FPW Prussian Dragoons and Winter Prep

With frost on the ground in the mornings and daylight hours decreasing, time to really think about laying in a winter's supply of black, undercoated figured.  In between various winter prep tasks (actually, prepping and priming figures ought to be added to my list of tasks), the Ready-to-Paint (R2P) box saw a measurable increase in the number of units ready to paint.  The decision of what to prep for winter is always a bit challenging because I must come upon a plan.  This year, the winter theme seems to center around what collection was out on table last.  That would be the Reconquista.  With the recent Zallaqah game, a deep dig into The Lead Pile pulled up enough figures to field several units for both armies.  Do I need more?  Of course not!  Prepped and primed, these handfuls of figures nearly exhaust the tally of unpainted figures remaining in the bins.  Rough count points to about 75 figures plopped into the R2P box.  Also getting attention are several handfuls of figures to expand the Biblical collections.  Of course, some more FPW 15s are heading into the R2P box as are more 18th Century 15s.  The painting queue is getting quite long.

Besides laying in a supply of figures for winter, the painting desk saw some action this weekend too.  The first of these efforts is a 12-figure regiment of Prussian dragoons.  These fellows are from the 7th Dragoon Regiment. 

Figures are Old Glory from 19th Century Miniatures.  With December fast approaching, it is almost time for 19th Century's annual Christmas sale.  I better dig and sift through The Lead Pile to see what I may need to include in my annual restock.  In my recent excavation, I uncovered a number of figures, some from long lost, dormant, or forgotten projects.  Some of these discoveries I set aside for possible Paint'em or Purge'em decisions.  Others, I simply threw back into the hole and reburied to rediscover later.   

Zallaqah 1086

On Monday just passed, five of Postie's Rejects gathered around the remote gaming table for a return to the Reconquista.  Today's action would focus on the 1086 Battle of Zallaqah (or Zalaca or Sagrajas).  The historical battle was fought on 23 October so this fight was nearly an anniversary edition.

Since details of the battle are spotty with accounts varying wildly, I take liberty to interpret and field as I wish.  With player Battle Briefings distributed and any questions answered we tucked into the game.

Ray and Lee chose to fight for the Christian Army under the leadership of King Alfonso VI deployed as below,

Alfonso's Army

while Richard, Steve, and Surjit stepped into the commands of the Almoravid and Taifa Armies under Yusuf ibn Tashfin.

Yusuf's Army

In the historical battle, King Alfonso struck first with a massive heavy cavalry charge into the Taifa infantry.  Would Ray and Lee's Spanish Army do the same?

Let's find out.

Before the battle begins, the two armies face-off across a narrow valley.  Alfonso has all of his heavy cavalry in the first line with his infantry behind in the second line.  The Taifa forces from Badajoz, Sevilla, and Granada form the Muslim first line with cavalry out on the wings.  Yusuf's Almoravids are drawn up in a second and third line behind.

Armies drawn up for battle.

View from behind the Spanish lines.

View looking down the Muslim left.

Rather than beginning with a heavy cavalry charge bang, Alfonso's cavalry step forward slowly.  Both armies begin to close the distance.  Taifa skirmishers, out in front, come within missile range and pepper the knights with arrows.  Taifa heavy infantry backed by bowmen in tercios advance to missile range too.  Their volleys manage to disorder two of the Spanish heavy cavalry.  

Armies close the distance between their lines.

Possibly surprised that his forward positions were not immediately overrun by the Spanish cavalry, Yusuf springs into action.  His light cavalry in the hills and the medium cavalry in the valley descend upon the right flank of Alfonso's Army.  Setting to work, the light cavalry overruns a careless skirmisher and then turns inward to envelop the enemy battle line of horsemen.  Following up in close pursuit, a body of medium cavalry smashes into Spanish light cavalry.  With enemy light cavalry now in its rear, the Spaniards choose to stand and accept the charge.  Overpowered by the Muslim cavalry, the Spanish cavalry falls back taking casualties as it passes in front of the Muslim horsemen.  The Muslims continue in pursuit destroying the enemy horsemen before they can reach safety behind their own lines.

Muslim cavalry charge in...

overrunning skirmishers and...

pushing back enemy light horse.

Enemy is caught and destroyed before making an escape.

With its blood up having destroyed the retreating enemy cavalry, the Muslim medium horsemen throw themselves into a line of massed crossbowmen.  Shot up as they closed, the crossbowmen repulse their attacker but not before taking serious casualties.  Seeing that the enemy is wavering to its front, Muslim light cavalry renews the attack.  The light cavalry cut through the nearest body of crossbowmen before reaching the second mass of crossbowmen.  In the face of such destruction, the crossbowmen are forced to fall back to the safety between two heavy infantry units.  Now, with its flank exposed and no possibility to evade, the Muslim light cavalry is scattered as the Spanish heavy infantry moves up to engage.  

Arab cavalry repulsed.

Light cavalry attacks weakened crossbow
and destroys them.

Pursuit forces the second crossbow to retire...

but a counterattack scatters the cavalry.

The Almoravid cavalry clash is not over quite yet.  Emerging from behind the Badajoz infantry, a body of camelry charges into an awaiting body of Caballeros Villanos.  The camels are driven off and the Spanish cavalry counter charges in pursuit.  After having overrun a body of skirmishers who failed to evade, the Caballeros are put to flight when they smack into a steady body of Almoravid spearmen shooting arrows and bolts into the heavy cavalry on the approach. 

Camelry charges into enemy horse and are repulsed...

while enemy skirmishes are run down.

Having failed to break the enemy tercio in the first cavalry charge, Alfonso sends forward the red knights.  While the red knights concentrate their attack against the massed crossbow to the left, the tercio lends some of its weight as support.  The tercio's long spears also negate the knight's impetus bonus.  In the first clash, the crossbowmen are destroyed, and the knights suffer only light casualties.  The supporting tercio is forced to retreat and falls back into the Black Guard.  The Black Guard give ground and become disordered from the chaos.

Red knights attack!

Pursuing into the gap left by the destruction of the crossbow, the red knights hit the unsupported tercio.  Casualties are heavy with the tercio losing its back stand of bowmen.  With great luck, the red knights pass their cohesion test and only become disordered.  With the tercio continuing its retreat, the red knights follow up keeping the pressure on.  Again, the tercio is hit but this time the Black Guard can offer support.  More Muslims fall.  Yusuf's men are forced back once again. The red knights ignore their casualties and forge ahead against the retreating Almoravids.  For a third time, the red knights crash into the enemy and the enemy is driven back.  While driving back the enemy, knights suffer heavy casualties and fail to pursue.  The attack of the red knights creates a HUGE gap in the Almoravid battle line. 

Pursuit carries the red knights...

deep into the enemy line.

A Big hole opens in the Almoravid battle line.

In an attempt to stabilize what appears to be a rapidly deteriorating situation, the Almoravid right launches an attack.  The Arab camelry hits Spanish heavy cavalry and the camels immediately turns about in retreat.  The Spanish pursue catching the camels in the rear.  Even with support, the camels are scattered and their supporting cavalry falls back.  Still, the Spanish cavalry come on.  As with the exploits of the red knights in the center, the Spanish manage to pass several cohesion tests after each melee.  Having neutralized much of the Arab cavalry on the enemy right, the Spanish horsemen swing in to contact a tercio.  Here the Spanish meet their match and their maker.  The Almoravid tercio stands firm, destroying the Spanish.  For now, the Almoravid Right is secure, but it came at great cost.  

Camels attack and retreat!

In pursuit after pursuit...

the enemy is driven off.

Until, that is, the Spanish meet their match!

With the threat to the Almoravid Right squashed, Yusuf counterattacks in the center against the weakened red knights.  Those heroic Spanish knights are dispatched quickly.  Still, Alfonso sends more cavalry forward.  That body of heavy cavalry forces the Arab tercio to its front to give ground.  Arabs fall back, rally, and then march forward back into battle.  They still have some fight in them!  The Spanish are seen off!  The Almoravid battle line begins to reform and consolidate its position.   

Yusuf attacks and scatters the red knights!

An Almoravid tercio moves up to attack enemy cavalry.

Enemy cavalry retreats!

Muslim battle line reforms.

Battle ends in a draw.

After three-and-a-half hours of play and seeing Muslim line reform with a wall of spears facing the enemy, we declare the battle a draw.  Neither army had broken and there was still fight left in both armies but both sides had been seriously depleted.  With the hour getting late, everyone agreed that a draw was an appropriate conclusion.  The Butcher's Bill favored the Spanish but having lost two bodies of knights is a hard blow.

Butcher's Bill

The points of special note in this game were Lee and Ray's drives deep into the Almoravid battle line.  Lee split the Arab left-center and Ray knocked out the Arab Right in a series of amazing cohesion check passes.  I will spare everyone the probabilities of these two events!  Even with those extreme events, the Arabs managed to stabilize the situation and were prepared to take the fight to the Spanish.

Thank you all for a very entertaining game!  Good fun!

A Pair of Muslim Command Stands

Basic Impetvs (BI) does not require separate command stands since leaders are integrated into a unit.  Not the case for me.  For my version of BI on a grid, I field at least one command stand per army and often one command stand per wing.  My Reconquista games generally do not use more than two command stands per army since many of these games are set for four players.  I can field four command stands.

Well, the remote game on deck later today has five players. That meant I needed to hurriedly push some command figures into the painting queue to field five commands by Monday.  As illustrated by these photos, two command stands made it out from the painting desk on Sunday just in time to field for Monday's game.

Figures are a mix of Black Tree Design, Gripping Beast (thank you, eagle-eye Ray), and Artizan.  One of these stands will take its place in the game today.

I have not had BI out on the table since a few Great Italian Wars battles back in January and have not hosted a remote game since the end of September.  Hope some of this comes back quickly!

Bats Over the Alps

Happy Halloween!

With thoughts of bringing the 1799 Russians to the table for their Baptism of fire and Halloween upon us, I return to Christopher Duffy's Eagles Over the Alps for inspiration.  For today, on Halloween, I will be thinking about Bats Over the Alps.  Checking the Painting Log, the tally shows that I may, indeed, have enough Russians painted from which to build a mid-sized battle.  Cavalry strengths are a little light but in Northern Italy and Switzerland, few may be enough.  I have some research to do.

Before thoughts can turn toward the Alps and a fight in the high country, the gaming table sees a long absent return to the Spanish Reconquista.  This time, my interpretation of the 23 OCT 1086 Battle of Zallaqah hits the table.  I missed the anniversary by a week.  More foresight is needed.  Interesting situation started by a great Christian heavy cavalry charge.

Anyway, battle briefing and QRS have been distributed.  First game is set for Monday in a remote game with five of Postie's Rejects.  I expect a few more iterations of the battle before clearing the table.  In most of these games, there are typically only two commanders per army.  With five players, I wanted each to have a personal commander on the field.  Having only four command stands total in the collection meant hurriedly pushing more command to jump ahead into the painting queue.  With a little luck, this work will be finished before Monday's action.

Last Saturday saw me take to the field as a Redcoat in a five-player F2F Zulu War game using Chris Leach's Battles for Empire II (BfE).  I do not recall playing these rules before.  One player played a game at Enfilade! con back in May and enjoyed the game.  None of the others had played BfE either. 

Despite a general unfamiliarity with the rules, we picked up the broad concepts quickly and fought the battle to a satisfactory conclusion.  Especially satisfactory for the British.  

The British objective was a punitive expedition to lay waste to a Zulu strongpoint. There were two British commanders facing three Zulu commanders.  Both British columns marched onto the field as my column on the left headed toward the high ground opposite the Zulu kraal.  No sooner had I reached the table than the British CiC marching with the right column ordered both companies to go into square and await the enemy.  What?  How can we possibly take the objective with our feet pinned to the ground?  Well, I duly went into square pivoting my square to offer support to the other British square.

British columns form square.

I sent my dragoons up onto the ridge to keep an eye on enemy movements but quickly fell back toward the safety of the square when the Zulus bounded over the ridge.  My dragoons dismount and form into a firing line.

Dragoons fall back and dismount.

The Zulus came on in wave after wave.  The first couple of waves were destroyed on the approach but finally, a wave reached my square.  On my front, casualties were very high among the enemy.  The other British square saw less success against the enemy who began encircling that square.  While fighting off the enemy on my front, I also lent support to the adjoining square to prevent complete encirclement.  British firepower was awesome.

Zulus reach my square!

By this point, sufficient enemy Zulu casualties were inflicted to break the enemy.  Still with time aplenty, the Zulus reconstituted four units from the Dead Pile and brought them back on table.  These reinforcements joined into the fray and managed to break the rightmost square while mine held on, repelling all comers.

British square encircled!

Even with the breaking of one British square, Zulu casualties were piled high.  The battle ended in a convincing British victory.  Saturday sees a return engagement but this time, the theatre moves to the NWF.  Reports of rapid painting of Afghans reach British HQ.

FPW in G. Minor

German minors, that is...

Out from the painting desk today are two battalions from the German minor states of Baden and Wurttemberg.  Each of the 16-figure battalions are from Lancashire Games.  Both were sent as samples from Lancashire Games provided I paint them up.  I have now fulfilled my end of the bargain!

As has been the case with the other mid-19th Century infantry from Lancashire, I really enjoy painting these figures and think the sculpts terrific.  Thank you, Allan, for the figures!

First up is a Baden battalion in picklehaube.  The only noticeable difference between these Badeners and the Prussians is the Badeners carry their greatcoat rolled around the backpack.  Prussians carry their greatcoat wrapped around their torso.  Nice figures.

Next up is the Wurttemberg battalion.  These fellas march into battle wearing the feldmutze.  Again, nice figures.

Still a few more FPW Germans working their way through the painting queue before something else pops out from the production line.  What will that be?  Well, something for another expansion.

With the days shortening and the temperatures dropping, time to get serious with cleaning and priming enough figures to carry me through winter.  Before I get down to serious figure prep, I must decide in which direction I want my painting efforts to take me over the next three or four months.  This is always a tough decision since there are so many choices and so much to paint.  Where will I begin?  

Having pulled the Reconquista boxes down and emptied many of those boxes out onto the gaming table in preparation for game, of course there is a draw to pushing some more of these figures into the painting queue.  More FPW almost certainly will see some action as will Biblicals.  What else?  More SYW/WAS, for sure, and perhaps even FRW Russians for the 1799 campaign. Since the FRW Russians have yet to see any action in battle, I ought to assess whether these fellas are in sufficient strength to bring them to the table.

For those in the northern hemisphere, what will you be working on over the dark winter months?

Now, back to the painting desk.

Paradox of Modern Wargaming

The paradox?  Speed vs. Journey in the Digital Age.  

As the Palouse Wargaming Journal passes its thirteenth anniversary, these anniversaries often bring up a time of reflection on the past.  Reflections this year saw a return to one particular post I wrote more than two years ago on how battle reports are read (see Reporting from the Front: How are Battle Reports Read).  Besides a perceived change in writing and reading battle reports, has the underlying wargaming landscape, likewise, undergone change in how we participate?  For these reflections, I refer to these perceived changes as "modern" wargaming.

The modern wargaming landscape presents an interesting paradox that hits at the core of wargaming's identity.  We dedicate months, sometimes years, to painting armies, researching historical uniforms, and crafting detailed terrain.  All of these time-consuming preparatory activities result in bringing the efforts to the gaming table in a game that frequently can be completed in under an hour.  This contradiction raises fundamental questions about whether we've lost sight of the journey in favor of quick results, and whether the very tools meant to enhance our hobby experience have inadvertently diminished it.

Rise of the Quick-Play Culture
The trend toward quick-play wargames and rules has become undeniably to the fore in recent years.  This reflects a broader shift in gaming preferences, with players increasingly gravitating toward games that can be completed in two to three hours or less.  The Great Wargaming Survey supports this notion with only 17% of respondents saying that a game longer than three hours is preferred. 

The market has responded accordingly.  Wargames designated as "small footprint" and games designed to be "quick play" have proliferated.  Systems like One-Hour Wargames or the many One-Page rules promise battles that only take about one hour to fight to conclusion. This compression is not only limited to casual, pick-up games.  Even complex historical scenarios are being redesigned for rapid consumption.

The Commands & Colors Revolution
Perhaps no single system better exemplifies this shift than Richard Borg's Commands & Colors series.  I have introduced a number of gamers to historical miniatures gaming through Commands & Colors.  The appeal is clear.  These games provide the feeling of playing a mass battle game while allowing players to refight the entire historical battle in relatively short time.  Often, we can complete four or five games in a single three-hour gaming session.

The genius of Commands & Colors lies in its ability to deliver satisfying tactical decision-making within a streamlined framework.  Players experience interesting tactical decisions despite rules' simplicity.  This combination creates a perfect melding of boardgame and wargame.  Rarely are two games played the same.  With the success of this system, countless other designs have followed a similar path.  Adding miniatures into the mix makes a solid system even better.

The Attention Span Crisis
This shift toward game length brevity may reflect broader changes in human attention patterns.  Research suggests a significant decrease in focused attention.  Decreased attention span is not confined to gaming but surfaces across all digital platforms.  The digital age creates environments where stimuli constantly compete for our attention.  This competition leads to frequent task-switching and cognitive overload.

The push toward shorter duration games leads game designers to create experiences that captivate players without overwhelming them.  Designers must create a balance between engaging gameplay and the brain's need for managing cognitive loads.  This reality suggests that the trend toward shorter games isn't merely preference but an adaptation to fundamental changes in how our brains process extended engagement.

The Painting Paradox
The most striking contradiction in modern wargaming lies in the seeming disconnect between our dedication to army preparation and actual gameplay.  While game size has decreased with an increased tendency toward skirmish games, wargamers continue to invest enormous amounts of time to painting.  Some paint hundreds or even thousands of figures per year.  As supported by the Great Wargaming Survey, for many, painting is the hobby and represents their primary source of satisfaction.

Yet this same community increasingly seeks games that can be completed in a fraction of the time spent preparing armies for battle.  Have the visual and creative aspects of painting and building armies become more important than the gaming experience itself?

The Tournament Mindset
With a move to decreased game length and simplified rules, have we all become tournament players without realizing it?  The emphasis on quick resolution, standardized rules, and efficient gameplay mirrors competitive tournament formats.  Traditional narrative gaming, with its emphasis on story development and immersive experience, requires time and patience.  These attributes seem increasingly scarce.

The tournament approach prioritizes clear winners, efficient mechanics, and reproducible results.  While these aren't inherently negative qualities, they represent a significant departure from the storytelling and narrative-building traditions that historically defined miniature wargaming.  The question becomes whether we're losing something essential in this transition.

Historical Perspective and the Path Forward
Looking at this trend historically, it's worth questioning whether our time constraints are genuinely different from those of previous generations. Wargamers of the 1970s and 1980s faced similar challenges of limited time and competing priorities, yet they typically maintained longer, more involved games. The difference may lie not in available time, but in our expectations and attention patterns.

The solution isn't necessarily to reject quick-play systems.  Many of these innovations represent genuine improvements in accessibility and enjoyment. Rather, we need to consciously preserve space for deeper, more involved gaming experiences that justify the enormous investment we make in army preparation.

Perhaps the answer lies in recognizing that different types of games serve different purposes.  As mentioned about Commands & Colors earlier, quick-play systems excel at introducing new players, providing weeknight entertainment, and exploring new periods or rules.  Quick-play systems, however, should not completely replace the longer, more involved games that allow armies to truly shine and narratives to develop naturally.

The wargaming hobby is broad enough to accommodate both approaches.  What we must guard against is the unconscious drift toward speed and simplicity at the expense of depth and immersion.  The months we spend painting and preparing should lead to gaming experiences worthy of that investment.  We should foster experiences that prioritize the journey as much as the destination, and that create lasting memories rather than merely efficient outcomes.

In the end, the choice between quick results and meaningful journeys isn't binary. Diverse gaming communities will likely embrace both, often in harmony.  I enjoy both types of games and each has its place.  The purpose of the game and available resources should determine the choice of gaming system.  Our beautifully painted armies deserve nothing less than this thoughtful balance.