Battle of the Boyne

The Danes cross the Boyne

(Continued from here) By noon, the tide has dropped enough to make the crossing at Yellow Island practical. The Danes swarm across the river, led by Fodgarden's battalion and Württemberg. The Clare Dragoons put up a fight though - enough to kill Württemberg! While the Danes have gained a toehold they haven't cleared the shore yet, and the embattled Irish dragoons hold on.

Battle of the Boyne: The First Two Hours

How I've felt the last two weeks

Mid-April, and I managed to catch the flu. So, unfortunately I haven't been well enough to play much of anything until this weekend. Yesterday was a trip up to Chicago, so today is the first I've been able to get back to playing Lilliburlero. I played several turns and realized I'd forgotten a couple of important special scenario rules, and decided to completely reset. So, tonight you just get the first couple of hours of the battle - but they were pretty action packed!

An Outsized Impact: Battle of the Boyne

Lilibulero - The Oldbridge Scenario

The Battle of the Boyne has had an outsized impact on the history of Ireland, considering that it wasn't a particularly bloody or decisive battle.

The League of Augsburg

The map for Nine Years, a strategic/operation simulation of the war

After I wrap up Rossbach, I'm going to take a break from the Seven Years War and return to an ealier time. Namely, the Nine Years War, fought from 1688 to 1697.

Lilliburlero, or Aughrim Again

So, this arrived Saturday.  Because, as my friends know, I am a completionist in my obsessions.

After playing the Battle of Aughrim a couple of times I really wanted to find a board game covering it. A quick check of Board Game Geek revealed this gem - ironically the issue of ATO from right before I started my subscription with them!

I only ordered this Wednesday I think. Pretty amazing shipping by the ATO team. I've always been pretty pleased with Against the Odds. Not all of the games have appealed to me, but they always seem well done, the component quality is good, and the magazine is always filled with well-written articles the provide background to the game. Definitely recommended if you're interested in magazine games.

They're also not afraid to take on battles/campaigns from periods that aren't as popular with mainstream wargamers, like this. I also have their very good game covering The Great Northern War.

A Thunder Upon The Land

Some images from some recent board gaming:

Russian and Swedish positions at the start of the battle

Gaming Table and ATO Magazine

This weekend I finally managed to get a gaming table set up in my office/game room. I was just in time, too, because minutes after I set it up my first issue of Against the Odds magazine arrived.

I'm particularly excited because this issue focuses on Paul Rohrbaugh's A Thunder Upon the Land.  This game concerns the Great Northern War between the Swedes and Russians and portrays the battles of Narva and Poltava.

I really enjoy Paul's games. His chit- and card-pull systems make for elegant command rules and really enhance solitaire playability. In fact, the map you can see off to the left and the counters in the tray at the top are from his Test of Mettle game concerning three battles in France in September, 1944.

Arrived: Ghost Panzer

Thanks to the efforts of the good folks over at Grogheads, I'm returning to my long abandoned board gaming roots! It's been over 20 years since I bought a board game, and I honestly thought I never would again. Playing Lock n Load: Heroes of Stalingrad and Conflict of Heroes computer versions reawakened an interest in shuffling cardboard chits around paper maps.

Carefully removing Circle of Fire counters from the sprue and clipping them

I dipped my toe in first with Circle of Fire, a magazine game from Against the Odds magazine focused on the siege of Cholm in 1942.