The Constantinov Regiment

Whilst I have, for the most part, 'moth-balled' my Classic Wargaming collection over the past few years, occasionally I get the urge to dip back into it. This normally happens when I catch a glimpse of "Charge!" on my bookshelf, or when I'm in email correspondence about the hobby and nostalgic thoughts of simpler times are opened up.

Recently, when this happened, I decided to finish up a regiment that has been in a 'work-in-progress' box for quite some time.

I did the first company of this regiment many years ago. I always intended it to be just a 2-company regiment, so I have no idea what took me so long coming back to it.

But, anyway, such is the life of the wargamer.

Without further ado, I present The Constantinov Regiment, comprising two 'Charge-style' companies, a CO and standard bearer, all from the Stadden range of figures. The Colonel is the Poniatowski figure, if I remember correctly. The flag is hand painted on aluminium sheet.

These pictures are merely quick 'snaps' on the workbench, and in due course I will take proper photos of the regiment in action on the tabletop of course.

I also have a couple of cavalry regiments that are in the stockpile for the next time I want to dip back to the Classic Collection... which may be sooner than one might imagine...

Until then, all the very best

Sittangbad - the layout that launched a thousand games

Last weekend, as many of you will know, Laurence and Tricks celebrated the many Partizan wargame shows by sharing, along with others, many photos and other 'stuff' from the past. You see, it was due to be the Partizan show on Sunday, but of course...

Henry Hyde did a mammoth video piece on YouTube all about the Sittangbad and Mollwitz games we created and displayed in 2006 and 2007 at Partizan.

It got me all misty eyed, particularly about the Sittangbad layout.
In many ways, it was the terrain design that launched a thousand games since then.

I remember coming up with the design, the green boards, the place on terrain, and so on, and wondering what the Wargames world would think of it.
Up till that point, whilst I had held this vision in my head for quite some time, there wasn't really a 'classic' / 'old school'  look out there.
I'm delighted that this particular vision has been taken on and seems to be the 'go to' look for bloggers in the old school genre.

The full story of the Sittangbad game was on my old Warcabinet website where I did regular updates which were the. Collated into an article for Battlegames magazine.
If you'd like the shortened version, click on the Sittangbad tab above and go to that page.

Enjoy!

Tribute to Stuart Asquith

Whilst it is not news that we have recently lost one of the hobby's best-known figures this past week, I thought it would be appropriate to add my own tribute to Stuart Asquith here, following the numerous others that have appeared on the various blogs and forums that make up the online wargaming community.

For many years, like so many others, I had been aware of Stuart, always admiring his writings and his 'take' on the hobby, and especially his editorship of Practical Wargaming. It wasn't until 2007 that I met him for the first time when we did the refight of The Battle of Mollwitz (see the page set aside on this blog for this event).

Following the demo game of Mollwitz, Stuart and I stayed in touch, but it wasn't until 2009 that we met again in person. This was a weekend of wargaming that is pretty well unrivalled... we began with a refight of the battle of Minden, on the 250th anniversary of the battle (1st August), hosted by Charles S Grant at his home in Perthshire.


Above: Stuart and Charles with Minden set up in Charles' wargames room, August 2009.

The following day saw us all attend the Claymore Wargaming show in Edinburgh. Then on the Sunday, Stuart and Charles both visited my home for dinner, with their respective wives. Between courses we sneaked off to my wargaming room to peruse the shelves and talk hobby.


Stuart was good enough to sign a few copies of the many books of his on my shelves, along with some issues of Practical Wargamer.

In the years that followed, Stuart and I maintained a steady correspondence of letters, emails and phone conversations, sometimes of quite some length. Stuart was always ready with a fresh idea, or a point of interest from his vast experience in the hobby. And it wasn't just hobby stuff we discussed. Stuart was so proud of his family and they were always foremost in his mind.

When I began the Classic Wargamer's Journal in 2010, Stuart was in the vanguard of support, submitting articles and encouragement. It was very kind of him to provide material for the fledgling CWJ venture, and it was support that I really appreciated. Notably, in volume 1 issue 1, he was my castaway for the regular feature, Desert Island Wargaming. I was delighted that he agreed to do this, and the article makes very interesting, and revealing reading. I wasn't aware, until that point, of his fixation with the 1066 campaign, or Warrior Miniatures, for example. I may reproduce the article here in due course for those who haven't seen it.
Of course, we all know his primary love in his later years was for the 54mm figure, and Britains in particular.

In my cabinets, I have a few individual figures from wargaming luminaries, and during our years of correspondence, Stuart kindly gave me one of his own... a lovely Stadden hussar officer to add to my collection of sundry officers, ADCs, and the like.


Of course, now in particular, this is a treasured possession.

Stuart often spoke of how he had created a new life for himself and Beryl in the Cotswolds, or "leafy Gloucestershire" as he called it. He was immensely proud of this life, and of the fact that he had time to contribute to the local community. He loved Northleach dearly, and we often mused when I lived in Scotland that one day I would visit and we'd enjoy a lunch at one of the tempting hostelries in the village. That never happened, sadly. However, ironically, I did get to see Stuart only a few weeks ago, in Northleach at the Cotswold Wargames Show, hosted by Keith Flint. A good day was had, and here Stuart is presenting myself and Steve Gill an award during the prize-giving. It was especially important to see Stuart and Steve's acquaintance thrive again as they had corresponded for many years and had met up a lot over that time.


I hadn't really been in touch with Stuart for a couple of years at that point (in fact, we had last spoken at length on the telephone about an article he had had published on wargaming The Back of Beyond, amongst other topics), but I'm so glad we had one last chance to chat over the tabletop at Northleach. 

He will be missed by many in the hobby, myself included.

My thoughts and prayers are with his family, and those who were probably closer to him than I.
No longer will "the Emperor and Elector be at odds" on Stuart's wargames table. But up there, somewhere, along with the likes of Featherstone, Grant snr, and Peter Young, there will be a terrific game taking place.

RIP Stuart Asquith.

Blasthof 50th Anniversary

The immortal words:
"You must destroy the bridge at Blasthof. Failing that, you must prevent it's capture by the Imperial Army until nightfall on 26th September 1767."
Orders given to Soubise, "Charge!" Page 29.



Now, I've no idea whether the game was played on 26th September 1967, but the little I know and have gleaned of the Brigadier's nature suggests to me that it may well have been that date.
And so, today is possibly/ probably/ almost certainly the 50th Anniversary of the Action at Blasthof Bridge.

Raise a glass...

 

A Treasured Letter

I never met him.
But, a couple of years ago, when I produced The Classic Wargamer's Journal, I received a personal hand-written letter from him congratulating me, and encouraging my efforts, and saying how pleased he was to receive the journal.
It's correspondence I will treasure.

You know who I'm talking about of course.

All any of us can wish for is to live a life that is significant.
And the legacy we leave is testimony enough to that.

Do not mourn that Don Featherstone has passed away.
Do not mourn his death.

Celebrate his life.
And give thanks for his significant legacy.

Paint a figure. Read one of his books. Have a game. Or simply raise a glass.
That's what Don would have done; I'm sure of it.

Gallery page added

In order to put a few pictures of my favourite Classic Wargaming units into one place, for ease of reference for visitors to the blog, I have created a Gallery page... see navigation bar above.

 

Toy soldiery, marching about. What's not to like?!

Thank you to those who have commented on this flurry of posts and updated pages of late. Your interest and friendship is most valued.
Best regards.

Phil
 

Spurlash Down

Here is an action played out as a Demo Game at Claymore in 2010.
It was one of the most enjoyable day's wargaming I've ever had - a small, simple, engaging little scenario. In fact, I would go as far as to say it is a perfect scenario to aim for if you are starting out building two balanced Classic armies of Horse, Foot and Guns.

See navigation bar, and click to go to the full report...

There's still more to come over the days ahead...

Mollwitz

Following the success of the Sittangbad Demo at Partizan in 2006, the next year we put on Mollwitz, with an expanded team - with the addition of Charles S Grant and Stuart Asquith to "The Wargamers".
See the Mollwitz Demo page (navigation bar above) for a photo record of the day...

 

I'm enjoying updating these pages - a cathartic way to spend a few hours on a week off. Thanks for your indulgence in continuing to visit, and comment.

Still more to come...

 



Hyboria and The Asquith Collection

I know... I'm spoiling you!
Latest pages added (again see navigation bar above):

Tony Bath's flat figures from his Hyboria Campaign...

 

 

and a few of Stuart Asquith's units.




This blog is rapidly becoming an online museum of Classic Wargaming curiosities. No bad thing perhaps...
More still to come.

Phil

Scrapbook and Homecasts

Yes, yet another update - I'm on a roll... spurred on by your comments!
So, today I added a couple of new pages - The Classic Scrapbook, containing sundry photos, and the Prinz August homecasting page.

Below: Three men in a wargames room...see Scrapbook page.

 

 

Below: Prinz August 40mm homecasts

There's more to come...

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.

CWJ Vol I issue 3 - It's ready!

Volume I issue 3 is now ready, and will be posted out tomorrow. So you should be receiving it before Easter (overseas subscribers may have to wait till just after Easter for it to reach you). If it doesn't arrive as you hope, let me know.

PDF subscribers will be receiving theirs by email tomorrow.

Contents include:

• Tales from the Frontline -including a number of refights by Ian Allen set in the 1920s; a Napoleonic foragers encounter by Robert Arcangeli; an update on Chris Bowley's Franco Prussian project; plus lots more... and a letter of complaint from The Blasthof Parish Council!
• A Napoleonic scenario by Bob Varga
• 40mm GNW by Alasdair Jamison
• Viva Catalonia - Spain in early 18th century- Part 2 by Ray Caddy
• Indian Mutiny in 42mm by Daryl Haselton
• Desert Island Wargaming with ... Aly Morrison!
• Hyboria Part 3 of Peter Verduyn's Ancients campaign
• French & Indian Wars scenario by Terry Preen
• A 19th Century imagi-nations game by Stephen Caddy
• Tales of the Golden Head continue with Ian Allen
• One from the Archives - this time it's Tony Bath's NAXOS Campaign from 1957
• and rounding off, Conrad Kinch gives us his usual wry slant on the hobby.

Add to that, a few colour plates, and some more exquisite sketches by Chris Gregg, and a plethora of contributors' sketch maps.

plus the special pull-out by Ian Allen - think Ikea meets Airfix, and you get the templates to produce The Flatpack Fighter:

All in all, I hope there's enough for everyone.

Thanks to all the contributors as always.

All the very best

Phil

CWJ next issue

Next issue of The Classic Wargamer's Journal is due out in April, and it's all coming together nicely. Already I have loads of material. In fact, all I'm waiting for is the Desert Island Wargaming piece (you know who you are!!!!!) and I can start editing (ok, don't laugh - I know it's not proper editing... more just cutting and pasting really!)
Don't let the fact that I've got lots of articles put you off writing though as I do want to keep the stockpile up, and create as much variety as possible to ensure maximum period coverage for future issues too. And who knows, for balance, anything submitted in the next few days could also find it's way into this issue... the "editor" may on a whim replace one of his own pieces with something far more valuable from a contributor.

Anyway, a huge thank you to all who have once again made life so easy for me in producing such a wealth of material. Full details of all contents will be released in the next couple of weeks.

I'm also delighted to report that Chris Gregg has more wonderful sketches in this issue.
And, to show how grateful I am to Chris, I want to promote the work he is doing for a special exhibition in Gloucester in May. He has just completed a beautiful oil painting (22 inches x 16inches) of Gloucester during the ECW, and I simply felt I must share it here. So, with Chris's permission:

It is for sale, and you can contact Chris via his website:
http://cheltenham-art.com/chrisgregg.htm

By the way, I'm not involved at all, but such a fantastic work deserves as much publicity as possible.
All the best for now... and I promise, at some point I'll update on my own wargaming activity!

Latest Issue of CWJ

Just what you need to warm the heart, and to welcome in the New Year.
Volume I issue 2 is complete, and we are posting them out over the next 2 days.
PDF will be sent out Sunday/ Monday.

So, what's in store:
Well first thing to notice is the widening variety of periods covered in this latest issue, with Ancients to Modern, and all stations in between, and even some naval stuff.
There's a letter from Don Featherstone (amongst other correspondence and "Tales from the Frontline"), Greg Horne's Blasthof refight, Ray Caddy takes us to Spain 1713-14, Ian Allen is in the ACW, and the next episode unfolds in his Darkest Africa 1920s adventures. Peter Verduyn continues his Hyboria ancient campaign series, Capt Bill's Reich Duchy of Beerstein is featured, Stuart Asquith is at Hook's Farm, Allan Tidmarsh plays out a Viking Raid, and Chris Stringer is in AWI with Freeman's Farm. Stokes Schwartz provides advice on blogging and getting your armies onto the table, and we draw another action from the archives (this time it's from Sept 1957: the Battle of Lapin's Farm).

All embellished with Chris Gregg's sketches (a new feature which really does add something to the look of the journal I have to say), plus a few colour plates, and a proliferation of maps from the authors of individual articles (the guys have really gone to town on this!)

Should be plenty there to keep you going.
Thanks again to the contributors, and to you, the many subscribers.

And a Happy New Year... may 2011 be prosperous, and filled with wargaming happiness.