A good turn out for the Society’s first meeting of 2024, which included the Annual General Meeting, as well as half a dozen games.
The games staged were representative of the many periods and genes covered at the Society, consisting of historical, fictional, fantasy and sci-fi games.
Tony and Phil made a start with their “Quest of the Ringbearer” Middle-Earth campaign, playing out 4 scenarios of the journey from the Shire to Mount Doom.
Scenario 1 Farmer Maggot’s Crop
Farmer Maggot’s cottageStarting positions for scenario 1. The hobbits by their stash (giant tomato), Grip, Fang and Wolf by the kennel and Farmer Maggot asleep in his cottage.One of the Hobbits fends off Fang while the others gather cabbages
Scenario 2 – Short cuts make long delays
Pippin gets left behind as Frodo and Sam head for Gildor Inglorion. The Nazgul blunder their way through the woodsSam has three Nazgul to face, Pippin has fallen and Frodo is nowhere to be seen.
Scenario 3 – Buckleberry Ferry
Starting positions for Scenario three, Three Nazgul spread out near the ferry, the Hobbits are in the trees near the top of the picture.Stalemate, the sole surviving Nazgul (with 5 points of Will left) has crossed the Brandywine tying the ferry on the far side of the river. The four Hobbits have taken some damage and can’t face swimming the river with a Nazgul waiting for them.
A more detailed report on these scenarios will appear in due course.
Stephen staged a 15mm American Civil War game using Brigade Fire & Fury, ‘The Battle of Mansfield April 1864’
Union defenders on the hillUnion fall back as the Confederates take the hillLast ditch Union defenceConfederates turn the flank
Alan put on a Pulp Alley game “The Castle of Terror”, teams from the Intelligence Agencies of various countries have been dispatched to investigate secret German activity at Schloß Weidergänger.
The teams approach the castle through the woodsThe enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my friendRussians investigate one of the hutsSentries patrol, “Hast du etwas gehört, Fritz?”
Jeremey and Eric tried out –“Grimdark Future” from One Hour Wargames using their Space Marines and Robot collections.
Space Marines attack!Part of the robot hordeSpace Marines with air supportSpace Marines take a beating
John staged a FoG Renaissance 15mm ECW game pitching Royalists vs Covenanters
Scots Covenanters defend the hillPush of PikeCavalry clash on the wingsKings’s Lifeguard of Foot supported by cavalry attack the Covenanters
And finally, David put on a 28mm Napoleonic Corps game, Russians vs Prussians using General d’Armee rules
Battle lines are formedCavalry clash while infantry hide in the woods.Russian foot attack the Prussians in the woodsAttack on the Cross Roads
Well, that’s it for the round up of our first meeting.
The Society meets on the 2nd & 4th Saturdays of the month at Linton Village Hall. You can find our diary of games here.
For new members/visitors, we will always endeavour to find you a spot in a game if we can.
A short round up of games played at our last meeting.
The usual FOG suspects staged a 6mm game, Mid Republican Roman vs Later Selucid.
Mark ran a 28mm Judge Dredd game, with virulent scenery, you may need your sunglasses.
Close up of the tower block
Jeremey and Stephen continued their refight of the War of the Roses, this time recreating Towton.
Each were “assisted” by two sub commanders this time, on the Lancastrian side with Stephen were Andy and Tony G, with Tony F and Peter joining the Yorkist commander, Jeremey.
Andy & Tony F both switched sides since the last campaign game (not unusual in the War of the Roses). There will be a full report on this game written up by the victorious commander.
Armies deployed, Yorkist on the left, Lancastrian on the rightYorkist CentreMore YorkistsStephen’s victorious Border Horse.A truly dismal roll by the Lancastrian’s French crossbowmen, three 1sLancastrian centre, what’s left of it.The Lancastrian dead. Units with red dice were Andy’s, blue dice were Tony G’s and black dice were Stephen’s
We had a very good turn out at the last meeting, 5 games in progress with over 20 members present.
First up, John and Alex were play testing John’s Border Reivers game.
All quiet at the Bastle house, for now.Action at the ford.
Mark ran another Dungeons and Dragons session, taking his adventurers to sea and then deep into the dungeon depths.
The dungeon master looks on as the adventurers ponder their next action.Action at the QuaysideDungeon delvingWho let the dogs out?
Paul ran a 6mm FoG Ancients game, Late Bulgarians vs Ottomans.
Light cavalry on the right somewhat outnumberedThe centre of the battle seems a bit emptyClash of cavalry
Stephen and Jeremey continued their refight of the War of the Roses, using Sword and Spear rules, this time recreating the Second Battle of St Albans. There will be a write up of this game shortly.
The Yorkist camp, artillery and cavalry await the approaching Lancastrian vanguard.The artillery has fallen to Lancastrian archery, but the first Yorkist reinforcements are now approaching the campA Lancastrian pike block about to dispose of some Yorkist archers, but Yorkist Men at Arms are waiting behind the archers.Towards the end of the battle, the Yorkists have pushed the Lancastrians back from the campOn the Yorkist left flank there are few Lancastrians left.
Finally, Mark H ran a War of the Spanish Succession game, using his own fast play rules.
Cavalry advanceMore CavalryThe armies line upCavalry wings clashThe infantry engage
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 VietnamUS InfantryNVA troops advanceM113 ACAVs
Then on to some 3D printed and scratch-built Galleys & Galleons, part of the Mediterranean Galley Campaign being run by John.
Galleys advanceFleets engageThe 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 advanceRussian Infantry and ArtilleryPolish InfantryPolish Lancers
Andy and Steve had another SAGA Crusades bash:
Andy’s CrusadersStephen’s Mounted SaracensStephen’s AssassinsSAGA Warriors, foot and mounted
And finally for this meeting, Alan ran a 28mm WW1 Blood & Valor game:
French InfantryGerman InfantryGerman A7V tankFrench infantry storm a ruined houseFrench 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 DanesTrojans vs Anglo DanesTrojans, complete with Horse, vs Anglo NormanAnglo Normans vs Caledones
And finally, some 6mm Filed of Glory action
Light cavalry surrounding the heaviesLight Infantry clashElephants!
We’ve been remiss and not posted a photo round up of several of our meetings held over the last three months. Here’s the first of these covering the first two of the missing meetings.
August 27th
Three games ran at the meeting, first up a 6mm Ancients game using Field of Glory rules.
Alan ran an Eastern Front WWI game in 15mm using “Battles with Brusilov” rules.
And finally for this meeting, Stephen ran a very wet Stargrave game, Waterworld. We should have a more detailed write up of this game soon, but you can find an article about the boat building endeavours of our members here.
Andy’s crew approach a tower blockTony’s crew encounter a KrakenThe view from orbit
September 10th
We had another three games at this meeting, firstly a 2mm Strength & Honour game.
Stephen and Jeremey ran another game in their refight of the War of the Roses, using Sword & Spear rules. There’s a full account of this battle (written by the victor, of course) here.
Lancastrian defensive positionYorkist right flankYorkists advance
And finally, Eric ran a series of Gaslands races.
We’ll round off the other two missing meetings, September 24th & October 8th in the not-too-distant future.
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 AuxiliaSame clash, different angleClose up of the Suebi WarbandLine 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 ArmsClose up of ArchersArchers holding the hillCavalry charge the Men at ArmsMen 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 forceYorkist Archers, the small dice show the remaining strengthUneven 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 EndA bit of a barneyHello, hello, hello, what’s going on here aaarghhIt’s not even safe indoorsA Hansom CabPolice raid a house of ill reputeThey’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
Four periods/genres were staged at the last meeting.
First up, a couple of games of Field of Glory, using 6mm figures, Early Alans vs Selucids.
Stephen, Tony & Andy played three, three sided SAGA Age of Vikings games, using the Battle Royale scenario from the Book of Battles. Victory is normally decided by Survival points in this scenario, and that’s how we played the first game. In the second game we decided to use Slaughter points, and in the third reverted to Survival Points, but with 5 points for controlling the central objective (the building) and for each charge made.
The first three sided battle.Stephen’s HearthguardTony’s VikingsVikings and Scots clashTony’s Viking Warriors vs Andy’s Anglo Danish Hearthguard – battle joined!Tony’s Viking Warriors – the aftermath, where did the Hearthguard go?More Scots and Vikings
The first two games finished with the same result, Stephen won, Andy came second and Tony came third. The third game was a tie between Stephen and Andy, with Tony bringing up the rear.
Germans advance through the woodsBritish Anti Tank GunGerman combined armsGerman advance
Finally, Peter ran a 75mm Lord of the Rings skirmish game. This is a participation game set in the Mines of Moria, with players controlling one main character and one Hobbit each. They must buy time for the NPC Gandalf to cast a delaying/blocking spell on the escape route – before the Balrog turns-up! There will be a more in depth report on this game in the near future.
The initial onslaught, “They have a Cave Troll”They had a Cave Troll!Gandalf concentrating on his spell.The Balrog arrives.
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
A tad delayed, but here’s a photo round up of our first meeting of 2022. In addition to our AGM, we had a SAGA battle day, involving 8 players, a FOG Renaissance ECW game, a Lords of the Rings Game and some Spy-Fi action.
First up a SAGA-fest with Scots, Bretons, Welsh, Vikings and Anglo-Danes. In addition to some experienced SAGA players we had a couple of prospective members join in for their first games.
Andy’s Anglo Danish face off against Stephen’s WelshJames’ Vikings vs Jeremey’s Anglo DanesTony’s Bretons vs John’s ScotsJames’ Vikings vs Jeremey’s Anglo DanesJames’ Vikings vs Jeremey’s Anglo DanesClose up of John’s ScotsTony’s Bretons
Moving on the the English Civil War, 15mm figures using Field of Gory rules.
ECW Armies line upCuirassiers chargeColonel John Lamplugh’s Regiment of FootRoyalist Regiments
Moving from history to fiction, Marcus had a try out of his underwater Spy-Fi rules.
Marcus’ seascapeDivers and mini-subMore divers hiding behind a shoal of fishThe two sides fight over the lost missile.
And finally to Fantasy, a Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game.
The scene is set.Dwarves advance across the bridgeUruk Hai advance with a Troll in supportDwarf Heavy MetalDwarves holding the Bridge against the Uruk Hai
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