Winter has continued to offer amazing cloudscapes. As we head into the Christmas season and the year end I would reflect on a year of cloudscapes, the sheer number being notable.
The colours that attract me are the greys and pinks. And of course the blues are often stunning in contrast.
Almost a shepherds warning in this pinky mauve grey cloud – the blue sliver takes the prize though2022 has offered big skies of blue tempered with grey while pink has been everpresent in my sunsetstypical sunset pinks and greysyet the blues, yellow and oranges then add to the cloudscape colour
Nature has offered much in 2022 while winter never dissappoints.
winter flora and fauna can sometimes be seen as dormant at best or simply snow covered. fungi are at their very best……………and moss takes centre stage as the autumn leaves decayoccasionally the fungi surprise you with their character!And mosses have the best of times.A green wall in every senseblue grey contrasts with sharp yellow in this fading sunset
In many of my cloudscapes the trees provide a secondary role, often in silhouette. Winter offers a chance to examine the tangle of branches bare of their leaves.
A bright blue sky and low lying winter sun show these branches at their besttanglewood complete with ivy which may still at this time of year offer a few flowers and nectar for our flying friends2022 has offered so many scenes where pink and grey have combined to achieve such satisfying displaysa few moments on and the greys deepen as does the blue, the orange is still richThis particular sunset feels winterish with washing out of the red yellow colouring, a trick of the eye but that could be sun playing on a flat sea……the sunset progresses to a richer leveland finally spreads its colour across the sky as it ends
This Austrian Artillery Battery works for the 1st and 2nd Italian Independence Wars of 1848/49 and 1859/60 respectively. We are still in muzzle loading smoothbore territory but with rifling growing in popularity.
This time I opted for individually based figures.
Previously I had based some of them for Piquet Field of Battle rules.
The artillery pieces are Irregular Miniatures Russian guns.
A recent trip to Harrogate proved fruitful in the Oxfam Charity bookshop. Before that a tour of the Harrogate museum at the old springs was very interesting.
Tucked away in Harrogate Museum was this equivalent of lego although it looks more like 3D printing should lookI bought this book to see what rule mechanisms I might pick out from a mid 19th century gaming guide by a wargames rules master.This book almost launched me off into the Ancients period again – not just yet as the mid 19th century wars in Denmark and Italy still hold my fascinationOne of the original well caps can still be seen in the MuseumA Victorian? display of spa waters from Europe. Kissingen which if I remember correctly was the location when the Federal Armies secured defeat from the jaws of victory fighting the Prussian Army of the Main………….1866.
When the Kingdom of Piedmont and Sardinia went to war in the 1st Italian Independence War in 1848 they had been rapidly mobilising their forces.
A shortage of materials and equipment meant that new units were equipped with a simpler uniform. Tunics were single breasted instead of double breasted. The shako was a different design as well.
These figures represent soldiers in these rapidly mobilised units.
They are are made from two sets of figures.
the body – Hat US ACW infantry
the head and back packs – Hat Dutch Napoleonic infantry
US Infantry in Attack 2 by Hat are the base figure with a cut down dress makers pin driven in to take the new head.Hat Waterloo Netherlands Militia make the sacrifice to provide heads and back packsI ended up with some wacky head positions as accurately driving the head on the pin spike was a lottery. Everything was super glued which seems to work best.The Guard Infantry shown here betray the shoulder pads and white waist/shoulder belts missing on the US figures. But even so I think my chaps pass for that rapid muster of new units who would be defeated by Marshal Radetzky’s Austrians in a matter of months and then again a year later in 1849 at Novarra which effectively finished the 1st War.
Before the high street, one might say the big shopping destination was the market place and in medieval cities there were the quarters – with the street of tailors or say the street of bakers. So maybe you get some quarters surrounding a market.
You would go to a quarter or street for specific things. The Market might have variety.
Small traders characterised such places. Scale is important.
You could say Wargames shows are simply a return to one of those medieval quarters – a place where you knew you could buy a certain thing. I suspect in previous times certainty of a purchase was very important as travel was very expensive, time consuming and energy draining (before the iron horse arrived).
For wargamers its probably a market or fair they want because there is a variety of things to see and buy at a wargames show.
Recon 2022 is that street for wargamers or that Wargames Fair – either way its a market of small traders.
Colonel Bills is a typical trader offering a great variety of stock and lines.You can see the goods, compare and contrast and be confident in your purchase.
This year I think I detected more traders in terms of space occupancy as the games area seemed a bit squeezed in the main hall.
Given the football coverage, energy crisis, cost living hikes and transport chaos I thought the show might be very quiet. It actually seemed as busy as last year with only the bring and buy quieter – that was more about what was for sale. Less gamers selling on I suspect?
New Pudsey Civic Hall is a light and airey space – just right for wargamers.
Then again when I think back – 2021 was between lockdowns and people were only just peering out at a post covid world. And so last year I think there was a greater effort to get out there. So 2022 may have had no more in numbers but I suspect there was greater energy to do stuff.
This year seemed more relaxed, normal if you like, except of course things are anything but normal at the moment.
Stoke Field 1487 was the participation game at the Lance & Longbow Stand – Lion Rampant with House Rules.
This is a great show and maintains the variety and number on offer in northern england. The BHGS show in Manchester went south this year to its new venue in Nottingham. In my case Recon22 more than made up for my missing Fiasco this year.
The Bring and Buy was back in the upper floor area for 2022Plenty of traders and games were availableThis year the main space felt a little more congested but still gave plenty of room to get around
This is my last show of the year so roll on 2023. Why not add Recon to your diary now? Recon 2023.
The Heraldic display in the main entrance to the Hall.
Along the coast from Bangor City is Conwy. Apart from its famous estuary and castle the town boasts a compact old centre of shops including a bookshop.https://www.hintonsofconwy.co.uk/
In very recent times I have become a lot more interested in Austria and its post Holy Roman Empire era.
Apart from the bookshop, good variety of eateries and some nice food shops, the town centre retains some fine buildings.
Slightly off track Bangor in Snowdonia or rather Eryri National Park as it is now called is not an obvious destination when you have the mountains, seashore and a host of attractive towns and villages – usually accompanied by a castle – to pick from.
On this occasion this High Street trip included an island hop and a pier!
St Deiniols Cathedral in Bangor City is located on a site of christian activity since 530AD, the current buildings date in part from 1120AD.
The 6th Battalion of the Royal Welch Fusiliers (Caernarvonshire & Angelesey) were originally a volunteer rifle corps raised in 1859 at a time of concern about Britain being invaded. The more I visit the UK coast the more this issue of possible invasion around 1860 pops up.
Flags hang in the Cathedral and there is a window dedicated to the Regiment.The Great War memorial
The Tomb of Owain the Great is also to be found in the Cathedral
The ceiling is very ornate
I chanced upon a militaria shop in a very tidy 1970’s shopping mall, a stones throw from the Cathedral. It was full to the brim and also had a decent range of secondhand books. The owner gave me a good price for the items I bought and was very welcoming.
Currently I am reading about the early railways roughly 1820 – 1870. This book was a very nice find. You can find many railway history books with only a short intro to this early period but then lots of content post 1880. Instead this book stops around that time. So it suited me fine – it is this sort of steam engine in the picture that intrigues me these days. I remember seeing this book as a kid so it was an indulgence to buy it. The images are great but the text is a quirky 1970’s modern style combined with a formal teacher to pupil like text. This book was not something I was looking for but offers lots of ideas around siege activity during the civil wars.Another unexpected purchase. I have many Donald Featherstone books. This one I will read, take some ideas from it but probably then pass it on.The Menai Straits Bangor Pier from the mainlandIn the far distance is sunlit Beaumaris and its massive unfinished castleThe end of the pier gives an excellent view of Snowdonia National Park recently renamed Eryri National ParkOn Anglesey there is a marine conservation centre ………..They specialise in sharks – the small UK ones – but I also rather like the other young fish they breedI did not buy a marine gift but came away with this neat booklet – at 128 pages it packs quite a punch.I dropped in these because Criccieth Castle location is absolutely stunning while you can see Beaumaris is the peak of castle building in the British Isles.
Some High Street visits take you unexpected places!
GEMBA or “go see” should be the rule for the High Street.
Yes its Chester and another great find in a real model shop.
in the covered arcade of this impressive building was a fantastic findI did notice in this shop that Airfix and other “UK brands” were dominant – the shop did not look like it lacked for business so maybe imported stocks are a problem? – or maybe Chester folks love Airfix!the place was awash with metcalfe card kits – I had seen this gatehouse advertised but this was the first time I had seen one in a shopThe 1/72 figure ranges seemed much reduced – empty shelves. The Hat Austrians were regular as expected but the Waterloo1815 1/72 figures I nearly dropped – caught out by their weight! both sets were the last ones on show and were old stock I think – and in metal!!!!!ok just 6 men on horseback but I had to have them.
Rarely do you find metal figures on the high street. I got lucky!
I am kicking off a series of posts about some successful high street purchases.
Not always easily obtained – I think this Hat 1/72 box gets snapped up whenever supplies land in the UK. This model store had quite a few boxes in their vast stock of model kits and figures Porthmadog Models are located in yes you’ve guessed it PorthmadogNot quite on the High Street but right in the centre of town this shop is lovingly run by its owners.I picked up this kit – just when I am reading about all things steam and naval ships…tucked in one corner were a vast collection of vac formed scenery by Amera – Bellona for those of a certain age. 1/72 although I think some were 15mm?Steam Age warfare includes Steam railways – pretty obvious – these dapol kits caught my eye. The old airfix moulds given new life.Another Amera moulding I could not resist.Every so often the owner provides a centre piece of diorama modelling. On my chance visit it was Rorkes Drift Its not often you see dioramas these days and rarely on this scalefigures are painted by the model shop’s ownernot sure the figure range but they are 28mm scaleI wonder what diorama is there now? Why not pay a visit………….
As a wargamer, my gaming inclination is always drawn to playing cards. These were a nice set I snapped up in Bangor. But thats another High Street story.
Colonel Ansaldi was fretting – having gained so much from the raid on Austrian storehouses he was worried that none of his scouts had been able to stay in touch with the Imperial troops known to be in the area. What he would give for a decent squadron of guides…….
Meanwhile not far away Colonel Albrecht considered the recent reports, nearby Austrian Hussars were watering their mounts. They had ridden hard to report finding the raiders. Now we shall obtain some satisfaction from those Sardinians thought the Colonel……..
Colonel Ansaldi cursed as the nearby hill was clearly occupied by troops – and they were not friendly – Austrians! To arms, to arms, went up the shout.
Looking South the Austrians were well placed on the hillThe Scenario 25 straight from One Hour WargamesThe random force generator gave Blue (Sardinians) only infantry while Red (Austrians) gained some Cavalry to support their infantry
The Sardinian force consisted of 3 infantry units and 1 skirmisher unit. The Skirmisher unit headed for the Austrians on the hill
The Scenario Set up required one unit of Austrians on the table before the Sardinians arrived from the south west heading north. The Zone 1 was the required deployment area for the one Austrian unit, in this case some skirmishers (note I used 4 bases per unit for both line and skirmisher foot troops)
Already a brisk firefight had broken out between the two sides.
There was no time time to lose and anyway there was only one direction the Sardinians could take and that was straight past those Austrians on the hill.
Despite orders there was hesitancy on the part of the Sardinians who still traded fire with the lone Austrian unit. Now other forces appeared – infantry and cavalry!
Cavalry and Infantry appeared from the north on the main road the Sardinians had avoided. (the rules included random arrival of reinforcements)Things are not looking good for the Sardinians
Panic breaks out in the Sardinian ranks. I used the solo rules chance table which offered confusion, ammunition shortages, demoralisation, initiative, rallying and enemy panic.
the skirmisher firefight was prolongedsome good luck (chance) means the Sardinians move swiftly past the hill.The Austrian Hussars close in on the Milan GuardIt looks like the Sardinians are moving clear.
The Sardinians continue to push on with their escape.
The Hussars clash with the Milan GuardIt all hinges on whether the Hussars can hold up the escaping Sardinians
The Austrians continue to press with a further charge by the Austrian cavalry despite them being demoralised.
The Sardinian firing slackens off – Colonel Ansaldi sends a runner to find out what is going on. (chance intervenes)
Suddenly there are Austrians everywhereMore Austrians troops arrive on the Main Road from the South. Aiming for the road was now a problem for the SardiniansMore chance favours the Austrians whose Infantry march rapidly up the road while the Cavalry catch the Sardinian SkirmishersThings are looking bleak for Colonel Ansaldi as the Milan Guard break before the Hussars repeated attacks
But finally the Austrian cavalry also retreat as things are just too hot. Meanwhile the Austrian fire is good and effective and they continue to press the Sardinians.
The Hussars break while the Austrian Infantry close in on the remaining two Sardinian unitsThe Sardinians must exit the road northwards with two units to secure victory. Despite the Piedmontese Infantry driving off the Hussars, the Sardinian Skirmishers fail to reach the safety of the woods before being crushed by the Austrian Cavalry
Now on the point of victory the Austrians seem confused. Yet with a final effort they corner the Sardinians.
The Piedmont Infantry leave the field while the second Milan Guard unit is decimated by the pursuing Austrians.Its all over as Blue force Sardinians fail in their mission to exit two units northwards on the main road.
Colonel Albrecht curses his cavalry – they are blown and clearly fit for nothing as some of the Sardinians are still making good their escape. He calls for some scouts.
Later Colonel Ansaldi manages to regroup his shattered forces and with poor pursuit from the Austrians is able to restart his march back to Sardinian lines by a new route. Later many more of his dispersed men come in.
The solo rules regarding random confusion, demoralisation, panic and ammunition shortage added that “unknown/unexpected” element to the game that a real opponent usually brings. The interventions were not gigantic but did chip away at each forces potential.
Early on the Sardinians were stalled, then gained initiative before the Austrians finally gained lots of initiative to enable them to hem in the Sardinians even with a hesitation at the end.
Next up the Sardinians, having continued their march, encounter more Austrian forces intent on preventing their escape.
The Wargaming Erratic 