Edinburgh Wargames

The Edinburgh Wargames Journal

Issue 48  -  July 2010  

Periods featured in this issue:  French Revolutionary War, Renaissance, Very British Civil War  & Second World War (all 28mm) and Second World War (15mm)

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The Battle of Castiglione, Italy, 1796   (Carnage & Glory II) 28mm    - Report by Angus

Every so often you get to play a game that is so pretty that you consider it a privilege to take part. This was one of them.  The game was a refight of the Battle of Castiglione, part of Bonaparte's Italian campaign in 1796. I have a long-held fascination for this campaign, and for the past couple of years I've been slowly building up an Austrian army for it. Therefore I jumped at the chance to take part in this game. The rules were computer-moderated. While I still think this takes part of the fun out of the experience - namely the chance to roll dice - it flowed really well, although my hat goes off to the poor guy at the laptop, having to type everything in. Tom Garnett was the chap with his  fingers on the keyboard, and the whole thing was sponsored by Rob Walter of Eureka Miniatures, USA  who - naturally enough - sell  a stunning range of figures for this under-gamed but colourful period.

  

The aim of the battle was to stop Bonaparte before he could become Napoleon. In other words, to give the little Corsican general a bloody nose, and therefore stopping his fast-track to the top of the French political tree. General Wurmster's Austrians were on the defensive, and I volunteered to play them rather than the more colourful French, partly as I had an affinity with the army, but mainly  because I was far too hung over to cope with being an attacking commander. I won't go into much detail about the way the battle panned out. Essentially the French launched an all-out cavalry charge on the right, in an attempt to turn the Austrian flank. The aim was to capture the redoubt on Monte Medolano that pinned our whole wing. The Austrian cavalry counter-charged, and surprisingly they drubbed the French after a long and hard-fought melee, fought out in a picturesque cornfield. Meanwhile the two French divisional commanders - Massena on their left and Augereau on their right) launched a series of infantry assaults against the Austrian line.

   

To cut a long story short we held them off,  and we ran out of time before they could pull themselves together enough to launch another major assault. They paid the price of a lack of co-ordination, and not even Bonaparte himself could get the French to hack their way through the well-defended Austrian front line. My part of the line around Solferino wasn't seriously threatened, although the nice American chap playing Messena was poised to drive me out of the key village of Staffalo, and thereby threaten my flank. Still, I reckon my Grenzers could have held him off for a good few hours if need be. In the centre Augereau's division was pretty much halted in its tracks by Austrian fire, and with the Austrians winning the cavalry fight the chances of a real French victory had passed.

   

    In Carnage & Glory you enter in all the data, press a button, and it gives you an analysis of the battle. After a lot of whirring the computer told us what we all pretty much knew already - Bonaparte had been repulsed, and honours went to the Austrians. Of course, students of the campaign will know that in the real battle another French division was marching to the sound of the guns. During the afternoon it appeared behind the Austrian left flank. This forced Wurmster to retreat, allowing Bonaparte to claim the laurels of victory. Our refight halted before Seurier's Division arrived.

The real joy of this game was the chance to play on a stunning-looking table, and to use beautiful figures. It certainly inspired me to renew my efforts painting up my Austrian army of the period, and within minutes of the game ending I was at the Eureka Miniatures stand, pawing over the figures! I probably won't use computer-moderated rules (I'll stick to the tried and true General de Brigade or Black Powder), but I'll certainly redouble my efforts to wargame this great and colourful period. Best of all, I now have some great terrain-building tips - those little things that say "Italian battlefield"! Thanks, Tom et al!

The French Revolutionary War page

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Damascus or Bust, Syria, 1941 (Triumph & Tragedy) 28mm    - Report by Dougie Trail

 Colin Jack wargames the Second World War with style. He invariably finds something nobody else covers - in this case  the Syrian Campaign of 1941. The game therefore pitted the forces of Vichy France versus the  troops of the British Dominions, supported by a handful of British Commandos. I plumbed for the Vichy side, as Colin and his accomplice "Ray" had already claimed the Allied side for themselves. The rules we used were Triumph and Tragedy - an interesting set, but with some real quirks. The sinister 'Ray' was seen conversing with Jack before the game and I could tell an evil plot was in its infancy. Planning in a wargame! Have they no sense of honour?

The game was a simple grab the buildings scenario. The more you had the greater your chance of good cards. I did say simple. However, Colin's games are never as straightforward as capture this or that, and this game was no different. At the end of the game each building was worth one playing card of points, plus each building had a hidden special feature only revealed upon capturing. I hope you are keeping up because I wasn't.

 Bill Gilchrist was the senior commander of the Vichy forces. I was to advance on the right with my Moroccan Goums in their splendid striped coats while Bill took the French Foreign Legion up the left. I also had command of the rather splendid looking French armoured halftrack truck tank thing, which really looked look great!

Bill craftily picked the side with four buildings rather than three, to give us a better start. We quickly occupied these while the Dominion forces captured the three in front of them. My armoured half track car thing pushed on through the centre of the middle buildings, and it still looked incredibly mean. Well, appearances can be deceptive. On the first turn of firing I discovered that it was crewed by Mr Leclerc and the rest of the 'Allo Allo' crowd. My driver lined up a beautiful enfilading shot on a line of 'crack' commandos. Unfortunately the gunner was better at polishing his gun than using it. Things  got worse for my not so fabulous armoured thingy as it pulled up in front of their armoured thingy. It contained some kind of hero, one of the hidden treats in the buildings. Fortunately he couldn't hit anything either - brave, but a lousy shot.

Things were going better for the Goums, who reached the middle buildings. Unfortunately the commandos were doing the same. Some talked of sharpening knives on cobbles, others buggering the blond haired commandos, but unfortunately it was all talk. The rather sinister 'Ray'  magically produced some Aussies to occupy the last of the buildings in the middle, who fixed bayonets and charged. Suddenly, things weren't looking good.

A quick look across the field revealed that my armoured thingy could swing round and shoot the Aussies from behind while the Goums kept them busy to their front. Unfortunately, Leclerc - probably a Free French supporter in disguise - failed to act. As a result the Goums were skewered by the Aussie bayonets.

Meanwhile, Bill had formed up his Legionnaires in a line and was doing some damage to the Commandos in the buildings. These legionnaires had located Rick in one of the buildings and took him hoistage, as he was obviously a patsy of the British. We had also managed to rustle up some reinforcements in the form of some legionnaires and more Goums, who piled into the fray in the centre of the village.

The second batch of Goums charged the Aussies in the building, and avenged their comrades by finishing them off.  Flushed by their success, instead of occupying the building their none too smart commander then launched a bayonet charge on those pesky commandos. The sinister 'Ray' picked up his dice and wiped out the Goums to a man. I could have cried if it wasn't just a wargame...

I was left with the 'I couldn't hit a barn door' armoured thing. Great. Fortunately Colonel Gilchrist had two full-strength units of legionairres left. A firefight developed, and the commandos perished in a hail of fire. The game drew to a close, but those legionaries had been too busy shooting to occupy buildings. It was decision time. The cards came out, and to cut a long story short the French lost. Fortunately they still had their hostage Rick, and as a finale an impromptu firing squad ensured that Sam would never be asked to play it again. 

Second World War page

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The Siege of Vienna, 1683 (Heroic Renaissance - a homegrown set) 28mm    - Report by Angus

The theme of Historicon this year was "Pike & Shotte", and so appropriately enough the first of the two games I played there was not only "on message", but the Siege formed the cover poster for the show. This particular multiplayer game was run by the charming Peter Hess. I know Peter of old, when he used to be a lawyer for the treasure hunter Mel Fisher. He's just as nice a guy now (despite being a lawyer), but more laid back - the Key West influence. As a result he's stopped pushing "DBR" and wrote his own far more enjoyable rules instead, which had a public airing at the convention. The game was fought over two tables. Unfortunately my ones of the siege itself didn't come out. Suffice to say that over on that table the dastardly Turks were repulsed from the walls, after a hard-fought fight in the breach.

Meanwhile, our table dealt with the relief attempt by the Imperialists and Poles. Facing us was a motley assortment of Turks, dug in and ready for all we could throw against them. While the scenery wasn't particularly breathtaking in this game, many of the figures were, and my own contingent of Saxons were a pleasure to command. The other great thing about this sort of multi-player game was the characters of the players themselves - the guys commanding the Poles went straight for it, while us Imperialists achieved the same ends through firepower and push of pike. On my left the elderly but sprightly John tore the Turks apart around a village anchoring their right flank (that's the Turkish player in the picture below, head in hands as the old chap does his thing)! On my right Mike from NHMGS weighed into the fray in support of the Poles. Things in my central sector were a little dull, so after seeing off a Turkish light cavalry attack I launched my own horse in a madcap charge, which - much to my surprise - drove the Turks from their hilltop defences. All in all it was a great way to spend an evening. I had to make the decision whether to play the game or enjoy a fancy dinner with the Osprey Publishing crowd and HMGS supremos. I made the right choice - this was a wargaming opportunity not to be missed. Many thanks to Peter and the players for providing me with such a fun game to play.

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The Border Outpost, Northumberland, 1938 (A Very British Civil War / Triumph & Tragedy) 28mm    - Report by Colin Jack

Note by Angus: This report chronicles Colin Jack's ongoing alternative history campaign - The Third British Civil War, 1938. I'm not going to go into the background of this fictitious malarkey, but feel free to check the back issues for more on the story behind this enjoyable nonsense.

A few weeks ago a Communist force lead by the Red Bretheren from Grimsby attacked a Royalist supply base in the north of England but were driven off by the garrison, the local police and a Royal Navy gun-truck.  The defeated reds fled northwards followed by a BUF cavalry unit.  The cavalry pursued them as far as the Scottish border where the trail went cold.  The cavalry decided to wait and watch.

Meanwhile at Border Outpost No 17 the ten man garrison maintain their daily vigil observing the south bank of the River Tweed for any sign of enemy activity.  At around 7am, with daylight beginning to burn off the early morning mist, the duty sentry hears noises, but from the rear – could it be the relief garrison arriving early for once?  It is in fact the Red Bretheren who have crossed the border and are now poised to attack the outpost from the rear, an eventuality it is not designed for.

The reds have unfortunately failed to cut the telephone wires so a request for assistance from the Quick Reaction Force has already been transmitted.  Also, the relief garrison blunders into the rear of the red transport vehicles and distracts them from their purpose.  Caught in the open, the relief militia are cut down by the vehicle machine gun and routed but already the red attack has fallen behind programme.  When the QRF arrive they assault the woods which the Red Bretheren are holding having dismounted from their truck.  The Scots quickly gain the upper hand in a close assault forcing the Bretheren to surrender.  On the other flank the red militia are routed by the garrison and the second vehicle immobilised.  A further red infantry unit arrives but it is too little too late and the communist attempt has again met with failure.

Across the river, the BUF cavalry have no opportunity to join the action but are able to withdraw in the knowledge that the communist threat has been removed for the present.

Oh, to heck with it. I'll ask Colin to produce a page or two, covering his version of The Very British Civil War, as silly though it is, these games are always entertaining!  Angus

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Reconnaissance in Force, Normandy 1944  (Battlegroup Panzer Grenadier) 28mm    Report by Dougie Trail

Our scenario was a "reconnaissance in force" mission, with British units probing German positions. He context for this scenario was Operation Bluecoat after the first day, as the British try to open up the German defences. Jim and Derek would run as the British, and Bob the Germans. Dougie was umpiring again. The main axis of the British attack was taking place to the north just off the edge of the table . The British objective was to investigate the strength of the German position, and attempt to open up the road if at all possible. To achieve this the British had a Recon platoon and a "Blitz" platoon hidden on table, . The also had the support of a troop of Churchill tanks and a company of infantry, which was busy advancing down a road just off the table edge, and which would arrive on the tabletop from Turn 3 onwards, one platoon at a time.

The Germans objective was naturally to hold the allied advance, and deny the use of the road. For this they had a reduced company of infantry, backed by 3 HMGs, one 75mm infantry gun and a 50mm AT gun. They also had a few entrenchments scattered around the tabletop. Just as in most of our Battlegroup Panzer Grenadier scenarios, most of this German stuff was hidden when the game began, with the AT gun in a camouflaged ambush position. The British started with some spotting on the woods in front of their hidden position. Having detected nothing they moved forward and occupying the wood. All this movement was hidden but Bob could smell a rat ...  which was probably Jim.
 

Derek commanding the "Blitz" platoon hidden in the village decide to advance forward. In a typical British display of dynamism they jumped into their half-tracks and drove down the open road. You'd have thought they would have learned by now. BANG! The lead  half-track took a hit from the hidden 50mm AT. BANG! Yup, the second halftrack went the same way. Naturally the  British infantry bailed out, but  amazingly neither half-track was brewed. Jim's Recon platoon was well placed to flank the gun but Bob had this covered with an HMG and some infantry. A brisk firefight developed,  effectively tying down the the Recon platoon, which was struggling to make any headway.

Meanwhile the woes of the "Blitz" platoon were only just beginning. German infantry had appeared in the hedge line opposite them, and a hidden German FOO managed to range in the onboard 75mm infantry gun. Within a few turns the survivors of the shattered platoon were  "legging it" into the nearest wood. Fortunately for the British players their reserves started to arrive, and Derek wheeled to face the Germans behind the hedge line. Less fortunately for him this also presented his flank to the 50mm waiting down the road. The result was the lead Churchill was damaged, and forced to retire.  The British plan was falling apart, the reconnaissance was failing miserably. With time drawing to a close it was decided to abandon the probe, and to bring the hard-fought game to a close.

Although the British didn't take many casualties they completely lost all momentum during the game. The reconnaissance wasn't particularly effective - the main German position remained untouched, and the British would have to pause and prepare a proper attack to make any progress.  Yet again we used Battlegroup Panzer Grenadier. It is a great rules set, and always produces a good game. The figures were all supplied by Jim and Derek, as Derek had discovered a battalion of Germans he bought at a show, and had forgotten about until now. Some people have far too much lead....

Second World War page

Battlegroup Panzer Grenadier playsheets

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