A Military Gentleman

Well, here's a thing...

My good friend John Ray, who will be known to many readers, has just launched a webpage.
Lovely pictures, and the enticing prospect of his forthcoming book.
Have a look here:
http://amilitarygentleman.blogspot.com

Above: some of John's collection - click to enlarge.

Congratulations John.

Phil

Russians Unorthodox - Charge Anachronism #137

It has always amused me to look through pictures in Charge and wonder where the figures came from, and to identify the units. Come on, admit it - we all do it, don't we?
Don't we?!! Maybe just me then!

Now, as we know, Charge! is more a generic Horse Musket tome than a strictly 18th century set of rules. In fact, it's loose approach to matters of historical "accuracy", it's naivety, for want of a better term, is part of the charm.

There are of course a number of anachronisms that stand out - the use of Napoleonic British Royal Horse Artillery alongside the Prussian infantry of Frederick the Great's army being an obvious example.

Also, note the use of the Pavlov Guards throughout the book... some to play the part of the Garde Jager regiment, as shown here in previous posts. These Stadden figures are still available today. And they also appear in the rather neat marching pose in the book too - first seen as the Electoral infantry at The Battle of Blasthof Bridge.

So, as well as having the more active poses playing the part of Garde Jager in my own collection, I decided to add some of the marching fgures as a separate unit...
and I present here the first company of The Constantinov Regiment:

I chose the unit name as it appears in Charles S Grant's Wargame Companion as a unit having been in Brig Peter Young's collecion, though which figures were used is not known. Anyway, the name sounded suitably Russian to me, so what better than to have Pavlov Grenadier figures representing.

The 3 R's

In those twilight days between Christmas and New Year - days without names (so not Thursday, Friday), and numbered only for convenience as 27th, 28th, 29th etc - it's a time for reflection.

above: John Ray's collection - see below.

And in reviewing the year 2012, it's been a watershed on many fronts.
So the first R is for "Review"...

Review of 2012.

Here are the highlights of the year. And I'm going to start by getting my excuses in early for not getting much done on the wargaming front.
So, as the year has been focused very much on other things, forgive me for introducing non-wargaming stuff to the blog first...

1. Getting my second business book published by Pearsons (owners of The Financial Times and Penguin books, so I'm pretty thrilled by this). See more below.

2. Establishing a second front - as well as the Scottish business and home base, now having a Midlands presence: this included a personal move of 350 miles- now settled.

3. Numbers 1 and 2 above simply act as excuses, of course, for a low painting output of approx only 200 points this year; but then I had always planned for this relative "down time", with other things taking priority.

4. Accumulating all the infantry flags from Mark Allen for my mid 18th century project.

5. Wargaming with John Ray's collection (see the third R below).

6. Having my own figure range take shape: French infantryman created by Steve Shaw, and finished off by John Ray who also then created the Prussian infantryman - marvellous. We're not fully there yet, but it's looking promising. This will be the bedrock of my new wargaming collection.

7. A final personal highlight: had an angiogram (following a sort of "Muamba moment" while out running back in March) which showed, despite initial suspicions of a big problem, I have a strong heart and clear arteries- false alarm, and great to get that little MOT at 49!


The second R is for "Result!"

As I mentioned above, the high point of the year was getting my book published bang on time at the end of October. Called "Result!" it's available in all good bookshops, and primarily in Waterstones and at WHSmith travel outlets (airports and railway stations), also on Amazon.
Latest news is that translation and publication rights have also been agreed for a Japanese edition too.

Here's the Amazon link.

OK, shameless plug over... normal service resumed...


And the third R is for "Raseinia".

-the action fought at John Ray's house a few weeks back. I have devoted a full page to the battle with photos and sketch maps... see the navigation bar above.



And finally...
...thank you for continuing to visit the blog, and I hope you have had a restful, peaceful Christmas, and that you have are looking forward to a prosperous 2013.

Little Britons -Something to get excited about..

For those who wish to wargame in the style of H G Wells et al, in the "Little Wars" fashion, and with 2013 being the Little Wars centenary, here's something I am sure you will enjoy...
http://www.spencersmithminiatures.co.uk/html/little_britons.html

Well done to Peter Johnstone at Spencer Smiths. These are really delightful.
Interesting choice to do them 42mm... I can see the appeal, especially with those 4.7inch guns on the table too.
You can almost see those seried ranks of redcoats marching across the table now can't you? Hooke's Farm anyone?



Those of a "butterfly" disposition, don't click the link. Yes, that's you I'm talking about. I told you not to go there... I told you... Now look what you've gone and done!

1672 French - That Sun King Feeling

Well, it's been some time hasn't it.

Not much done on the "Classic wargaming" front, but a few bits n bobs elsewhere in the hobby, just to keep my paint-brush wet, and my appetite whetted!
.
I am allowing myself some "free-wheeling", just to have a dabble around at units I fancy for a while. So expect to see a few units and brigades here and there as I paint them over the coming months.

The first of these dalliances is, fittingly, a small force of 1672 French. Lovely range of figures, and I just took a real shine to them when I first saw them. So, I painted up a few - just enough to look neat and viable as a tabletop force.
These are now For Sale - see the 1672 French tab on the navigation bar above for details and more pictures!

Next up...? Well, that would be telling. But let's just say it might be French again- though which period, you'll just have to see -which is to say, I haven't fully decided yet! Suggestions in the comments box please!

Thanks for checking in...

Sittangbad- the refight

In 2006, almost exactly 6 years ago to the day, we put the Sitangbad demonstration wargame on at the Partizan show in Newark.
I have added a new page (see navigation bar above) showing the build up, and some photos, for posterity. Some Classic Wargaming candy to enjoy...

Above: the layout, in my wargames room. The bright green boards were quite a design risk... but boy have they caught on as a "classic look"!

The buildings were all in scratch built in the "lift off to reveal ruins" style.

The figures were mainly Staddens, SSMs and some Holger Erikksons. Above: The Pils Holstein Regiment - a full Charge style regiment.

Charge Inspiration, new links, and wargaming styles

Have added a fresh page (see navigation bar above)- Charge inspiration - with a few scans of the original plates from that mighty tome that got so many of us into the hobby.

Links and Styles

One evening each week (normally a thursday) when my schedule allows, I do like a good surf... and it's not only "classic" wargaming sites I dip into.



So, in addition, I have added a host of links (right hand side, scroll right down), separated into categories: "Old School"; "Middle School/ Gilder-esque", and "All Mod Cons".

I'm fascinated by the design decisions people make when pursuing their wargaming projects and the styles adopted in building a collection. That's style in terms of figure style, terrain style, painting style, basing style.

This part of my own collection covered by this blog is of course in the old school category. And others have followed a slightly later tradition, influenced by Peter Gilder. And then there are those people whose wargaming is simply about doing things with the materials and methodology available right up to the minute.  There's no "right way", no "wrong way", and I'm sure the categories could be torn down, subdivided, or undergo all manner of disection. But, I hope you find it a useful guide.
By the way, if I have in any way "mis-categorised" a blog, it is not deliberate. And if your blog doesn't appear there, let me know and I'll add more in.

Meantime, best wishes...