Sunday 11 March 2018

Little Wars Revisited - 54mm in Woking

Yesterday saw various members of the Little Wars Revisited Forum gather together in Woking, Surrey for a day of 54mm wargaming. Five different games were played throughout the day, each a different period and rule set, here are the all important pictures:

Anthony Morton brought out his English Civil War armies for an airing of the Pikeman's Lament rules written by Daniel Mersey.

I should have taken more pictures of the terrain and buildings (and I thought I had but apparently not!) which were superb, but as usual I was beguiled by the figures.

At least this time I remembered to include the cavalry, which I omitted when his collection last graced this blog.

Here we see Bob Cordery's Portable Wargame as presented by Mike Lewis using his Little Wars Revisited range of figures and new modular terrain.  The 54mm Wargames Day was Mike's brainchild and he did all the work, so many thanks Mike (and can we do it again next year?)

This was the North West Frontier game that I participated in, the rules used were The Sword and the Flame, written by Larry Brom

This was my first time using these rules and my thanks go to Alastair (sorry don't know your surname) for patiently steering me through them.  The scenario shows a relief column trying to fight it's way through hostile Pathans to save a beleaguered garrison.

A well sighted Pathan gun plays havoc with the British troops pinned in the rocky landscape.  Again there was great use made of simple terrain pieces to create a visually enjoyable game.

We used activation cards designed specifically for TSATF and available from The Virtual Armchair General which all agreed made the game a lot easier, quicker and more fun to play.

This impressive display was brought along by Eric Kemp and features figures from numerous manufacturers including his own Helmet Soldiers

Eric was using his own rule system to refight the action around La Haye Sainte every roof tile has been individually cut and fixed to the the buildings, wish the slates on my house were as well layed.

Eric is aiming build up his collection to 1,500 figures for a massive outdoor game at the end of this summer, we wish him luck!

My own humble offering was a pitched battle between the French and English using Lion Rampant rules and my well worn medievals.

A fast flowing game, helped or hindered, (the jury is still out on this) by a quick reference sheet that I had prepared in advance.  Here the French men at arms are about to serve the coup de grace on the English.

After a long tiring day of playing with toy soldiers I retired home and met Mrs C in our local pub just in time to watch the French trounce the English for a second time in a day, this was a rather more serious matter, it was the 6 Nations rugby match in Paris.

 A great day had by all.

18 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing these splendid photos with us.
    Alan

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  2. And gentlemen still abed in Ireland,
    Shall think themselves accursed they were not there
    And hold their hobby cheap while any speaks of Woking

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    1. And we that outlived this day, and came safe home,
      shall all stand a tip-toe when Woking is nam'd!

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  3. One day?! All those marvelous figures and unbelievable terrain crammed into one day! Beautiful ECW, brilliant Afghan artillery crew, and that Le Haye Sainte is truly over the top! What a wonderful day to remember! Thank you for sharing it all you lucky dog!

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    1. It was a day to remember and has left me inspired.

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  4. Nice to meet you yesterday Brian, and thanks for putting up with my fumbling through The Sword and The Flame...only the 2nd time I'd played it so I'm sure I got some bits wrong but it ended up in an exciting, last minute heroic escape for your beleaguered Brits.

    Cheers

    Alastair

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    1. And thank you, it all felt right and was great fun. Now where did I put my Afghans? I know I have some somewhere!

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  5. Looks like a marvellous day! All the games look good.

    Bit of trivia, the first big, public, 54mm game I played in ( and contributed figures to ) was Haye Sainte,

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    1. I was much impressed by the high standards of presentation and feel encouraged to greater efforts with my own table.

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  6. Brian, it was great to have you there even though we did not cross swords! Alastair's surname is Jack; he and I have discussed the merits and demerits of TSATF and feel The Men Who Would Bed Kings might be a better option. We will be trying out the rules next week. Best wishes, Anthony

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    1. Let me know how the game goes next week, as I write this I have paused from poring over TMWWBK and am itching to try it.

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    2. Hi Brian, as requested here is my report of last night's game-it was great! As you would expect the game mechanisms of TMWWBK are much smoother and more elegant than TSATF. We played the 'To the last bullet' scenario (Neil Thomas clearly doesn't have a monopoly on ominous-sounding scenario titles!). As the British I had fall back to an outpost and hold it for as long as possible. My force was outnumbered over 2 to 1 but because TMWWBK makes regular infantry more effective than TSATF I was able to hold my own and win, although once Alastair's forces got within killing range they despatched two of my three units! I'm sure the same scenario under TSATF would have lasted a lot longer and probably resulted in an overwhelming Pathan victory. As an afterthought I really like Alastair's basing technique. Cheers, Anthony

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  7. Great looking games and pictures...and this rocky landscape is very impressive!

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  8. Mike Lewis made the rocks, they worked really well, and now I find myself "skip diving" looking for polystyrene to make my own landscape.....are there no depths we won't sink to in the pursuit of this hobby?

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  9. Brian,

    I have some polystyrene, packing for a guitar, I could bring it to the Winning Post if wanted?
    Eric

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    1. Thanks Eric, I've already made my rocks, soon to appear in a post no doubt, but I appreciate the offer.

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