Minden with Field of Battle 3 at Ulster Wargames Society

UWS meeting today and I was umpiring a game portraying Battle of Minden (using another Might and Reason scenario as basis). 

Troops were provided by Dave Smylie and I done terrain and rules stuff.

We ended up with 3 French and 2 Allied players and it turned out to be an excellent game with lots of incident and action and much elation or frustration being vented by players.

French have numbers but a lesser deck and lesser troop and commander quality overall, although they have several crack units and lots of cavalry to counter some guard level Allied units and more numerous artillery.

At set up Allies looked rather thin on ground but once things got going their superior deck and C in C quality started to show.

Billy on Allied left suffered a bit of a set back initially when a Hanoverian unit was destroyed defending a line of entrenchments and it looked as if Allied left could be turned, however whilst tying to Rally some units the French commander (ie D.Smylie) was rendered hors de combat after attempting a daring deed (aids Rally roll at increased risk to leader) and this stalled the French.

This same leader having been bandaged up and re-horsed proceeded to fall of his horse once again as did his supporting cavalry commander so the French completely thwarted on their right.

However Billy managed to 'un-horse' his own leader on this wing also !

Allied cavalry performed generally poorly on the Allied left with several units bouncing off their French counterparts and another command failing to move twice even when on flank of enemy.

However on French left their own massed cavalry (under D.Brown) also under-performed failing to obey orders and then being hit hard by Allied firepower whilst their foot fought manfully against some guard Allied foot (under D. Taylor).

On Allied right the British command under Sackville was slow to deploy as we simulated his 'truculence/hissy fit' on day by making him roll 2 command dice and use lowest roll.

In centre of field French (under J.Dowd) defended Minden and this saw a fairly even battle with Allies.

A couple of large initiative swings saw Allies gain a large advantage putting a lot of hurt of French units across the battlefield with several being routed or destroyed in place.

This saw French morale plummet and they were soon 'gifting' morale to Allies

They did survive first Army Morale test and this saw them hurl their cavalry into several desperate charges but only managed to destroy a single Allied gun battery.

A lull won French turned up another Army Morale card which they failed this time and quit the field.

Great stuff and hopefully the players enjoyed the game as much as I did watching it unfold.

Slightly fuzzy view of field of Minden from Allied left wing

Initial clash on Allied left

French defending Minden as their cavalry mass on their left

Allied lines advance

French just about to turn Allied left wing as commander falls (black marker) disordering whole command.

Overview about mid point of game with Allied cavalry having being repulsed in foreground

Also at club were two other games.

Mike and Simon had a 15mm WW2 game using Combat HQ rules, late war Germans versus Russians (?) but I only had time to briefly look in so no idea as to how this turned out.

I took several pics but only these turned out (barely) viewable,

I do covet Mikes battle mat and that Normandy church. 

Another WW2 game this time in 20mm run by Phil with Jeremy, Leslie and George playing out action at Son bridge during Market Garden.

This was another excellent looking game by Phil with some impressive allied Dakotas and Horsa Gliders and nice terrain.

Again I had little time to see how this progressed but think it ended as a draw. 

Inevitably with current events in Ukraine there was some discussions of same.

Personally I am not that surprised that it has come to this tragic outcome and the fact is that this is not really a 'new' war more a massive escalation of an ongoing conflict which seems such a shock to many. 

The 'West' appears weak/soft at present time and frankly Ukraine has kind of been left hanging since 2014 invasion so Mr Putin has decided to play his military card.

One can but hope that this is a short-lived conflagration but signs are not good.

Field of Battle - Father vs Son SYW

Played a quick game of FOB3 with my son (who thankfully got home for Christmas this year) using SYW kit.

Used one of the Seasons of Battle terrain cards to set up table and just selected a force of Russians (22 units in 5 Brigades) and Prussians (17 units also in 5 Brigades), I commanded the Prussians.

Prussians had a superior deck and better leaders (with an additional Move card) whilst Russians had an average deck (and an extra Melee card).

Game was a fast and furious blood soaked affair.

Russians lost 7 units to Prussian 3 but did inflict a steady drain of hits on Prussians. 

Both sides ran out of Army Morale at virtually same time but Prussians pulled 2 Army Morale cards in a row and failed to stay on the field on second morale roll.

The game was great fun with lots of incident including Prussians losing 2 commanders in one turn which stymied their temporary advantage.

FOB is so very easy to teach and play. 

Table set up prior to deployments from Prussian perspective

Russian commander

Action in center

Russian cavalry charges in 

Prussian cavalry gain advantage on right but Commander shot from saddle to ruin plans

Bloody losses on both sides

Prussian Cuirassier on left fall back in face of Russian Grenadier Brigade

Ulster Wargames Club - Field Of Battle - Zorndorf

Put on another Field Of Battle 3 game today at UWS Club using my trusty old Zorndorf scenario (simply as I had scenario stuff easily to hand).

I umpired and had 5 players participating as Prussians (David T and Phil) against Russians (Jeremy N, David S and Leslie) on a 6' x 4' table with my smaller 3 base units, but we used standard 25mm measurements which fairly made the game crack along (I would usually use 1/2 or 2/3rds on a 6x4).

Zorndorf is essentially a straight forward slugging match (as it was historically) and so it transpired in this outing.

Prussians held back on their right with Schorlemers Cuirassier Brigade as it faced the inferior more numerous cavalry wing under Demiku and managed to engage this wing effectively throughout game despite Schorlemer being shot from saddle at one point 

On Prussian left their cavalry under Seydlitz and Bieberstein faced their counterparts under Gaugraben and this was a bit of and to and fro with Prussians gaining upper hand but just too slowly.

But the story of the game was with the Prussian infantry of Manteuffel, Kanitz and Dohna in the centre advancing against the Russian foot under Saltykov, Gallitzen and Browne.

The Prussians suffered horrendously from the Russian guns (so many 1s rolled vs high Russian rolls) early on and failed to rally on most opportunities.

Some Prussian Grenadiers did manage to assault and almost breakthrough the Russian center but were then repelled and finally destroyed and their supporting formations of Musketeers also suffered high losses and Dohna was also shot down.

This failure by Prussian foot saw their Army Morale dwindle to nothing and Frederick failed to muster their resolve (failed roll on Army Morale card) and they quit the field.

Another excellent game with FOB and it was very interesting to watch the battle develop from afar. FOB is easy to umpire as mechanics are basically simple and the card sequencing makes it easy to explain what players can do each time. The multiple dice types can be a bit confusing for new players but they certainly generate decisive results and aid fast play. The opposed rolls also keeps players engaged in game which is a real benefit in multiplayer games.

Winner and losers both expressed their enjoyment of the game and ultimately that is what its all about no matter the dice results. 

David B and John were engaged in a couple of FOGR games but I only managed to take pics of their second game which was an interesting match up of Monrose Scots against an Later Northern Parliamentarian force. Some lovely flags on display again.

Field of Battle 3 - Ramillies scenario with 10mm chaps

Played a scenario based on Battle of Ramillies May 1706 using FOB3 today with Stephen.

Stephen chose the French defenders and I therefore took the Allied force.

We used a free set up for units rather than historical deployments with units equating to roughly Brigade/Regimental level units.

Great game once again with FOB3 that played really quickly (3 hours in total with 2 1/2 decks run through).

French cannons in center were deadly early on causing Dutch cavalry a lot of hits as their foot compatriots attacked Ramillies directly.

I did manage to contest the town (before getting thrown out later in game) but a single unit of French cavalry ran roughshod over my mounted units despite being outnumbered in several melee combats.

My Dutch Foot Guards at least lived up to their elite status but were eventually overwhelmed.

Game really turned on my left where I had deployed the elite English foot and cavalry around Taviers.

The French did occupy the village so easily taken but my elite units completely failed to make any headway against French opposite numbers and the English were all to quickly decimated.

This left the overall Allied effort essentially stymied and morale losses were mounting and in reality we should have called game at this point, but I fought on to then see the Dutch in center repulsed from Ramillies and pulverized in turn.

The Allied German/Danish/Prussian foot survived mostly unscathed as the just demonstrated against the French lines across the Pitite Gheet.

FOB3 is certainly a very decisive game especially with my rolls (so many ones...so many ones.....) but I just love its unpredictability and narrative style. 

The battlefield view from Allied lines

French right wing behind Taviers

French center and left wing (around Ramillies and Petite Gheet)

Allied foot on right support Dutch foot in center

Dutch foot advance on Ramillies as their cavalry get pounded by French cannon

The ill fated English advance begins on left wing

The English are suddenly absent from the field.................

Zorndorf with Field of Battle 3

Game with Stephen today with a refight of Zorndorf using FOB3.

We have refought this action (based of the Might & Reason scenario so with units equating to Brigade formations) several times with various rule sets and it is one of my favourite battles to recreate.

We used FOB3 mainly as it was still fresh in our minds and being such an enjoyable game system.

For a change I took the Prussians and Stephen the Russians with no real rule changes other than Prussians having first initiative and a Move card in hand (sort of standard for attackers in our games).

We stuck with the historical deployment areas for the commands of both sides which probably favours the Russians a tad.

So Freddies lot duly opened hostilities with some ineffectual long range bombardments by his guns and equally paltry Russian artillery response.

And in a change to historical action as Kanitz command first occupied the Stein Busch prior to Dohna's command attacking the Observation Corps with Schlormers Cuirassiers supporting his right.

What a disaster this proved to be as Dohna's infantry were completely pummeled by the Obs Corps in particular their 2 Grenadier Brigades !

I know one ought not to complain about dice rolls but Stephen (in full 'dice demon' mode) simply rolled stellar dice, he rolled a D12 5 times achieving 3 rolls of 12 and 2 of 10 and then 2 D10 rolling 10 twice, simply staggering degree of luck !! 

Of course I consistently rolled low in response as per normal. 

And as in last game he then had fortuitous card sequence getting a melee card just when required to charge into my battered units which had been Forced Back with hits and no chance to react.

I had by this time pushed Mantteufel's 2 Grenadier Brigades forward on my left and these too suffered this time from Russian cannister shot.

To add insult to injury the single unit of decent Russian cavalry the Horse Grenadiers charged and routed 2 units of Dragoons under Bieberstein.

With all this carnage I had 5 units Routing and 3 destroyed and was in serious trouble.

The Prussians did manage to pull 3 Leadership cards out of 5 cards (after a reshuffle) giving them lots of opportunities to Rally but they could only rally 3 units and recover a couple of hits.

On an Army Morale card things just turned to a complete shambles for Prussians as I had to roll for risk to 4 of my Commanders and managed to kill 3 of them with rolls of 1 on D12s, what are the chances !?

Thankfully they soon returned on one of the Leadership cards but damage was done.

Soon after this further losses saw the Prussian morale sink inevitably to zero and I conceded as three quarters of my foot units gone and Russians pretty undamaged (only 1 unit Routed)

Seydlitz who was historically very much the saviour of Prussians at Zorndorf did not manage to get involved today at all, in fact bar the Horse Grenadiers and my 2 Dragoon units the cavalry of both sides took no part beyond some maneuvering about the place.

But again what a fun game with FOB with so many decisive outcomes and a strong narrative (albeit of solely of Prussian calamity and disaster) that very few other game systems generate in such an exciting fashion, definitely not a rules set for 'control freaks' but damn it feels like a proper battle action.

Initial action as artillery bombards

Kanitz command occupies the Stein Busch

Russian left wing cavalry moves forward 

Up close with Kanitz and his lads

On Prussian left not much happening early on with just some disorder from artillery

Disaster is befalling Dohnas command as Russian Grenadiers batter them to pulp

A stand off (for whole game) on Prussian right 

Manteuffels Grenadiers have gone forward into trouble (one unit routed and other damaged and disordered)

Kanitz troops deploy in Stein Busch but pinned by Russians

Prussian right wing in dire straits as infantry have melted away and Kanitz now suffering and indeed nearing the end of hostilities.