Great video from West Tokyo Wargamers of a World War I aerial game using the Wings of War (now Wings of Glory) game and miniatures!
Tag: British
Fire & Sword Turn 05: March 1884
After the rather erratic results in February 1884 the Anglo-Egyptian forces were facing some great challenges (and some perhaps unrecognised opportunities) in March. Both Eastern & Western Sudan are only showing very low levels of rebellion and not offering a serious threat to the Anglo-Egyptians – the real fight for Sudan is spread the length of the Nile, from Fashoda all the way downstream to Abu Hamed. In the North the 3rd Company, 19th Yorkshire Regiment headed south from Aswan to Wadi Halfa ready to move into the Sudan in April; where it is joined by a late reinforcement in the form of a company of the Egyptian Camel Corps and a Screw Gun Battery of the British Camel Corps.
Continue reading “Fire & Sword Turn 05: March 1884”Fire & Sword Battle 06: The Gardner’s Jammed & The Yorks Vanquished
As described in Fire & Sword Turn 04: February 1884 Sir Henry’s column continued South towards Dongola, and at the 3rd Cataract is met by the first supply steamer to have made it beyond the 2nd Cataract. It resupplies his column and brings welcome reinforcements in the form of the 2nd Company, 19th Yorkshire Regiment (who are also wearing the freshly issued and newly designed Grey Serge Uniforms intended for the expedition), as well as the 1st MG Section, The Naval Brigade (operating Gardner Guns). The reinforced column is soon in Kerma and quickly continues on to Dongola, conscious of the possibility of European hostages or prisoners being held there. As it finally approaches the town Sir Henry is surprised with a sudden onslaught by the defending Dervish forces!
Continue reading “Fire & Sword Battle 06: The Gardner’s Jammed & The Yorks Vanquished”Fire & Sword Battle 05: Because We’re ‘ere Yuzbashi! Nobody Else. Just Us.
Akhtar Pasha had just spent the last few weeks trekking along the caravan trail from Suakin to Berber. When he left Suakin the Eastern Sudan was quiet and unchanged despite the violent rebellion raging in Northern & Southern Sudan – however things had now changed, the Eastern Sudan had erupted into rebellion behind him and he was now deep in enemy territory, with a column of troops in need of water and supplies, and lacking any mounted force for reconnaissance or foraging! Akhtar’s plan was to march rapidly on Berber, this was the closest reasonable sized town that was both likely to have plentiful stocks of supplies, and be fortifiable once occupied – but it was also small enough that hopefully it would not have a strong Mahdist rebel presence, and they would not have heavily fortified the place thereby making access impractical. Around the middle of February Akhtar Pasha’s force arrived at Berber, and prepared to assault the town…
Continue reading “Fire & Sword Battle 05: Because We’re ‘ere Yuzbashi! Nobody Else. Just Us.”Fire & Sword Turn 04: February 1884
With January 1884 drawing to a close, the revolt appeared to have been stabilising – however the Eastern Sudan, despite the relative quiet in the region now finally also erupted (or rather simmered) into full blown rebellion – the results were limited however; although Trinkitat & Kassala fell into the hands of dissident Beja Hadendowa Fuzzy-Wuzzies aligned with the Mahdist Rebels, and led by one Osman Diqna, Suakin appears secure – so they aren’t seen as a major threat at this time. Elsewhere no major changes occurred and Akhtar Pasha’s column at Hadiga, and the lone 4th Company of the 1st Egyptian Rifle Battalion on the Atbara River, barely noticed, continuing their journeys initially unaware of what had transpired to the East & South of them…
Continue reading “Fire & Sword Turn 04: February 1884”Fire & Sword Battle 04: Sally at Abu Hamed
As referred to in Revolt in the Sudan Turn 03: January 1884, at Abu Hamed Sayed Bey decides to sally forth from the town and endeavour to temporarily break the siege. While Abu Hamed is now plentifully supplied with resources (it has over 6 months of supplies on hand) Sayed Bey determines to take the opportunity to procure more, and while he has a relatively fresh & strong force available to hopefully inflict a defeat on the local Mahdist forces. Unbeknown to Sayed Bey, he sallies forth only two days after Sir Henry’s victory over the Dervish force at Baqah al-Garbiyyah Oasis, intent on breaking the siege of Abu Hamed…
Continue reading “Fire & Sword Battle 04: Sally at Abu Hamed”A Spanish Village near Waterloo
In a Spanish Village somewhere between Quatre Bras and Waterloo, in Belgium, Napoleon’s advanced guard clashed with rearguard elements of Wellington’s retiring British & German allied force. My detachment of dragoons were in the vanguard of the returning Emperor’s advance, and had stopped for the evening in a strangely Spanish village not far from Quatre Bras, having pursued the English since the battle and the last mentioned place. We selected the village to billet in and establish pickets for the evening in anticipation of the arrival of the leading infantry elements of the following Corps. Unknown to us the English and their their new Allies had sent forth aggressive rear-guard patrols to the village with similar intent, and presumably hoping to deny us the village for the evening, setting the scene for a brisk late afternoon action! Continue reading “A Spanish Village near Waterloo”
Work Begins On Rorke’s Drift
Well its been much longer than planned and to get things along I have enlisted my mate Kieran (6mm Wargaming) to build my Rorke’s Drift Models and Base Board for me. I have been inspired by the SSWG’s (Southend & Shoeburyness Wargames Group) wonderful demo game from several years ago (you can see a full set of photos here, it was at Salute 2006 in the UK and I believe has been at shows prior to that), and they still reuse it regularly today (see this blog post from 2011). So Kieran has completed assembly of the buildings and we’ve done two mock-ups of the layout…
John Curry’s “History Of Wargaming” Upate
On the 04 May 2012 John Curry sent the following update out concerning his “History of Wargaming” project for those who may not have seen it:
This is a short occasional update on the publishing progress of the History of Wargaming Project. The project has gone digital and about 20 of the books/rules are now available as e-books from the iBook Store, The Nook, or from www.lulu.com. The rest of the back catalogue will be converted in due course. Peter Perla’s Art of Wargaming, a book about the professional use of wargaming (as well as much interesting material about the history of wargaming), is now out in paperback. Donald Featherstone has seen his novel Redcoats for the Raj, back into print and he has completed a new novel, The Badgered Men. Donald Featherstone’s classic book Air War Games has now been updated and is now [again] in print.
Continue reading “John Curry’s “History Of Wargaming” Upate”Hundred Days British
Life has been a bit hectic over Christmas – with holidays, work, catching up on gardening & clearing clutter (both wargaming and general household accumulation), and a few other matters – so I haven’t had much chance to progress any posts in January at all, even though I do have several part-written or drafted in outline. Meanwhile here’s a little eye-candy of a couple of my 28mm Napoleonic British units that featured in my ‘Hundred Days’ games in 2011!
Some Great New WWII Dragon Armor
Dragon Armor has announced in the last few weeks the release of several of their new models planned for the 2011-2012 period, as many will know the Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go and Type 97 Chi-Ha have both been released (there are now 2 colour schemes available for the former and 3 for the latter) along with the U.S. LVT-A(1) with 37mm gun turret, and various German light vehicles such as the SdKfz 222 Light Reconnaissance Car and SdKfz 251/22 Half-Track with PaK40 on board. Most recently has been the release of the Neubaufahrzeug from Panzerabteilung z.b.V.40 in Norway 1940. Now due in early 2012 are the German SdKfz 231 Heavy Reconnaissance Car in early war Panzer Grey (a much missed model from all ranges), and a British Infantry Tank Mk.IV Churchill Mk.III (the 6pdr version that served from Dieppe in 1942 until the end of the war in Italy and to a lesser extent in NWE.
Rorke’s Drift Arrives!
My Warlord Games “Rorke’s Drift” box set arrived today… It’s an impressive beast- it was part of their pre-order special on the new Anglo-Zulu War range that’s the premier of their new strategic partnership with Empress Miniatures. At the time I resisted the urge to get the full “Horns of the Buffalo – Rorke’s Drift Collectors Set” which is an absolutely huge collection of toys! This set is the first of their collaborations planned with Empress Miniatures – so you get a swag of Warlord Games plastic figures and terrain pieces, some Empress Miniatures speciality metal figs, and a pair of “4Ground” laser-cut plywood building kitsets of the storehouse and hospital. Continue reading “Rorke’s Drift Arrives!”