ALY MORRISON'S "BUTTERFLY" ADVENTURES IN THE WORLD OF WARGAMES AND TOY SOLDIERS

Monday 21 May 2018

Partizan 2018... At the show.

Greetings...


I had intended to cover the show and the game with separate posts...but as I have the day off work I am going to give you the whole thing in one go...


So lots of pictures of a very enjoyable day...


First off are some shots of the other games that I managed to get a look at...






A very nice Jacobite game by Graham Cumming...


There is a bit more stuff on his blog...
 http://scotiaalbion.blogspot.co.uk/2018/05/more-troops-for-partizan.html
His fine range of miniatures can be found here...
http://cranntaraminiatures.blogspot.co.uk/





Some nice Wars of the Roses action from Dave Imrie and Jack Glanville...


More of Dave's stuff can be found here...
http://saxondog.blogspot.co.uk/





I am not sure what this game was or who put it on ... but its out and out weirdness made me smile.





A Setting the East Ablaze game... By Caliver Books and the League of Extraordinary Kriegspielers I believe... that was a very big plane.




James Morris's Crete 1941 game...






This was a game put on by the Society of Ancients using 'Flats' from Tony Bath's collection that were featured in Donald Featherstone's book War Games... I well remember as a lad staring longingly at those old black and white images... it was a real joy to see them in colour in the flesh... Old School Gold...






Some lovely WW2 terrain... by Blitzkrieg Miniatures.




This was another nice table... By Sally 4th.




An American war of Independence game... Germantown by Alan and Michael Perry...







This was a Command and Colours game...by Simon Walther I believe...  This really ticks a lot of boxes for me ...





A Suez game from Colin Jack... I love the planes...






A lovely Grand Alliance game from those lovely League of Augsburg people...
There is a bit more on their blog...
http://leagueofaugsburg.blogspot.co.uk/#!/2018/05/partizan-debrief.html


Now... This is where I have to make an apology ... actually it should be my phone making the apology , but it is an inanimate object and basically stupid... which is why it ran out of power before I had a chance to take some decent shots of The Earlswood Wargames Group's rather wonderful Stalingrad Game ... the only two I got had to many hands and such in the way so not worth showing.


THEY WON THE BEST OF SHOW...
Fortunately you can see the build of the table here...


http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=99176.0


And Phil from News from the Front took some rather nice pictures...


http://newsfromthefront-phil.blogspot.co.uk/


It was a well deserved win...




My purchases ... Is there such a thing as book addiction?


I need them all ....


La Gorgue Airfield...
Our friends Adrian and Jock took the part of the Forces of Darkness while Dave and I played the plucky British and the brave Portuguese.


Adrian Shepherd ran the game using Setting the East Ablaze. (shouting out unit activations like a world class bingo caller)


There are quite a few pictures...






The area around the Hangers where most of Mark Hargreaves beautiful vignettes were placed... they drew a lot of attention...






British and Portuguese troops move into defensive positions...



An over view from the airfield end of the table



The British mortars with refugees moving passed in the background ...





More refugees and stragglers... that painting looks familiar .



Lorries heading to the airfield ...




A view from the dark side of the table...




The Forces of Darkness arrive...






 The Honourable Adrian Shepherd in conversation with fellow officers... there is something a bit dodgy about him...



 

More scenes of activity around the airfield

 
The Brave Brits push forward...


Soldier Millions makes his appearance along with the wounded Scottish officer... Who for various reasons was christened Dr Finlay...

 
German cavalry move forward...

 
A staff officer starts to make his way out off the airfield... The Honourable Adrian Shepherd also makes his way out...
 
 
 
British and Portuguese cavalry make their appearance...
 
 
As do hordes of Germans

 
Portuguese infantry brace themselves reinforced by Soldier Millions...
 
 

More shots of the Cavalry...

 
The refugees are directed away from the airfield gate...

 
British troops moving up...

 
 
German storm troopers ... storm forwards...

 
Obliterating most of the defenders... Soldier Millions stands alone...

 
 
Cavalry and Scots move into the town...

 
More storming Storm Troopers...


The Honourable Adrian Shepherd has noticed something...

 
Ah!

 
Soldier Millions holds his own...

 
An act of cigarette based kindness in a harsh world...

 
Soldier Millions and Dr Finley make their escape...

 
 
 
 
A lot of storming...

 
Dismounted cavalry move into the town...


The Military Police form the stranglers into a composite unit...and The Honourable Adrian Shepherd appears to have found his quarry ...

 
It looks a bit like he is high jacking the staff officers car...

 
Soldier Millions and Dr Finley continue to make their way to safety ...

 
A last look back at home...

 
He is Loading the painting into the car...

 
Evidence of beastliness...

 
After some very good dice throws the flame thrower explodes... well if you play with fire...

 
Another wave of Storm Troopers...

 
Adrian heads off with his 'Prize'..


And we also got a prize... Best Demonstration Game... Hurrah!

We had a great game and day...

Soldier Millions rescued Dr Finley...
The airfield was evacuated...
The fog cleared...
The aircraft took off...
With the second wave of troops the Germans would take the airfield...
And the Honourable Adrian Shepherd.... enough said about him.



Adrian sent me his own possibly dubious version of events...

Here is the news

Despite  heavy losses an  RAF airfield was successfully evacuated of all personal  and aircraft before occupation by elements of the German 6th Army. Bustle the popular squadron dog was flown out to safety  in one of the last aircraft to leave .

The priceless painting of the Madonna with the big boobies along with other items has disappeared during the German offensive.  The Museum curator Msr Objadar had hired a carter, Msr Steppied to remove many of the most valuable items from the Museum in Arras where the painting had be on display. It is believed that the painting has fallen into German hands Attempts are being made to contact German authorities to seek to secure the safety of this most valuable of cultural objects missing and in particular the Madonna with the  big boobies

In other news ....Col Monty Titchmarsh the officer in command  of the 11th cycle Battalion is reported safe after single handily  fighting off a German stormtrooper detachment The renown Gardner and former captain of the Nottinghamshire first 11 Is said to be recovering  from wounds in Hospital He has been mentioned in despatches and is widely believed to be the recipient of the MC for his conduct in a gallant action in which he was the only survivor of his entire command.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that the success of Portuguese troops in heroically holding up the progress of the German attack which bought vital time for the evacuation ofLa Gorgue Airfield where led by what is freely translated from Portuguese as the “ “ “ million dollar soldier “ according to an Account from a British Officer  Doc Finley of the
34th field hospital “the wee lad is legend” Doc Finley had been on leave an enjoying a long lunch when the Germans arrived in complete surprised “I dunney remember much it must a been me wound ya ken but the wee lad whisked me away te safety “ he continued , ‘Me  only regret was te see them damm Hum heading for the wine cellar that I had tried in vain to hold...dirty fecking hun bas.....”

Finally concern grows for the whereabouts of Adrian Shepherd RNAS who has not been seen since he personally saw to the safety and removal from danger of many civilian victims of the brutish Hun onslaught , Msr Steppied a carter from Arras said “ I saw im elp d women children an old folk to escape from the dangier “ What e done was truly amazing “ Sgt Winfield of the RMP said it is incredible one minute he was there organising the evacuation and then he simply disappeared.”

Boobie Davies WRAF herself a brave gal who gave her all in the action said simply...
 “he's a Bally hero “


That is the news for now



The last sighting of The Honourable Adrian Shepherd RNAS...


I am sure Dave will join me in saying many thanks to Adrian and Jock for playing the Forces of darkness and a big thanks to Adrian Shepherd for running the game so well...

A thank you also to Mark Hargreaves for all the work on the vignettes hopefully you will make it to the game next time... and there will be a next time.

It was great to see and chat to everyone who came to look at the game...

I am now going to paint something that isn't Field Grey, Khaki or Horizon Blue...

All the best  Aly




40 comments:

  1. A surfeit of splendidness in both the show and game report. Most inspiring to see those wonderful layouts (the whimsical T-rex game included). To be Best in Show in that company is no small feat, but certainly seems well deserved: bravo! The vignettes really came together nicely.

    (Allo! Perhaps next year's game might be set in occupied France...}

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Ed...
      It really was an excellent show...I have always supported Partizan because it is great show ...but this was one of the best for a while...
      We have been talking about what to do next year...it will be in France or Belgium... and that painting will be there...

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  2. Your game is a real stunner, Aly! Congratulations on winning Best Demo Game. Well deserved! Fun to follow the development of the forces from your painting desk to the gaming table.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Jonathan...
      It was a fine day and a lot of fun putting everything together.

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  3. A delight to behold and a well deserved award, a fine write up too.
    Dash unsporting of the Hun to use those flame contraptions, good to see they got there comeuppance.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Phil...
      It was good to see you...
      And yes... Beastlyness ,petroleum and a few well placed bullets... just deserts.

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  4. Just superb. Lots of nice games it seems, but this one is clearly fantastic. Perhaps I have missed it somewhere on the web, but have you ever done a detailed tutorial on the towering terrain? While the basics seem intuitive, specific things like the best type of towel (thickness etc.), dye choice/manufacturer, and the like would be wonderful. I have used Gilder-styled terrain boards for 20 years and I like them, but my group prefer a cloth surface. I figure the towel approach might tick both boxes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Chris...
      We and by that I mean Dave hasn’t posted anything on the web about using towelling... I have asked I he would mind writing something when he makes some more terrain... I am not sure when he plans to do it though... he does say it’s surprisingly easy...

      All the best. Aly

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  5. A fantastic looking game with lots of superbly painte miniatures and full of interesting scenes. One almost doesn’t know where to look first. A really well deserved award.

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  6. Wow that’s just awe inspiring Aly and made all the better with your write up. It’s left me wanting to know more which is what it’s all about- top marks !

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Stuart...
      It was interesting to look into the Portuguese involvement in WW1... A long ignored subject in my opinion.

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  7. Simply stunning. I can boast that I had the very smallest of parts in an award winning demo game. Aly, you can NEVER paint enough khaki or feldgrau. Congratulations.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Mark...
      I would not say you had the smallest part... your vignettes attracted a lot of attention and brought a smile to many faces... thank you again...
      I know you probably think it’s weird but I feel a desire to visit the colourful end of the 19th century for a while...;-)

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  8. What a superb looking game - your award was certainly richly deserved- beautiful figures and scenery as well as a cracking good scenario to boot!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you ...
      It was great fun...

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  9. As everyone else has said Aly, fantastic game and it was great to see you again looking so well. Not so sure about Adrian’s dodgy Scottish accent in that write up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Dave...
      You were looking quite sprightly yourself...
      Maybe we are entering our second childhood... no! Wait a minute...we haven’t left the first yet...
      A bit like the guy who played Scotty in Star Trek... Adrian does a lot of accents...all of them dodgy...

      All the best old boy... Aly

      Delete
  10. Hi Aly, congrats to the team in bringing together an amazing demo game that was awarded Best Demonstration Game! What can one say, but not to drool too much over such lovely terrain and miniatures- better grab the tissues. Look forward to your next adventure with the team in 2019.

    All the very best,

    GH

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  11. I'm even sorrier to have had to miss the show this time after seeing all those pictures.

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    Replies
    1. It’s a shame you couldn’t make it...
      But I am glad that you are on the mend...

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  12. Thought it looked brilliant Aly, my favourite of the show by a distance.
    I put some pics over on my blog (which I notice you still don't follow ;))
    http://tomstoysoldiers.blogspot.co.uk/2018/05/la-gorgue-airfield-at-partizan.html

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Tom...

      I thought I was following you... sorry old age etc...
      Now remedied...

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  13. Hi Aly

    the boat game you couldn't attribute was by Sally 4th.

    Thanks for coming to the show. It is you and all the other guys putting on the games that make the show what it is and we are extremely proud and honoured to have you guys in attendance.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Tricks...
      I really enjoyed the day and it made all the effort we put in worthwhile...
      You guys did a fantastic job getting it all together on the day... all that work that the punters don’t see... Partizan still remains my favourite show.

      All the best. Aly

      P.S. The picture caption has been updated...thanks

      Delete
  14. What an epic post - brilliantly put together - enjoyed that immensely - thanks for all your hard work!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you...
      If my phone hadn’t died on me there would have been a lot more pictures...

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  15. All came together wonderfully! Looks great, entertaining post and deserved win!
    Best Iain

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  16. Really a very stunning collection of games yours included of course. I really must make Partizan next year....I feel I am missing out.🙂

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  17. Thank you Matt...

    Yes you really should come along....

    All the best. Aly

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  18. Just astonishing. Bloody good work.

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  19. Thank you Admiral...

    All the best. Aly

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  20. Oi oi that award is sponsored by a gentleman with a very majestic sounding name.

    Game was great Aly good job all round. Standard of games keeps getting better at Partizan so to get the best game award is top stuff.

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  21. Thank you Rob...

    Yes Duncan is a rather majestic name... there were two king Duncans of Scotland ... ;-)

    All the best. Aly

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  22. Great pics Aly - you managed to see more of the games than I did and you were running one of them!

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  23. Thank you old boy...

    It was more of a paparazzi style dash from one table to another... :-)

    All the best. Aly

    ReplyDelete