FPW Belle Epoque

 Tom wanted to try out some rules for the FPW (he recently acquired a bunch of 10mm FPW figures), and I recommended Belle Epoque as something he might like. We set up a game and gave it a go.

This is a 'sort of' Froeschwiller/Worth. The orbats are correct but the terrain is only a vague representation. Each unit is a division and the hexes are roughly 1km. MacMahons Corps plus bits of 1st Corps vs two Prussian and two 'Bavarian' Corps (one division is Wuerttemburgers). Eight German divisions vs five French, and the French have two cavalry divisions while the Germans have two cavalry brigades.

McMahon on the ridge above Worth. The French have better troops but very limited command points, while the Germans have CPs coming out of their ears. The French divisions are also smaller (3 bases each) due to the chaos of the French mobilisation.

Toms Bavarians (left) and Prussians (right) march on in Corps columns. Unit activations are interleaved in the turn - basically you put a chit for each unit in a hat and draw them out, but you can choose which unit to activate with the chit. This nicely produces a degree of friction in the activation sequence. 

My chaps got to the ridge above Worth first as they started closer! I put a division into Worth, this proved to be a catastrophic error. On the German right the Bavarians made excellent progress around the flank. The Prussians were a bit slower, delayed by the steep ridge.

I'd hoped to get my cavalry on the left out into the open, but the Bavarians forestalled them. Cavalry are rubbish in woods, so I had to pull them back instead.

The massed ranks of Bavarian and Prussian cannon annihilated the Worth garrison. I'd very cleverly blocked all their retreat routes. What an idiot. I had to put the cavalry up on the ridge to provide some flank protection. The cannonade pushed another French division back and the Bavarians advanced.

My right was a bit of sideshow. The Prussian cavalry tried their luck against my division on the hill, and the horses were just shot down. Frontal charges against breechloading rifles are not a good idea...

On my left the pounding was relentless and I was forced to retire to the reverse slope (where I should have been in the first place). The number of leaders you get is related to command quality and number of active bases, sadly the French losses had been such that MacMahon was removed.

Things were looking a bit desperate now, all my cavalry was destroyed and in the centre I just had two divisions left. Fortunately one was able to rally some hits off while sheltering behind the ridge.

The Bavarians closed in, but the reverse slope position was a tough nut to crack and the Chassepots tore gaps in the Bavarian ranks.

With their musketry ineffective, the Bavarians tried charging and pushed one French unit back, but the other hung on and the Bavarians lines got ever thinner.

Amazingly my division on the right was hanging on (with one base remaining!) against an entire Corps. They kept up an annoying fire into the flanks of the units assaulting the ridge, and tied up lots of Prussians who could otherwise have been more effective elsewhere.

The Prussian cavalry finally found a flank just as the Bavarians were wavering in front of Froeschwiller.

And massed infantry fire and charges finished off the last French units, leaving the Prussian cavalry to occupy the objective. MacMahons Corps retired to reorganise and fight another day.

That was really good fun, I'd forgotten what a great set of rules Belle Epoque are, the uncertainty about the exact activation sequence each turn adds some real tension to the proceedings. I'm tempted to break them out again for one of our Zoom games. It was also nice to play with the larger 10mm figures than my usual 6mm.

This game reminded me too that they are very bloody, and I'm minded to tweak the casualty allocation. In the standard game, units can convert each second hit into a retreat result (so if you suffer 4 hits, you can turn it into 2 hits and 2 retreats). I think a better resolution might be to allow to conversion of odd hits into retreats (so hit 1, 3 etc) - this would mean a 1 hit result would most likely become a retreat, unless the unit was very keen on standing. I'd also change the combat target dice rolls, as at the moment it is a very odd mixture of rolling low sometimes and high other times. The maths would be the same with just rolling high, and much easier to remember. 

Something to think about anyway.

6mm Tents

 While playing around with my Baccus ACW armies and various scenarios I realised that some tents would be useful as both scenery and status markers. My 6mm Napoleonics have a few tents which I made out of paper, but I wanted something more substantial and which I could use for a range of periods and scales. 

I did a bit of research and Irregular Miniatures seemed to be the best bet, doing a range of tents in different sizes in a mixed pack in their 6mm accessories range. I got two packs which yielded a dozen  tents, which I'm sure will be plenty.

First up are these two big tents, which will be useful for Army HQs and suchlike. I undercoated them all in mid grey then did these in VJ Iraqi Sand with a light drybrush of pure white. I think offwhite looks more like weathered canvas.

Then there are are half a dozen mid sized tents. These are a pair of ridge pole tents, also done in cream.

And a couple with what look like external ridge poles. 

I decided to base them as the tents are all slightly different sizes, but putting them on the same size bases equalised them to a certain extent. In retrospect, I should have probably done the bases in earth brown flock to make them more generic, but the blended turf is OK. I edged them in brown which breaks it up a bit.

These two sag in the middle so obviously don't have ridge poles. I did these in Dried Earth with a white drybrush, but they ended up looking much like the Sand ones.

There were also some much smaller pup type tents which I based in pairs on the same size bases as the larger tents. I did these in Dried Earth too. Being smaller, they will do for my 2mm stuff as well.

The bases mean they all line up quite nicely into tent lines, should I wish to do such a thing. Ideal for parades! 

The only outliers are a pair of what I think are supposed to be Bell Tents, but tbh they look more like yurts to me. I painted them up anyway and based them on pennies, I'm sure they will be useful for something.

I'm pretty pleased with those. They were inexpensive and painted up well, and are a useful addition to my ever growing selection of 6mm terrain bits. I've got a couple of scenarios in mind already which will make use of them.

Paris in the Spring

 My gaming posts seem to have got out of step, so I'm not sure what has happened. I'll blame the pingdemic, everything else is blamed on it at the moment. Anyway, some months ago Tim put on another 54mm outdoor game, this time featuring the suppression of the Paris Commune in May, 1871. We played this in May 2021, so on the 150th anniversary. Steve, Russell and I were the rebellious Communards, while Lloyd and Simon were the nasty government forces. 

La Belle Paris. Perhaps not quite so belle after months of siege.

Fort d'Issy. This outpost was held by the Commune and the Versailles forces needed to take it first.

Notre Dame and the Hotel de Ville with various delegates clustered outside.

The imposing external walls with barricaded gates.

Government sappers with big barrels of gunpowder.

Garde Mobiles in Paris, sheltering beside Montparnasse (which also hosted a big umbrella in case it rained).

To the barricades! We distributed our motley collection of loyal soldiers and armed civilians around the makeshift defences. We also distributed various nasty surprises, such as molotov armed petroleuses, infernal engines and some assassins....

The ramparts were garrisoned quite thinly as they were far longer than we had troops to put on them, but the number of gates was quite restricted.

The government troops formed up to assault Fort D'Issy.

Quite a few of them as it turned out.

As the infantry lines rolled forward, Communard guns tore holes in the ranks. These soldiers evidently had decided D'Erlons approach at Waterloo was the one to adopt. The huge column made a very easy target for our guns.

View from the Fort. The attackers were still out of rifle range at this point.

More Government troops formed up on the right of the assault column. These chaps were  bit more spread out

They were even dragging a Mitrailleuse with them (the carriage is just visible).

The assault column reached the fort. There really weren't many left on their feet by now, but it was enough for the traitorous Colonel in charge of the defenders to pack up and go home, rapidly followed by the rest of his men. The Fort duly fell to the Government troops, as unaccountably the teenage drummer boy left behind to blow it up didn't light the fuse.

The garrison joined the city defenders, while the Government troops formed up to assault the city.

View from the ramparts. We were well supplied with artists and photographers to record the action.

Sadly our cunning plan to blow up the western gatehouse when full of enemy troops was foiled when a Government artillery shell (the matchstick) landed next to the big barrel of gunpowder. Oh dear!

BOOOM! The gatehouse, surrounding walls, and the defenders standing on them all vanished in a big puff of smoke. The Government troops formed up to rush the breach.

And on they came, rank on rank of them.

The central gate was taken fairly easily, but the attackers were reluctant to advance due to the gun in the redoubt at the bottom of the screen which fired shell after shell through the gate itself, mowing down heaps of attackers. 

The eastern gate was soon sealed off by a handful of Molotovs, which was deeply unpleasant for the attackers standing in the archway.

Sadly another Government artillery shell detonated one of our booby traps. The explosion also destroyed the city fire engine (and  all the Sapeurs Pompiers). Zut alors!

The mighty cannon holding the centre gate. The Government troops are slowly breaking out of their breach at the west gate.

The gun crew were eventually overwhelmed, which only left some civilians to hold the east gate barricades.

Oooer, whats this? A flying column  has been granted passage by the Prussians, and a  load of Government troops have appeared northeast of Notre Dame. Quell surprise!!

The Gardes Mobiles, egged on by a communist fanatics, are still up for a fight.

Another one of our petroleuses has an unfortunate accident while trying to demolish the gatehouse.

The government troops have put the fire out and march on into Paris.

The enemy pour into the centre and west gates too.

Back at the Hotel de Ville, a certain degree of consternation reigns.

Notre Dame in sight.

The motley bunch of civilians ahead aren't going to stop this lot.

Government troops press on into the city. That shady looking chap by the church is one of the assassins, but not much hope for a successful attack here.

Who is this running forward in the red dress though?

Kaboom! Molotovs rip into the tightly packed column. Ouch.

The Archbishop is being held hostage in this small hut, unfortunately he was earlier wounded by artillery fire, and when we went to check on his condition, he had disappeared. Nous sommes trahis!!

The Gardes Mobiles do their best but are heavily outnumbered.

Soldiers pursue the petrol bombers, but soon get lost in the maze of narrow streets and alleys.

Not many formed defenders left now.

The assassin comes a cropper.

It is pretty much all over now.

The Imperial Guard horse band comes on.

The Bretons reach the Hotel de Ville while a few die hard Communards wave flags in the square outside. With that, the delegates surrender and sue for peace. The Commune is over.

Meanwhile my character, has gone to join this gun battery. It hasn't fired a shot all game, and is now mysteriously pointing at the Communards.... all is fair in love and war.

That was loads of fun, with some beautiful toys to play with. Great to meet some people to play face-to-face as well. Many thanks to Tim for hosting and Sara for the catering.