Thursday 28 July 2016

Just a Few Notes

Friday 22nd July 2016 - WW1 East Africa

Managed to complete the British & German briefings for the "Battle of Ngomano 1916".  Soldiering on with the painting of course.  Still need to come up with a QRS for the rules.  Checked my list and reviewed the figures.  Still 8 short - not a disaster.


Monday 25th July 2016 - WDW

No Ancients this time as only two of us were available.  Got roped into playing "Oregan" boardgame.  It was a close game with few points between us at the end.  On the other tables were - 'Square Bashing' (Brits v Germans) and yet more boardgames. 

Deany & Co started off with a hex-tile game featuring fantasy monsters.  The follow-up was a trading game set in the Caribbean during pirate times.  [Must find out the names!]


Tuesday 26th July 2016

Still cannot find the 'trees' for my newly discovered chariots - have selected some suitable rose clipping though.  Getting closer on a handful of DBA-RRR figures/models.  The 15mm Vikings are still looking at me balefully.

Thursday 21 July 2016

Not A Lot

Saturday 16th July - should have been going to WDW Napoleonic bash.

 Thanks to my kind and considerate neighbour I was instead obliged to clear rubbish out of my back garden.  Seems that there is now a draconian new law (2014) that allows people whose sensitivities have been disturbed (when looking out of an upstairs window) to report miscreants to the council.  These criminals can then be obliged to carry out remedial work within 14 days else they will be served with an ASBO (and face fines and/or imprisonment).


Sunday 17th July - still working on my garden and making trips to the 'local' tip.

Some panels now drying out within view of the 'sensitive neighbour'.  Will have to wait for the Environmental Officer to carry out an inspection (who by the merest coincidence happens to have the same surname as my neighbour).


Monday 18th July 2016 - no WDW meeting today (and no Swillington FDC either) so I made a second visit to Wakefield Warriors.

Didn't play this time but watched a game of "Kings of War" - Elves versus Undead.  The Elves looked impressive but were ground down by waves of Undead.


Future Plans - to get on with my East Africans.  More details to do than expected.  Don't have long until they will be in use.  The bases, however, can be left as they are - the MDF colour is similar to soils found in modern Tanganyika.

Wednesday 13 July 2016

The Fortunes of War

[It's 00.16 GMT on Thursday 14th July 2016]


Sunday 10th July 2016 - a few more figures done:

back left - Colonial Portuguese - Kn(g)     
back right - Transylvanian - Cv(g) - note 'Dracula's false teeth'
front left - Jinetes - Lh (Colonial Portuguese)
front right - War Dogs - 4WB (Spanish Colonial)

back left - English Colonist horsemen - Cv
back right - Pi (unknown)
front left - Moloitsy - Sh (Cossacks)
front right - Sh (unknown)

Well that's almost all my planned DBA-RRR revisions / additions done.  The only army left is 'English Colonial 1637-1700' which still needs 1 x Drg; 1 x Light Gun plus 2 x Sk.

The two 'unknown' elements were sitting on my board - they may end up in a Dutch Colonial army (book 3) at some future date.  Now it's back to the East Africans.

Just finished another Dr Who book:

A reasonable yarn with some weird aliens set in the not too distant future.  6 out of 10 maybe!


Monday 11th July 2016 - DBM Abbasid Arabs v Tuareg - an ignominious defeat with two of our four generals being killed.  Movement dice were OK but shooting and melee were just awful - we were six-oned mercilessly. 

On the other table was a five person boardgame of "1812".  The Canadians, Indians & Brits fought off the American invaders.  I started off playing this game before the DBMers arrived - I wish that I had stayed there.

Thursday 7 July 2016

Just a Trickle

Saturday 2nd July 2016 - finished another book.

"Eight Banners and Green Flag" (see Thursday 26th May for cover) by Michael Fredholm von Essen - Pub: The Pike and Shot Society  ISBN 978-1-902768-33-5

Subtitled "The Army of the Manchu Empire and Qing China, 1600-1850", it covers not only 250 years but also areas held by the Chinese (Ming & Qing), Mongols & Tibetans.  A pretty comprehensive book and well worth the £10.  I wanted more information on the Qing's enemies but I guess that you can't have everything. 

If you see the Pike & Shot stall at any show, and have any interest in Chinese affairs of this period, then go and buy it.


Monday 4th July 2016 - WDW

DBM - Nikephorian Byzantine v Communal Italian - off to a slow start (1-1-2-2) but luckily the ally was paying attention.  The game never really speeded up.  My (left) command was fighting against two others - one half creamed the enemy knights - the other half went down in droves.  Meanwhile the Georgian allies not only failed to break the opposition - they lost heavily.  The Byzantines may live to fight another day but will have to do some substantial recruiting.

On the only other table - Andrew & Jim played a WW2 tank fight with home-grown rules.  I got the impression that more work needs to be done to improve playability!

Very sparse attendance and no football excuse either.


Wednesday 6th July 2016 - recovering from my calling session at Barkstone Ash I finished off three more elements:

Left back - later Spanish Bd command - Left front - sword & buckler men (Bd)
Right - early Spanish Bd command

The blue and white flag looked ok from a distance but doesn't bear close inspection.  I will re-paint it in due course.  All these are for my DBA-RRR armies of course.

Some of my readers / viewers might be suffering a bit of deja vu.  With the acquisition of more Conquistadores I have been able to swap some figures around and substitute where appropriate.  This means more consistency regarding helmet / hat   types etc so that I can differentiate between Portuguese, Spanish and English forces.

Have been adding steel to my khaki and brown (WW1) hordes.  Wish I could paint as fast as Tamsin ('Wargaming Girl').