IPMS Avon 26th Annual Show and Airfix Battles Introductory Wargame

As you may know, I have recently moved to Thornbury, a pretty little town to the north of Bristol and...I have only recently discovered...home to the annual IPMS Avon Plastic Model and Wargaming Show...which just happened to be today! My kids and I are just back from a fun afternoon wandering the three large halls full of modelling and wargaming goodies.

We also came away with a copy of the Airfix Battles Introductory Wargame...

I've had my eye on this for a while as a game that...I hope...the kids will be able to play by themselves (though my son is an old hand at beating his daddy on the wargames table, my daughter has only just turned seven...but she is desperate to get in on the action, too!) after a few practice games with me.  I shall let you know how that goes once we've had a game or two.

The main highlight, though, was I finally got to meet Matt Slade...the man who has been painting my figures for me for the past couple of years...in person at last! A real pleasure to meet him at long last. I also got the chance to say a quick hello to the Dice Bag Lady, too!

All in all, a rather fun afternoon in my new home town!

Airfix Battles The Introductory Wargame from Modiphius in 2016

For those who haven't heard the news, Modiphius in conjunction with Airfix will be releasing Airfix Battles: The Introductory Wargame in April 2016. Here's the blurb:

The Airfix Battles Introductory Set features:

• 2 double-sided maps showing the war-torn Normandy countryside to fight over.
• 2 sheets of die-cut counters featuring scenery, objectives, tanks, vehicles, guns and infantry so you can start playing immediately or better still grab your Airfix figures.
• A 16 page Rulebook with introductory rules to get you playing Airfix Battles
• A 16 page Mission book. Each mission introduces new rules leading you step by step through a series of fun narrative missions across Normandy.
• A 54 card Force Deck, each card describing a German or American squad, tank, vehicle or gun.
• A 54 card Command Deck to give orders to your forces
• 5 six-sided dice.

Whether it’s British commandos, US Marines or Germany’s Afrika Korps, Airfix’s 1/72 scale soldiers have been fighting their wars across carpets, dining tables and gardens for decades.
 
Airfix is a fondly remembered part of everyone's childhood and the company are famous for their line of injection-moulded plastic aircraft, tanks and soldiers.  The Airfix brand has been synonymous with model kits for years and now it’s back with a vengeance, with Airfix Battles bringing those adventures to life and its campaigns to a tabletop near you
 
Playable with all your existing Airfix figures and vehicles, Airfix Battles Introductory Set comes with everything you need to play exciting World War Two battles straight out of the box with the Introductory Set. 

This includes die cut cardboard counters for tanks, infantry and guns in case you don't have any figures to hand. Airfix Battles also lets you plan your army using the Force Deck. Draw the cards or select the ones you need to build an exciting army to challenge your friends.
 
Set up the battle using step-by-step instructions in the Mission book and you're ready to play. Each player has a hand of Command Cards to move and make their forces fight, bring in airstrikes or artillery support. You'll never know what your opponent is going to do next!

The game is designed to get you playing quickly, with fast and fun rules so you can play several times in an afternoon or evening with typical missions lasting from 30-60 minutes. 

Airfix Battles will be available in all good model stores & game shops from April 2016. Further releases are planned through 2016 to expand the Airfix Battles range.

And in the Summer the game will be expanded with the Collector's Edition Rulebook and Cards. Here's the blurb:

Collector’s Edition Rulebook & Card Decks. 
 
Summer 2016 will see the launch of the Airfix Battles Collector’s Edition, which introduces new rules to expand your game, as well as showing you how to move your battles from the board to wargames terrain with movement in inches or centimeters instead of squares. The book will contain fantastic photography of games in action to inspire you as well as a much bigger campaign to fight your way through. The Collector's Edition will be available in print and PDF.
 
The Airfix Battles Force Deck and Command Deck will be available as a double pack to enable commanders to purchase just the Collector's Edition book and dive in to battle. Each deck consists of 54 cards. Watch out for new Force Decks to expand your forces!

What a great idea! Sounds like this could be a perfect introduction to wargames for young 'uns...and something they could pick up and play themselves! We're certainly looking forward to learning more!

An Airfix Birthday...

My son turned 9 today.

A cliche, I know, but how quickly time flies...it really does only seem like yesterday that he was a tiny little baby that would spend many an hour sleeping on my tummy. And now he's almost as tall as my wife!

Anyway, I thought I'd share some of his birthday haul...

...that's a lot of Airfix! This will be the first time he's actually done any modelling or painting. With a bit of luck he'll be doing all mine in a few years (sorry, Matt!). 

My son's In Her Majesty's Name Company - Miller's Marauders

Here is the 1:32 Airfix IHMN company my son put together to oppose Von Brauns Wolf Soldaten. Made up from the best and bravest of various Allied regiments, I would like to introduce...Millers' Marauders!

	Pluck	FV	SV	Speed	Cost	Talents	Equipment
Captain Miller	3+	+3	+2	0	65	Leadership +3 Fearless Inspirational Tough	Lined Coat (8) Machine Gun (-1 Pluck, +3 SV)
Lieutenant Phillips	4+	+2	+2	0	54	Leadership +2 Stealthy Tough	Lined Coat (8) Arc Rifle (-2 Pluck, +1 SV)
Sergeant Scott	4+	+2	+2	0	44	Leadership +1 Tough	Lined Coat (8) Machine Gun (-1 Pluck, +3 SV) Grenades (-1 Pluck)
Marauders (x9)	5+	+2	+2	0	16		Lined Coat (8) Military Rifle (-1 Pluck, +3 SV)

Total Cost: 307

Machine Gun

+3

24”

2

-1

15

Attacks can be split between multiple targets. If fired into a group attacks all targets equally (see 3.3.3 and 3.3.6.2)

My son's In Her Majesty's Name Company - Von Braun's Wolf Soldaten

My son has put together a company of battle-hardened Germans from his Airfix 1:32 soldiers, so without further ado let me introduce...

	Pluck	FV	SV	Speed	Cost	Talents	Equipment
Von Braun (Oberst)	3+	+3	+2	0	72	Leadership +3 Terrifying Fanatic Tough	Lined Coat (8) Arc Pistol (-1 Pluck, +1 SV) Arc Generator
Schmidt (Oberleutnant)	4+	+2	+2	0	33	Leadership +1 Hunter	Lined Coat (8) Hunting Rifle (-2 Pluck, +4 SV)
Muller (Feldwebel)	4+	+2	+2	0	34	Fanatic Tough	Lined Coat (8) Machine Gun (-1 Pluck, +3 SV)
Wolf Soldaten (x9)	5+	+1	+1	0	19	Fanatic	Lined Coat (8) Military Rifle (-1 Pluck, +3 SV)

Total Cost: 310

Machine Gun

+3

24”

2

-1

15

Attacks can be split between multiple targets. If fired into a group attacks all targets equally (see 3.3.3 and 3.3.6.2)

In Her Majesty's Name with Airfix soldiers and Star Wars Command figures!

My son loved the first game we played of In Her Majesty's Name. He 'got' the rules straight away and it really fired his imagination. So I gave him a copy of the book over Christmas and he has since spent hours poring over the pages.

After a couple of days he started getting all his 1:32 Airfix soldiers and Star Wars Command figures out to start making up his own companies. He has pretty much finished a mixed Allied company with British and American Paras and some 8th Army chaps as well as a German Company mainly comprised of Infantry but with a few Fallschirmjager. He's now currently busy in his room making up some companies from his Star Wars Command figures!

I must admit I'm really happy at how much the game has grabbed him...and how quickly he's picked it up, especially the making up of his own stuff. And he's not really needed much help from me...with just a few suggestions and using the Companies I've made for IHMN as templates, he's had no trouble making up his own companies. As for weapons, armour and gadgets, he's pretty much used the existing ones in the book (with the odd tweak) but just changed the names to fit the genre better.

I really couldn't have hoped for it to go any better...