Issue 9 April 94
WW2 and Later Wargaming - A Personal History Part 3
By Howard Brady
Issue 10 May 94
The Warlord Trophy Final 1994
By Mark Jones
Issue 11 June 94
WW2 and Later Wargaming - A Personal History Part 4
By Howard Brady
Issue 13 August 94
EARLY ROLE-PLAYING
By Rod Beck
Issue 13 August 94
SKIRMISH AT MIDVILLE
By Neil Morris
Issue 14 September 94
Fire and Fury rule additions
By Ross Rigby
MAWS For Thought
Issue 9 April 94
WW2 AND LATER WARGAMING - A PERSONAL HISTORY PART
3 -
By Howard Brady
WITH THE AFRIKA CORPS
In November 1973 my family and I boarded a plane and flew to Zambia, where I had taken a 3 year contract. This move forced me to part with the armies I had built up over the last 9 or 10 years. The better quality part of the armies were sold off enabling me to fund a move into 1/300 scale troops which would accompany me to Africa. Most of the models I bought were from "Leicester Micro Tanks", but I was also in time to buy some of the very first Heroics range of infantry and vehicles. The tiny infantry were a revelation, although crude in comparison with the company's later products, it was still possible to tell the British and Germans apart. Heroics boasted that the, then new, WRG Armour & Infantry 1925-1950 rules had been inspired by their figure range, or was it the other way round? No matter who inspired who the new figure scale and the new rules complimented each other perfectly and changed the face of wargaming in the modern period.
On arriving in Africa I therefore had some unpainted 1/300 scale troops, a new set of rules, no personal reference library and no opponent. I did find, to my wonder and delight, that the biggest newsagent in the country imported the magazine "Military Modelling". I also found a source of brushes and paints and was soon able to get to work painting, basing and organising my armies. For the first few months it was a case of solo gaming but I soon managed to get several people interested, and then met a guy who was already a Napoleonic gamer. We did get a group of 8 - 10 people involved eventually and met on a weekly basis at the home of a guy from Liverpool. - Billy Lee. Billy lived in an old colonial type house with lots of rooms. One of the rooms became a permanent wargames room, where a game could be left to be taken up at a later date. Just to give an idea of the size of the room, the L shaped table gave a frontage of 18' to play on.
Our groups main activity was Napoleonic using the rules from Brigadier Young's book "Charge". In between the Napoleonics I would lay on a WW2 game. Being restricted in the models I had these games had a 1943 flavour from Tunisia through to Italy.I still have some of the maps and order sheets for a game titled "The Battle of Smelly Farm" based on an incident in the Anzio beachhead in early 1944. A battalion of the Grenadier guards, well you have to do something to keep the Napoleonic buffs interested, was attacked by German armour and infantry. The Grenadiers could call on the support of some Shermans and M10's from the American First Armoured division. The Germans concentrated their armour, PvIVF2's, Tigers and armoured half tracks, against the guards company on the left flank. With battle well and truly joined i realised that I had not brought along the British anti-tank guns. The Napoleonic buffs fought their guardsmen in line, hitting back with PIAT's and anti-tank grenades. They actually managed to hang on until the American Shermans arrived. Then, of course, the Tigers had a field day. The game ended with the British left flank gone but still in possession of the farm. The Germans were proud of their victory over the American armour, having forgotten that their objective was to capture the vital road junction at the farm.
A further game was an amphibious landing circa 1943.
The problem here is landing with a large enough force to overcome
the likely opposition and then ensuring one has enough vehicles
to keep the invaders mobile. In the game the invaders cleared
the initial beachhead with the help of naval gunfire. They then
became locked into the beachhead, because being mainly foot infantry
they were slow to capture the inland objectives before the enemy
reserves appeared. Having recently read the book by Carlo D'Este
on the Sicilian invasion, the Eighth Army had exactly the same
problem in the early days. Not enough transport vehicles had been
landed in the assault wave to guarantee a rapid advance from the
beachhead. The Germans with their superior mobility were thus
able to regroup, solidify their defences and make the Eighth Army
pay a high price for their gains.1. Bitter Victory
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MAWS For Thought
Issue 10 May 94
The Warlord Trophy Final 1994
By Mark Jones
The Quest for the Warlord Trophy, which has not been contested for at least 12 years, continues. The semi-final contestants were Dan Ibekwe, Frank Jackson, Chris Johnston and Geoff Pearson.
Results
Dan Bactrian Greek 4 - 1 Geoff Bactrian Greek
Frank Marian Roman 4 - 2 Chris English War/Roses
The surprise of the semi's was the ease with which Dan beat Geoff, although luck can play a major factor in DBA games. Chris was also unlucky to lose to Frank and nearly staged a dramatic comeback after early losses. Thus the two finalists were Dan Ibekwe playing Bactrian Greek and Frank Jackson playing Marian Roman. Note that Frank's army was not either Camillan or Late Imperial Rome as incorrectly stated in the previous issue of this newsletter. I would shoot the reporter except I was at fault. Oops! Neil Morris
The Final
The following account of the battle comes from Marcus Octaviannus, the general commanding the Roman Legion.
'As the early morning mist began to clear I ordered the legion to deploy with the cavalry on my left flank and the legionaries in a solid line across the centre of the battle field. In the distance I could see the Greek forces arrange themselves for battle. In the centre was the fearsome pike phalanx, to protect
his left flank he placed a skirmishing force of light infantry and light cavalry. Looking to my right I felt the first inkling of fear. Through the dust I began to make out the huge forms of elephants as they formed up next to the pikemen.
I ordered a general advance all along the line. In response the Greek army began its own ponderous advance. As the distance between the two armies lessened the ground began to shake with the impact of the feet of the advancing army. Suddenly the Greek line stopped, as bowmen hidden behind the army ran forward to occupy the woods next to the elephants. At the same time his light troops split off from the rest of his army and began a skirmishing action against my right flank. I ordered the cavalry to advance but they were repulsed by the bowmen and elephants without causing significant casualties. Destiny awaited as I ordered the trumpets to sound and the legionaries advanced. Through the dust I saw the javelins strike home all along the Greek line, then with a thunderous clash the legionaries struck the elephants and pike phalanx. The next few minutes were filled with the screams of dying men and animals, victory was assured for who or what could withstand the charge of a Roman legion. Suddenly instead of sweet victory my mouth filled with bitter ashes, as first the elephants and then the pike phalanx broke through the ordered ranks of legionaries. As they advanced the unthinkable happened, the rest of the legion wavered and then broke like rotten wood. The legion was shattered and ran from the battlefield leaving the Greek army to celebrate a glorious
victory. Instead of a triumphant parade through Rome's streets, I would be lucky to avoid execution as a traitor. Such are the fortunes of war.'
Thus ends the final entry in the diary of Marcus Octaviannus.
My congratulations to Dan for a most impressive victory
and to Frank for reaching this years final. A big thanks to Neil
(M) and Neil (Mc) for organising the competition and to everybody
else who took part and made it so successful. I look forward to
next years competition.
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MAWS For Thought
Issue 11 June 94
By Howard Brady
WW2 AND LATER WARGAMING - A PERSONAL HISTORY PART
4 -
I returned to the area and to MAWS in late 1976. At this time there was a great surge of interest in WW2 and modern period games. Although other rules made an occasional appearance, the stable diet was the WRG brand. By this time WRG's "Armour & Infantry 1925 -1950" were well established. Over the years I have listened to much criticism of these rules, but for their coverage and simplicity they take some beating. The replacement set published in 1988 are more complex and less playable.
In 1974 WRG had issued a companion set of rules to cover the period 1950-1975. This set kept to the well proven formula of the earlier set, but introduced rules for the new generation of weapons invented after WW2. The increasing complexity of weapons and the rapid introduction of new unproved systems led to issuing a set of amendments in 1976.
A new set from WRG covering the period 1950-1985 was issued in 1979. Members of MAWS had been involved, in conditions of great secrecy, in play testing this edition. A lot of novelty was built
into this set of rules, but in time they became as firm favourites as the WW2 rules.
By 1976 1/300th scale models had become the norm for wargaming the period. The main manufacturers in this country were by now Heroics and Skytrex. Between the two there was no item of equipment, of any importance, that was not available, from the humble rifleman up to heavy bombers. Mention of the figures we used brings me onto the question of painting. Chris Tofalos was already renowned for the standard of his painted 25mm figures and, when he took up 1/300th WW2 gaming, he started to produce a standard of finished troops that had to be seen to be believed. Every tank was fitted with a radio aerial and painted to an extremely high standard. All his infantry was mounted on bases that had been ground modelled with some kind of basing material. These standards were unusual for 25mm armies let alone 1/300 scale. Chris had led the way, the rest of us, with varying success tried to emulate his standards, but overall the quality of the armies on the club tables rose throughout the club. In the inter-club battles that I will cover in the next article, members of other clubs were impressed by the standards we set and were often kind enough to draw attention to and congratulate us in the turn out of our troops.
Returning to figures, New Hope Design had started to produce the GHQ range under licence in this country. Scale 1/285 these models were more detailed than the home grown 1/300 scale. At the same
time someone else, I can't recall who, imported the CinC range of 1/285 models from America, which were as fully detailed as the GHQ range. My main modern army of the time, 1978 America, was as far as possible built from GHQ models. The army still exists, it is difficult to think that it is 12 to 15 years since I bought them and although they still look good they are not quite as good as the current GHQ range. The current GHQ range, or rather a part of it, is now available from Virgin Games in Manchester. In those pre-metric days carpet squares were available in 1 ft squares and were used to layout the terrain for our games. I feel it's one of the biggest mistakes in my wargaming not to have
invested in a selection of these squares. It is noticeable that the squares are still making appearances at the club in the DBA games that are so popular. Trees, buildings, hedges, bridges, etc, were available from different makers in different materials. Again I have lots of items that are 15 or even more years old and are still used regularly.
So we have the rules, the figures and the terrain
- what use did we put them to?
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MAWS For Thought
Issue 13 August 94
EARLY ROLE-PLAYING
By Rod Beck
(The maunderings of a geriatric barbarian)
I suppose the first "role play" I took part in was when I was at junior school. I and three of my friends used to take the parts of characters from fiction, usually Dan Dare & Co, and make up
stories by acting out, verbally what they were doing. No dice, no rules, just imagination and acting.
My next foray into the genre was with the advent of Dungeons and Dragons. At this time this consisted of three small books in a box. To use these rules you also had to have copy of Chainmail, a set of TSR Medieval rules, to which they were a fantasy supplement.
There were only the basic character types, Fighter, Magic user, Cleric and Thief, and fighting skill was based on Hero = 5 men etc. All weapons did D6 damage and all monsters did a number of D6. Very basic.
Then TSR brought out the supplements. Blackmoor, Greyhawk and Eldritch Wizardry - names to conjure with. These supplements changed the combat system; changed the damage dice for different weapons; introduced modifiers for Strength, Dexterity et al; added new spells and monsters and generally re-vamped and improved the game.
Following the success of "D&D" various other manufacturers jumped on the bandwagon and started to produce either similar games (Tunnels & Trolls, for example), or "unofficial" supplements such as the original Arduin Grimoire (3 small books in a box), and the original Arms Law (numerous cards giving attack tables for different weapons) which is now an integral part of the excellent Role Master game from ICE.
The next generation of games were all somewhat individual. Traveller, with its pre-campaign experience from earlier professions; Empire of the Petal Throne with its strange bi-racial, Aztec-feel world and mixture of fantasy and lost technology sci-fi elements; and Runequest with its God-ridden background and spells (of sorts) for everyone.
Some of these games still exist in one form or another, while others have disappeared from all but a few memories. Among my favourite weirdo games that disappeared was one where you played an American Tag Team. Ah well! (Perhaps Rod will be interested in the WWF rpg. Ed)
In the early days role play was a cult hobby, mostly played by students and others of that ilk. This meant that, particularly in Britain, most knew each other, if not personally, then through the various apa-zines that appeared. The best of these were Trollcrusher from England and a huge mag called Alarums and Excursions from the USA, edited and compiled from all the incoming articles by Lee Gold, author of the Land of the Rising Sun supplement for Chivalry & sorcery, one of the most "realistic" and complicated games ever. Articles in these mags ranges from new character classes, adventure modules, write-ups of games from those involved to letters, often contentious and frequently libellous. Alas, all gone!
One of the main differences between the players in the "good old days" and the present crop (apart from the ages) is the attitude brought to the games. We used to really get into our characters like an actor playing a part (I have had a character interviewed by the local radio). the willingness of DM's to create their own adventures and the seriousness with which the game was played. All the laughter and shouting came in the pub afterwards.
I still play, during the week, with a group of old-fashioned role-players. The main difference you would find with our group is that most experience is given for role playing, i.e. not what you did but how you did it and what you said while you were doing it.
Still, if any of you want to try the old way....
let me know and I may just give it a whirl at the club.
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SKIRMISH AT MIDVILLE
By Neil Morris
The union supply depot at Midville was raided by a combined force of Confederate Infantry and irregular troops - although the Confederate commander tried to pass the irregulars off as deserters. The irregulars succeeded in making off with the army payroll and the defending troops suffered many casualties. The
attack began with the Rebels sneaking into the saloon and opening up a fusillade of fire upon Union troops garrisoned opposite. Meanwhile the "deserters" outflanked the Union position and gained access to the Train which still held the payroll. The gatling guns deployed by the defenders showed themselves to be unreliable by jamming at several inopportune moments. The situation was further confused by the arrival late in the day of an Indian raiding party. These attacked all-comers and caused losses to both sides in the fight.Yes - this is the Western gunfight report which was held the 17th July. I lost count of the participants - 25 I think, including the Umpires, and those who died early in the game were reincarnated as the Indians. Victory was claimed by the Confederate deserter team who had the last man in contact with the gold. A very tiring day for the Umpires and I now remember why this is only held once a year.
We may hold some smaller gunfights later in the year
- but these will not be open to all the club members on the usual
basis. A free-for-all fight may take place nearer Christmas -
if I've recovered from this one.
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MAWS For Thought
Issue 14 September 94
Fire and Fury rule additions
By Ross Rigby
Further to my previous article on Fire & Fury, and a renewal of interest in the American Civil War, I began to have a fresh look at the rules and the way games are presented.
In F&F as players will already know, but for the benefit of non players, the smallest unit in the game is the brigade. Now during the war brigades had fairly constant strengths in terms of the
number of regiments, (e.g.. at 1st Bull Run it was 3.9 but at Cold Harbour it was 5.5, but with more regiments in Union organisations) but regimental strength tended to vary. Anything from 100 - 1000 men being possible, with average strength at probably 200 - 400 men. Now in scale terms a base of figures in F&F is 200 men which works out quite nicely at one or two bases of figures per regiment, and roughly one figure representing a company.
Most non ACW players seem to think of uniforms in this conflict as just being blue for the Union army and grey for the Confederates, nothing could be further from the truth. True the vast majority of these troops wore the above colours at the beginning of the war there were many varied and colourful uniforms some of which lasted until the end of the war. In a series of articles I hope to make the reader aware of some of these unusual uniforms and some of the unusual flags.
It occurred to me that since some regiments or even just companies had these different uniforms to the norm, why not represent them on the table top to add a bit more colour into what appears at first to be a very standardised dress code.
Whilst in the future I hope to play more games with increasing numbers of special regiments, it occurred to me that two types of units deserve rule additions.
The first of these were the sharpshooter regiments and subsequently skirmishers. If players are going to represent individual regiments, how would they represent a unit such as Berdan's Sharpshooters, somehow I don't feel four figures on a 1" square base as a realistic representation. In the normal F&F rules there is no allowance for skirmishers. I would suggest mounting 2 figures on a 2" x 1" base, with 2 bases representing a regiment in skirmish order. Skirmishers have no real bearing on contact except to disorder the enemy.
To deploy skirmishers for a brigade counts as a change of formation, and is therefore covered by the command function in F&F, with the exception that an already disordered brigade may not deploy skirmishers. Skirmishers may be deployed in the front or flanks of a brigade (exception see below). Up to 1/4 of a brigade's current strength (rounding down) may be deployed as such.
Skirmishers cannot be deployed to the front of units stationed behind other friendly units, but may deploy to the rear and flanks if they are within enemy musketry range. When deploying skirmishers they are placed adjacent to the parent brigade.
Skirmishers move at 1/2 the infantry allowance regardless of terrain, they may never move more then 12" from the parent brigade.
Determining skirmish superiority is done by comparing the number of skirmish bases opposing units have (bearing in mind firing arcs) The following chart is consulted:
Any further combat between the brigades and the above modifiers result is applied, i.e. firing and close combat. If the contest is between skirmishers then the losing skirmishers must retreat back its full skirmish move. To inflict any of the above the skirmisher must be within firing ranges. Skirmishers may rejoin parent units in the same way as they are formed, however it does not matter if the parent unit is disordered as long as it is allowed to change formation.
A unit protected by skirmishers may not fire through its own skirmishers, however units may fire through enemy skirmishers in the fire phase. Skirmishers may not move voluntarily within 6" of an enemy brigade
Any skirmishers contacted by any enemy except skirmishers are counted as skedadelled and are removed from play. However any skirmishers that are adjacent to their parent unit and are contacted may fall back to the rear of the parent unit but must remain adjacent. (Skirmishers, therefore contacted in the open away from the parent unit will be removed)
Skirmishers may fire at enemy commanders a score of 5+ on a d10 means the commander must retreat away from the firers until out of effective musketry range.
Sharpshooters gain a +1 advantage.
Cavalry skirmishing is treated exactly as above, with the following exceptions. Units may not fire through enemy cavalry that are skirmishing, casualties are treated in exactly the same way as normal F&F rules.
New Game Turn Sequence
Command Phase
Deploy skirmishers
Move
Determine skirmish superiority
Defensive fire phase
Attacking fire phase
Charges
The second of these special units was the Zouaves.
Zouaves were based on a French idea and these units were subject
to intensive training, and were as a result extremely fit. Therefore
treat Zouaves as normal units, but a brigade with the majority
of stands being Zouaves gains a +1 advantage on any breakthrough
charge to represent the fact that they would not suffer in terms
of stamina by charging a further distance to normal troops. Obviously
casualties in brigades will have to be determined randomly if
zouave units are present.
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