Category: Clash of Rhyfles

Society meeting 8th August 2026

Andy rounds up the games at a recent society meeting.

Only one historical game at the society at this meeting, a Fields Of Glory clash between Alexandrian Macedonians and Later Selucid armies using 6mm figures.

A pike block appears over the crest of a hill
Aerial view of the battle lines
Light troops clash on one flank

We welcomed a contingent of South London Warlords members who came down to help society member Peter (who has “dual nationality” as it were) to run a couple of Sci Fi games based on the 1970’s TV series UFO.

Some of our guests from the South London Warlords

The first game is set in space, where SHADO Lunar Interceptors, guided by S.I.D. (the Space Intruder Detector), attempt to locate and destroy alien UFOs before they can land on Earth.

The space game table with a row of alien UFOs
Close up of a UFO
A Lunar Interceptor releases its missile.
Lunar Interceptors, S.I.D., a UFO and a transport ship
Not sure how Skydiver got into space?

Unfortunately, some of the UFOs always seem to elude the space borne defenders, which means the SHADO ground forces need to hunt them down and eliminate them.

SHADO mobile units search for the aliens.
“Spread out and search”
A group of aliens

The hexagonal tiles are laid as the SHADO mobile units explore, so the SHADO operatives never know what they are about to encounter.

Last, but by no means least, the Quar enthusiasts, and a newbie, tried out the Clash of Rhyfles rules again.

Andy’s Crusader contingent on the march, figures loaned by Tony & Phil.
Stephen’s Croftyrans
Andy’s Crusaders advance to the blasted woods
Jeremey’s Gwyntish contingent (in red) dispute ownership of the ruins with Phil’s Crusaders, supported by a tractor.
The sad end to Andy’s contingent.
But it wasn’t totally one sided, the Croftyrans also took casualties. Slightly out of focus at the rear in white is Stephen’s musician, Private Maurice Dancer
Off to one side, the Croftyran camp, not a game objective but Quarnest Hemingway (in white, typing at the table) serves as a Pluck counter.
The Gwynt contingent’s scatter gun lets loose.
Gwynt also fielded a tractor, a recent kitbash by Jeremey

That’s all for this week.

You can see upcoming games in our diary.

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.