Before & After Dorking

Continued from Part 1 In the meantime, their left having been devastated by the Krupp gun - including the loss of their light artillery - the British reinforced this weakened flank with two units of Rifle Volunteers. Hearing the cheers and hurrahs from the other side of the perimeter wall, the German Infantry burst through a side gate, suspecting that the Minister was there to be snatched. But the German Infantry unit was routed by a withering hail of rifle fire, leaving their Commander to extract himself to rethink and reorganise his troops, going so far as to order his Artillerymen to leave their gun and join in on the attack.  While his remaining Infantry poured fire though the alleyway gates, units of Bavarian Jaegers had edged around the perimeter wall, with those to his left jumping it to seize the Minister and those on the right edging towards the main gates. Meanwhile the Guildford Cricketers - a unit of Rifle Volunteers - quickly searched the Furnace Room and found the som...

The second game was played between LAFers Captain Blood (German) and OSHIROmodels (British, fielding many of his own troops) with the author as Umpire. Rules were a variation of ‘Rebels & Patriots’. It was a matter of poor timing that just this weekend the Minister of War had been at his Sussex estate. Though planned as an intense working weekend, with much to be done to catch up on developing events in Europe, the Minister had included his mistress in the travelling party. Unfortunately, the Minister’s planned weekend had become overtaken by events. With the Germans Forces having made their surprise landing at  Worthing and then quickly advanced towards Horsham, the Minister had been forced to scurry from his estate. The Minister of War, his Personal Private Secretary and his Mistress - The Three - are in now hiding in or near a complex of buildings - The Slaughterhouse - on the road between Worthing and Horsham, at the junction with road to Guildford. It’s not known if anyone...

This first game was something of an experiment, with the British tasked to hold a key bridge. The author played the Bavarians with fellow LAFer Captain Blood playing the British; rules were a variation of ‘Never Mind The Billhooks’.  A small Bavarian force is advancing north from the South Coast, intent on taking and holding the bridge for their artillery that will in time be following up. The British objective is decidedly similar, expecting that they would want to move their own artillery south to drive (pummel) the dastardly invaders back into the sea. However, somewhat naively the British think the Bavarians to be some distance away. Should the British not be able to hold the bridge, then their secondary objective is to retire in good order, so as to hold the next bridge behind them. It’s just after dawn, and all is quiet in the village: Somewhat behind schedule, as a pre-dawn raid would have been better, the Bavarians make a rush for the bridge: Alerted by sentries, the Britis...