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

The French advance on their left starts off well and is initially well coordinated. The Austrian lines look solid but will they hold.

The French support the attack in the centre whilst holding back their right. In DBN you never have enough Caps to do what you want so it is better to have a plan and stick to it. 

The French attack in the centre initially captures the village however a swift counterattack by the Austrian recaptured it only for the French to attack again forcing the Austrians back. A final Austrian attack is fought off and the French are able to Garrison the position but at a high cost in French lives.

On the left the French take casualties but they push forward supported by light cavalry.  In the melee the French column bonus proves decisive as they destroy the Austrian line and in doing so recover a hit which recovers them from shaken.

The victorious French push on however the Austrian cavalry have arrived in the nick of time. The heavy cavalry charge the advancing infantry with their lights taking on their French counterparts.

The Austrians fight the heavy cavalry melee first. The French roll and are un prepared. Each side is therefore on a base 3 as the French get no benefit for being in column against cavalry. The Austrian roll a 5 and the French a 1. The French are doubled and therefore destroyed as they have been attacked by heavy cavalry.  As the leading unit has been destroyed the second unit in the column is also eliminated. 

The Austrian heavy cavalry breakthrough onto the French light cavalry who nevertheless throw back the Austrian cavalry.  The French have now lost 7 units and the next turn the Austrians, although themselves losing 7 units, are able to eliminate one more French unit to secure a 8-7 win.

The Austrians are now 2 - 0 up my 1809 campaign.

Pordenone - 15 April 1809 - DBN

I am using DBN to refight the 1809 campaign. The small game table (2ft square) and quick games are perfect for solo gaming on a kitchen or, when the weather is good, garden table.

I am going to be using my old 15mm collection which has been rebased and with new flags issued. The games are going to use the scenarios available for Command and Colours with a bit of tweaking here and there.

For my first game I selected the clash at Pordenone in Italy. The Austrians under Archduke John have invaded Italy which is defended by Eugene Army of Italy. This is a fairly even game with 11 units a side with Austrians attacking. Victory goes to the side which eliminates 5 units. If the French lose Pordenone it counts as an eliminated unit.

The Austrians push forward their cavalry on the flank supported by the horse artillery.  The French are out numbered so give ground before the weight of numbers reduces the French cavalry to a single unit.  

In the centre the Austrians advance 2 light infantry units and are able to quickly inflict loses on the French defending Pordenone.  French light cavalry un successfully attacks the Austrian artillery supporting the attack on Pordenone.

The French are losing so they launch a flanking march of Infantry and artillery which is slowed down by an Austrian Light cavalry unit. With the scores tied at 4 units lost the Austrians are able to gain one more hit on the French infantry defending Pordenone removing it from play and giving the Austrians a 5-4 victory.

This was my 3rd game of DBN and my first solo. I had to check the rules a few times but the game took about 1 hour to play.

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.

The 15th Panzer Division opens with an attack on Fort Capuzzo and after 2 attacks captures the Fort.

The British start advancing along the coast with towards Halfaya Pass and Solum, seen here defended by Italian Infantry.

Both sides used there artillery to support on their troops. In Rommel they can add their barrage value to combats.

The British advance to attack the German on Hafid Ridge. This proved a tough but to crack with the extra AT gun capability and the prepared defences proved too strong in defence for the British before the German 5th Light Division arrived on their flank.

A couple of views from behind the German position.

At this point we called the game and agreed that we had learnt a lot about the rules and will reset the game and play it again next week.

Charge Rules

I use the Charge rules for gaming with my classic Napoleonics. Yesterday I went to Vapnartak in York for my first Wargame show in 2 years. It was busy however there was sufficient space as there were no large demo games or the bring and buy.

The show was predominantly a trader show. I has gone along to catch up with LAOW forum members with nothing much on my shopping list other than some MDF bases.

Well I was pleasantly surprised to find an old copy of the Athena Charge booklet for the principle sum of three pounds.

This is a slimmed down version of the full Charge rules using smaller units and half scale measurements and was published in 1981.

On the back page there is useful play sheet.

However what is most useful are the Napoleonic amendments and I am  pleased to have copy of these.

On other matters I have almost finished rebasing my 15mm North Africa collection. Italian tanks, artillery and Bersaglieri motorcycles are now done.

Those men on grey horses are terrifying

I have had a squadron of Scots Greys on my painting table for a while now.  So this weekend I took a break from my 15mm WW2 and finished them off.

I got these original Hinton Hunt figures a few years ago and the previous owner had made alterations including docking the tails.  They needed a bit of work particularly on the swords which were fragile. The trumpeter was made by a transplant from a Newline figure.

I decided that I wanted a variety of grey horses.  I googled different images and then painted each horse trying to match the pictures. 

The figures themselves took some to complete. The detail was hard to see and  the red, yellow and white needed multiple coats of paint to build up the depth of colour.

I have another 6 figures undercoated awaiting their turn in the painting queue.

Rapid Fire Reloaded

I have a fair amount of WW2 in my collection including some old 1/72 which I built in the early 70s.  I still have the rules I used at the time at the Richmond Wargames club, hand written, in a school exercise book.

Over Christmas I got a copy of the Rapid Fire Reloaded rules and liked the look of the changes made to the original RF rules. They have an old school feel.

So over the last few weeks I thought I would get my old 15mm Western Desert collection out and have started fix up broken bits and rebasing them.

Here are a few of the British I have done so far.

In RFR each vehicle represents 5 and 3 AFVs make up a company.  Here as a company of Crusader 2s.

A company of Honeys.

3 motor companies on the move.

A motor company consists of a carrier platoon with Boyes AT rifle and 3 bases of infantry in a 15cwt truck.

Over the remainder of the month I plan to complete rebasing the rest of my British and Italians ready for a small game in February.

Ayton Wargaming Weekend

I have been away this weekend in East Ayton, near Scarborough, for a weekend of wargaming with the LAOW 

I arrived on Friday and joined in an ACW game using a set of rules based on the Perry's Firepower set.

I commanded two union brigades and faced three brigades of rebels. 

My first brigade looks across the field at a mass of yelling rebs intent on overthrowing our lines.

My second brigade had already been in action and retired to recover and reform. I managed to rally some of the men and re order the ranks. Before sending them forward into the cauldron of combat.

The Confederates were massing their third brigade to take the theimportant crossroads in the centre of the table. But for some unexplained reason the brigade failed to move forward any further failing 3 activations in a row.

On Saturday morning I put on a game using my classic Napoleonics using the classic Charge rules, with a few of my own amendments. The game featured the French facing a combined Anglo-Prussian army. Although out numbered the French had a central position and had the opportunity to beat the British before the Prussians could force a defile and capture the village in the valley.

The game played fast and furious with the Prussian initial attack on the village being thrown back. The Russo German legion slowly advance through the hilly woods.

The French bombard the British, successfully destroy one of the guns, and slowly advance. The British launch the Lifeguards in an attempt to slow the French however the French stand firm and easily repel the British Cavalry.  

In the centre the British Fusiliers move forward and are supported by the Brunswick Cavalry who clash with a regiment of French Dragoons. The melee see saws backwards and forwards before both sides fall back to recover. 

The British Infantry are still holding the ridge and with the French Infantry strength reduced Bonaparte decides to break off using his still intact cavalry to cover the retreat.

After a spot of lunch I spent the afternoon playing a 24 point game of DBN with Alex T one of the authors of the rules. The game was an 1813 engagement between Austrians and French.

The game was set up with the Austrian  attacking the French. The French had garrisonned a built up area and non linear fortification. As this was only my second game of DBN I decided to attack both.

The dice gods were with the Austrians who successfully captured the BUA and NLF  and turned and destroyed the French right.  The French quickly reached their 12 unit loss break point and the Austrians claimed a victory.

Sunday morning dawned cold with a touch of snow. We gathered and set up the group game of shiny toy soldiers using the 'A Gentlemans War' rules.  In all we had 12 players and we werre split up with our own00 section of table and opponent. 

The game was set as an invasion of Albion by a coalition of various european armies, both real and imaginary. I was on the side of the invaders and was up against Mr H, seen here in the green shirt.

My forces deployed at the start of the game.

The British slightly outnumbered me so I decided to play a bit more defensively rather than my normal aggressive tactics. My brave boys take up their positions ready to pour murderous fire  on the British.

The Brotish lead unit of Scots win the prise for the best troops on the table with those rather natty looking trousers.

My initial volleys damage the advancing Scots and the Post Office rifles seen with the white pith helmets in the background.

The British are however able to deploy their Infantry and either the extra numbers start to take a heavy toll of my army.

With the British cavalry successfully defeating my cavalry on the flank it was time for me to concede.

In all a jolly good weekend.