Adventures on the Wargames Table

It's the last weekend in January so it must be time for the Crusade show, hosted by the Penarth & District Wargamers! This year there was a new venue and IMHO it was a massive improvement. The show itself was superbly organised and the club members were hugely helpful in terms of loading/unloading, etc. As with many wargames shows there were a number of re-enactors. This fine fellow, from the 41st Regiment of Foot , was a pleasure to chat with. Colin and I couldn't resist playing with his musket! Present arms!! The musket had to be prised from his arms!! The show itself was fairly busy throughout the day and it was a real pleasure to catch up with some friends (Hi to Chris, Stu, Scott, John and Dad-John, etc!!). It was also good fun to wander around and have a chat with a few of the traders; having done quite a few shows now you really do see how it's a community of its own! I managed to have a quick wander around with Chris Harris (see his excellent YouTub...

It's game six of our campaign to recreate the allied advance in to Sicily and north across Italy. With three Axis wins and two Allied wins so far it was all to play for. This scenario represents the Allied attack on a section of the formidable Gothic Line . The Allied High Command debate their strategy... or wait for some tea! The field of battle The above pic shows the field of battle. There are three distinct lines of Axis defence, each with a bunker. This scenario has three 1,000pt reinforced Allied platoons, commanded by Orange Dave, Mike and Steve, facing a single 1,000pt reinforced Axis platoon that has had the opportunity to dig in and lay some minefields. The Germans (me) were mainly an infantry force with plenty of LMGs backed up by a tank and some light artillery. The Germans deploy first then the Allies attack in a series of waves. The objective was simple... breach all three lines by capturing the bunker in each line. The Allies have 10 turns to do this. C...

It’s that time of year when we as gamers tend to look back at what we’ve achieved and then waffle on about future plans for new armies, grand scenery projects and glorious conquests!!! Well, I’m no exception ;o) so here we go... What have I achieved this year? Attended my first Bolt Action tournament and had a blast! Competitive? Yes it was, but in a very open and friendly way. Played Kings of War – some superb games especially in Steve’s man-shed and with the Cornish crowd :-D Participated in a superb Bolt Action campaign with Orange Dave (ok, the finale is still to play but the five games we’ve had so far have been awesome!) Completed a number of very enjoyable scenery projects, e.g. the Charlie Foxtrot Brasserie, the CFM Signal Box and a scratch built railway, etc. Took part in several gaming weekends with friends – always great fun! Kept my painting ticking along by completing a WW2 British Para force plus added a few more units to both the Panzergrenad...

My Charlie Foxtrot Models Brasserie kit is complete! As I mentioned before, my intention was to make a 'tile' with outbuildings, etc. Here it is. The back garden even has a little fruit & veg patch. I've added some signs to both the café and the outbuilding. I've also placed some of the bits and bobs I posted recently. The basic idea is that the tile can be placed on a corner or junction. The tiled area is just good quality printed card with a nice matte finish. Here are a few shots of some of the extra components. First the large shed or outbuilding . Pics of my brasserie can be found here . A couple of signs/adverts give a nice French theme. Add a bit of mould and lichen on the roof! Every café needs a suitable convenience... an outside w/c . Here's the tile without the buildings or clutter. The brick piers and gate are from Charlie Foxtrot but pretty much everything else was scratch built. The walls are foam-core with individ...

Sunday 27th November saw the LBWS stage the Reveille wargames show in Bristol. Colin of Charlie Foxtrot Models kindly asked me to help out on the stall for the day... So here we are... The "CFM Twins" :-D Handsome... Dashing... What more can you say? ;o) The venue and thus the show is a relatively small affair but everything was well organised with plenty of friendly people to help out. The traders included a few bigger names (always good to see!) such as Warlord Games , Magister Militum and Colonel Bill . Scarab Miniatures were there too (good to catch up with you Rob!) with a demo game of the excellent Zero Hour rules run by Alan and Nigel. Here the Germans have a lightly defended trench with plenty of Stormtroopers waiting off table ready to counter-attack. The British (with some French help) begin to take the trenches! More British move up to consolidate the gains made by the first wave The game concluded with a solid win for the British as the Sto...