I had made the plan to update my forests with newer woodland scenics trees and to improve the hedges for ECW games.
Along that plan I purchased the materials back in December, now I realized it would be some delay before I could do up these forests since the other works on the house would take priority.
Little did I know that the heaviest snow on record was about to fall ...
Now that the winter is finally past, the other works are taking shape (on the house) - I have a gap of a few more days before the weather is good enough to start in earnest on the outdoor improvements that are planned. With that gap I have put in efforts to get the works on the forests started at least and likewise for the hedgerows.
first stages of the trees - bent into shapes and fixed onto fender washers to let them stand easier on the tabletop
base coated black, then light grey and tan painted onto trunks and some branches, ready for flocking
So that I would be able to make maximum use of the flocking efforts (and waste less flocking) I am doing the hedges re-shaping now so that all can be flocked at the same time.
the old original shape of my hedges
some in-progress shots top right the 'new' re-shaped hedgerow mid-right the original shape of that type of hedgerow bottom, a 'spread' hedgerow of Jeff's I plan to also re-shape these ones
The original hedgerows all looked like they were perfectly manicured, since they were done in a rush job so that we could get to the game table as fast as possible. Now with some time, I can do the re-shaping and essentially re-use all of the earlier work and it will have the 'unkempt' look desired.
A great game player and keen historical student (especially the uniforms and personal effects of the 1880's to 1960's (from the Sudan & South Africa through the trenches of WWI and the tanks of WWII and on into Korea and Vietnam)) McLean, has announced a change in venue. Due to this change the War Dungeon, the game space under his home, will be shutting down at its current location in Nanaimo.
This was the set up for a final large game action, featuring his 1880's redcoats and Sudan miniatures and more.
Plenty of Jeff's former collection were featured in this mammoth game!
a view of the table from the south to north the river was 'attached' to the sea via a separate table
The situation was a Turkish walled city was coming under threat from massive forces approaching by land and sea!
some of the land attackers
The British had a chance to arrive before - or at the same time - or after - some of the attacking forces by sea.
Amazingly BOTH of the large British ships arrive BEFORE the mass of the attacking fleet.
the British force included a massive metal hull GUNBOAT
along with an armed merchant ship
The trick for the British forces is that they were limited in number ... the attackers would have an unknown number of waves of attacking forces both from land and sea.
Yours truly and my eldest son were tasked with coming up with some naval rules (to sort of match with the land rules) and handle the ships of both sides.
While other players took on the various attacking and defending columns of troops, our host ended up commanding some of the British forces in a supply column.
the pirate forces come on to engage the British
the supply columns are attacked in force ...
they then recoiled into a walled compound and fortified it
Meanwhile the island forces had seen the telegraph works being destroyed and at dawn witnessed the massed sails of the approaching pirates.
the burning telegraph works
Within a few turns the ships had all locked into combat and many boarding actions had been initiated.
Though two ships of the pirates were already sunk and the leader's vessel had capsized a landing boat full of Ghurkas who then proceeded to board the leader's boat and turn the decks into a red wash as the ship was sinking ...
boarding actions in progress
El-Gandalfi's command, just moments before the Ghurkas swarmed the decks ...
A little video was captured of the table around this point in the game:
Over in the land battle another British column had arrived and engaged forces outside the telegraph office ...
a furious fight at the hill slope to attempt to block the telegraph road access
more field artillery sallies from the walled town in an attempt to blast away the attacking land forces
overview of the land battle burning telegraph office seen in foreground to the right walled town in the distance
Supply column was overcome, while the naval fight continued, with the gunboat prevailing - now having sunk at least 5 sloops of the pirates and the command ship of El-Gandalfi!
gunboat laying waste to many smaller boats with wooden hulls
supply column captured by nomadic horsemen
The grinding attrition continued for a few more turns.
Valiantly, the troops from the island were transferred to the gunboat and a supply officer who fled the column managed to be rescued and attach to the gunboat as it steamed up river ...
the island garrison musters during the start of the day
loading into a launch, with some cavalry
the view of the telegraph fire
furious land battle near the telegraph office
neither side willing to surrender
the tribesmen who captured the telegraph office attempted to grab part of the supply column they were shot down by the gunboat!
view from the land to the sea
can you spot the opening between the two tables?
great view of the field
seeing the fort in the south with the pirates sails beyond
now the great gates to the walled town were to be sealed
Could the British stop the oncoming hordes?
the gun line (seen in the bottom of this image) did not manage to hold back the tide of onrushing Mahidist forces
casualties mounted on the gunboat even with the added redcoats to the marines not all guns could be kept manned
the balloonists view
out towards the telegraph office
the whole of the south of the field was now occupied by the attacking forces
even though the gunboat sank another three wooden pirate boats it was not enough to block the river channel
the pirates would succeed in penetrating the river channel and setting up a landing point close to the docks of the walled town
So ... just as in Khartoum, the British were not able to stem the tide of attackers from either land or sea.
Great final game set and match for the War Dungeon!
This took 5 months of works in the unpacking, refinishing of bathrooms (more to do yet), securing a roof and deck space, electrical, water, tile, drywall, painting etc. and this past Sunday my eldest son suggested getting the minis out on the tabletop.
It was a SHAKO meeting engagement, using some second line troops and cossacks and militia in a simulation of 1812 ...
Russian Command
the Russian forces were put on the 'new' covers
a long-view of the whole table something I could not do since 2011
Austrians were on the old 'green paper' bases
the 'after action' of the whole battle plans our horse forces were going to meet in battle!
first turn was all about the Cossacks closing in (top right)
by turn 3 there were exchanges of artillery
foot 'cossack' forces (of dubious quality)
Cossacks engaged Austrian light horse managing to give and take in the casualty counts
by turn 5 the horse were exhausted
both the Austrian right and Russian right infantry formations were now on the move
these both contained less than 'stellar' troops
though the Cossack foot were not 'gone' they were to have little further impact on the battle other than being eliminated this turn
turn 7 was to be the pivotal one the losses counters were 1 Austrian (of 9 needed) and 2 Russian (of 6 needed)
both divisions were now fully engaged in battle
with the outcome of the entire conflict hinging on the outcome of second rate divisions ...
Austrian horsemen, were not able to engage fully again as neither squadron could sustain any more casualties
at this point the Austrians conceded defeat, as the central division had fled the field and taken 1/2 of all their artillery with them
the other Austrian foot division had not broken through the Russian left.
Austrians withdrew ...
leaving many behind
All in all it was really fun to get some minis back on the table and test out the new stand covers.
I'll be making more of them soon and then re-doing the grass covering of the table cloth along with flocking the new covers.
In a uniform from the age of 13 to 30, learned much of 'military life' and after a decade of travel have settled down to start a family. Started with boardgames and RPG's in the 1970's and added tabletop miniatures in the 1990's. Now with a family of three boys, seeking to turn this sometime hobby into more of a lifestyle.
