Biblical Bash: New Kingdom Egyptians v Hittites, 15mm Hail Caesar

They say that you should always start with a joke. so here goes:

Is your crocodile friendly?
Yes.
Then why is it eating my baby.
That’s not my crocodile.

I know, it’s not that funny, but I spent over an hour unsuccessfully trying to translate and then copy it into Hieroglyphics so it’s staying.

Talking of fun, we had an amusing time last meeting with a six-player game of Hail Caesar (HC) using some of my Biblical armies, this saw a Hittite army taking on my New Kingdom Egyptians, both with substantial Canaanite allies. This was the first game of HC for many of the players but they picked it up quite quickly even if a little unsure on what was the best thing to do.

Both sides split their allies off into a separate division and with nearly seventy chariots on the table there was some discussion on the best way to deploy them. The Egyptians decided to parcel them out to each division whilst the Hittites overloaded their left wing with the more melee capable ones and placed the lighter Canaanites in the centre.

The Egyptian left wing consisting mainly of Canaanite allies launched their attack against a mixed group of Syrian and Hittite infantry backed by a few chariots, with this ending up as a too and fro affair with both sides having some success’s but, as the Canaanites got more and more worn down, the Hittite right had sufficient strength to finally repel the assault and to start to push them back. 

A lone unit of Sea people mercenaries heroically holding them off allowing the remaining Egyptian forces to retire safely. 

In the centre the Egyptians got a little mixed up and were not able to launch a coordinated attack which resulted in individual units trying their best to advance through the arrow storm coming from the Hittite forces. It would be fair to say that this was where the Hittites had the most success with the majority of their units well able to continue fighting after both defeating the Egyptian centre and beating off a limited assault from their right as the Egyptian left wing tried to assist their centre. On the remaining wing JJ did ok.

The Hittites as previously mentioned had overloaded their left wing with all their melee chariots backed up by some Syrian infantry. Facing them was a division of Egyptians consisting of the usual mix of spears, bows and chariots which didn’t look like it would be sufficient to hold off the advancing horde trundling towards them. 

However, the Egyptian bows consistently halted the lead Hittite chariots blocking those behind from pushing through, then with well-timed charges from the outnumbered and lighter Egyptian chariots they swept away the supporting infantry and even looked for a time to dangerously threaten the Hittite centre from behind, fortunately for the Hittites they still had sufficient un-committed reserves who swiftly dispelled that idea. 

The Egyptian spears, bows and the remaining chariots attacked the disordered Hittite chariots who were now without their infantry support and after a tough fight with heavy losses to both sides broke this division.

With this being the only success on their side, the Egyptian general was seen rapidly heading back to
Egypt, chisel in hand to tell the people of his great victory.

Hopefully somewhere there is a clay tablet still waiting to be discovered which tells the true story of this Hittite victory.

Rules used: Hail Caesar by Warlord Games

Figures: old Minifigs and a lot of Magister Militum
Cloth: Zulu mat: Tiny Wargames

This has been a Mr Steve production

Engagement at Genappe - Seig oder Tod!

Steady, the Bruswickers! - Jose Ferre Clauzel

'Ce qui s'est passé?

Quelle heure est-il?

Oh merde!'

David's table all set up and ready for another adventure along the road to Waterloo

He had a head like a potting shed and a mouth like a badger’s bum. Slowly, through a hazy fug, the events of the last twenty four hours began to form: the deserted cross roads, imaginatively named Quatre Bras; the headlong pursuit; the trouncing of the enemy rear guard; the capture of a high ranking officer resplendent in a blue uniform, heavy with gold braid and sporting a scarlet shako; the entente cordial into the early hours; their return to the Chateau, both legless.

Bauduine's brigade continues its advance

Bauduine's brigade deploys its skirmishers

He burrowed into his pocket and looked blearily at the piece of paper his ADC, Lapin, had thrust into his hand the night before. 

You are to take your Brigade and with the utmost speed, ford La Dyle east of Genappe and neutralize the enemy cavalry. Général de Brigade Baron Pierre-Francois Bauduine’s 1st Brigade will be on your left, supporting the general advance of Général de Brigade Baron Jean-Louis Soye’s 2nd Brigade through Genappe. Immediate.

Jérôme

Brunswick columns crowd the narrow streets of Genappe

Brunswick Corps retreat through Genappe

The little prig. The only reason he got any command was because of his shameless toadying to that brother of his.

Général de Brigade Baron Pierre-Francois Bauduine finally arrives

Jérôme's Corps finally starts to apply the pressure

His two regiments and horse battery were assembled outside the Chateau. He took his place at their head and lead them gingerly across the ford. 

Lieutenant-Colonel Friedrich von Specht Brigade awaits the onslaught

Major Von Cramm  attemts to turn Wathiez's flank

From the sound of musketry to his left, Soye was having his work cut out pushing through the narrow streets of Genappe; but where the hell was that frog, Bauduine?

Soye Brigade commences the attack on Genappe

Soye Brigade suffering intense skirmish fire

To his front, he recognised the sorry remains of the enemy rear guard withdrawing. To the left were two more bodies of cavalry, one with rather fetching canary yellow facings. His battery lobbed a speculative shell in their direction. 

The British Cavalry stand firm

The Brunswick cavalry flanking manoeuvre

To the amazement of everyone, they promptly faced about and fled to the rear like a host of sparrows. He had a strong sense of déjà vu when their flight was halted by a black frocked figure in a peaked hat. Despite this, sensing the moment was right, he launched a charge. At first, all was well, but suddenly the motley rear guard crashed into his flank, forcing him to retire and reform. Don’t they know they’ve been beaten?

The remnants of the British rearguard

Wathiez about to order the charge

The din of musketry and canon fire from Genappe was intensifying but it wouldn’t have worried Soye, who was as deaf as a post and had the eyesight of a mole. It came as no surprise to learn that he had failed to hear a shouted warning and had had his head taken off by a cannon ball. It was a surprise, however, to hear later, that Major von Rauschenplatt, who was leading the defence of Genappe, suffered the same fate; Seig oder Tod! indeed.

Wathiez and his ADC Lapin emerge from the Chateau

At last, Bauduine stumbled onto the field. My God, he looked rough! Perhaps now Soye’s brigade, or whoever’s Brigade it now was, could make some more progress. He noticed some skirmishers firing on the withdrawing enemy cavalry. They couldn’t hit an elephant at that range, he thought, only to watch his opposite number fall lifeless from the saddle. Supporting Bauduine (in more ways than one) they advanced towards the ridgeline, preparing for the final onslaught.

Wathiez Brigade about to set off

But the orders never came. With Soye’s Brigade still struggling to make any headway against skirmish and cannon fire and a perceived threat to his right flank, The Little Prig thought discretion the better part of valour and called off the assault. Maybe his uniform had yellow trimmings.

Wathiez's Brigade deploys

Well, that didn’t go as planned.

Wathiez's Brigade inconvenienced by the tenacious British cavalry

The briefing the players received was that during the withdrawal to the Waterloo position, the British rear-guard had been defeated leaving the rear of Wellington’s army unprotected. As the Brunswick Corps was the rearmost element of the retreating columns, the Duke of Brunswick, having survived a brush with death at Quatre Bras, decided to take up a defensive position north of the village of Genappe to buy Wellington’s Army time.

Wathiez's Ruin

I used the excellent Ferraris Map of Belgium and a number of things struck me: apart from the narrow bridge at Genappe, there is also a ford to the east; Genappe is a narrow built up area; a small stream or area of boggy ground runs in a northerly direction between the bridge and the ford; the area to the west of Genappe is clear terrain whereas the area to the east has an orchard, therefore impeding movement.

The excellent Ferraris Map of Belgium, and in particular the area around Genappe

My main concern when designing the scenario was that the French cavalry would quickly cross the ford, easily see off the weak Brunswick cavalry and start flouncing around amongst the Brunswick march columns with inevitable results and an early sandwich. 

The boggy terrain between the bridge and the ford would hinder the progress of the cavalry and provide some protection for the Brunswicker’s flank but I also bolstered up the Brunswick cavalry with an amalgamated British Light Cavalry unit, the remnants of the defeated British rear guard. I reckoned they’d hang around for a bit, and then disappear. Wrong. They determinedly stayed in the fight despite the best efforts of the French (and the Umpire). 

I also hadn’t counted on Wathiez failing his Initiative (roll of 8 or less on a D12) thus reducing his movement by half, or Soye’s Brigade suffering 2 officer casualties resulting in no movement for two turns. These two factors gave the Brunswick Division time to form a strong defensive position with ease. 

No movement for a Brigade which loses its officer is too harsh, particularly as officers are needed to enhance the ability of a Brigade to obey orders, so this needs to be adjusted. However, the Brunswick skirmish units occupying Genappe became a real ‘Schmerzen im  Arsch‘ for the French, which felt about right.

My thanks to the two Ians and Mike for providing such an entertaining narrative and for their enthusiasm and willingness to become involved in the action which made for a most enjoyable day of gaming.

Figures: AB and Museum Miniatures

Mat: Tiny Wargames

Buildings: Hovels

Rules: Home Concoction.

Mini la Drang - Chain of Command

 

This was a warm up game for a larger game planned for the summer where we plan to re-fight la Drang in the Vietnam War. This was the second warm up game, in the first the NVA won hands down so tweaks had been made to rules. 

https://carportgaming.blogspot.com/2019/09/on-road-again.html

This game was played using Chain of Command with amendments from DMZ v2, then with house rules. The terrain was based on a board game called “It Started Here”. The US had two infantry Platoons the NVA also had two plus some extra sections and heavy weapons.

The game started with a patrol phase in the basic rules. This went well for the US as they managed to control the dry river bed. The NVA had however had the jungle covered hills.

When the game proper started the US capitalised on having the dry river bed and brought on their the majority of their sections. This formed a impressive fire base. The NVA were slower deploying and basically became out gunned. To add to the pain “off table support” in the form of artillery and air attacks just compounded the the problem.

The NVA battle plan was to be aggressive which only made things worse.

As a historical re-enactment of a Vietnam battle, the results were realistic, US firepower is all powerful. However as a game not a good day out for the NVA.

Changes made to the rules were mainly to reduce the casualty rate. This was done by reducing ranges and the addition of a Spotting Dice (lifted from O Group rules). The Spotting Dice if failed made the terrain effect a level better.

Figures used for this game were 28mm mostly Parkerfield Miniatures, West Wind and Rubicon.

Scenery scratch built (except trees), this included the first Ant Hills I have ever made.

Thanks to Andy, Vince, Nathan and Steve M for giving the house rules a good testing.