Serrainvilliers 26 August 1914

[Eugenio von Savoy]

Hi all,

Just played our first WW1 game with the Too Fat Lardies rules 'If the Lord spares us'.

Not sure if anyone else has done but we have taken them out of their intended Middle East theatre and used them for the 1914 Flanders confict.

They were a little slow at first - but hey we are learning. We mananged to put a fairly well structured scenario together called 'Serainvilliers - 26 August 1914' featuring the BEF left wing retiring to the St Quentin canal by forced march through the night and the rain.

I can say that whilst we achieved 6 complete moves and the first took the full card pack (would you credit it?) to get to the 'Tea Break' card, it was pleasantly different.

As we are approximately half way through the scenario and set to complete it this week I thought it would be good to share some of the experience with you.

The pictures show the coal mine at St Armand-le-Petit with the St Quentin canal in the foreground. As refugees stream out of the village, to the rear the Germans advance through the outskirts of Serainvilliers under constant RFA barrage from the near high ground; that is until the German FOO targeted the offboard stuff onto one of the batteries.

The markers with numerals are the 'blinds' used to represent as yet unspotted units. The coins represent the suppression points cllected by each unit. Looking for something more aesthetic though. Any ideas?







Regards

Tim
'Like a stone wall' Wargames Group
http://www.freewebs.com/like-a-stone-wall/

[Rob Herrick]

It looks like quite a blast.

I recognize some of the buildings!

[EvilGinger]

There has been quite a bit done on taking if the lord spares us out of the near east and Palestine into Europe. Have a look on the Lardie Yahoo group for files or drop a question about "storm of dice" which is the working title, on the group.

Its not something I have got round too trying yet as I have as do most wargamers project overload.

Ginger

[Eugenio von Savoy]

Ginger
Yup I noted the Storm of Dice and bought the special in which it was included. Sad to say the emphasis is on the later stage of the war and trench warfare. That is exactly what I didn't want as I wished to recreate the flowing warfare of the 1914 campaigns.
We have adapted quite well and the game continues.

Rob - As to the buildings it was a case of set up what was available so out came the generic Horse and Musket stuff. Howard in the group is the Triang/Hornby/Airfix rep for the North of England and he turned up (Bless Him) with the coal mine winding headstock.

Our man Nick 'The Mole' has all 30+ of our specially commissioned warbase buildings and they are being 'modified' in some manner for our HUGE game of Mons 1914 to be displayed at the Sheffield Triples in May this year.

More on that later as even I have not seen them for 6 months so I have no idea as to what they will look like. They will of course be up to his usual excellent standards; see his two Sedgemoor churches he hand build in the article in this site. They also feature in this article within a recent Wargames Illustrated.

Regards,

Tim
'Like a stone wall' Wargames Group
http://www.freewebs.com/like-a-stone-wall/

[nevermore]

Gud stuff Tim, hey i got round to a answer with the question about the sofeware i use on flags...sorry for taking so long mate as people would say " seen more speed in a hippy" .. nice pics by the way...time to take the dog out for a walk..bloody raining here damn !

[EvilGinger]

My particular interest in the early part of the war is the Belgium campaign of 1914 where there where certainly trenches as the Belgium fortresses where supported with pre constructed field fortifications. However these where designed to be used temporarily as the Belgium field army fought a holding action then abandoned them & fell back to the next position for another holding action. The BEF used hastily constructed trenches for the same thing at Mons and at times on the retreat after. Later in the campaign the trenches looked very 18th century field work as the water table was too close to the surface to be able to dig more than scrapes without them flooding & the trenches where built above ground as double walls made of sand bags corrugated iron & gabbions. with a glacis slope of packed earth before & behind.

I agree most of the emphasis amongst the Lardies is the 1915 or latter period but Sid has a Tank fetish (amongst others) for a start but M&B works fine for small actions or parts of actions in 1914 & In have no reason to think Storm of Dice would not work for brigade style actions during the same time frame.

There is a Boor war set in development for the early part of the 1899-1901 war at battalion to brigade level but this has gone on hold since the run up to the release of IABSM III but will resurface I am sure.

Ginger

[Eugenio von Savoy]

Hi Ginger

I agree most of the emphasis amongst the Lardies is the 1915 or latter period but Sid has a Tank fetish (amongst others) for a start but M&B works fine for small actions or parts of actions in 1914 & In have no reason to think Storm of Dice would not work for brigade style actions during the same time frame.

Not wishing to get into M&B as they would not allow the size of game we host. As it is we are struggling to adjust with ITLSU for divisional games; we are demonstrating The Assault On the Mons Salient and theres a terrible amount of troops to control.

We may well have to bring another of our rulesets to bear on the project. Midnight oil been burning up again just in case.

Once my camera issue is sorted and I dont have to be Bluetoothing from one device to another etc then I intend to post some of the unit pictures.

Regards
Tim
LASW Wagrames Group
UK
http://www.freewebs.com/like-a-stone-wall/

[EvilGinger]

I think the Boor war rules which are in the works might be the answer to your problem & I still think Richard is play testing these & always wants volounteers. I have a collection of WWI rules for various sizes of action but the only other one which works & feels period to me is Contemptible little armies. Though I have not seen version III just 1&II, Spearhead WWI is particularly one to avoid as its just WWII Spearhead without armour.

There are also various articles on conversions of other Lardie rules which have appeared in the Christmass & Summer Specials over the years, off the top of my head & this is typed at 5am I cant remember which ones but the files section on the Yahoo group has a listing.

Ginger