RJW Campaign - 'Not' Boxers Revenge - Game 3

After game 2 the Russians really needed to take the fight to the Japanese this game. They needed to win and defeat a number of the Japanese units. The scenario borrowing again from Mark Fatso's Colonial campaign book This scenario sees a Japanese column attempting to reach the edge of the table with 6 prisoners.

The table represents a valley with two roads forking left and right the Russians could be anywhere on the table.

A challenge for both sides as the hill in the centre blocks line of sight and the Russians have to in effect split their forces or hold them all at the very rear of the table.

The Japanese pushed up the centre of the table, all the prisoners were clustered amongst the dismounted cavalry who had the limited range. They were giving nothing away. No sign of the Russians as the Japanese hit the half way mark.

On the right flank dismounted cavalry appeared and are swiftly engaged by the advancing Japanese who were starting to be rather strung out.

Valuable time was wasted scouting the right hand wood and building only to reveal no Russian defenders.

On the right the main defence was revealed Sailors lined the tree line to bolster the cavalry who were hotly engaged with the Japanese Infantry.

The Russian command having learnt from the previous encounter through multiple Infantry units forward from the rear wood looking to block the path of the Japanese advance parties.

The Japanese at the double move left hoping that the poor command scores for the Russians would slow their ability to move to the defence and block their move.

Russian infantry know they have the edge in hand to hand and advance across the centre of the table.

In a bruising round of hand to hand the Russians are defeated but not before disordering two units of Japanese including the guard unit, more time is wasted rallying them, when they should have been moving forwards. 

The Japanese guard through themselves forward the cavalry charged and drove off one unit of Infantry only to be sent to the rear down to two men, as the clock ticked on more Russian Infantry and their own Guard unit stepped into the gap, stopping the Japanese in their tracks. The Japanese battered units would not be numerous enough to defeat the fresh Russians and the dismounted cavalry and their charges from themselves in the front rank.

Game over - A great game down to the final turn.

Points from the final linked game.

Japanese Results.

1 Russian units destroyed - 1 Points.

Russian Results.

Russians fulfil their victory conditions - 3 Points

4 Japanese units reduced to half strength or less - 4 Points.

A victory to the Russian player although not quite enough to win the first phase of the campaign.

The final campaign results Russian Points - 12 Pts vs the Japanese 13 Pts.

So close.... Next up in the year the next set of 3 games and Skirmish on the Rails. :-)

November output - Back to the Crusades - Fire Forge - Spearmen

November.... Pressure is on to get the last of the Crusaders done before the end of the year... Ideally Christmas - so 47 nights to finish the Crusader project.... And paint everything in the draw.

After the mixed bag last month this month it's all desert....

Another unit of 12 spearmen for Lion Rampant with a mix of Crusader Shields and traditional feudal shields.

I dropped them into a Midgard base to give them some uniformity on the table. 

The recent Men who Would be King games got be thinking about adapting the Mr Babbage rules for the Crusaders with the Arabs controlled by the dice. With a number of long commutes this week I might try and flesh these out.

Next up you guessed it more Christians.....

RJW War - Not the Laishui Boxing Grounds - Game 2

Game 2 of the adapted Boxer Rebellion Linked games adapted for the Russo Japanese War and the Laishui boxing grounds scenario which sees a the Japanese advance to Northern Laishui after a Russian column had attacked the village. The Japanese counter attacked but the Russians were lying in wait for them. The Japanese win if they can get with 6" of the temple.

This is the table layout with the 1o Russian units who can be deployed anywhere behind the yellow line.

The Japanese massed on the left flank looking to push directly down the table using their mass ranks to push any defenders or potential ambushers.

The Russian outdated doctrine meant that with less range they would need to advance to meet the Japanese attack, dismounted cavalry appeared on the treeline and Infantry marched out from the village.

With artillery in support the Japanese columns advanced up the table with HE shells landing amongst the deploying Russian sailors.

The Russians advanced forward to engage the advancing Japanese.

The Russian sailors were forced backwards and but more Russian Infantry rose up from woodland who  were confronted by the Japanese firing line. With multiple casualties the Russian formation was battered.

The Japanese pushed forwards driving back the remaining Russians there was nothing left to stop the advance on the temple. Another Japanese victory.

Points from the game.

Japanese Results.

Japanese fulfil their victory conditions. - 3 Points.

4 Russian units destroyed - 4 Points.

Russian Results.

2 Japanese units reduced to half strength - 2 Point.

Next up the final game of the this phase with the Russians down 12pts to 5pts they will need to really pull it out of the bag.

Happy Halloween - A little something for Silver Bayonet - Zombie Camels.

What better timing to get these finished.

Napoleonic Dread - Zombie Camels by Koolkiwi Miniatures great 3D Prints for Silver Bayonet and adventures in the desert.

I love the detail of birds hanging off their decaying flesh and the skeleton sticking out of their rotting bodies, very spooky...

Fun to paint and very much in the spirit of getting stuff done in the month of October which is not core.

November is looming and back to the Crusades to try and break the last of them before the New Year.

Excalibur - Oathmark Orcs.

I need to seriously increase my pace - time seems to be running away on projects. Another one where the last post on the blog was over 3 years ago.

With all the chatter around Dragon Rampant 2 and keeping with the theme of getting s**t done this month the focus continues to be on random stuff. 

These Oathmark Orcs, they were a Christmas present and were put together in the summer so have been on the to do list for almost a year. 

The box art was lovely and I thought they would make useful additions to the forces of Mordred and the Excalibur project. They are slightly larger than the Knights but don't look to bad and will largely be in their own units on the table. A rich variety of head gear and weapons many fit that old school style which mirror that of the original Chaos Knights.

I was thinking about the origins of the Excalibur legend and lost several hours in reading Le Morte d'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory and thinking about the final battle at Camlann and what the foot troops might look like and these most certainly fit the bill.

I opted for a flesh tone rather than the common held green variant - They look better to my eye.

Using the mechanics of Lion Rampant or Dragon Rampant each knight from the Round Table could be a unit on there own against the mass ranks of Mordred's rebellious forces. So it should playout that heroic feel. - Let's see....

Lancelot and King Arthur find themselves in a spot of bother.

Chatting about scenario's with a buddy over a coffee he mentioned that they had a feel of the Blood Bath at Orcs Drift from the early the 80's.... it might be fun to dig out the scenario's even though the figures, booklet and buildings are long gone.

Strange how some projects just don't go away.

RJW War - Not the Senluo Temple - Game 1.

Having played a good game a few weeks ago see Paul's post here. From borscht to sushi - The Russo Japanese War | movealongnownothingtoseehere

It gave me the bug for the RJW again looking for a scenario I came across Mark Fastoso's Colonial Campaigns book for the Boxer Rebellion and with a couple of tweaks could be good for converting to the Russo Japanese War.

The book has three interlinked campaigns within the supplement and are of the right size and scale for games within Men Who Would be Kings.

First up the an adaption of the opening scenario Senluo Temple. 

The pretext being a village held by Korean Nationals and the Korean/Chinese army which is holding out from an attacked by the Russian Army. The Japanese look to reinforce the village whilst disrupting the Russian attack.

The Japanese must accumulate 8 Victory Points.

Points are awarded for each Russian Officer figure killed, routed of moved off the board or for each victory area controlled these are the T junction at the end of the board behind the Russian lines, the Bridge or  3 of the 4 buildings.

A few local Chinese held the perimeter having seized the chance to be free of the Russian overlords.

The Russians advance on mass looking to break into the village before the Japanese can get into position to help defend the village.

On the bridge the Japanese move at the double as the cross the river they are brought under shell fire slowing their advance.

The Russians had placed an artillery piece and infantry unit on the left flank, but they were unable to stop the Japanese from rushing across the bridge and disappearing behind cover of a wood.

The Russians closed in on the village their skill was with the bayonet and the poorly trained defenders were too small in number to stop the advance of the Russian masses. One or two units were slowed and pinned but others made it to the perimeter.

A company of Russian Infantry rush the walled compound and push back the defenders forcing there way into the compound. A good start for the attackers.

The Japanese needed to grab the initiative from the attackers and sent their cavalry forward to slow the assault. It was quite a gamble as part of the victory conditions was for the Japanese to not lose a set number of units.

The Cavalry pushed a unit of infantry backwards they lost half there number but the Infantry were broken as a force and the flank exposed.

On the right flank with the first compound in Russian hands with a sailor unit forcing back a counter attack from a Japanese Infantry unit.

It's getting close, the Russian guard having fired a close range volley into the next house charged forward, they needed to clear 3 of the 4 buildings for the victory point.

Help was on hand for the Japanese, called back from the reconnaissance they galloped back from  scouting ahead  and were rushing back to support the defence. 

Crashing into a badly beaten Russian Infantry to take it out of the game. The Russians were too weak to be able to secure the objective objectives within the turn restrictions.

The Japanese held on, the Russians had battered themselves on the defences but were unable to shift the reinforced village. Had the Russians picked the wrong objective to focus on?

Japanese Results.

Japanese fulfil their victory conditions - 3 Points

2 Russian Unit Destroyed - 2 Points

Russian Results.

Japanese Cavalry Unit destroyed - 2 Points

Japanese Infantry Unit down to half strength - 1 Point

A Japanese win by 2 points.

On to the next game in a series of 3 the Russians will need to win the next one.

Rather worryingly I played this scenario 12 years ago - Here's how that one went....

Dust, Tears & Dice: Colonial Campiagns - Senluo Temple October 18th 1899 - Mud & Blood Playtest

How time flies.... :-(

Egyptian Camp - Kings of Bronze.

After last months AWI push, a month of oddities and some of those pieces that have been hanging around for a while. Sometimes it's quite pleasant to just paint a one off.

I picked this up this Egyptian Pharoah's camp a couple of years ago from Studio Historia over in Greece with the intention of using it for a Kadesh outing.

A Resin sculpt but also available as a 3D print. It comes in several parts I opted to base it up with enough room to include a unit to defend the camp.

Some lovely internal within the tent even if getting at it with a brush was a little tricky.

It's been a while since the Egyptian's have had an outing on the table, I quite fancy giving Chariots Rampant a go in the weeks ahead.

Next up.... yet more from the cupboard of shame...