Bill101 Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 Hi On Saturday 17th November I'll be at Warfare 2012, a UK wargaming convention held in Reading, Berkshire, taking part in a public demonstration game. The show is held at the Rivermead Sports Complex, Richfield Avenue, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 8EQ. More details here: http://www.wargamesassociationreading.co.uk/ I'll be commanding the British forces, refighting the British attack at the Battle of Loos on the 25th September 1915, in a tabletop re-fight of the events of that day. Our game will cover the southern half of the British attack, where three divisions managed to advance about 2 miles into the German lines in just a few hours. This battle witnessed the debut of several of Kitchener’s New Army divisions, and was the first and only British offensive to be preceded by a discharge of cylinder-released chlorine gas and smoke. I thought I'd mention this as if anyone here is able to come to the show, please feel free to pop along to the game and say hello. Wish me luck too, because in our practice game this week, the dice weren't at all friendly to me! Bill PS More information on the battle can be found here: http://www.westernfrontassociation.com/great-war-on-land/61-battlefields/1318-the-battle-of-loos-1915 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyazinth von Strachwitz Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 Have fun... and if the dice are not friendly again and you loose, at least your way home is not too long! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill101 Posted November 11, 2012 Author Share Posted November 11, 2012 Yes, it's not far to go home, though as a club member I'll have to help set up the show and take it all down again at the end. But the show funds our club throughout the year, so it's all worth it - and great fun playing at it too! Here are some pics from last year's show: http://www.pendrakenforum.co.uk/index.php/topic,4186.0.html I'm not in them, but I'll be easy to find by just asking a club member where the Battle of Loos game is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catacol Highlander Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Ah Bill - I was brought up on table top stuff... 1:300 lead tanks with cotton wool aged 10 until by 16 years old I had over 100 1:72 scale tanks with hundreds of infantry figures, all painted and played on a 6ft by 6ft table of 1ft square pieces that could be moved around like a jigsaw to create a new battlefield every time. Happy days. I cant make this day - and I am really disappointed. My job here at school is 7 day a week (dont let anyone ever tell you that the independent sector has it easy - having worked in both maintained and independent I know what differs and one thing that the independent sector has to do is put in WAY more hours...) and I cant get away. I'm sure you will have great fun. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill101 Posted November 20, 2012 Author Share Posted November 20, 2012 Hi The game was great fun and I thought I'd post a few pictures here: The situation at the start The 15th Scottish and 47th London Territorial divisions go over the top! Our London Territorials advancing on Loos, with some units bypassing the town to the rear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill101 Posted November 20, 2012 Author Share Posted November 20, 2012 The British 1st division attacks on the left: I was in command of the British centre and right, and we made good progress at first, launching successful bayonet charges against any German in sight. But one isolated company of German infantry managed to hold out in the centre of Loos, and although two battalions did bypass the town to advance on Hill 70 to its rear, by then the enemy had occupied their rear line and their firepower proved devastating. We also suffered heavy losses from our own guns, as communications with them were limited and our infantry advanced faster than our runners could report back to the artillery. I didn't attend on the Sunday, but the refight was a British victory with the Germans having proved less successful than on Saturday. One thing that did surprise us was the number of people attending the show who were familiar with the battle, a number of whom had relatives who fought there. The game drew a lot of interest and will hopefully be run again at another wargames convention early next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonRocko Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 Awesome! That looks like alot of fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xwormwood Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 Thanks for sharing this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubert Cater Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Agreed, those battlefields look fantastic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshua22 Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Very nice shots, thx for sharing. Tabletop games have something pc games just don't have, and probably never will have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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