... While you're busy making other plans

"Life is what happen to you, while you're busy making other plans."

I'm not a great John Lennon fan, and this strikes me as a very true statement. Just like the old saw of ministry - "Ministry takes place in the interruptions."

Needless to say, I haven't blogged in a while. For reasons unknown and unforseen, things have become busy for me. I've had time -at times- but I haven't taken what time there was for writing a blog.

So now up and at 'em!

A few weeks ago, Martin and I played a game using Warlord Games' Pike & Shotte rules. We're the only two in the Games Group that have armies for that period and we hack at each other every so often. So Martin's French fought my Swedes. He was aided by Rich and Derek while Bear and Matt were my assistant generals

Martin has "director-itis" and has taken to videoing things. So here's the intro to the game:

I always enjoy these games... and there's an outside chance I'll win one someday.

One of Martin's French infantry brigades with regimental guns

My Swedish/German brigade.
The red beads indicate casualties.

Bear's cavalry wing, including the Finnish Hackapells.
You also have a good view of my Swedish Yellow Regiment.

Selfish self-promotion: My Irish made an appearance after many years in a box - 4 units of Galloglaich and 2 of Bonnachts, who were Spanish sword-and-buckler men in another life. It appears that Gustavus Adolphus had hired some Galloglaich for his campaigns in the Baltic countries. I don't know how true that is, but it allows me a foot in the door.

Almost at push of pike

Still closer.

As things ended up, Matt's cavalry wing was crushed. Bear's wing was intact but having trouble getting untracked. The Swedish infantry centre brigades has either fallen back or were in difficulty. Here's the latest from the Martin News Network:

There's more to come, so watch for my next entry.

Pike & Shotte while on holiday

Saturday, I was not "otherwise engaged" so Martin and I took our periodic grudge match to the table at the Hamilton Road Games Group. Bear assisted me with my Swedish army and Martin's French were on the table with Kevin joining in later in the game. We used Warlord Games' Pike & Shotte rules.
We realized that a good portion of both of our armies were actually Germans. The French (with Martin standing in as "The Red Eminence") hired loads of German mercenaries. The Swedes under Gustav Adolph did as well and also hired Scots. The odd part of this game is that during the "French phase" of the Thirty Years War, the Swedish army was bankrolled by the French who wanted to keep the Hapsburg power in check, even though one might think that the Catholic French would not side with the Lutheran Swedes. By that time in the war, it was all power politics and religion was far down the list.
We laid out just about equal armies, while both acknowledging that the Swedes should have been outnumbered. Martin had just purchased the Thirty Years War supplement, The Devil's Playground, and that allowed some special rules for the Swedish army (like salvo firing for the infantry) and reconfigured the army list a bit. The Swedes are limited in how many cuirassiers they can have on the table, but the supplement added a category of "Swedish light horse" to the list - actually cuirassiers with lightened armour. The number of Finnish Hakapelli regiments is increased, although I only took one. Much of Martin's cavalry were the heavily armoured cuirassiers but my lighter horse can countercharge when attacked. We were not able to try out the salvo rules due to circumstances.

The Swedes had the first move and I attempted to throw my flank guards out quickly. Bear's left flank horse and arquibusiers moved well as did the medium guns of the artillery. My infantry moved slowly, but my right flank guards of cavalry skirmishers, Finn, and Scots, refused to move. It's so annoying when an entire battaglia "falls asleep." This continued later into the game.

Martin's French infantry advance in column while his German regiments advance in line of battle.
In Pike & Shotte, column does not move quicker, but it will always move at least one move even if the battaglia commander fails his command roll.

Bear's artillery and Gustavus Adolphus with his bodyguard of the day.

My Swedish infantry attempted to advance in column.
The commander failed his command roll a few times, but I forgot about the "move anyway" ability of the column.

Bear's cavalry of the near left flank - Cuirassiers and Swedish light horse.

My right flank - mounted skirmishers, Hakapelli (with the sky blue flag) and mercenary horse.

The advance of both sides was ponderous at best. Martin's right soon engaged Bear's cavalry. I wasn't clear on an order and the Swedish cuirassiers came up to menace the French-paid German infantry. I had wanted them to go the other way, but it turned out all right and was probably for the best. The Germans soon formed hedgehog and the French regiments did the same soon after. Bear moved his guns to the edge of the central hill but since they were medium guns, they never did get the range on the French army. Martin's artillery was similarly less than effective for the most part. My light battalion guns never even got into range since the infantry wouldn't move!

Martin's German troops

The bodyguard follows the general and the artillery.

Martin's far right wing faces Bear's far heavier cavalry. Those are Croat hussars 'way out by the edge of the table.

Bear moved the cuirassiers and the Swedish light horse to the right. I hoped they would move to the left and crush Martin's wing, but this actually worked out better since it imtimidated all the infantry. If I could've moved the Swedish infantry up, their battalion guns and salvo firing musketeers would have made mincemeat of Martin's foot troop.
That was not to be.

French troops form the classic hedgehog at the command of their great captain, Turenne.

The Hand of God resets a German pike-and-shot regiment. Bear's one cuirassier unit menaces the battalion gun in the background. The dice keep track of unit casualties.

When my right flank cavalry woke up ("Good mornin', boys. Coffee and herring perhaps?"), I realized where Martin had placed his cuirassiers - right, just in front of my skirmishers, mercenary harquibusiers, Hakapelli, and commanded Scots shot. I was in trouble. My skirmishers engaged Martin's and my troops threw Martin's back. As I continued to move forward, the next move's command roll was "12" - Box-cars - a blunder! Oy vey! The entire wing had to move to the right, which took the skirmisher and the mercenary cavalry off the table. I guess they had a dental appointment or something. Anyway those two units were lost to me, leaving the Hakapelli and the commanded shot holding the bag. I was able to send a small unit of dragoons to their aid but it was too little, too late.

French and Swedish cavalry skirmishers fight. Martin's troops are proper TYW harquebusiers firing from the saddle.
My unit is ECW Scots dragoons who will be used for this purpose.

After the skirmishers and the mercenaries fell of the edge of the world, the Finns grimly held the line.

Swedish dragoons changed direction, crossed the ford, and attempted to add something to the right flank.

By this point in the battle, Bear's command on the left was a bit scattered, but was also threatening the French infantry. My guns were out of range and my infantry had just started to slowly advance. (Low command rolls, but at least they were moving.) My right was in trouble, but a forest there made for a bottle neck without a ford behind it that would coup up the French cavalry if it came on.

The swirling cavalry melee on the left swirls on.

Heavy-weight French cavalry facing much-lighter right flank.

Finally the infantry decides to move... and they weren't even mercenaries on strike!
(Irish pikes from my ECW Irish Conferate army impressed by the Swedish part of my brain.)

Bear's cuirassiers take on one of Martin's battalion guns. Hail shot was too much for the horse and they fell back,
but in decent order at least.

The cavalry reserve eyes the French hedgehogs, hoping for a break.

Bear's German mercenary cavalry had turned to face Martin's German mercenary cavalry which had originally turned to face some Swedish light horse that broke and took off. There was more fighting to come out here.

It was getting on to cerfew time at the library, so we called it. The centres of either army were hardly engaged. The Swedish left was in good shape and the cuirassiers were busily (although a bit impotently) threatening the French infantry. The Swedish infantry was taking it's bloody time coming up while the Swedish right was in serious trouble. It probably was a draw at best. And it was fun - always the best part.

Lessons learned:

• Don't forget the rules, especially when they actually allow you to move!
• Our tables are probably too wide. We should start further in.
• The Swedish strengthd are aggression and fire power. The salvo rule permits them to fire just as they charge then come on with pike and musket butt. I want to see it happen; it should be messy. The same thing with Swedish artillery; it's lighter and has to move closer to be in any way effective.
• Gustavus Adolphus can cause and entire battaglia/brigade/division to move with a "Follow Me!" order. I've got to do that.

There will be a next time. I told Martin I wanted to play some time using my O'Neill's Irish from the Great Rebellion of the 1590's. Yes, the shot are arquebus armed, but the galloglaich could make things interesting.

No gaming for a while with a number of reenactments and previous engagements coming up.

One final photo of Martin's French regiments... who are actually French serving France with French command.

Gaming in a broken month

I didn't blog last week... because I didn't play. My family and I were busy with a Society for Creative Anachronism event. This week Martin and I gamed a Thirty Years War battle using Warlord Games' "Pike & Shotte" rules. Next Saturday, my wife and I intend to head off to Kalamazoo, Michigan for a huge historical reenacting gathering. The week after that is the local gaming con, Hot Lead, in Stratford, ON. The week after that is Holy Week and Easter Saturday; I probably won't play anything that weekend because there's a good chance I'll be exhausted and will still have two large services to celebrate.

In any event, last Saturday at the Games Group, Martin fielded a German Imperial/Catholic army under Wallenstein while I set out an army of Swedes under Gustav Adolph defending the Protestant cause in that war. (I do understand the real reasons involved.) The game proved interesting. No one else played with us as the rest of the guys were either involved in a game of SAGA at the other table or were kibittzing at both tables.

Martin's infantry of the centre battaglia

His left flank cavalry including Wallenstein's bodyguard with lances.
These proved to be tough customers.

The right-centre battaglia

His right flank cavalry including his Croats

My right flank cavalry and the reserve brigade - almost all harquebusiers

The infanry brigade -right centre- including the elite Yellow and Green regiments
Not that it mattered.

the left centre infantry - including a Scots regiment

The far left flank including dragoons, light horse, and Finnish Hackapells.
There's some "commanded shot" from the other brigade out front of the cavalry.

Martin got the first move and came on quick. I have to admit that he knows his troops better than I and he wished to come to grips with the Swedes as quickly as possible. The Germans are better in hand-to-hand while the Swedes can out-shoot the Imperialists and have more cannon. He want to absorb as few salvos a possible. He refused his right and set the two infantry regiments into hedgehog as soon as he could. This tied up my left wing cavalry and dragoons. The fact that my dice rolling was abysmal didn't help. I failed a number of command rolls and the units stalled where they were.

The Tape Measure of Doom brings the Imperialist forward.

Martin's infantry around the rubber roads.

The Yellow Regiment takes on Martin's one elite unit.
The Blue Regiment moves up in support.

A Scots mercenary infantry regiment and a light gun.

The Imperial Cuirassiers clobber the Swedish harquibusiers on my right flank.
My brigade was torn apart and reduced to two regiments who had to flee.

Wallenstein's lance-armed bodyguards destroyed one of my two Cuirassier regiments.
They also smashed two Harquibusier regiments soon after.
This is one nasty unit.

Our infantry in the centre went toe-to-toe and I had the worst of it. I couldn't throw dice to save my life - which is messy when you're trying to make saving throws for your troops. I would lose the pikes in a regiment while the sleeves of shot stayed of vice-versa.
On my left. Martin tied up my Finns, light horse, and dragoons by doing NOTHING. Martin does love his "tar babies."
Finally two of my five brigades were shattered and we called it quits. His bodyguard lancers were a very tough crowd and since my dice were cold and since I fell for his trap, I had no legs to stand on.

An "after" photo of my hammered right wing cavalry. The lancers are disordered so we turn a stand side-ways.

Lots of action "at push of pike" on the left centre.

The Scots await the Imperialist charge. They've been reinforced by two stands of pike that had retreated earlier.

Imperial Infantry, even though they have French flags.
It's okay; most of my flags are Irish from Owen Roe O'Neill's army in the English Civil War.

Imperial guns. I had more guns on the Swedish side but they tended to be lighter.

The supreme command stand. It's supposed to be Wallenstein, although the flag says Turenne.

My stunned left flank cavalry and dragoons amidst the cardboard houses.

Martin's two hedgehogs and a command stand. I like the idea of round command stands.
They can't be mistaken for a regular unit and I'm going to rebase my commands.

Meanwhile at the other table, two games of SAGA were played. I don't know much about this system yet, but I imagine I'll play it soon enough. I watched a bit of the second game which appeared to be Crusaders vs. Saracens.

Bear's Saracen force.

A close-up of the Crusader force (Andy's photo)

Andy's photo of Saracen cavalry rounding the forest.
The Mentula Mustalae award in gold is seen here. This was not awarded by the official electors,
but by popular demand and might not be considered proper and of eternal memory.
The move must still have been nasty to receive such folk status.

Kevin's Crusaders

Another long view of the Saracens.

On Sunday, my family hosted a D&D 5th edition game for some friends. Two young fellows were to take part as their first out-of-the-house D&D experience. Sad to say, one young guy could not show up because of a scheduling problem. Still we had fun.

Katie (in the captain's chair), Tyler's son, Tyler, myself, and Greg (who is obscuring me in the photo)
sit around the dining room table. Beth took these photos.
Characters: a Tiefling cleric, a gnome rogue, a dwarf rogue, and a dragonborne barbarian.
I, of course, play the rest of the world.

Beth - who ran an elf ranger - took a few moments out to put the mac-and-cheese in the oven
and stir the sausage and sauerkraut.

Tyler makes his point... somehow.
("No, you have to roll for yourself!")

Tyler's son performs some higher math to add up his experience points.
Yes, he's wearing a "Minion" touque.

I don't know what happened here. I'm engaged in giving the "hairy eyeball" for some reason or another.

The game was fun and everybody succeeded although they took damage and got dirty. As a first outing, not bad. Next time, Greg's son will make it, I'm sure.

As an author's note, I like the 5th edition of D&D. The systems are simple and make their own sense within the game. Quite often, I rely on the player to know the effects of their magic or even their weapons. I did confuse them with a "scarecrow" which was uneffected by non-magical weapons and with a colossal armoured centipede which some of our more squeamish players were repulsed by.

Ah, success!