From the Workbench..and my Workbench

Those rocky terrain by Gale Force 9 "Battlefield in a Box" I gave some desert color dry-brushing and some flocking so I can now use them with my desert mat. I plan to use the large one shown for my game at Strategicon, Looking Good! And now my workbench....

My workbench is a mess. I have too many half-completed projects sitting around it that are driving me batty. So I am going to get them done & out of the way. Those LOTR Wargs are have painted and need to be finished and are underway. One picture shows the "Redneck Militia" that are 2 steps away from done, and those Basti (Wargods) that have been sitting around for a least a year now. And 2 Japanese pillboxes are waiting to be finished...and the list goes on. Not really that bad. Also show are 3 British Colonial figures that I can get done really quick. The figures on Popsicle sticks are 15mm ACW rebs, 15mm Italians for FoW and some 15mm Ansar Camel Cavalry.

TTFN

Last Playtest of "The Zareba"

The 10th Hussars exit the zareba

The last playtest before the Con in February of the scenario, "The Zareba" took place at Aero Hobbies on Sunday, Jan. 24th. I am using "The Sword and the Flame" for rules. This is a night battle, with normal shooting at 8" or under. Over 8" all targets (except the torch bearers) are Class IV targets (worst possible chance to hit). This time the Hussar's started in the zareba and exited without mishap, as the unit activations went for the British, so they closed the zareba behind them (no Mahdist units generated near the opening.)

Band of Fuzzy Wuzzy's w/torches move toward the zareba to set it on fire

The Mahdists forces did try to move in to set fire to the zareba without being cut down by either the British or Egyptian forces inside. As rough terrain doesn't slow down the Fuzzy Wuzzy or Ansars, it makes it easy to move out of it toward a objective.

Ansar swordsmen hide in the scrub

Another Fuzzy Wuzzy band moves in w/torches

A band of riflemen w/ a mounted Emir in rocky terrain

This band stayed inside the rocky terrain most of the game, to avoid being targeted by the British and shot at them and shot back by them outside 8" range. As they were the only Madhist rifle armed, this made sense.

"CHARGE!!" Hussars attack a Fuzzy Wuzzy spear band

The Hussars charged a Fuzzy Wuzzy spear band, but were themselves charged by a Ansar swordsman band, which spelled their end.

Reaching the zareba with torches, soon it will be on fire

Once on fire, the zareba burns in both direction d6"/turn. Due to the strength of the flames, all figures must move 3" away. The smoke from the flames also makes it impossible to shot through in that direction (night + smoke makes for poor shooting).

A band of Ansar swordsmen has charged into the Hussars after they routed the FW band

VICTORY!! The Ansar win!

The Hussars took some losses in their melee with the spear band and had to leave their wounded as the Ansar swords charged them. The lost that melee (really bad rolling by the British player) and in the end the last 4 figures routed. However, there were not some many of them left to enjoy that victory.

The zareba burns!

As the zareba burned, the Egyptian infantry re-formed to await the fire burning out and give the Fuzzy Wuzzy's a lead present when they charge in.

Ansar swordsmen attack through the zareba, engaging the British

This was one of the two pivotal close combats that decided the game. The Ansar moved though the zareba (getting shot up) to engage the British Infantry. They lost this close combat and routed back out of the zareba.

After the zareba burned away, the FW's charged the Egyptians

This was the other pivotal fight. If either the Fuzzy's or the Ansar won, it could make life difficult for the Anglo-Egyptian forces inside the zareba.

The Egyptians win the melee & rout the FW band

Dreams of a Mahdist victory over the infidel were not to be. The British had won their close combat and now the Egyptian had won theirs, routing the remains of the enemy. The remains of the Mahdists forces on the board were not enough to challenge the British & Egyptians. One band had already routed off the board, two band were currently running off and had yet to rally (and were either near or under half strength). The Mahdists do get some "bragging rights" for defeating the Hussars back at camp. So at Turn 5 (game would be over at the end of Turn 9) the Mahdists melted away into the night to plan their next attack....

I am working on my next game, after Orccon in February for the March HMGS game day at Aero Hobbies. I will miss it in February as it is happening on my birthday. More on that as it progresses.

TTFN

New Year, New Stuff & The Zareba Round 2

New Stuff!

I got a couple of the "Battlefield in a Box" by Gale Force 9. One was the small rocky hills and 2 of the Large rocky hills. As the rocks come unflocked, I can make them up for use on my desert map. A little dry-brushing here and there, maybe some sand, should look fine.

The Zareba, Round 2

On Sunday, January 10, Harold and I had a "Sword & the Flame" game at my place, playing "The Zareba" again, so as to get it together for the gaming convenation next month. This time it wasn't so close as the game at Aero. In a 3 hour game, Harold, as the British drove off 2 Mahdist bands out of 5 off the board.

In this photo, 2 bands of Fuzzy Wuzzys move toward the zareba and the Egyptians defending it.

The British Cavalry, the 10th Hussars, did much more this game than last. As a bands of FW's appeared in front of the Hussars, also with the Emir who was in overall command. After a couple of turns, a charge by the cav and the dust settled, that band lost the melee and beening so close to the edge of the board routed off, taking the Emir with them! This put me, the Dervish player, ina bad spot as I had to make a "Critical Morale" roll ever turn just to move anyone. I missed the first roll, made the roll the next turn but it gave Harold a full turn to do whatever he wished and I could nothing about it. The Hussars were then charged by another band of Fuzzy's, who also lost the melee, and again, being so close to the edge of the board, routed off.

The last 2 Fuzzy Wuzzys melee the Hussars...Good Luck!

I was a good game and many possible problems were addressed, hopefully we will have one more game before the con. I also addressed the problem of marking the figures, so people know what figure belong to which unit/band/platoon. Leader & key infantry figures will be re-based on 25mm rounds, mounted Leaders on "pill" shaped bases (like for 40K bikes for Space Marines/Orks) as 30 or 40mm rounds would be, IMHO, too big. I am ordering more bases from Litko, and have to see how many more FW riflemen I need to make a unit. Also how many Leader figures I need for each Dervish band, if I don't have them now.

TTFN

The Zareba, a Grand Game!

Sorry about the delay, I have been relaxing after Historical Miniatures Gaming Day at Aero Hobbies, which happened on Sunday, December 13th. I was on a painting jag to get everything ready for The Sword and The Flame game I was going to run, getting those British cavalry done in time. They were, finished on Saturday, the day before. And as you can see above, my Anglo-Egyptian forces looked grand in the their zareba.




And here are those Hussars I was working so hard on, charging into some Fuzzy Wuzzys during the game. They had some problems getting to grips with the Madhists that game! If it wasn't the Fuzzy Wuzzy blowing there "Stand & Fight" rolls, I blew my "Charge Completion" roll (rolled a "6" on a d6 and failed..) once. But it was a great game, with just me & Harold playing. I had hoped for more people, but for a 1st time it was a good turnout never the less, with Fields of Glory in 10mm), Flames of War (15mm), ACW (using Johnny Reb II in 15mm) and myself doing TS&TF in 28mm.

That fellow seems to be saying "Follow me and charge the Egyptians, it will be fun!" The scenario was taken from The Sword and The Flame Scenario Portfolio 2000, the one called "The Zareba". It is taken from the 1939 version of "The Four Feathers" and is the nigh time attack on the British zareba. Things get to close quarters quickly as the visibility is reduce to 8" (nighttime, no moon) and regular shooting scores are also only used up to 8". Over 8" everything is a Class IV target, the worst possible score to hit. worked out well and I am going to run this scenario at the February Con. I hope to play it again once or twice more to fine tune it, as per Harold's suggestion during the after game "How-did-it-go?" session. The game was to be for 9 turns, then the sun comes up and it's over. The Mahists didn't totally destroy the AE forces, but gave them a good thrashing, killing or wounding most of the British platoon, the rest fleeing, and reducing the cavalry to 6 figure out of 12. The Egyptians were not badly hurt (still well over half strength) and the Mahdists has lost 2 bands out of 5 (4 spear/sword armed & one rifle armed). One of the remaing FW bands was pretty chewed up (at 1/2) and the riflemen had just been charged in the rear but the remaining cavalry but still were on the table.

For more photos go to:

http://s207.photobucket.com/albums/bb44/juggernought57/The%20Zareba%20HMGD%2012-13-09

Lots to see there. Even tho it is Christmas Time, still have to get back to the little metal guys, my Sikhs need finishing, etc.

TTFN

Point of Focus...

28th Bengal at Suakin 1885

POINT OF FOCUS...

Which is what is most important to me in my gaming right now. Which is Colonial gaming. Not that I don't like FoW, but after playing some Colonial stuff, I prefer it. Not sure why, but there it is. My primary gaming focus is going to be Colonial gaming, the Sudan and the North-Western Frontier. Maybe Boers later....

I got my order from The War Store, so now I have all the stuff I need to up-date my MW Italians with the MG's & 47mm ATG's now needed to add to my infantry platoons. I also got more Perry Miniatures - Mounted British Command, more Beja riflemen, British infantry and some Gordon Highlanders to buff up my British. As one of my current projects, the unit of Sikh's, is almost done, then I will start on my Italians. I need to finish the extra artillery staffs (need my 15mm maps) and then it's 47mm's & MG's galore!!!

I have started the horse for the unit of Hussar.

TTFF

You say Kharkee...I say Khaki...

And what a paint to try to get right! As shown in the above color plate and photo of the reenacter. And even his blouse and pants are 2 different colors. And of course the dyes faded under the effects of weather, washing, etc.

This photo is from the 1939 "The Four Feathers" and they are wearing the later Khaki uniform in the 1890's and the color is a little bit different again. After some research I found that the British had problems with dyes not being very color-fast (still using natural dye sources) and batches of dyed item were uneven in color, some darker and some lighter in color.

This photo shows some figures I have been working on with different colors that have been put forth as use able for the khaki color of the period. The figure on the left has Vallejo Iraqui Sand 819 <124> on the pants and lower blouse area. The middle figure is Vallejo Green Ochre 914 <119> and the right figure (the officer) is totally in Khaki Grey 880 <115>.

I started with the VJ Khaki Grey but don't like the color and it doesn't appear to match what was worn. So using the power of the Internet I looked up what other people have used, which appears to vary from a "Buff" color to Games Workshop Commando Khaki. To me, the VJ Green Ochre appears to be the closest to the Khaki Drill used on the Sikh uniforms I am trying to paint. It also appears that the British uniforms wear a lighter color that the uniforms worn by the Indian units (maybe they had better dyes in India..) and I have read some British uniforms were dyed in the field. Plus Officers often paid for their uniforms which were of better cloth and dyes.

So aside from mixing my own color, I'll use VJ Green Ochre. Unlike Napoleonic, there are not real "Uniform Police" on this. And the later Khaki color used in World War 1, is very different. I need to get these figures finished ASAP and the 10th Hussars underway.


TTFN

DONE!!

The rifle armed Ansar are done! 30 riflemen + 1 Command figure. I have 30 Ansar Spearmen left to do and then I am out of foot figures (I believe). I also have a a unit of Ansar camel cavalry to do, and I should do them next.

The above photo is of the 10th Hussars, and those I am working on now. Currently I am working on a unit of Sikh's but it has come to a stop temporarily as I try to figure out a khaki color I like. There are no hard & fast rule on the color. The figures in the photo has a darker khaki than some figures I have seen painted...





The photo of the Indian service dress appears a little greener than the 19th Hussars. Other figures I have seen are painted a "Buff" color, which might work for a British uniform as the dye was not as fast and batches varied. Anyway, it's off to Brookhurst to check on Tamiya's Khaki (XF49), which I might use.


I am running a TS&TF game on Adam's "Historical Gaming Day" on Sunday, December 13th at Aero Hobbies and using "The Zariba" scenario from the scenario package for TS&TF 20th Anniversary edition. I have everything right now, with the exception of I might need more stuff for the zariba. I'll use either moss or make bush stands out of that door mat I have...

I may run this one as well at the Con in February.


TTFN