Gaming using Zoom

As Anthony, my regular opponent, and I are unable to meet up for a game, I decided to try and create a setup which would let you play a game using the Zoom Video Conferencing system. I decided on The Portable Wargame as a grid based game is easier for the player on the end of the video link and it stops problems with movement and fiddling with facing.

The setup was devised after a discussion with my wife, Sarah, who devided a system using bamboo canes across the table which would allow smartphone to be suspended above it.





I setup the table with a grid of letter and numbers down the sides and setup for One Hour Wargames Scenario 4 - Take the High Ground.



The smartphone above the tabel gave the following view enabling Anthony to plot his moves and see the whole table.



I setup a laptop on a chair on the opposite of the table to me so Anthony could see the table from a normal view and it appeared that we were playing a normal game.



Once Anthony joined, we had a 3-way conference call and Anthony was able to switch between the overhead view and the straight on view - though he most used the overhead one.

We used large foam dice for rolss which showed up well and Anthony was able to see them from the overhead camera.



The sides were 4 infantry, 2 cavalry, 1 artillery and a general each. We found that one the small table that the artillery was a little too powerful and for the second game dropped the artillery pieces.





Sadly, even though I was throwing all the dice, Anthony managed to win both games as the British!

But it was a successful test of technology and we are able to have two games of the Portable Wargame while maintaining social distance... We will definitely be repeating the experience.

PS> The photos are rather dark as the overhead lights shone too much on the shiny table tiles and made the overhead view harder to see,

LWR Forum Games Day 2020

The Little Wars Revisited 54mm Wargame Forum held the 3rd annual Games Dy in Woking. The venue was a room in Christchurch in the centre of Woking as usual.

Sadly, this year we had a number of dropouts due to diary clashes and then some last minute cancellations from Coronavirus fears or problems. This reduced the numbers from a healthy 12-16 potentials to just 5 hardy soulds who made it on the day.

There were three games run on the day:

Anthony Morton put on a Rorke's Drift refight using Little Legion metal figures and the Portable Wargames rules.

I ran "The Relief of Fort Pippin" another game using The Portable Wargame and my own 19th century Blakc Hat Miniatures figures. This was a playtest of the participation game I have been working on for Salute 2020.

Eric and Jonny Kemp played a couple of variations on a Roman vs Celt game using Eric's own rules (written the night before!).

Although numbers were down, a good time was had by all and people enjoyed the games they played.

Photographs of the games below:

ROMANS VS CELTS



Eric always produced superbly painted figures nad amazing conversions and this game was no exception. One particularly clever trick was taking the Call to Arms romans who are waving thier shields and swords around wildly (in a most unroman manner) and turning their heads through 90 degrees. This was very effective and makes the figures look so much better.



The first game involved a celtic attack on a Roman Watchtower and the second a mass brawl between the two sides.



















RORKE'S DRIFT

Anthony Morton put on this Rorke's Drift game. It used the Command and Colours scenarion from the C&C website and involved 3 waves of Zulus. The Zulus had to kill all British units before the british could destroy a wave (which happened when the Zulus lost 4 units). The closest the Zulus came across 3 games was killing 7 out of 10 British Units.



























THE RELIEF OF FORT PIPPIN

This was a play test of a participation game. The germans have invaded Camberwick green and are besieging Fort Pippin, a relief force is dispatched from Chigley to save the fort. The game ran for 10 turns and whoever held the fort at the end of turn 10 wins. It was a very close game with the Germans capturing the fort on turn 8 before being thrown back out and then just failing to recapture it on turn 10.

Stuart Asquith Big Wars Memorial Game

Stuart Asquith very kindly sent me a copy of his Big Wars rules after I had mentioned them to him on the telephone when he had rung up to order some paint. I hadn't had chance to play them up to now but Anthony and I both thought that a game using the rules would be a fitting memorial on the day of Stuart's funeral.

The scenario chosen was Scenario 25 from the "Scenarios for all ages" book by Stuart and Charles Grant. The two armies are identical and coming along a road from east to west. The aim of the game is to seize a river crossing and deny a crossing to the opponent. The middle bridge is a footbridge only and is not one of the objectives.

We used my 19th Century Little Wars Revisited 54mm figures organised into 8 man infantry, 4 man cavalry units. Both forces were 4 infantry, 2 cavalry, 1 light infantry and a gun.



Curiously, both of us organised our column of march identically! We also both rolled so that the head of the column was level with the first bridge when the game began.





We soon discovered tht artillery was fairly ineffectual in the rules (though we did miss the rule to do with firing at structure which would have made it slightly more effective at infantry hiding in a house).



The first cavalry clash came by the far bridge with the Germans coming off the worst and being wiped out in the two rounds of melee.







The game developed with both sides moving along the river with occasional potshots at the enemy. The British were driven back from the first bridge by the German light Infantry.

The Germans then moved across the central bridge in column and were attacked by a cavalry unit who wiped them out to a man. This cavalry unit then crossed the bridge and wiped out another infantry unit before succumbing to a charge by the remaining German cavalry.

The loss of two units to the cavalry proved to much and the Germans were eventually forced to concede as they no longer had enough forces to hold a bridge.

The game was fun and both of us enjoyed it, having not played the scenario before, but we did have some problems with the rules:

We added an initiative roll to determine who moved first, with all shooting and melee being simultaneous after movement as there is no turn sequence described.

The major problem we had was with Cavalry. Even if we had been using the suggested 10 men Infantry units, they would have still been eliminated by cavalry as Infantry shooting at Cavalry halve their hits, so struggle to eliminate a figure when being charged. Then, in the melee the Cavalry are +2 for cavalry, +1 for charging, +1 for lance against an infantry of +1 for bayonet...

In both melees, the infantry were almost completely elminiated in the first round of combat...

I don't think we read the rules incorrectly, but cavalry seem too powerful for 1870 onwards.

DORSET MODEL SOLDIERS UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT

Press release about the purchase of Dorset Model Soldier below - still feeling a mix of nerves and excitement about the purchase...

We are pleased to announce that as of 15th November 2019 Imperial Miniatures are the new owners of Dorset Model Soldiers, the well known supplier of Toy Soldier Spares and model soldiers based in Portland, Dorset.

We have bought the company from Andy Gibbs, who bought Dorset from the original owner Giles Brown in 2016.

Andy is currently completing any outstanding paid orders he has, and we are arranging to collect the moulds, masters, stock etc. from the Portland workshop around the end of November. New orders can continue to be placed through the Dorset Models website, by phone or post (please note that cheques should be payable to Imperial Miniatures).

We hope to have the business back up and running and processing orders shortly after the London Toy Soldier show on December 7th and provide the same level of service that Giles made Dorset renowned for.

Please note the new address and phone number:
Dorset Model Soldiers , Nyetimber, Norfolk Farm Road, Woking, Surrey GU22 8LF, England
Tel: 01483 855757 (Cheques payable to Imperial Miniatures).

Dorset will continue to be run as a separate website and business from Imperial.

www.dorsetmodelsoldiers.com