WSS battle report part 3

Well on Thursday i returned to the club for what proved to be the conclusion of the game, and quite dramatic it was. On the Saxon left their infantry continued to exchange musketry with their Imperialist opponents, with honours even. However the Imperialist were able to feed in more fresh troops and the Saxons were slowly forced back. Bayley quickly reformed a second line, while the Guards fell back.

It was at this time that luck both good and ill befell the Saxons. Through heavy Saxon musketry one of the advancing Imperialist brigades collapsed and fell back to the rear, somewhat relieving the pressure.

Ill luck was to befall the Swedish horse which had been supporting the right of the Saxon line. After being involved in clashes with Hessian infantry they fell back to reform for a fresh charge. This time the Hessians made way for Seymours' battalion of English Marines. These poured murderous fire into the Swedes, shaking up two of the regiments before forcing the brigade to retire in disorder.

Over on the right flank of the Franco-Saxon line, the French battalions steadied themselves for the onslaught of the English battalions. And an onslaught it was , the french were quickly thrown back with 2 battalions disintegrating under English musketry. Eventually the right most brigade broke and began to retreat, then one of the artillery batteries was put out of action and still the English came on. With a reserve brigade proving rather sluggish in getting into the line, the other french infantry brigade broke. Now there was only a small brigade of Swedish infantry to hold the right flank.

In the Centre the Piedmontese awaited the assault from the Hessian and Hanovarian troops. First the Hessian cavalry attacked up the slop forcing one battalion back before they retired. Then the infantry hit and the Piedmontese were unable to hold them.Suddenly both brigades broke under the pressure and began to fall back. Now the Centre had also been lost.

back over of their left flank we eventually got the cavalry fight we had been waiting for. John committed his Imperialist horse forward. What he had forgotten though was that Dragoons are not as good as Cuirassiers in combat and so it proved. of his 4 regiments committed, both of the Dragoon regiments were broken by Saxon Cuirassiers who then swept into the static Austrian Cuirassier regiments. Of the other two fights it was honours even, with one win apiece.

It was at this point that we agreed the battle was over. The Anglo-Imperialist faction held both junctions and had broken six of the enemy brigades. The Saxons we agreed would have been able to retire in good order with their advantage in horse covering the retreat. The poor French, Swedes and Piedmontese would be running for quite a while.

Main learning point of the game had to be remembering to rally hits of units. This the Anglo Imperialists did well. George who commanded the French and Piedmontese often forgot to do this and his brigades suffered in rather a dramatic fashion with 4 infantry brigades breaking in two turns. Next week Bayley is setting a game up so this time I get to play.

More Skaven

Well second post of the weekend. This time I have been painting up some more Skaven for WFB 3rd edition. I'll also be able to use these as allies to my Undead forces of the Lichemaster. First up I've painted another 8 figures for my Warlords own personal unit, until I can replace them with some Stormvermin. Then they will be relegated to mere clan rats. These also contain a standard bearer.

Clan rats

Clan rats

I have also completed a second full unit. These will either serve as basic clan rats or possibly skaven slaves as I need twenty according to Warhammer armies. Once again these figures are all from the Island of Blood set, this time armed with spears. I did manage to obtain 40 of these from EBay for a paltry sum, very good value. The second twenty are already started and will serve as a second clan rat unit. This time I went for a blue and grey colour combo and think they turned out rather okay.

Skaven slaves / clan rats

Skaven slaves / clan rats

I've painted these guys in a very basic fashion, concentrating more on how they look as a unit than as individual figures. This is allowing me to get through them quickly and providing a welcome respite to my WSS project.

Battle report part 2

Unfortunately this week at the club I was late as my wife was unwell. This meant I missed the first couple of moves which saw both sides begin to get into position.

On the Anglo-Imperial left flank the English infantry began their assault on George's French and Swedish battalion. From the early exchanges if musketry the French gained the upper hand, destroying one of the English battalions, before Tom rallied his troops and began to force the French back through weight of numbers.

In the Franco-Saxon center, Bayley began to move the Italian and Swedish horse across to their left flank to support the Saxon Horse. Meanwhile the Saxon Horse and infantry began to advance against the Imperialist lines. A Saxon dragoon brigade repeatedly attempted to charge the Imperialist artillery but were beaten back and eventuality broken.  At this point the Saxon Guards, supported by Grenadiers crashed into the Imperialist, destroying one battalion and inflicting heavy casualties on the other battalions. John began to reinforce his lines with fresh Brigades while the Hessian and Hanoverian infantry advanced against the Piedmont infantry on the hill.

In the center the Swedish cavalry attacked the Hessian infantry who gamely hung on for a couple of rounds repulsing repeated charges (Need to check up the rules here for next week as we achieved some rather ambiguous results)

Back on the English  left flank they continued to pressure the lines, though some rather poor dice rolls from Tom negated some of his advantages against the Swedish battalions

On the Imperialist right flank they were seeing a rather large build up of enemy horse with two brigades of Saxon infantry in support. With their own infantry in support they began to dress their lines. Was John going to change his normal cautious nature and attack? we'll have to wait until next week to find out. It could be the decisive clash of the game.

There was also the timely arrival of another brigade of French infantry, though George failed a couple of command moves and so far only 2 of the battalions have reached the table edge.