A World Aflame Jarama game

I recently played a solo version of the Jarama scenario for A World Aflame. It was fun, but I wasn't entirely happy. The game felt a bit linear without the use of individually based figures. Sometimes I felt as if the two sides were shooting back and forth until one took too much damage. I think this was partly because of how I deployed the Nationalists. 

There isn't really anything wrong with these rules; they just didn't work quite how I expected. I'll be trying them again in future, maybe with a few more changes. There's a lot to like about them.

I will, however, try out some other rulesets. I had planned to do this anyway, and used a fairly generic basing scheme on the figures. Crossfire has long tempted me, and I think it will be the next game I try. It will give me a chance to make plenty more terrain too! Steven Thomas of the Balagan has created a Crossfire variant for early 20th Century Spain.

Here are the photos of the game! 

       A Heinkel swoops in to engage some International Brigadistas 

The Republican air force wreaks havoc among the Legion

Moroccans and Legion advancing under fire

Big Spanish Civil War Project Part 10: The Terrain for Spain!

 This week saw the completion of the terrain for the Jarama scenario. I finished off a batch of trees as well as some rough ground. The high ground was made using layers of cardboard, which were glued together and placed under the base cloth to create smooth gradients. They're not very easy to see in the photos, as everything is the one colour, but they add a nice height variation to the battlefield.

The tree-covered plateau is at the centre, while International Brigade troops defend the Casa Blanca on the right. 

The trees were made using florist wire, covered in Milliput. Steel wool and dried tea leaves were used for the foliage!

The dirt roads were made from school uniform, caulk and texturing materials!

One of the rough ground areas. I used rocks from the garden and texture paste. The bushes are steel wool and tea leaves again. 

Another view. 

I have a some days off this week, so I hope to start playing the game. Part 11 of this series is going to be a battle report of the first day of the battle. 

Thanks for reading, 

Go dtí an chéad uair eile, beir bua! 

The Battle of Five Armies : A Hordes of the Things game

 26th June was my 20th birthday, and to celebrate my friends Tuan, Roachey and Wen Geng came over for a big Hordes of the Things game. We played a scenario based on the Battle of Five Armies from "The Hobbit". Tuan and I took command of the Goblin and Wargs while Roachey and Wen Geng led the Elves, Dwarves and Men. It was our first face to face wargame since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. 

The scenario allowed for the arrival of reinforcements for both sides after set numbers of Army Points were lost. These consisted of Thorin, Beorn, the eagles and some sneaky Goblins. 

Here are a few pictures from the battle. The Elves, Dwarves and Men are defending the high ground while the Goblins are approaching the town of Dale at the centre if the board. 

The game saw the Goblin-Warg alliance being victorious, with a score of 18 - 16. Unfortunately we didn't have time to play the game to its conclusion, but it was really enjoyable. I've never played a game this big before, and I hope to do so again! 

The starting deployment 

All 3 evil commands advance on the beleaguered Dale garrison

The trolls break down the gates and capture the town

My Warg command charges into the Dwarves' and Men's lines 

But are quickly repulsed! 

Unfortunately I don't have any more photos.

It was a fantastic game! 

Big Spanish Civil War Project Part 10

 This week I finished the last unit I need for the Jarama scenario, a Nationalist Heinkel He-51. It's a 1/72 scale kit from ICM. It was quite fiddly to put together and I'm not fully satisfied with my results, but I'm really happy just to have it done. The base is a 40mm round, which is too small for a model of this weight. It's quite unstable so I think I'll make another one. Like my Polikarpov, the Heinkel is based on a clear acrylic rod which has been magnetised. For this base I cut the top of the rod at an angle to allow the model to sit at a swooping pose.

Here are some group pictures of the whole collection! 

Republicans: Militia and International Brigades, with Soviet equipment 

Nationalists: Regular Army, Moroccans, Foreign Legion, German and Italian equipment. 

I've started making a batch of trees too. I'm using the wire twist method to make their armatures (TheTerrainTutor has a great video on the topic, as always). I used flower arranging wire from a florist's shop. It only cost €1 for enough to make 13 or 14 trees (!!). They are a mix of sizes, and will be used in the Jarama game.

One of the great things about making trees is that they can work for multiple scales. Some of these will also be used for a 28mm project that's coming very soon. Even small 15mm trees can be used as part of hedges in larger scales. 

The armatures

Bark was added using Milliput and a toothpick

This is a fairly time consuming method of making trees. Many people prefer to use Woodland Scenics premade armatures. However the wire method is hard to beat in terms of price and ability to customise.

Once the trees are done, the only terrain I'll need to make for the SCW game will be a set of roads. There are a few hills in the scenario but I think I'll use polystyrene shapes under the game mat for a more natural look.

Thanks for reading this post! I'm excited to be finishing the project and I'm really looking forward to moving on to the "Secret 28mm Project"! 

Big Spanish Civil War Project Part 9 : The Last of the Infantry and Some Other Bits

 Lots of excitment this week as I've finished off all the infantry for the project, as well as a few extra bits. I started by painting the last militia squad, then moved on to the Nationalist individuals. 

                         Squad/Platoon 3

      The Nationalist staff. Messengers, officers and LMGs

The only miniature I still need for the scenario is a Nationalist aeroplane, which hasn't arrived yet. I wanted to keep making progress on the project, so moved on to some terrain. I painted a failed print of the Casa Blanca as a ruin.

It was painted with the same technique as the standard house. The roof is also made of random scraps, like coffee stirrers and cardboard. 

Still looking for things to do for the Spanish Civil War, I painted up a pair of Italian CV33 "tanks" . These absolutely woeful vehicles aren't necessary for the Jarama scenario, but I've always intended to grow this collection. The scenario is just a target to start off with. 

I'm almost ready to play the game itself. Apart from the Nationalist plane, I'll need to focus on making terrain. I've already started a tree or two, which are taking forever. I'm one of those gamers who find it really difficult to buy terrain, even if it's very hard to make! I really like the look of homemade terrain, though, as I can make it to my own specifications.

Until the next post, beir bua! 

Big Spanish Civil War Project Part 8: Moroccan Regulares and the Casa Blanca

 This week I painted the Moroccans - the last full company needed for the project! They weren't as hard to paint as I had expected, but I ran into some interesting challenges when painting their skin. My approach to painting dark skin tones is usually to mix in white skin colours as highlights. The yellow and red pigments in these paints help to make the skin look more realistic and alive. I've found that GW's Reikland Fleshshade wash is really good for achieving this effect on a wide range of skin colours.

The whole group 

Rifle squads

The Command Base. 

I also painted a Spanish hacienda house, which will represent the Casa Blanca or "White House" which was defended by the XV Internationals at Jarama. It's another 3D print. I have another copy of this model which didn't print correctly, so I'm making it into a ruin. During the actual battle the house was bombed by a Republican plane, and the scenario I'm aiming for allows for this to happen. 

In case you haven't noticed, the roof of the house was cobbled together from bits of MDF and cardboard, as it didn't print correctly! It was a lot of fun to make. The model was painted with acrylics, and oils were used to add shading. 

I'm now working on the last squad of POUM Militia. They will be the final infantry for the project. After that I'll paint a Nationalist plane and some command staff, and that will conclude all the miniatures needed for the game. Terrain will be the next priority. 

It feels great to have gotten this far. I was doubtful if I could do everything in this project at the start, as I've never painted both sides of a conflict before, and normally only painting very small groups. I'm looking forward to finishing off the whole thing! 

Big Spanish Civil War Project Part 7: The Legion, Republican Trucks and POUM

 I made a lot of progress on the project this week. I finished the Foreign Legion company and got some Republicans done too. The Legion were quite a challenge, and I ended up painting their uniforms a few times over before I was happy with them. It was fairly frustrating at times. I'm happy to have them done, as they'll be very useful in many different battles of the Civil War.

Squad 1. There is a broken stone cross on the officer's base. 

Squad 2. The barbed wire was made of guitar string wrapping spun in a drill. 

Squad 3

Foreign Legion Company Command. The flag was hand painted using my usual method 

Company Command for my company of standard Nationalist Infantry. 

I also finished two Soviet trucks this week. They are resin 3D prints, part of the payment I received for a commission. They'll be used to transport Republican ammunition in the Jarama scenario. 

I painted the second squad/ platoon of POUM militia next. I'm doing them in between other units to keep myself motivated, as I really enjoy painting "irregular" troops. I can paint them as individual characters, even in 15mm, and I don't need to worry about the accuracy of their uniforms! 

Standard rifle base

Command base

LMG base

I painted a Schneider CA1 tank to go along with the POUM. It's not part of the Jarama scenario, but I've wanted to paint one ever since I saw this picture :

Spain bought several CA1s from France after World War One, and they were used by the Army of Africa in the Rif War. A few were in Republican hands at the start of the Civil War. A pair of CA1s were used against the Alcazar at Toledo by the JSU (Socialist Youth). I'm not sure where the one on the picture was used. The graffiti seems to show that its crew came from several different ideologies, with the POUM (revolutionary Marxist) , CNT (anarchist) and UHP (trade union) represented. 

The tank was another resin print. I added a lot of extra details with Milliput, guitar string and high-quality homemade photoetch (aluminium cut from a Coke can I found by the road). These included a man hold cover which was welded to the front as additional armour. 

I weathered the tank with a fairly heavy oil dot filter to give it a grimy look. It was a really fun model to build and paint. 

Project Checklist as of this post:

Republicans 

Infantry

XV International Brigade 

POUM Militia (2 squads done, 1 to go)

Vehicles and Transports

T-26

Polikarpov I-15

2 donkeys

2 trucks

Nationalists 

Infantry 

Foreign Legion

Moroccan Regulares 

Nationalist Infantry (extra) 

Vehicles and Transports

2 Panzer Is

Captured T-26

Heinkel HE-51