PONY WARS / PEONY WARS (3) - YOUTUBE

     Being an occasional series on converting the classic convention game, "Pony Wars", to a VBCW variant...

It's a while since we looked at "Peony Wars", the proposed Hereford VBCW variant of the classic "Pony Wars" system as republished by Pete Berry of Baccus Miniatures, and it might be while yet until we've even got a semblance of the number of figures needed to play...

Still, now that Miss Smythe of the Ludlow VBCW Research Centre has discovered "this YouTube thingy" and gone all multi-media, here are a couple of entertaining YouTube videos of Pony Wars games "in action", run by a friendly bunch of Maryland colonials d'un certain age ("Bill's History & Wargame World"): LINK HERE for a first game and LINK HERE AGAIN for the second game. Inspiration for Terrain Tsars and anyone wanting a good view of this classic 15mm convention game....

2 sections  - or 20 figures - of Presteigne Communist Cavalry, who take the place
of "Red Indians" as Pony Wars is converted to Peony Wars. Perry ACW Cavalry
converted with PSC & Warlord plastic WW2 Soviet heads.

Only 280 more Communist Cavalry to go!

PS. It's well worth rummaging around Bill's History & Wargame World, e.g there's a very lovely Rorke's Drift game in 54mm toy soldier style in a number of parts, starting HERE

PPS. Pete Berry's YouTube Introduction to the re-published Pony Wars rules is ALSO HERE

GENERAL GEORGE S. PATTON - THE UNTOLD STORY

In the summer of 1938, George S. Patton was a little known and deeply frustrated Colonel in the United States Army, commanding the 5th Cavalry Regiment at Fort Clark, Texas. While Patton was convinced of his own "unconventional" ideas on armoured warfare, Fort Clark was "the army's ultimate backwater, a place where old cavalry soldiers were sent to finish out their careers in peace and quiet" (D'Este, p366). 

Or so Patton's regular biographers (including the best of them, Carlo D'Este's "Patton - A Genius for War") would have it. While D'Este does record the powerful influence upon Patton of General Sir Edmund Allenby, Liberator of Jerusalem, whom he had met during the First World War:

"....Allenby had told Patton that 'for every Napoleon, Alexander, and Jesus Christ that made roles of [sic] history, there were several born. Only the lucky ones made it to the summit. He felt that in every age and time, men were born ready to serve their country and their God, but sometimes were not needed; you had to be at the right place at the right time - you had to be lucky...."

and acknowledges the depression and even despair Patton felt in 1938 at the prospect of not being involved in a major war during his active career, astonishingly to some - and notwithstanding recently discovered  (if somewhat grainy) photographic evidence - there is no mention of George S. Patton's involvement in the Hereford VBCW:

'General' George S. Patton on the road from Bromyard to Leominster, 1938 - an "Armoured Legend"

Whether Patton's presence in Herefordshire during 1938 was as a formal USA attache with the permission of General Marshall, or merely a spot of "officially unathorised leave" from his role with the 5th Cavalry, may still be a matter of academic argument. What is certain, however, is that Patton moved from a position of "observer" to "combatant" very quickly after his arrival "in County", and then reportedly with great relish - obtaining a tank from the well known VBCW "military suppliers to the gentry", Trumper and Shellgrove of New Bond Street (hence, a "TraSh Tank"), and promoting himself to "General" immediately.

As an American, Patton was obliged to retain a formal independence from any of the contending factions. However, it was always clear that Patton could never fight with the Royalists nor Albertines ("ain't no goddam patriotic American ever fought for an English King"), nor the BUF ("goddam Nazis"), and his views on the Russian backed Presteigne Communist Front were pretty much unprintable (but here goes anyway):

Slightly by default, therefore, the God-fearing Patton's usual role within the Herefordshire VBCW was as an ally of the Anglicans, and even more so as a "Senior Armoured Adviser" to the newly founded Independent Democratic Republic of Bromyard ("Goddam politics. Well, they got Democrats, see, and Republicans. Just like back in Washington, yessir..."). It is reported that Patton formed a particular friendship with Sir Alan McGuffin, Chairman of the Herefordshire Golf Club and enthusiastic proponent of the Bromyard Armoured Brigade, even finding time to learn the rudiments of golf in Sir Alan's company.

Why then has Patton's experience in the Herefordshire VBCW clearly been covered up? A favoured explanation is that Patton's subsequent rise to prominence - as a result of the Tennesee, Louisana and Carolina Armoured Manoeuvres of 1941 - had to be patriotically portrayed as a product of American genius, rather than accepted as part of Patton's experience of armoured warfare during the Hereford VBCW (and heavy borrowing from the armoured theories of the Very British Sir Alan McGuffin):

Patton during the 1941 Armoured Manoeuvres

The U.S. Army Publicity Machine gears up in Life Magazine, July 1941.
There is no mention of the Herefordshire VBCW within the article on Patton.

Thankfully, future posts on this blog will detail Patton's experiences in the VBCW, and thereby explode the many decades old conspiracy of silence:

 

Note: General George S. Patton and his "Trash" Tank constitute Umpire Clive's entry for the Modelling Challenge 2022 ("Armoured Legends") and is therefore playable as a "Free Umpire Bonus" at the Spring Big Game 2023!

SYLVIA SYMS RIP

A sad post to record the passing on Friday of Sylvia Syms, the luminous actress best known for her role as nurse Diana Murdoch in "Ice Cold in Alex" (1958):

Sylvia Syms (1934 - 2023)

"Ice Cold in Alex" is one of a very select group of movies - including such greats as "Colditz", "Went the Day Well", "The Dam Busters", "Mrs Miniver", "Brief Encounter", "633 Squadron" etc. - that must not only count as most VBCW wargamers' favourites, but also - with a cast including John Mills and Harry Andrews - as the quintessence of Very Britishness. 

LtoR Harry Andrews, Anthony Quayle, Sylvia Syms, John Mills - "Ice Cold in Alex".

YouTube Links - RESTORED TRAILER; MOST FAMOUS SCENE

ESPECIALLY FOR ROO.........PERRY BROTHERS WARGAMES ROOM - LITTLE WARS TV

We interrupt our flow of really important posts relating to the Spring Big Game 2023 in order to gladden the heart of Campaign Co-Ordinator/Terrain Tsar (and hopeless Perry Brothers fanboy), Umpire Roo. And our wider global audience too, of course....

Anyway, here's the EPIC GAME ROOM Link : a virtual tour of the Perry Brothers own wargames room! Lots of beautifully painted 28mm figures and terrain, plus Americans confused by Ye Olde English Pubs! Enjoy!

PS. Long term followers of the Hereford1938 VBCW Blog will know that we enjoy occasionally hunting down "free but quality" wargame resources on the web (usually old wargame magazine collections) - all gathered together under the "Library" label to the right. Being stuck in 1938, all the resources so far have been on paper - but now there is this YouTube thingy. The Perry Brothers Wargames Room link is part of the Little Wars TV Channel, which hosts a huge variety of free programmes about all sorts of wargames and wargame topics, and is well worth a browse (and you can always join the 65,000 other wargamers who subscribe). So we're filing this under "Library" and are on the hunt for other useful YouTube Channels to recommend (please leave a comment if you already have a favourite). Miss Smythe, the long serving Librarian of the Ludlow VBCW Research Archive, has now been promoted to "Curator" and gone all multi-media....

Miss Smythe - who appeared in the famous "Hotel Paradise" during the late 1930s
under the stage name "Ruth Reid", before joining the Ludlow VBCW
 Research Archive post war, has now gone all multi-media.
Carreras Cigarette Card, photo Murray Korman.

MODELLING CHALLENGE 2023 - TECHNICALS !

We're a long way from Hereford 1938, Dorothy.....but anyone with an interest in the African Wars of the 1960s - 1990s or the Middle East Wars from the 1970s to the present (or indeed anyone with a passing interest and a television) will be only too aware of that favourite "warlord military vehicle" - the "Technical".

A typical "Technical" - Toyota with AA weapon.

Strictly, a "Technical" is a "type of improvised fighting vehicle, typically a civilian or military non-combat vehicle, modified to provide an offensive capability similar to a military gun truck". Apparently "Technicals" obtained their name as a euphemism - unable to fund the purchase of offensive weaponry, Western Nations (or others in a similar PR bind) provided "Technical Assistance Grants" instead, which were promptly re-cycled into the purchase (notoriously) of that most reliable of gun carriages, the Toyota Hilux:

Spoof advert for the Toyota Hilux

But of course, as with so many military innovations, "the Technical" originated in the Hereford VBCW. The only valid historical argument is which faction thought of the idea first:

"Technicals" produced by the Presteigne Motor Works ("PMW 1.5 ton trucks")
with Oerlikon 20mm conversions. Part of the new "Shock Armies" raised by Comrade Colonel Professor Winters, with more PMW conversions on the way, including HMGs and AT Cannon.
(Troops - 28mm Plastic Soldier Company Soviets)

Herefordshire Police "Technicals" in the background - Rolls Royces
with 20mm Vickers Naval pom-poms. (Police Infantry Section in foreground,
Lledo plastics; Rolls Royces Lledo, drivers/gunners Redoubt Colonial British)

And so on to the Modelling Challenge 2023 - and yes, this time, it's "build a fully crewed and armed Technical" (or two)!

Now, it's impossible to go "cheap plastic tank/boat/plane/toy soldier" hunting on Ebay (as we've done these last few years for previous Modelling Challenges) without picking up along the way a horde of unwanted out of scale plastic jeeps. They tend to get thrown into "joblots" with total abandon, being one of the favourite "Army Men" type vehicles of the last few decades. And thus we can present one of the cruddiest collections of down at heel, malformed, cheepy cheep and frankly juvenile "plastic models" ever to grace a Modelling Challenge - but they're FREE...

The Jeep  PMW 1.5 ton truck garage park. Although superficially similar, there are many differences;
some have footings for guns in the rear, some rounded bonnets and some flat, some longer, some wider,
some with decent front seats and some with just malformed "buckets". But all of them are completely "out of scale" for any kind of Jeep. Choose carefully, chaps!

And yes, we know that the actual Jeep didn't go into production until 1941, and then in the USA, rather than Herefordshire. But such time restrictions clearly don't apply to its forerunner, the famous PMW 1.5 ton truck, which was being churned out in numbers in Presteigne from 1938 onwards. Unfortunately for Comrade Colonel Professor Winters and his Communist forces, and such was the need for 'convertible currency' (or even a living wage) in Presteigne, as many trucks were going out the back of the factory as the front...

Hence, any faction (or any independent) can legitimately travel around in a suitably painted "PMW 1.5 tonner." Ideally, of course, its more "Jeep like" features might be disguised by camouflage, spare wheel or tarpaulin additions (just in case any American might get the wrong idea), but that's entirely up to the individual modeller.

And thus to the the usual technical rules of the Modelling Challenge (which may or may not be adhered to), special points being awarded (apart from painting and modelling brilliance, obviously) for:

• snazzy 1930s three colour camouflage schemes (any three colours);
• eccentricity;
• Herefordshire connections, real or persuasively imagined;
• a fun backstory to your PMW 1.5 ton crew (and weapon);
• a truck mounted weapon just the right side of ludicrousness (see the Hilux ad above);
• faction specific or a new introduction wholly independent of established factions;
• anything that makes the Umpires quietly giggle.

So - can you use your "cheep plastic Jeep" model (or models, there may be enough for two each for some) to produce a VBCW Technical with added crew and "truck mounted weapon"? Or indeed anything that looks even vaguely roadworthy? Collect at the Spring Big Game 2023 and have a go - all finished products can be played as a FREE "Umpires' Bonus" addition to your usual VBCW Forces for the Autumn Big Game 2023! Hurrah!

PS. For previous Modelling Challenges and their results, see the "Modelling Challenge" annual labels to the right.....

CORPORATE GUARD (5) - SIR CHARLES TITE-WADDE, Bt.

And enter "The Great Commander" of the Collective Corporate Guard, none other than Sir Charles Tite-Wadde, Bt, Birmingham screw maker and night club owner. Will the Defence of Cadbury's Marlbrook make him a VBCW hero? Or consign him to history as a (possibly very dead) VBCW zero? Sir Charles makes sure that his Silver Ghost's engine is running.......

Sir Charles surveys the scene from a suitably grand position. His chauffeur and Rolls Royce
Silver Ghost (Matchbox) await, as does his bodyguards ("Knuckles" and "Fingers").
Chauffeur unknown WW1 driver, all other figures Heroclix.

CORPORATE GUARD (4) - FYFFES' MOTOR GUARD & AT GUNS

Shortly after the arrival of the Oxo Brand Guardians, the forces of the Collective Corporate Guard are further bolstered by elements of the Fyffes' Motor Guard:

A tank and Self Propelled "Big Gun"
Fyffes have clearly been part of the "Joint Purchasing Commission", too -
the tank and SPG are identical in type to the Cadbury's models already seen.

Captain "Banana" Splitte boldly leads a section of Fyffes Motor Guard from their trucks.
Gripping Beast WW1 infantry, uniforms dyed yellow with pale blue accoutrements.
Important to keep to the "corporate colours". Trucks Lledo.

A Fyffes Mortar & Spotter (Reiver & Empress WW1 figures)
with the universally reviled Fyffes "Singing Mascot".

Happy co-operation within the Collective Corporate Guard.
Two AT Guns from Cadbury's and Fyffes' act as one battery.
(Matchbox diecast with 'bodged' new barrels)