There be Pirates!

Three sets of rules in one - sea, land and a campaign system all ring bound with high quality colour throughout, not to mention separate card play sheets. The rules are currently £24 plus postage. 

Today I took delivery of the latest version of Pieces of Eight - the naval, land and campaign system from Peter Pig as part of their RFCM (Rules For The Common Man) system and in support of their 15mm figure and 1:450th scale ship ranges. The original version of the rules came out in 2000 and it has been continually updated in the light of additional playing experience ever since. In fact they mention the fact that some of the play testers racked up an impressive one hundred or so games during this latest revision.

At first glance these rules appear to tick a lot of boxes for me for this particular project although sadly the galleys and Xebecs used by the Barbary Corsairs are not included despite their being figures for them. I hope that this omission will be rectified at some point!

Whilst aimed at the world of the Pirates and Privateers and covering the period 1650 to 1730 there is probably no reason why these should not be used for the later post 1750 period as long as one is not overly 'picky' about points of detail.

I have been looking for a good excuse to buy some of the 1:450th warships and reckon these rules have clinched it so I shall sit down at some point and see what I can come up with.

Naval Estimates

Bob Cordery's excellent tome, full of inspiring stuff like....

....these two very effective looking scratch built models.

In advance of the figures being completed for the Spencer Smith 30mm ACW project I have been giving some thought to the naval dimension. I have mentioned previously that my plan is to scratch build a dozen or so generic looking river types that will be around five to five and a half inches long, two to three inches wide and around two inches or so tall (excluding funnels). These will definitely be ‘cartoon-style’ and will not, for the most part, be designed to replicate specific types. I also plan to have around half of the total useable for either side merely by swapping the flags over. Furthermore, I will be including a monitor or two in the mix rather than just casemate types. Bob Cordery’s excellent book Gridded Naval Wargames has some very neat ideas for building similarly styled models.

Historically both sides made use of hastily requisitioned and assorted river craft so giving these the ability to serve in both navies is fine. There will a few fleet specific types – for example the Rebels will not have any monitors whilst the Union will not feature any casemate ironclads although a couple of casemate paddle gunboats will feature (USS Carondelet or similar).

I plan to use these in direct support of the land operations I will be conducting so the cartoon-style approach will be ideal, especially as I am using 30mm figures. The height of the models will help with the visual aesthetics.

The models will be made from assorted pieces of timber and various odds and ends from my scrap box. Unusually for me these ship models will not be based so no worrying about ‘waves, wakes, names and ensigns.’ As a rule they are designed very much with combined operations in mind although the odd purely naval action will undoubtedly arise. My plan is to run a small river-based series of linked scenarios or even a mini-campaign.

Many posts ago I mentioned about my acquisition of a Peter Pig hexed gaming mat. I still have this and so the size of the models I am planning have been designed with this in mind as the hexes are 5.5” across the flat sides. It would not be beyond the realms of possibility that I use a 6” long hull as a maximum but I will fall off that decision bridge when I get to it.

Instant Imagi-Nations and Next Steps

One of the two books that started the whole 'imagi-nations' concept for me.

Now that my holiday is out of the way it is time to turn my attention back to the not insignificant matter of the disposal of the collection of Eric Knowles. I had a long chat with Bill about the next phase and as a result I am happy to report that next week I shall be taking delivery of Eric’s 20mm WW2 unpainted collection which consists largely of Foundry infantry and assorted manufacturers supplying the vehicles and equipment (all in metal as well). Once again Eric had organised forces for a number of combatants, theatres and periods within WW2 so I am fully expecting to see some unusual forces present. Once I have this lot I reckon it will take me until the end of the month to sort them out into nationalities and then round two of the great disposal can get under way.

A further part of our discussion concerns the large quantity of Minifigs remaining. Initially there was a lot of Seven Years War figures but roughly half of these have been passed on – in some cases even painted – leaving a veritable smorgasbord of infantry, cavalry and gunners. My feeling is that these are firmly in ideal ‘imagi-nation’ territory and so taken as a whole would make an excellent project for someone. The plan then, is for me to draw up a list of what there is and then to price the collection on a unit basis as well as for the entire collection – which will of course be a whole lot cheaper.

I will also be undertaking a similar exercise with the even more diverse collection of Marlburian figures which includes such additional types as Turks and Poles. Sadly there is not enough of any one nation to field anything much larger than a Portable Wargame sized force but what the collection lacks in focus it more than adequately makes up in terms of variety! Again I will price up the units individually and then work out a price for the whole lot.

For both periods the figures available could form the basis of a really good imagi-nation style set up and so I hope that someone will see the potential of the collections and just ‘go for it’.

Sadly it will not be me….

There are also a large number of units from assorted manufacturers including Essex, Dixon, 

Hinchliffe, Garrison and some unknowns and all for the 18^th century. The plan with these is to merely number each unit box, take a picture of the figures and upload them en masse on to eBay on a Buy it Now basis and sit back and wait. I will advise when this is taking place and please feel free to take a look as you never know what you might find.

A Right Carry On.....

The Khasi of Kalabar and Bungdit Din (as played by Kenneth Williams and Bernard Bresslaw) plotting the downfall of British India

This weekend sees the annual Conference of Wargamers (COW) organised by Wargame Developments taking place at Knuston Hall in Northamptonshire. The society has been around since 1980 and I have been an occasional member over the years - I even penned an article for the society journal, The Nugget a few years ago - but this weekend will be the first time I have ever attended the event. Unfortunately I will miss the Friday evening events as I have a prior engagement elsewhere so it will be an early start on Saturday morning to make the two hour drive in order to arrive in time for breakfast.

I am looking forward to the weekend for a number of reasons. Aside from the opportunity to get some interesting games in it will also give me a chance to meet a number of the 'bloggeratti' as well as few well known names from the world of wargames in general. In truth, and at the risk of sounding like a teenage fanboy, I am really looking forward to the networking aspect of the event and meeting all those people that have influenced my gaming in various ways over the years.

I have so far signed up for a single game and this has been organised by that Colonial stalwart Bob Cordery and for which he has been earnestly preparing over the last couple of weeks/months.

The game is called 'Carry On Up The Nile' and is a kind of sequel to his game of the previous year called 'Save Gordon'. I have volunteered to play the role of the Randy Lal, the Kharsi of Kalabar, following his exile with a Burpa bodyguard after the earlier events in the Khyber Pass as depicted in 'Carry on up the Khyber'.

This promises to be a lot a fun and I am really looking forward to taking part in it.

Carry on up the Khyber was one of the best of the series, alongside Carry on Cleo, and it never ceases to raise a laugh.

In order to get into character for the game I will naturally have to watch the film again. And again.

The Weekly Sitrep....Numbers 33, 34 and 35

Seen at our local car boot sale and described by the insignia on the side as belonging to the 'Zombie Apocalypse Response Team'. Something for Gaslands methinks!

Just to keep the sequence in order this week features a combined Sitrep covering the weeks I was away. It will not be any larger but it helps to keep things in what passes for a semblance of order!

With what can only be described as a swift move I have settled on my choice for the Cuba project and there are already moves afoot to realise this. I suppose in many ways the impact of my first visit to the Caribbean has played a significant part in the decision but my excuse is that well, its me and that's how I roll!

Pirates.

15mm pirates.

1:450th scale ships - all of which can mean only one (or in my case, two) thing, namely Peter Pig and the Pieces of Eight system. This has been around for a few years now but has recently been revamped. I have always had a soft spot for pirates and the whole privateering thing along the Spanish Main. The idea of small scale naval games and combined operations is really appealing and the Peter Pig range is perfect for this. My order for the figures is in and I am hoping to get the land part ready by the end of the year. Naturally the Portable Wargame will feature and one of the big attractions for me of this whole genre is the ease with which one can add a really good and inventive back story and create all manner of outlandish personalities because the reality is that is what actually took place! More on this in due course.

The ACW 30mm Spencer Smith project - at least the land element there of - is progressing very nicely indeed although I will need to get busy with basing in due course. I have roughly half of the figures on multiple bases so these will need to be removed and placed on the individual MDF bases I have acquired for the purpose. There is also the naval side to think about.

Whilst the above are simmering nicely there will also be part two of the disposal of Eric's collection. I have a few loose late 17th and 18th century ends to tie up as well as a big eBay listing to tackle but at least I will be able to store the remaining figures in a rather more compact fashion than the original 18 crates worth. Next up will be the 20mm WW2 metal collection and so i will post more details when I have them.

Thoughts on Three Cuban Wars

Cuban Cavalry (more accurately mounted infantry) charging with their fearsome Machetes. The Machete has almost iconic status in Cuban history but the reality is that whilst they were widely used and were very useful for hacking through rough terrain (and indeed are still in use on the farms we saw) their combat value was small although psychologically they would put the fear of God into raw Spanish infantry!

Before our recent trip to Cuba and, as is my custom when travelling abroad, I had a quick look at the island from the perspective of potential gaming projects. Naturally my initial thoughts headed towards the Spanish American War but after some casual Google trawling I came up with some other bits and pieces.

In recent years of course Fidel Castro features prominently - the revolution would make for some interesting guerrilla style games or even a Portable Wargame style mini-campaign - but is was the earlier wars starting in 1868 that really caught my eye. The Cuban War of  Independence 1895 to 1898 (remember the Americans only arrived for the final phase of the conflict) also has much potential and featured a number of commanders that served in the previous 1868 Ten Year's War and the following 1879 'Little War'.

I noticed whilst catching up on blog posts that an enterprising gamer has already thought about the Ten Years' War and has raised a Cuban force using converted Perry ACW figures which look quite superb. Glenn's Wargaming Blog also feature a set of rules designed specifically for the period which look very interesting.

The above conflicts feature all the usual elements of Colonial gaming - raids, ambushes, punitive expeditions and so would be ideal for the Portable Wargame or Rebels and Patriots/The Men Who Would Be Kings.

Something to look at in a small way.

The Return of Our Man in Havana

A rather colourful 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air (with a Hyundai engine!) which we hired complete with a driver for the day. The air conditioning was very welcome in the 40 degree heat

Hola Amigos! I am writing this after having been travelling for some 18 hours or so with a 5 hour time difference so apologies in advance for the somewhat haphazard nature of the post.

I enjoyed Our Man in Havana (the film is up next, starring Obi Wan, sorry, I meant of course Alec Guiness). Sadly the Panama hat did not survive the holiday

Laurel and I have just returned from a quite wonderful two weeks in Cuba, staying at a place called Guardalavaca which is part of the Holguin province. There was not a great deal of obvious material for the blog although I was rather taken with the idea of pirates and the 1868 revolt against Spain - of which there was a very small museum in Holguin city itself that we visited (sadly no pictures but the highlight was a 42mm Hotchkiss gun dated from the Spanish American War). There was also the rather surprising physical similarity of the terrain and coastal region with much of Ian Fleming's Caribbean based James Bond Stories.

Bird pest control Cuban style. I was reminded of the quote attributed to the Duke of Wellington when asked by Queen Victoria about how to deal with bird pests at the Great Exhibition - "Sparrow hawks Ma'am"

I have acquired rather a taste for one of Coba's best known exports - not cigars but Rum. We were told all about the Bacardi story but Cuba had the last laugh in this respect as they still make certain Rums using the old Bacardi equipment and recipe. It is just as good, if not better and a whole lot cheaper! There are two main beers we encountered of I much preferred the stronger variety.

Some of the hotel Rum selection - the Red Bull would be needed to cope with the routine double shifts that many of the bar staff work

Cristal is the island mainstay but I really preferred the stronger Bucanero

We did not go to Havana as it was a 10 hour road trip or a two hour £800 trip away but make no mistake, we will go back to Cuba at some point - even after Laurel discovered that her favourite bottle of perfume had been taken from the suitcase on our way home....

The obligatory beach shot and no, that is not yours truly on the right....(my attempt at emerging from the sea, Daniel Craig style was not hugely successful....)

Once the jet lag has evened itself out I will post about the gaming ideas I came up with whilst we were away but for now something to eat and a catch up with life in the real world.