Calots

Whilst painting my Green Martians I found a pack of Black Hat's Martian Wolves. Whilst not entirely book-accurate in terms of looks they are are obviously designed to be the equivalent of the Barsoomian Calot. Green Martians domesticated these beasts as guard-dogs, and it's not unreasonable that they could accompany an army. So today I painted them up as two elements of beasts, giving both of my Green Martian armies the option of some extra bad going capability.

Green Martians riding to the hounds.

Calots go two better than the thoats in that they have ten legs rather than eight. More legs make you go faster.

(With hindsight I should have done one element with a handler instead of the third calot - I have some spare foot figures somewhere) and added the spare calot to  John Carter's element as his faithful companion Woola.)

Warhoon

One of the very first armies I painted for HOTT was Peter Pig's Green Martians. That was back in about 1995 or 1996. Since then I have put together six other Barsoomian armies. In fact one of the earliest posts on this blog showcased them.

Anyway, the Green Men of Barsoom are found across the planet in various tribes (or hordes) who fight everyone, including (and especially) other Green Martian hordes. So, whilst I have four Red Martian armies who can fight each other, my Green Martians have, up until now, been starved of an opponent of their own ilk.

I bought a second Peter Pig army back in late 2013. At the time I joked that I'd probably have the painted in 2024. I was wrong. I finished them this morning - over halfway through 2025. They sat in the packaging they arrived in until two years ago, when I got them out and actually put a couple of coats of paint on them. Then they sat for nearly two years mocking me until last week when I finally bit the radium bullet and got on with finishing them

So here we are - my second Green Martian army for HOTT:

For head-canon purposes they are the hordes of Warhoon, who are pretty unpleasant even for Green Martians and crop up a couple of times in the books. The army is pretty simple - eight knights (including the general) and four shooters.

 I gave them a battle-scarred general with a big skull-crusher of a war-hammer.

I also took the opportunity to tidy up my other Green Martian army. They have, up until now, been led by their hero general (John Carter's best buddy, Tars Tarkas) although I had an extra knight element I could drop into it so I could down grade the hero to a knight and use the hordes as a more generic one. However they always got the heroic-looking leader, which irked me. So I made a new knight general element for the first army. Now they can masquerade as the hordes of Torquas, Thurd or whatever. I scratchbuilt a wicked-looking sabre for him, to make him stand out.

Flushed with the success of that sword, I made another and gave it to Tar Tarkas, to make him look extra heroic. 

Just a reminder of how big these chaps are; here's Tars Tarkas riding alongside his bosom friend, John Carter and the incomparable Dejah Thoris.

John Carter takes on the Jeddak of the Warhoon. All in a day's work for the Warlord of Mars.

Naturally my intent for their first game - when I get chance to play it - is a dust-up between two Green Martian hordes. Here's a preview of how awesome that will look.

Next in line is another Red Martian army. The four I have all represent specific city states. I have one - Gathol - that is pretty close to being a 'generic' Red Martian army, but I actually have enough figures and airships to do another. This can then masquerade as an army friendly to John Carter (Ptarth), somewhat neutral (Kaol) or a definite foe (Dusar). And with nine armies I think I'll be done*.

*Until I find some figures to do Yellow Martians ...

Gold Beach

I had a game of Memoir 44 with new member Paul last night. Just the one game, though, as he had to leave early.

Anyway, we played the semi-official D-Day Gold Beach scenario. I was the attacking Allies, whilst Paul took the Germans. He's printed off some terrain pieces for the game, which look very nice.

Here's the setup, minus one German unit I forgot to put on at the start and three figures from an Allied unit on the beach. Both issues were sorted before they became an issue.

I didn't take many photos during the game. My first landings were on the left and I was able to push forward and take the objective there (as well as get a medal for a destroyed German unit). I was left with some shaky units there, which I hid behind the village. A half-arsed landing on teh right stalled at the water's edge, and I was lucky not to lose the infantry unit there; Paul kept rolling retreats, which would have been fatal for it, but I was hiding behind a beach obstacle which, whilst it offered no cover, did allow me to ignore retreats. And ignore them I did. Multiple times.

Anyway, the main attack went in in the centre. A Royal Navy barrage drove the artillery out of the bunker there, leaving me able to push forward fairly effectively. I pushed into Le Hamel (the two-hex village on the join between the left flank and centre, but was thrown out. I pushed in a second attack though. However a few turns of duff combat rolls on my part allowed Paul to come back, and we ended a turn with both of us on five of the six medals required for victory.

But the Allies have a six card hand. Whilst Paul was struggling with his four cards, two of which were for a sector he didn't have troops in, I had been able to save up a goody - Their Finest Hour. My roll wasn't great, but I got to move two infantry and some tanks with is, all of which got a bonus in combat. I used it to clear the central bunker, and do a tank attack into Le Hamel, recapturing it.

This meant I won the fight 7-5, but is was damned close!

Great Victories - Part 2

At the start of this month I thought it would be fun to work through Marlborough's Great Victories, using 'Dominion of Marlborough and Peter The Great'. I'd play against Mrs Kobold and we'd swap sides, so we'd each get a go at being Marlborough in each battle.

What with one thing and another it's taken three weeks to get around to playing teh second battle. I'm betting that it will take three weeks to get around to the next one as well.

Still, last night we set up Ramillies.

I had the first go at being Marlborough. The Allies start with unreliable artillery in their front-line, and sabres on their left. They have elite infantry in reserve. The French position is a strong one, with infantry behind difficult terrain in the centre and on their left, and massed horse on their right in the open country beyond Ramillies itself. The French right flank is covered by a river. 

Not wanting to test the unreliability of the artillery I decided that a cavalry attack was the best opening move. It was inconclusive.

Catherine, as the French, made use of the strong defensive position to focus on the centre and her left. Both of my artillery units proved reliable, and the French rolled abysmally when it came to trying to destroy them.

As an aside, I mentioned in a post yesterday that I hadn't featured my Russian and Swedish commander figures in a post. So here's one of them, standing in for Marlborough.

Anyway, not only did the French have rotten rolls trying to hit my artillery (it's 50/50, so pretty good), but my artillery rolled a couple of sixes and drove the French out of their defensive positions. I assume that in cases like this the artillery represents infantry with strong artillery support rather than specific massed batteries. So this is the Allied first wave crossing the stream and taking the heights beyond.

Anyway, that committed the French reserves to the centre and left.

The French had dome better on the right, driving off my Dutch horse. I brought up some of my reserve infantry to parry the French horse.

I don't have photos of the later stages, but the game had lots of inconclusive combats and went to nine turns. Although I lost one of my reserve infantry units, I did rally back the Dutch horse. The French failed to rally their lost foot, and eventually Marlborough's infantry battalions drove back the French right to win teh day. I record scores based on how many units the winner has left (including returned reserves). Marlborough won this one 5-1.

We swapped sides. The French position actually looks pretty good when you're sat behind it.

I opened up with my horse on the right, routing the Dutch,

One of the Allied artillery units proved unreliable - it was the eighth reliability test we'd taken across four games, and the first one to fail. Once again some of the French infantry were driven out of their defensive positions, to be replaced by their reserve horse. At this stage we both had all of our reserves committed, and there was a horrible matchup in the centre, with some original front-line French infantry facing Allied cavalry, against which they get a tasty bonus for being prepared.

On my more open right flank, my cavalry swept all before it and turned the Allied left.

Mrs Kobold pressed my left with her elite infantry, but couldn't shift the horse there and turn my flank. After some fierce fighting I finally took out the Allied centre, for a French victory.

The French won this one 3-1.

So the current scores are:

Alan - 13 points

Catherine - 8 points

Marlborough - 8 points

French - 13 points

Next up is Oudenaarde, which has some interesting unreliable troops on both sides.

Nottoman Commanders

Having finished my Nottoman army last week I realised that I needed to do a few commander for it, in case I used them with rules that require commander figures.

So here they are - one splendid C-in-C and a couple of underlings.

I actually did some for my Swedes and Russians years ago, but I'm mot sure I ever did a post abut them. But  they crop up in photos from time to time if you're observant.

Random Armies For The War Of Spanish Succession

In the comments on a previous post I was asked if I was looking at doing a simple campaign for the Great Northern War using 'Dominion of Marlborough and Peter The Great'. I have been considering it and have a couple of ideas I'm working on, but this morning I came up with an idea for doing a very simple mapless campaign for the War of Spanish Succession. This is all the more remarkable because I know next to nothing about the War of Spanish Succession. However I've never let my lack of knowledge of an era stop me pottering about with wargames-related stuff for it. It's how we learn.

Anyway, I am working through the mechanics of the campaign itself, and if it seems workable I will post it here. But what the campaign also needs is a way of generating armies for battles similar to the system I used for my English Civil War campaign.

I have looked at the armies in the various scenarios in 'Dominion of Marlborough and Peter The Great' and come up with the following, which I think reflects those armies plus what little I do know about the conflict.

The two sides are Bourbons (France and Allies) and the Grand Alliance (Austrian, British, Dutch etc). Precisely which nations or combination of nations are fighting is  irrelevant. That's up to the players to decide.

Roll for how many units, upgrades and downgrades the army has. Determine which army is the attacker in the battle.

1 - 6 units
2 - 6 units, 1 upgrade, 1 unreliable
3 - 6 units, 2 upgrades, 2 unreliable
4 - 5 units, 2 upgrades
5 - 5 units, 3 upgrades, 1 unreliable
6 - 4 units, 4 upgrades

Roll for the type of each unit.

1-2 - Line Infantry
3 - Horse (Dice for which type below)
4-5 - Line Infantry or Horse (Balance existing numbers if possible, or dice for it if even)
6 - Dragoons/Artillery (Dice for which below)

Only count the first two rolls of 6. Treat any other rolls of 6 a roll of 5

Roll for each Horse unit:

0-3 - Sabres
4+ - Pistoliers
+2 if Bourbon, -1 if Alliance

Roll for each Dragoons/Artillery result:

0-4 - Artillery
5+ - Dragoons
-1 if Alliance

Roll for each Upgrade the army has:

0-3 - Elite
4-6 - Disciplined/Defences
-1 if Attacker +1 if Defender

Randomly assign the upgrades to units. Artillery cannot be Elite. 

Finally allocate the Unreliable statuses to units. The first Unreliable must be assigned to either an Artillery or Dragoons unit if the army has one. Otherwise it, and any others are assigned to random units.

The defender sets up first, followed by the attacker.

Notes
Bourbon forces seem to generally have Pistoliers as their main cavalry type. Their +2 on the Horse table will ensure this. Drop it to a +1 if you feel it's too much. Alliance armies seem to have fewer troops classed as Dragoons, however, so I've made it less likely they will be present. Artillery and Dragoons are often Unreliable in the scenarios. In terms of upgrades, I have assumed that attacking armies are more likely to have troops with a strong offensive spirit, whereas the defending army is more likely to have field defences or a terrain advantage. Elite and Defended/Discipline can represent a range of things, however, and it's up to the players to decide what. In the same way, Unreliable troops can simply be those on flank marches or late-arriving reinforcements.

In terms of individual theatres of the war - Spain, the Low Countries, Germany or Italy - feel free to tweak modifiers to better reflect armies there if you have a better understanding of the era than I do. I won't know unless you tell me.

Duna And Klisow

I spent Sunday morning mowing the lawn (which still needs to be done, even in the winter), and measuring up the garage for some much-needed shelving. And then part of the afternoon was spent helping my daughter put up a curtain rail. So a fairly busy day. But I found some time in the afternoon to set up, play and record a couple of games of 'Dominion of Marlborough and Peter The Great'. Great rules but, my god that title is cumbersome!

Up until now I've fiddled around with the WSS scenarios, but this afternoon I switched my attention to some battles from the Great Northern War. Rather than dive into the classic ones with the Swedes fighting the Russians, I played the two scenarios in the book which pitted Charles XII against Augustus II, Elector of Saxony and self-proclaimed King of Poland. This conflict would drag on for nearly six years, during which time Russia, who had been decisively defeated by the Swedes at Narva in 1700, rebuilt their army. That led, in time, to the Swedish defeat at Poltava and the effective end of their empire.

However that's a way off. For the first battle we find Charles XII facing a strong Saxon-Russian army entrenched on the opposite side of the wide River Duna, near Riga on 19th July 1701. Being Charles XII, he attacked.

The Swedes slipped part of their army across the river during the night, exploiting the fact that the Saxons defences were a couple of hundred metres back from the shore. By the time the defenders realised what was happening the Swedes had a toehold on the Saxon side of the river.

The battle starts there.

The Swedes (left) have three unit of Elite Ga Pa Infantry in their front line. Their reserves consist of  two more units of Ga Pa Infantry and one of Sabres, all of which are Unreliable, reflecting that they have to force a crossing of the river by either boat or pontoon bridge. I used my new pioneer bases to mark the unreliable units.

The Saxon front line consists of some Unreliable Artillery (a lot of Artillery is classed as Unreliable in these rules, since its battlefield capabilities are a bit hot or miss), plus some Saxon line.

You'll notice that the infantry have their centre base advanced a little. This is because defending foot that starts the game in the front line enjoys an advantage against certain troop types, representing them being in good initial positions. 

The Swedish reserve foot, showing the pioneers to the fore.

The main battle line.

Turn 1 - Swedish

The Swedes attacked on their right flank against the Unreliable Artillery here. It proved to be ... unreliable, and was removed. The Saxons moved up some Russian pike-armed infantry from the reserve.

Turn 1 - Saxon

In the centre the Saxon Line threw back the first wave of Swedish infantry.

(If you are wondering about the paraphernalia, the yellow die shows the turn number, the arrow shows which side is 'attacking', the blue dice shows the Swedish combat roll and the black die that of the Saxons. I roll both dice simultaneously even if one side gets to roll first. In this example that black 6 for the Saxons destroys he Swedish GaPa foot before their 6 - also a kill - takes effect. The orange blob shows which unit is destroyed.)

Turn 2 - Swedish

The Swedes pressed forward on the right and the Russian pikemen were cut down to a man (true story - there's a memorial to them). This brought the Swedes up against the main Saxon defences.

Turn 2 - Saxons

The Saxons activated in the centre where Swedish reserve infantry was attempting to cross the river. It failed to cross. Would the next wave make it?

Both sides attempted to rally lost troops at this stage. The Swedes rallied one of their Elite Ga Pa Infantry, whilst the Saxons tried to rally the Russian Pikemen, unaware that they were all dead. You don't rally back from all dead.

Turn 3 - Swedish

The Swedish left flank pushed forward, but the fighting was inconclusive. 

Turn 3 - Saxon

The Saxons centre tried to push back the next wave of Swedish foot as they crossed the river, but failed to stop them getting ashore.

A fierce musketry duel ensued, but neither side gave ground.

Turn 4 - Swedish

On their left the Swedes charged the Saxons but were cut down and driven back into the river in disarray. But the rallied at the last moment.

(They didn't rally. In game terms the unit was lost. But the reserve unit that replaced them was the rallied Ga Pa Infantry and is exactly the same type of unit, so we'll assume the original unit rallied because it makes for a better narrative).

Turn 4 - Saxon

The troops in the Saxon redoubts fired on the advancing Swedes, who were forced to retreat, all momentum having gone out of their attack. If their cavalry could be brought up in support all might not be lost on that flank. But that depended on the building of a pontoon bridge.

Would the cavalry get across?

Turn 5 - Swedish

In the centre the Swedish foot failed to make any headway against the Saxons. All of their units were committed to the fight now; the Swedes had no reserves left.

Turn 5 - Saxon

The Saxons activated on their left as the troops in their defences fired on the approaching pontoon bridge. But the Swedes toiled away and the bridge was built. The cavalry streamed across!

Forming up they charged the Saxon entrenchments, and routed the defenders. The Saxons now hoped for their cavalry to come and save the day.

Turn 6 - Swedish

Desperate fighting on the Swedish left saw the Saxons there collapse. And there were no Saxon reserves.

The Swedes could now turn the Saxon right.

Turn 6 - Saxon

The Saxon cavalry force arrived, and charged the Swedes. Both sides shattered each other.

This left the Saxons with only their centre. The Swedes had won the day!

Thing started to look a bit desperate for the Swedes in the middle of the game when they had to rely on their unreliable reinforcements, but their boats and engineers saved the day, getting the troops over the river in the nick of time. The Saxons had nothing to counter them.

So an historical result for that battle. Would it be the same for the next one?

The second scenario in the rules is Klisow, fought on  9th July 1702.  Charles XII had spent a year advancing into Poland in pursuits of Augustus II. At Klisow he faced a Saxon army awaiting reinforcements from their Polish allies. Hoping to attack before the allies arrived they found their left flank being attacked by Polish cavalry.

I set this up with a little bit of scenery, just to make the photos look nice. The attacking Swedes are on the left, the Saxons on the right in the centre and left sectors and the Poles (played by my Nottoman cavalry) are on the white horses in the distance.

The Swedes only have four units in this battle, but they are all either elite or determined. The Polish cavalry is determined but the reserve Polish cavalry is Unreliable (on the day the Poles quit the field after an initial setback - their alliance with the Saxons was fairly shaky).

Turn 1 - Swedish

The Swedish right, led by Charles XII himself attacked the Saxon cavalry before them, but the fighting was indecisive.

Turn 1 - Saxon

The Swedish attack in the centre was stopped dead by disciplined Saxon musketry. The Swedes committed their only reserve (more cavalry).

Turn 2 - Swedish

The Swedish left-flank advanced against the Polish cavalry, but made no headway against them.

Interlude: a shot of the battle so far, despite little actually having happened.

Turn 2 - Saxon

In the centre the line engaged the attacking Swedish cavalry, but were ridden down. However there's always more Saxon line to move up from the reserve.

At this point the Swedes tried to rally their lost infantry, but failed.

Turn 3 - Swedish

They activated on the left-flank where the Polish cavalry (led by winged hussars, in what would be their last battle) rode them down. The Swedes had no reserve.

Turn 3 - Saxon

The Polish cavalry swept into the Swedish centre and routed that as well.

A total disaster for Charles XII, left only with his cavalry! And a stunning victory for the Saxons, won almost entirely by their Polish allies.

To be fair I've played both of these scenarios a few times now and the honours have been about even. With small numbers of elite troops the Swedes can be prone to death by randomness (an elite unit is expensive but no harder to kill by an enemy who rolls first than one that isn't), but if it all comes together their troops steam-roller the opposition. Historically they did that in most of their battles. In Dominion the other side gets more of a look-in.