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'A gaping silken dragon,/Puffed by the wind, suffices us for God./We, not the City, are the Empire's soul:/A rotten tree lives only in its rind.'

Tuesday 3 December 2013

Gridded...

... and distracted.

A damp, grey day in dear old England, so I stoked up the stove in the Hobbit bunker, and got out the Morschauser-Cordery gridded wargame tin along with the squared bit of canvas:


But, while looking for more scenic items, I was distracted by these Heller boxes from the early 1990s:


This type of top opening box is so much more useful then the end opening, letter-box type thing that is only fit for the recycling pile. And what fine bits of artwork - click on the image and, in particular, admire the Ni-D 622 artwork, which is really splendid. You can see how I was distracted. But, then, of course, I began to open them:


The Heller boxes, and a raft of Cuban cigar boxes, contain 15mm armies. The Rebels above being some of my 15mm ACW. For many years, I could only afford 15mm, and I stuck to the ACW for similar reasons of economy. So, happily, I have around 1,500 15mm Yanks and Rebels; they were what my madly wargaming son (now wholly given over to the dark side of sci-fi, fantasy type rhubarb gaming) cut his teeth on. But other 15s lurk in the Hellers too:


More civil war types, but this time from something a little more mechanical.



But, finally, I put the 15s back in their cardboard barracks and returned to the gridded front:

Somewhere in Russia, sometime during the Russian Civil War. Rail lines, the key to mobility in that vast, swirling, horrible war. Two armies, Red and White, must seize and hold the rail line and the small station town.

Reds won the initiative, and quickly drove down the line:


Infiltrating the station and the town (some 9 squares of 'built-up' terrain, which confer a notable advantage to defending troops under the rules).


After a slow start, and some jockeying to gain position, the Whites tentatively enter the outskirts of the town, destroying a Red unit in close combat, and another with long range m/g fire.


But, there is still all to play for as the initial action centres on the fighting in town and station...

7 comments:

  1. Good looking game and I agree with you re the usefulness of boxes .Gridded acw would give a good game too I venture...

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    1. Yes, and although my ACW 15s are based in different ways (a long time collecting them), I do have some based 4 figures to a card. So, I'll try soon.

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  2. A very interesting collection ... and what looks like the first instalment of an intriguing battle report.

    I look forward to seeing the next part of the report.

    All the best,

    Bob

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    Replies
    1. Cheers, Bob. The gridded rules are an absolute gift for a solo gamer with limited time - just as Morschauser said!

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  3. Ah, Russian Civil War! My area, though the figures are a little small for me :D

    I'm painting some Intervention units now, though I can't get 1919 British uniforms right... brown with canvas webbing? Brown with green webbing? Green with green...?

    Armies in Plastic are perfect for it, but they need a lot of looking after and stages in the painting or the paint flakes off; not a problem with metal.

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    Replies
    1. Indeed! I've got a decent number of 28mm RCW (though not enough cavalry, and no armoured trains!!!). 1919 British, mmm, khaki definitely, but the webbing ? A greenish khaki, with a decent coat of some wash, like the old GW 'Devlan Mud' (or whatever they call it now). AIP do great stuff, but, you're right about the plastic - I've had real problems with trying to give them a pre-paint PVA coat - it just 'blobs', but not always!!! Anyway, I intend to get the 28s out soon for the RCW, just to give an armoured car or two a runabout.

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    2. After washing, I generally give them two thin coats of spray paint, then a thick coat of black paint with a brush to 'seal' the figure. I use quite flat simple colours as the figures are quite 'toy soldier' in their look, which I like. Then I give them two coats of 'Humbrol Matt Cote' which is quite good stuff.

      I'll take your advice with the painting, too! It'd be good to see some British armour on the field... http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/Mark_in_Arkhangelsk_RU.JPG/800px-Mark_in_Arkhangelsk_RU.JPG ... looks like the Reds still have some!

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