VSF Ottomans on land and sea!

 I picked up a couple more of the PMC VSF resin kits on Ebay, another tracked steam tractor and a steam landing craft. Sadly all the VSF kits in the range are still OOP, but I keep my fingers crossed that Minifigs might get around to restoring them to production at some point.

Of course, I needed some crew (and I still had an Ironclad electric cannon that required manning), so when my sister-in-law asked what I wanted for Christmas, I gave her a small list from the Tiger Miniatures Balkans Ware ranges!

Taking a break from fantasy I decided to to get my new Ottoman kit table-ready!

First up the PMC steam landing craft. I couldn't see me having a lot of use for a landing craft, so decided to make it an armed barge instead. I'd got a deck gun in my Christmas gift package, but unfortunately the gun's barrel came just below the top of the barge's side. I made a gun platform from a couple of circular mdf bases I had to hand and now the gun can be fired without fear a blowing a hole in the barge's side!!!

I can always take the gun and platform out if I need a troop transporter at any time for a game.

Now the crew for the two steam tractors and the electric cannon.

A useful bunch of additions to my VSF forces for the Balkans. I'm looking forward to getting them on the table now!

VSF 1899 Balkans War 2

 We managed to get together for a second game set in the 1899 Great Steam War in the Balkans, using a VSF variation of The Men Who Would Be Kings. On this occaision neither side had any infantry support, except for a field gun and a couple of machingun units.  Otherwise both the Greek and Ottoman forces were entirely foreign supplied (and manned?) high tech equipment.

I had just bought two new steam tank models from Black Pyramid (and they are big! compared with the Ironclad tanks) which i had only had time to paint with a basecoat before the game. I shall weather them up before the next one.

A Turkish steam tank advances supported by a unit of German-made steam robots. An electric cannon gives fire support whilst Turkish machineguns set up in the scrub.

Another view of the Krupps steam robots and the electric gun.

Three light one-man walkers move forward. On the left is an Ottomen design armed with a deadly electric gun. the two other walkers are a Austrian design, mounting a machinegun and flamethrower each!

A heavy steam tank, armed with an electric gun and two machineguns advances, whilst a Turkish field gun unlimbers on the hill.

On the Greek side a heavy tank, medium tank and light walker (all British-made) use the ridge in the centre of the battlefield to screen their advance.

A French-designed armoured car boldly drives down the road to scout beyond the ridgeline. This would prove costly as it became the only visible target for the field gun and three electric guns, Opps! It was swiftly reduced to a battered metal box with no gun and the speed of a child's pedal car!!!

On the far flank a Greek field gun and machinegun set up "supported" by a second armoured car. This armoured car would remain in support for much of the battle as it's was constantly bogged down in the rough terrain (wheeled vehicles are fast, but risk getting stuck when moving off-road).

Three Enfield one-man steam walkers shelter behind a hill prior to their advance. Once again these small walkers would suffer heavy damage attempting to close with the \Turkish forces and all would be knocked out. (Perhaps the Greek commanders will realise that even armoured "cavalry" suffer charging across open ground in the face of modern weapons).

After much maneuvering, the Austrian walkers got into range with their flamethrowers. The Greek tank caught fire and was swiftly abandoned by it's crew.

 

Almost the end. The Turkish tanks advanced to get a clearfield of fire at the last Greek tank.

Endgame with only one tank and an armoured car left operation on the Greek side their commanders quit the field whilst they still had something to withdrawl! An outstanding Turkish victory this time.

We had a lot of laughs, and fine tuned some of the rule ammendments, particularly on fire weapons.

VSF 1899 Balkans War

In the later part of the nineteenth century the Great Powers of Europe vied with one another to utilise the new technologies to create increasingly sophisticated weapons of war. Great Britain, France and Russia all developed weapons based on the technology of steam, whereas Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire depended more on the power of electricity, expanding on the pioneering research of Victor Frankenstein. All parties were keen to test their new weapons in earnest, but at the same time reluctant to commit to all-out war against another major power in Europe.

 1n 1899, the outbreak of war in the Balkans gave them the opportunity they were seeking. Each Great Power reinforced their allies in the region with new technology and military “advisors” to train in their use (and often operate the weapons as well). Britain and France supported Greece, Russia supported Bulgaria and Germany and Austro-Hungary threw their weight behind the Ottoman Empire. The ancient regions of Thrace and Macedonia became the testing grounds for the latest war machines.

 Here is a report on a typical engagement in Western Thrace.

An early casualty, a severely damaged the Ottoman armoured car makes a slow withdrawal. To the right is an Ottoman one-man walker with and electric lightning cannon, to the left Krupps Steam Automatons advance through the wood.

A slightly blurry view of the battlefield.

The left flank of the Ottoman force.

And the right flank, beyond the picture, another regular infantry unit anchors the line. 

THe centre of the Greek line, Enfield Steam Walkers advance, supported by Greek infantry. A French-made armoured car has bogged down by the road (the armoured car was to be unable to move for most of the game!).

The Greek left flank.

And their right. The Cretan Gendames have already suffered casualties from accurate rifle fire from an Ottoman infantry unit.

The Enfield walkers suffer from heavy fire from electric weapons and the Ottoman field gun. All are damaged and have their MMGs disabled. The drivers decide to charge the enemy (more of a gentle trot by now) as one of them bursts into flames.

A second walker is knocked out.

As the last walker arroaches the Ottoman line the Ottoman walker (now also damaged), intercepts the charge.

The two machines batter away at each other until the Ottoman driver is victorious, but was almost immediatly struck by a shell from the Greek field gun and destroyed!

Whilst the Ottomans held the upper hand in the centre, their flanks were being whittled away.

The last stand of the surviving Ottoman forces, the tank just visible at the top of the picture had failed to move for the entire game and only fired twice!

An overview of the end. The Greeks had two intact infantry units poised to swing around into the surviving Ottomans' flamk. At this point the Turkish commander order a withdrawal.

Bash-up in the Balkans 1912

I dug the 1912 Balkans War armies out again for a game using The Men Who Would Be Kings today. It was a straight forward encounter scenario using 36 point armies and a lot of fun.

Greeks:
1 unit elite regular inf (Evzones)
3 units regular inf (Greek inf and Italian Legion)
1 unit poor regular infantry (Cypriot gendarmes)
1 unit irregular inf 
1 unit field gun (poorly served)

Turks:
3 units regular infantry (1 mounted)
1 unit poor regular infantry (Militia)
1 unit irregular infantry
1 unit machineguns (well served)
1 unit field gun (poorly served)

The Turkish gunners were superb, showing unusual accuracy. Together with the machineguns they dominated their side of the battlefield, catching several units in a murderous crossfire. The Greek gunners were less impressive, failing to activate on numerous occasions. To be fair, their initial deployment wasn't good, off on the opposite flank to the Turk's gun, the central hills blocked a lot of their potential targets.

 The two forces eye each other up, viewed from the Greek side of the battlefield.

 Greek infantry advance across the hills.

 Cypriot gendarmes take cover in scrub to try and avoid the Turkish shells, only to be raked by the machineguns.

 The Italian Legion advance through the shelter of the woods.

 The Greek artillery attempts to redeploy whilst the irregular volunteers move up to screen the gun from the Turkish mounted infantry.

 The Turkish infantry in the centre of the line take some fire from the Greek infantry.

 Turkish militia in the central woods snipe at the Greeks advancing across the hill in front of them.

 The Turkish artillery scan for their next target.

 The mounted Turkish infantry move up, cutting down the Greek irregulars with accurate rifle fire.

 The Greek's last throw falters as the Italian Legion are pinned by the Turkish artillery fire....

...to be finished off by the Turkish machineguns.

A clear win for the Turks! After lunch and a nice beer, we swapped sides and played it all over again, this time it was much closer, with the Greeks winning this time.

LOST CITY PULP WITH THE MEN WHO WOULD BE KINGS

We recently played a 3-player game at the skirmish level with TMWWBK, although the scenario would work with up to 5 or 6 players.

The three factions were German, Belgian and Mercenaries. They each had three units, 2 regular infantry and 1 veteran regular infantry, command and leader abilities were rolled as usual.

Background
Following the map stolen from the renowned British archaeologist, Professor Mortimer-Whining, you have discovered the mysterious lost city he was excavating. You are not interested in the scientific value of this ancient site, just how much loot you can get away with.

A minor obstacle to your path to riches is that the local tribes are still up in arms over the Professor’s defilement of their sacred site. They are determined to kill any outsiders that dare to enter the city. You need to grab as much loot as possible and escape before the natives arrive in force. Preferably leaving your rivals empty handed to face the wrath of the outraged tribesmen.

Markers
Each of the 8 markers represents a possible piece of valuable loot. In order to search the marker a unit must spend a whole turn using a Stand To action. Having searched a marker, the player draws a chit from the pot and the treasure marker is removed.

1= Success, an item of value! Roll 1d6 loot at the end of the game. (4 Markers)
2 = Ambush. Place a unit of tribesmen up to 6” away from the searching unit, with a LOS (must be closer to the target unit than any other). (3 Markers)
3= The Lion’s Den. A disturbed lion immediately attacks the searching unit.
Attack 3d6 4+, 6 wounds. Auto action is Attack. Unless killed, the lion will remain in place and automatically attack any unit that moves within 4” of it’s den. (1 Marker)

Loot
Treasure can be carried by a unit at no penalty (a unit cannot carry more loot markers than it has figures). If a pinned unit retreats or routs off table it will drop the loot before moving.
At the end of the game roll 1d6 for each loot in the player’s possession (+1 for each loot removed from the table). The highest score is the winner!

Tribesmen
An unengaged unit of tribesmen will move towards the nearest enemy unit in sight, using cover if possible. If it is within 8” of an enemy, it will attempt to Attack.


We had great fun playing this, especially as the Belgian player managed to trigger all 3 of the ambushes on his own troops!

Some in-game pictures.