A few more Irish and a game of Pillage

In preparation for the first game of pillage I quickly completed a few more warriors. This time a few in chain armour as so far the force was looking a little brittle. These are all from Footsore miniatures, I also picked a few mounted figures only to discover the Irish don't have them in Pillage.

These all saw action in tonight's game along with the plastic building from Victrix which was in the starter set. I didn't use the wood frames of the roof as I preferred the model without it and helped it match with the rest of the collection.

And so to the first game of Pillage. We just set up the table, picked some random figures and worked our way through the rules. They are simple enough to pick up, but we would have benefited from a QRS, especially for combat. It was an easy victory for the Vikings who managed to extract enough booty from the village. My lack of ranged weapons hampered the defence as I initially seemed too far away. I did though get the satisfaction of killing the Viking leader. A few photos from the game.

In other news I've managed to make a start on a new side project. A skirmish game so thankfully a low figure count. Though plenty of scenery will be needed.

Doomed at McElvoy creek

So we had a second play test game using Fistful of Lead Bigger Battles. For this game we have 2 extra players so I did a slight re-organisation of the troops, borrowing a few figures from Robbo to make up the numbers. We also tried some random deployment using a spare template, we still ended up with Natives on one side of the table and the US cavalry on the other. So the forces were organised as follows,

Sean - 3 troops from 3rd cavalry
Robbo - 3 troops from 7th cavalry
Thom -2 troops from 2nd cavalry, Crow and Civilian scouts.

For the Natives, they were split between Neil G, George and Mitch. Each with 4 bands of Crow warriors. So the Natives had a slight advantage in numbers.

Not a battle report as such, just a few pictures to share. The game took its name from Sean and 3rd cavalry, they were on the right of the US cavalry line when they approached the village. They formed up along a creek with A troop dismounting They faced the brunt of the Natives counter attack, facing both the bands of Little Beaver and Cunning Fox. There was much laughter from everyone as 3rd cavalry made their stand as they swarmed by the Natives before eventually pulling out (running away).

In the centre, Thom with the 2nd cavalry quickly moved into the village trying to scatter the villagers. They were met head on in a fierce fight with Big Beaver who was also using some of his warriors to hold Robbo on the heights to the left of the village.

Robbo with the 7th cavalry moved to take the heights and then deployed 'A' and 'B' troops in a skirmish line. They spent most of the game exchanging fire with some of the warriors from Big Beaver. They remained quite secure on their hill.

A Band of Big Beavers warriors returning to the village

7th cavalry moving into position

Crow scouts skirmish with Souix warriors

More of Big Beaver's warriors arrive

The fighting in the village intensifies

The warriors of Cunning Fox and Little Beaver begin to skirmish with the 3rd cavalry at McElvoy Creek

3rd cavalry begin to deploy but already the natives are at their flanks

2nd cavalry struggle to get control of the village

3rd cavalry are under heavy pressure

7th cavalry repulse Souix warriors

With 3rd cavalry repulsed, the Natives begin to fall on 2nd cavalry

More native warriors swarm over McElvoy creek

It's getting hot for 2nd cavalry

A very fun game, though we need to make an amendment on the use of the lance by the Native Americans. Currently the rules allow all missed hits in combat to be re-rolled. This was devastating to the US cavalry troopers. As these bands of warriors are armed with mixed weapons we have decided to limit the re-roll to only a single dice. Still effective just not quite as devastating.

We have a 3rd play test next week and may need to get a few more figures painted up,

Blood on the plains

Last night at the club the collection and rules got their first run out. I kept the scenario simple as it was mainly an exercise in testing how the rules work and if the abilities provided to the various troops were realistic to simulate  how they fought. The American forces needed to eliminate the Natives camp and check on a trading outpost, while the Natives needed to defend their camp and destroy the supply wagons. Each side was made up of two commands as follows -

Sean

3 troops of US cavalry with the steady ability to simulate veterans

1 troop of US cavalry

1 troop of Crow scouts with Skirmisher and agile abilities

Robbo

1 troop of US cavalry

1 troop of civilian scouts

3 companies of US infantry

3 supply wagons.

The Native Americans were commanded by Neil and George, they each had 5 bands of mounted warriors, all with the Skirmisher, Agile and slippery abilities. 

The leaders on each side were also given abilities which could be used by any unit that they were attached to. Now to the photos I remembered to take as I don't have a blow by blow account. We did make some amendments to the rules around firing and shock, keeping all changes to the start of a new turn.

Souix warriors approach the trading post

The US column gets on the move, both commands sticking close together

Crow scouts across the creek first

More Souix warriors begin to approach the column

The first sounds of gunfire

Crow scouts engage the Soiux, inflicting plenty of shock on their opponents

The rest of the column struggles across the first creek

More Souix warriors begin taking shots at distance on the column

The fighting intensifies at the head of the column

In the distance more Souix warriors are approaching

The Souix Warchief Little Beaver leads his braves in an unstoppable charge, they dispatch 'C' troop before falling on 'B' troop

'A' company of the 9th infantry deploy to protect the wagons from the approaching Soiux wariors.

So next week the battle will continue, we will also have an additional two players, one for each side, should be easy enough to incorporate them. So far the rules have worked well, it helped with combining the two gaming tables to give us an 8x6 playing area, plenty of room giving a nice fluid battle.

FPW - Battle of Jarny Part 2

So Thursday, we dove straight back into the game, getting the final 5 moves completed. The first move of the night saw the French IV Corps push into Jarny with one division as they tried to evict the Bavarian cavalry. The second division supported by the two Cavalry divisions looked to push elements of the Bavarian 1st Division from the heights to the right of Jarny.

IV Corps push into Jarny

The Hessians move up to support the Bavarian cavalry

Meanwhile to the left of Jarny the Bavarian 2nd Division began to move down their hill to begin an assault on the French XII Corps. Meanwhile the French artillery poured in as much fire as they could manage to slow the advance and try and disrupt the Bavarian artillery from forming a gun line. This proved effective most of the night, limiting the effectiveness of the German artillery. 

Bavarian 2nd Division

Elements of Bavarian 1st division await the advancing french

The French try to drive out the Bavarians from Jarny

Bavarians try to form up their gun line on the hill while the 2nd division advances down the slope.

Bavarian 2nd division hammers into VII Corps

To the left of Jarny the French XII Corps and Bavarian 2nd division poured heavy fire into each other. The French 2nd division made up of the Garde mobile, suffered some heavy casualties in the face of determined Bavarian pressure. 

On the right flank the French IV Corps began to put the Bavarian 1st division under heavy pressure, slowly forcing the Bavarians back despite some stubborn resistance. In Jarny itself the two Bavarian cavalry regiments were eventually destroyed from accurate french Chassepotte fire. It was only the timely arrival of the lead elements of the Hessian division that allowed the Germans to hang on to Jarny, checking the French advance.

Hessian and Bavarian infantry heading towards Jarny

French IV Corps driving back the Bavarian 1st division

The pressure continues to build on the 1st division

The fighting in and a round Jarny intensifies

As the battle was drawing to a close a number of close assaults went in. Both sides got their share of success and disaster. With repeated assaults the French IV Corps finally repulsed the Bavarian 1st Division, securing the heights to the right flank of Jarny. To the left of Jarny the Bavarian 2nd division was slowly driving XII Corps back, but were beginning to run out of steam due to their own casualties. In Jarny, 2 french regiments assaulted the Hessian defenders only to be repulsed as the game drew to a close.

Bavarian 2nd division assaulting the french XII Corps

French IV Corps driving back the Bavarians

So we actually ended up with a draw after 10 turns of heavy fighting. The French still held the heights to the north of Jarny and had managed to drive the Bavarian's back on the left flank, securing both of their objectives. The Bavarians also secured both of their objectives, occupying the crossroads at Jarny and managing to shatter a french division by reducing it to under half strength.

After 3 battles, Marcellin, Bitche and Jarny, The Prussian 3rd army holds an advantage of 13 victory points to the French 2nd army's 7 points, these will need to be factored in for the final battle of the campaign which I will need to spend some time planning. It will be a large battle with the Prussians bringing VI Corps, XIV Corps, XX Corps and Bavarian I Corps. The French will have I Corps, III Corps, IV Corps and XII Corps. Both sides will also have a couple of reserve cavalry divisions.

Overall the players seemed to have enjoyed the 3 games. Each side being unaware of their opponents objectives added to the suspense. Changing the games from just the standard line them up and try and destroy each other, giving them tactical challenges to achieve.