Struggle for Vani - UPDATED

I have just completed a major post update for the Struggle for Vani game. Lots more game info thanks to Richard Crawley supplying me with his scenario background etc. Picture descriptions have been updated in line with new info. Please have a look at the most recent events in war torn Andreivia.

http://atomicrenegade.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/christmas-wargame-struggle-for-vani.html

Happy New Year

Richard P

Struggle for Vani

December 27th saw me head over the Peak District to Richard Crawley's house in Storrs for a Christmas Wargame. The game was set in Andreivia and involved a power struggle between different Andreivian Armenian factions for control of the self declared capital of the Andreivian Armenian Republic after the capture of Serj Benkian by the 101st US Airborne in the Andreivian capital Tcherbevan in an earlier game.

Many thanks to Richard Crawley for the invite and everyone had a great days gaming.

Some pictures from the game. For more pictures please take a look here http://atomicrenegade.blogspot.co.uk/

On The Workbench - The Rail Yard

On December 27th I'll be running a game set in downtown Vani.  Vani is the capital of the self-declared Andreivian Armenian Republic.  Some of the action will take place around the goods station which has been taken over as the HQ of the United Nations Monitoring Mission.

Today I made considerable progress on laying down some tracks...

Track-laying in progress.

The base is an off-cut of MDF.  It fits alongside my existing city board.  I textured it by painting it with exterior masonry paint and then over over-painted in deliberately patchy grey acrylic.  The tracks were then stuck down with a No-More-Nails type adhesive.

The shot above was taken just before I started adding stone chippings as ballast.  This was tipped roughly into place with a spatula and then coaxed into the right position with a paintbrush.  Finally I dripped on a mixture of PVA and water with a little washing up liquid added to help it flow.  Capillary action carries the adhesive through the stones and binds them together.

The shot below shows a possible layout with my warehouse as the Goods Station.

The ballast seems to have adhered quite well.  Close up (below) it's a bit messy but a little washing and dry brushing will help considerably.  The wooded level crossings need painting to tone down the coffee stirrers from which they are made.

Old Andreivia

I have always wanted to create an Old Quarter for Tcherbevan that would be situated just off the square. It would have narrow streets, small shops, bars and cafes. Booksellers and all types of merchants selling their goods. So I decided to make a start with some small shops.

WIP - Row of 4 Shops.

I think I have got the shop signs right. I will consult the Oracle of Andreivia himself just to check. The shop on the left is supposed to read Coffee Shop and the one on the right is 'Black Sea Books'. Fourth shop yet to be decided.

Thanks for looking.

ANDREIVIAN ARMOUR - Part One

The Andreivia Armed Forces Minister today announced that due to the escalating conflict in the country the army would be reinforcing its existing forces with armoured vehicles that have been held in storage. Firstly 10 JSII tanks will undergo an immediate upgrade at the Military Engineering Works situated next to the Dvimin Military Academy and should be available for deployment within a fortnight.

10 Andreivian JSII's before the Upgrade Programme which will bring them up to JSII-ID Standard

Rare Sighting of DSM-34 SP AA Vehicle

A rare sighting of the T34 AA conversion on the streets of Tcherbevan known as the DSM-34 SP AA vehicle in Andreivian service.

New Scenery

I have a couple of Andreivia games planned.  Here's a new piece of scenery for one of them....

The Oracle Speaks

Richard Phillips has taken to referring to me as the Oracle of Andreivia.  This, it seems to me is only fitting.  What's the point in having your own country if you can't enjoy ultimate executive power there?  So I thought I'd pass a few comments on some of the toys we saw at Crisis Point IV and particularly some of Ian's contributions.

First up, an apology to Ian.  He suggested a couple of time that he'd like the Andreivians to have Chieftains and T-80s, neither of which really seemed, well ... right, to be honest.  T-80s represent the latest military technology for the Russians in the early 1990s and I don't see them handing them over to the notoriously independent-minded Andreivians.  Likewise, I can't see the Brits selling Chieftains to a communist regime. So for now I think we'll stick to the known T-55s, T-62s, Type-61s and JS-IIIs (as well as left-over T-34/85 with some of the reservists).

Where I do agree with Ian is that Andreivians definitely have a number of locally produced vehicles on adapted T-34 chassis.  A few blurred shots of them can be found in the background of recent news coverage:

This T-34-derived APC is known as the DKM-34
to the Andreivian Army.

The DH-34 armoured howitzer system mounts
a 122mm gun on a T-34 chassis.

Sadly, the news reports don't seem to have capture a picture of the DSM-34 SP AA vehicle.

Also definitely in Andreivian Army service is the Khmali armoured car seen her in the background as a Mujaheddin fires on NATO troops.  The Khmali mates a Scimitar turret to the chassis of a WW2-era Humber armoured car.  Quite how the Andreivians managed to source these on the world arms market is something of a mystery....

Links to Andreivia Battle Reports

This is the festival of links to reports of past Andreivia games.  I'll continue to refresh it as new games are played and reports are posted.

Return to Tcherbevan

http://thelandofcounterpane.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/crisis-point-2015-day-one.html

http://thelandofcounterpane.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/crisis-point-2015-day-two.html

http://thelandofcounterpane.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/crisis-point-2015-more-day-two-pics.html

http://redstorm2016.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/crisis-point-iv-return-to-andreivia.html

http://redstorm2016.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/crisis-point-iv-return-to-andreivia_30.html

http://redstorm2016.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/crisis-point-iv-return-to-andreivia_31.html

http://redstorm2016.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/crisis-point-iv-return-to-andreivia_73.html

http://sedimentswargameblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/crisis-point-2015.html


Battle For Tcherbevan

http://redstorm2016.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/crisis-point-3-pictures-part-one.html

http://redstorm2016.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/crisis-point-pictures-part-two.html

http://redstorm2016.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/crisis-point-pictures-part-three.html

http://thelandofcounterpane.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/battle-for-tcherbevan-day-one.html

http://thelandofcounterpane.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/more-of-crisis-point-iii.html

http://thelandofcounterpane.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/battle-for-tcherbevan-cast-and-crew-list.html

http://russellphillips.wordpress.com/2014/04/14/battle-for-tcherbevan-crisis-point-iii/

Practice Game

http://thelandofcounterpane.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/a-week-to-go.html

SAS in the Southern Hills

http://thelandofcounterpane.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/holiday-gaming-part-4-arc-of-fire-again.html

Street-fighting in Tcherbevan

http://thelandofcounterpane.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/holiday-gaming-part-1-arc-of-fire.html

Spetsnaz at Tcherbevan

http://andreivian-tales.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/spetsnaz-seize-tcherbavan-airport.html

Hill 154

http://andreivian-tales.blogspot.co.uk/2009/02/battle-for-hill-154.html

http://andreivian-tales.blogspot.co.uk/2009/02/hill-154-fighting-first-pictures.html

http://andreivian-tales.blogspot.co.uk/2009/02/hill-154-andreivian-turk-account.html

Tuzkhur Valley

http://andreivian-tales.blogspot.co.uk/2008/07/first-reactions.html

http://willwarweb.blogspot.co.uk/2008/07/andreivian-victory.html

That Turkish Workshop

Here are some shots of the finished workshop.  Click to embiggen.

Matrix Game Turn 2 Summary

After Turn 1 the Andreivian Armenians had gained excellent intelligence about Russian deployments at the airport.  The Russians had landed Naval Infantry at Mdinar but had lost two major vessels in an accident off-shore.

In recent days the Andreivian Armenians have been increasing their Anti-Yeltsin rhetoric and calling for volunteers from the Armenian diaspora but as yet this doesn’t seem to have borne fruit.  Meanwhile there is evidence that strong pro-Armenian propaganda from the Russians is causing some Armenian militia leaders to question the anti-Russian policy of Serj Benkian.

The Andreivian Government published some photographs purporting to show the aftermath of atrocities by Andreivian Turks against the Russians.  The authenticity of these pictures has been widely questioned and they don’t seem to have positively swayed world opinion.

The Government’s photographs may even have had a negative result.  Turkey has so far not deployed troops across the border other than to secure the area around the Dagras Hills radar post  (see our game at Hammerhead in 2009).  She has, however, now significantly increased her strength in the border zone.

Anxious that the presence of Turkish troops on the ground in Andreivia would put NATO’s even-handed stance in question, the western alliance has rushed more British and Italian forces to the region.  AFP reports that a small unit of Italian Special Forces has been deployed to Tcherbevan.