Maybe the closest Peter Laing ever got to a 15mm fantasy range are his Ancients, Dark Ages and Medieval figures.
Peter Laing 15mm Priest with Cross and his meagre flock …
This very handy Priest with Cross F913 from his 900 Medieval range crops up in several of Peter’s suggested “Dual Use Items” such as using the Priest with his Feudal and Dark Ages range. Watch out for those Vikings!
Not quite as multi period as the useful Peter Laing sheep A921 but still a handy figure to have.
Heroscape Ruins and Hex preaching mound with Peter Laing 15mm Priest with Cross and my small flock of Peter Laing sheep. Fimo gravestone. Other Flock: Woodland Scenics
No doubt the Priest with Cross might crop up in a more Orthodox role in the Russian Civil War or the Crimea. Maybe even the Spanish Civil War? The Religious Wars and Dissolution of the Monasteries etc using the Peter Laing Renaissance Tudor range is another possible use.
I know Peter Laing often took figure requests to extend his ranges. I wonder what Peter Laing Dwarves, Orcs or Dworcs (whatever) would have looked like if anyone had asked him to produce some?
Recently I uploaded a set of early 1963 Donald Featherstone rules from his 1963 book Tackle Model Soldiers This Way that several WW2 gamers were interested in.
I noticed today a reference to these 1963 simple rules in Stuart Asquith’s interesting article in Lone Warrior’s free download articles. It has the wonderful article title of Comfortable Wargaming (now there’s a book I would buy if it had a title like that!):
It’s his Hook’s Farm / Little Wars style adaptation of Donald Featherstone’s 1963 Horse and Musket rules, adapted and made freely available with Featherstone’s permission. Well worth downloading and like the article, back to basics, simple stuff. Delightful!
As Asquith concludes, “If you want to shell out around £30 for a set of rules, then feel free, but you know, you really don’t have to – don’t worry about phases or factors, go back to simple enjoyment.”
A busy rainy day rebasing Peter Laing 15mm figures.
A few of my Peter Laing 15mm as based and roughly painted in 1983 …My original 1980s Plastic Card bases for Peter Laing musketeers and highlanders.
A rainy day today, so after a short while rebasing some recently acquired Peter Laing Ancient Greeks, I had the bulk of my time well spent rebasing and flocking some of my 1980s Peter Laing English Civil War and 17th/18th Century Scots. These were the first Peter Laing figures I ever bought, so greatly treasured.
Plastic Card had a slight tendency to warp a bit on my original larger bases. Peter Laing F517 Musketeers in helmet firing, F505 Standing Drummer in Hat, F504 Standard Bearer with original flock or ballast bases.
For the last thirty odd years they have waded through knee-high thick dark green flock grass or over gravel ballast, scrounged from the family model railway scrap box when my pocket money ran out.
To suit the Peter Laing / John Mitchell ECW rules they were originally based in groups of 6, 4, 3, 2 0r 1 to make up small regiments of 20 or 30 infantry, which could have casualties removed in various combinations.
Whilst these strips of figures looked good to my childish eye, for my current skirmish Close Little Wars games, I need figures on individual bases.
Just a few of my Peter Laing F503 Musketeer in hat marching, now individually rebased. Lots more to rebase this winter.
I have rebased the figures in my own ‘blend’, a mix of different coloured Woodland Scenics flocks, play pit fine sand, very fine local beach pebbles and some of the original 1980s ballast recycled. A little shadow of the original gravel or dark green flock remains around the figure bases, for old time’s sake to remember my childhood efforts.
My favourites F515 Dismounted dragoon firing, now individually based for skirmishes.
In most cases I had based my strips of figures on bases roughly similar in size to the individual bases I use today, roughly 15mm by 15mm.
In some cases I could easily score and cut the original plastic card then simply remove old flock or ballast then reflock. The occasional figure that needed a new base has one made from scrap art mounting board card.
The Scots Highland troops from Peter Laing’s “suitable items from other ranges for use with the ECW (500) range” remain great great favourites.
They were designed not only to oppose Peter Laing’s original Marlburian range “to extend the range to cover the ’15 and ’45 risings “ but also “to provide suitable Scots figures for Montrose’s army.”
Peter Laing F1001 Highlanders with lochaber axes, F1005 Highland standard bearer and F1004 Highland drummer with M1001 Mounted Highland officer, now individually rebased. My 1983 matt enamel paint job. Peter Laing F1008 Highlanders advancing along with Highland command group, now individually rebased. My 1983 paint job needs updating and detailing. Peter Laing F1006 Highland clansmen with claymores. Chaaarge!
Sometimes there is quite a lot of facial detail on Peter Laing figures, something to look at when I repaint these again from their 1983 original painting.
I still have lots of Peter Laing musketeers, pikemen and cavalry to rebase this winter as well as finding the Highland Piper and Officer.
Recently I have been painting or repainting my Peter Laing figures as needed using gloss acrylic rather than the original matt enamel Humbrol / Airfix paints easily available or scrounged in the 1980s. I really enjoyed as a child painting the bright colours of English Civil War regiments and banners, so the colourful gloss acrylics should add to this when repainting is due.
I did get around to painting my Peter Laing Lowland Regiments in the mid 1980s but never finished them off with flock or basing, as I probably ran out of expensive Plastic Card. The pocket money ‘war budget’ kept running out, as I usually (over)spent it on figures rather than basing materials.
I have recently acquired on EBay a few more bashed Peter Laing Highlanders and Lowlanders that need repainting, along with a few more Marlburian infantry to paint and base. These were recently obtained from Alec Green, swapped for an strange excess of Marlburian drummers and gunners.
Hopefully soon my recent Peter Laing Marlburian swaps will look as splendid Alec Green’s neatly painted and based Marlburian infantry. Photo: Alec Green.
I think that there will be a few Close Little Wars skirmishes and ambushes in the suitably “cluttered terrain” of the Glens this coming spring, once the Highland snow has melted of course!
Send no money or stamps, Peter Laing has retired and moved. Sadly the whereabouts of the moulds is currently (October 2016) not known. Military Modelling advert c.1982/83, 7p a foot figure!
You can read more about John Mitchell’s English Civil War starter rules and the Peter Laing ECW range here:
The blog title? Borrowed from Meghan Trainor’s song All about the Bass – watch the retro version by the talented Kate Davies and Postmodern Jukebox and other ensemble / tour versions on the Postmodern Jukebox channel on YouTube and ITunes.
Hope you enjoyed some of the fruits of my rainy day at the kitchen table spent “flocking“, as it’s known in my household.
Blog posted by Mark, Mr MIN Man of TIN blog, October 2016. All photos unless stated by Man of TIN blog.
Bright and colourful cover to this 1940s DIY toys and games
‘Action’ according to its creator or author Author Lubran is a ‘thrilling’ war or chess variant game played on a draught board of 64 squares.
First make your own pieces; after all this is one of six games in his booklet, Let’s Make a Game!
I can find no obvious publishing date on this booklet by Bairn’s Books, Imperial House, Dominion Street, London EC2 (B/300/16 68copyright printed in England) but the style suggests 1940s. The style of tanks suggests early British tanks, the Spitfire style monoplane and British soldier also suggest early 1940s.
The style of front cover is surprisingly bright but the children look 1940s enough.
The Do It Yourself scrap modelling “make your own games and toys” approach in the first place also suggests as war time shortages there were not many toy manufacturers in Britain left in production and obviously no toy imports from Germany or the continent.
Bretahless prose in a jolly ‘Blyton’ style with a few wartime word clues.
In the introduction there are a couple of clues to its wartime origin – Lubran suggests that you: “Make the games … Share them with friends in shelters, billets, hostels, clubs, schools, hospitals, at home or wherever else they may be.”
Shelters and billets sound very wartime. He also suggests that “when the games become worn out or broken, save them for the salvage collector“, another wartime clue.
Pen knives, saws and hammers are required, so maybe this is something an older child or adult might make for younger children. However in the 1940s no such health and safety culture existed and these would be within the capability of many a boy (or girl). When you see (below) where Lubran worked, it would be little problem for a boy to knock up these makeshift games with the right tools and materials.
Occasional copies of this 17 page booklet turn up on EBay. Most of this Educational and Instructional Series games in the booklet are quite mathematical and complex.
Players of Hex and Grid war games will find it an interesting version of what Donald Featherstone called Wargames as “Chess with a thousand pieces”
Behind this little booklet is an interesting story of Jewish emigration, wartime evacuation and a highly prolific author.
Who was Alfred Lubran?
I can find no obituary or website for Alfred Lubran.
A UK Teachers’ Registration record exists for 1934-36 for his role as his art and handicraft teaching at the Bayswater Jewish School (now http://SinaiSchool.com ) and later Principal in The Jewish Orphanage in West Norwood, the building of which closed in 1963.
During World War II, the children were evacuated to homes in Worthing and Hertford and the Jewish Orphanage building in Norwood was used by the London Fire Brigade as a training centre.
“In the winter months in the short evenings we had to pursue hobbies under supervision. There was a large choice like crafts, leatherwork, painting, drawing, and other things … It was compulsory to take up some activity. You were not allowed to opt out and had to stay with it once chosen. I must say that having a hobby of some sorts stayed with me for the rest of my life. I have never been without one.”
As for Alfred Lubran (not to be confused with author Alfred Lubrano), apart from his teaching role , appears to have been a highly prolific author and compiler of small press publications on an impressively wide and eclectic range of themes including words, the British Printing Society http://www.bpsnet.org.uk, Special Educational Needs, teaching, printing, world poetry, heraldry and children’s poems and stories. He seemed very fond of the word ‘abecedeum’ in his many titles, maybe an alphabetical ABC compilation.
A family history search suggests he was born in 1913, possibly not in the U.K., married a Beatrice Bennister in 1949 and he died in Christchurch, Dorset in May 2001. Lubran is quite an unusual name. Two other Lubran names crop up in recent times, the marriages of a Timothy Lubran and Robert Lubran. Possibly sons?
Assuming they are all the same man, there are currently around 108 Book listings for Alfred Lubran on worldcat.org
Some of his illustrated early reading books for children such as I Can ‘Phone are published by Brimax in 1957. Many of these other prolific publication are short limited editions by his own private press Narbulla Press or Agency of London (anagram or spell Narbulla backwards and you get his name ‘Al Lubran’) throughout the late 1960s, 1970s and 1980s when Narbulla seems to have moved to 12 Fitzmary Avenue, Westbrook, Margate or Deal in Kent.
Margate incidentally was the holiday home area for the Jewish Orphanage in summer. He was then published by (his own?) Thimble Press of Christchurch, Dorset throughout the 1990s until 2001 where he lived until his death in 2001.
Lubran’/ prolific writing career seems to have taken off in the late 1960s, after his Jewish Orphanage school building closed or moved out into the community.
His 1980 book A List of Mini-Book printers in Herne Hill (London) is catalogued on world cat.org as “An advertisement for Lubran’s Narbulla Agency, which is the only firm in the list. Edition limited to 160 copies, “produced for distribution to members and guests at the Wynkyn de Worde Society’s luncheon.” This society http://www.wynkyndeworde.co.uk/# still exists, dedicated to the art and history of printing and typography. Other listings for Narbulla list it in the 1970s at 4 Stradella Road, Herne Hill, London, SE24, possibly where he lived.
Lubran has an impressive collection of letters after his name – FRSA, Fellow of the RSA, M.B.Ps.S, Member of the British Psychological Society, M.R.S.T. Member of the Royal Society of Teachers? and A.Coll.H ? Associate of the College of Handicraft possibly?
Some of his ‘wordy’ books can be downloaded including this reprinted list (see link below) of the names for collectors of different things including the name for collections of ammunition, swords, bows, old guns, spears, muskets (Percussophily) and naval and military uniforms, Nautemephily and Sambatohphily.
Vintage Airfix 8th Army versus Airfix Desert Warriors on the arid terrain of my portable ‘Heroscape’ hex game board.
Stephen Briddon, one of my blog readers, asked about an ‘elementary ‘ set of Donald Featherstone simple WW2 or Moderns rules that I had mentioned. These were first published in a chapter in his 1963 book, Tackle Model Soldiers This Way.
They prove an interesting comparison with his War Games published the year before in 1962. He keeps to the same periods, Ancients, Horse and Musket and WW2 Modern.
“It should not be thought that the only types of war games are those for which elementary rules are given here, that is for battles in the ancient oeriod, horse and musket period and the modern game. There are many war-gamers throughly enjoying games which involve redskins and settlers, naval wargames …”
The Simple WW2 rules.
“The easiest and cheapest method of fighting modern combat seems to be by using Airfix figures (these come in British and German infantry, plus British 8th Army and German Afrika Korps). By using a combination of these figures it is possible to end up with adequate machine-gun teams, anti-tank guns, whilst mortars are not too difficult to fabricate.”
Simple times and irresistible enthusiasm …
There are some interesting differences and simplifications in these simple WW2 rules. Here moderntroops are based in threes and rifles fire in threes for example, rather than firing in a volley of five men as Featherstone usually does in his ‘horse and musket rules’ here and elsewhere in his WW2 rules.
Order of firing is an interesting idea here as well, useful for solo games.
In short, a lovely short inspirational chapter full of enthusiasm for the hobby. Hopefully it created lots of converts for the hobby!
It is a good short summary of his earlier book War Games, designed to create a cross market from one hobby / readership of toy of model soldier collectors to another of wargaming.
I know that Donald Featherstone’s 1962 War Games has been recently reprinted or available as an ebook for a new generation of gamers by John Curry. I’m not sure if John Curry has reprinted these 1963 simple rules elsewhere in his Featherstone reprints.
“The pleasure does not begin and end with the actual playing of the war-game. There are many pleasant hours to be spent in making model soldiers, painting them, constructing terrain, carrying out research into battles, tactics and uniforms …”
This is one of my favourite or reassuring quotes from Donald Featherstone, War Games 1962 when my gaming life seems to be too much preparation time, not enough games time.
Part of the interest (or irritation?) of researching and amending games rules is working out ranges of weapons etc. over time compared to each other.
I have been looking at adapting my hex version of Donald Featherstone’s Close Wars appendix to his 1962 War Games from 18th century forest skirmish to running simple WW2 platoon level games inspired by rediscovering a handful of childhood Peter Laing WW2 15mm figures.
Lots of questions arise from adapting or thinking through rules and ranges:
How far / fast can a man move on average carrying battle kit and weapons?
How fast is a loaded infantryman on a bicycle? Off road / on road?
How fast is a despatch rider off road / on road?
Movement and firing ranges
The original ‘Close Wars’ rules by Featherstone has a Redcoat / Infantry man in the French and Indian Wars travelling at 9 inches in loose formation under 3 figures or in formation 6 inches in cluttered terrain (natives carrying less and living off the land etc moved 9 inches).
We take each 3 inches to be a Heroscape hex square.
A British, German or American infantryman carrying their weapons and field kit is probably carrying as much stuff and clobber (weapons, ammunition, backpack, tools, food, spare uniform, water) as their ancestors 200 years before.
Effective Firing Ranges
Looking at effective firing ranges there is an interesting range of Wikipedia sites to research the weapons that the Peter Laing small WW2 platoon range are likely to be carrying.
In Featherstone’s simple Close Wars appendix, firing is 12 inches range, presumably for a Brown Bess musket , which I also take to be the firing range for native bow and arrow, spear etc., treating all the same just for simplicity.
Featherstone’s figures for his demonstration battles vary from 30mm Spencer Smith figures to 20mm Airfix figures without any alteration of any firing range.
A Brown Bess musket used from 1722 to 1838 by the British and American army (and beyond in many countries into the 1860s) had an effective firing range as a flintlock muzzle loading musket of 50 to 100 yards (or 45 to 90 metres). This would give us only around a 1 hex firing range. Even once converted slowly to the percussion cap from 1838 onwards, its effective range would only increase to 300 yards (270 metres or 2 hexes).
David Nash’s War Games book (paperback, 1970s) is an unusual colourful offering for the time with some uniform plates, being mostly information for those researching their own rules, working out weapons and army lists. He has an interesting weapons graph comparing a British 303 WW2 rifle compared to a French musket:
Weapons graph from David Nash’s Wargames (Hamlyn, 1974)
In Featherstone’s WW2 rules and in ‘Close Wars’, a rifle fires up to 12 inches. In his Horse and Musket / American Civil war simple rules in War Games, this is slightly more complex. Featherstone rules that a Rifle (still counted as a volley) can fire from 6 to 24 inches with a more effective hit rate the closer the range / target. Carbines have a shorter range of 12 inches and light troops are given an effective firing range of up to 30 inches, presumably to cover the introduction of rifles and sharpshooters?
“Like most muskets the Brown Bess was not very accurate because the ball had to be quite loose for ease of loading. It would be very hard to hit another soldier by deliberately aiming at him at ranges greater than 100m. This inherent lack off accuracy was compensated for by having a large number of men fire their muskets at the same time at very short range, sometimes less that 25m.” http://waterloo200.org/200-object/brown-bess-musket-bayonet/
In his simple Ancient rules in War Games, Donald Featherstone lists Longbow / crossbow etc having a range from 6 up to 24 inches. Javelin / spears are 3 to 9 inches (Roman Pilum are 3 inches only). So we are blurring it a bit making all distance weapons at 12 inches but it makes for simpler faster game play.
This simple WW2 range for platoon level action is highly praised for its balance on the Tim’s Tanks blogspot , which gave me my glimpse of the Americans for the first time (albeit doubled up as British Paratroops) : http://timstanks.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/peter-laing-15mm-miniatures.html
Any shortfalls in Tim’s Tanks WW2 Peter Laing collection were patched, as with my own Peter Laing WW2 troops, from Peter’s WW1 range.
“This range was ahead of its time and the figures surprisingly well thought through. For each nationality (British, U.S. or German) there was a sidearm equipped officer figure, a SMG armed NCO, an infantryman advancing with rifle at high port, an LMG and No.2 and a Light Mortar and No.2. Lovely figures, perfect for the task”. (Tim’s Tanks Peter Laing WW2 themed blogpost)
This ‘WW2’ German Peter Laing despatch rider (from his WW1 range) did not survive encountering these three tough Tommies armed with rifle, bayonet and entrenching tools!
Researching WW2 weapons effective firing ranges
Featherstone has ‘Rifle’ in his simplified WW2 rules in War Games as 12 inches (or 4 hexes) so assuming 500 metres to be 12 inches or 30 centimetres / 300mm on our games table, this gives us a rough working scale of:
3 inch hex equals 125 metres.
1 inch equals 42 (41.6) metres
1 centimetre equals 17 metres (or 16.666 metres)
Peter Laing British Rifleman (F2001) with Lee Enfield rifle advancing, next to British Infantry Bren Gunner (F2004) and German Light Machine Gunner (F2016) in my young Matt 1983 paint jobs.
Standard WW2 British Rifle – assumed to be Lee Enfield 303 rifle with effective firing range 500 metres (or 12 inches / 4 hexes).
Standard WW2 German Rifle – assumed to be Mauser KAR 98k – also with effective firing range 500 metres (or 12 inches / 4 hexes).
Standard WW2 American Rifle – assumed to be the M1 Garand – also with effective firing range of 450 to 500 metres (or 12 inches / 4 hexes).
Standard British WW2 SMG Submachinegun – assumed to be the Sten Gun with effective firing range 100 metres. The Thompson SMG (see below) was also used by Commando forces etc. (3 inches or 1 hex)
Standard German WW2 SMG Submachinegun – assumed to be the MP35 SMG at 150 – 200 metres or the more common MP40 SMGwith effective firing range 100 -200 metres (or 3 inches or 1 hex)
Standard American WW2 SMG Submachinegun – assumed to be the Thompson or Tommy Gun with effective firing range 150 metres. The later 1944/45 M3 Grease Gun is often shown in many plastic figures with effective firing range / sights set to 91 metres (both sets at 3 inches or 1 hex).
Standard British WW2 LMG light machinegun – assumed to be the Bren Gun with effective firing range 550 metres (or 12 inches / 4 hexes).
Standard German WW2 LMG light machinegun – assumed to be the MG34 with effective firing range of 1200 metres or from 1942 the MG42 with effective firing range 200 to 2000 metres. (As this is potentially over 24 inches / 8 hexes, this could be standardised to between this or down to that of the other nations LMGs, 12 inches or 4 inches)
Standard American WW2 LMG light machinegun – assumed to be the Browning Automatic Rifle BAR with effective firing range 600 metres (or 12 inches / 4 hexes).
The WW1 Lewis Gun was also used early in WW2 mostly with Commonwealth units.
Peter Laing light mortar men – unpainted British and painted German c. 1983 matt painting.
Standard British Light Mortar is the 2 inch light mortar (crew of 2) with an effective firing range of 460 metres (or 12 inches / 4 hexes).
Standard German Light Mortar50mm / 5cm Granatwerfer 36 light mortar (crew of 2) with an effective firing range of 50 to 500 metres (or 12 inches / 4 hexes).
Standard American Light Mortar is the 60mm M2 light mortar (crew of 2 -3) with an effective firing range of 180 to 300 metres (or 9 inches or 3 hexes)
Standard British Heavy machinegun HMG is the Vickers (crew of 2-3) with an effective firing range of 2000 metres (or 48 inches / 16 hexes).
Standard German Heavy machinegun HMG is the WW1 Maxim MG08 (crew of two) with an effective firing range of 2000 metres (or 48 inches / 16 hexes).
Standard American Heavy machinegun HMG is the M2 Browning HMG (crew of 2) with an effective firing range of 1800 metres (or 48 inches / 16 hexes).
Grenades – the German WW1 /WW2 M24 stick grenade had an effective range / throw of around 30 metres, twice that compared to the British Mills Grenade at 15 metres. You can give them a range effective up to 1 hex.
As can be seen from the similar effective firing ranges of HMGs at around 48 inches or 16 hexes makes them almost to big for the average small skirmish gaming board.
Pistols – The Webley British pistol had an effective range of only about 50 yards / 45 metres. The German Luger equivalent also had an effective firing range of about 50 metres. American officers may have carried a range of revolvers including the semiautomatic M1911 pistol . These are effectively melee weapons but you can give them a range effective up to 1 hex.
Scaling up to 54mm skirmish games
As Featherstone was playing / writing rules in War Games using 20 to 30mm figures, and we have been pushing this down to 15mm, scaling up to 54mm skirmish games in the tabletop of the garden could for simplicity require a simple doubling of the inches or hexes noted. A rifle in 54mm games could therefore fire up to 24 inches (two feet) or 8 hexes, easily achievable in the garden / yarden.
Weapons of other nations
Peter Laing sadly did not make WW2 Soviets, Japanese, jungle or desert troops. However items from his WW1 range could be used or simple paint conversions done, which Peter Laing’s simple figures lend themselves well to. His WW1 German infantry paint up well as long trousered Afrika Korps. Tim in his Tim’s Tanks blog has for example painted the Peter Laing American infantry as British paras.
Readers will need to research the respective nation’s weapons or simply adapt the standardised ranges we have for different weapon types carried by whatever troops or figures you use. Donald Featherstone in his WW2 rules or elsewhere in War Games rarely distinguishes by a nation’s choice of weapons for simplicity’s sake.
What is effective firing range?
All references to firing ranges etc. are from that excellent, most accurate and occasionally mocked source of knowledge, Wikipedia!
Peter Laing WW2 German figures (Paint conversion WW1 late war steel helmet infantry) with rifles and bayonets face three more determined WW2 British Tommies (also from his WW1 range) sappers with entrancing tools (and slung rifles added with tiny slivers of wooden coffee stirrers). Cycle troops – unknown make but good style match for Laing’s figures.
I wanted in this skirmish games to get a motley collection of Peter Laing 15mm British and German infantry into action, WW2 figures bolstered by late war WW1 British and German Infantry in steel helmets.
I wanted to fight another skirmish over the hex terrain portable game board that I had laid out for the American Civil War skirmish a few weeks previously.
I also wanted to test out a platoon level infantry scrap with few heavy weapons and almost no vehicles using a mash up of Donald Featherstone’s ‘Close Wars’ appendix rules to his 1962 War Games with a few additions from his simple WW2 rules in that book.
A lucky find of some Peter Laing WW1 / WW2 figures (lots of Sapper figures) amongst a job lot of 15mm WW2 figures of various manufactures gave me just enough for a small platoon level skirmish. Sappers and others had rifles added by me from finely carved slivers of wooden coffee stirrers.
This gave me a scratch force of British infantry:
Three 5 man sections of pioneers or sappers with rifles and shovels (handy in a scrap!)
1 light mortar team (2 men)
1 Light Machine Gun (Bren Gun) team
1 motorcycle despatch rider
A light 2pounder anti tank gun team with three men emerge in Turn 5. A spare Bren gunner was also found to join the British several turns in.
Versus a much larger but slightly lightly equipped German infantry group:
A larger infantry force of German infantry consisted of:
Three cycle reconnaissance troops
1 German despatch rider
Five x 5 men rifle squads directed by 1 officer with pistol
1 light machine gun (MG34) team of two men
1 light mortar team of 2 men
Officer and two rifle men
The game was played solo over two evenings with a skirmish figure scale of 1 figure = 1 man.
Arrival of different sections and weapons at a different times and locations was staggered by dice throws d6. The two board(s) being roughly marked with 6 by 6 squares A to L and 1-6, arrival of different sections was diced for using 1 d6.
Indirect artillery fire could be plotted in using this grid system and dicing to see which turn this lands but none was used in this game.
The Germans started with their reconnaissance troops (3 rifle equipped bicycle troops) in place at the river crossing and to the North a British 5 man pioneer unit of sappers and officer and the Bren Gun team on the board.
Dice thrown at start of each move to see who moves first, other side second, first side also fire first, other side second – highest score wins first move.
To speed things up, no casualty savings throws were used after Melee.
Aerial reconnaissance view recording troop positions, end of Turn 2 (see dice)
In Turn 1, Germans moved first and shots were exchanged without casualty between the British motorcyclist and the German cycle troops who were behind the cover of the stone farm walls.
In Turn 2, the British despatch rider was not so lucky! In turn the first British rifle volley brings down one German infantryman.
Playing solo, deciding which of the two possible British infantry targets the German troops fire at is decided by dice throw: roll 1 to 3 aim at Bren gun team on left, 4 to 6 at British infantry on right.
Dismount, aim, fire. Peter Laing 15mm British despatch rider spotted by German bicycle troops (unknown manufacturer, but good fit). Walls from N gauge model railway suppliers.
The terrain is the same portable hex wooden box lid territory as used for the American Civil War skirmish, but with the house location moved and a small wooden hut used instead.
The high rocks and the forest either side of the river are deemed impassable, the river unfordable. This concentrates the efforts into dominating the crossings and the ground between them with all available firepower.
Peter Laing British WW2 (and a non Peter Laing British officer) fire at the German officer and infantry at the other bridgehead leafing to 1 German infantry casualty in Turn 2.
The Peter Laing WW2 German officer and infantry with rifles are really WW1 Germans with steel helmets.
Turn 3 sees more infantry on each side appear on the game board. Line of fire is checked with a reversed Lionel Tarr style periscope (from another appendix in Featherstone’s 1962 War Games).
Turn 4 sees the British move first and a further British rifle squad appear near where their despatch rider was killed. They close in melee with the German cyclists and two are killed for the loss of one British infantryman.
Turn 5 sees more German troops emerge onto the board. The German motorcyclist emerges onto the board only to be blocked and killed in melee with three British Infantry.
One of the British Bren Gun team is hit – I diced quickly to see if another nearby British soldier could help man the gun and it to remain operational. It did and brought down a German infantryman, as did the light field gun. Fortunately for the Germans the British light mortar team is just out of range.
In Turn 6 the German Light Machine Gun MG34 and light mortar teams (each of two men) make it onto the Board at G and J on the German / South side of the river.
This mortar team in Turn 7 take out one British infantry, whilst melee and rifle fire take out 3 German infantry and 2 further British.
The forest, impassable scrub, rocky ridge and river crossings continue to create safe spaces or bunchings but once the mortars come into action, lobbing their shells over trees and obstacles etc, these safe spaces are no more.
British 2 man mortar team in the foreground. Turn 9
The British field gun is a board game piece from childhood.
In Turn 8, this gun begins to damage the hut and the Germans inside it. Melee, mortar and rifle fire brought down 8 German infantry including their officer and 3 British including their officer.
Turn 9 – stalemate.
By Turn 9 , a stalemate has set in – the British mortar team from behind cover takes out the German Light Machine Gun team. Positions are consolidated. Both sides have lost their officers.
If the German infantry remain in the cover of the hut, they will eventually be killed by the 2 pounder which is just out of rifle range.
The British bridge position is now covered by one British mortar team and two Bren gun teams.
Sketch map round about Turn 10. British left /west , Germans to the right / east
In Turn 10, the German mortar team move closer towards the British position whilst four German infantry take cover behind the stone wall to give themselves a better field of fire onto the British dominated bridge, should anyone try to cross it. Many of the German and British troops are now out of sight of each other and out of rifle range.
A lucky ‘counter battery’ hit by the British mortar team on their German rival reduces the last opportunity of the Germans to dislodge their opponents without a fatal rifle charge.
Turn 12 – the German infantry dice to advance or stay put. They stay put but a further German infantryman in the hut is then killed by 2 pounder fire.
By Turn 14, one of the British mortar team is hit crossing the British sector bridge. The last German in the hut retreats over the German bridge behind the stone wall.
Turn 15 – no movement, just British gun and mortar fire.
Turn 16 – The 5 Germans behind the stone wall must decide what to do as they are now within British mortar range. 1-2 Advance, 3-4 Retreat, 5-6 Stay Put. They roll d6 – advance.
3 Germans killed are crossing the bridge under rifle and gun fire; the bridge is destroyed (d6 1-3 destroyed, 4-6 intact). In the return fire, a further British infantryman is hit.
A view from the German position back down the valley to the British field gun, annoyingly just out of rifle range. The bridge destroyed by field gun fire and the hut damaged by gun fire. Time for those last two German soldiers to slip away out of range and await reinforcements?
Turn 17 – German infantry retreat behind wall out of rifle range, their bridge blown.
The game is at an end, nominally a British victory but all depends on whose reinforcements turn up first.
Sheltering behind the rocks: the British position, tucked out of rifle fire range.The British final position looking up the valley towards the abandoned German line. Mixed Peter Laing and other 15mm WW2 figures.
Play testing these Close Little World Wars rules
The increasingly dominant force in this game were the heavier weapons – mortars, light machine guns and the light field gun. It would be interesting to play / replay this game at rifle squad level without (some of) these other weapons.
This and the restricted terrain created the shape and the pressures of this solo game.
Recently I uploaded a set of early 1963 Donald Featherstone rules from his 1963 book Tackle Model Soldiers This Way that several WW2 gamers were interested in.
Robert Louis Stevenson, taken from the “Stevenson at Play” magazine article by Lloyd Osbourne, 1898.
Man of Tin blog 