Braodside Loot!

Just a quick post to show off my Broadside loot. Mostly I was running a flea market stall (garage sale stall for any across the pond), which meant I had very little time for shopping. Also you will be delighted to know I sold more than I bought so that is a bonus!

Top row Left to right

1] 2 packs of "Snapdragon Studios" 28mm sci fi terrain. For those that do not know Snapdragon Studios are no longer producing and when they were did make some lovely terrain. Bought on the Flea Market.

2] 2 packs of Blotz 15mm Solar panels. Although they coud be used for any scale and will be just as useful in 15mm ans 28mm.

3] I Pack of 6mm Sci fi from Brigade. I always thought if I sold enough on the flea Market I would buy these!

Second Row Left to right:

4] 2 as yet Unreleased Aeronef Figures of British Dirigibles. (Brigade Models)

5]  German aeronef aircraft carrier. Seriosly this does look very good. (Brigade Models)

6] More Brigade models, this time a South East Asian Village in Aeronef scale.

7] A gift from Peter (club member) for my "Back of Beyond" games. I suspect I will be busy!

Bottom Row Again left to right.

8] A miss cast Lanchester Armoured car in 20mm for the "Back of Beyond" IT miniatures.

9] 2 15mm Jungle Huts from IT Miniatures. Slightly battered and sold to me dirt cheap (as was the Lanchester)

10] 2 packs of Aeronef Figthers a total  of 12 triplanes from Brigade Models.

So after my spends I went home with about £90 more than I set of with. Result. Met loads of people I liked both new and old friends and passed out some home made fudge. So A good day. Well pleased.

Medics (VBCW and more!)

I finally painted these 3 figures. They are Foundry 28mm from the set "Dumping the body!". However I intend to use them as VBCW figures. In fact they are painted as normal VBCW figures (with no particular uniform with the intention that they can be used by any side.  I am not sure why I purchased them originally maybe I was thinking of a grave robbing game (I know that was a plan years ago).  But now they shall function as VBCW medics. No that is not the best way to move a wounded person, before anyone says, but at least it will get them out of the area of firing so they should not be hit AGAIN!

Additionally I found this dead body. so I thought it only right to paint it at the same time. While I do not at this moment have a use for the figure I am sure that in the goodness of time a reason of its painting  will some to mind. I thought it might be best floating in the water as being a little different to just lying on a grassy knoll not least because I had a bottle of unopened GLOSS varnish I was eager to try.
Now all I need is a water filled area, maybe a Victorian docks, in which to leave the stiff!


SECRET PROJECT no 2)

I also needed to make some flying bases. Mostly for Aeronef. Obviously the helicopter is NOT aeronef related so I shall talk more of that another time. To get the 6mm (1/300th scale )Helicopter "right" I shall need to finish the base. I will also need to cut the rotor disc more accurately. But the ideas work fine I just need to execute them better, so expect that to be done soon! When I say soon It all relates to a pre-order I have made with Brigade Models for pick up on Sunday at the Broadside show. I have some pre-orders already in place but most of my spendz will come down to what money I have once I sell a few things. But we can save that for a show report on Monday and a LOOT haul report on (I hope) Sunday night.

Until then take care have fun and paint and game  as much as you are able.

Broadside AAR

Here is a report on the game we had at the Broadside show.

We were playing "The Men who would be Kings" rules by Osprey. All the figures terrain and everything else is owned by Tim who was referee. (Yes that is an Airfix Fort Sahara before anyone says!)
Peter and Bob took the Imperials while me and Matt had the Mahdists.
Our job was to hold the town.

With few rifles most troops are only visable to provide a spectacle.

My reinforcments arrive super early (on turn 1)
And I charge them into the British where I can.
The Cavalry and Camalry do well
but die quickly after destroying the British mounted troops.

The defence looks far more formidable that it really is.

In Retrospect all the mahdists should have been in hiding
 and waiting for the British to enter the village
 

A Scratch built
Nile steamer
carrying the British reinforcements

While Matt controlled the Mahdist reinforcements
 that arrived by river.

While we had lost troops the Town was
still in the tribal mahdist hands.
And we had given the British in the desert a bloody nose.

The Imperials assault the defences.
Keeping them out was darned tricky
As they had quite rightly shot the defenders to pieces
before assaulting.
 



The River battle was in full swing.
And despite an attempted boarding of the Imperial steam ship
the Mahdists  were just unlucky with the dice.

The British entered the town at the end of the day

 Conclusion: The Native players (both me and Matt) agree we could not hold the town. The imperial players also agree that while they could take the town they would not be able to hold it for very long at all.

While Questions would be asked in the House concerning British losses I would conclude it was a marginal Imperial Victory. Maybe in the future British foreign policy would change. But for now I accept the defeat and know in the future I would play the Mahdist differently in the same situation.

Overall though a good game and a good day.

Two Less well known Traders.

Here are a few of the less well known traders that were at the Broadside (Sittingbourne show). I mean absolutely no disrespect when I type this as I think they all have something to offer. And while they may not be new to you they are new to me. And for tat reason alone worth a shout!

Firstly WTW (Or Wargames Terrain Workshop.) Click for a ( LINK ). While they were not present in person Jim from Rochester Games and Models (Local seller link) had a large range well displayed. I have not spoken to the owners (Tori and Jim so I do not know but  )I imagine it all sold rather well.  I rather hope  so.

Another trader I would recommend. is BLOTZ. (Blotz link)I had previously not hear of them which clearly is my mistake. They seemed to be doing a good business on the day. MDF terrain of a quality and cheaper than elsewhere. I will most definitely be looking for them at future shows and maybe a sneaky mail order as well. Really nice guys and very helpful (at least to me). So well worth checking for mdf terrain. Seriously just click the link I doubt you will be disappointed).

Most of the other traders I knew... OK I did not know the airbrush supplies company, but then I do not have an airbrush so I would not.

Sorry it is a brief post today. Things to do and a shed to paint.....

All the best Clint

This time Next week......

I will be at the BROADSIDE show.

This year seems less well advertised than previous years probably because a different team are in charge.  Clearly they need time to find their feet.

There are a number of changes (small changes) this year. Firstly Dave the new organiser likes more sci fi and fantasy and card games so the traders have started to reflect that.  There is a dedicated Magic card area. While that does not appeal to me I am sure it will appeal to others. The mix of traders is quite good, but not spectacular and some of the old favourites are not in attendance. A mix up every so often is a good thing as it delivers diversity and a new outlook. Unconfirmed but I hear through the grapevine that some were not approached which is a shame and as stated that is only a rumour. (I have not talked to the companies or the organisers so I may be speaking out of turn. If I am I apologise to all concerned.)

I was due to be sent a FINAL show layout yesterday morning, but it never arrived, as a consequence I cannot show the layout of the hall or where I intend to be MOST of the day.

However I will be at the 15mm Colonial game next to Posties Rejects and the Gravesend Gamers guild. Or if you prefer the furthest game from the entrance. The closest traders being Warlord games and Morpheus entertainment (Whom I have yet to meet) .

I have already sent for some show orders (small orders nothing to get excited about) and we will be using the Men who would be Kings rules.

So if you go to the show. please pop by and say hallow. I do bite, but only when paid sufficiently! Mostly I am open to a chat, and can be approached with little danger.

All the best Clint

THE VBCW BROADSIDE game!

Firstly sorry it has taken a week,. Secondly I may have gotten some of the facts wrong as while at the show I was both distracted by the lovely traders and members of the public and yes even some of the games and a few bloggers. But everyone was lovely and I regret no distractions.

The game was very similar to a practice game (Link ) but with a couple of differences, Most importantly the card activation was alternative forces which meant I was not forced to move a tank only twice in a game when the enemy were able to move one of their tanks 6 times and fire 3 time to my ZERO ) which did make it seem a lot fairer, I know It was just bad luck that made that happen BUT being on the receiving end of such bad luck was not pleasant. Also this time it was both Graham (who needed to leave early) and Tim against me on my own, I had Peter  last time which is always nice even if I do consider him reckless at times and I am sure he finds me cautious at time)

So On with the game and this time I "Knew" how the rules worked... OK I did not know them but I did have a clue This time (as did the other players.)

And Matt who ran and supplied the game did a great job!

My troops begin to arrive and move up the board. My objective being the pub at the end of the road (No one say, "Just like real life!")

 As we arrive I deploy as best as I am able. A long way short of my objective as I found the Battle-taxi's slightly too fragile last time!

 The Boys Antitank unit had been upgraded to Veteran status and were so much better this game. First hitting and casusing a morale check that pinned the enemy medium tank to stay in place and not shoot for a turn. I did fire everything I could at the enemy tank even things I knew would not penetrate in the hope of a second morale check. But no need as the Boys fired again this time for a kill shot and the crew bailed out! (well most of them)

 the Antitank gun had no targets so elected to fire at the BUF Battle-taxis with limited success.

Elsewhere on the board some Anglican league fellows left the church and uncontrolled by me started taking and returning fire on my left flank. They all died within 2 turns gunned down by the BUF and I only became aware of them and tried to support them with a light tank in the second turn.

 The Tank never quite reached them and had to withdraw once they were dead or be out flanked by a horde of infantry. (seen on the left of this Picture)
My Infantry were lorried forward and it turns out the random  event was that my army had caught a severe cold and I had to loose a figure each turn to illness from now on.  Random events were a LOT kinder to me in this game than in the previous one, but Tim did seem to get of lightly as the only random event I recall was a light shower which had no effect on the game.


 Along with the Anglican league a wandering band of Morris dancers turned up. Having just sat down from a quick shop at Colonel Bills I was aware they were not mine so gleefully opened up and inflicted 2 casualties. Graham played in his absence.

 More and More Fascists arrive behind the Pub (theoretically my objective but I was going no where near it,) Including a Heavy MG which set up on the top floor. My troops in the centre field took a beating from that gun as it was a short range and they only had a hedge to hide behind.

 Tim got back to the table after a LONGER walk (about 3/4 of an hour) realised that the Morris men were not his and let loose and after 3 turns on the table not a single  Morris man was alive. Like the Anglican league they acted as a good cushion for my troops and really were BULLET Magnets!

Overall a much better game and It did look spectacular on the table and had many pleasing comments from the public. Some of whom had not seen a VBCW game before and were interested in the background and setting, so maybe a couple more players converted to the cause.





The show ended before a game result was achieved but my troops in the field did not fair well and a unit of 12 was still passing morale checks when just 3 survived! 

From my point of view a good game at a good show and a good result.

Thanks for reading today. If you have sun where you are enjoy that this Sunday and if you have rain stay in doors and paint like billie-OH!

Cheers Clint (Warm but overcast here in Kent today). Another post on Tuesday>>>

 

Broadside Games! (2016)

Friday Night Fire fight club
(I think)

here are most of the games that were at Broaside this year a couple are missing but I was really pressed for time. So I had to travel around in 5 minutes only and manage to take a single photo of most games.

As I was so short of time and as there was no map/brochure or programme for the show (there may have been but I saw no indication of any and NONE were given to me, that is for sure.

Not a lot of chit chat today but I hope you enjoy the pictures.




Simon Miller playing "To the Srtrongest"
American Plains Indians and Dinosaurs!
That sounds GREAT fun to me!

20mm WW2 Eastern Front.

As above
And this games was voted second best in the show by all the other
Groups putting games on.

Maidstone Wargames club
2mm Arab Israeli Wars

Posties Rejects
Donnybrook Tangiers.

This Game won Best game at show
 as voted for by the other Clubs
20mm WW2 Manila Prison Rescue.
 

Another 20mm WW2
This time by
Herne Bay/Whitstable club.

Broadside Swag!

Again not a lot as my wallet is nearly empty.... actually I did take about £90 but carried most of it back home. That is not to say there was nothing there, I could have used it all up but I hardly got out from behind my table. However.... (dum dum dum! Dramatic music) I did have a very good time and met some great people, and perhaps made a few new friends. I may have even persuaded some to come to our club and some were fantastic bloggers and meeting them was one of the highlights of my day.

Yeah OK cutting the waffle, this is what I bought:

1 Zvesda BTR 80 kit. I did want a pack of Team Yankee vehicles, but could not find any at the "Right" price, so that will be an eBay purchase in the future

3 Pots of paint, just to replace paints that were running frightfully low.

6 metal 28mm figures from Colonel Bill, which are waiting for the next Analogue Painting Challenge!

1 Resin 15mm destroyed M113 Apc. This will go with my 15mm Cold war game which is in the planning.... so guess what the US troops will be driving!!!! Yeah that's right!

Other highlights include being given permission by a figure manufacturer to write a set of rule which they intend to make figures for. (And I will say no more about this until they are written OR Not written.) ..... So feel free to ask, BUT know I will make no reply on the subject.

A very Brief chat with Simon Miller about Samurai armies in his "To the Strongest" rules. he has the army lists already published and I have 2 Sam armies ready to go. He was playing a very interesting game about American Indians and Dinosaurs...... But I still am not sure I believe him when he was telling me he did not know the film "Valley of the Gwangi" one of Ray Harryhausens stop motion monster flicks.

A brief chat with Karl of Crooked dice and it looks like I will be back on the forum soon. Well quite soon after I have both changed my email address AND forgot my forum password.  He said he will set me up with a new account!

And of course walking around and seeing everyone and for a few hours NOT feeling like some outcast circus freak because I was among like minded fellows.

Thanks for reading my waffle I will TRY to do a show report tomorrow!

All the best Clint

New Project Alert.. You are warned.

For the long standing members of this blog you may remember this post LINK about plans for 2013. Well one of them is now on the top of my to do list so I will be starting a new project this week. Gasp shock horror! No it is not chariot racing (maybe by this time next year! Maybe!)

I have mentioned it to other club members and it looks like there is a strong possibility of doing 6mm Cold War Era wargaming. So as It stands it looks like we shall be doing this for our broadside game next year. Unless I get side-tracked or another club member wants to do something else. So we shall see what happens, but as I type this I have good intentions.

This is as much a return to my roots as it is a new project. As I used to play this kind of game a fair amount in the 80's I have found my two armies from this time and will start to re-paint and re-base them over the coming months. I will also build terrain, in fact you may say I have started already as I have three boards carcassed-out and ready to start work on. Don't hold your breath though they are a very long way from finished yet. Merely boards and Battening at this stage, nothing more.

To the right you can see some of my current bedside reading. I do have more rule options as well but as "Challenger 2" was my choice of rules back in the day I have a feeling it will be where I start. First Clash is not a rule set, but more an alternative history.

The following Blogs have inspired me so I would like to say THANKS to them as well. There are of course many more blogs out there covering this topic so this is in no way a definitive list.

http://coldwargamer.blogspot.co.uk/  Doing it in 20mm but packed full of top class information
http://stoppingtheredtide.blogspot.co.uk/ Doing it in 15mm
http://whirarwistan.blogspot.co.uk/ Another 20mm site (more modern than cold war)
http://bleaseworld.blogspot.co.uk/ 6mm Arab Israeli War
http://www.blmablog.com/ 6mm WW2 Western Desert

Well that is just a very short list and I am sure you have got your own favourites for this period and scale.

But now that my SCW game is coming to a conclusion I will be able to concentrate on a new project.

Thanks for looking today and I will have some painted figures by Friday. Just on the basing now.

All the best Clint

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 6^th 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