Angus  Konstam's Edinburgh Wargames

Edinburgh Wargames Journal

Issue 20  - March 2008

Periods featured in this Issue  :  English Civil War (28mm), Second World War (15mm & 28mm) ,

 Napoleonic (28mm) & American War of Independence (28mm)

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Second World War - the Ardennes, 1944 (Battlegroup Panzer Grenadier) 15mm

It usually takes a lot to talk me into playing a 15mm game - to me these little figures lack the visual appeal of 20mm Second World War, or even 28mm. However, when my wargaming chum Kevan Gunn offers to take along his snow terrain its well worth making an exception. He built this series of 2x2 foot terrain boards after a trip to the Ardennes, and he did a pretty good job of making things look a lot like photographs taken around Stavelot, La Gleize  and Stoumont during the days between 17th-24th December, 1944. He plans to expand the board collection soon, including tiles of the River Ambleve (or the Ambleve River to our American cousins), and the hillsides beyond Stoumont where the spearhead of Kamfgruppe Peiper was halted.

Anyway, on to the game. This was a fictional encounter - a clash between a force of German panzer grenadiers (with tank destroyer support) and an ad-hoc American mechanised blocking force, supported by armour. We've played this sort of game before, but this time there were a few surprises. The first was the arrival of the Luftwaffe (unheard of in a Bulge game), when a low-level run by a pair of FW-190's pulverised an American armoured recon unit and one of my M-10's. Then came the artillery, which pinned the Americans, which meant they couldn't bring down the firepower they needed. Consequently the Germans infiltrated the village, driving the defenders back to one corner of it.

The American players thought their luck had changed when the Shermans appeared, and they went into reserve behind the town, waiting for developments. It came in the form of a platoon of Jagdpanthers, which wasted little time wiping out the American anti-tank screen, and trundling on into the village.

One daring Sherman commander managed to score a lucky flank shot on one of the mosters, forcing it to retire for a little, but it was clear that the Germans had the edge. Their objective was to clear a path through the village on the road leading off the table towards the west, and they achieved that without much of a problem. At the end of the evening victory was awarded to the bad guys, leaving us battered Allied players wondering just how best to deal with big Nazi tanks when you don't have a cab rank of Thunderbolts flying overhead...

 I have to add, there were two other Second World War games being played in the club last night - both in 20mm. Neither looked a patch on this 15mm one - one was a Bulge game with nice models and shabby scenery, and the other was a tank battle where the armour seemed to operate a bit like fairground dodgems!

At least Kevan's 15mm was both pretty and realistic, even if it would have looked better with larger figures!

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

We played this game mainly because we had a lot of Woodland Indians which rarely get used on the tabletop. This historic battle involved the ambush of a small American column, composed mainly of militia, supported by a few Indians and Scouts. The attacking force was made up mostly of Iroquois, Seneca and Cayuga tribesmen, supported by a few Loyalist Rangers and a Loyalist Regiment. The Patriot column also contained a few wagons, and a light gun. Dave Imrie and Jack Glanville commanded the Loyalists, why Dave O'Brien and I took charge of the hapless Patriots.

Well, the Americans began the game plodding down the wagon trail, scanning the trees lining the road for signs of an ambush. The firing took them by surprise, and both casualties and disruption points began to mount up. The American brigadier failed every attempt to change his column's orders from "march" to "engage", so the head of the column ran straight into the King's New York Regiment, who poured a volley into the mass of Americans, then followed up with a bayonet charge. These Loyalists (represented by my British Legion infantry for the sake of he game) managed to rout the leading patriot militia battalion, which in turn forced the guys behind to retreat.

Just when it seemed things couldn't get any worse Jack Glanville's Indians captured the baggage wagons, and spent two turns ransacking them. This effectively split the American column in two. Dave O'Brien, commanding the rearguard did a great job shaking his militia out into line, and organising something akin to a defensive line. However, it was all up for my vanguard, which was soon skedaddling down the road, pursued by a mob of Loyalists and Indians.

By the end of the evening we decided to draw a veil over the whole sorry affair. My commander - Brigadier General Hirkemer - was doing his best to rally units and remove disruption points, but it was clear his men could manage little apart from saving their own skins.

In the real battle the Americans did rather better, helped by a spot of luck. When things were at their blackest a rumour spread through the Indians that the Americans at Fort Stanwix (a few miles away) had sallied and were looting their camp. They promptly debunked and ran back to protect their possessions, leaving the outnumbered Loyalists with no option but to quit the field.

The rules we used were British Grenadier, which was interesting as two of the four players had been weaned on Loose Files and American Scramble, an excellent little rules system by Andy Callan. In fact British Grenadier used many of the mechanisms of the older set. On the whole it all worked quite well, although we were hampered a little by having to look up rules, or to consult the extensive list of special rules for the scenario. We'll certainly use British Grenadier again, but we also might run a game with the Andy Callan set, just to see how they work. 

British Grenadier Scenario:  Oriskany  (Word File)

British Grenadier Playsheets (PDF)

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Napoleonic - The Battle of Ligny, 1815 (Republic to Empire) 28mm

The weekend was spent up in the little Scottish town of Kirriemuir, some 100 miles north of Edinburgh, where "The League of Gentlemen Wargamers" refought the Battle of Ligny. For years I've claimed that this period never really interested me, and that Prussians were one of the dullest-looking armies in warfare, but this weekend proved that I was talking nonsense. the battle was a close-fought affair, and the Prussians have a certain dour charm to them which I hadn't appreciated. They fought a lot better than I'd expected as well.

The battle was fought on two giant tables, each 14 feet x 14 feet, with a pop-up hatch in the middle. the battlefield was dominated by a fish-hook shaped stretch of river, and by the four villages which surrounded the only crossing points. On the western table were the villages of Wagnele, St. Amand la Haye and St. Amand, while the western one was dominated by Ligny itself. The French of course were attacking, and their objective was to capture the line of the Nivelles to Charleroi road, which ran behind the Prussian edge of the table.

Well, it was tough going. The first assaults into Wagnelle by Vandamme's Corps and into St. Amand by Girard were repulsed, while Ligny proved to be a real meat-grinder. My command - the reserve cavalry of Milhaud and Exelman had nothing to do - which seemed a real waste of 250 cavalry figures! However, by the end of play on Saturday we'd managed to gain footholds in Ligny and St. Amand, and were well-placed to drive the Prussians out of the rest of the towns into the green fields beyond. Ziethen and Pirch's Prussian Corps were on the ropes. Well, that's what we thought...

On Sunday morning we picked up speed a little, and soon cleared the villages of the enemy, and managed to capture Wagnele from the Prussians. However, that was really as far as it got. Despite the arrival of Lobau's Corps and the Imperial Guard the attacks in the western sector were halted by a strong line of Prussians, backed up by hub-to-hub guns. The same happened in Ligny, where the Prussian reserves just sat and waited, daring the French to attack them.

Our last remaining hope of victory now lay with my cavalry, who had managed to find a crossing point over the small river near its confluence with the Sambre, a little to the east. A mass of French cavalry headed for it, as did the smaller Prussian cavalry reserve, which got there first. As darkness fell the two sides clashed around the ford, with honours being fairly even - units on both sides were chopped up or routed, but the crucial point was that the Prussians were actively contesting the ford, preventing the French cavalry from sweeping round to hit the Prussians from the flank.

The battle fizzled out as darkness fell - or Sunday afternoon drew to a close, and after much debate the long-suffering umpire Adrian Howe declared the Prussians to be the victors. After all, they'd done a lot better than they had historically, and had held their ground until nightfall.

This refight was a battle fought on an epic scale - I've no idea how many figures were involved, but they'd have been counted in the thousands. It really was a spectacular wargame, made all the more enjoyable by the sight of Adrian's beautifully built Ligny, one of the most picturesque town models I've ever seen.

the rules we used were Republic to Empire, a set developed by Barry Hilton of the League of Augsburg, which in turn lean heavily on the old Wargames Holiday Centre systems of old. What helped the flow were Kevin Calder's town fighting rules, developed especially for the game. They were based on terrain tiles, containing several buildings. Each could be defended by up to two units, and attacked by three. It worked a treat, and avoided the usual problems which arise when fighting through built-up areas.

For someone who wasn't a Napoleonic player I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and now I'm looking forward to the next game - a Peninsular War bash organised by Charles S. Grant, which takes place this summer. While the sheer weight of lead involved is a little intimidating - one guy - Dale Smith of Kirriemuir has the entire Imperial Guard in 1:20 scale - at least this has encouraged me to continue with my French Revolutionary War project, and even to paint up a unit or two or British for Charles' game.

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Second World War, alternative history 1941 (Rules of Engagement) 28mm

You can rely on Colin Jack to think up a bloody silly scenario. When he told me he planned to run a skirmish game involving the planned German Invasion of Britain I was expecting something vaguely sensible. I should have known better! The premise was that the British regular army was "bagged" at Dunkirk, and consequently Operation Sealion was a success. Pockets of British resistance ("The Patriots") were being chased by the Germans, supported by volunteers from the black-shirted League of British Facists ("The Nationalists"). This game involved the ambush of a German and BLF column near a small hamlet somewhere in Suffolk.

To help them the British had three secret weapons. A Smith Gun (pictured above) was a sort of Pom-Pom on a cart - designed to be rolled into action. It never hit anything the whole game. The Northover Projector - a sort of basic PIAT - was excellent, knocking out a BLF armoured car (shown above being inspected by the local vicar and verger) and destroying a tank. At one stage during the game the tank was also close assaulted by The Patriot's other secret weapon - a squad of Home Guard , based on the figures from a cult British TV series from the '70's! Captain Mainwaring and his Dad's Army veterans also charged and routed a BLF squad, and generally performed like real soldiers, despite the loss of Sgt. Wilson and Privates Godfrey and Walker during the fracas. 

The "Nationalists" were forced to call up reinforcements - German regulars - while the "Patriots" did the same, as a squad of Free Poles arrived to led a hand. OK, this game was a pretty silly one, but how often do you get to fire a model Northover Projector, or bayonet charge a French tank in German colours? By the end of the game it was clear that the "Nationalists" had suffered a sound drubbing, and the BLF were badly shot up - which serves them right. The "Nationalist" player claimed to have the upper hand by the end of the game, having secured the village - but that wasn't the point. This was a guerrilla action, and the main objective was to give the invaders and their lackeys a bloody nose - which is exactly what happened.

The game was a vehicle to try out a new set of rules - Rules of Engagement. To be honest I was less impressed with them than I'd thought I'd be - the mechanisms involved dicing to hit, then to wound, and finally to save - which was all a bit Warhammer-esque. I've got to admit I much prefer our usual Second World War skirmish set Disposable Heroes, which I think produce a slicker and faster game.

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English Civil War, 1644 (Very Civile Actions) 28mm

I don't know why we don't game the English Civil War more often. As a period It offers spectacle, colour and excitement, and we always seem to enjoy ourselves into the bargain. The premise of this game was that the a small Royalist garrison was penned up around an Abbey somewhere in Lincolnshire, where it was being languidly besieged by Maj. Gen. Crawford, commanding a small Parliamentarian force from the Earl of Manchester's Eastern Association. It contained two regiments of foot (Crawford's and Russell's) and one of horse (Fleetwood's), plus a substantial artillery train (the sakers Jezebel and Raven).

All was going well until the arrival of a Royalist relief force, led by Sir Richard Dacre - his own brigade of horse, plus Bagot's Regiment of blue-coated foot. The idea was that they would burst upon the scene from the Parliamentarian flank, and could either re-supply the garrison (for a marginal victory) or drive off the besiegers (for an outright win). Dougie Trail, commanding the forces of tyranny, opted for the latter course.

It all went horribly wrong from the start. First the pikes of Bagot's regiment came crashing through a tree-lined hedge into the left wing of the Parliamentarian line, routing a block of Crawford's musketeers, then going on to capture Raven, which was promptly turned on its old owners. Dacre's royalist cavalry deployed in the open ground between the hedges and the Abbey, and Fleetwood's Parliamentarian horse deployed to meet them. Then the Royalist gun outside the Abbey fired, causing casualties to the leading squadrons of the enemy horse. The troopers promptly routed, sweeping the rest of the regiment off the field as they went!

Meanwhile the rest of Crawford's Regiment managed to halt the advance of Bagot's foot, ably supported by fire from Jezebel. Parliamentarian musketeers sheltered behind another hedge and poured fire into the flank of the Royalist pike block, and Crawford's pikes then bested their Royalist counterparts. The attack against the Parliamentarian encampment had been halted, but out in the open field things continued to go wrong for my poor little army. The Royalist Trained Band garrison defending the Abbey sallied, and their pikemen routed a sleeve of Montagu's muskets. the disordered remnants of the Parliamentarian horse returned to the fray, only to be repulsed. Finally Dacre's horse charged Montagu's pikes, who held their ground, but only just.

At that point I conceded the game - the best I could have hoped for was to skulk away through the fields, where the hedges would protect my foot and remaining gun from the marauding Royalist cavaliers. While Crawford's foot did well, the rest of the Eastern Association should have been ashamed by their craven performance!

We used The Perfect Captain's Very Civile Actions for this game, which means that each foot regiment consisted of around 50 figures, divided into two or three units - usually one of pike and two of shot. One of the great things about this system is that it produces fast games, while the officer characteristics add an interesting dimension to the battle. For instance, the poor performance of Fleetwood's Horse wasn't helped by the commander of their first line, who was rated both "Undisciplined" and a "Coward". by contrast Crawford's pikes did well, because the regimental Colonel was rated as both "Inspirational" and "Terrifying".  If interested you can read the review I wrote of the rules for Henry Hyde's excellent Battlegames magazine. Speaking of Battlegames, the saker Jezebel (pictured above) was actually won in a competition run by the magazine, and this was her first outing!

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