Seven Years War with Black Powder... again.

This blog entry is quite late but unavoidably so, due to a sudden death in my family. My wife and I made the trek from Southwestern Ontario to Scranton, PA for my aunt's funeral. She was the last of my mother's siblings and passed on at age 91 in her own residence. I had spoken to Mary Frances just last week and I'm glad I did.

Still, before I left, I did play a game with Martin and Andy at the Hamilton Road Gaming Group. I pushed Prussian while they handled the troops of France. It was an interesting game. I was sure early on that I was going to bet badly beaten, but things evened up after a while. In the end, I had to retreat and leave the French in possession of the field.

We used Warlord Games Black Powder rules and Martin and Andy took all the photos.

Early in the game... I've already had my light cavalry and light infantry cut to pieces.

the view from the satellite.

The staging tray with some reinforcements and some casualties.

I came onto the table quickly with a regiment of hussars and a regiment of freikorps light cavalry as well as a unit of light infantry. They were all quickly disposed of by the French cavalry. I probably should have either kept them from attacking the heavier French cavalry or held them back for a later entry and rushed the flanks. Live and learn, I suppose.

My Prussian line infantry followed and held up under the pressure of the French. Eventually I was worn down and the first line of units were beaten back although the second held firm.

Another view of the entire field.

Andy brings up the French lines.

As I watch (and get my grenadier brigade ready), Andy continues his advance.

This hurt! A French gun enfilades the Prussian dragoons. In Black Powder, enfilade means double dice thrown.

As seen from the Badyear blimp.  The evil, nasty enfilading cannon... The advance of the French infantry... Von Zeiten leading the cuirassiers to battle...

I wasn't watching my flanks so Andy brought up a cannon and enfiladed a dragoon regiment. By this time, the victorious French cavalry had been shot up by the Prussian infantry and had retreated. (In the photo just above, the French horse is hovering behind the French infantry, but in front of the reserve grenadier brigade.) Because the Prussian foot is superbly drilled according to the rules, they stick around longer and will do more things than the average French unit. Still I had lost my light brigade, had one line brigade in retreat, and was having my heavy cavalry kicked around. When half of my brigades were broken and in retreat, the game was lost and I withdrew... to fight another day!

The French gun in enfilade with 8- count 'em - 8 casualties on the dragoons. A break test was called for and once again, discretion proved the better part of valour.

 

Yes, I rolled an eleven which means the regiment evaporates.
Martin required me to point out my shame, which I did... because it's only a game!

Why they like to take my photo, I'll never know. I think my opponents wanted to show that the cavalry had evaporated and Von Zeiten's cuirassiers were in retreat.

At one of the other tables, Wayne and Kevin returned to Ypres for more WWI work including gas and shell holes and other terrors. At the third table - back by the windows - role playing was the order of the day. The HRGG provides a place for a number of games to play. Some of us do historicals most of the time and we come early and set up close to the room's door since figures look so nice and draw people's attention. Any one can bring any game any Saturday and offer it to those assembled. It works best if players use the HRGG's Facebook group ahead of time to say what they intend to offer. That give people choices.

Wayne and Kevin set out the Germans and Canadians in this Great War punch-up. I think the day-glo yellow football-mortar bomb belongs to one of Kevin's children.

Dice, troops, and gas - what a way to spend the day!

"Let me just pick up the casualty caps and get them out of your way."
I get beat more often than I win, but I'll keep playing. As Andy has said "Any day you get to play is a good day."
My personal motto remains "Anybody can grow up; it takes a real man to be a boy all his life."
(That applies to women as well.)

So just for fun, I add this:

Urrah! Urrah! Urrah!

The Hamilton Road Gaming Group found it's way into the steppes of Russia on Saturday with a Disposable Heroes game - Soviet Russians vs. National Socialist Germans. With 7 players and 2 "overseers", over 200 Russian figures and 8 Soviet tanks in two waves with reinforcements, Germans in trenches, and Robby's scheming Hetzer, it was quite a game.

The Soviet left flank gets ready to advance across an open field. This was to be an early war straight assault by a massive group of Russian infantry with some armour support - hence the KV-1, the T34/76, and the two T26 in the infantry group. The double turreted T26 didn't last long. The German "Crash-boom" AT gun saw to that.

More of the Soviets with a mortar, sniper team out front, and an anti-tank rifle in the third rank.



A detail of one of Andy's T34's. Patriotic slogans



The beastly T35 (5 turrets, 11 crew) which DIED the second turn after it was deployed. The Hetzer took a shot and disabled it, causing the crew to bail out. The next turn Robby shot it and destroyed it with... an ANTI-TANK RIFLE which hit the main turret, the least armoured spot on the machine! Then the remarks began: "Captain, the billiards room is filling up with smoke!" "Captain, there's a hole in the casino wall!" Such a laugh. Too bad, it was part of my command. Nice model, Ralph.

 

The flag bearer takes a prominent place in the advance. Luckly, there were six-siders in the field. The dark green figure in the background is a "Political Officer", one of three who saw a lot of business that day, assisting squads to recover their morale by... shoting one of the squad. (The rules allow it.)

Early in the game, the German trenches were busy and packed. Andy's trenches made their debut in this game.

As the game went on, the trenches became more "spacious."



The NKVD Machine gun teams (here NKVD and Border Guards) served as regular MG teams rather than "interdiction squads." The Iron Ivan rules permit them to fire on their own troops to... 'encourage' them to remain firm in morale.
Not this time, comrades. The T34 in the foreground is one of my models. It died in the first term to Robby's Hetzer lurking behind the German trenches. The blamed thing knocked out three Soviet tanks and was working on a fourth.



A different view of the German trench works. Heavy MG's, LMG's, an anti-tank rifle and plenty of regular infantry cause a lot of damage to the Russian advance, making the "second wave" of returned 'dead' castings necessary.

Robby in his "Hetzer Commandant" persona.

On the Soviet left, the troops chased the Germans out of the trench works. On the right, the Red Army whittled down the German until they withdrew. In the centre, there was a hot and heavy fight over a farm house with grenades being exchanged (the hard way) and a German Marder holding strong until it was knocked out. The German troops withdrew to another defensive line a ways back - off the board. A marginal victory for the Socialist Motherland, but a good strategic withdrawal for the National Socialist Fatherland.


The farmhouse, the centre of the German defensive line with the Marder to the right, Russian infiltrators out front, and an HMG to the left. Plenty of transport, too.

 

A photo taken through one of Kevin's periscopes. The 'scope is great; the photo is poor; the figs are my Russians. The Political Officer is the dark green blur in the foreground.


It was  a  good game for sure. That'll be my last game before Easter - a busy time for me. The week after Easter is out, too. Longwoods! The first reenacting event of the season.