Back of beyond adventures

[flatpack]

So we had the lockdown, and I decided to venture into Back of Beyond.
We’d played out Askari games in East Africa and that type of game appealed, as it had poor troops, poor equipment, and we are good at playing poor war games.
We do find the worst the kit, to more we enjoy it.

So I mentioned to a few of the chaps I was interested in Back of Beyond, and they all said they had gear for it, that had lay around for years, so we dug it out, tarted it up and got it to the table.

This is where our adventure begins.

Yesterday we played our first game, legally, and indoors.

Scenario consisted of two British forces, lead by Lt Algenon Barrington-Smyth of Warwickshire Regiment, and Lt. Arbuthnot Afalau and the South Wales Borderers.
They were taking on a Chinese force lead by their warlord Wang ang low, and a Russian force lead by Baron Downillski.
The objectives were the critical bridge crossing, the high ground that overlooked the bridge, and the dilapidated Chinese mission.

The battlefield looked as follows.
 

Here is the crucial bridge and the high ground overlooking it.


Here is the Chinese mission.


Here we can see the initial deployment of forces.
Top left, Baron Downillski and his Russian forces.
Top right Lt. Afalau and his Welsh boys.
Bottom left Lt. Barrington-Smyth and his British chaps.
Bottom right, wangang low and his Chinese troops.


The Russian contingent were keen and advanced, taking on the Welsh boys.


The Chinese were also keen on giving the Welsh boys a good kicking.


In fact Lt Afalau of the Welsh troops, became “target for the day”.

At the Chinese mission, Chinese troops took the position from the first move.

Chinese cavalry on the move, supported by the Chinese mob behind them.


Chinese troops flood into the mission courtyard.


So to counter this, Lt Barrington-Smyth, sent his British troops across the stream, and with the support of his artillery and armour, he tried to deny them the position.

British troops advance across the river.


British troops about to assault the mission.


At this stage, Afghan masses appeared from nowhere, taking the high ground above the river crossing.

This focused the British forces on trying to flush them out.

Afghans, millions of um.


British troops trying to drive the afghans off the hill.


Unfortunately the sun began to set, and the battle ended, a little sooner than we thought.

The afghans disappeared, the Welsh boys were wiped out (almost). The Russians did well, but seemed to forget what the objectives were. The second Brit force took the bridge, but the overall winner was the Chinese force.

We enjoyed using the FFOL bigger battles rules, but we think we might adjust  them next time, by having less cards in your hand, than units on the table. This might make you think a little more about what units to give the orders to, and which units you can afford not to give orders to. We might also involve some morale rules as all these types of troops seem to stand to the last man.

Lots more figures are ready for the next battle.

Good fun had by all, after a year of waiting.

[vodkafan]

A few of my pics to add. I was the second British force.
I was quite strong in MGs.

and here is the other half of my force separated by a tall cornfield (?!) that someone has inexplicably planted in the Back of Beyond:

A strong force of Russians supported by armoured cars arrives to the North and seem in belligerent humour 
 
Meanwhile a stong force of Chinese have occupied the Christian Mission compound. It's too late for Easter, what can they want?

Close up of a rock formation, all the way from Poland. I just like it.

The Russians target my unit of Sikhs out in the open with MGs, cannon and rifle fire and wipe them out indecently quickly. 

Their shock is so profound it stays on the battlefield after they are gone...

Every time I set up one of the MGs to fire or try to move it into a better position a load of Chinese regulars in a cornfield outside the Mission shoot the crews with accurate rifle fire. I lose one after another.

Things are going from bad to worse. Lt. Arbuthnot Afalau decides to go out on a Recce mission on his own.  He is spotted by Chinese Bandits the otherside of the woods and is badly wounded.
 


He manages to limp into the woods to take cover

A Russian armoured car is searching for him:

And now Chinese Cavalry!


Meanwhile Russian attentions are thankfully diverted to the North by the appearance of wild Afghan tribesmen on top of a hill.



Lt. Afalau manages to make it back to his command but just in time to be charged by the Chinese cavalry!

A short bloody melee ensues

The Chinese are driven off but at the cost of half the company


The last picture:
Lt. Arbuthnot Athalau, in despair at the loss of his troops, rushes towards an advancing Russian armoured car 
 furiously emptying his revolver . He is never seen again.


Great game, many thanks to Flatpack


 

[Mike Blake]

great aar, thanks.

[Doug ex-em4]

What a cracking looking wargames table. Attractive and practical, nice figures, interesting scenario and a good game. Excellent. My only negative is the movement sabot thing but that’s a minor, personal prejudice. All-in-all, great stuff; really enjoyed it.

Doug

[flatpack]

What a cracking looking wargames table. Attractive and practical, nice figures, interesting scenario and a good game. Excellent. My only negative is the movement sabot thing but that’s a minor, personal prejudice. All-in-all, great stuff; really enjoyed it.

Doug

Doug, thanks very much on the nice comments. Much appreciated.
Agree on the sabot comment.
For sabot base, read marmite.

[Digits]

Looks a damned fine set up guys!  Sad I missed this....looked fun!

Great table Bob and some cracking looking minis!

[has.been]

I shall add my tuppence worth.
First the Chinese.
Move one & they occupy the Mission .
Only the Chinese seemed to have paid any attention to objectives.
In the 3rd picture you can see Wangang Low shielded from the sun
by his faithful parasol bearer.
Despite some pressure from the Brits he stayed there the entire game.

[has.been]

The White Russians were happy to just shoot up the Welsh.
The closest they came to an objective was when some Afghans
popped out of cove on the hill & wiped out one of his units.

[has.been]

The Welsh had a really hard day, but they looked lovely.
Only took one picture of them, not because I didn't like
them, but they were at the far corner of the table.

[has.been]

The other Brits, commanded by our genial host (Flatpack) resplendent
in a very appropriate Pith helmet.

These Brits put most of their effort into building up an overwhelming
attack on the Chinese at the Mission.
Tank, A-Car, Indian artillery & Infantry. The Mission defenders took the
hard pounding, bent but did not break!
No option for the British inf but to fix bayonets & prepare to storm the
walls... then night fell & fighting ceased.

Nice to get back to face to face gaming, & bacon butties (lovely crispy
bacon butties)

[marianas_gamer]

Great looking game, board, minis, and a good mix including hairy hillmen!! Sadly, no pics though of the lovely crispy bacon butties 

[vodkafan]

Great looking game, board, minis, and a good mix including hairy hillmen!! Sadly, no pics though of the lovely crispy bacon butties 

They didn't last long enough for a photo opportunity 

[trev]

Great looking game, figures and terrain.   A nice lot of pictures too.

What did you think of FFOL Bigger Battles for BoB/RCW?  I really like the core mechanics and how flexible they are.  We’ve tried a few small games and they were fun.  RCW and Napoleonic skirmish so far.  I’ve not tried vehicles yet though.  We found the combat brutal but as figures can return with a Queen of hearts not every removed figure is dead.  BoB/RCW armies probably should have a liberal distribution of negative traits too.  What stats did you use?

[flatpack]

FFOL are our go to rules.
They are fun, and we’ve played loads of games with them.
This was our first bigger battles.
It was good, as we know the core mechanics.
It did seem bloody, but as you say, figures are not dead, and can come back on.
Vehicles worked ok, but I think we only had to look up vehicle firing once in the rule book.
For the stats. I’ll let Has.been answer, as he put them together for the game.
I’ve painted up lots of figures for this period during the lockdown, and put the scenery together, so I’m sure we will play lots more games, and explore the rules even more.

[PrivateBuzz]

Looks like a really fun game and a great set up.

Glad you have all got a proper game in, you all deserve it!

Q: Did Bob spend the day taking the pith to of everyone?