Just home from an all day, all cavalry Napoleonic game at Barrys. With ten players involved, it was one of the biggest we have had for a while and right on the max number of participants Barry is happy to welcome to his dungeon of war!
I don't know exactly how many units each side had, I had an Austrian force of two Hussars, six Kuirassiers and two horse batteries - three brigades I decided - one light and two heavy. With five players per side, roughly equally equipped, we are looking at forces of around 40 cavalry units per side, supported by 8-10 batteries of horse artillery!
Our Prussian/Russian/Austrian alliance eventually came out on top versus a French/Polish/Bavarian alliance, but no thanks to my contribution, which provided more amusement to the other players than anything else - on two occasions in particular, a straight fight between French and Austrian Hussars, Mark rolled 6 hits (5 or 6 required) to 1 and my fresh unscathed unit disappeared from the field; the other, I had a flank attack by Kuirassiers against French Hussars - 12 dice to 3 - Mark rolled 3 hits and I managed 1 - so was routed back a full move!
The other results were not quite so dramatic, but by the three-quarter mark, I was down to a single unit of Kuirassiers, which I kept skulking on the allied back line, well away from any potential threat!
Here are quite a lot of pictures with not too much commentary as I don't have much idea what happened at the other end of the 14 foot table, except that Paul and Chris (as part of our allied side) gave Barry, Rick and Adrian a bit of a drubbing - Rick in particular seemed to have similar luck with the dice as yours truly!
Austrian cavalry - a mix of figures from different group members
The French opposite me, commanded by Mark
Polish Allied to the French, commanded by Adrian
French centre - Julian's French to the left, Adrians Poles to the right
French Carabiniers
Julians Cuirassiers
Two very similar views of the Poles
The Austrians begin to advance
Overview of the table - Allies to the left, French etc to the right
My Old Glory Hussars before their unfortunate incident with Marks Frogs
The French left cengtre under Julian advances against the high ground, held by Johns light cavalry
Austrian Kuirassiers move forward
Paul's Russians - not sure who their opponents are?
Hussar v Hussar action
Prussians on our right wing support the Austrians
Austrian Kuirassiers v French Carabiniers (all figures are Perry plastics)
The French centre advances en masse
At the other end of the table, Chris and Paul created a nice overlap of the French right flank
View down the table from Paul and Chris's position (on the right) v's Barry, Rick and Adrian on the left)
The result of the Hussar melee shown above - Marks six out of six possible hits!
Lancers charge French lights in the flank
Russian dragoons v French Hussars (I think)
My second Hussar unit just about to be wiped from the field by Mark..... 😒
The right wing of the French force - Poles and Bavarians v Russians
Action in the centre continues apace
A large force of Prussians (Nick) moves up to support the stalling Austrian attack
Marks cavalry drove off my gunners but they survived to return to action later on!
A real ebb and flow of combat around the central heights - John did very well here - with only light cavalry, he consistently knocked back Julians French heavies - Cuirassiers and Carabiniers
Poles in action on the other flank
Russians v Bavarians
Overview of the centre of the table
The last fling of the Austrian cavalry - two regiments of Kuirassiers charge but were knocked back by the French - the unit charging the guns was wiped out.
A series of images from the other end of the table
Russians taking on Bavarians and Poles
French Horse Artillery in support
Charging Russian Dragoons
Back in the centre, John's lancers take on yet another unit of Cuirassiers
Marks Hussars take on Austrian Kuirassiers - you can guess the result!
The Russians in combat with Bavarians
The central high ground
Austrian Kuirassiers routing to the rear!
A nice solid looking Prussian force under Nick ready to take on Marks French
A two to one advantage - but Marks above average die rolling came to the fore - AGAIN - and they were pushed back!
At the other end of the table, though, the Russians are definitely in the ascendancy
Prussians v French in the centte
The French on the left were now a spent force...
...while their allies on the right were in disarray
The final butchers bill - a win for the Austro - Prussian - Russian alliance, but a hard fought one.
A nice change to have an all-cavalry engagement but boy, was it bloody! Marks was rolling above average all day, whereas my rolling was pretty abysmal at times! Good to see all the guys before the Christmas festivities arrive and hopefully, we manage to get a couple of games in while we are all on leave for two- three weeks between Dec 23 and Jan 9 or 16.
Thanks for visiting and please do leave a comment!
That looks epic Keith! Positively Bondarchuk-esque. And very different making it all cavalry. A great way to end the year. Fave pictures: 23 and 31.
ReplyDeleteThanks Chris, it was certainly something a bit different, glad you enjoyed it too!
DeleteThat's looking great sir!
ReplyDeleteNothing better than a lot of cavalry!
Best regards
Well, this certainly was a LOT of cavalry, Michal!
DeleteAn all cavalry battle is something I rarely see on the gaming table. Very hard to do, I think, given the fluidity of cavalry clashes. Table and troops look great. Ten players? That is a houseful! Super end to the gaming year if this turns out to be the case. Happy Christmas!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jon, we had Mark to thank for coming up with idea (and supplying over half the cavalry on the table, I would think! As to last game of the year, it will certainly be the last on this scale, but I might fit in one or two solos of my own ....we will see.
DeleteVery exciting to see such a big clash of cavalry. The best way to end the years gaming, eh?
ReplyDeleteGlad you like it, Joe, it made for quite a different game. It WAS a good close to the group gaming for 2022!
DeleteFantastic, as most wargamers tend not to reach the position of owning large cavalry armies, seeing a cavalry clash with lots of figures is always eye-catching and something to savour - excellent end of year bash.
ReplyDeleteCheers Norm, I am as guilty as most of underrepresenting cavalry in my collections, they are just so expensive - although with the hard plastic options, this is possibly less of an issue than it once was - well, for the popular eras, anyway!
DeleteWow, some battle you had there. How the hell anyone could coordinate the actions of 10 players is beyond me. I’ve seen games with only 4 become chaotic. Top stuff and a great way to end the year.
ReplyDeleteThanks JBM - it wasn't all that coordinated at some points to be fair, but most of us enjoyed it, nonetheless!
DeleteWhat a way to finish out the year! Epic stuff and happy Christmas.
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot Michael and festive greetings to you too!
DeleteQuite a spectacle with all that cavalry. A great way to finish the year
ReplyDeleteIt certainly was Scotty.
DeleteWow- certainly a huge Cavalry engagement Kieth. The Games Table is big and looks like a purpose built Games Room too- glad you had a great time there in NZ with your Friends. Cheers. KEV.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kev....yes, I think originally, this may have been a seperate living area for Barry's son, but that was thirty or forty years ago! It's been his gaming room for many years now and is a great asset for us all to share.
DeleteI've always wanted to do an all cavalry napoleonic game--happy to see such a grand example! As an owner of a Prussian army, I'm also gratified to see them well represented on the field (particularly the superb Calpe figures).
ReplyDeleteWe will look out for your version in 2923, Ed! The Calpe Prussians were Nicks contribution to the fray, they certainly are very nice indeed!
DeleteBlimey that is a BIG GAME. 6 players a side is on the large side for us, so I struggle to imagine what it must be like to co-ordinate everything. Still a joy to behold and a great idea to have a cavalry only clash for something rather different.
ReplyDeleteThanks Steve, it was a good day, even if my personal contribution to it was mainly to the detriment of my own side!
DeleteDefinitely something a little different. I have been on the end of similar dice rolling of Mark's forty years ago. The fact I still remember it shows how scarring it can be.
ReplyDeleteWith the number of Napoleonic cavalry units you were painting some months back, Lawrence, you could probably do something similar yourself! Mark is usually a pretty average dice roller but he was certainly on fire yesterday, and my rolling was dreadful....almost on a par with my eight out of eight 1's I rolled at Tarawera a few years back ( I won't ever forget that, either!)
DeleteVery splendid looking battle, quite inspirational 👍
ReplyDeleteThanks Matt...a lot of time and thought from Mark went into making this such an awesome spectacle!
DeleteMarvellous stuff Keith…
ReplyDeleteWhat’s not to love about a table full of Napoleonic cavalry, and a great way to end the year.
All the best. Aly
Cheers Aly, it was a great looking game, despite my Aly-esque dice rolling LOL 😀
DeleteGreat epic encounter Keith.
ReplyDeleteThanks Richard, it was certainly something a bit different!
DeleteWhat a way to finish the year... have a great Christmas Keith....
ReplyDeleteThank you Stu...it was indeed epic! Hope you have a good one too!
DeleteTable and figures are superb. A good year end. But that gaming space...I wish I had a third of that space! LOL Merry Christmas
ReplyDeleteThanks GW....I agree about the space and unfortunately we won't have it forever, with Barry in his late 80's....new plans will have to be made....have a great Christmas and Hogmanay!
DeleteThat's a lot of cavalry (and players) for sure; shades of Liebertwolkwitz!
ReplyDeleteThanks Peter, it certainly was a mammoth clash!
Delete