Wednesday 11 August 2010

Claymore Report - The Action at Spurlash Down

For those not familiar with the scenario as outlined in the Pilot Issue of CWJ, the action at Spurlash Down is the first in a series of battles in The Blast Valley – a sort of expansion on Blasthof Bridge, that hardy annual of the Classic Wargame.

Under the banner of “The Forth Coalition” (us all being within striking distance of the River Forth in SE Scotland), Alan Gruber (perhaps better known as Tradgardmaster in blog land), Phil Williams, Tony Barratt (a visiting pal) and myself, played out the game at the Claymore show last Saturday. A full report will be in the next issue of the journal, but herewith some photos taken by Phil Williams of the action unfolding.














above: A company of The Erbprinz Regt gets its feet wet.
below: an overview of the table as the game progresses














The game seemed very well received, with people recognising the retro nature, and saying things like “it’s straight out of the pages of Charge”, which was most gratifying, for that’s exactly what we wanted to portray. We managed to play the game right through, and with all 4 of us busily nattering to visitors to the table throughout I hope we were able to answer all questions and simply engage with all-comers.

A fun day. And we picked up a little prize for the display, which was very heartening given the number of high quality, “realistic”, diorama style tables on show. It’s good to know that people “got” what we were doing.


Thanks to all who visited the table, stopped by to chat, and buoyed us up!

And thanks for the continuous support of Classic Wargamer's Journal, both in terms of buying the pilot, and subscribing. And for the number of articles and contributions being sent in. All very welcome indeed.

12 comments:

WSTKS-FM Worldwide said...

Hi Phil,

So neat to see your troops in action! Looking forward to the full report in the next CWJ.

Best Regards,

Stokes

Der Alte Fritz said...

Phil: could you talk a bit about the Red Army and the names of its units and provide some close up photos of those gorgeous flags?

Congratulations on a well deserved honor for your game.

I also received my copy of the pilot issue of the CWJ and it is spot on perfect.

Jim

Conrad Kinch said...

Congratulations on your laurels.

Anonymous said...

Looks like a whole lot of fun,

Duke of baylen

Steve Gill said...

Beautiful, the look of your figures and terrain is perfectly judged and highly evocative.

And well done to the whole team for talking to all-comers and yet still playing the game though, no mean feat at any show.

WSTKS-FM Worldwide said...

Hello again Phil,

What are the dimensions of your cavalry bases shown here, please?

Best Regards,

Stokes

tidders2 said...

Pictures look like they are straight out of charge - great stuff. Looking forward to the full report in the CWJ.

-- Allan

Phil said...

Thank you all. Just to answer a couple of specific questions:
Jim - the "red army" was the Electoral forces. In fact, they also had a blue unit and a green unit too. Whilst on the Imperial side, just to confuse things, were the Rottenkorps Grenzers (dressed of course in red). The red infantry in the picture are The Saxe Coburg Regt (with 3 Lions on their flag- see posts throughout June on this), whilst the red cavalry are the Marchmont Dragoons. Their flag is a yellow rampant griffin on red field.
Which brings us to Stokes question about cavalry bases: the "bases" are not particularly accurate, being simply to provide stability rather than any notion of frontage, but around 20mm x 50mm (with clipped corners).

It certainly was a fun game. The Esterhazy Hussars' performance has led to their colonel being questioned about alcohol abuse. When questioned about a certain tactical recklessness at the post- battle inquest (presided over by General Waste, a neutral observer), he refused to comment, simply promising that he would be back, with a vengeance.
Phil

johnpreece said...

Phil,

the first chance I have had to see your Erbprinz up close. Very nice indeed. I especially like the backing to the lace on coat and waistcoat.

I did not do that on mine, it seemed just one detail to many and saved a few hours painting at the time.. and now I have a lifetime to regret cutting that corner.

I will stay after class and write 100 times
'Quality always outlasts quantity'

regards
John

Phil said...

Thanks John
At the time I wondered whether to bother with it, but glad I did. Mind you, it doesn't give them better dice rolls, so...

One day, we should have an international Erbprinz convention, where all the Erbprinzes in the world gather to simply march about looking smart! Everyone should have an Erbprinz in their collection.
Phil

Archduke Piccolo said...

It's a while since I visited this site. Pity...
I do like the 'toy soldier' style of presentation. I've long held it is more eye catching - and eye retaining - than more elaborate set-ups, however attractive the latter. I daresay the next action will be somewhere near Lufthof...? Or Lorntchinbad? You would think the Count Daun would make an appearance at this campaign, wouldn't you?
Cheers,
Ion

The Wishful Wargamer said...

Hello Phil, sorry, playing catch-up here. We saw your table at Claymore and spoke briefly - we most definately 'got it'. Keep up the good work!