Preview of Sunday's Game.

On Sunday we will be playing a classic Colonial game,full of fast moves,rude words and a bit of excitement!

 Scenario and table layout-two British players will be in my kitchen,being fed information from a heliograph team at HQ hill,for the first few moves!

Top photo is the Kraal,although there is a bit of Zulu activity,it is no threat.Second photo is the "Burning Force's Camp",bottom photo is the British HQ hill c/w heliograph team.

This is the reinforcement column,making its way to the camp,at first light-2 units of NNC,1 company of regular infantry,and a RHA battery.

Grrrrr!

Good news allround!

I have had a building surveyor to look at my garage/club house,and it has been given the "all clear" which means that we can resume our games-hurrah!!-in fact we will be having a Zulu game on Sunday,with,I hope, a full house(depending on how Graham feels after his bout of Covid.)

In the mean time I have been having a few solo games,on my re-vamped table,using my Kallistra boards.........................

I took inspiration from the game we had at Dave's house,and had a WW2(well, my version!) game,involving infantry and tanks-enjoyable and entertaining.

The infantry are cheap plastic figures from the Pound Shop(very basically painted) and the tanks were given to me by our mate Chris(and once again very basically painted!)

Hmm,yes,very basically painted,but they worked for my simple rules,and filled in a couple of hours!!

Next on the table was a complex ACW game involving the "Epic" figures from Warlord Games.

The "Rebs" held a hill and a farm-the Union had to take the positions,a Union division was due to come onto the table at move number 6,from a position on the Union left................

There they are,just waiting!!

The contest for the hill was fierce(Top photo) the "hidden" division makes its way onto the table on move number 6,as was met with withering volleys from the Rebs-yeehah!!-this was a touch and go situation-so tense!(bottom photo)

As the battle for the hill continued,the "hidden" division was now holding its own(steady!) and the Rebel right flank looked in peril.

Top photo shows that the Rebs have retired(it's good being retired!) from the hill and are forming a new position in the valley-top photo shows the "hidden" division making real in-roads and bringing all their fire-power to bear on the farm troops-time to retreat???

Top photo shows massive gaps in the Reb line,bottom shows the Union about to launch a full scale attack on the depleted Rebel forces-so it was all over,and time to lie down in a darkened room for me!!-marvellous stuff. 

So roll on Sunday,and back to "normality".

 

WW2 Spectacular.

Last night Dave hosted a most interesting and spectacular looking game ,involving Germans against Americans.The scenario was simple(always the best ones!)-the Americans had to capture a factory unit and supply dump-the Germans had to stop them!

Dave and Malcom(top picture) and Brian and Paul(bottom picture) discuss tactics etc. before the game started-I sat this one out due to poor knowledge of the period but enjoyed every minute of it!!

Both Paul and Brian had columns coming onto the board(from each flank) with troop carriers and tanks-Dave and Malcom had hidden troops and artillery,with their troop carriers and tanks coming soon-all was set for a great game.

OMG-that's too close for comfort-doesn't he look the part??

A grand looking tank,painted by Paul,rolls onto the table-this had limited success,as Dave's notoriously bad dice throwing let him down time and time again!!!-However there were some successes.........................

Tanks and infantry were going up in smoke and being pinned down by accurate gunfire-the factory looks to be still in German hands(Hans-get it??)-both Paul and Brian were getting blasted,but with more and more troops arriving,they might just swing the battle.

Although he was suffering,Brian is in the process of forming a good position-this is his "suffering" face...................

NO COMMENT!!

Dave has brought a unit of infantry to oppose Paul's advance on his flank,c/w a tank for support-this worked until superior fire-power and Paul's legendary dice throwing began to tell!

Close quarter fighting for the large hill on the German right flank-possession of this hill was crucial for the outcome of the game-the Americans took it after a hard and bloody struggle!!

Malcom's Stug(?) and two Shermans slug it out to gain the road leading to the factory-meanwhile Brian was putting a lovely out-flanking move into operation on the German left.

The German "high command" discuss what to do next!_Paul has driven a small tank down the road,cutting the German position in two-Brian is advancing with a light and medium tank on Malcom's prepared position-things are not looking too good for the Germans-however there was still more fighting to come,as the factory was still in German hands(no, I'll not crack the same joke again!)

German morale eventually cracked,and the Americans took the factory unit,winning the game-everyone agreed that this was a most enjoyable and spectacular game-thanks go to Dave.

I don't know when we will be able to use my garage again for games,but I live in hope-the main hope is that my garage won't have to be demolished along with next door's garage!!

Good News,Bad News!!

Good news is that no-one got hurt!!!-Bad news is that the "clubhouse"/garage is out of bounds for a while........................

 The brown garage is mine!!-next door's fridge/freezer decided to catch fire in their garage,wrecking the entire garage and conservatory,and making my garage subject to assessment tomorrow!!!-my entire house stinks of smoke,as can be imagined,and part of my garage roof is burned too.

The boys from the fire brigade did a grand job,but not before they had to demolish part of her garage wall!!

Aftermath!!-so no games until we get it sorted!!

Vikings vs Saxons.

We had a most thrilling and exciting game last night,involving Vikings against Saxons-Dave and I were the Saxons,whilst Malcom and Brian were the Vikings-this was because both Paul and Graham were laid low,with a chest infection(Paul) and the dreaded Covid(Graham)-get well soon lads! 

Scenario,map and table lay-out-nothing too complicated!

Detail of the Bay and Village-the Peasants defending the village were,well,very poor quality!

We're off!-the Saxons didn't move for the first few moves,but the Vikings had to try and get back to their ships,so movement was frantic for them!!

Top photo shows the Saxon reserve having to move towards the flanks to prevent both Malcom and Brian from out-flanking us,bottom photo shows the inevitable clash as the Vikings charge home!!

After a very brief defence,the village is in Viking hands,and the swines set fire to it!!

Top shows village ablaze!!,bottom shows the Saxon line being sorely pressed,but then disaster struck for the Vikings!!!!.........................

Brian,who should know better,put his Viking chieftain into a fray,to bolster their morale and fighting points,and Dave promptly threw the requisite dice to kill him!!-forcing all units under his command to take a morale test-they failed-oh dear,how sad,never mind!!!

With Brian's command and troops gone,the Saxons were able to shift troops to oppose Malcom,so we decided that the game was finished and that the Saxons were victorious-hurrah!!

This was agood game,plenty of laughs,banter etc.-next week at Dave's where we will be playing a WW2 game-roll on next week,and,hopefully,a full complement.