Innholdsfortegnelse for WSS 119 i Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy

He was a grenadier … black with powder, covered in mud, legs stretched out, exhausted, soaked with sweat, but holding his musket … saying to me, “… leave me to die here on the battlefield! I cannot move; it is not courage that I am lacking, it is strength! … It is all over! Poor France!” I left him, tears running from my eyes …— Chef d’Escadron, Marie-Jean-Baptiste Lemonnier-Delafosse At Waterloo, Napoleon committed the French Imperial Guard as a last attempt to break the Allied lines. In doing so, he also threw away any hope of his army maintaining any coherency. Had the Guard been used to cover the retreat, Napoleon might have saved some of the French army. Instead, they were wasted in one last gamble. Napoleon took that…

In this article we have chosen a wide selection of manufacturers. The focus has been on the latter part of the Napoleonic Wars; we have not covered the earlier Consular Guard, nor the many smaller units of the Guard, such as the Marines of the Guard. As always, the limits of time and magazine space prohibit us from covering every single manufacturer. We classify ranges as follows: Basic (basic infantry); Standard (has the essentials); Comprehensive (as Standard, but with cavalry and personalities); and Complete (you’d have to think hard to come up with units they don’t have). Old Glory 40mm Range: Comprehensive (infantry and artillery) Size: 40mm ‘foot to eye’ or 46mm tall Price: £15.00 for five models Old Glory UK stocks the 40mm Sash and Saber range; each model…

This Very Ground: Victory or Death (2nd edition) Rules for wargaming in North America 1672-1815 By Keith Stine (Iron Ivan Games, 2022) $25.00 D10, Initiative-based alternate activation This revised set of rules was released as part of a Brigade Games Kickstarter at the end of 2020 but has now gone on general sale. The game is designed to be played on a 6’x4’ gaming table, with the use of units of around fifteen men representing and referred to as a platoon. A typical scenario will include some five to ten such platoons. Basing is individual figures, who as units operate in one of three groupings -close (touching), loose (almost touching), and skirmish (within 2” of each other). Officers at company and battalion level are represented by single figures and have…

I tend to have several projects on the go at any one time. I also need a quick way to tidy up my wargames ‘works in progress’ so other people can use that space. So, I’ve come up with a simple idea of using old takeaway tubs for quick storage. This way, I can carry on working with several projects and not lose any pieces. Now you may ask what do I do about individual parts, such as say a machine gun crew – I use individual plastic bags to store these and place those in the containers. I don’t get takeaways at all often, but I’ve found a growing need for more containers. Thankfully, they are cheap enough in supermarkets. In a way, it is also good recycling –…

The army of Henry VIII fielded for the invasion of France came to about 30,000 men and consisted of: • 10,000 archers • 3500 billmen • 1000 ‘Marispikes’, pikemen • 1000 King’s spears, heavy cavalry • 600 Yeomen gunners, arquebusiers • 2500 demilancers • An unclear number of mounted archers • 500 border horsemen Maximilian I added 2000 Landsknechts, 6000 Swiss and 3000 Burgundian Horsemen, all paid for by Henry. The totals for gunners and labourers are unclear, but the army contained an eye-watering number of guns: • 6 Heavy Bombards • 12 ‘Apostles’ 6 Grand culverins of unusual magnitude and 6 lighter field pieces each cast in the image of an apostle. • 162 other guns, around 54 per ward including heavy Nuremberg Pieces and curtows and lighter culverins,…

Commander: General Georges Mouton (Average) French reinforcements (arriving turn 4) The reinforcements enter from the western map edge. Artillery is limbered. French reinforcements arriving turn 8 The reinforcements enter from the western map edge. Note: The Old Guard grenadiers and chasseurs at Plan- cenoit were hardly two battalions in strength. This translates into a single standard unit of Old Guard – all that Napoleon could spare. The rest of the Guard had been committed to an attack on the British line. I have limited the amount of artillery the French have, as its effects in most games can be too powerful. Players may choose to add in additional artillery units, but at their peril, as it will seriously upset the scenario.…

The scenario is focused around a small Normandy farm that Captain Ronald Speirs, of the 101st Airborne Division, called ‘House A’ in his 1948 report. He describes the farm as having a waist-high wall, stone buildings and a courtyard. He noted that earlier that day, mortar shelling had set fire to the rooftops. Using the map that Speirs provided in the report, I was able to locate the farm. It lies 1km north east of Donville Manor (‘Douville’ in the report). The National Collection of Aerial Photography (ncap.org.uk) has an aerial photo of the farm taken in May 1944, which I compared with current satellite imagery. This showed me which buildings are post-war. Historian Paul Woodadge showed me some recent photos of the buildings from the ground, as well as…

A nyway, ‘paint more than you un-paint’ is the mantra for this year, and so far I’m bang on target because I’ve painted the odd model and stripped naff all. Early days yet though. Next step, get some full-sized units up and ready for action. Not that my armies have seen much activity this last couple of years thanks to the constraints of contagion. Another thing to put right. Maybe that one will have to wait for next year. The good news on the gaming front is that another campaign is being plotted even at this moment: a further visit to the heartlands of Europe in the age of Napoleon circa 1813 … Huzzah! Campaigns are the spur to at least half of the games I take part in, the…

Treat the French forces as follows: General Meunier (Leadership 8) • Three standard units of Young Guard voltigeurs General Harlet (Leadership 8) • Four standard units of Old Guard grenadiers Use the Imperial Guard stats from Albion Triumphant 2, page 124. Treat the Russian forces as follows: General Krasovsky (Leadership 7) • Four standard units of volunteer Jägers with muskets Colonel Zhevakhov (Leadership 8) • Two standard units of Hussars • One unit of Cossacks Use the stats from pages 148-149 of Clash of Eagles.…

The Prussian forces can start on the map, as shown. There should be at least 18” between the French and Prussian forces. Artillery may start unlimbered. Each of the regular Prussian brigades has a small attached unit of Schützen riflemen, as noted below. These would have a significant role to play in clearing the French from the village. Commander: Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Bülow (Good) * The 3. Schwere Batterie was used at extreme range and bombarded as far as La Haye Sainte! The Prussian player can choose to have it fire ‘off table’ up to Plancenoit at maximum range Prussian reinforcements arriving turn 6 The reinforcements enter from the eastern map edge. Artillery is limbered. Blücher did have further reserves that were committed to Plancenoit, but the forces presented…

That said, in one of the closets I found a couple of miniature cases, containing the dregs of my young adult painting. These are the figures that I have never bothered to take back to England despite numerous trips back and forth, mostly old Reaper miniatures and some from Wargames Foundry. I also discovered a box containing hundreds of random plastic bits for various Warhammer 40,000 vehicles. A couple of days into the trip, my mother pulled out several large envelopes filled with old photographs – almost the entirety of the family archives. She had already scanned them all for digital posterity and planned to throw the originals away, unless we children wanted them. This led to several joyous hours of going through photos, digging up old memories and telling…

Hundred Hours will launch with a starter set and two expansions that add metal character figures and different gaming cards – one for the Germans and one for the British. The plan going forward is to introduce more forces and countries in the same manner – French partisans, Americans, Italians, etc. There may be rules for different environments, such as the deserts of North Africa or the jungles of Asia, both distinct settings that saw many raiding missions during the war. The jungle is particularly interesting as dense foliage has the same effect as darkness in terms of cutting down the line of sight and weapon ranges. In addition, there have been a lot of requests for a fully solo version. It wouldn’t require too much adjustment to come up…

Yugoslav Armies 1941-45 By Nigel Thomas and Dusan Babac; Illustrated by Johnny Shumate ISBN: 978-472842039 (Osprey Publishing, 2022) – £11.99 This book covers the factions in Yugoslavia sympathetic to the Allied nations. (see Men-at-Arms 282 Axis Forces in Yugoslavia for the other side). There is one map, which attempts to represent the various annexations and occupations by Axis forces. Coverage is of the Royal Army, Chetniks, and People’s Liberation Army (loosely Communist). I use the term ‘loosely’ because there were non-Communist partisans. Indeed, the text explains that at times Russia sought to minimize its display of support and forbade the wearing of red stars and the like. The subjects covered are the Royal Army during the April war of 9-18 April 1941, followed by its service in the Middle East…

PARTING SOCKS I like using terrain mats in my games, and there are plenty of good manufacturers making mats for gamers. By themselves, mats are by their very nature flat; now if there were only a quick and easy way of making them irregular and uneven on the board … books are fine but slightly too rectangular; they are also quite heavy. Here’s a simple solution: use socks! I use a bunch of socks and scatter them on the table. Tee shirts are an alternative. This method creates irregular undulations in the terrain under the map. Socks are flexible enough to allow troops to rest when put upon them. This lightweight solution can also double as packing to keep your models secure in transit. BRUSH CARE Like I’m sure most…