Donald Featherstone’s “ Life and death of a wargamer”

 I was very moved to see this in one of the magazines l got from Ronnie. It was new to me, may be new to others and well worth sharing here-

Airfix v Timee

 Looked out my painted Timee figures to compare with the Airfix Space Warriors -

Some Timee , one with a changed head and others with slight postion changes of arms.

Wookie/ furry Timee Aliens , simple static pose but they manage to look menacing…

Airfix Space Warrior figures, better animated and sculpted. Have more charm about them. Even the baddies on the right. I guess Airfix had more money to put into their design and manufacturing.

My vote is for the Airfix. However the Timee will certainly have their place alongside in any Space Close Wars to come…

Go West

 Yesterday saw me in Glasgow with two of my daughters. A very enjoyable lunch was had here-

                           It was Kember and Jones in Byres Road . The food and coffee was excellent.

Afterwards we looked round charity shops and bookshops as well as the lovely Arts and Crafts shop in Ruthven Lane. I only bought one thing a hollow ceramic thingie for four pounds in a charity shop.

Here it is with some MLS figures. I like the hill and tree the building stands on. Not bad for £4! I don’t recognise the building style depicted, anyone identify it? Cheap tourist item which will grace the Wargames table probably on some imaginary Balkan country like the Duchy of Samovar.

Oophs they did it again or sign of the times…

 The Light Railway recently sent off for some signage. The men from the station look on confused-

                           They are confused as to why the names of two stations are on one sign!

Half an hour , some vigorous cutting and a strong cup of tea later they have separated the signs.

Here they are , four station signs looking a bit battered but perfectly serviceable with a little lick of paint.

( meanwhile in the real world. I tried to get signs made last year and they misspelled them, l said nothing. This year l sent off for some more signs and this time the spelling was correct but they put two station names in each sign , again I have said nothing. So l decided to use the mistake as part of the story, hence the above.)

Space warriors …

 I’ve been making a start on the Airfix space warriors- 

The green skinned lizard like aliens will form a squad with the black suited and cloaked figures. They will be opposed by the humans in greco- roman space gear.

I also looked online and in books for older space warriors-

I really like this space “ toy castle” looks full of play potentially.

Fascinating what was or is out there…

Clifton, the final part

 

Bagot’s hussar mount up in retreat and encounter the Georgia rangers…

The fight in the fields , redcoat v Jacobite…

The government highlanders retire to rally . Von Gruber gives them heart for the fight and some puns too!

A bird’s eye view of the village showing the general progress or not of the combatants.

Jacobite success in the foreground, bet they were glad they packed sword and targe not muskets!

Georgia Rangers confront some confounding rebels skulking behind a wall!

Bagot’s decide to press on up the road . Btw does anyone know if there are any connections with a ECW unit of the same name? 

Bird’s eye view towards the end of the battle. Government forces hold the village ( mainly) and Jacobites withdraw in good order ( relatively)

Fierce fighting around the hill and melee that swung back and forth , each side gaining the upper hand  however briefly…

Engraving showing how wee Johnny Northerner recalls the view from his hiding place during the battle. He was an eyewitness who later told his tale to the engraver.Made forty year after the battle.

Endgame! Honours were equal and a draw ensured. Government held the village and the Jacobites got away.

As for what Graf von Gruber did next, that’s a story for another day…

The John Ruddle article from Friday’s post

 Here is the article l referred to in Friday’s post-

Perfect Easter Bank Holiday reading , enjoy!