Rapid Fire! Sunshine Tour 2005 by Richard Marsh

In May and July John Durston and I hit the road with Rapid Fire! demo games, meeting old and new RF players at two wargames shows in the south of England

Fisticuffs

In May, our annual visit to Weymouth and the excellent Fisticuffs show saw the first outing for ‘Lingevre', the first of the two scenarios in the new Rapid Fire! rule book.

As ever, Fisticuffs was friendly and fun and we met up with old mate Alan McCoubrey, whose kids (he assures me) will be horrified by Dad's mug appearing on this site. Alan is a regular volunteer at Bovington Tank Museum (see below) and a long-time RF player with massive amounts of tank-related knowledge. Last time we visited he tipped us off about a box of old Esci kits (now being slowly reissued by Italeria) on the Bring and Buy stall, so the least I can do is feature him amongst our latest glamour shots.

The show included a terrific Rapid Fire! Crete game (I've lost your names guys, so please e-mail the site with details) and in conversation I was told the same group of players had created a demo game of the NW Europe Book Arracourt scenario, using dry ice to create the early morning mist!

As last year, RF stockist Andy Grubb was on hand to sell us a collection of goodies, including his very useful late war German tank riders. Andy has taken to decorating the front of his stand with Rapid Fire! books, a trend we hope will catch on (are you reading this B&Q?).

Battlegroup South

In early July it was a return - after a two year gap - to the Battlegroup South show at Bovington Tank Museum, the only wargames show in the world (I think) to take place amongst real tanks.

This top tank museum in Dorset has got to be the best venue for a show and in celebration we took ‘Mont Ormel', the most tank-heavy game in the North West Europe scenario book. The RF! table was set up next to some early 1930s tanks and interestingly close to a ‘working' Vickers machine gun; which was very atmospheric, but tough on the ears.

We were joined by North Devon RF! expert Roger Harris who took on the testing task of trying to bash a route past the Polish defenders of Hill 262 with his escaping German force. For those unfamiliar with this game, it's based on the breakout of encircled German forces from the Falaise pocket in August 1944 and the 1 st Polish Armoured Division's epic defence of the ‘The Mace' – the high ground around point 262 which lay directly in their path.

Roger's German force started well, but John's aggressive handling of the Polish armour proved too much in the end and both the breakout and break-in units were driven back: the exact opposite of the result last time we played this scenario.

During the course of the day we met wargamers from Belgium, South Africa and all over the UK, the vast majority of whom had really positive things to say about the new rules. Everyone was urged to e-mail Rapid Fire! with info and photos about their clubs and games, so if you read this guys we meant it. Get e-mailing!

Richard Harris and the other organisers of Battlegroup South deserve everyone's thanks for a truly excellent show, as do the Museum staff, who even shifted a few AFVs to make more space for games and traders. That's what I call co-operation! Don't miss it next year.

First Rapid Fire! Games Day – July 30 th
Antics Model Shop, Plymouth

As advertised on the site, at the end of July we held our first ever Rapid Fire Games Day at Antics Model Shop in Plymouth.

The aim is simply to give gamers and would-be gamers who haven't tried Rapid Fire! the chance to play some games. In this case it was also about showing that although you can't buy everything you need to play RF off the shelf, model shops stock plenty of vehicle kits, boxes of plastic figures and scenery items to help equip your forces and ‘decorate' your table.

John Durston and I were again joined by Roger Harris and, from 10.30, a growing group of young gamers who dived straight into the rules and played two high energy encounter games using various British and German forces. By the time the second game got under way we'd collected 12 players who were controlling 6 battlegroups, and we still managed to finish the game by 5.30pm!

The guys in the photos normally play Sci-Fi and fantasy games, so it was a real thrill to see them getting into W.W.II and RF so quickly. Plenty of spare play sheets helped keep the games flowing, but John and Roger did a brilliant job as human rule books, answering every question and umpiring when necessary. No punch-ups, no temper tantrums and even girlfriends were allowed to watch (next time you've got to get them playing guys!).

The results were a draw in the first game – an encounter game played the length of the table using the ‘Lingevre' terrain – and a narrow German victory in the second, which pitted three battlegroups a side against each other in a bruising encounter across the table.

Massive thanks to shop Manager Clive and Assistant Manager and games expert Rich, for letting us loose on their premises and for doing such a great job in publicising the event. Also thanks to Will and Del from the Plymouth Association of Wargamers, who turned up to have a chat and stop us oldies (well, me anyway) feeling out of place

As promised, there will be another Antics Gamesday soon, on Saturday 20 th August from 11.00am – 5.00pm , so don't forget Karl, Jamie, Jason, Jack, Bob, Rob, Kyle, Narada, Stan, Lewis, Tim and anyone else who wants to play – you need to get busy buying, building and painting something to add to the forces: either late World War II British or German.

And for all those wrinklies like me who weren't sure young gamers could get into W.W.II – think again!

Note that Antic's shop on Royal Parade in Plymouth now stocks Rapid Fire! rules (as well as Dragon kits and readymade armour, plus Revell, Italeria etc) and there's a free mention on the site for the person who buys the single copy sitting forlornly on the shelf of Hooper's newsagents and book shop in Mayflower street – the place to buy your military books in Plymouth.

Above: RF! Games Day players with Antic's Assistant Manager Rich in the centre.