Road to Stanleyville: A FoF Photo report...

On Saturday, Steve, John & I got a chance to play the second Congo scenario from the FoF 'Bushwars' book - this time focusing on the Mercenaries advance to Stanleyville, and the Simba rebels various attempts to slow and delay them. The key objective for the Mercenaries was to get off the table ASAP (maximum points for getting off by turn 6), with as many of their vehicle assets and troops intact; whilst the simba were trying to delay them and kill as many as possible.  The mercs were pretty well tooled up - a Ferret AC (here looking remarkably like a Daimler), 2 gun jeeps (1 with a .50 cal, 1 with twin link GPMG) and 3 trucks (each with a 8 man squad with 7x SLR & 1x GPMG); then again the Simbas had an RPG-2 team, a Dshk team  and only 6x 10 man mobs to start with, with up to 2 reinforcement mobs per turn.

At the end of the game, there were 6 dead mercs, 2 badly wounded, and one lightly wounded; for 113 dead, wounded or dying Simba rebels, and the mercs still lost! (A single truck with the wounded in, and the .50 cal jeep with its gun knocked out, were being escorted towards the table end  by 2 depleted sections of infantry when play finished at the end  of turn 8).  Although we (Steve & I - mercs) managed to wipe out more Simba units than last time, we still didn't get enough to make up for our lost vehicles in terms of points...

Scenery is all down to Johnny (with artistic assisstance from Tracey), and the 2 gun jeeps & matching section are also his work (as are a unit of simbas) - we've quite a different style of brush work (John's being the nicer!) so you should be able to spot them. All the other figures and vehicles are my work.

Anyway - here are the pictures! I've got some of the positions of various units at the start and end of the game, as well as most significant changes during each turn. I'll leave out the majority of the narrative as I'm once again pressed for time, but hopefully with what I've written above it should be reasonably clear (If I get chance, I'll try to add a few extra clarifying comments)

So that's how the table looked after set-up. The Unimogs were assumed to have covered backs, so the figures weren't deployed in the rear (yet) to discourage their use as gun-trucks

1 turn in - an a jeep crew is wiped out by a mob of Angry locals

They try to do the same thing to a unimog, but manage to hack away at the canvas and truck sides rather than getting to the crew and passengers..

The convoy has already split into two parts... 

The 2nd truck rolls back the canvas and lets the locals have lead...

The fight around the back unimog intensifies, with the guys in the back fighting back, trying to get the truck free..

Reinforcements!

The squad in the first truck dismounts to move the barricade, after the Ferret driver spots a mine (marked by the tires in the dirt) before having their tires blown out by Simba support weapons fire.

The remaining gun jeep races forwards, pouring .50 fire into the bush where the RPG came from, taking out the weapons team, whilst the other unimog performs a similar manoeuvre on the Dshka team, bringing them perilously close to the edge of the jungle... But not before the ferret crew have had enough and bail out, both with light injurys.

More Simba prepare to charge the rear unimog... Their time looks number in seconds...

The jeep and the 2nd unimog are both charged by mobs of simba which had been lurking in the under growth...

More reinforcements advance...

And even more arrive...

Under supporting fire from the Ferret crew, the 1st section moves up and begins to dismantle the barricade

The rear unimog finally manages to fight free, racing off, only for a quick witted Simba to shoot the tires, bringing the truck to a skidding halt

The second unimog also breaks free..

... and also comes to a grinding halt due to fire from the Simba's. Still, it gives good cover, so the troops are in no rush to disembark!

The troops from the final unimog disembark, pulling back with their casualties, whilst the Simba mob which had been trashing the jeep advance on their position, only to content themselves with pulling the unimog apart after taking a few rounds... 

The medic disembarks the gun jeep, and falls back to support the wounded, whilst the light injured ferret crewman makes his way to there position, along with more casualties from unimog 2...

The wrecking gang...

The barricade is clear!

More reinforcements, including a section of army deserters! (I had run out of militia figures to spawn by this point... that's never happened to me before!)

The troops move up to begin clearing the road...

The vehicles move up, trying to clear a path through ramming, and small arms fire..

Yet more reinforcements!

The section from the second unimog disembark, forming the rear guard, whilst their transport is set upon by an angry mob (who got points for destroying vehicles, hence the trashing...)

That unit refused to move... the vehicles get a little bogged down by the angry mobs, but they didn't hold on too hard... The vehicles broke free, but that was the end of the game. The last couple of pics are just eye-candy, showing where everything else got to...

 

 

A question of scale - 20mm vs 28mm for Cold War Gone Hot

I've hit a bit of a conundrum.... I've got the FoF Cold War Gone Hot rules coming for my birthday, and as I was a slow day at work I had a flick through them to kill some time. And I liked what I saw. I liked it very much indeed.

I had originally only picked up the book to give me a bit more guidance for ideas to 're-use' my BritApoc figures in some FoF games (either Cold war gone hot or as a basis for Winter of '79 style civil war games), but it may well become something more than that. Which leaves me in a bit of a quandary when it comes to forces.

I've got 3 sections of British Infantry with GPMG but no Charlie-G, a platoon command and some assorted odds n sods which could be beefed up to make a few more sections. I've a couple of (Dinky) Saracen's, a Corgi Saladin and a Daimler Armoured Car. Facing off against them are about a platoon of Hungarian Motor Rifles  without any form of vehicle support, but they do have a HMG and a pair of ATGMs. Oh, and masses of guys with SLRs, shotguns, SMGs, etc which can be used for militia if need be. Whilst this will be enough for 'making things up' scenarios - especially re-skinning Iraq war/other 'regulars vs insurgents' scenarios to involve Provisional government regulars cracking down on rebel militia or possibly British partisans striking back against the invading soviets.  What is apparent is that I need more vehicles - FV432's, BMPs, BTRs & T-80's. If I replace the Americans (and there are a lot of scenarios with them in)/other Nato forces with Brits, I'll also need some British MBTs, and even more Warsaw Pact stuff. Thats ok - atleast, it was until I looked at the price of 1/56-1/60th scale vehicles! With APCs being around £20 a pop, and MBTs around £25 It's looking a bit harsh to even get my existing forces into vehicles, let alone buying new ones! There are a few usable 1/48th scale vehicles on the market, but I don't like how 1/48ths scale with 28mm infantry (it's ok if they are on Ssotta bases, but as I use 'thin' bases the vehicles are just too big IMO) and even less so regarding how they mix with 1/56th scale vehicles...

Now, although my gaming buddies play FoF Africa in 28mm, they also do Iraq/etc in 20mm, and I must say, their figures did look good - a lot better than I was expecting if I'm honest. Between price (approximately 1/2 that of 1/56th ones for resin, less if plastic kits are used) and the better-than-expected quality I am considering changing scale for this project. I've got more than enough stuff for BritApoc as things are, and given that I'll never really use army regulars (Nato or Soviet) in  much more than section strength, I don't 'need' forces of platoon+ capacity.

Another factor in 20mm's favour is the range of vehicles available. Even with an open cheque book, I'd struggle to meet the less-core requirements of FoF in 28mm, and they aren't even particularly esoteric (the Shilka being a good example!). In comparison, 20mm seems to have every vehicle varient one could ever want and more. The Character and feel of civillian/non-uniform figures was a major concern - at least 28mm has the Killer bee Geezers range, which is pretty fairly priced and has lots of 70's/80's character, and the Kiss Kiss bang bang ranges which whilst a bit early would 'do' at a pinch. Further inspection turned up the Stan Johansen, Platoon 20 & Hotspur/Stonewall figures 20mm ranges - all of which were 'ultra-modern' when they were made in the 80's, but which are now suitably vintage. None of the ranges have huge numbers of figures in mufti, and certainly combined they still don't have anywhere near the scope of say the geezers range, but it's a good start... and one has to question how many characters will actually be needed in this case...

All that said, everything I have is 28mm... apart from the HLBS 36mm stuff & my old Inquisitor 54mms, but they are both minor digressions. Infact, in the case of the HLBS stuff, as I've already shown some '28mm' (actually 32mm) figures are of a compatible size so there isn't much of a change in terms of scenery and painting styles. I don't even know if I will be able to do a decent job on 20mms - a daft thing to say, but also true. I also don't know how compatible figures are in terms of size, bulk and sculpting style..!

After a couple of enquiries, the nice people at Elhiem, ERM/Platoon20, Liberation & Under fire have all agreed to send me a couple of scale comparison/taster figures just to see how well the different ranges I've had under consideration match up, and also to see how I generally 'get on' with them.

So, no strong and fast ideas either way yet - I may pick up a 20mm/1:72/1:76 vehicle or two to see how I find those as well. If I was to go the 20mm route, I'd buy specifically for each FoF scenario, which overall would give a fairly comprehensive amalgamation of bits, although knowing me a few 'extras' for winter of 79 games would invariably sneak in... If I stick to 28mm... I'm not sure. I guess I might be able to go the diecast route for some bits (T-55s from Chinese toy car manufacturers, scorpions and the like from Dinky) and get a couple of carefully chosen pieces in resin...

As an aside, most of the blogs I read seem to have a range of pictures used to break up the text and act as eye-candy... Let me know if you like it, in which case I'll try to carry on with the style in the future!

More from the painting desk

... sadly still all waiting for basing at this stage, although the BritApoc figures have since been done :)

2 survivors (The girl with the SMLE is joining the 'white armband militia', not sure about the geezer with the SLR and beret... possibly a Warlord's retinue) and 2 scavs (the girl in the yellow great coat is a bit more of a hard-core loaner than she in the jumper. I can see jumper girl as more of the 'PR' side of the scavs operation - someone to talk to traders, etc rather than pick through the contaminated ruins... that said, she certainly seems pretty competant with that revolver, so maybe she is ex-police? from L to R; Mongrel, converted Dixons, Warmacre & converted hetzerdog

On the left is a fairly generic fighter. With his cudgel and torn clothes, he could be a poor farmer, scavenger, machine shop worker or raiding yob. 

The Punk next to him is definitely up to no good, and will join a radier gang (my vanilla one, as I doubt the kins will take to kindly to him joining them!). 

The guy in the hat is my first merchant (and entry to my 4th Birthday challenge - better pics will go up once he's based)- Ted. A former pawn-shop owner, this guy did pretty well in the run up to and immediate aftermath of the end. Having a bit of a nack for trading, a reasonable ammount of cash, no scruples or morals and lots of dodgy contacts meant he could get hold of pretty much anything. So in the dark days of the End when everyone else was beating their neighbours over the heads with planks of wood to try to get hold of the last loaf of mouldy bread on the supermarket shelves, Ted was holed up in his office, feet perched on stacks of tinns and smugly smoking cigars whilst armed hoodlums kept the hoy-poloy in line and sold tubs of dog-food at extortionate prices. He's just continued in that line. He now travels about in a motley assortment of vehicles, with a heavily armed bodyguard of thugs. Ted will trade anything - drugs, slaves, guns. 

The guy next to him was one of his contacts -a security van driver, who was drummed out of the army for misconduct and who had a side line in leg-breaking before things all went haywire. He's just the sort of man Ted likes working for him - not too bright, very violent and willing to do anything to anyone. These days he heads up Ted's bodyguard... (he has a Stirling over his shoulder)

L to R; Foundry Victorian, Urban Beat (North Star), Killer Bee, Converted Killer Bee 

Lycaons for my EotD games. The Wolf-lady is a Reaper female werewolf. She's been a fun one to paint up, but looks a lot more wolf-like than the Westwind figures. I think she's likely to end up in a seperaate pack, along with another more wolf-like mate. The wolve are Westind. I'm quite pleased with how their fur turned out - it was an adeptus battle grey base coat, bestial brown wash, drybushed with codex grey & then graveyard earth. The belly fur got an extra highlight with Denhb (or some such) stone, whilst the back got a dry brush of a mix of Adeptus battle-grey/black. The same formula was used on the werewolf too, although with the addition of Tallarn flesh for her hands/paws.

  

Assorted city types for EotD - a Foundry brawler who will be acting as muscle for a deranged aristocrat (Using the Dark Fire club template, reskinned so that most of the basic members are street toughs/henchmen) , a Foundry Gentleman (who will be joining a 'good' gentleman's club of some sort) a Design 28' Gent who has 'evil' written all over him. He'll be acting as Jack the Ripper in London games, and as a generic club member in my 'German' Dark fire club... 

More EotD figures - this time another wolf for the Lycaons (although this time an Alternative armies model which has been re-purposed from its original duties as a mount for a goblin), and a West Wind Wolfen Jager. I'm trying to keep the Wolfen jagers to quite a neutral pallet,  primarily in an attempt to match the sort of colours that are seen in Victorian era European hunting togs, but also to try to play up the more rural, sober/drab aspects of the faction

The last of the EotD figures for this update - more Foundry cossacks & a TAG priest. These guys will probably join the Hetman on his attempts to avenge his now Vampiric wife.... 

The first 1/48ths I've done in a long time. These guys have been say on my desk for ages, so it's about time I pulled my finger out! They are modern Russian Spetsnatz in Gorka(?) camouflage suits over standard Flora-pattern shirts, etc. Although I had toyed in doing them in a mix of camo schemes, I felt that this might make things confusing if/as/when they are used as advisors for the ChDKZ rebels. I've painted the unit badges black, to make them look like they have been 'sterilised' prior to deployment... not that the NATO forces will have too much difficulty guessing their origins what with the camo, etc...

Another 1/48th - in this case a MVD sniper. I've got a few more MVD figures to do at some stage, and they will be in mixed uniforms (as was often seen in Chechnya, due to having a very tangled series of supply routes). Mostly it will be a mix of the Standard 'flora' green, and the blue city scheme of this guys trousers, although there is another in a winter coat which will be getting the same scheme as this one (not sure what it's called, but it is a 3-tone vertical pattern) just to keep things a bit more ordered... They have the Russian Flag patch on one sleeve, which should help make them stand out from any ChDKZ volunteers they might be supporting.

VDV - these were the 'core' figures that I used for the ChDKZ conversions which I've already shown. They are in Flora cammo, which is used by the VSV although perhaps it is not as distinctive as the 'sun-flower' scheme, but I wanted to keep that for the ChDKZ, as it feels older (having been one of, if not THE, most distinctive soviet schemes) and more likely to be available from second hand sources...

Something of a 1 off at the moment, this guy was really quick to paint. I was hopping that the generic webbing and jacket, russian camo trousers and M16 would give a suitably eclectic feel, reflecting the mixed sources of so much of the equipment in use in africa today. He towers over my 28's, so not much chance of him getting any gaming table action in the foreseeable future... 

And finally, a view of my painting desk - cluttered as usual!

20 questions...

These have been doing the rounds, and I've really enjoyed seeing other people's answers.... so here's my replies!

The questions:

1. Favourite Wargaming period and why?
I've had many favourites (Post apoc, Victorian/Colonial & moderns) - but I think the longest lasting and most encompassing must be Moderns (used in the lose, wargamer-ish, 1945-to today sense). I enjoy the varied and disparate aspects, and the often challenging gameplay factors associated with asymmetric warfare.  To someone (like me) who gets bored painting too many similar figures, militia and irregulars are a gift from the gods side of thing.  I guess, on a slightly more wishy-washy side of things, it also helps me better understand the historical social and political forces which have shaped the current state of affairs in the world.   I guess it's also a continuation in some ways of my child-hood of Action Man games, using a mix of kit from the original release and the 90's re-release...

2. Next period, money no object?
Tough one - I'd love more 1/48th Moderns, so money being no object I'd buy the HLBS range, re-master it and re-release it (which would then let me do both Modern Africa & Eastern-Europe). Assuming that's not an actual option, I'd love to either do a 28mm Eastern Europe setting (Chernarus, rescaled) or 28mm 'Cold-war gone hot' 

3. Favourite 5 films? (In no particular order - and I seem to have overshot 5.... whoops!)
Blood diamond
Wild geese
The Rocketeer
Romancing the stone & Jewel of the Nile
3:10 to Yuma (remake)
The Mummy
Stardust

4. Favourite 5 TV series? (Again, no-order)
Tailspin (pseduo 'pulp-era' kiddies cartoon series from my youth, but still something I fall back on whilst suffering from bad colds, etc)
New Tricks
Buffy/Angel
Firefly
Lark-rise to Candleford

5. Favourite book and author?
Wind in the Willows has to be my favourite book of all time.

In terms of a 'gaming related' book -  I'm not sure. Probably one of my Africa ones (Maybe Don't Let's go to the Dogs tonight. Rain Goddess, Dark of the Sun or Swordsong)

For Authors... Bernard Cornwell writes books which made me want to game the dark ages, so that's pretty good going, but Wilbur Smith's various stories have to be amongst the most listened to audio books in my collection.... I also know that I could pick up any Dan Abnett book (my 40k playing past manifests itself here) and know I'll thoroughly enjoy the read...

6. Greatest General? Can’t count yourself!!
Alfred the Great? He had many flaws, but he did turn the tide on the viking invasion...

7. Favourite Wargames rules?
Skank/Warlords of the Wasteland - available here: http://www.skankgame.com/
Probably the best quick, fun modern-sci fi rules out there...
I also really enjoy Chris Peers' "At Close Quarters", for Modern games

8. Favourite Sport and team?
Not really 'in' to sports - so I'm going to have to pass on this one.

9. If you had a only use once time machine, when and where would you go?
Hampshire, 495s, to see Cerdic & the people who would be come the West Saxons arrive in Britain.

10. Last meal on Death Row?
Hmmm - too many choices. Probably one of my Mums roasts - with Pork or Lamb with onion sauce. Barring that, maybe a Chinese or Indian buffet.

11. Fantasy relationship and why?
Emilia Peabody from Elizabeth Peters books..

12. If your life were a movie, who would play you?
Hmmm... not sure. /i asked the Missus, and she said a young Anthony Stewart Head.... so there you go then...!

13. Favourite Comic Superhero?
Not really into super-heroes... 

14. Favourite Military quote?
I'm struggling to think of a 'military' one offhand. A quote I appreciate, which is related to war gaming: 
“I needed a drink, I needed a lot of life insurance, I needed a vacation, I needed a home in the country. What I had was a coat, a hat and a gun." - Raymond Chandler, Fair-well my Lovely.

 15. Historical destination to visit?
Valsgarde or Vendel, to see the Migration period tombs

16. Biggest Wargaming regret?
Selling off some of my VSF figures a couple of years ago, only to re-start the Victorian period with EotD; or maybe starting my 36mm/1:48th collection 6 months after the range became OOP...! 

17. Favourite Fantasy job?
Full time/professional living history type/re-enactor. either that, or running my own figure company... 

18. Favourite Song Top 5?
Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner - Warren Zevon
Atlantic City - Bruce Springsteen
Downeaster Alexa - Billy Joel
Over the Hills & Far Away - Nightwish
Closing Time - Semisonic

19. Favourite Wargaming Moment?
Possibly taking out a Necron Monolith on the first turn of a 40K roadshow game, from maximum range, by rolling a very lucky glancing hit. Especially as it was featuring the newly pimped Necron army, and the Monolith had only been out for a month or two.  I even won a limited edition Dark Angel Marine Sgt (which I have only just sold).
That or a really close solo game, pulling a wounded helicopter pilot from (literally) under the machetes of a mob of angry locals. It was made even more ponient as I had the Black Hawk Down (another favourite film) soundtrack playing, and it had just reached the slow piece from when the Rangers have to jog back to the Pakistani Stadium. It was intense rolling those dice...!  

20. The miserable Git question, what upsets you?
Inauthentic Vikings/Saxons! Cold callers, and dangerous cycalists whilst driving

21. Favourite videogame (something I pinched from Arlequin's blog spot)?
Max Payne 1&2 have been replayed several times, as have Fallout 1, 2 & Tactics. Operation Flashpoint was great for it's time. Probably Vietcong & the add on-pack come top though. I haven't replayed them, as I don't want to spoil the experience! 
The 'best' moment in a game, atleast the most moving, was in Men of Valour, when your platoon leader is gunned down next to you, and you're powerless to prevent it. You and a few others manage to drag him back behind the M113, for him to slowly bleed out; all to the sound of 'On the Eve of Destruction'. The other great touch from that game was the fact that following your character's death, you were presented with the letter of consolation from your commanding officer to your parents, which was updated depending on the level you were on and the stage in that mission. 


The questions, if anyone wants to have a try (an idea blatantly ripped off from Brummie - thanks mate!):

1. Favourite Wargaming period and why?

2. Next period, money no object?
3. Favourite 5 films?
4. Favourite 5 TV series?
5. Favourite book and author?
6. Greatest General? Can’t count yourself!!
7. Favourite Wargames rules?
8. Favourite Sport and team?
9. If you had a only use once time machine, when and where would you go?
10. Last meal on Death Row?
11. Fantasy relationship and why?
12. If your life were a movie, who would play you?
13. Favourite Comic Superhero?
14. Favourite Military quote?
15. Historical destination to visit?
16. Biggest Wargaming regret?
17. Favourite Fantasy job?
18. Favourite Song Top 5?
19. Favourite Wargaming Moment?
20. The miserable Git question, what upsets you?

More from the painting desk...

I just thought I'd update folks with some of the stuff I've been working on since getting back from my Holiday trip a fortnight and a bit ago. As usual, they are all awaiting basing, but there is a real mix here this time. I actually finished a few figures for the FoF game on Sunday, which I've since put away so didn't get around to photographing, so you'll have to excuse those. With Danny now deciding to use my BritApoc background, I've been thinking about it a lot more and this has resulted in a few finished figures and lots with just flesh coats done. Additionally,  I'll be going up to visit at the end of the month, and some retro post-apoc gaming is definitely on the menu, so it seems like a good opportunity/inspiration to get some more  figures painted...

Starting the figures off are a few yobbos; one converted from a Foundry skin-head, the other two straight out of the pack from Urban Beat/North Star... I've got a few more of these guys, and I'm hoping to get a couple more finished to make a decent enough gang (or a tleast to give my generic raiders a suitable feel)

I've painted several versions of this (Foundry) figure over the years for different projcts as I think he's cracking... but I've never ended up with an end result that I'm actually happy with. This version isn't perfect, but I can't think what else to do to him. He's just a generic civilian, trying to get by. That said, he is well armed by the setting's levels, so maybe he's of some import in his community, or maybe the captain of the militia.

These 2 Design 28 Policemen have been done as fantasy pieces, to help police the streets of my not-very-specific Central European city for EotD. Again, more to come!

More Wulfen Jager (2 West Wind, 1 Foundry) - ready to help keep the world safe from supernatural nasties. The guy with the crutch will either be fielded as a replacement when a character gets injured, or more likely, just as another club member.

A pair of Cossack Wars Ladies. I've an idea that perhaps a Hetman's wife has been killed (or turned?) by a vampire, and as such he's brought his family west to the mountains in an attempt for revenge (using the Gentleman's club list. Given the number of swords, they might count as Zendarians). The more full bodied lady might be the Wife's maid, whilst the stroppy looking one in red either a rather butch daughter or younger sister of the wife?

The Hetman's children have also joined the struggle (Foundry & Cossack Wars). I may go back and add embroidery to some of these coats to make them look a bit more luxuriant/richer... I'm not sure yet. 

A couple of Oddsies. I'm planning on writing rules for the use of anarchist 'mercenaries' in EotD (alongside boxers, doctors, local guides ,etc - you know the routine from games like Mordhiem, LotOW & Necromunda), so here's a figure to represent one. The lady will probably join a mob, although she might become a faction member - I'm not sure yet. I've tried to paint her as if she is slightly greying, and given her clothes, she may very well have taken up arms to defend her shop from the monsters, or to avenge a lost son/family member. (Design 28 & Foundry) 

A faithful retainer for my Hetman, and a boy who has got his fathers rifle and his grand-dad's hat (mob member - I know the mobs are only 'supposed' to be able to throw stones,  but I'm not sure how accurate this laddie would be anyway!) figures are Foundry & Conquest.

A pair of settlers/Filibusters/goodness-knows-what for my Early West games, painted up in my current enthusiasm for all things Victorian-y... (Foundry)

And finally a scale comparison & sneak peak of what else is to come from my painting desk. from thel eft they are:

TAG, Foundry Victorian, West wind EotD, Foundry Cossack, LAM, West wind GH, Foundry Ripper (on a piece of plastic-card), Design 28's & artizan. I can also say (but alas, not show as they have gone away for my Birthday) that the North Star 1866, Eureka Tyrolean's & Blue Moon Romanians are all of similar sizes to these...   

The Russian Empire's side of the Carpathians?

I've just seen these from Siberia Miniatures

http://siberia-miniatures.ru/product_info.php?products_id=892

And whilst some are clearly too late (Lewis gunner and gent in the suit with the automatic) most should be suitable for our period (although the broom handle Mausers holstered on a couple of peoples belts are 8 years too early... but I'm not that picky!). Coupled with the West Wind  Tsar & family, cossack body guards and possibly some of the Cowboy Wars Russian hunting parties this could make for a great one off game with the Tsar's or some other Aristocrat's mountain dacha coming under attack from Vampires/zombies/werewolves/anarchists/you-get-the-idea. If the above picture looks funky, there are links to painted figures on the site, which make them look even better - and also reminf me that I should probably do more embroidery on the coats of my cossacks...

First steps on the road to Stanleyville: Photos from a FoF game

Just a short post showing some snaps from my FoF game last weekend - the scenario was the beginnings of the road to Stanleyville, where the Belgian Paracommados (here represented by mercenaries, as there aren't any actual figures available) try to capture an airstrip to support their efforts to liberate the 1400 or so hostages held in stanleyville by the Simba rebels. The 'Belgians' attack across the length of the runway, in an attempt to capture the control tower and other buildings... unbeknownst to them, the Simbas have reinforcements on the way, and they spawn behind the Belgians! 

In the end, the Belgian forces just about managed to capture the control tower, whilst the other buildings remained in Simba hands. Due to heavy casualties, and only eliminating 3 Simba sections (despite killing over 50 figures), the Belgians lost with 17 vp to the Simba's 23vp

Most of the figures were mine (The mercenaries on the right, assautling the airstrip belonged to John, as did the vast majority of the scenery - some of the runway scatter was mine, and some was Steve's.) 

I'm afraid there's no real narrative to the pictures, although they are all in chronological order... I hope folks enjoy them as much as we enjoyed playing!