Bulldogs Away Playtest

I had a moment to playtest the most recent version of David Manley's Bulldogs Away. I had played a few solo games years ago but that was the first edition and I had long forgotten whatever I had initially learned. For the playtest, I'd fight a small action loosely based off an event that likely happened in August of 2008 during the Russian invasion of Georgia. In that action, a Georgian vessel was struck by a missile fired from a Russian Nanuchka-class corvette (Mirazh). At that time the Georgians had a Type-148 Tiger class fast attack craft donated by the Greek Navy (Dioskuria) and a Matka-class missile boat donated from the Ukrainians (Tbilisi).

I don't own any Matka-class models but I do have some Nanuchkas, Type-148/La Combattante models and also Osa-class missile boats. For this scenario, a single Russian Nanuchka will face off against a Georgian Type-148 and a Georgian Osa-2. In reality, the Georgians didn't have any Osas nor did they have any missiles on the Dioskuria or the Tbilisi (yikes!). Additionally, I gave the Nanuchka the export version armament of SS-N-2D Styx missiles instead of the more modern SS-N-9 Sirens that Russian versions were equipped with. 

Here we are in the Black Sea (which looks rather blue) off the coast of Abkhazia. The pre-game setup involves determining how many "radar blips" you have. You can have more blips than ships which can cause uncertainty for the enemy as to where your actual ships are. The Russians and Georgians rolled poorly. The Russians (not visible yet) only received one blip while the Georgians only rolled for a single blip which means the Type-148 was going to be visible.

And here is the Russian Nanuchka disguised as a blip.

The Georgian Type-148 cruising the waters off the coast. The Georgians won initiative and, after a round of movement (all ships going speed-3), the Type-148 attempted to identify the Russian blip without success.

During the Russian turn, the Nanuchka revealed itself as it attempted to detect the Georgian blip which it successfully did. No ships were within range for visual identification.

The mysterious blip now becomes a Georgian "contact".

And here is a picture of the situation after the movement and detection/identification phases. The Nanuchka (lower right) has a Type-148 approaching from the top-center of the picture and a Georgian contact in upper right hand corner. 

During the missile launch phase, first the Georgian Type-148 fired off a salvo of four Exocets (white caps) at the Nanuchka. Next the Russian Nanuchka launched two SS-N-2D Styx missiles back at the Type-148. Then the Osa-2 revealed itself (not shown) and sent two SS-N-2B Styx missiles (red caps) to join the Exocets already screaming towards the Nanuchka.

The Type-148 with the two yellow caps representing the SS-N-2D Styx launched from the Nanuchka. In the future, I will make some laminated card counters to represent the missile launches.

After launch phase was completed and all missiles fired being placed on targets, it was time for the combat phase. This is where the Russians losing initiative bit them in the backside, and I will explain why: In the combat phase, the winner of the initiative gets to pick which ship they'd activate first, during the combat phase in Bulldogs Away, the active ship shoots guns at targets, fires off SAMs against incoming missiles, deploys countermeasures and fires off CIWS but then must resolve missile attacks against it. 

The Georgians had the initiative and activated the Osa-2, which didn't have any missiles launched against it. The Osa was too far out to fire off its guns but at least it didn't have to fend off any incoming salvos.

The Russians were next and they needed to activate their lone ship. The Nanuchka was facing an onslaught of four Exocets and two Styx but at least it had SAMs and countermeasures like chaff and flares to give it some defense. Unfortunately they didn't do so well. While resolving the four Exocets,  the SAMs and countermeasures failed to intercept any of the incoming. Two of the four Exocets found their mark.

Here is a picture of the ship templates after resolution of the first Exocet hit which only caused some very light damage. The SAM system was KO'd but everything else was still operational. The good luck didn't last long as the second Exocet slammed into the Nanuchka causing critical damage. A roll of the different systems and weapons revealed that pretty much every system was destroyed: the fire control, elctronic countermeasures, elecro-optical equipment, electronic support measures, guns, missiles, etc.  

Here is the end result. At this point, I decided to end the test game as the Russian vessel wasn't going to be doing any fighting back. Perhaps I should have resolved the Styx launches as well but I wanted to post this report first. 

After I took the snap of the Nanuchka burning, it reminded me of this image of a burning Libyan Nanuchka which was knocked out in the Gulf of Sidra in March, 1986. 

Anyway, I digress...I enjoyed the play-test. I will go back and re-read through the rules to see what I got wrong and what I got right. Each turn has a lot of phases, the combat is very violent and the ships can't take much damage (realistic). I'm hoping to paint up enough ships and get proficient enough with the rules to get in a game with my good friends Rob and Bill at the upcoming Historicon convention.

1/2400 Missile Boats

Since I have a bit of wandering eye when it comes to maintaining focus with hobby projects, I wanted to show you what I am working while tackling the Crimean War project. The photos aren't the best but here are some 1/2400 missile boats. 

From left to right we have a Nanuchka missile corvette, two Osa missile boats and two La Combattante fast attack craft. All ships are by Viking Forge. I should add that I painted all of these over a decade ago. They remained in storage until now, when I decided to base them. 

Here is another photo with the addition of a Polnocny-class landing ship which is a 3D print ordered off of eBay. I also ordered a bunch of additional ships (Komars, Osas, Sa-ar 3s and a Sa'ar 4, AT-43 minesweeper and some Soviet-era cargo ships). 

The plan is to use David Manley's Bulldogs Away rules with these ships. I believe the first edition of the rules were released around 2006 (around the same time I painted those Viking Forge ships). Since then, a second edition was released which seems a bit more detailed. I also have 1/700 small craft for the Sri Lankan civil war.

With the small collection of 1/2400 boats, I can wargame some Iran/Iraq battles, Arab-Israeli and even some hypothetical actions like Egypt/Libya, SADF/Angola and a refight of the 2008 Russian battle with Georgian Navy (in the wargame scenario the Georgian boats will have missiles to make it a bit more even).

 

10mm Crimean

In the midst of working on the 15mm Krapistan project and the 10mm Risorgimento project, I decided to veer way off course and start a 10mm Crimean War project! I had already accumulated a good bulk of the figures years before so I was able to start on a whim. For the Crimean War endeavor, I decided I was going to skip some of the details and try new painting methods to speed up the process. A few months in (with lots of pauses due to real life taskings), I have 5 infantry battalions, 2 cavalry regiments, 3 artillery batteries and some mounted generals. 

Here are two of the infantry regiments in attack column.  The figures are Magister Militum and these particular units are wearing the forage cap.

Close-up of an infantry battalion in attack column. Magister Militum gives options of great coats worn long or hitched as well as forage cap or spiked helmet. Since there is only one pose per option, its appreciated to break things up a bit. 

Some of the mounted commanders. I painted what should probably be sword knots as sashes showing the generals as members of Orders of St. Anne and St. Andrew.

Close-up of a battalion wearing spiked helmets. As mentioned, I cut some corners to paint quicker. I primed the figures in either Vallejo English Uniform or GW Zandari Dust, from there I drybrushed them with the base color mixed with Vallejo Bone White. No additional highlights were done to the infantry. After base-painting, I inked to show some depth.

Two of the artillery batteries, one in forage cap and one in spiked helmets. I have 3 batteries and may need to order some more. I used GW Contrast paints to paint the green of the artillery pieces.

Some Don Cossacks up close. Another way to speed up painting was the use of Contrast paints for the horses. I did give the riders, blankets and such some quick highlights. The flag is from Maverick Models (as are all of the rest shown in the photos).

Some Russian Hussars (Mariupol I think) in greatcoat, I really like the look of these guys. The blue and yellow contrasts nicely with the muted khaki of the coats. I thought they would be fairly easy to paint with the overcoats but that didn't seem to be the case. 

I should add that they are based for Field of Battle on 30mm square bases. I'm hoping to get around 9-10 infantry battalions and about 4 cavalry regiments with a healthy dose of artillery. The plan is to paint up a Turkish army to face off against them and ultimately paint up a British army. The photos weren't the best as lighting conditions weren't ideal, hopefully I can take some better ones in the near future.
 

Real life and Cibo's Little Dudes

The past few weeks have been a challenge for me. In late March, I suddenly and tragically lost someone very near and dear to me. It's a pain that will forever accompany and I will never be entirely whole again.

The hobby is a diversion from the challenges of real life for me, painting allows me a moment of meditation where my mind is only on the brush, the paint and the figures. I haven't painted much these past few weeks but when I have, its been a haven from the pain of the loss.

Anyway, I finished some initial units for my 10mm Risorgimento project. First up is a unit of Neapolitan line infantry. I painted them in the bigia (a fatigue shell jacket of sorts) and white summer trousers. I imagine other units will have the aquamarine trousers to go along with the blue/grey bigia.

The figures are from Cibo's Little Dudes and the flags are from Tiny Tin Troops. Very pleased with the product and service of both vendors.

Next up are some red-shirted Garibaldini. Cibo only offers one pack of  Garibaldini infantry. Luckily I don't really need any cavalry and I think I can do some conversions to make some artillery crews. I plan to order more figures to flesh out my Bourbon and Garibaldini armies and I will pick up a Papal army as well.

 

Frostgrave for a Friend

Years ago at one of the HMGS conventions, I participated in a game of Frostgrave with my friends Rob and Bill. We had a blast navigating the frozen confines of the fantasy city with our wizards and warbands. Rob and I purchased the rules and collected factions. We've played the occaisional game since but it never felt proper without Bill in the mix. Bill is more of a boardgamer (and a helluva poker player) and while he paints well, he's never really been big into the painting aspect of the hobby.

Last year I came up with the plan of using spare figures to cobble together a warband for Bill. I sneakily solicited color palette input from him then assembled the figures, purchased a wizard and apprentice (Reaper miniatures) and primed the figures. Then nearly a year of nothing. They fell to the back burner.

A few weeks ago, I was motivated to finish off the project. Finally got them complete and mailed them off to Bill as a surprise gift. You can see them below. I am looking forward to Historicon and that game of Frostgrave with my good friends Rob and Bill.

Though they no longer are mine, these figures will have alot of special meaning to me. I remember when my wife learned that these were a gift for Bill, she told me that I was a good person and good friend. She said this to me shortly before her passing and whenever I see them on the tabletop, I will remember her words.

 

10mm Risorgimento

There are certain conflicts that have long interested me: Mexican American War, Flodden, French Wars of Religion, First Schleswig War, The Boyne, etc. One other that has had my eye since a young boy was the Risorgimento, I remember flipping through the pages of the book The Soldier by Richard Humble and Richard Scollins and seeing a color plate depicting  red clad soldier of Garibaldi raising his musket in victory and that seed created the life long interest in the Wars of Italian Unification.

The book that inspired so many hobby projects. If you are a wargamer and don't have it, I highly recommend it. 

I have started (and stopped) many projects to collect, paint and wargame with toy soldier armies for the Risorgimento. Recently, I stumbled across a Swiss-based 10mm range for the conflict called Cibo's Little Dudes. The website only show's a partial range but when I contacted the owner, he provided me a catalog of a complete range filled with all of the belligerents. I placed a decent sized order via paypal for some  Garibaldini and Neapolitan Bourbons. Twelve days later, I received a small package filled with beautiful sculpts. I quickly painted up a few sample figures.

Here we have some of Cibo's Little Garibaldini Dudes. The sculpts are more on the caricature style (something that I like). Sculpting is very crisp with enough detail and the metal is high quality. They paint up nicely.

How do they compare with Pendraken? Well here is a side by side with some Pendraken French sculpts painted up as Neapolitan infantry. Roughly the same height but the sculpting style is different (Pendraken looking more anatomically correct and slighter in heft). I would say they are compatible and will look fine sharing the same wargames table (probably in separate units).

Here they are posed with some other Garibaldini I painted years ago. This older base consists of (L-R) Old Glory dismounted ACW cavalry, old style Pendraken ACW sculpt and newer French FPW Communard. 

I anticipate ordering more of Cibo's Little Dudes and I anticipate ordering more Pendraken from the same conflict. Both are beautifully sculpted ranges and I want both of them on my wargaming table...it's just a matter of painting them!

More Entrants...

I snapped the last of my photos for the painting competition and I disassembled my homemade photographic white box.  Here we go:

First up is the Revolutionary French Army comprising of 5 National Guard battalions (les Bleus), two former Royalist battalions (les Blancs), a converged Grenadier battalion, a Dragoon regiment, five bases of skirmishers and General Dumas. I will be adding to the army quite a bit...

A closeup of the converged grenadiers. I like this unit quite a bit, I will probably enter them to compete against my Austrian infantry in the pre-20th Century Foot category.

Another angle of the Grenadiers...so much bearskin!

A battalion of lowly "les Bleus", the less than steady backbone of the army.

Two battalions of former Royalist infantry. I think the next couple of battalions will have violet trim. I love me some pastels.

And what self respecting French Revolutionary army would march into battle without some clouds of skirmishers to swarm the enemy and cover the advance of the attack columns.

And that is it. Until next year, maybe those Sassanids or the 1860s Canadian militia will make an appearance in the 2024 competition!