A Right Bloody Mess has Arrived!!!

A Right Bloody Mess has Arrived!!!

Well butter my bollocks and call me Nancy!

After two years of hard graft, A Right Blood Mess aka ARBM is finally here.

So what’s got me all hot all bothered? ARBM provides the wargamer everything they need to understand the Australian (Civil) War, the events leading up to it and the first year of the conflict.

The Australian War starts on the 9th April 1933 with the secession of Western Australia, the Northern Territory (which together form the Dominion of Westralia) and Victoria. Detail is provided about the kidnapping of New South Wales Premier, Jack Lang, on the 13th May 1932 by the New Guard, allowing players to include this earlier confrontation.

ARBM is a sourcebook, with detailed information about the leadup to civil war, the factions involved and their capabilities and resources. Limited information is provided about the first year of the conflict so that gamers may take the setting where they will. It is rules and scale agnostic for the same reason.

The setting is based in fact and most of the detail is historically accurate, including the content and distribution of the armed forces, various factions, armaments factories, etc. This will hopefully allow players to explore the gamut of plausibility from “very historical” to “whimsical.” A good example of the latter is the 1930s cars produced by Eureka miniatures and the complementing Maximillian 1934 rules published by Mana Press.

The book is a 6.1” x 9.2”, full colour, cloth bound hardcover running to 282 page, plus dust jacket. Price is A$80 or £45. Copies will be on sale at Eureka Miniatures or by contacting me at arbm1933@iinet.net.au.

Below is the Table of Contents to give you a better idea of the book’s scope. The structure of each faction’s information is at the bottom.

Happy gaming,

Matt

Page	Table of Contents
1	Preface:
3 3 4 5 7 8 14 17	Section 1: An Overview of the Australian Civil War. Federation: The Depression: New South Wales Crisis: The Gathering Storm: Descent into Civil War: The Australian War: Alternate versions of Alternate-History:
19 19 25 30 33	Section 2: Australian Armed Forces Pre-Secession. Australian Army: Royal Australian Navy: Royal Australian Air Force: Civilian Weapons:
35 40 40 42 42 44 44	Section 3: Descent into Chaos. Standardisation: Uniforms: Organisation: Small Arms and Equipment: Artillery: Wargaming Figures:
51 51 53 55 77 101 124 142 155 166 177 184 195 203 203 203 205 218 221 223 226 228 228 229 229 229 229 230 230 231 231 233 234 238 241 242 243 245 246 246 247 248	Section 4: Faction Guide A New Australia: Known Factions 1933: Dominion of Westralia: Victoria: New South Wales & the FCT: Queensland: South Australia: Tasmania: Australian Red Centre: The Riverina Movement: Australian’s Labour Unions: Communist Party of Australian: Other Left-Wing Organisations: United Front Against Fascism: Australian Labor Party: The New Guard: Fascists within the New Guard: The Italian Fascist Movement: The Old Guard: League of National Security: Other Right-Wing Organisations: The Australian Fascist Party: The Centre Party: Blue Shirts: Silent Knights: Australia First Movement: Black Shirts: Citizens' League of South Australia: The Establishment: United Australia Party: Attorney-General’s Department: Investigation Branch: State Police Forces: Societies Underbelly – Gangs and Criminals: Australian Immigrants and Other Groups: New Zealand: Italian Immigrants: Irish Immigrants: German Immigrants: Chinese and Asian Immigrants: Religions Groups: Smaller and Ad-hoc Groups:
249 250 252 253 254 255 256 257 259 259 262	Section 5: Wargaming ARBM: Repurposing Miniatures:      Potential Rule Sets: Campaigns and Scenarios: Campaigns: Company to Regimental Sized Engagements: Skirmish Games: RPG-Lite: Examples of Faction Creation: Geelong Workers Union: The Murray River Growers Association:
265 265 265 267 268 269 271 275	Section 6: Additional Information. Australian Spirit: Technology and History: Militia Units: The Setting: Going Beyond 1933: Designers Notes: Useful Links:

Faction Information: The information present for each faction listed in Section 4 is structured in the following manner: 1.   Introduction and Overview: 2.   Military Organisational Structure: 3.   Army: 4.   Air Force: 5.   Navy: 6.   Key Infrastructure: a.    Mining and Agriculture: b.    Military Production: c.     Transportation: d.    Other Key Infrastructure: 7.   Wargaming the Faction: a.    Training and Support: b.   Uniforms and Equipment: c.    Heavy Equipment: d.   Primary Allies and Opponents: 8.   Wargaming Figures: (Note: Not all factions have every section listed above, the minor factions only have those parts that are applicable to them.)