The Season of Blood Bowl

Though I've still been working on historicals in my miniature hobby, and did attend a few more reenactments, most of this past season has been dedicated to the Games Workshop game, Blood Bowl.

Blood Bowl Game in Progress

After a board game day at the local game store, one of the guys and I got to talking.
"Remember that old game, Blood Bowl?" he asked.
"Yeah," I said, "I wonder if they sell that anymore?"

Turns out, they (Games Workshop) do.  The game, of course, has gone through some changes since it was originally released in 1984, but I was pretty excited to see that it was still in production.  I broke down and bought the "Second Season" starter set, and we convinced some other guys that hang out in the shop to start a small league.

The starter set came with two teams, Imperial Nobility (Humans), and Black Orks.  I opted to play the Orks, and painted them up in the colors of a local high school that closed down not too long ago.  Thus, the Black River Black Orks were born.

I started with the referee figures that came in the box set.  They don't get any use in the game, but they are a nice bit of flavor.

Elven Referee - Front

Elven Refree - Rear

Dwarven Referee - Front

Dwarven Referee - Rear

With the refs done, I moved onto the team's Star Player, Varag Ghoulchewer, who I nicknamed "Chulk" after a friend of mine who had attended Black River High School when we were teens.

"Chulk"

After Chulk, I worked on the Orks.  There were six, in total.  Big bruisers who worked great as tanks along the Line of Scrimmage.

Two Ork Blockers

After the Orks game the Goblins.

Goblin Linemen

And finally, to complete the team, a trained troll.  This is my least favorite of the miniatures, as it's really difficult to tell what's going on with the pose.  It unfortunately suffers from Games Workshop's habit of adding more and more and more to a sculpt, until it's so busy that it's hard to read.

Trained Troll and Goblin Tosser

For our first try, out local league started well.  We began the season with seven coaches, playing Black Orks, Skaven, Goblins, Chaos, Dark Elves, and Norse.  One coach, after his first game, had to drop out of the league due to scheduling conflicts.  Another had to drop out halfway through the season for personal reasons, leaving us with 5 teams to finish out the league.

Games played well, and we all had a great time.  Toward the end of the season, I put together a little diorama of Jim & Bob, the vampire and ogre sports commentators of the game's lore.  The miniatures are 3D prints from Ugni Miniatures, while the trophy is an original out-of-print mini that a friend of mine found in his stash.

Jim & Bob Watch the Finals

Congratulations to the Rutland Rats, a Skaven team, for taking the final and winning the championship game of our local league's first season.  For my part, I was in last place during the entire regular season, but was able to work my way up to 3rd place in the finals.  We're all very much looking forward to starting out 2nd season in January.

Skaven Players Celebrate their Win

Old Sturbridge Village 2022

 

Old Sturbridge Village Pastures

After a couple of years away, Gabriella and I made our way down to Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, MA for their annual Rebels & Redcoats event that took place on the first weekend of August.

Sturbridge is one of my favorite sites.  Though the museum portrays 1830, the village and surrounding area, with the exception of a couple of buildings, could easily have been lifted from 1770s New England.  In fact, when the Revolutionary War reenactors take over for the weekend, the museum staff look out of place in their stovepipe hats.

Our Weekend Home

Gab and I arrived Friday night, just as the sun was going down. In fact, we had just enough light to fill out our registration paperwork, but ended up erecting our tent in the dark.

The event was smaller this year than it had been in past years.  Both the British and American camps were set up on the village green, where usually there are camps in the village and in the surrounding pastures.

Trying to Stay Cool

Much of Saturday morning was spent attempting to stay cool, and training some new members of Warner's Regiment.  With a heat index of around 102 degrees F, and humidity of about 98%, our main concern was to stay hydrated, and not to succumb to heat stroke.  As such, when the Saturday afternoon battle rolled around, we took the field without our coats, choosing to fight in our shirtsleeves instead.  As it turns out, this was a good choice.  It was reported later in the day that, between reenactors and museum guests, there were at least 12 heat casualties.  For my part, I took a tree early in the battle, and cooled down in the shade while the rest of the unit crossed the open fields while fighting the British.  I wasn't the only one.  At one point an artillery officer came under the shade, looked at me and another gentleman, and said as he wiped his brow "I'm just going to stay here and 'Guard the prisoners.'"

Warner's Regiment during the Sunday Fight

Sunday was a bit better, but the heat was still above 100 degrees.  We again took the field without our regimentals, which seemed to cause a bit of confusion for our adversaries.  First, they are used to seeing us in green faced-red coats, and usually on the flanks of the main army.  On Sunday, we not only went out of uniform, we were also held in reserve after the initial attack.  As such, at a couple of points, we watched the Brits send units to their flanks, looking for us.  Not finding Warner's, the Brits focused on the main American line, at which time we were called up.  To attack the flank.

Overall, a great, though super hot weekend.  Ice cream, cooling fans, and an air-conditioned tavern were welcome, if not period correct, relief from the literally blistering heat.  Old Sturbridge Village is a wonderful host site, and well worth the visit.

18th Century Me

Taking a Tree for Some Shade

Photos by Sierra Skye Makaris and Birget Loveall

The Battle of La Fière Bridge

Yesterday I attended an epic 7 hour game of "I Ain't Been Shot Mum," hosted by Dan Albrecht. Dave Goodwin and I took the part of German forces attempting to cross a causeway over flooded fields to secure a bridge that had been taken by the Allies in a previous battle.  The game was based on the historical action that took place at La Fière Bridge in Normandy.

The Causeway

Table View from the German Side

We decided to lead with a tank squad, followed by mortar and artillery observers, followed by another tank, four platoons of infantry, and an HQ unit.  At the start of the game, these all appeared as blinds, till either we revealed ourselves, or the American playerl, Steve, spotted them with one of his units

 

German Column, Obscured, Moving down the Causeway

We were able to cross the causeway fairly quickly, using the lead tank to push a truck blocking the bridge out of the way. This led to an American anti-tank gun opening fire on us. Our artillery observer was able to get into a position where he could call down a strike on the American left, but our mortar observer was killed. While waiting for the bombardment to arrive, we pressed on with the infantry, trying to cross the bridge as quickly as possible. 

 

Clearing the Bridge

American AT Gun Spots the Advance

Forward Observers Take Positions

American Mortars Open Up

Advance Across the Bridge

 

To hold the bridge, the Axis troops would need to capture a manor house and buildings on top of a hill overlooking the bridge. First Platoon crossed the bridge, and headed toward the right flank.

 

1st Platoon starts moving into position

 

It took a few turns, but the artillery bombardment finally arrived, striking American positions atop the hill to the left. Being dug in in foxholes, they took a few casualties and shock, but easily returned fire, stopping our tanks at the bridge. Being a choke point due to the flooded fields, we had no choice but to send our infantry over the bridge.

Artillery softening up the American dug in positions

"KEEP MOVING!!"

 

Using disabled and immobile tanks for cover, 2nd Platoon crossed and began to head to the left, but were caught out in the open and were cut to bits by the American defenders, and a friendly artillery strike that landed short.

 

Friendly Fire from Artie

Choke Point with Damaged Tanks

 

3rd Platoon and our 4th tank had better luck, charging up the center, climbing the hill along the road. While the tank got in some machine gun fire, the infantry pushed the Americans out of their foxholes, and capturing the anti-tank gun that had been destroying our armor. A bazooka team hit our last tank, causing it to quickly retreat back down the causeway.

Attack up the Center

Axis Assault on Allied Foxholes

 During the chaos, a section of first Platoon became separated, taking heavy fire. They retreated down an embankment, spending most of the game there, trying to shake off their shock.

 

The next few turns involved a back and forth battle over the foxholes on the left. The Germans were pushed out, then the Americans, then the Germans, finally ending with mutual destruction on both sides, and empty but bloody foxholes.

We have the foxholes!

We don't have the foxholes!

In the center, our German infantry took heavy losses as soon as they cleared the bridge, with 4th Platoon completely destroyed. Being in the open and targeted by heavy machine guns, they were the proverbial sitting ducks.

 

While the left was a stalemate, and the center was a killing field, the Axis troops were able to make advances on the right. A well placed tank shell opened up one if the buildings, which was quickly charged and taken by ground troops of 1st Platoon. Americans quickly poured out of a second building to drive them back. Another bloody fight ensued, causing one American unit to retreat, but leaving only two men on the German side to hold two buildings.

Germans taking the first building

More artillery fire landed on the Americans, but in the end they were able to knock out our last tank, retake one of the buildings, and mop up stray German infantry. 

 

Artillery strikes the Manor Houses

 

In the end, our German team had one squad of infantry left, right near the bridge, while the Americans had one squad, and one almost complete, though withdrawn, infantry Platoon left on the board.

Our last hope goes up in smoke

 A very bloody affair, and a great day of gaming.

 

End of Game

 

Lighting the Cromwell

Back in August of 2020, I decided that my Cromwell-T for Konflikt `47 needed an upgrade.  Specifically, the Tesla cannon needed to be more Tesla.  I was happy with the paint, but I wondered how cool it would look if it actually lit up.

It was a little nerve-wracking to cut and drill an already painted model, but the end result was worth it.

Turret before conversion

Barrel removed

Barrel and base drilled to meet inside turret

New barrel constructed from flexible straw, styrene strips, and a LEGO plate

LED test fit

Flickering LED kit with switch and battery

New barrel painted

Wires fed through turret

Barrel glued, wires trimmed

Battery and switch added. These sit in the tank body.

Finished conversion with light off

Finished conversion with light on