Category: Clash of Rhyfles

2026 Open Day photo round up

Andy shares a 2026 Open Day photo round up.

Yesterday the Society staged its Open Day, putting on half a dozen games.

Here are a few photos in, roughly, historical order

Barons War (13th Century)

Andy’s sergeants charge Stephen’s Lowlanders
The remnants of Andy’s Knights charge Stephen’s Burghers, while the crossbows and spearmen guard the livestock
Stephen’s knights charge through the village, Andy’s Crossbows in front of them and archers behind.
Andy’s spearmen close on Stephen’s Burghers
Stephen has fallen! Only one of his knights left.
Andy’s Sergeants vs Stephen’s Light Cavalry

Commando raid, WW2, 1940’s (0200 Hours Rules)

Somewhere on the coast of France…
… canoeists approach the U-boat.
A commando lays his charges
Fido has smelt something.
Turn out the Guard!

Vietnam (1960’s – 70’s) Charlie don’t Surf rules

Out in the ‘Nam
ACAVs advance down the road.
Dustoff on standby
The firebase

Technicals, somewhere in Africa, 1970’s – 80’s, home grown rules

Technicals parked up ready for their next game.

Apologies to David, I only got one photo of his game, if any are shared by other members I’ll update the post.

We now depart history for some more whimsical,and fantastical, games.

A Clash of Rhyfles, battles with the Quar.

Crusader Quar advance against…
… their opponents, the Principality Of Gwynt
Crusaders pass a fallen comrade
A Crusader Cook / Medic on the latest mechanical contraption rushes to the casualty’s aid.
The Principality Of Gwynt pluck counter

And finally, some Dragon Rampant.

A three way stand off? Ogre vs Dragon vs warriors
A selection of Chaotic troops
A fight over the village

That’s all for now. Our next open day will be in June next year, but if you fancy coming along to the club we meet between 10:00 and 17:00 on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month (only the first of these in December) at Linton Village Hall, Linton Hill (A229), Maidstone. The first two meetings attended are free for prospective members, and subs are prorated.

You can find more details and directions here.

Work in Progress Wednesday Special – Blasted Trees!

We are having a little detour this week. Member Stephen produced some blasted trees and we thought it would be a good idea to ask Stephen to show how easy it is to create such striking scenery.

Blasted Trees DIY
This building project came about because we had a game of Clash of Rhyfles in the club diary and, with the setting being a World War One analogue, I decided to create some themed terrain items.

When I think of a WW1 battlefield what comes to mind are the stark images of trees stripped bare by constant artillery barrages.

So that is what I am going to make.

I say ‘I am going to make’ but, truth is, Mother Nature did most of the work.

A walk through the woods of the North Downs soon yielded plenty of sticks. I could have carved some balsa and painted it, but why would I? I could never do as good a job as Nature has achieved. The important thing, when selecting your twigs, is to get variety in size, shape, and features  (ed. and not to take them from the trees but the plentiful number on the ground).

Next was to stick the sticks to a base. I had some modeller’s light ply so I cut it up in 10cm squares. I used a hot glue gun. Quick tip – remove the bottom few millimetres of bark before gluing. With an old stick the bark peels off easily and if you leave it intact all you may end up doing is gluing the bark to the base and the twig comes free.

On to basing.

I know I said I wanted a WW1 appearance but I had to play this off against how I had based other terrain and the figures as well.

So rather than a muddy Somme-like basing I went with something half way between the two so they would fit in with other items and I could use them with other games.

I used my usual basing routine – paint the base (and glue) with a mid-brown, then cover with model railway ballast. When dry I then added patches of static grass. This was finished off with some clump foliage.

With that, it was all done and ready for the games’ table.