War breaks out in Wellington.

During Call to Arms 2024 last year, K walked up to our little vintage game to tell us that he'd been a wargamer for years, and that he even had some 20mm Napoleonic armies. He uses them to fight battles with his son, who he had with him.

Well, one chat led to another, and a couple of weekends ago we met at his place for a battle. K uses the delightfully simple, fast-play and very entertaining rules to be found in Neil Thomas's Napoleonic Wargaming, published in 2009:

The rules don't have a catchy title, so I'll just have to refer to them as Neil Thomas' Napoleonic Wargaming Rules (or NTNWR). These are not the same as NT's famous One Hour Wargame rules.

What attracted me to them is that they have a variety of quirky but really quite fun looking game mechanics, while also being entirely compatible with my 4-bases per unit organisation.

The scenario we played pitted most of Wallmoden's Corps, albeit beefed up a bit with Prussian dragoons and the Russian Leib Grenadiers, against the flower of the French Army in 1813, commanded by K. He had much better cavalry than me but also a lot of terrible infantry, so it was going to be an interesting match.

As luck would have it, I was able to seize the wooded road in the centre with two of my best infantry regiments, the 73rd and the Russo-German legion. This was to have very important effects.

British infantry are especially deadly in NTNWR as they fight two deep, which gives them devastating firepower. However, they're also very slow moving as they're not allowed to form assault columns.

Wallmoden's left flank was cunningly refused, forcing K to make a long march around the flank to get at it. The Feld Battalion Bremen were only classed as levies, but the Prussian 2nd Dragoons, I hoped, would scare off any attempt to assault them.

On the right were the Estorff Hussars and the Lutzowers. These were by far my worst troops, so I hid them behind the woods. The Lutzowers were so bad they couldn't even form line and therefore had greatly reduced firepower. Not too far off, however, were the crack Leib Grenadiers and my Russo-German battery.

What makes NTNWR different is that it's an I-Go-You-Go system and firing, charging, melee and morale have all been radically simplified, so it clips along at a great pace and there's real scope for tactical suprises.

The really radical bit though, which has a transformative effect on the gameplay, is that close-order infantry units may only assault other infantry if they have a numerical superiority in terms of the number of bases they've got left. This forces players to attrit their enemy before attempting an assault, producing a linear style of deployment that, to my eyes, is very similar to actual Napoleonic warfare. When the charges finally go in, however, they're devastating, and there's very little prospect of recovery from a poor morale result.

K's sent three battalions against my centre to keep it occupied while manoevring against my left. I had every confidence that my Dragoons would make short work of  his Chasseurs, however. The Guard Grenadiers looked a bit menacing though.

Supporting the attack in the centre was the Foot Artillery of the Guard, which had a much better chance of hitting than my Russo-German gunners. They were firing at long range at troops in cover, however, but K made up for this with some oustanding dice throws.

Sure enough, it was first blood to K, with the 73rd losing a base. I had them rated as only average troops, so they were quite lucky to survive the resulting morale test. This was not a good start, and my dice throwing was so dreadful that their much vaunted firepower was not having any effect.

If I'd been commanding the French, I probably would have assaulted the 73rd there and then, but K was worried about my dragoons and so decided to charge them with the 4th Chasseurs. This set off a running battle between the two that lasted for the rest of the game.

Meanwhile, on the left, K decided to have a pop at the Leib Grenadiers with the Empress' Dragoons. NTNWR seemed to suggest that three-deep infantry in line should have a fair chance against a frontal charge by cavalry, so I decided to give this a go.

And the ED's bounced right off! What was worse, they also got raked at short range by the RGL gunners and were then charged in flank by the Estorffs ...

.. who were victorious! I think K must have forgotten they were lurking behind the woods.

Things really started to go south for K from this point as the RGL and what was left of the 73rd finally started to find their marks, aided by the RGL artillery firing at short range. Within a couple of turns K's three centre battalions had sufferred catastrophic casualties, made worse by failed morale tests.

It wasn't all bad though. The 4th Chasseurs were also victorious, as it happens, but this still left K with only two viable battalions: the Guard and the 3rd Swiss. Neither had made much impact, however. Although the 4th Chasseurs had seen off the Dragoons, they were down to a single base, and the Guard was about to become rather isolated.

The Swiss, meanwhile, had spent the entire battle in the woods taking fairly ineffective pot shots at the Lutzowers. They were too far away to be of any assistance.

We called it a day at that point. It was such good fun that we've decided to do it again with armies twice the size at Call to Arms 2025, which is at the end of August.There'll be two generals on each side to manage the mayhem.

For those wondering about my French artillery, I'm hoping to have something to show in a few days.

Have a great weekend,

WM

Gunners on the Go

It was my birthday this weekend, so I celebrated by finally putting the varnish on to my new French line artillery gunners.

The figures are sufficient for two batteries. They are vintage Hinton Hunt French Artillery of the Line 1807-12, being:

FN 30: Officer, pointing, x1
FN 31: Gunner firing the gun, x2
FN 32: Gunner holding cannonball,x2
FN 33: Gunner ramming home, x2
FN 35: Gunner, ammunition carrier, running, x1

It's taken me a full ten years to get round to actually painting any of these. I think the officer is my new favourite figure.

There's the guns to finish and all the basing up to do, but a line up of the all the Phase 1 and 2 French artillery (6 batteries, no less) shouldn't be too far off now.

I hope you all had a good one too,

WM

All Buttoned Up

The 2nd Light Infantry Battalion, King's German Legion, are ready to make their debut.

They've been finished for a week now, in fact, but I was too busy chopping wood in the back garden to set them up for their photo shoot before now. It really was a massive tree that fell down.

They are to be the skirmish element for Wallmoden's Corps. In reality, only about half the 2nd KGL Light Infantry was sent to join the Anglo-Hanoverian forces in Germany in 1813, but I thought I ought to paint up a full battalion so they would also be ready to occupy a certain farmhouse in Belgium.

Major Georg Baring's men filter through the woods ...

... and form up in line

 Major General Wilhelm von Arentschildt takes temporary command.

The battalion faces to the rear, showing off their dinky little havresacs. I'm not 100% sure that this is what those weird little bulges on their left hips are supposed to be, but they look OK.

Wallmoden's Corps forms up.

The figures are:

Alberken:

BN 4: Rifleman Officer x 1 (converted);

BN 3: Rifleman on Guard:x 22; and

Hinton Hunt:

BN 20 British Rifles bugler x 1.

I cannot thank Aly Morrison and Mark Dudley enough for providing me with these charming figures. As soon as I saw them I knew they'd be exactly right for Wallmoden's forces.

One of the things that made them so appealing for me was that, unlike much of the rest of the Alberken range, they do not look like Hinton Hunts. The big question then was: what were they?

I was starting to think they might be Jacklex conversions. Rob G then sent me a picture of a Jacklex ACW gunner, which looks to me as if it may very well have been the base figure. 

Exhibit A:

Jacklex ACWs were certainly of the right vintage for this, but it's his legs, wee pinched face and oddly sloping upper arms that clinched it for me.

I've been given a few other delightful presents recently. Here are two of them below, with a KGL light infantryman for scale.

The cottages were given to me by the Armchair General, who thinks he bought them in the 80s but can't remember the manufacturer. They're really nicely sculpted and seem to be made of rubber, as they're a little bit squishy. If anyone knows what they are, please do say so in the comments. I'd love to find out what else was in the range.

The 2nd KGL Light Infantry are the last of the Phase 2 Coalition infantry. I think it'll be some artillery next.

Best wishes

WM

KGL Catch Up

 Just a wee post about where I've got to with these.

There's not all that much to add to them, apart from their haversacks. This is a bit of challenge as the sculpting for these, if that is indeed what the odd looking bulges on their left hips are supposed to represent, is a bit vague to say the least - they may or may not, for example, have canteens moulded on to them. It's very hard to tell and will take a bit of creative painting. Other than that it's just their muskets, greatcoat rolls and innumerable buttons. 

We'll see how we go. The enormous sycamore tree at the bottom of the garden fell down last week, so I now have rather a lot of wood splitting and stacking to do! Thank goodeness I had the good sense to produce a couple of strapping sons. I knew they'd be useful eventually.

Happy New Year!

WM

Edit: below is a recap of the test Rifleman I completed, next to an original, which gives an idea at least of the haversack/canteen area issue. I acually carved this area back and flattened it a bit for my test figures, but decided to leave as is for the rest of them in the hope that how to paint it would be resolved by experimentation. It's very hard indeed to see what Mr Gilder was intending here. The bayonet belt and scabbard amost look as if they're passing over the top of the haversack, which would look extremely awkward.

War Stories

I'm very pleased to report that the Wellington Warlords' Call to Arms 2024 event was a smashing success!

I decided to dress the part, naturally (photo courtesy of CT, the husband of the delightful DT and her son J who stopped by to have a look)..

While I was channeling Brigadier (Rtd) Terry Grantstone-Bath, c. 1964, His Dastardlyness had opted for the prog rock WRG wunderkind look, c.1973:

In the main hall the competition and other games were something to behold (photos courtesy of the Baron von Driberg).

Our section was pretty much given over to the Old Schoolers, who were all playing ancients of one sort or another:

So what were we up to? Well, the plan was to play through yet another of Charles Grant's iconic Table Top Teasers, this one being TTT No.3: "The Advance Guard Action", which appeared in the June and July 1978 editions of Battle Magazine. These have been digitised by Steve the Wargamer and are viewable on his splendid Random Musings Blog here: The Teasers.

This promised to be an exciting affair involving two small infantry forces with sizeable cavalry support, with the potential for substantial reinforcements halfway through the game. Grant himself thought it was one of his most successful scenarios.

The objective for the French (played by yours truly), seen here on the left, was to seize and secure the village before launching an offensive to take the river crossing. Driberg's Prussian objectives, unsurprisingly, were the opposite: secure the bridge and then capture the village.

Much to my consternation, The Garde zu Fuss and the Lutzow Lancers immediately made moves towards the village.

While on the Prussian Left, the 10th Infantry Regiment and 9th Reserve Infantry marched resolutely across the fields towards the bridge, with the 2nd Dragoons in support.

The French response was to make a dash for the village with the 45e de Ligne, while the 4e Chasseurs made a vaguely threatening advance on the extreme Left.

Meanwhile, the 61e de Ligne and the Irish Legion made a two-pronged advance towards the centre and the bridge, with the 8e Cuirassiers trotting along behind.

A turn or two later, and things were definitely starting to look interesting.

Heavy artillery fire was doing nothing good at all for von Driberg's Silesian Schutzen in the small copse in the centre, and was also causing problems for the Lutzowers ...

... while the Irish had beaten the Prussians into the wooded slopes above the bridge. The 10th and 9th Reserve formed line, but were starting to get picked off by the French voltigeurs.

Things only really started to fall apart, however, when the 9th Reserve became disordered. Nansouty immediately charged with the 8e Cuirassiers.

It was all up for the 9th, of course, but the 8e were then immediately countercharged in flank by the 2nd Dragoons.

This did not go well for the 8e, but there was further trouble in store for the Prussians as the French reinforcements, in the form of Empress's Dragoons, came galloping onto the field.

Driberg's reinforcements, the 52nd Foot, could only look on in horror. Not only only were the 2nd Dragoons being crushed, but the 10th Infantry Regiment were then suddenly attacked and routed by the Irish Legion charging out of the forrest.

And the same incident again as seen from from von Driberg's telescope!

With the Prussian left collapsing, things hadn't been going all that well on the right either when the Lutzowers were pounced by the 4th Chasseurs and sent fleeing from the field. In the excitement I failed to get a picture of this, but you can probably more or less guess how this unfolded from the picture below:

We decided to call it a day at this point as we were exhausted, not least because so many people had popped over to have a gander and a bit of a chinwag. There were quite a lot of Hinton Hunts in New Zealand back in the day, I was told. I wonder where they all are now.

Day two was a replay of the scenario, but with me playing the Prussians and a very nice chap who was a friend of Driberg's taking on the role of Davout in command of the French.

Things went much as they had on day one, except that I went all out to seize the woods next to the bridge, and even managed to kick the Irish Legion out this time.

This seems to have annoyed Davout a bit as he responded with a desperate charge by the 4e Chasseurs, but as the sun of Rossbach rose over the table, it was clear this was not going to end well. This was very unlucky for Davout as he was not to know that this was moment when two battalions of Allied reinforcements were due to arrive.

As the RGL artillery (acting as horse artillery) scuttled out of the way, it all went a bit Charge of the Light Brigade.

I think the game could still have gone either way as there were a lot of reinforcements coming onto the table, but as we'd had even more people coming over to talk to us, and had to pack up a bit earlier than the day before, that was about it I'm sorry to say.

This was all gloriously good fun and wouldn't have happened at all without my good friend DF (aka von Driberg) encouraging me to do it. It was an absolutley brilliant way to meet some of NZ's wargaming pioneers and stalwarts and to get the word out about the Hinton Spieler. I gave away dozens of flyers over the two days. A fair few of my friends and colleagues from work came out to have a look too, which was extremely pleasing. It was great to see you JC, AS, NB and family, SH, and DT and family.

As a final shot, herewith von Driberg's photo of some of the vintage packaging that I use to carry about my Merit trees and hedges.

The trees, I should point out, were specially reinforced with green-painted metal washers so that they wouldn't fall over on the green hessian cloth I was using on the table top. This was Rob G's idea and worked brilliantly.

Yours truly,

WM