Chain of Command in Jhamjar - Bolt Action AAR p 2

[Will Bailie]

I bought a copy of Too Fat Lardies' Chain of Command rules some time ago, but never got around to playing, mostly because I have no WWII figures.  After reading the rules several times and looking up the TFL blog and watching the videos, I got more interested in them.  But still not enough to paint up two WWII armies!  So instead I looked at my WWI armies which had been sitting, all alone and unloved in the storage room, and came up with an idea for gaming.

I have, for reasons not quite clear even to me, a good sized collection of figures for the British Empire, including Indians, ANZACs, KAR and some support options.  I don't have any opponents for them.  So instead I came up with the Princely State of Jhamjar, ruled by a nobleman, the Djelli of Jhamjar.  Following the rising tide of Indian nationalism after the end of the Great War, the Djelli decided that it was now time to assert his independence from the British Raj.  Quietly, the Djelli recruited an army of Indian veterans of the Great War - men who had experience in modern war.  And then, in 1919 as the Indian Army was reacting to the Second Anglo-Afghan War, he declared his independence.  You can find out how the first engagement went on my blog:

   http://willstoysoldiers.blogspot.ca/2017/05/jhamjar-rising-my-first-coc-game.html

Comments welcome!

A couple of teaser photos:

Subedar PBJ Singh Widj and his platoon HQ (havildar, stretcher bearer/medic, and batman with bugle)


The Jhamjar Rifles:



And Ockerforce (named after its commander, Frank Ocker)

[Sunjester]

Very nice looking forces and a fun write up. It takes a while to get used to Chain of Command and some of it's subtleties and strangeness, but it all starts to back sense in the end. We played a club league a while back and even after a year some people were still getting it wrong.

A brilliant idea for a theme, CoC lends itself well to earlier periods, I've used it for the 1912/13 Balkan Wars with great success.

Can't wait to see the next game.

[Will Bailie]

Thanks, Sunjester.  While we got quite a lot wrong with Chain of Command, I can really see how it will come together once I get a few more games under my belt. 

As for the theme, I'm enjoying researching interwar India while I develop the background for Jhamjar - it's all made up of course but I'm trying to keep it a little plausible, a la VBCW.

[FramFramson]

As someone planning on eventually having some adventures in interwar India (note one of the figures in my signature!), this is of great interest to me! Nice work so far!

[warrenpeace]

Might you do this at Enfilade some year?

[Will Bailie]

Thanks, Fram - I'll keep an eye out for your Indian Interwar Incidents!

Warren - haven't really considered Enfilade.  I'll have to think about it for the future - thanks for the idea.  For now, my only plan is to get in an occasional game at Trumpeter's game nights.

[FramFramson]

All I have so far is a team of adventurers:

Okay, I finally varnished the last painted figures from 2014. These are the Aiyyars of the Order of the Starfish, my Indian pulp League. Left to right they are:

Amala Sockalingham (plucky niece of Professor Sockalingham), Professor K.O. Sockalingham (esteemed but absent-minded Bengali scientist), Princess Roma "Baobab" Khan (daughter of the Nawab of Savanur), Inspector Zanjeer R. Singham (leader of the Order's field operatives and formerly of the Goa police), Colonel Manveer Singh Malhotra (of the Jammu & Kashmir princely forces), and Airman 1st class Waheed Veedu (personal pilot to Colonel Malhotra).

[...]sourcing the minis and doing the conversions took a while. You might be interested to know that India has a pulp-adventure tradition of it's own, going back to the Victorian period. An Aiyyar is the Indian term for what is essentially a pulp hero, though usually Aiyyars and their adventures tend to have a mystical or magical aspect (but not always).

[commissarmoody]

Very cool, I belive Eureka mins makes India market civilians.

[FramFramson]

I have some of them! They're very nice and I can vouch for the quality - they're Paul Hicks sculpts. In my group of adventurers the girl on the far left is one such figure (though I altered her face slightly to make it more childlike).

[commissarmoody]

I was not aware of that. Very cool.

[Will Bailie]

Cool bananas, Fram.

I've got a few pulpy Indian types in my collection, too.  Chaos in Cairo from Old Glory Miniatures  http://www.oldgloryminiatures.com/products.asp?cat=502 has a few suitable blokes, like these two (they're a bit worse for wear, having been sitting neglected in my collection for far too many years)


You might find some more suitable figures, or at least conversion fodder, from Eureka's modern Afghan civilians, and tucked away in odd places like the Pax Limpopo line (I've got a stoker from the Pig Tickler set, for example).  And I got this old lady and kids by converting Warlord Games' Celtic civilians!



Plus of course there's Pulp Figures:
https://pulpfigures.com/products/category/16

[FramFramson]

Yes, exactly! I have an old street thief from Mithril who'll find his way to the subcontinent. For another adventurer, There's also Statueque/Pulp Alley's excellent Ramjeet Singh.

[Wirelizard]

This looks like a lot of fun!

I need to dig those Turks I bought off you out and put them to use, I might need to paint up a few more Brits in tropical dress to face off against them first, though...

Bring it to Trumpeter Salute 2018 for us!

[Will Bailie]

You know, Brian - this is all your fault  .  If I hadn't sold you the Turks, they'd be the opposition for the combined forces of the King-Emperor!

As for Trumpeter Salute, with something like 10 months to plan, I could almost get something ready...

[Wirelizard]

You know, Brian - this is all your fault  .  If I hadn't sold you the Turks, they'd be the opposition for the combined forces of the King-Emperor!

As for Trumpeter Salute, with something like 10 months to plan, I could almost get something ready...

Hah! I could always bring the Turks back to Vancouver with me for next year's Trumpeter!

We normally do the foot passenger thing over because, well, screw BC Ferries, but it's looking like next year might have to be a car year to accommodate the various games we've been planning...