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!

Command & Colours Napoleonics: Waterloo

I wanted to setup the Waterloo scenario from the base game. This took a while but it was worth the effort. I was trying to finalise a setup style of arranging the blocks based on what, to me, gave the best look and feel of a Napoleonic battlefield.

The first view was spaced out blocks like those shown in the game rules booklet.

The second setup appealed to me more. This involved bringing the individual blocks together so that they formed single consolidated blocks. This has the advantage of speeding up setup and maintaining unit integrity as manipulating a consolidated group is easier than keeping a spaced formation of blocks.

In the end it's all down to personal preference but since I play solo I don't have to worry about pleasing my opponent!

Memoir' 44 Breakthrough Scenario: Battle of Alam el Halfa - August 30 - September 07, 1942

Here is the setup for a Breakthrough scenario recreating this portion of the epic El Alamein battle. It used virtually all my British and German figures and tanks.

These are the initial dispositions for Montgomery's forces showing a strong defensive line protected by extensive minefields and sandbags lining the ridges and dunes. The tanks were used in an anti-tank role and ordered not to venture out and engage the German armour which is interesting. This worked historically.

Some close ups show the railway line next to the coast with three victory tokens for the Germans to seize if they make it that far.

A top down of British units along the ridgeline.

The cat engaged in some nightime operations. I was unsure whether it was acting as a Rat or Fox in this game. Fickle animal!

My Collection: War of the Ring SPI (1977)

Here is an old classic that I picked up a couple of years ago to replace the missing components I had from my original Middle Earth SPI boxed game of War of the Ring and it's two sub-games Sauron and Gondor.

The map is massive and I've had to use two perspex sheets to cover it. This does have the advantage that I can place the charts and tables under the glass to the side for reference.

The box art is really cool. It shows the Bakshi movie art cover. The animated film made back in the late 1970s was a favourite of mine which I later got the DVD.

The artwork in this game is excellent and is in line with my own visualisation of the book. It's strange how you have a unique internalised vision of a world that you hold onto. This game brings this out which is nice as it has been largely blown away by the later Peter Jackson films.

I did have the maps and rules for the other two games Sauron and Gondor. I have created my own unit counters from a file stored on Boardgame Geek which allows me to play them and thereby completes my original version.