By Shot, Shock & Faith

Montpensier's column opens the battle with an attack on Aubervilliers using argoulets and cannon.

Austerlitz - Rising Eagles

Scenario 1 covers Davout's defense of Telnitz and Sokolwitz on the French right

Grogbrother Jim has been expressing cautious optimism about Hexasim's Eagles of France series this weekend. He's specifically playing Fallen Eagles, which covers Waterloo. I have Rising Eagles, their Austerlitz game. Given Jim's praise for his early attempts at the system, I thought I ought to finally get it on the table and give it a try.

Wargaming Night - GMT Germantown - First session

Initial setup positions

Thursday evenings are wargaming night around here, and this past Thursday David and I tackled GMT's Germantown from their Battles of the American Revolution series. Game scale is an hour per turn, units are battalions with some brigades, 200 yards per hex. Given that I was slightly more familiar with the rules, I took the Americans and David played His Majesty's troops.

Post-Origins Hangover

It always seems like it takes me awhile to get back to the blog after Origins. In the past this has been due to a bit of a "gaming hangover" where I didn't play much for a month or so after the convention. This year has been the opposite: I've been playing so much I really haven't had much time to blog!

Under the Lily Banners

Mercy's Bavarians surprise Turenne's French at Mergentheim

I have been interested in the wars of Marshal Turenne and the French armies from the end of the Thirty Years War to the Nine Years War. This is an overlooked period in gaming but an interesting one as it comes during the conclusion of the Pike & Shot Era. There are significant changes in tactics and advancements in weaponry during this period that make the various armies very different. These are the early wars of Louis XIV and were marked by the overwhelming presences of two French generals, Turenne and Condé.

Playing Nine Years

A French army lays siege to Tournai

I'm not ready to do a full-blown walk-through of Nine Years yet because I'm still learning it. What I am prepared to say is that I'm enjoying this game immensely!

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.

Rossbach: The Battle

11:30 and Frederick is on the move

I hinted that the Prussians had made a subtle, but serious error in my previous post. In this entry we'll see what they did, and how that combined with another unfortunate happening led to a surprising outcome at the Battle of Rossbach.

Rossbach: The Flank March

The aftermath of the French attack on Schortau

Historically, Rossbach was a Prussian triumph, a battle fought not just against inferior French and Imperial troops, but by Frederick against a pair of French and Imperial generals who probably had no business being on the field.

That may not be the case on my table.

Rossbach: Prelude

Rossbach: Prussian initial approach and retreat. Because Frederick might have been aggressive, but he was no fool.

The battles of Rossbach and Leuthen in 1757, during the Seven Years War, are like something from a movie.

Arrived This Past Week

Nine Years - The War of the Grand Alliance  by Compass Games and Napoleon's Quagmire from OSG. More pictures of the games in play coming.

Gaming Sunday with Pub Battles Brandywine

For someone that doesn't get out much, I certainly had a busy gaming Sunday.

HtL:Chotusitz with Bob

It took a cautious seven turns for my Austrians to close with the Prussian right in preparation to attack Chotusitz

Bob Ellis and I got in another round of Hold the Line: Frederick's War today; this time the second battle of the First Silesian War, Chotusitz. This game seesawed back and forth and was very tense right until the end. Bob and I played this time with all of the advanced rules except attacker morale checks and facing, which added a nice bit of chrome to the game. Despite the simplicity of the rules, this game continues to impress us both with just how well it seems to portray the period.

What Do You Mean, I Have An Addiction?

I ordered Leuthen: Frederick's Greatest Victory today from Victory Point Games. Because only have two other versions of the battle (not counting computer games) is not enough. Plus, the limited intel rules looked cool.

Now I want Command Post Games to make a version, too.

On the table: Rossbach

The battle of Rossbach from GMT's Prussia's Glory. Hopefully I'll have sufficient post-work brain power available this week to play before the weekend.

Recent Kickstarters I've Backed

Pub Battles: Antietam (Limited "Sharpsburg" Edition)

While I may have some quibbles with the ambiguity of the rules for these games, there's just no denying that the Pub Battles games are fun, fast playing, Kriegspiel-like, and just plain gorgeous. When I saw that there was a limited edition version of their upcoming Antietam game on Kickstarter, there was just no way I could keep myself from backing it.

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.

Pub Battles: Brandywine

My darling wife indulged me again. Perhaps my favorite present this year, Pub Battles: Brandywine from Command Post Games.

Board Gaming for the rest of 2016

Here's my table set up for the games I'll be playing for the rest of this year.

Relaxation

Sometimes real relaxation isn't playing. Sometimes it's clipping counters with a nice glass of single malt and a cool map in front of you.

More soon.