Egypt 1801 French vs British - Sharp Practice

The French had been defeated at Abukir and the British were firmly ashore.

General Friant's aide had been wounded when the British had rushed the guns and he was being escorted back to Nile and a waiting gunboat when the column was intercepted by a British flanking force looking to cut off the retreating French.

The French column marches towards the small cluster of buildings they had a few moves advantage over the British and fanned out not sure where their foe would appear all they had to do was get the camel train off the opposite table edge.

Rolling for their entry point, the British appear on the far side of the table and push forward, Turkish and British Infantry advance on the enemy column. The French screen their main column with Ottoman mercenaries and Arab skirmishers.

The French main company advances before fanning out into line and unleashing a crushing volley on the British and allies who's morale starts to falter.

Whilst the British fall back on the left flank the remainder of the British force moves to the far end of the table and blocks the path of the advancing French. It would be a tough ask to get the wounded aide past a full company of British regulars.

English and allied skirmishers rushed forwards inserting themselves into the walled compound firing on the Ottoman mercenary defenders.

The Mamluks in the pay of the French pick up pace and turn a canter to a gallop while French skirmishers snipe away at the British line.

But the massed volley of the newly landed British troops forces them to turn on their heels.

The camel train heads into the wadi looking to bypass the British company but time had run out for the French who camel train, advancing further would put the aide at risk, they turned and headed back to the safety of the French line at the other end of the village.

A fun game on a big table, the benefit of a large club house over home gaming. Nice to get the Wadi on the table for it's first run out along with some of the 'lockdown' French and Ottomans. 

Right back to the brushes...

Something Old - Something New....

Over the years I have tried to build up a terrain collection that is multi-functional, Crescent Root is no exception, the buildings are well made and each building comes with removable roofs and doors which slot into the door frame allowing you to remove them for certain scenarios.

Having seen an outing from Old Mexico to the Sudan I wanted to modernize them for the current  Sci-Fi Campaign that I am running at the moment I sort of envisage a Ghosts of Mars type mining town set in the world of Starship Troopers, miners to be rescued or buildings to be defended from the advancing bug hordes.

I Picked up the following items from Antenocitis Workshop and Ainsty Castings at Salute they have taken some time to make it to the top of lead mountain, but they will come in really useful in turning these buildings to modern and futurist dwellings.

  

Radar comms units and air conditioning units.

Solar panels to provide energy for the colonists.

 Air scubbers and a Radar dome can be seen.

Not a bad afternoons work and some useful terrain peices for various scenarios across the ages. I just need to draw up a scenario now.

Two Hour Wargames - Arab Revolt

We have all been there, you have a great idea for a project, you get the first batch of figures in the post, you start painting, you know you need at least 30 a side and you can't wait to get them on the table before the next shiny thing comes along. But before you know it you have 30 figures in a box and they have never been played with.

Mark has kicked off his Desert War Project and has done a cracking job on his Afrika Korps, but they lack opponents at present, so we agreed to put them up against my Arabs in a scenario inspired by a Commando comic of my childhood...... :-)

Played using the Two Hour Wargames - Chain Reaction Rules.

The village of Ali Bar Bar the Afrika Korp settle in for a nights rest, they are in desperate need of supplies, there armoured car has run out of fuel, they are in need of water and this is the last watering hole before the long march back to their own lines. 

They had been tracked for several days by the local tribesmen, seeing a chance of seizing prisoners for a chance of a ransom to either the Germans or British, as the sun sets they pour out of the desert.

The German MG34 Team, man the walls of the central compound.

Manning the roof tops the Germans stand to.

The local natives pour from the desert having spotted an undefended door at the rear of the central compound, on a high dune, native riflemen fire into the compound pinning a German MG team as they attempt to move to a position to cover the exposed rear door.

At the southern end of the village the Arabs filter into the outskirts of town, however their efforts are thwarted by a sniper in the tower, every time they step into the street they are gunned down or forced to cover.

A further group push forward but are stopped in their tracks by fire from the roof tops.

The natives reach the large door at the rear of the compound and smash their way in, however the Germans have moved an LMG team to cover the door and as the Arabs break in they are swept by machine gun fire, killing several and driving the rest into cover.

Natives push through the orchard but are brought down by German Rifle Fire, before they reach the defenders.

As the sun sets the Arabs have lined the wall to the compound and are breaking through the windows, but they have lost half their number for the loss of only 3 Germans. Meanwhile the Afrika Korps have moved reinforcements to the Alamo stopping the remaining Arabs in their tracks.

A great excuse for  a game, with a set of rules perfect for this type of one off scenario. The Arabs were completely outclassed and outgunned, but the game had some great moments including the killing of the German senior NCO with a spear through the chest..... One of those rare moments when 3 6's are needed.....

Crescent Root Studio - Desert Terrain

Following on from my recent review of the latest Crescent Root purchases (link) I brought the extra wall sections to top up my original pieces to add to my adobe village, but have never been really happy with them as stand alone terrain pieces.

Then I read a couple of great articles on the great blog Wargaming with the Silver Whistle which described how to create hay stacks.

Pat's blog is a constant source of inspiration. Seeing his step by step guide to making hay stacks I thought I would give them a try.

I glued the Crescent Root walls to the MDF board and added a number of door mat pieces to the compound, I would fill the gaps in later.

Adding tile grout to the outer edges, I then added a mix of sharp sand and cork pieces to the base of the walls and filled the gaps between the individual wall pieces.

I undercoated with a brown base colour to the field and outer wall before applying the dry brushing.

 

I added a heavy dry brush using the mix suggested on the flames of War website, which holds a great article detailing different paint styles for different regions of desert terrain.
http://www.flamesofwar.com/Default.aspx?tabid=53&art_id=1744

Following Pat's instructions I cut up the door mat and added it to a PVA mix to give a trampled effect.

 

I am really pleased with the results, are there wheat fields in Egypt like this, perhaps?

But at least the walls will see some table top action and they are a great addition to the adobe village, perfect timing as I await the postman and the latest Brigade order.

Napoleon's campaign in Egypt is back on.......

Crescent Root Studios 28mm Middle Eastern Buildings Review

My latest order from Crescent Root Studios arrived after having a rather lengthly stay with HM Customs and Parcel Force. I ask you £12.00 import duty and £8.00 handling fee - daylight robbery I tell you.....

Still it was worth the wait.

I originally ordered from Mark at least 7 years ago and have my eye on the extra in fill pieces for his compound together with Dome to give me options for my Egypt project.

The extra pieces were not cheap, but the quality is excellent and the new Dome roof really sets off the rest of the terrain.

28K1 (dome/tower pieces):   $15.00

28M1:                                    $40.00

28N1:                                     $16.25

I am always a little mindful of ordering resin from aboard you never know how well it will fair in shipping, but the buildings were exceedingly well packed, with all buildings, doors and roofs all shrink wrapped and surrounded by packing paper.

Now the great thing about Crescent Root is how functional and playable the buildings are, each building comes with removable roofs and doors which slot into the door frame allowing you to remove them for certain scenarios.

The doors themselves slide in to place which makes them study and stay in place during game play.

The door frames are large enough to allow a figures based on a 2p to walk through and the walls high enough to position firing figures behind.

My original collection has had several years of gaming play and has not suffered from any chips or flacking like some alternative models available on the market.

 

This close-up above shows the texturing of the walls showing exposed brickwork and cracked plaster.

I can't speak highly enough of Crescent Root buildings, I have used them for Africa, the Middle East, Pulp games through to Star Wars.

Just need to pull together a scenario now....