Author Topic: Scarab 1916 Great War battle day report (Read 1517 times)

James Morris · « **on:** October 17, 2016, 09:58:29 PM »

At the weekend I popped down to Gloucestershire to see Rob Broom of Scarab Miniatures, who had kindly asked me to put on my Fort Vaux game at his 1916 gaming day.

It was a small but jolly affair with around 15-20 gamers playing Great War themed games all day. There were four games on offer, which freely rotated players during the day:

(1) Zero Hour - a large 1916 game in 28mm with French and British taking on Germans

(2) Wings of War - I think the chap running this (Chris?) managed to fit in at least four games

(3) Inside Fort Vaux - my 1916 game featuring the famous fort at Verdun

(4) Bolt for the Marne - a 1914 game showing a cavalry action using Bolt Action rules

Rob had also set up an Italian front game, but we were all so occupied playing the other games we didn't get time to do this one. Next time hopefully!

I provided the 'expert' opinions on Verdun, Rob had put out a number of his books on the Somme for perusal, and was also selling his range of Scarab Miniatures for WW1 amongst others.

The day was a great deal of fun. I ran my Fort Vaux game three times, with two French victories and one German. It was a pleasure to host players who knew so much about the Great War, and in many cases had been to the fort itself. I also managed to sneak off for a couple of games of Wings of War, which I haven't played for many years - I had forgotten how much fun it was, even if I crashed and burned (twice).

Yup, that's me, going down in flames...

Thanks to Rob for organising, and to the rest of the Broom family who provided a super lunch AND kept my kids entertained all day! It would have been nice to have seen the event better attended, as it provided a great opportunity to focus on a single period for a day, and swap between games systems with some very knowledgeable Great War enthusiasts.