WW2 Naval warfare - First battle of Narvik Jan 22, 2022

Last week Ezio decided to play with Alberto to some ww2 naval scenarios ... Below some pictures of Narvik First naval battle 

The battle ... or better the battles were fought from 9 April to 8 June 1940 between English and German marine forces.

Narvik provided an ice-free harbour int the North Atlantic for iron ore transported by the railway from Kiruna in Sweden. Both sides in the war had an interest in securing the iron supply for themselves and denying it to the enemy.

Royal Navy tried to take an opportunity to defeat the Kriegsmarine. So the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla (under Commodore Warburton-Lee) engaged the enemies

The battle was fought in a fjord between iced mountains

English flotilla managed to infiltrate the Narvik fjord unseen and carry out a surprise attack against the Germans that, the day before, had taken possession of the port.

TheBritish units inflicted heavy losses on German forces, effectively managing to block it in the port. The surviving German units will then be attacked by a more powerful British naval squadron on 13 April, and finally eliminated in the so-called Second Naval Battle of Narvik.

After the naval battles of Narvik, the port and its surroundings remained in German hands, as no Allied forces were available to be landed there. Naval operations were limited at this stage to shore bombardment, as Narvik was not a primary Allied objective.

In our game Germans wins the battle losing only two ships.

Bolt Action Fire Fight - Jan, 15 2022

In the last weeks my friends played BA using Fire Fight rules ... 

They decided to play some Raid scenarios using Italian and English forces ... They created two tables ... Minis are 28mm painted by Riccardo and Antonio

... English SAS are approaching ,,,

... but the Italians are ready  ...

... BA Fire Fight is easy to play and very funny. 

Some other pictures of the game

... My friends

Colonial wars TMWWBK - Dec, 2021

In the last weeks my club mates played some games using their colonial miniatures. 

The idea was to create  "test" scenarios for  TMWWBK and Black powder to help new club members to know these rule systems.

I took some pics and so I decided to write this post. Minis are all 28mm painted by different persons: Ezio, Giancarlo and Maurizio.

Some foreign Legion soldiers in action

Some African tribes that try to defend their territories

Zanzibar's men

And ... at the end ... a classic scenario English colonial troops against Zulu

Bilbo’s birthday Oct 10, 2020, Lord of the Rings

How old is Bilbo? I don't know but every year … my mate Gianfranco … organized in my club a day in which we play with fantasy miniatures instead of the historical ones. It is an occasion to play and to stay all together… ... after two years of Covid lock down.

This time my friends have decided to play a scenario set into the Gondor forests. With the rangers of Ithilien and the Sudrons of the Harad. The scenario was created for four players … two for the Evil and other two for the Good.

The Good can use four heroes: Faramir, captain of Gondor, Madril Captain of Ithilien, Damrod ranger of Ithilien and the Prince of Dol Maroth ... Imrahil.

The Evil can deploy a Mumak, an orc captain, a troll and a large number of orcs.

The Evil wins if it crosses the table (from north to south) with at least 33% of its forces or kills 3 of the 4 heroes. The Good wins if our heroes thwart the plan of the Evil. 

The battle begins with the rangers that assault the column of orcs in the woods while Imrail, supported by his knights, attacks the Mumak in the clearing to the north. 

Unfortunately the Mumak crashes the Prince. The orcs suffer heavy losses but someone  gets out of the table. The Mumak, after the victory, go to south. Faramir's attempts to stop him are in vain. Madril falls in battle struck by the Haradrim's arrows. 

For two turns the rangers hit the Mumak with their arrows but the animal is too strong and ... at the end the Evil is the winner.

For the revenge Gandalf is  ready!!

Italians vs Mahdist troops - TMWWBK October 2, 2021

Some weeks ago my friends played at the club a scenario using TMWWBK. This time they decided to play Mahdist vs Italian colonial troops. Mahdist were led by Ivano while the Italians by Jimmy.

All miniatures are 28 mm. Italians are painted by Nevio while the Mahdist are Ivano’s work.

Between 1881 and 1899 the Mahdist revolt spread and interested large African territories …  Sudan in particular.

Mahdist wars mainly involved British Empire but also the Kingdom of Italy. In 1894, Italy decided to take the control of Kassala conquering it from Mahdist only to come back in Eritrea after 3 years of occupation.

My mates played a simple scenario in which a group of Italian troops, involved in an exploration mission, were surprised by some Mahdist. The Italians try to find cover a small farm. After six turns only an Italian unit of marines keeps the control of the farm but with high loses.

At the end Mahdist win but a lot of his men will not come back to home

Brandywine battle - Black Powder Sept 18, 2021

Last week my mates continued to play American Revolution war scenarios using Dennis’s paper miniatures.

This time they decided to play the Bradywine battle fought between American Continental and British army. On the morning of September 11, 1777 General Washington deployed his Continental troops along the banks of Brandywine Creek, close to Philadelphia.

He was sure to have secured all possible fords but, unfortunately, 15,500 British soldiers commanded by General Howe advanced under the cover of a heavy fog against his flank. General Green’s men counterattacked but the Continental Army was forced to retreat leaving the path open for Philadelphia.

In our battle, Ezio lead the Crown forces against the rebels commanded by Alberto and Federico.

English’s object is to break (or shaken) at least nine American units … In our battle the English division had to cross the river under the American’s attack. Fortunately, for the English commander, at the 8th turn a charge by a unit of light dragoons destroyed the 9th American units. As in the real histroy the vicotory is English