It’s Wednesday and the progress continues with some 10mm 3D printed Orcs and Trolls from Phil.
We follow that with Mark J and progress on building a Huey helicopter.
Next up and Eric has been painting up more Mechs for an upcoming game of Alpha Strike. This time it’s a group of Clan Mechs.
Marcus continues to be busy with various aircraft projects, the first being some Mirage F1’s and a Buccaneer.
And some G4 Betty’s for the Japanese.
And that’s us for this week, we’ll see you at the next one.
Colin, John Le and Paul L had a try out game of the new Eisenhower rules from Sam Mustafa. The rules were released earlier this year and are ww2 strategic / operational in scope.
Players control up to 6 divisional formations across a table representing a ground scale of 24 by 16 miles.
Our game was a home brew eastern front Barbarossa type scenario pitching 2 Panzer divisions and a motorized infantry division against a Soviet defence of 2 infantry divisions with a reserve tank corps.
The armies were made up from 2mm Irregular ww2 models with bases of 4x4cm representing battalion strength units.
The table is gridded in 6×6 inch squares and this controls placement and movement of the units.
This works well for this scale of game where the players represent corps commanders. At this scale its not mm placement of units which count but key decisions such as which areas of the front are you attempting to break through in, which units are you structuring your offensive with and are your reserves in the correct position based on the timescales of the offensive.
The rules feature a number of innovative mechanisms including an objectives based victory point mechanism where the objectives move once they are secured so ensuring a dynamic game of movement for the two sides, each of which takes the role of strategic offensive or defensive.
The time period represented in the game is between 4 to 6 days with each day consisting of separate rounds which allow formations to move and combat across the table. At the end of each day is a night phase where supply is checked with potential attrition of units. Exhausted units can also be recovered to a worn status.
In our game we had the Soviets dug in with prepared positions across the table. The panzer divisions lead the attack with mixed success in achieving objectives early on and forcing a breakthrough. We ended up concluding that in our scenario the Soviet reserve tank corps was too powerful when placed on the table at the outset. A more balanced game would probably be achieved by holding it as reinforcements off table which is catered for within the rules.
Future scenarios we will explore include France 1940 and a Normandy amphibious landing.
Welcome to another work in progress Wednesday. We start this week with Stephen and a right bunch of scum and villainy, getting ready for a future game of Stargrave, and a were wolf that we are hoping won’t be making an appearance in the same game.
Next up we have Felix who has been painting orcs from his Isengard battlehost.
Following on from that and Tony F has been preparing for a forthcoming 6mm Hammers Slammers. He has been working on some roads.
And some power pylons.
And lastly for this week Marcus has continued painting up his planes, adding some tiny decals to them.
And with that we will see you next week.
Welcome to another work in progress Wednesday. I think the rest of the membership are still recovering from attending the Salute wargames show on the 12th April. This week we only have a few bits of progress and all of them from Member Marcus.
Above we have more progress on his divers, complete with loot boxes.
Next up Marcus has been busy on his ever growing collection of aircraft from a number of eras. Members have been trying to identify all the aircraft on Marcus’ painting table.
And finally from Marcus for this week we have two female protagonists soon to be spy’s in some James Bond themed game.
That’s it for this week, hopefully the rest of the membership will have recovered (myself included) and making more progress on their projects for next week.
Stephen takes us through a recent game of Charlie Don’t Surf.
Throughout 2024 I put together a collection of 15mm Vietnam stuff. The Vietnam War was one of the first historical wargaming periods I ever gamed, back in the early 90s. This was, of course, because of the spate of Vietnam War films of the late 80s and early 90s and because the music of the period was so good. All of which I loved.
However, like things do, it fell by the wayside and I sold it all on. But last year I joined in a game of Pete S’s ‘Charlie Don’t Surf’ and Pete M’s Vietnam game, both of which I really enjoyed. This re-kindled my interest in gaming Vietnam and so I started collecting models and miniatures.
I also enjoyed ‘Charlie Don’t Surf’ so I decided that would be the rules I would use.
So, having put a game in the club diary for May, I decided I would run a solo game so I could refine my knowledge of the rules. I decided on a simple meeting encounter.
It is late 1967. Military intelligence is bringing in lots of reports of large communist troop manoeuvres in the south. Something is clearly going to be happening in the run-up to the Tet holidays. Two US infantry platoons have been detailed to perform a blocking action to prevent troop movement of local VC elements in the locality of the village of Boc An. This village is known to have communist sympathies and, as such, the provincial authorities are keen not to alienate the locals any further. Therefore, this area is not a free fire zone and any use of indirect fire will require authorisation.
On the opposite side are two platoons of Main Force VC infantry. They are armed with AK47s and so will count as assault rifle squads. Their objective is to exit the table on the opposite side they enter from. The VC are operating on blinds (with two dummies). Since this is a solo game I decided that I would dice to see which blinds are dummies and which are real when the need comes.
The table was set up with the VC blinds on one edge and the US platoons deployed within 6” of the opposite. The US forces had two Big Men (God, I HATE that term!) as platoon commanders, one Big Man is company command with a medic. Company mortars are available but will require authorisation. I set the US platoons up in standard formation – one squad on point with the other two squads behind. All US squads would count as machine gun squads (the M60s having been distributed amongst squads rather than as a separate weapons squad).
The US forces would have a slow advance because they were soon having to wade through the rice paddies. I had them avoid the village just in case anything happened that would antagonise the villagers. The plan was to spread out once they’d passed the village to stop any VC slipping through the net. Similarly, the VC also had a slow advance through the jungle – still operating on blinds, so still unsure which units were real and which were dummies. The two central dummies advanced up the hill with the two flanking dummies moving around the flanks to create a dilemma for the US forces.
The US 1st Platoon rolled badly for movement through the paddies so the squads started bunching up. Meanwhile, 2nd Platoon did quite well and so managed to move up to put them in a position should one of the flanking VC units turn out to be real. Mind you, 2nd Platoon would also have a patch of elephant grass to wade through as well, so making a bit of time through the paddies was a bonus. As for the VC, two of the blinds had reached the summit of the hill with the other two making slightly slower progress on the flanks. It would soon be at the point where the US platoons could start making spot rolls as the VC were now on the edge of the jungle.
The US company command as well as 1st Platoon all failed in their spot rolls and so when it came to the VC activation they had a choice – stay where they were and remain hidden or, with the US platoons in the open, take advantage of that and open fire. I went with the latter – it was going to happen sooner or later and so it made sense to let rip while they had the advantage. I rolled for the two VC blinds on the hill to see if they were the real units. And, you know what, they were! So troops were put on the table. This meant the game would turn into a straight fight rather than a hunt and pursue.
So the VC let rip with their AKs. US 1st Platoon were caught in the open. They’d crossed the paddies and were in the area of scrub between the road and the hill. The lead squad took a pasting and accumulated several Shock and became Suppressed. I was surprised at how lethal the game could be, but then the fire was at a unit in the open at close range. It wasn’t looking good for the US platoons. When the US activated they managed to give back a little of what they’d received, but the VC were in the jungle, so whilst it was at close range it was still a poor shot. Nonetheless the lead VC squads took two kills as well as being Pinned and Suppressed. Ouch!
The firefight now brewed up. The US 1st Platoon commander found himself in a dilemma – whether to get his squad returning fire before the VC went again or to rally some of the Shock to make them more effective. There was only one choice; with all the Shock they’d taken their fire would be ineffective, so he had to take the gamble and rallied some of the Shock on his troops. Meanwhile, the company commander recognised the potentially lethal situation he found himself in and called for the company mortars to strike the hilltop, but he would have to wait until authorisation came through. The VC fire came in once more and this time it was deadlier – two US killed! However, the Critical Wound card came up, meaning one of the killed was a serious injury. The Medic called in a casevac chopper and proceeded to tend to the wounded man and try to get him to a suitable LZ for evacuation.
Two things then happened. The US 2nd Platoon spotted and engaged the second VC platoon. The VC took one killed and a few Shock. Seeing the kind of fire-power the US could give out, the VC second platoon pulled back to the downslope of the hill, the intention being to disappear back into the jungle and find another way off the board. Also, authorisation for the mortars came through nice and quickly (clearly, higher command saw the urgency of the need), which meant the mortars might be coming in soon. 1st squad of the US 1st Platoon pulled back after the mauling it had received so the other two squads of 1st Platoon could engage the enemy.
Then it happened. In came the mortars. Only the shot hadn’t been as accurate as hoped. The barrage actually missed the VC and hit the side of the hill, which meant the barrage also fell on part of the village! The villagers well and truly copped it – not only Pins, Suppressions, and Shock, but four civilian fatalities! Not good. Not good at all. This caused the company command a dilemma – should he call off the mortars or would he be able to correct fire in time. If he called off the mortars then this may result in more delays as authorisation would be needed to resume firing, but if he couldn’t correct fire then the village would take another leathering. Such is the fate of war. Well, such is the random turn of cards. He kept the fire up and just hoped that he could correct the mortars in time.
And lucky him, because that’s just what he managed to do. Yup, his card came up before the mortar card came up. It’s as cold and simple as that. But he managed to correct fire and put it straight on top of the VC 1st Platoon. The effect was devastating.
The VC 2nd Platoon had pulled back, returned to a blind and, when the Di Di Mau card came up managed to bring on a dummy blind so it was hard to say which was the actual platoon and which was a fake. The two dummies split up and went back to the original plan of moving around the flanks. Meanwhile, the VC 1st Platoon moved to get away from the mortars, but the US company command just walked the mortar barrage with them to keep up the pressure. It was now starting to look unlikely for a VC victory. The US casevac also came in allowing the medic to pass on his charge and off it went with the US wounded.
It felt like things were coming to a conclusion. The US 2nd Platoon cleared the elephant grass and made a spotting roll for the VC blind that was moving around that flank. A successful roll, so now to see if it was the actual unit or a fake. It was real! This meant the US would have the VC trapped and their whereabouts known. The VC were not idle though. Whilst their 1st platoon was now stuck under falling mortars, their 2nd platoon opened up on the US 2nd platoon, causing a fatality as well as Suppressing them. It was far from over.
That said, the numbers were starting to tell. The VC 1st Platoon was really piling up the Shock and they were about to break. And with the rest of the US 2nd Platoon coming up to engage the VC 2nd Platoon and the ever-present threat of falling mortars, it was obvious what was going to happen. The result? The US had won a military victory, but with the casualties sustained and, more importantly, the mortar strike on the village, the VC had won a political victory.
Welcome to another Wednesday post, we start this week with a 3D printed orc horde that is part of the open day game Phil is putting on. This is just the first of many apparently.
Next up David P has been working on some German and Soviet WW2 troops.
Sticking with the time period and Marcus has been painting up some Beaufighters and P40’s.
Moving on a few years and Mark J has been painting up some Cold War Soviet Gaz 66 trucks and a BRDM 2.
And now jumping into the future or a long time ago given that Stephen has started working on a sci-fi bar appearing in a Stargrave game at some point. This will be a scratch built project, the tables being 50mm miniature bases.
And that’s it for this week, we will see you next Wednesday.
A slight change to our normal Wednesday progress post this week. Members are busy preparing to take our newest show game to the big wargames show Salute on the 12th April.
This year we are putting on a rendition of the classic arcade game Battlezone. If you’re going to be at the show do come along and try your luck against three other opponents! You won’t need a stash of 10p pieces just some good dice rolls.
You can hear more about the game courtesy of OnTableTop’s coverage of our game at the Cavalier show in February.
This is our entry in the Salute line up: Maidstone Wargames Society – Battlezone – Futuristic Tank Warfare in 1980 – STAND: GK11
Hope to see you there.
It’s another Wednesday and we start with more Legions Imperialis from Mark J. Above we have some more Alpha Legion units. Mark is due to put the game on in a couple of weeks so we’ll have a chance to see what the whole army looks like.
Next up we have some divers from Marcus to add to his underwater obsession. These have much more of a Jules Verne vibe about them than most of the other divers we have seen from Marcus.
And Marcus has also started some loot tokens for games like Stargrave.
And last for a short and sweet offering this week, I’ve managed to paint up some more 3mm sci-fi buildings from Brigade Models. I’ll soon have a small city for the battlefield.
And that’s it for this week, we’ll see you again next time.
Although we were only going to play the Battle of Stoke Field as a tie breaker if the main campaign ended in a draw. We thought for completeness we should play the battle. The Lancastrians were definitely playing for the last scrap of honour they could muster with this battle having already lost the campaign.
Reading about the battle we decided for Stoke Field, the Yorkists should have at least half their army made up of mercenary and militia units to represent bringing together a rebel army. While for the Lancastrians, half of their army would start on the players baseline to simulate the King’s forces arriving late to the battle. Although not a big battle historically we decided to go big with 1000 points per side, with each side divided up into two commands. Stephen and Andy took up command of the Lancastrians (well Tudor) forces, while Tony G joined me to share the Yorkist (well Rebel) army.
I arrayed my forces in typical fashion with the archers in the front and infantry behind. When we play these high points games I normally have to bring everything I have painted, so I also brought my mercenary pike block and a fair bit of cavalry in the form of Mounted knights and currours. I put the pike block on the right and all of the cavalry on the left to try and outflank the enemy.
Tony G went for a similar deployment, Tony was facing Stephen as the Tudor King who had to deploy right at the far edge of the battlefield. I was facing Andy who had deployed as far forward as permitted.
Very much like the historical battle this meant that within the fist activation of units Andy and I were already in bow range before the King had even got moving. The initial exchange of arrows saw the Yorkists inflict more damage, but didn’t come away unscathed.
Some favourable activation dice also allow the Yorkist currours to quickly advance on the flank and threaten the Lancastrian archers. I’ve used this tactic in a number of battles. The cavalry cannot be ignored so I often find they end up drawing units away from the front line. Andy moved some archers to contest the cavalry, but I decided to be bold and charged my cavalry in.
The charge worked and first blood went to the Yorkists. This was to be the start of a trend on the Yorkist left. With four cavalry units the Lancastrians were in for a hard time having brought no cavalry of their own.
Meanwhile on the Lancastrian left Stephen had started to move his forces forward, but the dice were not being kind and so the advance was somewhat piecemeal.
Back on the Yorkist left and emboldened by the initial cavalry success I decided to continue the charges. These were not as successful, Andy’s archers managed to hold off one attack and he had brought forward his billmen units to halt a further charge.
The deployment for the game ended up turning it into a battle of two distinct halves. The Yorkists forces on their left had manage to almost wipe out the Lancastrian archers and had engaged in several rounds of melee combat with the cavalry charges, while on the Yorkist right not a single dice had been rolled in anger.
I had suggested to Tony as my fellow commander to just wait for Stephen’s forces to advance and not worry about moving forward to engage. With the unique activation system in Sword and Spear armies can often find themselves breaking up during an advance if the dice are not being kind.
On the Yorkist left the cavalry charges continued the Currours continued to be locked in combat but the first of the mounted knights pushed through a unit of billmen and charged off in pursuit of the fleeing Lancastrians.
Seeing the Lancastrian casualties mount up I suggested to Tony to ditch the idea of setting up a defence and to take the fight to Stephens forces. Losing no time Tony got his archers into range and started the customary exchange of arrows.
Tony like me had moved his cavalry into a position of harassment on the right. Stephen had attempted to get his crossbows to within firing range but the restrictions on Crossbows not being able to move and fire hampered his efforts. But Tony decided to follow my example and charge in his currours. Unfortunately the Yorkist fortunes had turned and the cavalry were halted.
Tony soon sent in his other unit of currours but it wasn’t enough and the Lancastrian crossbows had prevailed. But the rest of the Yorkist forces on the right were starting make an impression, adding to the growing Lancastrian loses.
Not wanting to wait for the archery duel to play out Tony charged in some billmen, but they could not dislodge the enemy archers. To counter Stephen charged in his highlanders but they were checked in turn by Tony’s infantry.
After what seemed an age Stephen finally managed to move his three large units of pikes in to melee, this was certainly not to little, but it was too late. The Lancastrian forces had already passed their first morale check, which saw a number of units suffer a loss of strength. They failed to destroy the archers giving me time to move my own pike block into the melee.
The Lancastrian cavalry woes continued over on their right flank. The Yorkist knights had managed to defeat several billman units and were running rampant behind the Lancastrian front line.
Tony continued his assault and managed to defeat the last of the Kings archers pushing them over their break point and handing victory to the Yorkist cause. As the last of the turn was played out the Lancastrians suffered yet more units destroyed despite committing more of their forces in an attempt to even the score.
Stephen’s pike blocks had managed to destroy a the unit of archers with a second unit reducing the Yorkist pike block to half strength.
The Lancastrian Highlanders fought hard with a bonus dice in the melee to try and push aside some of Tony’s billmen, but it ended in stalemate.
In the centre of the field I’d made the mistake of putting a bonus dice on my crossbows (crossbows can’t use bonus dice for shooting attacks), and neither did they have a valid target, so with nothing to lose I charged them into the flank of the pike block. It was far closer than it should have been and the crossbows took the pike block to just two remaining strength points, losing only one themselves.
And thus ended the turn and the battle. This was a really interesting fight with mine and Andy’s forces engaged in the fight from turn two, on one side of the battlefield, while on the other side Stephen and Tony’s forces did not even exchange missile fire until around turn five. By that time the Lancastrians had almost reached their first army morale point. Things could still have been turned around but being so far behind in casualties gave the Yorkists forces a morale boost and the confidence to throw caution to the wind and step up the attacks.
The Lancastrians retreated from this final battle adding to what had been a disastrous campaign, but historically the Lancastrians lost more of the major battles during the war they just managed to win the important ones, sadly that wasn’t to be this time round.
Yorkist Loses
3 Units of Currours (12 points)
1 Unit of Billmen (4 points)
3 Units of Militia Archers (9 points)
Total loses 25 points (Army break point 57)
Lancastrian Loses
1 Unit of Crossbows (3 points)
5 Units of Billmen (20 points)
10 Units of Longbows (30 points)
3 Units of Dismounted Men at Arms (12 points)
Total loses 65 points (Army break point 55)
Welcome to another Work in Progress Wednesday, we’re starting with lots of rocks this week. I bought a bag of 3D printed bits from Beowulf Miniatures at the Cavalier Wargames show, and really didn’t know what I would use them for. In the bag was a large oval hex covered base. So I surrounded it with black foam rocks.
I also made some more rock outcrops, just need to add some dry brushing to these. I also finished painting some more 3mm sci-fi buildings.
Moving on and Tony F has been busy creating some road junctions, hedges and trees for his 6mm forces.
Sticking with Sci-fi and Mark J has been painting up some raised platforms for his forthcoming Legions Imperialis game.
And last but by no means least Stephen has put together and old model of a UH1 helicopter as a crash site for a Vietnam game.
And with that we will see you next Wednesday.
You must be logged in to post a comment.