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Clementia and Gebrovia were always at daggers drawn, and any excuse could have turned such petty nations against one another, as it was the attempted looting of Gebrovian army pay was enough to ignite reprisals along the border.
An order came down from the Ducal leadership, to the effect that high ground on the Border outlying Ungray Pliskie must be seized to allow for watch towers to be constructed. Forts in this otherwise informally controlled land would allow the protection of Gebrovian interests, or so the argument went. But it would come as no surprise that the Clementian forces in the region would disagree.
Gebrovian patrols had already caused alarm in the Clementine speaking farmsteads of the area, but the humble farmers would soon have more to concern them when Junior Lt. Izgnatia Plostnoy arrived with a company of infantry and a squadron of horse. This was enough to alarm the regional Clementian command into action and they moved a local garrison to the same region.
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| Mostchern Hill and the surrounding Clementine farms |
Izgnatia took command of a couple of dozen horsemen, whilst a hundred or so infantry advanced through the woodland on the border, into fields traditionally part of the enemy's land. Their goal ahead was the heights of Mostchern Hill, a rocky and defensible peak usually home only to hardy sheep.
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| But not today... |
The Clementines were prepared with a company sized force of their own, Plus two of the Battalion guns from their local garrison. However their commander did not yet have a sense of the Gebrovian intentions.
A notorious drunkard, Izgnatia neglected planning, and his orders were vague at best, rushing forwards in a sense of hubris, he and his cavalry set off the the right of the hill, whilst his infantry muddled their way forward. An advance in the dawn light over difficult terrain made things no easier. Early errors saw a platoon of Skoe Brana foot fire on their light platoon, clothed as it was in new blue coats, intended to better hide a soldier in shade and cover. Instead the blue drew fire until the mistake was realised.
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| Not us!! |
All seemed like disaster at this stage as a clearly intoxicated Izgnatia roared charge on sighting an enemy gun, and led the Gebrovian cavalry off the slaughter. Several men were killed and the commander wounded by a mix of cannon and musket fire.
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| Disaster on the right. |
The cavalry were scattered, but under cover of the attention this failure drew, Light troops of Skoe Brana made the heights, whilst a platoon of fusiliers secured the farm to the left of the hill.
The Clementines advanced too, in no small part hoping to bring their guns to bear on the hill. Formed troops of the Skoe Brana regiment gained the hill first however and a fierce firefight ensued.
The Gebrovians made the best of the height and pushed back both the main attack, and the flank supports. However the Clementines remained determined, and were stiffened by the arrival of a cavalry reserve from one of their horse grenadier regiments.
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| But the hill remains Gebrovian thus far |
The cavalry pushed up the hill, supported by the remaining platoon of fresh Clementine fusiliers. But luck was not on their side, and well coordinated fire from the Skoe regiment stopped them all in their tracks.
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| A fence as good as a fortress |
Clementine troops suffered loss after loss trying to take the hill, and soon their troops were in general retreat. Bravery had exhausted them.
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| Midday and the action was over |
By the time the sun was blazing above the hill, Gebrovians had already begun to work on earthworks. Their losses amounted to around twenty men, in what was a hard fought engagement, but the adjutant on hand counted no less than thirty Clementine dead, wounded and captives, most taken on the heights of Mostchern itself.
Despite his lack of tactical sense and discipline, somehow Plostnoy's men had carried the day without him, and the honour of the day would find its way to his name. Once again the reputation of of Gebrovian men in close action had been upheld. However, it could be sure the Clementines would not allow this flagrant transgression to stand.
This was the second engagement in mine and James' Imagi-nation campaign. For which this served as our test of Rebels and Patriots. The rules seem ideally suited to small narrative campaigns representing company to battalion sized forces, with a functionally relevant officer career system. We played the first named scenario from the rules and it provided a nice primer, though our model of Mostchern Hill rather restricted the flow of battle. As you can probably see we played in 15mm using multi-based troops, neither of which proved a problem; all measurements were simply halved.
Hopefully we'll be able to carry this on soon.
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