Defending the Malay Barrier

Over 10 years ago I bought a job lot of wargames figures from a local auction. The principle reason being that the lot consisted of a large number of reasonably well painted 28mm figures and I saw it as a money-making opportunity sprucing them up and selling them on ebay. That side of it went well but this is not what this blog post is about.

Included in that collection were over 100 1/3000 scale unpainted Japanese warships still in their manufacturer's bags - mostly Navwar with some Davco. I already had a collection of such ships which included a handful of Japanese. I retained these believing them to be useful addition and they have sat in a box ever since!

Fast forward to a few days ago and something on one of Storm of Steel's youtube videos caught my eye. He had a pdf file printed by a company called Doxdirect which got me thinking about all the pdf files stored on my laptop which rarely, if ever, get read. I am quite simply poor at reading rules and scenarios (unless very brief) in pdf format preferring the printed variety.

One such file is a General Quarters 3.3 campaign "Defending the Malay Barrier". I have glanced through it several times intending one day to do something with it and of course using those Japanese warships festering away unloved in a box somewhere!

'Time to get it printed' I thought and duly checked out Doxdirect's website. It was simplicity itself to send the pdf file for printing including selecting the type of paper required. I went for the basic 80gsm matt double sided print with 300gsm card outer covers. I also selected to have it spiral bound which I find by far the most useful for gaming purposes. This is the result:

There was a glitch in the original print with 2 maps only partially reproduced. It was explained to me by Doxdirect that the pdf file needed to be 'flattened' to prevent this problem occurring again. The necessary software would need to be purchased from Adobe which I had no intention of doing as I would be using it so rarely. Doxdirect kindly performed that operation for me and reprinted the file for no extra cost and in quick time. 

The overall quality is excellent and all 74 pages for approximately £12.50 including postage. There is just one small glitch in a couple of symbols on one of the maps has printed in a different colour for some reason. It is not a major issue and something I can live with. Next time I will probably go with the 120gsm satin finish paper which does not cost that much more. 80gsm is fine for this scenario book however.

This has spurred me on to diving into that Japanese collection with the first 3 destroyers on the workbench. I am conscious of the fact that I cannot keep adding to my projects list so this will probably sit in the background to be dabbled with as the urge takes me. I tend to find with Naval wargaming that the painting and collecting of the various ships has more fascination than the actual playing! The majority of my ships in various scales have never seen the tabletop.

I have a softspot for ships probably stemming back to my brief time in the Merchant Navy in the 1970's. Researching the different ship classes and painting them up, even in such a small scale, is very satisfying. 

As an aside, and with what is going on in Ukraine, that time in the Merchant Navy included a visit to Odessa. We had an all-British crew on a British registered ship which made for an interesting experience at the height of the cold war. We were guests of honour at the Opera House with front row seats to watch the Battle of Stalingrad enacted on stage! I gingerly turned around to see that the entire audience consisted of Soviet soldiers and I swear that they were all sat to attention - and appeared to be staring at us! In the Soviet era Odessa was pretty austere but even then still had some very attractive areas. I am keeping my fingers crossed it does not suffer the utter devastation inflicted on Meriupol. 

I will post the painted Japanese destroyers on the blog when completed. They are currently sat at one end of the workbench providing a useful break from painting countless ECW figures!

If anybody is interested in trying out Doxdirect you will find them here https://www.doxdirect.com/. 

 

On the Workbench: Lord General's Regiment.

 A quick update on the Edgehill project. The Lord General's orangecoat regiment of Grand Division 1 and Grand Division 2 have been completed.

These two units were part of the Roundhead Thomas Ballard's brigade. I have given Division 2 a more irregular appearance with Division 1 having armoured pikemen and the former unarmoured. 

As with most of my 6mm, these are all Baccus figures. 

On the Workbench: Prince Rupert's Horse

Since my last blog post I have completed 100 French infantry for Bussaco and now back to figures for Edgehill.

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On the Workbench: SS Units for the Battle of Cristot

Preparation for the house move has necessitated packing away most of my terrain tiles meaning my wargaming will be on hold until after the move. The latest from the builder was another slight delay so at least a month away yet before that gets completed. Then there is the small matter of converting the garage!

My workbench is still active though and will continue to be so soon after the move. I am therefore concentrating on painting figures for future battles in my projects list.

Referring to a previous post I had intended to play Cristot, a WW2 Normandy game using 'O' Group rules but lost interest. Cristot was always on my 'to do' list but a larger version taken from a Rapid Fire scenario book and using Blitzkrieg Commander rules. The failed attempt at the 'O' Group game gave me the impetus to progress the BKC version.

On checking the orders of battle I found several German units needed to be completed along with a couple of British recce platoons. These were all painted in one lot and, apart from the British, are detailed here:

An overview of the German collection. Consisting of 5 x PzIVH, Sdkfz 231 8 rad armoured car, Sdkfz 10 and 11 halftracks, 5 x motor cycle combos, a SiG33 15cm infantry gun, 2 x MG42 on tripod sections, and 2 x Panzerschrek platoons.  

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Battle of Tamames - 18th October 1809

Following on from Talavera, this is the next battle in my Peninsular War project which roughly plays through actions in a chronological order.

In September 1809, the Spanish Duke del Parque assumed command of the old army of Galicia, his native force, which had been recruiting and training in Leon. By 25th September, del Parque had concentrated 25,000 infantry and 1,500 cavalry and was awaiting the arrival of the other formation of the Army of the West under Ballesteros. It was his job to pull the French reserves away from Madrid with the expectation that the Army of La Mancha would take advantage of this and advance on the capital.

Facing him were the French 6th Corps commanded by Marchand, centred on Salamanca and numbering just over 14,000. The division of Kellerman added another 5,000. By 5th October, del Parque had advanced from Ciudad Rodrigo to Tamames. As soon as news of this Spanish advance reached Marchand he resolved to attack. On 17th October Marchand departed Salamanca with his entire Corps except for 2 battalions of the 50th Line who were left to hold the city. 

He arrived north of Tamames the following day where he was delighted to see the Spanish deployed to his front and ready for battle.

The initial deployments and first few moves will follow those along historical lines. Thereafter I shall seek to restore French pride or confirm Marchand's over-confidence.

 4'6" x 3' board

General de Brigade rules
All figures Baccus 6mm.

Terrain -
Open wood
Hill - difficult terrain across the whole of the raised area. Amendments to rules - Cavalry formed when stood but unformed as soon as moves. May charge unformed. Artillery may deploy. 

Tamames capacity 120
Chapel (to south of Tamames) capacity 40
Church (to east) capacity 25.

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On the Workbench: More Pony Wars

There I was, table laid and all ready to go with the 'O' Group scenario 'Cristot'. Deployment phase completed and........ nothing! Equivalent to a screen freeze. I put it down to the wargamers version of the 'writers block'. A combination of interruptions, mostly real life, but partially the desire to get more figures painted stalled the game. 

Normally this would not be a problem but my aging brain was also wrestling with learning new rules and 'O' Group has plenty in there to get your head around. Gradually my motivation to play the game drained up to the point I finally surrendered and packed it away. This is not normally something I would do and at least have a go but with all enthusiasm gone I felt the need to get some Napoleonics on the tabletop with rules that I was familiar with.

As I write this the table is almost ready for the next game in my Peninsular War project, Tamames. An unusual battle in that the Spanish beat the French.

It is my intention to return to Cristot but the larger BKC4 version. I have a few figures and vehicles to paint first.

Now to the point of this blog post, the source of my distraction from the tabletop:

Another batch of 60 mounted braves completed and here is the collection to date, 360 of them. Just 240 to go!

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On the Workbench: More use for Rubber Steel sheets and Dirt Roads update.

Casting my eye around other uses for the recently purchased Rubber Steel sheets (see previous posting) my attention was drawn to my collection of 6mm rail tracks. I always intended to base these at some point but had not settled on what sort of base.

As with the dirt tracks they proved to be simple and quick to produce, in fact even more so. Cutting them in 15mm widths the track was merely pushed onto the adhesive side of the material. 

I did not trust the adhesive to adequately hold the Woodland Scenics blend turf so painted PVA glue along each side before application.

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On the Workbench: Dirt Roads

Over the Christmas holidays I noticed an interesting Facebook posting on how to make roads. The poster cut his roads from a thin rubber steel sheet. He attached felt to the self-adhesive surface which he then painted. The result was impressive and not something I had come across before.

I am in need of dirt tracks/roads and had it in mind to make them from decorators caulk as I had done for my existing roads. The downside with caulk is maintaining a consistency in thickness and can be messy. My thicker pieces are less flexible and therefore more difficult to bend over terrain. Some have also frustratingly developed a camber.

This method looked tempting so a couple of 'Self Adhesive Rubber Steel Ferrite Ferrous A4 Sheets' were purchased from Amazon. They are 0.5mm thick and magnetically-receptive (magnetised versions are available but thicker).

 The reverse side is adhesive and the material is easy to cut.

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On the Workbench: Pony Wars Dismounted US Cavalry

The first batch of figures have been completed this year which consists of all I need of the dismounted US Cavalry for the Pony Wars project.

This is the entire pack supplied by Baccus and consists of 80 dismounted cavalry in 4 troops of 20 each and 20 horse holders with 60 horses.

The dismounted cavalry are based in a mix of pairs and plenty of singles to allow for casualty removal, a breakdown into sections of 5 figures each, and ease of placement within terrain features.

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Plans for 2022

With the arrival of 2022 it is time to reveal my plans for the year! This will be broken down into Battles, Campaigns and Painting/modelling. 

There is potential for disruption this year with what should be my final house move - all being well in late March / early April. 

I will no longer have the benefit of a room within the house dedicated to wargaming although I have secured the smallest bedroom as my painting room and library. It will be back to the garage but I do not intend to endure the cold dusty environment of old. There are restrictions in our neighbourhood forbidding a full garage conversion to accommodation. They have to be retained in their primary purpose of car use (even though almost nobody uses them as such!). However, I have found at least one company that will insulate it and install a decent floor and ceiling. The garage door will have to be retained but that can also be insulated with all gaps sealed still allowing it to be used.

If all goes according to plan, I should be able to increase the maximum size of table to 8'3" (possibly even 9') x 4'6". The downside will be the time taken to complete the works which could halt my wargaming. If that proves to be the case I am considering a stop-gap of playing skirmish games such as Chain of Command which recommends a board size of 70cm x 50cm for 6mm. I may just be able to squeeze that into my painting room! 

With all that in mind on to my plans:

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