Edinburgh Wargames Journal

Issue 4  -  August 2006

Periods featured in this Issue: English Civil War (28mm) & The "Back of Beyond" (28mm)

I'm sorry I've not updated this for a while, but I've had a busy time lately. My new biography - Blackbeard: America's Most Notorious Pirate was published in June, and I've been running around speaking to journalists, giving readings, attending signings and generally acting like a piratical celebrity. Of course the release of a certain film by Johnny Depp and Co. had a lot to do with the hype - in fact my publisher timed the publication of my book to tie in with the film release. Still, its been an interesting and swashbuckling few weeks. Anyway, you don't really want to know about all that. You want a leadfest...

Unfortunately, the result is I haven't been gaming as much as I'd have liked, and in a couple of games I played one of the usual court photographer wasn't there to record the moment.

One was a rather dumb game involving track-to-track Russian tanks fighting German ones - dumb mainly because my Comrades ended up as so much scrap metal littering the Steppes. Another was a 15mm WW2 game set in the Ardennes, where I cunningly enlisted the aid of an 8-year old as my sub commander. Our German opponent hadn't the heart to reveal his cunningly hidden anti-tank ambushes, and consequently we won handsomely. I thoroughly recommend using children as wargaming human shields in this manner- and it might have created a new convert to this sad and geeky hobby!

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English Civil War  (Very Civile Actions)    28mm

Next up was an English Civil War game, a stunning affair involving some custom-built scenery provided by Dave Imrie. It was designed as another test vehicle for Very Civile Actions, the ECW version of the Perfect Captain's Spanish Fury - Actions rules. Incidentally, if you want to read a review of the rules which is due to appear in Battlegames Issue 3, click here.

The battle was set some time in the summer of 1644, and involved a joint Parliamentarian and Covenanting rearguard holding their ground against the Royalists, led by Prince Wupert of the Whine.  Dave Imrie's Covenanters were superbly painted, and unlike most well painted troops on their first outing they performed fairly well, holding their own against repeated Royalist cavalry charges. My Parliamentarian regiment pictured below (Montagu's Regiment of Foot) were less successful, and broke on first contact!

By the close of play we'd managed to keep the royalists at bay - but only just. Darkness (or rather packing up time) saved the evening for the cause of Democracy and Presbyterianism! What works particularly well with these rules is the card system, where all the information you need is found on one handy-dandy playing card sized sheet. Also the 1 in 6 chance of a bad result is also highly amusing, particularly if its your musketeers being ridden down by the darned Cavaliers!

I have to admit, the game was so pretty that a bunch of club members spent the evening clustered round the table, and left swearing to raise their own units for Parliament, the Covenant or the King. Dave and I plan to run a demo game using these figures, this terrain and the rules at our club's annual show - Claymore 2006, which is held here in Edinburgh on Saturday 5th August. That'll also involve me painting up another 48-man New Model Army regiment, while Dave Imrie and Jack Glanville are busy painting up more Covenanters. the game itself will be a re-enactment of the Battle of Inverkeithing in July 1651, fought on the far side of the Forth Estuary from here, where the Forth Rail Bridge touches the Fife shore.

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Back of Beyond - Central Asia, 1918-22 (Back of Beyond) 28mm

The next game was another Back of Beyond affair involving my Turks as unlikely Afghan allies fighting the British for control of some god-forsaken Afghan hilltop village.

The game gave me the excuse to speed paint these fine-looking Foundry Pathans which have been lurking in my unpainted lead stash since last summer.

                              Pathan Command

 Of course like most new figures they didn't survive long once they got to grips with the British regulars, but they made a fine show of it while it lasted!

 Here's what happened. the Afghans were holed up in their village, where they came under attack from a powerful British column, led by a shiny new Rolls Royce armoured car. Although it was knocked out on Turn 2, the British got the better of the exchange which followed. by the end of the game the Afghans were still in control of their village, but only just. By that time they were down to a few tribesmen, backed up by the kilt-wearing Afghan royal guard, and an artillery piece crewed by guys in plumes and coalscuttle helmets!

Then my Turks arrived, screened by a band of Pathans. As screens go they weren't very good, as they ran pretty early on, leaving the Turks to be riddled by British shot and shell!

Like all game involving Chris peers' rules the body count was horrendous, but in the end it was the British who called it a day, yielding the field to about half a dozen Afghans and a handful of dazed Turks! Also like all games involving Chris Peers' rules, the evening was a highly enjoyable one - wargaming in the old style, as it should be played, just like in the days before Warhammer, DBM and all that nonsense!

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English Civil War  (Very Civile Actions)  28mm

As we'll be playing an English Civil War demonstration game at Claymore this year, we decided to run another game, just to iron out any last-minute problems with the rules.

 Actually I have a confession. I can't read wargame rules. Even the best-written ones make me nod off after a page or two, and if I ever want to have a good night's sleep I pick up a copy of anything produced by Wargames Research Group - the worst presented, dullest and most ambiguous rules writers know to man. Reading DBR can have me snoring in minutes. Try it. It works! 

I digress. The game involved a small mixed force of two regiments of foot and one of horse per side, plus a few bolt-ons.

As usual we used Very Civile Actions - the rules set we plan to use at Claymore on 5th August. The Parliamentarian left managed to get itself into a spot of bother, and was pretty badly shot up, then charged by Royalist pikemen. On the right the supporters of democratic rule saw off a charge by the Royalist horse, seized the village in the centre of the table and held it against all comers. We declared a draw at the end of the battle, although both Dave O'Brien commanding the Royalists and yours truly in charge of the PArliamentarians were sure that victory lay in our grasp - if we only had more troops who would do what they were told!

One of the amusing bits of VCA is the chance to select absolutely useless officers to command your units. Jack Glanville, commanding the Parliamentarian left drew two "bookish" commanders for his regiment of foot, both of which refused to advance (quite sensibly questioning their orders) at the crucial stage of the battle. The result was these units simply stood still while the Royailsts manoeuvred round them and chopped 'em to pieces! The moral of the story: understand the limitations of your unit commanders, and don't expect them to do what they're told when the crunch comes!

With Claymore on the horizon I've been painting up another English Civil War regiment - another with red coats as it'll be a New Model unit. We're refighting the Battle of Inverkeithing (1651) using VCA, so if you're visiting the show here in Edinburgh then please drop by and say hi.

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 I've been painting up American Revolutionary War figures lately - a period I rather ignored for the last few years. So far I've finished about four units of 16-20 militiamen apiece, but right now I've got to set them aside for a bit to make way for that New Model regiment. So much to paint, so little time...