We hear from Dave Murvihill in the character of Ensign Ritchie Cunningham penning a letter to his Sister with an After Action Report from his The Sword & The Flame scenario from Wednesday evening at Fantasy Books & Games in O’Fallon, Illinois.
Dearest Sister:
By now, no doubt you have already heard of our great victory on the Alma River. If you wonder what victory feels like, I can tell you that right now I feel hungry, filthy, tired and most of all, thirsty. The foraging party we sent down to the river for muddy water has not returned yet, but I don’t blame them, climbing that hill once was enough to wear me out.
The Regiment started the battle in the center, with the French on our left and the Ottomans on the right, bolstered by the Naval Brigade. We found ourselves advancing into a swale between two heights, all lined with Russian infantry and cannon. I swear, at one point I think the entire Russian army was shooting at my company. While we distracted them by taking a beating our allies seized both flanks and the Russians were forced to withdraw, though in good order.
Overall, the army performed very well, with the exception of Lord Cardogan’s light brigade, which would have been more useful in a band box than on the battlefield. He won’t live this down any time soon.
I am safe, other than taking a nasty knock on the head. Tell father not to worry about purchasing my lieutenancy, the company is short of officers now and the colonel thinks a battlefield promotion is in order.
Ah, the water party arrives. Must see to the men.
Your loving brother,
Ritchie
Dave’ Notes:
“A fun game that proved that TSATF wasn’t really designed for European armies to fight each other. The Russians could have done with more entrenchments, and I underrated the artillery significantly, my bad on that. Must think about squares and lancers. Also, this battle was first time out for most of my Crimean War troops, they do look pretty sharp in good order.
The last turn featured all three regiments of the Light brigade losing melees: the Lancers fought it out with the Cossacks who outlasted them by one figure, while the Light Dragoons and Hussars (the Cherry Bottoms) both failed to close into contact. Someone had a red face that night.
Stay tuned for Lieutenant Cunningham joining an expedition into Afghanistan. Perhaps he can do better than the British did historically…”
(P.S. that is Ensign Cunningham, lying on his side in the middle of the battlefield in front of the cavalry.)
A huge Thank You to Dave for running this fun looking scenario and for sending in this fascinating battle report for all of those who could not attend.