Q-CON XXIV - DAY TWO.

Q-Con XXIV Day Two. The further adventures of "The Dice is Cast" at Q-Con 2017. Load the cannons, to the front quick march.

W1815.

W1815 ready to play.

I recently acquired the folio game "W1815". It can best be described as a quick and simple war-game filler, a light strategy game, depicting the famous Belgium battle of Waterloo. The art work and map by Finish company "U&P Games" captures the period feel and the components are of a good standard. It has crossed my mind to replace the wooden units with the plastic cavalry, infantry and artillery pieces from the old Parker game "Risk". The only little quibble I have is that the text on the cards is rather small for ageing grognards eyes. 

The game abstractly simulates the major decisions for the Allies and French during the battle and the roll of a D6 resolves the various actions available to each side on their command cards. Yes there is luck, but that is the case in most light games  As the game\battle develops one cannot fail to ignore the grinding attrition of men and moral as the tension is ratcheted ever upwards. In a recent game I found myself muttering the words "Give me night or give me Blucher," needless to say he failed to arrive in force and the Frenches broke my center and lunched in Brussels. 

All in all, W1815 is a less common wargame filler worth having in the collection for those occasions when a couple of gentlemen are between wickets or waiting on the rest of the team to show.

A SALUTE TO WATERLOO.

A SALUTE TO WATERLOO.

 Napoleon is reputed to have commented: 
“That regiment with castles on their caps composes of the most obstinate mules I ever saw; they don’t know when they are beaten.”

The Duke of Wellington paid tribute to the ‘Skins’ saying: 
“They saved the centre of my line at Waterloo.”

I recorded the short video above of the "27th Regiment of Foot" an Irish Arms re-enactment group.The video was taken at Enniskillen Castle Museum while attending "A Salute to Waterloo - Honouring the Inniskillings". The occasion was the flagship commemorative event by the Inniskillings Museum for the bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo and honoured the pivotal role of both the 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot and the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoon Guards at this epic battle which marked a turning point in European history.

27th Regiment of Foot.

While there I was also lucky enough to attend a short lecture by the excellent Peter Molloy entitled "Two Enniskillen Regiments at Waterloo". Peter detailed the role played by the 7th Regiment of Foot and the 6th Dragoon Guards at the famous battle. He brought to life the events and the horrors faced by these fellow Irishmen almost two hundred years ago.

Private McMullen being helped from the field.

The scene above shows Private McMullen who came from a weaving background in Downpatrick. He was seriously wounded after coming under French cannon fire at Waterloo. His heavily pregnant wife Elizabeth was with other wives nearby and fearing her husband dead she dashed into the midst of the bodies. She was hit on the leg with a musket ball but discovered her husband still alive and managed to drag him to the edge of the battlefield. Private McMullen lost both arms because of his injuries.The then Duke of York was told of their bravery and in a personal visit to them in hospital in Chelsea he agreed to be godfather to the infant, who was christened Frederica McMullen of Waterloo.

        

Elizabeth goes to the aid of her husband.

9 Pounder cannon.

The Allies had 127 cannon at Waterloo.

It was a wonderful Saturday afternoon spent wandering the various galleries and castle grounds with my son and his friend. Well worth a visit if you ever find yourself in the Erne county and Enniskillen.

SPAINISH NAPPY.

I stumbled across a few photos from the start of the year and decided to stick them on the blog. They are taken during a C&C Napoleonic Spanish game between Arthur, a self declared Spanish Nappy nut, and my good self.  All I can remember about the clash is that Arthur held the highs and my French troops paid a high price in trying to take them. Also remember that the Spanish guerilla rule was great fun and quite annoying to play against.

 Must get another game of this in soon.

A SMALL MATTER.

On June 18th 1815, one of the most decisive battles in military history was fought in the Belgian fields at Waterloo, twenty miles south east of Brussels. Within a short 100 days, Napoleon, former emperor of France, had returned from exile on the island of Elba, seized power, quickly assembled an army, and marched to take on the dispersed British and Prussian armies preparing to invade France.

The two gentlemen above, Wellington on the left (who has a striking resemblance to an extra from a recent Game of Thrones episode) and Blucher, are tasked with dealing with the small matter of Napoleon. Hunched over their campaign maps these veteran commanders pondered what to do next. Sadly for me, their pondering proved correct, as they combined their forces to crush my weakened Grand Armee.

On the small matter of Napoleon, British propaganda, which portrays Napoleon as below average height is thought to be false. Napoleon's height was actually average for this time period; the average 18th-century Frenchman stood at 5 ft 2 inch (1.57 m). Historians have now suggested Napoleon was 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) tall. Napoleon was often seen with his Imperial Guard, which may have contributed to the perception of his being short because the Imperial Guards were above average height for their time.

Columbia games, 30 year old  block wargame Napoleon: The Waterloo Campaign 1815 got an outing at a recent club night. Looking at these photos taken a couple of months ago, makes me want to get this classic to the table again. I have the new fourth edition Kickstarter version, which has the foil stickers on the blocks and a larger map than previous editions. It is a fast-playing game that depicts the Waterloo campaign with a good deal of flavour, tension and simplicity. The game combines strategic movement and tactical battles. It gives one a real sense of the importance to each of the commanders of the road networks. It is suggested that the game is unbalanced with the French up against it, particularly with new players to the game. Battles are resolved on a battle board side map with terrain features playing their part in the battles outcome.

It is worth checking out Napoleon: The Waterloo Campaign 1815 video review by Marco Arnaudo which will give you a feel for the game.

Right I'm off to raise an army, stack a few blocks and free France, au revoir.

THE THIN RED LINE

 

The Thin Red line. A few snaps of some British Line troops based for Commands and Colors Napoleonic's. I am still deciding if I should go with the basic label version above. Or the version below where the label includes the number for the unit at full strength and nationality colour code. Which do you think works best.

 

 

 

6MM NAPS - THE RIFLES.

 

I have completed the basing for all of the 6mm British infantry troops for my Napoleonic project. I hope to have a French and British 6mm army ready for Qcon the annual Gaming & Anime Convention hosted by QUB Dragonslayers, the Queen’s University Belfast Gaming and Anime Society. This year the event takes place on the 28th June 2013. I shall be employing these little blighters in a Commands and Colors Napoleonic battle, as yet undecided.

 

One stand will represent a unit. As the unit degenerates I shall use a die to record the units new strength. I shall be posting additional photographs over the coming weeks. Their are a number of photos below of rifle infantry, the larger figures are Baccus. The others I'm not quite sure of. If you know drop me a comment. Double click the image for a close up.

 



QUATRE BRAS

"Napoleon has humbugged me, by God; he has gained twenty-four hours march on me." The Duke of Wellington   My first game of 2013 and once again I clashed with my old foe General Bray. We picked the Commands and Colors Napoleonic system and the battle of Quatre Bras.  It was to be an entertaining and nail biting days indulgence.   The cross roads of Quatre-Bras in central Belgium, near Brussels was of strategic importance because the side which controlled it could move south-eastward along the Nivelles-Namur road towards the French and Prussian armies at the Battle of Ligny. If Wellington's Anglo-allied army could combine with the Prussians, the combined force would be larger than Napoleon's. Napoleon's strategy had been to cross the border into the Netherlands without alerting the Coalition and drive a wedge between their forces and subsequently to defeat the Prussians before turning on the Anglo-allied army.     Using 1\72 plastic miniatures and Kallistra Hexon gaming tiles we recreated this famous Napoleonic battle. In the first game I took command of the English and Dutch troops. With a powerful set of initial cards I ground down my increasingly frustrated opponent who capitulated after three hours. With a shake of his fist and a few choice words he swore revenge.     So swapping sides we once again tore into each other. Initial pressure by my French line and light troops on the left flank force back the Dutch artillery and infantry from the trees. In the centre General Bray under bombardment fell back from the hills opposite my artillery. Sensing that initiative was slipping away he launch an all out attack on my right and centre. A fail massed cavalry assault on my part and all was to play for. The battle ebbed and flowed with victory teasing us both. Either side could have claimed the wining banner. Finally I managed to deliver the death blow to a weakened light cavalry unit with my Cuirassier A very tense finish to a great days fun.    A short post battle analysis (what ifs and if only) then Mr Bray and I shook hands and called it a day. 

NEW YEAR NEW PROJECT.

New year new project, well I am a wargamer after all. I have been inspired by Lee and his napoleonic therapy project blog. It has imbued me with the spirit to do something Nappy. With the Russian and Austrian expansions coming for Commands and Colors Napoleonic's I thought I would dust down the 6mm French , English and Austrian figures. I obtain these little miniatures in the summer from Mr Clarke a kindly Scot on TMP exchange.

 

I have started the process of basing the English figures. One stand will represent a unit, with either a die or casualty maker being used to represent the step losses to the unit. I will update the blog as the project develops. More to follow.

 

 



BRAY'S BATTLE : THE 100 MINUTES.

Finally managed to get Napoleon's War: The 100 Days to the table recently. Fellow grognard Arthur came a visiting and we got to refight the battle of Warve.

The system uses hex movement and an Action Point (AP) Allowance System , where each player is allotted a certain amount of points per round. These points can then be spent on available actions. Either moving, firing, rallying or shock combat until the player no longer has enough points remaining to purchase any more actions.

In the box you get three good sized dice, a rule book, two double sided scenario sheets. Four maps of the battles Wavre, Waterloo, Ligny and Quatea Bras all on two double sided cardboard maps. This card is off a poor quality and very light. It will require you to place flexi glass or glass over the map to hold it down in place.

Also included in the box are 120 plastic pieces in blue, red, and gray. These miniatures portray the French, British, and Prussian armies and are made up of cavalry, canon and infantry figures.

Two cavalry figures make up a cavalry unit.

Three or four infantry make up an infantry unit, depending on nationality.

Two canon make up an artillery unit.

Because cavalry or infantry can stack with canon on a hex it can leave little room on that hex. I found it was necessary to paint the rear of a canon white to reflect a unit strength of one as opposed to the  unpainted full strength unit. This left more room on the map and less fumbling for figures.

    

Also included in the game is a sheet of card chits representing leaders, heavy cavalry, turn marker, victory point marker and action point marker.

I found it preferable to use plastic coins from the kids Connect 4 game to managed the "AP's". Alot more tactile and less fiddle that the little card chits provided. I also used the Connect 4 coins and rack to manage the victory points.

My clash at Warve with the Butcher Bray lasted just over an hour and a half. He won the toss and took command of the French while I took the Prussians. My two leaders, including Blucher, fell early on in the fierce hand to hand fighting to hold the French back at the bridges in Warve. As a result my command and control quickly went to bits as la blues broke the Prussian line inflicting terrible casualties.

Starting positions.

French push the Prussians back from the vital bridges.

Victory for the French.

  

The butcher proudly displays his medals.

Napoleons War : The 100 Days is a light wargame. The system does induce tension as the players can't do everything they want to do each turn. The players must choose where to allocate the valuable action points. On the down side some of the components, map and chits for example let the game down and do need an upgrade. Despite this, its an entertaining and fun wargame.

Now for some revenge.

NAPOLEONS WAR : THE 100 DAYS.

 

I have managed to snag myself a copy of a game, which I have been keeping an eye out for over the last couple of months, Napoleon's War -The 100 Days. This is a Worthington game and has similar mechanics to their American War of Independence themed "Hold the Line". I am looking forward to refighting Quatre Bras, Ligny, Wavre, and Waterloo. The game includes 120 plastic infantry, cavalry and artillery pieces in blue, red and gray portraying the French, British, and Prussian armies. Check out the link below to see the excellent video review by Marco Arnaudo from the podcast Wooden Cubes and Iron Soldiers.

http://boardgamegeek.com/video/6890/napoleons-war-the-100-days/video-review-in-hd


I have to thank Andy Evans who accepted my offer on Board Game Geeks market place. This was the first time I have purchased a game via this avenue.  It has proven to be quick and painless. I am hoping that this little gem will help to alleviate the lows brought on by the Irish performances during the Euro 2012's in Poland. Hurry up Mr Postman Italy have still to be played.

BREAK THROUGH VIMIERO

Overview of the battle of Vimiero.

I spent a wonderful few hours, six all told, across the border with Arthur. It began with me being hustled up stairs and into a large room. In that room the above vista greeted me, the battle of Vimiero.

http://www.ccnapoleonics.net/Maps/Peninsular-War-1808-1814/md02-vimiero-bt-21-august-1808.html

I forgot my camera and had to resort to my mobile phone to take pictures so I hope these are not to sore on the eye. The battle is a Commands & Colors breakthrough scenario, it really does give one the feel of the massed armies spread across the terrain waiting to be unleashed. When I first sat opposite Arthur it was a tad daunting, where to attack, where to defend.

General Bray reviews  his orders, seen from behind the French lines.

As usual we played with Mr Brays plastic 1/72 scale French, British and Portuguese figures. The landscape consisted of Kallistra Hexon terrain tiles, river sections and hills. While expensive initially the kallistra hex tiles is money well spend when you consider the use one gets out of them. The battlefield is 17 hexes deep by 14 wide resulting in a beautiful expanse of rolling hills, meandering water features and woodland thickets.

The English advance.

Both games ended in the same result, a French victory. In game one I played the French and after an initial probe decided to play it defensive and let the English come to me. Mr Bray obliged and a massed cavalry attack destroyed his centre. Game two and Arthur playing the French turned the tables and served the same Cavalry charge to my good self, blitzing all before him.

French foot artillery, with French cavalry in the background.

English right flank.

Lessons learnt.

1. Avoid close quarter's fighting with the French as they take no prisoners.

2. Avoid lingering in front of British troops , especially light and rifle units unless you want your troops filled full of holes.

3. Cavalry are deadly, avoid at all times.(anyone got ideas for stopping the horsies)

4. Set aside plenty of time for gaming as you will be left wanting more C&C Naps.