My Collection: Avalon Hill Bookcase Games

Here is my current collection of Bookcase games produced by Avalon Hill with a few of my other games publishers boxed sets to the right.

I'm currently at 14 of the Avalon Hill bookcase editions. I think my long term aim is to collect the majority of the historical simulations and a selection of the other genres. 

My latest additions were two ancients games, the first I got at Claymore for a mere £20, The Peloponnesian War by Victory Games and from Board Game Geek, again at a very reasonable price, the epic Imperium Romanum II by West End Games.

Old Figures: 15mm Traveller Miniatures (Citadel)

I think I got the entire collection of these 15mm miniatures produced by Games Workshop (Citadel). Here is one of the original box lids with superb cover art.

 The Boxed Sets covered:

Set 1: Adventurers

Set 2: The Military

Set 3: Ship's Crew

Set 4: Citizens

Set 5: Aliens

I'm going to use them with my Snapshot deckplans and also the Boarding Action SciFi Rules I've been developing for the larger Space Crusade / Space Hulk miniatures I already have.

Old Figures: Garage Clearout

I was going through some boxes in my garage and came across these assorted models and figures. I decided to get a visual record. They were a collection of fantasy figures used in my Roleplaying days in the late 70s and early 80s.

Fantasy cat!

 Boo!

The figure at the front was one of my old favourites. I called him Thingol Greycloak my Half Elf Fighter-Magic User-Cleric - AD&D 1st Edition.

One Hour Wargames: Harper's Point ACW Game

I setup a game I'd played as a scenario a few years ago called the Battle of Harper's Point. This time it was to be fought using the ACW OHW rules with the various modifications I'd made to account for unit morale and infantry charges. I also use Commanders that can rally units. A new rule addition I introduced was unit activation where each unit prior to movement or firing has to roll 2D6 and based on their morale rating, accumulated casualties and the presence of leaders will perform their actions at various levels of effectiveness.

The Union forces were deployed to the north with the Confederates arriving along the turnpike to the south. The deployments were more than the standard six units per side with over ten units on the Union side against a marginally smaller Rebel force.

The Union were to advance over the farmland beyond Harper's Point and try to seize the village and surrounding homesteads.

The other side of the battlefield had more broken terrain with a wooded area and several hills bordering the narrow river that meandered past the village.

My Collection: Waterloo Wargame (1975)

The old Airfix Waterloo Wargame, apart from Campaign which modelled a strategic level conflict, was the first battle simulation I played as a youngster that wasn't a miniatures wargame. When you think of it, it was quite a ground breaking concept of using miniatures combined with board game mechanics while being played out on a map representation of the battlefield.

I always loved the look of it and it really captured a ten year old's imagination. I'm missing the rules and basing instructions and also the historical notes but I've found scans on the Vintage Wargames site which I'm going to download and print out.

The miniatures required a bit of rebasing as my copy had been rather neglected until I tried to resurrect it recently. Still WIP as I've had to substitute a couple of French figures and need to get a better match of blue to blend in. The transfers on the bases are also a bit worse for wear so I might print out some new stickers and replace them. I will see how the time goes. I really wanted to bring the game back to life. It's probably had it's day as a competitive wargame but I might give it a try solo. I certainly adored it when I got it for Christmas - a schoolboy's dream.

My Collection: Escape from Colditz (1973)

Here is my ancient Parker Games version which I got either as a birthday present or for Christmas the year it was published in 1973. This and my Campaign board game provided a staple of gaming in the mid 1970s to compliment my Airfix plastic wargaming ventures.

The box is pretty battered and I've had to make some recent repairs. The internal components are all in good condition for the age. 

The board is really quite beautiful with an elegant and clear design. The 3D view provided a very atmospheric and immersive feeling. You felt you were climbing the walls with your lengths of rope or burrowing under the ramparts in the escape tunnels. 

The cards are a bit worn and certainly look well used - the shoot to kill security card is especially creased and dog-eared! 

The coloured pawns are all wooden and very nice. I'm only missing one brown and one green. In fact this and the original dice are the only missing components which is pretty good after over 40 years. 

I'm going to try to run a solo game and see how this goes. This can show me where we I need to introduce some solo variants. Creating an AI response mechanism for the German security officer is the obvious option but I will need to see with playtesting. I still think this game deserves play and this is validated by the recent Osprey re-issue in 2016. It's a great visual treat and hits the nostalgia button square on the head. 

Memoir'44 Science Fiction Variant

I setup a Breakthrough scenario based on the Tatsinkaya Raid between Soviet and German forces around Stalingrad in December 1942 but modified to a science fiction theme set in my Solar Union Universe, where the Andrayadan, substituting for the Soviets, attacked the Colonial Union Defence Force. 

Tanks were replaced with Walkers from my Abaddon game and Risk figures represented the infantry of both sides. 

It looked quite impressive with the massed Walkers of the Andrayadan Collective bulking over their cyborg heavy infantry, all poised to unleash devastation on their human opponents. Hurrah the Union!