Virtual Lard 2

I spent Saturday 'at' (virtually) VL2: in the morning I ran an IABSM Lite game, with a couple of twists that were only possible on Zoom, and I played SP2 in the afternoon. For a much better report than I can provide for the latter,. do check out Richard Crawley's blog on the subject - great fun and outrageous French accents abound.  Many thanks to Richard for umpiring - excellent game.

I ran a small IABSM scenario set in my favourite corner of WW2 - northern Italy. I nicked an idea from Bloody Omaha in that the Germans were a very small, well dug in force (a section., two '34s, a Stug, a PAK40 and a sniper) run by me as the umpire, and the four  (reduced to three, sadly) players took a cut down British company - 2 sections, a carrier section. 4 Sherman IIIs.

The other twist was that they got a briefing and some recce photos, and from then on (as they were all connected via Zoom) they were restricted to a units-eye view (using an iPhone on a custom stand).

The British reccee photos: an overhead pass and, to quote, "One of the PRU Spitfires made a low pass over the valley this morning. Took MG fire from the church doing it, so the pilot really hopes you appreciate the effort."

They are attacking from the left (south). 

8 Platoon make it across the river, and flush out some Germans in front of the church, as well as an MG34 in the nearer farm,

7 Platoon meanwhile are being very wary of the main farmhouse, in which they keep spotting movement but aren't sure what. CSM Moxon is kept busy yelling for more smoke from the 2".

"Gunner - Jerry tank, right of the pine tree... traverse... no, further right of the wall... fire... GOT HIM!"

We didn't finish, in part because I had three relatively new to IABSM players and was wrestling a bit with the tech. I'd love to run it again: definitely a fascinating game,. and the players seemed to think the viewpoint idea worked.

Mat by TinyWargames, buildings by Empires at War, Battlefront and I think SHQ, figures by Battlefront, Shermans by PSC.

And that's the guerrillas done...

Just need to glue the magnets in the trays and edge the bases, but otherwise, that's another batch of Tom's excellent painting based. Much the same process as last time, as previously discussed.

Hopefully, I should be getting a batch of British line back off him soon :D

Chris Stoesen has a Chain of Command/IABSM scenario bundle for sale

The excellent and talented Chris Stoesen is doing a bundle deal on his WW2 Eastern Front scenarios. Allow me to quote:

I put together a combo pack of all my East Front Chain of Command supplements. It totals out to over sixty scenarios. I priced it at $20. 

I hope this will generate some interest. More info on it can be found here.

I had health issues in the beginning of the year and need to raise some money to clear out some bills. Please forgive my begging.

The bundle is only available here.

Thanks for your patience with me.

I commend this to you, not only because it's in a deserving cause, but because the man writes damn good stuff and more scenarios are always good. Even if you don't game Eastern Front, they are good inspiration for your own designs.

May I also therefore recommend the following, should you not have copies:

• To Covet Glory - 96 pages of Kiss Me Hardy goodness in real life hard copy
• A whole bunch of scenarios for Sharp Practice and other rules in his Payhip store. I'm particularly fond of The French Coast, as, well, I have these beach boards....

Basing the Spanish guerillas

Much the same story as the 95th, barring some undercoat on the bases and movement trays, and a coat of Iraqi Sand (I think) on the trays and Tamiya sand texture paint (which I am scraping the bottom of the jar for - it took some serious hammer back when my El Cid cavalry and Parthians got based :D) I did, though, buy some more grass tufts ('PECO' Wild Meadow, actually made by WarWorld Scenics).

Ink, drybrush and grass tomorrow.

More basing thoughts

One of the problems with the last batch of bases is the Tamiya Desert Sand textured paint doesn't stick that well to the coins, and the PVA/sand doesn't either to the 'glossy' MDF surface of the movement trays/sabots.

I've just done a batch of bases and trays for the Spanish guerillas Tom painted for me a while ago, so this time, to see if it improves matters, I've started with a coat of Halfords matt black universal spray primer. (Note to self: I am now running out of said primer, so if it works I need to buy some more.)

More when I find time to do the next stages!

Basing the 95th part 3 (and last)

Just the magnets to fit. The Warbases sabot bases/trays come optionally pre-drilled for 3mm magnets, and they also supply the magnets.

I'd have done this yesterday but I was out of superglue, so a quick trip to Hobbycraft for some Gorilla brush on was in order before I could do this.

The trick, I found, is to wiggle the glue-laden brush round inside the holes, put the base down on a bit of paper (making it easier to clean up if it sticks to it), and then feed in a stack of magnets. Make sure the bottom one is secure and flat in the hole, then slide the stack off to the side and repeat. This way, just in case it ever matters, all your magnets are the same way up.

And, just to prove it...

Basing the 95th part 1

Started basing the 95th I got the other day.

Standard approach for my SP2 forces is going to be 20mm magnetic copper alloy discs (that's post '93 UK pennies to you), onto Warbases sabot bases with a magnet in, and then steel paper on the bottom of Really Useful boxes to hold them.

Stage 2, after supergluing to the coins, is Tamiya Desert Sand textured paint, as much for the bulk as anything else. Sadly this takes a while to dry, so that was it for today. Tomorrow, PVA, sand, another drying phase, I suspect.

(Yes, this is not my normal basing technique - I thought I'd try something different.)

Some 95th, and a club notice

I got my first batch of 95th back from my painter last night - very nice they are, too.

They're from either the now defunct Alban Miniatures or Offensive Miniatures - I think the latter -  except the mounted officer, who is, I'm fairly sure, Foundry, and the bloke in the top hat and stolen Rifles jacket, who is from Eagle Miniatures' Spanish guerrillas. Huge thanks to Tom, who clearly sees and wields a brush better than I do :D

In other news, becoming fed up of how easily the newer Army Painter paints separate, such that your first squeeze from a bottle of (say) Desert Yellow can be completely clear, I bought a paint shaker (OK, Amazon sell them as nail varnish shakers, but since neither the wife or I paint our nails, it won't get misappropriated, which is more than can be said for at least two kitchen knives so far :D)

In other other news.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: If the only means you have of getting news about Peterborough Wargames Club is reading my blog, then:

1. Sign up to our forum and/or Facebook group.
2. We are MOVING VENUES for the next three Mondays (1st, 8th, 15th) to HERE, as in where I am typing this, while the St. John's folks redecorate the whole place. More details on the club site and FB group.

On which score, I've just spent an hour rearranging things in the terrain workshop half of the studio so we can fit three scenery cupboards, 36 baseboards and three gaming tables in (which includes solving problems like 'where do the Omaha boards go?' :D

Too Fat Lardies demo offer

OK, so, as I now a) have both forces for Dux Brit without having to borrow Andy's (which makes me nervous!) and b) am recovering to the point where I can drive distances on an evening again, here's the deal.

If your club is within a sensible distance of Peterborough (90 min drive - including London) and you'd like a demo of Dux Britanniarum or Sharpe Practice 2

Oops...

(to expand on what I said on Facebook earlier)

I seem to have just had a terrible accident at the Perry's webstore, to the tune of a ragtag (deliberately so) collection of Frenchmen as opposition for Sharpe. As well as lots more stuff from Tablescape, and hopefully the last big Warbases order for a bit...

Ah well. I suppose there are worse ways of spending bits of the bonus... and it makes up for buying next to nothing at Partizan.

Lardy List Directory update

I've just trawled the forums, Facebook and Y! group for updates to the Unofficial Lardy List Directory, as well as half a dozen list submissions (which I'm still working through, and am sufficiently tired I may finish tomorrow - Andy Duffel, you're prolific, mate!!)

If your list isn't there and you think it should be, do fill out the submission form on the list!

The Unofficial Lardy List Directory

....formerly known as Sekrit Projekt L.

I have been collating a repository of all the currently published lists for CoC and SP2 that I can find, which is now up at http://wordpress.altrion.org/lardy-lists/

I am aware that Rich has just said

With the publication of the second edition of Sharp Practice, one of the things we are very keen to do is to work with other Lardy gamers to get as wide a range of Army Lists available for all sorts of different conflicts which the rules can be used for.  This must be a co-operative process with gamers taking the lead in telling us what Lists they want to see and getting involved in producing these.  We are very happy indeed to work with you on producing lists, all we need is for you to work with us to get them produced.  We can then make sure that they are available for other gamers all around the world to use and enjoy.

and obviously I'm not intending to tread on his toes with this. The aim has always been to produce a link farm grouped by system and campaign period/era that allowed folks to track down if/whether a listed exists yet, if it's official, who's working on it etc etc.

To that end, the Directory is structured as one Wordpress post per individual list (even if a document contains multiple lists). As well as giving the ability to comment on individual lists, there's also a form to allow you to submit new lists (even if they're only draft/WIP).

Note this list isn't quite complete, as I've run out of time before club tonight, so the CoC España list are still to be added. 

Figure poses - an idle question...

...while browsing figures for some opposition for my 95th and South Essex for Sharp Practice 2.

For units of horse and musket infantry, do you go for all the same pose?

Does the answer differ for a mass combat ruleset such as Black Powder vs a skirmish set such as SP2?

Does it differ for line vs skirmishers?

SP2 finally here!

No fault of Rich's I hasten to add - it was a 6 bundle club order, so it wasn't going next day large letter :D Thanks Rich, it's awesome.

(Apologies for the terse post, but I was up deploying stuff for work at 3am...)

Mmm. Box

Well packaged....

Six SP2 Mega bundles for delivery at the club on Monday.

Except the top one. That's MINE.

But there's no force list for it!

The other thing I expect to hear a lot of now SP2 is out...

When's the list for X coming out...?

Right.

So.

There isn't a list for X yet, then?

You have two choices.

1. Wait for someone else, maybe Rich if it's a common list, maybe not if it isn't, to produce it.
2. Don't be afraid. Gird your loins. Take a deep breath. Do some research. Compare the results with similar lists and similar force types, hack out a decent estimate of the points and post it somewhere. If you get stuck, ask on the Yahoo! group, the Facebook group or the TFL forums for help. After all, it's a period you want to play that badly, then:
1. this will be fun,
2. this will be educational,
3. this will probably garner you lots of helpful suggestions on how to make it better from people who may or may not know more than you about the period in question or list building in general,
4. you will be hailed as a hero by the rest of the folks interested in X!

What's the worst that can happen? Your first attempt isn't brilliant, you learn something, and you, Rich or someone else eventually puts out a better list. 

Give it a go.

"Touching History"

I was cross with myself this morning, as I was reminded by a post on the TFL Yahoo! Group that I'd meant to pop over to Caliver Books stall at Salute and see if they had a copy of Paul Darnell's "Touching History" volume 1 (on building terrain for the Peninsula), and I'd clean forgotten (I plead having already bought loads of stuff and walked over 5 1/2 miles, according to my FitBit!).

You may therefore imagine my delight when I Googled for it, intending to bring up the Caliver page (where it's about £25), and found this - those lovely folks from Karwansaray Publishing (who publish WSS magazine) have it as a very decent quality downloadable PDF for under a fiver.

Thanks, Jesper!

SP2 players doing the Peninsula? You probably need this just for inspiration, if nothing else! Also note they have the other three volumes including North America...

All set for Salute, and travel tip for tube tomorrow

Bits and bobs printed off, wristband delivered by Reuben so I can get in in time for the stall briefing (but see below!).

So... If you're after a starter force for Sharp Practice 2, come talk to us on the PE2Collectables stall on TH14. Depending on stock levels (it is Salute, after all) we may not be able to help you there and then, but a) I do have a decent idea of what goes into an SP2 force and b) Reuben's prices are excellent. Odds are he'll have some package deals on the website soon after Salute as well, for some basic SP2 forces for AWI, the Peninsular War and the ACW that'd allow you to dip a toe in the water for a decent (well under £50 in some cases) sum, even including an extra support.

If you're coming by train via Kings Cross, be aware that the Westferry/Poplar section of the DLR is closed, and trying to get to the Excel via Bank will wind you up on a bus, the Circle is completely closed, and the Metropolitan/Hammersmith and City are part closed east of King's Cross. Best bet is take the Victoria Line from Finsbury Park (if your train stops there) or Kings Cross, and change to the Jubilee at Green Park to Canning Town: then you can get the bit of the DLR from Canning Town to Custom House (for Excel), which appears to be fine.

See you tomorrow!

Salute blogger meet up and me at Salute!

For those who missed the note on Ray's site, the annual Salute bloggers gathering will be the usual time (1pm) at the usual spot (well since last year), which is to say just south of the middle where the big red circle is.

Despite what you may hear in the pre-Salute episode of Meeples (due out 15th April), I will be in attendance - successful negotiation with the Domestic Authority means I'll be delivering James to tennis for the Friday evening session, not the Saturday while herself is on call :D

If you miss the meet up, you can find me either collecting various pre-orders from GB, the Dice Bag Lady and Warbases, or helping Reuben out at the PE2Collectables stand (TH14 - go there for excellent prices on all manner of stuff, including boxes of stuff suitable for Sharp Practice 2, on which we should be able to advise).

Sharp Practice 2 plans

The limited edition Sharpe
off the cover of SP1

Well... I originally wasn't going to invest in any new forces for SP2, and rely on various folks down the club having assorted fun stuff in various periods, as well as my own Imaginations force (the Duchy of Elland - note to self, must update site :D )...

But I have to confess, for all its historical flaws, to being a big fan of the man who gave his name (with a letter filed off for copyright purposes) to the ruleset, and I have just lucked into a set of the Harper and Sharpe from the limited run that went with the original Sharp Practice rules, as well as having enough credit burning a hole in my pocket with Reuben at PE2Collectables for a box of the Warlord Chosen Men as well as probably a few sprues and/or metals of someone's Peninsular light infantry...

A loverly pair of chaps :D

I'm considering following Hobbsy's example and blowing a bit of my bonus on getting ADC or similar to paint them for me, since I know I won't do Napoleonic uniforms justice, not on 'hero' figures in 28mm, anyway :D I will still, I think, base them myself though.

Question for the readers: does anyone out there have the (sadly now ceased trading) Alban Miniatures "Sergeant Shakewell & Corporal Hammond" pack (BR1)?

Sharp Practice 2 - preorders and short review

It's time. As Rich posted this morning, advance orders for Sharp Practice 2 will be open from now till the product goes on sale on April 23rd. You get the following choices:

• Rules alone in hard copy: £25
• Rules + card deck: £29
• Rules + MDF chits: £28
• Rules + card deck + MDF game tokens: £35
• Rules + MDF chits + MDF game tokens: £34
• Rules + card deck + MDF chits + MDF game tokens: £38

Note - you WILL need a set of cards or chits to play the game, although obviously one set between two players is fine and you don't need both! The tokens cover markers for various states of units in the game, and are optional. ALL preorders come with a free PDF copy of the rules as well. Orders can be placed here.

Why? 

Well... I've had two demo games so far, both in different periods (War of 1812 and AWI - basically the rules will cover pretty much any part of the horse and musket era), as well as a look at a pre-release set of the rules. and I'm sold. The main takeaway was just how quick and easy things were to set up, how quickly folks learned the core rules and how surprisingly fast they were to play. I'm personally very grateful that a number of folks down our club have figures for several house and musket era forces, or I'd be spending money again... as it is, there's a part of me still fancying SP2 in the Peninsular in 54mm :D :D

Seriously, though - I haven't had as much fun with a new set of rules since CoC, and these are coming close to rivalling Dux Britanniarum as my favourite set of rules (which as those who are regular readers will attest, is saying something!).