Painting up-date,Anglo-Saxon Church.

As I mentioned in the last blog(Vapnartak) I bought an Anglo-Saxon church at the bring and buy sale-when I first saw, and handled the Church,I thought it was resin,although a bit heavy!
However it turned out to be a glazed pottery item,which,because of the glaze, turned out to be a bit of a bugger to undercoat!!!

This is how it looked after I had cleaned off the paint,with soapy water-very shiny,and a sort of dirty brown colour.

Under-coated at last!-two coats wouldn't cover it,so I turned to the old favourite-PVA glue and water-worked a treat!!

Initial dark grey colour on the main building,the roof was always going to be a problem,as the tiles on the facing side weren't very well defined,but in my world,there are no such things as problems-only solutions!!

I plumbed for a light grey roof,with the intention of dry-brushing it white and brown and finishing with a black wash(neither of these two skills are very high on my CV!!!)

I have painted the Gravestones light grey,and the whole area around the Church with a light green-it's now beginning to take shape.

I have "flocked" the grassy areas,to give it a bit of depth,so now onto the hard bit(as far as I am concerned-dry-brushing and washing!!)

I dry-brushed the church with a light brown first,followed by white,and finally touched up where necessary with the original grey...............................

The finished article!-although not 25mm scale,I'm sure it will do for the Vikings,Saxons and Normans to fight over!!

Consecrated by a Bishop-can't be bad!!!
I'm quite pleased with my attempts,but I won't go looking for more buildings to paint in the near future!!!

vapnartak show report.2017

An early start from Newcastle,saw Dave,Paul and I arrive at the York Racecourse about 20 minutes before the doors opened.Standing in the queue we were greeted by some stewards who issued free tickets to the over 60's and took payment for the "young'uns"-a very efficient system,that proved its worth when it was time to go in-I had the company of Charles S Grant whilst waiting in the cold,and a lively chat about all things wargaming ensued-we'll see him at Falkirk!

The queue!-once inside it was apparent to me that the "foot-fall" was considerably less than last year,but it picked up during the day.
There was a good spectrum of traders,who all seemed to be doing a fast and furious trade,combined with the Cafe,which was always busy.
The demo games were,I feel, a little disappointing-two games in particular were very much the same type of theme as last year.I approached one table(you know the one,with lots of buildings,a ship and harbour,and a few figures,and asked the guy standing there which battle it was-he turned his bloody back to me,and muttered something that sounded like "Inverlochy"(?)-some things never change!

This photo was taken about fifteen minutes after the doors opened,and shows the space,and lack of people-this was to change in about half and hour or so!
All the traders I talked to were helpful and enthusiastic,although the general consensus seemed to be that 75 to 80 % of their trade was now done on the internet,and that shows were mainly a chance to meet their customers and chat about new products.

Things are starting to liven up a bit in this shot-I did want to take a photo of the "Bring and Buy" section,but it was chaotic!!-to say the least-perhaps the organisers could look at this aspect of the show,and give it more space-you had to queue to get in,shuffle around with a million other people,and shuffle out again-not good!

Dave and Paul buying a WW2 desert trench system.

This is our mate,Chris,who is coming up to Falkirk with us in May-he lives in Leeds,and his club were playing a Demo game of SAGA using bronze Age figures-this was on the second floor,where most of the smaller games were-I promised not to mention the fact that Chris thought Falkirk was on the West coast of Scotland,so I won't!

Dave and Paul,buying me a cup of coffee,just before we left-you can see that the crowds have "thinned" and seats were available in the cafe.
All in all,I thoroughly enjoyed the day,spoke to some old friends and new faces,and spent a bit of money too!
My favourite purchase was actually in the Bring and Buy,and was an item I have been looking for-an Anglo-Saxon Church.The church was dirty and dusty,and not very well painted,so I put it in  dish of warm,soapy water when I got home,and all the paint "fell" off leaving a glazed pottery item,which I think is great,and will look forward to painting.

Roll on next year,but in-between then and May we have Falkirk to plan,busy,busy,busy!!
Next game will be Minden on Sunday.

Battle of Krinkel WW2

As you all know,WW2 is not my period,but last night I watched as the rest of the "crew" fought an exciting and well planned WW2 game involving Germans attacking the British in defensive positions,in and around, the town of Krinkel.
Dave devised the rules and the scenario,and a damned fine job he made of it too-well done!

Top photo is scenario,and bottom is the table as the Germans,represented by Paul and Graham,saw it for the first time.Brian and Dave were in charge of the British,and devised some hidden positions etc. for the Germans to contend with!!

The game started tentatively by Paul sending a "recce" up the road to see if anything was in the emplacement-which had surprisingly appeared when the German high command was out of the room,planning their attack!!-do you think the British would be so sneaky as to put troops in the position??

You bet your life they would!!-a Piat did this,cleverly blocking the road,now what would the Germans do?

A classic "pincer" move on each flank,through the woods,was launched,with support from masses of tanks,that's what!!-would the British have any more surprises up their sleeves?

Tut,Tut!-as one of Paul's tanks rolled around the burning Puma,and onto the bridge,Brian threw the requisite dice and the bridge blew up!!!
In the background,Graham is slowly(and I mean slowly) advancing against the wooded hill-surely the British won't have any more surprises??!!

Graham has spent an awful lot of time concentrating fire upon that small bunker position,before attempting a crossing of the stream-however,as it turned out,the bunker was empty!!!-sneaky!!

Paul is advancing in this shot,but he is being pounded by mortar fire,small-arms fire,and a Cromwell tank-heavy pounding gentlemen!!-Brian(the most photographed person in the world) looks relaxed and in command-the Germans were asking themselves "where are all the British tanks??"-you'll soon find out!!

There's one!!-it soon became clear that the Germans were going to take the British positions one by one,and that their tanks were more powerful than the British ones,however the British were not beaten yet,and produced their secret weapon,just as Graham's tank turned it's flank to the wooded hill...........................

Graham's face says it all!!!-look at that for a shot,come on British,let's go out with a bang(no pun intended!)

PHUT!!!-the bloody shell just bounced off!!-oh dear,how sad,never mind!!
At this point the British decided that they had no chance and continued their retreat!
this was a good game,well done to Dave,and Brian and Graham and Paul.All the figures,except two tanks painted by Paul,were from Brian's collection.This type of game should "spur" the rest of the lads to get their painting brushes out,and I'm sure it will.
We won't be playing next Sunday,because we'll be down at York show(Vapnartak)-I'll write a report on the show next Monday.

"Statistics"

I have just "hit" our Stats,and am astonished that we have had over 1200 hits in three days from the Americans!!-is anyone else getting this?-honest,Mr Trump,I love and support you,please don't send a drone to my garage!!!
Comments please!

Battle of Marathon 490BC

The battle of Marathon presented us with an epic historical challenge last night,with Brian and Graham taking on the mantle of Greek commanders,and Paul and I taking command of the Persians.

As usual,the top photo is the scenario,and bottom is the table before any movement.
Even though this battle is very well documented,there is still a query as to where the Persian cavalry were and where the camp was situated,so I took a decision,for wargaming purposes,and came up with this set-up,and scenario-it worked well!

The battle begins!-both sides advancing towards each other-I had "weighted" the fighting points so that the Greek flanks were confident that they could beat the opposition on the Persian flanks,whilst the Persian centre was equally as confident that it could beat the Greek centre!!!-but of course this is a wargame,and those ugly creatures,called DICE,were called into play,and not everything went according to plan!!!!!!

This is the Greek left flank phalanx-so heavily "weighted" against my puny axemen,that a "walk-over" was expected-not so said the dice,and for once I was throwing high  and won the first encounter-hurrah!!

On the other flank,Paul is also giving Brian's troops a hard time,but this was not to last,as Paul,who is noted for extremely lucky dice throws,started to throw really low,much to the delight of the Greeks!

The "centres" have now clashed,and the Persians were taking a bit of a beating-so much so,that Paul decided to put his commander into the melee,to bolster their fighting ability,and morale-oh dear!!-guess what happened?-yes he was killed by Brian,who then gave us a disgraceful display of "Gloatiness",by doing a sort of "Dad Dance" combined with a "Sailor's Hornpipe"-realising what he had done,shame overtook him!!!!

It's no good trying to hide your shame,able seaman Irving!!!-you did it and you'll have to live with it!!

The whole Persian line is being pushed back in this shot,and Brian is starting to turn his "phalanx" onto the flank of Paul's troops in the centre-is all lost,and will history remain intact

Yes,and yes!-it's back to the Jodie and Rodney(marsh!!) for the Persians,as the Greeks were declared the winners!
This was an interesting and exciting game,played in good spirit(apart from one instance of regret and shame,which we will say no more about!!)-well done lads.
Roll on next Sunday,when we will be playing a World War 2 game,which the "boys" will be organising between themselves-I will provide the terrain,they will provide the scenario,troops,vehicles etc.-can't wait!

Battle of Denain 1712.

Last night we had a 100% turnout for the re-fight of this famous,but very difficult- to -find out- any- maps,battle-it turned out to be one of the most exciting and interesting battles we have fought-ever!!

Top photo shows the scenario,and bottom photo is the table before any movement.
I was Villars,aided and abetted by Graham on my left and Dave on my right,Paul was Albermarle,supported by Brian who commended the right of the allies-all was set for a great game.

Dave has started his out-flanking move against the allies' left flank,and the village situated there-however Paul had thrown the requisite dice and the Austrians have started to arrive on move number two(this was not historically correct,as the Austrians took no part in the battle!)

My attack against the town is developing,and,being historically correct,I have ordered them to take the position at"bayonet point"-the real Villars wouldn't have ordered this if he was up against Paul's "demon dice throwing!"

On the far left flank,Graham has instigated a Cavalry melee,which was always doomed to failure!

But his infantry attack,against Brian's Dutch, was a sight to see.In the town,I have gained an initial success,but Paul is piling troops into the position,and I might just get thrown out again!
Action all the way!!

See what I mean?-is Brian looking to the heavens for inspiration??
Dave's attack is in progress now,and with cavalry swirling all over the place and volley firing by the infantry,this was a spectacular sight,but neither side was gaining any real advantage.

The town is mine!!-hurrah!!!!-but Paul is sending reinforcements,in the shape of British foot,surely he wouldn't hit me in the flank and cause a mass brawl-would he??

Yes he would,and did!!-all my troops are beaten-woe is me-on the right Dave is fighting for his life,and is giving the allies a "bloody nose"-we might win this yet!

On the left,Graham is being very reluctant to advance past the town-he has advantage in numbers,and a fresh brigade-come on Graham!!!!-Brian is content to stand and hold his ground,and a damned good job he is making of it too!!

Dave is pushing onwards,and engaging the Austrians in the village,but once again the "demon dice thrower" was in action,killing most of Dave's officers,and sending the troops reeling!!!

Despite numerous attempts to beat back the allies,Dave was being held,as was Graham,and with the town in allied hands,all was lost,and the allies were awarded the victory...............

One last photo,as Paul surveys the scene of his(and Brian's) victory-well done to us all for this magnificent game.
Roll on Thursday-a colonial game Zulu/Dervish-who knows?