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Did a full solo game of general d armee to learn the rules . Glad I did because there are lots of gaps in them : solved mainly with the FAQ the videos and the forum .

It was 1809 Austrians against Bavarians with a confederation of the Rhine brigade rushed to the battlefield in support .

Link played the Austrians for me and made some pretty crucial decisions and dice rolls acting as the main C in C.

Initially the Austrians suffered heavy casualties and were pushed out of the village to their right flank twice . Even the Grenadier unit could not hold that BUA . The Jägers of the advance guard brigade suffered badly and were wiped out in a hussar charge eventually .

In the centre the Bavarians advanced forwards and made good ground and inflicted heavy casualties .

However they over extended and were struck in the flank by the light cavalry of the left mixed brigade . Probably should have formed square earlier . Attack column is okay against cavalry but not from the flank .

Then the Austrians brought the cuirassier through the gaps in the centre when the Bavarians kept rolling low and becoming hesitant or faltering due to the destiny dice .

Finally the Bavarians started retreat or routs to the rear. This tied up their ADC allowing the Austrian heavy cavalry free rein to batter their cavalry.

Playing the game to learn the rules was vital . These are heavy rules with lots of things to track . Retreat is different to retire which is different to rout. DT can mean discipline test or destiny table . Who can attack and support whom and who can fire when a unit is charged are all important things that benefit from having the FAQ at hand .

I do like these rules though and have created better more sensible brigades for my next battle and am busy painting up skirmish figures .

We played the final scenario our 53rd on our online campaign. We defeated the Gloom and saved the city . Our party was the Soothsinger, the Summoner. The Doomstalker and the Nightshroud .

Basically everyone kept him distracted and everyone alive whilst the Doomstalker peppered him with arrows fuelled by blesses from his friends. Between the Doomstalker and the Nightshroud he took hits rapidly and was only able to take out the summons before he was defeated .

Of course we still have plenty of scenarios to do and hopefully we can start on the Jaws of the Lion quest line and characters.

Ordered some game mats again from Deep Cut studio. Got hit with nearly £50 of handling and import charges . Asked them to put a warning up on their site for UK customers but they said it is my fault because I chose to Brexit .

Obviously I did not choose to Brexit but my government certainly did.

So I put this message here to remind myself about a sad experience and to warn other UK Purchasers that it is best to order from UK distribution networks only now . I do think the maps are worth getting and it must be sad for them to lose direct customers as well . Hopefully people can get them from me a UK Company to avoid all this happening to them .

We continued our campaign with the last two scenarios in the book.

First up was Farmer Cotton’s Farm. The hobbits deploy in ambush.

Gaffer Gamgee was the first to fall. Kerry proved a hard nut to crack with his shield adding to his defence he was able to clear his side of the road. However the Ruffians on the other side were able to defeat Sam being led by their hero whilst Frodo looked on in horror. Finally Cotton fell and with the hobbits losing numbers it was down to just Merry and Frodo alone. Though good had been able to get the Ruffians down to their last five it was not quite enough and when Merry was surrounded and struck from behind it was all over with an evil victory.

Battle of Bywater

Next it was time for the Battle of Bywater.

The hobbits deployed their Shiriffs behind the barrier and the other forces led by Merry and Pippin to either side.

The Ruffians began with an attack across the barrier which fared badly. So they gave up on that and jumped over the hedges to either side, leaving it to their archers to pepper the barrier with ineffective archery for the rest of the game.

Being mounted only on ponies the hobbit heroes fared badly against the superior Ruffians. The Shiriffs decided to hold behind the barrier until Sharkey arrived.

At this point with Pippin down and Merry struggling the Shiriffs charged and Sam and Frodo snuck over the hedge to the side.

Finally with hobbits all defeated the Ruffians closed in on Sam and Frodo. Another victory for evil as the shire lies under Sharkey’s evil rule.

Painted a group of Hungarian grenadiers . Paints were contrast colours highlighted where necessary with GW acrylics. This was the white and metal . Simple bases to match the other units . The flag is GMB and I added similar to my other units .

Painted using contrast paints. Green coated Regiments.

The Uhlans. Green Coat, Yellow cap (1st) Red (3rd) Regiments.

The Chevau Leger. Green Coat (1st, 2nd) Regiments.

Banners are on their way from GMB.

This will give me enough now to field a 5 Brigade Army to oppose my Bavarians in Song of Drums.

Phil, Mike, Darryl and Bruce failed to defeat the Tower on Gritty difficulty.

Phil, Mike and Darryl took on the Dark Tower.

It was close at times, with two players reaching two corruption and just a few skulls remaining. Nevertheless our heroes managed to defeat Ashstrider and win the day!

Has arrived. Played through a learning scenario. Now ready for real play but iPad will need to be at 100% charge next time !

Darryl and Mike’s Royalists took on Bruce and Phil’s Parliamentarians. This is a free to download scenario available on the For King and Parliament to the strongest website.

The King deftly turns his gentlemen pensioners around and charges into Cromwell taking him prisoner in the ensuing melee!

At this point darkness began to fall and both sides began to withdraw. Victory medals were tallied and Parliament had 9 remaining versus just 8 for the Cavaliers. So a very narrow victory for the Roundheads who had saved the village of Soggy Bottom and driven off the tyranny of King Charles!

What a tough battle of attrition. So many cards drawn in the evening! Quite exhausting but hopefully fun for all and a chance to get all the ECW figures out in their resplendent uniforms.