The Battle for Europe

The Napoleonic Knockout Finale

After extensive campaigning, it has come to this - the Emperor Napoleon vs. the Sultan for dominance of Europe.

Set Up

The Turks are on the attack. They advance into Bavaria. Napoleon meets them near a sleepy village.

Orders of Battle:

• French - 2 infantry corps, 1 Guards corps, 1 light infantry corps, 1 artillery grand battery
• Turks - 2 units of infantry, 1 unit of levy, 2 units of cavalry

The French are in blue (top). The Guards and levy units are not marked in the first photo but will have yellow and green markers respectively in later photos.

The Battle

The Turks are slow in coming to grips, so Napoleon sends his infantry forward. One corps, supported by the lights, drives back a cavalry unit.

The French infantry then attack the Turks on the hill. They disperse the artillery but one corps gets drive off and then annihilated by Turkish horse.

Napoleon sends in the Guard.

Who retreat!

Back into it, the Guard routs some cavalry.

Only to get wiped out themselves.

The Turks then swarm the last remaining French infantry corps.

It also routs! Napoleon must call for a retreat. But the Turkish cavalry capture him.

Thus ends this Napoleonic knockout campaign. The Turks now rule Europe!

A Viking in the Sun

As usual, my GADD-addled mind has been wandering again.

What Now?

I recently picked up this Lion Rampant supplement, A Viking in the Sun.

It covers the campaigns on Harald Hardrada during his employment with the Byzantines. Being a fan of Byzantines, I've had my eye on this and finally decided to splurge on it.

Why?

As usual, this latest foray came quite by accident. I've been crazy busy lately so I took a day off to recuperate. My thoughts turned to playing a game, but I couldn't decide on a period for the game. I've got a bunch of campaigns in progress yet I struggled to muster the enthusiasm for any.

I started perusing some gaming books for inspiration. While reviewing Lion Rampant I came across a reference to A Viking in the Sun. I got hooked.

What's Next?

I started to peruse VitS. It has 3 mini-campaigns that should be perfect for me! You may see them soon.

But first, I decided to complete a campaign before I embark on a new one. Hence, you will see the finale to my Napoleonic Knockout coming soon!

Another Counter Update

Some more news on the counters front.

•  I set up my printer and successfully printed a sheet of counters.
• I have some blank 1" x 1/2" bases available so I was able to mount some of the newly printed counters.

Here is a photo my counters in progress,

You can see that I mounted an artillery unit for each army. I also mounted a new army (in the box); it is light blue and can represent Bavarians, Mexican War US regulars, or more that I'm unaware of at this moment.

I still have some more artillery, infantry, and my modern armies to mount. I'm waiting on the bases from Litko to do these.

Counter Update

Some updates on the counter front.

Counters Ready

I made some tweaks to my modern counters, adding light armor (2nd from left), a dropship (5th), and a rocket launcher (last).

I then duplicated the army in two other colors - brown and gray. I debated making blue and red armies but decided to go with muted colors.

I also added some horse & musket artillery and formed infantry to the file. These are to fill in some gaps in my generic pre-modern armies.

The artillery

I now have a sheet of counters ready for printing.

Printer Purchase

While in Walmart recently, I picked up an inexpensive printer. Once I get it connected, I'll be able to print the counters without sending them out to a printer. This should expedite my counter creations.

Litko Order

To complete the counters, I ordered a bunch of plastic bases from Litko. I'm getting a bunch of 1/2" squares for the modern armies and some 1" x 1/2" rectangles for the pre-modern artillery and infantry.

I also ordered some small red rectangles to use as casualty markers. These will replace the pipe cleaners I currently use.

Next Steps

Once I get the Litko order and set up the printer, I can put together my next batch of counters. Stay tuned for more updates!

Battle of Twin Ponds

Florida 1864 Campaign

The Inspiration

You can skip this section if you don't want a rambling discourse on how I decided to do a Civil War battle.

Anyway, I don't play many American Civil War battles these days. Back in the '90s I was big on ACW. I was a Civil War reenactor and I concentrated on the Civil War for my history master's degree. However, I got quite burnt out and basically stay away from the period in my current gaming.

As I played a WW2 battle for Memorial Day I kept thinking that I should have done an American Civil War battle. After all, Memorial Day evolved out of post-Civil War commemorations. So I decided to rectify the oversight with a Civil War scenario.

Back in my reenactor days, I often participated at the Battle of Olustee reenactment. It was the largest battle in my home state of Florida. As such, it has some sentimental value to me. Therefore, my initial inclination was to play an Olustee scenario. But I didn't want to fiddle around with creating a historically accurate order of battle. I decided to do a somewhat fictional battle. Then I thought, why not a campaign?

So there you have it - the inspiration behind this new campaign.

The Campaign

I am loosely basing this off the Union invasion of Florida in 1864. A force under Brigadier General Truman Seymour pushes into the interior from occupied Jacksonville.

Set Up

Seymour marches west from Jacksonville. At an isolated corner of the Florida wilderness, he encounters a Confederate force under Brigadier General Joseph Finegan.

Seymour approaches from the east (bottom) with 4 regiments in 2 brigades. 

Note: I determined the army structures randomly.

• Barton's Brigade (left) - 48th NY and 115th NY (my reenactment regiment)
• Montgomery's Brigade - 35th US Colored and 54th Massachusetts.

Note: I do not have enough infantry counters for either side so I pressed some light infantry into service. I decided they would be either inferior or superior troops. Rolling randomly, they both came up as superior. For the Union, I gave that designation to the 54th.

Finegan has 3 regiments of regular infantry, a regiment of superior infantry, and a regiment of cavalry.

Note: As I am playing the Union, I did not bother to name the Confederate regiments. As far as I'm concerned they are nameless masses of the enemy. The yellow markers designate the superior units.

Here are the initial dispositions.

The Battle

Finegan sends a unit into some woods (right). Montgomery sends in the 54th, but they are repulsed. Meanwhile, there is a clash in the center with grievous casualties on both sides. 

Note: I removed the yellow markers. I can differentiate superior units because I'm using open order infantry for them.

The 48th NY (center) routs.

The 35th US swings left to help the 115th NY in the center. Once again, the 54th face the Confederates in the woods.

The 115th and 54th rout. The 35th US stands alone, so Seymour calls for a retreat.

Aftermath

Barely out of Jacksonville and Seymour already has to retreat. But he will not give up so easily. He reorganizes his forces for another push.

Nevertheless, the Confederates start with an early advantage in the campaign (the Union is 0-1). Seymour will need better fortune to win the campaign.

Random Thoughts

Just some random gaming thoughts.

MOAR Tanks!

After playing my Memorial Day battle, I've been in the mood for some tank battles. Rather than play more Tank on Tank, I decided to put together some generic modern counters that could work for sci fi as well.

Here's what I've come up with so far - tank, artillery, missile launcher, infantry, and infantry in powered battlesuits.

I want to add some light armor and a helicopter or dropship.

I plan to mount these on half inch counters (which I need to order). Then I can use them individually for skirmishes or combine 2 into a unit for larger battles.

Unfinished Campaigns

I recently started a new campaign (stay tuned for the first battle report). I probably shouldn't do that given that I have a bunch of unfinished campaigns already. Off the top of my head, they include:

• Five Klicks from the Zone
• Napoleonic Knockout
• Icespire Peak D&D
• 1666 horror
• Fantasy Romans
• Revolutionary War Florida campaign (hope to finish it this July 4th)

And there are probably many more!

One day I should catalog all my ongoing campaigns, and finish them!

Memorial Day Tank on Tank

To commemorate Memorial Day, I decided to play a WW2 battle using Tank on Tank.

Set Up

This is scenario 2 from the West Front module.

The objective is simple - destroy the other side, In addition, the Americans can win if they seize 2 towns.

Here is the initial set up. The Germans have units in two of the objective towns.

I'm playing the Americans (bottom).

The Battle

The Americans move out. With excellent command & control (I received the maximum 4 actions this turn), they manage to wipe out 2 German units.

The Germans draw first blood.

Note: Lesson learned. Do not put your command units in front! This will cause me to waste an action next turn promoting another unit to command.

The Yankee swarm continues. Two more German units gone!

The Americans lose a unit. Still, this is a favorable exchange for the Americans. If they keep killing at a 2:1 pace they'll win.

Only 1 German this turn.

The Tigers strike back. Two Americans gone.

Then another.

And another. Oh oh, things are going south!

The Americans get organized and swarm a Tiger unit. It goes down!

But another American drops.

And another. Curse those Tigers! If we can just get that last Tiger, we'll be sitting pretty.

Need a 9 on 2D6 to hit. Success! The last Tiger is gone.

And the Americans mop up the last Pz IV for the win!