So in my last post I said my next blogpost would be on building the citadel tower. Well I am so far behind in posting updates on my blog that not only have I finished Scarif, I’ve finished the model project after Scarif. I’ve therefore decided to shake things up a bit. I’ll now post pictures of the finished model first and then follow it up with posts on how I built individual elements of it. Therefore here are the pictures of the fully finished model. Hopefully shortly, I’ll post on how I made the tower.
That’s me on the left umpiring with two wonderful chaps who had so enjoyed my Imjin game they wanted to play Scarif too.
One of the earliest shots of the finished board in my work room
Test rig of the star destroyers colliding
Star destroyers colliding above the shield gate
Brutal game in progress shot
Full tower and base
Plenty to think about in this game!
AT-ACT’s gang up on some unfortunate rebels!
All set up and ready to play!
I was very lucky and delighted to win two prizes at The Other Partizan 2023. I was awarded Best Participation game and Best Small game. Here I am receiving one of the awards from Henry Hyde.
So that will do for now. I still envisage putting up posts on the tower, the aerial and space battles, the miniatures and the construction of the game itself. Those who can’t wait for my snail like posting pace may be interested to listen to my interviews on the excellent Hobby Support Group podcast where, over two episodes, I talk about the build and the battle.
Partizan at the Newark Showground was the first wargame show I was able to take my River Imjin board to. It’s a show I am pretty familiar with as it’s the same location for Hammerhead and the Other Partizan. The building used is a large and airy hall with plenty of natural and artificial light. It’s very professionally run by the Newark Irregulars who do an outstanding job. It’s also just over two hours drive for me so it was up very early to be there to set up.
I brought my two boys with me partly for company, partly to get them into the hobby and partly to act as assistants with the game. A quick stop at MacDonalds half a mile from the show set us up for the day. The kids were brilliant in helping carry all the gear and boards into the show and helping me set it all up. About 9:30 I was all set up and took the opportunity to wander the hall to look at all the other games and traders as I don’t usually have any time when running a game.
There were some absolutely fantastic games at the show. In particular I loved the small scale Medway Anglo-Dutch naval board for a superb recreation of the Dutch raid. The Cold War Commanders had a fabulous river crossing game allowing players to attempt a 1985 river crossing in a Cold War gone hot game. It was another 6mm game and had some amazing scenery including a very long bridge.
I was able to say hi to some people and met Leon from Adler for the first time. I’ve been buying his figures for 30 years so it was something of a personal pilgrimage.
At 10am the doors opened and people began flooding in. Before long I was chatting to a man whose father had fought at Imjin. It was emotional for us both.
It was not long before I persuaded somebody to give the game a go and the dice were rolling as British artillery took an appalling toll on Chinese troops crossing the Imjin. There then followed more and more players, some staying for a few turns, others for several hours as the Chinese surged forward. The game stayed on track and progressed very quickly. I had hoped to get through 12 turns - essentially 24 hours of game time but we were able to complete 19 turns despite no-one ever having played the rules before. I had a great time and I think all my players did too.
I was alert enough to spot Mel Bose, the Terrain Tutor, as he explored the show and grabbed the chance to say hello and get a photo! He made some very kind comments about my board on his fantastic Partizan show YouTube video.
To cap and outstanding day I was absolutely delighted to be given the award for best participation game by the judges including the editor of Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy. It’s going to take pride of place on my modelling desk and will be a reminder of a fantastic day at Partizan.
I will be taking the game to the following shows over the next year or so. Please pop over and say hello and maybe give the game a go.
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.
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
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.
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.
Last weekend I took my eldest son, James 10, with me to the Joy of Six wargames show in Sheffield. The show is put on, and organised, by Peter Berry and Baccus miniatures. Its all about 6mm wargaming and is growing and getting more brilliant every year. Its been held annually for the last 5 or so years at Sheffield Hallam university and this was our second visit. This is very much a personal post about me and my son gaming together.
I live over on the other side of the Pennines about 90 minutes drive away so after we'd dropped the Mrs and number 2 son off at the Meadowhall we were soon at the show. A £3 entry fee and a strip of raffle tickets later and we were in just after 10:30.
The show was bigger this year and there were a number of fantastic demonstration and participation tables set up just as we came in. We had a very quick look around. Hexon seems to be in this year. I have a gross metric ton of Hexon sat around so it was great to see all the different uses it was put to.
The first game James got interested in was a refight of the battle of the Little Big Horn being put on by Wargames Collection Calculator. We got chatting to several of the ladies there who helped explain the background and before long James was taking on the role of Custer. The game was brilliantly staged and set up across 4 battle boards. Other players gamed as Reno and Benteen, whilst the 4th board represented the Sioux village.
Figures are by Baccus with some of the Indians by Irregular. Hexon boards.
James was outnumbered by the Sioux who tried to run him down. However with great determination and a fair bit of luck (he managed to go first quite a lot) Custer was soon threatening to reach the Sioux village. The Sioux caught him up and launched several attacks attempting to overlap his flanks. But the US cavalry proved pretty resilient and either pushed the Sioux back or routed them. Heedless of the enemy behind him James pushed Custer's men forward and soon they were crossing the stream into the Sioux village.
The game was quick and easy to play and is available free at Collection Calculator here
A desperate battle began with Indian braves attacking the US soldiers in the river. Some were pushed back but Custer quickly reinforced the position. Meanwhile on another board Reno had defeated the Sioux and joined Custer in the village! Sitting Bull found his position flanked and with great elan James commanding Reno defeated Sitting Bull and drove him from the table. The battle was won!
James was roundly congratulated by his very gracious opponents and Peter Riley the game designer who was most impressed, particularly as the game was designed to be next to impossible for the US cavalry to win. James was over the moon and just as delighted to get a medal.
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We checked out another couple of games, including a D-Day game centring on the defence of Pegasus bridge and then had lunch.
After lunch we checked out the other hall and saw a number of impressive games including a fantastic battle of Poltava. We decided though to have a go at chariot racing which turned out to be tremendous fun as we crashed and banged along the track avoiding lions, Cleopatra's asp and marching legions.
Then came the game I'd been looking forward to for weeks, Daniel Hodgson and Reveille's Battle of Hoth. This is a beautiful game run by two great guys who looked after my son and got him really involved in the defence of Echo base.
The miniatures are a mix of Micro machines and Airfix models from the Echo Base and Battle of Hoth dioramas. I have 3 sets of the Hoth and 1 of Echo base as well as all the hexon tiles and trenches. I've been waiting for the kids to get a bit older and for them to get into wargaming before I put it all together and paint it with them. There was therefore a lot riding on this game!
James really enjoyed the game and helped successfully defend Echo base. He was delighted. We thanked Daniel and moved on. After a very quick walk around, buying more buildings from brigade models all that remained was to attend the raffle.
There were a great selection of prizes on offer and enormous generosity from many of the gamers present two of whom donated winning tickets to James enabling him to scoop a couple of pictures to hang on his wall. Thank you to Peter, the traders and some marvellous gamers for making his and my day very special. I think there is another wargamer in the family now!
