Game 33 - Battle of the Brandywine - Sept 11, 1777

 Ok, ok, so there's no point in me giving all the excuses for my lack of blog activity - suffice it to say that work and a part time lecturing post are sucking up time significantly.

Yes, we should have been doing a WWII variant of Steve's 'Battle' rules and Sabre Squadron...and Field of Battle WWII by now. Instead, I have had a large amount of AWI lead on my painting table for months now, and have been trying to do the Battle of the Brandywine with Volley & Bayonet for even longer. SO...first things first, and let's clear that table.

The Brandywine is a beautiful example of V&B's scale and scope combined with an insane map that seems to change depending on which authority you go to (see Jeff Glasco's here - this is probably most accurate and we'll return to this version at some stage - but we kept the V&B rulebook map for this version. JG also has some wonderful 'wing scale' etc. scenarios for AWI V&B. It's a great site.)

And so to battle. V&B gets a slagging in some quarters, but I still love it so. Simplicity, decent rules for disorder and the fact that division exhaustion creeps up on you (and can be used to determine commander abilities and national characteristics, despite what the detractors say).  Ed Mueller also has a brilliant nine years war version of the rules. What's not to love?


So. The classic Brandywine flanking action is presented below. I played the Americans. ...and lets put it this way...Mr. Washington would have been in even more trouble this time around!

So...youngest daughter provided the river and ford detailing on the cheap felt ...again. (I didn't even have to pay her this time).

 The British viewpoint, from their right flank. Howe and Cornwallis's classic flanking move, and  positions at the start of the battle.

 The centre was a little less fluid, with American blocking positions firmly set.

Actions on the British right started early, with the disordered (automatically by the rules) American militia taking the brunt of the damage.

British moving on the American right - using road movement to rapidly advance and secure the flank...and the rear...more to follow.

American units move toward Dilworth in order to secure their rear.

...while the British elites are moving VERY quickly to secure the area around Dilworth and the American escape routes.

Melee started early in the centre across the Brandywine as the Highlanders attack.

...while the American rear appears to be in trouble.

Stirling and Sullivan provide a delaying action on the right flank with a view to letting the rest of the army escape.

 River crossings are being less strongly held in the centre...

...while the American left holds on...just.

The Americans try to apply pressure at Dilworth, but it's now a strong British position.

...as the British in turn attack across the river in an effort to force back what paltry defenders remain.

 The American rear at Dilworth...

 ...panning out to show the right flank...

 ...and the entire battlefield- which was rapidly becoming three separate battles.

A morass of melee on both flanks are forcing divisional collapse after collapse...in line with British requirements for the victory conditions.

By turn 7, it's all over, and the Americans concede.

'With a tow, row, row, row, row, row, row, for the British Grenadiers.'

Volley and Bayonet never fails to impress. We're looking forward to some of the reduced scale variants that are out there for the AWI.

Snappy Nappy Flanker...& Game 32 - Memoir '44

A hectic schedule at work, and there was still time for a few games (clearly not enough though, as we had been hoping to squeeze in a playtest of the new 'Sabre Squadron' - I have a Syrian/Israeli 1982 clash in mind).

First up, is the Snappy Nappy game at Sgt Steiner's with his lovely 15mm collection. French vs Prussian, and a game where I saw my flanks collapse with pressure from cavalry on the French left and pressure from Prussian Grenadiers on the right, while I did my best to thrust the Old Guard into the centre. What a game! (I surrendered before it became embarrassing...)

Then a quick game of Memoir 44 with Fitz...
Ok, so it's a little 'gamey' with the cards and hexes, but when a system has an inbuilt mechanism that forces you to withdraw weakened units so that they don't count for enemy victory conditions - and yet doesn't have any form of morale system - there is genius at work...pics follow:

 Forces arrayed

Sneaky Prussian Landwehr move on the French right, would be the cause of some consternation later...

Columns start to move

Triumphant advance (to be short lived)

Cavalry action on the French left - the defining point of the game

A steady advance in the centre. In hindsight - a rapid thrust from the centre with a holding action from young guard squares on the left would probably have been a better response to the cavalry heavy flank attack from the Prussians - though hindsight is a wonderful thing

And...as the French cavalry deserts its brethren on the right, to reinforce the left, Prussian elites create havoc...

What a spectacle with Steiner's 15mm beauties...(you can just make out my flanks collapsing...you don't even need to squint...and if you listen carefully, you can hear me sighing in exasperation)

Memoir '44 Sword Beach

Hard to get guys moving off the beach when you have a focus on one flank - though that is the beauty of the Command and Colours system of course

So, apart from missing out on Sabre Squadron, we got some decent games in. That said, Snappy Nappy is still a clear winner (albeit with a few house rulings required - for command and terrain) while discussions on Memoir 44's suitability for larger games has me thinking now...

Yeah, like I need another project...

Game 31 - 5 Men & 3 Kings

Time, as ever, has eaten into recent weeks, making for a quick game rather than the lavish extravaganzas that we actually had planned!

So a game of 'Five Men in Normandy', the precursor to the 5Core skirmish rules, was in the offing.

The setup was a five man US and German patrol, bumping into each other in a semi built up area.

HIghlights included:

• There's a real feel for losing control of individuals as they are forced back due to fire.
• Although there were three 'out of action' results, the amount of cover cut down on kill dice and made shock dice and suppression very important. If you can suppress a sniper position say, and prevent his firing during your next turn with reaction fire, you can move freely (duhh ...obvious I guess)
• Real world tactics work. If you don't use your assets to the max (Garands withsuppressive fire), you get punished by accurate and timely fire. If your NCO with SMG gets taken out soon in the game, you'll suffer from close range SMG fire when the opponent gets a flank.
• VERY quick and VERY decisive.
• Worth taking a look at a larger game with the same mechanisms.

Germans have advantageous position, in the surrounding woods...

...and in the buildings.

 Although the US left threatens to be a game-changer, the loss of the US NCO early changes the emphasis of the subsequent firefight.

It proves difficult to get enough rifles to bear in cover at the hedgerow.

As the US rifleman suffer under the weight of fire and 'bail' twice, taking them off the board.

 ...leaving a solitary soldier.

 ...who will ultimately withdraw himself, as the German NCO's SMG uses spray fire.

So in addition to tinkering with the 5Core rules, I’ve also been playing about with my 1689 / 9Years War forces.

Having recently been reading some of Henry Hyde’s pieces on his imagi-nations campaigns in his wonderful Wargames Compendium, I was intrigued by the idea of how the 1680s troops could fit in.

Then it hit me; Charles II’s death, James II’s accession to the throne. Monmouth’s attempt to take the throne in 1685, and William’s successful attempt in 1688 – with the Irish and European wars that followed.

So, if we compress some of the timeline, and just happen to have one king and two pretenders at the same time – there’s your campaign. All we have to do is reset the British Isles in a quasi-fantasy 1680s war of the kingdoms setting…and so we have ‘Three Kings in Albion’, with Alba (Scotland) and Danu (Ireland) on the sidelines…with ‘Avalon’ as the Albion capital of course. Hmmm, yet another project to think about.

The rebasing is based on 2” x 2” squares - somewhat after ‘Beneath the Lily Banners’ and Clarence Harrison’s excellent Victory Without Quarter.

 

I’ve split the centre base so that (1) I can have ‘pikes forward’ (2) I can form ‘hedgehog’ easily and (3) I can free up some single figures for playing ‘Donnybrook’ scenarios...with pirates (since everything is better with pirates apparently).

All good, bar the fact that I probably didn’t need another project!?!?

So - room for 18 figures - down from the 20-21 that I previously had.

 The new arrangement allows for pikes forward, and hedgehogs, and frees up some loose miniatures for Donnybrook scenarios. It would of course be an inspired decision, were it not for the fact that it gives me more work to do...

On the horizon:

Definite – Playtesting with the new ‘SabreSquadron’ modern rules – with the old West End Games ‘Fire Team’ boardgame scenarios

Definite – playtesting the Charles Grant WWII rules with Steve’s amendments to turn sequence – with Squad Leader scenarios in mind

Definte - more rules exploration with STEINAHHH!

Probable – AWI with Volley & Bayonet, Maurice and…something else

Likely…ish – ‘Three Kings in Albion’…when I get time. (It’s the latest ‘shiny’ after all).