The Liberators 1810-1830 Yahoo Discussion Forum included Errata for Liberators QPR in the files section. With the demise of Yahoo forums these have disappeared. Since I refer to them in my Clarifications of Liberators QPR, and John Smith asked about them on the Liberators Facebook page, I’ve reconstructed the errata here based on the handwritten edits to my copy of the rules.
Spain
My specialty is the Military History of Spain and Portugal. The Spanish bits that seem to interest people the most are Carlist Wars, Rif Wars, Spanish Civil War and the Spanish involvement in WWII (mostly the Blue Division).
El Cid crushes the Caliph – A Big Base DBA Battle Report
Adam and Chris came over for a Big Base DBA set in the Reconquista. El Cid (Chris) leading a Castilian/Spanish army against the fanatic, Moroccan, Caliph of the Murabitun (Adam). Feudal Spanish versus Fanatic Berber according to DBA. Any one who has seen the Charlton Heston “El Cid” movie will know what this is all about.
Summary: Fun game. The action was all cavalry with the infantry hardly involved. Ed Cid and his Hidalgos (Knights) triumphed after a long and fierce struggle. The Caliph died at the head of his army.
Download Crossfire Freebie 1: Mini-Scenarios
Download Crossfire Freebie 1: Mini-Scenarios. Introductory scenarios for Arty Conliffe’s Crossfire by Steven Thomas and Dick Bryant. Assisted by Arty Conliffe.
Jesús Dapenas paints a Spanish FT-17 for service in the Rif
Jesús Dapena has continued his interest in Renault FT-17 Tanks in the Rif War by building a 1/16th model of a FT-17. He has painted it to represent Lieutenant Cipriano Briz (“Uncle Cipri”) tank, in the Rif War. Jesús shared his ideas and photos, and gave me permission to post them here. All words are Jesús’s.
How to get a paper copy of Tilly’s Very Bad Day
Tilly’s Very Bad Day is available free for Download (PDF). Some some people will want a paper copy. Here are three options: print and staple; print and bind; lulu print on demand.
Four Player Big Battle Big Base Triumph in the Punic Wars
We played Big Base Triumph in the Punic Wars – liked the Triumph rules but thought some of the troop types sucked. To really challenge ourselves and test out that impression, we played another, bigger, game with Iberians on the table in force. So “Light foot” for both Scutarii and Caetrati and “Javelin Cavalry” for Roman, Numidian, Carthaginian, big shield Iberians, and small shield Iberians. I felt, somehow, I was about to rub salt in the wounds. Of course this is Punic Wars.
Summary: Romans (Chris, Adam) beat Allied Carthaginian (Jamie) and Iberians (Steven)
Small Fleurus – A Tilly’s Very Bad Day Battle Report 1
Chris and Adam played my Small Fleurus Scenario. This was, of course Tilly’s Very Bad Day, and was played before I published Version 2.
Summary: Spanish won. Scenario was too challenging for inferior Protestant Paladins. But potential for a good game with tweaks.
Version 2 of Tilly’s Very Bad Day
We’ve been playing Tilly’s Very Bad Day for a few months now and I think it is time for some substantive changes – a version 2. This post describes the changes.
Battle of Nieuport 2 July 1600
The Battle of Nieuport (2 July 1600), also known as the Battle of the Dunes, was one of the few open field battles of the Eighty Years War, and the Dutch beat the Spanish. At that time anybody beating the Spanish was a surprise. I have reproduced Barry Nickle’s (1975) account of the 1600 campaign including the Battle of Nieuport. Then I’ve supplemented with some other sources, including Henry Hexham (1641).
Small Fleurus – A Tilly’s Very Bad Day Scenario
This scenario represents the Battle of Fleurus (29 Aug 1622) using Tilly’s Very Bad Day. Historically the Spanish defeated the Protestant Paladins Mansfeld and Brunswick, and destroyed the Protestant infantry, but did not prevent the Protestant horse from reaching the Dutch. 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).
Rafa “Archiduque” paints Minairons’s Spanish Civil War Figures
Every now and then I have a chat with Rafa, aka “Archiduque”, from Rafa “Archiduque” Miniatures Painting Studio. He got in touch recently and, after our chat, I had a look at his blog. Specifically his Spanish Civil War Gallery. Wow.
Rafa has kindly let me post some of his work here. Amazing. Have a look.
Factions in a multi-player Thirty Years War Campaign
I keep thinking about a multi-player Campaign for the Thirty Years War. Two of the big questions is how many factions and what are they? I take a quick look at board games for inspiration before taking a view. There are quite a few board games for the Thirty Years War. Many focus on simulating the entire war so I thought I have a look at what factions they have.
Should I introduce baggage camps to Tilly’s Very Bad Day?
Richard (doctorphalanx) has been encouraging me to introduce baggage camps into Tilly’s Very Bad Day. I like painting up camps for DBA and I already have a camp for my Dutch army of the Thirty years War. My question is, was looting the baggage train/camp a significant event in any battles of the Thirty years War or English Civil War?
DBA 3 – Improving the Simulation – Some Comments
Joe Collins has highlighted a number of problems with DBA 3.0 and suggested ways to address these problems. Collin’s was part of the group that developed DBA 3.0 so he is both a fan and on the inside team. I really like Collin’s attempt to tackle some big problems with DBA. It would be great if more people did this, starting with Phil Barker. Unfortunately, Collin’s particular suggestions mostly leave the problems unsolved. I do like his solution for Bow but even that needs more.
Musing on types of (commanded) shot in Tilly’s Very Bad Day
Tilly’s Very Bad Day has a “Shot” troop type. I thought I’d explain my thinking behind this troop type including how it simulates “commanded shot”.