Arlequín's Worlds

A Wargaming Catch 22

2012-01-01T19:13:00.008Z

A Happy New Year to everyone!

I don't suppose I'm very different to most gamers, in that when the inspiration comes to start a new period, I go looking for figures and models to game it with. This was the case a year or so ago when I was looking to construct Hispañola as a setting for post-War conflicts. Initially I was expecting to do it with 28mm figures and set it in the 1960s. To my surprise there was virtually nothing about and I anticipated that either 15mm or 20mm was going to have to be it, unless I went for the late 1950s and used WW2 figures and vehicles, converting as necessary.

Newline Designs then managed to become the main distributor for Mongrel Miniatures and the unfinished Congo Range met some of my needs for Cuban style militia, while their Syrians pretty much fitted the bill for Regulars. The problem was now transporting them to battle. The BTR60PB that Sloppy Jalopy produce, along with the BRDM2, are too late for my immediate needs, so it appeared that these troops would be pretty much unsupported infantry.

Ignore me, I'm not involved in this conflict

until the M16s get here.

The US equipped opposition weren't too bad off as far as vehicles go. Plenty of M113s about, along with some support, courtesy of the popularity of Vietnam. The problems with the US forces were that the M16 armed figures that form the bulk of figure ranges, are far too late for my needs. Go to any 28mm Vietnam range and all you get are generic US figures with M16s.

The Assault Group alone produces two packs of figures armed with the M14, the weapon with which the US Marines fought the war from 1965-1968. I could have gotten away with ARVN figures with M1 rifles, M3 Carbines and M3 Greaseguns etc... again nobody seems to make them. Apparently in 28mm, the Vietnam War didn't happen until the M16 was introduced and the ARVN didn't even take part then in any numbers. Need I ask about MACV advisors and SOG before 1965?

Hey 28mm man, you numbah 10 cheap charlie, no like Vietnam man fight own war! You beaucoup dinky dao!

So there you have it, one army with no transport and another with transport, but barely any infantry, unless I use WW2 USMC figures. I'd pretty much resigned myself to this being a non-starter in 28mm and the figures acquired were left to gather dust until such time as a use could be found for them. Then this thread on LAF happened, followed by this one and finally this one. In the space of a few days there was the commitment from Brent at Company B to produce two of the must have vehicles for my men, along with the commitment to look at other vehicles of the same era.

First render of the Company B BTR40. Sometime APC, weapons carrier and light AAA vehicle.

BTR-152, in addition to the hard top an AAA version is on the cards too!

Brent seems amenable to producing other models if the demand is there. A M41 Walker Bulldog is under consideration, maybe even a M-42 Duster. If you want these or any other vehicles, you need to a) buy the ones coming out, b) Show that there is a market out there for them. You can do this at Tracks n Treads if you're so inclined. My constant repetition of "If you make it, they will buy", is not really doing the trick alone.

Now... 28mm Manufacturers, how about some early Vietnam War US Marines in OG107 fatigues and armed with M-14 and M-14A1s, officers with M1 Carbines (yes they did carry them in 1965). Marine support weapons... M20 Bazooka et al (they used them for a while before leaving them behind). MACV advisors, Green Berets and ARVN before the M-16 came along (watch 'Go Tell The Spartans' to get the idea)?

"I'm sorry men, but we can't recreate your bravery on the tabletop as none of you are American, nor armed with an M-16. Not the way I wanted it to be, but there you go. I guess you'll all go join the Viet Cong now huh?"

When Angels Wept

2011-12-21T18:00:00.006Z

I've just finished reading this thought provoking book about the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the nuclear war that nearly resulted from it. It's presented as a 'history' of the war as written by a survivor, whose family emigrated from the US to Australia following the war. I enjoyed it and found it to be well written and very readable. The author has a feel for his principal characters (Kennedy and Khrushchev), along with the bit players and resists the urge to over do the nuclear 'Fire' too. While an all out nuclear war in 1962 would be incredibly destructive, it wouldn't have been the end of the world (sic) that it would have been just a few years later.

While I enjoyed the book (it is after all well written and an easy read, despite the inclusion of footnotes and references, which are often fictional themselves), I did notice some errors regarding the US invasion plans, which are easily found online. Otherwise though I think it was a believable 'could have been' and the assessment of the targets hit didn't fall into the trap of assuming that because a location is important today, it would have been in 1962 (Los Angeles, for example, wouldn't have been a priority target back then).

I've included the Amazon link, which will give access to sellers retailing it for almost half the price Amazon are asking. £11 for a hardback is reasonable to me and if you are interested in the era, the book is worth it in my opinion. It retails for $17 in the US, which is roughly equivalent to the UK price.

When Angels Wept: A What-if History of the Cuban Missile Crisis

Winter Holiday Guidelines

2011-12-20T22:25:00.002Z

All employees planning to dash through the snow in a one horse open sleigh, going over the fields and laughing all the way are advised that a Risk Assessment will be required addressing the safety of an open sleigh for members of the public. This assessment must also consider whether it is appropriate to use only one horse for such a venture, particularly where there are multiple passengers. Please note that permission must also be obtained in writing from landowners before their fields may be entered. To avoid offending those not participating in celebrations, we would request that laughter is moderate only and not loud enough to be considered a noise nuisance.

Benches, stools and orthopaedic chairs are now available for collection by any shepherds planning or required to watch their flocks at night. While provision has also been made for remote monitoring of flocks by CCTV cameras from a centrally heated shepherd observation hut, all users of this facility are reminded that an emergency response plan must be submitted to account for known risks to the flocks. The angel of the Lord is additionally reminded that, prior to shining his/her glory all around, s/he must confirm that all shepherds are wearing appropriate Personal Protective Equipment to account for the harmful effects of UVA, UVB and the overwhelming effects of Glory.

Following last years well-publicised case, everyone is advised that Equal Opportunities legislation prohibits any comment with regard to the redness of any part of Mr R Reindeer. Further to this, exclusion of Mr R Reindeer from reindeer games will be considered discriminatory and disciplinary action will be taken against those found guilty of this offence.

While it is acknowledged that gift bearing is a common practice in various parts of the world, particularly the Orient, everyone is reminded that the bearing of gifts is subject to Hospitality Guidelines and all gifts must be registered. This applies regardless of the individual, even royal personages. It is particularly noted that direct gifts of currency or gold are specifically precluded, while caution is advised regarding other common gifts such as aromatic resins that may evoke allergic reactions.

Finally, in the recent instance of the infant found tucked up in a manger without any crib for a bed, Social Services have been advised and will be arriving shortly.

Merry Christmas!!!!

2012 Projects

2011-12-10T23:53:00.010Z

As the New Year draws ever closer, I've been thinking over what I'm planning to do gaming wise over the coming year. 2011 wasn't very productive, but I have gathered a few sets of rules and amassed a small figure collection. I have enough figures to commence some gaming and my first priority is to get them painted and based. The projects themselves will come as no real surprise to anyone who has been following this blog, my tastes haven't drastically changed.

Hispañola

My imagi-nation Hispañola will still be the core setting for post Second World War conflicts. The plan is to do this in 28mm, with games of around platoon and company size and using Force on Force rules. I've also got various sets by Too Fat Lardies, Two Hour Wargames and Ganesha Games that I want to try out. At some later point I'd like to expand it to 12mm and play larger games.

2012 also marks the 50th Anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis (October 1962). One of my abiding passions is the Kennedy and Johnson era and Hispañola was created as a sort of pseudo-Cuba (along with being a pseudo-Congo, pseudo-Indochina and pseudo-Angola), with the prospect of a US invasion to prevent a 'second Cuba' - something which the Dominican Republic experienced in a fashion in 1965. I might do a few posts on the Crisis, perhaps even some details of what a war resulting from it might have unfolded. I did a brief post on it a while ago, but I think still worthy of closer examination. Who knows? Maybe some figures will get painted and games played on this theme.

US Navy Seals during jump training 1962. They are armed with AR-15 rifles bought under the 'Open Purchase' system. Their acquisition caused quite a furore, at a time when quite a few units where still waiting on the issue of the M-14.

US Marines on exercise 1962. They are still armed with M1 Garand rifles and M1919 Browning machine guns. Despite the introduction of the M-14 in 1957, the USMC Fleet Marine Force only completed changeover at the end of 1962. In the US Army, only 101st Airborne Division was fully equipped by the end of 1961.

The Art of War

I'm looking at an adventure style format, expanding up to 'large' skirmishes at a 1:1 figure ratio. The setting will be the late Italian Renaissance, bordering on the early Italian Wars. I'm planning on incorporating Pike and Shot and Zombies in there somehow, along with straight historical games. The setting will be northern Italy and/or Hispañola during the age of exploration.

Aztec cities appear to have contained a number of buildings that were obviously designed to be Zombie-proof.

Spanish Civil War

The Spanish Civil War is another long term interest of mine. I'm looking at concentrating on the 'March on Madrid' eventually graduating to the 'Siege of Madrid' at a later stage. At present small actions using 28mm figures is what I envision doing, although at a later stage I'd like to move into 12mm for larger scale actions.

I'll largely be using Warhammer 'Great War' and Too Fat Lardies 'Through The Mud and The Blood' for these games. I'm considering either 'Blitzkrieg Commander' or 'If The Lord Spares Us' for the 10mm games.

Channel 13

I acquired a copy of Crooked Dice Games 7TV rules recently and was pretty much blown away by the concept behind them. In essence the concept of the system is to present your game as the climax of a TV programme (or even a film if you like), i.e. the action part. It doesn't sound like a big deal at first glance, but the more you think about it, the more awesome a concept it gets. You can literally do anything as far as setting goes, though the game and accessories are geared towards the action adventure series of the 60s and 70s, like; 'Department S', 'Man from U.N.C.L.E.' and all the Gerry Anderson stuff etc. The addition of gadgets and gizmos appropriate to the 'set' caps the experience off. There's nothing to stop you from creating your own though and you could conceivably do 'Robin Hood' to 'Dr Who' if you wish.

To me the awesomeness is that the concept of the game restricts anything to how it's presented on the screen. Think of any war film... those mass combat shots merely serve to link 'acts' containing just a few people, the 'cast', together. The real action is just the 'cast' and some 'extras' on a set and in close-up, performing some small action vital to the whole film.

Think the assault on the secret base in 'You Only Live Twice'. After the initial spectacle of loads of ninjas rappelling into the base, you're left with vignettes of Bond and co taking out small groups of the opposition piecemeal, with the double mission of capturing Blofeld and stopping WW3 by taking out the rogue spaceship. These are your games in 7TV. Just a few figures and you've got a game.

I am not Sheldon... really...

For someone like me who likes to compartmentalise his games into distinct settings, but are too small to be supported by their own blogs, the idea is a godsend. Channel 13 will be one blog to cover all of the little groups of figures I have; Atomic Cafe 57, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Thrilling Tales, Zombies, what have you, with each having its own 'programme' (pages) and 'episodes' (posts) within one blog, all loosely tied together under the 'Channel 13' logo. Okay maybe I've just revealed the OCD side of me to the world, but it was a 'Eureka moment' for me.

While I could cover quite a few options under the 7TV umbrella, I'll be using various other rule sets to cover the games played; Ganesha Games Flying Lead, Rattrap's .45 Adventure and Two Hour Wargames' All Things Zombie etc as appropriate.

So those are my plans for 2012, hopefully I won't be sat here next December thinking "Where did the year go?" having made no progress. I'm going to be working away on these blogs and as they appear, they will be highlighted here and links added, should anyone fancy following any of them. All news or progress will be reported here in any case, so it's not essential to follow them all.

11/22/63, Dreadnought and Ganymede

2011-12-02T23:40:00.007Z

I've read a fair few books recently and once more I have to say that with the exception of 11/22/63 by Stephen King, nothing has stood out, other than Dreadnought and Ganymede by Cherie Priest. I've previously reviewed Boneshaker, the first book in the 'Clockwork Century' series, here. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the good lady herself linked to it, along with other reviews, on her site. So with my second or two of fame out of the way, I'll review the two Cherie Priest books first, then move onto the Stephen King book.

As I've mentioned before, these books form part of a series, are in a chronological order, but are separate stories. It wouldn't be a big deal to read them out of sequence as they focus on separate characters for almost the entirety of their respective stories and the links between the books generally appear in the conclusion. It's quite difficult to review these without giving too many spoilers out, so I'm not going to delve too far into the stories, other than what could be gleaned from the first few pages, or the back cover fluff. Needless to say that the continuing American Civil War intrudes on both stories, as do 'Zombies', both to a greater or lesser extent.

Dreadnought (No.2 in the series) focuses on the journey made by the main character, Mercy Lynch, a nurse in a military hospital in Richmond, to see her estranged father in Seattle. Her father is one of the main characters of 'Boneshaker' and has been gravely injured. The journey is the core of the story, with side plots concerning both the 'Dreadnought' of the story and the spread of Zombies away from Seattle.

The description of the Hospital and 19th Century medicine are well done, as is the battle scene in which Mercy gets embroiled. The latter was written from the perspective of a non-military individual and exhibited the confusion such a person might experience when caught up in one, so plus marks from me for that.

Otherwise it was a good read. Mercy is a strong character and the others are well done too. One or two of the disappearing ones showed promise and I'm left wondering if they may have their own stories in the future.

When we get introduced to characters, who appear and then flit out of the story, you wonder why so much colour was wasted on them in the first place. I also think that the richness of the story leads to a number of plot dead-ends that could have been pursued, although to do so would deviate from the story, perhaps too much. I suspect that Priest had a whole bundle of ideas for this book and wanted to cram them in. This has led to what can be a frustrating read sometimes for me, but to follow them would have resulted in a ponderous mess. Don't get me wrong, it's still a good book!

Ganymede takes us off on a different tack. It's set in a New Orleans occupied by a supposedly neutral Texas. Despite being pro-Confederacy, the Texans are resented by the inhabitants of New Orleans and this tension is one of the core themes within the book. Again one of the characters from 'Boneshaker' has an integral part in the story, but a more direct one than is found in Dreadnought.

Once more the Civil War provides the backdrop to the story and again Zombies are present in the storyline. I would argue that this is the best book out of the three. In fairness though, Boneshaker spent a lot of time unfolding the Clockwork Century for us within its narrative, taking the burden off the following two in this respect. I expect books in a series to get better as they go on and I wasn't disappointed.

In all both books are worth a read. The characters are on the whole well rounded, with the female ones being the best depicted. Some of the male characters appear to be how women would like or expect them to be, but the same can be said of female characters where there is a male author. I'll also accept that my own gender gives a bias to this too! I didn't find myself having to suspend disbelief in this regard though, so no anachronisms or stereotypes stand out.

I have to admit that the idea of Steam Punk leaves me pretty cold, yet these books work. I believe this to be because the 'technology leaps' aren't actually that great and are actually achievable within the limits of real world technology of the time, or soon would be. Neither are things over done. Where a 'super weapon' exists, it's unique. Other items are in somewhat short supply too, so the tech isn't overbearing on the stories. This to me is the strength of the books and what makes them stand out from the herd. While the desire may be evident to leap into the realms of science fiction by one or two of the characters, they are definitely bound from achieving that by real world constraints.

Dreadnought gets a 3/5 and Ganymede a 4/5. Again I'm a hard marker and Dreadnought was verging on a 4, while Ganymede was close on a 5. I actually like these better than Harry Turtledove's Southern Victory Series, which I also enjoyed immensely, despite their own imperfections.

Stephen King is perhaps one of the best authors I know. Having said that, many of his books (from 'IT' onwards pretty much) appear to be over-long and padded out. That he can do this and still have me read a book through, says a lot for the quality of his work. I also find him somewhat patronising politically in my opinion. He's either preaching to the converted in me, or I don't need the reinforcement of my beliefs he is offering, I'm not sure which.

11/22/63 is a damn good book, let's not beat around the bush here. The chance of changing the world by preventing the assassination of President Kennedy, at the cost of nearly five years or more of your own life, is a fantastic concept. The premise of the story is that the central character is introduced to a 'doorway' into 1958 by an acquaintance. There are several inherent twists and 'costs' with this gift, which I won't reveal, but are excellent plot points.

King's depiction of 1958 through to 1963 are excellent and really make this book for me. King is heavily into pop culture and was also living through the times he portrays, so he really brings it to life to the smallest details. Nevertheless he's clearly done a lot of research too and it shows. As is usual with King books, there's a degree of cross-referencing with other works, in this case 'IT', which is pursued briefly as an aside and thankfully without depth.

If I wasn't heavily into the time myself, it's possible that I'd be saying that some of the book could be edited out to save a few pages. I can see that some of the detail might be too much and over wordy, and that King seems to obsess over certain things to the detriment of the story. This time, for me, it wasn't a problem, but in other books I've wanted to scream "just get on with it will you!". I've found that this problem is the price you pay for an excellent story with him however.

It is an excellent story too. The character is not the best person to be doing this job, he's no James Bond, or Navy SEAL, he's an ordinary guy... an English teacher no less. He makes mistakes, his conscience screws with him and he has to live in the world back then for five years to complete his 'mission'. He can of course return to the present (2 minutes on from when he left) whenever he likes, but at a cost of ageing and the fact that when he eventually returns, he returns to the same start day in 1958, with everything back to square one.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book. However I can't help feeling, that like one or two of his books, King got a way into the story, got bored, or thought he was going over word limit and somewhat rushed the ending. I actually thought the ending sucked a bit, however that's purely my feeling and looking objectively it might have been the only real option, each to their own and he's a best selling novelist and I'm not, reason enough to go with his conclusion to the story. That he was able to evoke this feeling of disappointment, rather than a "meh" is a positive I think.

There is also King's preference for painting things at their very worst and overdoing it sometimes. There is an assumption at the start of the book that is expressed by one character that; Kennedy's death was the start of bad things happening in America, the Vietnam War being one of them. From that single event, the path to today's unsatisfactory world was set. By stopping the assassination, things could have been different and better, is the belief that King toys with as one of his themes.

I could easily have given this book a 5/5, it is still one of the best books I've ever read. He's over-egged the cake in places, settled for black and white instead of shades of grey to some extent into the bargain too. As it is I'll offer a very high 4/5, if I wasn't really into the time frame, I'd drop it to a mid 4. Not his worst, but not his best either and it's a shame. Regardless though it's worth reading and I recommend it.

Wargame Butterfly? Moi? ... maybe...

2011-11-30T23:06:00.001Z

I just realised that a month has gone by since my last post, which is pretty poor. I apologise. I started blogging just over a year ago and was re-starting the hobby from scratch. Since then I've acquired a hundred or so figures, of which I've painted none. I've created, revised, deleted, resurrected, re-revised and re-deleted a number of blogs in the meantime, which with the research involved to make them 'realistic', has taken a big chunk of time to be back where I started. It's not that I've flitted between a large number of periods and failed to settle on just a few, my interests have stayed constant, but it's been the decision on what to do right now that has varied.

There are limits on my hobby time, just like everyone else has, but I've ended up with a couple of extra ones on top of those I had when I started this. I've also lost my dedicated gaming/hobby space, so everything has to be brought out and packed away, which again cuts into the time I've allowed. I appreciate that this is how it is for many others and I'm whining about nothing, but I'm having to adjust to change. I'll get over it and I'll shut up now.

I've had to wrestle with other things too. Taking the plunge into a period leaves you with the choice between going for a 'historical' period, or going for an 'imagi-nation'. I've seen some historical settings that have been so far removed from the truth to qualify for 'imaginary' status mind you. I've also seen some appalling 'imagi-nations' too of course. I like to base mine on factual settings where "only the names have been changed to protect the innocent". In other words made up situations in a real world. Obviously this doesn't work for some things. I lack the imagination to create a wholly new world or country, so I borrow bits from real ones.

Hispañola was formed from disparate elements of Cuban, Dominican, Spanish and even African history. It used real world military organisations and thinly disguised historical scenarios. It all required research, but if I got it wrong, there was nobody who could point that out. Once you start dealing with real events and real history, people appear to point out your mistakes. Some people are brave enough to paint up their toys in colour schemes to match their imaginary state, while I'd have to paint them as they should be and hand wave why it says 'U.S. Air Force', 'Army' or 'Marines' on the side. For that reason it is sometimes preferable to just 'do it straight', which is something I'm considering at present.

My current plan is to actually paint something and create the setting as the painted figures appear and to eventually get slightly ahead of myself and use the setting to plan purchases. There's not much point me creating an elaborate setting and then leaving it idle for months while I buy and paint figures etc to bring it to life. Any way I'll leave it at that, thank my followers for their patience and I'll be back in a few days, or a week or so, with my plans and projects for 2012. Hopefully I'll make more progress than I have with 2011's!

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest

2011-10-28T21:04:00.003+01:00

I'd seen Boneshaker by Cherie Priest, a few times on the shelves and while a touch curious, I'd identified it as Steam Punk or Victorian Sci-Fi or whatever and avoided it. Lacking anything else of interest recently, I took a chance and have had to eat my hat. What an excellent read!

It's not what I'd describe as an 'adult' book either, there's no graphic language or violence, just a well told story, which as sexist as it sounds, I didn't expect from a female author. You get well-rounded characters (which is something female authors do tend to do well), good plot and zombies too.

The basic setting is the 1880s Seattle, which suffered a catastrophic event via experimental drilling machine some time ago, the 'Boneshaker' of the story. Besides largely causing the city to partially sink into the ground, it released a gas, the 'Blight' which killed many inhabitants and in some cases turned them into zombies. To contain it, the survivors built a 200 foot wall around part of the city.

It might sound like a really odd or unbelievable setting, particularly if I add in that the American Civil War is still being fought in the East (twenty years and still going strong!) and primitive airships are a common means of transportation.... but it works somehow. I struggled not to stay up all night and read it in a single sitting. So either it's that good or I'm easily pleased. I've since bought the follow-ups (which are loosely connected to the first book); Dreadnought and Ganymede, all within the space of less than a week... I started the last of the three earlier today.

I find the idea of a 20 year plus ACW a bit hard to swallow, even with Britain being involved with the Confederacy, so I had to suspend my disbelief there. The ACW features heavily in 'Dreadnought' and apparently in 'Ganymede' too. Priest writes about it from the 'civilian spectator' point of view and writes it well! Her sci-fi add-ins are not overdone and are all do-able within the technology available, there's no major science leaps made here!

Priest isn't H.G. Wells or Jules Verne, but I'd happily put her books on the same shelf. She is also quicker in pace and while the action isn't non-stop, she had me gripped and wanting more. If I were to award marks out of 5, she'd get a 4 and I'm a hard marker.

Pike and Shot and Zombies

2011-10-22T12:03:00.010+01:00

I mentioned previously that I'd come across these rules and since then I've downloaded them and had a good look through them. They've inspired me to adding yet another blog 'Tales from the Oltremare' and another project I really don't need.

I'll begin this mini-review with my criticisms, which is essentially that there are a couple of typos, but really they are insignificant and I've only mentioned them so I have something negative to say about the rules. One or two of the photos came out really dark when I printed them off too. If that is the worst I can find to say about them, you can tell I'm impressed, as they really are petty criticisms.

The game is set in the Thirty Years War era and works on the premise that a 'New Plague' has resulted in the numerous dead rising. Like all good zombie scenarios, the reason why is left to the imagination, but 17th Century minds being what they were; the 'End of Days', witchcraft or those bastard Protestants/Catholics, are all possible catalysts. There is no reason why you can't use the rules for earlier or later outbreaks and there is sufficient weaponry and armour details etc for you to do this without making your own rules up, as 'archaic' weapons and armour can be found in the supplements 'Lost Valley Survivors'.

The game is designed for a group of players, with one or two characters each, with an umpire handling random encounters and of course the zombies. I am quite confident that it wouldn't be a stretch to play it solo, as there are some random aspects to the zombies, so pretty much everyone can enjoy this at some level.

The layout of the rules is pretty similar to that of Games Workshop, clear prominent titles, clear text and easy to spot what you need at a glance. Tables are there for the important bits, so they stand out too. The additional rules in the supplements are single page additions too, so you can easily slot them into the main rules to keep them sectioned where they belong and without having to scoot through the rulebook to find the add-ons. I liked this. What would have been even better, would have been a new quick reference sheet included in the supplements too, to include the new stuff. It wouldn't be rocket science to make your own though.

There are rules for pretty much everything I can think of, including one or two I hadn't and seem quite obvious now that I think about it, impaling a zombie on your spear and having him walk up it being the most obvious example. Clearly the author and friends have played quite a few games with these rules and it shows with the level of detail included. I haven't played them myself yet, but I'm confident that it will all go smoothly. There are lots of little add on rules, chance event cards and other goodness, which rack up the tension and add to the enjoyment.

There is no magic in this setting, only the belief in magic. The supernatural and otherworldy is something your players experience but can't use themselves. What your men can have is 'arcane knowledge', which translates as knowing (or not) what to do to combat these occurrences. Having too much arcane knowledge can have its drawbacks however.

What sold these rules to me in the end was the 'out of game' rules, the stuff that happens between games. I distantly remember being able to walk into the market at some obscure town in the middle of nowhere and being able to buy literally anything with the spoils of my adventures. You can't do that here, you need a new pistol, you have to take your chances with what is available. You can have all the money in the world, but if the man doesn't have it for sale, he doesn't have it.

Other after game touches involve the player's actions in the game itself. These result as either random events, or as accusations from other players. As a result accusations of; cowardice, theft, murder and, especially if you've displayed a touch too much arcane knowledge, witchcraft, are real possibilities. Trials result from these accusations of course, with the inevitable 17th Century punishments applied if guilt is proved. On the other side of the coin, you can visit 'the cunning folk' if you can locate them, for advice and to increase your arcane knowledge.

Another nice touch is 'Geist' - the zest for life. This factor goes up and down in relation to events. It's like a mix of morale and luck. It allows you to re-roll some failed rolls, or if it is depleted, forces your character to become world weary and give up. Not something you want to happen in the middle of a fight! It can however be transferred by one character to another to perk them up a bit... doesn't always work and some people need more cheering up than others!

The zombies are well thought out and besides the typical mindless shambling shells there are a number of special types you can include, or not, as the fancy takes you. These are quite good and although appearing as individual 'specials', alone or within a larger group, can really scupper your plans to deal with them. They are not overly powerful in their own right, but provide a 'degree of inconvenience' within the game. Besides zombies there are an array of real world opponents, whether they are opposition groups, or wild animals.

The scenario packs I acquired; Plague City and Last Valley Survivors each contain a set of linked adventures and missions to undertake. The background fluff on these is not overwhelming and the scenarios quite challenging and well thought out. LVS adds some new weapons and both sets add extra event cards. There are other supplements besides the ones I bought and you can find them here.

Overall I think I got value for money and a damned good game into the bargain. I don't see the game being any more complex than Mordheim and pretty much everything you're likely to want to do is covered by a rule. The core rules seem straightforward and there appear to be no surprises as such within them. I recommend them with no reservations.

An Expensive Month

2011-10-15T14:58:00.001+01:00

My endless prevarication over what to do and what not to do, along with getting sidetracked by other shiny things, has cost me a bit this month. I've mainly been investigating rule sets, either as the main set 'to use' or merely for the value of the lead porn contained within them.

First off was the sale at Warhammer Historical, which resulted in the purchase of the Ancient Rules V.2 and the long awaited 'Over The Top' supplement for Great War. I don't see Warhammer Ancient Battles (WAB) as 'the' rule set by any means and I don't do ancients, but as a skirmish level set for Medieval/Renaissance they will work fine. I have the Siege and Conquest supplement along with Armies of the Age of Chivalry too, so that rounds off WAB for me. The long awaited (two years iirc) 'Over The Top' supplement was finally released in August. I bought 'Great War' to use for SCW skirmish games, as the Warhammer system is pretty straightforward and well known. OTT was bought on a whim in the sale and to be honest is an excellent supplement, such a shame that Great War players have had to wait so long for it.

Force on Force Ambush Valley arrived from Amazon this morning, a week ahead of its release, Go Amazon! Intended as a supplement of the main rules, rather than a stand alone set, I'd definitely say value for money here. It's crammed with organisational detail for all of the combatants, interspersed with art from the Osprey books and has some bolt on rules and vehicle stats specifically for the Vietnam War, for use with Force on Force. At £10+ compared to the £15 rrp, a definite bargain. Even the main rules are £10 cheaper from Amazon. For the price Ambush Valley is worth buying as a general reference work, even if you don't play FoF as the 'rule specific' detail is only a small portion of the book. They are due to release Bush Wars for conflicts in Africa from the 1960's on, so on the strength of Ambush Valley, I've pre-ordered, it is that good!

Black Powder I've mentioned previously and although I'm dabbling with using it for Renaissance games, it's likely that Warlord Games will have released a Pike and Shot specific version before I get around to playing them.

On the subject of Pike and Shot, there is the aforementioned Pike and Shot and Zombies rules and supplements from AB One Games. I'm pretty stoked with these to be honest and I fully intend to review them presently. For now I'll content myself with saying that it's a great concept and despite that they should have been proof read before publishing, they are excellent and well thought through. Clearly some time and thought went into these.

The last significant purchase this month was Field of Glory Renaissance and the supplements; Trade and Treachery and Wars of Religion. Again bumper discounts at Amazon saw me get these for just under £40, a saving of about £17 overall over the rrp. I can't rave about these, other than to say that they aren't DBR on steroids like I half expected. I'm not a competition gamer, but these appear to be pretty decent rules and lists overall. Time will tell on whether I immerse myself in these or not.

The only thing lacking from my 'rules stable' is a good set of Post-Apocalypse rules. I'm tempted by Ambush Alley's Tomorrow's War, but while an excellent core system, I'm looking for something a little more RPG and characterful, that isn't 40K. For the most part I've been looking at free wargame rule sets and there are a few which show promise. Warlord 2085 (Skank Game to some of you) and Wastelands, being front runners. Commercially, Two Hour Wargames 5150 is a possible as I liked ATZ. They were also set to bring out After The Horsemen, but things seem to have gone quiet on this.

Black Powder Mods

2011-10-12T12:15:00.004+01:00

Inspired by an idea put forward by Warrior Pope, I decided to invest in the Black Powder Rules from Warlord Games for my late Medieval/early Renaissance setting L'Arte della Guerra and adapt them for use. It may have made more sense to buy Hail Caesar, but my rationale was;

Neither book is cheap, so it was one or the other.
My setting would move forwards towards the increasing effectiveness of firearms and away from hand to hand combat as a battle decider.
I'm more likely to delve into the area actually covered by the rules, particularly Colonials, in the future.

There is rumoured to be a Pike and Shot version in the pipeline, so I'll probably go to those in the future, but at present I've opened a page up on here for the mods I've made.

Pike and Shot.... and Zombies?

2011-10-09T15:50:00.002+01:00

So there I was giving myself a congratulatory slap on the back, for embarking on a wholly genuine 'historical' project (L'Arte Della Guerra), when I read this, which led me to this. Now I have very conservative views towards fantasy games, I think they're rubbish, as is the bulk of science fiction. A personal and very biased view of course, for which I make no apologies. While I enjoy some suspension of disbelief, I have my limits and they are usually limited to the 'believable' or the low key elements.

Ghouls in Fallout, yes, Super Mutants meh! Xenomorphic 'bugs' and a race of alien hunters, yes, plasma rifle wielding bunnies, no. Robotic and android psychopaths and evil computers, also yes. As those of you who have been following my many plans and changes of direction will have seen, I'm not shy of distorting historical facts and events to suit my needs, or of even creating places that don't exist either. Zombies are definitely on my wavelength though.

While scouring WH Smiths and Waterstones (and sadly once upon a time, Borders - how I miss that place!), I've frequently come across the 'Dark Fantasy' section and after swallowing the bile that inevitably rises to the back of my mouth when it catches me unawares, I quickly move on past it. Besides the Twilight crap, there's a variety of Zombie and other fiction, which takes them out of their normal modern or near future setting and puts them into the realms of the classic novels, or other historical eras. While I'd normally be willing to join a torch wielding mob and hunt down the authors of this drivel, on this occasion I actually find myself thinking "good job!"

I don't own P,S and Z (yet), but on perusing comments and reviews about it, the idea is, in my opinion, a good one. While the setting could easily be transferred to any medieval or early modern setting, particularly where plague is rife and the belief in witchcraft etc is accepted, the authors have chosen the Thirty Years War. This to me was a brilliant idea, as that time conveys to me the idea of a continent wracked by war, disunity, social and religious upheaval and whole areas devastated by famine and disease. Bring on the Zombies! Awesome!

Sad to say these aren't mine, they belong to
Vinlander, who posted details of a game played
on LAF.

Now this isn't some variation of Warhammer's 'Tomb Kings' or 'Undead Counts', it's the real 'Romero' shambling article versus a small group of survivors, although I understand there are a number of zombie types, including 'fast' zombies too, so you'll likely be spoiled for choice. The main rules are $14 US on pdf, with supplements selling for around $5 US, of which there are three. Not to be sniffed at and only slightly more than I'd spend on a McDonald's or a packet of cigarettes. Worth a look at least, I know I will be.

My immediate thoughts were of sailors returning from voyages to the New World and bringing this 'disease' back with them, in the same way as some people believe syphilis to have been. A zombie outbreak in Italy after 1495 would certainly fit my plans somewhat!

1650 'With Cape and Sword'

2011-10-02T13:30:00.001+01:00

Just an update on this game for those of you who don't already follow Tercio Creativo. They've put up an English copy of the rules for download here, along with the background here. It's free and worth a look in my opinion, although it still needs some editing here and there. The printed rulebook and cards etc will be available before too long and it's a good opportunity to see if this game fits what you like.

That's all folks!

2011-09-30T07:40:00.002+01:00

No I'm not going anywhere, I've just finished doing the basic groundwork for my current projects. It's been far more work than I expected, especially considering that it's all 'made up'. I like to keep things as real as possible and have a coherent background, so there's been a lot of reading for the semi-historical stuff and I do get easily sidetracked... especially on something so complex as Renaissance Italy. There is still stuff to do; Bay City will need fleshing out a bit more, as will the other scenarios, but I'll be doing this as I go along, otherwise I'd be writing for ever and it feels that way already.

The brighter points of doing all this is that I've made a couple of discoveries. Firstly the game 1650 'By Cape and Sword' from Tercio Creativito. I featured some of the figures in my last post and they are currently working on an English version of the rules, of which the first 17 pages can be found here. I'm quite interested in this game, so I'll be following developments on this. I sense a fantasy element in this and by the looks of the figures, '1650' seems a bit too recent for the style. Still, does it matter if it's a good game? I'd say no. There's mention of 'plague people', so it might be the 'Zombie and Shot' era.

If you're a fan of the Three Musketeers, Captain Alatriste and even old enough to remember 'The Flashing Blade' on TV, then this should be right up your street! I'm not totally up on Spanish history of this time, but I seem to remember that there was conflict between the old aristocracy and royal favourites like the Duke of Olivares. Plots and rebellions galore and a great deal of societal and political unrest, all centred on a king in the mould of Charles I of England.

My second discovery was that a book on Caterina Sforza is due out shortly. 'The Tigress of Forli' by Elizabeth Lev. A contemporary of Lucrezia Borgia, she has been brought to the popular forefront by her appearance in Assassin's Creed II and Assassin's Creed Brotherhood console games. Which themselves are an awesome portrayal of Renaissance Italy. I've spent more time wandering around the open world of the games than I have playing them to be honest.

The real Caterina was far more intriguing than her fictional persona. Unlike Lucrezia, she was far more than a political pawn and took action on her own terms in an age where men ruled and women obeyed. Her most famous attributed comment was "If I were to write the story of my life, I would shock the world". Despite playing an important role in politics and the wars that rocked Italy in the late 15th Century, she outlived most of her contemporaries and unlike them died of natural causes. I can't wait to read it!

So what's next for me? Well it's about time that I got some figures painted and I need to start thinking about some terrain. Fortunately my choice of periods and areas of interest means that I can use one set of boards for everything. Not being possessed of vast areas of storage space, I'm going to have to be quite selective in how many boards I can have and to try and get the best possible utility from them.

L'Arte della Guerra

2011-09-23T19:13:00.002+01:00

My last side project planned is set during the time of the Late Renaissance/Italian Wars, kicking off around 1475, with a cut off point at present of 1512. I started my formal interest in the late medieval period at university, initially with the Wars of the Roses, but then continued into the Burgundian Wars and eventually to the Italian Wars. Most early Renaissance wargaming seems to concentrate on the Swiss and Landsknechts and the immense pike blocks of the later era from around 1512 onwards. To me the earlier period is more interesting because it's a transitional period between old and new.

The French invasion of 1494 brings the Swiss Pikes to Italy, along with field artillery and the heavily armoured Gendarme, all things which were new to the Italians and indeed the Spanish who opposed them, who were all mostly equipped in a much lighter fashion. While the handgun was in common us within Italy by this time, it was a weapon of the skirmisher, like the crossbow before it. Infantry were armed with sword and buckler, while heavy infantry carried long spears or halberds. Although cavalry was armoured, it was more used to fast fluid warfare in the Italian style. The French swept all before them and were only forced to leave Italy as a result of their extended supply lines, which was constantly harassed. In pitched battle the French were unbeatable.

The Spanish were to eventually return with a largely infantry based army of formed pikes with large numbers of handgunners, the Colunella, which was eventually to become the Tercio. In both defence (Cerignola 1503) and offence (Garigliano 1503), the new Spanish doctrine proved superior under Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, the 'Grand Captain'. While the French and Spanish were locked in their struggle, the rest of Italy largely got on with their centuries old petty conflicts.

The Borgia Pope, Alexander VI sent his son, Cesare, to bring the independent lands (although theoretically Papal lands) in the Romagna under the Papacy. Cesare had a mixed force, which included a Franco-Swiss contingent sent by Louis XII, along with the usual mix of Condottiere hired for the occasion. The various Italian nobles and communes that stood with or against Cesare, were the usual mix of medieval Italian troop types. A number of battles and sieges followed, along with the usual kidnappings, assassinations and political backstabbing (literally sometimes), that marked the Italy of the time. Cesare was successful in creating his own Duchy out of the mess, only to be stopped by the death of his Father, thus ending Papal approval, in 1503. Machiavelli's 'Prince' was forced into exile in Spain.

I'm going to start off around 1475, which will encompass the Neapolitans and the Pope against the Florentines and then onto the 'Salt War' of 1482-84 between Venice and Ferrara. My reasoning for this is that I will be able to play some small actions from the word go, and as my forces build I'll be ready to include the French and Spanish as it nears completion, rather than from the start. Like my other settings, I like to begin from a starting point and develop it as it goes, rather than leap into the middle and thrash about aimlessly.

Plenty going on, colourful troop types, small and large actions that don't follow the formal chess game-like actions of the big battles, and of course the elements that go to create a setting for very small scale adventures. This was after all the era when Shakespeare set 'Romeo and Juliet' and in which the popular computer game 'Assassins Creed II' is set. A definite change to the 20th Century interests that dominate my chosen periods.

I've no idea which rules to use for this. I have Warhammer Ancients and the Medieval lists for it and it will work for the size of actions I have planned. I'm also interested in using Rat Traps 'Gloire' for small adventure games, as I'm a fan of their .45 Adventure rules and they are very similar apparently. Field of Glory Renaissance might be an option too, but I'm not sure this will be anything like the scale of battles envisaged for those rules.

Figures are no longer the problem they were when I first looked at the period some years ago. The obvious break through has to be the range of plastic figures made by the Perrys for the Wars of the Roses, supported by their metal range. Add in that they do 'later medieval' heads to expand the time period for the figures, then the range will pretty much cover the militias and feudal troops for rural Nessuna and its surrounding areas, as well as the run of the mill French types.

Forty figures for £18... that's 45p a figure!

36 heads for £6.50 to mix and match with your plastics and/or the metal figures.

For the more fashionable and up to date mercenary bands and the Spanish etc, the choice is pretty limited, in my humble opinion, to The Assault Group's Renaissance range. Although largely confined to the later 16th and the 17th Century, they have started to produce figures for the Italian Wars. The Spanish and the Italians are out and I believe they are to be followed by Imperialists and French. From what I've seen they look great and seem spot on to me for the early Italian Wars. The range for the Spanish and Italians alone is pretty extensive and as I won't need many figures for them, some quite individual units can be formed.

Italian Arquebusiere.

Spanish Rodoleros.

I've always envisioned having a medieval town and castle setting as I'm odd like that and take playing with toy soldiers to the extreme (the playing with bit anyway). Naturally you need people to populate this place and to spectate while our heroes do what they do. In recent years there have been some good civilians made available to humour me. First off the blocks are Reaper Miniatures's Townfolk, of which there are a few packs that will be most useful.

Obviously overjoyed that the troops have returned to the city and been paid, these 'ladies of negotiable virtue' are just the thing!

Lead Adventure Miniatures have also recently released their range of Bruguelberg citizens, base on the works of Brueghel (as we spell it here). Great characatures, although some are too fantasy-ey (Yes! It is a word!) for my tastes.

This shouts 'Patrizio' to me... must have!

Last but no means least are the figures trickling out from Pro Gloria Miniatures. These tipped it for me and really look the part for the year 1500 or so. Pro Gloria are a small company, so I'm guessing new releases will be supported if the current ones sell.

Sculpted by Paul Hicks... that's enough for me to reach for my credit card.

Not a bad turnaround seeing as I originally thought I'd be carving spikes and skulls off Games Workshop figures to make this work. My only regret is that I came across another range of figures, which to be honest look fabtastic (Yes, that's a word too!). Tercio Creativo are a group of Spanish gamers who play a role playing game called '1650', based loosely around the time of the Captain Alatriste books. The figures are sculpted and then cast in resin and they look excellent. There was some talk of them casting them in white metal, so who knows how well this might take off?

Not many figures in the range so far, but they are awesome.

They are releasing figures slowly but surely and have recently released their first building for the range too. I'm not the slightest bit interested in this era, but I may end up being... just as eye candy alone it's worth checking out, the blog is in English and Spanish, so there's no excuse not to pay it a visit!

Post Apocalypse

2011-09-14T13:59:00.003+01:00

My predilection for science fiction, disaster movies, zombies and apocalyptic scenarios in general, not to mention the huge impact of playing Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas on my life*, has led me to dabble unsuccessfully in creating a scenario of my own which would combine these aspects, without plagiarising somebody else's (at least not too much anyway). Dangerous Brian has begun posting about his rationale on post-apocalyptic settings here and here, with more to follow. Reading the posts certainly gave me food for thought and I've spent a few idle moments here and there thinking about what background and elements I'd to like to include in my own setting.

I'm not a role player, I'm a miniature gamer**, but I do concentrate on the setting and the 'characters' of my games far more than many wargamers do. The buzz term might be 'Narrative Adventure Gamer' maybe or I might just be OCD, who knows. To get back to the point though, my setting will be somewhat dictated by the figures I intend to purchase to play.*** These are somewhat diverse unusually, as I normally zone in on one manufacturer or sculptor for a period and tend not to have to worry about compatibility problems between manufacturers. Fortunately I can blame numerous things for variances between figures... 'mutation innit' sniff!

There are a few pre-requisites however;

I don't do magic, psionics, or special abilities over and beyond what could 'conceivably' be possible... Batman good, Superman bad.
No Super-Mutants, mutants with super-powers, psionics or magical abilities.
No monsters... Monster creatures sure... giant spiders, scorpions, the full Harryhausen schtick definitely.
No aliens... probably.
No zombies as such, feral rabid '28 days later' style infected without a doubt though.
Fallout style Ghouls for sure. I like the idea of small groups of deformed and shunned original survivors, some of them with lost knowledge, others with, well, lost everyday dull memories to relate. How annoying to run into a 'survivor' of the event and expect some revelation of how to make something really awesome, only to find he was a janitor in the old days. I know you'd go mental right?
Robots and paranoid Artificial Intelligences... HAL, Skynet, Colossus, Proteus IV, Marvin the paranoid android, Bender, WALL-E. Okay maybe not the last one.
No Matrix... seriously. The only thing humans can power is a treadmill.. ah... yes.
Slavery, bound to happen, it does now.
Differing levels of tech and patterns of settlement. Tribals, settlers, bottom feeders and vault-dwellers, the usual suspects.

There are one or two contenders on the 'To Buy' list already and in no particular order they are;

Lead Adventure Miniatures
Real post-apocalypse looking folk. They have a 'Russian' feel to many of the figures a la 'Stalker' in many cases, but I have a plan for that.

Pig Iron Productions
Lots of useful figures here, providing I can find a use for them.

Pig Iron Kolony Militia

West Wind Productions
By and large the Secrets of the Reich/Weird World War Two concept turns me off quicker than the wrestling scene in Borat, but there is one (more than that actually) diamond in the rough in their Incursion range....

Incursion APE... now that's what I call power armour!

Corvus Belli
The Infinity range of miniatures, available from in the UK from Arcane Miniatures. This range has some awesome figures in it. Some are a bit too Manga for my taste, but the odd one or two really float my boat. Very pricey (well into the GW end of the market)... but ultimately worth it? Maybe.

There are some awesome figures in the range, like Van Zant here.

Hasslefree Miniatures
Hasslefree's Adventurers range has some great near-future figures, which I might work in as some form of vault-dwellers, as they don't really have that post-apocalypse feel... more like 'as the apocalypse is happening' than anything. Great figures though.

Just one of a very good range.

Antenociti's Workshop
The G.O.T. range has some vault-like and other figures in is ranges that are quite attractive.

Wales and West Security, just part of a good range.

Crooked Dice
The miniatures that have come out for their 7TV game are some of the most original figures to appear recently. The game itself looks good fun and worth a visit to check it out.

Agent Pandora King with a Vault Suit paint job.

There are of course so many other manufacturers out there with figures suitable, but these for me are the cream of the crop of the not so often seen figures about.

*Do you know anyone else whose favourite house ornaments are a Vault Boy bobble-head and a Vault-Tec lunchbox? Thought not.
** In the loosest sense of the word, seeing as I am not a member of a club, have no painted miniatures and currently nowhere to play games.
*** This is where I win for once. Unlike most wargamers, who buy stuff on a whim ('Ooh shiny') and have a huge lead mountain of stuff they'll never get round to painting, I just have a huge collection of bookmarks on my laptop connected to stuff I'd like to buy one day... an electron mountain if you like. It's way cheaper and the painting is far better.

OPLAN 316/62 Cuba and World War III

2011-09-03T23:49:00.001+01:00

My favourite 'What If' scenario has always been a war over the Cuban Missile Crisis. It's not as far fetched as some and provides some interesting possibilities for those interested in the pre-Vietnam era. While the war in Cuba might have been over relatively quickly, given the US forces committed to it, it is not impossible that the Soviets would have put pressure on the Berlin Corridor, which may also have resulted in a war in Europe. Fortunately in the real world cooler heads prevailed and crisis was averted... but what if...

Cuban Forces

MNR man a D-84 85mm AT Gun on the Malecón,

Havana 1962

The Cuban armed forces were still in the process of receiving and integrating Soviet equipment into their inventory in 1962. Much of the equipment was dated, although on a par with what other Warsaw Pact nations had in their forces. The bulk of their tank fleet was composed of the T34/85, although they also had IS2 and SU100 vehicles as well. BTR40 and BTR152 armoured personnel carriers had been ordered and delivered, although not in appreciable numbers. Air defences were largely quad 12.7mm DShK and quad 14.5mm KPV machine guns, for low level defence, with larger calibres for other ranges. 85mm and 100mm AT guns and the usual 75-82mm recoilless guns would have rounded out their anti-tank inventory. The Cuban Air Force (FAR) had begun to be equipped with the MiG17 fighter.

Cuban regular forces were unlikely to have been much opposition alone for the US, but it could also call on large numbers of Revolutionary Militia (MNR), who although only equipped with light weapons, would be likely to have been a thorn in the side of US forces, as were the Viet Cong a few short years later. The myth of an oppressed people yearning to be 'free' had been put to bed during the Bay of Pigs invasion and it is likely that they would have resisted a US invasion.

Soviet Forces

Soviet servicemen incognito, Santa Clara 1962.

The US badly underestimated the Soviet strength on the island. They presumed there were three Soviet Motor Rifle Brigades, when there were in fact five. These had been drawn from the Leningrad Military District's divisions and were equipped with the latest front line Soviet kit. Open topped BTR 60 personnel carriers (possibly some BTR 50), T54 tanks and possibly ISU122 assault guns, are the likely items to be found. While the strategic missile forces had been located by the Americans, the Soviet battlefield nuclear capability hadn't. An extensive SAM umbrella had also been deployed, along with two squadrons of MiG 19 and MiG 21 fighters.

American Forces

The American invasion plan was to consist of an extensive set of air strikes against the known strategic missile sites. This was to be followed by days of aerial bombardment to destroy known unit positions, SAM and AAA batteries and any targets of opportunity. Almost the full range of then current US aircraft types were deployed to enable this and to provide air cover for the attackers. The air campaign was expected to last between eight and eighteen days.

The invasion itself was to be conducted by two corps of troops. XVIII Airborne Corps, composed of; 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions, 1st Armoured Division and the 1st and 4th Infantry Divisions. The II Marine Landing Force, composed of; 2nd Marine Division, 5th Marine Regimental Landing Team and the 2nd Infantry Division. The reserve unit for the landings was to be the 5th Infantry Division and a Brigade from the 2nd Armoured Division. With the exception of the Airborne, Marines and 1st Armoured Division, the other units hadn't converted to the ROAD type division and was still organised as 'Pentomic' Divisions, which may have caused some command and control problems for the US.

US Marines on manoeuvre in 1962, M1 rifles and M1919

machine guns in plain sight.

The Airborne Divisions had been wholly equipped with the M14 rifle and M60 machine gun, by the time of the crisis, but other units would have had quantities of M1 rifles and carbines, along with BARs in some units. Photographs exist of troops deploying from M113 carriers in Germany in 1962, who are armed with M1 rifles, so an eclectic mix of troops would have been seen. The 1st Armoured would have had the M48 Patton tank and M113 carriers, but it is possible that M59 or M75 carriers may still have been in use. I understand that the tank battalions in the infantry divisions were still largely equipped with M47 Pattons. Most of the infantry is likely to have been leg infantry or truck bourne units.

The third American force was of course the US Base at Guantanamo Bay. This had been reinforced to nearly six thousand marines and armoured forces there included the M103 Heavy Tank. As the base itself was a disputed point with the Castro regime, it is likely that forces would have been earmarked to attack it if the Americans invaded.

The Campaign

The American assault would have commenced with air drops by the 82nd and 101st, either side of Havana, on the two large air fields capable of receiving heavy transport aircraft. The Marines and the 1st Armoured, would themselves have landed on the coast, again either side of Havana and rushed to link up with the Airborne Divisions. Follow up landings by the Infantry Divisions would have resulted in the encirclement of Havana, followed by its taking.

Heavy air strikes would likely have resulted in the loss of the Soviets and regular Cuban divisions, once they had been located. This is likely to have followed limited counter attacks on US forces. The US troops had little in the way of NBC equipment for the landings and would have been vulnerable to chemical and nuclear attack if these had been deployed. Horrendous casualties would have been inflicted on the US forces, with the exception of those buttoned down in their Pattons and M113s.

Presuming this type of attack didn't take place, then it is likely that an extended guerilla war over the rest of the island would have taken place. The Americans planned to deploy National Guard units on the island following the invasion, but it is likely that continued resistance by regular remnants and MNR forces would have meant a mini-Vietnam for the US.

War in Europe?

The Centurion, second most common tank after the Pattons.

There had already been a stand off between NATO and the Warsaw Pact over Berlin, which had only de-escalated the year preceding the missile crisis. This had resulted in a stand off between Russian and US tanks at Checkpoint Charlie at one point. It is entirely likely that in the event of the US attacking Cuba, the Soviets would attempt to close off the Berlin Corridor and occupy the Allied sectors of Berlin. This would result in war without any question. While much of Europe was equipped with US equipment, including M46 and M47 Pattons, M4 Shermans, along with M24 and M41 light tanks, there's also Britain to consider. The Centurion and Conqueror were the tanks, the FV432 and Saracen the APCs. The Saladin and Ferret were the mainstay of its light armoured types too!

Far from being the world ending nuclear apocalypse of the 80s, the nuclear weapons available were far fewer, so largely conventional actions would have been the order of the day. NATO possessed far more nuclear weapons and would only be likely to deploy them in a last ditch attempt to halt the Warsaw Pact forces. The Soviets were well aware of their nuclear inferiority, so would be only likely to deploy theirs as a response.

In all the period offers some interesting possibilities for conventional post-war actions. The Soviets have the numbers, but largely inferior equipment, while NATO has fewer forces and not all of it equipped with the best available. ATGWs are in their infancy and not widely available. Plus you would have Elvis returning to duty with 3rd Armoured Division as a reservist.. uh-uh.

32nd Armor's Scout Platoon puts one of its reservists through some refresher training.

Fallout Politics

2011-07-29T01:25:00.001+01:00

As part of my daily wake-up I tend to scan my favourite forums and blogs. I don't really have time to post answers or comments, so it's time for me to take stuff in without having to contribute. This morning I came across this article, which relates to the political background to Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas. While I was disappointed with the article itself: the writer doesn't pursue the topic to my satisfaction, or with any depth, it did get me thinking.

Pre-War America

My reading of what went before tends to bear out President Eisenhower's warning about the 'Military-Industrial Complex'. Essentially he was saying that there was an alliance between the defence industry and the military. The Military would push for wars to enhance their careers and influence, while Industry would push for wars for profit. The Military would demand bigger and better toys, and certainly more of them, Industry would naturally want to supply them. While you could argue that the post-Vietnam period backfired on this arrangement in the short-term, we could draw evidence from more recent conflicts to support an argument that this arrangement is alive and well.

We might even argue that war is becoming even more corporate as the Industry often supplies the manpower to fight these wars and the state is beginning to assume a progressively minor role as it persistently reduces the size of its armies. Industry is filling the vacuum left by these defence cuts and the state has far less control over the forces available. At what point will the balance tip to where Private Military Contractors have more troops available to them than the US Government?

The major differences between the Fallout World and our world, is that successive defence cuts don't appear to have happened and that Communism remained alive and well up until 2077. Unlike our world, where tensions between East and West reduced over time, the US appears to have remained rooted in McCarthy era paranoia. Another difference is that China and not the Soviet Union remained the biggest threat to peace. Given that US-Sino relations calmed somewhat from the 1970's onwards, I can only wonder about what went on to change all this.

The Military are the driving force behind technology in Fallout. Fission powered vehicles are derived from military use and Mr Handy is derived from Mr Gutsy - not the other way round. Even the Space Race is an afterthought of ballistic missile programmes. In the pre-War US of Fallout the Military Industrial Complex is alive and well - and in control.

'Real' Wargaming and the Value of Research

2011-07-29T01:24:00.002+01:00

I've noticed the odd thread and magazine article here and there regarding 'Real Wargaming' versus 'Imagi-Nations' and 'Made-up Wars', that appear to have the originators looking down their collective nose at those of us who make it up as we go along. What seemed ironic to me was that one of the forums supports a 'Modern' board which has a number of threads devoted to the 'Warsaw Pact Invasion of Western Europe' on apparently several occasions during the 70s to 80s... I know I was wild in my younger days, but how did I miss those? Obviously the comment 'There are plenty of real wars to recreate without making them up', doesn't apply equally.

I'll admit my settings are very anachronistic, but so what? People's ideas on what constitutes research varies. For some it's picking up the appropriate Osprey book, for others it's picking up several second-hand histories and picking the ones they like best, or 'the one' which fits their beliefs (sometimes they then go off and write a book or a set of army lists themselves based on 'what they know'). Few people also fail to appreciate that many military books are just rehashed versions of other books written by other 'experts', who've done any of the above as part of their research . Very few go off direct to the original sources and make an informed decision based on the evidence.

These ways of 'researching' tend to come across in figure ranges, rule sets and the games you see about the shows. It also leads to the perpetuation of wargaming or historical myths, which get perpetuated for years before they are challenged. What's even worse is that some people then commence to tell others that they've got it all wrong - at length.

I am of course just as fallible as the next person. The difference to me is that I know where research can go wrong, that's the only thing I'm 100% sure of. I also admit when I don't know, or I'm not certain, or spouting pure bollocks, when I'm talking. In my daily life my work has always required precise and detailed research and the examination of evidence, along with my forming an opinion which, if taken on board, can make positive or negative changes to someone's life. So sure, the very thing I want to do for relaxation is more of the same? I think not. It also puts things into perspective regarding whether my figures should have five buttons or six on their tunics.

It's a long winded way of saying I don't do research as such, which is not quite true in any case. I do research, it's part of the fun, however getting it right isn't a necessity and of course I can add in whatever floats my boat, or omit stuff I don't like. So maybe there weren't any Carden-Loyd tankettes in the SCW, but there sure will be in Hispañola. Don't get me wrong, I do admire the guys who can reliably inform you that, at 3.30pm on the 25th April 1942, the 110th Field Kitchen Unit lost half its draft horses and had to pull their equipment using camels*, but it's not for me.

Every wargame has an element of fantasy about it. Ancients gamers have happily pitted Ancient Egyptians against opponents that might date to 1485 AD, even in competition games. Napoleon has won Waterloo a few times and late WW2 German forces aren't forced to fight with shell-shocked and war-weary veterans who have to constantly keep an eye on the fuel gauge either. You can consider the multitude of armies who hit the table at full paper strength too. Is any of this real or somehow any more accurate than a British Civil War in 1938, or an imaginary island in the Caribbean?

Please don't consider this a rant as such. I just think that we should be more tolerant of others and what they choose to do for enjoyment and how they choose to do it. There's not room for anyone who plays with toy soldiers to be adopting a better than thou attitude really is there?

* I made that bit up, please don't quote me.

Zombie Biology 101

2011-07-29T01:23:00.003+01:00

I've noticed various comments regarding fast versus slow Zombies in games, which set me thinking about it. Personally I'm not fussed either way and I can see the need for both. I'm sure there are bound to be some very scientific articles out there on what makes Zombies tick, but here's my take on it.

I'm going to assume that the cause of the change is due to some virus or bacteria, for our purposes it doesn't really matter as they will have the same end effect. I'll call this the 'Agent' and I'll assume that the transmission method is directly latrogenic (contaminated blood enters through an open wound etc) and that the Agent is vulnerable (i.e. it doesn't last long outside the host)... in other words, you can't become a Zombie through sitting on a toilet seat. The Agent will have one major facet, it breeds on both the living and the recently dead.

Slow Zombies aka Shamblers aka OZs (Original Zombies)

Most simply these guys are infected at the time of death or very shortly before. Without the heart operating to push contaminated blood around the body, the Agent spreads slowly and it takes time for it to affect the brain. As a result of this, victims take a while to reanimate and are often destroyed due to autopsies (contrary to what you see in films, the brain is removed during an autopsy, so Zombies won't rise from the slab).

Those that avoid this process will take a while to reanimate, as the Agent has to spread under its own steam to the brain. The length of time this takes depends on how close the wound is to the brain and how many Zombies were at that particular sitting.

During this time rigor mortis will set in, making the limbs very stiff. Zombies (Type A) reanimating during this time will be moving very jerkily and erratically. Brain deterioration will be minimal, but only autonomic responses will be present due to brain death. The Zombie will react to light and sound and obviously hunger.

Zombies that take longer to reanimate (Type B) and those Type A's who stick around for a while, won't struggle with rigor mortis, but the deterioration of the brain will have advanced, so they will be less in control of their limbs, resulting in the appearance of 'rubber legs' as they move, along with a great deal of falling over and a general lack of coordination. At the extreme these guys will be reduced to crawling as they are incapable of standing up.

Over a period of time the Zombie's body will decay, presumably this process will be slowed as a facet of the Agent, otherwise our gallant survivors could just sit around and wait for them to come apart. Mobility will be reduced accordingly over this time period. Bloating will also occur after a time, followed by explosive skin ruptures... something to consider if you don't want to get sprayed with Agent impregnated fluids and bits at close range. Even blunt instrument trauma can cause a rupture, so let's be careful out there and keep a little distance!

The one thing about these Zombies is that they are running on Agent impregnated brains and nerve impulse alone, so gotta shoot 'em in the head, or sever the spinal column, to put 'em down for good!

Fast Zombies aka Rage Zombies aka Runners

Unlike the slow Zombies, these guys aren't actually dead... more correctly they are, but just don't know it yet. They start off as the ones who have encountered Zombies, lived and are now whining about this bite they have. The length of time it takes for them to turn into a marathon duration sprinting (or jogging if they were really fat, physics still exists after all) flesh devourer depends on two factors. First is the proximity of the wound to the brain, or a major artery. The closer to the head and the depth of the wound could make the difference between minutes or hours. The second factor is circulation and for once being unfit and having a poor diet wins out. Cholesterol and other crap coating and narrowing your arteries slows down circulation and extends the time you have left, not by much, but hey you might get to watch the sunrise one more time!

The Agent causes some cell rupture and necrosis on its travel, easily identified by the 'black vein' look and reddish tint to the infected area. It might be possible to sever an infected limb and save the victim, but you need to cut well above the visible extent of the infection and within minutes of the injury occurring. On reaching the head there may be some bleeding from the nose and ears and the eyes will appear extremely bloodshot. In many cases there may be vomiting of, or coughing up of, blood as the infection reaches these areas (depending on where the injury occurred, it will follow the pattern of circulation).

On reaching the brain there will be symptoms similar to a stroke along with bouts of loss of consciousness. The victim might experience some mental aberrations (hallucinations of the senses, incoherent speech etc) and the victim may have fits, or give the impression they have had a stroke. The brain is wonderful and will attempt to re-route its pathways to continue functioning, it's just that these built in redundancies don't work as good as the original ones. After a while even these will fail and this is when the problems begin.

Once the bits that make us human have deteriorated, we are left with just the brain stem, which is the bit that controls the basic functions, i.e. movement, alertness, basic motor functions and most importantly the need to feed. At this stage the host will feel no pain, so it will run (or amble) until it drops, ignore bullets and the severing of limbs and have absolutely no instinct for self-preservation. It will also not appreciate when it is full, so will eat till it pukes and then carry on eating again. Having no fight or flight response, it will attack anything that moves, makes a noise, or just looks plain meaty.

There is a plus side to these guys though and that is you can kill them like you would anybody else. A disabling shot or strike to head, lungs, heart, or other major organ, or massive blood loss, will be just as effective on them as you or me. Excepting of course that they will still try and attack if you are within reach, for as long as they remain conscious. The downside is that they will re-animate after a short period of time as a Type A slow Zombie, unless you got them in the head first time.

Over a period of time (likely to be less than a week after turning), the Fast Zombie will physically die and become a Type A in any case. The change will take place slowly as the brain stem deteriorates and only becomes really noticeable once rigor mortis sets in. As a result of this Runner Zombies will become rarer and rarer in comparison to the slow ones over time, especially as the numbers of victims available decreases too. Fresh victims will of course follow the same process, but a Zombie's advantage is with numbers of its fellows and for Runners, it really is a case of 'Dead Man Walking'.

On The Other Hand...

A weaponised Agent will have a time limit (after all we don't want to turn a whole country into Zombies, have them kill each other and then invade and have to kill them over again ourselves, do we?) after which the Agent and its host finally expire. Some natural organisms have survival built into their genetic composition however and a host that dies doesn't bode well for this. Therefore it is possible that the Agent may also act as a replacement for, as well as a destroyer of tissue. This would have the effect of prolonging the un-life of our Zombies, including the runners, resulting in them being a long term fixture for months or even years after the outbreak.

AWOL

2011-06-13T14:43:00.000+01:00

Apologies for no updates recently here. I'm working on the other blog when I have time right now, but I'm dealing with some real world stuff too. Nothing major, or any cause for concern, but it's not leaving me with as much time to spend on my hobbies. I have been keeping my eye on what is going on elsewhere though and there's some interesting stuff going on here and there.

Akula is pressing on with his Battlestar Galactica project and has commissioned some sculpts for his own use that I'm quite jealous of to be honest.

The Angry Lurker is, as always, providing interesting copy too.

There's also a number of good blogs down towards the bottom of the sidebar that are always worth a read. I only follow the best, so you wouldn't be wasting your time checking them out.

The Revolution takes shape.

2011-03-22T16:58:00.001Z

I've been tied up on other things, so apologies for not posting much recently. My Warlord Games US Marines and Chindits have arrived, which I will be adding to my Brigade Games US Marines from North Star, to create my Government and Guerilla forces for the Cuban Revolution. While the Government forces will only require a paint job, the Guerillas are going to need some extensive (to me) converting from the Chindits, particularly with regards to webbing packs and weapons etc. Warlord have also supplied me with M1 Carbines, M1 Rifles and Thompson SMGs, which I intend to use to replace the SMLEs and other obvious British weapons. I will have some Marines left over, who will also be added to the Guerilla forces. Empress Miniatures also supplied some suitable heads from the SCW range. The only flaw in my plan was not ordering some Green Stuff.

Warlord Games US Marines Pack.

Warlord Games Chindits Pack. The two Burmese guides will be set aside for a future project.

Both packs of figures are impressive sculpts, for which my pics don't do justice. I haven't taken shots of the Brigade Games ones (there are good pics of them on the North Star site), or compared them for size at this point. I'm going to have to sort through the figures and look for the most suitable ones for conversion, or for straight use as applicable. I'll keep the blog updated with regular posts on progress, but don't hold your breath - I'm off to visit family in Spain at Easter, so I doubt much will be done before then.

Platoon Forward! Part Tres...

2011-02-22T09:52:00.000Z

The Guerrillas consist of a small M-26-M Cadre that has been sent to generate an insurgency in the area. Each one is a leader in his own right and is expected to lead a number of guerrillas which will fluctuate depending on the success (or not) of their activities. The group is isolated from its command and will wither or prosper on its own actions. Of course this may change should they become successful and someone higher up the chain wishes to attach a fifth wheel to their wagon.

Even during the grim struggle for liberation the opportunity to be happy and gay arises on occasion.

As the campaign starts the guerrillas will have a higher figure to leader ratio as they will have few supporters and be far weaker than their opposition in numbers. As they attract more support (I will likely make use of the ‘Developing the Insurgency’ section of the Ambush Valley rules for this), the ratio of ‘big men’ to ordinary figures will drop.

Guerrilla Leader – L3, Average, Even tempered, Egotistical, The Arts.

From an aspiring middle-class family, El Jefe has had the advantage of a good education and likely fell into the fashionable Marxist crowd at college (probably in the US), before returning to Cuba. Possessed of some charisma, intelligence and some theoretical training, his leadership factor is higher than that of his comrades.

He has a very bourgeois attitude to his nation’s culture however and regales his comrades with renditions of traditional folk songs round the camp fire. His dream is of a free Cuba in which he will play a crucial role, so it’s important that everyone is reminded of his destiny at every opportunity. Sometimes his men tire of his impassioned monologues, delivered before they go into action.

Guerrilla 1 – L2, Average, Bold, Naive, Government.

Although from a similar background to their leader, he is a staunch socialist with an unwavering faith in it being the answer to his nation’s problems. Difficult concepts and questions expressed to him are answered with ‘it will be better, you’ll see’, although he often has no real understanding of the problems likely to be encountered when the revolution comes.

He does however have some natural talent towards leading his men and will often take considered chances when he believes there is a chance for victory. He is likely to be popular with his men and although the butt of a few jokes, they are attracted to his ‘glass half full’ attitude to life.

Guerrilla 2 – L1, Average, Even tempered, Pragmatic, Wealth.

Despite his revolutionary ideals and generally socialist outlook, the struggle could be the making of this man and his family. So okay the revolution will result in a fairer society, but it will still need leaders, who should be compensated for their sacrifices. He’s not looking for the Presidential Palace, but someone of his stature should have a big house at the very least.

He’s not a gifted or imaginative leader but he does weigh up the situation before committing his men to action. His biggest fault is that he digs his heels in when faced with new ideas. This is reflected in his desire to ‘stick with the plan’ regardless, whether it be his revolutionary ideals, or the plan of attack, whichever is currently the subject of his considerations.

Guerrilla 3 – L1, From the ranks, Bold, Generous, Glutton.

The only true member of the proletariat in the group, this guy has seen the plight of the downtrodden peón at first hand. His response to a lifetime of want is to eat and drink to excess, while sharing what he has with his comrades and generally looking out for them. He takes considered chances in battle but is not wasteful with his men’s lives. He does a passable and quite funny imitation of the group’s leader when he’s not around.

Guerrilla 4 – L2, Military, Reckless, Glum, Hedonist.

Very much the outsider to the group, he is from a military family currently out of favour with the regime. He has some socialist ideals but knows that it will be a case of ‘meet the new boss, same as the old boss’ when the revolution is successful. He has a death wish, which is reflected in his almost suicidal actions in battle. He has some latent military skill which generally mean that his actions have so far been successful.

When not in action he’s solitary and morose and prefers his own company, except when there is a bottle or a señorita to join him in his pit of despair... 'live for today, for tomorrow...' The men admire his bravery and he is the topic of much admiration amongst those outside of his unit. Those men within his unit appear to have an un-revolutionary preference for rosaries and prayer. Nevertheless he leads from the front and wouldn't dream of expecting his men to do something he isn't doing himself.

Platoon Forward! Part Dos...

2011-02-21T17:13:00.000Z

Or should that be ¡Sección Adelante!

Taking my copy of Platoon Forward in hand I’ve decided to generate two opposing units for the Revolution. The first will be a Government Infantry Platoon based in a small town.

The basic characteristics consist of leadership class, background, combat temperament, personality and motivation. I didn’t do mine in any particular order as they are separate tables. It’s important to remember that neither force has any actual experience of combat, so leadership will reflect having been taught the ‘theory’ as well as any natural ability as a leader.

3rd Platoon, B Company, 18th Battalion.

The platoon has a single Lieutenant, aided by a First Sergeant, along with five other Sergeants. There are also four Corporals. I’m not going the whole hog so Sergeants will be all that’s required.

3rd Platoon on parade prior to deployment on operations.

Lieutenant - L2, Privileged background, Even tempered, Cunning and a Hedonist.

Presumably the second or third son of a grandee, he needs a profession to make his way in the world and he has chosen, or had chosen for him a military career. His leadership demonstrates that he paid attention at college and/or has some natural ability. This is supported by his temperament and he will consider the likely outcome of the options available to him. He can on occasion think ‘outside the box’. He would much prefer a posting which allows him to experience a life of wine women and song.

1st Sergeant - L2, Average background, Cautious temperament, Glutton, Sensible.

To rise to this level this is likely to be career soldier from a middle class or trade background. While he might have been very keen on his career to begin with, this has been replaced by a desire to see his time out and get his pension. He is unlikely to take risks unless and he will advise his officer against any action which may put him at personal risk. He likes his food and may have a drink problem. His leadership ability stems from his time served and the authority of his position alone.

Sergeant - L1, From the ranks, Even tempered, Engineering, Aggressive.

Coming from a family with a tradition of service, he is likely to be a younger professional, but with less ability. Despite this he is an aggressive leader, possibly expecting to gain further promotion in view of this. He has an interest in ‘engineering’ which I’ve taken as him being mechanically minded. I’ve put him as the Weapon Section’s NCO, which is the next senior position to the Platoon Sergeant.

Sergeant - L1, Average, Cautious, seeks wealth, generous.

Probably a younger son of a trade family, he’s serving out his conscription and is nearing the end of it. In view of this he is unlikely to take too many risks as he’s ‘short’. Although he’s constantly looking for ways to make money, he happily shares his gains with his comrades. He is probably popular with his men. His position as Sergeant of Guides allows him ample opportunity to ‘find’ things and he has the pick of the platoon for his guides.

Sergeant - L1, Military family, Even tempered, Government, obnoxious.

Like the 1st Sergeant this guy comes from an army family, but lacks the ability to progress onwards and upwards. He is a supporter of the regime and is likely to be a Falange member, hence his rise to Sergeant. He considers his options before taking any action. He is disliked within the unit as a whole and likely to be detested by his own men. This will have an adverse effect on his effectiveness as a leader.

Sergeant - L1, From the ranks, wealth, haughty.

Following the completion of his service, he re-enlisted and was promoted to Sergeant as a result. Money is his motivator and he looks for that big break that will set him up for life. He has an attitude and a sense of self importance that probably comes across as arrogance.

Sergeant - L2, Average, Cautious, government, egotistical.

Although a conscript this man has a natural bent towards soldiering as well as some ability. He is a avid supporter of the regime and possibly a Falange member to boot. A cautious man when in command, he also has a desire to let others see that he is good at what he does. When the opportunity presents itself though, he would be happy to take the credit for his men’s achievements.

Because the Lieutenant may have to interact with his company commander on occasion, I also generated a character for him. He is unlikely to appear in games, but his character and the relationship he is likely to have with his subordinates could affect the availability of additional support for the unit.

Captain - Privileged background, L2, Reckless, Position, Corrupt.

Likely to be an older version of the platoon’s Lt to some extent with a similar background. His leadership ability is nothing to shout about. His obsession with climbing the ranks and attaining high command rank makes him somewhat indifferent to what it will cost in terms of his men’s lives. Although likely to take ill considered actions in command, he is unlikely to be leading from the front any way. He is also aware that greasing a few palms and having his greased in return is the way the system works. So anyone expecting to be allocated ‘his’ men and weapons had better be prepared to make it worth his while.

Brush Fire Wars

2011-02-08T17:19:00.002Z

This is primarily where the focus of my projects will lie, in other words the 'Big One'. I've long been interested in Post-War conflicts across the spectrum and I intend to use this to pursue those interests. The plan is to begin with a low-tech counter-insurgency war, like the Cuban Revolution, hence the buying of WW2 US Marines etc, and then develop it through to a conventional war, along the lines of 'Vietnam and Rhodesia meet the Bay of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis'. I can't see me developing it past 1980 as 'High Tech' conflicts don't do it for me.

I have a bit of a thing for the 1960s, particularly with regard to the US Armed Forces, whether it's planes, helicopters or tanks. I blame this on a childhood spent building Airfix kits, or playing with 'old school' Action Men (G.I. Joe to you colonials). When I got my first couple there were no other uniforms than the US ones (although this soon changed) and even the ubiquitous M16 hadn't made an appearance in Action Man World - they still had M1 Rifles, M1 Carbines and M3 'Greaseguns'. Vietnam was on the news everyday, so I probably had more exposure to the US armed forces than to my own, with the exception of the Dinky Ferrets and Saracens etc that I had. The end product of this is an unfulfilled desire to have all this in a wargame period... and this is it.

With regard to rules for the period I'm quite well blessed, Force on Force: Ambush Valley (which will be re-released later this year), Charlie Don't Surf, FNG (2nd ed. of which comes out next month), and for big games Cold War Commander, are all good rule sets. It appears likely that I'll end up gaming this in 28mm, 20mm and 10mm for a variety of reasons, with 28mm being the initial starting point. Fortunately the conflict starts off very low-key and can expand as my collection does.

Post-War gaming appears to be getting a bit of a lift, the Mongrel Miniatures range appears to be sporadically available, there's a lot of Vietnam ranges and Eureka Miniatures (available from Fighting 15s in the UK) are releasing these shortly;

Eureka Miniatures 28mm ZANLA Guerrillas.

Hopefully these figures will match in with the Mongrel figures I already have. Eureka are believed to be releasing some Portuguese types in the not too distant future and already have Rhodesians out... damned if I can find them on their site though.

Rhodesian Light Infantry 28mm... so good you can't even find them on a website.

To be honest I thought that the RLI wore long trousers and it was the Selous Scouts that wore shorts and tackies... still there'll be no famine amongst Hispañola's insect population with these guys.

At the moment it's all WW2 style weapons and vehicles, but as time goes by I'll be introducing more modern* equipment into the setting to fit my whims. It's not going to be Bongolesia, but I hope you'll enjoy it.

Hurry up and wait.

2011-02-08T11:29:00.001Z

Hard to believe that we are way into February already. I've been off work with sciatica, so not much of anything has been done. I've managed to order some Brigade Games US Marines from North Star, along with some Warlord Games US Marines and Chindits, which between them will form the core of my forces for the Revolution. This will mean some converting for the rebels, so it will be interesting to see how many fingers I come out of this with at the end. I had intended to use some of the Mongrel Minis Congo figs for the revolutionaries, but they're still not back in stock at Newline. The folks at Newline did kindly provide some pics of what I'm missing out on though.

MWC004 Congo Mercenary Infantry with Rifle Advancing.

MWC005 Congo Mercenary Infantry with Rifle Advancing & Firing.

MWC006 Congo Mercenary Infantry with Rifle
Skirmishing.

MWC009 Congo Mercenary Heavy Machine Gun Team I.

MWC010 Congo Mercenary Heavy Machine Gun Team II

There is also MWC007 Congo Mercenary Infantry with Uzis, but no picture for them.

Newline have provided me with excellent service when I've dealt with them btw. It's a real shame that they simply can't get these figures to sell. I seem to recall a similar problem with Mongrel in the past though.

I've done some swapping and changing on the other blogs and narrowed it all down to three main themes. My plans for 2011 are to commence all of them - finishing them is not on the cards however. When I started all this, I wanted scenarios that could essentially be endless and to use the same setting for all my games. It hasn't quite worked out that way, but it's not far off. The Civil War setting will merge with the Revolution setting at some point, so is a finite project, whilst the Revolution setting can go on and on. Vault 16 is a separate project, but can make use of much of the basic terrain acquired for the other two. My next couple of posts will be recapping what my current thoughts are with regard to each period.

Platoon Forward!

2011-01-24T22:05:00.000Z

Being a reformed role-player, I miss the characterisation and small things that you get with an RPG. Wargaming on the other hand tends to be very impersonal, you have your units of faceless troops and at best you might assign a name to your Level II (or confident, bold or whatever) commander, but that is mostly pretty much it. You might relate your unit's past exploits in some informal way, but these rarely have any bearing on the games that follow. I was therefore quite interested to hear that Too Fat Lardies were releasing Platoon Forward, a generic campaign and characterisation supplement.

The supplement is specifically aimed at WW2 games but, with some minor changes, it could be used for any 20th Century setting. It's not rocket science to do this, so if you don't play WW2 don't let that put you off! The supplement is also very solo friendly too and I can see it being popular with this in mind. The supplement is aimed at TFL rules, but again would work pretty much with any set of rules with little change. The level of game is unimportant and it is suggested that the force commander and his immediate subordinates be given the treatment. However, if you, like me tend to get lost in the detail, there's no reason why you can't take it a level or two further.

The supplement is divided into three sections. The first deals with creating the characters themselves and this is achieved by random assignments of command and personality traits. This throws some flesh onto the bones and lets the player fill in the blanks - simple and straightforward stuff. Section two is primarily concerned with scenarios, which while being classic set-piece actions, contain sufficient field for variation built in to allow for the same scenario to be played a number of times. The final section is quite a corker though, as it contains rules for chance happenings; before, during or after the action. Our men get sick, transferred out, or even just have a bad day - they also interact with their own superiors, for good or ill. It sounds more complex than it is, especially as it's just a few tables and dice rolls to do all this.

I haven't tried them in anger yet, but this is what I've got from a quick read through. None of the rules will extend your games, or make them overly complex. The book keeping element is conducted between games, while the scenario generation is a pre-game procedure. Worth the money? Yes. Game changing experience? Yes. Pile of complicated tables and rules that I'll struggle to get right? No.

January Blues

2011-01-21T23:33:00.000Z

I can't believe it's been so long since I last posted, the time has literally flown by. I've been going over the background to my blogs and bringing them to relative completion. Essentially all of them are ready to go and I have a ready source of reference and a plan to work to. While it might seem to be a lot of plates to be spinning at once, it isn't when you examine it. Each of the periods will use the same or similar terrain and buildings and the two post-WW2 periods are going to be slow burners, due to the lack of vehicles and/or figures for them. This leaves the Spanish Civil War and the Cuban Revolution as the projects which I can commence straight away, so initially that is where my focus will be.

I'll be keeping this blog up to date with work in progress, before progressing to actual games etc on the blogs themselves. I'll be setting the ball rolling on the other blogs and slowly ramping their story lines up until such time as I can start to field figures for them and hopefully provide some eye-candy. At present all gaming is planned to be in 28mm, although it is likely that I may also obtain some 10mm for both The Cuban Revolution and The Spanish Civil War. I'm attempting to finalise which rulesets I'll be using and so far I've settled on;

The Spanish Civil War - Through The Mud and The Blood.
The Cuban Revolution - Charlie Don't Surf / Force on Force: Ambush Valley.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-20T15:17:00.000Z

Best wishes for Christmas (or your choice of mid-winter festival) and a happy New Year to all of you!

Welcome!

2010-09-25T10:14:00.000+01:00

Welcome to my main wargaming blog! I've been out of the hobby for a while and just getting back on my feet with regard to it. I'm planning on using this blog as the main focus of my main project - an imagi-nation based on a small Caribbean Island - Hispañola and its journey through the 20th Century. My other blog will be more loosely constructed and will focus on my interests away from Hispañola'.

My main interests (this week) are the Spanish Civil War, Post-War and Modern Conflicts and to a lesser extent World War Two. I'm also into 30's to 60's Pulp and Post-Apocalyptic/Zombie type settings, so I'll likely be indulging that somehow. Comments are enabled on this blog and I'm hoping that anyone passing by will use this facility!