The Defence of Futabad

Ever the stout hearted friend Phil one more embarked on the great trek to GHQ for our weekly game as I'm still inconvenienced by my foot injury. We were joined by William, my second oldest grandson, for his first real wargame. Phil has recruited William to the Imperial forces, mainly for his exceptional record with the dice when he's playing against Grandad! The scenario sees the Japanese defending a munitions depot against a probing attack. Onomoro must preserve his samurai heritage and reputation by defending the depot and seeing off the attackers. As usual now an annotated photomontage to carry you down hopefully into the action ~

Onomoro issues instructions to his second in command from the relative safety of the former governor's residence!

His men however have rather less substantial cover from the expected attack...

The general appearance of the battlefield from the Japanese perspective...

...and from the Imperial forces' view of the same. Now on to the action ~

The Forward Observer team is placed anywhere on the Imperial half of the table. It can neither be moved nor targeted afterwards.

The Imperial side has 12 elements, but only 10 Bolt Action dice. This is intended to partly simulate the difficulty of coordination in a jungle environment.

The eccentric aristocrat Lord Rawnsley and his 2nd in command 'Mad Bill' Watkins oversee the dispositions of their forces 

British troops in the foreground, Gurkhas in the middle distance. The 'off  table' artillery is represented in the far distance by the 105mm Light Howitzer.

Onomoro's defence is necessarily spread thinly. On the far right infantry are dug in behind log defences.

His main defence line stretches out from Futabad towards the muddy waters of the minor river.

The high ground is a prime location for his main anti tank artillery.

Lord Rawnsley instructs 'Mad Bill's in his mission on the left flank. Putting William in charge of the Bolt Action dice turned out not to my advantage!

Onomoro sends one group of infantry forward to occupy an advanced defensive position in the ruined gardens to the front of Futabad.

The Imperial forces storm forward all along the front stretching Onomoro's defensive options from the outset.

The Gurkhas reach the outskirts of the ruined farm ready to assault Futabad, their flank covered by the advancing British infantry.

Despite reaching their objective in Turn 2 the Japanese infantry find themselves under mortar fire directed by the Forward Observer. To their right a small unit of Tank Hunters advance hoping to engage the Matilda as it advances!

On the Imperial left 'Mad Bill's' infantry make for the relative safety of the high ground despite the ragged fire from Onomoro's defenders lining the river bank log defences.

The Gurkhas have consolidated their position around the farm ruins ready to assault Futabad. The British infantry are heading directly for the Japanese defensive lines. 

The Gurkhas are in position ready for the signal for the assault to begin in Turn 3.

The Japanese Forward Observer has struggled to direct fire on the advancing enemy, failing to establish radio contact with his various options.

"What do I need for a hit, Phil?"

"Six!"

"OK!" 

This is why you need William on your team. 

On the Imperial left, having gained the high ground, the British infantry pour down fire on the Japanese below.

It's all too much for these remnants as their morale collapsed and they fled for their lives!

The Gurkhas begin their assault on Futabad, moving cautiously through the cover afforded by the farm ruins.

The dug in infantry gun trades fire with the distant Matilda with little success. The accumulation of Pin markers hampers it's effectiveness.

The British advance through a minefield, fortunately finding it's a dummy! Machine guns are now deployed to support the developing assaults along the front.

On their left, having eliminated the enemy to their front, the British infantry prepare to probe the rear of the Japanese defense line 

Turn 4 sees the Japanese infantry defending the ruined gardens destroyed and the Gurkhas moving in to take advantage of the cover.

The Japanese Forward Observer directs successful mortar fire on their new position. Will it be enough to deter their planned assault?

The centre of Onomoro's defensive line is coming under repeated artillery, mortar, tank and machine gun fire which sees Pin markers mounting alarmingly. Attempts to Rally the troops are only partially successful.

On the Imperial right the Gurkhas press forward for the final assault on Futabad in Turn 4.

Banzai! The Japanese infantry throw themselves on the enemy now occupying the reverse of the log defences along the riverbank. Despite their best intentions they are roundly defeated in close combat and flee!

The Forward Observer calls down smoke from the 3" mortar to cover the Gurkhas' assault! By this stage Futabad is very thinly defended, need he have bothered?

The assault goes in under the cover of the smoke shells! Only the mortar crew and two snipers remain in position to offer any resistance.

Turn 5 ends with the Imperial forces in the ascendancy all along the Futabad front.

It's all up for Onomoro's failed defence of Futabad as Turn 6 leads to more Japanese losses as Onomoro's force disintegrates in the face of overwhelming odds.

All's well that ends well though thanks to Sue! Lunch on the patio makes a perfect end to a morning's wargaming. Next week in GHQ it's back to the Punic Wars as Haztrubel Bicca takes on Coronus Cunctator.

ᛏᚺᛖ ᛊᚨᚷᚨ ᛟᚠ ᛒᛁᚲᚲᚨ ᛒᛁᚲᚲᚨᛊᛊᛟᚾ

While Sue and I were staying down in Dorstone last month, visiting with Matt, Sarah, Arthur and Reuben, we were treated to a preview of the resin test casts of Matt's forthcoming range of Vikings for Footsore Miniatures' campaign on Kickstarter. I must stress right at the beginning that these are test castings to check alterations which might be needed to either the figure or to its position in the mold. In no way should you take these castings to indicate that figures and molds are ready to go into production yet. There is a well laid out timescale for these very reasons.

I know I am a tad biased, but in my honest opinion the figures are simply wonderful, full of movement, life and character. I am a modest backer of the Kickstarter, my very first venture in that format as you may recall I have previously confessed. Like most other wargamers in my experience I am like a child before Christmas waiting for my September delivery. I have however been able to partly assuage that familiar feeling as Matt gifted me a handful of these figures to paint before their release. No more rambling on then here is my first attempt, Bicca Biccasson himself no less ~

I have clothed him in red and blue; these more expensive colours being a sign of his superior status, if you like his Dark Age bling! I have left off a shield design for now until I see what their transfers are like; I may be able to use them or copy the simpler patterns. His small group of followers are well underway now, I'll post them in due course when they're at a similar stage of completion. There has been no basing as yet you'll have noticed I expect. Well, that's simply because I'm not sure what I might do with my order: add to the 1066 & All That project; or perhaps a bit of Norse mythology using Dragon Rampant ~ for the grandchildren, naturally? Dwarves, Valkyries, Trolls, Ice Giants, Dragons and so on! The Saga of Bicca Biccasson beckons...?

"It is I, Leclerc!"

A little something to brighten up your weekend perhaps. I have been meaning, for eons it seems, to finish this little piece depicting 'loot' which can act as an objective or as table decoration, a frippery if you like, but, well you know how things go... Anyway, printing out some craft sheets for Sue I thought I might as well print out one of the most forged pictures in TV history, the 'Fallen Madonna with the Big Boobies' by Van Klomp. The setting for this supreme example of the Renaissance painters skills is a 3D print from Dan at Wargames Illustrated ~

As a forger I thought that Leclerc would never settle for just one copy, so I printed out a second smaller version for the frame on the reverse - after all, you can't have too much insurance in uncertain times, can you? As an added bonus of course it can turn up in pretty much any genre from the Italian Wars onwards.

As fripperies go it's not likely to win any prizes but it has amused and diverted me from my woes; as has the delivery of my order from Aventine Miniatures for the bones of a Pyrrhic army, slated to be next year's project I hope ~

As Keith at Aventine Miniatures has been exceptionally busy since announcing his plan to retire in September 2026, I wonder how long it will be now until my follow up order arrives...?

Best foot forward!

Continuing the theme of random items from the Lead Pimple having their moment under the brush here is a base of Light Artillery for the Borgias of Cesare and his father Pope Alexander VI ~

The gun and three crew figures are from the venerable Front Rank range of late medieval figures, now of course owned by Gripping Beast down in Evesham. I ordered the set for collection at Partizan back in May, so they've hardly had any time in the Lead Pimple at all!

Underway next though are a base of Late Roman Clibanarii from Foundry's vintage range. A test resin/plastic Footsore Viking is also on the painting desk, so keep an eye out for Olaf there. Next week's game here in GHQ will continue the Asian theme, shuffling across to Burma and forward in time to 1943.

In the meantime my copy of Hail Caesar - The Punic Wars Rulebook arrived on Wednesday morning. It included a free sprue...of 28mm WWII Germans! On a scale of 1-10 for 'Stupid' I'd have to give Warlord Games a 9.5 for that choice of sprue! An Epic sprue would have been nice, as I've already acquired seven from friends and relatives towards a small game for my grandson William who at 10 is a keen wargamer and visitor to GHQ.

Going Toe to Toe...

...in any recreation of the Charge of the Light Brigade here in GHQ are two of the character figures from Great War Miniatures set of three. Readers with a better memory than me will recall seeing my take on Captain Nolan in an earlier post. 

The remaining two figures were staring so forlornly at me from the Lead Pimple that I finally succumbed and gave them their moment under the brush. The two comprise Captain William Morris and the 17th Lancers' regimental butcher Jack Vahey. They are mounted as a pair, not so much as a Command base, but rather another Frippery to decorate the table ~

As you can't help but notice the Great War Miniatures figures are considerably larger than their Foundry colleagues so they are best kept in separate elements in my opinion. I saw recently that the Lancer packs seem to be available again on North Star's site, so perhaps Aly is reworking the masters for the 'out of production' Light Brigade figures? I suppose I could buy these now and paint them as the 12th Lancers, adding the second Light Dragoon and Hussar regiments in due course. Lots more in the Lead Pimple though, so it's just a thought, at present... Meanwhile next figures up across the painting desk sees a return to the Italian Wars collection. More on those in due course.

Just in case you have missed it there is a new gaming post over on my sister blog, Tales from Rhanzlistan - see sidebar for link. Why not pop over and see how our old foes Robinski and 'Tubby' Bykleigh fared in a renewal of hostilities?

Getting a Toe Hold...

...on the Lead Pimple! Freed at last, even if only temporarily, from the treadmill of the Crimean War project I have embarked on a painting spree featuring odds and ends from the old Lead Pimple! First to pass across the painting desk for their moment under the brush were four British Horse Grenadiers for the SYW collection, the last of Jon's very generous gift last year. Only four as a Small unit in Black Powder games here in GHQ mounted on oval skirmishing bases. The figures are from Foundry of course and the bases from Warbases ~

Next up, Sir Sydney Ruff-Diamond, a Wargames Illustrated  'Giants in Miniature' I received from Dan for one of the Quick Fire pieces I submitted. An inspired choice in a way given that the Tales from Rhanslistan setting seems it may receive an unexpected rejuvenation here in GHQ next week; but perhaps he might pass in Indian Mutiny or even in VBCW games? Here is the old reprobate anyway, just ready for a spot of Tiffin ~

Back to the SYW then in the shape of two mounted French figures, a General and his ADC. The figures are from the venerable Front Rank range now under the care of Gripping Beast down in Evesham. They will fill a gap in my French command bases nicely ~

Lastly under the brush are two more mounted SYW officers, by Foundry once again ~

They will make a characterful command base for my small Brunswick element in the collection, freeing Karl Frederick for more senior command duty.

Next in the queue are some Foundry Late Roman Clibanarii for old Pompus Maximus, a Front Rank Light Artillery piece and crew for the Italian Wars collection, and a handful of Footsore resin cast pre-release Vikings from Matt. On the down side though there is still no news of my Aventine order after 20 days, most disappointing.

Finally, as you must have noticed there is a run of games here in GHQ as I'm advised not to drive for four weeks following last week's consultation with a specialist about the broken bones in my foot. I had a bad fall last month and stupidly carried on regardless rather than seeing a doctor at A&E! As a result the injury was worsened, so now as a consequence no driving and only necessary walking. In a way a this is a self inflicted restriction! At my age I should have known better. As an aside though the NHS from GP to Radiology to Fracture Clinic consultant did me proud once again! Not all doom and gloom despite the media's best efforts!