TMOCB Firebase additions

Having greatly enjoyed my solo TMOCB games I've started to build some stuff for the Firebase variation of the game. It would be a big effort to make a whole firebase so I've started off with some of the things I don't have alternate (but not that great) items from my CoC collection I can use for now.

First up some bunkers made from DAS clay after watching this tutorial on YouTube:

Command Bunker

A Medical Bunker

A Mortar Position

Finally a Helipad

I think they came out okay but they were quite hard to make, one thing the video glossed over (or maybe I didn't pay enough attention!) was that the individual layers of sandbags separated when the clay dried in places  making the end product a bit fragile. I still need an accommodation bunker, an 105mm gun position and a latrine area to complete the interior of the base.

The firebase game includes units of NVA Sappers so I bought some from Elhiem and based them two to a base to distinguish them from the regular NVA units. The ones on the left have Bangalore torpedoes, on the right mixed weapons:

For the Americans you need two 105mm guns and some mortars, the guns are from Britannia while the crew are from Elhiem again:

From what I have read both sides regarded evacuating their wounded and removing their dead from the battlefield of great importance and this is reflected in the rules where if you don't evacuate your casualties morale will fall and you give victory points to the opposition. So far I've used counters to mark losses, now I have some suitable figures from Britannia:

I also bought a few more 'personality' type figures for the Americans, these are from Elhiem. Left to right a new platoon commander, an artillery liaison officer, Colonel Kilgore, a reporter (aka Dennis Hopper) and a Corpsman:

Finally for no real reason at all (so far) I added a Sampan from Britannia Miniatures. It is a nice simple model and might provide some scenery perhaps similar to the Apocalypse Now patrol boat I bought earlier:

The Vietnam collection has expanded way beyond my original expectation and I've enjoyed painting and playing with them so much so that another order has already gone in to Britannia for a few more things!

ADLG Early Imperial Romans v Gauls

In my third post-lockdown game at the club my Early Imperial Romans took on Simons Gauls (though I was expecting Ancient British and will refer to them as such from now on!).

The two armies face off:

Roman Auxilia move into the plantation to hold the left flank:

The British storm forwards on their right where they can make their numbers tell:

Legionaries await the onrushing warriors:

A rare view from the British lines. The Emperor Claudius can be seen watching carefully from his tent:

The British attack the Auxilia in the plantation. One unit is killed and the second takes two hits. Not a good start for Rome:

The two lines clash! The Romans will need to break through quickly as their left flank is crumbling away rapidly:

On the Roman right there is better news as they drive the Britons back:

The Legion starts to cut through the British infantry creating gaps and exploiting them:

Much of the British line has been wiped out but the Romans have lost many support troops:

The British army breaks. One Roman cavalry unit needs to hold on for the Romans to survive. The gap between the British chariot and infantry unit bottom left shows that it failed to do so resulting in a mutual destruction!:

Another enjoyable game, at first I thought Simon would win quite easily after demolishing my left flank (commanded by a General who lost every unit he stood next to in the game one after another!) but the Legions cut through the warband quickly helped by the comedy mixed elephant and camels unit which accounted for a few more elements and some very accurate shooting from the sole unit of Roman archers.

MWWBK Austro-Americans v Boxers

Gordon and I were both keen to try out our new forces for MWWBK so I brought along my Austro-American force to use against Gordon's Boxers. I was especially looking forward to seeing Gordon's Tiger men in action!

The first scenario we played was "It's awfully quiet out there...." which saw the Allies ambushed by the dastardly Boxers while marching peacefully through the Chinese countryside:

The allies take up a defensive position as the Boxers rush forwards. The US Marines don't seem to understand what is happening and fail to move:

The Marines finally decipher the Austrian plan and fall into line:

Tiger men (on the right) and irate university students (on the left) rush through the village to attack the foreigners:

Allied fire slows the rush of the Boxers somewhat though return fire from Chinese Imperial rifles has pinned the Austrian MG:

The Tiger men charge home!

Many Austrians are cut down by the mad Tiger rush, the survivors fall back:

The Tiger men follow up into the second Austrian sailors unit!:

This time the Austrians hold steady and throw the Tiger men back:

The university students join the attack. The remainder of the Boxers have been held back by American and Austrian fire:

Boxers charge the US Marines:

The Marines fall back. The situation is looking desperate for the Allies as the MG crew has been shot down as well:

Much reduced in numbers the surviving Austrians and Americans hold on and the Boxers withdraw:

The next scenario we played was 'To the last bullet' where the Allies have to withdraw to a fortified farmhouse and hold until relieved:

The US Marines and the first Austrian sailors unit withdraw, the second unit of Austrian sailors however fails to move and faces the Boxer horde alone:

The second unit of sailors flees ignominiously leaving just the first unit defending the farm and the US Marines in close order defending the right:

Boxers dash forward to drive the foregin devils out:

Boxers nattily attired in red outfits:

The Boxer attack is rather piecemeal allowing the allies to pick on a couple of Boxer units:

The red Boxers approach the farm but have taken heavy losses. The hard cover provided by the farm is keeping Austrian casualties to a minimum:

The yellow Boxers move up past their red comrades while the Tiger men attack the US Marines:

Despite scoring eight hits out of twelve in the melee the Marines lose the fight and are almost wiped out!:

All that is left of the allied force is the one unit of Austrian sailors holding the farm. Much reduced in numbers they hang on beating back all attacks and surviving considerable Chinese fire until the relief force arrives:

The final scenario we played was 'Seek and Destroy' where the allies have to destroy a Chinese village:

The Austrian artillery opens up on a building while the Austrian sailors advance to demolish a second building:

The sailors start attempting to pull the building down. In the distance the Boxers race forwards to save the village:

The first building is destroyed by shellfire:

The sailors pull down the second building but are about to be engulfed by the Boxer horde:

The red Boxers push the sailors back killing several of them:

The yellow Boxers finish off the survivors! The US Marines have also fled leaving just the Austrian gun and the second unit of sailors still in action:

The surviving Austrians fire as fast as they can and cut down many of the Boxer horde:

Tiger men charge the sailors cutting them down:

All that remains is a single Austrian gunner! The Boxers have the day this time:

Three really enjoyable games and it was great to see Gordon's fantastic looking Boxer army on the table. The Tiger men were even more cute in reality than their pictures and in general lived up to their name getting into action in every scenario and generally doing well.

The rules work well enough, though the effect of having a poor officer (and many of them are poor) can be quite disastrous especially for the regular armies which have few units. All the games were fairly close and casualties on both sides were considerable. It's the sort of game I wouldn't want to play every week but is great fun now and then so I'm sure the Austrians and Boxers will meet again.