Turn 10

Yes It has all kicked off now. I will be sending emails out to MOST of the ships captains. Basically if you have anything to repair, which for some of you might be a problem and for others not an issue at all. As always if you want any rules clarifications or more photos of something specific I expect to reply within 12 hours but leave me 48 hours just in case.

The British were able to shoot before anything else in the turn. So that did put pay to a couple of repair orders nothing tragic but at least one Spanish ship had less repair crews than they had sent to fix things. Obviously that means that they ran out of crew to a lot before they ran out of things to patch up.

The High shot from the step ladder.
one day I will fall I am sure
but as long as I don't land on the table or the camera
it will be fine!

Starting top left and working
anti clockwise. !st of we have 2 Spanish ships rapidly approaching the action.

The centre of the table.
Things really are hotting up now. Getting
packed and dirty. But no one is getting it easy.
 

HMS Badger has been rocked by an explosion on board. Good shooting Milsy.
And also very good shooting from Seb.

2 Masts gave come down
1 on HMS Inconsistant and
1 on HMS Badger.(who again has just drifted in the wind)
Although I think that will change (ed.)

HMS Inconsistent should get a mention for excellent gunnery as every cannon hit the target.

HMS Cutlass is almost in the battle.
Shame they are directly into the wind now.

SS Pina Colada did not quite cross the T.
Instead 2 British ships got to fire at her!
HMS Inconsistent from her right
and HMS Pachyderm from her left.

From the other side of the table.
HMS Challenge starts to get close to SS Pina Colada. While
HMS Agamemnon and HMS Pachyderm keep some sea room.

Captain Loki is moving behind HMS Pachyderm
But they are not within range yet.
Mercedes the pluck frigate has decided to head closer to the main battle.

Back to the other side of the table
just to show that they are coming within extreme range next turn.
They just have to get the arc right now.

Well that is the action this turn. No New ships on fire and a couple of fires been put out (Ok and one more small one started). 2 ships have lost a mast ( just as well they start with 3 each) and one explosion (very small but still worth mentioning). Clearly not everything is getting repaired now and all ships have taken some damage if they are involved in the fight (Some still moving into the fight). It is unlikely that any ship will become knocked out next turn but I think in 4 or 5 more turns blood will be on the carpet.

Right that's it for today expect damage reports a little later so you know what you can try to repair.

Thanks for looking and I will need your next turn orders in by 9am (GMT) 11th October 2014.

All the best Clint.

Yet More Donnybrook figures

Well this is about the last of them for now. I have a couple more cavalry to do. But they can wait for now. So anyway here are another 16 French War of Spanish Succession, there should be a flag but I don't have one just yet so I will add it later. So we have 12 rank and file soldiers and 3 characters. From left to right; Drummer (Musician), Officer, Flag bearer and Sargent.

The flag at this stage should be the bourbon flag and not the French Tricolour as the revolution has not had not yet happened (French revolution 1789). I could perhaps use a white cross on a blue or red field, but the Bourbon Flag would be better.

Still enough procrastination about getting the right flag I have a show next weekend so maybe I will pick one up then.

Again these are Black Hat Miniatures. 15mm scale and part of the Malbrurian Range. In my mind I will buy a few more, if just to get the 15mm sedan chair they do. I am not sure I have a use for a Sedan Chair but I know I will get one.

That's it for today. Thank you very much for looking and tomorrow I will do the next turn of the PBB game. But the best news is that I think I am coming to the end of my wargames doldrums as I have a few ideas of what to do next now and may even start some terrain next week. But nothing too exciting so anticipation should be at a minimum..... really boring stuff like piles of rocks and the like.

Take care and look after yourself. All the best Clint

More Donnybrook figures

As regular readers will know I have not been in a wargames mood for several weeks! I know shock horror! Well with that in mind painting has slowed down and telly watching has gone up. Not that I need to watch more telly but these things happen. As such I have not wanted to start something new. As such I have been working through my Donnybrook WSS figures. Like the others I have painted these are BLACK HAT Miniatures that I bought a few years ago.

So today we have another 15 British line infantry including a Sargent, a drummer and a flag bearer. The Flag is the English/ British flag before 1707. So just right for Queen Anne's War. The flag changed and was different after 1707. From then on it changed by adding the Scottish flag but not at that stage the Irish flag which when all combined make up the Union Flag.  It is only the Union Jack when flown at sea. I know it's picky to point that out so Moving on...

Now looking at it I have missed the white cording on the drum so that must be done today and then re-varnished. I do have several flag bearers but you only need 1 for each side in donnybrook rules so they may sit unpainted for a while.


That's it for today. I am still scratching my head and wondering what I will buy at the show next show. (10 days away).

Thanks for looking and I will try to get some more painting done.

All the best Clint

Turn 9 Results

Turn sequence.

Well that took a while (85 minutes) to work that turn out. And Oh boy it was bloody. Firstly let me say thanks to all the players. I can only imagine how hard it must be to command one of these ships with the information I give you. And I really do appreciate you all playing. Secondly the damage cards have been very harsh the entire game. In the last two turns 3 Jokers (1 red and 2 Black) have been drawn. Considering that with a normal pack of cards (52+ 2 Jokers=54) each shot would/should have less than a 2% chance of being drawn with each hit I think we can all agree that 3 Jokers in 2 turns is unusual to say the least. But from my point of view I can only play the cards that are drawn. And this is what happened.



Ariel View from the step ladder

Spanish Ships on the left hand side of the table.

The General Battle with those two Spanish ships getting closer.

HMS Badger did put his fire out but now it seems to have re-started
Infact he now has 4 fires started.
While HMS Inconsistent has 5 fires raging away.
Makes you wonder what the Spanish are firing!

The British Frigate is rushing to join the action.

SS Pina Colada also has a single fire blazing having taken shot from both port and starboard sides.
And returning fire at HMS Pachyderm as well as HMS Inconsistent.

HMS Agamemnon and HMS Challenge were both either arc of fire or range
so did not manage to shoot this turn.
Next turn however I suspect they will.

Just a reminder of the shoal the British right are
skirting around.

The last two Spanish ships are now well out of the port.



That's the latest update. I will of course contact those that have taken any damage and let them assign any repair parties. Generally speaking this turn was rather messy for all involved and no one did much better than anyone else.

 

Remember those playing I will need their turns in for turn 10 by 9am (GMT) Saturday 6th September 2014. And if any of you want extra photos don't be frightened to ask for them. I will try to get them back to you within 12 hours but please allow 48 hours just in case I am having an off day.

 

Thanks for looking folks and take care Probably update the blog on Tuesday. Have a great weekend and with any luck I'll see you soon. All thew best Clint



Old Guard (VBCW)

As I keep struggling with my wargames doldrums I have managed to motivate the paint monkey into finishing some more "Dad's Army" type figures for Matt.

The Flag is for A Very British Civil War Anglican force. Not sure where Matt got these figures but I suspect that they are from Colonel Bill (AKA Stu) and I also suspect that they are foundry figures but I am not sure on this.




 It is the normal motley crew including figures smoking as well as wearing scarves. They also carry a variety of weapons mostly Rifles and a couple of tommy guns,a Molotov Cocktail,  but also a couple of pistols and a BAR. The guy with the flag also has a walking stick, personally the flag would be enough for me. I might be encumbered with a stick and a flag as well as a pistol.


That's it for today, thanks for looking. And I shall update the PBB tomorrow. So if you are reading this and have yet to send in your turn kindly do so!

I am Not so sure what I shall start next as the afore mentioned doldrums have sapped my enthusiasm so that will be interesting for the both of  us.

OK I am now back to the DIY for today.

All the best folks see you soon,
Cheers Clint

15mm Colonial Sudan game.

The Port where the boat would dock
 and the British could leave the board!

While at Skirmish Tim "Frontline" Wade put on a colonial Sudan game.
The idea of the game was for the British players (Bob and Myself) to rescue the British forces and get them on the boat down river and back to good old blighty! The Mahdi players (Peter and Graham) had vastly different ideas! The British would be under Egyptian officers to begin with (until our own chaps arrived by boat) which game them a command and leadership value of 7. The Mahdi had a leadership of 8 for his officers. To make it more tricky we had no officers at all out in the desert where our forces were so they were not allowed to make their way back to the port UNTIL they had received orders to do so.

To make matters worse these British and Egyptian troops had limited ammunition.

The Egyptians got one chance to fire

Before they got swamped!
The Marhdist troops rolled 15 dice in close combat
The Egyptian rolled 4.
I think you can guess the result.

The relief column hampered by bad command dice
 had not made it far from the town
before the advanced Mahdi forces got close
so they formed square.
These Camalry die very quickly but do stop the
British from moving!

The boat arrives!

Egyptian Cavalry totally chew up one Mahdi unit!
Get a follow through charge.
chew up a second unit and
then badly fail (I rolled 2d6 and got 3) their morale
 and left the board!

Oh dear the Mahdi's troops destroy my thorn bush barricade
and souround the British! Gulp!
 

I dock the boat in the wrong area at first.
My mistake!

I re-docked the boat the following turn where it was not
vulnerable to the newly arrived Mahdi reinforcements.
Like they really needed more!
 

The troops sent out to get the British back get attacked on 3 sides.
And die gloriously for the Queen!
Allowing the Egyptian cavalry to get back into the town.

With now no British to pick up the boat sails.
and Leaves the town to it's fate.

Conclusion:
It was a good day to be a Madhist. I can't really say too much more. Bob and myself were really playing the game and it felt like we had our hands tied behind our backs. Shooting was not effective in any way. Morale and leadership values were too low. The Sudanese got a lot of reinforcements while we got very few. Yes we had a nice boat to play with and I could have taken the naval landing party ashore. But as they has worse stats than the British Army I was reluctant to do that. As I had seen just how fast they could die.

But it was enjoyable and I must say it did look very good. And the enjoyment is the important thing!

Thanks for reading today. I should have some painted figures for the next post.
Take care all and see you soon.
Cheers Clint

Autumn Skirmish

One of the very local shows is "Skirmish" they operate a spring and autumn Skirmish and as one of the local clubs we usually put a game on. More of the game in another post.

 So Let's for a change start with a loot shot. As the show is mostly a toy soldier show as opposed to a wargames show many of the traders are of little or no interest to me at this present time. Also there is a bigger show in a few weeks which I expect to spend more at I was on a plan to spend very little and indeed for less than £12

• Pot of Black Paint
• Pot of "Brown Rose" Paint
• Osprey Conquistadors
• Osprey Aztec Mixtec and Zapotec Armies
• 1 pack of MDF bases.(Very small round ones)
• Jodie the Belt fed girl.

I do have a use for everything but don't ask about the osprey books just yet. There were 2 other Osprey books I was interested in but I did not get them in the morning and by the rime I got another look round later they were both gone. Oh well it was not meant to be. Recently I have been going through the wargames doldrums we all do at times so not a big issue. But finally coming out of it and really got a few ideas for the future!

So here are a few of the games that were there.


A great looking Saga(esqe) game Very nice looking. But I did not get
to see what was going on so much.

Not really sure what this was. But at small
local shows not every club can get things
painted in time.

One of the Original Games clubs.
An Interesting looking game.
 

Not sure where the Mammoth came in the game
but any game with a Mammoth is worth a second look!"

Dave and Paul from Medway wargames Club
put on a war of the worlds game.

One of the original games clubs to get involved with the show.

Paul And Ian from "Krush the Kiaser" were playing out
of period for a change.

But No reason why Rural 20th Century France
should not be used as both WW1 and WW2
Just Build the boards and play the game.

Not sure whom these were (Maybe Ashford)
And I think it was Bolt Action.

The SELWG guys doing a bit of
African Bush wars using "Force on Force" Rules.

David and Larry from Hernebay/Whitstable Wargames club
Again one of the original clubs to support the show
were doing some 1920's Cops and Robbers.
This game did inspire me and more about this game as well at another time!

That's it for today. Thanks for looking and I hope to see you all soon. I will try to post again tomorrow, either a new wargames focus idea or an AAR of our game. Not sure yet.

 

Take care, all the best Clint