2026, Onwards and Upwards

 Well the dust has well and truly settled, we had family visit over Christmas and we had a good time. I was very pleased with my haul from my birthday and Christmas, lots of foo foo (navy slang for perfumed body products) some sweeties (naughty of course for me) and books. I had also treated myself to a 1940's British platoon from 1st Corps which will be arriving shortly, I screwed up the Nashorn order so it too is now on the way. 

Like my 'Army Men'?

I had a very quiet time as I put almost everything on hold until I had recovered enough to get back to normal, I am now at that stage as the operation was not as severe as the last one, I am also back driving. In fact I took on two authors who got in touch with me as the lead in times for both projects are sufficient that I can do both these and the Atlas. I am now being overwhelmed with Atlas work as the festive season is over so it is all hands to the pumps, well mine at least.

I have been extremely lucky over the past couple of months, friend Matt Smith kindly sent me some 3D prints and Dave Bickley one of his saught after Calendars, Phil Robinson treated me to a Rubicon Pz III and 'Lucky' Jimi some sweeties, if I have forgotten anyone then put it down to old age.

I don't make New Year Resolutions, well I do but never keep them, this year I have decided on one which is utterly futile but it will keep me happy. I am giving up with the Yookay and telling anyone interested that I am a native of Great Britain, something I am proud off while the Yookay is........ well..... enough said.

Moving swiftly along I had my first game of 2026 today, Matt braved the journey from darkest Penrith through the wind and snow to lead 3rd Panzer into the Gembloux Gap. The French won the last clash but suffered severe casualties, this time I was down to two squads, the free 75mm gun and supports which included a motorcyle squad and a mortar. Matt brought a brand new platoon, an extra squad, an off table machine gun and a Henschel 123, it is a Stuka in the book but I had the plane and it was for ground attack, oh and another damn fifth columnist. We caught and hung Jean Claude but this was his brother Pierre, a despicable family.

The battlefield.

The Germans have no armour for this scenario but I was not feeling too confident as I was a squad down and I heard aircraft engines approach. As it happened the Luftwaffe made no impression on the battle whatsoever, I saved my Chain of Command points and eventually used them to end the turn and the effects of Goering's boys. Matt concentrated on the same wood as the last time staying away from the open corn field but the wood soon became clogged up with German infantry vying for room, I sat and patiently waited.

Henschel 123.

Traffic jam in the woods.

Matt eventually lined the wood and sent one squad forward, he also set up his off-table machine gun, I now managed to get a really good command throw and managed to almost get everyone on my line of defence, Pierre stopped me from occupying the second house for several phases, sacred blue! The Jerries now began to suffer, the squad in the open was shot up, a couple of NCO's were either killed or wounded and Boche morale fell. I had remembered how smoke worked this time and closed down the off-table machine gun, my 75mm began to fire with impunity into the wood.

French right.

A great weapon.

Pierre before meeting his maker.

I did not have everything my own way and my motorcyclists were picked on and eventually broke causing my morale to fall to 6, this was offset by my last squad turning up and despatching Pierre while hunkering down in the bombed out house. Matt now lost a squad as I concentrated all my fire on it and it broke, this left only two squads to carry on the fight, Matt withdrew.

I do not blame him as without armour and lacking a decent strike from the Luftwaffe his men were just not going to survive crossing the open ground. We are going to move on to the next game as despite French support falling to four the Germans would have the same problem as they have had for the last two games and there is no point in hitting our heads against a brick wall. This is not a well thought out scenario, there is also an opportunity for the French to lay minefields along the edge of the wood which would basically force the Germans to move into the fields or heaven forbid the French bring a tank. I am not saying things are completely impossible for the Jerries, it's a wargame, but a very tough one needing Lady Luck.

I am going to try and get back to the club next Tuesday, I have a game with Erik here next Friday and possibly a mid week game as well. My son is coming over for my third linked Fall of the West Roman game later in the month, a large clash as the Empire scrapes the barrel for one more army to throw at the Romano-British upstarts, will it be enough, we will see.

I almost forgot, how could I, mate David Bickley has seen fit to allow one of my ancestors to lead his Scots mercenaries for his Wars of the Roses collection, I give you 'Black Geordie'. 

2025

 The year started off with a very large U-Turn, I had decided not to build anymore armies, however a Christmas gift set me off on a new and large project, a third Roman army to cover the crises of the 3rd C. Did I need another army of this type, no I didn't but that would be succumbing to commonsense, besides I had seen just such an army on a blog by Phil Hendry, but I had never forgotten it, Phil's army covered the East but mine would be a Western force. I already had five War and Conquest armies and found it hard enough to get them on the table so the project was a bit of a vanity one for me with my fingers crossed for future games.

On the game front the Italian Wars seemed to run out of steam while Chain of Command came to the fore, the latter was vastly improved by the new Second Edition, no rule set is perfect but there is some clever stuff in the new version. It is still wrong to put Bolt Action and CoC up against each other as they are simply completely different games but you still find this nonsense around. I had a bit of a sit down with myself re my wargaming, I have in the past joined in all sorts of games at the club and realise there has to be a bit of give and take for the club to work, however recently I have kind of retreated to attempting to play games I like. Some of the lads play a new game every week almost, also Warlord Games rules are a favourite at the club but I simply do not like them, a rule set which can allow a Napoleonic square to form up in a farmyard or potentially cause a Roman cohort to run from a single slingshot hit is not for me, not any longer I have decided. I have a very short wargame span, ACW, Ancients and WWII but these are what made me a wargamer and I want to play them more although I realise I will have to make more of an effort on this front.

I have been fortunate to have a couple of guys who are more than willing to turn up on a regular or semi-regular basis to the Bunker, 2025 saw a number of these immensely enjoyable games, I hope to continue this trend in 2026. So if you read this and want to visit, let me know. 

Last winter I kicked off an ACW campaign set in the Shenandoah Valley hoping to pass away the dreich days with battles. We managed four battles which I also managed to take part in and they were a lot of fun, I had not intended the campaign to run until this winter. As with all wargame campaigns they do not always, or do they ever, go to plan and at times I was left with no orders due to circumstances beyond my control, I therefore decided to close it down. I called a Confederate win as they had won most of the battles and had the Union command on the back foot. I also had my own real life problems to deal with by the end.

 My Chain of Command campaigns with Matt are still going strong and have all been very satisfying, I see no reason these will not continue.

Round about October I eventually finished my new army, Emperor Maximinus Thrax took the parade and the men were enrolled in my order of battle. The whole army was from A&A Miniatures and the firm excellent to deal with, the sculpts need the odd bit of tidying up as they have been around a while but nothing over the top. I am busy planning an opportunity to lead them in January. 

 

 Since hanging up my paintbrushes, is that a thing, I have been slightly lost, to this end I have not given up entirely and am now concentrating on bits and pieces, terrain, vehicles, small teams etc. this does help but I will admit to there being a void after 60 odd years of building and painting. I also gave up all my map projects apart from the new Arab-Israeli atlas, I am more happy with this as it takes pressure off, there are still about 60 maps to do this coming year before the book will be ready.

 You will all know of course that I continue to have problems with my liver which we had thought had gone away, it looks like they won't. The good news is that I am recovering much better and quicker after this latest surgery. I also very much appreciate all the good wishes which came my way, many thanks.

Highlights of the year for me was Rob Broom's visit and a full War and Conquest gaming weekend, Matt Crump's continued visits, and good friend Robert Thomson's visits from Scotland and being a phonecall away when I needed bouyed up.  

I am starting to try and book the first games of the new year to kick in once all the festivities are over. The future is still pretty much open wargame wise, more games here if possible, I do have a couple of ideas, many moons ago I bought an excellent boardgame called 'Robert the Bruce' for £5, I might at last get around to redrawing the map and replacing the counters with 28mm figures.

Merry Christmas all and a Happy New Year. 

Operation, the sequel

 It is all over for now, more to come next year. The op was done robotically with the robot being controlled on some kind of PS5 hand control, the Doc is obviously not a Noob player as it all looks pretty good. I was taken to a general ward the evening of the surgery and to my surprise it was much better than my previous experience. It really is a small world, the guy to the left of me had served on HMS Kent, my brother also served on Kent, the guy opposite him was a local funeral director and had buried one of my neighbours, the poor man opposite me who had been in for going on four months built 1/35 military models.

I was told I could get out Wednesday night, I had surgery Monday afternoon, but much to my chagrin my wife cannot drive in the dark due to night blindness and having no one on speed dial to help I settled down to one more night of NHS hospitality. My son and Evelyn picked me up the next morning and here I am, much better than the last time as the op was not as major so now wondering how to fill up my time as the main bind is a bit of tiredness and no heavy lifting, all my troops being metal of course.
I am not a fan of the NHS and believe it needs a complete overhaul before it implodes, set against this is the care and sympathy at the sharp end, it could not have been better, from the auxilliaries to the consultants. I will admit to the food being disgusting and for me inedible, my missus kept me supplied but I am still to find my appetite even now.

Obviously no wargaming for now, although I can see this returning far quicker this time, I treated myself to a new book 'Pearl Harbour: Japan's Greatest Disaster' after watching the author on WW2TV, I fully realise that these books rely a lot on hindsight but nevertheless their lessons are worth absorbing. I am still waiting for my new vehicles to arrive but did take collection of my German Marder crew from Perrys, three of whom will do well for the upcoming Nashorn.

It is my birthday tomorrow, a sprightly 73, yes I look good but you should see the inside. Son Stewart went his own way this year and surprised me with a Royal Navy rugby top, I do not like sport of any kind but do look good in navy blue with a white ensign. My other son we will see just before Christmas so a bumper time for me.

The boat is being run out this year as I am getting an up to date iPad Mini, my own one which I have had for years now cannot upload modern versions of many of the Apps I use and it is now of limited use which is getting worse as time goes on. 

So there we are, back in the land of the living with another stint of hospital time next year. I might manage to get a game organised after Christmas if someone is available albeit my missus will have to set it up but she has been a star so far. I will probably do the usual ode to the past year at some point, if not before Christmas then I hope you all have a great Christmas and a very Happy New Year. 

 

Pyrrhic Victory

 So, what's new, nothing much in a word. I have ordered up the first of my 'bits and pieces' now that I have stopped with the big projects, namely some Soviet Tank Riders, a Nashorn Panzerjager and an M3 Grant, they are all 3D prints and are from Mardav miniatures. I fully realise two things, the Nashorn will probably never get on the table and probably neither will the Grant which I am lending and leasing to my Soviets, the latter is fantasy it seems as mate Robert pointed out the Russians got the Lee version, well on this ship a Grant was sent, take it up with Stores.

I am now doing my little walk again along Crag road to get my stamina up and my diabetes down, while up there I wondered if I was defending the village of Millhead which I could see sitting on a ridge, where would I put my anti-tank guns, this led further to me wondering if a shot would actually reach it from where I was. So once home I got on to Google and used my skills to provide ranges for different anti-tank guns from my house. Now before you jump on my back I know the effective or maximum ranges will depend on who you listened to or read last so although the 17pdr and 88mm could throw lead out to between 8-10 miles on a good day I have went for averages. The Pak 43 is very impressive, Bolton-le-Sands is about 15 mins from me.

Club member Mike was stuck for a game this week so I offered one here as I would not be at the club, he settled on WW2 and Chain of Command although he was offered other periods. He had tried CoC at the club and it had been a bit of a disaster so I said I would put on a trial game. This also gave me the chance to get my new snow roads out and see how they looked in action, I ended up very happy with them. The game was a German defence of a small village on the Eastern Front, for ease I had already chosen the supports for both sides and Mike went with the Jerries, they had a SdKfz 251/9 (Stummel) and a Panzerschreck while the Russians brought a HMG and a Valentine III tank as support to the fight. I took both the vehicles as I had them and I think only the Stummel has ever seen action, I think I was as disappointed with the Valentine as the Russians were.

The battlefield.

  

Stummel.

Russians probe forward.

Valentine.

Dead Stummel.

In a nutshell the Russians lost out as we approached 2200 hrs, I had nailed the Stummel but the Germans had a firebase in the village and I had taken heavy casualties, so many that even having the only armour on the table I could not turn the tide. I think Mike had a better experience this time and said he enjoyed the game.

And now for the serious stuff, Matt came for our fifth game in the Gembloux Gap campaign, he was riding the crest of a wave having won the last three games and I had suffered fairly heavy casualties with no chance of replacing them for now. Despite having lost the equivalent of a squad I got a free infantry gun and I managed to replace the missing guys with a motorcycle group which had two LMG teams and still had points left to get a 60mm mortar. Matt took an extra 50mm mortar, off-table MMG and a mortar barrage, the mortar barrage surprised me, thankfully in this scenario he is not allowed any tanks.

The terrain and scenario rules are such that the Germans did not get far in the Patrol Phase while I managed for once to get JOPs where I wanted them, I would have to hold out long enough to get a full Chain of Command die and end the turn, because my supports would not turn up until Turn 2. Quite quickly Matt had all his squads on and had formed a firing line in a large wood and waited for me to turn up, I waited to pick up that magical dice and then unleash hell. Matt caught me out with a Fifth Columnist who acted in my rear as a German sniper, anyone who then deployed would be menaced by Jean Claude, I had to get rid of him. I took a chance and deployed a two man grenadier team and searched the woods, the danger was that Jean might shoot and kill my leader or/and the waiting enemy line in the wood would open up and I would lose the two men and my morale would fall, but I had to take the chance before I began my deployment. Sure enough in the next phase I ended the turn, my supports began to turn up and my team took Jean Claude towards a waiting lamp post, they did die in the effort but their loss meant nothing to French morale.

It was my turn to deploy everything on the table and I occupied two buildings which became the lynchpins of my defence. Matt brought along his off-table machine gun and I started dropping smoke on it, this turned out to be the world's worst mortar team and it took all six shots to close the MMG down, and soon after the turn ended and all the smoke disappeared! A firefight now developed between the opposing forces and although I shot oodles (easily well over 100+) into the wood it all seemed to have no effect while my own casualties began to mount, my morale however was holding yet it was slowly falling. Matt now unloaded a mortar barrage on part of my position and it managed to break the infantry gun team before I could rescue them, but apart from this it was fairly ineffective and an end of turn stopped the whole thing cutting it short.

French deployment area.

Germans hold the wood.

My free gun.

Solid defence.

I was now beginning to win the firefight but it was taking time and my morale was only just holding out, I dispaired of throwing 5's and 6's. I had lost an infantry squad but the two in the houses held firm, eventually the German line was weakened to a point where it was pointless to continue so they withdrew.

Targets!

Incoming!

This one was staged for propaganda purposes.

As the dust settled both sides had lost heavy casualties, the Germans would now retire their platoon and bring up a new one for the return fight, I have to fight on so although I think I can still get a respectable force on the table I will have to be very careful to keep it in the fight. Luckily the Germans have a very difficult approach to my lines but I will be very lucky to get away with another blocking action, we intend to play this next week before my operation and the festive season closes me down until after New Year at the earliest. I also have a second intro game against Erik. 

I have to confess I flouted the rules of the World Wargaming Die Rolling Convention 1925 as I changed dice soon after starting the game and showed my disrespect further by changing back again halfway through. I respectfully plead for understanding as rolls of 36+ usually ended in 'nil points'.

 

 

Tempus Fugit

 Life is racing on, I seem to be playing catch up, health, birthdays and the ever encroaching Christmas, which has been in our sights now since around September? The local supermarkets, there are no shops per se, are already full while the local roads in Carnforth are a nightmare on a weekend and also now during the week, people turning up for a game find it increasingly difficult to park in the village. So what's new.

With no soldiers to paint I decided to at last get a few more explosions to use in a mortar barrage, years ago I got a very large tub but couldn't find such a beast this time so got two bags of Woodland Scenics foliage. This was disappointing as they were not large but expensive, so in the end I only got two markers out of them, but I did get around to using that heat glue gun I have had for years. I won't buy anymore so will make what I have do.

New and old.

Next up was a couple of bombed out buildings, I got these from Inverness and they were excellent 3D prints, a huge amount of detail for those up for such and reasonably priced I thought. I primed them black then picked out the walls, floors and bricks, after this I set too with the dry brush and then an overall wash with Agrax Earthshade, in the end I ended up with two buildings suitable for the old three foot test. That's my stretch these days.

The latest book from Helion on the Italian Wars is the Battle of Pavia, I have quite a bit on Pavia as this is the period I have based my armies on but I like to complete series, good friend Charles Singleton once again kindly used his influence to procure me a copy.

I also took reciept of my snow roads from Poland, not perfect but better than using my normal dirt tracks, my only beef is that there are not enough straights in the pack. I have asked for some straights but if this is not possible I will probably get another pack as standby. 

Of course there were games the first was at the club, Simon and I played the Uman game from WSS magazine, I didn't have much time for pictures as the club was busy with people popping over whom I have not seen for a wee while. The Russian assault did not make a lot of headway against the German defences, the end came as I managed to launch a Panzerschreck team from ambush to blow up the KV-1, kill its commander and a nearby officer and two of his men as the explosion rocked the table. As you will know I am quite at home with version 2 of the rules while Simon is not.

The main game of the week was next, 'Blitz on Villeroux', Matt was continuing his lunge through the Gap and could bring armour along for this scenario. The defensive position looked quite good but with Panzers available I was forced to take a 25mm anti-tank gun, for which I had a cunning plan, and an R35 light tank. Matt took as supports a 75mm infantry gun, an off table MMG, SdKfz 222 and a Pz IV. He had to get two units off my end of the table.

My useless mortar.

Armour and gun.

Refugee's fleeing the Boche.

The Jerries came on quickly and concentrated on my left flank opposite of which was a large wood which his infantry lined and hid in. I placed my men in the houses and a barn, after which the enemy infantry gun and MMG appeared along with the armour, the tank eased forward to get in range of the buildings to spot the men in them, it was time for the surprise. I used a command die to place the 25mm on the table almost in front of the tank, I knew this was a one shot wonder as the return fire would no doubt pin or break the crew but it had to be done. Bang, the tank was hit but the shot only knocked out the hull machine gun, sure as god made little green apples the return fire pinned then broke the gun crew. I now brought on my little tank and it began a dual with the Panzer IV, this lasted all the remaing game with the German hitting and me saving and vice versa.

Surprise!

Busy wood.

Achtung Panzer!

I had taken a mortar but it's nine shots resulted in nothing but clouds of earth, I did manage to kill some of the crew of the infantry gun and rout one of the squads in the wood but again many of my hits failed to turn into casualties. Matt was having a hard time shifting my dug in troops but in the end I lost the squad holding the left flank and due to officer casualties my morale had plunged, the German armoured car had also managed to flank my defences and was heading for the table edge with nothing to stop it. I decided to withdraw before I lost anymore men.

Once again due to the difference in morale the Germans managed to return almost all of their casualties ending up with only one dead and one in hospital, I have now lost a complete squad and these guys will have to fight on for the next game. 'Get the Guns' is next, the French should manage well on this table but I have thought that before. Thankfully the Germans do not get the same fistful of support points as the last game and I get a free infantry gun.

Not a lot planned for the coming week apart from the next game in the campaign on Thursday, not sure about the club.