A fortunate find - Johnnie Walker.

 

Popped into town today to get my eyes tested and I had look into 'This n That', a shop that seems to sell off house clearance items . In a box of model railway bits and pieces I found the above figure - he's a 54mm hollowcast Johillco (?) Hiker, rather battered with a good bit of paint loss . I paid £3 for him- cheap! - the figure goes for far more than that on Ebay . I have bought the odd figure from this shop when I see them, mainly Agustini collectables which go for a song, so I'm pleased with this find .

On BBC Catch Up at the moment , Johnnie Walker - 'Walking the Great Patio' a series of programs which does touch on The Great Patio War' at times .

 

An Enigma wrapped in a Mystery .

Mr Collins the vicar of Toieland parish church has taken H.G.Wells (and a lady who is certainly not Mrs Wells !) to inspect the church roof hoping he can help with the 'Roof Repair Fund' .

"That's quite a climb - 39 steps" says H.G. , "Well I counted 42 !" says the Lady (who is not Mrs Wells) , "it's a strange thing" says Mr Collins "I have not yet had anybody count the same number of steps twice!"  - "most odd" comments H.G. 

Along comes Gabriel Oaks (stalwart of the parish) and they ask him about the number of steps in the church tower . "Aarr ! you are talking about the 'Doom of Toieland' he says !", "It's said if anybody counts the same number of steps twice ! a great misfortune will befall Toieland !".

Just as they are leaving (still puzzled by the number of steps) along comes the author Mr J. Buchan - he is interested in the conundrum - "well the guide book says 39 steps " says Mr Collins - "39 eh ! " say Mr Buchan "that's interesting !" and scribbles it down in a notebook and strides off with great purpose . 

 

Intriguing - what's going on here ?

Gleaned from Facebook , something to do with WW2 ? , the tractors have RAF painted on them and one of the planes is a British Lysander , also the woman's dress is 1940's style ? .

 

The Back of Beyond (part2)

 

The game didn't last long once the Russians got their artillery bombarding the buildings , this combined with the HMG fire caused heavy casualties in the Chinese garrisons and they fled before the Sailors charged in taking the station .

The Chinese did recieve reinforcements in the shape of a unit of Mongolian cavalry - BUT they rolled a 'blunder' on the 'command' dice and promptly quit the field - 'Oh dear' ! .

With the red flag flying over the captured station the game was won by the Bolshevik forces .

Feng Shui beats a hasty retreat and starts to plan his revenge !. The game played well and the rules being simple enough I was able to remember most of them in my head (always an advantage) . I think these will be my 'go too' set for this period in the future .

 

The Back of Beyond (part one)

 

Well I've finally got the table set up to try out my new set of rules . The game has a Red Army attacking  a Chinese held railway station . The Red Army start on the table edge nearest the camera , the buildings are held by a small Chinese force which will be reinforced as the game goes on .

The rules are a set by a Dutch (?) company which have similarities to 'Black Powder' , they use 'command dice' and as an added twist you can use their 'chance cards' .

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The famed 'Red Cavalry' and the poorer 'Red Guard' beyond them (count as militia)

The backbone of the Bolshovic force are two units of Sailors (count as elite)

The rather hapless garrison who count as militia - "where is our reinforcments ?"

Here they come, the Warlord Feng Shui watches as his leading unit of cavalry arrive .

The General and each unit roll a command dice which shows how many actions it can take . Here we see the cavalry has rolled a 1 which means they can take one action so they make a move down the road . Feng Shui has rolled a 0 so he cannot make an action nor pass on any points to any units wiyhin his command distance .

The Sailors have rolled a 0 but because the General has rolled a 3 so he can pass on his points to the Sailors allowing them to deploy (1point) and move 6"(1 point) , the General uses the remaining point to move himself forward .

The Chinese open fire , they throw one dice per figure (less one - because they are militia), they need a base score of 5or6 - plus or minus various factors - they only hit once ! oh dear !

The Russians are having their own problems - each General draws a card every turn - this one has prevented the Artillery moving or deploying .

The Chinese have received a better one ! , part two to follow ...

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And we're back

 With a politically incorrect advertisement from the past , I wonder if the figures were produced by Britains ?.

Disaster Part 2

 

Well there is lots to do - but none of it internet related at the moment (this posted labouriously via an I pad)