Dispatches from the front XXXVI - A rare double header.

A little bit behind on posts of late, hopefully things should calm down in a couple of weeks once year end is out of the way, this real life stuff can seriously hinder hobby time.

Last weekend saw a rarity on the hobby front, a show and an all day game..... I suspect I will have to make up for that in the coming weeks, lets kick of with Hammerhead. A great show as always from Paul and Sally at Kallistra the hall was packed with plenty of games to chose from and most traders 2-3 people deep. I was reflecting on traders that were missing and the number that now concentrate their efforts on perhaps 3-4 shows a year, you can't blame traders given the cost of overnight accommodation and travel costs. That's a lot of margin to make up before you have even sold a pack of figures.

I did my bit with a nice haul from the show. I am trying to be more proactive so on the evening started to prep them before they disappeared into the draw of things I really must get round to finishing, it might allow me to get a little bit of prep across the week.

The haul Pendragon for the AWI Project with a number of additional buildings and phase three of the project, with more Militia, British Cavalry, Indians and more casualty markers. The under cloth hills from Kallistra will give me more options on the tabletop.

Finally a a couple of packs from Perry to bulk out the Christian forces for the Crusades, separating the Footsore Mini's from their larger cousins. The next game is scheduled for early April so no pressure to get them complete.

With barely time to recover Sunday saw a Wyre Forest all dayer with a dry run for the Alumwell show at the end of the month, I won't give the scenario away but it sees German mechanised forces take on Russian defenders.

Having a dry run gave us the opportunity to tweak the forces and ensure that the scenario moves at pace and gives a balance of troops for each side.

A big shout out to Howard from the club, knowing my Crusades project is underway he very kindly gifted me his "to do" pile... Very generous.... but wow the list of things to do is growing day by day....

Meanwhile back from hibernation the LOTR's campaign is back, over a year has passed since the last posting - Dust, Tears & Dice: LOTR Campaign - Back from the annuals of time. New purchases from my wargaming buddy has perhaps pushed Infamy to it's limits so we discussed switching to Lion/Dragon Rampant it will certainly give a faster play and both rule sets have enough characteristics for the various troops types. We will need to tweak the points for each campaign force but it should not take long to convert.

A greater tester game saw a win for the good guys.... shame it did not count. It was great to be able bring the campaign back to life, as always so many games, so little time.

Dispatches from the Front XXXI - Welcome to 2024

Well here we are another New Year and the customary review of the past 12 months.

Considering the amount of real life distractions a rather productive year on the gaming front, taken up largely with WW2 and the Western Desert, quite surprising really as it was only meant to be a small project when a member of the club said did you fancy splitting a box, but it ended up turning into forces for both the Commonwealth, French and Germans, with plenty of gaming and a campaign to boot. 

We dabbled with Bolt Action and Chain of Command creating a couple of good house rules which have given us a good experience and a growing collection across several players.... Plenty more planned for 2024.

It was good to get in a couple of fun games of Silver Bayonet, with the return of Claude Canard although he does seem to get picked on in games..  The Hunt for the remaining parts of El-Cid is sure to continue into the new year, but we could see a return to the Middle East of Claude with the next campaign book set in Egypt. 

Our gaming group lost a good wargaming friend in November, Dane (on the left) no matter what we played he seemed to know every rule yet you never saw him read a rule book. He had not been well for several years, but you never saw him complain, in fact the more pain he was in the luckier he seemed to get. One of the founding members of the Wyverns Wargames Club, we had some great games including several all dayers at Salute helping Paul and Sally at Kallistra run their showcase games... Great times... I shall miss our tabletop dust ups.....

So what for 2024?

Well the Germans are in need of some armour if they are to turn the tide in the Tactics II campaign, I had a few pieces gifted over Christmas in the shape of plastic kits that will certainly help. The rise in quality of 3D prints makes the purchase of vehicles so much more affordable so quick order to 3D Valley on E-Bay should give me plenty of extra's for both sides.

The big projects are to finally get the Footsore Kickstarter off the ground and Outremer, it was a big purchase due to those weird days in lock down when I sold some collections for crazy money. I must be honest the weight and volume of shiny metal is a little bit off putting. But if I break them down into the various factions it should be fine.

Not quite sure of the rule set yet, Baron's War is the obvious choice but I am hoping to scratch an itch from over 30 years ago to turn Standard Games hex game into a mini version. With rumours of a new version coming out, it could be a sign of things to come.

I have a hankering for some BIG games with small figures and am leaning towards my first historical period of interest when I first got into gaming. The American War of Independence. A period I have read plenty on although surprising never owned, I have also never painted British Regulars in all my years of gaming.

I am thinking 10mm Pendragon to give me a comprise of a large table but with figures I can still make out the detail on.... Now for a set of rules, base and unit sizes?

I have several taster packs on order to see if I can paint them to a standard I am comfortable with, given the volumes involved.

What else?

Who knows the usual butterfly feeling may take hold, depending on what you watch and listen to, just finished a cracking pod cast on the Aztecs and the Spanish Conquistadors - Well I already have Spanish???

Happy New Year everyone.

Blood on the Plains #1 - Off Reservation

After a number of months of painting and a couple of sessions play testing the rule refinements finally the first outing of the Great Sioux War for Sharp Practice. 

Thanks to Simon Walker for his original thoughts in bringing adaptions for Sharp Practice I to the table, I have made a number of of further tweaks to scale SP to 6mm gaming and introduced elements from Infamy around fervour and the original SP around ammo restrictions.

Outside of the Battle of the Little Big Horn many of the encounters were light on casualties so let's see how it goes.

Scenario.

A detachment of cavalry is sent out on patrol to dissuade reservation Indians from leaving the reservation and join Sitting Bull and the other 'hostile' Indians up on the Black Hills and the last great buffalo hunting grounds.

From the photo the table looks rather barren however thanks to a new set of hills from Kallistra line of sight is difficult with numerous gullies and rolling hills

The reservation Indians under Spotted Elk must exit the table on the far edge, the cavalry must stop them and turn them back. The Sioux start on blinds, a mechanism take from the Mud and Blood rule set, each blind could be up to three groups of Indians or a feint. To win the game at least 50% of the Indians must cross the table avoiding the cavalry looking to block their path.

The US Cavalry have elements of the Second Cavalry under Capt Roe, MacAdams & Mitchem together with a mule train carrying extra ammo.

Early on the first US cavalry Co crest one of the hills on the right flank, dismount and peer across the rolling grass land. The horses are set to the rear as the first blind is unmasked revealing a group of hostiles.

The Cheyenne make their move and several blinds move forwards towards the US cavalry position. They could all not be real could they?

In the centre of the table the a second US cavalry co gallop over the rise to engage the recently spotted Indians, the Indians turned and fled, it was a sneaky trap as the hostiles hidden in a stand of trees fired on the cavalry, fortunately for the cavalry the Indians were poorly armed and poor shots and they suffered no casualties.

The true Indian plan is revealed as they came off blinds, Spotted Elk had placed the bulk of his forces on the Indian right flank and were rushing towards the table edge.

all that stood in their way was Capt. Mitchem and C Coy. The Indian ponies could be heard picking up speed on the other side of the low rise.

On the far side of the battle field and Capt MacAdams was on the tiffin card, the hostiles moved first and charged into the dismounted cavalry, they were able to get off a single round before the Cheyenne braves hit them.

The cavalry fell back in disarray leaving their horse holders and three soldiers dead on the rise. The troopers ran for the tree line as the savages set about scalping the three defenders. 

With the Indians occupied on the hill, MacAdams was able to call back his horse holders as other braves slipped past heading for the Black Hills and Sitting Bulls growing band.

On the right Mitchem had turned back the first group of braves, unloading his pistols from the saddle before the warriors could close and sending them back over the ridge. But he was out numbered 4:1 and decided that today he would let the Indians pass, he turned his company about and headed for the main command. Spotted Elk and his band slipped the cordon.

A good first outing and an unexpected victory for the Indians. 

Post battle thoughts.

The adaptions and amendments worked well in 6mm and it had a good feel for the frontier, casualties were light on the cavalry side.  

When they had the distance they were able to lay down quite a rate of fire, breaking Indian warbands, but should the Indians close their ferocity told, however this was tempered by he scalping rules which distracted men from the fight.

Mounted US cavalry had to step through the gears and could be powerful on the gallop, but where a little cumbersome to slow down and turn around whilst the Indians did not suffer this penalty.

The next outing is a refight of the Reynolds fight on the Power River, let's see how the Indian's get on when they are on the defensive. 

Warfare Loot and a sound thrasing

Some what later than planned the customary pic of the Warfare loot...

Reading seemed quieter than usual on Sunday, speaking to many of the traders it sounds like most people had done their shopping on the Saturday.

It's been several months since my last show so had I had quite a list.

Some extra walls for from Tablescape to build out the Haitian village, together with some grape vines to fill out the village. A couple of packs from Perry's Cape Wars - They need seem tweaks and adaptions they will make some useful additional to the Haitian loyalists and freed slaves.

Meanwhile plenty of movement trays for Warlords of Erehwon.

Annie at Bad Squiddo Games had kept back good Queen Liz, a great addition to the Elizabethan collection. She is protected by our three valiant ladies who will protect the Queen from the evil hordes or Spanish.

Hopefully not a bad omen for the living but also some casualties from Colonel Bills, these will make some pin markers for Warlords of Erehwon.

The shopping was a success less so the Battle of Mohi.
The figures and terrain are from Paul at Kallistra's personnel collection. A truly epic encounter with hundreds of cavalry sweeping across the European plains.

Playing the Mongols we were soundly beaten by the Hungarian's and the Teutonic Knights who launched a lightening attack pinning the Mongol hordes against the river bank.

Unable to bring our horse archers to bear we lost around 80% of our forces in under 3 hours..... Nasty... History was definitely reversed......

A great days gaming and so great additions to the painting queue.

Boukman & Lamaretiniere - Trent Miniatures

Remind me next time not to fit my own bathroom, it's taken far longer than planned for and seriously dented by playing and painting time. I think I will still to modelling on a far smaller scale.

I am sure I am not the only one but if I don't pick the brushes up on a regular basis it takes a little longer to get my eye in, with a battalion of half finished French staring at me from the paint table, I thought I would ease myself back in with a couple of leaders for the Haitian campaign which is now likely to kick off in the new year.

Both figures are from the Trent minaitures range and give me a couple of extra options in Sharp Practice for some additional big Men and Women...

First up - Boukman, the first leader of the August 1791 slave revolt in St. Domingue.

Boukman was a true big man reported to have a large and powerful physique and was reputed to be a Voodoo priest. He was killed in battle in November 1791.

Then we have Marie-Jeanne Lamartiniere, a female soldier in Toussaint Louverture’s army.

She fought with Dessalines in the defence of Crete-a-Pierrot against Napoleons invading French.

It seems ages since I last did a show, so really looking forward to Warfare tomorrow where me and the rest of the Wyvern guys are supporting Paul and Kallistra by putting on the Battle of Varna.

It's sure to be bloody, be sure to drop by for a chat if you are at the show, with 000's of Ottomans on the table we will need some help moving them all....

 

Salute 2018 - The Battle fo Varna 1444.

Great day at Salute yesterday, the 4.00am alarm call was a bit of a shock but the roads were pretty clear even if the dreaded Sat Nav figured central London would be a good idea.

We arrived with plenty of time to set up, good job given how many Ottoman's needed to be fielded.

Every year the standard of games and trade stands seems to get better and better, I did not get to much time to take a wander but most stands where 3 or 4 deep until well into lunch time.

Great to catch up with so many old friends and new, with plenty of interest in our offering the Battle of Varna 1444.

For those people unfamiliar with Eastern European history, Varna pits a large Ottoman army of 50 to 60 000 under the command of Murad II against the Papal forces of around 30,000 troops situated between lake Varna, the Black Sea and the steep slopes of the Franga Plateau. 

(We covered both including the snow capped mountains...)

 

The various accounts of the battle describe a fluid situation of cavalry charges and counter charges in which early Christian gains were reversed by flank attacks by Ottoman Sipahis and Akinci cavalry. At one stage a gap in the Ottoman lines enabled Vlad Dracul’s force (His dad before you ask :-) ) to charge through and plunder the Ottoman camp. 

Janus Hunyadi gathered the now disorganised Papal forces and captured much of the ground around the Ottoman centre in which the Sultan and his Janissaries stood behind a line of stakes. 

At this crucial point of the battle the young King Wlayslaws took upon himself to lead the knights of his Polish and Hungarian bodyguard in a frontal assault on the Ottoman centre. 

However, this vain attempt at glory resulted in him having his head cut off and impaled on a stake! 

After this the Christian forces started to disintegrate and many tried to flee across the River Devnya and were slain in the surrounding marshland. 

Would history repeat itself?

We were ready to go at around 10.00 am just as the doors opened and the eager punters rushed in.

All figures are from Kallistra's 12mm Medieval range and judging by how busy the Kallistra stand was it looked like we had inspired a fair number of people to take on BIG Medieval games.

Hussite war wagons at the ready!

Young King Wlayslaws with his Polish and Hungarian bodyguard in Blue.

Sultan Murad II behind his wall of stakes.

11.00 The Papal cavalry close on the front line of spear and bow of the Ottoman army, they should have been a mere bump in the road, but stuck around on the right flank to break up the initial Christian charge.

The Teutonic order was a different matter they and the supporting knights crashed through the Azab ranks.

The state of play arouned 1.00 pm the Azab front line has been swept aside but the mounted archers are taking a heavy toll on the advancing knights as their formation begins to break up and they are attacked on their flanks as they push forward.

Unfortunately for the Ottoman command archery fire alone was not enough and we had to commit our cavalry to stem the Papal advance, however as the afternoon ticked by and the crowds thinned so to did the Ottoman cavalry units.
The Christians had broken through on both flanks leaving Murad II surrounded behind his wall of stakes..... 

A bloody victory for the Christian's but alot of fun trying to change history.

Thanks to Paul and Sally @Kallistra who allowed us to play with their toys.
1000's of 12mm figures is a wonderful sight and pretty much played to conclusion in around 6 hours.
You can down load the rules for free from the Kallistra site.

Right time to sneak the purchases into the house and pretend they have been in the cupboard for ages.

All work and no play.

Hobby time has been rather thin on the ground in recent weeks.

A new job some two hours closer to home should have given me plenty of time to get in front of the brushes, but intense home work and manual reading put paid to any free time in the evenings, hopefully the next month should see things calm down.

I did manage to sneak a trip down to Warfare last weekend and joined the rest of the Wyverns in a refight of Cambrai 1917, using Paul @ Kallistra's excellent hex terrain and figures.

The British out numbering the Germans 3:1 and supported by 30 Tanks attempted to break three lines of German trenches.

As one of the German commanders we opted to leave the first trench line lightly defended hoping to draw the British in where they would lose a number of tanks in attempting to cross the trench lines with the occasional grenade attack from the infantry defenders.

   

 

In a bloody affair in which the British opened up a number of channels through the use of concentrated artillery they flanked the German left but could not capitalise on the assault as they had lost all of their armour and around 60% of the infantry.

A drawn although the British were quickly on twitter to celebrate a victory.

“The news isn't there to tell you what happened. It's there to tell you what it wants you to hear or what it thinks you want to hear.”

 Joss Whedon

A great days gaming touch and go right to the last turn when the German Infantry managed to destroy the last 3 tanks with Grenades, what are the chances of rolling 3 12's in a row.

Purchases on the day were few, but with Christmas coming and limited paint time, probably not a bad thing, I picked up some extra items for Ghost Archipelago in the shape of a couple of swamps which need some extra's adding by way of grasses and reeds. I also picked up some lovely treasure pieces which will be great to fight over in the months ahead.

Redoubt had released their cotton pickers for the ACW, but they should be fine for the Haiti Project and some extra jump off points.

I have managed to prep the Crewman from the Ghost Archipelago Nickstarter, with 20 in a box, I opted for 10 European type characters and 10 Middle Eastern both gangs armed with a mixture of weapons, having given the Chinese a run out a few weeks ago, I figured three distinct factions could be formed for any one simply wanting to walk into the club without having to roll for all the stats from the outset.

Until next time....