British have another go at the Zulu..

We gathered for a rematch a few days ago, following the tragic slaughter of the British some time ago (see previous DBC game). The British came back to Zululand determined to avenge the defeat, this time bringing along a Gatling gun. (Yes, and an unpainted wagon..from the Airfix Wagon Train set).
The Zulu, buoyed up by their earlier victory, were equally determined to defend their Kraal (yes, represented by a filter box.. I know, I must get painting soon..).. against the invader.
We used the same DBC rules, which will be available from Alex's DBN site sometime soon after a final tweak or two.
Doug and Alex played the Brits, Peeler and Richie had the Zulus. Brits had 12 points, with two Elite Regular bases, the Zulu only got one extra point, so had a total of 16 points, including two Elite and two shooters.
The British started off forward in one large formation, Gatling to the fore, skirmishers on the flanks, the General some way to the rear, and the Hero (single figure) Mr Flashman (seventh son a a village Vicar), riding around just behind the line, waiting for his chance of glory.

The Zulu put on a show of force with two Shooters and three Native bases, along with the Chief in support. The rest of the Zulu loitered off table, awaiting their chance, and hoping for a war cry.

The British formed a line on the plateau, and the Gatling quickly dispatched a Shooter base. Not liking the hail of lead, the Zulu edged over to the right, hoping to avoid the Gatling and close in on the infantry.

On the British right, a swarm of Zulu suddenly appeared, moving swiftly in, hoping for an easy flank attack. If the Chief and his small force were the chest, then this was one of the horns of the traditional Zulu attack.

On seeing this threat, the British divided their force, (always risky!) leaving the line on the plateau to take care of the Zulus to its front, whilst the rest formed a large square.

As the Zulu chest was recoiled by steady fire, the left horn edged closer, threatening both formations, whilst... shock and horror... more Zulu appeared on the right, going for both the flank and rear of the British line. The Zulu chest began to think about attacking the Square, as it inched toward the Kraal.

From this angle, the Kraal is to the left, and I reckon the Zulu are looking good.. At this point, the British General trotted out from the Square, calmly gave his orders to his troops on the plateau, and then trotted back to the square, riding down the odd wandering Zulu as he did so. Top bloke!!

The right Horn gets on in there, and takes out a Regular base, flanking the skirmishers. They aren't too good at close combat, so it's looking like a roll over here..

But you know, sometimes those Skirmish chaps are just too damned hard for their own good, and frankly, they battered the jubilant Zulus. Badly.

Meanwhile, the Square had been busy bumping off and recoiling the left horn, and, having done so, broke formation and resumed its advance. Mr Flashman , having had a boring but safe time in the confines of the Square, began to ride out..

.. and had a right good go, popping off a few rounds from his privately purchased hunting rifle, unloading both revolvers and having a bit of a chopping session with his finely made sabre, gaining a couple of Victory points before riding back to loud Hurrahs and Cheers.

The Zulu didn't really get any closer to the main British formation, being held off by the firepower, and a swift jog forward by some Skirmishers quickly secured the Kraal, much to the Zulus annoyance. They were so angry in fact, that they had another go at the Gatling gun before exiting the table. That too ended in tears, so actually a few less Zulu made the exit.

The British were left on the field, having strongly avenged the previous defeat. British colonial honour had been restored. The surviving Zulu ran off, to spread the story, and perhaps do a bit of recruiting too.
So, in spite of my lack of painting recently, a darned good game was had. And lessons were learned too. For the British, not to split their force too early, as it did get a bit close on the plateau, especially when the Gatling jammed at one point, though they did hold off that side whilst the main force advanced on the Kraal. For the Zulu, the need to put in a larger holding force, and to get the Horns moving earlier. Mind you, poor Zulu dice did hamper them, and there wasn't enough left over to have a warcry. For which, by the way, I firmly blame that bloke Richie and his dice throwing, which was even worse than mine, and mine was bad enough. Also, the basic Zulu plan was down to me. And I lost. (Again!)
Good company, good rules, good game, and yes I will get painting again soon.
Regards,

Derby Show,3rd-4th October.

We went along to Derby last Saturday, and a good day was had by all. Derby really is up there with the top shows I think, it has a pleasant open layout, plenty of room, and a good atmosphere too. Lotsa decent traders, and numerous quality games going on. It was good to meet up with a few people not seen for a while, and to put some faces to those known only by name.
So what did we buy...well, for our colonial games, I got a box of Hat 1/72, Gardiner gun with Naval crew...this is a smashing set, with 4 guns and crew as well as 16 foot figures armed with rifles. Basically, it's the Naval Division in a box, well made and proportioned figures, and well worth £6 I reckon. There is also a Gatling gun and Artillery set out, which I have yet to find.
I found a lovely 25/28mm range at HassleFree Miniatures, and just couldn't resist them, being the chaps out of Hot Fuzz, and also a fine model of Madge..as in, Her Majesty (God Bless Her), tooled up with a large shotgun. Not cheap, but they are definite quality figures to have. Pleasant people to chat to, HassleFree, and a pleasure to meet up with. From IronClad Miniatures, I bought a few character figures, Holmes & Watson, and Quatermain, which will do nicely for our coming Zombie game. A few other bits and bats bought, a chat with TSS & Old Glory, and onto the games..
Raid on St Nazairre, by the Leeds Club, Very Impressive!

Some other games..

Iraq game by the Border Reivers.

Nice boat model in this one..

A WW1 game, using Kallistra terrain and trenches.

This one was really colourful to see.

A couple of others..

I don't know, but I hope the wine got drunk throughout the day.

Now this one caught my eye, but it didn't immediately occur why...then I realised it was a 40mm game..didn't seem to take up much more space than 25's to be honest, and looked really big and bold. Had a good chat with Ian at this table, most of the figures are Sash & Sabre. I have to say, it did look really good, the figure painting and terrain were excellent.

A few other games..

Baccus 6mm Leipzig game..

And another 6mm game, Borodino by Lead Commanders. Big game, with oodles of small figures.

I think each base represented a Division. Although small figures, the painting and basing were good.

No idea who this was, but it looked pretty Old School style.

As said, the games put on were impressive, and a joy to see. It made a pleasant change not putting a game on ourselves to be honest, more time to see what others are doing. All in all, a good day out, and the food wasn't bad either.

Regards,

Northumbria, Alnwick Castle.

Alnwick Castle, the second largest inhabited castle in England, has been the home of the Percys, Earls and Dukes of Northumberland since 1309.The earliest mention of Alnwick Castle in the history books appears soon after 1096 when Yves de Vescy became baron of Alnwick and erected the earliest parts of the Castle.The Castle was first restored, primarily as a fortress, by the 1st Lord Percy of Alnwick in the early 1300's and portions of this restoration remain today, including the Abbot's Tower, the Middle Gateway and the Constable's Tower. During the late 17th century the Castle fell into decay until Elizabeth Seymour and her husband Hugh Smithson, later to become the first Duke and Duchess of Northumberland, took up the challenge and turned it into a family residence of "gothic" style with the help of architects such as Robert Adam and the landscape designer, Capability Brown.
Algernon, Fourth Duke later replaced the 18th century "gothick", employing the architect Anthony Salvin. Since then modern comforts have been added, and Alnwick Castle was one of the first homes in the North East to have electricity. Run by a recently restored hydro electric system installed in 1889, there was enough power produced to run 100 electric lamps.
So says the linked advert, and here's some pictures..
The Castle itself is nicely complete.

Inside, there is a museum to the local Yeomanry.. now here's an interesting artillery piece I thought.. any idea what it would be called? Sadly there wasn't an explanation of it, but it looks pretty good.

A fine collection of Peeler work tools..

A cuirass, clearly not quite bullet proof, I think this was from the ECW period.

Another artillery piece, not sure how long this frame would last if it were actually fired though. Looks remarkably like the English Heritage Keyring gun though.

The local Yoemanry uniform, remarkably like the 95th Rifles really. The mounted uniform was similar.

A couple of general shots. This castle was used in the Harry Potter films, I think for the broomstick flying scene.

A good display of various cannonry, you wouldn't like to be on the receiving end of this one.

Also on site was a really good Regt museum, unfortunately no photos, but well worth a look.

And a rather impressive statue of one of the Percy's from way back. All in all, it's an impressive place and well worth a visit.

A friend of mine recommended that whilst in Alnwick, I should visit a little second hand bookshop called Barter Books. I duly did so.... it's absolutely the dogs parts. 350,000 books, in a railway station building, buffet, parking, pleasant staff....it's a day out on it's own. I managed to restrain myself to spending only £60, and that was an effort. They are on the Internet too, well worth a visit.

Time for a General Witter, I recently received some multi-part plastic Zombies from 'Wargames Factory', a nice set, which I am part way through gluing together. I have also glued my fingers, which was fairly painful, and not recommended at all. Beware the cheap and runny Superglue type tubes. From 'Gripping Beast', some packs of Chaps on the Hunt and civilians, and from North Star Miniatures some packs of Peelers. When put together, these will make up a 'Zombies in the Countryside' game, which should be a bit different, and good fun to play.

Blogging has been particularly good recently, with some interesting and quality posts to read on the linked Blogs and Sites. I'd like to welcome some new 'Followers', being Conrad Hawkwood who runs the Ne Plus Ultra Site, El Grego who amongst others does an interesting Mini Ships Blog, Axebreaker of the Bunker Hill Blog, and Dan who has the Gunners Wargaming Blog. All interesting stuff, and it all makes for a pleasant stress free wargaming read.

I took my eldest to the Forces Career office in Hull yesterday, and remembered The Model Shop, opposite the railway station. Not having been there for years, we had a look in. Just for a look, there was nothing I needed. I came out with two bags of GaugeMaster Noch trees, £36 for 50 trees, bargain I thought, and a box each of the Airfix Robin Hood set and Sheriff of Nottingham set...well, I saw them and regressed straight back to my childhood when I last had them. So there's another game to get painted up, based and played at. Right after the Zombies are finished....

Regards,

GdB Game, Medina De Rio Seco, 14th July 1808, at the Newcastle Show

As said, we put on a GdB game at the Border Reiver Show, the battle of Medina De Rio Seco, 14th July 1808, and here's the write up and pictures.
The opposing forces were as follows..Spanish-18 Btns (one Line & the rest Militia), 2 Regts Cavalry (Militia Light), and 2 Batteries (both Line). To reflect poor C&C, the CinC was poor, the infantry were split into just two Brigades both with poor GdB's, and the Cavalry had a poor GdB too. Fairly Poor then.
For the French, 12 Btns, a mixture of line, veteran and elite, in four Brigades with additional skirmishers, 4 Regts of light veteran cavalry in two Brigades and 3 Batteries, attached to infantry Brigades. All Generals were average.
The game objectives were simple enough, the French to take the Valdecuevas Plateau and the town of Medina De Rio Seco, and the Spanish to stop them.
We used some new TSS boards and hills, TimeCast buildings, S&A roads and trees, and around 2,800 Old Glory 10mm figures.
Here's the initial set up, French to the Left, Spanish to the right. The French deployed two Brigades to assault the plateau, and two to force the town, with cavalry in the centre. The Spanish deployed one Brigade well back on the plateau, and one Brigade in front of the town, again with cavalry in the centre.

The town itself, TimeCast models, really rather neat I think, with the Spanish forming line in front of it.

The Plateau, with the Spanish deployed in depth.
The French kicked off, with a general advance and sent the Cavalry forward to take care of their Spanish adversaries. The French Horse expected an easy victory over the poorly mounted, outnumbered and outclassed Spanish horse.
Spanish started to tremble on the plateau, which nicely explains this slightly blurred picture.
The French Brigade on the Right went onto Engage orders, hoping to weaken the Spanish with Artillery and Skirmish fire prior to the main assault.
In the Centre, both French Cavalry Brigades went for the outnumbered Spanish, who had difficulties getting an Order change from Hold to Assault. A worrying time for them really.
But when the order finally got through, in went the Dragoons, forcing the French Chasseurs into a retreat. Viva La Spania!! Sadly it didn't last, and two moves later the Chasseurs recovered and trounced them.

The French fronted and flanked the other Spanish Regt, causing severe casualties and Routing it off the table. Viva La France!

French Skirmishers take on a Spanish Battery,

..whilst others advance ahead of the columns to weaken the line.

On the plateau, the French met only weak resistance, and at one point caused a Brigade morale failure on the Spanish, forcing them to retire. The Spanish General on the hill suddenly felt a bit in the open.

In front of the town of Medina, the French cavalry forced the Spanish into square, making them easy targets for Artillery and Columns, though one Spanish militia Btn did falter a Lancer charge with well aimed musketry. Feeling that they had done their bit for the day, the militia then promptly legged it into the nearest taverna to celebrate.

And were quickly followed by the rest of that Brigade.

And on the plateau the French closed with the remaining Spanish forces, who did pretty well all things considered, but still suffered yet another Rout.

By this time, the Order of the day for Espania was as shown here..Having lost the Cavalry and with both Infantry Brigades routing, all they could do was to run away to fight another day.

French casualties were fairly light, although the Spanish artillery did perform rather well with canister blasts at short range. Spanish casualties weren't too bad really, until you added all the routed units, and then the list was extensive. I think only five or six Btns made it off the table in reasonable order.

It was an interesting enough game, with a larger but poorly led and trained Spanish army defending against a smaller but better led and trained French one. Shows what you can do with a bit of quality (and lucky dice too, to be fair). Not being one of our biggest games, the setting up was fairly quick, and using TSS boards made it easy enough. Those new boards by the way, are flocked in the new 'Biblical' style, a nice subtle mix of greens and browns, which I think transforms them from the original pure green ones. However, it is so subtle that you could easily use both together, as we did on the plateau, and it fits in fine. These particular boards are 20mm thick, to make for easier storage and transportation. We were set up within an hour (including chomping bacon rolls), and played the game to a conclusion just before packing up time, even with a good look round the show and a fair bit of pleasant yabbering to various gamers, which just makes the day really. Packing up was even quicker, and after a brief lemonade for medicinal reasons we set off for home.

Having enough gamers there to put on a game and see the rest of the show makes a real difference, and my thanks to Doug, Richie, Ben and Norman for an enjoyable game and a good day out.