1926 and all that.

Look; this blogging and solo gaming thing…it’s just not working out. I’m sorry…I really am…but over the last few weeks I’ve been… I’ve been…seeing other people. 

Yes that’s right I’ve gone from Mr Billy No Mates solo wargamer to international gamer de jour. You name a continent or a time period and I’ve been there, pushing lead around like nobodies business. (Well okay just North America…but it is a big place so I’m sort of counting it as at least two).

The AWI painting has slowed a bit because of these commitments but the enthusiasm is still there and progress is still being made on my second batch of Continentals. Slowly slowly catch a monkey and all that.

What I did end up doing, despite my giddy social whirl, was set up another of my 1926 General Strike games on the premise of trying them with Mr Lambshead’s skirmish rules rather than Norm’s excellent Tigers at Minsk ones. The rules are entirely playing card driven and if you consider swapping one individual soldier (as per the rules) for a base of soldiers it sort of works. 

The scenario:

The general strike has now been on for five weeks and the wheels are beginning to come off of HM Governments response to it. With the majority of the armed forces proving unreliable the Prime Minister has begun to rely more and more on that other army of concerned citizens - the Organisation for the Maintenance of Supply - and their proto fascist militant wing.

With pressure increasing on the strikers in Birmingham the armed militants in the Free City of Liverpool have begun sending small conveys of arms and ammunition to aid their midland comrades.

One such convey is heading down the A41 towards Wolverhampton when it is intercepted by the OMS.

The workers revolutionary defence force will achieve a victory if they get their lorry full of ammo off the southern road edge. The forces of repression (sorry the OMS) will achieve a victory by capturing or destroying the self same truck.

The forces of repression: From left to right - A Squadra of blue shirts, Carlotta the armoured car donated by Il Duce, two squads of OMS armed volunteers (The Rotary Club Fencibles - as they are derisively known) and a squad of Inspector Knacker’s K Division coppers with Edgar the traction engine.

And here’s the opposition.

A nice bunch of lads having a jolly day out. Two squads of Workers Revolutionary Militia with their “transports”, a twin turreted Austin armoured car and a natty little motorcycle combo. They’re the only thing that stands between the OMS and…

….a Fryco lorry stuffed full of explosives. Behind it is an ex army truck carrying a squad of former British Army soldiers (now wearing the red armband of the Workers Defence Force) and at the rear of the column is a Lanchester armoured car. 

Fortunately for the reds they also have eyes in the sky!

“B1” An Airco DH4 of the Birmingham Corporation Air Force, toting 4 x 20Ib cooper bombs and a bad attitude. 

These days I can leave the whole thing set up, so although I’ve run out of time today I can hopefully get the game played and an AAR posted here next week.

Toodleooh for now!

Getting stoned in the garden

Welcome to issue number 73 in my continuing contentious blog post title series. I am sorry to keep having to resort to such crassness but the numbers don’t lie, (except when I’m your accountant that is), the most viewed post I ever did on my old blog, by a country mile, was the innocently titled « check out my junk » for some reason I’ve yet to discover.

Anywhoo, I’ve been putting in the hard yards over here in more ways than one just lately. AWI orders from Pendraken have been rolling in during the last couple of weeks and I’ve been painting as fast as my little brushes will allow. There’s now a sizeable backlog to work through but I’ve been getting my gaming fix via zoom so a lot of the usual distractions are being avoided. 

Speaking of zoom; what a delight. I’d recommend anyone that has the ability to take part to try it out. It’s been lovely for an old hermit like me to put the faces to names of people who’ve been commenting on here or the old blog for years. 

I’ll deal with the stoned bit in a mo but here’s a snapshot of some slightly out of focus miniatures progress.

Two regiments of 10mm AWI British infantry with a joint battalion of Grenadiers and Light bobs in the background.

Same troops, different angle.

First of the tax dodgers. The 2nd New Hampshire Continentals or as Stew thoughtfully corrected me, the Way Coolers.

God knows I’ve enough painting to do on my own gaff, without this load of real estate turning up from battle scale. 

Fortified positions for the forthcoming artillery and a white thingamabob which may or not be the USS Newton NCC 1727.

What? Oh the stoned thing. Yeah well the slightly less catchy blog title should really have been « getting some stones out of the garden » but I never let the facts get in the way of a good headline if I can help it. You see there was an old pig pen and yard that needed clearing from the back garden.  Didn’t realise when I started with my wheel barrow that the pile of stone was three metres high, three metres wide and four metres long.

Where’s a guy with a JCB when you need one?

So several prospective hernias later I’m nearly done, as you can see. Should have finished it off today but I went all 17th century on the Current Mrs Broom, and shouted « Woman, I labour not on ye sabbath! ». 

Wonder why my tea tastes funny?

Have a great Easter / Pâques everyone.