One of these things is not like the others...

Now I have not reviewed any magazines for a good while. There have been a couple of reasons for this Most notably that I have been simply too busy. so no reading of magazines and precious little figure painting as well.
 However on those rare occasions when I have thumbed through a mag  it has left me decidedly underwhelmed. WI still shouts at you when it isn't patronising you but doesn't tell you much. WSS is better but somehow unsatisfying- though with good bits - like a well prepared but insufficient meal and MW is simply variable from the very good to the  not so good  with the wasted pages of the club directory to boot.  Of course MW is now fantasy and sci-fi heavy but then so is WI and we are all set to drown in a sea of sci-Fant skirmish a likes which may have different pretty boxes and even different models and especially different "mechanisms" - but are all the same narrow approach to the same narrow problem "How to get the suckers to buy MY silly skirmish game - this time with mice and badgers " Yes chaps it has come to this (again) see the review in  the latest MW of   "Burrows and Badger"- Gawd 'elp us how low can you get .... Hedgehogs apparently and armoured mice so  we should all regress to petulant 6 year olds on a 4 foot square table and fiddle with our badgers ....  Now don't get me wrong I've seen some cute little models beautifully painted but to actually spend a ton or more on collecting 2 sides for  such a limited idea. Even the Editor with his Fantasy bent  gulps somewhat at this one. Me - well  the mainstream is now a childrens paddling pool and I'm well out of it,
 However overall the mag was well above average despite too much Fantasy there were still 4 whole articles in it worth reading
 Conrad Kinch's "Send 3 and fourpence is usually a good read and this one was better than most- examining  motivations  and although Iam not keen on  his terminology  by Mr Kinch's lights I am a day- tripper (but also a Craftsman) and happy thus.
 The title of this post is lifted from a short but interesting piece by Robert Piepenbrink in which he argues that Fantasy and Historical wargaming are simply not the same. Something I have argued for many a long year. Now while I agree with most of his points I feel that he simply does not go far enough as regards the research and actual knowledge element- which is totally missing from many  of the current run of fluffy sci-fant skirmish -a-likes (though more apparent in a  "home grown"set up based around a particular sub-genre). To be a rounded historical wargamer you actually need to know things that are NOT contained in the  rulebook for the latest episode of Steptoe in Space or whatever 4 foot fantasy dice rolling contest for overage adolescents is in fashion at this weeks "game night". If as Mr Piepenbrink avers the gaming hobby is going that way then I'm out of here and will take up something more intellectually stimulating such as  watching paint dry.
 Jon Sutherland's piece on Villiers -Bocage is worth study - I have not yet  used Command Decision 4 - though I have a copy  but am a fan of CD in general as it treats you like and adult as does Jon's article which is of course a scenario for the famous actions there in June 1944.
Oh and Diane Sutherland piece on making marshes and similar boggy terrain is pretty good too.
 The final part of Jim Webster's Hell by Daylight - modern skirmish rules is also in the mag. Somewhere I have an original copy of these in tiny A5 format. This current incarnation is much easier to read !  There are a couple of other pieces - other than the useful reviews- but one - on setting up a web forum is basically an advert for Peter Pig - so after the pointless  trudge though the mire of AK-47 I can do without that ! The other  is a second part of an article upon the Apache wars of the US South west. Perhaps rather good but frankly I was put off by the overblown photographs of Foundry Cowboys - which didn't seem to have a lot to do with the subject but dominated the pages ... Hmmm not sure about that one.
 Mind you still a better magezine than those I have largly ignored after a brief flick though ,

This time next week the mayhem begins

Well this time next week the doors at Salute will be opening and the mayhem commencing. of course we will be there will a ton of soldiers from around half a dozen different makers
 to whit
 Old Glory., Blue Moon ,Sash and Saber, Drabant, True North, Raven Banner Games and my own Fireforce Miniatures.

I still have a major interest in the ECW. Always will have. 

 Now due to space restrictions I don't think I'll have room for the Aircraft this year- they have been pushed out by the New Blue Moon Italian Wars range but if there is space I'll take them. Nevertheless that is an awful lot of stuff in different styles and scales by different makers and designers. Variety is the spice of life- at least I have always thought so.

Individually made conversion on 40mm models- I'm keeping these. 

Models or Dice Rolling?

Despite this units appearence on the cover of Miniature Wargames some years ago it may be time to move these and the rest of the 40mm Napoleonic collection on. 

 I do like different style and types of models in my armies. I'm really not a fan of homogeneous blandness at all . The models are the thing- that is what you put the money and effort into what happens to them afterwards is a different matter. Most will get used on the table - but I have some units in my collections that have not fought for years and indeed may get moved on to be replaced by other units that may- or indeed may not  see dice rolled in anger.. It is a bit like a conveyor belt- New stuff comes on at one end whilst other stuff moves out at the other as interests change and develop. Some things stay constant- such as my interest in the ECW . BUT my interest in the ACW has waned somewhat as has the Dark Ages. Also focus changes over the years as ideas new to you appear. Hence the "shinyloo" collection which did not exist 10 years ago so maybe it is time to move the 40mm Napoleonic collection on. Certainly I'm thinking about it. Likewise the 40mm Dark Ages collection - one of the smaller groups which I enjoyed making but they have never- so far fought.
 Bit of a shame reallv but there you go.

The 40mm British Napoleonic  which oppose the French.

At least the 40mm Napoleonics have had a couple of outings and the 40mm ACW several more but as scope and focus changes then so does the emphasis of my various collections.

Winceby Fight- refought

For our March Game I was in the chair and decided to run and ECW re-fight. I chose the cavalry fight of Winceby for several reasons
 1/. It is small enough to game in a single meeting.
2/. It is a cavalry  fight. Something that happened an awful lot in the ECW but such battles are not gamed that often. This seems to be largely because Joe Wargamer "hates painting horses" - though my sample is not scientific if I had a quid for every time I'd heard that I would not need to sell soldiers for a living. Personally I don't get it .  With the possible exception of medieval housed horses that need heraldry,h orses are easier than the riders so I've never understood what all the anti-cavalry fuss is about.
 In order to re-fight Winceby I needed almost all the ECW cavalry I own - without including the 30 or so Cuirassiers or 20 mounted Dragooners. This even though the battle had  less than 4000 combatants in total ended up being 200 plus mounted figures plus a mere 30 dismounted dragoons (I do not consider that my ECW forces have anything like enough Horse. I need to almost double it).
 For the game forces were almost even with each side haveing around 100 cavalry . The Royalists having a tiny numerical edge with 20 dragoons  in 2 units as against the single 10 man roundhead unit.

The table at the beginning of the game. Royalists at the top of the picture. Rounhead first line under Cromwell in the foregground. Roundhead second line on the bottom edge. 

The Royalists had 3 commands as against the Roundheads 2  but since the Roundheads in question were Sir Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell the the Royalist had a job on.. With 5 players plus myself as Umpire the stage was set for an interesting afternoons game based firmly on the historical precedent. Terrain was of the simplist being merely 2 low ridges- actually wooden blocks beneath the cloth and a few hedges on the roundhead right- which should have been on the left !!! Not that it made any difference.
 Our groups decided some time ago that although we have terrain boards for our public demos for these pub games simplicity and portability are more often the norm.
 Rules used were Forlorn Hope- still the best ECW set I have found despite the very pretty  but possibly a bit generic Pike and Shotte  (though I have not yet seen the new ECW supplement) and the rather odd but not uninteresting "To defy a King". Such lightweight fluff as Pikemans Lament need not detain our thought processes. So Forlorn Hope it would be.

Royalist Horse advance slowly .

The Royalists got off to a bright start advancing their dragoons and sorting out the roundhead dragoons in the hedges in pretty short order. The Parliamentarians advanced their whole first line under Cromwell cautiously in response. Instead of following up their initial success the Cavaliers stood and waited for a couple of turns .... So did the Roundheads - although the Cavaliers did extend their second line to to their right a little in an effort to stop the possibility of a Parliamentarian outflanking move in that direction.
 At last after an awful lot of fiddling about both sides front lines clashed. The charges all being initiated by the Cavaliers. The ensuing melee was long and - to begin with- largely bloodless owing to the huge number of totally bum dice thrown by both sides indeed at one point the Umpire waxed somewhat Churchillian
 "Never in the field of tabletop conflict have so many bum dice been thrown so many times by so few"

Another view of the Cavaliers

 Eventually the Cavaliers routed one of Cromwell squadrons but in turn their centre was routed and other squadrons pushed back. Now appeared a spectre. In the hope of a quick victory the Cavaliers had pushed part of their reserve- including its commander into the front line. This error had consequences. In the melee Saville could not leave his troops to summon up his reserves so they simply stood about without orders while on the other flank Fairfax - after a couple of false starts- bum dice again- was set fair to  cross the hedge and outflank the hard pressed Cavaliers. So it was all over bar the shouting. The Cavaliers conceding the game at this point.

Cromwells division moves forward. 

 Figure were all from my ECW collections being about 60% Old Glory 25mm and the rest Hincliffe from my shiny retro collection . As always our thanks go to Landlady Jean for excellent Beef Butties and chips and sundry pints of Consett Brewey's White Hot- an excellent session beer. Though  it was rumoured that some of the Cavaliers were seen imbibing of  strange  bottle beverage called "cider"   no wonder they lost .

The melee gets a bit intense. Cromwell getting stuck in. 

All over bar the shouting. The Cavaliers conced at this point as their Flank will be turned. 

Roll on the next game in late April- currently looking like WW2 in the desert using "Operation Warboard.

Same old same old- all over again.

You know it must be just me. I wonder how many times you have to say the same stuff to the same people. Has the internet age made people thicker- seemingly almost by the day?
 This goes for all walks of life not merely wargaming- though it does seem to happen an awful ot  here. I'm still quite often stunned by the total lack of basic knowledge people have about stuff that supposedly interests them. Simple things such as Napoleonic  wargamers not having the foggiest about basic troop organisations- companies in a battalion and the difference between centre and Flank companies  and that sort of basic stuff.
 Now to be fair some of this is because they come from the fantasy/gaming end of the hobby rather than the knowing stuff/historical end as I do  but sometimes the urge to scream
"READ A ***KING BOOK
 is almost uncontrollable. But of course you don't. You explain yet again how it actually was as well as you are able. You try to point them in the right historical direction and hope that the "game" they wish to play does not utterly mangle the history as is so often the case these days and that just possibly in time the poor chap will get a glimmering of understanding and hopefully enjoy the bits of the hobby that do not involve dice rolling.
 But the repeating yourself- well It is just like dealing with a government department (only a little easier than that continuously onerous and thankless task. Where DO they get the staff? No that is not fair either . The staff are usually helpful if you can talk to one but the actual organisation makes actually contacting the correct department on the correct web page almost impossible. It is as if they want to discourage you.. but that HAS to be wrong. Doesn't it? )
 Now granted my cynicism knows no bounds based upon actual experience but you do sometimes wonder .....

Any how Salute is less than a month away so things should brighten a bit as the 14th April approaches. As usual I probably won't get to see much  as I will be far too busy on stand TB16- make a note of it chaps ! (PLUG) We will be taing all of our usual show ranges including the fantastic new Blue Moon Italian Wars range. In addition to those I have in stock already I am expecting a second tranche of another 10 or so packs. Arquebisiers, Crossbowmen and the frst of the Spanish . Needless to say I will let you know both here and on my Facebook pages.
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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.

Hmmmm AK47 or AK Complicated

We are told that the famous AK47  is popular amongst some of the less savoury political militias in the even less savoury partsof the world  becasue it is simple to operate and maintain .
 Would that were true of its gaming namesake by Peter Pig AK47 Republic.

Shaun#s splendidly painted Giraffe wait for something to happen. They had a long wait. 

  For our February game Shaun was in the chair and elected to run a game using these rules for the first time along with his rather spiffing collection of 15mm African forces. So enthusiasm was quite high in the pub when the 4 of us arrived Andrew the Tekkie ,Mechanical Shaun ad Theatrical Steve  and myself- your Gentle Author- being unusually last to arrive despite having most- but by no means all - of the scenery.
 Now first off AK47 is not a set of wargames rules for battles in post colonial Africa. A better description would be "A game based  very vaguely on Politico- Military shennanigans in Post Colonial anywhere that might look a bit like Africa".
 Now this was the game's first outing for us  but the amount of faff and farting about even before you get to lay some lead was to say the least significant. Rather than present some scenarios  the rules writer chose to give us a somewhat tortuous dice rolling contest to decide what type of battle we might- or might not- be fighting. The idea was actually quite clever but the execution  long winded.
 Then once it had been decided that I would have to fight a defensive battle against a full blown attack by Andrew and Steve  there was more faffing about with the terrain generation system. The after THAT  there was more faffing about to decide which units of each of our 5 unit "armies" actually turned up on time or even at all.. By now it has to be said I'm afraid my bore-o-meter was reading 11 so it was good that lunch in the usual form of Landlady Jean's fine hot beef butties had turned up  so the four of us set to on those aided by pints of Consett Brewery's fine "White Hot" for those of us not driving motor vehicles. 

After shooting up the square  village to their front the enemy armour moves down the straight African road. 

 After lunch we finally got down to a bit of action but again more faffing as to how we laid out the few troops we had to begin the game with. Now obviously more familiarity with the system would have speeded things up quite a bit but, so far, not a single military or tactical decision had been in the hands of any of the players- though a few landscaping ones had using there gridded and rather stereotyped terrain choice system. The troops any player had in hand were entirely dice controlled and bore no resemblance to the mission in hand for either side. There were some good bits- units which had lost parts in the deployment phase could have some troops back again in a neat little sort of observation rule as - for example the enemies 2 approaching technicals  became 4 as the dust subsided.  Combat mechanisms were theoretically simple but since attacking troops fired first on hidden defenders I never got a chance to find out how it all worked. Except to realise that the one unit at a time IGOUGO system was glacially slow even with tiny numbers of troops on the table.  Tactically this was nonsense as in reality my out numbered and out gunned troops would simply have piled into their technicals and bugged out.

One enemy tank has gone of for a crafty spliff.

 The rule book included a bibliography- of which I own about half or more but missed other major sources out= so while I own Mockler, Cocks and Forsyth  amongst others cited in the rules there was no mention of Hoare, Puren or Reid- Daly let alone Cole or Moorcroft and McLaughlin or many more modern writers I don't yet own. I'm not convinced however that the writer had actually read any of these- or possibly a book ever.
 Yet having savaged the system I still think there is potential here given a little imagination. Although a bit- well a lot- long winded the "Approach to War" preamble has its points if you want to set up a scenario without benefit of a scenario . My main problem with the system is simple. It is once again the lack of "positive freedom" and the idea that dice rolling should take the place of actual thought or knowledge of the period in hand.

Mutiny Colours

Finally the first of the Bengal Mutineer regiments have their colours. According to the sources some- but by no means all of the rebel regiments carried their old British Colours into battle.In style the flags were similar in style- but differing in detail - to British regiements of the day / It was no big deal to download some generic British Napoleonic flags from warflag.com and the repaint to suit.

I've deliberately hidden the centres of the flags so they could be several yellow faced BNI regiments 

As the mutineer force grows more regiments will be added- though not all will have colours as some were destroyed and other simply left behind.

Figures all 28mm Old Glory from packs CMM 1 ,2 ,OR 3