Other Games YR2019-2020

As WR works on his upcoming 28mm Clash of Empires Battle of Dara 530 AD report, he found several ten photo files of past late YR2019 and YR2020 games unreported on Wargamerabbit. These ten games were either “pick up scenarios”, test game scenarios, or WR found the photo log too incomplete to write up a full AAR blog article. Most are Flames of War games fought out in Russia, in Italy at Salerno or Anzio, the Ardennes Bulge 1944 period, or even in Greece 1941 with fallschirmjager and EW British/Greeks. Other games include a grand 28mm WWI trench assault/raid game at David’s (fellow gamer), and two more 25/28mm napoleonic Peninsular battles. The scenario results or outcome, if WR remembers are noted, many of these scenario battles lasted to the final turns.

In order of blog article appearance, I list the photo grouping, if you wish to scroll for your favorite gaming era. Most miniatures and terrain from the WR collections unless noted from David, Bruce, or Gary’s collections;

1).  Peninsular War 25/28mm Battle of Almonacid 1809

2).  F;ames of War (15mm) German Fallschirmjager airborne landing in Greece

3).  Flames of War (20mm) Ordeal of the 179th Regiment at Salerno 1943 replay

4).  Flames of War (15mm) Panzer Invasion Russia 1941 “Meet the Train: scenario

5).  Flames of War (20mm) Operation Fischfang 1943 Anzio scenario

6).  Flames of War (20mm) Rail yard raid 1943: Soviet Partizans vs. German rail security

7).  Warhammer 1917 “Over the Top” 28mm Trench raid/assault scenario (at David’s)

8).  Peninsular War 25/28mm Battle of Vimeiro 1808 test game

9).  Flames of War (20mm) Bulge 1944 with Pz Brigade 150 with support vs. Americans

10). Flames of War (15mm) Bulge 1944. German Panzers vs. 99th American Division

First up: The Battle of Almonacid 1809 fought between the French and Spanish armies south of Madrid. French advanced from Madrid to confront the Spanish nearing the capital city. This scenario ran true to history with minor adjustment for the scenario notes. WR expects this scenario will become a full AAR scenario post this year.

Almonacid 1809 battlefield looks empty except for formation wooden blocks. These wooden green block saves lots of actual miniature movement till commands approach. Also great fog of war situation too.

When the commands reach deployment range, the 25/28mm napoleonic miniatures are deployed to the tabletop. Here the Spanish on left, the French on the right side of photo.

View from the opposite table end. The French flanking commands are pushing back the Spanish left flank. Castle hill upper right with nearby Almonacid village.

French cavalry charging in to repulse the Spanish weak cavalry attack. Miniature ratio 90:1 or 90 soldiers represents one miniature. Battalions of Infantry, cavalry regiments, or battery.

Later on the Spanish left retired to the nearby orchard. French, Poles, and the German division battalions seek them out.

French infantry battalions pressure the Spanish before Almonacid village and Castle hill. The hill was a linchpin for the Spanish late game defense. The “Yellow” order marker beneath the officer.

A fresh French division arrives marching up the roadway towards Almonacid. French for the win in this test scenario.

Second: FOW German Fallschirmjager landing in Greece 1941. This was WR’s first FOW scenario or game using German glider models. Scenario had German Fallschirmjager land by glider or chutes on the double tabletop. Defending a Greek port was  British infantry company and inland, a Greek infantry company. WR”s air-landing company took the village after hard door to door battles but the Greeks totally owned the Fallschirmjager who landed by their chutes. Miniatures and terrain for this scenario from Bruce and Gary’s FOW 15mm collections.

Stay in Warren w/o CoVid 19

As many locally in the Greater Los Angeles area WR has remained in the warren and, if required to travel about, practicing his social distance with neighbors and friends. Doing his part; personal hygiene, keeping up morale with friends via electronic medium, cancelling games scheduled weeks before the virus invasion, practicing new dance steps. The “Remain at Home” downtime is being put to use by WR with several gaming projects being completed in short order, new gaming projects started, and relaxing opportunity to read up on future scenarios. In fact, the project pool has rapidly increased, and completed in near record WR time, as shown in a quick list presented below:

WR’s 25/28mm ancient Sumerians in their storage box. A good mix of units for some Bronze age battles. WR‘s loves his wild arse driven chariots.

Four storage boxes of ancients movement trays or sabots. Ttwo, three, or four rank formation trays for infantry, cavalry linear trays, wedge shape trays, and some extension sub trays. The tube holds the measurement sticks sized in inches and centimeters lengths.

1).  Based my ancient Sumerian 28mm army for some Bronze age scenarios. Several massed infantry spear or short bow archer blocks, skirmishers, and their famous “near wild arse driven” chariots pictured above.

2).  Created more movement trays (sabots) for Clash of Empires (shorthand COE – a WAB offshoot rules set) games. More cavalry 10 or 12 miniature linear trays, converted surplus 5-8 miniature cavalry trays into two-rank infantry trays (needed for Roman armies), added texture to the entire tray collection, and organized four boxes for storage and transport as pictured above.

3).  Based more 25mm/28mm Sassanids, Macedonian, Saracens, Late era Romans for COE units. The painted miniatures have been lying around for several years, found in odd storage boxes as WR moved towards his new residence. Mostly for the cancelled Sassanids vs. Late Roman scenario warren game scheduled for last weekend (3/21) but postponed when State of CA ordered all to “Remain at Home” during the current crisis.

4). Pulled out some early 28mm 1805-08 era Russians to completed several regimental sized units. Now fully painted and basic based, awaiting their regiment standards, and final base texture work. Three musketeer regiments 3x (2×6 miniatures), three Caspian region musketeer regiments in white caps 3x (2×6), Georgia Grenadier regiment in white caps (2×6), the 44th Jaeger regiment (2×6), the Caspian Marine regiment (2×6), the Caspian Grenadier regiment (4×6), Two Jaeger regiments (2x (3×6), and several local militia battalions (3×6) for color. Add in several independent Eastern Orthodox priest miniatures, local commanders with their Russian wolfhound, to add scenic effect on the tabletop.

Russians for 1807 battles alongside WR’s Prussians when battling the Grande Armee in Poland. Just need to apply the base texture and replace the stand in regimental  flags.

The WWII Italian armor ready to roll once they get their formation markings applied. WR’s recent modeling effort was added to this growing collection. Models are 20mm or 1/72 scale.

5).  Finally, the no love 20mm Italian WWII miniature collection. Pulled their storage boxes and inventoried the Italian tank requirements to complete Flames of War organization platoons. Dug into the unpainted miniatures, the unbuilt model kits pile, or ordered outline my requirements. With plastic model glue in hand, or epoxy for metal models, WR built, painted, and based several dozen models then cut down several apple boxes for storage. A rough completed tank count: Ten M13/40, one L6/40, ten CV L3 33/35, two Semovente assault guns, and a SPG AT37 armor car. On the Italian artillery front: Four 90/53 flak cannon, two autocannone 3 RO 90/53, eight 149/40 heavy guns (san crews for the moment), four artillery tow trucks plus a large Fiat truck for the collection. Now WR needs to paint or place formation marking decals on the vehicles then start paint the crews for all the artillery pieces.

Example of banners hanging in game room. Sassanid on left, Late Roman on right. The helicopter is not part of the Sassanid arsenal.

As the reader can read, WR has been trashing his paint brushes to complete projects while draining the small paint bottles. Time to order more replacement basing wood, paints, brushes, and glue from his favorite modeling supplier as the growing supply list attests.

Another project was to inventory his flag or banner collection, mainly to locate his Sassanid and Late Roman banners to hang from the game room raffers, and see what missing major power flags / banners are still needed for the collection. Napoleonic Prussia needs a flag, some smaller Germanic states it seems too. Then selected ancient or medieval era banners for WR’s ancient armies. Most flags are 3′ x 5′ size, some are 3′ square. WR constructed a simple pole hanging rod with dark grey hooks to hang his banners and exchange out for the upcoming future scenarios. Just a warren game room background touch.

Cheers from the warren. Be safe all.

WR

 

 

 

The Game room

First item of WR business for Year 2020. As many have noted WR has been amiss from writing his wargaming activities for the last two quarters.  Since June, WR’s world has been a bit upended since June 2019 with the passing of Valerie Verity, my mom. Her Parkinson’s disease finally caught up with her, her passing went quietly, and with all our family members gathered at the family residence.

Since then the family business and estate needed settlement under the guidance of WR’s sister Alicia. With the assistance of the trust attorney, a group of financial managers and accountants, and the smooth assistance of all family members, the estate has been settled out. WR has found himself with a new residence, and more importantly, a permanent room for his tabletop gaming, open wall space for accessible bookcases for WR’s book library and display cabinets for vintage uniforms, adjacent room storage space for the miniature / terrain collections, and within easy reach. No more extra apartment bedroom requirement, evening storage center visits, or digging deep (in piles) for the book title needed for the latest wargame construction or miniature painting project, or scenario design. But, the inherited house is vintage 1970 update….. yes, that year fifty years ago, when Nixon was president. So the first order of business, for a gamer with a large table space need, is the game room, then the storage capacity improvements, then the rest of the house starting with the bedrooms I guess. Otherwise the kitchen is functional but dated, the bathrooms work, and the garden yard has been maintained over the years but in need of serious heavy pruning, so in total the initial construction projects are manageable. This WR post will deal mainly with the game room improvement project, with brief mention of the garage project dealing with miniature and terrain storage.

The former artist project room of my deceased father (died in 2014). Basically untouched till my mom’s passing June 2019 except for organizing the artwork for estate determination.

 

 

Another view of the bar room cleaned up and artwork . artist materials removed. Plenty of wine to drink….. may well need in the future as the projects progress.

Sizing up the two initial projects with little serious thought, the garage storage segment starts the ball rolling. The complete upgrading for the two car garage for cars and major storage of miniatures, bulk terrain, and old wargame magazines, some dating back to the 1960’s. Striping the walls down to the wood studs then new drywall, mud and taping drywall joints, change out lighting to LED, new exterior steel door installed, insulation (roof and walls), roof venting, and reinforcement of walls to support the lead pile on sturdy shelves. Finish off with two coats of paint. That’s the garage zone plan compartmented down in WR’s brain.

The barren garage walls need some work. This wall will become the miniature storage wall at back of garage. Some the 2×4 studs need reinforcement and shelving.

2nd Quarter Warren Games

The 2nd quarter for 2019 has been a period of active gaming for WR, from ancients with Late Romans vs. Franks, forward in time to horse and musket era napoleonics set in Italy 1809, then on to WWII with several Flames of War scenarios in Italy, Russia, Normandy, and even airborne landing on Crete. Some of the mentioned scenarios will have full AAR treatment posted to WR in near future; the Clash of Empires Late Rome vs. Franks ancients scenario, the Flames of War Russia 1941 Drive on Smolensk scenario, and finally the napoleonic Battle of Almonacid 1809 (fought on tabletop late February), which WR has finally collected some background material for that Franco-Spanish peninsular battle.

First up is the napoleonic 1809 battle set in Northern Italy, between the advancing French encountering the arrayed Austrians. The scenario background has the French successful in their early morning river crossing, deploying half their forces across the river in battle formations. The remaining Franco-Italian commands will cross via bridge or discovered river ford behind their front lines to reinforce the pressed Franco-Italian front. For the Austrians, they start fully deployed in a semi-circle containment, preventing further Franco-Italian advance and, at the given signal, charge forward to repulse the Franco-Italian bridgehead.

Starting position for the Franco-Italian vs. Austrians 25/28mm napoleonic river crossing scenario set in Italy 1809. Austrians start on left, Franco-Italians on right, and shown deployment zones.

From sunny Northern Italy, the next WR dice rolling 2nd quarter game was GM’d by WR’s gaming friends Bruce & Gary. Still fought under clear skies and hot Mediterranean sun, the German Fallschirmjagers descended from the sky via assault gliders or their chutes. Greeting the airborne warriors without tea cups, the determined New Zealander company holds the bombed and battered Suva port while a Greek company covered the inland open fields, dotted with stone walls and olive groves. WR played the glider assault, landing directly adjacent to the buildings of Suva. Surprised for the moment, the New Zealanders fought back, keeping the scenario in balance for turn after turn. In the inland fields, the Greeks hunted down the scattered Fallschirmjagers sticks, leading to sudden close range firefights, “picking olives with bullets” it seemed. Scenario win for the Allied defenders this time, till next chance with another Crete FOW game at the nearby aerodrome.

WR’s assault gliders almost poke their noses into the center of Suva, catching the NZ defenders for the moment surprised.

Larger view of the Flames of War Suva port battle. In background the Fallschirmjagers battle the Greeks amidst the Olive groves and rocky hill locks.

Scouting Christmas

Having been sent photo copy of the recent Christmas reconnaissance mission, it has come to WR’s attention that a change of shako or hat is required for future successful terrain reconnaissance near the local interior forest.

For all,  the best of the holiday season,  with friends and family,  and a Merry Christmas finding carrots under the tree.

Michael aka WR

 

P.S. Does some company make rabbit white snow coats?

 

Been Five Years…

Today, before midnight chimes on the wall clock, June 21, 2016 is the five-year anniversary for the Wargamerabbit warren news service. What made me decide to start writing about the trips and tales of my historical miniature gaming is even to this day unknown, I made no mental or written notes back then. WR can present several thoughts, all which could have been the final decision maker, changing this meek uncommunicative historical gamer into a written word rabbit, with all his poor Queen’s english skills. My former English teacher Miss Cox (4th grade) would never believe it…. write something down in the english language? Little does she know that spellcheck can be a friend or enemy and this isn’t written in penned longhand either.

The susceptive thoughts, in no particular order or subject:

1. A place, like a diary, to record the actual fun games and events in my primary hobby; wargaming, painting miniatures and collecting historical military uniform books. Other pastimes include ballroom and latin dancing, sailing, driving the “big carrot” 2007 corvette (ten-year member of local corvette car club), and reading the occasional old dusty record of some past forgotten tale, historical in nature of course. For example, my grandfather, who was a stationed as a pilot on the WWI western front during 1917, also flew over the Palestine 1918 front lines then late in the war, flew north over Mediterranean Sea to Greece (Salonika) and onwards into the Russian Civil war on the White armies southern front. Won the Cross of St George for some hair brained mission which WR still has, along with his other awards from the war and WWII. See scanned copies below for an interesting history tie in.
2. Write up the monthly scenario and any pick up games with detail and pictures, so WR can read the flow of battle and remember the scenario in his old age. There are favorite blog posts, including the tabletop disasters, which still received their time on the blog. WR can track those elusive dice too.
3. Mention his fellow gamers, some who has since travelled away or in the case of minority still, past on to rolling dice with a higher authority. We all are getting older.
4. A place of file storage, off the warren home computer, Storage for completed scenarios. and share them with whoever is interested. WR’s unpublished scenarios (a long list indeed), in time, will make the published stage. Storage of the club… group’s…napoleonic rules,  as they are slowly written down. The old Version 1.0 typed pages have been scanned and placed on the WR. The current Version 2.0 is on again, off again project. WR places the work on the rules near the bottom of every list… since the group gamers known them to heart… some what…. maybe. Which brings up #5…
5. Force WR to write and record in one open sourced public site the napoleonic rules, charts, tables, game design notes, forms and templates, pictures, diagrams, video links (YouTube), rule changes or improvements (quicker way or shortened form), and anything else connected to the group’s napoleonic game. Soon to be posted for the gaming group after several months of work, WR just finished a complete list of the French Republican and Imperial napoleonic French generals (1790-1815), attached any portraiture file WR had to each listing, and evaluated their game tabletop ratings, all in several .xls spreadsheet workbooks format. There are 1050 listed names and most have portraiture (small ,jpg file) attached to each name for the roster forms. Next will be the Austrian, English, Prussian and Russian commander lists, plus several of the minor states on the side. Except for Bob keeping alive the Version 1.0 charts, no one in the group has stepped up, supported, or lent a direct hand on this huge challenge. Seem we are all growing old…. and foggy minds are… shall we say, forgetting or changing the rules. With a set of written rules, in chapter by chapter format, diagrams, photographs and all that, we can have a standardized start point and know the interface differences of Version 1.0 and Version 2.0 rule formats.
6. Have a discussion point and written out commentary, with supportive data, including pictures or diagrams, to cover the aspects of the napoleonic wargame systems and rules in their current format. All recorded on WR for future use and reference. Document how to play the napoleonic game, in its basic form, with examples of play and give a visual image to support the written narrative.
7. A place to record the large miniature collection with photographic record. WR paints to a good basic level for all his miniatures, unit details etc, with simple but effective basing. He is no fine artist compared to many in his chosen hobby. As WR completes a “collection army” to his satisfaction, or at least useful on the scenario or “free play” tabletop, his WR plan is to feature that army collection on the WR blog. The number of miniatures in WR’s collection is… to say “large” may be an understatement, with many future years of blog posting ahead. WR’s 25/28mm painted historical napoleonic miniature collection numbers over 23,000 in 20+ nation states. In second place are the 25/28mm ancient armies, which leads to the Polish late 1600’s, WSS, SYW, and Dark Ages (or post-Roman world) collections. Generally a 25/28mm miniature painter, but 15mm ECW, TYW, and ACW collections stored in the warren. Then there is the WWII 20mm collections of tanks and infantry teams, a small WWI 20mm collection, and finally the 1/3000 modern navies collection, geared to the old “modern time” of the 1960-2000 era / period. Major benefit of this work… WR’s estate executor will have some supportive record to start the process of identifying the collections, supported by the spreadsheet accounting, and WR’s habit to labeling everything. Reichsarmee anyone? That unit is the Bayreuth Cuirassiers 1760 era…..
8. A place to write down and record the many local California historical miniatures conventions and fellow gamer home visits. Describe in basic terms what the convention offered, a game description of the games WR participated in and commentary. A common theme are the visits south to Bob’s garage on the 3rd Saturday every month. Bob continues the monthly meeting date after WR ended his YR1988 to YR2007 staging of monthly napoleonic and FOW WWII 20mm games. A new scenario every month was WR’s goal during his years in the garage trenches. Flank assaults, delayed arrivals, unbalanced scenarios, actual victory conditions vs. line up and charge forward scenarios, surprises, special event on the tabletop. The gamers never truly knew their fate till the evening hours. Pity WR blog wasn’t around then…. those scenarios were sometimes real beauties. Some were month to month games with the tabletop scenario left up (in place) and continued game play the following month. Another favorite trip is the ancient Clash of Empires 28mm or WWII Over the Top scenarios at David’s, or the trips to St Crispins group in Anaheim (2nd Saturday), or HMGS-PSW local or regional game days. Links to all are on the WR Future event tab.
9. Write ups on WR’s occasional foray into tabletop terrain construction. Commonly needed for a special or unique piece mentioned or required for a historical scenario which WR has dreamt (researched) up. A “how did I do it” piece of questionable literature work.
10. While digging about for historical material for a specific historical scenario, a place to post the links and material for those following WR’s footsteps, enabling them to save time and effort to arrive at their own effort and conclusions. Same for designer notes on how to construct a tabletop scenario or present a varied presentation of scenario designs to mix up the dull routine of group gaming found in some gaming clubs.
11. Hey, WR has come up with 10 reasons… better than I thought starting this blog post.

Trip to 4077th M.A.S.H site

Time to exit the warren, put down the painting brush, enjoy the temperate California spring day, and take a hop. Having hiked in to the old M.A.S.H. filming site many years ago, WR felt that a return hike into the Santa Monica mountains was needed. Details on the M.A.S.H filming site are all over the internet, several YouTube videos, and internet links posted at end of article.

The old M.A.S.H. filming site is located in the Santa Monica mountain near Los Angeles and only 15 or so miles from the warren in the San Fernando Valley. Easy drive on the northbound 101 freeway till you reach the Las Virgenes Road. Exit the 101 Freeway and head south towards the ocean and beaches. After you cross Mulholland Highway look for the park entrance on the right or western side of the road. Parking was $12.00 at the park entrance, use the paypoints in the parking lot if no ranger at the toll booth. There is parking outside the park, some WR understands on Mulholland Hwy which just increases your hiking distance by another mile round trip.

Entrance to the staging parking lot off of Las Virgenes road.

From the parking lot inside the park look westward for the trail head entrance. There are several trails at this conjunction of the park. Look for Crags road or signs. The trail is westerly in direction so going any other direction will lead you astray.

The trail head on a busy Sunday morning. The dirt ramp at left was easier to walk down compared to the steps at right… go figure.

If you have no clue as to your bearings… there are several posted maps in the park viewing boards near the entrance. Coming down the steps or ramp will led you to a concrete weir over or across the small stream. At right is your first distance and direction sign as seen below. Only 2.3 miles to go. Make sure you have carried water with you. Phone service was spotty in places. For those in the cavalry branch of service by riding horseback you have the right of way over the foot infantry. Artillery wasn’t mentioned on the sign post.

The route is sign posted in some degree. This is the first sign with 2.3 miles to go to reach the M.A.S.H. filming site.

WR has moved!

WR hasn’t blogged or gamed much for the month of May or early June. Sort have been busy with…..

“Moving…..also referred as weight lifting with added benefit of walking up and down stairs with heavy arm loads on a very hot Southern California day.”

Didn’t need much gym time with all the miniature boxes and library collection either. Fourteen full car loads plus the typical U-Haul rental truck for the bulky furniture.

WR has moved into a new warren recently remodeled by WR himself and contractors. Flooring, new library shelving, some wall demolition work, new drywall plastering, paint, ceiling lighting over gaming table zone, and remodeled attached bathroom. That’s completes the living quarters leaving the miniature boxes garage storage situation (aka “the pile”) still to be completed later this summer, hopefully during cooler weather.

Chairs and sofa for watching the nearby tabletop action, sporting event, a movie, or just unwind before the television. Note that WR likes ballroom and latin dancing, hence the wall posters.

HMGS-PSW WWII January Convention

Just back from the HMGS-PSW January 2015 WWII themed convention held in Anaheim California with a brief summary report.

WR’s two Flames of War scenarios were joined by a host of other 20th Century gaming: Bolt Action (two tables), Check Your Six, Warhammer Great War WWI, Blitzkrieg Commander, BattleTech (on another planet), even some DBA medieval gaming to round out the field.

The Flames of War (20mm) scenarios featured the “String of Pearls” and “Roncey Pocket” Normandy July 1944. Both scenarios taken from the Cobra FoW supplement. Additional information on these scenarios can be read from my recent WR blog post (link): HMGS-PSW FoW scenario. WR is currently in the process of writing up the picture heavy AAR for both these scenarios .

Update 01/23/15: String of Pearls AAR posted: String of Pearls AAR

Update 01/30/15: Roncey Pocket AAR posted: Roncey Pocket AAR

General view of the WR’s ‘String of Pearls” FoW Normandy Cobra supplement scenario using 20mm miniatures. Read the soon posted AAR for complete scenario game details.

Follow up “Roncey Pocket” Normandy 1944 scenario opening turn. Shows the Northern German road column and American armored defenders at left. Off photo at top is the German Southern column and the surprised American artillery company. Scenario is fought at night.

A convention favorite seems to be David K’s Warhammer Great War with hundreds of lovely painted 28mm miniatures. French poulu infantry in red trousers, French cuirassiers, English khaki infantry, German pickelhaube infantry and the tabletop hosts of light artillery and machine guns. Allied “over the top” advance during the Battle of the Marne 1914 scenario. 

Dr. Maurice Anthony Verity remembered

Recent weeks in the world of Wargamerabbit have been saddened by the passing of my father on June 14th. Being a “master of ceremony” to his final moment, Dr. Maurice Anthony Verity (Tony) died in peaceful sleep with all the family members present at his bedside. Mom holding his hand, a simple breath, then the room was silent.

Dr. Maurice Anthony Verity  1931-2014

Born Maurice Anthony Verity on April 1931 in Leeds, he was trained as a medical doctor specializing in pathology (neuropathology). After serving internships at NHS hospitals (St Mary’s) in London, Wolverhampton and Portsmouth, My father left England to go to Los Angeles in 1959 * and began serving a residency at UCLA’s School of Medicine in 1960. He was one of the early founding professors at UCLA Medical School. He remained a part of the hospital staff and doubled as a university professor for more than 50 years. He also served for more than 20 years as a deputy coroner for the Los Angeles coroner’s office.

* WR came across later in 1959 on the RMS Mauritania with my mom at six months of age. Had my “sea legs” at an early age per my mom chasing me with a fast crawl. I still have my booking and ship passenger list from that voyage to the new world.

Nov 7, 2014    WR added updated media material at end of blog covering the Dr. Verity U.C.L.A. Remembrance Nov 6, 2014.