Crusader Update

Good Day, here are a few update shots on the Romeo 90mm Crusader figure I have been working on over the last few years on and off.

There are some images of his shield and sword.

Here are some wide shots with some extra pre shading on the tunic.

Thanks for looking.

Euro Militaire 2014

Here's A brief selection of  some of the entrants to Euro Militaire  2014.

Assault on Fort de Fiegnies

McMaster WWI Trench Maps & Aerial Photos  55' - 17' approx. 

This week we had the opportunity to play a multi player 1914 game with the Germans defending a fort position against a combined force of Belgium and French forces. 

In the end the Belgium's were very nearly  achieved the objective by a swift manoeuvre around to the rear of the German positions. Alas  Martin's Belgium's cracked under the weight of German fire. 

Starting positions. 

On the French front the main objective was to get over the river and take the German trench line, following that,  to kick on to the main objective of the fort. 
To this end they charged up the two roads crossing the river. With the regiment on the right supported by a regiment of artillery, located at the bottom left of the photograph above.  the second infantry regiment had a Cavalry regiment  in support. I felt I had an good opportunity of making a break through in one of the positions. 

German trench line. 

Things started well when my pre plotted artillery destroyed two german units in the opening rounds, nevertheless despite this early success this frontal assault proved to be a bloody affair. With the regiment needing to take moral tests on two occasions due to causalities. Luckily they passed on both occasions meaning they could stay in combat. 

French advance.

Despite these loses I was able to exploit the breach in the German line and push my regiment of artillery through the breach which then could bring pressure to bear on the German  flank. Sadly it did not force them to retreat.

French 75s unlimber.

After three hours of play  despite not having taking the main objective of the fort I think it is fair  to say that  that we can hold out for a draw! 

End position.

Alan adds: 

A stalemate has developed in the north, with German infantry in the forest facing-off French cavalry and infantry in Feignies itself.  It was felt unlikely the French would make much more progress on this front.

They did break through the German trench line on the southern front.  At the bottom of the photo their 75s can just be seen deployed to the east of the stream.  However, the French took high casualties in this sector and were prob not in sufficient strength to retake the fort.

Photo credit: Alan

                             

Hunnic Command Groups

I finished these Hunnic command groups sometime ago and was not over joyed with the way they turned out its all a bit monotone and undefined.  I suspect it all started to go wrong when I inadvertently created a Hunnic elf by painting a red hat on green coated figure. 

I feel I struggled with these command groups because I did not fully visualise the completed look figures prior to starting  to paint. 

    

After a break  I went  back  to the  figures and restarted on the command groups.  and this is what  we see now.  

The Lurkio starter army provides  three command groups with it's FoG starter army  added to this is a Germanic  which  once mixed up are passably  Hunnic command group which offers a touch of variety to the command bases. 

Worth noting at this juncture that  these Lurkio Huns are of a really high standard. The horses and men on the are beautifully sculpted to include a high level of detail. The figure are split at the waist  which allows you  to get a real variety  of poses.

Monday Night Mayhem

I managed a spot of Monday night mayhem at central London last week.  My Early Imperial Romans had their first outing of 2014  against Simon's Early Successors.   It is a fairly even fight between legions and pike blocks. So it is often down to who can utilise their other units best to get the upper hand. For this game I made some simple promises to myself which were to make a plan and  then stick to it. Easy enough one would think. 

Thankfully my deployment forced Simon to squeeze his army into just under half the board. This caused him serious problems in organising his battle line and meant he could not take advantage of his superior numbers and quality on the right flank. 

I had to  readjust my line to attempt to counter his strong flank. In doing this I over advanced on the left and did not leave enough space for my cavalry  to  put pressure on the right. 

 On the left was where the skirmishers met for their own private skirmish. Simon had two units of light horse against a unit of horse archers and a battle group of slingers. I used my advantage of greater range and focused my attacks on individual enemy battle groups to try to gain some sort of advantage. Luckily it worked out in my favour.

I had in reserve some roman cavalry to chase down one of Simon light horse units and then  swing around to the rear of his pikes.

The combat  between the main bodies of troops was pretty conclusive within a couple of rounds this was mainly due to really great dice which resulting in Simon’s pike blocks fracturing before he had the opportunity  to bring to bear this superior forces on the right flank. In the end I was pleased to claim a welcome victory, losing only a single base.        

September 1918 : Great War Spearhead Game

Apparently I have the ability to kill my own troops no matter what side  I am on!  Earlier this week I enjoyed another game of Great War Spearhead.  This time its was september 1918. My command was a regiment of German troops, one of two the other being commanded by Alan. 

In the starting position. 

The game started and went ten rounds of revolving door manoeuvre as I chased  Mark and Martin's British around the table. It all began to go wrong once I issued new orders after taking my objective of the town in the centre of the board. Rather than skirting the enemy position and forcing him to disperse his and spread his line. I marched up the centre only to be met by an artillery barrage which knocked the stuffing out of the regiment. By the then there was nothing for it bur to hunker down in the road side ditch and wait for the British guns to run out of ammo.  

My unit taking the village objective. 

I had one opportunity to recover the situation. When Alan's regiment charged to recover the hill it forced Martin and Mark to open fire and expose their positions. At this juncture I rolled to call in artillery support on to the clustered British regiment. Naturally enough  I rolled a one and failed to muster any support. Thereby giving the British the option to fire again wiping out the remainder of Alan's brave boys. Shortly after we conceded the field to the British. 

The British flanking move on Alan's regiment. 

My regiment advancing on British positions.

Spearhead is a robust simple set of rules which after three games  I am getting used to. Looking forward to the next outing. 

The remainder of the regiment hunkered down. 

The Huns Make Camp

Over the summer I invested in a Hunnic army, naturally most of which is still languishing in its box awaiting painting. Although the command stands are more or less done.  Regular readers  will  remember  I posted a little work on the camp back in September. 

Here are the almost finished pictures. It has turned out quite nicely. I am pleased with the muddy rained on look which the camp seems to have taken on.    

I picked up the component parts from the guys at Vexillia who always provide a top notch service.  This is worth mentioning for two reasons. Firstly, they supplied my Imperial Romans which have featured in previous postings. 

The second reason is to give them a mention is for including this blog on his customer blog stream. Yay! 

You too can have a lovely Hunnic camp just like this one by going along to Vexillia Limited a picking up some odds and sods out of the baggage section and couple of yurts! 

Spearhead, or Baptism of Fire, circa September 1914

Well the end result of last night’s game of Great War Spearhead was a bit of a mullering for my poor poilu.  Despite the fact I was slaughtered by Alan’s gigantic Germans I really enjoyed our game. Possibly  the  most amusing  aspect of the whole encounter  was that  I could not  manage to call down any off board artillery  onto the Germanic steam roller.  

 

Creative Commons: C.C. BY-SA 3.0 Europeana 1914-1918

The defeat was mainly down to poor leadership on my part and by advancing my regiment  of green  troops on the left right into the face of German guns. Then by handing the advantage to my advisory and allowing him to move first in the next turn. This resulted in the regiment being decimated in a round of withering rifle fire which killed over half of them. Furthermore we should not forget Alan’s strategic brilliance to take advantage and exploit my tactical errors and storm the left flank achieving both centre table objectives.

My 10mm French feeling a little exposed with German flanking manoeuvre complete.

The German Regiment "Alsace" successfully taking their objective in the foreground.

The first response was to attempt to withdraw my remaining units to safety which  in retrospect would have been the better option. I will argue that  permission to withdraw was  refused  by  someone  higher up in the chain of command.  Instead I attempted to stem the advance by sending  a unit of brave if inappropriately dressed  cuirassiers across to the quickly disintegrating flank.  Sadly for me and them Alan’s eagle eyed artillery spotters saw them riding over the crest of the hill and dropped a well-placed shell on them. By the time they contacted the enemy’s flanking force there was one stand left, they killed the lead enemy stand before routing off.      

On reflection for the close on the enemy and slug it out tactic to be successful the French would need to outnumber the Germans around three to one. This is an expensive way of winning a battle.   

A wider view of the terrain showing the German start line behind "one tree hill"

A battalion of the Brandenburg Regiment controlling  the sugar factory objective     

Next time a more measured approach should be taken and keep the élan and flare up my sleeve for the coup de grace.