More on Mike’s Models Colonials

The great figure rebase for the recently acquired Mike’s Models 15mm Colonial collection has resumed once again. I had a little break from it, occasioned by last minute tinkering to DTPIW and sorting out various pieces of technology prior to our holiday but am now back in the saddle so to speak.

I had originally intended using bases with a 30mm frontage but after a rethink will instead use what seems to be a standard 40mm frontage instead. The green base you see is courtesy of Essex Miniatures and I have a large supply of these in all the sizes I will need - 40mm x 20mm, 40mm x 30mm and 40mm square.

I picked up some Irregular Miniatures Zulus and Egyptians as well as some Naismith Colonials with the plan to flesh out some of the units. To be honest either are not a great fit but are usable if you are not too fussy. It is not the size so much, it is more the style. I had resigned myself to using these when a chance comment on the Fans of Mike’s Models facebook group put me in touch with a chap that was disposing of a large number of unpainted Zulu War Mike’s Models. Several messages later, a deal was negotiated and so I am now the proud owner of the following:

Zulus….

….thousands….

….of….

….em!

Not exactly thousands but there is a great selection of types.

Really pleased with this set although I am thinking that some Oxen would work better with the wagon.

These are the unpainted versions of the rank and file figures I have painted. I reckon that troops that wore uniforms of a similar cut from other nationalities might be a useful field to look at for other forces.

I am delighted with these as it means that I will not only be able to field some meaningful opposition to the painted British I already have in the shade of the Zulus, but I will also be able to round out some of the line infantry as well as the artillery park. The wagon is a nice bonus, as are the mounted Boers/Irregular Frontier Horse types. 

My plan of action would be to tackle the required rebasing and touching up required on the British troops first - thankfully the latter is minimal and fortunately I have enough Humbrol enamels to match the colour palette used - and the tackle some Zulus. This means that the figure below will have some company!

“Zulus, thousands one of em!”

Pacific Command - Carrier Battles

Carrier battles in the Pacific that are not boardgames? Hell yes! I should qualify that by 

As soon as I had seen this advertised I knew that I need to get a copy! A quick flick through as got me really excited at the potential of this system especially as I have a good selection of usable kit from the Fighters of the Pacific game (aside from the base game I also have the Midway and Coral Sea expansions) so would not need to invest in a ton of models. I even have the poker chips and decks of cards required for play!

I have played a lot of Pacific carrier boardgames via Flat Top, CV, Guadalcanal and Midway. These have given me some of my best ever gaming experiences over the years but I have never really considered it as being viable for the use with models. I flirted briefly with Axis and Allies: War at Sea range for the Pacific but never really made much progress with it - mainly due to the range of models being quite modest along with the scale being too large (1:1800th) for normal use. Pacific Command gets around this by the simple expedient of ignoring model scale entirely - a single ship represents a task force with all measurements being made from the conning tower. Purely representational indeed! I have no problem with this level of abstraction but some might so if you want formations of exquisitely painted models these rules, at first glance, may not be for you!

Personally, I am sold on the idea and cannot wait to try them out!

As a reminder, below are some pictures of the material that comes with the Fighters of the Pacific game along with the books I have for the period - 1942 

The plain sea side of the map board….

….and the side with some, ahem, terrain.

Aircraft counters - dive bombers, torpedo bombers and fighters - that I will be using. Pacific Command abstracts the recon floatplane types into the Recon phase so counters are not needed

Ships aka targets!

Fighters of the Pacific in action

Part of the library…

….another part….

….and the last part!

The full set of Fighters of the Pacific, about to be pressed into service for Pacific Command.

I have absolutely no excuse for not tackling this and am seriously thinking about running a game at the club once I am familiar with the rules. Who knows? I may even think about some ship models….

“Great Service You Get…..

A great box full of boardgame covering the conquest of Granada 

The back of the box - the production quality is off the scale with this. Note the Medieval artwork on the cards - wooden blocks for armies, fortifications and even ships.

….renting your colour set from Granada!” I am sure that UK based readers of a certain vintage will remember that TV commercial! The only link it has with this post is the last word, namely Granada.

Aside from the Crusades the only Medieval history that I have fondness for, a fondness that could even turn into figures, is that of Spain. From El CID to the ‘Reconquista’ is a fascinating story of Christian kingdoms at odds with one another alongside the Moorish territories that has similar issues. Even in the final campaigns leading to the fall of Granada the Moorish cause was not helped by constant infighting and intrigue. In short it makes for a wonderful campaign setting. 

Last year Laurel and I spent a week staying in Alcaucin (the name is derived from the Arabic Al Kautin - “of the arches” )in the province of Malaga, Spain. We had such a good time we are shortly heading back for a two week stay at the same place but this time with a visit to the Alhambra Palace - which I am really looking forward to.

The Art of War in Spain is a book of two halves. The Conquest of Granada section was extracted from a three volume history of Ferdinand and Isabella with a modern section describing warfare of the period in Spain. It is a really good read. Moorish Spain is an overview of the history of the Moors in Spain - I read the author’s book on El CID last year which was excellent. The WRG title needs little introduction from me but includes a modest but excellent section of Spain and Granada.

As is usual for me I tend to take reading material that is themed for the occasion and so the above is my library for this period of Spanish history. I shall be taking the top two books on the trip.

With the Portable Wargame 3x3 format, along with Dominion series, reluctant figure painters have even less excuse for not trying things out - certainly for me the largest figure painting project I would consider would be something DBA or HOTT sized! 

This has been my thinking with the Colonial collection as well but that is for another post.

Developing the Portable Ironclads Wargame - Update

C.S.S. Manassas ‘cruising for a bruising’ as they say in certain parts

Three 1s - What could that possibly mean?

The text for the book is now being proofread so we are close to the point of publication! I am busy organising some pictures for the battle report - there are plenty from the night but for a variety of reasons many of them are not usable. No matter, they are helpful in a draft kind of way.

The pictures from above are from the battle on the night but I am not giving any clues as to what transpired….

All will be revealed in the book though.

Nearly there!

Small Games and Big Ideas

My collection of smaller boardgames. The Hunt covers the search for the Graf Spee whilst the others ‘do exactly what it says on the tin (cover, that is)’.

I am a huge fan of board games and over the years have played and owned many. My collection is fairly modest with a smattering of classic Avalon Hill, Battleline and Yaquinto titles as well as some from more modern manufacturers - Compass Games, GMT Games and similar. There are naval and aerial tactical games, strategic level games and figures based games. Perhaps it is the wargaming gene coming through but without exception, I have thought about using figures or models for every game I have ever owned - and in some cases have actually managed to do so!

The downside is that most of these games do require a degree of commitment in respect of time and space. I am fortunate in the latter case as the man cave will happily accommodate games being left in situ for as long as required. Sometimes though, one wants a snack rather than a three course meal….

The games you see in the picture above fall very much into the ‘snack’ category in that they are tasty morsels that satisfy but not overwhelm the palette so to speak. Dare I say it, they could almost be considered to be the boardgame equivalent of the Portable Wargame or the Dominion series of rules.

The map from ‘The Hunt’ - 16” square

All of the above have potential for being battle generators using figures or models and indeed, The Hunt has already got me thinking about the Graf Spee operation (pauses to look for a copy of the Navwar catalogue….). I have mentioned previously that I have used this as disguised scenario on numerous occasions and it has never failed to give me a good game. I have the Graf Spee expansion for Avalon Hill’s Bismarck - this would be more of a main course game - which would give me the full order of battle for the Royal Navy if I needed it, along with a more detailed map.

The first pages of the rule book - note the contents.

The game is card driven and the victory conditions are very simple - the Royal Navy win by destroying the Graf Spee or by successfully getting five merchantmen to their destination whilst the Germans win by sinking five of the nine merchantmen and staying hidden.

As projects go this would be very easy to organise - in fact I would not even need to get any models (said no wargamer ever….) for it as I have plenty of counters. That is hardly the point though! Something to ponder anyway.

Boot Sales and Battle Reports

The story of the WW1 German commerce raider and minelayer the Moewe (Seagull). 

Laurel and I headed out this morning to our local boot sale and I managed to pick up a copy of the above for the princely sum of £1!

I have owned this in paperback but it disintegrated a few years ago. It is a magnificent read and if WW1 commerce raiding minelayers are your thing then is book is a treat. 

Relying largely on stealth for protection the Moewe could not outrun or outfight a warship she would be likely to encounter and so ploughed a lonely furrow across the sea, capturing and sinking stray merchantmen and laying mines were least expected.

Cracking subject for a mini campaign methinks!

In Other News….

The battle report for Developing The Portable Ironclads Wargame: The American Civil War has been drafted. I now need to add a selection of appropriate pictures to the text and then send it over to the editor-in-chief for his perusal.

It was great fun to write!

The Dinger of Hums

The grand finale has been fought and a victory secured. The game was enormous fun and oozed period ‘feel’ which is exactly what a good wargame should do!

As mentioned previously, the after action report will appear in Developing the Portable Ironclads Wargame: The American Civil War in due course, along with pictures of the resultant mayhem (of which there were plenty!).

As a teaser though, here are a couple of pictures of the carnage - the great ‘Dinger of Hums!’

The inexorable advance of the Union

“Around the rugged rock the ragged rascals ran…..!”

The naval equivalent of the M25 during the rush hour - come to think of it, this was probably worse….

That is all for now - a full report with pictures will appear in the book when published so best I get busy with the keyboard!