Midgard arrives, even here.

 Midgard Heroic Battles, Flavour of the Month hardly covers the impact of the latest rules set to hit the streets, and it has arrived here. Stuart set up a Midgard game this week, it was to be simple and two starter armies were to meet in an engagement, Saxons and Romano-British, I brought the latter along as it didn't really matter how many men were in a unit as long as the frontages worked, which they did. My army consisted of two mounted and one foot Comitatus, elite, the rest were average and I had one archer unit along with three Hero's, the Saxons had at least two Hearthguard units, two skirmishers with slings and a bunch of average warriors, I believe they had one more than us, but not as many elite and no cavalry, and four Hero's.

My Romano-British with Stuart's Saxons in the distance.

Now boys, now.

Both armies before a duel which the Saxon Hero loses.

It was a meeting engagement as I mention above, Stuart had the rules and I had watched a few of the videos on how to play, I did give up on these when they got to combat but I had retained some information. I had a conflab with my second-in-command Andy and we decided just to go hell for leather at the enemy, what could go wrong, Stuart and Gary advanced as well but with slightly more caution. I rode down a set of slingers with my cavalry and Andy took on a warrior unit and although hit in the rear he did manage to destroy them before his horse dispersed. Both sides now clashed in the middle, the Romano-British had the upper hand and the Saxon elites were held up and pushed back by one of my average warbands, the Saxon morale now failed and the British were declared the winners.

The rule set is very much 'Heroic' and the leaders play an important part in the game, it really is Arthur of the Britons more than Harold of the Anglo-Saxons, and yes you can introduce Merlin and have a magic sword or ability, or of course you can leave that side of things out and just play Dark Ages, or Early Medieval as it is described in the videos. Both sides can earn or lose Reputation Points and once you lose all your points you lose the game. The combat system is fairly simple and there are several ways you can increase the number of combat dice you throw. No, I would not buy the rules, and this is no reflection on the rules simply the fact they are not my cup of char, I am an Old School Wargamer, I am not as open as many to new rule sets. I like what I like and once I have chosen a set I will stick with them, this can be frustrating as time marches on and I become isolated, but I have been lucky enough not to turn to Solo yet. I would however if offered be happy enough to play them again at the club as they provided a few hours of fun for all concerned, Andy at least was converted.

Have you noticed that new rules never seem to get a bad press, and I am lumping them all in with this, they recieve months of advertising and turn up as a glossy book with oodles of eye candy and photoshoped battles and somewhere in there are the rules. I also find that most in the end are a game, sometimes a good game, but with the pieces being soldiers rather than counters or wooden pegs. I want to have the excitement of throwing in my reserve brigades or unleashing my cavalry in a steel plated tidal wave as the rest of my army stands like a stonewall or dies on the nearest ridge, I want to command an army, not friends and family. In keeping with present trends I wonder if we will soon see Midgard Italian Wars or Midgard WWI.......

I decided a wee while ago to add some airplanes to my WWII forces, I have managed to complete a FW190F-8 which basically took over ground attack from the Stuka and a Stuka for early war games, in the process I found that I do not have the dexterity or patience I had when I was twelve. With the FW there are quite a few bits in the bin because you cannot see the underneath, the Stuka was an easier build, I was impressed with the tiny and complete decal sheets with both, but I only attempted the large ones in both cases. I obviously need something for the Allies and Soviets, I have bought a Spitfire from my grandson and am dithering on providing a Sturmovik for the Soviets, have you seen the price of model kits these days. I quite easily found a plastics outfit which provided the rod and base for the planes and the magnets were easily sourced from eBay.

FW 190.

Stuka.

I also decided to get a Panzer I for my early Germans, there has to be an option to field one of these as they trundle into France, while looking I came across a Mobelwagen on the same site which I had always wanted. They arrived the other day, a bit of a wait but well worth it, both models are beautiful, the gunners on the flakpanzer are a tad small so I will leave the second one off and pop a few Rubicon crew in the box. They were from MarDav Miniatures.

The club is getting ever more busier and there are a lot more games being presented, including many of the newer sets along with old favourites. Our annual Christmas game is being planned and our festive Curry Night has been set for the 3rd January, we seem to need a larger table every year now.

The ACW campaign is approaching the end of its first campaign week with only a few minor skirmishes between cavalry screens so far, both sides seem willing to fight a major battle but not until the odds are in their favour.

Rob turned up today for a Chain of Command action involving his Italians and my French, I was defending while Rob was the attacker. I thought Rob had an uphill struggle on his hands until I realised as Italian tankettes rolled down the road that my own tanks and support could not arrive until Turn 1 had ended.

French deployment area.

The Italians are coming the sheep are nervous.

To make things worse I knew Rob would not end the turn and it was going to take me a long time to get a Chain of Command dice in order to do it, I was not lucky throwing fives. Nevertheless my two squads and grenade team settled down to defend the village, the Italians moved forward aggressively on their right but their left flank stayed put. I popped some smoke grenades to protect my men and prayed I could hold on.

Hide.

The annoying little tankettes.

At last I managed to get the elusive CoC dice and ended the turn, and of course my tanks refused to turn up. Luckily this did not last long and reinforcements eventually took over the duty of defending the village.

Italians.

Even more but hiding.

My R35 was taken under fire by the Italian anti-tank gun which failed to penetrate its armour, it quickly scarpered out of sight and joined the World War I vintage Renault F-17 moving to attack the Italian right, the enemy infantry there beginning to suffer from the attentions of a newly arrived, French infantry squad.

At last the tanks arrive.

French reinforcements.

Forward or whatever in French.

As the French second wave arrived it became obvious the Italians, as in reality, would have to pull back and were not going to achieve their objective, which was a hard ask. I do think Rob missed a chance to pile forward while I had about half my forces still off table, but allied to this is the dismal make up of Italian forces at this point in the war and the dire choices of support. He could have brought a mortar barrage but this is looked upon as a game changer so unless absolutely necessary most players do not use it. We spent a good few hours chatting and playing and it passed a cold day.
 

And that's it, X-Wing will be turning up at the club next week after several years in the boxes as Jimi is showing an interest in Star Wars Legion but X-Wing is the best I can do, it should be fun. So far there is nothing planned in the Bunker for next week but I think real life is taking up most of it.

Bremen 5 and Dark Ages

 I recently managed to get a War and Conquest game in against my grandson helped by his dad, it was good fun despite me getting beat. My son and I went into Lancaster for a meal and a few drinks, I had enjoyed the day and thought why not rinse and repeat. This time I persuaded Stewart to bring his own army, Carolingians, I will use my Saxons as he cries foul if I use the more professional ancient armies. The Carolingians are much like the Normans, several armies of which are turning up at the club much like they did in 1066, lots of very good infantry and cavalry so I am going a bit heavier than normal with more household troops than I would usually take, my cavalry will be outclassed but I shall take them to watch my flanks. 

The deployments were typical for the period, cavalry on both wings and infantry in the centre covered by some skirmishers, I had an idea to lead with my left and hold back my right, the enemy simply came on all along the line. I was worried about my right as a large Carolingian cavalry unit was approaching, so I decided to annoy it with skirmishing bowmen and cavalry while holding an infantry unit in reserve, the light troops did their job and the cavalry became confused then as casualties mounted their morale failed and they fled chased all the way. My own cavalry on my left faced mounted Carolingian skirmishers and after I was getting the worst of the exchange I simply charged them and swept them from the battlefield.

 

Saxons.

Carolingians

Meanwhile the infantry had clashed on my centre left, I was feeling good about this one as my Picts and Franks were up against some poor Liberi foot soldiers, in the middle of this one of my hearthguard units with the king met an enemy household unit and a tremendous struggle enthused in which my king was wounded and his men pushed back. The Liberi put up quite a struggle and failed to break quickly, I had wanted the warbands to turn and make for the right flank tout suite. The Liberi did eventually rout and the King's men made an exceptional comeback to rout their tormentors as both sides suffered at least 70% casualties, things were looking up for the Saxons.

 

The battle begins.

 

The infantry clash.

The Carolingians hoping for God's help.

It was now that Stewart asked why my Saxon king was fighting under a Christian banner, I then realised I had taken the wrong leader out of the box and the troops were being led by my Romano-British commander. I was in a quandry, would my wargamers superstition insist that the lost king be returned to his troops in mid battle, who so far had been fighting well under the Brit or do I leave him in place hoping they would not notice as Stewart had done, I left him in place, bleeding but unbowed. As I looked over the battlefield everything seemed to be going my way, but I did have a problem on my centre right as the remaining enemy closed, I knew I would likely lose my Ceorl's but I had another hearthguard unit sitting untouched protecting the far right flank. Hubris now got the better of me, I charged into the nearest enemy to seal the enemy's fate, a short while later my men were either lying in the grass or running for home!

 

Hold, hold.

The Franks in pursuit.

Carolingian cavalry.

Stewart took heart from this turning point and kept the battle going as he turned for my victorious left, I still had the Picts, Franks and the survivors of the king's bodyguard in the field, they were well supported by skirmishing cavalry and foot bowmen, these troops now surrounded the Carolingians and as javelins and arrows flew more and more of the enemy fell to the missiles, Stewart eventually conceded.

This was a very hard fought battle and a close win for the Saxons, the loss of my Gedriht unit almost snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and was a big surprise for me, at the very least I expected them to stand and fight like the men around the king. Stewart wasn't enamoured of the Liberi but they had been more than a speed bump and held the warbands up for a couple of moves and had drawn the Franks away in a pursuit for a time rather than me redeploying them to the right flank.

The nights are fair drawing in and last Tuesday it was back to the club and my second Bolt Action V3 game against 'Lucky' Jimi, he has a new 'army' themed as Winter troops, essentially Gebirgsjager from Offensive Miniatures I think. Jimi is an excellent painter and his new soldiers look the part, I was going to get to use my Russians at the club for a wee change. I decided to use some of the equipment which has either never been on the table or hardly ever, I took the Quad Maxim on a Gaz truck, in wargaming speak a Tokarev but I am unsure if that is correct, a mind dog and handler along with an Ampulomet anti-tank mortar, the last two only saw a few months of use at the front. I also had four squads, HMG and a T-34/85. Jimmy had three squads I think, one on ski's and borrowd a StuG III and a 37mm Flak on a halftrack.

Fido or Fedor does the job.

Underwhelming firepower.

Same again.

A decent tank for a change.

NKVD look on.

New troops, very nice.

Lovely figures.

We sorted out a meeting engagment somewhere on the Eastern Front, I felt quite confident and was hoping my recent luck would remain intact. Quite quickly I was disabused of that notion, the AA truck was firing 24 dice and I think I managed to give one German a headache before the StuG brewed it up, in return the T-34 destroyed the German halftrack. I didn't get a chance to fire the Ampulomet before it too was cut down, I did however manage to get Fido or Fedor to run at the StuG and blow it up, sadly it was not out of the battle, it had caught fire but this was put out while it was left immobilised for the rest of the game. The T-34 had been firing at the StuG but getting nowhere. As the clock ticked down the dice gods got their revenge and Jimi had an uncharacteristic run of good luck and took the game as I floundered at what to do next.

Jimi lost two units and I lost three, we were again slightly slower with the new version and maybe it was just my perception but I just could not make a saving roll, which is usually a five these days, cover is now very important. Early days yet and a long way to go before I feel completely happy with V3.

Mate Robert found himself in the area again and booked in for the next game in our Road to Bremen campaign, we had a fight on our hands as I had managed to get my Heer platoon to stick around, supported by a Hitler Youth panzerschreck team and a Pz IIIN, I had also laid two minefields and a small line of barbed wire. I managed to get my Jump Off Points close to two buildings and a small wood which would be my defense position, the British this time had a bit of cover for their approach.

The battlefield and the British approach.

 

The last hope.

Robert hiding again.

A nice piece of support.

I did not at first put any troops on the table so Robert had plenty of time to bring on all his troops and get them set up around a couple of buildings near his deployment edge. He brought a Firefly, two carriers with Bren teams and three engineer teams along with a mortar to back up his infantry platoon. The high number of engineers were to take care of the minefields and it took them a long, long time to clear the obstacles. By this point I had put two squads, a panzerschreck and the Pz III on the table, bullets started to fly, the Panzer managed two shots and got nothing out of them, my luck really had changed, it then took to hiding from the threat of the Firefly, which in turn was hiding well back in case it was ambushed by a 'schreck team, I should be so lucky.

British fire base.

Herman decides to turn up.

Time runs out.

I attempted to bring my remaining squad on table and they refused up until almost the last turn, I needed them as one of the two defending squads had broken under concentrated fire, this was mitigated by me breaking a rash British squad which had thought to push forward. Robert is a working man and we had to call a halt before we could get a result as it was getting late. Notes were taken as well as pictures of the situation so we can continue at a later date. Both sides are pretty even for now, both have lost a squad, both are at Force Morale of 7 so the next round should be exciting. I have been exceptionally lucky with all my troops deciding to stand and fight, this may not last of course, still in positions towards Bremen are another Heer Platoon and a Volksturm force, will they fight or save their skins as the end of the war approaches?

I have completed yet another halftrack, a recconaissance vehicle with a 2cm auto cannon, I do have recce vehicles but they are wheeled armoured cars, so I thought why not, it looks cool. Talking of cool I have also ordered up one of the six wheeled armoured cars to use with my Early War Germans, they proved a disappointment in combat and were quickly dispensed with however they do look good and as I have nothing on the tray at the moment, again why not. I really must make an effort to get all my recce stuff on the table for a game. Warlord have one at a staggering £27.50, so I got mine from eBay, a 3D print which looks very good in the pics, there are a couple to choose from but I went for the more expensive one at £12.75. I think I have enough Panzer grey left in my tin to cover one more vehicle.

 

The Rain In Spain

 I have recovered from my 'special' day last week and for now am back on an even keel, in so much as I can be in this madhouse of a world.

A flurry of activity in what I am beginning to call my 'Fortress of Solitude' this week, the floor is in, most of the woodwork is complete and the bathroom is also done. The shop front has now gone, well almost all of it so that leaves the new wall to finish and a garden wall to be built, obviously I am more interested in the inside and when I can annex it to my wargame empire. To this end I have now ordered bookcases, shelving, chairs etc. so light at the end of the tunnel and maybe a wargame or two.

New floor.

New front, almost.

Old Front.

This week I was introducing Fran to Chain of Command with the intention of kicking off a small campaign once everything is ship shape, I chose The Gembloux Gap as it is small and I can get my French troops out for a run. So I put something together for the game and off we went. I was the French and Fran took the bad guys, he took an extra squad and a PzIII, I had a Panhard armoured car and a 60mm mortar, which I forgot all about until the last turn.

Normally I would have waited several turns before putting my defenders down but that would not serve to introduce game mechanics so I popped a couple of squads and my grenadiers on fairly quick, the Germans managed to get most of their troops on and started to heap some hurt on my Frenchies or sit on overwatch waiting for the rest to turn up. I did not have a lot of luck and thankfully there were a few times when Fran also annoyed Lady Luck, I brought on the Panhard and traded shots with the PzIII to no avail, although I did catch its attention. 

As the time ran out the Jerries at last made a move towards my line but we stopped the game and packed up, Fran had had a decent run at the rules and is happy to give the campaign a try once I am ready, so I shall look forward to it.

This morning I headed north to Penrith and Matt's Dungeon, I asked if we could give WWII a miss and could he put on something colourful. I arrived to fight on the plains of Spain as two Arab armies faced off against each other at some point of the Dark Ages. We both had typical armies of the time and I also had a contingent of Christian mercenaries, Matt also had mercenaries, Turks I think. The object was to have more troops on the far side of a small stream at the end than the enemy, along with killing more enemy than you lost and thirdly there was an enemy camp which could be captured.

We were using Kings of War, a set of rules which I have never played and never had any intention of playing, simply because I have War and Conquest for my pre-gunpowder armies. It was going to be a sharp learning curve.

My first plan was to use my Christians to smash Matt's left flank and then turn in towards the centre and the camp over on the enemy right. This did not go so well and about three moves in I had a large gap in my line as I lost a couple of crossbow units and had had to withdraw my heavy cavalry due to enemy missile fire, it looked like an early bath for me.

 

The battlefield somewhere in Spain.

The bad guys.

The good guys.

I now made an effort on my left with horse archers and some medium cavalry and managed to see off the enemy horse on that flank, I now sent my infantry towards the enemy centre while Matt reciprocated, my right was only just hanging on and I sent some infantry across to stop my camp falling into enemy hands. Slowly, very slowly I began to get the upper hand on the right although things were still messy as both sides strove for an advantage. Then, out of the blue things swung my way and in the dying light of day I held my right, and smashed the enemy centre, the enemy were left with two units and the casualty roll was in my favour while my troops had secured the far bank.

My long suffering Christian cavalry get their own back.

I ford the stream and attack.

More troops are drawn into battle in the centre.

The game was different but exciting, the combat worked well but I had the impression that archery was too strong, now this might just have been because these armies relied a lot on missile troops and had plenty, Matt also assured me that it worked fine in the end, the jury is still out on that one. The rules are fast and easily picked up, I would be very happy to play them again, especially with the lovely troops and battlefields provided in the Dungeon.

I have to admit I am hooked on Shogun and this week I managed to get that tin of bog standard beer and enjoyed it with the latest episode last night, although I still can't get cheese and onion square crisps. I also got two new books having finished the two volumes on Rorke's Drift, due to my renewed interest on the bombing campaign against Germany I settled on 'Dresden' while my eyes also lit upon a history of the emperor Justinian. I should have looked at the latter closer, I make it a policy not to buy history books without maps or using BCE/CE rather than BC/AD, yes daft, but hey, that's me. Justinian has maps but I missed the other bit, grrrrrr.