GdB Game, and Elvington Wargames Show .

We put on a GdB game at the Elvington Show, on the Sunday, under the banner name of "Yorkshire Coast Wargamers", which is our newish name for our own loose association of wargamers who game together at each others houses and at shows. Things change and time moves on, so we thought a new name was in order. (Don't worry Norman and Leo, it does stretch as far North as Newcastle and as far West as Wales!) As said, we are a loose association, and so there is no official type club structure and whatnot, we're just into wargaming. If you're on or around the Yorkshire Coast and want to broaden your gaming contacts, feel free to get in touch.. mphillips611@aol.com ..and we'll arrange a game or three, at yours or ours, or at a show- Willing to travel, must have good sense of humor, pints and pies a possibility, no long term commitment required....
Back to the game though! A good day was had by all I reckon. We put out a flyer explaining that the game was 'The Defence of La Haye Saint, Waterloo 18/06/1815' and so on, using TSS terrain, Old Glory 10mm figures, and GdB rules. There were seven of us altogether, Mrs P and MiniP, Richie, Alex and Jordan, and Norman, who came all the way from Newcastle-and much appreciated too. Setting up was swift and easy, and parking was nearby too, all well organised by the chaps who run the event. To the pictures..
Richie commanded the French, and painted & based his own Napoleon just the night before..The French columns lined up ready to advance..

As the Allies, commanded by Norman, casually awaited the onslaught.

The French quickly overran the LHS orchard,and prepared to attack the main farmhouse, defended by the KGL.

As another Brigade, supported by Cavalry, piled into Bylandts DutchBelgic troops.

On their right flank, the Allies launched the Household Brigade at the supporting Cuirassiers and a fierce melee followed.

Now I'd just gone off for a pie when this happened...The French took LHS at the first assault! Maybe the KGL had burned too many doors the night before.

Meanwhile, Bylandts Brigade was getting a proper thumping, and Farmer de'Palmer decided it was time to move out for a while.

The French pretty much made mincemeat of the Dutch, before reorganising for an assault on the ridgeline itself, defended by staunch British troops behind hedges.

At this critical point, Alex decided to yabber to a pleasant chap from America,

and in the face of adversity, Norman maintained his rakish, swashbuckling and Devil-may-care composure..

So, the French had taken LHS, and duly evicted the remaining KGL troops from the garden. 'Ass kickin' was how Jordan described it.

The Dutch, having cleared off into the woods for tea and scones, had (thankfully) left a gap for the Union Brigade to pile on through, just as the French Btns were reforming..and in they went, scattering the skirmishers and heading for the columns..

The HouseHold Cavalry, having sent the Cuirassiers on their way, returned to trample on a French Btn..

..as the Union Brigade did pretty much the same on the other side of LHS too.

In the centre, despite having taken LHS early on, the French attack faltered in the face of musketry and cannister fire, and didn't get beyond the farmhouse itself.

The British line held the high ground still. Hurrah!

However, the scenario was that the French needed to take LHS and weaken the British centre if possible, in order to allow for the upcoming mass Guard and Cavalry advance..(must get painting for that one)..so in that respect, it was decided that it was a French victory. Without smugness from Richie or tears from Norman, we packed up and headed into York, and had an Italian before heading for home. All in all, a really good weekend was had. I was so pooped I couldn't even make it to the pub on Sunday.
Here's some pictures of the rest of the show, there were some class games on, and some nice and varied trader stands. I picked up two cheap 10mmECW armies, Richie picked up a large amount of plastic figures, and more besides.
Here's me Dad..

An excellent backdrop!

A really good looking game by the TotalBattleMiniatures chaps..they make and sell the terrain and buildings too. And for what they are, they aren't expensive either.

A large raid on St Naizzare game, this was spectacular to see.

A WW2 bash..

And a beach landing...how many LC's!

They were all of a good high quality, and clearly a lot of effort had gone into putting them on.

So there we are. As usual, there was a fair bit of yabbering done, and it was good to chat on with some gents from Redcar and Northallerton in particular. Our thanks to the Show organisers, for a smashing weekend of gaming and enjoyment.