28mm General Sterling Price Missouri State Guard

Here is a conversion I have just done. It’s Sterling Price Confederate General and commander of the Missouri State Guard in 1861. I have depicted 'Pap' Price, as he was known, in civilian clothes as he appeared at the battle of Wilson's Creek 10 August 1861. I intend to paint up a couple of brigades of Missouri State Guards who like their commander did not generally wear military uniform in the early stages of the war. The first photo below is of the original Front Rank mini of the mounted Napoleonic Gentleman from which the 'Pap' Price was made. I used Milliput to make the hat and extend the coat. 

1:1000 scale Spanish American War Fleets

Here are my completed fleets for Santiago July 1898. This project has been most satisfying as these ship models have sat in a box for almost 20 years. They are now painted and ready to set sail.

 

 The American fleet at Santiago July 1898

 The Spanish Fleet at Santiago July 1898

Two More 1898 1:1000 scale Spanish Warships

 SNS Cristobal Colon

SNS Admilrate Oquendo

Here are the latest two 1:1000 scale Spanish 1898 warships to leave the paint pot.

NOT A GOOD DAY FOR NATO

Here are photos of a game we played last Sunday. The scenario was set in Germany in 1985 and based on a scene from the book Team Yankee. Essentially it had Team Yankee and a battalion of British infantry pitted against a Warsaw Pact assault on their positions. The game was played with 1/72 scale models using an modified set of Rapid Fire rules.

The game was played in two phases. The opening phase was a Warsaw Pact (WP) airborne assault on two bridges which were defended by a British infantry battalion. The WP airborne came in aboard two waves of helicopters, supported by a Hind gunship.

 

The first wave of WP airborne arrive.

WP airborne land outside a factory held by British infantry. Earlier that turn the Hind had worked over the factory with its chain gun and knocked out half the British infantry there.The British then rolled a morale test and failed. 

The Hind swoops in to deal with the British mortar group which had fired on the WP airborne. Half the mortar group was knocked out by the Hind and when the remainder of the unit tested its morale it failed. This repeated failure of NATO morale was going to become major feature of the game.

The second wave of WP airborne sweep in. They shot up a hill top they had chosen to capture and when the British troops there tested their morale they failed again! Something was seriously amiss in that British battalion for sure. The WP airborne then easily captured the hill. 

 

The final straw came when the Brits moved up two Scorpions in the hope of doing some damage to the newly landed WP airborne. The Hind swooped in and knocked out one of the Scorpions and when the other Scorpion tested its morale it failed, its crew then bailed out and quickly departed the scene. This was all too much for what remained of the British battalion and it tested its morale and surprise, surprise it failed and surrendered. Serious questions will no doubt be asked just who that British battalion was and why it performed so consistently appallingly throughout the engagement. Rolling endless 1s whenever a British morale test was called for certainly did not help it.

The second phase of the game involved the arrival of a WP armored column and the table was lengthened to accommodate the new arrivals.

The WP Tank and motorized infantry column arrives and advances over the captured bridges. 

 

Team Yankee awaits the onslaught.

A US infantry battalion shelters in cover.

WP armor begins to deploy as it exits the town

The tanks engage. No matter what the US tankers did they could not hit a thing while the WP armor never missed a shot. The dice had definitely decided they were communist dice for this game. 

 

The battle turns into a massacre of NATO armor. All the US MBTs were knocked out and half the US infantry APCs were knocked out by a WP airstrike. Not one WP AFV was damaged. NATO air tried to intervene but was shot out of the sky by WP AAA. To do this the WP players needed to roll a 9 on a d10 and guess what, they rolled a 9. It absolutely was not NATOs day.

OPERATION SCAMPER 28mm MODERN AFRICAN WARGAME

Here are some photos from Operation Scamper which we played today. The Team had to extract three ambassadors - Sir Leslie Ponsonby (UK), Madame LeBrusque (France) and Sir Les Paterson (Australia) from a situation in which fanatical Militia were running amok. The team managed to do this without any harm coming to ambassadors although the diplomats got plenty wet and dirty in the process. It was not looking too flash for the Team at one stage but late in the game the Team managed to call in an airstrike (to do this they needed a 10 on a d10) which took out the bridge and killed a large number of Militia - one Team member then swam the river, recovered a boat on the far bank and used it to get everyone across and to the LZ. They did this one turn late but successfully called the Helo to delay its arrival for one turn. Two Team members were lightly wounded and one was killed. The killed guy was wounded and sheltering behind a jeep when he was swarmed by Militia. There was nothing anyone could do to help him at the time. The players all played members of the Team. The Militia appearances and actions were all determined by umpire dice rolls. Sometimes the Militia did nothing but sometimes they went crazy and attacked in a frenzy - this is what happened when they swarmed the wounded guys. Four local force soldiers were killed (three crew of the armored car and one grunt) and two heavily wounded. Late in the game three of the local force guys bugged out and stole a jeep then drove off the table - the jeep was ambushed by Militia and one of the fleeing soldiers was killed but it was not the driver and the jeep made its escape. 

All the minis used in the game were 28mm. The table was about eight feet long and four feet wide. We used a set of house rules based on the Force on Force rules with a touch of Disposable Heroes. The game lasted for about five hours. Everyone who participated had a good time and enjoyed the game. 

 

  Some views of the table

  

 What all the fuss was about!

 

 The column enters the table

 Militia rush out of the bush attempting to attack the column - 

the Team made short work of them

The column led by the armored car cautiously approaches a shanty town - there was no knowing where the enemy would be. You can see a Militia Technical hiding behind one of the hovels.

 Alerted by the sound of firing Militia emerge from the bush

 More Militia move towards the action

 The Team thinking about the best thing to do.

 Still thinking about the best thing to do.

A wounded Team member and a wounded local force soldier shelter behind their jeep, Militia fire at them. The armored car pulls up behind a sandbag position in an attempt to cover the wounded men.

 Crummp! The armored car is hit by an RPG and brews up. Damn!

 The Militia swarm out and kill the two wounded men at the jeep.

More Militia rush across the bridge - little did they know that the Team had managed to call in an airstrike and that the bridge was its target.

 Militia come out of the bush and discover a nice big truck sitting all alone on the road

The ambassadors are shepherded by two team members through the long grass - Sir Leslie's white Tux was getting quite soiled and Madame LeBrusque's hair was a mess. Sir Les on the other hand did not give a toss.

The Team and two local force soldiers engage a group of Militia who rushed at them. The Team was confronted several times by Militia doing this but each time managed to destroy their attackers.

 

The Team had succeeded in extracting the Ambassadors and the game was over but the real prize was the cool big truck now in the possession of the Militia - just the thing to impress the locals

28mm Viking Battle

Here are some photos of a 28mm Viking v. Saxons battle we played last week. We use our own house rules that we have been using for several years now. One reason for the game was to test some slight amendments to the rules. Both sides were roughly equal in numbers -56 figures each. The game lasted for two hours and got down to both armies surviving only on their army morale dice which they had to throw at the beginning of each turn. Neither army broke so the fight went on until our agreed finishing time when we declared that night had fallen and exhausted both armies fell back and the battle ended. It was good fun and helped us sort out the new rules ideas. 

 The two 'armies' formed up prior to the battle

 On the Viking side the army leader and his banner

 Some of the Saxons

 More of the Saxons

A close up of the fearsome Viking chieftain and his banner bearer

 On the far right one part of the Viking line has crashed into the Saxon line

With part of his army fighting the Viking Chieftain holds back the other part of his line watching the uncommitted part of the Saxon army

From the Saxon viewpoint - their left is engaged by Vikings while the rest of the army warily watches the remainder of the Viking army

 

Another view from the Saxon side. You can see the Bishop giving heart and courage to the Saxons

 Part of the Viking battle line

 Looking at the Vikings from the Saxon battle line

 Battle is joined all along the line

 In the thick of the battle

 Neither side gives ground

 The battle goes on

The Viking Chieftain gets involved in the fight - our rules are that a warband/army leader must become involved in personal combat within a certain number of turns once the fighting starts or the opponent can make the reluctant leaders army take a morale test. After all the very rationale for these leaders was reputation as a warrior and they could hardly be expected to attract a following if they were timid. In this game the Viking chieftain did very well and added to his reputation for battlefield prowess. The Saxon army leader got involved early on in the fighting and did well, surviving the battle and adding to his reputation.

 More of the close fighting in the closing moments of the battle

The battle comes to an end with the Viking chieftain still fighting. Both sides had lost roughly equal numbers.