Further RenPOW testing

I've persevered with my testing of Renaissance Principles of War throughout the last week playing a turn here and there.

I think I'm beginning to get the hang of how it's meant to work.  The rules are definitely in need of something; better internal referencing would be good, perhaps more sub-headings, and some more explanation of the intent of some of the rules.

Anyway, there's a major melee going on in front of the Polish infantry where they are drawn up along their ridge (background of the pic below)...

...whilst the Turkish infantry are just beginning their march towards the action having received new orders from their C-in-C...

I think the two Polish Hussar units are still destined to play a key role in the battle.

Whilst the Turkish right flank cavalry command may yet wreak havoc on the Polish left.

A couple of questions remain unanswered so far:

1. If a unit is still in melee after last turn and is charged in the flank can it evade? I guess not.

2. If a unit attempts to evade but fails, can it shoot?  I guess not.

Giving RenPOW a try

As I mentioned in my previous post, I've decided to try out my Turks and Poles as their seventeenth century versions using the Renaissance Principles of War rules.

I'm doing this solo and I decided to make it a bit more interesting by plotting out multiple possible orders for each side and then selecting randomly.  I did so thusly:

Sorry, the green lines for the Polish orders aren't too clear.  Neither of the redeployments (top right of each chart) took place and the selected orders are shown circled.

The RenPOW rules (I'm using the first edition) aren't easy to pick up.  They could certainly do with more examples.  At first I missed the rule that you can't charge as a group.  I also defaulted to a HOTT mindset and lined units up perfectly, which you don't need to do.

The rules could be clearer on things like how far retiring troops and pursuers move.  What happens if pursuers catch retirers?  There are rules for what happens if pursuers hit other enemy troops but not what happens if they hit troops they've previously caused to flee.  At least as far as I can see.

That's what's happening here, by the way.  Unit 1 of Polish Winged Hussars has pursued and caught to Shaken units of Feudal Sipahi.  Do they fight again now?  Edit: Gods this is frustrating!  The section on Pursuit (pg 28) talks about troops who may/must pursue after a melee opponent retires or routs but isn't clear on how far it moves.  Meanwhile the Charge Reaction section on pg 16 talks about units whose opponents evade, retire or rout moving forward immediately by 2" (or occasionally 3").  At no point does it refer to this as "Pursuit" but I'm now guessing (from absence of evidence to the contrary rather than from positive evidence) that this is what it means.  So the Winged Hussars in the pic should be 12cm further back!

Otherwise the two turns or so of action has gone through OK.  The rules aren't exciting me but they're OK.  One odd issue is that a command can't deploy any wider that 18 inches (27cm in my reduced scale) even if it has sufficient units to do so.  As a result a three command army must form up in a relatively narrow and deep formation with only a limited number of units able to fight in the first contacts.

I shall persevere for a while longer and may report back again later.

Renaissance?

I've always had a vague hankering to "do renaissance wargaming" without ever actually getting my act together.  I think part of the problem with the renaissance period is that I haven't yet identified a  conflict that really grabs me.  The Great Italian Wars is probably most likely.  I certainly have no desire to English Civil War.

The other problem has been the lack of a set of rules that's really inspired me.

I was probably still a teenager when I bought a copy of the George Gush/WRG rules and originally based my 15mm Samurai with them in mind.  No actual games came of it though.

Later on I bought Irregular Miniatures 6mm Ottoman Turk and Hussite armies and the De Bellis Renationis (DBR) rules, again by WRG.  Again the rules didn't sufficiently fire my enthusiasm.

It occurs to me now, though, that in building up my Polish and Turkish forces for Maurice or Black Powder, I've accidentally acquired enough models to be able to play another set of rules that have been sitting unused for years - Tom Penn's Renaissance Principles of War.  So I think I might have a go sometime this weekend.

A simple, solo, late 17th century clash should give me an idea of whether these rules will do the job.  I have the first edition and I know from having reread them this morning that there's imprecise language that will annoy me but I shall persevere and see where we get to.

Will my renaissance gaming see a renaissance? Report to follow....

GNW: Russians vs Turks

Having had another go at 19th century Principles of War, I decided to try out the 18th century set with my early-1700s Russians and Turks.  The following pictures show scenes from a solo practice battle that's currently set up on the plan chest in my gaming room.  

The armies - Russians nearest the camera.

The Russian infantry with the reserve, the Semionovski guards, in the foreground.

Peter the Great (white horse) ready to lead the Guards into action.

Russian infantry and artillery.

Turkish Azabs with the right wing cavalry behind them.

Turkish Janissaris and artillery.

The first morale test of the game, caused by long range Turkish artillery fire, led to the route of a battalion
from the Gulitz infantry regiment.  I must learn not to roll 20s!

Father's Day Bash

Having all of my June Saturdays earmarked for visits to universities with the twins I was keen to use Father's Day as an excuse to play a wargame.  Andy and Rob came over and we had another go at 19th century Principles of War.

Again, we used my (mostly Irregular Miniatures, 6mm scale) Franco-Prussian War minis in the guise of those venerable enemies the Vereinigte Freie Städte and the Grand Duchy of Lorraine. This time the VFS were allied with the Prunklanders (who look a lot like Bavarians). As the story tells it:

Following an ill-judged declaration of war by Grand Duke Albert of Lorraine, the Grand Duchy has been invaded by the forces of the Vereinigte Freie Städte and their Prunklander allies.

A VFS army under Feldmarschall von Frinck has laid siege to the city of Syrah and is bombarding it from siege battery positions spread around the outskirts.  Lorraine’s Army of the East is trapped within the walls of Syrah.

Meanwhile, a small Lorrainer army under the Vicomte de Froufrou has evaded encircling VFS forces and is now marching towards Syrah.  Lacking the strength to engage the whole VFS army, Froufrou plans to launch a swift attack on the besieging units to the west of the city thus creating a weak point through which the Army of the East can launch a breakout.

A grand siege battery sits beside the St Coutarde road, west of Syrah.  A brigade of Prunklanders guards the rear of the guns.  It is here that General de Froufrou’s hammer-blow will fall.  Other VFS forces must march towards the sounds of battle if they are to save the day.

This photo shops the battlefield before the action started.  Ignore the cardboard markers in the foreground; they were just there to demonstrate the various formations on movement bases used in POW.

Rob, as General Pinzl, took charge of the Prunklanders and Andy took the role of General the Vicomte de Froufrou.  I planned to bring on the VFS main forces subject to a die roll but in the end they only arrived at the very end of the battle - too late to make any difference.

The grand battery beside the St Coutarde road -
de Froufrou's objective.

The scenario gave me an opportunity to use my Irregular miniatures Prussian siege gun (albeit only as an objective marker).

A cluster of farm buildings in the centre of the table would prove the focal point of the battle with Froufrou launching his main attack at that point and General Pinzl's Prunkland forces maneuvering to oppose them there.

Lorraine infantry (right foreground) and artillery approach the Prunklander
position north of the farm.

The Prunklanders form into two lines north of the farm.

Meanwhile, the Arquebussiers de Grassin occupy the farm.

Andy launched his powerful cavalry on a wide flanking march but thanks to Andy's atrocious dice rolling they never really got anywhere.  We've changed the name of phase 4 of the turn sequence to "The Phase Where Andy Rolls Ones".

Froufrou's cavalry start their wide left hook flank march.

The fight in the centre and on the Lorraine right was tense.  Several units were forced back temporarily (I later discovered we'd been playing the rule wrong as regards how far a unit "retires shaken") before returning to the fray.

The Lorrainer infantry advance towards the Prunklander artillery line, masking the fire of their own
guns in the process!

General Pinzl directs the Prunklanders' defence...

... whilst de Froufrou practises an air of calm insouciance.

The crucial clash - lines of infantry meet at the farm

Prunklander fire forces the Arquebussiers de Grassin to retire from the farm.

In the end Andy was able to advance his right flank forces across the St Coutarde road.  Rob had only artillery and one regiment of Chevaulegers protecting that flank.  When the latter were routed by Chassepot fire, Andy was able to push a battalion of infantry onto the hill, take the siege battery and win the game.  The arrival of VFS infantry on the opposite flank was too late to influence the result.

The firefight at the farm continues whilst in the background
Lorraine forces approach the St Coutarde road. 

Accurate rifle fire by the Chasseurs de Monet routs the Prunkland Chevaulegers.

We all agreed it had been a fun game and it was nice to have more time to play at a leisurely pace.

The rules stood up well but I've since discovered a few things I got wrong.  The movement rates table on the playsheet is particularly obscure but I've come up with a better way of laying it out that I shall use in future games.

First Poles

Having decided to finally have a go at Renaissance Principles of War (I've had a copy of the first edition knocking around for years) I've started building a 17th century Polish army out of bits and pieces I had lying around.

On the left is a unit of Drabants made from Baccus Russian Strel'tsi whilst on the right are King Jan Sobieski's Janissary guards made from Irregular Miniatures Turkish Janissaries.  As you can see there's a significant difference in size between the two manufacturers.  Baccus's use of the term "6mm" could almost be considered false advertising!

Like the Janissaries, the Drabants are based on an illustration in one of the Men At Arms books on the Polish army.  The flag is from the excellent Alex's Flag website and represents the Sandomierz district.

Left off the list

The crews of these renaissance organ guns have complained mightily that I left them of July's On the workbench posting.

These guys, and the previously pictured spearmen next to them are the first elements to get a new, warmer, layered dry-brushing basing technique I'm experimenting with.  Obviously their static grassing is yet to come.  Click for a bigger pic.

On the workbench: July 2011

A bit washed out - I need to suss the flash on this camera - but I'm quite pleased with this gladiator.  It's one from a pack of Foundry gladiators I won in the raffle at Berkeley last year.  I need to add a shield before he joins my Wolf Pirates.

Next a base of Italian spearmen to join my growing 6mm Italian Wars collection that will hopefully soon see action under Renaissance Principles of War rules.

Massed units in 6mm scale really need flags to give them some individuality.  These crossbowmen have a Swiss flag.  They'll get a second rank before they are finished.

Finally, a couple of Airfix Golden Hind models that have been sitting unloved in my parents' attic for upwards of twenty years.  It's occurred to me that they would do for naval support to my 6mm renaissance collection.  Battle of Pinkie anyone?

Burning Cottage

After my visit to Triples this year I became obsessed with the possibilities offered by 6mm scale units as dioramas.  Another one has just left the workbench.  It's a generic 16th century command element (or perhaps just a terrain piece).

The man at arms is an Irregular Miniatures commander.  The cottage is cast in plaster by Baccus 6mm (part of a set I bought years ago).  The fence is scribed plastic card and the flames and smoke are a mixture of Green Stuff and hamster bedding!  The vegetation is a mixture of various terrain materials and paint effects.

For those of you not familiar with 1/300th scale, the base is 40mm square.  Click on the pics to see more detail.

A Tiny Renaissance

Inspired by the Bert Fegg guys' American Civil War display game at Triples, I decided to have a go at a diorama-style 6mm scale unit. The result was this French crossbow unit of the late 15th - early 16th century period. They are based on a 60mm x 30mm base which seems a good compromise style for Renaissance POW or perhaps Impetus.

I've added Irregular Miniatures pavises to the front edge and then between the strips of figures (also Irregular) I've added one of my home-sculpted-and-cast casualty bases and a partly shattered pavise made from thin plastic card.

At the same time I decided to base up some figures I got from Alan Slater. Alan's fantasy pikemen have become Swiss by the simple expedient of repainting the flags. Alongside the national banner this lot carry the white over blue colours of Lucerne.

Finally, I knocked up a command element from some spare figures (again Irregular). I'd originally planned to use 30mm squares for commanders but I've switched to 40mm as it leaves more room to fit in extras like, in this case, a tent.

Painting for Prophet

Today (May 20th) is Everyone Draw Mohammed Day - a day dedicated to the proposition that religious beliefs should not be allowed to over-rule freedom of speech. I could have drawn a stick-man prophet but I thought you'd rather see an attempt at a white metal leader of the forces of Islam.

So here he is - the leader of the Hejaz Arabs in the early 7th century.

Mohammed is the figure on the left on the white horse. The figures are by Irregular Miniatures and are in 1/300th scale so Mo and his horse stand about 1cm tall. When he's not busy laying down the law in seventh century Arabia, he'll serve as a general in my 18th century Ottoman Turkish army.

Bridge Demolition part 2

Game Turn 4 - Rob brings his infantry on down the north-western road. In the centre the Lorrainers await the onslaught. The square on the right of the picture is a "formed movement base" indicating the presence of as-yet-unidentified VFS troops. It will later turn out to be a dummy.

The Lorraine cavalry brigade crosses a hill on the right flank; Gendarmerie du Roi followed by Allemand Cavalry.

A turn (with only one initiative point rolled) later, the cavalry begin to turn towards the enemy.

Von Tarlenheim is clearly alarmed by this threat to his left flank.

The action on the VFS left flank develops. The Lorraine cavalry have deployed into loose order lines (I should probably have gone for close order) but unfortunately they have not managed to catch the VFS infantry before they too managed to deploy into line.

The Gendarmerie du Roi are shattered by the VFS infantry's fire. With Dreyse bullets flying around them the survivors break for the rear at top speed!
Meanwhile on the left, the Regiment Dillon retire shaken from VFS fire.

Their colleagues, however, have delayed the advance of the main VFS infantry force. By the end of game turn 8 (when time again beat us) it was clear that the Lorrainers would be in a position to blow the bridge before the VFS forces could take it. It would, however, be a damned close run thing disengaging and getting the rearguard back across the river!

Altogether, though, a very enjoyable game. I think we're getting the hang of POW.