The Emperor's new Book.

Bit busy at Salute but did pick up one very useful little tome from Helion.. "In the Emperors Service by Laurence Spring is an examination of Wallenstein's Imperial Army of the Thirty Years War.  Now anyone who has read even one book on the 30 years war will have heard of Albrecht Von Waldstien- usually Wallenstein and the army he raised for Imperial service. This new volume gives us  some details added to the bare bones that many of us already think we know.  I have other work by Spring and this is well up to the standard of research and scholarship that I have come to appreciate from his work on the English Civil War.

 This new book covers "all the usual suspects" - organisation , pay  officers and men , arms and armour very well. It also gives us details of the Siege of Stralsund and the Battle of Lutzen to give us an idea of the army on operation service. There are plenty of photographs and a good slew of contemporary illustrations. I found the photos of captured Imperial flags especially useful especially when coupled with the colour plates of colours and standards. I can feel an addition to my small Thirty years War collection of 40mm models coming up over the horizon.
 I would certainly recommend this volume to anyone who has even a passing interest in the armies and operations of the Seventeenth century  in general and the 30 Years War in particular.

The photos show a few of my finished 40mm Thirty Years War models. Castings are by Sash and Saber and my own Romanoff Miniatures. Armed with this new book from Helion I can now sort out the organisations an flags for these models !

Salute 2019 - The traders Tale

So Salute 2019 is over and done with. That is Salute done for another year.  Not the best I've ever been to but a long way from the worst.
Apparently some dude on TMP opined that it was the "worst Salute ever". Well it depends upon what you want from a show. Salute has always been the annual buying fest and while the internet HAS toned done the feeding frenzy a good bit the show still has its moments- or did at my shop anyhow.  In tems of the games ,well, as normal I didn't see much  far too busy but there didn't seem to be any obvious show stoppers this year. Now I could be wrong  but the same chap an TMP  also opined that there was a shortage of large historical games. Again I don't know. There were some- a couple of Ancients encounters and the Chester and Nantwich club did the battles of Aughrim and Lutzen from different bits of the 17th century .. However as has become fashionable there were a good number of games put on by commercial outfits as product advertising rather than PP games or demos put on by clubs. These were mostly fantasy or sci-fi related. However to counter those historical games there did seem to be a larger number of for foot square skirmish- a - likes of which I by preference would not bother with even if I had time to view them.

Blue Moon 15mm Napoleonics got a proper plundering.

I think that we historical gamers are simply going to have to get used to the fact that- commercially speaking -  non- historical gaming is in the driving seat. Also that however intellectually bereft some of this junk is, the "dice- rollers" think it is "fun" (and that goes for some supposedly "historical" rules out there too) as a good chunk of the hobby  descend further into the lightweight and ephemeral end of the gaming market.

Blue Moon Marlburain and GNW ranges  stock levels are a bit thin until my shipment arrives too. Both of these ranges were very popular this year at Salute. 

However back to Salute.  I have no complaints. Trade was good without being spectacular and the crew and I knew we had put a shift in by closing time. Some of the stock bins looked as if a plague had been through 'em. So there are now some serious gaps in what we have to immediate hand. However STRESS NOT. I am informed that my shipment from the USA will be with me in about a weeks time.

And as for the 15mm Italian Wars range- well  until I get my next shipment

 This should mean that a good bundle of back orders will  be leaving here once we have unpacked the shipment.  These will as usual be sent out in date order- longest waiting first. Oh and yes I am already putting together my next order for the factory .... Old Glory UK-We never sleep- well it feels like that some day and yes after the weekend I could do with a kip !

Shinyloo3 - The Affair at Trois Bras

Saturday 9th March 2019 saw a gathering of T.W.A.T.S. at our usual watering hole for the March game.
 I was in the chair and - surprise surprise thought I'd have a bash at another shinyloo game. My first thought had been the Indian Mutiny but they are not yet table ready so that will wait until later in the year. So Shiny it would be.
 As it happened both sides in this shiny war had received  reinforcements. The French had more Cuirassiers a 14 figure unit of Dragoons  and some more Line Infantry and the British had a few more rifles half a dozen more  Line Infantry and  the 1st Royal Dragoons- well a four figure troop thereof anyhow. Ancient 30mm Minifigs on Stadeen horses culled out of another ebay joblot with 3 more Scots Greys. The box of these is slowly getting smaller but there are still a good few too paint so the armies will continue to get bigger but Oh so slowly.

French Dragoons . Aged Hincliffe figures I picked up for a song. Once I had cleaned off the filth you could see that the chap who painted them knew what he was about. 

 So to the game Theatrical Steve took the British with Mechanical Shaun and Andrew the Tekkie taking the French. The scenario was based upon Quatre Bras but I only had enough road for three arms so Trois Bras it would be.

The Rifles hold Trois Bras. Mostly Stadden 30mm with a few Willies and a couple of Hincliffe. 

The idea was to have various forces arriving on table at different ties to see how the players would cope with not having access to all their troops at once. Also the French had to actually find out what they were facing and where it was..

Steve began by placing his Rifles- 2 companies -in the village of Tros Bras at the crossroads backed by a Footguards company and a weak company of the 92nd Highlanders.

The arrival of the 44th Foot.

Initially the French Dragoons came bowling down the road and  received fire from the Rifles which sent them back up said road at a somewhat smarter pace. However a Company of French Skirmishers using the other arm o moved onto the rifles flank and  caused a bit of bother eventually causing Steve to withdraw the Footguards to cover. At more or less the same time dark masses of French Cavalry started to appear  at the far end of the table. Cuirassiers, Chasseurs of the Guard and Polish Lancers all began to mass on the French table edge, Things were looking decidedly sticky for the Duke of Wellyboot!

More French troops arrive. Squeaky bum moment for Wellyboot .

However the Rifles clung on to the village- seeing off the surviving French skirmishers and just in time the 44th foot all 3 and a half companies  turned up and sloy moved through the woods. The following move as the French began to move forward with their cavalry the Royal Dragoons and the Scots Greys appeared on the British table edge. The Duke of Wellyboot's "squeaky bum moment" appeared over.

The Arrival of the Scots Greys and the Royal Dragoons 

 Shaun didn't hang about. A combined column of Lancers and Chasseurs of the Guard  steamed up the road towards the village at speed. However the Rifles were ready and being veteran troops held their nerve until close range ( decent dice for once from Steve) , The resulting volley emptied many a saddle and caused the discomforted cavalry to scuttle back and take shelter behind the newly arrived Imperial Guard Grenadiers.

The Frecnh thrust against Trois Bras,curtains for the Polish Lancers.

French Cavalry advance.Mostly Hincliffe - from the same source as the Dragoons but with some added Stadden and Willie

The French Standing about  The Imperial Guard Grenadiers are mostly Minot with some Stadded Napoleon Shinyparte is a Willie on a Stadden horse. 

 However the climax of the affair was at hand (!) Shaun's other cavalry, Cuirassiers and Dragoons moved past the village on the French left heading for the British baseline . Fire from a company of the 44th blunted but did but stop this daring thrust. The first Squadron of the Greys supported by the new shiny troop of Royals contercharged and a fierce two move melee ensured. Honours were more or less even but the casualties from fire and the fact that Steve still had a reserve squadron in hand meant that the French had shot their bolt even though the Royals were wiped out first time out !. On the other flank French Artillery had finally arrived  but its first rounds were singularly ineffective. Andrew was not pleased. At this point Andrew conceded and declared a British victory - even though no french Infantry - other than skirmishers had been involved. French morale had obviously been affected by the cavalry carnage.

The cavalry melee. The Royals will go down bravley but the French dragoons will also suffer. The reserve squadron of the Greys will then finish the business. 

Rules- once again we used "Charge!" but this time I added in the morale test from Grant's Napoleonic Rules. More work needed here but the combination adds just a little more subtlety and possibly flexibility  to the Charge system and I shall persevere  and have another go,


As is normal with us Lunch was Landlady Jeans excellent Beef Butties and chips washed down with Consett Brewery Pale Ale- or  a disgusting  brownish liquid known as er Coke- for the drivers- filthy stuff  but unavoidable for those driving. Rumour has it that your gentle Umpire actually consumed a "fruit based drink" before his first pint. Andrew was heard to mumble something about "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" but no - nothing alien I simply didn't fancy a pint at that time ...... or did I ......


I am really take with using Charge for smallish Napoleonic actions that are larger than the current vogue for "skirmish- a-likes"  The game had a total of 300 or so  figures available for both sides though not all appeared so it was not by any means a big action. Their is an awful lot less farting about using these over say Black Powder. For larger actions upwards General de Brigade would do as well or possibly better. Now to get more Bavarians and Austrians painted. It will be a while before they are table ready  but shiny 1809 is on the cards

Still Shiny After All These Years

Now perspicacious reader may notice the allusion to a Paul Simon song here - well in passing anyhow.. Always been a minor Fan of Paul and Art ever since I first saw "The Graduate" with a young Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft in the leading roles. That apropos of nothing at all except that I wanted a snazzy title for this post.

Stadden 30mm Cuirassiers. The designs are at least 50 years old. Some of these castings were pushing that when I bought them TLC required.

Although I have been ferociously busy this last month- busiest Feb I can recall-  I have still managed to finish a very few new figures for the neverending "Shinyloo" project which continues to grow. The next game in the ongoing series- again using Young and Lawford's Charge! from thr 1960s will be on March 9th at our usual watering hole. Once again Napoleon Shinyparte will try conclusions with  the Duke of Wellyboot. Each having slightly larger forces than last time out as I repair and paint assorted old retro style figures that I could not afford in my youth.

Close up of the officer- who needed a new sword and hand. 

 Yes this project is nostalgic. Yes it is self indulgent but it is also a distinct antidote to the dice rolling mania of much of today's wargaming- lite. However having said that Charge! is not a complex system to understand. indeed it is very very simple but such are its nuances that it  punishes gamesey non period tactics which is as it should be.

Voltigeurs and Grenadiers again Stadden 30mm  of considerable age.

So recent additions to Shinyparte's forces include some Stadden Cuirassiers as well as some more infantry .The British have had some more Scots Greys added and even a small troop of Royal Dragoons both of which were pictured in earlier shinyloo posts on this blog.

Close up of the Hornist and Officer. 

Now next on the painting table are some Old Glory 28mm Indian Mutiny as I want to get that project on to the table by the middle of the year if I can.

Painting services.

Now in my line of work I come across an awful lot of figure painters. Some very very good indeed. Some not so and some middling. Prices are the same ranging from a good deal to  WTF!! is he having a larf ! Now all of these are of course subjective value judgements not facts. People will pay for what they want so some bloke will be quite prepared to pay £30.00 for a single 28mm foot figure.  Especially if they only want a dozen for their whole"army" . Personally I won't. Hell will freeze over first. Of course I can paint a bit myself but do not have the stamina to be a full time painter. I like to paint what I fancy when I fancy and it is never- for me- about "finishing an army". No army of mine is "finished" unless I sell the lot, usually because it has not been used on the table for a few years. As I have said previously once I sort stuff out quite a few things will have a "For Sale" sign over them . This will include units by some professional painters past and present.

These little 10mm dudes are part of James Main collection. The figures are Old Glory Gradscale 10mm. Jim has also painted numerous units for me and does take commissions but is not a full time painter. He is a builder by trade. 

These 15mm Old Glory Africans were painted for me by Jez at Shakespear Studios. I have always found him very reliable.

However over the years I have used more than a few painters and even pursued one through small claims court- which amongst other things showed me that there are painters out there who are complete arseholes.
 To counter that however many are not. Many are sterling chaps.. Of those in my collection who are still working  full time as figure painters I heartily recommend the following Shakespeare Studios- Jez does the most excellent 15mm moderns including camo and is tasty at other stuff too- including Napoleonics. He did my Falkland War and Rhodesians as well as African Guerrillas. Oh and a lovely battalion of Austrian -Hungarian Grenadiers. All are on the Old Glory UK website. Dave Jarvis  painted stuff for me before he went full time and before I was OGUK. I only have 1 unit of his left- again on the website these being Sikh Wars Ghorracharra  cavalry.

These Sash and Saber 28mm Rebs were some of the first models Darren did for me back in the 1990s 

Old Glory 28mm Turkish Dellis- painted again by Darren Taylor

A bit of wierdness- Cairo Janissaries and Mamluks in 28mm . Old Glory figures again painted by Darren Taylor. The Napoleon in Egypt project there were for stalled a few years ago. I may revive it.

However when I was going back through my collection I realised that I have quite a few units painted by Darren Taylor- a chap I thought had stopped working- but I was wrong as we reconnected over a mutual client recently. Darren - even as I type is still at it. Over the years he has painted all sorts for me ACW, ECW Ottoman Turks and Napoleonics. The header picture for my first post of this blog are Kings Lifeguard that he painted for me in the late 1990s - still going strong.

These Sash and Saber Prussians were painted for me by Jim Main - as Hessians for my AWI collection. 

So yes there are plenty of painters out there doing a fine job but me I still like to paint my own. Some how I gives me a better sense of ownership of the units or armies in question.

More of Darren's Sash and Saber ACW in my collection. 

These 40mm Thirty Years War figures - Romanoff ans Sash and Saber were painted by me. Included here  simply to prove I do not only use painting services.

Floating about in the South China sea

The T.W.A.T.S.  most recent game was a modern Naval affair run by Andrew the tekkie

http://tantobieinternettattler.blogspot.com/2019/01/a-kick-in-spratleys.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_

The link to his excelent Blog Tantobie Internet Tattler gives a detailed account of the fighting which ddidn't quite start the Pacific Rim War- but just might at a later date

NEW YEAR. Resolutions or Revolution?

OKay so here were are on January 1st 2019- well it was when I started writing this . A New Year. Will it make any difference?  Well prices will go up and the country to the dogs but that is simply normal . It has been - apparently happening since the Dutch sailed up the Medway !

So in the merry  hope of fiddling while Rome burns I am for the while going to ignore all of that shit and concentrate on important stuff such as what I am going to do with my figure collections and in toy soldier world in the coming year.

 Well in a nutshell it is going to be a case of expansion and contraction at the same time.
 Physically impossible I hear you cry ! Well no not really as I am going to expand some armies and  dispose of others that are no longer used or of interest.
 Expansion
 Indian Mutiny and indeed India generally- I am even starting to think about an early Sikh force for the very late 18th century, Rohillas too- should be fun sourcing those bits I can't get from various Old Glory ranges. Even Moghuls are a possibility.

Most recent addition to the Indian Mutiny forces. Old Glory 28mm but from the Crusades range and the Indian Muting range- mix in rather well/ 

Shinyloo and its offshoots will continue. Indeed a few more have been finished with more on the painting table.

More "Shinyloo" Scots Greys. Stadden 30mm of considerable age.

Old Glory 28mm Napoleonic Bavarians. Another shiny project slowly taking shape..

 ECW in its various forms is of course a constant and yes I want to do more games and continue to expand my armies both the Retro and Modern styles. I have about 50 or so ECW Scots foot to base  I I will also expand the 40mm though this tends to veer more toward the TYW  well sort of. Nevertheless a good few are later ECW for the 1648 campaign or even 1650-51. I do like 40mm for  small scale actions, the petit guerre as it were. Still need to settle on a set of rules. I have Featherstone which with a bit of fiddling might well fit the bill. Even if it is crap it will be better than the dross that is Pikemans Lament.

These 28mm Old Glory ECW cavalry are definitely staying 

and these.

and these 40mm Thirty Years War- Due for expansion I think.

40mm Scots too. My own Romanoff figures with Sash and Saber heads 

However the 40mm ECW is more of a modeling project than strictly a wargaming one. I make them because I like them. The same goes for the 40mm Wars of the Roses. there will be more of these as I want to do at least one and possibly more games in the coming year- Battle of Hexham perhaps or even Nibley Green.

In the smaller scales I still have a bundle of 15mm Ancient Germans to base up and the new Blue Moon Crusades range is really calling to me .
 I also fancy expending the 15mm Moderns but to be honest that is not a priority at the moment but maybe later in the year I will get a moderns kick on. You never can tell.

As for stuff that has done its time and needs to move on. Well 40mm Dark Ages and 40mm ACW  are top of the list and I am seriously thinking of thinning out my 28mm SYW collection. I also have a bundle of 28mm Moderns that have not seen a firefight for several years. Not since I went to 15mm for that period. None of this is pressing as I need to actually count the Dark Ages- roughly 50 Vikings/ Saxons and maybe 40 Normans  including 15 mounted knights ish !

These 40mm  lads- and their infantry as well as the Viking/ Saxon opposition could be finding a new home.

However we shall see.  After all it is only Mid- January