Out ( and in) on the weekend

 A busy week here in the Duchy on many fronts has ended with a Wargame on Friday and Glastonbury on tv yesterday.

In my youth my figures were carried on public transport in tool boxes whereas now they are in box files in the only carrier that is big enough. Friday saw me taking my French Ordonnance army to take on a Wars of the Roses one.

The French advance with the impetuous Feudal Knight forging a way through on the right flank and the Ordonnance archers supporting. At the back is my on table persona - Le Comte de Jaune Doux ( Bd Superior) sub general of the army ( c in c is the French King surrounded by his archer bodyguards) who is  just mad about saffron.

French artillery fires from the hill at the advancing English…

French Ordonnance knights advancing to death or glory.

A crow’s eye view of the battlefield.

A melee develops between French bowmen an their English opponents.

The game ended with my command losing a high number of casualties and retreating/routing off the table.

As ever I like to watch quite a bit of Glastonbury on the telly. This l have been doing for years now either in the company of the family or quietly on my own. Yesterday l was taken by the nostalgia of Pulp, the exuberance of Raye and the wonderful guitar playing of Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts.

New additions to my library this week . One was a pre order and the other a charity shop find.

A charming book with lovely photos, drawings and Punch Cartoons. It has led me to start painting an AA section for my VBCW forces…

Charge game photos

 Last week I had tremendous fun using the Charge rules in a game . It was another in that long running dispute between myself The Duke of Tradgardland and The Duke of Albion aka Ronnie. Since our last game I had rebased the army from six figures on a 60mm square base to six on a 40mm. I prefer the look of shoulder to shoulder. The old mdf , felt covered bases had made way for clear plastic, enabling the army to fight on any terrain or in any season. The Duke of Albion fielded regular units as well as the wild tribesmen of North Albion with their swords, shields and traditional dress. Here are the photos-

The troops arrive and find their places on the table. The Duke of Albion looks on mustering his men.

The Tradgardland forces ready for the fray…

Albion army arrayed across the battlefield.

The Duchy of Tradgardland advance determined to take the built up area.

With vivandieres and officers, the Tradgardland infantry advance…

Albion contends the cover.

Confronting each other across the hard cover…

The Austrians about to come into a fire fight with Albion troops.

Norwegian jaeger flee the field.

Fire at will!

The reality of fire power in Charge- decimation and destruction.

Albion continues to advance.

Bringing up the Albion guns.

Destruction reigns and Tradgardland troops retire off the table in middling order.

The Duke of Tradgardland and his aide watch from the safety of a cottage garden…

J

The Tradgardland left wing and centre begins to crumble.

Even the Duke cannot stop his routing men as they flee past him on the road…

Back lads ! They may not be using Scottish Blue Bell but they frighten me!

Massed Albion troops control the cover.

The Duke of Tradgardland, faithful greyhound and aide follow their broken army, victory to Albion this time.

Another day will come , probably using the rules from The WarGame by Grant. Thanks to Ronnie for transport,hospitality and a great fun game played in a true old school gentlemanly spirit, even if we were lacking ties.

Further Forgotten Sons- Infantry Action 1925 - 1975 or do you know David Snowden

 Mark of MofT’s recent post and my one of the other day reminded me of my favourite rules from my early teens-

Here they are by the Wargames Research Group. I really enjoyed my solo games with these. 

In the mid eighties l recall wanting to try them again but had misplaced my copy, possibly a grubby photocopy. I wrote to Duncan Macfarlane in his capacity as magazine editor trying to find a copy and one day this letter turned up from David Snowden of Harlow , Essex. Please read for yourself below-

In his kindness he sent a photocopied set of the rules in a binder with two or three playsheets. It was such a kind and generous thing to do.

I always wondered what happened to him and is he still gaming . Anyone know?

Annotated rules for melee. 

Firstly does anyone know David Snowden? Secondly the rules can be downloaded from here-

http://www.wrg.me.uk/WRG.net/History/OLDWRG/InfantryAction.pdf

Interestingly they suggest you can play with 54mm 1/32 figures on a normal sized wargaming table

Thirdly Mof T’s post-

https://manoftinblogtwo.wordpress.com/2025/06/20/airfix-and-spencer-smith-name-checked-in-how-to-create-an-army-appendix-from-charge-by-peter-young-and-j-p-lawford-1967/

Some like it hot…

 It was just too hot yesterday for me. I have had an even worse than usual time trying to sleep. Too hot to sit in the garden around midday. Yesterday saw me playing DBV again. An enjoyable non taxing game.

We pitted my Carolingians against P’s newly finished , relatively speaking, Arab Conquest force.

The Arabs take the high ground. I used flat foam hills as the figures kept slipping down the slopes last game. As ever P’s dice throwing was awful and my ability to throw sixes at a crucial moment, unbelievable. It is almost embarrassing.

Using dice or counters drawn from a bag to see which units have a chance to move is working really well. The rules are accessible and the majority of factors and movement distances are carried in our heads. After a close and see sawing game l won after l had killed the Arab Conquest force leader in one to one combat.

Continuing to enjoy my home grown strawberries which taste so much better than their gigantic shop bought cousins. Losing some to slugs but being vigilant…

The nasturtiums have really enjoyed the heat and rain and are a joy to behold. I have woken to a light breeze and cloudy sky, we shall see what the day brings.