From JohnB: 5th level of the Abyss - Wrath or the Fury of Artillery (103 points)

My journey this year continues to be sluggish although again AHPC15 has got me to parts of my hobby I have failed to reach previously. This time it is WW2 artillery which has not figured in decades.

Back in the restricted Covid times I was ever present in charity shops tied to walking as much as possible and just getting out. The net result - I bought a lot of books mostly on military history. Wargames don't really figure in these shops book sales so imagine my surprise when one day I walked past the window of the Amnesty International Bookshop in York to see a wargames book on display. It was being sold as a vintage item. I bought it simply because I had not seen a wargames book in years in these charity bookshops. Then again Charles Grant the author was always worth at least a look and the book in question was his meccano magazine articles of the sixties packaged in book form in the seventies. By the time it was published the world had moved on - colour print magazine articles about the American War of Independence is what I remember from those times not to mention Dungeons and Dragons.......

This book was very very old school but equally simple in its presentation. And that simplicity as I flicked through the book was what caugnt my eye. I bought it and pretty quickly decided that this could be my solution to a problem I had. The problem was I wanted to revisit WW2 wargames but neither through skirmish or gamey (too fat lardies) rules or attempts at scale accuracy (drives you to 1/300 or board games...). I wanted the sixties compromise - WW2 on a traditional dining room table - so roughly 5x3 or 6x4 feet max. or 1.5 to 1.8m x 0.9/1.2m.

The book delivered this but I did not - despite acruing a lot of hard ware. Even now I have not progressed this project to anything like my original idea. I have it in parts.

Part of the problem was CSGrant opted for late war kit while I managed to hijack the whole thing into an exploration of the 1930's era. I also wanted it to be fantasy as in - you get the kit but not the countries/political back story. So I had men in adrian helmets or italian helmets and green/ brown uniforms only. So no Germans at all.

Initially I actually opted for Russians v USA using PSC 1/72 figures but again although they could pass for early war characters they somehow still looked too late war to my eye.

So this a long introduction to some artillery - anti tank guns to be specific.

There is a British bren carrier and 6 pounder AT gun - the vintage Airfix model no less.

There are two Hotchkiss 37mm AT guns with Polish gunners from the "First to Fight" range.

 As regards the Abyss journey I think that when any artillery opens up it will be wrathful to hear and experience. So I would claim 20 points for this level. I am quite pleased I now have at last some AT guns, given I seem to have acquired a lot of AFV's!. Charles Grant advised a fantasy approach to collecting - in his case both sides used german halftracks for infantry transport - he pitched russians v germans or rather red v black armies.

My forces will occupy FAUXTERRE - my fake world of fantasy history and in this case its FAUXTERRE1930. The beauty is you can deploy your favorite models and figures in your own organisations and your chosen backstory and none of it can be fact checked! Now where are those weird tractors for the Hotchkiss AT battery..........

Points wise for the figures and guns - they are 20mm and add up as follows:   

Polish AT Gun battery 

    8 gunners @ 4pts = 32 

    2 37mm Hotchkiss AT Guns @ 8pts = 16 

British AT Gun 

    3 gunners @ 4pts = 12 

    1 6pdr AT Gun @ 8pts = 8 

    1 Bren Carrier @ 15pts = 15 

Abyss Level = Wrath = 20pts 

Grand Total 103pts 

What a great nostalgic post, John! Any wargamer of a certain age must remember the early work by Charles Grant, surely! For me it was his Napoleonic Wargaming, but this charity shop find of the original Battle is great! And to top it up a venerable Airfix kit, what is not to like! And I admire your fantasy setting too, there is nothing like an ImagiNation to spark off some creativity. After all, we are playing with toy soldiers. I fondly remember pitting my Airfix Waterloo British against some WWII Japanese when I was a wee boy, and having tremendous fun with it! 103 points will be added to your total.

Martijn