Lasalle almost done....................

Someone (the fool !) asked for a progress picture so here is initial army nearly completed. I now have enough done for Army Builder defensive core plus one option (the Cuirassier) with just 2 more Infantry Battalions to allow attack option.

Units thus far:-
2 Regular Infantry
2 Reserve Infantry
2 Landwehr Infantry
1 Foot Battery
1 Landwehr Cavalry
1 Horse Battery
2 Cuirassier
2 Foot Jager Skirmish stands
Several Command stands

This is 3 full months painting (short interlude to re-base some 6mm WWII) and a considerable effort for me especially after several years of virtually no figure painting and now main gaming partner wants to start AWI !!

Dbmm Anglo-Norman vs Anglo-Irish

Bit of a different game tonight against Stephen with us both using Irregular Knight based armies. I used Anglo-Norman and he used Anglo-Irish. Interesting game of very little maneuver won by his big block of BwO which out fought my main KnO command.Usual fun game and much discussion of merits or otherwise of these types of armies. Not a single Light Horse element on the table !

The armies deploy 

Anglo-Norman arrayed in battle line

Anglo-Irish bowmen with Viking allies

Anglo-Irish battleline

Doomed Command of Knights to the fore

Lasalle: Cuirassier and Command

Second Cuirassier unit completed as 2nd East Prussian and the General and Sub Commander bases.
4 Limber teams arrived this week from Essex so just these and 2 more Foot units to go for initial army completion.
Am already thinking of what units to purchase and paint next as reinforcements !!








2nd East Prussian Cuirassier

Sub Commanders

The Head Honcho/Hochmeister

Dbmm Sassanid Persian vs Patrician Roman

Played Dbmm game last night versus Stephen. He wanted to try Late/Patrician Roman army so I picked a contemporary the Sassanid Persians. I used early version (ie 220-493AD) with 5 KnX Cataphracts usual horde of 15 CvS  2 ElO, 6 AxS ,7 PsO, 9 HdO, 8 LhF, 6 Bg and a Nomad ally of Lh Ally General 4 LhO & 1 LhI. Patricians fielded lots of Hun LhS (several subject elements plus an Allied command) with 1 ArtO, couple of rLhO, 6 BdO and lots of Irr & Reg AxS backed by PsO and a few compulsory rCvO. With 0 aggression the Romans are pretty likely to defend (as indeed they did) and are therefore also highly likely to be able to build a 'terrain fort' which is exactly what happened (as pics show below) with 2 Rough Hills a Rocky field and the 'gifts' (from my selections) of a vineyard and a difficult hill. We both discussed how in a competition setting a Cavalry type opponent like Sassanids would most likely not advance on such a position and Romans correspondingly unlikely to leave their hills to advance onto a plain in face of cavalry so a form of draw probable. But me being me I of course decided to go for it :-)
My Arabs were deployed on my left and faced a contingent of superior Huns. I held back but was charged by the Huns and after 6 combats in a line in one turn my Nomads were shattered with only the General and the LhI left alive !! This immediately exposed the main weakness of the Sassanids too many Inept types (ie KnX & CvS) who simply dont maneuverer. I manly (ie no other choice) pushed on into the awaiting Roman blades (deployed in gap between rough hill and rocky field). My Elephants also advanced screened by my AxS. My newly painted Dailami types also rolled poorly losing 5 of 6 over 3 turns to enemy AxS (the preordained fate of all new paint jobs !!). However on my right I managed to kill Hun Ally General (via a 6:1) and shattered his command as revenge for Nomads and this despite sneaky appearence of a Roman micro command (Gen 1Cv & 2Ax) from Ambush on rear slopes of hills. Further success was thwarted by low Pips by this command. Inept again horrible as a column of 5 CvS could not deploy on 1 Pip thrown for several turns. Of course meanwhile on my left the rampant Huns were picking off my Kn and Cv with charges in rear whilst fending off forlon moves of 2 Sassanid General (dont count Inept). My CiCs command broke leaving the army a mere 2 elements from destruction which duly happened when a pursuing Elephants was flanked. I did kill a few Romans in addition to the the ally so managed for once to avoid a 25:0 versus Stephen it being a 20:5 instead :-)

Great fun as ever

Initial deployments

Hun allies 

Sassanid battle array

Nomad survivors fleeing the scene

Battle is joined at the 'terrain fort'

WWII 15mm Playtest of New but really Old rules

Played game today with old adversary David Herron play testing a  set of WWII rules we used 30yrs ago !! David is in process of getting back into gaming and has computerized his old rules (very loosely based on Battle/Op Warboard) and was keen to give them a run through. So I set up an ad hoc game using my 15mm Brits and Germans in a Normandy type setting. Lots of queries arose in game not so much with computerized hard data end of things but with how to class/use cover, ground scale, line of sight and morale issues. After discussion I think we ironed main things out and certainly I think David had lots of food for thought to firm up some initial ideas/concepts. We had Company of Brit infantry supported by a Troop of Shermans (3 M4 and 1 Firefly) against 2 Platoons of Germans supported by a Pak40 and a Tiger. I left out indirect fire stuff like Mortars to keep things bit simple. Despite play testing aspect of the day it was still a fun game with lots of incident. The Tiger brewed 2 Shermans before falling prey to a flank shot at close range from the Firefly.
Infantry firing was fairly deadly especially as in system a hit = a kill rather than a possible morale test (David not a big fan of morale rules in general) or similar but again this lead to us toning down small arms by reducing effective firing ranges and boosting cover effects.

All in all great fun and next game should flow faster at least until we throw Artillery/Mortars into mix !

Dave has initial program/data online at WWII Wargaming (http://wargame.djherron.com/) and has a function for leaving comments.



Lots of pics





Overview of table in midst of turn 2

Brits advance

Germans counter

Bren carriers carry HMGs to vicinity of church

Brit squad decimated and pinned (red dice denotes pinning and rings are casualties)

Sherman advances supported by PBI

Tiger 'Erica' on prowl

Brits occupy the Inn (Or Schloss Adler as it was dubbed)

Firefly 'Mable' advances having dealt with 'Erica'

'Erica' burns but so does victim

Contemporary photo :-)

Pak40 gunners view of Sherman

Soon to die Sherman view of Tiger prowling

Lasalle: Prussian Reserve Infantry

Completed another Prussian Reserve Infantry unit this time 3rd Battalion of 9th Regiment in their borrowed British Rifle Green uniforms.

The story so far................still room left for more 

FOGR Early Catholic versus Ottoman Turkish

Played another excellent game of FogR today against Stephen using my Early Catholic this time with Late Tercios against Ottomans with minimum Mounted. Great game again with my mounted wing charging uphill (a strong position for defenders as with no recoil or push backs in system they have to be routed to lose the uphill POA), could have gone either way but once my Cuirassier units each lost a base to death rolls they begin to wane. I really ought to be less aggressive with them and hunt enemy mounted not large foot units but it is for sure fun hurling them in !  Not much action elsewhere as we were both loathe to advance anywhere near Artillery. Time ran out but Imperialists well up against it and not looking good for their future well being.................................



Imperialist deployment

Turks deployed

Turk Cavalry

Later Tercios 

Turk Heavy Artillery and supports

Jannissaries advance onto hill

Their mounted opponents approach