The League of Augsburg
Tales from the river bank.. Rupert in the Gambia
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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...
An extract from the Rupert in Gambia story
The campaign has a full and detailed narrative which accompanies the turn by turn mechanics. All of the narrative is based on events which happen in the table-top wargames combined with the role-play conversations and the umpire controlled activities.
So far, the narrative runs to over 5,000 words for the first ten turns. Below is an extract from 5th March, five days into the campaign and it...
1652 Prince Rupert in the Gambia campaign
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...
Crush the Calvanists? Incinerate the Idolators? War in brown waters 1605
Tomorrow sees a return to Claymore for me. Last time I was there was three years ago and I was lucky enough to win the Best Display game with a land based Ottoman Wars effort in 28mm. This time I am significantly downscaling in line with my green-policy of getting rid of the German tank of a car and opting for a quiet little Nipponese hybrid with much less space inside.
Having downscaled the...
Climbing out of the pit...
Being just one of millions hit by the blight makes me nothing special. Some of my friends have had it three times. All I can say is that my usual drive to get things done disappeared for over two weeks and a couple of sobering visits to the local hospital led me to even more admiration for health care professionals and calibrated my expectations about going to bed early and having less energy than...
League of Augsburg All at Sea 1666/1667 - Partizan May 22nd 2022
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A grand fleet - Charles II's battleships 1666 |
At Partizan this year I am doing something different. I am running a 'demo rules-workshop' where anyone curious about Anglo-Dutch naval wargaming can come along, throw a few dice, try a few mechanisms and ask lots of questions.
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Line of battle developed between 1652 and 1660 |
I will set up gaming scenarios in three different scales to explain the scope of...
May Special offer on 4Play scenario packs
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...
Escape with Serious Injury - a solo odyssey from 1666
If you don't know much about the Four Days Battle of 1666 there is a hole in your life! This epic sea battle between the Restoration English Navy and that of the Dutch Republic involved a massive number of ships - around 160, over 40,000 men and in excess of 9,000 guns. It was fought over four days (hence the name!) with some fighting also happening at night.
It is crammed full of desperate...
Where was I hiding?
This took a while but it was worth it purely from a personal point of view. Having been a bit unwell I needed something to motivate me and cheer me up. I decided to play a big solo wargame but with a difference. I wanted to do it slowly, recorded everything in text and photos and produce an analysis and compendium reference work for others to learn from and enjoy.
That meant, playing the game in...
Action from St James's Day 1666
6 x 4 table 1/4800 scale |
An express taken by the yacht Zwole from Michiel de Ruyter to The States General following an action on July 24th 1666
It is my misfortune to report to the States General that in an encounter with the English fleet under His Highness and the Lord Albemarle, my own squadron was unable to impress upon the enemy that a conflict between our nations leaves no winner. With the...
Action Replay - the MIGHTY Fighting White
Set up on a 6 x 4 table |
Where to begin? The last battle was a decisive victory for the English fleet. This encounter sees de Ruyter’s large 1stsquadron of the Dutch fleet, badly battered after a day of engaging the Duke of Albemarle off the Suffolk coast. Having broken off in the late afternoon, the Dutch are heading southeast to regroup, repair and replenish when to windward, they spot twenty-one...
Fighting White!
The action begins with John Harman's lead ships engaging van Nes's vanguard |