Blenheim to Berlin: April 2015

Sunday, April 19, 2015

28MM MUSKETS AND TOMAHAWKS: RAID ON LAKE CHAMPLAIN

A few weeks ago I staged a multi-player AWI Muskets and Tomahawks game at Hugh Wilson’s. Colin Jack, Dave O’Brien and myself provided the figures, Hugh Wilson provided the terrain and I provided the scenario, Vauban fort and the ship.

View from the lake......

The scenario was a British/Loyalist raid on some American settlements on the shore of Lake Champlain. The game was going well for the British and their Indian allies when we finished with them having overrun some of the settlements. Highlight for the patriots was the heroic resistance of the Stockbridge Indians on the far bank of the river. The Patriots still had the militia garrison of the fort uncommitted and a secret force of 2 units of Continental Marines in reserve aboard the ship on the lake.

British allied Indians cross the mountain paths - just like the Last of the Mohicans

British allied Indians descend the mountain path to reinforce the Hessians

It was yet another enjoyable game of Muskets and Tomahawks. Bart wrote a report on this game here
http://asienieboje.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/the-mohawk-valley-1777.html

He also has a report on the 2nd days play which I did not get to due to transport chaos to the west of Edinburgh.

Patriot militia finally sortie from the safety of the fort

Here is the Order of Battle for the game.

BRITISH FORCES

LIGHTS

BRITISH OFFICER
6 LIGHT INFANTRY
6 LIGHT INFANTRY
6 LIGHT INFANTRY
6 LIGHT INFANTRY

RANGERS

BRITISH OFFICER
8 RANGERS
6 RANGERS

HESSE-HANAU

GERMAN OFFICER
6 JAEGER RIFLEMEN
6 JAEGER RIFLEMEN
6 JAEGER RIFLEMEN
6 JAEGER RIFLEMEN

INDIANS 1

INDIAN CHIEF
6 INDIANS
6 INDIANS
6 INDIANS

INDIANS 2

INDIAN CHIEF
6 INDIANS
6 INDIANS
6 INDIANS

INDIANS 3
INDIAN CHIEF
6 INDIANS
6 INDIANS
6 INDIANS

AMERICAN

LIGHTS

PATRIOT OFFICER
8 LIGHT INFANTRY
8 LIGHT INFANTRY
6 LIGHT INFANTRY

RIFLES

PATRIOT OFFICER
6 RIFLEMEN
6 RIFLEMEN

MILITIA I

PATRIOT OFFICER
12 MILITIA
10 MILITIA
10 MILITIA

MILITIA II

PATRIOT OFFICER
12 MILITIA
12 MILITIA
16 MILITIA

STOCKBRIDGE INDIANS

INDIAN CHIEF
6 INDIANS
6 INDIANS
6 INDIANS

SECRET SHIPBORNE RESERVE

PATRIOT OFFICER
12 CONTINENTAL MARINES
12 CONTINENTAL MARINES

PLUS SETTLERS

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

28MM BLACK POWDER: BORODINO WITH 170+ BATTALIONS

I was away at the weekend at Lundin Links in Fife for a 28mm Napoleonic event. It was a large game based on Borodino. Over the 2 days 10 gamers attended from the AB1 group. We used Black Powder with my house rules. The table was 24ft long with wider sections at each end giving it a sort of S shape

Russian forces deployed to meet the French around Utitsa

I made the Russian infantry Stoic and Poor shots. Stoic means they can reroll their first break test while Poor shots is a -1 to their shooting dice. Given the scale of the game to speed up play we did not use any skirmishers or mixed formations.

The forces

French: Infantry 99 battalions, Cavalry 35 regiments and 46 guns
Russian: Infantry 73 battalions, Cavalry 31 regiments and 57 guns
That’s a grand total of over 5,900 figures from the collections of Ken Pearce, Jack Glanville, Angus Konstam, Chris Henry and myself.

The Great Redoubt - held by my heavy guns and Pavlov Grenadiers

Ian Carter played the roll of Kutuzov and Campbell Hardie played the part of Napoleon. Ian went for a fairly conventional deployment with troops spread along the line and a fairly substantial off-table reserve. Campbell committed the bulk of the French strength to the flanks - a massive sweep around the north of Borodino and a reinforced attack by the Poles along the old Smolensk highway. He set up a grand battery in the centre facing the Bagration fleches and the area south of the Great Redoubt. However he had few reserves to commit in the area of the battery other than 5 cavalry brigades and the Old Guard.

Russians massed north of the fleches

I commanded the Russians immediately to the south of and behind the Great Redoubt. The French did not attack the grand redoubt directly but attacked around it’s flanks – I held the French and Swiss attack south of the redoubt while Ian held the Neapolitan attack north of the redoubt. The mass French attack north of Borodino commanded by Chris Stone was held up for at least 12 turns by the heroes of the jaeger brigade holding Borodino and a gallant delaying action by Cossacks and Hussars.

French and allies close up on Borodino -- held by the gallant but eventually doomed Jaegers

The other mass French attack from the fleches southwards thru the wood to Utitsa was held by the forces of KenPearce and John Glass. A last attempt to break thru near the fleches by the Old Guard was bravely defeated by Russian Grenadiers.