10mm Trenches

If you have read my previous postings you may have noticed that I am keen on the RJW

A common feature of the RJW is the trench ranging from the covered concrete constructions found around Port Arthur to the shallow ditches used by both sides from the Yalu to Mukden.

I had certain criteria to be met. I wanted ...

• trenches that looked as though they had just been dug ie no time to fit planking or sandbags
  
• the trenches to be narrow - my bases are 15mm deep so anything up to 20mm would be ok
  
• variation ie straight sections, curved sections, t-juction
  

Using Google I spent a couple of weeks looking at the various trenches on offer.

Down at the Berkeley Vale club KiwiDave has a load of trenches from Ironclad Miniatures. They are meant to be 15mm but work well with his 10mm WW2 kit. They have loads of variation but were too neat and too wide (30mm) for me. I would recommend them for WW1 and later conflicts

I came across a link to Daft Casting who do a really lovely set of 10mm trenches. I especially liked the large footprint as this allowed for the ground to rise up to the trench naturally. The straight section has a couple of zigzags to give it variation. Although the sides of the trenches had been planked I was tempted to go with this range.

Another of the club members is Shaun. He runs Dreamholme which produces some very nice resin scenery. He had just painted some RJW Russians for me and I mentioned that I was looking for some trenches. A few weeks later he turns up with a set of trenches that ticks all of the boxes for me. So he managed to sneak some planks along the floor of the trench.

There are 4 types of trench - straight, curved, T and end section

The figures are all 10mm Pendraken RJW Japanese, They are based on 30mm x 15mm MDF stands which are 2mm high

The trench is very basic as I wanted it to represent hastily dug trenches

The trench is wide enough to fit 20mm bases.

The curved section is not quite 45 degrees but it allows the trench to zig-zag

Troops fit into it which is useful

The T junction works as a trench exit and as a link to a communications trench

Finally we have the end section

Here is a selection of the pieces put together

A very nice set of trench pieces suitable for a hasty defensive line.

I've just started painting them so will do another post when they are done

Shaun hasn't put these on his web-site yet and I'm not sure of the price so if you are interested then drop him an email at dreamholme at aol dot com for more information.

FWC - Battle for Ystalyfers

From: CO, 148th PaxArc Combat Group, Ystalyfers
To: PaxArc High Command, Arcadia
Date: 21-12-12

Sirs

It is my pleasure to report that the Tawe planet of Ystalyfers is now under the firm but enlightened control of PaxArc forces.

On 19-12-12 the 148th PaxArc Combat Group in conjuction with our allies, the Andaraydan Collective known as Shaun (AC/S), launched an attack on Tawe forces defending Ystalyfers

The 148th was allocated 3000 points for the operation and selected the following units

1 CO (CV9)
2 HQ (CV8)
3 FAO (CV8)
4 Recce - Buggies with Heavy Blaster
6 Regular Infantry
3 Conscript Infantry
3 Sniper Team
6 Thunderstrike SPGs
3 Thunderstrikes (Indirect mode)
2 Firemouths (Indirect mode)
1 Moridian Launcher (Indirect mode)
4 Piranha Gunships
3 Heavy Orbital Strikes

This selection was made on the basis of reports compiled by PaxArc Observers present at previous engagements involving Tawe forces.

Given the Tawe's propensity for bunkers, lazer wire, toxic ditches, water obstacles and removing every piece of cover together with their limited availability of Anti-Aircaft weapons it was decided that Piranha gunships, SPGs, Indirect artillery and Orbital Strikes from the PaxArc StarShip "FGR 3 Tamworth 0" would provide the main thrust of the attack

Our allies, the AC/S, comprised 2000 points

1 CO
2 HQ
1 Hubbries Recce
2 Andrayadas
1 Support Hubbries
1 DropPod
3 Varkator Gunships
2 Vira Gunships
6 Heavy Orbital strikes

The Tawe force of 1500 points included mortars, both direct and indirect artillery, infantry and 1 Anti-aircraft gun plus trenches, bunkers, lazer wire, normal wire and toxic ditches.

The Tawe had taken up a defensive position in the only piece of cover for several hundred miles. This region was covered in subtropical wetlands similiar to the Everglades on Terra and had been designated a Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty by the United Federation. Sadly the Tawe had vapourised everything apart from a small clump of trees leaving only swamp which they then turned into toxic ditches using Bugman's beer. The small clump of trees was converted into a fortess.

As part of our SOP the Tawe were given the opportunity to surrender which they declined.

Our attack started badly with only the command units, snipers, recce and gunships deploying. The slow moving infantry delayed the SPGs and both failed to deploy. All further attempts to deploy these force also met with failure.

Accurate mortar and artillery fire by the Tawe saw our recce units destroyed one by one. As the enemy were dug-in and concealed the snipers and FAOs were unable to target them.

Therefore the gunships were pushed forward to within spotting range which revealed the Tawe Anti-Aircraft unit. This shot down one of the gunships but was itself destroyed by the AC/S using target acquisition and auto-linked weapons.

Once the Tawe AA was neutralized our gunships proceeded to sit on top of the complex spotting the enemy for our indirect artillery and orbital strikes. The new Moridian Rocket Launcher is a wonder to behold.

The enemy position was quickly overrun with the total annihilation of troops in the fortress. Our only other loss being a sniper who was killed by walking into lazer wire.

PaxArc Eco-Recovery teams are being rushed to the area in order to save as much of the AONB as possible.

In conclusion we had a tough fight considering that the terrain and defences were extremely hostile to ground troops. With hindsight I would not have deployed the recce but would have employed our cargo helicopters to drop infantry into the fortress.

The Piranha gunships are seldom seen on the battle field but they won this one for us. When we face the Tawe on their home planet I will not hesitate to use them. I am putting forward Flight Leader Bovril for a commendation for his bravery in hunting out the enemy AA.

The 148th lost 4 Recce buggies, 1 Piranha gunship and 1 sniper.

Our allies, the AC/S, worked very well alongside us and took their fair share of casualties including recce and a gunship.

This ends my report

Group Leader F. Shedman
Commanding 148th PaxArc Combat Group

This battle was part of the War in The Berkeley Vale Galaxy - an FWC campaign run by Steve Price - I ran the PAxArc, Paul H ran the Tawe (Squats really) and the Andaraydan Collective known as Shaun was run by Shaun. Figures were mainly Dark Realm Miniatures and GW Epic

More and larger pictures can be found here


The photo of Flt Ldr Squiffy Bovril is probably copyrighted to Microsoft's Crimson Skies

Nori & Sons Pest Control - Invoice No: 23-77A-09

From:
Nori & Sons Pest Control
53 Lower Street
Khazad

To:
United Federation
The Arndale Centre
Luton

Description of job:

To provide annual service of Ancient Alien Artefact (AAA) at Grid Ref N18.05.98 E20.77.01 on the United Federation neutral planet of Compatia

The customer will be pleased to learn that the AAA was found to be in exactly the same condition as it was last year and for the previous millennia.

As in all other years the black shiny featureless surface has not incurred any erosion and all organic matter appears to wither and die within a 1 metre radius of the object.

Cleaning Operative Frank, the one with a metal plate in his head, again received transmissions from another galaxy when he stepped too close to the AAA.

We are sorry to bring it to the attention of the customer but whilst carrying out maintenance of said AAA the contractor found itself under attack from a race of cyborgs known as the Andrayada.

As per the normal terms and conditions we dug in around the AAA to await the attack. The on-site maintenance crew of 3 Warrior and 2 Berserkers teams formed a loose circle with the CO, FAO and an Anti-Aircraft battery in the centre.

The Andrayadans were surprised to find anyone else on the planet but decided to attack anyway with 4 infantry teams and a walker

As regular customers of Nori & Sons know our standard package always includes off-board artillery for those hard-to-reach places. The FAO put this to good use by killing 2 cyborg teams.

The Andrayadans pressed home their attack resulting in 2 warriors and the AA battery having their contracts terminated.

Under the contract these working conditions would normally result in Nori & Sons withdrawing off-planet but as customer satisfaction is paramount to us we decided to see it through.

Nori & Sons prides itself on having the right tools for the job and the right tool for removing
stubborn stains such as Andrayadan infantry is 2 teams of Berserkers working in concert.

Within minutes this fast acting solution had destroyed a cyborg team and the walker. At this point the remaining cyborg team fled behind a hill. There it hid in the hope that Nori & Sons would withdraw.

Due to circumstances beyond our control Nori & Sons were forced to withdraw leaving both the AAA and the planet in the hands of the Andrayadans

We look forward to continuing to do business with you.

Term:

Payment within 14 days from Date of Invoice or else
All materials remain the property of Nori & Sons until invoice is paid in full

Total Payment Due: 14,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Credits

This game was a minor affair in the Berkeley Vale 6mm FWC Campaign. KiwiDave ran the Andrayadans with 750 points. I ran the Squats as an NPC force with 500 points. I reached my break point of 3 units but managed to stay on the table by rolling my CO's CV until Turn 11. If I had stayed on til Turn 12 then the Andrayadans would have lost

More pictures from this and other games can be found here