Sunday, December 29, 2024

Year-End Prussians

Back in midsummer, I set out an intermediate goal to complete one Prussian infantry division for a planned expansion of the Franco-Austrian War project to include Prussians for the Austro-Prussian and Franco-Prussian Wars before year-end.  Without any mounted figures in The Lead Pile, my goal was really to only field the infantry and artillery components of a division.

With a few days remaining, I can claim that this mission is accomplished.  The foot components of the division consist of 208 infantry and four batteries with 16 crew.  A good start to this expansion.
Out from the painting desk today are two units to complete this division for a total of another 64 figures.  The first unit is 93 IR of three, 16 figure battalions.

The second unit is one, 16 figure battalion for the 4th Jaegers.

All figures are 15mm Lancashire Games.

Remaining on the gaming table is the Agnadello scenario.  With a game scheduled for Monday, the table needs to be reset and readied for battle.  The photo below shows an overview shot of the game room prior to last week's Agnadello game.  While the game, itself, takes up a little over half of the twelve-foot table, the remainder of the table space is consumed by all manner of gaming paraphernalia.
The back half of the table could use a good clear off.  Notice my painting desk in the left rear, some of my collections stacked in boxes in the right rear (many more stacked under the table), and the large monitor positioned at the end of the table for keeping an eye on the two webcam views.

Looking forward to Monday's game in which I try my hand at leading the French to victory. 

Wednesday, December 25, 2024

BatRep: Agnadello 1509

Monday saw the multinational foursome of Mark, Tony, Chris, and David take to the remote gaming table again.  Rather than battling across Feudal Japan, these warriors are posed to fight it out on the Lombardy plain at Agnadello.  As summarized in the previous post on scenario research and design, we tackle the 1509 Battle of Agnadello during the Great Italian Wars.
  
As a reminder, the battlefield in contest is illustrated in the table photo below:
Battlefield and Army Dispositions
For this battle, Tony (blue dice) and David (black dice) team up to command the French Army.  Chris (red dice) and Mark (green dice) share command of the Venetian Army.
French Army prepares to attack...
while the Venetian Army waits patiently.
With the Venetians situated behind a line of irrigation or drainage ditches, the French might expect to see the Venetians hold their ground.  As the French Army advances, they are shocked (well, at least I was shocked!) to see the Venetians leave their defenses and advance upon the enemy.  Given that Mark commanded Carpi situated to the front of Alviano's high ground position, I guess I should not have been too surprised.  Mark leans toward the attack in most situations, naturally.  Today was no exception.  Into the ditch both of Carpi's pike blocks descend.  Carpi swings his Stradiots out into the vineyard to his right while heavy cavalry move up to screen his Left.  Watching Carpi march off, Alviano sends his skirmishers across the ditch while his leftmost pike block heads down the embankment.  The Venetians are taking the fight to the French! 
Venetians on the move!
In the background, the French look on.
After negotiating the troublesome ditch, Carpi's rightmost pike block crashes into one of the French guns.  In a most lopsided action, the gun is overrun and the crew scattered.  With momentum and blood lust up, the Italian pikemen press on.  In a matter of minutes, the French army has been cleaved in two!  Gascon crossbowmen fall back to prevent suffering a similar fate at the hands of the Italian pikemen.  Seeing such a quick success in the center,  Alviano pushes his skirmishers forward.
Italians overrun a gun...
and press on!
Alviano brings his skirmishers over the ditch.
With an enemy occupied vineyard abutting the ditch, Carpi's leftmost pike block has a more difficult task.  Coming up out of the ditch, that pike block faces a barrage of crossbow bolts.  While the missile fire does little noticeable damage, the disordered Italians cannot gain the upper hand when fighting up and into the occupied vineyard.  Perhaps surprisingly, the Gascon crossbowmen hold their ground.  The Venetians are repulsed!  The Italians fall back down into the ditch and retreat east to regroup.  The Gascons keep pumping volleys into the Italians as they retire.  Carpi's righthand pike block realizes it might be over-extended when two units of Gascon crossbow turn to bring it under fire.  The Italians are stuck in No Man's Land!    
Carpi's pikemen are repulsed...
but find themselves still under enemy fire.
Italians coming under fire from the flank.
With his center looking compromised, the King moves the Swiss up to challenge the interlopers before the second French gun is lost.  The King orders all of his cavalry forward in an effort to break the enemy's right.  In a series of attacks, the French King sends mounted crossbow forward to dispatch enemy skirmishers lurking in the woods to the front.  In two attacks, the Italians remain firm, throwing back both attacks without suffering anything more than disorder.  Turning the enemy flank is going to be tough! 
The King moves up his wing.
French mounted crossbow attack.
These bodies of horsemen are repulsed not once...
but twice!
With all of the cavalry action on the French Left, what is going on the opposite flank?  More cavalry action!  As Chamont moves his Gendarmes forward with support from the Swiss, Carpi attacks with his MAA.  In a quick clash, Chamont and his Gendarmes turn about and head to the rear.  Carpi's leftmost pike block, having been once repulsed, regroups and storms back across the ditch.  This time, the Gascon crossbowmen are driven out of the vineyard with heavy casualties.  The Italians are demonstrating more grit than expected!  The cost is high for the Italians too.  Still, the current situation all across the battlefield suggests the French may actually be losing this battle. 
Carpi and his MAA charge into French Gendarmes.
The impact is too much.  The Gendarmes buckle and retire.
Italian pike cross the ditch and smack into the enemy!
For the French, the battle is turning against them.  Can the King hold on until reinforcements arrive?

Back in the center, the King keeps encouraging his French pikemen forward.  First enemy skirmishers are driven off before the Frenchmen crash into a body of Italian pike.  In a very lengthy and costly scrum, the Italians are finally pushed back to the ditch.  The fighting continues savagely in the center with neither giving quarter.  Casualties mount but the Italians suffer more.
Push of pike in the center...
with the Italians shoved back to the ditch.
Meanwhile back on the French Right, Chamont and his Gendarmes counterattack the Italian MAA.  In a protracted melee, the Italians are weakened and finally break.  Carpi falls in the fighting.  The French see some success on the right!  
Chamont counterattacks...
and scatters Carpi's Gendarmes!
Seeing success in the center and on the right, the French are not out of the woods yet even though Tremoille's column is beginning to arrive onto the battlefield.  Having driven the Gascon crossbow out of the vineyard, the Italian pikemen continue in pursuit.  One by one, bodies of Gascon crossbow are scattered by the mass of pikemen.  With Gascons in flight before them, the Italians are only stopped when Tremoille's Gendarmes come up to take care of business.  Italian losses are edging the Venetians toward the brink of collapse.   
Italian pikemen scatter crossbowmen...
but are stopped cold
when more French Gendarmes arrive to intervene.
The King's body of pikemen, having pushed the enemy back, turns to bear down on an isolated gun.  The artillerymen fail to see the danger they are in and are quickly overrun.  With the Italian Center and Left now compromised and fresh French troops streaming to the field, Alviano orders a general withdrawal.  This battle is over.
Overrunning a gun!
This was quite the game.  Victory to King Tony and David!
Ending positions and Army Breakpoints.
The Italians stormed out of the gates surprising me and possibly the French!  Chris and Mark must have taken the historical account to heart and realized that an attack early on against the French right may pave the path to victory.  This approach damn near worked.  Mark struck hard with Carpi's Battle and kept the pressure on against David's Chamont.  Chamont's wing was crumbling under the pressure as his body count demonstrates.  Still, David was able to muster a counterattack with Chamont and his Gendarmes to destroy Carpi's MAA.  The King's attack in the center stabilized the situation and then turned the battle to tip to the French.  When the dust settled, a differential of nine points on the breakpoint clock suggests a major French victory.  Game #1 replicates the historical outcome.    
Butcher's Bill
Congratulations to Tony and David for the win.  My condolences to Mark and Chris but the pair played a very good game.  The Venetians are up against it in the battle and the Italians did more than simply hold their own until the end.

Great game, fellas, thank you.

Merry Christmas!

Sunday, December 22, 2024

On the Table

Having cleared the table from the last of the Samurai Azukizaka battles (yes, I am now behind two battle reports!), time to head off in a different direction with a different period.  After considering a few options, a request for a return to the Great Italians Wars was suggested.  Sounded good to me.  The last time the collection saw action was back in April and May of this year with a string of five, Battle of Fornovo games with an assortment of player groups.

What to bring to the table this time?
Since I used Verginella's scenario book as a starting point for Fornovo and before that Sanguetta, I grabbed the book and began thumbing through the scenarios looking for a suitable and interesting battle to bring to the table.  Two other requirements were that I needed a battle that fits my collection size and a contest suitable for four players.

After considering the possibilities, I settled upon the 1509 Battle of Agnadello.  While Verginella provides simple maps and an Order of Battle, the book is really a toolkit and jumping off point in my mind.  For me, there is never enough detail on scenario and victory conditions to formulate a viable scenario without a little (often much) tinkering.  

While Agnadello is mentioned in a number of internet searches and included in some of the books in my library, one of the most complete accounts is found in Predonzani and Alberici's The Italian Wars Volume 2.  Great book as are all of the titles in this series.  Recommended.
I also turned to GMT's Arquebus boardgame for inspiration and information.
After considering the sources and my battlefield and collection constraints, I arrive at the battlefield as illustrated below:
Battlefield
Army deployments
While Agnadello is listed as a "Large" scenario, it really stretched the limits of my collection.  I just managed to field the nine pike blocks required.  I always figured that nine was enough.  Not so!  If the optional "what if" scenario of seeing Pitigliano reach the field in support of the Venetians is included, more work needs to be done. 
As the scenario stands, the Venetians are outnumbered but holding favorable ground.  Historically, the Venetians were destroyed in this battle but all is not hopeless.  With ditches and vineyards to negotiate, the French will have a difficult time on the approach.  Compounding the terrain difficulties, the chance of rain adds to the uncertain nature of the outcome.  Perhaps with some luck, the Venetians can effectively run out the clock while remaining on the field of battle?
Like the rain present on the field at Fornovo battle noted above, accounts mention rain on the field at Agnadello too.  Accounts vary on the presence of rain. Some accounts state the rain was present when the battle began. Some state the rain began midway through the battle. Some accounts, including the Predonzani book above, never mention it! When rain is mentioned, it poses a serious obstacle in both movement and negotiating the ditch as the ground softens and the ditches fill with mud.

Scenario design is always a bit of a guessing game with a little trial and error thrown into the mix.  We will see on Monday if the scenario survives first contact.

Niccolo Machiavelli, in his book The Prince, famously commented on the battle's impact, stating that in one day, the Venetians lost what had taken them 800 years to conquer.

Wednesday, December 18, 2024

Season's Greetings

Before holiday festivities divert and interrupt our normal hobby activities, I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  With space in the library cleared, the tree is up and trimmed.  One week before Christmas is still too early to place all of the gifts under the tree so the space surrounding the tree is a bit barren.  

With two weeks remaining in 2024, there still remains plenty of time to paint a few more figures and play one more game or two before closing out the books on 2024.  The gaming table saw another Azukizaka replay on Tuesday with at least one more game on the horizon.
Battle of Azukizaka
While we saw a light snowfall on Monday dropping enough to warrant shoveling, chances to see a White Christmas are low.  In a weak La Niña winter, the Pacific Northwest often sees wetter yet colder conditions.  This Christmas, forecasts suggest a wet and mild Christmas but not a white Christmas.  Looks like plenty of rain for the holiday.  Perfect weather for a few meaningful painting sessions in the early morning quiet.

Saturday, December 14, 2024

FPW Prussian Artillery

While November ticked over with 108 total painted figures for an assortment of projects, midway through December sees that good progress continuing. That continued progress includes working toward a year-end goal of fielding a FPW Prussian infantry division.  With three of the four required infantry regiments completed earlier, I added in the four divisional batteries to break up the painting of countless Prussian infantry.
So, out from the desk today are four Prussian batteries.  Artillerymen are from Lancashire Games and the guns are Freikorps 15s.  Left to paint and muster out are a battalion of Jaegers and the fourth infantry regiment.  Since there are no mounted troops yet in The Lead Pile, attached cavalry and command will have to come later.  Hopefully some of the required mounted arm will be in-house in early 2025.  Still need to decide on which figures to use for the mounted contingents and then place an order.  Right now, Old Glory cavalry from 19th Century Miniatures seems the most likely source. 
Although temperatures have been hovering near freezing for an extended period, new snow this morning gave way to warming to just above freezing.  With a narrow window of above freezing temperatures and daylight, several batches of completed figures were given a spray coat of matte varnish.  Next, those figures will move on to basing.  A quick count shows 81 figures in this latest batch and December is not half over.  I expect to see a slow down as the holidays approach.

Work begins on the next installment of the Great Wargaming Survey analysis.  I often try to set aside part of Friday for this study and yesterday was no different.  What is under investigation?  Several of the new questions in the 2024 survey asked about boardgaming, computer gaming, and the extent to which those two different modes of wargaming fit in with miniatures gaming.  Respondents were asked if they participate in boardgaming or computer gaming and the relative mix between figure gaming and the other two.  Hopefully, something interesting drops out from this analysis. 

Stay tuned.  For now, back to the painting desk.

Wednesday, December 11, 2024

The Quick and the Dead

Game #3 in the continuing series of the Battle of First Azukizaka played out yesterday.  What happened to Game #2?  Well, that is a report for another time.  Since I was one of the two players in Game #2, I am still pondering how to put a positive spin on the whole affair.  

For Game #3, what was expected to be a four-player battle reduced to a three-player contest when one of the participants was unable to attend at last minute.  No worries! We forged ahead.   Players for the game were:

Chris (Imagawa Right, red dice) and Alan (Imagawa Left, green dice) split command of the Imagawa Army while Doug commanded the Oda Army (black and blue dice) alone.  With Game #3 seeing a reduction in player numbers from Game #1, the number of commands was reduced to two per army.
Battlefield and commands.
With commands assigned, let the game begin!

As the battle opens, Doug advances the Oda Left Wing cautiously toward the enemy.  Wasting no time, Chris disorders a body of enemy Ashigaru with musketry and then sends a body of Ashigaru spear out of the woods to attack the enemy to his front.  Unfortunately for Chris, his attack at even odds is thrown back with loss.  Doug pursues but cannot reach the enemy.
Imagawa attack repulsed!
Seeing his unexpected success of driving off Chris' attack on the left and sensing his left is secure for now, Doug gets aggressive on his right.  With his longbowmen keeping those central enemy longbowmen at bay, Doug thrusts in the adjoining Ashigaru into another body of Imagawa archers.  Suffering heavy losses, Alan's archers retreat behind the curtain provided by his Imagawa cavalry.  Alan's retreating Ashigaru longbowmen disorder Imagawa horse archers as they fall back.  Doug wastes little time in following up in pursuit.  Pursuit sees success and the Oda spear smack into the now disordered enemy horse archers.  Even with support from Alan's heavy cavalry to the right, the horse archers retire in disorder.  In sympathy, the heavy cavalry turn about and race toward their own command tent.  A HUGE hole has opened up in the Imagawa Center! 
Oda Ashigaru spear attack,
driving the enemy back.
In pursuit, enemy horse are contacted and driven off!
Imagawa Center is bending!
Doug is not finished in his attacks against the enemy right just yet.  As Oda Teppo rain volleys into Imagawa foot Samurai, spearmen on the extreme right attack along the ridgeline.  In protracted melee, both bodies of spear are ground down. In these desperate clashes, the fighting strength of Alan's Ashigaru spearmen are eroding at a faster rate than are Doug's.  Miraculously, Doug's body of spear is finally repulsed.  The end of Alan's line holds!
Battle for control of the high ground.
The reprieve for Alan is brief and buys little time.  A second Ashigaru spear springs forth from the Oda battle line hitting Alan's Samurai archers.  The archers do not hold their ground and retire to the rear.  Again, Doug pursues!  Again, the enemy is contacted.  Again, Alan's archers are compelled to retire.  Much to Doug's disappointment, his Ashigaru spearmen do not pursue.  The Imagawa Left is wavering from the pressure.  Will it hold?  
Oda Ashigaru attack...
driving back the enemy before them.
Doug is not finished causing mayhem on the Imagawa Left.  Leading his foot Samurai forward, one of the Oda generals attacks a body of enemy foot Samurai also well-led.  The two bodies of samurai fight furiously over several rounds of combat.  The Imagawa Samurai finally gain the upper hand in this hot contest.  Oda Samurai are forced back.  Imagawa Samurai do not pursue.  With their front now clear of friendly troops, Oda Teppo blast the surviving Imagawa Samurai to bits.  The Imagawa wing commander falls in these volleys.    
Two bodies of Samurai clash in heavy fighting.
Watching enemy Samurai to its right vanish, Oda spearmen attack the wavering line of enemy archers.  Under such pressure, the archers retreat at full speed.  The spearmen follow on in pursuit but cannot catch the fleeing enemy.
Imagawa archers in full retreat!
Seeing that its front is no longer blocked by enemy Ashigaru spear, Alan's horse archers charge into the enemy Samurai loosing arrows on the way in.  Against a weakening enemy, the horse archers prevail and Doug's Samurai are ready to run.  Wanting to reinvigorate his warriors, the Oda general commits Seppuku.  Witnessing this act of selflessness and honor, the Samurai rally and immediately counterattack the enemy.  These acts of bravery prove futile and the Oda Samurai retreat.  Alan's horsemen pursue up onto the high ground scattering the enemy to the four winds.
Death of an Oda General.
With all of the action against the Imagawa Left, is the opposite wing silent?  No!

Redoubling his efforts from the first failed attack against the Oda Left, Chris brings up two bodies of Ashigaru spear through the woods.  Their sight is set on attacking the now isolated enemy Ashigaru.  Even with odds in his favor, Chris' attack meets the same fate as the first.  His Ashigaru retreat through the woods in search of safety.  There is no safety to be found.  Doug pursues cutting down Chris' warriors as they attempt escape.  To compound the disaster unfolding on the Imagawa Right, a second body of Oda spear moves up to dispatch what remains of Chris' Teppo.  The Imagawa Army appears to be teetering on the brink of collapse. 
Chris attacks...
and pursues.
With destruction all around and the enemy penetrating deep in pursuit, Chris turns a body of Ashigaru to face the enemy.  Unforeseen is that another body of enemy spearmen are in position to fall upon his now exposed flank.  Doug senses opportunity and strikes! Not surprisingly, Chris spearmen never saw what hit them.  When the enemy crashes into the exposed flank, the Imagawa Ashigaru crumble.  This battle is over!
Flank attack!
My, oh my!  What a complete victory.  With the Army Breakpoint Clock showing six points remaining for Oda when the Imagawa Army broke, major victory to Doug and his Oda Army.  Congratulations, Doug, for a battle well-fought.  For Chris and Alan, their Imagawa Army was shattered in this battle.  If there is any doubt, scrutinize the tally from the Butcher's Bill.  
The battle's end.
Butcher's Bill
Tuesday's action witnessed a much different game and result from the previous two battles.  Doug's aggressiveness put the Imagawa Army on the back foot early.  Chris and Alan never could right this sinking vessel.  They fought hard and valiantly but they went down with their ship.

As umpire and Chief Figure Mover, this action offered an interesting exercise in game play, tactics, decisions, and fate.  The whole engagement was over in under 90 minutes.  After seeing tendencies and favors of the Dice Gods develop over several games, I think it best to place Chris and Alan on opposite sides!

Great job guys and very fun game!  Thank you.