My first purchase was a French Estaminet and linked cottage and external pissoir. These arrived promptly and could be seen at Salute where they were generally admired. So pleased was I with the result that I ordered two more buildings. Both semi-detached, the first being two shops, the other a pair of cottages.

I should stress here that I specifically wanted plain vanilla in the build. I like to finish off and paint my buildings myself simply so that they fit in perfectly with the rest of my collection. So HACME very kindly put these together with a light white undercoat to act as a key for my work to adhere to.

The two buildings in their “naked” state are here:

And very nice they are too. The roof is detachable and the first floor can be removed so that I can out troops on both the ground floor and first floor. That’s 1st and 2nd floors for our pardners across the pond. I specifically wanted access to the buildings as I HATE to see figures lined up next to a building to signify they are inside, so for me this type of construction is PERFECT!

The next thing I will always do with buildings like these is to paint them with a weak PVA and filler mix. This gets a more rustic look and it also strengthens the structure so if Fat Nick sits on it we have half a chance of it not being utterly destroyed! The filler I am using here is Polyfiller, I use any old stuff I have in the shed, frankly I can never tell the difference. I mist about 1 part polyfiller with two parts PVA glue (get it cheap at builders merchants) and one part water. I then slap this all over with a large brush and let it dry.

Once that is dry I use a black undercoat from a car parts place round the corner. Big cans of paint at a very cheap price. Most certainly do not waste good quality Humbrol of similar on this type of job!

Once that is dry I really use a heavy dry brushing technique to do the main masonry. So here I wanted a creamy Normandy stone, so I used Burnt Umber and Khahi mixed as the base colour before dry brushing on Khaki, Khaki and Stone Grey mix. Stone Grey and then finally a very light coat of white. Dead simple.

After that I add some detail such as the shop signs, shutters, doors etc. A simple three colour system for all these (dark, lighter, highlight) and we’re nearly complete.

Then just the final detailing to do. I really love the look of the French gable end adverts (as anyone who has seen the cover of IABSM will know). I look at the internet to get ideas, but this time I went political with a “Big Brother” style Marshal Petain painted on and a few period posters and road signs added.

And that’s it. A couple of hours work and the really nice HACME buildings fit straight in with my growing Normandy collection. I am really looking to get the look of St Mere Eglise or Carentan and I think we are getting there.

So, that’s a big thumbs up from HACME at Rapier Miniatures. You can find them at http://www.rapierminiatures.co.uk/page/Range/HACME.html and see some of the buildings they have done.

He tells us that “Wyvern Wargamers would like to invite you (yes YOU!) down to our upcoming event at Wyvern Wargamers (Evesham) on 8th June from 0900-1800 at the Bishampton Village Hall. They have got Richard Clarke of TooFatLardies coming for the day to be on hand, answer rules queries, run demos of Chain of Command and generally be “pushing the Lard”. Also the ultimate “Man of the Midlands” Neil Shuck of Meeples & Miniatures will be joining us.

We’ve got enough kit between us to be running AT LEAST one table each of games of IABSM3 (15mm WW2), IABNM (as yet unpublished Cold War rules), Sharpe Practice (28mm Napoleonic – maybe including our Zulu/French Indian variants too?), Mud & Blood (WW1 28mm), Terrible Sharp Sword (ACW 28mm), Tin Star (as yet unpublished Cowboy skirmish 28mm) & Dux Britanniarum (Dark Ages 28mm).

Rich’ll be demoing Chain of Command (WW2 Platoon+ 28mm) whioch due for release this summer; we’ll have two participation tables covering that.
We’ll be encouraging everyone to bring their own kit too where able. We are pre-arranging games if possible once numbers are ascertained. Our plan is to try and get in one game in the morning, switch opponents/periods and play a second game after lunch. So a Lard packed day of gaming fun.

When we’re all done, we’ll head back into town, see those who need to their accommodations and reconvene for beer and curry with the “Lord of the Lard” himself. We’re looking at just £5 per head so great value too! If you fancy attending then please contact Lard Entertainments Officer for the Midlands, Adrian, at patsnade@hotmail.co.uk and let him know.”

Interesting stuff, and three of us a re heading up from Lard Island for what is going to be a really great day of gaming in the heart of England. I hope we can see some of you joining us there.

I had a very nice email yesterday from my old chum Jon Davenport, resident of New York State and all round good egg. Jon and his group have been preparing their Dux Britanniarum armies and terrain for some time now, including some rather spiffing buildings by their resident builder in miniature, Howard Whitehouse. So, how did it go? Let the Annales Novo Eboracum tell all!

“It is the year of Our Lord 425. The Legions have left us and, although they have been gone less than the short span of a man’s life, a scourge has swept the land. From East to West, like the snows of winter, the Saxons have come. Any day we expect them in Pandemoniun.

The Saxons will come to plunder our village, Pandemonium, which lies at the ford on the old Roman road from the East and is the site of the Shrine of Saint Tibulus and repository of the Holy Stone of Clonrichert. The church of Saint Tibulus and its parish are tended by our gentle priest, Father Maynard, who serves God and his Bishop, the living saint, Sanctimonious, whose villa lies a short distance west of the village. Sanctimonious is reputed to have a horde of the gold dedicated to the shrine by the poor pilgrims who come to pray to Saint Tibulus on the Stone of Clonrichert to relieve their suffering from the endemic plague of halitosis to which Tibulus died a martyr.

Some say that the Saxon chieftain, Hectic, has heard tell of this meagre horde and, with the coming spring, perhaps today, will come to claim it. Hectic and his henchmen, Heretic and Septic, though well-born, lead a desperate band of Germanic thugs who will spare no one in their pursuit of plunder. All have prodigious appetites for the good things of life – Heretic is a great lustful beast and Septic has a liver of iron. These men seek not only gold but repute in their mead halls, slaves and livestock. No woman, sheep or pig is safe from the predations of these monsters particularly Heretic and Hectic’s champion, Pubic.

There are few to defend the shrine, the men are away with King Caractacus, Y Mae ei Merched a Basiwyd Gan [Whose Ladies had just passed by], with his main army to the north. The village and shrine fall in the bailiwick of the king’s lieutenant, Superfluous, Last of the Romans. Superfluous was born far to the east of Pandemonium, the son of King Cirrhosis, whose lands were lost to the encroaching Saxons, invited here by the fool Vortigen, when Superfluous was a mere boy, fifteen years since – the year the Legions left us – dispossessed, the last of his line. Superfluous came West where he swore allegiance to Caractacus and eternal enmity to the Saxons. At the court of King Caractacus with the gentle teaching and guidance of Sanctimonious he has become the man he is. Even more dedicated to Sanctimonious and the new religion is Rictus the Devout, Caractacus’s son and Superfluous’s boyhood playmate, who is now his right arm. They are joined by the massive warrior Crapulus on whom many hopes rest and the Champion Acrimonius.

Our only hope rests that the headman of our simple village, Roger the Shrubber, can alert Superfluous’s forces as soon as we know the Saxons approach.”

So wrote the bard and so, as predicted, came the Saxons. [It was one of our all too infrequent Friday evening game nights in my basement and I took the opportunity to introduce Dux to the group – Dennis, Tom, Roger and Howard. Dennis was Superfluous (most apposite as it turned out); Tom was Rictus, assisted by Crapulus; Howard was Hectic and Roger was Heretic.]

The Saxons came in the early hours after dawn while the good people of Pandemonium were gathering for their weekly market, Brother Maynard was leading an early service and Roger the Shrubber was working on his shrubbery. Inexplicably, the Saxons milled around the ford trying decide on their best approach to the village. [The Saxons rolled a 1 and so only got one free move towards the village.]

As a result, the Romano-British troops were alerted and sprang to the defence of the village. [The Britons rolled a 6 and do came on half way along one side with every likelihood of being able to cut off the Saxons advance before it had even crossed the ford. Therefore I offered the Britons the option of bringing on some of their troops at the opposite end of the Roman road – they took the option which, frankly, turned out badly.]

Rictus with the cream of the Romano-British force [the Elite and Warriors] sprang to the fight; Superfluous, with the levy and the archers, not so much.

By this time, the Saxons had got themselves organised [Roger and Howard very quickly got the hang of the cards and, by keeping their force concentrated, were able to move quickly towards Tom’s Britons] and lunged, en masse, towards the approaching British quality troops. The sheep fled and the ladies of the village ran towards the dubious safety of Sanctimonious’s villa.

Seeing the oncoming rush of the Saxons, Rictus [Tom], formed his troops into a shieldwall to face the onslaught.

Superfluous wended his gentle way towards the villa. Like a crashing wave the Saxons tore towards Rictus’s force, baying for British blood. They sought the shieldwall’s flanks seeking to shake the brave British defenders. Knowing that retreat was useless, Rictus took the only sensible action and charged into the Saxon mass before him. [Tom knew he was flanked by a group of Saxon warriors; half a d6 backward wheel wasn’t going to protect him and a Saxon carpe diem card would leave him completely lost.]

Initially, the Britons did well, killing several Saxons and driving back two of the three Saxon groups they faced but numbers were against them and eventually this told, especially as the flanking Saxon warriors were able to charge into the rear of the Britons as they surged forward. The Britons smashed two Saxon groups but all three of their groups eventually “misplaced their amphorae” and withdrew.

All the while, Superfluous [Dennis] made his slow way with the levy toward the village and it was at this point we had to end the evening with all the British elite and warriors lost and two Saxon warrior groups reduced to three and two men respectively – they could not have fought but could have searched the villa and church for treasure. Quite how the levy would have held up will have to wait for next time. The Saxons particularly were very good at using their nobles to coordinate their groups into a winning position.

All told, everyone had a great time and went home happy – even Tom who had had his forces decimated and Dennis who had ponced about and been awarded the Order of the Chicken – shades of “Brave Sir Robin.” The game played magnificently and, as Howard observed, “everything that happened made perfect sense” and you can’t really say better than that for a set of wargames rules.

Altogether a fantastic game and we’re all looking forward to the next run out.

All the figures were Gripping Beast, painted by me, with Little Big Man shield transfers; the houses are 4Ground and the villa and church were scratch built by Howard who, I am sure, for a small fee could knock something similar up for anyone.

Thanks to Jon for his super report. As a small footnote I received another email from Dennis who took the role of Superfluous who said “Apparently my skill doesn’t include rolling dice. If the rules require high rolls, I’ll roll low, if low is needed, I roll high. As we discovered last night, even a braced shield wall can’t save you if you consistently roll 1′s against when you opponent rolls 6′s! Thanks for coming up with these rules, they are very enjoyable.”

Dennis, I am sure we call sympathise with you there!

So, happy Duxers all round. I must say that I am very jealous of Howard’s building skills which have made such a contribution to giving Jon’s table the feel of a pastoral sub-Roman scene; ideal for the Saxons to seek rich pickings!

Musselburgh Rugby Club will be the venue, providing a number of gaming tables and a bar throughout the day. Gaming should be starting around 10am and finishing at 6pm when visitors can wend their weary way home (high road and low road options available) or join us for a few beverages and a curry to round off the day.

Full details may be found here: http://dereksweetoys.com/?page_id=1493 along with Derek’s contact details. We hope to see you there!

Best enjoyed with lashings of ginger beer.

Rich & Nick

Don’t forget that TooFatLardies will running the demo game of our forthcoming Chain of Command rules. You can find us at GH12 which is over towards the back of the hall, near the apples and pears and down the dog and bone. We’ll be running games throughout the day so come along and join in the fun with this great set of rules and some rather charming fat blokes.

I must begin by thanking everyone for the feedback fro the first three videos which took an overview of the general mechanisms which the game will use. These next three try, as much as possible to walk you through a game. In this some decisions had to be made. Had I chosen to break down every single roll for firing and moving then I would be in the studio for the next six months. Ultimately you will just have to trust me that where you see a section advance 6″ I HAVE rolled the dice for this and the result was 6. Likewise, where firing takes place you may be certain that the methods used were the ones illustrated in Video 3 in this series.

Rather than focus on the absolute miniutiae I have chosen to look at the command dice rolled by the players and how they use these along with the use of the Chain of Commmand Dice and its influence on the game. These are the key differentiators which make Chain of Command different and unique, and this is where I felt illustration in detail would be most informative, particularly for our playtesters around the world who are now putting the rules through their paces.

So, without further comment, here are parts 4 to 6 of Chain of Command:

Part 4:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEwBKe9nibk

Part 5:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV2V0prKt28

Part 6:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUaweAci-5U

“Hold it, hold it”, Corporal Billy Walker had been crouched behind the gun shield of his 6 pounder gun wondering if there was ever a good moment to announce your presence to a Jerry tank, especially a Tiger like this one. He was just about to pull the lanyard to fire when the tank slowed, swivelled on its tracks and began to disappear up a side road. “Now!”. The 6 pounder gun roared its defiance and Billy swore he could see the projectile whip across the top of the tanks’ rear deck. “Bollocks”.

“Gott im Himmel!” Schatz swore “Quickly, get up the lane, then reverse into the field that is up on our right.” His driver again gunned the engine but overshot the gateway by some distance before crashing through the gears and selecting reverse. “They are over there somewhere” Rudi spoke now to the gunner who responded by swinging his turret round to face this invisible threat”.

While Corporal Walker had been lining up his shot Albert Tatlock’s section was advancing across an open field. On the right the rifle team was moving up the hedgerow whilst, in the interest of speed, the Bren team were sprinting to get to the hedge and cover. They arrived just in time to see Rudi Kelner waving forward his MG team as a party of German riflemen entered the rear door of the property. A burst from the Bren was sufficient to see the German machine gunners dive back into the safety of the hedge and Kelner duck into the house.

Tatlock was controlling the Bren team, putting fire down into the Germans when the crash of the anti-tank gun firing rung out and a Jerry tank roared past along the lane where the German MG team had dived for cover.

“Alright Corporal” It was Sergeant Roberts “That bloody Jerry tank will be causing us some problems in the next moment or so, what’s happening here?” The Corporal rapidly explained the situation and Sergeant Roberts took charge.

“Keep your Bren firing on those Jerries in the hedge, but get ready to leg it when that bloomin’ tank takes and interest in you. Oy!” he shouted to the rifle team “get over the hedge, work your way up the road and chuck grenades into that house. There are Jerries in there”.

Lieutenant Raymond Langton spoke clearly into his radio set as the first 3” round detonated immediately in front of Corporal Tatlocks position showering mud over them. Instantly Lanmgton reported the fall of the shell and waited for the battery to make their corrections.

“Go!” Sergeant Alf Roberts shouted and Tatlock’s rifle team responded. Sprinting up the road two Number 36 Mills bombs were hurled into the French farmhouse, followed by two more. The muffled explosions and the cries from within suggested that they had done their deadly work.

Rudi Kellner’s MP40 spat death as the farmhouse door was turned to matchsticks by a Size 9 British boot and five khaki clad men burst in. Fists, bottles, knives and entrenching tools were the order of the day in a brutal but hard fought exchange. The fleeting exchange saw the British ejected, but Kellner’s remaining riflemen slipped away from the carnage and fell back towards their comrades with the MG42. The British riflemen fell back, leaving one man dead. It was then that both British and German were caught in the barrage of 3” mortar shells.

Despite Lieutenant Langton’s efforts the mortar had strayed thirty yards off target and the flying shrapnel was no respecter of any uniform colour. Two British riflemen disappeared in one explosion, the German MG team broke and ran.

Jurgen Schatz jabbed his foot forward again, kicking into his driver’s shoulder. “Get me out of this verdamdt lane. Look, push that stone wall away and get into that field. I have no intention of sitting here under a bombardment!”

The driver moved forwards and crashed into the old stone wall, but instead of breaking through into the field the Panther’s engine screamed as its running gear appeared to be jammed. “In the name of all the Saints, what the Hell are you doing?” Schatz began to open his turret hatch to see for himself when the bombardment rolled onto his position. Below he could hear the driver screaming, then a direct hit saw blood pouring from Rudi’s nose and ears.

“Heave, you buggers” Billy Walker cajoled his men as they dragged the 6 pounder down the French road. While the Jerry tank was under a bombardment he wanted to get his gun into position for a clear shot. The 6 pounder rolled along and swung into position. Only twenty yards away Lieutenant Langton called on the mortar battery to cease fire.


Gefreiter Max Muhler ran forward. The bombardment across his position had now gone, sweeping eastwards. His MG team had been shocked by the experience but he had rallied them and brought them along the hedgerow from where they could cover his advance. With a pump of his fist the rifle team ran forward at the double.

Corporal Dennis Tanner ran down the stairs of the Manor house, above him he could hear his Bren gunner open fire. A stream of 0.303 tore up the ground around Muhler’s squad. A bullet tore into Muhler’s shoulder, but still the German came on. A British rifle team led by Tanner were emerging from the Manor’s kitchen door when the chatter of an MP40 announced that the enemy had stolen a march on them. Men fought and fell at close quarters, but with their NCO wounded the Germans had the odds stacked against them. Tanner’s sten cut down two men and the Germans ran, carrying their wounded Gefreiter with them.

As the bombardment ceased Feldwebel Schatz tried to clear his head. His ears rang and his vision swam. The sound of the 57mm round hitting the turret was like a mighty hammer on some anvil of horror. Frantically he could hear his driver crash into reverse and the lumbering beast broke free of the debris which had apparently jammed its tracks. The tank reversed back into the field away from the fresh threat.

With Kelner attempting to rally his broken squad and Muhler wounded Feldwebel Arthur Schmelling shrugged. He had one squad uncommitted and his panzerschreck team, but he could see that his force was on the verge of breaking. He signalled to his men to pull back, leaving the field to the British.

This was a very enjoyable game in which we saw the potential power of mortars as a support weapon. Some extreme dice rolling made for an interesting game. Muhler’s squad rolling three 1s when looking to outflank the British position in order to act as a springboard for a fresh assault was a disaster. A decent roll would have seen them shut down one British jump-off point and bring forward on of their own with their Chain of Command dice. Schmelling could have then committed his reserves to create a strong and unexpected schwehrpunkt, thereby wrong-footing the British player, but it was not to be.

The tank rolling consecutive 6’s when under bombardment, the only result which would really have caused them problems, saw no physical damage to the tank, but the crew’s nerves were shot to bits. When the bombardment stopped the Corporal commanding the 6 pounder calculated that probability meant that he would probably have a couple of decent shots before the Germans could react, and he made the most of that. I messed up somewhat in allowing the Panther to reverse out of trouble. I forgot it was bogged in and in truth the crew should have abandoned it. That would have really upped the margin of victory for the British.

The highlight of the game for me would have been the British assault on the farmhouse; making good use of a two phase run they rushed up the road and slung their Mills Bombs into the farm causing mayhem. However the German NCO, Kelner, resisted so fiercely that he beat off the British almost single handedly. The lesson is that if you are assaulting don’t leave your Corporal behind with the Bren team. His influence and his sten gun would have tipped the odds. We live and learn…

So, let’s have a look at the forces for this game. The way force selection works in Chain of Command is that both sides get a “standard” platoon size force for their nationality. One side, depending on the scenario, picks at least one support unit from a choice of several lists for their nationality. List A might be some very minor additions, such as upgrading the number of panzerfausts they have or adding an additional Leader, whereas other lists wil provide bigger and better items. What this side chooses then determines what lists their opponents can choose from. Here the Germans took their basic platoon of three squads and one NCO to command them, with a single Panzerschrect team. They elected to really go large and selected a Panther as their support.

The British standard platoon is three rifle sections, a PIAT team, a 2″ mortar team, a Platoon Sergeant and a Lieutenant. As the Germans selected the Panther the British can select from all of the lists available. They choose the 6 pounder from List D and the 3″ mortar battery from list C. In a skirmish game the 3″ mortars are, naturally positioned off-table – their minimum range would mean they couldn’t hit anyting less than 96 inches away so having them on table would require a truly massive table – and in our game they are represented by the spotter and his radio operator.

We have created the above system so that gamers who are looking to achieve a balance in their games can use this as a guide when putting their games together. The scenarios will each tell you what base force should be present for each side and what support is available. So it may well be that a defender in a good position won’t get as much support as the attacker trying to evict them. Not all gamers will want this, you can certainly ignore any such attempts at balance if you want or play solely historical scenarios is you prefer, that’s fine by us. However, for the gamer looking to put on a quick game on a club night this system, linked with the scenarios in the rules, does allow for an appropriate and historically plausible force to be put together simply and quickly.

A final word for those of you who will be looking for a more specific step by step guide to the rules. We will be filming exactly that for You Tube this coming week, so keep your eyes out for that.

We are very pleased to announce that the first two preview videos for Chain of Command are now on You Tube.

The first video covers the pre-game Patrol Phase which has been developed in order to kick the game off with a short mini-”game within a game” which really accelerates the game through to the point where the action is about to begin. This is designed to represent the players’ knowledge of the terrain and the enemy’s whereabouts. More importantly it tells the player which ground he “owns”, and where he can deploy his troops to rapidly and safely before they need to take a more cautious and pragmatic approach. The number of Patrol Markers, their starting positions and who moves first and how often will vary depending on the scenario. The example shown here is just one simple example from the encounter battle scenario, but the basic principles can be seen.

You can see Part One here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiT70m6CJO8

Part Two looks at the turn sequence and troop activation mechanism. This is, we think, a totally new concept which takes a leap towards the wargame designers ultimate goal (ours anyway!) of a truly turn free game. Imagine a game where a turn equated to a half in a game of Rugby, or a quarter in a game of US Football, within that broad period of play you would have an unspecified number of phases in which the players took the initiative in a non-linear way. So, I could have this phase, you could have the next, but then after that I could get two on the trot before it went back to you. As in that rugby or football match, and indeed war, you would see that play ebbs and flows but in an previously undertmined manner, with the players uncertain of what twists and turns are round the corner.

The activation sequence for our miniature troops is designed to allow the gamer to put together a short series of plays in each phase, making the most of what opportunities present themselves. What results is a fast and frantic game with an amorphous structure which the players shape to form the storyline of the battle.

You can see that video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aT9GPB5PoCE

And the good new is that we will be in the studio again soon recording part three and a whole series on Dux Britanniarum.

So, without further ado I stuck some bits on the three troop carrying halftracks. I have mixed it in with some of the stowage from the jerry can/barrel set and I think they are going to look very nice when completed.


I do have a bit of a conundrum, I want to add the 37mm anti-tank gun to the platoon commander’s halftrack, not pictured here, so I reckon that I am going to have to resort to a bit of kit bashing. Buy the AT gun in its normal state and then get some plasticard and marry the half-track and the gun together. I haven’t done anything like this for many, many years, but I am quite enthused by my experience with the knocked out 251 I did the other day with the open back doors. Here’s a snap of it alongside a Corgi Panther I resprayed at the same time.

More Tamiya stuff is on the way so I shall rview that as and when it arrived.