Burgundians

These are the first of my Burgundian Gendarmes. The red I found are best using a Vallejo Gory Red then Red with highlighted by using a small amount of yellow added.








Yellow is another difficult colour. The base coat is dark flesh then Vallejo sunblast yellow followed by a coat d'armes brighter yellow then white added for the highlights.

latest sculpting

I have recently been working on some 20mm WWII figures including a British para standing holding a mug of tea (or something stronger) and a tank crewman wearing a pixie suit, the latter just needs the arms finishing.

I also thought I'd have a go at a 28/30mm figure, here is the result, an alien hunter, 28mm to eye level. I wanted a fairly casual pose but holding a gun, so here is the result. He just needs a bit of cleaning up and a base.

Our first club AWI game

Overview of the set up, British attacking from the left.

Ok, so last night we played our first AWI club game using British Grenadier and I think we all decided that the disruption point system in the rules really affected our enjoyment of the game, it played nothing like the Napoleonic or ACW rules from the same stable. The figures were a mix of Parkfield, Front Rank and Perry.

We decided that the rules may well run smoother without the disruption caused from firing and would then count as disorder markers rather than being the main rule mechanism which we felt was wrong, but then what do we know, we are only gamers?

Anyway, here are a few piccies of the game with the British attacking Americans behind the fences. Boy was our die rolling bad!! The initial set up (we do like lots of terrain) with the British on the left attacking the fence line along the road lined with militia.

The game commenced with the British attempting to dislodge the Americans from behind the fence line but the British right flank got bogged down with disruption points and one unit failed to charge home. Another unit managed to close to melee with a New Hampshire regiment but got pushed back during the second round of melee, both ending the combat with three disruption points and still in contact.

On the British left flank, they were being shot to pieces by militia and began to waiver, again due to a combination of disruption point accumulation and poor die rolling.

All in all a game which seemed slow and cumbersome, but we enjoyed the spectacle and decided that a few house rules should be in order. The first of these would be to cease using disruption points from firing, just from terrain and movement penalties in an attempt to speed things up a little.

Secondly to reduce the number of movement dice rolled when moving through disrupting terrain, thus a unit moving through a field would only have one movement die and would therefore not be able to fire as well.

Maybe a second game is in order with these amendments then we will see how the rules work and if they provide a game we can enjoy more.

The American left refusing the British right
The American militia line the fence

Beneath the Lilly Banners Wargame rules

I received my rule set yesterday and what an impressive work it is. It comes across as a work of love and the book lives up to expectations. The cover art (available for purchase separately from http://www.quindia.com/) really sets the scene.

Inside the full colour rules are well laid out and take the reader from initial troop types and their classification in the rules to basing, again with colour pictures of based units to indicate the method of basing, to starting the game. The rules have been tried and tested for many years by Barry and provide for a fairly fast playing game.

There are a few mechanics that might seem odd to start with, such as the number of units that may move in a turn depending upon the commander's rating which does provide an interesting game and takes that god like ability away from the players without distracting from the game.

The turn sequence is well laid out with the main rules providing more detailed explanations again with plenty of colour photos of Barry's collection of figures dotted around.

After the main section of rules are additional rules for the Great Northern War and Eastern European warfare during this period covered (1660-1715) and a brief rundown of the main conflicts during the period in question.

The reference sheet, which is separate, is laminated and agin all in colour. There are no army lists, but then again this is not a competion rule set, so a little research is needed although three scenarios are included in the rules to get you started.

I have played the rules previously when they were available as a free download so already know how they play, but the new published version is even better and at £15 compares favourably with other rule sets released recently in terms of playability and presentation.

The rules are introduced as a fast play set covering the period, but how fast is fast? The games I have played so far have been fun and played in an evening, so well suited for club games. The mechanisms are easy to understand and although at first play some seem a little obscure, the rules work without excessive book keeping, which has got to be a bonus, and the results are realistic.

All in all a nicely presented set of wargaming rules for the late renaissance period that allow you to play small or large actions without the need for lots of paperwork. If you have an interest in this period then I would recommend these rules as a good place to start. Also Barry is a nice chap and will normally respond to any queries fairly quickly on his web forum.

They are available from Barry's League of Augsberg website(http://www.leagueofaugsburg.com/index.php)

First game of British Grenadier

As the title says, I tried out British Grenadier yesterday for the first time. Although I haven't got all my figures painted yet I decided to have a go with one British Brigade attacking a couple of American brigades in a defensive position. I played the British against my son playing the Americans.



The game started with the British advancing, my dice rolling was rubbish and my son seemed to get most initiative rolls.






The British advance into trouble


The initiative was almost always won by my
son who also managed to roll better dice than me
and soon started causing more casualties than
I would have liked.

The British right flank soon started to reduce in numbers and the indian skirmishers failed to make it into contact with the Americans esconsed behind their defences.

Meanwhile on the American's right the militia brigade came under attack and soon started to wonder why they had advanced so far forward, but at least they were behind a wall in the field.



The game ground to a halt as we both came to the conclusion that neither of us had the upper hand and during a cup of tea decided that it was an honourable draw.

I felt the game could have gone smoother,
but then this was my first play of the rules
and a lot things seem to be glossed over in the
rules where they could have been explained better especially the use of disruption points and their effects.

Generally the rules seem to be overcomplicated in some areas and over simplified in others, but maybe the GdB forum will clear some of these things up.

I will continue using the rules and hopefully will eventually get to grips with them although they seem to be well written a lot of things could have been included to make game play easier such as describing melee better as I got lost on a number of occasions trying to decypher the written word especially when working out the results of melee.

Another thing that needs clearing up is how disruption points work specifically those caused through firing and moving as there seem to be only obscure references to this rule and the means of removing them appears to have been an afterthought.


Generally they seem to be well written, although they could have been explained better with more examples of play.


All in all a bit of a chore playing these rules and will need quite a lot of playing to get to grips with the subleties of them. I'll post further thoughts on the rules as I play them more, but I think I will stick to them for the time being as I don't really want to discount them out of hand after just one game.

Rear Guard map and scenario

The table is about 5' square.

The Williamite force consisted of five infantry battalions, two squadrons of cavalry and one field gun. Two of the infantry battalions are elite, the rest are drilled.

The Jacobites had two drilled Irish battalions and two light guns deployed with two drilled French battalions and three squadrons of cavalry behind the hill and thus out of sight at the beginning of the game.

The two wagons were just to the left of the hill heading along the road to the bridge. The remainder of the table is strewn with rough ground, fields and hedges to create, what we call, traffic management problems.

Rear Guard action

It has been a while since I last posted, so I thought I would tell you about my latest game. The scenario was lifted from Table Top Teasers(http://steve-the-wargamer-teasers.blogspot.com/)
entitled Rear Guard, which I found on the web and is a fantastic resource for scenarios for those that can remember the originals in such wonderful publications as Battle for Wargamers.

The Jacobites were tasked with holding off the enemy advance until nightfall (12 turns) as well as getting the straggling supplies to safety, the Williamites were to advance and take the bridge as well as capturing the supplies if at all possible.

Jacobite infantry on the hill with their brigadier cowering amongst the rocks in percieved safety

We used Under the Lilly Banners rules and it was a couple of turns before the Williamites managed to get everything on the board, the cavalry managed to get on first turn and began to move towards the Jacobite right flank causing some confusion in the ranks as the cavalry and the French infantry behind the hill to start off to refuse the right flank.

The Jacobite Line across the hill and protecting the wagons on the road

Meanwhile the Williamite infantry advanced on the Jacobite left with Kirke's and Hanmer's regiments taking casualties from the Jacobite guns on the hill causing them to stagger until their cavalry decided it was time to charge the guns resulting in the gunners running away.

Williamite cavalry advance by squadron supported by Danish and Dutch infantry

Meanwhile the supply wagons had worked their way behind the hill and across the bridge bringing much needed supplies to the main Jacobite army.

Supplies cross the bridge with Jacobite cavalry forming up in the background

The Jacobite cavalry waited in the rear, moving to left and right having obviously only undergone basic manoeuvre training prior to the battle and ended up in line awaiting the Williamite breakthrough on their left flank.

Jacobite cavalry waiting, and waiting, and waiting

In the end, by turn 12 (nightfall) the Jacobites had succeeded in holding off the Williamite vanguard and got their supplies off the table with the loss of two guns and a regiment of infantry who were broken in melee by a combined Dutch and Danish brigade.

Turn 12 came all too quickly and signified nightfall at which point the two armies would make camp and await the dawn. The Jacobites at this point were to withdraw under cover of darkness to join their main army on the other side of the river having done their job and delayed the enemy as ordered. Mind you, the French started to retire before nightfall as they wanted to ensure they got the best seats in the local hostelry.

All in all a fun game with plenty of laughs, beers and discussion. The rules worked well with a specific scenario and I, along with many others, are awaiting the imminent publication of Beneath the Lilly Banners.

The Williamite artillery