Friday, October 31, 2014

PIRATES: MULTI-PLAYER SCENARIOS

On Thursday I took my collection of Pirates of the Caribbean ships along to Hugh Wilson’s and the 5 players played 2 multiplayer scenarios which I found on the useful Cke1st's Pirates Page at
http://www.cke1st.com/m_games5.htm

Spanish and English fleets engage - what about the whaling?
We used 5 factions - English, Americans, French, Spanish and  Pirates.  The first scenario we played was Thar She Blows! – a whaling game which I won using the French.  Secondly we played The Golden Goose scenario which was won by Bart using the English.  That game saw our first example of a ship running aground on a reef.

Crippled pirate ship being towed home
We used a new sea sheet which Hugh had produced during the week.  Once again an enjoyable evening and I think the little ships look great.  

Ships sailing thru the hazards around Goose Island and a small ship hiding in fog bank

Chaos around Goose island and a ship lost in a fog bank
Next week starts with a big Black powder AWI game at my house  – the second scenario from the Rebellion book the Battle of Chatterton’s Hill.

Monday, October 20, 2014

BOVINGTON - THE TANK MUSEUM

I went on a road trip this week.  Colin Jack, Ray Neal and I went for a few days to Cornwall but on our way there we diverted to Dorset and the home of The Tank Museum at Bovington.
MKVIb light tank

A13 MKII Cruiser
 
Here are some photos from our visit to museum.  Our tour of the Museum took us 5 hours.  Given the time of the year no tanks were running at the arena but I got a video of the Mark IV from Warhorse driving into the Vehicle Conservation Centre.
French Somau S35 - with some German modifications

SU76 SPG - 2nd most produced Soviet AFV in WWII

German A7V - modern reproduction
An enjoyable visit – I will be back.  All the photos at
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bill26048/sets/72157648865792565/

Finally - the famous running TIGER I

Sunday, October 12, 2014

CULLODEN WARGAMES DAY

On Saturday Colin Jack, Ray Neal and I travelled to the Culloden Battlefield Centre for the Cùil Lodair Wargames Fair.

We put on a display for the SESWC which was a 28mm 1938 VBCW version of the Battle of Culloden.  It proved like our 2 test games to be a Scottish Republican victory over the Jacobites.  The highlight was Barrell’s regiment (actually a squad) which managed to beat of 3 close assaults by the fanatical front line Highland infantry.  All the troops and equipment in the display come from the collection of Colin Jack.

Jacobite centre and left wing

Scottish Republic HQ - with the vital drinks cabinet
Inverness Wargaming Association, Angus Wargames Club,  Dingwall Wargames Club, Leuchars Veterans, Prestwick Wargames Club, Claymore Castings and Da Klub Inverness also put on displays.

Hobbit PP game

Red coat Teddy Bears await the attack of the Highland gnomes.......Prestwick Wargames Club
Professor Christopher Duffy judged the best display and that prize went to the Inverness FOW WWII game.
 
More photos at

As well as the wargames the Morayvia aerospace project brought two warplane cockpits for the public to climb into and experience.  Many thanks to the helpful staff at the centre who even provided the exhibitors with a free lunch!

Interesting show in a historical venue that we will be back to.

Great image from the Battlefield centre - Jacobites strike home on Barrell's Regiment

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Another Busy Gaming Week

It has been another busy week for varied games.  On Monday I took my pirate ships to Falkirk Wargames Club and Dave Paterson and I tried out the rules further using the English and Pirates.  I have spent sometime since then building more ships to expand each of my 6 factions to at least 13 ships each.

English ships engage Pirate flagship
On Wednesday evening I went to Dave Paterson’s shed for a game of Dead Man’s Hand.  We played out the second set of scenes from the new campaign book The Legend of Dead Man’s Hand.  Sadly my Sheriff who was at deaths door at the end of the first set of scenes did not recover from his wounds leaving my gang with 4.5 points of reputation at the start of scene 2.

Dave's Wild West layout
 
I was at the SESWC on Thursday where Colin Jack, Ray Neal, Angus Konstam and Tim Wilson and I played a 28mm Bolt Action game set in Syria in 1941.  My highlight was when my Moroccan squad assaulted and destroyed a British Crossley armoured car.  Next turn they tried to assault an Australian held building but were wiped out.  The game ended as a draw.

My highpoint - assaulting the armoured car
Signor Ferrari from Casablanca caught on film in Syria
Finally on Saturday Colin Jack and Ray Neal came to my garage to try the setup for our display at the Cùil Lodair Wargames Fair being held at Culloden Battlefield Visitor Centre on 11 October.  Since there will be numbers of historic Culloden Games our Culloden is set in 1938 as a VBCW game.  More to follow after the event.
 
Scottish Republic forces await the Jacobite attack
 Thanks to everyone who follows my blog - I have just crossed the 150,000 pageview barrier.