Snapdragon Studio - A nice find.

Whilst at Alumwell a couple of months ago, I picked up these tucked away on one of the stands. In a base coat of yellow I suspect they were over looked by many so a quick paint job to match them to my existing terrain.

Before 3D Prints and MDF there was Snapdragon Studio (Later Moondragon) there resin casts were some of the best on the market. 

Sadly no longer available and Kerry who ran the business and sculpted them did not sell on the rights when he shut up shop back in 2004 after a period of illness.

The had there own style and you can occasionally see them pop up on E-bay.

Imagine when I spotted these for the princely sum of £8.00 what a bargain.

A quick make over, some signs and the containers and a wash finished with tufts and the occasional rocks and they are done. These will be a great addition to the WW2 desert terrain.

Such a shame we won't see them again.

Task Force Ranger - Force on Force.

Wyre Forecast Club game and the first dry run for the All-dayer, giving Force on Force a run out and the US efforts to bring order to Somalia.

Credit to Andy at the club he has been powering through buildings and figures at a rate of knots... 

History recounts the following.....

On September 21, 1993, during Operation Gothic Serpent, Task Force Ranger conducted a mission to capture Osman Ali Atto in Mogadishu. The operation involved a coordinated effort by elite units, including Army Rangers, Delta Force operators, and the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR)

The mission began with intelligence indicating Atto's location near Digfer Hospital. Task Force Ranger deployed a combination of ground and air assets, including MH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and Humvees, to secure the area and capture Atto. The Rangers and Delta Force operators quickly moved to the target building, securing the perimeter and entering the premises to apprehend Atto

Despite the rapid execution, the mission faced challenges, including sporadic gunfire from local militia forces. The Rangers and Delta operators maintained their positions, ensuring Atto's capture and safe extraction

The operation was completed successfully, with Atto being taken into custody without significant casualties on the American side

This mission was part of the broader effort to destabilize General Aidid's network and reduce his influence in Mogadishu. The capture of Atto was a tactical success, demonstrating the effectiveness of Task Force Ranger's coordination and execution.

In our game things went similarly well for the US forces, roping in and securing a roof top on the right and clearing another high rise with the mini-guns from the Black Hawks. One Hot spot down and some good firing positions to supress and neutralise the growing mobs.

The little Birds swooped in and Delta Force dropped into the hot zone. They were shot at by a number of militia men before the Rangers were able to pin the Skinnies. One of the Delta Force Operators was seriously wounded as he dropped in behind the petrol station where Atto was hiding out.

Atto made a break for it, looking to hide amongst some locals, but was brought under fire by the Operators and Rangers as he burst from the garage. Atto and his bodyguard were dropped before he could hide amongst the throng of civilians.

Delta Force moved forward to secure their prize.... 

Unfortunately Delta Force and the Rangers were rather enthusiastic in their suppression of the fleeing Atto, when they reached the bodies Atto was Dead... (1 on a 1D6).

Grabbing the body and his phone the US withdrew to the roof top and waited for the extract.

Loses on the day 2 Delta Force wounded one seriously and two Rangers lightly wounded when an RPG round hit the roof top.

Tactically a great success for the US, but I fear we may have taught the Somalia's a trick or two when we next encounter them. Roll on the all-dayer lets just hope we don't lose a Black Hawk.

Crusader Mounted Sergeants

The Crusader project rolls on....

The Christian forces are light on cavalry so these mounted Sergeants will be a useful addition to help keep the Arab cavalry at bay.

Great castings from Footsore Miniatures all in metal, it will be interested to see how their new plastics will compare. The partnership with Atlantic Games is really churning them out at the moment.

The shield transfers are from Fire Forge Games they do need a little not of adhesive to keep them in place but are far better than I could achieve free hand.

So another unit clears the paint table.... 

Next up back to the American War of Independence with a few extra's to coincide with the anniversary of Lexington and Concorde on the 19th April.

Enter the Christian Horde.

These fine fellows have been on the paint table for a couple of weeks, a random collection of Footsore, Wargames Atlantic and Perry's Miniatures all part of the getting stuff done project.

It's looking like April will be another month of Crusading, a mix of Spear, Crossbow and Levy to complete a number of units for the Crusader project bringing the figure counts up to 12 and 6 for Lion Rampant and removing the need for casualty markers.

I seem to have increased the volume of figures on the go in recent years, it used to be no more than 12 at any one time, but now I find myself working through between 24-30 which take longer but there is something quite satisfying about finishing a large batch. This mob enable me to come a number of units.

Skirmish Unit - Christian Bow, I had 4 of these already the two additional Plastic Wargames Atlantic archers will complete the unit.

Light or Heavy Spear a mix of of Footsore metal and plastic a perfect match the only difference being the spears, the metal with the deadly metal pins verses the denser plastic ones from Atlantic. I might consider swapping one or the other out at some point.

Closely followed by their bulkier Perry breatharian, the Perry Figures were not a good match compared to the Footsore Spearmen in the same unit so they now get their own unit.

The Christian Levy get their ranks fleshed unit bringing them up to 12 figures, one of the levy even managed to get their hands on a large shield. Not sure it will really help when you look at their stats.

Finally an additional Skirmish Crossbow unit from the Perry Twins, these can be a stand alone unit or combine with the other Skirmishers to make a full unit of 12. Let's see if they can keep the mounted horses at bay.

Plenty more still to do before the plastic mountain is conquered but some good progress over the past week or so, an hour and a half an evening certainly made the painting process far easier than a whole days session.

Next up mounted sergeants.

LOTR Campaign Game - The fall of Fangorn.

The Lord of the Rings Campaign is back.... my wargaming buddy has been investing heavily in bad guys so to accommodate the larger forces we have switched to Dragon Rampant, amending the point values and reinforcements to keep the balance of the game.

In the south of Middle Earth, the Forces of Men have been looking to dodge the evil Orcs' but have finally ran out of room, chased by 4 armies the battered force moved into Fangorn only to be blocked by a far larger enemy force, pinned in on all sides They need to win the day or be wiped from the map.

The plan is a simple one, await the evil horde and hope to batter them as they crest the hill. I picked a largely archer force, paying for the sharp shooter skill to try hold them back and break their morale.

With approx. 100 points to field Sauron's forces were not short of impressive units chase down human forces, Trolls, Heavy Pike and lots of cavalry....

The heavy cavalry swept forward facing off against the Riders of Rohan who fired their bow and evaded the initial charge, some of the cavalry were felled as they charged into the skirmishers in the tree line losing their advantage... the evil guys would only fall for that once. The Trolls and skirmishers rushed forwards to clear the wood.

The men of Gondor refused their flanks as the enemy cavalry regrouped as their infantry pushed around the left flank.

On the right the enemy infantry advanced, throwing their crossbows forward to be greeted by a hail of arrows.

On the left the Infantry braced themselves for the heavy cavalry charge, they could perhaps stop one unit, but four might be a challenge. 

The hammer blow fell. Holding off the horns left nothing to hold off the charging Trolls who swept through the rough terrain and smashed into the formed ranks, pushing them backwards.

The Human General was killed in the melee, Victory was complete for the evil army.

With nowhere to retreat the good army was removed from the board. Things were going to get harder before they got better in this campaign. Nice to know switching rules made no difference to the outcome of the game :-)

One more battle to fight this turn..... hopefully not a year before the next outing...

OPERATION MAX UND MONTZ - Wyre Forest Wargames Club on the Road...

The final post of March and a quick overview of our annual outing to WMMS hosted by the Alumwell Wargames Club. This year we opted for a WW2 outing on the Eastern Front.

A great show, with a very relaxed atmosphere, not the first on the list for traders with several of the main brands no longer attending, but then I have been going a very long time well before the internet.... However it does allow you to linger that little bit longer at each stand and pick up several pieces which you might have missed in some of the other shows where you are 2-3 deep in those first 3 hours of the day.

Numbers felt to be down around 15% to my eye, but it was Mothering Sunday which might account for the slight drop off. Let's of great games on offer and plenty of eye candy for future projects.

A great days gaming, chatting with the occasional bargain thrown in.

Apologies only our game on offer on this post and then mostly from the morning session, I am sure others will share their wider Pic's across the blogosphere. 

OPERATION MAX UND MONTZ, SEPTEMBER 1942 – GROSSDEUTSCHLAND INFANTRY DIVISION – EAST OF TSCHERMASSOWO.

 A portrayal of the advance of Sturmpionier Battalion GD launching a daring operation in the Gostischka Vally against the enemy bunkers of the so-called “Cemetery Hill” due east of the town of Tschermassowo.

The main objective of Code Name Max Und Moritz was the seizing of the strategic heights to control the hill and observe enemy forces to the east and enable to make countermeasures against Soviet artillery Positions.

Under an Artillery Barrage and support Stuka’s the 2^nd & 3^rd Companies attacked the hill with Satchel charges, flamethrowers, hand grenades, spades and knives, while the 7^th Company attacked to the East of the hill in “Prittwitz Hollow”

 

The Game.

Can the Russians stop the German advance and the capture of Cemetery Hill?

 

Played with using the Bolt Action Core rules alongside elements of Chain of Command introducing Force Morale, variable movement and turn end. 

When the scenario calls for an air strike some is bound to bring a Stuka.... it took all day but it finally found it's mark, which gave the Germans a marginal victory.

If you fancied giving us a try you can find more details of the club here. https://www.wfgamers.org.uk/

Standard Games - Outremer #scenario 2 Ambush...

I have been wanting to put a game like this on the table for a over two decades, admittedly the scale has increased than I originally planned when I backed the Footsore kickstarter a few years ago.

When I was a kid Standard Games Cry Havoc was all the rage, I always fancied turning it to miniatures. The board game had a bit of a renaissance in covid where two of us played over zoom with a game each moving the pieces on both maps.

Now it's time to finally get the toys on the table.

After three days on the road with very little water, the Christian horse is in desperate need of water. The Muslims are lying in wait for them at the watering hole.

I turned the forces from the scenario into a similar scale of forces from the Outremer book. The Victory conditions were simple the Arabs needed to kill more than they lose and not be forced off the table.

Coming on from the bottom left the Franks did not fancy getting anywhere near the large dune. if I was going to hide cavalry anywhere it would behind there.

Advancing on a broad front the Turcopoles flushed out the first Arab spear unit. 

The Franks advanced forward, with the Knights allowing the spear, bow and crossbows taking the front.

Things were progressing well the Christians were turning the flank, which forced the Arabs to break cover and move to the centre of the table.

More Arabs popped up, heavy Infantry defending the stone wall. The Christian Warriors Foot and Spearmen moved to across the lines of vines.

With the Franks advancing, low and behold the Arabs appeared from behind the dune, cavalry, loads of the them. Under pressure the Crusaders fell back.

Meanwhile the Christians had turned the flank of the Black Guard and the opportunity to push up the right hand side of the board.

A brutal exchange and both sides regrouped from a battering, the Arabs threw a light cavalry unit forwards. The Crusaders could not resist and spurred their heavy horse onwards.

The sneaky Arab cavalry evaded the charge and peppered the armoured knights with some well aimed archery and javelin fire. The Knights morale failed and they were sent packing, terrible dice when you needed a decent roll.

The Christians would be going thirsty today....

Cracking game and nice to be able to turn the hex game to miniatures.... now to read up on the campaign rules.

Fireforge Games- Christian Spearmen

Looking at the diary coming up and a planned club game in April it would appear that painting is going to be limited in the next couple of weeks. Especially with Alumwell looming large in a few weeks, so I am going to have to grab an hour here and there.

Fortunately a clear day in the last week has allowed me to complete a two more units for the Christian forces in the shape of  Christian heavy spear.

Following the same scheme as the warriors and crossbow men the occasional white or blue tunic to break up the linen and canvas shades together with a mix of shields with the occasional cross thrown in against the more traditional heraldic shield.

The two units are identifiable by one having the Norman kite shield while the others the straight top. But they could easily be mixed in together. 

I have added in a few with the Cross on the tunic to break them up a little and to use up a bunch of transfers that were in the box.

Really pleased with the general feel of these, but have a feeling that they won't fair well against the mass of Islamic horse archers. On the plus side the shields are really big....