CDS AAR: Surf's Up #09: AirCav

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Russell Smith posted some great pictures from a recent game of Charlie Don’t Surf onto the CDS Facebook group.

Check them out below:

You can find lots more CDS AARs here.

40% off Sale from Mini Warfare

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Some of you may remember that back in April I mentioned a company called Mini Warfare, based in China, who do some great 15mm mdf Vietnam style huts. The post was at:

https://www.vislardica.com/blog/2019/4/9/15mm-bamboo-houses-from-miniwarfare

Good news for all: as Frank is busy preparing to launch his new range, he’s running a 40%-off clearance sale on his old range. Well worth taking advantage if you need some far eastern huts.

Website is here: Mini Warfare

CDS AAR: Operation Frontier

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Charles Eckart has sent through a nice little Charlie Don't Surf! after action report. 

Here we see the US carrying out a Search & Destroy mission: a company of 173 Brigade infantry reinforced by three ACAV tracks and three M48A3 tanks searches for the newly arrived NVA 95B regiment that is trying to establish a base in South Viet Nam near the Cambodian border.

It is an unusual game, in that the PAVN forces are strong enough to put up a semi-conventional fight combined with guerrilla tactics. 

Click on the pic below to see all:

Salute 2016

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Yes, yes, I know: another post-Salute post to join the thousands already floating around the ether!

Well this one is just a quickie, focusing not so  much on the event itself* but on some of the games on show: specifically their terrain.

Terrain isn't really my thing: I'm getting better, but still feel my efforts are weighted towards my figures rather than the earth on which they stand. 

There were three tabletops that I would really, really like to have had the opportunity to get my figures onto:

First up was a terrific Vietnam set-up. Wrong scale, being 28mm, but absolutely lovely:

Then there was the sci-fi Hammers Slammers 15mm sci-fi set up. I was definitely working out whether this one would fit onto my tables at home. It would, by the way, so if the owner ever gets bored of it and needs more space, I will quite happily give it a very good home! 

And finally the sci-fi set-up from Critical Mass Games was great as well: 

Three amazing tables that really inspire.

*Actually I thought Salute was quite good this year.

I had a great journey in: I drove and didn't encounter any of the roadworks that have blighted previous years' journeys...it's almost as if they have finally got that area sorted out road-wise. The £15 for all day parking was a bit steep, but at least the machines were accepting credit cards instead of demanding two fistfuls of coins to satisfy them.

I arrived about 10.15 without a ticket. Walked straight up to the ticket booth and bought one, no queue. Got myself a sandwich and a coffee, ate them, then walked straight in to the show with no delay at all. Another amazing improvement on years gone by.

I thought the show was busier than last year. Still the same horrid floor and dull lighting, but I can put up with them: the eyes soon adjust and there's plenty of places to sit down.

I noticed that there seemed to be a lot of new, teeny-weeny traders as well as the expected big ones. That bodes well for the hobby: lots of new trader blood coming in. I understand that a couple of the massive stands (GW, or a derivative thereof) were collection-only...and that they seemed to be the ones with the queues. In all, however, a good mix, and I was able to find some decal-softener.

Good lunchtime drinks at the Fox with some of the Lardies: some of whom seemed to have led very sheltered lives, but I digress...

I ended up spending far too much money, as per usual, and on a real mix of things. Some Battlefront pre-painted terrain from Team Yankee; some trees; a hill; some of Battlefront's new Pacific-theatre Japanese tanks; some more Israelis; decal-softener; and a few sci-fi bits and pieces. A good haul that will doubtless be on show here at some stage in the future.

One thing I did notice that was different to the last few years: more BO! Maybe because it seemed busier visitors-wise this year, but there were a couple of occasions when I caught a full blast of sweaty wargamer: not very nice and, as I said, unusual compared to previous years. 

In all, a good Salute this year. 

 

CDS AAR: CDS at Call to Arms 2015

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Last week, I mentioned Dan Wade's superb blog Wade's World of Wargaming. Well, last year, Dan put on a Vietnam demo game at Call to Arms using Charlie Don't Surf!  and a mash-up of a couple of scenarios from the CDS scenario pack, Surf's Up!

Dan reported on the demo game, and how he later played it through to a conclusion at home, over a series of blog posts which (and I hope he doesn't mind) that I have combined into one glorious battle report.

Click on the pic below to see his superb terrain and figures:

CDS AAR: Tank Only Action

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Dan Wade writes a great wargaming blog called Wade's World of Wargaming. There are loads of great posts and great pictures showing off Dan's collection of beautifully painted figures and terrain.

One of Dan's particular interest is Vietnam, so here's a very quick pic-only AAR from the period which I hope he doesn't mind me reproducing here. The game features a bit of tank-only action: click on the pic below to see all...

CDS AAR: Playing the Beanball

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Another great Charie Don't Surf  battle report from Penfold, this one using scenario #06: Playing the Beanball from the Surf's Up scenario pack.

Here the Communist forces learn an important lesson about playing as insurgents rather than playing as regulars...

Click on the Surf's Up cover, below, to see all:

 

CDS AAR: The Great Rice Hunt

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Here's a battle report for Charlie Don't Surf from 2011, trawled from what looks like a bit of a defunct blog: the Tao of Lard.

It's a couple of reports from 2011 covering The Great Rice Hunt: the first scenario from the Surf's Up scenario book. Click on the pic below to see all:

Incidentally, I would just like to add that it's worth noting that blogs are hard work to maintain. Even if 'real life' doesn't get in the way, it's hard to keep posting day after day or even week after week or month after month.

That's one of the reasons for this site: it's become an archive of writings about the TooFatLardies' company-level rules from all over the place, and that to such an extent that more and more people are sending me their AARs direct.

I do always try and contact people before copying their material here...but so many blogs have no way of directly contacting the owner anywhere on view, and I don't want to ask via a comment for all to see: just too embarrassing. So I hope in this instance the blog owner doesn't mind me resurrecting his content in this way. My contact details are on the left if needed.  

French Indochina AAR: Ambush in Tonkin

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A bit of a change this time: an AAR from the Stipsicz Hussars with an encounter set in French Indochina in 1951.

The game uses IABSM rather than CDS, perhaps appropriate given the period, and features a huge 6m table. A French column begins the game at either end, and heads towards a Point d'Appui in the middle. Needless to say, neither column nor PA escapes the attention of the Vietminh.

Click on the pic below to see all.

CDS: Vietnamese Villagers

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A short time ago, I posted pictures of the sampans that I'd painted from the Battlefront NVA Local Resistance boxed set.

I bought the box really to get the sampans, but they came with twelve Vietnamese villager figures that I thought I might as well paint up as well.

These are actually really nice figures: they have a certain animation that not only makes them a pleasure to paint but that look good on the tabletop too. One teeny-weeny word of caution: they are quite delicately built, these Vietnamese types, so the figures can be bent at the ankle very easily. It's not a problem, I hasten to add, but they are slightly less robust than a standard Battlefront mannikin, and I'd hate anyone to break one accidentally.

Here they are:

I really like the chaps in the paddy field (on the left, up to their ankles); the cahps holding the bundles of vegetation up front, centre; and the two women carrying babies/small children.

A nice set that will certainly help 'dress' the battlefield...or represent VC in disguise of course.