The September War: #01 Chojnice...Twice

/

Barring major disasters, The September War, my new scenario pack for IABSM containing 33 scenarios from the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, should be published tomorrow, Wednesday 15th March 2017.

The September War  is largely based on Alexander Kawczynski's supplement for another rule system, but with the scenarios fully adapted for IABSM. As usual with my packs, each scenario generally consists of six pages: two for the Umpire and two for each player. Once you add the background and support material, The September War comes in at 240 pages long and will cost £9.50.  

To wet your collective whistles, here is an AAR from the playtest of scenario #01: Chojnice. Will the Poles manage to blow the vital railway bridge in time? Or will the Germans manage to capture the bridge and defuse the explosives, then send their armoured train in to wreak havoc on the Polish border defences? Click on the picture below to find out more...

Polish Cavalry Conversions

/

To celebrate the publication of my The September War scenario pack for IABSM*, I am declaring this week to be Polish week on Vis Lardica. All the posts through to Friday will be Polish in nature.

To start us off, here a bit of painting that I finished this weekend: a squad of Polish cavalry and a Big Man.

All the above are actually converted Battlefront Cossacks i.e. I've taken spare Cossack figures and given them new heads using Peter Pig Polish cavalry heads.

This was remarkably easy to do: snip off the old head, use a pin drill to create a hole in the decapitated torso, then pop the new head in. Takes about five minutes a time and gives you a nicely varied set of cavalry and reduces the lead mountain as I was never going to use those Cossacks.

Tomorrow's post features an AAR from the play-testing of The September War.

*The September War publishes on Wednesday  15th March 2017. It contains thirty-three scenarios from the German invasion of Poland, 1st September to 6th October 1939, and will be priced at £9.50. It is largely based on the first half of Alexander Kawczynski's Poland in Flames scenario pack for FOW, but totally adapted for IABSM.

Painting Challenge Update Number Ten

/

Is it me?  Or has this year's Challenge started up at turbo speed? It certainly seems as if the entries are coming in thicker and faster than ever before.

So, in no particular order, here's this week's batch:

  • The Bowler Hat sends in an enormous entry:  lots of Romans and Luther-like numbers of little 'planes
  • Speaking of which, Mr Luther pops in a couple of photos of his previous output: some nice Japanese tankettes
  • Mr Burt sends in some Libyans of the ancient variety
  • Jon Davenport submits over 100 British Napoleonics, and a sizeable number of slightly bigger Hessians
  • We also have more sci-fi goodness from Carole
  • And some lovely moderns from Egg
  • Stumpy sends in his first entry of the year, and its enormous, even if it is only re-basing. I've labelled the ones I can.
  • Mr Helliwell is still doing the American Civil War
  • And last, but by no means least, Mr Haines has a few more buckskin-clad irregulars for us to look at

So another large entry: keep 'em coming! Today's pictures are below:

Egg's Canadians

Sci Fi Jetbikes from Carole

Mr Davenport's Hessians

Some Romans from Lloyd Bowler

Q13: New Releases from Khurasan

/

As I've been a bit obsessed with Poland lately, I haven't been paying any attention to anything else:  such as Quadrant 13 and 15mm sci-fi in general.

Well, that's apart from buying and painting a whole load of Xar from GZG of course!

Anyway, and moving swiftly on, browsing around the Internet the other morning I came across the Khurasan website again, and thought I'd better check what was new...especially as I think John is still banned from publicising his miniatures on TMP (don't ask!). You can see them all on FB, but who has time these days?

There were two new ranges on here that I'm seeing for the first time, both of which are now firmly on my shopping list.

Alien Invasion

First up are a range of aliens specifically designed as invaders of the Earth. There's plenty of background that I won't repeat here, but basically you've got some science caste types who are your, er, basic greys, and then you have some absolutely wonderful warrior types:

These warrior types are supported by what are called Kalinekt Warborgs, and I quote: "these are both machines and living things -- implanted with the brain of a hunting animal long ago discovered and domesticated by the War Caste. Like earth's sheepdogs, these creatures are relentless in encirclement and pursuit, and keen for the approval of their masters. Brains now housed in a complex chassis constructed of titanium alloy, plastic and other materials, and using advanced weaponry, they are formidable foes."

Finally, and I'm afraid completely ridiculously, there are the Manoeuvre Elements which are...which are...well, see for yourself:

Yes, that is a 15mm tank squatting between its legs.

Now that is one big model. It costs $119 which, for its size is not that bad...but I can't see myself ever getting it onto the wargames table.

So I'm loving the warriors and the warborgs, and will be getting a platoon or two of them. I'll probably use the greys as Big Men.

The Tah-Sig Empire

Next up are the Tah-Sig, part of the Zantin Reconquest range. These are properly alien aliens (not just humans with funny heads!), and come complete with a detailed background as well.

Available are all the figures you'd need for a basic infantry company: sections of riflemen organised in to platoons, with platoon assets such as mortars and LSWs available as well.

So that's my Christmas money all used up now!

You can visit the Khurasan website by clicking here. Feel free to mention VL when you buy something: John might give me a discount!

Q13: Next Steps

Incidentally, I am producing a second edition of Q13 which will be a fairly radical redraft. Apparently, in an attempt to provide differences for all different types of weapon etc, I've allowed the thing to get cumbersomely complicated for tabletop play.

I can see this: after all, I myself have found it easier to produce almost a battlefield QRF sheet for all my armies (downloadable form the Q13 section of this website). So that will be simplified, with those changes running through to army construction etc.

Watch this space for more.

IABSM AAR: Valle della Marie

/

Mike Whitaker, fresh from proof-reading the Poland scenario pack for me (it's out next week), presents a lovely little battle report from the first game in his club's IABSM campaign.

It's Italy, 1944, and the Allies are tasked with capturing a village from the Germans. As it's a campaign, the players get a core force and get to choose some supports. I wonder if they chose wisely...?

Click on the pic to the right to see how the game went.

You can visit Mike's blog Trouble At T'Mill by clicking here.

Revised Army Lists for Poland 1939 Now Available

/

Again in preparation for the publication of my IABSM scenario book for the invasion of Poland, The September War, due on the 15th of the month (that's next Wednesday, so get your pennies ready!), I have re-vamped the army lists for both the Poles and the Germans.

These are available as FOC pdfs from the Poland 1939 page in the IABSM section of this site, or you can click on the images below.

Polish Armoured Cars

/

I'm just getting the figures ready for the next playtest of one of the scenarios in my forthcoming Poland 1939 scenario pack (barring major disaster, should be due for publication next week).

Here are three wz.34 Polish armoured cars from Battlefront. Nice little models, and you get all three, i.e. a complete patrol, in one pack.

The wz.34 was apparently the main armoured car used by the Poles during the September campaign, although some wz.29 armoured cars fought around Modlin. Crew of two, with either a 37mm gun (platoon commanders only) or a 7.92mm MMG.

Egyptian Infantry Support for the Six Day War

/

I picked a box of these up some time ago in one of the many Battlefront sales, but hadn't got round to painting them. A delay, however, in an order of Poles gave them the window needed to get onto the painting table and, once there, they were quickly finished.

It's a platoon of three IS-3M ex-Soviet main battle tanks now in UAR service for the Six Day War.

Something else for the Israeli's to blow to, er, Kingdom Come!

TFL Painting Challenge: Week 9

/

Well the ninth update even if it isn't exactly week nine.

Another good-sized batch of entries so, in no particular order, we have:

  • Lardy stalwart Chris Stoesen rather unbelievably sends in his first entry ever for the challenge: some lovely eastern front terrain
  • Mr Naylor sends in some Germans to inhabit that terrain
  • Ever-present Matt Slade has been sowing the Hydra's teeth
  • Mr Luther is back to painting little 'planes, lots of little 'planes
  • Chris Kay has some vikings for us to admire
  • Carole might be playing some ASL, so has painted up some GZG sci-fi figures in preparation
  • Another newbie, Craig MacNeill, has some WW1 Canadians for us to see
  • And Mr Weathersby also enters for the first time: a couple of 1/1200 ships. That rigging must have taken ages...still only 12 points per ship though
  • Keith Davies prepares for Arnhem with a couple of German big cats
  • And last, but by no means least, here's John Haines with some more AWI militia

Today's pictures are:

Here's Chris Stoesen's terrain for the eastern front

One of Brian's lovely 1/1200 ships:  hand-rigged!

Chris Kay's vikings in 28mm

Carole's Space Marines in 15mm

Something for the Weekend? Try April 9th

/

I was flicking through Netflix the other night, trying to find something that I hadn't seen already, and came across the film April 9th: a Danish movie about the German invasion of Denmark on April 9th 1940.

Here's a slightly edited version of the IMDB plot summary: 

"In the early morning of April 9th 1940, the Danish army is put on full alert: the Germans have crossed the border and Denmark is now at war against Europe's strongest army. In Southern Jutland, Danish bicycle- and motorcycle troops are ordered to hold back the invaders until reinforcements can be mobilized. We follow Second Lieutenant Sand (played by Pilou Asbæk) and his bicycle company as they become the first Danish soldiers to meet the enemy in combat."

The film is rather good actually. It doesn't rush to get to the action, it doesn't judge the folly of sending men on bicycles (yes, really) to confront what others would call the blitzkrieg, and it doesn't contain Pearl Harbour-like unrealistic and fictional acts of heroism. It just portrays what happens to a platoon of bicycle troops who have to go to war, mad-looking helmets and all.

That said, the action sequences are superbly done. You can really feel the tension as the platoon waits in ambush for the German recon elements to arrive. You really get a sense that, actually, what they are doing is bloody dangerous.

The noise of the enemy bullets zipping past; the sight of LMG bullets plinking off the paintwork of an SdKfz 222 armoured car; what happens when you split your men up to cover both ends of a narrow street (a lot of running backwards and forwards to try and keep abreast of what's happening): it's all done really very well...and don't get me started on their changing-a-bicycle-tyre training drills.

Maybe not a film that's going to pack out movie theatres (not that it's on anymore: it's a 2015 film) and set the world on fire, but well worth watching, especially if you're into early war gaming

IABSM AAR: The Bridge at Urk

/

Nice to see someone playing a scenario from Vyazma or Bust! 

Here, fellow Lardy Vaggelis plays #2A: The Bridge at Urk in 6mm. Will the Germans manage to find a way through to outflank Sychevka? Will the Soviet commander survive the disgrace of his last battle? It all happens around the bustling metropolis that is Urk.  Click on the pic below to see the story unfold...

You can visit Vaggelis' excellent looking blog Wargames and History by clicking here.

CDS AAR: Operation Frontier

/

Charles Eckart has sent through a nice little Charlie Don't Surf! after action report. 

Here we see the US carrying out a Search & Destroy mission: a company of 173 Brigade infantry reinforced by three ACAV tracks and three M48A3 tanks searches for the newly arrived NVA 95B regiment that is trying to establish a base in South Viet Nam near the Cambodian border.

It is an unusual game, in that the PAVN forces are strong enough to put up a semi-conventional fight combined with guerrilla tactics. 

Click on the pic below to see all:

Xar: Infantry Almost Finished

/

Quick bit of painting done whilst I wait for my next batch of Poles to arrive: two more nine-man squads of Xar, the 15mm Critters from GZG.

Just one more squad to go (the Critters in hand-to-hand, martial arts poses!) and then I think I have enough Xar infantry for the moment. Just got to think what armour to get them now...

IABSM AAR: The Defence of Arras

/

Many of you will have seen some of Egg's beautiful models in the pictures from the TFL Painting Challenge. Here's a chance to actually see them in action, with a quick AAR covering Scenario #01 from the Cymru Am Byth Welsh Guards scenario pack: the Defence of Arras.

Click on the pic below to see all:

TFL Painting Challenge: possibly the Biggest Update Ever!

/

A truly enormous update to the painting challenge this week. I'm just glad I've had a chance to upload it all before the start of the rugby!

Right, here goes:

  • Steve Burt with some Ancients, and I've re-loaded his missing pic from last time
  • Mervyn with some Middle-Earth elves and peacekeeping Crusaders
  • Matt 'the machine' Slade, obviously, with some more Napoleonic Rifles and a couple of handfuls of mythical Greeks: harpies and minotaurs
  • Egg completes (allegedly) his Cold War Brits: lots of squishies and a 'plane
  • Mr Yuengling has gone all Aeroneuf this week
  • Jon Davenport sends in his first entry of the year...and it's enormous: enough 15mm Napoleonics to fill the largest of tables
  • And so does Kev: same century, different era...but enough 15mm ACW figures to fill the other half of the table
  • Mr Naylor pops in some 15mm German weapons teams
  • And Carole sends in a British platoon who might oppose them
  • Mr Plowman sends in his usual eclectic mix
  • Derek Hodge is also of the WW2 mindset, but in 10mm rather than 15mm. Lovely figures.
  • Andrew Helliwell has gone all ACW, with some foot and guns
  • The Mad Padre has been spreading the love with some campsites painted for a friend
  • John Haines is still in the AWI: more British infantry
  • And last, but by no means least, Cabey Cabey has a few more beautiful Nappies for us to admire

So many pictures to choose from...here are today's selection:

A brace of 10mm 88's from Mr Hodge

Egg's Harrier

Reb Commanders from Kev

More Nappies from Cabey Cabey

Mr Plowman's walker

New Scenario Pack for Chain of Command

/

Chris Stoesen, author of the Campaign for Greece, Call this a Ruddy Picnic (East Africa), and In the Name of Roma scenario packs for IABSM, has just published a new supplement for Chain of Command.

For those interested, here are the details:

"The Campaign for Kharkov contains two pint sized campaigns. One covers the advance of the German 57th Infantry Division and the other the German 101st Light Division. The attack came in October of 1941. This city would be the site of three major battles for the city. The interesting aspect of the October 1941 battle is in the nature of the troops involved. The Soviets had superiority in armor. The Germans advanced with only a single STUG battalion in support of the 57th ID. The Soviets fielded the T34 as well as several improvised armored vehicles such as the KhTZ-16. While not a success on the battlefield, it demonstrated the Soviet inventiveness under the extreme pressure of the blitzkrieg.

"There are twelve total scenarios in the campaign. Full force lists are available for both German Divisions and the Soviet troops present. Maps are based on aerial reconnaissance photographs taken by German troops in September 1941.

"The scenarios are availible from my blog at $6.00 US. PayPal the money to cstoesen@corecard.com and I will email you the PDF. Or you can order them from Wargames Vault for an instant download for $7.00 US.

Note that a Kindle and a hard copy will be available on Amazon within the next couple of days. Stay tuned."

Click to go to Wargames Vault

Click to go to Chris' blog
Â