(Partly Based on) The Fighting Around Sokolnitz at the battle of Austerlitz

An impressive display of massed rank Napoleonics in 20mm, featuring the French, Austrians and some wandering Cossack 'swarms'. The game was partially based on the figting around Sokolnitz during the battle of Austerlitz.

6mm WWII

6mm has fallen out of favour with club members, mainly due to the emergence of modestly priced 28mm miniatures in hard plastic. Nevertheless, 6mm collections have been sat in boxes, unopened, for many years, and indeed many decades! Some of these tanks were acquired 30+ years ago and are only now seeing some action on the battlefield.

Rules used were Rapid Fire Reloaded, with measurements converted from inches to centimetres. Infantry were multi-based, using small dice to indicate casualties.

I suspect that we may see some other long forgotten collections of 6mm making an appearance again over the next few months, not least because they are easy to transport and only require a smaller sized gaming board.

"The Flooers o the Forest" - Flodden, 1513

[Translation Below]

In this braw wee reficht o ane o the maist weel-kent battles ever feucht on British grund, the muckle host o James the Fowerth o Scotland cam doon tae grips wi a gallant, gin somewhat dour, army o Sassenachs, led by the Earl o Surrey. For the playin o the game we made trial o Lion Rampant, though no quite as the makers intendit, addin a wheen o oor ain notions. This, as it chanced, gae rise tae some richt extraordinary proceedings.

In the first encounter, the puir Scots were fairly haggit an hewn tae pieces in but twa turns, leavin the field strewn wi claymores, corpses an shattered pride. Yet in the second affray, Providence seemit minded tae tak anither course. Turn efter turn, aye an turn efter turn again, the slaughter raged wi nae end in sicht. The Scots flang themsels wi desperate valour at the enemy lines, but the stubborn Sassenachs stood firm as whinstane, refusin tae budge sae much as an ell.

At lang an last, the English commander, heart-sair an near scunnered wi the endless spectacle o useless bluidshed, resolved he could thole nae mair o't. Rather than continue the grim butchery, he drew aff frae the field, yieldin the sodden mosses an clart-ridden bogs o Flodden tae the ragged remnants o the Scottish host.

The few Scots left astir, blackit wi pouther-smoke, reekin wi bog-water, an led by their daft, thrawn, half-mad King, set up sic a cheer as if they had won a victory tae rival Bannockburn itsel. Sae they claimed the field, if no the glory, whilst Fortune, doucely smilin at the joke, seemit tae wink her e'e at the survivors through the haar an carnage.

In this fun refight of one of the most iconic of British battles, the Armies of James IV of Scotland met an English Army, commanded by the Earl of Surrey. We were experimenting with using Lion Rampant, with our own amendments, for this game, although this led to some strange results. 

In the first game, the Scots were massacred in a couple of turns. In the second, the slaughter went on turn after turn after turn. The Scots couldn't dislodge the English from their positions, despite many desperate attempts. In the end, the Englaish commander was sufficiently sickend by the never-ending, futile bloodshed that he decided to retire from the field, leaving the sodden bog of Flodden to the decimated Scots. The few remaining Scotsmen, including their deranged King, were surprisingly jubilant at their unexpected 'victory'.

       

Team Yankee : The Soviet Union vs The Netherlands

The Soviets managed to win this close WWIII contest. This was down to the tough-as-old-boots T80s and the (albeit late) arrival of their Sukhoi 25 strike aircraft. The Dutch Leopard 2s couldn't dent the armour of the T80s, although they did shred pretty much every other Soviet vehicle on the board.

                                                      

WWIII Team Yankee: Polish v British (A Hypothetical within a Hypothetical)

For the first time in a long time, some Teal Yankee action. In this game, we have assumed hypothetically that the Poles would have been motivated enough to have gone toe-to-toe with NATO in the mid 1980s, bearing in mind the recent history of the Solidarity national strikes and the imposition of martial law in 1980-81. We have deployed the 20th Warsaw Armoured Division (considered elite) on the basis that they may have been more up for the fight, although this is debatable.

The Poles almost won the game, if it hadn't been for a T72B fluffing an open side shot againts a Challenger. As it was, the British managed to destroy most of the Polish force in the following turn.

Even with the new dynamic points system, it is difficult to see how the Poles could have won. They only nearly won because they rolled in their reserves straight away and successfully called in their SU-22 aircraft strikes, whilst the British struggled to bring in their Challenger and Chieftain reserves.