First unit of Romano-British

Painted up as more of a regular veteran unit

Smuggling game at SELWG 2009

The game was run by my son, Daniel, using Parkfield Miniature's Johnny is gone for a soldier napoleonic Peninsular skirmish rules but had smugglers pitted against revenue men supported by the local yeomanry.
The smugglers prepare to haul their load to their secret hiding place out of reach of the revenue men.
Setting off from the boat, the smugglers cross open land before they get to the road, coaxing the horses across this marshy land.

The picture above shows a Rifles officer home on leave conversing with the local magistrate in the village.
The revenue men advance across the fields behind the village in an attempt to stop the dastardly smugglers hauling their ill gotten gains to their secret hide away, probably beneath the floor of the local hostelry.
One of the groups of smugglers splits up to do battle with the yeomanry who have to try to get hold of one of the wagons of contraband for themselves as they haven't been paid for a month.
A view down the road towards the village shows a wagon ion the distance disappearing behind some trees.
A group of smugglers led by the infamous Scarecrow prepares to fend off the approaching revenue men.
The smugglers attempt to outflank a group of yeomanry.

The game seemed to be well received and was a draw with one group of smugglers managing to outwit the revenue men whilst the yeomanry managed to take on of the wagons for themselves.

COLOURS 2009-a few shots of the ECW game

Update

Recent activity

I have been very slow in updating this blog but I have been working on many different projects.

Firstly I am in the process of play testing a set of rules for the AWI period that will hopefully extend through the war of 1812 in the colonies and up to the ACW with a figure to man ratio of 1:20. The main principle is activating units to act, or not, and do what you want them to. They are simple but not simplistic, just how I like my rules.

The first real play test involved a few amendments and tweaks and I am now ready to give them another go.

Secondly, using a similar system I have started to write a set of dark age rules for Parkfield’s Arthurian figures based around warbands, warlords and small scale combat. These are in their first draft at present awaiting a first play.

Apart from that it seems that shows have taken over recently with Farnborough last weekend, where my club put on a game using beneath the Lilly Banners (photos can be seen on the club's blog-http://thamesvalleywargamers.blogspot.com/ )and Rampage this coming Sunday. Then I hope to settle down a bit and get some projects finished.

quick and easy rail fences

I wanted a few more fences for my FIW games, so having looked out my window decided to cut a few twiggy branches off the Lilac bushes at the bottom of my garden. These were sized by eye to get them around the right size and a number were taken indoors for trimming.

I cut a number of lengths around 2" in length and some card bases (about 3/4" x 6") but they could be any size to suit. using contact adhesive I stuck a layer onto the card to make the base, overlapping each onto the previous. Then stuck another layer in a similar manner onto the first layer. Using natural twigs does negate the need for painting the 'branches' as they are a very natural colour already.

Once dry, the whole was given my usual sand treatment, painted, dry brushed and flock applied. Using PVA glue I coat the base then dip it into a container of sand. Once dry this is given a coat of paint to suit the basing I want, in this case Dulux 'Mud Hut' from a tester pot.

Once this is dry I then dry brush, using one or two lighter colours and wait for this to dry thoroughly. Using more PVA and an old brush, dab the glue into patches then sprinkle flock onto the base, blow off the excess and you have your base. If required you can then add any small bushes or clumps of grass to finish off.

Tower of London Artillery

yesterday, due to it being the school holidays, we took a trip to the big smoke to see the Tower of London where I took a few pictures of various artillery pieces there. Above is a Russian gun on garrison carriage taken as a prize after the Crimean War.

Above we have a British 19th century 24pdr cannon on garrison carriage. next, below, a couple of shots of a British napoleonic 6pdr field gun with the axle boxes clearly shown.

The next piece, sitting outside the Tower is a bronze 24 pdr gun and plaque describing the piece.

Now more napoleonic pieces, this time French 6pdr field guns, is this the colour we should be achieving on our wargaming models?

last but not least a more up to date 25 pdr field gun.

I wanted to get some shots of Henry VIII's armour and weapons but photography was not allowed.

Further thoughts on Beneath the Lilly Banners

Having played these rules a number of times there are a few things that seem slightly peculiar. the first is infantry not being able to charge home against other infantry (unless they are defending an obstacle) without the target being shaken, but I guess this is down to the officers in the line seeing the enemy breaking off from the rear and ordering a close to combat. We are just getting used to this aspect of the game.

Another thing is cavalry, not closing to charge due to failing morale and turning tail and running away. maybe a stand would work better but that is the rule so that is what we play. It is possible for raw cavalry to rout drilled cavalry as the jacobites have done this on a number of occasions.

The rules for cavalry, however, work as it is not possible to turn on a sixpence (this is similar for infantry) and requires them to position themselves prior to charging a target. Squares are another problem, to form or not to form is the question. This period allows for infantry to meet cavalry in line due to the defensive nature of the integral pikes so why even attempt to form square in the face of cavalry.

The size of game is also important. The mechanisms are simple and seem to be designed for larger games than we have been playing at present and I would think that you would require somewhere around five or six squadrons per side and perhaps two large brigades of infantry or even better, three brigades.

More on this in the future when I have increased my army sizes but so far the rules work well and apert from a few things that don't seem right would, I think, work better with more troops on the table.