A third Dorking battle report; Cumwinton

With yet another defeat of the British I present the third game in our little campaign; 'The Fight for Cumwinton'

The Prussians, consolidating their success, have moved further towards London and now have the village of Cumwinton on the Trickle in their path.

Fortunately, British High Command has finally responded to the Prussian threat and have reinforced Cumwinton with several cobbled together units of volunteer regiments, two 12pdrs from the Dorking Volunteer Artillery Company, a unit of elite skirmishers from the 31st and a scout neff on loan from the navy. Word from British High Command is that even more reinforcements have been requested and are en route and the British should hold out as long as possible.

Here is the initial set up by the British on the outskirts of Cumwinton on the Trickle; the scout neff already in the skies ready to repel the incoming Prussians.

The two 12 pdrs with hasty barricades in front of them defend the two main approaches into the village with some remnants of the Guildford Cricketers forming up behind to offer support. The skirmishers of the 31st in the middle waiting to see where they are needed best.

The Prussians advance onto the village in typically precise formations in the open ground, trusting to the supposed inferiority of the British troops to help negate any losses that might be incurred.

The Prussian heavy cavalry hold their temper, waiting for the perfect moment to charge home and rout the British for good.

Unfortunately (and typically for the British) the scout neff is taken down by the Prussian steam tank but not before inflicting some heavy casualties on the Prussian cavalry.

The British lines try to fire upon the Prussian infantry but to little avail.

The skirmishers move up the British left flank in order to forestall the Prussian tank that's looming down the lane.

The Prussian tank advances on one of the 12 pdr positions and whilst taking fire from it, suffers minimal damage but also causes some casualties on the skirmishers trying to outflank it.

The Prussian cavalry finally flee from the field after finally receiving some effective fire from the British volunteers but there are plenty of Prussian line troops waiting to plug the gap.

Prussian fire is relentless however and both the 12 pdrs have their crew wiped out but also serious casualties are inflicted on the volunteers who retreat into the village. The skirmishers are also routed by the steam tank.

But, what's this? The sound of marching troops can be heard echoing down the narrow streets of Cumwinton...

And thus ends the third part of the Dorking campaign. We had a rules change for this game to allow for the steam tech. Rules used were Glorious Adventures in the Age of Steam from Wiley Games. The Bigger Battles version was used in this game as it allows for units and tech to be handled smoothly and Wiley Games rules always give a fun outcome. Scout neff is from the below OSHIRO link, Prussian tank is from Ironclad and the figures are all Perrys BIF for the Brits and Northstar, the old Helion & Co 1866 range for the Prussians.

VSF vehicles

cheers

James

OSHIROmodels

info@oshiromodelterrain.co.uk