Mounted Chasseurs …errr no …Lancers

As if the European war of 1813 were not traumatic enough for all involved some had to deal with a little more change than others. A case in point were the men of the 4th Mounted Chasseur Regiment of the Army of the Duchy of Warsaw who found themselves reconfigured as the 4th Lancer Regiment of the Army of Warsaw.

Lances were issued but their mounted chasseur uniforms remained unchanged until later in the year when lancer styled uniforms were issued. This change did not extend to the regiment’s shabraques however which remained as the green edged crimson mounted chasseur stye.

Fortunately for von Peter himself – and less fortunately for the regiment who will no doubt have multiple command indignities thrust upon them by the same von Peter himself over the years yet to come – the regiment appears in the 18th Light Cavalry Brigade commanded by General de brigade Krukowiecki which is subordinate to the independent 27th (Polish) Division of General de division Dombrowski. The very same Division that von Peter himself is replicating in his 1813 28mm Napoleonic forces.

Once a smattering of uniform details and been sourced – mostly from W. J. Rawkins The Army of the Duchy of Warsaw 1807–1814 – then the search for suitable figures was initiated. Obviously the uniform details informed the selection but also – because von Peter himself can be a little overly attentive to such things – the figure size. The regiment would be joining a brigade of Front Rank Figurines so a match with these was desired. Happily Front Rank Figurines themselves were able to provision the regiment via the French cavalry Line Lancer In Czapska figures FNC95 onwards – the ones with the plume, not the pompom versions. Dutch & Polish Guard Lancer figures.

Above: the regiment is a colourful addition to the 18th Light Cavalry Brigade … and will be even more so once it is issued with pennons! Click for a larger and clearer image.

Once the figures had been procured and lain around in the unpigmented figure pile for a suitably lengthy period of time 😭 they were cleaned up, had home made brass rod lances fabricated & attached and then forwarded along with the uniform details to Nigel Fun-nell for pigmentation. As can be see that pigmentation process has been completed in a most exemplary manner. Thank you Nigel. And von Peter himself has bestirred himself and managed to base the regiment. The regiment has even been issued a GMB Designs standard and is all but complete.

All but complete because there are as yet no lance pennons to provide that extra visual zing. Historically these were quartered crimson and white. Hardly the most complex of pennons but von Peter himself is an idle b*st*rd at the best of times and he is under the distinct impression that GMB Designs will create and provide these. So for now the issuing and raising of the pennons will have to wait. This is 1813 after all. Everything is in short supply!

Above: the regiment has swivelled slightly to flaunt their green mounted chasseur shabraques (and put the trumpeter slightly in the shade. D’oh!) Click for a larger and clearer image.

The 18th Light Cavalry Brigade is now complete and is available in its entirety for active duty. Well almost complete. Just a few pennons short! …

18th Light Cavalry Brigade: General de brigade Krukowiecki
2nd Polish Uhlan Regiment
4th Polish Uhlan Regiment
1st Polish Horse Battery

Perhaps a photo or two would be in order. Eventually.

Ungrateful wretch … The son & heir

Bastion No. 2 at Neu Schloss von Peter hosted a game over the Christmas – New Years holiday period. A Sharp Practice Napoleonic game set on the endless steppes of 1812 Russia.

The minions of that Corsican chap had captured a top hat wearing English chap who was being held in a humble steppe settlement under the watchful eyes of a Bavarian detachment. The Russians had got wind of this and being keen to keep British assistance flowing determined that a rescue was in order. Unfortunately for the top hat wearing English chap word of the impending rescue mission had leaked and a mostly Saxon force was rushed to ensure that no rescuing shenanigans were to occur.  In other words we played Scenario Six: Rescue Mission on page 76 of the Sharp Practice rules.

The son & heir took the role of a French lackey which left von Peter himself as the fighter for truth justice etc etc etc.  😇

And how did the daring rescue mission unfold? Suffice to say that the top hat wearing English chap was never in any danger of being transferred from Bavarian to Russian custody. A highlight(?!) of the game was the astoundingly sub par dice rolling on both sides much to the relief of many of the little metal miniature men.

Above: A view of the game from behind the main Saxon & French relief force. The clear counters represent shock, the green counters casualties. The dear reader cannot see it but there are a greater number of these counters behind the two lead Russian units. The son & heir would soon get some charges in with fresh columns against these two Russian units who would prove that “they don’t like it up ’em” to quote Corporal Jones of Dad’s Army fame. Just over the top of the thatched building in the distance can be seen some figures even further in the distance. These are Russian Hussars who rightly or wrongly were meant to sweep around the settlement but instead became an example of poor horse management as they were pushed into a gallop to speed their progress and then rolled extremely high dice and went way way too far in their compulsory straight ahead progress. They did not figure in the game. D’oh!  🤬 Click for a larger and clearer view.

Battlechat Podcasts

At the time of typing Henry Hyde’s Battlechat Podcasts offers 107 episodes to consume albeit one of them is only available to Henry’s Patrons. Each episode has Henry chatting with a person of note from the Wargaming hobby and as such some may be of interest to The dear reader and some may not.

Whilst not always in agreement with Henry von Peter himself had happily listened to a select few interviews in the past but the Christmas – New Years holiday break occasioned many more being consumed. Just select the interviews that are off interest and ignore the others. A reminder heads-up for The dear reader.

There’s a new hobby shop in town

At least there is if you live on the Kapiti Coast, New Zealand. Mini-Kiwiland Shop is a generic hobby shop and is located upstairs at

1/2 Coastlands Parade
Paraparaumu 5032
New Zealand

The showroom is on the first floor above Calico Keep, a board games and trading cards shop . The entrance is on the side of the old main road (former SH1), right at the underpass to the railway station.

From the About Us page …

Our Goal
Our goal is to offer a wide range of models and miniatures at an affordable price and raise money for the Mini-Kiwiland Attraction.

The original idea was to have a hobby shop, cafe and souvenir shop with the international attraction. Wellington born Robert Verhoef started the hobby shop in 2016 after he couldn’t find the material and figures needed for the attraction in New Zealand Hobby Shops or for excessive prices.

Robert found out that the hobby world in New Zealand is no different from what happens with petrol stations and supermarkets: A few players take advantage of a powerful/monopoly position to charge high prices to New Zealanders.

He started to import model railway brands that had no distributor in New Zealand, such as Preiser, Faller, Noch, Busch and Vollmer/Kibri. This went so well, that Robert wanted to expand the Mini-Kiwiland Shop catalogue by approaching New Zealand distributors. Unfortunately, no one was interested in supplying the Mini-Kiwiland Shop.

As a result, the Mini-Kiwiland offers 100% own imported products for often at a much more affordable price.

Due to the pandemic in 2020, the Mini-Kiwiland Tourist attraction had to be put on hold. At this stage, the focus is on setting up a hobby shop first with a wide range of models and miniatures for an affordable price.

The Mini-Kiwiland Shop continues to look for more suppliers and brands overseas and ways to keep prices down as much as possible.

Watch out for their opening hours …

The opening hours of our showroom in Paraparaumu are as follows:

Tuesday 12pm – 4pm
Wednesday 12pm – 4pm
Thursday 12pm – 4pm
Friday 12pm – 4pm
Saturday 10am – 3pm

Pick up options for online orders:

Tuesday 12pm – 5pm
Wednesday 12pm – 5pm
Thursday 12pm – 5pm
Friday 12pm – 5pm
Saturday 10am – 5pm

Napoleon the movie

After great hopes Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon” has been released in cinemas to a general panning regarding its adherence – for lack thereof – to history. von Peter himself is not sure why we would ever hold out hope for a historically accurate movie from Hollywood etc. Ridley Scott did himself no favours with his “were you there” statement when the history was queried. Hearing disturbing reports von Peter himself chose not to pay to see the movie in a cinema. Neu Schloss von Peter provides access to Apple TV+ and Napoleon will eventually be available – perhaps as an extended directors cut – there.

Why this is raised here is that von Peter himself was investigating L ‘Hotel de Hercé  – note that the site is currently down for updating – and came across the related French Wargame Holidays at L’Hotel de Hercé facebook page. The following three humourous images have been shamelessly “borrowed” form there …

And a belated Happy New Year to all of The dear readers. May you and yours all enjoy a happy and prosperous 2024.

Enough.

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself

A graduation and knife fighting

Congratulations are due to the The son & heir who has earned himself a degree. To be fair there were suspicions amongst the support crew that maybe there was some cunning scam being played. So a trip to Dunedin and the graduation ceremony was organised as a means of verification. A little surprisingly the graduation parade and ceremony all seemed above board. And careful examination of the certificate likewise failed to raise any concerns of any authenticity shenanigans. It seems that The son & heir has indeed earned himself a degree. Congratulations and well done that man.

During each of the three years that The son & heir has been domiciled in Dunedin getting himself all degreed up yearly visitations were undertaken by his proud parents. And never once – despite multiple attempts – did von Peter himself manage to get to frequent The Duke of Wellington public establishment with its 20ish imported beers and militaryish surroundings. To make things worse The son & heir was a frequenter of said establishment. That wrong has now been put to right … on the way to the airport …

Above: von Peter himself did not sample the Spitfire brew available but he did quite enjoy their promotional material …

Little wars

Having covered himself in academic glory The son & heir returned to Neu Schloss von Peter for a few weeks of eating, consuming electricity, catching up with friends and general battery recharging. Last summer The son & heir created a terrain board – a first of several? – and this was dragged out for a couple of Sharp Practice games. Because The son & heir wanted to use plenty of the available terrain both ended up as urban knife fights which presented some challenges different tp the normal.

The first game was set in 1813 and saw opposing Prussians and Saxons scouring an urban environment for a posse of informers who had been two timing both sides. Seven civilian figures were spread across the table and these would move randomly on their own card in the game deck.

Above: a sleepy war weary little town somewhere in Saxony 1813. The locals go about their business with a mere three concerns – the ever nearing war; the fool standing in the way of the sunlight; and the finger partially covering the lens upper left.

Above: a little later and the sleepy little town is sleepy little town is about to be rudely awoken by the whoring warring Prussians of The son & heir himself and the humanitarian Saxons lead by that internationally beloved philanthropist von Peter himself.

Above: a little little later on. Men have started turning into casualties. The Prussian jägers in the centre have just dealt a severe hand of death (red markers) and shock (green markers) to a some Saxon Musketeers which has pushed them back as the shock is greater than the remaining figures. Fortunately for the Saxons these musketeers managed to avoid further Prussian ire and were to slowly regain their composure and be still in the fight at the end of the battle.

On the far right further Saxon musketeers manfully stride down the side of the town to get the jump on the Prussian jägers which they manage to do but over a series of two separate “fisty cuffs” were banished from the table by those same jägers.

To the left of the battered Saxon musketeers can be seen what looks like a Russian mounted officer. Actually he’s a Saxon officer that looks like a Russian officer from a distance! To the right of the same musketeers is a Saxon officer who looks like a Saxon officer. Officer identification can be a tricky thing! They are both where they are as they are attempting to bring on further troops.

Over the central wall from the Prussian jägers some Saxon jägers can just be made out and are currently interrogating a Lady of quality dressed in yellow in an attempt to flush out a two timing agent of espionage.

On the far left further Saxon musketeers advance down the side of the town. They were to be met by superior numbers of Prussian musketeers and were swiftly erased form the Saxon muster rolls. Sob.

At the back of the board mostly hidden by the orange roof tiles are more Prussian musketeers.

The battle raged with various units coming & going and the usual ups & downs for both sides. Several turncoats were uncovered but all managed to escape when their “escorting” infantry were “dispersed”. Ultimately the Saxons squeaked a victory and so earned the right to write the history of the battle and its protagonists.  😃

I – N – T – E – R – V – A – L

Off came the european buildings and on came some eastern / Russian domestic structures. The clock was turned back to 1812 and the scene to the northern flank of Napoleon’s invasion of Russia. The Bavarians were keen to spring an ambuscade to grab some Russian supplies as they were being ferried through local village. The rumour was that previously captured bratwurst was in that wagon!

Above: the Bavarians can almost smell the bratwurst but have turned to tackle the Russian rearguard rather than fill their knapsacks. The dice knew their duty and the Bavarians were not long for participating in this battle.

This was a much quicker game as the dice firmly came down on the side of him who had procured them – von Peter himself. Nearly everything The son & heir tried failed or was shabbily treated by those special Bavarian dice. Reinforcement refused to come on until they were in a position to be massacred by their Russian opponents. “Fisty cuffs” and shooting likewise came to very little. A short sharp brutal encounter to the glory of Mother Russia. Huzzah.

Above: joint MVP of the Bavarian vs. Russian petite battle. The dice

 

Remember Dear readership that many of the images can be “clicked” for larger and clearer versions.

 

And now for something completely different … can you hear the tramp tramp tramp of approaching 28mm Polish infantry. von Peter himself can. Stand by.

 

Enough.

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself

Some Napoleonic bits

Shamefully no newly pigmented figures have rolled off the production line of von Peter himself since the last missive. Soon Dear reader, soon. But still there is information worthy of the effort required to publish it …

General d’Armee: the videos

As has seemingly become their want TheTooFatLardies have created some videos to support the soon to be released Napoleonic rules General d’Armee.

For any of The dear readers who may be a little confused at this juncture please note that General d’Armee is being published by Reisswitz Press which is an arm of that wargaming conglomerate The TooFatLardies (TFL). Reisswitz Press being utilised by TFL to publish rules etc not created by the TooFatLardies themselves. By way of illustration General d’Armee has been penned by David Brown.

So back to the videos with descriptive wordage ‘borrowed’ from the TooFatLardies …

Dave Brown introduces his new Napoleonic wargames rules published by Reisswitz Press. Here Dave talks about the size of forces needed for the rules …

In the second of the General d’Armee series, author, Dave Brown, talks about the game turn and its structure …

Dave Brown talks about the real heart of his new rules, General d’Armee, in the video about Command & Control and Initiative …

Here Dave Brown, author of General d’Armee, talks about the next phase in the game sequence; the Charge. Fix bayonets and enjoy! …

It is the understanding of von Peter himself that that least eight videos have been produced with the remainder soon to put in an appearance.

 

Internecine warfare

The son & heir happened to be on a two week break from his studies in Dunedin. Being of a naturally generous nature he decided that the two weeks would best be spent at Neu Schloss von Peter consuming food, beverages, tv, internet and last but not least hot water.

This was all too much. Such unrestrained raiding could not be left unchallenged. A man needs to protect what is his after all. Armed conflict seemed unavoidable. von Peter himself sent forth a scouting party of Bavarians whilst The son & heir despatched his own scouting force of Prussians. The two bumped into one another in the vicinity of a small farm occupied by a few innocent civilians.

These unfortunates were of great interest to the military men who wished to gently issue them invites – that they couldn’t refuse – back to their respective military camps to ‘discuss’ the local area. If not in the clutches of one of the two militaries the civilian figures could randomly move which annoyingly they mostly chose not to do in the game.

A couple of pictures to recount this episode of kleine warfare at the edge of the main armies. Don’t be forgetting to be clicking the pictures for a larger and clearer view.

Above: Those dastardly Prussians are all over the majority of the civilians early in the game.  The dice were to prove themselves Prussian sympathisers early on.

In the bottom left some Volunteer Jager (green coats) of the 1st Silesian Infantry Regiment and their rifles are taking advantage of a copse of trees to lay down some hurt on a Bavarian Landwehr unit that is to the left of this image.

Poor Gunter – lugging around a sack of produce over his shoulders in the field  at the bottom of the image – is destined to be caught in the crossfire of these two units for several turns and miraculously survived!

In the centre leftish some Prussian Landwehr shelter behind a wall and welcome wheelbarrow pushing Hans into their ranks with the offer of hospitality that he cannot refuse. Hans obviously lost control of the barrow as he pushed it right into the Prussians.

A little up and to the right of the Landwehr a detachment of the 1st Silesian Infantry Regiment have welcomed the farm proprietors Elfriede in her yellow dress and Konrad in his Sunday best green jacket. The offer not to be refused is being made.

Top left a detachment of the 1st Silesian Infantry Regiment with their red flag are escorting Ada off the board prior to their return.

In the top right corner can be seen Clothilda in her red scarf annoying running from the pursuing Bavarians a little of whom can just be made out top right.

Above: Later in the game the Bavarians have managed to assume a central position. Those dastardly Prussians have made off with most of the civilians though out of sight to the left Gunter is still stranded between the lines and Clothilda is being kept close by the Bavarian light troops and their mounted officer at the extreme right behind the tree.

The Prussian troops of the 1st Silesian Infantry Regiment to be seen over the farm buildings have delivered their civilians off table and will soon form a column to storm back up the table to the right of the farm buildings,

The Bavarians in the centre will soon send a detachment of line troops in their corn flower blue and the second detachment of green clad light troops just visible in front of the white washed farm building to the right to try and shoot up the soon to be visiting Prussian column.

The rest of the central Bavarians will pivot to the left to take the Prussian Volunteer jagers – not visible here – under fire.

The dice were to realise the earlier  error of their ways and turn on the dastardly Prussians. The skirmishing Prussian Volunteer Jagers and the main column were to suffer inordinately.

The Bavarians were left with the feel good factor at the end due to some excellent shooting at the death – a poor pun! – but though the Prussians suffered at the end they could claim to be victors as they’d rounded up more civilians and got most of them off table to their camp. And everyone knows that a civilian in the camp is worth more than one in the ranks and still on the table!

A Sharp Practice game.

And of note The son & heir had painted all the Prussians he used in the game except for two mounted officers. The warmonger!  😃

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself

Christmas 2016 stocking fillers

It’s nearly Christmas … again. This will be the 2016 edition. In their time honoured fashion – and to cut their losses! – the employer of von Peter himself has proclaimed …

“do not darken our door ever again … at least not until the 9th January 2017”.

So von Peter himself is on enforced leave. Not that Fraulien von Peter herself seems to have the slightest understanding of the concept of annual leave as she pronounces each days activities like a maddened town cryer at some hard labour penitentiary establishment.  Apparently hosting the great Christmas feast means that Neu Schloss von Peter and its grounds must be up to the highest standard for the honourable guests. Damn their squinty little eyes!!

Of course the view of von Peter himself could be a little tainted and really most of the days are his own to consume as he pleases. But far be it from von Peter himself to pass up the opportunity for a good cathartic moan.  😇

While the good Fraulien’s back was turned von Peter himself availed himself of the opportunity for a quick recce of the ‘net to make two joyous discoveries …

Calpe Saxon Command

The Calpe Miniatures website has had a most pleasing update.

Firstly remodelled mounted officers are available for the Saxon musketeer battalions …

S22 Four mounted musketeer officers (Horses included)

Next up are figures representing the Saxon higher command personages …

SC1 – Divisional command. Lieutenant General, Chief of Staff, Adjoint and ADC (Horses Included)

SC2 – Brigade command. Commanding colonel, adjoint, ADC. (Horses included)

SC3 – Brigade command. Commanding colonel, adjoint, ADC. (Horses Included)

Both four mounted figure packs cost £11.00 with the three mounted figure packs coming in at £8.25. Quite the bargain.  ✅

And for those that may struggle to select the appropriate pigments when colouring these new figures then Calpe Miniatures have of course come to your rescue in their Guides & Research pages, more specifically at Saxon Brigade and Divisional command groups.

Another option is the The Royal Saxon Army 1792-1814 e-book from The History Book Man.

What haven’t yet appeared on the Calpe website are the Saxon grenadiers as revealed in  “Saxon grenadiers marching from Calpe Towers” but it is still the understanding of von Peter himself that these figures are available. Just ask for them when ordering. Maybe the command type figures are now also available for the grenadiers.

Likewise the French light infantry command packs reported in “Figure and more Calpe figures” have not yet made their way to the website. Once again ask for them when ordering.

Pictures “borrowed” from the Calpe Miniatures website where one can also see pictures of the rear of the models.

A campaign system for those small wars

The TheTooFatLardies have released their first supplemental for their well received black powder skirmish plus rule set Sharp Practice. Dawns & Departures provides a campaigning system to add context for you heroes table top adventures. From the website …

In search of adventures for your Sharp Practice characters? If so you have just found them with Dawns & Departures, the campaign handbook for Sharp Practice, providing endless campaign options with our easy to manage and fun to play Narrative Campaign system.

79 pages in length, Dawns & Departures provides everything you need to generate your campaign world, find out what your mission is and then get cracking on some fabulous adventures. Make valuable friends, gain influence at court and a reputation as a fighting man. Battle sworn enemies across a whole world and seek your fortune as you make your name in the black powder era.

Like At the Sharp End for Chain of Command, Dawns & Departures has been designed for ease of play and an absolute minimum of paperwork. Whole campaigns can be run from one sheet of paper with this simple but elegant campaign system.

This is a PDF product formatted for low ink use and easy reading on a tablet.

Available only as a pdf Dawns & Departures sounds like it is well worth the £7.50 asking price. A likely stocking filler for von Peter himself this festive season.

 

And a Merry Christmas and Happiest New Year to all The dear readers. Many a thank you for keeping von Peter himself company through the course of 2016.

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself

Call to Arms 2016 and the religious relic carrying waggon

The local wargames convention – Call to Arms – was held on the weekend of 6 – 7 August 2016. The son & heir and von Peter himself added that touch of celebrity to the proceedings on the Saturday by participating in a Sharp Practice 2 Napoleonic game. Ray provided the scenario and the French with Dan and Michael rounding out the five players involved.

von Peter himself and The son & heir were the first to arrive from our happy band of gamers. It was a cold wintry day outside and initially not much better inside the hall so an empty demonstration table situated under some heating and by the refreshments seemed like a gift from the wargaming gods. As there were no other obvious demonstration tables about it was rapidly claimed. We later learned that it was not our designated table but some other swine had ‘stolen’ our official table so we stayed put. Subsequently we were to discover that the wargaming gods have quite the sense of humour. The temperature about our table rose … and rose … … and rose. We started shedding layers of clothing – but not passed the point of decency The dear reader can be assured! It was not just the battle that was heating up through that day.

The setting was 1814 France, specifically the town and surrounds of St Pierre wherever that is. The action was the culmination of a chase that had been ongoing in one form or another since the godless French looted the holy relics of St. Basil from a church in Holy Russian during the atrocities of 1812. Fortunately for the pursuing Russians the religious relic carrying waggon containing ‘the precious’ has lost a wheel and unfortunately for the French the local blacksmith has fled at the first mention of the word ‘cossack’. This has unsurprisingly added greatly to the difficulties of repairing the religious relic carrying waggon. And wouldn’t you know it the Russians have now appeared. Merde! Can the French repair and extract the waggon before the Russians recover their religious and pricey artefacts?

What follows is a sporadic photo summary of the game. Sporadic because when von Peter himself wasn’t playing the game he was socialising. In between these two activities he would occasionally think to take some photographs. And to add to the challenge those photographs were taken without the aid of a tripod so apologies for their quality.

But first some background for The dear readers …

• the scenario called for more Russian light cavalry than was available. Fortunately Blücher was not adverse to lending some Prussian cavalry to his Russian allies. Anything to upset the French! Irrespective of how they looked all the Allied cavalry were played as Russian hussars. Those first rank Russian hussars with lances did not get to use them in the game.
• the religious relic carrying waggon had its own card in the deck. Each time it appeared the French rolled 2 six sided dice and accumulated the score. Once they surpassed a score of 37(?) the religious relic carrying waggon would be adjudged to be repaired. After that the waggon would move as an infantryman on the turn of it’s card.
• generally the Russians were men who had well learned their military trade through the wars whereas some of the French were recently called to the colours.
• for the uninitiated a ‘Group’ is the base unit of infantry and cavalry in Sharp Practice. They have no real formation. Multiple Groups can join together to make a ‘Formation’. No surprisingly Formations have a formation, e.g. a line, column, square etc. Formations fight much better but being in set formations they are more difficult to manoeuvre around the battlefield. The terminology may be  a little confusing but it all seems to work just fine. 😃
• whether it be a Group or a Formation nothing works terribly well without the fearless and occasionally knowledgeable and professional Leaders. Leaders of various rankings and effectiveness are crucial to the game.
• the aim of the game is for the Russians to capture a hopefully repaired religious relic carrying wagon and retrieve it to their lines. The French are to repair and extract the wagon off their baseline and speed it on its way to Paris. Neither side were allowed to ‘damage’ the religious relic carrying wagon. The Russians in no way wish to damage the precious and priceless cargo and the French need an operational wagon if it’s contents are to avoid the Russians and reach Paris.

Above: an over view of most of the table early in the game from behind the Russian lines. Click the image to see a larger and clearer view which amy help to make sense of the following.

Starting in the bottom left corner we can see four of the six groups of Russian/Allied cavalry. Only the last of these are actual Russian hussars though the Leader to be seen here is also Russian. The lead Group out on their own are playing as a Group. The last three are clumped together in a Formation. Two other groups of actual Russian hussars were at the far end of the Russian line out of sight and they were destined to have quite a day. The Russian cavalry operated under Dan’s – or should that be Danski’s – command.

Moving left along the Russian battle line we have six Groups of Russian jagers under the Command of The son & heir. One Group is a little tardy and has yet to cross the bridge. An attached officer of the Garde Cossacks is chiding them along to join their comrades on the firing line. The rest of them have made it to the edge of the wood and have begun to take French in St Pierre under fire. The gunpowder smoke … errr … cotton wool shows that the far Formation of three groups have fired but not yet reloaded. The large rectangular stand behind the furthest jagers represents the Russians high commander who laboured was under The son & heirs control.

Further along the Russian line can be seen the beginnings of the six groups of Russian musketeers suffering under the well camouflaged military talents of von Peter himself.

The overall infantry plan was for the jagers to pin the French while the musketeers went for the far end of St Pierre or even a hook around behind it depending on that religious relic carrying wagon.

For the French we have light infantry in the fields on this side of St Pierre. They appear to have cheated and have brought along a single 6pdr cannon! Outrageous and against all the rules of the small wars. But what does one expect?!  😃

To their rear and partially obscured by the trees are four Groups of French dragoons. They were positioned centrally behind St Pierre but are reacting to the presence of the Russian cavalry on the Russian left.

St Pierre itself is garrisoned by perhaps five(?) Groups of French infantry in the various buildings facing the Russian threat. Two Groups occupy the buildings and courtyard on the nearest corner of St Pierre. A further two groups can be see lining the wall opposite the Russian Jagers and another Group lurks in the building to their rear.

In the middle of St Pierre The dear reader may be able to make out a white blob. This is a die sitting atop the religious relic carrying wagon representing the amount of repairs the French have affected.

Finally two Groups of French infantry have advanced out of St Pierre and lined the wall guarding the far flank of the town.

The father and son combination of Ray and Michael ran the French. It’s not really their fault. von Peter himself is fully aware that somebodies had to do it!!  😃

Above: The same early stage of the game from behind the French lines. The religious relic carrying wagon with its extra load of the repair counting die is much more visible here. For their first two religious relic carrying wagon repair rolls the French somehow managed to a roll ten … and then another ten! And these both under the close scrutiny of von Peter himself!! Highly suspect. You never know what shenanigans the French have pulled.  😃

Above: Oh dear but we appear to be still at the same point early on in the game. A closer up view of the almost complete Russian eager firing line. Still missing are the single Group of jagers on the other side of the bridge with the Garde Cossack officer – see the first picture. The large rectangular base just behind the jagers at the near end of the line is the Russian CinC under the control of The son & heir.

At the far end of the line is Father Disputin acting as one of the Russian commanders. Good luck keeping the fire breathing Father out of the battle. He’s come a long way to reclaim the relics and if their recovery requires the forwarding of assorted French souls to their maker then so be it.

Above: At last the game report moves on. Danski has moved the two Groups of Russian hussars on the Russian right down the flank and engaged in several melees. Prior to this image with the cunning use of four Command Cards Dan gained an extra move for his hussars and eradicated a Group of French infantry by pouncing on their flank. Almost as importantly the hussars also potted the French Leader – number two in the French military hierarchy. Huzzah!

The French managed to form a new line of infantry just in front of the lead Group of hussars in the image. Undaunted Dan drove a Group of his hussars onward and defeated these too. The remains of the French infantry can be seen further down the road cowering behind the religious relic carrying wagon. The hussars scored another French Leader by downing the top ranked French leader this time! And yes that is the religious relic carrying wagon just ahead of the hussars. HUZZAH!!

Sadly for the Russian heroes there was French infantry in the red tile roofed building just ahead and to the left. The vengeful French fire was to see the one – or was it two? – remaining hussars rushing to the rear to errr … reform their ranks! Huzzah.

Above: And some time passed. Despite ongoing alarms the French completed the repairs to the religious relic carrying wagon and started to move it away from the Russians and towards Paris. Seeing an opportunity and goading the attached Garde Cossack Leader with tales of daring do The son & heir managed to grab the religious relic carrying wagon with fast moving group of jager and their attached glory seeking Garde Cossack. The image shows the situation a little after the religious relic carrying wagon has changed hands. The Russians have turned the wagon around and desperately want it to move out of St Pierre. There are a lot of converging French around.

Above: A zoomed out view of the previous image showing the audaciousness of the Russian coup de main … and a tape measure. D’oh!

Several other points of interest for the dedicated follower of miniature military simulation. Moving along the top of the image left to right …

• the two lance armed Russian hussars by the card deck aren’t really there. They are ex-hussars waiting to go back into their storage container as their day is done.
• von Peter himself has managed to get his Russian musketeers sort of across the field, merged them into what he hopes is a scary looking Formation of four Groups and is looking to unleash them on some hopefully weakened Frenchmen somewhere. This is the blob coming in at an angle against St Pierre. If The dear reader is wondering whatever happened to the other two Groups of Russian musketeers they can just be made out at the far left of the image between the red tiled roof and the edge of the image. They are looking to open a second front against St. Pierre or make an opportunistic end run around St Pierre as circumstances present themselves.
• a Formation of jagers has advanced out of the woods. This was occasioned by the French getting the wagon moving and a sense of “Holy Mother Russia!” descending on the Russian command. There was a palpable sense that the plan needed to kick up a gear. It was from this Formation that the brave Garde Cossack Leader and his jagers made their dash for the religious relic carrying wagon.
• between the afore mentioned jagers Formation and St Pierre there can be seen a build up of smoke – alright some cotton wool! It represents the smoke resulting from “Firing Random Event”. Firing through this smoke was adjudicated with an additional minus one to hit.
• to the right of the advancing jager Formation and behind the trees can be made out some rapidly removing themselves to the rear Russian jagers. They had been jumped by some Frenchmen on the outskirts of St Pierre who managed to sneak up and attack the jagers in the flank. To their credit the jagers have not abandoned the unconscious Father Disputin but are carrying him rapidly to the rear. One can but feel only pity for those jagers should Father Disputin rouse himself to consciousness.

Above: The scene about the religious relic carrying wagon shortly after the prior image. The religious relic carrying wagon has just been re-appropriated by the French. The Russian jagers are muttering mutterings that are best left untranslated but not so much because they have just lost the religious relic carrying wagon but because just out of shot to the right are some French dragoons aimed down the road at them.

Above: A zoomed out image of the prior scene. The blob of Russian musketeers has managed to clear the outskirts of St Pierre of Frenchmen in a most thorough and prejudiced manner. von Peter himself was dreaming of his undoubted promotion and military decoration at this point!

The French dragoons can just be made out in the top right corner.

Above: And so we have reached the end of game photos. It is at this stage that the martial vigour of French began to fail as they surveyed the scene around St Pierre. And Monsieur Ray had another pressing social engagement to attend. Sure! 😃

Although they once again possess the religious relic carrying wagon the French have yet to turn it around … and they know that this is a time intensive activity. von Peter’s large Formation of musketeers have lined up both the religious relic carrying wagon and the escorting skirmishing Frenchmen while his second smaller Formation of musketeers – bottom’ish right – is poised to attack the Frenchmen in the red tiled roofed building to keep them out of the main action. The surviving Russian jagers partially hidden by the trees to the left of the image are ready to support the musketeers. Danski’s Russian hussars survey the scene down the road at the right edge of the image.

Above: End of game 2. The Garde Cossack Leader and his hardy Russian jagers breathed a sigh of relief as their card turned before that of the French dragoons and have dived into the thatched and slate tiled buildings next to the red tile roofed building. They hope to cause the French a little pain from here and feel much safer with those French dragoons loitering on the road. And there’s still that tape measure to admire. Double d’oh!

Above: The end position of the cavalry ballet on the outskirts of St Pierre. The perplexing military conundrum here was that the stream though innocuous looking was actually a significant obstacle with steep slippery banks. To cross it would take a complete turn which in turn would leave any cavalry at a disadvantage should the enemy cavalry manage to attack them immediately they had crossed the stream. But to ignore the opposing cavalry and move elsewhere would be to invite that opposing cavalry to cross the stream unopposed. Lovely tape measure!  🚫

All in all a successful days gaming played in a stress free laid back manner. Many thanks to my fellow gamers … even the French ones! 😃 And we learned Sharp Practice 2 a little more which is a definite bonus. Several passers by had nice things to say about the game so a big thank you to them as well. It was great talking to you all.

Many thanks to Ray for sorting the scenario when the rest of us didn’t. It may have been based on someone else’s scenario in which case thank you to them as well.

Don’t forget to click on the images for a larger and clearer view.

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself

Birthday bounty

Another birthday has come and gone. And the number associated with that event has risen to become quite alarmingly large. But what can one do except begin to count down to the next even higher numbered birthday!  💀

As is the way at Neu Schloss von Peter the time honoured tradition of von Peter himself organising the bulk of his own presents was … well … honoured! Who else could possibly know the deep desires of the great man?! This year the deep desires turned out to be a benefit show for the world famous Neu Schloss von Peter Library.

The first two books may have been mentioned in this here blog before. At last they now reside in the Neu Schloss von Peter Library.

Napoleon and the struggle for Germany. The Franco-Prussian War of 1813. Volume II: The Defeat of Napoleon to give it its full title follows on from Napoleon and the struggle for Germany. The Franco-Prussian War of 1813. Volume I: The War of Liberation, Spring 1813. With the acquisition of volume II the complete set is now in the possession of von Peter himself. There is quite a marked difference in page count between the two books with the respective volumes coming in at 488 and 887 respectively. Perhaps this is not so surprising when one considers the activity pre and post the 1813 armistice.

Michael V. Leggiere has crept into the affections of von Peter himself as a favoured author and so the reading of these tomes is much anticipated. Yes – shockingly the implication of the prior sentence is true. Volume I is yet to be read. There is a backlog of reading to be read … which is why so many books have been purchased?!!  👀

As all of The dear readers should be aware the greatest year of interest in things Napoleonic is 1813 for von Peter himself. So what is one to do when a book entitled Napoleon 1813 Decision at Bautzen by a reputable author is released. Why purchase a copy of course.

Not quite Napoleonic but still Horse and Musket. When von Peter himself reintroduced himself to wargaming after his university days one of his first projects was 28mm Seven Years War. Great was the satisfaction derived from this project as Prussian and Austrian adversaries were collected. For now the figures are detained in their ‘barracks’ but their day will come again quite possibly using either Sharp Practice 2 or perhaps Honours of War. von Peter himself has heard many intriguing – in a good way – things of this Osprey published rule set. Besides – von Peter himself is ever curious regarding rule systems.

And now for something completely different. The most dedicated of The dear readers will be aware that von Peter himself has a Late Roman army buried in his reserves of unpigmented figures. For von Peter himself the experience of researching an ancients army is quite different to the that of researching a horse and musket army. So when a book was discovered that would perhaps enhance the local understanding of the Late Roman Army … and with the implicit permission granted to obtain said book because the birthday purchase scheme was still in operation … said book was rapidly ordered. The Late Roman Army now resides in the hobby library of Neu Schloss von Peter as do all the other books mentioned above. Now the challenge will be to get them read.

 

The Great Wargaming Survey – 2016

von Peter himself computes that this is the third time that those happy go lucky chaps and chapesses(?) at the Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy magazine have come eliciting wargamers views on their hobby. In both prior instances they have fed back their findings which if nothing else have been of curiosity interest. It took the normally indecisive von Peter himself only a few minutes to complete the survey so it is not a big investment in time … and there are inducements in the form of prizes and a 5 euro gift certificate … …

You can get at the survey from here.

A Sharp Practice 2 warm up game

The local Call to Arms wargames convention is scheduled for the 6 & 7 August 2016 here in Wellington, New Zealand. Raymond and von Peter himself have for quite a while had an understanding that they would host a demonstration game of Sharp Practice 2 at the convention. A couple of weeks ago it slowly dawned on us that the convention really wasn’t that far off. At least Raymond had managed to play a few games of Sharp Practice 2. von Peter himself had managed to read through the rules but had not actually played them. Obviously we needed a game so that we would at least be on the same page with the rules on the day.

Raymond hosted and we played the “Fondler’s Duke” scenario from the Too Fat Lardies “The Compleat Fondler” scenario book. This is an all cavalry affair from the Hundred Days Campaign. Our hero Dick Fondler is with the Brunswick Hussars and is trying to make contact with the Prussians. The Prussians are trying to keep the road running the length of the table open so that Wellington’s Army can march to their assistance as agreed – good luck with that! 😄 The French have orders to take the village of Thyle – through which the afore mentioned road runs – and detect any allied activity in the area. As mentioned every figure in the game sits astride a horse.

Four – rising to five – of us played the game. The son & heir, Dan and eventually Michael were the misguided French dancing to the tune of that emperor. Raymond and von Peter himself waved the flag for the good guys. The game had its ups and downs for both sides but at the end it was ups for the French and down for the Allies. As one of the last acts of the game von Peter himself arranged for Dick Fondler to lead a decisive charge of the Brunswick Hussars into some French dragoons. The French were decisively beaten with many slaughtered … but unfortunately and not part of the plan so was Dick Fondler. Oops!

The game had been fun and most importantly the rules – to some degree at least – learnt at the practical level of pushing figures around the table. Now to sort the scenario for next weekends convention game.

Above: Nearing the end of the game at Raymond’s. The infantry are dismounted cavalry recently pushed back from the banks of the river. Unbeknown to himself Fondler is breathing his last few breaths just on the other side of the river as he readies the Brunswick Hussars for a glorious charge. Oops!

 

By the way – it’s not too late to send birthday presents. von Peter himself is not so proud as to have a cut off date for their receipt!  😄

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself

Of pdf’s and plastic

With the home front forges continuing at a low ebb von Peter himself presents some information on a couple of worthy pdf’s received and some information on a couple of plastic castles.

The Royal Saxon Army 1792-1814

Some of the more astute of The dear readers may have noticed that von Peter himself has had a long  l-o-n-g  association with the Saxon Army of the later Napoleonic Wars. The first Saxon figures von Peter himself ever painted were while he was at university … and that is a long  l-o-n-g  time ago. For the historical record the figures were Saxon …

• line infantry from the regiment König using Minifigs French fusiliers with a modified pompom
• a squadron of Leib Kürassier Garde also from Minifigs through the donor figure type has long since slipped the memory.

The History Book Man has released their latest army and uniform guide e-book and what do you know … it’s The Royal Saxon Army 1792-1814. Historic, organisational, uniform and flag information on the army is presented with many colour illustrations contained in 311 pages including information on the less well known units. And all for the princely sum of £3.99. What the much m-u-c-h younger von Peter himself would have given for such a guide all those decades ago!  😀

 

Sharp Practice 2 pdf arrives

Bang on time the pdf for Sharp Practice 2 from the TheTooFatLardies arrived in the electronic Inbox of von Peter himself. A quick scan has revealed what appears to be an easy on the eye and well laid out rulebook. Not that von Peter himself intends to learn the rules via the pdf as the physical printed rule book and a bunch of gaming paraphernalia should be on their way from the top of the world – the UK – to the bottom of the world – NZ – and are expected any day.

Without hunting down a count von Peter himself is aware of four other gamers locally who have ordered the rules. This bodes well for future gaming especially given the truncated time requirement for the setup, playing and packing away of a Sharp Practice game. Real world ‘stuff’ needs to take a back seat for a little more gaming.

Two minor soon to be remedied disappointments so far …

• There is no Quick Reference Sheet with the rules. This is expected to be remedied with versions on the ‘net … perhaps even from the Lardies themselves.
• With the possible exception of the listing for the American Civil War the Army Lists in the the book are of no interest to von Peter himself. It is the understanding of von Peter himself that this will be rectified in May via the ‘net on the TheTooFatLardies site where many more Army Lists are expected to be published … for free! In particular von Peter himself is after central Europe Napoleonic lists suitable for around 1813 and Seven Years war lists for his Prussians and Austrians.

There is also talk of more scenarios becoming available which would be a bonus.

Castle Wars

Contender 1 – Renedra Limited

Once upon a medieval time castles tended to be built of stone – at least the ones in Western Europe were. How times have changed as they can now be procured in plastic. Both Renedra Limited and Warlord Games have seen fit to release their medieval – or if it suits The dear reader better fantasy – castles. And just like their real life 1:1 scale forbears they are not for the peasantry. One needs to be prepared to hand over a fair chunk of wealth if one is sit safely behind ones own stone … err, plastic walls.

As pictured below the Renedra Castle (standard) costs £250.00. The Castle (standard) …

• has a frontage of 86cm and sides of 65.5cm
• 5 towers
• 1 gatehouse
• 8 wall sections

If this too much castle for The dear reader then one’s sights could be lowered as there is a Castle (small) available. Alternatively if The dear reader would not be seen dead in a mere Castle (standard) there is of course the option of the Castle (large). One can purchase the individual components if one would prefer to custom design one’s castle and having just started to listen to Meeples and Miniatures episode 130 – Salute 2016 – there is a breached wall section on the way.

To the eyes of von Peter himself the windows on the sides of the towers seem a little less than desirable security features though wonderful creations for cloisters etc – see what Alan Perry is kit bashing with the sprues from the Renedra Castle here.

Contender 2 – Warlord Games

Meanwhile Warlord Games have their ‘The Citadel’ Plastic Castle as pictured below. It can be yours for £175.00. While a simpler creation than the Renedra Castle (standard) it is more technologically advanced having round towers as opposed to square. Once again individual sections of the Warlord castle are available to purchase individually.

Fortunately von Peter himself is immune to any temptations from this latest crop of plastic castles because he already has one in stock – the Warhammer Fortress (see below) as produced by Games Workshop many moons ago. Obtained on the cheap it waits largely unbothered by a painter’s brush for its time of glory. Sound familiar?!  😀

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself

Moving pictures

A quickie inspired by some of those new fangled moving pictures that may be of interest to some of The dear readers.

Salute 2016

Salute 2016 has come and gone. A bit of an extended tramp from New Zealand to the UK – though that didn’t stop that dastardly Valleyboy who will have a lot of describing to do once he returns – but via the marvels of moving pictures it’s possible to do a flyover of some of the games. If your wife / husband / partner has left you a spare 31 going on 32 minutes have a look at the Salute – 2016 video from JonLawVids. If nothing else there is plenty of soothing / meditational music to groove to!

Painting Horses

There are many painting tutorials on the interwebs. Here’s a slightly different way to paint a horse … at least different for von Peter himself. It’s all about the hair texture. Moving pictures from Doctor Faust’s Painting Clinic’s How to Paint Horses. Thanks to Theo on a forum for the heads-up on this. There are several horse painting tutorials on the interwebs … in fact there are many tutorials on general miniature figure and terrain painting out there. Let your web searching go wild.

How to play Aurelian

Aurelian from Sam Mustafa from his Honour series provides the rules to fight the crisis of the 3rd century when it looked like Rome would not make it to the 4th century. It has come to the belated attention of von Peter himself that SirTobi has created a series of tutorials on the rules. Very nicely presented and well worth a look if The dear reader has any interest in Aurelian.

Glory, Hallelujah!

Thanks to Garage Gaming Terry a copy of Glory, Hallelujah – the American Civil War supplement for the Black Powder ruleset – now resides at Neu Schloss von Peter. On first flush this appears to be a well written 180 pages which is going to take some reading on account of its size. Being sourced directly from the publishers Warlord Games the book came with the ‘free’ Dead-Eye Davy metal miniature. Dead-Eye Davy is a prone sniper that comes with a choice of head to make him more obviously a Union (kepi) or Confederate (broad brimmed hat) figure. It will most likely be a kepi for von Peter himself who prefers to be on the side of the angels! 😀

The book is full of pretty pictures of war games figures. The proverbial war games porn. But excepting a couple of pictures of Dead-Eye Davy (from Warlord Games) all the figures pictured are the products of Perry Miniatures. Not a bad thing in itself as the Perry twins are rightly feted for the quality of their product but maybe some other manufacturers product might have been used on occasion. Perhaps it’s the Nottingham mafia at work! 👀 Or perhaps it was just convenient to have the Perry’s stage the photographs from their collection. Certainly flicking through the book there is a consistency provided by the use of a single range of figures.

And it may be just coincidence but look what long lost plastic set has appeared all of a sudden on the the Perry Miniatures Facebook page …

Sharp Practice 2

The release of Sharp Practice version 2 from the TheTooFatLardies is now but a few days away on the 23 April 2016. von Peter himself has finally made his decision as to which pre release bundle to purchase and being his normal greedy and uncontrolled self has ordered Bundle 5. The biggest most expensive bundle with greatest savings … albeit that the cards and poker chip set are effectively duplicates of one another.

The Lardies have extended their explanation of the game by adding another two episodes  using moving pictures …

• Sharp Practice Video Three: Movement & Firing
• Sharp Practice Part 4. Command & Turn Sequence.

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself

A Sharp Practice heads-up

From the outside looking in it’s looking more and more likely that the TheTooFatLardies will hit their target of releasing Sharp Practice version 2 on St. Georges Day … which of course we all know is the 23 April. Of itself this is a good thing as von Peter himself is figuring to get his hands on a copy for perusing and with any luck actual gaming. But even better it appears that if one were of a mind to order the rules and assorted gaming paraphernalia prior to the actual release date then not only will one get the rules and assorted gaming paraphernalia in a timely manner but one will also get them at a discounted price …

BUNDLE 1: Rules & Cards
Hard Copy rules with 120 pages packed with army lists, scenarios and, of course, the game rules.
Bumper Card Deck of 40 cards
Free PDF of the rules.
At £29 this saves you £17 as a bundle.

BUNDLE 2: Rules & Chips
Hard Copy rules with 120 pages packed with army lists, scenarios and, of course, the game rules.
MDF Poker Chip Set of 34 Chips
Free PDF of the rules.
At £28 this saves you £17 as a bundle

BUNDLE 3: Card Sharp (as per Bundle 5 but no Poker Chips)
Hard Copy rules with 120 pages packed with army lists, scenarios and, of course, the game rules.
Bumper Card Deck of 40 cards
Game Token set in acrylic
Free PDF of the rules.
At £35 this saves you £19 as a bundle

BUNDLE 4: Chips with everything (as per Bundle 5 but no card deck)
Hard Copy rules with 120 pages packed with army lists, scenarios and, of course, the game rules.
MDF Poker Chip Set of 34 Chips
Game Token set in acrylic
Free PDF of the rules.
At £34 this saves you £19 as a bundle

BUNDLE 5: The monster of a bundle with everything anyone would wish for on the Sharp Practice front.
Hard Copy rules with 120 pages packed with army lists, scenarios and, of course, the game rules.
Bumper Card Deck of 40 cards
MDF Poker Chip Set of 34 Chips
Game Token set in acrylic
Free PDF of the rules.
At £38 this saves you £21 as a bundle.

By way of explanation as “borrowed” from the Lardies website …

1.  The rules.  Its a 120 page book which contains the rules and Army Lists for five different conflicts.  These are the French Indian War, the AWI, Peninsular War, ACW and Indian Mutiny.  However, the rules won’t stop there.   We have lost of other periods ready as free downloadable Army lists covering stuff like Garibaldi in Italy, Napoleonic warfare, Revolutionary Wars in Italy, US Mexican Wars and a whole host of other exciting stuff.
2. The Cards or Poker Chips. You can choose whether you want to use a card deck or pull chips from a bag or cup.  It’s entirely up to you which you use.  You will need ONE set or cards or chips to play a game.  You do not need one per player.  The poker chip set are 34 tokens in engraved MDF which are very easy to paint up and look superb when they are done.  The cards are a proper poker standard set with rounded corners and come in a tuck box.  As it happens we got 40 cards to a deck as this suited the printer card sizes so the card deck is slightly larger.
3. Game Tokens.  A set of 18 acrylic tokens to indicate when units Present (ready to fire a controlled volley), when they are firing an uncontrolled volley and when they are broken.  We have played many many games and this set of 18 tokens have been all we needed for any game situation.  No need to duplicate unless you are really going to push the boat out on game size.

So some sharp 😃 pricing with not inconsiderable savings are to be had for the organised purchaser … assuming that the organised purchaser is wanting the rules in both hard copy and PDF format and is also wanting some of the game aids as supplied ex the Lardies. So which bundle is it to be for von Peter himself? Hmmmm!

But there’s more …

To support the rules The Lardies have started a series of Youtube videos on the rules …

• Part One: An Introduction
• Sharp Practice Video Two

with more expected soonish. It’s all go on the Sharp Practice front.

This has been a public service announcement generously brought to you at not inconsiderable expense and effort by von Peter himself Media International Ltd.  😎

Home made Orthodoxy

A couple of posts back von Peter himself had reason to report on Mark Strachan’s scratch built 28mm Russian Orthodox church. Mark has now completed the basing of said Russian Orthodox church and was kind enough to allow a couple of his photos to be replicated here for The dear readers education. More photographic recordings of the finished church – remembering that its a Russian church …. not Finnish … ha ha ha ⚠️ – can seen here. von Peter himself has yet to attempt to scratch build a terrain piece and is in awe of such endeavours.

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself

Stop Press … March 2016

These here blog postings are a bit like buses. You don’t see one for ages and then two turn up at once! 😃

Sometimes von Peter himself comes upon some nugget of information as he stumbles around the internet attempting to skry the present, past and future of wargaming. (And yes he knows that he should be using this time more profitably sitting at his painting desk but let’s just move on shall we! 😎).

General D’Armée

Recently the Donald Featherstone Memorial Weekend gaming event was hosted at the Wargames Holiday Centre. The game played was the southern battle(s) from that biggie the Battle of Nations, aka Leipzig 1813. Many days, many tables, many players and many many figures. But what was the interesting bit was that the game was played using Dave Brown’s latest rules, “General D’Armée”. The same Dave Brown of the General de Brigade rules renown. These “General D’Armée” rules are in development, are for large games and according to Henry Hyde – see below – may be published late this year or early 2017.

For some pictures from the game see Henry Hyde’s coverage on the Miniature Wargames FaceBook page starting on the 19th March.

Above: this Leipzig game image “borrowed” from the the Miniature Wargames FaceBook page

Sharp Practice 2

The TheTooFatLardies have released a few more details on Sharp Practice 2 on their Lard Island News. Rumour has it that the TooFatLardies are working to a St Georges Day – 23 April – release. Those who listen to podcasts – and have not heard it yet – may want to download “Maples & Miniatures – Episode 167 – Royal Armouries And Sharp Practice 2” as there is quite a bit of talk on the new rules. Get it from iTunes or here … or wherever!

While interested in the updated rules von Peter himself is a bit of a grumbling grognard and is a little concerned about some of the changes. e.g. hopefully “deployment points” don’t act too much like modern day or science fiction “drop zones” allowing the magical deployment of troops as desired to counter the enemies cunning plans. We shall see. But as the author Richard Clarke says in the podcast – if you don’t like something in the rules then don’t use it. You can’t say fairer than that really.

Above: a look at the layout of Sharp Practice 2 as provided by the TooFatLardies. The presentation of war-games rules have certainly moved on since the original Sharp Practice

And one more little snippet … those dedicated followers of Calpe Miniatures may in the nearish future be able to build a new Napoleonic unit type. Such a tease!  😎

Don’t forget to click on the images for a larger and clearer view.

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself