The Battle of Liebertwolkwitz, 16 October, 1813 - An Age of Eagles Scenario

We return once again to Matt's Basement Bunker to play his 2nd battle of the year.  Matt hosts at least two major battles at his home in Denver and this was the last for 2013.

This battle was a major engagement that was part of the Battle of Leipzig.  The battle lasted about 4 hours and was scheduled for 8 full turns.  To save time I went to Matt's and as the CinC of the Allies made our initial move onto the table to save time.  This was done a few days before the big event.

We were joined by the French Command of: Andrew (CinC/Center Command), Bob (Polish Commander), Doug (French Right Flank Command) and our Host Matt (French Left Flank).  The Russian/Prussian Command was: Dan (Myself as the CinC and Russian Right Flank Command), Pat (Russian Center Command) and Eric (Prussian and our right flank command).

All of us have played a version of Fire and Fury so the game went very smoothly as far as game play was concerned.  The actual battle fought was probably pretty close to the historical outcome.  There were no major breakthroughs just back and forth actions but I have to hand it to the French today, they really pushed hard and starting bending the allied lines by the end of the battle.  We went 7 turns when  the Allies finally called it off and it ended with a French victory.  You will see in some of the pictures how much of the battlefield the French controlled when Turn 7 rolled around.

As the Allies the major problem we had at each initiative phase was that we were rolling with a -2 and won the initiative maybe once?  That had us on our back foot for most of the battle.  Hat's off to everyone that commanded because everyone seemed to carry out their missions but me.  I was on the Allied right flank with an easy target town objective in front of me.  I just couldn't get there quick enough because the French moved their reserves over to the center and their left pretty quickly.  So there I was trying to pry Matt's forces out of the Town but too late with too little to dig him out.  Well played Frenchies.

Other parts of the field had Pat and Andre duking it out with their large cavalry clashes in the center which was joined by Bob's Polish coming on fast to help press the Russian center.  Doug and Eric had a good fight on their side of the battle too.  Eric's Prussians took up defensive positions when Doug broke out into an immediate attack the second the battle started.  It was getting pretty interesting for the Prussians during this fight.

So it was another great time and another great battle.  Thanks Matt.

Here are some pictures with more captions of the battle in progress.

Happy New Year!

Dan

Colorado Military Historians (CMH) Vet Wars 2013 - Bolt Action Battle

Doug and Dave were able to put on a Bolt Action Battle the first evening of the Vet Wars event.  I didn't take as many pictures as I usually do because I actually got to PLAY in a game this time.  It is always a great time playing Bolt Action.  I played the wide open left American Flank against Herr Manley on the German side.  Jeff played the Americans against Aaron in the middle and Nate playing Americans on the far right against Rick.

Our mission was to take this small village in the middle out of German hands.  They had opportunities to hide squads before our assault.  What actually happened was that Herr Manley and his Sgt. Heinz (Squad Leader) launched a devastating attack from the German center which destroyed Jeff's MMG and assaulted and killed one of my blundering squads.

We never did take the Village but we all still had a good time.  The miniatures were all Dave Manley's which look great!  And Doug who ran the game laid out another one of his excellent terrain boards! Thanks Doug and Dave!

So here are few pictures for your enjoyment.  Dan

Colorado Military Historian (CMH) 2013 - WWI Square Bashing

Next year will be the 100th Anniversary of The Great War. Some of us at Vet Wars this year were able to put on some WWI actions. Terry Shockey took the opportunity to run the latest of Peter Pig's Square Bashing rules. I didn't get to play in this one because I was one table over in a Civil War battle but received great pictures and feedback regarding the battle. John Owen and Doug Wildfong handled the Americans with Dave and Jordan Newport taking the Germans. It sounded like it was a very good game. Thanks Terry for putting it on.

If you do not know about Square Bashing please go to the Peter Pig Website and take a look at all of their nice ranges of figures and rules. The figures used in this scenario are a split between Peter Pig and Minifigs.

Peter Pig Website

http://www.peterpig.co.uk/range16.htm

So let me get to the battle. This was an American Force protecting a command bunker and their trench line from the Germans. We got some nice pictures and some narration from the players - enjoy.

Dan