British v Italians WW2 East Africa on 9th Feb 2009

Sorry I've only just started to catch up with myself. The games that took place at the club the following week on 16th Feb 2009 will be posted before this weekend.

A nice large Blitzkrieg Commander game took place on 9th February 2009 which was also the only game being played that night. Playing in it were myself, Dave Tuck, Dave Hewins, Steve Mercer plus Dave and Rob (Newcomers to mondays anyway). It is my personal opinion that the game was jinxed by the presence of too many Dave's......

Before I begin I will say that the Italian Forces that Dave T let me use for the game reminded me of a War of the Roses game I had played at his home recently. These Forces ended up doing nothing and standing still all game as I was not able to get my dice throws to mobilise them.

Before the game began...

Dave T brought in this really nice fort which originally belonged to the club which he renovated and rebased.

Dave Hewins Figures and Vehicles who was on the British side.





Dave Hewins begins an attack on one of Dave T's trenches..

Close up of one of Dave Hewins personnel carriers.

Steve Mercer's Tanks sneakily come up behind Dave T's Italian Tanks on the hill near the fort.

All the players (except Martin Buck, in the middle) who were playing. I was behind the camera of course.

The British finally close in and wipe out all the infantry in the trenches.

My Italian forces which did nothing all game. Hate it when that happens.

Some of Dave Hewins tanks attacking the Italian Trenches near him.

The final outcome of the game. The British had broken through one side and if the game had continued, they would have done so on the other. The Italians somehow managed to hold sadly with no help from yours truly.

The state of play up Dave Hewins end of the table.

Vapnartak 2009: Opium Galore!

Definitely my favourite of the show. Opium Galore! was also known as Strange goings on at Yabancimac junction. It was put on by Colonel Willam Gordon's Regiment and set between the two World Wars.

Liked the ship but especially the huge fort. Video footage was taken.

Vapnartak 2009: The Pentland Rising 1666

One of my favourite games of the show by the York Wargames Society who organise Vapnartak. A really nice looking, colourful game with lots of little details. You have the battle going on on both sides of the river, a busy village with windmill and some nice ships thrown into the works.

The Pentland Rising 1666 depicts a little known encounter between the Scots and the English in the Borders. The forces involved Scots Covenanters against Charles 2nd's Sedgemoor English.

The Scots were led by a James Wallace of Auchans whilst the English were led by a Russian, Thomas Dalziel of Binns.

Vapnartak 2009: Operation Cobra 1944

North Hull (pronounced Norfull) Wargames Club put on this display at Vapnartak 2009. The Scenario they were playing was of Operation Cobra. Operation Cobra was the codename for an offensive launched 8 weeks after D-Day by the Americans. For more info, go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Cobra

They were playing their club's own WW2 rules: Panzer Marsch.

It looked like a great display. While some may say the bombers overhead may have been not to scale, and they were probably right, I liked the game and the idea of their display. If you're going to put on a show, put on a show and make it look spectacular! Some video footage was taken of this game.

Vapnartak 2009: World War 2 East Africa

First, my apologies to the Ilkley lads. Have taken photos of one of their games before at Triples but were unable to publish them as they did not come out due to that horrible orange light in the Octagon! This time however it was different.

On the photo above you can see an "aerial" view of the table at Vapnartak 2009.

Tanks and Infantry at the River.

Infantry ready and prepared for defence.

Both sides clashing while the forces on the higher ridge have got the advantage as they can shoot from a height! The rules used were Field of Battle.

Video footage was taken of this game and will be available soon on our Youtube channel.

Following the show, whilst browsing the blogosphere I stumbled across a blog entry about the Ilkley Lads preparing for Vapnartak 2009 - with some great photos. You can find it here:

http://olicanalad.blogspot.com/2009/01/world-war-ii-comes-to-town.html

Vapnartak 2009: Rapid Fire! game

It was a fictional battle though I was not able to get the name of it. This display was put on by The Market Weighton Wargames Group using the Rapid Fire! rules.

Here the battle is directed towards the houses.









Other forces holed up at the village.

Market Weighton Wargames Group meet on 1st Sunday of each month from 9am - 1pm playing 28mm, 20mm, 15mm and 6mm Historic and Futuristic Table Top Warfare. You will find them in the Scout Hut behind the Post Office on the High Street. For more info contact Dave on 07985 381969.

We have a new Forum!

After some consideration I have decided to set up a new forum. The Yahoo group was good for a while. It will not be deleted however. A phpbb Bulletin Board is much better and can do a lot more. To that end, I created a new bulletin board tonight at:

http://gws.18.forumer.com/index.php?

It is open to all wargamers not just our club members. As it is new the categories and forums inside it have not been made yet. They will be added in the next few days so please register in the meantime. Suggestions for forum categories and forums inside them welcome.

Vapnartak 2009: Uncharted Seas

Members of UKCORD demonstrating the Uncharted Seas game to interested gamers at Vapnartak on February 1st 2009.

Chris Duncan (in black t-shirt) of UKCORD in full flow explaining and demonstrating Uncharted Seas to other interested people. Chris is also the moderator for the Uncharted Seas section of the UKCORD forum.

There is another UKCORD Demo game going on just behind demoing AT43.

Some of the Ships on display at the demonstration with those nice blue sea boards.

All the ships and scenery used in this demo was by the UKCORD lads themselves. That small island (bottom left) was made by Chris Duncan.

A Close view of the demo table. Uncharted Seas is a fantasy naval game using fleets from various factions: Dwarves, Orcs, Dragon Lords, Imperial (Humans) and more. Battle Fleets usually consist of Frigates, Cruisers, Large Cruisers and Battleships.

There are 3 frigates in the front of this photo with 2 Battleships at the back.

Uncharted Seas can be bought from Stafford Games, Spartan Games and Arcane Miniatures.

The UKCORD lads at a quiet moment. Coincidentally Chris Duncan and the lads are also members of the Great Grimsby Gaming Group which plays at our club on Tuesday nights playing many games including Uncharted Seas.

The UKCORD lads will be demoing Uncharted Seas and other games at many other Wargames Shows this year. If you see them, say hello and try out the games!

More on UKCORD:

UKCORD stands for United Kingdom Confederation Of the Red Dragon whose website/forum is at http://www.conf-federation.org.uk/forum/
UKCORD was originally a Rackham based fan organisation but in recent times it has widened its scope and its community supporting multiple games, getting discounts for their members, hosting tournaments and putting on demonstration games within the UK.

Interestingly as I was looking through issue 15 of the excellent Battlegames magazine which I bought at the show I noticed there were some familiar faces in the background of one of the photos. Turn to page 18 and look at the lads in pirate hats demoing a game in front of the Stafford Games stall. It's the same UKCORD lads demoing Uncharted Seas at Colours last year!

Tecklenburgers v Austrians

Before I do my little battle report of the Tecklenburgers v Austrians game, which was the only game on the 2nd February 2009, thought I'd show you this photo first.

These are some of Steve Walkers ACW Confederate figures which he brought in to show us. It should be noted though that he had not yet done the bases and was only painting these figures as painting practice, not for any specific project.

For more information on how he painted these horses and more pics, read his blog post:

http://panzerfaustepainting.blogspot.com/2009/02/painting-horses-with-army-painter-dip.html

The WSS Tecklenburgers v Austrians game. In this game Mike Barnatt was the Tecklenburgers whilst Andy Hamilton was the Austrians.

For this game The Austrians came on at the far end of the table near the wall (top left of the photo) while the Tecklenburgers came in at the bottom (bottom right of the photo).

The River pieces and Waterfall were all homemade by Mike Barnatt.

Mike Barnatt's Waterfall. There were also many pieces of the River that had not been used and were still in one of Mike's boxes.

Both sides cross the bridges closest to them and send forces to intercept the other side.

The Polish (in yellow), on the side of the Tecklenburgers, cross the bridge. It's a bit of a scramble for the Austrians all attempting to get on their bridge!

Austrians crossing the bridge in an orderly fashion while another group ascends a small hill.

The first Melee. Notice all on horseback. Looks more to me like a Rugby Scrum.

The Austrians (in white coats) having crossed the bridge get themselves organised with a field gun at the ready.

A close up of some of Andy Hamilton's other Austrians.

The game several hours in. Many fights going on. The lads were in fact using some new club rules for the period. At the time I took this photo it was still debatable who was winning the game and did not stay for its conclusion. That's our own Tony Walmsley in the top left of the photo.