Thursday, January 28, 2010

Taliban Gather in Now Zad



Taliban forces gather to oppose the British operation in Now Zad

1st Group of Tier-One Taliban, led by Omar Marwat, and aided by his uncle Tolwak (armed with his trusty Lee Enfield!)

1st Group

2nd Group of Taliban move carefully around a house

2nd Group

3rd Group of Taliban take up position on a rooftop

3rd Group

4th Group of Taliban rush out of a gully

4th Group

81mm Mortar zeroes in

Mortar

Heavy Machine Gun takes aim

Heavy Machine Gun

Sniper shooting from covered position

Sniper

Spotter calls in mortar fire

Spotter

1st Group of local Taliban scurry past poppy field

5th Group

2nd Group of local Taliban charge out of cover

6th Group

Technical covers Taliban from hillside

Technical

Taliban leadership oversee efforts. Zmaray and his lieutenant Lakhar are on the most-wanted list.

Leadership

Did a bit more work on the buildings and walls last night, so I should be able to finish them off tonight

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

British Forces in Afghanistan




I'm running a series of Force on Force games (by Ambush Alley) at Warpcon this weekend. They'll cover Operation Mutay in Helmand province, and while I'm finishing off painting the buildings for this I thought I'd show you the forces that will be involved

The British are first, I didn't take an all encompassing shot of the entire force, but you'll get the idea.

Weapons team in support with GPMG and Javelin

Weapons Team

UAV control team, with UAV overhead

UAV Team

1st Section moving across open ground

1st Section

1st Fire Team, 2nd Section moves around building

1st Fire Team, 2nd Section

Sniper team sets up on roof

Sniper Team

2nd Fire team, 2nd Section moves along wall

2nd Fire team, 2nd Section

WMIK and Warrior patrolling

Vehicle Patrol

Trusty news team

News Team

The opposition to follow later...

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Return to Dahomey

Is this gonna be a standup fight, sir, or another dinohunt?




 Returning to Abomey with news of the failed American expedition, Commander Simpson uses his influence to call for a contingent of Royal Marines to come ashore and to aid his attempt to rescue them.

Losing his reputation for bravery is not something playboy millionaire H. Jack Vanderbolt can live with. His moribund state is only interrupted when a platoon of marines from the USS Frederick (taking water in Liberia) arrive on a mission to save the lost American nationals upriver.
Together they must race into the depths of Dahomey and search for the survivors. Surely a trained military force will succeed where brazen adventurers failed? Forewarned of the perils, will they see a solution to the primordial dangers which threaten them, or will their nerves fail them...

I'll be using my homegrown pulp adventure-style rules 'Perilous Trail' which premiered at Gaelcon last year, some tweaks have been made, and I reckon I'll publish them here after some polishing in March.

Leprecon XXXI will be running from March 12th to 14th at Goldsmith Hall, Pearse St., Trinity College, Dublin 2. View Leprecon's website here

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Raising a Glass to the Year



It's been a mixed 2009 in gaming terms. Haven't gotten in half as much gaming as I would have liked but what I have done has been very enjoyable indeed.

Highlights of the Year:

1. Richard Borg as special guest at Leprecon
I ran a big Pacific war scenario for Memoir '44 for Richard Borg's visit to Leprecon. Richard also ran a few demo games of his (then playtest) new Command & Colours
Napoleonics game. Not only does the man design some of my favourite games, he's also a very nice man indeed! Just the kind of wargamer we love playing with and chatting with anyway.

2. Ambush Alley Day in Kildare
Finally got to go down to Kildare for a day full of Ambush Alley gaming with Piers, Cyril, Thomas, Skip. There was also a few lads down from the North and it was great to put some faces to the names. Scenarios, terrain and figures were all top-notch. Looking forward to the next day out!

3. Pulp Adventure Dinosaur Hunting at Gaelcon
Wrote up my own system for this series of games which I ran all weekend at Gaelcon. I reckon I got about 14 people to play this (not counting return customers) and fun was had by all. There shall be another rescue mission launched in March...

An honourable non-wargaming mention goes to my continuing role-playing campaign: The Giyhonan Chronicles, which entered it's ninth installment during the year.

Blogs of the Year:

1. The Wargaming Depot
The centrepiece of the blog this year has been a Napoleonics campaign set in Russia in 1812 using 6mm miniatures
2. Campaigns of General W.A. Pettygree
A truly great story-telling style detailing the exploits on some savage north-west frontier
3. Lonely Gamers
Top notch stuff on a huge variety of topics.

A very honourable mention goes to fantastic wargaming forum: The Guild

Releases of the Year:

1. Ambush Valley
The Vietnam supplement for Force on Force captures the cinematic (but not Hollywood) effect-based wargaming experience that Ambush Alley epitomises. (This is just out, but otherwise it would have been Force-on-Force anyway)

2. Battlegames
Going from strength to strength over the year, this magazine should be on every wargamer's shelf.

3. Sci-Fi Crusaders
Alternative Armies' Ion Age is back, and the re-release seems to have also spurred people to get rid of their old stuff. These are going to be my mainstay when I run 3:16 Carnage Among the Stars later on

Gamer Movies:
(Only a top-two since I've been to the cinema very little this year)

1. District 9
Real sci-fi: future tech, real human problems & enjoyable

2. Avatar
Thrilling Cameron effort, if you can stand the (unavoidable) tree-hugging/stilted dialogue

Projects ready to launch:

1. Napoleonic Wars in 6mm
Using Richard Borg's Command & Colours
Napoleonics or possibly Piquet's Field of Battle. I start off with the Austrian campaign of 1809

2. Medieval Skirmish in 28mm
Set in fictional Ruritania, this small war will change the face of Europe!

3. Ambush Alley in 20mm
A fairly standard setup for Ambush Alley using the British in Afghanistan

Projects in (slowly but surely) Development:

1. Skirmish Version of Memoir '44
Resurrected the rules for playing Memoir '44 at a skirmish level (where one unit actually represents a fire-team of four guys. Eamon's already done the first session of playtesting.

2. Full Thrust-Dirtside Campaign
First draft of rules are just about finished. Have to do a read-through with Steve to finalise force levels and maps.

TV

1. Tru Blood
Sometimes soapy, but a compelling, well-thought out and (vital in these kinds of things) well-acted show

2. Generation Kill
Short and brutish. But quality all round. Interesting in that it seems to draw on 'One Bullet Away' as well as the 'Generation Kill' it's primarily based on

Though I'll give a honourable mention to the TV show 'Ross Kemp in Afghanistan'. I was dubious, but he's pulled off an extraordinary documentary over two seasons here. Superb and well-worth a look.
Looking forward to The Pacific, by the team which brought you Band of Brothers, and based primiarily on the works of E.B. Sledge (With the Old Breed) and Robert Leckie (Helmet for My Pillow)

Books:

1. Confrontation: War with Indonesia, 1962-1966
A largely forgotten war, and when it is remembered it's primarily for SAS involvement. There was so much more

2. Altered Carbon
Well-written Noir science fiction, which really examines the societal impact of the technological change

3. Attrition: Aspects of Command in the Peloponnesian War
Approches the war from a command viewpoint; what generals were successful and why

Here's to a similarly fun 2010. Hope you have a good one!
Cheers
Donogh

Monday, November 23, 2009

Copse of Wood completed

Finished this project last night.


Foliage clumps have been added to the top board section

Foliage Added

A close up of the woods with 20mm commandos outside (though it'll also do for 28mm)

Close Up

An aerial view of the woods - I used two colours of foliage just to give the woods some natural variation.

Aerial View

The rest of the team lurk inside the woods

Inside

Some lessons learned/ideas for next time:

1. Use hot glue, not bostik
2. Paint the top of the foliage board section green, not brown
3. Shape the foliage clusters a bit more naturally
4. Try to hide as much of the edge of the top board section as possible
5. Paint the toilet roll inserts before glueing the twigs on
6. Try this for 6mm as well, it should work even better

Friday, November 20, 2009

Woods Experiment

A new foray for me, my first terrain scratchbuild.
Taking the idea directly from an absolutely brilliant terrain blog I've linked to for quite a while from here: Take the High Ground


For Scratch Build 1 over on The Guild, but not completely sure I'll finish in time, if this damned weather doesn't ease up, I'll never get to undercoat the thing!
Anyway, the idea is to use toilet roll inserts as the central columns, with twigs glued to the outside to give the impression of a mass of trees. Lay some board on top and then glue foliage clumps on that.
The raw materials

Raw Materials
Everything's got to be cut to the same height

Cut down to Size
Glue everything together, using a board as the base and applying some sand

Glued Together
Tomorrow, I'll spray undercoat and then apply brown paint as the base coat... (hopefully)

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Escape from Dahomey




Night Attack on the British Camp:

The British have taken fearful losses during the expedition so far. They have decided to cut their losses and make their way back down river. They set up camp in open ground next to the river, post sentries and prepare to march out at dawn.

Sentries guard British camp

A Spinosaurus has wandered past and with preternatural speed [during the first turn, on his five cards he managed to move from the starting position to the camp and attack!] it launches itself at Turner, the sentry who has been joined by Simpson who has just woken up.

Spinosaurus charges into camp

The attack destroys Turner's rifle, and both he and Simpson run for their lives through the camp.

Fearsome Spinosaurus

Meanwhile two groups of Raptors sneak towards the camp, intent on retrieving their eggs, stolen recently by the British adventurers.

Raptors sneak towards camp

Finally all of the British have gotten out of the tents and while they are concentrating their firepower on the Spinosaurus, a second group of Raptors comes into camp from the other side. Chaos ensues but none of the British are harmed and the Spinosaurus is shot dead. Simpson even rushes to help out Turner who's been cornered by a Raptor - cold steel sorts him out!

Second group of Raptors rush British

A Raptor sneaks into the third British tent and is retrieving eggs, when there is a curious stand-off between it and Turner holding his pistol. Turner suspects some kind of intelligence in the creature, but Faulkner fears the worst and blows him away with his shotgun, unfortunately also destroying the egg. Mopping up in good order comes next, the British forming a thin Khaki line and destroying every last lizard.

Thin Khaki Line

The Relief Missions:

Both American and British expeditions are leaving the dangerous highlands, and relief columns have been sent. The British have sent a cavalry column, while the Americans have sent a convoy of vehicles.

American Relief Column winds through valley

A pair of Tyrannosaur lie in wait, skulking in the high grasses along one of the main routes to the river crossing.

Pair of Tyrannosaurs skulk in grasses

The American convoy ignores the threat and continues at best speed to reach their boys across the river.

Vehicles ignore threat to their right

The convoy has bunched up, as Jorgensen in the lead truck has jumped out to view some grisly remains to attempt to identify them. But as he does Raptors emerge from nearby cover to attack Brown in his touring car.

Raptors charge Brown in Touring Car

As the touring car skids out of control and the armoured car brings its machine to bear on the Raptors, they race back into the grass. But behind the chaos of the threatened convoy, the two Tyrannosaurs emerge from their hiding place.

Tyrannosaurs emerge from grass behind column

When suddenly, a Spinosaurus races up to attack Brown, now at the rear of the convoy

Spinosaurus comes out of nowhere

Miraculously the giant dinosaur is brought down by the luckiest of all shots from Brown as he attempts to start the car up!

Brought down by pinpoint pistol shot

Meanwhile, the British mounted relief column trots on through the narrow valleys, wary of any danger nearby

British mounted Relief Column reaches ford

Simpson has galloped ahead to confer with Porter, and they agree on the plan of action.

Simpson relays plan to Porter

Raptors have attacked the armoured car en masse, and somehow the fuel tank has exploded, killing the crew and taking the vehicle out of action.

Raptors tear armoured car apart

The dinosaur converge on the remaining vehicles, and Brown is forced to abandon his car. The nearby truck, holding Bradley has accelerated away, but waits for a moment to allow Brown to jump aboard.

Mass attack on Car and Truck

The Americans on foot cross at the ford, and the field gun takes up position to start aiming shells at the mass of dinosaurs attacking the convoy.

Field Gun takes up position at ford to suppress attack on convoy

Porter leads the main British column across the river, passing by the relief contingent as it takes up a blocking position. The others can see Simpson considering a sabre charge on the Raptors ahead of them...

Main British Column crosses river

The American relief column is looking after number one and returns back up a different valley towards their start line at breakneck pace.

Americans in trucks flee

The British relief contingent dismount, and draw their rifles, forming a firing line and driving the Raptors back into cover.

British Relief dismount and form firing line

Faulkner, who has been sent ahead to make sure the path is safe, quickly realises that it is not, but he manages to hold out against the attack and sensing no weakness, the Raptor flees.

Faulkner scouts for British column

Having secured the rear, the mounted contingent rejoins the main British column and makes its way calmly out of the valley. Simpson is severly injured by a giant snake just as they reach safety, but he is carried out by his trusty native porters.

British column makes it way out of valley

The Americans on foot are attacked by a Tyrannosaur and several Raptors and they panic. The field gun is unable to aid them in their defence.

Attack on Americans causes panic

It would seem that their comrades have left them behind...

American group left to their own devices

The Dahomey Expeditions have learnt the fate of Dr Gaspard de Chateaubriant, and have returned with marvellous tales of their adventures and even with some proof of their exploits.
But who knows the fate of those left behind...