Adventures on the Wargames Table

A very quick post to show the latest painting for my Desert War collection. Both resin vehicles from Warlord. Needed quite a bit of cleaning but nice models. Simple paint scheme: VMC Iraqi Sand, GW Agrax wash, then highlights of VMC Iraqi Sand, VMC Dark Sand and Foundry Boneyard light. Tyres painted in VMC German Grey followed by sand highlights. The canvas cover is Foundry British Canvas mid/light.

With the potential to include some Layforce Commandos in our “what if” Crete campaign I initially looked at building a full Commando troop, or at least a couple of sub-sections. Then fiscal prudence intervened! My research concluded that these amazing fellows did not in fact wear power armour and carry bolt guns. Rather, they were equipped in much the same fashion as regular troops albeit in a much more flexible way. So, I decided to use a mix of my regulars and some additional figures built using the extra heads supplied with the Perry sprues, mainly the woolly cap option. Although maybe when the shooting started they switched to metal helmets? I also picked up the Perry SAS Bren teams pack (the figures wearing the keffiyeh/agal will be saved for the desert war). The Layforce men are quick to make use of Jerry’s kit! This will give me the “look” I was after without having to acquire lots more figures. Pinning down a precise TO&E for the Commandos is not easy. There’s quite a bit o...

Following on from the earlier unsuccessful attack on the Olive Oil Factory , the Australians of 2/1st Battalion have regrouped, called in armoured support (just like the real attack) and launched another assault on the heavily dug in FJs. Here’s the table laid out the same as before. Orange Dave played a very aggressive patrol phase, pushing his markers forward along the road with all possible haste. He was determined to make the Aussies cross as much open ground as he could manage. This resulted in my JOPs being mainly in the sunken lane (out of shot, left) and adjacent woods whereas his own were nicely placed around the olive oil factory (ammo trolley in the gardens, the motorbike in the courtyard and the camo tent just outside the walls) Jerry gets a succession of double turns and soon has plenty of men ready to give the Australians a warm welcome. Due to casualties one of his squads is half strength and the other two are a man down, but that’s still an awful lot of firepower. I bri...

I’ve been mulling over some ideas for an introductory Chain of Command scenario and finally got some time to actually play it. Like most wargames CoC is better with a proper scenario and ideal when played as part of a narrative campaign. This scenario is based around the idea that the Germans have lost a truck containing special equipment, secret papers, etc (possibly even a bespectacled boffin in a white coat) all of which are vital to the war effort. Well, the truck has been spotted and both Axis and Allied forces are scrambling to reach it first… yep, you guessed it, they arrive more or less simultaneously! The aim is that this sort of scenario will encourage players to advance and attack rather than just stand back and shoot from afar. Here’s the layout. The truck is blocking the dusty, dirt road between a small church, an olive farm and a vineyard and is approximately in the centre of the table. Allied forces will enter from the East (right) and Axis from the West (left). The Patr...