Ottoman Reinforcements - Bashi Bazouks

This evening sees the first real outing of my Ottoman Turk Army vs that of the Russian Empire.

The plan is to use a scenario generated from the excellent Platoon Forward suppliment from the Too Fat Lardies, designed with a WW2 in mind, a couple of tweaks are required to make it suitable for the Napoleonic period.

The plan is for the Russian Commander to generate a scenario and the select his forces available from a core set of units. Typically 5 regular sections and 1 Elite/Veteran section, together with 5 Bigmen.

Perry Miniatures Bashi Bazouk based on a Warbase Stand.

Bigmen Commanders Kirmizi Atesh & Musad Chuma

Perry Miniatures plastic Ansars.

The Ottoman's last took to the field prior to Christmas, where they lacked both numbers and firepower, these time around I have bolstered their number with extra foot troops and a new unit of Bashi - Bazouk Infantry. Available from Perry Miniatures but they seem to fit in well with the general Ottoman feel.

I have also painted up a couple of recent purchases from Architects of War, the Desert Well and Donkey Mill are full of character and add some life to my Middle Eastern Village.

These are not cheap but they do paint up rather well....

Random events in the Sharp Practice rules call for livestock, Damn and Blast! Scared by the firing some local livestock have escaped, moving 2D6” away from the group each turn in a random direction.

Never first on my list of purchases, these goats from Empress Miniatures will be useful across several periods.

I have created the Big Men for my Ottoman Army and being rather lazy stumbled across the attached link, which creates Turkish names, perfect when insiration is lacking.

http://www.gypsymagda.com/turkishnames.html

Full AAR to follow.

Battle of Gailey's Crossroads - Confederate AAR

My very good friend Paul very recently wrote a battle report for the recent ACW outing over at Evesham Wargames Club with the line "history belongs to the side which ends up writing the history". Well the war is not over my friend this is the offical battle report  from the Southern Republic regarding the Battle of Gailey's Crossroads.

The Scenario was a simple one advance up the table and clear out any federal forces blocking our path. We knew that behind the Town of Bishampton the Union forces were starting to stack up so a fast advance was the order of the day.

The  view from the Southern Front.

Carl's Division took the lead, valliant souls from the heart of Alabama, the advance was swift coming into sight of  Gailey's Crossroads after a couple of turns.

Union Cavalary were seen deploying behind the picket fences and stone walls, their repeating rifles would be deadly if we entered into a protracted fire fight.

General Carl urged his men forward supported by artillery fire from Evesham Hill.

What the Union Cavalry add in fire power they lack in numbers they were hindered by some of the most unluckly dice rolling ever to be seen on a wargames table, Cavalry units were running low on ammunition, others throwing up thick smoke which screened the avancing Confederate forces.

The Union forces deployed an artillery battery to stem the Confederate tide, but this to suffered from a lack of ammo.... ( who was the quartermaster????)

General Carl ordered his men forward with minimal casaulties and shock he charged his bayonets and rushed straight for the Union Cavalry, going against the doctine of previous games of exchanging volley fire first !!!

The Confederate forces numbers told and the union were cavalry feel back in some disorder, it would be several turns before they were able to reform and recover.

Bouyed by their success Carl's Division pushed on but they were starting to suffer a number of casualties and shock, Big Men and Officers were spread across the front and they were desperate to reorder their forces.

Mean while General Stuart's Texas Division entered the table, delayed due to the Generals late lunch.

Carl's Division was slowed by elements of the 76th New York and Union Zouaves who were coming off blinds and were deploying to the front, the men from Alabama knew no fear and pressed on, out stripping the supprting Texas units.

They were now out numbered 3:1 including the returning Union Cavalry under Lt Bacon.

Several volley's were fired by the Union line forcing the Confederate forces to seek shelter in the wheat field, elements of Carl's divsion began to slink away unable to respond to the Union fire and with two few Officers available to reorder the line.

As dusk began to fall, the men from Texas arrived to see their brothers from Alabama retiring from the line with Bacon's cavalry shadowing their withdrawal....

We had secured the cross roads and it would be a bloody task for the Union to take it back.

Mission accomplished....... :-)

28mm Elizabethan Swashbucklers & Sea Dogs

Reading the Pike Shot & Zombie Rules led me to dust off a couple of Blister packs of Foundry Elizabethan's. The rules are set in the Thirty Years War, but I guess 50 years earlier won't make much difference....

At our local club we have often talked about figures that satisfy a need for certain types of games, for example Colonial Skirmishes mostly covered by our Zulu War Collection, this tends to involve a limited number of well armed europeans facing off against a poorly armed foe..... How much different is that from Zombie games where figures are constantly ambushed by the walking dead and the constant worry about being overwelmed...?

Another one of the areas of gaming interest was swashbucklers..... Whether it was the flashing blade on a saturday morning or the 3 Musketeers films in the 1970's... While having considered the excellent Brigade Miniatures, Musketeer range  I was also put off by the level of detail likely to be required in getting the lace effect right.

Foundry's Elizabethan range seem's to satisfy that need for a few figures aside dancing the dual of death taking no more than a couple of hours... A perfect club game?

English Lords ready to defend the Queen's honour.

Spanish Invaders looking to turn England Catholic

Of course 2 Blisters is never enough and plans are now a foot to expand this project from half a dozen figures fighting the hordes of undead to Historical. The Anglo–Spanish War (1585–1604) seems to be largely ignored by Wargamers in general which seems perfect for my reputation of doing periods less well known.

The wars were an intermittent conflict between the kingdoms of Spain and England that was never formally declared. With the potential for games in the Netherlands or potential landings of Spanish forces on English Soil.

As luck would have it I caught the Sea Hawk (1940) on TV this afternoon on one of the more obscure channels - Errol Flynn as Captain Geoffry Thrope who "Singes the Kings Beard" all on his own...

Now I have ideas around the Indies and other such places....

The gods of Wargaming are against me...

Chain Reaction 3 - AAR Operation Palliser Sierra Leone 2000

With Ed at Two Hour Wargames releasing Chain Reaction 3 for Free, I thought it was high time my Modern Brits got an airing.

Operation Palliser May 2000 Sierra Leone

This little known deployment of British forces is perhaps best known for Operation Barras and the rescue of British Military hostages by the SAS from the Westside Boys, a rebel gang within Sierra Leone.

Royal Marines were deployed in Sierra Leone to evacuate foreign nationals and establish order, once they had stabilized the situation. Brigadier David Richards, expanded the original mandate to supprt the UN forces and protect the Sierra Leone Government from rebal forces under the Revolutionary United Front and it's commander Foday Sankoh.

The RUF was a brutal force made up of boy soldiers very often high on drink and drugs, with the slogans, "No More Slaves, No More Masters. Power and Wealth to the People." It planned to overthrow the government of Sierra Leone and had committed numerous atrocities in any territory it captured.

The scenario represents a small British Patrol that is sent into the Occra Hills to seek out and destroy elements of the RUF who have been terrorising the local population and stopping aid agencies getting in to the area to assist the locals.

Mid day after a days route march into the Occra Hills and the Marines had reached the main camp of the RUF, the main British force under Major Jefferson had been pinned down by rebel fire from the entrance to the village, cloud cover having stopped the British bringing their air support to bear, unable to push forward and unwilling to break contact they are in a perilous position with the prospect of the RUF flooding the area very soon.

Sergeant Strickland and a section of 6 Marines notice a section of the village is undefended leaving a gate unguarded as many of the defenders have moved to join the attack on the main British force. If Strickland can enter the village undetected he should be able to outflank the RUF and drive them from the village entrance.

Strickland is Rep 5 whilst his fellow marines are Rep 4, facing them are an unknown number of RUF fighters, but given that they have spent much of the morning smoking and drinking none of them will be better than Rep 3.

Lock and load Chaps we must save Major Jefferson and the rest of their fellow Marines.

View from the tree line and Sergeant Strickland, I inserted 3 PEF chits for the RUF, represented by 4 fighters on the table.

Strickland and his team prepare to move out.

Members of the RUF line the wall and poor fire in to Major Jefferson and the main British force off table.

More RUF move to close in on Jefferson.

Winning the initiative Strickland break for the unguarded gate and break into the village. Some great rolls by the RUF and they pass 2 Dice moving 16" directly towards Strickland and his team. Coming in to Sight the British roll on the Resolution chart and find them selves facing not one but two groups each one as large as their own.

Insight Test abound with RUF fighters appearing in the alley to the front of the British just as they break into the right hand house.

RUF Fighters line the roof tops.

Poor rolls by both sides drive a number of the Brits and RUF to duck back, the Brits burst into the right hand house as the RUF fire a couple of RPG rounds in Strickland's direction. Out gunned Strickland and his team dive for cover.

On the left flank, the RUF on the roof tops poor fire in to the second British Squad knocking one to the ground and taking another trooper Out of the Fight, things were not going well for Strickland.

Meanwhile the Brits holed up in the house faced RUF Fighters to their front, a second PEF comes into sight at the rear of the builidng fortunately the contact roll is poor and only two RUF fighters are generated they pass their insight rolls and through the back windows killing Private Whitaker, who was rushing to reload.

Strickland makes a break for it rushing out of the back of the house under a hail of fire from the swarming RUF.

The British reach the checkpoint, whilst they failed to clear the checkpoint of RUF fighters Strickland's actions have drawn the RUF from Jeffersons position. A good initiative roll for the Brits and they get the drop on the RUF on the roof top.

RUF Fighter prepare to fire on Strickland. The RUF fighters are a mixture of Gripping Beast MoFo range and the TAG Somalian range together with a few Foundry, Copplestone and some Bobby Jackson Thugz for good measure.

The Marines win the iniative and after a swift fire fight the bulk of the RUF fighters are either Ducking back or are OOF, A second initaive win and Strickland Fast Moves for the tree line.

An encounter hardly worth a mention in dispatches but a good reason to follow up with game two as the fate of the out of the fight Marines is still to be decided. As Strickland was forced to leave men behind.

Chain Reaction 3 has a slick feel to them and changes from Version 2 to 3 has cut trimmed down on the number of dice rolled in the area of movement and spotting.

The reaction rolls still give that Hollywood feel, with figures ducking for cover espically if they have run out of Ammo.

The PEF movement and makes for a tense game as they can be upon your units very quickly should they pass enough dice but could turn out to be nothing or a serious number of enemy troops, the good news is very often you can dive for cover espically when one of the opposing fighters raises his RPG to fire...

Terrible Sharp Sword - ACW Confederate Forces

Sunday see's the Evesham Wargames Club Big Game I 2012, Over the last few months numerous club members have being amassing forces for the forthcoming ACW engagement.

We shall be using the Sharp Practice from the Two Fat Lardies.

To make the game a little more personable we have selected a regiment each, I have selected troops mustered from Milam County.
Sandwiched between Austin & Dallas.

I found a great web site, which detailed the units raised in the area and the names of the officers.
The link can be found below.
http://jamesewilliams.tripod.com/index-2.html

Two units will gather on the field of Battle on Sunday.

'E' Coy Milam County Guards - 4th Texas Cavalry commanded by Lt Buckholt

The dismounted Guards line up against the picket fence, seeking cover where they can

"At the canter, Lt Buckholt leading from the front."

Next up Company G "Milam County Grays", 5th Texas Infantry under the joint command of Captain John W Story & Capt J.C. Rogers

"Capt Rogers urges on his loyal men of Texas."

Having done the research on the units, I feel a real affinity towards these guy's. So much so I might just have to let one of the other Rebel Commanders lead the assault.... :-)

Details of some of the Yanks can be found here. http://movealongnownothingtoseehere.blogspot.com/2012/02/billy-yank-marches-to-war.html

Full AAR detailing the rebel victory (I hope) to follow.

If your close by drop in the kettle is always on.

ACW Picket Fences

With Sunday's Big game fast aproaching I thought it I could russle up some extra fences, I made a test batch a few months ago and still had plenty of raw materials left over so in the spirit of getting stuff done, finished these off tonight.

I am tend not to have enough time to create my own terrain, it's hard enough finding enough time to paint figures, but having looked around the web could not really find a manufacturer that I was happy with for a price that covered my budget so I thought I would give it a go.

Tesco were selling some large BBQ scewers which retail for £1.99 for 50 more than enough for my requirements, I took some 2mm MDF and covered it with sharp sand before spraying it black to seal it.

The council were resurfacing the local road which gave me a ready supply of boulders for the base.

Finally may taxes were being put to good use :-).

Using a glue gun, I put a line of glue across the centre of the board and pushed the first line of stones in at the same time I inserted the scewers and left to dry.

It's a little bit fiddly and the glue can be hot so watch your fingers...

Once hardend I cut away the excess glue and gave a liberal Matt Black Spray, before painting and dry brushing.

I am reasonably happy with the results.
They feel more robust than your average picket fence and cost perhaps as little as 50p per fence in terms of raw materials.

15 down 20 more to go....

Pike Shot & Zombies Arrival Points (2)

Back in January I completed the first couple of Arrival points for Pike Shot & Zombies, this week I had the opportunity of finishing the last of them to make teh 6 needed for the game.

I still had plenty of Renedra Graveyard head stone's left but did not want to replicate what I had done before, so adding in a couple of undug graves from Magister Militum, I set about finishing the last four.

Again based on old Cd's covered with a liberal covering of PVA glue and Sharp Sand.
I am pleased with the results each one feels slightly different, lets just hope our band of adventurers get close enough to put them on the table.....

Probably my favourite, less is definately more.

The grave diggers left this one unfinished, before they were overcome.



Next up more ACW Fences for the all dayer and hopefully the first of the Elizabethans.