Off the Workbench - Mike W

Not to be out done by John, I took the time to re-base my 28mm Highlanders for our forthcoming game.

15 x Musketeers, 12 x Pikemen, 12 x Warband and 3 x Chieftains

Highland Pike Block of 12 men. Warlord Games figures.

Highland unit of Shot, with 12 men. Warlord Games figures.

Highland Clan Warriors, again 12 men. 
Unknown figures but including 2 x Warlord GAmes figures.

3 x super fit / hench Highland Chieftains,
manufacturer unknown / forgotten!

Friday Night Games - Imaginations campaign, Naval game

Friday 24th July saw us at Rupert's gaff playing the first in Steve's Imaginations campaign games - surprisingly a Naval game, set in quasi Napoleonic times.

Two fleets of ships faced each other, with Mat, Ollie & Mike W, commanding one fleet, lets call it the 'Good' side! It has more vessels, although with lower quality vessels but on the whole better crew. Their opponents, we'll call them the 'Evil' side,  were Mike N, Nigel & Rupert who had a smaller fleet with better class vessels but potentially poorer crews.

The forces of 'Good' commanded by Mat, Ollie & Mike W.
All line astern and sailing up the table.

All the fantastic models were from Steve's collection and the rules were home brewed by Steve as well who acted as umpire.

Close-up of the 'Good' side's Blue Squadron, commanded by Ollie.

The 'Good' side's White Squadron, commanded by Mike W.

Much death and destruction was handed out by both sides and it looks like the game will go on for another week, not least because no vessel has the movement capability to get off the table to safety in the near future!

The 'Good' side's Red Squadron, commanded by Mat.

The 'Evil' side's White Squadron, commanded by Nigel.

The 'Evil' side's BlueSquadron, commanded by Rupert.

The 'Evil' side's Red Squadron, commanded by Mike N.

Off the Workbench - John

Joining in on the fun of displaying the contents of their workbench, this week we see John's contribution.

12  x Highlanders that have been prepared for the forthcoming battle of Pinkie. they have been based to align with the Pikemen's Lament ruleset.

The whole completed group

Detail of the right side of the group, a little Dutch courage in evidence in eth background! 

Piper and other warriors...

...and total disrespect for their enemies!

Friday Night Games - Battles for the Berezena Crossings, Part 3

Russians advance on their right wing to engage the French

The final week of the epic 3 week game saw John & Dave continue on as the French whilst Mat, Mike W, Mike N, Steve & Mat commanded the huge Russian force.

French left wing is compromised as they retire towards the bridge

Mat's command on the Russian left continued to batter the French in that sector, who also dealt as good as they received. However on the French left the tide had truly turned and over the course of the night the whole French left wing gradually collapsed under the weight of Russian onslaught.

Russians attack and break the French squares

Ultimately all French units to the left of the bridge were destroyed or broken, leading to the preparations for a pre-emptive flight of the right wing. Whilst the French had fought valiantly, they were defeated with significant losses.

French right from their side of the table

Close-up of small actions on the French right

One of the Russian columns marching on the French left

What's left of the French left, from the Russian PoV.

The French right, from their side, central position

More Russians closing

The French left collapses towards the river bridge, the game nears its end

Final shot of the French right, Guards positioned to defend
against Russians crossing the bridge (bottom right)

Off the Workbench - Mike

Latest batch of figures

More figures for VBCW, featuring six new British Army Regulars plus three Fire Brigades Militia and a BUF fighter.

First of two shots of the regulars

The regulars are pretty much standard Wargames Atlantic WW1 Infantrymen, all armed with Lee Enfields and wearing tin hats. One guy is carrying spare Ammo for the Lewis Gunner.

and the rear rank brought forwards....

Three more Fire Brigades Militia were created in the same manner as in previous posts, the group includes an officer armed with a Webley revolver and a Fire Axe, plus two more militiamen, one with a rifle and one with a Tommy Gun, he'll be an NCO.

The last man in the group is a BUF Volunteer, again armed with a Tommy Gun. I have made him out of Wargames Atlantic Panzer Grenadier and given him some arms from the Warlord Games British Commando set. I picked a bare headed head to give him a suitable right wing look and added a British back pack and pouches.

I painted his shirt blue to fit in with the BUF look & feel, the Panzer Grenadier jacket makes a good facsimile of the BUF shirt at this scale - if you don't look too hard!

Coming soon - A Vickers Mk 2 tankette and a truck to help transport these little guys.

Off the Workbench - Mark

More photos from Mark's workbench, with a focus on WW2 & VBCW plus a smattering of Dr Who daleks!.

Russian T34s in the foreground and some Daleks to the rear

Allied Stuart Tanks plus a couple of Daimler Armoured Cars?

Close-up of two of the T34s

A couple of SCW Aircraft in 1/72 scale.

Various German Armour and skinned vehicles

VBCW infantry surrounded by all sorts of other kit!

Axis Half tracks and SPGs

Close-up of the VBCW figures