Last Ditch Defence, Regenerating The Tardis And Dragon Rampant !

I counted them all out.....The Battle Of East  Cheam!

We left  the retreating defenders of the town, preparing a last ditch defence as the Socialist forces pressed forward under cover of artillery bombardment. The defence was being organised by the Earl of  Dudley, who knew only too well that it was no longer possible to stop the Socialists from taking complete control of the town. It remained his responsibility however, to hold the enemy at bay long enough to extract a very important member of the Royal Household by train. The train was building up a head of steam in the station, as the enemy bombardment crept ever closer. The VIP was being driven across town by car to meet the train. The Earl knew that it was going to be a damned close run thing and that his forces were likely to suffer high casualties that day.

The Earl of Dudley

The forces under his command comprised of a company of her majesty's 1st Foot Guards, a company of the 3rd Staffordshire Line, 2 guns of the Malvern Mountain artillery and a Platoon of the 1st East Cheam Territorial Volunteers (under the command of Captain Hancock). The Earls second in command was Colonel Balmoral-James of the 1st Foot Guards. They were now in defensive positions awaiting the enemy, whilst trying to avoid the effects of the relentless shelling.

The men of the 3rd Staffs and a mountain gun prepare to defend the critical railway crossing

The approaching Socialist forces were comprised of Infantry and artillery from the Welsh Free Republic, supported by mechanised elements from The Peoples Enclave Of Manchester. The artillery was off table in the cabinet behind the Socialist forces! It was to potentially play the most important role in the unfolding events and I wanted the gunners to be there in body not just spirit!

Two (fully refurbished) guns and crew

A beautifully converted and painted gun and crew ( a gift from my very good friend John)

Combined arms attack

The Socialist Commander General Scargill

Mechanised and infernal machine gun support

Two stubborn locals who refused to evacuate, watch the advancing forces

Whilst the main thrust of armoured vehicles with infantry support was up the two main roads heading towards the railway station and the entrenched defenders, there were infantry infiltration through all of the town buildings across the front. 

The artillery barrage increased as the Socialist attack gained momentum. I allowed each of the three off table guns to fire each turn. The guns each fired into a sector equating to one third of the battle front. Each shot landed in further sub divisions of the table depending on a d6 roll and then potentially scattered 2D6 inches, using a scatter dice. I was pleased with the overall result as there was a slim possibility of friendly fire incidents as well as overshooting the table. In the main the shells landed in the main part of the town with frightening unpredictability!

A direct hit on (23) Railway Cuttings! 

The first casualty....private Kerr of the Cheam Territorials

Another property insurance claim!

The two armoured car led columns appeared and the mountain artillery immediately opened fire.

A direct hit blows the cupola from the armoured car

The second armoured cars engine is destroyed immobilising the vehicle. 

Rifle fire from the Welsh infantry claims some of the Guards

The VIP arrives to board the waiting train as the heat of battle rages 

Another round of artillery shells almost results in a friendly fire incident!

Too close for comfort!

Disaster....or is it?

At this point I thought the Socialists might have struck a critical blow, but the dice roll for damage to the train showed only superficial damage! The train was ready to go as soon as its important passenger was safely boarded.

The mountain gun crew come under fire and lose a crewman

The Welsh infantry are taking heavy losses in return

Meanwhile on the right flank, a newly positioned machine gun opens fire on the Guards

The Guards suffer heavy casualties

 

Whilst the armoured car is immobilised, it can still fire its gun

 

With devastating results!

 

Turn three starts with another artillery barrage which fails to do any damage

The Engine pulls away from the station

Welsh infantry flood through only to be met with fierce fire from Hancock's territorials

More infantry advance through the churchyard

The defenders take substantial casualties from the massed firepower

The machine gun has taken some damage in return

As turn 4 starts, the train builds up speed amidst explosions and gunfire

Full speed ahead!

The Constabulary remain to fight

Another Insurance claim!

Disaster! A direct hit on the engine!

At this point I felt sure the Socialist artillery had struck the fatal blow! I had yet to roll for damage but it was not looking good. The dice was rolled and engine damage confirmed. Speed would be reduced by 50% but the engine could still move!

Friendly fire!

Heavy support rumbles into play

The steam tank opens fire

The engine pulls down the track towards safety

The train presents a moving target as it passes over the level crossing

The Territorials fall to the last man!

Infantry pour through the buildings

The unluckiest property in East Cheam receives another hit, whilst the train is narrowly missed 

The steam tank prepares to fire at the speeding train

A four is rolled and the tank misses !

Turn Six 

The train speeds away from the advancing socialists

The train is still visible to the attackers 

The attackers advance further

The defenders are now severely depleted

An infantry detachment manages to gain sight of the royal coaches as they speed away

The last throw of the dice!

The riflemen fired at the disappearing coaches and needed sixes to hit.......none were rolled and the carriages disappeared from view!  Her Royal Highness will be safe and the Royalists can claim a Pyrrhic victory! East Cheam has fallen amidst heavy losses by both sides.

De-briefing

A game where I genuinely never knew if the Royalists would succeed or fall to the socialist offensive. The Royalist win came at a price to the defenders but it was a classic defensive stand. A few VC's will be awarded to the defending forces, sadly many of them posthumous.

If the Socialists could have broken through earlier they would almost certainly have succeeded in destroying the train. The destruction and immobilisation of the armoured cars certainly played a major role and was possibly decisive. Forced to rely on the artillery bombardment and long range shots at a moving target, certainly made it harder. The artillery did however hit the train twice, just not doing enough damage. I certainly had my heart in my mouth more than once and thoroughly enjoyed the game! The artillery bombardments were the most fun ! If you don't own some scatter dice....get some....they can create great uncertainty with artillery and a lot of fun.

A lick of paint......Regenerating The Tardis

Travellers taking advantage of away-day tickets on the railway 

As can be seen in the picture above, the Doctors Tardis is somewhat smaller than one might expect. It is also looking a little the worse for wear. Not surprising when you consider the mileage on the clock! It struck me that the Doctor regenerates, so why not a makeover for the Tardis? Unfortunately I have no way to enlarge the Dinky Tardis, but thought I might utilise a slight optical illusion to make it seem more scale appropriate. 

I glued the Tardis to a plastic Warhammer base just a little larger than the footprint of the Tardis and then glue that to a square MDF base. By repainting the Tardis and the plastic base as if one and the same, it has given the Tardis a height lift.....just like the stacked heel boots some of us wore in the 1970's! The mdf base has then been painted grey to represent the ground where it has landed. 

So a fresh paintjob and a coat of varnish and the Doctor has a new Tardis for his adventures. Has my deception worked? Well partly I would like to think, but he will probably still have to duck his head as he enters and leaves!

Three cheers for.......Dragon Rampant 2nd Edition

I have been eagerly awaiting this updated edition, since its announcement early this year. There is actually nothing substantially wrong with the first edition which has served me very well for my Middle Earth games and other generic fantasy encounters. An expanded edition however with some slight refinements was always going to be welcome. This is a beautiful hardback with copious full colour illustrations and a welcome addition to the Apperley Towers library. I am reading through it slowly, to fully take in the changes and new additions, before trying it out.

It is already inspiring me to add a new fantasy force or two to the Apperley armoury, probably in 25mm, although don't rule out the one true scale, 54mm! A Greek Hoplite based fantasy force, with Centaur allies won't get out of my head! 

As I've said above there was nothing substantially wrong with the 1st edition of which I have two copies. I would like to give one of these copies to one of my readers to give you a chance to try them out. So if anyone in the UK would like to get a free (well loved secondhand) copy of this book, please say so in the comments and I will post it at no cost to you. 

By the same token I am in exactly the same position with the 1st edition of Lion Rampant for medieval wargames and happy to make the same offer if you would like to see what the fuss is about. Claim it in the comments. 

A final thought for my readers. I have been writing this blog for quite a while now and wonder whether I am making these entries too long and possibly too photo heavy.  I would appreciate feedback either way . Well that's all for now so....... tara a bit!