Setting up a game.

 Setting up the game from this previous post-

http://tradgardland.blogspot.com/2026/09/a-proper-tartar.html

The river crossing, in this case a ford , can be observed in the top left corner of the above photo.

The defenders will be diced for as well as when a relief column enters the table . The village/built up hexes are just pieces of cardboard cut out..

I finally found this Hexon scenery which fits the table well and looks good with the wooden trees and buildings..

Lake is no entry for any troop types.

The Tartar force enters the table . Now to dice for and place defenders. This games will be played over the coming week.

Change of direction 2

 

Some inspiration from an old magazine featuring a splendid game put on by those splendid fellows- The Continental Wars Society.

Looked out the background reading and uniform details for the painting.

A list compiled of the figures l currently own. Pendraken 28mm.

The box unpacked and sorted out a bit.

So here we are , a few figures currently on the painting table, ideas for rules forming and a wee project begins…

End of an era

 

Here is a photo of my father and his siblings, mid 1940s . My father , in school uniform, died forty years ago, my aunt three years ago and my uncle a matter of days ago . I was at his funeral yesterday with two of my daughters. My uncle was lovely ,kind and a fun filled man .

Only the other day l was telling someone about the pork butcher clan. They would drive to Bamburgh, from Scotland and the North of England, meet up on the beach for a picnic. The children played on the beach, the women chatted and the Old Men drank, played cards , swore and conversed in German. This was the 1930s and is how my mother told it.

With my Uncle’s death that is the end of my parent’s generation in the family. I guess l am now one of the Old Men, sadly not speaking German and playing with lead not cards. 

Apologies for this confusing and self indulgent post.

Change of direction

 

This is the change of direction for the coming weeks. 

Still able to sit in the garden with a coffee and enjoy the season.

Spent quite an amount of time  recently with Britains Herald figures and metal replacement heads.

I enjoy the physicality and craft nature of the drill and penknife.

Coming along nicely these Danes. In 54mm too.

However a change of plan has meant l won’t currently need them so they have been returned to barracks to await a bugle call in the future.

A proper tartar

 

Two of Eric Knowles's Tartar Generals taken into my Ottoman Army.

Eric Knowles’s labels on the underside of the bases.

The Grand Vizier has summoned the Tartar Generals and their troops.

They are charged with going ahead of the other troops to secure a river crossing vital to invasion plans.

With a loud cheer the Tartars ride off in a cloud of dust…

Opposition for the Ottomans

 

The Austrian and allies on the march. Note Balkan irregular light infantry at the front .

Austrian regiments and Bavarian ones including Freikorps Prielmayer.

Cavalry with back and breast and helmets supported by hussars.

Looking forward to getting some games in soon.

A braw wee tale

 

I love this tale, which historians are unconvinced by. It is referred to in the book by Balkan Dave l have previously mentioned. Keith in the below extract from an old book  is James Francis Edward Keith  (   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Francis_Edward_Keith )   by the way

RUSSIAN SERVICE. 
During this war with Turkey a very curious incident
happened to Keith, illustrative of the " wandering Scot."
In the year 1739, when a treaty of peace was being agreed
upon between the two belligerents, the commissioners for
this purpose were Keith on the part of Russia, and the Grand
Vizier on that of Turkey. These two personages met
and carried on their negotiations by means of interpreters.
When all was concluded they rose to separate. Keith
made his bow with his hat in his hand, and the Vizier his
salaam with his turban on his head. But, when these
were over, the Vizier turned suddenly round, and, coming
up to Keith, took him by the hand, declaring in the
broadest Scotch dialect that it made him " unco happy to
meet a countryman in his exalted station." Keith, com-
pletely surprised, looked eagerly for an explanation, when
the Vizier said, " Dinna be surprised, man •, I'm o' the
same country wi' yoursel'. I min weel seein' you and yer
brither, when boys, passin'. My father, sir, was bellman
o" Kirkcaldy ."

True or false my 25mm Ottoman Turks will be commanded by a Grand Vizier who hails from Fife. Here he is resplendent in green in front of his braw command tent-

Any suggestions for his name in the Eric Knowles style and with a Scottish flavour most welcome indeed.