War on Terror - the boargame!

Say it quietly, but I think things are almost back to normality...for a given value of normality of course; there are certainly a lot less chickens running about the place.

At our last meeting, just two days after Broadside, I was not in any state to play anything too complicated. I had spent the previous couple of days preparing the financial reports, bring and buy monies for club members and generally tieing up the loose ends, I needed something simple but fun to play.

Martin brought along his excellent 15mm ACW collection and half the attending club members played that. A good time was had by all, by the noises coming from that quarter, and a result was reached too. A good nights work by Martin although, he did say that whilst the rules (the ACW version of General de Brigade) were good he felt that Black Powder were better for club nights. The games flow faster and the rules generally simpler to follow for members. I think that was a fair comment, we are limited to three and a half hours and taking into account setting up/ packing away etc. Black Powder is very handy; it also gives a very good game too.

As for me, I ran a board game...War on Terror - the Boardgame!...A neat game that is not overly complicated but is a lot of fun; it can also be played through within our time limit.

For those not aware of the game, it is a bit like risk in that you have to take over the world on a very Risk-esque board. The difference is that you can build various sizes of town, hire terrorist groups, use an array of cards that let you steal, blow up and generally mug your opponents and, importantly, have a lot of fun stitching up your friends.


The cards are great and took a lot of thought to put together I am sure. They certainly make the game a unique experience! I was doing quite well, slowly building up a nice little empire-ette in Africa with some nice options for expansion into Europe and the near east when, without warning or provocation I was nuked! Richard played a handy nuke card into central Africa and the fall out affected every adjoining country!! I was all but wiped out in one go....sadness. This did cause a great deal of laughter and happiness everywhere else of course but that was me pretty much out of the game, I would find it nigh impossible to catch up with the others. The others continued to play some nasty cards against each other, buying new terrorist cells and blowing up each others towns with them, stealing their oil income and generally letting of some vindictive steam.

Richard and Mark quickly became the two front runners, each building new cities and taking over territory; the first to ten points would win. A city is worth one point and entire continents are worth several more depending upon size. As it turned out, Mark and Richard were neck and neck and either could win in a single well planed move...Mark snuck ahead with some fiendishly lucky card purchases and bought his way to victory. Git.

This game was just what I and a few others really needed, something fun and sociable without complexity. I would highly recommend this, fun for all the family!

Broadside 2013 - An organisers tale.......

Well, that's Broadside over for another year!

Except it isnt, of course; we now start all over again and begin preparations for 2014 and even some work for 2015...should we all survive that long and judging by how knackered I am now I am not so sure. It takes a good week to get over each Broadside weekend; hence the lateness of this blog post. To be fair, I was also waiting until I had looked at the general feedback of other blogs and emails before typing but now feel the time has come...that, and the fact I can now actually sit up straight again!

All of the blogs you will find that talk about Broadside are really positive, everyone seems to have had a great time," saw some fantastic games, met up with friends and bought some cool gear"; what more can you ask of a wargame show? As the event drew to a close and we started packing up, plenty of happy campers came over and thanked me for organising the day and congratulated the club for putting on a great show. For me, this is the proof that the hard work was indeed worth it. Those people could have just gone home but they took the time to find me and those that couldn't find me sent emails soon after; all this means a great deal to me personally.

As for the show itself, there is little point me telling you all things that you will find everywhere else in Blogland so, instead, I thought I would share with you a little of what it takes to put on such an event, a bijou diaryette if you will. of how the show builds. The bottom line here is patience.....buckets and buckets of patience. And steely determination....maybe some decent Gin. And some Asprin.

Actually, better throw in another bucket or two of patience....

Are we ready for a long tale heroic deeds and derring do? Then pull on you reading socks and I will begin....

(Please not that this blog post is in no way meant as a criticism of our wonderful traders and visiting clubs, rather an tongue-in-cheek rant :) )

Lets us go back full circle, to this time last year and the end of Broadside 2012. By now I was already starting to receive one or two bookings for the next show, but was still in the process of debriefing sessions to identify mistakes and solutions. So many things happen all at once during a show it is important to get each issue clear in our minds. Most of these are very small and get dealt with quickly with little fuss but lef,t they build up into a gang with their mates and lurk about the place waiting to kick the crap out of you. Remember, we are a small club with less that a dozen members and so we need to make sure each guy is used as effectively as possible. Based upon the feedback and debriefings we re structure our staffing points to take problems into account. Now we start to contact clubs and traders again and a long period of communication and negotiation starts.

I email everyone that took part the previous year and offer them first refusal of their stand. We spend months contacting people, hundreds of emails go out but just a dozen or so are ever responded to. This can be very disheartening to the novice but we have come to understand that these initial emails are really seeds. We plant them and much later, if we are lucky, they bloom! Generally all at once, three weeks before the show, asking for space that has long been sold!!! The lack of initial response may be normal but when you organise such an event it cannot be relied upon. I sit at my PC and trawl through lists of wargame companies, contacting them all individually and inviting them to take part; day after day, company after company.

By about Christmas time I have a list of confirmed traders and clubs, usually less than half of what we need but those seeds will be sprouting soon. The insurance needs paying, the advertising has to be booked in (need to make up the ads of course) and pay for the hall. I now start to get the run of emails and phone calls asking for forms that have already been sent, questions about costs that are actually clearly printed in bold type of the very forms the caller/emailer has in their own hand at that moment and, amazingly, one call that was made just to check that the phone number on the form was for the show and for the booking in case I had missed one off. Now open the second bottle of gin....

And about now our club website was hacked and killed off...permanently. Thankfully, Brigade Models offer us a page on their site for the Broadside stuff and we make use of this blog and the Facebook page. Can anybody else hear that odd high pitched whistley sound? no?

By January we are really flying. Many traders do not even start to look at booking shows until late January so with this in mind we start the third round of mass emails. This is supported by dozens of phone calls to follow up leads and to make personal contact with the trader. This really helps and gives you the opportunity to encourage the trader to take part, a personal bond is created that is very much a part of the friendly nature of Broadside events. More forms need to be sent for those that have been lost or eaten by the recipients daughter's rabbit (I jest not) or that are on the recipients pc somewhere but they cannot be bothered to look so can I have another one sent to me please (again, I kid you not). This goes on in this exact fashion for several months. At this point you are now taking Gin and Asprin in equal measure in the desperate hope the headache goes away or you die, either option is by now very much on the table.

You really can't hear that sound? High pitched but kinda wobbly in the middle?

We now start the fun task of building the hall plans, positioning the various traders and clubs. The traders want various table sizes that we need to plot carefully so no two with similar stock are placed too close together. The clubs all have very different needs table size wise and we need to position those with similar care...like a tetris game that needs evacuation aisles. Of course, not all club and trader spaces are full yet so this plan is in a constant state of tweek and flux. This way we can keep a close eye on available space and know how many more clubs or traders we can fit in.

By March we now confirm the parking arrangement with the council (don't ask...just don't). The stuff that went on in January and February is now happening on a weekly basis rather than monthly. More phone calls, more emails, checking which club members are actually going to be able to help on the day, buying new signs, club shirts for new members etc etc. Just a few months to go and space is getting very tight. Sixth round of emals and calls, these follow ups are very useful as many have been meaning to get in touch but havn't got around to it yet. Can I have a form sent again please? (the fourth in one case). There is little Gin left.

Its ok, that high pitched noise has gone now, I think the purple chicken scared it off.

By April the emails and phone calls both in and out are an all day every day occurence. The fire fighting now starts, small problems start cropping up that need smart attention, issues with the hall, staff, trader needs more/less space. Club has no idea why you are contacting them about their game, they are not involved...are we? We are?! Oh, Bob/John/Thingy didn't say.... Trader desperately wants a trade stand, only need 6ft please fit me in....what do you mean we are already in and have booked and paid for a 12ft stand..really? oh, ok. Hall plans need urgent change as club game has now expanded to 12x8 but later that day they have changed their minds and the game so now only need 6x4! That purple chicken is eating the carpet! We order the tables, a major expense this year as the club games are bigger and more of them.

May. One month to go. Completely out of Gin and Asprin, I am sure the Purple Chicken has some but the bastard wont share. It now lives under the desk and has taken to whistling the theme tune to Dixon of Dock Green. By now we are full and the hall plans are finalised, several revisions to tweek layout for safety. I now email every trader and club with an individualised plan for the show. They are told in clear simple terms what hall they will be in, where to park and how to use the all important parking voucher, where they will be in that hall, what time they can get there to set up. They are told that their table will be clearly marked on the day and that on their table with that name plate there will be any receipts, sandwich chits and parking vouchers. I ask that they respond to that email so I know they have received and understood this important communication. Less than half respond.

Ten days to go. I now spend most of the day every day finalising plans, printing notices, receipts etc., I get call after call and email after email asking what time can I get there to set up - or - what do I do about parking - or - what hall are we in this year. I spend time under my desk bonding with the Purple Chicken. I have meetings with the hall staff to ensure we are all singing from the same sheet and they understand what we need done with the hall. They are supposed to lay out their own tables for us and make sure areas are clear. Hmmm.

The Saturday before the show. Eight phone calls about parking/entry time/what hall between 8am and 3pm. At 4pm we meet at the hall to set up the show. Told the main hall in use till 4.30! It was actually empty with the lights off although the previous user had left large nets out, barrier walls etc. Oh, and the tables had not arrived yet. Tried to set up small hall but the large stage and other gear still in place. Duty manager and very small pretty girl from the centre arrived to sort out hall. It now starts to go runny. I explain how the hall needs to be set up, despite sending them annotated plans previously. I note the Purple Chicken has come with us and is wandering about the hall. The stage needs to be broken down and put into the store room...where the tables are. It all gets very confused as we desperately try and get the tables out and positioned as equipment is being put away to provide the space we need. In the main hall the tables have arrived but many are the wrong type! We manage to sort things out eventually and have just enough of the type we need to cover the game areas...phew! We are finished by 6pm and three traders are setting up in the main hall. Last job of the night, Mark and I place all the trader and club name plates on the relevant tables, along with parking vouchers, receipts, food chits and a small pack of Broadside 2014 flyers. Remember this last bit.

Sunday, D Day. I arrive just before 8am and things are already moving nicely. So far so good. the centre cafe has not put enough staff on despite my repeated warnings and are then thrown into near panic when I mention that the people here now are only the exhibitors...the public, between 300 and 400 of them, arrive from 10am. Two trader no shows by 10am, new plans in place to cover this by redistributing the table to avoid gaps. Minor dispute between two traders, dealt with quickly and problem solved. Seven, count them, seven traders and clubs complain they have not been given parking vouchers. Visited each in turn and showed them their vouchers with their name plate as explained in the emails they all got previously. Received apologies. Purple Chicken seen stealing packets of crisps from vending machine. Trader no shows now known to be caused by a broken leg day before whilst moving house and the other due to van break down on M25. Spent the day firefighting various minor issues, checking on clubs and traders...actually managed to spend thirty five mins looking at show for my self, first time in three years!

Best game in show award given to Deal Wargamers! Many thanks to our good friend Henry Hyde for being our judge for the day and Pen & Sword for being our show sponsor. And also, just as importanly, many thanks indeed for all those who took part in Broadsie 2013, be you a trader, club or visitor! You all go to make the show the success that it is rapidly becoming!

I got home at about 7pm. I then spent four hours going through all the cash, receipts, B&B forms, entrance demographic charts and reports. For those interested, Broadside cost almost £2500.00 to stage. Just 10% of our visitors came from our local area, 59.5% from Kent and 30.5% from beyond Kent.

I hope that this inside view of the show has been of interest and that you have seen a little of what running a show actually takes.

Wss French Regiment de D'Alberet

I have just finished another of my planned french Infantry regiments for my Marlburian project...thats four now!

This latest unit, the Regiment de d'Alberet, is part of Trecesson's brigade and also belongs to St Pierre's Division at Blenheim just as the last units do. Note the grey cuffs rather than the red of the previous units...there is not always a lot to tell between French Regiments it seems. The next two units needed to complete this second brigade will again have red cuffs but this time will have yellow tape around the hats not white; both battalions making up the Regiment de Robecque (Walloons). Whist we all know what we mean by the term 'Tricorn' it is actually the wrong word, this is more of a Victorian description. To those that wore them they were known as 'three cornered hats'...a boring but acurate fact that my mind seems to have and endless supply of.

The painting tray now holds the Marquis de Trecesson himself, eight gunners and two guns. The Marquis is now ready for the Army Painter dip, so nearly finished, but the gunners are all done ready for basing. However, the two guns are taking a while. The guns and crew are also by Wargames Factory and nice figures, just a little taller and thinner than the infantry figures. The guns look good with plenty of detail and deep wood grain features; these should really work well with the dip. I am now adding the black to the exposed metal work but it is taking time, especially around the wheels. I will post them and the brigadier as soon as they are complete, which shouldn't be too long now.

It seems that I am getting there with this project, plenty more to do of course but with one completed brigade and a second started...plus a couple of guns...it doesn't feel quite so daunting. And then I remember the box of Front Ranks figures and it all goes wobbly again......

WSS French Chabrillant Regiment

At last! I have now finished my first French infantry brigade for my WSS project, it has not been easy....or pleasant....but I have done it.

A simple, neat and clean paint job finished off with Army Painter dark tone (the black one) over Wargames Factory Figures. The last unit (the one in front) was the Chabrillant Regiment that completes Breuil's Brigade,  part of St. Pierre's division at Blenheim. Two more brigades of the same size will complete St. Pierre's division and then there are plans for an Irish Brigade and possibly a Bavarian one.....and then the cavalry, and some guns......and then a similar sized Allied army! So what are we looking at time wise? A decade at this rate!!! I do have another French battalion nearly complete...like that scratches the surface, but it is a start and I am very close to my self promise to complete a unit a month, albeit a month late :)

The flags are by Maverick Models, great value and great products, I made using them harder by adding them after I set the flag poles up! I know, what a wally! Next time.......

If anyone has some of the Wargame Factory WSS figures they bought and gave up on please let me know, I am sure we can find some accord, I am going to need lots more if my longer term plans are ever going to see an end.

Wargames Foundry at Broadside 2013!!!!

Broadside is creeping ever closer, just weeks away now. But these few weeks will be increasingly busy as we finalise stuff, book tables and tackle the thousand and one other jobs that need doing. Up until the last second we can take trade stand bookings, we still have about three left by the way, but this year we have just secured our biggest catch ever......

Wargames Foundry are coming to Broadside!!!!!! 

They will be bringing about a thousand different codes with them so will be able to provide you with everything you need...although I would still recommend you email them any larger orders you have, just to be on the safe side.

Take a look at the Broadside page of this blog, it has up to date info on which traders and clubs are coming, I think you will be impressed. Not bad for a club with a dozen members that has only been running a few years.

We also have a few of our Wargamers Flea Market tables still available....get in quick before they go too!

Broadside 2013 is set to be our best show yet!

A 'Crappy Figure' rant...

I am sure I have mentioned this before in various posts, it is a subject dear to my heart....like acid reflux...but I am sooo sick of crappy wargames figures. But wait, I hear you all cry. We live in a free market economy Leofwine, you do not have to buy these crappy figures that befuddle you so; it would also save us having to read about your odd rants! Fair comment, but my issue is that the chaff is hidden away amongst the wheat and you only realise you have crappy figures when it is too late.

Let me give you some examples. Only the other day I was cleaning up some Gripping Beast Norman figures for my Saga force. You can buy a Saga unit as a sealed pack and here in lies the issue. If a company has some odd looking figures that they cannot get shot of because no bugger likes them, then what better way of clearing them out than by stuffing one or two into a 'unit pack'? In the Norman infantry/spearman pack you get the required eight figures, one is standing there with his shield on the floor and resting against his leg. The figure is nonchalantly leaning over his shield and all that is missing is a fag in his hand to give him that really accurate 'Bored Guard in charge of the latrine' look. Now, what use is such a figure on a wargames table in a dynamic skirmishing/battle unit? There are a couple of similarly 'Guardy' figures in this pack that really make me lose faith in Gripping Beast....and I really love Gripping Beast usually. Also, the crossbowmen are a real pain as the prods (the twangy bits of a crossbow) come as a separate piece to be glued onto the stock. These are not only fiddly but are starting to cast badly and are different sizes. Picky? Possibly, but I was already on a downer over the stupid spearman figures and the crossbowmen were the next lot to put together.

Let me now turn to Renegade. Now, I should make it clear that, as with Gripping Beast, I love Renegade. The figures can be a little large compared to some 28mm figures but they generally look great and are fantastic value for money. You can often get some fantastic deals from Renegade too, buy four of their eight figure blister packs and get a fifth one free, or by so many regiment packs and get another free. These generous offers on top of an already generous figure price and you get a brilliant deal. However, I bought the WW1German infantry regiment only to find that, yet again, the regiment packs had some bloody awful figures in them. Guys carrying boxes, officers looking like they were next in the queue for negotiable affection...just where would you use such figures????? The blurb on many company websites and flyer's states that the figures are meant for wargamers and collectors, to my mind this is a get out clause so crappy and unusable figures can be dumped into your pack! Now, I do think that there is a major difference between the more linear units of say the Napoleonic period or ECW and WW1. In the linear period packs where the unit is more formal and regimented in stance and look an odd looking figure can be hidden and may even be acceptable. Not so in a more mobile period unit...or is it just me??? Its ok, you can be honest. I am married to Mrs Leofwine so I am used to criticism.

Old Glory seem to have similar issues with some of their 15mm packs. A good friend and fellow MHWC member, Martin, uses them a lot and it is easy to see why. Martin has some lovely looking figures in his SYW and ACW collections and he likes a big unit too. But even he tells me that in the large packs these ranges are sold in he will often end up with a pile of musicians or some other figure you would ordinarily  only need one of. Just what do you do with these damn things?

Ok, these packs may well work out cheaper and provide value for money, but much of this is lost because you cannot use X number of figures and so have to buy extra packs to compensate. How many of you remember our early days playing with airfix figures? Fine when you are six and need to add a running narrative to your games and a suitable dynamic and expressive soundtrack (weeeee, booom aaarrgh, booom etc.) As we got older of course this change...a bit....and we needed more regimentation in our figures. The amount of figure posed doing something random and odd was a real pain then and so how pleased were we all when we discovered proper wargame figures....most of which you bought individually so no waste!! Is it me or are we sliding backwards a tad here? Or, worse given that I am now 1046 years old, am I turning into a grumpy old man???

Okay, rant over. Thank you for listening.

My Hail Caesar Army....A decision at last!

I have been spending a lot of thought time on this whole 'what army' decision....I know...bit sad.

The decision was between the Ancient Indians or Sarmation, both armies I liked, had an interest in and both that would be something different on the table. I looked at a lot of websites and had a lot of advice from blog readers about the various manufacturers too. To be honest, a large part of the decision fell on the figure choice...that and the costs. Given the general lack of funds I am always suffering from this is a major issue, I can't blow what little cash I have on figures that I am not happy with...and I do have so many issues with 15mm figures.

I have decided on the Sarmations or, at least the Alan version...not sure why. I felt that the cost of the Indian elephants and heavy chariot units alone would be tricky, plus the costs of low point value infantry of course, even if I did buy the army a unit or so at a time. It was not all based upon negatives though; I do like the idea of the terrible (in the original sense of the word) heavy cavalry and cataphracts, the swarms of annoying horse archers... I also decided I liked the look of one particular figure enough to look at the whole range. Not that they had a whole range of Sarmations of course, few manufacturers do. It would be a case of selective purchases but as the army doesn't need a whole lot of different troop types this shouldn't be too much hassle....possibly famous last words! The company in question is Magister Militum, or rather, one of the many ranges they carry and deal with. Take a look at the Sarmation Cataphact they do....

There is just something about this figure that I really like, no one thing in particular but the overall look and feel of it. It is not the over played figure type you often see, all three inch thick plate metal armour and like something from a Warhammer catalogue! This actually looks like a cataphract from a semi nomadic and Steppe born army, you could actually imagine a horde of these warriors unlike the overly heavy figures you often see. Social and cultural economics can and do dictate military equipment choices, metal has always been expensive to procure of produce, especially for Steppe peoples.

For the lighter horse archers I will need to raid the other ranges Magister Militum do, such as the Huns. There is so little known information on how any of these armies actually looked that as long as a figure has the right feel for period and type one can get away with things; particularly in 15mm!

This next figure is from their Goth/Visigoth range, a useful light cavalryman for many armies I would have thought.

The Sarmation army for Hail Caesar can be made up of purely cataphracts and heavy cavalry, or at least be an entirely a mounted force; I quite like the sound of that. Ok, the figures will end up being a little 'samey' but a varied paint job can help there, along with a little innovation when it comes to basing of course. These are not armies that need figures to be individually based to allow for a myriad of formations...column or line is about it really. This means, at this scale especially, I can build a unit around just two double depth bases and positions the figures in a more random pattern than the usual DBA style base would allow for...a mini vignette perhaps?

So there we are, I will build a Sarmation Army using figures from Magister Militum. It will be built within the remit of the official Hail Caesar army lists but will also be simple and efficient with just a few types of unit....heavy on the heavies as it were. All I need now is a bucket of pennies, so plenty of sofa diving for me and I may even make an early Guy......anyone need a kidney???