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.

More troops for Friedlingen

After setting up a large WSS game at the club last Thursday (see previous post) I realised that the Franco Saxon alliance were rather shorthanded on infantry battalions. This gave me an excuse to get some more French units completed for my Friedlingen project and to use in the game. The 2 battalions of the de Robecq regiment had already made it to the table so no pictures of them, but here are the rest that I managed to finish.

First up 2 battalions of the La Reine infantry regiment. I like these as the drummer is in a red coat, which is a change to most french units which have the drummer in blue. The figures are all from Dixon's and the flags by Warflag. I deliberately gave the second battalion just the Colonels colours.

The next 2 battalions are from the Limousin regiment. The majority of these figures are from Warrior, though the Ensign and drummer are Dixon figures. This now completes the French infantry I require for Friedlingen.

The last battalion I've completed is from the La Marck regiment, which were Germans in French service, hence the coloured coats. These are not required for Freidlingen but I've already decided that I want to expand my French troops. Most of the units I've painted to date are from the allies and anti French. The figures like the Limousin battalion are a mix of Warrior and Dixon's. I'm not sure if the colour of the stockings is correct, I couldn't find any details in my sources.

These 5 extra battalions should help even up the sides for the club game, though only for a while as I have a loan of my nephews Danish troops which will add a further 9 battalions and 6 squadrons of horse,

A new game

When I arrived at the club on Thursday to discover yet another change in personnel for the WSS game, we got to discuss the merits of starting again. After much discussion it was agreed that the Imperialist had already suffered a bloody nose, there left flank and center were shattered. Also this time we would adjust the firing ranges, we had left it for 28mm figures but this had proved to deadly when trying to assault the redoubts.

So to a new game. This would also allow me to get the rest of the troops on the table. A few dice rolls were made to determine sides. A Franco- Saxon alliance would take on the Anglo-Imperialists. A rough make up of the forces as follows

Bayley - Commander of the Saxons and C-in-C
23 Battalions of Infantry
36 Squadrons of Horse
4 Artillery batteries

George - French Commander
11 Battalions of French Infantry
12 battalions of Piedmont Infantry
5 Battalions of Swedish Infantry
12 Squadrons of Piedmont Horse
12 Squadrons of Swedish Horse
4 Artillery batteries

Total strength - 51 Battalions, 60 Squadrons and 8 batteries

Tom - Commander of the English and C-in-C
18 Battalions of Infantry
12 Squadrons of horse
2 Artillery batteries

John - Imperialist Commander
30 Battalions of  Infantry
33 Squadrons of Horse
5 Artillery batteries

Chris - Hessian Commander
4 Battalions of Hessian Infantry
1 battalion of English Marines
5 Battalion of Hanoverian Infantry
9 Squadrons of Hessian Horse
6 Squadrons of Hanoverian Horse
1 Artillery battery

Total strength - 58 Battalions, 60 Squadrons and 8 batteries.

Both sides have the same objective, to control the 2 road junctions in the middle of the battlefield. This was to be an encounter battle and the first couple of turns were just about both armies manoeuvring into position. Next week we will get down to the main action.

Only took the single picture. The Franco-Saxons are on the left with the Anglo-Imperialists approaching from the right. You can make out the two objectives in the middle of the picture

Painting update

In between my weekly forays to the club for the WSS game, I've also been feverishly painting away in the background on a number of mini projects. First up is something rather unplanned. It is an army I always wanted to paint when I first played Warhammer Fantasy battle as a youngster. My mother at the time had a rather fierce aversion to anything with long tails so I could never get any onto the painting table. After browsing EBay I managed to pick up a couple of bargains to allow me to put together a small force of Skaven. So far I have plumbed for the plastic figures from the Island of Blood campaign set, very nice they are especially when you see how much the original metal figures go for these days.

First up the Skaven Warlord Snic Gnawtooth to lead my rag bag of ratmen. I love the pose of this figure, very dynamic.

Snic Gnawtooth

Rear view

Now all Warlords need some followers. These are the first of the warriors that I've completed including a Warlock Engineer. I am going for a red clothing theme for this unit. I have also purchased another 40 warriors that I'll split into 2 units each with their own colour scheme.

Skaven warriors

While painting these I have also been stripping figures that I painted in my youth, to say they were shabby is an understatement. Those were the days where highlighting, washes etc were in my imagination. The first figures I have re done are a unit of 10 men at arms, once part of Citadel's fighter range, now produced by Foundry. I must have had these for at least 25 years. After a quick re paint I'm very happy with these.

Men at arms

Men at arms

Now I haven't just been painting fantasy figures. As promised I have also completed the Palatinat Garde Grenadiers. These were put together from some left over Dixon's figures from my British project for Ramillies. In the absence of an officer figure I have just used a figure in a different pose. Seems to work out okay.

I also completed a couple of extra Brigadiers that I'll use for the French. The one on the left is from Irregular Miniatures while the other is a Donnington figure on an Essex horse.

Well that's it for now. I've got more Skaven and 4 battalions of French infantry on the painting table and they won't paint themselves.

WSS update part 3

Well after last week with the Saxon position looking rather precarious, both sides set too once more. On the Imperial left flank, they decided to launch their infantry brigades once more against the redoubts on the hill. Once again the musketry of the Saxon Grenadiers repulsed everything thrown at them. So great was their success that the Saxon Guard infantry were able to withdraw and reinforce the Green brigade holding the centre.Eventually the Imperialist infantry were exhausted and withdrew.

In the Central redoubt the Saxons re-manoeuvred their artillery and began to pour accurate fire into the advancing Franconian Infantry brigade. With support from the Saxon infantry in the redoubt they broke 3 of the 6 battalions. This just about finished off the Imperialist right flank as an attacking force.

Over on the Saxon left flank they decided to retire both of their cavalry brigades. With the arrival of the Hessian and Hanoverian cavalry as well as more Imperial Cuirassiers they were heavily outnumbered. This actual prompted the Imperial right flank to begin its assault supported by the fresh Hessian and Hanoverian infantry who headed to the main Saxon redoubt.

The Hessian and Hanoverian commander took a very aggressive approach and launched his cavalry against the Polish infantry in the farm with heavy casualties. The plucky Polish levies held on. The Hessian infantry led by the Guards began an assault against the redoubt, but they to were heavily repulsed.

Well I reckon on one more week to see a conclusion reached. The Saxons quickly got over the news that their expected reinforcements were not coming and settled down in their positions giving the Imperialists a bloody nose.