1643 Game 7 – Lower Thames Valley – English Civil War Campaign

ECW-702 Late Round - Strategic Situation - Royallists Attack London - Banner

Adam and Chris played the seventh game of Populous, Rich and Rebellious, our four player Campaign using Tilly’s Very Bad Day, and set in the English Civil War.

Summary: Although caught by a larger Parliamentarian force, Adam had spectacular victory at the “Real Battle of Turnham Green”. London fell to the Royalists. The campaign cards were critical to the battle with the interventions of John Hurry and Sergeant-Major-General Boy, the ‘Dog-witch’, deciding the outcome.

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1643 Game 6 – Wales – English Civil War Campaign

Jamie and I played the sixth game of Populous, Rich and Rebellious, our four player Campaign using Tilly’s Very Bad Day, and set in the English Civil War.

Summary: Although the Royalists invaded Wales, the Parliamentarians had a larger army on the day and attacked. The “Battle of Colby Moor” was a Royalist victory.

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Jesús Dapenas paints a second Spanish FT-17 for service in the Rif

FT-17 Tank Number 4 - Elephant Mascot - 04 - Banner

Jesús Dapena is a long time collaborator of mine due to a shared interest in the Rif Wars. I previously posted his photos of Renault FT-17 Tanks in the Rif War (from his “Uncle Cipri”) and subsequently his 1/16th model of Uncle Cipri’s FT-17 with a Turtle mascot. Here is the second tank in the series: “INFANTERIA No. 4”, the one with the Elephant mascot. All words are by Jesús. You can see more images in his video: The Renault FT Tank in Spanish Army Service (Northern Morocco, ca. 1924) [YouTube].

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Augusto Perez Miranda – A Spaniard fighting for the Allies in WW2

Augusto Perez Miranda 017 - Banner

John Vistuer sent through some photos of his grandfather, Augusto Perez Miranda, a Spaniard who fought for the allies during World War II. He started his military career in the Spanish Guardia Civil in North Africa. Then he fought for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War. Being on the losing side, he found himself in the French Foreign Legion at the start of the World War II, but ended up in the No. 1 (Spanish) Company of the Pioneer Corps of the British Army. All words are John’s.

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1643 Game 5 – Upper Thames Valley – English Civil War Campaign

ECW-508 Bombardment - Parliamentary General becomes casualty - Banner

Adam and Chris played the fifth game of Populous, Rich and Rebellious, our four player Campaign using Tilly’s Very Bad Day, and set in the English Civil War.

Summary: After losing a general in the preliminary bombardment, Parliament fought well but could not break the Royalists within the game limit. Royalist victory at the “Battle of Chalgrove Field”.

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1642 Declaring for King or Parliament – English Civil War Campaign

ECW-454 Consolidation Round - Final - Banner

In Populous, Rich and Rebellious, the first year of the Campaign ends with a “Consolidation Round”. This is the English Civil War and the idea is, after a few battles, every region declares for either King or Parliament. In our campaign the two sides started the consolidation round even, with 3 regions each, but finished with Parliament significantly ahead.

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English Civil War Battles on the map for Populous, Rich and Rebellious

ECW Campaign - Map - With historical battles - Banner

Chris suggested I overlay the historical battles of the English Civil War on the campaign map for Populous, Rich and Rebellious, our English Civil War Campaign. So I did, although only for the the period covered by the campaign, i.e. the first civil war (1642-1646).

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1642 Game 2 – Wales – English Civil War Campaign

ECW-212 Royalist Pike+Shot looking good on the right - Banner

Jamie and I played the second game of Populous, Rich and Rebellious, our four player Campaign using Tilly’s Very Bad Day, and set in the English Civil War.

Summary: At the “Battle of Montgomery”, the defending Parliamentarians (Jamie) defeated the Royalists (Steven) in five game turns.

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Books – Reorganising my history bookcase made me think about my interests

Steven's History Bookcase - Banner

My big history book case is in the living area and not surprisingly my wife gets annoyed when the books get messy. Recently I tidied it up. Aside from the fact it took hours – which I didn’t enjoy – I found it interesting what this filing task highlighted about my interests. Aside from my enduring interest in all things Spanish and Portuguese, it turns out I have quite a big interest in World War II (okay, not so surprising), and a huge interest in Colonial Empires with a side order of Cold War.

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Liberation – An A4 Insurgency Campaign

Liberation – An A4 Insurgency Campaign - Banner

I was looking at the tokens I designed in for Using Political Tokens for Military-Political Climate in an Insurgency Campaign and realised they weren’t very easy to make. They are round and double sided. Doh! So I decided to redesign them as square. And that led to doing the entire Campaign on an A4 sheet of paper. This campaign can be for any insurgency but I have the Portuguese Colonial War in mind. This is the third iteration on Simulating Politics in a Wargaming Campaign with Political Tokens – an idea I borrowed from Kapitan Kobold

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Monaldini and Monticelli – A Crossfire Battle Report in Italy 1

Monticelli-151 Kiwi Sherman III and Knocked out Sherman III - Banner

Jamie and I played my Monaldini and Monticelli Scenario. Kiwis and Greeks against Fallschirmjäger and “Turcomen” during the Italian Campaign. And lets not forget the six Shermans.

Summary: Great scenario. Lots of tactical decisions for both players. Nice to get a few tanks on table. Great game. We’d play it again. I won. Or perhaps Jamie did.

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