The First Battle of the Year – The Ottomans arrive!

 Hello fellow wargamers! The first battle of the year marked the debut of my "new-old" Ottoman army. The miniatures are primarily from Old Glory 25s, originally purchased back in 2018 for Lion Rampant. They represent a slightly earlier period (late 15th to early 16th century), but I think they work well enough for the mid-17th-century setting of Liber Militum: Tercios. Sure, they may be a touch antiquated for the era, but the effect on the table was nice nonetheless.

1635, January – Austro-Hungarian Border

Under the frostbitten skies of a bitter January, Gri Bozkurt Pasha—“The Grey Wolf,” an ambitious Ottoman commander, set out to make his mark. Recently promoted and eager to prove himself, the Pasha led his army across the borderlands into the territories of the Holy Roman Empire. With limited time and resources, his force lacked its usual complement of cavalry. Instead, he relied on the professional discipline of his Janissaries, generously assigned to him by the Grand Vizier, and a modest cavalry contingent.

The Imperial response was swift. The local commander, pressed for time and men, assembled a smaller but experienced force to intercept the invaders. The two armies met on a cold plain where Ottoman artillery and Imperial tercios squared off across open ground. On the Ottoman right, the cavalry prepared for their pivotal role in the battle.

The opening moves unfolded on the Ottoman right, where the cavalry began their engagement. After an initial exchange of volleys, the Sipahi [medium to heavy cavalry, the backbone of Ottoman mounted warfare, known for their discipline and shock potential] charged the Imperial mounted arquebusiers. Though the arquebusiers attempted to evade repeatedly, they were eventually forced into a pitched fight. Meanwhile, the Akinci [light, swift raiders, adept at skirmishing and harassment] harassed the Imperial cuirassiers, tying them up for the entire battle. Though the Akinci suffered losses, their efforts ensured that these elite Austrian units never threatened the main Ottoman forces.

In the center, the infantry lines closed with grim determination. Artillery fire from both sides disrupted formations, but neither side faltered. The Janissaries and Imperial tercios engaged in a brutal war of attrition. While the Ottoman leadership lacked decisiveness, the discipline of the Janissaries kept them holding the line against repeated Christian assaults. The skirmishing azap units added to the pressure, exploiting their numbers to outmaneuver and harass the slower tercios.

As twilight descended, the weight of Ottoman arquebus and bow fire proved too much for the beleaguered tercios. Disordered and depleted, they began a fighting retreat, ceding the field to the Ottoman invaders.

The battle concluded with a decisive victory for Gri Bozkurt Pasha. Though his army bore the scars of the encounter, the Imperials were left shattered, and the path was clear for the Pasha’s forces to plunder the surrounding lands.

Conclusions

Overall the game was fun, the Ottomans were an exotic army with different tactical challenges compared to traditional European forces. Their line infantry is less effective individually, but their lower cost allows for numerical superiority, which can provide a strategical advantage due to the turn structure of Liber Militum: Tercios. Obviously new unit are going to be recruited (i.e. bought) soon.

Campaign

This was the first battle of our yearly campaign, which will connect all our games of Tercios and The Pikeman’s Lament into a shared narrative.  The exact rules are yet to be decided, but at the moment we will take note that a small Imperial force has been depleted by a Turkish incursion and we will let you know how this will reflect in the overall score of the campaing (probably this will be a separated southern front with its own score).

Battle of Ohnenamen, Thirty Years War

Northern Germany, 1630

Summer wanes, and the chill winds of the approaching autumn sweep across the fields. After a series of inconclusive skirmishes, both Catholic and Protestant forces seek to secure a decisive victory before the year’s end. Their armies converge upon Ohnenamen, a modest village yet a vital crossroads in the region.

A few days prior, Imperial forces intercepted a Swedish convoy laden with gold. Its capture bolstered Imperial morale as the spoils were swiftly distributed among the troops. Meanwhile, a small contingent of Dutch soldiers, hastily recruited by Van Timmerman, navigated the treacherous German Länder to reinforce the numerically inferior Swedish army. They arrived just in time to join Gustavus Adolphus’s army and were deployed under Wittenberg's command on the Swedish right flank, positioned between the village and a river and supported by Swedish artilley. At the centre stood the veteran Yellow Regiment alongside the main Swedish infantry, while Tott, commanding the left flank, led his cavalry troops. Gustavus himself held a reserve force of cavalry in the rear.

Opposing him, Wallenstein, commanding the Imperial forces, mirrored the Protestant deployment, his front screened by light infantry. On the eve of battle, under a deluge of rain, Catholic cavalry seized the battlefield’s sole elevation, securing the Imperial right flank.

By dawn, the armies roused themselves, banners snapping in the wind, as regiments struggled to form amidst the sodden, muddy ground.

The Battle

At the stroke of eleven, Gustavus Adolphus seized the initiative. Tott’s Livonian cuirassiers thundered toward the hill, their charge a sight of devastating fury. The Imperial cavalry there faltered, with one regiment shattered and routed.

Meanwhile, Wallenstein dispatched his commanded shot toward Ohnenamen to secure the village. The settlement, however, became a fiercely contested ground, the Protestant light infantry engaging in relentless skirmishes and savage assaults. Vicious street fighting ensued, with neither side yielding.

In the center, the Swedish and Imperial main lines advanced cautiously, the booming artillery exchanging fire throughout the day with limited effect.

On the Swedish left, Tott launched a second assault with his Finnish Hakkapeliitta, their wild charge met by the disciplined mounted arquebusiers of the Imperial forces. The Protestant cavalry faltered, their momentum broken by the arquebusiers’ ordered volleys, and in the ensuing melee, they were driven from the field with dishonour. This reversal stabilised the Imperial left flank.

On the Swedish right, Wittenberg’s Dutch regiments faced costant pressure from a combined force of Imperial cavalry and infantry. Yet torrential rains had swollen the river, rendering it impassable and reducing the Imperial cavalry’s manouvre room. Though Piccolomini, commanding the Imperial horse, harried the Protestant right, Wittenberg’s steadfast defence held firm, aided by the terrain and sheer determination.

At the village, Imperial tercios advanced into musket range and exchanged volleys with the Swedish line, but neither side dared commit to a decisive melee.

As the battle entered a stalemate, Gustavus Adolphus took decisive action. He rode to his reserves and directed them toward his left flank, planning a concentrated strike. Seeing this, Tott ceased his pursuit of the Imperial cavalry and turned his Livonian cuirassiers into an ambitious flanking maneuver. The audacious charge captured the Imperial artillery and sowed chaos in the Catholic rear, threatening the heart of Wallenstein’s line.

At the centre of the same line, the Yellow Regiment, bolstered by Swedish artillery, unleashed ferocious volleys, mauling the veteran Imperial tercios. The Catholic infantry faltered and began to withdraw, their formations shattered. Yet also the Swedish paid dearly for their success. An Imperial counterattack broke through, forcing one regiment to flee and opening a critical gap. Gustavus swiftly committed part of his reserve cavalry to plug the breach, restoring the line.

On the right flank, the disordered Imperial infantry struggled to mount another offensive, their efforts hindered by exhaustion and unrelenting Dutch resistance.

The Aftermath

As dusk descended, Wallenstein’s army began to disengage. The Imperial center, now vulnerable after the collapse of its right flank, withdrew under pressure. Though steady, the village remained contested, and the left flank was spent. Recognizing the futility of continued resistance, Wallenstein ordered a retreat.

The Swedish forces had achieved their long-sought victory. The battlefield lay in Protestant hands, and the year would end with a triumph for Gustavus Adolphus, cementing his reputation as one of Europe’s foremost commanders.

The initial deployment (Swedish on the right of the picture)

Imperial dragoons

Ferocious fight for the hold of the village

Swedish centre

Imperial mounted arquebusiers

Tott's Cavalry units: Livonian Curassiers and Hakkapeliita

Imperial army CiC Wallenstein and artillety

The main battle was fought using Liber Militum: Tercios (and expansion), while the preliminary skirmish was played out with Pikeman's Lament. Pictures of 28 mm miniatures, mostly from Warlord's Game.

Disclaimer: This text was written by the blog's author but tuned to epic with the aid of AI. 

Journey to the City of the Damned

After more than one year, I am posting here again.

With a couple squadrons for Lacquered Coffins and a Bolt Action/Crossfire army almost completed (more in future posts), let me introduce you to my next project: a Cult of the Possessed Warband for Mordheim.

This is my first time painting a fantasy army since I am mainly a historical wargamer. However, due to some unforeseeable combination in my recent life,  I have the occasion to play Mordheim. Its setting, lore, and grimdark appearance have always fascinated me.

I bought a Frostgrave Cultist plastic box for this project, which is fantastic value for money. Additionally, I ordered some bits from Crooked Dice to convert my miniatures and represent mutations. My Magister, Possessed, and Beastmen are also from Crooked Dice.

It sounds like the first step toward a long downward journey to the City of the Damned. Stay tuned.

Learning Crossfire

As one of the most iconic conflicts in history, the second world war (WW2) is probably one of the most played periods in the wargaming landscape.

For players interested in 28 mm large skirmish battles, the main ruleset is obviously Bolt Action, even if a myriad of other sets is available on the market (and many more are free). Last evening we tried Crossfire, which lurked our attention with its focus on infantry and its no-fixed turns approach. Only a few tweaks were necessary to convert the game from a Company-level to a Platoon-level.  Overall the game is very lite, but we keep it basic being the first game, the game flew very well and quite impredictably. In short, we had great fun.

Here are some pictures of our first game, featuring Italian against Commonwealth and Ethiopians in the East Africa Campaign (a post about my Italian Army in Italian East Africa will follow).

Basic Impetus 2: first game

Just a short report to update you on the ongoing activities. We were looking for a fast-paced, easy-to-learn, and easy-to-teach, wargame ruleset for ancient to medieval field battles, so we dusted off our 15 mm miniature collection from the shelves to try  Basic Impetus 2. My first miniatures were old Black Hat miniatures, and this scale resurfaces periodically at our club. 

Basic Impetus 2 is the second edition of Basic Impetus, a ruleset written many years ago by Lorenzo Sartori, the owner of Dadi e Piombo, an Italian Wargame Magazine. The second edition is now on sale both as a digital and as a printed copy. 

Our first game was Late Romans (Patrician) vs Early Visigoths. The battle was fought quite straightforwardly with the Late Romans posing little resistance to the Visigothic advance. The Roman Cataphracts kept as strategic reserves were blundered by a Foederati unit retreating directly against them, causing them to receive a disorder marker and later a hit, hindering their usefulness. The only losses in the Visigothic army were made by light cavalry combined shooting.

Conclusions: the game is quite simple, it lacks some nuances that a veteran player may expect (for example there is a reaction fire, but not a countercharge), and that can be easily amended. Some solutions (such as the option to charge only frontally without any pivoting) are a bit old-styled. Anyway, any doubt could be easily resolved with a quick check on the rules (which are about 12-15 pages). These rules could work as a gateway to wargaming, giving some easy notions of strategy while getting used to the general concepts. 

the initial battle lines

the cataphracts (on the right) are smashed by their retreating foederates

the combined light cavalry shooting was the only success of the day for the Romans

the Roman center is on the brink of collapse

Escape from the Crusader city with Lion Rampant

Lion Rampant is a light ruleset that aims to recreate the clashes between retinues during the medieval period. The system is highly flexible and the scenarios included in the book allow recreating many different settings with few adaptations. 

We played a scenario set during the beginning of the Crusaders States. A Crusader city has just been conquered by a large Seljuk force. A group of citizens has taken shelter at a fortress, and as the walls fall, decide to try to cross the city to reach the docks, where some ships, owned by the Maritime Republic of Genoa, are still at bay. We adapted the Scenario "The Convoy" from Lion Rampant, each token representing a bunch of civilians. Due to the urban setting, we decided to use the "reduced models" optional rule from Dragon Rampant to avoid cluttering too many models in small spaces, so we halved the miniatures needed for each unit. The Crusaders started on the NE deployment zone, while the Seljuks entered from the NW and SE deployment zone. The exit zone was the ship at the SW deployment zone.

I won't write up a detailed after-action record here, but overall the game was quite balanced, and until the last two turns all sides had a chance to win it.  The Seljuk player resulted less effective in causing casualties and the Crusaders were good at protecting the foot serjeants' units carrying the civilians, allowing all the three groups to escape safely.

We had great fun, and the reduced models rule worked great. I suggest using it in an urban setting. It is also a great gateway, allowing new players to start playing with a few models. The second edition of Lion Rampant is going to be published in the next few months I hope it will implement this option.

This scenario was actually a playtest for an incoming project, keep following the blog for more details!

And now, some pictures! Crusaders are Normans from Conquest Games, Seljuks from Gripping Beast, and buildings and the ship from CleverPaper.

Rebels and Patriots game (Calatafimi 1860)

 A brief photographic report of our latest game of Rebels and Patriots the black powder large skirmish by Michael Leck and Daniel Mersey from the successful Lion Rampant franchise.

Once again, we refought the Battle of Calatafimi (1860) during The Thousand campaign of Giuseppe Garibaldi against the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. I was able to umpire the game with my friends, following the rule scenario I published in the latest issue of Wargames Soldiers and Strategy (118), which featured three articles of mine, all set in Sicily in different periods. 

This scenario is available as a free PDF on the Karwansaray Publisher website, so don't hesitate to test it and let me know your opinion!

The scenario ran smoothly, with the Garibaldines advance frustrated by the lack of initiative of one unit, which led to uncoordinated advance. The first assault was successful, dealing a lot of damage to the Borbonic Cacciatori Esteri, however, the winning unit wavered, despite the minimum loss, and that gave the Borboni time to reform the line. A unit of Picciotti (fielded as skirmishers) was driven away, leaving the approaching forces unscreened.

From that moment Red Shirts units, advancing one at the time were welcomed by relentless musketry fire, accumulating a lot of casualties. Despite a fierce fight they had to leave the battlefield.

On the other side of the battlefield, a courageous Garibaldine artillery officer repelled a flanking attempt from a Borbonic light cavalry unit, but it wasn't enough to save the day. Did Landi (the General leading the Borbonic army) save the Kingdom?