Battle of Newburn 1640 & Spanish Civil War Battle

Hello There! I recently attended a club night at the New Buckenham Historical Wargamers Club. It was a busy night with a good turn out. Two games were on and a third was being prepared for the following day.

The game I was involved in was these rules. I was a bit apprehensive at first as they were entirely card driven, (a situation that usually make me go cold), no dice throws and no measuring.

Here is a view of the overall table. The table is divided up into grid squares. Here all the terrain is 600mm x 600mm squares so this is easier to imagine. Four squares to each tile. Units occupy a square. In some situations more than one unit can occupy the same square. Units draw a card to decide if they can move. Initially a card is drawn to see if the unit, (or the brigade on the first move), and the size of the number on the card gives an idea of the chances of subsequent moves. If the next card is less than the previous card, then that brigade can no longer move until the next move.

The pack of cards are two sets of normal playing cards with the picture cards removed.

This was the battle for today. Part of the seconds Barons War and not readily known.

The Scots side was particularly well painted. There was also no need to put the units into smaller base sizes and so each unit was on a single base. This would probably prevent damage to the pikes.

At the same time a table was being prepared for the tournament game which would be held on the Saturday.

This included many bystanders who would also be present on the day.

Lastly a Spanish Civil War game in 20mm.

The first game went really well. While I cannot attest to the historical accuracy of the game, because I have little knowledge of the period, the game had a smooth flow and the rules were easy to pick up with guidance of Nick, who was familiar with the rules.

 

Battle of Talavera refight

Hello There! After a long hiatus I have started to edit the photos I have from a few previous games and visits. The New Buckenham Historical Wargamers put on a game refighting the Battle of Talavera on a Friday evening and Saturday.

This is an overview of the battlefield. The left hand side is the attacking French forces and the defending Allies line the hills on the right. At the top of the table the German division advance towards the Spanish forces behind a wall.

There are many colourful units on  the board, for example the Front Rank Wurtemburg Jager zu Pferde who were standing in for the Westphalian Light Cavalry.

The French forces soon closed in on their enemy ready to break into their lines

Here Allied artillery pour fire into the advancing columns

French dragoons added a bit of colour with these pink facings

Here is a close up of the Spanish light infantry who were defending the wall at the top of the first picture

The figures for this game came from a number of different club members collections. Here Poles from Murawski Miniatures close in on the Allies

French foot artillery accompanied their advancing forces

Polish troops completed the French forces

From the lower part of the battlefield, (from the first picture in this post), the French repeatedly attacked the hill but were unable to take it.

A band accompanied the Spanish forces, probably to ensure they stayed fighting!

These converted British hussars

Some of the Allied troops occupied a redoubt in the centre of their position

The French forces were an impressive sight as they advanced up the slopes.

The victorious division of General Leval took the wall defended by the Spanish and drove them off 

Here you can see the backdrop that we use for the wider angle photos we take

Further pictures of the battle as it progressed. A full after battle report can be found on the wargames Facebook page link at the end of this post

Here was the battlefield plan for the initial set up of the battle

Overall this day was very enjoyable and was down to the great company and the drive to recreate a bit of Napoleonic history.

Further photos are here on the wargames club Facebook page