Second VBCW Game- Kingswinford Cross

Last Friday we had our second game of 1938: A Very British Civil War; And by 'we' I mean Ash, Scott, Tom, Antony and Neil down at the Stourbridge Wargamers Club. Ash kindly organised and refereed the game, and we used a set of rules called "And Was Jerusalem Builded Here" (Available free at the font of all VBCW knowledge, Gentleman's Wargames Parlor). Ash had to write some house rules as the rules are a little sketchy in parts, but hey- its free!

The game followed on from the last game, which had proven rather indecisive. The general plot follows the attempts by the Royalist forces to take over the Stourbridge steel works. The Royalists, made up of British Union of Fascists (BUF) from Wolverhampton and Royalist regular army from the 'Army of the Severn Valley', had already driven the Leftist forces out of the village of Womborne in the last game. The Leftists, made up on an uneasy coalition of Socialist, Communist and Salvation Army Militia, had fallen back to the tactically important village of Kingswinford, where they made their stand. The Royalist needed to capture the cross roads in the center of the village so they could freely move their forces in to attack the steel works.

The Leftist forces make a stand in the village of Kingswinford. They take up firing positions in the houses overlooking the crossroads, and barricade the main roads. Forces from the Communist party are held in reserve.

The BUF and the Army advance through the fields towards Kingwinford. Air attacks by the Leftist's small air force take it's toll, and destroys the BUF heavy machine gun section. Undeterred the fascists press on.

More reserves from the Stourbirdge Socialist Militia arrive and take up position to repel the BUF on the left flank.

The Royalist army is delayed as they try to negotiate the high fences. One unfortunate section disturb a bee hive, and the Lewis gunner's number 2 accidentally drops his ammunition. Chance cards add random elements into the battle, which can be quite a good laugh, or just ruddy annoying.


Having crossed the fence, the army advance in tight formation along the right flank towards the Salvation Army position. Fierce house to house fighting is expected, but the regular army's moral is high.


The Salvation Army Militia hold the fields on the Right flank of the village. They are bolstered by their fearsome armoured car, which had become bogged down in the muddy ground, but still armed with two medium machine guns.


Accurate artillery fire from the Royalist big guns took a heavy toll on the Stourbridge Socialist Militia, forcing a section to withdraw. Later they were devastated by a strafing run from the BUF's own air wing. The left flank began to faulter, but Socialist in the houses close to the cross roads held the BUF advance up with a hail of accurate rifle fire. A fierce gun battle erupted between the fascists and the remaining socialist.


Leftist forces are horrified to see the arrival of two armoured cars from the Army of the Severn Vally. They were armed with Bren Guns and anti-tank rifles. The Leftist's lacked any anti-armour weaponry.


The brave men of the Stourbridge Socialist Militia abandon their position at the cross roads, having come under sustained fire from army artillery and armoured cars. They rushed out to make a last ditch attempt to repel their hated enemies, the BUF. After a brief but bloody gun battle the BUF are forced to withdraw, abandoning the whole left flank.

The guns of the Salvation Army armoured car break the moral of the regular army, forcing them to withdraw, before the armoured car is finally destroyed by the army vehicals. The Salvation Army are forced to abandon their position in the fields and retreat into Kingswinford, as they had nothing to counter the threat of the army's armoured cars. Reinforcements arrive from the Communist, and they retake the cross roads, but they also lack any anti-armour weaponry.

The battle ended in a stalemate, with the BUF and Regular infantry in full retreat, and but with their armoured cars commanding the road. The Leftists were still firmly embedded in Kingswinford, and would prove too difficulty to root out without infantry support.

Another great battle, and great fun all round. Ash ran a fair fight, as the results will show. The tweaks he made to the rules worked very well, as did the chance cards. I am looking forwards to the next battle, but I can assure you I will be bringing one or two anti-armour weapon! My snipers never appeared, which was a shame, as I think they would have made quite a difference in the built up environment. The lads down Stourbridge are a great bunch, and it was fantastic to see my minis on such a good looking board.