainte game before this one.

95th Rifles and Cacadores.

French Dismounted Dragoons and Voltigeurs.

5/60th Rifles and Cacadores.

Polish light infantry on the French flank.

May not get around to playtesting this scenario, but just wanted to see how the table layout would look like. Shouldn't be too difficult to "wing it" at the convention, especially after two back to back games using the same rules the day before this one.

Until next time, best wishes to you all!

Storm The Farmhouse - Battle of La Haye Sainte - Game Day

Hello everyone! Been a while since I've posted, but just got back from a great game day at the Chehalis Veterans Memorial Museum. I was able to host my La Haye Sainte game using One-Hour Skirmish Wargames rules with six players. The game went well, and a lot of good suggestions were made by the players, as I'll be hostiIng this game again at Enfilade in May. There were several other games going on in the morning session as well as mine, so felt very fortunate to have my game filled. I stayed for the afternoon period and played in a Chain of Command game.

I almost was a no-show for the event as we had snow all day yesterday here in Steilacoom. Other areas had heavy rain, including where the museum is located in Chehalis, Washington - which is prone to flooding. However, the snow had melted off the roads in the morning, so I put on my big boy pants and heading down to the event. Glad I went as today was very sunny and beautiful. The picture below is from yesterday when I was conducting winter warfare training in the backyard with my sole trooper.

The weather today in front of the museum - there were several folks who didn't show up thinking today would be bad too. The weather here in the Pacific Northwest can be very goofy!

Here are pictures from the games today.

Above: French dragoons and sappers attempt to breakdown the defenses in the front of the farmhouse. This combined unit was later destroyed after failing a morale test - they took a lot of casaulties from British Rifles coming out of the sandpit.

Above: British Rifles advancing and firing on the French - all the players started with 12 figure units. I plan to reduce the Rifles unit to 8 figures, as they were a bit too powerful with their rifled muskets.

Above: Nassauers advancing to assist the KGL in the farmhouse.

Above: French Light Infantry Carabiniers assaulting the low walls of the farmhouse. Several made it over the wall and fought in hand to hand combat.

French Voltigeurs advancing towards the rear of the farmhouse.

A spectacular Battle on the Causeway Aztec v. Conquistador game run in both the morning and afternoon periods.

Games like this one made me feel fortunate to have players in my game. There weren't that many attendees - maybe 25 or so - mainly due to yesterday's weather.

Kevin Smyth's WW2 Pacific Theater game. He said the game didn't quite go exactly as he had envisioned. The Japanese, due to unusually good die rolls, managed to sink all of the Allied ships early on.

Wings of Glory WW1 aerial game.

The Patrol Phase of the Chain of Command game I played in, in the afternoon period. Note the laser doing the back azimuths for figure placement from the "locked" Jumping Off points. Although I only play these rules when my buddies host games, I do enjoy the Patrol Phase.

I ran a platoon of US Paratroopers, and thanks to very good shooting die rolls managed to destroy a platoon of Germans on their right flank.

Besides the gaming going on upstairs, the first floor has an excellent museum. It is privately funded, and showcases the sacrifices of veterans from the local area. These include those from the American Civil War to present. I took pictures of a few of the memorial displays from recent conflicts.

The one below includes the veteran's Cub Scout uniform.

Here's a picture of some of the many small arms displays throughout the museum. All of the items in the museum are private donations.

So, all in all a great game day - especially considering how I almost was not going to attend it. Thanks for stopping by, and wishing you all the best.

Storm The Farmhouse! La Haye Sainte One-Hour Skirmish Wargames Set-up

Some staged shots of a La Haye Sainte game using One-Hour Skirmish Wargames rules I will be hosted next month at the Veterans Museum in Chehalis, Washington.

I've used this scenario several times before using Black Powder on a larger table which included actions around the farm as well as the farm itself. This time, the game will be concentrated on the actual assault of the farm.

Newly arrived Nassauers assisting the KGL troops.

Major Baring commanding on horseback.

The back of the barn, missing the doors as they were burned for firewood the cold night before by the defenders.

View looking into the courtyard from the main house.

The little pond from which retreating Luneburg troops used their cooking pots to put out the fires.

French Carabiniers assaulting through the orchard.

French Voltigeurs supporting Engineers/Sappers who broke down the main gate to the farm.

A unit of 95th Rifles manning the "Sand Pit" on the far edge of the table.

The dashing Lieutenant Colonel Sharpe stroming out of the Sand Pit to attack the Prince of Orange.

Oh, and here's the 54mm figure of a Kospoth Regiment grenadier which I painted for my buddy who had an ancestor serve in that unit in the 1790's.

So much for now, nothing in the paint queue at the moment. I might work on the St Chamond 3D printed tank I've had sitting around for awhile. Until next time, thanks as always for visiting, and wishing you all the very best.

Black Powder, Battle of Dresden, 1813 - My First Game in 2026!

Wrapped up a very nice Battle of Dresden game using Black Powder. There were 7 players, 4 commanding the Allied army, and 3 commading the French. It was a close battle with lots of back and forth action, especially between cavalry. Small skirmish units were able to occupy the smaller buildings in the center of the table. We played 6 turns ending with a very close French victory. They held their positions around the city, although their cavalry brigade on their right flank took heavy losses. 

The Allies were allowed to go first, since the French were already in a defensive position in the city. The Russians made the first move by advancing well into musket and cannon range. They wanted to force the French out from their positions.

French left.

French Dragoons and Lancers forcing Russian infantry into square.

French Carabiniers and Cuirassiers on their right.

Russian infantry advancing.

French infantry within the city defenses.

Prussian Dragoons and Uhlans advancing.

Austrian and Prussian cavalry advancing in front of their infantry.

French heavy cavalry in combat with Prussian Dragoons.

Center of the battlefield. 

Around turn 5.

Austrians attacking the French right.

Russian infantry awaiting movement orders (they had a few failed command rolls).

Russian Grenadiers. 

Russian Uhlans charging into French Dragoons.

Prussians advancing in the center.

French and Austrian infantry clash. 

Action on the French left. 

It was great to finally get all of the models onto the table - including the large buildings that were put together last year. The players, most of whom have only played Black Powder once or twice before, all said they had a great time and enjoyed the game. I think the rules are great for fast play and we were able to get 6 full turns in within about 4 hours. A great start to the gaming new year! Thanks for stopping by and hope you all are doing well!