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

Monday 5 August 2019

From my side of the table... The Battle of Caldberg.

Greetings...


This weekend to celebrate a visit from the lovely Chris Cound ,Alan Perry hosted a splendid Black Powder Napoleonic Game... Which he has called the battle of Caldburg.


Alan used the same method for hidden movement that he had used in his A.C.W. game...
http://alystoysoldiers.blogspot.com/2019/07/from-my-side-of-table-battle-of.html


The brigades being represented by mounted brigadiers with a number of blanks added to reflect the fog of war...
The brigadiers moved each turn and only revealed their true nature when they were within 30"...


Dave Andrews and I took the part of the glorious Austrian Army... while Michael Perry and Chris were the French/Allied land grabbing tyrants...


Dave and I had a cunning plan... well it was more of a suggestion of an idea of a plan...
We could see that we were probably out numbered so... we decided to run away and pretend that we could not find the enemy... unfortunately hotter heads prevailed...


We decide to put almost our entire force on our left flank and attempt to fight our battle on as narrow a frontage as possible... This took the enemy(and Alan) entirely by surprise... the main part of the French would have to cover a lot more ground to face our brigade of grenadiers that were holding our right flank while our right would overwhelm their German allies on our left... it nearly worked ...


Unfortunately we had forgotten that Alan had halved the moves and ranges and we placed our grand battery to far away to be of any use... doh!


And of course there was my dice throwing...





Our 'Brigadiers' start to arrive...




The first of the enemy are exposed...




My first brigade and Dave's brave Landwehr and Inssurectio... or road bumps as they were referred to...

French heavies... Booo...



My brave cavalry rush in to thump some insolent French Hussars...


Massed artillery... not where it should be...



Some thumping...



The French Allies brace themselves...



Here they are trying to hide behind a house...



Bavarians trying to look brave...



Austrians being brave... for the moment .



Our right flank... looking very pretty...



Our cavalry in the centre... also looking very pretty...



Our brave Grenadiers await the enemy... bravely...



Very pretty... its a shame those guns are in the wrong place...



Even I have to admit that the enemy look pretty...




Another shot of our manly cavalry...



Our Landwehr/Inssurectio show how brave they are... and move forward to collect some lead for the Emperor...



My brave troops eagerly rush forward to get at the enemy...



These guys don't seem as keen...



The Landwehr/Inssurectio decide that the Emperor now has enough lead to keep him going for a while...


Glorious...



My  heroic men get up close and personal...




Dave's cavalry punish the Bavarians for not getting into a square fast enough...



Dave's Lancers prepare to get stuck in...



A birds eye view... That infantry brigade could do with moving a bit faster...


My men blast the Allies with our powerful volleys...



The Grenadiers start to engage the enemy...



The Lancers move through the exhausted dragoons and prepare to give the Bavarian Horse some stick...



After moving fresh battalions into the firing line we continue the fire fight...



'That' Infantry brigade decide that they may have left a Strudel in the oven...( yup! a double 6 followed by a double 1)




My volley's smash the German Allies and force them go and check their own strudel...



On our right flank the Grenadiers eventually break and join the strudel hunt...


With two broken brigades each and it being beer o'clock we decided to call it a draw...


A splendid game which could have gone either way... If only that other brigade hadn't been so... crap!


An alternative version of this truth can be found here...
https://www.facebook.com/perryminiatures/posts/2173514316103996?__tn__=K-R


All the best   Aly

33 comments:

  1. Wonderful looking game Aly and so many, dare I say it, pretty troops on an incredibly handsome table. Very enjoyable read.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Carlo...
      It’s a joy to be able to take part in such a game...
      It’s also a terrible temptation...

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  2. Splendid spectacle—a prime example of why Napoleonics holds such an enduring place in the hobby. “Beer O’ Clock”—I’ll have to use that one 😁. Always an educational experience to visit these parts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was indeed a spectacle... I was very taken by The Confederation of the Rhine troops...
      Beer O’ Clock... one of the better times in the day... ;-)

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  3. An entertaining yarn and splendid pictures to start a fine morning with. Suitably inspired to go and give Billy Yank a damn good thrashing later.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Phil...
      Go with a cunning plan... then run away... that’s what I mostly do... ;-)

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  4. Great looking game that 'teddybear' mat looks very effective .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan has used many different materials on his table and has got them to tie in together superbly...

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  5. A splendid looking game and a great write up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Paul...
      I think I did rather well... only one blunder. ;-)

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  6. Only one blunder... you just weren't trying ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I’m saving them up for later... ;-)

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  7. Another wonderful looking game, Aly! Is it, “No plan survives contact with the enemy” or “we met the enemy and it is us” ??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think it is definitely “we met the enemy and it is us”... ;-)

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  8. What a wonderful! Beautiful units and terrain. A true feast for the eyes.

    Best Regards,

    Stokes

    ReplyDelete
  9. A wonderful looking game enriched by your unique style of AAR.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you David...
      I only write what I see ... Honest...

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  10. Beautiful looking game I do wish I could summon the courage for 28 mm Napoleonics perhaps one day..........after AWI. I will definately use the blind method in a future acw game.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The problem with Napoleonics is that there is so much choice...
      Not a good thing for a butterfly like me...

      The hidden movement worked really well...

      All the best. Aly.

      Delete
  11. What a wonderful spectacle.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Great looking game with beautiful figures Aly....and your dice rolling seems to be improving slowly😊

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am hoping to drag my way up to ‘average ‘...

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  13. Lovely looking game and a great narrative, I've decided to make a start on 28mm Napoleonic now,if I leave it any longer I'll run out of time before I die!
    Best Iain

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Iain...
      I think next year is going to be a bit Napoleonic for me...
      As well as getting on with my Shiny Napoleonic project I want to do Napoleon in Egypt... it’s all to pretty to resist... ;-)

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  14. Beautiful game and entertaining report. I too have joined the strudel hunt many times, lol!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Jay...
      I do believe that the Strudel Hunt should be a game in its own right...

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  15. Fabulous looking game Aly. I think you need to invest in some new dice.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unfortunately I don’t think it’s the dice...I was using Alan’s...

      I think it’s me....:-/

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
    2. The dice gods will not be fooled by such subterfuge, I know I tried it ;~)

      Delete
  16. Absolutely beautiful looking game!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. With games like this... the temptation to drop everything and dive into Napoleonics is incredible...
      But I am being strong...
      Next year however..?

      All the best. Aly

      Delete