Herkybirds nest

Damsels and Indians!

2012-02-25T13:32:00.001-08:00

Well! - at least I remembered my camera this week!

We did a French and Indian war skimish this week, the scenario being a rescue of 2 ladies being held by the French after a raid, and we would run a small party of Rangers, Militia and friendly indians to free them!

The Ranger commander had 2 choices - to attack down the left of the table or the right?

He chose to bring his force down the left side!

The leading Delaware indians on the left, met the first party of ambushing Hurons..

..the greater numbers of Delawares rapidly began to tell as Hurons fell!

Losing the firefight, the remaining Hurons charged uphill with tomahawks!

The Delawares, however, butchered them and pursued into the woods!

The militia followed the Delawares..

In the centre, the Rangers and militia moved through the woods stealthily..

..Two groups of Hurons to their right saw them and attacked!

A Ranger fell, an arrow in his throat!

The Rangers formed up and returned fire.

The Hurons attacking in the open were shot up and scattered.

The Militia and Rangers continued unmolested to positions overlooking the Farmhouse.

The Delawares reached a position overlooking the river leading to the farmhouse.

The Delawares, seeing no enemy, crossed the open ground leading to the river.

The rest of the militia and delawares pushed hard to keep up!

Suddenly, from across the river, a group of Hurons fired!

One of the brave Delawares fell dead and his companions wavered!

The Hurons, seeing the Delawares halt, moved forward to take scalps!

Another of the Delawares fell, gravely injured...but they shot back.

A dead Huron floated down the river! - his companions, seeing more Delawares approaching, fell back to cover on their side of the river.

Soon, with Militia support, the Hurons were losing the fight!

Both sides raced for the river - where the Delawares were victorious!

In the centre, Ranger scouts spotted some French and indians around the Farmhouse!

...The Delawares were, meanwhile, outflanking the farmhouse...

Spotting the Ranger scouts, the Hurons at the farm raced out to attack...

..The Rangers and militia stepped forward and fired a volley!

The French and Hurons were decimated and fled!

Surrounded on all sides, the French officers surrendered their captives graciously.

..while the Delawares and other indians found some well deserved liquid cheer!

Ending (a) for ladies...

The black haired scout leader approached his beloved, and casting aside his long rifle, he caught Catherine up in his strong arms and placed a gentle kiss on her neck...

The real ending, (b) for blokes...

As the ladies approached the safety of the Ranger position, they cast an ascerbic look over the assembled officers

As they passed they were heard to comment ' At least the French are Gentlemen!' to which her companion replied, ' Well.. at least they WASH!'

Players:

Rangers: Phil

Main Militia force: Lawrence

Rear left militia: Me

Delawares, and the French: Run by the solo system!

Post combat report 29th June 1944

2012-02-20T03:47:00.001-08:00

Saturdays game (18th Feb) was a good game! - unfortunately, I was not terribly well and forgot my camera!
I got a new and supposedly better one at a local shop with 9.1 meg rather than my current 4 meg. (I had been planning to get a better camera for outside shooting in beautiful Northumberland etc anyway).
However got home and downloaded the pics, they ware all blurred and awful apart from ones I took at 5 foot or more! - So no pics of the actual game this week sadly! --Sorry!

Phil, one of our players saying 'Hi There!'

One of the 'Grande Armee' Napoleonics games on as well as us.

..and an 'Empire' Napoleonic game.

Of our game, only the 2 set up pics I took came out - with a blue tinge!

The objective of the game, a ruined house .

The markers showing the possible positions of the German defenders!

Post action report of 2nd platoon, 'C' company.1/5th Battalion, The York and Lancaster Regiment, 49th Division, of the action on 29th June 1944 (D+23)

Lieutenant David Pearce commanding

At around 10:20 gmt, 2nd platoon was detached to seize and hold a road junction being used to reinforce the recent German counterattacks. A Sherman tank was allocated for use in support of us in emergencies.

I moved my men in standard 'Arrow' formation across some fields where we came under fire from German infantry holding 2 woods to our front.

One of my NCOs was seriously injured early on, but despite 5 other casualties, the enemy were dislodged.

The platoon then occupied the woods and moved dispersed to the front edge, facing the ruined farmhouse.

Some of my men, at some distance from my position, spotted a Stug 3 hiding behind the house, they sent a runner to me, and I returned the runner with orders to assault the farmhouse when the Stug had been eliminated.

I then ordered my PIAT team up and summoned the Sherman.

Despite my orders, a private C Williams dashed across the open ground to the farmhouse with a gammon bomb, and despite being spotted by the Germans, and wounded by an MP40, he managed to damage the tracks of the vehicle with his bomb before retiring to safety. I respectfully recommend this man for a DSM.

Shortly after, his comrades in the 1st squad attempted to close assault the Stug, (my 2" mortar team belatedly attempting to give them protection with smoke rounds).

Despite losing a man to an MG40 burst as they advanced, they managed to board the tank and forced the crew to surrender.

Mention must be made of 3rd squads effective flanking rifle fire which had neutralised the enemy MG during this action.

The Sherman had been disabled by a Panzerfaust, and the PIAT team was badly placed, so the brave action by my squad leaders won us the objective.

All my men showed the greatest spirit and determination and should be commended.

(Lt D.Pearce 31st June 1944)

American Civil War - the return!

2012-02-12T09:43:00.000-08:00

We did a second playtest of the ACW skirmish rules again today, newly modified after the last game 2 weeks ago (I was working last Saturday!) - This worked much better - with only a few minor modifcations needed to the rules before our next game being identified.

Poor Ian wasn't able to join us this week as he has a poorly foot - get better soon!

The battlefield, a fenceline to the right, and stream in the distance.

The view from the fenceline.

A raw company of Federal troops from Ohio.

My Confederate opponents, Phil (left) and Lawrence.

The Virginia company, as expected deployed at the fenceline.

Most moved to line it.

..but on the left they moved toward the Federal line.

Seeing the Rebs at extreme range, 2 squads deployed and fired a volley.

1 dead and 2 wounded, poor shooting.

In their turn, one squad moved after firing, and dove for the trees.

Even though only half the enemies numbers, they disabled 2 and wounded 1!

While the Federals reloaded, the second line of Rebs fired.

..and more bluecoats fell.

The other half of the Federal platoon moved to screen their comrades, and fired.

While the other platoon reloaded, the rest moved into a wood facing the rebels.

On the Confederate side, more units moved to the wood opposite.

With no enemies in site, the (now reloaded) 1st platoon moved to their wood too.

The Rebs, mesmerised, watched the blue mass manoeuvering!

Both sides had unconsciously decided the main fight was to be between the woods.

2 squads of Rebels moved to a 'crater' to the left of their wood.

The Virginians waited.

The Union forces were almost in position to begin the fight.

Phil's men from the crater got a stern talking to!

..as they stepped out of cover and attack the Federal held wood!

The platoon on their left disobeyed orders and covered them from cover rather than join the advance!

The first volley from the Feds was virtually inneffective (I was wondering if my D8 HAD any scores above 4 or 5!)

The Confederates return fire reflected their greater confidence and ability! Youch!

One Federal squad fled, well, what was left of them!

The second line of Ohio boys advanced to relieve their friends.

..and hit the Rebs in the wood..

..and the guys advancing!

Rapidly reloading, the Rebels eschewed fire and advanced bravely on!

In the Rebel wood, a second line advanced and fired.

In a remarkable display of accurate fire, one Federal squad was literally blown apart!

The Ohians stood as the Rebels charged, whoopin' an' Hollerin'.

Belatedly, some Rebs from the wood advanced. The Feds had reloaded..

More Confederates advanced, and with their original numerical advantage gone, and the melee going badly, the Federal officer ordered the retreat!

That was a good game! - who would have thought the brave charge across open ground by the Reb left would have succeeded?

(Maybe I should have chanted 'Fredericksburg, Fredericksburg'!!!??)

The result was skewed somewhat by the vagueries of the dice, but no-one was unhappy with the result!

The whole point of dice is to randomise results!

At least we won the War!

ACW skirmish rules playtest

2012-01-30T02:46:00.000-08:00

This week, lacking Lawrence and his lovely hills and woods, we did the best we could and tried a first draft of my ACW skirmish rules...

The scenario involved a Union company of raw troops, covering a bridge, reacting to a Confederate company of Average troops moving to seize the bridge.

The Rebels advanced on a broad front.

The company command, and 1 squad moved down the road.

On the other side, the Union company moved down the road, using 1 squad in dispersed order as a screen.

The company of Raw Ohio boys outnumbered the Virginians somewhat!

Phil, having spent two happy years in lovely Georgia, was keen to lead the Confederates!

Seeing the advancing 'Bluebellies', the rebs in the road hopped over the fence to take cover in the woods.

The boys in blue reacted to the Confederate appearance by moving rapidly toward cover in some stone walled enclosures.

The second platoon moved towards the right to try and outflank the rebel positions.

The Virginians took up positions in the woods.

The 2dn platoon of Union troops waded across the stream to outflank the Rebs.

The Union 1st platoon reached the bridge frst.

..not surprising! - the Rebs had chosen their battlefield and were waiting!

The union skirmishers checked warily down the road..

..while the rest of the men filled a stone enclosure facing the bridge.

The 2nd Ohio platoon dispersed, looking for positions of advantage.

The first platoon waited hidden behind their walls.

The captain ordered the lieutenant to wait for the 2nd platoon to act before he got engaged.

half the 2nd platoon reached a convenient wood.

2nd platoons lieutenant followed a squad towards a small hill overlooking the ford.

..leaving 1 squad to join 1st platoon in the enclosure.

The 2nd platoon moved to occupy the edge of the wood.

In a very 'Butch Cassidy' moment, the central squad breasted the hill and were blown away by accurate Minie rifle fire, taking 60% casualties!

The Union troops, realising the futility of further advances, fell back further into cover, leaving the field to the victorious Virginia boys!

As a game, it was quite enjoyable, but we all felt the rules need some modification in regards to shooting to make the game more playable!

All rules need to balance the sensation of reality with playability and enjoyment.

Have to make those Minie balls less deadly at longer range, methinks!

Ah, the joys of playtesting!!!

Players:

Phil - the Confederates
Ian and myself- the luckless Unionists!

All the figures (apart from 4 Dixon figures) are Perry Plastics, having their first outing in approx 2 years since I painted them!

Happy Birthday Alte Fritz!

2012-01-21T14:17:00.000-08:00

On 24th January 2012, it is the 300th anniversary of the birth of Frederick the Great (Friedrich der Grosse).

It seemed a good idea to do a 7-years wargame to mark the event!

Both Prussian (left) and Russian forces (right) deployed in 2 lines, with cavalry on both wings.

The Russians were hampered by several woods in their deployment area

The Russian right was 2 full lines of infantry, with a battalion of dismounted dragoons and a combined grenadier battalion as reserve. 5 cavalry regiments deployed behind them.

The Russian centre, having to cover a larger gap in the woods, deployed in 2 lines, but dangerously extended. A low hill on the left was guarded by light troops only.

The Russian left was composed of a large force of Kuirassiers, Dragoons and light horse.

Facing them, the Prussin right, was Kuirassiers, backed and supported by Infantry.

The Prussian centre was 2 lines, backed by a heavy cavalry reserve.

The Prussian left was good Prussian infantry backed and flanked by Kuirassier and Dragoon regiments. These were commanded by a guest player in our game, Paddy the Prussianophile!

As the game got underway, despite the presence of some poor generals - the Russian right advanced, and the cavalry began to move into a wood on the extreme right.

Some Cossacks and Serbski hussars detached from the right wing cavalry began to filter onto some light woods on the centres right.

..This allowed the centre to advance relatively safely!

The Russian cavalry moved wide on the left wing to outflank the Prussian right.

The Prussian left was soon in contact with the Russian right.

Both sides fed in new battalions to try to overwhelm their opponents.

A fierce to and fro light cavalry battle occured when the Serbski hussars bumped into Prussian hussars coming the other way!

..In a very short time, only a weakened Serbski hussar and a single Prussian hussar unit remained!

As the Russian centre advanced, the Prussian artillery fired innefectively.

The cavalry on the Russian right tried to outflank the Prussian left wing.

As the Russian right wing fought the Prussians, the Prussian fire prevailed.

On the other wing a Russian dragoon regiment nearly beat a Prussian Kuirassier regiment! - but did manage to shred it before the dragoons broke!

In the centre however, the Prussian infantry managed to break through the extended Russian centre, forcing the Russian army to withdraw from the field while they still had their horse intact!

Perhaps a fitting victory for Fredericks birthday!

More importantly, it was a good game!

Death in the marshes

2012-01-14T16:26:00.000-08:00

Today's game was an ambush scenario in 16th century Japan.

A group of Samurai are leading a force of Ashigaru to a castle to join an army intending to attack the local Ikko-Ikki.
On their journey, they have to cross a small bridge crossing a marsh.

Suddenly - from all around, the cry 'Namu Amida Butsu' (Hail to Amida Buddha) erupts, as an Ikko-Ikki raiding force, which has been waiting in ambush, breaks cover....

The Samurai march innocently towards the bridge..

..From all around, fierce Warrior monks and their adherants appear!

Another party appears on the far side of the bridge...

..and another on the other flank!

On the hill overlooking the bridge, dozens more advance.

This force splits to attack either side of the bridge.

At the front of the column, Yumi and Tippo armed Ikko-Ikki close to lethal range.

Yama-Bushi attack from the other side.

The lightly equipped Samurai at the front run forward to escape the jaws of death!

At the rear of the column, the Samurai must react hastily!

..and form a makeshift defensive line....

- calling as many men from the bridge to support them as they can!

A line of Sohei closes on the line.

The Samurai on the bridge come under fire.

..but only one man is lightly wounded.

The Ikko-Ikki at the column rear begin to make contact and disrupt the defensive line.

At the column front, the Samurai, having drawn off a third of the ambushing force, turns and prepares to sell his life dearly.

A small group of missile troops turns behind the house, rapidly loading.

As the Sohei approach the line at the rear, the Tippo men fire to little effect.

Nearer the bridge, the Ikko-Ikki are already fighting ferociously.

At the very rear of the column, some Naginata men outflank the attacking Sohei.

..but the rest smash in to the defensive line.

The fighting is bloody! - and brutal!

The flanking Naginata men begin to get the edge in their battle..

..despite a group of peasants coming to the Sohei's aid.

In the main line, the fighting breaks up into a series of individual duels.

On the bridge, the Samurai's missile troops turn and shoot...

..a group of Ikko-Ikki Tippo men threatening their flank.

At the column front the Sohei smash in.

One group loses one of their number to the flank ambush, but turn and attack their tormentors!

As night begins to fall, both sides break off, casualties are heavy on both sides.

At the column front the Samurai beats a grateful retreat before his force is wiped out!

Some men pay the ultimate cost of covering the withdrawal, and die with honour.

So the battle ended, the Ikko-Ikki force having achieved its objective of breaking up and disrupting the Samurai force.

If the Samurai commander had used his greater mobility and raced over the bridge instead of standing, leaving a small force of Samurai to defend the far end, perhaps with shooting troops in support, forcing the Ikko-Ikki to fight across the bridge though, who knows?

Samurai - Lawrence, Ian, Phil and myself

Ikko-Ikki- run by the rules solo system.

I had a good sleep when I got home after this game - sometime it feels like you actually fought in the battle yourself!!!!

(The rules used are downloadable from Tyneside Wargames Club downloads page

The worm has turned!

2012-01-07T15:38:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to all my followers - and anyone taking the trouble to look in!

Back at the club this week at last! - We did another Wars of the Roses skirmish game...

Situation:

The game was a rearguard defending a village against an advanced force clearing the advance of a larger army.
---------------------------------------------------------

The De Laceys deployed in some woods, the Percies in the open to their left.

The De Laceys faced the village of Littlebottom.

The Nevilles, avoiding the village, arrived on he flank of the Percies.

In front of the Percies, Sir James Strangeways' retinue advanced.

The Nevilles advanced rapidly, placing some crossbowmen on a hill between their two forces.

The Strangeways slowed, and began shooting at the Percies.

The unarmoured archers on the Percy left took casulties despite the long range.

The Nevilles wheeled to support the Strangeways men.

..whose archers were also taking casualties.

The Percy archers ranks were thinning ...

.. as were their Strangeway opponents.

The Percy Men-at-Arms moved behind the embattled archers to protect their left flank.

The Percy archers began to lose the arrow fight.

The Strangeway's armoured archers were still intact.

..except on the left!

More Percy archers joined the fight.

The unarmoured archers on the left, were withdrawing however.

..as the Neville archers came into range and shot the hapless Percies!

Facing unsuperable odds, the Percies hastily retired from the field.

The Nevilles had won the day!

So, where were the De Laceys?...

Despite orders to support the Percy shooting line, they advanced to the village, and only a few crossbowmen and archers, belatedly, helped shoot the Strangeways retinue.

The Yorkist Nevilles won by coordinating their forces, and focussing their attack on the Percies on the Lancastrian left. The Strangeways also won their evenly matched fight with the Percies.

After the battle, Phil, the De Lacey commander, revealed he was surprised the battle was so quickly won.

He was trying to turn the Strangeways left...but this would have taken a lot longer than he expected!

It is often surprising to many new players in this period how much strategy and tactics are needed to win these battles, it is no more a simple 'line up and shoot' than Napoleonic warfare!

The key to winning these battles is getting a local superiority in shooting (Getting there fastest with the mostest!), so except in an open field, manoeuvre is key.

Phil - De Lacey

Me- The Percies

Ian- The Nevilles

Lawrence- The Strangeways.

The Fight before Christmas!

2011-12-18T04:36:00.000-08:00

Ah well, Christmas is nearly upon us, and the last game of this year! - We decided to do a Dark Ages game between a raiding force of Vikings, and Ian and my Anglo-Norman force.
The random army choice in the lists favoured the Vikings, so we were in for a hard fight..

Phil's lovely mounted Vikings on the Norse right

..Berserks and missile troops in the woods next to the horsemen.

Phil (left) and Lawrence. Jed (from the Napoleonics) standing.

My ally Ian's force on our left wing.

Ians peasant archers in a wood.

My Normans on the Saxon right.

Ian began the battle by advancing his archers.

I advanced my whole force to the left in their support.

The Vikings advanced from the wood to engage us.

Lawrence (the viking left) slowly advanced, allowing Phil to close with him.

The slow advance allowed the Bowmen in the Viking shieldwall to shoot the Saxons.

Phil moved a part of his force to intimidate the Saxons..but the return shooting from the Anglo Normans sent them scurrying for cover!

Arrows and slingshot bounced off the Spearmen, but Lawrences bowmen were hurt!

The doughty Saxons were holding their own!

I finally got some Norman slingers to join the fight.

..which was as well, as Ians archers were starting to suffer as Phils bowmen joined Lawrences in shooting at them.

Phil moved his Berserks and Javelinmen to their left to face my Normans.

Ian brought his Fyrdsmen forward to threaten Phils archers and Spearmen.

..who had emerged from behind the big rock!

Phils flanking force took up position on a hill facing the Normans.

He advanced his Javelinmen at the run against my slingers.

On the Right wing, Phils Bowmen taunted the Fyrd..

Faced by the Javelinmen, the Norman slingers withdrew towards their Knights.

The whole Viking force advanced towards the Normans.

The lack of armour prevented the Fyrd from facing the Viking bowmen, and the Anglo Norman archers were losing the shooting match.

The Normans were outnumbered. So seeing no chance of victory, the Anglo-Normans quit the field.

The battle was a brief skirmish, unusually, no casualties occured from melee!

It was fun!

Thats it then, off till 2012. May I take this opportunity to wish all my readers (and especially my blog followers!!) - A ..

Very Happy and Peaceful Christmas and New Year!

..Come back soon!

If you go down to the woods today....

2011-12-11T11:45:00.000-08:00

At Last!

After a months forced absence from the club, I finally got back to 'virtually' mauling and maiming - Oh Joy!

Wargaming is fun isn't it!!

We tried a French and Indian war skirmish, as Phil had finished his lovely ranger figures.

The situation:

A party of Rangers and militia are returning from a raid, with some Mohawk and Delaware indian allies.
Unfortunately, a force of Hurons is sitting in ambush along the trail.....
(We put hidden markers on to randomise the ambush positions)

Lots of possible positions for the hostiles!

A farmhouse, strangely silent.....

The river the Rangers have to cross...

The rangers and militia move cautiously down the road, Delaware indians to their left, Mohawks to their right...

The Delawares spot some Hurons across the river and open fire..

The Hurons are unhurt...

...and return fire.

One of the Delaware war leaders falls with a bullet in the head.

More Delawares join in, and a Huron is wounded.

The Ranger commander brings his men in support of the Delawares.

..as do the Mohawks.

When in range, the Rangers fire a volley...

..some of the Hurons fall back to the woods!

A third group of Hurons attempts to ford the river on the Rangers flank, but are hit by accurate Mohawk archery from the far side.

Almost all the English join in the fight.

With casualties mounting, the Hurons waver...

..then fall back to the woods.

A new group of Hurons behind the ford shoot in the flank of the Rangers and militia.

..Who turn to face the new foe..

..leaving the Delawares to cross the river in pursuit of the first Hurons.

The Delawares are aided by 2 indian scouts detached from the Rangers

Back at the ford, the Mohawks slink through the woods while the militia fire..

The Hurons at the ford dodge most of the fire!

A large group of Hurons appears and attacks the Delawares.

Leaving the militia to fight at the ford, the Rangers again come to the Delawares aid!

The ford Hurons attack disastrously at the ford, trying to take advantage of the Rangers distraction..

The Delawares, outshot, bravely charge some Hurons. The Rangers fire deals with the rest!

..but another group of Hurons appears on their flank.

Some of the Delawares attack them too in a vicious melee.

At the ford, Huron archers trade shafts with the Mohawks.

..they retreat in the face of greater numbers.

The Militia have arrived!

The surviving - victorious- Delawares move toward the ford too.

The Rangers beat off a small counter attack.

At last, the ford is cleared of hostiles, and the way home is clear......perhaps?

It was a fairly confusing battle with Hurons popping up from all over the place, but good cooperation between the players ensured a comprehensive victory!

Ian - The Mohawks
Phil- The Rangers
Lawrence- The Militia
Me- the impetuous Delawares!

Wings of war campaign games

2011-11-13T05:05:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Saturday, I had my last club day for a month, due to work and family commitments mostly, so we did a WW1 air day. Seems appropriate for Remembrance weekend.

We managed to get 3 games in during the day, the newly modified solo system running the German aircraft is quite as fast as the old version!
The first game was a ground attack mission - we had to find the correct target (out of 4) to destroy.
All the markers were MG armed (B damage deck) armed. The primary target had 2 (B) guns.

Phil and I took our SE5a's toward 1 target.

Ian and Lawrence headed for another.

We immediately found the Primary target, and all our planes proceeded to pummel it into dust. Our aircraft took a little damage only, mainly as the ground guns kept on jamming at critical moments!

The second game diced up as another Ground attack game, but with only 3 possible targets to find the primary target in!

Once again we were aided by the ground guns jams...

But as we attacked, 2 Pfaltz scouts came out to play too!

We managed to evade them and once again blasted the target!

The third game was the best...Ian had to survive 12 game turns on table in the middle of a 'Circus' - with enemy and friendly aircraft joining at random..

In a confused action we ended up with 11 planes swarming round, but the system gave us more allied scouts, so we prevailed!

The Germans lost a Pfaltz scout and a Fokker DR1, we escaped relatively unscathed! - interestingly, the best performing scout was a Nieuport 17 run by the solo system!! - Ho Hum!

Before the games, Phil showed us more of his splendid artwork on some militia for the French and Indian wars skirmish games we do.

(Very nice they are too! - My only sadness is that of 4 pictures I took of them only this one came out!!!)

As always, the solo rules used are available on our clubs download page: Wings of War Solo rules

There are variants (for a few planes) by Shaun Mather at the top, some for the WW2 version of WofW, then mine at the bottom.

The reconquest of England

2011-11-06T11:58:00.000-08:00

This game is another 'What if' game, assuming the Germans had invaded jolly old England in 1940.

Our scenario supposes a platoon strength force of Fallschirmjager (paratroops) have seized a vital crossroads in Kent, and a hotch-potch force has been detailed to shift them!

The battlefield objective was the road junction, and the overlooking farmhouse.

The British, a platoon of regulars, with an attached Vickers MMG and an A9 and A10 tank moved from their starting position in an estate. The farm looked undefended.

The main force, with the tanks, were detailed to advance down the road, while my section took the right. My job was to support the road attack.

To this end, My men crossed a low ridge...

..and, with the Vickers, set up behind the estate wall.

To my left, Ian's and Lawrences sections, with the tanks, passed through the estate gate.

A small group of Germans in the farm fired at the road...

..but my Bren team engaged them from behind the wall!

The tanks forged to the attack.

..but not before the Germans disabled my Bren's No 2.

Another group of German infantry appeared at the other side of the farm.

..but failed to spot the approaching British on the road.

This group was ambushed by accurate rifle, light mortar and bren fire, and fled.

Back on my side the tanks finished off the Germans in the field.

..allowing my men to break cover and follow.

The tanks moved forward with my men in support..

Ian's command group and followed after my men, and towards the farmhouse.

A Pak 36 37mm A/T round saw the A9 and fired, but narrowly missed.

The tanks beat a hasty retreat, leaving the gun to the infantry.

The gun crew, and their supporting troops began to take casualties...

..as more British infantry joined the fight.

The Pak 36 fired at my Bren team, wounding and suppressing them.

The Vickers and a the 2"mortar made short work of them.

The British seized the deserted farmhouse.

My men were detailed to hold the farmhouse, but as the Bren team took position in an upper window, they were wiped out by shooting from a nearby field.

The tanks, and their supporting 2 squads drove the ambushing section back.

The Germans tried to fight their way past the farmhouse.

Their fire forced my men behind the farmhouse to fall back.

The Germans could not deal with the tanks, their MG 34 set up in a wood to cover them.

Faced with overwhelming strength, the remaining Germans beat a retreat.

This effectively ended the battle. I imagine in real life, we would have been soon under Stuka attack!
The Anti-tank rifle, flamethrower and infantry we had not met yet would have then probably caused us some problems!

We were lucky in the German dispositions, we had managed to engage them advantageously at almost every turn, and the unlucky miss by the A/T gun sealed the Germans fate.

It is very different fighting these early war actions, the lack of decent Infantry Anti-tank weapons can make even poxy tanks like the A9/A10 quite potent!

Good game, I must thank Ian for the use of his lovely BEF miniatures!, and Lawrence for his pictures- some of mine were blurred at critical points in the action!

Some more of our pictures can be seen on the club blog: Tyneside Wargames club blog

Channel bash

2011-10-22T15:49:00.000-07:00

The trouble with solo systems is that they can do extreme things that players would never do - actually, that is probably a good thing!- but today it made a very tough opponent!!!!
As usual, the ships of the convoy were represented by inverted markers. We had mixed the counters representing ships with an equal number of dummy counters, then removed a third so we would not know which, and how many, ships were in the convoy. As this represented a North-South convoy in the North sea in early 1943, 2 lines of merchantmen were flanked by a line of escorts...

The escorts (left) between the Germans and the merchantmen.

The E-Boats (8) were spread on the side opposite the escorts, in pairs.

Creeping along silently on electric motors, they spotted several escorts.

Unusually, the convoy was protected by several Flower class corvettes, Isles class trawlers and motor launches!

The larger vessels presented problems for the players....

Phil...wondering what a 4" gun might do to his boats!

Ian..showing Joe how good a Flower class is!

Just before a Hunt type 2 escort destroyer appeared as well at the rear!

Several merchantmen were sheltering behind this line of steel!

The escorts and freighters were alerted, and began evading when an E-Boat was spotted!

Coming under ineffective long range fire, some of the E-Boats shot torpedoes.

..before beating a hasty retreat!

Ians boats withdrew without shooting, under a smokescreen.

The fearsome Hunt class managed a long range salvo..

..which straddled an E-Boat.

The convoy spotted the approaching torpedoes and turned to 'comb' their tracks.

A second group of torpedoes appeared amongst the rear of the convoy.

Back at the front of the convoy, a Flower class survived 2 near torpedo passes, the other 2 went on to try and sink England......!

At the rear the torpedoes missed, though a collier was VERY lucky to evade one!

One torpedo, luckily, ran through to a collier in the second row which had not been seen, but the torpedo exploded close to the target, damaging the ships stern seriously.

With the convoy alerted, the Schnellboots withdrew into the dark, grateful to escape undamaged!....though with nothing to show for their efforts!

In reality, convoys of this sort normally only had a few trawlers, backed up by 1 or more larger escorts.
We could only assume a group of escort vessels were relocating from Scotland to Southern England and were tagging along!!!!

Not the best game of this we have ever had, but interesting nonetheless!

Norman's menagerie!

2011-10-16T06:52:00.000-07:00

Once again, I was working at the hospital on a Saturday...(sigh!) --rather than having well deserved fun with the lads at the Wargames club!

As usual, I was able to pop in on my lunchbreak to see what was happening...

Phil (AKA Norman D Landings on TMP) was using my Colonial rules - with a few modifications-- to do a Hunt in Africa!
To this end he had painted up some interesting animals for the players to shoot:

Some Elephants, a Rhino, some Thompson's Gazelles...

3 confused looking Crocks...

..and a petit pride of Lions! (Gotta love those Goofy teeth!)

So what about the game? - Phil was scribbling away on a pad and Lawrence was Happy-Snapping with his camera.

The After Hunt Report - I am assured, will be on Lawrences Blog: Eclectic Expanding Empires --sometime after Wednesday!

I managed to see a small part of the action...

The terrain was based around a long winding river - to give the Crocodiles and Rhino somewhere to hang out, I suppose!......

The players (Ian, Joe and Phil - Lawrence was GameMastering) had a Hunter with a couple of Locals with rifles backing them up - Ian had in addition...

A supply convoy, escorted by a few, apparently nervous, locals.

First kill was a harmless Thompson's gazelle (bye-bye Bambi!)

Second kill was by an irate local....!

..who was himself sunk by a hail of lead! - while the caravan headed for cover!

After securing their trophies, the Hunters moved onwards.

The caravan following on.....

That was all I saw! - I had to head back to the Salt Mines at that point. Ah well, I look forward to seeing what happened afterwards when Lawrence gets his Blog post together!
(ED: This is now up on Lawrences blog at: Hunting memoirs! - Well worth a read!)

Next week -- with luck--Coastal forces! - and I am not working!!! - :-D

On Afghan's plain...

2011-10-08T14:47:00.000-07:00

Today (Saturday) there was only Lawrence and me skirmishing, all the rest were doing Spearhead with 1941 Italians and British!

We tried a new sort of Colonial skirmish - in the Second Afghan war.

I painted a company of Wargames Factory British soon after they came out, and they have stayed in a box since then. It was nice to get a few out after all this time!

The scenario was that a british camp has been shot at sporadically by an Afghan gun, so the British send a platoon size force into the hills to try to silence it.

(The Afghans were randomly placed and run by the rules' solo system)

The force contains 20 Sikh guides, and 20 British regulars..

Our column, led by the Sikhs, pushed on down the valley edge..

A pair of Sikh scouts probed ahead carefully.

The British stood back in reserve, guarding the rear.

They spotted a fierce group of Ghazi in ambush!

The first group of Sikhs fired a ragged volley..

..The enraged Ghazi charged in!

The Sikhs outflanked the Ghazis, and with difficulty..

..killed them all!

The Sikhs continued their advance, leaving 2 dead, and with several wounded.

Soon, they (and the British) saw and engaged Afghans in a ruined house.

The Sikh scouts were both hit by return fire.

..but soon the Afghans, outshot, retreated to a second building.

The British moved on, leaving half the force to watch the buildings.

The first Sikh group took cover...

..as the flank force spotted and killed the Afghan chief in the second house!

The force that had fallen back from the first house then retreated again.

Followed by the Chief's bodyguards.

Half of the British followed up aggressively.

And half the force pushed on round the house

..while continuing to shoot at the retreating Afghans.

Ouch!

The advance force was now involved against a new force..

..with devastating results!

They then came under fire from another hidden unit.

The British were able to reply with massive fire..

..and wiped them out in seconds.

The British followed up - and on the next hill saw the gun they were after..

Unspotted by the gun crew, the British shredded the gun crew with accurate fire.

As the last 2 crew attempted to drag the gun away, the gun was captured at beyonet point!

Further back, the Sikhs attacked another hill.

Neither side caused many shooting casualties despite the range.

..So the Afghans charged in!

The Sikhs lost their Subedar in the melee...

..but were victorious!

The objective of the mission achieved, the Empire force retired to base dragging the Ancient cannon with them!

This was a fun game! - very close at times. The losses of Empire troops were minimal (4 dead and 8 wounded) - mainly thanks to unlucky Afghan shooting dice!

Players:

Lawrence : The Sikhs

Me : The British

The rules can be freely downloaded from Colonial Skirmish rules

A rush to the shops - 1757!

2011-10-02T02:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday (Saturday) - we returned to the French and Indian wars!

I had picked up 3 nice 'Trading post' buildings at the Border Reiver show in Newcastle a couple of weeks back and was pleased to be able to give them an airing!

The French and Indians were a mixed party of Hurons, Compagnie franche de la Marine troops and a few members of la Milice.
Their aim would be to burn the Trading post.
(These would be run by the games solo system.)

On the English right, a warband of Mohawks held the woods..

In the centre stood the Militia, and backwoodsmen.

..backed up by the storekeepers family!

First contact was made by my 3 scouts - on the far side of the river.

Both sides fired with no effect.

The Hurons rushed the house..

...But my men had escaped!

On the other side of the line, more Hurons were fording the stream..

..Backed up by hordes of French and irregulars.

In the centre, more Huron scouts met the Militia..

..and were thrown into confusion!

Th Mohawks also met Huron scouts..

A fierce skirmish developed!

The militia in the centre, being outflanked, fell back to the Trading post.

On the left, The French pushed through the house and forded the river...

..but came under fire from Militia and my scouts.

The second wave reinforced the attack.

..with equally little success!

In the centre, the Hurons were sniping at the militia in the post.

Then attacked!

Back on the left, the militia faced the French bravely..

..but were fiercely engaged!

After a fierce hand to hand battle, the militia prevailed!

My scouts helped repulse the Milice who were pushing round the militias flank.

The battle turned, soon all the French and Indians were falling back from the militia..

..and the Mohawks!

Belatedly, some Hurons who had been 'partying' in the house emerged to help -- too late!

So the close run battle ended! - The arrival of Lawrence's daughter Elanor seemed to have changed our luck! - Thanks pet!

The Players:

Ian - Mohawks

Lawrence and Phil- Militia

Me - Scouts.

Elanor - Good Luck Charm!!!

The rules can be downloaded freely from: French and Indian war rules

Almost a battle!

2011-09-24T15:05:00.000-07:00

At Last! - I had finished repainting my Earl of Northumberland retinue for the Wars of the Roses. I was pleasantly surprised to find I like the historically accurate Gules and Sable livery as much as the previously used Russet Or and Tawny!

So, for their first outing!...

The battle would take place in a quite congested area..

A Cardinal (!!!) berating the locals in a small hamlet.

The peasantry about their tasks near Thirlwall castle.

My Percy retinue..the extreme left wing.

The main body on their way to the hamlet.

Their De Lacey allies on their right awaiting the Montagu attack.

...in safety behind a wood.

The Montagues appeared facing Phil's De Laceys.

...In some force!

The Percies hastened to support the De Laceys.

The Montagues advanced confidently.

Atop Thirlwall castle, the Percy garrison watched in alarm!

The montagu forces split to face both Lancastrian forces.

The Percy flank guard tried to outflank the Montagues.

The De Laceys moved into the wood, unable to face the Yorkists alone..

The Montagues moved to positions on the Large hill and the road.

..leaving crossbowmen to protect their right flank.

The Percies cautiously approached the hamlet.

Their forward archers came under crossbow shot from down the road and sought cover.

Some Percy spearmen reconnoitred ahead.

And observed the Montagues who moved onto the road.

..and the large hill.

The main Percy body reached the hamlet..

..their flanking force moved round the hamlet.

The Montagues in the road saw a spearman observing them and let fly...

The wind was with the archers...

The hapless spearman fell in a hail of arrows!

The Cardinal and his flock decided discretion was the order of the day!

The Percy archers moved to either side of the house to trade shots..and hopefully prompt the De Laceys to emerge in support...

..but they stayed safely in their wood!

So outshot, the Percies moved back into cover.

With neither side willing to fight in the open, and with all sides lacking sufficient numbers of men-at-arms to force the issue in the woods, the battle ceased.

The terrain - and the cautiousness of the attacking Yorkists prevented any serious action developing, which was a pity!

Though both sides carried arms.

Scarce any man was shot.

Such was the stand of thirlwall

For a battle it was not!

Another working Saturday...Sigh!

2011-09-21T12:56:00.000-07:00

I was working yet again last Saturday...but managed to snap a few shots at the club during my lunch break:

Craig, Pete and Frankie doing a Chinese battle using their 'Great Captains' rules.

..The usual hordes of Napoleonic players!

..doing 6mm this week - looked good!

Ian, Lawrence and Phil, my usual cohorts, were trying the 'Tinker Fox' wars of religion campaign system for English civil war..they seem promising, with a few modifications?

One of Ian's garrisons, defending a barrier from a different civil war????

Being attacked by Lawrence and Phil's whitecoats..

..and Horse.

The Dastardly Royalists won apparently!

I will be gaming for the next 3 weeks if all goes well before I work another Saturday.

The next game we plan to do will be a Wars of the Roses skirmish with my (hopefully repainted in the correct livery at last!) Percies!

Back from the boring month of August!

2011-09-10T14:33:00.000-07:00

Well - we got back today to the important business of wargaming at the club after the holidays!

We were doing a refight of a game the lads did when I was working a month ago. Normans vs Saxons and Vikings.

My Normans held the left of the line..

..While Phil's cavalry heavy force took the right.

Facing Phil were Ian's Saxons.

..and I was left facing the Vikings.

The battle began with a Norman advance..

The Vikings also advanced.

Only the Axemen and slingers on the Saxon left advanced, the rest of the Saxons stood.

The Norman right veered towards the centre.

..and began to take injury from the Saxon slings.

Stung by the shooting, the Norman cavalry moved ahead to charge!

..they were now being shot at by Vikings as well.

..and their horses were suffering.

The rest of the Vikings paused their advance to watch!

The Normans crossbowmen shot in support of their horse.

..This upset the Viking archers somewhat!

The advancing Norman horse was shot at heavily, but forced the Viking bows to evade.

..they then turned to face their tormentors on the flank.

Behind them the infantry advanced remorselesly.

The forward Norman horse pursued the Saxon bows into a wood.

..while in the centre, Norman and Saxon spearmen closed.

On the Norman left, I had left some slingers to harrass the Vikings.

..while the rest of my force went to help Phil.

..whose spearmen were suffering from slingshots.

The Saxons formed up to face Phils force in the centre.

My Lord and his 2 knights moved to protect the flank in support of the crossbowmen.

Phil's Knights and infantry charged into the Saxons, and soon a fierce melee developed.

But unsupported by the Vikings, who were still chasing slingers...

The Normans won in the centre, and hence the battle!

The battle was quite a confused affair, as the terrain stopped conventional deployments or tactics for both sides.

Normans: Phil and Me

Saxons: Ian

Vikings: Lawrence

Percy Livery colours

2011-09-06T14:57:00.000-07:00

I have recently been researching the Livery colours used by the Earls of Northumberland- especially during the Wars of the Roses.

Several sources suggested Gules and Sable (Red and Black), but 2 modern books, namely Osprey's 'The Wars of the Roses' and WRG's 'Armies of the Middle Ages, Vol 1' said the Livery colours used was Russet, Or and Tawny (Brown, yellow and orange).

I took their advice, especially as T Wise's Osprey book quoted the College of Arms as his source.

I contacted Alnwick castle, and their archivist referred me to a book available on Project Guttenberg. This used an archeological study of church windows etc. This book suggested Gules and Sable except for The 4th Earl, who's troops fought with Henry viii in France in 1513, who may have used Russet,Or and Tawney. To be sure, I approached the College of Arms myself.

The Lancaster Herald, Robert Noel, was very helpful, and sent a fairly comprehensive reply, as well as several copied pages from the seminal volume 3 of 'Heraldic Badges in England and Wales' by M.P.Siddons, Wales Herald Extraordinary of the College of Arms.

The summation is as follows;

From this I think it is reasonable to assume the Percies retinue troops wore Gules and Sable during the majority of the medieval period.

Time to do some repainting......(sigh!)

Wish I was there!

2011-07-30T13:35:00.000-07:00

Once again I was having to work on Saturday - Man - I wish work would get a new person in post to do evenings and Saturdays so I can get my club Saturdays back!!

All I managed was half an hour during my lunchtime. Several games were in progress.....

15mm Napoleonics - Did someone forget their glasses?

Prussians! - dropping a standard - disgraceful!

Les Francaises, avec les bent bayonets!

Craig and Frankie were doing Medievals with their Great Captains rules.

Lots of Swiss - I like Swiss!

Yep, definitely like Swiss --Swiss...Roll!

..Like Knights too!

..More Napoleonics..

Kieron (Blackadder in our last game) seems to be enjoying himself?

Back in my corner of the club, Lawrence and Ian sorting Saxons and Vikings.

Phil (right) chattering with li'l Pete.

Phil-- (Norman D Landings on TMP)s...Normans!

Saxons beware!?

..They didnt do so well against the Saxon shield wall, I later heard!

Looked impressive till then though....

This was the last club meet till September 10th I think, as we have a sort of summer break.

We are at Border Reiver at the Newcastle Arena on 3rd September, then back killing each other on the 10th.

Can't wait....!

In Memoriam

2011-07-24T12:27:00.000-07:00

My poor little cat, Holly, Died this afternoon after a short illness.

She was 17, and had recently gone blind. Death was a blessing for her, as for so many when the time comes. I will miss her!

Holly came to us 15 years ago from Cats Protection.

We had got a little tom, Mr Tibbs, who is still with us, but as a young energetic cat, his attitude was 'Play with me or I WILL play with you'!

We got Holly to keep him amused - it worked!

The day after she came we got a phone call, from CP, warning us 'Watch out, Holly can open fridges!' - too late, our tea was in the cat!

We got a child fridge lock, but whenever it didnt click on properly she was back in the fridge at night helping herself!

She always kept us amused with her cute ways, EG: she loved chasing sunlight reflections from my watch on the carpet and rolling luxuriously, as only cats can, on concrete!

When I got back from work in the evening, Mr Tibbs would meeow incessantly till he was fed, then Holly would sit by my chair till I sat down and jump lightly onto my chest and stare at my face for a minute at about 3" distance, tickling me with her whiskers, then, after I had stroked her, she would circle round for some quality lap time!

I will remember her!

Return to Thirlwall Castle

2011-07-23T13:37:00.000-07:00

As my last club game before the summer break (I am working again next Saturday), we did a 'Return to Thirlwall Castle' game.

The Nevilles, having been driven from Thirlwall castle First battle of Thirlwall Castle in the last game, decided to try to seize the small but vital bastion to further their ends in Tynedale.

To that end they had been in contact with Sir Percival Thirlwall trying to make him cast aside his Lancastrian allegiance and side with the Nevilles.

No one is quite sure if this subterfuge has worked. The Nevilles have sent soldiers to force the issue.

The Percies and De Laceys have gathered a scratch force to face them.

Their left was similar, but had a large group of Handgonners.

Facing these, on the Percy right, De Lacy had placed his men in depth.

The Percies on De Lacy's left were purely Longbowmen supported by Knights.

On the Percy left stood Thirlwall castle, its garrison giving no sign as to which side, if any, they supported.

The Percies advanced warily, watching them on their lines left.

The Neville right advanced a unit of archers through a wood.

Their left advanced slowly toward a House and bridge to their front.

The De Lacey's were waiting..

The Castle garrison advanced - but where were they going, and what were they doing?

A group of De Lacey crossbowmen went over to check them out!

..Then shot at long range at some archers on the Neville left who had been bouncing arrows off the advancing De Lacy Knights!..the crossbowmens shooting was impressive!

The Neville right, seeing the large Percy force advancing, fell back.

But what was Edmund Blackadder doing with that horse from the castle?

The Percy archers, ignoring Blackadder, shot at the Neville right.

..with effect!

Neville archers from all over the battlefield replied..

The casualties on both sides were heavy.

Some Neville archers tried to turn the Percy right, but came under heavy shooting from some unengaged Percy archers.

In the centre the battle continued!-but the outnumbered Nevilles began to lose more men. The garrisons archers were even supporting the Percies by now!!

The Percies and De Lacys had achieved shooting superiority. Seeing the balance of casualties turn against him, the Neville commander grudgingly left the field to the house of Lancaster!

Players:

Ian( left in pic above): The Nevilles

Phil(Right in pic above): The De Laceys

Kieron (Jed's son) : The castle garrison and Blackadder

Me: The Percies

Kieron was given a random task from a dozen possible ones. He picked 2 chits from a box and chose 1 task to do.

He actually drew 'Act as player wishes' but had discarded 'Escort blackadder to the inn'. As it was, he actually tried to do both tasks!!

There is hope for our young teenagers after all!

The Neville right consisted of armoured archers and Men-at-arms.

New Stug IIIs!

2011-07-17T13:15:00.000-07:00

This is a kind of supplimentary post to the last game!

I recently got a few Stug IIIs for skirmishing with from Bolt Action and Die Waffenkammer...

The 4 Stugs, painted in a similar camouflage style, can you tell the Die Waffenkammer Stug from the 3 Bolt Action ones?

This is one of the Bolt Action ones.

..And this is the Die Waffenkammer one!

I actually prefer the Die Waffenkammer one - just! - it was a bit more expensive but came with an option of gun mantlets and Machine gun shields. It also had enough bits and bobs - satchels, blankets, Jerrycans et al to festoon all 4 vehicles!

I am seriously impressed with the ranges of 28mm WW2 vehicles coming out at the moment!

Happy Gaming everyone!

Russian into trouble!

2011-07-16T13:40:00.000-07:00

This week, we returned to the Russian front!..

We commanded small platoons of Heroic Soviet infantry supported by a platoon of T-34s, in an attempt to throw the Fascists out of Mother Russia!

It is early spring 1944.

advances to reclaim the Motherland from the evil grip of the Fascist invaders are beginning again after the winter pause, casualties are being sustained which could slow the army's advances and extend the Great Patriotic War into 1945. Without concrete help from the allies in the west, the Red Army of Workers and Peasants would have to bear the burden of the war alone....

On the Soviet right, a large platoon of irregulars drafted into service ..

..In the centre, the main body of Soviet infantry advanced with their Armour.

..The irregulars were supported by a Kommisar and his NKVD aides.

In the centre, the infantry were left behind by their armour.

First blood went to a Fascist sniper shooting from rough ground at the Guerrillas.

A nurse rapidly and heroically came to his aid.

Suddenly, on her left, a squad of Guerrillas was virtually wiped out by a mortar barrage--she would need more bandages!!!

The fleeing survivors were 'encouraged' back to their duty by the Kommisar.

Meanwhile, the rest of the irregulars cleared the rough ground ahead.

On the Russian left a Panzerjager group fired at the T-34 there, but both rounds failed to detonate!

More Russian infantry and tanks appeared to support the lead formations..

Back on the left the Russians overran the Panzerschreck teams.

As the Guerrillas advanced they came under fire from a German squad hidden in a depression. A Panzerfaust destroyed a T-34 moving round their flank.

The Guerrillas and scouts began to fight back...

..and soon the Fascisti were overwhelmed!

..but not before causing several casualties...

..as the fascists retreated they were severely mauled by their pursuers.

In the centre, the Russian reserves advanced in support.

More German infantry and armour had appeared...and had stalled the Russian left's attack .

The Stug destroyed another tank - and the crew baled out to take cover in the woods.

With support from the reserve platoons, the brave Soviet infantry on the left began to clear enemy infantry at the point of the beyonet!

The brave Soviet infantry continued to lose heavily however, and with a heavy heart the Russian commander, now realising he did not have enough troops for the task, signalled the retreat.....For now...

The Soviets had come across a (randomly generated) strongpoint!

Once again, the solo system had outfought us!

Players: Ian - Guerrillas

Phil --Centre platoon.

Daniel--Left platoon

Lawrence and me--the reserves

The rules are available at: WW2 Skirmish Rules