Miniature Adventures

I had the absolute privilege of spending a day gaming in the shed of John Treadaway, a long-time veteran of the hobby and the longest running editor of Miniature Wargames magazine. Joining me around the table were Kevin Dallimore and Paul from Pazoot Wargaming. We dived headfirst into a game of Hammer’s Slammers, with Paul and I taking command of separate Slammers detachments, each fielded with a pair of M2A1-4 Blower Tanks, M9A1-3 Combat Cars, an A21 Hover Jeep, and a couple of infantry squads. Facing off against us was Kevin, commanding a rival mercenary force. Our joint objective was to search a local town and recover a critical data crystal from one of the buildings, but there was a catch—unbeknownst to each other, both Paul and I had been secretly bribed by outside influences to secure the crystal for our own shadowy benefactors. The promise of enough credits to retire comfortably and never step foot in a tank again was just too tempting to pass up.

Deploying right on top of our objectives forced Kevin into a rapid reaction, though thankfully for me, his opening salvo of missiles smashed directly into Paul’s vehicles while mine were largely obscured by terrain. Despite taking swift early losses, we pressed hard into the town and traded fire at close range, obliterating a significant portion of Kevin’s armor. Enemy infantry attempted to tilt the balance by raining Buzzbomb fire down from the rooftops, but their missiles had little effect and only served to betray their positions. Our retaliatory fire was immediate and severe; we swept the buildings with heavy powerguns, including a devastating main gun strike from my own Lieutenant's command tank. With his force reduced to absolute tatters, Kevin’s Colonel decided discretion was the better part of valor and ordered a full retreat, leaving us masters of the field.

That was when the real trouble started. With the main threat eliminated, our secondary agendas immediately took center stage. I managed to grab the data crystal and made a frantic dash for the board edge, but couldn't quite clear the perimeter in time. Realizing Paul likely had the exact same secret mission, I swung my remaining Blower Tank around and opened fire on his detachment, taking out his Lieutenant. Paul’s Sergeant didn’t hesitate to return the favor, sending a shot straight into the rear armor of my tank and vaporizing my Lieutenant in response. With both of our command vehicles in smoldering ruins, our bewildered second-in-command officers hopped on the radio to ask what on earth had just happened. They secured the crystal, returned it to high command, and left both Paul and me missing out on our comfortable retirements. We managed the rare feat of winning the scenario while simultaneously losing our own personal games!

It was a fantastic day of gaming filled with great banter, incredible miniature scenery, and cinematic tabletop moments. Paul filmed the entire engagement for an upcoming battle report, which should be going live on his Pazoot Wargaming YouTube channel in just a few days. If you want to see the action play out in full detail—and witness our tactical betrayal firsthand—be sure to keep an eye out for his video.

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16 hours ago (edited) | [YT] | 46

Miniature Adventures

As mentioned yesterday, my fellow Rejects and I set up at Re-Play in the Engineers Museum today to put our Skirmish campaign rules to the test. Ray and I spent a good chunk of earlier this year collaborating on this project, titled 1812: The Retreat from Moscow, so bringing it out into the public eye felt like a major milestone for us. The players dove right into the campaign and managed to push through the first three scenarios outlined in the book, though we ultimately ran out of time before we could dive into the fourth and final game. Since we couldn't quite wrap up the narrative today, I'm thinking we'll definitely have to pick things back up in the shed-o-war sometime soon to see how the final battle unfolds.

Seeing as this was the very first time we had actually run our game with the rest of the Rejects, watching everyone get so genuinely involved was both a welcome relief and an absolute pleasure to behold. It is always a little nerve-wracking bringing a passion project to the table for the first time, but everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy the flow of the rules and the tension of the setting. On top of that, we ended up attracting a steady stream of curious visitors to our table throughout the day, which led to a lot of great, long conversations with folks stopping by to check out the action and ask about the system.

To top off an already fantastic experience, Ray and I even managed to sell several copies of our rulebooks right there at the show, alongside a couple of Pendraken figure packs for those eager to tackle the retreat in 10mm scale. Seeing other tabletop enthusiasts get excited enough about our work to take home their own copies made all the hard work we put into designing the rules completely worth it. All in all, I couldn't have asked for a better outing, and I consider the whole event a huge success that leaves me looking forward to our next gaming session.

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3 days ago | [YT] | 71

Miniature Adventures

Tomorrow I will be heading down to Gillingham to join Ray and a few other Posties Rejects at the RE-PLAY Wargames Show, held inside the superb Royal Engineers Museum. If you have never visited this event before, it really is a special setting for a wargaming day because the trade stands and gaming tables are set right alongside the museum's incredible collection of military history. Wandering past iconic exhibits like a V2 rocket, a genuine section of the Berlin Wall, and a Harrier jump jet while rolling dice makes for a fantastic backdrop, and it is always a highlight on our show calendar.

This year we are putting on a participation game using the 1812 Retreat from Moscow skirmish rules that Ray and I collaborated on and published earlier in the year. It promises to be a busy session on the tabletop as our ambitious goal for the day is to play through all four of the narrative scenarios featured in the booklet, following the freezing trials of the retreating French forces and the harassing Russian troops.

If you are planning to come along to the show, do pop over to our table to say hello, check out how the battles are unfolding. We will also have a small stack of our 1812 rulebooks available for sale on the day at a special show price, so if you have been thinking about picking up a copy, tomorrow will be the perfect chance to grab one in person and chat about the campaign.

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4 days ago | [YT] | 39

Miniature Adventures

It is the morning after The Other Partizan, and like many older attendees today, I am nursing a pair of very sore knees, but I can safely say it was totally worth every single ache. Autumn has arrived with its familiar crisp air, and converging on the George Stephenson Exhibition Hall at the Newark Showground for October's grand tabletop celebration felt like stepping into the perfect capstone for the historical wargaming year. The venue was packed and remained busy all day which is a sign that visitors were enjoying themselv es and didn’t want to go home. The incredible display tables took center stage of course, surrounded by traders on the perimeter, creating an atmosphere that felt less like a chaotic trade floor and far more like a living, breathable gallery of historical craftsmanship.

Walking down the aisles, the sheer variety and visual spectacle of the games was nothing short of staggering, spanning everything from shield-walls of the ancient world to sprawling modern tactical skirmishes. I was particularly struck by how smaller scales like 6mm, 10mm, and 12mm are capturing true operational depth alongside the cinematic 28mm grand displays, allowing us to see entire divisions maneuvering across wide flanks. Of course, no visit would be complete without visiting the trade stands where my financial discipline promptly collapsed. So much for reducing my Lead Mountain!

Beyond all the incredible miniature displays and terrain, the absolute best part of the day was the social side. I had a fantastic say, spoke to hundreds of people, and really enjoyed meeting people who follow the channel who came up to say hello. My carefully planned timetable for systematically recording the event completely fell apart within minutes because I was having so much fun chatting about ongoing projects, terrible dice rolls, and the hobby in general. That sort of face-to-face support really keeps me focused on making more content and makes all those lonely hours spent editing feel deeply rewarding. As I said to most people I met yesterday, if you have a topic you'd like me to consider for discussion, drop it in the comments as a question and I'll find it.

I’m not rushing to put a video together, although I shot plenty of material. My aim is to have something ready for Wednesday evening after I have had a chance to clatalogue my pictures and gather my thoughts. In the meantime here are a very small selection of pictures from the day, just to whet your appetite if you were not able to attend in person.

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2 weeks ago | [YT] | 110

Miniature Adventures

At the Rainham Warhames Club Tabletop Sale today. In the Twydall Community Centre, Gillingham, ME8 6PZ from 10am to 1pm. This is just the stuff we can bare to part with... a skim off the top of our collective lead mountain 🤣

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 38

Miniature Adventures

Winter War on the Tabletop: A First Game of Bolt Action

Yesterday, Ray and I finally got our Winter War figures onto the table for our very first home game of Bolt Action. We had both tried the rules last year and really enjoyed the system's simplicity and quick pace, so we decided it was time to dive in properly for ourselves. Most of these miniatures were painted during the last Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, where Ray took on the hardy Finns while I took command of the Red Army.

The historical backdrop to our game is one of the most remarkable military David-and-Goliath struggles of the twentieth century. In November 1939, following manufactured border incidents and rejected territorial demands, the Soviet Union launched a massive invasion of Finland. The Red Army expected a swift, overwhelming victory through sheer weight of armor, artillery, and manpower. Instead, the outnumbered Finnish forces mounted a fierce and stubborn defense. Utilizing deep familiarity with their frozen forests, ski mobility, winter camouflage, and aggressive close-quarters anti-tank tactics, the Finns inflicted catastrophic losses on the invaders. Although the conflict ended in March 1940 with Finland ceding territory under the Moscow Peace Treaty, the defense preserved Finnish independence and cemented the legendary reputation of their infantry.

With that history in mind, Ray and I set up a quick self-training session to get comfortable with the core mechanics. Once we felt confident (and the rules proved just as accessible as we had remembered) we laid out our winter terrain collection and put together two 500-point forces.

Looking at the table, there was a lot of open ground for my Soviets to cross, so I played cautiously at first, focusing on picking off the more exposed Finnish units. Ray was clearly alarmed to see my T-26 light tank rolling down the road, and he immediately dispatched a Tank Hunter team to deal with it. The Finns swarmed around the vehicle, attempting to jam weapons into the vision slits and attach satchel charges and sticky bombs. Fortunately for me, the tank was on the move, making it a much harder target to tackle. Using the tank's turret weapons alongside supporting fire from one of my Light Machine Gun (LMG) squads, I slowly whittled the tank hunters down. So far, so good!

Over on the flank, I pushed another LMG squad through the woods, hoping to outflank the strong Finnish position in the center of the board. The Finnish squad facing them took some fire and fell back to cover, but as soon as my troops advanced into the trees, the Finns counter-charged. I wasn't too worried at first—after all, I outnumbered him two-to-one. However, the qualitative gulf between Ray's Veteran Finns and my Inexperienced Red Army conscripts quickly made itself felt. Although my men inflicted four casualties, they suffered six in return.

It was right then that we re-checked the rulebook and discovered a crucial detail: the loser in a melee is considered entirely scattered, captured, or playing possum, and the whole unit is immediately removed from the table! That came as a massive shock to both of us.

Emboldened, the Finns launched another charge against a second Russian SMG squad. While they dealt considerable damage again, my men managed to hold their ground and prevail this time. Even so, the damage was done. In just thirty minutes, I had gone from feeling reasonably confident of victory to realizing I was utterly beaten.

The Finns are an incredibly tough nut to crack on the wargames table, and I need to do some serious tactical thinking before our next engagement. Let’s just say that a new figure order was placed before the day was out to bolster my Red Army forces and give me a few more tools for next time!

So, will we be playing Bolt Action again? Definitely. While it might not feature the fine granular precision of a ruleset like Chain of Command, it is easy to learn, yields a fast and exciting game, and gives both players plenty of tactical dilemmas to chew on.

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3 weeks ago | [YT] | 96

Miniature Adventures

Prepping for Bolt Action: Winter Soviets Hitting the Table
​Spent the day magnetising bases and packing up my Winter War Russian army. I finished painting these miniatures last winter, so it feels great to finally get them ready for the tabletop.

​Ray and I are meeting up this Tuesday for a bit of a Bolt Action experiment. I’ve only played the system once before, so the plan is to spend the morning running through the core mechanics until we both feel confident, then hopefully squeeze in a game or two over the rest of the day.
​I’m hoping to film some of the action to share later...aassuming, of course, that I don't get so hyper-focused on the rules that I forget to press record!

BTW I highly recommend "The Winter War" by William Trotter. I felt it covered the period really well, and was really clear and easy to read.

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3 weeks ago | [YT] | 83

Miniature Adventures

The tabletop is set, the maps are drawn, and my gaming group, Posties Rejects, is diving headfirst into an exciting new project: an Imaginations Campaign. If you aren't familiar with the concept, an "Imaginations" campaign gives us the creative freedom to forge our own fictional world while grounding it in real-world history. Our setting is an imaginary medieval Europe, meaning you’ll recognize plenty of the cultural cues, geography, and names, but the history itself is ours to write and fight over.

A massive shout-out needs to go to fellow Posties Reject Richard, who has designed and built this entire campaign from scratch and will be umpiring the whole enterprise. The amount of work he has already poured into this project is incredible. Honestly, I don't envy the task ahead of him as six determined players try their uttermost to break the rules, deploy subterfuge, and scheme using every bit of guile they can muster to be proclaimed Ultimus Imperator.

For the tabletop battles that inevitably break out, we’ll be using a modified house version of Bruce McFarlane’s Flower of Chivalry. It is a fantastic rule set for capturing the feel of medieval warfare, and our house tweaks should add some brilliant local flavor when the banners are raised and the dice start rolling.

We’ve all selected our nations, and I’m proud to announce that I will be taking the helm of Lombardy. Sitting at a strategic crossroads with rich trade routes and formidable knights, Lombardy offers incredible potential for both diplomacy and total military aggression. Whether we thrive through clever alliances or end up surrounded by hostile neighbors remains to be seen.

I can’t wait to get this story moving. I’ll be recording a deep-dive video for channel Members once we officially get the ball rolling, and whenever major events unfold, I’ll post updates right here on the Community Tab so you can follow all the drama.

Wish me luck, because Lombardy is definitely going to need it. What nation would you play in a medieval Imaginations campaign? Let me know in the comments!

(BTW, the pictured map board is an expression of my particualr brand of wargamer OCD. Totally uneccessary to play the game, but I expect to spend hours pouring over the map and making all the wrong strategic decisions!)

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1 month ago | [YT] | 76

Miniature Adventures

Yesterday, my gaming group, the Posties Rejects, gathered once again in our shed-o-war for another "Big Battle" adaptation of Sharp Practice, using our 1812 Retreat from Moscow miniatures collection.

This was the fourth big version of Sharp Practice we’ve run for the group. The last time we brought these troops out was for our Demo Game at Broadside—where we were absolute chuffed to walk away with Best in Show! This time, however, we decided to step away from the historical setting of the Berezina and created a fictional scenario set just a few days earlier in the retreat.

The setup was brutal: the remnants of Napoleon's army were faced with a shallow, fordable stream and a small village bisecting the main road. Waiting in the village were the defending Russians—mostly a fragile mix of Opolchenie militia, Cossacks, and armed civilians, bolstered by just a single regular Line Jäger unit to hold the line together. Most of these weaker units were hiding behind little more than wooden fences, with only the Russian guns sitting behind substantial barriers. The Cossacks were split across the flanks, with foot Cossacks and an aging 3lb gun mounted on a sled on one side, and three mounted Cossack units on the other.

The French arrived with a predictable mix of desperate troops, but at their core sat several elite units who were aggressively guarding an innocuous-looking wagon. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Napoleon Bonaparte himself traveling in a sled, followed down the road by a line of supply wagons containing his personal baggage. The French goal was simple: break through the village, secure the road, and get Bonaparte off the board. Standing directly in their way—smack in the middle of the road, nestled between two ruined buildings behind a wide barricade—was a small gun manned by Opolchenie.

That single barricade proved to be the absolute downfall of the French army.

The French made multiple desperate efforts to melee the gun crew. However, fighting across an obstacle cost the attackers a quarter of their dice, and because the defense was so wide, the defenders received extra dice in return. The result was a series of remarkably balanced melees. The lowly militia gun crew managed to see off two separate charges from French scouting cavalry before finally being overrun on the third attempt.

While that butcher's bill mounted at the barricade, French units across the field were continually being worn down or outright destroyed. With every lost unit came another brutal roll on the "Bad Things Happen" morale table. The French redoubled their efforts, racing fresh troops forward to pressure the Russian line, but it was too little, too late. French morale collapsed entirely, handing the Russians a shock victory.

It was a total surprise because at the start of the battle, the Russian force held just 42 points of troops facing a massive French force of over 90 points!

Beyond the table action, the game was a great opportunity for Ray and me to field models that we had to leave out of our Broadside Demo Game. I was dying to get my Opolchenie on the table (even though I fully expected their appearance to be brief), and Ray wanted to deploy Bonaparte alongside some of his ad-hoc French units.

A few weeks back, after the demo, I put out a video discussing the mechanics of upscaling Sharp Practice for massive games like this. Ray and I have managed to make the rules work, but it’s far from ideal for big battles. Certain mechanics just don't translate well to a larger scale. The system is wonderfully detailed, which is fantastic for a standard skirmish with four or five units per side—less so when you have closer to 20 units per side on the field!

I’m really not sure we will use Sharp Practice the next time we take the Retreat from Moscow collection out for a spin. Ray and I are already chatting about either drafting our own simplified set of rules or sourcing an established system built for larger actions. This definitely won't be the last game with this collection—no sir!—but it may very well be our last using Sharp Practice.

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1 month ago | [YT] | 184

Miniature Adventures

​We’re on a family holiday in Somerset this week, but that doesn't mean we can’t fit in a hobby trip or two.

​First up was Crusader Games in Burnham-on-Sea, which turned out to be an absolute Aladdin’s Cave of painting and modeling supplies. Let's just say the debit card got a serious workout!

​Next, we popped into Bridgwater to visit the town's small, free museum. It features an excellent gallery dedicated to local legend Admiral Robert Blake, a key Parliamentary military leader during the English Civil War, later celebrated as the "father of the Royal Navy."

​However, my main reason for visiting was their Battle of Sedgemoor exhibition. I'll be walking the actual battlefield later this week to film footage for an upcoming video.
​And yes, before anyone asks, the wife is fully aware of the ulterior motive behind picking this part of the country for our holiday!

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1 month ago | [YT] | 118