The September Winter War

 Date-Winter 1939

Place-Some Bitterly Cold Finnish Outpost.

 Out to sunny Garvald this evening wondering what game El Presidente had dreamed up and since last week some hints were dropped about the inclusion possibly of reindeer I thought we were in for some unusual game along the lines of Man in the High Castle.Nope,it was actually a pretty straightforward Bolt Action game involving Finns and Soviets.

The Object of Soviet Desires.

Finnish Armour.

‘I told you that there would be reindeer!’

Looking for Soviets.

                            Tonight’s game was basically a lot of Soviets ganging up on a small Finnish army contingent and basically played out like the actual campaign with only the inclusion of some extra armour helping the Soviets to a very narrow victory.Herr O’Brien took charge of the Finns whilst Comrade Gilchristi commanded the Soviets with myself and El Presidente being his underlings.Comrade Gilchristi decided on a long skirmish line advance with myself being placed on the right flank next to some woods to which I thought sounded like an easy advance to contact.What a surprise I had when thinking that the woods would be just full of reindeer only to find it was also full of people who took offence to me invading their territory.

Gallant defenders.

T28-it looks big.

Hidden mortar team.

Getting ready for action.

              The first thing our gallant force received was an artillery barrage which landed plum in front of El Presidente’s command which as well as inflicting pain on his men also gave some of my command a bloody nose.A wheen of units incurred pins with El Presidente’s command unit evaporating which was a bit of a bummer as our units weren’t very good. The only plus side for me was the evaporated unit was transferred to my beleaguered command.

Reinforcements arrive.

Surging forward.

An awful lot of Finns in the wood.

        I decided to move my infantry through the woods and hit Herr O’Brien on the flank.What could be more difficult for as soon as my lads trudged their way into the woods they were pounced on by some hidden Finnish Jaegers who proceeded to charge into my poor beleaguered infantry decimating the whole squad immediately albeit incurring a fair few casualties themselves which actually proved to Herr O’Brien to be not the best option for if he had just stood back and hit me with a hail of lead it would have meant he wouldn’t have lost any of his precious command.

Herr O’Brien’s Jaegers charge in.

Treading warily.

The artillery bites.

Comrade Gilchristi lays out the massive skirmish line.

   The only good thing that was coming from El Presidente’s severe artillery kicking and my mauling  was that Comrade Gilchristi’s forces could advance unmolested and make themselves out to be Heroes of the Soviet Union.He would soon be cut down to size for as soon as he came into Finnish range he was peppered from all sides and with some telling gunfire.

Finns ruling the woods.

The armour outpacing the infantry.

Herr O’Brien’s Jaegers after the first skirmish.

      My next incursion from the nearby woods came in the form of an attack by a Finnish anti tank team armed with grenades and a block of wood.They actually didn’t do any real damage apart from incurring pins on my stalled tank but they kept on attacking this unfortunate tank meaning the pins count kept on rising and I couldn’t even retreat to tend to my wounds.To add insult to injury I couldn’t even fire my machine gun as visibility was limited in the woods. The next appearance in the wood was a Finnish ski squad who having learnt their lesson from their colleagues incurred wounded and shot my second squad down in their prime.One didn’t have a lot left mainly a stalled tank and a machine gun gun which couldn’t see anything.What could be worse?That came in the form of a Finnish sniper team who proceeded to pick out all the valued targets from both El Presidente’s forces and my own diminishing force.

Hidden sniper team.

           My salvation came in the form of a Soviet T28 tank festooned with machine guns and a small gun which was to help prove the difference between the two sides as the Finns didn’t have a lot of armour.The only problem was that it didn’t move very fast and it had to pass the very annoying anti tank team who changed tack from the small tank to try and hinder the better tank(slightly better)with their planks of wood.This they did to start but once it got going it left them behind incurring a casualty on the squad for their troubles.This actually gave space for my smaller T26 to lose all it’s pins and get back into the fray.

‘Booyah!(in Russian).

       Comrade Gilchristi’s forces were nearing the Finns and were met by a hail of lead stopping them in their tracks.El Presidente helped our comrade by doing away with one of the Finnish tanks which helped Comrade Gilchristi but not his poor infantry who were being done away with by the accurate Finnish gunfire.It looked like the saviours of the day was going to be our armour. The appearance of the second Finnish tank found it being hit by tankfire setting it on fire but this was soon extinguished by the gallant crew giving it another chance to stop the invaders.

Here comes the remainder of the Finnish armour.

Drone’s eye view of the woods.

      Herr O’Brien decided to throw in his last piece of armour into the battle to try and stall the Soviet armour but this was met by the attraction of gunfire from all Soviet tanks who were now motoring well.Comrade Gilchristi hit the tank bringing it too a halt with El Presidente providing the Coup de Grace with a telling shot to set the poor unfortunate Finnish tank on fire with its crew bailing out and diving for cover.This meant my tank could now engage some dug in defenders which it did with first my machine guns incurring some casualties with the rest of the squad being decimated by the tank’s main gun. The end was in sight-at last!

The second tank percolates.

El Presidente’s infantry being hammered.

   The game was coming to an end with the Soviet armour now being untouchable even although their wasn’t a lot of infantry left.Herr O’Brien was still causing damage from his forces who were rooted in the wood but they were now bypassed by the armour who had now moved into open ground.To add insult to Herr O’Brien’s injury,El Presidente’s mortar had finally hit something ding away with a few casualties. I think it would have been time for the Finnish forces to retire to the rear and take up other defensive positions off the board.

Heading for victory.

     A great game and it had the added bonus of being able to play a full game without having to be pleasantly disrupted by a visit to the local hostelry.On that note my thanks to El Presidente and the Duchess of Garvald for putting on an excellent repast.All figures vehicles and scenery were provided by a joint effort from El Presidente and Comrade Gilchristi.

        See You All When I See You.

     This has been a Garvald Film Studios Production.

Lack Of Reinforcements-AK 47 Style

 Dateline-September 6th 196odd!

Place -Somewhere in Sunny Africa.

                                                         

 

       Back to the sixties this evening with a four way indulgence in AK47-the most politically correct game around -not!El Presidente had decreed that this evening we should get back into a game of AK 47 and a chance to field some toys that we have been playing with since the late nineties.So we all turned up with said toys and got down and dirty in 1960’s Africa.Herr O’Brien is a past guru of the game so it was good to not need to check the rules every five minutes.

Trains and Planes.

Taking residence.

Andrew’s pre placed tanks.

      The table was set with the usual piles of scenery that we have all collected throughout the years and my own contribution were the airport buildings and some ethnic village buildings including a garage complete with old French cars and a village store.El Presidente chipped in with a few that he had picked up on line so the table was set.Herr O’Brien did complain that there was too much scenery and nobody would be able to see the bad guys.

Some African High Street.

How to hide two Pattons behind a catering truck.

Israelli’s mingling with the locals.

     El Presidente took on the mantle of a colonial settler army complete with Centurions, Panhard armoured cars and cavalry to complement them near the end of the game.Oor Andrew had also been given a colonial army this time of Israeli origin who proved to be of steady stock.Both myself and Herr O’Brien took charge of local dictator armies who were both to prove highly ineffectual.Two of Dave’s units couldn’t be bothered turning up.Such are the vagaries of AK47.

Israeli infantry hiding behind a dump truck.

El Presidente’s infantry stopping of at the garage .

The pride of my army.

Ju ju juice- the root of all evil.

Only for show.

           So the toys were laid out and the game kicked off.Once again my reluctance to choose a decent amount of armour was to be my undoing as my only pair of tanks engaged Andrew’s Ishermans and came out second best with the first blood going to Andrew.50% of my armour melted after the first hit.Hopefully it wasn’t going to be a long evening On the other side of the pitch my ally,El Presidente was having better luck with his Centurions and was holding Dave’s band of misfits at bay although one of Dave’s units always reminds me of a rag tag circus with a Bren carrier, a Ferret scout car and a Saladin-a pretty odd bunch.Herr O’Brien’s army is based on a Jordanian one and so had a couple of Patton tanks which actually looked good but were were soon percolating away nicely after being hit by El Presidente’s tanks.

El Presidente’s Centurions turning to scrap metal-again!

Herr O’Brien’s Pattons are heading the same way.

My boys-The Pirates of Prestonpans.

And my odds and sods militia making up the rear.

       My idea to pick lesser infantry was to be my undoing as my infantry were reluctant to move forward and their first casualty caused them to stagnate and stand still.Even their shots at the enemy proved to be worthless even with RPGs.As I said it was going to be a long evening.My colourful militia headed towards the airport buildings using for cover a couple of Dakotas that were just lying around but midway through their travels I noticed Herr O’Brien’s rabble ensconced in some nearby buildings so the militia changed tack and headed for this new bounty. I think this attack probably favoured El Presidente more as his colonial infantry were about to assault the same buildings using my lads as cannon fodder to help his devious intentions.Herr O’Brien was struggling as he couldn’t bring on any reinforcements for love nor African dollars.

Finally my Toyota tin pots arrive.

First kill to my tank boys.

Reconnaissance in strength.

Two of Herr O’Brien’s bits and bobs unit.

       My first reinforcements appeared in the form of a trio of Toyota technicals armed with heavy machine guns but this proved to be more worthwhile targets for Andrew’s Ishermans and so Japan’s finest lasted for only a couple of turns before they headed for the local scrapyard.To add insult to Herr O’Brien’s injury,El Presidente’s last reinforcements arrived in the form of a cavalry unit but they arrived just in time for a victory parade up the local High Street as they weren’t required to fight.My militia attacked Herr O’Brien’s last bastion but proved not to be up for the fight and although scored a couple of hits they didn’t shift him but they left plenty of room for our gallant ally to clear the buildings albeit with armoured car support.

“Well they lasted long”

Airport rush hour.

My last reinforcements.

       My last reinforcements arrived in the form of a couple of recoilless rifle armed trucks but too little too late as the final whistle was drawing near.Another revolution in Africa not to get off the ground but I’m sure one day all the wrongs will be righted.

Advancing to victory.

    Once again a great time was had by one and all and especially as tonight was a joint effort with everybody providing figures,vehicles and scenery.

Victory parade down the High Street 

      Next week we are indulging in MB’s Shogun so I would imagine we’ll be back to toy soldier gaming the following week.

       See You When I See You.

        This has been a Garvald Film Studios Production.

The Great Martian Eradication

 Stardate-189odd.

Place-The Great Martian Plains.

           One was invited out to the outback of Garvald for a delve into the realms of Victorian Sci-Fi where the European powers who have just finishing ravaging the planet earth for the benefit of their empires have set their sights on the planet Mars and their intended overlord of another not so technical species.Due to the vagaries of dog sitting I was left to organise the defence of Mars on my own meaning I didn’t have anybody else to blame for my mistakes.I was pitted against the demonic play of both El Presidente and Herr O’Brien.

A couple of non playing airships.

The Martian emperor surveys his realm.

            My forces were lined up and the first thing that struck me was that I had an awfy lot of half naked natives armed with bows and arrows and a shortage of decent firepower.Pitted against me was the European empires most modern equipment and some bizzare German machinery.

Graustarkian light armour.

Prussian wheeled artillery.

Prussian rocket truppen.

            In the best native stereotype fashion my plan was to charge in and hopefully get to grips with the invaders before they could shoot off their big guns but in true stereotypically native fashion they were wasted as especially Herr O’Brien acted as though he wanted the game over as soon as possible in typically overlord way.We were using Xenos Rampant rules which usually give units either a shoot or move action unless off course you are armour when you can indulge in both and off course the Empires had the biggest guns.These rules have been used by El Presidente on numerous occasions and for different time eras including Arab-Israeli modern battles but personally I find them a bit frustrating especially when you want to get down and dirty.There is also the point that if you have to dice for activation and fail your turn is over so you have to choose wisely.

Forward to glory!

Forward to doom!

Ma best guys!

       So off my men trotted up the playing field hoping to inflict defeat on the interlopers but it was soon obvious that they weren’t going to get very far but as the object of the game was for the Europeans to capture the palace. My plan was to sell the defenders lives dearly whilst watching the clock tick down. My armour(very light)were to the forefront but were soon heading for the start line once El Presidente’s big guns started showing off their wares.My only initial success was the German jet troopers being stopped in their tracks by my artillery and the eventual destruction of this German unit which was to be the highlight of my evening.

The European armoured fist.

Mounted dragon cavalry.

              My second armoured unit moved forward but were eradicated by the combination of El Presidente’s big guns so it looked like the fate of Mars was in the hands of my hordes of infantry-Fat chance!Herr O’Brien was moving his Prussian cycle artillery forward in support of his British infantry who themselves were supported by their Martian minions but they were brought to a stuttering halt by the brave actions of my regular infantry although not without a few casualties themselves.These were the lads who themselves were backed up by the palace guard whom I believed were going to be the saviours of Mars.Not for long though.

The Empires’ big guns.

    My first armoured unit headed forward but soon met the fate of it’s colleagues and evaporated.The only good thing was that it’s destruction was waylaying the invader’s plans as the more they shot at my forces the less movement they could make.The clock was ticking rapidly to full time.Herr O’Brien hed ensconced his American???(must have been mercenaries)in an oriental building so I decided to rush them with my mob of militia but they were successfully repulsed and with the demise of the other half naked infantry the  writing was on the wall for my masses of Martian infantry but the clock was ticking.

Flying the Flag.

      My artillery then successfully repulsed a flanking manoeuvre by the El Presidente’s light tanks crewed by some Graustarkian females(Welcome to El Presidente’s world) but we had arrived at the last phase with my regulars taking up residence in the gap leading to the palace uttering a “They shall not pass!”ultimatum.Herr O’Brien had moved his yankee rocketeers on to the outer walls of the palace just as the final whistle blew so the evil empire builders didn’t quite make it.Hurrah for the Martians!Boo!to the evil colonists!

A ton of scrap metal.

   Another great game played out in the usual carefree way-not! My thanks to El Presidente for putting on the game and supplying all the wonderful toys.Next week I’m led to believe is AK 47 so hopefully we’ll have a “hot of the press “news report!Watch this space!

This has been a Garvald Film Studios Production.