Today, in our regular Sunday game, we cough a First Carlist War game. There was no specific scenario, just a straight up fight. A Carlist force of 20 infantry and six cavalry units, supported by two units of field guns and two mountain guns, faced off against an Isabellino force of fourteen infantry and three cavalry units, one field artillery unit, a horse artillery unit and two mountain guns. The Isabellino troops were supported by a force of French and British troops that added another nine infantry and two cavalry units, plus a field gun and a rocket group.
The terrain featured a village in the center of the table surrounded on two sides by steep hills. The rest of the terrain was rolling with a couple of small farms and their surrounding fields.
The Carlist decided to hold take and hold the village, committing one brigade to hold it, while a second brigade held the left of the village. The third Carlist brigade was further to the right whose intention was to delay the arrival of the British and French.
The Isabellino forces chose to swing wide with their cavalry and an infantry brigade against the Carlist left, while their other brigade attacked the village. The British and French were to push between the hills and fall in on the left of the village.
The first clash occurred on the Carlist right between the French lancers and the Ontorio Hussars.
The hussars were the victors in this fight and the action here took a turn when the British cavalry came under effective fire from the Carlist guns and quit the field. With no cavalry to oppose the Carlist cavalry were able to maneuver freely and The British and French were held in check.
An attempt by the Foreign Legion to push through beside the village was initially successful, but was quickly contained by the Carlists, and eventually turned back.
The action then shifted to the centre and the Carlist left. The Isabellino cavalry were successful at driving off the Carlist cavalry on the left.
The Carlists were forced to reinforce their left with a second brigade of cavalry and two reserve units. The fighting here seesawed for some time.
In the end the Isabellino forces triumphed. Hardly any impact had been made in the village but on the Carlist left the sustained pressure of the Isabellino forces (the reader should read that statement as appalling bad dice luck from the point of view of the Carlist commander and the incredibly good luck on the behalf of the Isabellino commander whose saving throws were bordering on legendary) drove in the Carlist left flank.
Nice table, some great photos . Looks like you all had fun.
ReplyDeleteWe did have fun. Lots of good banter and much cursing about bad die rolls. All we needed was a couple of bottles of wine, but we were all driving afterwards...
DeleteA very abridged version Mark! I found when I got home that I had taken 42(!) photos - which kind of put me off doing any blogging to be honest. I might load them all tomorrow and refrain from a blow by blow account of the game!
ReplyDeleteYes I had to truncate the post because I had problems with my blogging application last night.
DeleteSUperb pictures and armies, this village attack is truly impressive...even with bad luck!
ReplyDeleteThank you Phil. I suspect that It did not look as impressive from the point of view of the attacker!
DeleteGreat looking game and a nice see saw result!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Thanks Iain. It kept us busy and out of mischief for five or six hours.
DeleteYou can tell that it was an even struggle. Not much anyone can do against a lucky general though.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately he is the unluckiest dice roller ever...well not quite Keith from Bydand blog takes the honours there - rolling I think 8 dice requiring anything but a 1 and rolled 8 1’s.
DeleteYears ago when we had that games room in Ellerslie I do recall one gamer who rolled consistently badly in a game. He calmly went out side into the courtyard and hurled his dice off in to the distance. He returned completely calmly and continued the game...I don’t recall if his luck was any better.
i Think I can remember that episode. Was it Ellerslie, or the scout hall at Mt Eden? It’s funny how one can build a reputation as lucky or unlucky. Mine was unlucky early in the piece with the group I game with and, even though I believe it has been much better over th past five years, I still find it difficult to shake.
DeleteIt was certainlty in Ellerslie, I remember it was on a summer evening, the game was Napoleonic naval and the player was the calmest most affible person you could meet. Now that you mention it I do recall an incident involving dice being thrown at the Mt Eden hall, bouncing off the concrete block wall and landing in the middle of someone else's game...followed by a deathly silence...oh the maturity of wargamers!
DeleteGreat looking game, useful way to do roads too!
ReplyDeleteWe have used that reading message for what mayst be 30 years...and the same material too...we only seem to lose a tiny amount every time we use it. It is a finely crushed shell that can be swept up and put back in its bottle - works much better than model railway ballast that tends to stick to the cloth.
DeleteGreat photos of your wonderful Carlist War collection. Outstanding village.
ReplyDeleteIt was great to see the whole bunch out on the table and those buildings (originally made for an Italian game) don’t see the light of date enough. But I expect with the Spanish coming on, they wil” get much more use.
DeleteA lovely looking game Mark...
ReplyDeleteA period I still find very tempting...
All the best. Aly
It is a lovely period to game. We probably had more troops on the table than were ever assembled in reality, but the armies are so pretty and the uniforms so varied that it is hard to stop collecting. I just hope that the Perrys don't get it into their heads to make limbers because I certainly could not be restrained!
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