ALY MORRISON'S "BUTTERFLY" ADVENTURES IN THE WORLD OF WARGAMES AND TOY SOLDIERS

Sunday 20 January 2019

From my side of the table... The Second Battle of Porto 1809

Greetings...


This was my last battle of 2018 and in my opinion one of the greatest defeats I have had (and yes I have had a few).


The game was hosted by Alan Perry
Michael Perry and Adrian Shepherd took the command of the international forces of oppression.
I took the part of the forces of equality fraternity and liberty.


Alan explained to me my 'challenging French dilemma'


"You are going to loose"... nothing new there then... "your challenge should you wish to accept it is to get as much of the baggage and men as possible off the table "


This isn't going to end well... is it?




A beautiful peaceful morning on the banks of the Douro...




Shattered by the onslaught of a mob of beer, gin and rum drinking yobs... our yobs are much more refined ... wine and brandy.






My men are eventually aroused from their innocent slumber... and the baggage train containing tourist souvenirs, landscape paintings, wine, brandy, some delightful white port and a few specialist artistic etchings belonging to Marshal Soult start to slowly... very slowly... move out.





As more of the enemy approach, the boat guards attempt to discourage them... I think I made some very scary splashes in the water.





Oh! what a surprise... a blunder... and there they are racing past the baggage... which is moving at almost zero miles an hour...




The first of the enemy hordes hit the beach...




The boat guards decide to beat a hasty retreat... one of them may have accidently dropped some lit matches on the way out...




Here we see the baggage train and its 'escort'... not moving.
I managed to 'not move' quite a lot...
The forces of darkness, oppression and reaction moved a lot...




My biggest move of the game... the intention was to turn onto the beach and force the enemy back into the sea... you can see their flank being covered by my only other unit to move that turn.




Yup!... still there... maybe they are saving themselves for the 'big push'.




Michael's forces arrive and threaten my isolated brigade...




Adrian's troops begin to make their way off the beach...




I manage to form my men into a defensive chevron...




As the baggage train wanders towards the edge of the table, Michael waits to intercept them... he had better be patient.



Now these hussars may look dashing... but they are merely meandering...



Some of my men actually move forwards as the enemy start to leap from the beach onto the seminary hill...




My men fight bravely against insurmountable odds... and really terrible dice!




My cavalry attack Michaels cavalry in an attempt to keep the escape route open...




Unfortunately a bizillion more men have landed on the beach and prepare to leap forwards...



Michaels men are momentarily halted by beautiful French uniforms...



Unfortunately the pressure continues to build from Adrian...



As you can see the baggage train shows absolutely no urgency...




Adrian's massed phalanx's make contact with the rear of the baggage...



All control breaks down as a Mexican wave of surrendering arms are raised across the army...



Seeing the writing on the wall...



Marshal Soult shoves his specialist artistic etchings into his saddle bags and does a runner...


Only the Marshal and two cavalry units made it off the table....


At this point Adrian and Michael almost went to war with each other as they tried to grab as much loot as possible... I have no doubt that the delicious white port was simply wolfed down without understanding the subtleties of  its flavour... sigh!


This was a really enjoyable game... I was never going to win... but I should have lost a lot less.
My dice throwing was truly terrible...Michael and Adrian's on the other hand was spectacular... it seemed that for every single bound I got ... they got three!


Great company and lovely toys... what more could one ask for...


Victory?


A more glorious sounding version of this tale can be found here...


https://en-gb.facebook.com/perryminiatures/posts/1863932437062187?__tn__=K-R


All the best   Aly

29 comments:

  1. Great report Aly - do you ever win a game??! The opening shots of the town and the approaching flatboats are outstanding - that's the advantage of playing with the toy makers I guess - I think the flatboats on view would represent about two hundred quids worth to we mere mortals!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes ... I remember once there was this time... Ah! That might have been a dream.
      The boats looked amazing... I don’t think they are overly pricey for what you get,but I am not sure how much use you would get from them... how many Napoleonic naval landings were there?... although they would get a bit of use in the War of 1812.

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  2. Wow! Such a beautiful table and game. You are a lucky one to play with such handsome toys! I really appreciate seeing such a lovely sight.
    Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Jonathan...
      I am indeed very luck in that respect... I only wish the luck would stretch to my dice throwing....

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  3. What a beautiful game, thanks for taking the time to share all the pictures.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was a pleasure... thank you

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  4. Wonderful stuff Aly. I like the idea of landings and have plans for some games along those
    lines. Glad to see there is no “Sad Aly” picture included here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Mark...
      If you are going to invest in the boats,you definitely need to research every naval landing ever done in the period... although I suppose if you made the passengers removable things could be stretched into The Carlist War.

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
    2. We actually took the pictures before the game this time as we didn’t know if we would have time at the end...
      So there is a picture of a happy and smug Aly and two despondent opponents...
      Never to be used...;-)

      Delete
  5. You make us dream Aly, the banks of the Douro are just awesome...and this report is superb, splendid buildings, figures...and pictures!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Replies
    1. Thank you...
      As always all I did was turn up an roll terrible dice...;-)

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  7. Wonderful looking game, and a fun report thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a cracking game Aly.
    Love the boats and landings.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was indeed great fun Stuart...
      Master Perry always puts on a good show...


      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  9. We’ll need to arrange a game when I’m down Aly then I’ll give you a real competition about who can roll the most ones.
    My attitude is that as long as everyone enjoys the game it doesn’t matter who wins which is probably just as well in my case.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Absolutely Dave...
      There is a danger that it could end up being the longest game in the history of wargaming...
      With no result....:-)

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  10. Sensational - my own wargames have (deliberately) become so utilitarian that I had forgotten that there is this middle-ground activity which gives a battle game the visual properties of a diorama. Really, really enjoyed the pictures and the report, but I'm now really, really worried that proper wargames should look like this! A very dangerous precedent - sincere compliments to all involved - even those who did not win.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Tony...
      To be quite honest ... I don’t think that there is such a thing as a ‘proper ‘ wargame, which is one of the things I love about this hobby...
      I personally like games that are well thought out and considered and most importantly fun.
      I am actually drawn to your style of wargames and my up and coming Napoleonic project is definitely influenced by the ‘utilitarian’ look of your collection.

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  11. WoW! That is one stunning looking game!!

    Christopher

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was indeed Christopher...
      And a lot of fun.

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  12. Splendid photos and amusing narrative. One wonders if there was not much brandy and wine left from the night before.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Phil...
      You may have a point there... perhaps I should have indulged more and then I would have be on the same level as my troops...

      All the best. Aly.

      Delete
  13. Splendid and amusing report! No hiding though from the fact of an epic thumping!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Absolutely no attempt to hide the the epic thumping...
      Surely now that I have reached rock bottom I may now managed to scramble up to the dizzying heights of a draw...

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  14. Pretty much the funniest AAR I've read. Tough luck... (the table and figures, of course, were mind-boggling beautiful).

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thank you Bill ...
    I am glad you enjoyed it.
    Allan’s collection is incredible... it is always a pleasure to game with.

    All the best. Aly

    ReplyDelete