Welsh Nationalists for a Very British Civil War

 Finally got round to photographing my Welsh Nationalists prior to their first game, a solo one in the coming days. Many moons ago Al Front directed me to some reading about the interwar Welsh Nationalists. It has , along with the official source books , provided me with some ideas. So what moves my wee lead chaps?  Simply put they are Europe focused rather than uk focused, desiring to be part of a greater whole. They look to France for support . Support in terms of weapons, equipment and expertise..Some have become Roman Catholic as part of this . Some wish Wales to be a nation in a wider Catholic Europe. Others of a non conformist background are suspicious of such a view. There are tensions but the VBCW has given them a chance to move…

In the rules the units have a Quality and a Morale rating.

Enough chat now for the lead-

Headquarters, with a Mari Lwyd replacing a standard, local poet as commander, with French , on leave , senior nco for advice. Veteran and Determined.

French Volunteers, former soldiers and politically motivated. Uniformed in blue in Chasseurs de pied uniforms. They are Regular and Determined.

The local village and townsfolk. A little suspicious of the French, the RC’s and poets. In their everyday clothes and with what weapons they were given and could hide.They are Green and Low.

The Teulu , highly motivated volunteers who have taken to the mountains and form flying columns. Equipped with French equipment and weapons. They are Veteran and Determined.

The miners. They are mixed in their enthusiasm for this struggle, equipped with rifles. They are Green and Steady.

Finally the rules below by Eric Turner , via Society of Daisy , will be used.

I will report on the scenario in my next post…

Ta Tidders! And a wee challenge for you readers…

 An exciting box of figures arrived in the Duchy last week from Tidders . They were surplus to requirements and passed on to me. A box full of delights indeed, thanks Tidders ! Here are some -

Enough to make a section for the VBCW . They were painted by Tidders.

In order to make them fit seamlessly with my figures l gave them a strong tone wash, gloss varnished them and painted the bases green. The scouts were converted a bit by the addition of rifles and the metal scout master had his arm removed my me and replaced by a Perry plastic arm with a Tommy gun. He looks rather pleased with himself ! I was pleased too as this conversion worked very well indeed.

A splendid command group of Top Brass with resplendent staff car and helpful ARP chap pointing the way to the lost . Utterly charming and so useful for VBCW and 1940! 

More Tidders Treasures as I work on them and integrate them into to my games.

Finally something l have been working on briefly for VBCW or even 1940…

A movie related standard bearer. Any guesses where he is from and what faction might he serve? TTFN.

Another VBCW game - the first appearance of the Norwegians

 Another game today and the first outing for the Norwegians. Here is what I sent the players-

“It is a clash between the Anglican League Swedes and a Norwegian force which has landed off course whilst trying to “liberate” the Northern isles. Forces as follows- 

Swedes- HQ, three regular sections each with lmg and rifles, one irregular unit of volunteers with no lmg plus a wee mortar.
Norwegians- HQ, two regular sections each with lmg and rifles, one regular section with lmg , rifles and three figures with grenades, a heavy machine gun and a large mortar.
It will be interesting to see how these take on each other.
Scenario- hold the village pub garden to defend the local ale.”

What they were not told was the village pub was defended by some retainers of the Duke of Brunswick who was in Britain to offer aid, troops and support King Edward Edward. They were a third force , albeit small , commanded on the table top by the Duke himself and played by the umpire, me.

Here is a photo of the layout and of the Norwegians-all regular army and part of an expeditionary force.

What happened and who won , coming shortly…

The Rocket troop’s first game.

 Another enjoyable game today. Here is the table set up and the forces awaiting the start and deployment-

Sadly I got carried away umpiring and forgot to take many pictures during the game. Here are two however-

The opposing sides move towards the village to attempt to secure it.

The above photo is what happened the very first time the rocket was fired. The aiming point , marked by the blue dice, was where the rocket should have landed. However there was a misfire! The burst circle marks where it actually landed! A most unreliable weapon but great fun, it missed its intended target but hit another. An exciting game which ended in a draw. The village people put up a splendid fight considering their low level of training and being armed with an array of shotgun, rifles, pistols and a few lmgs. Another game soon introducing armoured cars, Molotov cocktails  and anti tank rifles…

Penny for the guy , mister!

 Tomorrow sees me hosting the postponed VBCW game. I will be fielding a platoon based upon a village-

https://tradgardland.blogspot.com/2022/12/village-28mm-people.html

Luckily the postman brought the rockets I ordered prior to Christmas. They will be set off by the local scout troop which will also furnish a forward observer. Here are the Scouts ready for action as well as a 1930s Standard fireworks poster-

I look forward to seeing how the Scout rocket troop performs in the game. I will post pictures and an after game report anon…

Get the King ! A Vbcw scenario

 I came up with a scenario for P  & G today for our VBCW game. We played this period a lot during Covid via Zoom. The scenario ran as follows- the aircraft carrying Edward viii had to make an emergency landing due to engine failure. He was seen leaving the aircraft by locals. They told the two factions - Liverpool Free State and Anglican League Swedes where he was. Both factions attempted to capture him and escort him off the table-

The table at the start of the game and close ups of the King and his transport.

I umpired using the “Went the day well?” Rules which are ideal for platoon action games. It was terrific fun all round. A few more photos-

Another game is planned for the very near future. P.S the Swedes managed to capture the king and escort him off , a victory therefore to the Anglican League.

 A dreich Friday in the Duchy saw me getting Napoleonic figures ready for rebasing and gloss varnishing. Final touches were done to my VBCW Von Rosen Platoon of Swedish Volunteers prior to sending to my regular opponent’s house for our weekly games. The Platoon has an anti tank rifle as a support weapon and a mortar team has been ordered.