Tuesday 30 June 2020

Encounter at Altekirche

Just a little table set up.
No guessing which game it's based upon.





The Pils-Holstein force will arrive from the northwest corner, and the French force from the southeast corner.

The Pils-Holstein forces, under Brigadier Maximillian von Bruch
  • Leibgarde Infantry Battalion
  • Oldenburg Infantry Battalion
  • Kurtz Jagers
  • Light gun

The French force under The Marquis de Genitalia
  • Auvergne Infantry Battalion
  • Orleans Infantry Battalion
  • Arquebusiers de Grassin
  • Light gun

Check back for reports in a few days...



Friday 19 June 2020

The Oldenburg Regiment

One of my favourite units from all those listed in Charles Grant's book 'The War Game' is The Oldenburg Rgt.
And I've always fancied doing them for the Pils-Holstein army for my mid-18th century campaign.

And here they are! All painted, based and flagged by me. Figures are my own range, not commercially available.




Below, Oldenburg supporting other battalions of the Pils Holsein brigade (The Leibgarde and The Kronprinz Grenadiers).






I was privileged to play with the original Oldenburg unit when doing games with Charles S Grant for the various publications I helped with over decade ago, notably, The Wargames Companion and The Raid on St Michel.

I was recently searching through an old hard drive and came across all the photos I took back then. Here is one of those photos - you can pick out the original Oldenburg regiment advancing up the Lobosch Hill during our refight of Lobositz, where young Charles (Charles M) took command of them, and they performed magnificently.




I was surprised when I first discovered that the originals wore green coats. I had always assumed that most of the VFS army was in blue (an erroneous assumption made from looking at the old B/W photos in The War Game!). 

My version pays homage to the originals, for even though mine wear the dark blue of the Pils Holstein forces, they have green lapels, cuffs, and turnbacks. The flags have a style similar to the original as you can see... I have two flags for my battalions, so it made sense to have one with black/red quarters and one with white/end quarters, both with the arms of PH in the centre.





They may get a game very soon...

Meanwhile, last weekend's Virtual Wargames Club was again well attended...



With the usual breakout rooms chatter, the show n tell, and presentations from a number of members on current projects, it provided hobby inspiration and painting momentum. Join us if you'd like some of the same... see the details on the right.
All the best...


Thursday 11 June 2020

An International Brigade

The Virtual Wargames Club is very international, with members all over the globe, and I love the different perspectives that are shared in our 90 minute 'meetings.'

Last weekend, we had two members deliver short presentations on aspects of the hobby, as well as the usual show n tell session - a chance to share pictures of what people have been working on through the week.
We also have hot topic discussion groups and give everyone a chance to have a say and get to know each other.

Here's last week's gang arriving ... 


We have 26 members at the moment, including a few new members this week, so it's growing steadily. If you want to join, just email me (see deails on the right side of this blog).

One of the interesting things is the wide experience of the group. and one member was even able to give simple advice on how, with one click, the changes that blogger is about to introduce can be overridden so that blogs can remain using the existing system. Very useful for a luddite like myself!

In oither news, I am nearing the 'home straight' in my painting of a new Pils-Holstein unit. Just final bits on muskets to do, then it will be basing and flags. So I should have something fresh to show next week!

Until then, stay safe...


Thursday 4 June 2020

News and Perspectives

There's a lot happening at the moment, and I count myself lucky that I can enjoy time with my hobby, as well as all the other things in life.

On Monday, as lockdown restrictions here in England eased, I decided that a 'day out' was in order...
I chose to visit somewhere that I haven't been to for decades, but which has fond childhood associations; namely, Burton Dassett.
This is a picturesque spot in south Warwickshire: unspoilt rolling hills, with fantastic views.
For the first time in 3 months, I paid actual cash for something (ice cream!)… and no jokes about moths and my wallet... and it felt like normal times again!

There's also some history to the place:


It is a natural defensive site... with the hills forming a fortress like enclosure, each acting as a bastion against any enemy attack. I was intrigued by the discovery of the 6thC Saxon graveyard, and started to imagine a hillfort type action in early Mercia...

I suppose that had something to do with me recently having received this book direct from the author who still had a couple left in stock...



Thanks James Morris.

On the way to Burton Dassett, I also stopped off to take a couple of photos of our local windmill... well, you know me and windmills.



above and below: Berkswell Windmill, in glorious sunshine.



Meanwhile, I have a fair amount on the wargames workbench, including a new battalion for the Pils-Holstein collection, which should be finished within the next week or so, at which point I'll share pictures.
I'm also working on a game for the Northleach show/ open day, assuming it will go ahead as planned. Fingers crossed.

And, I'm holding off on buying figures for my autumn/ winter project. This will be an army of around 120 figures (a WAB ancients army). I'm itching to get started to be fair... The clue as to what I'm looking at is contained earlier in this post, and you don't have to be any sort of super-sleuth to work it out!

Oh, and yes, amongst all that, I've just published another book (nothing to do with wargaming, but it's on amazon, and a search under my name will lead you to it).

This weekend, we have the Virtual Wargames Club again... Saturday at 1700 UK time.
Last meeting was the best yet, I think, and it's growing steadily all the time, with wargamers from Sydney, Manila, and many parts of the US joining us Brits and sharing hobby news and plans. The contribution from members means it's relatively easy for me to simply rock up and enjoy, once the tech side of things is set up.
So thanks to all the members... see you Saturday.