VBCW AIRCRAFT STICKERS

The Elstree Industries "Vickers Venoms" (aka "Ebay cheep Chinese planes"), having been introduced to the Herefordshire VBCW as the 2020 Modelling Challenge, appear to be enjoying something of a resurgence of late:

There are rumours of a Japanese "Air Wing" making an appearance over Newquay, West Wales (flying off the carrier Hosho, apparently making an "international goodwill tour" in 1938), plus significant "export orders" received from Borsetshire, home of Sir Rufus Pitt-Bulstrode and the 'retirement estates' of our very own Sir Gilbert Hill.

One of the challenges of the Elstree Industries aircraft (manufactured to no particular scale, but dimensions above) is that they come without transfers (or decals, if you're from the States). The choice is therefore between painting something suitable, manufacturing your own, or boxing clever.

Those of a pugilistic bent should head on over to Ebay seller "obsesso" - see his shop HERE - who sells very handy multipacks of aircraft roundels (sized between 5mm and 40mm). These are not waterslide transfers, but good old fashioned self adhesive stickers. Not all sizes are useful for Elstree Industries aircraft, but there is a good variety and some are bang on.

WW2 RAF Roundels (fuselage)

WWS RAF Roundels (wings)

Pre WW2 RAF Roundels (especially useful!)

French Roundels

Italian Roundels

Pre WW2 American Roundels (especially useful again!)

The smaller stickers can be used on 1/55 armour or trucks - the largest make useful "markers", or "blinds" if you're playing "Lard inspired" rules. And the "in between" sizes are just right for the planes: 

"Venoms", "Gladiators" and "Mongrels" with "Obsesso stickers" (tail markings hand painted).
 Meng Models Lancasters with their own transfers/decals/stickers.
 A coat of varnish prevents the stickers "lifting with age" -
especially useful as they're supposed to have been around since 1938...

VBCW POSTERS - BUY BRITISH ! (PART TWO)

A second selection of evocative 1930s posters from the "Buy British" campaign:

Yes, Britain can actually make things

"Sexism" had yet to be invented, it appears.....

and gender roles are pretty clear....

Social change post the Great War. An appeal to
 female factory workers (unmarried, of course)..

..and to the country folk - or the nation of animal lovers.
Remember - it's all plain horse sense.

OLDEST FILM OF HEREFORD

The earliest moving film of Hereford, showing various City landmarks, the May Fair of 1908 and Hereford Infantry marching off to the Great War:

Note: Thanks to Umpire Roo for this discovery!

VBCW POSTERS - BUY BRITISH ! (PART ONE)

A selection of posters from the early 1930s "Buy British" campaign, designed to help British industry and commerce weather the Great Depression:

These would be equally useful within the VBCW, where trade dislocation due to Civil War (and Captain Arrowsmith's theft alleged "appropriation" of the Bank of England gold reserves) would have placed a similar emphasis on industry and commerce. After all, the pride in the country's history and record breaking achievements, plus the emphasis on manly team sports, clearly makes them Very British. 

SPRING BIG GAME 2022 - LAST TRAIN FROM LEOMINSTER (PART SIX)

It was around this time that each of the four Government commanders received a specially sealed envelope. The letter within read:

NEW INSTRUCTIONS FOR GOVERNMENT PLAYERS

(BUF OR ROYALIST)

You have suddenly remembered that you have an important appointment in Hereford!

The Government defensive lines around Leominster are crumbling (whether or not on your sector of the front) and it is inevitable that the town will fall. The remaining defenders will have to surrender, and this could mean a long spell in the Gulag for you....or worse!

DON'T PANIC!

There's only one way out of Leominster by now, and that's by rail....The only available train is "The Black Arrow", a BUF "stripped down special" already getting up steam in Leominster Station...Unfortunately, "The Black Arrow" has been so stripped down that it has no passenger carriages.

The footplate has room for only ONE Headquarters Section.

DON'T PANIC!

YOU CAN BE that Headquarters Section - just don't let ANYTHING stand in your way.

Including your erstwhile fellow defenders.

Dead men tell no tales, after all....

DON'T PANIC! RUN!

A dilemma for Maynard's depleted defenders

Captain Giles's WYRD Force needed no second invitation. Desperate to put as much distance as possible between his remaining men and the bloody Cultists (and - allegedly - their associated plagues), he immediately withdrew on to the Station Platform itself. To his left, the courageous and still unbowed Telegraphists grumbled, but ultimately withdrew into the northern, built up area of Leominster. To reach the Station, they would have to cross the large open area of Leominster Market Square....

There was a wholly different reaction in the western suburbs. 

Some blame the alleged illegibility of the letters that reached Maynard and Eustace Spode. Others, less charitably minded, point frankly to complete illiteracy on the part of the Government commanders, or a host of other reasons - Maynard's "shell shock", Eustace Spode's "fondness for the bottle", a strange medical disease known as "Wargamers Muleishness" that was said to be highly but only locally transmissible...

Whatever.

The fact was that neither Maynard nor Eustace Spode made any move whatsoever towards Leominster Station, preferring to fight on with the remnants of their forces in their existing defensive positions around the Brewery. The inevitable result - Communist captivity - appeared to make no difference to their judgment. ("The remaining defenders will have to surrender, and this could mean a long spell in the Gulag for you....or worse!")

Captain Giles could hardly believe his luck. His forces were already in possession of Leominster Station. The Telegraphists in the northern suburbs had a lengthy distance to travel to even get close - and now the two remaining Government commands, theoretically capable of imperilling Giles' escape, had voluntarily "taken themselves out of the game". 

The centre of Leominster was suddenly filled with a high pitched grinding sound, perhaps even a whining, audible even amidst the crash of artillery. Subsequently, it appeared that this strange noise was none other than the Umpires gnashing their teeth, perhaps even ululating, as their carefully laid plans for a massive "blue on blue" mash up to end the Game came to naught....

The forces of Bromyard advance into Leominster,
lining the edge of the Market Square. The Government
defence is effectively cut in two, with Captain
Giles at the Station, and the Telegraphists in the
northern suburbs.

It was now that "El Seed" saw his opportunity for glory. While Leominster's "underground resistance" had carefully positioned a demolition truck close to the Statue of Arrowsmith, anticipating that any victorious faction would use it to pull down such a hated symbol of Government authority, El Seed had no need of it. He sent forward the (to some, strangely glowing) Armoured Worship Vehicle...

The AWV knocks down the Statue of Arrowsmith....

..and then runs over it repeatedly, grinding it into the dust.
Victory for the Bromyard Republic!
No Kings! No Bishops! No bally Commissars!

...as "The Black Arrow" steams hurriedly out of Leominster Station,
carrying only Captain Giles and his HQ Section back to Hereford
and safety. 

The Aftermath: A variety of newspapers reported that Giles stood to attention and saluted sadly as "The Black Arrow" steamed out of Leominster. Others maintained that he had waved merrily, or that his salute consisted of only an unmilitary two fingers. This is but a small illustration of his intensely controversial VBCW career following the Fall of Leominster. Captain Giles' reputation (and highly coloured account of the battle) was to be severely tested by the later arrival in Hereford, after a long and dusty march, of a furious Chief Telegraphist and his men. Having been taken prisoner and disarmed by the victorious Bromyardistas, the Telegraphists had subsequently been "accorded the honours of war" by Councillor Dribblesnot and allowed to "march free" in recognition of their "intense courage and endurance against impossible odds". When criticised for his conduct (as he frequently was, and not only by the Chief Telegraphist), Captain Giles' response was always the same: "Well, whatever you think of me, at least I can damned well read...."

And what of Giles' co-commanders, Maynard and Spode, last seen ensconced within the Leominster Brewery? Comrade Winter's Communists duly rolled up their heavy artillery to the Brewery doors, and their end was inevitable...

For those desperate to know exactly how the outcome of the Spring Big Game 2022 subsequently effected the course of the Hereford VBCW, whether Maynard and Spode survived the indignities of Communist captivity, or "El Seed" his victory party, there will shortly be a visit to that famous source of all campaign gossip, the City and County Dining and Refreshment Rooms. For everyone else (or those desperate only for more battles), it is but a short march onward in time to the Autumn Big Game 2022 ("Assault on Newquay") !

Umpires Note - many thanks to all the "Staff Photographers" - JP, Roo, Giles & Alan - for their photo contributions, and to Alan for his "background text" on Maynard's fight.

SPRING BIG GAME 2022 - LAST TRAIN FROM LEOMINSTER (PART FIVE)

In the western suburbs of Leominster, the Communist T-26 column begins to roll, supported by hordes of infantry....

Winters urges - Forward Comrades! To the Brewery!

Urgh! Yuck! The plague of cards on the table grows worse....

More Communist infantry begin to wade through the piles of clubs and diamonds

A long shot of the western table. The Communist infantry has now reached
the hedge line, with recce elements heading up the road. A third
Platoon of Communists put in a "direct assault" on the Brewery
(table, top)

Those T-26s can move fast. Trucked infantry in support.
A BUF tank is hull down at a wall corner, ready with
an enfilading shot...

As the BUF Wulhere carefully position their Anti-Tank Rifle..

Carnage in Communist ranks as HMG counterfire explodes...the tanks are in trouble...

and the supporting lorried infantry is forced to dismount hurriedly..

The BUF mount a mobile defence, falling back under immense pressure.
The "Arthur Daley" AA battery is deployed in a ground fire role..

..knocking out yet another Communist tank. But Winters' artillery is slowly
wearing down the defenders, coming close even to exploding Maynard himself...

...and there is no respite for HMG Forces from the huge numbers of Communist infantry....

It was carnage in the western suburbs, with enormous casualties on both sides. Casualties that the Communists, with their greater numbers, could afford - but not the Government. Maynard's forces were ultimately reduced to just his own HQ Section and a solitary tank, stubbornly falling back to the Brewery. Spode's forces within the Brewery had been reduced to two sections, having lost both their MMG and artillery support. Now Winters' Communists were manhandling their own heavy artillery into new firing positions..

ON TO PART SIX....

SPRING BIG GAME 2022 - LAST TRAIN FROM LEOMINSTER (PART FOUR)

 Within the eastern suburbs of Leominster, Captain Giles' WYRD Force took up defensive positions:

The sailors and marines of the Wyvern River Defence Force

while, on the right flank, Councillor Dribblesnot's forces begin the ruthless execution of their battleplan. Refusing to repeat the tactical mistake that lead to his original imprisonment by the forces of Communism, Sir Alan McGuffin's "Big Gun" (christened "Tophole 2" in honoured recollection of his original, and now destroyed, SPG) hung back in some convenient woods and began an area bombardment of the unfortunate Government telegraphists.

Meanwhile the Bromyard Armoured Brigade advanced smartly towards the Government Ammo Dump, supported by some of Bromyard's finest infantry elements, including a renegade section of the Kings Shropshire Light Infantry ("KSLI") and many fierce Afghans. Quite how the Bromyard Republic came to be supported by these warriors from the Empire's distant North West Frontier will have to be the subject of a separate Fleet Street special, for Sir Alan McGuffin rapidly discovered that, today, he was rolling hot:

Sir Alan's immensely accurate artillery strikes immediately destroyed a Public Schoolboy's
 Anti-Tank Gun, forcing the second to flee to hard cover and accept a restricted field of fire.
Here, the Telegraphists only heavy weapon, a Steam Powered Assault Gun,
receives a direct hit from Sir Alan's "Tophole 2". The plumes of steam
escaping from its ruptured boilers lead almost immediately
to its annihilating self-explosion

The immense reach of the Bromyard artillery graphically illustrated.
As the Telegraphists desperately seek cover, "Bromyard luck" is
demonstrated - with Aces High and Jokers Wild, Sir Alan proudly
displays his hand of cards.

But not quite everything goes the Bromyardistas' way - their Armoured Brigade
runs into an unexpected minefield....

with the loss of a tank and some confusion amongst the remainder.
Nevertheless, the "Big Gun" keeps firing, and the infantry will push on..

as does "El Seed"'s Platoon on the left. The farmhands take casualties from
Wyrd Force's rifle fire, but their self sacrificing manoeuvre protects the Cultists...

The Bromyard battle plan called for El Seed's untried and undergunned forces simply to "distract and tie down" Wyrd Force, thereby preventing reinforcement of the Telegraphists around the Ammo Dump. As the AWV began to bombard the Government defenders, however, it quickly became apparent that something very strange was happening...

Some witnesses reported "strange lights" surrounding the AWV, even "gobbets of ethereal fire" shooting skywards. Others, more sanguine, noticed nothing more than the sights and sounds of an ordinary tank bombardment. Some of the Government recipients of this "AWV incoming" took cover believing themselves subject to 'a usual barrage', while others swear blind that they were the subject of various plagues - flies, boils, pustules and worse. Government morale began to plummet as the red robed Cultists, still at full strength, swerved into the eastern suburbs of Leominster and straight into melee with Wyrd Force's finest:

Untested Republican Cultists v Veteran HMG Sailors.
No-one gave the lightly armed Cultists much of a chance..

..but the increasingly bloody Cultist knives rise and fall relentlessly...

...and the maniacal assault utterly devestates the Wyrd Force defenders...

Such is the power of the assault, it has even taken the roof off one of the nearby buildings.
The triumphant Cultists take the eastern suburbs, blowing an immense (and very bloody)
hole in the Government lines. WYRD Force, at long last, has been comprehensively
 out-wyrded....

ON TO PART FIVE....

SPRING BIG GAME 2022 - LAST TRAIN FROM LEOMINSTER (PART THREE)

To the west of Leominster, deep throated Communist "huzzahs!". For this "titanic battle against the forces of reaction", Comrade Colonel Professor Winters has re-taken personal field command. On this occasion, however, his men needed no "ideological encouragement" from Winters - for everyone knew that their main objective was the Leominster brewery, and the prospect of loot was too delicious:

On the right flank of the west table, Leominster Brewery

On the roof of Leominster Brewery, BUF Observers and Signallers

Within and to the rear of the Brewery, a strong garrison of veteran Blackshorts
commanded by Eustace Spode, nephew of the 7th Earl of Sidcup, Roderick Spode.

Staff Captain Maynard, North West Regional Commander of His Majesty's Forces and veteran opponent of Comrade Winters, anchored his defence line on the Leominster Brewery. To its left, he had lined up his own forces - the Wulfhere BUF, the Spanish Blue Division, the Hereford Auxiliary Reserve Division ("HARD") - to cover both Leominster itself and the lengthy approach road to the Brewery. With their notorious fondness for creating immense traffic jams, he was counting on Winters using the old Communist tactic of "driving all the armour down the approach road" to save his thinly stretched defenders.....

The Brewery Approach Road to the left, with Maynard's forces lining the hedge.

Out numbered and out gunned, Maynard makes frugal use of his available armour and AT resources

The Wulfhere BUF have had time to dig in and camouflage themselves...

Maynard's tactical gamble has worked. At the top left, a newly trained Communist brigade
of T-26 tanks begin their anticipated "long march" along the Brewery Approach Road.

Maynard's men lying in wait as the Communist tanks advance.
Note the first signs - even from the other side of Leominster -
of the malign effects of the "Shoddy Cult" -
a plague of cards infests the table.

ON TO PART FOUR...