Hobby Roundup

 

I’ve been pretty quiet on the blog front for the last few months but this is just because I’ve been too busy doing a whole range of stuff in the hobby. I haven’t been able to build or paint much but boy have I been busy!

Wargames Shows

I’ve taken the Imjin board to Phalanx in St Helens, the Joy of Six in Sheffield, Claymore up in Edinburgh and the Other Partizan.

At Phalanx I continued the Imjin battle from Partizan refighting the second night and daytime action with a number of different gamers. I was really pleased to receive the award for best in show. Phalanx is the first show I ever exhibited at almost 30 years ago so it was good to go back to it.

Yours truly at Phalanx

At the Joy of Six I refought the last day of the Imjin battle but ran out of time to complete the game with just a few turns remaining. The show was absolutely fantastic with some amazing tables and games put on. I got to meet Per Broden and the guys from Little Wars TV. Peter Berry as always put on a great day.

It was my first time up at Claymore in Edinburgh and was really grateful for the chance to go up after a last minute change of plans meant I had the weekend free. The guys at Southeast Scotland Wargames Club generously allowed me to attend. I was then able to restart the battle on the first night and begin another play through. 

The refight continued through the second night of the battle at the Other Partizan in early October with the players choosing to push on with the relief column. All is nicely set up for the refight of the last night at Fiasco in Leeds on Sunday 30th October.

I’m booked in for Warfare at Farnborough in mid November, may be at Recon in Pudsey in December. I’ll be at Vapnartak in February and Hammerhead in March. I will take the board on its last outing to Salute in April.

Magazine Articles

I have fulfilled a bit of a personal ambition by having a couple of articles published. The people at Wargames Illustrated we’re kind enough to publish two articles about the Imjin board with one detailing the build and the other talking about the game design and approach.

The first article in issue 416 covered the background on the build whilst the second part in issue 417 covered the scenario, rule adjustments and other elements supporting running a game on the board.

Podcast

I was very kindly invited onto the excellent Hobby Support Group podcast to talk about the Imjin board. Tom, the host, and I had quite an in depth chat about the battle and the Korean War. I’m listening to all their back catalogue of episodes and it’s now my go to wargames podcast. They also have an active Facebook presence so please add it to your playlists.

Sadly Sean Clark of the God’s Own Scale podcast has decided to call it a day due to health reasons. His podcast remains the gold standard for wargames podcasts. His friendly, relaxed interview style brought out the best in guests. Appearing on it is one of my hobby highlights. Thanks to Sean for all of his work on the podcast and supporting the hobby in general.

Arnhem Wargames weekend

I was able to travel to Arnhem to take part in a small wargames weekend run by Arnhem author Chris Brown and his Special Projects In Twenty-eight mm (SPIT for short). We were located in a hotel by the Rhine about a mile from Arnhem bridge and it took place on the anniversary weekend. During the day I was able to visit the Oosterbeek museums, the bridge, catch several re-enactments and watch the parachute drop. 

In the evenings we wargamed! Whilst most of the games were larger scale bolt action or rapid fire games I took along my Arnhem board and my 6mm figures. I played in most of the games and had a tremendous time. Big thanks to Chris and his wife Pat for organising and running the event nd to all the other attendees for being such great sports, particularly those who dropped down the scales to give my game a go!

Save Gordon

Dan Hodgson of Reveille painting studio invited David and I down to his fabulous War Room to play a first run through of his amazing Khartoum game. Using hundreds of 6mm figures, dozens of beautiful buildings, his amazing hexon tile collection and numerous ships and boats Dan has recreated the famous siege. Dave and I were his test guinea pigs and over an amazing weekend we were able to have two run throughs allowing us to swap roles on the second day. We both had an absolute blast. Dan and his partner Julia were very gracious hosts and we got to meet his new dogs into the bargain.

Dan Hodgson on the left and David Wasilewski with Dan’s fabulous table

Dan is perfecting the set up and will be running it at Hammerhead in March. I can thoroughly recommend his game!

Dedicated Hobby Space

I have been working away over the last few months creating some space that I can pretty much dedicate as a modelling and wargaming space. I have managed to convert a room into a workshop and am in the final stages of decorating it. By mid November it should be complete. 

I’ve built a number of workbenches which can double as wargames tables and intend to spend the next few months kitting it out and organising it. Then I will be free to start my next major project.

Gaming 

My main focus other the last few months has been on the Great War. David Wasilewski and I have begun work on creating a Great War version of the All Hell Let Loose rules. I have been reading voraciously, watching the excellent lectures by the Western Front Association and working through all different kinds of rules mechanisms. We feel we are making pretty good progress although these things always progress at glacial speeds. Most of the core concepts and mechanics have been created so now it’s a matter of stress testing them. I’ll post much more about this next year.

So that’s it for my update, hopefully I’ll be back to a more regular posting schedule shortly.

Keep the dice rolling!

Charles the Modeller 

6mm Parachutes

Today, the 17th September, is the 77th anniversary of the start of Operation Market Garden and the gamble to capture and hold a bridge across the Rhine at Arnhem. The US 82nd and 101st airborne divisions as well as the British 6th Airborne Division and a Polish brigade landed by parachute and glider. So with that in mind I thought I would run through how to make some parachutes for a 6mm tabletop.

Once again I have Roland Grime to thank for this. He suggested I come up with parachutes when I was planning the 2nd lift game. He and I batted some ideas about and without him this would not have been possible.

To start with I got hold of some 10mm diameter polystyrene balls. Check the product out before you buy as you want them to be smooth with no air gaps and for them not to be made from smaller polystyrene pieces glued together. The ones I got very helpfully had a seam running round them which made cutting with an exacto knife pretty straightforward, although you should anticipate some failures at this stage.

To aid the process I laid out a line of up turned drawing pins and gently pushed the hemispheres onto the spikes. I then liberally coated them with PVA. This coat once dry hardens the shell of the parachute.

The next step is to take a blunt knife or other implement and gently scribe lines down the sides of the parachute from near the middle. The PVA prevents the scribe from tearing the polystyrene and these lines simulate the panels stitched in the parachute fabric. Once you have scribed all around the parachute take a retractable ball point pen. Gently press the retracted tip into the centre of the chute and then push the pen in. This creates a hole in the centre and an outer ring. It also helps flatten the chute and makes a more realistic inflated shape.

The chute is now ready to be painted. Dependent on the drop and era the chutes will be different colours. I found a pale bone and necrotic green worked well with a soft tone ink wash. I then added a small number of white, blue, red and green chutes representing the chutes on canisters. Each colour denoted a particular type of content in the canister and this changed by drop in WW2. I found just using the appropriate ink was sufficient.

To base them for the game I used 30mm square MDF bases and clear fishing line. I drew a diagonal line across the square and drilled small holes about 1cm apart. I cut the fishing line at set lengths each about 1cm taller than the first. One end of each line was carefully inserted into the polystyrene of the underside of the chute and the other end glued into a hole in the MDF. The fishing line has a natural curve and by placing them in ascending height turned with the bend in the same direction you can achieve a curve that looks (to me anyway) like a stick of paras has just left the aircraft.

And there you are. In no time at all you can cover your table with parachutes.

Keep those dice rolling!

Charles the Modeller

The Battle for Arnhem Bridge AAR video

About a week ago I spent a brilliant two days gaming with Dan Hodgson and David Wasilewski in Dan Hodgson’s fantastic and very impressive War Room. We filmed a playtest of a scenario I had written around the Battle for Arnhem Bridge. I have edited the footage for the 8 turns comprising the events of the 17th September 1944 and posted it onto YouTube.

I was hoping to attend a 3 day gaming and historical tour at Arnhem in September but unfortunately this has been postponed due to the various COVID travel restrictions. This was one of the games I was hoping to run and so this was a dress rehearsal.

The game played well but it soon became clear I hadn’t provided the British player with sufficient troops. I have made some other minor tweaks and hopefully next year I’ll be able to take another crack at it with some Arnhem enthusiasts.

Keep the dice rolling!

Charles the Modeller

The Virtual Joy of Six

 

This Sunday was going to be the Joy of Six, the annual 6mm focussed wargames show held every year in Sheffield by Peter Berry of Baccus miniatures. Unfortunately it succumbed to COVID restrictions and like many other shows had to be cancelled. However Peter is running a virtual event this Sunday and I have been lucky enough to be offered a spot. Head over to www.baccus6mm.com for more information and joining instructions.

I will be showcasing my Arnhem and Brécourt Manor boards and might even discuss my plans for the Korean board as well. I have created a short video to help promote the event which you can find on YouTube 

I hope to chat to as many people as possible so please drop in if you are around.

Keep rolling those dice

Charles the Modeller

All Hell Let Loose Rules Playthrough

I have posted a video onto YouTube of a basic playthrough of the All Hell Let Loose rule system. This is a couple of turns of game play with explanation of some of the basic game mechanics. It isn’t a full game and I don’t cover every section of the rules but it’s intended as a taster and simple run through.

It’s my first ever video so let me know what you think in the comments.

Keep the dice rolling!

Charles the Modeller 

Arnhem Bridge - side by side B&W

Having now finished the Arnhem model I'm having a bit of a modelling hiatus whilst I figure out what I'm going to do next. However I've had a bit of a play about with some photos, and as I've seen a number of wargamers do, I've decolourised them. Next I put them alongside some of the original aerial photos and I'm pretty pleased with the results. 

Enjoy!

Charles the Modeller

Fiasco 2019 After Show Update

The All Hell Let Loose crew debuted the Arnhem participation game and model that I've been developing over the last 6 or so months at Fiasco in Leeds. It was pretty hectic from my point of view but very enjoyable and I think the game we put on was a resounding success.

The All Hell Let Loose patent game storage system

Doubles up as a seat

We arrived just before 9, quickly found our spot and were rapidly deployed so that by just after 9:30 I was able to take a quick look around. The show was well laid out and there was plenty of space between tables, games and traders. I was particularly impressed by the Brexit game which looked amazing, had a great premise and by the regular shouts coming from the table sounded like a riot of a game. There were some great sci-fi, Napoleonic and WW2 games as well. I didn't really have a chance to look at them in too much detail as I was too preoccupied with running my game. 

Leeds wargaming club have some photos here and deserve a big pat on the back for a well run show.

Storm of Steel Wargaming have a short Fiasco video on youtube in which my game features and uses an image of the model as its stock image. Thanks guys!

A somewhat grumpy and less enthusiastic write up can be found here. My model doesn't feature in the only two games "worth photographing" so I promise I'll try to "do better" next year.

The game attracted a steady stream of interest and got lots of positive comments. A number of visitors said they had been following progress online which was also very pleasing as blogs tend not to get too many comments so its hard to know whether people are really reading them. So a big thank you to anybody who stopped by and stroked my ego!

That's me on the left.

The game itself was a simulation of Graebner's charge when the recon battalion of the 9th SS attempted to charge across the bridge and brush Frost and his men aside. It did not work out well for the Germans historically - Graebner, along with a significant number of his men, was killed, almost all his vehicles were destroyed and the formation shattered. 

The German assault encounters a bit of resistance!

Players got the chance to play Frost and his men whilst I played Graebner. To add a bit more fun to the party I came up with a scoring system and we had a Top Gear style Lap Time board to record the results. Players lost points for every German unit making it through to the end of the ramp, for every British casualty and for every turn the British player needed to destroy the Germans. In addition players gained a point for every vehicle destroyed with a single shot by PIAT or ATG fire and for withstanding an assault with no casualties by giving me a stirring battle cry. It wasn't really serious but it did add a bit of a challenge to what could be a very one sided fight which used a very truncated and abridged version of the All Hell Let Loose rules.

The top scoring players were Ellie and Joshy (aged 5 and 3) ably assisted by their tactical adviser dad.

I was able to run 9 games for 13 people and was particularly pleased that 5 of the players were children - my contribution to the fight against the greying of the hobby. I was also able to entice one player who hadn't gamed in years to give it a go as well. However the real highlight for me was playing with a gentleman whose father was at Oosterbeck at the same time this battle was going on. It brought a bit of a personal connection for me to the real battle for Arnhem.

I think everybody that gave it a go enjoyed themselves and the rules seemed easy to pick up - I had several players correcting me at points! Thank you to everyone who gave the game a go.

Further thanks to Dave, Roly, Mark and Jon for assisting me with transport, the rules, the game, the figures and being great company at the weekend. Thanks chaps!

Pleasingly I was also invited to 2 more shows. I'm hoping to take the game to more over the next year. At present these are

Recon - Pudsey on 7th December

Vapnartak - York on 2nd Feb 2020

Hammerhead - Newark 14th March

Partizan - Newark 17th May

Phalanx - St Helens 20th June

Joy of Six - Sheffield July

Hope to see you at one of these!

Charles the Modeller

Arnhem at Fiasco 2019

The All Hell Let Loose team and my Arnhem model will be at Fiasco in Leeds at the Royal Armouries on the 27th October 2019. We’ll be by Sally 4th, Colonel Bills and the Bradford Battletech Battalion.

We will be running a quick participation game using 6mm figures simulating Graebner’s charge across the bridge. You can see Richard Attenborough’s version here.

Please pop over, say hello, and give the game a go.

May your dice roll well!

Charles the Modeller

Arnhem Bridge Model Build Update

Today is the 75th anniversary of the start of Operation Market Garden the ill fated attempt to capture a series of bridges in Holland and gain a crossing point on the Rhine. It all came unstuck and ultimately is regarded as a heroic failure. It was audacious and continues to inspire historians, wargamers and the wider public to this day. I have been building a model of the area around the bridge at Arnhem where John Frost and 700 British paratroopers managed to secure and hold for several days. The model isn't yet quite finished but its about 80% of the way. Below are some pictures showing progress, as well as one historic photo taken the morning of the attack.

There are more details about the build on the blog - check them out!

Those of you really interested in this can see it and play our participation game on it at Fiasco in Leeds at the Royal Armouries on the 27th October. 

Happy gaming!

Charles the Modeller