Flash Gordon..... A sci-fi AAR.....

The return of mid week gaming and a real blast from the back of the wargames cupboard.....

Flash, King Vultan and a party of his Hawkmen have been forced to flee Sky City after an attack by Ming's Forces, they have stopped to rest in the forest kingdom of Arboria, exhausted and grounded due to the swampy conditions the hawkmen await escort from Prince Barin's forces when they are ambushed by one of Ming's patrols.

The Hawkmen must remain in the centre of the table until contacted by the Arborian patrol, when they can can leave the table.

Flash and Vultan await Ming's onslaught, Hawkmen hide amongst the under growth.

 

The forests of Arboria are full of dangers, here we see the deadly purple petal plants whose touch is deadly.

 

Ming's forces advance in strength, led by two hover bots, looking to catch Flash in the open.

Prince Barin's men open fire on the hover bots before they are able to react.

Ming's troopers reach the clearing and a fire fight breaks out between the two sides, troopers and Hawkmen fall to the ground.

 The left flank sneaks past the purple petals but they are struck down by poison darts - ouch....

The Arborian patrol reaches the clearing.

The survivors fall back as Ming's forces advance.

Ming looks on - The Rebellion might soon be crushed in one single encounter.

Flash, Vultan and Prince Barin turn on there pursuers and defeat them in hand to hand combat, escaping deep into the forest.

 

What now...... having defeated the patrol, Prince Barin leads the leaders of the rebellion deep into the Arborian forest only to be confronted by two of Ming's Autobots....

Until next week Flash fans......


Played using a MUTANTS AND DEATH RAY GUNS Based on Song of Blades and Heroes mechanics.

Figures from  Wargames Supply Dump miniatures and painted over 20 years ago..... Before shading and dipping was invented :-)

A typical day in Manchuria.....

Another bank holiday over and a whole days painting.....
2 Weeks before OML3 and time to finish up a couple of extra pieces for the all dayer.

What every village needs - a few locals milling about these are from Black Hat Miniatures and will be perfect for both the RJW and the Sung Dynasty Projects.

I had some spare walling left over from John Jenkins and 4 Ground just enough to create a further compound for the day.

I added in several squares of door matting to give the impression of crops, with spacing through the centre and outskirts of the field to allow troops to line the fence.

With the combination of walling and fencing it allows me to mix up the terrain to extend the current compound or create narrow walk ways between the buildings, I am really happy with how these have turned out and now itching to get these on the table.

I picked a couple of aquarium items up from the pet shop several years ago for the Boxer Rebellion Project, slightly to large for the 15mm collection, with a little bit of spucing up they will be perfect for OML3 and complete the look for the village.

Just need to work through the scenario now.......

28mm Coal Mine.....

As part of the prepartion for OML3 I have been reading into the Battle of Shaho 1904 a particular part of the engagement was the Japanese 12th Division assault on the Yantai coal mines an attack  that was to cost both sides over 5000 casualties.

By chance I spotted the following item on ebay and figured with a little work I could create my own Yantai mine.

Hand made from card a couple of spokes and kitchen string it appears to be originally for HO scale it just needed cleaning up a little and the flock and scatter up grading.

I may well add some coal scatter at a later date.

I added a Chinese coolie to give a sense of scale, whilst the doors are a little off it is certainly large enough for gaming purposes and I can see it being used in a variety of periods and scenario's from the RJW to AVBCW.  - A real bargin at £10.00

A Photo of coal works circa 1900.... Actual photo's of the Yantai mine have proven impossible to find but this looks pretty good to me for a table top representation.