In this episode we discuss all things Kickstarter, our thoughts regarding it’s influence on the hobby, as well as our own experiences buying into various KS’s over the last few years.

Episode 3 

There was no ‘special friendship’ between the US and the UK before WW2. In fact, war between the two was not such a far-fetched idea – the US had its own empire ambitions, the problem was the UK ruled the world. The US decided that if they were to build an empire, they would have to remove the Royal Navy from the equation as they were deemed an obstacle to any future expansion plans. So, a conflict between the two was considered a possibility by those in the US government.

The most obvious way this would happen was the US coming up against Japan, who were expanding their empire in Asia, as Japan also had ambitions of further expansion. The US at the time were very anti-Japanese and it was likely that the US would come into conflict with Japan in Asia as both interests in the region were likely to clash. If this were to occur it would also in all probability bring to the US into conflict with Britain because at the time Britain in an alliance with Japan (Anglo-Japanese Alliance).

So, the likelihood was that the US would come into to conflict with both Japan and the British Empire at the same time. So, the US government decided they needed a plan for this very outcome. War Plan Red was developed by the War Department after the 1927 Geneva Naval Conference and approved in May 1930 by Secretary of War Patrick J. Hurley and Secretary of the Navy Charles Francis Adams III and updated in 1934–35. It was a routine hypothetical exercise and did not require presidential or congressional approval. Only the Congress has the power to declare war.

The war plan outlined actions that would be necessary if, for any reason, the US and Britain went to war with each other. The plan assumed that the British would initially have the upper hand by virtue of the strength of the Royal Navy. The plan further assumed that Britain would probably use its base in Canada as a springboard from which to initiate an invasion of the United States. The assumption was taken that at first, the US would fight a defensive battle against invading British forces, but the US would eventually defeat the British by blockading Canada’s ports and cutting off its food supplies. It is debated whether this would have been successful however and if the plan would have ultimately resulted in a stalemate.  That was the strategy employed by Britain against the US in the War of 1812.

The British military never prepared a formal plan for war with the United States during the first half of the 20th century. For instance, the government of David Lloyd George in 1919 restricted the Royal Navy from building more ships to compete with American naval growth and thereby preventing the plan’s development.

The British military generally believed that if war did occur, they could transport troops to Canada if asked, but nonetheless saw it as impossible to defend Canada against the much larger United States, so did not plan to render aid, as Canada’s loss would not be fatal to Britain. They believed that once the US blockaded the Canadian ports then Canada would be lost.

British military officers planned to, instead, attack the American fleet from a Western Hemisphere base, likely Bermuda, while other ships based in Canada and the West Indies would attack American shipping and protect Imperial trade. The British would also bombard coastal bases and make small amphibious assaults. India and Australia would help capture Manila to prevent American attacks on British trade in Asia and perhaps a conquest of Hong Kong. The officers hoped that such acts would result in a stalemate making continued war unpopular in the United States, followed by a negotiated peace.

Canadian Director of Military Operations and Intelligence Lieutenant Colonel James “Buster” Sutherland Brown planned for a Canadian pre-emptive attack against the United States in the event of an imminent conflict between the United States and the British Empire. The purpose of invading the US was to allow time for Canada to prepare its war effort and to receive aid from Britain.

Sutherland Brown along with other officers carried out reconnaissance for the plan, in civilian clothes during 1921-26. Some military officers thought the plan was so crazy that it might just work whilst others considered it suicidal.

This could make an interesting alternative history campaign using early WW2 miniatures, basing in either the North American theatre of war or a conflict based in Asia against both the British and Japanese, or fighting them separately. A couple of ideas could include an invasion of Japan or trying to capture Hong Kong from the British. At this time Japan was engaged in Korea and China, so one idea for the US could be to land troops in China and aid the Chinese against the Japanese. China would be one of the main targets for expansion by the US in Asia, simply because of the resources that would be available. If the US captures China, you could have an uprising by Chinese factions, or skirmishes along the border with Russia. Once the US ventures into Asia a conflict with Britain would be inevitable because of British interests in the region.

We now have a podcast up and running, yes we’ve joined the modern age here at Irregular Magazine.

www.anchor.fm/irregular-magazine

Welcome once more to our latest issue of Irregular Magazine, Issue 15, Volume 2 for Spring 2021!

We begin with looking a the latest News in our gaming hobby, including news about new Critical Role figures from WizKids so you too can play more in Exandria!

This is followed by an update from our Editor on how he has been doing in his ongoing campaign about his personal grey hoard.

We have a review of the board game Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps! which is a real draw to many of us gamers who are fans of the Alien movies, as well as RPG reviews of the exciting Talisman RPG and the Achtung Cthulhu setting for Call of Cthulhu, as well as a review of the Towns and Taverns book of battle mats.

We look forward to the hotly anticipated Stargrave, the miniatures agnostic sci-fi followup to the very popular Forstgrave from Joe McCullough, and will be published by Osprey in April; and we also look back at Blast from the Past in the form of the old, but hugely popular Games Workshop game, Mordheim.

Many of us are interested in miniatures, so we have a few interesting articles for us all this time – we have an Alien painting tutorial, that sits nicely alongside our board game review of Aliens; but we also look at the fantasy range of Celtos miniatures and the sci-fi range of Hammer’s Slammers miniatures, both of which are available from Brigade Models. And to complement all of this, our Editor has a look at the Back to Basics of miniature painting, for those of us who need a refresh!

Finally on the miniatures front, we have a good look at a new and often asked question at the moment: Are 3D printed miniatures any good?

Following up on previous issues, we have a look at eSports once again. This time in the form of mobile eSports. Can we now play online games at a high level using the powerful computers that many of us now carry around in our pockets?

We also have and interesting review of the early 20th Century US plan to attack the British Empire, should it have proven to have been necessary. This article definately provides some interesting alternative history options for our 20th Century gaming.

This issue is also packed full of book reviews once more, with no less than fourteen book reviews. Stretching from Ancient times to 20th century warfare, if you’re looking for a recommendation of something new to read, we’ve probably got you covered!

Being something of a fan of the Orient, and being a Sinophile in particular, our Editor brings us another great review of Asian TV shows to watch online, that we might otherwise have missed out on.

Finally, although we may tease him a little, we have a lot to be grateful to our Editor for, not least the service he gave for his country, which includes his participation in the 1st Gulf War. This was now 30 years ago, and he has a look back at this conflict, including a personal perspective and a couple of period photos of him in situ.

Of course, many of the games we are talking about still need friends to play with, and although the world now has more hope than ever, many of us remain unable to meet up with friends to play games. Please stay safe everyone, until the times come when we can all play together again!

Time to get reading – go on, download a copy now!

Issue 15 Volume 2 / Spring 2021

Finally took the light box out to take some better images of the finished Ninja Goblin

During this lockdown I wasn’t as productive as I had been in previous ones, but I did finish an army and I started building the modular tiles for the Asian town project.

Team Yankee

I’m currently building two armies for this in preparation of being able to meet up with friends and introduce them to the game. I’ve been building a BAOR(British Army on the Rhine) force and a Soviet force that will also double up as a Chinese PLA force for Asian battles, as I plan to possible run an invasion of Hong Kong campaign. So how far have I progressed, well I literally just finished the British force about an hour prior to writing this up. As for the Soviets/PLA all I have left is 2 T-80’s, a T-64 tank and a BMP-1 left to finish, which I should hope fully complete this weekend. Which means by March 2021 I will have two completely painted armies for Team Yankee.

Bolt Action

Like Team Yankee I’ve been building two armies, an American force and a German army. I’m just about in the final stages of completing both of these and fingers crossed will have finished painting both by the end of March. All I have left to paint for the US are the infantry, all 13 tanks are now done, along with the half-tracks, mortar unit and MG crews. As for the Germans all I have left are some half-tracks and two 88’s left to build and paint. I managed to paint up the last of my Panthers and final Puma a week ago so these are on track to being both finished ready for when we can all start meeting up again and playing games.

The Ninja Goblin

This is a large scale display piece and he’s been sat on the shelf unbuilt and unpainted since 2011, yep, 10 years I’ve had this mini sat waiting for me to get him started and finished. So I finally started painting him, well I did the base last year and didn’t get any further until quite recently when I bit the bullet and decided to get him painted. I like tackling large scale every now and them as it takes me out of my comfort zone as it requires a slightly different approach when compared to painting 28 or 15mm gaming miniatures. I’m happy with the skin tones and the wooden elements on the figure, though I think at some point I’ll need to go back to the cloth parts and touch up some of the highlights to make them pop more, but for now I’m happy to leave him as he is.

Asian Town Modular Terrain

I finally got off the starting blacks in actually building the tiles, most of last year was spent building the terrain pieces to go to the tiles, such as bridges and buildings. Finally I made the leap and built the first two tiles, which consisted of a set of ruins and a pathway tile running alongside the ruins and a wooded area. The next tiles I plan to build will be a couple of outlying farms/rural dwellings outside the town, along with the town entrance tile. I’m hoping to have these completed by April, then I can concentrate on the river sections and the actual town itself.

The conflict between Kernow and its neighboring enemies has been raging for a while. Skirmishes across the border have been ongoing for some time. Yet a daring raid into Plymouth by a newly trained commando raiding unit saw an upscale in the conflict.

The Kernow Commandos are a highly specialized unit trained in making raids into enemy territory with the aim of causing as much destruction as possible. After a few successful small raids along the border, they were ready to carry out quite a daring attack on Plymouth and the Royalists stationed there.

The plan is to attack two targets, the main attack would be on the Royal William Naval yard, with the intention of destroying as much as possible. The other would be a diversionary attack on areas around Devonport, this would be designed to make as much noise as possible, so that the main attack goes unhindered as Royalist resources are dragged over to the diversionary attack.

Both teams would be armed with small arms in the form of SMGs, hand grenades and high explosives. They would attack at night and cross the estuary to Plymouth from Salt Ash in small water going craft. The main attack would plant explosives and return to Salt Ash by boat. The diversionary attack would create as much noise and damage as possible and the commandoes would have to make their own way back by any means possible, capture is a likely situation.

One of the targets for the diversion attack is the Royal Marine barracks at Stonehouse, attack the main gates and throw grenades and high explosives into the buildings where possible. The main naval dock yards would be another target to attack and cause mayhem.

During all this chaos the main attack would sneak into the Royal William yard to strategically place high explosives. The two ships in dry dock would be a prime target, along with various buildings. The aim is to give the Royalists a bloody nose.

For this scenario you could any number of possible rule systems, though we recommend Bolt Action. We would suggest making the commando teams veterans, to allow for their specialized training and the fact that most served professionally in the army before the civil war.

You could play this as two separate games for each of the attacks, for the diversion I would suggest to just play through an attack on an area of Plymouth attacking anything and everything. It’s all fair game, the team can attack anything.

For the attack on the Royal William Yard, you could play rules to see if they manage to sneak in undetected and plant explosives. If they’re spotted, then it all goes to chaos and the commandoes just attack anything to try and damage as much as possible before being killed or captured.