1st Iran Iraq War scenario layout

 

Ancient Indians

 

These are all H+R except for the two larger elephants which are baccus

Photos of Indian Renaissance/18th century troops

 Irregular Indian (or Turkish) artillery which comes on the base to which I have added wheels and Baccus oxen

These are the H&R Roman archers with the crests removed and the helmets painted as turbans. 

These are the H&R Crusade Saracen cavalry; turbaned with lancers and archers. 

Irregular rocketeers with camels. 

H&R Colonial Ansar infantry in turbans & H&R Crusade Saracen infantry with bow and spear. 

Irregular 's Armoured Mughal Elephants with a Jezzail armed Elephant in support. As I emailed the other codes that Irregular do from their ancients range are also suitable like the Macedonian pike armed versions

Irregular's Elephant limber with fuel wagon in support!

H&R Gallic cavalry (with Renaissance Pancerni commander) serving as heavy or noble cavalry. 

H&R ECW Scots musketeers serving as arquebus or matchlock men. They are protected against bow fire behind Irregular pavises - which would also be used by the foot archers. 

Some of Irregular's Indian baggage. 

Irregular Indian Commanders. 

More Irregular baggage and a an Irregular Commander on a litter or doolie? - He has to be a D4!

Iron age fort

Caer Drewyn

Above Corwen and the A5

 Inner rampart 

 Gap between inner and outer ramparts

 Outer rampart and farmers stone wall built from inner rampart stone

Corwen in the distance, water source is the river by the town

Quatre bras

Just a few pics of Thursday nights game

A hard fought tussle which ended as an historical draw.

Sim City

Ancient city layout , just ordered some temple buildings for inner keep.

As soon as they are painted we will be fighting over this city

Excellent gif!

Battle of Denbigh wargame

Record of last Thursdays game.  To Ruthin at the top, Denbigh to the right and St Asaph is nearest exit at the bottom of the picture.  The walled enclosure nearest to the top is Whitchurch and the walled enclosure nearest to the junction for Denbigh is the Friary.

Battle of Denbigh Green 1645

The game for Thursday is the Battle of Denbigh Green, 1st November 1645. In the wake of Charles I defeat at Naseby and the loss of his cavalry at Rowton Moor, this is the last gasp attempt by the Royalists to gather a relief army for Chester and maintain the King's military struggle.  Can Sir William Vaughan, "the Devil of Shrawardine", defeat Parliament, recruit a final Royalist army in North Wales and land an Irish army in Chester?

A view from Denbigh Castle; the battlefield is away to the right beyond the trees at the bottom of the hill.

NOT SO EASY WINS

As in oratory, lists are best in threes.  My initial post was "easy wins", those games that require no, or virtually no effort.  My second post highlighted those games that, with very small effort, are easily within my grasp.  This post required some thought - obviously the third and final post should be about pushing the envelope, something a bit more ambitious - but the aim should still be about the achievable with what I have available.

So, I thought I would use a theme that will allow me to explore several periods, enhance the battles I have already played and possibly link them all together with many of the same terrain pieces - and the answer was sieges!  They are always a good basis for campaigns and an excuse to further expand existing armies and terrain.

Ancient Sieges

Mark already has a rule set from "Little Wars" which I would love to try. I think this could inspire development for later periods.

Medieval Sieges

I really want to buy the Norman motte and bailey castle from Total Battle Miniatures but not before I have a set of rules for gaming on it. I may use a version of my 1066 rules but I would be happy to develop a set that may lead into the later Middle Ages.  The 15th century would be spectacular as you have both traditional catapults, siege towers and artillery.

Renaissance and the 18th Century

I did try out the PoW siege rules earlier last year and they worked very well.  I have been building the siege entrenchments and I would like to create the actual trace with glacis and ditch for my existing fortifications.  If I am to complete the SYW India campaign I will need to finish off some specific Persian/Indian fortifications.  Also, there may be opportunities to do some combined operations in conjunction with the 18th century naval scenarios that I'm developing. And if I get Operation Nostalgia up and running I can use the same islands to do a Venetian v Ottoman game with galleys and fortified harbours.

WW1

In a sense the great trench assaults are siege battles and we've played the Somme, Verdun and some of the 1918 actions.  I would like to do Cambrai but that may be one for the future.

WW2

Again, we have played some assaults on fortified positions; Sword, Tarawa and Pelellui come to mind; and I would like to give all these another try in the future.  I would like to develop some city scapes for Stalingrad, Berlin and Budapest.  I would also like to explore the city fighting in Toulon and Cherbourg with their large shore batteries in support.  The landings in operation Torch or the attack on Elbe or Walcheren could also be part of this development. We touched on this with the Monte Casino test game but I would like to add marshalling yards and factory complexes.  The railway embankment that I'm keen to build for the Goodwood scenario can be used for another Rapid-fire scenario set in Stalingrad so that would be an easy first step.

To some degree, Operation Nostalgia would involve some sieges and island assaults, especially if this was rolled out in the Pacific as well as the Mediterranean.

Modern

I am continuing to build a representation of Khorromshahr from the Iran-Iraq war - motorways, ports, oil refineries, airports - this was dubbed the Stalingrad of that conflict.  This will open other potential conflicts like the Israeli siege of Beirut.





There may even be options to develop any WW2 city scapes into more modern equivalents as we game the the cold war in Europe?

ALMOST EASY WINS

This list follows on from the previous post for games that almost require no effort to put on.  With just a little work or thought I can easily roll out the following games and campaigns;

WW2 Operation Goodwood

OK this should not have been on the previous list as it does require me building the railway embankment.  But I have been experimenting with the process for the East African operational game and I want to do a similarly elaborate rail bridge and embankment for some Franco-Prussian games and this would move me along in the right direction.

WW2 Operation Battleaxe

Mark got me thinking about resurrecting this game we last played about 10 years ago!  With all the terrain and troops ready I only need to polish the rules system and I'm ready to go.

18th Century Naval

This is more of a steady slow burn.  As I previously posted, I have the first historical action ready to play.  However, I need more ships to roll out more of the larger actions but all I need to do is buy another starter pack at each show I attend and a month to 6 weeks later I have another action or battle ready to play.  I have found this a very manageable way to keep a project bubbling along - and of course the Brigade Miniatures 2mm fortifications and buildings give me further options to do amphibious actions like the siege of Louiseburg or the assault on Quebec.

Franco-Prussian Battles and Campaign

Again, I have the armies ready for my first battle.  However, I also have more French, Prussians and even Austrians ready for rebasing and playing the great mid-19th century European battles.

WW1 Mesopotamia

Slightly off the beaten track, this is an epic campaign theatre featuring camels, arab irregulars, gunboats as well as regular Ottoman, British Empire troops and even the Russians.  I already have the terrain and I am currently building river sections.  However, I do not have the troops and this would be a large project for me to begin.  Nevertheless, I have a few simple scenarios to get the ball rolling and I can use my WW2 Italians and British as stand-ins allowing me to dip my toe before making the plunge - easy!

River Sections

I finished a 4 foot section last year and I am now experimenting with curved pieces before I have a go  at building a harbour.  One piece at a time is not burdensome whilst giving me more options to play different games.

Iran-Iraq War

This project continues to advance and I am now able to put on a mountain scenario.  In many ways this is terrain driven and I am looking forward to completing the oil fields, marshalling yards, international airports, city and port areas required for many of the games,

Operation Nostalgia

This is a project that has been on the horizon for many years.  A Mediterranean or Pacific version of this multiple island campaign are both viable.  I already have the troops, ships and terrain to play one island before deciding to commit to building about ten different versions.  A couple of games could well help make the build project a lot easier.

Fort Dolgoroduc

I will be putting on a version of the East African game at Joy of Six as I have all the terrain and troops ready.  However, I have a few months to give it a bit of a polish and I will be building the Italian Fort Dolgoroduc.  In the original game I used Timecast entrenchments - which were fine - but I was thinking of building a more elaborate rendition using Steve's Atlantic Wall sections and some home built MG/Gun towers.  Should be fun and not a lot of work.

Magnus Imperium

Mark has all the armies covered for Grand Armee but I would really like to paint up an army for Magnus Imperium.  Ideally, I would like to base it in the desert so that I can use my terrain boards.  Contenders are Byzantines v Persians, Crusaders v Saracens, or two Biblical opponents like Egyptians v Hittites?

Obviously it would take a few months to paint up an army but as an easier way of honing the troop types, rules and army organisation I would like to play some games with just the bases - an easier way of getting it right before doing the work!

Or

Privates on Parade

Once a month, or sooner if I get the chance, I intend to get an army out of the draws and onto the table.  It's not really a great deal of effort but I do find you look at what you already have with fresh eyes and often rediscover something you had forgotten about.  Again, with very little effort I may just remember what it was that got me so enthused to paint the figures in the first place and get the creative energy boiling for a project I already have ready to play - easy!