Irregular Wars Wargaming

Mark returns to 17th century Rutlandshire for a troll hunt with Devilry Afoot ! The long-abandoned plague village of Dedmere has been taken over by a pair of Trolls, who plan to sniff out the mass burial pit and grind the bones from it to make their bread. But they were interrupted by the noted antiquarian (and professional hunter) John Aubrey and his colleague Will Bunbury, who were in the area searching for a Druid temple and allowed enthusiasm to overcome caution as dusk fell. Aubrey and Bunbury are both in my Character Progression Roster and are profiled accordingly (Photo #1). John Aubrey: Scholar (Erudite, Astrologer) Flagellant. Astrologer casts are: 7,8. Equipped with: sword, holy item, lantern. Adds this time: Holy water x3. Funds in pocket 18s. William Bunbury: Goodman (Penitent, Strong) Backslider. Equipped with: blunderbuss, sword. Adds this time: silver shot x3, dog (named Ratter). Funds in pocket 5s Here is the scene of action, with the Trolls (upper L) and Hunters (l...

We return once again to our man in the Indies, Mark, for another dispatch. ***** Encouraged by the success of the Maluku Strait operation (Sep 2025) An-te Hai (Admiral of the Tribute-Bearing Fleets, Ming commander in the Indies) started a blockade of the KhiNok Islands. With the mothership Peony Pavilion parked at a convenient but hidden location he can keep one submersible on station at a time. Malakka had anticipated the Chinese move and augmented the small naval presence at the KhiNoks with some experimental aerial units which can - up to a point - spot and bomb submersibles in these clear shallow waters. The arrival of the Santa Isabella da Goa, inbound from the Moluccas laden with spices, brought matters to a head. The Ming blockading force (62 points) comprised - Zuhong Liyu (Vermilion Carp) (62) (Captain Wang Yi) Q3 C3: Ramming, Sluggish, Submersible, Unarmed, Unorthodox 3 x blinds, marking the possible positions of the submersible while submerged. The Portuguese defensive f...

Mark returns to ancient Pattayavium for some Song of Shadows and Dust ... *** The Fraternity of Bakers in Pattayavium is not a large body. In fact it is restricted to only two families, headed by the brothers Autolycus and Lysias, who are responsible for baking bread for those Helleno-Roman expats who have not gone native culinary-wise. They and their families and workers live in a close knit community near the potteries, clustered around the grain stores and large ovens which obviously are central to the business (Photo #1, looking NE). Unfortunately things are not well between the brothers. Lysias, the younger, who has always been aggressive and impulsive, has taken to heavy drinking and gambling. He is deep in debt to shady characters who have encouraged him to believe Autolycus is planning to cut him out of the trade. Things come to a head one morning around dawn, when not many civilians are yet on the streets but obviously the bakers are hard at work. Lysias shows up with a gang o...

To finish this year’s Palaeo Diet season, Mark used the Pulp variant of the rules to play a game of skulduggery, as the black hand of the Russian regime - the Okhrana secret police - tries to capture V I Lenin who is resting up at a German army camp at Bialystok on his way to the Finland Station. So, it’s April 1917 and Lenin is being conveyed by the German High Command from his exile in Switzerland, back to Russia where they hope he will further destabilise the tottering Provisional government. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Here’s an overhead view of a small German army camp outside the town of Bialystok. In Lithuania if you’re a patriot or in Poland if you’re not. It’s the dead of night … (Photo #1). The camp is guarded by a detachment of six men (Goons, commanded by Sgt Ostmann, all armed with smg). A snatch squad of five Okhrana men (Adventurers, commanded by special agent Malinovsky, all armed with pistols) will try to infiltrate, grab Lenin, and escape with him (Photo...

Continuing with his rampage through prehistory, Mark returns with another Palaeo Diet: Pulp (mis)adventure! *** The freighter Excelsior! was carrying a fusion bomb to the Europa colony when it lifted off from Suvarnabhumi at the start of its most recent voyage. Unluckily, in what is being officially described as a sequence of unforeseeable events, the weapon had to be jettisoned to allow the ship to break earth orbit and enter the aether flux. Luckily the astrogation crew got a good fix on where and when it impacted. Six months later, and the Eromanga Sea about 93+/- 0.02Mya is the focus of the search for the errant weapon. As usual in such cases the Uttlerley-Barkinge (Time-travel & landscape gardening) Corporation is leading the search, on contract from Imperial Spaceways. The approximate site has been confirmed by aerial sensing, and a recovery team is ready for insertion. Here is the official group photo of the recovery team. It comprises six divers (Gold 1-3 & Red 1-3) a...