Florence v the Papacy (C14^th-15^th ish) battle

The latest To the Strongest battle to be played between club members was a late medieval battle between the forces of the city state of Florence and the army of the Papal States.  The Florentine forces were commanded by the married couple Chris and Eileen using the Early Italian Condotta lists, while the Papal Forces under the command of Simon were taken for the Later Italian Condotta lists, obviously the Papacy had got first refusal on the new Gucci kit of the C15th, but would it help them secure victory?  Only time would tell. 

With the second Papal general unexpectedly delayed the Papal forces won the scouting and so the Florentines set up with their heavy cavalry taking the centre, with crossbow men on the near flanks and light cavalry on the wings, two camps near the centre were protected by units of spearmen who adopted a defensive posture.  The army was split into two commands with Chris on the left and Eileen on the right.  The Papal army set up similarly although with more Heavy Cavalry including some with the very latest kit (Later Knight) holding the centre of their line and the right flank with a mixture of crossbowmen and a unit of pikes (the very latest thing apparently – just don’t say that in front of Alexander the Great).  Simon had split his army into three commands for greater tactical flexibility.

The first turn started predictably with the Papal force lumbering towards their opponents, The Florentine response started badly with Chris forces closing with the enemy while Eileen stalled at the first draw (1).  Memories of a recent battle where Eileen managed to draw a 1 as her first chit in five of the six turns caused groans from the Florentine command team.

The Florentine Left Flank engage the shiny Papal Knights (on the left)

The second turn saw the start of bow fire and the initial clash of the knights as the Florentine cavalry charged their foes, some damage was caused but no units were lost in the centre however both sets of Florentine light cavalry advanced across the board, on the right the Papal skirmishing crossbows were cut down by accurate bow fire while on the left the Papal and Florentine Light exchanged desultory volleys arrows to little effect.

Turn three saw the Papacy in the ascendent with a hole being torn in the Florentine centre and a column of the best Papal cavalry on their right flank starting to push through the Florentine defences.  Sadly for the Pontiff the Papal troops failed to take advantage of the breach and it was quickly sealed by Eileen’s cavalry moving to fill the gap meanwhile the flanking column was damaged by crossbow bolts.

Papal flanking column menacing the Florentine crossbowmen

Turn 4 saw little significant action in the centre with some ineffectual attacks making little headway.  The Papal attack column rallied and then was promptly disrupted again by the shooting of the raw crossbowmen facing them.

Turn 5 saw Papal heavy cavalry in the centre starting to get the worst of the deal with most units disrupted and one destroyed.  The attack column of the right made no progress and the Papal light cavalry were destroyed by their Florentine opponents.  Both Florentine Light cavalry forces advanced round their respective flanks toward the Papal camp.

Turn 6 saw the end of the battle for the Papal army.  Their centre collapsed with the rapid elimination of their remaining Heavy Cavalry leaving a massive hole in the Papal centre while the Florentine Light cavalry continued in their double envelopment to get within attack distance of their camp.  Surveying the battlefield saw Simon throw in the Papal towel and the battle was over with victory to the forces of Florence!

The Papal Centre is missing!

Overall a fun battle, well fought, with 130 points aside and completion in approximately 1 hour.

Battle of Kagul, July 1770

The allied forces of the Khanate of Crimea and the Ottoman Empire consist of 35,000 Ottoman infantry and 35,000 Ottoman cavalry commanded by Grand Vizier Ivazzade Halil Pashaand. The Ottoman army is represented by 160 units. There are also about 70,000 Crimean Tartar cavalry, these start 10 miles off the battlefield.

The Russian First Army consists of 38000 men under the command of General Pyotr Rumyantsev. The Russian army is represented by 90 units.

In all there are over 2000 15mm figures.

The Ottoman players placed their camp and defence line, then both sides set up simultaneously with a screen across the table.

This picture shows Ottoman camp (centre left) with the heavy cavalry in the foreground. The Russians are on the right.

This picture shows the Ottoman light cavalry (centre right, with the levy infantry behind them. Their heavy cavalry is in the foreground with Sekhans in the rough ground. The line of chained guns is in the distance, with chevaux de frise in front and the camp behind. Kagul is in the foreground. The Russian squares can be plainly seen on the left.

A close up of the previous picture from behind the Ottoman position.

The Ottoman attack has begun. The light cavalry attack the outer most Russian square while the heavy cavalry move round the flank.

The Ottoman Spahi heavy cavalry on their right flank move to attack the Russian square. The Suvalieri cavalry on the left of the picture are reluctant to attack.

A view of this attack from the Russian position. Russian hussars can be seen in the foreground. The Russian gun line is in the centre exchanging ineffectual fire with the Ottoman guns in the background. Sekhans advance on the Jagers in the rough ground and the Suvalieri cavalry obey their orders at last.

Back to the Ottoman left flank. The Spahis have been delayed by the stream. The light cavalry continue to press their attack; these continous attacks are beginning to disorder the square. Meanwhile Russian dragoons and cuirassiers push some of them back and prevent others from penetrating between the squares. Some bashi-bazouks are about to charge the next Russian square from the broken ground.

The Russian square breaks, to the amazement of the Ottomans, the light cavalry pour in and Russians flee to the rear. In the foreground, the first bashi attack is driven back.

On the Ottoman right flank, the Russian horse grenadiers have moved up to support the beleagured square, diverting a number of Spahis. Meanwhile the Russian cuirassiers have swung wide round the square and are about to charge. At this point, the Tartar army began to arrive. Seeing the lines of cuirassiers between them and the Ottomans, they decided that looting the Russian baggage was the best course of action.

The Ottoman Suvalieri charge the gun line, overrunning one of the guns. The Russian square behind the gun line prevents any more guns being taken while the Russian hussars valiantly stop the Suvalieri from moving between the square and the rough ground. The jagers contiue to skirmish with the Sekhans.

On their left flank, most of the Ottoman light cavalry have been driven off by the dragoons, who are now about to attack the second line Ottoman levies.

The Russians begin their long delayed attack in the centre. The square advances against Ottoman guns backed by Janissaries. On the left, the next wave of light cavalry is entering the field.

As the battle nears its end, the cuirassiers sweep away the remnants of the Spahis.

At the end of the battle, as no attempt had been made to take the Ottoman camp, the battle was judged an Ottoman victory (particularly as the umpire was also an Ottoman player!). However as the Ottoman heavy cavalry on their right flank had been almost destroyed and those on the left flank appeared intent on joining the Tartars in raiding the Russian baggage, it was judged to be only a marginal victory.

The Great War, Anzac Style

The Turks (Dave) waited nervously in the outer trenches, while their German allies (Chris), lounged in the fort, drinking schnapps!

The Brit infantry and dismounted cavalry (Simon) 'demonstrated' against the left flank trenches, coming off slightly worst off and suffering badly from the German snipers.

The Anzacs (Phil) then launched a close packed assault, led by two armoured cars. While the armoured cars were quickly neutralised by the Turk field gun, this gun was in turn knocked-out by the combined fire of the British and sole remaining armoured car mounted machine gun.

The massed Anzac infantry then rushed through the scrub, up to the wire. Unfortunately, the Anzac commander had misjudged the thickness of the scrub and the Turkish command bunker machine gun pinned down the entire Anzac force, short of the wire, until a group of Anzac 'bombers' finally succeeded in storming the bunker.

By this time, fire from the Germans, in the fort / central compound, was beginning to take effect and the one Anzac squad that managed to cross the wire, was wiped-out by the remains of the Turkish trench garrison. The one bright spot of the assault, was the VC awarded to Capt Walter (Bruce) Willis, who singlehandedly finished off the celebrating Turks!!

The Turko-German alliance claimed a marginal victory, while the Anzac command were sent on a bunker recognition course!? Many thanks to Tony for organising the game.

Phil T

Secrets of the Third Reich - Trial Game

OK, bit of a mix-up with who was organising the game, but eventually the Russians and Germans pitched-up for a scrap. Unfortunately, nobody told the Germans that they could bring anything other than infantry. While the Russian infantry hid in the trees (+1 bonus), the Germans tried to force the centre.

After a brief fire-fight, with the Russian snipers coming off second (but not before routing a German squad), the Russian mech thingies and a handy werewolf, succeeded in turning both German flanks. While the German infantry struggled to deal with the mech thingies (having no serious anti-armour) weapons, the werewolf closed in on an unfortunate German squad, who promptly fled!?

The German commander's official statement was "no comment", but was later heard muttering dark things about dodgy rules and rigged scenarios!?

Phil T

Strange Goings on in Warmington!

Major Kreutz the daring hero of the German parachute attack on Eben Emal crouched behind the hedge surveying the village of Warmington-on-Sea . He had the unenviable task of parachuting into England to rescue or eliminate the crew of a German Heinkel, commanded by Captain Lufthansa downed by the tommies while trialling the new secret radar beacon technology. After identifying the main tommy defence line along the river , which also happened to be the proposed route of withdrawl, Kreutz made his plan.

Without concrete information on the whereabouts of Captain Lufthansa and his crew Kreutz had no option for a silent extraction of the crew but would need to sweep the entire town and surrounding fields to discover their location. He ordered Lieutenant Weis to take his two sections to sweep the fields surrounding the town and Lieutenant Rot and his two sections to sweep the buildings of the town. Kreutz decided that his command section with the only machine gun in the force would occupy the Church spire and bring down fire onto any troops moving into the town from the main tommy defence line.

The initial move of these elite paras was carried out in silence and superb skill without anyone seeing what was happening. However on as Kreutz was slowly moving around the outside of the church through the grave yard the local vicar decided to have a little walk around his pleasant little English church. As he turned the corner he was transfixed by the large men of Kreutz’s section moving silently through the grave yard. Kreutz initially tried to remember the English language lessons from his time at Potsdam university to try and pacify the Vicar could not recall anything of use. Instead he decided to spring into action and waved his men forward in a mad rush around the church. Pushing passed the vicar he turned the corner and saw the front doors of the church were open wide he dashed through the door barrelling passed the portly curate blocking the entrance. Once inside the nave Kreutz relaxed he somehow had got into the nave of the church without raising the alarm. However this short movement of relaxation was shattered as the woman walking passed the church started screaming and yelling “Germans, Germans the invasion has started”

A well trained british army unit jog trotted into the centre of the town square to see what had caused this terrible screaming. Lt Rot in the meantime rushed forward to the grave yard wall had decided the game was up and opened up on the tommy section in the square. Regrettably an English civilian was hit in the crossfire which pinned this tommy section in the square.

A tommy armoured car came bursting out of the local garage moving to cover the tommy section in the square. Unbeknownst to the armoured car the Lt Rot’s second section was just infiltrating into the garage and when they heard the engine they burst into action and charged out into the street in an attempt to neutralise the armoured car. However as the armoured car was travelling to quickly (and the umpire had decided these brave paras could not melee with the armoured car or drop grenades into the top) they gave it a couple of bursts to speed it on its way.

Lt Weiss teams in the meantime had scoured the fields to the north west and took up a position at the entrance to the town. The well trained tommies now started their counter attack pouring forth from their defensive line (one element of this intricate defence line also included the local pub !) they moved into the village. One unit took up position on the left of the pub. Another congregated outside the pub in preparation to clearing the centre of town a third moved through the back part of the town using the cover of the surrounding buildings. A forth unit of elite bicycle borne infantry moved on behind the german lines and took up position in a field. A fifth unit the famed Warmington on Sea platoon lead by the famed Captain Manawaring assembled outside the manor house.

The brave and fearless Kreutz knew that to complete the mission successfully he needed to establish a firebase in the church spire. He raced up the ladder into the spire, closely followed by his mg team. On reaching the top and throwing open the trap door he was confronted by two startled tommys operating an advanced device. Thinking quickly he motioned to them with his schmeiser and called hande hoch. After a moments indecision quickly ended by the aperance of the mg crew the two tommys raised their hands. Kreutz’s covered the two tommys while the mg crew hosed down the tommy section in the square.

In the meantime the Tommy attack was developing. The unit to the left of the pub rushed forward to the graveyard wall opposite Lt Rot and bought down fire onto his section. The Section in the town square retreated out of the deadly kill zone. The Pub section deciding that it would be best to keep in cover skirted around the town square through the buildings. A further section was also cautiously moving forward through the back yards on the right of the town. Manawaring had an impromptu inspection of his troops to see if they were ready, while taking some fire from one of Lt weis’s teams. The elite bicycle unit enraged by the attack on Manawaring gunned down half of Weis team.

Kreutz surveyed the surrounding town and saw a Tommy section move to the wall of the graveyard opposite Lt. Rot’s position along with the Mg he hosed down this section forcing it to retire to the pub. Kreutz’s radio operator meanwhile picked up a message from the stranded bomber crew. Lt. Weis team set of to skirt the town and establish contact with the bomber crew. Kreutz meanwhile directed fire onto Manawarings platoon while Rot’s second team secured the square and also put a few rounds into Manawarings platoon.

The tommy attack through the centre of the village was taking shape and bought Lt. Rot’s second team under a furious barrage. The Tommy’s started a barrage from their secret weapon on the top of the church spire. However this was ineffective and only destroyed the roof of the church.

After the Weis linked up with the Bomber crew Kreutz started to withdraw his troops from the village. While withdrawing he over ran the section cowering by the pub and captured another secret weapon.

In recognition of their bravery the Furher awarded Kreutz the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves and Lts. Rot and weis the Iron Cross first class.

Report filed by Tony M

Rules: Triumph & Tragedy, 28mm WW2 Skirmish.

More Pictures at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/phil_t_photos/sets/72157612011680937/

Club Night, 4th Sept

Just a few pics from the selection of games going on last Thursday.

1st up, Jim and Phil in a Napoleonic naval game, using Jim's rather fine 1:1200 miniatures.

The French wait at anchor.

The Royal Navy arrives.
...and forces the gap between the French line and the fort
The game closes with the British being forced too far downwind, while the battered, but unbowed French weigh anchor. A win for Jim's French.

Simon's Kings African Rifles participate in Pete's Crossfire lookalike, ww1 African game.
The German Navy in the African jungle.
The King's African Rifles try to dislodge the Germans.
...but are driven off with significant loss.

Meanwhile, Ian and Colin conducted the first of the Principles of War, Napoleonic league games.

CASEVAC Precinct 13

“What the hell went wrong”, mused Cpl. Buck?”, as he stated blankly out through the gore splattered, tangled remains of the Huey helicopter’s windshield? The plan had been good; land in the nearby freight yard; the SWAT team to set-up a covering fire zone, while drawing away the ugly crowd of zombies gathered around the police station. Once the coast was clear, the police, including their stretcher case, would then slip out of the back door, down the back alley and over to the freight yard, into the waiting helicopter, all the time covered by the SWAT fire-team and the SWAT sniper, from his vantage point on top of a container in the freight yard.
However, things started to go wrong from the start, when one of the trapped police officers, possibly spooked by the appearance of zombies outside the toughened glass police station windows, fired. This weakened the glass and attracted more zombies. Before long, they were flopping in through the shattered window in pairs, while the five police officers, arrayed in an arc around the room, blazed away at the hideous forms.

The pile of gory bodies mounted, while the ammo dwindled Then suddenly, one of the gory, stinking forms, managed to stagger through the murderous fusillade of lead and jumped straight onto the unconscious form of Officer Nordberg, as he lay strapped to the stretcher, at the feet of the sweating police officers. This zombie was quickly despatched, but not before it had torn the throat out of the helpless Nordberg. So much for the CASEVAC!?
Outside, things weren’t going much better. Sniper ‘TJ’ in place, Alex and Hondo dashed through the freight yard gates and across the street. However, before they had got beyond the middle of the street, a spine chilling howling erupted from their left. Rage zombies, four of them! These mindless killers tore down the street. Alex turned and squeezed off two long bursts from her MP5, but the only result was that one of the Rage zombies appeared to stagger slightly. The SWAT sniper did better, dispatching one of the monsters and knocking another down.

However, before Alex could fire again, two of the Rage zombies were on her, tearing at her clothing and flesh. The fight was pretty one-sided, but finished even more abruptly when, a short three round MP5 burst from Hondo, narrowly missed its intended target and struck the hapless Alex instead.
Hondo did not have time to curse his luck, as a group on shambler zombies were now closing in on him, from the direction of the police station. Hondo sprinted around the block of flats, arriving back in the street opposite the freight yard, only to be met by the sight of another disaster unfolding! A handful of shambler zombies had now appeared within the freight yard. The SWAT sniper, ‘TJ’, was distracted by a clawing on nails on the rough metal sides of the container below him. He glanced over the edge, shocked to see a small child zombie figure.

He snapped up his L96A and fired, destroying that pathetic soft toy clutched in the small hand, but missing its real target. As he took more careful aim, one of the other figures lurched over toward Deke, over at the freight yard gate. Deke turned, firing into the shambling form, but seemingly without effect? Deke prepared to fire again, but suddenly the howling form of a Rage zombie crashed into the heavy metal gate behind him. As he snapped round, he was winded by MP5 slugs pounding into his body armour. Hondo had seen the Rage zombie streak across the street, toward the back of Deke. Instinctively Hondo fired off a short 3 round burst, but instead of hitting the intended target, the bullets struck the unfortunate Deke instead. Deke was completely stunned, not knowing which way to turn. A growling to his front warned to the next danger; the shambler clutching at his front. Before, he could raise his weapon, the swaying form lunged forward, sinking it teeth into Deke’s neck with an amazingly accurate bite.
















Hondo was now in a state of shock, his team dying around him. He stared blankly at the zombies staggering toward him down the street and failed to hear two more emerging from a dooway behind him. He struggled briefly, but then just let out a long howling, hopeless scream, as the cold fingers pulled at his flesh. The SWAT sniper, ‘TJ’ watched in horror through the scope of his rifle. Unable to bear it anymore, he fired, not into the shambling forms, but into Hondo, thankfully cutting off that terrible scream.























Down at the police station, the pile of stinking, rotting flesh inside the smashed window was mounting, the floor strewn with empty shell cases. The trapped officers could hear the rescue mission collapsing, over the crackling radio. They decided to make a break for it. Buck pulled open the back door of the police station and dashed out, closely followed by Pat and Lacy. However, before Chuck and Chris could reach the door, more ghastly figures staggered into the open doorway, while two more crashed through the open window in front of them. Their overworked guns spoke again, but were too few now and the pair soon disappeared under a heap of rotting flesh.























Back at the freight yard, things had got worse! The last remaining Rage zombie had ripped open the gate and was tearing straight for the helicopter, ignoring the bullet impacts of the SWAT sniper. The pilot hesitated a fraction of a second too long and as the machine lifted, the snarling monster smashed through the side windshield. The pilot struggled to maintain control, while thrusting the gnashing teeth and rotting flesh, back out of the window, but eventually succeeded. Wiping the gore from his gloves and peering through the gory streaks on the windshield, the pilot then crabbed the helicopter over to the waiting sniper, who leapt from the shipping container roof, onto the port skid of the helicopter. The pilot was just about the lift clear, when he spied the three surviving police officers, running from the back alley, into the street opposite the yard. Taking an insane risk, he dipped the helicopter, into the tiny space of the garage forecourt, ignoring the debris clanging from the rotor blades and fuselage. The three officers jumped into the open passenger compartment, barely able to grab onto something, before the chopper swept skywards. No-one looked back!

Cast:
Police Officers: Alastair (Late take-over)
SWAT Team: Pete (‘Hondo’ & ‘Alex’, Andy (‘Deke’ & ‘TJ’))
Zombies: Tony (“2s then jokers”!), Dave (“straight 8s”!!)

Rules: Savage Worlds.

WW1 in 20mm

While their subordinates slugged it out in the AWI campaign game, John and Chris, indulged in a spot of 20mm WW1 (using the Great War rules). John's very nice set of 20mm models look excellent........Now Chris, why did we go 28mm, when I can have a whole fleet of 1/72 scale tanks, for the price of one 28mm!?
Just look at the nice vehicles - nice one John!

Phil T