Review of 2021

With the end of the year approaching it is time to review how my wargaming year progressed. Text in italics are taken directly from the year's plans. 

BATTLES

ANCIENTS:

Early Imperial Roman 16th Legion v Ancient British Trinovantes tribe in East Anglia.

Played and a Roman victory - AAR on the blog.

2nd Punic War - Battle of Trebia (Both sides need painting so 50:50 if achieved this year).

Complete failure! Figures acquired but that is as much as I have achieved.

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On The Workbench: Pony Wars US Cavalry & Dismounted Braves

An absolute barnstormer of a cold has disrupted my wargaming! Any thought of putting something on the table was out although I did manage to keep some semblance of figure painting ongoing. 

200 more Zulus were completed before I ran out of steam - my goodness do I find them boring to paint! Pony Wars though pulled me back and very much looking forward to getting some games played. 

I have been getting in the mood watching old John Wayne films such as 'Fort Apache' and 'She Wore a Yellow Ribbon' along with the more recent non-Wayne 1967 film 'Custer of the West'. The latter film I first saw as an 11 or 12 year old soon after it was released at our boys school cinema club. At the time I thought it was fantastic although a little dated now. 

First up was a batch of 96 dismounted braves:

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Zulu Wars - The Men Who Would Be Kings test battle

In preparation for Rorkes Drift (followed by Isandlwana) I have been on the look out for suitable rules. Until recently the front runner has been The Sword and the Flame which I used in days gone by for my 15mm Sudan collection.

Recently though, two more have materialised that have caught my eye. One is a Pony Wars conversion but I am holding on that until I become more familiar with them.

The second is The Men Who Would Be Kings.

Inspiration for this is down to Little Wars TV who used them for a 6mm Isandlwana game. This piqued my interest being a skirmish game written for larger scales and how it could be adapted for large battle small scale actions. If this worked I could see all sorts of possibilities in other periods, in particular Ancients which my own rules are really only intended as a stop-gap until I find something I like.

There are actually very few changes, in fact really only one - distances. I have opted to simply convert from inches to centimetres as I have done in other rulesets.

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WW2 Operation Compass: Turn 2 - 11th December 1940 Air Phase

The result of the air phase will determine who has air superiority in the land battles of this turn. Dice rolls ascertain who is doing what.

In this case, 2 squadrons of Blenheim bombers escorted by Hurricanes are intercepted by Italian fighters. As before, each of my aircraft represent 3 and Bag the Hun rules will be used.

Orders of Battle:

RAF
274 Squadron        4 x Hurricane I
45 Squadron          4 x Blenheim IV
113 Squadron         3 x Blenheim IV

Regia Aeronautica
1st Sqn 2 Stormo        2 x Fiat Cr32
4th Sqn 50 Stormo    3 x Meridionali Ro37 bis
5th Sqn 50 Stormo    4 x Caproni Ca310

A view during the first move as the Italians move to intercept the British (top right). The sun was shining from top left. The Italian's intention to approach the British from out of the sun but at this stage had failed to spot them.

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ACW Warplan Campaign: Map Moves 4 - 5

I have tidied up the maps which were a little messy in my attempt to represent many of the formations. Where several are now in the same square the topmost counter indicates the senior commander with the total number of troops under his command. 

On to the maps:

MOVE 4

As the Union forces push north, the Confederate units in reserve are called forward.

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ACW Warplan Campaign: Battle of Krell

Before I begin the AAR of the next ACW battle in my campaign I will recap the circumstances leading to this action.

As the Union forces drive north into Confederate held territory, Ewell with two brigades sees an opportunity of giving them a bloody nose. He intercepts Caldwell's Union division in the area circled.

Zooming in on the area shows that Ewell is taking a risk of being surrounded.

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On the Workbench: Pony Wars Indians

The first batch of Baccus' Pony Wars Indians have been completed. 42 down 558 to go! The base frontage at 10mm per figure as as recommended in the rules. I have gone for a slightly narrower depth though at 15mm rather than 20mm. It is purely down to my aversion for overly large bases.

Judging by comments on social media, I was not alone agonising over the skin tone. Scouring photos online of painted figures in larger scales it would appear most have gone for a rather dark tone. Scaled down to 6mm dark can quickly appear almost black or make the figure look very dull. In the end I settled on the Foundry mid-tone flesh which was then given a nutbrown ink wash. They are probably a little too light but overall I am happy with the results. When sat next to the pale flesh of my European figures there is a clear difference.

Another factor I had trouble with was the base edge. I wanted their bases to be equally at home on the plains as in the desert, or at least acceptable to each. I settled on a sandy finish to the edge but now having completed the figures I have had a change of mind! It is not quite so obvious in the raw as in the photos but I aim to find a shade that blends in more with the base topside. I will experiment on the next batch and when happy will repaint these.

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On The Workbench: Rorke's Drift Garrison

The garrison for Rorke's Drift has now been completed on a 1:1 figure ratio. Most of the characters have been included with just the Chaplain and Surgeon Reynolds missing. I have yet to find a suitable figure for those two in 6mm.

Men of the 2/24th battalion to the rear and a detachment of 10 men from the 1/24th on the left.

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Pony Wars

 A new project!

It's probably not healthy starting another project when I have so many others on the go, but when Pete Berry at Baccus announced the release of the rejuvenated Pony Wars rules along with a new 6mm range it was too much to resist.

Even better, the rules are based on the films and TV show depictions of the US Cavalry v the Red Indians from days gone by rather than historical reality. As a child in the 60's my imagination was fired by the westerns of these presentations and many a happy time was had playing on the floor with my collection of Airfix figures along with the 'Fort Apache'. 

I have always had a soft spot for gaming the wild west but aside from my Airfix days, have only ever dabbled with 28mm and 15mm. This though is an opportunity to properly game the period with my favourite scale! Although described as 'skirmish' rules, up to 600 mounted braves will be required. A considerable task for the 15mm scale the rules were originally designed for.

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On the Workbench: Zulus!

 My Rorke's Drift project almost reached a milestone. 

Rorke's Drift will be played on a figure ratio of 1:1 with Zulu casualties recycled. To that end I planned on using around 1,200 Zulus which are now complete and appear in the photos below. I had not calculated on the number of figures per Zulu regiment which in the end gravitated towards 240 figures each. This left one regiment not quite complete and another only half complete. Another 145 figures required!

A rarity for me is movement trays. 40mm x 40mm mdf edged with the same card I use for the figure bases house 20 figures each. The Zulu warriors are 5 to a 18mm square base. Rifle armed Zulus are on the same sized bases but broken down into 1's. 2's and 3's. They are 12 to a movement tray 50mm x 25mm.

On now to the Rorke's Drift garrison while I wait for more Zulus from Baccus.

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