Nick in Launceston - Lasalle

It was an unplanned game -- both Nick and Rob ended up at the club with no opponents. But Nick had his Napoleonics in the car, so an impromptue Lasalle game was set up.

Nick (Austrian, with one infantry division and one Cuirassier division) vs Rob (with one veteran infantry division and one conscript infantry division).

Nick tried a grand sweep on his left flank with his Cuirassiers. They crashed through the French artillery. But the artillery had shot them up pretty well, and when they hit a square in the back they bounced. The square was only conscripts, so they charged again -- but lost and broke. Meanwhile, a 2nd Cuirassier unit attacked another unit of conscripts that failed to form square. Rob rolled a flurry of 6s, and the Cuirassiers lost!

On the other flank the relentless march of the veteran French infantry overwhelmed the Austrians. It didnt help when Nick tried to do some fancy maneuvers, and only 1/2 his units moved. In two turns the proud Austrian right wing turned to a rabble!

A well deserved victory to Rob, who seemed to like the game!

(There was some Kingston Kup practice on another table. All I will say is 'there were hordes of em!'

Marcus Plastix & Metalix Maximus fight for the Purple

Jim's plastic Romans v. Steve's metal Romans
500 points in 4 divisions each in our first Hail Caesar Roman Civil War battle.

Metalix (far side of table in pic) deployed all his cavalry in one divison on the left of his 3 infantry divisions, each such a confusing mixture of legionaries & auxilia in several varieties of elite, veteran, light, medium & heavy that we only discovered after the battle that he'd accidentally added in an extra unit.

Plastix (in the foreground) had 2 legionary divisions in the centre (each 4 cohorts & 2 light archers each) with a mixed division of eastern auxilia foot & horse on each flank.

Both sides advanced their left, though Plastix's left flank cavalry seemed singularly reluctant to go anywhere.

On Plastix's right his outnumbered cavalry got ridden down, but his infantry spread out to cover the flank.

In the centre the opposing legions crashed into each other, but Metalix's right failed to keep up and Plastix's left flank infantry got around Metalix's legion's flank.

Plastix's right flank division was broken by Metalix's cavalry, but Metalix's flanked legion was destroyed in the centre.

Plastix's RH legion held on desperately as the other one finished off their opponents and turned to help it.

On Plastix's left his flank division was stiffened with a cohort from the centre.  The cataphracts charged the auxilia while Metalix's auxilia charged the infantry on their right.  Plastix lucked out on both counts.  The cataphracts got thrown back, and worse still, the supporting cohort broke allowing the auxilia to get into the flank of Plastix's legions.

That was the decisive moment.  Metalix's 2nd legion was on the point of collapse, but the pressure was relieved just enough for it hold on until the cavalry could get around Plastix's right flank.

Plastix personally lead his last sound cohort into the fray in a desperate charge for death or glory.  Unfortunately he got death - dying heroically in the front line.

This was a desperately bloody battle, even the winners didn't have a lot left unshaken.  But for the moment the superiority of metals over plastics has been established...Hail Caesar Metalix Maximus!

More Barbarians at the City Gates

Jim's Barbarians v. Rich & Simon's Romans

Another go at our Barbarians at the City gates Scenario.

When the Roman relief army came on, the Barbarians tried to about face their 2 infantry divisions to go and meet them, leaving their cavalry and engines to face the city garrison.

The Roman cavalry charged down the road to meet the Barbarian infantry head on.  They were eventually pushed back and broken, but they broke 2 warbands and hurt some more as well as giving the legions time to deploy.

As the Barbarian infantry struggled to get though the camp and the farm and sort themselves out the 1st legion deployed out to the right to outflank the Samartan cavalry.








The Samartans countered by charging with the cataphracts while covering their left with horse archers.   The horse archers were smashed by a cohort, but they did their job, the cataphracts rode down 2 cohorts  to split the Roman army in two.  

The cataphracts wheeled right as the warbands swarmed forward crowding the 2nd legion into a corner while the remaining half of the other legion was too far away to help.

Meanwhile, the city garrison was sallying out of the city.  The artillery kept them at bay for a while, but was over-run.  One cavalry unit was broken attacking the citizens, but the others were doing enough to keep the camp safe for the time being.






The 2nd legion might have been almost surrounded, but it was a tough nut to crack.  The cataphracts bounced off and then had to face about to hold off the 1st legion.

But the Barbarians had plenty of warbands to throw in with one to spare to help the cataphracts.

Finally the Romans cracked, both legions breaking at the same time giving the barbarians victory.

The battle featured 2 devastating cavalry charges. The Romans looked well on top when their cavalry smashed 2 warbands in a pre-emptive strike, but the legions were too far back to exploit the gap & the barbarians reformed.  Then the Samartan cataphracts returned the favour, smashing thru 2 cohorts.  But this split the Roman army and the barbarian infantry was close enough to exploit the resulting opportunities.

The sortie from the city was an interesting sideshow, but ultimately not decisive, the barbarians had left just enough behind to protect the camp for long enough.


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Yet more KKK practice

Jim's Hungarians v. Steve's Panzergrenadiers

Breakthrough mission on 6x4, 1555 pts, Germans attacking.

The Hungarians moved infantry onto both objectives & dug in.  Both sides exchanged shots waiting for the German reserves to arrive on turn 5 (now automatic if they haven't come earlier).

The Panzergrenadiers from reserve attacked the infantry in the wood defending the rear objective and drove them back over the river.  The Hungarians moved their 38-T's across to counterattack the panzergrenadiers from the rear.  The Germans broke, were caught between 2 platoons and were destroyed.

The Germans then attacked the forward objective with their other panzergren platoon. The got past the weapons platoon, but a counterattack by infantry & 38-T's destroyed them.  The Hungarians then won with no Germans within 40cm of an objective.

More KKK Practice

Jim's Hungarian Infantry v. Mark's Fucilieri

Dust Up Mission 1555 points on 6x4 table

When two blokes have been wargaming with each other for 40 years, things can get a tad predicable.  The two lists were remarkably similar to start with, except the Hungarians had a bit more quality and the Ities more numbers.   The first pic is taken behind the Hungarian right.  Both sides deployed two big infantry platoons and a 105 battery, moved forward a bit, dug in, and then exchanged counter-battery fire while waiting for reserves.

When they were good and ready, the Hungarians  attacked with their infantry supported by the 38-T's.  The front Fucilieri platoon was first pushed back, then next turn destroyed and the objective was taken.

The Italians counterattacked to try and take it back.  Their fire forced morale tests on the 38T's and infantry, but with the help of the CIC and a lot of luck they held on.  The Fucilieri charged, but the Hungarians had just enough tubes left to get 5 hits to stop the charge and hold on to the objective to win.

It was good to get some potentially messy assaults done.  We resorted to the book a bit, but it all seemed clear enough when you read it.  We had some discussions about terrain, but mostly unnecessarily - it still is largely a matter of discuss before the game.  The biggest change is the slow going category - slow but no bog test.

Good Friday KKK Practice

Jim's Hungarian Light Infantry v. Rich's Tankovy

1555 pts No Retreat Mission on 6x4 table.

The Hungarians laid out a nice reception committee with a large infantry platoons in front supported by Pak 40's in ambush and 105's.  The Soviets had 2 KV85 platoons supported by small sapper and Strlk platoons.

The Soviets sent their infantry forward up the centre thru the cornfields supported by tanks on each flank.

The Hungarians got their reserves quickly - more infantry trucked down the road and then 38-T's following behind.

The KV's on the Soviet left engaged the Paks while the KV's on their right attacked the infantry in the tree line.  The infantry fell back with minor casualties & those KVs joined in against the Paks.

The Paks lead a charmed life, losing only one while they popped 2 KV's from each platoon.

Then the Hungarians counterattacked.   The last Kv on the treeline as bailed by Paks then taken by infantry assault.    The 38T's, with infantry support, destroyed the Soviet infantry.

The Soviets were put below half strength  with just 2 KV's left and failed morale.

It was a tough battle for the Soviets - one of the good Missions for infantry, godd terrain for them, good reserve dice and almost immortal Pak 40's was a mean combination.

The only V3 issues were in the assaults with a number of situations arising for the first time.  But with the help of the vastly improved index all questions were quickly resolved.

Trebuchetting at St Aloyisus School

The son in law of a friend asked me to give a talk on war engines to the grade 8 science classes at St Aloyisus School.  I did my powerpoint from last year's Heritage Engineering Conference, then gave them a demo on the oval.   The woodworking class made up target in the form of a wood and cardboard castle about 2.4m square.

I set up my small treb in wheeled mode with just 40 Kg power.  This is less than half its limit, but at that it's easy to operate, safer and still can throw a bocce ball a serviceable distance - about 60m on a fairly flat trajectory - ideal for hitting a vertical wall.

The treb was hitting the target about 50% of the time with the rest being near misses - mainly due to a variable cross wind.  The balls made clean entry holes in the front, but most hits resulted in a satisfying spray of pieces of wood as the backing structure shattered.  The best shot hit an upright and flattened the whole thing.

I also took my onager.  It was throwing cricket balls about 70m, but with a high angle that made hitting the target very difficult in the wind conditions.

The kids (including me) loved it.

Barbarians Inside the Gates

Jim & Mike's Dacians v. Steve & Mark's Romans

We reversed the scenario from last week - the Romans are besieging the city (presumably to take it back) with the Barbarians coming to its relief.

The Dacian infantry came up the road while both their cavalry divisions came on their right.






The Roman infantry on their right (Steve's) advanced straight at the Dacian foot, their cavalry moved up behind, Mark's infantry moved to meet the cavalry.    The Auxilia division initially in the camp moved out to face the city while the onagers tried to make another breach in the wall.

The Dacian foot began deploying to their left to face the oncoming Romans while their cavalry advanced only in fits and starts.

Steve's foot got a 3 move charge in to catch the lead Dacian div still deploying and quickly broke it.

The Dacians desperately tried to counterattack with the second infantry division while the cavalry threw themselves at Mark's infantry.

But the gods were not on the Dacian side tonight.  Mike's 2nd infantry division also broke and Jim's cavalry failed to break through Mark's infantry.

The Dacians had had enough and withdrew leaving the city to its fate.

This was a short and sharp battle tonight.  The Roman's aggressive plan backed up with good dice did for the Dacians quick time.