Thursday 31 January 2019

SHOBDON : COCKPIT OF HISTORY (2) Shobdon Instructional Centre

While Comrade Professor "Bill" Winters, the "Red Ogre of Herefordshire", ponders his options, just a short post to point our VBCW players in the direction of a lengthy, learned and, gosh, would you believe it, now almost six year old post HERE from our own JP in relation the real-life "Shobdon Instructional Centre". A "labour camp" or a "brave social experiment" dependent upon your point of view, but in any event a fascinating piece of 1930's local history. [note1] 

In the timeline of the Herefordshire1938 AVBCW, of course, the "Shobdon Instructional Centre" has not been re-named by HM Government, but re-purposed : surrounded now by wire and guard towers, it no longer contains the unemployed (very considerably reduced by reason of the manpower demands of the Civil War), but certain "high value" and closely guarded prisoners "internees" deemed "politically unreliable" by Edward VIII and his "Prime Minister Mosley" and now detained indefinitely under the Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1937 and Regulation 18B of the notorious Defence (General) Regulations.[note2] 

Note1 : and one that may well be modelled in 1/60 scale for the Spring Big Game 2019!

Note2: just another example of "real life" paralleling - or inverting - the events of the Hereford VBCW. In 1940, during the height of "Fifth Column" fears within the country, Sir Oswald Mosley and his wife, Lady Diana, were detained without trial under Regulation 18B of the Defence (General) Regulations 1939. Both remained imprisoned until late 1943, when Mosley was released by Herbert Morrison, then Home Secretary, on the grounds of concerns as to his health. There was a strong public backlash against the restoration of their freedom, with (amongst many others) even the Council of Civil Liberties arguing that the Mosleys should remain in prison. MORE HERE

Wednesday 30 January 2019

SHOBDON : COCKPIT OF HISTORY (1) SPRING BIG GAME 2019

The Spring Big Game 2019 ("Shobdon : Cockpit of History") returns to the North West of the County of Herefordshire and the area generally known, both to locals and beyond, simply as "Mortimer Country". Long term readers of the Hereford AVBCW Blog will recollect (perhaps too vividly for comfort) the events of the Spring Big Game 2018 ("The Great Wigmore Cattle Rustle aka the Fall of the House of Mortimer?) - the notorious misdirection of Captain-General Jermingham, C-in-C Anglican Forces, by an opera loving agricultural labourer (or BUF spy); the slavering "Red Hordes" of Comrade Professor "Bill" Winters, Comrades Gollumroo and Verity and their gigantic traffic snarl-up, the undoubted heroics of Captain James Barleycorn (as he then was, now Major Sir James Barleycorn M.C), the massacre (again) of the Ludlow Light Lancers, the coughs and sniffles from a flu-ridden and wounded BUF Storm Commander Giles (as he then was, now very dead, and not from flu), the destruction of the Communist Armoured Hedge Clearing Vehicle by "friendly artillery fire" and subsequent burning of the Mortimer Cricket Pavilion, the stout demeanour of Sir Barrington Patchpole KC in defence of his wife's ancestral Mortimer lands (and his step-niece's virtue), and not least the canny diplomacy of Major Straitt-Jackett being rendered slightly academic by a very heavy artillery shell descending directly onto his head.....[note1]

The House of Mortimer did not fall. 

To the contrary, as represented by Sir Barrington Patchpole KC, the House of Mortimer entered into a hasty (and rather vaguely worded) treaty with HM Govt. Forces. At the cost of Mortimer Country's previous (quasi) independence and possibly Sir Barrington's personal reputation, the resulting alliance of Government Forces and Mortimer militias (with the assistance of the Wiltshire Police Flying Column) delivered a check both to the invading "Reds" and to the raiding "Anglicans".

Mortimer Country Area Map. Red Forces seek to advance left to right (or west to east), from their rear
 bases at Knighton/Presteigne/Kington and forward bases at Stapleton and Lingen. Anglican Forces,
 already engaged in the Bishop's well known "A49 Thrust" from Ludlow to Leominster,
despatch raiding parties advancing right to left (or east to west) from their encampments
 at Pipe Aston, Richards Castle and Orleton. The Mortimer Militias are based at Wigmore;
  HM Govt Forces support Wigmore from the area Aymestrey-Shobdon- Kingsland and
 (across the River Arrow), Pembridge. Hereford lies off map, to the east and south.
Following such (scarcely to be credited) "check" to the historically inevitable advance of "the proletariat" across the green fields of Herefordshire, Comrade Professor Winters brooded. His mood was not improved by news of the subsequent victory of Sir Gilbert Hill and his Anglican allies at the Battle of Winforton Pontoons (the Autumn Big Game 2018, "Bridge over Trebbbled Water"), and the resultant "rescue" of his old adversary, Superintendant Ronald Bigsworth-Hill, from the vengeful clutches of the British Union of Fascists. He needed a new plan, and as the "Special Comintern Red Phone" began to jangle insistently on his desk, he clearly needed it fast....

[note 1] for the few uninitiated, the story of the assault on Mortimer Country begins HERE and continues thereafter (some would say pretty much ad nauseam).

Monday 28 January 2019

HEREFORDSHIRE BOARDGAMERS

Just a mention for the Herefordshire Boardgamers, who meet twice a month in the County, on the first Thursday of the month at The Herdsman (18:30) and the third Sunday of the month at the Beer in Hand (15.00). As their ultra professionally designed poster says:


The Herefordshire Board Gamers are having a Mega Charity Day on Saturday 18th May 2019 (see their Facebook Page here) and are planning a charity 24 hour Game-a-thon for the weekend of Saturday 25th/Sunday 26th August 2019 (see their Website here). Giles and JP have previously taken along a game of "Frostgrave" to club nights, but no doubt the Board Gamers are open to ideas for VBCW contributions to their 24 hour Game-a-thon....

UMPIRE'S "WASH UP" : WINFORTON PONTOONS

Wherein the Umpires muse briefly but generally upon what went right and what went wrong could have gone better at the Autumn Big Game 2018, ("Bridge over Trebbbled Water") now known as "The Battle of Winforton Pontoons", with special emphasis upon new rules and potential future excitements:

The Autumn Big Game 2018 was the first time in the course of the Hereford 1938 VBCW campaign that a contested river crossing was attempted, in this case by the forces of Sir Gilbert Hill (Doug) and his Anglican allies (Clive, and making a special appearance as an Anglican, Robb). The "Special Rules" for the Big Game can be found HERE and the "General Briefing" (before amendment for numbers) can be found HERE. Given that the River Wye divides the County of Herefordshire roughly in half (and the County includes other rivers, such as the Lugg and Arrow), it may not be the last time that the contending factions have to consider a contested river crossing (or even a fighting retreat) "under fire", so the following thoughts apply:

(a). Assault Boats : The "roughly 28mm" assault boats used by Sir Gilbert and his allies were a bulk purchase off Ebay sometime back in 2017, and then the subject of a "Maritime Modelling Challenge" for the group. Many congratulations to Alan and Robb for so manfully taking part in the Challenge : Alan's entire "assault fleet" has already been featured, while Robb's Large Landing Craft (with clever moveable bow) will feature in a subsequent blogpost, probably as a tutorial nearer to the time of our planned "Big Beach Assault" Game. And for those villains who cheerfully snaffled a "doggy bag" of cheap plastic boats (or even two!) and dismally failed to do any bodging with them, not even spray them grey, we mention two things : (a). we know where you live; and (b). the "Big Beach Assault" Game will give you a chance in future to redeem yourself, so don't throw them away!

(b). Pontoon Bridges : The "specially widened" Airfix Pontoon Bridges looked the part and the simple rules for building them seemed to work well. See "Artillery : Effect Of" below. The Pontoons, like the assault boats, are now in general storage awaiting any factions' request to re-use them in order to surprise their enemies......

(c). The Trebbled River : Umpire Roo, as "Terrain Czar", was set the seemingly impossible task of building a 2 foot wide and 18 foot long "River Wye" without spending a lot of (or preferably any) money. Thankfully, he came up trumps by lateral thinking : reversing and painting the underside some of our usual sub-boards. Hurrah!

(d). Smoke : ok, there was a lot of it, and it all blew in the eyes of the defending Government forces. Probably too much smoke and too steady, caused by (i). Sir Gilbert's Umpire Bonus of 3 x "Smoke Firing" tanks; (ii). pre-Big Game Umpire nerves that too many of the attacking boats might be sunk in the crossing of the Wye, leading to a wet and early end to an unbalanced game; (c). the Government's awful dice throwing in relation to "wind direction". Subject to that, however, the smoke rules seemed to work well enough. In future scenarios, we are likely to cater not so much for "smoke shells", but for "smoke" arising from more VBCW events, e.g. burning haystacks or buildings. In any such future event, there will naturally be less ability to "direct smoke", a greater degree of "smoke movement" and fewer "painted DVD bases with fluffy white kapok topping" on the table!

(e). Artillery: Effect Of  : notwithstanding the pre-Big Game Umpire nerves (see above), the Government artillery had surprisingly little effect on the Pontoon Bridges/Assault Boats. So far as can now be recalled, only one Assault Boat was actually hit by artillery fire. The usual Artillery Rules were not changed for the Big Game (save for some special "long range" shell rules designed for a different purpose), so to some extent this result may again be due to the Government's awful dice throwing. On the other hand, the scenario was planned with more Government players defending the northern bank of the Wye (i.e. 4 - 6 as opposed to 2 - 3) and more Anglican allies attacking across the Wye (c. 6 - 7 as opposed to 3 - 4)  and with a larger number of artillery pieces and a larger number of targets, the Government may have been more successful. The newly promoted Major Everard's (Alan's) point that, as a matter of probability, it was actually quite difficult for a specific shell to make contact with a specific small assault boat was well-made : the Umpires will have another think for next time, or similar situations.

(f). Re-Inforcement Schedule : ...and on the subject of awful Government dice throwing....Government re-inforcements were late (sometimes very late, sometimes non-existent) in actually turning up on the table. This had a particular effect on poor old Stokkies Joubert (Roo) (now in Anglican captivity as a pretty much direct result) although Major Everard also suffered (albeit he got his tanks, tank destroyers and famous "hockey stick waving schoolgirls" on the table, if later than comfortable). Although careful thought was given to probabilities when the "Re-Inforcement Schedule" was designed, the Umpires will take extra care next time that re-inforcements become an issue, balancing everyone's love of having a full force on the table vs. the requirements of the scenario. To some extent, the whole point and fun of any reinforcement schedule is that a player cannot guarantee what will turn up and when.....

(g). "Fighting "Double Fisted" : because we were down on numbers, on this occasion some players were able to fight "double fisted", e.g. with two Platoons rather than the usual one Platoon. This definitely seemed to work for those energetic enough to do so, and was a jolly useful innovation for the Umpires, trying to keep the scenario balanced as the number of intending players gyrated right up until Saturday morning, 10am...

(g). One Phase Only Rule: we tested out reverting to "one phase only" turns, as opposed to Mort's previous amendment to the "WTDW" rules to introduce "two phase" turns. While "two phases" arguably improve realism, there was general agreement that "one phase" turns was the way to go in "Big Games", where the speed of a turn is a critical factor. Hence, "one phase" it is for future "Big Games".

(h). Chance Cards Re-Introduced: we re-introduced generalised "Chance Cards" for this Big Game (thanks to Alan for providing them), which resulted in a "Sudden Thunderstorm with Associated Lightning" card being drawn about halfway through the game, with interestingly mixed results for the contending Platoons. This didn't unbalance the Big Game, so we will be using Chance Cards for some Big Games in the future, where the element of "chance" is not otherwise over-catered for by the scenario.

(i). Umpire AND Player "Surprises": usually, it is the Umpires that think up "Game Surprises", but on this occasion Sir Gilbert deployed his "Ju-Ju" witch and wanted some suitable "spells" for her, and Major Everard was able to respond in kind with some VBCW surprises of his own. Sadly, "Ju-Ju" pretty much failed Sir Gilbert due to his dice throwing (that "swarm of bees" would have been fun) whereas Major Everard's VBCW surprises - flaming oil in the Wye, caltrops in a field, and ravenous attack dogs - all "went off" (with mixed results) and added much to the fun of the Big Game (other than, perhaps to the Pontrilas WI). The Umpires will definitely be asking players to think up similar small scale "VBCW surprises" for future games...

The Umpires are always open to any ideas for rule changes or amendments in the light of previous experience or overheated imaginations, or any comments on scenarios as played or ideas for future scenarios. Thinking caps on, VBCW chaps!

Interlude : "The Life of Lead"

In the "short interval" between 1938VBCW Big Games, a "film short" to keep you entertained : "The Life of Lead" by Nic Robson and Eureka Miniatures. Definitely a contender for the 1938VBCW Oscars: FILM

Tuesday 22 January 2019

Sir Gilbert's Sweetmeat Shock : "Engaged in A Vulgar Trade"

After the seismic shock to public taste engendered by the publication of Colonel Mustard's memoirs (lavishly illustrated copies available to order from The Liverpool Free Press, 1 Karl Marx Wharf, with a special introduction by Comrade Professor "Bill" Winters) comes news of yet another affront to decency and respectability.

According to the Government Intelligence & Telegraphy Service ("GITS"), it appears that Miss Fragrance Sweetmeat, the very very personal secretary to Sir Gilbert Hill, has been "engaged in a vulgar trade" in Devizes, far from there Herefordshire VBCW. It is said that Miss Sweetmeat, having adopted the stage (?) name "VAMP", will there "make herself available" to all and sundry for the princely purchase price (in 1938 terms, taking account of the collapse of sterling) of £1.75.

Miss Sweetmeat in attendance upon Sir Gilbert and Lady Hill
Miss Sweetmeat accompanying Sir Gilbert Hill at the Battle of Winforton Pontoons
Comparison of contemporary photographs of Miss Sweetmeat and "the VAMP" leave very little prospect of mistaken identity. The gossip within the City and County Refreshment Rooms has reached a frenzied crescendo. Just when he thought it would be safe to leave his turret rooms at Kentchurch Court, now all of Herefordshire awaits a public statement from Sir Gilbert....

Thursday 10 January 2019

A Treasury of Campaign Maps

For those around the globe who are breathlessly following the progress of the Hereford1938 AVBCW campaign, but who may not be wholly familiar with the geography of the County or have the opportunity to "tramp the battlefields" in the company of the editor of "Hereford VBCW : Then and Now" (other historic tour guides are available), this Treasury of Historic Maps of the County (at the highly detailed scale of 6inches to the mile) may be of considerable interest. The 1930s - 1950s maps are generally the most useful, being before the "Beeching Cuts" to the railway network. Such maps are fully "zoomable", although a moment or two may be necessary before a "zoomed" map comes fully into focus. By way of example, this map illustrates the locality of Winforton and Willersley, the site of Sir Gilbert Hill's victory at the Battle of Winforton Pontoons. The "Old Farmhouse" and St. Michael's Church, Winforton, may be found, as photographed in the contemporaneous battle reports referred to HERE

Concerns for Sir Gilbert!

Sir Gilbert Hill (in 1/60 scale), accompanied by Lady Hill and
 Miss Fragrance Sweetmeat, Very Personal Assistant to Sir Gilbert
Concerns have recently been widely expressed within Hereford's City and County Dining and Refreshment Rooms that Sir Gilbert Hill, of Pontrilas, Ewas Harold and Abbey Dore, may well be over-celebrating the victory of his famous Golden Valley Invincibles (and their Anglican allies) at the recent Battle of Winforton Pontoons. With his recent recruitment of some strange tribals as a "(Dominions and Colonial) Loyal Volunteers Section", lately supported by some notorious female practitioners of "the dark arts", these central questions are being asked : is Sir Gilbert quite well? Has he fallen victim to a ju-ju spell? And just what is he smoking?

Just what is he smoking? The 1/1 scale Sir Gilbert Hill manoeuvres
 his landing fleet at the Battle of Winforton Pontoons, inspired
(it is widely surmised) by some "waccy baccy", as said to be
a gift from Chief Kansan O'Flynn [note1] Or is it simply
 "The Sweet Cheroot of Victory" and the characteristic
 VBCW smell of "nicotine in the morning"?
Rumours are spreading that Sir Gilbert has even taken to drinking heavily, such strong spirits causing him to suffer from serious delusions or, in layman's terms, "to go absolutelycompletely nautical" [note2]:

"I see no ships". In the midst of one of his legendary drinking bouts, The 1/1 scale
Sir Gilbert suffers "a fit of the Nelsons" (or should that be "Priens"?) [note2].
In his present rumoured travails, Sir Gilbert will undoubtedly benefit from the support of his close family, both Lady Hill and his eldest son, The Honourable Timothy Hill, together with the wise counsel of his particular friend, Monsieur Picardy, and the tender ministrations of his Very Personal Assistant, Miss Sweetmeat. Nevertheless, the prevailing gossip is that Sir Gilbert's recent erratic behaviour has caused him to be "confined to quarters" within the turret rooms at his Pontrilas HQ, historic Kentchurch Court [note3]:


Note1: oh, alright then. In case the modern day health police are worried, it's just a strange trick of the camera that makes the 1/1 scale Sir Gilbert look like he's smoking. But as this is AVBCW 1938, spoilsports...

Note2: Cheers! A photo from the absolutely splendid LAF thread to be found HERE, as marvellously titled "On the Day, Went the Eagle's Landing Well?". A full ingredients list for Sir Gilbert's interestingly named "Between the Sheets" cocktail (shades of Miss Sweetmeat, shurely?) may be found within the LAF thread, HERE

Note3: and historically the home of the Lucas-Scudamores. Quite how Sir Gilbert came to base himself at Kentchurch Court during the Hereford AVBCW may have to be the subject of another blogpost. For now, it need only be noted that "Lord Scudamore's Loyal Legion" were specifically singled out for praise by Lt. Everard (as he then was) in his confidential (but captured) despatches after the Battle of Winforton Pontoons. See Lt. Everard's despatches within this blogpost

News - JP's New Year Nan!

JP, long the co-organiser of the Hereford1938 campaign and now our distinguished "Honorary Co-President Emeritus", has been notably busy over the festive period - painting up a lovely, specially made 28mm model of his own grandmother:

It's m'Nan!

For the full story as told by JP, see HERE

Tuesday 8 January 2019

BBS BROADCASTS "THE TRUE STORY"

The "Bishop's Broadcasting Service" ("BBS") has recently taken to broadcasting a new multi-part documentary series upon the late Battle of Winforton Pontoons ("the Autumn Big Game 2018"). The documentary also provides valuable insight on the fate of the captured Government commander, Stokkies Joubert. Episode One starts here, while Episode Four concludes here.

A victor in the field - Sir Gilbert Hill and staff at the Battle of Winforton Pontoons