The Outskirts of Carentan, D Day + 6

On Saturday I managed to get up to the Maidstone club and put on a couple of games of Chain of Command.  Given one of these games was a learning game for a new member I kept it simple and went for a scenario with limited support options.

The scenario was adapted from one in one of the Lardies' pint sized Campaigns with a platoon of US Airborne approaching the outskirts of Carentan and encountering a platoon of Fallschirmjäger.

During the first game the US player got the most amazing number of rolls of 6 and consequently not only triggered a random event (heavy rain - limiting the visibility) but, in one case, four phases in a row!

The second game was a little less extreme!  Here are a couple of photos:

Battle of Brunanburh, 937

On Saturday I ventured up to the Herts Volunteers for a Hail Caesar game of the Battle of Brunanburh.  There was an impressive range of 28mm Dark Ages figures arrayed on the table of which I made a small contribution (along with some suitable buildings).

I took command of two units of Anglo-Saxons on the left wing facing off against a horde of Strathclyde Welsh, Scots and Irish.  I was feeling pretty outnumbered and the wily Scot's horse moved around to threaten my flank which didn't help make my position feel any more secure.

In the end the Welsh were terribly reluctant to get into the fight but the Scot's were up for it and I ended up with a desperate fight outnumbered 2:1.  Fortunately a blunder by the Irish commander to my right meant his troops withdrew and freed up the Saxons next to me to come to my rescue.  I managed to hold on despite being pushed back to the table edge and having lost my stronger unit.  But the Viking assault across on our right wing collapsed and the battle was won there by Athelstan.  A most historic result.

Here are a couple of photos I took on the day:

Looking up the table - Saxons to the right

And from the other end

The wily Scots horse moving around my flank

Battle is joined!

Lifting the Siege of Lille - 4th September 1708

I managed to get up to the club again last weekend and put on a War of the Spanish Succession game using the Gå På rules.  Here's the brief:

On 13 August 1708 the allied army of Marlborough and Eugene began to besiege Lille. Eugene conducted the siege while Marlborough commanded a covering force. The French King Louis XIV ordered his armies under Vendôme, Burgundy and Berwick to link up and break the siege. Can Marlborough hold-off the French assault until Prince Eugene arrives with reinforcements or will the French lift the siege?

Here are a couple of photos from the game:

As it has been a while since I played and neither of the other two players had played before we got off to a bit of a slow start (not helped by some appalling dice rolls by the French).  In hindsight, given the lack of previous experience, I should probably have started with the forces deploying a little closer.  But everyone had a fun game even if we didn't fight the battle to a final conclusion.