Sunday 25 September 2022

Siege of Helm's Deep

 

This year's LoTR campaign takes place in the embattled land of Rohan. Isengard's forces have carried all before them and now they crash like waves on the rock of the Hornburg
Orcs, Uruks and even a troll assault the walls
Manned by the valiant men of Rohan led by their king
And some last minute allies
The forces of evil move forwards under a storm of arrows
Aragorn takes aim...
... and blows a blasting charge after spending all his might points
On the other side of the fortress the uruks have reached the walls and raise their siege ladders
Followed by the mass of orcs in the Deeping Wall
The attack is relentless, with a party of uruks assaulting the gate with a battering ram
Aragorn moves to the Hornburg while the ladders are thrown down and keep rising up
The ram has reached the gate, but it's too solid to break yet
Gimli uses a might point to cast down the ladders with a heroic move
Aragorn doing likewise in the main keep
But the orcs are stubborn, and they begin to climb regardless
However all the evil warriors that manage to reach the top are pushed down to their deaths
And the battle ends with the Hornburg safely in Rohan hands

US infantry

 

My father told me that he wanted to play WW2, so I've decided to start a new project by purchasing two boxes of infantry to get some Bolt Action games on the table. First to show up are these americans from Perry miniatures, a solid set of 42 troopers in the customary quality of the twins from Nottingham.
I didn't add any regimental insignia keeping them as generic as possible, that way they can be deployed in Africa, the Pacific, Europe, you call it...
Having painted way too much napoleonics I painted the NCO stripes pointing down, a mistake that I promptly corrected after watching Fury the next afternoon

I put together a pair of officers to led the troops
Two bazooka teams will provide much needed firepower against the panzers
And a pair of snipers some accurate covering fire
Finally a medium machine gun rounds up the set
Keep in touch for the forces of the Reich, coming up next

Sunday 11 September 2022

Siege of Barcelona 1714

 

Today marks the 308th anniversary of the fall of Barcelona to the bourbon army at the end of the War of Spanish Succession, and to celebrate we've replayed the siege using my own Lasalle supplement. My father, suitably dressed, took command of the catalan defenders while I led the armies of Philip V
The siege begins with the desultory fire of the catalan guns, that bombard the franco-spanish forces while they excavate the first approaches
After a month the first parallel is opened to provide cover for the artillery while the bourbon trenches sneak their way closer to the city
By now the besiegers have come within close range of the enemy, and a rain of canister fire causes the first losses amongst them
With he guns in place all is ready to batter down the walls of the catalan capital
While cannons and muskets trade shots another battle is raging below ground, where french sappers tunnel down to blow up the walls
Effective counter battery fire keeps the bourbon siege guns pinned for several weeks
It is now August, and the second parallel is dug to prepare the assault once the fortress is breached
Two mines blow up under the Portal Nou bastion, opening the way for the besiegers
That decimate the garrison with concentrated fire prior to the assault
In a stroke of good luck for the besiegers the catalan player decides to abandon the Santa Clara bastion and the adjacent wall to form up behind Portal Nou

Another mine has reached the walls by then, opening yet another hole on the walls of Barcelona
Under the eyes of the Duke of Berwick the bourbons escalate the empty ramparts and launch their first assault on Portal Nou 
The french annihilate the defenders and take the bastion
But are immediately pushed back by a charge from the Diputació regiment

Berwick then reforms his reserves to gun down the defenders
While sending even more men over the walls to seize the buildings inside the town

A first attempt is made to shift the sometent militamen from the wall breach, but the bourbons are pushed back
Realizing that he can garrison the houses the catalan player sends two units to occupy any free real state

The remaining defenders form up in a corner behind the breach
Concentrated fire destroys the Diputació regiment inside one of the buildings
And finally two charges are launched against the Coronela militia, that inspired by the holy flag of Santa Eulàlia hold on despite impossible odds 

Despite this last act of defiance the fate of the city is sealed, and the catalans surrender after three months of nail-bitting siege