The Village of Lokorn

The civilians are a mixture of Eureka minaitures and Saga miniatures.

Ancient Auroch British cattle

The Auroch are from Eureka Miniatures.

Selling her “wares” and seeking indulgences at the same time!

Jethro going fishing in his “currack” on the “cement pond”.

Jethro was to play a key role in the game.

Jed about to join him.

These two figures are from Eureka Miniatures.

The Vikings are coming, the Viking are coming – sounding the alarm.

The scenario:

Viking raid on the Breton village of Lokorn.

Vikings have come ashore and are looking for plunder. The village is totally surprised and there are no Breton warriors initially on the table. These may appear due to Viking actions or the Local lords troops arriving to protect is “property”.

Vikings gain a victory point for:

• Every village man killed 1VP
• Every village woman or child captured (come in contact with and return them to the loot wagon) 1VP
• Every building burnt 1VP for small, 2 VP for medium, 5 VP for the church. Figure must stay that many full turns to burn the building.
• Robbing the church (breaking down door and spending 1 full turn looting) 5 VP
• For every sheep captured 1 VP
• For every ca;ptured Auroch calf 1VP, Auroch Cow 3 points, Aoroch Bull 10 points.

All VP except burnt building must be taken back to the “loot” wagon to count.

Bretons gain victory points for:

• Church intact at the end of the game 5vp
• 2 points for every other building that remains
• 1 VP for each level of any Vikings slain
• 2 points for every woman that is not captured
• 1 point for every animal that is not captured (must be back in an enclosure)

The Berserker is a liability for the Vikings in this game as he must charge the nearest opponent. In this case it was a village woman. With his blood lust up he charged into the attack. The woman did her best rolling box cars but the Berserker saved one still before she was slain the frying pan inflicted a wound. Unfortunately that was a potential slave lost an no victory points were awarded to the Vikings.

The Blacksmith tries to avenge her death but is quickly taken down by the Berserker.

Another village male is taken down near the church.

Meanwhile the village boy is still running to the Breton Lord’s keep yelling “the Vikings are coming”.

A Viking archer has captured a sheep and is heading off to the loot wagon.

The Berserker takes down another village male.

The Viking leader takes out a villager protecting his sheep and heads off with one under his arm. He rolls an even die, and remembers to shut the pen gate, stopping the other sheep from escaping.

With Vikings running everywhere with torches the blacksmith’s shop and a large round hut are in flames.

The two small granaries have been set alight with the loot wagon in the distance.

The Viking Hero has reached the church and has commenced battering down the large reinforced oak door. First turn requires a roll of a six, next turn a five and so on.

The woman of ill repute has been captured by a Viking with many a lewd comment being made by the players about what Vikings do! Meanwhile the little boy has reached the edge of the table still yelling the “Vikings are coming”

Very uneven fights are going on everywhere, except for Jethro who has now moved into the centre of the “cement pond”. As the Berserker had to charge the nearest figure, which happened to be Jethro, he is now at the lakes edge shouting insults. Jethro has come equipped with a number of javelins to spear fish, and after every insult, throws one at the Berserker. Jethro may be good at fishing but he was lousy at trying to hook the Berserker.

The Viking hero still fails to break down the door. Unbeknowns to the players each failed turn means there appears another monk praying in the church with the warrior monk who has just returned from the Crusades.

One village male villager is killed for only a single wound on a Viking. To date the villages have not inflicted a casualty.

With the Auroch worth fifteen victory points the Viking players decided to stay well clear of them as the feared they might be quite vicious. This was the case, but it proved their undoing, as in the end with the Auroch still in their pens they counted full points towards the Breton villagers.

The oak door was still holding firm meaning that there would be the warrior monk and at least four other monks in the church to defend it. The sound of horses hooves could now be heard in the direction of the Breton Lord’s keep.

Villagers rush to defend their sheep.

The village Chief and his retainers grimly defend the sout-east corner of the village.

The Breton Lord, hero and retainers arrive to swing the odds well and truly in favour of the Bretons. With the Viking hero trying to smash down the chruch door rolling and failing again for the fifth time this meant they would be facing a warrior monk and six others when he finally succeeded on his last attempt.

With the Breton cavalry now able to charge straight down the road to recapture the women, children and sheep we decidced to end the game as a Breton victory.

The Vikings failed to burn and loot the church and large buildings, or capture the Auroch which they needed in order to achieve victory.

I was a bit concerned before the game as I did not have time to play-test it and was not sure how balanced it would be. In the end it didn’t matter as we all felt it was a great fun scenario that cause much merriment and drinking of spiced mead (well red wine anyway).

Last Saturday I went to the BWA to try out the Napoleonic rules they are developing. They are based very broadly on the Chain of Command WW2 rules produced by the Too Fat Lardies and are working in conjunction with them.

French and Polish Infantry brigades were trying to wrest a crossroads from the British and Portuguese forces in the area.

Here the Polish are hitting the hinge point between the British and Portuguese forces with a large windmill causing a gap in their line. Two things to note are the skirmishers out in front and the lines of smoke. The way skirmishers work has been worked out very neatly so that they have a significant impact if ignored but do not bog down the game. Smoke from musket and artillery fire had a significant impact on the line of sight on Napoleonic battlefields, and so whenever a unit shoots, smoke is laid out along its front. Subsequent shooting through smoke effects accuracy. Smoke can be blown away by random events so is not neccessarily static.

My Poles converging on the crossroads and trying to disperse the British skirmish screen When formed troops “touch” screens (opponents or yours) they are dispersed but can be brought back on later once they have been reformed.

The French and Polish combined artillery concentrating on those British units defending the crossroads but the skirmish line is reducing their impact.

On the right skirmishers are about to force the British guns to retire and on the left the Poles are having the best of the skirmishing.

The Polish infantry on the top left corner have driven back the british from the river line and are approaching the crossroads. At this stage although successful the Polish are fatiguing and vulnerable to a British counter attack, but the 42nd Highlanders are the only British force available to do so and would be terribly outnumbered.

On the left flank a British counter attack is about to threaten the French Grand battery and their supporting infantry and on the right the French attack against the Portuguese in a village is about to push home.

At this stage I was wounded and needed to leave the battlefield, (leave for home as we were going out for tea) and so I am not sure how it all ended .

The rules and reference sheets are not available outside of those playtesting as yet and I am therefore unable to share them. What I can say is the mechanisms worked very well and I am happy to have a few more games to see how they work.

Who knows they might even end up in production down the track.

The Regiment, as part of Napoleon’s Imperial Guard, fought in many battles, distinguishing itself at Wagram, Beresina, Hanau and especially Somosierra. On at least three occasions, light-horsemen of the Regiment saved Napoleon’s life.

The Polish 1st Light Cavalry Regiment of the Imperial Guard, under the command of Wincenty Krasiński, was created by a decree of Napoleon’s, and signed on 9 April 1807 in Finckenstein (now Kamieniec Suski in northeast Poland):

“These people only know how to fight !”
… You are worthy of my Old Guard I proclaim you my bravest cavalry !”
– Napoleon, Emperor of France

In 1807 Napoleon authorized the raising of a guard regiment of Polish light horse. His main object in so doing was probably political, a first token of his promise to establish an independent Polish state. Whatever his motives,he obtained the services of some of the finest soldiers who ever served under him. Qualifications for enlistment were high. Applicants must be landowners or the sons of landowners. Some financial backing was certainly necessary, as those accepted had to provide their own uniforms, saddlery and horses.

In November 1808, Emperor Napoleon was advancing on Madrid. Across his road lay the Sierra de Guadarrama, crossed by the Somosierra pass defended by 12,000 Spaniards. Marshal Victor, commanding the advanced guard, set about forcing the pass by conventional means, sending infantry to the high ground on either side. Napoleon was impatient. He ordered light cavalry to storm the pass. When one of the French commanders raised not unreasonable difficulties, the Emperor turned to the Poles who were acting as his escort and told them to charge. One hundred and fifty horsemen charged uphill for a mile and a half, storming four successive batteries, two of them covered by earthworks. As they approached the crest the Spaniards fired their cannons and muskets and fled. Eighty-three of the Poles were casualties, including all seven officers.

Josef Anton Poniatowski 1763 – 1813 War Minister of the Duchy of Warsaw

At that time they were armed only with light cavalry sabers and carbines. They were issued with lances in the following year (in the end of 1809). Their uniform was Polish from the start; the square-topped cap or czapka, jacket or kurtka was dark blue with crimson facing and white piping, the trousers were also dark blue with crimson stripes. Officers were distinguished by silver lace and piping. When lances were issued they had pennants in the Polish colors, red over white.

Following the 1812 losses caused by the Russian invasion Volunteer units were established including a unit of hussars which participated in the 1813 campaign.

I agonized over re-painting the horses, as a unit of Bavarian volunteers all mounted on palamino horse is just plain wrong. Whilst not correct I decided they looked OK and since I have more than enough painting to do I decided they can stay as they were.

Way back in September 2017 I posted an idea I had about Dark Age animal enclosures

I know sometimes these things take a little while to mull around in this thick brain before they become a reality but only 44 months later here they are………YIPPEE!

All that I need to do now to complete the Dark Age Village is to build the communal latrine of the sort in the Jorvik Viking Village at York. I plan to get this completed over the weekend.

The irregular and rickety nature of the finish is exactly the effect I was after.

Hopefully you will see these in a Battle report soon!

Bavarian artillery train

From 1801 onwards the distincitive Bavarian Raupenhelm was worn with a red plume. The rank and file carried short swords and pistols until 1811 when muskets were issued. The horse artillery changed the short sword for a cavalry sabre.

Artillery piece deployed for action

Colonel of artillery

Artillery supply wagon

Artillery caisson

Limbered aretillery

Musket armed artillerymen

Bavarian artillery train

There was no organized train, with civilian teams and drivers being hired during times of war, wearing a grey uniform and a round hat until 18096 when the Raupenhelm was introduced.

The bavarian Uhlans were introduced into the Bavarian Army in 1813. They had the Austrian lancer uniform of dark green (red for trumpeter) with light blue or red facings and yellow topped czapkas. The later is not seen as the czapkas oilskin cover is shown on these models.

Today, Anzac Day, is a time when we reflect on the courage and sacrifice made by our military in times of war. At the start of World War one in 1914, Australia was a fledgling nation of only thirteen years. The war helped to solidify Australia’s identity and the myth of the strapping bronzed Aussie was born.

The military debacle and needless sacrifice at Gallipoli, and the glorious charge of the Austrlaian Light Horse at Beersheba reinforced this legend and became the content of “Boys Own” stories.

One of the major hobby projects that I have underway is the building of an Australian Light Horse collection to hopefully re-enact the charge on the tabletop in October this year.

The charge of the 4th and the 12th Australian Light Horse at Beersheba late in the afternoon of 31 October 1917, is remembered as the last great cavalry charge.

I do not normally post about “work in progress” but I have made an exception for today.

This is not a small task as I need to paint the following 20mm HaT plastic figures:

• 12 troops of 12 mounted figures each (144 mounted) for the 4th and the 12th regiments;
• 12 Vickers Machine Guns (currently 8 short);
• 12 Lewis machine Guns;
• 12 elements of horse holders;
• 12 dismounted leaders elements;
• 24 trooper elements;
• and assorted leaders.

At the moment I am at the collecting and sorting out stage.

All that I need except for the Vickers machine guns.

Supporting mortar teams

Four of the twelve Vickers Machine gun teams needed.

Lewis Machine Gun Teams

Conversion of Vickers machine gun on the move.

There are also photos of these being transported on a limber which I will convert from the Airfix WW1 Royal Horse artillery as well.

Boxes of Mounted figures.

This is a great box set that comes with mounted and dismounted troopers as well as the horse holders required for mounted infantry.

The box content.

The Heavy weapons box set.

The dismounted elements sorted for basing and painting.

Mounted command elements. I have since decide to have all mounted two to a base.

Dismounted Command Elements sorted.

Lewis guns sorted.

Horse holder elements ready to go.

Box of elements that I have put together to try and sort things out, and get a feel for how they will look.

All of the Turkish Infantry and Artillery are completed. Although they they took no part in the engagement, I have the Turkish cavalary that were at the left of their position, and who covered the retreat during the night, still to paint.

Lest we forget.

This post has gone a bit off topic, but it is what it is, and I make no apologies for it.

When I first began this post I had a very different heading and something else totally in mind, but the memories of two men, who despite their many flaws, have left an indelible impact on me as a man and as a person, have changed this post. Today Australians honour those brave citizens who fought for our country, many of whom gave the ultimate sacrifice.

Our family was one of the lucky ones. I had a Great Grandfather who fought against the Turks at Gallipoli, and Palestine, and the Germans on the Western Front in World War One, and a Grandfather who fought against the Japanese on the Kokoda track. I said lucky because both returned to their families, but they were both far from lucky.

I only remember my Great Grandfather from when I was very young and he was nearing the end of his life. We called him Little Grandad because he was short of stature (compared with Grandad who was a tall strapping man), slight of build, and always slumped over because of the impact of gas attacks. According to my Grandfather he returned a shell of the man he was. I will return to the legacy he left me a bit later.

I new my Grandfather very well and spent most holidays with him and Nana in their country house in Murtoa in Central Victoria. I remember vividly as if it was today waking up in the middle of the night to a commotion because Grandad had heard a train sound its horn and did a barrel roll through his bedroom window shattering glass everywhere because his half asleep instinct told him we were under aircraft attack. This was despite the fact that as a railway works foreman he was very used to train horns.

He only talked to me once about his experiences and it was with tears that he related that they were on patrol in the hills above an airfield and could see a Japanese attack about to commence. Lacking radios, they had no way of warning the airfield about the impending surprise attack without giving away their own position, and so they had to keep going with their mission. Twenty men died during that attack and my Grandfather always believed they had failed their mates. He charged me with never ever letting my mates down like that. These must have been memories that haunted him all of his life.

Lucky…. I am not so sure. Neither would talk any any further of their exploits and I understand why, as they were not events they wanted to remember.

I remember sitting on Little Grandad’s knee in his dimly lit front lounge in Newport, under his photo in uniform and his service medals, having him read three poems to me. I did not enjoy this at the time, but with advantage that the wisdom of years gives you, I now understand why he did it. They were from a tattered book of poems by Wilfred Owen that I still have to this day.

One of the most admired poets of World War I, Wilfred Edward Salter Owen is best known for his poems “Anthem for Doomed Youth”, “Dulce et Decorum Est”, and “Red Lips Are Not So Red”. These were the three that Little Grandad read to me. Owen was killed in France on November 4, 1918, one week before the end of the war.

Dulce et decorum est

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of gas-shells dropping softly behind.

Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time,
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime.—
Dim through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,—
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori – or the “old Lie”, as Owen describes it – is a quotation from the Odes of the Roman poet Horace, in which it is claimed that “it is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country”.

The main message of this poem is totally the opposite. It is NOT “sweet and fitting to die for one’s country” as so many people choose to believe; war is tragic and awful and gruesome and miserable, and so are the effects that it has on the young people that fight it.

Little Grandad wanted me to understand this.

Now don’t get Little Grandad and I wrong, he was not wanting to undermine his own, or his mates sacrifices that they willingly made “for God and country”, but rather to say that the slaughter was a total waste of a generation of men and women.

Anthem for Doomed Youth

What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?
      — Only the monstrous anger of the guns.
      Only the stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle
Can patter out their hasty orisons.
No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells; 
      Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,—
The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;
      And bugles calling for them from sad shires.

What candles may be held to speed them all?
      Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes
Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes.
      The pallor of girls’ brows shall be their pall;
Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,
And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.

“Anthem for Doomed Youth” was written while Owen was in the hospital recovering from injuries and trauma resulting from his military service during World War I. The poem laments the loss of young life in war and describes the sensory horrors of combat. It takes particular issue with the official pomp and ceremony that surrounds war (gestured to by the word “Anthem” in the title), arguing that church bells, prayers, and choirs are inadequate tributes to the realities of war.

Greater Love (Red Lips Are Not So Red)

Red lips are not so red
As the stained stones kissed by the English dead.
Kindness of wooed and wooer
Seems shame to their love pure.
O Love, your eyes lose lure
When I behold eyes blinded in my stead!

Your slender attitude
Trembles not exquisite like limbs knife-skewed ,
Rolling and rolling there
Where God seems not to care;
Till the fierce Love they bear
Cramps them in death’s extreme decrepitude.

Your voice sings not so soft, —
Though even as wind murmuring through raftered loft, —
Your dear voice is not dear,
Gentle, and evening clear,
As theirs whom none now hear
Now earth has stopped their piteous mouths that coughed.

Heart, you were never hot,
Nor large, nor full like hearts made great with shot;
And though your hand be pale,
Paler are all which trail
Your cross through flame and hail:
Weep, you may weep, for you may touch them not.

This poem is in stark contradiction to the two above, and demonstrates what Little Grandad was really trying to say – that men can survive the horrors of war outlined in the first two poems, because of the “love”, bond and comradeship they have with their mates.

Owen seems to suggest that the artificialities of love pale in comparison to the true honor and love of men on the battlefield – men who cough, struggle, and die. Owen is calling attention to the authenticity of these soldiers’ actions and finding within them meaning.

My Grandfather’s tale supports this.

To my Great Grandfather, David Smith, and to my Grandfather, David Smith, I say on behalf of my own father, David Smith, who is no longer here, thank you for the memories, the legacy you have left, and your service and sacrifice. Eternal rest God grant them.

David Smith

25 April 2021.

P.S. The original post I had written is scheduled for publication at noon AEST today.

Some more French lancers wikth which to go pig hunting.

I really like the campaign look of these with there forage bags.

This one with foraging bags and sycle for cutting hay for the horse is cool.