Sense,Sensibility and Les Higgins...

Yesterday (Saturday)saw the sunne shining here in Tradgardland. Coffee was made and provisions purchased and we headed off to the beach to drink coffee,paddle and enjoy the day. Our local beach (just over 6 miles) at Aberdour was too busy to park and so we headed off to Burntisland instead. Glorious views across blue crystal waters to Edinburgh - the Forth is amazing at times and we are fortunate where we live...
Enough of the travelogue .Prior to leaving the postman left a parcel in a largish jiffy bag. Mr John Cunningham had sent,as requested , some samples of 20mm ECW figures .They arrived very quickly indeed. He had very kindly sent ,as you can see, a generous array of figures- many thanks John! The Les Higgins chaps are delightful filled with character and just itching to be painted.I hope to have a go over the next few days - I do hope I can do them justice. As ever,dear reader, you will see the results here before anyone else.

The evening brought a quiet glass of ale and a movie on dvd- last night's choice being Ang Lee's excellent " Sense and Sensibility" awash with talent like Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson,Robert Hardy and too many more to mention. My thoughts drifted off to imagining the adventures of Colonel Christopher Brandon and Sir John Middleton in the army in India. I wondered what regiments they had been in,what campaigns etc. It is the stuff wargames projects are started by but I will put the thought carefully away for a future rainy day- there are already too many thoughts there already I fear...

Boules...

It is High Summer and the annual Boules championship has carried on for some weeks now in spite of some odd patches of rain last week....

We got the plastic set we still use around 10 years ago from the Early Learning Centre locally. They are still going strong and have been used in countless games here and at our holiday destinations over the years.

The girls have played since they were small and have grown up with the game- as teenagers they are still as keen ( and competitive!) as ever. Over the years I have had countless hours of fun with them and the game has developed and changed with the garden too.

Yesterday saw 13 games being played - myself without/with a partner against my other two daughters. It is played to win with no quarter sought or given - but mostly in a civilised fashion.

The game has much in common with Crown Green Bowling in so much as the slopes of the terrain add much to the game and the boule are thrown any way across the grass. A newish variant has seen the boule tossed across hedges ( very carefully I might add to preserve the garden) and over paths ( all boule ending up in a border or path are declared to be out of play) to add to the excitement.
A cheap purchase many moons ago has given hours of fun over the years and many happy memories too. BTW do any of you play games in the garden- other than with Lead Soldiers? Have a good weekend and may the sunne shine on you and yours.

On getting a new layer of skin and other arrivals...

Today a variety of reading material arrived here in the Duchy. The Airfix ECW guide came and is filled with many good things -many of which I remember from years ago when I had it in my late teens. It will certainly works well as a primer and has much to add to the knowledge of those with some knowledge already.

Also arriving here is the latest issue of the CWJ which has been enjoyed in the garden between cups of tea and games of Boule ( more of that anon) with the girls. As ever the journal has a good selection of articles with something for all tastes. My favourite is the Indian Mutiny stuff...

The day began with me adding another layer of skin, sorry super glue, to my fingers. What I was trying to do was to assemble some Perry plastic figures. What a mess I got into. I will try again tomorrow and hopefully get further with the task. Any advice more than welcome...

Thursday Night High Medievals Game...

Last night Phil W came over for a game. I can't think when we last played a game here- well over a year I guess. Anyway it was high time to give my 15th Century French ( their first game ever) an outing against Phil's Burgundians under charles the Bold. I do like the late 15th century as a period in history and these are two of my favourite armies for it. Phil has Swiss too BTW. Rules used ( for sake of familiarity and no other reason at all ) were DBM. A view from behind the French lines...

Into the game somewhat. Coffee has been served-mug by Emma Bridgewater,coffee by Jan. On the right flank the flower of chivalry collided in the form of Ordnance Gendarmes from both sides and the French bill/partizan men are meleeing Burgundian pike and archers. To the far left of the picture some dismounted Burgundians trudge their way forward in full harness...

A view ( with accompanying chocolate biscuits and diverse goodies- always essential part of any game- in this case TimeOuts...) from the French lines.Centre stage can be observed the knight commanding the French. He has just killed the Burgundian sub general in hand to hand combat. Both sides have lost many troops ,one French command has become demoralised,the gendarmes still hack about them but the game is over. Both sides leave the table in disarray . A draw is declared and Phil and I shake hands. It has been a good game. The superiority of the French Gendarmes has come into play not to mention some fortuitous dice throwing by me. The game left us looking forward to the next one and also thinking we need to look at other rules. We both have Terry Gore's Medieval Warfare and intend to have a look at them once more. I also intend to add to the French . All in all a good evening was had ...

Brief notices...

Fitzbadger- here is the link to the articles I mentioned-

http://vintagewargaming.blogspot.com/search/label/English%20Civil%20War

I do hope you find them inspiring and useful...

I am hoping to attend the Claymore wargames show in Edinburgh a week on Saturday and am already looking forward to it- excellent venue,interesting and inspiring games not to mention myriad traders...

Finally thanks for the excellent puns to add to my Scottish mappe- if you can think of anymore do post them here as I feel a bout of cartography coming on soon.

Finally a mention for a really amusing BBC comedy programme, ostensibly made for children , but very ,very funny for adults too.I know I mentioned it before but I like to enthuse over things I enjoy. It's called "I'm sorry I've got no head" and can be found on BBC i player if not on bbc1 or cbbc. Do give it a whirl. The sketch about a school for midshipmen in which there is a pirate was one of my favourites...

Another use for Grant ACW rules?

Morning all!I was having a look at Greg Novak's campaign guide (Remember the Maine and to hell with Spain - campaign Booklet IX) for this fascinating conflict over breakfast and was struck by the following quote- "This war did not last long enough to evolve tactics of its own, and was in many ways a rerun of the Civil War especially in the view of the American Army..." Has anyone used the Grant acw rules for this period?

Skirmish in Glen Michael...

Today I set up a small skirmish to try out the Neville Dickinson/Bayonet rules of circa 1969 kindly sent to me by Mark of late. Here is a battle report. The game takes place around 1639 in Glen Michael ,Scotland...
The Laird of Glen Michael's regt of foote advances upon some supporters of the Covenant( led by the Laird of Glen Campbell) who have taken up a position in a wood. It is hoped that they can be driven off from the Laird's land...

Alexander McNicol ( a professional soldier and veteran of the continental wars) commands the shotte to advance and bring fire upon the hedge. The Laird's men come under fire and take casulties...

A morale test is required, which the shotte fail, and so they retreat back to the waiting pike and Alexander McNicol...

With stirring words McNicol rallies the men and joins in as the whole regiment now advances upon the Laird of Glen Campbell's men reloading behind the hedge...

A furious exchange of musketry ensues and many casulties result from both sides.The men are wavering...

Finally both sides fail a morale test- the men of Glen Campbell rout back through the woods and the Laird of Glen Michael's Regt retreat from the battlefield.This is only the beginning of this "warre without an enemie..." in Scotland!

An enjoyable game was had using the aforementioned rules . Next time I will add more figures to the game including frames and cavalry and hopefully give the rules another playtest. I am more than certain they will be up to the job.