The Battle of Schortenhausen May 4th 1708

One of the problems that arises in the running of any small business in almost any field is lack of time. The demands of Government bullshit override almost anything. They have the power - you don't . This is a universal constant. However add "somewhat busier than normal" and 2 shows in following weekend AND  the arrival of a 10 box shipment from the USA which had to be broken down and sorted  before Partizan and you might just see why I have been neglecting this blog a little of late. What follows was mostly written  the week before Carronade.  but only just this morning finished.


There were plenty of T.W.A.T.S.  in evidence at our rather rushed May meeting. A total of 6 members turned up for the dress rehearsal of our Durham demo game. Jim the Builder was in the chair and running a 15mm Marlburian game using modified "Warfare in the Age of Reason" rules. There were a total of 5 players plus Jim as officiating Umpire so that made half a dozen T,W,A,T,S, in the same place quite an achievement given some recent turnouts.

Early in the action the Anglo- Dutch begin the pressure on the Bavarian right. 

 This was the first outing for the 15mm Marlburians and between us Jim and I managed a total of 28 units- so 14 a side for this dry run. Jim has several other units on the go  so by the time of the demo in June the forces will be significantly larger.. As for my tiny contribution well- That would be 7 units in total plus some command bases,2  Bavarian Infantry Battalions 3 Bavarian Cavalry squadrons an a battery of 3 Bavarian guns. The single British Battalion I had joined the other side along with 2 commander bases. One British and one Dutch.
 So the terrain was set before us and with myself and floating Jeffon one side and Mechanical Shaun Liam and his brother Jake on the other, we were off to the early 18th century.

The beginning of the Franco- Bavarian response from the Anglo- Dutch viewpoint. Dumbartons regiment advance against the Bavarians 

 The Anglo- Dutch forces began by an advance in the centre of an infantry Brigade of 2 battalions which immediately came under serious artillery fire from both French and Bavarian batteries. On the Franco Bavarian right  we occupied the village with a battalion with  another ouside in support who were in turn supported by Bavarian Dragoons, Our center - composed of French and Bavarian cavalry  hung back - awaiting events on our left the French foot moved steadily into line.4 battalions up, 1 in reserve. We sat back awaiting events and continuing our bombardment of the somewhat isolated Anglo- Dutch centre. However on the Franco,Bavarian left  a series of savage attacks threatened to overrun the position forcing the Bavarian Dragoons into a somewhat precipitate charge and chasing a Bavarian infantry battalion into the village for shelter. Nevertheless  the village position did its job , soaking up enemy pressure and troops which would have been better used  in the centre.

Franco Bavarian counter attacks go in.

 In response the  French Cavalry and Bavarian Cuirassiers  moved forward. The cuirassiers charged into the infantry opposite them and a long fight ensued- bum dice on both sides- before the infantry finally broke. They had been weakened by artillery fire first or the charge would probably not have succeeded. French cavalry - led by Elector Max in person  then charged in support of his cuirassiers  pushing back and eventually breaking the Dutch cavalry opposite them. This charge gave the pressured Bavarian Dragoons to the right time to rally and- although much reduced  finally polish off thee weakened and battered allied foot facing them.

The right dice in the right order at the right time. Does not always happen this way.

 Meanwhile on the Franco- Bavarian left the French foot advanced in a slow and deliberate manner threatened as they were by significant enemy cavalry formations. When the charges came in  the situation looked dicey for a while but floating Jeff managed his usual ridiculous dice rolls at the appropriate time and despite the rout of a French battalion Jeff hung on and the Anglo- Dutch - in disarray with 5 units at least in rout and others looking distinctly shaky  conceded the day.

Soon after this the Anglo- Dutch concede. I was too busy with a celebratory pint to take any more photos.  A man must decide priorities !

Models were- as you might expect- all Blue Moon 15mm from the extensive Marlburian range. Beer was by Consett Brewery and Beef butties by Landlady Jean. Next months game will be the demo at the Durham show on June 8th. If you are  planning to go and want and order bringing then as usual email me on info@oldgloryuk.com and I will sort it out for you.

As always our thanks go to Landlady Jean for here hospitality. We will be back.

Got 'im by the Gauls ....

So on a somewhat snowy Saturday in County Durham a mere 3 T.W.A.T.S. gathered at our usual watering hole for a the October game. I had intended a first outing for my Indian Muting forces but they simply were not ready so I thought an Ancients bash was in order.  Now Mechanical Shaun is our resident Ancients man and he doesn't half have a lot of Gaul. So out came my small Marian Roman army  for a scenario based loosely on the Battle of the River Sambre- when Caesar was almost grabbed by the Gauls - which might have made his eyes water!.

The Roman forces in battle array. 15mm Blue Moon figures from my own collection

 Scale was 15mm and Shaun's Gallic collection isn't half pretty. Almost every make of Gallic tribesman you would care to name  all standing - or running- about in the same units no matter what their relative size 15mm 16mm 16.75mm 18mm take your pick . Blue Moon next to Essex next to Chariot next to Donnington  with a few Minifigs and others for flavour. All looking rather splendid and -once again- making something of a mockery of all the 3mm angst that seems to infect some of our little world.

Not relevant to the game- a couple of my flats - possibly awaiting some flat Gauls. 

The Gauls rush out from their village.

Anyway - to battle rules used for this game were "Tactica" one of my favourite sets for Ancient encounters. The set armies method is a bit of a pain but it is no big deal to get around that with a bit of thought. and while I know that is not too common in the modern "out of the box" brain free style of gaming  it still holds sway in our wargames  group.

One of Shaun's rather splendid Gallic Warbands. A right mix of assorted 15mm models.

The Roman force under Consul Insalubrious stood upon the hill in battle array watching the confederated Gallic tribes of the Tantobiii and the Commii rushing from the village and across the stream as if pursued by hornets(in actuality they has heard that the Romans watered heir wine and were anxious to stop such a vile occurrence!) It was plain from the start that the Gauls outnumbered the Romans. Most of their warbands were 48 figures strong compared to Roman Cohorts of half that strength other than the single "milliary" cohort of 36 figures. Echoing a thought which would not occur for another millenia or so, Insalubrious was heard to mutter "Zulus Farsands of 'em" as he saw the Gauls pour across the stream. Cavalry and Chariots to the fore. Yes I know chariots had gone out of fashion but the little models were s sweet I simply could not resist a little Umpires discretion. Anyway when is a stylish sports car ever wrong?. It soon became clear that the Gauls were under command of the extreme anti- Roman Shaundaspanna "the only good Roman is a dead Roman" so it was obvious from the start that no quarter would be asked or given. And so it proved.

Gaul on Gaul action! Shaun's tribesmen- upper unit in the photo- overwhelm the Roman Gallic auxillieries. 

 The first clash was between the opposing cavalries and here honours ended up even. The Gauls destroyed one Roman unit but he other Roman cavalry unit  took out the chariots with barely a flicker. However that little brawl was merely the overture and beginners to the main event in the centre as the Gals- after a bit of preliminary  skirmishing from the Roman archers came to grips with the Roman battle line. It was touch and go for a while especially when one Cohort broke but Roman pila and discipline  proved decisive . Volleys of pila pinning the hapless Gauls to their shields and each other so they could be finished off by the terrible gladius- some above average dice from Andrew the Tekkie here compare to some truly bum throws by Shaun. So when Insalubrious launched his reserve milliary cohort at the temporarily victorious Gallic warband  and broke them wit was all over bar the shouting - and a few beers.

The end of the Affiar- The Roman Milliary cohort about to slam into the stationary warband as the take a breather after routing a Roman Cohort .

 As always out thanks go to Landlady Jean for excellent hot beef sandwiches and sundry pints of Consett Brewery White Hot (though the Gallic warlord- in his chariot- seemed to be drinking some dark substance without alcohol Quelle Horreur!)as always a fine time was had by all.
 Roll on the November Game.

Busy Busy

Having a seriously busy time at the moment so this is just a short one ! Have not had time for much painting or photography recently what with unpacking those 12 crates and fitting in Partizan. Not to mention othet stuff going on at the same time.
 Managed to paint 3 15mm Shermans for a possible 1944 project but other than that nada nix nowt not a sausage. Of course there are things on the painting table- more "Shinyloo" and more Indian Mutiny but of completed models not a single one.

As it happens the Shermans are 15mm Old Glory built straight from the pack with crew and stowage added from CDBC1 and CDSP1and 2 . I have weathered and filthed them up a bit for the fighting around Caen  in 1944 . How much further this will go remains to be seen.

Spanish Snaps

Those splendid chaps at La Flecha Negra in Madrid sent me these photos of their painting service. They tell me that all of these are Blue Moon 15mm - and I even recognise some of the figures. The cuirassiers from the ECW range and the ACW  artillery are pretty easy but I'm not 100% certain of the other 2  the French Guards are either from the Marlburian of the French Seven Years War ranges and the Spanish troops look as if they came from either the early Bicorne Napoleonic French or just possibly the AWI french. Never mind which they look really fine. Thanks for the photos chaps,

Italian Wars and other arrivals

 Finally after a week stranded in Gateshead my  latest shipment from the USA has arrived. Aside from the restock I needed it contained the first tranche of Blue Moon's new Italian Wars range.
 Now biased as I am these are a bit special. So far I have perhaps 20 packs out of a 60 plus pack range and I hope to get the next release in stock before Salute.
 These are large 15mm - so 18mm really by today's nomenclature. The couple I have actually measured are 17mm from base surface to eye level.
 The list with photos of the available packs will appear on the website  under the Blue Moon section in the next few days as soon as the Web Mistress  does the deed. US prices are a little higher than the standard packs so these will also have to be a tad bearer- so a 30 fig pack will be £15.00 inc VAT other packs in proportion
 So far I have both Landknects and Swiss  .Command and pikemen and artillery crews. More news as I dig them out of the crates.

 I also have the first of the Blue Moon French Napoleonic Imperial Guard- Old Guard Grendiers and Chasseurs a Pied. together with an American 6 pdr for the War of 1812

All of these new packs are now activated and available 21 packs of Italian Wars(more to come) 2 packs of French Imperial Guard and a pack of American 6pdr guns for the Warv of 1812.

The Battle of Bumbletown September 1777

So there were were a mere 4 T.W.AT.S. for our September game. A  game which had been put off until the 30th for various reasons- on the 29th it looked as if 7 or 8 members would turn up but last minute work and  a case of the Squitters put paid to that!
  Therfore Gentle Reader  there were only 4 stalwart fellows for this engagement.
 to wit- Myself ,Jim the Builder , Andrew the Tekkie and Mechanical Shaun. Jim was in the chair and he elected to run a 15mm AWI game with his rather tasty collection of newly painted Blue Moon. Rules would be the  AWI  set British Grenadier.
 The stage was set for a bit of a bloodbath.....

The Battlefield a few moves in . The British navigate past the pond, The Patriot redoubt on the extreme right.Bumbletown on the left. 

 The Patriot Forces- this time commanded by yours truly were a mixed bag as you would expect . Some decent regulars and some iffy militia backed up by good artillery, This lot faced a somewhat larger British force of all regulars including Grenadiers and Footguards with a German Brigade of Hessian mercenaries and slightly less artillery than the Patriots.
 Aredoubt containing our 4 guns dominated the right and much of our centre and funnelled the British somewhat o n the left the hamlet of Bumbletown (founded by Jedidiah Bumble in 1763 pop 69) was defended by the Bumbltown Minutemen. The main American battleline was a bit stretched and despite fence lines and redoubts this was- eventually- a serious matter.

View from Bumbletown across the field.. Their are an awful lot of British. 

 However all started well for the  outnumbered Patriots with their artillery performing particularly well. The German Brigade- commanded by Shaun  however began an advance on Bumbletown whilst in the centre the British Brigade hung back somewhat because of the havoc being caused by the Patriot guns in the redoubt . Also - after hanging back for a while a unit of Patriot backwoodsmen advanced from the redoubt into the woods to their from with the intention of taking the British guns in flank and subjecting them to accurate rifle fire. This took time but eventually was to neutralise the British guns as well as seeing off a small infantry unit.

The Bumbletown minutemen resist the Hessian onslaught.

On the Patriot left the Hessian bundled the minutemen out of Bumbletown but were brought up short by the fence line and a battalion of regulars. Taking heart the minutemen saw off the Hessian Jaegers and the regulars eventually broke a musketeer battalion - with help from the militia.
 However in the centre the deluge was about to appear- no less than 4 British battalion including Grenadiers and Footguards descended upon the Patriot centre.. Enfilading fire from a militia battalion was not enough (odious cubes!) nor was a first volley from a battalion of regulars(odious cubes again) and after a brutal melee the regulars broke finding British Grenadier bayonets just too much.(odious cubes yet again).

 It is starting to go just a bit pear shaped..

With a gaping hole in the centre and the left engaged with the Hessians it was time to go - so standing not upon the order of our going we went ....

Allover me like a rash. Time to be off home I think.

The extra 2 British units were crucial here giving them a powerful reserve to which our mixed bag of regulars and militia ultimately had no real answer- yes we bloodied them and at one point Andrew was ready to pack it in, in despair but Shaun stiffened his resolve and shouted  "Vorwarts" in crusty  Germanic accents !  Guzzeling his diet Coke the while(well he was driving so his beer was imaginary)

So it all went pear shaped at the end for the Patriots.. Nevertheless a pretty good game. I do like British Grenadier despite a few foibles it is the best commercial AWI set I've come across - and would work well for the War of 1812 and possibly- with a few amendments 18th century India as well.
 As always thanks are due to Landlady Jean for excellent Beef Butties and the White Hot was very drinkable as well- cos I wasn't driving .

Roots

Back in the day a novelist /historian called Alex Hailey wrote a book called "Roots" purporting to be about his own ancestry. It was made into a TV series and actually wasn't half bad.
 Some time later the debunkers found out that  he had- at least in part been guilty, perhaps, of  some terminological inexactitude. This did not detract from the book being readable or the TV series being amusing.
 .This really appropos of not much except that the Twats Tiny Tactica Tournament didn't happen as planned because of chaps crying off at the last minute.
 Nevertheless 3 of us turned up at the pub- still wanting a bit of Ancient amusement of a more or less historical nature. So as a light alternative to Tactica I put a couple of the old "Classics" in my bag and told the lads if they didn't fancy Tactica how about either Terry Wise or Don Featherstone (actually Tony Bath). In other words we were going back to our Roots !
 It quickly transpired that Terry Wises' ancient rules didn't really work and I still can't fathom the melee system so we switched immediately to Tony Bath's set in Featherstones War Games of 1962 vintage. This without any  dislocation or disorganistation  or indeed any change at all  of either army. Like many older rules both these sets are "figure-driven" rather than "mechanism-driven".so it means that you can paly either as you like.
 Troops were 15mm- my own Marian Romans- commanded by Andrew and Shaun our resident Ancient Man using his Samnites. I umpired and this was really an exercise in seeing if theses ancient Ancient rules would work with two armies based differently and with no points systems or army lists  or other modern fol-de rol to get in the way. Yes I know the Marian Romans never fought the Samnites but Shaun reckoned that they had never yet been out of the box and it was time. So we streached a point. Andrew commanded the Romans . Shaun simply emptied his box of Samnitesand battle commenced. . No points systems or Army Lists were harmed in the making of this game.

My 15mm Marian Romans . All Blue Moon. Mostly painted by John Reidy.

 You know what, I've played a hell of a lot worse. It quickly transpired that there is little new under the sun. I'd not played these at all since school  with Airfix Romans and Ancient Britons with a few Hong Kong rip offs to add variety. (I recall some plastic Greeks that were basically pantographed down version of Britains ) They felt a lot like a cross between WHAB and Tactica- especially WHAB. The IGOUGO system slows things a bit but that could easily be altered to an "orders and Simultaneous movement" system without touching the actual mechanisms- which are dead simple.Dicing for "initiative" (ie choosing to move first or second) add a bit of spice
 Morale could do with a bit of fiddling, simply to vary the troops quality but basically the rules are pretty sound and faster moving than WHAB and possibly WRG 5th or 6th though we'd need to play a few more games to be sure of this. Like Tactica these were  a little dice heavy but not so badly that it took the game from the players control. The players were always in charge of their own decisions.
 These rules were of course a simple introductory set and none the worse for that. By today's standards definitions were a bit wooly and certainly would not suit the "win at all costs" types who need to have the far end of a fart defined to stop them cheating. It would be no big deal to add a little more period specific detail if you wished but all the basics are covered for those who have a modicum of useable brain cells.

Crunch Time- Just before the deciding melee. Shaun's Samnites in the more open order will get chewed up by the Roman mincing machine..

For the record the Samnites went down to a bloody defeat after an heroic resistance. The main Mellee in the centre swung back and forth but the Linen Legion could not quite match the power of the better armoured Romans Legionaries. What luck was about did seem to run Andrew's way(for a change did I hear muttered?)  but it was still a very enjoyable exercise as well as going some way to proving as Andre put it- "You don't HAVE to pay £30.00 for a book full of pictures and a few rules"

I will have another bash at these simple rules  with different armies. But equally I'll still use Tactica or WRG or possibly Hail Cesar as the mood take me. After all its not simply about finding  a game you can win at is it?
 Once again our thanks go to Jean the Landlady- in extra measure- for providing a splendid Christmas dinner  with all the trimmings as well as the usual fine beer.

Looking forward to some good games next year- Including the postponed TWATS  Tiny Tactica Tournament.

TWATS TINY TACTICA TOURNAMENT

 Now regular readers will know that the Tantobie Warfare and Tactical society are not a competition orientated group. Quite the reverse in fact. Therefor it may  come as a bit of a surprise to see the title of this post.
 Yes we decided to do a "competition" - of sorts
 Saturday 

Gauls vs Greeks Shaun and Steve  punching it out !

Saturday saw 5 members gather at our usual pub. Present were your Gentle Author, Andrew the Tekkie, Theatrical Steve, Mechanical Shaun and Flaoting Jeff
 We set up 2 small tables each around 5feet by 4feet  troops were 15mm provided by Shaun and Jeff  4 armies were used Gauls, Hoplite Greek, Roman Republican and Later Carthaginian.. I organised each army as Tactica "Half Armies- halving the number of units rather than their size. This hopefully meant that there would be time for 2 games per player
 As Umpire my task was to adjudicate any disputes and impose fines for taking things too seriously!- Though this latter task was not required and  the phrase "Fine, 1 pint" was not uttered ! (Though the  similar phrase "Yo!Minezapint!"  certainly was)

Jeff and Steve grind away !!! (all double entendres entirely intended ! ) This of course was Roman Republicans and Gauls

 The first pair of games saw Andrew (Carthaginian)  taking on Jeff  Roman Republic while Shaun used his own Greeks against his own Gauls- which were commanded by Steve.
 In tactica the main skillsa player needs are in the area of deployment- a good deployment can increase your chances of Victory whilst a poor deployment may seal your fate in short order- especially if you throw bum dice.. The basic system is simple withoput being simplistic- the mechanisms are straightforward but with enough intrest to keep you on your toes
 As these were half size armies the no of battleine units that had to break was as follows
 Gauls2 48 figure units
 Carthage 2 24 figure units
Rome 4
Greeks 2 (32 figure units)
The Roman units were of course only 12 figures strong- thy had 4 each of Hastati Priceps and 2 Triarii. This made the a tough propoition.
 The Galic masses were big- but unweildy and  having little armour in theory died faster .
 So off we go
Andrew's Carthaginian Elephants died in a hail of D6. As always Jeff's dice rolling was almost legendary- 6 dice needing 6s to kill  and the bugger gets 5  in one lot... It would be wrong to say the Romans had a total walkover but for the Carthaginians it all went downhill from there. Andrew- well out of his comfort zone dealing with swords and spears instead of 120mm guns and ATGW was heard to tommuter darkly about bloody primitives ! The Roman and Carthaginian heavy cavalry induldged in a bit of MAD each laying about them manfully then both failing the restultant morale test and routing.
 Then the Roman mincing machine got going the Pila went in followed by a sword charge  and it was curtains for the Carthies....
 On the other Table Steve squared off against Shaun for a much closer punch up ! Gallic tactics were simple consisting of one word - Charge!  Though Steve held back one Infantry Warband in reserve- letting his archers -a single 12 figure unit have a shoot at the unit of Hoplites which slightly outwinged him. The Greeks advanced in a nice solid line covered by some  skirmishers- which the Gallic Javelin skirmishers charged and sorted out - despite Steve's muttering about dice! . As the Battle lines clashed it was nip and tuck for a while but the reserve warband smashed the archery weakened Hoplite unit and when the second  unit- of 4 broke it was all over for the Greeks- their army decamping faster than their Economy !

 All Change
We set up the second set of games  with Jeff's Romans now taking on Steve's Celt's and Shaun having a bash at the Carthaginians.
 At this point as it by magic Beef Butties and chips appeared
 Break for Lunch was the unanimous cry !

Second Round.

Second round- Shauns Greeks get deep

The second round of battles was to be a bit tougher. The Gauls and the Romans squared off  for a major bloodbath. Neither side used any subtlety at all  and pretty soon is was a simple grinding match - with the Romans having an advantage in manoureability- offset up to a point by the sheer size of the Gallic units.
 On the other table Shauns Greeks had formed up deeper than previously and on a shorter front. Andrew Elephant charge started well and his Spaniards destroyed the Greek Peltasts. On his other Flank the Greek cavalry were put to the Sword and it all looked really good. The Greek flanks were in serious trouble.
 Then the Elephants died....

Just before it all went Pear shaped for the Carthaginians.

The Spanish - in too long a line took and age to wheeel into the Greek flank...
The Carthaginian cavalry on the opposite flank  charge a Hoplite unit in flank - 24 dice needing 5 or 6  for kills- 4 kills ...Oh  Bugger!  may have been uttered- not enough to cause a rout.  It took another move .
 In the centre the 3 deeper hoplite units ground through the Citizens and Africans 3 units against two smaller but thinner ones could only end one way. The Carthaginian centre broke and it was all over.
 Has the Carthaginian centre mangaged to hold for that one more move the Victory would have been theirs.
Back on table one the  bloodbath continued eash side claiming THEIR dice were crap when they were actually evenly matched..
 Then a Miracle occoured!  I've played Tactica off and on since it first appeared in 1989(though in my memeory it seems longer !) and I've never seen it happen before- BOTH armies suffered their own breaking points inthe same turn . Therefore Both armies lost- and won .... So the Umpire declared a draw.

For us this  set of games was deliberately lightweight fare. Something different from out usual stuff and was none the worse for that.
 Maybe next year we'll run another TWATS TINY TACTICA TOURNAMENT.

Smorgasbord

No chaps not a Swedish General but rather to indicate that this post is a bit of a mixture, an assortment. I've been busy of late what with the arrival of a shipment and prep for Smioggy this coming Saturday. Nevertheless the odd soldier or two has been painted - and not all 15mm Moderns either though they have been taking centre stage recently. However in addition I've still kept bashing on with my various 40mm projects

First here are a couple more longbowmen for my Wars of the Roses project - more are on the go but these actually got finished

next up are 3 pics of some 40mm ECW/TYW pikemen. To be honest the standard- one of John the Flags superb flags is ECW but the pikement are set to be Spanish TYW- once I make the standard bearer. they aren't suitable for ECW as they are massivly over armoured. They just might pass as London trained band- who provided their own kit but never for Royalists orParliamentarians after mid 1643. But they look nice even though I say so myself.

Next up a couple of HLBS40mm FIW figures- nice these and IMHO better than most HLBS offerings. I've some of their ranges which frankly are pretty poor with badly hanging coats and short muskets but these are rather niceand fit in well with my small FIW collection.

Finally 3 15mm pictures. All for my

Not the second Gulf War at all -even slightly

project the first being group of regular infantry weapons team- RPG and mortars next a couple of pick up truck for the fedayeen then finally some BDRM with Spandrel AT missiles- how long these will last against Challenger is anyopnes gues as long as its less than 10 seconds.. So there we go a right collection just what you'd expect from a bloke with a restless mind- still better than being boring ain't it.

Bluemoon Napoleonics

Despite not really being a 15mm man. I am continually impressed by the Bluemoon stuff I carry. Now I hear you cry "Of course you would say that you are trying to flog the stuff. Well yes but I wouldn't be trying to flog it if it was crap ,I'd have turned it down so here is a pic of a British Napoleonic unit- the 33rd at Waterloo. Painted by John Reidy

Reading Steve Earley's coumn in the June issuec of MW regarding sizes and scales I find I mostly agree with him- a minor miracle in itself Size is very personal choice but I do find many wargamers quite narrow in their interpretation os size/scale- do they I ask know the difference some certainly do not averring that 15mm is a scale when its a size or as I am coming around to thinking more of a genre. The patheticarguments between 15mm and 18mm or 25mm and 28mm are at best mind numbing at worst divisve and nasty. If you want all your toys exactly the same advsancing forward like mindless perryclones then fine (now who's being nasty - yep its me !!) but sorry dudes there is more out there than that variety being the spice and all that. If I was a normal punter I'd have troops from several makers in the same army- Oh Yes I do !! Even within OGUK there is a breadth of styles Old Glory25mm Sash and Saber 25mm Old Glory 2nd Edition, Jacdaw- all different but all more or less compatible in terms of size- at least where appropriate I'd have 'em all in the same army if not the same unit. If I were a more committed 15mm chap I'd mix Fantassin and Eureka in any Napoleonic force I did along with Bluemoon as in terms of size they are all pretty close.

More Mini Marlburians

Forgive the alliteration in the title but I'm never one to resist a bit of harmless silliness. So as promised here is a picture of the slowly growing Bavarian forces for the WSS. All Bluemoon 15mm- or 18mm if you are picky

I have to say that although John Reidy painted these lads- fine job too- I flagged and based 'em myself and pretty fiddly it was too. Worth the effort though.

Same old Same old... or not?

So there I was this morning ponderiing the infinite rich tapestry of life... and I wondered why? Ithought to myself has wargaming become so samey?.By chance I was looking at a Warames Illustrated- no 101 to be precise of the 1990sand aside from the major point that the articles were not written by or for dyslexic 14year olds much of the rest was the same as now- only perhaps not quite so "in yer face mate" as some of the more strident twaddle that is now about us. What struck me were the similarities rather than the differences. Figues still Fat- or even fatter as there are more of them still the same often clumsy overly painted toys little or no delicay or finesse in the modelling process- that hasn't chaned indeed its now worse in the mainstream we now have the Figure Fascists - not to be honest that I care about 'em. If they want fat clumsy armies the same as everyone elses let 'em. I'll stick to stuff I like. I don't buy much new stuff these days- if I want something special I'm in the happy position of being able to get it made. Only with 40mm do I occaisionally fall and that usually with Drabant. As for getting stuff made one of my pattern makers has just sent me a box of assorted 15mm Modern weaponry- mostly rocket launchers and such for the backs of our pick up truck . See the recent contretemps in Lybiaand sundry african wars. Pick up trucks loaded down with various rocket rails and RCL guns AA cuns and other wossnames. All very fearsome- possibly even to the enemy. Now all I have to do is sort out how to package them- as this will tell me how the moulds are to be organised. However modern duded look out for a bundle of assorted additions to the Modern ranges in 15mm finsally a good selection of "technicals" are in the wind.

More little men

Well there you go . I've now officially started a 15mm Marburian project- don't know where it will end- simply because I'm not one of those tedious chaps who plans out his army to the last button before starting out. Thats no fun - part of the interest is the journey, not merely the destination, actually playing with the little lead monsters is only a very small tip of a much larger intellectual iceberg and often not the most interesting tip at that. So now John has painted me some Bavarian Curassiers and Guns to go with the first infantry and is doing another infatry battalion I have a beginning. Hardly an army yet but enough for the display case at shows - my next gig being Salute in April - and yes this will expand as a chap who never really cottoned to 15mm I do like these little fellas.

More From Marlborough Man.

Well its dammned ticklish- just when I thought I'd sorted out how I was going to finally approach Marlboroughs wars I get stymied. I mean you don't expect it do you? A mate of mine John Reidy by name- known to at least 2 folowers of this blg- vpainted a battalion of the new Bluemoon 15mm Marburians for me - for my display case at shows. I ummedd and arred over flagging and basing them but finally did the deed- dammed fiddly it was too but worth it as you can see from the picture - yep those are 15mm. Grand paint job by John I only added the "smoke and Mirrors" but the end result is a bit tasty. Now the problem with 15mm is like any of the shorter dudes you need loads of 'em to get the effect but it has to be said that I've 25mm that didn't look this good so I think I'll have at least a few more units . This won't stop me painting those Drabant 40mm though but these little fellas are dammed tasty all the same.