Test Battle
Some pics of the 1st test battle using vanilla Bloody Big Battles. The scenario is a French force has to relieve an isolated outpost.
The French army advances to save the outpost
The outpost held by Zouaves. The flag is incorrect as it has Imperial Eagles
The Algerian army hovers on the flanks of the relieving force
The Algerians begin their charge
The French form up to meet the Algerians
The Algerian charge pushes the French lines back
The Algerians reform to exploit their attack
Tirailleurs and Legionnaires supported by a mountain battery
A mountain battery limbers up to avoid being overrun
Final positions - the French battalions form a ragged line as the Algerians withdraw
The game highlighted a couple of issues.
Firstly I don't have enough Algerians - this is currently being rectified with several units of Algerian infantry, both regular and irregular, and Kabyle mountain troops being painted up.. and some more cavalry
Secondly I need to rework the cavalry rules in BBB to give them a charging bonus in melee. Also I need to have a look at squares as this appears to be the SOP for French infantry against the Algerian cavalry.
Finally French deployment needs to avoid using the table edge as a secure flank but this is a common problem in colonial games.
Other than that BBB works fine for the period which comes as no surprise.
The majority of the figures are from Little Wars Miniatures They are large 10mm almost 12mm, nicely detailed with several poses. The down side is that the the swords and the horses' ankles are prone to snapping but superglue fixes the latter and the broken swords give a bit more variety.
There are also a handful of Old Glory Arabs. I will be adding some of the new Pendraken Irregular Arab cavalry (ME25) to the force
All of the figures were painted by Shaun Mutton
They are based for Bloody Big Battles - some on multiple bases
I'm currently basing up infantry from Little Wars Minatures & Pendraken plus tents, pack camels and civilians
French Army
All of the figures are Pendraken miniatures and virtually all of them have been painted by Nathan (toxicpixie)
They are based for Bloody Big Battles
Two battalions of the Foreign Legion with a newly arrived Line battalion in the background
Two battalions of "in country" Line Infantry with a newly arrived Line battalion in the background
Zouaves and Tirailleurs
Spahis and Chasseurs d'Afrique
Mountain batteries deployed
Mountain batteries on the march
At some point I'll add pictures of the fort and I'll do it as a blog
Excellent collection, love the paint jobs. Also something that is not wargamed all that often. Cool project!
ReplyDeleteThanks Joseph. I had 2 very good painters - one for each army. There's more on the way - civilians, camel trains, tents and a fort!
ReplyDeleteThe period is very poorly served in English and almost non-existent when it comes to figures which is a shame. However there are hundreds of paintings of the period thanks to the French School of Orientalism.
Thanks for the kind words Alan - nice to see the lads based up and in action!
ReplyDeleteCan you impose a penalty in melee and/or on the manovre table for a “hanging flank” on the edge as an “empty desert, could be anything there” modifier?
you did a cracking job on them thaanks. I think the key is in the scenario where either the Regulars have to deploy in the middle of the table or start at the edge but the objectives force them to advance quite a distance in a given number of turms
DeleteCheers, I liked them - nice figures, and that's a nice basing to set them off :)
DeleteI was pondering "could you just make the colonial armies set up in the middle of the table" as an idea. I can't remember how Peter Pigs PitS did it - just that there was lots of scouting and virtually anywhere could hide Mahdists, in front, to the flank, behind...