The League of Augsburg

This is a great scenario to play and getting the historical feel was relatively easy with Donnybrook at Sea. I have always found Blackbeard an interesting character as his pantomime persona is at odds with his thoughtful approach to piracy and his victims. 

The Pirates

He seems to have given thought to persuasion, been reluctant to kill unnecessarily and a lot more cerebral than many of his more...

The work party crossing open ground from lagoon to careenage

Maurice watched the attack develop from an observation platform near the river. Groups of warriors emerged from the undergrowth and under a hail of arrows, parties ran toward the log barricades. The irony of English muskets in African hands, turned upon their former owners was not lost on the defenders as the sailors came under fire. The...

Maurice atop the observation platform at the Careenage.

Simultaneous with Rupert's epic capture of the slaver Temperance on the northern shore of the Gambia, his younger brother, in charge of the careenage and lagoon used for repairing the damaged Revenge of Whitehall, has really stirred up the locals.

The Kombans attack!

Their continuing failure to deliver promised fresh water supplies to the...

Master Darbyshire prepares his ship for the Royalist attack.

After a work enforced pause which lasted three weeks, our Rupert on the Gambia campaign resumed last night. It brought one of those golden moments in gaming the always come unexpectedly. The campaing resumed on Day 9 of the thirty day odyssey with Rupert haveing failed to capture a grounded English slaver lying in a difficult position on...

Héros close in during the heat of the action!

Although co-architect of the attack on the stranded English slaver Temperance, Rupert was prevented from playing anything but the role of spectator on account of a strong north westerly wind. Thomas Darbyshire, master of the grounded vessel, used his long experience at sea to make the best of a difficult position. Lying high and dry in an extremely...

Off the Bakendik Bolong, Rupert attacks the stranded Temperance.

Eight days (15 turns) into the campaign, we are at the 25% mark. It has been an eventful journey so far and the Royalists are no further than four miles from the mouth of the Gambia River. They have had two encounters with Berber pirates coming off worst in the first encounter and being mere spectators to a French victory in the...

We've recently begun a campaign recreating the adventures of the itinerant Royalist Fleet on the West African coast in 1652. Under Prinz Ruprecht von der Pfalz known more commonly in Engish as Rupert of the Rhine, a small battered squadron 'privateered' between the Islas Cabo Verde and The Gambia for some weeks. 

Campaign Map

I have manipulated a few facts but nothing too outrageous. We have...

Helion are offering a generous 20% discount to League of Augsburg Facebook and Blog followers on this exciting new release covering gaming the 1685 rebellions. Use the discount code Monmouth20. The offer is open until the end of August.

The bonus ball of a recent few wonderful days on Skye was the chance to visit Glenshiel battlefield on the inbound leg of the trip. I decided to do a little scrambling and ended up grabbing enough footge to make a wargames focused video of the battle. 

It falls just within my normal scope of interest with a 1719 date. Regardless of the period, it is a fascinating military encounter and unique in...

Beneath the Lily Banners

To coincide with May Bank Holiday, there is a special offer on 4Play packs. The original idea is coming up on two years old and has been an unqualified success. There are thirty-seven titles plus five free titles. Each has three scenarios focused on a particular campaign or period. 

Donnybrook

They cover all of our rule systems - Beneath the Lily Banners, Donnybrook, Mad for...

I had fun making this. It is a Donnybrook scenario built around the mysterious death of Colonel Charles Herbert at the Battle of Aughrim on July 12th 1691.  You can see the video here:

Herbert might be described in modern parlance as 'dangerous to know'. His death may have been at the hands of his own side. A chaotic rout provided the perfect cover for Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.

This game called K...