Back Again

 It's been a while which is unusual for me, I am just about back down to earth after my two days of War and Conquest with Rob Broom so nothing else seemed relevant.

I have played some games although I did miss one night at the club, after the WAC extravaganza Jimi and I played a Bolt Action 3 game straight from the book, a mistake as these scenarios are just bland. Jimi brought his Gebirgsjager and I had the Russians, I managed to bring my SU-85 which saw action for the first time ever. We should just have went to the pub as we chatted and laughed about all sorts of things and only managed four turns of the game, neither of us were particularly invested in it, I certainly wasn't as my SU-85 was turned to scrap by a StuG.

Deleted battle photos, but here is the offending article.

I have yet to actually pick up the book and give it another thorough read through, there are errata out and I haven't even looked at them yet. Matt Crump uses Bolt Action (V1) and we have cracking games in the Dungeon but V3 just leaves me cold. My main sticking point is the new shooting rules which 'simplified' the procedure by introducing saving rolls, I am certainly not thick but why introduce another step in shooting and calling it simpler. The fact that a tank now has a saving roll just doesn't register in my brain, no matter how they explain it. I get a whiff of change for changes sake, or rather why you should pay £30 for a new version.

I know I should take Matt's route and set up proper scenarios on the table top but that is far easier to do here in the Bunker than at the club and I simply don't play a lot of Bolt Action at home. Maybe I should just go back to V2, we will see. I am hoping that Chain of Command 2 will be a success when it eventually turns up.

I also managed to get to the club last night, Jimi asked for a game of Dead Man's Hand so he could bring along his son, it's school holidays, and we ended up with five of us as Simon and his lad joined in. Basically we had five gangs all trying to either kill or save a prisoner from a hanging. Once again no one took it serious and we had a lot of fun although it looked like most of us had forgotten to load bullets until the closing stages of the game, Jimi's luck had rubbed off on all of us. With a hail of lead sweeping Main Street needless to say no one managed the objective but I think Jimi got the points for dropping the most bad/good guys. My Mexicans as usual did not live up to their reputation.

I continue building up the new Roman army, I am managing almost a unit every two and a half weeks, much faster than I expected, I am about half way through them. I am actually now working on the army list, most of it is straight forward but I have to make a couple of decisions on troop types, the main problem is Lanciarii, these were seen as light troops although they did wear armour, they were also practised in moving quickly and holding ground. I have decided therefore to have two units which will fit these rolls, one close ordered but light and another based as skirmishers. As for the others I am finding that this army will have far more cavalry than any of my other armies with probably six cavalry units rather than four in order to cover the types of horsemen available to the Romans in this period. Cataphracts, lancers, archers, light and heavy cavalry will be covered. War and Conquest has always really been an infantry battle but Rob's new rule giving cavalry two lives rather than one along with the choice of breaking off from combat has been a bit of a game changer.

II Treverorum.

On parade.

The club continues to recruit Dark Age and Ancient armies for Hail Caesar, the former especially being a joy to see on the table, Midgard also continues driven by Stuart who is a convert, I remain in the wilderness atop the hill, dark clouds rolling in as the light fades, still holding up my tattered flag for War and Conquest surrounded by my dead and dying hearthguard.

On the horizon we have our third ACW campaign game on the 13th, I have no plans for anything after that at the moment. The Helion book on wargaming the Italian Wars is being released at Salute, I have seen the proofs and it is a lovely work, maps by you know who of course, I fully expect there to be an upsurge in interest in the period and I look forward to getting my hands on a copy.

I am Politician material.

 Happy New Year. I had hoped to have a battle report from the campaign in this post but circumstances were not such that I could get the players involved together for the Battle of Woodstock, so hopefully this will be upcoming at a later date.

Why am I now suitable to be a politician you ask, well I already cannot look at myself in the mirror as I am a shadow of my former handsome self but the main reason is that I too am able to do a U-Turn and go back on a promise. No more projects I have shouted over the last few months, maybe one of those miscreants who delve into ones past online utterances could prove it was even longer. I have been brought to such a pass by a Christmas present.

The item in question was a book on the army of Giaus Julius Maximinus Thrax (the Thracian), who led an expedition deep into Germany, far deeper than most historians allowed for prior to the discovery of the Harzhorn battlefield (2008). A Roman victory against the German tribes for which Thrax is the main contender although the exact date and leader cannot be determined for now. I have two Roman armies but have always had a soft spot for the middle period which my troops do not cover, Armorum & Aquila (A&A) Miniatures have ranges which cover the 3rd and 4th Century, I was hooked.

The culprit.

 The illustrations in the book are quite striking, some of the facial expressions are a bit strange and the face looks like it has been trapped in the helmet. The armour detail is exceptional and I doubt you will find this in wargaming figures, these guys as well as looking frightening also looked sharp. As ever the shields draw me in, in nearly every case they are the artists represenatations based on Legion symbols and unless you are good at hand painting you will have to rely on transfers, thankfully Little Big Man Studios do a range which will fit. The book points out that the famous Duro-Europos shield would be useless in combat as it is too thin, part of another decorated shield found in the city is also unsuitable for combat, so again I suspect these were for ceremonial/guard use.

I also have to mention the work of Phil Hendry who ran a blog years ago which detailed his building of a 3rd Century army using A&A figures, the force is simply inspiring and I have never forgot them, I will be using his blog as a starting point for the new army. Phil's troops were based in the East of the empire while I will be concentrating on the Legions of the Rhine and Danube frontiers who more that likely sent vexillations for the expedition into Germany rather than the complete legion. I believe my favourites, Legio XII, were on the Pannonian frontier around this time and if so probably had a presence in the invasion. Further research will follow.

Phil's troops, hope he doesn't mind.

 Will I get these troops on the table, who knows, maybe once in a blue moon but I don't care, well I do, but in the end the research, collecting and painting will keep me sane for the coming year and a bit.

In order to clear the decks I have managed to get another small pike block from out of my lead pimple, this leaves about 20 figures in the tin whose fate will be to remain there forever. I am painting them up as a Papal contingent which includes mercenaries of Ludovico de' Medici. As I am moving on to the Romans these will be the last Italian Wars figures for a long time. While on the subject of the future I am getting an urge to add figures to Cohors I of the Twelfth, I know it should be twice the size of a normal cohort but adding a few more figures will scratch that itch, also I can order them from Aventine when I get the cataphracts for the German invasion, sorted.

Over Christmas I managed to finish my four new buildings, two barns and two houses, nothing spectacular but decent kits, I might add a bit more weathering to the two houses.

The club starts back on Tuesday and I have a game of Bolt Action to kick off the year. I am also going to go to York this year to browse for bits and pieces, mainly scatter terrain, some paints and maybe the odd piece from the Last Valley, I feel the need for some more trees and maybe some smaller hedges.

Parthian Shot: In the new 2025 D&D rule book if you feel your adventurer has met a situation which is inappropriate you can hold out your palm or make a cross with your arms above your head to halt proceedings. The rest have not to discuss why you have called a halt but simply amend the play and move on without prejudice. I might try that the next time my one and only tank is punctured by a strike from an anti-tank gun.

2024 And All That

 A mixed beginning for me to the year, in November '23 an 'anomaly' was found on my liver while looking at my gallbladder. It was May this year before I finally received an operation to remove a lump on my liver (oh, and also my gallbladder which I did not know about until six months after the op). This and the fact that the builders started to work on the room which used to be the Post Office/shop meant that apart from the odd night I could make the club, my wargaming was minimal for over six months. I also understandably did not want to start anything new.

The op went well and the builders did a superb job, although it did take us several months of calling it downstairs/the shop/the PO/ War Room and a few other things before we settled on The Bunker as the easiest on the tongue. 

With all that time to think about things I came to the decision that there would be no more grand projects and the future would simply be additions to what I already had, if at all. I have some seven forces for WWII, five Dark Ages/Ancient armies, two SYW armies, a very large collection of ACW 15mm and a few skirmish games, trying to get them all on the table at some point is well nigh impossible. For instance I have 122 vehicles for WWII and many have not fired a shot. So my aim for 2025 is to play as many games as I can with as many of the troops as I can.

By July I was back in the saddle and I returned to the club for my weekly fix, the club has expanded with several new members and the range of games played has also expanded, Hail Caesar is the front runner at the moment and I have seen more Dark Age and Ancient armies over the past few months than I have in the last few years. I seemed to lean more towards WWII this year, this was helped by Matt Crump and I starting our second Chain of Command campaign, once again on the Eastern Front, I was lucky that friend Robert Thomson made an effort on his travels to pop in to play another campaign which is ongoing, this time in NW Europe. I also continue to enjoy my trips to Grange to take part in Rob Martin's giant Napoleonic games. Since The Bunker opened I have also managed to host quite a few games here and am grateful to those who have turned up to spend a few hours jousting across the table. I must mention that my own away games at Matt's in Penrith are always a pleasure.

Since eschewing new armies I have managed to add various bits and pieces despite this, I found myself at a loss just before Christmas so opted for some new buildings, I never lose the urge to improve my terrain. I do have to say I missed having something on the tray to do and have decided not to break my own promise above and forego the price of a divorce lawyer and just add units to the Italian Wars next year.

Wanting to get my ACW troops back in action I decided to run a campaign based in the Shenandoah Valley, this is not Jackson's Valley Campaign, just something to keep us all going through the winter months which hopefully will provide some battles with consequences. Just as the curtain comes down on 2024 we have two battles upcoming to kick off 2025.

Despite having to call a halt to my mapping for several months I have still managed to draw for 37 books this year, I do not have the patience to count the maps but 300 would be a decent estimate.

Going forward as I say above, I hope to continue to play more games.

There's thousands of 'em.

 I have noticed several pieces recently on just how many historical wargamers there are, personally I am surrounded by quite a few, always have been so I have never given it much thought as long as I can find someone to play the odd game. Things also seem fairly healthy by the amount of stuff I can buy for the troops, from dinner plates and tankards to a scaled down copy of the Reichstag circa Berlin 1945. New ranges abound along with a boom in 3D printing which I think is the future despite being wedded to metal. The figure arrived at was around 50,000, which may seem like a lot but up against 900,000 anglers pales into insignificance, even the train spotters are in six figures despite the things being characterless these days. Does it really matter, not really, I file it under the same guff that we need to grow the hobby or get more females interested, or more diversity etc. you are either a wargamer or you are not that's the only thing that matters.

The big news of course is that the Atlas I have worked on for the last three or more years has at last been published and I have recieved several complimentary copies as my name appears on the cover. I had finished the maps a long time ago so apart from tweaking my job was done. The book looks very good, a coffee table tome to adorne any bijou reading room, which of course we all have. You can find details here.

I had another Italian Wars game at the club this week, I will not wax lyrical as you will no doubt be fed up of Italian Wars, also it was only an introductory game for Simon, the period does not play well on a typical 6x4 with only a fraction of the forces sitting in reserve in the War Room. Anyway I was the Imperials and although the cavalry action on the wings was inconclusive I lost my two pike blocks so was on a hiding to nowhere.

I have managed once again to add more troops to the Imperial army, a unit of German men-at-arms and have taken delivery of more cavalry and the last pike block to keep me going now the nights are fair closing in. This leaves a couple of cavalry units still to get but they can wait.

Apart from that everything is fairly quiet as winter approaches, I am ticking over with map projects and have finished several commissions outwith my work for Helion.

The Last Post 2022

 

We have had our Christmas game and that just about signals the end of my wargaming for the year. A very large Muskets and Tomahawks game was arranged by Rob and Ed, there were a further fourteen of us playing. We all had a group of figures, Indians, British, French, Sweepings of the Gutter and I am sure one other criminal element which escapes me for the moment, I had a bunch of Indians, lovely figures and well painted.

Our hero far right.

There were 'treasure' points spread throughout the battlefield and these could garner treasure (points), an enemy or some other diabolical entity dreamt up by Rob, the winner would be the person with the most points. I set off in tandem with Dan who also had Indians and decided to move on Stuart who unluckily happened to be deployed between us. My first treasure was a heap of rather disgusting pelts worth very little. Dan and I eventually got close enough to Stuart's men to surround and attack him, he managed to survive and then fled while we stayed put confused. Dan now turned his attention to some Scots plunging through the woods nearby while I continued to harass the French survivors, we had a frightful melee which left one Frenchie and two Indians standing. I had intended to move on nearby Julian and his cutthroats but not with two men.

Before the game we had our annual meeting and I asked for 28mm hedges, so I shall get in touch with Andy at The Last Valley and hopefully have some in the New Year, it also seemed like a good idea to try and attract some younger members and it was generally agreed to be a good thing, although we did manage to get some older new members who have benefited the club. The Cumbrian Chef, Julian, brought his usual gift of mince pies, a few which made themselves to Casa Anderson for the Memsahib and Rob presented me with a lovely painted French staff officer for my birthday whom I will find time to base over the festive season.

I have a busy time now until I pack away my festive face on the 2nd January for another year, our first club night will be the 3rd so I will have to look at getting back on the hobby horse. My plans for 2023 are not complicated, I shall continue to add to my Italian Wars project and build an Imperial/Spanish army to oppose my French. I had hoped to have the French complete this year but now find I need at least another two cavalry units and a figure for King Francis before I can move on. I have all the figures already to build a large Imperial Landsknecht pike block and populate a small camp (the tents are coming from Slovakia). I also have some Early War Germans on the way as I felt I needed another MMG team and a few extra Landser, I am also looking at a few more vehicles simply because I like painting them, building them is just a necessity. I also have to look at field works for the Italian Wars, especially gun emplacements.

The suits at the LMF have handed in the finances for 2022 and I have spent way too much throughout the year, and coming from someone who is not averse to spending money on himself it was a shock. I have therefore decided on a freeze until all the above is completed before loosening the purse strings again. The files have been taken to the vault and marked "My Eyes Only" and the key disposed of.

 Looking backwards now and the year saw me have a nice holiday in Sicily early on, after which came my retirement and the closure of the Post Office at the end of August. After 23 years I parted with Post Office Limited (very limited) owing me £6, they have now paid up and I have called off Lawyers4U. I started the Italian Wars Project and have enjoyed every minute of it and am looking forward to getting the Imperial army on to the table. I also managed to get quite a bit of gaming in in different periods and made an effort to get my troops on the table both at the club and at home, a big thanks to all my opponents who made it possible.

Next year I hope to have another push at playing more games. I have started a Chain of Command campaign which is off to a promising start, despite having had to give up ground, I have been asked to host the next Napoleonic game as Rob cannot get into the Gin Pit in Grange and I am hoping to get back to the ACW in February with a return to Chancellorsville.

I shall now hang up my keyboard and wish all my readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Pass the Chianti

 I notice it is actually quite warm out today, very unusual for the end of October, especially as it started with the usual grey sky and rain. Be that as it may I had a game organised with Julian and he duly turned up at 1000 hrs. It was our second Italian Wars bash, he has not had the time to increase his troops but I have managed a French pike block, some cavalry and more shooters.

The battle was a simple engagement so Julian based his army on a joint Spanish/Imperialist force having two Landsknecht and two Spanish pike blocks, two guns and six cavalry units one of which were mounted crossbows, he used his skirmishers to screen the pike blocks. I had a right old mix, Swiss, Landsknechts, Italian and French pikes, Italian formed shot, two guns, three Gendarme and three Archer cavalry units So, the enemy infantry were superior in mass to mine but my cavalry were slightly better. My troops were led by Giovanni de Medici.

We used the rules deployment where you put down cards representing the units then later turn them over to reveal the unit and set out your troops, a quick and easy system. I put four cavalry on my left and then Landsknechts, Italians, Swiss and French infantry in a line with two more cavalry units behind my right flank. Julian also had four cavalry units on his right but only one facing mine, then came his infantry close together with two more cavalry units on his left. From my point of view I thought my left flank cavalry could advance and quickly crush the enemy before they could get organised while I decided to bring my right flank cavalry to the front and also immediately attack. What to do with my infantry was taken from my capable hands as the Swiss once again threw themselves forward.

My left charged but didn't have a great deal of success and Julian countered well and at one point as I looked across I could see disaster looming, so much for my left hook. I took some time to get into a good position on my right but did eventually manage to get my heavy cavalry to the front only for them to be set upon and pushed back by the Spanish cavalry. The Swiss were now well across the battlefield followed by the Landsknechts and much more slowly but enthusiastically by the Italians and French. Julian seemed to be playing a waiting game.

Spanish/Imperials on the left, French on the right

Spanish right flank

After some bitter fighting my cavalry on the left began to make headway, but so did one of the enemy units as it punched through my line, but my up till then useless gunners, played on an easy target. With my left stabilised and cavalry now moving to the rear of the Spanish line the infantry clashed. The Swiss once again proved worth their pay and destroyed the Landsknechts to their front. My own Landsknechts also proved superior to the Spanish foot opposite them and in a surprise move my French who had been pushed back now turned the tables on their tormentors and joined the rest of my infantry in sweeping forward. In the final throws of the battle the Spanish lost several more units and Julian called a halt to the slaughter.

My cavalry make heavy weather of the attack

Avant!

French left

Scots cavalry having a tough fight.

In this game we came up against quite a few new 'problems' not covered in the rules, we settled these with what I hoped passed for commonsense but I intend to drop an email to the author, no one can hide anymore. We had a couple of instances where it looked like a quick flip would take a unit on to the flank of someone nearby, but of course the rules don't allow this as you are talking about huge, unwieldy pike blocks of several thousand men which simply cannot turn on a sixpence, no matter how easy it looks on a table. This game has also inspired me once again to look at the actual battles of the period but time is lacking, I will get there eventually. We both feel that gunnery, both arquebus and artillery seem to be quite ineffective, but again I think the answer may be in the detail, when these were effective, at Bicocca and Pavia the shot units consisted of thousands of men, not the small numbers we have on our table at the moment.

Swiss way ahead and my right flank cavalry surge forward

Suffolk and his Landsknechts charge in

Dodgy fighting on the right.

Swiss triumphant

I rush painted an artillery piece and some arquebusiers for the game. I now have Stradioti ready for the painting tray, these are from The Assault Group and look very nice, in vain I have looked for examples of their clothing colours, I know some prefer dull colours but my thinking is that these guys are from the Balkans and the Balkans were under Turkish dominance at this time and those guys are usually pretty colourful, so would it have rubbed off on the Albanians?

I also took a small break and built the SdKfz 250/1 Alte that I got at Partizan, a very easy build and a lovely little model, it has been primed in Panzer Grey and awaits transfers, detailing and weathering.

The other night at the club Simon and I again played Johnny Reb, Simon is still keen on learning the game and I introduced command limits this time, this played a big part in the game as we both had brigades of between five and six regiments with only three orders to use for each. A simple meeting engagement again in which I advanced to the centre and held along a fence line, Simon was more aggressive and tried to push his men forward. Like the last time he did well until his die rolling threw his morale into chaos, he also suffered from several regiments running out of ammunition. So another Confederate victory but he is getting closer with each game to that elusive win.

Lost for a decent series of late I started 'Tehran' on Apple+, it is like the eyes of a snake, you want to look away but somehow can't. The Israeli agent is so incompetent she leaves a trail of dead innocents in here wake as she tries to carry out her, yes, it is a woman and most of the people in charge are women, in Moslem Tehran that should fit right in. I digress, I stayed the course and am now on Series 2, I am hoping against hope the Iranian protagonist catches her, how crazy is that. I also started 'The Old Man' on Disney, first episode, great, second episode, not so great, why would you go to dinner with someone then bore the life out of them with your desperate life story before you even order a drink, where was the waiters, where was the remote. It has one more chance.

 

As for our political chaos, Rishi Sunak, the defence rests and goes home m'lud.