Battle of Short Hills 1777 - Rebels and Patriots

Thanks to Matt Crump and his excellent blog for this scenario - wargamesinthedungeon: Battle of Short Hills 26 June 1777 : AWI

An engagement between George Washington and General Howe as Howe pushed to defeat the Continental Army and clear the way to capture Philadelphia. Washington's forces numbered in the region of 11,000 men against a British force of Regulars, Hessian mercenaries and Loyalists in the region of 18,000 men. 

The British under one column under Gen Cornwallis and a second under General Howe attempted to outmanoeuvre the American forces. The Americans looked to delay the British advance and avoid being out flanked.

Matt converted the encounter to the table top, which I have 'borrowed'.

Played in 10mm using Rebels and Patriots rule set with some new fencing :-)

The British outnumbered the Patriots by approx. 20% with both sides split across to access roads, the Americans deployed behind fences and in the tree line. awaiting the advance of the Kings forces.

The ranks of red coats marched down the road towards the defenders.

On the left flank the Americans won the initiative and seized the high ground and picket fence but were not able to get all their companies into close order as the British approached.

The British advanced with a cloud of German skirmishers to their front as the Americans readied their lines.

A long range fire fight opened up the Patriots whittled away the skirmish screen only for the British rank and file to have formed close order and let off volley fire, the militia started to fall back from the picket fence. But they were slowly knocking the turns down.

Switching back to the right flank the British came into sight as the second American detachment stood firm.

The Americans reserved their fire allowing the British line out.

The view at the mid point as both lines close.

As the left flank ground to a stalemate the British pushed hard on the right. 

The final turn and the throw of the dice for the British as the Grenadiers look to smash their way through the Patriot lines.

The American lines hold.

A hard fought victory for the Americans, they had taken a real battering but their morale had held and they had held up the British forces for 12 turns swapping bodies for time.

Forces were twice those recommended for each company but it did not slow the game, having a random command generation for each of the 4 commands made it quite fun as to who had the drop on each other. A large first game but played to a conclusion in 3 hours.

You really need to get the militia into close order to stand up to the British volleys. The Patriots had some lucky morale rolls to hold their ground. The British played a great game with the skirmishers forcing the militia men to waste their first round of fire.

10mm looked great for the period and allowed me to play those larger games with flanks and ranks.

The next order has been fired off to Pendraken for more reinforcements in the shape of artillery, Continential Regulars and British Light Infantry.

More games to come and thanks again Matt for your scenario.

Dispatched from the Front XXXIII - Anything but Arabs.

It's been a while since the last dispatches post. My apologies this entry might be more of a reminder for me to keep me on track.

Chatting during the Cotswold day we shared a listing of half finished projects, we also seem to share one thing in common far to many projects than ever making it to the table. It got me thinking about the need for a clear out or sweep up of the ever going list on the paint table, during lockdown when everyone appeared to have more time I did a full review of projects underway and sold off a number of half finished projects, but things appears to have been building up again with a queue of things that need completing. I can't be the only one that thinks I have two spare figures why don't I buy a regiment to build them out......

So after the mass of figures for the Crusades project a brief pause whilst I clear some of the distractions that need that little bit of focus to get them table ready. My reckoning is that these should be done over 2 weeks - Enough time for a fresh Pendraken order to arrive.

To kick the next two weeks off I found a bunch of spare figures tucked away in a draw for the American Revolution Project. Getting these done will leave me with no spare figures for this project.

Keeping the focus on the AWI I brought a few packs of snake fencing back in March together with some large cosmetic spatula's but they were not wide enough, not wishing to waste anything and gambling that who is really looking in 10mm I straightened them up.  

Not bad basing material for less than £5.00 and these should not take long to get to the table, the sharp sand and I quick spray done over a couple of lunchtimes.

Pretty sure these were 15mm but have been sitting in a box for 25 years!!! Using the same spatula's these barricades were complete in a day, I don't know what took me so long.

Also purchased back in March an extra bunker for the Western Desert a nice piece of kit from Ironclad Miniatures well you can't go to a show and not buy anything. This was half done just needed some extra dry brushing and a light wash. Now ready for the next campaign game.

A package from Studio Historia Miniatures which has been hanging around since the summer. A case of idle hands on a train ride to London and a few clicks later and I am the proud owner of Zombie Camels and the Ramesses II headquarters, I figured the tent would be a good centre piece for my New Kingdom Egyptian forces and the camels for Silver Bayonet in the desert.

They have some great items on the website I can see a few more orders coming their way in the coming months - that damn butterfly.

Hittite Walls and WW2 Greeks - hhhmmm.

A few months ago we gave Xenos Rampant a run out for Chechen Wars, a great game which was really quick to get through in an evening session, it highlighted the need for a few extra heavy weapons, so a quick order from Fighting 15's and there they sat - time to get them done.

That should do for starters 6 different projects to juggle before I even think about projects for next year.

The Battle of Ascalon 1099 - Cotswold All Dayer - Part 2

Last Sunday saw the annual trip to Cirencester and the Cotswolds Wargames Day held this year at Big Battles. It's always an enjoyable affair with some great games on offer in a very relaxed atmosphere. Great to see some old friends and meet new gamers. The only downside you never get enough time to chat with fellow gamers.

Big Battles is a great venue Derek and Andy who run the venue have a real passion for the big game talk about a hobby that turns into a business definitely worth a trip back to perhaps one of the large games. You can find their details here. Home - Big Battles

After 8 weeks we had amassed quite a large collection of Arab forces they lined up outside the walls of Ascalon to turn back the Christian hordes. They did look great very clear lines against the fractured Christian commands.

We split each of the Christian Commands into 4 distinct commands each with. 2 Elite Knights, 2 Elite Foot, 2 Heavy Infantry and 2 Skirmish Missile units.

Honour Points were awarded for the following feats.

Slay Vizier Al Afdal                                    3 Points

Slay an Arab sub commander                     2 Points

'Burn their homes' destroy the main tent    2 Points

Destroy the Greek Fire                               1 Points

So what of the game, as the Arab player we threw our cavalry out on the flanks looking to strip away the skirmishers amongst the Christian ranks, however we did not factor in the fact that their Infantry would be quite so aggressive who waded into the heavy cavalry who whilst able to counter attack we too few in number to maintain a one for one exchange.

The light cavalry managed to slip past the Christian line but far from the general command their were unable to get under order enough to make an impact.

When the Christian knights made their way to the front who they drove back the remaining cavalry the path was clear into the soft underbelly of the infantry but despite wiping out many of the archers and light spearmen they were too few in number to strike the final blow.

A close run thing but a marginal Arab victory - one might argue :-)

A fantastic days gaming with everyone involved from start to finish just as a large game should be. Well worth the nightly efforts of getting the figures on the table.

I did not get to spend as much time as I would have liked around the other tables but there were some fantastic games on offer, you can see a number of them here on Paul's and Steve's blogs.

Cotswold Wargames Day 2024 | movealongnownothingtoseehere

Wargames With Toy Soldiers: 1685 - 1985: Cotswold Wargames Day 2024 (wargameswithtoysoldier1685-1985.blogspot.com)

The Battle of Ascalon 1099 - Cotswold All Dayer - Part 1

36 Hours to go before the Cotswold all dayer.

The plan is a game based loosely on the Battle of Ascalon set during the 1st Crusade where the Christian Armies catch the Fatimid/Egyptian Army outside of Ascalon in August 1099.

Using Lion Rampant we will have 4 commands representing the Christians forces, with a further 4 Commands for the Arab forces.

Each command is 36 points strong with chits per command to decide on who takes each the first turn. It's been quite the effort over the last few weeks with two of us spending most evening ploughing through ranks of cavalry and spearmen. The Arab forces now out number the Christians by quite a margin.

A well deserved day off tomorrow as I wait for the Varnish to dry on three more cavalry units.

Gripping Beast Cavalry with shields from Little Big Man Studio

I am not a fan of painting cavalry and this was only meant to be a small project but I appear to now hold the largest collection of cavalry across all my collections with still another 4 units to make up and paint..... Not sure how that happened......

With another one of our merry band painting a similar number it should look quite intimidating for the Christian forces. Let's see if their Elite Norman cavalry can break through our mass ranks of horse archers and light cavalry.

Perhaps something green for a change next.... :-)

Gripping Beast Archers & reinforcements arrive....

It's amazing what the motivation of a big game does for your painting mojo although it is starting to feel a little like a job. Another batch of Gripping Beast miniatures for the big game on Sunday, thank heavens they lack some of the finer details and are only armed with basic bows and daggers it does allow you to churn out quite a few.

We shall be using Lion Rampant so these will make up 2 additional archer units, plenty to keep the Christian forces occupied.

Thanks to a good friend of mine who seeing the rate of expansion of the Islamic forces very kindly offered a swap his bare metal which was on the to do list for some of my WW2 collection giving us both fresh projects to be getting on with. 

I am so grateful but so many extra cavalry.... I really need to think about picking periods with less mounted figures.

These coupled with  a fresh order from Footsore with yet more cavalry will see me painting Crusader types from now until Christmas, let's see how many I can get through over the next 5 days.... 

Footsore Miniatures - Islamic Command.

Less than two weeks before the the Cotswold All Dayer, it's going to require a few late nights to get the requisite number of units complete.

Across our group of gamers we have quite the production line going in order to create the mass horde of Islamic warriors. Good job the Normans and the bulk of the Christian foot have been completed some time ago.

First off the production line this week the Commander of Arab forces, with his standard, trusted advisor and his escorting heavy cavalry.

Excellent sculpts as always from Mr Hicks and the guys at Footsore Miniatures, roll on the plastics to fill out the Christian lines.

The standards have been hard to come by but Pete Barfield over on the Baron's War Facebook Page has very kindly posted up a number of standards in the files section is very helpful.

Right off to get the finer detail on a batcher of archers done, as others are mini's are being stuck to bases and others have are under coated.... Let's hope it's stops raining so I can get the varnishing and undercoating done.

Allied Turn 4 - The Allied hammer blow falls.

Allied Turn 4

Things are hotting up in the Tactics II campaign with engagements taking place across the front (normally the breaking point of most campaigns with more games than time allows.) 4 battles to play out this round..

Starting from right to left the Allies look to break out from the recently captured port of Karalaan but found there way unhindered by a solitary Infantry formation they would need to pushed aside. Rolling for a scenario within Platoon Forward - A platoon attack is called for against a defensive position. Heavily outnumbered this could be a short lived battle for the Axis defenders.

Similarly in the centre the blue forces/allied army was pushing up from the centre catching the Axis forces who had crossed the river and were screening the city, they had failed to activate to fall back and have been caught by three times their number.

The third battle is an all armoured affair with both sides under taking a point reconnaissance and finally on the left flank allied forces continued to face off against each other, a veteran mountain unit had cleared the pass looking to cut off the Axis forces at the river, but have out stripped their supporting units.

On the far left the allied forces have pushed down the mountain road and were on the outskirts of El Habira generating a Battle (Type N) Defence against flank attack.

On with the first battle and a challenging clash. The Italian defenders who were outnumbered 3:1 but were confident in taking a chunk out of the allied attackers. The terrain fell nicely for the red forces with a village and rough ground all sitting on their side of the table. The Allied forces would need to clear open ground to reach the defenders.

We are a small gaming group and you get to know how people play, however every now and again you can be surprised by players actions and this was one of those occasions.

With a road running into the cluster of buildings the British player put is foot down and headed straight for the village neither side knew the exact numbers they are up against.

Turn one and the Italian defenders open up turning the lead lorry into a burning wreck with the occupants scrambling into the scrub.

However having sprung the trap the remainder of the allied column bypassed the first wreck and pushed into the village, the small number of defenders were unable to stop the charging lorries.

The allied attackers spilled from the backs of trucks and set about the defenders. Quite a bold move and not one the Italians had expected.

On the right flank more allied troops entered the fray, they were brought under mortar fire but it did not stop their advance as they looked to envelope the village.

In the centre the Italians were flanked as the allies leapt from one house to the next.

Finally Italian reinforcements entered the table but the village was already in allied hands, the Italians looked to open up on the speeding transport but far off a solitary Matilda fired a 2 Pdr round which sent the Italian tank to go Down.

Boom and a second shell brews the first tank. The second tank had had enough and retired from the table it's Force Morale broken.

A short but bloody affair the Italian formation was all but destroyed as a fighting force and will need to be reconstituted in the replacement zone as an inexperienced unit.

On to the next encounter and hopefully a more balanced battle.