Edinburgh Wargames

The Edinburgh Wargames Journal

Issue 47  -  June 2010  

Periods featured in this issue:   Orcs, Samurai, Odds & Ends, and "A Very British Civil War" (All 28mm apart from the bloody Orcs)

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Winding up Angus (by Derek Hodge)

Those of you who have been visiting this site for a while will have realised that Angus has some rather fixed ideas about what constitutes a "proper" wargame. But not all of us at the South East Scotland Wargames Club are quite so narrow minded. To celebrate the variety of games played at the club here's a picture of some 6mm Orks used for Games Workshop's Epic Armageddon rules. It's just a shame I don't have any of them based for DBA.

 Note from Angus: Derek is well aware that I think Fantasy Gaming and "DBA" are the twin blights of the wargaming world, and detract from the wholesome manly business of toy soldiering.

Just look at this mindless nonsense - a steam roller with a hair dryer of it, and a turreted steam castle with a cow catcher strapped to the front. Ye Gods... Worse, its in 6mm, which is less of a scale than an aberration!  Still, at least it isn't "DBM" or "DBR", rules by rules lawyers for rules lawyers, that try to suck all the fun or skill out of wargaming... Grrrr!

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Samurai Warfare, 1573  (Black Powder) 28mm    Report by Dougie Trail

Well this game was definitely a bit left field, Samurai on Impetus bases using Black Powder rules with an internet add on Gleaming Katanas. As there is no need to remove casualties in Black Powder the Impetus basing worked really well with the added benefit that you had to shuffle bases. Gleaming Katanas is an extra for Black Powder adding a bit of Samurai spice to rules.

Well the game was simple, line up and have a go. The table was flat with a few areas of bog to foul up our units. The forces involved were the troops from the collections of Jack Glanville and Derek Hodge with some of my own. The tripartite forces were split into three clans each commanded by, from right to left Jim, Derek and Bob. Myself and Jack played the good guys, Jack had a large Samurai clan on our left while I had a smaller one in the centre plus ikko -ikki and peasants on our right flank.

The game started with a general advance across the board by the tripartite alliance. During this move a dangerous gap appeared in the middle of the line, as Dereks troops veered to the left to avoid a marsh thereby pulling away from Jim forces on his right. Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth my centre clan surged forward to exploit this. There were some worried looks on the tripartite side but Derek pulled the Katana out of the hat and managed to re-jig his line to meet the threat. Bob pushed down to engage the ikko -ikki and peasants but had a bit of a set back when his cavalry bounced.

Things were still looking good for the good guys as long as my attack in the middle could go in and cause some problems Jack could hope to beat Jim's troops as he had local superiority. However my glorious Samurai failed to beat up a few trifling Ashigaru quickly enough and by the time they had, Derek had put together a formidable force behind them. Some desperate fighting followed but it was not to be for my valiant warriors and soon numbers told. By the whining that Jim was making I was assuming Jack was doing quite well.

Things were beginning to look a bit grim for my Valiant troops Bobs cavalry was back and harrying my flank while my main peasant / ikko -ikki force was facing Asgigaru backed by Samurai. In no short order my whole flank started to collapse as the peasants / ikki-ikki were dying in droves and my good troops were too far forward to help and were themselves under severe pressure. Jack was having a better time against Jim on the flank but still had not dealt a decisive stroke. I was definitely off to commit sepiku behind the shed, not before a trip to the bar though.

 The Black Powder rules worked very well for Samurai as they are so fast a furious with big moves and big results. It was a fun game and nice to get the Samurai out - it was their first outing in nearly 8 years!

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Odds & Ends (28mm)

No battle report this week, nobody felt like writing one, but here's pictures of some of the games played at the South East Scotland Wargames Club on Thursday 10th June.

Napoleonics using Black Powder rules.

Crusading Warfare using Impetus rules.

Russian Civil War using the rules from the book Battle, Practical Wargames by Charles Grant (Senior)

A trip down memory lane for Derek and Dougie, playing these rules which were published in 1970. We had great fun reliving the days of our youth but at the end of the game we concluded that we would not be playing them again in a hurry. The rules are not actually that great compared to more modern offerings.

Orc City, using Warhammer 40K

And now, something never seen before on Edinburgh Wargames, a game of Warhammer 40K. SESWC is divided roughly 40/60 between fantasy/SF players and historical players. Angus is firmly in the historical camp and never posts any pictures from what he would call the Dark Side (if he were being particularly polite). But the fantasy/SF crowd do put on some very good looking games. Here's some Orks in a ruined city.

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The Northumbrian Raid, 1937  (A Very British Civil War / Triumph & Tragedy) 28mm  Report by Derek Hodge

Thursday 3rd. Colin Jack and Bill Gilchrist put on a VBCW (Very British Civil War) alternative history game using the Triumph and Tragedy rules The scenario involved a raid by a mobile left wing force on a BUF arms dump in Northumberland.

Bill's left wing force comprised units of the Red Brethren, Durham Miners, volunteer Soviet sailors and most unusually militant Morris Men! The BUF defenders commanded by Hugh Wilson were all concealed at the start of the action. The Red Brethren and Durham miners in an improvised armoured bus and steam truck drove directly down the main road into the village in front of the arms dump. The sailors and Morris men moved cross country on the right wing to attack the village.

The single unit of BUF troops in the village riddled the bus with rifles and grenades bringing it to a halt with 3 motor and 2 tyre hits. After that it took the 4 left wing units some time to overcame the BUF troops in the village. As this action was going on BUF reinforcements of 2 infantry units and a Royal Navy gun truck moved to support the arms dump. Once the village was secure the Durham Miners and the Morris Men moved on the arms dump but it was then to late as both broke and fled under heavy fire from the BUF reinforcements.

With the BUF Women's Section also advancing behind them down the main road the game ended with the surviving left wingers fleeing to the south covered ineffectively by a late appearing Hawker Fury fighter. The models are from the collection of Colin Jack except for the Red Brethren and the their very impressive improvised vehicles which come from the collection of Adrian Howe of Hull.

1938: A Very British Civil War  - Source Book available from Solway Crafts (an E-Bay page)

1938: A Very British Civil War  - Background  and Yahoo Group listed as   ECW3 

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