Skip to main content

Report on Moves Eight and Nine. . .

Moves Eight and Nine, exhibited little maneuvering by either side, but they were nevertheless full of drama for Stollen's Major von Topfsange and his opponent, Zichenau's Colonel von Adalnowski. Once more, let's peek into to the colonel's drawing room where the game is unfolding. . .


Move Eight saw Major von Topfsange again unlimber his single gun, to cover the left flank of his remaining company of Jaeger zu Fuss. Otherwise, this section of the battlefield was quiet as Colonel von Adalnowski watched through a blue haze of tobacco smoke from across the table without comment, though he was observed twisting one end of his waxed mustache thoughtfully.


On the north side of Effibriest, things went from bad to worse for von Topfsange's squadron of 3rd Kuirassiere during Move Eight. "Aha, your cavalry is within 24"-30" of my gun, old fruit!" exclaimed von Adalnowski suddenly. "Just roll your die to see if you can hit anything and stop going on about it," snapped the major. Von Adalnowski threw a "5", which meant a hit at that range according the the rules outlined in Charge!. "Ah, good show!" shouted von Adalnowski, who threw another die to determine the number of casualties. A "3" turned up, resulting in three casualties, one of which was the squadron officer. "Hell and damnation!" fumed von Topfsange as Colonel von Adalnowski proceeded to dance a happy jig back and forth along his side of the table.


Both men calmed themselves down after some minutes, helped by the arrival of a tray of summer refreshments. . . of a medicinal nature, brought into the drawing room by one Valerie l'Vivandiere. "Thank you mon cherie!" called von Adalnowski sweetly after her. "May we get on with things, PLEASE?" asked von Topfsange. "What? Oh, yes. Let's." replied von Adalnowski absentmindedly. There was no movement on the southern side of the field during Move Nine, though the colonel's Irish Grenzers did take a few pot shots at von Topfsange's artillery crew. No hits were scored at the 12"-18" range, but the major was annoyed by the musket shots buzzing just over the heads of his men.


Meanwhile, on the north side of the field, von Topfsange's remaining cuirassiers turned tail and made hell for leather for Crampas Farm at the eastern end of Teodorstal Valley, pursued by von Adalnowski's Grenadiere zu Pferd. "Stop, you blackguards! You ungrateful poltroons!" thundered the major, slashing at the at the air with his riding crop. "I'll give you what for!" On the far side of the table, Colonel von Adalnowski finished his glass, calmly poured himself another, and offered, "There now, von Topfsange, chin up. Fancy another G&T?"

Comments

Anonymous said…
I'm not exactly certain why, but I find the good Colonel's refusal to take this battle seriously to be incredibly amusing...

Popular posts from this blog

Presenting the Anspach-Bayreuth Kuirassiere!!!

Here they are, with the rearmost nine figures still drying, three squadrons of the Anspach-Bayreuth Kuirassiere, now in the service of the Grand Duchy of Stollen. And now, it's onto that artillery!

And It's the End of September!!!

  Saxony's Ploetz Cuirassiers, an illustration lifted from the Kronoskaf website, which has thus far guided my spectacularly glacial painting of 30 28mm Eureka Saxon cuirassiers purchased all the way back in October 2016. A gray, cool Saturday here in Mid-Michigan with rain in the forecast. The Grand Duchess is away at a conference, so it's just "The Boys" here at home. The Young Master (almost 15) has retreated to his room for something or other following breakfast while I have stolen back down here to Zum Stollenkeller (masquerading as my office) with a second mug of coffee and both cats comfortably ensconced nearby. Enjoying the late morning and still in my pajamas! Not much planned for today beyond designing a couple of promotional flyers for workshops my department is presenting (small parties we will throw?) in October and November.  With maybe a bit of on the next podcast script. More important,  I am toying with the idea of returning for an hour or...

Happy September 2nd!!!

    T his weekend, the question of what, precisely, constitutes an "imagination" came up in an online forum of which I am a part.  To be fair, the issue originates from further afield in a Facebook group that I am not a member of, but I weighed in with my own view.  The following was in response to the question posed yesterday (Sunday) morning by an exasperated member of my own rather more gentlemanly town square, who had been met with a strident response to information he shared about his (admirable) hobby activities on said FB group.  Here is, more or less, what I wrote: To my mind, the concept of imagi-nation(s) is a broad one.  It can range from historical refights or what-if scenarios/battles/campaigns between armies of a particular era, to completely made up combatants operating in a quasi-historical setting, to the rather generic red and blue forces of the Prussian Kriegspiel that examine a particular tactical problem, task, or exercise.   ...