More Battles!

The gaming theme of the moment continues and last weekend Steve Gill came over to play some horse and musket games.

The "main event" was with the 1704 Wars of The Vaubarian Succession fictional armies - Vaubarians v Astrovians.

We played out a version of the famous Battle of the River Elbow which was a scenario from an old Wargames Newsletter penned by David Barnes (and including his glorious illustrations). I made a few tweaks to it, but essentially it was an Astrovian force of 6 infantry battalions, a light infantry unit (Croats), a cuirassier regt, a hussar regt, and two guns.

In a more defensive role across the River Elbow, the Vaubarians mustered 4 infantry battalions, a light infantry unit (dismounted dragoons who had settled into a nice position defending a graveyard), a cuirassier regt, a hussar regt, and one gun.

A tough assignment for the Astrovians to cross the river, getting bogged down in the process, but Steve nearly pulled it off. Crucial was the Vaubarian Podolski Hussars arriving and winning their melee against the Astrovian Czardas Hussars. That opened up the Astrovian right flank which the Podolski hussars were able to exploit allowing them to threaten the Astrovian flank and rear.

Another clearly crucial moment was when the Astovian Grenadier regiment decided to fail a straightforward morale test, and never really recovered. This left a bit of a hole in the Astrovian front line attack, and inevitably they were at a disadvantage in the ensuing firefight.

The pictures tell a tale...

Steve had also brought with him a few units of figures he has been gathering for his own project. To say we had fun is an understatement. Steve has penned his own rules and we had a couple of great games playtesting and workshopping them. I lost both times, but the games were exciting and very bloody!

Just a couple of photos for now... the games were played out on my standard terrain boards. Something more appropriate is being devised for future outings!

Partizan -another sales table!

Next weekend at Partizan, along with Andy Moran, I will be selling off a few bits n bobs at the tabletop sale. Our table is booked for around 12.40, for an hour. I have some painted units for sale, and unpainted, plus some books. Just a little clear out to make space for more! Everything will be priced to sell... bring cash!

Other news...

Amongst all these games, I have managed some painting over the past few weeks, the fruits of which I hope to share in the very near future.

As a side note, I did particularly enjoy Henry Hyde's recent podcast interview with Charles S Grant. Well done to both... lots of very happy memories of times across the table. The mention of the Raid on St Michel (amongst other games and campaigns between Charles and I) was very wonderful! Happy days indeed.

Thanks to all who have been commenting on recent posts. It is very much appreciated.

Meantime, see you at Partizan perhaps. 

Whatever you're up to hobby-wise, may your dice keep rolling, your paint brush keep swirling, and your head be full of dreams of armies, battles, and campaigns won and lost.