Rebels and Patriots x 2

A first outing this week for my AWI troops.  I've been working on these for a little while now and had a mix of regulars and militia ready but, thanks to a last minute eBay bargain and some very last minute painting, I was able add some Natives to the British forces and equip the rebels with a  cannon.

My plan for these was to use Rebels and Patriots as a ruleset.  These are another of the generally excellent Osprey blue books and follow the Lion Rampant model.  They are designed for games in the North American theatre from the French Indian Wars through to the ACW but could easily be used in other settings...they'd certainly be very suitable for Napoleonic games.

The game uses an IGOUGO model.   Each turn units need to pass an activation roll to complete an Action (move, fire, charge, rally, skirmish etc) but unlike Lion Rampant failing the roll doesn't mean your turn is over, and all units get a chance to try and do something each turn.

Units generally need to roll a 6 on 2d6 to succeed with an action.  The odds can be improved by having your leader within 12" or by being in Close Order.  I really ought to have remembered that...

We decided to play out the 1st scenario in the book which is a straightforward tussle to take command of a hill in the centre of the table.

My commander lead from the front, heading towards the hill with the leading company of the 2nd New York regiment. Andrew sensibly kept his commander in a supporting unit which meant he wasn't exposed to fire.  The 2nd NY came under fire from the Indians in the woods and a unit of skirmishers who kept popping out from behind the hill to take very effective pot shots.

Having taken casualties I had to pass a morale test, which I failed.  And in the next turn I had to take another one...which I failed badly.  As I now had too many disorder markers as a result of the failed tests, the company decided to rout, taking the commander with it!

This set a pattern for the rest of the game with poor activation rolls on both sides and some really bad morale rolls on my part.  Had I thought to get my units into close order (or at least passed the activation rolls to get them there) and not lost my commander I might have had a chance but as it was Andrew's more aggressive approach meant he had seized the hill and my units were rapidly melting away, giving him the victory.

This unit is a little bit outgunned...

I was lucky enough to have a second chance to try out the game a week or so later against another regular opponent Anthony.  I decided to stick to the same scenario and forces and see if I could improve on my shoddy performance.

Again my troops bravely marched towards the hill in the centre of the table...

...and so did the British.

We looked set for a major tussle in the centre of the field but then Anthony was able to combine fire from a couple of units on one of the Continentals which was pretty devastating.  This is something I should have learned from the 1st game: as the casualties begin to mount and units also acquire disorder markers it can quickly become very tricky to stop them routing

Neither of us was keen to commit to taking the hill...we both realised that whoever was brave or foolish enough to get to the top first would be blown away by the waiting units on the other side so the fight developed on either flank

On my right flank I managed to shoot up the Natives with my skirmishers and drive them back and out of the game (or so I thought...).  My own skirmishers were driven back in response but I was hopeful of holding off the enenmy on this side of the army.

On my left the artillery was doing a sterling job of holding back the approaching Light Infantry who had cunningly advanced through the woods but casualties were beginning to mount on my infantry on this flank. The British had a unit of Loyalist Militia who had been upgraded to 'Good Shots' giving them a +1 to hit.  As units normally hit on a 5 or 6 this makes quite a difference and my Green Militia that were opposing them weren't impressed!

Back on the left the Natives had somehow reformed and regained their nerve and, having sneaked through the woods, suddenly charged my Skirmishers, wiping them out completely in a single round of combat and then swung onto the flank of one of my Line Infantry units routing it in turn (Natives are allowed to do that sort of thing!).

At this point discretion seemed the better part of valour and the Americans decided that the British could keep the hill after all.


So, despite managing to learn nothing from my first defeat and crashing out twice in a row, how were the rules?  Like most of the Osprey rules these are excellent value and a really simple but effective ruleset for the period (or periods in this case as they cover such a broad timespan).  It would be easy enough to adapt them for other settings or to add in house rules to suit your own local gaming groups preferences without unbalancing things and they are very quick and easy to pick up.

Now I just need to work out how to win...

A flurry of painting!

It's been a couple of weeks since my last post but it's been a remarkably productive spell.  I'm really slow at painting usually but somehow seem to have been able to knuckle down and get on with
painting recently.


A friend asked if I would paint up a set of figures from a starter set for Core Space.  I hadn't heard of this before but it is a science fiction boardgame/skirmish set which pits various factions of traders, the Galactic Corps and The Purge  against each other.  It's produced by Battlesystems who are known for making a really good range of modular terrain pieces in card.... https://shop.battlesystems.co.uk/core-space-11-c.asp.  I've no idea what the game system is like but the miniatures are very nice indeed.

I've also painted up a box of Warlord Games AWI infantry ready for a game later this week which will be the first outing for this project and my first chance to try the Rebels and Patriots rules from Osprey.

And there's more!  As a regular gamer at Eric the Shed's I have been lucky enough to play with his fantastic collection of figures.  After the last all day extravaganza (there's a post about it here) we were talking about what to do next and the idea came up of something which all the players could contribute to.  The Wars of the Roses was an immediate thought as it's easy for each player to put together a retinue of men at arms, bowmen and billmen and the setting is ripe for the various factions to then stab each other in the back (or the front).  As we are all fans of Kingmaker there is a ready made campaign system waiting to be used as well.

I had a suspicion that I had some figures stashed away in the loft from a long-abandoned WotR project at the Guildford club and after a bit of slightly risky archaeology in the mounds of boxes in the loft I unearthed 2 boxes: Men at Arms and European Mercenaries, both by Perry Miniatures. A week later I then found another box of bow and billmen which I'd obviously started to build.  No idea where the assembled figures are but there are enough for me to make a small start on Lord Percy's retinue.

Painting update: Tanks and boats and infantry ...

It's been a very busy few weeks at work which is my excuse for the lack of blog posts over the last 2 or 3 weeks... lots of weekend and evening meetings and pretty long days.  Despite this I've managed a few games and bit of painting.

I played a game of 'Tanks' a couple of weeks ago.  This is a fairly light tanky skirmish game which I'd actually bought a couple of years ago in a moment of weakness after playing in a demo game at a show somewhere.  I don't think I've actually taken it out of the box and had been contemplating sticking it on eBay but my friend Anthony also has a set and tempted me to give it a go.  Tanks has a WW2 version (which I have) and a modern game which is the one we played.  I say modern but 1980 is almost 4 years ago as my son likes to remind me!!

The game was good fun...not hugely deep but ideal for squeezing 2 or 3 games in an evening.   There are lots of upgrades and bonuses which can be applied to the tanks to give a bit more flavour.  in our first game we found that, with 1 tank per side, there is very little movement.... the tanks tend to take up a good position and sit there trading shots until one is destroyed.  I was gradually losing this attritional game so decided to recklessly charge across the table sacrificing cover for speed with the end result that I still died but also blew up the enemy tank with my last shot. 

Our second game should have been a bit more tactical with 2 Soviet tanks against 1 beefed up Abrams.  In the event the US tank was immobilised by a lucky shot and failed to move for several turns leaving it an easy target for the Russians.  It would have been good to have seen a bit more movement but the game has some promise as a lightweight bit of fun and it would be interesting to see how it compares with 'What a Tanker' from Too Fat Lardies (yet another game I own but haven't played!)

I've also managed to keep up my painting mojo and have completed a box of British AWI infantry

I used GW contrast paints again for the red coats on a white undercoat.   I find a white base very un-nerving as I worry about it showing through but actually it worked ok and made the red stand out quite brightly.

I've been in 2 minds about the new Black Seas Napoleonic naval game from Warlord but was tempted enough to pick up some of the freebie ships on the most recent issue of Wargames Illustrated.  I bought a couple of issues so I have a Frigate and 2 Brigs.  They are very nice models and pretty easy to assemble.  I think there are definitely some right ways and some wrong ways to assemble and paint these.  It definitely makes sens to build and paint the hulls before attaching the masts.  I painted the masts on the sprue which was a first for me but it seemed to make sense.

I think I need to give more thought about the order I paint the detail as well...trying to pick out the guns  while not spoiling the neat lines on the side of the hull or the deck colour was quite tricky and I might need to do these in a different order

The hulls assembled and undercoated

A generic Frigate

...and the Brigs

In the starter set these models come with sails and thread for rigging as well as some printed ratlines. As these are freebies the sails can be downloaded from the WI website.  I'm still in 2 minds about whether to add these or not but  I'm going to attempt some rigging...wish me luck!!!

Painting update and Black Seas

Now the holidays are over it's time to get back into painting again.   I've been busy over the last couple of days assembling and undercoating my box of Warlord Games AWI British infantry.  Unusually I've gone for a white undercoat...normally I would use black or increasingly I've been using grey, but I wanted to try the GW Contrast paints on a white base and also I hope the lighter undercoat will make the redcoats a bit brighter. The least they can do is look smart and colourful before the pesky Yankee rebels shoot them full of holes!

I popped into WH Smiths today and picked up a the latest issue which includes a free ship for the new Black Seas game which is being released imminently.   There was one copy left in my local branch which I quickly nabbed although I may have a look while I'm out and about at work tomorrow.  The issues either have a frigate or a pair of brigs.

I'm quite tempted by Black Seas although I am a little wary after the poorly proof-read (and in some cases quite bizarre) rules for Cruel Seas and the reportedly awful SPQR.   My understanding is that they have taken a bit more time over these and that David Manley has also been asked to cast an eye over them which fills me with a bit more hope.  Cruel Seas did have some good mechanics and the models were very, very nice so this may lure me into Napoleonic naval gaming:  I'll have a go at the model and see how frustrated I get with attempting rigging before I commit!

Finally I was lucky enough to get to see Sir Ian McKellen's one man show which is currently on a run in London after a UK-wide tour.  If you get a chance to go and see him I can highly recommend it. It's not every day you get to hear Gandalf reading extracts from Lord of the Rings in person!

The stage set

Sir Ian collecting money for charity after the show

AWI Continentals all done!

Unusually for me I have actually completely worked my way through a box of figures.  My glacial paint rate has sped up over the last few weeks (global warming perhaps...it has certainly felt like it here in London!) and I have speedily painted up 24 Continental Line Infantry and 6 Light Infantry.  I'm planning on using these with the Osprey Rebels and Patriots rules so I reckon if I was to complete another boxful this would give me 4 x 12 man regular units and a 12 man Light unit... oh, and I also have the 10 militia which came free with a copy of Wargames Illustrated a few months ago.  So a decent starting force.  Onto the British box next...

My photo of the 2nd unit seems to have disappeared somewhere!

I've also cannibalised the spare muskets that come in the box to make up some stacked musket markers...no idea what I'll use them for...objective markers maybe? (rubbish photo I'm afraid)

Painting Update - AWI Continentals and GW Contrast paints

So my current enthusiasm for painting seems to be on a bit of a roll at the moment and I have worked my way through my first batch of Warlord AWI Continental Army Infantry.  These seemed much easier to put together than the Militia that I painted the other week (or maybe I was better at following the instructions...)

I've painted up 12 figures...this seems to be the best way for me to work on figures,  More than that and I lose interest quite quickly whereas a dozen or so seems manageable and I feel like I'm getting somewhere.  I can't seem to work well with the assembly line approach that I know others use.

This was also my first attempt at using the new Games Workshop Contrast paints which all the cool kids are talking about.  These are meant to work as both a base coat and a wash, creating shaded areas without the need to use a wash or inks.  The Contrast paints are designed to be used with special GW spray undercoats (of course) but being tight I stuck to my usual Halfords Grey with a white highlight.  As one of the GW sprays is a light grey I figured this wouldn't make any great difference (apart from saving me some money).  I then painted the whole unit using the Ultramarine Blue Contrast paint on the jackets but as an experiment I didn't use a wash on the front rank of the unit (with rifles pointed).  These were given a wash on the face and trousers using my (now very old) set of Citadel Washes but nothing was applied to the blue jackets, only a lighter highlight.

The rear rank figures were also painted with the blue Contrast paint but the figure was highlighted and then shaded with Army Painter Quickshade which is my normal approach

To be honest I'm not sure there's an appreciable difference...I can see that the Contrast paints might be useful if you were working through a large batch of figures in one go but given that I prefer to work in small numbers, using washes etc doesn't really take much time.  I also have a pot of the red Contrast so I will give that a go when I work on the British.

Painting update - AWI Miliitia - done!

Surprising progress on the paint table this week as I actually completed the unit of AWI Militia that I started a couple of weeks ago!  My painting is notoriously slow but, having gotten over the trauma of trying to build the little buggers, I painted them remarkably quickly.  I never knew I had so many shades of brown!

As usual I'm late to the party with the new GW Contrast paints but last week I was on my way back from a meeting and decided to call into The Gamers Guild in Redhill.  I haven't been in there for about 4 years and it was good to see the shop packed  with people playing and painting (admittedly mainly GW Warcry).The shop has been around for several years and has weathered a few bumps along the way but it was good to see they are well stocked with GW and Army Painter paints and a lot of boardgames.  I picked up a few pots of the new Contrast paints to see if the do actually make a difference.

The idea of Contrast is that it acts a bit like a base coat and wash all in one and saves time if you are painting in bulk.  Of course I can't cope with painting more than about a dozen figures at a time so I'm not sure this will make an appreciable difference to my painting but I thought it was an interesting experiment.  I'd assembled 12 AWI Continental Infantry as my next batch so I will try out the paints on their blue jackets and on the British Redcoats when I get round to them.  I've tried the blue on a couple of figures and so far I haven't noticed an appreciable difference but I'll put up a proper post about it once I've done a bit more experimentation

AWI Militia...start of a project.

Although I've been mulling over a couple of new projects (AWI and WW2 far east) I haven't got very far with them.  I've been doing some reading and invested in a couple of boxes of figures, so I decided I should finally get my finger out and actually get building

I thought I'd start with something easy...these are AWI militia which came free with an issue of Wargames Illustrated a couple of months ago.  Easy???  These were a nightmare to build with a complicated arrangement of arms and bodies that it took me ages to get my head round.  I seem to have a blind spot when it comes to visualising how arms will look when they are fitted and end up with a pile of arms on the worktable that make no sense.

Luckily through trial and error (and a lot of swearing!) I managed to come up with 10 figures in not too bizarre poses.

They've been undercoated and highlighted... now I just need to get some paint on them.

1777 - Year of Decision

The American War of Independence (or is it the American Revolution?) has always been a bit of an interest although lately it has definitely caught my imagination...I've recently bought some figures to get started on (although they are still languishing in their box, unassembled) and I've been reading Christopher Hibbert's history of the war.  So when my friend Andrew proposed trying a game of 1777-Year of Decision I was very keen.  This was a game released via Strategy & Tactics magazine, something I've never really looked at although I've seen copies in wargames shops like Orcs Nest.

The game is set in, erm.., 1777 and sets the British forces the task of capturing key objectives within a 10 turn time limit.  The American objective is simply to prevent this happening.  I was impressed with the quality of the components: the map is really lovely and illustrates the northern theatre of the war, ranging from Montreal and Lake Champlain in the north down to Philadelphia.  The map is surrounded by a host of tables and charts used in the game and these are also found in the 16 page rulebook.  The counters are nicely done and show Senior and Subordinate commanders and then various troops types... Regulars, Hessians, Artillery, Torys and Indians for the British and Continentals, Artillery and Militia for the Patriots (as the game insists on calling them...I'll stick to 'Rebels')

Units can only move when a commander activates them but the senior generals (like Howe and Washington) can activate subordinates to help with this.  Armies also have to make sure they maintain supply lines by bringing along supply trains and setting up depots.

Movement is done by moving from point to point and the routes are slow and convoluted, which reflects the dense terrain of the time.

The action in our game seemed to follow the historical version...troops from the north marched slowly ( or sailed slowly down Lake Champlain in Burgoyne's case).  Meanwhile Howe, starting down in New York marched around a lot with the Rebels falling back and avoiding a fight.  He did manage to get to Philadelphia and then slowly gathered his subordinate commanders into a larger field army and headed after Washington who had been falling back towards Albany and his own reinforcements.

The rebels had managed to slow down my 2 pronged northern advance: I had seized another objective in Fort Ticonderoga but the 10th and final turn was approaching and I didn't think there was much chance of capturing my final objectives of Fort Montgomery and Albany.  Somehow (I'd like to claim this was tactical genius but it was actually luck!) I managed to reach my targets on the final turn and the game was poised to end on 2 make or break battles.  Howe overwhelmed Washington at the Battle of Albany, sending the renegade fleeing north but enough Rebels survived to fall into Albany and hold it for a game winning turn.  North at Ft Montgomery most of the Rebel Generals had assembled and they forced back my 2 pronged attack, preventing me taking the 2nd objective and giving the rebels the victory.

Am excellent little game...lots of things to think about; supply, movement, sea travel (which we didn't use) and a number of advanced rules (which we also left out) but easy to pick up and very intuitive after a couple of turns.  I'm always impressed when a time-limited game builds to a climax on the last turn and this worked really well.  Must have a look at more issues of Strategy and Tactics...

Valhalla and some new projects

On Sunday I ventured down the A3 to Aldershot for Valhalla, a local show put on annually by the Farnborough Wargames Society.  I haven't been to this show for years... partly because it always falls on Fathers Day and family things tend to be a priority but also because the last couple of times I visited (10+ years ago) it was very small and not much caught my interest.

This year was slightly different:  my son is still away at uni till the end of the week which meant I could go guilt-free, and I had a couple of bits and pieces that I hoped to buy.  The show had relocated from the last time I visited and it  is now held at a community centre next to a school and leisure centre.  Although I found the address easily enough the actual building was a bit harder to track down until I spotted the sign sellotaped to the door...

...perhaps a more prominent sign would be a good idea!

This is a very typical local club show with several traders and a few demo/participation games on show.  Given the small size of the show there was a relatively well stocked bring and buy and the end of the hall hosted a DBA competition.

There were 14 or so traders with a pretty decent range of goodies...lots of Warlord products on a couple of stalls which was what I had been hoping for.

The Society of Ancients were there demoing a boardgame...Pandemic, Fall of Rome (I think...I got distracted talking to someone from the Guildford club).I managed a few snaps of games.  I missed the game of Sharp Practice as they were tucked in a corner.

Bolt Action WW2

Something fantasy...

Indian Mutiny game using The Men Who Would be Kings rules

Battle of Lexington (I think) using Rebels and Patriots rules

My shopping was confined to a couple of boxes from the Warlord Games stand.  Although we're never really finished with projects, I have recently managed to paint up everything I had for Cruel Seas and Blood Red Skies and have been pottering, trying to complete odds and ends that have been hanging around. The temptation to start a new project has been growing and so, I finally gave in. And if starting 1 new project is good then starting 2 must be twice as good!

So my new plans are to build armies for the American War of Independence (probably for Rebels and Patriots or Sharp Practice) and armies for Chain of Command in the Far East.  My normal inclination is go to 15mm or even 6mm but for some reason both of these feel like they ought to be in 28mm...no idea why!  So my haul from the day was some paints and a box of AWI British and a box of Japanese...

More on these once I get my finger out and get started...