Blue Bavarians for Butchery in Bonaparte’s Bloody Battles

Who doesn’t like a little bit of alliteration in a title?

More Bavarians to the front

The final fighting Bavarian unit as per the original plan has made its way to the front and is available for the mayhem that generally ensues up there. The original plan was to recreate Generalmajor Beckers brigade of Generallieutenant Raglovich’s 29th (Bavarian) Division circa 1813 plus a few supporting units. This would have provided five battalions, an artillery battery and a cavalry regiment. These are now all present and ready for action.

Above: the 2nd battalion of the 8th Herzog Pius Infantry Regiment

Four more casualty markers also accompanied the new battalion to the front though only one is specific to that battalion. Those cunning Bavarians have thought of everything!

Thanks to Nigel Fun-nell for painting these chaps and all the other Bavarians. Horses, choreography and basing by von Peter himself. Flags from GMB Designs.

This is probably not the end of the Bavarians however. A few years back The son & heir professed an interest in the Bavarians so several units were purchased. The 2/7th Infantry Regiment was painted – all pretty in their pink facings – and are counted in the available Bavarian order of battle at Neu Schloss von Peter. But there it stopped. The remainder of those purchased Bavarians are lying around in the unpigmented figure pile. To avoid wastage they will probably get pigmented one day so the Bavarian order of battle will likely grow. But first there are some Poles that need some attention! 😃

 

Salute 2018

Yet another Salute has come and gone. Once upon a time von Peter himself would have been referring The dear readers to sites displaying photos of the event but the advancing march of technology means that there are ever more videos of the event to be viewed. Some are linked below if The dear reader has the inclination … and time.

• Salute 2018 | Best games of the show and Interviews with their creators by Wargames Illustrated
• Salute 2018 by Marksman Gaming
• Salute Wargames Show 2018 by The Terrain Tutor
• Salute london 2018 event by lightofhand
• My Salute 2018 by Ralph Astley
• My Favourite Game From Salute 2018 by Ralph Astley

• Salute 2018 by The Battle Hammer

What a Tanker! found in the letter box

How in the world did that happen?!  😇  von Peter himself is hearing good things about these rules from TooFatLardies.

There’s a slight shortage of tanks at Neu Schloss von Peter. In 28mm there are three T34/75s and a KV-1 all ready to game. In 20mm there is a German Stug. IV early version and a Russian SU-85M in a ready to game condition. There are also 3 T34/75s  kits still resting in their boxes.

One option is to get hold of some 28mm German armour. But then von Peter himself sees his long term WWII gaming being in 20mm. Then again there is always the option of a more skirmish level of gaming in 28mm. Decisions decisions.

Of course none of this prevents trials with the game. Maybe those 28mm Russian tanks could take on some of The son & heirs 40k armour!!  😲

Above: A historic view of the available 28mm Russian armour as constructed and pigmented by Greater Queeg

The Lardies have produced an introductory video over in YouTube –  What a Tanker – An Introduction – for the curious …

The Lardies run through a small game of What a Tanker, showing off various aspects of how the rules work. Big Rich has a Stug III and a Panzer IV, whereas Fat Nick has gone unusually lightweight with a Stuart and an M10 Tank Destroyer.

There is also an independent review over on the Skirmish Wargaming site.

And perhaps the clincher – Sparker over in Oz seems to think the game is a little alright. See his What a Tanker! – Down Under… post.  😊

 

BBC sound effects

Should you need some sound effects the BBC have a deal for you at their BBC Sound Effects site. At the time of typing their were 167,016 effects available and some are even of a military bent.

 

Now that’s what I’m talking about!

And to finish with a visual treat. OSHIRO modelterrain make terrain. Surprise!

We produce a large range of Japanese wargaming tarrain as well as expanding ranges incuding; Chinese, Boxer Rebillion, Victorian, Sci-Fi and near future.

Perhaps as a commission they have produced what is a second town creation for the 1809 Napoleonic Aspern Essling campaign. The two photos below have been “borrowed” from OSHIRO modelterrain and show this second model. Stunning covers it. This is the sort of model that makes von Peter himself ache with want!  😃

To see more pictures of this second model and also of the first click here for the relevant post in the Lead Adventure Forum.

There may be a third model. Here’s hoping and that pictures of it will be available in due course.

Enough.

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself

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A belated “hello 2018”

Great galloping warhorses. The month of January of the year 2018 is nearly a done deal and von Peter himself has yet to submit a post to this here blog. The blame is officially being laid at the feet of the holiday season, the continued warmer than normal temperatures here in Godzone – New Zealand to the uneducated, the pixies at the bottom of the garden and any and everything but von Peter himself! Better post something – anything! – to confirm von Peter’s continued presence on planet Earth before the end of January 2018.

 

Notorious French agent Mademoiselle Keela misdeeds undone

In the prior post von Peter himself alerted the world to the ongoing destructive activities of that most notorious & dastardly French sympathising Keela* and her latest act of espionage – a savage unprovoked and wanton attack on a 28mm scale outhouse.

* The local – for now anyway!! – Irish Terrier.

With the pleasure akin to that derived from spitting in your enemies eyes von Peter himself is pleased to report that the outhouse is once more fully functional … to the relief of many a 28mm figurine! The old partially consumed plasticard base has been replaced with one of plywood; the ground work restored; and the paint job touched up. The outhouse is once more open for business.

It must be said that the grass has grown quite luxuriantly about the outhouse. von Peter himself has no idea why!  😃

 

A rather shoddy state of affairs

The latest view of the paint desk. And it presents a fairly shameful visage. The pendulum that produced a surge of activity pre the Wagram games has swung remorselessly back to a subsequent period of umm … errr … “reduced activity”.  Sob!

Click the image for a larger and clearer view of von Peter’s shame!

So let’s examine what is currently in process left to right and row by row.

The back row …

• four Prussian limber horses that are – apart from a layer of dust! – unchanged since the painting desk was last publicly placed on display
• two almost completed horses for two Prussian mounted Feldjaegers
• just in front of the horses are the ever hopeful Feldjaegers
• three white undercoated horses destined to provide the horsey transportation for the 18th Light Cavalry Brigade: General de brigade Krukowiecki Polish command stand

Middle row …

• The commanding colonel and adjoint from the Calpe Miniatures Saxon pack SC3 along with their horsey mode of transportation. Despite an attempted fix the blue is still a little light for von Peter himself so the paint bottle will one day receive a damned good stirring for another attempt or perhaps a remedial dark blue wash applied
• four French infantrymen to complete the 4/132nd Ligne. The three fusiliers have been undercoated black but the standard bearer remains pristine silver. The thought was to create the flag staff and glue it on as a precursor to the painting process but a rummage through the unpigmented French figure box reveals the absence of Calpe’s F48 pack: “3 Battalion standard spear points pre-1812 reforms. These were used almost exclusively until Napoleons abdication in 1814”. As a result the figure will soon get blackened minus a flag staff.

Front row …

• A Prussian casualty figure. The poor chap has been like this for years. Medic!!!
• four Saxon musketeers to complete the 1/Prinz Frederich August Infantry Regiment
• a Saxon musketeer casualty figure destined to be a Saxon musketeer casualty figure/marker. Surprise. 😊

Shelf below …

•  1/Prinz Frederich August Infantry Regiment awaiting the final stand of figures

Shelf below the shelf below …

• the mounted adc from Calpe Miniatures Saxon pack SC3. By way of a repeat explanation von Peter himself provided a small Saxon brigade for the Wagram games. The thought occurred that it would probably be nice to supply a commanding officer of a Saxon disposition for the brigade. This figure on his temporary one man and his horse base is the result of that thinking. If the commanding colonel and adjoint – see the Middle row above – ever get completed all three figures will be grouped together on a single base. No change here either unsurprisingly.

 

From the archives

In a desperate attempt to provide some meaningful content von Peter himself has raided his archives for an image that may be of interest to The dear readers. All the way back to the 30th September 2006 and the Call to Arms convention of that year.

Four of us played a Napoleonic game for a day using the Field of Battle rules from Piquet Inc. The game saw a Prussian-Russian force tangling with a somewhat unusual alliance of French, Spanish & Portuguese. Such are the exigencies of war … and gamers available figure collections. According to a write-up of the game it had suitable highs and lows for both sides but in the end the highs were more with the French and their bed fellows. Darn!

Above: From the safety of the rear areas – is that him doffing his bicorne in the distance upper right – Murray bravely orders some Russian hussars to frontally charge a French ligne / line battalion who are coincidently formed in line! The results of the charge are lost in those mists of time. Click for a larger and improved image.

Above: My co-gamers as they appeared in September 2006. Murray (fellow Allied commander) mingling with Rhys and Roly (French hooligans both). Very deliberately there is no clicking through to a larger image for this picture. von Peter himself has a humanitarian side after all!! Absolutely no one benefits from the inclusion of this image but it tickles von Peter’s fancy to include it   😃

Enough.

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself

PS. phew … got it posted before the end of January 2018

Snippets #6

The third post in a calendar month. An outstanding effort … even if von Peter says so himself.  😃

 

Trees

von Peter himself has ‘grown’ his first pack of 4Ground trees. For the record the pack was “4 Young Chestnut Trees”. Some lessons were learned along the way. Nothing major and mostly to do with the holes on the optional sabot base and the plastering around them. Hopefully the building of the  next packs will benefit from the  learnings.

The plastic branches are bendable so the shape of the tress can be modified. In this pack there were two larger trees of approximately 11.5cm and two smaller of approximately 9.5cm.

Above: three of the young chestnut trees in their sabot base and one individualist who is not.

 

Wagram II – the game that keeps giving

Archduke Charles – aka Garage Gaming Terry – has posted a couple items regarding the Wagram II game on his a Garage Gaming Terry blog with more planned. To date he has created …

• Wagram 1809 – more than just a refight! Part 1 which explains the set up of the game
• Large scale fixed terrain battlefields – are you CRAZY! by Paul Weakley. Possibly not surprisingly this is written by that same Paul Weakley who created the terrain boards.

There are more articles to come.

And then there were a couple more photographic recreations of the Wagram II game …

Above: This picture shows the extent of GdK von Peter himself Freidrich Hohenzollern’s Austrian II Army Corps. Oh … and the bodies in the background are the Saturday Wagram II crew. Motley covers it!  😃  Photo care of John H.

Above: a shameful scene from the Sunday. Two Saxon battalions in front of Austrian artillery – and the rest of the Austrian army! – being used as some sort of ablative armour for the ‘brave’ French troops wearing bear skins behind them. The 1/Prinz Maximilian Infantry Regiment – white flag with red border – appears to be formed in some sort of square arrangement while the 2/von Rechten Infantry Regiment – yellow flag – is in line. Yet more shoddy treatment of the Saxons by their French allies / overlords!  ⚠️  Photo care of John H.

 

Eagle dice

Yet more dice have arrived at Neu Schloss von Peter from the dice peddlers at Dice of War. The drip feed of national dice continues with eagles being the theme this time around. Austrian dice in yellow and Russian dice in green.

Bavarian and Polish dice are left to collect for the armies with barracks at Neu Schloss von Peter. The completist in von Peter himself is singing a rather fetching and compelling song. The completist is obviously a stark raving mad thing …. but von Peter himself is a grown man who plays with toy soldiers so don’t write off the chances of seeing pictures of Bavarian and Polish dice on this here blog. We loves getting pressies in the mail we do!!  😇

 

If von Peter himself can get the photography sorted there will be a “The Heroes of Wagram” or some such presentation upcoming. This will present the newly formed Austrian troops recruited for the Wagram games and perhaps some of the refurbished troops as well. But hopefully not next time. Next time von Peter himself will be reporting on an event he is very much looking forward to. Hopefully!

 

Enough.

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself

Snippets #5

It is timely to present a few assorted items. Any one of them may be of interest to The dear readers.  😃

Another e-book from The History Book Man

Another release from the The History Book Man with their latest e-book “Foreign Regiments in French Service 1795-1814 Volume Four: The Portuguese Legion and Iberian Troupes Etrangere 1808-1814″. The official blurb …

This popular title was fIrst published in 1974 but has now been considerably enlarged and includes those troops from Portugal and Spain who served with the Army as Troupes Etrangere during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

Now includes all new colour artwork and illustrations by well known authoritive and contemporary artists.

152 pages

As usual the e-book is packed with history, unit organisation and uniform details for a surprisingly large number of units. Hard to beat for and hard to go wrong for £3.99.

 

More national dice

The dice folly continues. More of the products from Dice of War have arrived to provide close dice support to their national army. French dice – of the laurel wreathed “N” type – and Saxon dice have now been safely obtained.

Yet still the dice madness continues. Austrian and Russian dice are now back in stock so the appropriate procurement documents have been despatched. Which only leaves Bavarian and Polish dice to complete the set for the locally raised Napoleonic armies.

The previously acquired Prussian dice got their first run outs with the two Wagram games due to the unavailability of the genuine Austrian articles. They started both games in a less than satisfactory manner but perhaps they should be forgiven as deciding the fate of Austrian troops was not the reason for their creation!  😃

 

The painting(?!) desk

The rush of preparing Austrians and to a much lesser extent Saxons for the Wagram extravaganzas saw an unprecedented level of productivity at New Schloss von Peter. Unfortunately the prodigious efforts have been completely undone ever since with the gifted … what the ??? …. hands of von Peter himself not clasping a paint brush since. Never the less von Peter himself now presents a quick update on the current state of the painting desk. Please ignore any dust that may be seen in the photo!  🙁

Back row:

• four Prussian limber horses
• two Prussian mounted Feldjaegers and their horses. There’s actually a third Feldjaeger deprived of his paint stand (horse) and out of sight.

All work on the above was put on hold with the demands of the pre Wagram work schedule … and sadly has yet to recommence!

Middle row:

• a GW knightly figure in goldenish armour who has never seen any progress since being added to the paint desk with the thought that he’d get a little love every now and then
• four figures for the last stand of the Saxon 1/Prinz Frederich August Infantry Regiment.

Front row:

• The commanding colonel and adjoint from the Calpe Miniatures Saxon pack SC3 along with their trusty steeds. Annoyingly the base blue coat seems to be a little light
• the second to last stand of the Saxon 1/Prinz Frederich August Infantry Regiment.

Shelf below:

• Saxon 1/Prinz Frederich August Infantry Regiment awaiting the reinforcements above.

Next level down:

• the mounted adc from Calpe Miniatures Saxon pack SC3. By way of explanation von Peter himself provided a small Saxon brigade for the Wagram games. The thought occurred that it would probably be nice to supply a commanding officer of a Saxon disposition for the brigade. This figure on his temporary one man and his horse base is the result of that thinking. If the commanding colonel and adjoint – see the Front row above – ever get completed all three figures will be grouped together on a single base.

 

Stop Press: Trees

Four packs of 4Ground trees have just arrived. Ordered on the 5 September from England with delivery on the 11 September in New Zealand. Not a bad turn-a-round. von Peter himself had performed his pre purchase internet snooping on these trees and was pleased enough with what he read to get these trial sets of trees. If they are a success there will be more imports of lumber in the future.

The trees come with sabot style mdf basing which von Peter himself plans to decorate in the same manner that he bases his figures. There is a stirring in von Peter himself to get the trees done. So perhaps these trees are what gets the creative juices churning again and the pigmentation of figures will follow … albeit at the traditional crawl. One can perhaps allow oneself a little optimism.  😃

Enough.

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself

Snippets #3

Another odds and sods ends post. Looking to the future one of the numerous mini projects of von Peter himself  is somewhat surprisingly coming to fruition. With a little luck the presentation of said mini project will form the core of the next bulletin. But now we need to start with the traditional Snippets random picture from the archives … from March 2011 …

Above: The first battalion of the Saxon Prinz Maximilian Infantry Regiment marches through a village somewhere in Saxony in 1813. The Allies are out there somewhere and the village may soon be the site of some bloody fighting.

Calpe Miniatures Saxons painted by mineself von Peter himself. The European Village is a Hudson & Allen model sourced from Vatican Enterprises and pigmented with aplomb by Craig Watterson. Tufts added to the village by von Peter himself!  😃

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

Salute 2017: discounts

Once upon a time long long ago von Peter himself and The son & heir were fortunate enough to visit Salute Zero Nine the 2009 iteration of the famed Salute convention in London. It was their first ever major wargames show and it was quite the experience and eye opener.

Above: Barry Hilton’s Peninsular demonstration game for Victrix at Salute Zero Nine. The game was played using Barry’s The March of Eagles rules which at the time were provided in every box of Victrix plastics. I wonder if they still are?

While admiring the game von Peter himself said “hello” to a busy Barry H. and Barry H. said “hello” back. Another precious memory locked away!  😃

Catastrophically a repeat Salute visit is not to be scried in von Peter’s Crystal Ball of Future Seeing. No matter how hard it is rubbed. So it is with a tinge of envy that this blog reports on some of the pre-order discounts available to the attendees of Salute 2017 which by the way is scheduled for 22 April 2017.

Wargame News and Terrain have the article Salute 2017 Convention Pre-Order Discounts Summary for them fortunate enough to be heading off to Salute 2017. Some vendors have been of a thoughtful enough disposition to open up the discounts to them not so fortunate to be attending.

Update for General d’Armee 

Not only will The dear reader be able to avail themselves of discounts if they attend Salute 2017 but they will also have the chance to view a demonstration of the incoming General d’Armee rules by Dave Brown. Gardening at Dresden will feature apparently. This from the Lard Island News.

From the same source comes the news that the these same General d’Armee rules will be released at Partizan on the 21st May. This is a slippage from the previously mentioned April but in the end it will be what it will be. Hopefully a tantalising pre release deal or two will be offered on the TheTooFatLardies site.

A painted TravelBattle

Alan Perry has painted the soon to be released TravelBattle to represent Waterloo Allies and their French opponents. s painted game in a box? See the Perry Miniatures Facebook page for more.

A caged eagle

While browsing through The family’s photo collection von Peter himself stumbled across several photos of the captured Eagle of the Napoleonic French 82nd Line Infantry Regiment. The bird can be seen in the Royal Fusiliers Regimental Museum situated within The Tower of London. So with no further ado …

Above: In 1809, the Royal Fusiliers joined an army sent to capture the French colony of Martinique. After a difficult fight, the French were besieged.  Four days later they surrendered and three Eagle Standards were captured by the British.  The Royal Fusiliers were awarded this standard as a reward for their accomplishments in the battle.

 

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself

Snippets #2

Some more miscellaneous news items for the betterment of The dear readers. We start with the picture …

Above: Continuing the Russian cavalry theme of the last post von Peter himself is pleased to present the celebrated Russian St. Petersburg Dragoon Regiment. In 1813 they were brigaded with the Elizabethgrad Hussar Regiment – here seen in support in the distance -in the brigade of Generalmajor Manteufel.

 Wargames Foundry Russian Dragoons sculpted by the Perrys. Pigments applied by Greater Queeg.
And FYI the command stand to be seen between the two regiments is not Generalmajor Manteufel but rather some passing cossack commander.

Click for a larger and much clearer view.

General d’Armee Rules breaks cover

David Brown has provided a view of the cover for his forthcoming Napoleonic General d’Armee rules. von Peter himself is not sure that he approves of French dragoons flaunting a captured Prussian standard circa 1806 as the cover picture but he’ll magnanimously let it go this time!  😊

Publication is set down for April 2017, ie. this month.

And please excuse the pun in the heading! 😀

 

Of a Grossdeutschland nature

A slight deviation resultant of researching the previous General d’Armee item. General d’Armee is to be published by Reisswitz Press – the part of the TheTooFatLardies conglomerate which publishes rules not written by the TooFatLardies themselves. One of the TooFatLardies successful rules is the WWII platoon sized Chain of Command for which TooFatLardies have published several Pint Sized Campaign scenario books.

Just published is the Pint Sized Campaign Storming the Citadel – Grossdeutschland Attack at Kursk.

This Pint Sized Campaign for Chain of Command is the first covering the attack of PanzerGrenadier Division Grossdeutschland at Kursk.

So it appears there will be at least one more Pint Sized Campaign charting PanzerGrenadier Division Grossdeutschland’s experiences at Kursk.

So why does von Peter himself mention it here? Partly because if he was ever to model an elite WWII German formation then something from PanzerGrenadier Division Grossdeutschland would probably be it. A large part of the reason for this is due to the book The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer who recounts his experiences on the Eastern Front much of it as part of Grossdeutschland. A recommended if somewhat sobering read of a German soldiers experiences on the Eastern Front in WWII. There is / was some controversy around the book but this does not detract from a riveting read. Recommended.

 Above: the latest edition of The Forgotten Soldier has a different cover to von Peter’s  current edition* and is now illustrated.

* von Peter himself has bought the book twice as he lent out his first … and it never came back … sob!

Plastic Byzantines?

Spotted on the Wargame News and Terrain website …

Fireforge Games: Possible Plastic Byzantine or Goth Infantry

Fireforge Games previewed this sneak peek picture of their next release. Rumors are that these are plastic Byzantine or Goth Infantry, we can only hope!

If they are Byzantines and depending on which Byzantines they are time wise this news may over excite a certain Garage Gaming Terry. von Peter himself awaits with interest!   🤡

Flickering explosion / fire markers

In an effort to bring a little bit of high tech life to their gaming tables Garage Gaming Terry and von Peter himself have jointly procured some Flickering Explosion Markers from Annie at Bad Squiddo Games. These are just flickering electric tea lights with some fluffy material stuff coloured and glued on top. There are several ‘how to’ guides on creating these on the ‘webs but for £2.00 each when you buy between five and nineteen of them why bother? Time is money and time is also exceedingly precious.

Watch the promotional video for moving images of the markers at work …

There is some suspicion that some of von Peters terrain items will be suffering from fires in the nearish future!

The painting desk – Aprils’ Fool Day 2017

As an April Fools’ Day treat von Peter himself will now reveal what he currently has on his painting desk. From front to back, left to right we have …

Front row:

• the first two stands of the Saxon 1/Prinz Frederich August Infantry Regiment. These are completed but are here for reference as the rest of the battalion painfully makes it’s way to the front
• two Austrian twelve pounder cannon. These are being readied for when their crew marches in from their ‘training’ with Nigel Fun-nel
• two Prussian limber horses. All undercoated in white and waiting for some horsey pigments
• a Napoleonic civilian. She is complete and needs to be based … which has a raised an issue. von Peter himself has plenty of bases of all sizes for various armies periods etc. They tend to be of square / rectangular shape and too large for this single figure. A round base would seem a better choice.  Hmmm.

Middle row:

• A mounted officer and four figures for the Saxon 1/Prinz Frederich August Infantry Regiment. They are coming along nicely
• three Prussian mounted Feldjaegers. One was to be painted as the start of a Prussian command stand – von Peter himself is well short of proper Prussian command stands. Then von Peter himself thought that if he was painting one then he may as well paint one of the two Feldjaegers that he has in stock to be single ADC type figures for the Prussians. And then von Peter himself thought that if he was painting two then he may as well paint all three of the Feldjaegers that are in his immediate future. So three mounted Feldjaegers sit on dummy horses for painting purposes. They are undercoated in black.

Back row:

• eight horse making their way through an oil painting regime. They are destined for a variety of uses …
  • a Bavarian ADC to be part of the Bavarian CinC command stand. The ADC himself sits in the white tissue at the right of the picture
  • an Austrian Adjutant to be used singly as an ADC figure
  • as part of the Austrian grenadier command stand
  • an Austrian General of Cavalry to be part of the Austrian CinC command stand
  • the mounted Saxon officer for 1/Prinz Frederich August Infantry Regiment
  • the Prussian Feldjaeger to be singly based
  • a Saxon ADC as part of a Saxon command stand
  • the Prussian Feldjaeger as part of a Prussian command stand.

And for the record the Austrian battery hiding at the bottom of the picture is being used as reference for the Austrian 12 pdrs.

The good news is that some painting etc is being actioned on most nights. Huzzah!  😀

Oh, and click the picture for a larger and clearer image.

 

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