Battle of Villers Bocage

Hello There! At last the planets aligned, the blood sacrifice behaved in the correct way and I was able to get to the club at last!

Tonight the New Buckenham Historical Wargamers played the above battle using 20mm figures and some quick play Charles Grant WW II rules.

This enormous table included the village of Villers Bocage and the approach road were the attack by Wittmann commenced. The quick play nature of the rules allowed us to play the game about six times. We played it the same way that Wittmann advanced up the main road to see were he would be knocked out. In the real attack he had no support feeling that the unreadiness of the enemy and the fact that he must have already been spotted meant he had to act immediately.

He knocked out the two leading tanks first and then proceeded to take out the vehicles that were parked along the edge of the road. 

Here is the start of one of the games as Wittmann breaks cover. 

Here is A company the Rifle Brigade and the first tank elements of  A squadron 4th County of London Yeomanry, (Sharpshooters). Wittmann knocked out a Cromwell and then a Sherman firefly which was parked further up the hill on the right and then turned left on to the road towards Villers Bocage.

Here moving down the road spreading confusion!

Here Wittmann continues down the road. In one of the many games we played one Stuart tank decided to pull out into the road.

Next the Reconnaissance Troop of Stuart tank realise that some thing is happening up front and after a short period to crew and start vehicles they get moving. This is on the junction of the Tilly Sur Seulles road next to the calvary. 

Wittmann continues to take out the vehicles of the Rifle Brigade which were not intended to be used to fight from.

Here are a couple of pictures of the combat in another game. We know that Wittmanns tank should be '222' but this model looks chunky compared to the other models used in this game. The black and white effect looks very effective, especially the close up.

Here is the end for Wittmann in one game with 20mm SHQ tank crew figures. In the actual battle Wittmanns tank was disabled by a shot from a 6pdr anti tank round from the rear but the crew left it hoping they would be able to recover it later. Wittmann and crew made it back to their lines.

Further games resulted in the tiger tank getting past the Tilly road junction and continuing into the village.

At one point Wittmann got to the town and engaged the HQ troop and then realising that fighting in a built up area was not a good idea without infantry support he retreated back up the road.  

Here are a few views of the tiger advancing up the street.

Finally a top view and a view of the bend in the road part way in the town.

Here are a few final view of the models used to represent Villers Bocage. These are also used in the owners version of D Day which has been at a number of shows including winning best of show at Salute.

Sun King Wargame

Hello There! I recently played a Sunking game around a friends and used some new rules Adrian had found to see if the flavour of the game could be retained but the game speeded up.

Here is the table set up. We were also fortunate enough to have Chris also join us for the days game. The French were on the right and the allies on the left. The aim was to push the allies off the ridge which ran most of the length of the left side of the board.

The lower, or French left flank, consisted of a large cavalry battle which was helped by the allies having two large units of cuirassier.

The French forces included French Guard Cavalry. I have not usually had an awareness of the period but it is a time of great transition including matchlock to flintlock, pike to plug bayonet to ring bayonet and changes in drill. This leads to units having different capabilities, depending on what years the combat is set in.

 

In turn here are some of the allied cavalry who advanced to contact, to allow them more space to manoeuvre.

On the upper part of the board, or French right flank there was a wooded area which his some hussar.

Each cavalry and infantry grouping had a commander who could influence meleeing and morale.

 

There were a number of items that broke up the table surface but which does not affect the movement or visibility over the table. this was mostly trees but here is one of the haystacks from my Tunnies Terrain resin range of scenery items. I can be contacted for the sale of these items, either painted or unpainted.

Here is one of the French artillery pieces. Artillery was not very mobile during this period and had to either start limbered and remain where it unlimbered or remain were it was at the start of the game if unlimbered.

The French troops approached the high ground and a long battle progressed to try to push the  allies off the ridge. The cavalry battle on the French left wing finally led to the collapse of the allies and the opening up of the  flank to exploitation by  the French cavalry against the defenders on the ridge.

Here are those pesky cuirassier which had a number of advantages including acting as a denser formation and a larger unit. What a pain they were! Over on the French right flank the hussars were not able to charge  formed enemy units, being more equivalent to Cossacks than formed troops, however they caused many problems  with their presence preventing deployment of troops in the area.

Overall the game was very enjoyable and with good company. The rules had the benefit that a single dice throw could decide two outcomes. For example melee decided the result of the melee and the actions of the winner and loser and casualties. 

This speeded the game up and maintained the flavour of the period as well. The rules used were converted from a set that were used for a board game so that the movement rates needed to be converted from hexes to inches, otherwise the conversion was seamless.

Ancient Warfare Magazine

Hello there and where have you been all my life?  No not you, this magazine!

I have always been interested in the Ancient Period and have a few books to read about certain parts of this period, (Ancient Greek, Roman, Alexander, Successor), but have never found the compulsion to get started, (As if I did not have enough to do already! A quote from my wife there!). I came across this magazine in the magazine rack and decided to purchase a copy.

I found that the magazine had a theme for the issue and included some good illustrations and a number of features written by highly qualified individuals in their historical subjects. I recognised a few writers names from my small ancients ad Osprey library. 

The start of the magazine includes a number of recent news items from contemporary excavations and latest ideas that have been formulated from them. 

Features include weaponry, battles, individual biographies and other wide ranging information on the period.

I found the magazine a refreshing change to the subject and has certainly stimulated a new interest in the period.

Disclaimer: I contribute features to the Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy magazine and both magazines are published by the same company however I am not being paid for posting this on my blog.  

The magazine can be purchased here

Spanish Guerillas 28mm

Hello there! I have completed a small addition to my 'Skirmish Project'. I hope to play some Napoleonics as well as American Civil War period games for this project and the first items are here.

Looking closely you will see that the definition on these figures is not good compared to what we have come to expect from suppliers such as Perrys but are still more than suitable for wargaming.

When we show people our new painted offerings the first thing they/we do is look at the figure about one inch from our nose and look at them in such a detail that you would never see such definition as you would from a distance when being used on a wargaming board, however we all still do it.

But is still gives us a proud warm sense of achievement when we get that nod of approval from a wargaming friend looking at our new figures, (if only they 'fought' as well on their first outing! We all know fresh paint work puts a curse on dice throws!)

Also figure painters still try to provide figures that satisfy that 'one inch scrutiny' Perhaps the answer  is to do what YOU think and feel is best! After all they are YOUR figures and it is YOUR time you are spending to  present these items.

Wargames, Soldier and Strategy Features Issue 107

Hello There!. I was pleased to see that I have had two scenery tutorials to be published in the next issue of Wargame, Soldiers and Strategy!

Building a Union blockhouse is continuing the skirmish project and the cherry blossom trees were popular when I took a trade stand to Vapnartak and Partizan. 

If you  would like to purchase issue 107 then please have a look here. 

Wilhelmsthal 24/06/1762

Hello There! I went to the New Buckenham Historical Wargamers a couple of weeks ago and took a few quick photographs for the blog. 

It really is amazing the wide diversity of the periods played and  for such a small club which is tucked away in a small Norfolk village. Here is a large game with plenty of well painted figures and lots of small amounts of 'fluff' to look at.

I have just offered just a small amount of pictures for your delight but further photographs are on the clubs facebook page here.

Grey Horses

Hello there! I have been asked by a wargaming friend about how I paint my grey horses. I have experimented with a different system after finding using solely paints has not been satisfactory. After preparing the figure in the normal manner, (Deflash, degrease, prime/undercoast and paint white), I scrape off as small amount from an oil based pastel. This comes off as a powder which I leave on a plate or saucer. I then use a colour shaper from an art shop to place the powder from the oil pastel where it is required.

There are a number of types of 'grey' horses so I would advise the painter to print off some pictures of photographs from the internet to give you a good idea of what you are trying to represent. Here is a  soft dapple. The legs are a result of airbrushing a brown around the legs and not the oil pastel.

The dapple on grey horses can extend to the shoulders and up to the neck. Here is obviously does not but a very faint dapple can be seen on the rump.

A dapple is a series of joined small circles or hollow shapes which can cover some or all of the horses hide. Here the dappling on the rump of the horses is clearer than in other photos.

Here the dappling can become more dense as you move down the horses legs to eventually become black or dark grey. The dappling is still present at the boundary but it can take a little longer to achieve this block colour as using the oil pastel dust is difficult to work with. Just be patient and you will achieve a mottled finish.

As you are working with a powder medium you need to fix it in place. I use an aerosol varnish from an art shop. It is a better quality and non yellowing.