Rules of Engagement 3rd game

Our 3rd game of RoE , we added Hmg;s , medium Mortars and tanks ,all worked great really fun and created a lot of interest in the Bolt Actiion players at Sheffield Wargames Society we are putting agame on for them in a couple of weeks as they are looking for a replacement for Bolt Action .Everything runs smoother and feels more realistic than bolt action glad we discovered these rules.Figures a mix of warlord and artisan ,vehicles S&S and company B mat by urban matz

The DAK starting line up

Montys men set off

a rush to capture the village

the Brits advance

Ouch 

Tank battle , the Pz got a  turret hit on the Grant killing the gunner and causing the rest of the crew to bail out

Afrika Korps platoon HQ

Finished a few more figures for my ww2 desert Germans , all Warlord Plastics. They represent a platoon HQ for rules for engagement .

7tv -Goat Kin

A few more figures from the Children of the Fields range from crooked dice ,very nice figures too

Dr Who into the Time Vortex

Got another 2 sets of figures painted ,both Doctors & companion sets ,the first is another 10th Doctor this time based on the Voyage of the Damned special starrting Kylie Minogue , all the figures except Kylie are quite good they are The Doctor & Banakaffalatta in evening suits , kylie or Astrid Perth and 2 Heavenly Hosts .The other set is 11th Doc & friends the companions in question are Amy in her kissogram costume , Rory ,Riversong and the awful Clara all decent figures this time .Both sets have their game cards in the boxes as well .Both 9/10

Voyage of the Damned 

11th Doctor  my least favourite Doctor 

WW2 U.S Winter Infantry

One of my many projects was  a company of US infantry for the Battle of the Bulge ,I bought most of the required figures and then my disappointment with Bolt Action made me lose interest in finishing the many ww2 armies I had on my painting table .Finding the Rules of Engagement rule set has rekindled my painting itch and I grabbed a few of the Yanks and set about finishing them off.This first lot are amixture to add to the ones I painted about a year ago in the bolt action rules I had enough figures for a HQ team , 3 sections and a LMG team the ROE army lists are a bit more realistic so I have enough for a HQ ,2 setions the LMG team and a few spare figures left one which I will add to ,to make a understrength section .I love the ROE army lists and the way the units can be added to to suit the scenarios.

a mix of warlord and artizan 

7TV children of the Fields -more figures finished

Managed to get a few figures completed from the Children of the Fields set ,the muderous Miller and his wife and 4 gabriel hounds if you hear these howling your done for ,all spooky stuff .

The Miller and his lovely wife -I think they are Local ...

a pack of human faced Gabriel Hounds

Graves of the Rorkes Drift Defenders -

Today we visited the Graves of 3 Rorkes Drift Defenders 2 in Runcorn and the third in Liverpool .Thomas Taylor and Thomas Moffat in Runcorn and Thomas Burke the one  in Liverpool .A strange coincidence all shared the same christian name , Moffats grave was very nice with a small engraved image of the defence ,Taylors was a little hard to find and is very worn .Burkes was also weather worn but still very impressive . This brings us to a total of 31 graves of the RD defenders graves visited plus another 15 from other AZW battles .

Dice Tray

A lot of the games we are playing at moment require rolling lots of dice and I have got fed up of dice bouncing off hte table ,knocking figures over and ending up balanced at angles against terrain etc ,so had a play with a dice tower and a dice tray .Didnt like the tower when rolling a lot of dice you had to stand directly over it to read the results , the dice tended to land on top of each other when rolling a lot together so went for the dice tray. The one i bought was a kaiser rushforth aluminium case type ,it splits in two so I can use one side my opponent the other,it can easily carry dice and other bits ( the one I bought came with 30 dice and a  retractable tape inside) .I have not used it in anger yet but testing my die rolling skills I am happy with it ,no matter how i threw the dice they stayed in the tray and so far had no balancing acts from the dice , I have tried rolling all 30 dice with no drama . 10/10

Nice shiny toy (cieling lights reflected not a dent) 

2 in 1 plus more hidden toys i am easily pleased 

cat was impressed (also allowed cat hair removal test -passed) 

impressive number of 6's 

Zulu War Graves -Trooper Robert Brown

Robert Brown a Yorkshireman was Redvers Bullers olrderly ,he was a member of the Frontier Light Horse and won the DCM.He was probably with Buller at Zunquin Nek , Hhlobane and Khambula sadly he drowned in an accident in 1881 .

The inscription on this reads =Here rest the remains of Robert Brown Beloved son of William and Elizabeth Brown of Brough accidentaly drowned on 7th July 1881 aged 36 years.so teach us to number our days so we may apply our heaarts to wisdom.Psalmxc.12

This side reads= This monument was erected ingrateful remembrance of his devoted gallant service by Colonel REDVERS BULLER /As the cold of snow in the time of harvest ,so it is a faithful messenger to those that send him . Pros xxv 13

Rules of Engagement 2nd game

We palyed our 2nd game of rules of Engagement last night at Sheffield wargames Society ,it was the bring and buy night so we had a good look round before we set up and managed to play to a conclusion ,a draw I had reached my break point but the Brits were in no position to capitalize on it , and we still packed up and left before 9.30 some thing we could not have done with bolt action .Firing is simple with realistic results ,morale is so much easier to deal with than BA as well ,we are both hooked on this ,in fact i have already bought some of the supplements .The books are not as flashy as BA but its the rules we are buying really not the eye candy .Next game a bit bigger maybe vehicles but definately our rules of choice.

Germans dig in as the Brits advance

in good positions but awful dice rolls sealed their fate 

Brits advance 

Warlord Games Afrika Korps plastics

I recently purchased a box of Warlords Afrika Korps ,the box contains 30 plastic figures .There are lots of head choices a mix of all the head wear used ,pith helmets ,field caps and helmets all with a choice of plain faces ,face scarfs goggles either on the face ,around the helmet even hung around the neck ,one face even has a cigerette between his lips . Weapons are good ,smg,rifle,ATR,lmg and 2" mortar ,my only issue here is every sprue is the same so you get a lot of mortars and ATR's maybe more rifles or smg would have been better .Poses are ok and the fit is good some of the arm joints are suspect as with most plastic sets .The usual info sheet is included and a nice but fiddly decal set which includes rank chevrons and cuff titles and a couple of mine field signs . Overall above average 8/10

a 50cm Mortar team 

a tooled up NCO 

Portsmouth Historic Dockyard

All I can say about this amazing place is if you are interested in Naval History and you haven't visited yet GO , really this is the place for Royal Navy Buffs .Amongst the many things to see are HMS Victory ,Nelsons flag ship at Trafalgar ,a really fascinating ship it took us about an hour and a half to walk round and listen to the facts abiout the ship ,Nelson and the battle ,beware of aa stiff neck though once we got below decks I was stooped all the time ,there is also the Nelson museum to visit.  nearby is HMS M33 the last surviving ship that fought at Gallipoli .HMS Warrior 1860  at the time the largest ,fastest and most powerful ship in the world .Until December this year there is agreat exhibit "36 hours Jutland 1916 " this alone is worth the visit .There are many exhibits and museums plus attractions for the kids ,take the water bus to Gosport for the subamarine musem and a harbour tour around the modern Royal Navy ships and the Napoleonic forts . A few tips if you are going buy the full navy ticket which allows you into everything except the Mary Rose which is seperate entry price, it also lasts a year ,you do need more than 1 day to see everything properly ,also stay in the Keppleshead hotel a 18th century inn just outside the dockyard gates ,it has free parking and loads of history ,it is a bit run down but clean and the staff and food were great .