Waterloo - a Russo-Japanese War refight

Waterloo ... 18th June 1815 ... 200th Anniversary .. etc etc ... if you need to know more then then look at wiki

For the past several months I've been playing my La Haye Sainte game at various shows in England. At the club this week I did think about playing it to commemorate the battle but honestly couldn't face it.

Japanese Kobi battalions attack Plancenoit

A few years ago I commemorated the D-Day battle of Pointe du Hoc by playing a game roughly based around it using troops from the French Intervention in Mexico in the 1860s. Therefore I decided to refight Waterloo with my 10mm Russo-Japanese Wars armies using Battles for Empire (BFE). So that's a Napoleonic battle fought with early 20th century troops using a set of Colonial rules

I commanded the Japanese who would play the part of the Anglo-Allied and Prussian armies and the Russians, commanded by Rodge, would be the French. I told Rodge that this was a refight of Waterloo and that the Japanese reinforcements would be coming in from the north because the table was flipped.

The Scenario

A Kobi battalion rests before the battle

During the battle of Mukden a Japanese attack to the north of the city has been held and the Russians are counter-attacking. The Japanese have fallen back on a ridge line but have had no time to prepare defenses before the Russians attack. The Japanese can expect reinforcements from the north but must hold the line otherwise the Russians will outflank the Japanese forces engaged to the south.

The Battlefield

I dumbed down the battlefield and flipped it so that Hougoumont was on the Japanese left flank and Plancenoit would be vaguely on their right flank. The were a few fields of kaoliang dotted around.

The Forces

The Japanese Commander waits for the Russians to advance

Japanese
6 Battalions of Line Infantry
3 Battalions of Kobi (Reserve) Infantry
4 Batteries of Artillery
2 Hotchkiss MG companies

These troops can  deploy anywhere east of the blue line

Reinforcements
3 Battalions of Line Infantry
6 Battalions of Kobi (Reserve) Infantry

Each turn roll 1D6 and note the score - 3 battalions appear when the score reaches 10, then a further 3 battalions at 20 and  the last 3 battalions at 30. Each reinforcement appears randomly along the north table edge.

The Russian commander watches his troops go over the ridge

Russians
16 Battalions of Line Infantry
4 Batteries of Artillery
4 Maxim MG companies
2 Sotnia Cossacks

All troops start on the western table edge

Deployment

The Japanese deployed as follows taking full advantage of the buildings and the reverse slope of the ridge

The Japanese Southern flank with Hougoumont in the distance

Southern flank

1 Line Battalion in Hougoumont

2 Artillery batteries and 1 MG Company on the ridge 

2 Line battalions behind the ridge 

Centre

1 Line Battalion in La Haye Sainte

1 Artillery battery and 1 MG Company on the Ridge 

2 Line battalions behind the ridge 

The Kobi battalions defend the Japanese Northern flank 

Northern flank

1 Kobi Battalion and 1 Artillery battery on the Ridge 

2 Kobi battalions behind the ridge 

The Russians deployed the artillery as a "grand battery" across the central road with 3 battalions to the south. The remainder of the force deployed north of the road. I thought that this was a cunning plan on Rodge's part as he would be coming face-to-face with the reinforcements. Rodge however had forgotten that and thought that the reinforcements were coming from the south.

The Battle

Artillery in BFE is devastating and when the Russian Grand battery opened up on the northern ridge line it qucikly destroyed the Kobi battalion and the artillery stationed there. This allowed the main Russian force to advance almost unopposed. 

The Russians advance on the northen ridge

The Japanese reinforcements arrive

However on turn 3 the the first lot of reinforcements, 3 Kobi battalions, appeared north of Plancenoit. The Russians dismounted the Cossacks in Plancenoit and together with an infantry battalion held off the Japanese.

Cossacks defend the approaches to Plancenoit

Japanese troops start moving north

To counter the Russian thrust against the northern flank the Japanese ordered all the troops behind the ridge to move north. 

The Russians advance ove rthe ridge

Japanese troops in La Haye Sainte about to attack the Russian flank

The two armies about to clash

The tail of the Russian assault force

The fight for the centre begins

With hindsight maybe the Japanese should have brought their firepower into play earlier. At close range both sides inflicted heavy casualties but with greater numbers the Russians gained the upper hand.

Japanese troops in Hougoumont pinned by skirmishing Russians

The southern flank was devoid of troops as the main Russian force fought to the north sucking in the Japanese troops. Hougoumont was held by a single battalion and pinned by two Russian battalions.

The Japanese commander stares defeat in the face

After the Japanese had lost the northern and centre ridge line I conceded the game. The original defenders had lost 6 of the 9 battalions plus both MG companies and 2 batteries. From the reinforcements only 6 of the 9 battalions had arrived and 3 of those would never reach the battle in time.

Therefore honours to the Russians but let's face it the French always win Waterloo. 

Maybe I should have risked putting the Japanese infantry on the ridge to shoot the Russians rather cower in the relative safety of the reverse slope. However the Russian artillery wrecked everything that showed itself.

The figures are all by Pendraken

Tribal Mongol Warfare using BFE2

My favourite pre-gunpowder army is the Mongols. Several years ago for my fiftieth birthday I decided to indulge myself. I got my mate Shaun to paint a 15mm army based on the Fields of Glory list using Museum Miniatures figures - in my opinion the best 15mm Mongols on the market.

I entered them in the Plymouth 2010 15mm Fields of Glory tournament and won it. I've never played with them since for a couple of reasons.

Firstly I couldn't find any decent opponents - not players but armies - either the opposition gets pulled out of line out piecemeal and destroyed which is historical or it sits in a well defended corner which is understandable.

Secondly I never really enjoyed playing with the various commercial Ancients rule-sets available.

A few months ago I watched Mongol and thought why not do inter-tribal warfare between the Mongols rather than look for other opponents.

As for rules we have been using our variant of the 19th Century colonial ruleset Battles For Empire 2 (BFE2) to fight Romans against Ancient British and Romans against Blemmye so I might as well see what happens when two tribes go to war.

The Berkeley Vale club motto is "Try every experience once, excepting incest and folk dancing" so it was easy to rope them into a couple of test games.

I split the army into two equal tribes each of

• 1 Commander
• 2 Leaders
• 1 Shaman
• 2 Elite Massed Horse units
• 3 Massed Horse units
• 8 Light Horse units

Each tribe had 6 cards to which they could allocate between 0 and 6 units to simulate hidden movement and deception. The forces allocated to a card would be placed on the table when they were spotted at 24". Cards used the Massed Horse movement rate

The first game was played on a 12 x 4 table which gave us plenty of room for flanking but not enough depth to exploit the card movements so we were in hand to hand very early on in the game. 

We didn't make many tweaks to the standard BFE2 rules

In melee give Massed Horse a  +1 vs Light Horse

The Shaman would could one of the following per turn in exchange for a hit - they have 8 hits

• remove D3 casualties from a unit
• allow a UCC reroll
• add an extra 6" to a  unit's movement
• add +1 to a unit's combat factor

The game went badly for our tribe due to shoddy deployment by me and rubbish dice rolling by our side and we were soon paying homage to the enemy's Khan 

We tinkered with the factors a bit more. Movement rates were reduced for Massed Horse, the Steady Chargers +1 was dropped as it was assumed both sides would charge / counter charge and the Shaman's abilities were limited to removing casualties and giving a UCC reroll. Finally Light Horse and Shaman only had 4 lives instead of 8 

We played the second game on a 8 by 6 table which gave a lot more manoeuvrability. The reduction in Light Horse lives made us use them in a harassing role instead of head-on charges. The game was finely balanced until a run of bad dice rolls by the Opposition saw them lose units via the UCC and good dice rolls by us when rolling to kill a leader. Eventually all three of their leaders were either dead or wounded and with 8 of their 13 units destroyed we called it a day

Our glorious leader Shaun also died on the battlefield sadly leaving me as the new Khan.

Post game discussion raised the issue of shooting and Light Horse so we tweaked the factors again to remove the -1 penalty for Light Horse shooting on the move and added a -1 penalty for shooting at Light Horse.We have yet to test these out 

If I had the time and money and willpower I would get a load more Mongols to enable Light Horse unit to formation change to Massed Horse units and vice versa

It was great getting the Mongols out on the table after such a long time and BFE2 proved once more that it can be (ab)used  for more than just Colonial warfare.

The BFE Variant can be found in the files section at the BFE Yahoo group

The Oasis at Kalab - Romans vs Blemmye using BFE2

This is the third scenario in our Romans vs Blemmye "campaign" using our variant of the 19th Century colonial ruleset Battles For Empire 2. (BFE2).

The game is set in Upper Egypt circa 400AD. The figures are 15mm and based for Armati. Each figure represents about 5 men so a Roman Legionary unit represents a Century

The Scenario
Following their defeat to the Romans at the Temple at Kalabsha the Blemmye responded with a series of vicious raids. Much booty,including many slaves, was accumulated and the raiders headed south towards towards their tribal lands to enjoy the rewards.

The Blemmye have stopped for a brief overnight respite in the deep southern wastes at the Oasis at Kalab believing they are safe from Roman attentions. The Romans, however, have other ideas and have force marched to catch them.

The Terrain
The oasis is surrounded by low sand dunes that block line of sight. The booty and slaves are held in a temple compound. and a building, a few tents and clumps of palm trees are scattered around the oasis. The temple and the building can each hold one unit that always fights as skirmishers. The Temple compound is placed 30" inches from the southern edge so that it will take the booty/slaves 6 turns to exit the table moving at 6" per turn

Roman Objective

Retake the booty, rescue the slaves and destroy the Blemmye raiding force

Roman Forces

1 Commander	+1 12" Command Radius, +2 if attached to unit
2 Leaders	+1 if attached to unit
6 x Century Legionaries	Infantry, Elite, Spears / Javelins - treat as Pila
1 x Egyptian Auxilia	Infantry, Foot Bows
2 x Egyptian Auxilia	Skirmish Foot, Foot Bows
1 x Equites Ala Secunda	Cavalry,Spears / Javelins
1 x Ala Germanorum	Cavalry,Spears may add +1 to a UCC roll once in the game
1 x Auxilia Sagitarii	Skirmish Horse, Horse Bows

Roman Deployment
The Romans have surprised the Blemmye at dawn and caught them napping.
Upto 3 units of any type plus a Leader can enter anywhere on the East table edge 15” from the South East corner point. They may enter on Turn 3 or any subsequent turn.
All other troops must march on table anywhere along the northern table edge.

Blemmye Objective

Get the booty off the southern edge of the board

Blemmye Forces

1 Commander	+1 8" Command Radius, +2 if attached to unit
2 x Leaders	+1 if attached to unit
1 x Retainer Cavalry	Cavalry, Spears / Javelins
3 x Light Horse	Skirmish Horse, Javelins
1 x Camel troop	Melee weapons On contact enemy cavalry become Shaken on roll of 1,2 or 3
1 x Guard Warband	Melee weapons Can ignore 1 Shaken result once per game
3 x Warriors	Warband, Melee Weapons
3 x Light foot	Skirmish Foot, Foot Bows
2 x Light foot	Skirmish Foot, Javelins

Blemmye Deployment

The Blemmye have been surprised at dawn and caught napping in their camp

Secretly deploy units within the oasis area.

Pack Mules/Camel Baggage/Slaves must be in the Temple compound area.

1 unit of any type may be placed in each building/tent

1 skirmish Foot Unit may be placed in the Temple

Blemmye Activation

All Blemmye forces are asleep at the start of the game - they are activated by rolling the Turn Number or less on a D6 ie on turn 1 a 1 is required, on turn 2 then a 1 or 2 is required. If a unit is caught asleep then they are immediately destroyed 

The dice roll has the following modifiers:

-2 if Heavy Unit

-1 if Skirmish Unit

- leader bonus if attached

The Game

Steve and Shaun were the Romans and Paul and I took the Blemmye. The Romans kept 3 cavalry units off table for the flank march.

The Blemmye arranged the warband as the frontline with foot skirmishers on the flanks and cavalry at the rear of the oasis in the hope that everyone would wake up very quickly

The Romans arrived on the northern edge at the crack of dawn. Our activation rolls only woke up two of the Light horse units and the Slaves

Due to their elite rating the Roman Legionaries moved swiftly towards the camp spotting a sleeping warband which failed to activate

With the exception of this warband and the the booty, the rest of the camp woke swiftly and started organizing itself to face the Romans

The Romans sent a Auxilia unit in to give the warband a rude awakening. This warband fled leaving only the Guard Warband to take on the might of Rome

Although Blemmye light troops had got onto the wings and the rear of the Roman force, the latter were unstoppable and stormed the camp

However the remaining Blemmye warbands advanced to join the Guards and managed to hold the line

The Romans decided to bring their cavalry flanking force on into the back of the skirmishers on the Blemmye left flank. Regular readers will note that smiley faces are now only used for the Blemmye. The Romans have proper casualty markers and use Cornicines to indicate Shaken units

Whilst the Blemmye left flank and centre grimly held on, it was a different story on their right flank where a Legionary unit attempted to storm the temple. This was held by a javelin skirmish unit aided by light horse that charged the Shaken Legionaries. Rule - skirmishers can only charge shaken units or other skirmishers

In the centre the Blemmye warbands looked like they might hold up the Legionaries but as the Roman rear was cleared of Blemmye Light Horse the pressure started to mount

Eventually the remaining booty got organised and started to leave the compound covered by the warbands and skirmishers

From the far south the Blemmye camelry went into action on the left wing against the Roman Cavalry and Legionaries in a vain attempt to save the skirmishers

Gradually though the Legionaries wore down the warbands one by one leaving a huge hole the Blemmye centre

At the temple the fight raged on until the Legionaries were rescued by Roman cavalry attacking the Light horse in the flank. The Light Horse fled the field but not before seeing the Legionaries worn down by kills and destroyed.

As the slaves and booty headed south the Roman pursuit was bravely thwarted by the Blemmye Retainer cavalry.

With the slaves and booty gone the Romans were masters of the oasis. Although they had beaten the Blemmye force they had only recaptured 1 of the 3 items of booty and the slaves were nowhere to be seen.

I must apologize for the Roman end of the table in the above photo - it is an utter tip

The Epilogue
After the battle a Roman officer discovered a necklace in one of the tents. Only one such necklace exists in Upper Egypt and belongs to Chlamydia, eldest daughter of Flurus, Roman Governor of the Province. She must have been one of the slaves that got taken south - dan! dan! daaan! - looks like the set-up for the next game

This game was based on the San Lorenzo scenario from Tim Tilson's Colonial Campaigns book Maximilian in Mexico. It worked extremely well and certainly gave the Blemmye players an edge-of-the-seat game. It's a mark of a good scenario when it can be played across different periods

Once gain the rules came through with little or no Rule Debating or Recrimination phases

Well done to Rodge for another enjoyable evening

More pictures can be found at photobucket

The Temple of Kalabsha - Romans vs Blemmye using BFE2

This is the second scenario in our Romans vs Blemmye "campaign" using our variant of the 19th Century colonial ruleset Battles For Empire 2. (BFE2).

The game is set in Upper Egypt circa 400AD. The figures are 15mm and based for Armati. Each figure represents about 5 men so a Roman Legionary unit represents a Century

The Scenario
After the Romans failed to poison the oasis at Nikhab, they desperately needed to retain their hold on Upper Egypt in the face of  more Blemmye raids. At Kalabsha, near Aswan, stands one of the largest temples in Upper Egypt. Both it and the temple at Philae on the Nile form the twin pillars of Blemmye religion. Therefore units from Aswan, Abydos and Cusas were ordered to meet at Kalbasha and defile the temple. Word of this got out to the Blemmye clans who came together to defend their holy site.

The Terrain
The Temple sits in a large shallow valley running north-west to south-east surrounds by dunes and a few areas of rocky ground large enough to hide a unit.

Roman Objective
Secure the Temple by defeating the Blemmye and by having 1 unengaged legionary unit in contact with the Temple by the end of the game.

Roman Forces

1 Commander	+1 12" Command Radius, +2 if attached to unit
2 Leaders	+1 if attached to unit
Force 1: Aswan Detachment
1 x Century Legionaries	Infantry, Elite, Spears / Javelins - treat as Pila
2 x Centuries Legionaries	Infantry, Spears / Javelins - treat as Pila
1 x Egyptian Auxilia	Infantry, Foot Bows
1 x Egyptian Auxilia	Skirmish Foot, Javelins
1 x Egyptian Auxilia	Skirmish Foot, Foot Bows
Force 2: Garrison Troops from the Fortress of Abydos
1 x Century Legionaries	Infantry, Spears / Javelins - treat as Pila
2 x Egyptian Auxilia	Infantry, Javelins
1 x Auxilia Light Horse	Skirmish Horse, Javelins
1 x Auxilia Sagitarii	Skirmish Horse, Horse Bows
1 x Limitanei Archers	Skirmish Foot,Brittle,Bows
Force 3: Cavalry Detachment from Cusas
1 x Equites Ala Prima	Cavalry, Elite,Spears / Bows Well armoured, -1 to enemy fire at effective range
1 x Equites Ala Secunda	Cavalry,Spears / Javelins
1 x Ala Germanorum	Cavalry,Spears may add +1 to a UCC roll once in the game
1 x Auxilia Light Horse	Skirmish Horse, Javelins
1 x Auxilia Sagitarii	Skirmish Horse, Horse Bows

Roman Deployment

One of the three forces can be deployed in the northwest corner on Turn 1. From Turn 2 roll separately for each remaining force. On a 4,5 or 6 the force arrives on the table edge up to 24" from the northwest corner. 

1 Skirmish unit is allowed to be placed in ambush in any rocky area.

Blemmye Objective

Secure the Temple by defeating the Romans and by having 1 unengaged warband in contact with the Temple by the end of the game.

Blemmye Forces

1 Commander	+1 8" Command Radius, +2 if attached to unit
2 x Leaders	+1 if attached to unit
Agwezat Clan: "The Horse Lords"
1 x Armoured Noble Cavalry	Armoured Cavalry, Spears / Horse Bows -1 to any enemy ranged weapon fire at effective range
2 x Retainer Cavalry	Cavalry, Spears / Javelins
4 x Light Horse	Skirmish Horse, Javelins
Yeha Clan: "The Desert Lords"
1 x Camel troop	Melee weapons On contact enemy cavalry become Shaken on roll of 1,2 or 3
1 x Retainer Cavalry	Cavalry, Spears / Javelins
1 x Young Warriors	Warband, Brittle, Melee Weapons
3 x Light Horse	Skirmish Horse, Javelins
1 x Light foot	Skirmish Foot, Foot Bows
Sereyah Clan: "The Warrior Lords"
1 x Guard Warband	Melee weapons Can ignore 1 Shaken result once per game
3 x Warriors	Warband, Melee Weapons
1 x Light foot	Skirmish Foot, Foot Bows
2 x Light foot	Skirmish Foot, Javelins

Blemmye Deployment

One of the three Clans can be deployed in the southeast corner on Turn 1. From Turn 2 roll separately for each remaining clan. On a 4,5 or 6 the clan arrives on the table edge up to 24" from the southeast corner. 

1 Skirmish unit is allowed to be placed in ambush in any rocky area.

The Game

Steve and myself took charge of the Romans and Dave, Shaun and Chris played the Blemmye.

The Romans deployed the Abydos Garrison Troops on Turn 1 and hid the Limitanei Archers in rocky ground south of the temple.

The Blemmye deployed the Warrior Lords as their initial force and placed a Light Horse unit in rough ground north of the temple

Turn 2 saw all the remaining forces arrive on the table. The Romans deploying the Cavalry Detachment on the right flank and the Legionaries on the left. The Blemmye sent the Horse Lords against the Roman Cavalry and the Desert Lords towards the Legionaries.

As the Romans advanced the Blemmye Light Horse ambushed a unit of Sagitarii in the rear kicking off a savage cavalry battle on the Roman right flank

This part of the battle continued for most of the game with the Blemmye camels, cavalry and light horse wildly charging into the Roman forces

The Blemmye started feeding light foot and warbands into the cavalry battle

The Blemmye started feeding light foot and warbands into the cavalry battle

The flexibility of the Light horse on both sides led to several flank and rear attacks

The Roman right flank started to look very shaky when the Clibanarii recoiled from a warband

The Roman Light Horse suffered badly and started to disintegrate before the Blemmye onslaught

However the Roman Equites and the Germans rallied and the tide began to turn

In  the centre Roman Auxilia units advanced to take the temple

However the Blemmye warbands had the same idea

The threat of the Roman right flank collapsing forced the Auxila back causing them to become Shaken

However the right flank recovery allowed the Auxila to reform to protect the rear from Blemmye Light Horse

On the Roman left flank the Legionaries advanced in a very loose formation

Facing them was a mixed bag of Blemmye troops - cavalry,skirmishers and warband

The Blemmye charged the Legionaries without a moments hesitation

All along the left flank the Roman units became engaged

However the Legionaires and Auxilia held their ground wearing down the Blemmye attacks

It was only a matter of time before Roman steel overcame Blemmye courage

And the left flank closed in for the kill

As the Blemmye turned and fled the field the Romans marched into the Temple

The Blemmye lost 14 of their 21 units and the Romans 6 out of 17.

This was essentially a stand-up fight in which the Legionaries did very well. The remainder of the Roman forces left a lot to be desired and came pretty close to being overrun in the centre and on the right flank.

If the Blemmye had avoided the Legionaries or engaged them only with missile weapons then the outcome could have been very different.

Again the rules worked very well although we still need to iron-out the skirmisher-specific rules

Thanks to Rodge for a most enjoyable game

A few more photos can be found on at photobucket