The Grenze Who Stole Xmas..

 Twas the night before Xmas... and in the small town of Weihnachten,  Prussian troops warily guarded the wagons containing supplies for their  seasonal feast, having been warned that Austrian Grenzers were in the area.. 

Wot, no hexes? Prussians await old-school onslaught

  

Having recently acquired some very pleasing  model houses from The Works, I found that as they are really table decorations, they actually light up.  So, a night action seemed very much  in order. Not played too seriously, of course - this is the Ragged Soldier's  works Xmas 'do'..

I've been meaning to try ( I  confess, for the first time )  the elementary rules from Young and Lawford's 'Charge' , and this seemed an ideal opportunity - I have just about enough figures to stage a small action, similar in scale to their 'Blasthof Bridge'.  So, the opposing forces as follows: 

Deployed in and around the town, the Prussians under the command of Generalleutnant von Krapfen  consisted of  : 

                44th Fusiliers  ( 22 line infantry ) 

                Von Kleist Uhlans  ( 16 cavalry  ) 

                1 Gun with 5 crew.

Their task was to defend the two supply wagons containing their Xmas dinner, which were quartered  for the night in the main street, near the church.   As they peered into the inky darkness beyond the lights of the town, the garrison  did not know that   an Austrian raiding party was indeed approaching,   led by General Rupert den Baren.  He could call on the following: 

           Botta Fusiliers  ( 32 infantry ) 

           Creutzer Grenze Hussars ( 16 cavalry ) 

           Dismounted Grenze Hussars ( 12 skirmishing infantry )

The town of  Weihnachten lies at a 'T-junction' of two roads, one running  East-West through the town, one stretching  from the South, as far as  the town. Nearby to both South and East are small woods, and a minor eminence lies to the South-East.  For this game, I have dispensed with the hex terrain and gone back to a good old-fashioned green cloth and model hills, and the table is 3 feet square. 

The Prussians divided their Fusiliers into two companies, one on the Eastern  and one on the Southern edge of the town, with the gunners in a walled enclosure at the South-Eastern corner. The Uhlans were split into two squadrons, one just West of the town and one on the small height to the South-East.

The Austrians similarly, had divided their infantry into two 'companies'  and cavalry into two 'squadrons', the skirmishers acting as a single unit. They approached from  the South and East roads - it might be tricky to co-ordinate attacks from both directions in the winter darkness. 

Turn 1 : Hussars and Uhlans pass all unaware..

 

Given a night-time scenario, I wanted to introduce plenty of uncertainty:  given the nature of the  Charge! rules, I also wanted to keep things simple.  So, I used a good old D6, as follows.  

 The Austrians would enter from the South and East table edges - each edge divided into 3 equal sections, labelled 1 to 6, each unit rolls a D6 to decide its entry point.   

 How many units each turn? Roll a D6 for Turn 1, scored  3 : three units.  The remaining two units on turn two  ( further dice rolls to decide exactly which units each turn ). 

Thus entirely randomly selected,  on Turn 1, enter  the 2nd  Hussar squadron and the dismounted skirmishers on the Eastern table edge, and the 1st Hussar squadron from the Southern edge. 

Now for movement and 'spotting' in the dark: again, keep it simple:

Movement - it's hard to keep direction in the dark, and unseen obstacles may slow progress. So, roll a D6 for each moving unit. Score  1 or 2, veer 45 degrees left; 3 or 4, go straight ahead; 5 or 6, veer 45 degrees right.  Also roll for Move Speed :  score 1,2, or 3 - half speed. 

Spotting - troops may quite easily miss each other in the darkness. At up to 6 inches distance, spotting is automatic, but at 6  to 12 inches must roll 4,5 or 6 on a D6 to spot an enemy unit, and at 12 to 18 inches, must roll 6.  Units opening fire are automatically spotted by all others in line of sight. Once the enemy or the town is spotted, normal movement can resume, but until then, it's random! 

So to the first Austrian move. The 2nd Hussar squadron  and the Skirmishers in the East  had clearly mastered this whole night marching thing, and pressed on straight towards the town at full speed,  but in the South the 1st Hussar squadron immediately veered left, and did not spot the Uhlans on the hill - who in turn, did not see the passing Hussars. 

 Prussian first turn:  to the East the approach of the Hussars had brought them within 6 inches of the 2nd Fusilier company - open fire! A ragged volley rang out, and the first casualty of the night was one Grenze Hussar - at short range, not very good shooting, they must have been a bit sleepy. The Prussian gunners were clearly fast asleep, and saw nothing.  South of town, the Fusiliers spotted the wandering 1st Hussars, but were out of musket range.  So far, so frustratingly/pleasingly random. 

Turn 2.  Hussars blunder into woods: Uhlans awake!

On to Turn 2 : enter the Austrian line infantry, both on the Southern table edge. 2nd Company Botta admirably straight ahead, perhaps guided by the nearby road,  while 1st Coy. veered left - directly towards the Uhlans on the hill.    Meanwhile the 2nd Hussars East of town, stung by musketry, charged the Prussian fusiliers, while the Grenzer skirmishers probed towards the Northern edge of town, albeit at half speed  ( Skirmishing foot only appear in the 'advanced' rules of 'Charge!', but the authors very  sensibly suggest that advanced features can be optionally added as required.  Movement rates and ranges were adjusted, to keep the right  relationship with Line infantry speed and range ). The Prussian 2nd Coy. Fusiliers fired at the charging Hussars - 10 figures, dice for range vs. cavalry  gave long range, so one dice.  Rolled a 1 - no hits! Still half asleep?   Then melee - the Hussars gleefully sabred two fusiliers, before both sides fell back. Short and sharp. 

The stars of the show, however, were those blindfolded 1st Hussars - having veered left, they now pressed straight ahead at full speed, straight into a wood!  And still, they saw no enemy.  They had been spotted, however, by the Prussian 1st Fusiliers , who woke them up with a volley, emptying one Hussar saddle.   Finally in the South,  1st Squadron Prussian Uhlans spotted 1st Company  Botta , downhill and straight ahead - Charge!

Turn 3: closing in

 

Turn 3 , the Austrian move saw the resolution of that Uhlan charge, and proof that these old school rules can be fast and furious.  Botta 1st Company levelled their muskets,  'won' the dice roll for range,  so close range , with 16 men rolled two dice  - scored 5 and 6, and shot down six of the eight Uhlans! To add insult to injury, the two remaining Uhlans inflicted no hits in the resulting melee, and lost one more trooper. Only one out of eight survived! Quite a blow for the Prussians. Meanwhile, the erratic 1st Hussars emerged from the wood, looked around  and promptly spotted 2nd Uhlans to the West of the town, while the skirmishing Grenze to the East of town started sniping at 2nd Fusiliers. With Hussars advancing again,  things looked worrying for the Fusiliers;  made worse by some of the skirmishers now infiltrating into the Northern part of the town, sniffing out those wagons.  

Nothing daunted, Prussian musketry opened up, the 2nd Fusiliers hitting back  at the Hussars who were again in front of them, and their gunners finally woke up and joined in with  canister: 3 Hussars lost. In the South,  1st Fusiliers opened fire on 2nd Botta at close range - 3 hits, not bad shooting.  However, West of the town their 2nd Uhlans dozed,  failing to spot the approaching Hussars,,

 

Turn 4 : Grenzers smell Xmas dinner

 

Turn the Fourth, and the Austrians now really pressed home their attacks. In the South,  2nd Coy. Botta and 1st Coy. Fusiliers continued their  firefight, each inflicting 2 casualties on the other.  In the East,  the 2nd Hussars charged again at the Prussian 2nd Fusiliers : between the defensive fire and melee, honours even at 2 losses each, but those Fusiliers were being worn down rapidly, and had no support, and crucially behind them, Austrian skirmishers captured one of the supply wagons!  Now battle was joined to the West also, with the fortuitously wandering 1st Hussar squadron charging the sleepy 2nd Uhlans in flank , dismounting 2 - a rude awakening.  Things now looked very bad for von Krapfen's Prussians,  and  losses were tallied up : Austrian casualties were 12 out of 60, and Prussians 17 out of  43.  The elementary 'Charge!' rules only concession to morale is 'when the number of casualties suffered by an army is more than half the number with which that army started the battle, that army is out of action...'    Only five more losses would finish off the Prussians. 

End of the affair: Prussians at bay, Grenzers everywhere!

 

And on Turn 5, the final blow - Austrian musketry delivered it, with 2nd Coy. Botta in the South taking no less than four figures from 1st Fusiliers, and sniping from Grenze skirmishers another one from 2nd Fusiliers.  To add insult,  the skirmishers also laid hands on the second supply wagon, and out to the West, 1st Squardron Hussars charged again at 2nd Squadron Uhlans. who at least had been able to turn and face them this time.  But that combat became irrelevant, with the Prussian losses reaching 22,  therefore over 50% , and both supply wagons being led away by greedy Grenzers.  'Twas a terrible blow and a hungry Xmas day for those Prussians, ejected from the warmth of the town and denied their festive feast! 

And a good game, of course! Fast and furious, as 'old school' games should be - those unfortunate Uhlans paid the price, and probably lost the game.  Perhaps I  should have given the defenders stronger forces, as once losses started to mount they reached 50% very fast.   I had anticipated that the gun would be more effective - but its crew proved not very alert, and once the enemy got close in, its fire was often masked by its own Fusilier comrades. The small table made for rapid action, with fire being opened on Turn 1 and units very quickly involved in close combat, and my improvised night movement and spotting rules worked pretty well, I thought,  introducing some entertainingly random outcomes, especially those wandering Hussars!

I hope you've enjoyed reading this, as I did both playing the game and reporting the outcome (special thanks to my old mate 'LiverpoolDave' for suggesting the title).  I hope you have had a good Xmas break, given the circumstances many of us find ourselves in. Thanks especially for all your friendly  and encouraging comments and support of this blog, which has certainly  helped keep me going through these 'interesting times', and I hope will long continue to do so.  Keep safe and well, everyone, and here's to a Happier New Year.

 

Not a Prussian Was Stirring..

Twas the Night before Xmas.. and in the little Ruritanian town of Weihnachten,  a small detachment of the Prussian army were sleepily guarding the wagons containing their seasonal feast.  

 

Rumour had it the despised (and notoriously hungry) Austrian Grenzers were in the vicinity...

 

 

More Affordable Housing

Just a quick update following my earlier post about model buildings :  I popped in to my local branch of The Works the other day, and they did indeed have some more of their  'Light-Up Wooden House'  table decorations for sale. 

the cute deer has to go, though

 

Slightly different to earlier models, perhaps a bit more fussy, but still  useful looking. And £3 each was a good price, I thought - until I reached the till, and was informed they are currently on offer , two for the price of one!

So, if you like the look of them, hurry on down to your local.. etc 

I will give these the same simple paint job as I did with my earlier examples, and they should be ready for a bit of  'twas the night before Xmas' gaming fun in the near future.

No further forward with gaming recently, alas - time and space, dear boy - but a few ideas being mulled over for future games and posts here.  Until then, keep safe and well, everyone.

  

 

Battle for Rahden : Conclusions

A couple of posts ago, we left the battle for the 'Soldier King' campaign town of Rahden interestingly poised after seven turns, with the defending Prussians  expelled from the eastern hill in front of the town, and attacking Austrians hoping to press home their advantage.  After a longer than expected hiatus, with the opposing troops snarling at each other inside their storage box, I was able to unpack them, re-set the battlefield and resume the game. 

Turn 8 :  Austrians advance

The picture shows the situation at Turn 8 - the defenders have a problem, in that their Fusiliers East of the road are facing two Austrian battalions, and being bombarded by artillery. That battery took a few turns to get the range, but once it did, things got tricky. Meanwhile on the other flank, Prussian Horse Grenadiers face twice their number of Austrian  cavalry on the hill.  The Horse Grenadiers didn't lack courage, making three charges in the next three moves - sadly they were  'bounced back' twice and then suffered 1 SP loss. But they certainly kept the Austrian horse busy!  The supporting von Kleist infantry fought well,  keeping up a steady fire - for example repelling an Austrian cavalry charge and coolly volleying to force the  2nd Botta battalion to retreat, all  in one turn. 

Turn 9 also saw the Austrians really get stuck in - taking advantage of the road, their  remaining Jaeger infantry battalion charged the Prussian guns! There followed several rounds of suprisingly inconclusive close combat as the gunners stuck to their guns behind the shelter of the wall,  and neither side would give way. 

Turn 9 : Intrepid Jaegers charge Prussian guns

 

In Turn 10, things really heated up, with the Austrian gunners getting their eye in and hitting the Prussian Fusiliers - who could not risk retreating from their protected position, and so had to take a loss of 1 SP. To make matters worse, musketry from 1st battalion Botta also hit them, and took another 1SP.  The Fusiliers gave almost  as good as they got,inflicting 1 SP loss on 1st  Botta, but it was a bad turn for the Prussians and left the losses at 7 SPs  each.  

The Prussian infantry defended stoutly, their mustketry repeatedly finding its mark, but the Austrian gunners were even more effective, hitting the Prussian Fusiliers every turn- and those Fusiliers couldn't give up their position, so the casualties kept on  mounting.  On Turn 12 the cannonade  left them with only one SP strength remaining, and then  a volley from 1st  Botta battalion  scored another hit - the fusiliers finally retreated, to avoid destruction. At which point, the Austrian Jaegers were able to take advantage, jumping over  the vacated wall.  

Oops -  by making that move, I had broken a rule.  The Jaegers had been in contact with the Prussian gunners, and according to Bob's 'Portable Napoleonic Wargame' rules,  'if a unit is being faced by an enemy unit that is in an adjacent grid area..it can move..providing it does not move into a grid area that is adjacent to another enemy unit'. So they shouldn't have been able to move adjacent to the retreating fusiliers, only to withdraw away from the guns.  Oh dear!  I only realised this when looking through my notes to write this account, so at the time the game simply went on.  Maybe that's the best way to deal with rules mistakes - just keep calm and carry on. It's possibly both an advantage and a disadvantage of solo play - no aggrieved opponent annoyed at being 'cheated', but equally no second pair of eyes on the rules to point out mistakes and prevent them happening.  Oh well, c'est la (jeux de)  guerre.

Jaegers over the wall : oops, illegal move!

 

Also in turn 12,  the Prussian Horse Grenadiers charged yet again, and finally took 1SP from their Austrian opponents - some reward for their persistence. That left the losses at Austrians 10 SP, Prussians 9 SP - and crucially the Prussians reached their Exhaustion Point. 

Prussian General von Gehirne could use his brains, and knew the game was up - the best course now was to retire with as much as possible of his force intact.  Starting from  turn 13 the Prussian gunners limbered up their pieces and began to retire, while the von Kliest foot and Horse Grenadiers pulled back slowly, with the brave Fusiliers holding position, keeping up constant fire to deter the Austrian follow-up - their Jaegers were repeatedly hit and forced back.  But the rest of Dachs' attacking force made a general advance, the guns limbering up and moving forward to East Hill,  and both their cavalry units charging the Horse Grenadiers, inflicting casualties on them.     Turn 15 effectively ended the game: with all Prussian units near table edge, a volley from 1st Botta finally forced the Fusiliers to retreat off-table, taking their commander with them. 

At this point I called a halt, with the Prussians retiring  and the Austrians taking possession of the town of Rahden.  Casualties were even - 10 SPs lost each, though of course that was enough to bring the Prussians to their  Exhaustion Point.  Both sides had one 'veteran' ( i.e. average ) infantry  unit destroyed and a scattering of SP losses shared evenly  among  various units - though the Prussian Fusiliers were hard hit, losing 4 out of their 5 SPs. All this needs considering in terms of the campaign - it's not just a one-off battle, there are consequences, and I hope that's part of the fun. 

The End of the Affair - two remaining Prussian units retire

 

Many of the units should easily replace their losses, but the Fusiliers will need longer to recover. A simple scheme suggests itself - I'll say that  replacements and recovery of the wounded can restore 1 SP per unit per campaign turn, for the moment - only a very small amount of book-keeping will be required.  I've decided that the two routed/destroyed units are gone for good, their survivors having scattered to the four winds, or perhaps been allocated to make up losses in less depleted units.

 Just for fun,  I played out the battle using the 'Soldier King' board game's combat system - and it was a disaster for the attacking Austrians! The fortifications of the town gave a big advantage to the defenders and negated the Austrians' cavalry superiority: after 3 rounds of combat they had lost 8 points out of 12 and only inflicted 2 points - total defeat!   Maybe I should have given more advantage to the defence  on the tabletop, but what the heck, it was a fun game. 

I hope to continue with the campaign. Let's see where it takes us. How will the Prussians respond to this reverse?   Until next time,  keep safe and well, everyone.

Solving the Housing Shortage

The usual issues of Time and Space have meant that the battle at Rahden remains in hiatus - impatient grumblings may be heard from the troops confined to their storage box.  I hope to return to that very soon, but in the meantime a small diversionary effort  may be in order - let's look at some scenery. There were a couple of approving comments on the buildings of 'Rahden' that featured in the game, so I thought I'd show you them here. 

Keen-eyed readers will have noticed that none of  the previous 'Portable Seven Years War' battles have involved villages or towns - because I had no buildings in the right scale. Or so I thought:  but casting around for scenery for the town in my recent game, I remembered a few likely models acquired from The Works - I think they were sold as Xmas table decorations, at about £3 each. 

 I think they look suitably Central European. 

They needed some colouring, though. Being anything but a skilled painter, and also being in a hurry, I went for an extremely simple scheme - starting with thinned PVA as a sealer, then just a red/brown or grey roof, and white or buff walls, and a grey-brown base. 

Keeping the paint quite thin allowed the etched details of roof tiles, doors and the the clock on one of the houses  to show through, and the  simple overall effect seems in keeping with the generally nostalgic feel of my Seven Years War setup.  They bring to mind Charles Grant's home-made Germanic-looking buildings, as featured in his 'The War Game' and 'Battle - Practical Wargaming',  images imprinted on my mind since childhood. I couldn't really do anything else, could I? 

As you've seen, they were ready in time to play the role of 'Rahden' in the recent game, and looked fine, to my eyes.  I think they may see plenty more action. 

Finally, I should also show their special extra feature - not sure if it will ever be used in a game: 

Night actions, perhaps?  

I don't know if they are still available from The Works, but I think I've seen similar things in other gift/general merchandise type shops ( a shout-out to Roys of Wroxham, for East Anglian readers!), and it's the right season.. I'll take a look in my local branch once they re-open, as I think we are promised for non-essential shops in England next week. A couple more houses could be useful. 

Next time, back to the battle.  Meanwhile keep safe and well, everyone. 

Soldier King Campaign: Battle is Joined

My attempt at a 7YW-based campaign using the 'Soldier King' boardgame has thrown up its first battle, as the Austrians sieze the intiative to strike with superior force at the town of Rahden, where the Prussians have the advantage of what the game map calls 'fortifications'. I don't have any model fortifications, so I will take the excellent suggestion from Neil Patterson and simply assume the town is in a naturally strong defensive postion - assisted by my new-minted walls ( from my  previous post ).

So here we are: first the Prussian defenders of Rahden,  translated from the  ratings from the board game to the Strength Points (SP)  of 'The Portable Wargame'  - essentially  'Guards' become 'Elite'  and 'Veteran' become 'Average'.  All cavalry conveniently the same, i.e. 'Heavy', and I allocated each army one artillery unit , as artillery pieces  are not included in the board game, presumably just 'factored in' to available forces. 

von Gehirne and his gallant ( and suprised ) defenders

        Generalleutnant  von Gehirne  ( 6 SP )

        Von Kleist Horse Grenadiers, rated Elite    ( 4 SP ) 

        1st Battalion, 44th Fusiliers, rated Elite ( 5 SP ) 

        1st and 2nd Batalions, Von Kleist Frei Korps infantry, rated Average, ( each  4 SP )

        1  gun and  crew, rated Average  ( 2 SP ) 

    A total  of   25 SP, with Exhaustion Point after loss of 9 SP. 

 

  And the attacking Austrians, led by the experienced General Dachs : 

 

General Dachs' strike force

  

         General Dachs ( 6SP ) 

        1st and 2nd 'Grenzer' Cavalry, rated Elite ( each 4 SP ) 

        1st and 2nd Battalions Botta  Infantry, rated Elite ( each 5 SP  )

        1st and 2nd Battalions  'Wildganse' Jaeger,    rated Average ( each 4 SP ) 

        1 gun and crew, rated Average ( 2 SP )

    Totalling 34 SP, with Exhaustion Point after the loss of 12 SP. 

 

Now to the battlefield, and the battle!  The Southern outskirts of the town of Rahden, with the road from the south passing between hills and woods, and with some convenient walled enclosures making good defensive positions. To reflect the Austrian's grabbing the initiative in the campaign, I decided von Gehirne's troops would start in and around the town rather than fully 'dug in' on those hills, for example, as Dachs' Austrians hurried up the road to attack - entering in march column on Turn 1. The picture below looks South to North, with Austrians arriving in the foreground.

Raus! Raus! Prussian defenders at starting positions, Austrians arriving

 

Von Gehirne placed his gun and his elite  Fusiliers behind the walls by the road, with the von Kleist foot divided between the two flanks , and his Horse Grenadiers on his right (West) flank, hoping these three could race up to defensive positions on the hills outside the town.  Precious few units, though, and the cavalry outnumbered two-to-one.   

I gave the Austrians first move in Turn 1, and I used Bob Cordery's card-driven unit activation system,  whereby each side gets to activate a number of units each turn according to card draws.  The Austrians would be able to activate 3, 4 or 5 units each turn  and the Prussians 2, 3 or 4. The Austrians drew a '5' on turn 1, and accordingly 5 units marched onto the table from the south: both their cavalry units, their gun and one battalion each of Jaeger and Botta ( 'Guards' ) infantry. The Prussians drew only a two, still a bit sleepy perhaps? Von Kliest 2nd Foot in march column raced forward to secure the Eastern hill and stone-walled  enclosure,  while the Horse Grenadiers reached the Western hill. 

The fighting started on Turn 2, with the Prussian gun, overseen by Gehirne himself, getting first blood with a hit and 1 SP taken from 1st Austrian Jaegers ( caught in Column ), and the Horse Grenadiers charging downhill in line to catch the Austrian 1st Cavalry in column, hoping to knock them back, though in the event the melee was indecisive.  The Austrian 2nd Cavalry came to the rescue, charging into the Grenaders' flank and pushing them back onto the hill, whereupon something of an epic cavalry fight continued back and forth over the West Hill for  the next several turns. The Horse Grenadiers, supported by the 1st Von Kleist foot,  did a fine job against twice their number, while the dastardly Austrian horse even took to charging from the cover of the woods. By Turn 7, the Prussians were pushed off the hill but still intact, while the Austrian horse had suffered losses of  2 SPs  ( I used pennies as loss markers ). 

Prussian Horse Grenadiers dispute West Hill, heavily outnumbered

 

Meanwhile the Austrian foot and gun concentrated on the East Hill, bravely defended by the 2nd Von Kleist infantry, with the Prussian gun firing in support from the town. The Austrian gunners were not shooting very straight, making only one hit from five turns of shooting!  Their Jaegers were more determined, charging straight up the hill repeatedly, being repulsed no less than three times by musketry and close combat, and suffering 3 SP losses by turn 6, but crucially taking  2 SP from von Kleist, with the gunners' sole hit taking another SP. The defending Prussians could not afford to take 'retreat' results when hit, for fear of abandoning the walled enclosure, so were forced to take SP losses. 

Austrian Jaegers bravely - and repeatedly - assaulted  East Hill

I found the card-driven activations added a level of uncertainty and challenge to the commanders' task.   They could not assume they would be able to do everything they might like  to each turn, with limits on the numbers of units that could be activated. One result was that for a while the Austrians were too busy fighting with the units on the table to be able to spare activations to bring on their last couple of battalions!  The need to  keep attacking East Hill with infantry and bring up guns, meant that Dachs had to resist using too many activations on the possibly less decisive cavalry fight on the other flank, however demanding of attention  the swirling mass of horsemen might be! 

On Turn 7, something of a turning point, as the Austrian 1st Jaegers stood off and gave the Prussians a musket volley, scored a hit and took the last SP from 2nd von Kleist foot, breaking them and leaving East Hill there for the taking - only for the Prussian Fusiliers to let fly with their first volley, at long range from the town, and inflict the same punishment on the Jaegers, who were destroyed at the moment of triumph! 

End of Turn Seven - all to play for?

 

Which leaves us, at the end of Turn 7, with an 'interesting' situation - the Austrians have cleared the East Hill and pushed the Prussians back from West Hill, but the fight for the latter is by no means over, and the  main town is still defended by a gun and two foot units, one elite and manning the walls. The losses so far : Austrians  6 SP ( Exhaustion Point 12 SP ) ,  Prussians 4 SP ( Exhaustion Point 9 SP).  General Dachs has made progress, but the town looks a tough nut to crack.

Time ran out and the troops have been packed away, but the battle will resume another day. I hope this has been interesting to read, as it was indeed to play. Until the next time, keep well, everyone. 

     

   

We're Gonna Build A Wall..

Botta Regiment wonder if the Mexicans paid for this?

 

Having set up the premise for the first engagement of my 'Soldier King' boardgame-based campaign, considerations of  Time and Space have been in play, what with work and some chores arising from the renewed 'lockdown' - hence my apologies for a period of silence here. Now turning my mind to the promised battle, I realised I had set a trap for myself by taking note of the 'fortified' nature of the fictional location to be fought over.  Visions of Vauban-style fortifications and elaborate sieges I will leave to the most excellent MS Foy - here at The Ragged Soldier, resources are more limited. I thought about horse and musket period 'Lines' a la Marlborough and Villars 'Ne Plus Ultra', but I'm not certain how to quickly and simply model such an installation  ( must have a go one day, though, having recently read Maurice De Saxe's Reveries on how to attack and defend 'lines' ) .  In the end, I've decided on a much simpler approach - I will just allow the defending Prussians plenty of good stout stone walls to line up behind. 

So, taking a look at available scenery - oops, no walls.  Well, some quite nice model walls ( acquired a few years ago from Total System Scenic ),  but all 15mm scale, which come up roughly to the  knees of the 25mm Seven Years War figures - that's not going to worry the attackers. I want to get the game going pretty soon, therefore there was only one thing for it.  In the immortal words of the 45th POTUS (now, who was that exactly?)  "We're Gonna Build a Wall.."

Score along the lines, fold and glue..

 

Resources were available: good old-fashioned cardboard cereal boxes. I'm glad to say, it proved fairly simple even for a handicraft klutz such as me to come up with a one-piece, scored-folded-and-glued  'box',  100mm long, 15mm high and about 5mm deep, and then glue that to a card base. What's more, when allowing the glue to set, all those elastic bands that the Postman drops on the street, and I pick up because 'they'll come in handy someday' finally did!   The choice of 100mm is a cunning plan - they are therefore exactly the width of my Hexon terrain hexes, if laid along the centre line.  

Waiting on the glue drying - thanks to Royal Mail

 

As to finishing, all  equally improvised. A quick coat of grey acrylic paint, then a very approximate 'stonework' pattern drawn on with a black fineliner pen. It's not exactly Flemish Bond, and I assume that any wall actually built to this pattern would fall down even before it was finished! But it looks like a wall, more or less.   I did try applying a wash of  Army Painter 'Light Tone' to one section, only then realsing that the fineliner pen's ink is not permanent. Debate rages over whether the resulting blurry effect is an improvement or a disaster - for the moment that one is going to be kept at the back, like my school woodwork efforts inevitably were at Parents' Day. 

Based and painted: the one ruined/improved by Light Tone wash is at back right

At this point I'd like to fondly remember a lovely old friend of my parents, now long deceased, whose actual job was to do this sort of thing - gloriously titled 'Cardboard Engineer'. I think he designed advertising materials for shops.  Presumably he was very careful when going out in the rain. George, if you are looking down now and wincing, I'm very sorry. (  I also  remember a line from Alexei Sayle "my girlfriend works as a model - this week she's being an Airfix Stuka Dive-Bomber".  I'll get my coat..).    

So there we are - The Ragged Soldier's beginner-grade scenery.  I still need to think of  something to 'weather' them a bit - maybe dry-brushing rather than a wash? And I need to use permanent ink in future!  The green bases need a second coat, there are some rough corners to be trimmed off, and gaps to be filled with PVA glue and painted over,  and no doubt any sensitive soul  taking a close look will be shocked to their aesthetic core - or just laugh at my pathetic attempts. But from a distance on the gaming table, they will do fine.  I've got some walls, and battle can commence. On time and zero budget - how did your wall go, Donald? 

Next time, to battle - keep well, everyone. And of course, on this Remembrance Sunday: 'Lest We Forget'.