Whitley Bay Wargames Club

This club was formed a few weeks ago and is a short drive from my house, we meet on a Tuesday from 6:30-10:00pm. There are usually a few games on offer, last night I played Sails of Glory with Lawrence and Steve who guided me through a couple of games.

The other games included a Samurai skirmish game, a Zombicide game, and a Seven Seas pirate skirmish game (which reminds me I really should paint up my 28mm smugglers and HM revenue men).

The game was reasonably fast and furious, similar in some respects to Wings of War in the sense that secret cards are used for movement. There the resemblance ends as there is a lot more book keeping involved as your ship takes hits on the hull and crew. Some very nice counters placed on boards are used to track damage control, each ship can do only so many actions and these drop off as you take hits. In addition you must also keep track of the wind in the age of sail! A couple of times I found my ship had lost the wind and was more or less dead in water for a couple of card moves.

Steve kindly acted as a coach for me as I captained a french ship while Lawrence commanded the British ship. We each managed a a couple of broadsides and some minor volleys, over the course of the game I lost a mast and towards the end I received a couple of leaks. This can be fixed but with losing so many crew I could not reload fast enough, so it was either quit the fight and sail away or sink! Very enjoyable but would take a few games for me to become familiar with the rules.

I took a couple of pictures at setup but was that engrossed in the game I forgot to take any more! The models come with the game are very elegant and there was a mixture of small nippy vessels to large ships of the line capable of devastating broadsides but lacking maneuverability.

Mexican Infantry #2

These are OG British Boer war figures (CBB03 advancing) 36 figures to a unit, the big difference between these and any other battalion I've painted is that they are individually based. I felt basing them in groups of six was maybe a bit too Napoleonic in style. However, as you can see further down I've left my options open and have made six bases each accommodating six figures - basically each base is a sandwich of metal on one side (for the figures to stick on) and magnetic material the other side so it fits safely in the storage box for transportation. I got the idea from World2Dave, who is using a similar scheme but he has added sand and other basing materials to his - I've just left mine painted plain brown. They are quite drab uniforms but that is the effect I was after - they are brightened up a bit by the flash/badge on the left side of the helmet. They all have the same badge but the next unit will have a mixture.

At least this way I can use these figures for Sharp Practice if I get the chance! Just one more battalion to do then I'm done!

More Mexican command bases

Finished off the last two command bases for my Mexican army. The chap with a lance and all by himself is for a special pre-game interlude. We are going pig sticking! the rules seem fairly simple and fun from a first read. Basically each player has a figure either mounted or on foot using either a lance or pistol. Several markers denote the presence of a pig. Once the players miniature is within close range a dice is thrown to reveal a piglet, sow or a boar. Rules then govern 'combat' with either the player or the piglet winning! Points are awarded for the number of pigs killed, collecting points is not much use if your chap is wounded or gored to death by an angry piggy.

The main command base of my character General Diaz.

WSS Wargame

Today I payed my second visit to the Tyneside wargames club in Newcastle. They meet at St James United reformed church and have a variety of periods and scales on offer. I took four of my Imaginations battalions and two command bases ( a brigade of 4 x 16 man units), Ian supplied the remaining brigades and the cavalry consisting of cuirassiers and dragoons. We played "beneath the Lily Banner" rules and I just about got the jist of most of the mechanics - apart from musketry, which I'll have to spend a bit time revising to understand a bit better. I took a few pictures but make no attempt to make a Bat Rep ! Each side fielded three brigades of infantry and three of cavalry and one gun each (Me and Ian were the Austrians, Richard and Lawrence the British and Bavarians). The cannon employed 4D10's hitting on an 8 or 10 depending on the range. We lost the fight on the left flank which involved a huge cavalry battle and our attack in the centre and left flank stalled. I had a mixture of satisfaction and embarrassment as I made a few hits on on the enemy horsemen on the left flank. I really enjoyed the game and have threatened to turn up for their next game!

Mexican Horse Artillery

These are all Old Glory, the gunners and cannon are from the Zulu war range and the limbers are ACW. I had a few spare gunners left so I did a few head swaps. The ACW set had the riders and limber riders wearing a mix of floppy hats and peaky caps and did not really fit in with the rest of the unit who are wearing sun helmets. I painted them blue to represent a more elite unit i.e. horse artillery! - the foot gunners are painted in the same khaki colours as the infantry. The OG limbers had far fewer parts than the Perry Plastic ones I made earlier and weigh a lot more! There is something satisfying about the weight of  lead unit.

Well, thats the supply train and the artillery park completed. Now for two more command bases (one of which has special powers and thus remains a secret, unless the games master has spilled the beans) and two infantry regiments.

Mexican Foot Artillery

These the plastic Perry ACW cannons and limbers - three each for £20 or so. They were very easy to assemble with few parts, I didn't even feel high from the glue! I haven't used the ACW gunners the set came with as they are slightly leaner than the OG figures. They are pulled by metal Perry horses and riders. The cannons can easily be unhitched from the limbers as you can see from the photos - I'm mounting the OG gunners (from the Zulu war period) individually on pennies. There is enough room I think for the gun to move limbered with space to place the gunner figures. The riders are painted in the typical colours for my army.

Mexican Supply Wagons

The expeditionary force will need supplies of course, large quantities of burritos, nachos and tortillas washed down with copious amounts of tequila. Believe that and you'll believe anything. Of course they are Old Glory ACW wagons which fit the bill perfectly - they can't be beat on price and are reasonable sculpts.  I managed a couple of head swaps with some left over militia infantry and painted them in similar colours. I'll just have to remember to move them and pick them up by the base as they are rather heavy and likely to come off the MDF base if I hold it by the wagon! In fact I didn't have a base of the correct size so super glued three bases onto the magnetic backing.