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

Saturday, 7 May 2022

From my side of the table… Somewhere near London…

Greetings 

I recently had my first face to face game since Mharaid came round for Boxing Day…

I took part in a ‘Dorking’ game… Set somewhere near London…

I’m calling this a ‘Dorking’ game as it is of course inspired by the novella…The Battle of Dorking: Reminiscences of a Volunteer by George Tomkins Chesney.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battle_of_Dorking

The scenario had the plucky British attempting to thwart the evil intentions of the dastardly Prussian invaders…

I was a dastardly Prussian…

The battle was fought to a bloody draw… 

Alan and Michael will be taking this game to Partizan… So if you are going to the show pop over and see it in all it’s glory 

Here are a few photos that hopefully give a flavour of the action…


The quiet English countryside…




Rudely disturbed by dastardly Prussians… Being dastardly.





The British response…



My dastardly men making a cunning flanking manoeuvre…


It’s a tricky shot…


But someone had to make it…



Drat it… It’s the Guards…


This got a bit messy…

And to show that my dice throws are up to their usual high standard…


I needed four or higher… sigh!

This was indeed great fun… It felt good going out and playing toy soldiers with my friends.

All the best.  Aly









48 comments:

  1. Excellent as usual. Would like to see it - usually go to Partizan but this year I'm still trying to avoid crowds.

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    Replies
    1. I shall probably be going to Partizan this year… but probably not for the w hole day.

      All the best. Aly

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  2. Great looking battle with terrific terrain and splendid troops. Lots of big colourful flags too! :-) That is probably the ultimate swansong period for such things... It's all downhill after 1880 or so. ;-)

    Cheers,

    David.

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    Replies
    1. It was indeed David… All the work of Alan and Michael.
      Yes although there were still pretty uniforms after 1880 or so…
      You rarely see them on the battlefield.

      All the best. Aly

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    2. Yes, very true about the uniforms. Some of the finest full dress uniforms were undoubtedly pre-1914 - but all that khaki for active service! Uck... It was rightly called khaki drab. ;-) (Yes, of course, I know it was practical with the development of modern weaponry and a change in tactics - but there is no way it can be called aesthetically pleasing on the wargames table, is there? (No doubt I shall be in trouble with someone for saying that. ;-)))

      Cheers,

      David.

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  3. Spectacular looking game and lots of beautiful troops. Playing F2F with friends is priceless. Great to seeing you enjoying a day out for battle, Aly. Too bad about the dice rolling.

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    Replies
    1. It was indeed a splendid looking game Jonathan…
      And such fun to be with my chums…
      As for the dice… some things never change 😁

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  4. Great looking battle with an interesting subject .

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  5. Look forward to seeing you at Partizan🤞, oh and the game's alright I suppose. Glad you got out though after so long.

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    Replies
    1. I look forward to seeing you too David…
      I think the game was a good effort…😂

      All the best. Aly

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  6. That's a wonderful looking game there Aly. We played a few games based around the Dorking novella, with an attack on Box Hill and then Surbiton, if my memory serves me correctly.

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    1. It was indeed Steve…
      The whole Invasion Literature genre opens you up to so many interesting scenarios…

      All the best. Aly

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  7. Nice to see you getting a game in Aly - maybe our group should start building up an 1880's British force - Mark already has all the Prussians we could ever need!

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    Replies
    1. It was a lot of fun Keith…
      Just get Mark enthused and he will paint everything you need over a weekend 😁

      All the best. Aly

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  8. Splendid stuff, grand to see you getting more F to F gaming. Hope to see you at Partizan, we don't stay long these days so trust we won't miss you

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    Replies
    1. It was a lot of well needed fun…
      Hopefully we will bump into each other… a chat and a cup of tea or a beer would be much appreciated…

      All the best. Aly

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  9. Great that you have been able to face ti face game again Aly and also good to see that your dice luck has not deserted you!

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    Replies
    1. It was a lot of fun Mark…
      A lot of people have pointed out that some things never change…
      My dice throwing being one of them 😂

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  10. Awesome looking game. Let’s hope that next time the filthy boche get a thorough thrashing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was a splendid looking affair…
      If they put me in charge… a thrashing will indeed happen 😂


      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  11. Good to see you taking up the baton once more - and with your usual dice rolling too - all is well with the world.

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    Replies
    1. It was a lot of fun talking bo**#%ks and throwing very bad dice…
      All is indeed well with our world…

      All the best. Aly

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  12. Excellent looking game, I'll look out for it at Partizan, glad to see you remain consistent in your die throwing!
    Best Iain

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    Replies
    1. All the hard work was from Alan and Michael…
      I just maintained consistent bad dice throwing…😁

      All the best. Aly

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  13. Wonderful looking game and table Aly.

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    Replies
    1. It was indeed Carlo…
      All credit to Alan and Michael…

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  14. What a wonderful sight to behold! Hope you have a great time at Partizan, one of my favourite shows, but alas I doubt I'll be attending this year.

    Cheers

    Meic

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    Replies
    1. It was indeed a great looking game Meic…
      It will be my first Partizan in two years, so I am looking forward to catching up with people..

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  15. Given the uniforms I think you had no choice but to play the dastardly Prussians, though I am sure they would have appreciated some better die rolls. Funny thing is it doesn't seem to matter whether you physically roll the dice. The roll pictured is strangely reminiscent of the canister fire you ordered at Vimiero which I rolled for you...

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    Replies
    1. They are indeed pretty toys David…
      So it appears that I don’t even need to touch the dice to displease the dice gods… that’s scuppered my plans to have a dice rolling assistant 😂
      All the best. Aly

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  16. Splendid spectacle. Good to see the return of more face to face gaming as well (even if the usual die rolls come with it).

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    Replies
    1. It was indeed good to get in some face to face gaming…and the dice rolls… well some things never change😁
      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  17. Spectacular looking game Aly! Wow, I think you and I can get together and compare notes on dice results/rolling ... 1's and 2's are my standard results :-)

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    Replies
    1. It was indeed a classic ‘Perry’s’ game…
      I suspect if there was a set of rules that you got an advantage by rolling 1’s and 2’s… I would get 6’s 😁

      All the best. Aly

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  18. Ha, I've had my eye on Dorking too! Superb stuff.

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    Replies
    1. It’s a great little ‘what’s if’ 19th century period…

      All the best. Aly

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  19. Replies
    1. They were indeed Jose…
      Even better in the flesh/plastic/metal…

      All the best. Aly

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  20. A great looking game...with gorgeous figures, a real pleasure to watch!

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    1. And a real pleasure to play…

      All the best. Aly

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  21. Beautiful looking game Aly , hopefully you can get some more in !

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  22. It was indeed…
    Yes the more the better…

    All the best. Aly

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  23. What a great looking and report. Well done!
    Frank

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    Replies
    1. Alan and Michael certainly put on a good show…
      And it was a lot of fun.

      All the best. Aly

      Delete