Brenda From Bristol! - An AVBCW AAR

With the distinctly Autumnal weather still prevalent here, it was yet another day when going outside to do stuff wasn't very appealing to say the least. Instead I decided to set up a simple BKCII game, as it's been ages since I played anything with these, one of my favourite rulesets. I've been mulling over an AVBCW campaign since last year at least, so took the opportunity to get some of these neglected forces onto the table.

The 'Fluff'

Local gossip has reported a broken down lorry at the hamlet of Bramley End, which is carrying the well known siege gun, 'Brenda'. Not sure on its exact location, the BUF and the Auxiliary Police Force have sent out some scouting forces to try and locate 'Brenda'.

So nothing fancy, but nice and simple background story for a quick game to get back into the swing of BKCII. Likewise, the forces chosen and the table set up was really just what I fancied having a play with and going for a visual look that I enjoyed.

The Table

You can see the set up below, all laid out on my 2' x 2' table, which gave me loads of room to move around whilst playing the game.

An overview of the table, with the BUF coming on from the left, the Police from the right.

'Brenda' on the broken down truck. I do have something more meaty in terms of engine and carriage to move her about the table during games, but not painted yet.

Bramley End and Frank the Farmer about to get a bit of a surprise.

The bridge leading to the hamlet.

The local stream that counts as fordable for infantry only.

The telephone box for those emergencies which might occur...

A view from another road into Bramley End.

The geese about to raise the alarm on the local allotment.

The Forces

Both sides had mirror forces, purely for ease of set up for me.

The Auxiliary Police Force.

The British Union of Fascists.

The Game

Captioned photos should give an idea of how the game played out.

The end of Turn 1. The BUF got the jump on the Police, but moved carefully towards Bramley End, not knowing what they might face. The Police did likewise but as they spotted the BUF, they failed to get any shots off.

The BUF armoured car takes post on the bridge.

The 'Beast of Bodmin' trundles forward towards the churchyard.

The Police's Char St-Chamond tank takes up position covering the junction at Bramley End.

More Police units moved into the outskirts of Bramley End.

The end of Turn 2. Both sides engage each other, with the Char St-Chamond and the BUF Armoured Car as both suppressed, as are some Infantry units, but the BUF lose an Infantry and MG unit to combined fire.

The BUF move up to the stream edge.

The Police come under sustained and effective fire from the BUF.

The BUF armoured car tried to retreat but was suppressed leaving it rather exposed on the bridge.

The BUF Infantry move towards the churchyard to support the 'Beast of Bodmin'.

The end of Turn 3. The BUF get an early advantage, KO'ing a Police Infantry and MG unit, but the tables soon turn, with the BUF losing the 'Beat of Bodmin' and their Armoured Car.

Having made it safely off the bridge, the BUF armoured car is soon brewed up by the Char St-Chamond.

The BUF advance into the churchyard...

... but see the 'Beast of Bodmin' brew up next to them.

The Char St-Chamond is not in too healthy a state though.

The end of Turn 4. The BUF are somewhat on the back foot, as they are unable to KO the Char St-Chamond with their ATR fire, but they do force the Police Armoured Car back, but are taking more losses in their Infantry, which they can ill afford.

All that remains of one BUF Infantry Company.

The BUF ATR armed Platoon are close to being KO'd, but are still a threat to the Police AFV's.

Both sides are in the environs of Bramley End.

The Police try to flank the BUF.

End of the Game

At the start of Turn 5, a Blunder leads to the BUF ATR armed Platoon in the churchyard taking hits that lead to it being KO'd. This takes the BUF over the breakpoint, and they pass the test, but discretion is the better part of valour and decide to sede the field of Mars to the Police.

The Police consolidate the positions as the BUF withdraw.

The Police standard bearers indulge in some Rythmic Gymnastics flag routines;)!

BT 'phone home. The Police report their success to their HQ.

Frank the Farmer heads off to find his traction engine so that he can shift 'Brenda' to a place of safety.

The Butcher's Bill

In the end it looked more one-sided than it was, as several of the Police units were close to being KO'd.

The Police on the right, the BUF on the left.

Post Game Thoughts

Well that was fun and great to get the AVBCW toys out for a game and to be playing BKCII again after so long. Some random musings:

• Yet again the 2' x 2' table produced a great game that still gave plenty of action and decisions to be made. It certainly didn't feel like I was playing on such a 'small' board.
• The KISS approach to force selection made things easy for me, having not played the rules for many a month. Again not over complicating things still made for a nice and challenging game.
• The 12-15 units per side showed that no matter the period, this somehow hits a sweet spot for a game, especially a solo one.
• I reckon the actual game itself took just over an hour to play, but with the note taking and photos, more like just over two hours.
• I do need to make a generic ABVCW roster, so I'm not constantly chopping and changing during a game. Afterall most of the stats are the same for each side, with just the AFV's and Aircraft being different.
• This has moved up the desire to play a narrative AVBCW campaign, but more on that in another post. Some painting needs to be completed first...

What Next?

Well tomorrow I'm off to my good friend Keith Flint's place for another game using his Startline rules, so expect a sort of AAR or photo dump in due course. After that I'm not sure as I've got a busy week and then it's Father's Day weekend in just over a week. As always plenty of ideas but will wait and see how the days pan out, so nothing planned.

As always many thanks for reading and any comments greatly appreciated!

TTFN.