wargaming is everything from gaming on the table top with dice, painting figures, reading history, collecting figures, scenery and rules through to geography, politics, art, crafts and imaginative writing……..
Since AHPC finished in March like last year my wargames activity has declined. I didn’t even make it to partisan. So VAP and Hammerhead proved to be the two shows attended in the first half of 2025.
But I am getting ahead of myself. Last year the war gaming fell away due to a month long road trip round the southern Rockies. It recovered to be very productive during Dave Stones season of scenery challenge.
Well this year I am away this summer but the real stinger has been two glorious months of a dry uk spring complete with sun and warmth. What more could you ask for?
Well my garden seedlings and plants needed rain – so I had to substitute that for lots of watering can events.
Really it’s been fantastic weather and no complaints given how our normal maritime climate often delivers wet and windy and cool temperatures. – sometimes all at once.
The fine weather also meant the garden railway got an early run out. And this meant some long overdue building work started.
So modelling but “not as we know the scale of it JIM!”
And yes I have managed a little bit of figure painting in the end.
So this is a long post to say, not much miniatures painting this spring and zero wargames done!
Mind you I have been reading quite a bit which is always ominous for my plans.
“News from the front sir, the April breakthrough failed………………for gods sake why?…………. ……………………………………..Apparently a lot of kit just wasn’t ready sir……………………..}#%^*^<~|~\{}{]}#$$ ………..ranted General MukerZpreeeder.
Kits are not conducive to wargames painting targets………. And then I got to the bit where you source your own windows aaaaaargh. Repeat – always read all the instructions first, Repeat – always……..
Oh well, it was worth a try.
Sadly the very fine weather meant all manner of outdoor activities took hold this month.
Maybe there will be an afv August – don’t hold your breath though.
Still there is always John and Zauberwurfs mighty works to appreciate.
I just missed the end of AHPC15 with some 1848 era artillery.
Rather than park them like last year I decided to get these Properly finished.
Three types of artillery on showI have added to my Danish artillery Irregular miniatures bell shako British do good service as Dane’s of the 1840’sGuns were different to the Russian 1850’s version.Full complement with earlier model to fore.These are 1848 Duchy of ParmaSame manufacturer as the Dane’s Same guns as the Dane’s B and B Miniatures provided these chaps posing as 1848 Schleswig Holstein rebels. They are actually 1870 Prussians One 4 pounder horse gun and one 6 pounder field gun both rifled breechloaders But it’s hard work getting pickelhaubes for the 1840’s and the figures come with the guns – waste not want not. At three feet I can live with the difference.
An AHPC15 entry again and this time it was in pursuit of one of my pet projects. Fauxterre 1930 is a catch all for my 20th century escapades. I started with ww2 but have inexorably been drawn to an earlier time period. Basically I want the look of armies from the 1930’s. So thats most of the kit available in 1939 but also kit that went out of service after 1930 as countries mobilised for impending conflicts.
My recent lorry posting covered the origins of this project.
In this “later” between the wars period 2pdr guns were fine as were 37mm Anti tank guns – the bofors version being the subject of this entry.
You get 2 guns in the first to fight box As you see these are actually bofors as corrected by John @ just needs varnish! Thanks John!
First to Fight make a lot of kit I can find a use for and these anti tank guns caught my eye. They are slender and making them is not as easy as the few parts you get suggests. Complete with figures – I particularly liked the prone gun aimer?
Fauxterre 1930 remains a slow burn project not least because it started out as a “bricks and mortar” project – buy things from real shops by walking into them.
In this case these AT guns came from Monkbar Models in York, North Yorkshire.
During AHPC14 I got into modelling instead of painting and specifically building models from household recycling – cardboard and plastic. The net is repleat with simply magnificent models done this way. I thought why not have a go.
I started to collect bits together for some spacecraft only to see the idea fade during AHPC14 as WW2 models took centre stage including a white reconnaissance spitfire – my first aeroplane kitbash in years.
Into the bargain I managed to paint up some magazine “freebie” dwarves and hobbits. AHPC15 as with AHPC14 drew me away from my projects and regular painting. While that meant less progress with my chosen periods the change was as good as a rest – as they say.
Indeed I have tended to use these APHC challenges to experiment with painting and modelling methods. Also the AHPC participation has certainly speeded up some of my painting habits. And that must be a good thing for a slowcoach like me.
Another entry from AHPC15. This time I was preoccupied with the challenge theme – Dantes Comedy where you had to descend each level into the abyss. Gluttony was the theme.
AHPC15 not only saw me make progress with my mid C19th century armies. Much delayed Fauxterre 1930 or my Lockdown Bricks and Mortar Shop project actually got in on the act.
Back in Covid times I decided on a whim to try and build some WW2 armies by walking into shops and physically buying stuff! Yes I know this is a bit of an old technique nowadays. At the time the logic was “get out and about”.
As it happened I had found a book in a shop window and snapped it up by………walking in and buying it. At the time shopping was a weird but satisfying escape. Sold as a vintage item it was Charles Grant Snr’s Battle! Practical Wargaming (B!PW)
Now this book gave me a way into WW2 on the limited basis I was looking for. Also Grant was quite happy to use german and US kit for his Russian forces – in other words country kit for that country only was not that important (of course the Russians used any kit they could lay their hands as did the germans) and indeed his forces were RED v BLACK – pure fantasy. Ok so that meant Russians versus Germans in reality.
Now this fed my need for a “fantasy historical” WW2 set up. I would use the technical aspects of the period but mess up the actual forces involved and of course the countries would be make believe. Thats Fauxterre. Sorry no zombies or rayguns.
In keeping with a theme I had developed, Fauxterre 1930 started to take shape. Why 1930? Well I had on this particular journey become more and more interested in the early war set up and less and less the final years. This escalated into pre war when I started to look at aircraft. I was quite taken with the transition from biplane to monoplane. And before you know it I was looking at AFV technology.
Did you know – the fairy swordfish biplane flown by the British Royal Navy fleet air arm in the 1930’s was still in combat duty in summer 1945 armed with rockets! so much digression….
The net result is I am trying and failing to get Fauxterre 1930 off the ground. My Plastic Soldier Company US and Russian troops were my first choice for figures when it was Fauxterre 1940 and are fine for the early war period but somehow I don’t like the figures if I roll back a decade. I do like them but not for Fauxterre 1930! They work for Fauxterre 1940 so would be ok but that is parked for now.
On a trip to a toy show I picked up some bin end corgi trucks.
And before you know it I had added to my Fauxterre 1930 logistics kit.
I suppose participation in the annual analogue hobbies painting challenge (No15 has just finished) has affected my normal year end musings.
AHPC15 started in December and finished in March. It meant I was heads down painting for that time – so no looking in the rear view mirror let alone out through the front wargamers truck windscreen at the turn of the year.
This maybe explains why I suddenly had the need to look at my plans for 2025.
Out of the blue I created a sharp pencil production tool.
A sensible flow
Really it’s a funnelling idea with the visual aim to get to the point!
Of course I have two versions already…..
Just chuck it all in
Of course the second image could be a virtual “log jam” with nothing getting through as they say……
New year new ideas. Over at westbury wargamers https://westburywargamers.com I like their monthly game wrap ups. Now my games are very erratic to non existent at the moment, so my equivalent posts would be pretty much empty. My postings have tended to be model or painting specific yet there’s quite a lot of other stuff whizzing round in my head.
So for now I am going to try out this posting of bits and bobs. I could have called it that or indeed meze or tapas – you get the drift.
I have settled on “fragment”. We will see how it goes.
And of course I am going to break my fragments rule by having the first post consist of just one subject! ok one fragment then.
The year has started with me picking up a number of print magazines. It’s something that has caught up with me. During the Covid era I inhabited bookshops where possible as part of lots of walking and getting out. I gave magazines short shrift as a result.
In 2024 my book buying declined – well it fell off a cliff. And in 2025 I have shipped out fifty books I have read or will never read and which are not useful for future reference.
I still have plenty of reading material to go at.
Those magazines purchases – what’s going on? Somehow I have reconnected with the mix you get in magazines and especially I will read about aspects of the hobby I don’t follow. It’s a fascinating hobby because of the many tentacles it has.
Magazines are in effect a form of censorship on the information you get. Once upon a time like newspapers such control was significant. This was especially true in niche areas such as wargames. The World Wide Web changed all that. Now we are all rigorously self censoring or should be.
A key selling point gone, print magazines should have long gone with vinyl and cd’s.
Somehow they have survived and you can even get three magazines for general consumption.
Do I have a favourite? Well yes and no. My favourite magazine is the one that has just the right mix of articles. That means I buy these on the high street and look before I buy. This is why all three print titles remain my favourite!
Do I tend to buy one magazine more than another over time? Well yes I tend to buy Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy more than Miniature Wargames. I buy Wargames Illustrated least. This is because WI run thematic editions and so it is easier to leave those on the shelf if the theme real does not appeal.
WI and WSaS have superior print quality over MW. And yet MW does run some intriguing subject mixes.
With WSaS having plenty of writing while WI offers lots of photography you could say they have managed to differentiate the market.
Quite how long the hobby will support three titles I have no idea. I would say I had thought they would all disappear when the social media onslaught took place over a decade ago.
So what caught my eye and liberated my coins?
Wargames Soldiers and Strategy issue 133 themed charging into combat. The theme is more about tying together disparate periods rather than discussing the mechanics of charges and wargame rules etc. It worked for me and I was actually taken with Bouvines 1214 – French Cavalry charge fails due to disorder. The rest of the magazine was mildly interesting for its subjects but especially Von Bredow’s charge at Mars la Tour 1870 and again in my current period of interest the item on charge of the light brigade. Despite its fame? It seems to get little coverage in wargame publications.
With WSS you get several written articles which I generally find worth a read. That is something you don’t get in Wargames Illustrated.
Wargames Illustrated 445 January 2025 ran a theme of painting and modelling.
The content was eclectic if nothing else. However an article on Airfix 1/72 in arguably the premier 28mm picfest hobby magazine caught my eye and yes – there was a Crimean article – I somehow had missed part 1…..
The article on MDF scenery was interesting in the sense that it showed what “low relief” modelling can offer as well as the benefits of “abstract” modelling. In both cases the human eye is actually very good at filling in the blanks so if the eye knows well an oak or alder tree in all their 3D glory it can imagine the missing bits of a model – enough to please the eye.
The Airfix article included some modifications to the 40 odd Napoleonic Highlanders box of figures. A good paint tutorial for these venerable 1/72 or 20mm plastics followed.
The theme sort of worked although you can simply argue it was a magazine full of variety!
Next up Miniature Wargames 501 January 2025. Really simple – I bought the magazine for the free hobbits sprue. And that was because I am taking part in the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge – AHPC15.
The magazine enjoys a seelction of regular writers so if like WSaS their not your cup of tea then the magazine might feel samey or poor value if your interests are left with just the specials.
I enjoyed the range of articles – wild west through fantasy and WW2 and into pike and shot. Scenery modelling and free rulesets always get a look in.
So on to February and Wargames Illustrated 446 February 2025.
Again the freebie won my money – valour and fortitude marches into pike and shot. Yes I have played just one game with the original rules yet could not resist a read up on their adaption to a period sometimes considered a bit awkward to game. V&F is aimed at bigger wargame battles but my aim is to shrink them for 6×4 or 1.8m x 1.2m max. Probably a stupid idea?
I did find the Black Bands for Giovanni – a 16th century italian warband a good read and even a possible solution to the devilry going on in AHPC15!
Finally we get to Miniature Wargames 503 March 2025. This was the least compelling purchase of the lot. Although ACW is slap bang in the middle of my current “in vogue” period – 1840 to 1877 I am primarily interested in European conflicts at that time, especially those in Schleswig Holstein and the Italian peninsula.
So McPhersons ridge sprayed across the cover just about did it. I did enjoy the Turkish Wagenburg scenario.
So thats a 2 month window where you get 2 MW and 2 WI but just one WSaS. If I had to choose I would settle for WSaS once every 2 months simply for the reason that their mix most often chimes with my interests.
I could save money and buy online using a subscription. I actually prefer to look at the physical cover and make a judgement. The act of a physical purchase just like figures and kits is something I grew up with and still enjoy.
And as you can see I would probably need to take 3 subscriptions to satisfy my print interests!
The three magazines remain sufficiently different to see that they can coexist. Whether the uptick in print sales across the book market sustains these magazines remains to be seen.
The figures are hat Nassau Napoleonic infantry. 1/72 or 20mm plastics.
I picked them because they have the nearest shako look for the Dane’s bell shako.
I have started to use a furled flag approach as invariably my flag production does not match my figure painting!
I could do some head swops to get other sets in on the act but wanted to try a straight paint job here to see if I liked the result.
The basing is my standard 40mm square mdf with budgie grit pva then 3 colour brown, ochre and yellow/white highlights. As it’s nearly spring the grass is dead tufts from gamers grass over Javis sawdust green.
The Wargaming Erratic 