World War Two, Hollywood style

 
I have mentioned this a couple of times on my blog, so to the regular readers, apologies for the slight repetition. My Illustrious Wargaming Opponent and I have played quite a few games of Rapid Fire and found it very enjoyable, but I wanted to try something at 28mm scale, with more emphasis on the characters, more Hollywood style. After all, we wargame to have fun and sometimes we should be allowed to be a bit looser with the historical accuracy.

My Captain America conversion, I believe the original model is from Reaper.

So, here undedited, but definitely playtested, my WW2 rules. They are written around the skeleton of Games Workshops Old West rules, "Legends of the Old West." So you will need a copy of the main rulebook, sadly no longer in print, but there are copies floating around if you look hard enough. Feedback and suggestions for more characters gratefully received. I hope you try it and enjoy!

Captain America and the Howling Commandos

The Setting

This isn’t World War Two, this is Hollywood World War Two. This is Comic book World War Two. In this setting, a GI can catch an unexploded grenade and throw it back in Gerry’s face. In this setting Captain America may easily be found high fiving Ace Rimmer as Hellboy looks brooding in the background lighting his next cigar. “He looks like a Sour Kraut.” Quips Ace as they watch Hitler swinging back and forth from the rope tied round his waist. The Rocketeer ties the other end of the rope to a lamppost then jets off into the big blue.

The rules are standard Legends of the Old West rules with the weapons lists swapped out for contemporary World War Two weapons. In the interests of gameplay the pistols and rifles have not been increased in power or accuracy compared to those of the 19^th century.  However, The following extra rules also cover new technologies such as cars and tanks.

Non historical notes

In this universe the following factions exist.

The BPRD. The Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense was founded by a joint venture between the United States and the United Kingdom governments, charged with researching the occult, paranormal and supernatural. Defending against their dangers. Noted agents include the half demon, Hellboy.

Hydra. Hitlers own agency charged with investigating the paranormal, led by Baron Von Strucker and the Red Skull. The Barons own personal goals are actually to take over Nazi Germany, Hitler is just a pawn in his own nefarious plans.

Rules

Vehicles.

Unlike other wargames, some vehicles have no specific crew/drivers. A tank will have a driver and a gunner but if an open top vehicle it will just be an empty vehicle. Any model can get in a vehicle and drive it, or fire its weapons. (In Hollywood the keys are always in the ignition.)

To get in to or out of a vehicle, roll a dice:

1: the door is stuck, jammed, locked stay outside the vehicle or inside.

2-5: You can leave or enter the vehicle then stop and take no further action.

6: You make a heroic exit and can continue your move, or you have heroically leapt into the vehicle and gunned the engine or fired its weapon. You can either move the vehicle or fire its weapon.

Moving vehicles. Although realistically vehicles are much faster than people, this is skirmish and the vehicles don’t necessarily get up to their top speed. A vehicle cannot make a move if a passenger has just embarked or disembarked unless they rolled a 6.

 A vehicle can make one of the following:

A: Move 8” and fire a weapon, either mounted on the vehicle, or one of their own.

B: Move 12” and fire no weapons

C: Move 18” Along a road and fire no weapons

A passenger cannot just swap between the mounted weapon and the steering wheel. The player must declare the swap over as the models whole move.  Models can only fire their own weapon from a motorbike or open-top vehicle.

Shooting at Vehicles.

If the vehicle is open top, the firer can choose to target the vehicle or the passenger. They must then make a 4+ in the way roll after the successful hit. Only weapons of Strength 6 or higher can damage a vehicle. Roll to wound a vehicle as normal, then if it has lost its last wound roll a D6:

1 or 2: No ill affect, vehicle cannot move next turn.

3: Light damage, cannot move or shoot next turn. If already been lightly damaged, then heavy damaged automatically.

4: Heavy damage, roll another dice, 1-3 lost all drive, cannot move, 4-6 lost random weapon unless has no weapons, then also lost all drive. (Unless already received a heavy damage, then disabled.

5: Disabled. Permantly cannot move or shoot. Pretty much a piece of cover. (If open top passengers can choose to stay in the vehicle and use as 360 degree cover, not if a motorbike!)

6: Explodes. Castrastrophic Hollywood explosion. All passengers lose a wound. They can use a fortune to try and negate this, staggering heroically from the wreckage.

Motorbikes

Motorbikes are the exception for being shot at. They have a grit of 5 and can be damaged by any weapon. Rules wise they are exactly like horses except they have no pluck value. They have one wound and do not roll on the above damage table. They move 10” and only move at half rate through difficult terrain. Riders can attempt to jump a bike and Saddle Up! Exactly like a horse. If a bike loses a wound the rider must make a thrown rider test as well as if he fails a jump or Saddle Up! If a rider is killed and the bike is not damaged, it will stop and be rideable by any model can get to it.

Vehicles

Name	Grit	Wounds	Weapons	Special
Bike	5	1	None	See above
Staff car or Jeep	6	1	None	Open top
SDKFZ 231 Armoured car	7	1	20mm kwk MG34
Panzer 2	8	2	20mm kwk
Sherman Firefly	9	2	17 pounder

 

Weapons

British and American Weapons

Name	Range	Strength	Move Penalty	Special
Bazooka/17 pounder	8-18	6	Full	Explosion template
Tommie Gun	Special 6	3	Half	Spread template
30 cal Machine gun	Special 12	4	Full	Spread template
M1 Rifle	18	3	Half
Bren Gun	18	3	Half/Full	Two shots at full movement penalty
Piat	8-18	8	Full
Sten Gun	Special 6	3	Half	Spread Template
Lee Enfield Rifle	24	3	Full
Longbow	18	2	Half	Silent
Vibranium Shield	18	As user	None	Throwing shield, silent
Grenade	Str x 2	6	Half	Explosion template
Good Samaritan	12	3	Half	Scattergun setting

Special Range.  Guns that have special range have a range that you then place the spread template at the end of, then anything under or partially under the template is rolled to hit.

Weapons with two ranges, the first number is the minimum, due to the explosive nature of the weapon.

Bren guns can fire once at Half speed, or if stay still fire two shots at the same target.

Throwing shield. Can throw in a direct line against any target, building or person. Then can ricochet and change any direction thrower chooses. Can make one or two ricochets, each one roll a dice, on a 1 or 2 the shield stops and must be collected. Otherwise continues and then returns immediately to owner. (The return is on top of the 18” range.) This means it can hit up to three targets. The first part of the throw cannot be more than 10”. Each target hit is thrown to the ground regardless of whether wounded. Also on a 4+ can be used to bounce grenades back as if the wielder threw the grenade themselves if Cap is within 1" of the grenades target.

German Weapons

Name	Range	Strength	Move Penalty	Special
Stg 44	18	4	Half	4 shots, always roll of 6 to hit Slow reload
20mm kwk	18	6	Special	Vehicle mounted
MG 34	Special 12	4	Full	Spread template
Experimental tesseract rifle	18	4	Half	Forceful
Luger	12	4	None
Stick Grenade	Str x 2	6	Half	Explosion template
Grenade Launcher	18	6	Full	Explosion Template
Hand Flamer	Spread Template	4	Half	Template

Russian Weapons

Name	Range	Strength	Move Penalty	Special
Tokarev Rifle	24	3	Full
PPS43	12	3	Half/Full	Three shots full movement penalty, one at half

The stug 44 fires like fanning a six gun. 6 to hit and if successfully hit, then allocate the next shot to any target within three inches.

The Experimental rifle goes through cover like a hot knife through butter. Reduce the in the way roll by one, so a fence is ignored on a 2+ instead of a 3+. A person or vehicle is still an in the way roll of 4+ though.

The Cast

Von Strucker and his bodyguard. (Models from Warlord Games with a head swap for Strucker.)

German Army

Baron Von Strucker

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Points
4+	3	4	5	1	2	6	1	1	50

Equipment: Stg 44. Experimental Heavy Armour

Special Rules: Heavy armour, reduces movement to 4” but increases Grit by 1 (already in profile)

Leader, Allies can use his Pluck value within 6”

The Barons Bodyguard

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Points
6+	3	3	5	1	1	3	0	0	20

Equipment: Stg 44. Experimental Heavy Armour, 1 stick grenade

Special Rules: Heavy armour, reduces movement to 4” but increases Grit by 1 (already in profile)

Experiment 239 - the result of Nazi scientists meddling with man and machine. (Model from Hasslefree miniatures.)

Experiment 239

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Points
6+	4	5	5	2	3	7	0	1	90

Equipment: Hand Flamer

Special Rules: Large Target, when being shot at, firer adds +1 to their dice roll for in the way rolls,. Ignores difficult terrain modifier, can reroll failed climb rolls. Cannot use vehicles.

Pugilist, ignores -1 for unarmed fighting

Fearsome reputation, pluck test to charge or shoot at.

Fury, extra attack on the charge.

Lobotomised, must take a pluck test each turn to activate himself, however will fight as normal if is in combat.

The Red Skull. Head swap conversion. (Apologies I am not sure of the manufacturer.)

Agents of Hydra

The Red Skull                                                                                                                                                    

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Points
4+	4	4	4	2	3	7	2	2	60

Equipment: Luger pistol, Knife.

Special rules: Leader, can take pluck test on behalf of friendly model with 6”

Fearsome reputation, pluck test to shoot at or charge

Inspirational Leader, Allies can use his Pluck value within 12”

Hydra Agents. Models bought second hand so unfortunately I do not know the manufacturer.

Hydra Sergeant

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Points
4+	3	3	3	1	1	4	0	1	30

Equipment: Luger

Special Rules: Leader, Allies can use his Pluck value within 6”

Hydra Agents

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Points
5+	2	2	3	1	1	3	0	0	20

Equipment: Experimental Tesseract Rifle

Hydra Heavy Agent

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Points
5+	2	2	3	1	1	3	0	0	40

Equipment: Grenade Launcher

BPRD

Hellboy

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Points
3+	4	5	5	2	3	7	3	3	80

Equipment: Good Samaritan, Knife, Hellfist

Special Rules: Prehensile tail, extra attack included in profile.

Leader, Allies can use his Pluck value within 6”

Deadeye shot, +1 to roll when rolling to wound when shooting. (single shot mode only)

Hellfist, Hellboy always wounds on a 4+ or less in close combat, this includes vehicles which he can attack in close combat.

Plastic British Commandos from Warlord Games with minor conversions.

Corporal Larks

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Points
3+	3	3	3	1	1	5	0	0	30

Equipment: Lee Enfield Rifle with added Scope (30” range)

Special Rules: Rifleman, reroll misses

Trigger happy, make one shot if being charged at (unless reloading or moved.)

Deadeye shot, +1 to roll when rolling to wound

Sergeant Br

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Points
4+	3	3	3	1	1	4	0	0	30

Equipment: Bren Gun

Corporal Smitty

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Points
4+	3	3	3	1	1	4	0	0	30

Equipment: Piat

Corporal Thompson

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Points
4+	3	3	3	1	1	4	0	0	30

Equipment: Sten Gun

Sergeant Phillips

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Points
3+	4	3	3	2	1	4	0	0	30

Equipment: Longbow, Hunting knife

Special Rules: Dirty Fighter. Every 6 to wound, may make extra strike against any target.

Russian female soldiers from Bad Squiddo Games.

Russian resistance

Anastacia

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Pts
4+	3	3	3	1	1	5	1	1	40

Equipment: Tokarev rifle + scope (makes range 30”) Knife

Special Rules: Trick shot, ignores in the way rolls when using a rifle

Scout, ignore difficult terrain penalties

Leader, Allies can use her Pluck value within 6”

Daria

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Pts
4+	3	3	3	1	1	4	-	-	30

Equipment: Tokarev rifle

Special rules: Scout, ignore difficult terrain penalties

Undercover Resistance Spies

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Pts
5+	2	2	3	1	1	4	0	1	20

Equipment: Luger or PPS43 (extra 30 points)

Special Rules: Distraction – cannot be targeted at all until after made an attack of sort. If within 3” of an opponent, that model has to use two Fame points instead of one to modify any rolls.

Werebears from Warlord Games.

Werebears. Pietre and Igor

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Pts
-	5	5	5	2	3	4	0	1	40

Equipment: Claws, counts as close combat weapon, so no -1 to roll in combat. Can hurt vehicles in close combat.

Special Rules: Fury, +1 attack when charging.

Large Target, when being shot at, firer adds +1 to their dice roll for in the way rolls. Ignores difficult terrain modifier, can reroll failed climb rolls. Cannot use vehicles.

Fearsome reputation, pluck test to shoot at or charge.

American Army

Captain America

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Points
3+	4	4	5	2	3	7	3	3	90

Equipment: Vibranium Shield, Tommie Gun, six shooter

Special Rules: Nimble, may re-roll all jump tests

Fury, Extra attack when charging

True Grit, may re-roll first failed pluck test

Fearsome Reputation – pluck test to charge or shoot at.

Inspirational Leader, Allies can use his Pluck value within 12”

Shield save – gets a 5+ save against any shooting attack.

Pugilist, ignores -1 for fighting unarmed

American Paratroopers from Warlord Games.

American GI’s

S	F	St	G	A	W	P	Fa	Ft	Points
5+	3	3	3	1	1	3	0	0	15 +

Equipment: various, add the cost below.

Bazooka – 20. Machine Gun – 30. Tommie Gun – 10. M1 Rifle – free.

Stealth Mission

Noise counters

Defender can only put non leader models on the table as guards. The idea is for the attacker to make as little noise as possible. Place a number of noise counters on the table at the source of the noise for each action. At the end of each turn, remove all counters.

Situation	Noise Counters
Running or climbing	1
Second round of close combat	1
Firing a range weapon (unless marked as silent)	1
Guard shouting “Achtung!”	2
Explosion (target of grenade or bazooka)	3

Guards

Defender can place guards anywhere on the table. Leaders have to be in a building or off table. If something happens within 12” of a guard or line of sight it can react, otherwise it can just drift 3”.

Guard Reaction

Roll a D6, +1 per noise counter on table.

The closest noise counter is more than 12” away, halve the total modifier. Round up to 1

If there is cover between the guard and the nearest noise counter, halve the total modifier. Round up to 1. 

D6 roll	Reaction	Effect
1	Yawns	No movement. 3” drift allowed
2	Looks around	Turn 90 degrees, 1-3 left, 4-6 right
3	Patrol	Turn 90 degrees, move 3”
4	Patrol	Turn 180 degrees, move 6”
5	Patrol	Turn 90 degrees then move 6”
6	Huh?	Move 6” in direction facing
7	Was ist das?	Turn as necessary and move 6” to nearest enemy
8	Achtung!	Comes under full control.

Raising the Alarm

Only a leader model can raise the alarm. If there are any noise tokens on the table, can roll on the table for any leader. Bear in mind there will be cover in the way as in a building. If get 8+, leader can leave the building but then is treated like a guard. If then rolls 8+ in a subsequent turn, the alarm is raised. Once raised all models act as normal.

The missions

Mission One. The stolen artefact.

Just outside a small German village in the countryside a German plane has crashed.  Somewhere in the crash site there is a stolen diary of Dr Erskine, possibly containing notes that may help recreate the Super Soldier Serum that created Captain America. Hidden in the village are six objective markers. Each time an objective is stood on it is revealed to be one of the following.

1.       The Dr’s Diary

2.       Secret map to a hidden Hydra Base.

3.       Nothing.

4.       A stash of 2 Grenades

5.       Nothing

6.       Nothing

The mission ends if one side takes the diary off any board edge.

Sides

Allies

Hellboy Larkin  Bragg  Smitty  Thompson Phillips

Captain America

Resistance Spies x 2

Axis

Baron Von Strucker, Hydra Sergeant, 10 Hydra Agents

Mission Two. Break into the secret base.

The Allies have found the location of a secret Hydra base. If the Allies found the map in the previous mission, they have used the map to prepare their approach and can ignore first two noise counters they create and remove two entrance markers. If the Axis found the map, they are aware that they may be under attack, so add two extra guards.

Stealth Mission, the Axis start with 5 Guards on the board, all characters are in buildings. There are six entrance markers on the board, only one of which is a hidden access to the base. 

Teams

Allies

Add Anastacia, Daria and 10 GI’s

Axis

Add Red Skull

Mission Three. In the secret base.

In the secret base. You must stop the evil Red Skull from carrying out his evil plans. He has been working on perfecting the Super Soldier Serum and finished Experiment 239. If the Axis have the diary the Experiment is finished and 239 starts on the board. Otherwise, he arrives at beginning of turn 3.

Teams

Allies - Add 2 Werebears

 
Axis - Add Hydra Heavies and Experiment 23

Free sprues from Wargames illustrated!

It would be hard for a wargamer to not have read a copy of  Wargames Illustrated unless they are a member of the hardcore fans of GW that refuse to accept any other toy soldiers exist. I do admit that it doesn't always pique my interest with all its articles, I do dip in and out. Not being made of money, I do try to keep my magazine purchases to one a month and so sometimes I do swap across to one of the other periodicals depending on the articles.

I have however recently been quite happy to purchase the magazine due to their announcement that every month for a year will include a free sprue from Warlord games. The first two are from their new boxed game, Cruel Seas. I have yet to try this game but I certainly shall be looking to see if a demo game is running at the next show I attend.
 This months free sprue is from Bolt Action. My particular copy had German Africa Korps attached. I don't play Bolt action but I do play WW2 in 28mm using my own conversion rules using the Warhammer historical Old West rules.

 I hear you ask why go to the effort when there are already lots of WW2 rulesets out there. I wanted something that felt more like a Hollywood war movie. I didnt want platoon level rules, I wanted something more like The Dirty Dozen or Bridge over the River Kwai. What better than a set of rules that were designed to simulate Hollywood cowboy films.

Finally this month on my bedside table I have been reading the following:

Inspired by the articles in Decembers WI on this indestructible chap, I felt the need to do some further reading, and I can say that it is a thoroughly enjoyable read. A modest soldier that fought in both World Wars, he was more put out at the loss of his favourite shooting guns when Hitler invaded Europe than the fact that he would have to risk life and limb once more.

Finally, it should be worth mentioning that the Monster that is Salute is already looming. South London Warlords have already announced the list of Traders. Luckily their page has links to the websites of all the companies so that makes researching easier. It's a little early this year on April 6th, so less than two months to go!

Guess who's back...

It's been far too long. I read too many apologies in blogs for long gaps between posts, I don't know why, we aren't beholden to deadlines, sometimes life just gets in the way. I won't bore you with details, I've just been busy. So, on to the subject at hand, what have I been up to? Well, after finishing my Napoleonic British, I had a delve in the lead mountain to see what else has been sat doing nothing for years (yes years!) A long while ago I was inspired by seeing the film 300 (yep that is how long ago) to pick up some Spartans from the ruleset Wargods of Aegyptus from Crocodile Games. I loved the models, the rules didn't inspire me as much though, so they sat in the leadpile. Well, having picked up a copy of Ospreys Of Gods and Mortals, I now have a use for them, so the dust was blown off the storage box they were in and I finished them.

 King Leonidas and Champions

Champion, musician and standard

 The notorious shieldwall

 Casualty, or just taking a nap?

I have recently realised that if I ever want to wargame a period with the Illustrious Wargamer Opponent, or in fact with any other wargaming friends, it is best to have both sides of combat prepared myself. No longer do I rely on friends who assure me they are going to buy their own army for a system I suggest and get it painted up. If I want to wargame, it is much easier to have it all prepared. So, regular readers may remember I have also purchased Vikings back in September. Now, all us longbeards know, the only way to finish batch painting is to only paint the characters as a reward for painting the rank and file. Paint one unit, then allow yourself one special character. I have a bag of 24 Black Tree designs Vikings and ten or so Footsore miniatures Vikings all unfinished. I'm not going to apologise though, I have painted my characters.

 

Olaf the Bald

Warlord

Odin the Allfather

I really like the Footsore miniatures range but they are tricky.  A lot of the miniatures come with a seperate axe in a hand with a built in pin. The model then has both hands sculpted as well, I am guessing so you can choose to add your own choice of alternative weapon. This does mean however, that you have to snip a hand off the model then drill a pin hole in the wrist. I would not recommend these models to a beginner modeller. They are lovely sculpts though, I shall post pics of the rest when finished.

Continuing the self indulgence of painting individual models instead of any units that would be much more useful for wargaming, I have painted the two Giants in Miniature I bought at Colours.  (The Illustrious Opponent has however been muttering about writing some Victorian Era Lost World dino-hunting rules, so at least one of these may come in handy after all.)

 Alan Quartermaine

"Flash" Harry

Sometimes you have to remind yourself that you do this hobby for fun, try not to let it be a chore to get things painted and if you want to paint something that you probably will never put on a gaming table ever, do it anyway. I am probably never going to find a use for the next model I will show you, but it was fun to paint, plus I feel I must tell you it was a joy to paint a resin model that took paint easily, without having to be scrubbed in soapy water first!

Chibi Raging Annie from Bad Squiddo games. Sometimes you just want to paint a pink tutu.

Finally I finished another project I have had a while, well I thought it was finished a long time ago, the models in fact were in my glass cabinet. My four year old son was spinning on the chair in front of the cabinet, looking at the contents when he suddenly exclaimed, "Daddy, you've painted Captain America's shield wrong! It should be a white star in blue, you've painted a blue star in white! Silly Daddy!"

He then ran out the room, retrieved his toy Cap shield from his room and ran back in to show me how it should be done. Three things crossed my mind at this point. One, I am so proud to have raised a son that already has that level of knowledge in Superheroes that he can immediately work out something is wrong. Two, I immediately had to take said model out of the glass cabinet and fix the heinous error straight away. Three, I am horrified I got it wrong in the first place, what was I thinking? I should hang my head in shame. It is the second Captain America model I have painted in 28mm and I got the first one right!

The Avengers, with correct colour scheme on Cap. (It bugs me though that Hawkeye has once again been left out of the team lineup.)

The completist in me does want to finish the Avengers team by finding a Hawkeye to paint but as Knight Models have lost the Marvel licence I'm loath to pay twenty quid on Ebay for one model. Then where does it end, I'd need to find Vision, then possibly Black Panther...

A dungeon delving we will go.

Decorating your dungeon in this seasons must have.


Regular readers will know I am more of an Oldhammer Longbeard than a current GW fanboy, I like my fantasy bright and fun even when delving in dungeons looking for dragons to rob. I still have a place in my heart for a good old fashioned dungeon delve. I am currently in a small Pathfinder roleplaying group which I thoroughly enjoy, especially as I am not GMing, I can just turn up and roll my dice. Our current GM (my illustrious wargamer opponent) will readily admit he is not fully versed in Pathfinder lore and so has set the campaign in the old Warhammer World, a subject he and I both obviously have a lot of knowledge of, sometimes I have to bite my tongue as I know more than my character would. (The rest of our group are happily learning about this world and I don't want to spoil the surprises.)

Another reason I am happy I am not GMing is I can be lazy at learning rules. Pathfinder and D&D are systems that I have played, but I am definitely one of those players that is forever asking, what am I rolling? My illustrious opponent runs regular Rapid Fire games and again, I will openly admit I am no nearer to knowing the rules enough to play without constant support. One of the reasons I tend to write my own rules based on systems I already play, is because then I don't need to learn a new system. If there is a period in history I want to wargame and I have a ruleset that could cover it, why learn something new? So, why am I telling you all this? Well, I am beginning to get the GM itch again. I want to get the old Advanced Heroquest out of the cobwebs again, so at Colours this month, I bought some more resin furniture and as I painted it very quickly, I thought this would be an opportunity to give a thumbs up to this range, the Grendel Resin range from Coritani.

The first is what I bought this year, the armourers workshop, an excellent alternative to the plastic weapon rack that comes with the original Heroquest.

 Skaven and bulging Hero added to shot for scale.

Three pieces of resin furniture unpainted for £7.00 to me is a bargain. You can even buy them painted if you are a lazy painter. Next is a pub snug in three parts.

That Goblin is going to spill someones pint in a minute.

Every dungeon quest begins with our heroes meeting a random stranger in a dark and mysterious local tavern, well now we can that bar room brawl on the table. There is a nice medieval looking banquet table if you want to have that Errol Flynn moment with your Cavalier (that must be a D&D class, there was a Cavalier in the cartoon wasnt there?) you can swash buckles against the armies of darkness.

Shall I be mother?

Lastly, there is a Necromancers study. I am missing a piece in my photo, but there is also large torch against a wall display (see the website for what it looks like.)

 What this room needs, is a giant skull centrepiece.

I love these resin pieces, they take paint really well (something that resin as you know is notorious for not doing so.) so I will happily buy these unpainted and have them painted up in an evening or two.

Of course I now have to persuade the illustrious wargamer opponent and a few others to sit down for an evening and roll some D12's.

Newbury and Reading Wargames Society presents....

Colours 2018

It was a warm September day, a slight breeze and not a cloud in the sky. The perfect day to spend indoors with the backpack brigade. Yep it was Colours today.

As I have waxed lyrical in my previous post, this is my favourite show of the year. So I was up at the crack of dawn, baking some breakfast cinnamon whirls and bagging up some toy soldiers to sell. My illustrious wargaming opponent and I were nice and early at the front of the queue when the doors opened, so straight up to the bring and buy and we booked in our goods. I cannot emphasise enough how good a job the team do on the bring and buy each year. All volunteers, the efficiency in which they run it is a credit to the club. I know previously they have struggled to get it right, and I can say they now have it running like clockwork.

So, what did I buy? Well I didn't go crazy this year, it was nice just to enjoy the show and take in the demo games, but I did pick up a few bits.  Some bits of resin furniture from Trevor at Coritani www.magneticdisplays.co.uk. for my Heroquest games. I have bought from him before, nice resin sculpts, not too pricy and have that old school feel about them that is perfect for dungeon crawling.

I picked up a Chibi Raging Annie from Bad Squiddo and an Athena, Goddess of Wisdom to use in Ospreys Gods and Mortals skirmish game. For the same game I picked up some Footsore Vikings and a bag of less specific Black Tree design vikings from Mili-art.

Finally, I had to see if I could pick up a couple of giants in miniature from Wargames Illustrated (they are limited to 500 of each so they won't be around forever) I picked up a "Flash" Harry (mainly because it would amuse the Mother in Law) and an Alan Quartermain. I also grabbed a blister of 28mm scale pigs from Warbases  for a future project I will write about in the future.

The demo games had a couple of good tables of note. I didn't capture them all, but the following caught my imagination. Firstly, a 40mm scale table in full snowscape from Wessex games entitled Retreat from Moscow:

Next was a World War One table in 28mm presented by Adrian Shepherd and friends entitled The Race Across Idlib Provence.

A group call "Friends who like Rapid Fire" presented a most impressive display of 20mm WW2 vehicles much to the chagrin of my illustrious wargaming opponent who is in the beginning of the planning stage of doing his own Rapid Fire demo of Operation Goodwood.

A few Brits and the Hobby presented a demonstration of the Spectre ruleset. The giant scratchbuilt(?) tankers made an impressive centre to the table.

Overall a fun day out. However, I would say it seemed quiet this year. There didn't seem as many visitors. I dont know actual figures, but I didn't get as many backpacks to the face. This was reflected in my bring and buy sales, sadly I had to carry more items back home than I hoped. Anyone want to buy an original copy of Escape From Colditz?

Prepare the Colours

We're off on a lead hunt.

Even though it has been ten years since this grumpy old wargamer has worked in the world of retail, I have been on the odd occasion still been accused of being a little bah humbug at Christmas. I do however still get excited about one day of the year as much as Christmas, the wargame show.

Now my readership is across the globe so British readers, bear with me for a bit. In little ol' Blighty here most wargamers would agree the biggest show of the year is in London in April, Salute, hosted by the South London Warlords. My personal favourite of the year however is a little show called Colours, this year on the 15th of September, hosted by the Newbury and Reading Wargames Society. https://www.nrwc.org.uk 

Picture credit - https://newburyracecourse.co.uk


This is nowhere near as large as Salute but still a pretty impressive collection of traders and gamers all squeezed into Newbury Racecourse once a year in September. I guess it being hosted in my home town is one of the reasons I love it (No sweaty train journey for me, just a light stroll across our little market town.) But it is more than that. A lot of the traders have been coming for years, as have I, so although we don't know each other, they are as familiar as friends and some even remember my face.  Turn out is always good and the entire event is run by volunteers from the Society, a small team of people who do a sterling job every year.
The day is not just about shopping, I have made friends with fellow wargamers at Colours and the day is also an excuse to get together with some of them. We may not spend the day together (some are not as enthusiatic at getting up at the crack of dawn to get to the front of the queue as me) but the group trip outside the show to have lunch together in a local pub is also a highlight. (I shan't tell you what pub, it's a closely guarded secret I shall keep so that I don't have to wait longer to get served.) Venues for wargame shows are notorious for having food venders that could be described as slightly pricier than a grumpy old wargamer wants to pay, so our secret pub trip is always a delight. (more money to spend on toys!)

If you are going to a wargame show that doesn't have a handy pub and you don't want to pay for overpriced coffee and danish to keep you going, here is a first for a wargame blog, a recipe. I made these bars for a trip to birmingham for Games Expo and I can confidently say, they kept my energy levels going all day. Making them the night before a show is best.

Ingredients
1 cup (220g) of dates
1/4 cup (84g) maple syrup (make sure you don't buy maple flavour)
1/4 cup (64g) of crunchy peanut butter
1 cup (112g) of granola cereal
1 1/2 cups (135g) of rolled oats (porridge oats)

Chuck it all in a big bowl, get stuck in with your fingers and mix it together into a dough. Form into bar shapes (or if you are not particularly good at this, they look like turds.) Place on a sheet of greaseproof paper and stick in the fridge overnight. In the morning wrap each one seperately in tinfoil and stick them in your lunchbox. Don't forget to take your Thermos of tea or coffee too. Provisions sorted!

Just like Christmas, the days leading up to a show are spent in preparation. Colours has an always popular bring and buy stall, so I always spend some time going through my boxes of toys to clear out anything I haven't used in a while and hopefully get some pennies for. The show runners take a percentage of your sales but renting a whole racecourse for a day isn't cheap and its a guaranteed customer base, so worth paying. I regularly come home with a few pennies from selling off unused models.

The other preparation is scouting out the traders. I do this for Salute as well, going through the list of traders and perusing their websites, maybe even making the odd pre-order for collection (the best way to guarantee you aren't disappointed by something selling out.) On this note, I have compiled a handy list of hyperlinks for you of traders that are expected at Colours. The list is on the Societys page but without hyperlinks. I made this list for my own reference and so thought I would share. I hold no responsibility for these traders being there, or for any I have missed, I am just working off a list of names from the Society webpage and then googling as best I can to find a live website for the company. I have also ommited some sites that seem to not be as secure as my browser would like, so for the sake of internet safety they have been omitted.

 https://shop.ancient-modern.co.uk/
https://www.baccus6mm.com/
https://blotz.co.uk/
https://www.charliefoxtrotmodels.com/
https://www.colonelbills.com/
https://www.conquest-games.co.uk/
http://www.crooked-dice.co.uk/wp/
https://www.davidlanchestermilitarybooks.co.uk/
http://www.deepcutstudio.com/
https://eaglefigures.co.uk/
https://em4miniatures.com/
http://www.empressminiatures.com/
https://firepowergames.com/
http://glenbrookgames.co.uk.websitebuilder.prositehosting.co.uk/
http://www.greatescapegames.co.uk/
http://www.gringo40s.com/
https://shop.groundzerogames.co.uk/
https://www.grubbytanks.com/
http://www.hamandjam.co.uk/
http://www.heroicsandros.co.uk/
https://www.hystericalgames.co.uk/shop
http://www.tinytintroops.co.uk/Instant_Armies.htm
https://www.kallistra.co.uk/
https://www.magistermilitum.com/
http://www.magneticdisplays.co.uk/
https://newlinedesigns.co.uk/
http://www.parkfieldminiatures.freeservers.com/
http://www.paulmeekins.co.uk/
https://www.pe2collectables.co.uk/
https://www.theplasticsoldiercompany.co.uk/
http://www.productsforwargamers.com/
http://www.rapierminiatures.co.uk/
https://www.secondthunder.com/
http://www.shqminiatures.co.uk/Sitefiles/main.php
https://badsquiddogames.com/
http://www.tumblingdiceuk.com/
http://www.wargameterrain.co.uk/
https://www.sarissa-precision.com/
https://warbases.co.uk/
https://www.wargamesillustrated.net/
https://store.warlordgames.com/
https://www.westwindproductions.co.uk/
https://artofwarshirts.co.uk/
http://www.abcbrushes.com/
https://barwellbodyworks-shop.com/
http://www.battlezone-miniatures.co.uk/
https://www.debrisofwar.com/
http://daveswargames.tictail.com/
https://elitewargamesandmodels.com/
https://www.essexminiatures.co.uk/
http://www.gamesofwar.co.uk/
https://www.helion.co.uk/
https://www.krmulticase.com/
https://lancerminiatures.com/
http://www.lastmanlastbullet.co.uk/
http://www.lesleysbitsbox.co.uk/
http://www.propworkshop.co.uk/oakbound/
http://www.peterpig.co.uk/
https://www.possessedgaming.co.uk/
http://www.sgtsmess.co.uk/
http://www.tablescape.co.uk/
https://www.ehgaming.com/last-valley-scenics-wargame-scenery-terrain/
http://www.tigerterrain.com/

Phew, that was an effort.

Apologies if they are incorrect, if it wasn't pretty obvious I had the right site, I have just left it out. Please refer to the Society site for the official list.

 There are some new names I don't recognise here, but very briefly, these are of note:

Bad Squiddo, go see Annie for realistic, clothed (I know shock horror!) female miniatures, take her some dandelion leaves for her Guinea pigs too.

Lesley's bits box, if you are looking for that obscure old GW miniature, go ask Lesley, I don't know where she gets her stock, but she works miracles sometimes.

KR Multicase, why spend all that money on toy soldiers and not store them safely! They do custom cases for so many different things, even 00 scale railway (I know, apparently some people like trains.) if they don't have what you want, it may be worth asking, they may be working on it for the future.

Deep Cut studios, if you don't have a mousemat gaming mat for your table, buy one now. It is worth the investment, they are also really good for putting down on the table for card gaming, I know some of you out there like to play a bit of Munchkin sometimes.

Anyway, so I'll see you there...