The Burma Campaign 1941 - 45

Over the years I have pondered on and off as to whether to game the Pacific War or not, specifically the Japanese forces, but have for a variety of reasons not pursued the idea further. However a recent post from David's excellent Tales From GHQ got me thinking and soon the butterfly wings started flapping again.

I suppose my first introduction to the Japanese came about via the Airfix Chi-Ha tank that I or my friend had. Around the same time I bought some Tamiya figures for some unknown reason that is lost in the mists of time. Nothing ever really happened with these figures and kits as our focus was firmly set in North Africa or Normandy '44.

All I can remember about this tank was that the aerial was a sod to put on and kept breaking off, but that it did have a great camo scheme!

I still have no idea why these were ever bought. I think I did assemble them and that was that.

At the same time (1970's) as the above we used to go to the Burma Star Association displays at one of the local airforce bases near Cambridge, that were always a great day out. But aside from enjoying the spectacle of aeroplanes, tanks, AFV's etc, my knowledge of the Far East Campaign remained minimal at best. The Forgotten Army were, well, forgotten...

So on a quiet day after some parent carer stuff I did some Google surfing for some background reading and came across the following book, which looked to be a good read and in fact has turned out to be a superb one. The author served in Burma and as a fluent Japanese speaker, had the advantage of interrogating and interviewing Japanese officers during and after the war, to get a view from the other side.

Highly recommended and this cost me just £3.22 inc p&p. 

As I started reading the book, I decided upon getting a small Japanese force, (a reinforced Battalion) to fight some action in the Burmese theatre, but with the additional bonus of being able to fight in the Pacific as well as in Manchuria against the Russians, before and at the end of the war. To keep thing simple and quick to get onto the table, the British and Indian troops would for the moment consist of my existing European theatre figures. Not perfect for sure but close enough for me. Now I'm a sucker for quirky armour and the Japanese tanks tick all the boxes on this front, so some Light and Medium tanks were added as support.

The Type 89 tank is on my list to get as a 3D print, but this is quirky for sure and with a camo scheme that I love and takes me back to that Airfix Chi-Ha of my childhood.

With the figures and AFV's sorted, it was not a case of thinking about any additional terrain that I might need. My first thought would that it would be lots of jungle, but as I read Allen's book, I soon realised that the Burma Campaign was fought across very varied landscapes, from dry and dusty almost desert plains, through wooded hills, to coastal strips and the oft seen jungle. As I love building terrain something new to give me a challenge whilst I waited for my order to arrive.

For the jungle and bamboo grooves, some aquarium plants have been ordered from China and hopefully will be OK scale wise, but will most likely need a far amount of tweaking to look right. Rice paddies were next on my list and I have already made a start on these. I hadn't realised that for about half the year they are completely dry and only 'flooded' during the Monsoon season. So I've made a mix of both for a bit of variety, but more on that in another post. Buildings might be an issue as my usual go to suppliers of Leven Miniatures and Battlescale do not do a suitable Far East range. I know there are some from Timecast for Vietnam, but I need to some more research to see what is out there. Then there will be some log bunkers to make, which will be easy but a nice changed from European ones.

In the future I might add in some Chinese troops as again, I didn't realise how much they fought in Burma and how they 'rescued' a trapped British unit early on. Pendraken do a Korean range that the figures when on the table, should look perfectly fine. There are some aircraft that would be fun to have, such as the following Vultee Vengeance, which I'd never heard of before:

This might be available as a 3D print if I'm lucky.

So a nice little project to try and get finished over the Winter, all being well. Aside from this my Imagi-Nations armies have re-started now that a small order has turned up that I was waiting for. I just need to get in the mood for painting again after the wonderfully warm and sunny weather we've had of late. Plenty to keep me going for sure.

Until next time, stay safe and keep healthy, especially as Covid cases are on the rise again here in Blighty.

The Battle for the Sawmill

With a busy week on the parent carer front coming up with meetings etc, I thought I'd try and get a quick game in beforehand to have a bit of 'fun'. Nothing fancy mind, just a simple game using Black Powder II and my ImagiNations forces that had a recent outing at the Cotswold Wargames Day.

The Fluff.

The Banat of Bolsonaro had been illegally logging trees along the Ruthenian border. A couple of Infantry Brigades with a small cavalry contingent were dispatched to suppress this activity and to bring the Banat back under Ruthenian control.

The Game Plans

The Banat forces had forewarning of the Ruthenian approach, so set up a defensive position in advance of the sawmill, with an attempt at defence in depth with their right flank covered by some cavalry. For the Ruthenians, their plan was to pin the Banat troops in place and use their right wing to push round and turn the flank, thus opening the way to the sawmill.

Rather than a detailed AAR, hopefully the annotated photos will tell the story of how the action unfolded.

An overview of the table, with the Banat troops along the fence line in the middle of the table, with the sawmill at the bottom by the road. The Ruthenian's would arrive via the top table edge using mobile deployment.

The objective with Banat troops to the front.

The Banat cavalry, with Hussars and Mounted Infantry in front.

The defence in depth cum mobile reserve.

Likewise.

A view from the Ruthenian side.

The Ruthenian centre.

Infantry and cavalry to the left flank to attack as opportunities arise.

The flanking force.

The end of Turn 1. The Ruthenian centre and left moved smartly forward and started to engage the enemy where possible. Unfortunately the flanking force failed to arrive. In response the Mounted Infantry dismounted and were covered by the Hussars. The reserve moved forward to the ploughed field to take the fight to the enemy. Neither sides shooting was very effective, but some Disorder was caused to both sides.

The dismounted infantry covered by the Hussars.

The Reserve has moved forward to help the Banat skirmishers.

The Banat at least disorder the enemy.

The Ruthenian artillery come under fire from the off.

The end of Turn 2. The Ruthenian centre and left flank held position and managed to cause hits and disorder across the Banat frontline. Their right flank arrived and moved swiftly forward to begin to try and flank the Banat positions. In response the dismounted infantry moved forward to add firepower to the Banat frontline, but the shooting was pretty poor and had little effect upon the Ruthenian troops.

The Ruthenian flanking force arrives on the right.

The dismounted infantry move forward to bring added firepower to bear.

At the start of Turn 3 the Ruthenian Heavy Dragoons charge forward and are met by the Banat Hussars who...

... are unsurpisingly beaten and driven back but...

... then the dismounted infantry mount up and charge the Heavy Dragoons in the rear, destroying them in the process!

The end of Turn 3. The Ruthenian left had an Infantry Regiment make a disorderly retreat to avoid the chance of it routing under further fire. Once again the flanking force moved quickly on the right, but poor shooting across the board meant that they gained little advantage. Yet again the Banat troops couldn't hit a barn door nad so remained under some pressure!

The reserve in the woods moves to meet the threat on their left flank.

The Banat centre comes under pressure.

A Banat infantry regiment makes a disorderly retreat to try and preserve itself to prolong the fight.

Early on in Turn 4 the Banat forces loses its artillery piece and has an infantry regiment Shaken as well.

The end of Turn 4. The Ruthenians pushed forward on all fronts and really brought pressure to bear on the Banat troops, who were now without their artillery. When they really needed some good shooting, yet again they failed to make any real impact on the Ruthenian troops.

The Ruthenian flanking force enfilades the infantry regiment along the fenceline whilst the troops in the woods come under fire too.

The mounted infantry once again dismount in the ploughed field to try and anchor the right flank.

The Ruthenians close in all along the Banat line.

The end of Turn 5. The general advance continued and in some conbined infantry and artillery fire, a Banat infantry regiment was KO'd, that has the Brigadier and General attached, this KO'ing them too! With this sudden turn of events, the Banat troops began to withdraw or surrender as they were without most of their commanders.

The end of a regiment and the commanders.

End of Game

So with the loss of the Banat command, the game was effectively over. Some intiative moves could have been made to try and continue the fight, but they were outnumbered, out gunned and could be out manouevred. C'est la guerre!

Post Game Thoughts

A fun and pretty quick game which was what I needed to keep off my busy week and nice to get back into some solo gaming at home after quite a break. As always some thoughts on the game etc:

• With the big moves you can get in BPII, you do need a big table really, as suddenly you can be right in the thick of the action from the off. I prefer a bit more manouevring in my games so in future may play on a 6' x 4' table to help achieve this. It is worth noting that this game equates to a 7' x 5' table if played with normal distances, so a bigger table would be the same as 12' x 8'.
• Having said this, I can see why for a mid-week or club night game when you only have limited time to get a resolution in a game, this speedy movement has its advantages.
• I'm still not sure if I'm playing skirmishers correctly when behind a fence line. Currently there is a -1 to hit for the fence and another -1 for them being a dispersed target. Thus they can only be hit on a 6, yet when in a BUA, you don't count the dispersed target modifier. I need to re-read the relevant sections carefully as they seem to hand around too long compared to their actual fighting strength and efficacy.
• I liked having the Mounted Infantry in the game, but for European based games I would use them sparingly. Cavalry did fight dismounted, but mostly in skirmish actions etc and not main battles from what I've read.
• The rules are beginning to flow but naturally I need more games to get completely au fait with them again. At least each game I feel I'm learning something 'new', which is of course good.
• The loss of the commanders brought the game to an unexpected and sudden end. I much prefer the Honours of War system where a new commander arrives the next Turn, promoted from the ranks as it were, either with a lower command rating or a random one. This I think I will adopt for future games as it works better for me and adds more fun to the game.
• Both sides shooting was less than effective, but at least there was enough Disorder going round to spice things up. I did find after the CWD game that the artillery was concentrating on counter-battery fire for most of the game and this felt right to me. 
• This game I did get to use those Rally rolls that did help keep some units in the game when they might have borken due to a failed morale check. This is especially true of artillery as they only have a stamina of 2, so are unlikely to hang around too long.
• I did use Disorderly Retreats too which like the above, helped keep units in the game. I didn't use the 'Whipped' rule, as the table felt too crowded for it and would probably work better on the 6' x 4' table for the reasons given above.
• The final cavalry action with the dragoons being charged in the rear, I'm not sure if I played this correctly or not. The outcome felt OK but I think the Hussars might have been broken too. Again something to check in the rulebook when I have some time to read it through without the pressure of a game at the same time.

I'm happy that I got my game in although it was a sudden last minute spur of the moment decision, as this week I doubt I will get much time for painting, but you never know. I am certainly keen to keep up the momentum on this front and this game has certainly helped with this. A few additional units have been ordered from Pendraken and I look forward to receiving them soon.

So until next time dear reader, stay safe and keep healthy!

What's In A Name?

Why the change of title you may well ask? Well when I set up this and my previous Blog, my wargaming consisted pretty much of just WWII battles, using Flames of War (Oh the shame!) and then Blitzkreig Commander II. So the title was appropriate. But over the years my wargaming has diversified somewhat and is a richer experience for this, thanks in no small part to fellow Bloggers across the Globe, but particularly to Keith Flint and Dave Fielder, who have opened my eyes to the joys of the Seven Years War, the American Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War etc.

Whilst at Chris Gregg's recently during a lunchtime chat, one of the other gamers aked my the title of my Blog, which I told him. He then matter of factly said "Well I wouldn't have bothered checking it due to the title", or words to that effect. And he was right. It gives a rather narrow definition of my interests which do not convey the current state of my gaming. So time for a change. After some thought, well a few hours if I'm honest, I came up with 'Wargames With Toy Soldiers: 1685 - 1985'. Why? Well read on dear reader, read on.

Toy Soldiers.

I've always talked about my wargames a playing with Toy Soldiers as I think it conveys my approach to the hobby. I know some whom will disagree with the 'toy soldiers' sobriquet, but I feel it reflects my rather relaxed view of my games, which are about enjoying all aspects of our wonderful hobby and if I happen to win, then that is the icing on the cake.

1685 - 1985.

One might argue a slightly arbitary time frame but it reflects my current gaming timeframe and frankly it has a nice ring to it. Details of this below:

The Monmouth Rebellion.

Over the past few years this has become of increasing interest to me, mainly because I live within a short walk of Keynsham, which was the high water mark of Monmouth's advance, plus a few other local landmarks linked to the rebellion. It is also an interesting campaign to wargame due to its fairly linear nature in terms of routes travelled, increasing size of engagements etc. Of course it also provides some interesting 'what ifs?' that can be gamed, something again that I'm finding increasingly of interest to me these days.

The Glorious Revolution.

A combination of factors put this on my radar a few years ago, from Pendraken's superb League of Augsburg range being released, the Monmouth Rebellion leading naturally on to this, as well as Keith's excellent Bydland Blog that had some AAR's that led me to buying Barry Hilton's War of the Three Kings rules. As with the above, there are plenty of interesting 'what ifs?' to be gamed (a theme you will notice developing!) as well as moving the action to Europe should you so wish.

The Jacobite Rebellions & The '45.

Not something that I had ever considered gaming until one night in a post game chat, Dave suggested we give it a go using the excellent Honours of War rules as a basis. I was hooked and the rest is history as the say.

The Seven Years War & ImagiNations.

I had no interest in the SYW and frankly had not heard of ImagiNations before, until a good few years ago I met up with Keith Flint at our old wargames club for some WWII games. This led on to games at his house where he introduced me to the SYW. A complete novice in all aspects, I very quickly became fascinated by the period as well as to me, the aesthetic purity of Linear Warfare. Plenty of reading and gaming followed which led to my buying some of the classic Old School wargames books that I'd missed out on as a kid and the joy of ImagiNations gaming.

The American War of Independence.

Honestly this interest came about I think as a result of buying plenty of figures from the Pendraken AWI range, with the intention of gaming the war. This has been stalled for far too many years, but may once again see the light of day at some point as I saw my partially painted forces recently. 

Napoleonics.

I think it fair to say that this is in the embryonic stage at best. Compared to the SYW everything seems rather confusing in terms of tactics, how cavalry and infantry behave. My knowledge is slowly improving but what I really need are more Face-t-Face games with someone who does know this period so that I can get to grips with the basics. At least I have bought some forces for the Vendee Campaign, which may broaden out into a sort of Quiberon Bay expedition type campaign. Watch this space...

Mid 19thC Europe.

A period we learnt about at school, but one that was not really on my wargaming radar at all. This changed with the arrival of Dave Fielder for games chez moi alongside the publication of Chris Pringle's superb Bloody Big Battles rules. I also had the pleasure to meet Bruce Weigle and the late Mike Embree at Colours for several years, which only kindled my interested in , to me, now fascinating period for wargaming. Currently this runs from the 1848 Revolutions and the 1st Schleswig-Holstein War right through to the Franco-Prussian War. As was seen at the recent Cotswold Wargames Day I have, as is my wont, added an ImagiNations slant to this which I'm really enjoying. Also there is the opportunity for some 'Invasion Literature' type games too, which I've played with Dave and have plenty of plans too for the future.

The American Civil War.

As with the above really in terms of Dave and Chris providing the inspiration to explore this period more fully. This has been ably abetted by the superb Stephen W Sear books on some of the most important battles of the Eastern theatre. I have plenty of Commission Figurine figures for this period, but may be tempted to go down the 10mm route as the new Pendraken ranges are so tempting...

A Very British Civil War.

A setting that has continued to grow on me since the original book first came out a good few years ago now. I love the fact that you have rather broad artistic licence in terms of materiel that you can field as well as the uniforms to kit your troops out with. Something that I think really only appeals to British players, but there is also plenty of historical incidents and actions that could be used to braoden the scope should one so wish. Alongside this I also dabble in the Spanish Civil War, but much prefer the AVBCW these days.

WWII.

Well where it all began really, with the Airfix magazines that my Dad had, the films and documentaries on TV, as well as those Airfix and Matchbox figures and kits that were part and parcel of the hobby back then. In all honesty probably still my favourite period, mainly due to the nostalgia attacjed to it.

Cold War Gone Hot.

I have not played any Cold War games for many, many years now, but did have lots of fun at the club in a campaign run by one of the members, using the original Cold War Commander rules. Then other periods outlined above came to the fore and so this fell by the wayside. This year on a whim I bought Cold War Commander II and since then my interest has been re-kindled. I've yet to do anything other than draw up some provisional lists, but this will definitely be gamed in 6mm rather than 10mm, the default 'scale' for my games these days.

No Ancients, Medieval or Pike & Shotte?

In short, no. I've tried to get into these periods but they have never really grabbed me or been able to maintain my interest for more than fleeting periods at a time. So for the moment they are parked as it were, whilst I concentrate on the above which do interest me.

So there we have it. Plenty to stop me getting bored, or to look at it another way, to keep flitting from one period to another without ever really settling on one for a decent period of time! At least currently I'm focussed on painting some opposition to my Ruthenian forces, so not all bad.

Well Covid cases are on the rise and we are being warned of a Covid & Flu Winter, so I'm not sure how much, if any FtF gaming I'll get in over the coming months. Not a lot probably but at least my solo games will carry on as per normal. So until next time, stay safe and keep healthy.

Cotswold Wargames Day 2022

Bright and early on Sunday I set off for what has become my favourite wargames show of the year, namely the Cotswold Wargames Day in Northleach in the Cotswolds, organised by my good friend Keith Flint. The weather was glorious and as I crested the Cotswold edge, the countryside lower down was blanketed in early morning mist and looked wonderful. I could have parked the car and just soaked it all in, but I needed to crunch on to arrive in time to get the game set up.

En route I picked up Chris Gregg and we had a nice chat in the car before arriving at the venue. As always everything was set up and ready for us gamers to start setting our tables up, which is tantamount to the effort Keith puts in, assisted by his wife Jane. A lot of time was spent chatting with fellow gamers whom I'd met before, which is all part of the fun and enjoyment of the occasion. By around 10.00am I had pretty much everything set up when my friend and opponent for the day, Dave Fielder arrived.

We hadn't met up for nearly three years due to lockdown etc, so it was nice to finally have a chat, catch up with things and renew hostilities across the wargames table. The game itself we had planned to play in January 2020 as part of a campaign, but Covid put pay to all that. So after a longer than planned gestation, out troops were finally ready to do battle.

I knocked up a very simple scenario as can be seen below, with the Prusskian (Ruskian in turned out in fact) troops attacking my Ruthenians, with our ongoing rhubard wars narrative ticking along in the background. Broadly Dave had about 5 Brigades against my 3, but nothing was set in stone. Ruleswise we went for BPII with the Glory Hallelujah! supplement amendments we have used in the past. We were a bit rusty with the rules but weren't too worried about that, as it was all about having fun.

So onto the action. No notes were made and photos were taken as and when I remembered. Hopefully the following will give you an idea of how things panned out. Warning: there are lots of photos!

The map I sent to Dave as a guide to the scenario.

The table itself on the day.

The view from the Ruthenian position. An advanced Brigade was already deployed, with two more too arrive on a die roll as well as a Cavalry Brigade.

The advanced guard deployed to meet the massed Ruskian attack.

A view from the Ruskian left flank.

The Ruskian centre more or less.

Dave's rather nice troops.

One of my Brigades awaits to arrive in the centre.

My cavalry on the left wing.

Dave's Heavy Dragoons have moved swiftly to capture some Ruthenian pork. Too far in front of their troops, they moved back taking some pork with them.

Dave doing his Max Bygrave's impression😉.

Ruskian troops are repelled as they close in on the wheatfield.

Brigade Schlief advances as per its plan.

Ruthenian troops arrive to reinforce the centre.

They swiftly deploy to see off the threat from the Ruskian Heavy Dragoons.

Brigade Belg attempts to take the redoubt.

Firefights intensify in the wheatfield.

The assault by some miracle (rhubard chemical warfare) fails.

Ruthenian cavalry moves up on the hill to threaten the Ruskian flank.

Ruskian troops are being held up in the centre by the dogged resistance at the redoubt and cornfield.

Ruthenian troops push forward slightly in the centre to meet the threat from the Ruskian left flank.

The battle rages around the redoubt, the wheatfield and the bloody angle.

Lunchbreak

At this point we all started to take a bit of a break for a spot of lunch, a chance to see the other tables and generally to have a chat. I did a quick whizz round and were possible, I've added details of the games.

Will and his wonderful Spencer Smith's figures on show once again. The rules were a simple one page affair IIRC and a chap had travelled down from Cumbria just to play in the game.

Lovely figures and with German model railway buildings (Haller?).

More eye candy.

Most of the flags were by David of Not By Appointment Blog fame.

I think this was the Peninsular War, but can't be sure.

Lovely to look at though.

Jonathan Powell's Leipzig (?) game using General d'Armee rules.

So much to take in.

The attention to detail on the figures had to be seen to be believed. Simply stunning work.

Paul James with classic WWII 20mm tanks and figures and using Keith's tweaks to the WRG rules from yesteryear.

The Pak40 had just missed its target.

A real trip down memory lane with Airfix (?) models on display. The tanks looked massive after so many years gaming in 10mm, but this was the sort of game we would have dreamt about as kids.

An AWI game with some much to take in.

Superbly sculpted and painted figures with the fleece (?) mat working really well at this scale.

The flags did make the units pop on the table and are part and parcel of the joys of 18thC wargames.

Removable bits of door mat worked well to keep the troops at the right height.

The big bonus of 28mm is that there is so much on offer in terms of figures and scenery to make little vignettes such as this.

A Nine Years War offering that piqued my interest as it is a period I plan to game in the future. Chris Gregg and Keith Flint can be seen top right having a chat.

Yet again superb flags and figures. What's not to like?

Stu of Dust, Tears & Dice Blog fame and chums with a lovely Eygptian game.

As with all the games, so much to take in, so little time.

Another Eygptian game that I think Stu was involved with too, but could be wrong.

Lovely chariots.

Back To The Action

Quite quickly we were back in the thick of it and sadly I forgot to take photos as the game drew to a conclusion, but here's what I did remember to take.

The Ruskian right flank has formed a good defensive position and slowly attrits the cavalry on the hill.

Fierce fighting still rages around the redoubt, with the artillery stubbornly holding out.

The Ruskians simply can't evict the Ruthians from the wheatfield and bloody angle.

Long range fire is exchanged, with the Ruskian's beginning to reduce the Ruthenian artillery.

The redoubt still holds out but the wheatfield has finally been taken.

The Ruthenian left flank and centre begin to come under sustained pressure.

Ruthenian reinforcements finally arrive on the right flank and advance to take the fight to the Ruskian left.

The Ruskian left flank looks on as the Ruthenians advance.

The Ruthenian left flank about to be turned.

The centre still holds out.

They fight on as the redoubt and bloody angle are about to fall.

The Ruthenian dismounted cavalry just before they get caught by the Ruskian Heavy Dragoons from the rear. Game over.

Awards

As always there were a few prizes for the 'winners' on the day, which is a nice touch. Stuart Asquith's sone couldn't be there this year so Keith did the judging. Honestly really hard to choose from all the game as all were wonderful to behold for various reasons. I think I've got the categories correct, but apolgies if not!

Best Game went to the 9 Years War one.

Best Painted Figures went to Paul for his classic Airfix tanks.

Best Terrain went to the AWI game.

End of the Day

Not long after the awards the Ruthenians finally succumbed to the Ruskian forces, but the result didn't matter as it was great fun and we enjoyed ourselves immensely. It was nice to have a FtF game with Dave again and to fight with our troops as planned some 3 years ago. The rules gave a good game and I know they have their detractors, but BPII and the supplements do give a really good game and are fun to play. 

After packing up and saying out farewells, it was time to head home after a long but highly enjoyable day out with friends playing with toy soldiers. I dropped Chris Gregg off on my way home and again we had a nice post show chat on the way.

What Next?

Well you may ask and I have some ideas, but I'll leave these for another post. Well done if you've made it this far and given the rise in Covid cases again as the schools return, stay safe and keep healthy!