I was putting the milk bottles out when l noticed a parcel had been slipped behind a plant pot by the P.O. It was small and easily missed by me and was now rather damp. It was a wee EBay purchase-
They were semi flat French ! I have never seen them before and was keen to get some. All will serve well in my gaming.
40mm semi flat, cavalry, tanks, artillery and infantry on Manoeuvres.
Change is as good as a rest they say. Although I don’t have a great deal of time this week l am returning to this project from last year-
Hope to get a few semi flats begun…
In case you have forgotten what this was about follow the HRE label at the bottom of the post. It will take you to a Europe that never was…
In a house that never was , her family home, Lilli finds these items that remind her of the all consuming hobby-
Life post Covid has become very hectic with family matters and guiding duties. However l have taken forward my Volare Cantare troops and scenery forward a little as well a little think on the rules. Here are the figures on the work bench as of this morning-
Been playing around with ideas for these imaginary rules. The non existent original is a crumpled pamphlet , in gothic script, found in a box of abandoned toys in an attic somewhere in mittel Europe that looks much like Nuremberg but isn’t.
The game commences with each side taking turn about to place one figure on the board. Each square can hold up to 3 infantry, three cavalry, two tanks or one machine gun/ artillery.
Movement is in squares- infantry 2 , cavalry 3, tank2 , guns 1 amended by terrain.
Firing - each figure throws a d6 5,6 to hit , 6 if target is in cover. Saving throw is a six.
Infantry fire with one d6 , machine gun, tank with four as do artillery.
Range unlimited for artillery, four for mg/ tank and three for infantry.
And that’s it so far. Pictures below are me working out arc of fire for machine guns and simple infantry combat.
A rainy evening in the Duchy . I had binned for good my current viewing ( Sandman) due to the unpleasantness set in a diner, nah tooo much! I was looking around for something to watch and at the back of my mind I recalled that “The Grand Budapest Hotel “ had been mentioned. I gave it a go and am thoroughly enjoying it. Just the ticket for someone who loves imaginations.
In other news I have been working on semi flat scenery. Early days yet but it might well work out ok.
P.S amazing thunderstorm last night , quite the most spectacular here for years!
Thanks for your kind words. My experience of Covid this time was that it was much worse than when I last had it in January. I was surprised how it laid me low and my daughter too. I feel I am just turning the corner now…
I have listened to Round the Horne , started the Sandman on Netflix, listened to the radio cricket as well as Tolkien podcasts. These have been my background to dozing quite a lot of the time. Guilty tv pleasure was “Come dine with me “ repeats
Here are a few pictures of an 40mm interwar imaginations game I set up recently. In more lucid moments I have been imagining a simple, child friendly game played on a grid in a 1920s that never was. I have called it “ Kleine kreig fur kinder” . An odd note was jotted down. The pictures represent such a game. I will close now as I am going to doze.
Welcome to Scalcagnato, The Duchy of Volare Cantare’s overseas colony. Unbiased accounts of the tiny North African fishing village see it a place to pass through rather than to stay yet to the Duke it is a glorious place albeit tiny and a tad run down.
Lilli goes over to the gramophone and puts on a record.
As usual she chooses her favourite “Neunundneunzig Rote Husaren” by Nena and her band.
As the music plays Lilli flicks through Herr Schneider’s catalogue and finds the figure she is looking for-
Essential reading before Saturday and the coming game next week. Lilli closes her eyes listens to the music and dreams of horsemen riding through the cobbled streets…
Found these eight figures in identical uniforms today. Looking for ideas for what they could represent on the tabletop ? Possibly Landwehr or Landstrumm? All suggestions welcome.
Well over to you - what unit are they and what is their uniform?
Been working the last couple of days on my 40 mm figures. I want to get some finished in order to set up a few games. The light blue uniforms are inspired by Bavarian uniforms of 1914 whilst the dark blue ones are inspired by Wurttemberg also from 1914. The jaegers are in green or light blue with green cuffs and collar.
The figures are a mix of sizes, makers and types, it doesn’t matter , as what I am trying to achieve is a scene in an imaginary 1920’s nursery , in a world which never existed where the checkerboard of little Germanic states flourished with no ww1 in the past or ww2 to come.
Simple paint job, gloss varnish and diverting, engaging fun for all ages.
Found these interesting snippets of film yesterday afternoon. The last snippet shows Swedish troops using a tractor to tow artillery.
https://www.britishpathe.com/video/tanks-in-austria-aka-army-manoeuvres-in-austria/query/Manoeuvres
https://www.britishpathe.com/video/VLVA2A65LI7TR7FZRL1ZD7GC8CLKT-GR-12611/query/Manoeuvres
https://www.britishpathe.com/video/king-of-spain-on-manoeuvres/query/Manoeuvres
Hope you found these interesting.
The morning saw me out in the garden trying to sort the hedge. After a successful time I was able to have a quiet afternoon painting some semi flats-
A while back I put up a picture on Facebook homecasts page of a semi flat tank I would have liked to have recruited more of. James Mc kindly got in touch and sent me a package l was finally able to pick up this morning-
Many thanks to James for his kindness and generosity.
