Perry Austrian Infantry WIP & Imjin War Naval Game Update

Although the At Height of Battle Imjin War naval game went very well, I only took several so-so pictures. Figured I'd bolster the post with a WIP update on a box of Perry Napoleonic Austrian Infantry. They are in two 24-man units - one in crested helmet and the other in shako. As the box was picked up off of Amazon (sold by Brookhurst Hobby), it only has one proper command set. Used the flagpole (with cords cut off) and arm from a Victrix British figure for one unit. Also an NCO as a stand-in leader until an actual officer is obtained (maybe a metal figure for variety).  Had a spare sapper from an earlier command sprue to spice up the command stands. 

So far only basic areas block coated over a white undercoat. Still need to do the facings and metal parts, among other details. As usual, they'll be given the Minwax stain treatment later.

Now onto the At The Height Of Battle game. This was the second game for my buddy Scott and I, but we had another player, James, join in for his first game. Scott used his Korean fleet of 3 squadrons vs. my Japanese with 3 squadrons. The Koreans had two turtle ships (one a small one) and the rest Panokseon. The Japanese fleet had an O Ataka Bune as the overall fleet commander, and 9 Ataka Bune and 15 Seki Bune  - all equally divided into 3 squadrons. The Japanese had more ships overall - 8 ships to the average 6 in the Korean squadrons. Although I ran one of the Japanese squadrons, the majority of the fighting was between the two other Japanese squadrons run by James. This was mainly due to the early maneuvering where James' ships either blocked my LOS for artillery or his ships got into boarding actions before my ships could arrive. My squadron was basically held in reserve to report the battle to the Shogun afterwards. Here are the scant few shots I was able to take due to the heavy action going on.

I think the photo above is around the end of turn 2. The red markers are stand-ins to show damage to ships after taking artillery fire. The white "smoke" indicate heavy artillery having been fired and cannot again be used until the next turn. As mentioned in the previous post on these rules. The turns are card driven - 3 each per side. Each card represents a phase which that side will do all of it's actions - command phase, movement phase, firing phase and finally any boarding actions. So 6 phases (cards drawn) is one complete turn. The phases and turns went smoothly as we were more familiar with the rules this time around. We did try out things we hadn't in the first session. Scott's Korean ships used their "once per game" "Piercing Arrows" which allowed a +2 to their die roll for hits. The Japanese used their ability to use "Fire Bombs" during boarding actions. We also used Light Artillery (i.e. arquebuses and bows) during boarding by both sides.

The photo above is during turn 3 or early in turn 4 - got lost in the confusion of battle. The zigzag red markers indicate "Crippled" ships - basically the next level down from "Damaged" - these cause degradation of movement. The skulls represent crew casualties - which affect shooting and boarding; basically from -1 to each down to 1/2 the allotted points to die rolls for these actions.

We called the game after turn 4, as James had to take off for familial duties. It was declared a close tie - with either side being able to get a clear victory if we were to have gone another turn or two. The Japanese had captured 3 Korean ships - from different squadrons. If they had done all 3 from one, it would've caused the Koreans to test having lost more than half of their ships. However, the Koreans in their phase of the turn managed to wreck 2 Japanese ships - the next step down after "Crippled". Some "Roman Seas" "Floating Wreck" markers were used for this. The "Crew Tired" markers indicate captured ships. We were adding different markers on the fly. In fact, after posting this on the "At The Height Of Battle" Facebook, Matt at MT Miniatures said he'll be creating markers for these results.All in all another successful use of the the rules. Scott and I may be playing another round this coming week, and hopefully host it at the end of the month at a game day at the Chehalis Veterans Museum. Until next next time, wishing you all the very best in health and hobby pursuits!