This was a game in 1/300 scale using the Narrow Seas rule set. This was an ambush scenario with Doug commanding a convoy of German merchant ships moving through the Dogger Bank and Gordon in charge of a force of British motor torpedo boats bent on sinking the enemy vessels. The game was a close run affair, Gordon did manage to sink one of Doug's cargo carriers but whether this was sufficient for him to claim overall victory I am not entirely sure.

Ross once again ran the traditional Vietnam Christmas game complete with radio communications, sound effects and a contemporaneous musical soundtrack. The rules used were the old but good Bodycount set in which the umpire controls all the VC and NVA forces. Nick, Dave C, Andy W were commanding the US troops and it was nice to see Phil, a member of the club from the earliest days, return to take part in the fun. Nick was insistent that I record that, during the course of the game, he single-handedly won the Vietnam War. I am happy to indulge his delusions of grandeur but only because it's the festive season.

A game which obviously took place in the depths of winter (or did somebody forget to bring a mat?), this was a late seventeenth century engagement with beautifully painted 28mm figures. It was good to see the return of two long-standing members of the club who have been unable to attend for several months. Chas was the commander of a Swedish army and Stephen was leading a Jacobite force. The rules used were Beneath The Lily Banners (War of Three Kings edition) by the League of Augsburg.

A very impressive display put on by Tom who provided all the figures and terrain for this recreation of a lawless, nineteenth century frontier town in the USA. Not only that, Tom also produced his own Wild West Gunfight rules, a development of the original "Gunfighters, Gamblers and Villains of the Old West" dating from 1994 and umpired the contest. Andy R, Graham and Maurice were the leaders of rival gangs of desperadoes and the game featured gunfights, fisticuffs, robbery and heavy drinking - just like a normal club Sunday, in fact.

Ian was the moderator for a 28mm game set in the Naploeonic era using the increasingly popular Too Fat Ladies rules. Dave B and Billy were the leaders of the French troops while Pete and first-time visitor Jon were in charge of the Spanish force. It was a keenly fought contest but, eventually, Pete and Jon emerged victorious.

Another set of Lardies rules to the fore, What a Tanker is a simple but enjoyable take on armoured combat in the Second World War. Bryan, Wynn and Neil W took turns to compete in several games in the course of the afternoon with a number of different  tanks, tank destroyers and self-propelled guns taking part. Nice to see Wynn actually playing a game for once!

Fought using Osprey's colonial rules, this battle was set in 19th Century North Africa and featured Maurice as the French Foreign Legion commander defending against marauding Arab forces led by Clive and Billy. The Legion had the misfortune to have Private Widdle on secondment from the 3rd Foot and Mouth (currently stationed in the Khyber Pass) and he had not only carelessly left the gate of the fort unlocked, he also made the schoolboy error of loading the Maxim with gramophone records instead of bullets. Needless to say, things did not go well for the Legionnaires.

A 28mm game set in the period of the German invasion of the Netherlands, this was an attack/defend scenario in which Bill commanded the Wehrmacht and Pete was in charge of the plucky Dutch defenders. Despite spirited resistance from the Dutch troops the Germans were ultimately victorious.

Bryan was the scenario designer and umpire for this 10mm game (he also supplied all the figures and scenery) in which Doug and Dewi were the generals of a Roman army and Terry and Neil W led the Seleucids. The battle was an imaginary encounter set sometime in the second century BCE. The Seleucids got off to a poor start, committing a couple of blunders and failing to exercise proper command and control of their elephants and cavalry. However, in combat the sides were fairly evenly matched. By the time night fell there was no decisive result though the Romans did have a slight advantage and more units still on the table.

Full marks to Tom for moderating a game in which none of the other participants had played Saga before. Andy W and Dan were in charge of a mixed group of Welsh and Viking warriors and Nick and Andy R commanded their Anglo-Saxon opponents. The game was played in 28mm scale and I'm afraid that I did not make a note of the final outcome - in view of the fact that all the players were novices, this is perhaps just as well.

Another game in which the two players involved had never previously used the rules, this 28mm Napoleonic skirmish was fought between Andy J and Dave B. The uniforms of the figures on both sides looked suspiciously similar but Andy assured me this was because the battle was taking place during the Polish Civil War circa 1811. Because this was very much a "suck it and see" exercise it would be unfair to record the result. The Sharp Practice rules seem to be growing in popularity with club members and another game has already been organised for the December meeting.

The second of the WWII battles taking place on this Sunday was an encounter located in Normandy in which a German platoon commanded by James attacked a British force commanded by Ian. The German infantrymen were accompanied by a Panzer IV but when the tank fell victim to a PIAT the assault lost momentum and the British were able to beat off the attack. The game was played in 28mm scale and it was nice to see James' figures and vehicle make their first appearance at the club.

Osprey rules to the fore again as Gordon and Harry played a game of Dux Bellorum in 28mm. Gordon led a group of late Romans against Harry's band of Anglo-Saxons. This was a close and hard fought battle and although both sides took a bashing it looks as though Harry was able to secure a technical victory at the death.

Nick described this as the first "proper" play test of the latest set of Twilight rules as Gordon, in charge of the Anglo-Spanish forces fought Andy W, the French general in a re-fight of the Battle of Talavera, the Peninsular War engagement for which Sir Arthur Wellesley was awarded his viscountcy. The battle was fought with 6mm figures and was a tense and close run affair. The umpire's view was that there is more work to do on the rules before they are completely refined.

Harry and Andy R fought a couple of sea battles using Osprey's "Poseidon's Warriors" Classical naval warfare rules. Generic Greek, Persian and Roman fleets featured in the engagements, represented by small but quite finely detailed models. Andy won the firat game, I'm not sure if Harry got his revenge in the second.

Going into this game the German commanders (Andy S and Bryan) knew that a victory would result in an overall win in the campaign so Neil and Doug as their Soviet counterparts were really up against it.  Ian, as usual, was umpire and Bill was an interested observer and occasional dice thrower. Perhaps out of desperation the Russians forces defended stubbornly and for a brief period held the upper hand. However, once again the superior firepower of the Panzer Grenadiers prevailed and the result was a decisive German victory. Many thanks to Ian for organising and moderating an excellent series of games.

Warbands clashed in 28mm scale as Pete and Tom fought each other to a bloody standstill in a game using the  Saga medieval skirmish rules. Pete commanded an Anglo-Saxon force and Tom was in charge of a group of Vikings, each player bringing figures from his own collection to the table.

This was a game in 15mm  using the Sword and Spear rules now published by Great Escape Games. Dan provided all the figures and also performed the dual roles of instructor and moderator. The scenario was a recreation of the Wars of the Roses battle that took place in Northumberland on 25th April. Vlad and first -time attendee Pete (welcome Pete!) were the Yorkist commanders while Dewi and Billy were the Lancastrian generals. The original encounter was a complete victory for the House of York but I am convinced that the Army of the Red Rose did rather better this time.

Graham umpired a Combat HQ game in 20mm, using his own variant of the rules. He also devised the scenario which, taking place towards the end of 1944, involved a British reconnaissance force operating at the northern extremity of the forest encountering a German probe form the opposite direction. Dave C led the British and Gary commanded the Germans. The forces were exactly balanced and the result was a very even contest.

Paul and Vlad played a futuristic Sci-Fi game in 15mm using Ground Zero Games Stargrunt rules which first appeared in the 1990's. Paul was the leader of the New Anglian Confederation, Vlad commanded the New Swabian League and the action took place on an Earth-like planet around the year 2170. This was a re-acquaintance of the rules for Vlad and an introduction for Paul so the game was very much a "trial and error" scenario with the end result irrelevant. Both players commented on the lethal capability of the armoured vehicles on the table, virtually all of which were destroyed in the opening moves.

A very nice looking game in 28mm (all figures and terrain supplied by Clive) recreating the siege of the European Legations in Beijing during this famous uprising. Maurice and James were in charge of the European defenders, Billy and Clive commanded the Boxers and  the rules used were Triumph and Tragedy. The objective of the rebels was to capture the compound and kill all the Christians therein. The Boxers were able to force their way through the outer walls though their generous offer of terms (surrender and die by beheading or fight on and suffer death by torture) was politely declined by the resolute defenders. I believe the Boxers triumphed in the end and I trust that Maurice and James escaped with their heads firmly attached to their shoulders.

This battle, fought with 15mm figures, was an imaginary encounter taking place in one of the Punic Wars, Dan leading the Roman troops and Andy W playing the role of the Carthaginian general. The game was played using the fast play version of the well established Impetus ancient rules. The fast play tag was certainly correct as the brothers-in-arms were able to complete two games in the course of the afternoon. The first game was a draw and raised a few issues with the rules, chiefly concerning the mass slaughter that took place on both sides.  I don't know if things became clearer on the second game, nor what the outcome was so if someone wants to provide an update.......

A 6mm scenario which featured a British counter-attack against German forces following the invasion of France and the Low Countries in May 1940. Andy R and Dave were the German commanders, Graham and Bill led the British assault. Tom stood on the sidelines and provided advice and recommendations - whether welcome or unwelcome I was unable to ascertain. The rules used were Combat HQ by Jim Bambra which have proved very popular at the club over the last few months. The British objective was to control a key highway and although it proved that they would not have enough time to achieve this, the result was a moral victory for the Brits.

This was the very first play-test at the club of the draft Twilight rules created by Nick and Gordon to cover warfare in the Napoleonic period. In addition to the aforementioned gentlemen, Dave B and Andy J were also on hand to try out the rules and give comments and criticisms. A number of different 6mm armies were present on the field and although there was no particular objective or scenario in play, no doubt many questions were raised and and a few lessons learned that will assist in the future development of the rules. 

At last the Germans had the chance to attack in the first game of the "Green" phase of Ian's Eastern Front campaign. Bryan and Andy S commanded two fresh platoons of Panzer Grenadiers plus supports and were matched against two Soviet platoons (command shared by Doug, Terry and Neil W) already weakened by previous reverses. Hit early in the contest by officer fatalities, the Russian forces were nevertheless holding their own until the superior firepower of the German troops began to tell and the Soviets were forced off the table with three times the losses of their opponents. With at least two further scenarios to play it looks like the Germans have a crushing advantage unless Stalin himself can inspire his troops to exceptional efforts in the next game.

This was the final scenario in the "Orange" phase of Ian's WWII Eastern Front campaign. Doug was partnering Neil W on the Soviet side for the first time while Andy S and Bryan were, as usual, commanding the German forces.  The Russian attack achieved some success, completely destroying one enemy squad and capturing a jump-off point but, after a T34 went up in flames and force morale dropped to a dangerous level, the assault was again called off. The Wehrmacht has definitely had the better of the first half of the campaign. It will be interesting to see how they fare in the next phase when they go on the offensive.

Another ancient board game made its debut at the club this Sunday, Waddington's version of the famous engagement of the Great Sioux War, first published in the early 1960's. Charles and Billy took it in turns to take on the roles of General Custer and Sitting Bull and they managed to complete three games before calling it a day. I am reliably informed that Charles won all of them.

Ross, Dowie, Mauice and Pete took part in a madcap game set in 19th century Africa using Osprey's Steampunk skirmish rules. From what I could make out, the scenario involved dastardly Germans, gallant Brits, the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (characters from Victorian popular fiction) and an attempt to rescue Doctor Livingstone from a cave. At some point a variety of dinosaurs made their appearance on the table and the amateur palaeontologists can have fun in identifying the species from the pictures in the Gallery. I have no idea of the result (if indeed there was one).

This battle was a follow on from the scenario played last month using the "Force on Force" rule set. Tom was running the show and also commanding the Afghan insurgents. This time it was James, Dan and Dave B who were in charge of the British force whose task was to extract a "person of interest" from the compound at the far end of the table. Once again, the British found it very difficult to make progress against resilient and skilful opponents, suffering heavy casualties as they fought their way to the objective.

Andy W and Andy R contested an imaginary Seven Years War encounter using the still to be published "Soldier Kings" rules by Nick Dorrell. The order of battle for both armies was loosely based on the Battle of Hochkirch (which was fought at the club in July - see below) but the topography was completely different. Andy W, the Austrian general, was able to drive the Prussian cavalry off the field and Andy R was forced to concede defeat.

Billy's Allied invaders took on Graham's German defenders in a replay of the game fought at the Barrage Wargames show on the previous Sunday. The rules used were a simplified version of Combat HQ and the figure scale was 20mm. The Allied forces bravely forced their way up the beach and scored several successes against the German emplacements despite heavy losses. Ultimately, Billy managed to breach the minefield and take the main bunker to win the day. He was the first player of the scenario to achieve this!

This was the first of two 15mm Seven Years War re-enactments using Nick's latest set of Twilight rules. The Battle of Zorndorf was fought on 25th August 1758 between Russian and Prussian forces. Gordon and Dan were the men in charge of the respective armies. After a keenly fought contest, the game ended with the Prussians victorious after the Russians failed a string of command and army morale tests. 

The second Seven Years war engagement  using Twilight rules was a re-fight of the Battle of Hochkirch where a large Austrian army surprised Frederick the Great's Prussians on 14th October 1758. Vlad and Andy W were the protagonists in this game and Chas was also around for part of the time. The heavily outnumbered Prussians managed to hang on against the odds so although the game was a technical draw, "Old Fritz" could claim the moral victory.

Tom, Sue, Matt and Luke were the individual players in this good looking futuristic skirmish game  in 28mm. Each player's objective was to search rooms, find loot and then escape without being captured  or killed. The eventual winner would be the survivor with most loot.

Maurice (the Abyssinian commander) and James (the Italian general) took part in an imaginary encounter set during the Italian invasion of Abyssinia. Clive supplied the 10mm figures and vehicles and he umpired a game using "Black Powder" rules with his own modifications to cover the use of modern technological developments. The game was a win for the Abyssinians who held all of the objectives at the end of the game despite horrific losses on both sides.

Yet another Seven Years War game, this time using Sam Mustafa's "Maurice" rules. Ian and Bryan commanded the 10mm Prussian army while Neil W and first-time attendee Peter were in charge of the Austrians. The game was an attack/defend scenario with the Prussians holding a strong position. However, they had failed to reckon with Peter's awesome dice throwing (beginner's luck?) and the Austrians quickly smashed their way through the Prussian centre. A decisive victory for the Austrians. Pete has promised to leave his dice at home next time.

Nick moderated a 15mm game using his own Twilight rules, loosely based on the Battle of Minden. Andy W and Dave B were commanding a French army which took on a combined British, Hanoverian and Brunswicker force led by Dowie and Ross. After a long and epic tussle the "British" side emerged victorious.

This was a 28mm WWII attack/defend skirmish with James in charge of a German platoon and Dave commanding a similarly sized Soviet force. The appearance of a Tiger tank early in the game proved decisive as the Russian infantry had no effective way of dealing with it and ultimately the Red Army were obliged to quit the field.

Tom and Paul fought a Russians vs Afghans engagement in 15mm using Tom's own Principles of War rules. The battle was an imaginary scenario set in 1885 and although the Afghan forces under Paul's command gave a good account of themselves, they were eventually defeated by Tom's superior Russian troops.

Matt and his guest Andy took to the skies over France to play the Ares Games aerial combat system for First World War war planes. I'm not sure how many dogfights took place but the overall result was an honourable draw. 

A very impressive looking recreation of the famous battle in 12mm scale, figures and scenery all provided by Andy J. Sam Mustafa's Blucher rules were used and each base represented a division. Billy and Dan took charge of the French army while Chas and Andy himself were the Allied commanders. There was not enough time to reach a result but by nightfall the French were in trouble, with the Allied left wing following up after fending off D'Erlon and meeting up with  the advancing Prussians to mangle the French right and rear. History repeating itself in stunning miniature format!

The latest game in Ian's eastern front campaign saw the Soviet troops led by Terry and Neil W moving into a built up area in an attempt to force the German defenders, commanded by Andy S and Bryan, to withdraw from the field. Things went badly for the Russians right from the start and the loss of a tank, together with severe infantry casualties forced them off the table due to a collapse of force morale. Still everything to play for going into round four.

This was the second battle in Ian's WWII 28mm eastern front scenario. After their first round victory the Germans, (Andy S and Bryan), were now fighting a delaying action against the Soviets (Terry and Neil W). A short but brutal tank battle left the Russian forces with the advantage in armour and, after suffering infantry losses, the Germans voluntarily withdrew from the field. All square going into round three

A 6mm battle set in the Sudan circa 1885 using the venerable "Science versus Pluck" rules.  Clive, Maurice, Dave C, Vlad and Andy J took on the roles of British officers of varying ranks in charge of a column marching towards the fortified village of Firket. Ross was in charge of the marauding Fuzzy-Wuzzies. The Imperial forces managed to fend off the Mahdist attack and inflicted many casualties on the enemy but reports are unclear as to the ultimate fate of the column. 

Fought with 28mm figures, this was a continuation of the Crusades campaign using the Osprey skirmish rules. In this round, Harry's Outlaw Kings were up against Allah's Eagles led by Andy R. After a closely fought encounter Andy's religiously inspired forces emerged victorious.

Graham was the umpire in this 20mm tussle, for which he also devised the scenario. James commanded the German Fallschirmjaeger while Bill was in charge of the U.S. infantry in an attack/defend engagement. The German forces were unable to match the overwhelming firepower of their opponents and, despite James' valiant efforts, Bill was declared the victor.

An imaginary 15mm encounter set around 225BCE in which Republican Romans (Dan) and Spaniard forces (Billy) fought Carthaginians (Nick) and Numidians (Andy W). This scenario was effectively two separate battles, Nick emerging victorious against Dan and Billy having the edge over Andy.

This game was a recreation of a famous incident in First World War Naval history , the journey of the German battlecruiser Goeben from Algeria to Turkey in August 1914. Doug commanded the German ships and Gordon, Dowie, Tom and Paul were in charge of various pursuing elements of the Royal Navy. The rules used were Fear God and Dread Nought, the scale 1:2400 and the result was unrecorded.

A Seven Years War historical reconstruction in 15mm, using the brand new "Twilight of the Soldier Kings" rules developed by Nick Dorrell. Nick himself umpired the game with Andy W and Dave commanding the Austrian forces and Gordon in charge of the Prussians. This was a long and keenly fought contest which saw Frederick the Great emerge victorious.

A nice late 19th Century South African game in which Maurice, playing the role of the British general and Billy, the Zulu chieftain, recreated a slice of our glorious imperial past in 20mm. The rules used were Black Powder and Clive provided both the figures and impartial judgement. The Zulus threatened to roll up the enemy's left flank but after the British managed to form square, further attacks faltered. An honourable draw.

Neil J, commanding the Carthaginian army and Richard, the Seleucid general, played an attractive little game in 15mm, using the "Art de la Guerre" rules. Carthage were the victors on this occasion.

The first of the WW2 North West European Chain of Command games played today was this 15mm affair featuring US airborne troops (Dan and Dave) against a German battle group (Bill and James). Vlad was the moderator for this engagement. The Allies won the game, knocking out one of the German platoons, persuading the surviving Axis forces that discretion was the better part of valour.

The second Chain of Command scenario was a 28mm Normandy battle in which a German force commanded by Terry and Graham attempted to delay the advance of attacking British troops led by Ian and Andy S. The British failed in their objective to capture a jump off point but this was chiefly because they ran out of time. Neil W was the umpire for this one.

Finally, Andy R and Matt played a 6mm WW2 Combat HQ game, again located in Normandy, in which Andy led the Allies and Matt played the part of the German general. The British pressed home a very determined attack but the German force was able to hold out. Figures, scenery and moderation were provided by Tom.