Firey Urgency

From the Diary of Lucius Alfidus, Wine Merchant of the Aventine

Ides of August, Second year of the reign of Our Emperor Domitian.

Today I had the privilige of attending the Games in the Flavian Ampitheatre, a game, I hear, devised by our Princeps himself. Two teams of gladiators were drawn up at either end of the ampitheatre, each guarding a gladiator from the ludus of the opposing team, tied to a stake above a pyre. Each team would have the challenge of rescuing their compatriot from the pyre before the other could light it and burn them to death.

The first team, of the Ludus Servitus et Dubous consisted of Silas the Crupellarius, Apollodorus the Scissore, Verus the Laquearius, Scylax the Cursed of Neptune, a Retiarius, Ordones the Saggitarius and Triton the Velite. Facing them were the Ludus of Arvindus et Paulus. Their team consisted of Turbus, Champion Neapolis, Icarus the Pictish Warrior, Bomilcar and Garrus, Secutore, Hyspax the Hoplomachus and Massina the Retiarius.

The match started with the Arvindus et Paulus team leaving Massina to light the pyre beneath their captive, while the remained of the team ran towards their foes. In what was a calculated, if not exactly courageous move, the Servitii fell back into a defensive line, while Verus and Triton attempted to light the pyre. Ordones struck first with his bow, targeting Turbus, drawing some blood, although it was only of small comfort to the audience who were crying out for combat. A further success for the Servitii was the ignition of the pyre. This development certainly lit up the audience, if you will pardon that horrendous pun.

While the main body of the Arvindii continued to charge towards the Servitii, Hyspax broke to their left hoping to cut around the defensive cordon and reach the captive. The Servitii crept closer to the advancing horde, while Ordones managed to wound Garrus. The crowd were now jeering and crying out as the Sevitii still refused to clash with the enemy. Even our Princeps seemed to be losing patience, it is claimed he was murmuring something about condemning the entire Ludus to death.

Finally, the two teams clashed in hand to hand combat and blood began to flow as Verus swept across the sands towards the captive and Triton launched a javelin at Hyspax, tearing open his flank. Bomilcar the Secutor managed to cut down the much more heavily armoured Silas. He then moved on to attack Ordones, who managed to switch to his gladius and inflict a savage wound on Bomilcar, to the delight and astonishment of the amassed spectators. Nearby, Scylax managed to ensare Garrus with his net before skewering him with his trident, tearing open his bowels. Turbus and Icarus between them managed to dismember Apollodorus between them, cutting down the second of the Servitii heavies. Hyspax managed to reach the pyre and began to clamber up. The sands seemed to favour the Arvindii.

The crowds cheer as blood flows and gladiators fall

The next moments saw Triton charge up behind the climbing Hyspax, hauling him off the pyre and gutting him with his gladius, ending the first rescue attempt of the match. Scylax and Ordones faced down the badly wounded Bomilcar and Icarus. Bomilcar was cut down by Ordones, while Icarus and Scylax traded blows, with Scylax drawing blood.

Triumph begins to fade to tragedy for the Arvindii as they fall.

Far from the main action, watched over by a Psychopompus, Verys and Massina clash around the burning pyre.

Verus and Massina clashed by the captive at the Arvindii end of the arena. Verus managed to ensnare Massina in his lasso, but even while thus hampered Massina managed a wicked trident thrust that caught Verus in the throat, sending him to the Underworld in a shower of blood.

Massina stands victorious.

Triton, a relatively inexperienced gladiator found himself face to face with Turbus, a legend of the sands. Moments later, a legend lay broken on the field, torn open from shoulder to waist, Triton stood victorious, guarding the screaming remnants of the Arvindus now roasting on the pyre.

Triton stands over the corpse of his would-be conqueror as a new legend is born.

Scylax and Ordones managed to finish off Icarus as the crowd was swept up in the drama of a legend being born.

The last survivor of the Arvindii, the Retiarius Massina raised his finger to appeal for mercy, which the crowd supported. The editor of the games granted him mercy as Ordones sprinted the length of the arena, scrambled onto the burning pyre and cut the captive free, badly burnt but alive.

Tragically for the Arvindii, Domitian commanded that their captive be left to burn. As the flames crept higher, his screams were drowned out by the crowd cheering Triton and the Servetii celebrating their victory.

The games were a success with the crowd and I trust this is but the first of many delights I will behold in the great ampitheatre.

Wooden Hulls, Iron Men

Somewhere in the Caribbean, 1586

This little clash was played out at the latest of our monthly wargames evenings at the office. It was a straight up fight between an English fleet and a Spanish fleet somewhere in the Caribbean. Outside of the battle, the theme of the evening seemed to be the dismasting of various models, exclusively by the Spanish players, which led to me making various remarks about the relative sailing skills of the Spanish and English admirals.

The English fleet consisted of one 'heavy' squadron with two large race built galleons (the Ark Royal and the Royal Sceptre) with two small race built galleons in attendance (the Hawk and the Viceroy) on their left flank, and two 'light' squadrons with a medium race built galleons plus two small race built galleons each. The centre squadron was led by the Revenge, escorted by the Endeavour and the Prince Hal, and the right hand squadron of the Golden Lion escorted by the Alfred and the Fortune. The English had excellent crews and squadron commanders, and in the pre-game set up the vast majority of the English vessels with variable ability crews rolled very well. The only fly in the ointment was the reduction of one of the squadron commanders (from the right hand squadron) from Brilliant to Average.

The Spanish had a larger fleet, with their most powerful squadron again on their left flank. This consisted of the flagship, Nuestra Senora de Rosario, a large galleon, with two medium galleons, the Santa Catalina and the Aguila and a small galleon, the Magdalena, as her escorts. The centre of the Spanish line was formed of the weakest squadron with a medium galleon, the Senora de Valencia, with 4 medium hulks as escorts, the Explorador, the Leon de Bronce, the Reina del Ecuador and the Princesa de Ibiza. The final squadron consisted of a large galleon, the Santa Maria, escorted by two medium galleons, the Intrepido and the Gloria. The Spaniards rolled poorly on the pre-game organising, with many of their crews dropping in morale grades. One of their admirals did at least rise from Dull to Brilliant, giving them a fighting chance of siezing the initiative from the English.

The Spanish (left) and English fleets face off as battle begins, while in the distance the mysterious Prawn Cracker cloud billows.

In the opening turns the Spanish used the following wind to sweep towards the English at speed, while the English fleet proceeded ahead and to the right. First blood went to the English as their left-most squadrons opened fire on the flagship of the right-hand Spanish squadron. Combined fire from the Royal Sceptre, Hawk and Viceroy inflicted a devastating hit on the Santa Maria, wounding the squadron commander.

Heavy English fire rips through the Santa Maria, toppling a mast and wounding the Spanish commander.

The next turns saw the Spaniards close in on the English. The Santa Maria and her squadron became intermingled with the English ships opposite them, taking more damage. The injury to the squadron commander limited the actions available to subordinate vessels as the low quality crews floundered. The central Spanish squadron managed to envelop the English squadron opposite them, managing to rake the Revenge from fore and aft. Unfortunately for the Spaniards, these were their worst vessels, and although some heavy damage was inflicted, it was not a knockout blow. English return fire was, at first, ineffectual. Finally, the most powerful Spanish squadron closed in on the Golden Lion and her escorts.

Fighting erupts down the entire line.

The next turn saw the Spanish sieze the initiative, which allowed the Nuestra Senora de Rosario and the Magdalena to board the Golden Lion. In each round of the boarding action the Spanish got the minimum roll required to win the round, grinding the English crew down. Eventually, with most of her crew killed or captured, the Golden Lion fell, demoralising her squadron and causing the Alfred and Fortune to abandon the action. Celebrations abounded among the Spanish admirals, and the English began to wonder how they could extricate themselves from their situation.

After a brutal fight, the Spanish ensign is hoisted on the Golden Lion.

The next turn, the Revenge and her escorts broke away from the central Spanish squadron, pushing to rescue the Golden Lion from the enemy. At the far end of the line, the Ark Royal and Royal Sceptre inflicted another punishing hit on the Santa Maria dismasting her, which caused her to strike her colours, putting the Spanish squadron completely out of command. As the Spanish crews were not of high quality and therefore were unlikely to take action independently, this effectively eliminated the squadron from the action. The Spaniards took this as a sign that it was time to make a hasty exit and began to break off the engagement. Unfortunately for the Spaniards, the Nuestra Senora de Rosario became fouled with the Golden Lion, leaving both vessels stuck fast as the Revenge closed in.

The Spanish flagship and her prize become fouled as the cavalry arrives for the English.

To further compound Spanish woes, two of their vessels collided and fouled, further stringing out their forces. This was followed by a devastating round of fire hitting the Senora de Valencia, killing the squadron commander and demoralising the central Spanish squadron. In the final turn of the game, the Nuestra Senora de Rosario managed to extricate herself from the Golden Lion and fled under fire from the Revenge and her squadron, while the Revenge boarded the Golden Lion whose Spanish prize crew surrendered without a fight. With kicking out time approaching, we called the game. Many of the Spanish vessels were probably far enough away from the English to escape, but the Santa Maria, dismasted and struck, would almost certainly be taken as a prize. The Nuestra Senora de Rosario was well behind the rest of the Spanish fleet, and had taken some damage which had slowed her, and two more Spanish vessels were badly fouled and unlikely to be able to separate. Depending on what the English chose to do they could probably either take the Spanish flagship or both the fouled vessels, or sink them with cannon fire.

Overall the battle was a decisive English victory, albeit a painful one for the Golden Lion's crew. The Spanish plan to withdraw while they were ahead was probably wise, but the implementation was flawed. By failing to ensure their prize could escape before withdrawing the combat vessels, the Spanish left her exposed to falling back into English hands. Furthermore, each vessel was sent away from the fight at its' best speed, which strung out the fleet, allowing the English to isolate and concentrate fire on key vessels as they moved towards the Golden Lion. In contrast, the English fleet was concentrating thoughout the game, allowing them to apply maximum pressure when it mattered.

According to the rules, given the scale of the Spanish defeat, the admiral in charge would be shot "pour encourager les autres" which left the Spanish fleet with no squadron commanders, with one being a "guest" of the English, one shot for their failure and one killed in action. It was decided that the Spanish man of the match would be the commander of the central squadron, who at least met an end worthy of a soldier.

Border Wars

360 AD, the Caucasus

So this is the first mad project which I've embarked on in a while. The plan is to fight a mini-campaign in a fictionalised historical scenario, based in part on actual history, just tailored to suit my available forces.

The Setting

The basic premise of the campaign is that instead of heading west towards the Danube when threatened by the Huns, the Goths (or at least a sizable portion of them) headed south through the Caucasus, invading and effectively destroying the Iberian Kingdom. The new Goth nation is naturally rather fragile, and holds a critical location between the Sassanid Persian and Roman Empires. These two powers both see the opportunity to force the Goth nation into submission and gain an edge over the other, so send forces to take over or subjugate the Goths, while fending off the other Imperial power. Of course, to the north, the Hunnic horde is approaching.

The players will take the role of the commanders of the Roman, Sassanid and Hun forces, while I as ref will play the Goths (and probably mostly get massacred). Each player faction will have some home provinces, but most of the action will probably take place in the new Gothic kingdom.

The Rules etc.

The plan as it stands is to use a DBA campaign style, with forces moving between distinct geographical regions. Of course, rather than use the simple rules there, I want to fiddle massively and bring in new challenges and details.

Firstly, I will not be using the DBA rules for fighting the battles, I will be using my standard rule set (The Shock of Impact). This will take some adaption, so for example, rather than getting 12 bases, I intend to give each player a field army of 1200 points for each year, instead of losing one base each turn of an unsuccessful siege, losing 100 points etc.

Secondly, I want to introduce Victory Points, as I highly doubt we will finish the campaign by annihilation of two factions etc. This will both allow a leader board of sorts, but also allow for alternate victory conditions (get twice as many points as the rival powers etc). These will be earned for taking and holding regions, winning battles and destroying enemy forces. The plan is that you will also be able to buy VPs with gold, representing promoting yourself at home etc. to enhance your prestige.

And finally I plan to add an economic element, where regions earn gold which can be spent on various things. These include (at the moment), spying on enemy armies to learn their composition, attempting to reduce the morale of enemy forces (maybe by bribing soldiers to desert, or poisoning), giving bonuses to troops in your own forces to attempt to raise morale, improving the chance of successfully ending a siege (whether by having better siege engines or inducing treachery), increasing the siege readiness of a location, feeding an army maintaining a siege during winter and hiring mercenaries. Gold will also have to be stored in on map locations, so can be seized by enemy forces.

As of yet I'm still working on the details of what things will cost, but the aim will be to ensure that winning battles and regenerating troops as per the DBA system will be cheaper than hiring mercenaries to make up for bad decisions.

Each campaign year will consist of selecting a field army, three seasons where campaigning is possible, then a withdrawal to winter quarters. Movement of field armies will follow the standard DBA campaign limitations and sieges will be prosecuted in a similar manner with a few tweaks that I'm still working on. If and when field armies meet, there will be a battle fought out on the table.

In terms of what I expect to write up, I plan to write up all the battles that are played out, plus give an update at the end of each campaign year of the armies movements and VP status etc. The battle reports will probably be delayed until after a given campaign year so none of the players can get a sneak peak at the others' armies without paying for their spies!

Random bits and bobs

As things stand I intend for two of the factions at least (the Romans and the Goths) to have a couple of unique tricks. This may be extended to the Huns and Sassanids if I can think of something reasonable for them. The Romans will be able to hire troops from the Western half of the Empire if they wish to as well as Gothic mercenaries. These will function identically, but will just give them some extra options in terms of troop types.

The Goths will behave very differently to the other factions. Rather than regenerating troops in the normal way, they will be able to disband their army anywhere and assemble a new one at the capital, up to a strength dependent on how much of their territory they hold. This new army will be unable to act for one season but then will be able to move and fight normally. This is mostly to keep the Goths in the game as a potential spanner in the works of the major powers.

The Long Drive Home

The Long Drive Home

August 1940, somewhere in North Africa

Colonel Bradwaith was a worried man. Again the Desert Fox had outflanked the Eight Army and triggered a general withdrawal. During yesterday's sandstorm, Bradwaith and his command group had been separated from the column of infantry heading eastwards towards the new line, leaving him and his staff in their lorries and two tanks that had been providing security for this HQ alone in the empty desert. This far off the tracks, the lorry were essentially useless, his adjutant was checking them for maps, documents or anything else that shouldn't be left behind before they were to be burnt. Cramped as it would be, he and his staff would be making the rest of the journey in the tanks. His concern was simple, could the tanks make it back. Even without the enemy trying to stop them, fuel was tight, the terrain hard and navigation was challenging.

His contemplations were interrupted by one of the tank commanders.
"Sir, we're picking up radio traffic from some armour to the north. They're assembling to make a break for our lines in the morning. Sounds like the Queen's Own sir." 
Bradwaith nodded.
"We'll join up with their push then, Lieutenant, light them up, we are leaving."

Two hours later, Bradwaith's pair of tanks had linked up with the remnants of two squadrons of tanks. The plan was to strike out to the east at dawn, hoping the sandstorms off to the west would keep the Luftwaffe at bay. With luck, the column would sneak past any resistance.

We played out this scenario at one of the regular office wargames evenings. The basic situation was that Rommel had (once again) thrown the Eight Army back in confusion and some isolated British tanks had to break through to home, while an Italian force tried to stop them.

The British forces consisted of 9 A13 cruiser tanks (two troops of 4 and a  commander representing a depleted squadron) and 17 Crusader I (a squadron of 3 troops of 4 with a commander plus the armoured battalion HQ of two tanks plus two additional tanks carrying Bradwaith and his staff). Prior to the game the British had to choose which of three routes to take home, with longer routes giving a greater risk of mechanical breakdown or running out of fuel but a lesser chance of coming into contact with off table enemy forces, and whether to proceed in one large group or to have a staggered column.The players chose to proceed en masse along the longest route. This meant that they were able to deploy all their forces on table, but at the same time restricted their deployment area to the edge of the table.

The Italians were fielding two companies of M13/40s plus a battalion command group, with each company consisting of three platoons of 4 tanks, plus two tanks as a command group, with an additional two tanks for the battalion command group. Their pre-game decisions consisted of choosing where to deploy their companies, choosing one company to be deployed on each of the long and middle length routes. This meant that one company could be deployed in defensive positions on table at the start of the game and the other would march on later. Rather cruelly I made the Italians role to see when the extra company would arrive, rather than sticking to my initial plan of a one turn delay, and they, naturally, rolled the maximum possible amount of time.

The area the fight occurred over was little more than a patch of desert with some small sand hills. The entire area was hard sand, so the tanks could move at a blistering pace (90% of road speed under the rules). The Italians deployed behind some hills, rather than hull down on them as I expected them to, while the British similarly used the hills to mask their approach.

Initial deployments, with the British at the far (western) edge, and the Italians in the Nort Eastern corner.

The British plan was to cut south of the Italians at speed, blasting any targets of opportunity aside as they went. The Italians planned to strike into the British force as they moved, holding out until their reinforcements arrived.

A keen eyed Italian tank commander spots the approaching mass of British armour.

 The British cruiser tanks stormed up the board with their high speed, while the Italian forces pushed west. The British sighted the Italian forces as they moved out and opened fire, not achieving any hits. The Italians, ably led by Capitano "Why is it always me?" Arvinda suffered from his traditional bad luck, failing to acquire the British forces.

The second turn saw the first British squadron approaching their escape point and forming a gun line. To buy time, the Italian forces charged headlong towards them, both sides blasting away. The Italian company commander had happened to end up on the southern extremity of their line the turn before, so now formed the tip of the spear, which earned him the attention of two British tank troops, which resulted in his tank being knocked out. Both sides lost an additonal tank apiece.

Leading from the front, the Italian company commander attempts to inspire his men, and pays the price.

 The second Italian company rolled onto the table at the end of the turn, and both threw themselves at the British after the British had assembled their entire force within a single move of the edge of the table. With both sides at close quarters, the shooting was brutal. One Italian platoon was wiped out in a single shooting phase, and several others suffered losses, while a British troop lost three tanks.

Tanks begin to brew up accross the field

In the end of turn morale checks, the Italian first company failed and was forced to hold position or retire from the enemy, while the entire battalion was reduced to half moves or less. The British passed their checks and escaped into the desert.

In the post mission survival rolls for the British, not only did no tanks break down or run out of fuel, no contact was made with Italian or German off table forces, so all the tanks that made it off the table made it back to British lines.

In the end the Victory Points were tallied up, 205 for the British, 42 for the Italians.

A few notes on the scenario, firstly I should have stuck with my original plan of having the second Italian company arrive at the end of the first turn, rather than making them roll. Secondly, I misread a passage in the rules, so the British shouldn't have been able to move as fast as they did and fire, although with the British plan that might just have reduced the amount of shooting in the game. I think I also should have restricted the British movement in some way, maybe with minefields or soft sand, to give the Italians the chance to hold the British.

Overall though, both teams had a good laugh, and we're looking forward to putting these troops back onto the table at some point.

Death above the desert

The Collections, Part III:

 1960-1980: Middle East Air Combat

When I decided to have a go at air combat, choosing a setting was quite tough. I considered the Falklands War initially, but I decided against it as there was not a huge variety in aircraft or the missions that could be played. Vietnam struck me as a somewhat overdone period, and I have little interest in the history personally. Eventually I landed upon the idea of wargaming the conflicts between Israel and Egypt.

The collection has expanded from the originial 10-20 planes a side to more like 40-50 a side. On the Egyptian (standing in for Syrians, Jordanians etc. where needed) side have some Hawker Hunters, MiGs 15, 17, 19, 21s, Su-7s, Il-28s. The Israeli's have Mirages, Super Mysteres, Vautours, F-4 Phantoms, and (when I finish painting them) some F-15s and F-16s. Almost all the models are from Tumbling Dice. They're good models, nicely detailed for 1/600th and as of yet I've never had a model with any serious moulding issues.

I use the Check Your Six! Jet Age rules, which are fun and quick. They give a good feel, yet allow a single player, even a relative novice to handle at least two aircraft with ease. The games I've played have been quick and frequently brutal.

The most recent game I ran consisted of an Israeli fighter formation intercepting an Egyptian bomber force heading towards Tel Aviv during the Six Day War. The scenario was Hollywood "based on" an actual event in the war. The Egyptian bomber force had an escort of 10 fighters, mostly MiGs, while the Israeli's were attacking with 8 Mirages.

Israeli Mirages (anachronistically painted for the War of Attrition) sweeping in to the attack.

The Egyptian strike force.

 The Israeli's swept in to the attack in a broad formation, passing through the first escorts to engage them to attack the bombers at the heart of the formation. Unfortunately, the Egyptian top cover came into the engagement on the Israeli right flank, and a massive dogfight ensued. After initial successes downing a MiG, the Israelis found the battle turning against them.

The screams of jet engines fill the sky as a massive dogfight breaks out.

Israeli pilots plot their attack on the bombers.

Thanks to terrible dice rolling, several Mirages were soon sent spiraling into the desert, trading off with MiGs at a rough 1:1 ratio. One of the Il-28 bombers was brought down by a Mirage, before that Mirage was felled by defensive fire from a second bomber's rear turret.

Losses among the Israeli aircraft mount.

A bomber falls, and is avenged by another bomber.

 By the time the Israelis broke off and fled, they had lost 5 aircraft and three of their pilots, including one of their best. The Egyptians had lost one bomber and 3 MiG 21s, with two bombers breaking through to attack an airfield around Tel Aviv.

A dark day for the Israeli Air Force with heavy losses in aircraft and pilots.

 Overall this collection has proven popular with my wargaming mob, and I'm looking forward to putting many more of these planes into the sky, and sending them crashing back down again. I've painted up the Israeli's for the later War of Attrition, firstly because that colour scheme lasted longer than the silver with red flashing used during the Six Days War, and also because personally I think it looked better. The Egyptians are painted a mix of the various schemes in use at the time of the conflicts.

Honour and Death

The Collections, Part II:

1550-1615 Japan:


This collection arose, I can only assume, from a severe desire to punish myself with painting. The collection stands at about 70 or so 25mm figures, 6 mounted samurai, 18 or so foot samurai, 40 ish ashigaru, and then some odds and ends, ronin and ninja in the main. I've got the forces split into a handful of clans, two main large ones and a handful of small ones. I've got two rule sets for these models, firstly Naginata for larger scale skirmishes, and Osprey's Ronin rules, which work best for a handful of models apiece. The Naginata rules are streamlined and fun, allowing for larger scale outings but to my mind lacking flavour, particularly when elite samurai clash. The Ronin rules provide the flavour and make the actual combat that much more active for the players (choosing when to play your defense and attack chits and the like), but I would hate to try and play a game with more than 10 or so figures against each other as the game would last an eternity. One thing I have considered is using the Ronin combat system for clashes between samurai in an otherwise Naginata game, but there are various niggles that would need working out before that would be possible.

Samurai stalk through a village seeking the enemy.

This collection has had a couple of outings, once at a local wargames club as a Saga force (using the Norman battleboard) where they anachronistically fought the Vikings a couple of times. My cunning strategy of overloading my force with elite samurai backed up with a handful of missile units paid off once, with the massed arquebus fire weakening the Viking thralls enough to open a path to their warlord that two mounted samurai units could exploit, in a fine example of the courage expected of the samurai, my warlord cut down the enemy leader's bodyguard in one turn, then took the warlord's head the next. The second game resulted in a far different result, as bezerkers intercepted my warlord and cut him down.

Their other main outing has been at the boardgames night at work, where we played out a scenario of my own devising. An aging samurai lord had passed away and one of his sons had seized his father's favourite wife and will, declaring that the lord had left leadership of the clan to him. Another son, a half brother of the first, who felt he had been unfairly cheated gathered up a group of his loyal retainers and set off to ambush his brother while he was off celebrating his rise to power by hunting in a remote location, Unbeknownst to either side, a cousin had sent a small team of ninja (played by me) to eliminate both brothers, as the cousin viewed himself as the most logical next step in the succession.

The action took place around a small village with a group of buildings and fields just north of a walled off compound containing a mansion, with a wood running up the west edge of the board, from which the ambushers emerged, the sea to the north and an area of fields and broken ground to the south. The hunting party was entering from the east. The battle devolved into two actions as neither side was willing to clash inside the village. On the seaward flank, the ambushed force threw forward their cavalry under a barrage of arrows, the assault hitting a holding force of the ambushers who were rapidly pushed back, losing several ashigaru in the process. The cavalry charge eventually ended (when chucking out time came) with the three cavalry surrounded by low grade foot troops, holding their own, but liable to be annihilated at any moment.

In the centre, between the village buildings and the walled off compound, the main forces of both sides clashed, with samurai charging back and forth to get close to the lords (both sides' victory conditions being that the enemy lord should die and their own survive). In the background, the ninja were moving along the eastern edge of the compound walls, aiming to get in close enough to take out their targets. In the final turn, the lord leading the hunting party found himself pinned against the compound wall facing a mounted samurai, with the ninja launching an attack, cutting down two of his bodyguards in one turn. The lord faced off against the mounted man, was hit and pushed back, into the impassable obstacle of the wall, resulting in him being sqewered by a yari. Sadly, we didn't have enough time to see if the ninja would be able to complete their mission.

The final section of this collection is a small force of naga, half serpent half samurai mythical creatures. I've put together a small clan of them, with a chieftan, two shamans and a bunch of warriors. I based their snake skin colours on several venemous snakes, then modelled the armour colours after the chieftan's skin colours. I felt the "human" part of the naga shouldn't be too human, so I painted them with solid black eyeballs and pale blue skin, carrying weapons made of obsidian with bone handles (smelting metals being hard under the sea I suspect). Their gaming debut, including a rather spiffing Chinese/Japanese dragon as their overlord, went well, with a suitable level of shock on the part of the players. The set up was that an up and coming clan was invading the lands of its more prosperous neighbour. Both sides forces were approaching a village when both received reports the village was being destroyed, the attackers assuming the defenders were burning the much needed food supplies held there, the defenders assuming the attackers had got the jump on them and forced the nearby river.

Mortal forces, unaware in spite of the giant hand looming above them of the mystical events about to unleash themselves, clash around a small village.

Both sides bundled up and promptly got stuck in, with fighting swinging too and fro around the village and the open ground, while both sides avoided the various bits of rough terrain. After an appropriate number of turns, the mortals were rather put out by the arrival of the Naga and the dragon, who promptly fried a hut and the nearest three samurai. Unbeknownst to the players, some ninja (who had been picking off anyone who came too close to revealing their position) who served a local temple of a deity opposed to the Naga, had been skulking around waiting for the dragon, so rushed out to engage. Unfortunately they couldn't roll a dice to save their lives, whiffed their attacks and were rapidly smeared across the landscape. The players were just realising the full potential of the Naga warriors when chucking out time brought action to a halt. Although it may have been a close run thing in the end, the loss of the dragon hunting ninja would have made a mortal victory unlikely, though a few thoroughly traumitised survivors may have escaped.

The samurai mostly come from Dixons Miniatures, although the command units, banner bearers and casualty markers come from Perry. Dixons also do a Legends of Nippon range which is where the Naga are from. 

To further round out this collection, I have a large number of Choson Koreans awaiting painting, allowing for the portrayal of the Samurai invasions of Korea. More of that in the Projects posts.

A Day for Eagles 1

Recently I ran a game, based on the Flying Tigers mini-campaign from the back of the Check Your Six rulebook, adapted to fit the desert war. Subbing in for the P-40s of the Flying Tigers are Spitfires of the Western Desert Air Force's No 92 Squadron.

Tobruk, Libya, May 1942


Rommel's Afrika Korps has launched an assault to cut off and then sieze the vital port of Tobruk. In order to keep the Western Desert Air Force away from the advancing columns of Panzers and their supply columns, the Luftwaffe is launching a concerted air attack on the port and its garrison and air defences. The first game consisted of a large force of bombers hitting the El Adem airbase to smash the resistance.

Before each scenario the players (Rob and James for the Brits, Tom and Gordon for the Germans) have a series of choices to make determining how their aircraft would set up. The British went for an aggressive push, leaving the members of their flight who were late to scramble far behind and plunging into the German formation head first. The Germans meanwhile chose not to wait for their supporting flights who were late, maintaining a steady speed to allow the Bf-109 escort to catch up, but leaving a ground attack formation far behind.

The Germans deployed their bomber formation first some distance south from their bombing objective, the airfield, with Stukas forming a wing on either side of the central formation of Dornier Do-217s. Two RAF P-40s from another squadron set up behind the centre of the bomber formation, with a flight of four Bf-109s closing in on the formation in a broad line to the rear of the P-40s. The Spitfires came into the gaming area from the east and west of the German bombers, aiming to smash through the formation before the German fighters could make contact.

Early morning commute to downtown Tobruk

In the opening turn the two P-40s fired ineffectually on the rearmost of the Dornier Do-217s, before deciding to dive out of the engagement, though they did get one more volley of fire off, damaging the aircraft in the following turn as the Spitfires swept into range from both sides. The massed firepower of Rob's Spitfire Vcs blew two Stukas from the sky in their opening volley. James' pilots were less fortunate, hitting but not harming their targets. The next turn found British fighters in amongst the bombers, despite lead being fired in all directions by both sides, no more aircraft went down, though three German bombers took damage. This was a reasonable result for the Brits, as damaged bombers don't contribute to the outcoming of bombing on targets.

On turn 4, the eastern Bf-109s got into range to start taking pot shots at the British aircraft, though sadly for the Germans, the pilots forgot to check their line of fire, and the first victim of German fighter fire was a Do-217, fortunately causing no serious harm. The British performed much better, with Rob wiping out the last of the Stuka flight on the western flank after some fancy flying and James damaging a further Do-217.

The brutal dogfight starts to claim planes.

Over the next couple of turns, British fighters cut in and out of the German formation, damaging another bomber, but failing to stop them reaching their objective. As bombs began to rain down on the airfield, Spitfires began to run out of ammunition, with two diving away rapidly. The final two Spitfires damaged a further German bomber, not before it dropped its ordinance, before James' final aircraft suffered damage from the rear machine gun of a Stuka. Both of the remaining Spitfires dived away, leaving the remaining six German bombers to hit the airfield and the nine bombers still in the air to fly home.

The game had run well, though the British were consistently poor in their damage rolls (with most in the single digits out of a possible maximum of 24) which meant the very tough Dorniers usually had to make little more than 5-7 on 2d6 to avoid taking any damage. The Germans did much better, scoring the maximum damage on several occasions, but the bombers rarely had more than a single machine gun able to bear on any target, meaning the effects were minimal.

In the after action paper section, the German bombing of the airfield resulted in four Spitfires being reduced to burning wrecks, while one damaged bomber from the action fell foul of the late arrivals from the players' flight, two more of the damaged birds cracked up on landing, writing them off.

The second action of the day was an attack on the docks by an unescorted bomber formation. The Germans set up almost ontop of their target as the British chose to close in from the rear to maximise their chance in the attack, taking the time to sweep around. The Spitfires swept in to the formation, getting close in to maximise their chances of hits, as the previous game had taught Rob and James that they couldn't make high damage rolls to save their lives, which against the tough German bombers wasn't resulting in the necessary kills.

Achtung, Englander! British planes charge into the German formation.

Unfortunately for the Tom and Gordon, the bad dice plague had infected their robustness rolls, as German bombers began to plunge into the desert, including their only veteran pilot. This added further complications for the Germans as the loss of the flight leader caused their crews to become confused and change their targets, meaning their two formations had to then assault the other's target. This level of confusion gave a perfect opportunity for the British fighters as the formations swung slowly and predictably around. Careful flying allowed the British to minimise the retaliatory fire, while pouring close range fire into the German bombers. In the course of eight turns, six German bombers, including three of the previously untouchable Do-217s were hit. With their formation being slowed by heavy bomb loads and the slower Stukas, Tom and Gordon made the decision to ditch the bombs on the Stukas and use them to distract British fighters, allowing the last undamaged Do-217s to make their bombing runs and dash for home. Ultimately, the most damage done to a British fighter was the result of friendly fire as Rob provided "assistance" to James. Spitfires also started to run out of ammunition as another Stuka took damage. Ultimately though, not a single German aircraft survived unscathed to drop its bombs effectively. When the British finally broke off, with only one of their aircraft with ammunition remaining, 6 German bombers had fallen, 5 were damaged and 1 escaped having disposed of its ordinance and fled. As the sun set over the desert after a hard days fighting, many bunks in the German airfield remained empty, while the British sat down to congratulate themselves on inflicting heavy losses while losing none of their own in the air.

A dark day for the Luftwaffe as the stragglers are run down by the rampaging RAF

But both sides know the Germans will return, most likely in greater numbers, and with more fighters. For today the fighting is done, but tomorrow will bring more violence.