A ChatGPT-generated Chaco War Matrix Game

In addition to the recent set of Portable Chaco War Wargame rules that I used ChatGPT to generate, I also asked it to create a six-player Matrix Game about the Chaco War. The end result needed a bit of tweaking by me and again, the end result is about 90% ChatGPT and 10% me.

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Chaco War Matrix Game

1. SIDES & ROLES

Each side has three players representing different aspects of their war effort. Each player has a hidden objective.

Bolivia (Better Equipped but Logistically Challenged)

• High Command (President Daniel Salamanca) – Plans offensives, logistics, overall strategy, and the country’s war economy. Must balance supply and morale.
• Field Commander (General Hans Kundt) – Directs battles, deploys reinforcements, and manages morale. Must compensate for Bolivia’s poor jungle tactics.
• Diplomat & Intelligence (Vice President Tejada Sorzano) – Conducts foreign relations, espionage, and propaganda. Must negotiate foreign support, manage internal politics, and conduct espionage.

Bolivian Hidden Objectives

• High Command: Ensure two supply routes remain open by 1934.
• Field Commander: Capture Fortín Boquerón within three months.
• Diplomat & Intelligence: Gain European arms shipments before 1935.

Paraguay (Outnumbered but Defensively Stronger)

• High Command (President Eusebio Ayala) – Plans defensive strategies and organises counterattacks. Must manage the country’s limited resources.
• Field Commander (General José Félix Estigarribia) – Directs troops, fortifies positions, and disrupts enemy supply lines. Must focus on using ambush tactics and fortifications to make up for the limited strength of the army.
• Diplomat & Intelligence (Vice President Raúl Casal Ribeiro​) – Manages propaganda, arms smuggling, and potential Argentine support. Must focus on diplomacy, morale, propaganda, smuggling arms from abroad, and sabotage operations.

Paraguayan Hidden Objectives

• High Command: Maintain fortified positions in key zones until late 1934.
• Field Commander: Destroy at least three Bolivian supply units.
• Diplomat & Intelligence: Convince Argentina to block Bolivian arms shipments.

2. EVENT CARDS

At the start of each month, draw an event card that affects both sides. The following are Examples of Event Cards

Weather & Terrain Events

• Severe Drought: Roll a D6 die for each unit. On a 1-2, it loses supply.
• Impassable Mud: All troop movements suffer -1 penalty this turn
• Hidden Water Source Found: One side regains a lost supply unit.

Political & Diplomatic Events

• International Arms Shipment: A random side gets an extra artillery unit.
• Argentine Pressure: Paraguay gets +1 morale, but Bolivia gets a diplomatic advantage.
• Revolt in Bolivia: If Bolivia is losing, they must dedicate a unit to suppress unrest.

Military & Tactical Events

• Paraguayan Guerrilla Success: Paraguay gains a free attack in a jungle hex.
• Bolivian Air Raid: Paraguay must roll D6; on 1-3, one unit is disrupted.
• Secret Tunnel Discovered: A defending fortification loses its +2 bonus.

3. TURN STRUCTURE (ONE TURN = ONE MONTH)

Propose Actions

• Each player declares an action (e.g., "Launch an attack on Fort Nanawa" or "Negotiate for Argentine arms shipments"), its result, and three reasons why it should happen.
• Other players may argue for or against the action’s effectiveness.

Resolve Arguments (Dice Roll)

• The strongest argument gets a +2 bonus, a weak one gets a -2 penalty
• Roll a D6 to determine success:
• 1 or 2: Failure
• 3 or 4: Partial success
• 5 or 6: Full success

Update the Game State

• Adjust troop positions, supply levels, morale, and political situation.
• If key objectives are met, declare victory conditions.

4. KEY GAME ELEMENTS

Logistics & Supply

• The Chaco terrain is harsh – supply chains must be maintained to keep forces combat-ready.
• Players can target enemy supply lines, build forts and airstrips, or negotiate for foreign aid.

Battles & Fortifications

• Players can launch assaults or build forts/trenches.
• Forts give +2 defence, while jungle ambushes give +1 attack.

Foreign Relations

• Paraguay seeks aid from Argentina and Brazil.
• Bolivia seeks support from Peru and European suppliers.
• Diplomacy can shift the balance of arms.

5. VICTORY CONDITIONS

• Bolivia wins if it captures Fortín Boquerón and Asunción before 1935.
• Paraguay wins if it holds the Chaco and destroys three Bolivian supply lines.
• If neither wins by 1935, the game enters negotiation mode – the side with better morale, supply, and territory forces favourable peace terms.

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All that is needed to play the game is a map and some counters to represent military units etc.

Some Portable 3 x 3 Chaco War Wargame rules produced by ChatGPT

As I mentioned in a recent blog post, I have been using ChatGPT to create a set of Portable 3 x 3 Chaco War wargame rules. They needed a minor amount of tweaking to improve the clarity of the rules but what follows is probably 90% ChatGPT and 10% me.

A 1933 map of Paraguay. The disputed area - the Gran Chaco - is shown shaded in pink.

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Portable Chaco War Wargame

A fast-play grid-based wargame representing the difficult jungle and desert warfare of the conflict.

1. Game Setup

• Map: A 3 x 3 (or larger) grid, covered with a mix of open areas, dense jungle, dry scrub, and fortifications.
• Units: Infantry, Machine Guns, Mortars, Cavalry, Artillery, Air Support, and Commanders.
• Command & Control: Each side has a Commander with randomly-generated number of unit activations per turn.
• Fog of War: Hidden movement represents surprise attacks in difficult terrain.

2. Turn Sequence

• Command Phase: Each side rolls a D6 die to determine the number of units that can be activated this turn (each side activates that many units).
• Movement Phase: Activated units move one or two grid area, unless slowed by terrain.
• Combat Phase: Activated units may fire or assault enemy units in adjacent grid areas. (Defending units can fight back.)
• Morale Phase: Units check morale if they have been hit twice or more.
• Supply Phase: Check supply lines (units without supply suffer penalties).

3. Units & Special Rules

Unit	Move (in grid areas)	Weapon Range (in grid areas)	Attack Value	Defence Value	Special Rules
Bolivian Infantry	1	2	2	3	Well equipped, but suffers if moving through jungle. D6 die sore of 3, 4, 5, or 6 needed to move through jungle.
Paraguayan Infantry	1	2	2	3	Better adapted to the terrain; gains +1 Defence in jungle.
Machine Guns	1	3	4	3	May not move and fire in the same turn.
Mortars	1	3	4	3	May not move and fire in the same turn. Can fire over obstacles, but have limited ammunition (D6 die mortar rounds per gun).
Cavalry	2	1	2	2	Can move after attacking (this represents their ability to hit-and-run),
Artillery	1	4	3	2	May not move and fire in the same turn. Can fire over obstacles, but have limited ammunition (D6 die artillery rounds per gun).
Air Support	-	-	3	-	May be used once per battle. May only target non-jungle grid areas.
Fortifications	-	-	-	+2	Provides cover bonus.
Commanders	2	-	1	1	Boosts morale by adding +1 to morale of any unit in an adjacent grid area..

4. Combat

• Both players roll a D6 die and add and subtract their attack/defence values and any modifiers.
• Higher roll wins; loser is hit.
• If the result is a tie, both units are hit.

5. Special Features

• Hidden Movement & Ambushes
• Each side may place dummy counters in jungle/scrub grid areas.
• Units are revealed only when spotted by a unit entering an adjacent grid area and rolling a D6 die score of 4, 5, or 6.
• If an enemy unit moves into a grid area occupied by an enemy unit they have not spotted, they suffer -1 from their defence value.
• Supply & Attrition
• Each unit must be able to trace an unimpeded path to a supply base.
• If cut off for two turns, units suffer -1 on attack values and movement distance.
• Capturing enemy supply base restores half a D6 die score (rounded down) of lost units.
• Morale
• If a unit has taken two or more hits, roll a D6 die:
• 1, 2 or 3: Unit retreats a grid area.
• 4, 5, or 6: Unit holds position.
• Commander in adjacent grid area +1 to any D6 die score.
• Weather Effects
• At the start of each game, roll a D6 die for weather:
• 1 or 2: Extreme Heat: Reduce all movement by 1 grid area.
• 3 or 4: Fog: Ranged attacks suffer -1 attack value.
• 5 or 6: Normal Conditions: No effect.

6. Campaign & Scenarios

• Scenario 1: The Battle of Nanawa (1933)
• Bolivian Objective: Capture Paraguayan defences within 6 turns.
• Paraguayan Objective: Hold the position or repel attackers.
• Special Rule: Paraguayan defenders are fortified and get +1 defence value.
• Scenario 2: Guerrilla Warfare in the Jungle
• Bolivian Objective: Escort a convoy across the jungle to supply a fort.
• Paraguayan Objective: Ambush and destroy at least 2 Bolivian units.
• Special Rule: Paraguayan forces start hidden, Bolivians must scout carefully.
• Scenario 3: The Fall of Fort Boquerón (1932)
• Bolivian Objective: Break through Paraguayan lines before turn 5.
• Paraguayan Objective: Defend the fort; if it falls, retreat to fight another day.
• Special Rule: Mortars and artillery have limited ammunition (D6 rounds per gun).

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It is interesting to note that ChatGPT has taken into account the terrain found in ther Gran Chaco and the differences between that Bolivian and Paraguayan infantry. The former were mainly drawn from the Bolivian Altiplano (which is a high semi-arid and arid plateau with a cool and humid climate) and the latter were mainly Guarani who were used to living in the semi-arid, broadleaf jungle and scrub-covered lowland terrain found in the Gran Chaco.

You are never too old to learn something new

I haven’t blogged for the past few days for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, I’ve been suffering from a general lassitude that seems to have crept up on me. I have no idea why, other than it’s the last hurrah of the flu-like bug I caught after Christmas, coupled with rather over indulging myself on my birthday.

Secondly, I’ve been learning how to use two new-to-me apps, ChatGPT and Discord. I’ve already mentioned ChatGPT on my blog, but what I’ve been doing is experimenting with its use as a means to create period specific versions of the PORTABLE WARGAME rules (e.g. the Chaco War), potential scenarios, and related campaign Matrix Games. So far, the results have been variable because I’ve had to learn how much and what type of information I need to input in order for it to generate meaningful results.

Discord is used by the local gaming group I have joined to organise its activities and as a means for players of particular games to communicate with one another. Having begun to explore its potential, I have begun to realise that so far that represents only a fraction of what it can do, and that it can be a viable alternative means of playing wargames online … something that I’ve tended to use Zoom and FaceTime to do in the past.

I may be old and worn out, but I hope that I’m not too old and knackered to learn - and use - new things.

Trench assault: An ideal setup for a Fast Play 3 x 3 Portable Wargame?

After I had written the recent blog post about Nick Huband's excellent 15mm World War One PORTABLE WARGAME army, he sent me a tidied up version of his sketch map of a FP3x3PW trench system.

As soon as I saw Nick's sketch, I was reminded of a map of the Battle of Ayala I saw year's ago in Robert J Icks' FAMOUS TANK BATTLES: FROM WORLD WAR I TO VIETNAM.

The battle was fought during the Chaco War and was the largest set piece battle of the war. The Bolivians attacked the Paraguayan-held trenches around Ayala from two main directions in order the straighten out the salient to the west of Ayala, around Nanawa. The two 'wings' of the attack were conducted by three infantry battalions (each with 450 rifles and 20 machine guns) supported by a dismounted cavalry regiment equipped with flamethrowers, two 65mm mountain guns, and two Stokes mortars. In addition, the right wing had two Vickers 6-ton tanks and the left wing had a 6-ton tank and two Carden Lloyd tankettes. In reserve were three additional infantry regiments (each of two battalions) on the right, one in the centre, and two on the left.

The battle began with a Bolivian 'massed' fifteen-minute-long artillery barrage by twenty-five field guns and twelve howitzers (the largest artillery barrage ever seen in South America up to that date!) and the explosion of a mine on the left wing. Unfortunately the mine tunnel was too short, and when it exploded its effect on the Paraguayan defences was minimal.

The battle was conducted in temperatures of up to 95˚F, the tank crews kept having to be replaced due to fatigue and heat exhaustion, and weapons jammed and rounds 'cooked off' due to the heat. The attack drove in the Paraguayan defenders, but never broke through the trench line, and in the end the Bolivians called off their attack after suffering horrendous casualties.

This battle looks like an ideal candidate for a FP3x3PW battle ... and I know someone who already has the figures to do it!

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FAMOUS TANK BATTLES: FROM WORLD WAR I TO VIETNAM by Robert J Icks, Colonel (AUS Ret.) was published in 1972 by Profile Publications Limited (ISBN 0 85383 280 3).

A belated ‘day in the sun’ for my Peter Laing figures.

Despite the fact that of late most of my time has been taken up working on the final draft of THE PORTABLE PIKE & SHOT WARGAME book, I have been thinking about setting up a small battle so that figures from my collection of World War One Peter Laing figures can finally have their belated ‘day in the sun’.

The figures were originally intended to represent the Bolivian and Paraguayan armies of the Chaco War, and it is to that war that I looked for inspiration. In the end, I chose to base the scenario on the Battle of Nanawa, and I have just set up the terrain for the battle using my Hexon II hex terrain.

I hope to fight this battle over the next couple of days, and when I do, I’ll certainly write a battle report for this blog.

At least forty years on ...

Many, many years ago (at least forty!), I decided to refight the Chaco War (1932 to 1935) between Bolivia and Paraguay. To this end I amassed and painted two sizeable armies of 15mm-scale Peter Laing figures ... and they have been sitting in storage pretty well ever since!

Part of the problem was that I had very scant information to go on, and painted the armies in completely the wrong colours! As a result, they saw the light of day only once in a Chaco War battle (the Battle of Nanawa) that I put on at SALUTE in the early 1980s. The figures have been used to portray Russian and Japanese forces during the Russo-Japanese War ... for which their paint schemes were not too inaccurate. By the time I got married in 1982, the figures were in storage, and other than being culled very slightly some year ago, they have remained unused, but no unloved.

To give my regular blog readers some idea about how big the collection is, here are some photographs of it in its REALLY USEFUL BOXES storage trays:

You will not that the collection included three very badly scratch built Vickers 6-ton tanks. (They were made using the bottom half of Airfix Bren Gun carriers and bits of scrap plastic I had to hand.)

I 'found' the collection during a bit of a sort out over the weekend, and I've been mulling over what to do with it. I could put it all back into storage (which seems a bit of a pity) or I could sort some of the figures out and fight a campaign with them. The latter does appeal to me, and even though it is not currently on my list of short-term goals, it would be a waste not to use them. After all, they've been sitting in storage for the best part of forty years waiting for their big day to come ... and it would be a shame to disappoint them!

(I know that toy soldiers are inanimate objects with no feelings, but ...)

The Chaco Air War 1932-35

Anyone who knows me or who has read my blog for some time will already know that I have had an abiding interest in the war between Bolivia and Paraguay for some considerable time. It will therefore be no surprise to read that I bought a copy of THE CHACO AIR WAR 1932-35: THE FIRST MODERN AIR WAR IN LATIN AMERICA when I saw it on sale at SELWG2019.

Besides a Foreword and Introduction, the book contains seven chapter, two appendices, and notes about sources as well as acknowledgements.

1. Theatre of war
2. The conflict background
3. Paraguayan Military Aviation
4. Paraguayan Navy and Naval Aviation
5. Bolivian Military Aviation
6. Chaco air war chronology
7. Conclusion

• Recce flights carried out by the Paraguayan Air Arm during the Chaco War
• Chaco War Air Fleets

The contains numerous contemporary photographs, seven full-colour pages of side views of some of the aircraft used by the Paraguayans and Bolivians, and six full-colour maps.

This is a worthy addition to the small range of books that have been written and published about the Chaco War, and I recommend it to anyone with an interest in that conflict.

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THE CHACO AIR WAR 1932-35: THE FIRST MODERN AIR WAR IN LATIN AMERICA was written by Antonio Sapienza and published in 2018 by Helion & Company Limited as No.5 in their LATIN AMERICA@WAR series (ISBN 978 1 911512 96 7).

An even older Paraguayan River Gunboat!

The Paraguayan Navy's Humaitá-class river gunboats may well be regarded as ancient by most modern standards, but their longevity pales into insignificance when compared to that Navy's Capitán Cabral (ex-Triunfo, ex-Adolfo Riquelme), which was first launched in 1907!

She began life as a river tug, and was purchased and converted into a river gunboat soon after she was launched. She was originally armed with a single 3" gun, but in the late 1980s this was replaced by a 40mm Bofors automatic cannon, two 20mm Oerlikon automatic cannons, and two 0.5" machine guns.

At the same time as she was re-armed, the ship was modernised. Her original steam engines were replaced with new diesel ones, and her superstructure was completely re-modelled. She was certainly still in service in 2016 ... one hundred and eleven years after she was launched!

Paraguayan River Gunboats

One unusual aspect of the Chaco War was that although both belligerents were land-locked, the Paraguayans had a navy that took an active part in the war/

A map of the area shows why.

Two rivers – the Paraguay and the Pilcomayo – effectively bordered the area claimed by Paraguay, and they were able to use them to supply and support their forces in the Chaco area. As a result, the Paraguayans had a small but very effective navy.

The backbone of the Paraguayan Navy were two river gunboats, the Humaitá-class gunboats. These had been designed in Paraguay with Italian assistance, and built in Genoa by Cantieri Odero between 1928 and 1931.

The ships were named Humaitá and Paraguay and they reached Asunción on 5th May, 1931.

Their characteristics were:

• Displacement: 856 tons
• Dimensions:
• Length: 229.7' (70m)
• Beam: 35.1' (10.7m)
• Draught: 5.6' (1.7m)
• Propulsion: 2 x Parsons 3,800 shp (2,800 kW) geared steam turbines driving 2 shafts
• Speed: 18 knots
• Range: 1,700 nautical miles at 16 knots
• Complement: 86
• Armament: 4 × 4.7" (2 x 2) Guns; 3 × 3" (3 x 1) Guns; 2 × 40mm (2 x 1) Anti-Aircraft Guns; 6 mines
• Armour:
• Belt: 0.5"
• Deck: 0.3"
• Turrets: 0.3"
• Conning tower: 0.76"

The two ships were used extensively during the war, and still exist today. Humaitá is now a museum ship and Paraguay is awaiting refurbishment that will include the replacement of her engines by new diesel ones.

Chaco War resources

My recent purchase of two Chaco War-related books prompted me to take a look at the printed resources I have in my collection. They include:

• The Conduct of the Chaco War by David H Zook (1960)

• Chaco by Frank Chadwick and Mark W Miller (1973) [An early Game Designers Workshop wargame]

• Command Magazine: The Chaco War by Bruce Facau (1991) [Contains a game and informative article about the war]

• Aircraft of the Chaco War 1928–35 by Dan Hagedorn and Antonio L Sapienza (2004)

• The Green Hell: A Concise History of the Chaco War Between Bolivia and Paraguay 1932–35 by Adrian J English (2008)

• The Chaco War – Bolivia v Paraguay 1932–35 (2nd Edition) by Adrian J English

• The Chaco War 1932–35: South America’s greatest modern conflict (Osprey Men at Arms No.474) written by Alejandro M de Quesada and illustrated by Ramiro Bujeiro (2011)

• A Scale Modeller's Guide to Aircraft of the Gran Chaco War by Richard Humberstone (2015)

• The Chaco Air War: The First Modern Air War in Latin America by Antonio Sapienza (2018)

As far as I can see this is a fairly comprehensive list of resources ... and making it made me realise that wargaming the Chaco War is another project that I want to do at some time.

A Scale Modeller's Guide to Aircraft of the Gran Chaco War

Very soon after making me aware of the recent publication of AIR WAR CHACO, Arthur Harman pointed out that a book entitled A SCALE MODELLER'S GUIDE TO AIRCRAFT OF THE GRAN CHACO WAR has also been published ... so I bought a copy of that as well!

The book is a thin paperback (40 pages) but it contains numerous 1:72nd-scale colour drawings of all the main aircraft types used by both sides during the Chaco War. It also contains a brief history of the war as well as a chronology of the main air operations carried out by both sides. Whilst it was not cheap, it is a very helpful addition to my collection of books etc., about the Chaco War.

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A SCALE MODELLER'S GUIDE TO AIRCRAFT OF THE GRAN CHACO WAR was written and illustrated by Richard Humberstone and published by Blue Rider Publishing in 2015 (ISBN 978 1 32 055024 6)

The Chaco Air War

I have had a long-standing interest in the Chaco War, and when Arthur Harman saw that Helion & Company had just published a book entitled THE CHACO AIR WAR 1932-35: THE FIRST MODERN AIR WAR IN LATIN AMERICA, he contacted me to tell me. My immediate reaction was to order a copy ... and from what I have read so far, it was an excellent purchase!

The book is a slim paperback (it only has eighty pages), but it contains over two hundred illustrations and gives details about the organisation of the air forces involved and the missions that were flown. Reading it made me wonder if at some time in the future I ought to consider producing a military source book about the war along the lines of LA ULTIMA CRUZADA ... but I have a few other projects that I want to finish first!

Barbarossa Mini-campaign: Battle No.1 : Control the river

Finally – and slightly over a week later than expected – I began fighting the Barbarossa Mini-campaign I planned to fight to celebrate my sixty fifth birthday.

The organisation of the campaign was 'stolen' from the NUMBERS, WARGAMES AND ARSING ABOUT blog that is written by Old Trousers, and used a number of scenarios from Neil Thomas's ONE-HOUR WARGAMES. All the battles were fought on Hexon II terrain set up on my new wargaming board, and the rules were a concoction of my own that use the combat system from Richard Borg's MEMOIR '44 rules and my playing card-driven unit activation system.

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Control the river This battle used Scenario 3 from Neil Thomas's ONE-HOUR WARGAMES. Both sides had six units available to take part in the battle.

The invading Germans had:

• Four Infantry Units (= 16 Strength Points)
• One Artillery Unit (= 2 Strength Points)
• One Machine Gun Unit (= 4 Strength Points)

Note: The German will become exhausted when they have lost 11 Strength Points.

The defending Russians had:

• Three Infantry Units (= 12 Strength Points)
• One Artillery Unit (= 2 Strength Points)
• One Anti-tank Gun Unit (= 2 Strength Points)
• One Machine Gun Unit (= 4 Strength Points)

Note: The Russians will become exhausted when they have lost 10 Strength Points.

The terrain looked like this:

The Germans were advancing from the side of the wargaming board nearest the camera and the Russians entered the battlefield from the edge furthest away.

The battle began with both sides sending troops forward to seize the bridges.

Supporting troops were then brought forward ...

... and fighting broke out for control of one of the bridges.

One Russian Infantry Unit raced across the bridge, forcing one of the German Infantry Units to fall back ...

... but at the cost of 75% casualties!

The Germans fought back with considerable ferocity, destroying the Russian Infantry Unit and forcing the Russian Machine Gun Unit to fall back.

Luck seemed to favour the Germans, who were able to bring their fire to bear on the foremost Russian Units, destroying a further Infantry Unit and forcing the Russian Machine Gun Unit to withdraw.

The Russians fought back ...

... but to little avail, and the tide of battle seemed to be moving inexorably against them.

The fighting continued for some time, but eventually the Russians became exhausted and withdrew ...

... leaving the Germans in control of the river!

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This was a really fun little battle that took longer to write up that it did to fight. The size of the board and the number of units per side produced a fast but balanced game, and throughly vindicated my decision to follow the example set by 'Norm' of BATTLEFIELDS & WARRIORS blog and to convert the whiteboard into a wargaming board for use with my Hexon II terrain.

Roll on the next battle in this mini-campaign!

I have the inspiration; all I need now is the perspiration!

Sue and I have been away for the weekend to visit Bristol. I am sure that it is a lovely city ... but it has one of the most confusing road systems I have ever had to drive around. Even the locals I spoke to find it difficult to navigate, and in our case the lack of road signage that makes sense made it doubly so.

Whilst we were away I had an idea. (I do have some good ones occasionally!). Somewhere in the collection of Chaco War photographs that I have stored on my computer I remembered seeing an image of a Paraguayan troop train that looked rather like the toy train that I bought last Thursday. I did not have the opportunity to look through the photographs until this morning, but eventually I found it ... and here it is!

As you can see, it is not that dissimilar to the toy train I have bought.

I now have the necessary inspiration; all I need to add is the perspiration (and time) to do something about it!

Out of the Shed: My 1:300th-scale Spanish Civil War armies ... and an unexpected bonus

The sorting out of the contents of the shed continues. When I opened one of the crates I discovered a storage box that contained my long-lost 1:300th-scale Spanish Civil War armies. These were created from a mixture of World War II and Colonial figures from the ranges produced by Heroics & Ros, and were used to demonstrate the earlier versions of my Spanish Civil War rules, ¡ARRIBA ESPAÑA!

The Nationalists
The Nationalist forces were made up of two 'battalions' of infantry (actually a Bandera of the Spanish Foreign Legion and a Tabor of Moroccan Regulares), a battery of field artillery, and a tank company.

The Republicans
The Republicans were made up of both regular and militia forces.

The regulars consisted of a battalion of Peninsulares (Spanish conscripts who served on the Spanish mainland and not in North Africa), two companies of Assault Guards (para-military police), a Grupo of field artillery, a battery of anti-tank guns, and a tank company.

The militia consisted of three 'battalions' of Trade Unionist and members of political movements. These were the PCE (Partido Comunista de España [Communist Party of Spain]), the UGT (Unión General de Trabajadores [General Union of Workers]), and the FAI (Federación Anarquista Ibérica [Iberian Anarchist Federation]).

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An added bonus was the fact that the box these armies were stored in contained three scratch-built 15mm-scale model Vickers six-ton tanks.

These were built many years ago for my Chaco War project ... and I can certainly find a use for them today!

Some recent acquisitions ... and for a change it is not all ROCO/Roskopf stuff!

My trip to Skirmish yesterday resulted in the acquisition of two 15mm-scale Chaco War armies (both acquired from David Crook) and half a dozen ROCO/Roskopf vehicles.

The Chaco War armies include:

• 6 Zvezda ZIS-5 trucks (ideal for representing the sort of motor transport both sides had)
• 1 bag of Irregular Miniatures Bolivian Cavalry
• 1 bag of Irregular Miniatures Bolivian Infantry
• 3 bags of Bolivian Artillery
• 1 bag of Irregular Miniatures Bolivian Mortar Crews with Peter Pig Mortars
• 1 bag of Irregular Miniatures Bolivian Heavy Machine Guns and Crews
• 1 bag of Irregular Miniatures Bolivian Light Machine Guns and Crew
• 1 bag of Irregular Miniatures Bolivian Submachine Gunners
• 1 bag of Irregular Miniatures Bolivian Officers
• 1 bag of Irregular Miniatures Bolivian Flag bearers and buglers
• 1 QRF Vickers 6-ton Tank
• 1 bag of Irregular Miniatures Paraguayan Cavalry
• 1 bag of Irregular Miniatures Paraguayan Infantry
• 3 bags of Paraguayan Artillery
• 1 bag of Irregular Miniatures Paraguayan Mortar Crews with Peter Pig Mortars
• 1 bag of Irregular Miniatures Paraguayan Heavy Machine Guns and Crews
• 1 bag of Irregular Miniatures Paraguayan Light Machine Guns and Crew
• 1 bag of Irregular Miniatures Paraguayan Submachine Gunners
• 1 bag of Irregular Miniatures Paraguayan Officers
• 1 bag of Irregular Miniatures Paraguayan Flag bearers and buglers

The ROCO/Roskopf vehicles include:

• 1 Roskopf JSU-152
• 2 Roskopf KV-1s 1
• 1 ROCO 2.5-ton Truck
• 1 ROCO 2.5-ton Bowser
• 1 ROCO 6-ton Truck

Added to this little haul were some further ROCO/Roskopf vehicles that I 'won' in some recent eBay auctions. These arrived in the post this morning and include:

• 2 Roskopf Unimog Trucks
• 4 Roskopf Small Trucks 4 rad.
• 1 Roskopf Large Truck 4 rad.
• 1 Roskopf Large Truck/Bowser 4 rad.
• 1 Roskopf KV-1
• 1 Roskopf T-54

I am not quite sure what I will do with the T-54 … but I am certain that I will find a use for it!