Take Me To The River.... The Battle of Belmas

the blue line reflects the march of the Freedonian Army through neutral Boozonia

        In an outrageous act of aggression the Freedonain army marched through plague-stricken Boozonia to attack Ferndalia, Using secretly placed supplies they were able to keep up a blistering marching pace that made any response by the Boozonian army impossible. The Boozonian Lord High Constable, Gordon Ramsey, has ordered the Freedonian Ambassador to report to his office to answer an Inquiry as to these events, additionally he has closed the border with Freedonia.
       Upon debouching into the northern plains of Ferndalia the Freedonians found only local border-guards and militia opposing them. These troops were mostly viewed as an inconvenience. Resistance grew over time as the local Governors frantically gathered troops and ordered the burning of bridges and supplies to slow the Freedonian advance. At the tiny market town of Belmas the ancient stone bridge defied attempts to blow it up and the Ferndalians were forced to turn and confront their invaders.
         Having no time to file the troops across the narrow bridge the Ferndalians were forced to turn and fight. With a force of local militia, supported by a moldering cannon found on an estate, two units of Regular Foote and two brigades of Cuirassiers that had rushed to the scene from the Capitol they formed a line across the path of the invaders advance. Their flanks were guarded by two rivers that joined just behind their position, but this also meant that the only means of escape was that lone bridge to their left rear. Snacks and sandwiches were distributed along the line by the Students of the Culinary Academy, along with the last of the remaining ammunition. This would be a desperate fight indeed!
         The foot-sore soldiers of Louis the Ravenous were happy to see the enemy finally stop and face them. They had been marching almost non-stop for the last week and a half and were in a mood for a good brawl. They could scarcely believe their luck that the enemy chose to fight on this side of the bridge rather than retiring to defend the far bank. As the morning fog lifted they could see the serried ranks of the enemy across the battlefield, they were happy for the full breakfast they had just enjoyed but were concerned that lunch was unlikely to be served on time.
      This game was played using the Tercio rules from Liber Militium.

Gimmie Shelter.........A Naval Scenario

       At last we return to the gaming table! Huzzah! We rejoin the ongoing conflict in Epicurea to find that the Ferndalians had taken advantage of the disruption caused by the plague to isolate the island of Pinatella with an eye to starving it into submission. Late word of this came to the ears of Louis the Ravenous and he demanded that action be taken forthwith. Two galleons were prepared and loaded with extra troops and supplies and sent off to rescue Pinatella. As they approached the island they were spotted by the Ferndalian blockade squadron and a bitter battle ensued. we played the game using the "Ship of the Line"/"Wooden Ships and Iron Men" rules system with modifications for free movement, the scale difference and the earlier period. We used my fleet of 1/350th scale ships from Zvezda for the game, you can see how I built these over on my regular gaming blog Anton's Wargame Blog.

the scenario, the Freedonian squadron (lower right of the picture) sails resolutely onward while the Ferndalian squadron hurries to engage the enemy outside of the range of the fort's guns