11th June Games

Steve H (now more or less recovered from his lurgi) and I ran a final test game of TANKS in Normandy prior to the game's premiere at Broadside this Saturday. Steve S, Mark, Eddie and Andy P ran the Sherman troop while Nigel assisted Steve H and I with the handling of the German forces as they appeared. The British ran out winners with no losses and knocked out one Pzkpfw IV and two anti tank guns. The one great change was to set a twelve move time limit for the British to exit the table, which they achieved with time to spare. 

Hopefully all will go well on Saturday; I'll run Angels 20 on Wednesday evening for those interested.

See yer soon,

Neil   

14th May Games

We were missing a couple of people last night, but Nigel and Andy P played Rumbleslam (fantasy wrestling game that bears no resemblance to WWF - honest) while I'd brought the setup for the TANKS in Normandy game which the club will take to Broadside on the 14^th June. Steve H and I ran the game and the German forces (which were brought into play via an encounter table after spotting by the Allied players - on this occasion Nick, Eddie, Paul and Steve S). 

The Allied players had the same mission as before; exit the far end of the table to rejoin their unit, while minimising losses. They were unlucky to reveal my newly finished PAK 40 anti tank gun on the first move, which promptly brewed up Paul's Sherman and badly damaged Nick's Firefly. The remainder followed different routes towards their objective, only for Steve to 'spot' a StuG III assault gun and the PAK 40 (respotted after it was withdrawn following the opening moves), and succumb to their fire. Nick and Eddie managed to exit the table after dispatching the StuG, making it somewhere between a draw and a marginal win. You decide...... By and large a successful test game, we covered some issues before the time it's laid until before that most dangerous of opponents, the public!   

Next week, Nigel has offered his Sword Weirdos fantasy skirmish, while Dave C will provide the ships and setting for his ACW Ironclad game which will feature in the revised book of the same. I'll be fighting for the Confederacy as usual.

See yer soon, 

Neil 

23rd April Games

Attendance was down last night; myself, Steves H & S, Dave K, Andy P and Nigel were involved in a play test of a scenario I'd prepared ahead of running a TANKS participation game at the Broadside show in June. TANKS was originally devised as a purely armour based game for WW2, but I wanted to try and bring in some infantry action in a limited anti tank role without over complicating the game for the public. I devised an encounter table whereby a troop of Sherman tanks were tasked with exiting the far end of the table, with scattered but significant German opposition ranging from an individual landser (German squaddie) armed with a one shot panzerfaust up to armour including the inevitable Tiger tank. The Allied tanks could spot these forces and then attempt to remove them from play while completing their mission. 

The first game was predictably a bit of a mess, and following discussion some changes were made and the second affair made the Allied advance more of a challenge. Some work on the encounter table and the terrain remains, and a further play test before the show will be required, but I'm pleased with the overall result, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

Nigel's offered to run a Swords Weirdos skirmish next week, details of any other games awaited.

See yer soon,

Neil

20th September Games

Greetings

There were just enough of us on hand last night to trial the Tanks game, which I have been working on for the last two shows this year. The basic concept worked OK (troops of Shermans tasked with occupying a road junction with German armour and infantry tank-hunter teams as opposition) with one or two tweaks on terrain and the use of the infantry with panzerschreks etc.

A reminder that the Essex Warriors Open Day in Writtle occurs this coming Sunday 24/09/17; I'm taking the Tanks game to allow the wargaming public to test it before the major outing on 22/10/17 at SELWG. Any assistance would be appreciated.

My presence next Wednesday is unlikely, so the Steves have arranged to bring a selection of board games for the entertainment of those attending.

See yer soon

Neil

25th January Games

Greetings

Fair turnout on a bitterly cold evening (roll on summer).

Mark ran a game of the Lord of the Rings.

I ran a small game of TANKS for Chris and Steve H, giving me the chance to drive a Tiger 1 against the two Shermans. All vehicles took damage in a game with some manoeuvring - and correct use of the Initiative rules this time! - before close of play.

Next week, Steve S has agreed to run a Wings of War WW1 aerial game. I'm not sure what I'll bring as I have taken delivery of the Osprey submarine game 'They Come Unseen', and may try that out.

See yer soon

Neil

14th December Games

Greetings

We were able to run a further Tanks game this week, using Chris' excellent collection of 28mm Allied and German armour. We were able to fit in three games using U.S. Tank Destroyers (M10's and a M36 for those interested) against four Panzer IV's in the Counterattack scenario.

The Yanks were unable to stop the Germans on each occasion (twice with the Pzkpfw IV's and once with two Tiger 1's) which does go to show the whole TD doctrine appears to have been flawed.

However, all this goes to prove the game has show potential; I have offered the game to Tunbridge club for Cavalier in February, and await confirmation.

Next week will be our last meeting for 2016. As is traditional for the Christmas game, Steve S tells me it will involve dinosaurs - and Cowboys?

See yer soon,

Neil

7th December Games

Greetings

Our numbers were severely depleted due to sickness this week. This left just enough for a two a side Tanks game with me as an umpire; this week's game featured Churchill's vs Panthers. The Germans had the initial advantage but were eventually defeated.

I've offered to run the game again next week as Chris has a large collection of U.S. and German armour from another project which will provide some variety, but I need to work up some more data cards. Steve S has offered to bring some board games as backups.

Our final meeting of the year will take place on 20/12/16 when Steve S has offered to run 'an old west game with a difference' as he puts it. The centre will be closed between Christmas and the New Year, and re-open for our purposes on the 4/01/2017.

See yer soon

Neil

16th November Games

Greetings

As promised, we tried out the Tanks Skirmish game with the larger scale of Corgi tanks (which were released to coincide with the D-Day 60th anniversary and are now very scarce) both to try the game before the 'official' vehicles are ready, and also to see if the game would work with the larger models as a possible show game. Three Shermans versus two Panthers could only end in tears for the Allies, as proved to be the case.

However, we had so much fun with the game, that this will be offered to the organisers of the Cavalier show in February as a participation game using the larger models - some preparation work will be required but much of what we need is ready to go. My thanks to Steve H, Josh and Dave K for help with the playtesting, and Steve S for providing a board game to entertain those in attendance.

Next week, Mark will run his Gothic Horror game, postponed from this week, and I have been asked by Josh to run an X-Wing game. I have a yen to try out a scenario using my Raider class corvette. . . .

See yer soon

Neil