The Battle of Dunkeld 21st August 1689

Bob Black visited at the weekend and we decided to play a scenario from the Command And Colors game, Jacobite Rising.  Bob had recently played the first scenario, Killicrankie, so it made sense to attempt the second, which turned out to be Dunkeld.  I planned to use my 54mm collection and having recently purchased some small houses, I went about setting up the game.  Some buildings were knocked up from foam board too.

After the action at Killiecrankie, Jacobite forces realised that the city of Dunkeld was held by a single unit, The Earl of Angus's Regiment, The Cameronians. The Jacobites, having numerical superiority decided to attack from the hills surrounding the town.

Essentially the battle would consist of Government forces holding the town while being assaulted by the Highlanders.  This is the starting point of the battle.  The Highlanders occupy the hills at the top of the table, with Government troops in the buildings.  The 'cathedral' forms a strongpoint:

With the roofs removed the redcoats can be seen:

Highlanders move towards the town:

The redcoats take up firing positions, but initially plan to sit tight:

The first attack came from the Jacobite right; their plan becoming clear to attack each building with overwhelming force and this happened against two buildings that stand proud of the main position. Two Jacobite units storm one of the houses:

More Jacobites come charging down the road. 

The Government troops cause some casualties but are forced out of the first house, and make a stand on the road

Several Jacobites fall and the Government forces regain control of the building:

The pressure builds and soon troops in both of the forward buildings are forced out:

The Government troops cling on, holding back the Jacobite charges, but are taking casualties all the time:

In order to restore the situation more troops are ordered forward to push the Jacobites back:

Fierce fighting occurs in the narrow streets.

The government troops regain one of the buildings mow down some of the Jacobites with musket fire:

The threat of Jacobite cavalry, however, forces the redcoats to scuttle back to the protection of the houses

With most of the Government troops in buildings the cavalry are not effective and take casualties while negotiating the narrow streets:

And are beaten off:

Having been slowed down in the centre, the Jacobites tried an assault from their left, with their infantry bursting out of the trees:

Although they manage to score some hits, the return fire is devastating and the remnants of this failed attack pull back:

While all this was going on over on the flank, in the centre the Jacobites manage to evict the redcoats from another building:

Now, technically the capture of the second building should be a win for the Jacobites, however, they have lost over half of their men and the Government troops still hold more of the town.  As per the real battle we mutually agreed that this was really a draw and that the Jacobites had no real hope of taking any more buildings.  Thus we ended the battle at this point and adjourned for tea!

This turned out to be a more exciting game than I expected.  The close combat amongst the buildings saw the fortunes of each side swing back and forth.  The spectacle of shiny 54mm troops added to the fun.

More of Norman's Soldiers

 A few days ago Norman Paterson sent me some more pictures from his collection(s).  This time we are taken to the Napoleonic wars in Egypt, with 1/32 French infantry under attack from Mameluk cavalry.  They are all beautifully painted.  I think the infantry are Airfix and Armies in Plastic, while the cavalry are by Italeri. Enjoy:

Roman Drive into Nubia - Battle Report

 Continuing operations in southern Egypt a small Roman army heads south along the Nile valley to confront a Nubian led rebel army.  The Romans, consisting of mostly heavy infantry supported by archers and some cavalry meet a lighter force, with chariots and horse archers. Will commands the Rebels and I the Romans. The two forces confront each other on a flat, featureless area of desert:

The Roman heavy infantry are in the centre, with medium infantry and cavalry out on the flanks, with archers as skirmishers in the centre:

The rebels have a similar deployment, with medium infantry dominating the centre and horse archers and chariots out on the flanks:

The battle begins with the Roman archers firing into the Rebel centre, dropping a few infantrymen, but Will pushes his horse archers and chariots out in a flaking move, both right and left.

Roman cavalry move forward to meet the Rebels.  The Roman suffer some casualties as do the Rebels when the Roman cavalry catch the lighter cavalry, who are accompanied by a Rebel general:

A similar action occurs on the other flank, with the Romans taking some hits, but the horse archers are driven off:

The arrival of some spear armed Roman infantry checks the Rebel chariots

On the opposite flank the Roman cavalry retire, pushed back by chariots and light cavalry:

The Roman left is in peril as the cavalry are severely depleted and the medium infantry are forced back

Back on the right, the Rebel light cavalry are destroyed and their chariots run into the Roman heavy infantry that have been slowly advancing.  The chariots are destroyed

Roman infantry advance in the centre too, supported by archers, who continue to pick away at the Rebel infantry.

On the left flank Roman infantry crash into the lighter Rebels causing the Rebels to collapse.

With both Rebel flanks under severe pressure, Will moves his troops in the centre forward in an attempt to split the Roman army, however the tough Roman infantry brush off the assault and now the Rebels are in disarray. Their commander falls They have reached their exhaustion point and begin to run from the field.  The Romans have removed the threat of a rebellion in Nubia and the battle ends.

The game was played using 25mm Minifigs S Range figures.  The rules were from the Command & Colors Ancient game.  The game ran quickly and smoothly and was very enjoyable.  It was quite good having an open battle field with scope for moving troops around easily and offering cavalry and chariiots the chance to run around the flanks.