A Matter of Outposts

       To; Commandant of Veloute
       From: Captain  Lars Vanderhoute
       Regarding:  The recovery of two cannon by our patrols along the road to Bourguignonne


                 As your esteemed majesty will remember the enemy engaged out forces on the 25th of October in Anno Domini 1619. In the course of that battle our troops routed the enemy militia of Veloute and overran their guns. These cannon were not recovered at the time because the enemy had burned the carriages. I am happy to report that those guns are now safely on their way to you. On the 26th of January one of our patrols observed a sizeable enemy force moving to the old battlefield.  At first they thought it was just Small-Platers foraging but as they continued to observe it was clear that the enemy was up to more than collecting supplies.     
        They reported this activity and continued to shadow the Small Plater unit. As they observed the enemy I ordered that all of our available patrols were to be summoned to the area. We waited until the Small Platers had remounted the guns on carriages and had brought in draft animals to begin carrying away the cannon. At that time we had only been able to assemble four companies of Horse and two of Dragoons, the enemy had two units of Horse, a unit of Pike and three of Shot as well as artificers, drovers and gunners. Despite the lack of infantry I decided to launch an attack as the enemy was harnessing his teams to remove the cannon. Through the bold and brave action of our soldiers we were able to overcome the enemy and eventually capture the cannon and draft teams. Causalities among our troopers were unavoidable and heavy but the enemy force was scattered.


            Your Most Humble and Obdedient Servant,
                                                               Captain Lars Vanderhoute

 

the patrols from the west advanced resolutely and in perfect order, 

the dragoons were particularly effective in countering the enemy musketeers hidden in the woods

 

with the musketeers distracted by the Dragoons, Lt. Deveraux's Horse charged the cannon and drove off the gunners while Lt. Asby-Smythe's Horse shattered the Small-Plater Cuirassiers

 

Lt. Asby-Smythe deserves particular credit for his heroic actions leading his men they completely shattered the enemy's heavy cavalry with one brilliant charge 

       This was a small battle that we fought out using Pikemans Lament, I do apologize for using my Lace Wars Horse, I am still in the process of painting my remaining Thirty Years War Horse.

Dijon In The Dunes......

.......or How To Save Your Frigate (which you thoughtlessly let become grounded on a hostile shore)

December 6th, Anno Domini 1619, somewhere on the coast of Nylia

           This small  game is a follow-up to The Tale of Two Frigates; it was played using Pikemans Lament rules with one modification; a failed Command Test would not end your turn just prevent the unit in question from moving. The Nylian force consisted of eight units of Akinji, mounted troops that were treated as Trotters and four units of Azabs who were treated as Clansmen. The stranded sailors were represented by the Topmen (sailors used to working the rigging and less suited to melee) they were formed into units of Commanded Shot, Deck Hands who were treated as Clansmen, and Cadre (officers and Marines) who were considered to be Veteran Forlorn Hope. The Freedonians had also managed to recover a Heavy Cannon from the frigate and place it in a prepared position. The Freedonians also had constructed some redoubts from wreckage and barrels of supplies. Trunkmonkey commanded the Freedonains and I ran the Nylains.

 

the Nylian force, eight units of Akinji and four of Azabs,

 and. ironically,  a glass of bourbon

A Tale of Two Frigates

            Captain Rene Chartrand looked at his ship, the Dijon, as she lay on the sand, battered and beached by the storm, then he glanced further down the shore at the broken remains of the Moutarde and sighed. Shielding his eyes against the glare of the sun he sought out his First Mate Alaine Clermont. "How many healthy men have we left?" he queried.
             Alaine looked up at his from his seat on a barrel, and replied in a matter of fact tone, "Between both vessels we have about two hundred men fit for service and another fifty that will be fit in a few days, the rest are drowned or soon to be dead".
            "Food and water?"  the Captain queried.
            "We are fortunate in that we had just been re-provisioned; enough to last us six weeks at full rations. Much was spoiled but then, many men are dead, so it works out rather well"
             Chartrand felt somehow annoyed at Alaine's callous tone but tried to focus on the matter at hand. "How long do you think it will take to get the Dijon afloat?" he asked as he gazed at the rigging trying to determine how badly the lines had been damaged.
             Alaine leaned back on his seat, squinted against the sun and replied in a surprisingly confident tone, "Twenty-one days exactly, M'Lord"
            "You are a wonder-worker Alaine, just three weeks? That is wonderful" Chartrand was elated at the good news, he had been dreading spending the better part of six weeks on this God-forsaken beach.
            "Be careful of what you wish. I said three weeks because the extreme high tide will lift the vessel in that time regardless of whether we have made her seaworthy or not. One way or another there will be sea beneath the keel."
             Chartrand felt the blood drain from his face and his shoulders slumped, how could his first command of a ship have ended so poorly? "Well we will certainly have our work cut out for us then".
             Alaine replied with a chuckle, "I wouldn't be too worried M'Lord, we are unlikely to be alive at the time of the tide"
             Chartrand shot him a quizzical glance, "Good God man, what are you talking about, you just told me that we have food and water for six weeks!"
             Alaine gave him a graveyard grin and pointed southward across the dunes at the line of figures on the horizon, "There were only one or two an hour ago, now there are dozens, within a couple of hours there are likely to be hundreds. They are here to pillage the wrecks and we are in their way"
            "We can let them have the Moutarde while we keep the Dijon, no blood needs to be spilt over this" the Captain said hopefully as he gazed at the tiny dark outlines on the edge of the dunes.
            "I like your way of thinking Captain, but, as soon as they find out that we are Freedonians, they will want our heads. The Sultan of Nylia still has a bounty on Freedonians sailors, ever since the Battle of Guigal Gulf in 1602. His favorite son died there fighting against us."
            "Well then. It seems that we have an abundance of problems this day my dear Mr. Clermont. Have the men gather any arms and powder that they can find. We will construct a barricade of wreckage, barrels and crates and see about getting a few cannons off the ship to provide these scavengers a warm welcome".

Preparing for Flintcon 2020

 

 

the armies laid out on a 6 x 4 foot table

the convention game will be on an 8 x 5 table and feature a lot more terrain

      I will be hosting a demo game of Tercio at Flintcon on 8FEB2020  in the afternoon session. If you would like to give the rules a go without having to rebase all of your minis drop on by and take a role as a general (or two). You can download a free copy of the simplified rules compliments of the publisher