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)

Disaster !

 

So the light bulb in my wargaming room has failed again ! - seeing it is suspended directly over the table and me being short in stature replacing it requires me to balance on a stepladder with one foot on the tabletop whilst I replace it ! . A bit of a pain but I've done it before - however this time whilst semi balanced on the table there was a significant 'CRACK' ! , a hurried inspection under the table (a dark and murky chaotic place at the best of times) I found one of the supporting joists had cracked ! , I would like to blame the age of the woodwork rather than my weight ! - I hasten to add .

The offending light (Grrrrr !) This has meant that I will have to take down my game and remove all the figure boxes under the table to patch up the damaged joist with a couple of wooden batons which I have managed to salvage from my neighbour's home renovation skip . Hopefully normal service will be restored in a day or two .

M.G. O'Rourke and the Temple of Doom !

The epic "The Temple Of Doom" , Orson Wells's lost cinematographic masterpiece , replayed on the tabletop using miniature figurines .

I will be using these new rules to play the game .

The lost temple Of Gengis Khan - or "The Temple Of Doom" reputed location of a vast treasure buried there centuries ago , many people are seeking it ! .

Some of which are this strange collection of characters brought together by fate in the 'Back of Beyond 'M.G. O'Rourke  wandering archeologist and adventurer , 'Rick' a man with a past and not much future , Ivan a Russian on the run .and Nancy - one of the famous Mitford girls - out for adventure .

They are 'assisted' by Phat a self style Warlord and his motely band of soldiers .

However others are seeking out the fabled treasure, General Yeeg Fu Yung of the Chinese Army has got wind of the American's expedition and sets out to beat them to it ! 

O'Rourke's expedition nears the fabled Temple . Further episodes to follow .......

 

The 'MEGA' F.P.W. Campaign .

We have just returned from holiday and after all the post-holiday unpacking,washing and food resupplying I got around to catching up with the internet . I also went through my downloads and saved files and had a good clean out - the amount of crap I download and save ! . One of the files was 'Tony's MEGA FPW campaign' , it was a campaign I ran with a couple of wargaming friends a few years ago - it died of apathy as so many campaigns do , in fact in my experience ALL campaigns do ! . Another thing that has turned up surplus was a cork board that used to live in the kitchen but due to renovations has no further use. 

So I printed off the map and paperwork , pinned it to the cork board and will give the campaign another go - this time solo but using the original players dispositions and orders of battle . 

Hopefully going solo means I'm not always waiting for orders and can take my time over it . Hmm we will see how it goes and hopefully I will report back when battles occur . (clicking on the photos will hopefully enlarge them .