"With Zeal and With Bayonets Only: The British Army on Campaign in North America, 1775-1783" by Matthew H. Spring.
Its easy for me to give this book a D12+1 on the die scale for reviews (D12+1 is the highest, a D4 is the lowest).
What can I say? This is simply a magnificent work. If you have ANY interest in the AWI, you should read this.
This isn't a campaign, or battle history. Its about the inner workings of the British army, with tons of snippets sprinkled throughout to give a flavor for the action. If you want to know "how things work" - buy this book....NOW. I think its on Amazon for around $18 in paperback now.
The chapters will give you some idea of the contents:
The Army's Task
Operational Constraints
Grand Tactics
March and Deployment
Motivation
The Advance
Commanding the Battalion
Firepower
The Bayonet Charge
"Bushfighting"
Hollow Victories
I've come away with a greater appreciation for the challenges faced by the Brits, as well as the flexibility in their tactical abilities.
Buy this book - you will not be disappointed.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Franco-Prussian Game Report
We had a great, unique FPW game last night. Chris' friend, Mike LaVigne was in town, and was able to make the game. I believe it was the first time he's played Field of Battle, or seen Field of Battle played.
The scenario generated by the player's decisions resulted in a Prussian force outnumbered by 20% deployed essentially across the short end of the board, primarily behind a Class II railroad embankment. The French had deployed across most of the table width, so 2/3 of their army had a long march to get to the engagement. The Prussians were outgunned, with 1/2 of their artillery not making it to the battlefield. Obviously the Prussian army was in no mood to fight...rolling up only 15 Army Morale Points, to 24 for the French.
The Prussian 2 right command groups were pushed over the railroad and toward the French left flank wood on their baseline. A stiff fight resulted between the Prussians and defending Turcos. Most of the Army Morale Points lost by both armies were lost in the fight for the woods.
The French were surprisingly fast in recovering and moving their army to attack the Prussians. The French right flank, under General "Triple Move" Mumby moved at an unbelievable speed. I've never seen so many triple move rolls in a single game. I think General "Triple Move"'s troop moved around 8 to 9 feet to crush the Prussian left flank.
By the time the French closed on the Prussian right flank (now commanded by me, as Chris and Mike had to scoot to make the start of the Colorado Avalanche vs. Edmonton Oilers game), only 3 Army Morale Points remained for the Prussians. A devastating attack by the French, multiple UI losses for the Prussians...and wouldn't you know it - the turn of the Army Morale Card! The Prussians failed on the first try, and the game ended with a decisive result in around 2 1/2 hours (19 units for the French, 15 for the Prussians).
The scenario generated by the player's decisions resulted in a Prussian force outnumbered by 20% deployed essentially across the short end of the board, primarily behind a Class II railroad embankment. The French had deployed across most of the table width, so 2/3 of their army had a long march to get to the engagement. The Prussians were outgunned, with 1/2 of their artillery not making it to the battlefield. Obviously the Prussian army was in no mood to fight...rolling up only 15 Army Morale Points, to 24 for the French.
The Prussian 2 right command groups were pushed over the railroad and toward the French left flank wood on their baseline. A stiff fight resulted between the Prussians and defending Turcos. Most of the Army Morale Points lost by both armies were lost in the fight for the woods.
The French were surprisingly fast in recovering and moving their army to attack the Prussians. The French right flank, under General "Triple Move" Mumby moved at an unbelievable speed. I've never seen so many triple move rolls in a single game. I think General "Triple Move"'s troop moved around 8 to 9 feet to crush the Prussian left flank.
By the time the French closed on the Prussian right flank (now commanded by me, as Chris and Mike had to scoot to make the start of the Colorado Avalanche vs. Edmonton Oilers game), only 3 Army Morale Points remained for the Prussians. A devastating attack by the French, multiple UI losses for the Prussians...and wouldn't you know it - the turn of the Army Morale Card! The Prussians failed on the first try, and the game ended with a decisive result in around 2 1/2 hours (19 units for the French, 15 for the Prussians).
The initial deployments. The French army is deployed across the table (left side of photo)...the Prussian army is way, way down on the end of the table...
French commands on their right flank
French commands in the woods on the French left, soon to be under attack
Prussians cross the railroad and move to the attack on the woods
French right flank leaps into action and starts to close on the Prussians
Prussians deployed behind the Class II cover of the railroad embankment
French cross at the ford
Prussian attack begins to falter as the Turcos bloody the Jaegers
A sharp looking unit of French Chasseurs
More French cross the river
The end comes quickly for the Prussian left flank as the French under Genl. "Triple Move" Mumby close in. There used to be Prussian infantry in the gap at the railroad...they're routing now, out of the photo.
The French reserves ready to crush what remains of the Prussian left flank.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Why does it always suck? Part 3
On to the final report of the last game - 1809 Austria/France.
The shredding of the Austrian right flank begins. Genl. Caudill's French close on Genl. Shockey's Austrians.
Huh? What? After marching off the center ridge, the bulk of the Austrian army stops, turns around and marches back up the ridge.
Meanwhile, the French continue to pound the Austrian right flank.
Genl. "Speed Bump" Shockey's Hungarians, stiffened by artillery form square and prepare for cavalry.
Left to right: "Speed Bump" Shockey, "Woodland" Mumby, "Let it be noted that I wasn't here when this plan was made" Miller.
The final throes of Speed Bump's command.
There's fewer of Speed Bump's command than there were just a while ago...
Anyway - that's the game! The French were outnumbered by about 30% - the Austrians started with 20 army morale points and the French started with 13 army morale points. At the end of the game, the Austrians were at 0 and failed army morale, while the French still had around 10 army morale points. The Austrians fought the bulk of the battle with a badly outnumbered right flank and the mass of the army effectively sat out the battle on the ridge...then off the ridge....then back on the ridge. The Austrian left flank cavalry brigade looked to be in a threatening position, but the timely arrival of French forces staved off their assault. Another crushing French victory!
Meanwhile - my current project is a pretty massive terrain effort. More of that later.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Why does it always suck? - Part Two
The French left flank and Bavarian Center
The White Horde (WH) lurches forward off of the central ridge
The French flanking force prepares to crush the WH's right flank. Bits of the WH can be seen at the top of the photo.
Form Square! French battalion forms square due to a threat from....
These guys! Austrian cavalry brigade thunders toward the hanging French right flank. The two French infantry squares can be seen in the distance.
A close up of the two French squares.
What will happen? At this point, the French appear poised to do some damage to the Austrian right, while the Austrians are beginning to muddle forward toward the French right. Stay tuned - more photos to follow!
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Why does it always suck?
This blog title comes directly from Eric Miller in last night's game, as he watched the Austrian army that he was part of get thrashed by an outnumbered French army (1809). Eric seems to have been on a losing run, and has seen his share of difficulties in getting his commands into action and successful. In last night's game, Eric commanded the Austrian cavalry on their left flank. Everything was going well, (on that flank) as his cavalry bore down on two lone French infantry battalions that had hurriedly deployed into square. At about that time, a mixed Command Group of one each cavalry/artillery/infantry units appeared to his left flank, arriving onto the battlefield late in the battle. After taking fire, getting meleed, and seeing the sweeping Austrian attack blunted....Eric said "Why does it always suck?".
On to the battle report!
On to the battle report!
The center of the Austrian army, deployed on a Class II ridge
French right/center - Bavarians in the woods in the center of the photo
Closeup of the Austrian artillery on the ridge in the center of the Austrian army
Austrian cavalry brigade on the Austrian left flank
The Austrians outnumbered the French by 30% at the start of the game, and had a significant Army Morale Point advantage (20 to 13).
More to follow.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Things I Like....Things I Don't Like
The beauty of having a blog is that you can write as much for you as for anyone else. There are no deadlines, no editors, no work pressures. With that in mind, this blog post is for me!
Things I like in the hobby
by Brent Oman
1. Mounted mapboards in boardgames. I admit it...if a boardgame has a mounted map, I'll buy it. I think it goes back to my childhood and the thrill of opening up the latest Avalon Hill game and unfolding those glorious mounted maps. A paper or card map leaves me totally cold....but a mounted map? Yowza - I don't even care how much the game costs...sign me up!
2. Command control in rules. To me - this is what a game is about - the command decisions forced onto players. Do we really have the same decisions as generals? No. But - games that force tough decisions, or even better, force a choice between two bad decisions - those are the games for me. Games without any friction or command consequence leave me cold....brrrr.
3. Terrain that looks like terrain. I appreciate those with a fine eye for detail, or more importantly, a flair for character and "pop" in their terrain. That can be done with hexes, with ground mats, with squares...doesn't matter. If the person obviously had some real soul poured into their set up, it shows. Don't ask me to say that a game on lime green painted plywood with masking tape roads looks good....
4. Figures and units with movement and animation. I love units that look frantic, jumbled, and active. In my minds eye, thats what a combat unit looks like. Not a stately marching band appearance, all with the same pose.
5. I LOVE Old Glory's figures. Huh? Who says that?? ME. I LOVE Old Glory's figures. They fit everything I want in a figure, and look fantastic in units on the table. On top of that, they're an absolutely brilliant company to deal with.
6. Military history books with good maps. I don't care what the subject of the book is - if it has good maps, I'm buying it.
Things I don't Like
by Brent Oman
1. Weird War, Zombie games, Mexican druglord games, gangster games....take your pick. My life is busy, and when I game, I don't want my time to be wasted with "silly" topics. Does that mean that I'm a "serious" gamer? Hardly - the only reason for the game is to have fun. But I think there's a huge gap between fun and silly.
2. The smell at Historicon. I admit, its been a couple of years since I've been to Hcon....but I can still remember the stench. Ugh. Its not that hard people.
3. People wearing period hats while playing the game. See Historicon in 2 above. Come on people....a size 5 hat perched on a size 11 head isn't flattering.
4. Figure scale flame wars. Is there a more useless waste of energy? I've seen gorgeous 10mm games, brilliant 15mm games, beautiful 25mm games, breathtaking 40mm games....the choice of figure scale is entirely personal, and hardly a thing to debate. I've settled on 25mm for all my periods because of two simple controlling factors - I don't enjoy painting anything smaller than 25mm, and by keeping to one figure scale, I can keep one set of terrain. So - if you love 6mm, or 2mm or 71mm - great! Please just make the games look nice. See 3 above in "Things I Like".
5. Jay Cutler. Is there a bigger loser in the NFL??? Wow - did the Broncos do the right thing shipping that quitter off to the Bears. Million dollar talent and a nickel heart. Its like Jeff George has been cloned and is in the league again....
6. Painting "competitions". Huh? Since every painter has his own style, and judges have their prejudices, I hardly see the point. Does everything have to be a competition? Why can't there just be painting displays? I'd love to see that - how many don't enter "competitions" but would be happy to enter a "display"?
Well, enough of that. Next time, I promise....photos.
Brent
Things I like in the hobby
by Brent Oman
1. Mounted mapboards in boardgames. I admit it...if a boardgame has a mounted map, I'll buy it. I think it goes back to my childhood and the thrill of opening up the latest Avalon Hill game and unfolding those glorious mounted maps. A paper or card map leaves me totally cold....but a mounted map? Yowza - I don't even care how much the game costs...sign me up!
2. Command control in rules. To me - this is what a game is about - the command decisions forced onto players. Do we really have the same decisions as generals? No. But - games that force tough decisions, or even better, force a choice between two bad decisions - those are the games for me. Games without any friction or command consequence leave me cold....brrrr.
3. Terrain that looks like terrain. I appreciate those with a fine eye for detail, or more importantly, a flair for character and "pop" in their terrain. That can be done with hexes, with ground mats, with squares...doesn't matter. If the person obviously had some real soul poured into their set up, it shows. Don't ask me to say that a game on lime green painted plywood with masking tape roads looks good....
4. Figures and units with movement and animation. I love units that look frantic, jumbled, and active. In my minds eye, thats what a combat unit looks like. Not a stately marching band appearance, all with the same pose.
5. I LOVE Old Glory's figures. Huh? Who says that?? ME. I LOVE Old Glory's figures. They fit everything I want in a figure, and look fantastic in units on the table. On top of that, they're an absolutely brilliant company to deal with.
6. Military history books with good maps. I don't care what the subject of the book is - if it has good maps, I'm buying it.
Things I don't Like
by Brent Oman
1. Weird War, Zombie games, Mexican druglord games, gangster games....take your pick. My life is busy, and when I game, I don't want my time to be wasted with "silly" topics. Does that mean that I'm a "serious" gamer? Hardly - the only reason for the game is to have fun. But I think there's a huge gap between fun and silly.
2. The smell at Historicon. I admit, its been a couple of years since I've been to Hcon....but I can still remember the stench. Ugh. Its not that hard people.
3. People wearing period hats while playing the game. See Historicon in 2 above. Come on people....a size 5 hat perched on a size 11 head isn't flattering.
4. Figure scale flame wars. Is there a more useless waste of energy? I've seen gorgeous 10mm games, brilliant 15mm games, beautiful 25mm games, breathtaking 40mm games....the choice of figure scale is entirely personal, and hardly a thing to debate. I've settled on 25mm for all my periods because of two simple controlling factors - I don't enjoy painting anything smaller than 25mm, and by keeping to one figure scale, I can keep one set of terrain. So - if you love 6mm, or 2mm or 71mm - great! Please just make the games look nice. See 3 above in "Things I Like".
5. Jay Cutler. Is there a bigger loser in the NFL??? Wow - did the Broncos do the right thing shipping that quitter off to the Bears. Million dollar talent and a nickel heart. Its like Jeff George has been cloned and is in the league again....
6. Painting "competitions". Huh? Since every painter has his own style, and judges have their prejudices, I hardly see the point. Does everything have to be a competition? Why can't there just be painting displays? I'd love to see that - how many don't enter "competitions" but would be happy to enter a "display"?
Well, enough of that. Next time, I promise....photos.
Brent
Sunday, January 23, 2011
1809 Game - End Game Photos
Wrapping up the game photos of our 1809 French vs. Austrian FoB game. The French crushed the Austrian right flank and converged on the hill in the center of the position. The Austrian left flank was quiet throughout the game, with the Austrians positioned on a tough Class III hill/woods position overlooking a Class II river, with the Bavarians facing them electing to stay in one piece rather than get shredded attacking such a difficult position.
Bavarians in the woods.
Bavarians next to the woods.
From left to right: John, Terry, Ed. John and Terry are showing their Austrian officers that just failed their survival tests.....Ed seems glad to be on the flank.
Bavarians by a river.
The French move in on the Austrian center while the Bavarians shield the right flank.
Crisis for the Austrians in the center.
The French crush the center. Only the gun batteries remain as the French surge up the hill.
Fun game, but the French really smacked the Austrians. The scenario generation gave the French a 30% numerical advantage. The Austrians spread their commands out fairly evenly, resulting in 1/3 of their army never being engaged. The French used their Bavarian allies to shield that portion of the army, and then methodically crushed first the Austrian right flank and then the center. A crushing victory for the French, who ended up with only 2 fewer Army Morale Points than they started the game with.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)