Hordes in the Trenches

Secondhand Lions Go "Over the Top" in 

Hordes in the Trenches

Welcome fellow wargamer to the table-side chat of the Secondhand Lion's Thursday night game of World War One.  We used 1/72 scale WW1 minis and the great rules variant for Hordes of the Things set in the time of the Great War.  Listen to the skies overhead and hear the drum of aerial engines as the brave soldiers eye deep in hell look to the front and the mist to see if there is an attack.  The above image shows Field Marshal Van Pelt's quadrant of the front.  The German command had anchored in this trench awaiting a push by the Canadians across no man's land.  

In the distance feint shapes emerge as the Canadians advance.

The command bunker calls in coordinates for a barrage.  The right flank is held by field marshal Haworth.  His artillery is exploding in fury as the mechanical clank of a tank can be heard approaching our trench.

A roar of men shouting and machine gun fire announces the advance of general Wilkowski's force.

General Carr takes the high ground.  A wary commander that wanted to see the effect of the newfangled tank contraption would watch this fight from the heights of hill number 1.  The wires were abuzz with none too complimentary comments back to headquarters about the unreliability of the beast to lumber forward and cause all the claimed destruction.

A view from the cockpit of the Fokker.  Poor bastards are getting gassed down there in the trenches.  You could always tell by that color of smoke...

The assault washes against the trench line like a bloody tide.  This would not be the day that the Germans gave up one foot of ground.

A fly by near the command bunker...

Hold the line boys.  Here we have a rifle company and a sturmtruppe with air support stopping the Canadian advance.

A view from the other side.

The trench seemed a tough nut to crack.  Even with only 1/6 of the wire emplacements.

The Canadian general sounds the retreat call.  Victory for the Germans.

The figures in today's blog are part of the collection of Ken Van Pelt.  The rules were Hordes in the Trenches variant for Hordes of the Things.  We had a  fun evening of sorting out how this game works and what we want it to look and play like.

Cheers.  Clicking images will make them viewable

Bob Wire Entanglements in Hordes in the Trenches

My friend Bob showed me how to make this wire entanglement for 1/72 scale WWI wargaming.  So how do you make Bob wire?  Well the photo slide show below is how I made 6 feet of the stuff for my upcoming Hordes in the Trenches game.

Here we have some barbed wire.

 Looks pretty real.  Each of the sections is based on a 20mm x 60mm cardstock base.

The wire sections are made by rolling a single thread of screen wire around a dowel and then slide it off and glue into place on the barbed wire fence posts section.

You need to mass produce these because it is easier to work in great bulk when creating this stuff.

Here is a section with the wire added.

The wire is a single strand of mesh aluminum screen that you will need to cut from a screen with a pair of scissors.

That's the stuff there.

Cut from this stuff here.

I originally thought that cutting all I would need first would be to my benefit.  Not so.  I got a lot of strands out of this hairball but the stuff works just like the real thing and becomes entangling very quickly.

You will have better success if you flock your stands of wire first so that the final assembly is just gluing the wire in on top of the fence post and the terrain flocking.

This is my WWI flocking recipe for gravelly dirt and stone.  Also you can see my fence post sections taped together to make a mass assembly.

That's how you do it.  These have all been primed grey with flat grey metal primer from Waldonia.

Here is my recipe for flocking cement.  I use white glue and an acrylic paint.  Mix it and apply with a large acrylic brush.

This is how I made my fence posts.  Some are deliberately askew to give a more realistic presentation.

Here is a close up.  I made the fence posts by cutting up bamboo skewers and some wooden dowels.

Hot glue these onto your base cardstock and then prime, flock and add wire.

That's how I made Bob's wire.

Full Sail in the Lion's Den

Ahoy, jolly tars!

Slip the anchor and set sail with none other than William Azure and Rubidenus Fuchia on board the Huntress in tales of high adventure on the open ocean....

Cut. Cut. Cut.  Look we're working with a skeleton crew here and this has to happen just right.  Budgets tight and we need to get this all in one shot so look alive.

Action...

Scene IV 

...opens with the sound of roaring surf and the creak of a ship's rigging.  The Secondhand Lions have captured Lion's Port and turned it into a pirate haven.  The governor has retreated inland and the cane field slaves have burned a lot of the farms and settlement.  The island is a cacophony of crazed drunken depredation.  Seeking to make a mad dash into fame the pirate brethren have crewed two ships and make plans to set sail into the shipping roads outside of Lion's Port.  On the eve of the voyage more than half of the crew were no-shows (snowy weather kept them at home) and had to be trundled into the hold of the Gimlet.  The Huntress, was re-crewed by Captain William and Lt. Rubidenus.  The two adventuring ships set sail into the great wide open only to find a full scale naval war going on.

The British fleet had arrived at Lion's Port, escorting three heavily laden merchants and the French fleet had arrived bent on retaking Lion's Port.  The newly named Gimlet had a stunty captain at the wheel who had to have a barrel lashed before the wheel just to see over the poop deck.  Using a strategy of cunning and panache the little dwarf keenly commanded his little flotilla past the British ships to safety - only then turning twitchy and opening fire on the merchants with a black flag flying on the breeze.

The French and British fleets beat at each other.  The winds of war would declare this day for the French.  The British forced the capitulation of two French SOL, but failed to secure either and fell prey to losing one ship, the Queen to the French.

The full table view showing the player character ships in the foreground, the merchants to the fore left, British fleet in the middle ground and the French in the distance of the background.

 Great game with stalwart regulars of the Lion's Den wargames club.

The fall of the Queen to captured and struck French ships.

Tune in next time when we here Dwalin the Dwarf say.

""Damnation seize my soul if I give you quarters, or take any from you."."

How Robots Will Change the World - BBC Documentary

Samurai Robot Battle Royal. What your Artificial Intelligence knows now.

Khorigate IV. 90mm Action Figure Imperial Guard versus Ork.

After action report for the science fiction campaign game Khorigate IV.

By Ted Conn

The first battle was fought using the Sci-fight rules set and ended in an Imperial Guard victory.  Battles 2,3,4 were fought using a modified set of rules based on the original simple war-game rules from the Featherstone era.  Only in battle two did the Orks have a decisive victory.  Battle Five was the closing chapter of the Sector XII First Wave fights and ended with another Imperial Guard victory.

"Sir, Lt. Danislav is here."

  "Bring him in, Private."

  Lt. Dan walked into the Commander's office, clearly uneasy.  He shifted nervously from foot to foot, awaiting the Commander to speak first.  Commander Romanov took his time, savoring the younger officer's lack of discipline.

  "Lt. Danislav.  I presume you have a detailed account of yesterday's fiasco?!  The ambush squad suffered heavy casualties from the Orc scum.  Orcs!  Guardsman should not fall to lower life forms!"  He visibly calmed himself lest he look like the one without self-control.

  Lt. Dan gulped and fought down his angst.  "Sir, we proceeded as per the plan to the ambush coordinates.  As you know from the intel we received, we did not know which way the Orcs would bolt when they were attacked.  Commandant Antonov positioned his men and material to block off all avenues of escape, but we did not expect the ferocity of the Orcs."

  Romanov interrupted, practically spitting out his words, "Ferocity?  Ferocity!  Lest you forget, we are the ferocious ones, not the low-life Orc scum!  We are Imperial Guard!  You are telling me that uncivilized, unclean vermin took you unprepared?!  Preposterous!"

  Lt. Dan's face flushed.  Was it anger or embarrasment?  "Yes, sir.  Those "vermin" took out Bravo Company with nothing other than axes, teeth and swords.  I was the only survivor and that was only due to being trapped beneath the mound of bodies in the press of the attack.  From all reports, Alpha Company fared no better.  They only had one survivor from what turned out to be a rather intense firefight in the western section of the ambush vector."

  Romanov made a short chopping motion with his hand.  "And the tanks?  What happened to them?  Both the heavy and the medium were totally destroyed.  Need I mind you that we are supposed to win this planet?"

  "As you say, sir.  The heavy tank was destroyed at the beginning of the ambush.  The medium tank stayed in the fight for quite a while and prevented HQ and Delta Company from being overran.  We did manage to knock out two mobile artillery units and two medium tanks during the exchange as well as eradicate all their forces.  We even managed to kill one of their Warp Entity."

  "Report on the Walker.  We've heard that it acquitted itself well in the ambush?"

  "Yes, sir!"  LT. Dan warmed to the topic, almost forgetting who he was addressing.  "The Walker held the far western flank of the ambush site and was a tide-turning force on the field.  Reports from Charlie Company indicate that it took a salvo in the chest from the remaining mobile artillery unit, which caused it to temporarily shut down.  Fortunately, the Orcs were too stupid to take advantage of this, allowing the Walker to restart.  It managed to tread over most of an Orc fire team and wounded another of the Orc companies enough for Delta Company to finish it off.  All in all, sir, we lost Alpha and Bravo Companies and portions of Charlie and Delta.  Unfortunately, Commissar  Antonov was poorly positioned within his HQ and sustained a debilitating wound from a missile attack.  As you said earlier, we also lost the heavy and medium tanks."

  "And Orc losses?"

  "We counted at least three rifle companies and one blade grut company in addition to the Warp Demon's HQ and the aforementioned tanks and mobile artillery."

  "Well, killing the demon is worth something.  Very well, Lt.  You are dismissed."

  Lt. Dan saluted and turned to leave.

  "Lt., one more thing.  Take yourself over to the Sergeant Master and tell him you are to receive twenty lashes for cowardice."

  "S-sir?"  Lt. Dan blurted, "Why?!"

  "If you were a true Guardsman you would have committed yourself fully to the battle and died trying your damnedest to avenge your brethren.  Instead, you laid in a pool of dead bodies until you were rescued.  Feel lucky I don't have you shot by firing squad!"

  Lt. Dan saluted again and turned to leave, wondering amazedly how humans sometimes differed very little from Orcs...

Fire in the Cane Fields

Lion's Port Act III

 

The slave revolt of Lion's Port erupted from the cane fields this last Thursday evening in a 54mm G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T. wargame for the Secondhand Lions.

The British controlled port was a strategic location in the commerce trade of the Caribbean.  The adventuring sea dogs of the Secondhand Lions have been causing quite a stir in the port with several gaming adventures to their credit and would add a flame emblazoned chapter this fine evening.

Governor Gwyyn Kell Uhl calls out the militia to quell the slave and Carib uprising.  The tramp of military boots echo past the admiralty building.  Off to the bush to have at those insurrectionist peons.

The officer shouts, "hold this crossroad and don't let the slaves into Lion's Port proper."

The crew of the Hotspur is ordered into action to bolster the militia.  They inadvertently leave the dockyard slightly undermanned. 

Musketry erupts from the cane field tree line. "who gave those bastards guns!!!!"

The Carib threat emerges from the far left flank of the attack.

"Steady lads.  Your the best damn regiment in the islands.  Hold your fire until they make a show."

Chaos ensues and the Caribs wash over the walls like high tide.

Back at the cross roads the militia is anticipating support from the Hotspur crew.

AMBUSH!  The towns tavern and dockyard has emptied out all the idle hands and ship-less crew to support the slave uprising!  Chaos in the streets of Lion's Port.

A tip of the hat to the players that evening.

The Caribs and their cane knives prove to be formidable.  They continue their onslaught against the militia.

The survivors flee the crossroads district.

Meanwhile, some player characters listen in earnest to the sounds from outside the admiralty jail.

The multicultural throng of mayhem boils in the streets.

Admiralty house is under siege!  And capitulates.

The Hotspur is taken by a dwarf and the sea dogs of the Secondhand Lion's.

 

Tune in next time for

 

The Cruise of the _______________

A Search for the Leader