A Test Of My Resolve

This year I had no plans to buy any new rules, given that I was pretty happy with everything that I had and used regularly. Afterall my bookshelf has plenty of rules that were bought, glanced at and never really did what I hoped they would. Maybe one day I'll get around to selling them or sending them to a charity shop.

But my resolve was sorely tested when I read Norm Smith's excellent review of the 'Test of Resolve' rules on his Blog. For once these rules intrigued me and, after a bit of deliberation, I decided to treat myself to a bit of retail therapy, as life had been rather hectic on the parent carer front.

The 'new' print of the rules, with a contents page and definitions section which really helps when looking for or reading through the rules.

Not the cheapest rules, but being self-published and with an admittedly limited audience compared to the 'Big Boys' of the industry, I was very happy with what I received. After a couple of read throughs, these really seemed to be perfect for the solo players and as one would expect, they are very much full of period flavour.

Now whilst I do not have any figures based up for this period, I have some that cold at a squeeze, pass muster, but given these will be mainly used for solo play, it's only me I need to keep happy! If I was to do two 'Starter Forces', I worked out that I would need at least several hundred figures, possibly up to five hundred, which was a daunting prospect painting wise, aside from the financial implications.

So instead, for the moment, I went down the route of using my wooden blocks to allow me to get to grips with the rules, the size of games like to play etc. Luckily these blocks are a perfect fit for what I would most likely use base wise, namely 25mm square ones, with unit frontages of 50mm or 100mm if in 'wide' formation.

Said blocks all set up to run through the basic scenario, on a 2' x 2' board. This is a tad small, but currently works well as I can put it down anywhere with minimal fuss and roll the dice.

From my trial games so far, which have been VERY basic, I'm really taken with these rules, as not only do I feel like I'm playing a WotR game, but the inherent friction within the system makes for really good solo play. As Norm mentioned on his Blog, the run of the cards and the actions that arise from them, prevent one from going about the game in the same old fashion, something that I've been very conscious of when I tried pre-Black Powder period games.

To help me with some inspiration and a bit of background reading, I pulled the following fodwn from the bookshelf.

I remember when these came out, as at our local show, these were incradibly popular and certainly breathed new life into a period that wasn't gamed that much, or so it seemed to me.

Suddenly every 'Tom, Dick & Harry' seemed to be jumping on the band wagon, with Lion Rampant II containing some sample warbands, and then HCII having a section on the WotR, before this supplement came out. This is a great book and I'd forgotten it has a nice and simple campaign section in the back, which I hope to use in due course.

A superb book that highlights to me at least about how little we actually know about the battles, how the armies fought etc. In the end I think it will be down to personal preference whether you have 'Bow & Bill' units as per HCII, or go with seperate Archers & Foot as per Test of Resolve.

Another cracking book and one that again highlights how little we really know.

As we are in the 3rd heatwave of the year and once again breaking records on multiple fronts, I hope to give these rules a good run out in the next few days, as frankly it's too hot to do anything else after about 10.00am!

WWII

I had planned on doing some more painting on my AVBCW forces, alongside sorting out a possible Greek campaign again, but a mix of the heat, 'real life' and these new rules has put all of this on hold. I did look through the very good Osprey book on the first part of the Greek campaign, just to refresh my understanding of things, so progress in that respect.

I also bought Max Hasting's book on Sword Beach, which Norm Smith had highlighted as being very heavily discounted at a supermarket, so I was happy to find that Amazon had price matched it as it were. I do like his writing style so this is most likely my next read, aside from perusing some WotR texts.

Woodworking

In between the heatwaves, I was able to pop into the garage and have some more fun doing some woodturning, which I find is a nice and therapeutic break from my life as a parent carer. Wargaming hits the same spot too, but I was in the mood to do some turning, which can be seen below:

Some small Yew bowls and bud vase, all about 4" diameter. A joy to turn and they come up to a smooth finish and should develop a lovely patina as they age.

What Next?

Well with the heat not breaking for at least another 5-6 days, trying to stay cool and get a good sleep will be the number one priority! I do have Waterloo game scheduled for 4th August at Shrivenham, which should be good. Being an all day affair this should be a real treat and a good chance to meet up with some old gaming friends and some new ones to boot. 

As Blogger has been up to its very annoying tricks of late, whether anyone gets to see this is a mute point. However, if you have received this, then I'm happy and as always, any comments greatly received!

TTFN.

Throwing In The Towel...

Well Blogger is really playing such silly buggers at present for me (and others too), to the point that I'm seriously considering giving up Blogging. Two of my three recent posts have simply not appeared in people's Feeds or Reading lists. Why some are and others are not is beyond the ken of man! Given all the effort often involved, why bother if nobody can see it, unless they check the Blog domain.

So this is a bit of a test to see if this post appears and, if so, I'd greatly appreciate other Bloggers letting me know.

Also, could you let me know if you've seen the following in your Feeds:

https://wargameswithtoysoldier1685-1985.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-summer-of-76.html

https://wargameswithtoysoldier1685-1985.blogspot.com/2026/06/brenda-from-bristol-avbcw-aar.html

This was posted at 22.06 BST in the UK.

Very, very miffed from Bristol.

TTFN.

The Summer of '76

As I'm having real issues with a couple of posts, these are being re-published to see if that helps...

As we've just broken the June temperature record that was set in the legendary 'Summer of '76' (and will probably do so again today), my addled brain due to the heat couldn't come up with a better post title, so just went with this! The last time I felt this hot was when I lived in Nigeria, but I was in my late 20's then, was lean and fit and would play cricket, football etc in hotter temperatures than this, but barely notice it, due to being acclimatised to the conditions. So unable to do anything other than survive the heat at present, I thought I'd do a bit of a catch up post to try and keep my mind off the heat. 

The AVBCW

The recent small game I played featuring 'Brenda From Bristol' rekindled some painting enthusiasm for the 'conflict', as I really fancy do another mini-Campaign set in and around Bristol. To this end I selected my pseudo-Home Guard Company to paint, as well as a sort of Naval Company that was intended to operate alongside my Armoured Canal Boat. As with so many of my projects, they've sat there in their box for years, only to see the light of day and then the current heatwave heat, which has stopped play as it were. I did try some painting yesterday, but aside from the paint drying on the brush, it was too hard to summon up the energy to concentrate, so gave up after some block colours. Hopefully with the weather due to break in the next day or so to more bearable temperatures, I can get back to these and finish them next week.

I also dug out some SCW figures in foul weather gear, after having the idea to clad them in bright orange Kagoules (shades of the '70's again) or a sort of Sou'wester cape, to make them stand out on the table top, for something a bit different. They will be in a mainly Mounted Infantry role, or that's the current thinking. I'm also tempted by some Indian Lancers, again for something a bit different and exotic. As always plenty of ideas!

It's All Greek To Me

In the past I've really enjoyed dabbling in some Greece 1940/41 games, but having seen Matt's Greek Game , I really fancy cobbling together a small Greek Battalion. Now whilst Pendraken don't do WWII Greeks, in 10mm their WWII Italians and WWI British could easily pass as Greek troops once at arms length. The former will be used for the elite Evzones and the latter for standard troops that were equipped with British helmets and uniforms.

A bit of background reading to refresh my memory is required, hence my taking this out from the bookcase yesterday. Previous games have focused on the Littoral part of the Italian invasion, so I imagine this will continue forward. However for later games of course they can be used in more mountainous terrain, alongside the British and ANZAC troops. 

1945

My knowledge of the Far East campaign is limited compared to that of NWE or the Eastern Front, especially when it comes to the end of the War. So when I saw this book last year, I ear marked it to get once it came out in paperback, which I was able to do as a Father's Day present. A cracking read so far and highly recommended to anyone with an interest in WWII and the Far East.

Zulu

With the heat stopping play across the board, I settled down to wallow in pure cinematic entertainment watching this film, which I never tire of seeing. An absolute classic!

What Next?

Once the heat breaks, I do hope to get the units mentioned above painted if at all possible, as I have a rather busy week coming up. Once done then I might sit down an flesh out ideas I have for a narrative AVBCW campaign, featuring either 'Brenda' or the 'Bristol Bocage', if I can get that painted in time.

A possible wargame at the MoD Defence Academy, Shrivenham is on the cards, which should be fun, with a tour of the site included. Dates and diaries are still being checked, but i'm hopeful we can meet up in the next few weeks.

As always, thanks for reading and any comments greatly appreciated! Right off to have a choc ice...

TTFN.

Poland 1939 - The FoW 'Bypass' Scenario

Keith invited Paul and I over to his place to give the latest version of his 'Startline' rules a run out, using the 'Bypass' sceanrio from the Flames of War Missions Pack. Hard to say know to such a game with good friends and good company. So after the usual catch up chat and some VERY nice cakes brought by Paul, we adjourned to the games room to cross swords. After a dice roll to see who would get which side, Paul ended up with the Germans and myself the Poles.

The Scenario

Broadly speaking the Poles have a force defending an objective (a village in this case), but there is another objective towards the far end of the table, away from the German starting edge, on a bridge over a stream. The Poles have some reinforcements available, but you don't know exactly when they will arrive or where on the table, so a nice bit of uncertainty there for both sides.

The Game

We both set up with a screen hiding our deployments, which worked a treat, as you really had to consider all option as the defender as to how and where the Germans might attack. I opted for two lines of dug-in troops, one Platoon up and one behind and to the right, to cover the objective and any flank attack.

Paul chose to attack the village with his Infantry and Light Tank Platoon, sending his Heavy Tank Platoon and Kradschutzen Platoon away on his left flank to try and race to seize the objective on the bridge.

If the Germans were in control of any objective at the end of Turn 6, then they would win the game.

No notes were taken during the game, as we were simply concentrating on the game, but hopefully the following photos will give you an idea of how the action unfolded.

Keith on the left consulting the rules, Paul on the right pondering his next move. The Poles are dug-in around the village, which can be seen middle left of the table. The Heavy Tank Platoon and Kradschutzen Platoon can be seen top right.

The Polish defence in depth.

The other objective.

Kradschutzen and Armoured Cars tasked with seizing the bridge.

The Panzer IV's move to the flank screened by the hill.

The Germans begin to attack the first Polish defensive line in front of the village.

A fine view as the Germans begin to advance.

The Germans begin to over run the Polish defences.

But luckily for the Poles there FAO calls in some devastating fire on the truck mounted Infantry, effectively knocking them out of the game.

The Panzer IV's are forced to divert their effort to attack the Polish flank.

The armoured cars continue their advance. The 6 wheeled armoured car is so evocative of the early campaigns.

The Kradschutzen are advancing rather lethargically. Paul was incredibly unlucky with his die rolls, rolling a '1' three times in five Turns, meaning they only moved at half-speed.

The Polish strategic reserve arrives in the form of Renault R-35 tanks, veritable 'Tiger II's' when viewed from a Panzer I.

More Polish reserves arrive, with perfect positioning, allowing them to effectively seize the objective. I think this was on Turn 3.

The Germans still hope to be able to seize the bridge, but is it a bridge too far?

The Heavy Tank Platoon in line astern formation.

The Germans have broken into the Polish defences, but they still haven't cleared the first lines yet.

With the bridge no longer an option as the Polish Infantry are in complete control, the Germans divert this planned attack to the Polish flank.

The tanks exchange fire with each other down the street.

The Polish first line has been completely over run.

Polish Artillery arrive to secure the approaches to the bridge.

The Kradschutzen are still unable to enter the fray. They do look good though.

The Polish Artillery deploys.

With the bridge secured, the Poles take up defensive position on both sides of the stream.

The Germans try to break into the Polish postion on their right flank.

The Renault R-35 tanks hold position, exchanging fire with the German tanks.

As smoke screens the Germans, some Polish Tankettes suddenly burst through the smoke and into the German rear.

The Germans have only been able to breach the first line of defence.

The still are a long way off getting into the Polish flank.

Post Game Thoughts

A great days gaming and in the end a pretty comprehensive win for the Poles. As always a few thoughts post-match etc:

• If I was going to play the Germans, I would have gone with the same plan as Paul did. Keith on the other hand thought the best option would be to just steam roller the Polish defences with a full on head on attack. These divergent views might be down to Paul and I playing a lot of BKCII, with screening the village and a laft flank drive making the most sense, with Keith of course being much more au fait with the rules and what might work better with them. 
• Paul not being able to get his Kradschutzen going from the off meant that quite early on and certainly by the end of Turn 3, we agreed that the bridge objective was simply too far away, especially given the Polish Infantry had arrived, which meant it would be contested and take a long time to seize.
• The Polish FAO really hampered the frontal assault when he managed to call in his Artillery and KO a whole German Platoon, which really helped slow down the German attack before it got going.
• The rules worked well and Keith's tweaks since I last played certainly made for a much smoother and fluid game. It helped of course that Paul and I just had to concentrate on what we wanted our troops to do, whilst Keith double-checked things in the rules. most of the dice rolls we got the hang off, so play was much quicker than before.
• Neither side managed to call in any off table Air Support, which was a shame.
• As Keith pointed out, for the first time neither side managed to KO a tank, despite lots of hits, but failing those all important penetration rolls.
• The Poles certainly got lucky with the early arrival of their reinforcement and espcially when the Infantry arrived at the bridge, which pretty much sealed the win for them.
• As always it's great to play with early War kit as Infantry really do have an important role to play compared to Late War games, when they can seem to be bit players in the action.
• The scenario was a good one and one that I can see working well for BKCII and even for some BPII games. I will certainly be perusing the scenarios at my leisure and probably printing them off too for future use.

What Next?

I doubt much in the next week or so as it's busy on the home front then I'll be travelling for Father's Day, but you never know.

As always thanks for reading and any comments greatly appreciated!

TTFN.

Brenda From Bristol! - An AVBCW AAR

With Blogger really, really playing Silly Buggers at present, this post which had appeared, seems to have disappeared into the depths of the Internet, or wherever none 28mm Warlord Games, Bolt Action, Chain of Command et al posts go to wither on the vine. I know mine is not the only Blog to be affected, but it is a tad annoying (massive British understatement) to say the least. So nothing has changed in terms of content, but this 'update' might allow it to see the light of day once again. 

Well, this is the second go at trying to get this to appear...

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.