Sittangbad Page Update

This afternoon, I spent an enjoyable couple of hours revisiting my pictures and notes on the Sittangbad refight, and have updated the page (see navigation bar above).
I've loaded more photos, particularly of the buildings I made for the game, and hope you'll enjoy this record of what was a terrific project to be involved with.

Above: Eisenburg Village.

Below: one of the Sittangbad town houses. All were made in the "lift off to reveal ruins" style.

More updates coming soon... I'm going to set up some more pages filled with Classic loveliness!
Phil

Here is the news...

Just because it's been quiet around here doesn't mean nothing is happening in my hobby life!
I'm going to be adding lots of material to this blog over the coming days/ weeks...stuff I've got in my photo archives that will bring things up to date.

First, I've moved the Battle of Raseinia page which was previously part of this blog onto John Ray's webpage (A Military Gentleman) - see links -  pop over there to have a look at what John's been up to and news about his book.

I've added a fresh page to this blog - Blasthof Bridge (see navigation bar above).




As I said, I'll be adding more classic stuff on here to fill up the blog, and then I'll be heading out with a separate and new blog for my next big project in a few weeks time.
Watch this space...

Meanwhile, I've also been keeping an eye out for other people's efforts, and if you want to see some good action currently going on, in true classic style, head over to both Tin Soldiering On blog (see links) where there's a refight of Blasthof in full flow, and The Wars of Cheese and Wine (see links) where a great little campaign is being played out.


All the best for now
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.

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.

Dressing the Lines

So I thought it about time I did a bit of blog house-keeping, and brought things back to the Classic Wargaming theme. Which is why some of the older posts have been removed as they were not really relevant to the Classic Wargaming style. Similarly, the sales pages are now down (as most of the items have been despatched to various parts of the globe anyway).

And to get the Charge-esque juices flowing, here are a couple of shots from the archives featuring Stadden figures in the main.

The Pils Holstein regiment, supported by a Garde Jaeger light infantry company and a Field Battery ready themselves for the assault of The Erbprinz and Saxe Coburg regiments, also supported by a Field Battery.

I must admit to have been otherwise engaged these past few months, and the hobby has taken second place (well, in truth it has been well down the pecking order, not even qualifying for Europe to stretch a football analogy). However, I enjoyed a short visit to the Falkirk show last weekend, and caught up with a few old pals, and I've even had the paint brushes out this week, doing this n that... not amounting to too much yet, but it's a start.

The funny thing is, the hobby is like a comfortable pair of slippers that you can easily fit snuggly back into, even after considerable distractions. It's good to be back. But don't hold your breath waiting for excessive blogging. It will remain sporadic I'm afraid. But then... it is a hobby, after all.

All the best

CWJ Vol I issue 4

At last... it's ready, and will be posted out over the next few days. The PDF version will be sent Tuesday.

What's included?

• Tales from the Frontline with readers' letters, project updates, and battle reports.
• Bob Varga's WW2 take on the Vanguards Collide scenario from way back in the pilot issue.
• "Floor Wars" by Paul Cutting
• Trouble in Tranjapore - the Indian Mutiny project continues... by Daryl Haselton
• Peter Verduyn continues in Search of Hyboria
• Desert Isalnd Wargaming... another well-known wargamer is marooned.
• The Shootists - Western Gunfighting with Phil Dutre
• Arnold Stockade - Terry Preen describes an "old school" get together and fights an 18th century action.
• Gary Phillips offers a WSS scenario
• and Ian Allen regales us with another of his Tales of the Golden Head
• Ian also provides templates for a Flatpack Bomber to accompany the fighter versions included in the previous issue.
• There's also Conrad Kinch's twisted (!) look at the hobby in Conrad's Corner.
• and of course sketches by Chris Gregg

Once again, apologies to those who have submitted articles yet to appear. There really is only so much room available!
Also, there's a small surprise in store - The Editorial explains all...

Thanks and Homages

First a thank you to Jason Williams...
I returned from a few days away to find a parcel awaiting me. Now, I like parcels... and imagine my delight when inside was a box with a picture of a Nokkia mobile phone on the front. Nice one too. Had I ordered it? No. Was it therefore a prize in some competition or others? No. Or a scam? No.
So, why am I getting sundry gadgets sent to me in the post? Oh well... not complaining - must be a gift, and a nice one too. And then imagine my surprise when on opening the box, I found inside, not a phone/ gadget/ i-wotnot/ blue-blackberry thingy. Oh no! Better than that... deep joy! A pile of figures. Lots of them. And Jason explained in his note to the effect that they were merely the visible part of a lead iceberg, the summit of a mountain of metal, and as part of his clear-out he thought they would come in handy for my home-casting project. And, yes they definitely will!!! So thank you Jason! Much appreciated.

And now to an email received a while ago following CWJ issue 3 which you will remember included the first part of Daryl Haselton's series about building his Indian Mutiny project using the Irregular Miniatures Deutsche Homage 42mm range. This article actually has had quite a lot of feedback and seems to have stirred the butterflies amongst a number of readers (the prolific Ian Allen included), and this email from Stephen Cullen was typical of the enthusiasm uncovered... as well as a couple of nice photos:

"Dear Phil,

Many thanks for the latest CWJ, which continues to delight. It is a happy counterbalance to 'normal' daily, electronic, life. And this issue has solved a small puzzle for me. Daryl Haselton's 'The Trouble in Tanjapore', his highlighting of Irregular Miniatures' Deutsche Homage range, and the photographs illustrating the article, means that I am now pretty sure of the origin of some 42mm (foot to eye) figures I received from a friend in Denmark a few years ago. The figures came from a 90 year old Danish lady, and had belonged to her late husband who had played with them as a boy in the 1920s and early 1930s. Interestingly, although the figures are almost all British (with a few Frenchies) Imperial, the late owner had gone on to be a noted figure in the Danish Communist Party, and had been involved in the Danish resistance late in the war - perhaps the Imperial troops always came off worst in his boyhood battles. I had no idea of the source of the figures, and had wondered if they were of Danish manufacture, but it does look as if they were German - the Heyde and Haffner connection that Daryl highlights. I've attached a couple of photos of some of the figures that I have restored, and I'm now enthused enough to finish restoring the rest of the little hoard. In fact, I might even visit the Irregular Miniatiatures site...
All the best,
Stephen."

Thanks Stephen. And thank you for the photos.

All of which leads nicely into the announcement that CWJ is taking shape, and you can look forward to part 2 of Daryl's series, amongst other articles in the next couple of weeks.