11/11/11

Today we remember those individuals that gave their lives fighting for the freedoms we enjoy today.

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.


For The Fallen by Robert Laurence Binyon

***NEWSFLASH***....Great Battle fought in Fezia....Czar and Sultan at Odds....Forbodian Denial of any Complicity....

THE ANGLIAN DAILY NEWS….SPECIAL BULLETIN


Reports have reached the International desk of this journal describing a great battle fought two days ago at an as yet undisclosed location in Fezia, a short distance from the border between Fezia and Forbodia. Details of this engagement are both contradictory and fragmentary at the present time but early indications are that the armed forces of Rusland and Fezia were involved and that some loss of life was incurred. The Forbidian ambassador will be making a statement in due course and our sources have confirmed independently that the armed forces of Forbodia were not involved in the fighting and that it was strictly a Rusland and Fezian affair.


Further details will be made available when known and if necessary via the publication of a special edition.

A Punitive Expedition....Part 6

Before launching into the account of the Battle of Keder Sirt (hopefully this evening) and in order to keep the resultant post to a manageable length I should first take the opportunity to make a couple of salient points. The version of the Portable Wargame by Bob Cordery I have used is in fact version one and not the latest set. This was entirely my fault as I have the latter version safely downloaded and stored on my PC but never got around to printing them off and replacing the first set in my rules folder! Apologies in advance then, for any confusion this may cause!


The account of the battle has primarily been written from the perspective of a real report and so references to rules are limited to comments in brackets. I had toyed with the idea of writing one report as a normal battle account and a second as rule reference version but decided in the end just to go with what actually happened (with some truly epic purple prose!) rather than how.
Certainly both the Amir and the Count preferred the latter option as they are, rather unusually to say the least, united in considering that rules, regulations and tables are generally considered to be the last province of the bookish dullard; at least in the social circles they habitually frequent….;-)

A Punitive Expedition....Part 5

Fezian Artillery in action

The deed has been done, the action fought, the photographs taken, the notes made and so all that remains is for me to do is to write it up and that will feature in the next post....;-)

A Punitive Expedition....Part 4 A

As yesterday evening was spent reviewing a local college for my daughter's intended A levels there was very little time left for anything gaming related . The Battle of Keder Sirt will be fought this evening and I hope to have the after action report on the blog as soon as possible.

I was able to have a slightly longer look at the newly acquired Perry plastic 28mm ACW Zouaves (again I will report in more detail later) and can only reiterate my earlier observation - they are gorgeous and suitably full of dash and swagger. I am really pleased that I opted to use them.

There are a few minor details that would offend the purist in respect of representing an actual Turkish infantryman of 1877 - not least of which is the firearm as it is a rifled musket of ACW vintage rather than the Peabody Martini Henry of 1877 used to such devastating effect against the Russians.

Still, it is an 'imagi-nation' after all and so such considerations can be safely ignored!

Perry Plastic 28mm ACW Zouaves

I picked up a box of these at lunchtime today from the Orc's Nest in the West End. I will report in full with pictures etc in due course but in the meantime suffice it to say they are absolutely gorgeous! The strangest thing is that I am really looking forward to painting these - a feeling I have not had since reading Charge! for the first time way back in the early 70s!

The Fezian army will look suitably imposing with this little lot for sure - especially once I start adding the extra types to the collection - 1882 Perry Egyptian artillery as well as some of the command types. Assuming the plastic ACW cavalry riders can take a fez then that will be the mounted arm taken care of as well!

Happy days indeed.

A Punitive Expedition....Part 4

Keder Sirt - the initial dispositions with the Rusland forces deployed on the right in green and the Fezian forces on the left in blue.

Having gone some way towards setting the scene for the action between Fezia and Rusland the next stage is of course to fight the battle. The picture above is of the initial dispositions of both forces deployed on a pair of Axis and Allies maps with some Town in a Bag trees and some of my Greek style buildings. The terrain is is very much an improvisation - Hexon will my preferred choice going forward -  but I am very satisfied with the approach I have adopted and the the all important 'look' of the thing  I must confess I am quite pleased with the end result and am looking forward to fighting the battle on Wednesday evening.

The Rusland forces (naturally in green) are deployed on the right of the map with the Fezian defenders on the ridge of Keder Sirt with the small village in the rear of the position and with the fortress set further back. From the dispositions the plans of the respective commanders can readily be discerned.

I must apologise for the quality of the picture - the maps are laminated and so I had to photograph the set up without a flash because of the reflected glare. Once I get my Hexon terrain properly configured then the photography will be far easier as the flock absorbs the flash to an extent.

Roll on Wednesday evening!