ANZIO DAY ONE AT BOBS 17th SEPT 2010.

Just finished a long ten hour stint at Bobs a few hours ago. It is quite a large clash on a table measuring 19 x 6 feet. It centred on "Fischfang Day", 16th February 1944, a scenario which I believe Bob took from the Rapid Fire rule book, but don't quote me on that. I won't attempt to give background, as my blog is mainly about pictures, and others, most notably Bob himself, who has written articles and rules, are far more able to give a blow by blow account elsewhere. The above picture shows the initial set up with the Allies dug in and the German forces yet to deploy.

I am the least familiar with Rapid Fire and World War 2, so it was a relief when I was switched from the German left flank to take command of the far right. The high point for me was taking out a unit of Allied tanks that had taken up position on the main lateral road.

As the game developed the main thrust of the German attck was stright down the middle, a lot of casualities were sustained as the Tiger and later Panther tanks pushed forward past the "caves". I tried a barrage on this particular feature with a battery of 150mm from off table, but with a additional three off the damage D6, assuming the thing was hit in the first place, it is a formidable position.

The game is set to run for 24 complete moves and today we finished 12. Apart from the odd mix up which arose due to the sheer size of the Orbats and some switching of command - forgetting about some batteries for the German's intial two free rounds of artillery fire being a case in point, the game is definitely still in the balance. The real problem for the Germans is their diminishing ammunition which has been made worse by some of the most consistent rolling of ones and twos on a D6 that I for one have ever witnessed - and indeed helped with!

If the attrocious luck with the dice - and in fairness there have been some really bad rolls from the Allies too - balances out, the victory conditions set could still be met by the Herman Goring boys. The final 12 moves will hopefully be played out next Sunday.

The Westphalians are coming!

I have received pictures of the first batch of Westphalians, namely four infantry battalions, that are being painted up for me.

I will post all six pictures on my Flickr page here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/52061917@N02/?saved=1

There are I believe four more battalions to be done and two or three regiments of cavalry. With a suitable battery or two and a command set, this will make a useful stand alone force for smaller games.

12,000 Figure Adler Borodino

Over the last decade I have steadily amassed Adler 6mm figures with a view to having a look at what kind of a display a large scale battle using these smaller figures would create. The project is nearing completion with about 1,100 more infantry to be added.

 I haven't actaully counted the figures, but I know that there are about 250 battalions of infantry (36 or 32 figures per battalion), which at present is about 8,500. I kinow there are around 2,000 cavalry, plus there are artillery crew etc. In the end I think the total number of figures will be in and around 12,000. They are based at a ratio of 1:20, so approximately 240,000 soldiers are represented, which isn't that far off the numbers involved.

 This is not the proper 6mm set up as regards terrain, and in fact I set the figures out on the 28mm table so that a comparison can be made on the Flickr page which I have linked in below.

It is surprising how detailed these Adlers are given their size, some gamers often refer to the fact that they have large heads, but to me this adds character, and when viewed en masse, I believe they present a true spectacle.

Even with this number of figures on the main 18 x 6 foot table. it would be very esy to play a game with open flanks. I was in fact amazed at how much room there was on the table.

This project has really been a labour of love. I have often raised the issue of what rule set to use on various forums, but I am still not sure.

For those who would like to see more pictures follow this link to my Flickr page:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/52061917@N02/?saved=1

Next weekend I am due to take part in a gigantic refight of Anzio using Rapid Fire. Hopefully I will be able to post a few pictures of it in due course.