Skirmishing in Sherwood.

Been skirmish gaming today with these rules-

Great to see some of the recent restorations play their first game for many years.

Duelling Cavaliers and Merry Men

Finished these repair jobs this afternoon-

 

Here is the end result except for a coat or two of pva to seal them-

For Stephen

Unfortunately I was unable to track down these photos online but I am indebted to Mark ,Man of Tin, for providing me with the following newspaper cutting-

Britains/Herald rarities from the early 1960s

These figures came into my possession recently. I believe them to be made in limited numbers in the sixties after the unrest/civil war in the late fifties. Here are some photos of them.

A milita figure based on the zookeeper model. He is equipped with steel helmet, rifle and Molotov cocktail in the form of a wine bottle. Notice the quick factory paint job. These were hastily produced to cash in on the victory celebrations.

The above Royal Marine figures depict the Marines who fought in a mix of ceremonial and combat uniforms. Again hurriedly manufactured for the victory celebrations. Factory paint job is marginally better. Below are the final figures representing the Grenadier Guards who went into battle wearing their bearskins ( who can forget the famous picture of them in action on the streets of London on the cover of the Daily Express) due to necessity. Hasty factory conversions again with head swops and paint job.

If  anyone finds any more of these rarities please let me know.

Robin Hood

Torrential rain in Tradgardland today. I decided to work on some of my Robin Hood figures using cocktail sticks, wire ,masking tape and glue. Just ignore the other figures, more about them later.

Fast and Furious Fifties

Feeling in the need of a  complete gaming change , so set up a blatantly toy soldier game set in Albion in the 1950s. Will play it tomorrow when rain is forecast. Enjoyed gardening and a wood walk today

Found whilst exploring under the eaves this morning.

Looking for something ( unsuccessfully) today and I came across this catalogue. I have some of his cards etc somewhere but can’t seem to find them. Anyway enjoy the whimsy of Peter Barnfield-

Very Old school

Found this useful diagram about how to make rivers. I enclose also some other pages from the book.

Basing for garden gaming

The weather continues to be rainy here. In my last garden gaming post I curtailed the game and turned it into brief manoeuvres instead. I was worried that the Mdf bases might get affected by the damp grass. Good suggestions were made including varnishing the bases. I thought about it for some time and came up with an all weather solution- 3mm thick 60mm square or round bases, incidentally the same size as the Mdf ones. As soon as the rain went off I went outside for a field test-

Success, the bases worked well both in terms of look and waterproof nature of them. I will rebase the armies and get ready to enjoy the great outdoors! The acrylic ones are just the ticket.

Battle in the thaw part one

Somewhere in Tradgardland...

Thaw rules: any infantry crossing the  river will fall through the ice on a 1  and any cavalry crossing will fall  through the ice on a 1or 2. Dice to see if they survive the water, a 6 needed to do so.

Scandinavian field fortifications , the brate

A brate is an obstacle built across a road ( in country where there are not many roads) built of logs, stones etc to stop cavalry and to delay infantry. They were defended with bows and crossbows as well as  spears/ two handed axes. Here is an old woodcut depicting one in use.

And some pictures of them in use on the wargames table-

Swiss Army manoeuvres today.

Tried to play outdoors today but the grass was very damp and I was concerned about the mdf bases becoming soggy. Plan changed to brief manoeuvres instead-

One hour wargames , Up the Blue etc

Yesterday I saw a presentation at the VWC of an AWI game in 28mm using the “One hour wargames “ rules. It got me thinking ( along with https://narrativesolowargames.blogspot.com/2020/01/take-high-ground.html and his splendid games using “Up the blue” variant of the Neil Thomas rules) of using the One Hour rules with my 54mm set up. So a game was set up, just to try things-

In the meantime the new recruits were training in mountainous terrain and are currently making their way along a narrow ledge somewhere in the mountains...

What I am working on...

Spent some of today moving some figures forward-

Firstly some Albion desert infantry, from various manufacturers, for use with the Frankish foreign legion and Arab figures. Secondly some ancients - an Expeditionary Force Druid which will be a fine addition to my Celts and a legionary standard bearer ( thanks Tidders for these unexpected recruits) who with some Roman odds and ends will form a group of first century Romans ( survivors of a defeated army)  trying to get back to to their own troops. In other words a skirmish game with a little role playing element re skills etc.

Later in the day the post man arrived with some Frankish recruits-

In the form of AIP ww1 French. I am painting them up as 1930 Chasseurs a  pied to fight alongside my Chasseurs dAlpine to oppose the Duchy of Volare. In the background are some Roman damaged figures getting new shields and others converted to auxilia. I hope to get a little more done tomorrow.