The Western Desert 1940

As is often the case, my mind went a wandering after the recent CWD show, this time in the direction of the Western Desert, a period we used to enjoy and game as kids. This was partly down to the Airfix models available and the sparse nature of the terrain, which meant we could play on pretty much any surface and say it was like the desert. Happy days and simpler gaming!

So to scratch that itch I dug out some books for some reading to see what I might be able to achieve and more particulary, want to game. These can be seen below.

Classic Airfix magazine guides coupled with a mix of Osprey books. The Paddy Griffith 'WWII Desert Tactics' was really useful to bring my sort of up to speed.

Two excellent memoires-cum-histories, both picked up at a local 2nd hand book shop. Keith Douglas' book is a bit late for my period, but his observations are still relevant. The LRDG book is a game and signed May '45. Having flown over the Sahara a few times, the mix of terrain that can be seen and the stark and raw beauty of the place appeals to me no end. 

Try Before You Buy

Far too often have I jumped in head first to a period, only to find it doesn't grab me as I thought it would, or the rules were rubbish etc. So for once trying to be sensible (yeh, right I know!) I set up a simple game using the appropriate figures and vehicles, but in completely the wrong camo schemes and setting. This was just to see how I found gaming in the wide open space that some of the Western Desert affords the gamer.

The British force, a complete pot pourri of AFVs.

Ditto the Italians.

The Scenario

Nothing fancy at all, just a line 'em up and at 'em one, and a bit of terrain to break up lines-of-sight.

The End of Turn 1. The British on the right, the Italians on the left. Both sides had a real mix of moves, rather nicely replicating the poor C&C at this point of the campaign.

British Infantry and Infantry tanks in the centre, with AC's and Cruiser tanks on the flanks.

A similar set up for the Italians.

The end of Turn 2. The British begin to hit the Italians, forcing them to deploy their Infantry and ATG's in their centre.

The Italians forced to deploy.

The end of Turn 3. The Italian left flank has lost its L60 Light Tanks, as both sides trade long range shots.

Like ships in the night.

The end of Turn 4. The British fail ALL their command rolls, allowing the Italians some breathing space.

The Italian L3/35 tankettes make the most of the British indecision and close in on their gun line. The Infantry are no where to be seen to provide close in support!

The end of Turn 5. The British very much have the upper hand now.

Cruisers and Infantry Tanks converge against the Italian right flank.

The end of Turn 6. The Italian's have lost too much kit and can no longer contest the British advance.

The Rolls Royce Armoured Cars have arrived to roll up the Italian left flank.

Post Game Thoughts

A very quick and simple game that gave me plenty of food for thought, which was exactly what I wanted. I didn't make any notes, but here are a few observations in no particular order:

• Having wide open space seemed really strange, as I'm so used to a NWE type setting for all of my games, with hedges, fences etc to help break up LoS across the table.
• Early War tanks are great, but their limited shooting ability and armour saves took a bit of getting used to. Certainly different tactics are required here, which is to be expected. Having flicked through Griffith's book, the British certainly took time to appreciate this, the Germans much less so.
• The Italian's kit is pretty poor, even compared to the shocking British tanks, but both have a unique appeal to me, which more than makes up for this.
• Normally I up the CV's of both sides to give a speedier game when playing in NWE or Italy, but here I left them 'as is' from the rulebook, and it just felt right, nicely reflecting the huge C&C issues face by all sides, apart from the Germans who were much better prepared with their radios etc.
• I feel you certainly need a few low hills to break up the table visually but also for Los etc. Ditto maybe some Wadis, small villages etc.
• Like many periods, this would certainly work much better as a campaign, with the side in control of the battlefield able to recover more tank losses than the other side, as happened quite often with the Germans. 
• I'd like to run another game like this, but with a bit more thought and against the Germans, just to see how much of a contrast this would make. 
• I'm very much leaning towards 1940-'41, maybe early 1942, as this period of the campaign currently appeals to me more.
• Luckily if I do venture down this route, I have pretty much everything I need for the Germans and British in terms of Infantry in bags, and AFV's for the Germans. The Italians I would start from scratch, ditto with the British AFV's.

What Next?

Luckily we are away for a mid-week break from tomorrow, so this will give me a physical and mental break from my thoughts on this, although I will undoubtedly take some reading material with me. Probably some writing material too, to jot down thoughts etc.

Thanks for reading and as always, any comments greatly appreciated!

TTFN.

Cotswold Wargames Day - Part 2

Numbers were down slightly for this years show, as for a variety of reasons, a few of the regular attendees coudn't make it. Even so it was another great day out. Around lunchtime and during a much needed beak from my game, I had a wander round and took photos of the other games on show.

A BKCII game set in the Western Desert 1941? The outskirts of Tobruk can be seen top right.

This makes me want to consider this as another theatre to game, especially as we played this lots as kids. All figures and AFV's from Pendraken (I think).

The sand on the bases apparently comes from Libya or Tunisia!

28mm Napoleonics by Cirencester Wargames Club.

Loads of wonderully painted figures to marvel at.

Cuba circa 1715, inpsired by a Stuart Insch article I believe. 

Lots of lovely scratch built terrain on show.

Simple but very effective. They looked great when filled with troops.

Always a pleasure to see Spencer Smith's figures in action.

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Afghanistan, 1925. Our brave chaps leading a raid against Afghan forces who have been kidnapping locals.

Again, lots of nice scratch built terrain on show.

Mighty armoured cars to quell the wily Afghan.

These troops (Empress Miniatures) can be used for WWI too.

Normandy 1944, using Keith Flint's 'Startline' rules.

The P-47 Thunderbolts have made short work of the Panthers.

Wonderful figures and terrain from the collections of Keith Flint and Roy boss.

A truly portable wargame by Jon Billington, using his own rules.

Everything fits in this box, bar the board. Very neat!

Eastern Front, WWII, using H&R 6mm figures and Battlegroup rules.

A very nicely presented game.

The Stuart Asquith Trophy

Each year a game is awarded a trophy in honour and memory of the late, great, Stuart Asquith. This year Willz Harley won it for his wonderful Cuba 1715 game.

Willz receiving his trophy from Keith Flint, flanked by Derek and Andy from Big Battles.

Post Show Thoughts

Another fun day out at the CWD and always good to meet up with fellow gamers and have a chat about all things wargames related. A few topics that came up during the day as well as my thoughts:

• For most of us, gaming on a 6' x 4' table is a luxury in the UK. Yes, we can do it, but it invariably means taking over the dining room and all the disruption that that causes. So being to play on a larger table and with plenty of space to move around, was great.
• It was nice to see a mix of scales and periods, with 6mm and 10mm making a good showing. Not something you tend to see at the bigger shows.
• Storage issues came up again and again throughout the day, whether that be for figures, terrain or even books. Once again as we reach a certain age, we are all seriously looking at downsizing our collections to focus on those core periods and rules that we really enjoy.
• Related to the above, trying out new periods as we get older with related eyesight issues etc gets harder, as where do we store the stuff or find the time and energy to actually paint it all? The Commission Figurine miniatures I used garnered a lot of interest as a simple and very cost effective way to get a new army painted with minimal effort compared to say a 15mm or 28mm figure.
• I think we all appreciated the look that smaller figures bring to the table, as you do get the feel or a bigger battle compared to say those using 28mm miniatures. This was certainly commented upon with my game and both the Western Desert and Eastern Front ones using 10mm and 6mm figures respectively.
• We celebrated the fact that our hobby can be enjoyed on many levels, whether it being painting 28mm figures to a very high level, reading, scenario planning and or course playing the game. Each to their own but that rich diversity is to be celebrated.
• One chap was selling off loads of books, as he wanted to do this now, rather than leave it for his family to do when he is no longer around. Again a topic that is coming to the fore as we all enter our 60's or 70's. We pointed out that some of his books we very valuable and collectible and that he should really sell them on ebay. I was tempted to buy some, but I'm trying to be good as although nice to haves, they would have just sat on the shelf. Maybe I'll come to regret this!
• Rules! Two themes emerged, one that as we get older we want to stick with rules we know so that we can focus on the game, rather than flicking through a rulebook. The second is trying to sell old rules, or not even ones that old, is pretty hard, especially if a new and supposedly better version has just come out. Also the sheer proliferation of rules means that finding someone who might be interested is getting ever harder. So I can see many books that I haven't been able to shift going to recycling.
• I jokingly said to Keith's wife that it will be hard to spot someone who is not and old, white, grey haired man at the show! Then she raised the valid point of where are all the younger gamers? In line with much of the above, space, time, storage etc all come to the fore, especially for the ex-GW crowd who are often happy to play with a few figures (think Kill Team) and minimal terrain. Our local store runs GW games on a 4' x 4' table or smaller with just a few very basic mdf runis with a psray can paint job and that's it. So if they're happy with that, it would be hard to get them into something historical, even if you go down the Bolt Action route. Then add in the ease of computer or online games where it is just plug and play. I'm not sure the answer but it made me think.
• Selling terrain is even harder than selling books!
• Last, but by no means least, it was great once again meeting up with fellow gamers in a nice and relaxed atmosphere, where you have plenty of time to chat, see the games and just enjoy our wonderful hobby in all its aspects. What's not to like?

What Next?

To be honest I'm not sure, but I fancy getting back to my WWII campaigns, and painting the figures required for this, having spent plenty of time on Napoleonics. I'll just have to wait and see.

Thanks for reading and comment always appreciated!

TTFN.