2mm Madness - Naseby

I can't believe how long it is since I last posted, life does get in the way sometimes.  I've still been painting, mainly 28mm Napoleonics for Sharp Practice 2 with a slight diversion into the French and Indian Wars. I've even managed to play a couple of games which I'll get round to posing later.

 I do love the Napoleonic period, however, I'll freely admit that I find the painting a bit of a chore, particularly in 28mm.  This has led to a slight diversion into a completely new scale for another favourite period, the English Civil War.  I've already begun armies in 28mm and 15mm but, inspired by Roundwood's World Blog among others, I've ventured into 2mm supplied by Irregular Miniatures with the aim of recreating a copy of the Streater engraving of the Battle of Naseby.

A small sample order has provided enough pike blocks for the infantry of both sides and some of the cavalry.  I'm still undecided how to represent the cavalry, I've purchased enough blocks to cover approximately half the represented units but I understand that some of these, particularly on the Royalist side, were tiny and brigaded together.  I also need to purchase some commanders, artillery, Okey's dragoons and the commanded shot but that can wait for another day.

I've made a start on the New Model Army and am pleasantly surprised by the results.  I've gone more for impression rather than detail but from a distance they seem to work.

I'm veering towards using a variant of Neil Thomas rules and will probably expand the playing area although I imagine it doesn't need to be much larger than 2 x 2 feet at this stage.

The Fugitive - Lion Rampant Second Game

I decided to have a second game of Lion Rampant and opted for the Fugitive Scenario where the defender must search certain areas of the table in order to locate a friend who has escaped the dastardly Normans.

Norman Deployment

Turn 1.  The Norman were able to advance all their units across the board.  The Saxons were not so lucky with Huscarls and Fyrd refusing to advance.

Turn 2.  The Normans attempted to continue but the left wing infantry refused.  Meanwhile, Robin and his chums reached the first hiding place but found nothing. This clearly demoralised the rest as nobody else moved.

Turn 3.  Was a repeat of Turn 2 for the Normans as the cavalry continued to close while the left wing remained firm, as they preferred to term it.  Robin raced to the second possible hiding place but again found nothing.  The Huscarls finally began to advance while the right wing unit of the Great Fyrd formed a shieldwall in the face of the approaching cavalry.

Turn 4.  The Norman advance continued, combat could not be far off now.  The Saxon’s prepared to receive the inevitable charge while Robin fired on the advancing cavalry with no effect.

Turn 5.  The Norman general crashed into the Great Fyrd on the left wing with both sides inflicting one casualty.  Both sides passed the courage test and the Normans were first to retreat.  On the other flank, the cavalry again charged and, despite losing two figures to the Saxon’s one, forced their opponents to retreat in a battered state.  The Saxons were clearly stunned by this as their first attempt to move failed.

Turn 6.  The left wing cavalry pressed their advantage and charged again inflicting two casualties on the disordered Saxons but losing a further figure themselves.  This time the Saxons held firm and the Normans failed their courage test.  On the left flank the cavalry again charged but lost two figures to the Saxon’s one with both sides failing their courage tests.  The Saxons returned to hunting for their friend.

Turn 7.  The Norman cavalry recovered and a general advance resumed with the right wing archers firing on the advancing Huscarls without success.  Robin moved into the third possible hiding place.  Success, Marian emerged, now to escape.

Turn 8.  The Normans were in disarray and failed their first activation while the Saxon right moved to protect the escape.

Turn 9.  Disaster for the Normans.  Desperate to prevent an escape the Norman general charged the Saxon Huscarls and saw his unit destroyed.  The majority of his men passed the subsequent courage test apart from the other cavalry unit.

Turns 10 & 11 saw both sides fail their activation tests.

Turn 12.  The pursuit got underway with the Norman Infantry charging the Great Fyrd, inflicting two casualties to one of their own and the Great Fyrd retreated in disarray.  The other unit of Norman Infantry also attacked but were repulsed suffering two figures lost.  The Saxon retreat continued and it was clear that Robin would take Marian to safety so I decided to end the game.

Another Saxon victory and a complete disaster for the Norman cavalry with only one figure surviving.  I’m beginning to wonder if they’re slightly underpowered although charging a shieldwall is never a good idea.  I remain unconvinced by the activation system but it is, at least, fair to both sides.

That said, I’m really enjoying these rules and look forward to the next game.  Hopefully I’ll have finished off the trees and some more scenery by then. Painting has also been continuing with the first diversion of the year...

2015 In Review

The traditional end of year review.  I have to say I'm pleased that this one is over, it's not been the best on a number of levels but thankfully they're mostly outside the scope of this blog.

The main aims for this year were threefold:

1.  Normans and Saxons for Basic Impetus.  This one was completed and even extended with the purchase of Lion Rampant and I've now started painting up a further generic medieval retinue.

2.  Napoleonics.  I managed a couple of units earlier in the year but there has been little progress.

3.  Nineteenth Century Europe.  Another slow one, I painted a few units of Danes but then moved on.

Other units painted are a bit of a mix including ECW infantry and artillery, Japanese and British for Burma, Mahdist cavalry for the Sudan and some Napoleonic naval units.  The past few months have seen a real slowdown in painting, however, I have been busy with scenery in a variety of scales.

I don't currently have any plans for new projects this year and the intention is to consolidate, particularly 28mm Zulu War in anticipation of the release of Sharp Practice II but also Matakishi's Horns of the Bull rules.  I've also ordered some more Napoleonics from Campaign Games Miniatures and will continue to work through the existing pile together with additional scenery.  No doubt something new will crop up before too long.

Gamewise, I've managed three games of Chain of Command, one of Neil Thomas' Napoleonic rules, one Basic Impetus, one Bag the Hun and one of Lion Rampant.  This is a major improvement over previous years and the aim for this year is to play one per month.   I'll also try and document them here.

Outside of wargaming, the trip to Ypres was a great success.  I've posted the pictures of Waterloo bit not the Salient, I must get around to that.  Progress with this year's trip is somewhat slow and there is no agreement as to the destination, Normandy, Verdun and Arras have all been suggested.  At least a date in early May has been provisionally agreed.

All in, not too bad.  Hopefully the focus on actually playing games will inspire me to keep on track a bit more.  We shall see.  Happy wargaming for 2016.