Category: Vietnam

Somewhere In The Hills Above Dak To

At a recent meeting Stephen ran a 15mm Vietnam game using the Charlie Don’t Surf rules. The scenario was based on the Battle for Hill 875.

Stephen umpired the game and ran the Communist forces. The US forces (A Company, 2nd Battalion, 173rd Airborne) were under the command of Captain Pete, who also ran the Weapons Platoon, with the three Rifle Platoons under the command of Lieutenants Tony F, Andy and Jeremey respectively.

We’ll start with Stephen’s summary of the game:

A Company of the 2nd Battalion, 173rd Airborne, scored an important military victory against the North Vietnamese Army today.
Led by Cpt Pete the company advanced up Hill 875, located the enemy and engaged them.
It was 3rd Platoon under the command of Lt Jeremey who first reached the top of 875.  Meanwhile, a grenadier of Lt Andy 2nd Platoon earned recognition for posting a M79 round through a bunker slit. Lt Tony’ 1st Platoon got bogged down in a vicious firefight and took several MIA.
Company mortars, and a Huey gunship that shredded some NVA recoilless rifles, helped the 173rd to victory.
News on stateside TV reported the battle and civil demonstrations ensued at the loss of American life. It may have been a military victory for the US but the NVA scored a political victory.

Here follows the US Platoon commander’s accounts of the battle.

1st Platoon

First Platoon (Tony) advances early in the game.

This is as far as I got, a vicious firefight with an NVA platoon (and some less than favourable activation draws) saw me pretty much stuck in place for the rest of the game.

The NVA platoon in question, about to receive some 60mm mortar vengeance courtesy of Pete.

The 1st Platoon under fire and pinned. 1st squad suffered badly (7 KIA out of 10), although remarkably 2nd and 3rd squads emerged from the action unscathed.

2nd Platoon

2nd Platoon (Andy) A Company were deployed at the base of Hill 875 with the Weapons Platoon and Company HQ to our left, and 3rd Platoon to our right.
The platoon began its advance with 1st and 2nd squad leading, with 3rd Squad and the Platoon CO in reserve.
1st squad soon spotted insurgent troops further up the hill, the first of the Company to do so, and promptly engaged them. 2nd squad and part of 3rd squad joined in, the remainder of 3rd squad being out of line of sight of the enemy. The fire was effective, causing part of the enemy unit to suffer casualties and become pinned. 2LT Andy reported the sighting to CPT Pete, with a request for mortar support.
3rd squad deployed from reserve to the right of 2nd squad in order to bring its full firepower to bear.
The firefight with the enemy continued, with 3rd Platoon joining in, both 2nd and 3rd Platoons suffered some KIAs, but appeared to inflict more than they suffered.
Under the relentless fire of 2nd & 3rd Platoons the insurgents suffered further casualties and were seen running from their positions back over the crest of Hill 875 and presumably they continued down the reverse slope.
Slightly later a few ranging rounds began to land near 2nd Platoon’s position, expecting an NVA mortar barrage 2LT Andy ordered all squads to advance up the hill as fast as they could. 1st & 3rd squads succeeded, but 2nd squad got bogged down and didn’t move very far.
1st squad’s success in movement proved to be their undoing. They soon came under heavy automatic fire, believed to be either a DShK 1938 or KPV heavy machine gun, in a previously unseen bunker.
1st squad took a couple of casualties, but immediately hunkered down and returned fire, the squad’s M79 gunner achieving an excellent shot which put a 40mm HE round into the bunker, silencing the HMG.
2nd and 3rd squads advanced past the battered 1st squad, joining elements of 3rd Platoon in sweeping across the hill, engaging the remnants of the NVA defenders in the flank and driving them from the hill, at the cost of some more US KIA.
Eventually 2LT Andy’s prediction of a VC mortar barrage came true, but by the time it arrived on it’s original target all US forces had moved further up the hill and none were in the beaten zone.
As 1st squad looked after their dead they discovered a food and material cache buried on the hill side.
The mission proved to be something of a Pyrrhic victory for 2nd Platoon, we engaged and defeated the enemy, destroying a bunker and locating a cache, but at a cost of 5 KIA, 4 of them in 1st squad.
3rd Platoon
3rd Platoon (Jeremey) deployed on the far right of Hill 875. The mission was to assault the hill and so I decided to get moving and threw caution to the wind and advanced quickly up the hill.
Unfortunately after a few moves this left my three squads quite scattered. On top of that the first contact with the NVA turned out to be a real unit who immediately scored a casualty. My return fire was more effective and with support from Andy’s 2nd platoon the NVA were soon routed.
Despite the resistance I decided to continue my advance up the hill, I reached the top of the hill without further resistance but then the bunker was revealed along with more NVA troops. I took a few more casualties and would have taken more if not for Andy’s 2nd Platoon taking out the bunker on the first try.
Laying down some more fire on the remaining NVA, they routed and we claimed the hill.
Company Command
A company’s Forward Observer (Pete) performed well by adjusting the ranging mortar rounds and the subsequent Firing for Effect on the NVA positions on the hill which contributed to the general degrading of the enemy.
Also, significant contributions to the victory came from :-
      • Lt. Tony’s 1st Platoon made steady progress up the left flank but took heavy casualties due fire from a heavy weapons squad with recoilless rifles. These were suppressed by the fire of the Co HQ’s MG squad lower down the hill.
      • Lt. Andy’s 2nd platoon’s impressive accurate fire which neutralised the fortified position on the summit of the hill  soon after the position was observed. The HMG in that bunker would have caused devastating casualties if not dealt with swiftly.
      • Lt. Jeremey’s 3rd platoon made a rapid advance up the slopes of our right flank, although sustaining several casualties, routed the enemy troops before them.
Although Air Support was requested, a Huey gunship arrived after a delay due to the Priority 2 rating of our Area of Operations, but completely destroyed the NVA Heavy Weapons squad enabling all platoons to advance and secure the enemy position on the summit of the hill, seizing enemy weapons and rice caches on the way.
 I, Capt. Pete commanding officer of A Company,2nd Battalion,173rd Airborne, recommend citations for all the commanding officers of A Company platoons.
The view from the other side of the hill
The NVA side of things, as recounted by Stephen. Hill 875 was occupied by a reinforced NVA company – three rifle platoons with AK47s, a pair of recoilless rifle teams, plus the regimental HQ (historically, the rest of the regiment was situated in the hills adjacent and being engaged by the ARVN). Regimental HQ had a mortar spotter (the mortars were actually sited on a hill to the west), wireless team, and HMG in a bunker.
My general plan was to close with the enemy as soon as contact was made to mitigate against the inevitable artillery and airstrikes the US would call in, a tactic referred to as “belt-grabbing”.
The bunker being taken out promptly by US 2nd Platoon took the smile off my face. That HMG would have caused havoc and blunted the US advance and I was going to walk the mortars up to leave the US forces
sandwiched between the HMG and the mortars. But it never came to that.
It was a very historical outcome – the US captured the hill but suffered heavy casualties doing so, and there was considerable public outcry because of it.
And the final word also goes to Stephen:
Thanks to Andy, Tony, Pete, and Jeremey for making it an enjoyable game as I learn the rules. But a special thanks to Pete for his help and knowledge.
Just need to come up with a better name than the toe-curling ‘Big Men’ next…

Operation Anvil – A Charlie Don’t Surf encounter

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.

A year’s worth of gaming (Part 1)

Club member Stephen reviews the games he has played at Maidstone Wargames Society this year. This is part 1 of the article covering January to June.

This article is a review of all the different games I’ve played over 2023 just to see, and remind myself, of the variety of games I’ve done. At the beginning of the year I made two decisions – play more sci fi, and play more games that other people put on (my general attitude is ‘I paid for these models and took the time to paint them so I want to use them!’ which means I generally put on a game at most meetings). So this year I wanted to mix things up.

The first game of the year was at the club meeting on January 28th. This was a game of Sword & Spear and part of a campaign (which started in 2022) to re-fight the Wars of the Roses with Jeremey.

January – Sword and Spear – Mortimer’s Cross

I love playing Sword & Spear. I do. But I don’t seem to be any good at it. In all the games I’ve ever played of S&S I think I’ve only ever won twice. Surely it can’t be my superior tactics, that seems to be beyond reproach, right? This game was a re-fight of Mortimer’s Cross (you can find the full, and gloating, write-up here: Wars of the Roses – Battle of Mortimers Cross – Battle Report – Maidstone Wargames Society (brigademodels.co.uk)). As is traditional with S&S, I lost. But you know what, I couldn’t care less because the games are always a lot of fun with plenty of pre-game trash talk and goading, and each game has a story. Playing in good company always helps as well. I’d willingly keep on losing so long as I keep on enjoying it.

February brought another couple of games at the club.

First up was a new game to me – Charlie Don’t Surf by Two Fat Lardies. I find TFL games a bit marmite. I’ve played Chain of Command – loved it. I’ve played What A Tanker – didn’t like it. And this was the first time for CDS. And I loved that as well. The game and models are all Pete S’s, and he’s done a blinding job on them. They are 10mm Pendraken models (I think) and it has just the right look for Vietnam.

February – Charlie Don’t Surf

We’re used to seeing 20mm and 28mm Vietnam games which focus on platoon actions. But Vietnam was bigger than that – often brigade sized actions with the company as the manoeuvre unit. And 10mm captures that perfectly. I had command of the armoured platoon. We put Mark J (newly appointed club chairman) to prove his mettle in command so he took company HQ. The game was a victory for the US side!

The second game in February was planned to be a Barons’ War game with Andy. But in the week leading up I suggested to Andy we could do a ‘compare and contrast’ and have a game of both Lion Rampant and Barons’ War to see how the two handle the same period. You can read a summary of our findings here (Lion Rampant and Baron’s War – Maidstone Wargames Society (brigademodels.co.uk)).

February – Baron’s War and Lion Rampant

First club meeting in March was a Stargrave game. I said I wanted to play more sci fi in 2023 and this was the first sci fi of the year. I found the original scenario online and tweaked it to be what I wanted it to be. Stargrave is a great toolbox of a game – you can make it what you want it to be. This game had both an overland and underground part, which was new for us.

March – Stargrave – The Warp Sextant

I prefer running Stargrave as an umpire, like a RPG. You get a different kind of pleasure as umpire because it’s about providing challenges and running the NPCs/monsters and hopefully providing an enjoyable scenario. Well, for me anyway. In this game Eric’s crew had fought hard to get to the bunker where the Warp Sextant was hidden. But coming out he found Tony F’s crew waiting outside, guns pointed at the entrance. A brief exchange of fire and it was Tony who made off with the treasure. Poor Eric.

End of March it was another chance to lose at Sword & Spear – Second Battle of St Albans. In this campaign I have the Lancastrians which means the onus is on me to win in battles where the Lancastrians came out on top. Such as Second St Albans.

March – Sword and Spear – Second Battle of St Albans

Again, rather than go into details here, anyone wanting to know more about this game can read the battle report (Wars of the Roses – 2nd Battle of St Albans – Battle Report – Maidstone Wargames Society (brigademodels.co.uk)). Suffice to say, it was business as usual! Tony joined me again on the Lancastrian side. I was feeling good about this one, felt I was due a win. And the early part of the game was looking good – the local militia archers engaged the Yorkist artillery and eliminated them for no loss! Yup, first blood to Lancaster. And then it steadily went downhill. Never mind.

More sci fi in April! This time it was Pete M’s Space 1889 game. A different kind of sci fi – Victorian rather than futuristic. The stand out thing were Pete’s scratchbuilt aeronefs, and we spent a bit of time playing ‘guess what bits have been used for the models’. Truly outstanding.

We played two games. I was on the human side for both games, and both games were very close. And Jeremey got a leathering in both games with his colleagues leaving him to do all the work. Excellent game.

April – Space:1889 – Mars

The end of April was Salute and this coincided with a club meeting day. Naturally, it was going to be a quiet meeting with a fair few members at Salute. I ran an American Civil War game (battle of Cedar Mountain) using brigade Fire & Fury.

April – Fire & Fury – The Battle of Cedar Mountain

The Union army is in a difficult position for this battle – making an attack against a much larger Confederate army. John R took control of the Union troops and did a good job – but his artillery ran out of ammo early in the game and he never had the time or opportunity to replenish them. This left him conducting a fighting retreat, and he made a good job of it, slowing down the Confederates.

First game in May was another in our Wars of the Roses campaign – the battle of Towton. Like all the others…I lost. Now, I’m not just saying this, but the dice rolling on our side was pretty poor, compared to the other side rolling really well. No, no! Stop that! It’s true on this occasion. To read more about this game you can check out the blog post (Wars of the Roses – Battle of Towton – Battle Report – Maidstone Wargames Society (brigademodels.co.uk))

May – Sword & Spear – Towton

Next was another sci fi game – Full Thrust. Jeremey and Tony were running the game which meant only one thing: vector movement. My fluffy little head struggles with that and prefers the cinematic movement option.

May – Full Thrust

A mixed bag of results. The first game was two opposed fleets with an asteroid field cutting the table in two – Tony F and myself using some of Brigade’s German ships, and Jeremey and Tony G using some of Jeremey’s scratch built (out of false nails) ships. Tony and myself came out on top in that one. We then played a couple of one ship per player games (first was cruisers, second was destroyers) and the alien nail ships won those games.

Along came flaming June and I decided not to attend Broadside since I was trying to restrict spending and if you go to a show you have to buy something, eh? John Lambert and myself had a game of Crossfire. We played this quite a bit a few years ago but then it fell by the wayside. The models for this game were from my collection – WW2 eastern front.

June – Crossfire – WW2 Eastern Front

The scenario was a late war one – Russian advance through Poland with the Germans on the retreat. Naturally, we were re-learning the rules, but it steadily came back to us. MUST ensure we play more of this one.

June 24th was the club Open Day. My game was a Saga: Crusades games. We played two scenarios, I had Saracens and Andy had Milites Christi. Saracens carried the day and won both games. I love Saga. It’s just the right game for me.

June – SAGA Crusades – The Road to Damascus

You can read more about the Open Day here: Review of 2023 Open Day – Maidstone Wargames Society (brigademodels.co.uk)

That concludes part 1 of the review of 2023, part 2 will be published in a couple of weeks.

Society Meetings 24th September and 8th October 2022

A photo round up of a couple of recent(ish) Society meetings- August 27th and September 10th

Here’s the second of our catch up posts for a couple of our recent meetings.

24th September

A good turn-out for this meeting with 5 games in progress.

We start with Pete’s 10mm Vietnam “Charlie Don’t Surf” game.

A quiet hamlet in Vietnam
US Infantry
NVA troops advance
M113 ACAVs

Then on to some 3D printed and scratch-built Galleys & Galleons, part of the Mediterranean Galley Campaign being run by John.

Galleys advance
Fleets engage
The battle continues

Then on to a 6mm Napoleonic game, Poles and Saxons vs Austrians 1809 using Mark’s Home rules. (Forgive any errors in troop attribution).

Russian Cavalry advance
Russian Infantry and Artillery
Polish Infantry
Polish Lancers

Andy and Steve had another SAGA Crusades bash:

Andy’s Crusaders
Stephen’s Mounted Saracens
Stephen’s Assassins
SAGA Warriors, foot and mounted

And finally for this meeting, Alan ran a 28mm WW1 Blood & Valor game:

French Infantry
German Infantry
German A7V tank
French infantry storm a ruined house
French Infantry

8th October

More games but fewer periods for this meeting.

We start with a BattleTech game, a bit of an introduction for thee rules at the Society, only a couple of photos of these I’m afraid.

Six members contested the Trevor Pearless Memorial DBA Tournament, we managed to run five rounds of three games. There’s be a write up of this in due course, but for now here’s a few photos.

Trojans vs Anglo Danes
Trojans vs Anglo Danes
Trojans, complete with Horse, vs Anglo Norman
Anglo Normans vs Caledones

And finally, some 6mm Filed of Glory action

Light cavalry surrounding the heavies
Light Infantry clash
Elephants!

Society Meeting, October 22nd

It’s been a while since we posted any pictures of society meetings, but here are some from our latest meeting, which had a good turn out with five games in progress and around 20 members present.

First up we have a 2mm Ancients game using Strength and Honour rules, Republican Romans vs Germans.

Marcomanni & Suebi Warbands clash with the Auxilia
Same clash, different angle
Close up of the Suebi Warband
Line of battle

Our second game was a clash between a 100 Year’s War English army and some Ottoman Turks, this time in 6mm using Field of Glory rules

Archers flanking Men at Arms
Close up of Archers
Archers holding the hill
Cavalry charge the Men at Arms
Men at arms punch a hole through the line of Archers

Slightly later historically we turn to the War of the Roses, and a game based on the Battle of Wakefield, this time in 15mm using Sword and Spear rules.

Battle of Wakefield, starting positions. Jeremey feeling somewhat surrounded.

In the background you can see Stephen’s representation of Sandal Castle, you can see an article on its construction here.

Close up of the Yorkist right flank.
Lancastrian Left Flanking force
Yorkist Archers, the small dice show the remaining strength
Uneven archery duel, all units started at strength 3.

Our fourth game, chronologically, takes us to the East End of London, where things go bump in the night. A Victorian Gothic Horror game using “A Fist Full of Lead” rules in 28mm.

Just another day in the East End
A bit of a barney
Hello, hello, hello, what’s going on here aaarghh
It’s not even safe indoors
A Hansom Cab
Police raid a house of ill repute
They’s big n hairy & I be afraid of ’em

And finally, we go to Vietnam, with a 1:600 scale Air game using Thud Ridge rules.  Only a couple of photos of this game unfortunately.

SAM-2 site protecting a vital bridge as a Skyhawk attacks.
Close up of the Skyhawk, pursued by MiG-15s

 

Society Meeting 12 March 2022

A quick round up of last weekend’s games…

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 drawn
Cavalry 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 advances
A quiet(ish) village
View from the the side of the village
US 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 wonderland
Two out of three down
Armour advances
Brew 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 Dwarves
Stephen’s skeleton archers take the high ground as his cavalry charge Jeremey’s rockmen
Dwarves finally advance
Stephen’s skeleton cavalry losing to Jeremey’s rockmen

Lights! Camera! Action! Take 1.

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.

Stephen kicked off the challenge with a picture of Grendel and Beowulf

Grendel and Beowulf

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.

Marcus provided a scene from Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

“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.

Charlie Don’t Surf

Pete tells us all about his Open Day Game

“Charlie Don’t Surf” is a card driven Company level Vietnam game played with 10mm figures and models from club member Pete Smith’s collection.

This scenario will see three Platoons of US Infantry search for VC munition and rice caches in and around a small hamlet on the main highway from Saigon to Da Nang. Local VC are known to operate in this area. Also,Company HQ has advised that a company of NVA may have deployed to this area to interrupt any US operations.

The US forces may be inserted into the area by Huey Helicopters or may decide to go in on foot.
A Cobra gunship and spotter helicopter are in support,along with a mech.platoon of M113s and maybe a Phantom F4 could be available to assist.

The US have a lot of fire power at hand, but a couple of well placed ambushes by the VC and NVA can turn things around against the US very rapidly.

We’ve played several CDS games at the club and they’ve all been fast moving and exiting.

Why not not swing by and visit the ‘Nam and maybe command a squad of US Infantry or VC/NVA for a few turns?