Period: COL
Battle: circa 1882
Scale: 15mm
Rules: Battles of Empire
Forces involved: British - 2 Bn of infantry, detachment of Marines with maxim, and a Regt of dragoons and two bty of artillery. Egyptians - 4 bn of regulars and "fousands" of militia'y types. 
Players: John, Noel (organiser), Chris, Pete, Bruce, Alex
Date: 12th May, 2013

Desolate terrain. The British objective is the village and well at the far end of the table. The Egyptians deployed first but could hide units in the wadis (brown felt).

 British deployment was a bit spread out. In the centre we deployed an elite Bn.

The British cavalry rapidly advance on the right with a view to doing some reconnaissance and were set upon by hoards of  Egyptian cavalry emerging from the wadi to their front.

 On the right was the second bn with the marines and guns forming a reserve.

 Not unsurprisingly the British cavalry are over run and the enemy use the wadi to approach the British centrre.

 The British are forced to turn to face this threat having defeated the first line to their front.

 After clearing forces on the hill the British left is faced by an even stronger force behind entrenchments.

More Egyptians advance to the fray. The British have been forced to converged on the centre and are being shot at from all directions.

 The Marines have turned to the rear to face off the enemy cavalry attempting to come around that way.

The Marines managed to see off the cavalry however the centre was taking fire from all directions and suffering casualties accordingly. It was a bit of an ignominious defeat for the Brits with words spoken in the house.
Fun set of rules with movement and morale combined in one throw like Fire and Fury. British fire power was superior but couldn't be combined with movement. The Brits had spread their fire power too thin and ideally moving with one company whilst firing with another would be an ideal tactic but it was difficult to implement. Another go next time with better understanding of the rules should even things out.

Period:: Ancient
Battle: Fictitious, one of Alexanders encounters on his march west
Scale: 28mm
Rules: Hail Ceasar
Forces involved: Persians and Alexandrian Macedonian (lots)
Players: Noel (P), Pete (A), Gary (U)
Date: 10th, May 2013

Alexandrian deployment has a central body of infantry with Alex and his companions behind them and a right wing of light and medium cavalry.

 The advance begins on the left but falters in the centre

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 The Persian deployment with refused left flank and all their cavalry stationed on the right.

 The Macedonian left wing cavalry is heavily outnumbered and out manoeuvred by the lighter opponents.

 Alex has to move to the left to cover his destroyed left wing command while movement in the centre remains slow.

At last Macedonian infantry clash with the Persian infantry but resulted in a first round stand off. We had to end here but it wasn't looking good for Alex.

 I took some more photos. Persian light and medium cavalry

 Companions in wedge.

 More Persians

 Darius re splendid in purple.

 Persian infantry.

 Macedonian phalanx against Greek mercenaries.

Hail Ceasar has a similar framework as Black powder but movement rates are smaller. Hence the Macedonian advance combined with bad dice throws meant the advance was slow. A slightly different way of calculating combat and distance firing but in essence the same. As usual picking up a set of rules to play either for the first time or after a long time means there is some mistakes until you settle into things. Very enjoyable and lots of lovely figures.

Period:: NAP
Battle: Fictitious, Peninsular. Around 1810
Scale: 28mm
Rules: Napoleon at war
Forces involved: French -  11 bns inf, 1 foot gun, 2 regts of dragoon, and 1 chasseur. British and Portuguese - 8 bns, 2 dragoons and 1 hussar regt with 1 bty.
Players: Noel (U), Pete (F), Gary (B)
Date: 9th, May 2013

We decided to set up another Napoleonic game but using 'Napoleon at War' instead. Units consist of a 6 bases but can be classed as under or over strength. British lined up in defence with the French attacking in column. No real object other than the destruction of the opposite force.

 The French advance in the centre but the British a flanking attack.

Right of centre where the French line pivots (L shaped) due tot he flank attack, a single French bn faces two British.

On the French left however things were going better after an initial set back when French columns were stopped by line. Weight of numbers and combined arms started to force the line back.

 Things starting to look hairy for the Bn holding the pivot as the flank collapses.

 Too much pressure on the French right flank

 Surrounded but fighting to the end.

 Preferring what was happening on the other flank, 3 British Bn's are slowly running out of space.

 The French switch their cavalry from right to left to endeavour to save the flank

The battle lines are now effectively rotated around the centre by 90 degrees, not sure if this historically viable but it is a game.

We ended at this point before we did a complete pirouette. Interesting rules with the main feature being whether you were within engagement range, which affected your movement capabilities. Outside this range you could move very freely, as seen by our pirouette but it does speed up the game.

Period:: NAP
Battle: Fictitious, Peninsular. Around 1810
Scale: 28mm
Rules: Black powder
Forces involved: French - 9 bns inf, 1 foot gun, 4 regts of dragoons, 2 Hussars, 2 lancers and 2 chasseurs supported by a bty of horse guns. British - 8 bns, 2 dragoons and 4 hussar regts with 2 horse btys. Reserve of 2 Guard Bns and 1 foot bty.
Players: Noel (F), Pete (B), Gary (F)
Date: 9th, May 2013

Noel and myself endeavour to arrange a couple of days wargaming with our friend Gary at his place near Peterborough as often as we can. He has an excellent gaming room, an expanding collection of  armies and understanding wife.
First game up was a Napoleonic one using Black powder.
Objective: The light Division is conducting a fighting withdrawal and should endeavour to bring as many troops back to the baseline (foreground) as possible. British troops in the foreground are in reserve and can offer little assistance to the Light division.

 French initial deployment of cavalry and infantry.

 British initial deployment

 French initially assault with Chasseurs and lancers but the British cavalry see them off.

With a breathing space the British begin their withdrawal.

However French cavalry from the other flank come across and assault the line, singling out the battery at the end of the line. First mistake of the British was not to attach the guns to the line so that they could not be singled out. Quickly overrun the lancers wheel onto the line alongside. British cavalry close in to deal with the lancers.

 British make a further withdrawal as the French follow up with infantry.

 On the British left, the French with fewer cavalry in support press forward with infantry.

The British are now finding it more difficult to withdraw before the French and make a stand around the centre of the table. their second mistake was to withdraw their cavalry too far back so that it could not effectively support the infantry.

 French assaults are more coordinated, pinning the British down.

After a couple of delays (poor dice throws) the French bring their superior cavalry numbers to bare. Defeating the British cavalry and effectively leaving the infantry stranded.

 Casualties mount and it is unlikely that the British can effectively disengage.

Victory to the French.

Enjoyable game. You either like Black powder or you don't. One argument is whether a set of rules can cover a vast array of periods and theatres, even if there are some period specific modifiers, like steady line, advancing in column. You can also have unit specific characteristics like sharp shooter, marauders; some of which we forgot to apply.
 I like the large movement rates and the generally quick firing and combat resolution. We need to clarify whether two units can simultaneously assault a single unit. I also like rules that can accommodate single unit bases. 

Belated Christmas present

Period: ECW
Scale: 28mm
Subject: Horses, coach and 4 figures
Manufacturer: Redoubt Enterprises
Date: 6th May, 2013
Method: Black under coat, Foundry's 3 pot painting system, Coat D'Arms matt varnish

This was a belated Christmas present for my friend Gary. I purchased three of these sets from Redoubt at Warfare (2012) for a sale price of £20 each. I have already painted another one in similar colours for Noel's Christmas present and the third is for myself. As I am now bored with painting them, my one wont probably get finished and will join the bare metal army.
There was a little cleaning up of the carriage but otherwise construction was straight forward. Figures are nicely animated and easy to paint. I copied the light blue livery off Redoubts example.
Redoubt Enterprises great coach.

I used aluminium tomato paste tube cut 3mm wide for the suspension straps for the carriage. These are fastened to the four up right posts by the ball ornament acting as a pin through them. They are essential in holding the coach body steady. Being weighty gluing the body to chassis alone wont suffice.

I think I should have added reins and harness.