Country pursuits - Klendathu Style

A spot of camping and a long walk in the great out doors with man's best friend, what could be a better day out....

The only problem is when you are on a bug planet...

A recent trip to Derby and I spotted a couple of extra's which seemed to fit in with the SST Project.

Anisty have produced some two man tents, not the first thing on my list for a wargames show, but I figured they might come in handy for some of the bug scenario's...

In the films a couple of shots giving tent like structures such as Camp Arthur Currie the basic training camp and the Mormon Fort, these tents will do for a short over night stay in the wilderness, afterall Troopers need to sleep somewhere.

Whilst there I also picked up from Minibits, some of the latest releases from Crossover Miniatures - Robodogs....

I thought these would be great proxies for Neodogs genetically-enhanced dogs that serve as elite scouts in the K-9 Corps. Neodogs are said to be over 6 times more intelligent than regular dogs. Perfect for sensing hidden bugs and protecting the MI.

Something a little different for the campaign.

Scenario #22 "Making the Best of a Bad Job"

Sunday saw an outing for the RJW project over at Wyvern Wargamers, I picked another scenario from Grant & Asquiths - Scenarios for all ages, an excellent find in a local charity shop.

Outline.

The Russian's are lost, they know they need to head east, they are tired and have become strung out  out over a length of road, which appears to be heading into a wood. They are on the march when the action starts. The Japanese unaware of the Russian forces are not much better off. They are camped on the edge of the wood. Their cavalry have gone off to find provisions and the remainder of their force is unprepared for action.

Both sides have less than ideal circumstances, the Russians need to proceed east through the wood with at least 60% of their forces, the Japanese need to prevent this.

 The Road east with the wood at the far end of the table.

 Russian blinds, stumble into Japanese blinds, the Russians getting the first opportunity to find out what they were up against.

The Japanese camp is revealed.

 Guns and machines guns are rushed into defensive postions but still the Russians remain on blinds and the Japanese have little idea what they are facing.

At the far end of the table the Russians have a similar idea, their artillery and machine gun ocuppy the little wood. Both sides swap fire.

Russian blinds and Japanese blinds stumble into one another, two units of Cossacks face off against 3 units of Japanese infantry, this will be bloody....

Standby for a fistful of dice.

 The bloody encounter is over, one unit of cavalry is forced back, whilst a unit of Japanese infantry head for the tree line, whilst the other 2 units are littered with shock and low ammo markers.

 Finanlly further Russian units arrive, but the Japanese still hold the high ground.

 Yet more Russians are unmasked.

Time was running out for the Russians, they have smashed the Japanese defenders, but had failed to make it beyond the ridge line, as with many a game, if only we had another hour... :-)

Played using Too Fat Lardies Mud and Blood rules, for once the MG's kept firing and the cavalry actually made an impact.....

Bulgarian Artillery - Tiger Miniatures.

The challange with picking periods less popular is that more often than not you need to seek out proxy pieces to fill out the ranks. Although to be honest I rather enjoy this element of any project.

So far in the RJW project, I have managed to incorporate the obvious WW1 Russians to fill out the Russian Infantry ranks, but perhaps more obscurely, British from the Zulu War Range for shock markers and low ammo markers, Belgian Cavalry representing Russians Cossacks and now the latest addition.... Bulgarians from Tiger Miniatures - Balkan Range.

My Russians have been lacking some firepower for a number of months, I was torn between WW1 Russian Artillery from Brigade which are very nice sculpts but are perhaps a little to modern for 1904-05 and the Bulgarian Artillery Crew.

The Tiger website does not give a clear a view of the sculpts which is shame but I had seen them at various shows and once based figured they might just fit the bill, afterall all the crew had a peaked cap and came with a handlebar mustache...... Very Russian.

I am a little unsure of the correct uniform and my resources have drawn a blank, but there is in the Osprey book on the period a HMG crew in the background of the first plate which gave me an idea for the uniform, it certainly makes a difference from the Green's of the line infantry.

Hands on your head! - 28mm Hostages.

Now every Special Forces team need someone to rescue, these have been tucked away in a draw for at least a decade. I think they were from TAG when I originally brought the African Militia but never made off the to do list.

It's amazing what a little bit of inspiration does, that and several free hours on the brushes....

 

  

 

 

I decided to base them on large circular bases as I figured they would be useful as objective markers or jump off points depending on the rule sets used, a little more palatable than actual hostages.

Just goes to show why most wargamers never throw anything away......

28mm Special Forces - Modern Africa.

The last of the recent purchases for modern Africa, Paul over at the Wyverns was having a re-org of his back log so I took these Gripping Beast - MOFO US Special forces off his hands.  

Originally produced for refighting Somalia, these are perfect for adventuring in Zikanga. I also found a special ops figures from The Assault Group, which had been sitting in the spares draw for perhaps 10 years..... I think he had been free with an order???

But he's a perfect fit and addition to Red Troop :-)

The billboard is from Anisty Castings, it's seen action in WW1, WW2, Future Wars and now with a quick google and some PVA glue moves to Africa. "Finger licking good".

This is perhaps the piece of terrain that his given me the most value for money over the years - Still available at only £6.00 !!!!

Bridge Over the Wislonka October 1914 AAR#2 From Empire to Revolution

It's taken a few weeks to get a game in, but with Chris Stoesen's supplement to the WWI rules "Through the Mud & the Blood" recently hitting the shelves, it seemed more than a reasonable excuse to put a game on.

SCENARIO TWO - Bridge Over the Wislonka - October 1914

Early in the war, V Corps of the Austro‐Hungarian Empire was engaged with the Russian Empire along the borders. In early October, Infantry Regiment “Schikofsky”, Number 83, part of the 33rd Division of V Corps, moved against the village Borki that was 25km South‐West of the mouth of the River Wisloka.
The Austrian's were tasked with seizing the bridge at Wislonka.

The Russians positioned half their forces on the Eastern bank, their object was simply to hold at least one end of the bridge before the end of the evening.

Positioning a squad behind a makeshift barricade they hoped to dominate the main approach to the bridge before the Austrians could deploy their numbers.

The Austrian blinds are unmasked and advance rapidly against the defenders.

First blood to the Russians, but it is not enough as the Austrian CO, triggers 3 units who all pour fire into the defenders.

Shock starts to mount on the Russian side.

The Russians fall back, with no defences to shield them a further round of fire see's them flee the table.

The Austrian's with their gander up, rush round the corner of the barn and charge the Russian defenders in the flank, but the Russian's like nothing more than a good bayonet fight and send the Austrian's packing....

More Russians arrive from the Western bank and march across the bridge to enter the fray.

The reinforcements are met with a withering fire, from 4 Austrian and German units and are soon heading back from where they came, leaving only the defenders from the field to hold the line.

Odds of 5:1, this was not the plan.

The Austrian's flank the Russian defenders coming at them through the orchard and chase them from the field, an Austrian victory, history repeats itself......

A great well balanced scenario, nice to be able to field the correct forces and give my RJW Russian's some extra combat experience.
1 Scenario down 15 to go.....

The Sierra Leone Civil War,1991 - 2002 - UN intervention Forces.

With the release of Spectre Miniatures modern African's due any day, my thoughts turn to some suitable opposition for them.

It's fair to say some countries have more than their fair share of bad luck amd misfortune, Serria Leone has to be top of that list as the latest ebola outbreak is testiment.

Back in the early 90's the country was ravaged by civil war,  UN forces were deployed to assist the government with disarmament, demobilization and reintegration, I am not keen on refighting the actual war, the number of atrocities carried out by both sides  is truely shocking, but the history of the war makes for certain elements to be lifted into the fictional setting of Zikanga far more palatable from a wargames perspective.

Gripping Beast do a great range of Marines and Rangers for Somalia, but they also double up as many of the African Nations (ECOMOG) who were sent into Sierra Leone and the Congo to restore order and good governence.

Now the real thing.

For those interested in the real war it began March 1991 when the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), with support from the special forces of Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), intervened in Sierra Leone in an attempt to overthrow the Joseph Momoh government.

During the first year of the war, the RUF took control of large swathes of territory, which were rich in diamonds. The government's ineffective response to the RUF, and the disruption in diamond production, precipitated a military coup d'état in April 1992 by the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC). By the end of 1993, the Sierra Leone Army (SLA) had succeeded in pushing the RUF rebels back to the Liberian border

In 1995, Executive Outcomes a private military company, was hired to repel the RUF from Sierra Leone  the retreating RUF signed the Abidjan Peace Accord.

After 5 years of peace in May 1997 a group of disgruntled SLA officers staged a further coup and established the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) as the new government of Sierra Leone. The RUF joined with the AFRC to capture Freetown with little resistance. International condemnation at the overturning of the civilian government resulted in ECOMOG forces from neighbouring countries entering the country retaking Freetown on behalf of the government, but they found the outlying regions more difficult to pacify.

In January 1999, world leaders intervened diplomatically to promote negotiations between the RUF and the government. The Lome Peace Accord, signed on 27 March 1999, was the result. Lome gave Foday Sankoh, the commander of the RUF, the vice presidency and control of Sierra Leone's diamond mines in return for a cessation of the fighting and the deployment of a UN peacekeeping force to monitor the disarmament process. 

RUF compliance with the disarmament process was inconsistent and sluggish, and by May 2000, the rebels were advancing again upon Freetown. As the UN mission began to fail the United Kingdom declared its intention to intervene in the former colony  in an attempt to support the weak government of President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. With help from a renewed UN mandate and Guinean air support, the British Operation Palliser finally defeated the RUF, taking control of Freetown. On 18 January 2002, President Kabbah declared the Sierra Leone Civil War over.

Space Hulk - Marines Nil - Tyranid's Three.

Sunday night and Wyvern Wargamers have gone old Skool, Matt dusted off Space Hulk... A Games Workshop Classic....

I last played this 25 years ago!!!! ouch.

But it just goes to show you can't keep a good game down.

Big bad hulking Terminator Marines, going head to head with the nasty teeth gnashing, claw slashing Tyranid Genestealers. 

Game play was simple back in the day, with each Marine having 4 Actions a turn and the Tyranid 6 Actions. Command Points allow additional actions during the Space Marines turn OR during the Genestealer’s turn. One AP is used for basic actions such as moving a space, open a door, or fire most weapons. More advanced actions, such as going into overwatch require 2 AP. 

Simple - But as usual the devil's in the detail, move the wrong marine and your whole plan goes to pot.....
 

We managed to cram 3 games into a club night, each one down to the wire, unfortunately the marines lost everyone....

A cracking night's gaming, just the tonic for a week of work.....

Skyhook Retrieval Boat - Starship Troopers

Rarer than Rocking Horse S**t ......

Another addition to the Mobile Infantry and Fleet arsenal.

Having missed the boat (get it..) when Mongoose Publishing launched Starship Troopers the first time around, it has proved nearly impossible to source a Retrival Boat. What Starship Troopers game could be complete without an escape vessel. Mongoose produced a limited number of the boats before production of the SST range came to an end. Fortunately Scotia Grendel have a more than suitable proxy in the from of the VTOL dropship. An absolute steal at £15.00     http://www.scotiagrendel.com/Products/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=217_218_42&products_id=2735