Sunday AWI Game and Some More S Island Pics

 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!