Peruvian Highlands - Ollantaytambo

Main Temple

Following a two day stop in Pisac (see Pisac), the next leg of the Peruvian adventure saw us set out for the small town of Ollantaytambo in the valley along the Urubamba River.

To reach Ollantaytambo from Pisac required finding a taxi and then negotiating a suitable fare for the three of us and our luggage.  Well, finding a taxi was easy.  As soon as we approached the town center with our luggage in tow, drivers descended upon us like yellow jackets drawn to a chunk of red meat.  Pricing began at 120 soles and after writing offers and counteroffers in pen onto the palms of our hands, we settled on a fare of 75 soles for the hour drive.  At current exchange rate, the fare equated to about $25.  Not only did we arrive into Ollantaytambo in one piece but the driver stopped to find directions to our hotel which was tucked away near the main Incan ruins deep within the village.  It seems traffic signals, speed limits, highway dividing lines are merely suggested courtesies; ignored by almost everyone.

Ollantaytambo

Ollantaytambo, for those hiking the Inca Trail, is not a destination but the beginning of their journey.  Ollantaytambo is the site of an old Incan bridge marking the start of the Inca Trail out of Ollantaytambo.  For us, Ollantaytambo was a two day stopover as we continued exploring the Sacred Valley.  The temple adjoining the town was to be our main focus.

The town is situated at the end of the Sacred Valley as the Urubamba River disappears from the valley and plunges into the gorge on its way towards Aguas Calientes; the tourist town at the foot of Machu Picchu.

End of the Sacred Valley as Urubamba River
drops into the gorge in the distance.

Disembarking from the taxi, we faced the sight shown below.  This massive engineering feat was, literally, only steps from the hotel.

Main Temple

The scale of this structure is overwhelming and continues up to the top of the ridge.  It reminds me of a stair-stepping waterfall carved from stone.  Note the size of the people scaling the structure about midway up.  To get a better sense of scale, I am standing in the passageway with the terraces towering overhead. 

Main temple with Jon for scale

Temple

I was surprised to see the temple actually adjoining the town on its west end.  Between the temple on the west side and a rugged and steep peak on the east side, Ollantaytambo is sandwiched between two formidable rock formations.

Temple to west

Monolith to the east
Note structures on side of peak

Besides the site of the Incan temple ruins, the town, itself, is built upon the old Incan town foundations.  In the ancient part of town, small rivulets run alongside each street

Typical Incan street layout

while current residents reside in homes whose foundations date back to Incan times.

"Modern" homes on Incan foundations

Ollantaytambo was the site of a battle between Manco Inca and Spanish Conquistador, Hernando Pizarro in 1537.  In this battle, Pizarro was defeated as Manco Inca thwarted the Spanish-led attack by flooding the valley floor.  Gathering reinforcements, Pizarro returned to do battle once again.  Upon his return, Pizarro found Manco Inca had fled into the jungle.  The exact location of the battle is unknown but evidence suggests that it took place east of Ollantaytambo near the town of Pachar.

From atop main temple looking north up valley

From the temple looking across the town, notice the structures clinging to the side of the steep rocky peak.  These buildings are granaries or storehouses.  One set of three row buildings is situated about one third up the face of the mountain.  The climb is steep, slippery, and not always well marked.  I passed one explorer who had lost her way on the path to the granaries.  I invited her to follow me up.  The view from these heights is stunning.

Granaries

Granaries

Granaries

View of temple from Granaries

During our stay, it was festival time.  While my wife and sister were negotiating textile prices at a stall near the hotel, a truck came down the main road and made a hard left.  Too hard in fact and barreled into construction scaffolding and tearing off the front fender.  Imagine my surprise when the back door flew open and a scene out of a circus presented itself.  Peruvians in traditional grab piled out of the back of the truck at a great rate of outflow.  Women and children first!

Interesting little town that deserves a visit on any trek to Machu Picchu.  I certainly would return.

Next up:  Train to Aquas Calientes and Machu Picchu.

AWI British Combined LI

A long time has passed since the AWI project last saw action on the painting desk.  My painting log confirms that.  Last 28mm AWI unit across the table was nearly 18 months ago.  Quite a long hiatus.  At least the collection saw action on the gaming table last October.

To work through a few of the stockpiled AWI lead, 16 British infantry were selected to field as a combined light infantry battalion and to mix up the painting routine.  Figures are from Perry Miniatures and light infantry coys from four battalions are brought together to form this unit.  Most other figures in this project have been fielded from the marching pose. Figures for this light infantry battalion are formed from the charging pose.  Much variety within the figures and collectively make a dynamic unit.   

Maybe I will not wait a year and a half before bringing this project up for a painting desk encore?

Wargamer Profiling - Results

(Note: two more data points added into analysis 11AUG2015)

Last month I proposed a notion of classifying or profiling wargamers' attributes based on four criteria.  Those criteria consisted of ratings for Collector (size), Historian, Craftsman, and Gaming Frequency.  For a detailed explanation of this survey and its motivation, see Wargamer Profiling.

My goal was three-fold:

1. Attempt to reduce the dimension of Haskell's classifications
2. Qualify myself based on these revised classifications
3. Draw out responses from readers to build a multi-dimensional profiling snapshot

For this exercise, I had 17 brave souls step forward to be counted in profiling their wargaming attributes.  Including my own data, that totals to n=18 participants.  Still a very small sample and self-selection might bias the results but an interesting picture nonetheless.

If a mean or average rating is 5 (over 1 to 10 scale) in the Craftsman and Historian attributes then most participants are above average.  Average Craftsman and Historian Ratings in this survey came in at about 7.50 each.  For most, both the wargaming craft, itself, as well as the history component are important facets of the hobby.  On average, respondents hold a collection totaling 5,000-10,000 painted miniatures and game roughly one game per month.  Of course, wide variety existed among the participants.

What can be inferred from these limited results?  For one, there appears to be a general linear relationship between Historian and Craftsman attributes.  That is, higher ratings for Historian tend to correspond to higher ratings for Craftsman.  Examining the Attribute Correlation Coefficients Table, the only significant relationship is between History and Craft with a positive Pearson Correlation Coefficient of 0.56107.  Still focusing on the correlation coefficients, Nate asked if an inverse relationship existed between Craft and collection Size.  A slight inverse relationship exists but not in a statistically significant sense (p=0.5320).  That was a good question!    

Model HISTORY = CRAFT

Attribute Correlation Coefficients

As the Scatter Plot Matrix below suggests, relationships between variables appear weak.  Looking at the correlation between History and Size, considering oneself a historian has no bearing on collection size.  What does that suggest?

Attribute Scatter Plot Matrix

Second, about half of the respondents clustered around Craftsman = 8 although there are a couple of outliers.

Of course, the sample size is quite small and the ratings are arbitrarily measured but, for me, this was an interesting exercise and helps place my own attributes into context of a few peers.  Response rate has been low.  To improve any potential inferences made, a larger sample size would be beneficial.

For any reader wishing to add their profile attributes into this survey, please add your attributes as a comment or send them via email.  I will gladly add your data into the graphic.  

Thank you to all who have already contributed.

Staining the White Menace Part II

As discussed in an April 2015 post when I began setting up the Raab game (see Staining the White Menace), deploying the Austrians for the replay prompted me to consider and then undertake treating the white-jacketed Austrians with Minwax stain.  At that time, only the white-coated infantry not used in the battle were give the dip.  The results were pleasing.  

With the conclusion of the Raab battle, I decided to tackle staining the remainder of the Austrian Napoleonic 15mm army.  Now, this activity does not include the 18mm Austrians that are being built for the 1799 campaign.  Those 1799 Austrians not already stained may receive the treatment some time in the future.

Having completed the staining task for the entire Austrian army, I figured a parade review was due.  This is likely the first time the entire Austrian collection has been out on the table for a parade.  Quite a mob, is it not?  As units are mustered over many years, one can easily lose track of exactly how many troops have been called up for mobilization.    

Austrian Army

That is a large number of figures to retroactively stain but the effort, to my eyes, is well worth it.  Of course, my thoughts now turn toward tackling the other 15mm Napoleonic contingents.  Perhaps, I will next focus on the white-coated French allies?  That list would include the Wesphalians and Italians.  You know, I have never fielded any white-coated French infantry.  Hmm.

Risorgimento Uniform Guides

Obscure projects can lead to challenges in painting and fielding combatants.  Such is the situation with the 1859 Risorgimento / Second Italian War of Independence / Franco-Austrian War (or whatever you might call it) conflict.

While Osprey Publishing provides a handful of useful booklets for the Austrians and French, information on the Sardinian Army is difficult to obtain.  A number of resources are available on the Internet (I must have several score of images captured from the web) but uniform booklets are much more rare.  That is, until recently.

Soldiershop Publishing in Italy has produced two very useful books for the Sardinian forces present in this war.  In 2012, Soldiershop published Volume 14 in their Soldiers & Weapons series focusing on the foot forces.  Melani and Ricciardi's book is 159 pages packed with useful information.  Included are unit organizations, uniform plates, tables of unit regimental facing colors, and more.  Comprehensive.  The uniform plates are brilliantly executed in color including equipment, rank distinctions, saddle clothes, and armaments.  The downside for native English readers is that the text is in Italian.  Photo and illustration captions are bilingual in both Italian and English.    

When I first saw Volume 014, I wondered if the concentration on infantry and artillery suggested that a separate book covering the cavalry might be forthcoming.   That was indeed the case as a second volume highlighting the cavalry arm was recently published.  Volume #2 has been added to my Wish List while I wait for my favorite international book vendor to get the book in stock.

In addition to the resources shown above, Historica publishes a one volume book on the Austrian army for the 1859 conflict.  Like the Soldiershop series, this book is similar to Osprey in size and scope.  At 88 pages, it carries a little more heft than an Osprey and contains similar content.  As similar to the Soldiershop series, L'esercito Austriaco ne 1859 is printed in Italian.  Fortunately, all captions, illustrations, and uniform plates have English descriptions.  In the back of the book are English translations of the Italian text.  Another very useful resource for studying the 1859 conflict.

Of course, no mention of Sardinian forces during this conflict can be complete without mentioning my long time reference.  That reference is Campaign Booklet #8 of Casali's The Second Italian War of Independence 1859 published (at the time) by Freikorps 15s.
In Casali is a brief history of the campaign,unit organization, painting guides for each of the major combatants, and orders of battle.  Great little resource!

My well worn copy of Casali

Battle of Raab - End of the (Austrian) Line

Returning to battle, French cavalry on the right wing finally succeeded in driving Mescery's mix of regular and Insurrectio horsemen back from the bridge crossing the Upper Panzca brook.  With Pully's heavy cavalry division arriving in support, the Archduke's ability to hold this flank is in peril.

On the Austrian side of the Panzca, Mescery's cavalry is in disarray and falling back quickly from the upper bridge and ford.  In the center Austrian troops remain in place, lining the brook intent on thwarting additional French attempts to cross.

Situation 14:00

In the center, Seras still has a toe-hold on the east bank of the brook clinging to his position anchored by the church.  At present, the divisions of Seras, Durutte, and Severoli are under defend orders.  Recall, Severoli had been bloodily repulsed in the previous 30 minutes. Having joined Severoli's division, d'Hilliers and Severoli both get down to the business of rallying their shaken troops.  Fortunately, the majority of the division rallies back into good order. 

d'Hilliers rallies Severoli

At Eugene's HQ, a stream of dispatches arrive from his infantry divisions in the center.  With no dispatches from his right cavalry wing,  the Viceroy busily sends orders to his infantry divisions.  Durutte is to launch another assault against the Kis-Megyer complex.  Durutte makes no delay in moving back into the hornet's nest.  Will this assault see success when all previous attempts have met with failure?

Having received confirmation that Severoli was not as badly mauled as first suspected and that Eckhart was streaming back from the Middle Bridge in great disorder, Eugene orders Severoli, through d'Hilliers, to assault the middle bridge.  In an attempt to relieve pressure from Durutte's assault, Severoli is to maintain contact with Durutte.  Seeing Durutte's division advance towards the Kis-Megyer Farm, Severoli accepts his orders and, likewise, moves back towards the brook.

Durutte attacks!

From their positions on the Szabathegy Heights, the Reserve artillery continues to pound Seras and the 1/53rd Line at the church.  The 53rd takes heavy casualties in prolonged bombardment.

Out on the French right, French cavalry have fulfilled their orders of securing a bridgehead over the Pancza and driving off their opposition.  With no orders arriving from Eugene, the French must act on their own initiative if they are to take advantage and finish off the remnants of Mescery's cavalry.  While Colbert cautiously brings his command over to the east bank of the brook, Pully, Montbrun, and Grouchy all snap into action. 

French cavalry in pursuit

Acting under their own initiative, Pully targets the Szabathegy Heights and the Archduke's Reserve.  Grouchy pursues Andrasy's command while Montbrun's light cavalry bear down on Hadik's broken command.

Montbrun attacks!

Grouchy poised to attack Andrasy

Only Montbrun's light cavalry succeed in reaching their targets as the 1st Chasseurs, led by Montbrun himself, catch the fleeing 2/Heves Insurrectio.  With the French 2/2nd Hussars in support, the chasseurs destroy the weakened Hungarians and breakthrough to hit its sister formation.  Shaken and at 50% effectives, the 1/Heves meets the same fate.  Hadik's command is destroyed.  Shaken from their exertions, Montbrun recalls his command to recover.

Montbrun rides down Hungarian cavalry

Montbrun breaks through

and destroys Hadik's command

Durutte's assault goes in against the north end of the Kis-Megyer Farm.  Led by the 22nd Legere followed closely by the 2/102 Line, French infantry reach the northern walls of the farm.  Defended by IR27/2, the Austrians hold as the French are repulsed.  The French fall back across the brook.

22nd Legere attacks Kis-Megyer

In the second attack, the 62nd line, disordered from crossing the steeply banked brook, reach the shaken IR61. 

French 62nd attacks IR61

Having suffered casualties and wavering, IR61 is overcome and retreats from its position, demoralized and having suffered heavy casualties.

IR61 retreats with heavy casualties

Flushed with success, the 62nd breaks through to contact Lutz' guns deployed along the brook.  Surprised with seeing French coming from Kis-Megyer, Lutz' battery is dispatched quickly.

Lutz' guns targeted

and quickly destroyed

Having lost his guns and the demoralized IR61 in retreat, Lutz takes a panic test.

Lutz panics!

Lutz falls back in panic

As Lutz' command heads towards the rear, a huge gap appears in the Austrian defensive line.  With first Eckhart in panic on his right and now Lutz in panic on his left, the only formation along the eastern bank of the brook standing firm is Sebottendorf.  Assessing the situation, Sebottendorf panics and joins the race back to safety.

Panic of the Austrian right
 and ending troop dispositions

Having only the Kis-Megyer Farm in his control and French cavalry bearing down on the Szabathegy Heights, Archduke Johan orders a withdrawal to salvage the remainder of his command.

History repeats itself and Viceroy Eugene emerges victorious.

For me, that was an exciting battle recreation with many a tense moment.  Fought out on the table at a leisure pace over three months, this exercise gave me a chance to revisit 15mm Napoleonics and reacquaint myself with the rules.  After a few years of inactivity, it was pleasing to see the collection back in action fighting across the table.  This replay also gave me the chance to re-examine the rules and make a few clarifications and minor changes.  Even after a long hiatus, the rules worked well and mechanisms came back to me quickly.

Most importantly, I want to thank Phil (Archduke Johan) and Michael (Viceroy Eugene) for sticking with the game over the last three months and issuing orders when needed.  Without their input, this exercise would not have been as enjoyable.  The exploits of this game with remain as pleasant memories.

For those who have persevered in following this lengthy replay, I hope it has provided some enjoyment.

Thanks fellas!

With the 15mm troops put away until their next battle, the table looks quite barren, no?

What should be next?