My Confessions of a Megalomaniac were my 2020 aspirations. How did I do? Not too shabby I reckon, despite “the Virus”.
Gunpowder Warfare
Black powder guns from arquebus to flintlock musket. I have chosen to start this period with the discovery of the New World (1492) and end it with the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855).
Sub-categories: New World, Italian Wars, Eighty Years’ War, Thirty Wars’ War, War of Spanish Succession, Napoleonic Wars, Liberators, Liberal Wars, Carlist Wars, New Zealand Wars.
Musing on Unmounted Cavalrymen in Tilly’s Very Bad Day
I was just reading Michael Fredholm von Essen’s latest book on the Swedish army of the Thirty Years War (Von Essen, 2000), and it seems the Swedes sometimes had unmounted cavalrymen. Not dismounted, unmounted, i.e. they were horsemen without horses. Naturally I started pondering how to simulate these men in Tilly’s Very Bad Day.
1760 British vs French in India – Turbans and Tricornes Test Game 2
Chris (British) and Steven (French) fought another unnamed battle from the 3rd Carnatic War (1756-63) (Seven Years War in India). We were using Adam’s home baked rules and figures, with jungles and fortifications provided by Steven. Once again the disciplined troops – European and Sepoy – showed their dominance over the lesser trained locals. All subsequent words are Adam’s.
Sinhalese and Tamil New World DBA Army List
Sinhalese and Tamil (1494-1700) army list for New World DBA, my New World variant of DBA. The list covers the Sinhalese and Tamil kingdoms of Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka). Admittedly most of my information is about the Sinhalese and I assume the Tamil were similar. The New World DBA list is my equivalent to DBA II/42d, DBR III/21 and FoGR Hindu Indian, but differs from these in significant ways.
S140 Dominant Hill – A Tilly’s Very Bad Day Scenario
This Tilly’s Very Bad Day scenario is based on Scenario 40: Dominant Hill from “Scenarios for Wargamers” by Charles Grant. It is a small game on a small table with small armies (in numbers of units).
S12 Fighting Across the River – A Tilly’s Very Bad Day Scenario
This Tilly’s Very Bad Day scenario is based on Scenario 12: Fighting Across the River from “Scenarios for all Ages” by Charles Grant and Stuart Asquith. It is a small game on a small table with small armies (in numbers of units).
S10 The Important Bridge – A Tilly’s Very Bad Day Scenario
This Tilly’s Very Bad Day scenario is based on Scenario 10: The Important Bridge from “Scenarios for all Ages” by Charles Grant and Stuart Asquith. It is a small game on a small table with small armies (in numbers of units).
S01 Attack on a Prepared Position – A Tilly’s Very Bad Day Scenario
This Tilly’s Very Bad Day scenario is based on Scenario 1: Attack on a Prepared Position from “Scenarios for all Ages” by Charles Grant and Stuart Asquith. It is a small game on a small table with small armies (in numbers of units). I described how I wrote the scenario in my post, Till’s Very Bad Scenarios for All Ages.
Tilly’s Very Bad Day Scenarios for All Ages
I’m looking for more small scenarios for Tilly’s Very Bad Day so I wondered how the “Scenarios for all Ages” of Charles Grant and Stuart Asquith would transfer. Although “for all Ages” the design of the scenarios is obviously for Horse and Musket so I think that transferring to Pike & Shot should be easy. To test this theory out I look at one scenario: Scenario 1: Attack on a Prepared Position. As it happens the scenario only needs very small levels of tweaking to get it to work for Tilly’s Very Bad Day. What follows is a bit of a blow by blow account of how I converted the scenario.
Small Kircholm – A Tilly’s Very Bad Day Scenario
I have been Musing on Polish Winged Hussars in Tilly’s Very Bad Day and I needed a scenario to play test on. So here is the Battle of Kircholm (27 Sep 1605), in the Polish–Swedish War (1600–1611), using Tilly’s Very Bad Day. The Swedes had over 10,000 men and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth about 4,000, but it was a massive Polish-Lithuanian victory with the Swedes losing up to 9,000 killed to only 100 Polish-Lithuanians. This is one of many victories by the Polish Winged Hussars – and I introduce terribly draft rules to cover them. These defeats were pivotal in persuading Gustavus Adolphus that he had to reform the Swedish army. Given the number of troops involved in the real battle, this is a small game on a small table with small armies (in numbers of units).
1760 British vs French in India – A Battle Report
[All words from Adam Landa.]
Adam and Steven played the first game of Adam’s home brewed rules for Indian colonial warfare. Rules that are currently unnamed, suggestions welcome!
The rules cover the rough period of 1740-1820, with this particular game being set around 1760, around the time of the Battle of Wandiwash. Think Clive, Tipu Sultan, Wellington before he was the Duke etc. They represent the bigger battles in India during this period, although these were quite small by European standards.
The battle saw a British force trying to drive off some entrenched French astride a road. A river and a jungle enclosed the battlefield. Despite being nominally ‘British’ and ‘French’, both armies were chiefly composed of native troops.
Musing on Polish Winged Hussars in Tilly’s Very Bad Day
After a bit of Spitballing on Eastern Armies in Tilly’s Very Bad Day I decided that the rules as they stand do not simulate Polish Winged Hussars adequately. So here is my current thinking.
Small Boldon Hill – A Tilly’s Very Bad Day Scenario
This scenario represents the Battle of Boldon Hill (24 Mar 1644) in the English Civil War. Historically Boldon Hill was a rather inclusive skirmish, fought in the enclosed fields between the Royalists and Scots Covenanter Armies. It was such a minor affair that some accounts of the Scottish campaign in northern England don’t even mention the battle. However, Vincent Tsao recently played a game of TVBD using the In Deo Veritas scenario for the battle, so I thought I’d see what a scenario specifically designed for Tilly’s Very Bad Day would look like. Given the number of troops involved in the real battle, this is a small game on a small table with small armies (in numbers of units).
I have to say the skirmish nature of the historical battle means it is not really a good fit for Tilly’s Very Bad Day, which is designed for full field battles, but the scenario is small and that might appeal to some players. For it to work, as a scenario, one of the players has to go for it, and risk destruction in the enclosed fields. I have included an option, in the notes, for a scenario that is less historic but probably provides a better game.
Small Herbsthausen – A Tillys Very Bad Day Battle Report
In our first game since Covid-19 lockdown, Jamie and I played my Small Herbsthausen – A Tilly’s Very Bad Day Scenario. In Tilly’s Very Bad Day terms this is a small game on a small table with small armies (in numbers of units). The Bavarians (Jamie) heavily outnumber the French (Steven) so I was going to find this a struggle.
Summary: A quick game resulting in an rather spectacular draw. That is pretty much the best result the French could expect from the scenario.
Army of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 17th Century
When I first visited London, in 1989, I attended a wargaming club in North London. I forget where. The club night featured a renaissance game with Polish Hussars dominating the table. I was captivated. Now, years later, I’m revisiting the army of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Rzeczpospolita). Poland was the biggest country in 17th Century Europe, nearly twice as big as the next biggest, France. Its army was powerful and combined elements of the east and west. The most distinctive component were the famous winged Hussars, but they also had good light cavalry, and western style pike and shot. And it was fighting the Poles where Gustavus Adolphus cut his teeth as a military commander. This post is about the army of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.