Edinburgh Wargames Journal

Issue 19  - February 2008

Periods featured in this Issue  :  American War of Independence (28mm), "Back of Beyond" (28mm),

Seven Years War (28mm) and Pirates (28mm).

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Pirates, c.1718 (Legends of the High Seas) 28mm

This multi-player game was inspired by the release of Legends of the High Seas, a set of pirate rules produced by Warhammer "Historical". The idea was that the ten players were divided up into five teams, each  with a ship-based group and a land one. There were two treasure chests full of plunder, and the winner was deemed the team who managed to abscond by sea with the loot. two things soon became obvious. First was that many of the "allies" weren't to be trusted, and behaved like self-serving .. well, like pirates... For some reason a Chinese junk complete with a pirate crew appeared, although it was soon dismasted and driven ashore by one of the rival pirate gangs. The jetty in the town acted like a magnet, and ships converged there in an unseemly and un-seamanlike gaggle.

On the far side of the table my Royal Naval landing party managed to snag one of the treasure chests  - I suppose we saw it as prize money - and we managed to escort it to the shore, where our ship was waiting. It had spent the time seeing off a rival pirate gang, blowing it apart with some well-aimed naval gunnery and small-arms fire. Meanwhile a firefight was being fought in the streets of the town, through which another pirate captain and his men threaded their way, carrying the other chest of plunder. The trouble began when they got to the jetty. the only way they could escape intact was to come to a deal with two of the other factions, and the players agreed to cease hostilities and share the plunder between them.

The all-female pirate crew achieved little, but looked pretty, while the shipwrecked Chinese rather forlornly occupied the town after the plunder had been removed. All in all it was a highly enjoyable game, and the rules worked - at least as well as our own home-grown set (In the Heart of the Spanish Main) -  and everyone picked up the system fairly quickly. Next time I'll be sure to buy as many blunderbusses as I can afford, and equip my sailors with grenadoes. Both weapons are devastatingly effective under these rules! The ship to ship combat was a little strange - the mechanics are reminiscent of Pirates! where you guess the range, and that's where the ball lands. While it wasn't particularly realistic, it worked, and it was fun to play. We'll certainly use the rules again, and people were enthused to paint up their own small pirate crews. 

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The American War of Independence - Hubbarton, 1777 (British Grenadier) 28mm

Dave Imrie's "Saratoga" British - He's a damnably good painter...

Well, Dave Imrie has been painting up more of his American War of Independence figures (that's the "American Revolution" to you Colonials), and he wanted a game. Given the lead at our disposal we decided to try out the Hubbarton scenario in the latest British Grenadier Scenario Book - only we scaled it to a 1 figure = 15 men re ratio. The idea is that the Americans had to save their guns, while the rest of their small army tried their best to repel a surprise British attack. Well, I forgot most of my guns and all my limbers, so the train was reduced to just two models - something that eventually worked in the Americans' favour.

The scenario starts with the British advanced guard launching a surprise attack on the Americans - who take a turn to wake up and sort themselves out. Dave Imrie (commanding the British) decided to launch his grenadiers in an all-out attack supported by his light troops, while the rest of his force tried to cut off the escape route for the American guns. Well, the Grenadiers were stopped cold by American musketry, and when they reached 50% strength they failed their dispersal test. So far so good. then it all started to unravel. My brigade of two poor quality American regiments conducted a fighting retreat, covering the guns. However my co-commander Dave O'Brien sent one unit to cover the guns, and the other actually advanced on the British reserves when they came on. It was plucky, but very foolhardy - the American unit was rated as "2nd Class Line", while the British were Elite! Amazingly they pushed the British back on the first turn, only to collapse the following turn. Across the table the Americans who should have been protecting the guns routed before the charging British unit even came into contact! In one turn Save O'Brien lost his entire command...

Fortunately I'd just managed to roll the guns off the table - if the artillery train had been any bigger it would have been captured. Technically we'd won the scenario, but only by being very "gamey"! The British then proceeded to demolish the remaining American units, routing the third of the four units of American line, and sending the last one scuttling back towards the table edge. While we American players claimed a "technical" victory, we were in no doubt about who really won!

The rules we used were British Grenadier, which worked a treat. This was the first time we'd played them properly, with the disruption points system (which in turn was looted from Andy Callan's excellent Loose Files and Scramble). It really worked well, and penalised the poorer quality units without getting in the way of the game flow. We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, and are eager to revisit the period very soon.

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Central Asia, c.1920  (Back of Beyond - Contemptible Little Armies) 28mm

Let's face it - we like "Back of Beyond" games. They're fast, colourful, easy to play, and involve both deeds of derring-do and back-stabbing. this game was no exception. The unlikely premise was that the Czech Legion (or someone) had abandoned an important railway yard somewhere near Vladivostock, and the local powers that be all moved in to lay claim to the place - and to the rolling stock. First on the scene were the Americans - a strong force of Marines in fur hats, but their erstwhile allies the Japanese, the British and the Whites were all willing to contest control of the town. Then there were the others - a powerful Red Partizan force, and equally strong detachments of Mongolian rebels and the following of a Chinese warlord. the scene was set for another of Colin Jack's masterly scenarios...

We got off to a late start as three of the participants (yeah, me included) were watching a football match on the TV in a local pub (soccer to our Colonial readers). For the record Aberdeen held Bayern Munich to a 2-2 draw. However, when the game eventually got rolling the various columns headed straight into town - or towards each other. The Reds and Whites fought their own little scrap on the eastern outskirts of town, while the British (advancing form the west) opened up on the Japanese, wiping out their allied cavalry. The Japanese returned fire, and spent the rest of the game ineffectually sniping at both the British and the Chinese in a bid to control the western suburbs. Meanwhile the Mongols, the Chinese and the Americans fought it out between them, the activity disrupted by the appearance of two trains, which steamed straight into the middle of the town - and the firefight.

By the end of the game there was no clear winner, although the American bastion was pretty secure - the Reds, Whites, British and Japanese having expended their energies fighting each other rather than storming the rail yards. All in all it was a thoroughly enjoyable game, despite the high alcohol content of the football-watching trio and the loss of an hour of evening gaming time. I'm tempted to raise some more forces for this - possible a Czech Legion force, or a unit or two of Red sailors.

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Seven Years War  (Die Kriegskunst) 28mm

This scenario always produces a good game, however we play it. The premise is, a wagon train full of plunder has been captured during a raid. Obviously the owners (in this case the Prussians) want it back, and have sent a force to intercept the convoy. Defending the plunder are the raiders, a mixed force of cavalry and infantry - in this case French and Reichsarmee (with Russian cavalry masquerading as their French counterparts).

At first it all went well. My cavalry charged a pursuing unit of Prussian Hussars, and forced them into retreat. My wagons plodded on to the far table edge - the safety of a river crossing  - behind which were the French lines. The Prussians outnumbered the defenders, and we had to react defensively to save the wagons. Unfortunately my commanders failed to roll the requisite die rolls needed to change orders, so they kept plodding on towards the bridge. Prussian dragoons almost caught a unit of Reichasarmee infantry in column of march, but the Köln regiment were saved by an unlucky Prussian die roll. the charging cavalry faltered, and the Elector of Köln's boys deployed into line and emptied dozens of saddles with their first volley.

Then it all went wrong. The next turn they charged home, and my infantry were routed, opening a big hole in the French line. Prussian grenadiers captured the rearmost wagon, but the breakthrough came too late to prevent the rest of the convoy reaching safety. Further down the road the cavalry guarding the French rear-  the ones who tumbled the Prussian hussars earlier - were swept from the field when the same hussars returned to the fray. things were falling apart - but at least I'd got most of my  my wagons to safety. As the game ended I was desperately trying to extricate my rearguard, and the Prussians were baying for blood...

I was saved by the bell - the French won the scenario, but the Prussians were winning the battle. Still, it was a highly enjoyable game - a real knife-edge little fight.

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Vapnartack 2008, York (3rd February)

A group of us went down in the train to the wargame show in York, and a great day out it was. Of course in Britain, rail journeys are a real nightmare, as each train is run by a different company, the stations are run by another lot, and there's even another group who own the tracks. Margaret Thatcher's rail privatisation scheme in the 80's has a lot to answer for... a group of friends can't all travel together without problems over companies, tickets and timetables. Bah!

Anyway, the show was great fun, and had several great demo display games, a few of which were really inspiring. Some of my favourites are shown below. The traders I sought out included Elite Miniatures (for some superb 28mm 1796 Austrians), Dixon Miniatures (for a chat), Caliver Books (to hand over the master of Die Kriegskunst), and some other guys who sold great 28mm buildings. A good day out more than made up for Scotland's dismal performance in the rugby.

Games on display: A great 20mm Western Desert Game

 A "Back of Beyond" Romp (Central Asia in the 1920's),         A very pretty Napoleonic battle using Elite Miniatures

A port under siege during the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion                        A Mexican-American War game

More of that "Back of Beyond! game,  

...and finally some lovely and tempting "greens" from Musketeer Miniatures  -the Irish Rebellion (1916-21). I want some of those "Black & Tans"! I know this might be close to the bone with some Irish or Scots, but I really like the era, and the chance to nip the Irish Republicans in the bud is just too good to miss...

 The figures are due out around the end of the month.

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                                      Die Kriegskunst

                           Wargaming the Seven Years War

         It's done! The rules are with the publisher, and we've now got a publication date.

                                     See the Seven Years War page for details.