Risking it all on a Crusade

One of the better versions of Risk and should anyone need any of the components (other than the figures that is) then let me know!

A game in progress with Saracens fighting Northern barbarians over France

The figures from each of the four sets

As a certain Lord of the Sith once said: “The circle is now complete…”or rather it is slightly more closed than previously! Some time ago I picked up at a very good price a couple of sets of the board game Risk – the highly acclaimed version set in the Middle Ages. As is common with this type of purchase I did not really buy it for the game itself, rather it was as a source of figures. There are four armies in this version of the game and each has a set of unique figures and also siege weapons. Each army has a cavalry figure, a close combat infantryman and one armed with a bow/crossbow. The siege equipment consists of a trebuchet, a ballista, a battering ram and a catapult. The figures themselves are moulded in hard polythene and are true 20mm and rather nice although in single poses. I would say – and I am certainly no expert on the period – that are designed to be 12^th century types which is rather handy.

I have mentioned previously that I had acquired a copy of the latest release from the Command and Colours stable covering the start of the Medieval period. Working on the basis that one would need the base game to be able to use the inevitable expansions I am happy to sit on this until we get to the Arab Conquests or, better still, the Crusades. Suddenly the acquisition of these figures begins to make a modicum of sense.

The figures are very generic looking and cover what appears to be the following armies:

Middle Eastern – Saracen for want of a better description

Northern – These look like Vikings or generic Hollywood barbarians.

Frankish – Western European typical crusader types.

Eastern – Russian/Byzantine

The number of figures within each force now stands at 48 cavalry, 140 close combat infantry and 48 missile troops. There is also around 8 of each of the siege weapons. These numbers are well in excess of what I envisage using but it does mean that there is plenty of choice available as well as the potential for conversions.

Now here is the thing. I managed to pick up another couple of sets of the figures for a very good price meaning that for each set I now have four games worth. I have a long term plan with these and when I say long term I doubt if I will get to this before next year but that is not a problem. I want to organise at least a pair of armies using these figures  - Frankish and Saracen being he obvious choice – for use with the Command and Colours: Medieval system as well as others. In fact it would not be beyond the realms of possibility to go full on imagi-nation and to also incorporate some fantasy elements. Like I said, this is very much a long term plan so there will not be any noticeable progress with it for some time. There are a couple of bits and pieces I would like to add to the figures I have but nothing major and I reckon the occasional rummage at a boot sale may well do the trick. I will also need to think about a few conversions for things like commanders etc. the key thing is that I really do not want to point a lot of money at this project, hence the acquisition of sets of Risk figures.

I have not painted this type of plastic figure for decades so it will be an interesting experience for sure but without the fumes and resulting headaches of yesteryear!

Action on the 'Great Father of the Waters'

A furious action using my original scratch builds and Hexon terrain - hard to believe this was nearly 8 years ago! For a fuller report read the following: Raiders of the Lost Ark(ansas)

Part of my ACW project is of course the naval side. I had some rather grandiose plans about scratch building a range of ships to a larger footprint than my original versions from yesteryear but time, that most valuable of commodities, is in short supply for such an undertaking. With this in mind I have opted for a much easier solution and one that is currently well on the way to completion. There is around 30 odd ships and a good variety of types courtesy of the Tumbling Dice 1:2400^th scale Victorian range. The collection is primarily river based and aside from ships includes some floating batteries and a couple of forts. If the current progress is anything to go by the collection should be making its appearance well before Easter.

I want to get a printed gaming mat but initially will make use of my Heroscape tiles as I have rather a substantial collection of these including around 150 blue water pieces. As most of the fighting this collection will be seeing will be either on a river or in delta terrain is something I will need to think about. I have a couple of ideas for this but it is worth mentioning that my plan will be to confine the action to a playing area of around 4ft by 3ft. Heroscape tiles are around 1 ¾” across the flat sides which is a little smaller than I would prefer as when I get a printed mat I will be opting for 2” hexes. Based on my table space this will give me a playing area of 26 x 18 hexes which for the type of naval actions I will be fighting is more than enough.

The rules aspect is a further consideration and one that I am looking forward to addressing. In keeping with the overall level of complexity demonstrated by the land rules I am using (something by Bob Cordery from the Portable Wargame stable)  those for the naval side will equally as simple in execution. At the time of writing I am looking at a fusion of the appropriate set from Bob Cordery’s Gridded Naval Wargames (as tweaked by the redoubtable Mr Fox) and those produced by Andy Callan years ago in one of the wargames magazines. My reasoning is simple. Bob’s rules are designed to be used on a grid which is my preferred gaming surface. Andy has a gunnery combat system that is more detailed and incorporates critical hits. I intend using Bob’s movement rules and combat system but will incorporate elements of the gunnery system from Mr Callan’s rules – particularly the size and lethality of the assorted weaponry in use. This will enable me to better model the number of gunnery dice rolled per ship (given the great variety of weapons used by either side this is essential) and will add a layer of personalisation to the proceedings. Call me old fashioned but describing a ship as having ‘sustained boiler damage meaning the speed is halved’ sounds rather better than having taken ‘x points of damage!’ It is an idea I am playing around with in any event and, needless to say, I will be writing about progress on the blog.

Of Cloths and Cucumbers....

As mentioned yesterday I took delivery of my Deep Cut Studios gaming mat (it is a mat rather than a cloth but cloth fitted better in the post title!) and a whole pile of painted 18th century figures from the collection of Eric Knowles.

There are no pictures as yet as taking pictures at night in the man cave never ends well - they are too dark and it is really hard to avoid shadows. I will be taking some at the weekend under natural light as the roof blinds can be opened.

The mat looks good but the colour - described as 'meadow'- seems quite dark but it is difficult to tell as I have yet to see it in daylight. I certainly cannot fault the quality though.

The figures from Eric are the remainder of his painted late 17th and 18th century armies without the Higgins/Hinton Hunt element. The whole came in around two dozen or so boxes of assorted sizes with at least half of these once having contained cucumbers. I can only assume that Eric had a good relationship with his local greengrocer as I cannot see him having consumed the quantities the boxes would indicate!

The collection comprises units from all three arms as well as a prodigious quantity of artillery, baggage and camp following types. A cursory look has shown units for the following:

ECW - these were used to bolster the later armies, typically as militia types
Grand Alliance
Spanish Succession
Austrian Succession
Seven Years War.

The main bulk of this part of the collection appears to be Minifigs (including some earlier ranges) but there are Hinchliffe present as well as some Garrison. There are others about which I have no clue.

My plan is to sort these out over the next few days with a view to getting some pictures organised over the weekend.

These figures will be very reasonably priced for what they are and for convenience will be offered for sale on a unit basis. I am absolutely not sorting out individual figures! If I have to post any out they will be properly wrapped and packaged and sent on an insured and signed for basis. Ideally I would prefer to hand figures over in person but appreciate this may not always be possible.

Bill is also sorting out the Madasahatta collection (which is surprisingly compact by all accounts) and also what was his ultimate wargaming deterrent, guaranteed to strike fear into the hearts of any that were rash enough to challenge it, his army of the Sublime Porte, complete with several hundred Jannisaries....

You have be warned.

Back in the old routine (again)....

Lots to tell so I will crack on with it.

Tomorrow will see me taking delivery of my Deep Cut Studios hexed gaming mat. As mentioned previously this is 13 x 9 hexes and the hexes themselves are 4” across the flat sides. Using a 4” hex means that I can take advantage of the terrain pieces that are produced by Kallistra in support of their Hexon range. The mat is configured as per a ‘standard’ Command and Colours playing area and it is meadow green. I plan to get a similar sized mat (it measures 52” by 32.5”) for use in desert type games.

I am also taking delivery - tomorrow evening in fact - of the next part of the collection of Eric Knowles - the remaining painted 25mm 18th century units. All of the Hinton Hunt and Higgins figures have gone to their new home and are currently being restored to their former glory. What was left though was a substantial number of painted units comprising, for the most part, Minifigs and Hinchliffe figures. There is infantry, cavalry, loads of artillery (Eric’s liked a gun or six....) and mounted command figures, generals, aides and so forth. I shall be taking pictures of them and posting on the blog in due course.

The plan with this lot is to sell them and, in common with the rest of Eric’s collection, Bill is more concerned that they go to appreciative homes rather than dealers and so the prices will reflect this.

There is already some interest in certain elements of the collection and so assuming this goes to plan I will be delivering them in person to the interested party later this month.

Now that the Christmas decorations and tree are packed away in the loft I have at last been able to sort a few things out. First of which is the three large boxes of books that are heading out the door. I shall also be posting pictures of this lot on the blog so should anyone see anything they are interested in then please let me know. Again, the prices will be reasonable as I would prefer them to go to an appreciative home if possible.

I have also taken the decision to offload my collection of Memoir 44 material. Much as I enjoy the Command and Colours system I always felt that, despite being a good game, this was the weakest of the series. If I am honest I much prefer using Bob Cordery’s Memoir of Modern Battle (MOMBAT) variant or even his Portable Wargame rules. There are various other hex based options around and as I had always intended gaming WW2 using models would have replaced the Memoir 44 pieces anyway. The whole collection was taking up space and had been little used for some time. Most of the rules and scenarios are available online so I could tap into these if the need arose. I have had something of a rethink about WW2 recently and what type of table top game I want. There are a few ideas I am flirting with but it is not urgent just yet. I am going to take my time before making any decisions but for the present I am looking more towards the one to one level of gaming but probably not Chain of Command or Bolt Action.

Another task that was front and centre of my plans for early in he new year was to make a start on prepping the last of my 30mm ACW figures before they head off for painting. I have sufficient figures for my immediate needs - essentially I have replaced the contents of the board game Battle Cry with 30mm figures - but the extra figures will serve to round out the collection into its desired form.

So here we are, another January and another reorganisation but for me this feels rather different to previous versions. Only time will tell how true this is!

New Year Greetings and Sci Fi Sideshows

First and foremost a very happy new year to one and all - let’s hope it is a peaceful, prosperous and healthy one for us all!

A classic game from the Waddingtons label - this is the 6 player version from around 1960

New Year’s Eve saw my beloved and I taking part in a two player five game marathon of the above game - how very rock and roll I hear you say - in which she emerged triumphant at 3 wins to 2. It was great fun and I am looking forward to getting more players involved at some point.

In my previous post I mentioned that I had my historical plans in place for 2020 with the focus being very much on the horse and musket period. The Napoleonic Wars will feature, as will the ACW and a smattering of the American Revolution with various Jacobite Rebellions as an occasional aside (at least once the Tricorne expansion is released). Of the three mentioned only the ACW will be exclusively figures based with the Napoleonic Wars featuring both figures and block/counters. The 18th century will be solely from board game perspective.

I would love to say that I will be spending all of my time in a monk-like state of study and meditation but am realistic enough to know that this will be impossible. With this in mind I have a couple of 'Plan Bs' in the shape of a few Sci Fi games - all of which would be good to go as is but with the option to expand them into the modelling sphere if required.

The first of this part of my collection is of course Red Alert - the Command and Colours board and miniatures games of fleet combat in space. I really like the functional look of the models with this and I own not only the base game but all of the expansions as well. the fleets are coloured in red and green and i promised myself that when I get to painting them this will become red and blue!

I also have a copy of Steve Jackson's classic game of cybertank warfare - OGRE. Again, this is good to go as is but I also have the models to go with it if required and indeed, I will be tackling them in due course.

The final Sci Fi game I own that can be pressed into emergency service is actually the latest addition to the collection and to be honest, it is a game that very nearly passed me by.

Abaddon - the game of Mech combat from the stable of Richard Borg

Abaddon is game of mech based combat by none other than Richard Borg of Command and Colours fame. The game is played on a square grid and rather than command cards one uses dice to issue commands. Combat is driven by cards and a random element is introduced by the use of ‘Wildfire’ cards - rather like critical hits although the effects can be both good and bad and can effect both players - which all adds the fun. There is a detailed review on boardgamegeek for those that want to know more but what I really wanted to show you was the Mechs (or ‘Links’ as they are referred to in the game) looked like.

There are eight of each of the above in the game - if using them in a conventional Sci Fi wargame I would look to lose the bases and would also use other infantry. Note the square grid of the game board.

They are really rather nice and are made from the same material - a rubbery type of plastic - as the ships from Axis and Allies: War at Sea. The largest stands around 6cm tall and the only thing I don’t like is the base which is used to hold the crystal power units as well as showing the unit stats. I would  look to some kind of basing alternative should I get around to painting them.

All of the above are important parts of my collection due to there ‘pick up and play’ ability which could be expanded into painted models and full blown ‘proper’ wargames usage if required. At this stage the painting requirement is very much a secondary consideration but is something to consider as and when.

The main focus for the year ahead though is very much around the historical periods mentioned and quite unexpectedly (although perhaps not surprisingly) there is something else that has crept into view....

'Tis the Season to be Jolly!

To you and yours from me and mine!

This will be my last post for the year so I will take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous new year!

My gaming plans for 2020 are more or less in place and with sufficient built in variety to ensure that I do not bored and go off on some half-baked scheme at the drop of an 'ooh shiny' moment of weakness (no harm in kidding myself I guess!). This has been governed by the events of the year and how these have impacted on me in a positive way.

The two standout events were going to my first COW in July and having a truly inspiring weekend. The biggest takeaway from this quite wonderful weekend was the confirmation of the simple fact that one does not need thousands of museum quality miniatures and a billiard sized table to fight a satisfying wargame.

The second big thing for the year was of course the not inconsiderable amount of time I have spent in the company of Eric's lead mountains. This has given me much in the way of appreciating the value of focus and so was instrumental in reacquainting myself with the world of Napoleonics on a far more formal basis.

For the first time in a long while I feel far more relaxed about what I am going to game and how I am going to game it which means I can concentrate on enjoying the process rather than being a slave to it.

In closing I would like to thank everybody that has read my ramblings and offered up comments - both are very much much appreciated - and I hope that next year will be a content rich one.

A truly epic film of seasonal good cheer and of overcoming the odds....(especially for Ray)....

The End of Empire

No, this is not a Star Wars reference - rather it refers to the campaign of 1814 in France as the allied armies closed in on Paris whilst Wellington moved in to Southern France and another British force went sightseeing in the low countries.

George Nafziger is well known for his extensive collection of orders of battle as well as his massive tome on Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812. He has also written three books on the war in Germany in 1813 being, in order, Lutzen and Bautzen, Dresden and Napoleon at Leipzig. I have these three but not the 1812 tome as yet but completeness it is on my to get list.

The campaign in 1814 has been described as one of Napoleon's finest in which, bereft of his German allies and massively outnumbered, he continually thwarted the Prussians, Russians and Austrians in a dazzling display of the art of managing the central position, scoring a number of impressive victories. Numbers eventually told as he was continually pushed back and when his Marshals refused to fight any longer he was forced to abdicate. That was essentially the opening scene from the film Waterloo.

This is a great doorstop of a tome at over 750 pages of which roughly a third is given over to extensive orders of battle - a Nafziger speciality in may ways. I was rather pleased to see mention of the British operations in the Low Countries including the affair at Bergen Op Zoom.

With my planning for the Napoleonic period focusing on the period 1812 to 1815 this is a most welcome addition to the library. I am aware that F. Lorraine Petre also wrote about this campaign and also 1813 so in due course it may be worthwhile looking these up.

One thing that I will need to give serious thought to is the small matter of Russian and Austrian armies but this will be for next year. In the meantime though, my collection of Command and Colours: Napoleonics will step up to the plate.