Salute 51 (2024)

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I almost didn’t go to Salute this year - last year’s dismal 50th anniversary show really put me off - but, in the end I decided to make the trek to Excel one more time…and was really glad that I did so.

Salute this year was a really buzzing event. When I arrived at around noon, the show was packed with people, and it stayed that way for much longer than last year. Then, by 2pm, the place was almost deserted: this year it didn’t start emptying out until at least three.

Yes the hall was still dark, and the floor unforgiving, but, as I said, the show had a real buzz to it: something that has been missing recently. As there weren’t as many other shows on at Excel (a shame not to have the usual dichotomy of the Marathon check in!) the catering was easy to access as well: no need to queue at all.

On top of that, there was so much more to see this year, with crowds of people actually playing games, practising their painting or basing, or even mdf building. I would say that the demonstration/participation games at this year’s show were some of the best I have seen, well worth the ticket price alone.

The Lard Zone was in full swing: the huge Stalingrad game in the pictures below was Chain of Command, and there was Strength and Honour on show as well. Funny to think that the Lardies, always traditionally thought of as disruptors, are now fully mainstream!

Also good to see the huge For King & Parliament game based on my Siege of Norchester scenario pack. The last two pictures in the gallery below show a little of it but can’t really properly demonstrate its scale. Well done to Simon for putting it on, and the game won a prize as well.

Another reason to go to Salute is, of course, the shopping, and there was the usual cornucopia of things on offer. Not too many bargains but lots of new ranges on show, particularly in the fantasy space. I only actually bought something from Essex (whose stand ressembled Mr Ben’s shop in its simplicity and throwback to a bygone age in amongst all the flashier outlets) but could have seriously spend the childrens’ inheritance had I been on a buying spree.

So welcome back, Salute, as one of the premium events of the year! Here are a few photos of some of the games:

Lard Magazine 2023

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This year’s Lard Magazine has just hit the streets!

Packed with articles supporting a wide range of Lardy rules, there’s literally hours of reading to be had with each issue.

You can order yours here, and below you’ll find what this year’s festive conrucopia has to offer!

MALTESE FALCONE
Chain of Command set during a ‘what if ’ invasion of Malta

CANADIANS AT COURCELETTE
Great War action, for both Through the Mud and the Blood and CoCing Up

THE LIBERATION OF NARVIK
A Pint Sized Campaigns for Norway 1940.

IN GOTH WE TRUST
Goths for Infamy Infamy!

FIRE AND MANOEUVRE!
Tactical insights for Chain of Command.

BECAUSE WE’RE HERE, LAD!
Rorke’s Drift using Sharp Practice.

EUREKA! GOING GREEK WITH STRENGTH AND HONOUR
Ancient Greeks using Strength & Honour.

THE BATTLE OF THE MEDWAY
A scenario for Strength & Honour.

BLACK AND WHITE WARGAMES:
Night and Winter fighting in Chain of Command.`

THE PUNIC WARS WITH MIDGARD`
Using Midgard Heroic Battles in the ancient world.

THE BATTLE OF VERCELLAE
The Romans take on the Cimbri in this scenario for Strength & Honour

THE POLES DROP IN
A Half Pint Sized Campaign for Chain of Command

ACROSS THE AURE
Normandy scenario for O Group as the US 115th Infantry attempt to liberate Briqueville.

THE BATTLE OF PHARSALUS
Caesar goes head to head with Pompey in Strength & Honour scenario

RAIDING THE WILDERNESS
1777 AWI scenario for Sharp Practice.

WHAT A GANGSTER!
What a Cowboy in the world of 1920s Gangsters

A GREEN AND BROWN HELL
A Hurtgen Forest Pint Sized Campaigns for Chain of Command

SOLO COC ATTACK SID FOR PSC’s
further developments on the SID Solo CoC system in Lard Magazine 2020.

BAG THE BOK!
Eight scenarios for Bag the Hun as the South African Air Force battle the Italians for air supremacy over Eastern Africa.

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE BASE
Some tools and tips on making bases that will give your figures that extra wow factor!

BLIMUS! CANNAE BUILD A GAME FOR SALUTE?
Creating a landscape for the battle of Cannae

WHAT A TANKER – WITH BLOKES!
Not all games of What a Tanker are about tanks.

THE DEFENCE OF HAZEBROUCK
1940 Chain of Command scenario

DOWN IN THE VALLEY
Quế Sơn Valley in 1967 scenario for Charlie Don’t Surf!

GENERAL D’ARMEE II
What to expect in the forthcoming new edition of these popular Napoleonic rules.

GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL
A classic shoot out scenario for What a Cowboy.

LA PETITE GUERRE
Large skirmishes in the Champlain-Hudson Corridor 1756-1759 or Sharp Practice

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY
Another classic scenario for What a Cowboy.

A BROTHER FROM ANOTHER MOTHER
Inspiration from role playing games to enhance your narrative wargaming.

PORTENTS OF VICTORY
Using omens in Strength & Honour

THE ROAD FROM MANDALAY
The Indian Army taking on the Japanese in Burma with Chain of Command

The Lardzone at Britcon

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Another good reason for going to Britcon was to see the Lardzone in action: a whole hall devoted to games from the TwoFatLardies.

It was no disappointment. Below you will find a gallery of the tables set up for the day, demonstrating the incredible displays on show.

In fact, the only table I didn’t get a picture of was the late war Burma game of Chain of Command run by Rich himself: it was still being set up when I had the chance to visit. So I have borrowed one from the Battle Bunker HQ’s post about Britcon, along with the shot of the enormous Chain of Command table, also a Pacific game, and the Sharp Practice ACW clash.

2022: Review of the Year

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Is that another year gone already? How the time does fly! Looking back on everything that I have done this year it seems a like some of the events took place only yesterday and some took place in a different era. Temporal perspective aside, let’s have a look back at 2022…

Gaming

My target for the year was 52 games i.e. an average of one per week. I actually achieved 47 games, equaling last year and my previous high score.

Just over half the games (51% to be exact) were Ancients, with To The Strongest still being the ruleset of choice. This tally also included one day when I fought six different battles, which is a new record for most games played in one 24 hour period.

rampaging nellies!

Next up in terms of popularity was the Pike & Shot era, with 26% of games played. I used For King & Parliament for these, the 17thC version of TTS. Note that many of the games were actually set not in the English Civil War but on the eastern front (Cossacks, Poles, Muscovites) using rule adaptations from the Tales from the Wargames Shed blog and then my own additions. Army lists for the period can be found here.

history repeats itself: muscovites preparing to advance against the zaphorogian cossacks

The next most popular period was WW2 at 13% of games played, all using I Ain’t Been Shot Mum. Not as many as I would have liked, but all memorable games including one brilliant encounter at the Operation Market Larden Lardy Games Day when it seemed as if my tanks and anti-tank guns just couldn’t miss.

Breaking the Panzers at Operation market larden

Finally a smattering of other periods: two games or 4% from each of the 19th Century (using the Neil Thomas Rules for 19th Century Wargaming) and Napoleonics (one Sharp Practice and one Age of Eagles); and one sci-fi game using my own Quadrant 13 rules. Both Napoleonic games were brilliant battles: the SP game was also at OML, the AoE game memorable if only for its sheer size.

Painting - Overview

A great year for painting where I managed to beat my old record in the Painting Challenge by a significant amount. My previous high score (set in 2019) was 2,004 points, this year I achieved 2,077 points, an increase of 4%. Now all I have to do is to do it again and more next year!

Painting - New Armies

Although I added eight new armies to my roster (Ancients: Vikings, Burgundian Ordnance; 17th Century: Swedes, Muscovites, Ottomans, Transylvanians, Polish Lithuanians; WW2: Afrika Korps) I have to confess that they were all acquired pre-painted except for the Swedes, and they consist of only a full set of command stands to order appropriate-looking troops from my other 17th Century armies, and the Afrika Korps, and they are currently only a dozen tanks strong.

Well I did paint a single unit of Saxon Town Infantry for the Transylvanians, but that doesn’t really change the fact that effectively all my new armies were bought ready painted: something I have never really done before.

Vikings as Medieval Scandinavians losing to the Burgundian ordnance

I’m not actually sure why: I’d like to say it’s because (in the case of the Vikings) an irresistible E-Bay purchase of one unit meant I had to then commission a whole army from the same painter just to find a way to use them and (in the case of the 17th C stuff) there was a bargain offer on Lead Adventure Forum but I think it’s more than that. I still enjoy painting, but am finding it more of a chore than ever before. Interesting, and we will have to see what 2023 brings.

Painting - Existing Armies/Re-Basing

Major projects completed this year were the 17th Century Cossacks and motorising my WW2 Poles. This last I am quite proud of as it involved a lot of research and the commissioning of unique models from Syborg 3D printing including, I am sure, the only accurate C4P artillery tractors in the marketplace (see post here).

How I think a Polish C4P artillery tractor should look

Otherwise, I have added bits and bobs to my Gebirgsjaeger; Sumerians; Brute; French Napoleonics; Indians and various sci-fi armies; and painted up the Kesserine Western Desert boxed set from Battlefront (Afrika Korps and US tanks).

But one of main focuses this year has been re-basing, with the Crimean Russians and Crimean British being huge jobs, and the Sassanid Persians also being significant. The Ruskies have already been on the tabletop (versus the French) and the Brits will see action next weekend, against the Russians as it happens.

Publishing

Pressures of real-life did, however, mean I failed to complete either of the two publishing tasks that I had set myself this time last year: no, or rather little, progress has been made either on the early war Far East Theatre Book for IABSM nor on a scenario pack for TTS.

I have, however, written the first seven scenarios for a new IABSM scenario pack, using an idea that had been bubbling away for some time, but that is also now on the back burner: I just don’t seem to have the bandwidth any more!

Well, perhaps not at the moment.

Work has been really busy this year, and I did pass my Wing Chun kung fu black sash grade (which means I now have black belts in jujitsu, kickboxing and kung fu) and all that, along with my other jujitsu work and associated Japanese kobudo weapons training, and, of course, the family, have left me little time to actually sit down and write. Hardly surprising really!

Looking forward to 2023

So what do I want to achieve wargaming-wise in 2023?

Obviously more games: let’s try for the 52 target again.

More painting: I don’t think I’m going to be able to hit the heights achieved this year, but we’ll aim at 2,000 points in the Challenge.

And then let’s re-set the publishing targets of last year - the IABSM theatre supplement and the TTS scenario pack - and add the already-started IABSM scenario pack to the list.

Thanks for your visits, likes and comments throughout 2022, and I look forward to seeing you all throughout 2023 as well.

R

Lard Magazine 2021 Now Available

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Click on the Pic to Buy!

It’s Christmas, so it must be time for the annual Lard annual, the Lard Magazine 2021.

A mere six of your finest English pounds buys you a cornucopia of all things Lard. Highly recommended.

In this year’s bumper magazine we have:

Welcome and Introduction

Big Rich reflects on the last year and his hopes for the future

Bazooka Town. Joe Bilton

Won’t you take me to… A complete Late War Pint Sized Campaign set in the Ruhr Pocket for Chain of Command

Let’s Get This Project Started. Colin Murray

I’m coming up, so Colin had better get this project started. The boy from Buckfast offers some great advice for getting a new project off to a flying start

Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman Scorned. John Savage

Especially when she’s in a chariot! Get your wheelbarrow ready for this multi part campaign for Infamy, Infamy! set in rebellious Britain in AD60

We’re on a Highway to Hell. David C.R. Brown

Rocking his way to the Eastern Front for some ‘O’ Group action, it’s the Housewife’s Favourite himself. Nice!

Great War What a Tanker. Keith Jordan

A look at adapting What a Tanker for the very first tank on tank action, Keith Head to Villers Brettonneux. I hope he’s packed his wellies!

City & People. Sidney Roundwood

“Hullo clouds. Hullo Sky”. With the shackles of sanity abandoned, Sidney muses on creating terrain for the urban environment of 17th Century Paris. As you do

Red Star Rampant. Jim Jackaman

The 1939 Khalkin Incident see the Soviets Take on the Japanese in Bag the Hun. A full guide with seven spiffing scenarios to get you scrambling for your Yak

Desperate Measures in the Mediterranean. Charley Walker & Co.

The inseparable duo of Charley and Fred Worthingham present a Kiss Me Hardy scenario set in the Mediterranean of 1794

War Among the Ferns. Simon Walker

Simon presents a complete guide to the New Zealand Wars with Sharp Practice. A full breakdown or British, Colonial and Maori forces from 1843 to 1872. That’ll get tongues wagging!

An Incident at the Bay of Islands. Simon Walker

A scenario from the New Zealand Wars for use with War Among the Ferns

Building a German Church. Joe Bilton

With his architectural hat on and full health and safety clearance, Joe looks at building a German church suitable for his Bazooka Town campaign

Vox Normannorum. Olve Kroknes

A complete saga experience from the Viking era for Dux Britanniarum from the Pen of Norway’s Lardy Viking himself

Assault on Esperia. Tim Whitworth

An IABSM scenario from the soft underbelly of Italy in 1944 see the French confront German forces near the Liri River

Return to the Raevsky Redoubt. David C.R. Brown

Borodino, the epic clash between two Empires in 1812. Here, Godfather of Wargaming, Dave Brown, returns to the Grand Redoubt with General d’Armee

Rückzug. David Hiscocks

A Pint-Sized-Campaign set in France and Belgium in August 1944. Can the Germans stop the breakout from Normandy and the great swan? Call the RSPB!

Haitian Revolutionary Armies. Peter Davies

Sharp Practice Army lists for an unusual Napoleonic period confrontation in the Caribbean. Go on. You know you want to. Trent Miniatures. It’s calling…

Sour Grapes. Joe McGrath

Strewth! The Fallschirmjäger take on the Australians in the scenario for Chain of Command on Crete from Joe across the pond in the US with a scenario he ran at Historicon

The Roundwood Report Revisited. Sidney Roundwood

They said it would never happen, but Sidney is back and talking to Mark Backhouse about the forthcoming Strength & Honour rules from Reisswitz Press

Go Sharp Into the Desert. John Savage Pasha

John provides a full supplement for using Sharp Practice for actions in the Sudan between British, Egyptian and Mahdist forces. Break out the Factor 50 Quartermaster!

The Sands of Shah Wadi Wadi. Pasha John Savage

A short campaign of linked games for the Sudan. Can the Reverend and his daughter escape the evil Osman Dinna Munni? I suspect some girls will, some girls won’t. Which is a very old musical joke

Micro-CoC. Kev Pierce

An informative guide to playing Chain of Command with 6mm forces. I am honestly refraining from making a smutty comment. But you knew that.

The Australians at Pozieres. By Alex Sotheran

Rochdale’s finest son, aka Storm of Steel, leaves behind the glamour of the studio for the mud of the Western Front with this scenario for Mud & Blood

La Haye Sainte. By Joe McGinn

Joe Looks at gaming the assault on the world’s most famous farmhouse. Not the one in Bethlehem. The other one.

SELWG 2021

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IMG-20211017-WA0000.jpeg

On Your Marks…

The new venue for SELWG

I had a rare Sunday free, so thought I’d pop along to the first post-lockdown SELWG show.

The last time I’d been to SELWG, it had been at Crystal Palace and, to be honest, all I remember is the smell of chlorine from the pool and a nightmare journey there and back.

The refreshed show is actually in north London (presumably there are plans to re-name it NELWG) at the Lee Valley Track & Field stadium. The show was set up literally in the middle of the running track: somewhat ironic considering the inverse relationship between enjoying wargames and taking part in athletics!

The place is easy to find and, for me, now easy to get to. The site has a large, free car park right outside: such a refreshing change from the huge fees at Excel (Salute) or the nightmare that is Rivermead (Warfare). The only negative is that it didn’t have any charging points: very annoying in this modern age.

The show itself was very good, although it did feel a bit small: but this may be down to the fact that I’m used to the very big shows. That said, there were plenty of demo games (including a good 50 yards of Lard!) and a fair selection of traders. Interestingly, although there were plenty of 28mm figure manufacturers there, I couldn’t see any 15mm manufacturers, so ended up only buying some brushes and some basing materials. A cheap day!

It would have been a more expensive day as, unusually for me, I found something on the Bring & Buy that I wanted to, er, buy…but it was £100 and I never carry cash any more (I had a single £10 note on me!) and there was no cash point on site, the nearest being a 500 yard trip in either direction. Note to organisers: equip the B&B with a credit card machine or make sure there’s a cashpoint. So no nicely-painted 15mm WW1 German army for me :(

On the plus side, however, I did play in an excellent game of Infamy! in the morning. I played the Carthaginians up against some Republican Romans. It was a cracking game. The Roman skirmishers causing me all sorts of problems whilst I manoeuvred into a position from which my elephant could go in backed by my Libyan spearmen as my Spanish types hit the enemy from the flank. In the end, the sheer flexibility and staying power of the Romans meant that they could recover from the nellie’s charge quickly enough to ride the assault of my spearmen, and the Spanish just didn’t quite have the combat power to save the day. A cracking game, though, and thanks to Big Rich and my opponent, Chris, for making it so good.

So, all in all, a good day. Charging points and a cash machine for next time please, and get the food truck on site earlier than 1 o’clock: I like to have elevenses!

Here’s a final pic of a rather nice Mexican Revolution game:

IABSM AAR: Rumble in the Jungle

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Here a nice little after action report from Alex Sotheran, taken from both the IABSM Facebook group and Alex’s Storm of Steel blog.

The game was Alex’s first using I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum!, and involved a solo game set on the Malay peninsular at the time of the Japanese invasion in December 1941. Although knocked together by Alex himself, the scenario resembles #02: Ban Sadao from the Fall of the Lion Gate scenario pack.

Click on the picture below to see how Alex got on:

Lard Magazine 2019

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For those of you who missed all the various notices, this year’s Lard Magazine is now available to buy. An excellent last minute Xmas present for the wargamer in your life!

Nothing from me in this issue, unfortunately (just couldn’t find the time), but don’t let that stop you from purchasing this excellent tome.

Lard Magazine 2019 tops the scales at a whopping 190 pages packed with Lard.  Scenarios, complete campaigns, rules amendments, fresh periods to game, previews of future rule sets, build projects unveiled and a whole host of other wargaming fun, written by wargamers for wargamers.

Here’s a full list of the contents.

A DEKKO AT RECCE:  Nick Skinner takes a look at British Recce for Chain of Command. 

THE BRIDGE AT SAINDOUX:  We send a British Recce Troop on a mission to see if a bridge will take Nick’s weight.

TO SLEEP IS TO DIE:  John Savage tells the story of his award winning scenario for Sharp Practice set  during the retreat from Moscow. Includes scenario.

2019  – A YEAR OF LARD:  12 months is a long time in the world of Lard. Richard Clarke & Nick Skinner have an alibi for all of it.

BLOODY OMAHA:  Mike Whitaker tells the story of an obsession with this scenario for I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum!

BAHAMAS BROADSIDE:  Chris Stoesen sails the seven seas and offers this small ship scenario for Kiss Me Hardy.

TOTENSONNTAG:  Marc Renouf presents a pint-sized campaign  set against the background of Operation Crusader, 1941.

A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS:  David Hunter, Lardy event organiser par excellence, shares his reflections and learnings on Lardy Games Days.  

ASSAULT ON PELELIU:  Hit the beach with this scenario for I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum from the pen of Tim Whitworth.

THE FRENCH CAVALRY CHARGES AT WATERLOO:  Wargaming superstar and housewife’s favourite David C R Brown peeks out from behind his cuirass to share the ultimate cavalry scenario for General D’Armee

THE CANNONBALL RUN:  Richard Clarke’s cupola runneth over with this break out game for What a Tanker!

BATTLE OF KARNSTEIN:  Tom McKinnell takes us to the Eastern Front for a Chain of Command Scenario with a difference.

THE LONGEST YOMP:  Rising talent Ioan Davis John takes us to the South Atlantic for this adaptation of Chain of Command for the Falklands War.

I AIN’T BEEN COC’D YET, MUM!:  Whilst working in the lab, late one night Desmondo Darkin created something… you need to see this.

CRUNCH AT KURSK:  Nick Skinner presents a Bag the Hun dogfight scenario for the skies above Kursk. 

PUSHING THE ENVELOPE:  Nothing is ever big enough for Simon Walker. Here he shares his thoughts on extending Sharp Practice into the Victorian Wars of the late 1890s and beyond. 

IT’S THE RIEL THING:  Simon Walker rises again and takes us to the depths of Canada for this Sharp Practice expansion.

GET CARTER!:  Richard Clarke teases us with a scenario for the Riel Rebellion.

RETREAT TO THE BEREZINA:  John Savage walks on frozen water with another 1812 scenario for  Sharp Practice.

WHAT A WHIZZ OF A WIZ…:  Richard Clarke and Nick Skinner finally complete Sidney’s Battlefield Challenge with the creation of this Chain of Command scenario for the 1944 fighting in the woods near Best, Holland.

INFAMY, INFAMY:  Richard Clarke offers an exclusive peek into an exciting new rule set headed your way in 2020. Blimus!

300,000 Page Views!

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If my calculations are correct, some time yesterday this website hit 300,000 page views since its launch in October 2014 i.e. just about five years to the month!

That’s not bad going for a hobby site that concentrates so specifically on the company-sized rules from the TooFatLardies (even if yesterday’s post was about To The Strongest!).

So thank-you all for your support and visitations over the last five years, and thank you especially to those who have kindly given permission for me to use their content on here.

If nothing else, and along with its Facebook page, I reckon we’ve kept I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum from going out of print, a worthy achievement by any calculation.

A few facts to amuse:

  • Most visitors come from the UK (42%), followed by the US (26%) and then Australia (7%) and Canada (4%). Quite surprised that the US number isn’t higher…

  • The most popular content is After Action Reports (so keep them coming) followed by the Army Galleries.

  • There are 956 individual battle reports on the site. I think I’m probably the biggest contributor, but honorable mentions have to go to many, many more people

CoC: Taking the Gembloux Gap

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Although we don’t usually write about CoC on this website (now there’s a sentence that deserves re-writing!) we do always try to feature the new releases for that system, particularly as many of them can provide ideas for IABSM.

So here’s news of the latest pint-sized campaign for Chain of Command: Taking the Gembloux Gap. Here’s the blurb:

A twenty-eight page PDF, Taking the Gembloux Gap contains an overview of the events of May 1940. as the German panzers rushed across Belgium, to be met by French troops advancing to assist their neighbours as part of ‘Plan D’.  If the German armour can break through at Glembloux, the flank of the entire B.E.F. is turned and the road to the sea lies open.   This campaign focusses on the critical actions of the 15th of May as the French 110e Regiment d’Infanterie attempts to stem the tie of 3 Panzer Division spearheaded by 3 Schützen Regiment.  This campaign is designed to be used with the Blitzkrieg 1940 Handbook.

The campaign is a total of five game tables with the duration running between five and nine games.  Briefings are provided for both sides, along with measurable objectives, period maps, force and support option listings and everything you need to play this campaign through to its conclusion.

Like all of our Pint-Sized campaigns, this PDF is available for the price of a pint in our local pub.  We’re sure that you’ll agree, that is great wargaming value!

Buy it here.

Salute 2019

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This Saturday it was off to Salute 2019 at the Excel centre in Docklands.

Salute is one of the cornerstone shows in the UK wargames calendar, and it’s easy to see why.

Firstly, the Excel centre is a great venue: easy access by car, parking right underneath (even if it is £20 for the day), huge amounts of space, and plentiful food and drink outlets. My only complaint would be that sometimes I find the lighting in the hall a bit dim, but that might just be my fading eyesight!

The queue to get in used to be an extreme annoyance - one could wait an hour - but for the last few years its been so under control that, for example, this year I arrived at Excel at 9.50, had a baguette and coffee for breakfast, and then walked straight in to the show without queuing at all. Amazing! The only question is why couldn’t they have organised it like this before!

The show itself was full of traders and demo games. There are loads of blogs carrying loads of reports on the show, so suffice to say that it took me all morning and some of the afternoon to get round everything.

The Lardies were running a stunning game of Chain of Command set in Malaya in 1942, a period near and dear to my heart (Fall of the Liongate and all that). I didn’t play, but enjoyed watching the action.

Also Larding away was Mike Whitaker with his Bloody Omaha game. Now I played this game a few years ago at one of the Evesham games days…and its a cracker. Mike had 486 figures on 144 bases on an 8x6 table on display and managed two complete play-throughs of the scenario. And people say my games are big!

Click on the picture below to see all the photos:

As per usual, I did spend a bit too much money, but it was all on absolute bargains, honest! I bought a bag of fifty brushes for £20, which should keep even an established ‘brushbane’ like me going for a bit; and then I also bought one of the “all you can see for £100” mdf sci-fi industrial set-ups from Troll Trader that I just cannot wait to get built and painted up.

The show was nicely crowded all through the day, except perhaps at lunchtime. I hear a lot of people saying that their mates didn’t go because they couldn’t be bothered, or it wasn’t their thing any more or something rubbish like that. All I can say is that they are wrong: Salute is still a cornerstone show and a must-visit for any wargamer in reach in the UK.

Happy New Year!

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Happy New Year to all my visitors, both old and new!

2018 was quite a year for me, with plenty of major changes in my life. In September I was made redundant after seventeen years with the same company. A nice pay-off meant that I didn’t really need to find a job very quickly, but the latest news is that I start a new role next Monday, Jan 7th: about a week after the end of my gardening leave. That means that I have had a rather pleasant, just about four months not working, which has meant plenty of time for wargaming!

A fearsome opponent!

I also switched from one martial arts association to another, so after 35 years studying one sort of jujitsu, I’m now (along with my wing chun kung fu) studying another, along with the six traditional Japanese weapons: sword, ‘chucks, bo, sai, tonfa, kama.

This meant wearing a white belt again for the first time in some twenty-five years, and standing way at the back of the class with a bunch of strangers rather than out at the front with loads of people I know: an interesting experience. I’m pleased to say those strangers are now friends, and I’m currently standing in the middle of the class, rapidly moving towards the front again!

Gaming

All this training means that I’ve never been part of a regular wargaming club (there are only so many evenings and weekends you can be out and remain married and a father!) so have some years only managed an average of one game a month. Redundancy, however, has mean that this year I have had more wargames than any other since my records began. Most have been I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum! or one of its variants (especially Arab-Israeli) or one of the other company-sized games from the TooFatLardies (Charlie Don’t Surf, Quadrant 13), but I have recently got back into Ancients playing To The Strongest, rather than my own Vis Bellica, which definitely needs a new edition and a lot of love.

Painting

Redundancy also meant I had plenty of time to paint figures, and my score in this year’s Painting Challenge reflects that: 1,859 versus my previous best of 1,219. These have been mostly sci-fi for Quadrant 13 or Arab-Israeli, but the last couple of months have seen a sudden influx of Ancients, and there is also a steady trickle of WW2 kit as well.

The time off meant that, before the Ancients fix took hold of me, I could make a sizeable dent in my lead mountain, which seemed to have accumulated vast amounts of sci-fi armies: major forces for the Astagar, Hive, Invaders and Space Dwarves have all been completed.

Writing

2018 was also a big year for my wargaming writing. The major project for the Jan-May period was the preparation and publication of the four Blitzkrieg in the West theatre supplements for IABSM. This was a major project that took over my life for about six months. It was really fun to do, even if a bit frustrating at times: the exact composition of some of the Belgian and Dutch units especially. Big Rich and I scratched our heads many times on those ones. And, one day, I will find out how the squadrons of 3RTR rolled off the docks at Calais!

If you do game the early war period, I cannot but recommend these. I’m still referring back to them myself on a regular basis, and regularly come across a little snippet of information that I’d forgotten that I’d found out. Or I see a query about unit composition on a wargaming website and think “well, that’s in the French theatre book” and wonder whether or not to answer the query or just put a link to the TFL shop!

The cover pics below, btw, do all link to the shop…

The Year Ahead

So what will 2019 bring wargaming-wise?

Well I’m not making any resolutions, as this is supposed to be fun not a chore, but what I am hoping for is:

  • Plenty more games, focusing on I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum! and To The Strongest

  • Getting all my Ancients armies up to To The Strongest strengths, and then adding a couple of new ones

  • Photographing my entire collection with my new camera

  • Writing another theatre supplement for IABSM to follow on from the four Blitzkrieg in the West editions.

  • Seeing the Painting Challenge continue for its sixth year

  • And, of course, keeping this blog updated on a regular, if not daily, basis

Your AAR concerning the company-sized games from the TooFatLardies (IABSM, CDS, Q13) are vital content for this blog (and the enormous archive of battle reports the site contains: some 500+ now) so do keep sending them in.

Otherwise, I wish you all the very best in 2019.

Check back soon.

Cheers

R

TFL "Lard Magazine" Now Available

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Those of you familiar with Lardy products will know that it’s usual for Big Rich and the team to produce two “Specials” each year: pdf publications packed with Lard content.

All the new products, travelling and demonstrating has taken its toll, however, and the plan is now to produce one Lard Magazine each year…and this year’s magazine is now available.

This very first edition is crammed with high quality articles, scenarios, interviews and even a complete campaign inside its 170 pages. Ideal for reading on iPad or Tablet in conjunction with Adobe Reader.

Here’s a list of the contents:

  • Nassauers for Sharp Practice. Fat Nicholas regales us with tales of brave Germans and how he recreated them for our best selling skirmish rules.

  • Review of the Year. We take a stroll through 2018 and look at its highs, lows and the bits in the middle that were pretty much alright.

  • There are Many Rivers to Cross. A complete 1940 Pint Sized campaign for Chain of Command with complimentary wet patch.

  • IABSM Lite. Wargaming celebrity and all round good egg Mike Whittaker looks at how to strip down IABSM for action along with a scenario for said rules

  • Fifth Column. A new column by new Lardy convert Alister Campbell-Grieve looking at what drew him to the pleasures of Lard

  • Achtung Indianer. Regular Lardy contributor James Crate looks at spotting and pre-game manoeuvre in Bag the Hun

  • Are You a Complete Tanker? Rotund Nick talks tank tactics for top tanking times with What a Tanker.

  • Blitzkrieg Shortcut. Robert Avery gives some tips on using the Blitzkrieg in the West supplement series for I AIn’t Been Shot Mum along with a scenario

  • Where there is Discord May we Bring Kriegsspiel. Nick Skinner discuses using social media to run kriegsspiel games from afar.

  • Kazemat. Richard looks at Dutch and Belgian bunker types for 1940. How they were organised, used and how to build them

  • The Green Wolves meet the Fox. Belgian Chasseur Ardennais encounter 7 Panzer in 1940. A Scenario for Chain of Command

  • What an Ambush! Wargames celebrity and Wizard to the Stars, Mike Hobbs, presents some ideas on how to add ambushes in What a Tanker.

  • Apache Attack. A scenario for Bag the Hun with US dive bombers attacking a German rail yards.

  • Up Amongst the Pandies. Simon Walker presents an Indian Mutiny scenario for Sharp Practice. Watch out for those baboons!

  • Guards on the Escaut. A 1940 Chain of Command scenario for the first VC action of WWII

  • Cold War. Jeremy Ratcliffe brings I AIn’t Been Shot Mum forward to the Cold War with rule amendments and Army Lists

  • Lard America. Team Lard is Go in the US of A. Here Lard Magazine discovers what’s happening on the Lard scene across the pond

  • Kriegsspiel Cocktail. Charles Eckart shakes and stirs Lardy classic If the Lord Spares Us in with Kriegsspiel to get a cocktail with a big kick.

  • Command & Control at Chickamauga. Godfather of wargaming, Dave Brown, considers events at Chickamauga with a scenario for Pickett’s Charge

  • Aubergine Autos. Nick has the decorators in with this build article using a Charlie Foxtrot model to build a garage fit for a Frenchman.

  • Barkmann Corner Overdrive. This classic scenario for What a Tanker has wowed the crowds around the shows, now you can play it at home. Or elsewhere..

  • And Now the Weather… Weather ideas in Bag the Hun from the pen of James Crate.

  • Dear Johnny. Squadron Leader Johnny Danger signs off with a letter from an admirer.

You can buy the magazine from here.

Blitzkrieg in the West: The Germans: Cover Revealed

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Just to give my latest handbook for I Ain't Been Shot, Mum a little pre-publicity, I got the cover through from Rich today.

The handbook will be available from the TooFatLardies website on May 10th (next Thursday) and weighs in at over 180 pages!

The good news is that despite its huge size (over twice as big as the other handbooks in the series) we're not making it more expensive than the other books: it will be the same price as the French, the BEF and the Dutch/Belgians.

The handbook will cover the German army that invaded France and the Low Countries in May 1940. It will contain lists for each of the ten different types of infantry division, each of the ten different Panzer Divisions, the cavalry, the SS, the Fallies, the army troops...you name it, it's in there!

IABSM AAR: Over the Hill

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Here's a great looking battle report from the Devon Wargames Group, playing the Over the Hill scenario produced as a free PDF download by Rich Clarke the author and co-partner of Too Fat Lardies during the early incarnation of the rule set and easily converted to the latest version of the rules.

The scenario along with others is available to download from the Lardies Yahoo Group, which is well worth joining if you are interested in the best WWII Company level rule sets available!

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Toofatlardies/info

Click on the pic below to see all:

TFL Podcast #6 Now Available

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Another great podcast from the Big Rich, Nick and Sidney.

The lads get together once again to discuss what's new in the world of Lard and what they are working on, and then get stuck into a couple of meaty topics: including political symbols in wargames and how the design of a game can provide a plausible command experience for the gamer. 

Please note, the section on Nazi symbols is potentially contentious but they were asked the question and didn't want to shy away from the tough ones. You may not agree with what they say, but hopefully they don't upset too many people. 

The usual trip to the library rounds off this episode. 

The Oddcast can be found here.

Lardy Oddcast #05 Now Available

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Episode Five of the TooFatLardies Oddcast is now available, with Rich and Nick joining Sidney in the studio to discuss how they undertake research when embarking on developing a set of rules.

All of the usual features are there, with a look at what’s on the workbench and a trip to the library.

Click here to go to the Oddcast home page, or you can experience it on YouTube if you prefer.

Blitzkrieg in the West #1: The French Now Available

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When IABSM v3 was published, two late war handbooks quickly followed:  Battle for Liberation and Vpered Na Berlin. I am very pleased to say that today sees the publication of the first of the v3 early war handbooks: Blitzkrieg in the West #1: The French.

The handbook is 73 pages long, and covers the French Army from 1939 to the fall of France in 1940. It has twenty-nine force listings in it, all looking at core company structure and then the possible battalion, brigade, regimental, divisional and higher level supports. It also has a guide to rating your French forces, and a comprehensive armoury.

Available only as a pdf from the TooFatLardies website, Blitzkrieg in the West #1: The French costs £8.40.

Handbooks covering the BEF, the Belgians and Dutch, and the Germans follow one per month in March, April and May this year.

Blitzkrieg in the West #1: The French contains the following lists:

Infantry Divisions
Infantry Company
GRDI Cavalry Squadron
GRDI Motorcycle Squardon

Motorised Infantry Divisions
Motorised Infantry Company
DIM Motorcycle Company
GRDIM Motorcycle Squadron
GRDIM AMD Squadron
GRDIM AMR Squadron

Independent Tank Formations
Independent Tank Company (R-35, H-35, D-2 or fCM-36)
Independent Tank Company (FT-17)

Colonial Infantry
North African and Foreign Legion formations 

Light Cavalry Divisions
Cavalry Squadron
Mechanised Dragoon Fusiliers
Dragoon Mixed Reconnaissance Squadron
RAM AMD Squadron
RAM AMC Squadron
RAM Motorcycle Squadron

Cavalry & Spahis
The Cavalry Squadron

Corps Reconnaissance Groups
GRCA Cavalry Squadron
GRCA Motorcycle Squadron
GRCAm Motorcycle Squadron

Light Mechanised Divisions
Tank Squadron
RDP Mechanised Dragoon AMR Squadron
RDP Mechanised Dragoon Fusilier Squadron
RDP Mechanised Dragoon Motorcycle
RD AMD Squadron
RD Motorcycle Squadron

Reserve Armoured Division
DCR Heavy Tank Company
DCR Light Tank Company
BCP Fusilier Company

TooFatLardies Festive Oddcast

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Christmas comes but once a year and this year the Lardies Christmas Oddcast comes from a very special location as the Lardy team meet in front of a live audience to discuss a bulging sack of letters they have had from listeners.

Raise a glass of festive cheer and sit back for an hour and enjoy the Festive Oddcast. 

For those of you who missed episode three, the Lardies had some technical difficulties with the upload, but you can find it here:  Oddcast Episode Three.

[Click on 'Festive Oddcast' and/or 'Oddcast Episode Three' to hear all]