New Zulu War Scenario Book

At long last Bwana is back on-line! It's a great thing when you buy a new computer, it solves so many problems that you used to have!

I'm happy to report that I have also just returned from Historicon in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. As usual it was a lot of fun. We played in some really good games and bought a lot of great stuff. Our best acquisition was the new Zulu War 1879 Scenario Book by Roy Jones and Mark Fastoso. I have been looking forward to this for two years. We even participated in a few playtestings that were held at the conventions over the past two years. If you want a copy there will be several dealers selling it at Fall In in Gettysburg. If you need to get one before then you can order it from Brigade Games. We have a link to that shop down below.

There is a lot of good stuff in this book, a total of 11 scenarios that cover all the well-known engagements of the Zulu War. I'm looking forward to having quite a lot of fun with it.

I'll have more later on the games we got in on at Historicon.

Beware the Roaring Silence

Bwana Bill and I have been awfully quiet lately, so I felt a note of explanation to our loyal readers was in order.

So, first off, allow me to appologize for not posting a short note earlier!

Bwana Bill's computer took a hard power hit in the recent thunderstorms that blew through our area, plus he was unable to work at his jobs normal location due to flooding and some serious damage to the building he normally works in. That ate into his time quite a bit!

Me? I've just been busier than a one-armed paper hanger. That's not to say Bill hasn't been busy too! We are both building and painting like crazy!

Bill is working on his Panzer Grenadiers (Deutche Afrika Korps) and DAK Panzer Platoons while I'm painting away on a new Light Armoured Company as well as a Motor Company. In addition, I'm painting some more of my Compagnia Bersaglieri and finishing up my Ariete Division tanks to support them!

So, what's all that about you ask?

We are planning on running a game at Fall-In this year based on the battles on and around the airfield at Sidi Rezegh!

I've written a few special rules, so this won't be 'straight up' Flames of War; however it should be very interesting.

So, bear with us as we paint and prepare. Once we have the terrain built, the tanks, guns, infantry and all painted 'good enough' to game with, we'll be taking some photos of our 'test' games. We want to achieve a bit of balance so that no one has a complete wipeout.

That's our story, and we're sticking to it!

Meanwhile, have a look at the map below; imagine the confusion as multiple divisions attacked, poorly coordinated, while the New Zealanders dug in and attempted to defend their gains.

The Sword and the Flame in Africa

Bwana Bill has managed to get me hooked on this great game. I bought some figures last year at Fall-In, but hadn't been able to get to them yet.

This last week, I grabbed eight lads out and whipped out a quick paintjob on them. They are painted as Highlanders. I'll tell you, the sound of pipes just gets my blood boiling! 'Ave at 'em lads!

The Highlanders will be attacking (or defending?) tonight in another Fort Halai scenario. It seems the Zulus got the better of it last time, so we are adjusting the unit structure a bit.

The 17th Lancers will be on hand tonight, as well as the Scots, and they're "dead 'ard" lads. Perhaps with that combination, we will turn the savage tide and save the fort!

The figures were identified by Bwana Bill as Black Tree Design figures. They are wonderful little figures posed in a nice variety of poses.

If you are interested in wargaming the Victorian Era, I can also most highly recommend Brigade Games, one of my favorite suppliers. Lon is a stand up guy with great employees and wonderful service.

The Highlanders in Africa - group photos

The eight-man unit of Highlanders.



And one more unit shot, for the regimental historian. 

The Highlanders in Africa

On the march and fixing bayonet!



The Color Sergeant



Kneeling reload.



Firing on a knee and reloading on the move. 

More Action from Fort Halai

Fort Halai (continued)

More action from the Fort Halai scenario

Fort Halai Scenario

I have been feeling a little frustrated lately with the lack of good Zulu War scenarios at my disposal. So until Mark Fastoso and Roy Jones start selling their new scenario book, I have been improvising. I took Mark's scenario book on the Italians in Abyssinia (Ethiopia) and adapted one of the scenarios for Brits and Zulus. This one was called the Fort Halai scenario. It worked out fairly well, I was rather pleased with it. A group of Brits are besieged at one end of the table and a relief force is trying to cross the length of the table to reach them. In the group of photos below the Zulus are seen launching their first attack on the redoubt which was fairly easy to capture. Then we see the first attacks on the relief force. In the last picture we see King Cetshwayo (in the leopard skin cloak) and the uThulwana regiment holed up in the rocks waiting for their chance to launch an attack.

Fighting Techniques of the Medieval World

We were asked to review this book so let me tell you a bit about it. It is a pretty thorough survey of warfare in the Middle Ages. Each chapter focuses on different eras of the Middle Ages. It talks about the major developements in weapons and tactics for each era and also discusses the major wars, campaigns, and battles. There is one featured battle for each major era that gets special treatment with a full two-page color 3D map. So far, I have only made it through Hastings and Arsuf, but it struck me that these maps would make good reference sources for any tabletop wargaming gamemaster who wants to plan out a scenario. I'll have more comments later. You have to understand that I am sometimes working on two or three books at a time. This is one of those times.

Roman Warships in Cardstock

Speaking of Roman warships, I recently discovered that Eric Hotz, the creator of the Whitewash City cardstock models, (and Larry Leadhead) has recently released a new line of 1/300 scale cardstock Roman warships. There are also some Carthaginian ships for them to fight. He is also working on a ruleset to go with them. Check them out, they look pretty good!

romanseas.com

Ben Hur Roman War Galley

Hey everybody! Sorry about being gone so long. Anyway, last weekend my son Andrew and I went to the Games Workshop "Gamesday" event in Baltimore. Every time we go up there I have to pay a visit to my favorite ship model that is on display along with a whole lot of other very nice ship models in the Baltimore Convention Center. This one is very special because it is a movie star! This same model was just one of the many ship models used in the epic movie Ben Hur! It is astounding to see how big it is! It must be about 12 feet long. Apparently this one was found rotting away somewhere and it was nicely restored and put on display in the convention center about 20 years ago. Pretty cool huh? That naval battle scene in Ben Hur was magnificent! You couldn't do it better even with modern CGI! Don't you agree?

WARMACHINE Army and basic book for sale on eBay: SOLD

UPDATE: SOLD!!!

A lucky eBayer got around $300.00 worth of lead, mostly painted, for a song! Congrats to the buyer, and I'll keep you posted on the status of my donations/tourney.

In the time it took for me to list and sell this, something has come up that may preclude me from attending the Army Emergency Relief charity Tournament. I still intend on donating to AER so that at least one young warrior can play! :-)

Original Post Starts Here:

Yup, I'm done with WARMACHINE. I'll just say it's personal reasons.

So if you are interested in getting a pretty much painted army, this is a great opportunity. If you've looked at the lovely models in WARMACHINE and wondered about the game, this is your chance to jump into the game for a song!

If you use the 'Buy Now' option, for $250.00, U.S., you will get THREE full units - Temple Flameguard, Deliverers and Zealots. You'll get two versions (different paint jobs) of Kreoss - one of the most powerful warcasters in the game. You'll also get the light and heavy warjacks you see in the photos below. I'm also including "WARMACHINE PRIME" - which is the first rule book, plus the pack of colored cards - a few are missing, and the army specific power tokens. Plus, one unopened blister of the Choir Warpriest and one Choir Acolyte. You pay $10.00 U.S. in shipping - and that's it!

Buy an entire WARMACHINE Menoth army here!

What will I do with all that money???

I'm going to donate a good portion of it to the Army Emergency Relief Fund.

It is my intention to donate $150.00 to AER and that way I can play in the Flames of War tourney that I blogged below. I also intend some of this money being a way for two kids who can't afford to pay their own contribution/entry fee to be given the chance to play! :-)

Go bid! or Buy Now! Get an entire army and try a new fantasy game that really does rock!

14 May 06: !!!Update!!!! I found the missing cards!!! The Faction Deck is now intact! Yeah!

Light and Heavy 'jacks 

Two Kreoss paint jobs

Monolith Bearer and a Zealot 

Deliverers

Temple Flameguards

FoW Charity Tournament 17 Jun 06, Eldersburg MD

If you live in the United States (East coast, more or less!), play Flames of War, and can make it to this tourney, I highly recommend it!

As an old soldier (getting older every day!) I can't say enough about the good things Army Emergency Relief does for soldiers every day. Please support this if you are in the area and can afford to donate to AER. Hey, if you can't make the tourney, but would still like to lend a hand to soldiers in need, please make a donation - it's tax deductible!

Further, I played in a Tourney run by these folks in the past, and it was an incredible experience, mucho fun-o; Dylan and 'company' are the best, and the game shop he and his crew support is fantastic!

Information below is from a post Dylan made to the "NVa_Flames_of_War_Group" Egroup on Yahoo.

"Full details will be posted this weekend, but I wanted to let
everyone know early about an upcoming charity tournament - all
proceeds will go to support Army Emergency Relief, which is a non-
profit organization established to support soldiers and their
dependents with financial problems. Details about AER can be found
at www.aerhq.org if you want to know more.

As for the basic tournament details...
Date: Saturday, 17 June 2006, 9:30am to 7:30pm
Venue: The Arena, located in Eldersburg, Maryland.
Format: max 48 players, 1500 points, Mid-war, 3 2.5-hour games
Meals: Lunch provided by local businesses
Entry: we are requesting a $50 donation to AER (it is tax
deductable)
Prizes: $1000 (yes, a thousand) in Battlefront miniatures, plus:
Osprey books, Avalanche Press games, Alliance Distribution games,
and additional prizes from various game manufacturers - support from
the game industry has been nothing short of incredible. Most will be
given out as door prizes, and nobody goes home empty handed.

There will also be competitive categories for, among other things:
•Best German Commander
•Best American Commander
•Best British Commander
•Best Russian Commander
•Best Italian Commander
•Best Painted Team/Vehicle
•Best Painted Army
•Best Background/Composition
•Best Young General
•Most Enjoyable Opponent
•Best Luck
•Worst Luck

Yes, we have a lot of stuff to give away! We will also be raffling
off the constructed game tables and terrain made from donated
materials - you can enter the raffle for terrain (if it can be
shipped) even if you can't attend.

If you want to come out, but aren't into the tournament scene, there
will also be a Kursk-theme mega battle, challenge tables, and pick-
ups. For those that are staying the night, we will also have various
games arranged for the day after.

If you would like to help out, but cannot make the trip, you can
also sponsor someone - there are several young local players who
would love the opportunity to play, but feel guilty about not being
able to make the donation. Please PM me if you are interested in
sponsoring. You can also send terrain materials (such as flock),
which are rapidly being expended...

Anyway, details to come when the PDF is published this weekend. If
you want to pre-register, you can make the donation at the AER
website and forward a copy of the verification message to
dylan.gould@us.army.mil or PM me for a mail address to send the
donation (or do it at a local military post).

Thanks for taking the time to read a long-winded post, and hope to
see you in June!"


Hey Look! They have a category for me! "Worst Luck"!! Wooo hoo! I have a shot! ;-)

Hope to see you there!

SGT. Warbooks

Our Trench Wars WWI Egroup just got a new member and I'm listing him under gamers resources. SGT. Warbooks looks like a good source of information for gamers! I've not bought anything yet myself but I certainly intend to do so! Pop over and have a look!

"Sniper on the Eastern Front": An Amazing Little Book

Well, I actually finished reading this book a while ago. It is a short book and very easy to read. I don't know what else to say other than it really is an amazing little book! It is an autobiography but the author didn't write it himself, he related the events to a professional writer. I was quite impressed at the level of detail in the book. The author apparently has an extremely good grasp on all his WWII experiences. I can definitely recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the history of WWII, or the Eastern Front. It is quite fascinating to see how snipers were used, not only in static position fighting, but also in open engagements. Some of the techniques the author used to sap the morale out of Soviet charges is particularly amazing. One of the most striking aspects of this book are all positively horrible things that the author witnessed. I'm talking about things that can keep you awake at night! Let me tell you, if you have ever wondered why some combat vets refuse to EVER talk about their experiences, you will begin to understand after reading this book. Did I mention that it's an amazing little book?