Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Interwar => Topic started by: Kommando_J on 10 May 2024, 08:24:51 PM
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Cant help but notice recently especially loads of peeps selling off big chunks of their stuff and I rarely see any posts on it now, is our beloved VBCW on its way out?
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The battle still rages in Herefordshire…but we are all butterflies and as with all periods it is easy to amass vast forces across different factions but never get a chance to play them all.
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Cant help but notice recently especially loads of peeps selling off big chunks of their stuff and I rarely see any posts on it now, is our beloved VBCW on its way out?
I missed this stuff on sale which is annoying because I may have been interested. I’m still happily developing my story of the VBCW in Borsetshire - currently painting up some things for the Trotskyist/Socialist alliance which is menacing the county’s northern border.
Doug
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These repleis make me feel somewhat better, also the guy selling still has stuff up on facebook.
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It's one thing to see people selling off their VBCW stuff, but the death knell will have truly struck when nobody is buying it.
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Nothing completely dies in the wargaming world. There will always be a few that play it.
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It's one thing to see people selling off their VBCW stuff, but the death knell will have truly struck when nobody is buying it.
Wot ‘e said.
Up here in the ‘wastelands of the North’, it is still going.
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Actually, apart from Olly on Facebook, I haven't seen lots of people selling off their VBCW stuff - and Olly says that he's keeping two VBCW factions to play and simply selling off his excess - which is clearly quite an excess (but we've all been there). There was a period some years ago when people were clearly selling off all their VBCW stuff to get out of the period entirely, but that seems over. Maybe its just what we register when browsing the web! (For up to date VBCW action, see: https://hereford1938avbcwtng.blogspot.com/)
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As a post-script, at the Exeter show today, I bought some armed female factory workers, armed miners (both of these from Ironclad) to bolster the Trotskyist/Socialist platoon(s) and a rather fetching greenhouse. So I’m still building :)
Doug
ps: your topic brought a few of us out into the open so well done for that👍
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As a post-script, at the Exeter show today, I bought some armed female factory workers, armed miners (both of these from Ironclad) to bolster the Trotskyist/Socialist platoon(s) and a rather fetching greenhouse. So I’m still building :)
Doug
Thank you for this manufacturer. I was looking for just these types of figures.
I know of Bad Squiddo, Empress, Footsore and Warlord Minis but these add to those.
It would be great if others could add to these.
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All it takes is an eye for the conversion? Have a look at Irregular Miniatures 28mm Wild West range for armed civilians.
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I'm very slowly building AVBCW forces for the campaign in Norfolk, Albertine forces to fight the BUF supported by a 'Viking' legion of German volunteers, to add to the mix there are the forces of the Great Yarmouth and Gorleston Free Peoples Soviet.
All in glorious 15mm from PSC and the wonderful Peter Pig. Early days but a WIP.
So AVBCW is still alive and if not kicking is wriggling!
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I collect, as I have not played yet, in 15mm. Great fun and bigger units lol
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I'm still keen, though have sold off excess figures (is there such a thing?!) after going mad on some factions.
I'm still looking for rules that I'm happy with. Most seem to push you towards conventional interwar platoons which for me leads to a lack of differentiation between them. Just the same forces in different kit.
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Interestingly, this thread prompted me to dive into my lead mountain to resurrect all of the unpainted models I collected when VBCW was "à la mode".
I am now off down the rabbit hole again and have started work creating the "John Knox Brigade", a unit of the faithful from Scotland and their female operational partners "The Monstrous Regiment".
Thanks for the inspiration!
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I would say growing rather than dying.
We (Sally 4th) sell all the booklets, and I would say that demand for them has been steadily growing over last 18 months.
Based on what people are ordering, I would say 2-3 new players each week.
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And of course the great thing about VBCW is that it’s so freestyle that you can play without any of the booklets, using whatever rules you like, whatever armies you fancy, whatever setting you like, your own backstory and your own choice of figure range and scale.
It’s a truly liberating setting…. :D
Doug
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I wouldn't worry either way. Most wargaming genres wax and wane in terms of popularity, the butterly/shiny-shiny muse is strong. I've seen Cold War and Vietnam games come and go and then return in popularity and there's so much diversity avaiable in terms of figure ranges and possible conflicts these days that there will always be competition for attention.
That said, I suspect the real world and Britain's recent trajectory towards disintegration probably hasn't helped. I mean who needs Bertie Wooster & Co when you have a cabinet stuffed with Wodehousian figures or a Roderick Spode, when there's an actual, frog-faced git called Nigel offering pretty much the same agenda on the hustings? ;)
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Er.....
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He’s not wrong though …
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That said, I suspect the real world and Britain's recent trajectory towards disintegration probably hasn't helped. I mean who needs Bertie Wooster & Co when you have a cabinet stuffed with Wodehousian figures or a Roderick Spode, when there's an actual, frog-faced git called Nigel offering pretty much the same agenda on the hustings? ;)
In the spirit of no politics, I’ve deleted my original remarks. They would only have served to encourage him. :D
Doug
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He maybe is but no politics pls.
It’s not so difficult
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You’re right
Doug
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I'm running a 6-player VBCW game at HMGS Historicon in July and it sold out shortly after registration opened. I hope that's a good sign. I'm using the "official" books as inspiration, but I'm using the Combat Patrol rules for the actual game.
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I'm running a 6-player VBCW game at HMGS Historicon in July and it sold out shortly after registration opened. I hope that's a good sign. I'm using the "official" books as inspiration, but I'm using the Combat Patrol rules for the actual game.
What level are those rules set at? Platoon size?
Doug
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Yes, I run Platoon level at the 4-6 player size game, but usually I only give each players a squad/section and a vehicle/support weapon each.
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Yes, I run Platoon level at the 4-6 player size game, but usually I only give each players a squad/section and a vehicle/support weapon each.
Have you used them for VBCW before? I'm looking to try some alternatives to Went the Day Well.
Doug
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I have a few times and it works very well. Full disclosure, I’ve written a few of their free supplements (Falklands and Star Wars), but players seem to pick it up easily and the double random activation mechanics keeps things unpredictable, which I like. Most vehicle stats are available as free downloads. Small arms stats can be as generic or specific as you like.
-Greg
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Doug,
Don't deny the world your wit and wisdom on my account. As I'm sure you'll agree, there are few more amusing sights than that of a dog chasing a motorbike. :)
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Doug,
Don't deny the world your wit and wisdom on my account. As I'm sure you'll agree, there are few more amusing sights than that of a dog chasing a motorbike. :)
Apart from a toothless old dog gnawing at dry old bone….
Doug
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Indeed. Probably kinder to take that one way journey to the vet in that instance.
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If it’s any indication, the Facebook page keeps announcing new members.
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I am signed up for Von Greg’s VBCW game for Historicon.
I have also used the Combat Patrol used for my solo VBCW games. Great fun.
http://kingdomofkatzenstein.blogspot.com/2021/06/a-vbcw-game.html
I also just tried the Chain of Command rules.
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I have also used Combat Patrol for VBCW. It works fantastically. I ran a participation game at Claymore (a few years back using them). There is also a free PDF supplement for 1970's / 1980's Winter of Discontent style VBCW!
We really ought to put a VBCW supplement together for Combat Patrol.
Combat Patrol works best with each player commanding between a few sections to a platoon. You can play a Company level game with a team of players each commanding a platoon. It works very well as a multi-player team game.
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I have also used the Combat Patrol used for my solo VBCW games. Great fun.
http://kingdomofkatzenstein.blogspot.com/2021/06/a-vbcw-game.html
Thanks for the kind words about Combat Patrol.
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We really ought to put a VBCW supplement together for Combat Patrol.
That would be fun. I am not sure how much VBCW is under copyright protection.
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Just call it something else but I think complimentary derivative materials are not violations of copyrights, even if the name is used and it is made clear that it was made by somebody else. Avoiding the trademarks is pretty easy. Call it diesel punk, interwar what if, alt-history etc.
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Even something as simple as "The Second British Civil War" (yes the first was technically English, but- ) is both clear and a phrase too general to copyright or trademark, or to run into issues with those.
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The ECW was British, and Irish. Factions fought in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland in a series of wars, at least two of which were the First and Second ECW.
So the VBCW would be the third, or possibly fourth, Civil War.
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Leaving aside Carausius and Roman Britain as being prior to England being England and a separate sovereign entity, you have The Anarchy, the Baron's Wars, The Wars of the Roses, arguably two ECWs (but most commonly seen as one continous conflict maked by an interlude), The Glorious Revolution and its violent ramifications across the Irish Sea before you get to any fictional 1930s era conflict, so yeah, at least the Sixth Civil War.
You could just call it the Recent Disturbances, Constitutional Crisis and General Unpleasantness Occasioned by Edward VIII's Tupping of Mrs Simpson. I doubt that's been copyrighted and I cede any future rights I may have to the public domain. ;)
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By the by, do steer clear of calling it 'The Simpsons'. That definitely is under copyright.
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The Windsors?
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You could just call it the Recent Disturbances, Constitutional Crisis and General Unpleasantness Occasioned by Edward VIII's Tupping of Mrs Simpson. I doubt that's been copyrighted and I cede any future rights I may have to the public domain. ;)
Excellent, by a strange coincidence I've just registered the following web address... I shall await the riches flooding in :D
RecentDisturbancesConstitutionalCrisisandGeneralUnpleasantnessOccasionedbyEdwardVIIIsTuppingofMrs Simpson.com
In answer to the original question - is VBCW dead?
As long as people are gaming it (which they evidently still are from posts on here, and Show reports) the answer is no. The original idea had a charm to it...the shoestring forces...armed civvies in commercial vehicles, and the odd "super weapon" with a fatal flaw (eg no protection, rubbish speed, limited ammo). What could genuinely "kill" VBCW? Tables of massed panzers...you get to that stage and it's just an early WW2 game in all but name.
I've long since sold off my own VBCW collection, but I've started a new "what-if" project 60+ years earlier, hopefully with the same charm...but no panzers.
https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=145185.0
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The Windsors?
The Sealed Windsor Knot?
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Excellent, by a strange coincidence I've just registered the following web address... I shall await the riches flooding in :D
RecentDisturbancesConstitutionalCrisisandGeneralUnpleasantnessOccasionedbyEdwardVIIIsTuppingofMrs Simpson.com
In answer to the original question - is VBCW dead?
As long as people are gaming it (which they evidently still are from posts on here, and Show reports) the answer is no. The original idea had a charm to it...the shoestring forces...armed civvies in commercial vehicles, and the odd "super weapon" with a fatal flaw (eg no protection, rubbish speed, limited ammo). What could genuinely "kill" VBCW? Tables of massed panzers...you get to that stage and it's just an early WW2 game in all but name.
I've long since sold off my own VBCW collection, but I've started a new "what-if" project 60+ years earlier, hopefully with the same charm...but no panzers.
https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=145185.0
Beware massed Gatling Guns, Mitrailleuses, Martian Death Rays etc, etc. :)
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The ECW was British, and Irish. Factions fought in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland in a series of wars, at least two of which were the First and Second ECW.
So the VBCW would be the third, or possibly fourth, Civil War.
I only meant by name, not by character. lol