The Tractate Middoth Campaign - Game 1

1881 Templar church in the Carpathian mountains.
Rumours had reached the Carpathian Templar Grandmaster as to the whereabouts of the fabled 'Tractate Middoth' book taken to India in AD52 by St Thomas the Apostle. Its location was believed to be in a remote valley in the North-West Frontier Province of British India. Nobody new exactly where, but there was enough information for the Grandmaster to summon his most trusted Master, Solomon Kane. His task was simple. Find the book and bring it back to the Templar church.

Unbeknown to the Grandmaster, other parties in the region had also heard the rumours. Their interest was purely financial, but also piqued by the mystical properties associated with the book. The owner was reputed to gain immortality, a prize beyond the riches of man. One such party was the 'Brotherhood of Conjurors' from the mystical East.....

Scenario - Objectives (as per IHMN 9.1.1 with slight modifications as below)

• 3 objectives are placed on the table. 2 of them are blanks.
• 'Pea Soup' as per 9.2.2 in IHMN.
• 'Ancient Temple' as per 7.1 in SDRS.
• Starting Companies at 250 pts.

The Carpathian Templars (based upon the Templars in HV&F)
1 x Master with SRC breastplate, mace and pistol.
2 x Knights with breastplate, mace and pistol.
1 x Chaplain with breastplate, incense burner and 'Strengthen' mystic power.
2 x Sergeants with brigandine, halberd, bow and 'marksmen' talent.
1 x Fighting Dog.

Set-up

Scratch built ruined fort or temple, one of the possible locations for the 'Tractate Middoth'.

Looking towards the deployment area for the Carpathian Templars.

The Metcalfe Models cardbaord roads. They fitted in perfectly.

The road connected to the ruined fort.

 
Turn 1 - Visibilty 15"
The Brotherhood of Conjurors won the initiative phase and quickly spread out and advanced towards the possible hiding places for the book. The Carpathian Templars did likewise, but could make out no figures through the swirling fog. Out of the mists came water bullets which missed the dog on the edge of the cornfield.

Both sides advance towards the possible locations of the 'Tractate Middoth'.

The Conjurors in their colourful finery.

The Templars more sombre attire.

Turn 2 - Visibility 14"
Shadowy figures began to emerge from the fog, as both Companies tried to find the 'Tractate Middoth'. The first to the Temple were the Conjurors who found the book at the first attempt! Firing by both sides was completely ineffective, but the Templar dog dispatched a Conjuror riflemen in a furious assault.

Out of the fog both sides eye each other up...

... only for the Conjurors find the prize in the ruined Temple.

Turn 3 - Visibility 5"
Mystical forces must have been at work as the fog thickened, reducing visibility to only 5". With the Conjurors winning the initiative, the fog worked in their favour as their speed meant that they disappeared from view before the Templars could react. Only the dog was able to move to try and cut off the Conjurors escape path. With the fog so thick there was no combat, but Derek the Demon, the gaurdian of the Temple appeared, only to attack a Templar Sergeant as a lowly Conjuror ran for his life with the book. Luck was with the Sergeant as he was only stunned.

The Conjurors disappear into the fog.

Only the dog can prevent their escape...

Derek the Demon surveys his first victim, oblivious to the Conjuror with the book escaping into the fog.

Turn 4 -Visibility 10"
Despite the Templars winning the initiative, they could do nothing to prevent the Conjurors withdrawing from the fight, with the book safely in their possession. Once again the shooting phase was completely ineffective by both sides. Only the dog was able to take the fight to them, bravely dispatching another Conjuror before succumbing to a flurry of sword blows. With the Demon poised over the stunned Sergeant, one of the Knights attacked, only to be killed by Derek!

The Knight comes to the rescue, only to be killed after this picture was taken.

The Templar dog, the hero of the Company, shortly before he kills a swordsman and his demise.

With the Conjurors at the edge of the board and no-one close enough to do anything to stop them, we agreed that the game was over. In the end a comfortable Conjuror win.

Post Game Thoughts
In the end the game was over much more quickly than either of us expected. The Conjurors finding the book on the first attempt, coupled with the visibility being reduced to 5" for that turn was largely responsible for this. Never-the-less we both enjoyed the game, especially as it was the start of a narrative driven campaign.

The undoubted hero of the game for the Templars was the dog, who dispatched two Conjurors unaided. Without his speed the Templars would have been unable to do anything to the Conjurors, as their shooting, when it came, was so ineffective. To be fair the Conjurors were in the same boat.

So post game the Knight survived, as did the dog, but the latter would have to miss the next game to recover from his swords cuts. The Templars only managed to earn 4 victory points, not enough to use next game, but would be kept for future use. It could have been worse.

The Conjurors lost one man dead and the other must miss the next game. However they did gain 22 victory points, which would allow them to replace the lost man and to allow the Conjuror leader to gain the rather nasty sounding 'heart rending' mystical power from SDRS. He will certainly be someone to be reckoned with on close combat in future games.

We both thought that shooting has been pretty ineffective so far in all the games we have played. I think we are both re-evaluating the usefullness of the longer ranged weapons given our experience. We still have more games to play and other weapons to use, so maybe things will even themselves out a bit more, but only time will tell...

Campaign Continues
It will be some time before we can meet up for the next campaign game, but so far we've had the following thoughts:

• The figure in possession of the 'Tractate Middoth' confers immortality on it as per post game rolls in IHMN.
• Derek the Demon is pretty miffed at allowing the book to be stolen. He will re-appear at points during the campaign, as and when we see fit.
• The next game will move towards a small town, with either the Templars or another Company persuing the Brotherhood of the Conjurors.

As with many games, IHMN works best as part of a campaign, where the story is either set out in a fairly detailed manner to start with, or like our campaign, is very narratvie driven and takes on a life of its own. I'm already looking forward to our next meeting, but have plenty of work to do on scenery etc before then. Until next time.

Metcalfe Models

Of late I have been busy making scenery and terrain for a forthcoming 'In Her Majesty's Name' campaign that Craig and I are running. I used to have quite a bit when I played a lot of 'Mordheim', but lack of space led to all of it being given away or sold off. As with 'Mordheim', scenery is pretty crucial to having a good game. Buildings have been covered with some purchases from Sarissa Precision (and lovely they are too) as well as some scratch built ones. Woods I already have and some flock glued to brillo pads has given me some serviceable hedges. Walls are currently a work-in-progress, but are not needed for the first few games (I hope).

Generic tarmac roads were easily sorted out by speckling some 3mm mdf in a variety of greys. However they are a bit too modern for my tastes as well as for use in general built up areas for the period covered. Some searching online last night came up with Metcalfe Models, a company that I knew of from their pre-printed card buildings. I vaguely knew that they offered block prints of various building materials, such as red brick etc. Some searching revealed that they also made road surfaces, with the paving and cobblestone sheets of particular interest. Fortunately my local modelshop had them in stock, so a quick trip at lunchtime allowed me to see them 'in the flesh'. 

I was very impressed with the quality looking through the pack and for the less than Princely sum of £5.80, you get 8 sheets printed on thick card. I thought the paving sheets fitted my immediate needs and bought these as a trial pack. They exceeded my expectations to be honest and although you can see the dot matrix of the print if you look closely enough, they are more than adequate for the wargames table.

When cut out I was left with around 4' of paving at just under 4" wide, with another few feet of narrower paving at around 2" wide. There were also four 8" x 8" squares that are prefect to combine together to make town squares or cut in half to give more 4" wide 'streets'. I was suprised at how much paving I got from the pack, way more than I was expecting to be honest. My plan initially was to use these just for town or village type scenarios, but having seen them laid out, they are prefect for sub-terranean scenarios or in a cathedral etc. Add in some extra scenic items as required and you have a very usable set of 'roads'. I may even go back at look at the cobblestones in light of the above.

The only slight draw back is that due to them being printed on card, they are rather light weight and would most likely move around the table fairly easily. Only time will tell but they could be stuck to thin mdf, plastic etc to give them some 'heft'. Pictures of them 'in action' will appear soon as our campaign starts in a few days time.

Blast-Tastic Show Report

Saturday saw the inaugural Blast-Tastic show organised by Michael and Sam of Angel Barracks and The Wargames Website fame. Given that just the two of them had organised this show, which is no mean feat, I offered to help them set things up. Autumn had well and truly arrived as it was wet and windy, but this did not dampen our spirits and after an hour we had managed to get everything pretty much set up. This was lucky as some of the traders had already arrived to start setting out their stalls. The main hall and side room quickly filled up with traders and demo games, so by 9.30am I think all was ready for the eagerly anticipated public. The doors officially openend at 10.00am , but as usual visitors started trickling in before then. 

I managed to have a quick wander of the show and bought some 2-3mm buildings off Brigade Games for use with my planned Black Powder armies for some 18th-19th games. I picked up a second hand GW dreadnought type plastic kit to convert into a walker unit for my IHMN Indian Army Company as well as some die-cast Dalek keyrings for my son. I probably would have bought more stuff but I had left my close viewing glasses at home, so this may have been a blessing in disguise (well as far as my wife is concerned). 

My regular gaming chum Craig was putting on a Gruntz game and I was to be his opponent. I had never played the game before, but had heard a lot about it, so was looking forward to seeing how it played. I had seen Craig's figures only on his Blog and as usual they were painted to his usual high standard. The whole table drew a lot of nice comments with regards to the miniatures as well as his magnetic facade buildings.

Game wise the rules were pretty easy to pick up, but my chances of winning were sabotaged by using Craig's die (he had told me to bring D10 rather than D6) combined with the fact that over two games I couldn't hit a barn door at point blank range! Never the less I enjoyed myself which is the main thing. One of the visitors, Andy, knew the rules and joined in which was nice. He also had the recently released random action cards that changed the standard IGOUGO system, which he kindly allowed us to try out. These got a universal 'thumbs up' from us, although there were a few minor points on the activation sequence that we weren't sure how best to resolve. As this was a show we weren't too bothered and this could be sorted out at a later date.

I was so taken with the game that I ordered the rules the next day, initially to use with my 6mm KR-16 miniatures, with the plan to then have a 15mm force. I resisted buying some of the very, very nice Armies Army  figures on the day, probably because I couldn't see them properly due to my lack of correct glasses to hand.

In between games I took the opportunity to wander the show once again and ended up chatting to Ashley of Paint it Pink fame about her Ogre participation game. I had read about it in a recent Minature Wargames & Battlegames article, but that was all I knew about it. The game looked intriguing, especially with Ashley's wonderfully painted miniatures on show, so when she asked if I would like a game, I immediately said yes. 

And I'm glad I did. I had an absolute blast and hadn't laughed so much in years during a game. Ashley was a wonderful opponent who took her time to explain the rules, which were very quick to pick up, yet had lots of subtlety to them. A couple of hours flew by as the game ebbed and flowed, with me apparently in the end winning by a whisker. To be honest it didn't matter if I won or lost, as I was having such a great time. We could have continued the game, as things could have escalated further, but I had to return to the Gruntz game. Hopefully the scenario Ashley came up with will feature in a future issue of MW&B, with possibly even an AAR of our game. I hope to have the chance to play Ashley again in the future and if I see a copy of the game, I'm sure I will buy it.

Sadly, all good things come to an end and it was time to start packing away. The time had flown by which shows that there wasn't a quiet time during the show, which I think speaks volumes. To get an idea of how the show looked, the following Blogs have pics and comments on the show:

dtbsam.blogspot.co.uk 

dampfpanzerwagon.blogspot.co.uk 

Speaking to Michael at the end of the show, it seems that for the majority of the traders it was worth attending and that they would return next year if the show was on again. There seemed to be a steady flow of people into the show, with a quiet start but by Midday things were ticking along nicely. The venue was nice and light and not too crowded or noisy, which used to be a problem at my old club, Portbury Knights. For myself I hope the show returns next year and goes from strength to strength, but only Michael and Sam will know whether this is possible. Fingers crossed on this as far as I'm concerned.

'Operation Husky' Sicily 1943

After reading my friend Keiths' Breakout scenario AAR on his Blog, it occured to me that I hadn't had a game of BKCII in absolutely ages. I had played this scenario a few times before, each time with the Defenders being soundly beaten. I quickly resolved to give this another, albeit, solo run out at the earliest opportunity. After some thought I decided to give my Italians and Brits a chance to get on the table, as neither had seen the light of day for some time.

Background
Despite successful landings on Sicily, the British XIII Corps was meeting determined resistance from both Italian and German units inland. The British 5th Infantry Division under Major-General Horatio Pettus Mackintosh Berney-Ficklin (I kid you not) however was able to make some inroads onto the Catania Plain, with the 13th Infantry Brigade in the lead. The scale and speed of the advance led to elements of the Italian 'Napoli' Division becoming encircled by the British forces.

In the vanguard of these was the 2nd Battalion, the Wiltshire Regiment, who had reached a small village, situated at an important crossing over the Ficuzza river. Here they were ordered to halt, to prevent the withdrawl of the encircled Italian units. Unbeknown to them, the Italians had managed to organise a simultaneous attack, with the encircled Italians trying to breakout at the same time as a relief force attacked the British in the rear.

The background 'fluff' has some basis in fact. The 'Napoli'Division performed very well, often in conjuction with the German Kampfgruppe Schmalz. They performed a very good delaying action throughout the Sicilian campaign, often giving the Allies a 'bloody nose'. Italian armoured units did breakthrough the 2nd Battalion, the Wiltshire Regiment's defensive line in their attempt to breakthrough to the coast. So the stereotypical view of the fighting qualities of the Italian soldier is not always true.

Scenario 9. Break-out 
The scenario was played as written in terms of deployment, forces etc. Our usual 'house rules' regarding automatic suppression, hits stay on etc were used. I made the following tweaks to reflect it being a solo game:

• I divided the British deployment zone into six areas. Each of these areas was randomly given a number between 1-6. When the Italians used their pre-planned assets, whether air or artillery, I would roll a D6 and the attack would be centred on the relevant area. This way I could deploy my British without knowing exactly where the Italian strikes would land.
• For the British registered targets, I did the same, chosing only two areas. Again, I would not know until I called in the strike where it would land. 
• I found that this simple system worked really, really well and so will be using it in future games where relevant.

Orders of Battle
For the forces, I took some artistic liberties, mainly to reflect the miniatures at my disposal, which I've listed below:

• I started with the Brits, which I initially rated as 'veteran' for the infantry. However this left me with too few units and a very low breakpoint, so I made them 'regular' instead. I felt with too low a breakpoint, the game would be too easy for the Italians.
• I had two Shermans to start with, but changed one for a Honey, as I felt two Shermans might be too powerful. Also I wanted to field the Honey as it rarely gets a look in.
• The British force came to around 1,400 pts. This meant that the Italians would have 2,800 pts at their disposal.
• With so many points to play with, I had to rate the Italian infantry as 'veteran', which soaked up points but also reflected their performance in the battles for Sicily.
• For the Command units, it was a similar case of soaking up points, reflecting their leadership during the campaign and also making the game flow better.
• In reality the Italians had few tank units on the island, mainly consisting of captured French R-35s. As I had none painted up, I chose to use my Semoventes instead, which I've wanted to get on the table for ages.
• The L3/35 tankettes were more than likely not present on the island, but I cannot be sure. However I needed to gain some extra armour to add some punch to the Italian forces as well as to use up points. I love these tankettes so was happy to allow artistic licence to dictate force choice. The same was true of the flamethrower variant.
•  At the start of the campaign, the Allies had limited air support as they had no bases to operate from on Sicily, whereas the Axis could fly the short distance from the Italian mainland. To reflect this I ignored the air superiority rules and thus allowed the German and Italian planes unmolested attacks. This seemed to reflect the situation in the air quite well I thought.

British 
2nd Battalion The Wiltshire Regt, 13th Infantry Brigade,  5th Infantry Division
1 x CO (CV9)
1 x HQ (CV8)
1 x FAO (CV8)
1 x FAC (CV8)
9 x Regular Infantry (3 with PIAT upgrade)
2 x MG
1 x 3" Mortar
1 x 6 pdr AT gun
'A' Squadron 1st 'Royal' Dragoons
1 x Honey Light Tank
1 x Sherman Medium Tank
91st Field Regt Royal Artillery
3 x Batteries 25 pdrs (with 1 x registered target)
253 Squadron RAF
1 x Hurricane ground attack

Italian
76th Infantry Regt & 173rd 'Blackshirts' Legion, 54th 'Napoli' Infantry Division 
1 x CO (CV8)
4 x HQ (CV8)
1 x FAO (CV8)
2 x Infantry Recce
18 x Veteran Infantry (6 with ATR upgrade)
4 x MG
2 x ATG
2 x Mortar
Battlegroup 'D'
3 x Semovente 75/18
3 x L3/35
1 x L3/35 flamethrower
54th Artillery Regt
 3 x 75mm artillery (with 3 smoke and 3 HE assets)
Air Support
1 x Bomber (with asset)
1 x Stuka (with asset)

Deployment

The British deployed in the central 1/3 of the table, as per the scenario. Given that they could not take any field defences, they naturally chose the buildings and Roman ruins. The Italians used mobile deployment, with the breakout force (173rd 'Blackshirts' Legion) on the right and the break in force (76th Infantry Regt) on the left.

The Italians in their jump off positions.

The majority of the British troops deployed in and around the two buildings by the road junction.

The remainder in the Roman temple ruins, with a lone Sherman in reserve.

Turn 1

The attack started with a smoke barrage, that landed on the ruins and stretched back towards the small farmhouse, effectively blinding a large amount of the 2nd Wiltshires. Out of the early dawn comes the sound of a bomber as its attack lands by the small farmhouse, resulting in two suppressed infantry units. Smoke and BUA prevent any AA fire. The Italian troops then leave their jump off points and all move onto the table, which by the end of thei trun leaves them in a good position.

With the smoke preventing the FAO from seeing any targets, the FAC calls in a Hurricane to attack the advancing 'Blackshirts', only for AA fire to drive it off, barely avoiding being shot down. The 2nd Wiltshire left flank fails their command roll, probably because they have so much smoke in their eyes. On the right, the CO orders the Honey to move into the orchard to get a better shot at the advancing Semovente, whilst mortar fire suppresse and mg unit.

The smoke barrage arrives, courtesy of the 54th artillery regiment.

The Italian airforce makes a suprise, but welcome attack.

Heading towards its target.

The Italian advance in full swing.

The RAF arrive, only to flee the intense ack-ack.

The Italian forces are already in a great position at the end of Turn 1. Only 11 more to go...

Turn 2

The Italian 54th artillery regiment once again delivers a barrage, this time of HE, centred on the small farmhouse. Despite it being a barrage and the 2nd Wilstshire in BUAs, it results in 2 infantry units, 1 mg unit, the Sherman and CO being suppressed! To add insult to injury, the Luftwaffe come to the party in the form of a Stuka, that attacks the same farmhouse, with another unit suppressed and one destroyed.

The breakout force stutters a bit as the right flank of the'Blackshirts' fails its command roll. However the left flank moves and shoots with the Semovente and ATG supressing the Honey in the orchard. The CO not to be outdone advances the L3/35s forward but Blunders, which results in them moving to the edge of the cornfield, which is just what he intended.

The 76th infantry regiment, buoyed up by the artillery and aistrike no doubt, advance forward on both flanks. The left advance into the cornfield ready to threaten the Sherman that is so far blissfully unaware of their presence. On the right the Semoventes and L3/35 flamethrower move into the cornfield and prepare to attack the famrhouse. Unsuprisingly the flamethrower makes short work of a Wiltshires infantry unit.

With the smoke gone, the FAO calls in a concentration on the'Blackshirts' Semovente. With 18 die being rolled, it could get bloody, which it does. The ATG, an infantry unit and Semovente all succumb to the bombardment. However, the HQ that is also caught in the fire, receives not one hit! Miffed at the amount of ack-ack last turn, the RAF return to add their weight to the defensive fire, only to see all his attacks miss, despite the unit being fully in the open. With the 2nd Wiltshires CO supressed and few targets in view for the infantry, the only result is a suppressed 'Blackshirts' mg unit.

The Stuka comes down, Jericho sirens screaming, to add his weight of fire to that already achieved by the artillery.

The Italians are now in a very good position...

He shoots ..... He misses!

 
Turn 3

With all the assets used up, the Italian FAO calls in concentrated fire on the farmhouse, resulting in the suppression of all the occupants, which are 2 infantry units, an mg unit and the FAC. The 'Blackshirts' right and left flanks fail their command rolls, but the CO then shows them how to do it. The L3/35 tankettes and mortar unit combine their fire, resulting in the Honey brewing up, an mg unit destroyed, with an infantry unit suppressed and then retreating into the CO, suppressing him! Who said tankettes were useless?

Not to be outdone, the 76th infantry regiment left flank advances and destroys the Sherman with ATR fire, with the infantry and mortar units destroying an infantry unit in the small farmhouse, which they then proceed to occupy. On the right flank, the armour and infantry advance, only to fail their command roll at a crucial point.

Hmmm, things are NOT looking good for the Wiltshires at this point. Their FAO has no target, the FAC is supressed, the CO is supressed and the left flank fails its command rolls. It couldn't get much worse than that could it? Well they are close to their breakpoint now...
 

The Italians are pressing the British on all fronts.

The Italian armour makes its presence felt.

The 76th infantry regiment after destroying the Sherman, advance into the BUA.

Turn 4

The Italian FAO has no targets, so it is up to the infantry to finish things off. The 'Blackshirt' right flank finally gets moving and moves into the woods to avoid the British FAO and his potentially game changing artillery fire. More combined fire from the mortar and tankettes sees the destruction of another infantry unit, with the tankettes then overunning the FAC, who somehow manages to survive the assault...

... but only to move into the path of the L3/35 flamethrower, who does, unsurprisingly, finish him off. The Semoventes see the end of the British mortar unit in the orchard, with only the CO left their with nothing to command a apart from a lone infantry unit in the next building.

The weight of Italian fire has put the British on a breaktest, who despite being a -1 to the command roll pass it. However it is obvious that the Italians have won convincingly and so the British concede at this point.

The Italian armour end all hopes of resistance by the 2nd Wiltshires

The Italian victory is obvious.

Post Game Thoughts
Well once again the defenders in the scenario were well and truly beaten, this I think in record time. In reality the game was over by Turn 3, but I carried on just in case the British FAO could cause significant casualties with some concentrated artillery fire on the 'Blackshirts' Break Out force. This may have been enough to reduce the margin of victory for the Italians or, more improbably, have gained them a minor victory.

So why does this scenario seem to be so hard for the defender to win, or even gain a draw? A few thoughts in no particular order:

• The defender has no access to any form of field defences. This really limits his ability to deploy his forces, as they will be very vulnerable when faced with artillery fire etc. unless in a BUA. I think the Defender should have the ability to be dug-in, hitting them say on a 5 or 6 with no save. 
• Barbed wire could be made available, or even marked minefields, limited to one per 'Battalion'. 
• The Italian assets proved to be very useful, smoke especially so. I could have had more, but it didn't feel right to me. I know that in this game, the HE and air attacks caused hits more than in other that I've played. 
• "He who throws more die wins". I know that this is an old adage, but it is more often than not true. The Italians simply had more troops than the Brits and I was struggling to make up the numbers, even with my extra armour. I think the Italians were still shy some 200 pts, which could have bought more artillery or troops. They outnumbered the Brits by so much than I knew it was going to be a tough call for them. The same would be true of the Germans in '41 against hordes of Russians. Maybe the points difference between the two sides needs to be reduced.
• The British artillery could have been a game changer. If the FAO had been able to get a good view of the exposed Break Out force, things could have been different. I don;t think ti would have affected the outcome, but it would have made things a lot closer.
• Upping the Italian CVs to 8 certainly made the game flow, but I felt didn't unduly affect the game. In truth they made their command rolls easily, even if they had been at CV7. Afterall they still had 8 more turns in the game if they required.
• If this game had been played on a 6'x4' table, I felt it would have been no contest. The defender simply has too much ground to cover, or if he delpoys say two Battalions, will face overwhelming odds on two fronts.
• Flamethrowing tanks are lethal. Enough said.
• The 6 pdr ATG has limited use without any HE ability at this point in the war. I forgot this and as a result it was useless for the whole game.

Despite all of the above, it was great to be playing BKCII again. I must reolve to try and play more, even on a 4'x4' table, which still gives a challenging game, albeit with smaller forces. I did enjoy having the Semoventes and L3/35 tankettes out on the table again. I must admit I have a soft spot for my Italians and am always happy when they win, even though I was the 'Defender' this time. So I'm not sure what to play next, but hopefully it won't be too long before I can get another game in.

Lion Rampant - more detailed info

After last nights first impressions post, it was pointed out to me that, quite rightly, I hadn't mentioned anything about the rules mechanics etc. Now rather than bore you all with my attempts to describe them, I refer you to Dan's Blog , which has all you really need to get an idea of how the game plays etc.

To get an idea of some of the contents of the book, as well as the overall look and feel, it is well worth checking out the Amazon preview, with their 'look inside' option. For some lovely AARs and figures, I'd recommend having a look at Dalauppror's Blog for some inspiration, if any is needed. It was his Blog that first got me interested in the whole Baltic Crusades malarky.

So I hope the above has been of use and I'm sure it gives more detail than I can at the present moment in time. With regards my own Retinues, I've decided to go down the 10mm route with my Pendraken miniatures that I bought earlier in the year for my Baltic Crusades project. I'm sure I've got eveything I need to start, so it is a case of sorting out what sort of Retinues I want to play and then what miniatures will fit. Happy Days! 

Lion Rampant - first impressions

I had an unexpected, but pleasant, suprise today when I got home from work, as a complimentary copy of Lion Rampant, the new skirmish wargames rules from Dan Mersey,  were waiting for me. Sometime ago I had volunteered to help Dan to play test these new rules of his and, as a 'reward', we might receive a copy of the rules. Well it obviously was true!

So what are my first impressions? Well, they are...

• The book is beautifully produced, as one would expect from Osprey Publishing. It has the usual amount of illustrations taken from the Osprey range as well as some lovely pics of miniatures from a variety of manufacturers.
• It is very well laid out and as a result is easy to follow the rules, with a very useful flow diagram on page 14, for the Activation sequence. Other rulesets would benefit from something as simple and yet so useful as this.
• "Games about knights should be fun". "Keep the rules simple". I think these quotes nicely sum up Dan's goals for the game and I think he has achieved them.
• Figures are normally individually based, but there are guidelines on how to play with multibased figures.
• There is a nice selection of sample Retinues at the end of the book; for the British Isles, Western Europe, Eastern europe and the Middle East & Spain. You can use these as is, or as a basis for your own. He has even added in classic Holywood ones for Robin Hood, King Arthur and Old School '70's Fantasy. So a pretty broad selection I think you'll agree.
• There are 12 scenarios in all, with guides on how to link them together should you so wish to provide a sort of mini-campaign.

Having recently returned to skirmish wargaming with 'In Her Majesty's Name', I have been thinking of trying out some Medieval skirmish games using either 'Mordheim' or 'Lord of the Rings' rulesets. To be honset neither really grabbed me as being what I wanted. Ditto with 'Saga' and 'Dux Brittaniarum', both of which I felt trod over the same ground as 'Dux Bellorum', my go to ruleset for the 'Dark Ages'. Now with having 'Lion Rampant' in my hands, I think I have found the rules I've been looking for.

 

Now I have the task of deciding what figures to use as well as what Retinues to go for? The latter is easy given my 'Baltic Crusades' project, of which I already have plenty of 10mm figures to game with with 'Hail Caesar'. I can easily see these being used for 'A Game of Thrones' as well, as they  would certainly appeal to my kids, including my daughter (as long as I had a Tyrion Lannister character for her to play!) Time will tell on  this...

 

28mm is very tempting for the figures, especially given the wealth of 28mm plastic ranges available today. However this does raise the problem, as mentioned in my previous post, of figure and scenery storage. Given I have plenty to keep me occupied at present, I will mull over the figure 'problem' for a while before making a decision.

So all-in-all I heartily recommend these rules. I'm looking forward to giving these a run out in the future, so-much-so in fact that I may use my 'Dux Bellorum' warbands as a quick way to get my first game in.

IHMN buildings - a dilemma solved.

Like many wargamers, I have an issue with storage space. I simply do not have enough of it. SWMBO disagrees with me on this, but then I take issue with the amount of shoes she has. We have an uneasy truce on this subject, especially since I downsized everything to 10mm, more-or-less, several years ago. However the matter has recently raised its ugly head once again in the form of scenery for IHMN; specifically buildings.

Now I know from my time as an avid Mordheim player that 28mm buildings, even wrecked ones, take up a lot of space. For Mordheim you really need a lot of buildings to make the game work. The same could be said to be true for IHMN. You see many lovely looking tables on various Blogs, all beautifully layed out with plenty of buildings to give the Victorian Gothic/Steampunk feel to the table. They remind me so much of Mordheim...

But as already mentioned, this is simply not an option available to me on the storage front. Then there is the cost issue. This is not to be taken lightly. Whereas I can buy an IHMN Company for less than £20, to put the required amount of buildings on the table to get that Gothic feel, would set me back up to ten times this amount, even more if I wanted to. Although the table would look stunning, I simply cannot justify spending this amount of money for a game that I only play occasionally, no matter how much I enjoy it. Also it would only get used for that game and no other, whereas my 10mm scenery gets used for Dux Bellorum, Blitzkreig Commander, Black Powder etc, so it is easier to justify spending money on this.

So how to solve the problem? My friend Craig has come up with a rather nice solution to this dilemma, with his magnetic scenery, which having seen it in the flesh, works really well. However I prefer more solid buildings, that can have figures put in them (which to be fair Craig could do with some simple tweaks to his construction) and which are more 3D in their nature. I thought of going down the route taken by Matakishis's Tea House, which provides a very quick way of making certain types of buildings. This I will certainly try in the future, especially for a planned campaign for IHMN, but I wanted a quicker route to getting some buildings on the table.

So I looked towards the now ubiquitous laser cut mdf buildings route, as 'pioneered' by 4ground a few years ago. These buildings are so popular now that it is rare not to see them at any wargames show on a demo table. Relatively new to the market are Sarissa Precision, who offer an equally impressive range of buildings, but un-painted compared to the 4Ground ones. Since I last checked both companies, their ranges have increased with an awful lot of nice extras being added, even including vehicles. After much perusing of their respective websites, I decided to go down this route and with Sarissa, as they were cheaper and offered in my mind a nicer range of buildings. As I plan to add details to their basic kits, them not being painted was not an issue for me, especially as I have a full spray shop at my disposal at work.

The question was which buildings to choose and how many? The latter was easily answered by a quick scale drawing that showed that around 3-5 buildings would provide a nice amount of cover, not look to cluttered and be easy to store. As I want my table to be rural or semi-suburban, in the end I choose some buildings (see below) from their WWII range as I liked the look of them and they fitted in nicely with the plans for my table.

 

Farmhouse

Small House

Small Terraced House,

These came to only £35, with P&P being only £2.50, which I was pleasantly suprised at. As mentionend above, I plan to 'upgrade' these buildings before painting them, using some of the techniques as shown by Emmanuel Nouaillier, which I think you will agree produce incredible results. Alongside this I will use these buildings as a guide size wise to scratch build a few of my own to increase my 'real estate' as and when required. However my first job is to get these onto to the table as quickly as possible, not an easy task with my butterfly nature...

Rumble in the Jungle

My friend Craig and I hadn't had a wargame for some time due to a variety of factors. Finally having some time to get together, we agreed to have game of IHMN as Craig had recently had two Companies painted up. As he had a lot of 28mm jungle terrain for use with a variety of games, we decided to use this as it solved a whole host of problems.

Our normal gaming weather deserted us, with it tipping it down outside, so for once we were happy to be indoors. We both had two Companies to choose from; Craig went with his 'Brotherhood of Conjurors', which is basically a 'Black Dragon Tong' one and I with my 'Carpathian Templars', more-or-less the same as the one in 'Heroes, Villains and Fiends.'

We quickly layed the table out with a mixed bag of jungle terrain, a stream and  a temple, with cover ranging from 1-3 as per the rulebook. We randomly rolled for the scenario, with 'Kill the Leader' being chosen. My first thought was that that this would be a tricky one for me as my Company consisted of only 6 figures, one of which was a hunting dog. Templars are damned expensive! Arrayed against me was nearly double the number of figures, including a Yeti. 

Despite not having played the game for many, many months, we quickly got back into it, without little recourse to the rulebook. The QRS sheets were generally enough 95% of the time, which was great, as it allowed us to focus on the game, rather than constantly searching through a rulebook. Sadly we did not have time to take any pics as the light was not great and we were too involved in the game. A brief run down of how the game went follows.

Both Companys moved fairly quickly through the jungle clearings, mindful to protect their leaders from any rash exposure to gunfire. Early on in the game a Conjuror fell to a crossbow bolt as if to re-inforce the need to make the most of the cover. Sadly this was to be the only that the Templars shotting did anything... As the Companys neared each other, both split into two, either side of the river. The Templars hunting dog sensed a chance to charge the Conjurors leader, only to fail to inflict any damage, before falling to a hail of blows from all sides.

After this the Conjurors started to move and shoot their way towards the Templars, slowing heming them into a corner of the table. Things were not looking too good for them as they were slowly losing members without taking out any Conjurors in reply. Sensing the end, the Conjurors closed into close combat on all sides, only to start taking losses as the Templars steel and SRC breastplates proved their worth (and cost). Soon both sides were down to a few models, with the denouement fast approaching.

The Templar Grand Master lost his Chaplain and was surrounded by the Conjuror leader and two other troopers. Despite this time and again he won the combat, only to see the Conjuror leader rise up from being stunned each time. Third time lucky and he finally dispatched him, but would it turn out to be a Pyrrhic victory? Despite this being a one of game, I decided to roll for losses as if it were a campaign game. Out of the 5 figures lost, only 1 survived the game! Truly a Pyrrhic victory!!!

So what did we learn from the game? Well as few thoughts as follows:

• Templars are expensive, but their armour and stats really proved their worth in the end. However their limited numbers at the start due to their costs will severely limit them in some games. However as a campaign progresses they should come into their own once they can field a few more figures. In future I may even leave out the Grandmaster to start with due to his high cost. 
• Company reference sheets are a must. The last solo game I played I didn't have these and it really affected the game. Having them to hand makes such a difference.
• We also found that counters to show which models moved, ran etc are a must. I printed off the ones from the IHMN site and they worked a treat.
• The game is great fun and it was easy to remember the basic mechanics, depsite not having played for many, many months.
• I think the game really comes into its own when played as part of a campaign. This was certainly true of Mordheim. Our aim is to sort out some form of campaign in the future.
• Despite having fun with all of our Companies to date, we both agreed that we really want to create some that have that real Victorian Steam Punk feel about them. We both have ideas already, so now it is the age old case of finding time to fit it in amongst all those other gaming projects.
• 28mm terrain is going to be an issue for both of us due to limited storage in our houses. This is something we need to solve as lots of terrain really improves the game.

So their you have it. I'm not sure when we will be able to get another game in, but I'm looking forward to it already.

Action at Anvil Gate

Of late Michael of Angel barracks has been coming over on a Monday evening for a game of KR-16, a chance for both of us to get a game in despite the demands of work and family. A nightmare journey, due to the ever present it seems roadworks in Bristol, saw Michael arrive late, but a black coffee courtesy of SWMBO saw him restored to health. After the usual chat about all things gaming, we were ready getdown to business.

The scenario saw my BPI troops pitted against Michael's RDF, with the aim to locate an informant hidden in Anvil Gate, who wanted to reveal secrets of the BPI drilling operations nearby to the RDF. The aim was for me to capture him for a major win, or kill him for a minor one. For the RDF it was to extract him back across their table edge.

The game kicked off with both sides making a stuttering start towards the Anvil Gate compund. By Turn Two I'd managed to get a squad inside ready to start the search, with the rest of my forces strung out, trying to catch up under the cover of a smoke screen. My initial search failed to locate the informant in two buildings, so by then another squad had arrived and the two squads fanned out to increase the search area.

At this point Michael's RDF troops started to arrive in the compound, and the scene was set for a shoot out in and amongst the habitation pods of Anvil Gate. Lady Luck was with Michael at this point as his first turn of searching saw him locate the informant, which was rather awkward, as most of my forces had still not made it to the compound, but neither had Michael's.

The action now changed rather dramatically, with my troops trying to take out the informants squad, who were naturally trying to withdraw from the compound under covering fire from their comrades. The RDF troops started taking casualties straight away, but were still able to exit the compund. Outside, by Ramjack AFVs started taking hits from the RDF Pathfinder Rangers and Archer IFVs, limiting my ability to move and shoot. My Walker unit gave as good as it got, inflicting hits on the Pathfinder Archer, damaging its targeting system.

The RDF troops started to withdraw from Anvil Gate as best they could, but were taking heavy casualties, despite the use of smoke to cover their retreat. Both sides AFVs and IFVs were severely damaged, but my Ramjacks lived up to their name, ramming all but one of the RDF IFVs, causing them enough damage to render them inoperable. So far my BPI troops had not sustained a single casualty.

As the action left Anvil Gate, it was touch and go as to whether the RDf would be able to extract the informant safely off their table edge. With all their vehicles destroyed, they were forced to rely upon shank's pony as their only means of escape. In the end, the crucial initiative roll favoured the RDf, who were able to leave the table safely, but at a heavy cost to their forces. Both sides had lost all of their vehicles, but the RDf had lost around half of their troops compared to no losses for the BPI. A Phyrric victory if there ever was one!

Well it was certainly an entertaining game, full of action and cinematic moments and went right down to the wire. What more could you ask for? Sadly we did not have time to take photos, as the light was not good and frankly we were too caught up in the game. Our aim in the future is to try and have some form of mini-campaign, so that you really have to husband your forces, rather than blow the all in one game. We're not sure how we're going to do it, but it could be lots of fun if we get it right.

The Wargames Website

Michael of Angel Barracks fame came over for a game earlier in the week. As usual we spent some time chatting prior to the game and he brought me up to speed with the shennigans that have been going on at the TMP forum. I'd heard bits'n'bobs via the Blitzkreig Commander forum and knew that all was not well (was it ever), but hearing it from the horses mouth was interesting to say the least. TMP was not a site I ever visited due to the negative comments I'd heard about it. Compare this to the excellent Pendraken Forum and you'll see the difference. 

During our chat, Michael mentioned that he was in the process of setting up a new forum/website, which I've just seen has gone 'live'. It is called  The Wargames Website and from a quick look is very nice and very well laid out. I've registered and look forward to seeing this grow in the future. I'm sure I will be tempted by far too many new shiny things that will be showcased, but then that's a risk I'm prepared to take!