Jeremey has briefly been sidelined, so Tony F takes over the WIP Wednesday reins this week.
The club’s gone relatively quiet lately – obviously everyone’s efforts went into the jubilee ! However, there has still been some progress – Mark J has employed his magnifying glass for his 6mm Saxons (above), then broke out the electron microscope for some 2mm Antonine for Strength and Honour, which are based on perspex.
Warbases’ 2mm Roman Legion (Mark J)
Marcus meanwhile has been working on some 28mm Spy-fi and 15mm Sci-fi miniatures.
The initial stages of some 28mm Spy-fi from Marcus (who, like Bond, seems to have an eye for the ladies !).15mm Sci-fi from Marcus – mostly Brigade Models but with the odd interloper.
Jeremey has been converting a Copplestone figure to act as his Stargrave crew’s first mate.
Jeremey has named this image ‘Avon’ – a nod to the Blake’s 7 character perhaps ?
And finally, something from me – these were missed from the last WIP Wednesday post (about which I’m not bitter at all…) but since I’m in charge this week, I’m putting them in. First, it’s more additions to my Middle Earth armies – half-a-dozen elf spearmen to accompany the cavalry I painted a few weeks ago.
Six Rivendell elf spearmen
Next is my take on Radagast the Brown – it’s not either of the official GW figures which are rather expensive, but a Conquest Miniatures hedge witch. I added a bird from an OOP Celtos figure which is positioned as if the wizard is talking to it, painted up as a falcon.
Talking to the birds…
And to round things off, another small piece of 6mm desert terrain, an oasis made from 3mm Foamex, a sand/paint/PVA texture, cheap palm trees from eBay and clear PVA for the water.
In addition to the Stargrave game previously reported, there were two other games run at this meeting, both using rulesets new to the Society from from Two Fat Lardies .
First up the 6mm Ancients players tried out the Strength and Honour rules with a couple of games involving Roman and Pontic armies.
Our members collections are primarily based for Field of Glory / DBM, so for this trial game Perspex bases were used to reflect the bases sizes in Strength & Honour.
The left of the Roman Battle LinePontics on the left, Romans on the rightRoman Legions form upPontic pike phalanxesPontic scythed chariot supported by cavalry and clibanariiView from the Roman linesPontic phalanxes with skirmisher supportsClash of cavalry, Pontic Clibanarii against lighter Roman cavalryInfantry lines get into the fray
The first game was a narrow Pontic victory, the second was a Roman walkover.
Some members are also building some armies in 2mm for these rules on the regulation bases, here’s a Roman legion arrayed in the triplex acies:
Trial basing for 2mm figures.
The second game to feature a new ruleset was an early WW2 game using “O” Group rules. This featured a British advance on German positions, and ended in a German victory as the British failed to inflict enough damage on the Germans.
The battlefield in the lull before the stormGerman officer giving ordersTwo Matilda II tanks advanceGerman Pak 36German Pak 36British infantry advanceMatilda IIs with infantry supportGermans take cover behind the hedge.British infantry also take coverGerman heavy weapons, le.IG 18 75mm Infantry Support Gun in the forground. Pak 36 in the background
Finally, a few pictures from the Stargrave game that didn’t make the game report.
Tony’s crew advanceA cyber enhanced critter, the bane of Andy’s crewAndy’s sniper takes position to cover the flank
First up we have a 6mm Field of Glory game, Later Hungarians vs Ottoman Turks.
The FOG Trophy, what they are all fighting for.Battle lines are drawnCavalry closeup
Alan ran a 28mm Vietnam game using FNG rules. It wasn’t a good day for the Americans! (Ed: I only managed to take one useable phot0, however Alan sent us some of his to add to the post.)
US Patrol advancesA quiet(ish) villageView from the the side of the villageUS scout across a stream
Peter ran a 15mm(ish) Hammer’s Slammers game, using a collection of 1:87 Roco Minitanks, mixing and matching turrets and chassis from WW2 and modern vehicles.
Peter’s winter wonderlandTwo out of three downArmour advancesBrew up!
Finally we have a four player Dragon Rampant game, Skeletons and Goblins against Dwarves and The Forces of Nature (Tree and Rock men), including Jeremey’s massive Tree Giant.
Andy’s Dwarf Scouts start the advance, the rest of the force stay put!Stephen’s undead Giant would dwarf almost anything, except Jeremey’s bark leviathan.Tony’s Warg riders start to outflank Andy’s DwarvesStephen’s skeleton archers take the high ground as his cavalry charge Jeremey’s rockmenDwarves finally advanceStephen’s skeleton cavalry losing to Jeremey’s rockmen
Stephen organised a SAGA Age of Vikings Battle day, several games through the day across a couple of tables. In Stephen’s words:
Hail! Hail! Bleddyn ap Owain, Lord of Bangor, rides victorious! Hail! Hail! Lord Bleddyn has met the Normans and Scots in battle and comes home victor. Glory to his name! Honour to his household! From this day forth let him be known as Bleddyn The Dragon! Hail! Hail!
The header photo shows Bleddyn and his warriors off raiding. Here are a few more from the various SAGA battles.
Norman cavalry about to have a bad dayWelsh mounted
Scots advanceMore ScotsAnglo-DanesNorman Archers
Marcus ran another rules development game for his Spy Fi underwater combat rules, based on Galactic Heroes. Bond and friends vs Largo. It didn’t end well for either of them!
Layout for game 1, blue markers are points of interest, die rolls would determine what is found.Largo’s henchmen gang up on Felix LeiterLargo’s shark drone attacks a Royal Navy diver.Largo’s henchmen advance
Dave ran a Gaslands race day
Gaslands race trackRear endedOil slicks make life harder
And, finally, Paul ran a 3mm Ancients game using his own rules.
Andy does a quick photo roundup of last weekend’s meeting.
First off a game of Mortem et Gloriam, 6mm Pontic vs Early Imperial Romans.
Pontic Commander’s viewPontic and Roman forces closeLight Cavalry clash
Andy and Stephen had another attempt at SAGA – Age of Crusades, 28mm figures, Crusaders vs Mutatawwi’a
Some of Andy’s crusadersMore of Andy’s Crusaders, red tokens indicate fatigueStephen’s Mutatawwi’aStephen’s Assassins, with priest and Warlord in supportMore of Stephen’s Mutatawwi’aTroops deployed for the second game, 8 points a-side, from the Crusader point of view.
Alan ran a big Chain of Command game, 28mm figures, with a combined British and Norwegian force trying to hold off a German advance.
All is quiet on the northern frontGermans advanceMore GermansBritish defendersNorwegiansLight German ArmourGerman Heavyweight?German troops hold the wall.
And finally, corporate clashes in deep space, Tony, Chris and Eric try out A Billion Suns. Not a straight up space battle, but operations spread across multiple tables with each player having different contracts to fulfil.
A pair of freighters
Approaching a jump gateTwo British Heavy Cruisers exit a jump gateRescuing some lifepodsBritish Destroyer Squadron
Shortly before Christmas Stephen issued a challenge, throughout the rest of December post pictures on our members groups.io page of famous scenes from military history, or myth, or fiction. Fantasy or sci fi, film or whatever, but using models from our collections.
Moving from myth to history, Andy contributed Gaius Julius Caesar leading Legio XIII Gemina across the river Rubicon in January 49BC precipitating (another) Roman Civil War.
Alea iacta est
And going back to fiction, Andy staged the battle between Gandalf and the Balrog in the Mines of Moria:
Gandalf and the Balrog at the Bridge of Khazad-dûm.
“Your dead sleep quietly, at least, Captain, out of reach of sharks” “Yes, sir, of sharks and men.” ― Jules Verne, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
Stephen had a play with his camera to create a sepia print of Pickett’s Charge.
Picket’s Charge
Mark delved into comic-lore to give us a scene from the comic 2000AD, Judge Death vs Judge Dredd.
Judge Death Lives! 2000ad progs 224-228, “you cannot kill what doesss not live”.
Marcus offers a scene from an Iron Hand mission in Vietnam.
Two MiG 21 Én Bạcs pursue a pair of F105 Thunderchiefs on an Iron Hand mission. A SAM-6 site is the F105’s target.
Our last meeting of the year saw three “periods” in progress:
First up, our FOG contingent (John, Paul and Mark) ran a couple of games of Early Carthaginians vs Dominate Romans.
6mm Cavalry and Light HorseThe infantry get closeA bird’s eye view of the combatRoman LegionariesAfricans and Romans standoff.Carthaginian cavalry charge the Romans
Next up Alan ran a game of Fief, France 1429, a game of dynastic ambition. You can probably guess where and when it is set. Boardgames are not unknown at the Society, but they are not that commonly played either. Alan, Marcus, Dave, Chris, Peter and Mike were the contenders for the control of France.
Playing piecesView from the North WestPlayer’s resource cardsFief Playing pieces and cards
Alan and Peter formed an alliance and had a narrow lead at the end of the game, so they are claiming victory. Mike, Marcus, Dave & Chris wouldn’t necessarily agree with that assessment though
Finally, Tony & Phil combined their efforts to put on a 15mm Star Wars game, using slightly adapted Stargrave rules. Jeremey and Phil each took a squad of Stormtroopers, while Stephen and Andy had a squad of Rebels. Both sides were searching the village for a pair of droids who had concealed plans to a top secret Imperial Weapon System (the Death Star). Tony ran the unaligned Jawas and was in charge of resolving the players searches and random events.
The village, the lull before the stormThe Rebels disembark from their U-Wing assault shipThe Jawas minding their own business.Jeremey’s Storm Trooper squad and their shuttle.Andy’s Rebels find what cover they canRebels search a buildingStephen’s Rebels take up positions to fend off the ImperialsPhil’s Stormtroopers take cover behind a water extractorRebels have found the droids and try to get them back to the shuttle, The Jawas are not happy!The droids and their surviving escort almost at the shuttle (and that’s as far as they got).The remnants of Stephen’s squad form a last line of defence.Jawas and Stormtroopers pursuing the Droids and RebelsAndy’s Rebel squad (now deceased)
Andy’s short roundup of games at this weekend’s meeting.
First up Stephen and I tried out Barons War rules for the first time. As it was our first outing we decided to go small, and had 500 point armies. We managed two games in around 5 hours, with much referring to the rules. All in all we thought the rules worked quite well.
Andy’s green bowmen thinning out Stephen’s Welsh KnightsWelsh archers draw bows to shoot AndyEnglish knights skulking around the backSpearmen charge each otherKnights and sergeants urge the crossbows forwardStephen’s Welsh Knights run from the field.Andy’s spearmen force back Stephen’s archers
Meanwhile Jeremey and Tony were playing a War of the Roses game using Sword and Spear.
Elsewhere in the hall six of our Field of Glory players (John, Peter, Brett, Paul, Mark and Colin) fought out a tournament. Final results to be confirmed…
Yes, 6mm vs 15mm. But they all follow the same basing system.
The Society has been busy this weekend jut passed, a small contingent ventured to ExCeL for the delayed Salute 2020 (or 2021?) whilst others attended the normal society meeting. First up, Salute. Andy’s thoughts with pictures by John, Mark and Andy.
Five of the membership, John, Brian, Mark, Marcus and Andy, attended Salute putting on Marcus’ Pulp participation game “Biggles and the Island at the Top of the World“.
The theme for the show was the Battle of Britain. The 2020 show was intended to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the battle. Centrally displayed in the hall were a replica Spitfire and Hurricane, with some RAF reenactors making an appearance after the photo was taken.
They say ExCeL looks like a hanger…
I got the impression that Salute hired more of ExCeL than usual, to space us out more, although I also understand there were fewer games and traders scheduled to attend than in “normal” years; and there were a few “no shows” in both categories.
Salute General view. More spaced out than usual, and perhaps fewer attendees?
In Marcus’ game Biggles is searching a lost Artic island for a missing Professor and the strange artefacts he was studying.
Biggle’s party deplane from their Walrus
His party discover a secret labyrinth, with ever changing chambers and passages.
The labyrinth awaits the explorers
However he was not alone, a party of Nazis with unworldly weapons were also trying to recover the Professor.
The German’s advanced submarine
The Russians had also sent an NKVD team to prevent the Nazis securing their objective.
The Soviet NKVD disembark from their Aerosan
And finally, a lost tribe of Vikings were hellbent on preventing anyone from leaving the island with the Ragnarok Stones, the phenomena the Professor had been studying.
The Vikings patrol the labyrinth
We ran several games throughout the day, with up to four members of the public taking control of one of the four parties.
A selection of photos from the games:
Vikings find the secret chamberBiggles faces down the NKVDThe Germans find themselves boxed in
We are pleased to announce that the game won the Jim Clarke Memorial Award for the Best Science Fiction / Fantasy game at Salute.
The Jim Clark Memorial Award for the Best Science Fiction / Fantasy Game
Meanwhile, back at the regular Society meeting, other members were running a series of games. Photos courtesy of Mark J and Stephen.
First off Mark J and Pete ran a game of Fields of Glory, pitching Mark’s Hundred Years War English against Pete’s Hungarians.
FOG Ancients – HYW English vs HungariansFOG Ancients – HYW English vs HungariansFOG Ancients – HYW English vs HungariansFOG Ancients – HYW English vs HungariansFOG Ancients – HYW English vs HungariansFOG Ancients – HYW English vs HungariansFOG Ancients – HYW English vs Hungarians
The first battle was won by the English, the Hungarian Knights couldn’t cope with longbows and stakes. The Hungarians won the second battle by focusing on the men at arms and drawing the longbow fire away from the knights. So, honours even.
Alan ran a Star Wars X-Wing game.
Star Wars X-WingStar Wars X-WingStar Wars X-Wing
And finally Stephen ran a Stargrave game – A Hive of Scum and Villainy:
‘A Hive of Scum and Villainy’ – a Stargrave adventure‘A Hive of Scum and Villainy’ – a Stargrave adventure‘A Hive of Scum and Villainy’ – a Stargrave adventure
A short pictorial round up of the games at the latest meeting.
First up a couple of FOG Ancients games.
6mm FOG Roman Civil War6mm FOG Ancient British Chariots6mm FOG Ancient British Warband
Next, on a planet far, far away, Alan ran a couple of games using Fistful of Lead Galactic Heroes rules.
Star Wars ImperialsStar Wars BattlefieldStar Wars Imperial All Terrain Scout TransportStar Wars Rebels annoy the native fauna
Lastly Several SAGA Games. Stephen and Andy in the Age of Crusades, Templars vs Saracens.
SAGA Age of Crusades deploymentSAGA Age of Crusades. Salim al-Katid’s Warband on parade
There will be a full write up of this game in a couple of week’s time.
Jeremey and Tony were playing SAGA Age of Vikings, Norse-Gaels vs Anglo Saxons.
SAGA Age of Vikings, Jeremey’s Anglo Saxon WarbandSAGA Age of Vikings, Tony’s Norse-GaelsSAGA Age of Vikings Warbands Clash
Later in the afternoon Tony (Norse-Gaels) and Jeremey and Andy (both Vikings) had a couple of three handed games fighting to control a Bard, after all, he who controls the bard writes the saga.
SAGA Age of Vikings, Three way fight for the Bard. Tony’s Norse Gaels top left, Jeremey’s Vikings top right and Andy’s Vikings at the bottomSAGA Age of Vikings, second battle for the Bard. Andy’s warband eliminated, the Bard in Jeremey’s protective custody while Tony’s Norse-Gaels look on.
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