Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Back of Beyond => Topic started by: Ignatieff on 19 January 2016, 08:05:13 AM
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At the first and best wargames show of the year, 'Vapnartak', at York racecourse on Sunday 7th February.
A historical(ish) game.....
(http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh164/defoix/image_zps5w29ctud.jpeg)
Hopefully see some of you there!
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What, no teaser of a plot line? Just a poster? You're slacking there m'boy lol
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I see how this ends ;)
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Well I hooked,I guess I'll see you there :D
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I see how this ends ;)
It is of course a mere fiction of historical truth, and not the real 'Beast'....
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What, no teaser of a plot line? Just a poster? You're slacking there m'boy lol
Yes, but what a poster!
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Well I hooked,I guess I'll see you there :D
Please come over and say hello!
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Love the poster so much I've uploaded it to Facebook....
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Plenty of pictures please :D
cheers
James
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Plenty of pictures please :D
cheers
James
Oh, yes!
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Will do. Got some drop dead gorgeous Bukahra terrain to preview made by the Jedi Master Gary Chalk...
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Yes, but what a poster!
True, but I still think you are slacking off in your old age lol lol
Plenty of pictures please :D
Aren't we still "owed" pictures from the League's outing in August? ;) :o
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True, but I still think you are slacking off in your old age lol lol
Aren't we still "owed" pictures from the League's outing in August? ;) :o
Yes we are. I'm disappearing off to my mountain lair in Austria for a month in February. I will see if I can sort it then. Will have no idea what actually happened, but I know the pics are great!
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Pics will suffice. ;)
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. Will have no idea what actually happened, but I know the pics are great!
So no different from the usual then lol lol lol
Can't wait to see them
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So no different from the usual then lol lol lol
Can't wait to see them
natch. I'm so shattered by the weekend running all the prep that it passes me by mostimes. Why do I do this to myself???
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I always make a trip over to your corner. Amazing games every year!
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Steve,
Sounds intriguing,now I'm not sure which to visit after I've dropped everyone's bits and bobs off, your table,or the bar first. (this is a new sensation ;D)
Mark.
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I always make a trip over to your corner. Amazing games every year!
Very kind. Thank you
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Steve,
Sounds intriguing,now I'm not sure which to visit after I've dropped everyone's bits and bobs off, your table,or the bar first. (this is a new sensation ;D)
Mark.
Bar. Obviously.
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a few teaser shots for next weekend.....
(http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh164/defoix/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps5z0usoht.jpeg)
(http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh164/defoix/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsbug4kltr.jpeg)
(http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh164/defoix/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpssilb6y6o.jpeg)
(http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh164/defoix/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsqpus1ka6.jpeg)
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Those fortifications really are inspired!
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I need to build me one them forts.
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Ding dong! The anticipation.... It's like in my teenage years, awaiting the Playmate of the Year edition....
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Ding dong! The anticipation.... It's like in my teenage years, awaiting the Playmate of the Year edition....
You mean you've stopped???? Wha?
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You mean you've stopped???? Wha?
Because now he's married her.
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Because now he's married her.
Astute deduction, my dear fasto.
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I was fortunate enough to be able to spend some time gawping at this today 8) Stunning terrain and figures and the usual mayhem unfolding.
SPOILER ALERT
Every time I wandered back something new had appeared. Either a 60pdr, an armoured train or a biplane bomber. Brilliant stuff gents.
How did those pesky Gordon Highlanders do? Did the Bolshies reach the walls?
I look forward to reading the batrep.
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Splendid game as always,
Steve,
I'll make sometime round the end of April for the vehicle build your chaps mentioned,so if you drop me a PM with your wish list and a couple of pictures so I know what your on about,and I'll make the time to build them,
Mark.
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Bukhara 1920! - Army lists (using our spiffing 'Setting the East Ablaze rules', available from Caliver Books)
CinC, The Emir of Bukhara - 0
3 Bukahran sub generals - 0
'Shadowy British Advisor", Brigadier Linn, +2, lucky
Commander of the Bukharan Guards Brigade, Leopold Von Stauffenberg, +1.
4 X 24 units of C4 M3 ferocious irregulars, obsolete rifles plus 2 mullahs
3 X 10 C3 M3 regulars rifles, no bombs
3 X 10 C3 M2 stubborn guards. Rifles, bombs, 1 LMG
2 X 12 noble cavalry. C4 M2 irregulars, (ferocious when dismounted). Obsolete rifles, bombs
1 X 16 tribal cavalry. C3 M3 irregulars. Modern Rifles.
2 X snipers C3 M2
6 guns. 2 modern (C3 M3) 2 obsolete (C4 M3, elephant towed) 2 very obsolete* (C4 M3)
* these are basically Napoleonic style muzzle loaders, much beloved by the Bukharans. We gave them the range of an obsolete piece in the rules, except that it only killed one man (being a solid iron or stone ball), but it also had a 6" bounce through, AND it could fire canister upto 9", which counted as a HMG at long range. Fun!
2 X HMGs C3 M3
1x jezail C4 M3. Single shot rifle. 18" range no saving throw
1 AA gun C3 M3
1 X Putilov Garford C3 M3
British spies
1 X staff officer (Brigadier Linn, +2 lucky)
1 X 10 Gordons C2 M2 stubborn marksmen with bombs and 2 LMGs
1 HMG C3 M3
1 engineer - Second Lt. Roly Birkin (the younger version of the brilliant 'Fast Show' character. Adds +1 to any engineering task.
Cotton bails - the Bolsheviks make reference in official accounts to the nuisance value caused by these in the Bukharan defence. They were set fire too and caused thick palls of smoke to settle on the battle field. We allowed the Bukharans to place four of these on the table, diced for wind direction, and then when they set alight to them (a task they delegated to Roly Birkin) it spread 4" each move upto a maximum of 12"
Bolos
Frunze - +3 lucky
2IC - +1
3 sub-Generals - All '0'.
Naval Brigade
3 X 10 naval units C3 M2 ferocious. Rifles, bombs 1 LMG
2 X HMGs C3 M2
2 X armoured cars C3 M3
1 X sniper C2 M2
Assault Brigade
3 X 10 C2 M2 stubborn. Rifles, bombs 1 LMG
2 X field guns C3 M3
1 X HMG C3 M3
1 X sniper C2 M2
Central Asian Division
2 X 10 C3 M3 rifles, bombs. 1 LMG. Muslims
1 X Austro-Hungarian POWs C3 M3. Rifles, bombs, 1 LMG
1 X 10 Cheka. C4 M2 stubborn. Rifles, bombs. 1 LMG
1 X Cheka HMG
(Note, some say the Muslims are unreliable...)
Cavalry brigade (starts off table, assumed to be on recon duties)
3 X 9 regular cavalry. C3 M2. Rifles bombs 1 LMG
1 X 17 Tatar auxiliaries C4 M3 irregulars. Obsolete rifles.
2 X tchankas C3 M2
Independent armoured brigade
1 X mk IV. C3 M3
3 X FT17 C3 M3
2 X armoured cars C3 M3
Artillery
1 X observer for off table
Off table (which we put on table for visual effect and to show off the wonderful pieces, some scratch built, by Mark Hargreaves)
3 x big guns (3" blast radius)
3 rounds each.
Aircraft
Gotha C3 M3. 8 heavy bombs, 2LMGs C3 M3
Uncle Yuri's ground attack Junkers. 4 light bombs. C2 M2, ace.
Armoured train C3 M2. Armed as seen. Can transport troops (2 X 10 infantry units)
Basically the Bukharans outnumber the Bolos about 3:2, but the Reds have an enormous advantage in technology. It remains to be seen if they can translate this into a victory, as history suggests you still need the numbers in our rules to make the difference. An expensively equipped Red infantryman dies just as easily as a rag head irregular!
.....NEXT UP, later today, photos plus the battle report!
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Excellent. Can't wait. (hurry up lol )
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(http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh164/defoix/Bukhara%201920/IMG_5481_zpskzmvktjp.jpg)
A look up the 12' x 6' table from the Bolshevik lines. The game saw the previewing of some new terrain pieces by the Obi Wan Kenobi of war-games terrain, Gary Chalk, based on pics I took of Bukhara on my trips there in 2013 and 2014.
This pic shows the initial deployments by both armies. Of note is the Bolshevik off table artillery, that we decided to put on table as the models (two by Mark Hargreaves, one of which was scratch built, and one by me) as the guns looked so good. Of note also is the distinct absence of Bukharans, quite rightly predicting the Armageddon that would almost likely face any troops who put their noses in the open from all that mechanised metal. The Bukharans had in actually fact opted for a bold forward defence and eschewed the attractive, though rather obvious city walls. 'Jihadi Ted' and a boiling mass of foot and mounted fanatics were hidden on the river bank behind the crops to the right of the picture, whilst the rock hard Bukharan Guards Brigade was holed up in the railway complex (including that graveyard of armies, the infamous coal bunker).
All cover was +1, except for said coal bunker, the tench lines (the one visible was occupied by the British spies, including the Gordons) the city walls, and the jail where Princess Bibi (Frunze's secret squeeze) was holed up, which were all +2.
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(http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh164/defoix/Bukhara%201920/IMG_5482_zpslym8mwl8.jpg)
A close up of the Bolshevik off-table artillery positions. The two giant German pieces are both by HLBS. Mines is the older model to the left, the one Mark did on the right. The new models are mostly resin, which although easier to handle, have lost some of their 'heft'. They are also slightly different shapes now, which is odd. The 60pdr British naval gun is a beautiful scratch build pice by Mark, who also built and painted the HLBS artillery tractor. I love the activity and detailing in this shot.
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Oh my stars and little comets. Here we go!
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(http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh164/defoix/Bukhara%201920/IMG_5484_zpse3wyqqx1.jpg)
(http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh164/defoix/Bukhara%201920/IMG_5479_zps86j2tje7.jpg)
"it's too damned quiet I tell you Frunze!"
In actual fact there were two 24 man units of fanatics at Friday prayers behind the walls. We had even downloaded a 'call to prayers' from iTunes, which if it had been more widely heard would have probably emptied the hall! The Bukharan player could use the 'call to prayer' rule twice, which meant that any unit within 12" of the officiating Mullah added a +1 to their morale for four moves. Not much you might think, but given that some of these guys were ferocious to begin with, meant that in attack they would be very hard to stop.
You can just see the prison where Princess Bibi was being kept on the bottom left of the second photo. Bukharan regulars lining the wall are Woodbine Turks painted as Afghan regulars (the nearest we have to the Bukharan equivalents)
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(http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh164/defoix/Bukhara%201920/IMG_5480_zpsiaeksodh.jpg)
The Bolshevik advance begins. The Reds put their best infantry on the right flank, and planned to bring their cavalry on on the left - when it eventually turned up. The Reds also opted for spotted fire for their off-table artillery, which although it made it more difficult to land a hit (5,6) at least gave them the flex of picking targets as they emerged.....meanwhile Jihadi Ted watched and waited amongst the rustling wheat fields....
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Oooh, can anyone get the popcorn?!
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(http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh164/defoix/Bukhara%201920/IMG_5486_zpsywylutuo.jpg)
(http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh164/defoix/Bukhara%201920/IMG_5485_zpshmkuex7e.jpg)
On the far right you can just see Jihadi Ted's wild cavalry charge unfolding. He did what you are meant to do with fired up but generally useless irregulars. Charge! Even if, as you can see, that was into armoured cars, machine guns, crack Red infantry and supporting over open sights artillery fire. There were a few anxious turns for the Reds, whose 'bottle' nearly cracked under the savagery of Jihadi Ted's* assaults. Ted's cavalry (all 38 of them), chopped large lumps out of many of the Red units before succumbing to the inevitable lead poisoning. The large smoke puffs are from the Red off-table guns which managed to drop two direct hits from the German 42cm guns onto the Bukharans. Not a nice sight I can tell you....
n.b. unfortunately at the moment I've only 23 photos from my phone to share with you. Once our Court Photographer, V.I.Blackwood, releases the full files I will add to the current montages.
* regular followers of The League may have worked out this is player character formerly known as 'Red Ted', who in a change of 'direction' worthy of Caitlan Jenner, eschewed the Red cause and became a fervent nationalist (of whatever cause was on offer), as a result of a bang on the head during the doomed Scottish Indy referendum of 2014.
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Wonderful setup.
Mouth drops open.
Oh, my!!!
:-* :-* :-* :-*
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(http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh164/defoix/Bukhara%201920/IMG_5489_zpsc3goklkq.jpg)
(http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh164/defoix/Bukhara%201920/IMG_5488_zpsf3o3yjbr.jpg)
The Reds, shaken by the ferocity and forward nature of the Bukharan attacks, decided it was time to bring all the toys on. Plans, trains and auto horsed carts with machine guns (Tchankas to you and me). The (very) expendable Tatar cavalry were sent on first to smoke out the Bukharan fire.
In addtion to raining down heavy death from the sky, The Bolo Gotha bomber (brilliantly built and painted by V.I.Blackwood) could also spot Bukharan positions (as well as draw unwelcome fire!). The model was a 1970s Aurora kit bought off e-bay. As always with these monsters, the plastic struts are just not upto the job, so Iain replaced the central bracing with steel pins. On the DH10 we have, we also used wooden cocktail sticks for the same purpose to good effect. Pilots are Copplestone
The wonderful scratch built Red armoured train was bought off a good soul from these parts, and finished off by our very own Count Smirnoff. To the left of it was the Bolsheviks own propaganda tool - a mobile cinema showing endless agitprop cinereels. Any troops within 4" of said celluloid spin doctor added +1 to their morale for four moves, other than the Tatars who were unable to fight for four moves due to pissing themselves laughing.
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(http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh164/defoix/Bukhara%201920/IMG_5495_zpspunosp3w.jpg)
(http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh164/defoix/Bukhara%201920/IMG_5487_zpsxavyzxie.jpg)
A subtly hidden (how do you 'hide' an elephant???) Bukharan obsolete Krupps artillery piece opens up on the Tatar cavalry, scoring an immediate hit and forcing them to go to ground..whilst the Red Gotha has spotted the Bukharan Guards brigade dug into the railway complex (along with a very obsolete piece of artillery). Heavy bombs are dropped, but miss, as the air is filled with small arms anti-aircraft fire.
Meanwhile the Red train, advancing at 18" a move, steams ever forward. It was however at this point that an alert member of the Cheka (he needed a 6 and he threw a 6) noticed some suspicious packages around the railway tracks, some 14" ahead of where the train is.....
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(http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh164/defoix/Bukhara%201920/IMG_5491_zpsczshbdxv.jpg)
(http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh164/defoix/Bukhara%201920/IMG_5500_zps89cjlztg.jpg)
Too late! a train travelling at 18" will need three moves to stop (you move in 6" increments), and with charges expertly placed by 2nd Lt Roly Birkin R.E (they went off on anything but a one), the lead Red engine is derailed, killing the gun crew. As he had managed to slow down a bit (and we wanted to have a bit more train fun), we gave him a 50/50 chance of not derailing the remaining engine and carriages. 'Red' Rudi Schneiber botched the lot apart from the last troop carriage. An entire unit of Red Muslim infantry was destroyed, and just as things were looking bad for the Bukharans (the second photo shows the advance on that other flank, the smoke is from the lit cotton bails), a glimmer of hope emerged......
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The funniest moment of the day came when a unit of ferocious tribesmen, whipped up by the Emir's mullah, burst forth from the Ark (the name for the Bukharan citadel) in almost close order. The Reds spotted them, called down the Krupps guns and landed a direct hit on a unit of 24 tribesmen. It killed 17 of them, a record in The League for off-table killing. Unfortunately however I was too busy laughing my head off to take a pic, though when the 'official' record is released I will show you what happened. Here instead is a pic of the next unit emerging, somewhat more dispersed...
(http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh164/defoix/Bukhara%201920/IMG_5490_zpslp2kivst.jpg)
(http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh164/defoix/Bukhara%201920/IMG_5494_zpslez4tprq.jpg)
Meanwhile the Red Gotha continued its grim mission closer and closer to the Bukharan citadel. One of the two modern Bukharan field pieces can just be made out on the city walls. This and its sister piece on a hill in from of the walls were being expertly directed by the Brigadier Linn, and were doing good execution on the Red armour coming across the rickety bridge to their front. It was at this point that the Emir of Bukhara, not known for his romantic tendencies, put to death the Princess Bibi, claiming that she fell from a barred fourth floor window in the jail onto a passing battalion of regular infantry below. Who just happened to have their bayonets fixed.
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(http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh164/defoix/Bukhara%201920/IMG_5496_zpsqpjripdw.jpg)
(http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh164/defoix/Bukhara%201920/IMG_5497_zpsb1pbjcxp.jpg)
closer and closer, the Bukharan artillery being the target of its two parabellums (the bombs were long gone by this time)......
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Steve - it looks brilliant! :-*
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(http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh164/defoix/Bukhara%201920/IMG_5501_zpsrgjdpsbb.jpg)
The bomber missed the gun, and turned to head for a concentration of Bukharan troops just outside the city walls. But what's this, a stray rifle shot kills the pilot! Success for the Bukharans! The day might just turn yet...
So, we throw to see if the plane is driven off or crashes. It crashes. We then throw to see how far from the site of the shooting down it crashes. Only on a particularly low probability throw will it disintegrate on the spot and fall from the sky....which it does.....killing nine of the ten regulars beneath it. Two of the Bolo crew survive, and manage to salvage one of the LMGs...
This shot shows what is largely the remains of the Bukharan infantry by this stage. The Guards, after putting up a good fight, were gradually picked off in their retreat from the railway complex. Two regular units line the river bank. A sniper is ensconced in the small orchard. Two obsolete field pieces continue to do good execution on the Tatars, who eventually break and run. And two Bukharan HMGs can just be made out on the forward side of the hill. In addition the Gordons remain uncommitted and hidden deep in the furthest trench system.....the game is finely poised...
TO BE CONTINUED!!!!!
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Unfortunately however I was too busy laughing my head off
Oh, you are an ogre of a man, Ignatieff, taking such joy from the misery of others.
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And not a disappointing photo in sight :-* :-* :-*
cheers
James
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And not a disappointing photo in sight :-* :-* :-*
cheers
James
check out the summer ones I've just posted! And make sure your teeth are well fixed in!
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Steve,
What can I say, Calls to prayer, agitprop movies, the infamous coal bunkers, Jihadi Ted, the Gotha and death of the Gotha, the "offboard artillery" and results! Everything that we look for in a Kriegspielers game! :-* :o :-* lol lol Great photos! The only thing missing is Fu Manchu.
Lon
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Steve,
What can I say, Calls to prayer, agitprop movies, the infamous coal bunkers, Jihadi Ted, the Gotha and death of the Gotha, the "offboard artillery" and results! Everything that we look for in a Kriegspielers game! :-* :o :-* lol lol Great photos! The only thing missing is Fu Manchu.
Lon
well funny you should say that, because this summer we are packing our swimming trunks and heading east.....
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Maybe its a good thing that KNIL and Malays are on my painting table lol lol
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Excellent work bring the whole sordid affair back to life! I do recall us having an elephant during the siege. With chips.
Carry on!
;)
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Excellent work bring the whole sordid affair back to life! I do recall us having an elephant during the siege. With chips.
Carry on!
;)
lol lol lol
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Simply wonderful love the artillery and aircraft.
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Tops! Great fun. Great to see the big guns on the table. Ta!
Mark
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Awesome stuff - more please!
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Just wonderful!
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Did someone say KNIL? I would be interested in what figures you use as well as heavy weapons and vehicles.
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Your Holiness,
The only KNIL for the late 19th c. to the interwar period that I have been able to find are by Tiger miniatures. The quality is variable but I find the figures with carbines to be ok. I really do not like their rifles. Right now I have some "Black Dutchmen" in sun helmets that I bought painted off of eBay and am going to put at least another layer of paint on and rebase. I also have some Europeans in slouch hats on the painting table. Tiger's Warriors of Lombok are also pretty decent minis and can be used for generic Malays if you squint a bit. I haven't decided on any transport or armor yet. As I plan for them to campaign in Borneo I expect it will mostly be by steamer and canoes. I do have a Vickers MkVI which I might try to pass off as a MkII. I know that they were being exported to Japan so why not to the BOB of Island South East Asia?!?!
Fu
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Top rated 8)
The city walls and buildings are really beautiful work :-* :-* :-*
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Our Man In Guam, I have some of the Tiger Figures as well as a good number of Pulp Figures. The slouch hats and gear is a fairly close match. My era of choice is the mid 1920's so I think I can get past with fairly good matches for the infantry and their weapons. It's heavy weapons and vehicles that I have the problem with. As for aircraft we're literally spoilt for choice so no problem there.
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I saw this game being played at Vapnartak. Very impressive and a great inspiration to do more with my RCW project and Kronstadt sailors.