My Collection: Avalon Hill's Starship Troopers (1976)

Bugs Mr Rico! Zillions of 'em!

Yes, some real "old school" science fiction. The superb Avalon Hill version of Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers brought out in 1976. I didn't have my own copy back in the late 1970's when I played this the most but I managed to get a copy recently for my birthday off BoardGameGeek and for a very reasonable price. The game is in fine condition, the box which is a bit worn but perfectly acceptable. 

 

I love the artwork and feel of the game. There are some solo amendments that I will try out which I've downloaded aswell as the review in The General Magazine.

I usually played the Terrans in my adverserial games back in the day. I've virtually forgotten the rules which from memory seemed quite complex but not as so as say Squad Leader.

 

Zulu Battle Cry: Experiments for a Rorke's Drift Scenario

I'm exploring how to get a good representation of Rorke's Drift for Battle Cry and have been considering counters and miniatures. I do have some 6mm Zulu War British and Zulus, largely unpainted that I could use. Here I have taken my C&C Ancients board and hex tiles and set out the dispositions of the opposing forces.

I like the look of the arid board and hex tiles. What I need are tiles which show the Buildings and defensive perimeter. I might paint and then draw on some walls / sandbags or perhaps create some cardboard buildings, or see if there are any top downs I can print out. 

Concerning figures I was thinking of utilising 1/72 scale plastics which would give me more of a skirmish level look. The Hat ones look good. 

Siege style games are always a favourite genre for me and I'm looking at recreating the Alamo and a medieval castle siege. 

The cat decided to defend it's stronghold when it was time to put my C&C game away!

Hold the Line: Frederick's War: Battle of Chotusitz

Frederick the Great’s second victory over the Austrians in a confused ‘encounter battle’. This was played using my home made unit counters and the Hold the Line mapboard and tiles for the AWI.

Tank on Tank in 3D

Here is my version of the Tank on Tank boardgame using miniatures and some 3D terrain additions. I really liked the visual look it gave and this made the simulation a lot of fun.

 The game was between a group of German Tigers and Panzer IVs and a force of T-34 Soviets. The Germans had the edge in firepower and armour but the Soviets were more mobile.

Both sides had to secure their Objective marker by the end of the game or destroy the opposing force by the end of turn 9.

Following early success the Soviets pushed into the German half of the board and seized their objective. With a counter the by northern Panzer IV group and the two Tigers moving into support, the Soviets were fully eliminated by the end of the game. A very narrow German victory.

 

 

 A lot of fun and the cat, as always, enjoyed a good Tank on Tank encounter! 

 

My Collection: Conquistador SPI 1976

Here is my SPI Strategy & Tactics Magazine Issue #58 copy of Conquistador which recreates the 16th Century exploration and conquest of the New World (North and South America) by the major powers of Europe.

This was brought out in 1976 and was one of my earliest introductions to board wargaming way back when I started secondary school in 1977. I had many pleasurable hours exploring and carving out colonial empires. 

This is a copy I picked up from Board Game Geek a couple of years ago as I never owned my own and used a friend's at the time. I still plan to purchase the Avalon Hill version as it includes a mounted board and box but it's not on my priority list.

The game map is covered with tables and charts which is very retro but I still like it's overall scope and rules mechanics. I'm toying with solo rules mechanics to allow me to play a multi-power conflict. 

 

Memoir'44 Battle of Wake Island

This is one of my favourite scenarios for Memoir'44. A good old dash up the beach by the Japanese. The special rules work very well here and give a nice period feel.

If the Japanese get enough troops onto the beach their assault is almost bound to win. The Marines need to keep them away from their positions. Not easy and I've never had a US victory. 

Bushido cat helped out!

Memoir'44 Russo-Finnish War: Suomussalmi December 1939

I played an excellent game of Memoir'44 using my Finnish ski troops for the first time. The setup looked like this.

The Finns started aggressively against the Russian positions but were repulsed. After a steady pickup of medals through attritional hit and run attacks by the ski troops and ambushing of Russian armour it looked as though the situation had been recovered. 

 

The Soviets, however,  were getting some very favourable card draws which enabled them to expolit their superior numbers and eliminate the requisite number of Finnish units. 

A narrow Soviet victory of 6 to 4.

The usual intervention by the cat!