Gaugamela with CCA

Scott's 28mm figures

Tuesday saw Kevin and I make our way on an interstate journey to Scott's for a half day of gaming. The game invitation stated that we would be taking to the field for several Commands & Colors:Ancients battles.  The specific battle on deck was not mentioned.  When we adjourned from brief hellos in Scott's living room to the detached game room, the Gaugamela battlefield in all of its 28mm glory lay before us.  A session of round robin games awaited.

Initial army deployments

While the Persian army overlaps both flanks of Alexander's Macedonian Army, the composition of the Greek Army looked formidable.  No chariots or elephants but those heavy phalanxes looked dangerous.  Would the latter-day Darius' find this battle as hard to fight as their historical counterpart?  Well, the answer was not long in wanting.

In Game #1, I took command of the Greeks while Kevin took the helm of the Persians.  With seven banners needed for victory, Alexander walked away with a 7-4 banner count in the opening game by crushing the Persian center and driving survivors back to their baseline.  I was off to a good start!

Swapping sides, I took Persians in Game #2 against Scott's Greeks.  Scott trounced my Persians 7-2.  Ouch!  Game #3 saw Scott's Persians beat Kevin's Greeks 7-5 in a hotly contested match.  In a not so hotly contested match, Game #4 saw Kevin's Greeks embarrass my Persians 7-1.  To end the session, my Greeks bettered Scott's Persians 7-4.

In the final accounting, we managed to play five games in a little less than three hours and then broke for lunch to end the day.  While we did not get to play both sides against all opponents, we came close.

The Greeks won four of the battles to the Persians' single victory.  Gaugamela proved a tough fight for Darius as it did historically.

A great day out for F2F gaming in a change from my more standard remote play.

Next time, a few newly painted figures to parade.

Cheriton: Freitag vs Davies

Nearly ten days ago, Peter and I sat down for the second of our two, paired refights of Cheriton.  In that first game, Peter hosted the game from his table in Melbourne.  Peter's battle report can be read here.  Using Peter's rules, I took command of the Royalist Army and came away with victory.  In today's battle, we turn the tables on both rules and host.  I host the game from Spokane with Peter Zooming in from Australia.  We will be using my rules and Peter will be commanding Waller's Army.  In an interesting twist, Peter, of grid-based gaming fame, plays his version of the Cheriton battle on an open table.  My version of Cheriton is played out on a hex-based grid system.  The battlefield and army dispositions are illustrated in the map below:

Cheriton Battlefield and Army Positions

Peter wrote up a superb accounting of this battle.  His version of battle along with his thoughts and battle plans can be found at Battle of Cheriton 1644-Remote Game Rematch on his blog.

Peter looking on from afar
 at his pair of webcam views of the battlefield.

Since Peter recounted the tale so well, I provide a captioned pictorial of the action to augment Peter's report.

Waller's Army deploys along the South Spur anchored
on Cheriton Woods on the right and Cheriton on the left. 

Hopton's Army deploys opposite to South Spur
with Lord Forth on the right.

Both armies step off toward the enemy's line.
Waller marches down from the heights to engage the enemy.

The two armies seem intent on reaching
 the hedge-lined lane to their fronts, first!
Hopton's yellowcoats outmarch the enemy to the hedge.

Waller's dragoons work their way into Cheriton Woods.
If the yellowcoats advance, the dragoons will be on their flank!

Hopton reaches the hedge row first.
Now, let Waller come to him!
Waller sends Haselrigge's horse forward on the left.

View from Hopton's left...

as Potley's infantry cautiously close the range.

Haselrigge's cavalry charges forward.
Countercharged, the Cavaliers are driven off.
Roundhead cavalry fall back to reform
 behind the safety of more of Haselrigge's cavalry.

Seeing his right weakened by Roundhead cavalry charges,
Hopton orders Stuart's cavalry to move to cover the right flank.
Waller's artillery drives the yellowcoats back from the hedge. 

As Bard's greycoated foot crosses the hedge to attack the dragoons,
Potley drives a redcoated regiment back from the hedge in the center.
The dragoons cannot stand under such pressure and recoil.

Now outnumbering Lisle's cavalry on the enemy right,
Haselrigge sends two cavalry brigades forward.
Leading the charge, Haselrigge scatters the enemy horse.
Cavalier cavalry not destroyed in this clash
 fall back toward the center to reform.

As infantry are locked into a firefight in the center,
Balfour brings his Roundhead cavalry over to the left
to reinforce Haselrigge's success.

With the supporting cavalry to his right vanquished,
Bard puts the hedge between his infantry and the enemy. 

Assuming the hedge offers a protective barrier,
 Royalist bluecoats are surprised when attacked.

Led by Potley, Waller's bluecoats crash into Paulet's bluecoats.
Unable to stop Potley with a crippling volley,
the Roundheads crash into the Royalists. 
In a lengthy push of pike, the Royalist foot is scattered.

Roundhhead bluecoats drive the redcoats back in disorder.
Potley's infantry has effectively cut the Royalist army in two.
Has he over-extended himself?

Hopton thinks that the isolated infantry may have.
Two Royalist foot turn to deal with this intruder
while one of Stuart's horse shores up the right.

Balfour sees an opportunity and attacks!
Bypassing Stuart, Balfour crosses the hedge
and rams into one of the redcoats in flank.
The redcoats scatter.

In a series of cavalry charges and countercharges,
first Potley's bluecoats are destroyed, then Balfour's horse scatters.
The Royalist center is devoid of enemy troops.   

Despite Roundhead losses to the north of the hedgerow,
 Waller continues the fight.
Balfour's horse takes on an enemy gun and destroys it
before recalling back to the safety of the spur. 

On the opposites end of the battlefield,
another of Balfour's horse drives off a wavering Royalist.

With those two losses, Hopton's will to fight evaporates.  Even though Waller's Army has been worn down to near exhaustion from its efforts, Hopton's Army can take no more.  This battle is over.  Waller sees victory!

Congratulations to Peter for a well-played game and a well-deserved victory on the battlefield.  Cheriton was a challenging battle for Hopton and I hope it provided sufficient challenge to Waller.

Having played two, two-player games at the head of the Royalist Army, both games ended in a similar fashion.  That is, Waller concentrated enough cavalry against the Royalist right to first overwhelm and then destroy that wing before turning inward.

Early on, I figured that advancing to and deploying along the east-west hedgerow would offer a solid defensive position.  Hopton did manage to reach this obstacle first, forcing Waller to batter his army trying to assault the position.  While this tactic initially showed promise, Parliamentarian cavalry turned the position and made defending this line untenable.  Once the Royalist right was vanquished, I suspect that the writing of this tale was already on the wall.

Great job, Peter, and thank you for countering every short-lived success I saw.  One of these days, I may actually win a battle on my table.  After many games, one conclusion we both reached is that we tend to see victory on enemy ground but rarely see victory on our home turf.  I need to work on that!

There!  I think I am all caught up on battle reports.

Review: Thomas' Wargaming 19th Century Europe - Redux

 Neil Thomas' WARGAMING NINETEENTH CENTURY EUROPE 1815-1878

Given David's recent musings on contemplating embarking upon a Risorgimento project in 6mm and Neil Thomas' Wargaming Nineteenth Century Europe 1815-1878 (see Imperfect Painting), my thoughts returned to this classic work and the rules, themselves.  Tossed into this inspirational mix is Keith's move to resurrect or recycle old posts (see An "Almost" Anniversary Post).  Seems that the pair of posts from David and Keith converged to nudge me in a similar direction.  Call it serendipity.

With their inspirations, I resurrect a post from the very early days of Palouse Wargaming Journal.  Reproduced below is the 29 OCT 2012 post on my overview of Thomas' book.  Hard to believe this review was published a dozen years ago.  At the time, my review garnered a grand total of one comment.

Thomas' Wargaming 19th Century Europe book remains one of my Top 10 all-time wargaming books.  I might even push it into my Top 5.  Even with the passage of a dozen years, my appreciation for this book is unwavering.  While I do not use these rules for my own Risorgimento wargaming, perhaps I should give it a try?  Typically, my adaptation to Fields of Honor is my "go to" choice for gaming the period.  In fact, I tend to use Fields of Honor for many horse and musket periods.

What might be interesting is to offer a side-by side comparison of both rulesets to investigate any similarities and differences.  Will a comparison between the two cause a change in perception of Thomas?  For now, below is the republication of my review of Thomas' book from 2012 (see original post at Review: Thomas' Wargaming 19th Century Europe).

Hope you enjoy this look back down memory lane.  I did.

--- Original Post from 29 OCT 2012 ---    

Having an interest in 19th Century warfare in general and the Second Italian War of Independence in particular, I recently bought Thomas' book.  Wargaming 19th Century Europe is my first Thomas wargaming book so I didn't know what to expect.  Existing reviews are lacking the detail needed to make an informed decision but I plunged ahead anyway on the road to discovery.

Although the book covers a wide span of history (some might argue too large since weapons and tactics evolved throughout this period), Thomas justifies his position by reminding the reader that the mindset of commanders during this period remained practically unchanged.  That is, commanders continued employing Napoleonic tactics over this 60-year span.  This same argument could be made for the American Civil War as well.  

Thomas provides a comprehensive examination from a wargaming perspective.  Thomas breaks the book into a number of manageable chunks.  These components include sections on:

• Historical background
• Design notes
• Wargame rules
• Generic scenarios
• Army lists
• Historical scenarios
• Appendices listing bibliography, scales and figure discussion, and wargame related vendors

The rules, themselves, only take up eight pages and cover,

• Units and Formations
• Basing
• Sequence of Play
• Changes of Formation
• The Charge Sequence
• Movement
• Firing
• Hand-to-Hand Combat
• Morale

The rules' mechanisms lean decidedly towards the simple end of the wargame complexity scale and Thomas defends this approach throughout his design notes chapter (entitled, Nineteenth-Century Wargaming).  Thomas emphasizes the "simple" rules' design approach to allow players to focus on the game rather than the rules.  The rules have no specified time or figure scale. 

All units of the same type are the same size regardless of historical doctrine.  Unit size is,

• Infantry - four bases
• Skirmishers - two bases
• Cavalry and Dragoons - four bases
• Artillery - one base

Basing guidelines are provided but any basing scheme should work as long as both combatants are based similarly.  

One interesting step in the Sequence of Play is that formation change is a separate step and that infantry may not move in line.  The result is that infantry may only charge to contact while in column.  Only infantry and artillery may change formation.

In the Charge Sequence, Thomas provides a matrix for easily determining whether a charging unit may contact a defending unit.  Conditional charges are allowed provided that the charging unit outnumbers the target.  If attacked frontally, defenders may fire at the attacker before hand-to-hand combat is resolved.  

In the Fire Phase, firing units throw a number of dice per stand dependent upon unit type (rate of fire).  Ranges are singular per weapon type with the exception that smoothbore guns have both a short and long range, and skirmishers add 8cm to weapons' range.  Hits are cross-referenced with respect to firing unit and target.  For example, an infantry unit firing in line against an infantry in close order line needs 4-6 on each D6 to score one hit.  Each base may take four hits before removing one base.  Saving throws are allowed for provided the target unit is either in cover (woods or towns) or armed with breechloading weapons.  The rationale for the breechloading saving throw is to model the tendency for breechloading armed troops to "go to ground" when under heavy fire.     

In Hand-to-Hand Combat Phase, each unit totals the number of dice it throws against its opponent with each stand receiving a set number of dice dependent upon the attacking and defending unit types.  Like fire, saving throws are allowed for units in woods or towns.  The side taking the largest number of hits retreats after Hand-to-Hand. 

During the Morale Phase, only three conditions trigger a morale test.  These conditions are:

• Losing a base through fire combat
• Charging cavalry takes fire from defending target
• Losing Hand-to-Hand combat

Notice that in the case of a cavalry charge, the defender does not necessarily have to cause casualties to trigger this morale test.  Thomas argues that the process of taking fire during a cavalry charge was often enough to cause 'extreme' disorder within the charging cavalry's ranks.  Units are rated in five distinct morale classifications.  These are, 

• Fanatic
• Elite
• Average
• Levy
• Rabble

with each classification given a set range of values on 1D6 for passing the morale test.  Fanatics fail only a on a roll of '1' while Rabble fail on any roll other than a '6'.

To me, the most interesting portion of Thomas' book is contained in his design notes in chapter 2.  This chapter allows the reader insight into Thomas' rationale for designing the rules as written.  Some thought provoking ideas are surfaced within and prompts me to consider some of my own gaming designs.  Thomas' rules definitely possess the flavor of classic, Old School wargames as handed down from the pioneers of Featherstone, Grant, Wesencraft, and Morschauser.

Cheriton: Freitag vs Wheatley

After umpiring the four-player game of Cheriton (see Battle of Cheriton, Hopton vs Waller), Mark agreed to indulge me in a one-on-one refight of the battle.  Having fought the earlier battle as a Royalist, Mark opted to command the Parliamentarian Army under Waller.  As a refresher, the battlefield and army dispositions are illustrated in the table view below:

The rules of engagement for the battle are once again my A Reign Cut Short adapted for play on a hex grid.  Game #1 in the link above was the first playing under the hex permutation.  The game went well enough to give the rules another hex-based run-out.  Figures are 30mm from a variety of manufacturers but mostly Redoubt and Renegade.

Battle array looking from east.

Looking north toward the Royalist Army
from behind Cheriton Woods. 

On to battle!

Before the battle begins, Waller must decide if he will pull off a unit of commanded shot from the battle line and push them into Cheriton Woods.  He does so.  With commanded shot positioned in these woods, Hopton counters by forming up his own unit of commanded shot in an attempt to drive the Roundheads out of the woods.

The battle begins with Haselerigge moving his cavalry forward to engage the enemy.  Forth counters by sending his cavalry wing forward to contest the ground.  A series of charges and counter charges results in heavy casualties for all involved.  Forth is driven back when Haselrigge's Lobsters come up in support.  While the cavalry battle on Waller's left is in full swing, Waller orders Potley's infantry down from the South Spur and forward toward the enemy.  Leaving the high ground on the spur is a bold move.  I should have expected nothing less from Mark.  Many of Potley's infantry reach the hedge-lined lane splitting the battlefield.  Waller sends Balfour's cavalry trotting off to join Haselrigge on the Left Wing.  Appleyard's Royalist commanded shot moves up to the north edge of Cheriton Woods.

Cavalry clash on the Waller's Left.

Charge and counter charge is the order of the day.

Battlefield view from the east.

With Potley already taking up positions along the hedge, Hopton orders Paulet's infantry forward. Paulet's men take up positions along the lane with only the thick hedge separating them from the enemy.  Volleys erupt all across the battlefield as each army tries to gain an advantage.  Hopton pushes his two guns forward in search of suitable firing positions.

Hopton on the move!

Royalists line the hedge.

Close range firefights.

With Haselrigge leading his Lobsters on, the Royalist right is turned.  Forth's Royalist cavalry brigades are seen streaming to the rear without putting up much of a fight.  They are done for the day.  Pressing on, Haselrigge's cuirassiers are disordered trying to negotiate the thick hedges.  The Lobster's pursuit is blunted.  In swift counter charges, the already disordered and wavering Lobsters are sent packing to the rear as Stuart sends two of his Royalist cavalry brigades to reinforce the right.  Haselrigge escapes to rally his other cavalry.  Luckily for Haslerigge, Balfour has arrived onto the left wing and comes up smartly in support. 

Haselrigge blunted by hedges.

While infantry continue to battle it out in the center of the battlefield, fighting around Cheriton Woods intensives.  Royalist bluecoats push the enemy back from the hedge and advance into the heath.  Appleyard's commanded shot gain a foothold in the northern parts of the woods as the enemy falls back through the woods.  With Paulet's infantrymen hotly engaged in the center, they fail to appreciate the danger to their rear.  Having overcome both Forth and Stuart's cavalry, Balfour has scattered all enemy cavalry to his front.  A clear path into Hopton's rear lays wide open!  

Royalists gain ground near Cheriton Woods...

but fail to appreciate the danger to their rear.

With Hopton's right flank no longer, Balfour and Haselrigge move to sweep into the Royalist rear.  Seeing enemy cavalry on his right and in his rear, Bard orders his foot to form hedgehog as he tries to hold the right flank of the army.  Hopton's situation is quickly becoming out of hand as Haselrigge has turned the enemy flank!  Seeing the Royalist line under threat from Haselrigge and Balfour, Potley orders his infantry to fall back to reduce the possibility of his formations being shot to pieces before Balfour can deliver the coup de grace to Hopton's Army.

Royalist right is turned!

Bard is forced to form hedgehog.

Potley steps back from the intensive firefight.

As Haselrigge swings into the Royalist rear, he sets his sights on the redcoated foot astride Broad Lane.  The Roundhead cavalry charge in but the redcoats form into hedgehog to repel the enemy horsemen.  Fighting is bitter but with enemy cavalry swirling in their rear and enemy foot pouring volleys into their front, surrounded, the redcoats lay down their arms in surrender.  Seeing the foot to their right lay down their arms, the adjacent Royalist regiment forms hedgehog in anticipation of what may come.  Bard, situated on the other flank, can take no more.  He breaks and runs toward the rear.  Save yourself! 

Attacked in the rear!

Another Royalist regiment under threat
 while Bard is put to flight.

All looks bleak for Hopton but he still has a trick up his sleeve.  Attacking vigorously along Bramdean Lane, one of Potley's regiments of foot is destroyed on the heath.  Seizing this opportunity, Stuart leads his one remaining cavalry brigade forward onto the heath.  Looking up to the South Spur, the ridge is devoid of enemy except one, unsupported gun.  If that gun can be taken and the spur occupied, the battle may still be won.

Stuart rides uphill and into the gun.  The gun fires before Stuart's horsemen can close.  Some cavaliers fall.  Fighting against all odds, the artillerymen manage to drive Stuart's cavalry off.  Hoorah!  

Royalist success on the heath!

Seeing Stuart's cavalry repulsed and with enemy horse in its rear, the second redcoated infantry foot regiment near Bramdean Lane assesses its situation.  With enemy foot to the front and enemy cavalry coming up in its rear, it makes the wise decision to lay down arms.  This battle is over. 

Another Royalist regiment lays down its arms.

Well!  I faced a decisive loss in this battle.  Mark tore Hopton's Army to shreds once his cavalry overwhelmed the Royalist cavalry and then proceeded to rip apart the center.  Once Hopton's right was turned, I had no means to counter these threats.  Near the end of battle, had Stuart's cavalry overcome Waller's artillery and gained the South Spur then there may have been hope.  Certainly, the complexion of battle may have changed.  Still, overturning the eventual result of a Parliamentarian victory may have been slight.

Cunningly played, Mark, and a great victory for you and Waller!  Even in crushing defeat, the battle was great fun and we managed to play six turns to a decisive conclusion in under two hours.  Remarkable.

Until we meet again...