Edinburgh Wargames

The Edinburgh Wargames Journal

Issue 53  -  December 2010  

Periods featured in this issue:   Seven Years War, American War of Independence and Napoleonic (all 28mm) and a minor pub crawl!

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  "Bridgehead Breakout", the River Saale, Saxony, October 1757  (Die Kriegskunst) 28mm

This week we played out the "Bridgehead Breakout" scenario from Charles S. Grant's Scenarios for Wargamers (1981). Like most of Charles' scenarios, winning the game is harder than it looks. The Prussians (behind line G-H) were trying to break out of their bridgehead over the River Saale, although most of their small force was still on the far (southern) bank of the river. In our map, we're treating norht as being to the right, rather than the top. The French - or rather Reichsarmee troops in French service - were trying to pen them in, and were deployed along the line E-F. To win, the Prussians needed to capture the ridge. For the French, victory would only be assured if the Prussians could be pushed back across the river.

While Dougie Trail and Kevan Gunn took charge of the Prussians, Mikowai Stazek and I commanded the Reichsarmee. Our first mistake was to go over onto the attack. Our plan was to hit the Prussians before they could be reinforced. On the left, a brigade of French cavalry prepared to charge the Prussian right flank, while my Lower Circle Brigade trudged forward to pin the enemy in place. Our guns did well, softening up the waiting Prussian line, but from that point on things started to unravel. First, the Prussian reinforcements managed to get across the bridge faster than we expected - we should have tinkered a bit more with the scenario, to make more of a game of it. Then, the Reichsarmee cavalry spent two turns waiting for orders, giving the Prussians even more time to get their act together.

The result was that when the charge came the Prussians were ready. One French regiment charged the Prussian guns, but they faltered in the face of canister shot, and failed to charge home. On their left, the second French regiment took on the waiting Prussian cuirassiers, but came off worst in the melee, and were pushed back. Soon the entire cavalry brigade was routing off the table. So much for our big attack. Over on the Prussian left the Reichsarmee brigade found itself outnumbered and outgunned. Worse, a unit of Prussian "green" hussars worked their way round behind them, and headed towards the French guns on the ridge.

The isolated Reichsarmee troops began to withdraw back to the ridge, where the last Reichsarmee brigade (the Upper Circle one) was defending the guns, and acting as a rallying point for their fleeing companions. By that time it was clear that the Reichsarmee had no chance of holding the ridge against a determined Prussian assault, and so we conceded the game. While I don't like letting Dougie win, I have to admit that his tabletop performance was much better than ours. Still, no doubt revenge will come early in 2011!

Seven Years War page

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  American War of Independence - The Race to the Dan, North Carolina, 1781  (Black Powder) 28mm

My planned Napoleonic game didn't materialise, as my opponent was delayed by work. Fortunately I was invited to join a game based around the American retreat towards the River Dan. That was when Cornwallis chased the rebels through the backwoods of the Carolinas in February 1781. All the figures belonged to Bill Gilchrist. The scenario was drawn directly from Charles S. Grant and Stuart Asquith's Scenarios for All Ages (1996) called "A Vital Bridgehead". The idea was for the Americans to get a clutter of wagons and supplies across the river to safety, while a rearguard stayed behind to hold back the British. It all seemed straightforward enough, except that the defenders were outnumbered, outclassed and time wasn't on their side!

The bulk of the American force deployed around a hamlet, a half mile or so from the bridge. The rest - engineers who were busy rigging the bridge with explosives, a small unit of cavalry and a token gun - were clustered around the wagon park, at the southern side of the bridge. Each turn the Americans rolled a die, and if the result was favourable they were able to get one of their ten wagons across. That meant we needed to keep the British at bay for at least ten turns - possibly longer.

The British assaulted the American line, and after a tougher time of it than expected they broke the militia and one regiment of regulars. Still, it cost the British a vital regiment of foot - the 23rd - which was broken and dispersed by the militiamen before the American line collapsed. A unit of Virginia riflemen holed up in the buildings caused the British a few more problems, until their commander decided to bypass the strongpoint and head for the bridge. The last of the American wagons still had to cross, and so it was all to play for. That was when Light Horse Harry Lee's light dragoons launched a charge, smashing into the 33rd Foot and sending them retiring precipitately back to their supporting infantry near the hamlet.

The cavalry pulled back to reform, and the British came on again, only for the same thing to happen again. Worse, American survivors from the rearguard were also harrying them from the flank and rear and in the last few turns of the game their advance stalled, allowing the surviving Americans to slip away, together with their wagons and supplies. We never actually diced for it, but one supposes they wouldn't have had time to blow the bridge, as the British were right behind them. Therefore the game ended as something of a draw - one that slightly favoured the Americans. Just like in the real "Race for the Dan" there would be another battle - this time fought near a little place called Guilford Courthouse.

American War of Independence page

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 The Napoleonic War - The Rearguard, Krasny, Russia, November 1812  (General de Brigade) 28mm

Edinburgh is still gripped by snow, so rather than spend hours in a freezing hall we played a short brigade-sized game, before repairing to the warmth of the local pub. This one was set during the Retreat from Moscow, one of the clashes fought between the retreating Grande Armée and General Miloradovich's blocking forces between Smolensk and Orsha. The inspiration was Adam Zamoyski's atmospheric book 1812, which "set the scene" beautifully. Anyway, a small understrength French force had to fight its way past one such blocking force, which began the game as a small force of cavalry, backed up by horse artillery. The French 2nd Hussars let the way, charging the guns, only to be counter-charged by my own Mariupol Hussars. In the resulting melee Dougie rolled a "10", and I rolled a "2". Rout! I'm starting to despair of this colourful unit - they haven't won a melee yet! What saved both the Russian hussars and the guns was the French having to retire to reform - a breathing space. They were also suffering a bit from artillery fire. Strangely enough, the Russian hussars also rallied, and were soon ready to rejoin the fray.

By this time the French infantry had shaken itself out into attack formation, and they rolled forward towards the Russian guns, who pulled back a little, trading space for time. Russian reinforcements were on the way - more Cossacks and guns, and a couple of units of Jaegers.  This time the Russian canister stopped the leading French battalion in its tracks. Failing to charge home, it milled around, and consequently it was shredded. The Russian Jaegers formed into attack columns and drove back the battalion protecting the French left flank, while the reformed Mariupol Hussars kept the remaining French infantry at bay. The only success the French enjoyed was on their right, where the Hussars drove off the lurking cossacks. 

Of course, the French could still have rallied, reformed and tried to force their way through again, especially as the Hussars were still in full form. However, that would have taken several more turns to fight out, and the warm glow of The Cumberland was beckoning. Therefore Dougie conceded, and victory was awarded to my Russians. One of the nice things about General de Brigade is that it works well for games of any size, from large encounters down to a little clash like this. As the Russian I was hampered by my "defend" orders and by poor leadership, while the French had to commit themselves to the attack, but their cavalry couldn't whizz around the table, having to reform occasionally. I like the way this works - and it doesn't resort to lengthy rules or bean-counting "pips" to make it happen.

The Napoleonic War  page

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Snow stops Play!

Edinburgh has been gripped by snow - an unseasonably early cold snap that's taken everyone by surprise. To prove it, here's a picture of my Golden Retriever Emily, who loves this kind of weather much more than I do. The plan was to play a Wars of the Roses battle this week, a multi-player affair, using the popular Impetus rules from Dadi & Piombo. While I'm not really interested in Ancient wargaming, I do like the look of armies in the 15th and early 16th centuries. That, combined with the new plastic Wars of the Roses figures from Perry Miniatures was enough to tip me over the edge. Well, for the past couple of weeks I've been painting bowmen, billmen and men-at-arms, but when the time came for the game the other players cancelled due to the weather.

 While a little spot of snow never stopped them at Towton, the whole of Edinburgh has pretty much ground to a halt, so everyone stayed at home - or almost everyone. Only a handful of hardy souls turned up at the wargame club this week, and with the heating not working well it wasn't a conducive environment to game in. Dougie Trail and I had brought along 20mm Second World War toys to use in lieu of the medieval figures, but in the end we decided to go to the pub instead. Consequently, while I don't have any pictures of a game this week, I do have ones of Maclachan's and our post-game favourite - The Cumberland Bar!

  

There are few things as inviting as a warm, brightly-lit pub on a cold snowy evening, a roaring fire, and beer and whisky to hand as you talk nonsense about the next big wargaming "thing". While Dougie currently favours Napoleonics and I'm veering into the Renaissance, we suspect that the planned revamp of our Seven Years War rules may well put that period firmly back in centre stage...

Anyway, normal wargame reporting will be back next week.... weather permitting!

    

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