Bolt Action Batrep: Fortress Budapest. Withdrawl Across The Danube, A Farewell To The Dan-Cave

Introduction

     Well we're back in Budapest to play out yet another scenario from the excellent Fortress Budapest campaign book. And this one was tinged with a touch of sadness as it was, in all likelihood, our last game in the Dan-Cave as Danny has moved to pastures new and Chez Danny is going on the market.

     But, that aside, we were all in good fettle as we hadn't had a game together since the beginning of Marc and the pandemic lockdownh. With the easing of the lockdown restrictions we were, like many of you would be, extremely desirous of getting a game of something and Bolt Action was the easiest to organise in the short space of time that we had to get our ars...our backsides in gear.

The Scenario 

     I decided...ahem...We decided to play the Withdrawal Across The Danube scenario. In this scenario the Germans/Axis are looking to withdraw across the bridges over the Danube to the Buda side of the river, leaving Pest in the hands of the Soviets. Both sides have an equal amount of points with which to choose their forces. This scenario is designed to be played out on a 4'x4' table but as this was a farewell of sorts we went for a 6'x4' set up and ramped up the points but only to 2300 (only?) points each side.

Set Up 

      To represent this the Germans/Axis set up their forces in a 12" deployment zone on their table edge. The battlefield should have at least three streets crossing from the Soviet side to the German/Axis side of the table. As we were on a 6x4 table we had four. On each of these four streets the Germans/Axis had a barricade set up which could be set up no more than 12" from their table edge. These barricades are objectives as well as providing hard cover.

Deployment 

      The Germans deploy all their forces in their set up zone. The Soviets start off the table and must designate at least half their forces as the First Wave. The remainder are in reserve. Thre is no Outflanking in the game and neither side can choose the Sewer Movement option from the City Siege Assets.

Special Rules

     City Siege Assets. Both sides can choose from the City Siege Assets options. Both sides already have one asset allocated; the barricades for the Germans/Axis player and a preliminary bombardment for the Soviets. We set about choosing two per side (we forgot that you can choose one asset per 500 points) Rich chose an anti tank minefield (which he put right on my axis of advance!! Fiend!!) and Ammunition Dump. He chose one of his buildings, set up an "ammo dump" in it which allowed units in it and within 6" of it to re-roll any 1s that come up when rolling to hit. Danny chose a smoke Screen which meant he had the chance of screening off part of the battlefield if his bombardment came in as hoped for. And I went for Night Infiltration which allowed me to forward deploy two infantry units up to half way across the table. Also we employed the Rubble rules which adds modifiers to shooting and movement during the game.

     The Soviets also benefit from another wee special rule; Sturmovik Strafing Runs. Once during the game the Soviets can call in an airstrike (as per the airstrike rule from the main rulebook) As it doesn't require a forward air observer the Soviets can target any non-hidden German unit

      Lastly on the Germans/Axis side, they have the Fighting Withdrawal special rule. The Germans/Axis forces are withdrawing from Pest. To represent this from turn 2 onward before any dice are drawn they must remove one unit from their force (and its dice from the bag); these units don't count as destroyed, they have made good their escape and therefore do not count towards Victory Points. And from the end of turn 4 onward the Germans can remove one barricade, deeming it no longer needed (and thus robbing the Soviets of potential victory points...cunning!!) However this cannot be one that is already held by the Soviets.

Objective

     The Germans must hold off the Soviets long enough to allow as many of their units and Pest's civilians as possible to escape across the Danube to the relative safety of Buda. The Soviets must prevent this by capturing the streets, preventing the Axis forces from using them as escape routes.

Game Duration

      This scenario lasts 6 turns. At the end of tunr 6 there is a chance that i may go on for another turn on a roll of 4+

Victory

      At the end of the game each side gains the following; 1 point for each enemy unit destroyed and 3 points for each barricade they hold with the usual parameters; the holding unit; either an infantry or artillery unit, must be within 3" of the barricade and there must be no enemy units must be within 3".  

    

Forces

Soviets: Danny and I each had 1150 points with which to build our forces from the Urban Assault Group which is predominatelyfull of SMG totting squads. I went for

Urban Assault Group (Me-ski)

Veteran Senior Lieutenant  Simon (Si) Novabich plus runner

Regular SMG Squads x2 (12 men; 11 SMGs and one LMG)

Veteran Assault Engineer Squad (9 men, rifles, one flamethrower and 2 panzerfausts)

Regular Guards Squad (8 men, rifles plus one LMG and one panzerfaust)

Veteran MMG

Veteran Medium Mortar with spotter

Veteran Anti Tank Rifle Team x3

Veteran SU-76 with additional anti tank ammo (makes ita medium anti tank gun as well as a medium howitzer)

Urban Assault Group (Danski)

Senior Lieutenant Stepan Krapp plus runner

Regular SMG squads x2

Veteran Assault Pioneer Squad

Regular Guards Squad

Regular Zis-2 anti tank gun

Regular MMG

Regular Mortar

Regular T-34/76

Germans/Axis (Reinhardt) As Richie didn't have enough troops to put together two forces of Budapest Pocket Defenders he put together one and added an armoured platoon to his force. They looked like this

Budapest Pocket Defenders

Obersturmfuhrer (First Lieutenant) Otto Knoebetter plus runner

Veteran SS Squad x5

Veteran Medium Mortar

Veteran Light Howitzer

Veteran Sniper

Armoured Platoon  

Regular Panther

Regular Panzer IV

Regular StuH42

Regular Stummel

Regular Hanomag 251/21 Drilling (triple anti aircraft gun!!)

Regular Hanomag 251/1

and so to battle.....

Suggested lay out as per the book

Orientated for the following photo

    

Our 6'x4' layout for the mission. German table edge
to the right, Soviets to the left...naturally..The limit
of the Germans deployment was at the forward edge
of the ruins on the right. Danny's Soviets deployed
in the top half of the table while mine were on the
lower half  Note additional Michelangelo/Terry
Gilliam-esque type Hand of Fate pointing at some
poor Russkies who are about to receive some
unwelcome German attention. 

     The men froze as another flare soared into the sky ahead of them. As it descended, the swaying flare cast fantastical patches of light through the gaping holes and frameless windows of the ruin they were crawling through. Slowly the patches of light climbed the wall as the flare neared to the ground, disappearing abruptly as the flare went out. The men waited, mouths opened and one eye closed to protect their night vision, every nerve stretched as they listened and watched.

     In the distance artillery rumbled and machine guns chattered intermittently. A plane droned overhead, the pilot searching, no doubt, for a suitable target on the far side of the river. 

     As the sound of the plane diminished Sergeant Constantin Sokolov signalled the men around him to move forward. Slowly, carefully, deliberately they made their way forward. Testing the ground; searching out and avoiding the looser patches of rubble. Keeping low to avoid being silhouetted they pushed on for another hour.

     Pausing in the deeper shadow of a towering wall Sokolov wiped away the sweat that dripped down his face. Though it was only just above freezing they were all perspiring from the effort of the last two hours, moving, stopping, looking and listening then moving again and all the while keeping quiet. Noise was the great betrayer out here in no mans land. It was about two hours since they had set out and they had covered only four hundred yards judging by the silhouette of the building ahead of them. As quietly as possible Sokolov made his way around his men, making sure they were all there. 
     This ruin was their objective, a  former apartment block, Sokolov had guessed, when he had observed it through the company commanders binoculars the evening before."Comrade Sergeant Sokolov" said the captain as they crouched in the a burnt out shell of a half track, looking towards the German lines through what had formerly been the driver's vision slit. "In the morning we are going to push right up to the Danube and throw the Fritzes into it when we do. However we don't want to give the Fritzes too much notice that we are coming; we need to be on them right away, so tonight I want you to take your squad forward to that ruin" here the captain handed Sokolov his binoculars and pointed to a prominent ruin "You see; the one that looks like a key; like this?" here the captain took out a pencil stub and drew a quick sketch in his notebook of the outline of ruin he had pointed out. Sokolov looked at the sketch then back at the ruins; picked out the one the captain meant, nodded and handed back the binoculars. "Get your squad in there and sit tight. Sergeant Lebedev and his assault engineers are also moving forward parallel to you on your right so be aware they are there. In the morning, about an hour after first light, there'll be a short barrage that should catch the Fritzes on the hop. You wait till that barrage is over. We go in immediately afterwards; any questions?" Sokolov shook his head. 

     

    

Sergeant Sokolov and his men move into position

      Either side of the bridge, explosions erupted in the fast flowing, debris choked Danube. Spouts of water thrown up by the artillery shells soaked the crowds of refugees and soldiers fleeing the battle now raging in Pest. The Soviets were pressing hard on the heels of the defenders and the trapped citizens of Pest as they made their way to the illusory safety of Buda.
    Watching the crowds on the bridge as they ran the gauntlet of Soviet artillery fire through a nearby cellar window, Obersturmfuhrer Otto Knoebetter winced as a shell struck one of the towering bridge supports raining shrapnel and brick work onto the masses below. A horse on the bridge reared in panic, lashing out at the throng surrounding it, adding to the chaos that reigned there.
    A figure flitting through the entrance into the cellar of the ruin that served as the platoon HQ drew his attention from the ugly scene on the bridge. "What's the news, Scharfuhrer Feldman?" Knoebetter shouted above the noise of the nearby barrage. In response the young NCO slumped down on a rickety chair beside him, laid his MP40 on the table and reached a grubby hand inside his tattered smock and pulled out a note from an internal pocket then raising his voice said. "Orders, Herr Obersturmfuhrer! I think we're pulling out at last!" then added "Do you have any cigarettes, sir?"  Smiling, Knoebetter nodded, taking the proffered note, handed the sergeant a cigarette in exchange then held the note next to a candle, one of four that dimly lit the cellar, he began to read it. 
     It was pretty much as he expected; hold their current positions till dark then a phased withdrawal covered by artillery; armour then the infantry to pull back. Heavier weapons to be spiked then left behind. The route to the bridge to be marked by the pioneers. Seriously wounded to be left behind; walking wounded only to be taken. No enemy attack expected in this area as they appeared to be intent on clearing the Pest side of the river from the south. 
      The nearby crash of an artillery shell caused him to duck involuntary as a shower of dust fell on them from the ceiling of the cellar. He looked across at the NCO beside him. Scharfuhrer Feldman was sitting with both elbows on the table, a lit cigarette in his hand and his head lolling forward, a long rope of spittle dripping from his mouth. "Scharfuhrer" shouted Knoebetter. The sergeant didn't stir "Scharfurher!" he shouted again, shaking the NCO by the shoulder. Feldman stirred slowly..stupidly... then was fully awake. "Sorry sir" he said shamefacedly then swore as the cigarette burnt his fingers "So bloody tired..." he muttered. Knoebetter nodded and handed him another cigarette, lighting it as he did so "As you say, Scharfurher, we're moving out; we've to leave the seriously wounded behind; walking wounded only. Ivan isn't expected before first light tomorrow so let's get the wounded moving first; How many do we have at the moment?" Feldman reached into his padded smock again and this time drew out a battered notebook and flicked through the pages " Five seriously wounded in total, sir, that we haven't managed to get back across the river. And seven lightly wounded" Knoebetter considered for a moment, biting his lip as he did. "Okay, could any of those walking wounded carry any of the others?" Feldmen opened his mouth to answer but the sound of his raised voice was drowned out by a series of ear splitting crashes. The cellar shook as the earth around it heaved under a furious barrage. For several minutes the artillery rounds pummelled the area around their position then ceased as suddenly it had begun. After a minute or so, Knoebetter and Feldman rose from the floor were they had thrown themselves when the barrage began. All but one of the candles had been blown out. Wordlessly, hurriedly in the semi darkness of the cellar they picked up their weapons and made their way out of the cellar. Wincing in the dazzling daylight they picked their way towards the nearest platoon position. Around them the crack and thump of bullets sounded and ahead of them the sounds of chattering machine guns; their own machine guns and that of the enemies could be clearly heard. Tank engines growled and the crump of impacting mortar shells added to the cacophony of battle. "So much for the Ivans not coming till tomorrow" shouted Knoebetter. 

Obersturmfuhrer Knoebetter takes charge

Opposing my chaps were these three 251's, a personnel carrier,
a Stummel and a Drilling as well as a squad of veteran SS. They
are sheltering behind one of the Germans barricades. They proved
extremely hard to hit, taking pins during the preliminary bombardment,
The Stummel crew failed their morale test when Richie attempted to
fire at my chaps. It promptly reversed to the edge of the board and
stayed there, failing one more morale check;they had one pin on
them, before Richie withdrew them from the battle.

In the ruins besides the 251s was another SS Squad and a sniper.
One of the "good" things about a city fight is that it's often easy
to lose track of the enemy, especially if they are defending.
(We have a house rule whereby we don't tell each other what we
have in our force lists which makes for a tenser, more exciting
game.) and though I knew the sniper was there from his firing
I wasn't complete;y sure who was in the ruin beneath them

a devastated Pest city centre and the ruin where Sokolov and
his men spent the night before the attack

As the dust from the not very effective Soviet barrage settles,
an SU-76 moves up to support the attack. This suffered from
my usual appalling dice rolls, not hitting a single target it
engaged...

While on Danny's side of the assault, his MMG team get busy
giving cover to the attack. His chaps had a mountain to climb
with that open square to cross. Some parts of it we had
nominated as rubble so they received some cover but it
was a killing ground as Richie had it well covered with
his StuH42, medium mortar and light howitzer

Danny's Zis-2

The two squads who had infiltrate forward, Sokolov's SMG
squad and Lebedev's assault engineers begin taking pot shots
at the Germans. They didn't inflict any casualties in this pursuit
but they managed to put the occasional pin on the half tracks 

Lebedev's Assault Engineers make their move. Beside them,
another SMG squad makes a dash for the German front line

As more Soviets came on from reserve, they moved forward
with the platoon commander Senior Lt Novabich. My plan
was to use his "You Men Snap To It" rule to, hopefully, force
the Germans off the barricade and keep hold of it. At least that
was the plan

After being hit twice by AT fire from the Drilling and receiving
Immobilised results both times,, my SU-76 goes up in smoke...
bugger. It proved pretty ineffective and was trapped behind
Richie's carefully placed anti tank minefield

Burn, baby, burn...

The damned effective Drilling...

By this stage of the game, the squad that been stationed by the
Panther had received orders to withdraw and had done so, poste
haste. The Panther made one kill during the game, taking out a
Soviet anti tank rifle team

     Shouting into the tank's intercom, Sergeant Tatyana Kuznetsov ordered the driver to advance. The engine roared as the T-34 ground it's way over the uneven surface of the rubble strewn streets. Pushing forward into the large square the tank's turret and hull rang with the sound of ricocheting small arms fire. Despite the fire, Kuznetsov put her head over the top of the cupola hatch, scanning the far side of the square for potential threats. The smoke and dust partially blinded her and she wiped her eyes with an oily rag. The gunner's voice rang out in the intercom "enemy tank, forward left! Directly across the fountain" Kuznetov felt the turret turn as gunner called out the target indication. The driver stopped immediately to give the gunner a better chance of hitting the Panzer and Kuznetov called out  "Fire when on!" to the gunner, knowing she needed no cue. As the tank gun barked, Kuznetov watched the round strike the building to the right of the now identified StuH42. "Miss! Go slightly left and aim lower, Anna!" The gunner repeated the correction as the loader slammed another round into the breech. Suddenly Kuznetov was flung against the cupola hatch as the tank was hit. Her face struck the locking handle, breaking her jaw and she dropped into the turret unconscious; the back of her coveralls soaked with blood. "The gunner pushed the limp body off her and attempted to turn around. "Tatyana's been hit!" she cried. The driver put the tank into reverse immediately, ignoring the cries of the others. As the tank pulled into the lee of the nearest building it came to a shuddering halt...

Danny's force makes its push in the centre. The T-34 got a nasty
shock when a medium mortar round landed on the top of it's
turret. After taking pins, it failed it's next order test and reversed
out of danger.

Two of Danny's squads try to make their way across the square.
In the back ground you can see where the Soviet smoke screen
has begun to drift, exposing them to the StuH42 and the Panzer
IV. Fortunately these were kept occupied by a Soviet force
making it's way through the ruins behind the smoke screen 

Safe in cover but carrying plenty pins

With their reserves committed and with what cover the anti tank
rifles can give, Lt Si Novabich pushes his men forward

In the background, Obersturmfuhrer Knoebetter controls
his platoon's battle.

Sokolov's squad reach the forward German position and slug it
out with them hand to hand,. Sokolov and his men come off
second best by one casualty. Lebedev and his men then wipe
out what's left of  the SS squad with their flame thrower. By
now, most of the Germans had withdrawn from this part of
the battle field.

The End Bit

     What a fitting finale to the Dan-Cave...apart from the result. Yes, the Germans won but to be fair with all that heavy fire power (i.e. Richie's fiendishly lucky dice rolls) that's not surprising. To be honest it was a very tough nut to crack and he played a canny game as any Soviet armour was bound to be channeled along the streets; with a StuH42 and Panzer IV covering the square, a Panther covering one street and the the Drilling and Stummel the last street, which had an anti tank minefield placed across it, the Soviets were depending on a devastating/lucky Preliminary bombardment to put plenty of pins on the defenders. That wasn't to be, alas. 

     And likewise, the Sturmovik Strafing (actually an RAF Tempest which is why it didn't appear in the final cut. I'll get me a Sturmovik,  just you wait and see if I don't!!) wasn't a great help, being chased off by an MMG in the AA role. This after the Drilling, a dedicated AA vehicle and another MMG had clean missed it. Perhaps I should have brought it in elsewhere where the AA fire was less effective but again I was hoping for some pinning effect from it to help with my attack but once more, alas, no. 

     Danny's support weapons suffered from the attentions of some very accurate medium mortar and light howitzer fire. On the plus side, his smoke screen was very good, covering his flank move from fire but that too came to naught as we ran out of turns. I think I am right in saying that his men destroyed the Panzer IV with a panzerfaust

     We played seven turns though Rich had it in the bag by the end of the sixth as we wanted to squeeze in just one more turn in the Dan-Cave.

     Another possible reason for poor showing by the Soviets was the usual, eye watering, rib tickling banter. Without doubt the best part of wargaming is not collecting victories but mates you can have a really good laugh with....before you grind their forces into the dirt!!!...possibly 

     

     Next up in the Budapest campaign is a scenario that I am personally looking forward to, namely Back Door Left Open. I know, I know, if you don't own the book that won't make a whole heap of sense but bear with me, it's going to be good....well, at least it's going to look good and that counts, doesn't it?

Pip pip,

Jimbob

The Baker's Dozen. Update #13, The Failings Of A Frother

    

Intro

      Failings of a Frother indeedy, Another irregular update and I have ran out of witty starter comments (yes, the other updates do have witty starter comments...well, at least what passes for wit around here 😃). And it's my thirteenth update! Thirteenth!! It should be one hundred and thirteenth surely! And that''s where the failings of a, or at least this, frother lie; I should be updating much more regularly; much more!

    Take this post for instance, my first update since the 20th of April, two months ago! It's not as if I don't have content. I get so distracted with projects and side projects and the side projects of those side projects that I neglect to update this blog! 

     And all down to frothing!!And because of this...this symptom, this effect of full blown frothing I have had to trawl back through two month's worth of photos and more to remind myself what I have done since April 20th, gaming-wise. Hopeless! Perhaps I should make an appointment with a local, qualified Frotholigist to seek help.... Well, while we wait for that branch of medicine to develop let's have a quick look at what I have done (and can recall) since 20/04/20.

Progress Reports

     In my previous update (20 April 2020, in case it had slipped your mind) I mentioned the Soviet theatre selector force from the Bolt Action campaign Fortress Budapest supplement. This is a recce force mounted up in Lend Lease vehicles that I will use in the scenario Back Door Left Open (this is based on an actual incident when a Soviet recce force managed to penetrate into the heart of Budapest before the Axis forces spotted them) I had gotten as far as putting the vehicles and crew together. Well things have progressed with them to the point were I all I have to do is add the decals and fit them onto bases and then I can call them done.... 

Forward Reconnaissance Party vehicles 

     I have also added a couple of tank options to the force, a T34/76 and an M4 Sherman. Both Warlord/Italeri kits. They need weathering as well as decals and I will probably add tank riders at some point in the future but for the moment here they are.

 

     Back in April (and before that, to be fair) I was shying away from biting the bullet and finishing off the 4Ground hotel building. Well, the bullet has well and truly been bitten and the beast is done....well, I say done as I intend adding some of Warbases roof tiles to it as the kit roof looks really meh! This needs a base added and a rear courtyard of some description. I am thinking to get walls for the back yard either from Hovels or Anyscale Models. But that's in the future when I can bear to look at the hotel again.

My own, personal heartbreak hotel

     One other part of the whole for the Back Door Left Open scenario from the Fortress Budapest book is an ambulance; and not just any ambulance but an Opel Blitz ambulance from Anyscale Models. Now the scenario doesn't call for an ambulance but, hey, you can't have a hospital without you have an ambulance. In the last update I was musing on what paint scheme to go with and after a wee bit of digging about online I found a fantastically painted 1/35 scale model ambulance and copied it and here's the result. Very nice I think you will agree.

     I really like the Opel Blitz vehicles from Anyscale Models. In fact I have seven of them all told, three cargo trucks, one Maultier, one flatbed with a flakvierling mounted on the back, a wrecked one as well as the ambulance variant here.

New Stuff

     And continuing with the Soviet theme, I also indulged in this from Rubicon, their SU85. Can't quite recall why I got this kit but I am sure there was a <ahem> valid reason for it (as there is for all my purchases, no matter how daft they appear in retrospect). Again, it needs decals added and a wee bit of weathering. The commander was part of the freebie gift I chose when I took part in the Great Wargames Survey conducted by Wargames, Soldiers and Strategies. 

     

     I also indulged in the new Bolt Action campaign book; Campaign Stalingrad and yet more figures. It's all grist to the mill...possibly Grudinin's Mill.....

    A much easier and slightly more enjoyable building kit was this Ruined Hawking Academy kit from TT Combat which I put together yesterday and started painting today. I really like this kit. It's ideal for our WW2 games as well as other periods. There's a lot more I plan to do to this kit; add rubble, broken glass, shattered timbers and some scattered furniture and fittings as well as attach it to a base. For the moment, it's ready for the table top tomorrow as we have a game arranged from the Fortress Budapest book (am I obsessed? Possibly...but bah! it's a healthy obsession....that's what I keep telling myself ) 

£20 for this! An excellent kit from TT Combat. Figures
added to give you an idea of scale and because I like
posing my chaps in my terrian.

     Another back burner project has been turned from "on a peep" to "fully off". This is my US Infantry force originally painted for D Day games onwards but had been repurposed for our Bulge themed games by the rather cheap expedient of painting hands as if they were gloved and then splodging snow paste on the bases. Now that I have a winter themed US force (see my US Cavalry posts) these chaps needed re-basing and sending back in time to the summer '44. I had been putting this off as it had all the appearance of an onerous chore. However I was struck by inspiration and by painting a thinned wash of watered down brown paint on the snow paste I managed to avoid a lot of unnecessary labour and, by the addition of some flock and Gamer's Grass floral tufts they are once more ready for Normandy etc

"In the bleak mid-winter..." From cold...

...to hot, hot, hot...."Summer time, and the living is easy.." as
was the re-basing

Future Wars part 1
     Other "new stuff" is yet another side project, this time Zona Alfa published by Osprey. Set in the near future, in and around Chernobyl, it's a really great looking skirmish game. I heard about this first on the Cast Dice podcast and watched a couple of gaming reports on YouTube and decided to give it a bash. The fact that I managed to get a load of suitable Copplestone Castings figures from Colonel Bills had absolutely nothing to do with me getting into this game....well maybe not absolutely nothing.

     And since I don't do gaming things by halves (generally), I bought a new 4x4 gaming mat from Deep Cut Studios for Zona Alfa, and dug out my old sci fi terrain and gave it a wee bit of TLC

Deep Cut Studios Gothic Ruins mat 

...and with all the sci fi terrain I possess added...oh dear,
I may have to go shopping for more terrain..

My old sci fi terrain. I can't recall who made this but it does the
job. Will easily stand in for nuked Ukraine, Mega City One and
somewhere in the great 40K universe

      Another TT Combat kit I bought was from their Industrial Hive range in the shape of a Storage Tanks set. Very nice for £6 and there are lots of other, cheap as chips kits in the range. I'll definitely be indulging in some more of this range.

Tester TT Comabt sci fi terrain

 Future Wars part 2
     Another project that has sprung up has been the result of my gaming chum, Danny, moving north to Sunny Aberdeen (nothing to do with me, honest 😀). What with him moving all that way away we have had to reconsider how we are going to get our games played and the most obvious, to us at least, is to meet up at Common Ground in Stirling as a sort of midway point. Now this will mean a bit of forward planning and preparation to get the most from our necessarily condensed gaming time. One of our "plans" is to do a two day gaming splurge with day one being devoted to playing, let's say, Bolt Action in the afternoon and then Test Of Honour in the evening then day two being devoted to a BIG game of Black Powder as Common Ground gives us the room for BIG games.
 
      So, with a BIG game of Black Powder on the horizon (we're speculating that this will happen around mid November) and with the game, in all likelihood, being set in the Peninsula I have started building and painting British Line Infantry with a view to having a couple of Black Powder sized brigades of infantry and one of cavalry for the game, I will also be bulking up on my French forces as we will be looking to invite some other players along to join us.
     Thus far I have started on what I have in the McCubbyhole which includes a battalion (24 figures) of Foundry British Line and a heap of second hand British Line figures that I bought from eBay. Some of the need striping but the others I have started on. I also have Perry British Hussars and Dragoons and bought another box of Line Infantry so I am off to a good start.

Foundry British Line Infantry

Do I need to caption this?

    And speaking of things Perry I couldn't resist buying a box of their new Austrian Cavalry. This is another of those side projects that will seldom see the light of day once complete; an Napoleonic Austrian force for Black Powder. But, hey, who cares? I am obsessed, alright...a proper frother...in need of the help of a qualified Frothologist...okay. Sorry...I am getting abit defensive there, aren't I? 😀

Corrr! Lovely stuff

Last But By No Means Least
      Finally, I have also painted up a few more figures for In Her Majesty's Name. First and foremost a couple of Afghan Tribesmen from Foundry Miniatures North West Frontier range. I received these in an order from Foundry as a freebie and, at a guess, that must've been about 6 years ago. They've lain in the lead pile awaiting their day in the sun and now it has come. I will write more about these in a future IHMN post.

     The next IHMN related figures are a small vignette set from Colonel Bill's Depot Battalion range and it's a pair of Victorian photographers. Though they are non player characters I am pondering how I can maybe use them as a Victorian surveillance team. More on that later if I ever come up with something suitable.

Last bit

     So that's it for this update. I have done more painting but as it was mostly stuff I have sold I didn't see the point in adding it in here. Suffice to say, all the money earned has been, shall we say, reinvested....and wisely....or maybe not....

     On the front burners at the moment are some more Soviets, Napoleonic British and, tahdah! Romans for Hail Caesar and..tahdah part 2...Infamy! Infamy from the Too Fat Lardies...I went for the big pre-order bundle and hope to get my grubby paws on it soon...

But for the moment, that's your whack,

Pip pip for the mo,

GJ