Last Posting This Year.

 OKAY. Thats it for 2024 the last post is in the bag for me to take to my Post Office.

 That is the lot.

 Carole and I are haveing a fortnight off. We will get back to work on or around January 4th  2025

 Now aside from a bit of downtime I want to get some writing done-  got a book to finish and 2024 was a bit of a bugger in parts what with one thing and another so here's hoping for a better 2025.

Frederick the Great- The Short Version.

 Battleground 2024.

Through Rain and Snow and Gloom of Night ......

Well perhaps not gloom of night but plenty of the white stuff then rain . The first part of the  trip to Battleground at the Middlesborough Sports Village on November 23rd was - shall we say - interesting. The whole journey under normal circumstance should have taken about an hour from my house. So 2 Hours 20 minutes later we finally get into the carpark. The weather had turned from snow to rain and sleet but we made it.

So now to the game.

 Jim the Builder was in the chair and plumped for a 10mm Seven Years War game with his rather spiffing collection of little fellas- about 2000 or more on the table as it turned out. Prussians against Austrians and Russians. Models mostly Old Glory  Grandscale 10 as you would expect. All painted by Jim.

Early in the game- Russian on their ridge looking at the Prussian masses adancing against them. 

Initially we had expecte four members of the Tantobie Warfare and Tactical Society to be present - but only 3 made it . A power cut in his area because of the snowfall meant Andrew the Tekkie had to bail at the last minute.

This meant that Shaun took the Prussians and I the allied forces. I slightly outnumbered the Prussians but they had superior artillery. As it happened I had an advantage of terrain thought that was not apparent at first perhaps.

The Austrians start their long march. 

 I place the Russians on the ridge with their cavalry on their left then the Austrians continuing the line with the mass of  Austrian cavalry on the left flank . My 'tactial plan'  was to do a sort of reverse Leuthen- or was it a reverse Rossbach? sending the bulk of my cavalry aroud the lake and hopefully into the Prussian flank. The Prussian plan seemed to be to beat the artilleryless Russians off their ridge then fall on the out of position Austrians.

The Austrian cavalrygoing round the lake.

Rules used were Warfare in the Age of Reason with a ferw local amendments to suit the smaller scale.

In the event it was a right ding-dong affair. The Russians took something of a pounding but gritted their teeth and hung on by the skin of same  mixing my metaphor as I write ! All hung on them being able to hold out until the Austrian main assualt went in which because of the distance it had to cover- and some sterling resistance by one Prussian cavalry brigade took a mite longet than I'd hoped but in the end all went well (sort of) and the last untouched Prussian brigade was thinking darkly about how it had become the rearguard. The remaing Russians were in no fit state to pursue though the Austrian cavalry could have made life hard for the Prussians to get clear. However  night had fallen- as in the show was closing-  and it was time to pack up all those little fellas and get back home in the rain- which did take only a little over an hour.

Hard pounding  The Russian in trouble hanging on- but only just.

The Austrians finally mange to get to their objective /

Battleground is afince local show and enjoyable and well run by Leon of Pendraken. I hope we will be doing another demo there next year.  Mind you I hope the weather is better nd the cafe is a bit more efficient. 

Retro English Civil War.

  A recent FB post on that  splendid  'Yarkshire Gamers Reet Big Wargames Group' group  once again mentioned the almost legendary TV series 'Battleground ' of the late 1970s.So far the only TV series featuring  Historical MINIATURES Wargaming. There have been others doing it with computers and one rather poor effort with maps , sandtables and coloured counters but this is still the only show with toy soldiers at its heart. It is ublikely that we will ever see its like again. For the record there were 6 episodes made by Tyne-Tees TV four of these can be found on YouTube. Take a look.

Mixed unit of Hichliffe and Garrison. The Garrison Pikemen have had the cast pikes replaced. 

However this post is a bit more personal. Some years ago now  my wife Carole bought an ECW collection  for me one Christmas. This collection contained some of the units which had featured in the 'Edgehill' episode of that series  and further in the Ospey 'Naseby' book by Peter Gilder and Stuart Asquith.

A couple of the guns hiding behind some more modern gabions. 

Prince Ruperts Charge- some later additions here by my hand. 

 

A Green Regiment - again Hinchliffe and some Garrison. I think these were originally Duncan Macfarlane's 

Recently changing my computer to a much needed newer model I fear I have lost some of the pictures I took of the collection . However here are  some I found. More will appear  even if I have to take new ones . 

Some of the cavalry- Hichliffe Foremost 'Prince Ruperts Charge' 

 A few more of the cavalry - placed upon the issue of battle wherethey form part of the front cover

I do have more to take picture of. A unit of Cuirassiers - all on rather small identical horses- as well as more infantry.

And Finally... The photo in the Naseby book with the Kings Lifeguard of Foot and the actual models .

Shinyloo- Cavalry

  I thought I'd take a few pics of some of the still growing 'Shinyloo' collection. Since I had recently restored a couple of rather battered Minot 30mm French Cuirassiers as well as a couple more Stadden Scots Greys, then some pics of those two units having a bit of a barney seemed apparopriate. 

Frecnh Cuirassiers .Minot with the extravagant movements Stadden next to them and 3 Willies on Stadden horses behing. The Trumpeter is also a Willie. 

A'Helicopter' shot with a few Hincliffe /Foremost Carabinieirs added. 

Now  Napoleonic purists might wail and gnash their teeth and I would not blame them but this will not be as bad as  Ridlyscottaloo after all this is not Waterloo but Shinyloo- like Waterloo only shinier!

Enter the Scots Greys !

 For those unfamiliar with my 'Shinyloo' project it is rather more a pastiche of how my wargaming might have been in the 1970s if I could have afforded it back then. So now it is pure self indulgeance. 

 Scotland Forever perhaps? 

The vast majority of the models are 30mm Stadden ,Willie, Minot or Minifigs with a few Hincliffe and Connoiseur becasue they look good.  Almost all bought second hand and some in shocking condition so the poor chaps often need more than a little TLC. Shiny because back in the 1970s a decent properly matt varnish was almost unobtainable and shiny gloss varish protected the models much better than dodgy matt and gave them a rather nice porcelain look and feel.

Also somehow these older models with their distinctive individual styles look better shiny. 

Catching up on my Reading no 23

 The Battle of Fribourg. 

Fast on the heels of his fine volumes on the French Army of the 30 Years War comes another from Stephane Thion, this time on the Battle of Fribourg in 1644. This action of which I previously knew little more than its bare existance pitted a French army commanded by  arguably two of the best generals of the period  Conde, thogh he was actually the Duc' D'Enghein at this time, and Turenne against Bavarian army commanded by a general often overlooked by modern historians  Feldmarschall Frantz Von Mercy who was to say the least no mean soldier in his own right.

 In eight chapters a conclusion  and four appendices M. Thion takes us through the stategic situation leading up to the  battle- (or actually battles- there were two actions 3rd and 5th August 1644 seeming separated by a day 'to catch their breath' as Thion puts it.), the organisation of the armies French and Bavarian and of course the action itself. No spoiers here if you want to know what happened buy the book.

Further there are tables with regimental strengths for both sides- the Bavarian being particularly detailed. In addition notes on battlfield tactics and formations are also included.

Thion's text is succinct and aurthoritive and well interspered with cogent  sections from contemporary sources. I'm enjoying this as I read it. It is after all increasing my knowledge of the 'French' period of the 30 Years War.

For such a comparatievly slim volume- a mere 120 pages it is crammed with maps and illustrations. 14 pages of colour plus an additional 7 colour maps these being extremely useful in following both the strategic and battlefield movement of the armies. Most of the 'uniform' illustations are reproductions of watercolours by K.A. Wilke- not an artist I am familiar with- they have the  illustrative style of the 1940s-50s but are none the worse for that. Indeed I rather like the panache they exhibit. Other pieces by this artist appear in Thion earlier work and more amongst the black and white illustrations in this volume. All are worth their space in either book. Three of the colour pages are of flags of some of the regiments who fought in the battle 2 pages of Bavarian flags being especially unusual and useful.

As for other illustrations - some have appeared in the French Army volume- and this is really my only niggle- but other have not but even if you have seen a particular picture in another work this does not really detract from what I have found to be a very useful work.

Recommend to all those whose area of interest is the 30 years War. 

Catching Up on My Reading no 22 - A Bundle from Helion.

 It is not often that I buy more than 1 book at a time since I can only actually read one book at a time. Well that is almost true even if I have one book in the lounge, one book in the bedroom and possibly another in the kitchen- though this last is unlikely.

 This 'rule' does not of course include the piles of books around the computer  that I use to refer to when I am writing.

 So most often it is sually 1 book at a time.

However rules are made to be broken escially when Helion have a sale on!

 So all three of these Helion books were bought in 2 different Helion sales. one in  late june and then 2 more in late July.

 So to deal with them in order of arrival.

French Armies of the Thirty Years War 1618-48 

The French army of the 30 Years War has interested me for some years and as I have said before that is the fault of Oliver Reed and Gerard Depadieau between them. Oh and just possibly Alexandre Dumas.

Stephane Thion has written on the French army of this period  previously for LRT Editions in 2008 and in many ways this new Helion book is an updated and improved  edition of that previous work.

 If you do not have the LRT version then get this one.... if you DO have the LRT edition as I have - then get this one too, not only is it somewhat better it is much more convenient to handle.

So what do you get for your money-  I  plumped for the hardback simply because at the then sale price the difference between the two was minimal- a couple of quid- so no worries there.

 In 213 pages- including an exstensive bibliography, M Thion takes us through the developement of the French army from its poor start at the beginning of the 30 Years War (when it was not technically involved)through rebellion and civilwar in France to the victories of the 1640s of Conde and Turenne. Organisation is discussed in detail as is equipment. The sometimes confusing changes inboth of these areas is also covered in some detail. This is interesting stuff. The French army has its own foibles and distinctions which make it subtly different from others involved in the Thirty Years War.

 For me though the core of the book is in the last 2 chapters which cover the main operations and orders of battle in  Chapter 6 and Chapter 7 has  a selection of contemporary accounts of various battles involving the French forces which are most useful for getting the 'feel' of the period and the army.

The book is , as you would expect well illustrated with both contemporary and non- contemporary illistrations  in black and white some of which appeared in the 2008 work - but many which did not. There is also a 14 page colur section  of which 6 pages are flags of fFrench army Infantry units - a total of 24 different flags- engough to keep most wargamers busy building units  (I'd have 23 more units to build if I was to make a unit using each of these flags as a source !) The other colour illustrations show assorted troop types and are by Giorgio Albertini one of my favourite Helion artistsand are of excellent quality.

This book  will give any English language reader a decent grounding in the French armies of the first half of the 17th century.

 Recoomended. 

The Battle of Castillon 1453.

Now there was a time , when I was much younger that I was of the opinion that nothing much of interest had happened in Europe after 1485. I had gone all medieval- seeling off my ECW armies and buying a bundle of assorted Hundred Years War. These kept me amused for a few years and even now when I don't have much of an HYW collection the period still holds some interest. So this book by Peter Hoskins was added to the purchase..

Castillion was the death knell of the once substabtial English possessions in France.. This book is quite slim compared to some other recent Helion publications being a mere 125 pages but that does not mean that it is in any way a 'lighteight' volume. The book begins with a swift gallop through the  Hundred Years War up to the Treaty of Tours in 1444. This is simply scene setting for those whose first foray into  the 15th century this may be.

 The next two chapters deal with the changes and reforms to the French forces who would fight in these final campagns. These reforms - especially in the use of gunpowder weapons were fundamental to the French victory. Gone were the days of the hapless French nobility being mown down by English Longbowmen as they struggled through the mud to reach the English line! These reforms are put into a wider European context. The details of Fifteenth century artillery are particularly fascinating along with the photographs of modern reproductions of the medieval weapons. There are some meaty beast of war here !

The following chapters deal with the campaigns that lost the English their possessions in Normandy and the two campaigns in Gascony plus a chapter on John Talbot - Earl of Shrewsbury - the English commander at Castillon which ive a view of the man and his experience before the fatal campaign.

The battle itself is covered - as one would expect - in some detail and is not a run of the mill HYW battle at all. The role of the French artillery was crucial and while you may know how the story ends if you don't buy the book - or even if you do, but that does not detract ffromm its usefulness as a source for the last stages of the Hundred Years War. 

The maps by George Anderson are clear and to the point and the colour plates by Girogio Albertin once again are fine and include four pages of heralry and banners...there is a little niggle here, the plates though fine in themselves are perhaps poorly chosen. One each of Talbot himself, his standard bearer, a French crossbowman and Jean Bureau- the commander ofv the French artillery, the other four pages of colour being heraldry and flags- 2 images per page. The plate descriptions are also quite brief though mostly to the point. This is not a problem for those  of us who have a bit of medieval military knowledge but  for the newcomer to the period perhaps a little more might have been helpful.

A useful book which works on two levels - as aprimer on the HYW and more to the point as a text on the final campaign of that long series of wars. Reccommended. 

 Now I wonder if I could find the time to do some 40mm Late HYW French ..... 

Now for the third and final book in this review.

 

 Atlas of the Battles and Campaigns of the American Revolution 1775-1783.

 By David C.Bonk and George Anderson.

 

A long winded title for a largeer than average tome.

 George Anderson doing an atlas  well that needed looking into. I'd had my eye on this one since its first publication , intending to pick it up at a show if it was up to the mark. However I bought this during the sale and aside from a certainty about the quality othe maps I wasn't sure what I was getting.

  I need  not have stressed- not even a litttl bit.

This is a serious book 241 pages with an excelent collection of coloured maps of all the major and many of the smaller battles of the American War of Independence or Revolution as the Americans seem to prefer.

The ladscape format is a bit of a pain but once you open the book it becomes obvious why this format was used .

 Each engagement battle or campaign is treated , in chronological order, to a double page spread, usually one page of text and one a colur map. Though there are exceptions to this as some pages have less text or perhaps a smaller map. There may also be  a contemporary illistrtion or painting  to illustrate some of the sections . There are 119 of thhese sections showing battles from Concord to Trincomalee. As you would expect the bulk of the actions are in the continental USA but the West Indies is not neglected nor are naval actions.. The siege of Gibraltar is also covered - though  while Suffren's naval campaign  in Indian waters  is covered  the land fighting in India is not- this being the only gap in an otherwise superlative book  The usual price tag of around £60.00 is not out of court for a hardback quality volume such as this. Frankly I was much more impressed than I expected to be.

Highly Recommended. 

Just a Quick One!

 The photos in this short post are of a 15mm Samaurai game that the Tantobie Warfare and Tactical Society fought at the end of June. 

The models are all  from Steve Whites excellent collection and he ran the game. Sorry it has take so long to get these out there but ratther overwhelmed with assorted work recently so time has been a bit short.

Rules were 'Pike and Shotte' which I have but had not then playeda and I have to say that whatever their possible  shortcomings as a 17th century European set , they worked very well for this more esoteric version of pike and shot warfare.

 So  here are the pictures- don't ask me who was who or what they are as I can't remember for all I know it was Honda vs Mitsubushi 

Whatever it was a very enjoyable game in a period and location I was- and still am- unfamiliar with. Nice one Steve !