Tuta Warrior Allied Test Base

After a bit of feedback on the Death in the Dark Continent FB group, I've gone back to the idea of having two units each of four bases of Tuta warriors as the back up for my skirmisher heavy Nyamwezi army. I was originally going to use a mix of Black Tree Designs Zulu and Copplestone Ngoni for these units but have opted for the Copplestone Ngoni in headdress instead, as they're much more like the actual thing. I have a Watuta army load of these so I'm killing two birds with one stone, so to speak, by putting together a couple of units that can be used with both army lists. Unfortunately, a new can of Wickes Matt Black spray paint has come out looking more like gloss, but it should fade over time and can always get a cost of ultra matt varnish if it stays shiny. 

Funny Firing Arcs

I'm going to start writing up the first scenario for Algy Flies Down Under which features a Martinsyde G100 Elephant. This was an interesting if unspectacular reconnaissance and scout single seater, with a very unusual armament layout. An upper wing mounted Lewis gun was fitted on a tilting rack, which enabled it to be reloaded in flight, although it was notoriously hard to pull the gun into a vertical position, fit a drum then repisition it to the horizontal.

The other weapon fitted was a second Lewis gun positioned on a pintle mount to the right rear of the cockpit. This could be fired with considerable difficulty into the rear right hand arc but the chances of hitting anything were minimal. One Australian pilot put a chit in to the squadron armourer for 'arms, on pair, extra' after attending to load and fire the contraption. It was often dismounted and left behind for obvious reasons.

The firing arc for the Martinsyde G100 is described in general terms in the aircraft lists in the rules but, to clarify the way they work, I've drawn up a diagram which I will include with the scenario. I'm also thinking of adding a penalty to the dice modifiers when firing the second Lewis gun, as it was not easy, to say the least. It might put off a Fokker or two, though, so it's good to include it in the game.

The Wargames Library and Algernon Pulls It Off!

The chaps at Little Wars TV have set up an online archive of free wargaming rules in order to preserve them from disappearing from the internet. This is a brilliant idea and they have already added some classic sets of rules to the collection, including some of the Perfect Captain's rules, for example, which are all free to download.

I have enquired with the Toofatlardies if they would consider submitting Algernon Pulls It Off! to the archive, as it is long out of print and has already been made available as a free download but not in obvious, accessible locations online. The response this far has been positive and Alex Sotheran of the Storm of Steel channel is going to take it forward, as he knows both the Little Wars TV crew and the Toofatlardies team.

Watch this space....

https://www.wargamelibrary.com/

Aircraft Record Sheets for Digger Dogfight'

Some more monkey business with Chat GPT today to tart up the aircraft record sheets for the Digger Dogfight' game. I've added a bit of technical blurb to the sheets after some excellent feedback from one of the chaps at the club,  but otherwise the format remains the same as the original WORD version. I'm not sure it's worth all the melting glaciers and burning rainforests to be honest, so will probably stick with the vanilla option. 

Hornblower Ahoy!

I was down in Chichester at the weekend for the rugby but had a spare hour or so to pop into town to browse the local bookshops. In one of the charity shops I was lucky enough to find two paperbacks for £1.50 each, which were obviously donated by the same person with an interest in C.S.Forester's Horatio Hornblower novels. These are both in good nick and I'll enjoy reading them, especially the Hornblower Companion as it has some rather splendid sketch maps, ideal material for some wargaming scenarios!

Death in the Dark Continent Nyamwezi Army Update

I've made good progress with preparing and basing the units for my Generic Villager / Nyamwezi army over the last week or two. The core of the army is now completed, with three units of spear armed skirmishers (6 bases each), two units of musket armed skirmishers (6 bases each) and one unit of archer skirmishers (6 bases each), which will allow me to play around with unit sizes later on. I also have a chief and a witchdoctor base for added points, although it remains to be seen if he's worth it. I've ditched a second unit of archers for the moment, so it's onto the allied units. 

I've changed my mind about the warrior units and am going to use Copplestone Watuta figures from my Ngoni lead pile, rather than the Zulu style figures, as the Tuta were allies of the Nyamwezi and have distinctive head gear. I plan to have two units (six bases each) for the Tuta, which should add a bit of punch to the army. 

The alternative option is four bases of musket armed Swahili Wangwana skirmishers using Ruga Ruga figures, which are very cool, and four bases of elite Arab nobles, skirmishers upgraded to be armed with breech loading rifles. I may well base up both the Tuta and the Wangwana / Arabs, as it will give me lots of flexibility and should be a lot of fun to paint.

AI Applications for Algernon Pulls It Off!

 

I've been playing around with Chat GPT this weekend to see how I can use it for Algernon Pulls It Off! resources, including a new cover for the rules and an enhanced card deck for the Digger Dogfight Lard Day game. This has been an uphill struggle at times, principally to stop the robot doing its own thing with the card deck formatting, text and images, but I'm getting there in fits and starts. The cards above are based on my own WORD versions with enhanced graphics, but they contain a few glitches and the deck is missing a sheet that the AI decided to edit for no particularly logical reason. I'm not a fan of AI to be honest and can't stand all those AI generated posters and pictures that are everywhere these days, but it has its uses and definitely can be deployed to soup things up a bit.

Deep Cut Studios First World War Hex Mat

For the Lard Day Algy participation game in January, I really should get myself a new hex mat, my old blue fleece one having seen better days. I do already have a Deep Cut Studios tundra themed hex mat in mouse pad material, which would do the job, but something more appropriate would be a good idea. The current options are a European Fields design or a First World War Battlefield design, the latter probably being the front runner. They're not cheap, however, and I'm strapped for cash at the moment, so this will be an early Xmas present, if and when I can persuade the other half it's a really good idea?

Allied Ngoni Warrior Reinforcements

I have ordered another pack of very nice but very expensive Copplestone AFU4 Ngoni Warriors from Northstar today, to build a larger nine base unit of 'more warlike' allies for the Generic Villagers army. I have an identical set of figures, filled out with some old Black Tree Designs Zulus, so this pack will supplement it with an additional three bases. I put together a test base a while ago which shows how the two ranges mix quite well. I was a bit concerned that the skirmisher heavy villagers wouldn't have any roughty, toughty back up, so nine bases of warriors will be much better than just a measly six. I can also break it down into two units of four or five for added flexibility l. This unit represent Ngoni mercenaries from one of the neighbouring tribal people of what is now Western Tanzania. 

Come and Have a Go if you think you're Lard Enough 2027

I've offered to run a game or two of Algernon Pulls It Off! at the local Lard Day in January next year,  so will dig out Digger Dogfight from the Jasta 18 collection, as it's a tried and tested scenario with a time limit. I've run Bag the Hun games at three previous Cone and Have a Go days, so know how things work and what should be feasible in the time available for four to six  players. 

Sabotag3d Sopwith Cameks

Sabotag3d Albatros DVa

To jazz it up a bit, I'll paint up some 1/300th scale aircraft, rather than using 1/600th scale models, and may well invest in a new, full colour mouse mat hex cloth as my tatty old blue fleece one really has seen better days. The aircraft record sheets and card deck will also get a polish, perhaps with the help of AI if I can find a suitable but of software. Time to Bung on a Blue!