I am not a huge fan / consumer of historical fiction, but while in the local garden centre the other day (Dobbies in the UK), I saw these two Scarrow titles.

They were on a 2 for £6 deal and since each has a list price of £9.99, I thought ‘why not’! I see these sort of things as good stand-by for hospital visits etc.

I was a bit hesitant to buy at first because the prose felt a bit stilted, but from somewhere at the back of my mind, I recall that language corrupts at a given rate of 1% every 19 years - something that apparently helps specialists track the movements of ancient populations. Anyway, if true, It would stand to reason that the text should certainly not feel modern and I trust that Scarrow understands his subject a thousand times more than I do, so that is that!

Could this all possibly lead to some Britannia based wargames! 

I also picked up ‘The Return’ by Harry Sidebottom, this one relates to 145 BB - Calabria, Ancient Rome. I thought a 'contrast and compare' of the prose by two different authors would be interesting to me.

I will read the Britannia book first ….. because I like that cover the best, yes, that’s how shallow I am :-)

Recent additions to the boardgame collection - two games from Operational Support Group (OSG) run by Kevin Zucker, who is also the designer. Napoleon Against Russia and the Battle of Fismes.

Zucker was the designer of the old SPI Napoleon’s Last Battles boardgame, that sold zillions and surely must have a place in the heart of many a 70’s gamer. From that game he developed the system further and began a series of games that have become known as the Library of Napoleonic Battles - a common ruleset applied to a host of napoleonic battles.

I have recently been playing the old ‘Napoleon’s Last Battles’ and wanted to dip my toe into the Library series. 

They do a ‘starter’ game for £25 which covers Fismes (a 'what if' game that itself comes from the Napoleon Retreats - 1814 module), though some charts etc need downloading to support play. Of the 8 downloaded documents, all are display charts except one, the Study Folder. This is a 20 page document, a sort of play book that details scenarios and gives a historical background. I decided to send this particular document off to a print on demand service, so that it would look like the booklet that comes with the official parent module. It cost an extra £10 including postage, a bit of an indulgence, but the sort of nice thing that just elevates a game. 

I also had a scout around and tried to judge which of the volumes might be closer to going out of print. Anyway, my pin landed on Napoleon Against Russia and so here were are.

The two main features of the system seem to be that the Library series not only offers the battle itself, but has scenarios that cover (usually the previous day) the approach to battle. The maps at around 500 metres per hex give you enough room for that manoeuvre and so of course, by the time you reach contact, you might have a very different looking (say) Borodino.

The other feature which seems to be liked and disliked in equal measure is the Combat Table, which is low casualty based, instead favouring pushes / retreats. The way to destroy the enemy is to surround them, so that units cannot retreat and are removed from play instead. The realism of that can be argued either way, but at the higher level of play it seems to work and you end up with good narrative such as units being pushed out of villages or brushed aside at strategically important bridges etc, plus the Library CRT compared to the NLB CRT includes a result called shock, which can lead to losses.

Either way, the system puts an emphasis on manoeuvre.

There is a load of support material in the Russian box and the presentation of the Study Book just leaves you feeling that a lot of knowledge and passion has gone into the game.

These are small counters and small hexes, which is necessary to have enough ‘cells’ on the map for all of that manoeuvring and the maps themselves are quite beautiful. If you like just looking into old maps, discovering obscure village names, following campaign narratives in books and understanding why some geographic features are so important, then these maps are for you.

Anyway, as always, it all takes its place in the playing queue, but I suspect this will have an outing that is sooner rather than later. 

The creation of the German Pocket army is fair moving along on the painting table. Today I gave Kampfgruppe Schmidt a command vehicle. Not all of the rules I use will need one, but it is a handy thing to have.

Here we have the Korch 108 Staff Car, sold by Anschluss Wargames in a 3D print. The two officer figures are taken from the German infantry set by Victrix.  The scale for both is described as 1/144, so is a good fit for 10 or 12mm figures and for 'N' scale model rail terrain.

There is a photo in my osprey Bulge book of a Kubelwagon on a muddy road, next to a road sign and an officer stepping into the car. This command base is loosely reflecting that scene.

I’m generally not basing my vehicles (well not at the moment anyway), but this little scene is an exception and shows my ongoing  experimentation with basing styles for the WWII stuff. I am aiming for a look that will allow the force to be used pretty universally between rural and urban settings without too much distraction.

Here a basing paste has initially gone down and then dry brushed with a lighter value. Some of this has been left exposed, while a few bricks, stones and some vegetation, have been added.

I am not too far away from completion of the force, which I will show here in due course. 

Graysville - it is late evening on the 19th. The confederate defence has started to solidify and the first opportunities to hold the union advance in check present themselves.

Once again we end up with three actions to examine as their outcomes are becoming of increasing importance and will likely define the direction of the campaign from here-on-in.

On the Old Mine Road, there are various possibilities available to the union, including the risky one of just pressing on in the face of a reinforced defender.

As the ‘umpire’ I know much more of the dispositions and strengths of all parties, much more than the commanders on the ground would have, so I decide it is time to turn to the trusty D6 for it to make a strategic decision for the union!

All is explained in the most recent entry over in the Graysville Campaign Diary (menu on the left). 

Picked this up today at Waterstones book store (UK) as a companion read to the Assault Sicily game, from Sound of Drums that I bought a few days ago.

The book is typical Osprey, very readable and full of illustrations. From flicking through a few pages, I saw a photo of a knocked out French R-35 tank, which apparently were part of the Italian order of battle.

I did a quick check in the game and there they were, four counters .... so all is good :-) bu it this sort of thing that I like about linking a book to exploring a boardgame.

The only thing of annoyance was that the shop copy had a slightly bent front cover because a previous customer had forced it back onto the shelves without care!  I keep my stuff pristine, so this sort of thing just irks.

Anyway there are a whole lot of localised accounts and together with logistics and campaign overview, the book allows a broad appreciation of the character of the campaign. 

Well, a nice surprise today, postie called with a parcel containing a commission I ordered a while ago to have 28 Epic French strips painted and my, they do look rather nice.

I will be mounting them two strips to a base and for bigger games, two bases will make a unit (so 7 units here) and for smaller games, I will have 3 bases per unit (so 4 units here).

This is a good leg-up for when my Napoleonic Project starts.

One of my take-aways from seeing these has been to note that they have some brighter colours than I used the last time that I did Epic French and they look all the better for that at this scale - with a bit of pop. So as this is the start of the forces for the project, I will adopt some brighter painting.

In the first instance, I think that I will add a gun battery and two horse regiments, so that I have a basic French force and then move on to do a 'mirror' force for the Prussians.

Once done, the St. Amand (1815) project can start.

Assault Sicily - Gela is designed by Wolfgang Klein and Michael Grillenberger of Assault Games, but is published by Sound of Drums and is a tactical WWII game.

It arrived in the post today and I must admit to a great deal of humming and harring before ordering this as I am already heavily engaged with the Old School Tactical system, but it looks very intriguing and worth a punt.

Plus, it is a series game and if I have learned one thing about series boardgames games, it is to secure your copy before it goes out of print if you think you might become a collector of the series.

The first thing of note is that this is a big box that is very heavy, the heaviest boxed wargame I have ever owned and no wonder, it is chock full of goodness, so you are certainly getting a lot of physical content. But one thing I am aware of from my pre-purchase research was you are also getting a lot of play volume. The stand alone scenarios can be constructed with different forces, so they can potentially feel different each time out and there is a lovely campaign system that brings a ton of playability.

This is the second game in the series. Assault Games have previously done east front 1941, which is going to be re-done by Sound of Drums, updated with the current version 2 of the rules. Also the Assault Sicily game is going to get an expansion to bring Brits and Canadians into the order of battle and I did read somewhere that somebody had seen a Kursk based game being mentioned, but I haven’t seen that repeated anywhere else.

Perhaps at this ‘opening the box’ stage, one headline note is that special dice are used. They are in four colours, with the idea being that each colour is a different strength (a bit like how some games use a D4. D6, D8 and D10). The dice are all six sided and have symbols on their faces for hits and suppression etc, with obviously the most powerful dice colour having increasingly more damaging symbols. Each side rolls their dice in an ‘opposed’ fashion and the defender is trying to block attacker results by getting matching symbols to negate as many attack results as possible.

I think that initially, while getting the system under my belt, this will need a bit of rule referencing and chart flipping in working out and remembering what dice each side get in the various situations, before that becomes more intuitive, but it holds the advantage that you don’t get those Cats Eyes / Boxcars certain death type result, that come on standard 2D6, which sometimes can feel a bit lucky (unlucky!) when the extreme numbers are rolled.

Another nice touch is that both rule book and campaign book are done with a wire comb spine, making them easier to manage at the table.

The marriage between Assault Games and Sound of Drums is well executed here. Assault Games clearly care very much about their product and it is certainly a labour of love. Sound of Drums have superb production values. Drawing on the strengths of each, gives a rather remarkable out of the box experience. This is simply a nice thing to own and pore over - a good start :-)

Anyway, there is plenty to explore here and I will give come back and update when all of that starts to happen.

The Napoleon’s Last Battles package from Decision games, is a reprint of the earlier SPI game. The base rules are the same as the original rules. This version goes one step further by having a section of Variant Rules for improving realism and also they have a number of variant counters, that based upon modern research, are intended to replace some of the originals, mostly to adjust strengths.

There are not many games that give a specific focus to the Wavre Battle. It is an interesting fight and one that the has been covered over on the Commanders & Warriors blog, when I ran a play by e-mail battle for other bloggers, so some of these place names are etched on my memory.

The scenario played today is the Historical Variant, that only has the Prussian III Corps on the table, providing a rearguard …. the rest of the Prussian army is on the way to the Waterloo battlefield to join Wellington.

The victory conditions are somewhat scripted to force Murat to head for the town of Wavre (highlighted as position ‘2’ in the photo) and capture it. Some important aspects to the historical battle are;

When the battle started at Waterloo, Vandamme and Gerard pressed Murat to march to the sound of guns. This would have seen the French army cross the River Dyle much lower down and avoid Wavre altogether.

Murat refused, stating that the Emperor has specifically required Murat to pursue the Prussians and push them further back on their Lines of Communication i.e. away from Wellington.

What Murat did not know was that a substantial part of the Prussian army had already crossed the River Dyle and was already on the way to aid Wellington. Murat was in fact only facing a single Prussian corps, worse! It was a rearguard - Blücher had escaped him.

Wavre was a tough position to attack located behind the Dyle, croassable only at bridges. Late in the day, the French did explored the lower crossing below Limale, but by then it was too late …. the deciding battle at Waterloo had already been fought and lost by Napoleon.

And so here the French are scripted to 1) destroy the Prussians 2) take the crossing at Wavre.

The game plays in hourly turns, starting at 12 noon and ending on the 8 PM turn. It is rather a lovely map (all of those villages to visually explore) designed at 480 metres to the hex.

For a few turns, nothing really happens, the French spend that time marching to contact and the Prussians extend their flank to secure Limale.

The initial French assault over the bridges are rushed, their artillery lags behind and both attacks are repulsed.

Then, with help from the guns, the French do get across the lower bridge and from here-on-in the rest of the game plays out as a game of attack and counter-attack, amongst the various terrain types, town / marsh and clear. Some of the positioning becomes nuance .... mostly, on a Combat Chart that is based on 50 / 50 results for 1:1 attacks, both sides just hold their breath and hope for good dice!

As 8 PM arrives and passes, the Prussians get a marginal victory because the French have only captured two out of the three Wavre town hexes .... just one more turn says the French commander! 

While out at a garden centre today, I spotted this fold-away table. It looked a good solution for setting up in my temporary space that I use for my taller tables that have longer legs.

The problem had been that I stand at the taller tables, which was quickly attacking my bad back and legs, limiting the time that I could service the game at any one time.

So ...... having a table to sit at (other than the dining table) would obvioulsy help and this picnic type table was just the right height for that, with the advantage that it can collapse and be stored away.

BUT ... by the time I bought this 'solution', put it in the car, got home and set it up, my back (which had been ok) was absolutely ragging and my feet were going numb etc .... Oh Dear!

The table is actually rather heavy (for my back to cope with). So, the next solution, unscrew the metal frame from the two platsic tops, so that the table can be moved and stored in three separate parts.

It came appart easily. The plastic tops, though substantial, are actually very light, lighter than my wood MDF panels that I presently use, it is the metal frame that holds the weight. No doubt somewhere in the world there is the same kind of set-up with alluminium legs, but it is what it is. 

Anyway, to test out putting it back together, the frame was laid out on the floor and errected, including adding in the two locking pegs in the centre. The frame is then rolled into an upright position. The two plastic tops line up properly and reconnect into their holding slots easily. So as long as I don't try and dance on it, it should be robust enough to handle a boardgame or two and can be left set-up for a few days for the longer games. A dining chair is a good fit.

The table is a little deeper than the ones I am presently using, which means it will be better able to take the A1 sized map that european printers use, which are just a tad larger than US standard 22" x 34".

I just need my back to recover enough now so that I can enjoy the table that was bought to help my back! :-)

As part of my 12mm WWII Pocket Army project. The German force are getting an understrength platoon of three StuG III’s

These are 3D Printed models bought from Anschluss Wargames. They are robust, light and nicely detailed. I bought them as singles, costing £3.75 each, though they can be bought cheaper by getting the five vehicle platoon. I just like buying a few models here and there, building the collection slowly and anyway, I seldom game at a level that needs full platoons represented.

For painting, they were each mounted on the end of a coffee stirrer. As a temporary adhesive, I have been using that sticky gel that you used to see on the front of magazines that carried freebies. It is strong enough to hold the smaller scale figures while they are being painted. I buy mine on a roll of waxed paper, which lays down a bead about 4mm wide.

Using the same techniques as used on the 20mm figures last year, I'm not convinced that they all cross over that well to  the 1/144 scale.

I will keep them as they are for now, as they are good enough to knock out Shermans and T-34's :-) but I will likely go back into them at some point, especially on the running gear as my application of wash / mud and weathering powder has pretty much neutralised all of the nuanced colouring that was in there.

Base or not to base vehicles? I can never properly make up my mind on this and in the past have done both (10mm based, 20mm un-based). They do store better when based and also raise the vehicle height to remain in scale with based infantry, but I do like that when un-based, they sit on terrain better and look naturally grounded, to my eye anyway. For now they will go un-based, but this may change as the project moves forward.

The Stugs have suddenly appeared from nowhere. The German infantry are still on their painting corks, but the StuG's have interrupted that painting flow .... back to the infantry now!

The third and final battle from the Early Afternoon turn has been fought and the Graysville Campaign Diary has been updated.

As we start thinking about the late evening turn, I anticipate that the engagements are about to get a bit bigger, certainly deadlier and probably more decisive.

I am on the fence about which way this could go …… though the confederates might want to be a little luckier with their dice!

All eyes will be on Ashby’s cavalry, who have taken refuge amongst the woods on the Brook Trail. This could become a tough fight if the dismounted cavalry from each side start to fight amongst the trees. 

With his back to Mott’s Run, Ashby has sent a cavalry patrol to search for a fordable crossing point to give him an escape route.

More to come!

We move to the afternoon turn of the 19th. The Union advance continues and three actions result.

1. The pursuit of Ashby's confederate cavalry by Brodhead.

2. The assault on the bridge behind Duffy's Mill

3. The fight for Rock Spring

I managed to get two of those actions fought today. The third should be done over the weekend.

I will refrain from saying too much here, as the Campaign Diary will be updated over the next few days to take account of all of this and to keep everything in context of the 'bigger picture'

These smaller battles that have framed the opening 24 - 36 hours of the campaign are quite fascinating to play, even though for the most part it is just needing a few units per side. I think that is because the narrative of the campaign is the bigger thing that these smaller games plug into. They are very managable actions and the close focus on just a few units seems to make them matter more than would be the case when there are many regiments in play.

The photo here shows the opening moves of the Union attack at the bridge behind Duffy's Mill. Also note, the confederate brigade commander Elzey, who is at risk of getting cut-off, is racing through the woods for the safety of the bridge

The impact of earlier actions are starting to be felt and here, the union commander decided to hold 5th Ohio back out of the battle due to the mauling that they had suffered earlier that morning at Duffy's Mill.

With several things about to move to the games table, my painting regime has ground to a halt.

To kickstart that, I have switched over to jacking up my WWII Pocket Army project, just for a change of painting subject, plus the WWII stuff can get cycled across the painting tray quite quickly.

I have clipped some 12mm Victrix German infantry from their sprue, which are now on the painting sticks, I will follow that with either 3 x StuG III’s or 3 x Panzer IV’s and add these to the already done anti-tank gun platoon (2 x Pak 40, in the photo). This can for the basis of a late 1943 battlegroup.

Once done, I will mirror that with a late 1943 Soviet force. I can certainly see all of this getting to the table before the summer - even faster I hope. 

These starter armies are to be the first replacements of the fairly substantial 20mm - 1/72 armies that I sold off last summer. WWII has been absent from the figures table for too long.

In the meantime, I read a couple of weeks ago in the recent Miniatures Wargames magazine, that the Rapid Fire people have brought out another Rapid Fire Reloaded booklet to add to their growing library of scenario booklets.

This one is called Monty V Rommel, Desert battles late 1942 and it just so happens that the YouTube video covering the publication popped up in my stream this morning. I am not particularly a desert fan, but for those interested in how the scenarios look, here is a Rapid Fire link. They include a bit of footage of real tanks at a public show - Bovington perhaps! 

Victrix have just brought out 12mm 8th army infantry .... so perhaps this will be a future project after all.  :-)

https://youtu.be/7IazutgbWKE?si=uW3tlEkdiuDiMRRx

For our Friday night game last night, Mike put the Baetis Campaign on the table. This is a three day battle from the Second Punic War presented in the C3i number 37 magazine, which uses the same game engine as Mark Herman’s Gettysburg / Waterloo and Rebel Fury games.

The map is very functional. The dominant terrain feature that you can see is rough ground, which confers a defence bonus to the defender and slows movement. It is a good example of a map that allows a player to better 'read' the battlefield and its signifcant / relevant features.

Having played the system a few times for Horse & Musket games, it felt a little odd doing it with ancients as in my minds eye, the ancient battle is one of organised bodies of units, advancing / defending in line and it is the turning or breaking of the line that is critical. Here individual units have a lot of fluidity when manoeuvring …. however, this is a three day campaign, rather than a single afternoons battle and each turn is representing half a days worth of action and in truth, the engine transfers to the Ancients period rather smoothly and thoughtfully. 

The designer has added nuance to get an ancients feel. For example horse have difficulty operating in the presence of elephants, though to my mind, the elephants don’t particularly feel as powerful or significant as they might or offer their erratic contribution to battle (they could become a liability to their own sIde). Perhaps in this time frame, elephants were less of a thing - my knowledge on the subject is too weak to say. 

In essence there are two areas of fighting on the map. The photo here shows one of them at the start of play, with the Romans in red and the Carthaginians in blue.

In this part of the battlefield, the Romans made a quick dash for Amtorgis and got it on day 1. At the end of play this was one of the things we wondered whether a different early outcome would have changed the direction of that particular battle area. 

To spice things up a bit, the Carthaginians secretly deployed their reinforcement (1 unit) to enter the map in the Roman rear area on this part of the map, to threaten their camp ….. but the Romans responded in a timely fashion (just) and blocked the threat, but it did show the value of distraction with this tactic.

The Romans went on to win in this part of the battlefield and held out in the other part, so overall a clear win for the Romans.

Afterwards we discussed the merits of the game and we both felt that the first game was needed for us to better understand what tactics we should pursue in second playing, so though I think the game will generally run along similar lines on each outing, there is opportunity within the system for each game to remain interesting once you get down amongst the hexes.

In any case, we had enough fun with it to conclude that we would play it again.

Usefully, it is a short game of 5 turns, so it plays to a full conclusion in around 2 hours.