PARTICIPATION AND DISPLAY GAMES 2008

PARTICIPATION GAMES

WARMACHINE and HORDES - Forge Games

WARMACHINE is the award winning, fast paced, and aggressive 30mm tabletop miniatures battle game set in the steam-powered fantasy world of the Iron Kingdoms. In WARMACHINE players take on the role of an elite soldier-sorcerer known as a warcaster. Though warcasters are formidable forces on the battlefield, their true strength lies in their ability magically to control and coordinate the actions of their mighty warjacks - steam-powered combat automatons that represent the pinnacle of military might in the Iron Kingdoms.

As WARMACHINE's feral twin, HORDES is a 30mm tabletop miniatures combat game set in the wilds of the Iron Kingdoms. Players jump into the action controlling enigmatic warlocks and their packs of savage warbeasts as they battle for territory and survival.

Forge Games will be running participation games all day to introduce players to WARMACHINE and HORDES. Each game will last approximately 20 minutes, during which time players will be introduced to the basic mechanics and rules of the game. Experienced players are also welcome to play each other, perhaps using a new faction from the many battlegroup and warpack box sets miniatures available.

TORCHWOOD FILE: OPERATION LUPIN - SFSFW (Society of Fantasy and Science Fiction Wargamers)

The two men took cover behind a boulder as the machine gun bullets splatted around them. "I thought you said this was a quiet Scottish island" said Captain Jack. "Actually I used the word deserted" mused the Doctor. "Deserted! Its hardly that either" shouted Captain Jack, as the UNIT soldiers laid down covering fire.

This is a 28mm Participation game for fans, and others, of Dr Who. So will you come and help the Doctor find whichever female assistant has got lost on the island!

SECRETS OF THE THIRD REICH - West Wind Productions

West Wind Productions in association with Grindhouse Games present 'Secrets of the Third Reich', a brand-new fusion game of 28mm WWII, Sci-Fi and Horror.
Check out the West Wind Website at www.westwindproductions.co.uk or the Secrets of the Third Reich Forum at http://secretsofthethirdreich.com/forums/ for more details of this new game.
For anyone wishing to participate in a game during please email mail@weswindproductions.co.uk. or just call over to the demo table and join in the fun. Playing time for one of the scenarios is approx. 30 minutes.

LEIPZIG LITE - Baccus 6mm

The biggest battle of the Napoleonic Wars played on a board measuring 4 feet square and taking less than an hour to play.

The concept is simple. The largest battle of the Napoleonic wars, played on a four foot square table, in a playing time of 40 minutes. Leipzig-lite gives you the slimmed-down, revved-up, leaner but not necessarily meaner Napoleonic experience.

Think it can't be done? The come along and have go. Can you crush the Corsican Ogre, or would you prefer to preserve the Glory that is the Premier Empire? Each game has four places so test yourself against history.

The game is sponsored by Baccus 6mm and Timecast and will feature hundreds of 6mm figures. The rules used will be a variant of the Napoleonic very, very, very quick play set used in our popular 'Old Trousers' game.

POITIERS - Society of Ancients

GETTYSBURG WHAT IF? or BE PICKETT FOR A DAY - Guards Wargames Club, Sheldon, Birmingham

A participation game for the 1st to 3rd July 1863, we will be using my club rules the Blue the Grey and the Butternut, being released in June 08 by Realistic Wargames Ltd. We will be using primary Pendraken 10mm figures plus Minifigs and Chariot.

The rules are based on two stands equaling one Brigade, total of 48 figures, there will also be dioramas on the table to enhance the scenic look, such as home made rail fencing, snake fencing and featuring the round top and devils den area as modules.

BATTLE OF STRESON 1715 , GREAT NORTHERN WAR - Border Reivers

As part of the conquest of Rugen in 1715, the Allies (Danish, Saxons, Norwegians and Prussians) landed on the island, where they placed a field fortication to base thei invasion. During the first day the Swedish forces attacked the fortification, resulting in a battle.

Participants will get the chance to fight on either side using the new fast play rules Beneath Lily Banners.

BLACK SHEEP - Reading Independent Wargames

25mm Skirmish game based on the film of the same name, A group of hippies and farmers and a crazy old lady with a shotgun against dozens of virus infected killer sheep.

BRESLAU, WWII - 1945 - Great Escape Games

Eastern front battle using 28mm and Rules of Engagement rules

DAY OF INFAMY - Leeds Wargames Club

1/600th participation game of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour.

US INVASION OF GRENADA ANNIVERSARY - Miniature Wargames

To celebrate Miniature Wargames 25th anniversary, the magazine is fielding 'Urgent Fury at Point Salines', a participation game based on the US invasion of Grenada 25 years ago this October. For two to three players, the game is played on a fully landscaped 8' x 6' table and pits elite US Army Rangers against Grenada's Revolutionary Army and their Cuban allies. For the US commander, the objective is to seize the airport and rescue American civilians trapped by the fighting; the defenders' objective is to hold out as long as possible

MANEUVER GROUP - KB Club

Maneuver Group (1/72 Modern)

WARGODS OF AEGYPTUS - Stoke on Trent Wargames Group

Come and try the Wargods of Aegyptus game.
This is a two player Game for FUN.

The scene is set and the two warbands face each other. Will the Dog Warriors of Anubis be able to stop the evil mummy hoast, you can decide.
The Fate of Aegyptus is in your hands.

TET: HAMMER INTO ANVIL - Chesterfield Open Gaming Society (COGS)

It is the time of the Tet Offensive. Elements of the combined VC and PAVN division clash with Allied Forces outside the Imperial City of Hue. A scratch force of 'advisors' from the Allied MACV attempt to repel an overwhelming attack on their stockade. The Advisors meagre staff includes elements of the American, Australian, Korean and Vietnamese forces in the area.
It is intended at time of press, that Players will take the part of the MACV on the Saturday and the Communists on the Sunday with Umpires controlling the opposing forces.

We have found that participation games prove more enjoyable when players have to work together to achieve a common goal rather than against each other.

28mm hex-based Fast Participation Game based on forthcoming Hammer into Anvil Rules by G5. 2008 is the fortieth anniversary of the Tet Offensive in Vietnam.

DISPLAY GAMES AND GROUPS

REGIA ANGLORUM - 11th Century Living History Group - www.regia.org - This group was very popular last year and have promised to return in 2008

MINDEN - 1st August 1759 Seven Years War - Humberside Wargames

After Ferdinand’s defeat at Bergen the French launched an offensive and rapidly overran Hessen. It was not until Minden had fallen and the French were poised to invade Hanover that Ferdinand was able to gather a sufficient force to oppose them. Contades, who was under pressure from Versailles to do something, advanced from his positions around Minden to attack the Allied Left. Unfortunately for his plans the Allied army was marching to the attack at the same time. In the battle that followed Allies lost some 2,800 out of 42,500, half of them from the British infantry and artillery. The French lost 7,000 out of 54,000, as well as most of their baggage, 17 standards and 43 cannon.

A scenario prepared for Might and Reason rules by Greg Savvinos. The 6mm Seven Years war figures are from Baccus, Terrain painting by Miss Jennifer Cluskey, the terrain pieces by Timecast and The baggage train, and the wines from the pick of the generous Mr. Gendle’s Yorkshire estate cellar.

BATTLE OF VASLUI -10 January 1475 - Ottoman invasion of Moldavia - 'Like a Stone Wall' Wargames Group

In late 1474 with Wallachian assistance Hadan Suleman Pasha the Bey of Rumelia led a large Ottoman army into Moldavia to bring Stefan to heel and collect several years of unpaid tribute.

The Ottoman Army marched through Moldavia for weeks, finally scouts reported the Moldavian standing army along with a few allied contingents had been found deployed on a series of small hills behind a defensive ditch straddling the road to the north. It was a fairly strong position, immediately to the east of the road ran the frozen Barlad River, to the west the ground was marshy, and on both sides the terrain quickly turned into impenetrable forest and hills. Best of all they numbered less than a quarter the size of the Ottoman army. Hadan decided to launch his army in an all out frontal assault.

Ground Mist reduced visability to nothing as the ottoman army marched to battle, the vanguard met up with the Moldavian lines while the rest of the army was strung out along the road. All the while hidden in the woods and slopes across the frozen river a second Moldavian force waited for the right moment to launch an ambush. This force contained Stefans elite cavalry reserve and the large host, well trained militias, local troops and volunteers, assembled without the ottomans knowledge it would provide a nasty surprise.

Our Game begins with the Ottoman Vanguard about to engage the Moldavian defensive line. The rest of the Ottoman army marches on to the battle unaware of the forces lurking to their flank.

According to the more believable historical sources the Ottomans lost up to 40,000 men in the battle and subsequent pursuit.

CLIPPING THEIR WINGS - 20mm WWII - 'Realistic Wargames Group' www.realisticwargames.co.uk

The game consists of a hypothetical British Commando raid on a Luftwaffe airfield from which the Horton 229 aircraft have been plaguing Allied bombers attacking the German heartland in a renewed effort to bring the war to a conclusion.

THE BATTLE OF BUTUR DOGRANDI. 16 Sept 1965 - 10mm INDO PAKISTAN WAR 1965 - 'Scattered' Wargamers

The climatic battle of the Indian attack, operation Nepal. The Indian 17th Poona Horse and Gharwal Infantry Battallion attempt to take a small village in the Punjab, as part of a plan to cut off North East Pakistan. They are met by the Pakistani 25th Cavalry and Infantry with Cobra ATGW, resulting in a major bloody nose for the Indian forces.

Centurions, Shermans, Pattons, British and American artillery, and everyone in the same sort of uniform?! Confused? You will be, and the respective airforces certainly were. Will history be rewritten?

A Cold War Commander Demo Game, using 10mm figures from Pendraken, Minifigs and Takara

HIGH GROUND WAS SIGHTED - Normandy, Wednesday 9 August 1944 WWII - Veterans Company

The Canadian 2nd Corps pushes south from Caen with a task force despatched to take the high ground at Point 195. The Canadians advanced through minimal German resistance but strayed off the main highway. The high ground was sighted and the column headed for it. The game begins with the task force fighting their way through weak resistance and reaching a strong defensive area before confidently reporting to their pleased Corps Commander that the hold Point 195.

For the 12th SS the situation is again critical and Kampfgruppe Wunsche and his 'big cats' are mobilised to destroy the Allied thrust that has pushed into the heart of the Hitlerjugend defensive line before it could be properly formed.

Rules: Battlefront WW2

HUSSITE WARS 15th Century - 1st Corps

A 28mm Hussite Wars battle using Kingmaker figures.

A brief history of the Hussite rebellion.

The Hussite wars in the period between 1419 - 1436 were religious wars fought for the freedom of the Czech people from the dominant Catholic church of the Holy Roman Empire.

This is a fascinating period, particularly for the wargamer, due to the innovation of new battlefield weapons and tactics adopted by the predominantly peasant Hussite army to defeat the men at arms dominated armies sent against them. This conflict would see for the first time extensive use of firearms and artillery and also the introduction of the "Wagenburg" or mobile wagon fort.

In 1415 the Czech religious reformer Jan Huss was arrested on the orders of the Pope, accused of being a heretic. Huss was a constant critic of the Catholic Church, always campaigning against its abuse of power but also a vociferous campaigner for greater religious freedoms for the Czech people. Huss was put on trial for heresy and at Constance on 6 July 1415 he was burned to death.

The consequence of this was to slowly fan the flames of revolt in Bohemia where the Czech people continued to push the religious beliefs of the late Jan Huss. The Hussites split into 2 groups comprising the moderates or Orebites and the more extremist Taborites. Both factions fought against political meddling from the Pope in Constantinople. The Catholic Church finally lost patience in 1420 and proclaimed a Crusade against "The Hussites".

Vast knight armies were organised and sent to destroy the upstart Hussites in what the Catholic Church thought would be a quick and easy victory. However, what they encountered was a superbly organised army with many new innovative weapons and tactics. The credit for this development goes to the one-eyed war veteran Jan Zizka. He realised that any army made up from the poorer peasant classes, even with the support of a small Hussite nobility, would be quickly defeated if fought in a conventional way.

With only a small number of mounted knights at his disposal Jan Zizka had to rely on large numbers of peasant foot soldiers. The standard way to defeat heavily armoured cavalry armies was to mimic the English and Swiss armies of the day and adopt the longbow and pike as weapons of choice. To be successful with such weapons requires highly trained and well disciplined soldiers.

Jan Zizka did not have such troops; instead he had large numbers of peasants who despite their devoted and often fanatical approach to fighting were undisciplined. To bolster and stiffen this large "infantry rabble" Zizka adopted the Wagenburg, wagon fort or war wagon. These were standard peasant farm wagons that had defensive hoardings bolted to them turning them into mobile forts. The wagons in a defensive situation formed themselves into "laagers" with wagons chained together and additional boards and pavises used to fill the gaps beneath and between the wagons. Horses would be pulled into the centre and infantry comprising halbadiers, flailers, crossbowmen, handgunners, bowmen and slingers would man the defences. A cavalry reserve would be formed ready to counter attack. Often ballast wagons or fire wagons would be pulled or pushed into enemy formations to break them up.

On the offensive parallel mobile columns of wagons would advance with a cavalry screen scouting ahead. On contact with the enemy they would try and squeeze the enemy between the two lines of wagons and use relentless firepower to defeat them. There are also records of the Hussites creating numerous wagon nests across the battlefield to channel the enemy into areas where they could be attacked whilst disadvantaged. There are other records in which dismounted Hussite troops would slowly withdraw in front on an enemy force whilst the war wagons would advance on both flanks, thus drawing the enemy force into a trap.

Zizka also recognised the potential of firearms and artillery against medieval knight armies. The Hussites employed large numbers of hand guns and a fantastic variety of artillery pieces. Artillery pieces were often mounted on wagons and thus the self-propelled gun had been invented.

The Hussites fought numerous battles against Crusader armies comprising soldiers and knights from all over Europe. Eventually internal disputes caused the Orebites and Taborites to fall into conflict, and these factions fought many battles against each other. This culminated in the Battle of Lipnay which was to mark the end of the Hussite wars.

BATTLE OF LINCOLN 1141 - Lance and Longbow Society

28mm demo-game of the attempt to stop the raising of the siege of the city by King Stephen

OTTOMAN INVASION OF HUNGARY 1456 - Derby Wargames Club

The Ottoman forces are on there way to Belgrade and have been stopped by a Hungarian fortified town. The Hungarians have called on there allies for help in defending thier country.

The game starts as the relieving force of Polish knights try to break the Ottoman siege lines.