Lion Rampant - a skirmish in the Hook & Cod wars

Here are some quick and dirty shots of a Lion Rampant game we played this week. We used two armies of 20 points, one being made up of: drilled mounted men at arms, bidowers, foot sergeants and crossbows with pavises, and the other of drilled mounted men at arms, expert foot sergeants, and expert archers.

The location of the fighting is somewhere in the Low Countries during the final stages of the Hook & Cod wars (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hook_and_Cod_wars i.e. de Hoeksche & Kabeljouwse twisten) One of these days the largely fictional characters of Jan van Schaffelaar and Perrol with the red hand might make an appearance. They are depicted in Oltmans' De Schaapsherder (the Shepherd) as sworn enemies since they both fancy the hand of certain young lady. The story has a very dramatic ending in the church of Barneveld, where Jan van Schaffelaar and his men are surrounded by the enemy. Presented with an ultimatum to hand over their leader van Schaffelaar decides to keep the honor to himself and jumps from the tower. He survives the jump but is presently bludgeoned to death by the peasant rabble waiting for him. Maybe these events would make for an interesting scenario in the future!

Written in 1838

Jan van Schaffelaar going down in history

Starting positions of my warband.

My crossbows are threatened by his sergeants. My opponents knights have hidden behind the house.

Both groups of sergeants are driven of. Following this my crossbows are routed. In the end the enemy leader and bows remain. 

Retreat from Moscow - Dismounted cavalry

Here are some more painted mini's from the Retreat from Moscow range.

Cossacks

A little update on the Black Powder side of things this time. These have been laying around for a long time now, so I'm happy they are finally done. For the moment I use them as a small Cossack unit in Black Powder. The miniatures themselves are from the excellent Perry miniatures Retreat from Moscow range of which I hope I can add some more to my collection soon!

IHMN - On the trail of the Black Smook -

I recently painted up some Victorian Sci-fi miniatures which I had laying around and did some rebasing in preparation of a game of In Her Majesty's Name. The setting is as follows:

It's the year 1887 and the peace conference of the second Crimean war sees all the leaders of the great European powers gathered in the city of Geneva. Each country has brought the nation’s finest diplomats, tradesmen and generals, each supported by their own personal retinue, looking after their safety and other ‘needs’.

And so it happens that the great Sherlock Holmes finds himself walking the streets of this fine city, which seems to be rife with political strife, trade disputes and numerous other activities taking place at the shady border of right and wrong. Always on the lookout for clues and criminals on the loose he visits the coffeehouses, where the latest news and gossip can be heard.

Lately there have been reports coming in of people with strange affections after presumed opium usage. People become ill or sleep for days and lose their memory. This opium, quickly dubbed Black Smook can’t be distinguished from normal opium and seems to be randomly distributed among normal deliveries. Early inquiries have so far revealed nothing, but the trail seems to lead out of town where some nobleman has recently been noted to take an interest in the opium trade.

The British delegation has dispatched The Consulting Detective and the Good Doctor to clear up the mystery, accompanied by an outfit of London Bobbies. Without the availability of a trusted opium supplier negotiations have seriously stalled as dignitaries can’t get their fix of relaxation and lose their nerves. Discussions become much more heated and the risk of more wars breaking out, instead of one being ended is becoming greater by the day.

On the other side of town Lady Ann has been kitting out her company for a trip to the countryside as well. It wasn’t hard to keep up with the latest police news, as the Queen’s men weren't exactly secretive about it. Seeing her own interests endangered by the recent disturbances of the opium trade she ventures out to investigate the source of this incursion.

This is are some images of our first two games, in which bobbies take a beating and lady Ann makes a daring escape with several pieces of vital information.

Both companies converge on a farm estate rumoured to contain a number of clues as to the source of the Black Smook.

The Yard approaches.

As does lady Ann.

Bobbies charge into fisticuffs

Both companies search the crates for clues.

The good doctors carries an objective of the board, but then succumbs to the constant sniper fire.

As Lady Ann and her crew have secured the farm and gathered all information they try to break out and make for the mountains.

A lonely constable stands guard.

A sergeant takes up a firing position.

Bijschrift toevoegen

A giant wolfman breaks out of the woodwork.

The Consulting detective is the last man standing.

After our first game it turned out my mate had to points wrong for his riflemen, so in the second game he used two less. However even with less numbers it turned out to be a resounding victory for Lady Ann and her crew.

As Lady Ann soon finds out a number of documents refer to a certain Graff Reichenbach, who owns an estate in the mountains. With the police hot on her heels so and her men make way into the mountains in order to find and question the count. 

to be continued... 

Moving on to bigger things.

This time trying my hand at a 40mm miniature for the first time, and I must say I really enjoyed it. The bigger size invites you to spend some extra time on the details and the end result is also just that bit more satisfying compared to 28mm. I will definitely be getting some more of these in the future.
The model comes from the Perry's 40mm peninsular line.

Sharp Practice

In anticipation of picking up Sharp Practice again in a few weeks I tried a scenario in solo-play. Searching the internet for inspiration I found the excellent blog of World2Dave and borrowed this scenario from him (for details see: http://themedetianwars.blogspot.nl/2014/11/the-attack-on-griffon-inn-sharp.html).

The French have settled down in the manor with some more troops dispatched to the barn. After a wild night plundering the wine cellar the French are now vast asleep with one lonely sentry dispatched on the road. The Russians are close upon them though, approaching through the woods at daybreak. 

Two of the Russians attack groups are spotted!

The sentry rushes towards the house to raise the alarm.

And beats the Russians to it.

First to deploy is the French light gun, opening up on the Russians approaching the door.

Grenadiers follow.

The third Russian blind deploys a unit of Jaeger and line infantry 

The assault on the mansion commences.

French infantry deployed nearby are drawn to the sound of the guns.

Charge!

Counter charge!

Jaegers sneak through the rocks, and take aim at the French line.

The Russians rally two battered units in line.

At this moment the large Russian unit went in for a new counter attack on the now exposed French and that is where I ended the game.

The scenario is quite nice and seems to have a good balance of forces.

 I'm not sure the French made the best decision by leaving the house as they were in quite a strong defensive position, but I wanted to bring the game to an end.

Chain of Command - Tunis

Here's a quick rundown of a Chain of Command game we played yesterday.

Tunis 1943

Forces involved:

German panzergrenadier platoon
sdkfz 222
5cm mortar
Medic
Adjutant

British rifle platoon
Armoured car
2' mortar

Objective of the game is a crossroad guarded by the British platoon.

The battlefield.

Germans start their probe.

British fall back.

German reinforcements arrive

British take up defensive positions and armoured car arrives.

Germans form a firing line and start pouring it into the Tommies.

The firefight takes its toll on the British. 

Germans launch their final assault.

And take the position. At this moment the British force moral was down to 2 and we called the game. Victory to the Wehrmacht.