Aqui Vamos - A First Carlist War AAR

For today's game we used our go to horse and musket rules, Black Powder, but ever the rules tinkerer I used RogerC's D10 command roll chart with an additional twist, two D6 would be rolled at the same time, one six rolled would end that commanders activations, while a double six would, as well as ending the commanders activations, also be a blunder as per the rules.
The scenario would see a Carlist infantry brigade being attacked by two combined arms Cristino brigades, coming too the Carlists aid from turn two, based on a D6 roll would be a combined infantry and cavalry brigade. To arrive they would initially need 6, then 5 and so on, their arrival entry would be determined by a D6 roll, one to four they would enter the other side of the river on the Carlist left and five or six on the Carlist right flank.

The Carlist Holding Brigade Of Mainly Untested Volunteers Await The Attack

The Cristino Juggernaut Advances

A British Royal Marine Battalion Are Sent To Cover The Cristino Right  

Help will arrive shortly, or will it? Now you could not make this up, dicing for the said help, first try 6 required, 5 thrown, next 5 required 4 thrown, next 4 required 3 thrown, 3 required, well you get the picture.

Cristino Skirmishers Cover The Cristino Left 

The holding force doesn't

Relief arrives, too late. In the background you can see the only Carlist success, the Navarre Guides destroy the Cristino skirmishers, meanwhile the Cristino main force converge on the Carlists to eventually break them too.

 

Not in the photos but also seeing action was the Royal Marine rocket battery, how did it do? all duds or misfires and a hit disordering a battalion of British Auxiliary Legion.

A most enjoyable game, despite losing the battle again, I was just unable to get the best dice results at the right time to capitalise on any local advantage I gained.

TTFN 

First Carlist War Progress

I recently completed another base of Perry Miniatures, Royal Marines, the battalion now has three bases, so a small unit for our game this week.

Inspired by the ones I saw on RogerC's Blog I thought it high time the artillery got some transportation. The limber was sourced from Hinds Figures, the mules from Tiger Miniatures, the mule handler is a Perry Miniatures infantryman painted in artillery distinctions, bases from Warbases of course. I also got from Hinds a limber for the Isabelino horse artillery, the horses I will source from Front Rank Miniatures in due course, in the meantime I have converted a heavy cavalryman to ride one of the limber horses.

A while ago Dave's son Matt kindly gave us some matting, hanging basket material from a garden centre I believe, I have had a piece cut out for a few weeks, with the upcoming War of the Triple Alliance project I thought this would make an excellent area of swampy/flooded ground so set to. I am pretty sure this will also double for marshy ground on the Eastern Front

I will be back later next week with a report on how the First Carlist war action went all being well.

TTFN

Painting And Projects Progress

For the First Carlist War I have finished the command base of the Guides of the Alaves battalion, this brings the unit up to three bases which can be used in next weeks game as a small unit. I am working on the command base for the Royal Marine battalion so that will be a small unit for the game. Before doing the figures for the remaining two bases I will finish the two figures for the Ontario hussars and BAL lancers to bring those up to four bases.

Nick expressed an interest in my World War Two Mediterranean theatre project, so while I am posting here are my figures painted to date, a mixture of Perry plastic and metals. I tipped up the box I keep them in and emptied most of them onto the floor, interestingly none of the plastic figures sustained damage, while several of the metals were chipped and sustained bent weapons.

Metal GIs And NCO, Plastic Bazooka Team 

Metal And Plastic Rifle Teams

Metal And Plastic LMG Teams 

Plastic FO Team

  TTFN

Looking Back, Going Forward

I told myself that I would not do a retrospective this year, but it will be interesting (well to me anyway) to have what I did all on one post so here goes.

Figures and vehicles -

Spanish Civil War - 17 figures, 2 field guns with 8 crew and an armoured car

First Carlist War - 12 figures

Third Century Rome - 34 figures

Post Roman Britain - 50 figures

Italian Wars - 4 figures

 World War Two - 81 figures, 1 anti-tank gun and three crew, 2 tanks and 3 trucks

Terrain -

Bunker and four trench sections in 28mm, field position and four trenches in 20mm
Six three inch sections of vines
Two 6 x 6 inch minefields
10 barbed wire sections
A water tower, Russian hut, well and loo and oil tank in 20mm
Two 2 foot sections of train track, also re-painted some old track sections
A Charlie Foxtrot Dormer house with wood store and a Warbases greenhouse
A Charlie Foxtrot barn
An Italeri church

There may well be other figures and terrain bits I did not take note of as well, quite a productive year  I thought, I am surprised that I managed so much.

Going forward  I intend to give the First Carlist War a boost during January and February, await some new releases off Empress to progress the NWE World War Two project in the meantime I will add to the Italian front, I also have three 20mm Panthers built and primed and a German railway station for the Eastern Front to do at some point. I must also complete the Post Roman Britain expansion, I have 12 Saxons to do and 8 Briton foot and cavalry, I think the Third Century will go to the back for a while as I intend to try and keep up with the early Byzantine releases from Aventine. I have no immediate plans for the Spanish Civil War though I do have figures in stock should I choose otherwise. I also have several builds for Spain to do also.

As if the above is not enough to be going on with, I decided over Christmas and the New Year that I wanted to add another horse and musket period for games here at OHQ, Dave has this period pretty much covered so it was difficult not to duplicate. A couple of years ago I nearly revisited the War Of the Spanish Succession but felt it was to much like the Seven Years War and not suitable for my restricted table  size, I did think about it again but common sense sort of prevailed and I looked at the Great Northern War, although there are cracking figures available I could not see them or the period holding my interest. I think I am an Ancient and 19th/20th century guy at heart.
Then the news that Alan Perry was doing a War of the Triple Alliance range broke, my love for the esoteric was reignited, here we go!

TTFN

Start As I Mean To Go On........

Well I certainly hope not. First game of 2020 and first defeat, a Great War game using Bolt Action rules, one turn of all the German order dice coming out first and nothing to capitalise on, then next turn most of the Allied order dice coming out first.
The writing was really on the wall from this turn on, adding to this it was discovered that the  Allied bombardment had destroyed practically all the wire in front of the village, at least the men had been let off lightly. So all the Germans could really hope for was to delay the Allied advance, it was all up by turn five with the Tommies occupying two buildings with no hope of the Germans evicting them and nothing to halt the advance of the MkIV.
We played out turn six and called it a day without dicing for an extra one.
Didn't take many photos, they would have all been a bit samey anyway, but here they are....

Pre Barrage Recon Photo

The British Advance Behind The Barrage

Some By A More Hazardous Route

Mortar And Spotter

The British Start To Take Control Of The Village

We Are Being Overrun I Think

Now for the review of 2019, don't panic, only kidding.

TTFN and Happy New Year