Trains, Planes And Milicanas

Well train tracks to be precise, being some additions to my terrain and Spanish Civil War collections I have completed over Christmas.

The Boring Bits

Airfix 1/72nd Henshel HS123 “Angelito”

Azur 1/72nd Polikarpov 1-15 “Chato”

Empress Miniatures Milicanas, Flag Adolfo Ramos

A Short And Sharp Affair

Dave came over today for the last game of 2018 at Casa Rawnsley, I decided on a small Spanish Civil War game, this would see the militias in action this time around. The Requettes got four six man squads, one with a light machine gun and the support of an army medium machine gun.
The Anarchists got three ten man squads, a Type 10 armoured truck with a turret mounted machine gun, transported on board were four Dinamiteros.
We would use the BG/BA/CoC concoction again, one D6 would be thrown for orders the Carlist force adding one for their Officer, the Anarchists would have to dice for theirs, if a 5 or 6 was rolled then they would add 1 for their officers influence.
If the truck left the road it would bog down on anything but a six, both sides had bandaras, if a squad was within 5” it could re-roll a failed rally test, the Requettes also had a religious icon which had the same effect but would also enable a squad within 5” to re-roll a failed morale test as well. The Dinamiteros if assaulting could roll two dice for their grenades and use the higher score .

The Crossroads

The Requettes started with three units on table, this was decided by rolling a D3. The title of the post will no doubt give you a clue to how the game went, despite cover a plenty it could no compensate for the uncanny amount of fives and sixes rolled by each side during the game. Both sides decided to keep in the cover of their respective walls, the truck attempted to move off road and got bogged down, both sides squads got pinned and then unpinned in turn, but the superiority of numbers finally told and the Requettes morale was reduced to 0 and the surviving icon bearer and officer fled for their lives. The Republican winning streak shows no sign of abating.

Anarchists Advance

The Requettes Wait Patiently

The Anarchists Take Up Firing Positions

The Icon Bearer Lends Moral Support, They Are Going To Need It!

Look Senor Hemingway, See How They Run

I have finally commenced painting the Moroccan Regulares, perhaps these will tip the balance in the new year.

All that remains is to wish you all...………………………….

 Merry Christmas
Joyeux Noël
Fröhliche Weihnachten
Buon Natale
Feliz Navidad
счастливого Рождества

God Jul
 Vrolijk Kerstfeest

A Bit Of This And That

Jon came over last night for a Spanish Civil War game and kindly agreed to use my rules mash up, I take the Force Morale mechanic from Chain of Command (CoC) and modify the bad things happen chart, I didn’t use the Patrol Phase last night, we did however both place one Jump Off/Deployment point, within 10” of our respective table edges. Units would begin on table when activated with a Bolt Action dice within 5” of it, in Battlegroup (BG) you get two actions so the unit can also fire if it has a target. Now when you want to deploy several units in a turn it was a little cramped so next time if there is only one deployment point I may allow units to deploy within 10”, this would be two actions so no firing.
In BG you roll for the amount of orders you can issue in a turn, with pluses for officers, I use this but following a post on a UTube AAR I translate the amount of orders to BA dice, these are then put into a bag and drawn as per BA. I cap the amount of orders at 12, if you roll a natural 12 then this triggers a random event, for these events I used the BG chit ones.
Movement, firing etc is as per BG in the main and I add SCW flavour with things like the Foreign Legion being aggressive troops so can add one to the dice score when testing to enter close combat, last night the International Brigades got plus one to their Force Morale score, to reflect that capture wasn’t a preferred option.
You can bring on units or not as you wish, but if you bring your platoon commander on with squads still off the table they will need to pass an Experience Test (BG) to come on.
It turned out to be a cracking game, very nip and tuck to the very end. The Nationlist force morale got down to 4 the Republics then stood at 8, you reduce the number of orders you can issue when your force morale drops below 5. Before you knew it the Republics morale was down to four also, tense stuff, but the Nationalist resolve finally collapsed and after two hours of play quit the field.

The Field Of Battle

The Republicans Occupy The Farm

The Nationalist PAK36 Deploys

And Claims A Victim After Two Near Misses

The Republicans Occupy The Farm Outbuildings, Is That Bull A Nationalist?

A Legion Squads Protects The Flank

The Legion Engage The Enemy In The Farm

They Return Fire

VICTORY! Juan Blanco Raises The Flag After A Hard Fought Battle

Another SCW game when Dave pops to OHQ for last game of 2018.

Hasta La Vista

A Hill In Spain?

A few months ago I started to re purpose an old escarpment that we used for the Back of Beyond game we took on the show circuit, I adapted a Chinese fort we used for the game to sit on top. Dave had given me some surplus buildings from his palazzo build but I could not see where to utilise them with the way the castle sat on the hill so the project had stalled. Then a couple of weeks ago Pat posted pics of his hill top village build, suitably inspired, and with sitting down for figure painting time curtailed by a bout of sciatica, terrain I can do standing, I removed the castle and set about the hill, without the castle in situ it would be more versatile and I could  then work on the castle as a separate piece which would still fit on the hill.
Here is the result.....

With buildings.....

My latest additions to the Republican forces advance stealthily up the path....

I may extend it in due course, but will wait until Pat 's Mediterranean book is published for further inspiration and tips.

I am off to GHQ Monday for a Seven years War game and Jon is due Tuesday evening for a foray in the Spanish Civil War using my Battlegroup/Bolt Action/Chain of Command mash up.

TTFN