Naval Wargames Society weekend at the Fleet Air Arm Museum (Road Trip)

I have been an intermittent member of the Naval Wargames Society for a while now.  I don't actually do that much naval wargaming but find the history fascinating and definitely would like to do more.  The annual weekend that the Society hosts has long been on my to do list but the previous venue in Gosport was just too far from Falkirk.  The new venue at the Fleet Air Arm Museum is actually still a pretty long trip but I decided to give it a go this year.


Unfortunately I had to be back at work on the following Monday morning so I was only ever going to do the Saturday.  However there was also a Saga Iron Man 2 tournament on Sunday near Matlock so I decided to go for a road trip.  Originally the plan was to drive down on Friday, stay locally, drive up to Derbyshire on the Saturday night and then home after the tournament.  My wife is very supportive of my hobby but was a bit concerned at the amount of driving involved so we changed plans.  She also came down, as did our dog, and we drove down a day early to have a day together in Somerset on Friday then plan as before.


The extremely hot weather was difficult particularly on the drive down.  We needed regular stops to give the dog some air and roadworks made it an 11 hour trip.  Two drivers was definitely a bonus. On Friday we spent most of the time at the beach keeping Beau (our Patterdale/Labrador cross) as cool as possible.  Our hotel, the Ilchester Arms, was very good, extremely dog friendly, and less than 10 minutes away from the Museum.


I was initially a little disappointed at the event as numbers were quite low, probably as a result of the change from an established venue.  However the games were excellent.  First up was, rather surprisingly to me, a Wings of War game.  David Manley has added in rules for motor launches using the same mechanics as the air rules.  Myself and Phil (I hope that name check is correct) each had a Sopwith Baby seaplane and a motor launch and were tasked with capturing or destroying an immobile surfaced U Boat.  German air cover was provided by David and Simon each with a 2 seater seaplane - can't remember the type.


It was actually quite a hard task as in Wings of War 2 seaters can be pretty deadly as they effectively shoot all round  and they were also more robust than our aircraft.  Things were not helped when Phil drew a Boom Card (instant explosion) and lost his Baby early on.  To even things up a Camel was drafted in to bolster the British forces.


Much manouvering and drawing of damage cards ensued but eventually all the British forces were destroyed for the cost of one of the Germans.  Phil's motor launch was nearly able to get in range to make a torpedo attack on the U boat but he just could not quite make it.

My Motor Launch being attacked by a dastardly German floatplane

A bonus was entry into the museum which is well done with many FAA aircraft on display and some excellent models of aircraft carriers.  Worth a visit - we went round rather quickly in an hour but 2 hours would have been enough for a more leisurely stroll round.

A real life Sopwith Baby armed with anti Zeppelin rockets

The afternoon game was a recreation of the Naval attack on Zeebrugge in WW1.  The aim was to get blockships to the lock gates and render them inoperable thus depriving the German Navy of a U boat base.  I was responsible for Monitor fire, air raids and a submarine filled full of explosives used to ram an access route which were all part of the general bombardment/diversion whilst the main attack went in.  I had to leave before the end but I understand one ship managed to fight it's way all the way through to the lock gates and allow us to claim victory for the RN.

HMS Vindictive at the mole

I enjoyed the day but it was a long way to travel so it may require a longer break to allow me to do this again. Still a road trip is always fun and it can't get this hot every summer can it?




(report on second part of the road trip to follow soon)

Another good day at the National Museum of Flight

The first Sunday in May is normally when the National Museum of Flight hosts their Wartime Experience event.  The main focus tends to be outside on WW1 and WW2 re-enactors but there are always also other attractions inside the hangers which for the last six years has included wargames.

The Falkirk club has been an ever present and we have been able to run 2 games each time.  The WW1 Wings of War game has always proved popular with the public.  We strip the rules back a bit to make them fast play and let the public play the game s with a little bit of help from club members.  Kids just love shooting down their parents! 

Our other game was the new Too Fat Lardies ruleset What a Tanker.  I had 3 games of this involving a mixture of club members and the public.  Personally I think this may work better in a wargames show where most of the participants have a little knowledge of such mechanisms.  Not that it is complicated and it does play fairly quickly but it is not so simple Wings of War which is just move , measure range and draw cards for damage. However I will certainly be investing in a set of the What a Tanker rules probably at the Carronade show in Falkirk on Saturday 12th May.

The weather was fantastic which actually worked against us a little as some potential attendees may have preferred a day at the beach and those that came were more inclined to spend time in outside than in the hangers.  However with ourselves, South East Wargames Club and Gothenberg Gamers the wargames hobby had a really good representation and attracted a lot of interest


We had one young lad who was really taken with Wings of War and who came along with his parents to the next club night to have a look around.  This has instigated a debate about our club policy towards minors which seems to be a bit of a minefield.

Games 46

 Rules played 19 New 8
Places played 7 New 0 

Boom Boom

We had a lot of snow last week and although it is starting to clear our planned Monday night game was somewhat curtailed as the organiser, Tim, has boiler problems and had to wait in for an engineer.  The plan had been to fly big bombers in Wings of Glory.


I was not quite sure who else might be expecting to play so I picked up my modest box of  planes before heading out.  The answer was no one else who made it in!  However the other Tim had come down to pick up a couple of books and agreed to have an introductionary game.


We played the simplified version that the club uses for public participation events where we ignore all shooting effects other than points of damage.  Both games were quite short as we manoeuvred into position and exchanged shots Tim was unlucky enough to draw the Boom card signifying instant destruction on both occasions!

Games 16

 Rules played 13 New 7
Places played 3 New 0

Glengoyne, Carronade and Wartime Experience

Last weekend was indeed a memorable one.  Mick came over from Switzerland brining goodies in the form of Whisky, Chocolate and 28mm Indonesians and British.


On the Thursday night the figures for the Indonesian Confrontation were on the table, although the scenario was the first one from the Classified Force on Force book set in the Pacific in WW2.  As usual it took us a little while to get our heads around the rules but it was a fun game nonetheless and great to get the figures on the table.  Some Old Pultney was consumed.


Now Mick knows his whiskey but had not visited a distillery before soon the Friday we took a trip over to the Glengoyne distillery.  It is quite a small one which means that you can get up close and personal with the equipment and the tour was very interesting.  We then had time for a side trip to Loch Lomond before heading over to the school to help with the Carronade set up followed by going out for a meal and a little more whisky before bedtime.


Saturday was an early start with more setting up to be done.  There were unfortunately some issues with the flea market which meant that I spent a good part of the day looking after that with the help of my wife who gamely stepped in as well which was a great help as she is much more organised than me by nature.


The demand for flea market tables exceeded the supply so we will be looking to see if we can fit more in next year.  I did manage to get round the show and talk to a few people.  It had a fantastic buzz this year which lasted all the way to closing time at 16:00.  Most of the traders had had a good show and certainly the feedback from the public on various forums and blogs has been very favourable.  We got 612 through the door which is a record for us.  We were all pretty knackered after the show so we had a quiet night, although it did involve whisky again.


My purchases were fairly modest being the rules and accessories set for Wings of Glory WW1 from Northumbria Games, the new Dux Brittaniarum supplement from Wings of War and a British mortar and crew from Commando Miniatures.


On Sunday we went over to the National Museum of Flight where we were taking part in the Wartime Experience event for the second year running.  We put on Wings of War and a 1914 Through the Mud and the Blood game both of which were well received, as was a Bolt Action Normandy game put on by SESWC.


I am not so used to dealing with young kids so it was a bit of a challenge for me on the Wings of War table but I still enjoyed itas did they and their parents.  A pleasant surprise was that Brian put in an appearance  - he had not been able to make it to Carronade.


Another long day. I had bought a tasting set of 3 5ml bottles at Glengoyne so we had a proper tasting session on the Sunday evening, with Mick giving me some helpful pointers.


Mick flew back on the Monday morning flight and I must say it had been a memorable few days all round

Real PP Wargaming at the Wartime Experience

What a busy wargaming weekend.  Saturday Carronade.  Saturday night a boardgame with Brian.  Sunday down to the National Museum of Flight to take part in their Wartime Experience event.

Following on from the successful wargames participation at the Viking exhibition in Edinburgh we, along with SESWC, were invited to take part in another Museum event.  The only problem was that we did not get much notice and it was the day after Carronade.  Not wanting to miss out we managed to field 7 members and Brian from Washington also came along to help out.

We got there in good time to enjoy a buttie from the burger van, which promised such delicacies as ostrich and springbok burgers for later in the day.

The wargamers were in the ‘Concorde’ hanger along with ‘civilian’ reenactors – we were treated to the vocal talents of the Blitz Sisters and the Flyright Dancers showcased the dances of the period and encouraged public participation.

Outside there were a number of military reenactors of varying nationalities.  Once gain the weather was not great and I was still in recovery mode so I didn’t actually see that much, but enough to want to go back and have a proper look around some of the permanent exhibits.

The Falkirk club put on a Wings of War table and a WW1 naval encounter, South East Scotland a WW2 Bolt Action game.  All were popular with the public, but Wings of War (or should that be Glory) went down particularly well primarily but not exclusively with sons and fathers.   I am sure that online retailers of the system will have seen a sudden burst of activity on Sunday night from addresses in Scotland.

I did my best to help prospective pilots but John, Doug and Brian had much more patience with the youngsters than I could muster.  You know it is often said that computer wargaming is a real threat to the miniatures hobby, but after this experience I disagree.  All the kids are used to playing a variety of different games within defined sets of rules and I was amazed how quickly they picked up the basics of WoW.   I think there is a ready made set of potential wargamers out there if only we can tap into them.  

It was busy almost all day and once again the museum staff seemed very pleased with the contribution both clubs had made to their event.  We are hoping to get further invitations to future exhibitions to continue to spread interest in the hobby and also frankly to have a fun time playing wargames in new and interesting venues.

 

This is a bit dark but you should be able to see the three games with Concorde there in the background towering over us all.

 

SESWC Falise Gap game.  The WW2 equipment on display also drew a lot of interest.

 

Wings of War being explained by Doug, John and Brian (hidden again).

 

A Camel v a Tripe.  We bought the Wings of Glory mats to help bring the game to life and they are certainly very good, although they could really do with one  showing trenches and no mans land.

 

Simple is good

Tonight I had a couple of games  of Wings of War.  It is a simple WWI card based system using very nice die cast models.  Six of us flew a plane each.  In the first game my Rumpler managed to bag a Belgian RE8 and then limp home full of holes.  In the second some clumsy maneovering of my Albatros D V in  front of the guns of a British Camel proved fatal.

Nice simple gentle fun with not too much brain power required (or displayed in the second game).  Just the ticket!

Thats me up to 8 games now - a bit behind the pace for 70 this year but I hope to pick up the pace a bit as we move out of the winter months allowing me to get a bit further afield.