FPW - Battle of Bitche, the conclusion

I think we can re-name this the battle of bloody ridge. The French picked up from last week and continued their assaults across the river, trying to drive up the slope to the awaiting Baden and Wurtemburgers. Every time they thought they were about to break through, they failed to get their reserves to move forward. We all agreed that they had seen the carnage that their comrades had faced and didn't really fancy advancing into the storm. 

Meanwhile the Baden and Wurtemburg regiments were seriously creaking, casualties were mounting and they were running out of reserves. However their artillery was on good form. Their accurate and heavy fire keeping many of the french regiments at bay.

Here come the French

Baden artillery keeping up heavy fire

French cavalry in the rear swing around the infantry looking for a crossing point.

Eventually the French reached the enemy lines, overrunning a regiment of Wurtemburgers and causing the Badeners's to fall back. But these advances were coming at a cost. The failure to get the fresh regiments moving was preventing the needed breakthrough. Eventually the French committed both divisions of cavalry. Over on the right flank they met with disaster, both regiments falling to accurate fire. In the Centre they got across the river and charged straight into the waiting Wurtemburgers, again they met with disaster. Another regiment lost.

After 7 of the 8 turns played the French called off the attack. Their reserves were too far in the rear to be able to reach the ridge and with the failure of the cavalry to break through the fight was done. The Wurtemburgers and Baden troops had gamely hung on, though at great cost. With holding the ridge and destroying more than half of the french cavalry they picked up a deserved victory.

The first assaults go in

Baden gun line hammering the advancing french

More assaults as the Wurtemburgers struggle to hold on

French driving forward

A thin Baden line holding off the battered french

The end of the game

Both players agreed it had been a fun game. The failure of the fresh french regiments to move hamstrung their efforts, Thom rolled so many 1's for movement at critical times. If even half of the regiments had moved the outcome may have been different. Now I need to start planning the 3rd game in the series before the major encounter.

Roman infantry Complete

So as part of the plan for re-fighting Zama, I had needed to add two more legions to the four I already had. I've taken advantage of the Bank holiday weekend and good weather to get all of the infantry done. Here is the last batch off the production line. Hastati and Princeps for the 5th legion and the Princeps for the 6th legion. The figures are mainly forged in battle with a few from Essex mixed in. I even used a couple of spare figures for another champion.

I just need the two bases of cavalry done for a Midgard unit to complete the Romans. I also had an update on my order for the remaining Numidians, hopefully here shortly and I can crack on with them before I start on some Iberians.

Here are the two new legions minus their cavalry.

More Romans

I've made some good progress on the Romans for Zama. My box set arrived from Forged in battle so I set to work on the 2 legions I still require. First up is the 2 units of velites, 1 for each legion. These are slightly chunkier than others in my collection, but I really like the poses. For shield colours I went for a plain dark red for the 5th legion and a pale blue with some white shields for the 6th legion.

Next up was the Triarii, each legion would be a single base which I will combine to make up a unit for Midgard.

Triarii of the 6th legion

Triarii of the 5th legion

Combined Triarii for Midgard

The other Roman unit I completed was the Hastati for the 6th legion. These are mainly Forged in battle with a few from Essex miniatures mixed in. Despite the Essex figures being slender they have mixed in well.

Hastati of the 6th legion

I have also painted up the Princeps for the 5th legion, but ran out of time to get the bases finished. I did though use a few of the spare figures for a couple of heroes/commanders for Midgard. These include Scipio himself.

Scipio on the left

I haven't just been painting Romans. I managed to complete the last of the African spearmen for the Carthaginians. These are now at 6 units.

So looking at what's left for Zama. I need one unit each of Hastati, Princeps and cavalry to complete the Roman contingent. I have the figures just need to get painting. For the Numidian allies I need three more units of light cavalry and two units of peltasts, these figures are currently on order.

FPW - Battle of Bitche, part 1

So Thursday night at the club we had our second encounter as we build up to a large club game. This time Neil G would be against Thom. Neil was supposed to be commanding the Bavarian 1st Corps, but I got the boxes mixed up. So no Bavarians. We quickly switched the commands over and gave Neil XIV Corps, Andy would now have the Bavarians for his future game. Thom took command of the French 1st Corps with an additional Cavalry division.

For this game the French are the aggressors as they try to break through the Prussian positions at Bitche. The Prussians are actually outnumbered and need to hold for 8 turns. The maps was produced using AI, obviously before the Bavarians were replaced.

We have managed to play through the first 3 turns. So far the French have gone for a rather unsubtle strategy of just heading straight towards the enemy. The Wurtemburger's and Badener's just simply awaited them. The river has proved a bit of an obstacle to the french, the cavalry on their left failed to find a crossing point.

The set up

French chasseurs looking for a suitable crossing

Wurtemburg Division awaiting the enemy

Baden artillery deployed to cover the bridge

1st turn saw the french approach the river looking for crossing points

Sometimes it is better to take the bridge

Wurtemburg Jagers advance to deploy

Baden troops and artillery running low on ammo (rolling lots of 10's)

The french begin to struggle across the river

The last of the chasseurs trying to cover the advance

Wurtemburg Jagers also beginning to suffer heavy casualties

The thin blue line against the french

The remains of a pinned french regiment blocks the bridge, forcing their comrades to get their boots wet

Finally getting across the river

The game is evenly poised for next week. Both sides have been rolling some high dice for shooting, even at range causing some significant casualties. The only melee so far has been between some french hussars and a Wurtemburg line regiment. The hussars were simply destroyed in the engagement.

Next week will be interesting. The French are starting to get their infantry across the river and bringing the Chassepotte into effective range. The Baden line regiments are already feeling the effects. However German artillery has already successfully destroyed a number of the french batteries.

More Punic Wars

I definitely feel that my painting mojo is back. I managed to get 4 extra units done this week end with two more just needing their bases completed. First up is two units of Numidian skirmishers to support the Romans as part of the Zama project. These are from Essex miniatures.

The other two units I did were an extra unit of Iberian light cavalry and a Gallic warband. These are both 3d prints. The Gauls are up-scaled 10mm STLs but seem a little chunky. Still they will hide amongst the rest of the army.

On the painting table I have various Carthaginian units and the start of the Romans I need for Zama. I just need to get the bases finished on two units of Velites for these additional legions.

15mm Numidians and Italians

With agreeing to help Mitch out with the Zama game for Border Reiver next year, I needed 6 units of Numidian light cavalry as part of the Roman contingent. These are all from Peter Pig, lovely models and I much prefer them to the 3d printed ones I have for the Carthaginians.

I've also received a nice bundle of figures which should provide about 90% of the additional figures I need for the Romans. A starter box from Forged in Battle for the Republican Romans, Some Oscan heavy cavalry for my 'Italiotes', Numidian and Gallic skirmishers. I'm awaiting another order which will cover the rest of the Numidians that I will need.

I also completed a second unit of Carthaginian cavalry. These are also from Forged in Battle and are the last of the cavalry from the starter set I had. Just 1 unit of spearmen and some Libyan skirmishers and they are all done.

The other unit I completed was the last of my Italiote heavy infantry. These are all from Essex miniatures with the exception of the command figures which are from Old Glory. I also took the opportunity to get the Italiotes out for a photo. I just need to get the 2 units of Oscan heavy cavalry done and the contingent will be finished.

With these done it has me thinking about a Punic War campaign where these, Mitch's Iberian and the Gauls can be used as allies and enemies for both sides. I've even got some Hellenistic Greeks to finish that can be used for Epirus. Something to ponder.