Island in the stream.

Sun 9th August

                     Last Wednesday we ventured back into early WW2 which involved an attack on the island of Inchcolm in the river Forth just off Edinburgh.

                   

 What made it even more different was that the island was defended by Polish units.
Much poetic license was used in this game as there was no way you could land paratroopers on Inchcolm especially early war German paras and I don't think German seaborne units would get that far up the river.

                        Bart and myself took control of the defenders whilst the Germans were manhandled by Donald Adamson,mr Ray Neal and his younger son Isaac.Mr Ray was in charge but I think it was battle by committee.We used Bolt Action rules with the added bonus of night fighting rules added.
                       The Germans paras landed without any problems(Aye right)and immediately attacked a bunkhouse and done away with the sleeping Poles inside-very unsporting.

                         Landed infantry units(again without any problems)charged up the beach and headed for their objectives-gun emplacements and the radio shack.

                          I lost a squad of Poles due to some bad planning and not helped by the night rules meaning my mortar was useless.
                             Daylight duly arrived and the Poles were still hanging on waiting for reinforcements.A Hurricane arrived and wiped out the German observer team which meant no support for the Germans but they weren't needed.

                                           The Germans started to take their objectives and consolidated their positions anticipating a counter attack by allied reinforcements which arrived by air and sea.British paratroopers were dropped haphazardly with two units being dropped into the sea and the others landing straight into a firefight.Marines were landed on the north shore and started to make headway and caused some German casualties.

                                          All German objectives were taken and they started to head to their evacuation points before time was called.

                                        A good game once again even although I think poetic license was used but a good use of the figs and models available.Next week Inchcolm is being violated by Normans.Should be interesting.


                      Polish garrison-Bart Zynda
                                            Tim Watson

                      Allied reinforcements-Bill Gilchrist.



                     German paratroopers-Donald Adamson-who had to leave early to pick the dog up and walk the wife-or maybe it was the other way round?Hugh Wilson took over as his 2nd in command.
                     German infantry-Mr Ray Neal & Isaac Neal-a father and son double act.


                      Figures and scenario-Colin Jack

                      Scenery-Hugh Wilson
                      Photos-Bart Zynda

                       And of course a mention for Lady Suzanne who once again surpassed herself with her haute cuisine.

                      See you when I see you.

                     

Claymore 2015(and not a sword in sight)

Sorry for delay between blogs as I have been in a game void due to work and family commitments.
                Last Saturday I attended our local games club's annual show at Telford college,Edinburgh where  was given the enviable task of judging the games,both demonstration and public participation.All games were good but some more than others appealed to my way of thinking.
                I like easy to play,novel games which have that something different and there were a few of them.Jurassic World and Skull Island to name a few.
                The setting of Telford College was good except for a few hiccups brought on us by the college. Namely blocking off the corridor between both of the exhibition halls which meant an outside walk between them and remember that Scotland's weather is four seasons in one hour.Luckily the heavens only opened for about five minutes in the afternoon.The main problem was that the bring and buy had to be moved to a small location in one of the halls which caused chaos and also saw some sale things go missing.
                         In all we had about 800 turning up which we were thrilled about.
                            The winners for the demonstration game of  the day were the RAF Leuchars club for their Gallipoli game which had extra added interest by naming all their individual soldiers with the names of some of ours and other clubs members.I left my character charging up to the front of the attack when the game finished(Aye right-Scottish double positive).These are the games that I find very interesting especially with the Leuchar's lads taking the time to find the individual member's names.Seemingly the next battle they are covering is The Somme.Don't think I'll be coming back from that one.

                     

     The winner of the best participation game was a Very British Civil War game put on by Sally4th which was my personal favourite.The scenery and figures were excellent and this was complimented by the enthusiasm of the folks putting  the game on.

                    The Jurassic World and Skull Island games were great for introducing younger members of the crowd to gaming which I'm all for.
                      Every displayer made a great effort to sell their games and were also very complimentary about their rivals.
                         After the judging I spent time being a doorman between the two halls at one tjme kept company by a beautiful boxer(and I don't mean the pugilistic kind).Some people thought I had got her at the bring and buy.I should be so lucky.
                           All in all it was a good day.I bought plenty of toys and also after the place was tidied up some of us headed to a nice restaurant in Leith for an excellent apres-ski.
                              Speak to you soon as this week's game involves Germans attacking the island of Inchcolm in the river Forth.Sounds good.
                              See you when I see you.

                              Pictures by Bill Gilchrist.Once I figure out how to get my photos from my iphone I shall publish them(ie when my daughter shows me-they're good for some things)

Army of the Levant

Check this Kickstarter site of my friend and fellow wargamer Campbell Hardie.Some excellent early war and Vichy French figures.https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1441957511/28mm-army-of-the-levant

And on the Third day

Wed 24th Feb

                We concluded our three session game with a night assault on Berwick by the combined forces of the Buf and the Anglicans(unusual bed mates).We used Bolt Action night fighting rules which means you can only see them if they are within six inches or by the flashes of their guns.

                                The pretext for night fighting was that the Southern allied forces had to attack Berwick before Scottish reinforcements arrived from the north.

                                  We played night fighting for six turns and in these turns the Anglican forces managed to clear one of the bridges and take the railway station but never made it too the warehouses as they were checked and pushed back to the railway station.The Scots then counterattacked the station and retook it only to be attacked by veterans of the guard regiment,who again retook it before moving on to attack the defenders in the warehouse who once again stood firm and pushed the guards back.

                               

  Dawn arrived with new hope foe the Scots in the form of airsupport but at least consistency was kept up as the plane in its infinite wisdom decided to attack the newly arrived Scottish cavalry and also pinning nearby infantry.This allowed the Anglicans to cross the small foot bridge but they were destroyed by the rallied defenders.

                                   

 Meanwhile as in the last report Donald's sailors were going up and down Berwick's wall like a tart's knickers(my wife's choice of words) and therefore were getting nowhere as especially as Dave was waiting for the opportunity to decimate them as soon as they landed(which was never).

                                          The battle was going to and fro.The allies were once again restricted by the act that only twelve units could be moved in one turn and the Scots couldn't even draw any decent dice.

                                       By the end of the game the Buf had finally taken the station but the Scots still held out in Berwick town.We came to the final moves of the game so the Anglicans brought up their huge Char 2c Black Prince tank(straight out of Indiana Jones) which just arrived at the southern edge of the railway bridge but didn't see any action.I think it would have struggled to cross any of the bridges.

                        A good game was held by one and all.This brings an end to our Berwick triple bill but I'm sure we'll have a crack at it again sometime.We actually used the scenery two weeks later for a Chris Peers Post apocalyptic game which is just a normal Berwick saturday night after the pubs close.



                        Scenario-Tim Watson & Colin Jack
                        Umpiring-Hugh Wilson
                        Scenery-Hugh Wilson
                        Figures-Colin Jack
                        Photos-Bart Zynda & Bill Gilchrist
                        Protaganists-Scots-Dave o'Brien
                                                    Bart Zynda
                                                    Tim Watson


                                           Anglican's/Buf
                                                   
                                                       Donald Adamson
                                                       Bill Gilchrist
                                                       Mr Ray Neal
                                                       Colin Jack

                            And of course once again the evening was began by yet another fantastic repast by Lady Suzanne of Comiston.


                       

Claymore 2015

Just to remind you all

The trials and tribulations of Count Von Konstam.

Thursday 2nd July.

                         Tonight's game at the club was an Angus Konstam special with a Russian civil war  sparring match between red and white forces.
                           The loyal communists were controlled by Bill Gilchrist and Campbell Hardie(both red to the core) whilst the white forces consisted of Latvians controlled by Bart Zynda,loyal Russians (with a big Austin-Putilov armoured car for support) controlled by myself.We were backed up by Jack Glanvilles's Freikorp forces.Once again I thought it was going to be easy(I think I was a First World war French general in a previous life).

                                            We moved our forces towards our objectives which was a deserted village(or so we thought).I moved up the armoured car to draw fire,which it did,from all points of the globe.The revolting reds heaviest weapon was a field gun but lucky for me it couldn't see me but that didn't stop the maxim guns and rifles opening up on me.These shots were just laughed of in a pitiful manner.The Russian guns just changed targets and wiped out one of Bart's cossack squads.We played "Setting the east ablaze"rules which can be lethal(no saving throws).
                                          The reds hurried there men on to hold the village as we slowly crossed the board.
                   Jack's Freikorps were ambushed from nearby woods by a squad of local factory workers.This just p'ed Jack off so the workers were shot at and were charged with the usual ruthless German efficiency.

                       

   Meanwhile I pushed my field gun literally inch by inch up a nearby hill to get a better l.o.s.Which it did,consequently fired and hit a crowded village house.A few red sailors in the building started singing Happy trails but they didn't rout.
                            Campbell had placed a maxim gun on the edge of a wood and this gave him a good field of fire over the board which he used to great effect in tying down Bart's forces,and then he was supplemented by a squad of infantry which took a while to dislodge but the maxim gun held on to the end(only because I couldn't move the armoured car up to overrun them due to horrible movement dice).

                    Just before the end of the game Jack got the bit between his teeth and charged the village in good Teutonic fashion and clearing out the first house before finishing time.

                   

 A draw was a good outcome but both sides claimed a winning draw.A good time was had by one and all especially the umpire who was quaffing beer and pink gins like they were going out of fashion.The rules are easy although firing can be bloody and movement sometimes just dire.

Participants:-   Jack Glanville-Freikorps
                      Bart Zynda   -Cossacks,Latvians and Tchanka
                      Tim Watson  -Russians.


                      Bill Gilchrist
                      Campbell Hardie(both reds in the beds).


                      Organising,figure provider,and all round major domo-Angus,Count von Konstam of Orkney.

                      Photos provided by Bart Zynda as my phone has turned petulant.

Same s**t different day.

Feb 2015


     A couple of weeks later (one night in gaming terms) the long awaited counterattack on Berwick with a combined force of Anglicans and Fascists arrived.Their plan was similar to the Scottish attack(attacking from the south) with the exception of the naval units who supported by gunfire from a gunboat were this time landed on the north side of the River Tweed.All other ground forces attacked the three bridges.However given that Scots had time to prepare their defences,barriers and tank traps were laid on the bridges.

                                             

   Progress as you could imagine was slow.Anglican and Fascist forces managed to remove barriers from the rail bridge but came under fire from Berwick station.Other units began to cross just beside the rail bridge but were wiped out by the station defenders.

               The defenders at the other two bridges held out under heavy fire.Meanwhile Donald (skulking again, must be the Fifer in him) landed on the north shore but found it extremely difficult to climb Berwick's walls going up and down them like a yoyo and to add insult to injury as soon as they had climbed the walls they were ambushed by Dave's armoured car and infantry.

                       Just at the close of play both sides called in airsupport which was a waste of time as both planes attacked their own forces.The AngloFascist plane attacked its own cavalry whilst the Scottish plane attacked their own forces in Berwick castle.Just another sunny day in paradise.

                         The game will be continued where I introduced night fighting(a barrel of laughs).
                          See you when I see you.

           Anglo-Fascist forces-Donald Adamson
                                          Bill Gilchrist
                                           Mr Ray Neal


            Scottish Republic forces-
                                          Dave o'Brien
                                          Bart Zynda
                                           Me,myself and I.


             Umpiring-Colin Jack

              Scenario-Tim Watson
              Scenery-Hugh Wilson


              Figures-Colin Jack