Take it to The Bridge Carlist AAR

Chris Charlton and I had not played with the First Carlist War collection for months and so decided the clubs next Sunday game would be ideal. Both lots of figures were painted by me but Chris has carried out some lovely conversion work to make a unit of Guard Corracero's and an Isabelino rocket battery, both lovely.

I dont go often enough to the East Leeds Club but there is always a warm welcome and a stack of gear for us to use, the facilities in the fairly new building are spot on, anyone interested should visit our Facebook page at East Leeds Militaria Society Wargames Club.

Our game would be 6 feet by 8 feet with fairly closed terrain to either flank and some open ground in the centre.

The day did not start well as I left all the command figures and casualty markers at home and had to nip back to get them. On the up side the table was all set up when I returned and Chris had the kettle on.

I had left my figures out broken into brigades with Chris's box of biscuits in reserve. By the time I got back Chris would have organised these into the games forces and added his own figures to the totals.

Below is the Carlist force sorted into its Brigades. We diced for forces and Chris got the Carlists. They had slightly better troops and slightly nearer the objective but slightly less figures. The Carlists would have the tough fighters re-roll of one missed melee dice and also skirmisher rule for all the foot allowing them to pass through the difficult terrain better than my Isabelino's and also a bonus in musketry when deployed in skirmish order, not to mention one harder to hit. Chris had to be careful though not to be caught in skirmish order by a charging formed unit.

I had the Iabelino's and although slightly further to move and not quite the same quality I had the edge in Cavalry and got to fight with the Veteran French Foreign Legion.

The table was set up with a monastery on a hill and a road over a bridge slightly to one side of the table, this was the Carlist side who of course had slightly less troops. Each brigade was given an order at the start of the game and each side had a number of attributes to spend on their troops.

The Carlists had 6 and the Isabelino's 4. For my part I chose the Valiant attribute to allow four battalions to re-roll a save every turn. Chris mainly used steady and the Valencians sharpshooter so they had a a firing re-roll. The yellow coated Lancers on the Carlist left had ferocious charge. Thank goodness they never got to charge me!

In terms of rule modifications it was fairly light.

Movement and ranges reduced by one third due to table size.

Firing before moving.

Brigade break tests instead of automatically breaking.

Commander in Chief can make one command re-roll per turn.

The key objective for the game was control of both the bridge and the ford next to it. The forces for the game were as follows.

Isabelino Forces from right to left.

French Foreign Legion Brigade
2 x FFL Foot Battalions both Elite with first Fire
1 x Small Skirmish Screen
1 x FFL Lancer squadron with Lance rule
1 x FFL Mountain gun

Guards Brigade
3 x Guard Battalions, Grenadiers with Valiant rule
1 x Small Skirmish screen
1 x Rocket Battery (Love this)

Foot Brigade
3 x Foot (One small Militia)
1 x Small Skirmish Screen
1 x Field Gun

Cavalry Brigade
3 x Cavalry Squadrons, one with Lance

Cavalry Brigade
2 x Cavalry Squadrons
1 x Horse Artillery

Foot Brigade
1 x Guard Foot First fire and Valiant
1 x Light Infantry with Skirmish and Valiant
2 x Militia (small)
2 x Mountain guns

All deployed 12 inches in from the table edge.

Carlist Forces from left to right.

Brigade One
3 x Foot Battalions
1 x Squadron of Lancers

Brigade Two
3 x Foot Battalions

Brigade Three
2 x Foot Battalions (One small)
1 x Cavalry Squadron
1x Field gun emplaced by monastary

Brigade Four
2 x Foot both skirmishers
1 x Small Skirmish Screen
1 x Mountain Gun

Reserve Brigade Off Table
3 x Foot Battalions
1 x Field Gun

Like the Liberal troops the Carlists had an Elite unit in each Brigade. Again deployment was 12 inches in.

13 Liberal foot against 11 Carlist Foot, three Liberals small and one of the Carlists small.
6 Liberal Horse against 4 Carlist horse.
5 Liberal guns against 3 Carlist Guns.

I decided to put a solid lump of decent infantry on either flank with the strongest force on the right with the Legion and Guard brigades where they would be nearer the objectives.  As the left had some very broken ground I put the only brigade there that had a battalion that can skirmish. The Cavalry in the middle where there was open ground for them but also where they can pin some of the Carlist foot. The last Brigade of foot to the right of centre aiming for one end of the Bridge  and the last Brigade of two Horse in reserve in the centre.

Chris chose to put both his flank brigades in skirmish order to pass through and take advantage of the difficult terrain, I also assume this was to make the most of his musketry. Both sides were able to move forward at a moderate pace, although the Carlist right flank did struggle to get into the woods.

By move two the Carlists were across the river on my right and forming up to meet my advance with one brigade against two. The Legion cavalry launched a bold charge against the lead Carlists hoping to catch them in open order, unfortunately we stopped about a quarter inch short and took a nasty volley which although saved left the lancers dis-ordered in front of the Carlist foot, i.e unable to move at all and therefore about to get another volley and unable to free the space for the Isabelino foot. Not a promising start.

The Guards brigade advanced through the broken ground taking an ineffective volley from the Carlists whilst the skirmishers passed through the trees to add the weight of there fire to counter the Carlist Musketry.

In the centre the foot and horse advanced steadily and were unable to close to musketry range whilst on my left the Light infantry deployed into skirmish order to enter the woods at my side whilst the Carlists moved slowly through from their own side.

The Guards battalion lined out and mountain guns formed up next to the horse artillery to make a grand battery, or as near as could be achieved with the light guns used during the First Carlist war.

The Carlist centre meanwhile had formed a solid wall of troops from the woods on one flank right across to the river on the other flank, they were almost at the bridge too!

Back to the right flank and surviving another volley the Lancers remained dis-ordered and unable to move. However a blunder when rolling to remove the dis-order sees them given a charge order! They charge into the Carlists and then are broken, however have inflicted some serious casualties on the Carlist foot. To their right the next unit of Carlists is charged by three columns from the Guards brigade, a quick melee sees them broken and removed from the table. In the follow up from that the Grenadiers form on the flank of the first Carlist unit ready to volley and then charge it next go.

On the other flank the Carlists now occupy the majority of the wooded hill and are engaged in a fire fight with my Light Infantry, Guards and Mountain Guns which gradually begin the wear them down. Chris has decided not to fire his Valencians and save their first fire volley for Cavalry advancing across his front, the Carlist mountain gun is in the wood so only one battalion of Portuguese deserters is returning fire along with the small Carlist skirmish screen. In the centre the Isabelino foot advance into musketry range but remain in column ready to charge the Carlsist whilst my Cavalry Brigade bravely (Foolishly?) thunder forward at the bristling line of Carlist bayonets. The Guard Horse Grenadiers bounce off and retire behind the line lancers whilst the Princessa Hussars win their melee but the Carlist foot pass their morale and hold their ground.

In the centre the Isabelinos start to get the better of the infantry melees but the Princessa Hussars are destroyed and the line light cavalry volleyed and dis-ordered preventing them from either charging or pulling back. On the right the Provincial Guard Grenadiers prepare to charge the Carlists still in skirmish order first giving them a volley supported by a volley from the Legionaires. This is enough to force another break test which they fail, this also forces a break test on the remnants of their brigade which also fails and is removed from table.

On the left flank a volley into the Portuguese takes them dis-ordered, Chris rolls to remove this and gets a blunder forcing him to charge and driving the Light Infantry out of the wood, Another volley and two shots into the Valencians also sees them disordered and starting to take casualties.

In the centre two battalions of Carlists now break and although Chris passes his brigade morale test things are looking desperate around the Bridge. At this stage his fresh brigade of supports marches on just behind the bridge intent on crossing the river to hold the far bank from the Guards and Legionaires.

The Isabelino Line charges into the flank of the remaining battalion of Navarese troops, but made of stern stuff they are forced back but leave the Isabelinos shaken in their wake and unable to follow up.

The Carlist lancers charge the Isabelino marines next to the bridge to pin them but are unable to get close enough then driven back shaken form a fine volley. But the marines are also shaken and unable to take advantage of their position.

 

On the left flank the Isabelinos are now able to put two volleys into the Portuguese who are already both shaken and dis-ordered and now break taking the rest of the Brigade with them on a break test. Both Carlist flanks are now wide open.

In the centre the Isabelinos are at last able to get their reserve cavalry moving, the Carlist Hussars D-Arlaban charge the dis-ordered light cavalry in flank and beak them but the Liberal reserves charge them in turn forcing them back. The Guards and Militia on the left flank form column and begin to advance whilst the light infantry press quickly through the wood into the rear of the Carlist position.

On the right the Legion and Guards brigade have formed column and march to the bridge to meet the threat of the Carlist reserve, arriving just in time. Behind them the rocket battery plods along on its mules having set up and dismantled three times so far and not got a shot in.

The Carlist Hussars charge the Isabelino reserve Cavalry and are beaten. From behind them the Carlist Grenadiers wheel and march forward to take on the Light Infantry, charged they do little with their closing fire and are pushed back into the woods where the Grenadiers cant follow them.

With both flanks and most of the centre disintegrating its down to the Carlist reserve to pull victory from the Jaws of defeat as they advance on two brigades of Isabelinos on the far bank of the river. All around us the club is packing up but Chris and I are determined to get to a result.

three battalions of Carlist foot enter the stream and the gun unlimbers. A volley from the Legionaires dis-orders the first and the second fails to charge home. The Isabelinos have now lined out across the bank and the Legion skirmishers are on the flank of the gun. With the Bridge and ford firmly in control of the Isabelinos and few troops left for a further advance the Carlists accept defeat.

You can just see the rocket troop set up on the bridge and ready to fire. finally in a position to launch its deadly (or not) load the game is over! Mule rolls its eyes at the waste of effort. Just so you can see the superb job Chris did on his conversion job the rocket troop is below in all its un-fired glory.

An absolutely cracking game, thank you Chris, I always thoroughly enjoy gaming with Chris. Wonderful to see these figures on table after such a long break and Chris is now tempted to produce another unit of converted figures for Isabelino Cavalry.

Another victory too for Black Powder rules, this sort of game suits them well with relatively little in the way of changes.

No other games for a week or two so the next couple of posts will probably be updates on the Irish project.

Thanks for reading and keep your powder dry until next time.

THE IRISH SO FAR

The basing department came home today and brought a bunch of based figures for the Elizabethan Irish project. Mainly Irish but also a few English. I will come back to the English but for now I thought I might share progress on the Irish.

I have done seperate post on converting the Redoubt Enterprises Irish but here they are again the first 4 of a planned 6 Irish light horse. All four have head swaps but no other changes.

The archers will either be a unit of 12 or 2 forlorn hopes of 6, lets see how they play. First 11 are here, two more of the Perry's figures to do so I am tempted to pinch one of the Crusader figures (far right) to convert into a musketeer.

The Javelin armed Kern will be a descreet unit, I may eventually have 2 nits of these but for now these are the first completed unit of 12 Irish foot. As with the archers these are a mix of Perry, Antedluvian (ex-claymore) and Crusader.

A few more to do to finish this lot off, these will be Bonnaught, slightly more prefessional and better armed Kern, 7 done so 5 more to complete the unit. I have a couple of figures but may need a couple extra to fill in some gaps. These particular figures are amongst my favourites, the guy with the two handed swords and arm armour is a brilliant sculpt.

The Gallowglass, there are 22 of these dour double handed axemen, again a real mix with some minor conversions of the Antedeluvian figures and one Foundry figures mixed in.

Splitting these up you can see what a unit of 12 will looklike, As it happens I have 2 figures to paint which will finish off the second unit of Gallowglass, the one at the front however takes me to two finished units.

So throwing the whole lot together here they are.  a couple more Kern, a couple more Gallowglass and a couple more horse will give me 5 units. I need a few more to finish the Bonnaught then its concentrating on the Shotte who are more of a puzzler for me at the moment. More on that in another post.

For some reason I missed this piper off when I was splitting figures into units. He is one of my favourite of the old Claymore Scots, not decided which unit he will grace yet. I do want a couple more standard bearers too. But all that said this force is well on its way now.

So, there are the Irish so far. Progress I hope you will agree. Whilst I am workign up a few more and cosnidering options to increase the number of shotte I will be putting together a bit of a review of the English having received my Demi Lancers back from the basing department too. These are slightly more progressed.

I will have to invest ib a bigger peice of mat for the photographs, this was kindly donated by chum Dave but unfortunately melted slightly under the heat of a lamp I was using for the pictures and is now a bit on the bumpy side when getting pictures of larger units.

Take it easy folks!

Another GNW Black Powder

For tonight's game we decided to use Steve's amended rules with some minor tightening up. I would be allied rather than Swedish for the first time in a while to get a different perspective on how they worked.

It was also to be a very big game for an evening.

The Allies were:

21 Battalions of Foot, 4 were designated Guard in three brigades of six and a brigade of 3
4 guns one with each Brigade
8 Regiments of Horse one brigade of five and one brigade of three

The large Brigades were meant to make them less manoeuvrable but actually made them less prone to Brigade break tests so may not do this again.

The Generals were all Average apart from my Saxon General who was Poor (and it showed)

The Danish Guard had an extra dice in Melee and first fire to make them a bit stronger.

The Saxon Guard had an extra melee dice too but had the "Platoon Fire" rule (made up) which is a re-roll of a missed firing die.

The Swedish forces were:

14 battalions of foot in 2 brigades of 3 and two brigades of 4
3 guns, one in each brigades apart from the guards
10 regiments of horse in 2 brigades of 3 and one brigade of 4

The Swedish Generals were all good apart form one which was average.

All the Swedes had ferocious Charge allowing the re-roll of missed melee dice when charging.

The Guards brigade all had a plus one on morale saves and the Grenadier Guards were all musket.

We have now got to the point where the rules have altered significantly from the originals, changes are as follow:

Fire before moving

Brigade break test when at half strength rather than automatic break.

We used Steve's amended orders roll chart, please see earlier AAR for details.

Only specified infantry can charge enemy formed infantry unless shaken or dis-ordered. Swedes are one of these troop types.

Commanders can remove casualties on the roll of a 6 for all units.

Casualty removal is after declared charges to prevent shaken units rallying and charging immediately

Swedes had 3 firing dice and Allies 4.

A charge order must be given before commencing firing.

All moving and firing distances reduced by one third (so foot march 8 inches not 12 per move)

These were most of those we apply, will mention any others I think of as we go along.

As usual a unit of Biscuits were provided, these saw more action on the allied side of the table and were virtually destroyed by the time of this picture which was only five minutes in.

Move one and the Swedish cavalry facing the Saxons on the Allied left got three moves, 36 inches of movement and they are right on my doorstep, in the basic rules they would already have over run the Saxons.

With their better commanders the Swedes move an average of two moves right along the table.

The Allies manage one or two moves per brigade and are left with their guns all still limbered as they trundle forward.

My Saxon horse decide to force conclusions with the Swedes and charge. They are quickly smashed by the Swedes who then have  a sweeping advance into the supports behind the Saxons. However as its not considered a charge the Swedes don't get their re-rolls and some good dice from the second line of Saxon horse sees the Swedes sent reeling back in dis-order behind their supports.

Next move and the Swedes press forward and both cavalry wings are now in action.  We finish moving with all guns unlimbered.

The Swedes charge again on my wing and take out a second unit of Saxons, a second sweeping advance sees the Swedes pushed back dis-ordered again. We forgot to do the brigade break test for the last Saxon horse but it wasn't to make much difference.

On the opposite wing Mark has some great dice to loose only one of his five Danish horse with another finishing the move in a draw.

See what I mean? Excellent dice from the Saxons

Next move and I have moved my supporting battalions to refuse the flank of my brigade, to my right the Swedish Guards now charge the first Danish brigade. The first melee sees a Danish battalion break but the second against the Swedish Grenadiers ends in a draw.

On the other wing a second unit of Danish horse is broken and the Swedes charge the village pushing the Danes out of it dis-ordered. The centre brigade with two Danish Guards battalions pours a devastating volley into the Swedes but not enough to stop them closing. The first Danish Guards are forced back dis-ordered but the second defeat their Swedish opponents sending them back to their own lines shaken.

Now the forces on both sides are well and truly committed. The Swedish horse pull back on the Saxon flank and begin to reform, half the guards brigade doing the same, the Grenadiers begin their second round of melee, a narrow win forces a Danish morale test which they pass. The battalion behind them wheels to charge the gun of the next brigade in flank but doesn't quite reach it, a volley form the supporting Danish battalion dis-orders the Swedish guard ensuring they cant charge home next go either.

Mark decides to be bold at this point (mad I think I called it) and charges with his Danish Guard the Swedes he had pushed back last go. The Swedes don't get their re-rolls as not charging and are only hitting on threes as they are dis-ordered, the Danes are charging so hitting on threes. Some good dice from Mark and a lack of saving throws from Andy and the first Swedish battalion is broken.

A further Danish horse unit is broken on the far flank but Mark manages to survive the Brigade break test and Andy's horse pull back to reform.,

Another move and the Grenadier Guards are fighting a third round of melee, they don't have their ferocious charge but do have an extra dice in melee and a saving throw on a 3 plus. Despite everything the Danes manage a draw again. Behind them the disordered Swedish guards fire a volley into the Danish gun and is-order it preventing it from being manhandled around to blast them at short range, however the Danish foot volley dis-orders them a second time preventing them from charging the gun next turn again. Further along Andy is re-order his forces to kick off another group of charges into the Danes but a devastating volley breaks a second battalion forcing a break tests which takes the last battalion in the brigade with it.

We are nearing the end of the night and the Grenadier Guards continue their uneven fight with the Danes, this time Steve throws a fistful of sixes which I am unable to save. However his own saving throws are also terrible and we are both forced to take a break test.

 A pair of terrible throws later and both the Grenadier Guards and the Danish opposition break and leave the table.

Its now ten pm and time to pack up. The Allies have lost six units of horse and three of foot, whilst the Swedes have lost four foot. The superiority of the Swedish horse will force the Allies to retire even if they could hold the Swedish foot in the centre which is very much in the balance.

There is still lots to play for with both sides, the Swedes have been badly mauled but still have tend intact foot battalions to carry on the fight and almost untouched 10 horse regiments.

The game has been a real success, the Swedes were able to take the fight to the Allies despite being outnumbered but the Allies till got a good game from it and stood a chance of winning right u to the end. The balance is almost there.

We discussed a couple of things we can tweak. Change firing back to two Swedish dice and three Allied.  Consider what firing dice the smaller Russian battalions get that are also 20% pike. Perhaps Jason's rule that they get two dice but a re-roll of a miss would do it.  We also discussed including the elite rule to Swedes allowing them to attempt to rally from dis-order at the beginning of a move. Both Steve and Andy felt the Swedish Stamina needed to be slightly more robust, the suggestion of crack and steady rules would resolve this, both used by Jason in his amends and in the AWI supplements for British regulars in America. I will give it some thought, we still need the allies to be able to get a game and stand a chance of beating the Swedes.

So overall a good result and I went home feeling relatively chuffed with how it came out.

Thanks to Steve for hosting and Mark and Andy putting up with my obsession around getting the rules where I want them. Nearly there gents.

I have another game with chum Chris Charlton at the East Leeds club on Sunday. We are using Black Powder with our Carlist Wars collections, probably slightly more traditional than the amends for Great Northern War but looking forward to getting those lovely Perry Miniatures on table.

So See you again soon.