Dux Britanniarum

Not too bad a week, except for my computer having a minor death and needing new components.  I have it running again but only just.  Ah well, these things are sent to try us, as they say.  By this time next week I will have a new motherboard, new processor, new RAM and a new graphics card, so a nearly new computer.

Anyway, back to the important stuff.....wargames!  Monday saw the Monday night group play Dux Britannarium for the first time since the official rules came out.  We helped playtest the rules, but have been too busy with other things to play it since they were released.  So figures were dusted off, terrain was set up and battle was commenced.  As we were learning the rules again, we played with 3 people per side, one for each big-man.  Zob, Colin and Stinky Nathan were the evil, nasty and generally unliked Saxon raiders, while myself, Panjo and Andy had the gallant, brave but, finally, hopeless Romano-British. 

Turn 2 and the Britons arrive

The Saxons were on a mission to raid a farm, which was about as far away from them as it could get.  They managed one move, then the initial defenders arrived.  The Saxon lord, Stinky Nathan led his entire force up the right hand side of the table, managing to keep them together in a most un-Saxonlike manner.  He had two units of Gedridht(Elite), three units of Duguth(Warriors) and a unit of archers.  Panjo was the lord of the Romano-Brits and managed to bring 5 of his 7 units on in turn 2.  His force had the Comanipulares(Elite), a unit of Milites(Warriors) and two units of Numeri(Levy), supported by a group of archers. 

Saxons split up as the Britons advance

The Saxons decided to split their force, with Stinky Nathan taking the elites forward alone to raid the village, while Zob and Colin took the Duguth and archers to block the approaching Britons.  Panjo led his troops forward in two formations, one of the Comanipulares and Milites, led by Andy, the other of the two Numeri units, led by himself. The remaining units of the British arrived behind the farm, ineptly commanding by me.  One unit of Numeri and one of Milites, the foolishly bravely advanced to defend the farm from the approaching elite Saxon warriors.  Levy against elite, not a good match up!

Fight!!!! 

The Saxon archers were on form, killing two of the Britons best troops.  Colin decided to have his formation of two units of Warriors charge the best troops of the Romano-British.  It went fairly well for the Britons, with the Saxons bouncing and falling back.  The Britons were forced to take a step back as the Comanipulares had 6 shock, but only 4 men.  Luckily they managed to maintain their shieldwall formation.  The Saxons had lost 3 men, splitting their formation and pushing them back several inches.
Zob then charged his fresh unit of Saxons into the shaken shieldwall, killing two more elite British warriors and scattering them.  The remaining British warriors were shaken by this and fell back.  Colins men rallied and charged the Levy, who were all fired up after seeing off the Saxon archers.  Twelve men, led by Dux Panjo and his champion should hold off 9 shaken Saxons, shouldn't they?  No, not at all!  Meanwhile, in the village, it had all gone to bats**t!  The elite Saxons charged into the British shieldwall, throwing axes and spears as they came (sneaky Strong Arm fate card).  12 dice, causing shock on a 5+ and Stinky Nathan managed to get 8 hits!  The Saxons smashed the shieldwall and scattered the warriors to the winds, pushing them back 6 inches.  The levy were also shaken, falling back 3 inches.  This shattered the shieldwall and things were looking bad for the farmers.

The final turn of the game was no better for the Britons and they were forced to quit the field, leaving the Saxons to stampede the women and rape the livestock. 

Oh dear, its all gone a bit Pete Tong.

A fun game was had by all I think, disturbed only by the constant fragrant rumblings from the lower regions of Stinky Nathan.  Next week sees the first battle in a new campaign, with Saxon Colin attacking Romano-British Panjo.  The rest of us are playing X-Wing upstairs.

Devon Wargames and eBay

So Saturday is nearly over.  Amazingly, I failed to win the lottery last night so still have to go to work tonight.  Boo Hiss.

I went to the Devon club and ended up playing Flames of War.  Barbarossa period, with hordes of Russians being decimated by very few Germans.  35 Russian tanks took on 6 Panzer IIIs and 3 Stug IIIs.  In short order the 10 T-26s were destroyed, the 10 BT-2s were destroyed, reborn and destroyed again, the 5 T-35s were destroyed and the 10 T-28s lost 2 and had 3 bailed out.  The Germans lost 3 armoured cars!  Shots rained in on the Panzers and all bounced off.  I didn't realise Panzer IIIs were that well armoured.  The German infantry dug in and went to ground, so suddenly the artillery couldn't see them.  Oh well.  Thanks to Andy, Vince and Chas for the game, but it sadly reinforced my view that I don't like the Flames of War rules.  At least I tried it.  Hopefully we will be playing Battlegroup Kursk soon, which looks promising.  The other game on was Jon's computer moderated WW2 naval game.  The Graf Spee, under Kapitan von Goodyear, sank........quite quickly.........oh dear.  Stop laughing, he tried his best but always wanted to be a U-boat commander really. 

I have listed my Bolt Action Germans on ebay now, so hopefully somebody likes them enough to bid.  Its all to fund my 15mm AWI and WW2 forces, which I will play with more than I ever played with the 28mm WW2.  The British Paras will go on soon as well, probably tomorrow.  

So, work beckons, then I shall sleep before getting up to play Combat Arms or World of Tanks tomorrow night.  Still looking forward to Dux Britanniarum  on Monday night though. 

Onward and upwards, the less said about the shambolic Welsh rugby team the better.

World War Z and the next few days.

I found World War Z by Max Brooks to be an entertaining read.  I liked how it was done as interviews showing how the "War" progressed.  As much as I am looking forward to this film.....

I somehow don't think it is following the book.  I'll still go and see it though.  Zombies, you can't beat them...............unless you have a big stick!  Or a shotgun. 

The next few days are a mix of high and low for me.  Today I am photographing my 25mm WW2 figures to go on ebay, which is sad.  Then its back to painting before playing World of Tanks tonight, which is nice.  Tomorrow I am playing wargames at the Devon Wargames Group while watching Wales play Argentina on the big TV, which will be nice.  Then I have to go to work at 11pm, which is sad.

Sunday I shall mostly be asleep, until later on when I play online with some mates, which is nice.  Then I have to go to work at 11pm, which is sad.  Monday morning will be spent asleep, before getting up at about 1pm and doing some painting, which is nice.  Then Monday night is Dux Brittanarium night at Zobs, which will be great. 

Obviously this will all change if I win the lottery tonight, but whats the chance of that.  Off now to undercoat some more Dutch-Belgian Napoleonics and some Wars of the Roses archers. I am home alone, so Iron Maiden are currently blasting through the house.  :)

Bah humbug and all that.

Time for another update on the life that I lead.  Still working nights at Tesco to pay the bills.  Still failing to win the lottery.  Still painting for other people more than for me.  Thanking god that the US election is finally over and the news can be about something else.  Do the Americans care about who gets in over here when we have an election?  I doubt it somehow, but we are subjected to endless debates about the US election.  Maybe its just me though, maybe the rest of the British people do care.

Maelstrom games seem to have gone completely, taking my money with them.  From the stories on various chat groups it appears that the nice man in charge knew it was going, but still took peoples money!  I would say what I think of him, but kids may read this.  Suffice to say my thoughts on this man are not pleasant.  I have reordered the guns I need direct from Battlefront, but that has now been 3 weeks with no sign of any delivery yet.  I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that this gun order has been cursed by the gods of wargaming.

I have managed to do some painting around working nights and feeling ill.  Two lots of 32 15mm Napoleonic Dutch-Belgians (one line and one militia unit) and 24 Perrys Wars of the Roses figures for the Christmas game at the Devon Wargames Group.  Still have more Napoleonics to do, as everytime I paint any he sends me more than I have painted.  Newest arrivals are Dutch-Belgian cavalry and more infantry.  Two 40 figure units of line infantry and 6 units of cavalry, plus 2 batteries of artillery.  Better to have too much than not enough.

I do have another unit of Wars of the Roses to do as well, but they are for me so may have to wait a bit.  Four units should be enough for my little lot in the game.  Plenty of levy with little of no ability to hurt anyone, led by a complete fool.  That's the way forward.

 In other news, I have decided to get rid of my 25mm WW2 figures and vehicles.  I have used them once in about 3 years now, so will sell them on and reinvest the money in finishing of my AWI forces and getting some more 15mm WW2.  15mm is becoming my favoured scale for most games now, although some 25mm will still be kept (War of the Roses, Ancients, Dark Ages and Cold War).  My British Paras and German Panzergrenadiers will soon be on ebay though.  Here are a couple of pictures just to tease you.

There are more Paras than shown here, but I never got around to taking pictures of them all.  There is also some armoured support in the shape of Tetrach tanks.  Ooohhhh, scarey.

I enjoyed painting them, but can't justify keeping them anymore.

If anybody is interested in them then drop me an email and I can send you some bigger pictures and a full list of what I have.

Well, back to the grindstone again now. Have fun.

US Flak 88s and P-47 pictures

Here are the nearly finished Flak 88's.  Painted in US green with American crews, which seems a bit odd but it's what the customer wanted.  Battlefront guns, Peter Pig crew and Kerr & King bases.  Biggest pain was getting the crew glued on after removing their bases, but they seem to be holding ok now. 



I am also doing a pair of Pak 43's in the same scheme.  The bases and crew are all done, but I am still waiting for the guns.  The last part of the order is a P-47 Thunderbolt fighter.  It's almost finished, as you can see.  Just some weathering and decals to do.

I finished watching Prometheus and found it to be entertaining enough.  Its a reasonable way to waste a couple of hours anyway.  Deep joy of work at Tesco tonight, but needs must and all that.

Catch you all later.


PS.  For some reason I can post on my blog, but I can't reply to any comments.  So cheers Gaz, at least somebody is reading this drivel.

If you do get onto World of Tanks, I play on Friday evenings from 7.30 until about 9.  Hopefully see you there.

Fed up with tablets, but at least I am painting again.

So the stomach is still playing me up, despite being on so many tablets I rattle.  I am taking between 9 and 14 tablets a day, depending on how good or bad I feel, but don't seem to be getting any better.  My wife has decided that enough is enough and I will be going back to the doctors next week.  Deep joy.

On a brighter note, at least I am getting some painting done again.  I have finished the Flak 88's with American crews and the P-47 is nearly done too.  Pictures tomorrow or Monday, depending how I feel and what I have to do tomorrow.  I have also started another unit of Napoleonic Dutch.  More blue coats with blacks shakos, but needs must.  I do need to get my 25mm Wars of the Roses project finished as we are playing it at the December meet of the Devon club.  So far I have two units finished, with another 75% done.  The fourth unit is still on the sprues though, so I need to get cracking.

One thing I have rarely mentioned on here is my online gaming.  I dabble with several free online games, my preference being World of Tanks.  I also play Combat Arms occasionally and am on the beta test group of World of Warplanes, which is nice.  World of Tanks is fun though, there are 3 or 4 of us who get online together on Friday evenings for about an hour and a half.  we primarily play the lower level tanks as they are the most fun.  MS-1, BT-2 and the like, with little or no artillery and no surprise when your green-painted lawnmower gets blown up.  I have played with tanks up to level 6, but am sticking with level 4 or less now, as the "paying customers" don't bother buying special stuff for level 1 or 2 tanks.  If you have never tried it then give it a go.  It's free, unless you want to spend money on it.  I am Gra55hopper, so watch out for me if you do play.  World of Warplanes is also fun, but I tend to get shot down a lot.  My PC struggles a bit too, so new motherboard and processor is the plan for the new year.
Got to finish watching Prometheus, which seems ok.  Definitely a prequel to aliens, but nice effects and all that.  Not as much fun as Carter of Mars though.  I liked the books many years ago and don't think the film is too bad, especially considering its a Disney creation.
Off now for some tea before playing Tanks with Panjo and Nathan later.  Catch you next time.

Sick again, Maelstrom Games, Parcel Farce and X-Wing

Well, here I am at home on the 2nd Saturday of the month instead of being at the Devon Wargames meeting.  My stomach is playing up again and I need to go to work tonight, so I am taking it easy today.  Stupid pancreas.

It seems my last post rather pre-empted the situation at Maelstrom Games.  My order for guns is still outstanding and they are no longer using paypal, so it looks like I am out of pocket there.  Not impressed to be honest, seems like the head honcho at Maelstrom has a bit of a reputation for this sort of thing as well.  So I am off to order some Pak 43s from another source now, probably direct from Battlefront to save any future problems.

My next company to avoid is Parcel Force.  I sold some woodworking tools on ebay for a friend last Tuesday.  Had been paid by everybody by Thursday so booked them all to go via a courier service via Parcel2Go.com.  Five items were sold, ranging from 4kg to 20kg. Three of the five were shipped by my Hermes, one by Yodel(ex-DHL) and one by Parcel Force as they were cheapest for shipping to Norway.  Yodel picked up yesterday at about midday, my Hermes were here by 3pm and Parcel Farce were here..............never.  Yes, that's right, I still have a parcel here.  Despite paying over £33 for 48 hour shipping to Norway, the parcel is still here in my dining room.  Not a good advertisement for a shipping company to be honest.  So now I have to stay up on Monday after working Sunday night in the faint hope that Parcel Farce might arrive to pick up the parcel. 

Finally something good.  After my purchase of the X-Wing game, with its two TIE fighters and single X-wing fighters, I have just received my first wave of reinforcements.  Another X-wing and TIE fighter, supported by a Y-wing and TIE advanced.  Very nice they are too, although I still see a need for some more.  Another X-wing would allow the trench run for the attack on the Death Star to be replayed.  Luke Skywalker, Wedge Antilles and Biggs Darklighter  each with an R2 unit and proton torpedoes adds up to 102 pts.  They are a trio to fear in X-wing fighters, espescially Wedge. I will also need 2 more Y-wings, to do the same mission.  Then some more TIE fighters to match them up.  I think another box set, which will give another X-wing and two more TIEs would be a good buy, followed by two more Y-wings.  Then some TIE Interceptors when they come out.  I'm not to bothered about the A-wings, I just don't like them much.  I will need a Millenium Falcon though.  I mean, who doesn't want one.

Anyway, keep playing and keep smiling.