All posts by Jim

Club Reopen

The Wessex Wargamers Winchester club is now open again, with club nights every Tuesday from 7pm to 11pm at Badger Farm Community Centre next to Sainsburys. The community centre itself is still closed, so on arrival please ring the doorbell to be let in.

The usual precautions for Covid-19 apply.

Please note that the wearing of a face mask or visor is mandatory, unless you are exempt for medical reasons.

As always, games will be arranged via the club Groups.IO forum:

wessexwargamerswinchester@groups.io | Home

Black Powder Napoleonic Big Battles

Gary and Laurent have been busy painting hundreds of 28mm Napoleonic infantry, cavalry and artillery models for the 100 Days campaign. What a splendid job too! There will be some big battles when the club re-opens, so something spectacular to enjoy.

Gary’s British Thin Red Line advances to meet Laurent’s French Old Guard column…allez les Bleus!

Jet KNights of the SKY!

The club collaborative lockdown project is a modern version of our popular multiplayer WW1 air warfare rules – Knights of the Sky – set in a ‘Cold War Gone Hot ‘1980’s Europe. The rules are currently being developed and play tested, with a variety of Warsaw Pact and NATO aircraft data sheets already created. The game will use 1/144th scale model aircraft, lightweight extendable magnetic flight stands and our Hexon terrain tiles. If all goes according to plan, it should be taking off whenever the current lockdown ends…..!

RULE OF SIX RESTRICTIONS

The recent Rule of Six Covid-19 restrictions mean that we have had to limit the number of players that can attend on a club evening to a maximum of twelve people, in two separated ‘bubbles’ of up to six.

The club room will be divided into two separate sections, each of which will be isolated from the other by a sliding partition, with separate exits to prevent contact between the two ‘bubbles’. This means that we can run games in multiples of two, three or four, with a maximum size of six players.

So, for example, one half of the club room in a bubble might have a six person multiplayer game of Cruel Seas, while there could be three tables of two, or two tables of three or even one table of two and a four player game in the other half of the room. The two halves of the room are not the same size, however, so we cannot have six games of two running at the same time.

Obviously, this means that you MUST pre-arrange games in advance and not just turn up on the off chance of joining in. All games will be arranged via the club Group IO forum, where you can either advertise a game you wish to run or ask to join a game on offer. All tables MUST be booked in advance via the club table booking system on the website.

If you do book a table but then have to cancel, please let Andy or Alan know so that they can offer the space to someone else or avoid having to set up tables unnecessarily. If you are not sure if there is sufficient space for you to fit a table in, please ask via the club forum to double check.

In addition, the wearing of masks is mandatory whilst attending the club night. If you are exempt from wearing a mask for health reasons, it would be acceptable to wear a visor instead.

Social Distancing must be observed during club evenings.

All tables and chairs must be wiped down before and after each session. If you are bringing terrain or figures to use, you must ensure that they are sterilised before you bring them to the club. Alternatively, if your opponents have their own figures, you may wish to avoid sharing by just handling your own models. All club terrain will be quarantined between sessions to avoid contamination.

If any player from a ‘bubble’ develops Covid-19 symptoms or tests positive for Covid-19 they MUST inform the other players from their group immediately.

If we all stick to the rules, we can still enjoy some wargaming!

CLUB SUSPENDED

Due to the Covid-19 Coronavirus situation, the club has been suspended for the immediate future, but will re-start as soon as possible. In the meantime, we are all finding out a bit more about solo wargaming!

Bag the Hun

This week there’s a game of Bag the Hun 2 over the Bay of the Seine in March 1942. No 129 ‘Mysore’ Squadron RAF will be leaning into France and taking the fight to 5/JG2 over Le Havre. Tally Ho!

What a Tanker!

Last week we played another game of What a Tanker! with Soviet T34/42’s against German Panzer Mark IV’s. It all went very well for Ivan and Svetlana but Hans and Rudi had a very bad day out. Za Rodina!

Knights of the Sky

This week at the club, Andy wasn’t shot down and probably won an Iron Cross. His Junkers did end up looking like a colander though. Everyone else managed to escape in tatters with various bits falling off, except for Colin’s Camel, which fell to the guns of Caesar’s Albatros. There will be more WW1 dogfighting action next year! Tally Ho!