The League of Augsburg

 Why?

My lifelong interest in naval wargaming has only recently been allowed to flourish. The research needed to complete a comprehensive set of rules for the period 1630-1720 made it clear that the vast majority of naval action involved a handful of small ships. The mega sea battles of which there were many, are the mere tip of an enormous berg. By ignoring the small ship action anyone interested...

Despite Brexit, Covid 19, National lockdown and a snap snowfall in Scotland - A one tonne pallet arrived from Lithuania via Thames Gateway and I unloaded it this morning.

A Taste of Victory! will ship to pre order customers on Monday and Tuesday next week which is 10 days earlier than I had anticipated. Hurrah!

I am happy that this project got from drawing board to market quicker than any I have...

The climax of Fleurus is one of the larger scenarios. Orbat is from the the previous chapter- Walcourt.

When pulling together the content for A Taste of Victory!I had some choices to make. I am bothered by rehashing as an activity. Often when a subject is covered by various authors the same topics get hit again and again. This means when deeper research or enquiry need to take place, the same old...

With Talon and Claw has proven very popular in printed form and now that it has been available for 15 months, I am releasing it in pdf format at Hi-Resolution.

For those unfamiliar with the book - it is a guide to Wargaming the Great Northern War 1700-1721 and the Eastern Wars involving the Ottoman Empire between 1660 and 1730. 

It contains, supplementary rules for Swedes, Ottomans, Poles and Steppe...

 All systems appear GO! I am expecting delivery of Taste of Victory! in the third week of December so am gearing up for the pre order. Delivery will be as soon as possible after that pending the usual Christmas postal challenges.

The book is 116 pages, full colour, hardback and printed by the same company who did such a good job on With Talon and Claw.

It contains 18 scenarios for Beneath the Lily...

Western Approaches 1651 - Royalist and Irish privateers attack GWC ships

True, I have not been blogging as frequently as usual recently but that is not an indication of lack of hobby time, the opposite is true. A cancelled holiday in the north of Scotland due to raised levels of national restriction gave me an extra week with no work and no travel. That has allowed a real focus on several projects....

I am delighted to share some gaming experiences from Jeff Shaw involving the Dutch and Portuguese in the mid 17th century. That gives us an opportunity to cover Canada, Brazil, The Arabian Gulf and  India in a single post!

Portuguese and Spanish in Dutch Brazil - Jeff's cracking looking game!

Fellow enthusiast Jeff has been busy adapting 4Playscenarios which was precisely why I created them in the...

The first iteration of this converted Ainsty kit is as a 6 gun ketch Fox serving with the Royalist privateers sailing out of the Scilly Isles.

The vessel started life as a single masted sloop. I decided on a bit of conversion work and ended up with something which I am pretty pleased with. As time goes by and I feel less inclined to be lugging stuff to shows, I decided that permanently rigging some...

Undoubtedly, left field but, when I saw it, several little projects aligned - Tangier, Omani and Indian pirates, 4Play scenarios, Donnybrook and the new naval rules I am devoting a lot of creative time to.

Crew are Warfare Miniatures - Ottoman Irregulars OT11/OT12 packs + new officers

I have warmed up hugely to laser cut models. With a little care they can be lifted from the prosaic to characterful...

 How do you turn two models into twelve usable pieces? With a little bit of lateral thinking, some balsa wood, paint, glue, sandpaper and time.

I wanted to get the maximum scenario use from the two converted small ships I purchase from Ainsty. I will deal with their masts and sails in a later post but I wanted to get all the serious hull building work completed first before frigging in the rigging....

Wonderful cover art by Neil Roberts

I have been talking about it on an off over the last few months. We are pretty much there now. Over the next few weeks the first full scenarios book for BLB 3rd edition will be sent to print. 

Each scenario begins with some historical context

The book is entitled A Taste of Victoryand offers eighteen scenarios set between 1676 and 1693. The table set ups are all...