As "It Rolls for Ivan" is still in a state of flux, I decided that I'd take "Indian Mutine-era" to COW instead this year. Neither IM nor Taiping Era have been to a physical COW since they were published so it seemed a fair call. I thought it would be prudent to get a refresher on the rules, however.
Chris was running the Indian right wing. He started with an aggressive push with his Sepoy cavalry.
The British moved up through the tree line. Phil deployed his elephant battery on the edge of the wooded area.
Chris pushed up with everything, and sent his cavalry out to turn the British flank. This was aided by me completely forgetting the command and control rules.
Richard was forced to resort to desperate measures to protect his guns.
The Sepoy cavalry charge the Highlanders. One unit refuses, and in any event the Highlanders pass their MV test and form square.
Ian and Steve, both on-line, are facing off in the centre. Jon is trying to turn the British right with his cavalry, out of shot behind the trees. My, did I make a mess of umpiring that bit over there. Chris is following up with his infantry.
And then something odd happens. The full Madras Fusilier battalion (blue caps) fails a critical MV roll, fail to fire or counter charge, and are forced back by two battalions of Sepoys.
Stephenson leads his Sikhs in a charge
His men force their opponents to retire, but he is then caught in the flank by Jon's Palace Guards. The Sikhs hold their ground, but Stephenson is slain by a bullet to the head.
The Madras Fusiliers continue to give ground. The Highlanders have taken some damage from musketry, but the artillery are holding their own.
Alas we ran out of time at that point. The British were winning significantly on their right, but the Sepoys look like pulling off a major coup on the left, possibly breaking the Fusiliers and capturing some guns. Even the Highlanders look a little shaky.
A good shakeout for the rules, and a much needed refresher for me. Some extreme die rolling on the Indian left and centre kept them in the game much longer than expected.
Whatever. I'm set for COW mostly. Just need to repaint some bases, I think, so they're all the same colour. That'll keep me busy for the rest of the day.
Interesting battle! I haven't looked at the Mutiny as a subject for gaming before. Looks like you had a small enough scale for classic sweeping movements.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting as a colonial game as both sides are mostly properly trained and drilled. The British armies are small, mostly and the spaces big, so you can get a lot going on the table. It probably explains why I have published two sets on IM rules.
DeleteWhat a lovely looking game, I'll look forward to seeing it at COW.
ReplyDeleteThanks. Looks very early 1980s with all those Minifigs, doesn't it?
DeleteWhen I first read the battle briefing and saw the vast disparity in armies, I figured the Mutineers had little chance. The only hope I saw was to game the victory conditions by keeping troops on the table. That required some careful husbanding. Gosh, can that term still be used? Anyway, I could not see exactly what Chris was up to at the far end of the table but looked like he was making good progress. Being repulsed in repeated attacks against unsupported infantry was surprising.
ReplyDeleteAs for Phil’s cavalry attack against the village on my end of the table, that was a bit of a set-up. I deployed the Indian horse in front of the village to tempt Phil into attacking knowing that my cav could fall back. Figuring Phil’s charge would carry his horse into the village was a situation I counted on without knowing the rules.
Are these 25mm Minifigs or 15s?
It is the British game to lose, and you did a really good job on them. I think the best idea for the British is to deploy in open order and fire at 3 Square range for several turns to knock down the MV before closing. And those are 25mm.
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