The scenario, terrain and half the figures were provided by Mark at 1866 and all That - rather than breach his copyright, please pop over there for the background - basically, it is spring, 1781 and the American and British forces are vying for control of a strategic bridge
The field of battle before hostilities commenced
Where I chose to bring my two brigades on - the gun had to enter on a road
Some gratuitous shots of figures I forgot were in amongst the AWI collection
Mrs Loring (in red) and her gal pal - they are Minden Miniatures figures
This gun crew is/was by Eureka in Australia - Matt, was it you who was looking for a female gunner??
And a bunch of images of an "Infantry Battalion" - also Eureka figures - I think they were called Duchess Sandra or something like that - don't know if they are still available....
Right, now on to teh REAL action!
My command on the British right - my own figures mostly Front Rank
Julian as CinC in the centre - all Marks Perry collection
Rick on the left - some of my figures and some of Marks - Front Rank, Old Glory and Marks are Perry
The advance begins
Julian used the relatively recent "march move" to race forwards
Rick appeared on Julians left relatively early
Pauls Americans on the Rebel left move forwards quickly
So far (turn 4) this was all I had on the table - they looked a bit lonely rolling a single dice as they took pot shots at Pauls brigade in the (not very distant) distance
One the Rebel right, Barry advanced against Ricks command
And finally (turn 7) the first of my two small brigades arrived - unfortunately, so did reinforcements for both armies - Hessians for the Crown and French regulars for the Rebels
Ricks force advances to catch the Rebels as they struggle across the river
In the centre, artillery, rifles and muskets from Chris and Paul were taking a toll on Julians command
My gun crew managed to hold the advancing Rebels for one turn but chose to fall back, rather than risk almost certain defeat, which would allow a breakthrough onto the Hessian reinforcements, who were still in march column.
The action in the centre of the field from the American side of the bridge
And from the British perspective
Barry and Rick fight it out on the other flank
My second brigade emerges from the woods - this clever manoeuvre did not work out as well as I had hoped - Mark would not let me smash out of the woods into the flank of Pauls lines - I had to be at least 500mm away from the nearest enemy unit....ah well, the best laid plans and all that.....
Paul had cleared all resistance from the heights to his front and was readying to push on against the faltering British centre - my force seemed a long way behind him.....
The combat on the British left as Ricks battalions charge down at the advancing Rebels
Off to my right, the French reinforcements are not far away....
The British centre is battered and bruised but still holding on - but the Americans have gained foothold on this side of the bridge!
This is going to be close....
Ricks troops have pushed the Americans back across the river
And thanks to a couple of good activations and a change of initiative, giving us two moves in a row, I managed to get my brigades up on the high ground and facing the right direction before the French could catch me- hurrah!
Between my brigade and the Hessians, Pauls victorious troops from earlier had now all been chased from the field
The French move forwards towards the waiting British line
Through some rather unfortunate activation rolls by Barry (tree ones, I believe) his entire command broke and fled the field, bar one battalion
On the other flank, The British seemed to be in a strong position
The centre looks pretty weak though
And the one surviving American unit on the other flank lead a charmed life, continuing to ressist Ricks force.
The French cross the river to take on the Brits - their battalions were all large (an extra firing dice) and there were 4:3 of them
A view from the British left - its looking pretty denuded of troops, from either army!
In the centre, all that was left were two or three small guns and a couple of infantry battalions
Mrs Loring has joined her lover to spectate the battle
Desperate struggle for control of the bridge
French musketry has broken the British unit nearest the camera
The action around the bridge continues apace
The British had managed to break two of the French battalions with volley firing but were teetering on the brink when I rolled a 1 for activation and 2 of the remaining 3 battalions broke - one more 5 or 6 and it might have been the French breaking....
The Americans on the British side of the river had been wiped out
The surviving unit of Barrys original command, still in the fight
American militia on the riverbank adjacent to the bridge
The few remaining Crown forces hold on tenaciously
The French, confronted by a lone unit of Hessian Jaegers
A few final shots - there were precious few troops left on either side - the casualty rate was enormous!
And the result - Mark declared that neither side had full control of the bridge - so it was a draw I guess!
Now here are some images of the next day of our S Island trip
Water Tower in Invercargill
Some beautiful civic gardens
Catholic St Marys Basilica
Short bush walk on the outskirts of town
This reminded me of an Ent - anthropomorphic tree creatures
We drove north to Kingston on the southern tip of Lake Wakatipu
The road is known as "The Devils Staircase"
Stunning views and as you can see, stunning weather too.
Random steam engine I spotted a few k out of Gore - could not even tell you where this was - there was a aero museum adjacent though.....
After a pleasant Mexican evening meal in Gore, we took a stroll along and across the river Mataura
And thats it for this post - more soon!
