Inaugural game – Early War Flames of War
It certainly wasn’t the first game we’ve had together, but it was the first that we’ve had where we decided to get ourselves organised for regular gaming!
The venue was Nathan’s house, and the game chosen was a 3000 point Flames of War battle between Paul’s Early War German army, and Chris S’s Early War French army. John would partner Paul in the Blitzkrieg whilst the two Chris’ defended La Patrie. Nathan acted as umpire and drank a decent amount of the wine as well!
We had to scrape to get the armies together, using unpainted figures and a few mid war infantry additions in order to make up the points, but we had enough and the scenario began. We played a ‘Hold the Line’ game. The Chris’s left their armour off in reserve in order to have a mobile counter-attack, but they regretted this later when they came face to face with the Panzers. For John and Chris H this was their first Flames of War game, and I had to admit that I was very rusty on the rules, but Paul and Chris S knew what they were doing, and with the aid of my rulebook, we were able to get through the game.
Below is a panorama of the battle:
In the end John’s troops burst into the town on the right flank of the German advance and the Chris’s were effectively turned. We all learned a good deal about the rules, Chris S is keen to get his French finished, Nathan has sped up his painting of his mid-late war Germans and Paul is finishing off his Germans too. There are a number of other Rotorua gamers eager to get into Flames of War, so lets hope we can keep encouraging them!
Man of the match: The French AAA – kept taking those Stuka’s down!
Decisive moment: The French infantry dug-in on the hill failed to stop Paul’s Panzers advancing.
Most tense moment: ‘We’ve been playing the aircraft rules wrong I tell you…’
A couple more shots just to show off the miniatures being used:
Paul’s Panzer’s burning it up on the left flank.
Some of Chris S’s French Armour – too late to save the day
Paul’s pretty little tanks. I think they’re Pz 38ts, but not 100% on that. Paul’s the Panzerfiend!
And just to prove that everything was above board, Nathan’s daughter Cassandra tests out the dice for tampering after the game!
The Irregulars – who are we?
The Rotorua Irregulars are a sub-group of the Rotorua Wargames Club. We are the historical players who seldom seem to find the time to organise ourselves to get down to the games day at Malfroy Primary School hall on the second Sunday of each month. As such, we try to meet monthly at someone’s house when as many members as possible are available. This way, hopefully, we see a bit more regular gaming.
The core founding members are: Chris Hill, John Norton, Chris Shorthall, Nathan Ward and Paul Whittaker. We are open to any other gamers to join.
Our main periods are 15mm Napoleonics, and 15mm World War Two (Flames of War), but our members also have 28mm ancients for Warhammer Ancient Battles, 28mm Napoleonics and World War Two, 28mm English Civil War, 28mm World War One and a variety of other periods. We are always open to new gamers.
The idea of the Irregulars is that each of the core members takes it in turn to host a game at their place. It is up to the host to decide what game is to be played, what rules are to be used and to organise the armies and terrain. The host is also responsible for refreshments for hungry and thirsty players, and has the final say in any rules disputes.
One of the things that worries us is that by not getting down to the club often enough, a number of younger or new players are missing out on historical wargaming when there seems to be quite an interest. By making this group, we hope to get a few of these newcomers involved and enthusiastic.
So once a month or more this blog will be updated with the latest game and any news from the Rotorua Irregulars. We’ll start off with our inaugural meeting on Friday 3rd October.
