More FRW French and a Remote Game

Work continues on fielding 15mm French Revolution French infantry.  Out from the painting desk, one more French regiment consisting of three battalions departs.  These Frenchmen are a mix of figures with AB mounted officers, 2nd generation Old Glory fusiliers, and 1st generation Old Glory grenadiers.

You may recall that 19th Century Miniatures produced French in bicorne in mid-2019, heeded complaints of figure sculpting and fragility, and resculpted the range by the end of 2019.  The 2nd generation figures are much more robust than the 1st generation figures.  I still had some 1st generation grenadiers handy so why not press them into service to fill out the ranks?  Perhaps these Frenchmen will see action at a planned Rivoli battle?  More details on that soon.

Next off the painting desk, I expect to see a second SYW Irish Infantry Regiment in French service.

On the gaming front, I enjoyed another remote battle this week with the publisher of the blog, Wargaming for Grown-Ups and his local group in the UK.  Action this week was set on the road to Madrid during the Spanish Civil War.  Rules in use for Tuesday's battle are currently in development by the author, Graham.

The scenario placed me in the role of leader of Republican forces determined to block the approaches to Madrid.  Converging upon my positions were two columns of Nationalist troops.  One of the columns consisted of a crack force of Spanish colonial troops.  The other column comprised mainly troops of lesser quality. 

The objective for the Fascists was to clear the table and secure the two towns on the board.  Casualties were high but my Republicans held on to claim victory when time expired.  That, despite surviving a last turn bomber run over the Republican held village.  

Photo courtesy Wargaming for Grown-Ups

Being a development game, there were a few questions, scratching of heads, and careful notetaking.  At the end, everyone enjoyed the battle.  The game via Skype completed without incident and was quite fun.  Before the pandemic, I would not have imagined gaming with guys in the UK in a remote setting.  Of late, I have two regular remote gaming sessions with two different groups.  The lockdowns have moved technology and our gaming forward.  I hope that these remote sessions can continue even when the world returns to normal.  

Graham musters a good-natured and welcoming group of his buddies for these weekly sessions.  They made a foreigner, new to the group and technology, feel very welcomed.  For a full battle report of the action, please visit A Return to Old Spain on Graham's blog.

Next week's remote gaming session will be a WotR battle in 28mm, I think.  The session will include a playtest of rules in development by another member of Graham's group.  Whatever is on the slate, I am looking forward to it.

Having made it through several readings of Graham's Ancients' To Ur is Human rules and participating in last week's remote game (and taking a few notes of my own), expect a First Impressions of the rules in a post within the next fortnight.