An Imaginations Game: Wars of Stagonian Aggression

 This past Sunday a few of us got together at Murdock's and rolled out the 18th century collection of our dearly missed friend Jeff (aka Jeff of Saxe-Bearstein, aka Bluebear Jeff).

The scenario was loosely based on one at the back of Warlord's Last Argument of Kings supplement for Black Powder, Cherbourg. In our case, it featured the army of Saxe-Bearstein, lead by Duke Otto Von Ranulfsson, retiring from a punishing campaign in Stagonia, and attempting to extract itself by evacuating it's infantry by jolly boats to waiting ships at the mouth of the river. Once per turn a regiment on the table edge could be removed; however Stagonia had a mortar battery that could hamper the evacuation with a successful die roll of 5 or 6 once per turn. 

At deployment, things looked positive for Saxe-Bearstein as a number of Stagonian regiments started in reserve and one of their own was ready to board some boats when their turned arrived. Saxe-Bearstein in the forefront, Stagonians advancing onto the table:

Things turned sideways though as the Stagonian mortars found their target for their first two turns increasing the boarding time from 1 turn to 3! With such luck so early on it became apparent that Saxe-Bearstein would have to concentrate on the fight and not the flight! The Stagonians prepare to advance on the re-organised Saxe-Bearstein in the distance:

On the other flank, Saxe-Bearstein grenzers patroled...

.... before the Saxe-Bearstein cavalry go on the offensive:

Stagonian infantry pressed forward to musket range:

After a strong start, the Stagonian command staff led by Le Comte Roberge Le Ferrier had a difficult time getting troops follow orders, often stymied on the first order.

On the Saxe-Bearstein left flank the cavalry battle continued with much toing and froing, eventually the horse commanders from both sides get involved in an effort to break the stale mate:

With the battle winding down, Ranulfsson attempted to smash through the centre with his elite cavalry. 

Although they were successful in pushing back the veteran Stagonian infantry, they themselves were shaken and unable to follow up their success. The creme de la creme of Saxe-bearstein cavalry, the Von Comocks Kuirass, before they retired from the field:

The cavalry battle on the Saxe Bearstein left flank and in the middle ultimately achieved nothing for either side, the horse brigades both ending up broken. This last photo is from mid/late in the battle just before the final push: 

Sunset and attrition forced the Stagonians to leave the Saxe-Beastein force stranded on the beach. Although a victory for Stagonia (Saxe-Bearstein was unable to extract a single regiment) it was a Pyrric one as they quit the field with a broken army. Aside from the lucky strikes with the mortars early on, which forced Ranulfsson to adjust, consistent poor command rolls stalled the Stagonians, especially late in the game when Le Ferrier and his commanders could not Rally units, leading to broken brigades. This failure of the leadership is what turned this game from a great victory to a very costly one for Stagonia.

Jeff's collection is made up entirely of Bloodaxe Miniatures, no longer in production, painted in Deltacoat and Ceramacoat craft paint in a bold, simple style with a flat finish. They make for very colourful armies on the table top. The buildings are also from his collection, and are from a Christmas village collection (not sure the brand) the style of which really suits the figures.

Rules used were Black Powder with stats based on the Prussian Seven Years War list in Last Argument of Kings. As usual, regiments that Jeff listed as Veteran were given the Steady and Elite4+ rule. A few units Jeff had labeled Superb and they were given Superbly Drilled in addition and a couple foot regiments were also given an extra pip of Stamina. These made for very steady regiments. 

Murdock broadcasted the game live over Twitch and will no doubt have an edited version available sometime in the future.