Typical Italian town with narrow streets, church and often detached square tower Flags and Sashes – Italian Cities all have identity and their medieval past is often the most influential – also heralding the rennaissance. The very concept of a modern united Italy overlays strong local identity. This keep at Ripattoni caught my eye with its stone framing? The splayed base is something you don’t often see in in earlier castles in the UK. Is this early medieval or much later then? Strange – internet searches only show a different Ripattoni whose keep/tower or torre is clearly built of bricks and stones without the framing.A typical hilltop town expanded around its original castle with square defence towerThis castle is attributed to Frederick II – Emperor – mid thirteenth centurylooks more Norman?
Naples – some serious constructions
round towers and flared bases – looks like it was moated – wet or dry? not much opportunity for mining even if it was a dry moat though.detour – always an amazing sight.
Amalfi with Ravello cling to a rocky coastline and were naval in outlook. Amalfi was a vibrant state in the late Byzantine period
Back to Naples……
harbour fortress and former medieval castle I believe
Heading north……..
This looks like a new build in the gunpowder era or just maybe there was an earlier castle now buried within its construction.
Italian castles are a splendid mix of square and round towers plus later bastions. Wikipedia have a convenient thread on bastions………
Bergamo was a significant City and often fought over.
Further into the lakes…….
Which Romans in the 6th Century – 500 to 599 AD? I guess thats Byzantine Exarchate by then as we are on the Adige in the Trento region? Shortly to be invaded by the Lombards and then the Carolingians. After them came the German Emperors and this castle layout dates from 13th century.
An original “guns of navarone” – scenario beckons?Something a bit different – the bridge had many interesting lives and was destroyed in world war 2 – this modern version is a copy of the 1569 replacement bridge – if you see what I mean.The great thing about many castles in Italy is they are a composite – irregularly shaped, with square and round towers plus later gunpowder era bastions.circular wall circuitsquare wall circuitcongestionthe ever present piazza and tower – note its looks to predate the adjacent building because of its misalignment. Its 13th century and so is the Paazzo to the left while the connecting part seems 17th century – which makes sense and again is characteristic of building upon building giving these cities their attraction to the eye.
now we go to the high passes…..
Fort built in the 1890’s Memorial tribute to the savage mountain war between the austrians and italians in world war 1 complete with artillery pieceThis impressive tower in Rome overlooks the Tiber and was there in 532 when Belisarius retook the city from the Goths for Emperor Justinian – Castel Sant d’Angelo AD134/139, which I think is so impressive when you see it. Its contents were looted in the 401 sack while later on the Romans took its decorative stonework to dress up St Peters. This reminds me that you can see fantastic Byzantine metalwork in Italy – made by craftsmen from Constantinople and sometimes simply looted from there by Normans and Venetians etc.no idea which battle or which painting/mural either !I started to watch the Slovenia cycle race but got distracted – I believe its a castle rich area given is “marcher” region history.
dates from 1278 according to brief wikipedia entry. I like the pen and ink picture!
There you go – hardly a straight edge in sight – 0k a couple – but in Italy the castle and fortress designs seem to hug the contours and show only your imagination stands between you and your own dream castle.
What are 28mm figures good for? Well if your a 1/72 figure follower then they are fantastic to paint!
Or rather in my case to experiment with. Recently Wargames Illustrated ran a contrast paints article while Wargames Soldiers and Strategy dealt with slap chop.
I have been edging towards these products simply because I bought a load on impulse. This is normal behaviour for an Erratic: A solution looking for a problem.
The problem has been I could not bring myself to use them in anger on my 1/72, 20-25mm figures without knowing their possibilities for me including my failures. Clearly they have been a great success for others.
And then there was the Wargames Illustrated article on “what a cowboy”, next minute I dug out some Dixon and Blue Moon figures from the dim and distant past, gathering dust in the great figure vault.
And then “ping” what if I experimented with these new paints and methods (new for me) on these figures?
They were definitely bought at Triples in Sheffield but around 2011!!! I think that means they were on the back burner……..
Anyway this is as far as I got and maybe I might not get much further – back on the painting table……
Big turf out and a surprising number of figures – they were already based and undercoated white. I sloshed cheap burnt sienna over them….I realised some were prohibition era gangsters while I also found a couple of freebies – Rasputin and Karl Marx. I primed these black. I then did some slap chop white dusting – at least I used a stolen make up brush on the gangsters……it worked quite nicely. Need to buy some.And then I simply ignored all the video and magazine advice I had gathered recently and got paint on the figures! Which was very pleasing. Note the appalling slap chop white work on Mr red hats arm – never mind.
Well this Tangent may develop or simply become another Icarus episode in the world of the wargaming erratic.
Some more castles and fortresses as the Basque Tour went to the east coast and Barcelona. This time the theme is Rennaissance and Early Modern Warfare with structural reactions to the development of gunpowder………
the original medieval citadel/castle is in the middle centre stretching back toward camera to the right.Square towers tell you it was a pre gunpowder build with round towers maybe added later although sometimes if half round they suggest a roman era construction continued in use.The well defended entrance of this fine fortress above Barcelona shows the impact of gundpowder technologyre-entrant angles permit killing fields for the attacker while the density/depth of the lower profile walls absorb the effect of gunpowder projectiles far better.
Wargames in Print has been on a rocky road – I was a subscriber to Battlegames (BG) not long after I found it by chance on a WHSmith railway station stall back in 2008. I abandoned that journey when it really disappeared into Miniature Wargames (MW). MW had always been a mixed blessing for me while Wargames Illustrated (WI) had been a favorite before leaving the hobby.
Henry Hyde and BG brought me back into the hobby. And I returned to the Wargames Publication world transformed by the Internet with Blogging/Being online all the rage.
I started reading blogs about 2011 and the print market now seemed terminal although BG helped sustain my interest. WSS I luckily discovered at another WHSmith when that shops footfall was in serious decline.
Today I am fully erratic! If I buy at all, it is mainly WSS but occasionally WI and MW.
The WSS focus was Hundred Years War and although at the wrong end of the war for my latest interest I decided to take a punt. I enjoyed it and I liked the range of scenarios/actions.
The Slap Chop/Grisaille method painting article was a bonus. I have read quite a few online articles on this subject yet some printed paper words and pictures were still enticing. That is the “print preference” still in me. I could contrast it (sorry) with the Speedpaint article in WI425, but I won’t, it was another very effective print article on a subject I have read round on the internet.
Now MW484. The last word was by Brenden Wheatley who talked about the importance of the Solo Wargamers Association and solo wargaming that sustained his hobby which he now pursues in both Budapest (see some hussars and music at the end of this post in Budapest) and Brecon!
Mid 19th Century warfare was a topic in WI425 – Perry French Franco Prussian War (FPW) plastics painting class while MW484 led with the Schlieswig Holstein Question.
Dave Tuck gave an excellent taster for the two wars – 1st and 2nd (1848 and 1864 respectively). Given MW style and content he did the subject justice and I would definitely recommend it to anyone wanting a clear straighforward way into the subject.
FREE RULES – Dave Tuck offers his ruleset via a link on the MW web page. FREE WARGAME RULES
Interestingly Dave Tuck started his journey before the FPW range from Perrys appeared and after the Helion range had ceased production. He had also used the North Star range. For coverage of the second war (1864) the one he opted to develop, he also resorted to conversions.
And I do think you should not be put off by the lack of a “go to” range. in 28mm 1864 can draw on Perrys FPW and any number of ACW ranges as well as other mid century wars in the Americas as well as the Crimean war of 1854.
If you are a uniform purist then that lack of exact replicas will probably drive you mad!
For the 1st war in 28mm, if you want to literally start at the beginning you can steal lots of Napoleonic era forces. 1815 to 1848 saw new uniform ideas but a lot of conservatism while weapons technology appeared to have stalled. A few months into the 1849/50 war and its all changing with kepis and pickelhaubes gathering pace alongside frockcoats, breechloaders, rifling and even the very early machine gun. Given quartermasters stores and regulations were never up to the minute, you can have lots of leeway in my view. You can borrow both back, forward and sideways for these wars!
I have grown to like the 1st Schlieswig Holstein war period simply because I get the best of both worlds – with the early versions of FPW uniforms and weapons still mixed up with Napoleonics. You have tailcoats, frockcoats, all types of shako, kepis, pickelhaubes, flat caps, smoothbores and rifled weapons in the mix plus of course emerging railways and telegraph.
If I was doing 28mm I would follow Dave Tucks approach and start with 1864 (the 2nd War) using FPW/ACW resources.
If your more Napoleonic in outlook opt for the 1848 or slightly earlier uniforms – the Danes are clearly still Napoleonic as are many German Confederation troops which just leaves the Prussians and Bavarians in their iconic pickelhaubes and combed helmets to be sourced from ACW/FPW era. And you don’t need fancy rifled/breechloading artillery yet – smooth bores will still work. You can also consider Crimea War for 1850’s era uniforms.
I would look at Ed M’s Wargames Meanderings for further inspiration if Dave Tuck’s article does not convince you.
I wanted as, with many of my projects, a low cost option. 1/72 plastics used to be low cost. Now they are no longer so cheap. Yet you can still pick up around 50 figures for £10. The key issue is sculpting quality, figure poses and paintability. You have to love the sculpts, I have grown to like their roughness in an age of 3D marketed perfection. To get the repetitous poses you may want you have to buy multiple boxes. My advice then is that if multiple poses is a problem go with 25/28mm sector metals. Finally paintability – the internet provides an astonishing window into the art of those who wash, prime and then successfully paint bendy plastics. My favorite site for inspiration is Pauls Bods – he can even make venerable airfix ranges look compelling. Also Philotep is worth a look. And you can always look at weather like Crimea, being winter wars there is a greatcoats crossover which can hide a multitude of things. Tumbling Dice Miniatures do ranges of 1/72 sculpts which are excellent – cast in pewter. I prefer the figures in summer gear with greatcoats packed away and blankets rolled. So Crimea ranges might also help here for those who want correct season clothing. Also Jacklex relaunched a few years ago in 20mm.
I opted for 20/25mm and have accepted a complete mash up of ranges both plastic and metal and the inevitable conversions.
20/25mm or 1/72 is small enough to hide the imperfections at 3 feet yet not so small that you can’t enjoy each figure in its own right. The scale remains my perfect compromise for the “table top” game.
WW1 Austrians repainted to 1850’s Danish in transition (Irregular Miniatures Metals)
Hat – Prussians from Zulu War British and ACW mash ups while WW1 Germans just get a repaint to become German Confederation troops. Nassau troops become well Nassauers for 1848 and offer also another take on Danish Bell Shako infantry.
Strelets – 1877 Russian dragoons become Danish Sharpshooters, 1806 Prussian Hussars become 1848 Prussian Hussars with a repaint
Airfix – WW1 British flat caps join ACW frock coats from strelets/hat to become Danish Riflemen in 1848
My latest addition is B&B Miniatures SH Rebel Dragoons and SH Rebel Artillery (in Prussian gear)
All this 20/25mm focus spun out of my Italian Wars of Independence 1848/1859 project (Italian wars of independence) when again I baulked at 28mm metal costs as the project was only meant to be a minor detour…….
Danish Line Infantry 1849 (Irregular Metals from their Colonial Range)
Alas the sheer variety of infantry types has overun my imagination and SHQ remains a questionable (sorry again) project with slow yet very enjoyable progress! Most units and figures are stuck on the paint table because I keep being distracted by mechanised warfare, medievals, Sci-Fi and yes even some FPW french figures daliance – Emhar – You can’t keep a good kepi down.
Which brings me back to WSS125 again and the 100YW. I have succumbed to yet more diversity in my painting – digging out my various unpainted medieval figures. My aim had always been Italy for this period, but it seems alighting on the battle of Shrewsbury 1403 while reading a biography of Henry IV caused me to re-examine an english force.
Who can avoid Hotspur…..thin end of a new wedge?
It remains to be seen what progress I make. And of course the next butterfly moment armed with a chance magazine purchase is probably just round the corner………
The Second battle using my “Buildings Blast” set up saw a mid 19th century action with Austrians and Piedmontese in play. It was a solo play this time.
I used the rules published by John Curry and the “history of wargaming project” with some adaption for solo play.
Using Neil Thomas grading of troops I adjusted the firing and melee rules.
I also used the Roster system unaltered. Infantry got 4 circles and a cross while Artillery got just 2 circles in this game. Essentially in the basic game a hit meant a unit (= 1 base) was destroyed. Roster rules gave units/bases lives in the form of circles and crosses on the roster which you ticked off as they were lost.
The Scenario was that the Austrians were retreating and the force here was ordered to hold the bridge in the town. The crossing was one of only a few that allowed artillery and logistics easy crossing of the river. The Piedmontese advancing from the north west had orders to seize the bridge as quickly as possible.
Forces were randomly assigned using playing card allocations along with a portion of blank entriesUnits deployed in contact and units were recognised as such at about 6 inches – the card only turned on a 2-6 D6. Here the right hand Piedmontese were certain nothing was in front of them – a heart was a dummy card while the left hand unit was not so sure so hesitated (on a d1) with no card turn. The right hand units poured forward towards the “old millhouse” spotting some real Austrian defendersThe lefthand Piedmontese units were suddenly exposed to Austrian infantry fire from a slightly sunken roadon the east side of the main road two piedmontese artillery batteries dropped into action again to be surprised by enemy troops in a slightly sunken and walled road. These were riflemen and on good form – one battery was quickly silencedHowever infantry units (white coated British Legion 1860) quickly drove them awayfierce fire was exchanged between the Bersaglieri and Austrians in the sunken road while Garibaldeans stormed the defended houses at the entrance to the townOn the east side 1859 Piedmontese infantry stormed the defended housesElsewhere Piedmontese forces had pushed on meeting little resistance (= dummy cards) to their front. A lone Austrian Artillery battery on the west side of town faces artillery and some more Bersaglieri Stubborn resistance at the Old Millhouse Finally the sunken road defenders are driven offAnd the west side Austrian defenders give up rather too quicklyexchange of fire results in another Austrian lossEven as west side Austrian defenders gather but………The Piedmontese quickly move towards their target – the river crossing. Another Artillery Battery blocks their wayOn the west side the Austrian defenders put up a good defence and with support nearby………The defended houses at the north end of town finally are overrunThe mill house and its defenders are abandoned by the Austrians who can retreatAustrian artillerists put up a stern defenceCrunch time at the town square as the Austrians are hemmed inThe Bersaglieri try to rush the ArtilleryThe Town centre defence collapses The Bersaglieri inexplicably turned tail on the west side while Lancers arrive to their rear. The British Legion finish off the town centre defenders on the left pictureThe Artillery of Piedmont watch as the last Austrian defenders in the town square are defeatedThe defended westside town square buildings are assaultedin a last desparate throw Austrian Hussars ride up the main street to halt the Piedmontese tide.The Hussars beat off the Lancers but to their rear the Artillerists are finally beaten while the East side is alive with Piedmontese. Everywhere Austrian defenders have melted away into the fields or across the bridge.The Hussars beat a retreat across the bridge bringing to an end the defence of the bridgePiedmontese Lancers cautiously follow.
The defended buildings were randomly determined and contained one unit each – no other benefits were given the building defenders. So they simply were a delaying factor assisting the mobile defenders fighting outside.
The scenario I played used a 25 step countdown and 1xd6 reduction per turn. The Austrians had to retire at countdown 16 from the edge of town, 7 – the town square and at 0 abandon the north river bank. Victory to Piedmont required they took the bridge before the countdown reached 0.
The game turns 1 to 3 were spent on the edge of town, then turns 4, 5 and 6 fighting over the town square. Turn 7 forced the Austrians back to the north bank but here ended the action as the Austrians actually ran out of defenders.
So the victorious Piedmontese captured the bridge intact and within the timescale set. There were no Austrian Engineers with a lit fuse to spoil their day! Anyway the Austrians would be back soon enough they thought…. Do I hear a Radetzky March in the distance?
For a very old ruleset Joe Morschauser’s rules played easy as I guess you would expect. With the tweaks to aid solo play they actually played very well.
I had bought the rule book for the Grid rules both the originals and Bob Cordery’s modernised version – Bob co edited the book with John Curry.
So this was a pleasant surprise to find a very playable set of “measurement based” rules into the bargain.
I have slowly started to look at some grid gaming set ups. My starting point has been that they would aid campaigns and to that end allow quicker solo games. I opted for two 3’x2′ boards which could then give me a 4’x3′ table which also figures in Neil Thomas rulesets.
ideas still in play – how to represent rivers and buildings? hills are simply another gridded block shape to suit.
As a bit of a test I used a Neil Thomas scenario from the C19th European Wars book (NT19e) – the Cristinos v Carlists, in my case Piedmont squared up to Austria.
I use 40mm square bases for my 19th century games and I have chosen a 50mm grid – i.e. no perfect fit of base to grid square. And for this test I used essentially formations from Neil Thomas NT19e. The exception being that my square 40×40 basing really distorts the column or line option choice.
Garibaldeans march in my attack column option – I reserve a single base wide column of 4 bases for marching only. Firing lines are 4 bases side by side and don’t advance or retreat, but can wheel.I have Artillery men both on one large base and also individually as shown hereAbstraction – these Neapolitan Riflemen in a built up area may still simply be on a block of a different colour or with buildings/features!I quite like Neil Thomas unit conditions – Fire and Fury and other rulesets in mid 19th century warfare also seem to opt for this type gradationI did not find the grid a problem and it did the job of of having a tape measure on the board at all times everywhere. Also manoeuvring is hard work once you move to multi based units. NT19e allows turning (spinning)on the unit centre (abstraction again) so fits nicely with a grid approach.The undersizing of base to grid feels right for me.Neil Thomas rules do not feature command bases but other rules I like do – so I plan to use single grid base for lowest discrete command with next up having two grids covered and the top man having three of even four bases covered. The bigger the command base the further back from the action is better for them – having no attack or defence values if contacted.Bare bones – right now it feels like I am heading in the right direction.
One scene – two battles – thats efficiency for you.
Monochrome provides a unity of its ownBut our world loves colour – sort of – the unity is lostWith my regular “What a Tanker” opponent I took the allies and a makeshift bunch of tanks – churchill, stuart, grant and a “shy” firefly Surprise surprise the german mechanics and fuel operators were on top gear – out come a tiger, a panther and a sturdy PzIV – needless to say flashy turrets were also on display. Its a pity there is not a special rule in WAT for complicated tech risk due to supply and logistics problems….. but this is just a table game like monopoly.We took the long table set up with tank groups arriving in diagonally opposite corners – here the germans creep into the centrerather brazenly the churchill and firefly just drive up the main streetThe weaker allied tanks stayed out of townThe churchill caught a sight of movement – fired and took out some buildingsThe stuart caught the PzIV in its sights and firedDespite hugging the old mill house the the stuart was spotted by the panther but no fire………The king tiger broke ground and took the Churchill head on……..And it was all over in a tick.The firefly got a line on the King tiger The stuart was now being targetted by both the Panther and PzIV – no one was getting any hits on anything except a barn doorFinally some allied success – the Grant crept up on the King Tiger – in my last WAT game post the Grant had been the “dark scary dog” for the big german cats.not this time – those roller bearings and cogs? (Frank Tank Rants has fantastic tank tech data to keep you happy for hours) were well oiled as the Grant failed to fire……Another allied tank gone Meanwhile the Stuart was holding its own against the “B” team of the Panther and PzIV. The problem was the Stuart was hitting its target without any impactIf that was not enough the big tiger with two kills already turned up Retreating – the stuart almost escaped before a fatal shot landed.The Firefly finally put in an appearance but was nochantly disposed of by the king tigerThe Firefly was last allied tank standing – game over. This one was quite quick which was useful as my regular opponent does not get much game time. That is why WAT is an excellent pick up game. Also I had time and the idea to get almost all my model buildings on the table.The buildings are a right old mix – some date from the 1970’s complete with enamel paint through decades old paper buildings where the damage is due to little insects! when in storage – ok the steeple was down to straight crushing. and some are ceramics from germanyThe next battle involved Austrians and Piedmontese/French so I got good use from the temporary set up.
A bit in arrears on cycling and to be honest a bit thin on castles too.
Best I can offer was monteperti featured in the strada bianchi circuit this year
They could almost pass for an army on the March Not a lot to see these days or the helicopter would have picked it outDifficult to disguise your arrival on these roads A dusty ride
Here is some coronation day music on armed forces day – a time to reflect on those that defend our greater liberty and freedoms.
The army guys I was chatting too under the trees said there were Royal Signals and Yorkshire regiment’s personnel attending. I guess the two standing soldiers were cavalry and ghurka representatives?
The Wargaming Erratic 