Chotusitz - The Game

I have belatedly had time to update my blog with photos of our recent game at Triples.  The game featured figures from four collections and certainly looked impressive on the table.  The terrain boards and scenery are I think in keeping with the Old School theme and certainly we received a lot of good feedback on the game which seemed to hit a certain resonance with the public.  

We played the War Game rules with one to two house modifications, particularly around cavalry melees.  The players had only limited experience with the rules but after a few turns all found the game mechanics easy to play and they had fun playing the game.  

Overall the game was declared an Austrian victory with the Prussian Cavalry being out performed on both wings which sealed the fate of the Prussian Infantry in the centre.   

I spent most of the time discussing the game, rules and figures with the public and I would not be surprised if Prince August do not get a few orders for moulds as a result. 

Here are a few pictures to give you a taster of the game.  I hope to put on another game in the future. 

Old School - Heavy Metal

I have recently recruited some extra gunners to bring my artillery up to full strength ready for our big game at Triples next week.  

The Duchy of Calvados artillery are seen here calibrating their weapons ready for the impending game at Chotusitz where they will used as Austrians      

The Electorate of  Fusrtenburg-Lederhosen have not only been bought up to strength but have also had the artillery re painted in a natty black which complements nicely their blue coats.  

Cheap and cheerful movement trays

As my Prince August forces continue to grow I am considering the implications of single based figures. I do not intend to go for multi basing as these figures will be used by my son and I. Kids like the idea of single figures and he also gets to play with these as Toys - lining them up and knocking then over. 

I had considered going down the magnetic base route using steel bases and magnetic strip on bases but decided that this was a costly method. 

So instead I have quickly knocked up some movement trays using free off cut cardboard (courtesy of local Ilkley Art Shop impresario and fellow Old Schooler Tim (aka General Grecian) and stirrers from a local high street coffee shop

I sized the tray and extra 5mm front and side than the my base size, which is 20 by 30mm for infantry and 20 by 60mm for cavalry, and quickly stuck them together with lashings of PVA glue.

Above a finished natural tray for 6 infantry or 3 cavalry and below a 12 infantry/6 cavalry tray modelled here by the dashing Regiment Hock

New Regiment Mobilized

A new Regiment has been added to the Elecorate of Furstenberg-Lederhosen orders of battle. 

The Regiment Hock has a distinctly Germanic cut and appearance. It has yet to see action but will be among the ranks of the Prussian forces for our upcoming Chotusitz game at Triples in Sheffield next month. In all we  will now have over 1200 Prince August figures on the table for the game.

Chotusitz at Triples - preparation

I recently had the pleasure of a game with Steve Metheringham and friends as part of the preparation for our big game at Triples in May. We have decided to put on Chotusitz rather than Fontenoy at the show

So we quickly set up a game to run through the rules and make sure we were happy with how we going to run the game.  We of course now have the new updated version of the War Game rules and we will be using these.

We have not yet finalised the orders of battle but we are looking to field 20 or so Infantry regiments and 9 cavalry units plus a few Light infantry units. We are probably going to give the Prussians some Light Infantry even though they did not have any at the battle. 

Here are some photos of the game we played, with about half the numbers of units we will be using, to give you a feel of what it will look like. The terrain boards on the day will be using my green old school terrain  and the table will be 12 by 6  

The War Game Rules 2012

The new version of the War Game Rules dropped through my post box yesterday. I had to wait until last night before I got a chance to scan through the rules. Charles S Grant has produced and updated set of  these classic rules and has clarified a number of points and made these rules more accessible and easier to use.  The rules are clearly written with sumptuous photographs.  

The Rules I noticed clarified include:-

Officer Casualties

Unit sizes, number of Officers - Cavalry now have 4 officers instead of 3

Disorganisation

Post melee actions -follow up, pursuit and rally  

The Cannister cone measurement confirmed

Frei Corps and Legions

Using smaller units 

Rules for Engineering

The rules are available from Ken Trotman and are a must have for any Old School gamer as well as anyone  who wants a good set of rules to start 18th Century gaming. 

http://www.kentrotman.com/adds/wargamecg.htm

Erbprinz - Flats

I have got my first order of German Zinnfiguren delivered this week and was really pleased with the figures I got.  We some trepidation I painted up the first 6 figures of my Erbprinz unit based on Peter Youngs unit in  Charge.  

I used acrylics paint and inks and have used a layed highlight as I would 28mm full rounds figures.  Highlighting to create depth is the key to making these figures really pop out. 

 The first 2 photos show the figures unbased and the final 2 attached to simple terrained bases. I have made the bases thicker than normal so that they can be easily picked without damaging the figures.  

I have bought enough figures to for a 24 man infantry unit plus officers as well as 15 Austrian Cuirassier

The figures are from Fechner who figures are a good price and has the advantage of taking Paypal. Postage was 6.50 euro to the UK  

http://www.fechner-zinnfiguren.de/shop/katalog.php