Angus  Konstam's Edinburgh Wargames

Edinburgh Wargames Journal

Issue 14  - August  2007

Periods featured in this Issue :  Second World War & Wild West (both 28mm),

Russo-Polish War 1919-21 (20mm) and Back of Beyond (28mm)

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Mongolia, 1921    (Contemptible Little Armies / Back of Beyond)  28mm

 I know - we did a Back of Beyond game last week. However, wargaming buddy Dave O'Brien was able to take a break from his long-running Warhammer Ancients campaign (actually, he must have been knocked out), and he wanted to field his Chinese. As Colin Jack devised the scenario we could all expect a fiendishly unpredictable game. You really have to read the little order slips he gives you before the game. However, it true fraternal spirit my fellow Bolshevik player Dougie Trail refused to show the slip, on account of me belonging to the wrong "Red" faction. After that my Stalinist Cheka kept one eye on the enemy and the other on Dougie's Trotskyist bodyguard!

In theory the idea was simple. Advance to the Mongol encampment in the centre of the table, bring the Mongol Princess back to Moscow for "talks" (using bribery if need be), and fend off any other factions. Of course the local Chinese Warlord also showed up, along with the "Mad Baron" and his Whites. The three-cornered contest turned into a four-cornered one when the Baron's cavalry bribed the Mongols, who promptly joined forces with them. The Chinese seemed obsessed with looting some Mongol gold, while us Reds amused ourselves my mowing down anyone within range, regardless of nationality.

Our Bolshevik armoured car was knocked out by Chinese artillery, but fortunately our plane arrived. We had visions of chasing the Mongols and strafing them as they fled. Unfortunately after its arrival the Red team never got to move last, which meant that the fleeing Mongols always managed to stay out of our 6" machine gun range! However, we took solace in carving up the Baron's officer battalion, while the Chinese seemed to mill around just out of range of everyone else.

It was a crazy game, but highly enjoyable, and victory was awarded to the Baron, who swept the Mongol Princess to safety, along with all of her tribe. As usual the rules we used were the Back of Beyond supplement to Chris Peers' Contemptible Little Armies. Simple, brutal and enjoyable...

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Minsk, 1919 - Russo-Polish War (Contemptible Little Armies / Back of Beyond)  20mm

This was a Russian Civil War / Back of Beyond game with a difference. For starters we were using 20mm figures for a change, and the lead was spread over an 8' x 6' table. It was also one with rolling terrain, as the attackers - the Poles - had the task of driving hard towards Minsk, about 32 feet away down four tables - when figures moved off one end of the table everything rolled along a bit. The Poles (led by Nikolas our Polish wargamer) came unstuck pretty early on. A shootout between two armoured trains saw both Polish and Russian engines damaged, but the "blitzkrieg" up the Minsk road was halted by a doughty Russian company dug into a village. They saw off several waves of attackers, and destroyed most of the Polish Model T Ford transport column in the process. By the time the Poles dealt with the garrison their timetable had become badly unstuck.

Next came an attack on a small hamlet, whose defenders dealt with what remained of the Polish motorised column, and emptied a few cavalry saddles in the process. The defenders were slowly being winkled out, but at every stage the Polish casualties were simply too great for them to absorb. On the far side of the table a lone Red battery dealt with what remained of the Polish armoured train, and the final straw came when the Polish armour bogged down.

The high-water maek of the Polish advance came when their leading cavalry column clashed with Budenny's Red Cavalry. Although the clash was inconclusive it was clear that the Poles had advanced too far to enjoy any support from their infantry, and were in danger of being chopped up. Consequently Minsk was never seriously threatened, and by the end of the game it was pretty clear that victory lay with the defenders of Mother Russia. All power to the Soviets! The 20mm figures belonged to Colin Jack and Bill Gilchrist. As with any Chris Peers rules set the game was exceedingly fast, fun, simple and bloody.

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Stodge City, Kansas (Legends of the Old West)  28mm

OK, I'll be the first to 'fess up. I played a Warhammer game! There. I said it. Its a slippery slope, and before you know it I'll be playing with Orcs, Tree Goblins and Third Level Wizards. The story goes, wargaming compadre Colin Jack is planning to run a big weekend-long Wild West game in the New Year, and I rashly offered to try it out. I even bought a "Posse" at Claymore - that's them entering Stodge City - led by Sheriff Jeff Tracy in the centre - the guy pointing his finger.

We actually played two games back to back - the first against a rather scabby band of Indians which were seen off in short order, and the second against a far tougher opponent - a band of heavily tooled-up cowboys. Before I knew it half of the "Tracy Boys" were lying in the dust, and the rest were heading for the hills!

I learned pretty quickly that cowboys armed with repeating rifles can outshoot lawmen carrying six-shooters! This was demonstrated pretty effectively when three of my "posse" were blown away in one turn. I also found that shotguns are great fun at close range, and it pays to hide in buildings, rather than just walk down the centre of the street like they do in the films!

the rules were Legends of the Old West, the cowboy rules produced by those Warhammer Historical people. I suppose they worked OK, although it really boiled down to who could throw the best sequence of dice, although I was beginning to work out a few of the tactical niceties as the game ran its course. There isn't any kind of snap shooting or opportunity fire, so winning the initiative is all important, and it makes for some pretty ludicrous situations. However, I suppose it sort of evens out, and makes sure that nobody can take it all too seriously. I also rather enjoyed myself, and plan to give the surviving "Tracy Boys" another outing before too long.

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Second World War,  Normandy 1944 (Disposable Heroes)  28mm

Well, we were due to play a Second World War skirmish game, but I never expected it to be quite as silly -and enjoyable - as this one. the basic premise was simple. Somewhere on the far right flank of the Normandy landings a bunch of scattered American paratroops were trying to regroup. Unfortunately a column of Fallschirmjager (why can it never be Volksturm?) was sent to investigate, and a mean old skirmish erupted. To add spice to everything the umpire threw in  few "curved balls" - a flak unit hidden in a field - French resistance fighters holding a farm against all comers (even the Americans), and even more Frenchmen - a rival faction - who wanted to use the landings as a cover to steal the farm from the other group!

The American squad leaders gathered scattered troops as they went, but the Germans came in mob-handed - and almost won the day. However, the good guys managed to throw back a critical German assault, and after that the thin American line held against all comers. Meanwhile the French-held farm was being attacked by another squad of German paratroopers, a column in trucks, and by those rogue French resistance fighters from another faction!

In the end the Germans suffered too many casualties to continue their assault, although the fighting inside the French-held farm looked like it could go either way. The American hero was Chris the teenage American squad leader, who killed more than his own weight in Germans, while Colin Jack as the shoulder-shrugging French player should have got a Gallic medal of some sort for playing so well in character! All in all it was rattling good fun, and the rules - Disposable Heroes - worked rather well. Of course a multi-player game like this depends on a good umpire, and although I hate to say it, DougieTrail performed his job to perfection.

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Wargame Show: Claymore 2007, Edinburgh

It was another excellent show - a chance to meet friends, look at some pretty display games, sell lead and buy more! With pals driving up from England and flying in from Spain it proved to be a busy and beer-fuelled day. I'm afraid the only pictures which came out properly were of two Napoleonic games. the first was run by Peter Nicholson, Kevin Calder and the Iron Brigade, and featured a scrap between the Russians and the Prussians - two very pretty armies. Kevin is an excellent painter, but even he couldn't make the Prussians look exciting - the dullest-looking protagonists in a period known for its colourful uniforms!

The other battle was a Peninsular War engagement, played out by Dale Smith of the Kirriemuir Club, aided by Charles S. Grant and a host of extras. Charles' British looked like they were on the ropes from the start, and every time I went past the tactical situation looked ever bleaker! I think Charles lost the will to continue when his old regiment the Cameronians made a disgraceful break for the rear, chased by what looked like every dragoon in the French army! 

I also managed to sell the last of my 15mm figures at the Bring n' Buy - I'm now officially a 15mm free zone. Other things which went were Afghan Mujihadeen and Border Reivers which I've never used. However, there was no overall improvement in the state of the lead mountain, as I promptly used the filthy lucre to buy 1/56 scale WW2 vehicles, 28mm American War of Independence Continentals, French & Indian War Highlanders, Saracen horse archers and - bizarrely - a bunch of figures for the Mexican revolution (1910-20). Worse still, by the time I got home I also found Wild West gunfighters and - of all things - a teddy bear pirate gun crew in my bag! Aaaargh! Alcohol and lead buying don't mix!

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