Kicking in the door: An Operation Barbarossa Campaign System by Andrew Rolph

A few days ago Andrew Rolph – a wargamer who has written numerous very interesting articles that have been published in MINIATURE WARGAMES – sent me a link so that I could download a PDF copy of his latest book, BARBAROSSA: KICKING IN THE DOOR ... .

The book explains how to fight a wargames campaign that covers Operation Barbarossa (the German invasion of the Soviet Union) from June until September 1941. It is designed to work with rules in which a stand represents a platoon, but it seems to me that the basic system will work with most rules that cover World War II, including my own PORTABLE WARGAME rules.

The campaign map uses point-to-point movement, with each node on the map generating a potential battle between the Axis forces and the Russians.

The book contains:

• A short history of the campaign (this has also been published in Andrew Rolph's earlier book GREY STEEL, RED STORM – REGIMENTAL SCENARIOS IN THE SOVIET UNION 1941-1943);
• Background information (including time scale, ground scale, and suggestions for additional/optional rules) that will help wargamers adapt the system so that it will work with a particular set of rules;
• A system for generating tabletop terrain for individual battles;
• Numerous Appendices that cover:
• Platoon and Company-level Tables of Organisation and Equipment for the divisions and regiments involved in the campaign;
• Forty-two coloured terrain squares that can be used with the tabletop terrain generation system;
• An example of how the tabletop terrain generation system works;
• A Campaign Quick Reference Sheet;
• An example of a Campaign Turn;
• A set of suitable quick-play rules for use with the campaign system;
• A full colour A4-sized Campaign Map.

Andrew sent the link to me because he knows that I have had plans to re-fight Operation Barbarossa for a very long time, and having read it, I can see the potential his campaign system has in helping me achieve my ambition.

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BARBAROSSA: KICKING IN THE DOOR ... is written and published by Andrew Rolph. It is available from the Wargames Vault as a watermarked PDF ($4.95) or as a softback book with coloured illustrations ($9.95) or as a combined purchase of PDF and book (usually $14.90 but currently on sale at the discounted price $9.95).

Miniature Wargames Issue 423

The latest issue of Miniature Wargames arrived in the post on Wednesday, and I have managed to read it during breaks during my downsizing project.

The articles included in this issue are:

• Welcome (i.e. the editorial) by John Treadaway
• Forward observer
• Send three and fourpence: The Right Tool For The Job (or how I learned to stop worrying and love Sharp Practice) by Conrad Kinch
• Tales of the Towpath: How to make a canal of wharf by Dave Tuck and Malc Johnston, with photographs by Malc Johnston
• Spotsylvania County: Virginia, May 1st 1863 by Jon Sutherland, with photographs by Diane Sutherland
• Show Preview: The Joy of Six by Peter Berry and John Treadaway
• Hooray for Hollywood: Cinematic scenario design by Nick Hughes, with photographs by John Treadaway
• Darker Horizons
• Fantasy Facts
• Under the brush: The very best of the SALUTE 2018 painting competition photographs by Roger Dixon
• Scouting Parties: A preview of Vanguard by Manic Games by James Dyson, with photographs by Manic Games
• Preaching to the Unconverted: How to convert North Star's plastic Dwarven infantry by Graham Green
• Light Division: Tactical Napoleonics for Players with a Small Board by Robert Piepenbrink, with photographs by Michael Hamon
• It's On The Cards: Card-driven activation for army-level Portable Wargames by Arthur Harman
• Recce
• Grow your own terrain: The continuing tales of a wargames widow by Diane Sutherland
• Show Report: Hammerhead 2018s: A moveable feast by John Treadaway
• Club Directory

So what did I particularly enjoy in this issue?

The stand-out article for me this month was Arthur Harman's It's On The Cards ... and not just because it contains a card-driven activation system for army-level battles using my PORTABLE WARGAME rules. Arthur has taken my simple system and developed it into something that is far more sophisticated but not a great deal more complex. Furthermore, it can be used with other rules, which makes it even more flexible.

Of the rest ... I found Robert Piepenbrink's Light Division interesting because it is aimed at wargamers who – like me – do not have a lot of space, and Conrad Kinch's Send three and fourpence was – as usual – good value.

All-in-all, this was another good issue that was in my opinion well worth its cover price.

Downsizing: A further progress report

As I write this in our home office, the table of my toy/wargames room next door is groaning under the weight on numerous REALLY USEFUL BOXES full of toy soldiers. Sorting them out into some sort of order will take place either later today or tomorrow, but the first thing I must do is to address the contents of the large crates that were stored behind them.

These larger crates contain all sorts of things: spare Heroscape terrain (mainly 21-hex pieces, of which I seem to have over fifty!), all manner of green and sand-coloured cloths, boxed games, a few books, and various pieces of gaming paraphernalia. On top of the crates were several boxes containing models, a drone (which I have yet to be master flying!), three large rolled-up vinyl wargames terrain cloths from Games Workshop (two desert and one green), two large cardboard tubes (one contains rolled-up vinyl chessboards and the other contains rolled-up Chessex gridded games mats), and two large pieces of felt ... one green and one sand-coloured.

I am definitely going to keep some of this stuff ... but the Games Workshop terrain cloths are going to have to go (I'm never likely to use them) as will some of the spare Heroscape terrain. The models are saleable on eBay, but difficult to post, and the vinyl chessboards have served their purpose and I would like to pass them on to someone who will be able to use them. I will take some of the stuff to COW in the hope that one or more of the attendees will find a use for my cast-offs ... and may even be willing to part with some beer-vouchers in exchange! As to the rest ... well that is something that I am going to have to think about.

Seventy-four years on: D-Day

Seventy-four years ago, Allied forces landed in Normandy, and the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi rule was set in motion.

I was born six years after the landings took place, and I grew up surrounded by people who took part. Most of the veterans are now in their nineties, and each anniversary fewer and fewer of them remain alive.

Next year will see the seventy-fifth anniversary, and one hopes that the present-day governments of the Allied nations will stage commemorative events.

Nugget 309

I collected the latest edition of THE NUGGET (N309) from the printer yesterday, and I will be posting it out to members of Wargame Developments later today.

I have already uploaded the PDF version of THE NUGGET to the Wargame Developments website so that it can be read online or downloaded and printed.

IMPORTANT: Please note that this is the ninth and last issue of THE NUGGET to be published for the 2017-2018 subscription year.

Details regarding re-subscriptions to Wargame Developments and THE NUGGET will be sent by post in due course.

Other people's Portable Wargame battle reports: The Battle of Isandlwana

Recently Mike Lewis and Anthony Morton staged a re-fight of the Battle of Isandlwana using 54mm-scale figures and my PORTABLE WARGAME rules.

To my no doubt biased eyes the results look spectacular, and a full battle report can be found on Mike's blog.

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Please note that the photographs featured above are © Mike Lewis.

Downsizing: A progress report

To date my progress regarding downsizing my various collections has been rather erratic and episodic. I could try to explain this by citing the weather (it has been rather hot on several occasions and working in the converted loft space where my toy/wargames room is located has been unpleasant at times) or a rather active social life (Sue and I have been out a couple of times on days when I could have been sorting stuff out) but the reality is my general reluctance to get rid of anything.

I suspect that this is a trait I share with many other collectors in general and wargamers in particular. We have items in our collections that we no longer need and/or have not used in a long time ... but when we pick them up to decide whether they should be in the 'keep' or 'discard' pile, there is more than a little hesitation in our hearts and in our heads to place them in the latter. In the end we usually end up with three piles: 'keep', 'discard', and 'keep if there is just enough room', with the latter being as big (if not bigger) than the other two.

Despite this, I have made some progress. The books are pretty well sorted, and I have already disposed of some hardback novels to an online second-hand book buyer. The other fiction books and few travelogue and guide books are destined to go to a local charity ship. The rest of the books I am going to get rid of – which are almost exclusively non-fiction military books – are sitting in crates waiting for me to list them.

I have begun work on the wargames collections and have found some terrain items (mainly painted buildings) that I can dispose of, and they will most likely be offered to wargamers I know who might be able to find a use for them. Those that remain will be sold on eBay ... I hope! I have not yet begun to think about my figure collections as I suspect that disposing of any part of them is going to be really difficult.

Warship 2018

Like a lot of people of my age, one of the things that I looked forward to each year were the Annuals that were published in time for Christmas. Even though I am a lot older, there is one annual that I always look forward to reading when it is published ... WARSHIP.

WARSHIP first came out in 1977, and the current issue is the fortieth volume to be published. It was originally a quarterly publication, but after several years it moved over to become an annual.

The current volume contains the following:

• Editorial
• Niels Iuel: 'A funny little Danish warship' by Tom Wismann
• The Battle of the River Plate: A Tactical Analysis by Alan D Zimm
• Under the Guns: Battle Damage to Graf Spee, 13 December 1939 by William J Jurens
• The Armoured Cruiser Jeanne d'Arc by Luc Feron and Jean Roche
• Breaking 'Ultra': The Cryptologic and Intelligence War between Britain and Italy, 1931-1943 by Enrico Cernuschi
• The IJN Light Cruiser Oyodo by Hans Lengerer
• Coastal Defence and Coastal Offence: Russian Monitor Designs of the First World War Era by Stephen McLaughlin
• Modern Naval Replenishment Ships by Conrad Waters
• Lost in the Fog of War: Royal Navy Cruiser Designs for Trade Protection 1905-1920 by David Murfin
• Amatsukaze: A Destroyer's Struggle by Michael Williams
• USS Huntington (ex-West Virginia) by A D Baker III
• Warship Notes
• The IJN's 15.5cm Gun & Triple Turret by Hans Lengerer
• The Sinking of U-56 in 1916: An enduring mystery by Stephen McLaughlin
• Political nomenclature in the US Navy by Kenneth Fraser
• Reviews
• Warship Gallery
• A series of photographs of former U-boats in Japan during the early 1920s presented by Stephen Dent and Ian Johnston

At first glance this looks as if it is going to be one of the best issues ever, with every single article or section having something that I will enjoy reading and re-reading. In particular, the coverage of the battle damage suffered by Graf Spee at the Battle of the River Plate is going to be very helpful when it comes to designing wargames, and the article about Russian Monitor designs contains some wonderful 'what if' designs that would be relatively easy to model, and which would – if suitably updated for service in the Soviet Red Fleet – have posed serious problems for the Kriegsmarine during Operation Barbarossa.

An excellent publication ... and I will be ordering next year's issue as soon as I can!

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WARSHIP 2018 is edited by John Jordan and published by Osprey Publications (ISBN 978 1 4728 2999 3).

I have been to ... the Royal Hospital Chelsea

Last Thursday – as part of London History Day – the Royal Hospital Chelsea – the home of the famous Chelsea Pensioners – staged a special event that was open to the public. Sue and I booked a place and spent the afternoon there.

Our journey began with a short trip to Woolwich on the local bus. We alighted almost outside the entrance to Woolwich Arsenal Station, and as a mainline train to Cannon Street was just arriving as we reached the platform, we caught it. It took thirty minutes for us to reach the centre of London, and after a short discussion about how to get from Cannon Street to Chelsea, we took a Circle/District Line underground train to Sloane Square, the closest station to the Royal Hospital.

By the time we re-emerged into the daylight at Sloane Street Tube Station, it was lunchtime. As we only wanted a snack lunch, we took a walk along the King's Road to find somewhere to get a drink and a sandwich. After only walking a few hundred yards we came to Partridges in Duke of York Square, a grocers and delicatessens that also has a café.

Although all the outside tables were taken, the inside was fairly empty, so we ate there ... and although it wasn't cheap (which was hardly surprising at we later discovered that Partridge's holds a Royal Warrant and supplies groceries to the Queen!) it was excellent.

It took less than ten minutes to walk from Partridges to the London Gate of the Royal Hospital Chelsea. The gatekeeper directed us to a small entrance at the northern end of the East Wing, and after having our tickets checked, we were admitted into the room where Keith Collman's photographs of World War One veterans entitled Great War Portraits were on show.

A selection of photographs and captions from the collection

The room also contained a number of displays that told the stories of Chelsea Pensioners, including one that featured survivors of the Battle of Waterloo ...

... and another that showed a modern Pensioner unveiling a commemorative plaque at Victoria Station.

We then moved into an adjacent room where we were treated to a short introduction to the history of the Royal Hospital that was told to us by a wonderfully charming (and very funny) Pensioner.

At 3.00pm author and illustrator Robin Ollington recounted the stories of some of the forty Chelsea Pensioners has had interviewed over the years for a series of biographical books that he has produced entitled Before they fade. It was supposed to last thirty minutes, but he was so engrossing that the time sped by, and by the time he had finished, over forty-five minutes had passed.

Sue and I then joined a group that were conducted on a short tour of the Chapel and Dining Hall. This was led by the Pensioner who had talked to use earlier and was very informative.

The Chapel

The Dining Room

Once our tour was over, Sue and I made our way back to the London Gate. Along the way we passed one of the 'There but not there' statues that were created to mark the centenary of the First World War ...

... before paying a visit to the Royal Hospital's Old Burial Ground.

The Burial Ground contains many unmarked graves, including one of Sue's ancestors.

Adjoining the Burial Ground is the Margaret Thatcher Infirmary, which was completed in 2009 and that serves as an onsite hospital and care facility for Pensioners.

Lady Thatcher donated £1,000,000 to the fund for its construction (she used to attend the Royal Hospital Chapel every week for the Sunday service after she retired from office) and her ashes and those of her husband – Sir Denis Thatcher Bt. – are buried in the Burial Ground close to the Infirmary ...

... and near a memorial to all the Pensioners who have lived at the Royal Hospital.

Once our visit was over, Sue and I walked back to Partridges for some tea before taking a Circle/District Line underground train from Sloane Square to Tower Hill, where we changed to the Docklands Light Railway. This took us back to Woolwich Arsenal Station, where we took a taxi back to our house. We finally arrived home just before 7.00pm having had a very enjoyable day out.

Nugget 309

The editor of THE NUGGET sent the latest issue to me on Wednesday, and I hope to take it to the printer tomorrow. It should, therefore, be ready for me to collect by the middle of next week so that I can post it out before the following weekend.

IMPORTANT: Please note that this is the ninth and last issue of THE NUGGET to be published for the 2017-2018 subscription year.

Details regarding re-subscriptions to Wargame Developments and THE NUGGET will be sent by post in due course.