Must try harder ?

Since my trip down south I have been inordinately busy mainly with some household maintenance activities, whilst the hobby activity has continued blogging has take a back seat. So a bumper post to catch up on three games and some painting.

Not quite in order ….. first up we played a small French Indian War skirmish, using Rebels and Patriots 

The  British would attempt to get across the table from the left along the track through the woods. The French would ambush from the two further corners.

The french supported by a sizeable Native contingent

For the British, the Rangers lead the way, these fan out to open the road. Whilst the French infantry looks to cut the road behind the barn.

The Natives swarm around the church

The British infantry face off but somehow the Natives fail their activation to charge leaving them in a vulnerable position.

Not surprisingly despite charging the British they don’t last long.

The British skirmishers and rangers push on down the road as quickly as they can

After a double 6 activation the French receive some Native reinforcements these are able to charge just in time

Where they catch the British Militia by the Barn

These are butchered to a man including the British commander who is unfortunately with them. With the time limit now up for the battle this final assault by the french has levelled things up leaving the battle a tight draw. A lot of fun and a welcome return to the FiW which hasn’t seen much love for. Long time

Next up on the advice of Steve J I have been looking for this book finally it came up at a respectable price ! Looking forward to reading it and it is on the list…..

A bit of painting over the last couple of weeks

Some 3D printed windmills, these are 10mm scale for the SYW/ECW/TYW

Some ECW markers for units which are waivering 

Martin recently gifted me some spare FiW/AWI figures all are woodsmen or irregular militia figures. So rather than hide them away I pushed them to the front of the painting queue, they took a bit longer than expected as there isn’t much uniformity in the figures. But they are done and fought well in the FiW battle above.

Last week saw a trip down to George’s he has already blogged the result so no surprises here just some photos of his beautiful early war collection.

The Germans prepare for battle

I made a few mistakes in the setup allowing the British to get the advantage

The British are able to bring greater numbers into the battle and the Germans are outgunned

Eventually the Germans are driven back into the woods, a good win for the British and on to the second scenario

This week I visited Erik to play another historical ECW this time Ripple Field, just a few photos here of the battle

William Waller (my command) is holding the high ground outside of Tewkesbury they are outnumbered by the Royalist army but the slope is difficult ground so this might enable them to hold their position

This was Erik’s play of the scenario each trying slightly different approach, here the Royalist attempt to assault directly up the hill with their cavalry supported by their limited infantry. On the Royalist left their cavalry decide to pull back, this gave the numerical advantage to Waller.

When the cavalry attempts to assault back up the hill a very lucky volley from the Parliamentary dragoons sends them feeling back down the hill

The other side of the battle is much closer but again the Parliamentary forces win out including killing Maurice the Royalist commander. So a tough battle but in the end a decisive win for Parliament. A fun battle and the detail Erik puts into recreating the battle is impressive.

Thats is for now, another battle planned over with Martin tomorrow and then I’m heading down south again for a week or so, visiting some ECW Battlefields a trip to Oxford and finally heading to PARTIZAN wargame show. So if you are heading to Newark on the 17th it would be great to catch up.

Matt ❤️

Somewhere in the New World : FIW : Bolt Action

For all my previous FIW battles we have used Muskets and Tomahawks, a very enjoyable ruleset for small skirmish games but I have wanted to try something different for a while. Looking for something to plug a gap we tried a simple battle using a quickly adapted set of Bolt Action rules. The French Forces supported by a strong native Indian contingent are looking to raid a local settlement. We had three objectives equally spread across the table.

French regular infantry advance down the road with their officer in support

In the woods Natives move towards the church where the unsuspecting residents are in danger of being captured

British regular infantry supported by local militia

More natives have their eye on the locals cattle

Coming under fire the French spreadout into the corn field to get some cover

British regulars form up and fire down the road but come under (inaccurate) fire from natives beyond the church yard

In the church yard a fearce hand to hand combat will seal the fate of the Reverend and his two female companions 

Long range fire down the road, the objective in this part of the battlefield are the beer barrels close to the house

Puffs of smoke and musket fire can be seen all over the battlefield now

Under orders “capture le beer” some of the French make a dash for the barrels

It isn’t looking good for the locals as a single ranger remains to defend them

Looks like beef is back on the menu but now they have to get the cattle away

A final unit of bow armed natives moves up through the wood

Despite the Muskets balls flying around their heads the French start to roll the beer away 😀

Hot work no doubt !

British grenadiers and natives in hand to hand combat

Uh oh ...in a desperate attempt to  save the locals the British Captain runs towards the church yard

Slow work moving the cattle

Merde ......the French officer has to charge in as the local militia manage to get their hands on the beer, let’s hope it is decent quality ?

Whilst the British Officer is wrestling in hand to hand combat the other natives leap into the graveyard to secure the locals....don’t fancy their chances now !

Despite loosing half their number the natives have the cattle

The French officer has lost his life protecting the beer, but the final militia man is chased away no doubt the French regulars will toast their lost captain when they are back in camp

The two unfortunate womenfolk are escorted away (or perhaps rescued), whilst the Reverend seems to have been left behind ?

So at this point the French/Natives had secured all three objectives and a good win. The rules worked out pretty well and gave a fairly fluid game, definately the case that I need to expand the collection with some cavalry, more regular troops and perhaps an odd cannon.

Further adventures of Francois Gaston : French Indian War : Muskets and Tomahawks

Since his last adventure Captain Lockhart has been spending much of his time in the officers mess at Fort William Henry making only occasional forays out into the surrounding forests to ensure any roaming French scouting parties are kept under control. However, the French are determined to probe into British territory. Francois Gaston having recovered from his previous wounds is leading the French efforts using local allied Indian troops and regulars where they are available.

Lockhart has gotten wind of a French scouting party close to the small frontier settlement of Harristown. He has immediately set of with a strong force of regulars from the 48th Foot, Rangers and local militia to see the French off. (We had rolled on the random scenario chart the French objective was to scout all four quarters of the table whilst the British need to stop them, we had two secret missions as well)

A light company of Red Coats cautiously enters the village

Gaston leads his regular forces forward, allied Indians are all in hidden deloyment

Overview of the village, the river breaks the Battlefield into two and is only passable where the sandbars are located.

Captain Lockhart also has a strong Company of Grenadiers from the Fort.

Rangers and the Militia on the right of the River discover Indian scouts in the woods on the hill, when they exchange shots the Natives pull back to regroup

Regulars are now pushing further into the village, whilst Lockhart checks one of the outbuildings ? He once again seems reluctant to lead from the front

Seeing the French regulars in the woods the well trained Grenadiers form line 

The French regulars also form line and fire a powerful volley at the Rangers sending them running back from the edge of the river.

The native scouts have now made it into the village and are in the Church, amongst other things they have found a valuable stash of British Rifles destined for the fort. Although harder to load their range makes them a very dangerous weapon. The Regulars choose to fix bayonets to force the natives away form the church

Cold British steel works wonders but despite taking casualties the Natives are able to withdraw taking the stolen Rifles with them.

By some careful movement the French had managed at this stage to scout all four quarters and achieved their objective. So they have started to pull out, for a major victory the British need to rout the retreating forces.

Unfortunately fate is with Gaston this time and the French and Allied natives are able to pull back unmolested. 

The French claimed victory only to discover that the British had achieved their secret mission, it turns out Captain Lockhart is lying in a drunken stupor back at William Henry. Realising his Captains predicament Corporal Maxwell has taken his uniform and wig to impersonate the Captain his challenge had been to stay far enough away from his own troops so they wouldn't notice. This he had achieved but at the cost of the British Rifles which the Natives would no doubt be using against them in future skirmishes. The end result a draw..........😀