Last year, I came to England with my family, and we had a great time.  A highlight for me was a visit to the Tank Museum in Bovington.  As with many museum visits, my family patiently put up with Bovington for a couple of hours and then kept hinting that it was time to leave.  So, I suggested that some of my wargaming buddies and I should head to England for Tankfest at Bovington and while there visits to some other military history museums.  Candy did the lion’s share of the work to pull this together.

Our first, very, very long day involved the flight to London, train to Paddington Station, and check in at our hotel.  The we took a somewhat eventful tube ride to Greenwich.  I didn’t realize how far apart the North Greenwich and Greenwich tub stops were or that we had to transfer to the DLR.  Then none of the locals could tell us how to get a bus ticket to complete the trip. So after a little floundering, we arrived at the Maritime Museum.

The Maritime Museum is free.  We spent about two hours here, and we were able to see most of what was on display.

I found this model of a WWI-era motor torpedo boat very interesting.  A few years ago I wrote a set of wargaming rules for motor torpedo boat games in WWII.  I knew there were motor torpedo boats in WWI, but I had never seen one.  I am not sure how the torpedo was launched since it is facing into the boat, but I suspect the propellors were wound up, the torpedo was dropped, and the boat veered quickly to the side.

After the Maritime Museum, we decided to visit the Cutty Sark, which was once the fastest ship in the world.

We entered the Cutty Sark in the cargo hold, visited the tween deck, walked the main deck, and visited some of the cabins.

The ship was interesting, and there were some nice informational signs.  There were no docents to help explain things or answer questions.  Unlike the Constellation in Baltimore, there was not audio self-guided tour.  At 13 GBP, I thought there would be more explanation, but it was nonetheless a worthwhile experience.

After the Cutty Sark, we stopped in a pub for dinner.  We were all beginning to run out of steam.

In an effort to get our bodies on Greenwich Mean Time, we decided to attend a play in the Globe theater in London before returning to our hotel.  We saw the Shakespearean play A Winter’s Tale.  We were all fading, so  keeping up with the rapid, Elizabethan dialog and the proper accents was something of a challenge, particularly since I didn’t know the play. Last time in the Globe I saw The Taming of the Shrew, which is one of my favorite Shakespearean plays, and I liked that better, but it is always interesting to attend a play in the Globe.

This concluded day one.  We went back to our hotel after a longish walk along the Embankment to Waterloo Station and a short train ride to Paddington.  All the old timers said they had had enough walking.  Duncan’s fit bit measured us at nearly 18k steps.

This is a reminder to being to prepare your submission for the Battle in a Box contest.

Last weekend was Cold Wars 2018 in Lancaster, PA.  Zeb Cook ran at Finland 1939 game using Combat Patrol(TM): WWII.  He was short a couple of players, so I was able to play in this game.  I had a terrific time.  It was a hard scenario for the Russians.  We had to advance across the table.

We (Russians) enjoyed some initial success on my (left) flank.  I was advancing toward the frozen river with my squad, and then I ran into a hidden squads of Finns who ambushed me.  I passed my morale checks, fired with some of my men, and then charged into hand-to-hand combat.  By the end of the game, this Finnish squad was down to two wounded figures who had gotten away and crossed the river at the bridge.

At this point, though I had crossed the stream and occupied the clump of trees, it was clear we were not going to get an intact squad off the far end of the table.   It was a very good game, and a tight scenario.  The special rules in the free Winter War supplement really added period flavor to the game.

Zeb Cook ran a zany and exciting cowboy game using the Combat Patrol(TM) Wild West supplement.  There was a lot of hottin’ and hollerin’ from that table.  I was busying running another game, so I didn’t get to participate.  It looked like a great game.  I have played some of his other Combat Patrol(TM) wild west games, and they were all very fun!

F: 215: Hold as Long as Possible (1)

Friday, 9:00 AM, 4 hrs, Players: 6
GM: Buck Surdu & HAWKS
Sponsor: None, Prize: None
Period: World War II, Scale: 28mm, Rules: Combat Patrol(TM): WWII. ItisthePhilippinesinearly1942. The Americans are retreating slowly toward Bataan. A platoon of infantry, along with a handful of Stuart tanks, must delay the Japanese as long as possible, and they make a stand around a small Filipino village. The Japanese attack with a combination of infantry and light tanks. Mayhem ensures. The streamlined mechanics of Combat Patrol(TM) allow players to fight the game, no the rules. Rules will be taught, so come and see what the Combat Patrol(TM) excitement is all about.

F: 199: Assault on Kollaa

Friday, 7:00 PM, 4 hrs, Players: 8
GM: David Cook & HAWKS
Sponsor: None, Prize: None
Period: World War II, Scale: 28mm, Rules: Combat Patrol w/ Winter War supplement

Finland, 1939. The Soviet 56th Rifle Division north of Lake Lagoda is ordered to push west and outflank the Mannerheim Line. Reeling from the attacks the Finns fall back to make their stand on the Kollaa River. Regiment JR-54 is tasked with holding at all costs. In this skirmish game, can the greatly outnumbered Finns hold back an onslaught of Russian forces or will superior Russian numbers be able to break through?

F: 391: Battle at Duivelskloof

Friday, 7:00 PM, 4 hrs, Players: 6
GM: David Wood & HAWKS
Sponsor: None, Prize: None
Period: Colonial, Scale: 25mm, Rules: Combat Patrol
Captain Hunt was killed on the raid on the Viljoen farm, and this lead to Lt. Harry “The Breaker” Morant taking out revenge on the Boers, and which lead to his execution.Will the captain be successful this time?

F: 394: The Rebs Come to Schlegel’s Ferry

Friday,7:00PM,3 hrs,Players:6 GM: Eric Schlegel & HAWKS

Sponsor: None, Prize: None
Period: American Civil War, Scale: 25mm, Rules: Combat Patrol July1864. An off shoot of Early’s raid on Washington has reached Harford County and the Rebs are looking for supplies and attempting to burn Union facilities. Local militia and a few Federal units are moving in to the area to stop them. Thisisthe2ndof5 linked scenarios involving the citizens of Schlegel’s Ferry.

F: 402: Combat Patrol TM – Star Wars

Friday,7:00PM,3 hrs,Players:8
GM: Gregory Priebe & HAWKS
Sponsor: None, Prize: None
Period: SciFi, Scale: 28mm, Rules: Combat Patrol TM
Come learn the ways of the Force or embrace the power of the Dark Side as players battle for the fate of the galaxy with the new Combat Patrol Star Wars supplement. Rules will be taught. Padawans under 14 are welcome with the participation of a playing adult.

S: 403: Combat Patrol TM – Star Wars

Saturday,9:00AM,3 hrs,Players:8
GM: Gregory Priebe & HAWKS
Sponsor: None, Prize: None
Period: SciFi, Scale: 28mm, Rules: Combat Patrol TM
Come learn the ways of the Force or embrace the power of the Dark Side as players battle for the fate of the galaxy with the new Combat Patrol Star Wars supplement. Rules will be taught. Padawans under 14 are welcome with the participation of a playing adult.

S: 201: Pay Day! A Cowboy Caper

Saturday, 1:00 PM, 4 hrs, Players: 6
GM: David Cook & HAWKS
Sponsor: None, Prize: None
Period: Western, Scale: 28mm, Rules: Combat Patrol w/ Wild West Supplement The railroad’s coming to Washout! And that means workers — and strongboxes filled with the monthly payroll. The Sackler Gang has called in their friends and plans to collect for themselves. But the railroad has gotten wind of things and has laid on extra guards. Choose your side for a gun-blazing battle of gold and glory!

S: 214: Hold as Long as Possible (2)

Saturday, 2:00 PM, 4 hrs, Players: 6
GM: Buck Surdu & HAWKS
Sponsor: None, Prize: None
Period: World War II, Scale: 28mm, Rules: Combat Patrol(TM): WWII

ItisthePhilippinesinearly1942. The Americans are retreating slowly toward Bataan. A platoon of infantry, along with a handful of Stuart tanks, must delay the Japanese as long as possible, and they make a stand around a small Filipino village. The Japanese attack with a combination of infantry and light tanks. Mayhem ensures. The streamlined mechanics of Combat Patrol(TM) allow players to fight the game, no the rules.

Last weekend we played a series of games at War Horse Farm, Sam Fuson’s house and gaming clubhouse.  I ran a Combat Patrol(TM): WWII game that was a play test of some elements of the games I will run in two weeks at the Cold Wars gaming convention.  This scenario involved a Japanese attack in the Philippines in 1941.  The Japanese had four squads of infantry a machine-gun team, and two light tanks.  The Americans had three squads, two water-cooled machine guns, an antiquated anti-tank gun, and a Stuart M-3.

In this picture you can see the battlefield.  The Japanese started at the stream, which was impassible to vehicles, but could be crossed at half speed by infantry.  The Americans were deployed in some depth along the “trail.”  In this game, perhaps counterintuitively to long-time games, the felt patches represented clearings or open ground.  The rest of the terrain was jungle with just four inches of visibility.  The Japanese objective was to get as many of their figures and vehicles as possible into the last three feet of the American side of the table.  The Americans were supposed to stop them.  The Japanese players decided that they would place their main effort on their left, because that represented the shortest distance from their starting line to the back three feet of the table.

Without first pushing infantry across the stream to make sure there was no Americans to stop them, the Japanese players advanced their tanks over the old stone bridge.

A hidden anti-tank gun opened fire, knocking out the Japanese tank with a single, well-placed shot.   It is hard to find 28mm figures for early WWII.  Most of my Americans are Pulp Figures.  The gun and gun crew are old Pass of the North from my Moro collection.  That’s why the gun crew is not wearing helmets.

While this was happening, the Japanese infantry splashed across the stream.  The Americans had placed a single water-cooled machine-gun on the small hill overlooking the stream.  It surprised the Japanese with a burst of fire, that killed the assistant gunner of the Japanese machine-gun team and forced the gunner to run for cover.

The Japanese infantry recovered quickly and swarmed over the gun team.  In this picture you can see that both the gunner and assistant gunner were stunned (black rubber bands), the machine-gun had jammed (white rubber band), and the Japanese were about ready for a bayonet charge to finish them off.

I gave a young kid on the American left an easy-to-understand mission:  “hold until the last man.”  This was the American left flank, not facing the Japanese main effort, but we needed to hold the Japanese in this area to enable the Americans to redeploy a squad to help stop the main Japanese advance.  In true kid fashion, he interpreted “hold to the last man” as “fix bayonets and charge.”  I give the Japanese a melee number that is slightly better than that of the Americans, so typically, you wouldn’t do this.  But with significant kid luck, it worked.  By the end of the game his two teams of four men each had defeated three Japanese teams of six men each, and he still had a few figures left.  He was planning to circle in behind the advancing Japanese!

The second Japanese tank decided to try his luck getting across the bridge.  The Japanese had done nothing to try to engage the anti-tank gun with fire to suppress it.  As the tank came off the bridge, it came into view of the alert gun crew.  In Combat Patrol(TM), there is no opportunity fore mechanic, per se.  Instead, all figures have a Reaction attribute.  To interrupt enemy movement, the player draws a card from the Action Deck and consults the hit randomizer section of the card to see if the number on the card is less than its Reaction number.  In this case, the gun crew did react.  Despite firing on a moving target, the gunners hit the lower hull with a penetrating hit that brewed up the last Japanese tank.

In the meantime, the American Stuart never fired a shot.  It was parked to fire on anyone who might try to advance down the trail, but the Japanese avoided it.

Aided by Banzai yank on the left, the middle US squad repositioned.

The climactic fight occurred on American right, where the Japanese main effort ran into four teams of Americans.  Two had been in that area since the beginning.  The other squad (two teams) had begun in the center.  So in the final couple of turns it was a big infantry fight, with lots of hand-to-hand combat, that determined the outcome of the game.  The Japanese had a slight numerical advantage, but the Americans held their ground.

The vat of excellent fried chicken from a local store had arrived, so we called the game an American victory and dashed for the kitchen before the chicken was all gone.

Other than Chris, none of the player had ever played Combat Patrol(TM) before.  In fact, few had played a miniatures game before.  The first couple of turns were a bit slow, but after that, the game pretty well ran itself.

After lunch, Chris ran a play test of the game he will run in a few weeks for my Tabletop Wargaming class at a local community college.  This is the Battle of Barnett, during the War of the Roses.  One player had to leave early, so I jumped in and took over his command.  It was a fun game!

I had had three late nights in a row and was rapidly running out of steam, but as usual, a day at War Horse Farm was great fun.

See pictures here:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/142143895@N06/albums/72157668763280169/page1

One of the guys in our club, Duncan, traditionally hosts a war-game sometime between Christmas and New Years Day at his house.  This year we combined a viewing of the new Star Wars movie in the morning with a Star Wars game in the afternoon.  For this game, we used the recently released Star Wars supplement for Combat Patrol(TM): WWII.  The scenario, The Trap, involved a group of Rebels attacking the cargo bay of an Imperial ship.  Stormtroopers counterattack from two sides and dealt he blast doors.  Later in the scenario, the crew of the Phantom from the Rebels TV series reinforce the rebels and try to get them out of the bay.  The Rebels are also assisted by Asoka Tano.

We rebels were in the middle of the bay as sitting ducks when the Stormtroopers sprang their trap.  The Stormtroopers were led by Darth Duncan (Vader).

One of the Rebel squads was pretty well decimated early in the game by advancing Stormtroopers.  Asoka launchd herself at the Stormtroopers.  After a few rounds of hand-to-hand combat, she defeated a squad.

To win, the Rebels had to get out of one of the two blast doors on opposite sides of the cargo bay.  They picked one side and dashed for it.  Unfortunately, that was the side led by Darth Duncan.  Duncan unleashed the Sith power of “Rage.”  This essentially launched his Stormtroopers in a banzai charge against the Rebels.  While Darth Duncan’s Stormtroopers were pretty badly mangled in the attack, he tied up the Rebels and gave the other Stormtroopers a chance to close on our rear from the other blast door.

By the end of the game, most of our named heroes had been incapacitated except for Asoka, and most of our Rebels were also knocked out.  It was a pretty convincing victory for the Imperial forces.  Greg will be running this scenario at Barrage and Cold Wars.

Warlord has produced another starter set of figures and vehicles.  These starter sets are very nice.  For those of you who are interested in using these figures with Combat Patrol(TM): WWII, I have posted the unit record cards for free download on the Combat Patrol(TM): WWII web page.

Get them here:  http://www.bucksurdu.com/Buck_Surdu/Combat_Patrol.html