Seneffe

The French right begins their advance on the Dutch positioned at Seneffe

Pike & Shot Campaigns: Nordlingen

Some scenes from a PBEM game of Pike & Shot Campaigns. The beginning of the Protestant advance on the Imperial left. I'm playing the Protestants.

By Shot, Shock, and Faith - Intro

Some initial thoughts on By Shot, Shock, and Faith from Hexasim, a game covering five battles from the French Wars of Religion.

By Shot, Shock & Faith

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

All is Lost Save Honour

I'm in an Italian Wars mood. I'm working on learning the rules for All is Lost Save Honour, an operational/campaign treatment of the period. The system is based on OSG's Campaigns of Napoleon, but heavily modified.

The rules are very wordy. Still, it seems interesting and the map is to die for. Looking forward to giving it a try tomorrow during regular Thursday night gaming.

Scenes from Lens, 1648

A couple of scenes from the Battle of Lens, fought between the French under Condé and the Spanish under Archduke Leopold on August 20 1648.

How Not to Be a General in the Age of Reason

This is maddening to watch.

Pike & Shot Reading List I

My recent posts on the Early Modern era and associated games have lead to some requests for book titles on the period. Since I've read pretty extensively on the subject recently, I have a pretty good list. Recognizing that not everyone wants to dive into this the way I have, I've pulled together what I think are some good introductory titles.

Walcourt 1689

The results about halfway through the game, being careful to take my own advice and "wait for the guns."

Waiting for the Guns

Waiting for my artillery to unlimber before advancing at Aughrim

As wargamers, we are often guilty of taking actions with our pixeltruppen that no real general in his right mind would ever do. Casualties in wargames often exceed even the worst defeats real armies suffered, even when you win the game!

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.

Fleurus Two Times

I find the Pike and Shot period of warfare fascinating. Like the Napoleonic era and the American Civil War, it was a period of rapid evolution of warfare coupled with a time of dramatic political and social change. There's a lot to learn and understand about the wars of this period, and I keep getting drawn back to it.

Protestant and Imperial positions at the start of Fleurus, Pike & Shot Campaigns

Pike & Shot

The 16th Century saw the dawn of modern warfare, particularly in the brutal combat of the Thirty Years' War and the English Civil War. This has always been a favorite era of mine to study - but it has always also been an era poorly represented in wargames, particularly computer wargames.

The Swedish center at Lutzen