This game was a bit of a hotch potch affair - we used Julian's 30 Years War Swedes on one side and my ECW on the other, but the scenario was actually the Battle of Walcourt as follows, courtesy of Wikipedia: "The Battle of Walcourt was fought on 25 August 1689 during the Nine Years' War. The action took place near the ancient walled town of Walcourt near Charleroi in the Spanish Netherlands"
Anyway, we had an extended game - started about 1430 and concluded about 2100 with an hour off in the middle for some sustenance. Using the usual TtS type morale measuring formula, each side started with 12 coins and we (Julian and I) lost our final coin while Chris and John still retained 6 - so in terms of the rules, a pretty overwhelming victory. The nice thing about it was I did not feel we had done anything particularly wrong or stupid, it was really just the luck of the cards. It was nice to get my ECW figures out on the table again and I took the opportunity to use more of the old Front Rank regiments this time, augmented by Covenanters playing the part of the Dutch Guard.
The layout of our table Julian on top left, me top right, Chris bottom right and John bottom left
The scenario as it appeared in the Blackpowder book from whence Julian took it.
A view out Julian's front lounge window, looking over Remuera to Rangitoto Island and the Auckland harbour
Some of my Front Rank ECW troops
This unit is a mixture but many Dixon in there
Another two units (above and below) comprising mainly Front Rank
Our front rank (Dutch Guard) represented by Renegade Covenanters. I took the opportunity to deploy my recently completed farm animals on this table too!
Julian's one unit of dragoons confronts three of Johns.
The Renegade figures lining a hedge in front of Chris
Chris's troops advance against my Forlorn Hope of dragoons - surprisingly, having been assaulted by a pike block, the dragoons won the melee, forcing Chris to pull back - but it was only a temporary reprieve!
On the other flank, Julian's dragoons don't have the same luck
Our first and second line in the centre of the field
First cavalry clash - Cuirassiers v Cuirassiers
A view down the table at about mid game
Johns yellow regiment engaged in melee with one of Julian's pike blocks
Close up of the advancing enemy - these are all plastic Warlord figures belonging to Julian
The melee around the farmhouse continues
Having overcome the dragoons, Chris edges forward but is not keen to assault across the hedges
John victorious as his pike men route Julian
On my flank, the cavalry skirmishing continues
Each side has success and failure in equal measure for most of the game
The Scots in Swedish service (Julian's latest addition) advance against Julian's battery, which has expended all its shot. It cant retire because the rules say so!
I put in a flank attack on Chris, which he survived!
A move later, my attackers are gone, taken out by Chris's cuirassiers!
The game was almost over by this point so I advanced to try and fluke a win by some jammy card turning - it didnt work!
My cuirassiers (over the hedge from the dragoons) overwhelmed Chris's unit that was successful in the previous cavalry image!
John made very hard work of finishing off a few gunners!
As the game came to the end, Chris was gaining the ascendancy in the cavalry confrontation
Final view down the table....You would not really guess it from the position of all the troops, but Julian and I were well beaten. Still a great way to spend the last day of my Christmas holiday - just the weekend now and then its back to work - sigh!
Today being Saturday, my wife and I headed out to Waiuku Forest again for an approximately 9 km walk on a lovely sunny summers day. Here are a few images;
In life, we could see the blue of the sea between the pine trees but not sure its very clear here...
We had been warned!
View at the 4.5km point ie the place we turned around and headed back to our car again
View looking north up the west coast beach
Beach to left, our route to the right
This seemed like a nice analogy - a Scottish Thistle and a New Zealand Fern!
Thanks for the pics of a great looking game Keith; ditto the nice views from your walk and to remind us that warm and sunny weather will start to be with us in a few months...
ReplyDeleteThank you Steve, you are most welcome and I hope you get another game in soon too.
DeleteGood stuff, Keith! While I have yet to give FK&P a try on the table, I enjoy TtS!. It is fast play and the mechanisms can be picked up easily to provide a fun game. Summer seems so far away as are you...I enjoyed seeing your scenic walks.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jonathan. FK&P has quite a bit more to the rules and after several years of TtS, we occasionally forget we are playing a different set of rules. Eg ALL hits, melee as well as firing, require an eight or better, not six for hand to hand as in TtS. Minimum number of hits to remove a unit is two, and larger units like pike blocks take three etc.
DeleteA great looking game Keith...
ReplyDeleteI do find gridded games quite intriguing, It’s certainly something I would like to try.
All the best. Aly
Cheers Aly. The grid based system has grown on me and as Jonathan says, the rules are easy to pick up. The predetermined nature of movement and ranges certainly reduces any chance of dispute...a unit is either one box away or it isn't, no one can argue about measuring from the centre of the base to the nearest part of the target unit etc! But it does have some downsides and overall, I still prefer unbridled games like Beneath Lilly Banners....
DeleteLovely set of pictures! Both game and outdoors. I particularly like the low level shots of the game.
ReplyDeleteThank you - I pinched the low level close up idea from one of my fellow gamers - as I use an older Samsung phone, the camera is a bit so - so, and I find longer range shots are often a bit blurry, although sometimes needed if I am to give any perspective of the actual game!
DeleteNice AAR Keith. I really hope to give FK&P a try this year, if I can get a few figures painted for it. At least I have the rules on my bookshelf for motivation.
ReplyDeleteCheers Lawrence - and knowing your stock of unpainted lead, I am sure you have at least two armies worth of unpainted figures you could start work on tomorrow....!
DeleteLovely looking game, I remember those,sort of! Nice summer photos, I remember that sort of, still could be worse! I know what you mean about Tts and FK&P, they're fine,they're good games, but,maybe we're all just impossible to please!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Thanks Iain - yes, I know what you mean! For me, the TtS system is good for a multi player game that you dont want to drag on and on - the predetermined nature of movement and firing ranges remove any possibility of argument and the coins mean you have a finite point when someone has won - but they are a bit like a board game with figures and have some of a board games (my opinion) drawbacks and limitations!
Delete