WSS Wargame

Today I payed my second visit to the Tyneside wargames club in Newcastle. They meet at St James United reformed church and have a variety of periods and scales on offer. I took four of my Imaginations battalions and two command bases ( a brigade of 4 x 16 man units), Ian supplied the remaining brigades and the cavalry consisting of cuirassiers and dragoons. We played "beneath the Lily Banner" rules and I just about got the jist of most of the mechanics - apart from musketry, which I'll have to spend a bit time revising to understand a bit better. I took a few pictures but make no attempt to make a Bat Rep ! Each side fielded three brigades of infantry and three of cavalry and one gun each (Me and Ian were the Austrians, Richard and Lawrence the British and Bavarians). The cannon employed 4D10's hitting on an 8 or 10 depending on the range. We lost the fight on the left flank which involved a huge cavalry battle and our attack in the centre and left flank stalled. I had a mixture of satisfaction and embarrassment as I made a few hits on on the enemy horsemen on the left flank. I really enjoyed the game and have threatened to turn up for their next game!

Mexican Horse Artillery

These are all Old Glory, the gunners and cannon are from the Zulu war range and the limbers are ACW. I had a few spare gunners left so I did a few head swaps. The ACW set had the riders and limber riders wearing a mix of floppy hats and peaky caps and did not really fit in with the rest of the unit who are wearing sun helmets. I painted them blue to represent a more elite unit i.e. horse artillery! - the foot gunners are painted in the same khaki colours as the infantry. The OG limbers had far fewer parts than the Perry Plastic ones I made earlier and weigh a lot more! There is something satisfying about the weight of  lead unit.

Well, thats the supply train and the artillery park completed. Now for two more command bases (one of which has special powers and thus remains a secret, unless the games master has spilled the beans) and two infantry regiments.

Mexican Foot Artillery

These the plastic Perry ACW cannons and limbers - three each for £20 or so. They were very easy to assemble with few parts, I didn't even feel high from the glue! I haven't used the ACW gunners the set came with as they are slightly leaner than the OG figures. They are pulled by metal Perry horses and riders. The cannons can easily be unhitched from the limbers as you can see from the photos - I'm mounting the OG gunners (from the Zulu war period) individually on pennies. There is enough room I think for the gun to move limbered with space to place the gunner figures. The riders are painted in the typical colours for my army.

Mexican Supply Wagons

The expeditionary force will need supplies of course, large quantities of burritos, nachos and tortillas washed down with copious amounts of tequila. Believe that and you'll believe anything. Of course they are Old Glory ACW wagons which fit the bill perfectly - they can't be beat on price and are reasonable sculpts.  I managed a couple of head swaps with some left over militia infantry and painted them in similar colours. I'll just have to remember to move them and pick them up by the base as they are rather heavy and likely to come off the MDF base if I hold it by the wagon! In fact I didn't have a base of the correct size so super glued three bases onto the magnetic backing.