As part of a sacred New Years resolution to update the club site more frequently the editor presents an over view of the club's latest games... Since September of 2007... To the best of his recollection.

Late in December 2007 - The Wild West Campaign:
Actually a sort of 'pick up game' in which the results were applied to the TBC Mexican Revolution campaign. Players were allowed to select one of their characters from anywhere on the map, bring him to town for the shoot-out, and if he got 'kilt' he was out of the campaign.

At top right, Generica Arizona in a sort of low flying dirigible shot of the main street. To the left/west of the photo is the table edge from whence the notorious Jizum Gang will enter the town. Sneaking past the Sheriff's office seemed like a rather risky ploy, but the umpire said nothing. In the center of town is the Land Office, a building that in game terms exists solely to house the man with the land deeds, which both gangs wish to seize. To the right/east of the photo is the fence along which the Gunman Gang (a collection of mostly generic evil doers) will proceed in their approach to the Land Office. Please note above the fence the Photographic Studio. Nothing was expected to transpire therein, but since it is one of the few structures with a completed interior when western violence moved inside the Land Office it was decided to switch the two buildings.

At right, what may be the 'Secret of the Wild West Universe,' tiny little dice used to account for the number of turns which a figure has not moved. At the end of a turn after all the; aim'n, shoot'n, and move'n if there are any figures than have not moved the player looks at the number on the dice and gets a chance to roll that number or less. Should he succeed, he gets to move before the next turn. Should he fail, he increments the dice one 'pip,' meaning that it will be more likely for him to make the roll if he doesn't move next turn. Then he waits to see if his movement card comes up, or if he has to roll against the dice again next turn. It really does help to insure that some figures don't spend the whole game waiting in the middle of the street while everyone else blazes away at them.

At right, a surveyor - with apparently very valuable land deeds in his pocket - stands before the land office. This figure with the beard of an old testament prophet and dressed all in black started out as a surveyor, but by turn two he had become the local bishop. By turn three he was the local Mormon Bishop. On turn four one of the Jizum gang fired a couple of shots at him, perhaps hoping that this would encourage him to drop the deeds. Instead he fled into the office. The Jizum gang spent the remainder of the game shooting it out with the Non-Player sheriff and his deputy. Oh yes, and facing down the insane wildman Doc Johnson, who eventually limped off with 5 serious wounds that will take him out of the campaign for the next calendar year.

At right, 'Doug Gunman' sneaks around the livery stable and towards the Land Office. He eventually pursued the Bishop inside where he began to rob him. One supposes that the correct phrasing is began to rob him, because the robbery took the entire rest of the game to complete. The Bishop was unarmed, and rumor has it that the robber's controlling player actually was Mormon, and consequently felt a little uncomfortable with shooting a bishop of his own faith. So he decided on merely clubbing the clergyman with a pistol. This did not quite work out as intended. Apparently, based upon his hand to hand combat performance the bishop was an expert in some sort of LDS-Kung-Fu. He slapped Doug Gunman around so badly that the player, in mounting frustration, began to fire on him at point blank range. This didn't seem to work very well either. If memory serves the bandit; missed his victim, ran out of ammunition, then busted his pistol. Meanwhile a second bandit entered the land office. He too attempted to bludgeon the churchman, and for his pains was pummeled to the floor several times. Your humble corespondent can't quite recall exactly how the villains managed to seize the land deeds, but seize then they did, and rushed out the back of the land office just as the Jizum Gang rushed in the front.

Beginning of December - The High Ground:
The climax of the club's interminable, but very popular, 2007 Fire & Fury Round Robin Tournament, or to quote Capitaine Ouestleboeuf, "Don't call it a campaign!" With the end of the year drawing neigh, and Colonel Winky well out in front on points the entire membership decided to conspire against him in the last game. Not so much to make him lose, but so that each and every one of the other members could have some small part in determining who actually won.

Top right, enthusiastic Rebs rush forward, with some success, early in the game. More serious members were aghast at the reckless abandon with which players seemed to risk their troops. That is until it became obvious to all that Divisional commanders on both sides were playing not to win the game, but to accrue as many personal glory points as possible.

At right, the center of the battle field, shortly before the complete departure from Bengal Club gaming reality. Barely in view on the top left can be seen the very edges of 3 Union brigades whose cunning use of terrain features forced Col. (Beauregard) Winky into a cautios game of manouver that restricted his Glory Points. At the center, in the plowed field, the Rebels from the previous photo have been, somehow, pushed back to beyond the split rail fence. General Weenie (he used to be a grocery clerk, now he commandes a Federal Division) is about to disregard his comander's instructions, rush forward without a plan, and trust to his dice luck. Amazingly, this time it worked, and he broke through the Rebel lines and captured their guns. Many glory points were thus bestowed. On the hill to the left of the photo the huge Federal artillery park fritters away ammunition while everyone wonders who they should be shooting at. Meanwhile the Federal Marine Division has a go at an heroic delaying action while no one comes to their rescue. Eventually the battle results in yet another Confederate triumph. However, the wildly umpredictable actions of the table top commanders did result in a point distribution that snatched the 2007 Glory Points trophy, a bottle of Chamberlain Beer, from out of the expectant hands of good Col. Winky.

End of November - The Sword and the Flame:
Not part of Col. Winky's Colonial Campaign, but a one off Zulu Battle. Despite frenzied efforts by the more scholarly inclined members, the club still hasn't quite figured out how to make the rules work (properly, we can make them work sort-of) when it comes to natives scaling a barricade against British defenders. So, quite naturally, the club seems to run as many barricade themed games as possible.

At right, late in the game, 'All the Zulus in the world' close in on the wagon kraal. The impetuous Zulus appear atop the wagons on both the left and right side of the photo. At the top of the photo some forced perspective cavalry (an inside joke, the figures are 25mm Ral Parthas and thus look as if they are standing much farther away than the rest of the 28mm figures on the table) force open an escape route for the surrounded infantry.

At right, one turn later a close up of the defenders at the bottom of the previous photo, just before the Zulu wave crests the wagon kraal. Defending the barricade is a thin line of Boer riflemen. Interestingly enough, the club has no PAINTED (the members know what is being suggested here!) Boer figures. Consequently whenever Boers put in a game appearance we must substitute, now follow me here, Old Glory dismounted Boers with putty sombreros converting them into Mexican Revolution Villistas. Same Mauser rifles in both cases. To the left/rear can be seen the Boer officer, a Mexican Federalé sergeant converted from an American Civil War standard bearer.

At right, enormous Zulus, all at least 28mm tall, surge over the wagons. The British infantry, only one of which is visible at the right of the photo, fall back and form square inside the kraal. Please take note of the particularly cunning basing system used by these Zulus. The figures themselves are glued to rather small pieces of magnetic sheet. Then they can be attached to what ever size, and shape, bases are needed for a particular game. In this case brightly colored steel washers make it much easier to distinguish between the - many, many, many - different Zulu units.

Shortly after this photo was taken the British infantry bolted from the kraal and, shielded by the cavalry, fled north. The Zulu commander pointed out that according to the victory conditions the British player would win if he suffered no more than 50% casualties. He then suggested that the British players could just have started running away on turn #1, and as long as he got away with at least half the army he would still win the game. Everyone then retired to the bar for an anachronistic and historically inappropriate alcohol suffused libation.

At right, Chinese standard bearer for the purposes of padding the page.

Mid November - Blue Max: or World War I aerial combat with tiny little lead aeroplanes. (It's the First World War, so the general consensus was that they shuld be 'aeroplanes' rather than 'airplanes.')

At right, the beautiful, hand made from styrofoam sheet, custom decorated hex shaped terrain under which (the aeroplanes fly over it, right?) the game is actually played. Each aricraft is mouned on a stand with a variable length brass wire, painted light blue to match the sky, that supports the plane at the appropriate altitude. This photograph was taken at such a distance that the planes are barely discernable on their wires over the table. However, the absence of flames and/or smoke would suggest that Major Weenie is not flying his aeroplane through the picture.

At right, German pilots manouver for a position. The biplane at the top is a Albatros, as is the one at the left. The pale blue aircrafte at the botton is one of the deadly Fokker DVII fighters. Even though there are no British or French aircraft any where near these planes it should be noted that Major Weenies Albatros is already on fire. Well, perhaps only smoking, but still a rather unsettling development early on turn #3.

Above, an Austro-Hungarian Phoenix and an American Spad, accidentally, streak past each other in the same hex.

At right, once again the deadly Fokker DVII puts in a photographic appearance. This time trailing a hapless SE5 fighter. Once again it can be noted that Major Weenie is not flying this plane, because it is not emitting smoke and does not appear to be on fire. Besides, this is turn #6 and Weenie is almost always shot down by turn #4.

Early November - DBR: Persians versus Ottoman Turks
As an excuse to justify serving something named "The Persian Martini" the club mounted a 15mm Renaissance game that would include Persians.

At right, the cunning Ottomans sweep around the left side of the photo, applying pressure to the outnumbered Persians. The brightly colored tents represent a built up area (that's a town for civilians and girlfriends). It was on this flank that the Persian sub commander would display the most amazing dice skill in the History of The Bengal Club. It's not that he rolled lots of 6's, but rather that he always rolled just one higher than his long suffering Turkish opponent, and thus the Ottoman plan came to naught. Funny Thing Life.

While everything was steadily going somewhere unpleasant in a handbasket for the Turks on the right flank their infantry hoped to pounce on the Persian musketeers over on the left flank. At right, two units of Janissaries, shielded by skirmishers, advance past an oasis - here portrayed by black electrical tape - surrounded by some charming (25mm) palm trees. The palm trees are actually cheap cake decorations attached to steel washers. In the foreground are, blurry, Persian musketeers. These are old figures, which are supposed to be Persian, despite headgear that appears to be something akin to a Mexican sombrero. Oh, and did I mention that the Turks suffered an humiliating defeat on all fronts?

Late September - Colonel Winky's Colonial Campaign:
Back to Burma, as the British Empire strives, for a second time, to defeat that military genius The King Of Ava.

Above, the Burmese Royal Army deployed behind a series of decorative stockades made from wooden sushi rolling mats. (The mats are wooden, they are not made to roll wooden sushi.) A preparatory bombardment by imperial artillery has created a gap on the right flank of the stockade. In the distance British infantry can be seen massing to charge through the gap in the Burmese defenses.

At top right, a close up of Burmese Royal Guards - here portrayed by Copplestone Chinese Bandits - standing firm behind the stockade. Probably because the actual attack is taking place through the gap some 24 inches to their right.

At right, Her Majesty's commander in Burma photographs the British break through on the native stockade. The emblem on his cap indicates his affiliation with the USMC. To his right The Most Puissant High Lord of the Kingdom of Ava, pointing at the location of his inevitable counterattack. The "B" on his hat does not stand for Bally's Gymnasium, although that is where the hat came from, but rather it is the only headgear that even remotely suggested anything like the Kingdom of Burma, as indicated by the letter "B".

At right, late in the day the British have broken through the native's forward line of defense, only to discover, much to their dismay, a second line of stockades behind the first. They then formed square, beneath their regimental standard, between the two defensive works. The Burmese Royal Guards may still be seen at the bottom left, resolutely defending their positions in the face of no British activity what so ever. Meanwhile, huge numbers of Burmese militia hurl themselves upon the trapped British. At the bottom right a unit of 4 elephants -here portrayed by 1 actual elephant and 3 Indian camel guns - withdraw from the fray. At the top right, just in front of the 20 sided dice, 2 more elephants - here portrayed by 2 heavily armored fantasy knights - charge into the square. (Yes, yes! The membership has agreed to purchase and paint more elephants.)

After much slaughter, and many dice rolls, the British commander decided to draw off for the night. Fortuitously, for the Burmese, it was at the end of the campaign month and the failure of the British to win the battle meant that the natives were allocated 1 D6 for an independence roll. Much to everyone's surprise, especially the King of Burma, the roll of a 5 was enough to achieve independence. Now the British Burma Army is occupying transport ships on its way to visit the Zulus, or the Boers, in South Africa.

At right, a photo to pad the page. Who says we don't include enough fantasy content on the club web site.