The Wargaming Erratic

An Unexpected Surprise

For the soloist, looking into the eyes of an opponent and not via a screen is a surprise – a nice surprise.

In this case it was a “live” wargame for a soloist. What to play? Time of the essence – it had to be quick. Although Neil Thomas is invariably a draw, it was “What a Tanker” (WaT) by Too Fat Lardies that won the decision.

with a bit of notice a suitable scene was created – the crossroads was supplied by Coritani at the Fiasco Show

I set up a congested scene after a recent solo run out of WaT had proven to be a bit too much of a target practice event.

Points tally was dictated by wanting at least 3 tanks a side playing wide across a 6’x4′ or 1.8m x 1.2m board. And with one gamer wanting big German tanks to figure, we ended up as follows.

Germans (43pts)

1 Pz VI Tiger I 21pts – armour 10 and strike value 10 with slow moving turret and heavy armour

2 PzIV E-F1 9pts – armour 5 and strike value 4

3 PzIV H-J 13pts – armour 6 and strike value 7

they were up against

British (45pts)

1 M3 Honey 9pts – armour 4 and strike value 4 Fast

2 M3 Grant 10pts – armour 4 and strike value 6

3 M4 Sherman 12pts – armour 6 and strike value 6

4 Sherman Firefly 14pts – armour 6 and strike value 9 slow mover

The British were so short of tanks the Honey had to be sent into action in bare metal (ok plastic) and some white primer!

The scene was near a destroyed bridge with a village of sorts clustered around a crossroads.

What a Tanker requires scenery classification.

The starting points were random. The tiger was in one corner. The M4 Sherman was opposite. The weaker PzIV EF and Grant were at the other flank. In middle the Honey and Firefly faced off the other PzIV HJ.

Everything was a minor obstacle except for some tough hedgerows which being MAJOR obstacles required extra effort to cross. These were my recently completed “sponge hedges”.

Victory conditions for this game were destuction of all enemy armour.

The hedgerows at the top of this photo drove both the German PzIV EF1 tank and its M3 Grant into the village with mixed results.

The Germans were a bit sluggish yet the Tiger took out the fast M3 Honey even before it moved. Things were not looking good for the British. The M4 Sherman (in the wide open) and opposite the Tiger had maxed out on moving (getting lots of drive dice to use in its first turn) and also rolled high (you roll dice for inches of movement). It promptly raced for the relative shelter of the village.

The Firefly was soon engaged with the PzIV HJ and stayed on the west road exchanging light damage.

The Tiger struck again and the Firefly was no more.

The Firefly succumbs! as later does the PzIV HJ – west street was littered with destroyed tanks

The odds were still stacked against the British. Fortunately the Tiger failed to get “drive” dice and the remaining M4 set about the PzIV EF1. Meanwhile the M3 Grant which had struggled to do anything useful managed to get on the north road despite halting in line of sight of the Tiger which this time failed to “acquire” dice for an easy target ( the tiger was at one end of the board, the Grant at the other – 72 inches away).

The Grant then scurried into south east wood before heading north!

Finally some better luck for the British as the M4 took out the PzIV HJ – striking at its weaker flank. Yet the Tiger was now hunting in the village.

The Tiger stalks the M3 Grant at very top left – it really is there! – but it is just a glimpse as the M3 scuttles away

Now the Tiger was really on the move and almost caught the tail of the M3 Grant. Random movement allowed the Tiger to then reverse back onto north bridge road to confront the M4 Sherman that had carelessly decided to chase the action.

The Tiger reverses back onto north road to deal with that “2 kills” M4 Sherman

The M3 Grant continued to skirt the east side of the village arriving at the north end of the village at exactly the right moment – what a journey!

Finally the M3 Grant arrives at the action

No fire dice? with Tigers you can simply crush the opposition………..

The Tiger dice were thrown and they were “drive” dice and no “fire” dice. The Tiger simply drove straight into the M4 Sherman and then – nothing – it failed to crush the M4.

Failing to crush the M4 Sherman led to the M3 Grant getting a free shot at the Tiger’s slightly weaker rear armour.

At that point the M3 Grant had completed its own circumnavigation of the village and acquired the weaker armoured rear of the Tiger 1.

At last the dice really went with the British and another lucky shot destroyed the Tiger 1.

really lucky dice by the unfashionable M3 Grant

Game over!

Gaming tools include measuring sticks, tape measure, dice and dashboard indicators for loaded, aimed, target acquired and buttoned

This game had all the twists and turns WaT offers. After the early dice rolled well for the Germans, luck ran out later on as the British crucially threw two sets of “tank destroyed” dice.

Great fun and we even gave the “oldhammer” measuring sticks a run out.

Tags tanks, wargames, wargaming, what a tanker, WW2

wargame shows wargaming

Recon at the Double part 2

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 9th Dec 2021
5 Comments on Recon at the Double part 2

Having done a quick tour of the show in my last post, this post gives a little flavour of the Lance and Longbow Society game.

The imaginary battle of San Giovese 1499 allowed two roughly equal forces of infantry and cavalry to fight for control of land around a priory.

Using modified Lion Rampant rules to handle base elements rather than single figures the game was run against the clock (60 minutes). In theory both sides had a slightly stronger right flank although in both games I joined the outcome was decided by total losses rather than a flank being swept away.

Essentially 2 or 3 players per side were assisted by an Umpire.

These were good and quick games to play, face to face and in a relaxed way.

So thanks to the Lance Longbow Society for running this game.

Tags Italian wars, lance and longbow society, Recon, Recon 2021

wargame shows wargaming

Recon at the double

After a two year break I attended Recon in Pudsey (between Leeds and Bradford), run by the Wakefield Wargamers. In between I have managed to visit just one other wargames show – Fiasco (last month).

Recon is what I guess people would regard as a regional show. This type of show is essential for the hobby to function. This year despite all the problems with COVID and an Autumn show congested calendar, the show was fine. Numbers were probably down – not a surprise, there were plenty of games available to play and a variety of traders. The bring and buy was a lot quieter and that is the indicator that tells you footfall was lower than in previous years.

Durham war gamers put on a large 28mm Vikings and Saxons game – visually attractive with longships beached up.

KB Club showed off smaller scale 1/144 modern warfare on hex plus a sci fi starships game.

6mm was on show with James Mitchell’s Sudan game.

The Lance & Longbow Society put on a 28mm Italian Wars game.

I had some good buys at the bring and buy as well as Dave Lanchester books. More on that at the end.

The other traders were a good mix selling figures, scenery, paints, brushes and rulesets as you would expect. I picked up Anarchy by Chris Peers published by Pen & Sword from “The Little Corporal”. Given, I was tempted there by Wargaming for Grown Ups Spanish Civil War rules – it was a surprise purchase!

Iron Gate Scenery had a good display as did Baccus 6mm and Eagle Miniatures 28mm.

I bought an FT17 by Hat from a trader who it appears was a late arrival so I cannot name them! They were between tables 20 (MaideinUK 3D printer) and 21 (Blastwall – mainly scenic).

My other purchases were all books

This last book was a pure indulgence. Having really enjoyed Ironclads I could not resist this book which deals with south amercian wars in the late 19th century. The paintings are fascinating and all the more interesting for being watercolours. Again Dave Lanchester Books was the supplier.

This South American war is one of those crossover wars where old and new technology combined for a moment and then continued on their respective journey.

A very good day out so put it in your diary for 2022.

Tags Dave Lanchester Books, lance and longbow society, military books, Recon, Recon 2021

Scenery wargaming

Hedging my bets

So unexpectedly I had a scenery moment (or maybe a senior moment?). I had just invested in some stone walls even though I had intended to make my own.

And then I considered that I simply had no hedges. None – as an Ancients/Medieval come Early Modern gamer you only need them to hide ECW dragoons at Naseby I think……

Well as much as I like Last Valley and other off the shelf hedgerows I suddenly remembered a recent acquistion – Operation Warboard. In it Gavin and Bernard Lyall give you a lot of info on fighting WW2 battles and also putting together the game as a whole. No time to waste on scenery though – just a stick with some chopped washing up sponge does for trees.

So I thought as part of my Operation Highstreet I might try some homemade hedges. What did I have to lose.

I then did nothing. And then on a quick whizz through a corner shop I spotted a pack of 10 sponges for 100p or 10p each. Job done.

As it happens I have also been collecting tea – yes tea in tea bags. Now this particular minimalist technique I have not used since as a kid I used dried tea to save money for buying figures. I still have some D&D and Vikings figures with dried tea coated bases – imaginatively coloured brown tea colour – talk about tight fisted on spending!

Well this time I was pushing the boat out – no brown winter hedgerow here. It would be spring green this time.

Each sponge yielded two modular hedges – I reasoned this flexibility would help give variety.

I gave each a double dose of PVA glue – the first to fill up airgaps and the second to take the dried tea which I just rolled the sponges in, pressing carefully.

The dry brush of three coats going from blue green to a more yellow green worked for me. At every stage I let things dry out completely so not much time in each stage but the stages were spread out over a week.

And that is it. Very very quick if a bit brutal but in the spirit of Operation Warboard.

Now they just need to find a table top battle………………

Tags hedges, make it yourself

Book Reviews Military History wargaming world war two

The Politician, the General with the Secret Agent: Take Three Books

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 6th Dec 2021
3 Comments on The Politician, the General with the Secret Agent: Take Three Books

My current preoccupation with 20th century warfare has scooped up two random purchases that were “I might read that one day” plus a rebuy for the third time – this time I read it cover to cover!

“The Murder of Admiral Darlan” does not leap into most peoples mind as a book worthy of a second look unless maybe it was a Napoleonic era study. Quite simply Admiral Darlan led on the wrong side for too long before switching sides only to be murdered. So no need to read the book then. Wait – it is written by an american and is not really about the murder at all. It details just how close the allies came to mess up Operation Torch before they landed! And there is still plenty of action. If you want ideas for gaming its worth a look.

The General de Gaulle memoirs were published by Collins in London in 1955 the year after Dien Bien Phu (1954) definitively signalled the end of French Indochina. The first part 1940-42 is all about defeat and survival. And de Gaulle emphasises the Empire as his sustaining source in a way english speakers might not appreciate, not least as the British Empire had its own story to wrestle with. The brief Northern France actions and the sheer chaos of an uncertain France as belief fell away offers yet more ideas for the wargamer. I still think a country defeated in 1815, conquered in 1870 and nearly overrun again in 1914 and finally part annexed by its neighbour in 1940 always has an interesting story to tell.

Charles Whiting has been a prolific author of war stories. Many are written under nom de plumes such was his rate of production.

His book about Operation Torch feels different to the other two books. He was not there but he went to war at 16 (illegally) and marched across northern europe in an armoured reconnaissance unit ending up in Germany. So I think you can say his writing is very observational with concern for the moment. Perhaps though you can match that in de Gaulle when he talks about french tank attacks in northern France and Tompkins relaying details of the “uprising which failed”.

As a trilogy these three books are complimentary and work. In my view you read de Gaulle and get suitably downhearted and deeply suspicious of everything Vichy as well as Britain and the USA! There is some action but mostly positioning. Then you read Peter Tompkins and the upbeat Americans just about holding together the idea they should be in Europe via North Africa and that Vichy could still be a good angle: More action and some spectacular moments not least in Algiers. Finally the action really kicks off with Whiting and ends with Von Arnim, Rommel followed by Montgomery and Kesselring all pitching up in Tunisia with an already frustrated Patton, Clark, Fredenhall and of course Eisenhower. Even Alexander gets a look in.

The 1942/43 battles involved German, Italian, Vichy, Free French, US and British Empire and Home forces on land, at sea and in the air. With lots of confusion, poor weather and both out of date and brand new technology these stories lack for nothing.

The three books cover the period well, in a way I don’t think any one book can.

De Gaulle starts us off in 1940 and provides the approach including some useful Africa maps to show context – North Africa was not simply below Spain and Italy.

Then Admiral Darlan fleshes out the North African situation and the US interest building to the uprising and invasion events in detail. The murder provides the context.

Finally kasserine provides in effect what follows and how armies of five major countries and their allies end up facing off in hills west of Tunis.

In each case the overlapping narratives compliment each taking different lines amongst the same information. That means repetition is not noticeable.

Oh I did not mention on Kasserine Pass – the first moment in WW2 the US troops went head to head with the Germans and came up short.

So if you want a diversion from the perrenial Normandy Landings, El Alamein, Stalingrad or indeed Blitzkrieg then read these three books and get caught up in a veritable confusion of events and participants!

Tags Admiral Darlan, Charles de Gaulle, Charles Whiting, Kasserine Pass, Operation Torch, Peter Tompkins

1/72 scale figures 20/25/28mm figures miniatures painting wargaming world war two

The Observer Scenario: The Figures

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 5th Dec 2021
2 Comments on The Observer Scenario: The Figures

I have restarted my WW2 era interests through painting some of the Plastic Soldier Companies 1/72 figures. I have painted Russian and US troops so far. As my interests are solo and mythical, matching historic countries and or uniforms is not essential.

If I ever play a live opponent, I will probably be ok as there seems no shortage of modelled german armies……..

Having painted these figures I do like some poses a lot while others seem a bit odd. The Russian hand grenade thrower and SMG handler makes sense if you stand him against a wall though. So I think PSC did a good job here. The US set has some excellent “moving forward” troops, yet too many kneelers?

I opted for block painting with a wash. I used a proprietary matt varnish which worked in the odd place but generally came out satin: Answers on a postcard.

I had some fun picking the shade in the end opting for “seraphim sepia” on everything except the odd helmet

Tags citadel paints, the plastic soldier company

wargame rules wargaming

Scenario MO/01: The Observer

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 4th Dec 2021
8 Comments on Scenario MO/01: The Observer

In my last post I described a small action in a narrative style.

I created the Scenario to try out some new figures. As I have no heavy weapons the challenge needed to be simple.

Also I game solo or rather ZERO. So the scenario had to meet certain specifics. The main one was that surprise or chance was needed to animate the game.

Most solo players are more than happy with rulesets that randomise outcomes far more than the norm for two player games. The reason is easy to see – deprived of your human opponent you need to substitute what would have been their random or unknown acts.

The following Scenario details will help you to apply this to your chosen rules and any number of players you chose.

RED v BLUE – for convenience I have used these terms. In the narrative the Azorians were RED and the Vossackians were BLUE.

RED objective: Place observer on hill to view valley below and call in an air strike against expected enemy concentrations.

BLUE objective: defender may or may not appear!

You can see immediately I have made this one sided in the sense that RED is the active party and BLUE the reactive party – well initially.

notable rules:

you should specify a distance for sighting or observing enemy units. This might look odd on the table when you can plainly see opponents in direct sight. This abstraction is fine – no different to the out of scale scenery versus figures or weapon ranges v movement. Distortion is the whole point of table top wargaming.
The defender throws each turn after RED has moved to find out if a part of its force has appeared
defenders appear at certain points (marked 1 to 8 on the map)
if RED pass through a marked point it ceases to be a point of entry for BLUE
to add variety troops can be of different qualities
movement was not hampered by the hills
movement was hampered by the woodland which covered all the hills anyway

I thought about which rules to use. Having returned only recently to the WW2 era I had previous rulesets to draw upon as well as new ones as yet untried.

Poor Bloody Infantry by Peter Pig
Chain of Command by TooFatLardies
One Hour Wargames by Neil Thomas
Various Featherstone rules – notably the set from Battles with Model Soldiers
“Battle” practical wargaming by Charles Grant Senior
“Operation Warboard” by Gavin and Bernard Lyall
Rapid Fire reloaded

To confound matters I remembered Neil Thomas published Wargaming an Introduction (WaI) that had a WW2 ruleset.

I opted for this ruleset feeling that One Hour Wargames might be too “lite” for my needs.

WaI is maybe not familiar to many people. It has similar mechanisms to other rulesets.

Dice were always six sided except a 1d8 for defender unit location

Back to the Scenario the following were added to the rules

I permitted double moves at the start as my 6×4 or 1.8m x 1.2m table had a lot of distance to be covered for no response due to the sighting rules.
Essentially the units could sprint (double move) once followed by a minimum two moves at normal speed.
Sections comprised separate figures spaced up to 3cm apart
3 Sections equalled a Platoon
I diced for observation distance on the day
- 20cm on a 3
- 30cm on a 4
- 40cm on a 5
- 50cm on a 6
After each RED move BLUE threw 1d6 to appear
- 1= throw a 1d8 for location of defender appearing
- throw 1d6 again to find out whats there
  - 1 nothing ! (this is logical confusion when solo gaming)
  - 2,3,4 means a rifle section
  - 5 means SMG section (could be another rifle section of course)
  - 6 means LMG or on a second check =6 again you get (1,2,3 HMG or 4,5,6 Heavy Mortar). In my game these would never have actually appeared – simply their effect being used.
- I also tested units for grade/quality as WaI requires this info.
  - 1,2 2nd rate
  - 3,4,5 average
  - 6 elite

What Happened?

Lieutenant Grabern set off with his platoon and the observer team. The game lasted 17 turns including some double moves at the beginning. That also meant RED closed at a faster rate per BLUE chance of generating defenders.

On turn 2 a defender location (3) was generated but at this stage its type was not diced for

On turn 7 another location generated (5)

Location 1 was overrun early on so could never activate any defenders

On turn 8 location 4 was also neutralised by RED

Location (6) generated on move 9 along with (2)

On move 11 location (3) was discovered to be an LMG and an elite unit into the bargain. They quickly pinned White Section.

(5) produced elite riflemen and (2) became another LMG – also elite!!!!

Donovan wiped out the LMG at (3) on move 12.

But this was soon replaced by an average rifle section (6) generation

The Azorians were all average troops and once effectively surrounded started to withdraw from move 13 onwards. On move 15 White Section was destroyed while on move 16 the Platoon Leader (Grabern) Section was nearly wiped retreating to the enclosure.

The difference in the “Observers” moves forward and then back is due to the action ending for the Azorians at the enclosure and not behind Hill 90 which was still several moves away.

So there you have it. A simple scenario for a platoon type action.

I was surprised and pleased at the fun levels without heavy weapons or any armour present. They can wait their turn.

Finally the satisfaction is also in selecting, acquiring, painting and then gaming the figures.

Tags the plastic soldier company, wargame scenarios, wargames rules

Mythical Realms wargaming world war two

Fauxterre 1930+ The Observer

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 3rd Dec 2021
8 Comments on Fauxterre 1930+ The Observer

Lieutenant Kuznets replayed his orders – ascend the valley side to the small wooded hill south west of the 3rd companies position, securing it and then reporting on any activity observed to the west.

It seems there was concern about the presence of the enemy. So far the loose talk was that the Azorians were to the south east, so who or what else could be to the west? Rugians?

Meanwhile Lieutenant Grabern looked at his watch, then the sky and finally signalled Sergeant White forward. Grabern thought about his objective – escort the observer to hill 91, wait and protect him/them until they pull out.

Straightforward orders though. The whispers were that the enemy were in the valley beyond and that the hill was probably occupied already. It felt like trouble.

Lieutenant Grabern continued his retreat back to Hill 90 protecting his charge – the Observer. His platoon had suffered many casualties yet performed well under fire.

Later Lieutenant Kuznets crept amongst his men praising them and checking their condition. He was still wary of what the Azorian intentions were. He had already sent back a runner to report his success at clearing Hill 91. Also he had seen firsthand that these Azorians were well armed and disciplined under fire. Unlike in some of their previous encounters.

Tags azoria, Fauxterre 1930+, narrative, scenario, Vossakia

Mythical Realms wargaming world war two

Vossakia and Azoria

Fauxterre 1930+ Rugia is wracked by civil war and Azoria and Vossakia cannot resist getting involved. Their forces initially support the Rugian factions before eventually colliding and then embarking on an unofficial war of their own!

Neither Vossakia or Azoria want to annexe Rugia yet they want to influence the area which is rich in resources. Both sides treat the conflict as a sideshow with consequences for logistics, resources and planning.

Tags azoria, Fauxterre 1930+, Rugia, Vossakia

Military History

Ironclad Ahoy

Published by Cassell in 2000, War at Sea in the Ironclad Age is one of those hardback books full of colour plates.

That might imply that it is a lightweight – “coffee table” book. For a landlubber like me it was an excellent introduction into a period of history I have had little interest in before.

Roughly covering 1850 to 1900 it charts the development of the Ironclad – the transition from wooden sailing ships to the 20th century “Dreadnaught”.

My initial interest was through this years main project – The Wars of Italian Unification eventually concluded in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian war. Before that the Austrians and Italians had already fought one significant naval action in the Adriatic, the battle of Lissa in 1866. It was notable for poor management and control rather than any technology on show.

At the battle of Lissa the Italians had the only “turret” ship present, in the brand new British built “Affondatore” that also had an enormous front ram hull design.

The Italian “Affondatore” (roughly meaning the “sinker”) when presented with an opportunity to ram the Austrian “Kaiser” failed to do so. The Austrian Flagship “Ferdinand Max” rammed the “Re d’Italia” sinking her immediately (technically the Italian flagship, although the Admiral had already decamped to the “Affondatore”).

The period saw technology rapidly change – submarines, torpedoes and heavy guns in revolving turrets all made their appearance. The American Civil War showed off the sleek “Monitors” of inshore/river warfare.

Lots to consider and what I found helpful was that the book is full of useful information tightly presented – even if often repeated in different ways. This helped and the use of coloured maps with 3D ships showing phases of key actions also helped in my understanding.

The Author Richard Hill – a retired Rear Admiral – addressed a new period for himself as well, thanking John Keegan the series editor for the opportunity. Just maybe the freshness of the words, to me, reflect his new enthusiasm for this period in history.

I obtained the book from Dave Lanchester, who suggested it, when I was seeking a book about mid 19th century european naval warfare.

Dave has no website but is easily contacted – details below.

https://sherburn-in-elmet.cylex-uk.co.uk/company/david-lanchester%27s-military-books-23001504.html

Thanks Dave.

Tags Dave Lanchester Military Books, Ironclads, Lissa 1866, Naval Warfare, wars of the italian unification