Battle Bunker, 4Ground and a great day out.

Recently I won a thing. It doesn't happen very often so it was a nice surprise and it got better as it went on. So, here is some background.

A while ago, before Co-Vid messed up everything, I meet some nice folks at a wargames day at Entoyment in Poole. Lee "Stonewall" Wilkins, his long suffering wife Mel and their son Jamie soon became friends and even started coming to the Devon Wargames Club, despite being from up North. Well, north of Exeter is North isn't it? They then started a You Tube channel which posts their games, thoughts and events. I subscribed so I could stay updated about what they were doing, especially as we couldn't get together for a game during the lockdown period. 

They hit 500 subscribers and had a prize draw and one very lucky chap won it! I was chuffed to win and things got even better when I was invited up to collect my prize in person so they could put up a video of it. The prize was £50 of 4 Ground scenery, which I like and have quite a bit of already, and the venue was the new gaming centre at 4 Grounds HQ called FactoruM. What a place it is, it felt so comfortable and chilled there and was like a home from home. We met up with Ben, the owner of 4 Ground and a real top chap he is. He and all the people that work there are great company and really pleasant to be around. After a guided tour of the business we were treated to a very nice lunch before getting down to some gaming. Ben even gave us a freebie from Jamie's store room, much to his consternation. Thank you Ben, that was an unexpected bonus and is really appreciated.

Here is what I came away with, a touch over £50 me thinks!

A lovely Rorke's Drift set up was arrayed before us, with the four players taking the major parts from the film. I was Corporal Allan, the true hero of the engagement, who was the only leader on the day to keep all his men alive. Rumours that the Zulus were scared of his singing are misplaced and unfounded. Nathan was Colour Sergeant Bourne and was seen to throw away his lives in a haphazard manner. Apparently he won the most VC's on the day, but we think that is fake news. Christopher was Lieutenant Chard, RE, who was also free and easy with the lives of his men. Ben was Lieutenant Bromhead of the 24th, a fine leader who throw himself into action all over the field of battle. 

Lts Chard and Bromhead overlooking the defences

The game itself was very clever, it feels like the film did and the mechanisms Stonewall, Mel and Jamie have used for their rules do make it dramatic with action jumping from one part of the compound to another. The Zulu's can appear anywhere around the table and their actions are determined by a dice roll. Apparently not every roll results in an "F" for "Flippin' 'eck, here they come again", but it sure felt like it at the start. Ben's face when he shot at the Zulu unit facing him and they responded by charging straight into contact was a picture. It was not the reaction he expected from them, too be fair we were all a bit shocked by that turn of events.

Defend that wagon boys, here they come again!

Corporal Allan steadies his men before the Zulu assault

The initial attack was concentrated on the opposite side to my troops, but soon came around the sides and everyone was quickly facing at least some Zulu warriors. It was a close run thing, but we held until the column arrived, so won the day and went home for tea and medals. If you get the chance to play the game then grab it, I would play it again tomorrow if I could.

Jamie and Stonewall planning the demise of the Empire

Look at the evil grin on the face of Stonewall in this picture, the man is enjoying it too much I tell you!

Near the end and the redcoats are hard pressed

Zulus, farsands of 'em!

Bromhead, Hook and Schiess defend the rampart
while Corporal Allan secures their flank

Chard and Bourne are pushed back by weight of numbers

Christopher looks up "Fall Back" while Ben wonders where the roof went.

So that's it for now folks, thanks to Lee, Mel, Jamie, Ben and all the others at 4 Ground for hosting us yesterday, it was great and we will be back sooner rather than later.

Attack, Zulu's and random ramblings

Last Sunday I was taken out for the day by my chaffeur Nathan, with Pingu in the back "resting his eyes".  No matter where we go, what time we go or who drives, he has a nap, poor old fella.

Bless him, he looks all worn out.  It must have been the vast amount he didn't spend at Attack.  It was a pleasant day out, but we are not sure we will be going back as it takes as long to get there as it does to get to Reading which is a bigger show.  My purchases were limited to a can of Necrotic Flesh spray paint for zombie painting and a copy of Duel in the Dark on the bring & buy.  Oh, and some extra D10s for In her Majesties Name.


Monday night was Zulu night, as the Chuckadice lads got together to refight Nathan's Rorke's Drift scenario.  Zulus under the command of myself, Andy and Pingu were attacking the defenders, commanded by Lt Chard(Zob), Lt Bromhead(Colin) and Colour Sgt Bourne(Nathan).
 Suffice to say, the heavy fire from the hospital quickly drove off the few Zulu's in front of them, but the lesser fire from the store only slowed down the advance.  Eventually the Zulu's reached the building and some redcoats were felled.

On the other side the British line looked pretty solid and was holding well for longer than expected.

 Andy looks pensive as he prepares to receive the British fire.  Not much cover down there, so losses were pretty heavy as the Zulu's advanced.

 The store is attacked, as only a few men could fire out the loopholes. 

 Zulu's reach the defences, but were unable initially to break through the line.  Bayonets lunged and Zulu's fell, but the occasional Redcoat fell too.

 Zulu's get around the side and into the building, but its a dead end and the British fired through the window, killing the Zulu warriors. 

 The 2nd wave reaches the defenders, again taking horrendous losses.  Eventually the British will weaken, won't they?

Sniping from the hill finally took effect, with 3 hits on the British reserves as they finished the redoubt and moved to reinforce the wall.

 Bromhead's line was also holding firm, despite Pingu's best efforts to break through.  He did manage to break in momentarily, but Bromhead gathered a few men and drove the Zulu's back out again.

At the same time the Zulu's broke into the main store rooms, driving the few defenders back wounded.  It's was starting to look a bit problematic for the Brits, but at least Chard was holding his section......

Then Chard was driven back suddenly as all his men fall to some damned lucky dice from Andy.  Four d10, 3 of them were 8+, killing 3 defenders and forcing Chard to retreat.  This is were we left it, to be finished next Monday.  The Zulu's are in the compound and threatening the store, but the British still have quite a few men left and should hold, probably......well maybe......



In other news, I have been sick as a dog again.  The new anti-nausea tablets I am on are rubbish so it's back to see the quack again this week.  Hopefully something will sort out soon, as it's impacting work quite noticeably now.  I have managed to paint a few bits, so expect some pictures next week hopefully.

Off now so catch you all later.

July in Exeter

 Saturday was the monthly meeting of the Devon Wargames Group, which is probably the nicest gathering of lunatics you will ever find.  I managed to make it there this month, although it wiped me out for Sunday and this morning, but it was well worth it.  Two games were on this time, with Chas putting on a Kenyan game using Chain of Command.

 This is the Kenyan table, British coming from the right and Communists on the left.  No idea what the scenario was as I was rather busy getting my men shot on the other table.




Here you can see some of the nasty rebellious Communist types sneakily sneaking through the bush.  Damned sneaky types!

 Ah, the gallant defenders of afternoon tea, Wimbledon and cricket have quietly arrived in their armoured vehicles.  Nothing like some Saracens to pacify the rebellious locals.

 The sneaky types advance towards the village, but seemed to be slowed down by the Browning machine guns on the Saracens.

 British infantry stopping for a quick brew while the Saracens win the hearts and minds of the locals by shooting them.  Those playing seemed to have a good time, which is the aim of the game at the end of the day.  Nice game Chas.








 The other game was a Rorke's Drift scenario set up by Nathan "Stumpy" Goodyear.  There were two three reasons for this, he bought the buildings and figures, I painted the buildings for him and it is 50 years since the "Zulu" film was released.

Four very dodgy types commanded the British garrison.  Jon "I'm used to be indecisive" Jones was both Chard and Bromhead and commanded the defenders of the storehouse.  His command style can only be described as changeable.  In 4 turns he ordered the British to fall back to the smaller compound, then countermanded that to hold the larger hospital compound and, then, changed it back to the original plan.  It's probably best not to mention the redoubt either, which was noticeable in its absence.

 Here is CinC JJ deploying some of the thin red line as my son Michael "Where's all me troops gone" looks on.





The other British commanders were Michael, Charlie and Nathan.   Michael defended the mealie bag wall behind the hospital as Sergeant Windridge and his command was let down badly by the actions of his immediate superior, Colour Sergeant Bourne!  Charlie was defending the hospital as CS Bourne and, following a markedly exaggerated report to JJ, he was given 4 of Michael's men to bolster his defence.  This came back to sting the Brits as Charlies sector was the most secure of all the British areas and Michael's wasn't.  Nathan commanded Surgeon-Major Reynolds and a small detachment of soldiers tasked with building the redoubt.  The less said about this the better, unless your a Zulu when you should mention it repeatedly. 

 Speaking of Zulu', here they are in all their glory.  Not really enough for the assault so we had to recycle them, but it looked good on the table.  The four Zulu commanders split the forces evenly and then attacked from both sides. 

 Here is the thin line under Sgt Windridge.  The building behind them is the hospital, which didn't burn down.

 Reynolds operates on some poor soul as the soldiers prepare to not build a redoubt.  The building is the store, which did burn down through a slight accident by a "Bloody Englishman" in the roof.  Nobody told him that thatch would burn, honest they didn't.

 Zulus' farsands of them.  Well, a few anyway.  This was my first wave, which was very badly treated by the damned Redcoats.

 A look at the south wall as the Zulus close in.  Despite the best efforts of the Zulu indunas the British fire was very effective and many brave warriors fell as the advanced.

 At least some reached the defences, where the sharp steel of the European bayonets was a match for that of the Zulu iklwas.

 Oops, where have all the Zulu's gone?  The rules worked very well, with the larger Zulu units being gradually worn down by attritional fire before being broken at the wall,  but usually they managed to take a couple of Redcoats with them.

 the north side, where the store was swarmed quickly, but as the British had decided to burn all the supplies the Zulu's were forced to go around it.  Damned sneaky those British!

 The 2nd (or 3rd) wave of Zulu's breaches the defences, but was driven back by some devastating fire followed by a charge of rallied redcoats.  In the background you can see Reynolds finishing off, ahem, healing the wounded.

 Too many cameras.  Here we have Charlie, Jack, Michael and JJ.  I'm not sure how many photos were taken, but there is a nice report on the DWG blog by JJ.  Hopefully we will see Jacks photos too.

 More Zulu's advance as the flanks start to collapse.  Despite being ordered to send men out of the hospital to help with the defence, Colour Sergeant Bourne decided to ignore the order and kept all his troops inside.  No VC for him methinks.  It was at this point that Bromhead went down with a nasty splinter, leaving Chard to command alone.

 The krall is supposed to be for cattle, not Zulus.  Six gallant redcoats do their best to hold of 60 Zulu warriors.  They died where they stood, but held the wall.

 Windridge's men did their best but, lacking support and falling fast, they were pushed back from the barricade.  If only they had a few more men, but where were they?  Maybe somebody should check the hospital for any malingerers!  Now if only they had a redoubt to fall back too, that would have been nice!






  The wall between the store and hospital was finally in action.  It took the Zulu's a long time to get there as Charlies fire dice were damned good, whittling down several waves of attackers before they could get to charge.  the action ended as the Zulu's fell back to lick their wounds.  The British had held out again, but with horrendous losses of well over 50%.  Thanks to Nathan for putting the game on and everybody else for playing it so well.  A thoroughly enjoyable game.  Now get painting so we can do Isandlwana!

Talking of painting, here is the latest offering.  A nice 4ground mdf wagon.  It took longer than I had planned as I had to try to make it look like wood planks.

Anyway, I am off now to prepare tonight Bag the Hun game.  Have fun and I'll catch you later.