And now for something....a little different

Feeling bit run down the other day I reached for some 'comfort reading' from the newly rationalised and re-stacked shelves. I plucked the Airfix Guide to the English Civil War by George Gush and Martin Windrow. It really is an excellent little book with a brief but good explanation of the causes and course of the war. Those of you who have read the book will know that it ends with an introduction to wargaming the ECW and a nice little report of a game umpired by one* of the authors (*George Gush?). An Old School Classic.

It's a nice little scenario that could be seen as reflecting the divided loyalties of many districts. The summaries of the war show nice neat maps of the country divided between Parliamentarian and Royalist regions, when in fact the picture was more complex particularly early on when people were jockeying for position and seeing if anyone gained the upper hand before declaring their hand.

The scenario for the game was a Parliamentary force that had to get a small train of wagons containing cash from the village of Little Pottering to the safety of the small town of Puddleby (at the opposite end of the board). You can see where this is going.

The table (1.8x1.0m) viewed from Puddleby. Little Pottering is top left.

I quickly ran out of masking tape for the roads so I reached for my collection of hedges to mark the roads on the northern and eastern sides (left and far end). The sunken lane runs about halfway up from the left to the middle of the table.

Now the forces. First the orders of battle.

Parliamentarians
Commander	Colonel Dove
	Cavalry	2 squadrons	3 troops each	C
Rust Hall	Sir John Smythe	Dice for
	Infantry	Sir John Smythe’s regiment		D
	Levies		400 with Improvised weapons	E
Puddleby Garrison	Infantry	Potts’ Red regiment		D
	Cavalry	Capt. Partridge’s squadron		D
Convoy Escort	Infantry	Green regiment		C
	Firelocks	Train Guard	200 - 1 base	C
	Dragoons	4 companies	200 - 1 base	D
	Light Gun			C
	5 wagons

Royalists
Commander	Sir Clive McLeod
	Cavalry	LifeGuard of Horse	2 troops	B
	Cavalry	3 squadrons	4 troops each	A
	Cavalry	1 squadron	4 troops	C
	Dragoons	3 companies	160 - 1 weak base	C
	Commanded Musketeers		600 - 3 bases	C
	Galloper gun			C
Little Pottering	Villagers	Dice for	200 with Improvised weapons + 100 with muskets	E

The convoy and escort with Colonel Dove. The key decision will be which route(s) and whether the convoy will be divided. I don't have enough carts so I'm using 2 limbers as proxies.

Sir John Smythe and his force at Rust Hall. Activation of this force will be diced for.

Puddleby with its garrison of Potts' Foot and Captain Partridge's squadron

Sir Clive McLeod's cavalry heavy Royalist force. 3 squadrons of cavalier types likely to go haring off if victorious, 1 squadron of less 'aristocratic' tendency and 2 troops or 1/2 squadron of McLeod's more professional bodyguards. I plan to dice for where each unit arrives.

Armed locals at Little Pottering. Will they turnout for the King or remain at their homes? Another force to be diced for.

The rules I'm going to be using are my home-brewed set, last used in Covid time. They are clunky but will do the job for this sort of game as there's lots of friction built in. Changes of orders must be diced for and odds can be improved by allocating 'messengers' to units. Messengers are really command pips but have to travel from the commander to subordinates or units at courier speed (300mm/turn). They can be sent in advance of expected decisions. E.G. a unit will arrive at a junction so the player can allocate 'messengers' to the unit helping them 'pick' the right direction. The number of 'messengers' is determined each turn by roll of a dice. Commanders adjacent to units can also increase the chance of the unit complying with the player's wishes.

Horse and foot move at 200 and 100mm a turn respectively with 50% added for march column in open country, or +100% on roads. Limbered guns and wagons move at 150mm on roads. Maximum range for muskets is 200mm, 300mm for light guns and 40mm for pistols.

All forces will start off in march column. As mentioned above, the Royalists will arrive at fairly random locations and maybe at variable times. But the orders for the Parliamentarian convoy and escort is something I'd like to throw out there. If anyone would like to allocate march orders for the Parliamentarians, I'd be willing to put them into practice.

This week I 'arve mostly been ...listening to...

... Helion Military History Podcasts.

 https://www.helion.co.uk/helion-military-history-podcasts.php

I came across this very recently. It's only been running for a few months. Every episode I've listened to so far has been a cracker. There's only one I've got to finish. None of them have been in my primary area of interest, but I've found them fascinating nonetheless. Podcasts, I find, are a good way to dip my toes into a subject area that I wouldn't normally read about. Typically they are about "commute length" so that makes them ideal for journeys to/from work.

As you were.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sw18OafeQiM

Flying Tiger, Hidden Dragoon

Thanks to Bob Cordery of the Wargame Miscellany blog, I heard about a useful product being sold in Flying Tiger, Copenhagen.  It's called Decorative Moss and sells for £4 for a piece 25 x 35cm.  As luck would have it my wife was going to be passing the local branch last Friday so she was given a requisition to procure a piece.

When I saw it in the flesh I immediately thought "foliage".

As you can see it's a few mm high (these are 6mm figures on a 2 or 3mm thick mdf base. Maybe cut into strips it and stuck on a base it could be an orchard. 

Here it is placed over a CD case - I'm thinking some sort of 'contraption underneath could raise it to the height of trees for a wood. Maybe the piece of 'moss' could be removed to place troops in the wood.

Next to a 3mm scale fortress model. For this scale it could perform service on its own (cut into irregular shapes).

It could do service as crops (cabbage/lettuce?) for larger scales. Or even moss roofs for Dark Age Early Medieval (or '45 Rising period) houses.

Very useful stuff. I think I'll buy some more while stocks last.

Blizzard of Souls

The algorithm on YouTube throws up some interesting videos now and again. Tonight I came across the 2019 Latvian film "The Rifleman" based on the 1934 novel "Blizzard of Souls" by the Latvian writer Aleksandrs Grīns. The story concerns a young Latvian volunteer who joined the Imperial Russian army in the First World War, and is based on Grīns' own experiences.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAOBRidir_M

It was an engaging film, well shot and well acted, and the Great War scenes were excellent. However I felt the film was weaker when it concerned the outbreak of the Russian Revolution and the transitions between that, the Russian Civil War and the Latvian War of Independence. But overall it is worth watching. It would be interesting to read but I cannot see any English translations available.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blizzard_of_Souls_(film)

Grīns was rounded up after the Soviet invasion and occupation of Latvia in 1940 and shot in December 1941.

Nezinams

Autumn Cleaning and a Bit of Nostalgia

Today was B-Day. Book Day. The day when I was finally going to get around to sorting out my bookcase in the Kriegskabin. The bookcase was full and certain sections were overflowing as I'd added to the collection since I first installed the bookcase in the cabin five years ago. As well as books (just military history, wargames books and wargames rules) the case contained board(war)games, various boxes of paints modelling supplies and all sorts of accoutrements for the hobby, plus some old football fanzines. It was in serious need of rationalisation and a good tidy up.

Then I had the bright idea of sorting out my books in the house. That led inevitably to interest from the Margravina who then took a hand sorting out her books. Various other items got swept up in the process (adding to the Old Tech Drawer of Terror). At the end of the process we had three large baskets of books for disposal...then our daughter added to the pile.

By this time my interest in a seasonal clear-out of the bookcase in the Kriegskabin was waning. After a break I collected stray 'mil.hist' books which had infiltrated strategic areas of the house emptied the shelves in the cabin. I got as far as sorting the books into piles by subject matter ready for the Grand Restack. That will have to wait for another day. As will a few books that I have not read at all yet.

In amongst the books were several pieces of paper, most destined for the recycling bin, but some useful bits put in those plastic wallet thingies for safe keeping. I also came across a programme from Salute 1987 which from memory was in a rather crowded Kensington Town Hall. How things have changed since then.

Unsorted piles. Not looking forward to sorting this lot.

More stuff on the desk - the boxes just off to the left contain modelling supplies.

Wonder how many of those clubs are still in existence?

I never got to Rye Stamp & Hobby Shop (don't know why, as my train to work in those days used to stop at Peckham Rye). I certainly went to Navwar - that was a trick from my corner of SE London.

Then finally I began to impose some sort of order on the books. Next I'll have to decide what order I want to put the books in on the shelves, adjust some of the shelf heights, how much space to leave between collections etc. Then what to do with the other boxes. The little pile bottom left is for disposal.* There might be more if I take a ruthless view on some of the ones I'm unlikely to read or consult again.

* This includes British Grenadier and Black Eagles rules, plus some others, and the Leigh Fermor book if anyone is interested.

Post Script

In answer to Alan's question here is a sample from the Black Eagles rules - very old school in terms of typed and stapled sheets, and rule mechanisms (they date from 1985). Non-gridded. Lots of tables.

Blogger Comment Problems

I see that Alan of the Duchy of Tradgardland is also having this problem. What problem? The fact that when making a comment on a blog, or even replying to comments on my own blog, they simply won't publish.

So apologies for not commenting Bob, Alan, David, Mark, Andrew. I did try.

Rocroi, 1643 - Part II

The battle was fought out to a conclusion Tuesday evening. It took another 2-3 hours for 5 more turns. A total of 9 turns in 5 hours. So much longer per turn than I'm used to with the Twilight of the Soldier Kings rules for the 18th century. The game took longer too by an hour or two. Maybe that's because of lack of familiarity with the rules. 

I left off last time with the French gaining the upper hand on the wings. On the French left they had inflicted more losses on the Spanish cavalry to even up the odds, but the French had retired back over the stream to lick their wounds. The Spanish were unable to follow them as their wing had become 'Fatigued', as had the Spanish on the other flank. In the centre the Spanish, led by the veteran tercios, had got slightly the better of things. Here is an account of Part II, with pictures and captions.

End of turn 4 in the centre. Spanish tercios had charged the French.

End of turn 4: Some of the Spanish allies (probably German) had also charged the French

Turn 5: Spanish tercio in the distance had pushed their French opponents back

Turn 5: Right in the middle, the French infantry had fired on the Spanish battery, clearing off the gunners. Unfortunately my gunners are glued to the bases so guns and men have to be removed. A tercio advances to the attack.

Hawk's eye view of Spanish veterans at the charge. These were mostly conversions from musketeers.

On the Spanish right wing, their cavalry was successful in rallying (hence the disappearance of loss/disorder markers). The French cavalry, mostly out of shot, were doing the same thing.

Turn 6: French right. Only 1 battered Spanish brigade remains (circled). One French cavalry unit has gone haring off on an uncontrolled pursuit. They would be off board for several turns.

Turn 6: In the centre a French brigade is about to be attacked from two directions (left of pic). Action became rather confused after this, but the Spanish had the upper hand.

Turn 6: French left. Having rallied the French begin to cross to the Spanish side of the stream again.

Turn 7: In the centre the Spanish have caused the French line to buckle and Condé sent the reserve to help (bottom right crossing the stream). The Spanish veteran tercios are hard to defeat in IDV: they get extra saving dice so unless you inflict several hits in a turn things just seem to bounce off them like 2punders hitting a Tiger.

Turn 7: One of the French brigades has been routed and it bursts through the reserve cavalry disordering them.

Turn 7: further to the left another French brigade has been chased off back across the stream. At least behind the stream they come to a halt - linear obstacles cause routers to stop on the other side.

Turn 7: But over on the French right some relief for the French as they rout the 5th and final enemy brigade. One French brigade is still off table in pursuit.

Turn 7: General situation. Spanish and allies to the right of the line. Off camera to the right the Spanish have begun to refuse their infantry flank ready for the expected onslaught of French cavalry.

Turn 8: Hawk's view again of the general situation with new French cavalry attacks left and right.

Turn 8: An oblique view of the same.

Turn 8: French right. One French cavalry unit has pursued a defeated Spanish brigade off table, whilst another has been bounced by the fresh enemy infantry. 

Meanwhile in the centre, the battered French unit circled manages to hold off and temporarily bounce the Spanish veterans! Behind them another battered unit marches back across the stream to avoid being totally wrecked and to allow French troops to come through. You really need to allow plenty of space between units!

Turn 9: This looked to be the highpoint for the Spanish in the centre. They have inflicted enough losses on the French in the centre to 'Fatigue' the French infantry, meaning they cannot attack any more. But their flanks are vulnerable to French cavalry (see arrows). In addition 2 French cavalry units were due to return in the Spanish rear.

At this point, the Spanish had to dice for 'General Will' (i.e. whether they had the morale to continue). The test was failed and they had to retire. The IDV rules have a provision for calculating if there is a pursuit and if so what the damage caused is. Given the French preponderance in steady cavalry and a fairly involved dicing methodology, the Spanish ended up with a total of 8 wrecked brigades out of an initial 21, plus one captured general. A resounding French victory, but this time, the veteran tercios survived. Not the heroic end for Alatriste envisioned by Perez-Reverte.