Thursday, July 25, 2019

SYW Action - Battle for Windmill Hill




Last week I put on a SYW action using my 28mm toys and using Honours of War for the first time.  This featured mostly units that i had put together in the past two editions of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge and the first action for a lot of the units on table.

The opposing forces were as follows
British-Allied
CinC General Mohr (Jeremy)
Infantry Brigade (dithering)
  • Royal Welsh Fusiliers (superior), Keith's Highlanders, Hessian Erbprinz Regiment, Hessian Garrison  Regiment Kutzleben (small)
  • Hessian light artillery battery
Cavalry Brigade (dashing)
  • 15th Light Dragoons, Hanoverian Luckner's Hussars (inferior)
Detached unit Hessian Jaegers light infantry with rifles

French 
CinC General St-Andre (Stacey) 
 
Infantry Brigade (dithering)
  • Grenadiers de France (superior), Touraine, Diesbach, Nassau Royal-Louis
  • Light artillery battery
Advant-Garde (dashing)
  • Orleans Dragoons (inferior), Bercheny Hussars (inferior)
  • Chasseurs de Fischer light infantry
Detached unit Volontaires de 'lArmee light infantry 

Each side deployed 6" on the table with the objective of taking Windmill hill in the centre.  Terrain wise the hill was gentle,  I counted the windmill base as light cover but not as a BUA and there were some BUAs and woods and a stream on the flanks and back table edges.

The table after one move, Allies on the left and French on the right.
The French deployment with Curt looking on philosophically

Allied deployment
The start of the cavalry clash.  This ended up with the French routed and the Allies victorious in no state to continue without rallying


Infantry scrum with Diesbach fighting the highlanders with Grenadiers and Fusiliers in support.  On the right Touraine has force the Hessians back and captured the battery.  On the left the Voluntiares charged the Fusiliers in the flank to remove their support from the Highlanders.




Later in the action with both sides taking casualties, retreating and/or routing.  Fischer have occupied the windmill and force the Jaegers back.  On the far right the cavalry battle continues towards it's bloody conclusion
I'll put some thoughts together on the rules.  In general the gave the right result and were easy to pickup, but felt too mechanical.  

12 comments:

  1. A good looking battle! Your windmill is quite a nice centerpiece too. Is that a Hotz terrain mat?

    Best Regards,

    Stokes

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks very much Stokes. I was very pleased with the final result. I think it's a Hotz mat, but it belongs to my buddy Curt so can't be sure. The windmill is a Sarissa kit and it's highly recommended.

      Delete
  2. Battle looks great, Peter! I especially am envious of your fine windmill. Looking forward to your impressions and thoughts on HoW. I like the rules a lot.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks very much Jonathan. The windmill will appear on many of my tables I expect. There was a lot I liked in HoW, but I don’t think it will stick for my SYW games

      Delete
  3. A great looking game (even with Curt's stoic visage). Iv'e never played Honor's of War - how does it compare to my current obsession General D'Armee? Very nice gaming room. I do hope you're doing well
    Miles

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Miles. I’ll get some HoW thoughts together later this week. The games room is Curt’s dining room, so he gets to be in the shot. Doing well and keepin* busy here. Hope you and MB are doing the same. Dog napped Otis yes?

      Delete
  4. Great looking bash Peter, I do like the windmill!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Lovely looking game, nice to see the toys we saw painted in the challenge on the table! Oh and nice windmill!
    Best Iain

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Iain. It was great to get the toys on table.
      Cheers, Peter

      Delete