Oopsie daisy. Hupsista.

Son wanted to invest part of his allowance to some ninjas. I agreed to work as intermediary and to take care of the mail costs. The six Black hat ninjas are his. I may have gotten a bit excited at some point... Poika tahtoi investoida ninjoihin. Lupasin välittää ja hoitaa postikulut. Mopo lähti hiukan käsistä...

 Black Hat ninjas and unarmoured samurai, single figures by em4 miniatures and sohei by TAG.

Black hatin samuraita keihäiden, miekkojen ja pulisonkien kanssa. Black hatin ninjoja ja TAGin soturimunkkeja. Em4figuresilta ronin, samurai ja ninja.

Mounted sohei and samurai command by TAG. Early equipment, but looking forward to painting this lot.
Ratsastavia soturimukkeja ja TAGin julma komentoryhmä. Varusteet ehkä 1200-1300 lukua, eli aika varhaista. Mennee omassa pelipöydässä hyvin sekaisin, varsinkin kun Black hatin ronineiden varusteetkaan eivät ole 1600-lukuisia.

Addition 11.2.
And with their January sale Museum miniatures sold me some more unarmoured samurai and ashigaru together with a bunch of 15 mm stuff. Very nice castings on the samurai range requiring minimal cleanup.

Painted figures for some kind of size comparison. Clockwise from top fighting ashigaru; ashigaru carrying supplies; japanese women; 15 mm pilgrims, mainly museum miniatures, but with addition of a peasant and some legio heroica pilgrims; Museum miniatures medieval spearmen; general and guards, and mounted samurai with attendant. 

Foul bandits against the heroes of the Pure land. Ronin skirmish

On Sunday I played a 100 point game of Ronin with my son.

He chose a bandit troop, led by rank 3 leader, assisted by a hired ronin of same rank, and ruling over one rank 1 bandit and 5 rank 0 peasants.
I countered with league of Pure land composite force. Samurai of rank 3 had under him a montogashira of rank 2 and 3 monto, footsoldiers.

We played on compound area with two houses one force starting inside and me with the ikki charging in.

Fast and furious action with bandits overwhelmed by the agression of the believers. The bandit tactics of meatshield of peasants to harass my valuable troops failed since he was a bit late in bringing his rank 3 actual fighters to scrap. The bandit leader did get away though so this story is not over.

 Opening moves.

 End of round 2. 

Around round 4 or 5. Fast action and I believe fun was had by both. Reinforced lesson - armor good. Peasants need to work at least 2:1 to have a chance 3:1 starts to annoy even better troops.

Ronin matsi pojan kanssa. Likaiset ryövärit saivat köniinsä buddhalaisen liigan sekalaiselta, mutta fanaattiselta iskuryhmältä. Panssari, paikallinen ylivoima ja muutaman kriittisen kerran omaan suuntaani pyörineet nopat tekivät tästä ottelusta hyvin epätasaisen.

Battle inspired by Agnadello - Ranskalaiset venetsiaa kurmoottamassa

After a long break me and my gaming buddy returned to Pike and Shotte.
He wanted to give outing only to the Venetians he had painted fully, while I wanted to use everything I have on various stages of completion. (The Italian wars guys were producy of my first painting efforts, so they were now a bit painful to look at.)

Googling Aganadello I deviced a simplish scenario. Venetians deploy on the table - Frenchies - their opponents - come at them in three waves. First phase lasting to round 8 or until French advance force is broken. If Venetians can do that they get the first set. Second phase group almost equal toVenetians, with victory condition being if I can beat the Venetian center to submission. Third wave, superior to original Venetian group in numbers was to appear 8 rounds after the second - now Venetians either have to beat the Frenchies or evacuate their troops.

 Venetians have a battaglia of Stradioti with 4 units and a commander. Main force with four pike blocks, one block of halberds, two units of swordsmen, two light batteries of cannon and two units of arquebusiers with skirmish ability. Lastly the Venetian commander, drunk perhaps, begins the game with his heavy cavalry and mounted handgunners, two units of both and an inept cavalry commander.

Venetsialaisten pääjoukko keskellä, stradiotit kuvan oikeassa ylälaidassa

First to meet the Venetians is the reconnaisance group led by (anachronistic) Piero Medici who brings to field 4 units of stradioti, 3 with lances, a block of Italian mercenary pikes supported by line of arquebusiers and a line of swordsmen.

This battaglia was agreed to not count towards French army breaking  point, since it was meant to be sacrificial. Game started with French advance - fast one by stradioti - slower by infantry. Venetian commands started badly and his troops mainly waited passively for couple of first rounds. (With all random commanders I ended up with mediocre, but competent battagliacommanders, except last cavalry commander who was brilliant and  king Louis XII who was having a splendid day.) Stradioti of this group managed to destroy the Venetian cannons and in a mad dash seriously hurt another unit of swordsmen - shaking them. That was the extent of damage done by my avantgarde though. Surrounded by sweeping motion of the stradiots to their flank and threatened to their front by superior Venetian center the troops formed a hedgehog to protect them from the attack of the horsemen. This left them vulnerable to shooting and piecemeal they were shot to breaking point by round 6. Thus Venetians won first set.

French stradioti have destroyed the cannons, their colleagues plague the swordsmen.  Albanialainen ratsuväki on tuhonnut venetsialaisen tykit. Kollegansa kiusaavat venetsialaisen miekkamiehiä.

The stradioti who achieved stuff have been annihilated. Venetians advance in the center is hindered by the shaken mercenary swordsmen who are trying to flee. Tuhoia tehneet albaanit on lahdattu. Venetsian eteneistä haittaa palkkasoturimiekkamies yksikkö, joka rallyn epäonnistuttua haluaa lopettaa sotimisen.

After losing all the stradiots French avantgarde is broken. Hence arrive the Swiss and cavalry with Charles d Amboise, and - ahistorically I notice, the French general king Louis XII . Etujoukko on murtunut menetettyään kaikki kevyet ratsumiehet. Saapuu toinen aalto. Kolme blokkia sveitsiläisiä piikkejä, battaglian komentaja Charles d'Amboise - ja epäajanmukaisesti ranskalaisten kenraali, kuningas Louis XII

Enter my attack battaglia three blocks of Swiss - to give Venetians  a fighting chance. Two troops of mounted arquebusiers and a troop of Scottish mounted Archers ie. troops armored liked gendarmes but carrying crossbows in addition to lances. Quite a lot of hitting power, but still under strength in comparison to Venetians.

 

Hampered and harassed by shot and light cavalry 2 Swiss blocks managed slowly to get into charging position.

Bernese have charged, and lost the battle since they had no support. Karhulipun alla rynnäköineet berniläiset ovat vetäytyneet hävittyään tuetulle benetsialaispiikkineliölle. 

At round fourteen third wave arrived. The Swiss and Scots had failed to breach Venetian line- indeed
 they had suffered heavier losses than the Venetians. Second set to Venetians.

Third wave consisted of cavalry battaglia with excellent commander, two units of gendarmes and two units of mounted medium crossbowmen. Infantry battaglia had three native French pikeblocks, each with supporting crossbowmen or arquebusier unit, two blocks of landknecht pikes, with a unit of arquebusmen, a block of italian mercenary halberdiers with a line of crossbowmen.

At this point aim we agreed that Venetian aim of evacuation is fulfilled, if he can take majority of his pikeblocks and elmeti into safety.

Helas the shaken Bernese break and are destroyed, taking  with them unit of Scots that had run into support. Cavalry advances nicely into contact, but infantry is having hard time with bad command and the remains of Swiss blocks in front. On the other hand bad commands are making the Venetian retreat slow affair too.

 Footsloggers still tarrying. Gendarmes and Elmeti have had a slaughter of epic proportions leaving both shaken.

Venetians show battlelust and try to break the rapacious mountain invaders, but loose the push of the pike. And, if I remeber correctly, broke.

In the end Venetians retreat with parts of their cavalry but the shaken Elmeti get smashed and broken by the untouched gendarmes. Evacuation of centre gets speed, but is hit on the side by gendarmes, who annihilate one pike block and together with the advancing pikeblocks could smash two in the centre at the point game ended to time constraints. So majority of pikes cut off from retreat or lost and half of heavy cavalry broken my opponent conceded the last set to French. Match 2-1 to Venetians, who also inflicted huge losses on the French waves.

Overall the very loosely defined scenario worked decently. Were I to do it again I might define Venetian deployment as starting in march order - with troops either in columns or just deployed one after another facing their own table egde. Also the victory conditions might need to take into account the casualties.

Overall game ran smoothly. With over a year since last game of pike and shotte we were referring to rules constantly, but the game did not get bogged down by this. Some kinks need to be checked - like the use of proximity rule. And lots of complementary painting needs to be done. A nice beginning to gaming year and we managed to get one game in January. 

New Year, slow progress Uusi vuosi, hidasta edistymistä

Ideas of having some mega gamingsessions during the holidays went down the drain with nasty flu. Since my painting table was invaded by my wifes puzzle also the painting progress has been slow. (To be fair it is her table originally and she has done a puzzle on it for last ten years every Christmas holiday so I can't complain too loudly.)

With that said I have  slowly come into gear first with some 15 mm Legio Heroica crusaders to use as Saga warband - or with reinforcements perhaps in Lion Rampant.

 At the same time I have been slowly working on getting Sipahis of the BFaS ottoman Skirmish force into playing condition. Motivation on this hs been somewhat lackluster - we are eagerly waiting for the Deluge to see what changes

Warband has been fun change - limited amount of figures and somewhat different color schemes.
Still a work in progress, but seems to proceed rapidly whenever I find time to work on it.



As a side project I have aqcuired larger playing surface 200cm by 120cm. With a wish to fill it with troops next game has been agreed to be Pike and Shotte Italian wars.

My opponent will be bringing his exquisite Venetians whom I aim to thrash with brutal numerical superiority in a scenario inspired by Agnadello.
Hence I needed to dig up the Black Band landsknechts who were overtaken in painting queu by the BFaS troops over a year ago.

My intention was to add some finer details, but I ended just painting bases in different shades of green - one of the stages I hate. At the same time I did same operation on some Ronin figures, some fencing and touched up the sides of some sipahi bases. I may still have time to do some work on the band before the game on Sunday, but these guys will be deployed less than ready.

Joululoman pelisuunnitelmat kariutuivat sitkeään flunssaan, maalaus on pitkään takunnut. Hitaasti kuitenkin teko vaihde alkaa löytyä. Legio Heroican  ristiretkeläisiä Sagaan, hidasta edistystä ottomaani ratsuväen parissa ja pitkästä aikaa töitä Pike and Shotte Italian sotien joukkojen parissa.

Division game AAR - divisioonapeli pelipäivänä

So for the Nordic games day we staged a division size game at my local library.

Puolalaisjoukkojen keskustaa.

Hyökkäävät ruotsalaiset vasemmalla, puolalaiset oikealla

I had a Polish crown division, consisiting of force of pretty strong light and elite Cavalry regiments, Basic strength volunteer and Dragoon regiment, overstrength infantry regiment and some additional units.

My opponent brought a garrison division with two barestrength national infantry regiments, regiment of national reiters, minimum strength regiment of dragoons and some additional artillery and musketeers.

To my great surprise the Swedish commander, heavily outnumbered decided to use his forces for a surprise attack.   With the large difference in strength points he decided to use a surprise attack - giving him forward deployment, assisted with an additional artillery barrage and some field fortifications to cover his flanks.

Ruotsit valmiusasemissa

For additional effects he rolled major panic, good omens and march losses to my troops.

I won recon, uncontested, by throwing the light regiment to the task. Hit by march losses earlier that regiment took further losses by having troops straying during recon - so the regiment deployed in two different parts and quite battered even before the game began. For good measure this same regiment was hit by panic on turn one.

Puolalaisten vasenta sivustaa

 Even with dragoons detailed for flank attack and light regiment deployed in advance position I had trouble fitting all my troops to the deployment area. (We had slightly too narrow table, in future deployment area should probably be fixed for full size in such cases.)
Since I knew I had to take two rounds of fire without firing back I had a screen of less valuable troops between my heaviest hitters and the Swedish artillery.

In hindsight - this was a risky tactic.

Ruotsalainen tulivalmistelu.

I survived the initial barrage relatively unharmed and with formation almost intact.
On round 1 of actual game I tried to maneuver my troops forward to a position where they could charge the enemy next turn without being subject to musketry this turn. I simply could not get them all to position where they would not have been subject to case shot by artillery.
Losses to case shot cause automatic morale tests and with these fumbled I had fleeing troops crashing into ready troops, causing both disorder and panic as they fled from the Swedish guns.

Häröpallo kierroksen 1 lopussa

By the end of round 1 my hussar banner had fled the field, elite cavalry regiment was in severe disorder, volunteer regiment was in disorder, largely fleeing and covering the field of fire of the infantry and artillery and elements of the light cavalry that had deployed to Swedish flank had been shot to flee offboard.

By the end of round 2 Volunteers have been wiped out in cascade of fleeing that has taken with it crews of artillery and almost the musketeers of infantry regiment.
Light cavalry regiment was within one point of breaking and elite one was in only slightly better shape.
On the plus side my falcons and 6 pdr had hurt enemy infantry, although nowhere badly enough to force panic.

My dragoons enter from the Swedish right flank, but fail to cause any panic. On Round three some shots were exchanged with no real results. Poles have taken a beating although most losses were fleeing, not killed units. I have still hold of all the scenario points, but my main force is perilously close to braking - and the game would continue for 5 more rounds.

Nice experiment, with some, but not too many, interested spectators. For demo game I had too many minis on the table or rather, we should have come to do the setup hour before starting time. We made the scenery night before, but just unpacking and organizing armies to the table took much longer than anticipated. Also the game itself ran a bit slowly with little events. So for demo purposes a skirmish might be the way to go.

On tactical level - I should have launched those troops capable of reaching the enemy on first roun in charge despite anticipated losses. Now I ended up taking those losses anyway in space of two rounds, without touching the enemy. On my left flank I should have run sideways to get more space, despite exposing new troops to gunnery. And deployed in a way that would have allowed the volunteers to get sideways without blocking the artillery from shooting. I had congested deployment area, and my deployment added to the problem.

Preparations - Valmisteluja

Preparing for a demo game during Nordic game Day at our library 15.11.
Hectic repainting for less goodlooking minis and preparation of props is well underway

I am bringing Polish force to division size game of by Fire and Sword, my regular opponent is bringing Swedes. I have a hunch I'll end up attacking since my list is rather extensive. Even though I had an agonizing choice of leaving dragoons, reiters or foreign infantry regiment off the list.

Interesting project since this is first time I am doing public demo of a game to uninitated. I have planned of having some troop info and large pictures on posters close to the table. Actual rules information I'll probably limit to nominal scale of the encounter and what the table and troops are supposed to represent. Also intersting since this is only second divisional game we have played against each other.

As an added bonus my sons asked if they can tag along and play a game of Ronin on same occasion. I was more than happy to say yes. Interesting to see if or how they pull that off on Saturday morning, after a week of school.

Lippuja, viirejä, inventointia, viimeistelymaalausta. Flags, pennons, finishing touches and inventory.

Pohjoismaisena pelipäivänä 15.11. demotamme kaverin kanssa By Fire and Swordia kirjastollamme.
Kiivastahtista täydennysmaalausta ja esitteiden tekoa on ollut tänä viikkona, mutta edistys on myöskin ollut selkeää.

Tuon Puolalaiset joukot divisioona kokoiseen BFaS peliin, vakiovastustajani tuo ruotsalaiset. Uskon olevani hyökkääjänä - lista on sen verran laaja. Vaikken saanutkaan samalle listalle länsimaisia ratsumiehiä, rakuunoita ja jalkaväkeä. Koska olemme pelanneet etupäässä kahakkatason peliä on hauskaa päästä vaihteeksi kokeilemaan isompaa pelimuotoa.

Pientä miettimistä on ollut pelin esillepanon kanssa. Koska yleisö on ei-pelaajia luulen, että julisteissa on lähinnä silmäkarkkia ja yleistä infoa kuvattvasta tilanteesta.

Something rotten in Denmark BFaS AAR Jotakin mättää Tanskanmaassa

For yesterdays game I took a plunge to new list and decided to bring forth the true rulers of Scandinavia: The Danes. My opponent once again fielded his trusty Swedes - or mercenaries in Swedish service.

My force was 3 companies of 3 bases of mercenary dragoons, squadron of 4 bases of National (read mediocre) reiters, colonel Mikkel Huitfelt and possibly some local irregular fighters, snapphanar.

This force of 5 Force points met Swedish detachment of 6 bases of Reiters, 4 bases of veteran dragoons, 2 companies of dragoons of 3 bases each, 2 cannons with both colonel Hochkirch and lieutenant-colonel for command - with Force points of 11

For scenario we got ambush: Swedes were struck with panic,( that was to hit his Reiters,) delay which left one of his guns out of board and choice of battle field that saw pigsty on edge of ambush area being moved off his deployment area.

As decoy I left one company of dragoons and deployed all my remaining troops behind the advancing blue menace. My idea was to let the evil Swede taste Danish gunpowder on round one from all possible muskets and let the national Reiters charge pellmell into the remaining artillery piece.

Kierros 1 Tanskalainen on liikkunut ruotsit eivät

 Round 1 At the pic Danes have moved Swedes not. Danish dragoons in the field, protected from cavalrycharge, Danish Reiters trying to reach that pesky cannon. The Swedish Reiters have suyffered from disorder, but were rallied and took defence order.

Helas, the Swedes avoided fire of dragoons totally. Snapphane sniper from the mill failed to hit the cannon, and Reiters did not reach any target. Losing their nerve from this they withdrew in disorder to about the same place they are in picture.

Kierroksella 2 Tanskalainen ratsuväki pahassa paikassa

On round 2 My mounted dragoons got herded tighter between two companies of Swedish dragoons. The hapless reiters in the open got charged by Swedish dragoons from the flank and squadron of reiters from the front. Now - following exchange was played falsely - namely when my dragoons in the field fired a salvo at the Reiters they - being six in number, twice the number of the dragoon company, could have ignored it. Now they took a morale test, failed and withdrew in disorder.
The charging dragoons and Danish reiters fought a skirmish that resulted in a draw, with both troops retreating away from the carnage.

Hyvin hämmentynyt eversti Hochkirch vuoron 2 lopulla.

The Swedish colonel is flabbergasted - and so is everyone else. Snapphane in the mill takes a cannoball, while one in pigsty merely terrifies Swedish officers.

Round 3 National reiters have charged the Swedish squadron an despite receiving a salvo from dragoons and case shot from the cannon have actually managed to push home and with a draw have outperformed any expectations there were to their life or performance.

Outside picture dragoon company is fighting two others with expected results.

Rounds 4 to 6 The Reiters charge dragoons despite case shot from the arty and demolish that unit. Swedish Reiters are very slow to get organized and fail to catch national reiters.

The decoy company gets annihilated. I kill 5 bases to 4, but lose the scenario since I fail to give the enemy enough losses.

Fun and relatively quick engagement. Lessons learned - dragoons might benefit from being deployed in squadrons of 2 companies. Both the volume of fire and the the ability to benefit from salvo against larger squadrons would say so.

To actually hurt the enemy with musket fire on round 1 is pretty hard since he gets to move first. At least if he is mounted. 

Snapphanar are great fun even though they failed to actually kill anything this time. That 50 cm reacvh of rifled barrels is more effective deterrent than it would actually merit.

PS: Work on Ottomans proceeds at steady pace: Gonullu and Beszli slowly getting ready for the table top.

Gonullu ja Beszli joukkoja. Kevyttä ratsuväkeä.