The thing about one hour wargames is it’s genuinely “pick up” attraction. If you want to throw dice, move figures and get that war game with a purpose feeling for minimal preparation, then I find it’s a winner.
Yes, the mechanisms are abstract but you have to compromise somewhere and Neil Thomas rules generally offer that blend of compromises I like.
In the first game the Royalists held the hill with some rookie blues and grays in actionThe royalists divide their forces to hold both enemy objectives The royalists include this new blue unitRoyalist artillery hold the town road The royalists are none other than DanesDanish volunteer horse make up the royalist cavalryMore Dane’s this time by HatStrelets Danish Royalist GuardsEverything hung on the defence of the town
Rebel forces enter the fray
A mixed brigade of cavalry The rebels mass their infantry before the town The royalists are caught outThe rebels quickly assault the town The royalists seek to outflank the rebel attackThe rebel cavalry attack the rookie blues royalists
Rebel victory
The rebel attack on the town is overwhelmingThe rebel cavalry destroy the royalist right wing infantry The rebel cavalry move on the second objective – the hillThe royalist defence stiffens around the town The rebel cavalry are destroyed Rebel infantry struggle in the townThe royalist cavalry rush to aid their compatriots in the town but it is too late
So the second battle ends in Royalist defeat. It’s all square and all to play for…..
The royalists needed to escape through the town and up the great road……
Rebels held the river line woods The rebel cavalry brigade – lucky toys and hat miniatures Irregular miniatures garibaldeansMore irregular miniatures garibaldeansStrelets rebel sharpshooters hold the town roadThe royalists pour forwards The royalists choose the remote river crossings on their left wing to make progress The royalists are peppered by the rebel skirmishers The royalists attack the townThe royalist left wing cavalry lead the way The rebels abandon the river line The royalists begin to make progress The rebel cavalry are swept awayThe rebels are fleeing pell mell Some royalists race up the great road The royalist cavalry take a beating getting to close to formed infantry The royalist cavalry break The last few royalist units must make good their escape up the great roadAgain the rebel infantry shoot well The last royalist infantry are driven away
And so victory to the rebels in the action and also the short campaign.
Today of course saw the end of 3 days of fighting at Gettysburg – the great Union victory which along with the capture of Vicksburg saw the war finally turn against the Confederate Southern States.
When I think about it this first half of 2025 has like 2024 been dominated by AHPC – analogue hobbies painting challenge. By contrast I managed only two shows yet one yielded one of the few games I have played.
That was a cowboy shootout using homemade rules…..
It’s was fun – quick and lethalSparse yet effective as were the rules!
Not surprisingly it was Hammerhead at Newark.
Then I had a game of “what a cowboy”. My opponent loved “what a tanker” and reasoned WAC should be as enjoyable. Well that proved not quite the case. We will play again but it has slipped down the list.
Actually there is no list and until today my gaming had been quite limited.
Then I had a spur of the moment, moment no doubt brought on by quite a bit of reading about battles fought.
In this case ACW – I am reading western theatre actions at the moment.
I also have been reading my Colorado purchase – a soft cover book of maps showing the whole ACW war.
In the book are some contemporary maps by a certain Robert Knox Sneeden. He was a Union mapmaker who not only spent time as a confederate prisoner but was also a watercolour artist. Clearly he had a good eye! And by good fortune his maps and diaries have survived.
“News from the front sir, the April breakthrough failed………………for gods sake why?…………. ……………………………………..Apparently a lot of kit just wasn’t ready sir……………………..}#%^*^<~|~\{}{]}#$$ ………..ranted General MukerZpreeeder.
Kits are not conducive to wargames painting targets………. And then I got to the bit where you source your own windows aaaaaargh. Repeat – always read all the instructions first, Repeat – always……..
Oh well, it was worth a try.
Sadly the very fine weather meant all manner of outdoor activities took hold this month.
Maybe there will be an afv August – don’t hold your breath though.
Still there is always John and Zauberwurfs mighty works to appreciate.
During AHPC14 I got into modelling instead of painting and specifically building models from household recycling – cardboard and plastic. The net is repleat with simply magnificent models done this way. I thought why not have a go.
I started to collect bits together for some spacecraft only to see the idea fade during AHPC14 as WW2 models took centre stage including a white reconnaissance spitfire – my first aeroplane kitbash in years.
Into the bargain I managed to paint up some magazine “freebie” dwarves and hobbits. AHPC15 as with AHPC14 drew me away from my projects and regular painting. While that meant less progress with my chosen periods the change was as good as a rest – as they say.
Indeed I have tended to use these APHC challenges to experiment with painting and modelling methods. Also the AHPC participation has certainly speeded up some of my painting habits. And that must be a good thing for a slowcoach like me.
AHPC15 not only saw me make progress with my mid C19th century armies. Much delayed Fauxterre 1930 or my Lockdown Bricks and Mortar Shop project actually got in on the act.
Back in Covid times I decided on a whim to try and build some WW2 armies by walking into shops and physically buying stuff! Yes I know this is a bit of an old technique nowadays. At the time the logic was “get out and about”.
As it happened I had found a book in a shop window and snapped it up by………walking in and buying it. At the time shopping was a weird but satisfying escape. Sold as a vintage item it was Charles Grant Snr’s Battle! Practical Wargaming (B!PW)
Now this book gave me a way into WW2 on the limited basis I was looking for. Also Grant was quite happy to use german and US kit for his Russian forces – in other words country kit for that country only was not that important (of course the Russians used any kit they could lay their hands as did the germans) and indeed his forces were RED v BLACK – pure fantasy. Ok so that meant Russians versus Germans in reality.
Now this fed my need for a “fantasy historical” WW2 set up. I would use the technical aspects of the period but mess up the actual forces involved and of course the countries would be make believe. Thats Fauxterre. Sorry no zombies or rayguns.
In keeping with a theme I had developed, Fauxterre 1930 started to take shape. Why 1930? Well I had on this particular journey become more and more interested in the early war set up and less and less the final years. This escalated into pre war when I started to look at aircraft. I was quite taken with the transition from biplane to monoplane. And before you know it I was looking at AFV technology.
Did you know – the fairy swordfish biplane flown by the British Royal Navy fleet air arm in the 1930’s was still in combat duty in summer 1945 armed with rockets! so much digression….
The net result is I am trying and failing to get Fauxterre 1930 off the ground. My Plastic Soldier Company US and Russian troops were my first choice for figures when it was Fauxterre 1940 and are fine for the early war period but somehow I don’t like the figures if I roll back a decade. I do like them but not for Fauxterre 1930! They work for Fauxterre 1940 so would be ok but that is parked for now.
On a trip to a toy show I picked up some bin end corgi trucks.
And before you know it I had added to my Fauxterre 1930 logistics kit.
The figures are hat Nassau Napoleonic infantry. 1/72 or 20mm plastics.
I picked them because they have the nearest shako look for the Dane’s bell shako.
I have started to use a furled flag approach as invariably my flag production does not match my figure painting!
I could do some head swops to get other sets in on the act but wanted to try a straight paint job here to see if I liked the result.
The basing is my standard 40mm square mdf with budgie grit pva then 3 colour brown, ochre and yellow/white highlights. As it’s nearly spring the grass is dead tufts from gamers grass over Javis sawdust green.
My first entry into the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge No15 were figures left over from last years challenge. They were primed but that was it.
So having a LIMBO section in this years theme of the Divine Comedy by Dante was most helpful.
The figures were Hat 1806 Prussian Hussars repurposed as 1848 Prussian Hussars. Fortunately the Prussians in 1848 were going going all new with frock coats and pickelhaubes but also retro with flugelmutzes!
Having missed the spring partizan show I did not want to miss the autumn offering.
The crowd descended on Newark in a leisurely fashion arriving half an hour after the gates opened. We expected a shorter queue but no it was still the length of the building and some.
Once inside (fairly quickly as it happens) the place was heaving.
So my first comment is it was too crowded to take in all the excellent displays. I am not sure what you do – if the show is less congested people will feel it’s not thriving etc. I don’t think we will see a return to the two venue set up that saw competition games plus more traders in another hall?
In short maybe it’s me but it felt busier than ever?
So overall a busy, popular and I expect successful show.
The congestion also deterred me from taking as many pictures.
Turning to the retail side – all the usual suspects were there but just maybe a few less new offerings and less 3d print offerings visible?
There were no showstoppers in retail as far as I noticed.
I did throw some dice at Chris Kemp’s NQM game – I failed to drive away the Germans from longstop hill…..Chris uses on board indicators to avoid lots of rule checking and I think the scenes are intended to look congested so it’s abstraction might not suit everyone. The important elements are the variety of components that work together to enable the fighting elements to launch and sustain an attack or defence…….a neat grid game which is now a published ruleset.
Brits under the kosh Bring up the artillery – that was only partially successful Excellent table set up for participation with simple visuals.
So what about the table glamour…….
Omaha was excellent giving some true perspective Not your regular ww2 tank fastOk there were some behind that building I can never resist the kriegspiel style Quirky but popular participation gameOmaha again An engaging gameUnusual subject The game presenters included bramley barn wargamersSome interesting background Some excellent aircraft Early tech on show as well Despite two giant tanks of coffee the allies seemed to make little headwayPaper soldiers-fantastic Best show backdropHobbit warsAnd behind the backdrop useful vertical display space. Popular with Railway Modellers yet not popular with wargamers but here it works a treatYarkshire wargamer with serious amounts of plate on showThose planes again! Kept coming back to this gameMore paper armies ACW this time A traditional? 28mm game seven years war? With some great sceneryThe castle was a gemYep 1-72 Greeks 1941The Greeks holding off the Italian assault Italians make a bad job of itItalian armour about to get pummelled Wonderful aircraft again Plenty of source material on show for a rarely gamed front in ww2?Another excellent aircraft to give period flavour Soon the big guns will open up
That’s it except to say a well organised and enjoyable show means I plan to return.
That however, seemed to reinforce summer as a break.
So if this is now to be the start of my wargames season what’s on the cards for the next twelve months?
Well firstly probably the plan will fail! With that out of the way what might be done if it succeeds?
Painting wise I feel it will be more mid 19th century forces.
Some more obscure units are likely – Jutland sharpshooters 1848
Also nearly mechanised feels like it will get an outing.
My pontoon bridge but John at just needs varnish provided the armour!
Brief summer spells of interest in ancient and renaissance plus Wild West periods have fizzled out in 2024 and I can’t see that changing into 2025.
I guess one wild card could be sci fi which has gained some traction in recent years.
The painting table is more likely to see guns rather than spears it would seem.
Gaming wise I think it will revolve around campaigns and again currently mid 19th century wins out along with nearly mechanised.
Nothing like a map to get the campaign spirit moving
I hope to go to the Other Partizan which I missed last year especially as I missed Partizan this year. Oh and I should manage two out of Battleground, Fiasco and Recon.
One more year…..
Recon will be the last at Pudsey civic hall as the property is being sold off.
And just maybe online painting/modelling challenges will figure given both AHPC14 and season of scenery have seen my output of painting and making increase and diversify.
The 2023/24 ahpc14 haul Testing out a quick build Italian hilltop town for grid gaming during season of scenery challenge
Purchases wise the war chest has been thin of late more because I have what I need so it follows the figure mountain and scenery pit are full.
Books wise purchases have trailed off since 2023. Although 2034 gave me a surprise. But that’s another post.
If I do buy it is more likely targeted. For example I would like some more Irregular Miniatures bell shako infantry as well as some garibaldi men.
Well that seems like the bones of a plan. We will see……
Well having reached a dead stop on the Italian hill town I have progressed some other items.
Renedra gabions have been sat in a box for years probably since 2017!Likewise the Renedra pontoon bridges – two packs. However the earthwork to the right dates to the 1970’s !!!!!!Two bellona injection moulded artillery positions I bought back in the 1970’s and somehow could never part with. They’re still not done either…….Two resin artillery positions date from the late 1970’s with the medieval bombard marked MJB1976?Primer was brush applied Vallejo white, I don’t spray – hate the activity High street sample pot by johnstones gave me an ideal base coat to test out contrast paints. The bombard is hiding just behind the pot. At least I have not lost it. I have quite a few of the browns in the citadel contrast range.Skeleton horde worked just right for my timber pontoon bridgeFireslayer flesh worked a treat over an orangey brown for woodwork on artillery positionWarp lightning gave a vibrant cover to some plain green undercoat on the artillery positionGore grunta fur gave a darker result over the coffee undercoat for these gabions The finished items
Well its proved to be a good investment in the scenery season so far.
The Wargaming Erratic 
