Battle of Eydar Down 1642

A Parliamentary Force had been reported in northern Chilternshire, moving south attempting to cross the river Eydar intent on the capture of a Royalist town and armoury. A small Royalist force of three regiments of foot, two of horse and a gun have deployed onto the high gound of Eydar Down to block the advancing Parliamentarians. The commander of this force has been promised reinforcements as soon as they can be sent.

Soon the Parliamentarians arrive on the field, with five regiments of foot, four of horse and two guns. Both sides deploy their forces:

The Parliamentarians deploy their guns forward in the centre with the cavalry split between the wings.

 

The Royalist single gun sits on their left with cavalry on both wings. The battle begins with a Parliamentry bombardment of the Royalist centre and for several turns the Blue regiment is hammered. 

In an attempt to force the  Parliamentarians hand the Royalist commander orders his cavalry to take out the guns and so the two Royalist regiments of horse gallop forwards:

But as can be seen above this prompts the Parliamentarians to launch their cavalry.  A major cavalry battle begins in the centre, while the infantry of both sides look on. Initially the Royalsit Cuirassiers see off one of the enemy horse regiments, but on the ridge, with artillery rounds still falling amongst the Bluecoats, the infantry unit breaks:

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The Royalist commander hopes to delay the Parliamentarians, as each minute passing allows the much needed reinforcements to arrive; however it is clear that his cavalry will soon be overwhelmed. 

Now down to just two foot regiments he attempts to bolster the morale of his men, being narrowly missed by a roundshot!

Then to his relief he hears the drums of more Royalist troops arriving in support:

 

The cavalry melee continues in between the two armies, but it is clear that two against four regiments of horse will not succeed, although the Royalist cavalry regiments have destroyed the first two regiments of Parliamentarian horse,

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But the Cuirassiers are beaten by the second attack :

The remaining Royalist horse regiment manages to break away and forms up behind the infantry just as the Parliamentarian infantry begin their advance. Throughout the battle the Royalist gun has been totally ineffective allowing the enemy infantry to advance unmolested:

Once again the Royalist cavalry surge forwards and rout the Parliamentarian Grey Coats:

But, next turn they are attacked by two regiments of cavalry:

And after a heroic struggle they collapse and flee the field:

Now the infantry from both sides are closing in.

 

The Parliamentarian musketeers pour volleys into the Royalist line as they deploy and two regiments rout:

With all of the cavalry gone and most of the infantry falling back the Royalists concede defeat and begin to withdraw from the field. The  Parliamentarian army lets them go in order to rally their cavalry and continue their mission to cross the Eydar River.

 

For this interesting and fun battle I used the rule set from the Peter Dennis paper soldiers book, adapted for a hex mat. They worked well, although the morale rules can be devastating. 

All figures are by Miniature Figurines.

Great Northern War Swedish Artillery

Another GNW unit rolls off the production line.  This time it is Swedish Artillery.  The figures are again from Ebor Miniatures, were easy to paint, and required no assembly, apart from the gun:

French Napoleonic Elite Light Infantry

 I was looking for some Russian Grenadiers when I stumbled across these Minifigs S range elite light infantry.  I recall starting these in 2010 and I remember the date as they were part of a pile of figures that I took with me when I was working overseas. When I returned they were stored away and forgotten.  Discovering them gave me the urge to finish them off.

Now, I have disposed of my Minifigs French, but these will join my Ros French and provide an elite light infantry capability for my Imperial Guard. They are painted using Humbrol gloss colours:

Battle of Britain Game

Some months ago I purchased the Plastic Soldier Company (PSC) game, Battle of Britain. It was going cheap and I had often thought about a game covering air combat in 1940.  This was my opportunity.

For me, the game was spoilt by the model aircraft which were quite distorted and of a nasty green and pale grey colour soft plastic. I managed to get some new aircraft from PSC made of later hard plastic that does not bend and I set about painting them.  This took a while, but I have now completed enough aircraft to play the game.

The rules are quite complex (for me anyway) involving quite a lot of simple record keeping, using markers and charts.  It took me a while to get my head around all of the rules but there are some good videos on line that cover most of the basics.

The game is not really an air combat wargame, it is rather a strategic exercise of managing resources and getting the right combat power in place at the right time.  After a couple of false starts I began to get the hang of it.  The model aircraft are purely representational and flights are made up of several types and numbers of aircraft a listed on cards. Luftwaffe missions are also card driven. Combat takes place between these flights and involves the use of radar, bombing runs, fuel management and repairing facilities and aircraft.  The game is played as four stand alone scenarios, the first being the battle for the Channel, which where I am.

Overall I am enjoying the game which can be played solo, but would be much better with a live opponent.

This is what it looks like at the initial set up phase:

 

The Great Northern War

 Last week when Bob Black came to visit we discussed the Great Northern War (GNW) and to my surprise Bob presented me with a number of 25/28mm figures by Ebor.  These were Swedish troops. Bob already has a sizeable Russian Army but has no opponent, so using the figures he gave me as a foundation I agreed to raise a Swedish army. 

Now, what I know about the GNW would not fill a postage stamp, but I am learning fast. The armies seem to be equipped with early flintlocks but still retain a few pikemen to ward off cavalry.  The Swedes look very smart in blue with various facing colours, but a lot of yellow and buff.

I could not resist painting them in my usual gloss style and here is the result - rather spledid methinks:

A couple of days ago a package arrived from Ebor with more figures and I am sharpening my paint brush!

Battle Report - 1st Bull Run 1861

 Today Bob Black paid us a visit today along with his wife. As well as having a thoroughly good chat over lunch we managed to play a short sharp wargame.  The chosen action was 1st Bull Run from the American Civil War based upon the C&C Battlecry scenario:

The troops were laid out as per the map.  I used my old Airfix figures on a 5" hex grid board.  Some views of the battle field, which covers the terrain from around Henry House to the ridge which was to be held by Gen 'Stonewall' Jackson:

Bob took command of the Union forces and I the rebels. He began with an aggresive move against the rebel right flank with four regiments swinging around to his left

At the same time he moved two more regiments up the centre, I assumed to prevent reinforcement to the right, and he moved his Sharpshooters onto a small hill.  The Sharpshooters were quickly forced back, but the centre was now under threat too:

The rebels decided to hold firm and remain on the reverse slope of the ridge and countered the threat to the right flank with volleys of musket fire, also moving their artillery onto the ridge:

Initially the rebel fire did great damage to the union ranks, destroying one Union unit, but now in range, the Union troops began to cause significant damage to the grey ranks as one rebel unit collapsed and was destroyed.  It looked like the Union troops would sweep around the flank; however at just the right moment Jackson leads a unit and plugs the gap.  A combination of artillery and small arms fire checks the Union advance:

The action now shifts to the Centre as two Union units reach the crest of the ridge and are met with devastating short range volleys that quickly decimate one unit and force the other into retreat:

Back over on the rebel right the Union forces push forward again and another rebel regiment collapses; however, Gen Jeb Stuart rushes around to the right flank with a cavalry unit in an attempt to check the attack:

The cavalry charge into the flank of the nearest Union regiment, while artillery and musket fire hammer the other units:

At the same time two rebel regiments advance onto the crest of the ridge and pour fire into the Union infantry below. Another Union regiment is destroyed.  

 

With this action and the collapse of the Union flank attack the battle is over.  The score is 6 - 2 to the rebels after a very enjoyable and hard fought action.

It was great to have a human opponent too.  I am sure Bob will be back to gain revenge!

25mm Minifigs S Range Austrian Artillery

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I bought these figures off eBay, consisting of two full crews of S Range Austrian gunners and a couple of guns.  The guns were British, so I swapped these with a couple of split trail guns, French I think.

The figures were quite play worn and painted a creamy yellow colour, so I stripped them down I have given them a coat of gloss paint:

Work continues on some Ros Curassiers.

25mm Ros Figures British Heavy Dragoons

Continuing the refurbishment process of my Ros Figures collection, the latest unit to fall under the paint brush are some British Heavy Dragoons.  These figures were originally painted in 1976 by my brother and have been touched up a couple of times since then; however, they have now received a complete overhaul using gloss paint, including new bases.

Here is the result:

Next some French Cuirassiers and Hussars.

More Orcs

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 Continuing to rebase the Combat Hex figures, this time some Orc archers, which will be classed as light troops under C&C rules:

 

Machine Guns and Bunkers

 As part of the Japanese defending force for my Pacific mini campaign I needed some bunkers to support th the trench works already completed.  I have created two based upon a log and earth type structure.

First off the machine guns, Airfix do not have any heavy weapons in the Japanese set, just a light machine gun, so I had to convert some figures.  I used Esci guns cut from the Japanese set figures:

While in the conversion mood I also created some Bedouin Arab gunners using the Airfix Arab and 8th Army sets. These will go off to engage in colonial battles:

The Japanese machine gun nest was made from bamboo kebab sticks:

A roof came from an MDF base:

The machine gun tested for size before the crew are added:

Filler is used to build up the earth walls and roof:

Sprayed brown all over:

And finally grass and foliage is added to complete the bunkers: