HOW NOT TO EXPERIMENT WITH BLACK POWDER

Cavalry clash in the Peninsula.

I have been wanting to do a cavalry encounter for a while now but have been thwarted by a lack of, yes you've guessed it, cavalry! My solution was to simply make each squadron a small unit and hope for the best. The units turned out to be far too brittle and the game was over far too quickly. For the purposes of the game all squadrons in the regiment had to be broken or have reached their stamina level to be a broken 'brigade'

Here's how it went with two French Dragoon regiments and a battery charged with the task of escorting a battalion of infantry off the table. Five squadrons of British cavalry are trying to cut them off.

The KGL advance directly towards the French instead of trying to cut off their escape.

1st KGL Hussars. (Perry plastics)

 French Dragoons (Perry plastics and Front Rank)

The French starting positions

British 16th Light Dragoons (Brigade Games)

French Dragoons face off against the KGL.

The infantry make for safety.

British cavalry remain static as their artillery advance.

Infantry shielded by cavalry.

French cavalry now positioned across both gaps.

KGL charge the French Dragoons who counter charge.

The other Dragoon regiment shilds the infantry from the advancing 14th LD.

The melee reslted in one squadron of the the KGL falling back but the other squadron defeated their opponents who fled the field. The remaining French dragoon opt to fall back...

to the position shown here with the other dragoon regiment to their right rear. The 14th LD position themselves to charge with artillery support on the hill.

An overview of the battlefield.

Clash of sabers as the Dragoons charge and counter charge.

Infantry head over to support the artillery.

The 14th B squadron are defeated.

and retire disordered.

The same fate awaits aA squadron.

C squadron are left exposed to a follow through charge by the French dragoons.

They are defeated..

and dispersed.

Things aren't looking too good for the British.

but their artillery have a nice juicy target to aim at..

and the KGL a nice flank to charge.

They defeat their enemy but are unable to carry on as casualties mean their regiment is now broken.

With both British cavalry regiments broken it was impossible for the British to do anything but fall back leaving the field clear for the French to continue their withdrawal unmolested.

The stamina value was too low to work as most units became broken too easily preventing the commanders from rallying off points. Next time the figure will be raised to 3. Should provide a more interesting game.

Thanks For Reading

Mick

We had a Wings of War game on Wednesday night using Tom's planes.

Scenario

A Roland C II has been ordered to take photos of a nearby towns defences and it is accompanied by a Albatros DVa unfortunately they have been spotted on route by allied scouts and an SE5a has been dispatched to stop them.

I took the SE5 while Mick took the Roland and Tom took the Albatros.

The Roland moves toward its target.

 Accompanied by the Albatros.

The Germans spot the SE5.

The SE5 moves toward the Roland but the Albatros does not seem to realise the danger.

The Roland closes in on its target.

The SE5 is in hot pursuit and still no reaction from the Albatros.

The SE5 moves behind the Roland but due to being lower in height it is unable to fire. The same cannot be said for the Roland as the rear gunner opens fire on the SE5 but does not manage to hit.

 The Albatros pilot must have been on the drink as he starts to fly away from the combat.

The Roland is forced to lower its altitude so he can take the photos as the Albatros finally gets into the combat.

The SE5 gets back on the tail of the Roland but before he can fire he is fired at by the Albatros who damages his engine(causing it to play a stall every three cards).

After taking the photos the Roland's rear gunner opens fire on the SE5 bot only damages the fabric.

The SE5 opens up on the Roland and damages its engine.

The SE5 again fires on the Roland and this time hits the spars and causes massive damage causing the aircraft to break up.

The Albatros and the SE5 square off.

The Albatros and the SE5 open fire on each other. The SE5 fails to hit but the Albatros scores another hit on the SE5's engine.

The SE5 and the Albatros fly into each other but luckily both planes escape with damaged paintwork.

The SE5 concerned about its damaged engine attempts to flee but the Albatros who is running low on ammo tries one final attack but again only damages the fabric.

 The Albatros veers off but the SE5 unwilling to risk his engine cutting decides to continue on home.

A victory for the Allies as they stopped the spy plane and suffered no casualties.

Next up on Wednesday we will be doing a Napoleonic cavalry battle using Black Powder.

Thanks For Reading

Carl