The League of Augsburg
Poltava Part 1 - taster of an epic
This game was a year in the making and is the result of the hard work of Jon and Diane Sutherland who created it as a commission for a private collector.
I have been intimately involved with the development as all of the figures used are Warfare Miniatures and there are roughly 2,500 plus about 400 horses here! I counted 'em, Jon painted 'em and Diane built the terrain!
The commission was...
A Fascinating detour Part 2 - Brielle
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| Gateway in Brielle's inner defensive ramparts |
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| Panel beyond the outer works explaining Brielle's position and history |
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| The moat between out ramparts and the Molenbolwerk - can you see its cannon? |
Whilst in Den Haag Toggy spotted an article about the fortress town of Brielle and its capture by the Sea Beggars during the Eighty Years War. Do you know anything about this? he asked. Nope was the unhelpful...
Fly Paper - The attack at la rivière du miel, November 1693
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| The valley of the Honey River, San Dominique |
Our campaign continues to expand in the Caribees. A plot hatched in the rum taverns of the Antilles and Jamaica culminated in a diversionary raid on the French held island of San Dominique in November 1693. This was one of the 'tune up' scenarios before the main event.
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| The forces of Governor du Casse, Louis XIV's man on San Dominique |
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| The mixed and rather... |
Report from the Front
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| Action during the battle to capture Tortuga from Governor du Casse |
I am just back from our latest Weekender epic continuing the campaign to control Britain and its associated colonial territories in 1693. I wanted to post up a glance at what we were doing before flying out to all points sandy tomorrow so, here it is!
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| The Jacobites last stand? Defending London from Prinz Eugen |
We played five games...
Ultimately a productive week..
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| Another batch of Haitians completed |
It didn't start well with three of my holiday days being taken up with work and I thought my painting plan would go to wrack and ruin. Nevertheless, focus is the watchword and the tally for the week was
45 figures and 13 war dogs which I am pretty happy with. All completed on the terrace whilst the family were out supporting the local economy.
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| The somewhat equine... |
Solidifying the Ghost Army Part 7: Wounded Sentinels
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| The wounded sentinels in the raw state |
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| The sentinels completed |
Although the Ghost Army force has only four units each with two characters attached I added two extra demi-units in order to make the scenario work. The first of these are three sentinels, each supposed to be wounded and therefore rated as Drilled in the scenario.
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| Ralf Abrahamsson in the raw form with milliput ragged cape |
This unit has no...
Champions of Pike & Shot 1: Mark Shearwood
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| Siege of Athlone 1691 - wonderful solo effort by Mark |
I decided to highlight the work of fellow gamers who I feel make a significant contribution to the popularity of the period 1660-1720. Mark Shearwood's output is both prodigious and high quality.
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| Meanwhile back in Brixham 1688 - Kidnapping King James |
Mark has produced imaginative and inspiring games which have appeared at various shows mostly in...
Donnybrook.. no, we didn't write this review!
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| White Death GNW Donnybrook at York in 2015 |
Sometimes life is just nice to you. When I opened Wargames Illustrated issue 359 an article about Donnybrook caught my eye... Why I Love Donnybrook! well, I had to read on!
An enthusiast for the rules has written a very glowing piece extolling the virtues of the rules and recommending them for periods well beyond the core 1660-1760 span (which is of course...
Exceptions prove the rule - LoA at Claymore 2017
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| Our set up positions at Arcis sur Aube, March 20 1814 |
I have been particularly conscious of the requests from visitors to keep this Blog exclusively 17th/early 18th century. This post proves that rule by making a rare exception.
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| Cavalry regiments the size of brigades - Austrian Hussars - both charged |
Toggy and I fancied a trip forward 100 years to get some fresh air around his enormous Austrian...
Some time to reflect
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| Plenty of space to let my mind wander here....24.8062° N, 56.1254° E |
Being somewhat averse to the sun I have used much of my time this last week to catch up on written projects safely indoors and away from it. I realized that I have a lot of these projects.
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| This bizarre battlefield duel did take place between two allies at 18.0193° N, 76.9758° W |
I spent a good chunk of the week organizing the October...
Battle for Britain - inside the Caribbean forces
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| Creole infantry in action! |
The Caribbean theatre started as a one off idea but the more I researched it the more I got hooked by the scope, scale and generally bizarre nature of what the European superpowers got up to there.
Our first outing centres on Jamaica - previously Spanish, now English and very recently declared for King James and not King William. Challenging possession of the island is an...
The Battle for Britain 1693 The fighting begins...
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| Kirke's arrival at Santa Marta - The Creole Regiment was already in position |
Of course I have already blogged briefly on the topic of our 1693 Battle for Britain adventures but not really given any detailed insight into the battles. The reason was simple. I had a mass of data to sift through and organize and my time between the beginning of April (when we did it) and now has been filled with...