Looking back and forward

 The other day l get the first instalment of my State Pension. A slightly momentous time , possibly a milestone passed. It certainly caused me to think about the passing of the years and my lost youth in particular . This got me thinking what would be a good way to mark this albeit in a small low key hobby manner. So l went for this-

As a boy l loved my Airfix figures and fought across the sitting room carpet endlessly. I recall buying my Airfix boxes at the newsagent’s near Happy Valley . I mixed WW1 and WW2 with careless abandon until my father explained the difference. I was also blessed with a dad who was a Roman aficionado and taken to Hadrian’s Wall and museums. Amongst my favourites of all the figures were the Ancient Britons and the Roman boxes!

So , in the light of Airfix re releasing them this summer what better a thing to do than pre order those Ancient Britons l loved then and still do. So l will need to be patient as I await their summer arrival and enjoy the anticipation of their return. I have gone for three boxes to give some options. Summer , sun and Airfix  what could be better ?

A reminder of what seems ages ago.

 Found these the other day. They are a 28mm DBA Swedish army l sent to a friend during Covid to participate in the games we played by Zoom then. The letter l sent in the box was there too. I am not sure whether to keep them intact in their postal box ( in the end they came back in person when we could meet again) as a memory or rebase and redeploy. Hmmm 🤔 

More Reivers

 Another enjoyable game yesterday. Here is the battlefield through the eyes of a passing crow-

We are getting to know the rules better and carrying much of them in our head. Again l umpired, made coffee, kept the players in check and added in a pun or two to proceedings.  This time we pitted a smaller force of better quality Reivers against a larger force of townsfolk with a unit of Warden’s men to give backbone. Reivers were to steal the cattle and pigs and the opposition was to stop them.

The reivers entering the farm complex and going to get some fine sausage material…

The Warden, his men and the townsfolk advancing to stop them thieving taking place.

A reiver makes off with cattle. There are rules for driving off cattle, controlling them and potentially losing control of them. Cattle may bolt if they hear gunfire and do so away from the noise. They may also bolt in a random direction at other times, same applying to the pigs.

That crow passing over the battlefield again seeing the ebb and flow of ascendancy during the fight. The reivers have been partially successful.

All in all terrific fun, not too taxing rules wise and full of tactical decisions. Looking forward to the next game…

Armies in Plastic or Fifty Four mm Fun

 Been working on these-

They are Armies in Plastic WW1 late war Germans. I am painting them grey and using them in two ways. Firstly as Austro Hungarian troops and secondly as Volkswehr of the new Austrian republic after WW1.

Here are the figures gloss varnished and nearly ready to go . They have turned out nicely and should look the part on the table. Notice 3d printed gun( thanks Doug) crewed by converted Airfix Japanese.

A very useful book with uniform ideas and campaign outlines. I will use it for ideas for games around the break up of the Austro Hungarian Empire. Rules thoughts are currently One hour Wargames, FLW and perhaps a more skirmish based set.

Finally was in the shed briefly and came upon an unopened box of Strelets , no idea when I got them,which will come in handy at some point in my Portable Wargame battles. A new Russian inspired interventionist force …

Passport to Pimlico or film as scenario or faction inspiration

 This is one of my favourite films. Some brief notes here-

https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/member%20picks/2024/03/30/passport-to-pimlico/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passport_to_Pimlico

I was musing on 15th century mounted English Archers in Burgundian service when I was giving another of Tidders kind gifts a strong tone wash and found this standard lying about, a photo opportunity ensued. Perhaps the Bren carrier and crew is the “modern” equivalent of those  Ordonnance Archers…

A couple of posters from the time , which look great.

So off to have think en route to volunteering this morning whist on the bus. Tanks as heavily armoured gendarmes? We shall see where this goes, one at least for the back burner if nothing more at present.

Have a good day planning your hobby wherever you are and whatever you are doing.

Ta Tidders! And a wee challenge for you readers…

 An exciting box of figures arrived in the Duchy last week from Tidders . They were surplus to requirements and passed on to me. A box full of delights indeed, thanks Tidders ! Here are some -

Enough to make a section for the VBCW . They were painted by Tidders.

In order to make them fit seamlessly with my figures l gave them a strong tone wash, gloss varnished them and painted the bases green. The scouts were converted a bit by the addition of rifles and the metal scout master had his arm removed my me and replaced by a Perry plastic arm with a Tommy gun. He looks rather pleased with himself ! I was pleased too as this conversion worked very well indeed.

A splendid command group of Top Brass with resplendent staff car and helpful ARP chap pointing the way to the lost . Utterly charming and so useful for VBCW and 1940! 

More Tidders Treasures as I work on them and integrate them into to my games.

Finally something l have been working on briefly for VBCW or even 1940…

A movie related standard bearer. Any guesses where he is from and what faction might he serve? TTFN.

The Imperium it is then.

 I am indebted to Neil Patterson , newly appointed as chief librarian ( honorary ) for the Duchy of Tradgardland and Head of Archives for The Imperium for bringing the below  to my attention 

https://tradgardland.blogspot.com/2017/07/interwar-imaginations-revisited-gaming.html?m=0

In this photo from the 1930s we see  Bibliotheksdirektor Patterson and his illustrious staff in action -

And so Herr Patterson has reminded us that the army unamed  in the previous post will henceforth be know as the Army of the Imperium.

Finally thanks  to all who suggested alternative names, most helpful but the Imperium it is!