And now for something completely different...

A few weeks ago, the lovely people at Peter Pig sent me a 20% off reward for services rendered to the wargames retail industry, which I was very nice of them and much appreciated. I subsequently forgot all about it until today, which was somewhat convenient as it was about to run out.

Now, as I have box loads of Peter Pig stuff stashed away in the garage, I was at a bit of a loss as to how best to take advantage of the not inconsiderable discount on offer. In the end, I bought a couple of packs of handgunners to squeeze into the WOTR box then thought to myself, why not try out my new ' things not figures' approach to wargame projects.

As a result, I've ordered three of the Pieces of Eight pirate ships, complete with crew, cannons and some ships' boats. I have the rules somewhere and a large box of untouched 15mm figures that I picked up second hand many years ago, but this is incidental to my thinking. The idea is to write a simple set of 'back of a postcard' style rules for piratical naval actions, rather than use an existing set of rules.

I like the idea of using the club's Hexon system sea terrain as a basis for a set of really idiot proof but fun pirate naval rules, with the Peter Pig ships as a cheap and attractive means of deploying a vessel for each player. This is a bit of a 'stab in the dark' but it'll give me something to do over the holidays and may even end up with a workable mini-project for 2013.

...in the meantime, it's on with the Bag The Hun!

Bag the Hun Operation Bodenplatte [3]

A couple of years ago almost to the day, I started a mini-project to paint up a selcetion of late war Luftwaffe fighters for an Operation Bodenplatte game, using my newly completed RAF Spitfire XIV's and Tempest V's as the opposition:

http://jimswargamesworkbench.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/operation-bodenplatte-1.html

I was thinking of a bit of a change from the on-going Malta project, so have decided to set up another game of Bag The Hun 2 at the club in mid-January, using the Operation Bodenplatte plan as a basis for something a bit different. I have four players signed up already, so I now need some planes!

This means that I'll need to base and paint up the really nice Museum Miniatures FW190 Doras that I bought for the initial project, together with some Bf109K's or G's that I also have in the relevant box, although the latter are an optional extra.

I'd also like to do some USAAF P51D's or p47D's to add to the RAF fighters that I already have, using as simple a scheme as possible to speed them along, with as much bare metal as I can get away with. I may not have time for this but, if I can get them done, then I will.

It should be fun as a painting project and not as fiddly as the last lot (I hope!).

AK47 Xmas Game

To round off the year before I shoot off to France, I've set up a small multiplayer game of AK47 in a couple of weeks. I haven't had a game of AK47 second edition for ages, so I thought I'd dust off my armies and introduce the rules to some new players.

The idea is to set up a two-a-side game, with one player as the main commander and one player in charge of the reinforcements, as and when they come onto the table. The players can also take it in turns to command the units as they arrive, so that everyone has something to do.

The two armies will consist of my old colonial settlers force and my newer dictatorship force, both of which are ready to use and have plenty of sand in their boots. I'll aim to include a variety of interesting units for both sides including militia technicals, helicopter gunships, jeep mounted raiders and some heavy armour.

It should be fun and I'm hoping to post some pre-game propaganda broadcasts to get things going over the next week or so.

Stay tuned!

Bag The Hun Malta Game

The game went fairly smoothly at the club this evening but was a bit pedestrian and lacking in pace. This was down to some over balancing on my part and some dodgy dice rolling by the Italians, who often got into good firing positions then blasted away to little effect. This wasn't helped by the robustness of the Hurricane II's and the piddly armament of the Mc202's, which was offset to a degree by their better performance and rate of roll.

I'll tweak the scenario to fix these glitches but I think it has passed the play test. In the end the Italians either ran out of ammuntion or were chased off the table, so it was a narrow victory for the RAF. On the other hand, the Hurricanes were repeatedly outflown by the Italians and suffered the most damage, even though it was only slight and would have been easily repaired.

The top pilot award goes to Tenente Bonfatti who, with his trusty wingman Sergente Gino, made several audacious long burst attacks at close range on the enemy, albeit to minimal effect, then proceeded to out fly the opposition right to the the end of the game, using every complicated turn in the book to evade the bandits on his tail. Bravissimo!

Thanks to Paul, Andy, Alan, Colin, Mike, Caesar and Martyn for taking part.

Anyway, here are some pictures....

Bag The Hun Malta Game [9]

I adapted some old turn cards for the Bag the Hun game tomorrow rather than try to come up with anything flashy, as I just don't have the time at the moment. They look OK and better than I expected, especially as they were cut out quickly with a pair of blunt scissors then stuck onto business cards with pritstick, before being laminated for good measure. I've trimmed them down so that they're all the same size and I reckon they'll do the job.

I've also laminated some more quick reference sheets for the players and used little coloured sticky labels on the bases of the planes to mark them out in their particular sections. I was plannning to use the little round stickers that I used for the last game but, on digging them out I discovered that I didn't have any yellow ones, which was a bit of a problem. I'll see if I can get hold of some soon but, in the meantime, I'll have to use the rectangular ones that I have got.

I'll take some photos of the game tomorrow and will do a write up as soon as the dust settles.

Pimp my Workbench

It's been yet another typical Sunday, with the usual combination of sprog related diversions to keep me otherwise occupied. I've cleared most of the various obstacles now but still have some tedious marking to do this evening. This means the turn cards for the Bag the Hun scenario will have to be a rush job tomorrow night, so may be less than impressive when they finally get sorted.

It's not all doom and gloom though, as I found one of those Ikea style wooden storage box things at the tip on the way back from the boy's rugby practise this morning. It only cost me three quid and is a perfect fit for the shelf above my workbench. I've loaded it with all the crap that was in the wine box that now occupies the adjacent space on the shelf, so a bit of a result all round.

...all I need now is more shelves!

Bag The Hun Malta Game [8]

The Ministry of the Interior offered to take the sprogs out to the local garden centre this morning, so that I could shift the pile of exam marking that I have to complete for next week. This was much appreciated as it gave me a few hours to get the work blitzed and liberated the afternoon for bashing together the Bag The Hun scenario for Tuesday. In return, I did the ironing and the weekly shop, then cooked up a not half decent chicken chasseur for supper.

Anyway, I decided to stick with just an umpires' briefing rather than produce individual notes for the RAF and Italian players. As I'll be running the game, I'm sure that this will be more than adequate and will give me the opportunity to brief the players face to face, so to speak. It also fits in with the format of the scenario briefings in the Bag the Hun rulebook and the TooFatLardies Specials, so it's a good compromise and quite in keeping with the style of the game.

Now that the scenario is written up I need to produce the turn cards as listed on the sheet above. This is a not inconsiderable twenty three card deck but I'm planning to make them look reasonably decent, if not up to the standard of the last set that Duncan created for me. I have some ideas for the presentation of the various cards and have sourced some pretty good illustrations to make them look suitably impressive. I'm hoping to get them done at some point tomorrow, ready for printing and laminating on Monday.

Bag the Hun Malta Game [7]

That was a really, really long week...

...but,  I have worked out the details for 'A' Flight No185 Squadron RAF, with a bit of educated guesswork and some slightly less dodgy background research. I had the identity of three of the pilots involved in the dogfight on the 1st October but was able to work out a likely composition for the rest of the flight, using a combination of the combat reports and squadron diary in the excellent book that I acquired for the purpose.

The exact make up and colour coding of the individual sections is based on possibilty rather than probabilty, using a best fit with the information at my disposal.

Yellow Section

Sq/Ldr Mould (CO) (junior ace)

F/Sgt Knight (regular)

P/O Veitch (veteran)

F/Sgt Hayes (regular)

Red Section

F/Lt Jeffries (junior ace)

F/Sgt Jolly (veteran)

F/O Murch (veteran)

F/Sgt Ream (regular)

The Hurricane IIb's that equipped No185 Squadron don't feature in the Bag the Hun 2 aircraft data tables, so I've worked out a set of factors based on an amalgam of the stats for the Hurricane I and IIc, taking into account the slightly improved performance of the Mark II over the Mark I:

SPD [7] / MAN [5] / ALT [6] / ROC [2] / ROB [3] / SIZ [1] / FRONT [8] / AMMO LIMIT [14]

I thought about increasing the firepower rating but, as most Mk II's had only eight guns rather than a potential maximum of twelve, this seemed a little unrealistic. I have, however, uprated the robustness factor while retaining the altititude and ammunition capacity of the Mk I. It's a bit of a suck it and see solution but I think it'll work out fine in the actual game.

Bag The Hun Malta Game [6]

In between marking seemingly endless exam papers this week, I've been working out the exact details for the Bag The Hun 2 Malta multiplayer game that I'm running at the club next Tuesday. As previously mentioned, this is based on a scrap between 73a Squadriglia Mc202's and Hurricane IIb's of No185 Squadron on the 1st October 1941, in which Squadron Leader Peter 'Boy' Mould was shot down and killed.

The Italian Order of Battle that I have worked out is historically accurate and features the six experienced pilots of the Regia Aeronautica that actually fought in the engagement. The pilot ability ratings are based on actual confirmed combat claims up to the date of the scenario, so they're pretty accurate. A seventh pilot, Sottotenente Querci had to leave early due to oxygen supply problems, so I've organised the flight accordingly:

Section One

Capt Pluda (CO) (veteran)

Sgt Mge Dallari (veteran)

Section Two

Capt Ivaldi (regular)

S/Ten Oblach (veteran)

Section Three

Ten Bonfatti (junior ace)

Sgt Gino (veteran)

I have an odd number of players so needed to split the Italians into three pairs, which is what they would probably have done in reality. They have fewer aircraft than the RAF but have the advantage of using Bogey Markers at the start of the game, will be flying up sun and have an altitiude advantage as well. The Macchi Mc202 also has a higher rate of roll than the Hurricane IIb and has an advantage at maximum altitude, so the RAF will be on the back foot to begin with, even though they have a slight edge in numbers.

...more on the make up of A Flight No185 Squadron later.

New 'Oooh Shiny' Tumbling Dice Stuff

As I was chatting with the Tumbling Dice man the other day at Warfare, he mentioned that he had a new webshop thingy with all of the stuff that he's had waiting in the wings available to purchase. The old website was great but hadn't been updated for years, so many of the newer models in the catalogue that I wanted weren't actually available.

These included some 1/600th WW2 German sea and floatplanes, some coastal forces air sea rescue boats and some ACW forts in 1/12400th for the Victorian Ironclads project. I picked a selection of these goodies up on Sunday from the Tumbling Dice stand but thought I'd also have a look at the new website, just in case:

http://www.tumblingdiceuk.com/

Lo and behold, I find a brand new selection of starter packs for 1/600th and a load of really useful new aircraft as well, including obscure and not so strange inter war planes for the Spanish Civil War. However, the best bit is a new range of mid to late Victorian ironclads for the British and the Frnech, as well as a load of generic torpedo boats and patrol craft in 1/2400th!

I've shown great self restraint and have only ordered three ships to add to my existing early to mid Victorian fleets, with the French ironclad ram Taureau as my favorite from the selection. This was a bizarre one off design that resembled a capsized hull with a funnel plonked on top and a stonking great ram sticking out of the front, but I think it's pretty cool.

There's more on the way apparently and I for one wish Paul all the best with this long overdue revamp!

BKC Aegean Campaign Turn Five

It's time for Turn 5 in the on-going and highly entertaining club BKC campaign. This turn, the Italians under General Robusto Gorgonzola have a big battle to win against the perfidious British on the war torn island of Mikonos. In the previous turn, both sides launched an amphibious invasion of the island and fought each other to a stand still, with the Italians firmly in control of their objectives by night fall.

To ensure complete victory this turn, I've chucked the proverbial kitchen sink into the struggle for Mikonos, making use of armoured reinforcements via the docks, air strikes from fighter bombers sent in to fly from the airstrip and an elite naval special forces recce team, who will be landed by submarine to act as spotters for my warships deployed offshore. They'll also blow things up and cause chaos behind enemy lines, if I can get away with it.

Meanwhile, I've left my paratroopers to dig in on the island adjacent to Paros, scene of so much spectacular destruction last turn. The plan is to keep them there as a blockading force until the Soviets whither on the vine or are wiped out by my allies. I have ordered the commander of the para company in residence to raise the Italian flag and claim the liberation of Paros, with full press coverage and the propaganda section on over time, so that I can claim all the glory before my allies get there first.

...at least it'll look good if it all goes pear shaped on Mikonos!

Bravissimo!

A Sorry SAGA

I've decided to shelve the SAGA Viking warband project (again) as I simply have not enough time at the moment to spend on them. They'll get dusted off sometime next year but, for the moment, they're back in the box. I've come to the conclusion that I can only squeeze in very simple and/or very small painting projects with any chance of actual completion, with a standard working week or weekend being the optimal turnaround timeframe. 

I'm also far better at painting things than little people, so will be turning my attention toward ships, aircraft and spacecraft in 2013, so that I actually get some projects shifted. That's not to say that figures won't be in there somewhere but they'll definately be taking a back seat. So, I'm going to try to get one or two such mini-projects done over the next month as a test of this new approach to painting...

...more about that later.

That was Warfare 2012

We had a good day at Warfare, with some small but useful acquisitions and a game to keep the boys entertained. As you can see, my haul was modest but I'm pleased with the results. I had a really good chat with Paul from Tumbling Dice, then bought some 1/600th scale German floatplanes, an RAF rescue launch and an Admiralty drifter (whatever that is?), for coastal warfare games next year. I also bought a couple of 1/2400th scale coastal batteries for the Victorian naval project that I started a couple of years ago...nuff said about that one.

To complete the shopping basket of goodies, I finally got round to buying a tin of Army Painter dip, for use with the Darkest Africa natives and whatever else I can think of. This was followed up with some decals for the Bag the Hun 2 Italian aircraft and, last but not least, a very cool GZG VTOL drone thing, for the ever untouched 28mm Tomorrows World FFL project, which has yet to see the light of day let alone the lick of a paintbrush.

The boys had a great game of Rampage!, courtesy of the Dunstable Wargamers, who ran a very slick and friendly operation. This consisted of 6" Ben 10 plastic monsters stomping their way through a city of skyscrapers, with 10mm US troops, tanks and helicopter gunships in hot pursuit. It was perfect for the kids and very well presented, so a big thankyou to the chaps who had the dubious pleasure of enterntaining the offspring.

I meant to stop off for a game with chaps running the very popular Wing of War set up , but reality intervened and it was time to go home before we had the chance to take part. I also failed to locate the Dead Man's Hand game, even though I spotted it on the way out as we rushed to catch the train back home. Nonetheless, it was a fairly painless and rather enjoyable day, with a minimal hit to the finances and some good demo games to enjoy. 

Sorry for the absence of photos...forgot the camera again (duurrh)

More on Malta

The latest addition to the bilbliography for the Malta Bag the Hun 2 game, which is making me lean towards this as a potential campaign setting even more. This is a great book, with a day by day account of the air campaign  and stacks of reference material on specific units, aircraft and actions. A particularly useful feature is that there are individual chapters not on units but of actual types, my favorite being the one on the S79's (I must paint up some of those Museum Miniatures models on day).

Dead Man's Hand

These new rules from the Great Escape Games stable have piqued my interest, especially as I already have a decent collection of 28mm figures for Legends of the Old West, which seems to have died a bit of a death at the club of late. It looks like a standard gunfight based game, using a randomised card based system to determine the outcome of the turns, which looks a lot like my sort of thing.

They're running a demo at Warfare over the weekend, so I'll pop along and see what it's all about. If the rules aren't too expensive and don't seem too wacky, I might pick up a copy to make the most of my otherwise redundant cowboy collection. It may even give me an excuse to paint up yet another posse of bad dudes?

PS These grizzled lawmen and banditos definately need a bit of a wash...in more ways than one.

Warfare 2012



Not mine...somebody else owns these, move along, move along...



I'm really snowed under with work at the moment, hence the lack of progress with either the SAGA figures or the scenario for the Bag The Hun 2 Malta game. I have collated a number of references for the latter, however, and have now got quite a lot of detailed information including, for example, the identities and experience of the individual pilots for both sides.

Anyway, the good news is that I've been cleared to take the boys up to Warfare on Sunday, which was originally booked up with a rugby match and DIY in the garden. I'm hoping to spend a couple of hours at the show and to pick up a few bargains including a copy of Maurice (if I can find one on special offer), some Artizan Senegalese Tirailleurs for In the Heart of Africa, something from Peter Pig, Pendraken or Tumbling Dice(as usual) and whatever else grabs my attention.

See you there!

Onward to Malta

I finished reading Tom Neil's excellent Gunbutton to Fire a few days ago, so I was really pleased to spot his subsequent account of the air battle for Malta on Ebay, especially given my current efforts to put together a BTH2 Malta scenario for the club multiplayer game on Tuesday. If it's anything like his earlier book, it'll be well worth the £2.99 that I forked out for it.

The paperback arrived today in the post and I'm looking forward to pulling it apart for potential scenario material. I've already had a flick through for references to the engagement that I'm using as a basis for the game next week, even though I have a mountain of work to shift. I'm hoping to get some time to work onn the briefings and cards tomorrow but who knows?

BKC Aegean Campaign Report

It's Party Time!

General Robusto Gorgonzola cordially invites you to his celebratory...

X-MAS Bunga Bunga Party!

Guest of Honour

Tenente Luigi Durand de la Penne, Commander Decima Mas Special Forces

Hero of the Battle of Paxos

Special Mystery Guest

Stefanos, Organisation X

Menu

Calamari in Red Wine and Tomato Sauce

Linguine with Octopus

Swordfish a la Siciliana

Penne with Shrimp

Pasta with Clam Sauce

Pasta con Sarde (Pasta with Sardines)

Lobster alla Fiorentina

Fresh Sardines Naples Style

Bring a Bottle

(PS: no nasty German stuff)

Fancy Dress Code

Crazy Scuba!

(strictly no Lederhosen)

After Dinner Entertainment

The world famous Red Army Cossack Dance Ensemble

(courtesy of Colonel Crostini, officer commanding POW camp No.23)

RSVP

PS: no monarchists please

General Gorgonzola is really very sorry that Kurt, Heinz, Rudi and Karl cannot attend the party and hope that they will make a full recovery

Bag The Hun Malta Game [5]

Another very busy Sunday but I did get an hour or so to add the theatre bands and tail insignia to the Mc202's, which was a bit of a tricky job but came out OK in the end. The fuselage bands were masked off then painted with Vallejo White. They're not too bad but I need to blend them in somehow as they're a bit stark and none too tidy if you get up close.

I'd love to add some microscopic Squadriglia codes but I don't have anything in the decals box small enough to fit. The tail crosses are cut down from a 15mm Italian tank decals set but I only had enough to kit out six of the nine aircraft. Luckily, I only need six fighters for the scenario but I'll need to find some more decals if I'm going kit out the rest of the Italian collection.

I've also been researching the events of 1st October 1941 and have found this account written by Flying Officer Peter Thompson in No185 Squadron's war diary:

'The CO was leading A Flight in a scramble after a +2. These he spotted and proceeded to give chase. As they were above him, he was compelled to lose speed in order to gain height. A further plot of +9 then appeared which he apparently did not hear about owing to R/T failure, and just when he was unfavourably placed - he had followed the +2 out of the sun - the formation was jumped by about a dozen Macchis. F/O Murch was hit in the wing and several other, in an attempt to turn to engage, spun off. The situation was hopeless and our pilots broke off the engagement and returned to base - with one exception, the CO.'

I've also ordered a copy of this book from Amazon, detailing the involvement of No185 Squadron in the defence of Malta, which will be invaluable in filling in the details for the final scenario write up. It's due to arrive on Tuesday, so I'll have a week to pick out the information that I need and convert it into scenario briefings for the Italian and RAF players, together with some nice new turn cards.

Lest We Forget

Bag the Hun Malta Game [4]

I spent some time today working out what I'm going to do for the Bag the Hun 2 game at the club in a couple of weeks. This was supposed to be a North Africa game but, after a bit of a think, I've decided to switch the action to Malta in October 1941. There's a lot of potential in the Malta option and I reckon it could be a solid basis for a series of campaign games.

This is for a number of reasons. Firstly, my Hawker Hurricanes are a spot-on match for No185 Squadron aircraft including the single letter fuselage codes. Secondly, I have some lovely Museum Miniatures Mc200's and Mc202's that I can use, the latter making any dogfights a little less one sided. Thirdly, I only have a blue hex mat, so any scenarios would need to be over the sea to look right.

After reading through some of my various reference books and doing some inevitable googling, I've identified at least four potential scenarios that would work well for the number of players that have signed up for the game. From this shortlist,  I've chosen an engagement on the 1st October 1941 between eight Hurricane IIA's of No185 Squadron and seven Mc202's of No73a Squadriglia, the first action in which the new Italian fighters were deployed over the island:

On the morning of 1 October 1941, the 9o Gruppo undertook its first sorties over Malta with its new aircraft, seven MC.202s from 73a Squadriglia led by Capitano Pluda taking part. Partaking pilots were Capitano Carlo Ivaldi, Tenente Pietro Bonfatti, Sottotenente Giuseppe Oblach, Sergente Maggiore Enrico Dallari, Sergente Santo Gino and Sottotenente Alvaro Querci (Querci was however forced to return due to problems with his oxygen supply).

At 11:50, eight Hurricanes from 185 Squadron scrambled after the incoming ‘bandits’, climbing to 24,000 feet. At this height, 30 miles north-east of the island, they were jumped by the Macchis and 24-year-old Squadron Leader Peter ‘Boy’ Mould (RAF no. 33414) (Hurricane Z5265/GL-T) was shot down and killed (at this time Mould was credited with 8 and 3 shared victories).

Capitano Carlo Ivaldi, Tenente Bonfatti and Sergente Maggiore Dallari claimed two Hurricanes shot down and two probables between them in this first pass; Bonfatti reported that he saw his opponent to jump and parachute (according to some sources the Italian pilots claimed three victories).

Sergeant Ernie Knight got in a shot at the attackers, obtaining hits on Ivaldi’s aircraft (MM7723), which he claimed damaged. The Macchi had been hit in its main fuel tank, and with all fuel drained away, was obliged to force-land on a beach near Pozzzallo, on regaining the Sicilian coast.

As you can read for yourself, this provides plenty of detail for a cracking interception scenario including some specific characters cards, a couple of junior aces and the opportunity to deploy some Italian bogeys to introduce another element to the game. I think it'll be quite balanced as well, giving both sides the chance to achieve some success.

I'll have a crack at writing something up tomorrow and will get some turncards sorted, once I've worked out exactly what I need. I also need to tart up the Mc202's with some theatre bands, tail insignia and fusealge codes, if they're to look the business. This shouldn't be too difficult and will add a little extra 'ooh shiny' factor to the game.

SFSFW

I decided to sign up with the Society of Fantasy and Science Fiction Wargamers the other day, which is something that I've always meant to do but somehow never got round to. 

My interest  is down to the fact that I have a pretty good collection of Aeronef and ran a Scramble for Africa campaign at the club a few years ago, since when the fleets have been gathering dust which is a bit of a shame. In addition I have a small but perfectly formed gang of diecast Hotwheels conversions for Mad Max style post-apoc road warfare, that has only been used once or twice for lack of a decent set of rules. 

Then there's the Iron Cow ONESS battlegroup that I started on earlier this year and which only need a few extra bits to be ready for deployment. If I add this lot to the, as yet untouched, 28mm Tomorrow's World Future FFL and Full Thrust fleets in the leadpile, it gives me plenty to get my teeth into that fits the remit of the SFSFW. I think it'll definately be worth it, especially if it gets me to use some of these long lost models and get some new mini-projects off the starting block.

In fact, I've promised myself a solo game of X Wing this weekend as a reward for good behaviour.

:O)

SAGA West Saxons

I found a box set of Gripping Beast plastic Saxon Thegns on Ebay a few days ago, so put in a tentative bid. As a result, I now have the aforementioned box sitting on my workbench, which is both a good thing and a bad thing depending on your point of view. I have a handful of GB metal Saxons in the leadpile that I aquired years ago for WAB, after using a skirmish variant of the rules at the club for a few games.

These had been set up and umpired by Dr Ryan Lavelle, who is a bit of an expert on all things to do with early medieval warfare, to say the least. The series of games that we played were a lot of fun and made use of some particularly effective shower curtain terrain that Ryan had invented, alongside some very effective scratchbuilt mid-Saxon timber buildings.

Here's his rather useful review of the plastic Saxon figures:

http://www.wargamesillustrated.net/Default.aspx?tabid=289&art_id=2506

Anyway, that was a long time ago, but the idea of a ninth century West Saxon project has long been simmering away in my subconscious and has now ben re-ignited by the advent of SAGA. If I can get the Norse done this month, I quite fancy putting together a small West Saxon force, based on the plastic figures and the additional metal fyrd figures that I have in the ever expanding leadpile.

BKC Aegean Campaign Update

The Italians have triumphed yet again in the on-going BKC Aegean campaign, with a truly stunning raid on the Soviet fleet that has effectively knocked Ivan out of the campaign in one audacious move. Yet again, the elite X-MAS Italian special forces have used subterfuge, guile and skill to penetrate the enemy defences and blow things up in great style, before slipping away into the night*

Bravissimo!

This has earned some valuable political points for General Robusto Gorgonzola, as well as some useful new assets that will be deployed against the perfidious British in the on-going battle for Mikonos. I already have some 'cunning plans' for the next turn of the campaign but these will have to wait until I've issued my latest press release, courtesy of Tenente Berlusconi and his typewriter.

*General Gorgonzola regrets the unfortunate 'friendly fire' incident and hopes that Kurt, Heinz, Rudi and Max are making a full recovery.

Maurice

I had a cracking introductory game of Maurice at the club this evening, with Mike as the umpire and Paul as the opposition. Mike provided the excellent figures and ran the game really well. I took the defending British side and Paul the attacking French, with an equal number of units for each army. The card based mechanics were very effective and made the game very tactical. In the end, it was a bit of a draw, with the French getting a bloody nose at the expense of crumbling British morale. A really enjoyable and fast moving game, which played well and looked fantastic!

Bag The Hun 2 North Africa Game [3]

It was back to work today and, as usual, I had to hit the ground running and haven't really stopped until now. I have had a few moments to think about the turn cards for the BTH2 North Africa game, however, and have had a quick look at what I've already got on the laptop. I have several sets of cards that I produced for use with the first edition of Bag the Hun, which could be used for BTH2 with minimal alterations.

I knocked these rather basic but functional cards up for the last game desert game a few years ago but I think they're a bit too rough and ready now. I'm going to try to produce something less rudimentary and a bit more inspiring, if I can work out how and if I have the time. I may end up with some good old fashioned cut and paste but, at the very least, it'll look better than these old school versions. I'll see if I can find some decent colour images to use for a start, which is harder than you might think.

SAGA Vikings [6]

To give my SAGA project a bit of a kick start, I thought I'd add a unit of hairy hearthguard beserkers to the existing four point warband. I'll use these as a seperate unit to swap out for another four hearthguard figures or a unit of eight bondi warriors. I considered adding a second bondi unit of eight warriors, to make the raiding party up to a standard six points but, as this month is going to be stupidly busy at work, I thought it better to stick with a basic four point warband in the hope that I'll actually get it finished by the end of November??

Bag The Hun 2 North Africa Finished

I finished off the Blenheims today then painted all of the bases to complete the Bag the Hun North Africa project, at least for now. The Martin Maryland ended up in the scrap pile, as I wasn't happy with the end result, but I have now got a decent RAF force to use for the game later in the month and for future scenarios in the early desert war. I've enjoyed this project, even if the end result isn't really up to the usual standard, but it's definately time for a break from tiddly planes nonetheless!