July 2014 FOG N tournament Melbourne

[geoff]

Didn't realise you played FOG N.

Now that I come to think about it, I don't recall him saying 'these are not the droids you are looking for' but he may have...

No mate, you just got bitten by the same bug that has seen me order about 600 Prussian 15mm figures without having played a game of FOGN
If my boys were ready i would seriously consider the trip to Melbourne.....maybe next year.

Geoff

[Daemionhunter]

My peers from the North Shore Wargames Club are shortly to depart our shores as the tip of spear of our invasion of the lost continent. I would have to say that our army is composed of the scum of the earth - the mere scum of the earth. I only hope that when the enemy reads the list of their names, he trembles as I do. New Zealand confides that every man will do his duty.

[BrettPT]

Thought I'ld post regular updates of our trip over the ditch for this tourney.

We'll we have arrived in Melbourne. Bloody cold in this part of the land of Oz, but otherwise so far so good. Small hiccup at immigration when they asked me if I had a criminal record, and I replied I didn't know you still needed one of those (...I know an oldie, but still a goodie).

Took a trip out to Eureka Miniatures. Nic the owner gave us the guided tour, we spent a happy couple of hours chatting and drooling over wastes hordes of AB figures. We all came away with a new box of lead to paint - post free and generously discounted (thanks Nic). Frightfully decent chap who sells the prettiest 18mm figures on the market.

A ciggie and a coffee now, a last look over the scenario briefings, then it's on the tram to the convention centre for round one.

Tally ho.
Brett

[KendallB]

As we arrived I was surprised that Victoria wasn't on fire as this is how the media generally portrays this part of the world.

I came away from Eureka with so many things that I didn't realise I needed!

[Daemionhunter]

Thanks Brett. Keen to here how everyone goes.

[ravenflight]

As we arrived I was surprised that Victoria wasn't on fire as this is how the media generally portrays this part of the world.

It's not always on fire.

You just happened to pick July to visit. That's the month it isn't on fire.

[BrettPT]

Well, day 1 done.

Quick Kiwi report for those back home:

Firstly, a unanimous thumbs up for Richard's scenarios from the NZ contingent.
My Austrians successfully defended against 1813 Prussians at Friedland (the 1/2 my army on table at start managed to hold, got reinforcements on in good time and counterattacked to victory). Round 2 for me was Aspern Essling, against French, where my Austrian grenadiers managed to storm Essling to carry the day.

Most of us kiwis also had success, 2 wins for each of : Kendall (at Salamanca and Borodino), Kit (Durnstein & Eylau), Philip (Asbern Essling & Salamanca).

Al won Borodino in the morning - his British household cav taking the grand redoubt (from the rear), before being defeated in the afternoon (retreat from Moscow). Mike like won in the morning (Durnstein) & was beaten in the afternoon (Marengo).
Keith won in the morning (Eylau) and lost in the afternoon (can't remember which scenario).

Final update tomorrow.
Cheers
Brett

[shadowdragon]

An interesting approach to a tournament - using historical scenarios but with different armies. Nice that it seems to have worked out well.

[Daemionhunter]

Well done troops. Can you email or post army lists? Highlanders in the lead at half time vs sardines!
Thanks Brett.

[KeefM]

Brilliant competition !! I had a blast playing the scenarios and my only disappointment was that we got to play just 4 .

My highlight (lowlight) was the 10 dice from my steady large heavy battery with a heavy gun attachment only scoring a single hit against Dave's assaulting small superior hussar unit, then Dave adding insult by scoring 5 hits from 6 dice to wipe out the battery. (The very same hussars went on in a subsequent game to deal to Philip's Dutch artillery as well.)

Well done to Brett, Kendall and Kit for a NZ clean sweep of the top 3 places.

But, above all else, a HUGE vote of thanks to Richard for all his efforts in organising, refereeing and compiling what proved to be some very well balanced and thoroughly enjoyable games.

A great weekend !!!

[KendallB]

But, above all else, a HUGE vote of thanks to Richard for all his efforts in organising, refereeing and compiling what proved to be some very well balanced and thoroughly enjoyable games.

A great weekend !!!

Seconded!

Best weekend of wargaming for a long time!

[pugsville]

Yes Richard G done some sterling work in organization, thanks to our Kiwi visitors enjoyed playing their diverse mix of armies, some us should return the favor. Congratulation to Brett and the other Kiwis, (taking first 3 places) Brett handed me a good thrashing in the final round.

Keefe,My highlight is the same as your, though from the other side it was a calculated gamble high risk , high gain, fortune favours the brave, (though my analysis of the chances of the Guns standing was flawed, I thought I was toast when they stood) the Super Hussars broke/destroyed 9 units in 3 games and in the sound thrashing at the hand of Brett's Austrians they recovered from Broken twice!!!

[Blathergut]

I think many of us would be interested in seeing the scenarios in detail.

[Saxonian]

Richard, many thanks and much kudos for putting this event together.
This is the first competition I have been involved in for many years, and my first ever for Napoleonics, and I had a great time.
Thanks to my four opponents, who both won and lost with good grace and humour. I enjoyed all my games, even when I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn at four paces with my shooting!!
And congratulations to those pesky New Zealanders who stole..I mean won fair and square... all those trophies - maybe we'll get them back some time!

Finally, it's great that a tournament in Napoleonics could be arranged with a great set of rules that allow for a result in an acceptable time limit.
Thanks to all once again for a great weekend.

I'm sure that the scenarios will be posted asap.

[Blathergut]

Post your armies as well. It's always interesting to see ideas.

[Carriage]

I've posted a report of my games here.
viewtopic.php?f=197&t=51164

[richafricanus]

A great tournament in the end with 24 players getting games.

Final places as follows:

1. Brett Preston-Thomas (NZ) 12 points (countback 24 points)
2. Kendall Blue (NZ) 12 points (countback 21 points)
3. Kit Goldsbury (NZ) 9 points (countback 33 points)
4. Dave Inglis 9 points (countback 30 points)
5. Richard Stubbs 9 points (countback 27 points)
6. Keith Marshall (NZ) 9 points (countback 21 points)
7. Alex Inglis 6 points (countback 27 points)
8. Philip Abela (NZ) 6 points (countback 27 points but higher % losses than Alex)
9. Mike Haycock (NZ) 6 points (countback 27 points)
10. John Shaw 6 points (countback 24 points)
11. Steve Green 6 points (countback 21 points)
12. Alastair Donald (NZ) 6 points (countback 21 points
13. Scott Driscoll 6 points (countback 18 points)
14. Tyler Jefferson 3 points
15. Andrew Oates 3 points
16. Daniel Karakaltsas 3 points
17. Daryl Hosking 3 points
18. Arnaud Ng 3 points

The following players played 1 day only
19. Steve Kennedy
20. Mick Griffiths
21. Nigel Brand
22. Adrian Fryer
23. Django Upton
24. me

Daryl Hosking won the "Bravest of the Brave" award for his excellent sportmanship during the tournament.

The tournament was played in an excellent spirit, and even though the Kiwis took the top 3 places everyone seemed to have a good time.

Worth a mention - Richard Stubbs had by far the lowest % losses to his army, taking only 19% over 4 rounds - so less than 5% a game. The next lowest losses was 33%, so quite an achievement, also considering Richard had 3 wins.

The scenarios seemed to work well, and seemed to have the right balance. Results by scenario were as follows:

Marengo - Attacker 3 Defender 1
Durnstein - Attacker 3 Defender 1
Eylau - Attacker 1 Defender 3
Friedland - Attacker 0 Defender 4 (may need a tweak)
Aspern Essling - Attacker 3 Defender 1
Salamanca - Attacker 1 Defender 3
Borodino - Attacker 3 Defender 1
Retreat form Moscow - Attacker 2 Defender 2
Hanau - Attacker 2 Defender 2
Waterloo - Attacker 1 Defender 3
Total - Attacker 19 Defender 21

We're thinking of taking the format to Cancon, so keep playing. I may need to have designed another 10 scenarios by then as I'm sure the scheming Kiwis will have mastered these by then

Just waiting to post the scenarios onto our club website and then we'll send out the link for everyone to give them a go.

[pugsville]

What I really liked about the scenario format it really tests your ability to come up with a good plan to tackle the situation v your army v your opponents army. I failed totally in the last round and was duly punished. There was a wide range of armies enjoying measures of success. Brett's unreformed Austrians without ANY artillery winning the whole thing being a good case in point.

[richafricanus]

Link to scenarios as promised. Look in the Napoleonics section for the "here" link. I'd be interested to hear any feedback on how people find them. I'm sure there's still scope for refinement.

http://www.leagueofancients.org.au/Gaming.aspx

[KitG]

Baaaah!

It was an extremely close run affair and it would not have done had I not been there.

I am certain that had I shouted more, complete victory would have been mine.

I do hope KeefM was not too put out, what with him having to pay for that vaccant freight space all the way back to Nelson...

Thanks to Richard, the League of Ancients, Club Tivolli, The City of Melbourne, Yarra Trams, The MCG, The State of Victoria and Australia.

It's been emotional, gentlemen.