Saturday 14 June 2014

Modern British Mortar crew.

I know I was expecting Spanish Civil War as well.. OK so what went wrong. Well as I was putting away my Camels from the Arab revolt game I found some British soldiers from my Afghanistan game a few years ago that were un painted. This little selection is from Brittania now run by Grubby Tanks LINK.

These were given to me when I placed the order a small gift from Andy Grubb for my purchase. So I got side tracked and managed to paint them up this morning.



These troops are 20mm and nicely proportioned. While I had no use for a mortar and crew at that stage (or indeed now) as they were free and I needed the room for my camels it would have been rude not to have painted them up.

Obviously this is a three man team with an 81mm mortar. As it is hot work crewing a mortar all the figures are in light kit and ready to drop all kinds of brown smelly stuff on the enemy. There is an officer with a map and two other men in the crew so I would expect a great rate of fire from this weapon.

As I look on this as a finished project now there really is not much else to say just that they round out the troops I already have.

When I found these troops I found 12 more troops for the SCW tucked away somewhere safe which is why I have delayed doing those just yet as I now have some extras to do. After those I only have officers and flag bearers to go so expect them finished very soon. Mid week I would expect.

Hopefully more on Monday. Until then take care and make sure the paint does not dry too fast in the sun. All the best Clint

Thursday 12 June 2014

SCW Regulars

Well It has been a little while since I last posted any painted figures but that does not mean I have been idle. So here are another 14 stands of Spanish Civil War Regular troops. By Regular I do of course just mean that they are all wearing the "regular" Army uniform. 






You can see there is one command stand as well as a machine gun stand as well as 12 other infantry stands. These will help bulk out my troops and should mean that I am getting to a point where I can get a game suitable for a few players. Yes I shall do a group shot a little later which should show the forces as a whole.




One of the joys of painting 10mm figures is that they are pretty straight forward to both pain and bas. Add to that that they are easy to transport and cheap to buy and you can see why I am falling in love with them. It is also worth noting that more companies are now producing 10mm figures than ever before.


That's it for today but I am slowly approaching a couple of new (or at least very old) projects so expect more about 1 of them by this time next week.

Thanks for looking today. Maybe another post tomorrow and then back on track Monday.

All the best enjoy any sun that may be about and take care. All the best Clint.

Wednesday 11 June 2014

Taking of Akaba


Arab Revolt   - 1916 to 1918

The taking of Akaba

Prince Auda Ibu Tayi with 50 Arabs, “advised” by Lawrence of Arabia (and 22,000 British gold sovereigns) leads a daring assault on Akaba (a port on the Red Sea) to break the deadlock in the Middle East War. The force crosses the harsh Nefud desert terrain swelling to 500 men as they travelled, attacking the Hejaz Railway on route, and avoiding the Turkish cavalry sent to intercept them.

On July 6th 1917 the Arabs meet the Turkish infantry guarding the land approach to the port at Abu al Lissan. The Arabs skirmished ineffectually at first but goaded by Lawrence they charged on camel back into the enemy positions.

During the fight the Arabs lose a handful of  men killed and an unknown number of wounded - far less than the losses to snakes and scorpions in the desert! The Turks are overwhelmed, many are killed after surrender as the Arab leaders struggle to hold back their jubilant men.

Lawrence was lucky to escape unhurt as in the excitement of the charge he managed to shoot his own camel in the head! Luckily he was thrown clear and managed to avoid being run down by his own allies!

The arrival of the Arabs from the desert resulted in the surrender of the Akaba garrison.  Lawrence then made an epic dash to inform the British, who quickly sent ships with supplies and transported units of Prince Feisal Arab Army to consolidate the success and launch the next phase of the campaign. The success also encouraged many men from the local tribe to join the revolt, which diverted Turkish troops, and helped the Allies advance into Palestine.
The game was set up much more to the Laurence of Arabia film than the "Real History". In Reality the battle was mostly focused around a Turkish block house. Which was situated between two towns (Akaba and Ma'an). Wikipedia has an entry on the battle should you be interested in what actually happened. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Aqaba
 
And indeed was more balanced as a game.  I did use a very simple set of rules that I had made up myself and they led to a quite balanced game.  On the day we played 2 games. Tim and myself took the Arabs in the first game with Peter and Graham taking the Turks. In the second Game Peter had to leave early and Richard sat in for him.
In each game the two Turks in the trench died very quickly (as they are supposed to). But after that each game went completely differently. 
 
 
 
 
 
In the first game I had spotted a gap in the Turkish troop line (they were spread thin. And managed to slip around half a dozen Arabs into the  rear of the army.  When I brought my arabs into melee the Turks (Peter) was able to beat them of with bayonets and my atrocious dice rolls. Not once while in Melee in the first game did I roll higher than a 2 on d6. Mostly I threw 1's. While Tim managed to hammer into the Turkish main line and not only keep them occupied but also to break them. All the while my troops in the rear stopped the Turks from getting any reinforcements which resulted in the Arabs being able to out gun the Turks and close for melee combat. It was a close run thing with each side capable of winning it.
Lucky for me the Arabs won the first game but it was balanced on a knife edge at one point.
 
The Second Game was more one sided. We had all learnt from the first game. I think I used up all my favours from the dice gods as well as my Turks were turning out to be crack shots (I rolled high on the dice a few times more than usual). My troops this time (now the Turks) were rubbish in melee (my dice rolls). But as My troops were mostly able to keep the Turks at a distance the rifle fire was the telling blow. Additionally both Tim and myself had learnt the value of slipping Arabs into the rear (ohh err! Waits for Tamsin to make a choice comment!) so we put a stop to that. Which allowed us to keep reinforcements arriving.  And by having reinforcements we were always able to keep up the pressure on the Attackers .
Overall it was a very good day and we mostly played for fun. The photography is a bit hit and miss as mentioned on Monday my Camera was playing up and it is no where near the quality of Grahams hence the different colour tones.
Anyway thanks for looking and with luck more again on Friday.
 All the best Clint


 
 

Monday 9 June 2014

Broadside 14

Well if you are not sick of me saying so Yesterday was Broadside 14. The annual wargames show by MHWC. (I am no longer one of the organisers, I was given no tasks or responsibilities this year so I had better not claim that I am in any way involved any more.) Several people on the day said that it did not seem at all busy. I personally thought quite the opposite, I shall probably hear the official figures in about a week so that will tell all.

It was a hot day and the room was quite stuffy. Despite this We managed to get two games of the attack on Akaba in. The Arabs won the first game and the Turks won the second game so it seems quite a balanced game which is what toy want I think from a game point of view even if it is not reproducing History exactly.

Anyway here are some Photos of the games in general before my camera packed up. Strangely it works again now I have got it home.  Ho Hum such is my affinity to technology, Thank goodness I am not a Borg!


Gravesend Wargames Club,
2nd Afghan War
Won a Prize for the best painted figures.







Russo-Japanese War
Posties Rejects
Won a Prise for  Best Game from the Publics point of view.


Magnificent 7 Game in 54mm
Skirmish Group
Won a prise for the best use of space.
So Congrats to the Clubs who won. And Commiserations to the rest of us! I am not bitter, No not at all. (And only a little jealous!)
 
Some of the other games I personally liked were:
 
A wild west skirmish using Dead mans Hand rules,
Sorry I  don't recall the club!
Maidstone Wargames Club
28mm WW1 Skirmish
(I can't help thinking this board would
make a great Victorian Gothic horror Game!)
Deal Wargames Club
My personal favourite game.
a 15mm Vietnam game.



Worth noting these river vessels are no longer available
but I think they were produced by "the Scene" Back in the day.
20mm Vietnam Riverine craft can be sourced by a number of companies
 but I would struggle to find any 15mm ones these days.
AND FINALLY.
 
I will leave the Arab Revolt game for now as I am expecting another club member to send me some shots. I am sure the following bloggers will put some up soon though.
 
Ray (the Badger) Rousell http://onelover-ray.blogspot.co.uk/
 
Fran (Hedge Hugger) Lee http://theangrylurker.blogspot.co.uk/
 
(Big) Lee Hadley http://www.blmablog.com/
 
Alan (Tottenham Forever) Abbey http://leofwinewargamerson.blogspot.co.uk/
 
Tamsin (Wargames Girl) Piper http://wargaminggirl.blogspot.co.uk/
 
Robert (Bob) Cordery http://wargamingmiscellanybackup.wordpress.com/ (Says he will most likely post on Tuesday)
 
There will probably be a few others as well.
 
Hopefully again on Wednesday. See you all soon and take care one and all.

Sunday 8 June 2014

Broadside Swag!

Having just got in I will do a show report tomorrow. But I just thought I would do a quick loot post.  I did keep my spending down mostly!

So what did I blow my "Hard earned" on? (Right to left)

  • A very serious book about the conquest of the Aztecs, Incas and other tribal societies. I am tempted to do Donnybrook based around Hernan Cortes but first I thought to read up on it a bit! (Arrived home to comments like "Oh another book like you need that!")
  • Army painter primer spray paint (a slight preparation for the Analogue painting challenge come December as I know I will have a fair few of one type of figure to paint! (I'll say no more at this stage)
  • A single Magpie miniatures figure (which I hope to send across the pond as I think this is just the type of figure that Anne O'Leary would like!)
  • A KR multicase! (This is Fran and Rays Fault as they guilted me into buying better protection for my figure the rotter's, )
  • 5 Miss cast resin bases. From Gladius Game Arts, 10p Each so I though why not!
  • 2 Packs of MDF bases from Colonel Bills.
  • 1 Pack of Dixon Miniatures (again from Colonel Bills)...  No Not Gangsters or Aztecs!

And that's all I spent and It would have been a lot cheaper without those pesky Rejects getting on my case about needing figure boxes. Fran says it would make you weep to see how I transport figures. And says he's going to do a blog post about it!

Cheers for Reading and with luck a quick show report tomorrow!
Take care hope to see you soon. All the best Clint.