Earl of Tyrconnel's Regiment of Horse

I've managed to finish another unit for my 1690 project, the Earl of Tyrconnel's Regiment of Horse!

I actually have plans to expand this unit to three squadrons so I guess it's not truly finished (no model army ever is), but it was painted at this time to also serve for Captain Adam Murray's unit in our Historicon game. You can see more pics of this unit (with different flags) at the League of Augsburg blog! Parker's Regiment in white coats is up next (masquerading as another defender of Derry for Historicon).

Top Secret in Bolt Action

Had another game, this time as the GM for a pair of friends who've never played Bolt Action. They were given briefings in advance, but were unfamiliar with many of the mechanics and probably made a few mistakes they would have otherwise avoided.

Here's the German briefing...

The US briefing was similar, though obviously with a different view of the battle and without knowledge of the German objective. The US goal was simple to push the Huns from Lason.

Somehow I forgot to take any photos, but I tried to recreate the action on the maps below.

After a quick tutorial on the basics, the players took it in turns to set up their units and both elected to hold a few in reserve which I informed them would allow entry from one flank as well as their own base line.

The battle opened with the German infantry swarming up the center while the Americans advanced more cautiously. Long range sniping from tanks and mortars caused little damage with Sherman placing a pin marker on one of the Volks Grenadier squads, but causing only a single casualty.

On turn two, the Sherman fell from friendly fire with a deadly assault by a ground attack aircraft (second time in two games my USAF Forward Observer called down fire on his own side... I am beginning to wonder if he is a spy). All of the reserves managed to come on and center of the table was suddenly very busy! The lead Paratrooper squad took cover behind some crates stacked near a fence and wondered why the entire German army was bearing down on them...

The US commander suddenly realized the German objective as an enemy officer dashed to the crates at the center of the field. In a very Warhammer moment, he charged (yes, charged) and cut them down. He in turn was charged by the remaining Volks Grenadiers on the next order die from the bag. The Volks Grenadiers were then subjected to a withering hail of fire from the second Paratrooper squad, a lucky '6' from the mortar team (their only hit of the game), and SMG fire from the Forward Observer who had advanced out of the ruined inn to lend a more direct hand. They were forced to test morale and failed because of three pin markers and no officer in range. The sniper team killed the Forward Observer. The second Paratrooper squad was bogged down with six pin markers (they had several from last turn) as they took hits from all directions.

We ran out of time and called the game there, but talked through the last turn. The US player conceded the Germans would have easily secured their objective. He still had hopes of landing a hit on the Panther with his last remaining Bazooka team, but felt he had been pretty well thrashed.

The US player felt he had divided his forces trying to avoid coming under fire from the Panther and ended up fighting with only one squad against three. His support units caused little damage and of course the airstrike proved disastrous. One of the days, the blasted thing is going to hit the Germans! On the other side, the German player was amazed by how tough the US veterans were as it took all three squads and fire from the armored car to shift the first one.

They had a blast and have already asked when we can play again. I promised the Germans a few veteran Herr Grenadier squads next time and maybe some more armor for the Americans. I have it mind to run a modified version of the 'Operation Warboard' scenario which features an outnumbered German detachment hunkered down in a village facing three Shermans and supporting infantry. However, a river splits the board and the only way across is a single bridge. I'm off to see what I need to paint to accomplish this!

Maximum Attrition in Bolt Action!

I have wandered off in another direction... again. I took some time last weekend to paint the last model I needed to finish my initial goal for my Bolt Action starter German army - a Panther tank! Feeling I finally had enough models to play a game, I set up a very random scenario using the Maximum Attrition mission rules (Kill 'em all) from the Bolt Action rulebook. I'd never played Bolt Action before and as this was a solo game, I decided to simply throw all of my models on the table. I think the Germans had an edge, but I made them all Regulars while my US Airborne were Veterans (alas, it helped that not a bit). The game was mainly to get familiar with the rules. Excuse the poor photos - they were taken with my phone...

The board was laid as you see above, a typical sleepy village. I diced randomly to see if the game would play across the long or narrow sides of the table, and end up with my starting edges being the short sides. While this restricts movement a bit, it does allow for the use of reserves which is often lacking on small tables. I diced randomly to see which army set up on which side (the Germans ended up on the near side) and even to see where units were deployed...

1. Forward - the unit may be place anywhere up to 24" from the starting edge...
2-3. Road A (C for the Germans)
4-5. Road B (D for the Germans)
6. In Reserve...

This forces me to manage a bit of chaos in the battle rather than carefully plot ever move which is important in a solo game. I ended up with a couple of surprises, mainly with the Panther deployed forward (which snuggled in behind the inn at the center of the table) and all of my US support weapons (two bazooka teams and a light mortar) and one German Grenadier Squad held in reserve. What follows isn't much of a battle report, but more a collection of photos and a few notes on key moments in the game...

The US started very aggressively, running forward on both flanks and zipping the M8 Greyhound up the road at top speed, seeking to force the Germans onto the defensive.

Things went well for the US initially. The Greyhound lured the Panther into the open and the Sherman managed to put a pin marker on it, but no damage was caused. The Panther scored a hit in return, but only managed to stun the crew of the Sherman. On the next turn, the crew managed to rally with the help of the detachment's Second Lieutenant and scurry away from what would have been an easy kill had the Panther managed to get the first order die.

Things started going downhill for the Americans on turn four when the USAF Forward Observer's airstrike called in a rookie pilot and the lad managed expertly avoid the panicked flak to strafe a Paratrooper Squad rather than the German Grenadiers it had been asked to kill...

The Panther also torched the Greyhound, scattered a unit of Paratroopers on the flank (who were then seriously mauled by the SDKFZ 222) and began an uneven dual with the Sherman which was caught in the open and destroyed on turn five.

The Germans advanced in good order, putting enough fire into the US support teams to keep their heads down and ensure they had no chance for revenge against the rampaging Panther...

I called it at the end of turn six with the Germans with 3VPs and the Americans 0VPs. The US lost the Sherman, the Greyhound, and a bazooka team (all to the damned Panther). Both infantry squads were pretty beaten up (and one was struggling with six pinning markers and the loss of it's NCO while two German Grenadier Squads advanced toward it). In fact the only US units left in good order were the Light Mortar team, the Command HQ, and the Forward Observer team (pending their court martial). The Germans suffered one squad reduced to half when it was caught in the open by a mortar and light machine gun in the same turn, but they managed to pass their morale test and legged it to cover on their next die.

That was fun! The dice in the bag mechanic is very similar to what I love about Victory Without Quarter and Donnybrook. The combat mechanics are fast, easy to remember, and well presented so that I never felt confused during the game. I can't wait to have another go and I'm already planning what models I want to add to my collection (the Americans need more tanks - I have two more Sherman kits and I'm off now to build them). Next time I will set up a proper point match and see if the Americans fare any better. I may even recruit someone else to lead the armies (I have a couple of friends who want to try this game and I may be able to trick them into building their own armies).

Piers Butler, Lord Galmoy

I've been painting lots of Warfare Miniatures for the Battle of Penny Burn Mill and the units are coming along nicely, but I realized I needed more brigadiers! I am currently wading through two squadrons of Captain Murray's Horse, but I thought I'd treat myself to a quick project and paint up a Jacobite commander - namely Piers Butler, Lord Galmoy.

I drew inspiration from Barry's version and game him a buff coat before realizing I painted General Hamilton in a similar manner not long ago. No matter - I think every other officer I've painted so far has a red coat so two buff coats in my collection will hardly be a majority.

Murray's horse up soon...

The Earl of Clancarty's Regiment of Foot

Yet another unit for my collection and our game for Historicon 2016, the Earl of Clancarty's regiment. Research said Clancarty's regiment had white or blue cuffs. I chose white because of the many other regiments they could stand in for with a flag swap. Just a quick scroll through the BLB rule book revealed Orkney's, Lord Grand Prior's, Ramsay's, Earl of Angus', and the Scot's Footguard!

One of the joys I take in this hobby is creating conversions. There is a satisfaction in fielding a unit with a unique model that appears in no one else's army. I usually concentrate these efforts in command models and Clancarty's officer was the focus of my efforts here.

This dashing gentleman was made from a Warfare Miniatures' foot officer, a cuirass equipped cavalry officer (let's ignore the question as to whether or not any foot officers still wore a cuirass), the judicious application of a jeweler's saw, and a bit of green stuff. It was actually a simple conversion owing to the careful selection of the original models.

I cut the horseman below the sash to minimize the amount of sculpting I need to do. I filed the waist attached to the legs to give the new torso a slight lean forward for a hint of action.

The sword arm was from a Warfare cavalryman, but filed a bit at an angle to throw the arm a little to the right rather than straight ahead, which seemed a more dynamic pose. The minimal amount of green stuff needed to hide the joins was easily sculpted into the lowest fold of the sash and folds of the coat and the paint job hid the rest.

Next up will be two squadrons of Captain Adam Murray's Irish Horse...