Next Saturday we will be at Pendraken’s excellent Battleground Show with the first exposure to the world of the “Adventures in Lardest Africa” Sharp Practise 2 supplement. Everyone is welcome to come and try their hand or simply watch the dramas unfold – the brief for participants is reproduced below and we look forward to seeing you there.Monty the Desert RatRESCUE MISSIONIt all started three days ago when they came to your house. The Umkiliwakosi tribe have been the subject of much attention by Her Majesty’s Representatives of late and you have been trying to negotiate a treaty allowing access to and through their lands. This has proved difficult. They are wary of outsiders and dubious about your intentions.
But then your chance came! The runners arrived just before lunch (most inconvenient!) and reported that the Chief’s daughter, Okuhle Kakhulu, had been seized by the Umkiliwakosi’s long term and bitter enemies, the Amadoda Adle. They believe that the Amadoda Adle have taken her to sacrifice and then eat her as part of the assention of a new chief. The Chief of the Umkiliwakosi, Isisu Esikhulu, sent word that, if you returned his daughter safe and well, he would trust your words and agree to the treaty. So, off you went. You gathered a small party of local Askaris – 4 trained men and 6 not so well trained and, along with your companion, Archibald Trevelyan, set out in pursuit. You anticapted catching up with them just across the Amanzi Asheshayo river and instructed Sub Lieutenant Chalmers of the Royal Navy to gather some sailors, make ready the boat and meet you two miles up the Amanzi Asheshayo. All has gone well.
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Moving quickly, you soon found the trail and were able to follow it with little difficulty. Closing fast yesterday afternoon, you set in place a plan to sneak into their camp in the dead of night and recover Okuhle Kakhulu, smuggling her out wihtout being detected.
Your master plan succeded and you are now on your way back to the river, hoping young Chalmers has done as instucted. You have just taken a short break to refresh when you hear cries of “Naim, Naim”echoing through the morning air. Time to move.
Can you make it to the river and (hopefully) safety?Roughly translated as “Dinner’s here!”. This post was prompted by completion of work on the initial forces for an ongoing but slow burn project here at Monty HQ, namely the War of Spanish Succession using an adaptation of “Bloody Big Battles”, which, if readers hadn’t noticed, is a favourite rule set round here!Anyway, I have completed the first tranche of French and photos are attached – yes, I know, I still have the guns to do!
They are all Baccus figures and represent a good mixed force based on the French contingent at Blenheim.I really enjoyed painting them and this set me thinking about the whole process of getting figures ready for the tabletop and I came to the conclusion that there are two absolutely key issues, and that neither of them is size! As a professional painter, I paint all sorts and all scales and there is very little difference in requirements or methodology. Sure, I tend to use brighter colours for smaller figures and a degree of ‘impressionism’ is necessary. For example, the hat lace may be over-scale, but it needs to be there or the figures just don’t look like what they are supposed to be. No, the really key issues are the quality of the sculpt and the quality of the casting. The two go firmly hand in hand – no amount of care in the casting process, no amount of care of the mould or investment in quality materials can rescue a poor sculpt.
But the converse is also true, a beautiful model that has that care and attention lost in the casting process, be it through poor materials, lack of care during the process or poor mould maintenance, will become a relatively shapeless lump of metal regardless of how beautiful it was at the start. Now if quality is maintained through both processes, what you get is a lovely figure and one that is so much easier to paint. Detail is crisp, clear and easily identifiable and a brush (a good one) will find it so much easier to follow that detail.And this sums up these figures perfectly. They were a joy and a doddle to paint, far easier than some bigger scale figures, precisely because they are lovely sculpts that have been carefully and well cast. This is a bit of a theme right now – as well as these Baccus figures that have just completed the process; the workbench is home to some Pendraken 10mm Napoleonics. The same applies – lovely sculpts well cast; they really are beautiful figures. Pendraken have also just announced that they have released 1000 new products in the last 5 years.
Whilst a real achievement, the most impressive thing for me is that they continue to deliver exceptional quality despite such a hectic release schedule. And that is not just for new products, the care taken with the casting process means the quality carries on through the years following release. Hats off to you all, gentlemen, your work is very much appreciated by this one painter.Anyway, the piccies:Monty the Desert Rat. We met again at the end of November for another “Bloody Big Battles” Napoleonic game, once again, we set it in Germany in 1813 but somewhat later in the year.
Once again, we had Austrians and Russians facing off against the French. HITACHI HDC-1491EWith the French on the left of the first picture and the right of the second.The Allies diced to come on – anything but a 1/2 and they were on the table on Turn 1 and able to deploy up to the woods starting on the left of the second picture, running in a rough line across to the far table edge through the next two woods.The French were all on table and deployed up to the road running across the table in the second of the pictures above with their line continuing through the two woods to the table edge. Poniatowski took the left holding the near village and the wood behind. Ney was left centre holding the next village along to the wood. Then came Eugene across to the hill on the right, which was held by Junot. III Cavalry Corps covered the extreme right and IV Cavalry Corps was in reserve behind Ney.Both Allied commanders managed to throw low – no Allies on the table on Turn 1! However, they went first that turn and began to advance.
Broadly speaking, they split into three groups. The Austrians were on their extreme right and were positioned to turn the French left flank with the village held by the Poles their first objective. Over on their left, one group of Russians was aiming to turn the French right flank by advancing across the stream and onto Junot’s flank. The other group of Russians was aimed directly at Eugene!Over the course of the next 6 turns, the Austrians first flanked and cleared the most forward village held by the Poles, destroying the division holding it. More Austrians swung very wide and were clearly intent on a deep envelopment of the French left, although they made slow progress.
Over on the French right, the situation was not dissimilar, with the Russians on that flank making good speed towards the stream with a view to turning Junot’s flank, whilst Eugene was being pressed to his front.On Turn 6 the Allies learnt of the approaching French reinforcements, which gave them pause for thought that Turn. We then went into the night interval. This allowed the Allies to move forward, with those that had lagged behind closing up. Poniatowski also used the opportunity to trade more space for time and withdrew to a new line hinged on the village held by Ney and heading back to the table edge. He was joined by Marmont, who formed a new line along the road. Davout and the Guard came on behind Eugene, or at least some of them did!
Poor rolls meant they were less coherent than would have been ideal and some did not make it on (we made the reinforcements roll as normal and then they could move a full move/half move/not at all onto the table dependant on the result). Murat brought the cavalry and horse artillery over on the right, even further across than Junot, whose cavalry support had been lost battling Russian cavalry on the first day.With the scene set for the next day, we cracked on! The Austrians continued to make progress and got cavalry right around behind the French left, forcing the French cavalry to face off against them. Things then began to go Poniatowski’s way. His cavalry threw back the Austrian cavalry and his infantry counter attacked into the flank of the Austrian infantry that was closing on the rear of the French cavalry. The close combat went the way of the French and an Austrian division was sent tumbling to the rear.Over on the French right flank, the Russians adopted a defensive posture and successfully destroyed the Guard cavalry, which had come too far forward in march column!The main action was in the centre.
Eugene threw his troops forward as Davout and the Young Guard approached as quickly as the movement dice would allow. The Old Guard were predictably slow moving and ended up being diverted to help Poniatowski as there was no chance of them reaching the scene of the action in time. However, Eugene’s troops crashed forward, losing men to the Russians as they approached, but doing damage of their own. Assaults were mounted and halted or thrown back. Russian cavalry also threw themselves into the fray, holding back another French division.And then we had to call it a day. There should have been two more turns, but the need for some to leave early meant we called it as was.
We concluded that the Austrians had been halted, but that they were well placed to mount a further attack in due course, probably after using the night to sort themselves out. Poniatowski was reasonably placed, but had run out of space to trade for time and would have had to have held his current position, which we felt would have been difficult. The Russians on the French right/Allied left were relatively unscathed and not under any pressure, they could act as they wished. In the centre, we felt weight of French numbers would have told in due course, but probably not in the remaining two turns. We therefore concluded that the Allied centre would have suffered damage, but that they would probably have been able to hold on until nightfall and withdraw during darkness. This would probably have prompted the Austrians to withdraw as well, leaving the French in possession of the field, but without the victory they had sought. Neither side managed a knockout blow and both commanders would have rued the missed opportunity as both sides lived to fight another day.And here are some pictures of the action.
We met at the Club yesterday for another run out with “Bloody Big Battles” and the amendments for the Napoleonic period. The game was set in 1813 with the French on the back foot in Germany. In accordance with agreed strategy, the Allies are avoiding Napoleon and focusing on his Marshals and this time it was Ney’s turn! Ney has been somewhat ‘enthusiastic’ and got himself exposed with the Allies converging. He has the following under his command: II Corps Marmont441T ST SHeavy Foot BatteryIII Corps Ney5411T ST SMedium Foot BatteryHeavy Foot Battery10th Div Ledru11th Div Razout + 25th Div Scheler (Wurt)IV Corps Eugene3442TT ST SMedium Foot BatteriesIT Royal Guard Pino13 Div Delzons14 Div BroussierV Corps(Poles) Poniatowski431T S AT S AMedium Foot Battery16th Div Zayonchek17th Div KniaziewiczVIII Corps(Westphalian) Junot61T S FMedium Foot Battery23rd Div Tharreau + 24th Div OchsII Cavalry Corps Montbrun4H FIII Cavalry Corps Grouchy3Lt FSo, not too bad. HITACHI HDC-1491Ewith the French on the side with the 2 roads exiting centrally as shown on the right of the picture immediately above (apologies for some of the photos – a bright day with the shutters on the Hall windows open meant a patchwork of bright and dark areas on the table).
The French were on table from the start, the Allies were split into 3 commands and diced with a 5/6 meaning that they were on table at the start, a 3/4 meant they would arrive on Turn 1 and a 1/2 would see them coming on in Turn 2. The game was scheduled to last 8 turns.The objective was all about the French Army. The Allies aim was to crush it, Ney’s aim was to check the Allied advance to allow him to break clean and withdraw through the night unmolested. As umpire, this is where I fell a little short of the mark. The French CinC got the idea that all he had to do was keep pulling back and get off the table until I pointed out that that would not check the Allies and that they would still be hot on his heels.
He took the point well, but I think he might have played things a little differently had he realised quite what he had to do.Anyway, off we went. The French deployed pretty much across the table, spreading themselves thinly and with no reserve.
They also deployed well forward, although I believe this was to force the Allies to deploy early and then slip away. The Allies could come on anywhere along their own table edge and basically up to the half way point on both flanks.Allied movement dice rolling started badly and stayed that way. All 3 commanders threw consistently poor dice, which was a shame and did mean that the scenario didn’t go as well as hoped. That’s another point for me – the scenario needed to account more for such poor dice rolling. So, start of Turn 1 and not a single Allied soldier on the Table! And the only ones to arrive were one command of Russians over on the far right (I’ll do everything from a French perspective).
Even then, they were slow with quite a few units not moving or only getting a half move.Turn 2 did see the rest of the Allies arrive, but with not much more haste. The Austrians came on centre and centre left but the left hand (from the French side) Corps did very little.
Some accurate artillery fire from the French (Marmont and Eugene) silenced the Austrian batteries and disrupted the infantry. Passive and with no General, they really didn’t get across the Start Line all day.In the centre the Austrians did better, the presence of Schwarzenburg making all the difference. However, their artillery was sent packing by the Polish gunners and the advance was slow and ponderous. An attempt to drive their cavalry into the right flank of Eugene’s Corps was shot to pieces by the Poles (amazing what a double 6 can do!!) and the advancing infantry had to recover from several disrupts before being able to charge the village held by the Poles. However, accurate fire from the village stopped them in their tracks, killed a number of Austrians and disrupted the leading units. At this stage and with night falling, Poniatowski felt he had done enough and ordered the withdrawal.
The guns and one division fell back, but the second division was slow (half move) and was vulnerable to being caught.Over on the right, Ney’s Corps extended from the Poles further right and then Junot’s Westphalians held the extreme right. The Russians moved better (not passive) and managed to get some cavalry around the French flank and across the stream. The French cavalry threw them back, but the infantry following up caught them from 2 sides and shot them to pieces. The Westphalians then bounced the Russian Guards and Russian Cavalry.
Trying to pull away, Russian fire gave a halt, disrupted result and so their planned withdrawal stopped, leaving them really quite exposed as night fell. Of course, Ney’s Corps was there to assist.oh. No it wasn’t! The left hand Division was gone – shot to pieces – and the right hand Division was in a poor state – low on ammo and disrupted, almost spent and with hordes of Russians closing, I ruled they would not have made it away.So, the scores on the doors! Marmont, Eugene, half of the Poles and one French cavalry corps would have made good their escape, Ney’s corps and one cavalry corps were lost, the Westphalians had little chance of breaking clear and it was touch and go for the rest of the Poles. About 50% gone.
We concluded Ney’s chat with the Emperor would be both interesting and lacking in coffee and biscuits! But we also felt the Allies would be disappointed. So much more should have been possible but they just couldn’t get it together. The story of much of 1813, in reality, and a real tribute to the command and control in BBB, allowing such to be represented so well and so easily.Another area of post game discussion was the Allied plan.
Clearly when you all throw poor dice, then that’s going to be an issue, but the intent had been to hit the French line in several places at the same time. We debated whether this is really an option with troops with such poor maneuverability. We discussed whether the Allies should have simply pushed forward and then, if necessary, paused rather than trying to get everyone from the start line to the objective simultaneously. We also wondered if they should have made more use of march column – that +1 can really make a difference and, on roads, much ground can be covered quite quickly. Yes, there is risk, but the Allies had the numbers to take losses, what they didn’t have was time.The other subject is one that has been a constant theme for us. The attackers just don’t seem to be able to get their artillery into action.
It moves up limbered, is therefore a prime target, gets hit, gets silenced and goes back. The exception this time was the Russians, whose guns’ approach was better covered by their infantry, which combined with the French redeployments, including of their artillery, to allow Russian guns to get into decent range (12″ and less) and they were the ones that really hurt Ney’s Corps. We continue to debate this issue – I feel that their approach has to be covered – let cavalry or infantry take the heat until the guns are in the right place and deployed. Harsh, but the guns are real killers in the later Napoleonic age and they are needed. I also felt that this deprived the Allies of the chance to disrupt the French infantry and complicate the withdrawal process. Withdrawing in the face of the enemy is hard, doing it under fire even more so. I wonder if the French would have become more fragmented and vulnerable had they been disrupted by artillery fire much earlier?Anyway, some piccies of the action.
We met at the Club on Sunday for a Russian v French 1812 Napoleonic game using “Bloody Big Battles” with a few mods to reflect the Napoleonic period. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any photos at all! Apologies.Anyway, it was an encounter battle with 5 objectives on the table, victory going to the side that controlled 3 at the end of the 10th turn. Three were villages closer to the Russian side (fewer generals and passive infantry made this necessary for balance).
One was on the left, one left centre and one right over on the right wing. There were 2 objectives closer to the French – one on a hill opposite the village on the Russian left and one central in a village. There were several hills and woods around the table.On Turn 1 both sides’ left flanks arrived. The Russians made all haste for the left flank village whilst the French advanced on the right flank village (all from a Russian perspective). Second Turn and the French centre came on, heading for the centre village. Both left flanks pressed forward and the Russian cavalry moved up onto the objective hill to their front.Turn 3 – the French right appeared in march column, pressing towards the hill objective.
The Russian left flank commander, having roundly berated his colleagues for their lethargy, was relieved to see both centre and right finally arrive. The former moved up towards the centre left village, now held by the Russian left flank, although they were thinly spread across the 2 objectives they had secured. The Russian right advanced on the village but the French had pretty much beaten them to it.The Russian left flank cavalry corps then secured its place in history! They charged into the head of a French column, sending it reeling back after riding down a regiment.
They didn’t stop there and carried on into the supporting artillery, riding down 3 batteries with the remainder escaping by the skin of their teeth. This drama was set to continue over the ensuing turns. The supporting French cavalry countered, but failed to drive the Russians off, and they duly charged another column, riding down 2 regiments. However, their days were numbered. The remaining French had deployed and a maelstrom of fire cut the brave troopers down. Nevertheless, they had stopped an entire French Corps in its tracks and they were to spend the rest of the game recovering from the effects of this gallant charge and played no substantive part in the remainder of the battle.The centre also turned into a stand off as the Russians struggled to get forward and deploy and the French, content at securing the objective and viewing this sector as one for ‘economy of force’, remained defensively poised to protect their gains.
The high point was the Cossacks chasing off a French artillery concentration from a hill to the right of the village objective, supported by a Russian cavalry corps, but the local French cavalry soon saw them off. The purpose of the Russian actions had, however, been achieved. They were covering the move of the Russian reserve, the Guard Corps, over to the right to support their beleaguered colleagues.The right flank developed into the key contest of the day. By stealing 2 marches on their opponents, the French had closed on the village objective as the Russians arrived. The leading Russian division successfully cleared the village but the French follow on forces arrived in numbers as the Russian advance stagnated. The French deployed a grand battery (some 150 guns) to the left of the village, bringing it under sustained fire, supported by 2 divisions deployed respectively to the front and right flank.
French cavalry screened the right flank and kept the Russian cavalry at bay. The Russians struggled to get their own guns into action, losing a heavy battery early on, placing them at a marked disadvantage in firepower terms. More Russian troops moved into the village but the combined firepower of the French over the space of several hours saw Russian units dying to a man. As dusk gathered and with the last Russian units struggling (still) to get into the fight and with the Guard still too far away, the French attacked. A desperate attempt to support the defenders saw Russian cavalry hurling itself at the guns and protecting cavalry, if only to give the defenders some respite, but 2 French divisions (actually, one was Italian) stormed into the village and the battle was won.So, how did it go?
Once again BBB showed just why it is such a superb set of rules. The French General on the right, who delivered victory for the Emperor, had never played BBB before but soon had the basics firmly grasped. The game flowed swiftly, swung both ways with moments of high drama that will go down in Club legend, and consistently delivered realistic results. Friction was very evident, but not overpowering, period tactics were rewarded, the French felt like they were Napoleonic French and the Russians felt like Russians. The few mods we had made all seemed to work well and helped give the flavour of Napoleonic warfare.
Great success and we will be back in Russia soon for a refight of Borodino!
My addictions are long drives, scenery and good music – the drive to Surrey Hills was definitely able to provide this with its long winding roads and incredible scenery. I have always heard good things about the area but never really took the time to go out and explore it.One early Saturday morning a friend and I went out for a long drive down to Surrey. It was the first time I had driven into this neck of the woods and I was amazed at the scenery that it had to offer.I’m not sure of how much fuel I used up or many miles I covered but coming off the M25, onto rural roads, and through winding back roads in the forests of Surrey Hills whilst listening to Tom Misch was somewhat therapeutic.
As I drove further into Surrey Hills I could hear the V8 growling, passing all the hills, hidden dips, mountains of soil creating tight spaces and numerous trees creating intimidating shadows. Further along the route there were blind corners, twist and turns and straight roads.After taking some time to soak in the views and take some photos we got back into our cars and whooshed a few miles of empty roads.The whole drive was around 6 hours long but I can guarantee you that if you decide to go you’ll definitely get a sense of adrenaline rush along the way. We chose the busy, tourist hub of Patong as our base. We stayed at a boutique hotel situation on top of a hill offering beautiful views of the village and beach called Baan Yin Dee. It was away from the hustle and bustle of Patong-Phucket but it only took a 2-minute ride down on the moped to reach the busy streets below. We stayed in little villa-like rooms.
It didn’t even feel like a hotel room at all. As soon as we stepped outside the pool was literally by our feet. They offered a great breakfast and the staff there were highly welcoming and friendly. The room was so well decorated yet simple and modern. You felt like you were really in a luxurious Thai 1-bedroom apartment by the sea (minus a kitchen). I’d book this place again or recommend it to those of you looking for a similar type of accommodation.
During our time, here we did various island excursions such as the infamous Phi Phi islands tour and the Pang Nga tour with a tour guide and other tourists alike. Both were unbelievable and amazing places to have been able to experience. The beaches were so clean, the sand was soft and white- nothing like we’ve really imagined, the sea was a colour of greeny blue that we’ve never seen before, it was also so clear. It was just like once of those places you only see on television or on a postcard.
Two islands which blew us away was Khao Phing Kan also known as James Bond Island after it was featured in one of the films as well as Maya Bay which is essentially a beach enclosed by three 100-metertowering cliffs. Nonetheless both excursions were enjoyable as all the islands were amazing and offered a private-beach, secluded, in the middle-of-nowhere type experience. Usually on the island excursions they’d provide us with freshly cooked authentic Thai food- everything from Tom Yum soup to different curries, tempura as well as veggies and fruit. There was even the standard spaghetti available for the most pickier eater so they made sure there was something for everyone!One of the things that we enjoyed the most was the night markets which always offered the yummiest overwhelming varieties of food at very inexpensive prices – you could probably feed yourself and a friend on the Thai Baht equivalent of £5-10!
There were tons of different BBQs to different breads and pastries, to rice dishes, noodles, seafood and fruit to veg and desserts.There were also insects and cockroaches and all the other South East Asian “delicacies” that tourists often try when visiting this part of the world. Aside from the mouthwatering food there are never-ending stalls of those selling everything else from souvenirs of every kind to clothing to jewelry and even pets! Amazing sky high sky scrappers, to luxurious world-class shopping centers to amazing beaches and deserts that you thought only ever existed in photographs.Dubai is definitely a rapidly growing, tourist wonderland. As soon as you step out of the plane into the airport lounges you can already feel the world of sun and luxury ahead of you.The first thing we did after dropping off our luggage was hit Dubai Mall and search for some long awaited food although we did become distracted at all the shops and the luxury of everything inside. The mall is HUGE to say the least. Once we finally reached the food court there was what felt like a million restaurants to chose from but eventually we opted for a light meal before choosing a slightly more “nicer” place later for dinner (The Red Lobster – which was btw really good!).
As we only planned to stay a few nights before continuing our trip on to Thailand we chose to stay at a reasonably priced chain hotel Radisson Bluwhich was situated in Downtown Dubai. This hotel was located a mere 5 minute or less drive to the world’s tallest building The Burj Khalifa as well as the huge Dubai Mall which made it the perfect base for exploring.
The hotel itself was modern, very clean and offered great views of the city (as well as a good breakfast with a huge variety of things to choose from).Reaching the very top of the Burj Khalfia, we were amazed at the views of Dubai. Looking down from the tallest skyscraper in the world was surreal. We couldn’t believe how high up we were. On one of the evenings we decided to go on a Desert Safari Excursion. We were picked up by our tour guide mid-afternoon and began our exciting journey into the desert.
Once we reached the desert sands our tour guide decided to take us on a Dune Bashing experience where the vehicle would toss and turn to the waves of the sand beneath us at high speed. It was a great experience to say the least. It literally felt as if we were on a rollercoaster. After around 20 minutes we reached the camp where we would later have an Arabian-style buffet dinner with entertainment including belly dancers. During our evening here we also spent some time with the camels and visited the various tent set-ups where we could take part in various activities such sand art, henna and shisha.