Return to Darkest Africa

For the second of my holiday clean up and base projects, I'm going to have a crack at finishing off what's left of my Nkonde tribal villagers army for In the Heart of Africa.

This is a project I started on this time last year and got about half way with before being distracted by other things. To complete the bulk of the army I need to base up twenty four warriors, sixteen archers, four baggage elements, some casualty markers and the single figures that represent the chief, the shaman, a scout and some other hangers on.

Unfortunately, I've left my copy of the rules at home so I'm operating in the dark a bit, using my previous posts and some guesswork to work out what I'm supposed to be doing. I've also left the extra unit of spearmen that I had originally included in the army at home for some reason. I can only assume that I decided not to include them and have substituted an extra eight warriors instead to make up the points.

I'll start with the archers tomorrow, although we have the family round for the day so I may not have the time to get much done, if anything at all.

Atlantic Wall Morgat

No holiday in Brittany would be complete without a little bit of the Atlantic Wall. We went to Morgat on the Crozon Peninsula today and I spotted this enfilade machine gun bunker at the far end of the beach. I took a few long range photos and later on, thanks to an inpromptu boat trip round the bay, some close up shots of the site from the sea. It's not very impressive compared to some of the other bunkers that I've been to in the region but it's quite an unusual one nonetheless, so worth adding to the archive.

AK47 Summer Spearhead [9]

I finished off the heavy weapons bases for the Bagombo R.U.B.A.R.R.B. this afternoon, taking a few short cuts to spread my limited supply of crew figures as far as I could. The heavy weapons teams are supposed to have three crew per base, which always seems a little generous to me, so I had to stick to the rules in this respect for the sake of wargaming decency.

However, by substituting a cache of mortar bombs on each of the mortar bases for a figure, I managed to squeeze out four mortar bases, two HMG bases and one RCL base. This will mean that the mortars can form an independent four base unit if I want to concentrate their firepower, while the HMG's and RCL can be mixed in with the S/A units as additional fire support when sorting out the units on the pre-game phase.

I've also based up a rather sinister looking sniper team, using some of the Peter Pig Vietnam US special forces figures. I have the rules for snipers in the old AK47 supplement but will have to dig them out when I get home, as I'm not entirely sure how they fit in with the main rules and army lists. They,ll make an interesting addition to the Bagombo regulars and will look good once I paint them up and add some suitable cover.

I've decided to make this the last of the Babombo AK47 units that I'm going to base up now, leaving the Bulldog carriers for another (UN peacekeeping) army and another day. I'll replace the carriers with Saracen APC's from QRF, which look really cool and fit in better with the British theme of the R.U.B.A.R.R.B. This is a bit cheeky, as my occasional opponent Jon has equipped his army with the very same transport, but I'm sure he won't mind of if I follow suit.

:O)

The Man Who Broke Napoleon's Codes

I've just finished reading this and, having enjoyed Rifles as a really well written and informative read, I have to say that I was a bit underwhelmed thus time round. It's a very readable and well thought out book but it isn't really what it's supposed to be.

The coverage of the intelligence operation behind the Peninsular campaign is certainly there but it's not exactly centre stage, although very interesting nonetheless. There's a lot more on the campaign itself that has very little relation to code breaking or deciphering and more to do with the course of the conflict in general.

It's still very much worth reading, so don't let me put you off, but I enjoyed Rifles to a far greater extent. I have no plans to do anything Napoleonic in the foreseeable future, so I have an open mind when it comes to this sort of thing. I'll be looking out for more by Mark Urban, as I really like his style of writing, even if he strays off the thematic path now and again.

A World Aflame

Just got an email from Amazon to confirm that my pre-ordered copy of A World Aflame is in the post and will be on the doorstep when I get back from France. I'll hang fire until I've had a good look at the rules but I think this might be a good set to use, both for my VBCW BUF v. Red Workers and as an alternative to Contemptible Little Armies for the Back of Beyond.

Who knows, it might even get the BoB thing back up and running at the club? Wishful thinking perhaps, but it's one of my favourite wargaming topics and one that I'd love to breath new live into, given half the chance. I have a Bolshevik and a Dinosaur Hunter army for the Back of Beyond and a third Japanese force that's virtually complete, once I cut a few corners using some Army Painter dip.

Loads of potential for some games, if these new rules cut the mustard that is?

Le Retour

I'm back from a brief camping trip to the very flat but not unpleasant region of the Vendee. It's a but touristy and full of English and Dutch campers but, nonetheless, there were some very interesting castles to visit and the weather was good, so it was worth the four hour drive to get there. I'll post some pictures tomorrow, including some long range shots of the docks at St Nazaire from the nearby suspension bridge.

In the meantime, I found a copy of this documentary on the French-Indochina war in the local supermarket's Espace Culterelle. It looks good and, even though my French is a bit wonky, I reckon it might inspire me to pick up my long stagnant plans for wargaming this difficult but very interesting conflict. I have a stash of 10mm Pendraken figures and a few 15mm Eureka figures too, so there's plenty to work with.

AK47 Summer Spearhead [8]

Here's the last of the armoured cars for the Bagombo R.U.B.A.R.R.B. To finish off the A/C element of the force I've cleaned up and based two QRF Saladins with added pintle mounts. I really like the Saladin, even though these ones needed quite a lot of filing and scraping to shape up. I need to do some extra detailing on the wheel hubs and add some aerials but otherwise they look fine, at least to me.

They can be used either as a unit on table counting as a respectable 80 points, as an addition to other units or as a bonus unit in the political phase. We're off camping for a few days tomorrow, so there will be a bit of a news black out in the interim. I may get to take some figures with me to prepare but I doubt I'll get anything done.

Over and out.

TFL Summer Special

I've been reading this today, alongside my copy of Dux Britanniarum, as there are some interesting articles on DB that might help me decide if and, subsequently how, I might go about it. I'm still sitting on the fence at the moment, as I don't want to spend lots on 28mm figures and the smaller scale alternatives are either too expensive (Splintered Light 15mm) or would give me bucket loads of surplus figures (Pendraken 10mm). I've also got the SAGA Vikings to do first, amongst other things...

AK47 Summer Spearhead [7]

Here are the three Ferret scout cars that make up one of the regular armoured car units in the Bagomban army. This lot represent the recce element of the R.U.B.A.R.R.B. and, as such, are fast but lightly armed. In AK47 they cost 30 points each, which is quite a lot given their limited clout, but they are quite useful if you mix them in with other units.

The models are by QRF and the crewman is a Peter Pig figure, cut down to fit in the open top Ferret Mk1 scout car. The other two vehicles are Mk 2/3 Ferrets with turrets mounting .30 cal machine guns. They're nice models and excellent value for money but need quite a bit of sanding, filing and cleaning up.

I'm running short of mdf rectangles for the vehicles so these three will have to wait until I get home to get their bases sorted. To make up for this oversight, I think they'll get a funky camouflage scheme when I eventually get round to painting them up, a bit like the Malaysian versions in the picture.

A Rough Guide to the Kingdom of Bagombo

A bit of background fluff for the Bagombo AK47 army....

This is a Superpower Backed force in the old rules and a Hereditary Benign Dictatorship under the new reloaded edition of AK47. The former is the best fit for the units that I've assembled without doing another Colonial Settlers army but it's pretty much spot on for the latter, given it's composition and the assets available in the political list.

The Geography of Bagombo

The Kingdom of Bagombo is situated on the southern shores of Lake Bagombo, bordered to the north east by the Independent Republic of Nbuto and to the north west by the Revolutionary Peoples Republic of Wanga Wanga.

The capital city and port of Gombo is located on a coastal strip of heavily populated fertile land but much of the country is relatively undeveloped upland, with an extensive plateau of savanah as the dominant geographical feature.

The King of Bagombo

The Kingdom of Bagombo was a protectorate of the British Empire until independence in 1948. The current ruler, King Mtosi III, succeeded to the throne on the death of his father, King Mtosi II, shortly afterwards. The king studied at Eton and Cambridge before completing his military training as an officer cadet at Sandhurst. He retains close ties to the former colonial power and to the royal family.

The Bagomban Economy

The economy of Bagombo is primarily based on farming and fishing. The coastal lands are cultivated with maize and coffee as the principal crops. The pastoral basis of Bagombon culture is also very important, with cattle as an indicator of wealth and prestige in Bagomban society. The King of Bagombo, Mtose III, retains a large herd of cattle on his private estates around the royal kraal at Njuju.

In recent years, Bagombo has developed as one of the wealthiest nations in Africa primarily due to the discovery of extrensive oil and natural gas reserves in Lake Bagombo. In addition, the kingdom has become a lucrative tax haven and offshore banking facility for the world's wealthiest investors. The revenue from these activities has been used to develop a thriving safari based tourist industry and has provided a source of finance for the equipment of the Bagomban armed forces.

The Bagomban Armed Forces

The Royal Unified Bagomban Army Rapid Reaction Brigade or R.U.B.A.R.R.B, is trained and equipped with predominantly British weapons systems and armoured vehicles. The military is divided into two principal elements, a border security patrol force and a mobile task force of regular troops. The Border Patrol is equipped with jeeps, landrovers and trucks but is primarily a lightly armed militia force.

The mobile task force of the R.U.B.A.R.R.B is equipped with an armoured element of Vickers MBT's, alongside more frequently deployed Saladin and Ferret armoured cars. These are supported by well armed troops transported in Bulldog anti mine vehicles.

The Bagomban infantry are well equipped with G3 and FN FAL assault rifles, LAWS light anti-tank launchers and blowpipe AAA missiles for self defence. A heavy weapons platoon of mortars, heavy machine guns and recoilless rifles is also available for fire support.

In addition, the presence of British military advisors in a combat role is documented, although not officially acknowledged by either government. The use of professional troops and pilots enables the R.U.B.A.R.R.B. to call in air support from Gazelle helicopter gunships in a ground attack role. There is also evidence of heliborne troop insertions by Puma transport helicopters.