Tuesday, 1 July 2025

Risorgimento 1859: Primo Incontro

 In my last-but-one post  I set out the initial deployments for my first game using 6mm scale armies for the Italian war of 1859 - now the game has been completed, and I can report how things went. 

To quickly recap, I used the 'Minigame' scenario fron Neil Thomas' excellent Wargaming Nineteenth Century Europe   - and of course the rules from the same book.  The defending Piedmontese are nearest the camera in the picture below, with attacking Austrians in the entirely fictional village of Primo Incontro and ranged along the road at the top.  


 Unbeknown to the Italians, a flanking force of Austrian cavalry and Jagers would arrive from  the East (right) on turn three.  Whoever controlled the village and the hill after ten turns would be the winner. 

 The attacker always goes first, so on Turn 1 the Austrian 1st Infantry (on the road East of the village) formed column and began to advance on the hill, while their 2nd Infantry deployed for the defence of the  village. Their artillery (on the road between the two infantry units) opened fire on the Piedmontese (2nd) Infantry unit on the hill.  The general idea was to 'pin' the Piedmontese near the hill and keep them busy until the flanking force arrived, while simply holding the village against any attack.  It seems that the Austrian gunners were somewhat  out of practise, missing with their first shot.  

The firing mechanism is simple - assuming in range and line-of-sight, roll a number of D6 dice per firing base (artillery have one base), which in the case of Smoothbore Artillery is 2 dice. The score required to hit depends on the target type - in this case Loose Order Infantry ( i.e. lots of  skirmishers backed by a formed 'main body' )  in Line, among  the hardest to hit. Needing 5 or 6 on each D6, the gunners rolled a 1 and a 3 - better luck next time. 

In response, the Piedmontese  Grenadiers advanced up the road towards the village, with the 1st Infantry unit following them up.  Piedmont's artillery near the hill opened fire on the advancing Austrian 1st Infantry - a slightly easier target as the Austrians were in column formation - and were clearly more practised than their opposite numbers, scoring  2 hits with 2 dice.  If a unit suffers 4 hits, it will lose a base ( infantry have  4 bases ), so no immediate effect, but the Austrian foot were taking casualties..  What's more, their advance had brought them within range of the Piedmontese 2nd Infantry's  rifled muskets - these let loose a volley ( muskets get 1 D6 per base, so the fresh unit rolled 4D6 ) and scored a further two hits.  Thus the Austrian foot had suffered 4 hits and must lose one of its four bases:  this in turn triggered a morale test. 

Morale tests are very simple, triggered by (a) losing a base to fire (b) cavalry fired on by a unit they are charging, or (c) losing a hand-to-hand combat. The procedure is a simple 1D6 roll, with poorer quality troops less likely to pass. If the test is failed, a complete base is removed - simple but quite 'impactful'.  The Austrians rolled - and failed, losing another base, as men presumably dropped out of the formation rather than face the withering fire.  So this Austrian unit was reduced to half-strength by concentrated fire in one turn - clearly these rules lean towards the 'fast and furious'!

With apologies for the strong shadows of a sunny afternoon in Lombardy, above  are the somewhat battered Austrian foot (top)  facing musketry and cannonade at the end of the first turn.

 For Turn Two, the Austrian 1st Infantry came to a shocked halt and formed firing line, rather than trying to advance further.  Their  artillery  and 2nd Infantry (in the village) held position. All three units gave fire:  the artillery and 1st Infantry versus Piedmont 2nd Infantry on the hill, and the 2nd Infantry from the village fired on the Piedmont Grenadiers column. The diminshed 1st Infantry and obviously poorly-trained gunners both missed, but the 2nd Infantry scored two hits on the advancing Grenadiers. In Piedmont's turn these same Grenadiers thought better of advancing under more fire, and formed line to return fire. 1st  Infantry came up on their right in column, to give support. The Grenadiers opened fire on the village - and missed.  On and around the hill, the Piedmontese guns and 2nd Infantry kept pounding Austrian 1st Infantry, between them inficting three more hits. That Austrian unit was looking very ragged by now - the flanking force couldn't arrive too soon!  Piedmont's general may have had some reasons for confidence, having almost shattered one Austrian unit and massing infantry for a possible attack on the village - hopefully his artillery could switch to fire in support. 

End of Turn 2 : Piedmont looking strong

 And so to Turn Three - and things started to happen very quickly!  The Austrian flanking force could appear anywhere on the Eastern (right) edge of the table - of course they chose to arrive near the hill. They were close enough to allow the Austrian cavalry to immediately charge the Piedmont (2nd) Infantry on the hill, taking them in the flank! In these rules, cavalry are pretty vulnerable to fire, and must check morale if fired on during their charge ( even if no bases lost ), so frontal charges look authentically ill-advised : but from the flank, the infantry have no chance to fire..   The accompanying Jagers, in skirmish formation, advanced in support on the cavalry's left (South).   

Before the cavalry attack could be resolved, the remaining Austrian firing must be carried out - and the appearance of support must have raised morale along the line.  The 2nd Infantry in the village inflicted another hit on the Piedmont Grenadiers, the  Austrian gunners finally found their mark, and the battered 1st Infantry also scored a hit - these latter two on Piedmont 2nd Infantry, to add to their woes as the cavalry thundered in! 

Turn 3 : Cavalry charge - to the flank! 

 For Hand-to-Hand combat, each unit rolls a number of dice per base, and for cavalry vs, foot in Line that is 3 dice, plus one dice per base for the flank attack. Which gave the Austrians 16 dice.. needing 4,5 or 6 to hit. This is what 16 dice looked like: 

 

Seven hits, that will be pretty devastating. The Piedmont infantry had a basic one D6 per base, and I generously gave them a couple of extra dice because half the Cavalry unit was downhill of them - 6 dice. They did relatively better -  4 hits - but not well enough to stave off disaster...

Having already taken 2 hits from firing, the Piedmontese foot suffered 9 hits in all, therefore lost 2 bases.  Suffering 7 hits to 4 in the melee, they had lost the hand-to-hand combat round, and had to take two morale tests as a result.  One of these tests was failed, so another base gone, leaving only one base. The shattered remnants of the unit must retreat 12cm, and fell back alongside their artillery (which was now looking very vulnerable!).  The victorious Austrian Cavalry, having taken 4 hits, lost one base, but needed no morale check having won the combat, and might now inflict further mayhem.  A disasterous blow for Piedmont! 

On Piedmont's turn,  frantic re-aligning was needed, the guns swinging around 90 degrees to face the rampaging cavalry - but as a result, could not fire. The threatened attack on the village had to be abandoned,  with 1st Infantry turning East and marching hurriedly to support their comrades on the right.  The Grenadiers pulled back from the village, out of musketry range.  The only firing was from the shattered 2nd Infantry's sole remaining base, which did at least score a hit on their Austrain cavalry nemesis. Small compensation..

End of Turn 3 - quite a change!
 

Turn Four, and  the inevitable happened: the Austrian Cavalry just kept going, charging at the Piedmont guns! Now the procedure is that the defenders fire first, before the chargers move in. So the guns fired at long range, rather than close (canister) range. Which does leave a rules quibble - musket-armed troops , for example, being charged are allowed to fire even if the chargers start out of musket range - but there is no equivalent statement about artillery being able to fire at close range using canister. I wondered about a 'house rule',  perhaps a die roll test to see if the gunners can hold their nerve and wait to fire case-shot?   Anyway, I treated the cannon fire as long range, the guns had 2D6 and scored 1 hit. That was enough to trigger a morale check on the cavalry, who failed the test and lost a base - but two bases still remained to charge home.  

Meanwhile the Jagers (skirmishers)  had the capability to fire and move (or move and fire), firing first at Piedmont 2nd Infantry ( missed) and then moving forward, swinging round to threaten the flank of their target.  At the same time, Piedmont's 1st Infantry was hurrying across the Austrian front, and attracted fire from both the Austrian guns and their 1st Infantry, who needed to turn 45 degrees  - this reduced their fire effect somewhat.  The Piedmontese escaped unscathed - both guns and muskets missed. 

Which brings us to the crucial clash as the Austrian Cavalry charge hit the Piedmont guns.. The cavalry rolled 4D6 per base - so 8 dice in all.  The gunners had only 1D6 in reply, and things went all too predictably - the cavalry rolled no less than 6 hits, and the gunners none.  Six hits of course wiped out the Piedmont artillery - strike two to the Austrian horsemen!   

In all that excitment, I omitted to take a 'before' picture for the cavalry vs artillery melee: all I can show is the 'after', with a gap where the guns used to be.. 


 On their turn,  more frantic re-organisation from the Piedmontese - their 1st Infantry in column was now looking at the still-rampaging enemy cavalry and feeling quite nervous!  They hurriedly formed line, ready to fire. 2nd Infantry's single remaining base formed into column and retreated as fast as they could, taking shelter behind their comrades.  The Grenadiers were summoned to help too, marching to meet the Austrian Jagers and prevent an envelopment. All thoughts of taking the village were forgotten..  In the Firing phase, 1st Infantry loosed off a volley at the enemy cavalry and did well - 4 hits! ( Cavalry are very  vulnerable to fire )  That took another base from the cavalry - they passed the required morale check, but had only one base left. Perhaps their run of luck was ending at last.

Turn 4 End: Piedmont shoring up their flank

 On Turn 5, the Austrian commander wisely pulled his cavalry back, moving the Jagers onto the hill - thus for now,  Austria held one and contested the other battlefield objective. Their 1st Infantry held position, and their 2nd Infantry were emboldened to advance from the village, up the road to threaten the Piemont left.  No less than 3 Austrian units ( artillery, 1st Infantry and Jagers) poured fire onto Piedmont 1st infantry, but only the gunners were accurate, and scored just one hit. Piedmont in their turn formed the Grenadiers into line, turning to face the Austrians coming down the road; the remnants of 2nd infantry supporting them, while 1st infantry held position, giving fire at the Austrian 2nd Infantry, who are within range and a 45 degree firing arc.  Their volley scored 1 hit, but the Austrians had accumulated 3 hits previously, hence lost a base - and then failed their morale check, and lost a second and final base.  Austrian 1st infantry fell apart, some respite for the Italians.  the Austrians still seemed to have the upper hand, but had taken greater losses ( 7 bases to 4 ) and had only one full-strength infantry unit against two Piedmontese.

End of Turn 5 : the hill is contested 
 

The Austrians might still prevail, if they could  hold the objectives, so on Turn 6 their 2nd Infantry halted on the road, the Jagers held position on the hill, and the remaining cavalry base manoeuvered to threaten the flank of the Piedmont 1st infantry.  Their guns and Jagers kept up a steady fre on that same infantry unit, which suffered two more hits. This was worrying for the Piedmontese, but did not stop them wheeling to fire on the enemy cavalry - with good effect, scoring no less than three hits, enough to remove the cavalry's fourth and final  base.  A short but spectacular career for those Austrian horsemen!

By Turn 7,  it was clear to the Austrians that they could no longer win, but hoped they might hold out for a draw. Their 2nd Infantry retired towards the village, intent on holding that objective. The Jagers still held position on the hill, and the gunners kept firing. But the dice weren't with them - firing on Piedmont 1st Infantry, both Jagers and guns missed.  Piedmont's commander was now determined to recover the hill, with 1st Infantry turning their muskets on the enemy Jagers (scoring 1 hit) while the Grenadiers formed column and marched towards the South of the hill - the Jagers now threatened by two full infantry units and at risk of being outflanked.

Turn 7 : Austrian Jagers  (right) under threat

 Turn 8 saw the end of the battle.  The Austrians simply held their positions, and their gunners dealt a blow to 1st Piedmont infantry, scoring a hit which removed a base, with the infantry then failing their morale check and losing a second base. But in their turn, the Piedmont infantry were able to form column and  charge at the Jagers - the latter's fire scored one hit, but to no effect, and the Italians charged home. In the resulting hand-to-hand combat the skirmishing Jagers were no match for an infantry attack column, suffering 2 hits to 1 and losing the combat. Being forced to retire 12cm, the Jagers were dislodged from the hill, with no real chance of retaking it.  

With losses at 8 bases for the Austrians vs. 6 bases for Piedmont, both sides had taken pretty heavy casualties. Each side held one objective; Austria the village, Piedmont the hill. Piedmont could hold the hill with two infantry units while keeping out of artillery range, but did not have the strength to take the village, which was  occupied by infantry and supported by guns. Austria could hold the village, but had nothing available to take the hill.  At which point, I called an end to the fighting, and declared a draw. 

Turn 8 and the end : an honourable draw

 
The butcher's bill: Austrians at front

 I thoroughly enjoyed this game, and really liked the rules - in true Neil Thomas style, simple but subtle, I think!  The action moved quickly, rules were assimilated easily, and felt 'right' for the period. In particular the effects of firepower are becoming more powerful, and cavalry is very vulnerable to musketry, so don't try a frontal charge - but if you can take the enemy in the flank...! Only one rules query came up ( the one about guns using canister when charged ), and I feel a simple 'tweak' should sort that out. One 'classic' tactical scenario did not come up, as no infantry column managed to get within charge range of an enemy infantry line; it would have been nice to work through that situation and see how it worked out - bloodily, I suspect!  I have perhaps given  too much detail  here for some,  given the small size of the game, but I did want to explain some of the basic mechanisms - I think they work pretty well.  Given the quite fast and furious nature of the game, I think these rules should be pretty good for much larger battles, too - better get  painting  some more units! 

I hope this has been interesting and fun for anyone thinking of trying these rules and/or  this period - well worth a go, I'd say!  I am much encouraged and will try a more ambitious setup next time. 

My next hobby event is due this very evening,  as I step up to enter the medieval mincing machine that is Jon Frietag's  WotR  Battle of  Mortimer's Cross!  I look forward to that, and to his report after the game. Next time here, perhaps some more thoughts on the Risorgimento, orders of battle and possible future games.  Until then keep well, everyone.      

  

Friday, 20 June 2025

Broadside 2025 : A Jolly Good Show

Last Saturday (14th June) I was able to attend the 'Broadside'  gaming show at Medway Park Sports Centre in Gillingham, Kent, and had a thoroughly pleasant day, I'm glad to say.  

It's a 'medium sized' show, the program listed 21 demonstration games and a very respectable 30+ traders, plus 'other activities' which included book signing by novelist/comic book writer Dan Abnett, a Painting Area and several Participation/Promotional  games.  I do like this size of show, much more relaxed than the likes of Salute and Partizan,  with more space and time to look at the games etc, and this is a really well-run ( by the Milton Hundred Wargames Club) example - it was nice to hear that they had their best attendance yet this year! 

I travelled by car, arrived only about 10 minutes after the show started, but was lucky to get a parking space - there was an athletics event at the sports centre as well, so things were quite busy!  I was slightly surprised to fined that there was a queue to enter the show hall - a sign of the good attendance.

 I had a good look around the games and took some pictures, which I'll show a few of here - though even with a smaller show I seem to manage to miss some games.  Admittedly I don't tend to look too hard at Fantasy and Sci-Fi, though I did try to pay attention to some, honest! A few games I'd already seen at other shows, so took less pictures of them. Anyway, here we go: 

18 feet long?
 
...yes, seems about right!

First  and biggest, Retired Wargamers Reloaded and their mammoth Berlin 1945 game - already seen and extensively photographed at Salute, but I couldn't resist a few more pics! Much easier to get a good look at the table at this show, of course. They won the 'best in show' prize, which is voted for by all the clubs and groups putting on games ( though only by one vote, I gather! ) - can't really argue with that, though there plenty of other lovely setups. 

..how many tanks?

   


Much smaller ( but perfectly formed ) was this game of Gela, 1943 by Canterbury Crusaders Wargame Club. This was being run by Oliver Toms, son of my old friend Tony and (I think) using mainly Oliver's  collection ( Oliver's Army? sorry, that ages me! ) - a nicely 'different' clash of Italians using captured French tanks vs. US Rangers.   


   

The scenic mat they were using looked really good, it's from Geek Villain and is designed for Sicily, so pretty much ideal.   Ooh, I may have to look into that..!   

Very nice to chat to you, Oliver, and a very nice game! 

Skirmish Wargames presented their Wild West Shootout game 'The Last Gun Standing' in 54mm scale, with a great 'main street' setting 


 The game and rules emphasised a 'Hollywood' approach, and sure enough there was even a rooftop movie camera and crew filming the proceedings!  

Tunbridge Wells Wargames Society showed their 'Desert Encounter 1941' with rather nice models and table, and were very happy to chat and explain their home-grown rules ( which you could also buy).   


 

It was nice to talk to the gents running this, and I learned from them that their founder member George Gush (one of my wargaming heroes, as you can tell from the  heading of this blog)  is still around, though very elderly and no longer attending their club. Best wishes to George, for all your inspiration. 

Society of Ancients put on a game of The Battle of Granicus, 334BC : always nice figures, and a clever use of carpet tiles for the terrain and the river. I think the rules were Impetus


 

  An interesting piece of Sci-Fi terrain: Battletech demo'd by its makers 

 Next a rather interesting mash-up of past and future, as Friday Night Fire Fight's  game World War Z depicted futuristic combat in the setting of a city clearly inspired by Venice  ( the game perhaps inspired by the  Zombie Horror movie of 2013? I have no idea of this stuff! ). 

The juxtaposition of Sci-Fi vehicles and Aircraft against the historic backdrop was really interesting, what a good idea!  (you may need to look carefully to spot the aircraft among the buildings, but that's down to my amatuerish photography)  
 


 Back to 'historicals' now - SEEMS  presented a WW2 tank skirmish game TANKS in Normandy   using the TANKS rules. 


 

 Real Time Wargames brought their The Ruin of Britain  Dark Ages Battle and Campaign Ruleset - nice battle setup, complete with Holy Grail.. 


 

I like their approach of always including a campaign system as well as tactical rules, and I bought their Italian Wars set a few years ago - though I have severe doubts about ever having the wherewithal to paint Italian Wars armies! 

One of the highlights of the show for me was the Postie's Rejects group's  Rivoli 1796 game, organised by Richard of My Wargaming Habit blog fame,  and notably using 2mm semi-flat MDF figures from Commission Miniatures (which I have also been using for my 1859 Risorgimento project), and Volley and Bayonet rules.    

Richard (2nd from right) Umpiring

The whole thing looked splendid and there were some nice touches in the terrain, especially Richard's clever home-made woodland ( foreground ) made from domestic pan-scrubbers(!) and the use of Brigade Models  2mm scale  Mediterranean Village models to represent build-up areas, a classic example of how 'one scale down' buildings can work on the table. 


 


 


I'm afraid I hit a wrong setting on my camera and took several photos which were not properly focussed, so  my apologies for the lack of close-ups of the very nicely painted and based figures! I would strongly recommend having a look at Richard's blog for his report on the game. It was by all accounts a close game, with the Austrians very nearly reversing the historical result. A great game, very interesting and quite inspiring! 

 Another 'promotional' game was from Brickskrieg, a wargame using toy construction bricks, an interesting idea for bringing younger players into the hobby?  Note that the rules are available as a free download from their website. 


  

 Hailsham Wargames Club were on-trend given the 250th anniversary of the American War of Independence - their game portrayed the Battle of  Freeman's Farm, Saratoga 1777.  


 A nice-looking game, and also topical for me, having recently read Robert Graves' novel Sergeant Lamb of the Ninth,  the plot of which culminates at Saratoga. I didn't ask if Sergeant Lamb was on the table..

 

The next game -Race to the Seine  by Shepway Wargames Club -  had a rather uncanny element of synchronicity for me. The game portrayed the 'desperate race to get as many German troops across the Seine river to regroup following the Falaise pocket disaster' - and only the previous day, I had been to the National Army Museum in Chelsea to see an illustrated talk on the very same subject! 

The talk was 'Gaps and Chaps:a fresh look at the escape of the German army from Normandy 1944', by Canadian military historian Marc Milner, and most interesting it was, too!  (many more of the regular  NAM talks are available at  https://vimeo.com/nationalarmymuseum and thoroughly recommended )       

The game was a splendid sight, a really nice table that fully  lived up to the standards set by the Shepway club's  Dornier Down game last year.     


 



Another really nice looking game was Deal  wargames club's Gradual Sunset, which portrayed Thai army operations against Communist guerillas, 1980-83. I had seen the same game, or variants of it, at the Cavalier and Warfare shows in February and November, so I'll say no more on this one.   


 

Given my early arrival and the  very manageable size of the show, I also managed to have a go at a participation game: this was Robin Hood  by Big on Strategy group  ( a couple of chaps from Milton Keynes, as it turned out ) who were presenting a skirmish game in 54mm depicting Robin Hood and his Merry Men's ambush of a wagon stuffed with ill-gotten 'tax' money collected/extorted by the Sherriff of Nottingham and his evil henchmen.  The rules were from John Lambshead's recent One-Hour Ancient and Medieval Skirmish Wargames .  

My objective was to escort the wagon-load of money along the road and off the table edge, while fighting off   Robin Hood's ambush - victory points were also available for killing Robin, the Sherriff and other characters. The rules were very simple and quickly picked-up, with initiative and combat driven by the draw of playing cards rather than dice. That mechanism worked very well, the combat card draws being 'opposed' ( i.e both players draw cards, with the number of cards determined by the characters' weapons, skills etc )  which certainly made for tension and excitement!    Here you can see my opponent (in the blue shirt,  a chap from SEEMS who's name I shamefully didn't get!) mid-draw..  

The game was great fun, lots of laughs, mainly becuase my card-drawing turned out to be just catastrophically bad!  I was certainly the worst player of the day, losing all but one of my characters - if the cards gave a chance of them dying, they would inevitably die! 

I did have one success, though - my last remaining man-at-arms managed to take down Robin himself! 

Though by this time, the Sherriff was already dead by the roadside..  As the game went on and the cards confounded me at every turn, at least we all laughed a lot! My opponent was a good sport (easy for him, he was winning!)  and the umpires David (left)  and Mike talked us through the game and gave some useful  hints, and a really fun time was had - my thanks to all three of them!  

 

And that's all for the games - as usual I will have missed quite a few, either from my incompetence or my lack of interest in some of the non-historical games.  As usual, there are other blogs with many more and better pictures - I can strongly recommend Postie's Rejects  Ray 'Don't Throw a One'  and Big Lee's Miniature Adventures  reports, as ever. 

I did a little shopping, too - a few more 6mm scale railway tracks from Blotz, for my 1859 project, and (influenced by the Rejects' Rivoli game) a 2mm scale Mediterranean Village from Brigade Models - we'll see how that looks with 6mm armies!  

One really nice feature of this show is the 'flea market' area, where you can book a small table and sell off your unwanted 'hobby stuff'.  For me, this seems to work better than the usual 'Bring and Buy' stalls, which always seem to be too crowded and hard to approach, this is all a bit more casual and one can chat a bit with the sellers.   I picked up some books - first an Osprey that will be useful for my 7YW armies.. 

 

...and then a couple of vintage books on the great military engineer  Vauban : 


 The sellers of these two books were the Whitehall Warlords club, and I noticed the biography (right of picture)  is inscribed with its previous owner's name - that being Seamus Bradley. Many years ago (probably about 1987/88) I was a member of that club, and I remember Seamus, who was a thoroughly nice chap and made me very welcome. So it's nice to have a souvenir to remember him by - I am told that he has now passed away.  And of course,I think  they will be interesting to read. 

And that, as they say, was that. I had a thoroughly good day at the show, which was well-organised and well-attended. My only very slight gripes would be about the almost-full car park, and a paucity of catering facilities - luckily I had brought sandwiches for lunch -  but I did later find that there are several perfectly pleasant cafes in Gillingham High Street, only two or three minutes walk from the venue. I will try to remember them next year! 

Many thanks to Milton Hundred Wargames Club for putting on the show, and all the clubs and traders etc who ran games, tradestands etc. Great to meet and chat with a few gaming friends too, of course! 

Next time, I hope to post an 'AAR' showing my first game with the 6mm Risorgimento 1859 Italy armies and Neil Thomas 19th Century Europe rules;  the game has been completed and worked pretty well.  Until then, keep well, everyone.