Macta, Algeria, 28 June 1835 using Bloody Big Battles

The Battle of Macta was fought on 28 June 1835 between French forces under General Camille Alphonse Trézel and a coalition of Algerian tribes of western Algeria under Emir Abd-el-Kader.

The French had fought an inconclusive but bloody battle with Abd-el-Kader a few days earlier in the forest of Muley-Ismaël. The French, with 20 wagons full of wounded men, turned back towards the coast to resupply for a fresh effort

 
Abd-el-Kader attacked the French column where the track passed between the Macta marshes and some hills. 

Basically this is an historical version of the classic Wagon Train scenario. The objectives are the two wagons which start the game in French control. If a unit of Algerians contacts a wagon then it is removed from the table and cannot be recaptured by the French.

Information on the battle is sparse with regards to exact location and numbers of Algerian troops. For instance I have read accounts of the marshes being on the French Left flank and others where they are on the Right flank. I've gone with the marsh on the French Left flank. 

The table is only 3x3 foot. With 3" ranges for the smoothbore muskets and the French having to stay near the track then it isn't really a game of manoeuvre as the Algerians can come on where they want. In theory the French could  get the wagons off the table by Turn 4 but it is highly unlikely.

French Forces
Bases	Attributes	Morale	Weapon	Unit	Deployment / Arrival
1			Ldr	Gen Trézel C-in-C	Upto 12" from S Edge and <6" from track
3	P	Trnd	SM	1/66th Line	Ditto
3	P	Trnd	SM	1/66th Line	Ditto
3		Trnd	SM	Bataillon d'infanterie légère d'Afrique (Bat d'Af)	Ditto
3		Trnd	SM	Bataillon d'infanterie légère d'Afrique (Bat d'Af)	Ditto
3	S,A	Trnd	SM	5/Legion Etrangere (Italian)	Ditto
3	S,A	Trnd	SM	5/Legion Etrangere (Italian)	Ditto
3	S,A	Trnd	SM	4/Legion Etrangere (Polish)	Ditto
2	A	Trnd	Cav	2/Chasseurs d'Afrique (CdA)	Ditto
2	A	Trnd	Cav	2/Chasseurs d'Afrique (CdA)	Ditto
2			SA	Mountain howitzers	Ditto plus limbered
2		Raw		Wagons	Upto 12" from S Edge on the track
Algerian Forces
Bases	Attributes	Morale	Weapon	Unit	Deployment / Arrival
1			Ldr	Emir Abd-el-Kader	Anywhere along E edge
4		Trnd	SM	"Regular" Infantry	Ditto
4		Trnd	SM	"Regular" Infantry	Ditto
4		Trnd	SM	"Regular" Infantry	Ditto
4		Trnd	SM	"Regular" Infantry	Ditto
1			Ldr	Milud ben-Arrach	Anywhere along W edge
4	R	Trnd	SM Cav	Tribal Cavalry	Ditto
4	R	Trnd	SM Cav	Tribal Cavalry	Ditto
4	R	Trnd	SM Cav	Tribal Cavalry	Ditto
4	R	Trnd	SM Cav	Tribal Cavalry	Ditto
4	R	Trnd	SM Cav	Tribal Cavalry	Ditto
4	R	Trnd	SM Cav	Tribal Cavalry	Ditto
4	R	Trnd	SM Cav	Tribal Cavalry	Ditto
4	R	Trnd	SM Cav	Tribal Cavalry	Ditto

Deployment. The wagons must stay on the track which doesn't double movement.

Turn 1: Algerian cavalry & infantry move to cut off the column's advance. the rear wagon only moved half a move so the column is already extending  

A close up of the column with General Trézel in the centre

Turn 2: On the right 2/CdA and a Mountain gun have moved onto the small hill but are charged by Algerian cavalry and infantry respectively. On the left the other squadrons of  2/CdA face off against more tribal cavalry. Meanwhile at the tail of the column a large force of Algerian cavalry awaits the right moment to pounce.

Turn 3: On the right 2/CdA and a Mountain gun have been overrun. On the left 2/CdA and General  Trézel have been overrun whilst the rearguard companies of the 1/66th have retreated to the wagons . Only in the edge of the marshes have the French had success with part of 5/LE holding off a cavalry charge.

Turn 4: Part of 5/LE recaptures the hill. At the rear of the column the only remaining Mountain Gun unlimbers and together with 4/LE faces the Algerian cavalry. At the front of the column the vanguard companies of the 1/66th evaporate leaving their comrades from the rearguard as the new vanguard! 

Turn 5: The Algerian cavalry sweep down from the hill hitting the right wing of 5/LE which retires behind the wagons. Behind them are two units of the Bat d'Af who both failed their movement rolls so can't  do anything.

Turn 6:  The rearguard Mountain Gun gets overrun and one wagon falls into Algerian hands. The 1/66 gets destroyed at the front of the column. One of the Bat d'Af  makes its movement and swings about to face the cavalry from the marshes but it is really too late.

Turn 7: The loss of the second wagon means that the French are defeated. In the actual battle  Emir Abd-el-Kader could only get a handful of his troops to continue the fight as many of them were too busy looting the wagons and killing the wounded. 

When I originally wrote this scenario back in 2020 the French were in 6 base units which made them hard to destroy. This time I had split the French into 3 base units which made them more flexible but vulnerable. 

For the next playtest I will make the Algerian cavalry Raw and give the French infantry Devastating Volley. I might even have to get some more Chasseurs d'Afrique painted up

Unlike most Colonial games, this one has both sides armed with the same weapons so there is no technological advantage to the Europeans. In fact the French had been selling weapons to the Algerians for quite some time as part of their treaty with Emir Abd-el-Kader!

I was made aware of this battle only because it was Marshal François Achille Bazaine's first major battle, admittedly he was only a sous-lieutenant in the Legion Etrangere at the time.

All French figures are Pendraken and all Algerian figures are either Lancashire Games or Pendraken

Mukden 1905 RJW using Bloody Big Battles

I've wanted to do the battle of Mukden for quite a while now. 

Start of game from Russian positions

I've considered various ways such as single battle using a 12' table, a 2 game campaign where the Japanese player decides on which flank the 3rd army appears, the several game campaign covering the different phases of the battle and the single battle on my dining room table which is about 5' long and 3.5' wide 

 Naturally I went for the easiest one, the single battle on my dining room table. 

Rough map of the battlefield

The terrain was very basic. I included the highlands to the east because they played a significant part in the battle so steep slopes and classed as difficult terrain. However I excluded the Han river because it was frozen during the battle. Mukden was 2 villages and the single Objective was the northern road exit from Mukden. The frontline comprised Rifle Pits that were just over 3" apart. This meant that troops couldn't sit in their trenches and fire-fight

The  east and west roads are purely to mark the route of Japanese 3rd Army so there is no road bonus for them. 

All of the OOBs give the number of battalions, squadrons & batteries but, other than total numbers, I haven't found a manpower OOB. So using the unit OOBs I divided the number of battalions by 8 and rounded up. 

Japanese OOB

C-in-C FM Oyama Anywhere south of front line 

4 A Vet SM General Reserve 

First Army South of front line, South-east of Mukden 

Gen Kuroki

4 A Vet SM Guards Div

5 A Vet SM 2th & 12th Inf Divs 

Second Army South of front line, South-west of Mukden 

Gen Oku 

4 A Vet SM 5th & 8th Inf Divs 

4 A Vet SM 4th Inf Div & 8th Kobi 

Third Army Either on Road SW of Mukden or on Road SE of Mukden 

Gen Nogi 

4 A Vet SM 9th inf Div & Cavalry Corps 

3 A Vet SM 1st & 7th Inf Divs 

Fourth Army South of front line, south of Mukden 

Gen Nozu

4 A Vet SM 6th & 10th Inf Divs 

3 A Vet SM Okubo's Detachment 

Fifth Army South-east hills 

Gen Kawamura 

5 A Vet SM 11th Inf Div 

10 units of 40 Infantry & 6 Generals @ 6500 Troops per base 

Russian OOB

Second Army North of Front Line, west of Mukden

4 P Trnd SM Tapornin’s Detachment

3 P Trnd SM Vasiliev's Detachment

3 P Trnd SM Rifle Corps

3 P Trnd SM VIII Army Corps

2 P Trnd SM X Army Corps

3 P Trnd SM Golembatov's Detachment

Third Army North of Front Line, south of Mukden

3 P Trnd SM V Siberian Army Corps

2 P Trnd SM XVII Army Corps

2 P Trnd SM VI Siberian Army Corps

2 P Trnd SM General Reserve, Third Army

First Army North of Front Line, east of Mukden

4 P Trnd SM I Army Corps

3 P Trnd SM IV Siberian Army Corps 

3 P Trnd SM II Siberian Army Corps

3 P Trnd SM 3rd ESR Div,III Siberian Army Corps 

3 P Trnd SM 72nd Inf Div, III Siberian Army Corps

4 P Trnd SM Rennenkampf's Detachment

Reserve In Mukden 3 P Trnd SM I Siberian Army Corps

17 units of 50 Infantry @ 6500 Troops per base 

Due to the large scale I decided that all troops would be armed with SM giving a 3" range. I ignored artillery as, again due to the scale, it just didn't feel right.

The Japanese 3rd Army which was sent to outflank Mukden was represented by 2 counters, one real & one dummy,  which simultaneously appear on both the south-east and south-west roads. They move exactly like other units but are always considered in command. The real 3rd Army is revealed when a Russian unit is within 6" of it as the start of a Japanese turn.

The Russian army was not allowed to advance beyond their front line as this felt in keeping with General Kuropatkin's defensive mindset.

Turn 3: the Japanese 3rd Army arrives on Russian left flank.

In the centre the Japanese have broken through the frontline but the Russians have thrown in their Reserves to bolster the line

Turn 4: Russian 1st Army appears to have the left flank covered

On the right flank Russian 2nd Army has immense difficulty manoeuvring 

Turn 5: A general Japanese assault along the whole front succeeds on the Russian left flank but holds elsewhere

Turn 6: Weight of numbers pushes back the Russian Left flank. 

The observant reader will no doubt have noticed that several Russian units have not reacted to events close-by. This is mainly due to the Russian player's inability to roll anything higher than 5 on the Movement chart for several turns.

Turn 8: The Russians are on the back foot now. Although Russian 2nd Army has finally moved units from the right flank to the centre, the Japanese 2nd Army is advancing against the right flank. On the left flank 2 of the Russian units are Spent and won't last long. In the Centre Japanese 3rd Army units have entered Mukden 

Turn 9: A rear-guard action by the last 3 units of the Russian army won't hold the Japanese for long. However the Japanese units are scattered far and wide and won't be able to mount an effective pursuit.

The Russian army had basically ceased to exist so I conceded the game at this point knowing that the Japanese would capture the objective in their next turn. 

Game Observations

General I was pleased with the first attempt at this scenario. 

I thought that the OOB worked well with the Russians acting historically due to their Passive attribute and also having smaller units which vanished once they started taking casualties. The Japanese army with the 6 Generals meant that they rarely failed to move. 

There are a couple of changes that I would make. Firstly give the Russians a second line of Rifle Pits so that they could fall back on them. Secondly I would move everything 6" towards the Japanese base line to give more room for IJA 3rd Army's outflank. Finally I would remove the east & west roads  and just have the counters advance down the east and west edge of the table.

Thanks for Shaun for playing the Japanese

The figures were all from Pendraken's old 10mm RJW range    

0200 Hours: Airfield Raid

02 Hundred Hours is a skirmish wargame focusing on night-time raids in World War II. If you see yourself as the SAS setting demo charges to blow up a lorry or as the Landesschützen investigating suspicious  sounds emanating from behind the oil drums, then this game might be for you.

A pair of SAS troopers survey their handiwork

The SAS team  comprised Officer, Sergeant, Demolitions expert, 2 Troopers and a Pair of troopers at 26 points

The Luftwaffe had Sergeant and 5 Pairs of Sentries on table plus Officer, 2 Dog Handlers and 6 Single Sentries. These come on as reinforcements when the alarm gets raised. All at 30 points

The SAS mission was to destroy the fuel dump, the ammo stores and the 3 planes.

The Luftwaffe mission was to stop the SAS or kill half of them.

View of the airfield from the road

View of the airfield from the ammo stores

The SAS enter near the fuel dump, immediately kill a pair of sentries and lay charges by the fuel dump

Alerted sentries make their way to the fuel dump.

Maybe not so alert. The German Sergeant and two sentries looking elsewhere

The SAS Demo expert must have gotten excited as the charge explodes prematurely.

The Alarm goes off and the Germans start to get reinforced

The German officer comes face to face with the SAS Demo expert and a trooper

The eye tokens indicate who is visible and who is covert. Only visible targets can be shot at.

The SAS officer hides round  the corner but made a noise earlier hence the eye token.

The German officer is added to the long list of defender casualties

One of the German reinforcements, a dog handler, also becomes a casualty.

The SAS Sergeant has sneaked up the righthand edge of the table and laid a demo charge in the ammo store. Although he is out in the open, he has not made a noise to alert the guards to his presence. 

We left the game there. Only 2 of the 5 objectives were destroyed, just under half the German force were casualties and none of the SAS team were injured so a slightly partial victory to the SAS. 

Shaun painted the figures, vehicles and planes. He also put together the very nice scenery.

I can see this game lending itself to other periods such as French Indian Wars and Star Wars. 

A full description of the game can be found at Boardgame Geek and the game is available from Grey For Now Games 

Puebla 1862 using Bloody Big Battles

It is May so Shaun and I decided to refight the Cinco de Mayo battle, Puebla, using Bloody Big Battles.

We used Vincent Tsao's scenario and took the map from Tim Tilson's Colonial Campaigns book Maximilian in Mexico. Shaun took the role of  Major-General Charles de Lorencz, commander of the French army and I  was General Ignacio Zaragoza, Republican Mexican Army of the East

The table looking east on Turn 1. 

The Mexicans are deployed awaiting the French arrival from the north-west

The table looking west.

Turn 3 and the French assault La Ladrillera occupied by the remnants of the Rifle Battalion whilst Mexican general, and future president, Porfirio Diaz looks on from the top of the building.

Turn 3 and the French exploit through La Ladrillera as their offensive fire obliterated the defenders and overrunning the Mexican general, and future president, Porfirio Diaz.

Turn 6 and the assault on Fort Guadalupe starts.

Still Turn 6 and all of the fort's defenders, the Zapadores and the Toluca Btns, have been forcibly evicted. Can the 3 base Fijo de Vera Cruz battalion swing about and save the day? 

The 3 base Fijo de Vera Cruz battalion swung about and fired into the flank of the 1/1st Chasseurs a Pied to no effect. On Turn 7 they were  assaulted and, having lost 2 bases, destroyed. In the middle centre the Zapadores are about to get overrun, bottom centre and the San Luis Rifles are going to get pushed back from the rifle pits, and, finally top centre the 2/2nd Colonial Marines fail to move against the La Ladrillera artillery battery.

The last turn shows the French rolling up the Mexicans on the ridge but too far away to take Fort Loreto. Meanwhile the 2/2nd Colonial Marines gaze glumly at the open road to Puebla having destroyed the La Ladrillera artillery battery. but again failing to roll to move.

This view shows the French right flank which suffered from poor movement dice and only saw combat when the Mexican cavalry obligingly charged  them on the last 2 turns.

At it stands it was a draw but if we had played another turn then the French would have captured Puebla. Besides the Mexican force had lost over 50% of it's infantry units and half it's guns and cavalry. The French, on the other hand, lost 2 bases of infantry. So no Cinco de Mayo celebrations for the Mexicans.

99% of the figures are QRF / Freikorps 15mm with 1% being Peter Pig or Minifigs. The keen-eyed amongst you may have noticed that some troops have been proxied. This is because some of my figures are elsewhere (I hope).

It's been just over 4 years, or 1,476 days to be precise, since I last posted anything to this blog. 

Our club has moved completely online, playing Tabletop Simulator now, and we rarely "push lead" as the pub where we used to game is no longer available to us.

We have found a place over in Cirencester where we can rent a table so we've started using that. It looks like a potential future venue for a Bloody Big Battles Bash day.

Playing this game has inspired me to not leave it another 1,476 days before I blog again.

Links

Vincent Tsao's scenario on BBB Groups.io

The Big Battles venue in Cirencester

Camerone - 157th anniversary solo re-fight using BBB

It's a club tradition that we refight Camerone near the anniversary using the excellent scenario from Tim Tilson's Colonial Campaigns book Maximilian in Mexico. The book used The Sword and the Flame rules but I use Bloody Big Battles instead.

Sous-lieutenant Maudet and his squad of Legionaries defend the south-west corner

Due to the lockdown I decided to refight it solo as it lends itself to solo play due to the Victory Points. To this end I was in charge of the Republicans as they have all the decisions to make.

The compound looking south-east, scratch built by Rodge

The French Force

Captain Danjou
Sous-lieutenants Maudet and Vilain
4 units each of 4 bases of Legionaries - MLR, Elite (never go spent), Aggressive
Incidentally this means that the French figure:man ratio is virtually 1:1

French defenders at game start. 2 base Irregular Cavalry unit on the upper floor of the Hacienda

The Republican Force

3 Commanders
Irregular Cavalry: 4 bases - MLR , Raw, Ragged Volley, Fragile, dismounted
Irregular Infantry: 4 bases - MLR , Raw, Ragged Volley
Regular Infantry: 4 bases - MLR , Trained

Republican Regular Infantry at start of 2nd Assault Phase

The Republicans attack in 3 Assault Phase. Each Phase is either 4, 6, 8 or 10 units of regular or irregular infantry or cavalry chosen by the Republican players. Each regular unit is worth 2 Victory Points (VP) to the French and each irregular unit  is 1 VP. The Republicans get 2 VPs for killing a French base. There are also VP awarded  to each side for other activities but I'm sure Tim would appreciate it if you bought his book to find those out.

The compund looking south-west 

An Assault Phase ends when the Republicans roll equal to or less than the number of units that are Spent.

For Phase 1 the Republicans selected 4 units of Irregular Cavalry giving the French 4 victory points. There is also a 2 base Irregular Cavalry unit, dismounted of course, on the upper floor of the Hacienda.

Dismounted Republican cavalry assault the compound at the south-western and both north entrances. Even through most of the Legion are low on ammo (green smiley faces) they cause 1 Republican  to go Spent (red smiley faces). This leads to the Republicans having to roll for Assault Phase end and not get a 1 on a D4 which they do.

Victory points for Phase 1 are 4 to the Legion  and 2 to the Republicans for killing a base

For Phase 2 the Republicans selected 10 units of Regular Infantry giving the French 20 victory points. I thought that maybe the 10 units would overwhelm the French as the Regulars are Trained and therefore have to lose 2 bases to become Spent.

3 Units of Republican Regular Infantry form up against the south-west breach

6 Units of Republican Regular Infantry form up against the northern breaches

Squads from left to right -  Sous-lieutenant Maudet, Sous-lieutenant Vilain and Captain Danjou.

 The 4th Squad holds the Hacienda against a Republican Regular Infantry approaching from the east

 This Phase was a really meat grinder as the Republicans assaulted time and again 

 The French held firm until slowly they ran low on ammunition

  The south-western breach holds 

Captain Danjou's Squad retires and the Captain is killed.  

 The 4th Squad charges out of the Hacienda to clear the courtyard

Maudet's Squad is pushed back from the south-western breach

Maudet's Squad counter-attacks and retakes the south-western breach

End of Phase 2 with Sous-lieutenant Maudet and 5 bases of Legionnaires left alive. With 4 Spent units it was only a matter of time before I rolled 4 on a D10. I was tempted to pay an extra Victory Point to continue the Phase for an extra turn but I could not guarantee killing everyone. 

Victory points for Phase 2 are 20 to the Legion  and 24 to the Republicans for killing 12 bases giving the French 24 and the Republicans 26.

For the final Phase 3 the Republicans selected 4 units of Regular Infantry giving the French 8 victory points. This was cutting it a bit fine as the Republicans could only get a maximum of 38, 2 for each officer and 2 for each base.

 3 Republican Regular Infantry units against the  north wall

One Republican Regular Infantry unit against the  south-west wall

Sous-lieutenant Maudet and 3 bases of Legionnaires in the stables fend off the first attack killing a Republican base

The 2 bases of Legionnaires in the Hacienda are overrun whist Sous-lieutenant Maudet and 3 bases of Legionnaires in the stables are whittled down to 1 base.

So Phase 3 victory Points are 8 for the French and 12 for the Republicans giving a total of 32 VP for the French and 38 VP for the Republicans. This meant a Marginal Victory for the Republicans. So well done my team!

Camerone works well as a solo game with this scenario as all of the decisions are made by the Republican player whilst the French forces "merely" have to defend the compound.

In my humble opinion Bloody Big Battles works well at this scale with minor tweaks. 

These were

• units can not combine fire power
• commanders only count when attached to a unit 
• in assault when a unit is required to retire and can not then it loses an additional 1 base and fights a new Assault

I can't recommend Tim Tilson's Colonial Campaigns book Maximilian in Mexico highly enough

99% of the figures are QRF / Freikorps 15mm with 1% being Peter Pig or Minifigs

The Hacienda was lovingly handcrafted by Rodge