BigLee's 'Miniature Adventures'

Sunday, 17 April 2016

Salute 2016 Photo review

I've already posted my initial thoughts on Salute 2016 but having slept on it I have one additional observation to make and I suspect many others felt the same way as I. This years Salute had a weird vibe about it from the start. Several people and traders said the same thing and essentially I think it boils down to the fact that this years show had fewer Clubs and more traders running games. Consequently it felt more like a trade show this year rather than a celebration of our hobby. I've no idea of this was a commercial decision on behalf of the organisers or just the way it turned out but it did feel like there was a lot of unused space that could have been filled by more club demo's and participation games. I still enjoyed my day but it definitely felt different this year. I'd be interested to know what you thought.

It took a long time to sort through the 600+ pictures I took during the day! Many were reference shots of labels and posters so once I have the info transferred to the accompanying pictures I delete these. There were also a LOT of blurry pics and badly lit ones so the 600 got trimmed down to about 250, and that takes time. Then I label them, add tags and upload them, all of which takes a lot longer than writing this post! I have them in some sort of order now and here's a selection of my favourites.

The obligatory shot of the queue...lots of eager gamers!

Inside the vast Excel centre.

Gillingham & Brown - 28mm - Action at Antietem

The Young Padawan shooing... almost outspent me!

RAF - Formula Minion

Battle of Hooks Farm

Chesterfield Gaming Society - 28mm - Kings of War

Swordpoint - 28mm

Bill Gaskin & Friends -- 28mm - SYW - Battle of Wilhelmsta

Ian Smith & Friends - 40mm - Battle of Adrodas - Penninsula

Loughton Strike Force - 28mm - Russo-Finnish War - Battle of Raate Road

Operation Overlord Participation Game - Based on the Avalon Hill Boardgame
I actually signed up for a game and then completely forgot the time and missed my slot! Sorry guys, the game looked excellent.

Emily meets the locals

Postie gives me a tickle!

The Padawn at the EM4 stand. She bought a lot from here!

Adrian McWalter and Quinton Dalton - Napoleonic - O'er the Hills

New Buckenham Historical Wargamers - 28mm - Agincourt

Maidstone Wargames Society - 3mm - Road to Homs

The Blogger Meet Up. Great to see everyone again. See y'all next year!

Heroics and Ros - 6mm - 1986 - Soviet Invasion of Nato

Victrix - 54mm - Spain 1800

Tunbridge Wells Wargaming Society - 15mm - All Quiet on the Martian Front

A big Fantasy game but without a sign saying who was running it.

Lost of Fantasy miniatures

Someone is impressed!

Sheffield Runelords - 1/24th - Mad Max: Stop the Truck

Crew & Nantwich Club - 28mm - ECW - The Bloody Siege of Bristol

K&R

Essex Gamers - 28mm - The Tet Offensive

Hammers Slammers

Dalauppror - 28mm - Foteviken 1134

There were many more smaller Demo's and lost of small Participation games but most of these seemed to be run by traders. Lots to see and even more traders to try and get around made the day even more exhausting than usual... or maybe I'm just getting old?!

Saturday, 16 April 2016

Salute 2016 First impressions

Salute 2016 is over and I for one am utterly exhausted! Its the happy exhaustion of the fulfilled wargamer and has fired up my enthusiasm for the year to come and the summer season of gaming. I have spent a lot of cash, talked until I'm horse and walked until my feet screamed for mercy.

The show felt a bit different this year with fewer club games and more demo's directly linked to companies selling their rules. Their games were nice to see and interesting but its not quite the same as club demos. One of the traders I spoke to suggested that this years show had too many traders reducing overall takings. I've no idea of this is the case for everyone but cramming more traders in the hall probably doesn't make more money change hands it just spreads it around thinner.

I thought the pre show queuing system seemed to work well this year. We had our goodie bags to explore while we waited in the adjacent holding pen that was the queuing hall and I quickly found myself chatting to complete strangers about where they were from, what they played, what was on their shopping lists etc. Visitors were let in a little after 10am - once the Warlords were given the all clear from Excels safety team - and when the doors were finally opened the stewards manage to get a lot of people into the show very very quickly. So all in all not a bad experience for such a massive event.

This year I took my youngest daughter with me, following the tradition of her older sister who came way back when she was still 'my little girl' and not a moody twentysomething. I felt quite nostalgic for the old days but the new 'Padawan' seemed to enjoy the day as much as the last. Indeed her shopping almost outstripped me and she was absolutely blown away by the quality of some of the large display games. Hearing her go "WOW look at that!" gave me a warm glow, knowing my work here had been done and I had ensured a new gamer joined our ranks for years to come. We have been playing games at home for years but I don't think she quite appreciated how vast our hobby is and quite how spectacular some of the games could be until now

This year I was pretty organised for a change. I had already identified where key traders were situated and had a 'plan of attack' that made sure I didn't miss anything. Over the last week I have been putting together a shopping list of items I needed and had spare cash for those inevitable impulse buys. I even had a few pre-orders to collect which is something I haven't done before. Saving on postage certainly feels good although it has to be said the saving was off-set by the cost of parking at Excel which continues to be criminally expensive. In fact I have just done a rough tally of the savings I made on pre-orders and other discounts and reckon I saved enough to comfortably cover the cost of entry and parking combined, so attending the show effectively cost me nothing (that's what I'm telling the wife!).

The Blogger meet up was excellent and as always it was great to see so many familiar faces, shake hands and swap stories of battles past and shopping still to be done! I travelled to Salute independently of Postie and the other Rejects so this was my chance to touch base with them. It was also good to see Fran (the Angry Lurker) who is over here for a week from Ireland. He sort of 'fell off the Radar' for a while after his move so I haven't spoken to him for a long time.

My photos of the show will follow as soon as I have been able to work through them all. As usual I have shot hundreds of pictures and correctly identifying and labelling them all takes a bit of time. In previous years I have been able to do this and get my pictures on-line within 24hrs but that may not happen this time. Its my Birthday today and I expect the family will want to spend the evening with me rather than let me disappear off with my PC. If I must eat cake then so be it!

Wednesday, 13 April 2016

Battle of Luckenpaint 1809

The latest game at Reject HQ (AKA the Shed-o-War) saw four of us squaring up in a Napoleonic battle that tested our metal as well as our wits. Postie presented us with the closing stages of the north of the Battle of Eckmühl (also known as "Eggmühl") during the War of the Fifth Coalition of the Austrian Empire and the United Kingdom against Napoleon's French Empire and Bavaria.

The entire battle took place on the 21st April and 22nd April 1809 but we focused just on the action near the town of Luckenpaint on the 21st. Posties version of this action brought together the two sides in a non linear encounter battle which quickly developed into a cross between a complex and cerebral chess game and a blood soaked slugging match.

Order of Battle

Austrians

1st reserve Corps - c/o Gen Luchtenstein (Me!)

1st Brigade (Advance Guard - General Kecsey)

5th/6th Jagers - 2 Regiments

21st Line (Rohan) - 3 Regiments

5th Chevaulegers - 1 Regiement

Horse Artillery - Light Gun

1st Division - General Von Lunclenau

2nd Brigade - Gen Reinhard

2nd Line (Ferdinand) - 3 Regiments

33rd Line (Graf Sztaray) - 3 Regiments

Light Gun Battery

2nd Cavalry Brigade - Gen von Svegenthal

2nd Curassiers

3rd Curassiers

3rd Cavalry Brigade - Gen von Schneller

1st Curassiers

6th Curassiers

2nd Reserve Corps c/o Gen Kunmayer (Richard)

Grenadier Brigade - Gen d'Aspre

German Grenadiers - 3 Regiments

Hungarian Grenadiers - 2 Regiments

Light Gun Battery

1st Cavalry Brigade - Gen von Clary

3rd Dragoons - 1 Regiments

Reserve Artillery

Heavy Guns - 3 Batteries

French

3rd Corps c/o Marchal Davout (Ian)

4th Division - Gen St Hilare

1st Brigade - Gen Lorencez

10th Legar - 3 Regiments (Elite)

3rd Line - 3 Regiments

57th Line - 3 Regiments

Medium Gun Battery

2nd Brigade - Gen Destabenrath

72nd Line - 3 Regiments

105th Line - 3 Regiments

Medium Gun Battery

1st Cavalry Division - Gen Nansouty (Surjit)

1st Cavalry Brigade - Gen Defrance

1st Carabiniers

2nd Carabniers

2nd Cavalry Brigade - Gen Doumerc

2nd Curassiers

9th Curassiers

3rd Cavalry Brigade - Geb st Germain

3rd Curassiers

12th Curassiers

2nd Cavalry Division - Gen Montbron

4th Cavalry Brigade - Gen Pafal

5th Hussars

7th Hussars

Horse Artillery Battery

11th Chasseurs 'a' cheval

Reserve Artillery

Heavy Guns - 2 Batteries

The Action

Postie explains the opening deployment to Richard

The French are marching fast towards the Austrian positions. Off table the French 2nd Cavalry Division under Gen Montbron is hastening towards the battlefield. Across the table the Austrian Advance Guard the 1st Brigade is partially in position with the 2nd Brigade marching up the road towards the position. The Second Austrian Reserve Corps under Gen Kunmayer is at the far end of the battlefield with a long march ahead of them. Behind the hills on the right of the picture the Austrian 2nd and 3rd Cavalry (Curassier) Brigades remain hidden.

The French take advantage of their +2 bonus on initiative to move quickly towards the Austrians. Meanwhile the Austrian advance guard quickly take up position to hold up the French.

Richards 2nd Corps starts it long march across the battlefield towards the enemy.

With the Austrian Advance Guard holding the central hill the 1st Division turn off the road and line up behind the ridge, ready to change formation into line if the French dare to advance.

The French close in quickly on the Austrian positions. The French 1st Cavalry Division turn and also head towards the main ridge, ignoring the clear valley before them and the slowly advancing Austrian 1st Division. The French have decided to focus all their effort on the ridge, effectively keeping a third of the Austrian forces out of the battle.

Meanwhile the French 2nd Cavalry Division under Gen Montbron arrives.

The Austrian advance guard have taken position in the hill and in the narrow gap across the road. They look terribly outnumbered as French units converge on their position from all sides.

Surjit continues to concentrate his forces on the gap but things are looking very confusing...so confusing he gets some of his units mixed up! The mistake is quickly rectified but lack of space to move continues to be a problem for the French for the rest of the game.

The Austrian 2nd and 3rd Cavalry Brigades - 4 regiments of heavy Cuirassiers - moves to threaten the flank of the French Elite French 4th Division which is sweeping in from the top left. Meanwhile the Austrian 2nd Brigade remain beside the main road behind the hills guarding the army's main lines of communication.

Another shot of the same scene with the Austrian Cavalry on the nearest hill ready to move in on the French flank. On the next hill the Reserve Corp have started to fall back slowly in an attempt to slow the French advance at minimal cost to themselves. The 2nd Brigade are lines up beside the road and in the far distance the 2nd reserve Corp are moving up. By this stage it is clear the French are concentrating on the main hills in an attempt to defeat the Austrians piecemeal before the rest of the army can intervene.

In response to the unfolding French plan the Austrians (Myself and Richard) are working towards falling back and realigning the battle diagonally across the road (roughly from top right to bottom left in this picture). Our Heavy guns are slowly moving up towards the fight but will only play a significant part in the battle right towards the end.

The fight for the gap becomes congested as French regiments push back the Austrians and exchange fire. So far the French seem to be suffering the most casualties as my dice rolling proves to be above average for a change.

A wider shot the same scene showing the mass of French units crowding the gap and seemingly ready to pour across the ridge at any time.

The Austrian Cavalry sweep down around the flank of the French but a hail of well aimed volley fire brings both Brigades to a juddering halt right under the French guns.

Only one Cuirassier regiment manages to complete its charge on the French who have time to form square. In the end the Austrians thunder into the square and are only just rebuffed by the French. Both sides take significant casualties but the Austrians are now a spent force on this flank.

The French have now forced themselves onto the ridge forcing the Austrian advance guard back into the valley by the road. Austrian Jagers continue to skirmish around the fringes of the French picking off troops a little at a time. Most of the French units now have at least one casualty or more.

As well as the Jagers the Austrians also pick off French casualties with a Horse Artillery unit seen on the hill on the bottom right of this picture. The French have pushed through the gap but at a cost.

Its getting congested around this gap...

Seeing on opportunity the Austrian 5th Chevaulegers charge the disordered French in the gap.

Some exceptional dice rolling later the Chevaulegers have won their first melee and forced the French to retreat back through the supporting units behind them. With a surge the Chevaulegers follow through and hit another disordered unit sending that fleeing as well. In one turn the 'gap' has been cleared of Frenchies!

A wide shot shows the slow realignment of the Austrian lines diagonally across the battlefield. The gap is temporarily clear but the Austrians are now falling back on the left flank.

The game has reached a critical point and the Austrian Advance Guard have now been forced to make a Brigade Check. They fail the check but ironically this is the best result as they get a full move (plus d6 inches) back facing the enemy. In one moment the whole Austrian left flank has swung backwards in alignment with the as yet undamaged 2nd Reserve Corp. A strong and remarkably unbroken line now stretches across the table. Now the Austrian big guns begin to open up and focus on a single French unit occupying the central ridge. The unit is wiped out in a single turn!

With a strong position, and fresh troops now ready to do battle (and time running short) it is decided to call the game to an end. By mutual agreement we call the game a Draw and all agreed that if we had had time we have effectively positioned ourselves for a second and new battle on the new alignment.

Even taking into account my deplorable handling of the Austrian reserve cavalry I was very happy with the way the Advance Corp handled themselves. Both sides had taken a severe mauling but it definitely felt that the French had had the worse of the battle so far. Despite concentrating their whole army on a narrow front they had not been able to sweep the Austrians away without a tough fight.

To my surprise Postie awarded me a special prize for the spectacularly successful charge of my Chevaulegers against the French in the Gap.

A couple of Happy Wargamers!

Analysis
Everyone had a great game and despite the tough fight we all felt that the battle was one of the best we had played for a long time. The French had cleverly decided to concentrate their attack on a small section of the Austrian lines but stubborn resistance by the advance guard had blunted the hammer blow. Even the failed Divisional Morale Check had played into the hands of the Austrians allowing them to fall back in good order to their pre determined second line of defence.

An excellent game enjoyed by all the players on both sides. A pretty good result for all concerned.