Huzzah! Spearman

This will probably be my last post of a painted miniature before the wedding.  This Fellow is from Fireforge and I got him as part of my participation in advanced painting class.

 My goal was to get better at painting faces and to improve my shading techniques generally.  I'm fairly happy with the result.

 I decided a Burgundian cross seemed right and the blue and red gives some color to a fairly drab soldier.

 Since he's a single figure I based him for Frostgrave he'll make an excellent Man At Arms or even Thug.

I picked up several good tips in the class and would definitely take it again.

Huzzah 2016: Admirals of the Napoleonic Broadsides

Saturday night I joined the Admirals of the Napoleonic Broadsides They have beautiful terrain and ships I was part of a mix Squadron of US and French ships defending a US port.

I had command of the French 74 Athenian the center ship above.  to the left is the USS Constitution trailing us is the Chesapeake and to my left is another French 74

You can see the British fleet here... they have several ships of the line and frigates and 4 brigs

Our Skooners break for the right to cover the shallow entry to the port.  To the left a pair of 6th rate frigate move out.  I must confess we did a poor job of coordinating out movements

Here you can see our fleet pulling out past the fortress and you can see the British Sales in the distance.

Athenian and Constitution move out past the fortress....

The English have quite a battle line with a 100 gun 1st rate int he lead.

The US Schooners have anchored in just about the prefect location

The French ships of the line make their turn the US Frigates are still charging ahead.

Athenian fires high at the 1st rate I am hoping to slow him down... but he makes his save... and hits me... knocking out my rutter. Well I guess this is a good place to drop ancor.

The American 6th Rates cross the 1st rates T and land several hits.. but the British save more than their fair share.

I drop anchor Athenian is now a semi-mobile floating battery

The 6th Rates are still dancing around the 1st Rate and the second French 74 is moving up to help

The Heavy US frigates are closing in

The Brigs and Schooners are exchanging fire the US Schooners have terrible luck every shot from the misses...

The British brigs are luckier wrekcing one Schooner with their first hit

Shotes fly from both sides.. The English are luckier again Constitution gets hit and cannot fire just as she gets into range

Chesapeake hits a British 74 and again the British make more than their fair share of save s

Our poor schooners are getting hammered again...

USS Virginia has lost her consort but she again blasts the British first rate and the hits begin to tell..

The French 74 hits the First rate with a raking shot...

Chesapeake takes fire from the English and I am seeing an opportunity develop.  The fort is hitting back at the English as well

The Brigs are in position, they were briliantly handled all game and they procead to slaughter our schooners

Constitution and Chesapeake are closing in on the Enlgish and blasting them with heavy broadsides.

The Virginia and the smaller French 74 are till engating.

The Fort Strikes the English ship of the line behind Athenian... I also add my power to the attacks on the 1st rate... and then prepare a desperate gambit

The English 1st rate is heavily damaged.

Constitution cuts between to British Frigates

I Pivot the the Athenian

and let got a full raking broadside the English ship is savaged

The English ship Grapples me and we attempt to board the fighting is indecisive

But the English ship is burning...

The her magazine blows up... Though the rules say I would not be damaged every one including myself say that's silly so we roll damage as if it was my magazine that blew up... and well I'm in rough shape..

The French 74 fires again and the English 1st rate goes down.

A British 64 cuts in behind my battered ship

My ship takes a shattering broadside... I like to think I had enough time to order most of my crew over the side.. Maybe those that could swim found a nice American girl to cofort hem

The Virginia scored our last success of the night taking down the HMS Acasta a large frigate

The 4 English Brigs anchor in the port and a 64 is on its way to join them.  We lost all three schooners, the Chesapeake and one 6th Rate frigate and the Athenian.  Constitution was badly damaged, Virginia escaped as did the other French 74 both of which had great games.  Almost all the English ships are battered excepting the brilliantly handled brigs.  A great game probably my favorite of the convention

Huzzah 2016: Battle of Mont Saint Jean 1794, Carnage and Glory

After Cleaning up the Hanguied Princess table I was off to play my first Historical game of the day.  Peter Lowitt (standing in the gray shirt) and a Carnage and Glory game set, I've like CArnage and Glory since trying it at Huzzah for the frist time in 2012 and this game set in 1794 seemed quite interesting.

The fight involves a mixed force of Dutch, Austians and French Emigries against an army of French Revolutionaries.  Adding to the interest the battle ground is better know as Waterloo.

This building is the famed Hougoumnt defended by a legion of French Embigries.

My own caommand is the Dutch holding the ground of to the left of the Brussels road and La Haye Sainte.

And the French... the seemed to streach from Horizon to Horizon and more are coming up behind them...

The French Emigries started the ball with a devistating volley that threw a squdon of French light cavalry into confusinon

The lighter ground is hills and the darker grean represent vallies/reveans.

I move my men up on to the hill

I'm not sure what the French are up to but there are a lot of them!

The French Emigries now lauch the first of a sieries of cavalry charges that throw the French left into confusion

On the Right Center the Austrian and Dutch division advances Dutch/Austian Cavalry join the Emigreies.

I send part f my cavarly to the left as much of the French cavalry is heading that way.

More Allied cavalry strikes the French on thier left and Lt Cavalry tubles to the rear.

My artilry hits a French cavalry unit that injudicioulsy climbed onto the top of the hill

The attack of the Allied cavary is losing stream but the French left is in utter confussion.

Now the French right and Allied left begin probbing... two French cavalry followed up a devistating Artilry strike... Blasting through a unit of Dutch Grenadiers

One of our Cavarly units does the same to a French Cavalry unit.

Peter consult the computer for results

The Allies on the right double down with more cavalry charges

French Cavalry folow up, on unit hits the badly damaged grenadiers the other hits undamaged infnatry.  The French unit on the left broke through the one to the right was routed it self.

Our own cavalry on the left chagres home...

and send one of this counter parts tumbling back.

I move up Dutch Heavy cafalry to plug the hole

Charge meets counter charge

and more allied cavalry pushes forward on the right.

The French start menicing our center, Artilry strikes the Rench in Column

The efferots on the right are hitting a wall of too much French infantry... The have weathered the strom and are now striking back.

Dutch heavy cavalry win honors and drife off the french cavarly...

The last good charge of the Allied right goes in... it sends one French infantry battalion running but the others stan.

Our cavalry form the left moves forward down the valley to the center.

The Fench cavalry on the left counter attacks.

We launch a mulity pronged attack on the center with infantry and cavlry hopping to stave in the cener column before it can shake out.

Our attack in the center is our best hope... the attack on the right has lost it seam..

and we are under attack no the left

The light infanty runs but froms a shacky square.

Unfortunaly we lose two melee we all felt we should have won... the French infantry beats back our grenadiers and the French light infantry somehow stands off our Cavalry.  We end the battle with the French holding a 4% advantage in moral... but our right is in rough shape so are the French but they have the numbers to recover and regroup.  We've stopped all attacks on the left so far but the French mass in the center having survived our best shot will bring its inevitable wieght in on us.  I think we would make a good fight of it but the French are winning but they know they were in a fight.