Wargames at Club 21st April 2008

On Monday night we had 2 World Wars at once. World War 1 upstairs, World War 2 downstairs on the big table. As per usual, I took photos to document the games.

The World War 1 game used some of our new trench terrain boards. Mark Alcock was the Germans, this time they were attacking. John Ogden and Andy Sharp were the defending British. Schwerpunkt rules were used as normal.

As you can see, 2 "No Man's Land" boards and 2 Trench boards were used. John and Andy had a trench board each with John taking the trench board in the top right of the photo.

Close up of some of Andy Sharp's British in a trench.

Close up of some german figures. All painted by Joe Dunn, our professional figure painter. Mainly drawing your attention to the figures on the left which I was not sure I had seen before. That's right, they're holding a rather large flamethrower between them.

More view of the game action. Believe the white circle above the trench was used for mortaring with a smaller one used for grenades. Mark's germans lost in the middle. However they took the trench where the circle is located in this photo. In the lower end of the battlefield, Mark did manage to make it to the trench which he would have taken. Much of those forces near Andy's trench were pinned down for a while. Mark did lose his mortar before the game was over. The germans won, entering the trench from John's end, slowly working their way down. Mark would have taken Andy's trench. However the germans would not have been able to hold it with so few men. In reality, a British counter-attack would have followed shortly afterwards.

Andy Sharp's Sopwith Camel flying over the Battlefield. Actually it wasn't in the game but it was too good not to take a photo of.

A much better shot of Andy's Sopwith Camel.

A view from one of the British Trenches. The British figures in front are all John's.

A "flat" view from behind the British Trench, looking straight ahead across the battlefield. The British figures in front all belong to John Ogden as does the machine gun at the forefront of the photo.

These German and Italian figures and vehicles all belong to Dave Tuck. It was British v Germans on the Desert terrain again using the Blitzkrieg Commander rules. Ron Skeet was helping out Dave Tuck this time.

Some of Dave Tuck's German Artillery.

German occupied building. Looks a little crowded though.

View of the British Artillery. All British forces by Steve Mercer who was playing, ably assisted by Jase "Devildice" Whitfield.

View of the Battlefield. Apparently it was a draw though the British lost slightly more casualties than the Germans. Close game.

World War 1 Trench Assault - The Trench Boards Christening

Aside from the ACW Naval game going on upstairs, downstairs was a game I had been looking forward to seeing for ages on Monday April 14th 2008. You see for months now I have been following the creation and development of the WW1 Trench Terrain boards from the beginning. Some photos and mini updates had even appeared on this blog for a while. On Monday night those same WW1 Terrain boards finally got christened.

All the Trench Terrain boards have been built by Andy Hamilton and Mal Taylor.

Now for the game:

On the Germans side was Mal Taylor and Mark Alcock. The Allies were made up of Paul Robinson's American "Doughboys" with the British forces of Andy Hamilton and John Ogden. Paul's son James was also helping out with the "Doughboys".

Both sides had near enough set up. Paul's son James is in the top right corner with the tape measure. As you can see there are 2 lines of trenches with what are apparently communication trenches between them.
You can also see craters spread out across the boards and barbed wire fences.

Close up of some of Mal Taylor's germans inside one of the trenches.

One of Mal's german field guns with the secondary trench behind.

The Americans, these commanded by James, begin their advance on the german trenches. The objective of the game was basically for the Allies to attack and take the trenches.

A view of the game. You can see the Allies advancing.

Another close up of Mal's germans defending the first trench. The bunker/pillar box behind was entirely scratch built by Andy Hamilton.

Paul's "Doughboys" under James' command, are the first of the Allies to reach the trenches and attack from above.

Mark's German Artillery with crew. All of Mark's Germans were painted by Joe Dunn, a club member who is also a professional figure painter. You want Joe painting your figures.

As the Allies were attacking Mark was understandably constantly firing his Artillery which didn't always hit. Approximately half way through the game though it blew itself up. Most annoying thing to happen when having your trench invaded by enemy soldiers.

A view down Mark's German's side of the trench. Mark's German's occupied about one half of the trench while Mal's occupied the other.

Andy's British fast approaching Mal's German's.

The Americans not just attack the trench but here they have begun entering it. Some Americans are just visible inside the trench killing Mark's German's.

A huge group of Andy's British advancing on Mal's Germans.

John Ogden's British finally reach the trench. Those are Mal's German's. In the center of the photo you may notice some British dressed differently from the others. They are in special gear and balaclavas. Those are John's "Trench Raiders".

More of John Ogden's British just reach the trench. Andy Hamilton's British are in the background.

The game in total took just over just 2 hours to play. The Allies took the main trench forcing the Germans to retreat into the secondary trench. Overwhelming numbers helped the Allied Victory.

Big thanks to Andy Hamilton and Mal Taylor who have spent several days a week for the past 4 months or more building this fantastic terrain.

ACW Naval

1 of 2 games played at the club last night was a game of ACW Naval upstairs. All the ships belonged to Steve Mercer who also played. Other players in the game were Jase "Devildice" Whitfield and Ron Skeet. Steve had offered to let me play but I was more interested in the WW1 Trench Terrain game going on downstairs. More on that story later.

Here are a few photos of the ACW Naval game:

Close up of one of the ships.

An overview of the game. Ships engaging in battle on the open sea.

Another ship close up.

The "Hammering Iron" rules were used. I think it's the first time I have come across an ACW Naval game. It is certainly played even less than normal ACW which also hasn't been played for a while.

15mm Napoleonics 7th April 2008

Here are some photos of the 15mm Napoleonic game that took place on 7th April 2008. Mark Alcock was the Swedish while John Ogden (Oggie) was the Prussians. Sorry, not sure how the game finished. Above is an overview of the Battlefield.

An "Aerial" view of the Swedish Line.

Prussians advancing on the Farmhouse.

The Swedes attacking the Prussians, who are heading for the center of the Battle.

Fierce fighting at the farmhouse. The Prussians look a bit cramped though.

General Pavlov I believe it is, occupying the wood. With his men of course.

AK47 Game 31st March 2008

A game of AK47 took place between Martin Buck and Dave Tuck. Martin's forces as usual were outnumbering Dave's. Here are a few photos.

Martin's forces, representing the Republic of Toombe, heading straight for the small outpost building where Dave's forces had been. They had been there but Martin had unfortunately obliterated them.

Some more of Martin's forces enter the game.

Amazingly, Martin's forces still keep coming.

At last some of Dave's reinforcements begin to arrive. Dave is the benign dictatorship of Mugamba (not Mugabe). This school bus literally has the country's name written all over it.

Some more of Dave's reinforcements arrive on the table. Much needed Tanks.

The Republic of Toombe finally captures the outpost. Well, that wasn't hard was it?

The Republic of Toombe's Armoured Cars head through the slightly overgrown reeds.


If you haven't already guessed, The Republic of Toombe won.

WSS Game March 31st 2008

Slightly overdue report. There was also a game of AK47 being played that night which will be put in a separate post.
Mark Alcock and Jase Whitfield were the English under the command of the Duke of Marlborough using Mark's figures; Paul Robinson was the Danish. This WSS game was played on our large table downstairs. Both forces started out on equal points.
For a better report of the game go to Paul's blog here:
http://grimsbywargaming.blogspot.com/2008/04/quick-update.html

Here are the photos as promised.


Malburian forces under Jase's command engaging in a melee.

Overview of the WSS Game with the Melee at the forefront.

Close up of some of the Danish figures, in red.

The English forces slowly closing in on the Danish in the centre of the Battlefield.

Whilst most of the Malburian forces under Jase's command lost the Melee and had to rout, this is one group in those forces that broke through and advanced.

The Danish forces start to feel a bit hemmed in by the English.

Close up of the Danish Guard. Think I played with these guys in the big WSS game after Christmas last year.

Taken not long before the game ended. Malburians forces heading for a battalion of Danish.

As it turned out, the Malburians won this game. The Danish had been backed into a corner around the middle of it and been taking quite a few casualties.

Most of the forces on the table as usual was from Front Rank. Coming soon are some photos of Front Rank figures that I took at Triples. Why? Because I have always liked Front Rank figures after seeing them in action in WSS Games at the club..