Tag: AAR

The Hundred Days Continues…

The 1/32nd (Cornwall) Foot in action.
The 1/32nd (Cornwall) Foot in action.

It had been a tough 2 days – having taken a heavy knock from the advanced elements of Napoleon’s invasion force (Lasalle in the Hundred Days), the elements of Picton’s Division involved had withdrawn, thankful for their temporary superiority in light cavalry, and gradually collected the stragglers and remnants of their regiments to be reconstituted as fair fighting forces again, albeit in reduced numbers… The 42nd Royal Highlanders had been detached to rejoin 9th Brigade on flank guard duty, but the latter had sent the 3/1st Royal Scots in their place – Picton was glad for the fresh, as yet uncommitted battalion. The Duke had sent word of his intent to now try and rally the Anglo-Dutch forces at a position to Picton’s rear, but that Picton must hold his position for a day to allow them time to assemble – so Picton found himself staring at what must be the most desolate part of the Southern Netherlands (i.e. Belgium), scanning the horizon for sign of the French…

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Still More TSATF At BattleCry 2011

I previously posted accounts of the 3 TSATF Colonial Games with images that we played at Auckland’s BattleCry 2011 Convention – As mentioned Gerry & Carolyn Webb of Castaway Arts were there and they also took photos of the games – so here’s an additional gallery of a selection of their photos of the games… Continue reading “Still More TSATF At BattleCry 2011”

Lasalle in the Hundred Days

The Thin Red Line
The Thin Red Line: 42nd Royal Highland (the Black Watch) & 1/28th North Gloucestershire.

Somewhere near the Franco-Belgian border, Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton surveyed the ground before him, by a strange quirk elements of his ‘reserve’ division, the 5th, had ended up near the border just as the first reports of Napoleon’s crossing reached the Allied forces. Wellesley would need time to concentrate his forces, so his Division would need to delay the initial advance elements as long as possible – and it wasn’t long before news of their arrival was received. Choosing a place with some hope of defence and a good line of withdrawal Picton deployed his troops, Major-General Sir James Kempt’s 8th Brigade on the left and centre, and elements of Pack’s 9th Brigade on the right, supported by Rogers’ Foot Company of 9pdrs on the high ground. Major-General Sir Dennis Pack meanwhile had hastened to the rear to collect and organise reinforcements and lead them forward to the battle…

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TSATF at BattleCry 2011 [3]

Having successfully returned to their base (game 2) Valentine Baker Pasha’s forces weren’t able to rest – a delayed communiqué arrived advising a steamer was coming down the Nile to rendezvous with them at the village of al-Ġardaqaḧ as-Sūdān and it included more civilians! Baker Pasha would have to assemble another, reasonably strong column, and rapidly march the 2 days across the desert to the Nile, through the territory teeming with Dervishes, to reach the village in anticipation of the steamer’s arrival. Continue reading “TSATF at BattleCry 2011 [3]”

TSATF at BattleCry 2011 [2]

Following the disastrous battle of the expedition to locate the missing European Civilians (TSATF at BattleCry 2011 [1]), Baker Pasha and a handful of survivors had managed to evade the victorious Dervishes and rejoin the balance of the local Anglo-Egyptian forces. With the entire countryside now up in arms and no hope of a second attempt to locate the civilians Baker pulled his remaining force from its isolated position and immediately began a rapid withdrawal to their regional capital and barracks town, hotly pursued by the Dervish forces. Continue reading “TSATF at BattleCry 2011 [2]”

TSATF at BattleCry 2011 [1]

February regularly sees the BattleCry Convention in Auckland, one of the larger NZ Wargaming events that is usually well run and encompasses more than just miniatures gaming (i.e. board gaming, card gaming, LARPing, etc). This year Gerry & Carolyn Webb of Castaway Arts (from Cairns, Queensland, Australia) decided to attend with a trade stand and some TSATF (The Sword And The Flame) demo games – as I’m a big TSATF fan I organised with Gerry to help him with the games, and provide all the troops and terrain – thereby saving Gerry & Carolyn having to cart their own from across the Tasman! The games were run as Public Participation & Demonstration games; although the former is a fairly rare concept in New Zealand so not overly familiar to many local gamers. Continue reading “TSATF at BattleCry 2011 [1]”

A Little 1809 Lasalle Affair

Austrian Horse Battery
Austrian Horse Battery (1:72 Plastics)
Lasalle by Sam Mustafa
Lasalle by Sam Mustafa

It was clear fresh morning as L’General-de-Division surveyed the ground – he looked remarkably like L’Empereur himself, even down to his stature and dress – there was a stationary mass of white across the rolling fields, Austrians by the gods, and he meant to teach them the superiority of French esprit de corps and steel! His men were ready, his sub-commanders Michel Ney, Joachim Murat, and Eugéne de Beauharnais were ready, the horses and cannons were ready – but first he needed a plan… Before he could muse over the days prospects a courier came breathlessly galloping up, his ADC soon came to tell him the news, it was not good – “the Austrians have collected the entire region’s supply of garlic!” “What!” exclaimed the General, “no garlic for our foraging troops – this will not do, not at all…”

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Some Exceptional Sudan Inspiration

If anyone ever needed inspiration to game the Sudan, most especially with the Perry’s range of figures then this is it – Frank & Björn have absolutely set an amazing benchmark for figure painting & terrain – the image here is but a low resolution version of just one of the many images. Make sure you check out their stunning (and ongoing) thread at the Lead Adventure Forum – there are images on every page of the thread and new images periodically added… Continue reading “Some Exceptional Sudan Inspiration”

Don’t Let Them Get The Commissariat’s Train!

Somewhere in Galicia in sight of the Carpathians, 1916 – the Brusilov offensive is in full swing and the Austro-Hungarian front line has temporarily collapsed – The Russian forces are pouring into and across Galicia rapidly and in huge numbers… Brusilov has achieved a stunning success (advancing up to 40 miles on a wide front in just a few weeks)… The Austro-Hungarians are in turmoil, and Archduke Josef Ferdinand has only just escaped Lutsk by the skin of his teeth as the speed of the Austro-Hungarian line’s disintegration meant Cossacks had already entered the city before the Austro-Hungarian Army Command realised the extent of the breakthrough!

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A Wadi near Chunuk Bair

As the morning fog cleared the companies of Australian & British Troops moved into the wadi below the height known as Chunuk Bair – their mission to secure the hills on the far side for the following battalions to assault the mastiff itself. The good news was little or no Turkish resistance was expected – no troops had been sighted in the area as this was not the point where the main assault had occurred the first 2 days…

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The Relief of Old Dongola

It is early 1884 and the Mahdist Rebellion is reaching it’s peak – Gordon is isolated in Khartoum, and the rebellion has steadily spreads north towards the Egyptian frontier. As the debate about any relief expedition to go to Gordon’s aid is being discussed, news comes that a large number of European, Greek, and Egyptian Civilians, along with a small British Hospital Corps detachment, have been cut off in the town of Old Dongola; and the local Egyptian Commander has only a small force of Bashi-Bazouk Irregulars, supplemented by whatever Civilians that can fight, to try and defend the town (who’s defences are in a poor state due to official Khedival policy of not maintaining any permanent fortifications in the Sudan, the town having the partial remnants of a wall, supplemented by zeribas and improvised barricades)… Continue reading “The Relief of Old Dongola”

Fire & Sword Battle 03: The Battle of Baqah al-Garbiyyah Oasis

As Sir Henry’s Column advanced South towards Akasha, he received word of a large Dervish Force from ostensibly friendly locals (but more likely disgruntled Mahdists with a score to settle against the Mahdist force’s commander). As this force was reported a few miles inland from the Nile, at a minor watering hole, Sir Henry felt obliged to turn and approach the Mahdist forces – he could ignore them, being but a day and half’s march from the town of Akasha, but that would allow them to remain behind him on his Lines of Communication, and potentially block reinforcements from reaching him. As a result he turned inland, and his plucky column headed into the desert…

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