A few more VBCW pics

Here are a few more pics that I couldn't get into the game report.

Some BUF soldiers and air support.

More airport defences

More planes and ground crew.

Main gate and more defences.

Fascist Highlanders defending main gate.

Buzzing the boys but no bullets.

Mobile artillery and Armadillo's support the Gamekeepers and Militia,

the Highlanders and Militia Hmg in the background.

Another shot of the regular highlanders.

Militia backed by Armadillos and highlanders.

Militia marching on.

Some heavy support from the senior service.

I think this crew must have had senior eyesight as they couldn't hit a barn door.

This is who they were supposed to be supporting

but I think most of them were in more danger from their own support.

Unfortunately for the school boys they walked right into the fire of a BUF machine gun.

This was as far into the airfield that they got.

Very British Civil War

If you have never heard of this before you are probably thinking, What War?  Don't worry you haven't missed anything in your history studies this is purely a 'what if' period but does cover a historical period and what might have happened if King Edward VIII had married Wallace Simpson which would have been against the church and government policy and might have sparked another civil war as factions for all side fought for control of the crown and government.  One of the main parties that might have supported the king is Oswald Mosley's Fascist Blackshirts and the Police have taken an oath to protect the throne so they might have been drawn into this faction.

This game fought at my friend Colin Jack's house represent an Unholy Alliance of the Church and the Communists who are both against the King and the Fascists but for different reasons and are attacking the Fascist Acklington airfield.

 
The airfield defenders commanded by Colin comprised a mixture of hard core Fascists including Highlanders, Police and Militia and although there were a large number of planes and artillery pieces scattered about most of it either wasn't working or didn't have enough fuel to fly but they did have a strong dug in and fortified position in their favour.
The 'good guys' commanded by me were a real hotchpotch of troops ranging from some regular army and naval troops backed by Communists, Gamekeepers, Militia and even the local school brought along a unit of 6th form students from their Cadet force.  They had no real armour but a mixture improvised armoured vehicles which looked more like something out of a Mad Max film.

These photos show some of the wonderful building and terrain from Colin's collection.

Some of the Fascist defences and main gate into the airfield.

and some of the defenders.

Some of the attacking forces, navy, Reds and school boys.

Wonderful Red troops converted and painted by Adrian Howe.

Some of my militia, Cannon Fodder Minis painted by me.

Regular Highlanders who never really got into action.

Thankfully I had some heavy support although they failed to hit very much.

I launched my main attack right down the road with the Reds supported by naval and militia gunfire and these managed to smash through the gates into the airfield grounds and caused some havoc until they met this and....

...ended up like this.

I advanced my other troops against the defences but poor shooting on my part meant I wasn't getting anywhere and even bring up more militia didn't help the situation.

A mixture of troops from various manufacturers.

By the end of the evening the Fascist flag was still flying over the control tower

and most of my militia was heading home for tea.

WW2 French

Most WW2 wargamers have heard of the French involvement in the war but this is usually related to the 1940 campaign where they suffered a heavy defeat from the Germans in a six weeks campaign despite some very strong performances.  Unfortunately most of them have not heard of the French army of the 1944-45 period where they put in a fine performance to attempt to wipe out the stain on their honour from the early war and they make an interesting change to wargames armies that normally consist of British and Commonwealth forces or Americans.  These 28mm figures are from BattleFront Miniatures produced and sold by Stronghold Miniatures but have some minor converstions of head swaps to add Adrian helmets, berets, kepis and French scarves to make them more French.  The Sherman tanks and half tracks are from Corgi.  Sorry for the poor quality of the photos I'll try and take some later when I take some shots of my early war 20mm army.

These Greyhound armoured cars are from Solido

with modified crews from a number of manufacturers.

The later French army is difficult to find information about but this is one book that I can recommend.  What I like about the French is the amount of insignia and marking as well as personal flags that they carried on into the early war.

More Crimean Magic

My mates Aly Morrison and Dave Andrews of Great War Miniatures have just announced the release of these little beauties which will no doubt be making an appearance in some games on this site at sometime in the future.

CRC1 Dragoon command. Officer in full dress, mounted drummer, Officer in cap

CRC2 Dragoon command. Officer, bugler, standard bearer

The only thing that's stopping me from running out and buying some is the unpainted lead pile that is blocking the door.

French and Turkish command

Finally for the French here is a command vignette that I finished for our Alma game last year and has never been photographed.

Here are the Turks making sure the French don't get it all wrong.

The chap on the left looks very like one of our LOGW group.

What I like so much about the French is the multiple use you can get out of them as long as you're not a member of the Fashion Police or the Button Brigade.

My French will happily be shooting Russians in the Crimea, bayonetting Austrians in Italy in 1859 and surrendering to the Prussians during the Franco Prussian War.  As if that wasn't enough, the Zouaves and some line troops could also be used in the American Civil War and the artillery and Chasseurs can double up as Piedmontese and Papal troops for fighting with and against Garibaldi.  I was even thinking of painting up some machine guns and using them for the very early WW1 battles, or perhaps that's a war too many?

French Infantry

Over the Christmas period I managed to get some painting and basing done to combine my figures with Aly Morrison's and some of Jack Glanville's troops that I've added to my collection.

The Chasseurs are all my painting

The last two pics show a battalion in reinforced line.

French Artillery

As promised I've finally managed to get around to getting the camera off my wife but unfortunately I've never really learnt how to use it properly so my pics are no where as good as Barry's.
First up are some shots of the artillery battery I had just finished basing.

Some sappers building defences for the guns

I've already started the second battery but it will be a while before it's finished.