Napoleonic

Call to Arms 2020

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Cta v Prussians 1The annual convention hosted by the Wellington Warlords has been and gone last weekend. I entered the Black Powder Napoleonic competition with my 1805-08 Spanish. Not the best army under the rules – Unreliable, Freshly Raised infantry; Small units of terrible cavalry; piss poor SR rated generals.  What the army had going for it was lots of brigades (I fielded seven brigades when most other people were fielding 3 or 4 tops) and lots of cheap as chips guerrillas which I finally think I know how to use in this game.

I got three draws and one win – the win occurring when I broke my opponents army by knocking out two of his three brigades. Had one incident where a rule was not read correctly and I lost an entire brigade of Guards after they were hit in the flank by Dragoons on a Follow Me order with their general but the rules clearly state that you cannot do a three move maneuver to get a flank charge in unless you start behind their flank.  I honestly think that if that had not happened I would have won that game too, although my opponent might disagree.    But still – Spanish infantry being ridden down by a flank charge is pretty thematic so I was not too upset. At all really. C’est la guerre!

The games were all enjoyable and it was great to catch up with other players and old friends who were involved in other competitions. Sad to hear that Brent Senior-Partridge passed away but they had a memorial trophy in his honour for the DBM Ancient guys.

Some pics.

I know – wrong hat but it kept my bald head warm.
My battle against Nick’s Purssians (he won the comp). Believe it or not, three crappy Spanish militia regts and some guerrillas saw off all that Prussian cavalry.
French infantry advancing with pesky guerrilleros sniping at them front the front.
Militia/Levy infantry advancing. Perry and Brigade Games figures.
Spanish infantry advancing. Elite miniatures and the odd Front Ranker.
Spanish infantry advancing
Spanish infantry advancing
Spanish infantry advancing. Elite miniatures and the odd Front Ranker.
Militia/Levy infantry advancing. Perry and Brigade Games figures.
French infantry advancing with pesky guerrilleros sniping at them front the front.
My battle against Nick’s Purssians (he won the comp). Believe it or not, three crappy Spanish militia regts and some guerrillas saw off all that Prussian cavalry.
I know – wrong hat but it kept my bald head warm.

9 thoughts on “Call to Arms 2020”

  1. Very nice looking Spanish troops – but as you say, the problem is, they are generally crap! We had the same problem with Austrians and Russians in our latest game – if they were in line, they were hard to activate and control,. if they were on column, they got a hiding from enemy fire – very hard for them to win…or even get a draw, so you did well!

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    1. Going to Call to Arms was only the third time I have been away from home in six months. It was alright – but I definitely prefer being out in the sticks.

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      1. For me terrain adds so much to the visual element of a game, even simple terrain cleanly presented. I have never fully understood why competition games in general tend to have a poorer quality of terrain, though there are certainly exceptions.

        Anyway, I look forward to future posts of your games, be they at home or away.

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  4. Hi Brian
    Just spent the day at Terry’s birthday bash 1812 game and the guys who were at Call to Arms were highly complementary about your performance and warned about “bloody guerrillas who were everywhere.”
    Cheers

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