Waterloo Bloody Big Bash Day North - 27th June 2026 - the AAR

 Two weeks ago a group of like minded folk gathered in Sheffield for Bash Day North, which was held at Crookes Social Club

Bash Days feature a number of games using the BBB ruleset, usually using 6mm figures, with a spread of historical periods.

A number of luminaries from the Oxford Club supported the event - Chris - who wrote the rules in collaboration with Dave W, Crispin, Bruce, Mark J and Mark Smith, who wrote the Waterloo scenario that we were using.

I have posted about previous Waterloo games before here, here and finally here.  

Set-up - Mike and I set up the terrain and waited for interested parties to turn up and take charge:

For the French we had Russ and Chris, for the Allies Matt and Mark J, later Emily joined this team.  North is to the left of this picture, I umpired for the Western side of the table and Mike B (the other Ilkley Irregular) umpired for the Eastern half.

Turn 2

The French went for a left hook and besieged the chateau of Hougoumont.  In the centre they formed a gun line and pushed into the British left.  The mass of troops to the middle right of the picture is the French Guard, who move on turn 3.

Turn 4

By turn 4 the French were putting pressure on the Allied right and centre, whilst sending the Guard to deal with the Prussians arriving from the East.

Turn 6

By turn 6 the French had taken Hougoumont but the tempo of the left hook was slowing.  at the far side of the table the Prussians were shaking out into line as the Guard deployed to stop them.

Turn 8

After a ding dong battle in the French centre and left, France had taken La Haye Sainte & Hougoumont.  The Allies still held the ridge and retook Papelotte, whilst hooking up with the Prussians.  At the start of turn 9, either side could still win.

Turn 9

The battle closed with the French centre and left wings, as well as the Allied right, able to defend well but unable to make further headway.  On the Allied left the Prussians made headway against the French defenders, but were unable to breakthrough.  The game ended in a draw.

Afterthoughts

Firstly, a big thank you to my fellow umpire Mike and our worthy contestants.  Win or lose, it looked like they were enjoying themselves.

BBB once again delivered an exciting re-run of a historical event, close enough to actual history but with opportunities to do better on the day.  

Because the BBB rules are fairly simple, Generals spent more time making decisions and reacting to the game than micro-managing their armies in detail, there was definite ebb and flow as the battle progressed.

It was still all to play for till the last turn - the French left nearly launched a cavalry strike to get Mont St Jean, in the British rear, the Prussians nearly got behind the French lines.

I hope that this inspires you to have a go!

Allied & Prussian troops from Mike's collection, I provided the French.

Bloody Big Bash Day IV - the last post.

BBB Bash Day IV has happened, mostly to plan, so here's the report of what we did on the day.... 😊

With 8 hosts and 11 players, we decided to change the format so that 4 games were played in the morning and a different 4 in the afternoon.  This meant that hosts could join in a game, as well as hosting a game.

Apologies, in advance, for the lack of photos for some games, I did not get photos of them all.

The morning games were Chancellorsville (ACW), Kissingen (Austro-Prussian War), Nyezane (Zulu War) & Sedan (FPW).  Here's what they looked like:

Chancellorsville

An impressive 8' x 4' table, showing heavily wooded terrain.

One of the two balloons in operation on the day.

Kissengen - early on in the game.

Nyezane - start position

Nyezane - the game progresses.  Bruce (game host) took BBB upscale with a 28mm figure per base, rather than our more usual group of 6-10mm figures.  It looked fun!

Tom getting into the spirit of the game!

Sedan - the one I actually played - photo at start.....   and that's it for this game....   see below for more reports.

We broke at mid-day for lunch, with the scores as follows:

Chancellorsville - Rebel (Patriot?) win.

Kissengen - Bavarian win

Nyezane - Zulu win

Sedan - draw (it was in play till the end...   which is what BBB is all about).

The next 4 games were set up, as follows:

Aspern-Essling - I had lent Ned the troops and houses & rivers, I understand that it was a fun game, more of that below...

Gujrat was our Anglo-Sikh offering,   A flat, dusty plain - it won the award for fastest set-up/pack down

As can be seen, some point with fingers, some with sticks...

Lutzen - it happened, and I contributed, but sadly took no photos!  Sorry!

2nd Bull Run - once again, the preference for ACW battles to take place in wooded, hilly places - at least it makes the battlefield sites nice place to visit in the modern day.  The woods are bath mat - once again proving that warmers look at every-day objects and think "now if I change this a little, it will make a superb....."

The scores at the end of the day (yes, we were sorting the evening curry and some people were STILL rolling dice) were:

Aspern-Essling - French win

Gujrat - Sikh win

Lutzen - French win 

2nd Bull Run - draw

Some of the participants have posted on their own blogs, see here Tom Davis and here Blackshaw gaming 

 

Check out the BBB FB page Bloody Big Battles and Chris Pringle's BBB Blog for his report

It only remains for me to thank the Leeds club, the game hosts, the participants and my long suffering wife  who made this a memorable and fun day.  

Oh, if this inspires you to try the rules, buy a copy and come to the next BBB day - wherever and whenever that will be.

Colin

BBB Bash Day IV - Leeds, Saturday 1st July - Update 28th May

 BBB Bash Day in Leeds is less than 5 weeks away.  Two of my regular wargaming friends have played one of the games from the day, Aspern Essling, so they can get back up to speed with the rules.  You can see how the first evening's gaming went here and the second here also here

Here are the details for the day correct to last night!

BBB BASH DAY IV -   The key info in one handy place (27^th May)

 

When:            

Saturday, 1^st July 2023

 

Where:            

Leeds Wargames Club - Hicks Hall, 60 Bankfield Terrace, Burley, Leeds LS4 2JR

Timings on the day:

09.00 - 17.00  (though this may be more like 9.30 to 10.00 to actually get started!)

 

Price £5.00, £2.50 for Leeds club members (as you’ve already paid for the hall).

 

Format:

The format is entirely participation games based on historical battles and using the Bloody Big Battles (BBB) rules. 

For the best chance of playing the game that interests you most, please sign up in advance. We will do our best to accommodate walk-in participants on the day.

 

The Games on Offer:

 

1.     ACW – Chancellorsville – host Chris Pringle (author of the rules, scenario books, etc.)

2.     FPW – Sedan – host Mike Brown

3.     ACW – 2^nd Manassas – host Tim Carne

4.     Austro-Prussian War – Kissengen – host Dave Whaley

5.     Anglo-Sikh War – Gujrat (1849) – host Mark Smith (author of BBB India scenario book)

6.     Zulu War – Nyezane – host Bruce McCallum

7.     Napoleonic 1813 – Lutzen – host Mike Brimacombe

8.     Napoleonic 1809 – Aspern-Essling – host Ned Dye

 

Parking:

It’s a residential area, so free, but there’s a lot of housing, so expect to spend a few minutes finding a space and walking to the club.

 

Tea & coffee will be provided, please bring your own lunch. 

 

Links: 

 

Bloody Big Battles - blog

http://bloodybigbattles.blogspot.com/

https://groups.io/g/bloodybigbattles

 

***Leeds Wargames Club

https://leedswargamesclub.com/

https://www.facebook.com/LeedsWargamesClub/

 

Email – bbb.bashday@gmail.com

 

Colin & Chris

Bleeding Big Bash Day Team

 Please email me if you have any questions, comments or if anything is incorrect!

BBB Bash Day IV - practice at Leeds club - moves 5 to end of game

 Another busy night in Leeds on Wednesday - we finished the Aspern-Essling playtest for BBB Bash Day on 1st July.

The French failed to get re-inforcements and the Austrians had all their troops on table, so both sides had to use what they had.  Here are the photos from early on - both sides had a huge scrap for possession of Essling - which the French retained.

Here's the view from my side of the battlefield - I had taken Aspern (as the Austrians) but failed to make further gains.....

A great couple of evenings gaming.  By turn 7 both sides were holding on, but without the ability to go over to the offensive.  The Austrian assault on Essling had failed but the French could not counter-attack, so we declared a draw at the end of turn 8.  

My thanks to my regular opponents Mike & Ned, my newbie fellow Austrians Stephen (day 1) and Colin (day 2).  

Everything supplied by me.  The eagle eyed will see that the Danube has grown as we used my "big river" terrain from S&A scenics.

BBB Bash Day IV - practice at Leeds club - Aspern-Essling (Austria 1809) moves 1 - 4

 It's just under 6 weeks to Bash Day.  

As part of the preparation, my regular opponents Mike, Ned and I have been playing Aspern-Essling (French v. Austrians, 1809), partly to familiarise Ned with the scenario, partly as a refresher of the BBB rules as both Mike & Ned have kindly offered to host games. 

In summary, Aspern-Essling is Napoleon's hasty river crossing of the Danube, relying on a single makeshift bridge to get his army to grips with the Austrians.  The Austrians start with a considerable superiority in numbers, but a slow command and control system means units tend to move slowly, or not at all.  As time rolls on the French get re-inforcements (whose composition and timing is affected by Austrian attempts to destroy the bridge) but will these be enough to swing the tide of battle?

Here are some photos I took at the end of Wednesday - 3 turns of day 1, the night move and turn 4 (1st of day 2) completed.  The Austrians went in hard - well, as hard as you can with passive troops and no generals.  The French defended well and re-inforcements have crossed the Danube to get into the fight.

The Austrian Assault on Aspern (the tall grey building in the centre).  

Austrian troops (lines at bottom of picture) have been delayed by die rolls low enough to halt or cause retreats.....  The French defensive ring looks a tough nut to crack!

Austrians to the left, French to the right.  The black strip is a dried up gully between Aspern & Essling which gave troops in it a cover advantage.  The grey felt square is Essling, currently stoutly defended by the French.

Looking down the Front lines - the Austrians in a big ring as they come from all points of the compass!

Austrian Grenadier columns head to the fray....

The Austrians nearer to Aspern.  Austrian HQ & supply wagon in the foreground

Baccus figures, 1/300, based for BBB.  Here's the link to the 2020 epic refight of Aspern-Essling in Oxford....  Aspern-Essling at OWS

BBB Bash Day IV - Leeds 1st July 2023 - Update 11 March 2023

 Bash Day update – 11 March 2023

 

Dear All

 

As available on other forums/media......

Here is the latest update for BBB Bash Day, 1^st July 2023.

 

1.     Dedicated email.  We’ve set up an email for booking the BBB Bash day.  The address is:  bbb.bashday@gmail.com

2.     We are now opening the sign up lists for games – just send an email and we’ll add you to a game.  As this is early, everyone should get their first choice.  We’ll book people in to the morning session unless notified otherwise.

3.     We’re pleased to announce that Bruce McCallum will be bringing his 28mm Zulu game.  Chris Pringle recently provided an AAR on the “Bloody Big Battles” blog.  Bruce is offering Isandlwana or Nyezane.  It looks fun!

 

We still have room for more games, so if you are thinking of hosting a game, please do not hesitate to contact us.

 

We trust that this is clear, if not, please do not hesitate to contact us on the new email!!

 

Cheers

 

Chris and Colin

Bleeding Big Bash Day Team 

 

BBB Bash Day IV - 1st July 2023 - update 24 Feb 2023

 Bloody Big Battles – update 24^th Feb 2023

 

We are pleased to announce that a number of BBB players have offered to host games at the Bloody Big Battles Bash Day, which will be held at Leeds Wargames Club on 1^st July 2023.  If you fancy two battles (one in the morning, one in the afternoon) in one day, then here are the games on offer so far:

 

ACW                           Chancellorsville

Crimean War              Inkerman

Franco-Prussian          To be confirmed

ACW                           2^nd Manassas

Austro-Prussian          Kissengen

Anglo Sikh War          Gujrat (1849)  

Napoleonic 1813         Lutzen*

 

We are hoping to get a couple of other games hosted, but fear not! - we still have spaces/tables available if you have a BBB game that you’d like to host.

 

Our hosts include several veteran BBB players, including Chris Pringle, who wrote the rules and at least two scenario books and Mark Smith, who has just published the Bloody Big Battles in India scenario book.

 

As mentioned before, we are running this event on   Saturday 1^st July, so you can have a further day’s wargaming at the excellent Joy of Six show, on Sunday 2^nd July.  You don’t even have to leave Yorkshire!! 

 

Colin & Chris