War of Spanish Succession: 28mm Eye Candy

Travelling across to my friends in nearby Redcar I dropped into see the final stages of a board game of the War of the Spanish Succession (Note to self: Must fill in the missing blank of the games actual name when I next get across). Over the summer they have hosted a campaign by which battles from the strategic board game were transferred to the tabletop instead of rolling dice on a Combat Results Table (CRT). At this point Marlborough had gone home (or had been bribed, discuss) and the Dutch and French were frittering about trying to take a few Victory Point (VP) last towns before "winter quarters". This is pure co-incidence for me and my current Marlburian interest, as they are doing it in 28mm myself in 15mm with as of yet no painted figures. I was greeted with the fine sight of infantry brigades manoeuvring into position and the charge of cavalry squadrons in the distance (see below):

I was given a flank command of cavalry which seemed to be there purely to attract the attention of cannon balls away from the pretty infantry brigade in the previous picture. To which I accomplished great feats losing my dragoons in short order (in my defence by the time I got them they were about "gone" from the previous game session). If my memory served me correctly I was French (see below, some finely painted 28mm horse):

As per my dragoons I had to leave early. One observation from the rules (Lilly Banner) was that they must have played about half a dozen fairly large games yet still the basics were being talked about and walked through. True there was a fair rotation in players but the "leaders" had been consistent throughout and this struck me as a curious position to be in. In this session it was the mechanics of working out a basic charge and counter-charge. The side being the more 'pedantic' (in this case French, though I may add nothing to do with me as it was at the other end of the table) got for their efforts being "caught at the standstill" which I thought was a well-deserved ire of their own making. At least everyone will now be more familiar with the cavalry charge process due to this dramatic result.

;)