Farewell to Shogun

I am unsure what the Japanese for ‘a bit like the curate’s egg’ is but the good parts were very good indeed!

A day later than usual I managed to watch the series finale of Shogun - the ten part mini series based on the novel of the same name by James Clavell.

My feelings about this production have probably been influenced by having read the novel umpteen times - almost to the point that I can quote vast chinks of the dialogue and text etc from memory! 

I enjoyed it for what it was - a bold and beautiful production that was visually stunning to look at and with a real feel for the subject matter but all the while ‘based upon’ the novel, which in turn was a fictionalisation of the actual historical events of the period.

For me, therein lay the problem. Without giving too much away the production played fast and loose with the events in the novel - certain incidents were out of sequence and others were changed entirely - which personally I found to be a little on the irritating side. If I were a purist I would say ‘butchered’ would be a more accurate description, perhaps with a more surgical degree of precision but chopped about all the same. I realise that adapting a book to the screen requires certain changes but I am not convinced this was for the better. Again, I blame my familiarity with the novel for this apparent ‘nit picking’. 

I also felt as though the pacing was a little uneven although trying to condense the story into ten hours of screen time was never going to be easy. In many ways it felt rather like watching an extended highlights series with the highlights sometimes in the wrong order. 

One of my tests of the value of watching something on the screen usually runs along the lines of ‘is there a game in that?’ Absolutely - my enthusiasm for all things Samurai remains as high as ever and indeed, revisiting my project for the period in some way will definitely be on the cards at some point so Shogun served its purpose in that respect.

So in conclusion I can safely say that I enjoyed it for it was but the 1980 series was closer to the book and so I shall make a point of revisiting it in due course.

“This War Without an Enemy”

The box lid….

…and the underside

The English Civil War is one of the periods of history I have never been able to make my mind up about! I have gamed it using figures (not mine I hasten to add) and have gone through not one but two WoFun collections - the 28mm version is now with Mr Fox - and a very fine job he has made with them using a DBA inspired set of rules and some custom movement trays - and the 18mm version which has also gone. I built up a small collection of reading material for the period but for whatever reason it never really got off the ground for me. Even watching the film Cromwell a couple of times failed to really engage me. It became one of those periods of history that I would be interested in only under certain circumstances  such as a visit to a castle or Manor House that featured during the war, possibly viewing some museum exhibits or similar and so it not a long stayer as such. In many ways I had the same feelings about the American Civil War on land, the saving grace for me in this instance being the naval side.

This War Without an Enemy is a board game produced by Nuts Publishing and offers a strategic game of the period of the civil war using blocks for units and notable personalities and a card driven area movement system. Unit blocks have a number of hit points that can be reduced by damage and tactical battles are resolved on a stylised battle mat - I have the neoprene version of this along with the game printed version.

The rules, playbook, unit and personality blocks and the two decks of event cards that drive the game

Scenario set ups for 1642 and 1644 - there is a full campaign game covering the entire war

A close up of the unit and personality blocks

The neoprene version of the tactical battlefield map.

I really enjoy block based games and in many ways - cards excepting - this reminds me of Napoleon by Columbia Games. That also features a separate stylised battle board for resolving tactical battles - a pretty neat idea akin to a figures based campaign where the units are moved on a map and the figures are deployed on the tabletop for the resolution of the action.

Anyways, an opportunity arose for me to pick up a secondhand copy at a price I could not refuse and so here I am, once again looking at the ECW and ruing the disposal of the 18mm Wofun and of the books I had acquired. I am not so fussed about the former but the latter will require some eBay attention methinks! Luckily most of the books I had - no more than half a dozen or so - are for the most part readily available and more importantly are not expensive.

For the record whilst I was typing this I had the theme tune from the BBC TV series ‘By the Sword Divided’ running in my head - is this trying to tell me something?

No figures were harmed or purchased during the writing of this post…. :-)

There Be Pirates!

Pirates and yes, they are in the Caribbean….

The back of the box

Ever since I was given a copy of the Waddington’s board game of Buccaneer as a boy (pre wargaming so this would have been around 1970ish) and seeing Treasure Island - the BBC series and the Disney film - I have had a liking for the whole pirate genre. I have flirted with figures and models over the years - Peter Pig’s Pieces of Eight, Blood and Plunder and Galleys and Galleons being the main culprits but for some reason could not get out of first gear in a meaningful way. I had even toyed with building my own ships using the techniques acquired whilst building the ACW collection. 

A rather attractive map of the area of piratical operations featuring the main nationalities present - English, French, Dutch and Spanish

A potential solution came about via my recent acquisition of a secondhand board game called Merchants and Marauders produced by Z Man Games. This has the potential to tick pretty much all the boxes for me - it even has a solo system - in that it looks rather like a grown up version of Waddington’s Buccaneer. Essentially you win by acquiring Glory points and you can do this via trade, piracy or following rumours. As your renown grows so you are able to upgrade your ship making you rather more of a dangerous adversary. There are NPCs involved and game controlled events that al adds to the fun. The game is set in the Caribbean (naturally) and the game board is a lovely map of the area. Aside from all the game paraphernalia which includes gold coins and the inevitable treasure chests, there are 26 hard plastic ships depicting stylised versions of typical types from the latter half of the 17th and early 18th century. They are rather nice although the curved bowsprit may be seen as problematic to some - not I though!

The ships. There are four each of the national colours - blue, red, green and yellow and each has one of each model. They are from left to right, a galleon, a frigate, a flute and a sloop. There are also eight others that are in effect NPCs to use the old D and D term and a black frigate and sloop that represent legendary pirate characters.

There are two expansions currently available - one of which adds more detail to the base game and another which is a standalone although set in the Merchants and Marauders world. This is called Broadsides and is basically a ship to ship point blank range naval duel. It looks a lot of fun and needless to say I have a few ideas of where I could take this!

The first expansion - adds to the base game with the advantage that you only need use the sections that are of interest.

This is a standalone game set in the Merchants and Marauders world

Ship to ship, up close and personal in an Errol Flynn kind of way - no, NOT that kind of Errol Flynn way… ;-)

For the Broadsides standalone game I am thinking it would not take a great deal of work to cobble together a couple of generic pirate ships - there are plenty of large scale MDF models available for this - and in effect use the deck planes as control cards whilst moving the models as required. The Portable Pirate Wargame? Who knows?

Now to dig out my copy of the Pyrates by George MacDonald-Fraser….

Revisiting a Test of Honour

A sprue of Samurai on foot. There are plenty of options for heads and personal weaponry - a basic foot figure is made up of the torso in two halves, two legs two arms and a head and then you add the weapons of choice

I have spent some recently revisiting the Test of Honour Samurai skirmish game - the one that I had given away only for it to return some years later - and after having looked at it with a fresher and perhaps rather more objective pair of eyes I am thinking that it is not half bad! I am unsure as to why I did not take to it the first time around although I suspect it may have had something to do with the complexity of assembling the figures. These are 28mm hard plastic but are typically made up of around 10 or more separate parts - thank goodness you do not need that many figures for a game!

As mentioned previously, I will need to add a box each of Samurai infantry and cavalry as currently there is only 10 of each. This would be sufficient for Test of Honour but seeing as I am looking further afield into Lion Rampant territory I will need more of each.

Terrain on the left sheet and at the top of the right with various game counters below. All the counters are double sided and so the small dwellings on the flip side are depicted as on fire.

The game itself itself is designed for a 3ft square playing area and it includes some press out card terrain tiles for the figures to fight over. There is now a substantial choice available of suitable dwellings and other terrain pieces (both resin and MDF) so acquiring a few bits and pieces would certainly not break the bank.

As to the figures themselves, obviously care and patience will be required in assembling them. Painting will be a challenge but given the low numbers involved hopefully it should not prove to be much of a problem (famous last words eh?).

I can see myself raising two regular forces and perhaps a third of miscellaneous Ronin types. I am seriously considering painting the two regular forces in the colours of Lords Toranaga and Ishido from James Clavell’s Shogun - mid brown for the former and light grey for the latter. In a moment of whimsy I thought perhaps some European types would add to the mix - certainly the book Shogun has some potential for this - which would open up a whole new dimension to the set up. 

First things first though - for now I need to get some of the additional plastic figures (luckily I have a convenient birthday in two weeks time!) - and so I received the welcome news yesterday that my Warbases order in en route meaning that the ACW ships will once again be front and centre for the final big push to the finish line.

Old, New Friends and New, New Friends

Welcome home! The Test of Honour base game plus a shoebox full of Samurai/Ashigaru sprues and a box of Ashigaru missile troops and two rather useful ACW titles

Yesterday evening I paid a visit to my old friend Mr Fox to collect some bits and pieces and have a catch up. If you recall I had mentioned previously that he was the custodian of a whole pile of Test of Honour 28mm Samurai plastics that had been adorning his loft since I gave them to him a few years back. These are now back with me and so plans can move forward for some man to man skirmish/Lion Rampant style action in due course.

Neil had been a busy chap and time was spent looking over some of his collections and I only wish. Had some pictures as what he showed me was quite simply splendid. The whole Rampant series has really resonated with him and so he showed me his Seven Years War, Napoleonic Peninsula and War of the Roses collection and quite lovely they are as well! I have yet to get a copy of Lion Rampant 2nd edition but for sure it is on my to get list - it is my birthday later this month so a copy features on my Amazon list!

Neil is very generous with his painting and modelling tips and so was happy to take my barrage of questions in a ‘Yoda and Luke’ kind of way - pearls of wisdom that I fully intend using when I get to the painting.

Definitely a new one for me - Acting Ensign John W. Grattan served in the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron between the years 1863 and 1865 and witnessed some of the most significant naval operations of the war. Very useful indeed!

I had some books for him and he for me although he latter was quite impromptu but hugely appreciated. In truth two of the three books coming back my way originally came from my collection when I abandoned the first ACW project some years ago. It was great to have them back on the shelf!

Neil also generously donated to the cause the book you see above which after a cursory flick through looks like it will be a cracking addition to the ACW section of my library.

It was a very pleasant evening all round and my thanks once again to Mr Fox for his generosity and the iced cold one that cane with it!

A Tale of the Samurai

The Seven Samurai with Toshiro Mifune looking suitably Toshiro Mifune like… An absolute classic film in every sense.

My first real involvement with anything Samurai related came about via a role playing game called Bushido published by Fantasy Games Unlimited (and still available) in the early 1980s (possibly late 1970s). The Newham Wargames Club took it enthusiastically - Mr Fox still has some of his painted 28mmNaismith figures from the period - and when Dixon Miniatures launched their range it seemed like a golden age was upon us. One of the big highlights of the time was a visit to the National Film Theatre in London’s West End to watch Akira Kurosawa’s epic of the Seven Samurai. Eric Knowles and his son Bill (Bill was the game master for the Bushido campaign in which yours truly featured as a warrior peasant….) were in attendance along several other luminaries of the old Newham Wargames Club. The film was hugely inspirational and is one of my perennial favourites.

Anyways, the years rolled on and here we are now in 2022 with the Samurai itch still in evidence although about to be scratched in a number of ways!

The figures from Shogun….

….and the massive box they live in. Note the rules and scenario book from….

….Command and Colours: Samurai battles.

To begin with I have a copy of Command and Colours: Samurai Battles which is fully labelled and with the terrain tiles and counters carefully punched and trimmed. I also have my recently acquired copy of Shogun - the large, Risk style strategic level game that includes some 400 plus 1:72nd scale hard plastic figures that are fully compatible with some of the available sets - notably cavalry (missing from the game), command and even artillery if you wished. This was going to be my preferred choice for army level style games - using the figures from Shogun along with the Command and Colours rules or possibly something Portable Wargame or DBA based. 

There is another option to explore and one that will present a real challenge but at the scale I am thinking it should work out reasonably well. 

A few years ago a Samurai skirmish game called Test of Honour was released by Warlord Games (now with Grey for Now Games) that included all you needed to set up small scale skirmishes during the era of the Samurai. The game was designed for around 20 figures or so which is fine but I wanted something a little larger. Anyways, I acquired a copy of the starter set and some of the additional figure packs (no metals) but for one reason or another it never really got off the ground. I remember being less than enthusiastic about the rules (not sure why though) and so the entire collection of the plastics were donated to Mr Fox. They are still lurking in his loft and following a brief exchange of emails and a quick chat last night the whole shebang will be winging its way back to me.

What on earth am I thinking of? Two scales of Samurai? Am I mad? I suspect the answer to all three would be something like: not sure/yes/probably….

I rather like the idea of using the larger figures for man to man skirmishes but also for Lion Rampant sized actions. The smaller figures will of course be used for battles. So, I am now looking at not one but possibly four Samurai themed projects - large battles using 20mm, man to man and larger skirmishes using 28mm and the Boshin/Satsuma Rebellion in 20mm and also afloat.

I think I need a lie down, pass me a futon please whilst I compose a Haiku and look at the cherry blossom…

The Return of an Old Friend

Jane’s 05-06 edition - including some details around the Russo-Japanese War as well rules for F.T. Jane’s Naval Wargame. In very good condition and a mere £10.

The last week has not really gone how I expected it to - not necessarily in a bad way, just different! I was looking forward to fighting a game this weekend but it never happened although the alternative is potentially rather handy - more of which later.

Laurel continues to improve albeit slowly. Her physio came to the house for another initial assessment - this is the fifth physio she has seen -  and he was  hugely encouraged by what she is able to do - Laurel is anything but impressed at this stage though and frustration is her constant companion. She is now just waiting on a further enhanced MRI scan which will hopefully highlight what is happening where and when. As ever, small steps are the way.

Dropping through the letterbox today with a resounding thud is the title you see above. I have no words to describe how pleased I am to get this and so expect a whole raft of pre dreadnought ideas to flying out into the ether as a result! Of course the great thing about this edition, apart from the wonderful amount of detail, is the inclusion of some information about the Russo Japanese War as well revised rules for F.T. Jane’s Naval Wargame. I am really going to enjoy revisiting this old and dear friend!

In other news I have had an interview for another position within the company I am working for. This is officially a fully remote role rather than the one I am currently in with the ongoing 3 month reviews as to whether it not I need to be in the office. I will know by the end of the week if I am successful but the key thing is that I get it the I will not have to worry about being needed in town which is of course essential at present.

I will naturally post as soon as I know what is happening but in the meantime I shall be thinking about ships and how to build them….

Battlefleet - Volume 38, No. 2 and ‘Der Tag’ Take 2

58 pages of naval wargaming goodness - but the last ever printed edition

 This will be probably be the last post for a while due to ‘Der Tag’ on Thursday - we are now isolating following Laurel’s pre op Covid swab this morning - so it was rather pleasing to be temporarily shutting up shop, so to speak, on a high!

The contents therein

Battlefleet is of course the journal of the Naval Wargames Society and the issue you see above is the final printed version that will be published. I was delighted to have an article included about my ACW collection  - most of which has been has been seen on the blog at some point - and was also pleased to see another ACW article which I may well try myself.

My small Warbases order arrived so my movement trays now have their small d6s for recording strength points - all I need to do now is to paint the trays and organise the magnetic strip. The trays will be used before that though as the bare MDF itself is not that bad to look at. Also in the package was some additional hull templates - the largest size I use, both the plain hull and also the main deck with holes for masts and a notch for the bowsprit.

There are two of each and at present the mast deck is not glued in place as I shall be painting it separately

I was so inspired by the arrival of my Warbases order (little things and all that!) that I immediately slapped some glue on to some hulls that have been lurking around in a barely started condition on the modelling desk. They have moved up from barely started to started so that may be where my next building project takes me. As a little piece of fun, and with no prizes on offer other than the accolade if correct, do you have any idea what these they may be shaping up to be?

See you all on the other side.

A Civil War Too Far

A superb book but sadly one of the library that will be moving on at some point 

I am unable to get into the man cave today as we are having the loft ladder, hatch and spring assembly replaced. This means that work on the five models currently under construction for the ACW project will be temporarily halted, depending on how long it takes to get the loft sorted (it is being worked on as I write this). All that remains with them are the masts which are fully assembled and just need painting. They are significant in that once completed I will have fifty models built and ready for action.

In the meantime though.

I have come to decision about my planned ECW project. It is not going to happen. The English Civil War is one of those periods of history that I have always felt that I should be interested in and indeed, whenever I have been to anywhere in the UK that has been involved in the war I have always enjoyed the historicity of it all. Try as I might I cannot seem to get motivated to game it though - despite having an instant and complete solution in the shape of the 18mm WoFun collection. I would be able to fight just about anything from the war and indeed, I certainly have a great selection of rules to use with the armies. I just do not seem to be able to get the enthusiasm together to do so though. 

Is this a passing whim?

I have made a conscious effort to get ‘into’ the period but it is just not happening. I have gone through the books I have for inspiration and have even watched ‘Cromwell’ once again (maybe not the best idea but it was quite entertaining all the same!) but all to little avail. I just do not seem to be able to get enthusiastic with the period. 

With the careful introspective and considered decision making process for which I am well known (at this point ‘lol’ would be the appropriate observation) I have taken the decision to offload the entire collection - books, rules, and of course, the WoFun armies.

There is another prompt for this decision. I have several other projects that would all be in front of the English Civil War and significantly these will all require varying levels of financial investment. 

Once I have completed the ACW ship building my next project will involve pirates and to be honest this may change as far as the ships are concerned - I am now seriously considering building my own although no decision has been made as yet.

I realise this post will probably read very much as a ‘there he goes again’ kind of affair but the truth is rather different. I have a number of interests that I am more intellectually invested in and so it makes sense for me to pursue those rather than something that appears to me to be so peripheral. 

To those that game and enjoy the English Civil War - and there are many I know - all I will say is ‘vive la difference!’ - it would be a dull old state of affairs if we all liked the same thing!

Madasahatta in the 17th Century

Madasahatta in 1914. Over two hundred years previously the landscape would be very different although the settlements that would eventually become Port Maleesh, Bluchershafen and Port Victoria were already established.

 For sometime I have been thinking about pirates and Madasahatta - although not simultaneously! The 17th century came to the fore with my acquisition of Oak and Iron by Firelock Games. This includes a selection of 1:600th scale 17th century ships of various types that could be readily supplemented but the expansion packs available as well as those from the very nice range produced by Miniairons. That all round good egg The Jolly Broom Man added to my collection a selection of models from them and they are really very nice indeed (many thanks once again old chap!). My interest in the whole pirate thing was originally from the naval side but now is more in terms of having a land dimension as well using those very nice figures produced by Peter Pig.

I have finally ‘pulled the trigger’ and taken delivery of sufficient Peter Pig 15mm Pirates to give me two HOTT/PW sized forces that will also include a contingent of Barbary Corsairs. Whilst I have sufficient models for the Pirates and likely government opposition I shall need to avail myself of some Xebecs for the Corsairs - Warlord are launching some in their Black Seas range but these are 1:700th. I rather like the variety available from Miniairons so will probably use theirs.

So where does Madasahatta come in to all this?

Well, as a ready made environment for gaming it has plenty of potential. By winding the clock back some two hundred odd year to the latter end of the 17th century then a very different picture emerges of what Madasahatta looks like - before the Colonial period and later.

To begin with, the island would be largely unexplored but with some key players already making their mark on the landscape. Bluchershafen was originally a Dutch settlement with a garrison and was a vital staging post en route to the Dutch East Indies and their spices. Although a strong position and adequately garrisoned the Dutch were content to keep themselves to themselves but woe betide anybody attempting to interfere with their spice trade. 

Port Maleesh was a Barbary enclave owing allegiance to the Sublime Porte. Privateering was rife and the slave markets in the merchants quarter were well renowned for the quality of their merchandise and the speed with which they could fleece the unwary.

Port Victoria was a pirate stronghold operated by the Brethren of the Coast (Indian Ocean Chapter) and modelled (rather unsuccessfully it must be said) on the fabled pirate utopia of Libertalia.

From this little lot the following emerges. The pirates will pick on anybody but are wary about being too obvious when it comes to the Dutch or the Barbary Corsairs. The Dutch will pick up the odd prize here and there but for the most part are more concerned with their lucrative spice trade. The Barbary Corsairs will take on anybody as long as they have a local superiority - occasionally that are very dangerous when the Sultan is behind them.

So the scene is being set for a variety of raids, privateering and general mischief making in the early days of Madasahatta.

That is the plan in any event but first of all the ACW ships need finishing.

There be pirates! (Again....) with Racing Cars?

Just the thing for the aspiring pirate - now where did I put that plank?

 I have been working like the clappers since before 8am this morning poring over and populating some work related spreadsheets. I am now taking my lunch and in order to help my brain recover I thought I would share some pictures of Oak and Iron - the pirate ship board game from Firelock Miniatures and is the nautical tie in with their 28mm skirmish game Blood and Plunder. In truth I had kind of forgotten about this game but am glad to be reacquainted with it. 

It has been tricky to get a hold of and is expensive compared to Black Seas and with fewer models therein.  There are 6 ships in the base game and these are much simpler to put together compared to the Warlord offerings - there is a one piece hull and the masts, complete with moulded on sails and some rather nice self adhesive flags and that is it! None of that intricate gluing, painting, rigging and fiddling about with that one is required to do when assembling the brigs and frigates that come with Black Seas! To be honest though, the Oak and Iron models are pretty basic compared to those from Black Seas but appear to paint up well enough so that will be a good place to start for me methinks before graduating to the ‘big boys ship models’ from Warlord.

The 6 ships from the base game....

....and the accompanying data cards. These are in the same order as the models in the previous picture and for scale purposes the squares you see are 4” across

It is possible to buy additional ships but again, these are not cheap but in the interests of completeness I suspect I shall need to invest in some in due course.

It is a real shame that these models are as expensive as they are as they would be ideal for the Dutch Wars but of course you would need loads of them!

As for the rest of Oak and Iron the components are top notch. I like the card fog banks/islands/rocky outcrops and also the 3ft square gaming mat - which is better quality than the Black Seas version methinks. I am rather spoilt for choice in respect of rules for this project as aside from the Oak and Iron set I also have Peter Pig’s Pieces of Eight, Ganesha Games Galleys and Galleons and finally Mad for War recently published by The League of Augsburg.

For the land side I am equally spoilt for choice in that there is of course the Portable Wargame, Pieces of Eight, HOTT or even something One Hour Wargame based. It will be a while before I can get that organised but at the very least I shall be able to get some pirate ships on the go in true Errol Flynn tradition.

Seat of the pants motor racing - none of that downforce nonsense to worry about and when crowd safety meant a few hay bales....

The racing car part of this post is really to pick your brains with. I am currently watching the John Frankenheimer film Grand Prix starring James Garner. I am a bit of a Formula One fan and really enjoy seeing those old mid 1960s era racing cars doing their stuff. As an aside I also really enjoyed Steve McQueen’s film Le Mans. Does anyone know of a producer of metal cars from that era in say, 1:200th? I seem to recall a motor racing game out some years ago that produced a range of then current F1 cars (this would have been around 1993) as well as a set for the 1950s. I am really looking for the mid 1960s as for the most part the cars all looked the same overall and were not plastered in sponsors logos. I have fond memories of playing Waddington’s Formula One which was an excellent game and one that I need to add to my collection again!

Perhaps I should have word with that very nice Mr Kay at Irregular Miniatures....

Caribbean Dreams

There be pirates....

 One of the great and enduring things about the blogosphere is the willingness of others to share ideas and offer thoughts and opinions on matters of personal lofty contemplation. In my last post I mentioned about the choice I was facing between two projects - pirates and the Napoleonic Wars - set in the age of sail. I am unable to decide between them as, in truth, I would really like to tackle them both despite the similarities. Both will involve a small number of ships and a land element - the latter being Portable Wargame sized.

After carefully thinking about it I think I may have found a good compromise - and the comments from my previous post have certainly helped to point me in what I think may be the right direction (thank you chaps, as ever much appreciated).  

I will be tackling both the pirates AND the Napoleonic Wars set against the backdrop of the Caribbean.

The plan at this stage is to use Black Seas for the latter and Oak and Iron for the former as far as the ship models are concerned. I would have liked to have built these myself but for a variety of reasons it makes more sense for me to use what is readily available rather than starting from scratch. Although I am not a huge fan of 15mm figures as a rule I will be using this as the scale for the land stuff - the Peter Pig ‘Pieces of Eight’ range being the first post of call. I will need to think about the Napoleonic land side but that will be later rather than sooner but I have been casting covetous eyes at the range available from Stonewall Miniatures - they are really nice! The Napoleonic ship models I fully intend rigging and so this will be a slow burner - especially as I have something else to fit in beforehand and in advance of starting either of these two related projects.

Once I have the last of the ACW ships built I shall look to paint up the Oak and Iron ships from the base game - I may need to add to them at some point just to round out the variety of sip types available - which will at least enable me to indulge in all manner of piratical shenanigans. I have a cunning plan in respect of the troops for this so will be needing to get an order for Peter Pig together sooner rather than later so as to strike whilst the iron is hot.

Needless to say with this reshuffle there will be casualties. I shall be parking the Russo Turkish War naval set up to one side. I am not abandoning it but it will have to wait before I can tackle it as I really want to get some age of sail games in.

There Be Pirates

Plenty of inspiration for all manner of games - both ashore and afloat!

I must admit to being rather fond of the idea of pirates and pirate gaming - probably as a result of too much Treasure Island on TV and Buccaneer by Waddingtons as a boy - and so I have been revisiting the idea in a small way as a self contained project. Naturally the naval side will feature first and so I am thinking about scratch building some pirate ships using my trusty MDF building method. Of course there are commercially available options from Peter Pig, Firelock Games and even the old Wizkids pirate game but I have a hankering to build some myself. This would be a small project in that I reckon no more than a dozen ships would be needed - a selection of pirate types, some merchantmen and a government presence to bring the brotherhood of the coast to account.

The Peter Pig rules cover both sea and land based games and of course there is also a range of 15mm figures in support. I like the idea of the land side in a small way - think HOTT or the Portable Wargame sized forces - so the whole project could be wrapped up quite tidily.

I have a small library on pirate related topics and the latest addition to this you see above for the princely sum of £5.99. Henry Morgan needs little introduction and his story is both fascinating and inspirational in respect of the gaming possibilities. I must admit that originally I was looking seriously at Blood and Plunder for the land side and Oak and Iron for the naval dimension but to be honest these would involve rather more commitment and resources than I would care to undertake. Keeping it HOTT/PW sized for the land side with a side dish of Galleys and Galleons by Ganesha Games for the naval dimension would be sufficient for my needs methinks.

As ever, much to ponder....

The English Civil War - Portable Wargame and WoFun Style

I have the above book, the Wofun 18mm armies and a modest library for the period - what could possibly go wrong?

 This will be a short post for reasons I will mention later as well as being the last for a week or so.

I received a large parcel from Romania today being the remainder of my 18mm ECW armies as well as a whole box of samples for a forthcoming range that I have been sworn to secrecy about. I now have a complete set up for the ECW in 18mm covering most of the options for the English and Scottish theatres. To say I am delighted is an understatement but the real work still needs to be done - the bases and edging. Neither task will be difficult but they will be time consuming. In truth this was always going to a project for the second half of the year so it means that I can fully finish the ship building before I go all pike and shot.

My absence from the blog for a few days - a week at tops - is simply because I have a domestic situation that requires my attention. Life sometimes gets in the way of our hobby and this is one occasion where I must step back to attend to it.

I shall respond to any comments but it may not be as quickly as usual so please bear with me.

See you all on the other side.

WoFun and Games

 Marauding Highlanders with a lone piper in the foreground. I am really pleased with the small footprint of the units in the collection which is very handy when used in conjunction with a grid.

I was able to spend some time this morning sorting out the 18mm figures I received in error and I am now even more convinced that switching scales is the best option for me! So much so that the 28mm collection has now been disposed of and will be delivered to its new cantonment later in the week.

The forces I have are as follows:

4 x 48 figure highlander regiments

1 x 48 figure Irish regiment

2 x 48 figure red coated regiments

2 x 48 figures white/grey coated regiments

1 x 48 figure yellow coated regiment

2 x 48 figure Scottish Covenanters regiments

1 x 27 figure Ironsides cavalry regiment

1 x 27 figure Scottish cavalry regiment

Command, characters and casualties

As you can see this is an impressive amount of material that needs very little to finish. I already have an order in for required bits and pieces and so will be well set up with an impressive looking collection. 

I have yet to assemble the main bulk of the above but will do so once I have the rest of the collection to hand. All Ewing well this should be in a few weeks which means that I can get some more work in on the ships - as well as hopefully introducing my grandson into the delights of naval wargames!

ECW WoFun and further thoughts

 Following on from my post of yesterday I spent a little time assembling a couple of 18mm units for comparison purposes. 

Infantry - the same unit in two scales....

....and the aerial view showing the ‘footprint’

The grid in the pictures is 4” across and you can see that the 18mm version sits snugly in it. This is important because it leaves sufficient space within the grid area for any terrain. It also means that I can use full sized units which, because they are using smaller figures, still preserves the all important mass effect.

A cavalry unit of four bases (24 figures)....

....and the aerial shot showing the ‘footprint’

A further refinement - and this is a personal choice - I would look to use model guns rather than the supplied cannons simply because they look better in my opinion.

I am now fully reconciled to using 18mm Wofun and in many ways it has made a number of ideas far more achievable - the fact that you get twice as many figures for the money is a powerful incentive as well as the fact that I can deploy full sized units within a grid area and still have space for terrain (I will be looking at 15mm scaled models for this).

As far as the 28mm collection is concerned the full break down of this is as follows:

8 x 48 figure infantry units (each of 6 x 8 figure bases)

8 x 24 figure cavalry units (each of 4 x 6 figure bases)

8 x guns and crews

2 x Dragoon Regiments (each of 12 mounted and 12 dismounted figures plus horse holders)

Mounted command

Again, should anyone be interested in this drop me a comment with an email address I will contact you to discuss further.

Seasons Greetings and A Delicious Dilemma

My good lady wife received the above from our daughter - it is an exercise ball - to help with her back problems. My first thought when I inflated it was along the lines of  “That’s no moon...that’s a space station!” Very handy for suppressing rebels and destroying planets....or even the odd game of X Wing!

 First of all the complements of the season to one and all - it is getting to the end of what has been an extraordinary year so I hope everyone has celebrated in the best way they can. We were fortunate in that the whole family was assembled - the four of us plus our grandson - and so all was well. We have enjoyed a great couple of days - ate too much, probably drank rather more than was necessarily good for us and exchanged presents. There was also the seasonal family game of Monopoly - this year with a twist, it was the Mega edition with extra streets to buy and with skyscrapers to build. I actually rather like this version as it gets to the business end of the game rather more quickly than the traditional edition. Once a year only though! We also had a family walk to get some air and feed the squirrels in a small nature reserve near us - the small furries will even take monkey nuts from your hand!  

I received a a welcome and useful crop of presents of which the Dremel 3000 (with 15 accessories), a copy of Frostgrave 2nd edition and half share of an Amazon gift card are the ones of immediate interest. 

All in all it has been a very pleasant couple of days and has provided a welcome break from the daily diet of doom and gloom we have been used to for most of the year.

28mm on the left and 18mm on the right....

....with an aerial view so that you can see the base sizes - 40mm x 30mm for the 28mm range and 30mm by 20mm for the 18mm.

The delicious dilemma referred to in the title is a complete curve ball thrown at me by WoFun. If you recall I mentioned that I was going to complete the 28mm ECW collection by adding the Scots. By virtue of some selective disposals I ordered the pieces I needed and so on Christmas Eve in the afternoon, a parcel arrived from Romania. I did not open it straightaway as I had a few things to do but when I did there was a small problem. The entire order was of 18mm figures and not 28mm.

First of all I know that WoFun have been under a lot of pressure with office moves, expansion of the business as well as some Covid induced problems and so the odd mistake will be the result. My initial thought was to be a swift email to return the order and all would be well. Lucian at WoFun (the boss) is a top chap so I had no fears if this was the option I settled on.

I had not seen the 18mm versions of the figures before but I have to say that they are even better in my opinion! What I mean by this is that for my set up the 18mm figures are a much better proposition given my preferred gaming style and home set up. I thought about this and weighed up the pros and cons and so have made a decision. I am going to build up the 18mm collection to what I was going to do with the 28mm and so the larger collection will now be for disposal!

This may seem like a bonkers idea but it works for me for all kind of reasons. The terrain will be a better bet as I will use 15mm which will suit my 4” grid far more readily due to the reduced table footprint compare to 28mm. You get roughly double the number of figures for the same price as for the 28mm so the armies will look even more impressive.

I realise thus all seems a little radical but fortunately I am not so far into the project that this change would be a major issue. I need to order around 8 units to complete the entire collection - which now includes slightly more Scots than English - which can be readily funded from the proceeds of the 28mm set up - which is huge.

Best of all is the fact that the 28mm collection will be sold for less than half the cost of buying a comparably sized force new as much of the collection was gratis. I would not be looking to make a killing out of a sale - just to be able to finance the missing elements I need. There is a bargain to be had for sure so should anyone be interested leave me a comment with an email address and we can discuss ‘off piste’ so to speak.

In he meantime though, enjoy the rest of the holidays - I feel the lure of my Grandson’s laser tag game coming on!

Different Similar Ideas going and looking Forwards

MDFefinitely a good idea!

 A few years ago, at Salute to exact, I saw a range of 6mm figures laser cut from MDF and produced by a company called Commission Figurines.  I was certainly intrigued at the time - Napoleonics and ACW were the ranges produced but the start of an ancient offering.

Fast forward to the present day and I was giving some thought to how best to represent the land side in conjunction with my ships models for the ACW. My first thought was to use the block armies - I have done this before - but a couple of articles by fellow blogger Steve J pointed me back at the range of figures produced by Commission Figures. Without too much persuasion I placed a small order for some ACW samples and the figures duly arrived yesterday.

These are flat figures and have the details etched on the surface. They are closer to 8mm than 6mm which unfortunately means that they a little too large to use with ship models in the way I planned but certainly they could happily fight as part of a combined arms style set up. Originally I had thought to use the gun crews for any deck mounted artillery but will not be able to (and yes, I do have a plan B for this) as they are too large. In many ways they remind me of WoFun figures but of course they will need to be painted or coloured in.

Coloured in? I have something I want to try with these and believe it or not is has been inspired by my Wofun ECW figures and also some message exchanges I have had with Peter Dennis. Peter uses fine pens for a lot of his work and so I thought perhaps colouring the figures in might be a better option for me given my aversion to painting. Actually even painting these would not be beyond me...

Oh yes indeedy! I am looking forward to spending some time with this over the festive period. A welcome addition to the Portable stable and by virtue of its collaborative construction augurs well for future titles covering other periods. Great cover photo as well....:-)

Mention of WoFun, and the timely arrival of Bob Cordery’s latest title in the Portable Wargame series - The Portable Pike and Shot Wargame - has given me much to think about for the new year. I have a final 28mm ECW order currently being readied by WoFun - this will be the Scots - and then I am set fair for some games in the new year once I have made provision for some suitable terrain. Long term I will look to change the basing of the collection but I want to get some games in first of all and Bob’s book, with its cast of thousands (3 actually!) will be a great place to start along with the Command and Colours variant produced by MSFoy.

Taking all this into consideration....

Despite my ongoing protestations and best efforts to avoid doing so the looming spectre of figure painting is once again rearing its ugly head. I want the MDF figures to work out with my colouring technique because if it does it will open up a number of avenues for me to explore. The scale is such that colour conversions would be easy enough and whilst the selection currently available is quite limited - Napoleonics, ACW and a small Roman range - for what I am planning they are sufficient. A small ACW force initially - when I say small I am thinking Command and Colours sized so around a dozen infantry units, 3 or 4 mounted and the same for artillery organised with a base of models per strength point - and then I may tackle similar for the Russo Turkish War. I will have to see how the colouring works out.

Work on the ships has eased right down to ‘care and maintenance’ levels but is still heading in the right direction. I feel very positive about the shape these two projects (soon to be three....) are  taking and so I am looking forward to completing the remaining models as soon as I am able. Adding the land dimension using MDF figures is an option that is well suited to me and I am genuinely excited about the potential they offer.

Madasahatta will feature next year and work will commence in earnest once I have the ironclads out of my system. I have an idea about the land side as well which will tie in with what I shall be doing for WW2.

I plan to dilute the above with some ad hoc Skirmishy style offerings - forces of around a dozen or so models so well below the Rampant series in terms of scale.

Final, final thoughts....

It only remains for me to take this opportunity to wish you and yours all the very best for the Christmas holiday and here’s hoping that 2021 will be a little kinder than this year has been.

Take care and stay safe all.

ECW Books and Rules Ideas

A trio of ECW goodness - a couple of oldies but goodies and the later Stuart Reid title.

 My brother and his family are improving albeit slowly. They appear to be over the worst but given the ability of this virus to spring surprises even with the finishing line in sight our collective fingers continue to remain crossed.

I have not been doing very much gaming related but this afternoon found some time to review what I have in terms of background reading material and rules for use with the 28mm WoFun ECW collection. 

As far as books are concerned and aside from the splendid atlas of the civil war recently published by Nick Lipscombe my library is fairly modest but sufficient for my needs at present. In addition to those titles depicted above I also have a copy of Devon and Exeter in the Civil War and also a copy of Stuart Reid’s All the King’s Armies - currently still with Dave Lanchester until such a time as when we are able to meet again at a show. I know there are Ospreys and Helions aplenty as well as a whole welter of other titles about the civil war but this lot will suffice for the time being.

The new and the old once again. I am huge of Mr Wesencraft and will try to source a hardback version of this once we are back in show mode.

As far as rules are concerned I have a number of options to explore. I suspect I am not alone in being a bit of a rules squirrel when undertaking a new project and so this has been no exception! Currently in pole position are a Command and Colours variant penned by our very own MSFoy that look better every time I read them! They are available as a download from his blog along with the command and ‘Chaunce’ cards and a very handy non command card based system derived from his Napoleonic ‘Ramekin’ set. Pop over to his blog to see these - he is a very nice chap as well!

‘For King and Parliament’ are from the ‘To The Strongest’ stable and appear to have some very well thought out ideas in them. There is some quite superb eye candy contained in the pages and to me these look like a set that means business. I will certainly be trying these out once I have a few simpler games under my belt. That it not to say that they are complex, rather it is because they have a greater level of detail that I may not appreciate at first run out. The Command and Colours set are very familiar mechanics  wise so it makes sense going with what I know best at the outset.

The Wesencraft book is an old friend for sure that I had long forgotten about until a set arrived through the post from my old gaming friend Chris Hardman. There is a wealth of good, old school ideas herein as well as a large number of historical scenarios to try out.

The other rule system that will doubtless feature in due course will be the Portable Pike and Shot Wargame when it is published. I am really looking forward to this but in the meantime I have more than enough to be going with. I jus need to get some terrain sorted out!

WoFun: Basing House Rules

Before (left) and after. The guns are located on the base via two small lugs on the bottom of the wheels. These have now been removed. I can now deploy as many or as few gunners as I like around the piece which I think looks better - I am not a fan of huge artillery bases!

My brother and his family are feeling better albeit only marginally. This is better news for sure although it is early days so fingers are still being crossed.

It is probably not surprising that I have been less than enthusiastic about anything gaming related but I have managed a few quick wins which is always good for the soul.

I have been thinking about the 28mm ECW WoFun collection and have made a single change that may well be the thin end of the wedge in that it could possibly lead to fairly substantial variation. 

I really do not like the artillery bases. They feel flimsy and do not like much in the way of movement - the gun comes out of its locating holes as do the gunners and so this has moved on from being a minor irritation to something requiring action. I have decided to base the gunners individually and leave the guns themselves off any kind of base. Since I will be mostly fighting my games on a grid this hardly matters and it is far more practical. 

You can see the dragoon command (bottom right) using a single strip on a 40mm by 30mm base

It got me looking at the infantry and cavalry bases, especially when I recently acquired a couple of dragoon regiments. At the present time all the infantry and cavalry figure strips are deployed two deep on a 40mm by 30mm base. The command strip for the two dragoon regiments is based on a single strip rather than the twin version. It occurred to me that using a single strip base rather than the twin version would have a number of practical advantages. 

The main one would be to double the number of bases making up the units. This would mean that detachments could be modelled more effectively as well as unit formations. It would also enable me to tackle the assembly of the bases in a rather more permanent fashion - the picture below will help to explain my plan.

You can see the fixing lug on the figure strip in the left. The base on the right shows clearly how this works whilst the base in the centre is one of the 40mm by 30mm single strip bases.

For the most part the Wofun figure strips have a single small fixing lug that fits in to the slot in the base. The rest of the strips at least the ‘feet’ part effectively sit on fresh air as the slot is some 35mm long. Essentially the small lug is the only part of the strip holding it upright. It occurred to me that a slot of some 15mm would allow for the fixing lug (these are not always in the centre so 15mm covers the range of locations - centre or offset to the left or right) to be used but that also the ‘feet’ of the rest of the strip would be contact with the now ‘closed’ area of the base. This would a more permanent fixing solution could be used with the strips being glued into place. Warbases could do this readily enough although of course it does then mean that the bases would need painting/flocking. 

It would not be a difficult task to tackle but it would be time consuming and of course their would be the cost to consider. I need to think carefully about this but it is certainly an option.