In The Dark

Photo without flash

For the past few days we have had very unseasonable weather here in the Costa Blanca.   First heavy snow, last seen in this area in 2005.   This was followed by two days of heavy rain, thunder and lightning.   Not unknown, but unusual to last so long.   

As a result we also had frequent power cuts, some lasting for hours at a time.   I know that this is pretty small beer for some of you who live in more challenging locations.  But for Southern Spain it is pretty unusual.

Kept at home by the weather and bored with daytime TV we decided to have a wargame to pass the afternoon.  With no heating we wrapped up and headed for our wargames room.  

Halfway into our first more the lights went off (see photo above).   But by now we carried torches with us all the time, so we were able to complete the move by torchlight.

Photo with flash

Having completed one move we were returning to the sitting room, when the lights came on again.   Another power cut as we were about to start a second move decided us to abandon play for the day.

It is surprisingly difficult to wargame in these circumstances.   Although possible to see a small area, it was hard to keep control of the whole army.   Perhaps this might be a good idea to create “fog of war”?

Game On

Battle of Erlangen – Right Wing

The wargames table is back in normal mode – it has a game set up ready to play.    We are still finding it difficult to get back into our normal routine, and the wargaming has suffered.   Mostly due to the new Garmin satnav I mentioned last week.  

But at least the game is set up, and last night we played two moves

Battle of Erlangen – Campaign Map

This is quite an unusual battle for us, because it is fought as two wargames.

Our wargames table is three squares on the campaign map. However this battle covers five squares, so it will have to be fought as two wargames.   The white outline is the area of the right wing battle, the left wing will be three squares to the left.

Normally I would manoeuvre the two armies to concentrate into three squares.  But this is day eight of the campaign, three battles have been fought and both sides have battle casualties.   The Bavarian Army has lost two of the three battles.   But they are better supplied and want to force a battle before the Austrian Army can resupply and reorganise.

These mid campaign battles are much more interesting because of the casualties from previous battles.   Even when a corps has rested, resupplied and been reinforced each brigade still carries 10% casualties.   Such brigades are much more fragile in morale tests, and less effective in firing and fighting.   So numbers alone are not so significant.

It’s good to be back into wargame mode, and at least I don’t feel guilty when I pass the wargames room.