Last week York was inundated with cameras as its annual flood season reached its peak.
Anyway if in doubt get a coffee. You can view Irregular Miniatures figures in the gifts section at the Alma cafe on copper gate
And Irregular Miniatures will be at VAP on the racecourse site so here are some of my buys over the last few years.
I use the 20mm ranges with extra washer bases to compliment my plastics which are typically 2mm taller.
The last photo also shows one of my entries into AHPC14!
Neil Thomas offered this battle as an example of a small action using his mini battle setting. His rules assumed a 2’x 2′ or 600mm square. So thats board game sized.
His rules say you do not need to rebase. Always a positive these days.
I have a mixture of units – a result of my lock down era painting activity tending to paint what I fancied than worrying about actual armies!
The action is straightforward – the Danes are retreating and use a bottleneck on the key route north towards Jutland. The Danish rearguard are buying time for their main forces to retreat to their last defence line in Schlieswig – the Duppel fortifications.
Their opponent was the geographic “Empire” effectively still the Holy Roman Empire but now really the German Confederation post Waterloo with Austrian and Prussian interference/support.
In this case the Austrians were attacking the rearguard.
The Danish Rearguard
The Artillery was Bronze Rifled while the Infantry were all Levy in loose order armed with rifled muskets.
The Danish troops are all deployed in the bottleneck.
The Austrians Attack starting at the river line comprise
Their main forces arrive from move 1 on the main road
On moves 2 & 3 the following units arrive via the same southern road access
Battle Narrative
With the objective to clear all danish forces from the road (at least 12cm from the road) essentially the Austrians simply went through the Front Door.
They had 10 moves to do it in with a win lose outcome and no draw.
Special Rules as suggested by Neil Thomas were used
Some shots of the action
The stream has no effect on movement except Artillery must use the bridge. The town can be accessed only by Infantry. The lake is impassable to all troops while infantry can move through the wood.
The Danish front line are in line and not moving, supported by more mobile Column units behind. If infantry want to move in Neil Thomas’ rules they must be in column.
Note in this game I chose not to field the woeful Danish Artillery ( i.e. I forgot to place them on the board!)
An Austrian victory seemed to confirm Neil Thomas’ view that history repeats itself with his suggested set up. In his notes he offers several options to up the defence capability of the Danes.
In this case a very narrow Danish Victory suggests a well thought out scenario by Neil Thomas. Generally I have found Neil Thomas scenarios are fun to play because they tend to lead to a lot of action and no quick outcomes. So although asymmetrical in set up they seem to be well balanced games.
Footnote:
The Figures are Irregular Miniatures and Hat for the Danish
Elsewhere in the photographs the regular Austrian Infantry on show are Waterloo1815 1859 Austrians in their white coats – in 1864 it was bitter winter weather so soldiers actually fought in their greatcoats.
Neil Thomas offers the mini game as a quick affair and it certainly was. Lots of enjoyment from a two foot square, scenery, dice and some figures.
Another batch of World War 1 Austrian Infantry became this unit of Danish. Irregular Miniatures are the source of these nicely sculpted figures.
You can see previous posts here
Now the Danish are up against the Prussians yet their uniforms will not save them from defeat and the loss of Holstein and a great chunk of Schlieswig.
Had Britain taken more notice of the Schlieswig Holstein Question consequences, maybe 80 subsequent years of Teutonic misery across Europe might have been avoided.
Back to the figures – its a paint job with the caps being cut down at the front. To match my typically 24 mm 1/72 figures I based these with a washer beneath them as Irregular sell them as 20mm and use thin base metal. Some of the figures sport a black greatcoat.
Next up some cavalry.
I bought some Austrian WW1 infantry from Irregular Miniatures – I thought they might work for mid 19th century forces. The peaked cap was my interest. The lower leg bindings were not desired and the baggy trousers equally did not look promising. Also the front peaks were a bit obvious.
I put them aside way back in 2020.
And then just before Xmas 2022 I had another look and decided they might work as fill in for my mid 19th century Danish tests.
In this case I had a go at painting away the errors. The only mods were to slice off the hat top and add a sliver of tapered plastic. One original test with a tall “wood” mod cap can also be seen!
Here are some 1850 infantry fresh from defeating their German adversaries.
At the start of the war the Infantry sported Red tunics and Bell Shakoes. My previous post for such a unit is here.
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.
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.
*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!
Here is another .
In 1848 the Tuscan Army headed north with other contingents to join Piedmont in expelling Austria from the Italian Peninsula.
Their uniform was really a throwback to Napoleonic times. Unlike some other troops the soldiers wore a Shako – bell shaped. With white tunics and blue trousers there was a nod to Austrian influence.
Like the Danish Infantry in Painting Pedestal 22c, these figures are 20mm metals from Irregular Miniatures. They are sold under their Colonial range as Regular British Infantry serving in India.
This unit is part of an occasional series that aims to paint many of the units described in Osprey Men At Arms No. 520 Armies of the Italian Wars of Unification 1848-1870 (2).
The flag is homemade using dried out lens wipe paper and permanent marker pens – very quick. Well the Tuscan rebels like most had to rustle up their armies in quick time.
So far this year the Painting Pedestal has been a bit wonky with some units not even reaching the pedestal
So belatedly my third offering this year finally makes it to the pedestal.
The First Schleswig Holstein War was fought between the Danes and the Prussian driven German Federation – aka the Holy Roman Empire. The Danes won but the Prussian steamroller was just getting going – in 1864 the 2nd war with Danish defeat, heralded the misery of 80 odd years of German led mayhem across Europe. However it is reported, you can argue it was weakness on the part of France and the United Kingdom to stand up for territorial integrity, that condemned Europe to decades of Prussian agression.
In 1848 the Danish Infantryman was clad in red tunic and blue trousers with a bell style shako plus white belts and straps. The bell style shako had evolved from the Napoleonic era shako, both of which were also to be seen in civilian fashion changes on the journey from tricorne to bowler hat.
Almost as soon as the war started the soldiers ditched their shakoes and donned their fatigue hats – bright blue kepi’s. Add in the new all dark blue uniform with black belts and straps gets you a soldier looking not out of place in the American Civil War that was raging 15 years later.
This Piedmont unit from 1859 gives you a rough idea of the transformation in 1848 danish military uniform. The Danes led the way, not just the Prussians.
The metal figures are from Irregular Miniatures. Being 20mm they are at the small end of 1/72 so they get some extra basing to reduce the height disparity with the many 1/72 and 25mm figures I have.
Irregular Miniatures sell them under their Colonial range.
Here are some more views of the unit.
The units are set up for Piquet rules – 4 bases equals a unit.
The 3 figure basing was an idea I picked up from an article in Lone Warrior – magazine of the Solo Wargames Assocation. The article was a cost cutting exercise for DBA armies where the advent of element basing undermined the need to consider figure scale and to have full ranks. Peter Pigs Conquerors and Kings also advocated 3 figure basing as did their Bloody Barons medieval ruleset.
I am quite taken with this unit so will probably add to this force.
I will probably use Neil Thomas’s book – European C19th Wargames which gives you rough army lists to play his rules and scenarios from the book.
For the basing I used my standard three colour paintwork (burnt sienna + yellow ochre + very pale yellow/white dry brush all over budgie grit/pva. This time I have gone for paler washed out grasses. And I am quite pleased with the result.
The flag was an afterthought. I suddenly realised I had the flagstaff from Irregular with no flag! Now I could probably have bought a Danish flag online. But I had started to make crude flags from dried out screen wipes (basically I bought some wipes and found that they had lost their alcohol content). The end result is a rough paper that takes colour easily. I simply used some permanent ink colouring pens. Marking out was the longest task. So very quick – but I suspect I will change them if I get a chance.
So that is the 1848 Danish Infantry unit ready to march!
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!)
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.
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.
Thank you
Summer is here and some fine weather is in prospect, following on a week or so of warm and sunny days.
So the paint brush gang have packed their bags and headed for the seaside or wherever paintbrushes go in holiday.
That means the Painting Pedestal stands bare.
Hopefully the Painting Pedestal will return later this year. Meanwhile the Painting Table is crowded with a queue of figures pleading to be painted or have their bases finished off……..
Enjoy your Summer whatever the weather and whatever you do.
The Wargaming Erratic 