Command & Colours: Napoleonics Travel Edition

First attempt at a travel edition of C&C: Napoleonics 2mm figures from Irregular on a standard game board

A thought struck me this evening while I was fixing aperitifs for the family Von Kinch. I had been musing over the problem of how to make a travelling version of Command & Colours: Napoleonics. While I will in a few months or so have a home with a dedicated wargames room and table where I can set up my 6 x 4 foot hex mat and use my 20mm figures.

Wargaming is a social activity, the much missed Paddy Griffith compares hosting a wargame to hosting a dinner party in the closing paragraph of Napoleonic Wargaming for Fun, one of the finest short works on the hobby ever written. He was absolutely right. I play with my fellows because I enjoy their company and having never taken an interest in football, my conversation would be sadly limited to work or talking about a funny, little war that you've probably never heard of.

One of the chief virtues of the Command & Colours series was that they were simple, boxed games that could be played to a conclusion in the course of having a few drinks and small enough they could fit on most pub tables. It was possible to replace the plastic figures with 6mm chaps and dolly up the set somewhat with the addition of model trees, buildings and hills and still have a game that fit in a satchel or briefcase. Command & Colours: Ancients never really took off in the same way that Battlecry or Memoir '44 did amongst my social circle simply because sorting blocks is a dreadful bore.

The Frence left, 2mm miniatures from Irregular

What you can see above is a set up of the Maida scenario from ccnapoleonics.net using 2mm figures from Irregular miniatures Horse & Musket collection. Each base of 24 infantry or 12 cavalry represents a block, artillery blocks are shown as a gun team and limber, while general officers are a small base with some individual riders on them. Lazy swine that I am, I haven't painted the generals yet.

British line infantry are shown in line, French in column, Light Infantry for both sides are arranged in open order with skirmishers painted green as rifles.

I think the smaller figures answer admirably, though there will be some difficulty in distinguishing between similar troop types, like for example Guards and Grenadiers. I had thought that 6mm figures originally, but then realised that they would be unaffordable at present. The 2mm figures give a pleasing impression of mass, however I shall have to set myself to the task of determining how exactly to distinguish between the Portuguese infantry and the French in this scale.

An initial investment of £30 provided all the figures (and more) that you can see here. I think we shall have to have some playtesting to see how well prospective players cope with the smaller figure while struggling with the manifold challenges of the stress of command, poor pub lighting and being slightly toasted.

Finished!

That's me in the blue...

I am delighted to say that I'm finished my training. Mr & Mrs Kinch Snr, Mrs Kinch and some friends came down to see my passing out parade and a good day was had by all. I was honoured, and very, very surprised, to receive an award or as Mrs. Kinch put it, "a gong for being a swot".
The graduation ball was great fun as well, particularly as it was a chance to meet everyone's wives and girlfriends. It was interesting seeing the wilder chaps on their best behaviour.

So that's it. Now back to work and reality.

Portuguese Cavalry

Portuguese Cavalry
(actually French Carabiniers by Newline Designs)

The two chaps pictured above are officers who'll be joining my Portuguese forces, their arrival means that their comrades, along with cazadores (Revell British Rifles) and John Cunningham Sepoys can be shipped next week to Mark for painting.

Command & Colours: Napoelonics has had a broadening effect on my collection as I scrabble to fill the orders of battle necessary. This is no bad thing as it does mean that a lot more colour and interest is being injected into the collection. The net effect is that I've begun to muster forces that are - quelle horreur!- neither French nor British.

I haven't gone completely barking however, there are no Dutch-Belgians yet, as I'm concentrating on the Peninsular battles. I have some Portuguese infantry from Ykreol, which I bought during a sudden rush of blood to the head, they aren't exactly pretty, but hopefully Mark will be able to dolly them up a little. I'd been scouting around for Portuguese cavalry and not having very much luck, when I mentioned the matter to Sean at Newline Designs, who recommended French Carabiners as a possible substitute. Mounted on horses with British saddlery, they look the part.

What really boiled the old noodle was the Portuguese Heavy Cavalry. I was not alone in this. However, Foy had the understanding to realise that the Portuguese were substituting for the Dutch-Belgians rather faster than I did. I did spend rather more time than I would like to admit trying to find these gentry.

I think I may have inadvertently found the wargamer equivalent of a glass hammer and a long weight.

Heavy Dragoons & Colours

British Heavy Cavalry by Newline Designs

While I was away at the Puzzle Palace, a packet arrived from Newline Designs and was waiting for me when I came home. It was a small order that I'd placed with Sean before Christmas to fill a few holes. I was short an Ensign and two field officers for my 5th Dragoon Guards and a few other bits and pieces.

I took my shiny new drill to the Ensign Friday night and had the chap ready to lead a review within fifteen minutes. This did set me to thinking that Mark's painted colours are nice, but printed colours might be nicer. I've never really messed around with printed flags, but I know several wargamers of far greater skill than I who swear by them.

Then of course, for every one of those you have a deranged Scotsman like Phil Olley, who handpaints his colours on linen. One can only hope that he will bite some of us less talented sorts and the condition is catching.

Negotiations regarding our new home are ongoing as there was some damage done to it over Christmas due to the neglect of the owner. It's not a major issue, but it does mean that some work will have to be done immediately before we can move in and there is some dispute over how much the job actually costs. This is a minor blip in the ongoing saga, but one that demands more phonecalls and organisation.

And lastly, before I forget Newline have just released the first few packs in their range of Sikh Wars figures. The greens look very fetching indeed and as it is likely to be the last purchase I make for a while, I decided to take two battalions of Sikh foot. I am delighted to see that this conflict is finally going to be covered in my favourite scale, my mind is already dancing with the possibilities of refighting Sir Harry Smiths Aliwal, the "...battle without mistake."

The Rolls

A Rolls Royce Armoured Car by Frontline Wargaming

Grauniad moment: Above amended to read Frontline Wargaming,

rather than Newline Designs.

As I've said before, I have have a terrible tendency to flit between projects and I have been half heartedly chipping away at a small Very British Civil War Project. The conceit for those of you not familiar with it, is that Edward VIII does not abdicate and manages to get his chum Oswald Mosley into government. This radicalises the populace and before you know it, fascist jackboots are kicking in doors and there are militias sprouting up all over the country. The Reds are turning on the government, Liverpool has declared independence, the Scots are looking distinctly shifty and Mosley is attempting to restore order by shooting anyone who disagrees with him.

The whole thing is inspired by Sir Ian McKellen's magnificent version of Richard III which depicts Richard as a black shirted fascist. It's visually very attractive and I tell myself that I'll be able to use the figures for Operation Sealion games, which I've run rather successfully before.
There is a description in the main book of a Mosley-ite armoured column whose mission is to decapitate the Anglican League, the armed wing of the Anglican church who have taken a dim view of the King a)marrying a divorcee and b)foisting a tyrant on the country. In a thoroughly bizarre way this made perfect sense to me and I found the idea of an Anglican League force very attractive and reminiscent of "Went the Day Well".

My objective is complete a small Mosley-ite force who will be opposed to the death by my Anglican militia in defence of God, country, jam and Jerusalem. The Mosley-ites will be Regular Army types with some party members, though I'm not sure what to use for them. I'll have to have a look at Richard's army in Richard III. The Anglican militia will be partisans and Home Guard of various sorts, probably with some Regular Army support.

I was putting in an order with Frontline Wargaming , a Christmas present for Donogh as it happens and I decided to add in a little something for myself while I was at it. I've always liked the look of the Rolls Royce Armoured Car myself and thought that nothing could be more appropriate to a British Civil War scenario. The model arrived well packed and I put it together in a few minutes. The finish is a bit rough, but I managed to clean most of the flash and rough patches away with my penknife after fixing Mrs. Kinch a predinner martini. I had finished the work by the time she had finished the martini, so it wasn't a long job.

I then of course dropped the model (the Garibaldi may not helped) and snapped the barrel of the Vickers from the turret, which is why the turret is looking a little underdressed. That said, a nice little model and very, very cheap.

http://www.wearehench.com/rr/101wo.html

Commands & Colours: Napoleonics - First Brush

Finally managed a game of CC:N on Saturday. Savage and I spent a very pleasent afternoon in the pub playing and replaying the Maida scenario that I posted about earlier. We were later joined by Gorman, who with his usual flair led both sides to victory in successive games. Gorman was also a first time player and was glad of the opportunity to finally try out his new toy.

First impressions were not overwhelming as the first forty minutes of game time were taken up sorting blocks and setting up. If I'd been thinking I would have sorted the units in advance which Gorman has done with his C&C: Ancients set, but as it happened this was no great hardship as I had good company. On the other hand it did mean that we played the same scenario five times as we had little desire to fumble with blocks again. Savage did suggest that Risk style figures with card tokens would have been a better way of solving the problem.

Thank the Lord, I'll be replacing the blocks with figures shortly. They really irked me.

We found ourselves having some difficulties with the rules, but nothing that wasn't resolved after a brief consultation. We over-rated musketry rather spectacularly at first, forgetting that Crossed Swords do not count in ranged combat - but fixed that once we re-read the rules. Artillery is very much a supporting arm and will not be a battle winner on its own, but properly supported and put in a position where the opponent can be made to dawdle under the guns, they can be lethal.

Cavalry didn't get much of an outing as there was only a squadron on the field, but we did use the square, flight and other special rules and they seemed to work. I'll withold judgement until we manage more cavalry heavy scenarios.

The main fight of all five battles was the infantry battle and we gave these rules a thorough work out. While French and British infantry are rated much the same, British troops have a bonus in firing while French troops have a bonus in melee. This is not to say that British troops didn't charge and French troops didn't shoot, but that a smart player could do very well by playing to his strengths. Most of the French victories involved a flank attack or cannonade to disrupt the British line followed by a brigade strength assault led by a General. One British victory came about during an unsightly scrum that developed in the first game and the second when an unsupported French assault force attacked the centre of an unbroken British line and were shot down and then counter-attacked by the redcoats.

Savage did have some choice words to say about the art in the game, but I'll save those for another day.

So far every Richard Borg game that we've played goes through this process -

Step 1. The rules are read.
Step 2. ...and are pronounced as unplayable. Heads are sadly shaken and there are sorrowful mutterings about how "Borg has really gone off his rocker this time".
Step 3. The rules are read.
Step 4. The game is played. All the rules that seemed inexplicable suddenly begin to make sense.
Step 5. More games are played. The subtlety and simplicity of the game design become apparent.
Step 6. The game is hailed as a triumph, as we knew all along that it was.

I recall the Pacific Theatre expansion for Memoir '44 coming in for particular stick when the rules came out, but before we got to play it.

In other news, there is now a website supporting the game similar to the fantastic site support for Command & Colours: Ancients. There isn't a huge amount there at present, but I'm sure that will change with time.

I forsee a long and happy life for this game amongst my circle.

A diversion

Three SHQ castings from their BEF range
(contents of BF 3)

I have a terrible habit of flitting butterfly-like from project to project. That said I do give projects my all when I am interested in them and my pal Donogh has said previously that he'd never met a man who had more of his collection based, painted and ready to go.

Above you'll see three castings from SHQ range of early war British infantry. I purchased these on a whim while getting my Portuguese infantry as I have sufficient German toys to do most early war Memoir '44 scenarios, but no British. These British could also be used for 1938 British Civil War scenarios, so on mature reflection, I'd be mad not too right? I've always had what Mr. Kinch would call "a strong weakness" for the early part of the Second World War as my childish education in that portion of history came from Commando comics, which often focused on that "Britain stands alone"* period 1939-1941.

The castings are up to the usual SHQ standard, there's an officer, a senior nco and a rifleman. There's some problems with the officer, whose Webley is missing a barrel. I can trim it a bit and remove the revolver so that at least he'll just look like he's pointing somewhere.

*Alone, utterly alone, except for Canada, Australia, New Zealand, bits of Africa, India, part of Ireland and probably hundreds of places I've forgotten.