Anglo-Zulu War camp and more units painted

This past I have been focused on getting a few more units painted and making a start on some terrain for my Anglo-Zulu War project.

I needed to make camps for each side, British and Zulu. I decided to start with the Zulu camp first.

Zulu huts and protective walls.

Whenever I make terrain these days, I am always aware of how much storage space it takes up. While the huts themselves are nice and compact, the surrounding walls could become rather bulky if they were based. Instead, I opted to make them from card, using painted effects to suggest the tightly packed wooden poles and branches. The card walls can be shaped into a circle to provide a defensive enclosure around the huts and stored flat when not in use.

The walls allow for one unit of Zulus to be in the camp.

The huts were made using polystyrene balls I got from the local craft store. These were cut in half, stuck to some card, and covered with Gesso paste. While the paste was still wet, I lightly dragged a toothpick lightly across the surface to create the impression of thatching.

Once dry, the huts were painted with an undercoat of cheap dark brown acrylic paint. This was followed by dry-brushing first with a mid-brown, then a yellow-brown, concentrating on the roof to help distinguish the roof from the walls. The doorways were painted using a watery black.

The last step was to seal the huts with a coat of PVA glue.

The huts are made from polystyrene balls and covered with gesso paste. The card was cut away when all dry.

The painting process from left to right: 1) dark brown undercoat, 2) a mid-brown is dry-brushed on, and 3) a yellow-brown is dry-brushed on the roof and the doorway painted,

The walls were made by laminating three strips of 20mm-wide card together using PVA glue. This gives the walls some thickness.

Once dry, I applied a coat of Gesso using an old brush to give some texture on the surface to help with the painting process.

As with the huts, the walls were first undercoated in dark brown. A mid-brown was then applied with stripes using an old brush to give the impression of individual wooden poles and branches. Finally, a watered-down light grey was used to give the impression of the larger poles in a fairly random fashion.

The laminated card strip with gesso applied.

Undercoated dark brown and the mid-brown can be seen applied in stripes on the right half of the wall.

A watered down grey is painted on to give the impression of larger poles in the wall.

The finished walls were given a coat of PVA glue for protection. Once dry, they could be shaped into a circle to complete the camp.

Zulu huts and protective wall.

Three more units also left the painting desk this week: a mounted infantry unit, a British infantry unit and an artillery unit. The mounted and infantry units are from the HaT 20mm ranges, while the artillery piece is a conversion using an Italeri Union Artillery set with HaT figures.

Mounted Infantry and the unit dismounted.

British infantry.

British artillery converted from an ACW set and converted HaT figures for the crew.

This project is getting closer to completion, with just a few more units to finish along with a British camp:

• British officer stands (mounted and on foot).
• A Natal Native Contingent unit.
• An irregular mounted infantry unit.
• A rocket unit.

My aim is to get these last few units completed before the end of the year.

Battle of Britain Campaign – Game 9

I seem to have got back into the swing of my Battle of Britain campaign, with another game played covering the week 9th–15th September 1940.

The mission selected for the week was a Luftwaffe attack on a convoy. This is the first time this particular mission has occurred during this campaign, and it is one I have been looking forward to playing, because it gives me the opportunity to finally get the Boulton Paul Defiant onto the tabletop.

Details of the campaign can be found here, and I will return to the overall campaign progress at the end of this post.

A boy's own comic style picture created by ChatGPT from the photograph below.

The Boulton Paul Defiant model.

Background

The Luftwaffe has spotted a convoy and is preparing to launch an attack. However, the RAF are on watch ready to intercept. The weather is clearing, with just a single cloud in the sky.

Forces

Luftwaffe

• 1 × Dornier Do 17
• 3 × Messerschmitt Me 109

All Luftwaffe pilots are rated as Regular.

RAF

• 3 × Spitfires
• 1 × Boulton Paul Defiant

The three Spitfire pilots have a mix of skills: Novice, Regular and Ace. The Boulton Paul Defiant crew are rated as Veterans.

The Game

As the convoy made its way along the English Channel coast, it was protected by a mixed group of Spitfires and a Boulton Paul Defiant. Their task was to intercept any Luftwaffe bombers approaching the convoy.

The RAF close in on the Dornier Do17 and Me109 escorts.

The Spitfires, having only recently arrived to reinforce the Defiant, were forced to climb quickly to gain altitude as the Luftwaffe escorts close in. It was not long before the opposing fighters became entangled in a swirling air melee, the Defiant kept a distance from the melee.

The aerial melee soon produced casualties. A Spitfire was the first to ditch into the Channel, and was quickly followed by a Messerschmitt Me109.

The air melee begins as Spitfires and Me109's engage.

A Spitfire is hit and ditches in the Channel.

A Me109 gets shot down.

The RAF fighters successfully manoeuvred into position to attack the Dornier 17 as it emerged from cloud cover. Their first attack produced limited success, damaging one of the bomber's engines. However, the crew kept the bomber on course towards the convoy.

Unfortunately, as the RAF fighters prepared for another attack run the Defiant proved an easy target for the German fighters and was shot down. One of the two remaining Spitfires managed to shake off the attention of the escorts and make another attack on the Dornier, but this time without success. 

The Defiant is shot down.

The RAF fighters continued to dodge attacks from the Me 109 escorts, but it was becoming increasingly difficult and they were forced to break off the engagement, being low on ammunition and having sustained light damage.

The Dornier was left to continue its mission against the convoy. An important victory for the Luftwaffe.

A Spitfire makes an attack on the Dornier.

The Dornier prepares to attack the convoy.

The Campaign Situation

The campaign has now completed its 10th week (10 game turns) with nine games played. The difference is because there was no flying the week of 29th July to 4th August due to bad weather. There are seven weeks remaining in the campaign.

At the end of Turn 17, the number of Luftwaffe key bombing successes against London, industrial centres and convoys will be totalled. Other mission types do not contribute to the Luftwaffe victory total, but can provide bonuses for the Luftwaffe in their following game or impose penalties on the RAF.

The victory conditions are:

• RAF Victory: The Luftwaffe only achieves three or fewer key bombing successes.
• Luftwaffe Victory: The Luftwaffe achieves five or more key bombing successes.
• Draw: The Luftwaffe achieves four key bombing successes.

The Luftwaffe currently has three successful key bombing missions, having successfully bombed London, industrial centres and now a convoy.

However, the balance may begin to shift over the remaining weeks as Luftwaffe pilot attrition starts to take its toll in the final five weeks of the campaign, with the Luftwaffe having to deduct one from its pilot skill rolls. (This is a rule in the campaign. At the beginning of the campaign the Luftwaffe have the edge in pilot skills with combat veterans who had fought in: Poland, Norway, France & the Low Countries. However, they were fighting over enemy territory and overtime they lost their edge in experience. While the RAF pilots were fighting over home territory, that meant a safe landing in friendly territory with quick rescue on land or by the Royal Navy.)

Any further weeks of bad weather will also make things difficult for the Luftwaffe, as these can occur when the same mission is rolled in consecutive weeks, reducing the number of opportunities they have to achieve the required number of bombing successes.

With seven weeks still to go, the outcome is far from decided.

The campaign map and calendar.

I have made a few changes to the campaign rules since starting them. These are the effects on the RAF when the Luftwaffe successfully attacks airfields or bombs RDF installations. I thought it would be a good opportunity to update the rules and incorporate my scribbled notes.

As I was doing this, I started wondering whether I could fit all the campaign rules and the map onto a single sheet of paper, effectively creating a two-page campaign. With a little sharpening up of the text and a slight reduction in font size, I managed to get it all on to one sheet of paper.

This got me thinking about my next campaign and whether I should take a similar approach. I rather like the idea and challenge of keeping an entire campaign to a single sheet of paper (two pages). The physical limitation of a single sheet of paper should help keep the campaign manageable and avoid becoming complicated or overly detailed.

First page of the updated campaign.

Second page of the campaign.

The next blog will be about the Anglo-Zulu war painting progress, a couple of units have recently left the painting table.

Battle of Salem Church 1863 - Remote Game

Battle of Salem Church Remote Game

This week, I was fortunate enough to have another remote game with Jon of the Palouse Wargaming Journal. Jon has been running a series of American Civil War games based on the Battle of Salem Church, fought on 3 May 1863 during the Chancellorsville Campaign.

The battle is recreated on a hex-gridded tabletop using Jon’s wonderful collection of 10mm American Civil War miniatures.

Jon kindly gave me the choice of commanding either army, suggesting the attacking Union forces under General Sedgwick would probably provide the more interesting challenge. I was happy to play the Union attackers.

The Armies and Rule Notes

The Confederate army consists of six commands, each representing a brigade, with a grand total of 25 infantry units and seven understrength artillery units. The Union army has eight commands, comprising 28 infantry units and six artillery units, most of which are at full strength.

The commands are activated by drawing coloured dice from a tin (Grey for Confederate activation and Blue for Union activation). If your colour is drawn, you can activate one of your commands and its associated units. Additionally, two red dice were added to the tin. When the second red dice is drawn the game turn ends. This provides a degree of uncertainty, as you never quite know when you will get the opportunity to act next.

Both armies have army morale rules. If an army has three or more broken brigades (loss of fifty percent or more units) its army morale fails and it must retire.

The Union army also has a special rule called "At 'em Boys!" This could be declared on turns one, two, or three, and provide a combat bonus to one Union brigade until any opposing enemy units are destroyed or the brigade itself loses half of its units.

The Plan

My plan was to refuse the Union left flank while advancing through the centre without becoming too heavily engaged, as I intended to rely on the Union artillery to bombard the Confederate positions around Salem Church and soften up the Confederate centre, while my right flank worked its way forward through the woods to turn the Confederate flank.

An overview shot of the set up that came with Jon's briefing pack. I have added arrows showing my initial plan ideas.

Having played Jon’s ACW rules in previous remote games, there were two things I remembered as being important. 

1. Artillery, particularly Union artillery, can be devastatingly effective. 
2. Assaults are the most effective way of inflicting hits, especially when fighting in woods, rather than relying on shooting alone.

With these learnings in mind, I was hoping to make good use of my artillery before committing the infantry to close combat.

The following battle report is very much written from the Union army’s perspective. I find that when playing remotely, with only a view of the game on a screen, my perspective can be rather blinkered. I tend to focus on my own troops and their advances and retreats, rather than taking in the bigger picture. Unlike playing face to face over the tabletop, there is no opportunity to stand up, move around, and peer closely at different parts of the battlefield before making a decision.

The Battle Report

The union army had the initiative at the start of the battle and made good progress in refusing its left flank while creating room to bring forward their artillery into position. Meanwhile, the advance on the right flank was proving rather slow as the troops struggled to make their way through the woods.

The artillery positions are shown with red circles. The rear artillery are positioned on a hill.

On the Union left, the infantry quickly formed a line along the wood's edge and exchanged fire with the Confederates, who had advanced to meet them. Meanwhile, the Union artillery was beginning to demonstrate its worth, inflicting hits on Confederate units in and around Salem Church.

The artillery bombardment created an opportunity for the Union centre to advance and launch an assault on Salem Church. On the right, however, the troops were still having difficulty getting into position for their attack.

The Union assault begins in the centre supported by very effective artillery bombardments.

The Union army continued to push forward through the centre around Salem Church, bringing up additional troops to maintain the pressure. At the same time, the increasingly outnumbered Union units on the left were struggling to hold their positions against a growing Confederate threat.

Union troops move up to support the centre attack.

As the Union left flank began to give ground, in the centre artillery was moved forward to provide additional firepower, including canister at close range.

Finally, the Union right flank made its move. Rather later than intended, the brigade launched its assault using the "At 'em Boys!" special rule. Despite taking casualties, the attack managed to just turn the Confederate left flank.

With their left flank failing, the Union army pins all its hopes on their centre and right flank attacks. The red circle shows their artillery supporting attacks at close range.

The Union assault in the centre was now in full swing, with artillery providing close support and inflicting further losses on the Confederates. Things were looking much less favourable on the left flank which was in a terrible state and starting to retire.

Both armies now had two broken brigades, leaving each perilously close to its breaking point. Whichever side could deliver the next decisive blow would win the battle.

The Union left flank is collapsing while their centre presses forward.

The Confederates had the first opportunity to break the Union army morale on the left. Fortunately for the Union they held on by the barest of margins.

In the centre, however, the Union attack had finally broken through the Confederate line. The infantry surged forward, routing an enemy unit and overrunning Confederate artillery positions. This proved to be the decisive moment. The losses were enough to break a third Confederate brigade, causing the Confederate army's morale to fail and forcing it to retire.

A decisive breakthrough in the centre is enough punishment of the Confederates who retire.

A Union victory, but only just!

Wrap up

This was a very, very close game. The battle could easily have gone the other way, and in the last game turn there was little room for error by either side.

Chatting with Jon, I learned that most of the games in his Salem Church series have been close, and with both armies enjoying their share of victories. This certainly suggests that Jon has created a well-balanced scenario, with neither side having an easy time of it.

For my part, the game reinforced the importance of artillery support to soften up the opposition before assaults, and when there is a breakthrough, as there was in the centre, to throw in all available troops.

It was great to return to the American Civil War for another remote game with Jon.

The losses from the game. I did not realise how many Confederate units were lost until after the game.

My next post will see a return to my Battle of Britain campaign.

Returning to painting Anglo-Zulu war units

Anglo-Zulu War Project

This past week, my Anglo-Zulu War project returned to the painting desk, and it is now slowly getting closer to completion. I think I have around five more units to finish, including some artillery, but this week’s focus was on building and painting some supply wagons.

Four wagons completed.

A close up. I am keeping my painting very simple and loose for this project.

The wagons themselves are made from blocks of wood which are shaped. The horses, oxen, wheels, and crew are taken from a wagon set. I found the soft plastic wagons that came with the wagon set had too many fiddly pieces that needed gluing together, and would probably be too fragile for my liking. So I opted for my usual approach of making the wagon bodies from wood and adding the other components.

The wagons are not glued to their bases, allowing them to be removed and used as defensives when required.

The wagons are not stuck to their bases - another reason for using a robust wooded approach in their construction.

The British forces seek protection behind the wagons.

I now have some more British units on the painting table, as I aim to complete this project by the end of the year.

All the completed British forces so far.

Napoleonic Artillery

Before I returned to painting units for the Anglo-Zulu War project, I was fortunate enough to pick up some second-hand Napoleonic artillery online at a good price, with the added bonus of low postage costs.

Artillery additions.

My rather rag-tag Napoleonic armies have been in need of some artillery for a long time. The infantry at the heart of these armies consist mainly of old 30mm Spencer-Smith plastic figures, which were kindly gifted to me by John of Wargame Hermit blog around a decade ago. Until now, I have been making do with artillery bases borrowed from the Spencer-Smith Seven Years' War armies.

The newly acquired artillery and crews are mainly 25mm Minifigs, along with one set of Hinchliffe figures (I believe). Although these figures are smaller than my 30mm Spencer-Smith infantry, the difference is not particularly noticeable once they are on the tabletop. I also help disguise height difference by giving them a slight boost in height by packing out their bases by a millimetre or two.

Spencer-Smith infantry unit beside the 25mm artillery (a wargamer's view).

Most of the figures were showing signs of wear and had clearly seen plenty of action on the tabletop over the years. Some needed only a few minor paint touch-ups here and there, while others required a more extensive repainting. Anyway, they are a useful addition to my rag-tag Napoleonic forces.

Battle of Britain Campaign – Game 8

I thought it was time to return to my Battle of Britain campaign this week. It feels like it has been quite a while since I had last played a game. Looking back through my blog posts, I found the last game (Game 7) had actually taken place way back in July!

Time for an air wargame after a break of some months and weeks. Drawing courtesy of ChatGPT using one of my game photographs.

Fortunately, the campaign is an easy one to pick up again. Everything is tracked on a single page, and the bombing missions for each campaign week are randomly determined by dice rolls.

The campaign map and tracker.

For a reminder of the campaign setup, see here. The games use Warlord Games' Blood Red Skies rules from Airfix's Battle of Britain boxed set.

Background

During the week of 2nd–8th September, the Luftwaffe have returned to bombing London after spending the previous three weeks (12th August–1st September) targeting RAF airfields and RDF (Radio Direction Finding) installations. These earlier raids had only achieved partial success, but enough to give the Luftwaffe an advantage in this game with RAF aircraft having to start the game at low altitude.

The weather was clear, with just one cloud in the sky. The target is protected by a couple of barrage balloons and flak.

Forces

Luftwaffe:

1 × Heinkel He 111

1 × Dornier Do 17

3 × Messerschmitt Me 109

All the Luftwaffe pilots are rated as regular.

RAF:

2 × Spitfires

2 × Hurricanes

Both Hurricane pilots are regular, while the two Spitfire pilots are novices.

The Game

The game began with the RAF fighters scrambling to gain altitude quickly to engage the incoming Luftwaffe bombers. The Me 109s swept forward to intercept the attacking Spitfires with no success. While the Hurricanes took advantage of the solitary cloud, using it for cover.

The German bombers heading to their target.

The bomber escorts engage the RAF fighters.

Having survived the Me 109 escorts, the Spitfires managed to land some early hits on the He 111, with vapour appearing from one of its engines. The German fighters soon returned, shooting down one of the Spitfires and its novice pilot before the RAF could inflict any further damage on the bomber.

A Spitfire is shot down.

Emerging from the cloud, the Hurricanes launched an attack on the Do 17, damaging its engine. The bomber began losing altitude and would eventually crash.

The Dornier descends with both engines lost.

Once again, the Me 109s turned their attention to the Hurricanes, piling on the Boom tokens. In the rules these tokens represent the accumulated effects of light damage, pilot stress, dwindling ammunition and the breakdown of squadron cohesion during a dogfight. With the RAF fighters steadily accumulating tokens, it looked increasingly likely that they would be forced to break off their attack, leaving the remaining He 111 free to attack its target with just barrage balloons and flak for defence.

However, the RAF fighters regrouped for one final attempt to bring down the He 111. First, they had to run the gauntlet of the Me 109 escorts, but all three fighters successfully dodged the attacks and pressed home their own attacks against the bomber in quick succession.

RAF fighters swarm on the remaining German bomber.

The first attack forced the He 111 to lose altitude, leaving it vulnerable to the next fighter, and the attack proved decisive, bringing down the bomber before it could reach its target.

Wrap up

A successful defence of London with the RAF managing to disrupt the Luftwaffe raid, destroying both bombers despite losing a Spitfire early in the game.

For a while it looked as though the German escorts would succeed in driving off the RAF fighters. Fortunately, the RAF fighters were successful at evading the attacking Me 109s and delivered a decisive final attack.

Another ChatGPT drawing derived from a photograph of the game.

With such a gap between games, I may well play another game or two and make some good progress in the second half of the campaign.

Making a dice tower as a present

It was recently my daughter’s birthday, and as she started playing Dungeons & Dragons earlier this year. I thought it would be a good opportunity to make her something a little different for her present. I decided to build her a dice tower and paint up a Halfling miniature to represent her D&D character.

The completed dice tower. The blue spider is attached to the lid which can be removed.

The drawbridge is hinged to drop down.

After looking online for some ideas, I settled on a straightforward castle tower design, complete with a working drawbridge to catch the dice as they tumble through. I was going to use a combination of MDF and cardboard to make the tower.

The tower in use. The drawbridge has sides to keep the dice from escaping across the table.

The sloping shelves inside the tower, which break the dice’s fall as they travel through, were made from some leftover upholstery foam I had from a previous project. I cut the foam into triangles, covered them with grey felt, and glued them into position. The reason for this approach was that my daughter did not want a noisy dice tower. I also covered the inside surface of the drawbridge with felt to help minimise any noise.

A closeup of the painted halfling.

Before gluing the foam shelves in place, I decorated the tower with various bits and pieces from my bits box to give it a little more character and colour.