Today marks the 100th anniversary of the Second Battle of Amiens, and beginning of the Hundred Day Offensive that closed out the First World War.
At Amiens today, 100,000 Canadians went forward and the following men won VCs:
Lieutenant James Tait of the 78th Battalion, C.E.F. at Amiens, France
Lieutenant Jean Brillant of the 22nd Battalion, C.E.F. at Méharicourt, France
Corporal Harry Miner of the 58th Battalion, C.E.F., near Demuin, France
Corporal Herman Good of the 13th Battalion, C.E.F. near Amiens, France
Private John Croak of the 13th Battalion, C.E.F. near Amiens, France
Private William Milne of the 16th Battalion, C.E.F. at Vimy Ridge
As with the way of things, only Cpl Good survived his actions that day, a hundred years ago. The rest died in the field, some taking a second or third machine gun pit or gun position before finally falling. The heroism shown on the battlefield was the culmination of much training, preparation, and pride. The Canadian Corps with 4 divisions had been fighting together for some time, and they would do amazing things before the Armistice.
From Amiens to the end of the war, the Canadian Corps was responsible for destroying 25% of the German Army. Not 25% of the German Army that was defeated or destroyed during that period, but 25% of the entire German Army in the field. 47 divisions were destroyed or put to flight by the 4 CEF divisions in 100 days, a record that my Grandfather was a part of, (and he would remain in the field until 1919 to see the last of the Germans demobbed). No other Allied formation defeated more Germans in the Hundred Days, pound for pound, than the Canucks. The Germans saw the Canadians as the shock troops of the Allies. Contingents of Canadian troops were even moved around to other areas of the front to convince the Germans that the attack would come there next, such was our reputation.
It was not without cost, and the last 100 days would cost Canada 20% of the total casualties we saw over the entire war. In total 45, 835 casualties were incurred throughout the offensive. Many of infantry regiments still honour the Battle of Amiens, as their progenitors were there. 16th CEF is Victoria’s own Canadian Scottish Regiment (the CScot R). The 22nd CEF is the famous Van Doos (R22R). And so on.
Though we play at battle, the cost of war is terribly high, and those of us who have worn the uniform, or who have family who served, or serve, are aware of the tradition of those who have gone before, and the bravery they showed. We should live our lives more fully, with more immediacy as these peaceable times were not gained without suffering, and loss.
So smile in the sun, and in the shade! Play with your friends and families, and keep doing what you enjoy.
Some of you may have noticed some certificate errors when trying to read the site. I’ve updated the SSLs with help from Bluehost. Sadly, their security side is as bad as the Bluehost support is good. I was going to post screen-caps of the conversation I had with SiteLink, but I’d rather let sleeping dogs lie and be the better person. In any event, there were no posts for a bit.
But I’m back up and posting!
First off, here’s a glimpse at a major project that we are working on for next year:
There, behind the primed resin vehicles…
That’s right. Aircraft. But which ones?
The Armstrong Whitworth Albermarle
That’s right. A very obscure aircraft, though it shouldn’t be. It was the primary air drop and glider tug aircraft in the Med and on D-Day for the 6th Airborne Division. There weren’t any models of these on the market anymore, so I worked with a designer at Shapeways at the recommendation of Fitz (from Shouting into the Void in NZ). Some discussions and a few weeks later and the design was ready. Then I had it printed and shipped. It was pretty neat to hold the first 1/100 scale Albermarle in existence (or at least since the Second World War). They are printed in black nylon with good detail. Sadly, some of the turret guns were damaged in transit, but Lucius has fixed them up and primed them already.
Primed with wire for the upper guns. And yes. Taping for invasion stripes
So what are we doing with them? I’ll update you in a bit, but Operation Tonga is a part of it.
In other news,
Some of the resin vehicles are taking shape!
I apologize for the poor picture. My camera is hors de combat right now.
A bit clearer, here’s the M4
I’m quite happy with the Sherman. The Pz II Luchs gun broke off just as I set up the shot above. The barrel is considerably thinner than the same 20mm on the 222, but c’est la vie. As Fall approaches I hope to have these sorted soon. My Tiger II and Humber are partly primed, but as I ran out of primer, I haven’t coated them in their primary colour yet. My FJs are also (slowly) coming together, but they won’t show their mugs on here until they’re done.
Anyway, it’s nice to be up and blogging again. I really enjoy the act of blogging, and the forcing function to move things along is also useful.
So you may have noticed a drop in posts. It is Summer here and I am recently returned from Hornby Island, an island in the Strait of Georgia.
This post will have some pictures, as I try to show you all what some of the West Coast Lifestyle is like.
To get to Hornby Island, you need to go from Vancouver Island, to Denman Island (by the longest cable ferry in the world), and then via another ferry to Hornby itself. Some take boats to the one marina at Ford’s Cove, while others seek anchorage in Tribune Bay (but only in the Summer before the winds shift and the bay becomes exposed).
We are lucky enough to have family property (and family residents) there, as the population of the island swells up (from about 1,000 normally to over 10,000 in the Summer), so space is at a premium. This is somewhat at odds with the reclusive hippie/artist lifestyle on the island, but it’s an important money making time for the locals. There are markets held in a forest near the community centre twice a week:
Market in a cleared woodland
The markets are great. Everything from snacks to local produce, art (from ironwork to quilts), to massages and haircuts. As Hornby has a great music festival and still has a free-living lifestyle, the markets now have community health initiatives stands(sexual health and naloxone instruction by paramedics) which is great as there are no resident doctors on the island.
The community centre near the market itself has a nice performance venue and an interesting exterior:
The community centre
The main notice board for the community:
The local notice board
Unlike some other parts of Canada, we don’t get as much humidity here, but we do get hot weather (for us). We do have great beaches, the most famous of which is Tribune Bay. With our 5 metre tide range, the sand soaks up the heat and then makes the water nice and warm. Even swimming at low tide is pleasant. The beach is stunning:
Courtesy of Tribune Bay website
And the water is clear:
Courtesy of Hornby Island website
Along with lovely water, we also have tall trees here. And I mean tall. On Vancouver Island some trees push above 80m in height! On Hornby, most of the trees are second growth, but they are still tall (40m+).
Even the maple trees are trying to get in on the height action! This one is close to 30m!You can only see the bottom half of this fir. It is that tall
These tall trees are wonderful, but as you can see in the picture above, should they fall they do considerable damage. Therefore, Summer time is also a great time for arborists who climb to dizzying heights to remove branches or fall trees that will pose a danger once the Winter winds come.
The gardens on the island are still blooming, and the fruit is ripening nicely. Apples are ripe, quinces are almost there, blueberries are ready, and the first of the many, many blackberries are edible.
The lower garden in bloom
That means that walking to a beach, or just wandering the paths you can find food at your finger tips.
The small building on the right in the photo above is a well. As rainwater fed aquifers supply the fresh water on the island, water conservation is a big deal. We really don’t want the aquifers to drop too low as the sea will rush in and then we’d be forced to truck in water. We have two large cisterns (one under the house) that provide us some lee-way.
Anyway, there is a brief look at some of the West Coast lifestyle out here. The heat is supposed to break this week, so I should be able to get some more painting and prepping done.
On Saturday we played two full months of campaign time in our game. Before the game, I gave out this list of rumours:
Rumours
Goblins are becoming increasingly active in the Dunwood. Some say that they always strike after the Feast of Aleda
Tiv Ungali – Mercenaries are unhappy with how their peers were simply thrown away in battle and are charging far more from Rithian, the local lord. Additionally, the warrior societies are livid at the use of Dalmorian mercenaries and many have left and headed to Markadal, where Teminina is seen as more aggressive and more true to the Rovian ways. Undead from the edges of the Woodmere have raided some towns in Tiv Ungali
Markadal – warriors from several different societies have shown up for some meetings. Some horsemen have been seen arriving from the north, though in small numbers still
The Iron Band is holding the Pass at Tur Liath with few casualties. Reinforcements are being trained near Battleton Bridge and local leaders should be able to expect some additional assets sometime in the coming months
The King’s forces have won their first major battle against Duke Florick
Some demons have been seen in the Greenwood!
Trained troops from the north have been seen in Meg Ushil, the plains to the north of the Gardal. These troops are heavily armed and armoured
A reminder. A beggar’s bowl is due to the Iron Band just before Winter
A little bit about time. In this world, Winter lasts for 4 months. At the end of Winter the year starts with the month of Ulcitanus. In order to make things easier, I’m adding a table to display what is happening when:
Month
Gron Gard (Nate)
Rikdal (Matt)
Gron Toft
Tiv Ungalli
Markadal
Ulcitanus
Raided Gron Toft
Raided Tiv Ungalli
No activity
Lost support of warrior societies by using mercenaries
No activity
Aberas
Non-Aggression Pact with Gron Toft
Raided Tiv Ungalli
Non-Aggression Pact with Gron Gard (ransom)
No activity
Raided Rikdal
Molarin
Attacked Tiv Ungalli
Attacked Tiv Ungalli
No activity
Lost battle. Province will fall in 4 months
No activity
As you can see, the second month of the campaign was interesting. Matt raided Tiv Ungalli who were unable or unwilling to field a response as they were licking their wounds from the defection of some of the warrior societies. Nate sent an envoy and negotiated a temporary peace so Gron Toft could face the Gobblins instead of the Iron Band. In exchange, Gron Toft would pay a beggar’s bowl of wealth (the lowest unit of wealth in the game) for two months of no fighting, and would volunteer a unit of warriors to attack those terrible people at Tiv Ungalli.
Matt responded to a raid from Markadal, but in his typical way, rolled for the placement of the farm and his own troop arrival place terribly.
The farm in the distance is the target. A view from Matt’s table edge as the defender
Nate rolled well for the forces of Markadal, and quickly brought his troops into the farm. We used our modified searching rules, where every figure searching adds a d6, but all search requirements are increased. In this case, I used 4 successes to find loot, and this needed to be done in 2 houses. This worked well, and I think we’ll limit the number of searchers to 8 for a small house to make things reasonable.
Matt’s forces arrive and see the raiders have tossed the roof off in their search!
Matt realised that he would be unlikely to bring the enemy to battle, so used his activations to increase the quality of his fate card deck (which can impact the post-raid outcome). He did push his troops forward and came under some ineffective arrow fire.
Matt’s forces are almost all deployed and moving towards the farm. Nate is a blur in the backgroundNate’s archers attempt to slow Matt’s advance but the horse archers replied and Nate’s forces started to gain some shockNate’s troops at the table edge took the doors and firepit out of the 4Ground building… I guess I need some loot markers!
Overall, the raid was fun and fast and left us JUST enough time for the next month. As both Matt and Nate were able to pay for their advancement to the rank of Captain, they decided to attack Tiv Ungalli to take the province and so we fought our first battle. The rules work a treat and are simple but effective at getting troops moving. Unlike Hail Caesar, which is also a great ruleset, there is no worry about not activating, only figuring out where you are going to spend your activations.
This battle was lopsided as the forces were not equal. Sadly, I didn’t anticipate this happening, so some of my forces were unpainted, but in my mind, a game is more than just pretty miniatures and I’d rather play with unpainted miniatures than not at all.
The Iron Band’s battle line. It was an unfair fight, which is perfect, because why would you ever fight fair? I didn’t take a picture of my guys for some reason but there weren’t this many
In any event, the battle went well. I played the beleaguered forces of Tiv Ungalli. I rolled for divine aid and got a 1, reducing my force morale and fate card hand size. Nate asked if he sacrificed one of his lieutenants if I would give him a bonus on the roll. I said yes and he rolled a 6, giving him a huge bonus in morale and in fate card hand size. I declined a duel, figuring that my champion was worth more on the battlefield than as an instrument of morale.
As you can see from the slideshow below, the battle was quick. My light cavalry were extremely dangerous for a bit, but Matt played a Carpe Diem card and wiped them out. In the future, I think that light cavalry will help to turn the tide.
Matt’s main forces advanced and closed with me, as Nate slowly moved forward. I was never able to attach my general and champion to a battle line, which was frusterating as due to the cards, they would have added as many dice as another full unit of elites.
Matt’s forces hit my main line after pushing my archers off the table
My forces were unable to break the shieldwalls in the end, as they disregard the first kill on each group. In several rounds of combat I inflicted 1 or 2 kills per group but most were ignored and I got ground down.
Unable to break the shield wall, despite charging back into combat again and again
Nate charged his force at my right flank and used javelins and axes to give me a huge amount of shock before slamming into my line.
The battle was over but it was great fun. Now Matt needs to hold some forces here for the next 4 months and then he will own it. The question is will Markadal and Athramere let him? Will Markadal attack Rikdal and cut Matt off? The dice will tell and we’ll find out in 2 weeks as we take a break from this to allow for some other gaming to happen – I am very fortunate to be able to game every week!
