Borodino, 1812

This was something of an hommage to one of the most epic encounters in military history - the battle of Borodino on 7th September 1812. In what became a gruesome slaughter fest, Napoleon obtained what could, at best, best be described as a Pyrrhic victory for his Grande Armee. 

The battle and 1812 campaign have remained in the public memory like few others, in part because of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, Tolstoy's War and Peace, the 1967 Soviet film that utilised 12,000 Red Army soldiers as extras, the huge masterpiece Panorama of the battle; not to mention the occupation and burning of Moscow and Napoleon's catastrophic retreat in the winter of 1812.

In this refight of the actions in the South-Central part of the battle, around the Bagration Fleches and the village of Semyonovskaya, the French were making slow progress on their right flank, but were having difficulties on their left. Nevertheless the French juggernaut in the centre was probably about to overwhelm the Russians defending the fleches. That said, this game was grossly overly ambitious for an evening's game and we never had the chance to play it out to a conclusion.

Seven Years War/French & Indian Wars - Battle of the Plains of Abraham, 1759

A refight of James Wolf's famous victory over the French, in which the French received an historically accurate drubbing.

However, in this version both Wolfe, and his opponent Montcalm, both survived the battle, unlike their real life counterparts

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A Very British Civil War - "The Mansfield Job"

Fanatically deranged Church of England parishioners of the Anglican League faction had to rescue several crates containing bottles of communal wine, consignments of new surplices and cassocks for the cathedral choir and print copies of the Book of Common Prayer etc from a stricken transport vehicle. 

They were hampered in their efforts by troopers of the Nottinghamshire (Sherwood Rangers) Yeomanry, who had decided to turn out for the battle mounted in full dress uniform.

The Yeomanry were checked by some impressive LMG fire from the Anglican Leaguers who eventually managed to escape with most of the irreplaceable cargo.

Midgard - Attack on a Viking Stronghold

Some excellent home-made scenery on display today, with a Viking raid on a rival Viking stronghold. The fort was attacked from both land and water sides.

Spanish Civil War - Communists and Anarchist Alliance Holds

In this four-way battle, players took control of one of 4 factions - Communists International Brigades, Anarchist Militia, Regular Nationalist Army and Carlist Requetes. Each entered from one of the four corners and the faction that was deemed in control of the junction at the centre of the table, would claim the victory.

The Nationalists were dogged from the beginning when their captured T26 tank broke down and they were unable to repair it. The Carlists killed quiet a lot of the Anarchists, but didn't really make a serious play for the central objective. The Anarchists made a ponderous approach to the objective, but by the time they got there their untrustworthy allies, the Communists, were already well ensconced in the park alongside the objective. The Communists made a sensible advance upon the centre, aided by the fact that their T26s didn't break down once.

In the end, the Communists won handsomely, especially in light of the fact that the other factions were all close to having morale problems, due to casualties, and the reluctance of the Anarchists to break their shaky alliance.