Generals and Gentlemen

I have a few minutes to spare between preholiday tasks, so I thought I'd share some of the things I've been painting up over the past couple of weeks. A while ago I rebased my ACW collections on MDF bases, which I think makes figures even as ordinary as mine look better! I discovered, somewhat to my surprise, during this venture that I had not got enough Rebel Command bases if I fielded the whole Army! Strange, I'd never noticed that before, so perhaps I had used more figures per base in the process and so found the Army short of Generals!
I've always enjoyed painting Dixon Miniatures ACW figures, as a glance at any game of mine on this Blog, or its predecessor website, will readily confirm. I could have ordered them from the firm through the post, but Spirit Games in Burton on Trent stock the range and I wanted to see their new shop, so off I went to pick the figures myself: an old fashioned joy I really miss: trawling through boxes of single figures to get the combination I really want! So, without rambling on any more, here they are ~

Stonewall Jackson and his staff. {If I had a wish it would be that Trevor would redo his horses using the lovely Ebob masters, I do find painting these a bit of a chore.}

A Division Command base this time, smaller base and only two mounted figures ~ it helps us old folks keep track on the table of who's who!

Finally a Brigade Command base, smaller again and with only one mounted figure. I've also completed a new Cavalry Brigade Command base and an overall Cavalry Command base featuring JEB Stuart and his staff, but they need some basework before they can appear here. Finally, from the much maligned Foundry Victorians, a Gentleman's Shooting Party for The Great Detective games.

I'm going away for a short holiday now, so I doubt there'll be anything new here now until next month. Still, plenty to revisit in older posts if anyone gets withdrawal symptoms...

Abu Ben Witti's Treasure

Not long ago Jon and I played a small Black Powder Darkest Africa game here in GHQ. Jon took the part of the Arab Slaver, the notorious Abu Ben Witti, while I took on the natives, lead by Chief Bykelezi of course! The first picture shows Jon's small force.

The Arabs must travel the length of the board to reach the village and trade their slaves for a king's ransom in ivory. On the way there are six markers, in the form of animals, which trigger an encounter. The percentage chance of the encounter increases the nearer to the village the Arab party gets. Jon ordered an advance for his Arab Riflemen first and a Blunder resulted. A throw of 6 gave him 36" of movement and he reached the river.

However, he also triggered the first encounter with a throw of 93% on the chance factor! He now found himself and his natives attacked by a force of Pygmies!

The Pygmies proved a small problem for Abu and were soon dispatched! Jon ordered his Arab Henchmen forward again, and again triggered an encounter, this time with a mad bull elephant! Oh Dear!

The enraged beast charged forward, only to be shot down by closing fire, and then to have its ivory cut out too! Oh the ignominy! However, while distracted by the lure of ivory, the party was attacked by the fierce warriors of Chief Bykelezi.

However, the Arabs proved to be made of stern stuff and soon they drove off the warriors and entered the chief's domain.

Choosing to spend a turn in the village, Jon was able to recover his casualties and exchange slaves for ivory. He had now to get his party off the table by the track exiting at the midpoint of his long table edge. Unknown to him the only route available to reach the edge quickly was guarded by a large force of natives. If he was n't careful he was going to find himself cut off and cut up! Turn 14 saw Jon ordering his native riflemen forward towards the exit point. He Blundered! Again a 6 resulted in a 36" advance forward, springing the trap too early! The natives found them selves surrounded by some angry Pygmies intent on revenge!

Sadly, it was n't to be the natives' day as Pygmy bow fire proved awful and native fire in return disordered the Pygmies! Worse was to follow as the Pygmies found themselves attacked from behind and were soon destroyed, while their fellows were failing to obey orders to rush to their aid.

In short, Abu Ben Witti's party achieved all their objectives in some style in Turn 16, aided by some really awful dice throwing by the natives at crucial moments I'm sorry to say. I suppose you could be charitable to me and conclude that Jon blundered to victory!
The rules we used were Black Powder and the figures were from my collection of Foundry's Darkest Africa range. The animal markers are from a whole range of manufacturers too numerous to mention here. The village I scratch built years ago ~ it once featured on the cover of Wargames Illustrated I recall!

Pigs in Spaaaaace!

A lighthearted game set against the world of P G Wodehouse's Blandings Castle stories and our alternative WWII background centred on a successful Operation Sealion, fought out here in GHQ recently by Phil, as the brave Brits, and Jon and I, as the vile Hun! We used Bolt Action rules with some minor in house modifications, as you'll realise when you follow the story through.
By the early morning light all seems peaceful around Blandings Castle, former home to the now interned Lord Emsworth, who pines for his one true love, The Empress of Blandings, his prize fat pig...

Top Reich Scientists are on hand to oversee the final preparations...

 All is to be recorded for the eager viewer by a camera crew.

While security within the grounds of the castle is in the hands of Herr Bykel of the Gestapo...

Beyond the immediate environs of the castle the German Army has also deployed in strength, warned in advance about a possible Counterattack at Blandings...

At the nearby bridge over the River Severn guards are especially alert as the early morning light may easily play tricks on the unwary...

The game lasts ten turns and the sole British objective is to prevent the launch of The Empress into space at the end of turn 10. There are three crossing points across the river, by the bridge and by two fording points on the left of the table. The British enter the table from the short side nearest the camera in the first picture, the Germans, apart from the sentries, from the road opposite their long side of the table, the left as you look at that picture.

Phil divided his approach up into three arms: a rapid advance on the Bridge by lorried Regular infantry, and bicycle troops from the LDV, supporting a Vickers Light Tank...

While on his left more LDV troops tried to cross the river by the two fords, where they soon found themselves opposed by Gestapo troopers...

And by troops from the German army...

The British enjoyed some successes on both wings of the attack, although their centre was pinned by machine gun and morar fire for most of the game. On the British right, tricked by the poor light, they ran straight into one of the more bizarre products of Reich Science, a Were Hund...

Attacking the Light Tank, the Were Hund failed its Order Test and scored a FUBAR, fleeing away from the tank and leaving the way open for the tank to drive on the rocket site...

While the attack was supported at the bridge now by Professor Moore's latest mechanical marvel, Tommy Adkins 01...

The tank has run into the rocket and the V3 is destroyed, right in the end of Turn 10 too . Its back to the drawing board in Pigamunda I fear...

We had great fun during the game, which you can only attribute to like minded folk getting together to enjoy their hobby and friendship free of the constraints of those sad types who can't face up to the reality that we play games with toy soldiers and enjoy it...

The Discovery of Diablium

I've been tatting for a while now with a pack of Wargames Foundry Victorians which I picked up for £5 on a visit to the store in Nottingham earlier this year. They were entitled something like Victorian Scientists, just one pack at the back of a stack on one rack in the store. I've not seen any on subsequent visits or at shows, so whether more sets exist I don't know. I bought it even though at the time I had little or no idea what I'd eventually do with it: I guess we've mostly all been there though at some time. Anyway, I've decided it'll make a nice Objective Marker in both Rhanzlistan and The Great Detective games.
The set contained two figures, two scientific gizmos, a two part telescope and a wooden crate. Without more ado, I present Professor Cohx and Major Moore, RE, an important scientific/practical duo in games ~

The shiny black stone is going to be a meteorite in the games, which will prove to be the source of a new element, Diablium, a source of untold clean power, much coveted by the Major Powers and Criminal Masterminds alike!

For any purists out there, Professor Cohx is kneeling and Major Moore is overseeing the 'machinery'. You get a better shot of the Diablium in the second picture. At Derby this weekend I got a few more odds and ends for Rhanzlistan, mainly a Tiger Miniatures pack camel train, two camels and a driver for £4.00, my kind of price! I also paid rather more for some cattle, a donkey and some goats from Empress, somewhat less for a dog relieving himself from Redoubt!

Battle Group Kursk game

While I did n't buy this set of rules when they were released, being a dyed in the wool Rapid Fire! gamer, I have now played three games. Two have been at Phil's OHQ set up, using his wonderful figure and vehicle collection and fantastic scenery, but recently I have had the chance to play on a much larger table. This was entirely due to an invite to the Midlands Wargames Centre, hosted in the Stafford Games' unit just outside Stafford.

I have visited the Centre before: once to watch a very large Battle Group Kursk game between Phil and Jon and once to play in a very large, if not even huge, Blackpowder ACW game using Jon's wonderful collection. A game which I won, incidentally, despite being restricted to gaming here in GHQ on a table no more than 7' x 4'!
The BGK game was not based on a scenario from the rule book, but an encounter and objective driven game devised by Jon, who commanded the Germans. The table looked daunting at the outset I thought, with woods running down the Russian's left flank and two small hamlets occupying the centre of the table astride a road down which the Germans would attack.

Luckily for the Russians, they could deploy up to half way in from their table edge, so I took the opportunity to deploy in depth, while keeping some units in reserve in case of a sneaky Kraut move through the woods on my left flank.

I was able to deploy five Ambush orders at the outset of the game which, together with splendid observing and firing o occasions ~ we'll brush over my bucket full of 1's I think, restricted the Germans to capturing the first objective in the hamlet nearest their base line. Despite the violent off table artillery barrages and air attacks my gallant troops were subjected to, they steadily eroded the German's capability by destroying their armour, initially thanks to the cunning use I made of the Ambush Fire orders. To such an extent in fact that they never ventured beyond the hamlet and Jon conceded defeat after seven moves.
It was an engrossing game I felt and very demanding for my old brain, as I'm just getting to grips with the game system. I feel that its well suited to larger tables than I enjoy in GHQ, but I suppose we could play at the lower levels, as we have managed two at Phil's as I said. In truth I find the rules a tad more complicated than I would like; looking up the different guns stats and tank/vehicle stats was a bit cumbersome I found; while the constant re-observing was not my view of how a game should play out, but it produced some interesting situations. While I don't think it would tempt me away from Rapid Fire!, which I feel I know well, I have invested in the small pocket sized rule book, so Phil and Jon don't have to do everything, and also the Battle Group Overlord hard back book, mainly for the scenarios and the pictures I have to confess!
If you have n't tried BGK yet, then give them a go, they may be for you, you never know!

More Firepower

As you might have noticed, if you've been paying attention that is, I have painted all the figures I acquired earlier in the year for my small Back of Beyond force. But, like most gamers I suspect, I did manage to acquire a few additional bits and bobs along the way, which I've moved on to painting now in the last days of the month.
Firstly, a machine gun for the Gurkhas ~ its the Sikh styled machine gun crew from Copplestone Castings' Indian Machine Guns pack, with two heads from spare Gurkha figures attached. Not wonderful, I know, but it will do for me ~

To avoid wasting anything, the Sikh heads have been reattached to the decapitated Gurkha bodies to make an escort for my Mountain Battery mule train, but that's getting ahead of myself for the time being. Next up we have the Empress Miniatures Jazz Age Afghans, or Bhurpas in our games: the Lewis Gun team, from the command pack, and the Maksim Gun and crew ~

Finally, two command figures for the Bhurpas, also from Empress, a Warlord and a drummer, which will allow me to move the more dignified command figure and his standard bearer to create a proper Bhurpa Command Base for our games ~

I've also painted a few more character figures for forthcoming Pulp-style versions of the game, but they are over on the dedicated Rhanzlistan Blog {See side bar for link}.

Chalk and Cheese

I've managed two games here in GHQ in the last two days. Yesterday Jon and I played an ECW game using my own A Crowning Mercy rules, and today Phil and I played out a Back of Beyond game marking the debut of the famous Rhanzlistan Field Force and using the Setting the East Ablaze rule set. Now, if I had been just going to mention the ECW game then I might have aptly entitled this piece Snatching Disaster from the Jaws of Defeat, as my Royalists were trounced in six turns by Jon's Parliamentary forces.

The Opening positions ~ Royalists nearest the camera

I'd like to say that it was largely the result of my reinforcements failing to appear, but if I'm to be honest it was largely due to my cavalry suddenly loosing the plot in melees against unloaded foote caught in the open! Disastrous dice does n't even begin to sum it up!!!

Royalist and Parliamentary Horse clash on the flank

I fail to score a single kill against Gell's Foote!

While I am repulsed by Fairfax's Foote to the left!

I lost in six turns! Prince Rupert of the Rhine was killed on the field by a musketeer! Somewhat of a disappointment does n't really even begin to cover the outcome!!!. Its worth noting that Sir John Gell's Foote in the Parliamentary army is undefeated in any game using four different sets of rules over several years! A true veteran regiment to grace any tabletop I feel!

Turning to today's Back of Beyond game, the outcome was slightly more favourable for my forces in the game, though it did seem to take forever to edge the game. There'll be a full report over on my dedicated Blog in due course sometime this weekend, but in the meantime here are a taster shot or two ~

The tabletop layout for the game

Brigadier Bykleigh issues his Order of the Day

I'll be adding a full report on the Battle over on Tales from Rhanzlistan soon. Pop over to get the latest news hot from the Frontier...