Operation Fish ‘n’ chips. The batrep

So then, to the game. After two turns of the ten it took to complete I’d stopped taking notes and at least on one occasion forgot to take any pictures. This doesn’t help when reconstructing a narrative but it does point to the fact that I’d become quite involved in actually playing it rather than wondering how to present it to an audience.

I’ll do my best to explain what was going on with the photos I have to hand, in my usual Broom Battle Picture Library (pat pending) format.

Unfortunately the password had been changed to “the cats pyjamas” and feeling he’d been rumbled Eric Hartwell in the driving seat pulled a pistol on the guard. With a cry of “blackheads” (the derogatory appellation applied to the BUF because of their black Brodie helmets) the sentry ran into the woods bordering the road. Conveniently out of sight in the picture, the second guard Jim Barclay fires his shotgun into the trucks engine, wrecking it, before jumping over the fence and out of sight. The shocked BUF boys immediately debus, but by the time I took the photo they’d all recovered their dander apart from Hartwell. By the way - Anyone know what the collective noun would be for a bunch of fascists? A Musk, perhaps?

Hearing the commotion, Malcolm Laidlaw the BLDV section leader runs to the phone box to alert the town council while way back in the distance the boys not currently on stag drop their copies of yesterdays Brompton Bugle or Picture Post and grab the Lewis gun.

Faster than a thousand greased gazelles (a unit of motion used by my former TA corporal) the BUF lads sprint into action. The lmg team run into the woods chasing the fleeing sentry,  hoping to set up on a covered flank. Action group leader Eric legs it after Dennis Clark a very gung ho Smethwick lad carrying his groups standard. (Eric rushed to be alongside Dennis not because of any inherent heroism but because Eric has the trait “bodyguard” - which means the first hit inflicted on him would automatically pass to an adjacent friendly character - if there was one). Better to be safe than sorry eh.

BUF corporal Ray Hughes is armed with a Bergman smg and a grenade. He fans out to the left of the road, blissfully unaware that on the other side of the fence he’s hiding behind are several hundred gallons of petrol. Careful with that grenade Ray!

The Brompton boys begin to close in from all directions as the BUF advance cautiously.

The Brompton lmg team take up position covering the water tower across the road.

And then it all kicked off. Jim Barclay stepped out from cover (top right) and let fly with his shotgun, and missed. Fortunately Malcolm Laidlaw the Brompton leader was now on the scene and fired his trusty Webley revolver. (Feel free to cry blam blam or some such at this point. I know I did). Ray’s side kick collapsed under the fusillade and in a panic Ray returned fire with the Bergman, his shots going everywhere until the clip was empty. Bugger. As a side note I’ve been using AI generated and laminated flats to signify a figure is prone, rather than tipping the models over and potentially scratching the paint. Black uniforms for the BUF and Khaki for the Brompton boys. The grenade counter is just there because the character was carrying it so it’s a reminder that it’s available to be picked up.

Hartwell and the standard carrying chap make it to the water tower as the opposition close in from all directions. Alf Bingham gets in a sneaky shot at the BUF leader which so shocks the man that he apparently waves to his assailant in response. 

Meanwhile back by the fuel drums and now with an empty gun Ray struggles to reload, watching helplessly as shotgun toting Jim Barclay advances for the coup de grace. 

The BUF lmg team set up on the fringe of the woodland but the weapon jams almost immediately and they come under a withering fire which causes shock and wounds, rendering them ineffective for almost the balance of the game.

Plucking up courage Alf Bingham rushes Hartwell who’d ducked back out of sight. No Alf. No! Close combat in FFOL is pretty brutal. Apparently Hartwell’s raised hand is not just a salute but a fearsome karate chop. Alf goes down wounded and to add insult to injury Dennis comes round the corner and bashes his head in with the group standard. Ouch. Don’t think he’ll be walking that one off.

Back at the ranch, sorry back by the fuel drums, Jim is having problems with his shotgun so Malcolm and his webley move in to finish off the BUF corporal. 

Unfortunately Malcolm’s timing was pretty poor because the corporal had just managed to reload his Bergman. The card activation was in his favour and he let rip  (I’ll pause the narrative for a second so you can make a machine gun noise too if you’d like. I settled on brrrappp, brrrrappp if it’s any help). Anywhoo I don’t suppose the sound mattered much to poor old Malcolm who went down like wet raincoat falling from a coat peg. 

Ray didn’t get to enjoy his moment of triumph for long though because Jim’s shotgun scored the equaliser. If memory serves, which with me it usually doesn’t, we’re now at two out of the fight figures a piece. A phrase like “there’s still everything to play for” springs to mind, but I won’t use it since seems wrong in the context of a life and death struggle. I should probably explain that I’m taking this contest so seriously that one in three of the losing side will be beaten into an unrecognisable lump of lead with a hammer, during the post game wash up.*

The BUF lmg team continue to take hits but finally get the gun working again despite their growing number of wounds. Could they finally get the last required “out of the fight” result? Erm… as it happens…nope. Eric Hartwell and the bloke with the standard climb through the water tower window to find cover inside. If another Brompton man bites the dust then the BUF will have won…with the addition of an extra point for occupying a building. Good thinking Eric. You might have sold the lowest number of ladders at the Droitwich ‘35 ladder expo but clearly you’re a tactical genius. Flushed with success Eric chucked his one and only smoke grenade out of the window and ordered Dennis and his banner to stay put. His mission now was to rally the remaining troops and get that last “out of the fight” result. Under cover of the smoke he ran from the building ignorant of the fact that the smoke had also prevented his lmg team from securing a potential kill shot…and the game.

With the smoke still spreading the BUF troops retire to regroup on the board edge. Maybe they can still get that last “out of the fight” result and win the game from a less exposed position. 

Stepping over Alf’s body the Brompton men cover the water towers door and windows. Unwilling to risk another close combat (which with a bad result could’ve handed the win to the BUF, even at this late stage) they shouted for the enemy inside to surrender. The rules don’t cover this (we’re free styling here), so I rolled a dice. Denis came out with his hands up. Though not injured (yet) Denis is effectively “out of the fight” so I called the game in Brompton’s favour as per the scénario victory conditions.

“Right chum, you’re coming with us.”
I’d like to report that Dennis was treated fairly in accordance with the laws of war etc. But I can’t. I suspect that his standard might have been shoved where the sun don’t shine. 

So there we have it. The BUF limp off board to lick their wounds and the Brompton boys get 3 points for the win. The towns medico will now be employed to determine the outcome for those who fell in the battle…oh okay not really I’ll just roll a dice, like the Gods seem do with us.

I had a hoot playing this - the outcome being a damn sight closer than it might appear from the narrative.

Hope the wall of text and endless stream of photos wasn’t too onerous and if you’ve made it this far, cheers. You could leave a nice comment below if you’d like, but to be honest a fiver in the post would be more welcome.

Toodleooh

*only joking of course but the lads didn’t know that. I think they fought harder as a result.

Operation Fish ‘n’ Chips - Game 1 of 5

General background fluff

Unpopular king Edward VIII is hiding out with his new American wife in Worcester having being injured by a bomb blast at his coronation. In London a Mosley led fascist rump governments attempt to remodel British society has caused whole areas to rise up in rebellion. 

There, I think that covered the essentials.

By the Engine sheds on Caldwell Lane Len Tyler and Malcolm Laidlaw police the incoming trickle of refugees from the fighting further south.

Campaign fluff

Following their failed attempt to seize the contents of the TA armoury on Billings street the Brompton BUF have been forced out of town and have regrouped at a farmhouse two miles to the east.  As further reinforcements begin to trickle in from Smethwick, failed ladder salesman and Brompton BUF supremo Eric Hartwell receives orders to go back and gain control of the important industrial zone to the north east of the town.

Meanwhile…After violent skirmishes between the townsfolk and Hartwell’s men the town council felt it necessary to raise the Brompton Local Defence Volunteers, an armed group, to patrol the towns boundaries and keep Hartwell’s troublemakers at bay.

The mission set up fluff

Normally both factions roll off to determine who is to be the attacker and defender, but given the pregame narrative I’ve allowed the BUF to have the attacker role by default. Both factions however rolled off to determine the importance of the mission to their side. As it turned out the dice (and therefore those higher in the chain of command) felt the mission was of moderate importance to both sides.

Moderate importance means that if either side have three men out of action* at any one time they automatically lose the game and retire. A win in a scenario of moderate importance grants three campaign victory points to the victorious faction - which they can spend on replacements, new equipment or bank towards the final campaign total.

Operation Fish ‘n’ Chips - Wednesday August 4th 1937

Hartwell’s BUF cadre receive a tip off that the BLDV in the Parkside area have been using the codeword Fish ‘n’ Chips to identify friend from foe, and so Eric decides to use this information to pass through his opponents defences and seize some of the key buildings behind them. What Hartwell doesn’t know is that the password is changed every Wednesday and today is…

Victory conditions. First side to have three chaps out of action at any one time is the loser and the opponent automatically the winner. If the BUF win they gain one extra point for every building solely occupied by them.

Side note: Thought I’d add an element of uncertainty to this mission. I gave the wife three post it notes each of which had a different password on them. I asked her to choose one and discard the rest. When Hartwell arrives at the check point he’ll use the Fish ‘n’ Chips one and we’ll see if it’s still in use. The three code words given to the wife were Fish ‘n’ Chips, UR Mum (done in text speak to annoy her) and The Cat’s Pyjamas.

As you can see below the games been set up and I will cover the outcome in a separate batrep soonish.

Here’s a couple of set up piccies to whet your appetite, or wet your pants if you get excited over these things.

Bernie Sykes stops the BUF lorry at the Birmingham Road checkpoint unaware of who is hiding in the back. “Alright chief. Password please?” “Yeah” says Hartwell from the cab. “Fish ‘n’ chips.”

The BUF contingent. Playing cards determine the movement order and sometimes bestow special abilities depending on type / suit. Black grenade counters on the unit cards are frag grenades and the white are smoke ones. They’re a rarity in game and only issued to the attackers troops.

Stay safe out there mes amis. Remember, there is no such thing as gravity, the world sucks!

Toodleooh.

*Down but not necessarily out. They play no further part in the action, but their final condition is determined post game.

FIBUA

FIBUA, as I’m sure most of you know, is a British army acronym for fighting in built up areas… but it’s also known by British squaddies as FISH and CHIPS (Fighting In Someone’s House & Causing Havoc In People’s Streets.

As you can see from the piccies below that’s exactly what I’m about to embark upon in the fictional town of Brompton during A Very British Civil War.

A general overview of the Parkside industrial area, north is the right hand board edge bordered by the Birmingham road. 

Since the terrain is based on interlocking tiles I can jiggle the whole lot around and reposition things for a different future layout, and It’ll also be possible to add to it with a few rows of terraced houses or even a high street with shops if my spot the ball entries ever produce a win. 

I’ve tried to avoid my previous mistakes, made back in the day, where I went full railway modeller and created terrain that looked lovely but that I couldn’t actually fit my soldiers in, so if it seems a bit cartoony, that’s the reason.

A view to the north west showing the refugee control point on Caldwell lane. 

Looking south west from the Birmingham road.

While all this was being built I’ve been conducting test games with various skirmish rule sets and was disappointed that the ones I was expecting to use didn’t really cut the mustard. You never really know until you get the toys on the table, do you? Eventually I stumbled across Fistful of Lead which I’d discounted previously as a cowboy and injuns game. To my relief its not, and it really has everything I want out of a system, with the bonus being that its sister game of Bigger Battles works well for my Indian mutiny and possibly my HYW stuff too. Sharing the same core system (mostly) may mean that my increasingly foggy memory isn’t tested too much each time I get the boys out (I live in hope - or hippy, according to the modern marvel that is auto correct).

Proof of the new rules efficacy was provided in the usual way when No2 son turned up, ate everything in the fridge and thrashed the life out of me with them. It’s a family tradition thing.

Anywhoo… I’ll be running five games in a mini campaign, over the next few months, details of which have already been worked out and all of which will involve fighting for control of this industrial area in the North East of Brompton. The game area is about 4 x 3 and if that seems small don’t forget these will be skirmish games involving as few as 7 to 10 figures per side. I’ve had test games that lasted a mere 10 minutes (never bunch up in front of a dug in Lewis gun) and one game that I had to finish the next day so it’s going to be difficult to judge how in depth the expected bat reps will be. Hopefully we won’t have too many…Turn 1 Side (A) died to a man while entering the board. lol. 

Modelling will be taking a bit of a back seat for a while, I hope, but there are some new Army of The Severn Valley (British Army regulars), a naval landing party and a bloody great tank with numerous turrets on to get to grips with at some point, so no peace for the wicked eh.

Vickers MkIII in case you were wondering. Only three ever produced. 

Right then I’ll be back in February with some games if the Gods spare me, but before I sling my hook I came across this monstrous concoction when I was looking for advertising posters to put on the side of a building.

Jeez. Did they really drink this stuff back in the day?

*****Late Edit*****

This just in from Steve.

Gack. I presume the child is smiling cos she hasn’t tasted it yet.

Toodleooh mes amis.

Help!

I was at an indoor market in Bellac today when I chanced upon these chaps for sale. The figures may be pewter and the individual soldiers are about 8cm tall - so I’m not sure what scale that equates to. I’ve no idea of manufacturer / age / period / nationality represented but they’re 85 euro for 12 as far as I can see which seems reasonable.

If anybody is able to shine a light on this I’d be grateful for any info.

They’ve been glued to several crappy wooden bases and all of the figures appear to be individual. 

Again, any info the hive mind can provide will be gratefully received.

A plus mes amis. 

Bonne Année

Just a quickie post to wish you all a happy new year. Lovely and sunny here at the mo but ruddy cold. Fortunately my hobby room is the warmest in the house so that’s all the excuse I need to sit in there all day and furrtle around with my toys. 

I’d give you a run down of what I’ve achieved in 2025 but I’m buggered if I can remember to be honest. There was a lot of 28 mm stuff as I recall and not enough mini campaigns fully documented to completion…partly cos I ran out of puff and partly cos I often played them out and forgot to fully record them at the time. I’ll try and do better in 26…promise. 

I’ve some new 100YW figures to get on with and some Empress Sikhs (for no good reason other than they look lovely sculpts)… and that ladies and gentlemen (apart from the SCW Hotchkiss team) is the sum of my remaining lead pile. Nice.

I suspect that first part of 26 will be mostly VBCW, because I’m still pretty jazzed about it and work on the property through Feb / March (repainting the shutters on the barn and the gîte) will take the place of painting miniatures. Doh. 

Enough. Here’s a few more piccies of VBCW progress.

Welcome to Brompton, gateway to the west. I managed to get CHAT GPT to sketch out a map of the fictional midlands town in which my VBCW games will take place. For some reason the third iteration saw the Brompton Rovers FC stadium replaced with a cricket ground, the loss of the buildings in the railway station and the word Weca instead of area. (Me neither). Apparently god loves a tryer so I’ll keep on  with the AI bothering. Most of my current terrain is centred on the industrial “Weca” but I’ve plans for some terraced back to back housing too, if the money holds out. 

Another couple of factories have been produced. This is Farrington’s (another family member I’m afraid) famous in my alt 1937 for the production of Bile Beans. Bile Beans by the way were an actual thing. Google ‘em if you’ve a mind to. 

The new twin turreted Austin Armored car known as “unlucky for some” due its number 13 (third vehicle of the 1st troop).

And another shot from the other side because it’s crapiness is sort of sexy.

I’ve settled on the three main factions making up the Brompton Local Defence Volunteers and have created some roster sheets as an aide mémoire. They’ll be laminated and allow me to add character traits if any are generated between games.

This bunch are supporters of the King, (Edward VIII) but reject the legitimacy of the Mosley government. 

These lads are mostly workers from the Brompton Carpet Factory and they see the current troubles as an opportunity to set up a socialist utopia. They are against the monarchy and Mosley. Note Comrade Stranski doesn’t actually work at the factory, he just turned up one day with a Russian / English dictionary and a lorry load of weapons. Unusual for Russians to be fomenting strife, eh. 

The third faction are made up of those appalled by the kings marriage to an American divorcee, and his decision to empower the upstart Mosley. They demand new elections the abdication of Edward and his replacement with the stuttering Prince Albert (no, not the piercing) currently hiding out in Canada with the rest of the royals. 

Haven’t quite finished this roster yet, though the figures are painted. I’ll probably add a few International Fascist League Spanish Volunteers to the bottom somewhere.

I’m not entirely sure why I bothered dividing the Brompton defenders into three separate armed factions other than I’ve a vague notion that they could at some point end up fighting amongst themselves. We’ll see.

Right it’s time to start blanching the sprouts for next Christmas (only 350 something shopping days to go) so I’m going to sling my hook.

Play nice.

Toodleooh.