Horse & Musket - Sedgemoor

Turn 1: Royalist infantry attempt to force their way across the Bussex Rhine to come to grips with Monmouth's rebels

I spent a good part of the day today working on Horse & Matchlock, "Volume 0" for the Horse & Musket series from Hollandspiele.

2mm English Foot Battalion - 1690

I'm experimenting today with how to paint these 2mm figure blocks. I've made a first attempt by painting a Williamite-era pike & shot English battalion.

Wars of Succession: The Best Marlborough Simulator Around

Eugene in Mantua at the end of 1701. He's already beat the pants off the French in two battles and taken Modena

I think Wars of Succession may be the best game AGEOD has ever produced, despite having some "fit and finish" issues. Granted, I'm biased toward the period, but this game takes the best of the new features introduced in Wars of Napoleon, discards what didn't work, and marries it to what did work in games like Thirty Years War  and Rise of Prussia.

A War With No Enemy

Giving AGEOD's latest on the English Civil War a try tonight. It certainly has an interesting map. This is the classic AGEOD engine so if you know it you can dive right in. If you don't, this might be a good game to start with, since the army size, at least in the first part of the game, tends to be small.

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!

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.

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.

1691 - The War of the Two Kings: Aughrim

Williamite foot and horse move to seize the Attibrassil Bridge and the village of Kilcommadan.

The period of European warfare from about 1670 to 1763 holds great fascination for me. In fact, I haven't been this engaged in learning about a historical period for probably the last 25 years. This is the period of transition from pike & shot warfare to the innovations of Napoleon. It was a period of constant, though in many cases limited warfare; a period where cautious generals avoided open battles and great ones sought to force it. It's a period filled with interesting personalities, fascinating campaigns, and dramatic battles.

A Famous Victory - Blenheim: Battle is Joined

Warfare during this period certainly is a methodical affair. It takes Cutts from 12:30 until 2:00 PM to get his leading brigade across the Nebel and launch the first assault on Blenheim. Despite support from the battery next to the village and all three battalions of the famed French Navarre regiment holding the front edge of Blenheim, Rowe's men charge the barricades.  Their combined fire shatters the 1/Navarre, eliminating it. Return fire disrupts a British battalion.

A Famous Victory - Blenheim: Reset

Blenheim setup overview

After doing a lot more reading about Blenheim and getting in a couple of turns to familiarize myself with the rules, I've decided to reset the game and start over. This time I'm using a much closer to historical setup, based on the OOB and maps from Obscure Battles. Not only is the distribution of units more correct, the actual battalions and regiments are mostly in the correct locations. The OOBs from the game and web site don't entirely line up, but they're close.

A Famous Victory - Blenheim: Anglo-Allied Setup and First Turns

Now for the Anglo-allied setup. Again, this is a quasi-historical setup. The commands ("lines" in game terms) are composed of roughly the right mix of units, and are in roughly the right places - as far as anyone knows. For a future game I will probably use the positions as illustrated here for what may be a more historical setup.