En Garda - Where the only blades are on Propellors!

Better known as the Italian Job or “You are only supposed to blow the bloody paddle wheels off!”

The indefatigable David Manley - writer of rules, guru of all things naval and all round good guy - has been a busy chap and produced a new title in his ‘Steamer Wars’ series. For the benefit of the uninitiated these rules are designed with low level gunboat style operations in mind and often feature extemporised warships - the original rule set covered the WW1 Lake Tanganyika operations so you will get the idea of what I mean. Thus far there have been two expansions - one covering the Russian Civil War and the other tackling the operations during WW1 along the Danube.

The set that started it all. WW1 on Lake Tanganyika - going forth with Mimi and Toutou

The newest title covers something I had certainly not heard of and this is the naval engagements that took place on Lake Garda during the war of 1866 - probably better known for the battle of Lissa. The Austrians and Italians feature and as well as a dedicated set of rules there are also ship specifications for the combatants, a potted history of the fighting, a campaign system and for those that are 3D printer equipped, he has designed some files available from Wargames Vault of the ships available. 

The Russian Civil War expansion

I am probably biased in that David is a good friend of mine but take it from me, this series (in truth as are all of his rules) is well worth investigating if you want something naval but low key and requiring but a modest amount of preparation and models. You can also be guaranteed that the rules work and the information and research therein is of a very high order!

Plenty of inspiration here for sure!

Before you ask I am already thinking about scratch building the models for this (along with Lake Tanganyika but that is another story) and I really hope that David continues with this series - I rather fancy something for the great rivers of China, real ‘Sand Pebbles’ territory!

All of these rules are available from the Wargames Vault under David’s Long Face Games banner - this also includes all of his other rules.

A really useful book covering the ships mentioned in the rule sets above. There are a number of Osprey titles that cover similar as well.

It would be remiss of me to not mention the above title that is an absolute goldmine of information about the ships and gunboats used on the world’s rivers and lakes. Methinks I will be dragging my copy off the shelf again soon!

“Zulus….120 of ‘em!”

At long last - I have only been on the lookout for these for around three years….

Back at the Cavalier show in February I got talking to Dave, the proprietor of 1-72 Model Figures about the semi-legendary and seemingly nigh-on impossible to get hold of box of Unmarried Zulus produced by Hat Industries. Turns out he had six of these ‘back at base’ and so after a brief exchange of emails a parcel arrived yesterday with two boxes of them - 120 figures in total.

One of the four sprues in each box viewed from the front. There are two figures holding captured rifles to the box holds 8 out of 60 or 16 over the two sets. Possibly a little on the high side but close enough for my needs.

The reverse side of the sprue.

These are for my 20mm soft plastic Zulu War project in which the British rank and file and mounted troops have been sourced from the board game War in the Age of Imperialism. 

The main reason I was so keen to get this set was due to the fact that the majority of the figures are one piece castings so no separate shields or weapons (with a single exception). The ESCI Zulus feature separate shields and weapons and these are, in my opinion, a royal pain to deal with. The only drawback is of course that these are Unmarried Zulus and so lack the distinctive head ring that the married veterans wore. The tribal figures from the aforementioned board game may be usable in this case but I will need to check. In any event there is another box of Hat Zulus that features the married types although guess what? That is currently equally as difficult to get a hold of! 

Expect a further update on this project in 2026…. :-)

“This War Without an Enemy”

The box lid….

…and the underside

The English Civil War is one of the periods of history I have never been able to make my mind up about! I have gamed it using figures (not mine I hasten to add) and have gone through not one but two WoFun collections - the 28mm version is now with Mr Fox - and a very fine job he has made with them using a DBA inspired set of rules and some custom movement trays - and the 18mm version which has also gone. I built up a small collection of reading material for the period but for whatever reason it never really got off the ground for me. Even watching the film Cromwell a couple of times failed to really engage me. It became one of those periods of history that I would be interested in only under certain circumstances  such as a visit to a castle or Manor House that featured during the war, possibly viewing some museum exhibits or similar and so it not a long stayer as such. In many ways I had the same feelings about the American Civil War on land, the saving grace for me in this instance being the naval side.

This War Without an Enemy is a board game produced by Nuts Publishing and offers a strategic game of the period of the civil war using blocks for units and notable personalities and a card driven area movement system. Unit blocks have a number of hit points that can be reduced by damage and tactical battles are resolved on a stylised battle mat - I have the neoprene version of this along with the game printed version.

The rules, playbook, unit and personality blocks and the two decks of event cards that drive the game

Scenario set ups for 1642 and 1644 - there is a full campaign game covering the entire war

A close up of the unit and personality blocks

The neoprene version of the tactical battlefield map.

I really enjoy block based games and in many ways - cards excepting - this reminds me of Napoleon by Columbia Games. That also features a separate stylised battle board for resolving tactical battles - a pretty neat idea akin to a figures based campaign where the units are moved on a map and the figures are deployed on the tabletop for the resolution of the action.

Anyways, an opportunity arose for me to pick up a secondhand copy at a price I could not refuse and so here I am, once again looking at the ECW and ruing the disposal of the 18mm Wofun and of the books I had acquired. I am not so fussed about the former but the latter will require some eBay attention methinks! Luckily most of the books I had - no more than half a dozen or so - are for the most part readily available and more importantly are not expensive.

For the record whilst I was typing this I had the theme tune from the BBC TV series ‘By the Sword Divided’ running in my head - is this trying to tell me something?

No figures were harmed or purchased during the writing of this post…. :-)

More on Developing the Portable Ironclads Wargame

A ‘Pell-mell’ affair as the Union attempt to force a conclusion against a mixed Confederate force. Note the monitors bombarding the fort at the top of the picture.

What’s in a name?

Work has continued, albeit rather sporadically, on Developing the Portable Ironclads Wargame. After a bit of a rethink I have reverted to the original title rather than describing it as a ‘Revised and Expanded Edition’ as I think this better reflects the contents. To be honest it is largely a moot point because in essence a ‘Revised and Expanded Edition’ is exactly what the new book will be. However, following on from the precedent set by Bob with the Portable Wargame, I reckon that calling it ‘Developing’ is more in keeping with the overall Portable naming convention. So ‘Developing the Revised and Expanded Edition of the Portable Ironclads Wargame’ it is then….Only kidding, just ‘Developing’!

There is also an important new addition to the new book. As well as including rules for using a square grid as well as the original hexagonal version I will also be including rules for using single hexes and squares rather than two. The rationale behind this is that the use of single grid areas works better for smaller scale models. For example, a single Hexon tile, measuring 4” across the flat sides, will happily take a 1:1200th scale model. For the record I am looking at 6” grid areas for my own collection but then my models are rather on the large side!

Freebie Alert!

In the meantime though, I do have some welcome news. I shall be publishing an errata for the original book which will be available as a free PDF. I will make it available on the blog and also a couple of the facebook groups I belong to - The Portable Wargame and Gridded Naval Wargames. This is by no means an onerous document - thankfully - but it will help to tidy up a few things. I will be working on this over the next couple of weeks and will advise when ready.

The Tactical Board Game….Part 1

Over the past year or so I have been quietly amassing a selection of tactical board games. For me there are many advantages in pursuing such a path and I am sure that a fair few of these will strike a chord or two!

Convenience. After readying a game for tabletop action it simply a case of setting it up, fighting the battle and then putting it away in its box. No fuss and very simple indeed!

Storage. A game in a box and boxes are easy to store.  

Cost. A premium quality tactical board game may set you back around the £100 mark but for that you will get two or more side to fight with, the playing area and any terrain applicable - usually printed on the map or in conjunction with terrain overlays. Compare that to amassing similar forces using models and factor in the cost of paints, brushes etc.

Time. When your new board game arrives getting it table ready can usually be managed in an evening or two. Compare this with the time to assemble and paint two forces of models.

On the Grid. This is I guess where things can get a little muddied. I am a committed grid based gamer, so much so that grids are pretty much all I fight over these days. This makes the crossing the psychological hurdle into board games very much easier - in fact I probably took this leap several years ago with my block armies.

I have made no secret of the fact that I am a reluctant painter and so giving up on producing armies is not really a great sacrifice. I will still tackle skirmish type stuff and of course anything naval, aerial, deep space or vehicular will continue as normal and indeed, I still have a few projects in this regard that require some attention in due course.

Without further ado the following are a selection of the tactical games I have - a couple of which are repurchases - and a bit of an insight into why they are there.

Command and Colours. Of the above titles the Samurai and Jacobites are self contained in that there are no expansions. The American Revolution has a single one which includes the French whilst the Medieval title will probably feature several expansions. The first of these covers the Crusades which I will certainly get when available.

In many ways the above games from the Command and Colours stable represent a step up from the original Battle Cry and Memoir 44 in that in addition to the usual command cards there are some bespoke tactical options that further nuance gameplay. Memoir 44 moved in this direction as did the Ancients and Napoleonic versions but only after several expansions. This definitely adds to the playing experience and decision making. For me the issue with Memoir 44 and the Napoleonic and Ancient versions is that to get the full experience one has to be fully invested in the system which means acquiring most if not all of the expansions. I have in the past gone down this particular rabbit hole but from here on in I intend to be far more selective about any game that needs multiple expansions!

A reworking of the old Yaquinto game ‘88 features combat in the desert and is both very tank centric and detailed - detailed as in types of ammunition used and part of the target hit. Beautiful to look at and with everything up to and including Tigers in Tunisia.

The Panzer series was originally published by Yaquinto back in the day but the series has been updated and given a makeover by GMT Games. This will allow me to indulge my fondness for armoured battles in the desert. It is not the only tactical level game I have for the desert but the other one will feature in part two of this post. 

In many ways my drift into board games for tactical battles was inevitable given the reasons above. I would add though that when the time comes for our inevitable down sizing I will be handily placed and without masses of painted figures and terrain to worry about.

Horses for courses and all that.

Hitting the Beach - Heroes of Normandie Style

The scenario pack sleeve - yes it really does feature a ‘hero’ character that looks like the above!

The back of the outer sleeve - note the use of squares.

Following on from recent post about Heroes of Normandie the first of the two expansions I was able to source has arrived. The D-Day Scenario pack consists of six double sided geomorphic terrain boards and three sheets of counters. The former features everything you would expect in a littoral based game so the sea, beach, defences and the beginnings of the hinterland are covered whilst the game counters include a lot of offensive and defensive stuff - bangalores, grapnels, shovels, flamethrowers etc for the former and various beach defences for the latter. The US have an engineer type unit whilst the Germans have a fortress style garrison. All very ‘Saving Private Ryan’ - in fact there is a set of overlays available from one of the associated Facebook groups that feature Captain Miller and his unit from the film, the idea being you could print them off, mount them on suitable card and away you go. 

The rest of the contents look something like the below:

Two of the game boards. These are 7 x 7 squares and the squares themselves are 40mm across. Ideal Portable Wargame sized actions methinks - certainly for 15mm although 20mm would work (vehicles typically deploy over two squares).

Landing craft, beach defences and part of the Atlantic Wall

The Germans and yet more defensive positions

A close up of the units, in this case the Germans. Everything you need to know about the unit is featured on their counter

The Americans along with some hardware for tackling the defences and yet another piece of the Atlantic Wall.

I have scored a couple of other bits and pieces in support of this system - a couple of terrain packs and an upgrade kit that takes the core system up to the current version of the rules. In terms of the terrain boards I now have eighteen - six each from the base game featuring generic Normandy countryside, the D-Day set mentioned and also from the Carentan set - these feature a number of buildings in a village/town style setting. With the various terrain overlays I am pretty much set up for a wide variety of battlefields to fight over so my plan is that once I have organised the collection I shall be able to do exactly that.

This mini project certainly satisfies many of my ongoing and circumstantial requirements in that when stored it will be be fairly compact, the production quality is very high and so is visually very good to look at and above all of this it is a fun system.

Looking forward to this!

‘Allo, Allo’…Revisiting Heroes of Normandie

You can probably guess how this is going to go….

The back of the box - very high production values and a square grid to boot. I can see myself rewatching any number of WW2 war films for inspiration….

I have a diverse range of interests when it comes to gaming WW2. Growing up as part of the ‘Airfix’ generation, supplemented by Commando and Battle comics and umpteen war films I have probably gamed more facets of WW2 than any other period - land, sea and air from man to man skirmishes to entire strategic level campaigns - so I can safely say I have been there, done that and brought the tee shirt! Having said that I do not profess to be an authority on the period, nor do I claim to have tried every possible gaming type - just a whole lot of ‘stuff’.

Way back in 2020 I picked up a copy of Heroes of Normandie by Devil Pig Games (sadly the company has gone but the game designers/owners will be setting up again at some point) which is WW2 gaming based on Hollywood, complete with cartoon looking characters. All very tongue in cheek but the game is surprisingly nuanced in that whilst the action is fast and furious the combat outcomes feel about right.

There are umpteen expansions around although these are getting more expensive as the rarity factor kicks in. At the time I mentioned that I rather fancied the D Day scenario pack and also Civilians Under Fire - the latter for the French Resistance.

Anyways, I have acquired a basketful of Heroes of Normandie stuff from a gaming chum and have the D Day set and Civilians Under Fire currently winging their way to Maison Crook courtesy of eBay.

The rules and scenarios from the core set and the campaign guide from the Carentan expansion

The Operations Folder contains the play sheets and the hardback rulebook. These come togthere in a slipcase.

The newly acquired set consists of the base game, the Carentan campaign pack, Lord Lovat’s Commandoes, a US army box and also one for the Germans. There is also the Heroes Compendium which includes a hardback updated version of the rules including the ‘Shadows over Normandie’ Weird War 2 stuff and a series of quick reference sheets. All in all a great little collection.

There are other bits and pieces I could add but this little lot will be more than sufficient for the time being. There is also a lot of material on a couple of the Facebook groups I belong to in the shape of extra scenarios etc. There is even a set of counter overlays for the rangers from Saving Private Ryan if you wish although the film was far more serious than many.

What does it all mean then?

Well, I have a number of, for want of a better expression, serious tactical WW2 games including Lock and Load Publishing’s Heroes of North Africa, the Motherland (Eastern Front) and in Defiance (the Western European Blitzkrieg era) along with Panzer: North Africa for my desert based tank fix. I also have Combat Infantry and Combat Infantry: Eastern Front by Columbia Games which are pitched at battalion level.

“Listen carefully, I will say this only once….”

Heroes of Normandie is first and foremost a tongue in cheek take on WW2 in the best traditions of Hollywood and the Commando comic books - all of which have given me much pleasure over the years - and so offers me an almost cartoon style WW2 gaming experience. In short, a lot of fun!

Going forwards

As mentioned in my original 2020 blog post there would be scope for using figures with this game if required. The model count would be very low and so would certainly be doable if required. That is something else to think about though and certainly not just yet!