Both companies sent emails out on 3rd July saying they had dispatched the orders and I received the Scarab one on 6th July and the Brigade one on 10th July. An excellent service from both firms!
Saturday, 18 July 2009
Super Service - Scarab and Brigade Games
I ordered some more 28mm WW1 figures on 1st July from Scarab Miniatures and Brigade Games. These were mainly for my late war French troops as I need figures which can easily be identified as grenadiers and rifle grenadiers for Through the Mud and the Blood. Whilst both do the former only Scarab seems to do suitable figures with VB grenade launchers. It was also an opportunity to have a look at Scarab's figures for real (website photos aren't always ideal).
Both companies sent emails out on 3rd July saying they had dispatched the orders and I received the Scarab one on 6th July and the Brigade one on 10th July. An excellent service from both firms!
Both companies sent emails out on 3rd July saying they had dispatched the orders and I received the Scarab one on 6th July and the Brigade one on 10th July. An excellent service from both firms!
Thursday, 9 July 2009
Tuesday, 7 July 2009
Wargames Weekend: Fear & Faith
Our final game was a playtest of the Fear and Faith rules from Ganesha Games. These are a set of horror rules based on their Song of Blades and Heroes engine.
The scenario was a simple "last man standing" over possession of an ancient Greek site during World War Two. I played to type as the forces of darkness with a Vampir Gruppe consisting of, surprise surprise, a vampire (and a Nazi one to boot), two She Wolves and six zombies. Lenin had a small section of British infantry accompanied by an army chaplain.
Things started fairly slowly as we got familiar with the rules and my zombies advanced slowly across the table chanting "Gehirn". Lenin found it tricky to dispatch the zombies as they needed an aimed shot (to the head) and so, after an initial advance, decided on a more defensive strategy.
I decided to take the offensive and assumed gaseous form with my vampire in order to infiltrate the British position. Eventually I managed to materialise among them and a battle between the force of light and dark was joined. Unfortunately for the light the chaplain was unable to skewer me when he had the advantage but I gave him a nasty nip when it was my turn. As the chaplain was the only one with the wooden stakes the Brits decided discretion was the better part of valour and withdrew.
The main issue I had with the rules (which I whinged on and one about - as Lenin would happily tell you) was the need to roll to activate each figure. My dice rolling is erratic at the best of times and so this made the game a little frustrating. I also had a bit of a problem rationalising why my "big bad" character needed to roll to take any actions at all. Lenin did point out that the rules did have an option to avoid this and that some of the attributes (for example fear) would have been better substituted for others which would have made the game play out slightly differently.
All in all I'm not sure that the rules provide many advantages over others we already use other than being a little simpler (which is not to be sniffed at since I have difficulty remembering even the most straightforward sets). We're going to take a little time to reflect on them in order to decide whether to give them another chance or try some other alternatives based on our existing stock of the rules.
The scenario was a simple "last man standing" over possession of an ancient Greek site during World War Two. I played to type as the forces of darkness with a Vampir Gruppe consisting of, surprise surprise, a vampire (and a Nazi one to boot), two She Wolves and six zombies. Lenin had a small section of British infantry accompanied by an army chaplain.
Things started fairly slowly as we got familiar with the rules and my zombies advanced slowly across the table chanting "Gehirn". Lenin found it tricky to dispatch the zombies as they needed an aimed shot (to the head) and so, after an initial advance, decided on a more defensive strategy.
I decided to take the offensive and assumed gaseous form with my vampire in order to infiltrate the British position. Eventually I managed to materialise among them and a battle between the force of light and dark was joined. Unfortunately for the light the chaplain was unable to skewer me when he had the advantage but I gave him a nasty nip when it was my turn. As the chaplain was the only one with the wooden stakes the Brits decided discretion was the better part of valour and withdrew.
The main issue I had with the rules (which I whinged on and one about - as Lenin would happily tell you) was the need to roll to activate each figure. My dice rolling is erratic at the best of times and so this made the game a little frustrating. I also had a bit of a problem rationalising why my "big bad" character needed to roll to take any actions at all. Lenin did point out that the rules did have an option to avoid this and that some of the attributes (for example fear) would have been better substituted for others which would have made the game play out slightly differently.
All in all I'm not sure that the rules provide many advantages over others we already use other than being a little simpler (which is not to be sniffed at since I have difficulty remembering even the most straightforward sets). We're going to take a little time to reflect on them in order to decide whether to give them another chance or try some other alternatives based on our existing stock of the rules.
Wargames Weekend: Galatas Village
Next up was the next part of our invasion of Crete campaign. Fortunately my Fallschirmsjaeger had managed to find some of the rest of their scattered force as the original team took quite a pasting last time.
Our objective in this scenario was to move from Cemetery Hill and take the village of Galatas. I decided on a two pronged attack one side of which immediately came under fire from a bren gun team on the other side of the valley.
After quite a fire fight I managed to pin down the bren gun team and send some men over to close assault the position. Meanwhile, on the other flank, we had discovered the allied troops holed up in the village. A few casualties were taken crossing the dry gully and advancing to within charge range of the buildings. We just needed to keep the allies heads down long enough for a close assault.
With the bren gun position neutralised on the left flank I was able to put some firepower on the flank of the village and the troops on the right assaulted the buildings. One succumbed quickly but there was a vicious hand to hand fight for the second building but in the end my superior numbers made all the difference.
Our objective in this scenario was to move from Cemetery Hill and take the village of Galatas. I decided on a two pronged attack one side of which immediately came under fire from a bren gun team on the other side of the valley.
After quite a fire fight I managed to pin down the bren gun team and send some men over to close assault the position. Meanwhile, on the other flank, we had discovered the allied troops holed up in the village. A few casualties were taken crossing the dry gully and advancing to within charge range of the buildings. We just needed to keep the allies heads down long enough for a close assault.
With the bren gun position neutralised on the left flank I was able to put some firepower on the flank of the village and the troops on the right assaulted the buildings. One succumbed quickly but there was a vicious hand to hand fight for the second building but in the end my superior numbers made all the difference.
Wargames Weekend: Patrols in the Sudan
Following on from the Spanish Civil War game we decided to give Peter Pig's Patrols in the Sudan a go. As my Essex Sudan figures aren't quite based correctly for the rules we had to work around that (the wide Mahdist bases acted as two bases each for example).
Lenin took charge of the British forces with his mission to recce a village and report back.
It took a little while to get the hang of the rules, something that wasn't helped by the terrible layout, poor proofreading and limited explanations in the rules.
Lenin managed to get the column to the village relatively easily, largely because of my inability to get troops onto the table. When I did attack he managed to get his units to turn to face ir redeploy and shot my Mahdists to pieces.
But when he tried to return he had quite a few more problems. One unit attempted to scout some brush and was surprised my one of mine who managed to get into hand to hand and gave them a damned good thrashing. Another of his units marched in column past some broken ground and I took the opportunity to charge into his flank. Unfortunately for Lenin his column failed to turn to face and paid the penalty. I then turned to the next unit in the column and that suffered a similar fate to the first. The remaining unit was holding the village but unlike the others this was a veteran unit of highlanders and they were not going to be a push over.
I managed to get units into templates either side of it forcing it to move into square. But when I assaulted him it all began to go wrong. The highlanders managed to shoot the leaders of both of the Mahdist units which then stalled in rifle range and were shot to pieces. The highlanders then managed to march away and complete the mission.
Despite taking substantial casualties Lenin managed to score a victory mainly due to the losses by the Mahdists and having successfully completed the mission.
Patrols in the Sudan provides a fun game despite the poor presentation and will be hitting the table again.
Lenin took charge of the British forces with his mission to recce a village and report back.
It took a little while to get the hang of the rules, something that wasn't helped by the terrible layout, poor proofreading and limited explanations in the rules.
Lenin managed to get the column to the village relatively easily, largely because of my inability to get troops onto the table. When I did attack he managed to get his units to turn to face ir redeploy and shot my Mahdists to pieces.
But when he tried to return he had quite a few more problems. One unit attempted to scout some brush and was surprised my one of mine who managed to get into hand to hand and gave them a damned good thrashing. Another of his units marched in column past some broken ground and I took the opportunity to charge into his flank. Unfortunately for Lenin his column failed to turn to face and paid the penalty. I then turned to the next unit in the column and that suffered a similar fate to the first. The remaining unit was holding the village but unlike the others this was a veteran unit of highlanders and they were not going to be a push over.
I managed to get units into templates either side of it forcing it to move into square. But when I assaulted him it all began to go wrong. The highlanders managed to shoot the leaders of both of the Mahdist units which then stalled in rifle range and were shot to pieces. The highlanders then managed to march away and complete the mission.
Despite taking substantial casualties Lenin managed to score a victory mainly due to the losses by the Mahdists and having successfully completed the mission.
Patrols in the Sudan provides a fun game despite the poor presentation and will be hitting the table again.
Wargames Weekend: Muerte in Merida
Our third game was a great opportunity to get my Grand Manner Spanish terrain out with some of my Anglian Miniatures figures along with a chance to try an adaptation of the Lardies Through the Mud and the Blood rules.
I played to type as the Nationalists but this time in defence. The Legion had captured Merida and the Republicans, reinforced by Asaltos from Madrid, decided to try taking it back.
My main challenge was holding the large town wall with only three sections. Things started well but the Asaltos penetrated the perimeter before one of my sections managed to reach it (one of the challenges of the card driven system with a small number of Big Men). It was at this stage that we found the modifier for moving attackers in melee (defender loses 2 dice per attackers dice of movement) which resulted in my section being routed.
The Asaltos went on to attack the next unit in the flank routing it also. As a result my big men spent most of their time removing shock points in order to turn the around. Eventually I managed to rally the units but they lost the firefight with the Republicans and the latter were victorious.
What was apparent was that Mud & Blood does not easily translate to periods with smaller unit sizes. I also plan to query that pesky melee modifier on the Lardies discussion group.
I played to type as the Nationalists but this time in defence. The Legion had captured Merida and the Republicans, reinforced by Asaltos from Madrid, decided to try taking it back.
My main challenge was holding the large town wall with only three sections. Things started well but the Asaltos penetrated the perimeter before one of my sections managed to reach it (one of the challenges of the card driven system with a small number of Big Men). It was at this stage that we found the modifier for moving attackers in melee (defender loses 2 dice per attackers dice of movement) which resulted in my section being routed.
The Asaltos went on to attack the next unit in the flank routing it also. As a result my big men spent most of their time removing shock points in order to turn the around. Eventually I managed to rally the units but they lost the firefight with the Republicans and the latter were victorious.
What was apparent was that Mud & Blood does not easily translate to periods with smaller unit sizes. I also plan to query that pesky melee modifier on the Lardies discussion group.
Wargames Weekend: Ambush Alley
Our second game was a chance to get Ambush Alley to the table. I played the US forces and had three 4 man fireteams who had been sent in to rescue two civilian contractors who had got into trouble. On the first turn the men spotted an Improvised Explosive Device (IDE) hidden in a car situated right between our entry point and the target. Consequently we couldn't take the most direct route. I started by sending one fireteam into one building to tackle an insurgent hotspot whilst the remainder of the unit crossed a nearby wall. The first fireteam then advanced toward another building but came under insurgent fire and took casualties. In trying to withdraw two of the men were killed and the others were wounded. The other two teams advanced under fire but were able to neutralise it and secure another building. One team took up a covering position whilst the other advanced across an alley way to try to secure another building overlooking another hotspot. They then came under intensive fire and took casualties. At this point I decided to withdraw to regroup.
The game was certainly difficult for the US forces, although the insurgency level was set very high, I can see how this would be challenging at most levels. However our main concern was that whilst fun the rules are very specifically designed for modern urban combat against insurgents and this will make them of somewhat limited use for us. For this type of game they are likely to get other outings but I suspect this may not be that frequent as we don't tend to play these type of scenarios very often.
The game was certainly difficult for the US forces, although the insurgency level was set very high, I can see how this would be challenging at most levels. However our main concern was that whilst fun the rules are very specifically designed for modern urban combat against insurgents and this will make them of somewhat limited use for us. For this type of game they are likely to get other outings but I suspect this may not be that frequent as we don't tend to play these type of scenarios very often.
Wargames Weekend: 1938 The Spirit of Dr Syn Lives On
Last weekend Lenin came over for another visit. We managed to get six tabletop games into the three days and had plenty of variety of periods and rules. Our first game was a chance for me to get my new Musketeer Miniatures figures onto the table for A Very British Civil War.
A group of like minded Men of Kent (or possibly Kentish Men - I didn't make the brief particular on that point) decided to emulate that infamous resident of Dymchurch, Dr Syn, and smuggle some weapons into the country in order to give that awful upstart Mosley a damned good thrashing. The driving force behind this plan were two ex army types, Captain Jack "Bulldog" Dunbar DSO MC and Major Sir Alfred Ayes-Waughter. Accompanied by the Major's faithful gamekeeper Harry Johnson they intended to load a consignment of arms purchased from some friendly chaps in the colonies onto a lorry and head back to the Major's manor.
Unfortunately some cad had given the game away and, acting on information received, Inspector Hugh "Snapper" Jorgan decided to visit the coast accompanied by three armed constables. To make matters worse one of the constables had told his brother, a shining light in the local BUF, who have decided to turn out and assist the boys in blue.
The inspector and the constables were proceeding in a southerly direction when they came under a hail of bullets from two different directions and were pinned down. Fortunately an element of the BUF arrived and distracted the gunmen allowing the police to advance but not before one of the constables had thought better of the whole adventure and taken to his heels.
A pitched battle ensued between the BUF and the gunmen, ably commanded by the Major, and casualties were suffered on both sides. Unfortunately the rebel's lewis gun ran out of ammunition at a critical moment and let the BUF supported by their sergeant, who was carrying a sub-machine gun, to close. A desperate melee was joined but the Major, with his extensive experience of hand to hand fighting, managed to end up the last man standing after polishing of at least four of the BUF blighters but, unfortunately, not before the rest of his group had been rendered insensible.
Meanwhile the remainder of the BUF contingent, ineptly commanded by Frederick Spode, were advancing on the other side of the road whilst Bulldog and his men loaded the lorry and started to move up the road. After a little cat and mouse more gunfire was exchanged and the BUF took the worst of it. The rebels managed to get their wounded onto the lorry with their contraband and escaped (albeit at a leisurely pace - since steam was the motive power) leaving the BUF and police to lick their wounds.
The figures used were a combination of the Musketeer IRA and BUF along with a couple of Copplestone personalities and we used the Two Hour Wargames Nuts! rules.
A group of like minded Men of Kent (or possibly Kentish Men - I didn't make the brief particular on that point) decided to emulate that infamous resident of Dymchurch, Dr Syn, and smuggle some weapons into the country in order to give that awful upstart Mosley a damned good thrashing. The driving force behind this plan were two ex army types, Captain Jack "Bulldog" Dunbar DSO MC and Major Sir Alfred Ayes-Waughter. Accompanied by the Major's faithful gamekeeper Harry Johnson they intended to load a consignment of arms purchased from some friendly chaps in the colonies onto a lorry and head back to the Major's manor.Unfortunately some cad had given the game away and, acting on information received, Inspector Hugh "Snapper" Jorgan decided to visit the coast accompanied by three armed constables. To make matters worse one of the constables had told his brother, a shining light in the local BUF, who have decided to turn out and assist the boys in blue.
The inspector and the constables were proceeding in a southerly direction when they came under a hail of bullets from two different directions and were pinned down. Fortunately an element of the BUF arrived and distracted the gunmen allowing the police to advance but not before one of the constables had thought better of the whole adventure and taken to his heels.A pitched battle ensued between the BUF and the gunmen, ably commanded by the Major, and casualties were suffered on both sides. Unfortunately the rebel's lewis gun ran out of ammunition at a critical moment and let the BUF supported by their sergeant, who was carrying a sub-machine gun, to close. A desperate melee was joined but the Major, with his extensive experience of hand to hand fighting, managed to end up the last man standing after polishing of at least four of the BUF blighters but, unfortunately, not before the rest of his group had been rendered insensible.
Meanwhile the remainder of the BUF contingent, ineptly commanded by Frederick Spode, were advancing on the other side of the road whilst Bulldog and his men loaded the lorry and started to move up the road. After a little cat and mouse more gunfire was exchanged and the BUF took the worst of it. The rebels managed to get their wounded onto the lorry with their contraband and escaped (albeit at a leisurely pace - since steam was the motive power) leaving the BUF and police to lick their wounds.
The figures used were a combination of the Musketeer IRA and BUF along with a couple of Copplestone personalities and we used the Two Hour Wargames Nuts! rules.
Tuesday, 23 June 2009
Weekend of Wargaming on the Horizon
Lenin will be paying another visit in a couple of weeks and I'm in the process of preparing the games I'll be putting on. I'm also putting a 20mm WW2 game on at the club on Thursday so I've got a lot to do.
The current plan for the weekend has me hosting a 1938 A Very British Civil War game using my 28mm Musketeer Miniatures and Two Hour Wargames' CR3.0 rules; a Spanish Civil War game with my 28mm Anglian Miniatures and the TooFatLardies' Through the Mud & the Blood (with a few appropriate special rules) and a 15mm Sudan game using Peter Pig's Patrols in the Sudan.
At the moment Lenin is planning the next game in the WW2 Crete campaign (28mm with Cr3.0), some weirdness using the Fear and Faith rules and a 15mm game using Ambush Alley.
Of course the weekend is a couple of weeks away so it's possible that lots of these might change depending on whether the preparations go well or badly!
The current plan for the weekend has me hosting a 1938 A Very British Civil War game using my 28mm Musketeer Miniatures and Two Hour Wargames' CR3.0 rules; a Spanish Civil War game with my 28mm Anglian Miniatures and the TooFatLardies' Through the Mud & the Blood (with a few appropriate special rules) and a 15mm Sudan game using Peter Pig's Patrols in the Sudan.
At the moment Lenin is planning the next game in the WW2 Crete campaign (28mm with Cr3.0), some weirdness using the Fear and Faith rules and a 15mm game using Ambush Alley.
Of course the weekend is a couple of weeks away so it's possible that lots of these might change depending on whether the preparations go well or badly!
Saturday, 20 June 2009
Summer of Lard 2009
It's that time of year and the Lardies have just released their latest summer special. This year it's 120 pages of fun including:Algernon Pulls a Fast One: a fast play variant of their Algernon Pulls it Off WW1 air rules
Bloody Halfaya: A scenario for I Ain't Been Shot Mum (IABSM) set during the 1941 Operation Battleaxe
The Battle of Salem Church: A scenario for They Couldn't Hit an Elephant (TCHAE), their ACW rules.
Sid's Trenches: A guide to making your own trench system
Playing Fast & Loose: A guide to designing your own kriegsspiel games
Like a Rollin' Stonne: Another IABSM scenario, this time for 1940 France
Blue Swastika Rampant: A aricle on Winter War air combat and Bag the Hun
Action at Balls Bluff: Ideas for using Sharp Practice in the American Civil War plus a scenario
Meet the Fokkers: A Winter War scenario for Bag the Hun
Jean Has a Long Moustache: WW2 French Resistance scenarios for IABSM and Troops Weapons & Tactics (TW&T)
Attack on Camp El Juba: An If The Lord Spares Us scenario in WW1 Mesopotamia
Ils ne Passeront Pas: A Through the Mud & the Blood (TTM&TB) WW1 scenario
Go West: An article on ACW commanders in the western theatre for TCHAE
Hurrah for Toad: Ideas for using Big Men in IABSM who are less like heros and more like Toad from the Wind in the Willows
Mama Told Me Not to Come: A Portuguese Guinea scenario from the 1970's for IABSM or TW&T using the B'Maso supplement
The Battle of Alcaniz: A Le Feu Sacre scenario
Another Lazy TW&T: An article on simplifying TW&T this time focussing on armour
The War on Trenches: A article on working with Kalistra's trenches
Bag the Hun 2: An introduction the new edition of the WW2 air rules
Somme Enchanted Evening: A 1916 scenario TTM&TB
Six of the Best: Another Winter War Bag the Hun scenario
Fondler's Filly: A Sharp Practice scenario following on from those in The Compleat Fondler
Having only got it today I haven't had a chance to read through it all yet! But it looks like another excellent special from the Lardies and well worth the £5 for the PDF.
Friday, 19 June 2009
Meeples & Miniatures - TooFatLardies Interview
The latest Meeples and Miniatures podcast has an interview with Richard Clarke from the TooFatLardies which is well worth a listen.
Wednesday, 17 June 2009
KaiserRushforth Thumbs Up, Royal Mail Thumbs Down
Given the number of new 28mm figures I seem to be accumulating I decided to invest in a couple more of the KaiserRushforth storage boxes. I ordered online from the KR website on Sunday and the boxes arrived at lunchtime today - so excellent service from KaiserRushforth. Unfortunately the Royal Mail managed to crumple one of the box corners, so I am somewhat less pleased with them!
Sunday, 14 June 2009
Musketeer BEF and BUF
With a few minutes spare this afternoon I thought I'd post a couple of pictures of my 28mm Musketeer Miniatures BEF and BUF figures:
I am intending to use both for A Very British Civil War but the BEF will also be useful for the Irish War of Independence too. Both sets of figures are sculpted by the talented Paul Hicks.
I am intending to use both for A Very British Civil War but the BEF will also be useful for the Irish War of Independence too. Both sets of figures are sculpted by the talented Paul Hicks.
Mr Hicks is at it again!
This time it's armed clergy for 1938:
and very nice (or nasty, depending on your perspective!) they look too - coming soon to Musketeer Miniatures.
and very nice (or nasty, depending on your perspective!) they look too - coming soon to Musketeer Miniatures.
Grand Manner Spanish Church
I have been looking at adding the church from Grand Manner to my Spanish village for a while now. I eventually decided to take the plunge and ordered one. As usual the service was excellent and the building arrived about a week later and I am really pleased with it.
The church comes in four separate sections, the L shaped ground floor, the flat roof with bell tower and two roofs.
You can se sure this will be appearing on the table at the first available opportunity!
The church comes in four separate sections, the L shaped ground floor, the flat roof with bell tower and two roofs.
You can se sure this will be appearing on the table at the first available opportunity!
Saturday, 6 June 2009
Tuesday, 2 June 2009
Anglian SCW Figures
Here are some pictures of a few of my 28mm Anglian Miniatures Spanish Civil War figures:
The anarchist militia:
Guardia De Assalto:
The Spanish Foreign Legion:
Moroccan Regulares:
Guardia Civil:
Falangista:
and finally the Carlists:
The anarchist militia:
Guardia De Assalto:
The Spanish Foreign Legion:
Moroccan Regulares:
Guardia Civil:
Falangista:
and finally the Carlists:
Sunday, 31 May 2009
Invasion! Operation Sealion 1940
Living in Kent and with a fascination for the Second World War I have been interested in Operation Sealion, the planned German invasion, for some time. Accordingly, I keep an eye out for any new material on the subject. I actually bought Martin Marix Evans' book a little while ago but have had quite a few books ahead of it on my reading list (as you will have noticed if you follow my Shelfari shelf).I finished reading it yesterday and so I thought I write a quick outline of the book and my thoughts on it.
The book is split into two parts; Part 1 covers the history leading up to the planned invasion and Part 2 is a conjectural description of the invasion itself had it been launched.
The first part begins on 1 September 1939 and covers the successful invasions of Norway, the Low Countries and France. At first this might seem to be widening the scope of the book somewhat, or if you are a bit of a cynic padding; however, the narrative is clear and provides a useful context to Sealion.
The second part assumes a September invasion and covers the period from 9 to 29 September 1940. It makes a number of quite plausible assumptions and tries to weave real deployment, defences and plans with the conjectural landings and subsequent advance inland.
Whilst the book brings together a good amount of useful information and the conjectural invasion is interesting it doesn't really add very much to the material already published. The invasion is nicely described, although some maps would have made following the narrative easier, and provides some nice low level encounters which anchor it.
Overall I was a little disappointed, not because this is a bad book, it isn't, but rather because it could have been so much more. As it is the book is worth reading if you don't have a library of other material on the subject (which I do) although I did think the ending of the second part could have been handled a little more imaginatively.
Saturday, 30 May 2009
Onwards from Beersheba, November 1917
I managed to get along to the club on Thursday and Eric the Spy put on a 15mm WW1 game using Great War Spearhead.
I like the basic WW2 Spearhead rules (although you do need to turn the Germans stats down from invincible!) and the Great War amendments are interesting but the way they have laid out the supplement is just a pain! Unlike Modern Spearhead they chose to produce a separate supplement which isn't stand alone. You are constantly finding yourself being referred back to the original rules which, for in game reference, is hopeless.
The game itself was fun with me taking command of the camelry and attacking up the right flank with Ben and Crazy Dave advancing with the infantry and artillery in the centre. We also had a slightly sneaky flank march by the cavalry (which was very late arriving many due to my dodgy dice rolling).
As we started our attack at night visibility was initially restricted and so I managed to stumble into some barbed wire fronting some entrenched Turks (with machine guns of course!). We took some serioud casualties on the lead unit both from artillery and the infantry who were in the trenches but managed to dismount and start to hit back. Fortunately the Turks had anchored their flank on a wood rather than running their line through it and so my dismounted infantry were able to advance through it an outflank their position.
Meanwhile our main thrust was encountering some resistance from the Turks in the centre but giving as good as they got.
The Turks chose to aim their reinforcements at my outflanking troops rather than bolstering the centre and so the game ended in a British victory albeit a costly one.
I like the basic WW2 Spearhead rules (although you do need to turn the Germans stats down from invincible!) and the Great War amendments are interesting but the way they have laid out the supplement is just a pain! Unlike Modern Spearhead they chose to produce a separate supplement which isn't stand alone. You are constantly finding yourself being referred back to the original rules which, for in game reference, is hopeless.
The game itself was fun with me taking command of the camelry and attacking up the right flank with Ben and Crazy Dave advancing with the infantry and artillery in the centre. We also had a slightly sneaky flank march by the cavalry (which was very late arriving many due to my dodgy dice rolling).
As we started our attack at night visibility was initially restricted and so I managed to stumble into some barbed wire fronting some entrenched Turks (with machine guns of course!). We took some serioud casualties on the lead unit both from artillery and the infantry who were in the trenches but managed to dismount and start to hit back. Fortunately the Turks had anchored their flank on a wood rather than running their line through it and so my dismounted infantry were able to advance through it an outflank their position.
Meanwhile our main thrust was encountering some resistance from the Turks in the centre but giving as good as they got.
The Turks chose to aim their reinforcements at my outflanking troops rather than bolstering the centre and so the game ended in a British victory albeit a costly one.
Tuesday, 19 May 2009
SELWG is back!
It looks like the SELWG show at Crystal Palace will be back on this year on the 18th of October. It has always been one of my favourites with a good range of traders, games and not too crowded. Unfortunately the leisure centre in which they have traditionally held it hasn't been available for the last couple of years (due to asbestos or something) and I have really missed the show.
There's not much on the SELWG site, other than the announcement that the show is back on, at the moment but it will be worth keeping an eye on if you're interested.
There's not much on the SELWG site, other than the announcement that the show is back on, at the moment but it will be worth keeping an eye on if you're interested.
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