Thursday 25 July 2019

Its official Marshal Saxe is pants, and a groveling retraction included.

Sorry for the delay in posting but I was on my travels again last weekend. Just before I left John, Steve and I fought a Seven Years War battle using the Rank and File rules again. When I set the game up I forgot that I had only used units of 30 figures and instead used their full complement of 36.
It proved cumbersome to maneuver but to be honest I found the sight very easy on the eye. Rank and File rules are a decent set to use and lend themselves well to the linear tactics of the Seven Years War.
Naturally I opted for the French with Saxon allies and gave John and Steve the better quality Hanoverian and Hessian troops with a smattering of Austrian cuirassiers. I sometimes think I heap pressure on myself as the army facing me was a tough nut to crack.
The battle itself was a rough affair with Steve piling forward with his Hanoverian's whilst John who had a full brigade of Grenadiers and Cuirassiers took a more measured advance. My intention was to hold up John whilst striking at Steve. Naturally that didnt go to plan and I had to switch attacks and attempt to split the allies by attacking the centre.
It is advisable if possible to halt and fire in Rank and file, one gets a better chance of hitting something, whilst moving and firing does give you a bit of a disadvantage. Not too much but enough to think about what you are doing. Naturally I messed things up a tad and watched as my French infantry wilted under sustained fire.
My Saxons fared slightly better but in one penultimate move John managed to shake the whole brigade which effectively caused them to leave the table.

They may be veteran figures in the truest sense of the word but these Garrison troops were very very effective fighters as they laid into my Saxons. I actually managed to charge them with a Saxon regiment that had been unable to deploy into line.They amazingly pushed the Hessian's back but then sustained vicious fire from the Hessian supports and simply melted away. It had been a gamble especially as they had no supports to speak of, but it was satisfying to see, well it was for me anyway.
The game was more about showing Steve how Rank and File rules worked and it didnt take him long to pick them up. Personally I thought he had been cribbing the night before as my French reeled from sustained Hanoverian fire.


Ive noticed that whenever Marshal Saxe is in charge he tends to lose his command very quickly. This was no different although he did manage to bring on the reserve heavy cavalry which allowed the Franc/Saxons to retire untroubled. John kindly granted me a losing draw, but it didnt feel like that to be honest. Still a very enjoyable game and a lovely way to spend an afternoon.



                                                         And now; a retraction;...

A couple of weeks ago I alluded to John of the Westerhope Wargames club as having a nefarious past. This was meant as banter but unfortunately proved to upset the said John. So can I assure you that John has never to my knowledge ever been arrested, detained or even spoken to by the guardians of the law and my ill placed attempt at humour was well out of order. He is a fine upstanding member of the community and a regular attender at church, or so he reckons.


14 comments:

  1. Superb photos of the troops in action. I enjoyed your mea culpa retraction too!

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    1. Thanks for following my blog Jonathan.John and I have known each other quite a longtime but my exuberance clearly isnt palatable sometimes. My wife has always reckoned Ive no filter when I get going,as usual she is correct.

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  2. A great looking game.. thanks for sharing. Hope all works out well with the Westerhope crew. Always tricky with a throwaway comment, which in conversation might pass by with a laugh, but in type can look different.

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    1. So true,especially nowadays. I know however that I am out of step with modern thinking on so many subjects, still no one has hopefully hurt.

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  3. A splendid looking affair there Robbie! Take the draw! As to the retraction, well no harm was meant or done so onward and upward!

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    1. Thanks David, I hope you are enjoying the grandchildren. I did it a week ago and ended up in bed for a couple of days afterwards.

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  4. Great looking game, lovely flags and nice church! Good looking mea culpa too!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thanks Iain, I love the church. I was lucky enough to get it off E Bay and when I saw it realised I shouldnt paint it.

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  5. Marshal Saxe was one of the best generals of the mid 18th Century wars. It seems that he would be doing better in your games.😳

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    1. You would think Jim. He just seems to loll about in his bath chair throwing some poor dice and making rash decisions. Of course in reality, what a man and what a wonderful story he could have told.

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  6. Robbie,many thanks again-I will explain to you at Border Reiver-anyway,a usual, a great report on what looked like a great game,photo's are pretty good too-you and I are similar,in that we tend to lose more than win!!
    johnc

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    1. My fault not yours, my wife reckons I dont have an off switch. Funny that I always thought thats what was my best feature?

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  7. Replies
    1. Thanks Neil, I dont get these armies out often enough.

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My 6mm Napoleonic set up.

My 6mm Napoleonic set up.
Austria 1809.

Austrian Hussars

Austrian Hussars
Hinchliffe figures

Austrian Grenzer

Austrian Grenzer
Austrian Grenzer

Smoggycon 2013

Smoggycon 2013
Smoggycon 2013

Smoggycon 2012

Smoggycon 2012
Smoggycon 2012

Smoogycon 2009

Smoogycon 2009
My French getting another beating