TO THE STRONGEST - Basing Question Continued...

Now a solution may have presented itself. It may have been staring me in the face all along and I was being dim, not the first time, there I said it before you all did. I recently bought a copy of 'Warband' the new fantasy rules from Pendraken. Pendraken have produced movement trays so that players of games such as Warmaster don't have to rebase their figures to play the game. There are five types of movement trays and looking at them I think they could be very useful indeed to represent the different troops types in 'To the Strongest' using the 150mm square grid system. The Oracle of Andreivia (Richard Crawley) queried how I was going to represent deep units and other unit types and this was what triggered the 'light bulb' moment!

The five types of movement trays available are:-

They are priced at £0.50 each so I will order a few and have a few trial runs to see what looks best. 

TO THE STRONGEST - Basing Question Audience Participation

At the recent Crisis Point IV event organised by the 'Oracle of Andreivia', otherwise known as Mr Richard Crawley, try saying that in a Tommy Lee Jones voice you get the full Dr Richard Kimble moment from 'The Fugitive'. Sorry where was I, oh yes Crisis Point IV. Over a pie and a pint, as you do at Crisis Point events, we were discussing other games that people were interested in at the moment and Richard C mentioned a set of rules by his good friend Simon Miller called 'To the Strongest' so on my return from Yorkshireshire I read a bit more about the rules and also Richard had posted some info on the rule system and an AAR of a game he and Jamie C had played using 6mm on his http://thelandofcounterpane.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/to-strongest.html site.

So I took the plunge and ordered a copy and within minutes my inbox pinged with a PDF of the rules from Simon. The main reason for getting these rules was the fact that, a while ago, I purchased an obscene amount of Kallistra Hordes & Heroes 10mm/12mm figures from Mr Peter Andrew Jones (doesn't quite work with the Tommy Lee Jones voice, nevermind) of CWC/BKC/FWC fame. The figures mainly consist of enough figures to fight the Battle of Hastings in 1:1 (well there are alot!!) plus a load of Vikings. They have sat in Shed HQ awaiting a decision on their future. Now recently Pendraken released 'Warband' so I thought some of them could go and form the basis of a Warband army. Great. that still leaves we with a load of figures left. What to do with them? Mr Richard Crawley (stop it now!) mentions 'To the Strongest' and I think mmmm that might work.

So after a quick skim through the rules it was off to Shed HQ (while cooking gammon, roast potatoes, cauliflower cheese and broccoli, who says men can't multi task) to get some figures. How to base them? With the amount of figures I have got I would like to go for the mass effect as they will look impressive on the table top. The rules use a grid system, no measuring, and looking at the rules the games I will probably play will use either the 100mm square grid or the 150mm square grid for bigger games. So I have come up with a few basing options and I would welcome peoples opinions on what would look best. Bear in mind when looking that you can have two units in any one square so there needs to be room for both. I cut a couple of squares from card and used some bases I use for CWC.

150mm Square - 6 bases 40mm x 30mm with two ranks of four plus a couple of figures at the front. Like the massed effect not sure about the amount of space taken up.

150mm Square - 3 bases 40mm x 30mm with two ranks of four plus a couple of figures at the front. Again like the massed effect and there is a bit more room in the grid square for a leader base.

100mm Square - 2 bases 40mm x 30mm with two ranks of four plus a couple of figures at the front.

Using the smaller grid the bases work with a leader. Probably just enough room for another unit. 

 

150mm Square - 6 bases 40mm x 20mm with two ranks. Plenty of room for two units plus leaders but looks a bit Napoleonic!

100mm Square - 4 bases 40mm x 20mm with two ranks. Little less room than the 40mm x 30mm.

Interested to hear what other people think, now to work out what to do with 23,426 Norman Cavalry figures :-)

P.S. I managed not to burn the tea either. Brownie Points off to Shed HQ.

Andreivian Air Support

The Andreivian Government has taken delivery of a UH-1H Huey Gunship which will be a welcome addition to the Andreivian Air Force. It is currently undergoing a maintenance check and has had the Andreivian colours added. A few more details need to be added and it will be ready to take to the skies over Andreivia (keeping a close watch for Russian SA-7 launchers that have a nasty habit of shooting down Andreivian aircraft).

Currently on the workbench are two Folland Gnat conversions.

Crisis Point IV - Return to Andreivia (Part Five)

Just some other photos I took from Day Two.

The Andreivian Government forces defend the Administrative District

Andreivian Governement APC's defend Central Square

Andreivian Government armour on the streets

ASU-85 at TIA (Tcherbevan International Airport)

Russian VDV occupy the Airport

Russian support takes up a position on the roof of the airport buildings

Andreivian Turk Mule Train sneaks on to the table with a cargo of AT-4 launchers

Andreivian Government Paratroops defend the railyard against the Russian advance. Arthur and Leo, our young players, put up a dogged defence despite some terrible dice rolls

A Russian SA-7 team on alert for incoming air attacks, "Sergei can you hear anything, I could have sworn I heard the sound of jet engines in the distance".

War torn Tcherbevan!

"Quick Sergei FIRE!"

"Good shot Sergei"

An Andreivian L-39 shot down over the airport

More Russian air defence

A 'liberated' Type 61 under the control of the Andreivian Turks trades shots with the Andreivian Government armour

Andreivian Government gunboat supports the paratroops at the railyard

Andreivian gunboat

The Andreivian Government forces near Central Square come under heavy fire from the ground and the air

Russians advance into the railyard

A BMD is hit by fire from a Government Type 61

The Armenian T55 meets its match!

Crisis Point IV - Return to Andreivia (Part Four)

Day Two.

After a hearty breakfast at Padley Farm B&B Andy, Ian and I made the short journey on foot to the hall for Day Two of Crisis Point IV. Day Two was to see the two smaller tables closed down and all the action moved to the large 'Tcherbevan & International Airport' table.

Players.

Russians - Russell Phillips & Mark Kniveton
Andreivians - Ian Shaw & Richard Crawley (assisted by Arthur & Leo)
NATO - Jamie Crawley & Richard Phillips
Andreivian Turks - Andy Canham
Armenians - Rob Connolly

Richard Crawley had to step in last minute due to a no show and he assisted our younger players with a force of Andreivian Paratroopers who were fighting to hold the railyard on the north bank of the river.

NATO had a different force as the Italians had been held up by the Mujahideen the following day. Jamie controlled a small force of British Paras in a Blackhawk helo and I had a larger force of US 101st Airborne on board a Chinook. Basically we could intervene whenever we saw fit. NATO also had a small Italian Special Forces team inserted into the Italian Embassy a few days ago who had covertly entered the ATV building in central Tcherbevan and were holed up on the observation deck at the top of the tower. This was to prove interesting when they surprised an Andreivian Sniper Observation Team that tried to deploy on the roof of the ATV Tower. The Andreivians, surprised to see the Italians threw a grenade which killed one of the SF Team who reacted by opening up with 5 Assault Rifles and 2 Minimi's which made short work of the Andreivians. An unfortunate incident!

The first action of the day was the brief firefight between the Italians and the Andreivians. We used paper plates as a quickly improvised floor plan of the top of the ATV Tower.

After the firefight the Italians take control of the ATV Tower which has commanding views over the whole of Tcherbevan and the airport. The sniper set up on top of the tower and began to select appropriate targets to reduce the bloodshed below. 

The mysterious ship moored by the bridge had come to the attention of the NATO commanders as several high ranking officials of the Andreivian Government, including the Defence Minister and the Culture Minister, had been seen frequenting this ship. NATO had become increasingly suspicious of the actions of the Andreivian Government and the Airborne forces were put on stand by if it was deemed necessary to intervene and take the ship. It was later discovered that the Andreivians were using the ship to interrogate prisoners taken during the fighting!

US 101st Airborne on board a Chinook prepare for action

The Andreivian Armenian leader Serj Benkian travelling through the city escorted by his bodyguards

NATO decide to intercept Mr Benkian before he reaches the Armenian fighters as they are worried that his presence might bring an increase in hostilities. The 101st Airborne are tasked with the mission of detaining Mr Benkian and escorting him to NATO HQ.

Mr Benkian reluctantly surrenders to the US forces and is escorted onto the waiting Chinook

Under the watchful eye of the 101st.

The 101st then relieve the weary French forces which have been using the Old Fort as a Forward Operating Base in Tcherbevan.

NATO Forward Operating Base in the Old Fort in Tcherbevan now under the control of the 101st Airborne Division

Meanwhile Jamie's attention was focused on the mysterious ship moored near the Culture Ministry

NATO air support was called in by the Italian spotter on the ATV Tower

The Jaguar begins its bombing run aiming to clear the area around the ship of hostile forces unfortunately this meant bombing the Italian Embassy as hostile forces had occupied the building

Once the area had been cleared of hostile forces the men of 10 PARA deploy onto the roof of the Italian Embassy in preparation for an assault on the ship

10 PARA move to secure the Italian Embassy building

This was the last action by NATO as unfortunately we had to pack up and head home. Special thanks to my fellow NATO player Jamie Crawley for a great weekends gaming. Sorry there were no Saxon Shieldwalls in sight!

I have some photos of other actions on Day Two and will post them next.