Jutland 1916: "100th Anniversary" Game Using Avalon Hill's "JUTLAND"

On May 21st, 2016, I hosted a game of Avalon Hill's "JUTLAND".

This venerable old game was published in 1967. I think it has worn very well indeed as our game demonstrated. The event was planned by Harmon Ward, President of our local HMGS. Harmon commanded the Imperial German Hochseeflotte (High Seas Fleet). I commanded the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet. Mark Deliduka was the Game Master/Umpire for the game. The Strategic segment of the game required each of the commanders to plot the activities of their respective forces. Mark then compared our secret plots and revealed any contact. As it happened, the Hochseeflotte was discovered by the larger part of the RN's Super Dreadnoughts. The remainder, plus the detached Battlecruisers, joined the battle later in the day, having stayed within steaming range of each other. The result was a very exciting fleet engagement. We fought for most of the game day but need to continue the fight on the next game day.

The tactical engagement is fought on any convenient space. I used x3 6 foot tables and a felt ocean game mat. Hexes are not required but we found them helpful. 

Here are a few photos of various parts of the large fleets in action.

A Coat of Steel: Our First Game

On June 9th, 2016, Will and I played our first full Wars of the Roses miniatures wargame using The Perfect Captain's rules: A Coat of Steel. Will fielded his excellent Lancastrian army painted by the very talented Martin Robson for his private collection. Will augmented his force (reluctantly) with a few units provided by myself. My own army of Yorkists was painted by a variety of artists, depending on the "faction".  The majority are painted by Leuthen Studios, Carl Robson and myself, the latter with a lot of help from Jeff Lower. The flags are by CitadelSix. The 28mm miniatures are all by Perry, both plastic and metal.

Will and I have been building our armies for several years. I fabricated all of the character cards and other "props" provided on line by The Perfect Captain. I cannot recommend The Captain (whoever he is/they are) highly enough. The artwork and the rules are outstanding. They produced a very colourful  game which really felt like late medieval English warfare.

We played one practice skirmish to learn the rules. The game was technically a Yorkist victory. However, I consider this another learning game. In particular, we did not get quite right the Company and Ward composition. The Wards should have had more, smaller Companies. We did not really need to have all four Wards for both sides. The forces were not evenly matched and my superior firepower from Retinue archers skewed the final result. However, it was a fun and instructive game.

Here are a few photos taken during various stages of the battle. Jeff decided to spend his time on this Craft Day painting some miniatures but opined that it was a good game!