A Boost to the Reading Plan

One of the nice things about this hobby blogging mullarkey is that it puts us in touch with fellow hobbyists, first on-line, and in some cases 'In Real Life', if distance permits.  I was in London the other day, and it was a pleasure to spend a lunchtime with fellow blogger Chris aka Nundanket. We had a good chat about various hobby and non-hobby subjects, and he returned my lend of the Christopher Duffy 'Festschrift' essay collection The Changing Face of Old Regime Warfare ( the story of which was an interesting episode last summer, which I blogged about at the time ) .   That was good enough, but there was a great bonus - Chris is a big fan of Duffy and an afficianado of The Austrian Succession /  Seven Years War period, and he lent me a volume in return, which turns out to be rather good.. 

 

As you can see, it is By Force of Arms, Christopher Duffy's second volume of The Austrian Army in the Seven Years War. This is an absolutely splendid book, in the large format hardback published in the USA by The Emperor's Press in 2008. It's a year by year  account of the campaigns of the Austrian army from 1756 to 1762, plus Appendices on the Military Geography,   biographical sketches of commanders  and lists of regiments, and there are many maps ( I suspect by Duffy himself, something of a trademark ) and some illustrations. From the look of it, this has pretty much everything the interested reader  - and wargamer - could want!   So, it goes to the top of the reading list.. It has made me think about that list, and come up with some priorities for the near future.

 

First I need to finally finish Reed Browning's The War of the Austrian Succession, which I have been pecking at for several months.  As mentioned previously I wanted to 'study it properly' and try making proper notes - unfortunately the note-taking has been a little bit of a chore, and getting through the book became a bit too much like work, with the result that there always seems to be something more fun to do! I will persist with it, but I may reduce the note-taking. I can use By Force of Arms as an incentive, if I don't allow myself to start on the Seven Years War until I've dealt with the Austrian Succession! Plus of course it's a logical sequence to follow.

I have already in my possession Instrument of War, the first volume of Duffy's Austrian Army, which looks to give exhaustive detail on the raising, equipping, training, supply, etc etc of the army. I think I will try to read that after volume II - partly so Chris gets his book back this year (!), but also there seems a logic to it - learn what the army did, then get more detail on how their  efforts  were maintained.  

 

Finally there's the Festschrift that started this whole thing -it being a series of short essays, I think the trick will be to pick it up as and when, and pick out a piece that takes my fancy. Peter H. Wilson on the Wurtemburg Army of the Seven Years War might be interesting.

Of course that's quite a bit of reading, so I am not putting a deadline on any of it! Meanwhile I seem to have got interested in Alexander ( as opposed to Frederick ) the Great  too, so the reading list may alternate between the two areas - in particular  Phil Barker's  Alexander the Great's Campaigns and Peter Connolly's Greece and Rome at War need my attention.  

 

We'll see how it goes; now that summer is here, at least there is the chance for some pleasant reading interludes in the garden.   

As to actual wargaming, it's well past time I set up a game here, but in the meantime I am keenly anticipating  a 'virtual'  game next week, which I was lucky enough to be invited to join by Jon Freitag of Palouse Wargaming Journal fame. Many thanks Jon, it will be interesting to try the ACW! That will no doubt be excellently reported  by Jon next week, and possibly less well by me, 

So a big thank-you in advance to Jon, and thanks again to Chris/Nundanket for a pleasant lunch and the  fantastic generous  lending of  By Force of Arms !    In the meantime keep well, everyone.  

Fnurban #15: An Imposter at the Festschrift

 On Tuesday I was lucky to be able to attend a rather special event - and all thanks to the generosity of  most excellent fellow blogger Nundanket .  This was the 'Festschrift'  presentation organised by Helion & Compamy in honour of  Professor Christopher Duffy,  which launched  their new publication 'The Changing Face of Old Regime Warfare: essays in honour of Christopher Duffy'.    

 

 

Perhaps I should add this ( from Wikipedia ) "In academia, a Festschrift (German pronunciation: [ˈfɛst.ʃʁɪft] ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the honoree's colleagues, former pupils, and friends. Festschriften are often titled something like Essays in Honour of... or Essays Presented to... ." 

I'll admit I hadn't heard of the concept before!  Here is Helion's description of the event :

For over half a century, Professor Christopher Duffy has produced ground-breaking and
definitive works on a wide range of military history topics. Perhaps best-known for his
work on the armies and campaigns of the mid-eighteenth century, with books on Prussians,
Austrians, and Jacobites, he has also tackled key battles of the Napoleonic era and even the
climactic closing campaign of the Second World War in Europe. Throughout, his work
has taken deep research and scholarly rigour and made it available to a general audience.
 
As Helion continues to reprint some of Christopher’s best-known books, we are also seeking to pay tribute to the influence that his work has on the generations of historians who have followed in his footsteps.The result is a Festschrift edited by Dr Alexander S. Burns and containing 16 essays by historians from across Europe and North America that pick up on themes from Christopher’s work and build on his legacy to add new detail to our understanding of warfare during the eighteenth century and beyond. In an exclusive launch event, generously supported by the British Commission for Military History, the Festschrift will be presented to Christopher in the Field Marshals’ Room at the Cavalry and Guards Club on Tuesday 5 July, with talks being delivered by both the volume’s editor and its honouree.Places are limited to 40 guests only 

Nundanket is a very big fan of Proffessor Duffy's work and was 'over the moon'  to be one of the 40 lucky ticketholders, but then sadly 'sick as a parrot' when it transpired that this clashed with his family holiday. He kindly offered the ticket to anyone else able to take it up, and with some trepidation I took him up on the offer - being by no means a Duffy afficiando, I did feel  quite an imposter. I have read and very much enjoyed a few of his books,  but I wouldn't call myself an expert! 

 

 

The venue was an interesting element - no less than the Cavalry and Guards Club in London's Piccadilly. If I wasn't an.imposter among Duffyists,  I certainly would be at the Cavalry and Guards!  Fortunately I did think to check the club rules - jacket and tie required, of course. I haven't dressed even remotely smartly since a family wedding last year, but I was quite glad to do so. ( another chap arriving at the same time as me was stopped by the staff and asked to put on a tie - they had a handy box of 'spares'! ).  I wasn't going to risk ejection by getting my camera out, but you can get a good idea from their website: https://cavgdsclub.co.uk/  -  it's not too scruffy.  Curiously enough given the exclusivity,  no-one actually asked to see my ticket - one must just look the right kind of chap.

And so to the event itself : a rather pleasant, informal evening. Andrew Bamford of Helion hosted, and we were given short speeches by three speakers including Alexander Burns who has edited the book, and William Philpott of the British Commission for Military History (BCMH) who were co-sponsors of the event, Professor Duffy having been a founding member back in the mists of time - it seems no-one can remember exactly when. A third speaker's name escapes me ( sorry - I think I'd read another club rule about not using notebooks! ) , but was a colleague of Christopher's when lecturing at  Sandhurst. All three were fulsome in their praise, of course. 

Professor Duffy is 86 now and uses a wheelchair, a little frail of appearance and voice, but still entirely 'with it' and also gave a short address, with some quirky anecdotes - he seems to have made a speciality of visiting archives behind the Iron Curtain, long before the end of the Cold War, surprising for a Sandhurst man? Also of meeting a notorious WW2 character ( who was subsequently murdered ), and told of being chased back to an army Landrover by an angry pack of 'Catholic' dogs  during a research trip to Northern Ireland in the 1970s.  A man of surprisingly wide interests and experiences - and still busy thanks to Helion. I think they  said he currently has no less than  three books 'on the go'. 

The speeches took up about 45 minutes, giving way to informal mixing and  chat for the last hour, rather than overtaxing the guest of honour with a formal 'Q&A', and that seemed fair enough.  I wasn't so forward as to introduce myself to the great man, but very pleased to have seen and heard him.I did have a pleasant chat with the chaps from Helion, and also with representatives of the BCMH  ( their website:  https://www.bcmh.org.uk/ ), including  Andrew Grainger and Tim Gale. 

Since I am soon going to be having more time on my hands ( I think it's called 'leaving the work force' ), I have been thinking I might be interested to try to do some 'proper'  study of Military History - any suggestions welcome -  though I wouldn't be able to run to the fees for taking a degree-level course.  I was unaware of  the BCMH and am now thinking it might be interesting to join - they do say 'enthusiasts' are welcome, not only professionals!  

Finally I was forward enough to introduce myself to Professor Gary Sheffield, using the old 'I know your friend Bob Cordery' line.. He fell for it  ( well, it is true! ), and  is clearly a thoroughly nice man ( and I thought his book 'Forgotten Victory'  about 1914-1918 was brilliant ). It was great to meet him, albeit briefly, and that completed a really interesting evening. Many thanks to all concerned, especially Mr. Nundanket ! 

p.s. Reader, I bought the book.

Keep well, and safe, everyone. 

  

 

 

 

 

 

      '

 

Perks of the 'Job'

This is by way of a thank-you  note to Bob Cordery  of Wargaming Miscellany and The Portable Wargame renown :  last week I received a copy of his latest publication, The Portable Wargame Compendium.  And a splendid work it is, too,

100 pages of fun..

This is a softback, about 100 pages, in 'American Letter' format ( 8.5. x 10.5 inches ) which is new to me, but nice and roomy, and pleasant to handle.  It's a collection of pieces exploring variations on Bob's  Portable Wargame format,  dominated by the 'Fast Play 3 x 3'  variant suggested by Mark Cordone, which is of course included here.  There is an array of 'FP3x3' variants:  Colonial , WW2 (both small infantry actions and Operational level), a Punic War campaign, ECW, 'Little Wars'  H.G. Wells style ( with a 3 x 3 Hooks Farm Scenario ), and Sci-Fi - and then ideas on Generalship and Army Composition, Flank Marches, and a Terrain Generation system.  I can't fault Bob's work rate ( and the other gamers and bloggers involved ), given that I gather Mark C only put his '3x3' idea onto social media in about January of this year!  There are also three chapters not related to '3x3',  including   one very useful one describing the  Snakes and Ladders Campaign System devised by Peter from Grid based wargaming - but not always  blog,  and one giving a Fantasy rules variation on The Portable Wargame (step  forward, Maudlin Jack Tar and  Tradgardmastare ). Finally, The Portable Eighteenth Century : Horse and Musket Wargame Rules, by - well, modesty forbids.. 

There are battle reports for three of the 'FP3x3' rulesets, and nice colour pictures of  the resulting quick and simple games. Here is Bob's WW2 Infantry Combat game,

   and one of Martin Rapier's 1st Punic War battles, using 20mm figures originally based for DBA. 

I could be tempted by the Ancients version - there's a 'Command and Colours Ancients' set around here somewhere, which would provide instant armies.

I can see that the Fast Play 3x3 versions could be great for those times when you just fancy a game to 'scratch the itch',  but haven't got a lot of time, or as an introduction for gaming beginners, or for smaller actions in a campaign that maybe don't warrant a large setup, so I'm sure it will interest a plenty of people ( it already has, of course!).  One of the most interesting ones for me is Arthur Harman's ECW variant - Arthur has sagely spotted that a frontage of three grid areas is highly appropriate for armies which had a quite rigid order of battle consisting of an infantry centre, and two wings of cavalry. His set looks to be among the most detailed, and may thus be a bit more than a quick and dirty game - intriguing. 

So, thanks very much indeed Bob, for the excellent book and for including me in - in reality, Bob did all the work, I just agreed that I'd be honoured if he put my 18th Century amendments to his rules in his book!  The whole thing has a rather nice feel  of variations on a theme, which reminds me of some of Donald Featherstone's collections such as Advanced War Games , War Game Campaigns and Solo Wargaming, bringing together a pot-pourri of ideas around a central concept - there's bound to be something that gives you some inspiration. Given that Bob has  been having some health issues recently too,  I reckon he's done a great job! Well worth a look. 

Now I am casting around for a '3x3'  grid, and have just noticed an unused cork pinboard . width 22 inches, so should easily fit a grid of 6-inch squares.. now where's that green paint I use for basing? Watch this space..

Thanks again, Bob!   Meanwhile Keep well, and safe, everyone.

SELWG ( or NELWG? )

I was at the SELWG show on Sunday. Normality returns? Not quite, but it's a start. 

 

Like many others, my last show attendance had been SELWG 2019 at Crystal Palace. The venue was changed this year, surprisingly to North London,  at the Lee Valley Athletics Centre.  This turned out to be pretty decent, I thought -  the main space is an indoor running track arena with a high arched glass roof,and lots of spectator seating, which came in handy.  The games and trade stands easily fitted inside the area of the track. The program listed about 30 games and 50 traders - though there may have been one or two no-shows (most notably it was announced that one of the two catering vans due to attend had been stolen the night before!).  I don't know what the official attendance numbers were, but maybe it felt a bit quieter than previous years, and I suppose that's not surprising.  I felt almost no concern about social distancing, the space felt so - well, spacious (I'll admit I walked into the main hall and immediately discarded my face covering ).  

Night manoeuvres, 1685 style

 

 There were some fun games, the most unusual being 'Moon Over Sedgemoor' by the Prince Rupert's Bluecoats group,  This simulated Monmouth's night-march to attack the Royal army, by the device of covering up the terrain that the rebels needed to cross.Thus they wouldn't know if they were about to run into a wall, or a dyke, or other obstacle until they hit it - and then perhaps made enough noise to alert the Royal sentries.   Note how the scenery is all painted in dark 'night-time' tones - nice touch.  A worthy 'Best in Show' winner, I think ( see 'Iron Mitten' blog for more ).

 

In old ( 1930s ) Siam

I also liked 'Shall We Dance? The Boworadet Rebellion, Siam 1933'  by Deal Wargames - and they win 'best explanatory leaflet' with a really nicely-produced 8-page illustrated booklet. They used 'Rapid Fire' rules, about which more later.  There were special rules for units being charged by elephants or buffalo!

 

2mm scale? hmmm...

A bit of a first for me was  a battle in  ( I think ) 2mm scale - Mark Backhouse's 'Bibracte 58BC' participation game  using his 'Strength and Honour' rules.  Judging by the vocal hubbub from the players, it was going down well -  but I'll admit that the armies looked a bit 'brown blob' for my taste. I really like the idea of playing large battles with small figures, but maybe my limit is going to be 6mm. 

 

GLC Gamers SCW: note 'decisive moment' of die roll

I failed to take many pictures, to be honest, but another quite nice-looking table  was this Spanish Civil War game put on by the GLC Games Club - who have lasted much longer than the GLC, it seems!  This one wasn't listed in the program ( there were a few changes, perhaps unsurprisingly ), and I'm not sure of the rules they were using - was it maybe  Osprey's  'A World Aflame'?  Other honourable mentions must go to The Society of Ancients'  'Battle of Trebbia 218BC' using Impetus;   Cheshunt Wargames Club 'Battle for Hoa Binh, Indochina 1951' in 6mm; and South London Warlords good old reliable 'Stingray' game - do they make the naval peaked caps larger for every outing? 

( Other bloggers have of course taken loads more pictures, in particular see Ray Roussel's 'Don't Throw a 1' and  'Big Lee's Miniature Adventures' which has a 10 minute video, no less. ) 

Obviously, after 2 years with no such events, one of the best aspects of the day was a bit of social contact, and the ability to chat to fellow gamers.  It was a pleasure to  meet my old buddy Dave (aka St Cyr on Wheels )  for the first time since February 2020 , and to  renew our customary  'Stadtler and Waldorf go to the SELWG show'  routine.  Apart from chatting to some of the game hosts, we had a nice chinwag with the chap from Mili-Art, who did a great job of painting  Dave's Napoleonic armies a couple of years ago.  Better still, we also met up with that most excellent blogger and generous commenter  Nundanket, and had a good yarn over coffee/tea. The other two live fairly close to each other, so there could perhaps be scope for gaming..  Nundanket  ( can I call you Chris? )  also made me a most generous gift of some metal Spencer-Smith figures , which will fit in nicely to my 'Portable 7YW' forces.

These were apparently the remnants of a failed  attempt by another friend to tempt him away from 6mm scale a few years ago! Anyway they are great, and will make at least one 'Portable Wargame' Infantry unit ( complete with Grenadier company ); the horsemen may become officers.  A very kind gesture, thank you very much!

Of course no show visit would be complete without a little shopping. Usually any purchases I make at shows are happy accidents/mad impulse buys,  but this time  I had managed to compile a short list, and even managed to score most of it, with only one spur-of-the-moment extra. 

First a couple of additions to the 'D-Day Dodgers' collection for Italy 1943-1945: 

 Next, rules: 

 

 

I've been meaning to pick up 'In Deo Veritas': I like the idea of doing 'Big Battles' in the Pike and Shot period, and it should be a good excuse to get my 15mm 30YW forces on the table. 'Rapid Fire Reloaded' is intriguing,  with only 16 pages of A5 - so it must be simple! Another possibility for the D-Day Dodgers, I hope. 

And there's always books:

Christopher Duffy's 'Instrument of War' has been on the wish-list for a  long time, and became a must-have once I got involved in 7YW gaming: I'm sure it will live up to expectations, and it's only fair to have as good a reference about the Austrian Army as Duffy's earlier work on the Prussians. Frederick gets all the glory, and the balance needs redressing.   Finally the impulse buy:

 

Charles Grant's last book, published after he passed away in 1979 - I'm hoping it will have the same mix of charm and erudition as 'Battle!',  'The War Game', 'The Ancient War Game' and 'Napoleonic Wargames'.  Does that complete the set? In the introduction he says 'I can conceive of no more lively pleasure than that of seeing unfold upon the wargame table a tactical situation which is a true reflection of a historical event', which seems eminently appropriate. 

So, now I have far too much reading, rule-learning  and modelling than I can possibly keep up with, but absolutely no buyer's remorse; and I enjoyed the day, felt entirely safe and was lucky to meet friends both old and new.  Next 'Salute', in a month's time?  We shall see - sadly Covid infeciton rates here are on the rise again. Meanwhile I'd better get reading/modelling/gaming... keep safe, and well, all ! 

Al Murrays and Aquisitions..*

Well now, where were we?  Several weeks seem to have gone by, and nothing from The Ragged Soldier - sorry about that.  I'm afraid real life ( work, mainly ) got in the way. As a result, no gaming took place, but I did manage some reading,  and some acquisitions, that will feed into future campaigning. 

Al Murray's 'Watching War Films With My Dad' was a charity shop find ( for £1! ) which turned out to be a great fun read.  It's a sort of memoir - taking us from Al's WW2-obsessed 1970/80s childhood with Airfix kits and Action Man ( shades of Harry Pearson's 'Achtung Schweinhund' )  up to his attempts to present  military history to his own children.  He's a massive enthusiast for military history, he positively fizzes with it, with the result that he jumps  from topic to topic with dizzying speed. Obviously there are  a lot of jokes too,  but  (as listeners to his 'we have ways' podcast will know )  he is very well-read and knowledgable.  I was particularly interested in his views on Arnhem, which I confess I have little knowledge of myself  -  and of course the film 'A Bridge Too Far' gets a fair amount of discussion in the book. Did they really use Leopard tanks? Oh no!  He doesn't seem to have tried wargaming , though - should someone be inviting him to a show?       
 

Having enthused about a year ago over the joys of the local model shop, I'm afraid I didn't get back to Model Junction in Bury St. Edmunds until the other week. But I found them trading OK, and as friendly and helpful as ever.  They have a pretty wide selection of modelling paints ( at least 4 or 5 brands ), and a room full of plastic kits. I've been wanting to add some anti-aircraft capability to my 'D-Day Dodgers' Italian campaign forces, so the Airfix  Bofors AA gun will do nicely, and I couldn't quite resist the Sd Kfz 234 'Puma'  for the Germans. Worthy additions to the 'plastic pile',and it's about time for another go at a WW2 game and a trial of Bob Cordery's 'Portable Wargame'  rules for aerial attacks and AA guns. 

 

Another great book find was courtesy of an antique shop in Lavenham which includes a couple of shelves of history books curated by someone who clearly has a military bent ( so to speak, missis!) - and there was Geoffrey Parker's 'The Military Revolution'. I know I'm about 30 years behind on this one, though I do have his books on The Thirty Years War and The Army of Flanders and the Spanish Road - the latter read a memory-wiping long, long time ago.   As a paid-up member of the Pike and Shot Society, I'm really looking forward to reading this and bringing my knowledge of theories of military history bang up-to-date - albeit the 1980s date..

One aspect of The Military Revolution being the Trace Italienne and new fortification techniques culminating in Vauban's  formidable legacy - so it was a very pleasant surprise to coincidentally  receive a splendid gift, from a modest and retiring fellow blogger, of a seriously impressive resin model of a Vauban fort!  It's actually 15mm scale, I am told, but I think it should pass muster in  my Seven Years War campaigning, on the principle of 'under-scale' buildings and scenery. I can see it as a small fortified outpost being fought over  in my central European backwater, or cunningly deployed along the edge of the table to suggest a section of the walls of some larger defended place. Whatever, I am very chuffed indeed with this lovely piece of generosity. No payment was required - I will compensate with a suitable charity donation, perhaps to MSF. 

    

Finally, an update on another generous gift, which I had received from RossMac of 'Battle Game of the Month' fame.  Here is MacFarlane's Scottish regiment of foot, with their associated troop of 'border horse'  Lancers , their  prized regimental cannon, supply wagons and self-propelling food supplies ( i.e. livestock ! ). I've given the foot and the horse new bases to fit my system, and given the horse back their missing lances, but left Ross' 1970s paintwork untouched, it's just fine as it is. The infantry have a preponderance of musketeers and very few pikes, so they may find themselves used as 'commanded musketeers', but there are some splendid axe- and sword-wielding highanders, and even a bagpiper! Also a couple of kilted  musketeers with socket bayonets, who look distinctly 18th century, but I couldn't separate them from their fellows after the long voyage,  so they stayed in the ranks. Their comrades may be bemused by 'Hamish and Dougal, with all  their new-fangled ideas'. 

The bases are just thin card, since the plan is to fit magnetic strip underneath, and use steel paper movement trays, which will add to the thickenss. Maybe I need to texture them a bit, to match Ross' bases for the wagons, gun and livestock. Though I am an adherent to minimally plain basing normally, a bit of texture would be true to their original spirit, I think.  Now they will be needing an excuse to get to grips with the Imperials, or the French, depending which side offers the best pay, of course.. 

That's enough for now, I'm glad to have got back onto the blogging bike, so to speak, and there's lots of gaming posibilities to be thinking  about in the near future.  Meanwhile keep well, and safe, everyone.

 

* title loosely inspired by that good old standby of adventure-story writers - 'Alarums and Excursions', of course !  I'll get my coat..

Much-travelled Veterans

I have once again been the recipient of  a lovely piece of generosity, this time from no less than  Ross Macfarlane of 'Battle Game of the Month' fame. 

 

Back in March, I showed a picture of my 15mm Thirty Years' War period French troops, including some 1980s vintage Minfigs and Mike's Models/Essex.  Ross spotted that picture and  commented as follows: 

if you're interested, I believe there are some 15mm 17thc Highland mercenaries lurking in my cupboard. Old strip minifigs painted in my cabin on HMCS Ottawa in 1977 and a few of their friends that haven't seen action in ..maybe 40 yrs? I think they would be happy to cross the ocean to see action, checkout the local damsels and whiskey etc.

Let me know and I'll send the provosts to round them up.

Well, that sounded very interesting, and of course very generous of Ross. He sent a couple of pictures (including the one above)  which looked even more interesting, and I was happy to accept his kind offer.  A bit more description from Ross :

I'm not sure how many there are and suspect a careful inspection would find the occasional scrape or broken something (eadily fixed or possibly excused) but they are escorting some obviously  not highland cattle and some carts. There are some conversions in there Heritage mounted napoleonic landwehr lancers now wearing bonnet and plaid though they seem to gotten tired of carrying their lancers. 

 Anyway, they are 49!! Years old (how is that possible) but have been sleeping in a cave for decades now after many victories over the Sassanachs so hopefully they have earned some lenience and maybe even gloss varnish if suitable .

All very good stuff, and lovely to have a bit of provenance. I hope the sea wasn't too rough during the painting sessions all those years ago..  I also liked the cattle, wagons etc, those are bound to come in handy - the troops come with their own supply train and food 'on the hoof'! Most appropriate for 17th Century forces. 

I was able to reciprocate to some extent, as I had a set of good old Airfix 1:72  ACW Artillery which Ross liked the look of,  so back at the end of March we wrapped and posted our respective parcels, and the two contingents began their journeys between Suffolk and Nova Scotia. About a week later Ross confirmed the ACW gunners had reached him safely, and I waited for the Scots to arrive.. and waited.. After several weeks, sadly I became resigned to the poor wee chaps ( and livestock ) being lost and/or binned somewhere in the postal system ( being low-value items, we had agreed not to waste money on expensive delivery tracking ). No loss to me, I suppose, but it was very sad to think of them being dumped somewhere.  However I should have had more faith in them, because one day in late May (2 months on!)  I arrived home to find a parcel from Nova Scotia on my doorstep - hurrah!  Labelled as 'By Air', by the way - they must be using some slowish 'planes these days... but they got here in the end.   

So now I am pleased to introduce these much-travelled veteran Scots. 

the full complement on parade

 

I think these must inevitably join my forces as  Macfarlane's regiment, a much-travelled and battle-hardened body of men on hire to the highest bidder - initially augmenting the forces of the French and/or Bernadines in their campaigns against Bavaria and the Empire.  As you see, the regiment brings its own artillery and a troop of horse,  and those wagons and livestock, which turns out to include  cattle,  goats and a faithful hound.  

the supply train

I think those will be very useful,  I forsee some sort of convoy escort/ambush scenario  being played out.  It's making me think of the game described in  George Gush's  brilliant little 1970s   'Airfix Guide' to the ECW.

regimental artillery

 

As described, there is an interesting mixture of figures, indeed I think mostly Minifigs early 'strip mounted'  15mms of 1970s vintage, mostly musketeers but some sword and axemen, officers and even a bagpiper! And I like the  painting - even some colourful tartans being worn ( sadly I think Humbrol's tartan paint range is long discontinued ) .

They make me think that for a bit more inspiration, perhaps  I can use this:

 

'The Lion of the North. a tale of the times of Gustavus Adolphus'  by G.A. Henty ( 1886 ),  which follows the adventures of Munro's regiment in the Swedish service.   The style is, well, rather Victorian, and I suspect his views on Empire, race and nationalism may look quite dodgy these days ( I think in this case,  the muscular  Protestantism of Gustavus was thoroughly approved of ). But I'll give it a go sometime, bearing all that in mind, and I think there might be some good  scenario ideas..

Meanwhile,  I need to get the wee men onto proper bases - I think I will resist glossy varnish at the moment, I think they look fine as they are. Once that is done, they can take their place on the battlefield for the first time in a long while, albeit quite a distance from their original home - just like  their real-life counterparts from the highlands, campaigning in  far-off  'higher Germany'.  Let's hope they fight as well as they look.  When they do get into action, you can read about it here, of course.

Many, many thanks of course to Ross Macfarlane for a terrific piece of wargaming generosity, very much appreciated! 

Keep safe, and well, everyone.

Old School Generosity

Since starting this blog I've been really pleased by all  the friendly and supportive comments from many fellow wargamers, and now added to that is a lovely piece of generosity, for which I am very glad to thank Neil Patterson of  Aufklarungsabteilung  ( 'Intelligence Department': I rather like that )  fame.

Battle-ready cavalry

 I admired The army of Hrvatska in his recent post, nicely-painted-and-flagged Spencer-Smith figures, and commented that I've fancied to get some of those: Neil surprised me by saying he  had some 'surplus to requirements'  figures, and would I like them?    Well, how could I refuse? I have now received  the figures you see in the pictures here, and I am very well pleased with them!  As you can see, we have an 'all arms' force. Above, the cavalry brigade :  Dragoons at the front,  Hussars behind.  Below, the Infantry - about 50 in all, which gives me six units for The Portable Wargame, or perhaps three battalions in other rulesets. But also I can't help thinking of them as a Charles Grant regiment, just like 'The War Game' all those years ago. Lovely stuff!   

Takes me back to the Vereingte Frei Stadt..

Finally the artillery battery, and some extra cavalry. Two nicely-painted guns and crews, one more gun yet to be assembled and with undercoated crew, and about a dozen more cavalry - of which four look to be lancers,  I think  NP09 'Lancer in Czapka'  from the SSM Napoleonic Range.

A splendid battery - and more to paint

semi-painted horse, and time-travelling lancers

 It's interesting that all the infantry, the painted cavalry and the painted guns and gunners are actually the old SSM plastic figures - only the unpainted/semi-painted artillery and horse in the last couple of pictures are the more recent metals. The plastics seem to have survived OK, and are delightfully light to handle - interestingly some previous owner has decided that the infantry  are too lightweight, and has attached them to individual metal bases for extra stability.   I am not sure how old they might be - can anyone enlighten me as to when the plastics stopped being produced?  I suspect that was quite a long time ago now.. 

Many of the painted figures are as good a job as I could have done, and I rather like the dragoons at the front of the top picture,  in buff-coloured coats with purple facings - I suspect this is an 'imagi-nation' uniform,  It would seem a shame to repaint them, so I think they will join my forces as they are. Perhaps a little-known and cash-strapped neighbouring principality will be hiring them out to one of my campaign protagonists.  [UPDATE: Neil points out that they are perhaps buff and crimson (rather than purple) so we're dead ringers for Prussian cuirassiers of say 2nd regiment... and after a little web-searching I think I agree with him, and the Prussian 'Yellow Riders' will be a nice addition.] The painted gunners look great and could go straight into action with the Prussians,  if required. 

The infantry gives me a nice quandry - who to paint them as? The officers and drummers are already painted and look rather Prussian, but with my own Prussian musketeer regiment already in the painting queue, I think these SSM foot should be something different ( the painted officers may find themselves commanding my Minifigs Prussians, I hope they will be happy with that!). I have in fact been contemplating a 'third force'  in between my Prussians and Austrians,  and I am toying with perhaps a detachment from Saxony.  We could perhaps  suppose that the fabric of history was slightly warped in my alternative Central Europe, allowing  their escape from Pirna, or that Saxony took a different diplomatic course?  I might need to acquire some more officers and drummers, but I will be  happy to place a small  order with the current  Spencer-Smith producer, Peter Johnstone - I see he is only just over the border in Norfolk, so the 'lead miles' will be low. 

So there we have it - I am really very pleased indeed with these, they are straight out of my childhood dreams of Grant-style wargames, so thank you very much Neil,  what a lovely gesture!  I look forward to getting these painted and into battle, we'll see how they fair against the Minifigs.. 

Now I can do a (smaller) good  turn ( 'pay it forward' so to speak)  by pointing you in the direction of a new blog. This is  St. Syr on Wheels, from my old friend and former colleague 'Liverpool Dave' , who is blogging about his adventures in ( mainly ) board wargaming. As you can tell from his thumbnail portrait, he's a specialist on many things Napoleonic,  but not only that period.  He can write a bit, too, so I am sure he will be worth following.  The latest post is a nice account of 'N:The Napoleonic Wars', a solitaire boardgame with an interesting twist. I hope you all enjoy it - and Dave, keep it up! 

Next time, back to the tabletop as Prussians and Austrians tangle at Rahden, I hope. Keep well, and safe, everyone.