Roadtrip to Warfare in Reading

I have to admit that I have a limited range of shows that I attend regularly and often lament that I miss some of those a bit further afield. Having missed SELWG in October I was determined to get a hobby fix at another event before the end of the year, and Warfare in Reading seemed like the perfect candidate. I've never been to this show before, although Ray and Postie have over a decade ago, so we hatched a plan to attend the show on Saturday. I pick up the lads at some ungodly time of the morning and then we set off around the M25 towards Berkshire. Despite it being a 5 hour round trip (for me at least) it was worth the effort and we all had a great day and agreed we should do this show again.

As usual, I took a load of pictures but this time I had to rely on my phone camera as I had forgotten to charge the batteries in my main camera. On the whole, this worked out fine and there were only a few instances where I missed having a decent zoom facility. Here's a selection of the better pictures from our day.

The Bring and Buy - We were able to get into this bit of the show area early so we had a good rummage while we waited for the main trader area to open up. This was probably the best Bring and Buy - in terms of quality of the stuff on sale - that any of us have seen for a long time. Some of the stuff was a little overpriced but on the whole, there was a wide selection of top quality items to choose from. Postie can be seen encouraging Ray to buy some artillery pieces... not that he needed much encouragement. 

The competition and demo hall. Two-thirds of the hall was dedicated to competition games and this is the first show that I have attended with such a large element of this. It was interesting to look at the wide range of tables and games taking place and it definitely created a different atmosphere than I'm used to experiencing at shows (not bad, just different). This side of the hobby isn't for me though, I have enough humiliation and defeat at the hands of my friends in the shed-o-war without me needing to hand easy victories to a series of very competitive strangers! 

Another shot of some of the Competition tables. I was surprised to see some very good looking games tables being played across. Most of the armies being brought to the tables looked very nicely painted although I saw a few that I would be embarrassed to let out in daylight! Each to their own I suppose, if playing competitions with half-painted figures makes you happy, who am I to pass judgement. 

Also while we waited for the trade hall to open we had a chance to look at some serious model builders exhibits. The young Padawan would have killed for this, but at four foot across I would have had a hard time sneaking it out the building!

Finally, at 11am sharp, the trade hall opened and the main reason we were here was able to commence. 

Ray made his first purchase from the Warbases stall. By the end of the day, we had all parted with some serious dosh here. 

Meanwhile, I headed off to the Baccus stall. I hadn't pre-ordered anything this time so this was purely a recon mission...or so I thought. I ended up buying a Celtic Village for my ancients games and made a list of other items I needed to buy online when I got home. I'm trying to expand my current 6mm collection to give myself multiple options for my 3rd Century BCE armies and one of these is to add some Celtic/Gaulish units. Unfortunately, they didn't have any at the show (someone cleared them out earlier in the day) so my order will be going to Baccus in the next few days and I'll have to wait for the delivery. 

What a pair of handsome fellows. Well, we didn't break the camera lens so I'll take that as confirmation that we aren't completely hideous! 

I didn't buy anything from Gringo 40's but I did like their display cases..I'll be hunting the interweb for something similar in the near future. 

I had a good hunt through the Ainsty stall but unfortunately couldn't find what I was looking for. Again the interweb's success is the physical store's loss. Still, I have always enjoyed the quality of the Ainsty stuff and have been buying their resin scenery for years. 

Ray perusing the goodies on the PSC stall. I think we all got a little carried away. There were a lot of traders in a very small space (it was a little cramped) but this was probably the best and widest selection of traders I have seen outside Salute. I know my experience is a little south-east biased but still, I was very impressed. 

With our initial retail therapy needs satisfied we nipped off for a spot of lunch (awful...don't bother with the cafe in the sports centre, overpriced and not very nice). Then we went and had a proper look at the demo tables in the adjacent hall. As previously mentioned two-thirds of the hall was dedicated to competition games and the remaining third, while a little cramped, had some very good looking games on display. I have to say that my usual bugbear - unlabeled tables and a lack of engagement from some of the clubs running games - did rear its ugly head again, but fortunately, this wasn't the norm. Where I was able to label the pictures correctly I have included it below. 

The Malvern Old Wargamers playing a game using the Armati rules. A simple setup, like you would get at any regular club night. 

This participation game table by Boscombe Down and Amesbury Wargames Club had a very impressive terrain feature at its centre! I went back a little later and the game was surrounded by eager looking players. 

A little blurry but this picture shows how popular the game was. I went back three times during the day and it was packed with participants every time. The sign of a successful game and a good team effort by the club members running it. 

The South London Warlords put in their "Dark Side of the Moon" game which has been at a few other shows this year. Still very impressive and like the previous group, was well attended by participants and well supported by club members. 

Newbury and Reading Wargames Society put on a 28mm game featuring hundreds of miniatures. "Caractacus Strikes Back" was subtitled the Battle for Britain c45 AD. 

Some of the commander names may have been a little tongue-in-cheek but the seriousness of attention to quality was undeniable. This was one of those games where you're initially impressed with the number of figures in the table and then - when you look closer - at the quality of the painting. Well worth lingering over. 

Getting to eye level with this table was worth the pain coming from my creaking knees!

Huntingdon and District Wargames Society put on a very impressive 54mm Rooke’s Drift game based on the film Zulu. It's unusual to see such large figures on a games table but it was worth it for the visuals.

At this scale, you can only expect to have part of the Drift station represented, but it did look good. I particularly liked the scratch-built tents. 

These big figures are ideal for a skirmish game where individual actions and heroism (and cowardice) really count. 

My favourite table was this one by Combined Oppos'. This wild west setting was 'winterised' in a very clever way for a setting that looked as unique as it was spectacular. Multiple small actions could take place in different parts of the town and all the buildings contained details to surprise and delight (especially in the Bar!)

The town's version of Boot Hill was no doubt a busy location!

Aylesbury Wargames Club out on a 28mm Bolt Action game, "Berezina Bridge" was set in the OST Front September 1944 and featured some impressive looking terrain. 

There were also a load of very well painted vehicles in this scenario. 

Battlefront Wargames put on a very impressive looking game called "Operation Reindeer" which was the Cassinga Raid in Angola in May 1978. 

The compound at the centre of this table was very well presented. There was a very good handout available...but I managed to lose mine! So all I can say is that I was very impressed with the look of this table. 

  

The use of several aircraft on perspex stands above the table gave the whole thing an extra dimension. Nicely done gentlemen. 

I think this is the WAR Club (Pat Wingfield) with their 1980s naval game. I took another picture with the group's details but it was too blurred to read! I liked their board setup and commented to Ray that maybe we could adapt this idea in the shed-o-war for strategic movement before setting up the battle that may then be asymmetric in nature. Its something I'm going to give some thought to in future. 

The South Oxfordshire Generals put on a game of "To the Strongest.  

There were a lot of units here so this must have been a rather large battle (in terms of points) unfortunately when I was there I didn't get to speak with any of the club members running the game. 

Maidenhead Reapers ran a winter game using the Bolt Action rules. Their game, "Panzer Brigade 150" was set during the Ardennes Offensive in October 1944. 

The terrain was scratch built for this demo and all the vehicles were suitably 'winterised' for the period. 

I came back and looked at this later in the day and by then several tanks were burning with some rather cool looking smoke and flame effects. 

Skirmish Wargames had an attractive table set up for a game of  A Very British Civil War in 54mm. 

A bit of a gunfight takes place on the driveway. The Groundsman will be most unhappy!

Grid Wargaming were also showing off their game system. 

Sealed Knot put on a clever night battle game set during the Battle of Sedgemoor in 1685. They used the blank squares to hide the battlefield so units were effectively moving blind across the landscape. The colour palette used on the terrain and buildings made this look very distinctive. I'm afraid this is the best pictures I had, so keep an eye on Rays Blog, he may have some better ones. 

This game used the Age of Reason rules and featured some nice miniatures. Apparently, this game would take the best part of the two-day event to come to a conclusion. The group running it was called 1066 and the battle being played is Warburg. 

Oxford Wargames Society run an interesting air warfare game "Bombing Berlin, Tangerhutte 6th March 1944". This participation game recreated the Eigth Air Forces bloodiest day as they are hit by the Luftwaffe defending the Reichs capital. 

There were a few more demo/participation tables but either through bad timing or lack of attention they didn't get photographed. Some were between sessions for the participation games and there wasn't anything to see and photograph. I meant to catch them later but for some reason still missed them in the tick of the game. There were also a couple where none of the club members playing the game even seemed to notice that someone was watching their game. Without any table signage telling me what was being played I left them to it and hence no pictures. Personally, I can't see the point in running a demo only to ignore visitors. 

The obligatory 'Loot' post. I bought a lot! Having missed SELWG I needed a restock of quite a few items and there were the inevitable impulse buys. All the books were bargains which always feels good. I bought a load of resin scenery from Debris of War which I will be working on during the Painting Challenge. I'll be painting it for use in Frostgrave games with the Padawan, and to that end, I bought the winter game mat from Deepcut Studios. 

All in all a very successful and enjoyable day out, despite the five hours I spent driving there and back! I am lead to understand - but don't quote me - that this location (Rivermead Leisure Centre) is being redeveloped and that next year Warfare will be at Ascot. Wherever it is, I expect the Rejects will be there and maybe we have just added Warfare to our annual list of not to be missed shows. 

Battle of Landsburg 1813

Reject HQ had a visit on Sunday from one of our lost sheep, Dave, who moved away a couple of years ago (maybe we should have taken the hint?!?). We had six players around the table for this game, more than we have had in quite a long time. Postie put on a large Napoleonic game and had a lot of figures down on the table for this battle so we were set for what would prove to be an epic struggle. 

The Setup

This is a fictional encounter set just before the Battle of Leipzig, so Postie drew up our orders of battle form the units that would have been in this area at this time period. The armies facing each other were ostensibly Swedes versus Poles, but in reality, these are international armies with troops from half a dozen nations represented on the table. 

As usual, Postie set up the deployment but there was enough room for some finesse in the movement of our armies before we met in melee. We pulled sides from a hat as normal and for my sins, I found myself commander of the Swedes. 

Order of Battle

Rather than struggle with Posties handwriting as I usually do, I decided to post pictures of his OOB's. My clumsy attempts to transcribe the lists usually only serve to highlight my ignorance of the period!

The Army of Crown Prince Charles John of Sweden

The Army of Prince Poniatowski of Poland

The Action

The initial setup. Both armies are facing off but there is room on the flanks for some manoeuvre. The 'Polish' army are on the left with Ray and Surjit, the 'Swedish' army is on the right.  

The Swedish Army advances...we were tasked with 'attacking' by postie so we moved everything forward in the opening moves of the game. The real attack, however, was to happen on the left under Dave. I would feed some of my regiments to support his position for a concentrated attack and gambled that I could hold the centre with a weakened division. On the Right (out of shot) Richard would also try to press forward and draw units from the enemy centre. 

The first setback for the Swedes was a failed Brigade check resulting in an entire brigade having to fall back a full move. Suddenly our right flank looked like it was in serious trouble. Richard didn't mind though because it made his game much more interesting!

The whole Brigade has now been pushed back disordered and have to remain stationary for a turn in order to recover order. This leaves Richards other Brigade exposed and in a tough spot. 

In the centre, my troops get a whiff of Jaffa Cake and the Generals lose control... The line quivers and begins to surge forward. 

The 'Polish Army' is being very restrained and isn't attacking as we expected. Rays troops build for a massive assault in the centre but Mark restrains his men and keeps a well-ordered line facing Dave. 

On our right flank, Richard is having a very interesting day! Surjit piles in several columns and the battle turns into something of a meat grinder. We lose several colours and the points begin to accumulate for the Polish team. 

My troops are in a well-ordred line with their flank anchored on a nice solid building. Why would I move from here? 

Dave has gathered his forces and I have diverted some regiments to support his line giving him the superiority of numbers on the flank. Dave is now poised to advance. 

My boys in the centre can't resist the smell of Jaffa Cakes any more and surge forwards....exposing their flank and paving the way for some serious pain....I'm an idiot for not seeing the danger I was putting my troops in but I got a little 'carried away'. 

Dave is poised to charge right through the centre of the enemy line but gets a little bogged down dealing with a threat on his flank. The line does move forward but not as far as I thought it would. 

The one highlight of the game was Daves use of his Rocket Battery. They fired twice in the game and hit their target twice dealing four casualties against enemy cavalry units. 

Over on the right flank, Richard has stabilised the debacle that had been developing here. Despite being mauled the line looks strong and Surjit seems to have run out of steam on this flank. 

A view down the centre and left of the line. 

The trap I set for myself closes and I am charged in overwhelming numbers...this is going to be painful and it's entirely my own fault. This was one of those moments when I wondered why I hadn't taken up fishing instead of wargaming as a hobby. 

Ok, this is why. We may be about to be thrashed soundly but by god, this looks impressive! 

Ouch... Flippin heck! That has done it. 

Analysis

We called the game at this point. There seemed little point fighting on as my centre pretty much dissolved, and entirely my own fault. What can I say, I'm a shit wargamer! Postie added up the points (to rub salt in the wounds). The Polish Army ended on 24 points with the Swedes on just 10. Richard did very well to recover after the disastrous Brigade check early in the game and Dave still had a viable force on our left flank, but without a centre to connect them, the battle was lost. Sorry lads, my bad!

The only good side to this game was the good-natured banter that crisscrossed the table. The neighbours were probably wondering why there was so much laughter emanating from the shed but the answer is simple, we were enjoying the game and each others company, and at the end of the day that's all that counts. 

My tally of defeats this year is fast becoming legendary. In fact, looking at my records I am now just one defeat away from a record low. I have another game planned in December so maybe I should pull out now and not tempt fate?!

Operational!

The Operations Room is now up and running and all the major work has been completed after months of preparation. It's taken a lot longer than I had hoped because I have been waiting for some furniture to arrive, but now all is in place and I can start using the room for painting, gaming and of course updating my blog. Nothing is ever fully 'finished' though, and I suspect we wargames know this more than anyone else. Let's just call it a work in progress! 

I now have lots of storage for modelling materials and finished projects. My games table is only modest in size but is more than adequate for 6mm wargaming and small skirmish games. The Padawan and I are already looking forward to more games here, away from the distractions of the family room downstairs (TV mostly). 

This picture has already been seen when I posted my first Batrep from the room earlier this week. Overlooking the table is my picture wall with various items of artwork to inspire me. I have Alexander and Hanibal looking down on me... I desperately need some of their genius to rub off! There is still a lot of bare wall around the room so no doubt I'll add to this collection over the coming months and years. I'm planning on making an extra top for the table to make it a little bit bigger but that's a project for later... I've tested my wife patience enough for the time being! 

My painting desk is in position and I have treated myself to a new hobby lamp. There are now three of these puppies illuminating my desk with a combined 1350 lumens so goodby to shadows and hello to the centre of the sun! Oh, and I put a 1500 lumen daylight bulb in the ceiling as well so you definitely need sunglasses when entering my room! My trusty metal storage unit has been brought up but I'll be transferring my finished miniatures from here to my new units over the next few weeks. I may sand this old unit down and repaint it mat black to match my new ones but again that's not a priority job so I'll probably tackle that next year. 

On and above the desk are all my uniform guides, Ospreys and most of my reference books. Not everything has made it into my room, however. I still have a small computer desk downstairs and some of my book collection - items I don't need as reference books - are being kept there simply because there isn't space for everything upstairs. The top shelf has more of the larger reference books and a modest collection of board games...and a big ass Dragon I bought over 20 years ago when I still had a disposable income! 

In the corner is the first of two storage units for art materials. All my painting and modelling materials are now in one place and I suddenly realised I don't need to buy any more varnish (probably for the next ten years!). I've been a little amazed at how much 'stuff' I actually have now that its all in one place. I plan on doing a full 'stock check' over the next few days so I can make a proper shopping list for my trip to the Warfare Show in reading next week. 

Three new metal storage units arrived yesterday and I'm unreasonably happy with them. I now have enough quality storage to keep me happy for many years to come. My miniatures will reside in style from now on! The books in the unit on top are mostly various wargame rule books, painting manuals and my collection of roleplaying games including all my old DandD books. 

In the corner of the room, I have yet more storage for art materials (some of this is the Padawan's) and boxes containing my wargame terrain. I may have to find another way to store this as I don't have a lot of spare space to grow my collection! It's not a very big room (just 7'5" x 8'5") so I'm having to be a bit creative with my storage options. It doesn't help that the outside wall is very cold and gets damp easily so I don't want to store anything against it that might be damaged by water. I've installed some portable dehumidifiers and hopefully between these and better ventilation and heating in the room, this will keep the dreaded black mold away. These old, pre-war council houses are bigger than the little rabbit hutches being built today but they aren't exactly up to modern building standards! 

Now I need to get cracking on preparation for this year's Painting Challenge. I have a rather large pile of lead (considering its mostly 6mm) that needs to be cleaned, sorted into bases, mounted and undercoated before the fun kicks off at the end of December. I'd better get cracking because the next few weeks will no doubt speed past. 

Battle of the Pellia Valley

One small corner of the Operations Room

Its been a while since my last solo game at home but at long last, my Operations Rooms is up and running! The room isn't completely finished but enough has been done that I could start using the space for some actual gaming rather than just DIY! I'm still waiting for my new storage units to be delivered (hopefully in the next week) and I need to put up some bookshelves today and start to bring my reference book collection out of storage. The room is coming together slowly, but this weekend I just needed to roll some dice and so I quickly threw together a small solo game using the To the Strongest! rules. 

The Setup

Hanibal has been defeating the Romans on Italian soil and with each victory, more Gaulish tribes have turned on their former masters. One tribe has decided the time is ripe to raid some of the lowland villas for plunder (and a little payback) but has quickly drawn the attention of a small Roman garrison in the area. This is a fictional encounter between two equal-sized armies in a small valley. The Romans had sent their light cavalry out to scout for the Gauls but the tribe used the hills to get into position opposite the smaller body of Roman infantry. They need to close the gap quickly and let their weight of numbers count against the disciplined Romans. 

Orders of Battle

Romans

General Trivinus (Mounted, Detached, Senior)

    4x Hastati/Principes (Legionaries, Special)

General Hastagus (Mounted, Detached)

    2x Allied Light Cavalry (Light Cavalry, Javelin)

Gauls

General Vestigius (Mounted, Detached, Senior, Brilliant)

    3x Gauls (Warriors, hero, deep)

    2x Veteran Gauls (Warriors, hero, deep, Veteran)

The Action

The Gauls have appeared on a ridge opposite the Roman camp. The Roman Light Cavalry are returning from a scouting mission and can be seen in the far corner of the table. 

A Mounted General leads the Light Cavalry and as soon at they see the Gauls they speed up aiming to harras the flank of the barbarians. 

The Gauls advance quickly, all except the last unit in the centre which rolled a one for activation. The General was in the same box and allowed a re-roll....another One! 

A couple of turns later the Gauls have advanced in better order and seeing the light cavalry on their flank oblique forwards allowing four units to face off against the Romans and the last group of warriors are tasked with seeing off or destroying the cavalry. 

Lots of Javelins are lobbed at the advancing Gauls with only one disorder marker resulting. Pretty ineffective considering. 

Melee commences and both sides take damage. The end Gaulish unit is in a bad way but similarly one of the Roman units is damaged and vulnerable. 

Meanwhile, the Gauls are able to see off one Light init and destroy another as it tries to flee. Both Light units have expended their javelins but could still be a problem is they arrive behind or on the flank of the larger warrior units. 

The Roman Hastati/Principi units fall back to attempt a Rally (having failed to do so as part of the line exchange). The Gauls meanwhile have lost a unit on the end of their line. The Romans could outflank the barbarians, if only they can make the most of the situation. 

Two Roman units are vulnerable now but the Gauls just don't seem able to exploit the situation. 

Disaster for the Roman commander. With units, in disorder, he wanted to fall back to Rally but instead, the first unit, outside command range of the general, rolls a ONE! The Roman turn is over having achieved nothing. 

The Gauls now destroy a Roman unit and threaten the other damaged unit. Fortunately, it passes several saving rolls and clings on. 

Now its the Gauls turn to roll a One on the first unit to activate, and again the General is too far away to help! 

The Romans take advantage of the breathing space and turn to attack the flank of the Gauls. After several rounds of combat, the Gaulish unit is destroyed and the advantage seems to have passed back to the Romans.   

Fortunately for the Gauls, they have mauled the Romans who have to retreat out of their Zone of Control to attempt to rally. Meanwhile, the Roman Light cavalry managed to evade the enemy and begins to swing wide behind the Barbarians. The warriors that had been harassing them now turn round and head back into the centre to support their comrades. 

The battle has swung a full ninety degrees. Now, at last, the Roman units have rallied and reentered the fray. The light cavalry, however, keeps rolling multiple ones for activation and fail to move on the exposed rear of the Barbarian line. 

The two weary forces clash again and both sides take damage, but the Gauls are better able to absorb this than the Romans and continue to press their attack. Meanwhile, another set of snake eyes mean the Roman light cavalry still haven't moved!!

A crucial moment. One of the Roman units is destroyed and are now just one point away from breaking entirely. 

The Romans attempt to rally but again fail and this time the Barbarians are able to overwhelm them, destroying another Roman unit. With the breaking point of the army reached the surviving Romans flee back to their camp. 

Analysis
A fun and relatively quick game to play. In fact, it took longer to set up than it did to play. There were several moments when I thought the Romans could win this but the dice gods were just not with them in the end. I can't recall a game where I rolled more ones for activation, often in multiples!

I notice that when I play alone like this I tend to ‘narrate’ the action out load to myself. Mostly this is talking through the next step of the rules as I play but sometimes I find myself cajoling troops that failed activation rolls or spurring others on when there is a crucial moment of the game. Most of the time I’m doing it without even noticing but it suddenly struck me during this game that this is the modern equivalent to making shooting noises as I played with my toy soldiers when I was a kid! (“Pew pew, pew pew!”). It made me laugh because I’m often accused of having never fully grown up... and at fifty I have no plans to do so in the near future!

So there you have it, my first game in the new Operations Room. I'll post more pictures of the room when I have finished putting up shelves and when my storage units arrive. Cross fingers another couple of weeks and everything will be done. Then I can start working on my preparations for this year's Painting Challenge.