100 Followers: A Fine Excuse to Pay it Forwards

I recently had the great pleasure of seeing my follower count edge over the 100 mark, which calls for a celebration. I did manage to catch me hitting both 100 and a page view milestone:



Oh go on then, I think we can celebrate with a long-overdue giveaway...

I've decided to gather up a few books that I've acquired and pass them on within our fine community. As is tradition with these things, the following rules apply:
-You must be a follower of this blog
-One entry will be awarded for comments below. Please note/rank the books you would prefer to make it easier for me to distribute the prizes
-A bonus entry may be awarded to any that make a meaningful comment on a historic post of mine. There is a 'link within' widget at the bottom of my posts, or you can browse the archive to your hearts content. A maximum one bonus entry each is on offer and I reserve the right to discount any comments that aren't interesting/witty/relevant etc.
-As this is marking my current followers, no bonus entries for pimping I'm afraid (though you're welcome to tell people if you so choose!)
-The giveaway will run until 2359 on Sunday 26 January.

No doubt you all want to know what's on offer:

First up, 'The Forgotten Front 1914-18' by Ross Anderson. A detailed look at British, Allied and German campaigns in East Africa. I won this in a giveaway by Dave at One Man and his Brushes and rather enjoyed reading it over Christmas.



Next, 'Waterloo Recollections' edited by Frederick Llewellyn. A section of reports, letters and accounts of Waterloo. While it doesn't offer the modern historical style overview and meticulous research, it is an interesting read of accounts from people that were there. I was kindly given this by my first Secret Santa, who remains unidentified.



Finally, 'A Model Victory' by Malcolm Balen. A slightly different take on Waterloo, looking at how history is decided by the victors with its focus on the battle and subsequent story of the Waterloo Model that was finally finished by William Siborne in 1938.

Sharp Practice AAR: Clash at San Salvador

Last Sunday I had the great pleasure of heading to Wyvern Wargamers to put on a game of Sharpe Practice for Stuart and Bob. My Napoleonics haven't been out for a while (since October 2012, apparently!) so it was great to get them on the table, plan a game and play on the larger tables that they have available.

I pulled together a three-way scenario, with Stuart as a French, Bob using my Brits and me taking a weaker force of Spanish guerrilleros. Set in northwestern Spain 1809, a French force was pursuing the British hard, both forces having exhausted their supplies from the hard marches. The French push on to the town of San Salvador with the aim of seizing it by force and pushing the British back once again. The Brits rise from their bivouacs and resolve to give those damn frogs a bloody nose. Meanwhile, a band of local guerilleros descend to protect the town and dissuade either force from pillaging this fertile area further, hoping to bag a few French along the way.

Stuart had an entirely infantry force and a slight advantage in numbers from the start. Arriving in numbers starting with skirmishers, they promptly start identifying and peppering the British in the town square.














In San Salvador, the 95th Rifles take cover and trade shots. The British deployed in the town and with plenty of cover, remained fairly static.
















With initial rounds inconclusive, with both sides led well enough to remove shock in short order, Stuart makes a flanking move in force with a formed line, leading me with no option but to withdraw with my harassing Spanish. This and him wiping out another unit on the opposite flank out paid to my plans of being a thorn in his side as he engaged the British.




As the French line slowly rumbles into position to threaten San Salvador and bring some real weight to the French fire, British reinforcements arrive at the battle line. Light Dragoons - this could well get messy for one side, depending on the draw of the cards.

Everywhere else is a sideshow, with units trading shots for minimal effect and the guerilleros content with holding their ground. Probably the most important draw of the cards - if French Lt Gagon comes out first, the line gets a second volley to soften the impact of the charge. If the Lights come out first, they get a relatively fresh charge in. 

It's the British. The Light Dragoons crash through the swirling smoke on the unloaded French line. Despite the numbers of infantry, they are hurled back in disarray. Not a slaughter, yet, but the blooded British cavalry continue the pursuit (and merrily off the table...!).

Bit quiet around here chaps... 

We played out a few more turns of skirmishing, but in reality, that crashing cavalry charge secured a British victory.

Closing thoughts

I think a fun game was had by all, thanks to Stuart and Bob for indulging me and apologies for any glaring errors in scenario design or gameplay. In reality, I'd set both forces too hard a task - the French scored by taking the town but were initially faced with too stiff resistance to do so by force. I should also have made it clearer that I was an independent player with my own objectives rather than allied to the British. While I didn't actually do much damage to the French at all, my presence might have dissuaded Stuart from making a more aggressive assault.

The British scored from making French units lose their bottle or flee. But I'd forgotten how few kills are achieved from shooting in a Sharp Practice, especially when in cover, as well as the difficulties breaking formations and well-led units. Only the cavalry succeeded and even than, if they hadn't been so close to the edge of the board the French may well have been able to recover as neither unit was too badly mauled.

Both could supplement their scores by foraging the supplies in the area during lulls in the fighting, marked by the red and blue flags. My Spanish scored by denying the French and British access to these spoils and stopping them foraging, scoring for any left at the end. I'd added this secondary objective to encourage the forces to spread out and discourage an outright 'rush to the centre' that I've previously seen in Sharp Practice games. In the end each force grabbed an even number of supplies, leaving half for me. But the British scraped a victory through that daring cavalry charge forcing the French line to flee the table.


Cavalry are hard to balance in a scenario. A couple of volleys on them and they soon become ineffective. A lucky break and relatively unhindered charge and as seen here, they can hurl back two units. While that is a good trade but, it still leaves them quite badly mauled and not up for much more. This time, they were fortunate the French hadn't advanced far, as they ploughed right off the table and out of harms way. This feels like the right result, but makes finding a balance in force compositions a challenge. But all in all, the scenario could do with being refined a tad.

Gharak and I had dabbled with various mechanics of Sharp Practice, but perhaps our most rewarding tweak was changing the 'wound' tables and this game reminded me why. In future, I'd reinstate that rule and have the wound table at close range by 1-2 Miss, 3-4 Shock, 5-6 Kill. This gives real bonus to leaving cover to close on the enemy and unleash a volley for greater effect, particularly with a Sharp Practice card in hand!

On a positive note, the rules I'd given the guerilleros worked well. They deployed in small, fragile units of 6 men, making them easy to break or destroy. But to reflect their loose formation. knowledge of the land and ragged fire, I allowed them a free bonus move of 1D6 at the start of each activation, at a cost of losing half of their base shooting dice (6 men firing with 3 dice, plus modifiers). This special rule made then more mobile than the other forces, but less able to bring heavy fire to bear.

Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge: December 2013

With all of my free time being spent either at the painting desk or attacking the extensive list of household jobs and DIY, I doubt I'll get chance to post up each Challenge entry as they are submitted, so have settled on a monthly summary. This should also ensure I get chance to post up terrain, AARs and general rambles over the course of the challenge. I seem to have settled into around an entry each fortnight which is convenient as it will loosely follow the theme rounds. 

Upon picking up my brushes, the first painted mini was actually my entry into first theme round, 'non-combatant'. Finished in the first Sunday, a single miniature of a Napoleonic Cantiniere from Westfalia miniatures. Unfamiliar with French Hussar regiments serving in the Peninsula, I painted her Hussar jacket as the Spanish Maria Luisa Hussars. I liked the cheerful colours, offset by the yellow scarf and particularly with the rest of the colours I settled on being various browns. I really enjoyed painting this miniature and hope to buy more from Kawe at Westfalia. 

The theme round entries were all superb this time around and I can see I'm going to have to really up my game to have even an outside chance of coming top in any of them. I have now got something lined up for each round too! (mmm, points...)

After that, I ploughed into the Sudan project that forms the majority of my challenge box.  I started out with nine miniatures including one mounted, but the days rolled on an I had a deadline before I had to visit family for Christmas. Realising that I wouldn't get them done, I trimmed the batch to six. The rest will follow, hopefully in January. These are Perry plastic Mahdists, many of which have seen a scalpel, as I've around 50 complete now, so I've started adding variety. The flag is from Flag Dude and will permanently live on a command stand. The ones in units will get smaller banners, once I put an order in with Flag Dude. 

Next up, their opposition, some British infantry, specifically the Royal Marine Light Infantry. The RMLI were one of the first units to disembark at Suakin in 1885 following the Mahdist revolt. With a strength of 464 men and 14 officers, they fought at El Teb and Tamai. Their helmets, pouches and belts were lightened with white pipe-clay, which makes them quite distinctive from the other regiments in grey serge uniforms.

I thought I'd left the white cross-belts behind with Napoleonics, but it seems I'm a glutton for punishment. These took an age to do, particularly on the kneeling figures. But I'm pleased with the final outcome. 

The bugler and sergeant were finished back in May, but I'm very pleased the unit is now usable on the tabletop as I've had to use my mounted infantry as stand-ins to date.

Finally, a dalliance in the 'what-if': a British Hales rocket team. I'm not actually sure whether the British used rockets in Sudan, though I've seen a few references to Egyptian forces doing so. But I couldn't resist adding one to my force: I find the British perseverance with the rocket as a weapon of war quite charming and Hales rockets remained in service until well after the Mahdist revolt was brought to heel. 

This is a very fine Empress miniatures sculpt from their Anglo-Zulu war range, I just trimmed off the braiding on the cuffs. There are a few other differences in the uniforms, between 1879 and 1885, but if I'm honest, I could hardly tell so I didn't think it was worth the work to correct it as it could have all ended badly. The bombardier's uniform is pure conjecture. The rocket trough itself is quite delicate and I did accidentally crush it and to repair it I had to prop it up with a small rock!

After submitting the last of these last week, I've had a fairly dry week of painting. I have completed my 'villain' theme round entry and have bizarrely done quite a bit of prep work. This is because I've thrown down the gauntlet to Mr Awdry and Greg and am getting a bit panicky that I'm going to be steamrollered. Also, as I paint upstairs, the wife wasn't seeing much of me in our free time, so I've taken to spending an hour or so each night pottering downstairs, often doing smaller bits that I can set up on the coffee table. That includes prep and small terrain bits so far. 

Santa has sided with the Mahdi...

Image source 

...this year, with my Secret Santa delivering Muhammad Ahmad bin Abd Allah himself, the infamous guerrilla commander Osman Digna and more Ansar 'Jihadiyya' rifles to add to the painting queue.



An excellent choice, thanks Santa! And thanks again to Cath and Ian for organising us.

Wishing my fellow bloggers a very Merry Christmas filled with good humour and just the right amount of over-indulgence. I look forward to seeing everyone's finest work over 2014.

The Challenge Box

Slightly belatedly, this is what my 'Challenge box' looks like after what seemed like an eternity of prep work. I had to raid last years challenge leftovers to make it up to the ambitious target I set myself: 700 points. If I get all of this done I'll be very chuffed, though doubtless I'll get diverted by something new mid-way through (including my Secret Santa, no doubt...)

Some pointers to what will be coming:
-unsurprisingly, 'quite a bit' of Sudan, both Mahdist and British
-my Bloggers for Charity offering
-a last, long neglected unit of Bondi for my Saga Vikings
-some Portuguese Cacadores for Sharpe Practice
-many odds and sods, of course

I did fail miserably at clearing the half finished bits from the queue, annoying as that included a whole unit of Egyptian infantry. They've been moved to another box to be contemplated either after the challenge of after I've hit the big 700!

Oh, nearly forgot the overflow tray of 15mm US Paras:



Right, that's reminded me how much I've got to do, I must get back to the painting table

Taking Challenge Preparation to a Whole New Level

Having moved into a larger property a few months ago, it was past time to sort myself a decent hobby space. For years I've used the knackered Ikea dining table, setting up and packing away for each mealtime. While it meant I could watch/listen to TV and be with the wife at the same time, the recent delivery of a sizeable solid oak dining set had me search for a new location. Te new able is infinitely better for dining and entertaining, but it would be perilous for me to scratch or paint mark it.

I was originally allocated the loft. Seemed reasonable until I actually went in there in winter: its bracing, seemingly having been converted before silly ideas like insulation. Negotiations started over - where could I fit a long-term hobby space, without affecting our plans for the upstairs rooms? The second bedroom was the most credible, being quite large and with an odd space under the stairs to the loft.

The price of the wife's consent was acceptably low - I was welcome to a permanent hobby space there if I provided my assurances that I'd tidy projects away when we have guests staying so they can use the desk as a dressing table.

Deal. Off to Ikea we went. We unexpectedly returned with this corner desk, which barely fit into our car. But it fits perfectly in the space and gives a very good sized surface, as well as some pigeonhole storage for paint and current projects. I'll probably add some shelves above it for more storage. Truly large and temporary projects (terrain, probably) can still be done on the spare dining table, which has been relegated to the Baltic loft.



To be honest, I don't particularly like the look of it, it has an annoyingly structural shelf below so I can't fully stretch my legs out and white would have been the last colour I'd have chosen. Care to guess how many colours it comes in? Yes, one: white. But hey, it was cheap and should do the job admirably.



While in Ikea I had a bit of a moment at the storage boxes, coming back with somewhat more than the mere 6 I intended to buy. But this should allow me to rationalise the numerous cardboard boxes of terrain and supplies as well as the lead pile and store it all neatly in the loft. Win (or, I gained myself a massive job to do one coming weekend)



Of course, I also joined many of the challengers in the tradition of buying new brushes for the start of the challenge. This time I'm trying the Rosemary & Co Series 98 with triangular handles. Once again, delivered within 2 days, great service.



Tomorrow, I look forward to christening my new paint station.

Dining Room Table gaming: 10mm Chain of Command

This weekend Gharak and I got together to try out the popular new ruleset 'Chain of Command' by Two Fat Lardies. We dug out my fairly extensive collection of 10mm WWII British to face his Germans. Rolling out a 2' x 4' mat on the dining table and playing in centimetres gave us well over the recommended board size, though terrain was a little scant.

First Game
We rolled 'Attack and Defend' with Gharak attacking with 10 support points. I got half that - eek!

The Jump Off Points

After the Patrol phase, Gharak seemed to be set up to attack one flank, with me occupying the village and hilltop we dubbed 'Hill 42'. Gharak's infantry quickly filled the hedges and woods around his jump off points, covering the hilltop with a worrying number of MG42s.

With the tree line quite exposed, I take to laying down smoke with my 2" mortar...



...to no avail, as my lead Section is cut to ribbons by the combined firepower of two full German sections, with the survivors thrown back in disarray.



German armour arrives! My support was a Staghound MkII armoured car, which though fast and packing a fair punch against infantry, was well outmatched by the Panzer IV.

The first German assault on the hill ends badly, shot down as they reached the tree line by the sheltering Brits, who spent a Chain of Command action to withdraw out of sight.



The Staghound takes a battering and while not destroyed outright, the Panzer's fire eventually forces its crew to bail out. Not ideal, though its tenacity stopped the Panzer from joining the attack on Hill 42.



A second wave of German infantry soon followed up the hill and an ill-judged counter assault by my Brits brought my morale to zero and game over. We found Close combat to be brutal on the attacker, best reserved for sweeping up pinned and routed units.

Second Game
We also got a second game in the following evening, Brits probing German lines. Gharak played very aggressively, seizing the table centre with sections split. Fearful of the MGs, I played cautiously, keeping more in reserve and used the lee of hills and woods to avoid any crossfires. Eventually, an assault down the far left flank and deploying a second section to threaten the same on the right forced Gharak to give chase to head then off, while I used a double-6 double turn to deploy from reserve and open up with my Vickers team on an exposed team. With his morale dangerously low, Gharak conceded he couldn't prevent me from reaching my objective on one or the other flank. One game each!

Closing thoughts
In Gharak's words: 'this was the ruleset we were looking for when we bought the 10mm WWII'. We last tried 'Baptism of Fire' second edition, which was fun and had a solid core but the rules were sometimes felt vaguely written meaning we spent lots of time conslting the book and trying to decide what the most suitable result would be. Both games feel quite realistic, but CoC is more streamlined and the rules are much easier to understand and remember. The CoC PDF is well worth getting as it is well-seeded with hyperlinks to relevant sections (I got the hardcopy rulebook too).

Chain of Command didn't suffer at all from being played in smaller scale and multi-based units made it easier to handle, if anything making deciding which units could see easier. Also, being able to throw a flocked mat down over the dining table after dinner was very convenient.
We found the two forces played slightly differently, Gharak splitting his sections into teams more often while ai kept mine together  and focused to focus firepower and avoid crossfires from MGs.
We had a quick tester before this game to thrash out the game concepts, which was worthwhile as

CoC introduces a few new mechanisms. I particularly like the pre-game Patrol Phase and slightly random activations, which simulate the fog of war without being too restrictive and force you to adapt your plan as evens unfold. We didn't find the Chain of Command points to be particularly powerful. Yet the core of the fighting are quite simple which is ideal for us playing infrequently, the similarities to Sharpe Practice are an advantage too!

All in all a very worthy addition to the rules stable, and one I think we'll play semi-regularly. I look forward to getting a few more games in - I'm eyeing up a small platoon in 15mm so I can grow down a few games at Wyvern Wargamers.