Service of Remembrance

This morning Sue and I attended the Service of Remembrance at St George’s Church, Woolwich.

We last visited the church back in September when we attended the Commonwealth and Gurkha Garden Party, and there were even more people there this time.

The service was led by Revd Dr Adam Scott OBE, TD, the Honorary Chaplain to the National Reserve HQ, Royal Artillery and amongst those who attended were the local MP (Matthew Pennycook), the Deputy Mayor (Jit Ranabhat), the Chair of the Woolwich Garrison Church Trust (Tim Barnes KC), a former Mayor (Denise Hyland), several Borough Councillors, representatives of the 1st Battalion, Princess of Wales Royal Regiment, the Royal Artillery, the Metropolitan Police, the Scouts, the Army Cadets, and the local Gurkha community. A large number of wreaths were laid …

… and tributes were paid to Gunner Alfred Smith VC and Lance Corporal Jake Alderton RE, both of whom have their names inscribed on the memorial at the side of the Church. Gunner Smith – who is buried in a Plumstead – won his Victoria Cross when he saved the life of his superior officer – Lieutenant Guthrie – at the Battle of Abu Klea, and Lance Corporal Alderton was killed on active service in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. They were selected as representatives of all those whose names are recorded on the memorial.

It was a very moving occasion and although we both returned feeling cold and wet, we also felt spiritually uplifted by the service.

The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month

Today marks the one hundred and fifth anniversay of the Armistice that ended the fighting on the Western Front.

'They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.’

‘When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say,
For Their Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today.’

‘We will remember them.’

Might it be possible to meld ShamBattle with the Portable Wargame?: Part 5: The forces for the play-test

I drew upon my Belle Époque collections for the opposing armies in my play-test. The Burgundians stood in for the Army of Redina and the Schwarzenbergers became the Army of Bluvia.

I selected the following units for each army:

• A general (6 SPs)
• 2 x Artillery units (2 x 2 SPs = 4 SPs)
• 1 x Machine gun unit (2 SPs)
• 1 x Cavalry unit (4 SPs)
• 4 x Infantry units (4 x 6 SPs = 24 SPs)
• Total = 40 SPs

These armies look like this:

Redina

Bluvia

A day for reflection: Fond memories of a former colleague

Later this afternoon I will be attending the funeral of a former teaching colleague at the local crematorium. He and I shared an office for several years when we were both Heads of Year at the Woolwich Polytechnic Boys School in Woolwich. He was the Head of Year Seven (i.e the intake year from the local Primary Schools) and I was Head of Year Eight.

At the time the school was on two sites, one (the Lower School that housed the Year Seven and Eight pupils) in Macbean Street in the centre of Woolwich and the other (the Upper School that housed Years Nine to Eleven and the Sixth Form) in Sandy Hill Road, Plumstead. My colleague and I were based in the Lower School, which meant that we dealt with the youngest cohort of pupils which was both a blessing (very little bullying took place) and a curse (the local shopping centre, which included the first ever branch of McDonalds, was less than two minutes walk away and a very tempting place for youngsters to go to during lunchtime).

Corporal punishment was still used in schools back then, and both my colleague and I were responsible for administering it to our respective year groups. Surprisingly enough, we were more sparing in our use of it than many other schools, and always gave pupils the option to accept being caned or being suspended until their parents could come in for an interview. Most chose the former rather than the latter because they knew that their parents would probably punish them more than we would.

My colleague was a very gifted musician, having been a bandsman in the Royal Artillery before he became a teacher. As a result, the school had an excellent wind band that was tutored by serving members of the regimental band (its was based in Woolwich at the time), and many of the band’s members went on to become professional musicians, with most of them joining the British Army. Some of them are still serving members of the British Army, and I know of one who is currently in the Band of the Irish Guards.

Besides teaching music, my colleague also served in the Central Band of the Royal British Legion, where he was Director of Music from 1977 to 1984 and again from 1985 to 1991. I can well remember him conducting the band at halftime during a home match of West Ham United at the old Boleyn Ground when the side wasn’t doing very well, and as they marched off, one of the supporters shouting out 'You'd best stay on mates, you can't do worse than our lot!'.

We rather lost touch when I moved to another school, but every so often we would see each other in the local area and always made time to catch up with how things were going. I even saw him conduct the Royal British Legion Band when they visited Jersey towards the end of his tenure as Director of Music … and a very good band they were too under his leadership!

He will be sorely missed by his family and the many friends and acquaintances he made, both as a father, a colleague, and as a teacher.

Might it be possible to meld ShamBattle with the Portable Wargame?: Part 4: The rules

The original rules for SHAMBATTLE will no doubt give the players a lot of fun, but my plan was to see if I could meld elements of the concept with some of the game mechanisms used in my PORTABLE WARGAME rules.

Before I started to write my new rules, I looked at the original SHAMBATTLE rules and wrote lists of what I liked and what I didn't like in them. I hoped that this would then help me to concentrate my thinking.

What I particularly liked

• The map/battlefield.
• The limitation on the size of each side's forces.
• The limitations as to where those forces could be place before the fighting started.
• The time restriction placed on how long a player could take to complete their turn. (This might not be applicable in a solo wargame, but as well as being in SHAMBATTLE, it harks back to HG Wells' LITTLE WARS.)
• The use of the movement marker and figure base length to determine the speed at which an individual figure can move. (This does not fit in with my use of grid area movement BUT it is a nice and simple mechanism that reduces the need to measure movement distances and is something that I want to use at some point if I can.)
• The use of hospitals where casualties can be 'recovered' for future use. (Again, this is a nice mechanism BUT I cannot as yet see how I can incorporate it into my existing PORTABLE WARGAME rules.)

What I didn't particularly like

• The turn sequence. I much prefer to have artillery fire first during any turn, then movement to take place, followed by any combat. That said, in the following rules I stuck with the sequence laid down in SHAMBATTLE.
• The combat mechanisms. Both the bayonet charge/melee mechanism - which is very Wellsian - and the artillery/machine gun firing mechanisms - which rely on the use of templates - don't feel right to me. They might be easy and fun to use but I am not convinced that they are any better than the mechanisms I incorporated into my PORTABLE WARGAME rules.
• The spy seems a rather pointless although I can see why they were included in the original rules to add a bit of extra drama and fun.

---

The ShamBattle/Portable Wargame Rules (Draft 1)

Armies

• Each side has an army that has a total of no more than 40 SPs (Strength Points). This includes a general who is worth 6 SPs.
• Armies comprise a number of units; each unit representing an infantry regiment, an engineer battalion, a machine gun company, a cavalry regiment, an artillery regiment, or a commander.
• Armies should have no more than two artillery and one machine gun unit.
• Units are grouped together to form brigades and/or divisions. These brigades and/or divisions may be commanded by the general.
• The only limitation to the number of units that can be placed in a hex is the size of the hex. No unit is allowed to span the border between one hex and another.

Units

• Each type of unit has a preset Strength Point (SP) Value, maximum distance in grid areas that it may move each turn, weapon range in grid areas for the weapons it is principally armed with, and a number of D6 dice it can roll in combat.
• Infantry regiments: 2 bases @ 3SPs each = 6 SPs; move 1 grid area; weapon range of 1 grid areas; 1 D6 combat die per base.
• Engineer battalions: 1 base @ 3 SPs = 3 SPs; move 1 grid area; weapon range of 1 grid areas; 1 D6 combat die.
• Machine gun companies: 1 base @ 2 SPs = 2 SPs; move 1 grid area; weapon range of 2 grid areas; 3 D6 combat dice when firing but only 1 D6 combat dice in close combat.
• Cavalry regiments: 2 bases @ 2 SPs each = 4 SPs; move 2 grid areas; weapon range of 1 grid areas; 1 D6 combat die per base.
• Artillery regiments: 1 base @ 2 SPs = 2 SPs; move 1 grid area; weapon range of 4 grid areas; 2 D6 combat dice when firing but only 1 D6 combat dice in close combat.
• Generals: 1 base @ 6 notional SPs; move 2 grid areas; no weapon range; add 1 to the D6 dice scores of any friendly units they are co-located with (i.e. that are in the same hex as the general).

The prewar placement of units

• In accordance with prewar treaty agreements, no unit may be placed in a hex that adjoins the boundary between the opposing countries. Until war breaks out, this part of the battlefield is regarded as a demilitarised zone.
• Each city must have a garrison that is at least 8 SPs in strength. (The general is NOT counted when garrisoning a city.)
• Any units that are not in a city may be placed anywhere in that side's country.

Exhaustion point

• Both sides have an Exhaustion Point of 14 SPs.
• When a side has lost that number of SPs, it has reached its Exhaustion Point.
• A side that has reached its Exhaustion Point must immediately stop taking aggressive action (i.e. it will continue to fight to defend its existing position but will not continue any movement towards the enemy).
• If all of a side's units are within their own country when that side reaches it Exhaustion Point, it must surrender and the war ends.
• When both sides have reached their Exhaustion Point, the war ends.

Timescale

• The game day is divided into four daytime turns and a night turn. These are:
• Morning (6.00am to 10.00am)
• Midday (10.00am to 2.00pm)
• Afternoon (2.00pm to 6.00pm)
• Evening (6.00pm to 10.00pm)
• Night (10.00pm to 6.00am)
• No fighting is allowed during the night turn. Units may move during the night turn but may not move into a grid area that is adjacent to the front, flank, or rear of enemy unit.
• During the night turn, units that have not been destroyed may regain a lost Strength Point (SP) by rolling one D6 die per unit.
• Results:
• D6 die score = 5 or more: The unit regains 1 SP.
• D6 die score = 4 or less: The unit does not regain any lost SPs.

Turn sequence

• At the beginning of each turn, both sides roll a D6 die. The side with the higher score moves first this turn.
• Side A moves.
• Side B moves.
• Machine guns fire.
• Artillery fires.
• Close combat takes place. (A formation or unit may only initiate close combat once each turn but can defend themselves every time they are attacked).

Movement

• The movement rates for all units is laid down above.
• Any unit that makes its entire move along a road benefits from an additional hex of movement that turn.

Machine gun and artillery fire

• Machine gun units and artillery units may only fire at targets that are in direct line-of-sight. They may not fire over other units unless they are on a hill above the unit they are firing over.
• Machine gun and artillery fire is simultaneous.
• Each machine gun unit and artillery unit rolls their D6 dice and inflict casualties as follows:
• D6 die score = 6: Enemy loses 1 SP even if they are in cover.
• D6 die score = 5: Enemy loses 1 SP if they are in the open.
• Losses of SPs are allocated to co-located units in turn (e.g. one to this unit, then one to the next unit, and so on).

Close combat

• Close combat takes place when opposing units are in adjacent hexes or the same hex.
• All close combat is simultaneous.
• All units involved in a close combat contribute their D6 dice to the combat dice roll.
• Both sides involved in a combat roll their D6 dice and the results are as follows:
• D6 die score = 6: Enemy loses 1 SP even if they are in cover.
• D6 die score = 5: Enemy loses 1 SP if they are in the open.
• Losses of SPs are allocated to co-located units in turn (e.g. one to this unit, then one to the next unit, and so on).
• The side that loses the most SPs during a close combat is deemed to have lost the close combat and may reduce the number of SPs that they have lost by 50% (rounded up) by immediately withdrawing out of contact with the enemy (e.g. a side loses 5 SPs in a close combat. By immediately withdrawing out of contact they reduce the number of SPs they have lost by 5/2 = 2.5, which when rounded up = 2. They have therefore only lost 3 SPs.)

Generals in close combat

• If a general is in a hex with a unit or units that lose a close combat, they may have been hit. To determine if they have been hit, a D6 die is rolled. and the results are as follows:
• 1: The General is killed, and 6 SPs are lost.
• 2 or 3: The General is wounded, and 3 SPs are lost.
• 4, 5, or 6: The General escapes injury.

---

The rules outlined above are very much a work in progress and require play-testing. When writing them I have tried to meld together aspects of both SHAMBATTLE and the PORTABLE WARGAME ... but until I have set up some forces and start to use them on this battlefield, I have no idea how well these rules will work.

Might it be possible to meld ShamBattle with the Portable Wargame?: Part 3: From map to tabletop

Having created my map, I then translated it into a tabletop battlefield … and the end result looked like this …

Click on the image to enlarge it.

Click on the image to enlarge it.

Click on the image to enlarge it.

Now all I’ve got to do is to write a suitably modified version of the PORTABLE WARGAME rules … and then the war can begin!

---

Some notes on the terrain

The hexes and roads were all made by Hexon II. With the exception of the long building with twin towers that forms part of Blueburg, all the building were resin-cast, painted souvenirs that were bought in various European countries. Where these souvenirs had embossed place names on them, I disguised this by the liberal use of naturally-coloured cork granules.

The exception was originally finished in black and intended to be used in a fish tank. I merely dry brushed the stonework with white paint and the tiled roofs with red paint.

The bridges were just short length of thin plywood.

PS. After I had taken the photos, I noticed that I had knocked one of the buildings (a small hut) out of place. It should be in the Redton hex.

Might it be possible to meld ShamBattle with the Portable Wargame?: Part 2: Converting the map into a hexed battlefield

My starting point was to download a copy of the original map/battlefield used in the General's game in SHAMBATTLE.

I then overlaid this with a red 6 x 8 hexed grid ... which is the size of grid I've used in many of my previous mini-campaigns. The results looked like this:

I then 'converted' this so that the main terrain elements would fit on a 6 x 8 hexed grid.

Whilst this is by no means perfect, it gives me a starting point to work from, and my next step wll be to turn my map into a proper hexed terrain.

Nugget 357: A brief apology for a slight delay.

Yesterday I went to the local postbox to post THE NUGGET but was unable to do so as the box had been sealed.

My first thought was that this might be due to a shortage of postal workers in our area (a problem that seems to be affecting several areas in Southeast London) but I then picked up a story on the local news forum that some bright sparks/hooligans had been stuffing lighted fireworks into postboxes ‘for fun’ and that post had been lost due to the resulting fires.

I will therefore be posting THE NUGGET on Monday morning at the local post office.

Might it be possible to meld ShamBattle with the Portable Wargame?: Part 1: Some background and the original rules

During my nine weeks of radiotherapy, I had lots of time to think about wargaming, even if I hadn’t been able to get the motivation to act on any of the ideas I came up with. One of these ideas was the possibility of creating a version of SHAMBATTLE that uses the mechanisms in the original or 3 x 3 versions of the PORTABLE WARGAME.

SHAMBATTLE was devised during the mid 1920s by Lieutenant Harry G Dowdall (US Army) and Joseph H Gleason and was published in 1929. The full title of the book was SHAMBATTLE: HOW TO PLAY WITH TOY SOLDIERS and it was divided into eleven chapters. The first was a general introduction to the game; the next three described the Lieutenant's Game (which was aimed at players who were 8 years old or older); the following three explained the Captain's Game (which was aimed at players who were 10 years old or older); and the final three dealt with the General's Game (which was aimed at players who were 12 years old or older).

Players were expected to start with the first of the Games, and once they had mastered the rules and the relevant tactics and strategies, they moved on to the next level, with each level having increasingly complex rules and a more detailed playing map. (Players were expected to draw the maps out on paper. In the case of the General's Game, this was 3' x 5'.)

The rules for the most complex game - the General's Game - were relatively simple by modern standards and a synopsis is shown below.

---

THE GENERAL'S GAME

The map or battlefield

The map or battlefield is drawn onto a 3' x 5' piece of paper. Each side (Bluvia and Redina) has three cities that are connected by roads.

A river marks the border between the two countries, and it is crossed by three bridges. There are also a number of hills, forests, and marshes.

The troops and where to place them

Both sides should have equal numbers of infantry and cavalry (a total of approximately forty infantry and cavalry), six medical personnel, a cannon, two machine guns, and three hospitals, two of which should be field hospitals.

They should be deployed as follows:

• At least half of the soldiers should be stationed in cities, with each city having a third of the soldiers deployed in the cities.
• The location of the permanent hospital must be fixed before the battle begins but the field hospital can be deployed anywhere.
• Each player identifies a single solder to represent themselves on the battlefield.
• Each player secretly choses a single soldier on the opposing side to be their spy.
• Players are only allowed ten minutes to set up their armies on the battlefield.

Turn sequence

Players take alternate turns and only five minutes is allowed per turn. During a player's turn they may move all their troop and then resolve any combats. There individual player's turn sequence is as follows:

• Movement of troops
• Bayonet combats/melees
• Machine gun fire
• Cannon fire

Movement

Movement distances are:

• Full move (6-inches): Troops on a road in the open
• Part move (4-inches): Troops in the open or on a road on a hill
• Half move (3-inches): Troops in forests or on hills
• Short move (2-inches): Troops in forests on hills

Troops move at the slowest speed set by the terrain they cross.

The cannon must have two crew who are touching it to move, and it moves at the same speed as those crew would move. The machine gun has to have a crewman who is touching it to move, and moves at the speed that the crewman would move. Two medical personnel are required to move a field hospital until it is deployed.

Bayonet combat/melees

Bayonet combat/melees take place when the bases of opposing soldiers are touching. Each player rolls a D6 die for each of their soldiers and the results are as follows:

• 1 or 2: The player's soldier is a casualty (killed and removed from the battlefield).
• 3 or 4: The player's soldier is a partial casualty (wounded and laid down).
• 5 or 6: The player's casualty is uninjured.

If any soldiers are still touching after this fighting, the opposing general can continue the fighting during their turn or move their troops away.

Medical personnel may not take part in fighting.

Partial casualties cannot move or fight until they have been treated in a hospital.

Cannon and machine gun fire

Cannons and machine guns can only fire once each turn.

The cannons require two crew who are touching it to fire and can fire at any location on the battlefield with the exception of hospitals and medical personnel. The firing procedure is as follows:

• A square cutout template that is three-inches square is placed over the target location.
• A D6 die is thrown for any soldiers inside the cutout.
• If the soldier is in the open, they are a casualty if the D6 die score is 1.
• If the soldier in in a city or a forest, they are a partial casualty if the D6 die score is 1.
• If the D6 die score is 2 or more, the soldier is unharmed.

The machine guns require one crewman who is touching it to fire. The firing procedure is as follows:

• An inverted triangular cutout template that is two-inches high and one-and-a-half-inches across is placed with its point or apex at the base of the machine gun, pointing in the direction that the machine gun is facing.
• A D6 die is thrown for any soldiers inside the cutout, and the results are as per cannon fire.

Enemy cannons and machine guns can be captured if they are uncrewed.

Hospitals

Once a permanent or field hospital is deployed, one of that side's medical personnel must stay with it. The remaining medical personnel can be used to carry partial casualties to a hospital for treatment.

The medical personnel move partial casualties in the same way that a machine un crewman moves their machine gun.

Once a partial casualty arrives at a hospital, they can be treated by the medical personnel at the hospital but only two partial casualties can be treated during any one turn.

Once the partial casualty has been treated, they may move out of the hospital.

Spies

The identity of a side's spy is written down on a piece of paper and this are placed in one of that side's border cities.

This piece of paper can be moved by a friendly soldier in the same way that a machine gun can be moved.

At any point during the battle, a player may identify their spy, and the spy then begin to fight against the side they originally belonged to.

The piece of paper can be captured in the same way that a machine gun can be captured.

If the piece of paper is captured before the identity of the spy is revealed, the spy is unmasked and immediately removed from the battlefield.

---

I think that the idea of combining certain aspects of SHAMBATTLE and the PORTABLE WARGAME has some merit, and I will be exploring this idea further ... starting with the map/battlefield.

Nugget 357

I will be collecting the latest issue of THE NUGGET from our printer (Macaulay Scott Printing Company of Welling, Kent) later this morning, and I will be posting it out to members tomorrow.

I have sent the PDF copy to the webmaster, and members should be able to read this issue online in the near future.

---

IMPORTANT: Please note that this is the third issue of THE NUGGET to be published for the 2023-2024 subscription year.

If you have not yet re-subscribed, an email reminder was sent to you some time ago with the relevant information you require to do so. If you have lost this and wish to re-subscribe or you are a new subscriber, please request a PayPal invoice or the bank transfer information from the Treasurer or follow the instructions on the relevant page of the website.