A new place to buy Old Dominion Game Works products in the UK

 Greetings all,

I’m sorry I haven’t been very active recently, a combination of blogger being hard to use on an iPad and the usual lack of functionality has drained my productivity. I have achieved some bits and bobs though, including helping my wife expand and diversify her business. 

You may have read my previous posts about how much I love the Napoleonic Naval Warfare rules Post Captain by Old Dominion Game Works and how I was interested in getting into WWII Naval warfare with ODGW’s General Quarters 3 rules but had struggled due to the bad customer services and weird policies of the one company that sell hard copies in the U.K. 

Because of this ODGW’s excellent stable of rules doesn’t get the exposure and table time they deserve in the UK and my wife and I decided we could try and change this. So whilst I’m not capable of actual work (years of hard, manual labour lugging timber and climbing trees are sadly behind me now and I miss them terribly) I could advise my wife on what I thought of their products and that there should be a market for them. A week or two of overexcited waiting by the window and our first order arrived. We couldn’t get everything but we did try and order a good range of the most popular rulesets to get us started. So here is a brief overview of what she currently has to offer (if you click on the hyperlinked product name it will take you to the eBay listing):

Post Captain is a set of Naval war game rules suitable for the Napoleonic era (1793 to 1815 the carronade era specifically) covering ship to ship actions up to whole fleets, from luggers, ketches and brigantines up to mighty first rates including merchants of all sizes. It is suitable for all scales including the recent Warlord games Black Seas 1/700 ships and additional scaled measuring devices are available as downloads when you register your copy (along with a comprehensive selection of bonus material, ships and scenarios). The included ship logs cover the fleets of the main combatants for the period and additional rules cover land warfare, weather, cutting out, weapon types including swivel guns, canon and carronades and an excellent introduction to how sailing works and how the rules model this on the tabletop. I can’t recommend these rules enough, whilst I may change scales and move to the smaller 1:1200 scale offered by Rod Langton miniatures, they will be my ongoing set of age of sail naval rules and I have many plans for what I’d like to do with them.

General Quarters 3 is ODGW’s set of rules for surface, air and submarine warfare during WWII. As the third edition of these rules it has been totally rewritten and the best description of my first opinion when I opened my copy is comprehensive yet approachable. The rules cover everything from Destroyers to Battleships and carriers, torpedoes, air warfare, submarines, mine warfare, weather, campaign games and much more. They work for a range of scales (depending on what you already have or like and how much space you have available) and there are a number of different measuring scale options to further adapt the rules to your set-up (1cm 100yds or 1cm to 200yds). Optional rules include simplified or rather streamlined versions of the torpedo system, submarine warfare and how aircrafts are handled allow you to tailor the game to your preferences. Gunfire (and many other features) are resolved using the nation specific CRT charts which, whilst initially looking complex and daunting, make combat resolution very easy and reduce the need to refer to the rulebook and clutter the table during play. Included are hundreds of ships logs for the most common combatants and further digital deluxe ship log collections are available seperately (although if you understand the very straightforward ship log system and know what ship you wanted to model you could produce them yourselves with a little effort). I'm very excited about these rules and whilst I've run though the basics using counters I'm about to bite the bullet and order some Navwar 1:3000 destroyers and cruisers to see if they appeal to me and I can get them table top ready for when I can get back out into the world and introduce it to my local club.

The campaign system for GQ3 is very flexible and easily allows you to create your own detailed campaigns. A number of prewritten campaigns are available which use a unique decision tree system to generate the tactical engagements (and need no plotting) whilst allowing replays to avoid becoming predictable and boring for the players. Each campaign in the ODGW Decisions at Sea series contain detailed background history and full OOB's necessary to get the conflicts to the tabletop and are further supported by online access to extensive digital downloads on the ODGW website and forum.

The Solomons Islands Campaign allow players to enter Ironbottom Sound and recreate the decisions and conflicts faced by the Allies and Japanese as they fight for this key island chain. Full OOB's for both sides and turn by turn decisions keep the players engaged in not only the tactical but also the logistical operations to achieve victory.

Sudden Storm is a fictional 'What-if' campaign set in 1937 recreating a worldwide hot conflict between Japan and the USA. With a excellent and thorough background section to set the scene this book allows players to enter a period of naval warfare that was only fleeting in the real WWII. There is no radar, electric torpedoes, PT Boats, 24" Type 93 "Long Lance" [Sic] torpedoes, US magnetic torpedo exploder problems, decks filled with AA guns or VT Fuses, long range airplanes, heavy bombs, drop tanks or self sealing fuel tanks. Battle lines and big guns still rule. Comprehensive OOB's for both sides, specific ship logs and aircraft makes this fictional period come to life.

There is also Defending the Malay Barrier in the series following the disastrous Allied ABDA defence of the Malay Barrier but unfortunately we don't currently have this to offer as ODGW did not have any stock. We will be stocking this in the future though.

Fleet Action Imminent is the General Quarters WWI ruleset for Naval combat during the Great War.  The rules contain everything you need for WW1 Naval Wargaming with rewritten and streamlined surface combat rules specifically for the Great War with Special Fleet Action rules for large battles with lots of Destroyers. Inside you'll find National tables for Gunnery, Damage, Detection and Morale, a streamlined torpedo system for faster and easier resolution, new ship and airship turn indicators and additional rules for Coal Smoke, Minefields, Night Actions, Signals, Shore Batteries, Airships, Blimps and much more. More than 500 WWI Colour Ship Logs and additional Airship Logs are included along with additional material available to download when you register. I don't yet have these rules but will probably buy myself a copy soon as it looks like a really interesting period.

The North Sea Campaign covers the critical fight for control of the North Sea and uses the same mapless plotting and decision tree system seen in the GQ3 campaign books. It also includes full OOB's for the conflict and access to full colour downloadable ship logs from the website.

Mein Panzer is a core rule book which are flexible and expandable 1:1 (one model represents one vehicle or soldier) rules for recreating 20th and 21st century combined arms ground warfare from World War One up through to the present day. Designed to be used with scales from 1/285 (6mm) to 15mm, based around ODGW's Drop-In game system allowing players from novice to veteran to customise the gameplay to their own particular gaming style. Once you've learned the core rules you can Drop-In additional modules to fit your chosen theatre and period of combat. The core rules are divided into three sections. The first section contains the basic rules dealing only with Tank vs Tank battles to quickly teach the principles of the game. The second section contains the advanced rules which build upon the basics to form the cornerstone of the rule system. The last section includes a number of Drop-In modules, each dealing with specific areas of ground combat covering such areas as Morale, Command and Control, Infantry, Air Support, Artillery, Armoured Trains, Amphibious assaults, Structures and Engineers. Included is a generous selection of starter data so you can start playing as soon as possible. Including equipment tables, TO&E, aircraft, small arms and basic troops for WW1, WW2, The Cold War and the ultramodern period.

Mein Panzer WWII Data Book contains over 7,300 data entries for 29 Nationalities including several thousand pieces of equipment, TO&E, ordnance tables, naval support equipment, small arms, troop types and special rules for the conflict. From the Japanese Knee Mortar to the German King Tiger. Each country has an included Troop Table detailing five quality levels, plus numerous special troops. Everything from the Afrika Korps to Cossacks and the SS. It also includes the special rules needed to play in every theatre of conflict with virtually any combatant. The Mein Panzer rule book is needed to fully utilise the contents of this book but the TO&E and equipment information would be usable for any WW2 wargame with very little adjustment. 

Other data books are available including WWI, The Spanish Civil War and The Korean War and whilst we don't currently have stock of these we intend to in the future. Whilst I don't yet own MP it is also on my wish list as I love WWII gaming (maybe my favourite period) and always welcome new, decent rulesets to allow me to play games that have a real sense of WWII (It's a game so realism is never really possible or the aim but the feel is important).

PLEASE NOTE ALL THESE RULES ARE LOOSE LEAF 3 HOLE US PUNCH ONLY AND IN THE UK YOU WILL NEED TO PURCHASE A BINDER AND POLY POCKETS TO STORE THESE RULES. 

If there are any other ODGW products you are interested in please contact us through the eBay site and we can order them for you for a small deposit. Any questions about the products please get in touch as we want to help promote these excellent rules (and ODGW) and as fellow gamers we care about what we are selling and helping people get to enjoy them.

Thank you for taking your time to visit, I hope we can help you play some of these excellent rules and inspire you to getting them to the tabletop. I'll get back to actual blogging soon and try and show some progress as I now have access to a computer which makes Blogger usable again.

Stay safe, look after yourself and others,

BALM

A little progress.......

 Greetings all. I hope 2020 is treating you well...... OK maybe not ‘well’ but you’re hanging in there, it won’t be forever, soon it will be a weird memory that those that didn’t experience it won’t really understand (and hopefully will never have to).

 Talking of things that are hard to understand without being there I just watched a new mini series on Netflix about WW2. The Liberator is about Felix Sparks and his role in the 45th Infantry division (nicknamed the Thunderbirds) and their path through the later period of WW2. It follows the characters through Italy via Anzio and then during Operation Dragoon (landings in the south of France) and into Germany including their discovery of concentration camps and the horrific practices undertaken there. The interesting thing about this particular American unit was that it was made up of Native Americans, Mexicans and Americans, people who at that time in their home country wouldn’t have been able to drink together in the same bar. It was a highly decorated unit, that fought hard throughout these campaigns but also has a number of accounts of war crimes attached to them. I can’t comment on these as I can’t even imagine what the war was really like but they are covered in the series and more information about the unit can be found here (it’s Wikipedia so I presume it’s accurate but better sources are probably available). One of the most stunning things about this series is the way it was shot using something called Trioscope. This leads to an almost animated, cel shaded look that adds a beauty to what are horrific and frightening events. I really enjoyed it and think it was well worth watching if you have Netflix.

Apart from that I’ve achieved a few things but nothing of any great measures. Whilst I’ve been interested in WW2 gaming for a while I’ve never had much interest in the Naval actions. When I bought the excellent Post Captain from ODGW games I noticed that they also had a WW2 Naval set called General Quarters 3, luckily I managed to have a flick through a friends copy and was intrigued by how they seemed to work. I started reading various Osprey books and was soon swamped by how complicated and vast the subject was so I asked for some help on a starting point from the publishers forum and ordered a copy from the only people in the U.K. that stocked them. The forum response was excellent and very helpful but the company selling the rules were not. When I used their website I noticed a couple of odd things like the fact that they charge a surcharge for using PayPal (not allowed by PayPal and also by U.K. legislation), when I asked them about it they were flippant and claimed PayPal was expensive (they’ve obviously never had a business bank account) and that they were well within their rights. Shockingly after I politely pointed out that they couldn’t do what they were doing, they said my card wasn’t working and then cancelled my order without contacting me (I’d joked with my wife that I’d never get what I ordered but was still slightly shocked). Annoyed and slightly flummoxed I gave up on ever obtaining the rules, but a few days later I had a better idea.

 I contacted the creators, ODGW, and after a couple of explanatory emails managed to set my wife up as a seller of their rules. I’m still waiting for our first shipment to arrive (due on Friday) and will post about them excitedly as soon as they arrive. I haven’t mentioned the original U.K. company but they are well known and if you go onto many of the gaming forums there are lists of people having problems with their non-existent customer service and refusing to buy anything from them. ODGW make excellent rules (and are lovely people) and I don’t think that the behaviour of an unconnected rubbish company should have an effect on whether people in the U.K. get to play their games so hopefully soon I can change that.

 When I found GQ3 I also found a game called Action Stations by David Manley which focuses on the coastal actions that were prevalent throughout the war and this also piqued my interest. To work out what scale I would play GQ3 in I decided to order some Figurehead 1:6000 destroyers from Magister Millitum and whilst doing so I noticed that they also sold 1:1250 coastal ships and bought a pack of these to see what I thought.

Well the two packs I ordered arrived promptly and with mixed results. Not surprisingly the 1:6000 destroyers were tiny but my key issue was that they are fixed to their bases (and yes I do want to put them on bases, but my bases not pre-cast metal ones. I know - picky) and whilst I managed to remove some of them I’m not sure they are worth the effort. The 1:1250 coastal ships were a different matter though. I bought a pack of Vorposternboot (converted German trawlers) and they are brilliant. Cleanly cast and frankly charming I quickly based up one of the ships and got it painted.

They are based on pill bases from Fluid 3D workshop and then I used Vallejo plastic putty to sculpt the water effects, which for a first go I’m quite happy with. Painting was very easy and I just needed to pick out a few details like depth charges  and lifeboats and the little ship came to life. I may have painted the water too brightly as I used a tiny bit of GW Talassar Blue contrast paint as a wash but when I placed them onto my sea gaming mat they worked quite well.

Apart from that I’ve put together a pair of Hornisse or Nashorns (large German self propelled guns) and Ferdinands (like a stug on steroids) which can be used on the Eastern front or in Italy and being relatively  few in number, in reality and in Battlegroup (I believe they are both restricted choices), I may do one of each for each theatre. Below is the first of my Hornisse (Hornet) which were also called Nashorn (Rhino) very much a sit and wait ambush vehicle.

That’s about it, I’ve dabbled in a few other things and regularly stare at my lead mountain trying to work out what I can do about it. As the Welsh fire break action has ended I should be able to get my wife to go to the post office for me and will start chipping at the surplus of my hoard later this week.

 I mentioned briefly before that I’d had a bit of a slip in the garden and damaged my hand. I was very lucky and did no serious permanent damage to myself. This has healed but has left a meaty scar and I’ve been slow getting back into doing hobby stuff but hopefully I’ll pick up speed now. 

Thank you for taking the time to read through this, I hope you’re being more productive than I am currently, stay safe.

BALM

My forces for Operation Torch - or what have I been doing during COVID?

 Greetings all, I hope you are still coping with the unusual times we’re currently experiencing. Previously I’ve mentioned that my actual progress in my hobby is not very well represented by my blog posts - a mixture of frustration at computers (blogger is very hard to use on iPad recently - as I type this I cannot actually see what I’m writing and when I try and put pictures in a minute there will be swearing) and a feeling that it just isn’t that interesting. Well recently I’ve decided to give in and bore any poor reader who found their way here because if nothing else it’s a small distraction from the real world. 

Since just before Christmas I’ve been taking random boxes of 15mm tanks and vehicles I have stockpiled and trying to at least move them forward by sticking them together and basing them. I haven’t progressed to painting partly as I’ve lost my painting mojo and I was also stuck trying to match my basing colours with my chosen gaming mat (Cigar Box battle mats Arid region - it has a ground colour of a beige and pink flesh tone in it and sparse foliage scattered across it) but I think I’ve solved that problem.

For Operation Torch I wanted to collect Italians and Germans with British and Americans opposing them. My American platoon is already based along with a few vehicles like an M8 Scott, M1 Scout car as they were originally for Normandy but I decided to repurpose them and build a new platoon for Overlord at some point in the future. Not everything is finished and in some cases there a few more waiting to be built but this gives a good example of what I’m intending to have as a final force. So we have M3 Lees, early M4 Shermans, halftracks (only 1 but more to come), trucks, T30 halftracks (75mm howitzer), M1 scout car, various jeeps (spotters and a radio version) and Beeps, Portee’d anti tank guns and M3 Stuart’s. So still a number of vehicles to finish or tart up with sculpted details and crew but definite progress.

The British are the least completed (maybe started is a better term) force but if you look carefully at the pictures of the drawers I keep my WIP models in you can see 6 pounders and a couple of scout cars (you can also see some of my limited armour for VBCW including a T1 cavalry tank and some Konflikt ‘47 walkers in their original, and honestly much better, scale). I will get back to the Brits but as I had my American infantry re-headed and based it seemed sensible to focus on them to get a working allied force done.

For the Axis I have Germans and Italians. The Italians are represented by a Bersaglieri platoon (half done and charming in their pith style sun helmets and ostrich feathers) and a range of vehicles from M41 tanks and semoventes, dovunque 35 lorries and Lancia 3RO 6-ton trucks including two (one pictured) with 90mm guns mounted on them, TL-37 artillery tractors and a section of motor cycle based rifleman for a bit of mobile reserve. I could still do with some Sahariana vehicles to act as a mobile elite force but there’s easily enough for Chain of command, Bolt Action or small games of Battlegroup (the Germans will bolster their forces in bigger games). I also made a Carro commando M41 command vehicle out of one of the FoW plastic M41s. Ive also got a number of infantry guns and support weapons to base up to help give the troops a bit more punch.

For the Germans I have a good range of vehicles to support my intended two platoons of infantry. I’ve based and re-headed one platoon in trench coats (Tunisia was cold at night and very different to the sweltering deserts of ‘41)  and they will have a kradschutzen platoon added to them soon (I have the bikes but not the chaps yet) as I felt they would be very different to the other forces and give a highly mobile but fragile fighting force. The vehicles for the Germans range from Panzer III (mainly J’s) and Panzer IV’s (newly arrived in the desert and a dangerous foe), a Bison (daft and pretty unique but cheap from eBay), sdkfz 6 Diana SPG, various artillery tows (sdkfz 7 and 10’s) and scout cars and the utterly weird SdKfz 254 (minus its aerial frame at the moment as it’s thick and clunky and I think I can do better). There is also  some captured and converted Lorraine schleppers and a Tiger. For command vehicles or particular individuals I’ve sculpted crew members using Peter Pig heads to make them a little bit more ‘mine’ (the panzer commander has a cigarette if you squint at my awful photos). Where turrets aren’t attached that is because on taking them out of storage one of the magnets has become detached and they’re waiting for the glue to dry.

So that’s a pretty good overview of some of what I’ve actually done recently. There are quite a few more vehicles to build, base and in a lot of cases add some sculpted details to in order to make them a bit different. I’ve also got to finish the infantry (and buy my kradschutzen troops on foot) but I feel like I’m actually making some progress and hopefully by the time the COVID problem has become more manageable and I’m allowed to mingle again I should be able to start playing some Chain of Command, Bolt Action and Battlegroup in Tunisia. Hopefully I can also use some of the scenery and as much of the forces as possible to play the conflict in Italy (with some key scenic additions like olive groves and Italian style houses) in the future. Apologies for the picture quality and the lack of captions on the pictures but writing this up has probably taken longer than it does to build most of the forces and as I may have mentioned blogger is very hard to use at the moment (I know it’s not just me and that many other bloggers are struggling as well).

Thank you for taking the time to read this, please get in touch and ask any questions or tell me about your own forces for this theatre.

Stay safe and well

BALM

A quick look through Battlegroup Pacific War

So a new Battlegroup book has arrived and this one is the first step (lets hope there’s more) into the Pacific Theatre, more specifically the Pacific and Far East in 1944-45. This book like the others in the series is by Warwick Kinrade and is a supplement so you do need the separate rule book to play.

Straight away the book is obviously good quality, it’s hard bound and full of background information, period photographs and pictures of miniatures on beautiful tabletops to help inspire you. First up there is a contents page and an introduction by Warwick about what the book is and how he came to make some of the decisions and choices. 

Next up, like all the Battlegroup supplements there is an excellent introduction to the actions and forces in the theatre. It’s well written and engaging with numerous interesting sidebars about specific conflicts, events and participants. It always surprises me when I see people complaining on forums about the fact you have to have a rulebook and a theatre specific supplement, these books are excellent value and the background information allows a complete WW2 novice to get a grip on their chosen theatre and have a good fundamental knowledge of the types of conflict you’re trying to represent. Even a knowledgeable WW2 buff will find information they didn’t know or benefit from the succinct and well written recap on the Pacific.

After the background information there is a section on amphibious assaults (it seems the similar to the original Overlord book) with special rules that will allow you to represent the Amtracs, DUKW’s and landing craft desperately battling to shore in an attempt to secure a foothold on the island of your choice. Next there is a section on the theatre specific rules that give the real flavour of the conflict and how it differs from say Normandy or Tunisia. This covers things like the use of direct lay mortar fire, combat shotguns, lunge mines and Nikaku teams and even a close protection team for an M3 Grant tank (a group of chaps that occupy the back deck of the tank and use their sub-machine guns to keep enemy infantry away from their precious ride). There is the expected Banzai rules which seem very well thought out and this sections hints at the fact that these battles are going to be very different from other games of Battlegroup I’ve played so far.

After the theatre specific rules there’s a description of the new counters (the system that makes Battlegroup such a fun, tense and dare I say realistic game - as realistic as pushing little metal dollies around a table could be) and their effects. Whilst some supplements share counter sets the Pacific one is a new and unique set that instils the flavour of the island hopping or jungle fighting that went on.

Next up the book has 5 force organisation charts. Two for the Imperial Japanese Army in 44-45 (an Infantry division list with adjustments for playing in Burma and an Island garrison force), two for the US (a Marine Corps list and an infantry division list) and a list for the British in Burma (later in the book in a separate section on Burma as it’s quite different to the island hopping campaigns) with adjustments to represent the Australians. It’s very noticeable that these battles will be very infantry-centric and armour is not as prolific as most other theatres. Whilst the American and British have Grants, Sherman, Stuarts and Matildas the Japanese armour is scarce and out dated. If you’re a fan of tanks then this theatre may not be your favourite but it does allow the importance and actions of the poor bloody infantry to shine (also the forces will/should be easier to collect as unlike say, the Germans in 1944 you won’t need umpteen numbers of various armoured vehicles to allow you to field just a few representative forces, a couple of tanks should cover most of your needs).

The army lists are exactly what you’d be used to with this system but the lists have some excellent thematic units like war dogs for the marines (gives you scout2), amphibious landing craft and AFVs or the discussed close protection teams for British Grants. It’s the Japanese lists that are the most interesting. As the period covered is when the Marines are on a roll and the Japanese are effectively retreating or fighting to the last man. There are ways to add BR to your overall rating or diminish the war weary Americans as they lose the will to keep grinding against a force of fanatics that already consider themselves dead. There is the option for a Japanese Last Remnants platoon where the poor chaps have very few if any firearms (and often no ammo) and have to rely on the trusty bit of sharpened bamboo to defend themselves with.

The Japanese defences section is really characterful from spider holes with varying occupants, to numerous booby traps or concealed caves that allow multiple infantry units to appear as if from no where.

After the lists is a section covering specific terrain - jungle and assorted undergrowth. This is very different to the scenery used for the European theatre and really hammers home the problems for vehicles and infantry fighting in such a complex environment. As a table you are going to need a lot of trees and undergrowth to get the feel for what you’re trying to represent (people always seem to ignore terrain but it really is the third army on the tabletop and generally the better the terrain the more fun the game IMHO).

Next up is 5 scenarios ranging from Amphibious assault, to taking/holding a beach stronghold or overlooking fire base and then the fight through dense jungle and the importance of taking and holding key hills. Like all the Battlegroup scenarios they have a map, background information and any specific rules and example forces to fight it out (but you can always adjust these to fit your collection) and whilst these are specifically ‘Pacific’ in flavour many if not most of the scenarios throughout the series of books can be adapted to fit your chosen battlefield.

After this is the section on Burma, with its own background information and the British infantry division list with a helpful addition to allow you to represent the mighty Australians.

Finally you have the standard Appendix covering the weapons and vehicles of both sides, quick reference sheets and the all important BR counters. Also you get to see the first vehicle reference cards for the Japanese.

So that’s about it for this ‘quick’ look at Battlegroup Pacific. I’m really excited for it and whilst I’m still working on Overlord (and into the Reich) and Tunisia I can see how it should complement these other two theatres and provide a third and different experience. If you haven’t tried Battlegroup I can’t recommend it enough, it’s straightforward but feels engaging and has strong flavour. It works on different sizes from small squad games up to platoons and above, with each size giving a fun, playable experience.

I hope this has been of some use and if you want a copy it can be bought from The Plastic Soldier Company’s website here. Apologies for the bad photography as I’m down to one hand (your palm can burst if you hit it hard enough, something I found out this week) which is going to slow down my already ambling hobby speed but at least I’ve got a new book to digest.

Stay safe and well, feel free to comment or ask me any questions about the book,

BALM

Some progress updates

 Couple of things I’ve managed to do or get photos of in the last week, nothing particularly exciting but progress nonetheless.

I bought a naval wargaming mat. I wanted another Cigar Box Battle Mat but unfortunately Northstar seem to have stopped stocking them. When I inquired I got quite a brusque reply which said no they no longer stock them and didn’t give any other options. Looking at Northstar’s site though I discovered that they now sell GeekVillain gaming mats from the U.K. (presumably its cheaper for Northstar). I bought a naval mat from them (cheaper than CBBM) and when it arrived took it outside to look at it in the sunshine.

It’s a big blue sheet. And my poor Black Seas brig that’s had to be repaired twice from dropping and crushing. 

My opinion? It’s O.K. It’s just a fleece blanket dyed blue and has none of the quality you feel you’re getting with CBBM. I know it’s only the sea and there’s only so much that can be done artistically but it still feels a bit phoned in. The slight textural pattern that is present looks more like it is due to the dye interacting with the fleeces structure rather than artistic additions. Maybe once I play a few games on it my mind will change but I still keep looking at CBBM and wishing they had a U.K. distributor. 

I also managed to get a test tree painted (having re-scraped it and filled the trunk join with Vallejo plastic putty) after noticing how scruffy they looked in the last pictures. So I took my test tree, picked up my new, much coveted can of Vallejo spray paint and sprayed it brown. Trees aren’t brown though, but unfortunately the spray I had was. A couple of minutes pass where I consider buying a grey spray paint. I decide to see what I can do and set too the trunk using my standard basing grey (GW Mechanicus Standard Grey) followed by a dry brush of Ushabti bone and a wash of Agrax Earthshade and Nuln Oil. On this one I also tried some GW Skeleton Horde contrast to bring it all together. As you can see from the picture Archimedes (Archie the rescue parrot) was in a very helpful mood during this process and I did not manage to work at peak efficiency - he’s all about parrot inclusion.

Once greenery (the non psittacine kind) has been added the base will blend into the table.

Archie in his chosen habitat. It turns out kitchen cupboards are just hollowed out trees but come full of jam and other exciting things. Open cupboards in our house with trepidation.

I also managed to paint about half my Peter Pig Chain of Command British platoon for Normandy. They seem a little dark but are painted in the Coat D’Arms British battledress triptych of paints so I know they’re correct and don’t really want to lighten them to allow for scale. Either way they are helping keep me motivated.

That’s about it (there was more but Blogger is almost unusable currently and after three re-writes and an hour of swearing I’m tired). Stay safe and well,

BALM

Wood for the trees, or at least palms

 One of the things I’ve been doing during lockdown (actually since just before last Christmas) is work on scenery for my WW2 games. I’m working on a bocage country and european style countryside on my Grasslands Cigar Box Battle mat and the Tunisian desert and later Crete/Italy using my Arid land mat. I chose to start working on the ‘42-‘43 period in the desert for a couple of reasons. Some interesting belligerents (Italy/DAK/First Americans) with unique or specific vehicles, very different open terrain compared to Normandy and Europe (but not the vast open spaces of the earlier desert campaign which would be better in 6mm) and it doesn’t take too much scenery to do a good representation. A couple of buildings, some rock formations and a relatively small selection of trees. 

Unfortunately for the generic green classic terrain (Something I would like for WW2 Normandy/Europe and Very British Civil War) there is lots to do. The bocage is a very time consuming type of scenery that usually doesn’t turn up enough on tables/or in suitable amounts and is often much more work than it’s probably worth. I’m still determined to make some, luckily a lot of the hedgerows in the area around Herefordshire where I grew up and intend to set my VBCW games are very like bocage giving it a second use. Trees are a key bit of scenery I need to do and something you always need more than you think. 

For the past six years my favourite opponent and I have used his trees made from Woodlands Scenics armatures and clump foliage. These were the pine tree shapes (done as poplars) and can be seen in all my past game pictures. He recently gave them to me as after six years of gaming they were starting to suffer and I volunteered to try and revive them. Whilst they are a great start I realised I’d need to make some more and based up 25 large deciduous armatures on metal washers and based them with sand and slate. Its only a start and I’ll need to tackle coniferous trees at some point but at least it’s something.

A word of advice about Woodlands Scenics tree armatures. They are brilliant and make reasonably realistic trees possible in a relatively short time but...... my experience of them has been that they often have quite pronounced mould lines and it can take an awful long time to trim this down with a sharp knife and sand it with an abrasive pad. Literally ages, I thought they were ready for paint, took a photo of them and started seeing mould lines and just spent the evening re-doing them, again. Next up some paint and then I’ll do a how to on making them look like trees (If I can).

I also made trees for my desert/arid setting using spare renedra bases (60mm and some oval ones that came in my fire forge cavalry) and a range of plastic palm trees bought from eBay. I bought a good range of sizes I thought would be appropriate for 1:100 or 15mm (and gifted those that were too big to my friend for Bushido) and drilled guide holes, glued them into place and added weight with slate pieces before covering them with fine bird sand. The trees needed a lot of cleaning up as they weren’t brilliantly moulded but hopefully once painted they will be serviceable. The oval based palms allow a line of trees to be placed or areas filled. Apart from Olive trees and some bushes the only vegetation I need for Tunisia is cactus patches (something I need to think about).

So not the most exciting update but a true representation of the work needed if you want to play pretty looking games with little soldiers. I haven’t painted them yet as I need to work out how to get the tone I need to match my mat (I have a test piece thats a WIP).

Stay safe, feel free to comment about your own terrain project I always need inspiration.

BALM

A worthy cause and a great man

 I haven’t really achieved very much during lockdown, I say that but it’s not entirely true.... I’ve made progress and pushed a lot of things a little bit further to completion but nothing I ever feel is worth blogging about. Maybe I need to just start showing what I have done rather that what I think people would look at. Either way moot point. 

Some people this year have achieved amazing things; none so much as Sir Tom Moore. Today Warlord Games announced/released a special pack of miniatures featuring Sir Tom Moore in his WW2 role as a member of the Royals Armoured Corps. You can get a 28mm model on foot or a bundle with a foot model and a M3 Lee and Sir Tom as the tank commander.

The miniatures are being produced by Warlord Games and all profits are going to NHS charities. The single figure is here and the bundle pack can be found here.

I know I don’t publicise this blog much but hopefully anyone who does see this may be tempted to spend some of their hobby funds on one of these models and help out NHS charities, and get a model of an awesome national hero.

Thank you for reading, stay safe

BALM

A quick look at Oathmark

So I borrowed a copy of Oathmark from a friend as we’re always interested in a good fantasy game especially if it’s designed to allow freedom in force composition and background. As a note this isn’t going to be a review as such (some great comprehensive reviews on the actual game mechanics can be seen here and here) rather just some of my opinions having read through (but not yet played) it.

To start with it’s a nice looking set of rules, well laid out and easy to read. It has some beautiful artwork scattered throughout it (see above - reminds me of Paul Bonner in composition if not style) but noticeably whilst the game would be termed a rank and flank (massed units clashing in rank and file) the art work shows skirmishes where the combatants are intermixed, spilling over terrain features and fighting in whirling melees.

The game system is well written and presented in a straightforward manner. The basics of moving, fighting and shooting are covered with good, clear examples. There is a magic section with a range of spells and army lists for the races presented. The most interesting thing (for me) is the fact that you can freely mix races in your army that in many settings would be taboo. This is the great thing about not having a strict background to work from, whilst some people may not like the lack of structure it allows a very narrative and personal force to be built. Each race has a selection of generic options such as soldiers (light armour with hand weapons), warriors (as soldiers but with heavy armour), archers, line breakers (warriors with double handed weapons) and cavalry. They also have unique options such as specific monsters, war machines and the like. So whilst only humans have ogres in their parent list any race can take them if you want to because of the campaign system that comes in the form of a kingdom builder.

The kingdom map allowing your imagination to run wild and to create your own perfect fantasy kingdom.

The force you use in Oathmark is derived by the kingdom you build. The kingdom map is a series of concentric circles, the middle (usually) being your capital surrounded by two regions in the first ring, three in the second and four in the third. The outer ring is split into five areas or regions but is not initially filled in. You start by choosing a heartland for your kingdom from one of the presented races specific terrain lists, this is usually a race specific capital city which unlocks various options for troop choices in the game. Next you fill in the two regions surrounding it, unlocking more troop types (e.g. plains for human cavalry) and so on until you have filled all four of the rings. The good thing is that you don’t have to choose terrain (and thus troop types) from only one races terrain lists, as long as you meet the specified conditions you can choose whatever terrain you like and thus unlock any model choice you are interested in. It’s a neat little system (very similar to my friends idea and system we have used for campaign games). You can find a pdf of the kingdom creating rules here provided very helpfully before the games release by Osprey. It’s probably easier to let you read them rather than copy it out here.

An example army list provided by Osprey publishing to give you an idea of force size and points cost.

For me this is the best part of the whole book but that is also the problem I have with Oathmark. It just seems incredibly lightweight, you can’t change the armament of groups of models, some units are race specific (I realise the kingdom system works around this but things like only elves can have warhounds really niggle at me) and most troop options only vary by a stat point or two across the different races. I could be totally wrong and just be jumping to conclusions (the game is two years late after all so must have been carefully play tested and really honed to how the writer wants them) but I just think that upon reading the rules thoroughly there isn’t enough depth to the game for me personally. I’m not generally a fan of games that fall into the ‘beer and pretzels’ category of gaming having been burnt by Saga 1st ed (I spent ages making my vikings just to discover that generally there were only two options you wanted on the battle board and games were quite dull and predictable). I’m also dubious that there is already two add-ons announced for the game. Part of this may be just that in an era of huge numbers of game systems coming out in an almost constant stream I’m tired of buying into a rule set just to be sold additional books soon after, followed by a second edition and so on (then the few people who you do know that play it get bored and give up). It should be noted that the writer also wrote Frostgrave and Rangers of Shadow Deep both of which are great fun and very slick, competent games.

I know this all seems very negative and there is a reason for this (I’m not just trying to be a d#@k like it’s seems large parts of the net often are). I was really excited and looking forward to the release of Oathmark like many on the net and in popular forums. The problem is since it’s release I’ve only seen gushing, over excited reviews and comments about it. A lot of this, in my opinion, is the fact that the kingdom system is so refreshing (in that it doesn’t tell you what you can and can’t do with your army and model collection). I totally understand this but think that it has distracted many gamers from the meat and bones of the game. Again I haven’t played it yet and could be very wrong (I’ve only read the rules and a number of battle reports) and will attempt to get it to the table in the future, I just don’t think, at this point, it is really going to satisfy my need for a rank and flank game.

Anyone remember this? - quite the opposite to Oathmark and (in my experience) almost impossible to play. Maybe ignore everything I’ve written and just enjoy Oathmark’s simplicity in retrospect.

Enough of that. Let me restate that this is just my opinion. I’m often a masochist when it comes to gaming (Phoenix command is one of my favourite systems even if I can’t ever find anyone else patient enough to play it with me). Check out the actual reviews (by real people) I’ve linked to above, have a look at the kingdom generator pdf (maybe borrow it and adapt it to whatever game you currently play) and if you can, have a game of it with someone who’s already taken the plunge to see if it suits you, it may be exactly what you are looking for. Sadly this hobby is full of people who will tell you that you are doing “it” wrong. Ignore them, they generally aren’t actually having any fun anyway. If it makes you happy embrace it and roll some dice.

Stay safe and well,
BALM

Into the Bocage

When I started playing WW2 games I decided (or rather my regular gaming partner and I decided) to initially focus on Normandy. Unfortunately my opponent was very slow to start collecting, veered off by buying Russians and then, sadly it seems, lost interest altogether (at one point during a game he even said “I’m bored of Normandy gaming”, I looked at the open table where Germans and Russians were fighting and realised that I was on my own). If I’d known (whilst I am really interested in Normandy) I might have chosen an easier theatre with less scenery like Africa (it’s in the works). Luckily my new gaming friends from my local club are really interested in playing D-Day onwards so nothing has really been wasted.

A key feature of Normandy gaming (at least in some sectors) is Bocage hedgerows. These are banks with thick hedge on top which create a very unique gaming experience. They are hard to cross and reduce the effectiveness of tanks by blocking line of sight, perfect from my point of view as I wanted to play games like Chain of Command which are infantry centric. Unfortunately this means that to play such games you need to build a fair bit of bocage (literally tens of feet of the stuff); something that often stops gamers totally or means that the bocage that is put on the table is just not representative (usually there is just not enough of it).

Allied troops fighting through the bocage in 1944. 

I was lucky enough to grow up in deepest, darkest Herefordshire where most lanes are lined with what is in reality bocage. I have experienced trying to get through it whilst adventuring as a child and have a realistic view of how hard this would be for adults under fire in full kit. Whilst you can buy pre-built bocage from various online sellers such as battlefront (quite costly, not particularly realistic and comes in small amounts) I’d decided I wanted to try and make my own.

Scots Guards fighting in the bocage by Terence Cuneo from Cranston Fine Arts website. This is an excellent representation of the true severity and size of the bocage country (and a beautiful painting).

I started  by using laser cut MDF from Supreme Littleness products using their 25mm wide linear terrain bases. I could have cut them myself (with considerable effort and hassle) but the ones from SL were the perfect size, affordable and had a good range of junctions to make it varied. The owner Michael was really helpful and went out of his way to provide exactly what I needed. Sometimes I’d rather spend money and support a fellow hobbyist when it reduces the work I’d need to do and the products are of such good standard.

The sheets of MDF ready to be separated and become many feet of bocage.

I bevelled the edges using a sharp knife, then cut and glued some 10mm thick blue foam I had in store to each piece and left it to dry overnight. Next day I trimmed the foam to generate a bank like profile. I then covered each section with 4ground base render (any grout or render would work I just seemed to accidentally keep buying pots of the stuff) and left it to dry. Next day I coated the pieces in Woodland Scenics Scenic Cement and covered them in sand. In some sections I added gateways using bits of 4ground fences, I also marked up some parts to be made as destroyed sections or as defensive positions for the Germans to hide in. I then sprayed the finished pieces with Citadel black spray paint. I have started twisting and forming some of the smaller Woodlands Scenic trees which would be be inserted in various places to raise the height of the hedgerow and give it a more realistic appearance. At this point I realised that I hadn’t made quite enough straight sections and got back in touch with Michael at Supreme Littleness. He rapidly sent out more straight sections which arrived promptly just before the current lockdown. 

The pieces ready to covered in 4ground base render. Note the defensive positions (writing on them in pen saved a lot of confusion later). 

Some of the final pieces before and after being covered in sand. At this point it seemed an endless task. Let’s hope it’s worth it.

So that’s where I am at the moment. The bulk of the bocage bases are done and I’m working on the extra bits (I’ve had to give up my evening workspace recently as my multi-talented wife has been busily making scrubs for our local doctors and hospital). I have a good selection of Woodland Scenics products to create the hedges and will cover this in a further post (a clever way to say I don’t yet know what I’m going to do yet).

Not the most exciting post or pictures but I’m getting quite excited to play on a proper Normandy table soon. I’ve also started forming and basing trees to help make my table more aesthetically pleasing and I’ll post about these too soon.

Hope you are all safe and well

BALM