South of the Phillipines

 South of the Phillipines.. one of two games this week... I joined Keith, Alastair, and Barry, for a battle in the Pacific naval campaign that has been the centre of naval action over this past year. The games are played using the Naval Thunder rules. The ships are Keith's, and come from the Navwar range.

Third (and last?) addition to the Prussian air navy

The Prussian VSF army will be 'airboat heavy' (in HotT terms). This required a third airboat (not that all three will necessarily be used in any one game, but certainly in Big Battle HotT it seems that three airboats would give a reasonably different feel to the command challenges of the game.

With the bag of plastic eggs to hand, I felt that I ought to use another egg as the base shape for this third airboat too. 

Part the way through construction it looked like this:

The downward 'thrusters' may look familiar to any gamers from the 70s and 80s .. they are the halves of those fuel tanks that went on the back of the Airfix T34 tank. I never used to use them... they were for road movement rather than being carried in combat.

So ...

And this is the Prussian air navy' at this stage. There may be additional flyers or aerial heroes, maybe, but given that flyers take an additional movement PIP to move, they can easily become stranded and unable to bring their combat power top bear on the opposing army, so I need to be a little cautious.

The point remains however that I have enjoyed the creative challenge.. not only the challenge of creating a specific aesthetic, but also the creative challenge of re-using scraps and bits and pieces.

The second Prussian VSF airboat

I'm in that 'creative groove' again .. this time with the second of the planned air boats for the Hordes of the Things (HotT) Prussian VSF army, an air boat in helicopter/VTO mode.

This is the completed air boat.

Here's how it began.

Again, the air boat began with one of these plastic eggs

This air boat has a 'gondola' slung beneath. It's a surplus turret for a Russian KV1 from the spares box.

The basic gondola ...

Trial assembly for the basic air boat

The completed airboat .. view from above

The 'armament' visible here, canisters attached to the sides of the gondola, and bombs sitting on top of the gondola ready to be tipped over the side - a crude bombing mechanism

The air boats of the Prussian air service/air navy so far. I have one more planned, something quite different again, but also based around the plastic egg

As I mentioned previously, this army will have three air boats. One of the many things I like about HotT is that there are no super troops.. each troop type has its +'s and -'s, and airboats are no exception. I chose these because first of all they 'felt' like something suitable for a Prussian VSF force. Secondly, while I have several armies with an airboat, I don't have any with several airboats.

For this model, my concept was clear. I'm not too happy with my 'execution of the concept though. It looks okay from a distance, but close scrutiny shows up a number of construction flaws. The gondola idea was interesting. In hindsight, my design decision to turn the turret upside down hasn't made the best use of the detail that came ready moulded onto the turret. I wanted it to look like a mix between a gondola and a basket. It may have looked better left the 'right way up'.

My lack of precision in drilling the locating hole for the clear plastic upright on which the whole air boat sits meant that the gondola doesn't quite sit square against the main body of the airship. This meant compromises with the structural 'struts'. The overall effect is fine, but ..... 

Anyway.. recruitment is in full swing, so on to the next airboat for the ever victorious Prussian army <ahem>

The VSF Prussian army begins re-arming

I really enjoy the Victorian Science Fiction genre, and have so far completed a British and a Turkish army for the HotT (Hordes of the Things) rules set. It seemed that the Prussians were missing so... never one to step back from a challenge I bought two boxes of Airfix German WW1 figures, the nearest thing to suitable Prussian infantry for the army. A simple 'paint conversion' will suffice.

In the meantime though I had a flash of inspiration for a flyer, specifically an 'airboat' under the rules. I try to make any new army some how different from any of the others I have. This one will have quite the sky navy, with several airboats. That's always a playing challenge, given the extra PIP scores movement requires when using aerials, but I never plan armies with a view to being some sort of winning combination. It's all about the aesthetic...

So, here is the first airboat.

The army started with a plastic egg. I added some tail fins from some scrap plasticard.

From there, a bit of a dig around in the spares box (the net result over 50 years of modelling and army building) yielded some interesting pieces and shapes.

And so the finished product, the first Prussian airship, graced with some spare decals from an Airfix Fokker EIII (that became a dragon serving with the Turkish army).

Galicia 1914.. an introductory game

There is a simple joy in introducing someone to something that they love. Having talked to Murray about the Spearhead stable of rules, he expressed an interest in trying out the Great War Spearhead rules. I set up a simplified 1914 scenario with understrength Russian and Austro-Hungarian divisions advancing with poor reconnaissance, creating an unexpected 'meeting engagement'.

The Austro-Hungarian force comprised three regiments, a cavalry regiment, and a regiment of 76mm field guns.

The Russian force comprised two infantry brigades, and a regiment of 76mm field guns. To keep things simple, I'd not included any off table artillery, nor any entrenchments.

The ganme was playe dusing my 20mm armies.

The Russian advance

The Austro-Hungarian plan of advance

Both forces advanced at full speed, as they are required to do in the absence of any spotted enemy.

The Russian left managed to deploy into a wooded area before the Austrians could arrive, leaving them in the open facing a stiff fire fight. 

The forces on both sides were played as 'random morale'. All of the Austrian regiments turned out to be Regular. The Russian left flank brigade was Veteran, but the right flank turned out to be Green.

On the Russian right, their right flank brigade was kept back in reserve until it had spotted Austrian cavalry advancing. The right flank brigade was supported by the artillery brigaded on table. However the artillery spotted the cavalry dismounting as it had tried to take the Russians in the flank, and brought them under fire.

The firefight begins on the Russian left

The Russian brigade on the left flank sends five companies around to try and outflank the Austrian right

On the Russian right, the Austrians decide to assault, and advanced in to withering fire (the Austrians are at the top of the photo advancing against the Russians in the wood)

Austrian casalties are heavy

The Austrian cavalry begin to take casualties from the Russian artillery

The firefight on the Russian left intensifies

On the right, the Austrians assault the wood

One Austrian company makes it into the assault

... and wins the combat.. the Austrians are able to advance into the wood, but at a heavy price

On the Russian left, the flanking force wins the firefight against the Austrians

Meanwhile the major part of the Russian left continues a fierce duel with the Austrians

Overview of the Russian right at this stage

Given the amount of talking and 'instruction;, we ran out of time. In normal circumstances we would have had time to fight the game to a conclusion. At this stage things were very much in the balance. The centre Austrian regiment had just begun its own advance against the Russian right, bringing numbers and firepower that were sure to bring about a result.

For something so simple, this was a stirring wee game, with some interesting nuance. In the next game we'll bring in off table artillery, and counter battery fire.