Dominion of...Patriots and Redcoats

 

Yet another Dominion of... variant!  Again, for such a simple system this has a nice 'feel' to it.

Lexington & Concord, 1775. 2mm toys.

British victory!

Second game. The wicked colonials even the score.

Third attempt: another triumph for the Brits.

Trenton. Pretty much the only battle of the war I know anything about!

A very hard fought battle but the King was let down by his Hessian mercenaries

Trenton 2. A victory for the Hessians. Er, I mean Brits!

Look carefully and you can see the Hessians grinning.

The decider. I hope the King gets his money back from the Prince of Hesse.

The toys are 2mm Irregular. Originally painted and used in Franco-Prussian War games, they've also been used for ACW and the AWI version of Command & Colours.  Very versatile, these chaps!

Action on the River Gette - August 1914

 This was an Op14 game played in late April, using my 6mm toys and Hexon terrain.  The action involved three German corps advancing and trying to get between the bulk of the Belgian army and Brussels.  The German players  - John A, Russell and Diego had a corps each.  The opposition was Pete (aka King Albert I) and Jerry, who commanded three infantry and one cavalry divisions.

The game provided a broadly historical outcome, with the Belgians being driven off after two days of fighting and the Germans turning their left flank.  My thanks to all the players for making the day so enjoyable - and to Russell, Pete and Diego for sharing their photos.  The images are not in time order but should give a fair impression of the look of the thing.

The field of battle - representing around 600 square km of Belgium!

The Belgian cavalry div - much smaller then infantry divs, this has four cavalry regiments and a cyclist battalion.

The German left, showing IX Korps relentlessly advancing.

Belgian 3rd Div dug in and awaiting the Germans!

Late in the game - with Jerry looking more pleased then a general in full retreat should, me apparently in silent prayer, Diego in despair and John and Russell looking teutonically stolid.

Belgian frantically redeploying to the left as the Germans pile on the pressure.

King Albert's HQ near the village of St. Georges.

German air recce - the rotters!

Two corps looking very dangerous on their right wing.

Dug in Belgians repelling an ill-advised German attack.

Pressure mounts on the Belgian left.

The Battle of Krasnik, August 1914

One of the early engagements in the east, we'd had a go at a cut down version of Krasnik during lockdown.  That game hadn't been a great success, so I was very keen to run the 'full-fat' version of the battle.  We used Richard Brooks's OP14 rules with my (mostly Irregular) 6mm toys and Hexon terrain. Six players were assembled - Martin, Tom and Russell as the Emperor's representatives, while John, Pete and Lloyd upheld the Tsar's interests.  Photos by me, Russell, Pete, Martin & Russell.

The field of battle.  Each hex is c2km across.

Early positions.  The A-H forces are on the right, while the Russians are coming from the left.  But you knew that from the flags, right?

One of the A-H corps still in it's boxes.  Four stands represent a brigade, two brigades a division.

Austrian and.....

...Russian air recce flights.  They successfully managed to not find anything.

Most of the players.  Scary, eh?

The Russian 'steamroller' trundles forward

The Austrian left flank

Russian cavalry skulking in a wood.  Quite a lot of that went on.

The Austrians in control of the ridge line.

Views from the Russian side.

No game is complete without some pointing.

More Russian views...

On overview of the battle late in the game.

An Austrian combat roll.  Low scores are good.....

The crumbling Austrian left - even a cavalry division has been thrown into the line.

Over the course of a couple of days' fighting, both sides essentially wore themselves out, with the Austrians under pressure to withdraw and the Russians in no shape to pursue them.  A most enjoyable game to run which has inspired me to look at other battles suitable for the OP14 treatment.

SCW Anarchist Militia

I picked up this chap for £2 at a recent show and have now treated him to some paintwork.  Blue trousers, a grubby shirt and a rolled blanket complete his 1936 look.  He’ll fit in well with my other, largely plastic SCW figures.  

Type 98 20mm AA gun

Back now to the Far Eastern arms race, c1939. 

Japanese artillery and towed guns being rather thin on the ground in anything bigger than 1/72 scale, a touch of ingenuity was clearly called for.  Along with low standards...

The Type 98 was apparently a versatile weapon, capable of engaging targets on the ground or in the air. It’s key characteristics are a three legged mount and wheels which fold off the ground when deployed. A rummage in various boxes yielded an Irregular Miniatures 15-20mm scale model of a 75mm AA gun on a 4-legged mount. ‘Close enough’, I thought and began work. A pair of spoked wheels was sourced from a wagon kit and after adding a load of glue, it all hung together. 

The crew are from the Tamiya Japanese 1/35 scale infantry kit - 2 such sets gave me 8 figures, enough for three guns. Mixing and matching legs and torsos produced some suitable poses. I’m particularly pleased with the chap anxiously watching the sky