Battle Cry, Shogun and The Last Samurai

Following on from my previous post I wanted to outline the makings of a plan and a half involving elements from the title of this post. In doing so I am reminded once again of how seemingly unconnected things can suddenly join together to form a coherent whole - synchronicity if you like!

Battle Cry - courtesy of Aly Morrison, gentleman, scholar and all round good egg!

Shogun (later copies were called Samurai Swords due to a copyright issue with James Clavell’s excellent book of the same name) courtesy of eBay

With grateful thanks to Bob Cordery and Aly Morrison I now have the means to fight some cracking looking ACW battles using a combination of WoFun figures and Battle Cry. The small physical footprint of the WoFun figures means that they readily fit on a Battle Cry board with hexes that are 55mm across the flat sides. In time I will ‘pimp’ up some terrain to use with this but for now will make do with the very attractive looking and perfectly serviceable tiles and counters that come with the game. This means that the plastic generic looking and kepi wearing figures included in the game are now essentially redundant, at least for their intended original purpose.

Now it just so happens that I was on the look out for a pile of generic, single pose kepi wearing infantry, cavalry and artillery crew for a particular idea I have in mind. Initially my plan was to get a copy of the Eagle Games American Civil War board game, similar to War in the Age of Imperialism, and use the figures from there. The Eagle Games figures are 20mm, as are those from Battle Cry, so fleshing out the rank and file with command etc from places such at Hat Industries would be a simple and inexpensive exercise and certainly this has worked with my Zulu War set up (still to be started, due to the lack of Zulus!).

Significantly the Battle Cry figures are also the same size as the those that come with the board game Shogun. 

The hard plastic figures contained in the board game Shogun are plentiful, albeit rather wooden looking in terms of poses. They cover all the basics for the infantry and a couple of boxes of Zvezda Samurai Cavalry are all that is needed to have the basis for a pretty good set up. This could be for the late 16th century or, and this is where the Battle Cry figures come in, as a ‘The Last Samurai’ style army with the ACW figures providing the Imperial Japanese opposition. For sure some artistic licence would be needed for the regular Japanese infantry in terms of paint job but in terms of fighting a Samurai army made up of 16th century types it would have the making of good, albeit hysterical rather than historical, set up. Call it Hollywood wargaming if you will!

My thinking is currently running along these lines:

1. WoFun for ACW battles using Battle Cry and the Portable Wargame

2. Battle Cry figures used for 19th century Imperial Japanese

3. Shogun figures used for the 16th century AND the 19th century (with a nod to Tom Cruise)

4. Ships for the 19th century and yes, David Manley has penned a supplement for the Boshin War.

An excellent book although the author has a pretty dim view of the film The Last Samurai…. 

From the pen of David Manley. The ship on the right is the former Confederate ironclad the C.S.S. Stonewall and I have built one of them (actually two as she had a near sister) for the ACW project.

I will be taking huge historical liberties for the 19th century with this part of the Samurai project but in my defence the idea of ‘old versus new’  with ‘new’ inevitably triumphing has an appeal in a Greek Tragedy kind of way.

The inevitable Osprey - most wargamer’s first port of call for uniform references when a new project beckons!

The Last Samurai supplement for The MenWho Would Be Kings

I am waiting for the Osprey title on the Boshin and Satsuma Rebellions and already have a very good title covering the naval side which will not need many models at all.

The 19th century part of the project will be a fusion of the history - elements of both the Boshin War and the Satsuma Rebellion will feature - and to be honest will be more Hollywood than accurate but that has probably not stopped any wargamer ever….

For rules I have a great selection to choose from. Lion Rampant and The Men Who Would Be Kings - there is supplement available for the latter covering the Samurai rebellions - will feature, along with DBA and the Portable Wargame. 

So that, in a nutshell, is the grand plan for not one, not even two but three projects all borne of my lingering fascination with the American Civil War and the Samurai. Although there is a range of figures available specifically for the period I am far happier ‘winging it’ with the alternatives I have suggested. It may offend the purist but I am not bothered by that. I will leave the last word on the subject to Katsomoto, the Samurai leader from the film, The Last Samurai:

“ The perfect wargame is a rare thing. You could spend your life looking for one, and it would not be a wasted life.”

Updating Ironclads….Part 2

The four ironclads currently being refurbished. The C.S.S. Georgia (top) is presently the only ‘named’ model of the four but this change once the upgrade has finished. The model at the bottom will become the C.S.S. Tuscaloosa whilst the two in the centre will become the C.S.S. Huntsville (front) and the C.S.S. Raleigh (rear).

The first phase of the planned upgrade to the models you see above have been completed. This involved removing the original gun ports and and in the case of the two models destined to become the C.S.S. Huntsville and Raleigh, removal of the funnel for a minor repositioning. Once all the relevant bits had and pieces had been removed I then lightly sanded the affected parts to ensure a smooth finish. This evening will see the new gun ports being added and sealed prior to painting. This will also need to be done for the extra pilot house that the C.S.S. Raleigh had. Due to the oversized flagstaff at the rear of the casemate I will also need to reposition the forward pilot house so that the two can be positioned correctly on either side of the funnel. The plan is to have these four finished over the weekend which will be easily achievable. Once completed - and this will see removal of a long running ‘burr under my saddle’ so to speak - I can then pick up on the three half built models I seem to have been working on for months before embarking on the next round of models.

C.S.S. Tennessee - an octagonal casemate with an integral pilot house. This will require some careful and accurate measuring and cutting

In respect of the next batch of models being stated from scratch the key ship will be the famous C.S.S. Tennessee - I will build two of these so that I can use the ship under two flags, pre and post capture - and so I am currently working out how best to tackle her unique casemate/pilot house within the scope of my usual building technique. 

It will be a challenge but hey ho, I’ve seen worse….cough, cough….

A Rational Decision - At Last!

A charging Tom Cruise from the historical romp that was The last Samurai. Superbly entertaining but shall we say somewhat challenged from the history perspective. Great fun all the same and crying out for a game based on it. Now I wonder who would be made enough to think about that?

I have been giving a lot of thought in respect of my long term Samurai project and have finally made a decision about its future. My dilemma was one of scale in that I have a substantial collection in both 28mm and 20mm plastic - the former via Warlord Games (now Grey For Games) Test of Honour Samurai skirmish game and the latter via the old Milton Bradley boardgame Shogun/Samurai Swords. Originally I thought that using 28mm for skirmishes and the rather cruder looking 20mm figures (critically these are significantly simpler looking for painting) would work well but after careful consideration I have decided to go with the latter.

To arrive at this choice I carefully considered the following points.

1. Terrain - at the present time my terrain plans are firmly at the stylised end of the scale. Table footprint is important and for the other periods I am exploring 20mm is the preferred figure scale for which I would look to use 15mm or possibly smaller terrain. This lends itself rather more effectively to ‘battle’ sized conflicts. Crucially it also means that any terrain is of a uniform size across the entire collection. 28mm figures, especially for skirmishes, require rather more detailed terrain which invariably takes up more room.

2. Figures - The Warlord figures are lovely but they do require a lot of assembly and have a level of detail that would reward a skilled painter - which I am most definitely not! Constructing over a hundred 13 piece foot figures represents a substantial investment in terms of assembly even before the painting is taken into consideration. The boardgame figures are a lot easier in this respect and are not only fully assembled but have what I call an ‘old school’ level of detail in respect of the painting required. By adding some Zvezda cavalry will not be too much of an issue, perhaps with some other bits and pieces from their range - the command set looks really good.

3. Rules - I like Test of Honour and the Osprey set called Ronin look interesting. I am also looking at Lion Rampant for which I have the Samurai army list to help when building units. There is also a set in the Portable Pike and Shot Wargame that look like good fun. Now here is the thing. If I opted to base the models individually then they collection would suit skirmish level forces along with more conventional armies. So this is the option I am currently considering.

I have taken steps to dispose of the 28mm collection - it has in fact already gone - and the funds realised will form part of my Salute warchest as I shall be attending this year, for the afternoon. Having said that there are some Zvezda bits I shall be getting in with a view to completing the initial requirements for the project and I suspect that Warbases may well be hearing from me soon….

I am pleased and relieved to have finally reached this decision and if anything it will help to focus my efforts with the project. Then of course there is also the Last Samurai angle to consider and the idea I had around gaming this has suddenly become rather more attractive.

Updating Ironclads

Aside from the C.S.S. Selma (on the right) the other six models are the originally built ‘generic’ types. The four in the centre - the two with single gunports forward and the two octagonal casemate types - are the ones up for an upgrade with the rear octagonal ship now the C.S.S. Virginia II.

Enthused by the ease of the minor refurbishment of the Virginia II, I have taken a further four models in hand to bring them up to the current build standard. I should point out that the inspiration for this mini project came from John Wallis, author of Ironclad and Iron Protected Vessels of the Confederate States Navy 1861 to 1865, who kindly took a look at some of my ‘generic’ vessels and identified the most likely historical ships they could represent.

C.S.S. Georgia (left) with the larger than desirable gunports. The generic ironclad on the right has the smaller size of gunport that is now standard (5mm square).

Of the four models the C.S.S. Georgia is the only one designed from the outset to be what she represents. The only change I am planning for her is to replace the gunports with the smaller size I now use. Other than that she will be good to go.

These two models were among the very first I built and they have already been refurbished previously - now they are having what I hope will be final ‘tweak’!

The plan for the above is quite simple. The model on the left will be losing a couple of gunports and gaining an additional pilot house whilst that on the right will have a new set of gunports in the same place as the current ones.

The model on the left has been repurposed into the C.S.S. Virginia II whilst that on the right is merely having a couple of gunports moved.

These are all quite small changes to be sure but I will be far happier once they have been brought up to the current standard. Once finished I can then get back to building new models and yes, you have guessed it, there are just a few….

Back to the War between the States

Two C.S.S. Virginias - the one at the top is probably the better known, the one at the bottom you can read about here

Lots to tell so I will crack on without my usual preamble!

I spent some time today pottering about in the man cave and reigniting my gaming mojo. For the record, it worked. I had a degree of sorting out to do and as a reward for this effort I set about going through the 18mm Wofun ACW collection, working on Developing the Portable Ironclads Wargame, reviewing Battle Cry - the Command and Colours game of the same name (more of which later) - and then working on a very minor conversion of one of my generic Confederate ironclads. Surprisingly I was able accomplish all three as well having a very pleasant call with Bob Cordery!

The four sprues which, with the rest of the collection, gives me a really versatile force for the American Civil War.

Taking these in order it is the Wofun first. You may recall that a large chunk of 18mm ACW WoFun was given to me by Bob a while ago and I intended looking at it once the Portable Ironclads Wargame had gotten to publication. There is plenty of material in the set but it was missing command and dismounted cavalry. I got in touch with Wofun to get some pictures of the appropriate sprues and so ordered four of them - two command and two dismounted cavalry so one of each for the two sides. With shipping and the bases it was not cheap but I ‘bit the bullet’ with the rationale that I would not really be able to use the collection otherwise. I was properly impressed the service - ordered on the Wednesday and the parcel arrived on Friday! To my surprise there was also a couple of cavalry units in the box so my collection would be all set for Brandy Station or similar.

The new version. I needed to remove a couple of gunports - one from either side of the casemate - and paint over a section of the deck fore and aft of the casemate. Aside from the hull shape being my standard (model speak for ‘wrong’) ‘bot shape’ the casemate is a little on the long side and the pilot house should be square rather than rectangular. Apart from that it is not a bad representation!

The original model. I remember the fun I had fashioning the octagonal casemate….

I have three other casemate ironclads that need some refurbishment which I think I shall tackle next. The main change is in respect of the gunports. On the C.S.S. Georgia all I need to do is to replace them on a like for like basis. The other two will see some redeployment of the gunports which will enable them to be used as historical rather than generic types. Once these three have been updated it will be adding gun barrels to some of the side wheelers.

Developing the Portable Ironclads Wargame

Finally I was also able to organise some more bits and pieces for what will be the follow up volume to the Portable Ironclads Wargame. One thing I have decided is that rather than containing both optional and advanced rules they will instead be purely optional. A small distinction but a significant one!

Battle Cry

I have owned three copies of this game over the years but for a variety of questionable reasons they have been moved onwards. To be honest I was not expecting to see another copy anytime soon but help was at hand in the shape of that very nice gentleman, Mr. Aly Morrison. A chance conversation revealed that he had a copy of the game that he had acquired but had not progressed with - mainly due to the indifference of his gaming circle not being into the ACW - and so with a hop, skip and a jump it was sent to Maison Crook. With the WoFun collection ready to be mobilised I reckon that I have the makings of a stonking set up for the period which will tie in nicely with the naval side.

Many, many thanks Aly! You have helped to unleash a monster…. :-)

 

Empires of the Fantasy Kind

Plenty of potential in a ‘Mighty Empires’ kind of way - along with HOTT and the Portable Wargame

Many years ago, around the turn of the century, I came across a fantasy game system produced by Hobby Products in Germany called Daemonworld. The range of figures that supported the rules were 15mm, sold in blister packs or boxed sets and the whole thing had a very ‘GW Warhammer-like’ feel about it. The initial release featured Humans and Orcs and expansion incorporated all the usual fantasy types - elves, dwarves, undead etc. The whole thing is now owned by Ral Partha Europe with the rules and expansion books available via PDF. 

The boardgame you see above was released as a standalone game designed to support the figures from a campaign perspective - similar in concept to the GW game Mighty Empires. There are a number of additional maps available to download so that the choice of terrain can be varied if required. Essentially the game features resource management so that you can build an empire complete with villages, fortresses and even fleets. Armies are raised and heroes and wizards etc can also be acquired and used to add extra firepower in combat.

The back of the box. The two ‘cities’ at the bottom of the picture ACW metal castings that come with the game.

As seen on the back of the box the idea is that figures are used to represent the units and needless to say my first, second and third thought was very much Command and Colours/Portable Wargame or HOTT related. The map for the game looks like this:

The map. The hexes enclosed within the dark boundaries are provinces - apologies for the poor quality of the picture.

The map is quite usable at a strategic level for pretty much anything pre mechanised - the absence of villages and towns etc is due to the fact that these are ‘built’ from a player’s treasury and deployed where needed. These can also be upgraded and fortified in time. 

The two metal castles, a deck of cards with artefacts, units and other game related stuff, dice and red hit point markers.

The human counters - painted examples of the figures available to support the game.

The Orcs - again using painted examples of the available figures.

I had a quick scan through the rules and it is all pretty straightforward. Units have a number of hit points - these are what the red counters are for - and roll a number of combat dice equal to the unit rating for the type. The Combat dice have three shielded sides and three hit sides and opposed rolls are used. Typically troops have an attack and defence rating against missile and melee combat and this varies depending on the type. I have yet to look at the magic section.

The game is currently unpunched with the cards still in shrinkwrap. Similarly the two fortresses that serve as the players capital are still sealed in the blister pack. The cost of all this? A mere £10.

I am thinking that the map could easily be replicated using Heroscape or Hexon and also with figures and in fact from my perspective the potential for this is huge. I am already thinking about something Samurai related but reckon it could easily be used for other things - especially as the other maps are available to download and print.

Apart from Samurai I have a feeling that something in a small scale would look really good - perhaps 2 or 3mm with some of those lovely buildings etc from Brigade Models.

My plan is to produce a quick play sheet for the tactical rules and see how the units can translate into historical types. The game is good to go as is and so I would not rule out using some fantasy figures - one would certainly not need many of them. All in all then, for a tenner I reckon this is a great little purchase that I am sure will get lots of use - once I have worked out what for that is!

Developing the Portable Ironclads Wargame….Part 2

Confederate gunboats on patrol under the guns of a fort and with an ironclad in support.

This was not quite the weekend I envisaged for a number of reasons but it has been relatively productive in at least one direction. I have now completed the work on the expanded ship lists for the American Civil War and have also started work on the advanced and optional rules. This has been relatively straightforward thus far and this has surprised me somewhat in that I expected there to be rather more head scratching involved.

I have described these as being advanced and optional but to be honest I am thinking that expanded might be more appropriate. They are designed to be dropped in to the original set as required to add some additional feel and complexity if desired.

The rules I am looking at and am currently working on cover the following:

1. Ships moving alternately depending on initiative.

2. Allowing for varying manoeuvrability of ship types.

3. Allowing for a change in the calculation of damage points.

4. Rolling for hit location.

5. Using a square grid

6. Using a single grid area rather than two

7.  Infantry used as sharpshooters and crew

Of the above the one that is very much a personal crusade is the whole square grid thing (number 5) as I really want to make that work and also using a single grid area (number 6) is something I want to explore. Obviously the big thing with these two options is the whole firing arc situation which will need some work but I believe that if successful it will offer a useful alternative if required.

The important point to emphasise is that I am certainly not looking to the reinvent the wheel as the original rules are, in my humble opinion, absolutely fine as they are. What I am doing though, is to demonstrate the toolkit like nature of the rules and sharing some of my additional ideas.

I have also put the man cave on a shipbuilding footing after having cleared away the remnants of Operation Market Garden, details of which will appear in a later post.

Suffice it say that A Bridge FUBAR is probably a fair description of events!