Back of beyond adventures

[vodkafan]

James, nice comment on the passing of Garry Ashcroft. He gamed with us for many years.
I did find it odd when Dave, who was sitting in Garry’s old seat, lost a dice on the floor.
I reckon that was Garry nicking it back. 

I bet Garry is playing in a big wargame in the sky.

[has.been]

Before we started the game each player diced for his personality.
Chinese (Dave) = Shirker. His unit won't shoot or close combat unless attacked.
Russians (Ian,aka Westbury) = Yellow. Cannot willingly make contact, may shoot.
British (John) = Lilly Livered. Tries to stay out of enemy charge reach.
Indians (James, aka Vodkafan). Bald, but has a head covering. .
Mad Mullah (Bob, aka Flatpack & I) = Bit of Consumption. may not move at double.

So we had an advance of British, who really didn't want to start a war, coupled with
the Mullah who would rather NOT go running around the countryside. Plus his allies
who also didn't want to instigate any fighting. Good set up for a wargame, what? 

The first part of the game would not involve a lot of action.
I was trying out some ideas for vehicle movement & maybe I emphasized too much on the
unreliability of vehicles. 
This was not helped by the jokers in the pack. If someone drew one it meant one of their
vehicles stalled. Move ONE & John drew BOTH jokers!
8024 & 8025
He diced off, & lost, against the Russians & Chinese to see who would choose which vehicles.
they chose the REALLY big tank & the lead medium tank. As the Really big tank was too big
& heavy to safely cross the bridge it was trying to cross the dried up riverbed. This meant
the British troops were stuck. The unreliability of anything mechanical meant they took almost
no part in the fighting. It also led to a gap opening up between the Indian troops & their

8020 = The Russian tanks advance in front of the Mullah's fort, well they would have but
            they kept breaking down.

8027 & 8019 = The Mad Mullah's fort. Well defended.
8021 = More of his troops advance on the left of the fort. But not very far.
8022 = Meanwhile the Russians wait in ambush, hidden in the wood & dried up river.


British support.

[has.been]

8028 = With a very real danger that the British will just drive up to his fort, while his allies watch
            The Mullah (Bob) decides to start the war. At extreme range his light cannon opens up
             on the lead British vehicle.
8029 = Missed !!!  But now things started to happen.

8026 = The Cossacks launch a thunderous charge.
8030 = It was glorious, but doomed. No more Cossacks.

8031 = Pleased with that result James sent his Infantry into the woods.
            This was to clear them out with a bayonet charge. This he achieved,
            but the Indian Infantry were not strong enough to attack again when
            Ian pulled them back to the dried up river bank & his other unit.
8032 = Ian was then able to plaster James' lead armoured car, as did the
            Mahdi's heavy machinegun. It went up in flames. James's commander
            managed to scramble out, the crew didn't.

At this point we called a halt.
Russians dug in at the dried up river with their tanks moving again!
Chinese keeping the British fully occupied on the far side of the bridge.
Indians retiring to the bridge.
British staying near the bridge & preparing to cover the retreat.
The Mullah...no doubt congratulating himself on a job well done.
He is still in power with two allies.

A fun game I thought, though the vehicle rules will need some more work.
Thanks to all the players who played to their characters,
to John for providing all the food, also
Bob for a beautiful set up, the cooking, nice figures and being (as always)
a great host.

[vodkafan]

Good pics Peter it filled all the gaps in the narrative. Glad you caught my bayonet charge.

[Westbury]

What fools these British are, how did they manage to cling onto an empire for so long? Russian & Chinese bravery and tactical superiority soon sent them packing, give us another hundred years and we shall rule the world! 

[vodkafan]

Ian In the wise words of Chumbawumbha " I get knocked down..but I get up again" 

[has.been]

Ian In the wise words of Chumbawumbha " I get knocked down..but I get up again" 

 

[FifteensAway]

So many lovely toys to look and so nicely presented - just reviewed the whole thread, well the photos.  One odd bit, when loading the photos most of them pixellated before getting clear - don't think I've ever seen that before on LAF, usually they either are there right away or they take a while or 'rising or falling window shade' into view, but not pixellated.  Maybe unique to this thread but who knows.

Again, very nice stuff. 

[flatpack]

So many lovely toys to look and so nicely presented - just reviewed the whole thread, well the photos.  One odd bit, when loading the photos most of them pixellated before getting clear - don't think I've ever seen that before on LAF, usually they either are there right away or they take a while or 'rising or falling window shade' into view, but not pixellated.  Maybe unique to this thread but who knows.

Again, very nice stuff.

Thank you for your comment.
I’ve just viewed from page 1 and can successfully see all the photos clearly.

[has.been]

Bob! Surely the song you are thinking of is...
'I can see clearly now'   

[flatpack]

Bob! Surely the song you are thinking of is...
'I can see clearly now'   

‘I can see clearly now, my brain has gone’ 

[Captain Darling]

Thanks for posting your latest game, great Miniatures well presented on good terrain, plus who can not admire a game featuring a mighty six wheeled Lanchester excellent looking AFV!

[flatpack]

Thanks for posting your latest game, great Miniatures well presented on good terrain, plus who can not admire a game featuring a mighty six wheeled Lanchester excellent looking AFV!

Thanks for the nice comments capt.
The armoured car that you talk about, was sat in a mates box of bits for several years, until I got some glue and paint on it (eventually)