Red Sky In The Morning...Vicars Warning!

I counted them all out......dawn raid!

The boat slipped quietly up the estuary just as dawn broke, the force commander hoping to land without being seen. His orders were to capture and hold the bridge over the river until such time as reinforcements could force their way overland up the main road. Two Platoons of Infantry, plus a supporting machine gun section and a small Naval 2 pounder gun, team, tensed to disembark.

They scrambled quickly up the beach and split into 3 task forces. Their  advance intelligence (masquerading locally as 'the village idiot') had pointed out the strategic advantage of holding Worplesdon Manor and the Flying Swan public house. These buildings would enable them to give support fire to their comrades holding the main bridge and to stop any flanking garrison forces from crossing the foot bridge at the rear of the village. 

Unfortunately for the Socialist forces, the Vicar, a martyr to insomnia, was watching the sun rise and saw the steam boat land its raiding force onto the beach. He quickly rang the church bells, alerting the villages inhabitants as well as the Royalist garrison to the threat of the enemy incursion!

As soon as the villagers realised what was happening, they either locked their doors and hoped for the best or ran to the foot bridge to get over the river to the safety of the castle. Lady Worplesdon was driven away in her car, over the river bridge to escape the danger.

At the same time that the civilians rushed towards the perceived safety of the castle, the inhabitants of the Garrison hastened out to meet the threat! The Garrison commander led the line infantry platoon to take up position in the church. They would have the advantage of high ground and solid defensive walls, overlooking the river bridge and the back of Worplesdon Manor.

The contingent of Rifles hastened to the high ground overlooking the footbridge from where they could shepherd the civilians to safety and then prepare to defend the bridge from any enemy attempt to cross.

The squadron of Lancers under the command of their Colonel were given strict orders to advance with all haste towards the bridge and drive off any enemy attempting to hold the bridge. The Colonel knew this was a potentially suicidal mission, but with the honour of the regiment at stake, he had no choice but to obey the order. Unfortunately, the bravery of his men might all come to nought, as they turned the corner of the country road to find their way blocked by Lady Worplesdon in her chauffer driven car! 

With no time to waste, Lady Worplesdon was ushered through the ranks, amid her promise to report the Colonel for his harsh language!  The exasperated Colonel ordered his men forward at the canter to wards the bridge, where the first enemy soldiers were just appearing. 

The Lancers could see the socialist infantry running into position and a deadly machine gun being hastily set up. The Colonel called the charge and the Lancers leapt forward towards the bridge and the hastily forming enemy! Could the Lancers get there and engage before the enemy firepower could be organised and cut them down. The Colonel knew it was going to be a damn fine close call!

Meanwhile the second platoon had split into two, half entering the grounds of the manor with the 2 pounder gun in support and the second section entering the Flying Swan and setting up a firing position from the beer garden at the rear.

At almost the same time all units on both sides engaged. The socialists occupying the Flying Swan put up a very poor fight after losing 3 of their men to the accurate shooting of the Rifles. Whilst one Rifleman was killed in return, the enemies morale failed and they ran for their lives. It was only later that the empty scrumpy jars were found where the dead men lay. Could this have had a hand in their poor performance under fire?

The troops that entered the Manor grounds found themselves under intense and sustained rifle fire from the church. A fierce firefight ensued and after heavy casualties on both sides, the result was in the balance!

The men on the bridge fumbled with their weapons in the face of the galloping Lancers bearing down on them. The machine gun opened fire and the front two Lancers fell to the ground, but the rest of the Squadron led by their Colonel jumped over their fallen comrades and plunged into the Khaki clad enemy. Their lances impaled the machine gun crew and several comrades around them, but the Socialist infantry held firm under the command of their officer. The Lancers regrouped at the foot of the bridge and prepared to charge a second time.

Whilst this encounter hung in the balance the dam broke in the Manor grounds, with what was left of the socialists failing their morale check and running, abandoning their gun. The officer on the bridge quickly realised that his men were the only ones not retreating towards the beach! Whilst he might be able to drive off the Lancers who were now preparing to charge, he and his men were coming under fire from the Royalist line infantry in the church. He knew holding the bridge was now almost impossible and there was no sign of a relieving force. 

As he gave the order to fall back, the Captain was struck down and killed by a shot from the church and it was left to the Sergeant to ensure the men fell back in an orderly fashion towards the boat. Whilst the Rifles had crossed the bridge they were too far away to pursue and the Colonel of the Lancers didn't wish to sacrifice any more of his men (or horses!...damn fine animals don'tch ya know!). He watched from the bridge as what was left of the enemy scrambled aboard their boat and set off .

The mission had failed! The Vicars insomnia had enabled the Royalist forces to act quickly enough to foil the plan. Lady Worplesdon had almost caused a disaster blocking the road, but the speed and determination of the Lancers had carried the day. Less than a third of the invading force made it back to the boat whilst the Royalist forces had lost 7 men.

An enjoyable scenario, which really did hang in the balance and turned on a few key dice rolls. I used some simple home made rules for this game. I think my next game in this era is likely to be a larger field engagement, but time will tell. 

Prop shop......postal matters!

No built up area of any significance in England post 1840, would be complete without visible signs of the Postal System. These might be in the form of the local post office or more commonly, the familiar red post boxes. 

My village stores and post office is possibly my favourite building in my collection. Its fairly timeless, which makes it more useful and is basically a repaired and repainted Britains farm cottage. I then added a lot of items from the Britains 'Floral Garden'  and general farm ranges. It is fixed to a card base, with a stone wall and some larch lap fence panels around the boundary. I have then added grass and crazy paving sections, plus some flower beds. The storage shed  and the ornamental wishing well help to add a village shop feel. I added a lot of posters printed from the internet and finished it off with the shop sign and the fruit and vegetable display outside. A very satisfying property!

Of course I then needed a post box and before I knew it I had four different ones! The first two on the left, are as sold by Lemax for £2.99 the pair! Lemax sell lots of pre painted resin scenic pieces, to go with their Xmas villages etc and can sometimes be excellent value. I will be showing more pieces in the future.

The other two on the right are both metal models, maker unknown and John Hill and Co respectively. The changing style and royal cypher, makes them useful to indicate different time periods from 1840 to the 1960s.

As the vicar said to the actress......postal matters continued!

Almost a theme here, which would suggest a level of organisation which is not the norm here at Apperley Towers! In a serendipitous event, I received a gift in the post this morning from Michael Butterfield. Michael has very kindly sent me a pair of postal workers for my collection, which are hugely appreciated! Beautifully painted, I am certain they will play a splendid part in future events on my wargames table. Thankyou Michael!

My existing Victorian postmaster is a repainted Britains railway stationmaster. He didn't have a postman to deliver the post so these figures really fill a gap in the collection. When it comes to the post war period however, I did already have a splendid postman with bike, as gifted to me by the ever generous and all round good chap, Paul Watson. 

So there we have it, my postal cup overflows and apart from a prewar postal delivery van from Britains (we can all dream!) I think that box is now ticked. 

So until next time......Tara a bit!