Saturday, 30 April 2022
SYW 6mm basing
Monday, 25 April 2022
SYW - 6mm
I started a SYW project in 6mm over 5 years ago as a solution to losing my permament gaming table when we moved house. The plan was to build large units of 48 infantry and 24 cavalry figures and play the War Game on a kitchen table.
I have recently be playing DBN with my old 15mm Napoleonic collection and I am about to play test DBSYW. Rather than use my 28mm collection I thought this would be an opportunity to use the 6mm SYW collection. For DBSYW I plan to use 2 bases to represent a unit.
Well I undertook a quick review of what I had and of course I quickly decided that I needed some more units.
First up some Prussian Grenadiers of the Braunschweig-Bevern Infantry Regiment.
For the Austrians I have added some Grenadiers of the Deutschmeister Infantry Regiment.
And finally some Prussians of the 3rd Dragoon Regiment. Freshly varnished with a coat of gloss varnish.
Wednesday, 6 April 2022
Battle of Landshut - DBN
Today I played out the 4th battle of my 1809 campaign using DBN. The scenario is taken from Command and Colours.
The French objective is to inflict 7 units lost and capture Landshut. The Austrians win if they inflict 7 loses on the French. If Landshut is held by the Austrians is counts as a French unit lost.
This is a tough game for the French who are faced with rivers that can only be crossed by one of the bridges or the ford.
Moulton commands the French left and gets 2 CAPs per turn. Lannes commands the bulk of the French army. The Austrian commander Hillier objective is to hold the position.
The French open their attack with Mouton clearing the Austrian Jager and cavalry before advancing his Infantry towards Landshut. His light cavalry easily see off their counterparts and breakthrough and attack the Austrian infantry defending the bridge. After winning the initial melee the cavalry they are however repulsed by the Austrians who form square.
In the centre Lannes launch attacks across the river hopingto break the Austrians and allow French Infantry to attack Landshut in support of Mouton.
Unfortunately for the French the Austrian defence, with plentiful artillery and light Infantry support on the flanks, is too strong and the French attacks are parried.
With both sides loses mounting the French have one chance of winning by launching Moutons columns across the bridge against Landshut.
The first attack, led by Grenadiers, takes heavy fire as it goes in and in the resulting close combat loses and are destroyed. Mouton is in the forefront of the attack and leads a charmed life as he orders of fresh Infantry to charge across the bridge into Landshut. The next two rounds of combat are tied so each side takes 2 loses and are shaken.
The game comes down the to the wire with the forth close assault being a winner takes all. Whoever loses will have lost 7 units however this means that if the French win they take Landshut and win the game. After calculating the melee factors the French are on 5 and the Austrians 7. The Austrians win the combat and the game.
The Austrians now lead the campaign 3 - 1.
Saturday, 2 April 2022
Teugen-Hausen (19 April 1809) - DBN
I played the 3rd game this week of my solo DBN 1809 campaign. This time I did Teugen Hausen using the Command and Colours scenario as the basis for the set up and orders of battle.
The two ridges are key to the battle and these count as 1 unit lost to the side not in occupation. The Austrians start occupying one of the ridges. To win requires 8 units to be inflicted at the end of a complete turn.
The French are the attacker and start by occupying the ridge on their left before a full out attack on the Austrian occupied ridge on the left.
The Austrians react to the attack by moving up reserves in support. The French columns are ravaged by musketry and canister but they prove to string for the Austrian defenders.
The Austrians are slowly moving a column around the French left flank. The battle rages on the French right flank as the Austrians counter attack. The French however are able to throw back the Austrians and consolidate their control of the ridge.
With the Austrians reaching 8 units lost (6 units plus 2 for the French control of both ridges) the Austrian launch an attack on the French left hoping to dispute control of the ridge. The French win the combat and with that the game ends in a French victory 8 points to 3.
The Austfian lead in the campaign is now 2 - 1.
Thursday, 31 March 2022
Sacile - 16 April 1809 - DBN
Another day, another game of solo DBN. DBN are perfect for my solo gaming now that I have retired. Today I am doing Sacile.
For this game I gave both C in C a -1 on their Cap dice. Each side has a sub commanders a -2 on their Caps dice. This reflected the below average command capability of Eugene and Archduke John. This hindered the French most as at critical moments they often only had 1 Cap to play with. The French were further hampered by the numerous streams which bisected the position and are treated as bad going.
The French are the attackers with Austrian defence based on 3 villages (Non linear fortifications in DBN terms). Each village captured by the French counted as an Austrian unit destroyed. The French have 19 units and the Austrian 17 units. Victory goes to the side that eliminates 8 enemy units.
The set up as seen from the Austrian side. The Austrians are set up in defensive positions with their Light Infantry garrissioning the 3 villages. The bulk of their cavalry is on their left. The French have concentrated on their left and centre and plan to attack the 2 villages in this sector before the Austrians are able to redeploy to meet the threat
Tuesday, 29 March 2022
Pordenone - 15 April 1809 - DBN
Thursday, 10 February 2022
Operation Battle Axe
I popped over to see James R last night for a our first game of Rommel by Sam Mustafa. James has an extensive collection of Western Desert figures and has a gridded desert cloth he uses for his Crusades games.
A general overview of the set up after the British first move. The largish 8" squares easy accommodated 3 units and did not look too crowded. The ridge line was impassable except via the 3 passes with the Halfafa Pass being defended by Italians from the Trento Division.