Happy New Year 2018

Happy New year!

Another year and another Batch of Bods, nags and accoutrements finished.
Slightly down on 2016´s prodution rate but still not bad.
Approximately 312  bods, 68 nags (with and without Mounted bods) 4 guns, 9 trolls, 4 fire demons, a catapult, a stack of  ACW Terrain, roads, walls, rivers, Bridge etc and an ACW  wargame.
13  English Men-At-Arms 13th-14th Century
14  English Longbowmen                                
80  ACW Union inf                                        
8    McNeill's Rangers                                                        
80 ACW Confederate inf                                
8 "Jayhawkers"                                                                  
8  Crew and 2 ACW guns                                
4  trolls
14  Norman Cavalry                                                            
2  Orc catapults
10 Modern Mounted Amazons                                            
12 Modern Amazons foot                                  
14 Eastern Friendly Indians                                
9   Lewis and Clark                                            
14 Medieval Guards resting                                  
4   Burgundian field artillery                              
10 Dark Alliance orcs                                        
12 Conan and friends                                          
13  Caeser Orcs                                                  
4 Fire Demons Set 1 and Set 2
2 Orc Catapults
War Trolls set 2
4 War Trolls set 3
6 Hobelars  
4 Inquisition                                                                        
14 Bodstonian Dragoons                                          
10 Amazons                                                                
10 Mounted Amazons                                                

What was planned and actually happened.
Continue work on both 1329 Teutonic dio and  the Airfix ACW wargame Project.
Wargame the ACW bods using the rules (with possible mild adaptions) from the Terry Wise book. ..this should actually happen.
Re-Boot Bodstonia. Those  Bodstonians have been getting on without me so it´s about time I had a look at what they are up to

Medievals took a bit of a back seat, the bulk of "production" was Fantasy and Airfix ACW with both subjects taking up over 2/3rds of everything painted or created.
The ACW Project got completed and a game was actually played.
The land of Bodstonia  wasn´t revisited with new Storylines but a lot more (46) Personalities and Populace were created.
A couple more bits and pieces were painted for the Teutonic 1329 dio.
Apart from not creating any new tales for Bodstonia...2017 Targets achieved :-)

Plans for 2018
Produce  more for the 1329 dio.
Get some Story lines done for Bodstonia. I made the effort to read a book (Changes in the Land by William Cronon)  on early Colonist/native American Indian relationships/Interactions,  so it would be a waste not to use the new info  in the plot lines.
Possibly..but I´m still thinking about it, add to the ACW Project using the new Strelets range of ACW bods.

Airfix ACW - Battle of Cannon Farm - Pt 2

Using the Airfix ACW rules with slight adjustments to move and range differences. All troops have been graded the same, ie; no Advantage as veterans or disadvantage as raw recruits and the Addition of a "funny coloured stick"

 

The Confederate cav form column and move against the Union right flank. The Confederate artillery open fire on the single Union gun on the opposing hill but all shots fail thier target or cause no damage as one of the gunners throws a save.
Three regiments of Confederate inf advance against the Union left flank and come under fire from the single Union gun. The Union aim goes of to the left and hits (on a bounce) the 28th NC, who loose a man. The 3rd South Virginians break free of the Woods and make a dash, hoping to beat the 84th New York and the 7th Winsconsin infantry to the fences.


"The funny coloured stick? " you ask *See below

The Union cavaly and inf on the right flank move into the Woods to oppose the advancing Confederate cavaly. The Union inf fire upon McNiells Rangers taking out 2. The Union cav swerve to the left to avoid the larger confederate cavalry force. The Union guns fire on them  but miss.
The 22nd USCT has now reached a cornfield and Comes under fire from the confederate guns and looses two bods.
The 3rd South Virginians reach the relative cover of the fence before the Union bods but as the Union has moved it´s gun down from the hill, they come under a withering fire.
The conferate artillery try thier best to hit the 84th New York and the 7th Winsconsin but both shots go wide, a third bounces over the Zouaves line.

The  Fire fight intensifies with the 84th New York and the 7th Winsconsin moving slowly Forward with their supporting gun moving into cannister range. The 3rd South Virginians , despite the soft cover, loose another bod to the combined rifle fire and Grape shot, thier own return fire missing it´s mark or causing no damage due to saving throws. ...maybe they can´t see anything due to the Cotton wool?

Grapeshot /Cannister marker made as per the Airfix rules

The Union cavalry, just manages to avoid a clash with the numericaly superior Confedrate cavalry.  McNiells Rangers, who are in hot pursuit come under fire from the 22nd USCT and loose a further two bods..they throw for morale, fail and head for home, running into thier own cavalry causing a bit of a jam.
On the Union´s right flank, "Jennison's Jayhawkers" sieze thier Chance and swiftly ride around the confederates left flank....to attack the confederate guns maybe?
The Confederate guns? What have they been up to? During all this they´ve had only one target, the 22nd USCT but seeing as they are now behind hard cover thier fire has had no effect. Firing on anything else would mean the possibility of hitting thier own so they Choose not to.

 

The Union Cavalry engage the 3rd Texans, each side recieving one casualty

Both the 84th New York and the 7th Winsconsin Charge the 3rd South Virginians, who by now have lost 8 bods, throw for Moral, loose and run. This has a ripple effect along the conferate infantry line, with the 3rd Texans and the   28th Regiment, North Carolina both throwing loosing Moral scores. The Union cav now cut across to the left and slam into the fleeing 3rd.
The single Union gun fires at the advancing Confederate cavalry but misses.
The Conferate artillery continues it´s futile attacks on the 22nd USCT.

On the Union  right  "Jennison's Jayhawkers" are still advancing and the Union artillery has hitched up. The only Confederate inf still active, the 3rd Texas Infantry are undecided as to form up to oppose the Jayhawkers or the approaching 51st Pennsylvania  and 22nd USCT. With the Union artillery on the move, they settle for the luxury of hard cover and ignore the cavalry.

The conferate cavalry hoping to catch the Union cavalry napping, Comes under cannister and rifle fire, 4 bods go down..and now more Union cavalry is approaching.
The  28th  North Carolina rallies but for how Long ?

Finally, the Confederate guns have a score!!! One shot bounces into the Union artillery taking down 2 bods on a single bounce!!

The Confederate cav run into the 7th Winsconsin, the Union Cavalry that was persuing the  3rd South Virginians has lost them into the Woods so turns to take on the Confederate cavalry. The already weakened 28th  North Carolina is just about to recieve another cavalry attack.

At this Point,  it ´s all Happening at once.
The fight on the road intensifies. The  7th Winsconsin loose 2 bods, the Confederate cav 1, the Union Cav loose 4, the Confederates, 2, the Union throw for Moral, loose and run for it.
The 14th new York fire into the Conferate cav but take None due to misses or saves
The 28th NC fire on the Union cav taking 2 but loose 4 on contact
The  3rd Texans and the 3rd South Virginians have again failed to Rally and leave the field.

 

 

The conferate guns turn to face "Jennison's Jayhawkers" who have now rounded the hill and formed a line. One " Jayhawker" is taken, the other confederate gun yet again misses the 22nd USCT.
The "Jayhawkers" wheel into the 3rd Texas Infantry , who seeing the possibility of being surrounded have moved onto higher ground

The confederate guns fire again on the 22nd USCT...and the USCT´s luck holds..misses or saves.

The fight on the road reaches it´s conclusion. The conferate cav, now surrounded, loose another 2 bods but take another 2 Union cav. Both throw for Moral and both run. The remaining Conderate cav takes 4 7th Winsconsin for no losses but being entirely surrounded loose the Moral throw and leave.
On the hill, the 3rd Texas Infantry get mauled, loosing 6 and  taking only one Jayhawker in return.
At this Point, with virtually all his infantry and all his cavalry either in retreat or having left the field, General S. Tore, throws in the towel...hitches up the guns and leaves.
The 3rd Texas Infantry down Tools and surrender.
John & Victoria come out of thier hiding place under the bed to find a couple of dislodged Roof tiles.

Posties rejects dice?

Conclusion?
The Airfix rules are a bit "stumpy" , the firing tables for a start are a bit odd, but they appear to work fair enough. I set up the field "blind"..first randomly Setting up the Terrain then putting troops as the ground allowed. When I´d finished,  I thought "the Union is going to get a kicking" but they won Hands down...possibly too well.?
Anyways, the next battle I´ll test the  rule set   "Charge Boys Charge !" by Andy Copestake with my daughter taking Charge of one of the sides.



*The funny coloured stick? " It´s my idea for an artillery measuring stick. It aint in the Airfix rules, there it´s suggested that Players "judge" the distance to the target, then measure it out...and bla bla.
I thought to add two firework rocket sticks (saved for constructing a 1/32nd scale Trebuchet) together and use that for measuring the range ..but then I thought "but cannon balls bounce" so I added the Loop bits (coloured blue..blue? sky..blue? Artistic licence? )  to represent a ball  loosing power and bouncing less and less higher and further.
Then I thought "as they bounce, sometimes they are Close to the ground, then up in the air, then Close to the ground before they bounce again etc..and as they are Close to the ground they would hit things, men horses etc"  So I marked those zones before and after Impact as,
Red for anything up to 2 cm´s tall (infantry) and ...
Yellow for 2 to 2.5cm´s tall (cavalry)
The green bits are where the ball would be too high.
At the Business end I added a movable square . This was to replace the suggested marker that would indicate wether a shot had gone off target.

Lay the stick onto the centre of the target. Throw a one, the shot goes to the right, a 6 it goes to the left red marker.(the bold red marks..not the faint ones..they were a mistake)

Obviously, I never thought about the "danger zones" before adding the "hoops" and I could remove them but ...what the heck? ...and obviously the hoops are  a Basic representation, as  a cannon ball wouldn´t bounce as far in muddy ground or it would bounce further on rocky ground or it would hit a rock and alter course but ...!!!!...??! ARGH!!! Although that might be fun for someone to come up with a realistic calculus for such stuff..and then do it for 12 and whatever pounder guns...I just think, In trying to Keep within the Spirit of "old School" wargaming, I´ve already gone too far with the funny coloured stick......and had to remind myself..."it´s  just a bleedin` game!!!"

Airfix ACW - Battle of Cannon Farm - Pt 1

The Battlefield.

..oops!!, sorry!!, that´s one of the photos taken using the Tardis wayback in 1977....:-P

The Battlefield.

Union Forces to the right, Confederate to the left, The Cannon´s Farm just left of centre.

Both sides  deploy 20 cm´s from the start line (end of the carpet Field)
The Confederate deployment.
General S. Tore, has deployed the entire Cavalry and one Regiment of infantry to the left flank....

 ...his entire Artillery and the remaining Infantry on the right.

The Union Deployment.
General Payne has deployed two regiments of infantry,  one  cavalry and one Gun to his left flank...

 ...and the rest of the infantry, 2 cavalry and two guns to the right.

Imagine John and Victoria´s suprise to wake up only to find two armies facing each other across thier farm!!

Anyway. The room I´d set up in had good light but along with Setting up,  the backdrops took forever, there was a shortage of road pieces (Thick Card was rushed into Service) and the light got too bad to carry on ...so the rest tomorrow. ...or, depending on the Doctor........... 40 years ago :-)

Airfix American Civil War Wargaming

It´s arrived !!!!!!!!!!!! :-)

Considering the Age of the book, it was produced in 1977, this copy is in excellent condition. Slight discolouration on the spine but no dog ears or Scribbles/stains on the pages.
Compared to what some copies are going for on Evil-bay etc,   I got this copy for a song.
Having a quick look through, the memories came flooding back! This and some of the airfix mag articles (when pocket Money allowed ) inspired many a table top (and carpet Level) battle.

On a later post devoted to the "Airfix ACW Wargaming " Project I write up the basing, movement, firing rules for  anyone interested.

And, an update on Smokey. She´s now had a slight Name Change to Ghost..but seeing as she is deaf (she can only very high tones) it makes no difference to her what her Name is.
She´s put on some weight and is more or less settled in.

Trouble in Bodstonia!! (pt1)

What´s all this!!!? Gunfire!! A cabin in flames!!!

There´s something afoot in Bodstonia!!!

Battle of Bannockburn - Day 2

Under nightfall the English forces have crossed the  Bannock Burn and taken up  position on the plain beyond it.
The scottish army advances into Position. The Abbott of Inchaffray again passes among the Scots soldiery, blessing them.    The Abbott has brought relics of St Fillan and Abbott Bernard of Arbroath has brought the reliquary casket of St Columba to encourage the superstitious soldiery. 

Seeing Scots knelt in prayer , Edward asks  de Unfraville wether they are craving his forgiveness for opposing him.  De Unfraville answers that they are craving divine forgiveness. 

To the astonishment of the English, the Scots army then begins to advance towards them.    

 

Edward says to de Umfraville “Will these Scotsmen fight?”  de Umfraville replies “These men will gain all or die in the trying.”  Edward says “So be it” and signals for the trumpets to sound the charge.

As the english cavalry attack, the Welsh and english archers, (on the extreme right flank)  open fire, which causes a pause in the Scottish advance but  Keith’s force of light horsemen disperses them.

Again, Gloucester leads the cavalry charge but few follow and  when he reaches the Scottish lines he is quickly surrounded and killed.

The English knights hurl themselves onto the Scottish spear line with a terrible crash.  Along with Gloucester, many   English knights are killed in the impact: among them Sir Edmund de Mauley, Sir John Comyn, Sir Pain de Tiptoft, Sir Robert de Clifford.

Supporting the   schiltrons,  Scottish archers pour volleys of arrows into the struggling English cavalry line as it´s slowly ground down and pushed back.

The flight of the english army begins. The Scots spearmen press forward against the increasingly exhausted and hemmed in English army. The cry goes up “On them. On them. They fail. They fail.”

The final blow! The ‘Small Folk’ attack. The English army begins to fall back to the Bannockburn with ever increasing speed and confusion and foot soldiers and horsemen attempt to force their way across the stream.  High banks impede the crossing and many are drowned in the confusion.  Many escape across into an area of tidal bog where they fall prey to their exhaustion, heavy equipment and the knives of the Small Folk.

The Earl of Pembroke seizes King Edward’s bridle and leads him away from the battle field surrounded by the Royal retainers and accompanied by Sir Giles de Argentan.  Once the King is safe de Argentan returns to the battle and, throwing himself against the scottish spears,  is killed.

The defeat is complete. The english army is broken and retreats.

It leaves behind several hundred dead and captured Knights and men at arms. The numbers of the lowly foot soldiers killed numbers as many as 11,000.

Edward is taken to the gates of Stirling Castle.  Here de Mowbray urges the King not to take refuge in the castle as he would inevitably be taken prisoner when the castle is forced to surrender to the Scots.  Edward takes this advice and with his retinue skirts around the battlefield and rides for Linlithgow.  He then rides to Dunbar and takes a boat to Berwick.

A group of nobles, the Earl of Hereford, Robert de Umfraville Earl of Angus, Sir Ingram de Unfraville and others flee to Bothwell Castle where they are taken and handed to the Scots by the Castle Constable Sir Walter FitzGilbert.

The Earl of Pembroke leads his Welsh archers away from the battle field and after a tortuous and hazardous march brings them back to Wales.

Battle of Bannockburn - Day 1

Day break on Sunday 23rd June 1314.  Roberts army forms up to meet the English. Maurice the aged blind Abbott of Inchaffray celebrates mass for the army after which Robert de Bruce addresses his soldiers, informing them that anyone who does not have the stomach for a fight should leave.  A great cry re-assures him that they are ready.  The camp followers, known as the ‘Small Folk’, are sent off to wait at the rear of the field on  St Gillies’ Hill.  The Schiltrons are formed for battle fronting the fords over the Bannockburn that the English must cross.

The English advance continues and  moves out of the Torwood with the advance guard under the command of the Earls of Hereford and Gloucester,  riding to cross the Bannockburn and attack the Scots   beyond.

 

300 horsemen under Sir Robert Clifford and Henry de Beaumont ride towards  Stirling Castle  to re-enforce the garrison. Randolph rushes his foot soldiers down  the path to block the route of Clifford’s and de Beaumont’s force.  A savage fight take place with the English horsemen unable to penetrate the spear line of Randolph’s hastily formed schiltron.  The Scots are hard pressed and Douglas moves his men forward to give help but sees that the English are giving way.  The English cavalry breaks  in two with half riding for the castle and the remainder returning to the main army. 

 

Meanwhile, the main Body of the english army continues it´s  advance. With some suprise, as they expected them to just melt away in the face of such an army,  they see the Scottish army formed up and waiting.

Two divisions of the english cavalry, led by Hereford and Gloucester start the attack. Hereford’s nephew,  Sir Henry de Bohun gallops  ahead to challenge the Scots King to single combat. 

Robert de Bruce rides forward to meet de Bohun. .De Bohun rides at de Bruce with lance couched. De Bruce evades de Bohun’s lance point and as de Bohun thunders past him, he strikes  him a deadly blow on the head with his axe.  De Bohun falls dead.

Following their king’s triumph the Scots infantry rushes on the English army now struggling to clear the Bannockburn at a narrow crossing point which  has forced the mass of horsemen to pack into a narrow column. A terrible slaughter ensues, the English knights impeded by  shallow pits concealed with branches.  Among the extensive English casualties,  the Earl of Gloucester is wounded and unhorsed, only being rescued from death or capture by his retainers.

What part of the English army that has  come through the ford  now re-crosses the Bannockburn and the Scots infantry returns to their positions in the forests of the New Park.  The English army has been convincingly repelled.
In the English camp on the far side of the Bannockburn the infantry is more than discouraged.  Word now spreads  that the war is unrighteous and this had been the cause of the day’s defeat.  God was against the English army.  Order breaks down and the horde of foot soldiers ransacks the supply wagons and drinks through the night.  Heralds declare the victory as certain in the morning but few are convinced.

Sir Alexander Seton, fighting in the service of Edward II now deserts the English camp.

Meanwhile De Bruce  puts two proposals to his commanders.  Firstly, that the Scots army  withdraw from the field, leaving the English army to attempt a re-conquest of Scotland until a lack of supplies forces it to withdraw south of the border.  Or, secondly that they   renew the battle the next day.  Bruce’s commanders urge a resumption of the battle.
Sir Alexander Seton arrives from the English camp, and advises de Bruce that morale is low in the English army.  Seton says “Sir, if you wish to take all of Scotland, now is the time.  Edward’s army is grievously discouraged.  You may beat them on the morrow with little loss and great glory.”

The decision is made...battle will be given. So Ends day one.