De-consolidation

Back in December, I consolidated all my MicroBattle stuff into 2 boxes - one with the game components and another with spare armies.

One benefit was that I could fit a bigger battlefield into the bigger box. I planned to reuse the battlefields for land and aerial combat.

Then in January I discovered Dominion of the Spear, which completely revolutionized my gaming. As a result, I am now de-consolidating. Fortunately, I held onto my smaller boxes.

Here is my latest setup (sans my naval box).

• My original MicroBattle Big Battles box (left) now houses the Dominion of materials, including brown and green battlefields, some terrain, marker, armies, dice, and QRS cards.
• I moved my aerial combat stuff back into a small box (right).
• I even have a new box (circular box bottom center) for my "gladiator" games.
• Online, I saw someone had a round gladiator box that they decorated to look like a Roman colosseum. Love it! So I bought a small round box that I plan to turn into an arena. I haven't done it yet.

The Austro-Italian War

While the Prussians invade Bohemia, the Italians march on the Imperial-held city of Venice. An Austrian force awaits them.

The Battle of Custarda

The Italians (top) advance on the Austrian defensive position near the (fictional) town of Custarda.

The opposing forces:

• Italians: Bersaglieri (elite skirmishers), artillery, elite cavalry. 2 line infantry in reserve
• Austrians: Cuirassiers (elite, disciplined cavalry), 2 line infantry. Jaegers (skirmishers) and artillery in reserve

The Italians open with an artillery barrage on the hill, but the Austrian infantry unleashes a volley that drives off the gunners. Meanwhile, the Austrian Cuirassiers (left) charge the Bersaglieri. The skirmishers' firepower is not enough. The cavalry ride them down.

The Italian general tries to rally the Bersaglieri to no avail.

The Cuirassiers continue their path of mayhem.

Then they flank and rout the Italian infantry.

The Italian army must retire!

GAME NOTES

I played this game (using Dominion of Spear and Bayonet) to try out an idea. It actually solves 2 problems.

• Problem 1: Since Dominion of came out, I tried to find a role for generals. But nothing ever really worked.
• Problem 2: I keep forgetting to use the rally rule.

To solve problem 2, I decided to create some rally tokens to serve as reminders. But then I had an epiphany - why not use generals as rally tokens! I'll place a general in reserve and then remove it when I try a rally.

Rewriting German History

My Own Version of the Austro-Prussian War

Sometimes I get a random hankering for a game set in a certain period. That's what happened with this report. I was perusing George Gush's A Guide to Wargaming (available thanks to John Curry's History of Wargaming project). Gush includes a Franco-Prussian battle report. This got me interested in gaming the 19th century, although I decided to swap the French for my beloved Austrians.

Here is my version of the Austro-Prussian War using Dominion of the Spear and Bayonet.

Background

Because of disputes over the governance of the provinces of Schleswig-Holstein, Prussia invades the Austrian Empire.

Battle of Eichenwald Hill

The Prussian advance meets resistance from the Austrians.

Note: I am not recreating actual battles. These are all fictional.

The opposing forces:

• Prussians (dark blue) - Front - cavalry, artillery, line infantry. Reserve - elite line, skirmishers
• Austrians  (white) - F - line, artillery on a hill, elite disciplined cavalry. R - skirmishers, infantry

Firepower sweeps away both sides' cavalry.

The Austrians win the artillery duel.

The Prussian line sweeps away the Austrian jaegers.

The Austrian line and Prussian elites grind each other down.

Note: I used the wrong marker for the Prussians. They should have a gold marker. I played them correctly, though.

Then the opposing line infantry wipe each other out.

This leaves the Prussian offensive in the hands of their jaegers. They come through, driving off the Austrian artillery.

It is a bloody victory, but the Prussians pursue the defeated Austrians.

Battle of Bergheimdorf

The Prussians catch up to the Austrian army near Bergheimdorf and launch an attack.

The opposing forces:

• Prussians - F - skirmishers, line, cavalry. R - elite line, artillery
• Austrians - F - cavalry, line, skirmishers. R - elite line, infantry

Looks like I'm missing some markers. Each army is 11 points. This was accidental.

The Prussian center advances but gets driven off. On the left, the Austrian cavalry charges, and gets cut down.

Likewise, a Prussian cavalry charge (R) fails. The Prussian jaegers hold tight on the left flank.

Note: Once again I'm using the wrong markers. In this battle, gray = elite

Skirmishers battle artillery on both flanks. In both cases, the Austrians prevail.

Now it is the Prussians who must retire from the battlefield.

Battle of Grünthal

The Austrian are the pursuers. They seek to drive the Prussians out of the Empire.

The opposing forces:

• Prussians - F - Skirmishers, artillery on a hill, cavalry. R - 2 elite line
• Austrians - F - line, skirmishers, elite cavalry. R - artillery, elite line

The Austrian cavalry drives off the Prussians, but they leave the battlefield in pursuit.

The Austrian attack wipes out the Prussian center and left flank.

The Austrian line flanks the Prussian elites on the hill. The attack succeeds and the Prussians are defeated.

With this defeat, the Prussian king sues for peace.

But now, the Austrians must deal with those perfidious Italians!

GAME NOTES

• I debated which Dominion of rules set to use. I wasn't sure if Spear and Bayonet is designed for regular vs. regular warfare. I pondered using Napoleon Bonaparte but ultimately, I just stuck with Spear and Bayonet.
• Again, I forgot to use the rally rule!
• I used the random army lists in Frederick the Great, dropping one cavalry unit for skirmishers. Using random lists gave a little variety to the games.
• I used my counters from MicroBattle. I was worried that I would not have enough infantry, but the my armies were sufficient for the random lists.
• I'm loving my approach to gaming:
• Generic armies let me jump into random periods without delay. I normally would not collect 19th century armies so it would require a project to do the Austro-Prussian War. But with my generic counters, I can do it at a moment's notice!
• The Dominion of series lets me do an entire campaign in a morning. This encourages me to try different eras because I know I won't likely have an unfinished campaign.

The Hyenid War

Time for a new campaign for Dominion of. I decided to resurrect one from my old blog - a fantasy campaign set in my LARP's game world.

This world is a loose parallel with early medieval Europe, with an Empire similar to the Late Romans. The Empire controls the province of Palmyra (akin to Egypt). South of Palmyra are bestial, hyena-like humanoids. The Imperials simply call them the Hyenids.

This campaign will cover a war between the Empire and the Hyenids.

The Sack of Soketh

Suddenly, out of the wilderness south of Palmyra, appears an army of bestial raiders. The Hyenids!

One Hyenid (brown, top) warband descends on a small Imperial outpost at Soketh. The Hyenid force consists of (L to R) beasts, spears, fierce warriors, and javelins (missile infantry).

I'm using cavalry for the beasts, and am treating them like melee mounted. 

Lore note - horses are extinct in this world so you won't see actual cavalry.

The Imperials defend with 2 auxiliary centuries and 2 archer centuries.

The beasts (L) charge, overrunning some auxiliaries.

Then the Hyenid spears wipe out the archers in the center.

The spears flank the remaining auxiliaries but they hold firm. However, the beasts continue their rampage, routing the archers.

With this, the auxiliaries retreat. The Hyenids then sack the outpost.

Defense of Hecate Hill

The raiders continue moving north, with more Hyenids joining the horde. Imperial forces take up a position to block them at Hecate Hill.

The Hyenids muster javelins, fierce warriors, and beasts with more fierce warriors and javelins in reserve.

The Empire defends with two auxiliary cohorts on the wings and archers on the hill with more archers and Imperial legionaries in reserve.

The fierce warriors charge the archers on the hill. The archers' aim is precise, and they wipe out the warriors.

Next, the beasts charge. But the auxiliaries impale the foe on their spears.

More Hyenid warriors unsuccessfully charge the hill. But then the Hyenid javelins skewer the auxiliaries.

The remaining auxiliaries charge and rout the javelins.

The Empire has repulsed the Hyenids.

What happens next? Stay tuned for the next chapter!

1922 World Series

Bringing the 1922 season to a close. The National League champion Cincinnati Reds meet the American League champion New York Yankees.

The Yankees were the top seed in the AL while the Reds were 2nd in the NL. Yankees have home field advantage and are favored.

Game 1

• Cincinnati: 2 runs, 7 hits, 0 errors. LP - bullpen
• New York: 3 runs, 9 hits, 0 errors. WP - Bob Shawkey

The Yankees take a 2-0 lead on a Wally Pipp key hit and a Babe Ruth home run. The Reds tie it in the 8th on a clutch hit by George Harper. Babe Ruth then wins the game with a solo homer in the 9th.

Yankees lead 1-0

Game 2

• Cincinnati: 22 runs, 29 hits, 1 error. WP - Johnny Couch
• New York: 10 runs, 16 hits, 0 errors. LP - Waite Hoyt

The Yankees take a 5-0 lead after 1 inning. In the 2nd, the Reds storm back with 4 homers and 9 runs. The Yanks tie it up in the 7th with 4 runs sparked by a clutch Wally Pip hit. The Reds take the lead with a Jake Daubert hit. Then they shut the door with 11 runs in the 9th inning.

Series tied 1-1

Game 3

• New York: 2 runs, 6 hits, 0 errors. LP - Sad Sam Jones
• Cincinnati: 8 runs, 13 hits, 0 errors. WP - Dolf Luque

The Reds get 6 runs in the first two innings. A George Burns hit and a Bubbles Hargrave home run power the offense. Then the Reds cruise to victory.

Reds lead 2-1

Game 4

• New York: 5 runs, 10 hits, 0 errors. WP - Bullet Joe Bush
• Cincinnati: 1 run, 6 hits, 2 errors. LP - Pete Donahue

The Reds take an early 1-0 lead but the Yankees get 3 runs on a Babe Ruth hit to pull ahead.

Series tied 2-2

Game 5

• New York: 3 runs, 6 hits, 0 errors. LP - Carl Mays
• Cincinnati: 4 runs, 7 hits, 1 error. WP - bullpen

Jake Daubert puts the Reds up 2-1 in the 2nd inning. Whitey Witt and Aaron Ward each knock in a run, giving the Yankees a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the 9th. Carl Mays tries to close it out, but he gives up a key hit to Pat Duncan. The Reds get 2 runs to rally for the win.

The hero of the game, Pat Duncan

Reds lead 3-2

Game 6

• Cincinnati: 5 runs, 11 hits, 0 errors. WP - Eppa Rixey
• New York: 2 runs, 7 hits, 1 error. LP - Bob Shawkey

With their backs to the wall,  the Yankees start poorly. The Reds get 4 runs in the 1st inning, sparked by a Sam Bohne hit. The Yankees get 2 in the 4th inning but they fail to threaten after that.

Reds win the 1922 World Series 4 games to 2!

WHAT NEXT?

Just some thoughts

• I think I satisfied my baseball craving for now. I'll be taking a break.
• This tournament format took too long. I think I played about 34 out of a possible 37 games. This equates to about 340 minutes, or nearly 6 hours. I'm considering different formats.
• Also, I don't plan on doing 1923. I don't have much interest in playing games with the lousy teams. Instead, I'll go to my original plan from 2022 and create a league from the best MLB teams of the 1920s.

The Fate of Vienna

With some time on my hands, I decided to replay the 1683 Battle of Vienna.

Set Up

I acquired an order of battle from Wargames Illustrated # 204. It has a Vienna scenario for De Bellis Renationis. I reduced the number of units and converted them to Dominion of Pike and Shot troop types.

The battle is large but actually divides easily into 3 sections. I created a Dominion scenario for each section. Best of 3 wins the battle.

The Left

Charles of Lorraine leads the left flank of the allied force sent to relieve the siege of Vienna. Ibrahim commands the Turks on that flank.

The opposing forces (Turks on top):

• Ibrahim - Front (L to R): Artillery (D) on the Nussberg, Janissaries (missile infantry), light horse. Reserve: 2 light horse, Janissaries.
• Charles - Front (L to R): musketeers, artillery, cuirassiers. Reserve: musketeers, Polish cavalry, cuirassiers

The Imperial cuirassiers kick off the battle with a charge that scatters the light horse.

But more light horse engage and rout the cuirassiers.

There is a seesaw battle on the right. Both sides lose a unit.

The Janissaries overrun the Imperial artillery.

But are routed in turn.

The Polish cavalry charges but the Turkish light horse cuts them down.

This leaves the Imperial flank open. The light horse charge into the musketeers, routing them.

The Turks have defended the left flank.

The Center

Meanwhile, von Waldeck leads a German contingent against Mustafa Bekri's Turks in the center of the battlefield.

The opposing forces:

• Mustafa Bekri - Advance: Skirmishers. Front (L to R): Janissaries and artillery in a redoubt, cavalry. Reserves: Janissaries.
• von Waldeck - Front (L to R): 2 musketeers, cuirassiers. Reserve: 2 musketeers, cuirassiers

The Turkish skirmishers disrupt the musketeers then fall back.

To simulate the advance line of skirmishers, I did one round of combat. If the skirmishers survive (which they did), they would retire to the reserve.

The cuirassiers charge. In a bloody battle, they rout the Sipahis but are blown. 

The reserve cuirassiers also charge and are routed. Meanwhile, the musketeers try to storm the redoubt but the Janissaries see them off.

von Waldeck pushes forth his musketeers on the right. The Janissaries sacrifice themselves to stop the advance.

This leaves the allied center too weak to continue. The Turks also hold the center.

The Right

With the rest of the allied army in disarray, King John Sobieski of Poland tries to shield the retreat. He runs into Turkish cavalry under Sary Abaza.

The opposing forces:

• Sary Abaza - Front (L to R): light horse, Sipahis, light horse. Reserve: 2 light horse, Sipahis.
• Sobieski - Front (L to R): 2 winged hussars (armored elite), Pacerni. Reserve: Cossack dragoons

The center winged hussars charge, and get routed.

The left has more success. But the Turkish Sipahis rout the Cossacks that plug the center.

This leaves the winged hussars vulnerable to a flanking attack. They rout and the battle is lost.

Aftermath

The allied forces are in total disarray (losing 3-0). They must retreat, and the siege continues. It is only a matter of time before Vienna falls.

GAME NOTES

Well, that did not go the way I hoped, or the way history went. That's what makes gaming so much fun.

The scenario worked fine. I will have to rerun it some day.

Overall, the 3 scenarios lasted about half an hour in total. I spent more time writing up the battle reports!

I FORGOT AGAIN! I keep forgetting about the rally rule. Perhaps I'll make a token to remind me.

WHAT NEXT?

I haven't done much with the Pike & Shot rules so it was fun to bring them out. It's got me interested in doing some more Turks vs. Imperials - stay tuned.

I'm a little short of counters for the Imperial forces. As a result, I had to reduce some of the forces from my initial conversion. I'll have to prep and print some more whitecoats out.

1922 National League Championship Series

The Cinderella Brooklyn Robins (6th seed) face the Cincinnati Reds (2nd seed)

Game 1

• Brooklyn: 7 runs, 12 hits, 0 errors.
• Cincinnati: 4 runs, 11 hits, 3 errors.

The Robins leap out to a 4-0 lead early. The Reds get 2 in the 3rd inning. Then the pitchers settle down, blanking the opposition until the 9th. George Burns gets a key hit as the Reds tie the score in the bottom of the 9th. But Brooklyn storms back with 3 runs in the 10th to win.

Game 2

• Brooklyn: 2 runs, 5 hits, 1 error.
• Cincinnati: 6 runs, 10 hits, 1 error.

Another tie game going into the 9th inning. Then the Reds' Sam Bohne homers and 4 runs score in the inning.

Game 3

• Cincinnati: 5 runs, 5 hits, 3 errors. WP - Dolf Luque
• Brooklyn: 2 runs, 4 hits, 2 errors. LP - Dazzy Vance

George Burns breaks a 2-2 tie in the 4th with a key hit that scores a run. The Reds add 2 more on errors to cruise to victory.

Game 4

• Cincinnati: 13 runs, 15 hits, 3 errors. WP - Eppa Rixey
• Brooklyn: 11 runs, 10 hits, 2 errors. LP - Dutch Ruether

The Robins' Hi Myers puts on an offensive clinic, driving in runs in a 4-run 4th and 3-run 7th. But George Burns of the Reds trumps Myers with a key hit in a 6-run 8th, putting the Reds up 12-10. Both teams get a run off errors in the 9th. Brooklyn can't get anymore and their comeback attempt falls short.

George Burns

The Reds win 3 in a row to take the series 3-1. On to the World Series vs. the Yankees.