I have been working on armies for Wars of Orcs and Dwarves. I have hobbits, orcs, some humans, and goblins. My goblin forces are primarily made of Ral Partha Legacy old school goblins like the ones I had in high school. I have chosen to paint them in AD&D yellow instead of GW green. I wouldn’t have tried that without Iyanden Yellow Contrast paint.
Ral Partha Legacy old school goblin imps with hand weapons.Another viewRal Partha goblins with swords. Note the red shield decorations.A side view.The rear view showing the red capes to match the red shield decorations.
I finished these figures last weekend, but I just got around to flocking them last night.
While I was painting the two units of goblins over the weekend, I finally finished this unit of ducks I had been working on for weeks.
A unit of duck militia with mixed weapons.I think I will allow two bases to shoot, since here are some bows and spears mixed in the group.
When I started working on Wars of Orcs and Dwarves (WOOD), I found that I had very few fantasy figures, as I prefer historical games in general. So, I started on my journey to create several “brigades” of hobbits, orcs, and goblins for WOOD. I completed the hobbit army some months ago. To complete the orc army, I needed some artillery. After posting to The Wargames Website, which is a wonderful alternative to the troll-infested Miniatures Page, I received some good suggestions.
This weekend I completed two “artillery pieces” for the orcs.
A war engine from manufacturer unknown. Note that my orcs and goblins are painted in AD&D yellow instead of GW green.This engine was a gift from my buddy, Dave Wood. It was partially painted, but I reprised it and started over.
This piece will be mounted on a 4″x4″ base like large creatures. It will melee like a large creature in WOOD, but it will fire like a catapult.
When I saw this figure, it just cracked me up. The cyclops giant troll think has a catapult on his back and appears to be launching orcs or goblins at the enemy.I like the guy on top getting ready to be launched.My wife liked all the arrows stuck in the catapult.I think this would get your attention.
Dave will be using my figures to run a WOOD game at the Recon convention in April in the Free State of Florida. I can’t wait to see these guys on the table.
American infantry destroy a Japanese tank by close assault.
In preparation for Recon 2022 in Orlando, FL, in April, I have been play testing a scenario set in the Philippines prior to the surrender. I have tweaked the scenario after each instance, and I think it will make a good fight at the convention.
The scenario involves an American infantry platoon defending a bridge across a stream. The Japanese are advancing. The Americans initially have three under-strength squads, an anti-tank gun, two .30 cal. water-cooled machine-guns, and a command element. A fourth squad and an M3 Stuart arrive as reinforcements. The Japanese have four full-strength squads, two Type 95 Ha-Go tanks, and a command element.
The American side of the table.The Japanese side of the table. The Japanese forces start 18″ from the rear edge of the table.
The Japanese start 18″ from their table edge. For every 18″ that they advance across the table, the Japanese receive five victory points. The tanks do not accrue these points, only the infantry. It is only necessary for one infantryman to advance 18″ to get the five victory points, but this is measured at the end of the game. They cannot dash forward, get points, and then get killed. They have to be alive at the end of the game. The Americans receive five points for knocking out a tank. Both sides receive one victory point for each enemy soldier who is incapacitated. The thought is that giving the Japanese points for ground will encourage them to advance. The game ends after three hours of play, which can be a variable number of turns.
The first time I ran the scenario it was a blowout for the Japanese. I thought that was because I didn’t leave enough fields of fire for the Americans. In the second running, I added a couple more hills to enable the Americans to fire over the foliage at the stream. I also broke up the foliage on the American right to give them fields of fire. The second instance was closer, but still a decisive American victory. I want it to be more of a nail biter. For Recon, I will add a fourth American squad that enters the table and let the Stuart enter earlier.
When the Americans lose five figures, the fourth squad enters from their rear table edge. This should enforce some level of defense in depth. When ten figures are killed, the Stuart enters the table. In both instances of the scenario the Americans defended far forward and had no reserve, so it felt very much like a hard crust and a soft interior. I had envisioned the Americans firing from advanced positions to disrupt the Japanese and then withdrawing to a second line of defense. Retrograde operations are difficult to conduct in real life and also hard on the tabletop.
Below are some pictures from the play tests.
American infantry close assaults and knocks out a Japanese tank. In the first instance of the scenario, the American anti-tank gun missed three times, so it came down to the infantry to knock out the tanks with grenades.The handsome and debonaire game master.Early in the scenario.Japanese initial dispositions.Early in the game. You can see a portion of the American deployment.The Japanese are starting to take casualties.You can see a satisfying amount of death and mayhem as the Japanese push across the stream.
I am pretty happy with the look of the table. The roads are from Battlefield Terrain Concepts (BTC). The stream is from Deep Cut Studios and is made of mouse mat material. The bridge is an old Hovels model, I think. The trees are a mix of BTC, flea market finds, cake decorating trees, and bamboo from Amazon. The cloth is a fleece blanket I had printed with a high-resolution image I purchased on DriveThru.
The stream is fordable as rough terrain. You can’t really tell in these pictures, but there are a lot of hills under the fleece.
If you live near Florida, come to Recon and give this scenario a try.
I am interested in the Philippines in the early part of WWII. I commissioned Steve Barber to sculpt some figures for the period to supplement the between-the-wars figures from Pulp Figures. I have also recently ordered the Philippine scouts from Brigade Games. Now I am in search of historical rather than “typical” scenarios. To that end, I found a bunch of good books that have arrived. Like when I became interested in the Mexican-American War, I will binge read bout this period. I hope to find enough scenarios to make a good scenario supplement for Combat Patrol(R). I am sure there are more, but here are the ones in my reading queue. I am hoping they provide a source of scenarios for Bataan before the surrender as well as the guerrilla war. I didn’t realize there were so many guerrilla commanders in the Philippines or how many of them went on to be founding member of US Army Special Forces.
