Scenario: Bridges Over The River Mersey

Background: following the capture of Manchester, Royalist forces have launched a two-pronged offensive on Liverpool. The southern prong pushes along the M56 axis overrunning Republican positions at Stretton and Preston Brook with ease before swinging north into Runcorn to capture the strategically vital Runcorn-Widnes rail and road bridges across the Mersey and Manchester Ship Canal.

Their capture will allow the Royalists to push into south Merseyside and threaten the port-city of Liverpool. It is imperative for the Republican cause that the Royalists do not capture either bridge intact so they launch air strikes at the two bridges.

Rules: this scenario has been written with AirWar: C21 in mind.

Republican Forces: 4 x SEPECAT Jaguar GR.1B (player to assign bomb load), 4 x Hawk T.1A escort.

Royalist Forces: 3 x Harrier GR.5 (appear on even number roll on d6, roll once per turn until appear), 2 x Tornado F.3 ADV (appear on a 5 or 6 on d6, roll once per turn until appear), 3 x Blowpipe SAM AAA.

Victory conditions: the Republican Air Force must cause at least 50% damage to both bridges for a narrow victory, destroying them is a major victory.

Terrain: as per the map. Royalist AAA can only be deployed south of the bridges. Aircraft from either side can enter from whatever direction they wish.

Notes: both bridges are classified as large steel/concrete bridges with 15 damage points each.

News: Royalist North West Offensive Thwarted

5th January 1989: The Republican leadership received welcome news when it was reported that the Royalist offensive to seize Liverpool had faltered.

Although some Royalist forces were able to invest the city they became bogged down in fierce street battles as the Republican leadership of the city issued a call to arms to all citizens to resist the royalist troops.

Liverpool mayor Derek Hatton pledged to turn Liverpool "into a new Stalingrad" as militia units including army cadets and trade union chapters fought alongside Republican army units from the Lancashire Regiment against the Royalists.

News: Cambridge Falls To Royalists

3rd January 1989: TV channel Sky News gave the first reports that Cambridge had fallen to Royalist forces following a concerted offensive over the new year period.

Royalist forces spearheaded by The King's Regiment and the 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Gurkha Rifles forced back the Republican Anglian Regiment in a series of attacks over a three day period. The Republicans swiftly deployed elements of the 3rd Tank Regiment and the Parachute Regiment to Saffron Walden to help prop up the retreating Anglians as the capital came under threat of Royalist attack for the first time in the war.

News: Charles Crowned King

1st January 1989: In a small scale ceremony in Christ Church Cathedral, Ottawa, Prince Charles was crowned King of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Kitts and Nevis; Head of the Commonwealth, and Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

Upon his coronation, Charles Windsor adopted the regal name of George VII to avoid the association with Stuart kings named Charles, the first having been executed following a civil war, the second living for many years in exile.

Blogs: Un-Tied Kingdom, The War in 2011

If you enjoy this blog and Winter of '79, you'll be pleased to see another modern British civil war blog project, the Un-tied Kingdom, the War in 2011. Right up to date, the divergence point is the recent election and the Labour Party leading a revolt against the minority Tory government. Hopefully you'll follow Brian's efforts as well as Mark's at '79 and mine here.

Miniatures: 1/56th British Army AFV's

As the missus watches Poirot (or Pie-rot as I like to call him!) on ITV this Christmas night I decided to read through the Battlegames PDF bundle I bought a week or so back. I'd only got into the first few when reading about Mike Siggins' visit to an old toy soldier fair and his quest to buy 54mm Coldstream Guards he mentioned a company called Scarlet and Gold who make 30mm toy soldiers and also that they produce vehicles...

Whilst my 28mm plans are FIBUA based and I probably won't want a Chieftain or Challenger in 1/56th, I can find a use for APC's and light tanks like the Scimitar. A useful looking 20 vehicle range, it includes Warriors (one above), Humvees, Land Rovers and a 105mm towed by a Pinzgauer light truck.

Another 1/56th source is Sloppy Jalopy who do a small range of Cold War era vehicles including a very useful FV432, Humber Pig and a wonderful Saxon APC (above). Once the credit card bill is reduced post Christmas I will be investing in some vehicles from both companies for some 2ECW action.

Miniatures: Airfix To Release Modern British

Airfix have today posted their 2011 catalogue online and in it contains some very interesting models for 2ECW gaming. Airfix are planning to release a new range of 1/48th scale vehicles and figures which should be worth keeping any eye out for:

A06301: British Land Rover Twin Set (set includes one Land Rover WMIK and one Land Rover Snatch)
A02750: British Army Troops

Miniatures: Chieftain & Challenger

Mark on his excellent Winter of '79 blog found some useful 1/72 pre-painted models at very reasonable prices. The Altaya range includes two obviously useful models in the form of a Challenger I in the green/black camo pattern (perfect for home service) and a Chieftain V in the Berlin urban camo. Mark points out that it isn't 100% accurate for Berlin, but is more than acceptable for Basingstoke or Bedford...

He picked his Chieftain's up from Model Hobbies of Stoke-on-Trent for a very reasonable £7.19 (given it's ready for gaming) and I may pick up a couple to use with the old 20mm's I have stored away that were the main reason for starting this project!

News: Prince Charles Agrees To Take Crown

31st December 1988: CBC reported that Prince Charles, at the time in exile in the United States, had, after representations from military and political leaders, agreed to be crowned King. Charles had not taken the decision lightly as he had initially believed that such an act would fan the flames of war in Britain, but the continued violence, break-up of the Union and foreign intervention led him to change his mind. The Republican Government in London condemned the decision as "illegal, inflammatory and of no consequence".

News: Para-Military Campaign Launched In Scotland

28th December 1988: BBC Scotland reported a series of para-military attacks on Scottish National Party (SNP) and Scottish Labour Party offices and officials by extremists operating under the banner Siol nan Gaidheal (Seed of the Gaels).

The Siol nan Gaidheal (SnG) had been an ultra-nationalist wing of the SNP until they were expelled from the party in the early 1980's. Under the leadership of Jackie Stokes and inspired by ultra-nationalist movements across Europe, the SnG began to organise for 'military struggle' when the civil war erupted in England.

Stokes was hugely critical of SNP leader Gordon Wilson's agreement with Cranwell to support the London Government in return for independence, believing that that the weakened state of the English government meant that independence could be declared unilaterally without the need to gain English acquiescence.

News: Mitterrand Calls For French Volunteers

27th December 1988: Following the attacks on shipping in the English Channel by the Royal Air Force and the attack on the French Mirages by the RAF Tornadoes, French President Mitterrand called upon France to form a volunteer legion to help protect "liberty and democracy against the fascist royalist faction in Great Britain". Volunteers were drawn from and equipped by the French armed forces although Mitterrand was clear to state that France itself would remain neutral, albeit sympathetic to the legitimately elected government in London.

News: Dogfight Over The Channel

24th December 1988: ITN reported that Royal Air Force Tornado F3's operating out of RAF Coningsby had engaged French Mirage 2000's over the English Channel. The F3's had been supporting an attack by Tornado GR1B's on merchant vessels moving armaments from France to Republican ports on the south coast when they engaged the French aircraft downing two for the loss of one of their own. The French government expressed outrage at the "unprovoked, cowardly attack" by the Royalist planes.

News: Cranwell Appeals To Mitterrand

22nd December 1988: French broadcaster TF1 reported the signing of an 'Entente Politique' between Prime Minister James Cranwell and President François Mitterrand in Paris.

The Republican Government was becoming increasingly concerned at the reversals it had suffered in the civil war and Cranwell decided to appeal to fellow Socialist leader Mitterand for material assistance. The agreement reached by the two leaders allowed for material assistance from the French (along with a number of military advisors) in return for joint sovereignty over the Channel Islands and a number of other concessions favourable to the French.

News: Royalists Push On London

21st December 1988: Royalist news channel Sky News reported that Royalist combat forces had launched a major offensive to gain control of the capital.

Armoured units led a two prong attack south from the Royalist controlled areas in the north through the Midlands causing chaos in Republican ranks as broke through at Peterborough and Kings Lynn.

The Republican army retreated towards a new defensive line between Cambridge and Milton Keynes and moved units from the West Country and Wales to the area to help stem the Royalist advance.

News: Navy Ordered Into Dock

20th November 1988: The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported that the Royal Navy had been ordered by First Sea Lord Julian Oswald not to become embroiled in the civil unrest in Britain and to retire to the Her Majesty's Canadian Dockyard at Halifax, Nova Scotia for the duration of the hostilities. Whilst there were a number of naval actions involving small coastal vessels during the war, the involvement of major naval assets during the conflict was negated by Oswald's order.

Normal Service Will Be Resumed

Apologies for the lack of updates since Colours but life and other projects have unfortunately got in the way. However expect normal service to be resumed very soon with updates on the course of the war, foreign involvement, movement by the Royal Family and details of more para-military groups in due course.

Miniatures: British Armour

Went to Colours today and picked up some stuff for 2ECW, namely a GHQ British Combat Command, a pack of Chieftains, some FV432's and some additional infantry.

So why 1:285th you ask, when I had decided to go with Minifigs lovely 10mm? Short answer is whilst looking for some dwarf slayers for my son in the lead mountain, I rediscovered my old GHQ Soviets of which I have rather a lot (enough to paint up for both Afghanistan - the original plan - and West Germany if I use CWC). So lacking a contemporary mechanised OpFor for them I decided my CWC 2ECW battles would be 1:285th so I could also use the British as the BAOR and Berlin Brigade (that'll be fun painting in 6mm!).

Yes they are expensive but as I already had a lot of GHQ Sov's it seemed buying the Brits from H&R was not the right thing to do and they are beautiful models (and the siren of the Wehrmacht '47 stuff is calling - must resist!)

Battle Report: Tank Action On Somerset Levels

I missed this on the original TMP thread from Nik Harwood, but having read the blog and done a quick rummage of his Cold War Commander Brits, Nik drew up two battlegroups here to fight out some battles on the Somerset Levels near Taunton as well as painting up these lovely Minifigs Chieftans in urban camo.

The battle report (with loads of in action photos) can be found here.

Ironically he's included some German forces as allies of the Republic, something that is very much on the cards as other nations start interfering in the war (as you'll see over the next week or so...)

News: Scargill Urges Workers To Fight

19th December 1988: Following the Ollerton Massacre, Industry Secretary Arthur Scargill urged workers across England to arm themselves and form workers union militias to "resist the forces of fascist oppression and protect the workers' democracy being built in England".

The creation of these ad hoc militias was a pivotal point in the civil war as it required the Royalists to maintain higher levels of security in so-called secure areas behind the frontline. The trade union militias were of varying size and impact. Many restricted themselves to being a form of Home Guard for their workplaces and home towns, whilst other more militant ones, such as the "flying picket" squads organised by the National Union of Mineworkers were much more proactive causing widespread chaos in Royalist held areas with their Transit van transported strike cells.

News: Royalist Forces Blamed For Mine Massacre

18th December 1988: BBC News reported that Royalist troops were responsible for the "massacre" of sixty-seven unarmed miners at the Ollerton Colliery in Nottinghamshire.

Following their success in the North East, the rebel forces had begun to move south down the east of the country, bypassing centres of stiff resistance such as Sheffield. Republican resistance became more intense as the rebels moved into the East Midlands and the fluid nature of the warfare led to military and locally formed militia units operating in areas behind the front line.

Numerous incidents occurred as the war spread and whilst the Royalists denied responsibility for the massacre and attempted to blame Republican Security Services, blame clearly lay at the feet of elements who attached themselves to the rebel cause, even if they were not directly under Royalist GHQ command.

News: Irish Meet Soviets For Secret Talks

17th December 1988: Sky News reported on the secret meeting between Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev and Irish Taoiseach Charles Haughey at Shannon in the Republic of Ireland.

The Irish had become increasingly concerned at the increasing violence across Britain and the heightening tensions in Ulster with the possible impact it could have on the Republic. Whilst the agenda was highly secret it soon became apparent that Haughey was looking for Soviet support should the Republic decide to intervene militarily in Northern Ireland should the situation worsen.

News: Government Seizes Control Of Press

16th December 1988: The Cranwell Government seized control of the British media in an attempt to control the flow of information following the heavy defeat of Government forces in Manchester. 

Citing "lies by the Tory press" and "evidence of treasonable collusion designed to undermine the spirit of the English people", the Security Service stormed editorial offices and printing presses of a number of newspapers shutting them down, whilst installing Home Office advisors in those such as the Daily Mirror, Guardian and Morning Star which were allowed to continue operating. Home Office advisors were also installed in BBC and ITN newsrooms to "assist in the free flow of accurate news to the public".

News: Manchester Falls To Royalist Troops

13th December 1988: In some of the bloodiest fighting of the civil war to date, Royalist army units managed to seize control of Manchester from Government forces.

Intense artillery bombardments and air strikes from rebel Royal Air Force units reduced much of the centre of the city to rubble before rebel troops engaged Republican units in the ruins of the city.

The operation to clear Manchester of Government troops was claimed to have only taken a week by the Royalist high command although sporadic skirmishes across Manchester continued well into 1990.

News: Royalists Begin TV Broadcasts In North

10th December 1988: In an effort to counter the propaganda being issued by the government controlled television media, the Royalist forces launched their own television news channel broadcasting to areas under their control.

Initially Sky News offered a reasonably balanced approach to its bulletins but as the war continued it effectively became a propaganda tool of its own masters toeing the Royalist line in its reports.

News: Birmingham Resists Republican Crackdown

9th December 1988: Midlands Today reported that attempts by Government para-military and security forces to "arrest or assassinate" civic leaders instrumental in declaring Birmingham an open city had failed following the intervention of local Territorial Army and armed Police units.

The Mayor of Birmingham called for calm and declared that Birmingham and the surrounding region would "remain independent of the warring factions hell bent on plunging over the abyss".

News: Cranwell Advocates Scottish Independence

7th December 1988: BBC Scotland reported that Prime Minister Cranwell had opened discussions with Scottish National Party leader Gordon Wilson about moves towards Scottish independence in return for direct involvement on the republican side in the civil war spreading across England.

At this time Scotland had largely been unaffected by the descent into war south of the border with military units based in Scotland maintaining a neutral stance.

News: Army Asks Prince Of Wales To Assume Crown

6th December 1988: Canadian television reported that rebel British Army generals had approached the Prince of Wales with a view to him assuming the crown following the abdication of the Queen and becoming a figurehead for disparate anti-republican elements in Britain to rally against.

The Prince was concerned that such a gesture would potentially inflame the situation in Britain and declined the approach, as did the Duke of York.

Terrain: Scenic Items

Like many wargamers I like to try and get multiple use out of scenery and have plans to use some vac-form plastic ruined buildings from Amera and change their identify by using signs mounted on thin magnetic strip so they can be used in 1945 Berlin or some 40K battlefield with a switch of identity. Obviously a few contemporary British signs will also allow the battle damaged ruins to represent the streets of Liverpool...

To supplement the ruins a few other period specific scenic items would help tie the battlefield into what it is supposed to represent. Somewhat fortuitously (especially as I was looking for suitable Victorian looking resin bases for a couple of Holmes and Watson miniatures) I stumbled across Fenris Games who do lots of really interesting stuff including a range of 'Street Furniture' including rubbish skips, phone boxes, road signs, street lamps etc etc. Ordering the bases I wanted I've added a couple of items from the modern range to the order which should prove very useful in setting the scene and adding flavour to any games...

Miniatures: Armed Police (revisited)

My Killer B order arrived today and although they are a little bit chunky, in a fit of enthusiasm I started converting three of them to sport SA80's, replacing arms and hands as necessary. Allowing the Green Stuff to dry I had a quick look at TMP and swore...

Urban Beat Miniatures have just released their first miniatures - 28mm modern British police with guns! The figures are nowhere near as caricatured as the Killer B ones and look like they will fit in a whole lot better with Red Star and TAG. I've ordered a pack of the Armed Response Unit and a pack of the CO19, now I need to work out what to do with the Killer B conversions...

Battle Report: SAS Ambush PM

Following on from the TMP thread on England Prevails I came across this battle report inspired by the blog at the Gentlemen's Wargame Parlour with an SAS assassination attempt on Prime Minister Cranwell (the photo below is taken from the report).

Miniatures: Armed Police (and Traffic Wardens?)

Many moons ago I recall watching some survivalist drama on TV and one of the shots had a Traffic Warden sporting an SLR manning a baricade. I have no idea what the programme was but the image has stuck in my head ever since... Considering the breakdown of society during the war it is easy to envisage any uniformed authority having some form of martial responsibility, even if only to keep civilian population areas under control and guard important resource centres from terrorists and para-military/militia types.

Obviously local police forces would need to be armed to undertake these duties and who knows maybe traffic wardens! :-) Miniatures wise I have ordered a small group of British police from Killer B Games from their Geezers range which I intend to replace truncheons with SA80's. I'm not sure how useful this range will prove, I want it to but the sculpting does not look anywhere near as good as the likes of Red Star or TAG. Hopefully they'll look better in the flesh as I would like to use some of their masked raiders for NUM flying pickets.

Miniatures: Civilian Vehicles

When considering some 28mm skirmishing I really hadn't thought of the problem of civilian vehicles. I want some cars and vans to transport militia or be burnt out scenery but where from. I had it in my head to pick up some old Dinky or Corgi models off eBay but having had a quick look for a Transit am stuck on the issue of scale (ie. what scale to use and what scale are the models anyway?) and what model Transit is appropriate (I'd forgotten how much they'd changed over the last couple of decades - and whilst I can tell the difference between a PzIV Ausf D and a PzIV Ausf H, buggered if I know anything about Transits).

On the subject of scale having looked at the comparison table on Big Lee's blog it looks like something from 1/48 to 1/56 would be ok, especially when the miniatures are based as this will increase their height, but I am going to have to be fairly consistent and if I go 1/48 make sure that Transits don't look more intimidating than 1/56th Saracens. As for what model of Transit to use I suppose I'll have to do some online research even if the thought of researching Ford Transits makes me feel very nerdy...

News: Major Battles In North East

4th December 1988: Local news stations provide first reports of a series of major battles that occurred in Tyne & Wear and Teeside as rebel forces push north-east to seize the North Sea ports. Fierce fighting continued throughout December as the government forces lost control of much of the region including Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Middlesborough. By the end of the month Hull was the only major port on the North East coast of England still under government control.

News: Tyndall Forms Extreme Right Militia

2nd December 1988: BBC News reported that British National Party leader John Tyndall had created an extreme right-wing militia called Spearhead to "protect English society" against the "anarchy sweeping the country". Details of the size of the militia vary from 200 to almost 2,000 with units across the country operating independently and often at the agenda of their own local commander. Spearhead's military impact at this time was extremely varied and the militia gained a reputation as much for committing racially motivated atrocities as it did for military action.

News: Birmingham Declared Open City

1st December 1988: Local news stations reported a decision by Birmingham City Council to declare Birmingham an "open city" and a "demilitarised population centre" in an effort to not become embroiled in the increasing violence sweeping across the Republic of Britain. The Republican Government responded by declaring the move illegal and the Home Office issued orders to West Midland Police to arrest the ring leaders.

News: Coldstream Guards Capture Tank Factory

30th November 1988: ITN News reported that 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards had captured the Vickers Defence Systems factory in Leeds where the Challenger MBT was produced. This was a major blow to the Cranwell Government and led to a number of army units declaring support for the mutineers against the National Unity Government. Fighting started to break out across the country and units loyal to the Government were tasked with stopping rebel troops joining up with the Guards in the north.

Miniatures: British Infantry

My Red Star Chechen's/Docker's Militia arrived a little while back and have been sat on the workbench waiting for me to organise some British weapons for a couple of them (whilst the Militia will have easy access to Soviet weapons, typically from Ulster, I want some to have British or US weapons for variety). The nice thing about the Red Star miniatures is that a number come with separate weapons so it'll be quite easy to replace an AK74 with an SA80 or whatever...

Finding a source of British and US weapons was surprisingly easy with The Assault Group not only have a nice selection but also a reasonable range of modern British infantry. I must confess the latter don't look wonderful in the photos but I am a big fan of Richard Ansell's sculpting so in a leap of faith I've ordered a squad of helmeted infantry and a squad of paras (plus some spare weapon packs).

My 28mm 2ECW excursion will be for some urban skirmishes primarily set in Liverpool so I need to hunt out some suitable Dinky cars to burn out for scenery. Not sure about AFV's, a few wouldn't go amiss and the Britannia/Inkerman Saracen is very tempting. I am toying with some SCW style home made AFV's but not sure if that's a bit too Mad Max...

Blogs: The Winter of '79

First off apologies for a month of no updates on England Prevails but real life work has become somewhat tiresome and heavy which coupled with a few health problems led to some inactivity. However I'm on the mend and will be back on the update and gaming trail very soon.

Secondly, and more interestingly is we are not alone! No, I don't mean the little grey men have landed but Mark of Dropship Horizon fame has set up a similar themed blog to this called Winter of '79, wargaming an alternate timeline in Thatcherite Britain which looks really interesting and I hope you'll all follow as well.

Scenario: The Battle of Catthorpe Interchange

Background: Rebel Guards units are advancing up the M1 towards Leeds and the Royal Ordnance Factory. Having seen Loyalist Territorial troops brushed aside at Milton Keynes by the rebels, the Government swiftly moves elements of the loyal 2nd Parachute Regiment to positions around Catthorpe in an attempt to delay the rebel troops and allow stronger units to be moved into position to intercept the Guards before they seize the Royal Ordnance Factory.

Rules: this scenario has been written with Cold War Commander in mind.

Guards Battlegroup:

1 x CO
2 x HQ

2 x Guards Mech Inf Battalion each of:

6 x platoons in FV-432
1 x 81mm Mortar in FV-432
1 x Milan ATGW
1 x Blowpipe SAM
1 x Recce Scorpion

1 x FAO
3 x Abbot
1 x FAC (CV 6)
1 x Jaguar GR.1

Paratroop Battlegroup:

1 x CO
3 x HQ
6 x Para platoons in trucks (2 x LAW-80 upgrades)
2 x GPMG
2 x Milan ATGW
2 x 81mm mortars

1 x FAO
1 x 105mm w Land Rover 1 tonne

1 x FAC
1 x Harrier I

Victory Conditions: the victory conditions for scenario 5 (Breakthrough Attack) should be used.

Terrain: as per map. The Guards enter from the south and must exit to the north.

Notes: the command value of the Guards FAC is lower than normal as the loyalty of the RAF has not been confirmed and at this point they are less likely to side with the rebels.

News: BBC Reports Battle At Catthorpe Interchange

28th November 1988: BBC News reported news of a "major battle" between rebel Guards forces and loyalist troops from the Parachute Regiment in the area around the Catthorpe Interchange where the M6 motorway joins the M1.

The battle lasted most of the day before the Paratroops withdrew having inflicted heavy casualties on the Guards. Prime Minister Cranwell praised the "loyalty and honour of the Parachute Regiment in fighting for the maintenance of democracy in England".

News: Cranwell "State of War Exists"

27th November 1988: Prime Minister Cranwell announced to the nation that "a state of war now exists in Britain" as the Guards Division attacked and defeated Territorial Army units outside Milton Keynes positioned to block their advance up the M1. Cranwell appeals to other army units to "remain loyal to the democratically elected government and not dishonour their traditions by deserting to support the old establishment elite".

Miniatures: Liverpool Dockers Militia

I've been thinking a bit further about ideas for gaming in this background and have decided that initial battles in the late '80's and early '90's will probably be in 10mm as I really like the look of Minifigs N scale range, however as England collapses into chaos in the early 21st century I have decided that it will not be possible to resist the lure of 28mm...

Whilst I envisage the Royalists controlling large swathes of Northern England, there will be Republican hold-out cities such as Liverpool and Sheffield, under almost constant siege. This would mean that the Republicans would need to supplement their garrisons with militias and inspired by the VBCW Red Workers Militia Unit on Jim's Wargames Blog I've ordered some Chechen troops from Red Star Miniatures which I think will paint up well as a group of "Bolshie Scousers" (anything too Chechen will need removing and I will look to replace some of the Russian weapons with British and American ones if I can find a good source).

Rules: Gaming the 2nd English Civil War

As the country is poised on the bring of civil war I've taken a quick breather to consider gaming the conflict. The original idea was to use my old 20mm moderns and this still is a primary driver, but as I've been developing the background various other ideas have occurred to me.

First off, with the Guards moving up the M1, is using Cold War Commander. I bought a set a while back to allow me to use my 6mm Soviets, possibly in Afghanistan but it occurred to me that some of the larger 2ECW battles with adhoc battlegroups would be a lot of fun (especially as I like tanks!). As I only have Russkis in 6mm I am pondering whether to go 10mm which will allow more character to the forces or maybe the other end of the spectrum with 3mm...

For small scale infantry actions I intend to use ColdWar: 1983. Mike Baumann did a great job converting Panzerfauste to modern infantry combat and I love the GUTS mechanism which recreates the 'friction' of combat so elegantly.

Skirmishes between regulars, territorials, militia, para-militaries and foreign volunteers in 28mm are very, very tempting especially with some of the excellent 28mm moderns on the market.

Another idea is to use AK-47 Republic. This may seem a bit weird but I envisage that the infrastructure breakdown across the UK will be pretty extreme in part. Not quite Twilight 2000 but not far off in parts.

The political element of the game may also suit what I am trying to achieve with a lot of ideologically motivated troops of varying military ability. I haven't got a copy so will need to pick one up sometime soon...

Finally when considering the split in the Army I was pondering the response of the RAF. For the most part I anticipate the (newly renamed) Republican Air Force will remain loyal to the government, although there will be elements that join the rebellion and of course, foreign volunteer forces (how can I resist the idea of A-10's flying over our "Green And Pleasant Land"?).

Obviously I will plump for AirWar: C21 here.