To the Manor Born ~ 3

A little more progress on the fortified manor build.

The half-timbered gatehouse is more or less complete. I'm debating whether to leave the windows as-is (glazed) or have them shuttered. 

My take on this build is that the manor was more heavily fortified at one time but the owner's desire for comfort led to certain modifications over the past few years. The gatehouse was rebuilt when a modest tower gave way to more living accommodation. With this update the original gate became offset beneath the structure. I'll add traces of the original tower in the wall.

The roof won't take that much work. I'm thinking of painting the tiles or using a railway modelling print rather than go to the effort of making individual tiles.

A side view showing how narrow the profile is. It won't take up a large footprint on the table. (The sides of the gatehouse will be covered to hide the evidence that I'm making some of this up as I go along!) The perimeter walls either side will be bent back to the same level as the rear of the structure then the whole mounted on a narrow base. I will add some detailing to the front, and may add a tower in outline form to the right hand wall to represent further defences along the wall.

This build is in the final stages. I have another project on the go at the moment, hinted at by the structure to the left of the bottom photo.

To the Manor Born ~ 2

Some progress with the new building project. I have a kind of Stokesay Castle, Shropshire, look in mind. 

It's taking shape. Behind is the basic sketch I did to show roughly what I'm aiming at.

The crenelations and the gateway are marked out then cut. The half-timbered gatehouse structure-to-be is cut and laid on the wall to check for fit.

It was at this stage I decided to raise the height of the gatehouse roof quite substantially. Another piece of card and foamcore are taped in place while the glue dries. This orange section will be the support for the roof and form the rear of the gatehouse.

On to the half-timbered gatehouse. 2mm strips of cereal box card make the main vertical timbers. For the sake of cutting a corner or two I may draw in the crossbars and other bits. More to come.

To the Manor Born ~ 1

...and some library loot.

If you haven't already seen it, Pete Barfield (aka 'PanzerKaput') has a nice series of posts on building a fortified manor house for Lion Rampant and other medieval era games. This got me thinking about making something similar for my own collection. 

Not having a lot of storage space means I have to condense things a little. I turned for inspiration to the model railway/railroading hobby, where 'flats' and 'semi-flats' is a common method of representing buildings without having them take up large footprints on the layout. In essence the building is shown with only one full size wall, the others are truncated or suggested at.

After flipping through a few railway hobby magazines and looking up a number of YouTube videos I think I have the idea of how to go about making a manor house for the tabletop. It'll be designed to stand on one edge of the tabletop to represent a retinue's sally point.

It's early days so I'm only at the sketch stage at the moment. For construction material I'll use an off cut from a yard sign. For those not in the US these signs are made of corrugated plastic designed to have metal wickets inserted into the corrugations so they stand free in a front yard. They're generally used for yard sales, by realtors, construction contractors/builders and to show political affiliation. It's tough, durable and easily cut. I'm thinking of making the body of the wall and a base out of this stuff, with cardboard for details.

Our local library has its twice-annual books sale this week, so my wife and I scored a few goodies this morning from a well-attended event. The railroad modelling magazines are useful for tips and tricks - even if one dates to 1968! Prof. Ian Beckett's book promises to be a good read on the last Great War battle where the commanders had a chance of conducting open maneuver warfare.

More on the manor project as I find time.

Lion Rampant ~ The End at Cockham

With Friar Balsam and his copy of the Passion of Saint Tibulus (illustrated edition) safely in the care of his foot serjeants, Sir Oswald de Patton led his men-at-arms into action against Sir Jean to buy the serjeants time to retire with their charge.

The serjeants begin to retire from the field as Sir Oswald leads his men up the road and into combat.

The men of Sir Jean's retinue were making good practice against their enemy. Sir Jean counter-charged Sir Oswald's men-at-arms with his own with every expectation of continuing the good work.

However, fate decided otherwise...

A short but vicious fight broke out on the approach to Cockham, the air filling with the hammering of metal on metal and the screams of men and horses. After a man fell on each side the opponents took stock of the situation. 

Sir Oswald's men were still full of fight. Sir Jean's men... were not. With shouts of suavez-vous! they had it away on their heels, fleeing back up the road to whence they came, leaving Sir Oswald and his men standing pleased but baffled.

Er..?

Seeing their leader fleeing the field had a dampening effect on the rest of Sir Jean's retinue. They stayed their hands, allowing Sir Oswald and his men to retire unmolested from the battle. Friar Balsam and his precious charge are safe.

* * *

That was unexpected. Sir Jean's retinue really piled on the pressure throughout the encounter, causing more casualties than they received, yet when it came to the crunch Sir Jean and his men were paper tigers. There's not much that can be done with a roll of two 1's on the Courage test. 

With no other of his bands within charging distance of the serjeants escorting Friar Balsam, I called the game at that point. An odd ending, but satisfying.

Lion Rampant ~ Clash at Cockham - continued

Sir Oswald de Patton's men may have beaten Sir jean to finding Friar Balsam, but Sir Jean's men are full of fight. 

Crossbowmen pick their way through the wood as Sir Jean leads his men into the village square.

With Friar Balsam recovered from the byre and in their charge, the foot serjeants begin to retire from the field. Pressure mounts as Sir Jean's troops advance.

Sir Jean's crossbowmen emerged from the woods to see their foe beginning to withdraw with the prize. Before they can act they come under fire from Sir Oswald's archers. A flurry of arrows and quarrels hum across the ploughed field. Men fall, but honours are even.

Close by, Sir Jean's mounted serjeants are punching well above their weight, driving Sir Oswald's men-at-arms back twice at little cost to themselves. Their opponents are at half strength and beginning to falter...

Lion Rampant ~ Clash at Cockham in the Wood

A fine Autumn day saw Friar Balsam, Holy Order of St. Aimless the Confused, running for his life up the Almost Great North Road. 

He'd been entrusted with a valuable copy of the Passion of St. Tibulus, a highly controversial work the existence of which had inflamed the already nasty war between King John and his Barons. The sympathetic Sir Oswald de Patton, of the Baronial Faction, is on his trail. Sir Oswald learned the King's men are abroad searching for the errant friar, and he seeks to give refuge to the holy man and peruse the naughty Passion for himself place the holy book under lock and key. 

Meanwhile, Sir Jean the Unreasonable is hot on the trail of the friar, seeking to arrest him for heresy and take the holy book for his own gratification to ensure its heretical notions are kept away from the impressionable public.

Friar Balsam reached the village of Cockham in the Wood, known as the site of an ancient battle between Romano-British Christians and pagan Saxons. A structure on the village square both commemorated the Christian victory and served as a butter market. The church of St. Onan the Blind stood the other side of the square, but the priest was away visiting his mistress a sick parishioner and couldn't offer Balsam sanctuary. It behooved Balsam to seek cover from his pursuers.

So it is both sides enter the field of battle...

Sir Oswald to the left of him, Sir Jean to the right, Balsam's stuck in the middle and blue.

The mounted men-at-arms on both sides approached along the road. Catching sight of each other caused both to draw up short to assess the situation. It appears neither want to get involved in a ruckus in the middle of the village. 

Sir Oswald's retinue begins to roll.

Sir Jean's retinue seems reluctant to budge.

Eventually both sides begin to advance. The cheeky mounted serjeants seem to fancy their chances against the better armed and equipped men-at-arms.

Sir Oswald's foot serjeants approach the village. The nearest of the two bands draws close to the barn and a copse of trees, both potential hiding places. Is Friar Balsam hiding in either?

The mounted serjeants have a point-or rather, several nasty sharp points, and the men-at-arms get the worst of the encounter.

As the mounted men square up to each other the commander of the longbowmen begins to position his troops to fire upon the mounted serjeants once they get a clear shot. 

A rustling in the byre startles a serjeant. Moments later a scruffy figure emerges into the light...

Well, waddaya know? Friar Balsam was in the second potential hiding place. Now let's see if his friends can get him to safety...

To be continued.

 

Lion Rampant game tomorrow..?

Hopefully tomorrow I can push some lead around on the tabletop for my first game with figures this year. It'll be a distraction from real-life stuff, such as my Better Half's recovery from twice-delayed surgery (because of Covid) and... oh yes, a war in Eastern Europe. (Read Alexander Watson's graphic account of the siege of Przemyśl - The Fortress - to understand something of the bloody history of the region).

Meanwhile, here's a photo of our new kitten and current Weapon of Mass Distraction doing what he does best...

Fast Convoy ~ The Game

January 1st 1942. 

Fast convoy of 44 vessels using the Central Channel from Halifax NS to Liverpool.

HMS VERBENA is among the escorts, Commander David Chandler RNR, CO.

All crew rated as Skill 1.

1st Day: Depart Halifax in a violent Northeaster. Galley fires out. Convoy speed reduced due to weather. Verbena proves to be of sound construction. No mechanical issues reported, although like all of her class she'll 'roll on wet grass.'

First sector empty. 

2nd—6th Days: Violent storm continues. Conditions aboard increasingly miserable.

Second sector empty: 

Third sector, U-boat present but unable to attack due to weather conditions. 

4th—5th—6th Days weather continues to be foul. No encounters. Entering air gap.

7th Day: Weather improves to Snow. To boost morale after such a prolonged and miserable blow the Captain orders ‘Splice the Mainbrace.’ Crew mood lifted.

8th Day: Weather continues to improve, visibility poor.

9th Day: Foggy conditions. Night, with a waning half-moon. 

U-boat encountered on the surface at Long range. Corvette fails to detect it. 

U-boat attacks and sinks 8,000 ton MV Empire Horizon. U-boat sighted through drifting snow at medium range.

Verbena engages with 4” gun. On the second round being fired a bright yellow flash penetrates the drifting snow and an explosion is heard.

A temporary break in the snow enables lookouts to see U-boat crash diving. ASDIC contact made at close range.

Verbena drops depth charges. Oil observed on surface. Second attack made. U-boat forced to the surface, crew abandon ship. Submarine fatally damaged, sinks before an attempt to gather intelligence can be made. Prisoners taken, divided among other escorts.

10th Day: Weather worsens to violent storm, U-boat present but unable to attack due to conditions.

11th Day: Weather improves to heavy swell and slowly drifting fog.

12th Day: Weather improves but visibility still poor.

13th Day: Weather improves to good. Visibility excellent, sea-state calmer. Lookouts ordered to extra vigilance.

14th Day: Weather still good.

15th Day: Oil slick sighted. Verbena dispatched to investigate. Straggler 6,000 ton tanker MV Bainbridge sighted. A torpedo hit registered only a partial explosion, breaching compartment but failing to ignite fuel. Bainbridge placed under escort.

16th Day: Enter Liverpool roads. Prisoners sent ashore.

Commander Chandler awarded Distinguished Service Cross for sinking of U-boat. Preparations made for next convoy.

* * * *

So went my first game of Corvette Command. I enjoyed it, especially the feeling of tension I got when it came time to turn over the next sector of the route to see what awaited my sturdy ship. Verbena proved exceptionally lucky this first time out. Not only did she and her charges avoid two lurking U-boats due to the foul weather, the one enemy submarine that succeeded in making an attack was hunted down and confirmed destroyed. Not only that, the Random Event roll turned up a straggling ship from a previous convoy which a die roll confirmed to be a vital tanker thought sunk. 

This game looks set to be a keeper. I'm looking forward to seeing how Commander Chandler and company fare as the war progresses.

Corvette Command

A snowy weekend, I'm between other jobs, we're awaiting arrival of a new kitten to our family... Time to check out the Corvette Command rules.

The North Atlantic awaits...

This'll be my first game, so it's going to be a learning curve. We'll see how they play.

Still around...

...just not doing much gaming or model making right now. A combination of personal stuff, post-holiday blues and a busy spell of writing has left me with little time and less inclination for hobby stuff. I do have an idea for a Lion Rampant game involving the terrain of the recent Dux Brit. game. The free Corvette Captain rules on Jim Jackaman's Tea and a Wad blog also tempted me, so I downloaded the set to try out one of these days.