Battle of Cascina dei Santi

Alex and I decided to get together for a game and we decided to give Field of Battle 3. Originally I had planned to pull my 10mm Crimean War figures out but realized that I hadn't painted any Ottoman artillery and that would be problematic for a proper game.

I opted instead to try out my 6mm stuff for the Franco Austrian War of 1859 (or second war of Italian Independence). I had just enough to give us a small game with three brigades a side. 

 (Left: Overview with French on left and Austrians on right)

The scenario centered around an Austrian delaying force under Field Marshal Montenuouvo trying to slow the advance of the French as the remainder of the Austrian force retreated to the safety provided by fortresses of the Quadrilateral. 

For the French commander, General LaMotte-Rouge, the French objectives were to 1) drive the Austrians forces from two farmsteads and 2) push the Austrians from the field of battle. To accomplish this, the French had two brigades of infantry (one of line and the other comprised of zouaves and foreign legion) with artillery attachments and a small brigade of cavalry. 

The Austrians began the game with two brigades of infantry with supporting artillery and on turn 5 would get a small cavalry reserve led by General Zichy on the table. 

 (Left: Austrian jagers deployed in San Matteo)

I assumed command of the Austrians and devoted one brigade (Brigade Hodlitz, pictured above) to the responsibility of the roadside farmstead Cascina San Matteo in the center and the left flank. San Matteo was defended by an elite battalion of jagers with three line battalions and an artillery battery in support. 

 (Left: San Martini with Austrian defenders)

The other brigade (Brigade Reznicek, above) was assigned to secure the hilltop farmstead Cascina San Martini on the right. Jagers screened in front of San Martini with a battalion of line fortified within the walls of the farm. Two other line battalions and artillery provided support. 

Alex assigned the 2eme Brigade, under General Castagny (above), comprised of zouaves and foreign legion to advance upon San Matteo while General Lefevre's 1eme Brigade and the General Villaine's cavalry moved towards San Martini (below). 

It didn't take long for me to realize the dice gods weren't in my favor when my first 3 die rolls were ones and the fourth roll was a two. That trend of poor Austrian rolls would continue for the remainder of the game. 

2eme Brigade advanced slowly through the vineyard rows towards San Matteo while the cavalry had some great movement rolls that saw them bolt forward and threaten the Austrian right flank and rear. The Austrian defenders of San Martini unloaded an enfilade volley into the flank of the French cavalry only to see their  efforts produce no casualties (below). 

I moved an uncommitted infantry battalion in march column from Brigade Reznicek through a valley between two hills in my rear in an attempt to block the threatening French cavalry. Unfortunately, bad rolls and card draws doomed them to inactivity and doom. 

1eme Brigade advanced uphill (above), brushed off an ineffective volley from the jagers screening San Martini and routed the "elite" Austrian light infantry who fled into the same valley as the Austrian battalion trying to march to meet the French cavalry (below). 

Meanwhile, things weren't much better on the Austrian left flank an infantry battalion Brigade Hodlitz routed from French rifled artillery fire (above). 

Back on the Austrian right, the French assaulted San Martini and forced the Austrian infantry to fall back from the farmstead. They joined the mass of panicked and confused infantry in the valley to the rear (above).

On the left, Austrian artillery from Brigade Hodlitz finally struck home and caused casualties to a French zouave battalion, forcing them to route. Unfortunately for Field Marshal Montenuouvo, another zouave battalion for the better of a firefight with the jagers in San Matteo and drove them out of the buildings (above). 

At this point things were looking fire for the Austrians but reinforcements arrived in the form of a light cavalry brigade. Sadly, they wouldn't get a chance to make an impact on the battle. 

The next roll for initiative saw the French win by 8, allowing them to draw at least 8 cards before the Austrians would be able to counter. Alex finally got the cards to allow his cavalry to change formation and charge into the panicked Austrian infantry masses in the valley to the rear (below). 

Two disadvantaged Austrian infantry battalions (one in March column and one in rout) were destroyed by the French cavalry by this point, the Austrians were left with zero Army Morale Points and would need to roll for break on the next Army Morale card they drew. 

Finally, it was the Austrian turn to try and stabilize the quickly disintegrating situation. On the first of the eight cards to be drawn, the Austrians turned over the Army Morale card (above) and promptly rolled a 1. With that, the Austrian army retired from the field, having been driven from both San Matteo and San Martini. It was a smashing victory for Alex's French.

I rolled poorly and drew the wrong cards from my army deck at the most critical moments. I don't think that was the reason for the Austrian defeat; Alex was aggressive and took advantage of Austrian malaise. 

Despite the thrashing, I really enjoyed the game. It felt (and looked) like a battle from the 1859 campaign. Alex and I forgot some of the rules but that's only natural when you haven't played a ruleset in over three years. We both agreed out next battle of FOB3 would have to happen sooner than the last time. 

Hypothetical Hastings: Vikings vs Normans

At Historicon, I met with my buddy Rob and we decided to play a game of Ravenfeast Big Battle variant. I had previosly gamed Hastings with Alex and I wanted to get the Vikings on the table. I decided to play a "what if" scenario where Harald Hadrada had led his Viking army to victory over Harold Godwinson at Stamford Bridge and hen raced down to face William at Senlac Hill. For this one Rob took control of the Normans while I led Harald and his vikings.

Viking Center

My deployment mimicked the Anglo-Saxon plan at Hastings, I deployed a battleline on the hills and dared the Normans to smash against my shieldwall. 

Norman Left flank led by Bishop Odo

Rob had other plans and looked to use his mounted knights to cautiously test my flanks. Rob's lines were hesitant to come to grips with the Vikings and my handful of archers didn't cause enough discomfort to goad him into more aggressive (and rash) behavior. 

Some Viking berserkers attempted to change Bishop Odo but were ultimately cut down by some knights. 

Instead, the Normans were content to let their knights hurl javelins and their bows and crossbows to unload volleys. 

Rob's crossbowmen started to target Harald Hadraada and inflicted two casualties. Alarmed at the potential  loss of my leader in such an anticlimactic manner, I saw a moment, broke my left flank shieldwall and launched Harald and some huskarls straight at William of Normandy. Harald and his hearth guard managed to slaughter some Norman knights and nearly felled William before ultimately succumbing to a frenzy of assaults. I pulled my left flank back to refuse it.

At this point, it was getting late and it seemed apparent that the Vikings would ultimately fall. I conceded to Rob and his Normans. Our alternate history would still end with William the Conquerer taking the throne of England. 

We did some things wrong but nothing that likely changed the outcome and most importantly we had a good time. 

Battle of Kersplat Basin

Alex and I finally managed to get together for a game this afternoon. As previously mentioned, we would be taking our wargaming talents to Krapistan for a battle using AK-47 Republic. 

The scenario's forces were paired down from the original but the objectives and special rules would remain. To recap, the government backed forces came in from one side and the fundamentalists from Al Kebab would come from the opposite side, both seeking hidden fuel caches. Hidden markets were placed along the center line, and only after seizing and searching the cache would it be known if it was fuel or or if it was folly. 

The local government-backed warlord, Dagarwal Baaqi, had two clans (Abdul and Khan) with tanks and trucks and a BTR-mounted unit of government regulars led by Turan Aabdar.

Abu Kebab al Kebabi and his crazed followers had four units at their disposal: the elite black-clad Bashi Bazouks, the hell on wheels Martyr-Cycles along with battle groups Hamal and Samaka. 

On the north end of the basin, Clan Khan, led by Dagarwal Baaqi, and battle group Hamal moved towards the road from opposite sides in a (rather slow) race to secure caches (below). 

In the center, the Martyr-Cycles moved towards an abandoned village in the middle of the table.

The Krapistani government troops lumbered towards a palm grove in the center of the table seeking black oil. 

On the southern edge of the basin, it appeared battle group Samaka and clan Abdul would collide near another abandoned roadside village. Abu Kebab led his Bashi Bazouks to reinforce battle group Samaka. 

The followers of Abu Kebab must have forgotten their morning coffee because they inched at a snails pace through the game with abysmal die rolls for movement (usually 1s and 2s). 

Some rather ineffective fire took place between the tank of clan Khan and the BMP and technical of battle group Hamal. During the exchange of fire, Al Kebabi fighters searched a cache and discovered a functioning truck loaded with oil! 

The Martyr-Cycles raced into the abandoned village but seemed to get lost and took several turns to secure the suspected cache only to discover it was a dummy. 

Just south of the Martyr-Cycles, Krapistani regulars had good fortune securing an oil cache and loading it onto a BTR. 

The Al Kebab followers seemed to get distracted in the villages, as both the Bashi Bazouks and battle group Samaka could barely muster enough movement to begin searching the southern village. The BMP exchanged inaccurate salvos with the T-55 of clan Abdul who inched closer to a suspected cache on the roadside. 

Things started to heat up a bit (literally) when a 100mm tank round from clan Khan slammed into Al Kebab technical of battle group Hamal, leaving the Toyota in flames. A brief firefight between the two factions resulted in battle group Hamal suffering their theirs failed morale roll and they skedaddled off the battlefield and left the oil-laden truck for clan Khan to claim. 

The Martyr-Cycles burned rubber and wheeled out of the village empty handed, skulking around some rocks to see if they could interdict clan Khan and their oil booty. 

A long range firefight erupted between the 14.5mm KPTV heavy machine guns of the Krapistani BTRs, a technical of clan Samaka and a BRDM from the Bashi Bazouks. The regulars managed to brew up the Toyota and the BRDM, leaving most of the Bashi Bazouks pinned from the collateral fire.

Battle group Samaka finally managed to search the village only to find that there was no oil present. Meanwhile, clan Abdul discovered an oil cache attached along the roadside outside of the village. 

At this point, the game clock ended. Dagarwal Baaqi's forces had secured four fuel caches for the government while the hapless followers of Al Kebab struck out in their pursuit of oil. Adding insult to injury, Al Kebab also lost battle group Hamal. We didn't need to count up the victory points to see that this was a stinging defeat for Al Kebab. 

Of course, nothing ever happens the way it should in Krapistan and the oil reserves likely won't find their way back to the Krapistani government. More likely Dagarwal Baaqi will keep some for himself and sell the rest back to Al Kebab to keep their barbecue grills well fueled. 

Both Alex and I had a blast, the AK-47 Republic rules are super simple and fast moving. Definitely more beer and pretzels than simulation but that's exactly what we wanted. The scenario was an interesting one and it led to fewer casualties as the primary objective was to secure fuel caches and not the destruction of the enemy or the capture of villages. I have to point out that my victory was more due to Alex's incredibly poor dice rolling than anything else. He rolled 1s and 2s for movement and shooting throughout the game. Had his luck with the dice been remotely close to average, it likely would have been a much different outcome.

Big Battle Ravenfeast: Hastings

At the last minute, Alex and I decided to get together for some gaming. It was my turn to host the game and I hadn't done much preparation so I figured a game of LittleWarsTV's Big Battle Ravenfeast would be ideal.

I painted up the Norman, Saxon and Viking armies but never had a chance to game with them so this would be an ideal opportunity with some quick-play rules like Ravenfeast. My scenery isn't perfect for the 1066 campaign scenarios but it's good enough for this outing. I opted to go with the Battle of Hastings, I would command the Anglo-Saxon army and Alex would lead the Normans.

Ravenfeast, and the Big Battle variant, are fairly simple and straightforward: IGO/UGO with the usual sections comprising a turn (rally, movement, missiles, melee, morale, etc.). A player succeeds when they roll equal or lower than a stat line for their unit.

Harold Godwinson (lower right corner) with 3 units of huscarls and 9 units of Wessex fyrd. Harold would command the right flank.

Harold's brothers Leofwyn and Gyrth (center row) would hold the left flank with 2 bases of archers and 5 bases of veteran fyrd (I decided to use my Viking bondi as select fyrd to aid in visual recognition).

I deployed the archers on the extreme left followed by the veteran fyrd to their right. Leofwyn and Gyrth were deployed along the line to stiffen the fyrd. Harold and his huscarls formed the center and a deep formation of Wessex fyrd were on the far right flank.

Bishop Odo (bottom) with 3 units of Norman infantry and 3 units of Norman cavalry would command the left for the Normans.

William (bottom) with 2 bases of crossbowmen, 3 bases of Norman infantry and 3 bases of Norman cavalry.

Eustace would command the reserve with 3 bases of Flemish infantry, 2 bases of archers and 2 units of cavalry.

Norman deployment.

The Norman cavalry charged home and slammed into the flanks and center of the Anglo-Saxon line. William's foot started in shieldwall and moved slowly towards the line of contact.

The Norman missile troops managed to kill off the Anglo-Saxon archers during the initial exchange of arrows. 

The Anglo-Saxon left was in danger of getting flanked so I began to move fyrd from the second line to extend and secure the flank.

The Anglo-Saxons had a lot of inferior fighters in the fyrd but the combination of being in shieldwall on the hill made it hard for the Normans to inflict casualties (Alex and I forgetting to apply the cavalry's "mighty" modifier in the first few turns also contributed to Anglo Saxon durability). Alex ordered his infantry to move forward into the maelstrom.

The battleline saw significant losses (red caps) for William. Leofwyn suffered a casualty but he is "tough" and can take 2 hits before falling. The shieldwall was a tough nut to crack...

As the battle wore on, casualties began to mount. The integrity of the shieldwall was broken and parts of Harold's line could no longer count on the save modifier they initially benefitted from. Smaller, isolated battles took place along the line. A few "Deaths Worthy of a Song" and the death of Odo caused morale checks along the line and failed rallies caused more carnage.

Both armies suffered enough casualties that army morale tests were triggered and units on both sides panicked (yellow caps). Some did not recover.

All that remained of both armies. Both armies reached their break point and since phases within a turn are simultaneous, we agreed that night had arrived and both armies were exhausted. A bloody draw.

The fight between William and Leofwyn on the left flank.

I think the battle lasted about two hours and it was a most enjoyable game, Alex and I had fun and we are both interested in fighting the other scenarios. We did some things wrong and we forgot some rules (Alex remembered to use the "feigned flight" only once). It was good to get the armies on the tabletop on a rainy Saturday afternoon and roll some dice.