Chain of Command: artillery additions

In Chain of Command, artillery does not appear on the table. The game, after all, represents the sharp end of the stick where the infantry grunts are quite face-to-face. Artillery, and even medium mortars, have no place in such close quarters except as objective pieces. In-game off-board artillery represents medium mortar batteries at company or battalion level.  CoC does, however, provide a gamer the option for using a larger artillery or air strike pre-game barrage that can potentially disrupt the enemy's ability to move forces into the battle-zone (tabletop). I had a thought to model some artillery vignettes to remind players of the pre-game barrage (it lasts the entirety of the first turn). And I'm finding that vignettes add some much needed colour to a WWII tabletop battlefield. I contracted out to Captain Dan at Red Over Blue (as part of our Lend Lease program) for the pieces below and with his usual skill he has rendered some lovely pieces and figures. 

  This is the Warlord Games Sig33 105mm howitzer with crew, comfortably ensconced behind scratch-built sandbags (although I've just noticed that the epaulettes are painted with white piping rather than the red of the artillery).

 And for the Brits, the Warlord Games BEF 25lb gun with limber (I'm fully aware that the limber would probably not be so close to the gun but I claim artistic licence and lack of space). 

Das KaiserReich: 1. Große FeldArtillerie

A new addition to Das KaiserReich (the perpetual and implacable enemy of Le Grand-Duché de Gourmandie) is part gift and part scrounging. During our recent trip to Historicon, Bob Lehman gifted me with some painted artillery pieces for my ImagiNation project. Among these was the large mortar in the photos below. He painted this in the traditional blue of Das KaiserReich. I came home with this gift with some re-infused enthusiasm for the project and immediately went about pulling out artillerists to add. Within a couple of weeks I received a mystery package from Ken "All the King's Men Toy Soldiers" Cliffe that contained six wonderfully painted artillerists. Ken, who normally reserves his considerable painting talent for 54mm figures, has done a splendid job with these Old Glory figures. These were immediately drafted to man 1. Große FeldArtillerie and its 24lb mortar. I decided to base it more statically than the regular field artillery and cast about for some earthworks etc. I was lucky to find two resin gabion pieces that i had painted a number of years ago and then had promptly forgotten. Adding in a few powder barrels and Voila! Thanks to Bob & Ken for helping create a nice compliment to my ImagiNation forces.

ImagiNations - Black Powder style

I spent an enjoyable Friday evening with Vidal trying out Black Powder with my ImagiNation armies. We didn't try any specific scenario; rather since it was only my second time at the rules, we decided to just line 'em up and have at 'em! Le Grand-Duché de Gourmandie squared off against the forces of KronPrinz Friedrich Wilhelm of Das KaiserReich (topped up with a few mercenary units from Il Ducato di Libagioni).

Le Grand-Duché de Gourmandie

Le Grand Duché de Gourmandie is ruled over by Grand-Duc Pierre Louis. His armies are commanded by Jean Lafitte Roquefort, Marquis de Fromage. The Grand Duchy is a hereditary territory, having passed from son to son for more than 300 years. The ruling family is notoriously conservative and the Grand Duc normally sends the Catholic Arch-Bishop Ambroise de Chabichou du Poitou into the field with his army to ensure adherence to God's Will and the moral rectitude of the men.

Das KaiserReich

Das KaiserReich, a strictly protestant state, is ruled over by KronPrinz Friedrich Wilhelm, who also personally commands his army in the field. The state is rigorously controlled by an efficient and ruthless bureaucracy, at the head of which sits The Council of Twelve, a group of influential and wealthy burghers. Constant strain and tension between the hereditary rights of the KronPrinz and the economic and personal interests of The Council serve to limit the powers of the royal family. Thus, many of the regiments that make up the army are militia, raised and paid for by their Inhabers, landed gentry from the various districts of the Reich (most of whom are closely tied to the royal family by blood or obligation).

Il Ducato di Libagioni

Centered around the Vedicchio Lagoon, Ducato di Libagioni relies upon its sizeable navy to project it's regional power. Supported by multiple small colonies and settlements along the Nebbilo coast and overseas, the Duchy once held considerable economic power. Due to the rise of Le Grand Duché de Gourmandie to the south, the Duchy's holdings and territories have gradually shrunk. The soldiers of Libations are known for their eastern aggression and liquid courage.

 Grenadiers à Cheval Boursin magnificently arrayed for battle on the left flank of the Gourmandie line.

And...Grenadiers à Cheval Boursin running precipitately on the second(?) turn after Vidal rolled a blunder on their very first order activation. So proud, yet so.... cowardly!

Pistoliere von Dopplebock lead the KaiserReich cavalry at the opposite end of the field, backed up by the fearsome Cavalleria di Strega from Libagioni. 

The center of the KaiserReich line: Regiment der Infanterie Krombacher supported by Regiment der Grenadiere Oettinger.

 Some courtly music to accompany the dull roar of cannon!

 Regiment der Grenadiere Oettinger squares off in melee with the 2e/Infanterie Roquefort.

 Pistoliere von Doppelbock attempt to close with Gourmandie guns, the former attempting to win fame and glory on their first outing.

Von Doppelbock braving the fire and loosing a pistol volley. Unfortunately (but not unexpectedly), one squadron of cavalry vs supported guns did not turn out well for these newly raised horsemen.

All in all, a very enjoyable game! Thanks to Vidal for providing the venue and the company. I will definitely continue with BP for this project. Just need more infantry....and cavalry....oh, and guns.

Re-Imagining my ImagiNations (Part I) - Le Grand-Duché de Gourmandie

It came to my attention several months ago that many of my blog photos had disappeared from their posts. A quick investigation made me realize that they were irretrievable (I work in IT and know a lost cause when I see one). After a further look, it became apparent that I have neither the time nor the inclination to go through all the affected posts and replace the photos from those I still have or replace with new ones. Thus, most of my ImagiNation project, although chronicled in word, has few photos to show. 

Luckily, this has coincided with a re-imagining of my ImagiNation project as a whole. Originally I had a fairly sturdy plan for building the armies and collecting the figures. I started with Le Grande-Duché de Gourmandie and Das KaiserReich. Later I acquired the forces of Il Ducato di Libagioni from Phil. The first two were envisioned as redoubtable foes but with no particular overall plan for uniform regulation beyond a vague adherence to red and blue. Lately, I've undertaken a bit of a reorganization and moved a couple of units about among the armies. This will now conform to an older school of organization, RED & BLUE armies. Moving forward, Le Grande-Duché de Gourmandie forces will be predominantly RED (with a few exceptions, as there always are in any army). Das KaiserReich will now be the BLUE army. And of course Il Ducato di Libagioni will remain the GREEN of Phil's original ImagiNation.

To chronicle this change and to make up for the loss of photos in previous posts, the extant  forces of le Grand-Duc Pierre Louis are listed below.

Le Grand-Duché de Gourmandie

Army Commander: Jean Lafitte Roquefort, Marquis de Fromage

Le Grand-Duché de Gourmandie is ruled over by Grand-Duc Pierre Louis. His armies are commanded by Jean Lafitte Roquefort, Marquis de Fromage. The Grand Duchy is a hereditary territory, having passed from son to son for more than 300 years. The ruling family is notoriously conservative and the Grand Duc normally sends Arch-Bishop Ambroise de Chabichou du Poitou into the field with his army to ensure adherence to God's Will and the moral rectitude of the men.

Le Grand-Duc Pierre Louis

Jean Lafitte Roquefort, Marquis de Fromage, commander of His Excellency's armies in the field.

Le Marquis is flanked (on the left of the photo) by Georges leRoque, Comte de Villenveulle (commander of Les Grenadiers à Cheval Boursin) and (to the right) Phillipe Grand-Nez, Comte de Roquefort (commander of l'Infanterie Roquefort).

L'Infanterie Roquefort, with battalion guns. 

Roquefort is a two-battalion regular infantry regiment sporting the traditional Gourmandie red coats and commanded by Phillipe Grand-Nez, Comte de Roquefort (see above).

(Crusader figures) 

The colour party is sporting GMB flags. Here also can be seen the red hat lace of the grenadier division of the first battalion (left of the photo).

 4lb battalion guns 

(Crusader guns and figures with Front Rank limbers and wagon)

 Grenadiers de Camembert, a one-battalion regular regiment sporting lovely mauve uniforms and commanded by Jean-Jacques LaPierre, Comte de Champagne (not shown).  Each of the three divisions of the battalion have unique facing colours.

(Crusader figures)

  Camembert colour party.

(GMB flags)

'Red' division of les Grenadiers de Camembert.

 Three squadrons and colour party of les Grenadiers à Cheval Boursin, commanded by Georges leRoque, Comte de Villenveulle (he of the bronzed cuirass), and sporting the traditional Gourmandie red coats. As with les Grenadiers de Camembert, each of the three Boursin squadrons have different facing colours.

(Front Rank figures and GMB flag)

Colour party of les Grenadiers à Cheval Boursin.

 1er Artillerie de Gourmandie, commanded by the mercenary Cameron von Müller. 

These are professional gunners decked out in royal blue to distinguish themselves from the infantry gunners who man the battalion pieces of the infantry regiments. This is a heavy artillery battery, equipped with 12lb guns.

(Crusader gunners, Front Rank limbers and wagon, Sash & Saber Napoleonic French 12lb guns)

The professional von Müller directs the operations.

Pistoliere von Doppelbock

After more than year and a half of gaming WWII exclusively, I'm ready for some colour on the table (besides khaki and feldgrau). I've been hankering for some ImagiNation gaming and three things have conveniently coincided to spark the fire again. First, I recently played a game using Black Powder rules at our annual cottage gaming weekend (which I just noticed I have forgotten to blog). This game used Matt and Bob's lovely 15mm GNW collection. I thoroughly enjoyed the rules and thought they would be perfect for my ImagiNation gaming. Second, after that weekend Bob painted up some cannons for my Blue Army (more of this anon). I had asked for two or three BIG guns and he obliged by bringing along the painted versions to Historicon a few weeks ago (some pictures once they're supplied with crews). Thirdly, at our recent gaming weekend in the Independent and Glorious Republic of Quebec, I received from the talented hands of Captain Dan the Pistoliere von Doppelbock, as seen below.

Pistoliere von Doppelbock (Ebor Miniatures)

This is a militia cavalry unit of the KaiserReich, raised and funded by Freiherr Georg von Wolkewitz. This two-squadron regiment hails from the southernmost city in the Kaiserreich, Rheine, famous for its social conservatism and strict protestantism. As with all militia units in the KaiserReich, the only mandate is blue uniforms. The remainder of the distinctions are wholly in the purview of the Inhaber. In this case, von Wolkewitz chose the unusual (and perhaps anachronistic) expedient of arming and training his regiment with the aim of employing the caracole as the primary battlefield tactic. This involves the squadrons calmly riding forward in line, one behind the other, until a mere 50 paces from the enemy (cavalry, infantry or artillery). The lead squadron looses a pistol volley then wheels and falls back around the second squadron which then proceeds to repeat the exercise. The squadrons continue to cycle through this process, hoping to weaken the enemy force, before attempting to charge home. On a more aesthetic note, von Wolkewitz encourages his officers and troopers to carry the favour of their ladies in the form of silk scarves about the neck, each of a personal colour. 

Quebec Games Day

Packed up my passport and trundled up the highway with Michael for some international travel to Quebec and a Games Day hosted by Captain Dan of Red Over Blue. Rather than drone on about the day,  Cpt Dan's excellent articles about the day are here and here. I've added some pictures below as well.

A great weekend of gaming and other manly pursuits with Daniel, Michael, Phil and James (all members of the Canadian forces and damned proud of 'em I am). Another such weekend apparently is in the planning stages...this time in the bustling lakeside resort town of Trenton (the Ontario version).

 Is it surprise that there's no bar to go with the sign or that it's not snowing in Quebec?

 Table set-up for 28mm Bolt Action. This is a mix of Warbases, Sarissa, Crescent Root Studios and scratch-building. The result, I think, is quite spectacular.

Our host, Captain Dan, pontificating (or issuing orders...not sure which). 

Some very nifty new artillery explosion markers. 

Daniel's new Puma skirting the hedgerow. 

American paras approaching the town.