Russian Battle

The last two days of our camp will be devoted to a battle pitting the Prussians against the Russians. In the picture below, the Prussian players determine who will command which units. Before the start of the game, I told the Russian players that the key to their victory was being stubborn in defense. If they could hold their ground, they had a good chance of winning. Well, so much for advising young generals. Right from the start, the Russians pushed off aggressively against the Prussians. In the shot below, the two cavalries begin a series of spirited charges and counter-charges. The best sport of the day was Jason, who saw two of his Prussian dragoon regiments depart the field without even drawing thier sabers. His dice rolling was unbelievably terrible. He recruited John to start tossing them for him, and his lone remaining regiment actually did quite well.

Here is an example of a Russian unit advancing into the jaws of the enemy, forsaking the cover of a stone wall to the right that would have helped them tremendously. "Youth is wasted on the wrong people!"

Despite some early gains early on, the Prussians superior troops definitely had an edge at the end of the day. But they still had to capture several objectives before they could claim a victory. We'll see if they have what it takes to seal the deal tomorrow.

Day three of Camp VIP SYW week

The third day of our camp saw the end of the first battle. We were able to complete 10 turns in three days, which was largely due to how quickly the boys picked on how to use the rules. That helped tremendously in keeping the game going. In the shot below, young Michael attempted to attack a vastly superior force of Prussians. It was a gallant effort, but his heavily outnumbered French were driven back.

Here is a shot showing the guys in the heat of battle.

Towards the end of the game, Derek advanced his Hanoverian brigade forward to try to secure the Prussian left flank. Amazingly, the heavily outnumbered Prussians were able to withstand an intense attack from five Austrian brigades. A spectacular charge by a lone Hanoverian dragoon regiment hit an entire white-clad brigade square in the flank. Three battalions were routed before the dragoons were halted. Their attached commander suffered a wound and had to leave the field.

When the battle smoke finally cleared the Prussians were declared the winners. They had won more objective points and inflicted more casualties on their enemies. But it was a very close and costly victory.

Tomorrow will see the Prussians taking on the Russian masses.

Day two Camp VIP SYW week

Things picked right up at the beginning of day two. In the early action, Derek's Hanoverian infantry managed to hold of Michael's Austrian Hussars. What should have been a disaster turned into a draw due to a lot of ones rolled by the Austrian commander. On the other flank, Kyle was able to drive off John P's dragoons and avert yet another serious threat. (click on the picture to enlarge it for a better view.) In the middle, Chris and Jordan ganged up on Kevin's two small brigades. After two turns, Kevin's brigades were barely holding on. Both allied batteries had been captured. And if that weren't enough, a third elite brigade of Prussian grenadiers arrived at the end of the day to add still more pressure.

On the Prussian left, John had finally brought his turning maneuver into play against the Austrians. This threat will have to be dealt with, and two brigades in white are ready to lock horns with John's men in dark blue.

The last major development of the day saw Jordon's Prussians beat Cormack's French in the race to occupy the large farm in the middle of the table. This objective is worth a lot of points, and Cormack will have his hands full trying to drive out the stubborn Prussians.

One way or the other, the battle will end on day three so that we can end the week with a battle using my Russian figures which are itching for a fight. As the sun rises on day three, the battle really could go either way.

All 13 of the boys in the class have been terrific. It has been a lot of fun so far, just as it is supposed to be.

Camp VIP SYW week begins

Today marked the beginning of my seventh summer of teaching my military history class at Camp VIP. This week will feature the Seven Years War. 13 young recruits turned out and our fictional battle, pitting Prussians and Hanoverians against Austrians and French is underway. The picture below is the table before the game began. The Austrians would be setting up on the right and the Prussians on the left. The various brigades were worth a certain number of points. Each side had to put together an army worth a set number of points. Once that was done, cards were drawn and the brigades were placed on the table. (to enlarge the picture, just click on it.)
This next picture shows two French brigades that will be seeking to gain the farm in front of them.

Here are two Prussian brigades preparing to attack on the left flank.

Once the game got started, there was a lot of activity. By the start of the 3rd turn things really started to heat up!

This final shot is about a third of the way into the third turn. Some Austrian dragoons had their card turn up early which gave them the chance to charge before the Prussian infantry could get into squares. The horsemen overwhelmed a heavy battery and then drove off a disorganized square of infantry. But the Prussian cuirassiers on their left might make them regret their boldness.

AWI photos

Here are a few shots of a small portion of my AWI collection. These are some British and Hessians going up against some American militia. Most of the regiments went from a minimum of 10 to 12 up to 16 figures. Below is a shot of the British Guards brigade marching to support the attack.

This is the same set-up, but from the other flank.

Mission accomplished

At long last I have finally finished my re-basing project for both my Seven Years War and American Revolutionary war collections. My miniatures class begins next week, so I have had to get this done to be ready. I am very pleased with the results, and added some figures to both collections to make the units a little bit larger. I particularly like the command stands, based on 1/2" and 3/4" washers. It's easier to distinguish between the line units and the commanders now.

I'll clean up my mess and set up some shots of both collections to post tomorrow.

Pictures of the last wargame

The picture below is of the Russian left at the start of the battle. The artillery on the hills proved to be a problem for the Prussians the entire battle. The buildings on the left were a primary objective. The Russians had the advantage of being closer to them at the onset of the game. The Prussians placed the majority of their units on the right, hoping to neutralize the Russian cavalry with their own horsemen and then storm the town with their six line battalions.

This is a shot of the village on the Russian right, held by a brigade and a battery. The Prussian grenadiers can be seen in the woods, trying to shield themselves from the Russian guns. This only delayed the inevitable. By the time they launched their attack, they had been pretty well decimated by musketry and cannister.

The primary Prussian success came on their extreme right where their cavalry, though outnumbered, was able to keep the Russian troopers at bey.

The focus of most of the action was this town. The Russians were able to occupy the two sections first. Initially, the Prussians were able to drive them out, but at the end of the game, Russian reserves counter-attacked successfully.