Sunday, March 27, 2016

Austrians Vs British

Bit of a fizzer this one!

When I first made the tournament draw up I was excited by this clash, as the different colored uniforms of the two armies would have made for some neat pics. But neither army was very enthusiastic about getting involved, and it ended up as nothing more than a brief skirmish between a small portion of each army's cavalry......

On a morning where heavy fog kept visibility to a minimum, the advance guards of the Austrian and British armies (mostly cavalry - the British had a gun but it didn't see any action) clashed over a bridge in a skirmish that was over almost as soon as it started.


The Austrians won the right to choose which side of the river they entered from and took the side with the village, hoping to establish it as a supply depot. (Austrians in white, British in red).


The Austrian Dragoons reached the bridge first, but as they crossed it, the (British) Scots Greys came within sight. The Scots Greys immediately charged the Austrians, inflicting heavy casualties (including the Austrian general) on the leading squadron, before pushing on into the second squadron.


Thrown onto the back foot, the Austrians were badly shaken, and as their morale collapsed, the Scots Greys continued their work until the enemy was in full flight.

In the end, an easy win for the British, who now face the Prussians in the tournament's semi-final round. My French and Russians square off in the other semi.

Still on the waiting list also is the "Barbarian World" Final between the Britons and Picts.

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Bavarians Vs Prussians


I'm a little behind schedule with this update due to busy weekends the past couple of weeks. The battle did go ahead as scheduled, a little over two weeks ago. It's just taken me this long to get the photos etc sorted out.

The Bavarians (variously decked out in the light blue, green and white, and approaching from the left in the pics) failed to match the efforts of previous weeks' performances by my minor nations, and were pretty much steamrolled by my Prussians (in the dark blue, generally approaching from the right in these pics).


The terrain was pretty simplistic - a mostly flat farmland area with just the farmhouse, a few trees, and further north than where the action took place, a low hill. A road ran past the farmhouse, giving the two armies access to the area.


The Bavarians arrived first and attempted to set up a defensive position in and around the farmhouse.


Unfortunately, once the Prussians arrived on the scene, it soon became obvious that the Prussians had enough artillery to be able to sit back and pummel the Bavarians into oblivion. This forced the Bavarians out of their defensive position, but as an attacking force they lack the punch to break through the Prussians, and although they were able to inflict heavier casualties than the Prussians would have liked, were soon overwhelmed (see the pic at the top of the post).

Prussians advance to fight the winner of the Austrian Vs British encounter in the semi-final round. (Russians Vs French in the other semi). Hopefully Austria Vs Britain will take place over Easter weekend!