VBCW: Bridge over the River Wye

The Hereford VBCW game went of swimmingly at the week end. I took my Royalists, in the form of Lord Robert Grover and his militias, to help defend the estate of the Baron of Foy, a distant relative of Lord Robert, from the terrible Anglican League.

In truth  Lord Robert Grover probably had more in common with the officers of the Anglicans that he did with his allies- a dreadfully rough Scots fascist and some uncouth South African's fighting for the king. 

The battle consisted of an Anglican attack on the Baron's property in Foy. The main force of the Anglicans were obliged to cross a footbridge under constant and withering fire, with predictable and bloody consequences. The Anglicans, in fairness, were game lads, brave and heroic, but their attack was ultimately futile as the bridge was too weak to carry their Vickers 6 ton tank across the river. A particular down-point for the Anglicans was when the dastardly BUF reduced a section of fine AL cavalry to a bloody mist with HMG fire. 

The Anglican's best hope came when a platoon of commandos managed to cross the river using an old and long forgotten tunnel, and mount a surprise flank attack. The sudden assault caught my armored car crew mid-cup-of-tea, and the vehicle was destroyed by a sticky bomb attack. After their initial success the commando's attack stalled, despite bringing up a Stokes mortar, as they seemed to lack the incentive to press the attack home. Two sections of rough and ready BUF cads and the machines guns from my light reconnaissance cars were enough to keep them tied up. Eventually the Anglicans withdrew from Foy, having lost four sections of men (including a cavalry section) and a universal bren carrier. I had lost the armored car and the best part of a section of militia, and the BUF had lost a section of infantry. 

Poor resonance cost the Anglicans the day. Had they have realised that the foot bridge was not strong enough to support a tank, and brought some armored cars or a field gun instead, then they might have fared better. 

Elsewhere in the battle the Anglican League fared slightly better, having damaged a railway bridge, effectively cutting the BUF off from their reinforcements, but at a terrible cost. Some confusion remains  but the BUF commanders also maintain that the South Africans buggered off at an inopportune moment  leaving the BUF in the lurch, as they had to contend with angry locals and an AL assault. 

Over all, another great day out to Hertfordshire and a great game and curry/waffly chat afterwards. 

Lord Robert's groundsmen lay an ambush

Lord Robert chats with his advisers at Foy Hall

Foy Hall, in the foreground, and the weak footbridge over the river Wye visible at the top of the picture. 

The BUF redoubt that commanded a good firing position at the troops crossing the footbridge.

AL commandos launching a flank attack

Having had their armored car blown up, the crew smoke a cigarette and wait to surrender to the AL officer. 

The AL commandos attack the flank, but the attack runs out of momentum

The AL forces trying to cross the foot bridge realise the futility of their assault without the support of a tank.

My brave lads successfully defend Foy Hall. 

VBCW: Vehicals

Ahead of tomorrows VBCW Big Game in Hereford, I have been getting some vehicals read for the Duke of Farnham's faction. The Duke is something of a fan of the motorcar in all its forms, and in particularly in the armoured car. During the Great War he was instrumental in the developed of the iconic Rolls Royce Armoured car, and since then has he a huge fan of racing cars, motorbikes and speed boats. Naturally his own private army in the Very British Civil War will feature as many vehicals as he can get his hands on (so long as he can find the fuel for them).

The first is an improvised armored car of a design created by the Duke himself. It features two Lewis MG turrets and a boiler plate hull proof against most small arms fire. 

The second is a staff car, from the Dukes own collection, and is a 1914 Vauxall Prince Henry.  The diver is in the unofficial uniform of a  Junior Staff Officer of the Chester City Militia. The passenger, a Bren Gunner form the Dukes Household Guard Company, is wearing the livery of a footman. 

The armoured car was bought on eBay and repainted, while the staff car is a matchbox die-cast that has been repainted  the crew are form Mutton Chops Miniatures and the Bren gun is from The Assault Group. 

VBCW: More Servants

Here are a few more of the servants from the Duke of Farnham's household  although these are not part of his armed company as their positions are considered indispensable to the functioning of the household. 

On the left is Mr Jenkins, the butler  in the middle is Brown, The Duke's own valet, and on the right is Sarah May, ladies made to the Duke's wife, Lady Ann. 

VBCW: Lord Henry Flashthorpe

Lord Henry Flashthorpe (Flashy to his friends  is a wealth, and slightly eccentric  gentleman who has earned a reputation as a big game hunter, having spent a good deal of his time in Africa, South America and the Orient. He has even shot polar bears in the Arctic.
Having found himself at something of a loose end in 1938, he has taken to spending time with good pal Lord Robert Grover, and his uncle  the Duke of Farnham. 

Naturally, when the Duke got into a bit of a rook with those damned communists and radials Lord Henry lept at a chance to lend a hand, and is currently helping out as a sniper. Unusually for a sniper, Lord Henry considers camouflage and skulking about to be a bit unsporting, preferring to use the range of his very powerful and very accurate custom made rifle, and his considerable skill. 

VBCW: Household Guard

With a big VBCW game scheduled for this week end in Hereford, I thought it was high time to add to my VBCW collection, by finishing a few odds and ends I had hanging around. 

This is a photo of the Duke of Farnham's 'Household Guard'; a rather overblown title for what is essentially a militia made up of the male servants from his household- valets, footmen and even a coachman (although the Duke seldom has cause to use his coach, as he prefers motorcars). 

They are enthusiastic  if not particularly well trained, and they consider themselves 'elite' compared with the groundsmen and tenants who make up the rest of the Dukes private army. 

Visit to Wargames Store

Sorry I haven't posted much of late but I have been very busy at work and, even though I have been furiously painting on my evenings off, I haven't got round to getting much ready for photographing.  I have been painting some Chindits and Japanese for my Bruma campaign, and some more VBCW characters  for an upcoming Big Game in Hereford, and I will defiantly post pictures of these as an when they are completed. 

Today my son Charlie and I went to the subtly titled 'Wargames Store' (can you guess what they sell there?) in Brimstage, on the Wirral. What I saw impressed me no end! The store is huge, stocking a wide range of wargaming stuff from most of the major manufactures  GW, War Machine, Warlord Games  Flames of War, Perry Miniatures, Wargames Factory and much more. We could have spent ages there- they have a cool gaming room too, with permanently set up tables. 

Charlie picked up some Wargames Factory Greek hoplites- he fancies collecting figures inspired by Greek mythology. It's going to be quite Hollywood, rather than accurate. He's already done  a Medusa, and wants some minatores too!

Anyway, the Wargames Store is lovely- the staff are friendly and helpful, and it is housed in a stunning stone barn. It's also very close to a nice craft center my good lady wife could poke around in while we boys were getting our geek on looking at little figures.

Four Colour: More Ape Assassins!

Two more henchmen for my ARC gang in Pulp City. Once more these are head swaps, with the heads from Crooked Dice and the bodies from the Pulp City Ninjas. Many thanks to Pulp Citizen form supplying the bodies for this little projects. 

Four Colour: Ape Assassin!

No one really knows the origins of the mutant ape-men. Many speculate that they are the result of some bizarre experiment by some wicked villain or evil scientists: An attempt, perhaps, to recreate the exact conditions that caused the ARC primates to become super-powered supremes. 

What is known is that the primate freedom fighters know as ARC liberated them from a laboratory, and since then they have been working with ARC as henchmen. 

 While most ape-men are content to work as thugs or hired guns, a few have the personality and dedication to study under ARC ninja-master Chimp Chi, and to learn the exotic martial arts known as Ape-Ki. Those who can master the art as fast, deadly and utterly devoted to the ARC cause. 

 Here is another henchman for my Pulp City ARC gang. What could be more four-colour than ape-men, and ninjas? This little conversion is simply a head swap- body and arms are from a Pulp City ninja, and the head is from Crooked dice. Crooked dice sell these head on a separate sprue, which is great. 

Four Colour: Monkey Minions!

Pulp Citizen and I to be painting 'minions' for our themed month this month. I have been away, so I am a bit behind schedule  and so I have decided to cheat a bit and post a picture of some minions I painted for the Lead Painters League. These are some ape minions I painted for Pulp City, to use with my favorite super team- namely ARC, a team of super-evolved ape mercenaries  In Pulp City I will be using these as Thugs and Hired Guns. 

These figures are made by Crooked Dice for 7TV, but they work great as minions for Pulp City. 

It Snows In Hell: Battle Report

Just to prove I haven't been completely idle in July  I want to share with you what I have been secretly working on. It's a Zombie Apoc game set in a rural village in Finland. It grew out of a challenge on Lead Adventure Forum, to make a game that would fit into a PAPPIS storage box from IKEA. The box is roughly 25cmx33cm and 25 cm high- not very big really.  With very careful planning I managed to cram in a whole village. It's not quite finished, a few of the building need painting, but the deadline is the first of August, and this is as finished as it is going to get before then. It's good enough to use for a play-test battle report. 

I used the FUBAR modern horror rules, with a few minor adaptions. This is as free to download set of rules which comes on a single A4 paper and is very easy to learn. This has the advantage that I can easily fit several copies of it in the PAPPIS box without having to compromise on space. 

We found FUBAR to be a good system for a one off game. I played with my son Charlie, and he found it was easy enough to pick up. We both found that there was a good narrative to eh game, which was evocative of the zombie genre. In FUBAR the characters don't always do what you want them to do, and this can lead to some exciting and unexpected moments. I hope you enjoy the dramatic style of the battle report, as I have tried to capture that feeling. 

Introduction dispensed with: Now on with the show...

The survivors are, from left to right Arttu aka Grandpa, an old hunter; Nico,  an ice-hockey jock; Tapio, a tough poliisi detective; Johannes, an inquisitive journalist and Helena, Arttu's teenage granddaughter. 

Tapio is the toughest, and Arttu is the best shot. Helena has her grandfathers hunting rifle, but she's not a great shot. Nico doesn't like guns, and prefers his machete. 

 The survivors minibus has run off the road in a blizzard, and they need to find some transport out of the village. There are a couple of ski-mobiles at the far end, by the police station. The only trouble is that the village is crawling with The Dead. 

Johannes spots the first pack of The Dead moving in from behind the red house. Johannes fires, but misses. Arttu gives them both barrels with his shotgun, and decapitates two. Nico charges in, killing another with his machete. 

Moreof TheDead arrive from behind the red house, and threaten to overwhelm the party. Nico cuts down two more in a fierce fight, but staggers back clutching his wrist: He has been bitten!

 The others see a look of fear and desperation in his eyes: He is under no illusion what this means. The look turns to hatred. He points at Helena- "Get her out of here!" he yells. "I will buy you some time." He hefts hes machete and charges into the horde of The Dead.  

Nico cuts down two more of The Dead before he is dragged down and ripped apart by the ravenous creatures. 

Seeing her childhood friend killed, Helena panics. She is separated from her companions as they move up the street towards the ski-mobiles. Two of The Dead who have been tearing at Nico's flesh spot her in the open and charge towards her. She manages to shoot one dead, but the other one closes on her. 
Hearing the shot Tapio turns and sees the danger. Without thinking of his ow safety the policeman charges back to help.

Tapio kills The Dead and drags Helena back towards the others. Out of the corner of his eye he sees something big advancing from near the sauna. It's one of the Abominations!

Johannes and Arttu move up to the corner of the police station, close to the ski-mobiles. Johannes spots more of The Dead moving towards them from the direction of the radio mast.

The Abomination rushes towards Tapio and Helena. Tapio gets off a shot, but the bullet bounces off the Abomination's ice encrusted hide. Helena and Tapio have no choice but to run for the ski-mobiles. 

 Arttu and Johnannes get the ski-mobiles started and race towards their companions. Tapio leaps onto the back of Johannes ski-mobile and, thinking the others are right behind, Johannes and Tapio race off to safety. 
Meanwhile Artuu and his granddaughter are surrounded by The Dead. The old hunter can't get his ski-mobile started, and the two are forced to fight a desperate battle, fending off The Dead until the engine finally roars into life. The two of them escape, racing off into the blizzard after their companions, leaving the village, and their fallen friend, behind forever. 

I hope you enjoyed this battle report. I will get round to finishing the rest of the buildings soon. I promise.