Howdy Yall,

I am very interested in this alternative war, VBCW, especially with all the cool minis Pendraken seems to have for this period.

Sooo, my question is - where would I find good gaming info about the VBCW?  I have not a clue and would be interested in seeing what the forum members are using for rules and armies, bands, teams, list to build the various factions?

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. 

This link gives a quick overview of AVBCW.
http://www.btinternet.com/~jprice9/

The originators of the period where you can get the source books from should you require them.
http://solwaycraftsandminiatures.webs.com/

The Gentlemans Wargame Parlour forum that has loads of info on the period.
http://gwargamesp.18.forumer.com/index.php?s=a08ddda2e980399eb2ffb90589b585da&showforum=4

My Blog that has a couple of AARs of AVBCW games.
http://wwiiwargaming.blogspot.com/

For rules, I use BKCII with their SCW lists as the main guide for the protagonists, plus some of the early WWII lists, such as the BEF.

Hope this helps.

Howdy Steve!

Great that is just what I needed 

Tanks 

Quote from: Blaker on 08 July 2011, 05:13:00 PM
Tanks 

Well we've got them!

Yes U do Leon 

Steve or anyone else how are the source books?  (1938 A Very British Civil War Source book 1-3. plus all there other?)

And I see they have their own rules, Brigadier 38 - anyone played these if so how do they compare to the BKCII ? 

Well, the VBCW source books are well worth getting ( I would say that, I'm one of the authors) and are full of good ideas about units, kit, uniforms etc. But they are not Sacred texts. more collections of ideas from people keen on the whole ideVBCW concept.

Howdy Paul,

Welcome to the Forum, I see that was your first post 

Could you tell me a bit about the rules then?  You could post me direct if you would like.

cya

Quote from: Blaker on 08 July 2011, 06:10:10 PM
Steve or anyone else how are the source books?  (1938 A Very British Civil War Source book 1-3. plus all there other?)

I have bought all three source books, and whilst they do gather a bit of info together, most of the content is from battle reports and discussions that can be found on the Gentlemans Wargame Parlour Forum. You do of course get the benefit of photos etc without having to print yourself.

Are they worth the money? For me, as I'd already searched the GWP forum, and done a lot of my own research on the web whilst wait ing for the source books to arrive ...... I'd have been better off spending the money on Pendraken miniatures as the books gave me nothing new.

BCK rules work great as suggested by Steve.

Cheers,

Kev

Thanks Kev.

I have been reading on the GWP forum and it seems that AVBCW is mainly used with 25/28mm minis and from the photos it looks more like a skirmish set of rules since the 25s are single based. However, Steve's battle report shows based minis especially since he is using BKCII.

Just curious about the big scope of BKCII armies or battles, does that make since in the AVBCW universe?  It seems more like gangs of new york fighting for control of territory other than the nation be divided in two with massive armies fighting massive battles.

Am I getting this wrong ?  Very well could be since I dont have any of the original fluff for the story line, but eagerly awaiting to read more 

No probs Blaker. The guys on the GWP forum are almost exclusively into the 28mm side of things, but still fight some reasonable sized battles, although the biggest battles tend to be hinted at rather than gamed.

They do tend to be a bit derogatory towards the concept of 10mm gaming, but quite a few of us on this forum are into 10mm VBCW, and Dave and Leon have been great in picking up the torch.

Most games I play are not that much bigger than the 28mm boys do, but it's just more practical in 10mm for me, and BKC still works fine.

Cheers,

Kev

Thanks Kev. 

So Kev and Steve, do you base your minis per the BKCII rules for infantry and armor?

Was/Is  there cavalry involved in AVBCW? 

Yes I basically base per BKCII, though I do base a few minis singularly for skirmishing using other rules for when the mood takes me.

Cavalry still play a part (popular with rural militia), though usually in a 'dismount to fight' role.

I'm using WWI cavalry for regular/territorial, and odd stuff like ACW for the militia cavalry.

Cheers,

Kev

Here's our 28mm AVBCW stuff.

http://www.durhamwargames.co.uk/campaigns_projects/index.asp

http://gwargamesp.18.forumer.com/index.php?showtopic=648&hl=durham

http://gwargamesp.18.forumer.com/index.php?showtopic=2312&hl=durham

http://gwargamesp.18.forumer.com/index.php?showtopic=1742&hl=durham

http://gwargamesp.18.forumer.com/index.php?showtopic=769&hl=durham



However, i'm considering converting to 10mm for 'later war' battles on a 'larger' scale.   

Thanks Luddite - looks like some good reading for a while 

Is there a written campaign story line in any of the Source  books  or do you all just link battles as you go?

Hello Blaker.

You are not alone!
There is a small but growing group of 10mm AVBCW players. Myself,Sandanista,Hurrah and 3-4 others in the London area all play in 10mm.

Scale works well for us. We can get whole villages and areas onto a good 6x4 table. we use all troops types we can lay our hands on. And terrain is so much easier.

Below is a battle picture by leftist forces may1938 near Frimley as the evil Ed viii forces close in to crush liberty from the people!


[attachment deleted by admin]

Quote from: Blaker on 08 July 2011, 09:51:31 PM
Thanks Luddite - looks like some good reading for a while 

Is there a written campaign story line in any of the Source  books  or do you all just link battles as you go?

Hi Blaker,

There's not really anything official beyond the basic set up, that The King doesn't abdicate, the government collapses, a BUF 'rump Parliament' is formed and civil war ensues.

Its really then about you taking your/a local area and figuring out what's going on, either from local history research to get some 'alternate history' fun going or simply going for the full fantasy thing.

For us, we're developing the narrative as each battle develops.  Its not 'planned', other than wanting to make interesting things happen.

We've taken a few local history elements and run with them.

So the 'Little Moscow' up in Chopwell has been the basis for a Communist enclave.
Lord Lambton is a major landholder and power in Durham so he's bound to have his own army!
And of course we need the Fascists as the fly in the ointment.
Around that we also have other factions like the army north of the Tyne, mainly focussed on keeping the Scots out of England, and the Ashington miners (Ashington being 'the largest pit village in england at the time with over 10,000 miners in the pits) trying to develop their own industrial infrastructure...

Its about just having fun in the spirit of AVBCW!

Quote from: Squirrel on 08 July 2011, 08:38:00 PM
They do tend to be a bit derogatory towards the concept of 10mm gaming...

We'll have to keep churning out the releases until we're accepted into the club...!   

Luddite that is really cool. So the factions yall create are from you own research and what you group thinks is good?   Are there any basic armies that can be used as examples? Im thinking in either the source books or their rule book.  I like the Miners fluff 

ROT, so in your larger battles, do you have several factions per side or just one faction vs another faction?

thanks guys for the support and question answering I know Leon is just sitting back and smiling seeing my order build and build as I get more info the VBCW   

Hi Blaker

The quick (and probably unsatisfying) answer is that anything that rocks your boat is allowable, including army lists, rules, figures, etc. I tend to design stuff around the theory of flexibility ie try to make my stuff as generic as possible by swapping out command elements. Still I will be coming up with some pretty specific VBCW units like a (horribly over strength compared to realism) police unit. My campaign (I'm using the Perfect Captain's Beyond the River Don http://perfectcaptain.50megs.com/beyond.html - heavily modified for VBCW and still in modification  - "Beyond the Reiver Don"  ) has a heavy French involvement on the South Eastern coast. I've had up to 4 factions colliding. There's no reason why you can't come up with one or more North American intervention forces.

So no real direction or specific advice I'm afraid, just an invitation to let your imagination run free. Reading through the GWP will help with inspiration, try searching on any points of interest, I think just about everything's been covered at some point  .

Cheers

GrumpyOldMan

I only bought the first source book, which gives a nice overview of the factions, the period, the weapons and vehicles that were available around this time. The book also has a small campaign at the end which is very much geared to 28mm, but works perfectly well for 10mm with several figures to the base. I would recommend buying the first book, but it is by no means essential.

As others have said, you can then add in absolutely anything that takes your fancy, which is one of the major attractions for me, whether this be vehicles, tanks, factions. Really, it us up to you to come up with something that you enjoy gaming. For me the first off battles have been based around where I currently live as I find it gives a bit more flavour to things.

I find the period works perfectly well using BKCII basing with each stand representing either a section or platoon, depending upon the 'scale' of the battle you are planning on fighting. The games played so far have been on a 4'x4' table with relatively small forces and they have felt right for the period. Obviously you can go a small or as large as you like.

Cavalry wise, I do have them but they are yet to be painted, hence there no appearance on the field! I think they are a must for this period as the British Army was in the process, albeit slowly, of converting the cavalry and yeomanry regiments from horse to tanks.

The other beauty of 10mm is that there is such a wealth of stuff within the Pendraken ranges that can be used for this period. With the recent arrival of specific tanks for this period, things are getting even better . I also use the same forces for gaming the SCW and will be using them for other fictional conflicts within Europe at around the same time.

So, hopefully all the recent comments have helped you make up your mind. Come on in, the water is lovely .