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.
I made it to the Other Partizan, so thats three trips to Newark in 2022 (hammerhead, partizan and the other partizan). I missed Fiasco in Leeds last week owing to calendar congestion – real life intervened. Fiasco has been one of my most regular show trips.
Hopefully I will make it to Recon at Pudsey in December.
I find all these shows different and maybe most people give Recon only a nod. It is a really great show – ok so the foot fall will be a lot less – but remember quantity does not always equate to quality.
Recon not only has good carparking on site, its also just 5 minutes from the national rail network – strikes permitting. It has all the facilities you need under one roof with more eateries nearby in town. The show itself is well laid out and has a variety of traders and gamers and a well run bring and buy.
I found another gamer had reported their visit to Fiasco, The Balkan Wargamer. I follow them as they often write interesting book reviews with a good mix of posts about figures and gaming. Well balanced and thought out.
Mixed views and yes the current location is not naturally lit. Mind you I was sunshine dazzled at Partizan.
You win some you lose some!
I plan to return next year.
As a kind of subsitute for missing Fiasco I indulged the High Street buying two wargame magazines in one go! Talk about pushing the boat out – you don’t get change from a tenner anymore.
I reckon magazine prices track a different cost inflation curve to wargames figures anyway and probably always have.
Three national magazines were sold at the WHSmith store – where I bought mine. I took Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy (WSS) plus Wargames Illustrated (WI). Miniature Wargames (MW) was the third option.
I tend to buy WSS and occasionally buy certain themed WI. I rarely buy MW now, I enjoyed Battlegames so did follow it into MW. Even when most of that DNA was gone I found their Table Top Gaming angles of interest. Ultimately MW does not offer me more than either WSS or WI. So thats that I guess.
You win some you lose some!
Like the Times Illustrated* WI is the king of the image. And I do think if you value the printed word alongside relevant images then WSS is the best of the bunch. Of course they are all up against the behemoth of “online” so have to push large amounts of advertising. Anyone who can reflect on Wargames history knows that magazines were always loaded with adverts – it was and is a frail business model and buyers want that info anyway – even today when all that info is available free, in tons of gigabits. That data mountain is a problem and just maybe one reason why magazines still offer value as a “data consolidator”.
What did I get for my money?
WSS offered up a Dark Age Britain and Arthur theme and profiled the second edition of Dan Mersey’s Lion Rampant. Plus you get a lot of regular features including quite a few opinion pieces.
I thought it might restart some interest in previous adventures (Dux Brittaniarum, Shieldwalls) – I am not sure though.
WI majored on Twisted History which is apparently the new name for fictious historical wargaming or imaginations wargaming even. To cover every genre and time period, perhaps Twisted History might catch on as it has no baggage or rather has not already been claimed.
I quite like the idea of a generic term for taking history and twisting it. – except that is what historians do any way, don’t they? ok many are trying to untwist twisted history. Crikey I am confused now.
One reference point is Richard III (recently even the subject of a film without a single battle scene). Despite the discovery of his body and the dismissal of many myths created by the Tudors (history goes to the victors of course) you can still consume lots of now baseless Tudor tradition.
Ever Twisting Twisted History………maybe it will catch on.
And into the bargain of not attending a show I did some kit bashing and figure mods. These tell you that 19th century gaming is still on my mind.
A lucky buy on the high street………..Irregular Miniatures WW1 Austrians went under the knife…………
*The Post title image is from a Times Illustrated large format publication about the British Royal Family. WI is simply continuing a great tradition of image!
Britain and Russia at war – in the Crimea………….
Here is another .
The transition from Sail to Steam in three images…………
I do have a general idea about an order of postings, yet every now and again I get derailed. The usual suspect here was a wargame show – the other partizan. And that show found me browsing the extensive rulesets on offer at Dave Ryans Caliver Books stand.
I had seen this ruleset before, but moved on many a time. The cover was more Franco Prussian – I had kept avoiding this conflict simply because my interests were 10 – 20 years earlier and there seemed a gulf between these warring times: 1848 to 1870 was a transitional period especially for technology.
“There are you Guns” derives from the “General de Brigade” rules system
This time I looked through a bit more, no, I read the introduction. Somehow the words immediately offered something broader. Never judge a book by its cover they say.
Well the upshot was I parted with some “plastic” notes (I like to take a budget in my pocket – when its its gone, and it kind of adds to the immediacy of a decision) and this ruleset added to my burgeoning ruleset collection – yet again.
A few days later I set about reading the book cover to cover. Not usually my method – I often just get a few figures out and tinker with parts of a ruleset first off.
On this occasion I felt the ruleset could be read as a book. This was because the design philosophy as well as gaming examples are intervweaved amongst the rules chapter by chapeter.
Each chapter is self contained and includes contemporary illustrations and suitable military quotes of the day. It proved a good read.
When I had finished the book I put it to one side and got on with some figure painting. This was after a lay off, the usual “I was painting one day and the next – nothing”. I even had one unit just needing some base foliage adding – but no – production had ceased.
Then I suddenly decided I had to play a test game and yes I had to try for sufficient forces to look at the “divisional” set up. I felt anything smaller might not help me explore the rules sufficiently.
So “Blue on White” was born and I had one division per side comprising 2 brigades of infantry and artillery plus some divisional cavalry. I opted for most of the variables to match on both sides and also headcounts as well.
In effect I took out lots of variables regarding quality. I also discarded all the terrain rules by virtue of fighting the action across a plain.
The Battle of Gatehouse Road: Set on a small rise the road to the Gatehouse described a very low ridge.
The result was a long game where the game was left set up for several days – something I tend not to do. The reason was I felt compelled to find what the result would be by playing out the game.
The rules are not fast play and quick kills were not obvious where forces are very well balanced. At this point I should say that mostly smoothbore ruled the field. The exception was some muzzle loading riflemen. We are talking 1840’s not 1870’s.
I also suspect my use of the smallest size of units made the task of defeating an opponent harder. Although it should follow that units were eliminated quicker – which did not seem to happen.
I might just get a report out discussing the detail because I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed the ruleset mechanisms.
So where do I reckon “there are your guns” (TAYG) comes out against the basket of rules I tested recently?
In short with an overall score of 25 its looking very promising.
“there are your guns” (TAYG 1848) ruleset scores
Criterion
Score
Production
4
Rule Philosophy
8
Game Mechanisms
4
Action Mechanisms
9
Total
25
At 25 this ruleset came in joint second
The best thing about the rules were their feel – having read quite a few books now around the mid 19th century – the rules seemed to reflect well the descriptions/opinions I have encountered. Now one test does not answer every question and crucially I had in effect boxed off 4 brigades against 4 others with some divisional command on top. No flanking and no variability in force quality. No terrain influencers either.
There are your Guns or TAYG1848 – I can never resist an abbreviation
Overall I will be using this ruleset but I am not yet sure how. They feel like they need a sizeable force on the table.
Blue (with a bit of Green) on White – who won? or in this case did the rules win me over?
What do you do when your sidetrack project becomes a Cuckoo in the nest. You buy another nest, metaphorically speaking, and stick it in it. I had attempted to paint and kitbash my way through the sidetrack project Fauxterre 1930, while progressing my main project of 2021 – Wars of Italian Unification 1848/1859 (in themselves ever more complicated but still fascinating).
So, having gone round the show in quick time I felt there was little to tempt me or solve my current project woes. “Or so I thought”.
Early War Miniatures was one of many (but not all) bigger traders busy selling at VAP22. With no bring and buy or competitions, plus only a select few demo/participation games, it was easy to get around but also the smaller sellers were not too diminished as they were spread across all 4 floors.
At Early War Miniatures I encountered a sell off of some completed figures. And they were exactly what I wanted for my Fauxterre 1930 project. Although I had opted for US and Russian forces – original plan – I had drifted into the interwar period and French forces had loomed into sight complete with Char B tanks, Renault’s and various quirky looking vehicles.
Net result was I came away with a prize and of course my wallet much lighter.
The effect was that a mini deluge in buying followed. There is a lesson in there somewhere.
The figures come next followed by the rest of my purchases with some kit armour and finished EWM tanks to finish.
French WW2 infantry from Early War Miniatures – 4 x 12 man rifle units plus HQ + Heavy Weapons The complete set of French WW2 figures – it was the fact that it was a useable set that caught my eye – all ready to go.
The rest of my buys were somewhat “erratic” of course……….
impulse buys at PendrakenMy Great Northern Wars “Era” project remains unrealised. I seem to find Italy ever more interesting across all periods.tufts for basing my italian wars of unification project (1848/1859) – for when I get some figures painted again!Pendraken again – small dice are simply too enticing – should be banned.I like AC’s!This Renault Truck I nearly bought in injection kit form from Hannants – but at a higher price!tankettes are the way forward!Some interesting armour and vehicles for Fauxterre 1930 From EWM, my slow build of a Russian WW2 force now includes some decals – very slow it would seemAs part of a show discount Early War Miniatures included these miscasts for free. They are intact enough to become part of the Fauxterre 1930 war effort.
So a big thank you to Early War Miniatures who fixed a growing problem. Pendraken as ever met my needs for all sorts of extras while HelionBooks invariably come up with attractive titles to feed my reading. Great Escape Games provided the tufts and some humour.
The large ground floor flowed freely as the demo and participation tables were absent this year.Plenty of the smaller traders were located on the higher levels
Last of all for those who stuck the journey………..
3 M11/39 Italian tanks from Early War Miniatures
Thats all folks – just maybe for patient “John the Varnish” the next post should be about Wars of the Italian Unification although Fauxterre 1930 is still squawking away!
My hobby has again been sustained by a supply chain. In my case 2021 has seen my ebay activity trail off while I have increased my buying with a few hobby companies.
Thank you to everyone (in no particular order!)
Cronwallis – ebay supplier from Oz who provided some rare 1/72 plastic figures for my Fauxterre Napoleonic Mythical Realm. Also I secured a supply of Russian Napoleonics who will see life as my Milan Guard – one day!
Model Hobbies supplied a lot of Napoleonic 1/72 figures and many Waterloo 1815 figures for my Wars of the Italian Unification project
Black Forest Hobby were a source of some hard to get figures and rulessets
Other ebay suppliers included ms-plueth (dutch/belgians), model148 (for peninsular war types) and rasweetrampwp who provided some WW1 belgians which I morphed into Neapolitan Chasseurs circa 1860.
buchunversum supplied a very valued book – Funcken 19th century army uniforms with german text – britain/prussia/france 1815 to 1850. Crucially it shows the evolution of french and german uniforms from shakoes and breechs to pickelhaubes, kepis and trousers.
SHQ provided 20mm metal napoleonics
Hannants provided numerous 1/72 plastic figures mainly for my mythical napoleonic armies
Caliver books provided invaluable titles for my new interests in european wars between 1848 and 1866. The Schleswig War of 1848 was probably my most satisfying buy – I just did not expect such a gem of a book. (see lead image for details). America in Algiers circa 1820 was a complete surprise!
Irregular Miniatures have supplied some very useful 20mm figures for my Italian and French forces fighting over Rome in 1848 and all Italy in 1859
Warrior Miniatures have provided 25mm troops for what will be my Fauxterre post Napoleonic forces
Wargame Vault supplied me with “A Gentlemans War” skirmish rules in pdf format.
Perry Miniatures provided their Carlist Wars ruleset
Paul Meekins Books supplied a 100 year old copy of a trilogy on Garibaldi’s wars
Games Lore supplied 5 Parsecs from Home sci fi rules
On the high street I bought figures and kits from Antics in Plymouth and Monk Bar models in York while Wonderland of Edinburgh supplied many sets of 1/72 figures including Crimean era
I managed just two shows where the following traders provided some excellent material.
Pendraken for bases
Colonel Bills for 20mm WW2 metals
Dave Lanchester Books who have provided some really excellent source books most recently on 19th century sea warfare and Vichy France at War
I have written up about Fiasco 2021 traders here and Recon 2021 show traders here.
Operation Hight Street
For some extra fun I have tried where possible to run my sideshow WW2 wargame project by buying in person at shops/traders. It has not been easy. Yet I have bought quite a bit of material from those few trips I did manage.
So I hope our hobby suppliers continue to prosper and provide us with figures, scenery, rules and other materials to enable us all to enjoy a hobby that lets you escape into your imagination.
Pursuing my side game of buying “face to face” for my latest project, in the world war two era, means wargames shows count.
For decades wargamers have treated shows as their own very necessary High Street. Remember once upon a time visiting “fairs” were very much part of medieval life for whole areas of a country. And of course prior to the internet and ebay they were the dominant route to wargaming purchases.
Quite simply the hobby could not sustain even general hobby shops on the high street even with railway and broader modellers sharing the same sources.
In fact talking about fairs reminds me that there is an excellent book by Graham Robb called the “Discovery of France” which highlights the circularity of life in France right up to the 20th century where whole rakes of the population derived their living through moving around the country. Even if your not a Francophile this book is a fascinating insight into a country which has dominated European Military history. His book certainly gives, in my view, a different view of France.
And then for the wargame shows, Covid19 really did drive us all fully online which may have far reaching consequences. On the evidence I saw at Leeds I am not sure what they will be though. Yes traders down, gamers down but then again we now have a late year crowded calendar plus organisers still having an obligation to manage their events to minimise the effects of Covid19 spread.
I for one, was a happy customer of the face to face variety.
I had stored up some planned purchases and spending money so here is a run down of my acquisitions and of course a “thank you” to the “SUPPLY CHAIN” without which we would not have the hobby we all enjoy.
First up some basics from Pendraken – 40×40 mdf bases for my currently stopped MAIN 2021 Project of the Italian Wars of Unification 1848/1859.
Colonel Bills yielded some 20mm preloved WW2 metals in the shape of a British Universal Carrier by SHQ and Romanian 47mm Schneider AT gun by FAA.
Regular visit to Coritani aka Magnetic Displays bought me some much needed paintbrush replacements and I spoilt myself with a prepainted crossroads – yes it was one of those days.
Stonewall Figures had some interesting kits and BT7 Russian Tanks were on my shopping list so these two Pegasus models dropped into my hand. And well these T34/76 armourfasts fell in as well.
Next up is a venerable book published in 1973 by Donald Featherstone. No4 in the series this is a bit late for me (1943-1945) as I am focused on early war activity. But it does cover the Tunisian Front and apart from Egypt/Libya where the British main north african action was, there is not so much printed material on matters west of Tunis.
Having grown up with Donald Featherstone books I find them an easy read: I know what I am getting. A nice purchase from Dave Lanchester.
Now for something completely different and I mean different. In this blog I have recounted my “sanity line” being nothing more recent than 1730-ish or the end of Peter the Greats reign. I caved in to Wars of the Italian Unification for 1848/1859/1866/1870 and suddenly found an interest in naval actions as well. You can see the slippery slope here………….Gradually ironclads have been creeping into my wargaming thoughts. So this book at Dave Lanchesters store was shown to me by Dave when I asked innocently if he had anything on Lissa 1866. Thanks to Dave I have a very nice 244 page hardback covering the second half of the 19th century.
Next up in contrast Grubbys Tanks yielded a small booklet at just 16 pages offering Rapid Fire fast play. This ruleset started life in 1994 so if age is pedigree that will do. I will give it a shot.
Now the Peter Dennis paper soldier books always look attractive and I finally picked up one I had previously nearly purchased back in 2018. The Spanish Armada is completely off my gaming list but I just could not resist, what with my current naval gazing.
I also tipped gaslands into the shopping basket at Dave Lanchester’s – not for me but as a christmas present for someone else.
The next two books from Dave were pure indulgence. The Russian Army in the Great Northern War 1700-1721 and William III’s Italian Ally 1683-1697 both Helion publications. I am hoping they will be ok on typos but I am not holding my breath. even so as I have posted before Helion publish where others fear to tread. So I have to be grateful.
Finally this is a repurchase – in fact I think it may be the third time I have bought this ruleset. Careless ……..
I do like Peter Pigs ideas, especially the uncertainty of process, and this set offers something a little different on the WW2 front.
Well thats it. Quite a mix when I think about it: More books than expected and less models.
So apart from Rapid Fire from Grubbys Tanks, I bought all my books at Dave Lanchester’s, who I must say keeps his books in very good condition.
The ones that got away or rather failed to appear – Russians by Plastic Soldier Company (Grubby’s were not short on Germans or US boxes though) and maybe a BA10 armoured car yet Stonewall Figures have promised to look out for one of them and set one aside for next year when they head north again.
So thanks to all my suppliers at Fiasco 2021 may you all prosper.
Thanks to Leeds Wargames Club for a very enjoyable show, all the sweeter, after such a long break from this aspect of wargaming.
Back to painting table………I wonder what will be up next?
One of my latest side projects is World War Two, like most projects I soon reach for the online supply chain. Lockdown has driven this approach even more.
And to start me off my first purchases were from Hannants and Models Hobbies. These companies have given me great value especially for projects where I buy all I need in one go.
But hang on I was/would be buying mainstream stuff, not obscure or discontinued lines. And this was to be a side track slow burn project. So bulk buys would not be the order of the day.
Then it occurred to me that I could go out of my way, with lockdown easing, to visit real hobby shops.
I also decided my interest would be more early war, ideally more inter war era. Just to make life difficult again, this is not the popular end of WW2. Yet this was a fantasy ww2 happening on Fauxterre so anything goes and flexibility is the watchword.
Ok so far, but hobby shops tend to stock the popular, as in, that’s loads of late war armour with a preponderance of German kit.
And then I had another brainwave. After going through online availability I realised I had a massive choice. I would just buy the cheapest stock available in dribs and drabs.
This random approach really started to appeal. It would also make this project different again.
Such an approach interestingly is increasingly not online (and certainly not ebay) + white van man, despite Amazons best endeavours. Don’t get me wrong, online has been fantastic for choice and it still offers great value and even ebay can give you amazing bargains (the effort required though has changed).
So I decided – cut out the postal costs. I would buy piecemeal and when other activities had paid for my journey.
Then if a shop turned up I would go in and see what was available.
This actually fed my Fauxterre ideas. The opponents are both struggling to resource their forces. The parallel for WW2 is the Russians. They took various kit from the USA, France and Britain before getting their own plants working to meet demand. And the Germans reused thousands of captured kit. Probably the most useful panzer they had early on was actually the Czech built 38T? The Russians also benefited from the US inventions of Christie that ultimately led them to the T34 as I understand it.
So a bit of history bashing and Fauxterre sees two protaganists poorly armed going to war with essentially inter war/early war kit and with inter war mentalities.
Next up was – which forces to use – given I had decided no german kit.
I chose the Russians simply because this whole sidetrack project was started by Charles Grant and his Battle Gaming book from 1977 – a charity shop surprise discovery.
Airfix came up often as the low cost option online and seeing as they had made Russians, the very ones in Charles Grant’s book, so that was it. Only they don’t make them any more and old sets are now online and vintage and with a price to match!
In the shops its allied west or german it seems.
After some wrangling I decided I would stick with the Russians and that led me to The Plastic Soldier Company and their good value sets. The Russians kit would be opposed by American kit with splashes of any other kit I liked, while playing that “buy cheap in a real shop” game.
I have made some progress and here are my first kit builds.
ok the PSC gaz trucks work, venerable bren carrier + 6 pounder is cheap and the semovente by Italeri are good value. The jeep and gun was a failure – I assumed I was getting two jeeps not two build choices – look harder before you leap next time. The mountain gun – well the gun dates from 1920 so its just the carriage thats a bit modern.
Lets see how I get on with this slow burn side track project.
My current preoccuption with european wars in the post Napoleonic era have been fuelled by some book buying.
the most recent arrival – this old book is interesting because the illustrations are highly selective. The text explains why – to support a narrative concerning the evolution of uniforms rather than trying to show what each country chose.Lucy Riall is a very well respected modern author and focuses on the themes of what the Risorgimento means and to whom.This is a great dip in book full of easily accessed facts and provides the framework of what can be a confusing time in Italy.This book has lots of anecdotes which I plan to use in my imaginations campaigns.Having already devoured the South German War by the same author I have just started this book. The small actions around the lakes just cry out for a skirmish ruleset.Old but still full of useful information and given only limited interest today, means a dearth of current publications on 19th century Italy, these booklets are very worthwhile.I have a feeling this ruleset may being hooking up with Michael Embree’s Radestky Marches book for a skirmish or two.A quite unexpected catch. I really like the Funcken style and this book delivers it in spades. Lucky for me it is right on the dates and although it ends just before Crimea it does cover the crucial 1848 revolutionary year.Another recent acquisition – I like the grid rule set and it comes with handy campaign and solo rules all integrated as you desire. It even has naval rules. actually it does modern, fantasy and sci fi as well – not that I need them for my VTW – Vienna Tratey Wars
So my period is called the Vienna Treaty Wars and the era roughly covers 1815 to 1871.
Currently I have been painting quite well although right now a campaign beckons. I never thought I would be doing anything post napoleonic – thank you again Mr Renaissance Troll!
The Wargaming Erratic 