Book Review

Just Received the latest book on the Rhodesian African Rifles called Masodja by Alexander Binda. This one is another great book by 30 degrees south publishing. It comes in the same coffee table type format as the Book on the RLI and includes a DVD.

The book is 400 pages and covers the RAR from WW1 to 1981. The second 200 pages are concerning the Rhodesian bush war. There doesn't apear to be as many pictures as the previous volume and no color pictures at all. However don't let that deter you, there is still a massive amount of pictures and some very good color plates showing the uniforms worn by the regt. From a war gaming perspective the book really shines with the awesome and I do mean awesome maps included. It looks like dozens of small scale maps showing individual skirmishes.

This is another home run by Mr. Binda. At $90.00 it is on the expensive side but for the maps alone I can recommend it. I understand that a history of the Rhodesia Regt is in the works and I for one can't wait.
5 out of 5 stars

Game on 2/20

We attempted a refight of the Monte Cassino Battle concentrating on the Frelimo armoured counterattack. I have taken some liberties with the compostion of forces. What should be 6 T-54 are represented by 2 T-34 and 2 BTR-152. We actually were just play testing the armoured rules.



Early turns saw the advance of Frelimo forces along 2 fronts. AA fire damaged the Lynx forcing it to return to base.

Vampires on target

This game had lots of aircraft, lots of airstrikes and a fair amount of damage. here a Vampire takes out a T-34 of the right hook.

The Hunters turn

Since we were going for an external op Lots of Airpower was allocated for the defenders. Here a Hawker Hunter strike attempts to damage a T-34. No luck this time.

K car

With a AA gun present and stationary for most of the game. I was wondering if we would be experiencing more aircraft losses. Such was not the case. a couple of close calls and the damage to the Lynx was the extent of it.

The Armor battle

The true action of the game was the fire fight between the Eland and The T-34/85. on one hand a poor crew with stalwart hearts in the T-34 on the other hand a veteran armored car that couldn't hit the broadside of a barn! in 2 games the eland has run up the impressive total of 17 shots without a kill. And it isn't a problem with the rules. just terrible dice rolling mixed with fantastic morale rolls on the part of the T-34. But the law of averages finally caught up to the T-34 and failing 1 to many morale checks it beats a hasty retreat. Emboldened by its new found skills the Eland goes on to make a quick kill of the BTR -152.



Overall a good play test of the rules.

Finally!

The day has finally arrived. The day I have been waiting for for 8 months. What could be so momentous?


I finally won a canberra on ebay! For some reason I have had the worst luck with this. Generaly ebay has been great for picking up any model you could want for the period. The kit is an out of production one from airfix, so there is always a bidding war when one shows up. The Rhodesians did not use the later models so to be accurate you need a B(1).6 not the later mk 8's. the canopy is all wrong on the later models. I bet I had bid on half a dozen over the last 8 months trying to get one. usually the price is between 20-30 US dollars.

A review of the new canberra will be up shortly.