A Random Update

Busy, busy, busy....

There's been loads going on this February, but nothing especially new or finished enough to deserve a blog post all of its own. So here's a quick mixed bag post.

There were a few games of Blücher with my new Prussians...

I have nearly the full first two corps for the 1813 campaign done. The third corps will need another order from Heroics and Ros, but I put that in by email last week.

In that order I also looked at my next 6mm project, English Civil War and managed to get a large lot of unpainted H&R ECW minis on eBay. I've been planning how to base these and I think I will be using 30mm square bases, three to make a regiment, with command markers on 20mm squares meaning that the troops can count for either side as needed. I trialled this layout last night. I have a lot to do before I get round to these!

Here's what I have in progress on the workbench. Note that I still use glue and filler rather than acrylic sealant for the bases of the artillery. You can also see the Slaanesh Hellship I need to get painted for the Man O'War tournament I'm going to in a few weeks.

The large hill/mountain is well underway for Arroyo Molinos at Hammerhead. I just need to add some additional details. I got a couple of games in with it as well.

I did think I might get chance to do the 1/1200 Spanish Napoleonic ships I've had for a couple of years, this after a couple of very enjoyable Fighting Sail games. But no, other things have jumped in again. I "need" to get some 6mm Marie Louises painted for the French 1813 army!

Arroyo Molinos - A Blücher Participation Game

We'll be putting on a couple of Blücher participation games at the Hammerhead Wargames Show. One will be the Vyazma game that we'll be playing all day, people can join in if they want. The second will be a boot-camp style game.

I've been looking around to see if there's a real battle that could be played in about an hour with small forces without too much complexity. I wanted it to be in the Peninsular as that then fits with what units I have available after contributing to the Vyazma battle.

The battle I've decided to go for is Arroyo Molinos. On 28th October 1811, General Hill assaulted General Girard's forces in a surprise attack. It's a really small battle but has quite a good story behind it and manoeuvre over relatively open ground by both infantry and cavalry on both sides. Something Blücher is good at simulating. Of course it's a foregone conclusion as the French are heavily outnumbered and will always lose, but this scenario is all about how long they can last!

I just finished the first trial game with my son and it took the 1 hour needed to play it through. It also was a lot of fun. We managed to get about 17 turns in! I think if he'd used his cavalry a bit earlier he'd have reached victory a lot quicker!

Above, the French defensive line. The hills behind are the impassible Sierra de Montanchez. I will make a specific model of those ready for the show.

The French forces are scattered at the end of the battle, but in this game the British didn't fair that well either!

So, please do come and say hello to us at Hammerhead and get a game in!