other 'Trumpeter Salute 2019' games

While London England hosts its large Salute convention, Vancouver, Canada hosts its "Trumpeter Salute" three day convention near the same time.  I believe our 'Salute' name was first but not near as large or famous...

Aside from hosting a game, I played in two other games.  The first was Thomas' WW2 late war action in which I played a German commander holding off a serious British attack on a village.  His winter terrain was very nice to look at and gave a great feel to the game.  I remember one veteran wargamer gave me advice many years ago when he suggested "Only get in games which look good. If the rules are bad, if the GM is unsure, or if the scenario sucks, at least you have something nice to look at"

However, the 'Rapid Fire' rules under the excellent tutorage of Thomas and the straight forward scenario made for a good game; other than the excellent British dice (and tactics if I were honest) and our rather poor dice made for a rather quick game.

Examples of the balance of play:  I heard my German co-player moan to look to my right to see our mighty Tiger 1 tank, the glorious holder of our right flank, in flames!  Apparently lots of sixes were rolled by the British player firing his Shermans at it..... On my side, early in the game I had a panzerscreck crew jump out of cover to fire a surprise shot at the nearest British tank...it missed and was promptly shot to pieces. Later, my StuG moved up from cover only to be destroyed in the first shot and my AT gun in apparent hiding - at least I hoped- awaiting its chance after the additional British Shermans to cross the hedge, finally had to concede the enemy were content only to shoot up my infantry in the buildings, so fired a shot only to have it miss and have return fire kill most of the crew. Meanwhile I was struggling to find anybody to re-man the heavy machine gun - the only real asset the Germans had left,  from the continual British fire.  The game/battle was over in less than two hours. But it was pretty to look at!

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The second game was another of DennisC's ACW historical scenarios, this time the Union assault on the Sunken Road during the Battle of Sharpsburg/Antietam.
I took one of the Union divisions and almost (!) took the right flank of the Confederate stronghold but the local player, JimL, a boy who can pull high dice out of his a*s apparently by demand, always rolled a 10 to my 9 and in the ruleset of "Fire and Fury"one point can make all the difference.
In the middle, the rather weak Union division could not make headway against the small but strong force of Rebs holding the sunken road and so DennisC in his continual quest for history to repeat itself had his wish.....

Retreat from Moscow - 1812 edition

On the cold road home......

Another “Trumpeter Salute” convention by the local Trumpeter Tabletop Society club is over and leaving me with a bit of a “wargamer hangover”  This can be described as a worn out feeling, sore feet, weak voice, throbbing head, aching back, and always that slight regret of not purchasing that good deal…..

the 'Vodka Wagon' pulled along

I hosted my “Retreat from Moscow” game.  For those two fellows in the back row unaware of the history (or myth…) Napoleon’s Grand Armee consisting of most of Europe’s armies was making its way back from the disastrous campaign in Russia in 1812 and through the snows of winter.

The game has very simple rules using measuring sticks and lots of randomness which helps in the fun atmosphere. Because the Russians (mostly armed peasants but a smattering of Cossacks and Jagers) are on ‘auto-pilot’ they can act in unforeseen ways but in this game with my rather low rolls, generally did not give the Allies much grief.  This, at least to me, rather boring state of affairs would change when one of the players, having safely crossed the bridge with his two units abruptly turned about and starting shooting at his compatriots!!

The peasants make a rare stand near the log pile

a close up of the Polish contingent

Apparently he decided on gaining the ‘Vodka Wagon’ for himself and the points.  He had asked me before doing this nefarious act, if he "could shoot at any unit?".  I said “yeah, sure I guess” not thinking it would be his friends.   JimD, up from the States, after this action, said he moved closer to me so I would hold him back from lunging at “the traitor”. He later said he was really angry.  I totally missed his reaction and thought the whole thing amusing and made the game that more interesting…….

congestion on the bridge

the 'traitors' (on the left) fire upon their erstwhile compatriots who retreat from the fire and abandon the wagon

As a note I made up a rule, on the spot, about the bridge, over which they must cross lest they chance dying in the frozen waters of the creek, a chance of partial collapse.  1 in 6 chance.  Of course, it would break three times each time having a greater chance.  PeterM, our statistician, wryly was calculating if it were better to chance the cold water instead!  

the Old Guard form a powerful rear guard...that is until JimF orders his unit to break rank to run for the bridge leaving PeterM to hold on his own with only half the firepower.  Only his good dice and random fate (aka my poor dice rolling for the Russian aggression) allow him to retreat intact also. (the bridge held intact long enough!)

Hosted games at Trumpeter Salute 2017

Chided into hosting 4 games during the convention, I decided on three completely different eras so that I may organize the transport into separate “shipments”  thus without much need to remember to move items from one pile into another each bleary-eyed morning…

With that in mind, I hosted a semi-skirmish Japanese samurai game on Friday, two distinct sessions of grand-tactical Napoleonic battle on Saturday, and a low key French and Indian War game on Sunday.  Surprisingly it all went well.

Trumpeter Salute Convention My games: Friday afternoon

Sengoku Era Japan - Samurai Game using “Katana Rampant” (Lion Rampant rules with addition for handguns)

Okudaira tempo ready to fire upon the walls 

The scenario has a surprise attack by the Takeda upon the Okudaira besiegers of their castle.  To keep it a surprise, I told all the players of the procedures to take the wall of the castle.  This included activation to climb the walls, and defensive fire from them.  While I kept the defensive fire rules for the game, the intent was not to have a siege game but a straight up fight with a surprise flank attack.  To that, I was successful.

 (besides…. the walls were built only to give a backdrop for photos!)

I gave the flank attack player the option of either using his normal troops to lead the attack but through the muddy fields (rough ground) or if he leads with the peasants they know a drier faster way.  But of course, then,  you are leading your attack with peasants who are not the exactly the best choice as a military unit to lead any attack!

The Takeda (with black back-flags) emerge in the muddy fields for their flank attack!

In any event, he lead with his samurai who while fighting well in the muck (‘ferocious’ rule) still are slow to get through it and impossible with his poor activation rolls! The (were) attacking the walls (now) defending from the flank attack players managed to recover from the surprise and a good game was the result.

the Okudaira reinforcements rush into the fight

 Game Two!

With a small game and fast action we had the time to have a second action. The scenario was a simple one with the Takeda having captured the personal standard of Okudaira Sadamasa who wants it back.

Trumpeter Salute Convention My games: Saturday afternoon

I would do two games of the historical Napoleonic Battle of Vyazma, each in a separate session.

a view from the east showing the French and Allies strung out along the road, with the town of Vyazma, represented by the church in the distance their goal to survival.  The villages of Gorontka (near centre) and Fedorskoie (near right) are represented with the French rearguard under Davout holding Fedorskoie.  The Russians of Ostermann-Tolstoy and Eugene of Wurttemburg (left) under Miloradovich are attacking from the south to cut off the retreat.

  This first one had six players participating with three French and three Russian players.
The Battle of Vyazma occurred during Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow and only days before the snows began.  Miloradovich, the Russian commander, pressed his attacks on the French rearguard of Davout’s corps centred around the villages of Fedorskoie and Gorontka, with Eugene’s (with some Italians), Poniatowski’s Poles , and Ney’s corps strung out along the road of retreat towards the town of Vyazma.

Wurttemburg's Russian Corp attacking the French and take Gorontka

For the French, their objective was to get as many units, including supply wagons, safely off the table and continue the retreat through Vyazma.  If they did so with more than those destroyed or captured (any left on the table should the Russians take that town), they win the game.  Thus, the French had the task of moving AND fighting to survive.

Davout must simultaneously transfer troops along the road and support the defence against the Russian attack. He does a good job

The Russian objective was simpler.  They were to destroy the French.  Casualties were not a concern.

The height of the Russian attack. The near marsh deemed impassible, as indeed it was historically, restricted direct Russian moves against Vyazma (off camera to the left) and served to constrict the Russian reserves.
We can see Platov's cossacks and Paskevich's small infantry division in the far distance trying to move against the French in a flanking move.

For this task, I placed the Russian commands in their historical locations allowing each player to deploy as they wished.  From east to west, Platov’s cossacks, combined with the small infantry division of Paskevich,  attacked from the end of the long table against Davout’s rearguard.  Wurttemburg’s corps with Korff’s cavalry came from the south, while Tolstoy’s corps with Siever’s cavalry moved toward Vyazma itself to potentially cut of the French/Allies retreat.
The Russians were historically estimated at 22,000 to 24,000 in strength.  The French total is unknown but would be at comparable numbers.

With a very large strength ratio and using 28mm figures, a village can only be represented by one building.   

The French players had the unenviable task of choosing when to run and when to fight all the while moving toward their goal of the exit point.  To be honest, seeing the deployments in full, I did not think the French had much of a chance, but to their credit, they managed to get more than 50% off the table successfully for the victory.  Notably on the French side was the decision by “Ney” who was closest to Vyazma, to quickly file his units off the table leaving only his artillery to hold off the Russians and keep the road open for the others;  and the unfortunate die roll by “Tolstoy” failing his corps morale roll and having to fall back thus losing the opportunity to close the door on the French.  It turned out to be a good scenario.

The Russian advance continues!

Trumpeter Salute Convention My games: Saturday evening

In this second game of the Battle of Vyazma, I reset the scenario to the original starting points.  I did move the road on which the French moved from the centre of the table slightly further away from the Russian southern attack which gave everyone a bit more maneuver space and the French a tad more time to have units retreat toward the town.

Deployment of the French (centre) along the road.  The Russians (left bottom) attacking from the south. 

In this game, we only had one player commanding each side.  It had the usual effect of having a much more ‘ordered’ game in action and in the even look of the elements on the table!

With only one player per side controlling all elements, the game tends to have a more "ordered" appearance!

Surprisingly the result again was a French “victory” with very slightly more elements having got off the table than were destroyed or captured.

Uvarov's Cuirassiers, historically sent into action very late in the day,  finally make an appearance. But as in the first battle, make little impact as they are late and too far in the rear to make an effect.  They are pretty however!

Trumpeter Salute Convention My games: Sunday

French and Indian Wars action - 'Manage-a-troi'

A good group of wargamers who are there to gleefully move around pieces on the table in good humour certainly make for delightfully entertaining game and none more so than the group who signed up for my French and Indian War game on Sunday.
Without knowledge of how many players I would have ( Sunday gaming is always less populous but numbers can be unpredictable) I needed to very much come up with a scenario on the fly.  In this case, the whiskey wagon (it would seem ALL my FIW games involve the whiskey wagon as everyone, natives included, would love to capture it!) .  The British were tasked to escorting it to the fort.  They could take the longer, but more open route, or the shorter but forest choked shorter route.  They chose the latter after the French and Native players had deployed.
The respective Native players (both the English and French having native allies) were given blanks but did not know if they were real or mere shadows in the darkness of the woods.  As the terrified Europeans could fire at perceived shadows and the chieftains having no control of the actions of their war bands, the unknown nature of the blanks to all players seemed to work to good effect.  Well, OK, a bit frustrating for the Native player to carefully move his blanks into an excellent firing position only to find not one but three of his elements were false but then again the European player halting only to find himself once again firing at shadows is an equally disappointing yet realistic event.  And it does add to the suspense.  I do assure the players that half of the blanks are real (even numbered are there, odds are not) so as more are revealed more is known of the remaining.  — although I might want to mess with that ratio in a future game! ;)

Again I will let the pictures tell the story but the game ended with most of the French elements eliminated and the wagon free to deliver the fire-water to the fort.

view of the action

the infamous 'Whiskey Wagon"

British regulars in campaign lead the British lights also in campaign dress. The British commander suggested to himself that he should have, in hindsight, reversed that deployment! ;)

Natives cross a stream.  I heavily 'terrain' my bases.  A very inexpensive by simply looking outside and nearby parks for the natural items. 

'the Fort' is designed to fit into a small corner of the table 

"Save the Whiskey" a French and Indian Wars affair

I had a rare opportunity to attend the Trumpeter club night and with TerryS's ( game director) usual frantic calls for games, I decided to bring my FIW collection out as I thought I had the rules set down tight (incorrectly as it turns out) , and in 28mm should look OK.

My submission described the scenario as thus: Dark Woods, Howling Natives, Provincials scared witless.  But the whiskey wagon must get through.  What more do you want?

The large British escort for the important whiskey wagon

My second misperception of the night was that people actually read Terry's club emails as everyone came by to ask what I was putting on.....

Anyway, KevinA and PeterM decided to give it a go with the former taking the French and the latter the British.  Just because I wanted in, and that the table was the largest area I have used for my FIW so wanted to 'fill some space',  I lead the Natives aka Red Indians aka the Savages.  Probably unfair to use them against one or the other I thought; so I diced per turn and see who I would attack! Hopefully both during the battle.

The French in their summer wear red sleeved waistcoats await the British advance

Both players took plenty of regulars with each thinking as the wagon must go down the road and in open ground, the regulars would be best suited than the Provincials, Militia or lights.  Therefore Kevin lined up his French regulars and started blasting away.

The 'cannonball' markers behind many of the elements represent the number of hits.  The result of the firefight across the open wheat field and road

The British lights covering the wagons move up the road.

The French militia in the lower right gang up on the Gage's boys (in brown coats)

  Peter responded by fanning out with his lights on the flanks but his command was slowed (poor pip rolls) and Kevin took out his lights and with continued fire from the front, eventually eliminated most of the British. With few left, Peter had no choice but to turn the wagon around and get out while he could.  The fort's liquor rations would be slim for some time.

"Jeb, where be the wagon? I am thirsty"  The fort awaits the whiskey.  It was constructed from clippings directly from a gentleman while out for a walk visiting my parents a few years ago.  They will make a great fort I told my incredulous mother.

And my Natives?  Well, my leading war band charged and took out the unsuspecting French militia (mon du, are dey no on ouwer side?!) but switching sides the next turn, went up against the Highlanders and were "quick-killed" - basically an all or nothing fighting unit these war bands! With their loss, I would have to roll higher than the number of native elements left which I did not do so the others left for the longhouse.

Images of Bushy Run?

painting of the Battle of Bushy Run by Don Troiani

The longhouse is a resin bought years ago and I think OOP.  Took some effort to paint it to look realistic.

Players view of the battlefield. The stick is actually a stem from my spring clippings.  I thought that they would make great measuring tools rather than rulers as to 'blend' into the terrain somewhat.  I have them in differing lengths.  They can be seen in some of the other photos.  Some of the blank markers might be seen - but blend in quite well!

Kevin and Peter gave good input into the rules and my phase sequencing and so Peter and I with a bit more time in the evening, set up again with the British and once again mostly regulars escorting the whiskey wagon.  I took the Indians placing them randomly around the forest using blank stands (artfully decorated with 'shrubbery' ) not knowing who is real and who is not.  No command control for the savages!

Checking out shadows in the woods.  I have many of these blank stands to create a bit of fear of the unknown wihtin the woods for the player.

However with the blanks, Peter was unsure which way to face as I moved the natives to all sides of his developing 'square formation' but he left a gap uncovered so I had one group move to take the wagon. With all the British still around, the tribesmen decided moving the wagon was unfeasible and so merely smashed in the kegs feverishly drinking the contents! That, we decided would make them go "warband" but next turn the British regulars would shortly dispose of the Indians to their front and next turn and eliminate the last native threat.

Close up of a war band and the 60th line in their campaign dress with dark blue gaiters

We ended the game continuing to examine the rules with the result I will now need to totally revamp the entire set.  Two steps forward, two steps back.

I hope the boys enjoyed themselves and it is good to get the collection photographed under the nice lights.

Waterloo game photos

Waterloo in the initial stages.  We are looking from the north-west with Hougomont the brick complex on the right and Plancenoit between the hands of DaveB in the purple sweater.  The road from far end to curve near the bottom (east-west) represents the crestline of the ridge. (for those who follow this historical battle!)  The table is 9 by 6 feet so we have plenty of maneuver room.  The scenario is designed for even a smaller space.

Using our measuring stick, "Napoleon" moves up the French Imperial Guard foot. 

d'Erlon's Corps behind the Guard Foot Artillery of the Grand Battery

Right out of the history:  the British Heavy Horse of Ponsonby's and Somerset's Brigades charge the French column of d'Erlon

Our rules allow artillery fire through friendlies.  No, the Hanoverians are not taking canister fire onto their backs!

The French advance in forlorn confidence 

Milhaud's Cavalry Corps.  The whole thing!

French advance around La Haye Sainte

French cuirassiers.  I just love the look of these guys!