Long Overdue Weekly Round Up #2

I had intended to do a weekly round up starting about 4 weeks ago but what with one thing and another I have failed signally.

The main problem has been that my laptop finally gave up the ghost so I had had to resort to using my tablet and a Wifi/bluetooth keyboard, which is frankly only slightly better than depending on my tablet alone.

the blogging version of  making  a silk pure from a pigs ear :(

Anyhow, this is an overdue round up up not a whinge session. So what's new? Well I have been bitten, well and truly y the Victorian SciFi bug in the shape of In her Majesties Name from Osprey Publishing written by Craig Cartmell and Charles Murton, and rollicking good  fun they are to. But more about that in another post.  

In other news, Too Fat Lardies released What A Tanker. Which lives up to it's tag line of "A Challenging and Fun Game of WWII Tank Combat. To date I have only played a couple of solo games of WaT (and it plays fine as a solo game) and it is a great game, in my humble opinion.

 and, inspired by What A Tanker I decide to put build and paint Warlord's  Wittman's Tiger, a kit i had bought from that wargamers treasure trove, Colonel Bill's.
The kit is made of resin and metal and one oof the first thing I noticed was that the tracks were slightly warped and, despite my best efforts and much soaking and bending in warm  water, the tracks being quite thick only straighteened out marginally.. It's not a huge problem as you can see (or not) from the photos but it was certainly enough to put me off for a while.
Anyway, I eventually primed and painted it as a Heer Tiger as opposed to an SS one, mainly because I don't have any SS units in my collection.  And I'm very pleased with the result. Just needs some final weathering and attaching to a base (I put small, discreet bases on all my tanks so  I can magnetise team and transport them in magnetic sheet lined Really Useful Boxes)

After my introduction to Kiss Me hardy last weekend at WorLard I decided to take the plunge and ordered a starter fleet of 1/2400 scale ships from Tumbling Dice as well as a sheet of French flags. They arrived quite  quickly (not the same day, sadly) and are really nice. They are going to have to wait for the moment but I'm really looking forward to building and painting them

this is what eighteen lovely British pounds get you from Tumbling Dice

I plan to get myself a nice, ocean mat on which to sail my fleet Fingers crossed I manage to sell enough of my old 40K stuff on eBay to raise the money for a nice, shiny new mat.

And that's me for the moment; another round up next week, hopefully....no definately..
pip pip

Buffing Up Nicely

My preparation for Deep Fried Lard on 2nd June continues. Yesterday i managed to finish off my Covenanter pike and shotte and  three of their leaders. It's take just over three weeks of chipping away to get them done but at last these chaps are finished. 

I must admit they aren't my best work as I don't think they represent Warlord's best efforts when it comes to sculpting. On the plus side they are fairly inexpensive, especially if you are intending to play larger scale battles. If I had the money to spare I would have gone for Perry Miniatures ECW figures as they cover both armies but with the wedding 5 months away I have to use such clay as I have. 

In saying hat I have ordered Perry's mounted command for the New Model Army force and the dismounted command for the Covenanters. 

Pre-basing

And, since i was on a roll and have been off work with tonsillitis these last few days I decided that building and painting wargames figures come under the heading of "relaxing" and built the Scots Lancers set from Warlord, well ten oof them at least. Again this is a kit that promises much but doesn't fulfil that promise. In the box you get three metal command figures,  a bag containing a couple of sprues with metal arms with lances, some different metal arms with pistols and three metal sprues with the Scots bonnets on them. The remainder of the kit is made up of the Pike and Shotte cavalry sprues. Again it's a fairly inexpensive kit and you can't reallly quibble with the price.

However I did have to do some sculpting with Green Stuff to fill gaps where between tthe bonnets and the heads and to disguise the back of the head where they have sculpted in the rear of the lobster pot helmet on the figures. It was no great difficlty though, just a bit time consuming.

Finally I added some sacks of loot and provisions onto their horses as the Border Lancers were well known for their habit of "collecting" other peoples possessions . I did this because the metal figures in the pack come with a lot of sculpted on equipment attached to their saddles and i wanted the whole troop to have that campaign look about them. I also added a few spare targes  to some of their equipment to finish off that Border Reiver look

So, it'll be painting these chaps next over the coming week or so. After them iit will be the commanders and the Covenanter firelock skirmishers and, then, hopefully a a game or two to give me an idea of how to set up the scennario.

pip pip for now

Sugaring The Pill a Kiss Me Hardy batrep

Kiss Me Hardy is a set of Napoleonic naval wargamingg rules published in PDF form  by the Too Fat Lardies . I have had the rules for a while now but last Saturday was my first game of Kiss Me Hardy (KMH) at WorLard and, it'd be fair to say, I loved it. 

The scenario involved a convoy of merchantmen conveying sugar to Greenock, on the Clyde where Messrs I Arnbrew and company, creators and purveyors of medicinal drinks to those suffering from the self inflicted injuries of over imbibement (other hangover cures are available but are very inferior!!)

This convoy has been spotted by a French squadron under the command of Capitaine Jacque Micab, sailing under a Letter of Marque, is aboard his flagship, the Duguay Trouin with his highly trained and experienced crew. His squadron sets off in two divisions, he commanding one consisting of the Duguay Trouin; (3rd rate 74 guns), the Formidable (3rd rate 80 guns) and the Scipion (3rd rate 74 guns). The other division is under a wealthy aristocrat, Capitaine David Chasseur. Chasseur's ship, the Redoubtable (3rd rate 74 guns) the Brillainte and the Honore (both 3rdrate, both 64 guns).

Micab had also spotted, as they were very obvious, a British fleet under the command of Commodore Farrow. This fleet consisted of Farrow's flagship, HMS Caesar, HMS Captain, HMS Culloden, under the command of Captain Paul, and HMS Zealous. The British squadron were also all 3rd rate ships and all carrying 74 guns each.

Captaine Micab snapped close his telescope, looked towards the ships ahead of his fleet. The convoy of merchant men were going hell for leather with every sail set,towards the darkening horizon. The British sailing on the opposite tack, were going to have to wear round to engage his fleet. Micab had the weather gauge and a slim chance of both a fat prize and a chance to give the British a bloody nose befoore night fell, as it did so  swiftly in the parts. It was a terribly slim chance but the only one they would have for a long while. 
He called to his First Mate. "Lt Cantona, signal the Redoutable; she is to pursue the convoy in company with the Honore and the Brilliante. We will intercept the Ros Bouefs and keep them amused"  Cantona groaned inwardly, this mad idiot would get them all killed, including Polly le Parrot but, masking his dismay replied "Oui, mon capitain;; Redooubtable et al to pursue the convoy. We to amuse the British"..

The French fleet divides;  the Duguy Trouin, is in the centre of the left hand division whilst the Redoubtable leads the right. Ahead, the British pass the convoy, intent on tacking into  the wind and to come upon the French  port side

the noble French mariners pursue the enemy......and lots of lovely lucre   

The British attempt to get in position to attack the French

Micab felt the Duguy Trouin shudder and heard the shockingly loud crack as the main mast snapped. He ws thrown to the deck with the impact of the two ships colliding. His plan was coming undone. True they had bloodied the nose of the British when both the Duguy Trouin and the Scipion had both raked the Caesar as they had across her bows. But now the biter was bit; the British ships Culloden and Zealous cutting the line , Nelson fashion, between the Formidable and the Duguy Trouin, had raked his ship from close quarters, very close quarters. So close that the Duguy Trouin had ran afoul the Zealous, losing her bowsprit and then her main mast.
Micab rose to his feet. Around him the deck was in chaos; a tangle of spars, sails, rigging, overturned cannon and dead and dying, so many dead and dying French mariners.  But there were still many alive and, realising the immediate danger his ship was in, drew his sword and called out to those still living "to arms, mes amis! the English are boarding us!!    

The Culloden rakes the Duguy Trouin before successfully boarding the French flagship and carrying her

Aboard the Redoubtable, Capitain Chassuer listenend to his first leautenant's report "The rudder is repaired, mon capitaine, and the carpenter reports a metre of water in the hold". Chassuer pondered for  a moment. Very well, Leautenant Ginola, we can manouvre again and the pumps can deal with the water we are shipping. Signal Brilliante to pursue the convoy and to keep them in sight. Honore and ourselves, we wil distract the British and, hopefully, Formidable and Scipion an disengage from the British then between us, we may yet pull Capitaine Micab's chestnuts from thee fiire, non?"

Brilliante attempts to close with the convoy before night shrouds them

And there you have it; a bloody stalemate. Given a few more turns the French might have triumphed in the actual battle though in all likelihood they would have lost the convoy. However a British 3rd rate or two as prizes would easily have offset that disappointment.

Either way there's many a hung over Scotsman who'll be glad the Royal Navy showed up when they did...och aye the noo!!

PS. Animal lovers do not panic. Polly le Parrot was exchanged along with the remainder of those crew members of the Duguy Trouin who survived the battle.

WorLard 2018

Adventures in Durham with the Lardies

Saturday the 21st April saw Durham Wargames Club run their annual Too Fat Lardies event, organised by that very nice chap, Jim Catchpole, of the Durham Wargames Group.

Though it's a one day event, the Durham Wargames Club are in the very rare and extremely enviable position of having a dedicated premises in which to game so Jim Catchpole, John Ewing (my nemesis in Operation Martlet) and myself managed to fit in a game of Coastal Patrol, umpired by John. 

Vane Tempest Hall which was, if i remember correctly, a former Yeomanry Barracks. The lucky chaps at Durham Wargames Club have access to most of the central upper floor.

Coastal Patrol is set in WW2 in the English Channel and has British Royal Navy Motor Torpedo Boats versus German E Boats either on patrol or on convoy escort. The rules are available in the Too Fat Lardies 2011 Summer Special.

The game itself was great, with the Germans (me) seeking to attack a British convoy (John) protected by Jim's MTBs. It used a set of blind markers to replicate attempting to spot the enemy in the dark. Naturally, being setin the dark, i forgot to take photos!! 

Saturday morning saw the actual event start. There were a few choice games available (the idea is that you let Jim know in advance what you would like to play from the games on offer for both the morning and afternoon session) including What A Tanker run by the Lardmeister himself, Richard Clarke. 

What A Tanker gets underway and already Matt Slade of Glenbrook Games is thinking ahead to his dinner

Tension mounts as the six (yes six!) Sherman commanders try to out manouvre Richard's Panther

The other game going on in the room in which I playing was a 20mm Very British Civil War themed game of Chain of Command set in  Durham. I didn't get any of the details of the game but it looked very pretty

The game I played was Sharp Practice set in 17th Century Ukraine with a force of Ottoman Turks carrying out a punitive raid on a Cossack village. The figures are 40mm and looked very, very nice. If memory serves they are by Irregular Miniatures.
I took the role of the Cossack commander against two Ottoman Turk commanders (Dave Knight who I know from the Falkirk and District Wargames Club and Warwick, who's surname I have shamefully forgot, a local gamer and the chap who supplied all the figures, boats etc for this game) and the game was ably umpired by Jim Catchpole

One part of the Ottoman Turks forces

Brave Cossacks

more blinking Turks!!

a Cossack commercial craft! Apparently the Cossacks of this period were more water based traders rather than the fierce horsemen that we know of nowadays; well I never...

The Cossack trading town of  Grubbibolbag with it's improvised defences made up of reinforced wagons, a couple of which were armed

even more Turks; hordes of them!

Cossack skirmishers and regular troops

Reinforcing the town

A lone gunner, his comrades dead or wounded, carries on dutifully

The Cossack village commander, Bohdan, rallies his troops

Unfortunately we didn't manage to play the game through to a conclusion before lunch. Jim decided to leave the game as it was and Dave, Warwick and another player played the game to a conclusion in the afternoon. Me, I was off to sea with Kiss Me Hardy! The photos of which will be in another post in the form a batrep but I'll leave a photo here as a taster

I didn't manage to get a good look or any photos of the other games in the other gaming room. i did manage to get some photos of the other Sharp Practice games forces. This was set in the Italian Wares of the Renaissance Period. The figures are beautiful as you will see from the photos and, from what I hear, the game was great fun. 

After the event it was off to a nearby pub to relive the glorious highs and crushing lows of our battles and to cool down with a pint or four as it was a particularly warm day. This too was a nice extra, the chance to sit in a pub over a few beers with fellow wargamers and chew the fat. For my part I had a really nice chat with David Hunter, who I knew from the Saindoux Campaign mentioned in a previous post; good to have a good chin wag with him. And Matt Slade, noted wargames figure painter and figure modeller for Saddle Goose Designs tee shirts.

Thanks again to Jim Catchpole and the chaps at the Durham Wargames Club and also all the chaps who put on the games.
Looking forward to the Scottish Lardies event, Deep Fried Lard, in June were yours truly will be runing a game of Sharp Practice

Taking the High Road to Berlin with the Glendarrochs part 3

Operation Martlet scenario 2; Pushing On

This is the second mission in the Operation Martlet Pint Sized campaign. The British have reached the edge of the town of Fontenoy and must clear it of any pockets of resistance. As they are opposed by the 12SS Hitler Youth this will prove easier to say than do. 

The British have 16 points of support for this mission whilst the Germans, defending, have only 7 points.. Being Germans though, they have lots of MG42s.

For their support, the British have chosen an extra infantry section (Cpl Jack Daniels section) an extra 2" mortar, a Sherman tank and a forward observer with a mortar battery on call.

At the beginning, we rolled for the British platoons free patrol phase moves and I rolled a 6 so the British managed to get at least one deployment points far forward.

Would that help them in their mission?.......

Operation Martlet scenario 2; Pushing On

Bloody Hard Work

Sgt Amos Grouse, 3 platoon's sergeant, over saw the redistribution of ammunition in the lee of a burnt out Panzer. Overhead the reassuring sound off shells on their way to the Germans up ahead reminded him that his platoon still had work to do. Behind him he could hear the revving engines of the Bren Carriers ferrying the wounded back to the Regimental Aid Post. The burial details would come later but for the moment the focus was on getting the wounded back for treatment.

 Leastwise, that was the focus of the Medical Officer and medics; He and 2Lt Regal had to focus on reorganising the lads and moving on to the next objective. "What do you think sergeant" said 2Lt Regal "We bring Corporals More and Horse's sections up to strength and and put the remainder of 1 section under Corporal Froik to act as a reserve....a spare Bren team if you like?" 

Grouse pondered for a moment. Better to let Cpl Lars Froik get to know the lads before putting them into action together. Mind you, it'd only be half the section but beggars couldn't be choosers, they needed section commanders the lads knew. "Sounds fine, sir, let's us do that" He replied "And Cpl Daniels and his section from 9 platoon can slot in nicely and bring us up to strength" Lt Regal frowned "How did you know about Cpl Daniels from 9 platoon joining us, sergeant?"  "Because I is a sergeant, sir, I knows everything, in a manner of speaking, sir" Grouse replied, grinning and winking at the young officer. Regal smiled "I'm sure you do, sergeant" he said to the older man "but we best get going. I can see Corporal Daniels coming; I'll just put him in the picture then we will need to get moving; the battle isn't going to win itself is it" So saying, Regal stood up and called over the section commander who came over at a trot, crouching as he did so; swathed in ammunition bandoliers and carrying a sandbag full of grenades. "Present from the CQMS, sir, 20 grenades; anti-personnel; Jerry-for the killing of, sir!" said Cpl Jack Daniels. "Jolly good, Cpl Daniels; once the other section commanders arrive I'll put you all in the picture..." 

2Lt puts Cpl Jack Daniels' section right i the picture; front and centre of the attack!!!

The other sections deploy in the lee of the buildings on the outskirts of Fontenoy 

Freshly dugs graves mark the advance of the Allies. By th junction, L/Cpl Blackie Jack waits with his 2' mortar

Cpl Daniels section begin an exchange of fire with the Germans in the building. 

The Germans holed up in the first floor and attic proved a major stumbling block to the advance of the Glen Darrochs.

Crouching behind the hedge,,, Cpl Daniels steeled himself to attempt to cross it in the teeth of the German fire. The hedge and fruit trees blocked the British and German troops sight of one another but the German MG fire was still deadly enough. "Right, Bren Team, listen in!" he shouted, hoping to be heard above the noise of the firing. "on my command, you will give covering fire at the upper windows of the house; Rifle Team, we are going to cross this hedge and make a dash for the high wall to the left of the building; got that? Shouted and none too enthusiastic responses came back to him above the crack thump of the firing overhead. Gripping his Sten gun Daniels turned to the Bren Team "Bren Team fire!!" As the Bren began its reply to the German MG fire, the riflemen struggled and scrambled over and through the hedge onto the ground on the other side. immediately they did so they began to take fire from the building.......

The German fire was wildly inaccurate and, half crouching, the rifle team made for the wall beside the house. Crouching beside it, Daniels gasped "Okay lads, so far so good. Next stop Berlin!! First though, we go over the wall and outflank the beggars in the house!" Don't let them think about it, Jacko, he thought to himself, momentum, that's what we need now "Okay, lets go!" and the riflemen, acting on instinct, started scrambling over the wall...

2lt Regal with 2 and 3 Section reach the hedge to give support 

and begin to take fire from the Germans in the other orchard

A Sherman from the Isle Of Sheppey Border Mounted Horse arrives in support

"Forward left, Geordie, over by the building...that's it; halt" said Cpl McCorkingdale, commanding the Sherman of 2 Troop of C Squadron. Seeing the infantrymen crossing the hedge and the flashes of gunfire from the upper floor he spoke into the intercom "Gunner; target. small window, top floor of house directly in front. HE! Fire!!" The high explosive shell slammed into the wall of the building to the left of the window. "You dozy git, Nichols, that wasn't the window; try again" Once more the tank's gun roared and this time the shell went through the window, blowing in the frame. the curtains billowed out in a cloud of dust and the machine gun stopped firing. McCorkingdale called for the gun to cease firing then started scanning the terrain in front, just as an armour piercing shell screamed down the road and scraped a gouge along the side of the tank.. "Bloody hell; driver advance; gunner, target forward right; panzer by the big tree; fire!!" ....

The orchard is targeted unsuccessfully by  2" and 3" mortars

In the orchard, Oberschharfuhrer Grubber quickly ordered Sturmfuhrer Blok to fire on the British. Those blockheads were banging their heads against probably the only formidable strong point on this end of Fontenoy,, he thought. Well, that was fine, it made his job the all the easier. As 1st Squad was firing at the British, two mortar rounds landed just past their position. Smoke began to billow out but the rounds had landed too far from the German position to be of any use to the British. They'll get the range soon enough, thought Grubber. Just then a larger, more lethal mortar round landed behind them; a spotting round! "Incoming barrage; move! Move! Move! The panzer grenadiiers ceased firing, grabbed their weapons and started to withdraw hastily....

2Lt  Regal leads 3 section forward

2Lt Regal wiped the sweat from his brow . Peering through the hedge he could just make out Cpl Daniels section disappearing over the wall. He looked to his left at the 2" mortar team there; what was the mortar mans name again? He couldn't remember; buggertion!!."You there, mortar team, switch targets. See if you can get a smoke round in front of the barn behind the wall". "Righto, sir!" replied the mortar man and started the necessary realignment onto his new target. Next he shouted to Cpl Wyat Horse and 3 section. "Cpl Horse, I want your Bren gun team to cover us; you, me and your rifle team are going to clear out that building!" Oh bloody hell, thought Horse to himself; just my bleeding luck.. "Right you are, sir" he replied and organised the Bren team. behind them lay Cpl Daniels Bren team,cut down by a burst from the Spandau on the upper floor just before the Sherman hit it. Now the Spandau was firing again, though less effectively, he thought..and hoped...and prayed.

"Let's go, 3 Section!" shouted 2Lt Regal as he threw himself over the hedge, pistol in hand. 3 Section did likewise. They cleared the hedge and started to scramble forward when Cpl Horse and two others fell, hit by a burst of MG fire "Leave him" shouted Regal as he sprinted forward. With Cpl Daniels section hitting the building from the flank they should be able to clear it swiftly and efficiently enough. His plan of attack should work fine, they just had to reach the building as Cpl Daniels pressed home his attack. His pace slackened as he saw Cpl Daniels section reappear over the wall, dragging the now wounded NCO with them. "What the..." he started. "Jerries in the barn, sir. Had us cornered" said one of the riflemen as the others started patching up Cpl Daniels wound. "lucky to get out alive, we was" He turned to the riflemen from 3 section. "Right chaps, lets get those Boche bastards!!" One of the riflemen threw a grenade into the ground floor of the building, Immediately after it went off they dashed into the house. As they did so, two stick grenades sailed down the stairs into their path. Regal, just entering the house behind the riflemen was tumbled back by the explosion. He lay stunned for several seconds; from the house came the sounds of automatic weapons and gutteral shouts in German. He felt a hand grab his webbing; looking up he saw Cpl Horse. "Alright sir?" Regal nodded. "Fall back, lads!" shouted Horse, firing a quick burst at the house with his Sten the pushing the still dazed leutenant towards the hedge... 

 

Postscript

Well that was much harder than it could've been. John's Germans had an incredible (and very enviable) run of good fortune with double sixes followed by treble six which put paid to my mortar barrage before it had even begun. Prior to that streak of luck he had also played a CoC dice, ending the turn and the British artillery barrage thereby being able to bring on his platoon unhindered.

My tank was lucky, being struck twice by shots from a dug in Panzer IV but only suffered minor damage and was forced to pull back 6 inches. However, my platoon were less lucky, taking something like 13 casualties. Only 4 of them were from the supporting section of Cpl Daniels so 13 platoon are going to feel the bite when they next attempt to take Fontenoy.
Their morale is none to great and their faith in 2Lt Regal is waivering. Still, they have no choice but to push on.

Thanks as ever to John for being such a good (though cursedly lucky) opponent. Looking forward to the next attempt this coming Monday....

PPS. Note to self, get more photos off the Germans doing their thing next time