tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-330419382024-03-18T11:44:57.654+00:00Steve's Random Musings on Wargaming and other stuff...<p align="right"><b>Being an account of my wargaming activities, a few sailing <br> stories, some beer related anecdotes, what music<br> I'm listening to.... oh, and anything else that knows me!</b></p>Steve-the-Wargamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07077311120172727690noreply@blogger.comBlogger1043125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33041938.post-57883456611298090322024-03-16T12:00:00.088+00:002024-03-16T12:00:00.192+00:00"Firing into the Brown" #43 - Explosion! Museum and stuff..<div>
<p>
<span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;"><i>"So Carnehan weeds out the pick of his men, and sets the two of the
Army to show them drill and at the end of two weeks the men can
manoeuvre about as well as Volunteers. So he marches with the Chief to a
great big plain on the top of a mountain, and the Chiefs men rushes into
a village and takes it; we three Martinis
<b>firing into the brown </b>of the enemy".</i></span>
</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Kipling "The Man Who Would Be King"</i></span>
</p>
</div>
<span style="text-align: left;">Time for another update..</span>
<div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div>
<p>
Managed to get over to Gosport the other day to visit the "Explosion! Museum",
the next on my world tour of Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.. 😁
</p>
<p>
Another brilliant day out - just a few (interest driven) photo's for your
enjoyment, but I have to say that this yet another "must see" from me..
in fact two, "must see's" as unknown to me they have also opened
another/separate museum on the site, dedicated to the Royal Navy Coastal
Forces and covering the period from inception in 1919 to the present
day..
<a href="https://www.nmrn.org.uk/visit-us/explosion-museum-naval-firepower/night-hunters-royal-navys-coastal-forces-war" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the "Night Hunters" [clicky]</a>
</p>
<p>
I had no idea this museum (they call it a gallery but it's a bit more than that) was even there, but as the volunteer said, it had
only opened the previous year so they are just getting up to speed... not a
huge museum (it's based in one of the old storage sheds at Priddy's Hard* that
I think at one time may have stored mines) but bang for buck it is absolutely
fantastic, containing as it does <b>two </b>complete/original MTB's and a host
of supporting artefacts from the time.. uniforms, log books, medals,
weapons, you name it..
</p>
This (following) is
<a href="https://www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/register/531/mtb-71" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">MTB 71 [clicky]</a> which was until fairly recently a houseboat on the Chichester Canal
(called "Wild Chorus" would you believe..) bought by the owner after the Navy sold her
off at the end of the war following her war time service. She was then acquired
by the County Council and a Charitable Trust on the death of said owner in
1992.. fully refurbished at the Dockyard and by the British Military
Powerboat Trust at Marchwood in Southampton, she looked absolutely stunning -
basically a 60 foot engine (and torpedo) carrier - with a full crew she could
still do almost 40 knots...!
<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNr1K01n_bWTnm1lu0BP4uhzNialBwLR18ox6kogAwJQF0P_quuu7LilDCPeWLYFg1gCoPnBOLXPuIc62_bBU3WPzOITybFL23curzD5g48A1RLbFqfppKk8VrJZvANZFNkLHrxMyKLkF-0bfQHrnZu9hSxOm0pleX4Rk5aENuXDeI5CV4Yg/s5937/20240308_133053.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3810" data-original-width="5937" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNr1K01n_bWTnm1lu0BP4uhzNialBwLR18ox6kogAwJQF0P_quuu7LilDCPeWLYFg1gCoPnBOLXPuIc62_bBU3WPzOITybFL23curzD5g48A1RLbFqfppKk8VrJZvANZFNkLHrxMyKLkF-0bfQHrnZu9hSxOm0pleX4Rk5aENuXDeI5CV4Yg/w640-h410/20240308_133053.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvkGd3U75I3RbbjtPY2EWZcHdfyekwu24bQqvyf9xGF4suDKFllk0S5DmK1KnhL75soNBEHv9vkNb_EWyIEXsyGHQsW6gW0Ro-lGI1T8Le2mgzYypxGrbvOC5bBVJfS-UYXd7GVE3o7BKioysWxdPYZoGMEVcFXOG9m-cyTLo7lp052_b5HA/s5551/20240308_133155.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3528" data-original-width="5551" height="406" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvkGd3U75I3RbbjtPY2EWZcHdfyekwu24bQqvyf9xGF4suDKFllk0S5DmK1KnhL75soNBEHv9vkNb_EWyIEXsyGHQsW6gW0Ro-lGI1T8Le2mgzYypxGrbvOC5bBVJfS-UYXd7GVE3o7BKioysWxdPYZoGMEVcFXOG9m-cyTLo7lp052_b5HA/w640-h406/20240308_133155.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<div><br /></div>
<div>
...and because I'm a wargamer and love the detail (😏) here's a model and
the technical details..
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL_H15NY42AMAYmZTHOmcVZKV-LFM7ROseqouMqEDkppIAJ6zmkVJYo8icBa-INDN1-uD9eEJp-7-93ZJbFnqPbkGDzY30QM7sB0UwczPAXQcjcB2CBn5-5DmeCyaGD4MVkHehqcZDoJ_nHf4CGz3XGohqpdUhIqzX9hYISfCANEXYGwYgRg/s5990/20240308_133006.jpg"><img border="0" data-original-height="2457" data-original-width="5990" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL_H15NY42AMAYmZTHOmcVZKV-LFM7ROseqouMqEDkppIAJ6zmkVJYo8icBa-INDN1-uD9eEJp-7-93ZJbFnqPbkGDzY30QM7sB0UwczPAXQcjcB2CBn5-5DmeCyaGD4MVkHehqcZDoJ_nHf4CGz3XGohqpdUhIqzX9hYISfCANEXYGwYgRg/w640-h262/20240308_133006.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYx5sc1vit4JorCIsrPmixbSyXZtjUyf_IpCgWNUKVSpcF4twx6PVvK2B_LfkQuLDdAd6IzUc5RJzMfuhEBfZkcAzwEdTZxUFxSc2iNtVyeC0lytQ0GGeR922JXvo1idR0RZWyVB173og2Fk_PhFXn2AqKbGOPHJfVVf3HWA5ZawI0WxgVjQ/s6000/20240308_133013.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4500" data-original-width="6000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYx5sc1vit4JorCIsrPmixbSyXZtjUyf_IpCgWNUKVSpcF4twx6PVvK2B_LfkQuLDdAd6IzUc5RJzMfuhEBfZkcAzwEdTZxUFxSc2iNtVyeC0lytQ0GGeR922JXvo1idR0RZWyVB173og2Fk_PhFXn2AqKbGOPHJfVVf3HWA5ZawI0WxgVjQ/w640-h480/20240308_133013.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
</div>
<div>
..it is very much worth following the link above (and below) to see what
her WW2 service career involved - she was largely based in Kent (Dover and
Felixstowe) and was regularly in actions against enemy E Boats..
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>More details her here:</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
<a href="https://bmpt.org.uk/other_boats_history/MTB-71/index.htm">British Military Powerboat Trust, Coastal Forces, Gunboats, Target
Boats, High Speed Launches, Motor Gun Boats, Torpedo Boats, Patrol
Boats, Seaplane Tenders (bmpt.org.uk)</a> - Part 1
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://bmpt.org.uk/other_boats_history/MTB-71/index2.htm">British Military Powerboat Trust, Coastal Forces, Gunboats, Target
Boats, High Speed Launches, Motor Gun Boats, Torpedo Boats, Patrol
Boats, Seaplane Tenders (bmpt.org.uk)</a> - Part 2
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
..and this is
<a href="https://www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/register/1968/cmb-331" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">CMB 331 [clicky] </a>- to my eyes she looked much older than MTB 71 (and I have yet to find
rhyme or reason in either the numbering assigned by the Navy, or indeed
the sheer number of designs and types of MTB and MGB, built by over a half
dozen different yards!) but she is actually the last surviving Thornycroft
55-foot Coastal Motor Boat, a design that was originally developed for service in WW1, but was still current when WW2 broke
out - in fact she dates to within
a year of MTB 71. </div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
A bigger version of a 40 foot earlier design she could carry two
torpedo's and still do over 40 knots..
</div>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVX9wEUApcYgPBYPIceeUavqhaVWWsWKh_N2R-MKIeA9QBDXuNF_n1Zjpthta4dL0nOP9y8F7uL4_OSs0bPx9_kt4j6B0tXAsqv6YeX2Be_xlN8D2DuXZMMdNoAxbqTIU1Qiu0DXzGHWM8TBLdan6QAtv3KSXJ4jINbDdh9OL6VwDm8bK5mg/s4192/20240308_133121.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4192" data-original-width="4099" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVX9wEUApcYgPBYPIceeUavqhaVWWsWKh_N2R-MKIeA9QBDXuNF_n1Zjpthta4dL0nOP9y8F7uL4_OSs0bPx9_kt4j6B0tXAsqv6YeX2Be_xlN8D2DuXZMMdNoAxbqTIU1Qiu0DXzGHWM8TBLdan6QAtv3KSXJ4jINbDdh9OL6VwDm8bK5mg/w626-h640/20240308_133121.jpg" width="626" /></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;">Note the engine over on the left - that's an Italian made Isotta
Fraschini petrol engine rated at 1,150 bhp at 1,800 rpm; MTB 71
had two of them. Once Italy entered the war, the supply naturally
dried up and the Navy had to find other power plants..</span>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />Note the two slots/troughs in the picture above - that was where the
torpedo's were carried - now the completely terrifying bit...
restrictions on weight meant the torpedo could not be fired from a torpedo
tube, but instead was carried in that trough - nose of the torpedo to the front of the boat. On firing the torpedo was
pushed backwards by a cordite firing pistol (!) and a long steel ram(!!), entering
the water tail-first. A trip-wire between the torpedo and the ram head would
start the torpedo motors once pulled taut during release. The CMB would then
turn hard over and get out of its path. There is no record of a CMB ever
being hit by its own torpedo apparently, but the sheer unutterable courage
and bravery of doing that, while conducting an attack on an enemy who would
very definitely not have been encouraging you to success, beggars belief...
a
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus_Agar" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">skipper [clicky] </a>on one of these boats not surprisingly won a VC for successfully managing
to do that, and sink a cruiser, in WW1.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Originally ordered by the Philippines Navy CMB 331 was requisitioned by the
Royal Navy at the start of the war, but ended up only doing a few months in
commission spending most of the war in reserve at Gosport..
</div>
<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisB6SVothfZCuezrx5bjFAndFGxFIMP4zIsDy4BZXm4UFfA5L8Yg2IOW_S3pHKBY6FqFlEUptk8wClvdLpQBcBWH-8Qm6wQx2Nns7cGFdGn3v94Yl_j8dMffFIajacZg5WkRvxfbhplKBe0bf-q-BlT1aIE-Q_7sCzgv1dUwHdShLYw86NmA/s5786/20240308_133913.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2723" data-original-width="5786" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisB6SVothfZCuezrx5bjFAndFGxFIMP4zIsDy4BZXm4UFfA5L8Yg2IOW_S3pHKBY6FqFlEUptk8wClvdLpQBcBWH-8Qm6wQx2Nns7cGFdGn3v94Yl_j8dMffFIajacZg5WkRvxfbhplKBe0bf-q-BlT1aIE-Q_7sCzgv1dUwHdShLYw86NmA/w640-h302/20240308_133913.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
Just looks like speed personified.. not surprising they were/are known
as the Spitfires of the sea..
</div>
<div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMUaN2KmuR6PZqOXO1KQD1LgIL90rOe1u5ClYvj5_6XuPhxfXN9wqFkMt20mX-bBZwrfjH-61ntg36_Gt_pwMRqjRc6OMHJOJIhg77lqzel0fzl4ndXQ-_fry9tvLJ1H0vIfXXFzkvYAVQtmNiCGNvOaGl9OWNH8lMQGCjDwpgEFaosc59Rw/s5394/20240308_133950.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2425" data-original-width="5394" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMUaN2KmuR6PZqOXO1KQD1LgIL90rOe1u5ClYvj5_6XuPhxfXN9wqFkMt20mX-bBZwrfjH-61ntg36_Gt_pwMRqjRc6OMHJOJIhg77lqzel0fzl4ndXQ-_fry9tvLJ1H0vIfXXFzkvYAVQtmNiCGNvOaGl9OWNH8lMQGCjDwpgEFaosc59Rw/w640-h288/20240308_133950.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
...and because I'm a wargamer and love the detail (😏) here's a model and
the technical details..
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic6Vr0P5l96pEyxdhwYojMdZVoEcBn3F2l7-UIfsTJDkJGZ7Xs3Vg4w5klpyeAGYGzDeZSGHOfq3EQ2zjRPhgPooMmkJL4l0qDyZXPrCT0TzyprXjZy6_rJ94IC-Snp37vQnpx4N94w027KbnqD7OksSe0Yi_YO0zAF8TLYPjYFxxPANQ3ow/s6000/20240308_133027.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2577" data-original-width="6000" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic6Vr0P5l96pEyxdhwYojMdZVoEcBn3F2l7-UIfsTJDkJGZ7Xs3Vg4w5klpyeAGYGzDeZSGHOfq3EQ2zjRPhgPooMmkJL4l0qDyZXPrCT0TzyprXjZy6_rJ94IC-Snp37vQnpx4N94w027KbnqD7OksSe0Yi_YO0zAF8TLYPjYFxxPANQ3ow/w640-h274/20240308_133027.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWbbiw4jH7sxeYJeEGMGjTS4oBtaEODgVtVZmoHDzbIEiKkOVPdWxrltt1GwgK-pjFVkZZ6DJ1dXjFxiEATElcWLZqm1NcqM5mq62X24aAynwNzO8wPCTkCVFHLGhLWmL5qyBMOWb1bsgIiAXCIQ_xLO9bajPqtBplhLQ9fiXIj6dS3o6Z0A/s5979/20240308_133034.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2095" data-original-width="5979" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWbbiw4jH7sxeYJeEGMGjTS4oBtaEODgVtVZmoHDzbIEiKkOVPdWxrltt1GwgK-pjFVkZZ6DJ1dXjFxiEATElcWLZqm1NcqM5mq62X24aAynwNzO8wPCTkCVFHLGhLWmL5qyBMOWb1bsgIiAXCIQ_xLO9bajPqtBplhLQ9fiXIj6dS3o6Z0A/w640-h224/20240308_133034.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;">Note the torpedoes in the troughs..</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<tbody>
<tr></tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>Further references:</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
<a href="https://www.bmpt.org.uk/other_boats_history/MTB-331/index.htm">British Military Powerboat Trust, Coastal Forces, Gunboats, Target
Boats, High Speed Launches, Motor Gun Boats, Torpedo Boats, Patrol
Boats, Seaplane Tenders (bmpt.org.uk)</a> - Part 1
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.bmpt.org.uk/other_boats_history/MTB-331/index2.htm">British Military Powerboat Trust, Coastal Forces, Gunboats, Target
Boats, High Speed Launches, Motor Gun Boats, Torpedo Boats, Patrol
Boats, Seaplane Tenders (bmpt.org.uk)</a> - Part 2
</li>
</ul>
</div>
I was hours in there, but as I was conscious that I'd actually come over to
see Explosion! I then wended my way over to the main museum.. 😁
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Billed as the Museum of Naval Firepower, Explosion! is much more than just
that - to be honest, despite the plethora of stunning exhibits - more anon -
I found the most interesting stuff to be about the location where the museum
is situated (* Priddy's Hard - you knew I'd eventually get to it.. 😏),
about the people who worked there, what they did, and how damn long the
location was in service... in summary though,
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>originally bought in 1750 to allow for an extension to
existing land defences for the harbour - a fort and defending walls was
built
</li>
<li>
in 1764 though it was selected as a location to
store/test/distribute/receive gunpowder from the fleet following
concerns raised by the citizens of Portsmouth about the quantity of
powder stored in close proximity to the city (!) - it was able to store
up to 6000 barrels, and one of the storage rooms, complete with 6 foot
thick walls, can still be seen in the museum
</li>
<li>
late 1840's and small arms ammunition manufacturing was moved to the
Hard
</li>
<li>
late 1860's and they were also filling shells and preparing fuses
</li>
<li>late 1880's filling new design Quick Firing (QF) shells</li>
<li>
1890's and new types of explosive were coming into use, including
guncotton and cordite.
</li>
<li>
an explosion in 1904 lead to a decision to move storage of shells away
to a site further from the dockyard, from that point on Priddy's was
solely concerned with filling of shells and cartridges rather than
storing them
</li>
<li>
1923 and the staff/mission of the former Gunwharf base in Portsmouth were
transferred and Priddy's then also became responsible for gun and
weaponry refurbishment - they looked after everything from machine guns
to depth charge throwers including the large guns battleships would have
carried
</li>
<li>
during WW2 they would also have been working on, refurbishing, repairing and manufacturing (in
addition to everything else), mines, and torpedo's
</li>
<li>
The site was last used for significant activity during the
Falklands Conflict in 1982, and eventually decommissioned in 1988
</li>
</ul>
<div>
Lots and lots of photo's and exhibits of what it was like to work at the
site during the war and after - they employed thousands of women during
the war as most of the men would have been called up - it had it's own
light railway to move shells and ammunition around between Priddy's and
the various satellite sites. Absolutely fascinating..
</div>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Just a few photo's then of some of the exhibits that caught my eye (mostly
because of a connection with my wargame projects!)
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>Naval Gatling</div>
<div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxRCMFLaPCuI3Q-1WbnYcMFgDA9j6x5HS2YOax2qmoNEMtVjSrUM5QGcjr-kHEQ5jmBfH94TleiOXWpGPg34kB6HlGM3tDhsKMI2PaWeEV8kAyZtFb2wRcnFJgU-prIwAGZgzYpAejAdjScb6tyzPhQZboexAk_u5OW68hDHcbSW0-DyHiHQ/s4239/20240308_145718.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4239" data-original-width="3671" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxRCMFLaPCuI3Q-1WbnYcMFgDA9j6x5HS2YOax2qmoNEMtVjSrUM5QGcjr-kHEQ5jmBfH94TleiOXWpGPg34kB6HlGM3tDhsKMI2PaWeEV8kAyZtFb2wRcnFJgU-prIwAGZgzYpAejAdjScb6tyzPhQZboexAk_u5OW68hDHcbSW0-DyHiHQ/w554-h640/20240308_145718.jpg" width="554" /></a>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
...a plethora of small arms, captured and otherwise - in this one, the
German assault rifle at the top caught my eye...
</div>
<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg_MRwWF5rEnMMmm1kS44q36kXRzWLVrONlh2r4-Ex-seiKly5ujlr8HMRfmVP-GaMemMMljwNm927zUXSFxozVCQ_olYASb1PA0DL94pm8R4aD6nxZgmL08OHeByJ9-FbANIFwuV2-yNWODNMgaWiJQhP1OT8AGEhbFjJ0ByV_65iA5DM8g/s6000/20240308_145734.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6000" data-original-width="4500" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg_MRwWF5rEnMMmm1kS44q36kXRzWLVrONlh2r4-Ex-seiKly5ujlr8HMRfmVP-GaMemMMljwNm927zUXSFxozVCQ_olYASb1PA0DL94pm8R4aD6nxZgmL08OHeByJ9-FbANIFwuV2-yNWODNMgaWiJQhP1OT8AGEhbFjJ0ByV_65iA5DM8g/w480-h640/20240308_145734.jpg" width="480" /></a>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
...and in this one it was the humungous musket in the middle - wall gun,
perhaps? Also the boarding pikes and tomahawks...
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkNLet1cOVbs7GzCU6xAyQaAZkO9ycHJ_HgVXf3z10Sfhd9RxOXmG1kM8TzWQDw0RuwH-BSoaUt5UUCp1lvemlx9qfbghHA3vGjTlcNNHu-sOi8FsMaa8XmUpr1-jUIle258cBt-rdtUh0igjn0mCC4CoBbcTvqkCH80RQoEOEwHGtfE0vQQ/s6000/20240308_145829.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6000" data-original-width="4500" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkNLet1cOVbs7GzCU6xAyQaAZkO9ycHJ_HgVXf3z10Sfhd9RxOXmG1kM8TzWQDw0RuwH-BSoaUt5UUCp1lvemlx9qfbghHA3vGjTlcNNHu-sOi8FsMaa8XmUpr1-jUIle258cBt-rdtUh0igjn0mCC4CoBbcTvqkCH80RQoEOEwHGtfE0vQQ/w480-h640/20240308_145829.jpg" width="480" /></a>
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<div><br /></div>
An honest to goodness Nordenfelt, used (among many other places) as armament
on the Nile gunboats
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQy71ySDHVrZd1g9td177gjZaanJa9bsJCQsiE0nmKNwBvpK1TeWsIpAqB8XV8smE7hMndaK6iohhUToJWeHZpMhNQGc3ZD-19xymi8nTOcourZW2JXi1_tne9oh-ly3kbO6EiUcMsSh65ZlAzYoupz2NTk7X2Me3MVUoUgcEYjaEUyK_K6Q/s5990/20240308_151828.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3366" data-original-width="5990" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQy71ySDHVrZd1g9td177gjZaanJa9bsJCQsiE0nmKNwBvpK1TeWsIpAqB8XV8smE7hMndaK6iohhUToJWeHZpMhNQGc3ZD-19xymi8nTOcourZW2JXi1_tne9oh-ly3kbO6EiUcMsSh65ZlAzYoupz2NTk7X2Me3MVUoUgcEYjaEUyK_K6Q/w640-h360/20240308_151828.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<div><br /></div>
The naval version of the Hotchkiss 1 pdr quick firer.. five 37 mm barrels
capable of firing 68 rounds per minute with an accuracy range of 2,000 yards
(1,800 m) - a magazine held ten rounds. When people say PomPom gun as per
the Boer War this is what I imagine it would have looked like (though
in reality it was the 37 mm Nordenfelt-Maxim)..
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfnnPXUbzVIS_iU6yL68kxiwnbJCTbqeB2atSxrfqPhKYYSY4BxG7K7WyGOSn28md4tS3pD9iPgLL3u0au2MGj2cE4-LXwiJX1eMsVoOu9-9uI6vJLkZPR4rMYBAPvtofk8uadr7DEiR0Stgt2xGikFvQQSFdhRkj5FiigS2FqB2ultkym-Q/s4391/20240308_151834.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4391" data-original-width="3970" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfnnPXUbzVIS_iU6yL68kxiwnbJCTbqeB2atSxrfqPhKYYSY4BxG7K7WyGOSn28md4tS3pD9iPgLL3u0au2MGj2cE4-LXwiJX1eMsVoOu9-9uI6vJLkZPR4rMYBAPvtofk8uadr7DEiR0Stgt2xGikFvQQSFdhRkj5FiigS2FqB2ultkym-Q/w579-h640/20240308_151834.jpg" width="579" /></a>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
...and finally - if the bravery of launching an armed and running torpedo off the back of your
boat wasn't enough, this (following) is a "Neger" manned
torpedo used by the Germans in WW2, and to be blunt, beggars belief..</div>
<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ZJqclLqVpP-VEb9YNGlzjitgeLmgbW-BLSiqxaG4z0ntbbkqNsIdtfbhbvY1lrXtDHO38ceHVky868NrZ60oPtYpGnrvjzJGTSeQGTNHgbDm5GUs6Sdc9KTYzVCA3j_zfM4iN0Qwhomb-hY0UTAELmuiLg8b6ASRPJTUGQPu-yby2rUAAw/s5838/20240308_153453.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1793" data-original-width="5838" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ZJqclLqVpP-VEb9YNGlzjitgeLmgbW-BLSiqxaG4z0ntbbkqNsIdtfbhbvY1lrXtDHO38ceHVky868NrZ60oPtYpGnrvjzJGTSeQGTNHgbDm5GUs6Sdc9KTYzVCA3j_zfM4iN0Qwhomb-hY0UTAELmuiLg8b6ASRPJTUGQPu-yby2rUAAw/w640-h196/20240308_153453.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<p>
...imagine if you will sitting in that thing (itself a repurposed torpedo) but with a
live torpedo hanging underneath, fired by pointing yourself at the target
and then pulling a lever to release and fire the torpedo...
</p>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihLME3tfo5j0jZyZXM-5SSHLUTL9DvtFhi0AWUqUEZvArlEgmVqxf5Xa8RO56myNec7E1B3SN49wJyfqJHIvPg6-5XkwP-IJ_YtAKeF0gFg8PLR91zfFI0A31pGAZ0oQRClKang8EQyRzLD7T3QRhRSiQ4gOaZf1t9XVnhhA_pKBHTTbbyZg/s300/Neger_human_torpedo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="193" data-original-width="300" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihLME3tfo5j0jZyZXM-5SSHLUTL9DvtFhi0AWUqUEZvArlEgmVqxf5Xa8RO56myNec7E1B3SN49wJyfqJHIvPg6-5XkwP-IJ_YtAKeF0gFg8PLR91zfFI0A31pGAZ0oQRClKang8EQyRzLD7T3QRhRSiQ4gOaZf1t9XVnhhA_pKBHTTbbyZg/s1600/Neger_human_torpedo.jpg" width="300" /></a>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
...there are multiple reports of the torpedo having started running and
failing to release (with the obvious consequence!), and despite some successes, the German crews suffered
almost 80% losses...
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>At this time I then decided I was all exploded out.. 😁 A quick trip to the Queens Hotel ensued, and three pints of Gooden's Gold before
returning home restored the internal equilibrium - brilliant day out and
unequivocally recommended for anyone considering a visit.. next stop, HMS Warrior I think..</div>
<div>
<p>Further references..</p>
<p></p>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
<a href="https://www.pnbpropertytrust.org/priddys-hard-gosport/17/">Priddys Hard Gosport (pnbpropertytrust.org)</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neger_(torpedo)#CITEREFPrenattStille2014">Neger (torpedo) - Wikipedia</a>
</li>
</ul>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
</p>
<p> ...and per last weeks snippet - well done the Marines!! Barrel of port (speedily) delivered..</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHcyvcVrLR8kECnAOyPc0m06kadEcK14Y1d15cbN1K84GRNJnQtT0mzN91R4oIL6-BawYNtZpTbyekkkliBgcjWrVRXG6zWSpG_iOfwIBT7ZnzxU5BvuCu0_dixgJlG3PsAB1TMv1pdWYe4q3499eJy3xTwJtPEY7B9-8aNs5t5RRv014F7A/s972/Capture1.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="643" data-original-width="972" height="423" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHcyvcVrLR8kECnAOyPc0m06kadEcK14Y1d15cbN1K84GRNJnQtT0mzN91R4oIL6-BawYNtZpTbyekkkliBgcjWrVRXG6zWSpG_iOfwIBT7ZnzxU5BvuCu0_dixgJlG3PsAB1TMv1pdWYe4q3499eJy3xTwJtPEY7B9-8aNs5t5RRv014F7A/w640-h423/Capture1.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><p>Hopefully this following will play for most... it's worth it.. the Royal Marines bang out a cracking tune, and for me it makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck.. 😊</p>
<center><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="573" id="molvideoplayer" scrolling="no" src="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/embed/video/3147019.html" title="MailOnline Embed Player" width="698"></iframe></center>
<p style="text-align: center;">
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
</p>
<p>Laters, as the young people are want to say...</p>
</div>
</div>
Steve-the-Wargamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07077311120172727690noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33041938.post-41320841051859967362024-03-09T12:00:00.379+00:002024-03-09T12:00:00.136+00:00"Firing into the Brown" #42 - Ingoldsby's, Dues and stuff..<div>
<p>
<span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;"><i>"So Carnehan weeds out the pick of his men, and sets the two of the
Army to show them drill and at the end of two weeks the men can
manoeuvre about as well as Volunteers. So he marches with the Chief to a
great big plain on the top of a mountain, and the Chiefs men rushes into
a village and takes it; we three Martinis
<b>firing into the brown </b>of the enemy".</i></span>
</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Kipling "The Man Who Would Be King"</i></span>
</p>
</div>
<span style="text-align: left;">Time for another update..</span>
<div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div>
<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj80HcGMdqC80sKyTB0pZH78FHfkSu68Srt8gLXcXSxKMqiE8x91gkQNF0dh8Oc3EOLlmFMmXNirFWWqP07kMOKMboUZ2Y1blXRo4q1AZPudzUZRocpDHuCraEjNsrmPI3RwmiJN74X5tFagZGF5kKAN7OCaN5v_Qb2Dh0nouwQJjboH7Q-CA/s924/Edward_Byng_-_General_Joseph_Sabine_-_B1977.14.5300_-_Yale_Center_for_British_Art.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj80HcGMdqC80sKyTB0pZH78FHfkSu68Srt8gLXcXSxKMqiE8x91gkQNF0dh8Oc3EOLlmFMmXNirFWWqP07kMOKMboUZ2Y1blXRo4q1AZPudzUZRocpDHuCraEjNsrmPI3RwmiJN74X5tFagZGF5kKAN7OCaN5v_Qb2Dh0nouwQJjboH7Q-CA/s320/Edward_Byng_-_General_Joseph_Sabine_-_B1977.14.5300_-_Yale_Center_for_British_Art.jpg" width="277" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;">Joseph Sabin - portrait attributed to Edward Byng</span></td></tr></tbody></table>Another of those 'regiments of renown' that I missed the unit histories for - this time we get a two'fer, as the regiment in question serves in two separate projects, and therefore exists in two separate instances in my collection of little metal men.. Ingoldsby's (from my Marlburian project), later became The Royal Welch Fusiliers, and then the 23rd Foot (in my American War of Independence project)<p></p><p>Raised in Wales and in the adjacent counties on 17 March 1689 by Henry Lord Herbert, the regiment was intended to assist King William III in his campaign in Ireland. In Ireland they fought in the battles of the Boyne and Aughrim and a number of other sieges. From 1693, they were commanded by, and got their original name from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Ingoldsby_(British_Army_officer,_died_1712)" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Colonel Richard Ingoldsby</a> (who was promoted to Brigadier on 31 May 1696) but at Blenheim they were already under the command of a new <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Sabine_(British_Army_officer)" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Colonel (brevet</a>)<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Sabine_(British_Army_officer)" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">, Joseph Sabine</a>. Sabine was confirmed in his promotion, and got the regimental Colonelcy in 1705 (and remained in that role until his death.. in 1739!)</p><p>The regiment went on to win battle honours at all four of the great battles of the war; Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde, Malplaquet. </p><p>Timeline (abbreviated - the Kronoskaf site referenced below is far more/better detailed)</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>On 7 June 1701, the regiment embarked at Carrickfergus, arriving on 30 June in Holland and proceeding to Workum and Heusden. </li><li>1702, the regiment went to cover the siege of Kaiserwerth and later formed part of the covering army during the siege of Venlo. Designated a fusilier regiment and became the Welch Regiment of Fusiliers ("Welch" being correct, and the old spelling)</li><li>1703, the regiment proceeded to Maastricht, it was at the siege and capture of Huy. </li><li>1704, the regiment marched towards the Rhine and then was part of Marlborough's march to the Danube. The regiment took part in the Battle of the Schellenberg (where Sabine was wounded) and later it fought at the Battle of Blenheim. The regiment then marched through Swabia to cover the siege of Landau.</li><li>1705, the regiment was in garrison at Roermond. A detachment of the regiment was employed in recapturing Huy. Later the regiment took part in the passage of the French lines at Helixem and Neerhespen.</li><li>1706, the regiment fought in the Battle of Ramillies. It formed part of the army covering the siege of Ostend, it continued to form part of the covering army during the sieges and capture of Menin, Dendermond and Ath. </li><li>1707, no action - the opposing armies passed the campaign in manoeuvring and observing the movements of each other.</li><li>1708, the fought in the Battle of Oudenarde as part of Cadogan's Corps. From August, it took part in the siege of Lille. </li><li>1709, the regiment received a body of recruits from England. In June, it formed part of the covering army during the siege of Tournai later in the year the regiment fought in the Battle of Malplaquet. The regiment then formed part of the covering army during the siege and capture of Mons.</li><li>1710, the regiment took part in the siege of Douai and later formed part of the covering army during the siege of Béthune, Aire and Saint-Venant.</li><li>1711, the regiment was part of the Allied army that passed the Ne Plus Ultra Lines at Arleux. The regiment then took part in the siege of Bouchain.</li><li>1712, the regiment formed part of the covering army during the siege of Le Quesnoy soon afterwards a suspension of arms was proclaimed between the British and French, preparatory to a treaty of peace</li><li>1713 the prefix "Royal" was added to the regiments name</li><li>1714, the regiment returned to England and was subsequently stationed in Ireland. Royal title confirmed when George I named them the Prince of Wales's Own Royal Regiment of Welsh Fusiliers.</li></ul><p></p><p>At the Schellenberg the regiment was brigaded with the 1st Guards, Orkney's Regiment & Meredith's Regiment under the brigade command of Fergusson, where they were part of the Advance Guard in the division of Lt. General Goor under John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough. They took significant casualties (in addition to the wounding of Sabine mentioned). </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3StvfSjVZuFLFZX1x-I5NOhIZGA_TKHTbeR3EcRi8_quu2Dk9i7DNOQwR71laXJxzYpzXvIhH004H1NbgDIsHGQWeU23x6XvoaA7rfQxtNdyUID9X8Bt-dTpgTPHKWvCoptJfcMy-1kBKqSHVeUD6dUySmWTYqlP_n0QPxLOhNK4aBYiScw/s597/Array7.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="517" data-original-width="597" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3StvfSjVZuFLFZX1x-I5NOhIZGA_TKHTbeR3EcRi8_quu2Dk9i7DNOQwR71laXJxzYpzXvIhH004H1NbgDIsHGQWeU23x6XvoaA7rfQxtNdyUID9X8Bt-dTpgTPHKWvCoptJfcMy-1kBKqSHVeUD6dUySmWTYqlP_n0QPxLOhNK4aBYiScw/s320/Array7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>At Battle of Blenheim they'd been re-organised, and comprised about 520 men all told. They were now a part of the column attacking Blenheim village, under the command of Lieutenant General John, 1st Baron Cutts of Gowran (the "Salamander") in Brigadier-General Rowe's Brigade comprising themselves plus the Scots Fusiliers (1 bn, 629 men), Howe's Foot (1 bn, 584 men), Duke of Marlborough's Foot/Derring's (1 bn, 524 men), and Lord North and Grey's Foot (1 bn, 580 men)</p><p>In 1689, the uniform consisted of a blue coat faced white; white breeches; and white stockings but by the time the War of the Spanish Succession had broken out they had probably already transitioned to scarlet, but for sheer interest I stuck with blue (weeeellll.. the colonels had to pay out of their own pockets so you wouldn't want good uniforms to go to waste, would you? 😏). No details on colours at that time so I went with a plain cream one.. if anything subsequently comes to light I'll give them a proper one..</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/_EkwLNxL4tkE/SGIsRlKnTZI/AAAAAAAABG8/3Pc6letRwAA/s1408/P1010376.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="873" data-original-width="1408" height="396" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/_EkwLNxL4tkE/SGIsRlKnTZI/AAAAAAAABG8/3Pc6letRwAA/w640-h396/P1010376.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;">My representation of Brigadier General Archibald Rowe's brigade - in the front row Ingoldsby's (Welch Fusiliers) on the right, and Derring's on the left. The brigadier with runner is in the middle and in the second rank we have Howe's on the left. The regiment on the right is a Dutch regiment, Rechteren's who have just photobombed the picture.. 😏</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>Following the 1751 British army reforms that standardised naming and numbering of regiments, it then became the 23rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Welsh Fusiliers). Up to 2004 it was one of only five line infantry regiments never to have been amalgamated, but it was announced then that the Royal Welch Fusiliers would merge with the Royal Regiment of Wales to form a new large regiment, the Royal Welsh.</div><div><p><u>Sources/references:</u></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://kronoskaf.com/wss/index.php?title=Richard_Ingoldsby%27s_Foot">Richard Ingoldsby's Foot - Project WSS (kronoskaf.com)</a></li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Welch_Fusiliers#">Royal Welch Fusiliers - Wikipedia</a></li><li><a href="https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/royal-welch-fusiliers#:~:text=This%20infantry%20unit%20was%20formed,merged%20into%20The%20Royal%20Welsh.">The Royal Welch Fusiliers | National Army Museum (nam.ac.uk)</a></li></ul><p></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ </p><p style="text-align: left;">Interesting little snippet on the "Ian Visits" blog.. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0OVfg6Z0I8s3kkQeo5cfdFdna1e7P2FEidtxOlyzv8i1CWgow_jPN-k-bl3JD1Da0fq0J8VbyLq6R6KN7rfSCd6nWB16Y5cVjgZp0uVVYY2goZcrVcSNDwRUbFdfm7IuwfZ4Nj3cCmv2Ylasu7QhlAzKdxfNaaWPaOmcU1RDScLCT_Er2GA/s904/Capture1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="904" data-original-width="659" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0OVfg6Z0I8s3kkQeo5cfdFdna1e7P2FEidtxOlyzv8i1CWgow_jPN-k-bl3JD1Da0fq0J8VbyLq6R6KN7rfSCd6nWB16Y5cVjgZp0uVVYY2goZcrVcSNDwRUbFdfm7IuwfZ4Nj3cCmv2Ylasu7QhlAzKdxfNaaWPaOmcU1RDScLCT_Er2GA/w466-h640/Capture1.JPG" width="466" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: left;">Next week they will be celebrating the "Ceremony of the Constable’s Dues" at the Tower of London... an old, old, tradition the origins of which are centuries old, and refer to when ships visiting London would have to make a payment to the Constable of the Tower of London. Over time, as the river became busier and busier, the dues became less and less, and in the end, disappeared all together apart from this one occasional ceremonial offering - usually by a visiting warship - and on an infrequent basis.. </p><p style="text-align: left;">This year though, the Royal Marines are doing it, and the river is being closed as they are using a Merlin helicopter and three ORC's! Should be a quick delivery as I saw one of those <a href="https://steve-the-wargamer.blogspot.com/2014/09/royal-marine-orc.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ORC's at the boat show a number of years ago [clicky]</a>(0 to 30 Knts in 10 seconds 😁!!)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf1OBIt7noL-MxMJ1nm33S3_Bng75km3K8BY2qBH9CmZ4YtIPEugx-ZUWmRp9H6Nfc5QurhWq8FK4493yGNPfTztkB9kGRCHz0jBqtnQfm9kRgzBOJdk-LcJLvZStunLVAy-8Xs6B5BlQK-C9y9YiSbe4fu5UOt6B1NfaFCbRIvBtzpfo-Mw/s499/4898084676_7d12e4564e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="324" data-original-width="499" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf1OBIt7noL-MxMJ1nm33S3_Bng75km3K8BY2qBH9CmZ4YtIPEugx-ZUWmRp9H6Nfc5QurhWq8FK4493yGNPfTztkB9kGRCHz0jBqtnQfm9kRgzBOJdk-LcJLvZStunLVAy-8Xs6B5BlQK-C9y9YiSbe4fu5UOt6B1NfaFCbRIvBtzpfo-Mw/s16000/4898084676_7d12e4564e.jpg" /></a></div><p style="text-align: left;"><u>More info..</u></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/a-helicopter-and-boats-to-perform-a-rare-ceremony-at-the-tower-of-london-70761/">A helicopter and boats to perform a rare ceremony at the Tower of London (ianvisits.co.uk)</a></li><li><a href="https://hidden-london.com/the-guide/constables-dues/">Constable's Dues | Hidden London (hidden-london.com)</a></li></ul><p></p><p style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ </p>
<p> Laters, as the young people are want to say...</p>
</div>Steve-the-Wargamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07077311120172727690noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33041938.post-71164089095014311132024-03-02T12:00:00.818+00:002024-03-02T12:00:00.134+00:00"Firing into the Brown" #41 - Submarine Museum, Gunfight at Dexter's Corral and stuff..<div>
<p>
<span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;"><i>"So Carnehan weeds out the pick of his men, and sets the two of the
Army to show them drill and at the end of two weeks the men can
manoeuvre about as well as Volunteers. So he marches with the Chief to a
great big plain on the top of a mountain, and the Chiefs men rushes into
a village and takes it; we three Martinis
<b>firing into the brown </b>of the enemy".</i></span>
</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Kipling "The Man Who Would Be King"</i></span>
</p>
</div>
<span style="text-align: left;">Time for another update..</span>
<div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Use continues to be made of the Dockyard yearly ticket - this time with a much-anticipated visit to the Royal Navy Submarine Museum - home to HMS Alliance (following) which absolutely DOMINATES the entrance to the museum... </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Alliance (pennant number P417/S67) is an A-class, known as the Amphion or Acheron-class, submarine. She was constructed between March and July 1945, but not commissioned until 1947, so didn't see WW2 service. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The design was intended for operations in the Pacific where because the distances were huge, required specific modifications and features... anyway, more on her in a moment...</div>
<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhek_3vZiOazbcfzBGlZ1EfzwZQsOBGe35zEQDyYDZhbMSJVgHWwQeaQ6au_ObgxaE-4FrH5TrFioPTUoBqho6AlITnlvUTf56C3cWt4DsEHCk3Gfm3tSz0YbmVFi9QXlAPhyphenhyphenabZnmrUWZAMuC1tOdt6hVl6PLSne1QnZN7w1MTNNLSomjWIQ/s4000/20240211_121135.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhek_3vZiOazbcfzBGlZ1EfzwZQsOBGe35zEQDyYDZhbMSJVgHWwQeaQ6au_ObgxaE-4FrH5TrFioPTUoBqho6AlITnlvUTf56C3cWt4DsEHCk3Gfm3tSz0YbmVFi9QXlAPhyphenhyphenabZnmrUWZAMuC1tOdt6hVl6PLSne1QnZN7w1MTNNLSomjWIQ/w640-h480/20240211_121135.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>First, I had a look inside the museum where the first thing to catch the eye is one of the last remaining X Craft from WW2... </div><div><br /></div><div>These are the class of miniature submarine immortalised by John Mills in "Above us the Waves" (which for my UK reader is currently showing for free on ITVx) the film of the sinking of Tirpitz in the fjord in Norway. The one they have in the museum though, is X24 – the only one to have seen combat in, and survived, WW2. </div><div><br /></div><div>She was used used on <a href="https://codenames.info/operation/guidance-ii/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Operation Guidance</a> (attacking the Laksevåg floating dock at Bergen 15 April 1944) when due to faulty intelligence and incorrect charts, the merchant ship Barenfels alongside the dock was sunk instead; X24 went back though, and dock was attacked and sunk in <a href="https://codenames.info/operation/heckle/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Operation Heckle </a>on 11 September 1944. </div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIZ0P9bLnHr45-puu1M21lwxi8lXp4Cw9HPt9CT2qLh3FFDXy4IVCtBhICH_0msPd_XH05d_9RGYlY-hPV0gqYJAov980U_kBnChYhvlORixgaLr1-aZ5qxQQ4TvGe_okA4uP89D3qWuI2j4M1pBcjg6NHFjo6inQmGFCF-4S3lQfVp5zH6g/s7200/20240211_135804.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5400" data-original-width="7200" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIZ0P9bLnHr45-puu1M21lwxi8lXp4Cw9HPt9CT2qLh3FFDXy4IVCtBhICH_0msPd_XH05d_9RGYlY-hPV0gqYJAov980U_kBnChYhvlORixgaLr1-aZ5qxQQ4TvGe_okA4uP89D3qWuI2j4M1pBcjg6NHFjo6inQmGFCF-4S3lQfVp5zH6g/w640-h480/20240211_135804.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;">...explosive charge carried on the side is a mock up clearly, as 4.4K pounds of amatol might make a hole in the floor if it went off... 8.8K pounds if it also set off the one on the other side.. 😁</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div>...and this - following - is <u>the answer to last week's question</u>.. they used the same diesel engine in the X Craft as they did in double decker buses, this is a Gardner (specifically, a Gardner 4LK 4-cyl diesel engine, driving a Single shaft, and giving 42 hp at 1,800 rpm 😀).. they used them in fire engines as well apparently... I found it amazing, but it was a tried and trusted power plant, plenty of spares, easy to maintain... you can see why they chose it but therein lies one of the fundamental differences between the German and British approaches to such a question - I don't doubt that the Germans would have had Daimler design a new engine specifically for the purpose, almost certainly more elegant, more powerful, but also more difficult to maintain, and yet another strand in the supply chain that the Kriegsmarine would have to support... well done, <a href="https://www.blogger.com/profile/05031444717952755557" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Norm</a>, you were first to answer "engine", kudos to <a href="https://www.blogger.com/profile/15751744958434403184" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Matt </a>for coming in second.. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/profile/02812453753286494021" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Maudlin Jack Tar's</a> answer gets an honourable mention, it wasn't correct but it did make me almost spit out the mouthful of coffee I had just slurped... 😂 <div><br /></div><div>You can see the electric engine (used underwater) behind it..<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7EHYeSTXRTlYwYMli2DADUVwP2wEtdPjdsi9vtD1s4sgkT2iGYw-5WeW0LRfiVTFlzvmXYUQF_Wior2j5OXqxR_WnAFH0uAPQMjmha_sRDvIVAJvgnFyxSw_4llyMYDHDYLKU_iGz6Il9WeBhisd0IKCV_NiQ9iEymHZImmIuiV35ozVVCw/s7200/20240211_135827.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5400" data-original-width="7200" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7EHYeSTXRTlYwYMli2DADUVwP2wEtdPjdsi9vtD1s4sgkT2iGYw-5WeW0LRfiVTFlzvmXYUQF_Wior2j5OXqxR_WnAFH0uAPQMjmha_sRDvIVAJvgnFyxSw_4llyMYDHDYLKU_iGz6Il9WeBhisd0IKCV_NiQ9iEymHZImmIuiV35ozVVCw/w640-h480/20240211_135827.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>...there is something very, very poignant, about the sheer guts and bravery of the men who went to war in these craft, seated in what can only be described as a piece of garden furniture (following).. it just beggars the imagination and sent shivers down my neck when I looked... truly we stand on the shoulders of giants...</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC0DDRTftq3o9UQ0Gbl0rzAeHPW-TsxPXmteF16cRRKUJsGOoJ_D_2SdtKbh7RmtR64NsXkcuYy0OVGh7CblcUbzatfjVtGfNQpFAWJmZMgy0rpmd2bGe1gxXtX4KzPkLyDTVECAlPR7tsFp0a0O_EFMnPFVMZakiZbjI7CBYSxyB8hS9XyA/s7200/20240211_135835.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5392" data-original-width="7200" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC0DDRTftq3o9UQ0Gbl0rzAeHPW-TsxPXmteF16cRRKUJsGOoJ_D_2SdtKbh7RmtR64NsXkcuYy0OVGh7CblcUbzatfjVtGfNQpFAWJmZMgy0rpmd2bGe1gxXtX4KzPkLyDTVECAlPR7tsFp0a0O_EFMnPFVMZakiZbjI7CBYSxyB8hS9XyA/w640-h480/20240211_135835.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>..but having enjoyed the museum it was time to visit Alliance.. </div><div><br /></div><div>I was really impressed with the layout and access for her, by the way - basically you enter the front of the boat in the forward torpedo room and can then walk to the far end (exit is in the rear torpedo room) in your own time... the guides are available to ask questions of, and are usually ex-submarine men themselves... they have a soundtrack playing in the background to give the impression that you are walking through an active submarine.. snatches of conversation, tannoy announcements and the like, very effective..</div><div><br /></div><div>Sailors mess (living area) - count the bunks - between 6 and 8 blokes would have shared this space, she had a crew of about 60, plus 5 officers, so space would have been at a premium...</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiExa7D4tG8A4SwXkY5Np3p3REOlwjabVOkS7CgmFEP385uTZRFmmXsSPeFy_Ymn6ctf91rFju8GSdRsUmd6_baooBckXGuepjZQkmzRLBFObmVqI-6Deqok0jWcrFEUCf5SXzf4eMwha8B9tTFz9isbLsqGdvWs8O9bUqjBUixaVfLpLId2w/s7200/20240211_141857.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5392" data-original-width="7200" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiExa7D4tG8A4SwXkY5Np3p3REOlwjabVOkS7CgmFEP385uTZRFmmXsSPeFy_Ymn6ctf91rFju8GSdRsUmd6_baooBckXGuepjZQkmzRLBFObmVqI-6Deqok0jWcrFEUCf5SXzf4eMwha8B9tTFz9isbLsqGdvWs8O9bUqjBUixaVfLpLId2w/w640-h480/20240211_141857.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Captain's cabin - loved the fact that he got chintz covers... 😁</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvZ_U746rlHZ-8QgverB1cLeLUL2PRGJV2c5En7QgmoyKfklmVcuCxP5R4Nrxa48cRCBaDOERgheJzCGqVY2J8IJ_orrL92ZvshHU4jG3k5A0IVlfqcPGi0lBY3SSlEgCUco5SbiA1D69hpQw4O0T7pYenGcZ5DCVUCiPltpAhlPr8DiZO6Q/s7200/20240211_142132.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5400" data-original-width="7200" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvZ_U746rlHZ-8QgverB1cLeLUL2PRGJV2c5En7QgmoyKfklmVcuCxP5R4Nrxa48cRCBaDOERgheJzCGqVY2J8IJ_orrL92ZvshHU4jG3k5A0IVlfqcPGi0lBY3SSlEgCUco5SbiA1D69hpQw4O0T7pYenGcZ5DCVUCiPltpAhlPr8DiZO6Q/w640-h480/20240211_142132.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>"Fruit machine" (early target range and deflection calculation device) and torpedo launching panel - following - when originally launched Alliance had six bow torpedo tubes (including 2 external dry close fit) and four stern torpedo tubes (including 2 external dry close fit) and carried 20 torpedoes - during a major refit in the late 50's early 60's to make her "Cold War suitable" the external tubes were all removed (made her quieter under water) ...</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB5RKawsyRfKS49lt5NnBBXJyVptjsh4KBHRysFdNrpmsH1zbSB42ifhQYkBDXdmOswan_N9q7RhA9PwUwNfxaXH9Towwac87tISJoMJXjfOFbQae95i8Ehejep0L9iF7AOPHNA9tRdV_KBwihnbDhxA3r9LR07CdiShLEnQlie1fk0G6gRw/s7200/20240211_142201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5392" data-original-width="7200" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB5RKawsyRfKS49lt5NnBBXJyVptjsh4KBHRysFdNrpmsH1zbSB42ifhQYkBDXdmOswan_N9q7RhA9PwUwNfxaXH9Towwac87tISJoMJXjfOFbQae95i8Ehejep0L9iF7AOPHNA9tRdV_KBwihnbDhxA3r9LR07CdiShLEnQlie1fk0G6gRw/w640-h480/20240211_142201.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Vents/ballast controls - following - unbelievable complexity! This is the helm position - note the trim indicator, depth, and steering column - looks like a bike handlebar!</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiluSqMhTC86sYpAX2uKZ8nPujwV3EFUmoI1cUdShNWpZWQ2V3hy7_VnG4_I-eHK7bqP3WCrZmvVQO-uyG71oewOyVSUMzUs_bhP0gqMx6dTJnZG2pgHYuqogUTRl49eT0awhNEuyNE5k7S1a9OTH8KEFJNgt05mWICJlbzZMkyZzNls74B5A/s7200/20240211_142226.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5400" data-original-width="7200" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiluSqMhTC86sYpAX2uKZ8nPujwV3EFUmoI1cUdShNWpZWQ2V3hy7_VnG4_I-eHK7bqP3WCrZmvVQO-uyG71oewOyVSUMzUs_bhP0gqMx6dTJnZG2pgHYuqogUTRl49eT0awhNEuyNE5k7S1a9OTH8KEFJNgt05mWICJlbzZMkyZzNls74B5A/w640-h480/20240211_142226.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Same - dual steering - note also periscope handle on the left</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiig6ghaWdPlNIPziN1s9YZbWjR3aWJaczU_6jBof4x76xhUhCo6OjAXOlTyg26uJpP3UOQDOpSLeLaPIH0KtEnOiF73hDMJwp5ZkMhlYjKYAYgcmTjTz8zZKdMgzArJv7Q3WG2ZmV3KmYgwMktVnq-po3Tc4YQmv4n7zOKaFgTDFf873M7Pg/s7200/20240211_142303.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5400" data-original-width="7200" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiig6ghaWdPlNIPziN1s9YZbWjR3aWJaczU_6jBof4x76xhUhCo6OjAXOlTyg26uJpP3UOQDOpSLeLaPIH0KtEnOiF73hDMJwp5ZkMhlYjKYAYgcmTjTz8zZKdMgzArJv7Q3WG2ZmV3KmYgwMktVnq-po3Tc4YQmv4n7zOKaFgTDFf873M7Pg/w640-h480/20240211_142303.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Two toilets (following) with 65 blokes you've got to hope they didn't have curry often... 😏 </div><div><br /></div><div>By the by, I read that this may well be where the phrase "getting your own back" originated - though that may be apocryphal. In essence, once you'd completed your business, if you didn't operate the pressure gauges to blow the contents out of the ship in the correct order, you might get back what you just deposited... 💩</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZsVYMmAwslU3hyphenhyphen_jfr2XPr4g96R-xa6opnItUj2CQVNSJaCC2dsi5gXe8XAaKT9ZsKpZ0i0DSLzPv50m89JZbewm1O9jz-ufSPZ3bVfYQ0gy3tVqBOMaUrJVeKtqFuW6J3KkSS3-1bhRy3yZIdfr9kjCRhMrxCR_-sv0bdLaR6XKb3nbM8A/s7200/20240211_142408.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="7200" data-original-width="5400" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZsVYMmAwslU3hyphenhyphen_jfr2XPr4g96R-xa6opnItUj2CQVNSJaCC2dsi5gXe8XAaKT9ZsKpZ0i0DSLzPv50m89JZbewm1O9jz-ufSPZ3bVfYQ0gy3tVqBOMaUrJVeKtqFuW6J3KkSS3-1bhRy3yZIdfr9kjCRhMrxCR_-sv0bdLaR6XKb3nbM8A/w480-h640/20240211_142408.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Engine room - Alliance was a diesel electric boat, diesels for surface, electric under water, but she was fitted with a snorkel to allow her to use her diesels while partially submerged... what you see here is one of two 2,150 hp (at 450 rpm) supercharged Vickers 8-cylinder diesel engines... these would give her 18 knots on the surface, which was fast for the time, and also necessary for a Pacific based boat...</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio4Sk0LUxmdWj-_Ok6A7skhWgUKSg6gA6OUT5vK9p9gRGVSwNMAfOU_fYps_iTkNc58w8t91CPXI76BqZinOPjBE6_niRTr1s1YZMQiVNuPDhgin6H5BMeRUwbOgyd-Vnoc7crDREHnjsxSfKDmz_-C5WnSuXuUm6qNn223lr7jD9gD5_1Lg/s7200/20240211_142528.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5400" data-original-width="7200" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio4Sk0LUxmdWj-_Ok6A7skhWgUKSg6gA6OUT5vK9p9gRGVSwNMAfOU_fYps_iTkNc58w8t91CPXI76BqZinOPjBE6_niRTr1s1YZMQiVNuPDhgin6H5BMeRUwbOgyd-Vnoc7crDREHnjsxSfKDmz_-C5WnSuXuUm6qNn223lr7jD9gD5_1Lg/w640-h480/20240211_142528.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>...and here's the electric - one of two 625 hp electric motors for use underwater; after the refit in 1960'ish she could do 10 knots underwater... </div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSdVnb2MgbMKcM674YgULaz69hesXhLt5TQ7e7uJjn2m8iI4NJml-U4pO6wrIGruA_xQwuMv6_wTcTPz9rrfhuyJou0zH_jEJBVNhLjFtpdXM1k68OgWSDo-JuzPC9da5p4C0Tg5usLTDWcsc5vP4iE6FBorHRjhncAh8SAZ4s79Wkrb2mFw/s7200/20240211_142633.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5400" data-original-width="7200" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSdVnb2MgbMKcM674YgULaz69hesXhLt5TQ7e7uJjn2m8iI4NJml-U4pO6wrIGruA_xQwuMv6_wTcTPz9rrfhuyJou0zH_jEJBVNhLjFtpdXM1k68OgWSDo-JuzPC9da5p4C0Tg5usLTDWcsc5vP4iE6FBorHRjhncAh8SAZ4s79Wkrb2mFw/w640-h480/20240211_142633.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>...that refit by the way was <b>major </b>- in addition to removing the external torpedo tubes, they also removed a deck gun, an anti-aircraft gun, and also massively redesigned the fin (<b>not </b>the conning tower as most people call it) - this is her, following, pre refit. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8YlfOSZG2RnA7ajjATzyEQhGyGMxtDJSmvIzVTP0Q-fZy-JEAwNazS1MQeg98OvqjN9CwQsrahMi1sTASQxdCY-XXG5Pysa3SscSM8IVX6wAKLQhjbqs2rOb9ThBMXw_BJSMOxZjBqp8OvRY1NSG8OI4krLkHKsOuc3sxH2Na_tdiDTUjcA/s2048/gettyimages-1450626161-2048x2048.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1546" data-original-width="2048" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8YlfOSZG2RnA7ajjATzyEQhGyGMxtDJSmvIzVTP0Q-fZy-JEAwNazS1MQeg98OvqjN9CwQsrahMi1sTASQxdCY-XXG5Pysa3SscSM8IVX6wAKLQhjbqs2rOb9ThBMXw_BJSMOxZjBqp8OvRY1NSG8OI4krLkHKsOuc3sxH2Na_tdiDTUjcA/w640-h484/gettyimages-1450626161-2048x2048.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><div>Basically, a quintessential WW2 submarine went in for refit, and the Cold War submarine came out... it was only afterwards, thinking about the visit, that I realised Alliance and Mary Rose have a thing in common, both of them were designed for a specific type of warfare/role that fundamentally changed during their service life, and both had substantial refits to be able to support that change in role... fascinating, I thought - bleedin' obvious to everyone else I suspect! 😁</div><div><br /></div></div>More info:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://www.baesystems.com/en-uk/heritage/hms-alliance">HMS Alliance | BAE Systems</a></li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Alliance_(P417)">HMS Alliance (P417) - Wikipedia</a></li><li><a href="https://youtu.be/5s2DKjtnL2U">https://youtu.be/5s2DKjtnL2U</a> - YouTube; Dan Snow tour of the boat...</li></ul><div>Absolutely brilliant day out, and very much recommended...</div></div><div><p></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ </p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The sun burned down out of a cloudless sky as 'Mexican' Pete (<span style="color: #800180;"><i>Average gunfighter, hand to hand rating of 3, rifle rating of 2, revolver rating of 3</i></span>) and fellow gang member Zack (<i><span style="color: #800180;">Novice gunfighter, HtH 1, R 0, Rev -1</span>)</i>, approached the sleepy border town of Cedar Gulch (population 67) on foot, and intent on mischief. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Their horses were tied up in a concealed spot just outside of town so they wouldn't be encumbered. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">They were looking for Gerry (<span style="color: #800180;"><i>also an Average gunfighter, HtH 3, R 2, Rev 3</i></span>), a member of a rival gang who they had heard was also in town, somewhere near Dexter's Livery Stable - suffice to say they weren't planning to buy him a beer....</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZfIKW124nEtcdsDgQXnXwSlWvEIB2f8qnDiY_-kYsnArKbg9pBoVSVBIY6DG8RaVxm9IpmNJKZ3A9a4G1dcNE10uXOzRyjpqhiSW1JVQpK8Z50duGe8nro0a4cJtUbhSC0PVoOCUxy-ID6E1JynMgvvVGV7BJv5NvRgaBYRa9hWFjdjfcGQ/s6395/20240226_104743.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4228" data-original-width="6395" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZfIKW124nEtcdsDgQXnXwSlWvEIB2f8qnDiY_-kYsnArKbg9pBoVSVBIY6DG8RaVxm9IpmNJKZ3A9a4G1dcNE10uXOzRyjpqhiSW1JVQpK8Z50duGe8nro0a4cJtUbhSC0PVoOCUxy-ID6E1JynMgvvVGV7BJv5NvRgaBYRa9hWFjdjfcGQ/w640-h424/20240226_104743.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><i>Mexican Pete and Zack can be seen entering top right - Gerry and Robbie bottom left.. the corral is dead centre.. in both cases the "boss men" had given orders to their sidekicks to try and outflank.. north is top..</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />What they didn't know as they slowly approached the corral next to the livery was that Gerry wasn't alone, he was accompanied by one of his fellow gang members, known only as Robbie (<span style="color: #800180;"><i>Novice gunfighter, HtH 1, R 0, Rev -1</i></span>). The two of them had come into town for a few drinks but had been tipped off that Mexican Pete and Zack were looking for them, so had decided rather than leave, they'd go looking for them too.. </span></div><div><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">All was quiet - most citizens had very sensibly left the four men to it, and retired either to their dwellings, and /or well out of range - word had also been sent to the Sheriff (that he was needed) and the undertaker (that he might soon have business)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">So it was the two groups approached the corral from opposite sides, and nothing moved other than the cows in the corral, swishing their tails and moving nervously around (<span style="color: #800180;"><i>the cows block line of sight and provide cover, so I threw a direction dice for each base of cows at the start of each move and moved them an inch in the direction indicated - literally a 'moving feast' </i>😁</span>) as they smelt and heard the men approaching. Then each group saw the other... </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Pulling Zack close, Pete tells him to move round the building to the north to see if he can get a flank shot on the other two, he tells him he's going round back of the building to the east to do the same. He's clearly showing his lack of experience, with no rifles between them, the other two are hugely out ranged with just their pistols. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Lucky for him Gerry is just as clueless; he orders Robbie to move towards the slight rise in the SE to see if he can get a flank shot.. he meanwhile is going to go through the rocks north of him and then curve head to the north building.. to get there he jumps the fence of the corral keeping some cows between him and Zack..</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Few moves later and all hell breaks loss as Pete and Robbie see each other and exchange shots.. despite his better gunmanship both end up 'nicked' (a </span><i><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;">non-penetrating wound that in essence causes the recipient to stop doing what they were doing for a turn</span></i><span style="font-family: verdana;">) and on the floor - first blood evens.. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9RwFk7gPQ9dK9KZrUAuOcnsWJxU3Ets1S05GrasxsCVdW3nQjF_dszPaXWueRNFgyjhUOYTO5i73P6i3wBIFhSlJmgnZRqdeHr-locf_5PbH4dPK43tzikxSjU3cH3CwUlXE4pU2cq2MG9bE1EzEI1A01NNd0X5wheBCq2GGgGbkEKRM1gw/s4546/20240226_133021.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3941" data-original-width="4546" height="554" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9RwFk7gPQ9dK9KZrUAuOcnsWJxU3Ets1S05GrasxsCVdW3nQjF_dszPaXWueRNFgyjhUOYTO5i73P6i3wBIFhSlJmgnZRqdeHr-locf_5PbH4dPK43tzikxSjU3cH3CwUlXE4pU2cq2MG9bE1EzEI1A01NNd0X5wheBCq2GGgGbkEKRM1gw/w640-h554/20240226_133021.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;">To their north Gerry and Zack do the same; Zack has sneaked up the back of the building but had then doubled back to come out in front of the parked wagon.. both men fire at close range, and again both men go down badly nicked.. (<span style="color: #800180;"><i>Gerry was unlucky.. in fact Pete was too.</i>.</span> <span style="color: #800180;"><i>the stats were in Gerry and Pete's favour as the better gunmen, but unfortunately for them lady luck was smiling on the greenhorns</i></span>)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Climbing painfully to their feet Pete and Robbie again exchange shots but this time Robbie comes off slightly worse as he is shot in his gun arm and drops his weapon while Pete is shot in his other arm and retains his pistol only to shoot again while Robbie is down and hit him in the leg.. Robbie is out for the count, and Pete moves back north to help his compadre.. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj04X4VTO5mlown94bW2MOICkON-E8Y0cPXaV-BLlqaVtGZI5ql3XeiNcpfNZvHQqCaX5TYQA9j6Ywm0LmCkuku16hCSaml0RYZhSKyznfyycLpmp3xQxeh-rysW8mBlNq701fF_VWzZRLW0raCb08zkSdDx8o8WKm5C3Q81yDafU7NKCYCjw/s4890/20240227_132824.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4646" data-original-width="4890" height="608" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj04X4VTO5mlown94bW2MOICkON-E8Y0cPXaV-BLlqaVtGZI5ql3XeiNcpfNZvHQqCaX5TYQA9j6Ywm0LmCkuku16hCSaml0RYZhSKyznfyycLpmp3xQxeh-rysW8mBlNq701fF_VWzZRLW0raCb08zkSdDx8o8WKm5C3Q81yDafU7NKCYCjw/w640-h608/20240227_132824.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Gerry and Zack have again exchanged shots and on both cases are now down on the ground and bleeding into the sand from grievous body shots.. worse, Gerry is now out of ammo and needs to reload, while Zack still has a bullet or two left... worse still, Pete comes into range and snaps a couple of ineffectual shots off in his direction (<span style="color: #800180;"><i>long range, fence line, and Gerry is prone - was never going to happen </i>😏</span>)..</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKWV1MfujFVT-2cHNZWtiKFgfwBUAvBiPY8LPObg-LaRZMwQDjsHgBsYxML9518JSwoCG2wPzuRovLQFXHeclZXaNDK_CzXyaDODXLLMI4xRIlTd3MS5Xz92qtGt6C3vz374yHvaRw507d9Rg-USaapNuRaZWFlmp6EJBZPIsLu4VYuba8JQ/s6119/20240227_132841.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4132" data-original-width="6119" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKWV1MfujFVT-2cHNZWtiKFgfwBUAvBiPY8LPObg-LaRZMwQDjsHgBsYxML9518JSwoCG2wPzuRovLQFXHeclZXaNDK_CzXyaDODXLLMI4xRIlTd3MS5Xz92qtGt6C3vz374yHvaRw507d9Rg-USaapNuRaZWFlmp6EJBZPIsLu4VYuba8JQ/w640-h432/20240227_132841.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Realising he is done for Gerry calls out that he's dropped his gun and is giving up, but Pete beckons to Zack to leave him, and the pair light off out of town to recover their horses and leave the other two to their wounds ... and the Sherriff, who has a number of questions to ask.. Pete and Zack will ride again, but Gerry and Robbie?? Maybe, maybe not.. 😉</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg20HCts0Op2wdxZIR2zaSosrkUpwaaXYfavgR0OiX8J6FIJzzldhDZgo8AK01-PKS8_XNh95xr8wdJv1HkuNOzqfNfwYfET0ztPNudRQ_uyOWAZek-TJj1e3siR8e-H26wuumq43FJUl218UxOZTHiwpAGtJ-BaUCSThwfdY0C99cXbSOKUw/s642/black-white-vector-illustration-old-260nw-134370008.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="280" data-original-width="642" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg20HCts0Op2wdxZIR2zaSosrkUpwaaXYfavgR0OiX8J6FIJzzldhDZgo8AK01-PKS8_XNh95xr8wdJv1HkuNOzqfNfwYfET0ztPNudRQ_uyOWAZek-TJj1e3siR8e-H26wuumq43FJUl218UxOZTHiwpAGtJ-BaUCSThwfdY0C99cXbSOKUw/w400-h174/black-white-vector-illustration-old-260nw-134370008.webp" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rules were again those venerable old Western Gunfight Wargame Rules, and again I used v1.. I like them, they are simpler than the v2 one's.. but for the next game I will get my head round the v2 nuances and have a go with them..</span></p></span><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTDerINSGm9U8u4xbfj1n0DBd6GA6EGdykBLeJB4mgwnddmfLbDSpT3sAUGg80KuLfivgENjgqf-iLoyPwWcQe2GsMgKEUElgKZJFCRerU4aigVH-jVnzE8Eo3Pdr_cnjOLvxOEJHAxXnd3UcfAmicdHKk7r7jgimpmmaj2eS2oPrNiqA/s320/1970-wg-cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="254" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTDerINSGm9U8u4xbfj1n0DBd6GA6EGdykBLeJB4mgwnddmfLbDSpT3sAUGg80KuLfivgENjgqf-iLoyPwWcQe2GsMgKEUElgKZJFCRerU4aigVH-jVnzE8Eo3Pdr_cnjOLvxOEJHAxXnd3UcfAmicdHKk7r7jgimpmmaj2eS2oPrNiqA/s320/1970-wg-cover.jpg" width="254" /></a></span></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Great fun...</span><br /><p></p><p style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ </p><p> Laters, as the young people are want to say...</p>
</div></div>Steve-the-Wargamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07077311120172727690noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33041938.post-51158872413928668112024-02-24T12:00:00.506+00:002024-02-24T12:00:00.134+00:00"One Hour Wargames" - Scenario 23 - "Defence in Depth" - Set Up and Game<div>
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aw0aIBdO2YY/VKxGPvGo-RI/AAAAAAAAET4/bYXJgvijfIk/s320/105574.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="222" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aw0aIBdO2YY/VKxGPvGo-RI/AAAAAAAAET4/bYXJgvijfIk/w139-h200/105574.jpg" width="139" /></a>Slight (well massive, actually!) deviation from the usual format this week... </div><div><br /></div><div>DG and I are currently playing this scenario (albeit virtually via
<a href="http://battlechronicler.com/" target="_blank">Battle Chronicler [clicky]</a> and with an extended hiatus currently so DG can replace an ailing PC) but there's
no comparison with getting some actual metal men on the table, and for a quick solo game
there's no beating One Hour Wargames, and as I was au fait with the scenario,
I decided to play it in parallel...... (and if that wasn't enough "ands" I also
wanted an opportunity to play this years
<a href="https://steve-the-wargamer.blogspot.com/2011/05/action-in-plattville-valley-redux.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">John Corrigan Memorial Game [clicky]</a>) </div><div><br /></div><div>Decision made, the little metal men of the American War of
Independence project would march again..
<div>
<p>
This is an interesting scenario; in essence/summary, a slightly smaller
defending force seeks to stop a numerically superior attacking force from
exiting the defenders end of the table. Things are complicated for the
attacker in that there are only three access methods (bridges) to the
defenders end of the table, and of these three bridges one is accessed only via a farm/built up area, one is effectively blocked as it opens into a wood (that for scenario reasons the attacker doesn't have access to), and the
third is the furthest away from the exit point - interesting conundrum!
</p>
<p>
Forces for each side were diced for on the relevant table in the book, the
only change being to ignore the skirmisher column and substitute regular
foot. As I was playing on a 6' x 4' table, I also doubled the number of units for each side by just throwing twice on each table. </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The British/attacker threw a 3 and a 4 giving them 8 Foot, 3 Cavalry and 1 piece of Artillery (which was decided to be of the Light type) - 12 units</li></ul><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWRfIk2m8B86jcpsSJqqxNTundxl8xSvNp7I8K4YKqOfaB5o6cmZMSWwFLTc7S41BAFSoDY-7sPzGrk12DRv9yktXsAyr42rEyceXjultoFyx6oRX4BxDkhpT9CeGx5p9QWjwT9RWDNTv5ydkT1t0azo2WV8bsLugYg5EWhsr5ebONaEDrSA/s2938/P1020189.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2203" data-original-width="2938" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWRfIk2m8B86jcpsSJqqxNTundxl8xSvNp7I8K4YKqOfaB5o6cmZMSWwFLTc7S41BAFSoDY-7sPzGrk12DRv9yktXsAyr42rEyceXjultoFyx6oRX4BxDkhpT9CeGx5p9QWjwT9RWDNTv5ydkT1t0azo2WV8bsLugYg5EWhsr5ebONaEDrSA/w400-h300/P1020189.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;">...the sharper eyed among you will have noticed that the fog of war has already struck, and I am missing a unit of cavalry - suffice to say I never noticed until.. errrr... about now.. 😂</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The American/defender threw a 5 and a 6 giving them 7 Foot and 1 Cavalry - 8 units.. specific scenario requirements are that the defender needs to swap half of there troops for irregulars, so they chose to swap 3 Foot and the 1 Cavalry - the replacement troop type were Indians, so they ended up with 4 regiments of Foot, and 4 warbands of Indians.</li></ul><p></p>
<p>
Rules were my go-to Will McNally ones (details as ever in the AWI Project page in the side
bar) - fifteen moves (50% more than the book, due to the size of the table)</p><p>Table set up as follows:</p></div></div>
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Attacker enters from top left table edge.. exit point for attacker is the road on the bottom right edge.. The only significant terrain features (ie. everything else is just table dressing) are:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>the road which crosses …</li><li>the river, just behind - not crossable anywhere except at ...</li><li>the three separate bridges</li><li>the built up area/farm</li><li>Woods - classed as light - bottom left of the picture, and then two woods top centre, either side of one of ...</li></ol><div>The farm dominates the bridge behind it - the only access to that bridge is via the farm - a hard fight, if the defender does what you expect him to. Similarly the woods dominate both entrances to the middle bridge and given there is a specific scenario rule denying the attacker access to any of the woods (due to "lack of local knowledge"), that bridge is of assistance only to the defender; you can understand why the third bridge becomes more and more attractive.😏</div><div><br /></div><div>American/defenders set up first:</div></div>
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<div><br /></div>No surprises really:<div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>One regiment of regulars in the farm, with another behind ready to either reinforce them, or defend the road, as required</li><li>One regiment of regulars in shelter dead centre - ready to reinforce either flank</li><li>One regiment of regulars in shelter behind the 'middle bridge woods' to give assistance to their gallant Indian allies, or to cover the third bridge</li><li>The Indians are placed, one each, in the woods either side of the middle bridge and the other two warbands are covering the third bridge..</li></ol><div>On to the game... following is about move 2 or 3</div></div><div><br /></div><div>
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<br />The British "plan" (plan... 😂) was to:</div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>put a holding force in place to stop any incursion from the farm - that job fell to von Donop's (yellow flag bottom left in the picture above) - in effect they were a sacrifice to protect the rear of the army.. it would be unlikely that they could get to the exit point in time</li><li>get the cavalry across the third bridge as quickly as possible with a view to discombobulating the enemy by manoeuvring in their rear - this they've done at this stage - you can just see them beyond the wood top right</li><li>two regiments and the artillery to drive off the Indians north of the river</li><li>the rest to rush the third bridge</li></ol><div>Couple of moves later:</div><br />
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<div><br /></div>The British cavalry are fulfilling their job, but as a result of some quite astonishing American dice throws, the plan to rush the bridge with the rest is not going as well as I had hoped.. in the right conditions, and with the right dice, Indians can be a tough proposition... here, their musketry was effective, and the British morale throws were rubbish. The first two British regiments across the bridge have been sent packing and are reforming behind the next two regiments into the meat grinder. In the meanwhile the Americans are bringing up reinforcements and the war whoops of the Indians are ringing out across the battlefield..</div><div><br /></div><div>Couple of moves later, and as John looks on in interest (he always did enjoy watching a game rather than playing in it.. 😊) we see the British disaster unfolding.. von Donop's have been left to their own devices as everyone else streams west to the third bridge - even at this stage of the game I had a pretty good idea the British had already lost..</div><div><br />
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<div><br /></div>British morale throws were catastrophic, and my Brigadiers and the CiC are busy helping where they can (see following - yellow dice means shaken, red dice means they're routing).. thinking back I am fairly sure the Americans didn't do much physical damage - all the main damage was as a result of the British then failing to recover morale..</div><div><br />
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<div><br /></div>Next - apologies for the interesting yellow tinge, clearly not enough light.. anyway, three British regiments are across - two still in column of march and one of which is still on the bridge.. they are looking to drive the Indians away so they can turn right with safe flanks... in the meanwhile the American tactic is to slowly drop back, always keeping themselves between the British and their exit point, but always just out of musket range.. the British cavalry have exited the table</div><div><br />
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<div><br /></div>Same move, but further east:</div><div><br />
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<div><br /></div>Finally across (following)! All far too late, and in too small numbers, unable to concentrate - one regiment routing (middle left) and one shaken (centre right)</div><div><br />
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<div><br /></div>Last throw of the dice (next), as things are desperate - von Donop's try to force the bridge and fail (repeatedly) - brave mensch!!</div><div><br />
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<div><br /></div>End game - next - frontally attacked and flanked, the Brunswicker's have been sent packing (top right - red dice = routing)</div><div><br />
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<div><br /></div>At least two moves away from the exit point, and on the final turn, the British concede a game that in all truth they had already lost half a dozen moves before - they needed to get six units of the table but had only managed two.</div><div><br /></div><div>Once again the Neil Thomas book delivers in spades.. best ten'ner I ever spent.. 😀</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">========================================</div><div><br /></div><div>Lastly - by way of a bit of fun - what do the following have in common??</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1PxbmJ0zo-lKL7Qw5icqrv-EUXTdswOpF908k3TlbzGp-rKZZwIfFBDTLs4tVe58eAfygWw1nwhqOkXQdTbmmdGuLNaTLjSU_Yen4zgYT9kQNgQAWRskkxY-6zmpNWjDGRztmUExm4b84gxEn7F30zdRcYH899kLCm5ro5feLWJ9huZUbvw/s773/RTL554.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="773" data-original-width="640" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1PxbmJ0zo-lKL7Qw5icqrv-EUXTdswOpF908k3TlbzGp-rKZZwIfFBDTLs4tVe58eAfygWw1nwhqOkXQdTbmmdGuLNaTLjSU_Yen4zgYT9kQNgQAWRskkxY-6zmpNWjDGRztmUExm4b84gxEn7F30zdRcYH899kLCm5ro5feLWJ9huZUbvw/w530-h640/RTL554.jpg" width="530" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLqvsf_WndNGREwhxCHfJJUfVO9eHNEk7yX5FEdVF3HuEg0E_LDRC_A-YQItyHpW2ryk7SuYAgIDhSAWgGdmSTN0ACx2DG8WtMc599lzCP31HpWJEjdyJrhMeZVAKVRdGiTSq9iS8qUNlzXVvv2NzrqA80yQBVY4mMHNB8O0hqcg_rz46usg/s7200/20240211_135804.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5400" data-original-width="7200" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLqvsf_WndNGREwhxCHfJJUfVO9eHNEk7yX5FEdVF3HuEg0E_LDRC_A-YQItyHpW2ryk7SuYAgIDhSAWgGdmSTN0ACx2DG8WtMc599lzCP31HpWJEjdyJrhMeZVAKVRdGiTSq9iS8qUNlzXVvv2NzrqA80yQBVY4mMHNB8O0hqcg_rz46usg/w640-h480/20240211_135804.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>Answer next week... 😏</div>Steve-the-Wargamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07077311120172727690noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33041938.post-41991350427691646302024-02-17T12:00:00.230+00:002024-02-17T12:00:00.340+00:00"Firing into the Brown" #40 - Schomberg's, Mary Rose and stuff..<div>
<div><p><span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;"><i></i></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;"><i><i style="text-align: left;">"So Carnehan weeds out the pick of his men, and sets the two of the Army to show them drill and at the end of two weeks the men can manoeuvre about as well as Volunteers. So he marches with the Chief to a great big plain on the top of a mountain, and the Chiefs men rushes into a village and takes it; we three Martinis <b>firing into the brown </b>of the enemy".</i></i></span></div><p></p><p style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Kipling "The Man Who Would Be King"</i></span></p></div><span>Time for another update..</span><div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div></div><p>First off, a 'catch up'..</p><p>My regular reader (singular 😏) will know that more than anything I do like to look up (errr.. do exhaustive research) to investigate the history of the regiments and commanders that I paint for my armies, but sometimes, I don't have time - and so it was I noticed that I hadn't had chance to do this for three or four regiments in the War of the Spanish Succession project.. </p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFmGkrgcB3UoRwEoUsG_cUv8xcanOtLHjI4M5458VevKbMNG9R-md3uqWlkW8PuV8AGfRmqHsJFVhTof9W-jQnhXYozue7lWxVlNFlFmI6LYDquPonCqHywnPoxIX4CsT4ayaOc5jMxfqa_rIuk_dnNTM63JStYuAK5qz373c_Ulk5E4ckOg/s848/Schomberg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: small; font-style: italic; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="848" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFmGkrgcB3UoRwEoUsG_cUv8xcanOtLHjI4M5458VevKbMNG9R-md3uqWlkW8PuV8AGfRmqHsJFVhTof9W-jQnhXYozue7lWxVlNFlFmI6LYDquPonCqHywnPoxIX4CsT4ayaOc5jMxfqa_rIuk_dnNTM63JStYuAK5qz373c_Ulk5E4ckOg/w640-h290/Schomberg.jpg" width="640" /></a></p><p>I suspect in this case because they pre-date the blog! I intend rectifying this over time and on an irregular basis, and this week the first of those is Schomberg's (nicknamed "The Black Horse" after the colour of their facings) </p><p>So without further ado, another 'regiment of renown' graces the blog</p>
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<p>Origin and History</p>
<p></p>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
1688 - the year of the so called Glorious Revolution - following the landings by the Prince of
Orange, William, Lord Cavendish, Earl of Devonshire with a small armed
retinue travels to Derby, and then Nottingham, raising troops on behalf of
the Prince.
</li>
<li>
On his succession the Prince of Orange (now William III) commissions the
Earl of Devonshire to raise a regiment of horse from these recently raised
troops, plus Protestant soldiers previously belonging to the five
regiments of horse raised by James II. The new regiment was styled
“Devonshire’s Regiment of Horse”.
</li>
<li>
1690 - the regiment is ranked as 9th Horse in order of seniority. </li><ul><li>In April, the Earl of
Devonshire was succeeded in the colonelcy by Meynhardt (or Meinhardt)
Schomberg, and for the first time the regiment became known as the
“Schmomberg’s Horse”.
</li><li>
In July, it was at the Battle of the Boyne (after which Schomberg was
created Duke of Leinster for his part in the battle) and in spring of
1691, the regiment became known as “Leinster’s Horse”.
</li></ul>
<li>
1692- during the Nine Years' War (1688-97) the regiment was sent to the
Netherlands where it joined the confederate army.
</li>
<li>
1693 - was part of the attack of the Lines of the Scheldt. The same year,
after the death of his brother, Meinhardt became the 3rd Duke of
Schomberg, and the regiment was once again “Schmomberg’s Horse”.
</li>
<li>
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<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2M5AHY4c63bfEdI-BkL9Kc55uTwpAsOmrhll2siuS_59IwQ-XeIu9l7OfY712hMaYAin-e19Yq2Dds5ApyagJG0jYoSnTXFHXvSZXUrl8ILslgAxF3dA7ceWTEw2jmSQ216vJqYTm50I5fwCKg1RFan4abpab2eJ87B6ZSUJEHOweI2Fp1A/s1005/John_Baptist_de_Medina_(1659-1710)_(attributed_to)_-_Meinhard_Schomberg_(1641%E2%80%931719),_Duke_of_Leinster_and_3rd_Duke_of_Schomberg_-_1220970_-_National_Trust.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1005" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2M5AHY4c63bfEdI-BkL9Kc55uTwpAsOmrhll2siuS_59IwQ-XeIu9l7OfY712hMaYAin-e19Yq2Dds5ApyagJG0jYoSnTXFHXvSZXUrl8ILslgAxF3dA7ceWTEw2jmSQ216vJqYTm50I5fwCKg1RFan4abpab2eJ87B6ZSUJEHOweI2Fp1A/w319-h400/John_Baptist_de_Medina_(1659-1710)_(attributed_to)_-_Meinhard_Schomberg_(1641%E2%80%931719),_Duke_of_Leinster_and_3rd_Duke_of_Schomberg_-_1220970_-_National_Trust.jpg" width="319" /></a>
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<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;">Meinhardt himself.. Painted by John Baptist de
<br />Medina... apparently he had a bit of a
temper..</span>
</td>
</tr>
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</table>
1694 - ranked as 8th Horse, a rank that it would retain until 1746.
</li>
<li>1695 - formed part of the covering army during the siege of Namur.</li>
<li>1698 to 1701 - stationed, generally, in the south of England.</li>
<li>
1702 - the War of the Spanish Succession - the regiment was sent to the
Dutch Republic. Later that year it provided cover for the sieges of Venloo, Roermond and
Stevensweert.
</li>
<li>1703 - employed in covering the sieges of Huy and Limbourg. </li>
<li>1704 - took part in the battles of Schellenberg and Blenheim. For the attack on the Schellenberg (which formed the original basis for my project), along with Wyndham's, Cadogen's and Lumley's regiments of horse - 10 squadrons of Britain's finest - they were under the brigade command of Lieutenant-General Cornelius Wood</li>
<li>1705 - the forcing of the French lines at Neer-Hespen and Helixem</li>
<li>
1706 - Battle of Ramillies, the capture of Antwerp and the blockade of
Dendermond
</li>
<li>
1708 - Battle of Oudenarde, the siege of Lille, the passage of the Scheldt
and in the relief of Bruxelles
</li>
<li>
1709 - the siege of Tournai, the Battle of Malplaquet, and the siege of
Mons
</li>
<li>1710 - the sieges of Douai, Béthune, Saint-Venant and Aire</li>
<li>1711 - passage of the lines at Arleux and in the siege of Bouchain.</li>
<li>
1714 - ordered home from Flanders and then proceeded to Ireland where it's
establishment was reduced to peace time levels.
</li>
</ul>
<div>By the by, in 1788, it was retitled the 7th (The Princess Royal's) Dragoon Guards, then
amalgamated with the 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards, to form the 4th/7th
Dragoon Guards in 1922, and then amalgamated with the 5th Royal Inniskilling
Dragoon Guards, to form the new Royal Dragoon Guards in 1992. I think I remember reading, that they are the only one of those regiments of horse that James raised to still survive, albeit in a much amalgamated manner!</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Schomberg himself was created Knight of the Garter in 1703, and Queen Anne
appointed him Commander-in-Chief of the British forces sent to Portugal for
the War of the Spanish Succession. Once in Portugal though, he was largely
ineffective in command, and his dreadful temper attracted universal disgust:
neither Peter II, King of Portugal, nor Charles, claimant to the throne of
Spain, were prepared to accept his behaviour and he was sent home in
disgrace. Schomberg died in 1719, and as his only son had predeceased him
(though he had three daughters), all his titles also died with him..
</div><div><br /></div><div>Further references:</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
<a href="https://www.britishempire.co.uk/forces/armyunits/britishcavalry/7dg.htm">7th Dragoon Guards (britishempire.co.uk)</a>
</div>
<div><br /></div><div>Painted in that spurge of painting I did to kick off the period late 2006 - 8 horse - figures are Dixon</div><div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">As mentioned a few posts ago, I bought a ticket for all the features* in the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard a few weeks ago.. best of all it allows unlimited re-visits for a year, and all for only £44. I intend to make VERY good use of it, but for my first visit, and also for the first time ever (which is why I bought the ticket to be honest), I went to see Mary Rose..</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Just a few pictures - there's plenty on the web, but these are mine, and as is my way they are the things that caught my eye..</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">First off - the entire ship looking forward from the stern... absolutely, completely, and utterly mind blowing.. the period where they were having to continually spray her so as to stop her decomposing is now over, so the view is unobstructed. They have also displayed her side on, so it's like a cutaway diagram; you can see all the details of the decks... What you see is the whole of the starboard half of the ship, minus the castles that would have been at each end. These castles, and the port side of the ship had disappeared over the time she was resting on the bottom (430+ years)..</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjlQGMUW6VYrV_KjXvL8zrUC_M9fIrcT-iqxe5HazTum6wB-2n7BHEiulm0VOS4Ue08lq6yK4MQ6jnaZg2ods7DKLfzQtk30nT1bLI2iT_dVRHZsydfZ2vPIC26g02OSq_Cuc7A4n1hEOgBRhdNIMZ_ioGZ-_p0MiSq7kJftqYxP2ex2mtRw/s3200/20240127_130038.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2400" data-original-width="3200" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjlQGMUW6VYrV_KjXvL8zrUC_M9fIrcT-iqxe5HazTum6wB-2n7BHEiulm0VOS4Ue08lq6yK4MQ6jnaZg2ods7DKLfzQtk30nT1bLI2iT_dVRHZsydfZ2vPIC26g02OSq_Cuc7A4n1hEOgBRhdNIMZ_ioGZ-_p0MiSq7kJftqYxP2ex2mtRw/w640-h480/20240127_130038.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Everything in the museum is original to, and from the wreck site.. Mary Rose is important because she spanned that period of Naval warfare where the focus shifted from close range, grapple, and then board to the newer methods of longer range, gun and cannon offensive. Mary Rose had a major refit in 1536 to keep her current in naval attack methods - gun ports and broadsides were very new technology at the time..</div><div><br /></div><div>Talking of guns, there are a surprising number of cannon, and what interested me most was that there is very little commonality - would have been a pain in the posterior making sure the multiple types of ammunition was available.. this one (next) is one of the newer, bigger, bronze guns - a lower deck culverin..</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS5W-uvkY5_mXIc907vsxUP2JfPprDXnXXTt8z3W-khE-_iWmYUMf4xQQiElu5vo-6BnJglLf8_WwRW7utwuUhrDWUATA6xlzFRzwPIi2xHmSKBLhfyhs_5dXiwuNbCac9R3A4sn72Xb8YRdq0-h4HRNwqTbe7NOqVTmqsiQYIz05ta8o_bw/s2374/20240127_130111.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1996" data-original-width="2374" height="538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS5W-uvkY5_mXIc907vsxUP2JfPprDXnXXTt8z3W-khE-_iWmYUMf4xQQiElu5vo-6BnJglLf8_WwRW7utwuUhrDWUATA6xlzFRzwPIi2xHmSKBLhfyhs_5dXiwuNbCac9R3A4sn72Xb8YRdq0-h4HRNwqTbe7NOqVTmqsiQYIz05ta8o_bw/w640-h538/20240127_130111.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>...and this is one of the lighter, wrought iron, upper deck, pieces of ordnance.. a form of breech loader so quick to reload but not able to take as big a charge as the cast bronze guns..</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaa0SDYwDOX09aQTrOXV9JV2Nn-E-foMToRgSx35ANFDC6gQD7frJQHtYliYvhuYZnldcKMMZLtNGi4XUCUh1ho0LliHoHyE9l64q7hcwCL2bRn56kArrD3wOQVnMHxBDbQ46aMNYUKXIb4bBCFgRbMP2tmEujcYQ3KxvnU85SPyb_OGnL5g/s3200/20240127_130159.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3200" data-original-width="2400" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaa0SDYwDOX09aQTrOXV9JV2Nn-E-foMToRgSx35ANFDC6gQD7frJQHtYliYvhuYZnldcKMMZLtNGi4XUCUh1ho0LliHoHyE9l64q7hcwCL2bRn56kArrD3wOQVnMHxBDbQ46aMNYUKXIb4bBCFgRbMP2tmEujcYQ3KxvnU85SPyb_OGnL5g/w480-h640/20240127_130159.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Both types side by side.. </div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLTzCwl7WwhUyr2QIEFrD08ZsubdvpyyeKfxeH_s8xYvC2cYVjoZlfz3XtFHpolTtFdz5EH0FyP-bT00MRBDjJSR5a-bNJgzHGiR8Ek9FTxe9QLJ6b9saOah09cjExEcsbh7l339wUTqwkawPY7EabzDLVezNvsWVLluBWMVLb7v5pp8wvMw/s3200/20240127_130338.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2400" data-original-width="3200" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLTzCwl7WwhUyr2QIEFrD08ZsubdvpyyeKfxeH_s8xYvC2cYVjoZlfz3XtFHpolTtFdz5EH0FyP-bT00MRBDjJSR5a-bNJgzHGiR8Ek9FTxe9QLJ6b9saOah09cjExEcsbh7l339wUTqwkawPY7EabzDLVezNvsWVLluBWMVLb7v5pp8wvMw/w640-h480/20240127_130338.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Despite the fact that Mary Rose was increasingly being developed and refitted, and rearmed for the anti ship role, she was still also equipped for the older, more traditional, anti personnel role and what stunned me was the sheer quantity of long bows .. boxes of them were discovered on the wreck and are displayed as such..</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPYhNlOOd1nXJMWtUier-gwcosNn8dYPZxLQrmSLYRpjhv4XrINf86gqXmjn8dowrO2WB4yMmcGViXEjwXbBiuZYdL7rpUKBJJU_TjTDS1QfXX_zz88DzG1xQ3JLqGZqhlVV2zzT9NQjecQWWtOrBCgKNaZgKSC5VTkP0Uh3ZrutY28nvXSQ/s3200/20240127_142331.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2400" data-original-width="3200" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPYhNlOOd1nXJMWtUier-gwcosNn8dYPZxLQrmSLYRpjhv4XrINf86gqXmjn8dowrO2WB4yMmcGViXEjwXbBiuZYdL7rpUKBJJU_TjTDS1QfXX_zz88DzG1xQ3JLqGZqhlVV2zzT9NQjecQWWtOrBCgKNaZgKSC5VTkP0Uh3ZrutY28nvXSQ/w640-h480/20240127_142331.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>..but look at the thickness of those bows! No wonder that numbers of the skeletons recovered show the abnormalities that drawing the war bow from an early age would have caused..</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNihdqMNq69f3JzR5Kv14WzfgbH_M2gtVs8HwlkNsV_tUJFlLsCu2vcQYqqA-NYgJ-E06pzj0QLdOQk73KxQek83aiSLqHGC2f5ArwWtWtC4mG0d7z8iqH53lFrIuUVhgOkW8oV9OaVBkkFzd4HGZoFUF0wy09kwzlWsQQOBgBUH67bFUYbg/s3200/20240127_142341.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2400" data-original-width="3200" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNihdqMNq69f3JzR5Kv14WzfgbH_M2gtVs8HwlkNsV_tUJFlLsCu2vcQYqqA-NYgJ-E06pzj0QLdOQk73KxQek83aiSLqHGC2f5ArwWtWtC4mG0d7z8iqH53lFrIuUVhgOkW8oV9OaVBkkFzd4HGZoFUF0wy09kwzlWsQQOBgBUH67bFUYbg/w640-h480/20240127_142341.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>..but for me the star of the day was the ship itself.. very much recommended if you get a chance to visit.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZBqlWcyiOOCX7YhXlgpb3crWDC8er19E0525re4Gi1GYvJZJaydkjO9gXBPwV3be0akUz1sfXD5G199F9_0fMGaWsvvlcfe8QcL0zd8Zi2ixfw22uYIyqIZzKqvF7SCzV5xsG8q4HEQFyD_CE9xWJnsYx5HLOe8e2lXCcR5BY-4BqoSqXtg/s3200/20240127_142656.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2400" data-original-width="3200" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZBqlWcyiOOCX7YhXlgpb3crWDC8er19E0525re4Gi1GYvJZJaydkjO9gXBPwV3be0akUz1sfXD5G199F9_0fMGaWsvvlcfe8QcL0zd8Zi2ixfw22uYIyqIZzKqvF7SCzV5xsG8q4HEQFyD_CE9xWJnsYx5HLOe8e2lXCcR5BY-4BqoSqXtg/w640-h480/20240127_142656.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Next on the list for me is a visit to Gosport to see HMS Alliance and the Submarine Museum..</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">* Features include Mary Rose, HMS Warrior, HMS Alliance (and the submarine museum), HMS Victory, M33 (a WW1 Monitor), the Royal Navy Museum, and also The Explosion Museum of Naval Firepower...and if that's not enough it also includes the water bus to get you to the exhibits in Gosport, and a Harbour Tour boat!!</div><div>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>Laters, as the young people are want to say...</div></div>
<p></p>
</div>
Steve-the-Wargamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07077311120172727690noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33041938.post-32681713807573025452024-02-10T12:00:00.068+00:002024-02-10T12:00:00.344+00:00"Firing into the Brown" #39 - Light boxes, dioramas, girders and stuff..<div>
<p>
<span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;"><i>"So Carnehan weeds out the pick of his men, and sets the two of the
Army to show them drill and at the end of two weeks the men can
manoeuvre about as well as Volunteers. So he marches with the Chief to a
great big plain on the top of a mountain, and the Chiefs men rushes into
a village and takes it; we three Martinis
<b>firing into the brown </b>of the enemy".</i></span>
</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Kipling "The Man Who Would Be King"</i></span>
</p>
</div>
<span style="text-align: left;">Time for another update..</span>
<div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">Bit of fun.. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Whilst taking photo's of various bits and pieces for the blog recently I
have struggled a bit with lighting - I'm not a fan of the flash as it gives
a very artificial, over bright, light with significant shadows.. I
like/prefer to use a tripod and rely on the stability that gives to take
pictures without flash, but it still requires good light and in the winter,
even with artificial lighting it's a bit gloomy..
</div>
<p></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYjjmb_MRfKDHYd-5J9rV6KTu3jKNcvKfMnwezJhoGB7wTahKIsGGxhjyTgRQRXogcKffhS7ZIGe8hHC8X3QJQUK8ArDiHOws2zCf3LWkZ9TblBTMi9VC_XFsegfoylDZZJiU6-y-xjcl_rwoEhhsg40wwn6_Zbq-Dv3fl2tg-oQsEzVZCCQ/s2875/20240125_113249.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2662" data-original-width="2875" height="592" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYjjmb_MRfKDHYd-5J9rV6KTu3jKNcvKfMnwezJhoGB7wTahKIsGGxhjyTgRQRXogcKffhS7ZIGe8hHC8X3QJQUK8ArDiHOws2zCf3LWkZ9TblBTMi9VC_XFsegfoylDZZJiU6-y-xjcl_rwoEhhsg40wwn6_Zbq-Dv3fl2tg-oQsEzVZCCQ/w640-h592/20240125_113249.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<p>
Reading some of my fellow Bloggerati's musings however, and they mention the
delights of a light box.. a peruse on the monolithic online shopping
experience would indicate these are not much more than a box with either a
lot of, or a single big, bulb(s) in the top - white surrounds to reflect and
concentrate the light - so I decided to make my own...
</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicTmsR07AKxTDhdk3OTuxGisrLmdv8Ksmz58P13PLbJd3NsFAUG2ij_tm06LwptvcjhZMAZLBDmgTj8qBGAsTyx-4W581xLsNxYdoCps5ku8a3e_ddsipjzPQ-DP3Sfm5FjfN8SBdkhTzgBgB11bj2lOdXXkpqfBQCZj-5BNWJsO5d_0U5TQ/s3243/20240125_113302.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3243" data-original-width="3000" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicTmsR07AKxTDhdk3OTuxGisrLmdv8Ksmz58P13PLbJd3NsFAUG2ij_tm06LwptvcjhZMAZLBDmgTj8qBGAsTyx-4W581xLsNxYdoCps5ku8a3e_ddsipjzPQ-DP3Sfm5FjfN8SBdkhTzgBgB11bj2lOdXXkpqfBQCZj-5BNWJsO5d_0U5TQ/w592-h640/20240125_113302.jpg" width="592" /></a>
</div>
<br />This is phase one.. a simple box, taped along the edges and then lined
with white foam board - to provide the light source (phase 2) I bought two
metres of USB powered self adhesive LED ribbon coming - similar to the
following:
<div>
<br />
<p></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1-YJLqZA06O_uLoM1STw1F3ShxDkNxNDdDlmzdqCgwYBdDAsQY1RB4UokAt3EHFnI4NwxUdlK98X0IKcnY4wp16cm8VIKLXcUxppjad2w6Kp6HHlS6x822KKrDrn2HdeHA1-sQCt3eO0MRDzlDJgC3JKHAmImm_lw-UkJE9wYf_DWYcM0XA/s710/Capture.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="710" height="536" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1-YJLqZA06O_uLoM1STw1F3ShxDkNxNDdDlmzdqCgwYBdDAsQY1RB4UokAt3EHFnI4NwxUdlK98X0IKcnY4wp16cm8VIKLXcUxppjad2w6Kp6HHlS6x822KKrDrn2HdeHA1-sQCt3eO0MRDzlDJgC3JKHAmImm_lw-UkJE9wYf_DWYcM0XA/w640-h536/Capture.JPG" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>Which I then stuck to the foam board in the top of the box</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsJ40jQIPjZ1FVu_hDuS5NgjGuwAnqp2RwWrWsK_LxSj8MN8C8dM8HFEs_CxIAtjeEhXDocz4sf2hu5Uw1ddk_gAr3POy_w_wtURVPtxBbp0IXc1rbuoZjcAa0-GOvObRHUIfXNCFrwCC8_Zp7bY5KOw6UyfXoP8LT4cmHl4qI42WYmBHHcA/s2872/20240125_143934.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1782" data-original-width="2872" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsJ40jQIPjZ1FVu_hDuS5NgjGuwAnqp2RwWrWsK_LxSj8MN8C8dM8HFEs_CxIAtjeEhXDocz4sf2hu5Uw1ddk_gAr3POy_w_wtURVPtxBbp0IXc1rbuoZjcAa0-GOvObRHUIfXNCFrwCC8_Zp7bY5KOw6UyfXoP8LT4cmHl4qI42WYmBHHcA/w640-h398/20240125_143934.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
With space for USB cable to exit ..
<div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqEknaXJaTlbobG6keywl8ziSEx_ULy5SHuEVkTCXGIfzEZEP6XbMZXbevlY8DGtOucdD6BWZe_yymEE8j-Z7Rj8U-Pf-3I36FO1zKi1NeljY_qhR0bli2JxuMJ2_WrS44vEbLfWMhiccFtyi3y8QKE444NFs_lQ5-DQ_q8rgh_jq4k6FN2w/s2285/20240125_143944.jpg"><img border="0" data-original-height="2285" data-original-width="2250" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqEknaXJaTlbobG6keywl8ziSEx_ULy5SHuEVkTCXGIfzEZEP6XbMZXbevlY8DGtOucdD6BWZe_yymEE8j-Z7Rj8U-Pf-3I36FO1zKi1NeljY_qhR0bli2JxuMJ2_WrS44vEbLfWMhiccFtyi3y8QKE444NFs_lQ5-DQ_q8rgh_jq4k6FN2w/w630-h640/20240125_143944.jpg" width="630" /></a>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
...and here it is all lit up..
</div>
<div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQUyCdITRko6bo7TT7MCrBhQtV0frDQIevV0sgPLI7t7ZCxprqjJx6HrEEfTwFtS8b7xp6gjqcDywimIaRMW1oegfTcUUrrTjdyT4O3B5z4L_5C52P4GidFrTpvvZGRZFZWWARF3rJ6lvJmV7F5Qpagu_vYHedzbXJ76W2PzW3vkleEK2HSQ/s2021/20240125_143957.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1679" data-original-width="2021" height="532" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQUyCdITRko6bo7TT7MCrBhQtV0frDQIevV0sgPLI7t7ZCxprqjJx6HrEEfTwFtS8b7xp6gjqcDywimIaRMW1oegfTcUUrrTjdyT4O3B5z4L_5C52P4GidFrTpvvZGRZFZWWARF3rJ6lvJmV7F5Qpagu_vYHedzbXJ76W2PzW3vkleEK2HSQ/w640-h532/20240125_143957.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<p>
Be interesting to see if this works - if it doesn't the LED ribbon will
be used elsewhere - probably on the boat! 😁
</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
</p>
<p>
Recently invested in an all features/exhibits ticket for the
Portsmouth Historic Dockyard - basically you buy the full ticket and it
then gives you unlimited access and visits for 12 months. Only £44 which
I consider to be astonishing value when you consider what it gives you
access to for an entire year.. I shall be making good use of it!
</p>
<p>
First visit was the weekend just gone where for the first time ever,
despite living in the city almost my entire life, I mainly (and
finally!) went to see Mary Rose (HMS Driftwood as she's kindly known in
some RN circles 😁), but having explored her*, I wandered through the
separate Royal Navy Museum and happened to spot this - which is just
glorious....
</p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-KCKFAJNciNwx6rXd2e-Xz2u5dWMJ8I9Sztbek7Gh4yeojgS8xcjPd0no9Q_Qzkj7hdKUVmNu41ouzQrxuxCr4Q4-f8tu6RFmybSSnn84f6CgR6o4dsz26ILmbfLMFH-QWrGbu-FFy9kUTG2W7FwXUAb4ZmXLAJKeeHcKhmn5uU2TOwNg5g/s4000/20240127_150630.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-KCKFAJNciNwx6rXd2e-Xz2u5dWMJ8I9Sztbek7Gh4yeojgS8xcjPd0no9Q_Qzkj7hdKUVmNu41ouzQrxuxCr4Q4-f8tu6RFmybSSnn84f6CgR6o4dsz26ILmbfLMFH-QWrGbu-FFy9kUTG2W7FwXUAb4ZmXLAJKeeHcKhmn5uU2TOwNg5g/w640-h480/20240127_150630.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #800180;">Fictional boat attack on a Mediterranean fishing village c.
1810</span>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />40 or 54mm scale I think, but modelling at its very finest...
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
* standby for some pictures taken on the day - it was an awesome
exhibition/display..<br />
<p></p>
<div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The girder bridge is complete..
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Grey epoxy primer (won't do that again 😏) with a wash of inks - used
the old Citadel Armour Wash, and then a diluted down Rowney black
draughtsman's ink.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGMUVtlJOEmtWkDm2mmSA4zzzQuNSJMJ3K8S8XIWVTxthdnFzAdlABeYLEOUlzH_-5AhBhfSabzL3UGrM0lfLSDx4W0PUB313Is_cq1kFh9fZO-VgrzLPKQDbKd4m-VwGQb4ZQrJe_Je87AVH3OPUY8dZXNgw5N944gOhM55tDy6cMvDUDAg/s1784/P1020183.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1030" data-original-width="1784" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGMUVtlJOEmtWkDm2mmSA4zzzQuNSJMJ3K8S8XIWVTxthdnFzAdlABeYLEOUlzH_-5AhBhfSabzL3UGrM0lfLSDx4W0PUB313Is_cq1kFh9fZO-VgrzLPKQDbKd4m-VwGQb4ZQrJe_Je87AVH3OPUY8dZXNgw5N944gOhM55tDy6cMvDUDAg/w640-h370/P1020183.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
Had to go back and give a fair chunk of it a coat of Vallejo Grey Black as
the primer was not taking the ink washes well.. </div>
<div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitUiC_loZemt44VUFAZV4nQNDYtKBq9_CbMg45nvkO2yYc73qIK0UxgPhUlmKabBUpqXHz6QTKNz0m25r4GvVrAPFHzlHaDs0Hu8gfuaGpD3r5NdV-BDH2lHEXi71Sj4Idlyi0qjrJL4oHZHLa4nkLkw3bfi0YiT1Ql33tfUNFboVPI87aAw/s2448/P1020184.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="911" data-original-width="2448" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitUiC_loZemt44VUFAZV4nQNDYtKBq9_CbMg45nvkO2yYc73qIK0UxgPhUlmKabBUpqXHz6QTKNz0m25r4GvVrAPFHzlHaDs0Hu8gfuaGpD3r5NdV-BDH2lHEXi71Sj4Idlyi0qjrJL4oHZHLa4nkLkw3bfi0YiT1Ql33tfUNFboVPI87aAw/w640-h238/P1020184.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</div>
</div> <br /> .. a coat of Vallejo Smoke for the plank surface..</div><div><br />
<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_iWr2ChNtLCaKfjnA3HaihqH90vDr3uZxhCiIAVI9Y_XbchEvO4714RCiio7Y5icmgO_yu_XF4Yo64r3Qa3VFzivqMbs78HB4PNJkkIdDH-ALFi7jTOQMNhiTTJ2le8ICSmbhyR_R0D20qdMwhonPmdZT7vN3YUHO2FhRzgEPTOxitsESSA/s2035/P1020185.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1582" data-original-width="2035" height="498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_iWr2ChNtLCaKfjnA3HaihqH90vDr3uZxhCiIAVI9Y_XbchEvO4714RCiio7Y5icmgO_yu_XF4Yo64r3Qa3VFzivqMbs78HB4PNJkkIdDH-ALFi7jTOQMNhiTTJ2le8ICSmbhyR_R0D20qdMwhonPmdZT7vN3YUHO2FhRzgEPTOxitsESSA/w640-h498/P1020185.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Then finally some Rowney Deller "Red Earth" ink for the rust 'splots' - which I
am most liking..
</div>
<div><br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgidB6SUfHEc_415CjpOz6w7fDCpuIKGyJf4GQvVMqDY62oDI8xWnuL6I-bvRj7eglHIxjKzKolU3djFrAc0FLqvMiEEcYvJIg0mNAYNQ6IVTysCT619_9MGfOPG9iVQzbinsGD8doxKKeYonsLx1qxFmT_3lj0erEfNxLhVnM6O9e1n7pJ9w/s2216/P1020186.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1732" data-original-width="2216" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgidB6SUfHEc_415CjpOz6w7fDCpuIKGyJf4GQvVMqDY62oDI8xWnuL6I-bvRj7eglHIxjKzKolU3djFrAc0FLqvMiEEcYvJIg0mNAYNQ6IVTysCT619_9MGfOPG9iVQzbinsGD8doxKKeYonsLx1qxFmT_3lj0erEfNxLhVnM6O9e1n7pJ9w/w640-h500/P1020186.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">Coat of PVA and either flock or sharp sand for the surface of the ramps, and the bases of the bridge..</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The models are 12mm/N gauge Minifigs for scale - happy with that...</div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div>
<p>Laters, as the young people are want to say...</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Steve-the-Wargamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07077311120172727690noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33041938.post-82742737229220832032024-02-03T12:00:00.002+00:002024-02-12T07:27:52.999+00:00Danish Lifeguards - The King's Lifeguard of Foot<p></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilvDJadtU8nmk6Ypf-SDRHBQsubglJRwzrncLmx9cnYMadUqrkSpf9E50ct8L50FEorPF2YM0m07Nn6ONCm5bahf_gulwbCBKw3zZDc4j3nNkNAm-pxkWRX5CY5uS5I7m2Ujv5g4USaChNJ9BsStn3tuGeTlwT0jhUKfyzxPu4Kim8IfYLMQ/s1008/UniformDanishGuardsWSS-DM012024.png" style="clear: left; display: block; float: left; padding: 1em 10px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1008" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilvDJadtU8nmk6Ypf-SDRHBQsubglJRwzrncLmx9cnYMadUqrkSpf9E50ct8L50FEorPF2YM0m07Nn6ONCm5bahf_gulwbCBKw3zZDc4j3nNkNAm-pxkWRX5CY5uS5I7m2Ujv5g4USaChNJ9BsStn3tuGeTlwT0jhUKfyzxPu4Kim8IfYLMQ/w190-h320/UniformDanishGuardsWSS-DM012024.png" width="190" /></a>
</div>
In a break from our normal weekly compendium, I can confirm he's only gone and
painted some little metal men!
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">
Inspired and given a mental boot in the posterior by this awesome post on
<a href="https://nba-sywtemplates.blogspot.com/2024/01/flags-of-denmark-in-war-of-spanish.html" rel="nofollow" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">David's Not by Appointment blog [clicky]</a>
I raided the stash, and came up with 24 little metal men in basically the same
pose. They were on painting sticks and undercoated almost within a few
hours of the post, so I was clearly keen! 😀
</p>
<p></p>
During the War of the Spanish Succession, Danish troops were hired out in large
numbers to Austria and the Maritime Powers (1702-1709 and 1701-1714
respectively). In total, almost 20,000 men was rented out. The Danes had a
fairly large standing army, in order to counteract the military strength of
their close neighbour, Sweden, and as idle hands cost money, hiring them out
bought much needed funds, ensured the soldiers were paid, but also kept them
trained and battle hardened.
<div><br /></div>
<div>
The Royal Life Guards (Den Kongelige Livgarde til Fods to give them their full
title) was (and still is*) an infantry regiment of the Danish Army at the time of
the War of the Spanish Succession, and one of those regiments made available to
the Maritime powers. </div><div><br /></div><div>The regiment was founded in 1658 by King Frederik III,
and comprised a single Battalion - two further battalions were raised in 1867
and 1923.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
*These days they fulfil a ceremonial function, but they are also mechanised in
the event they are required on the modern battlefield..<br />
<p></p>
<p></p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU8QGmfCWnbnEPjPNzGLPxNPP8fyjpK5t-DlF8GhjV4Ov2_mbflYpKMBLmtTkctem9LgGhePV-k68TnycgtINGYGUAlKnoRlywyBdv5Ilr04vGjMzx-ebkLXsAVWmGamwTz7R126LznUgU72VBgexX3z2kY4_yhFq3SfE25P2ueNp25k5q6g/s2962/20240121_152810.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1769" data-original-width="2962" height="382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU8QGmfCWnbnEPjPNzGLPxNPP8fyjpK5t-DlF8GhjV4Ov2_mbflYpKMBLmtTkctem9LgGhePV-k68TnycgtINGYGUAlKnoRlywyBdv5Ilr04vGjMzx-ebkLXsAVWmGamwTz7R126LznUgU72VBgexX3z2kY4_yhFq3SfE25P2ueNp25k5q6g/w640-h382/20240121_152810.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;">Completed, varnished, waiting basing..</span>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>
The regiment served at all four main battles of the period
(Blenheim/Ramillies/Malplaquet and Oudenarde), but as our main interest is
Blenheim, here there they served on the right (under Eugene), in Bielke's
Brigade (comprising Danish and Austrian regiments).
</p>
<p>
The Bielke in question was Brigadier General
<a href="https://www.geni.com/people/Christopher-Bielke/6000000012112470117" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Christopher Bielke [clicky]</a>, eldest son of the splendidly titled
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrik_Bielke" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Reich's Admiral Henrik Bielke</a>. Christopher died on the battlefield at Blenheim.
</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHxxZUI9-YoerpJevCbHM8_wXeX6KWZvEelBjBPMjJDNWVQRtSCr-5m_j1_KoO-Kr8JgBI_6CFaho7-cr2gCWo6b6wpEDZ66iKg6BKMx4j4HWotuHHh21jexyI8e1v84PKzf7Fl9ggDc-N64wimc8ioCPb70cLLStLVsLMPfLF4amjBGeoOQ/s3592/Dsc01233.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1952" data-original-width="3592" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHxxZUI9-YoerpJevCbHM8_wXeX6KWZvEelBjBPMjJDNWVQRtSCr-5m_j1_KoO-Kr8JgBI_6CFaho7-cr2gCWo6b6wpEDZ66iKg6BKMx4j4HWotuHHh21jexyI8e1v84PKzf7Fl9ggDc-N64wimc8ioCPb70cLLStLVsLMPfLF4amjBGeoOQ/w640-h348/Dsc01233.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<p>The other regiments (and numbers of men) in the brigade were </p>
<p></p>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
1st Battalion, Regiment of Foot Prince George (one battalion, 824 men)
- (Colonel) Christian Jørgen von Urne
</li>
<li>
2nd Battalion, Regiment of Foot Prince George (one battalion, 704 men) -
(Lieutenant General) Hertug Carl Rudolf af Würtemberg
</li>
<li>
2nd Battalion, Regiment of Foot Prince Carl (one battalion, 627 men)
- (Lieutenant General) Jobst von Scholten
</li>
<li>
Regiment Dansk Den Kongelige Livgarde til fods (one battalion, 740 men) -
this regiment - (Colonel) Jacques du val de la Pottrie
</li>
</ul>
<p></p>
<div>
Jacques du Val de la Pottrie is an interesting character as well (I've yet
to find one who wasn't to be fair!), he was a Huguenot nobleman originally
from Alençon in France, who entered Danish service after the repeal of the
Edict of Nantes in 1683 (Louis must have singlehandedly provided the
Maritime powers with some of their finest soldiers and officers as a result
of that single stroke of the pen!).
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPll9p9B1dtv8HY0OI9EGeM_TnezRfjjlXQJyNZn2RNnfqY4GrNlzyV9vMHg-Xvrul8hoBRu_wCeVozvx1Z2JtfHvlGNa3y1WA5YNylE45RZvCzSrAzH2I9CvmQlmDhsjF9JK4phLByRu9WybTxxSRC535g40-ulvVN0LSga58JLNfhLzlzQ/s3672/Dsc01235.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2754" data-original-width="3672" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPll9p9B1dtv8HY0OI9EGeM_TnezRfjjlXQJyNZn2RNnfqY4GrNlzyV9vMHg-Xvrul8hoBRu_wCeVozvx1Z2JtfHvlGNa3y1WA5YNylE45RZvCzSrAzH2I9CvmQlmDhsjF9JK4phLByRu9WybTxxSRC535g40-ulvVN0LSga58JLNfhLzlzQ/w640-h480/Dsc01235.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
He also died at Blenheim (and tragically, his brother was to later die at
Malplaquet)
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
....and this was what prompted me to wield the paint brushes - what a
lovely, lovely, regimental standard.. 😊
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioer90qW7WUlNvAUn_dLN_aUhyphenhyphenUXXyLukZMlCyilaAeBIMiq5q6VP5Vz09f0q_V6OURJUFCZ8H_pY6_5ALaGFdfe2xVgvksxmNA2rNvBuW5qGn4kM4mGsbiyrkpLg6SSAEe7x_FCQMBI6hsPzEuFSOOxJH9zsWpbtfhsADpP-Zxw1rN4EGdg/s1748/FlagDanishFootGuards1706-DM012024.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1422" data-original-width="1748" height="521" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioer90qW7WUlNvAUn_dLN_aUhyphenhyphenUXXyLukZMlCyilaAeBIMiq5q6VP5Vz09f0q_V6OURJUFCZ8H_pY6_5ALaGFdfe2xVgvksxmNA2rNvBuW5qGn4kM4mGsbiyrkpLg6SSAEe7x_FCQMBI6hsPzEuFSOOxJH9zsWpbtfhsADpP-Zxw1rN4EGdg/w640-h521/FlagDanishFootGuards1706-DM012024.png" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<div>
David advises he will be releasing other flags for the Danish Regiments over
time, so I look forward to adding some of the other elements of Bielke's
Brigade in due time..
</div><div><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiczwRaChi5X5_IVMROnF7ObI0Wr_ZlEAlDtdi3igaR9ZN8TtFl958N0eUX5LJc5CebSbHcd4mjy6TCI4WB_72L99b38De6pQy_lUIGmK2HohMPeU4k0BjCq2yN7e4-GXT3yy9hoNArwkvppM9jZ1SCWhQ599HauY_fi4jk6EVdqCPgoXyu_w/s3672/Dsc01234.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2754" data-original-width="3672" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiczwRaChi5X5_IVMROnF7ObI0Wr_ZlEAlDtdi3igaR9ZN8TtFl958N0eUX5LJc5CebSbHcd4mjy6TCI4WB_72L99b38De6pQy_lUIGmK2HohMPeU4k0BjCq2yN7e4-GXT3yy9hoNArwkvppM9jZ1SCWhQ599HauY_fi4jk6EVdqCPgoXyu_w/w640-h480/Dsc01234.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>
<div>
So... 24 figures in all, but the unit comprises a bit of a mongrel selection of troop
makes; mostly they are from the CP Models Marlburian range (now
defunct?), with a leavening of Minifigs (drummer for certain) and a Black
Hat/Gladiator officer (holding his hat) - painted/based January 2024
</div>
<div style="text-decoration-line: underline;">
<u><br /></u>
</div>
<u>Further references:</u><br />
<p></p>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
<a href="https://www.tacitus.nu/karoliner/armeer/danmark/infanteri.htm#Livgardet">Danish infantry uniforms 1700-1730 (tacitus.nu)</a>
</li>
</ul>
<p></p>
</div>
Steve-the-Wargamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07077311120172727690noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33041938.post-81141505691466179002024-01-27T12:00:00.146+00:002024-01-28T08:22:36.147+00:00"Firing into the Brown" #38 - Gunboats, drubbings, girders and stuff..<div>
<p>
<span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;"><i>"So Carnehan weeds out the pick of his men, and sets the two of the
Army to show them drill and at the end of two weeks the men can
manoeuvre about as well as Volunteers. So he marches with the Chief to a
great big plain on the top of a mountain, and the Chiefs men rushes into
a village and takes it; we three Martinis
<b>firing into the brown </b>of the enemy".</i></span>
</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Kipling "The Man Who Would Be King"</i></span>
</p>
</div>
<span style="text-align: left;">Time for another update..</span>
<div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj74JqR7vClYB7VQAwh07CxqA6dMkBe-HQbNb7OO3zbtTwc2PIwNd43ndTSAaMfAQdCAwOu-pYYxOlOnwOLhdQmwpj3UQeBzqgAQ_rk-EBb2zIO7VjrTFBzJwbED78Loc8i1Uete3-V6t86dTXPmEPLV9rbakgCtI6bRcBwOEXokBMtTCoX1Q/s3864/20240125_113409.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1676" data-original-width="3864" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj74JqR7vClYB7VQAwh07CxqA6dMkBe-HQbNb7OO3zbtTwc2PIwNd43ndTSAaMfAQdCAwOu-pYYxOlOnwOLhdQmwpj3UQeBzqgAQ_rk-EBb2zIO7VjrTFBzJwbED78Loc8i1Uete3-V6t86dTXPmEPLV9rbakgCtI6bRcBwOEXokBMtTCoX1Q/w640-h278/20240125_113409.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The girder railway bridge construction has been completed. Just the one span as <a href="https://steve-the-wargamer.blogspot.com/2024/01/firing-into-brown-35-tangmere-girders.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">previously mentioned [clicky]</a> and I also cut down the brick bridge supports significantly as this will be wargame terrain rather than model railway terrain between two fixed, raised, surfaces. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">To help with this usage I also built two ramps, one for each end of the bridge, these were made with foam board, covered with filler, and then with some embossed plastic sheet cut to size for the 'road' surface.. the plastic came from the same stash as the bridge and is printed with a planking type effect. I also used the same to surface the bridge..</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">As per the pictures they've had a spray coat of an epoxy grey primer, the next step is some paint, but that should be fairly quick and easy as I envision most of it being inks and washes.. bear with..</div><br style="text-align: left;" /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA8_Q4iB6_icMoFbQZrCrIjrd65PGh23TBOgJD2YTkcKHaSCO4ZOYSIRu6BqOD62FfMRK9GPFcPytYRtptxQ7ukNIO5h2cvVO_ubcAUI-GU2Uy2dPnOaR8w40OemGbzOLrAm6QzbnmxYWFif6rmxhEa0qSVjXHu3i-Y3xuRaOM7F7rAgHSDw/s3673/20240125_113422.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1996" data-original-width="3673" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA8_Q4iB6_icMoFbQZrCrIjrd65PGh23TBOgJD2YTkcKHaSCO4ZOYSIRu6BqOD62FfMRK9GPFcPytYRtptxQ7ukNIO5h2cvVO_ubcAUI-GU2Uy2dPnOaR8w40OemGbzOLrAm6QzbnmxYWFif6rmxhEa0qSVjXHu3i-Y3xuRaOM7F7rAgHSDw/w640-h348/20240125_113422.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ </p></div>
<p>The <a href="https://steve-the-wargamer.blogspot.com/2024/01/firing-into-brown-37-dams-solitaire-and.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">dams (last post)</a> may have just been a brief rabbit hole, but it did lead to another... got to love local history.. well at least the local history round where I live, which, as a military history fan and wargamer is chock full of places to look at.. 😁</p><p>Anyway.. this rabbit hole is to do with gunboats!</p><p>I wanted to find out a little more about what types of gunboats the Navy would have envisioned using in the Creek as part of the defence of the Hilsea Lines.. with the best will in the world, the Creek is not wide so any ship used would necessarily be small. Try as I might I haven't been able to find any specific references to which ships would have been used, but based on the location, the depth of water, the lack of space to manoeuvre, and more specifically the period of time the Lines were active, I am drawn to the conclusion that the boats used would have almost certainly been of the classic <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat-iron_gunboat" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">"flat iron" type [clicky]</a> designed by Rendell (of Sir W G Armstrong & Company) and of which the Royal Navy "Ant class" and "Staunch class" are probably the perfect examples..</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggp8tLEGlme6Ht3audI-JVW639FYZYBt70Fuc6V4gnX2QGE70FKagnNJ629nHP7iKMM1Oo6EeISgZ70AxXo38bELaQ3gEL8W9t7BeutcwHDg2FERC0GQNWaoFh9pBKzmyQTRjDAuZn8fMvYPU2a1TyXAth5IgpbHGRJljYu5FZlyz_UrvGyg/s600/ant-class-rendel-gunboat.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="570" data-original-width="600" height="608" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggp8tLEGlme6Ht3audI-JVW639FYZYBt70Fuc6V4gnX2QGE70FKagnNJ629nHP7iKMM1Oo6EeISgZ70AxXo38bELaQ3gEL8W9t7BeutcwHDg2FERC0GQNWaoFh9pBKzmyQTRjDAuZn8fMvYPU2a1TyXAth5IgpbHGRJljYu5FZlyz_UrvGyg/w640-h608/ant-class-rendel-gunboat.webp" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;">'Ant class' plans showing the RML 10-inch 18-ton gun in the bow behind armour plates that could be dropped when firing</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyl5K-wS44nVKnRSZnFqeMepaR5mt6FVhGn08kRKoBEIGT7bAXT0yVXejlwP3DljCVOCbJCDZrUKsOFJ2GtkFXFG3DQ8btAdXkS1SwEQfVBBUkd3yrfBjpGZMPiD5kT3tiytRVleU3XBPflSA4ZBSeIXlFoX40JcuBTaU9h4S_nGkoqBSEiw/s900/Staunch-1868.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="900" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyl5K-wS44nVKnRSZnFqeMepaR5mt6FVhGn08kRKoBEIGT7bAXT0yVXejlwP3DljCVOCbJCDZrUKsOFJ2GtkFXFG3DQ8btAdXkS1SwEQfVBBUkd3yrfBjpGZMPiD5kT3tiytRVleU3XBPflSA4ZBSeIXlFoX40JcuBTaU9h4S_nGkoqBSEiw/w640-h426/Staunch-1868.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;">HMS Staunch pictured in 1868 - good view of those hinged armour plated 'shields' that provided protection to the gun crew - better still the two crew give you an idea how small these beasts were.. </span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>All these Royal Navy "flat irons" would have been armed with rifled muzzle loaders, the Ant class boats had <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RML_10-inch_18-ton_gun" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">10" [clicky]</a>, the Staunch class had <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RML_9-inch_12-ton_gun" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">9" [clicky]</a> - the following are (very good!) models but gives an idea of the relative sizes.. the one in the foreground is an Ant Class, with Staunch Class behind</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibY8EJjNUuVZSDy8haaYfKkcifSWcFG43LTkqASO8whLy5RY4CaJgwSZrHKzNdLSdM3DkdvfRZS4DRJmsapV7R2rcVHZKYgEhHtWuYWNE0b1HtTF-4C_dWEpbDVibrrz-cD2vCxABL382svubedEZIK7TChLNAWf8MZNxF0LFaawlI1VxC4Q/s1600/ps12-rendel-gunboats-pic4.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibY8EJjNUuVZSDy8haaYfKkcifSWcFG43LTkqASO8whLy5RY4CaJgwSZrHKzNdLSdM3DkdvfRZS4DRJmsapV7R2rcVHZKYgEhHtWuYWNE0b1HtTF-4C_dWEpbDVibrrz-cD2vCxABL382svubedEZIK7TChLNAWf8MZNxF0LFaawlI1VxC4Q/w640-h480/ps12-rendel-gunboats-pic4.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;">Pictures and models courtesy of this amazing website - those are paper models!! <a href="https://www.papershipwright.co.uk/product/rendel-gunboats/">Rendel Gunboats – Paper Shipwright</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Bottom line - cheap as chips and nothing more than a floating gun platform, they were designed to float in a puddle so they can get close in shore, and were steam powered - in the case of these two classes they each had two 2-cylinder horizontal single-expansion steam engines powering twin screws, giving 7.5 to 8.5 kn. No masts or rigging meant the crews could be smaller - Ant Class had a complement of 30. In the second half of the 19th Century, the Royal Navy would have had over a 100 gunboats*, but they seem to have been a fairly short technological innovation as there were undoubtedly also downsides (could only work well inshore in sheltered water, they were slow, they made good targets, and had a relative lack of manoeuvrability). Their golden age would have been the 30 or 40 years from 1850 onwards, but they continued to be used in other functions once their primary purpose was no longer required..</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmmizL8xI9jdyNx11Yeka4sjq7PppqkPUHnPkUglTvbIAue__CWA9Q8YvqjkJtzvemjsUe-G7yJDS4-5fQFJc-yauIwZDgBu63urPV97hDkEvxKEw1L_3BoENS4xbiPChOMjQ53tr9QPc22DyOPVSgxePg8vERJGCaV7rRiNbw1s2Qkm1SOw/s757/ant-class-gunboat-hms-kite.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="757" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmmizL8xI9jdyNx11Yeka4sjq7PppqkPUHnPkUglTvbIAue__CWA9Q8YvqjkJtzvemjsUe-G7yJDS4-5fQFJc-yauIwZDgBu63urPV97hDkEvxKEw1L_3BoENS4xbiPChOMjQ53tr9QPc22DyOPVSgxePg8vERJGCaV7rRiNbw1s2Qkm1SOw/w640-h402/ant-class-gunboat-hms-kite.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;">The 250-ton/85-foot flat-iron 'Ant-class' gunboat, HMS Kite. Commissioned in 1871 and eventually sold out of the Navy in 1920, but pictured here serving just off the Belgian Coast <span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;">in 1914 after she had been rearmed with 6 inch and 4.7 inch guns </span> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Fantastic rabbit hole to dive down - a very evocative design, and class, of ship...</p><p>* ...and thereby hangs another rabbit hole - before reading up on "flat irons", I had no idea of the (actual) existence of the 'Haslar Gunboat Yard' in Gosport! This comprised gunboat sheds and maintenance workshops, and was designed in 1856 by William Scamp of the Admiralty Works Department for the housing and repair of British gunboats, and with a design capacity to hold approx. 50 of these boats at a time! </p><p>But thereby hangs another tale, and another rabbit hole, for another day.. and that's more than enough "anothers"</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg69hrJ3CUlm77tWaBfrby6keQoz89cfcLOD1sQil2VtojkpFON7DQtkQ76wrObXcKDnwKvkP1MkQL4Yhgy84Wv3IZhQYO86dqnYgdgmPqFTcK7KgWVRXjeSla4m3qI-cn3nE4LgRu90DP-ASD4iDpNjXMZqvXKuXufW65fYKkNk3l2cMziJA/s852/Capture.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="527" data-original-width="852" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg69hrJ3CUlm77tWaBfrby6keQoz89cfcLOD1sQil2VtojkpFON7DQtkQ76wrObXcKDnwKvkP1MkQL4Yhgy84Wv3IZhQYO86dqnYgdgmPqFTcK7KgWVRXjeSla4m3qI-cn3nE4LgRu90DP-ASD4iDpNjXMZqvXKuXufW65fYKkNk3l2cMziJA/w640-h396/Capture.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;">Patent Heaving-Up Slips' at Haslar Gunboat Yard (from Mechanics' Magazine, 3 January, 1857)</span></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ </p>
<p> Safe to say I was soundly, and comprehensively, drubbed... 😂 AI is now 5 to 3 up...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0SLSh7HPV658EzqOGhrzMUBcFMbqQLoszMPbQLZqaHQJBvTC926Qst2-K8B2lJmvz2h-3l6cjXvrNrGNefmMY-XnhmQNd3CKgciR5hfyT10l73MGUEWFB3u3QKuu9x8KxfDHoE0yXvZ0Fs3G2ydipW2Z_fKTXtWJcn2C9iMiIsR6BO-u5wg/s948/Capture.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="923" data-original-width="948" height="624" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0SLSh7HPV658EzqOGhrzMUBcFMbqQLoszMPbQLZqaHQJBvTC926Qst2-K8B2lJmvz2h-3l6cjXvrNrGNefmMY-XnhmQNd3CKgciR5hfyT10l73MGUEWFB3u3QKuu9x8KxfDHoE0yXvZ0Fs3G2ydipW2Z_fKTXtWJcn2C9iMiIsR6BO-u5wg/w640-h624/Capture.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ </p><p> Laters, as the young people are want to say...</p>
Steve-the-Wargamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07077311120172727690noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33041938.post-22059788503570925962024-01-20T12:00:00.209+00:002024-01-20T12:00:00.335+00:00"Firing into the Brown" #37 - Dams, Solitaire and stuff..<div>
<p>
<span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;"><i>"So Carnehan weeds out the pick of his men, and sets the two of the
Army to show them drill and at the end of two weeks the men can
manoeuvre about as well as Volunteers. So he marches with the Chief to a
great big plain on the top of a mountain, and the Chiefs men rushes into
a village and takes it; we three Martinis
<b>firing into the brown </b>of the enemy".</i></span>
</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Kipling "The Man Who Would Be King"</i></span>
</p>
</div>
<span style="text-align: left;">Time for another update..</span>
<div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div>
<p style="text-align: left;">Bit of a (delightful) rabbit hole this one.. while doing the research on the arches in the last post, I heard mention of the fact that the creek had dams at each end.. I had no idea, but when you think about it it makes sense if you want to use gunboats as an additional line of defence in what is a tidal creek..</p><p style="text-align: left;">Bit of orientation, following.. top of the page is North, the remains of the (only) dam left is ringed in red, the Lines are outlined yellow, with the separate moat in front, I've ringed the remains of the old road bridge (from the last post) in blue. My guess is that the western dam disappeared as part of the land reclamation for the Hilsea 'wall of death' (that big roundabout on the left).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1OVfrzpebrRtb6Y3TuEPEKk7NghL3O-8LUDRvwZ2Q_v6t401XpCDZ8jwhD757HVuqx24R6vVhwXX3FiPsqJyrQBoV24mo2dMrEfxCp1AzxnoE3jcccAuOJwVlxYXgCBDtKsmDOmeRI89syqrVS45LvdCGUG_Jw5Dky-DXhDpyr2LHZ7SSJA/s1802/Capture.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="797" data-original-width="1802" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1OVfrzpebrRtb6Y3TuEPEKk7NghL3O-8LUDRvwZ2Q_v6t401XpCDZ8jwhD757HVuqx24R6vVhwXX3FiPsqJyrQBoV24mo2dMrEfxCp1AzxnoE3jcccAuOJwVlxYXgCBDtKsmDOmeRI89syqrVS45LvdCGUG_Jw5Dky-DXhDpyr2LHZ7SSJA/w640-h284/Capture.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><p style="text-align: left;">This used to be one of my regular cycle routes to work, so I've looked at this feature for years, never knowing it was the remains of a dam.. this - following - is the one ringed red in the map..</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhukepbbt5m_YWCUgUiL1_lE-nKWfJ1XxBxKBIK0qWCIeehaU9y0Y_p2W-52mFXX9l5-m-MdS_X-wd9v3Pfqxi_RcMeWQVbXyC6nr1ypDXW-wic1RnXicP8j_ji6VlPSiOPVC78WfiTUchD3RoVflM41ZyGnUW4-V8kDldJOZUlciRmF4lv3Q/s2762/20240106_130949.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1852" data-original-width="2762" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhukepbbt5m_YWCUgUiL1_lE-nKWfJ1XxBxKBIK0qWCIeehaU9y0Y_p2W-52mFXX9l5-m-MdS_X-wd9v3Pfqxi_RcMeWQVbXyC6nr1ypDXW-wic1RnXicP8j_ji6VlPSiOPVC78WfiTUchD3RoVflM41ZyGnUW4-V8kDldJOZUlciRmF4lv3Q/w640-h430/20240106_130949.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>An army report on the status of the Hilsea Lines made in 1853 mentioned that the creek was filled with weeds to the point where for 3 to 4 hours every day it could be walked across (!) so later in the decade, as part of upgrade works on the Hilsea Lines, the creek was widened and deepened to allow it to be used by gunboats.</div><div><br /></div><div>Dams and flood gates were constructed at the ends of the creek to allow it to be kept it in water at all stages of the tide.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVAzH_mBt0jqOucbTZfPdqoptH-k7eUQHVzYgUxZs9oULFxgLuar6lYJa8VXrRn-atI3A1TVrW-KJyAdw8aZAx5SmNx8sMP2K96T7m_Spl6kO7hi6h4Fp7euok1IQsYKU3R3uXqQuJk-XnCaNm2BeHC1DwQ2JH4TxIOezipBXkoUup6jEBaw/s3000/20240106_130953.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2250" data-original-width="3000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVAzH_mBt0jqOucbTZfPdqoptH-k7eUQHVzYgUxZs9oULFxgLuar6lYJa8VXrRn-atI3A1TVrW-KJyAdw8aZAx5SmNx8sMP2K96T7m_Spl6kO7hi6h4Fp7euok1IQsYKU3R3uXqQuJk-XnCaNm2BeHC1DwQ2JH4TxIOezipBXkoUup6jEBaw/w640-h480/20240106_130953.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>..the Lines are behind that line of tree's in the distance (following)..<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKXe28Nq4dojg-VWPHiA8cx-NQ5wqKuQXdx8_QXfTwA6ZDAX3qr-jrOOlaRlfyhFZdORlq-hzyBvMOQHry_Ra8GTui7wyj7O98iWrDZy77_yXG5igogdjfUX5LyKqQ3qfbLD4dhCYAEeagelzliYbJ-ljOKfVIr28HdTEEU-C-p3TjyoK4oA/s2560/20240106_131223.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1540" data-original-width="2560" height="386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKXe28Nq4dojg-VWPHiA8cx-NQ5wqKuQXdx8_QXfTwA6ZDAX3qr-jrOOlaRlfyhFZdORlq-hzyBvMOQHry_Ra8GTui7wyj7O98iWrDZy77_yXG5igogdjfUX5LyKqQ3qfbLD4dhCYAEeagelzliYbJ-ljOKfVIr28HdTEEU-C-p3TjyoK4oA/w640-h386/20240106_131223.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="text-align: left;">Which opens me up to another delightful rabbit hole kicked off by this little ramble - what kind of gunboats were they?! 😏</p><p style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2tDvlDMFmQRegu5tVe0ot1tC5ElsPqWZsSFhVW63wSUb8yhqrq2uCCAqnTPxUkjo9uXsQEauo5g_PgncIfTQtLkaAzuP710Y_l9Wj9kcknWbwacvauZApL96Qn53wXxIW-JbGsCltTsfqdSEsjCzClshWUjSWVGtEiEHu9fNdCIjqay-jgQ/s1000/61hC4RcIbML._AC_UF894,1000_QL80_.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="773" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2tDvlDMFmQRegu5tVe0ot1tC5ElsPqWZsSFhVW63wSUb8yhqrq2uCCAqnTPxUkjo9uXsQEauo5g_PgncIfTQtLkaAzuP710Y_l9Wj9kcknWbwacvauZApL96Qn53wXxIW-JbGsCltTsfqdSEsjCzClshWUjSWVGtEiEHu9fNdCIjqay-jgQ/w154-h200/61hC4RcIbML._AC_UF894,1000_QL80_.jpg" width="154" /></a></div><p>Anyhoo.. enough local history (apologies, but it is my blog and I find it fascinating.. 😀) and time for some gaming..</p><p>Just after Christmas, with my Christmas present vouchers grasped in hot sweaty hand, I obtained the item left from Amazon (other online monolithic shopping experiences are available). This was based on positive feedback on a couple of board game/solitaire board game Farcebook groups I belong to..</p><p>Mike (Lambo) has a fair few published booklets/games, but given the subject matter this was a bit of a no brainer for me.. what do you get for your (very reasonable) amount of money?</p><p>An A4 size booklet, printed on good paper, and strongly bound (I have forced this open on some of the pages in order to play a game and there's no sign of the pages getting loose or giving up the ghost). </p><p>There's 50 plus pages, comprising a dozen or so pages describing the (fairly simple) rules, and more specifically the AI for the programmed opponent, but the meat of the book is the 15 separate scenario's (battles) with the battle specific deployment rules and OOB's...</p><p>The following an example of how it looks - this is the second battle in the book and is a screenshot of the final move of one of my attempts to win the game (I've played twice and not one this one yet)... </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJAfAs4gqaXDYojYwC7g-XAPADnbq-R3kQAHTRgdzA6nfmArpkKnupj0GRYZE9Iny5bBNsp3wqdW0fWi3CLSdlZyEz3KOnt8NT8BF2d7s7KBNF95UvzRP9NAJ8kyXaiTIiJ-hnoU_zdYWbm6oLWZBSE5Bp2ZYw_7ajGZnCg-t2fPQq5JxpzQ/s1106/Braddock%20end.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="928" data-original-width="1106" height="536" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJAfAs4gqaXDYojYwC7g-XAPADnbq-R3kQAHTRgdzA6nfmArpkKnupj0GRYZE9Iny5bBNsp3wqdW0fWi3CLSdlZyEz3KOnt8NT8BF2d7s7KBNF95UvzRP9NAJ8kyXaiTIiJ-hnoU_zdYWbm6oLWZBSE5Bp2ZYw_7ajGZnCg-t2fPQq5JxpzQ/w640-h536/Braddock%20end.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />The rules are fairly simple, but there is enough meat in there to give you pause for thought and you do have to think about what you're doing. The AI for the automated opponent is good, and is quite detailed with responses for each troop type (only 4 types by the way; Musket/Pike/Cavalry/Cannon)</div><div><br /></div><div>So far I've played four times, and I'm two all against the AI - each game lasts about 15 to 20 minutes, and the way I am playing it is to scan the maps and counters into my PC and then use GameMapr* as the playing medium - moving the counters around on the online map.</div><div><br /></div><div>*I've had GameMapr for years, but can't find an online site where it can be downloaded, but I suspect you could use any graphics program to do the same thing ...<p style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ </p><p> Laters, as the young people are want to say...</p>
</div>Steve-the-Wargamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07077311120172727690noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33041938.post-54595134314854047832024-01-13T12:00:00.293+00:002024-01-13T12:00:00.252+00:00"Firing into the Brown" #36 - "Fort Hillsea" stuff..<div>
<p>
<span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;"><i>"So Carnehan weeds out the pick of his men, and sets the two of the
Army to show them drill and at the end of two weeks the men can
manoeuvre about as well as Volunteers. So he marches with the Chief to a
great big plain on the top of a mountain, and the Chiefs men rushes into
a village and takes it; we three Martinis
<b>firing into the brown </b>of the enemy".</i></span>
</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Kipling "The Man Who Would Be King"</i></span>
</p>
</div>
<span style="text-align: left;">Time for another update...</span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<p style="text-align: left;">
An interesting snippet from the "Illustrated Times" of April 26th, 1862,
that I found somewhere on Farcebook. If you click on it, it should embigen
pleasingly, and also just about be readable... the interesting bit is right at
the bottom which makes reference to "Fort Hillsea" (sic)</p>
<p>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4taNaacNQTW0yTLDuv_ldxHL_OafaMrMW7SOcCDPs30IdEk6VWZpa1oueqgj9PK89CjehKwi3B7u0A-6VW1oRPJOMUbz3wnoUgu1HmoOlZuiJvCc81mnNH_q3cWMqaZ38xl_S864NMfGGBpp9YVkBqrGBZCKElPPqhVrmESi9edVeBmJarA/s1051/FB_IMG_1704038196566.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1051" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4taNaacNQTW0yTLDuv_ldxHL_OafaMrMW7SOcCDPs30IdEk6VWZpa1oueqgj9PK89CjehKwi3B7u0A-6VW1oRPJOMUbz3wnoUgu1HmoOlZuiJvCc81mnNH_q3cWMqaZ38xl_S864NMfGGBpp9YVkBqrGBZCKElPPqhVrmESi9edVeBmJarA/w438-h640/FB_IMG_1704038196566.jpg" width="438" /></a>
</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">So another bit of the Hilsea lines, but in this case a part that is no longer there, and indeed long gone..</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;">See following for what those rather fanciful gates in the article would have actually looked like - this picture is taken looking north - note the guardhouses either side on what would have been the "inside" of the wall as far as any enemy is concerned..</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8xzQd66zMLsZg2Iq_9J6PwXimY6xzTVph7yoVYZu29wYKp4YF6MgFT1_DzztdRpy5sg4cb2Ktr6CpesEhgeeHRBSzKB0LUn6XYcQY-GplTJwJS69vstc3iNHBoMr1VqZCL_OVZeeshyphenhyphenPPyCYCwKEb6o_1He9a0SWGwUAmz24GWcnDGijhHQ/s1024/gettyimages-1053839694-1024x1024.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="798" data-original-width="1024" height="498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8xzQd66zMLsZg2Iq_9J6PwXimY6xzTVph7yoVYZu29wYKp4YF6MgFT1_DzztdRpy5sg4cb2Ktr6CpesEhgeeHRBSzKB0LUn6XYcQY-GplTJwJS69vstc3iNHBoMr1VqZCL_OVZeeshyphenhyphenPPyCYCwKEb6o_1He9a0SWGwUAmz24GWcnDGijhHQ/w640-h498/gettyimages-1053839694-1024x1024.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;">"View looking north through Hilsea Arches to Cosham, England, with a tram under the arches, circa 1900. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)"</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"><span>The Arches were demolished about 1920'ish (I've seen multiple sources quoting anything between 1919 and 1922, and it could well be they are all right as it must have taken a while). as part of access improvements to the island - at the time there would only have been one road* onto the whole island and I would have thought that by then, with the exponential growth in motorised and other traffic, the double arches would have been more than a bit of a choke </span><span>point... </span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDybBgUvN8GKFUBIoBF_q8-xaQKUT9oTnUtMrCPESyt5GPADKmkECR96Hu91bVmrpnSkORrIrxohFT62lws1ZEcNa3srgNklet7n9lq4pp5lMbnbgBJkTdWFv8ZS12sMxM2505MaXyZ11_dBYxjRJN8qpLJ4Oa7rb3Mdz6cQjSVlX89TwFaQ/s1000/1980_783_4_button.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="741" data-original-width="1000" height="474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDybBgUvN8GKFUBIoBF_q8-xaQKUT9oTnUtMrCPESyt5GPADKmkECR96Hu91bVmrpnSkORrIrxohFT62lws1ZEcNa3srgNklet7n9lq4pp5lMbnbgBJkTdWFv8ZS12sMxM2505MaXyZ11_dBYxjRJN8qpLJ4Oa7rb3Mdz6cQjSVlX89TwFaQ/w640-h474/1980_783_4_button.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;">This shows them mid-destruction.. one of the arches has already gone - view is looking north again.. <br />picky courtesy Portsmouth City Museum</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_6TTVtyDgFwBKMVhEisOSm7od7J1QIuFQno55Cue0LGpdX4aB-8J9XEHfTCo1UNF-ezjJGCU7mhzhvAmmSWV7SHVEx_6nQTWgXUkIIHB5IsxMKU1fx3tgecL9SmUDA6REEG6OHY3pbIweHDkLYv44Kbfnc5MglrIweuNXf2IV6bgEuPsirA/s3041/20240106_130013.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1974" data-original-width="3041" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_6TTVtyDgFwBKMVhEisOSm7od7J1QIuFQno55Cue0LGpdX4aB-8J9XEHfTCo1UNF-ezjJGCU7mhzhvAmmSWV7SHVEx_6nQTWgXUkIIHB5IsxMKU1fx3tgecL9SmUDA6REEG6OHY3pbIweHDkLYv44Kbfnc5MglrIweuNXf2IV6bgEuPsirA/w640-h416/20240106_130013.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;">...and this is where they would have been, picture taken from what would have been the northern side of them... very roughly, they would have lined up between the building on the left, and the petrol station/loo's on the right... </span></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;">See following - this picture would have been taken from the same side of the arches as the above - but probably later 1930s'ish and shows the fortifications either side of the Arches also being demolished (for two bus depots of all </span><span style="text-align: center;">things!</span><span style="text-align: center;">)... you can just see the remains of the old guard houses..</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD6MC-a7b9h9r8ctDDoyIbWVksY8sWW5iGJUIbqZto_t1EAarTetK0hGmiSQOrNR0xFxwk3uTZAix702zll-T08JnsEeWytbkQoDAW6x5CuPnrahunlQjMO5-_kguZDVxew90YYzITn2zgm7sOyKfpELymlND97IeQqo_6erxHTzO_hRfeoA/s770/Capture.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="561" data-original-width="770" height="466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD6MC-a7b9h9r8ctDDoyIbWVksY8sWW5iGJUIbqZto_t1EAarTetK0hGmiSQOrNR0xFxwk3uTZAix702zll-T08JnsEeWytbkQoDAW6x5CuPnrahunlQjMO5-_kguZDVxew90YYzITn2zgm7sOyKfpELymlND97IeQqo_6erxHTzO_hRfeoA/w640-h466/Capture.JPG" width="640" /></a></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1ovallfTVH0sbgVoS4thD-DpJEawPryRaMuRJ79l268fR3EudUJ0xwuKI8jmA234EmlnStWmcMWv8y_TpeISiyw1gf8-ZWKN5u65QC10F1Qc5bw64rju0rUW3jaqJnkSEp08NfaNiip63Z5CS8DfFm1Cmd5mjkZzATtoaZEe2j-nYrpSflg/s2351/20240106_130008.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1337" data-original-width="2351" height="364" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1ovallfTVH0sbgVoS4thD-DpJEawPryRaMuRJ79l268fR3EudUJ0xwuKI8jmA234EmlnStWmcMWv8y_TpeISiyw1gf8-ZWKN5u65QC10F1Qc5bw64rju0rUW3jaqJnkSEp08NfaNiip63Z5CS8DfFm1Cmd5mjkZzATtoaZEe2j-nYrpSflg/w640-h364/20240106_130008.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;">The aforementioned bus depot (at least <b>it's </b>still there 😏) .. the Lines run west of it .. behind the tree's</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: left;">* over the years that road access has changed three times - this was the first incarnation (following).. two lanes, simple metal bridge, wooden deck, eventually reinforced so as to carry trams, but note the 'mechanicals' in the middle. The bridge was designed to retract, to roll back, so as to allow the passage of the gunboats foreseen as being part of the overall defences for the Lines</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRL7JZjE5BvLF0ts2lBAFK4MjIGZJcZs51OVqLWaPPiEIZ5EIDS429k_8GmlBi0T-SXUGSzoEIwq_beZ-rloqeyOzY-IaTgjO0DgFdH04DEjJIWkUeMWsV9JHFRGvinLVNldrbN5i_SD1EnXLH46lTohXTvtZ7R9D6Q-L_k9n8YkGZTmI5Dw/s963/bridge.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="643" data-original-width="963" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRL7JZjE5BvLF0ts2lBAFK4MjIGZJcZs51OVqLWaPPiEIZ5EIDS429k_8GmlBi0T-SXUGSzoEIwq_beZ-rloqeyOzY-IaTgjO0DgFdH04DEjJIWkUeMWsV9JHFRGvinLVNldrbN5i_SD1EnXLH46lTohXTvtZ7R9D6Q-L_k9n8YkGZTmI5Dw/w640-h428/bridge.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><p style="text-align: left;">By the 1930's we got this one - following - four lanes, concrete sides.. this picture was taken in 1939.. you can see why those arches and the fortifications had to go! Note the lamp posts, by the way..</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaTI5c263s2VGtd4g10PiNfvR_JV49gww7_EJ5EGijSsw8yk_-Q_lQhyphenhyphen-2m4VQnNfnEDW5PBOoIRHMEbIDe4sk5HpET2tzGcOq5NPZo8idv9LW7bRw1VoMrTVntlxX4h94xtt9CH7A_NOBFZku4ff5ZpaQiOp484kuCyIqLVX2AQn4ckOyIQ/s753/bridge%202.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="550" data-original-width="753" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaTI5c263s2VGtd4g10PiNfvR_JV49gww7_EJ5EGijSsw8yk_-Q_lQhyphenhyphen-2m4VQnNfnEDW5PBOoIRHMEbIDe4sk5HpET2tzGcOq5NPZo8idv9LW7bRw1VoMrTVntlxX4h94xtt9CH7A_NOBFZku4ff5ZpaQiOp484kuCyIqLVX2AQn4ckOyIQ/w640-h468/bridge%202.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: left;">The 3rd iteration arrived in the 1970's and is known round here as the 'Hilsea Wall of Death' - far too dull to show a picture of, but some of the the remains of the second iteration can still be seen (following) - and those are the same lamp posts we see behind that sandbagged guard point in the picture above...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgouAja_INnl3NZnJnivKEHVvfFtQ-ahO0043eOBvsmOc8jOqe-WeEOGgk31ZxyMivFC40IegGNkOFK0bXNZEvyy_WpXZeEL0g4ROutQkXfhEdDYYkE7RAK0QyAmCpx_O5YTqBX_7KNimOLWMa-vIlRC7dumlL3gtsedS-JTSEwZJs9rHD6Ww/s3496/20240106_125755.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2042" data-original-width="3496" height="374" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgouAja_INnl3NZnJnivKEHVvfFtQ-ahO0043eOBvsmOc8jOqe-WeEOGgk31ZxyMivFC40IegGNkOFK0bXNZEvyy_WpXZeEL0g4ROutQkXfhEdDYYkE7RAK0QyAmCpx_O5YTqBX_7KNimOLWMa-vIlRC7dumlL3gtsedS-JTSEwZJs9rHD6Ww/w640-h374/20240106_125755.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">You can see the line of the creek (following) that still makes Portsmouth the island it is.. imagine 150 years ago, and there could have been gunboats patrolling that stretch of water as part of the overall defence strategy for the lines..</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMzZ7SlRe7yHYbF_Nfi-5Q5wphiFLNjgKTCO4qg-o3xONq1L2wKpVYvhJe9zbqlEJXJc_hlrqxCy6uY3m7WTywO5NUlnJnxZUyi25HAleYdlgX4dvI_BJgH2FrJxhyU1aSAYOc92HGcxseTzCLfWWgWlZZlk1i3H6KFpcClo_eVydJNF6u-g/s3141/20240106_125807.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1648" data-original-width="3141" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMzZ7SlRe7yHYbF_Nfi-5Q5wphiFLNjgKTCO4qg-o3xONq1L2wKpVYvhJe9zbqlEJXJc_hlrqxCy6uY3m7WTywO5NUlnJnxZUyi25HAleYdlgX4dvI_BJgH2FrJxhyU1aSAYOc92HGcxseTzCLfWWgWlZZlk1i3H6KFpcClo_eVydJNF6u-g/w640-h336/20240106_125807.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">..and this is the remains of the old bridge - now a car park alongside the new access road... history is all around us.. 😀</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIElX1XH4fTXzVPC0KxtPEvmY2Mj5mmPMRaZJS7FhFgSvTmlBAuOjzpbPlTsetYBE0Z3qcQ4aWHr0aaYRsAAEn-Al__Nfif3CmP1JrQnD48yGIjGtKjg0JVIUQHyh_ATbCnq4KvuG18GV4ILWQMg_FywVbY-qKh2w6rmwjfyV20prl7ThYdA/s2322/20240106_125645.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1452" data-original-width="2322" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIElX1XH4fTXzVPC0KxtPEvmY2Mj5mmPMRaZJS7FhFgSvTmlBAuOjzpbPlTsetYBE0Z3qcQ4aWHr0aaYRsAAEn-Al__Nfif3CmP1JrQnD48yGIjGtKjg0JVIUQHyh_ATbCnq4KvuG18GV4ILWQMg_FywVbY-qKh2w6rmwjfyV20prl7ThYdA/w640-h400/20240106_125645.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ </div></div>
<p> Laters, as the young people are want to say...</p>
Steve-the-Wargamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07077311120172727690noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33041938.post-73283115199456653542024-01-06T12:00:00.341+00:002024-01-06T12:00:00.259+00:00"Firing into the Brown" #35 - Tangmere, girders and stuff..<div>
<p>
<span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;"><i>"So Carnehan weeds out the pick of his men, and sets the two of the
Army to show them drill and at the end of two weeks the men can
manoeuvre about as well as Volunteers. So he marches with the Chief to a
great big plain on the top of a mountain, and the Chiefs men rushes into
a village and takes it; we three Martinis
<b>firing into the brown </b>of the enemy".</i></span>
</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Kipling "The Man Who Would Be King"</i></span>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Time for another update..</span><div>
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<p>Over the course of last summer, Grandson and I managed to make visit to Tangmere to visit the aviation museum.. now this has been on the "expectations" list for years, but as in all things where the location/event/place is 'local', it just seemed to keep be putting off.. I guess because you always think, "well it's local, we can go anytime", and then never do.. 😏</p><p>The Aviation Museum is located in one corner of the former Tangmere airfield, which was an RAF fighter station from 1918 until Fighter Command left in 1958, but as an RAF station remained in use until 1970 (among other things they did glider training, and some Fleet Air Arm squadrons were based there towards the end). </p><p>During WWII it was one of the legendary frontline stations - other than the stations in Kent, it would be difficult to get much closer to France! Fighter pilots Douglas Bader and Johnnie Johnson (among many others) were both based there in 1941..</p><p>So going through the doors, you are met with a lot of exhibits based on the people that served there, their service records, what life was like on the base, and the work the squadrons based there did. I'd like to go back and have a closer look at it, but Grandson, being 10, wanted to see the planes! 😁</p><p>Of these, my favourite exhibit was this one - the <a href="https://tangmere-museum.org.uk/museum-aircraft/english-electric-lightning-f53" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">English Electric Lightning F53</a>.. one of my abiding memories from very early childhood was attending an air show when I was, I guess, 5 maybe 6?? The show featured a fly past of a Lightning, and it was the loudest thing I had ever experienced, so loud, the memory still stays with me now. The Tangmere one is ex-Saudi Air Force, but has been painted to represent an aircraft of RAF No. 23 Squadron who flew Lightnings (no Lightning squadrons were ever based at Tangmere, but 23 Squadron was based there in WW2).. </p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEEoR5zODs4Ih8iBDxnyXUnmvYCGIkzlGbkx5HbzO60lRZ5IRNcATJ4qS4L3rtsm-8xP8GHBN1oeeHEcHY7Vj9-qJAPIIWN-_ZojLw-HhBcnwc75-LPJPu0EeC3ld1I4YB0OiiD-HhjJ8W3v2GPTx6v6Di_VzibZs6SDWxmWlVeDCwnRF1OA/s2560/20230811_114338.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2560" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEEoR5zODs4Ih8iBDxnyXUnmvYCGIkzlGbkx5HbzO60lRZ5IRNcATJ4qS4L3rtsm-8xP8GHBN1oeeHEcHY7Vj9-qJAPIIWN-_ZojLw-HhBcnwc75-LPJPu0EeC3ld1I4YB0OiiD-HhjJ8W3v2GPTx6v6Di_VzibZs6SDWxmWlVeDCwnRF1OA/w640-h288/20230811_114338.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;">Absolutely enormous - there's two Rolls-Royce Avon turbojet engines one on top of the other in that fuselage, no wonder it was noisy.. and fast.. </span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjGYAiqB1khDhJxqjoJDqOHzUWHukJQVqo8RBXxtXaoB2hDSWlzni2nDlG3bfDhmj5RWHQHg3eikE_VjJcZ01Jl5_gfkMwssgRfxYZl0PXxYIgA74DD9I2Af78Ft4KpqZibBbY1yHx74a6r6Z7oM9ZoaKvSb23P4VtV9A2Mj11U0F6NhmP5w/s2253/IMG-20230811-WA0004.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2253" data-original-width="2217" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjGYAiqB1khDhJxqjoJDqOHzUWHukJQVqo8RBXxtXaoB2hDSWlzni2nDlG3bfDhmj5RWHQHg3eikE_VjJcZ01Jl5_gfkMwssgRfxYZl0PXxYIgA74DD9I2Af78Ft4KpqZibBbY1yHx74a6r6Z7oM9ZoaKvSb23P4VtV9A2Mj11U0F6NhmP5w/w630-h640/IMG-20230811-WA0004.jpeg" width="630" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;">Grandson was gainfully occupied... 😀</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div><br /></div>Not a replica or stand in - following - this is the actual <a href="https://tangmere-museum.org.uk/museum-aircraft/gloster-meteor-f4" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gloster Meteor F4</a> that captured the world air speed record of 616 mph in 1946... stunning..</div><div><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFjUiWpx2MVS6uRJAtD1mwvNZOvKuudqTsv8myrwK4YDMxNjszjOBZKe7YmR8Zj5rWag1SmYxAxA6iWEej6SUFGNq5raj9jPb7DedO5yXvzl9RLKmP9EELL0BeTri0gQXSxiNHFJOHWTEmzzlHaesMzav7jsP0gyu7me9uM65NWKkqRjaW-g/s2241/IMG-20230811-WA0006.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1505" data-original-width="2241" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFjUiWpx2MVS6uRJAtD1mwvNZOvKuudqTsv8myrwK4YDMxNjszjOBZKe7YmR8Zj5rWag1SmYxAxA6iWEej6SUFGNq5raj9jPb7DedO5yXvzl9RLKmP9EELL0BeTri0gQXSxiNHFJOHWTEmzzlHaesMzav7jsP0gyu7me9uM65NWKkqRjaW-g/w640-h430/IMG-20230811-WA0006.jpeg" width="640" /></a>
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<p></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Replica <a href="https://tangmere-museum.org.uk/museum-aircraft/westland-lysander-mk-iii-scw" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Westland Lysander Mk III</a> in the main hall - following.. I spent a fair amount of time having a look at this and chatting with the volunteer - Tangmere being a forward airfield during WW2 was used by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Air_Force_Special_Duty_Service" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Special Duties</a> Lysanders for missions into occupied northern Europe. I was amazed at the size of it, I'd kind of assumed it would be smaller, but as was explained, they could carry up to three passengers if necessary, and along with long range fuel tanks, the plane couldn't be small... more on the plane in the link above..</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's painted to represent the aircraft of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_McCairns" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Flying Officer James ‘Mac’ McCairns</a>, who flew 25 successful missions into France, winning three DFC's in the process... the link for him is worth a read... truly we stand on the shoulders of giants.. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDoLP55H0dv1qf4ZyVQ2KF2s2DsA5sdswwDUMh4IZay8TYR5_lW_0vN3_B-G_x5vg_TFNCPdPLHS0xajwGs4764S05KacF7d9eUuBqXXIOFbqnTgCGxp3LNhoBsWLRezt8CudQT8si9bS1prLRNYO-1L2BOqbl_lDqpiTcfSY4CVjYHpA_Zw/s720/FB_IMG_1703621535368.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="405" data-original-width="720" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDoLP55H0dv1qf4ZyVQ2KF2s2DsA5sdswwDUMh4IZay8TYR5_lW_0vN3_B-G_x5vg_TFNCPdPLHS0xajwGs4764S05KacF7d9eUuBqXXIOFbqnTgCGxp3LNhoBsWLRezt8CudQT8si9bS1prLRNYO-1L2BOqbl_lDqpiTcfSY4CVjYHpA_Zw/w640-h360/FB_IMG_1703621535368.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Ex-Red Arrows* <a href="https://tangmere-museum.org.uk/museum-aircraft/folland-gnat" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">T1 Gnat, XR571</a>, in the car park as you arrive.. space for the museum is at a premium so they have a half dozen examples of various planes/helicopter in the car park - as I understand it these get rotated in to the museum on a cyclical basis..</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLv7j5O9BHagOYAQk5IMeBiTF6S7Cr2SXomsNyK7e-PB7DbyCNzXmTwAM-2F9Afef6jgLzHEGdM0RusUgRb_9aEzY5cPLkWg4xMeDSeTW3W8M1fXFosppDdA4MspXq1ve2x-DsQmb0IFrWunA-saMBupT3GBm6nd3oxne3BF4JysByiErWpw/s720/FB_IMG_1703621653594.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="405" data-original-width="720" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLv7j5O9BHagOYAQk5IMeBiTF6S7Cr2SXomsNyK7e-PB7DbyCNzXmTwAM-2F9Afef6jgLzHEGdM0RusUgRb_9aEzY5cPLkWg4xMeDSeTW3W8M1fXFosppDdA4MspXq1ve2x-DsQmb0IFrWunA-saMBupT3GBm6nd3oxne3BF4JysByiErWpw/w640-h360/FB_IMG_1703621653594.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Not mine, but this is a good little overview video..</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qUY_rO0ScTU?si=a_s8UztRhJaqF6x3" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Anyway, what a fantastic little museum, staffed by hugely knowledgeable and approachable volunteers, grandson loved it so it works on multiple levels - very much recommended..</div><div><br /></div><div>* to be fair, she never actually flew with them - more info in the linky.. 😀</div><div><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div>
<p></p>Must be years since I built a kit, but I've very much been enjoying various Farcebook modelling channels recently (the Mediocre Modellers group is good - and some of them are far from mediocre - also the Airfix group) so I decided to have a look through a whole load of stuff that I picked up, and which used to belong to the brother of my brother in law, who passed last year..</div><div><br /></div><div>This one caught my eye - as it's supposed to be made, it's a double span (10mm/N gauge), railway girder bridge...</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihtuCKsKRzQPZ4is7gbx26_vfl6RDZ5j-0lnnVAMAXPtDKBkwg_-FjaCgRRmj2p_PTXSorT9CRD0iRbj90GJ8AcAizqDoeWHGkr1jgUeIKj3f1s44PqjSQeFUzE-ssAyeHNz3eje7S9lUOFjl24_oSIDt67H8otekkZYjIQaeobEE9IXpXBA/s3284/20231218_104334.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2596" data-original-width="3284" height="506" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihtuCKsKRzQPZ4is7gbx26_vfl6RDZ5j-0lnnVAMAXPtDKBkwg_-FjaCgRRmj2p_PTXSorT9CRD0iRbj90GJ8AcAizqDoeWHGkr1jgUeIKj3f1s44PqjSQeFUzE-ssAyeHNz3eje7S9lUOFjl24_oSIDt67H8otekkZYjIQaeobEE9IXpXBA/w640-h506/20231218_104334.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>The brick sheets glue together to form three platforms/bases that the bridges then rest on... one at each end and a single one in the middle that supports the end of each bridge..</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO8RzMnd2jfgXwxuGTj94pN337pBc-IwTNP-avnr8SV4u7BJ6oklIq44N9E21hcjyx-IN7IBjNlGcieudZCSte-r0q3VgbvnhGdCeI_0jlV-e87kEInscSytL3NvK3TyqWbdlcxrL3IWKEG-8NQ6-1_2cbbaNbSO_BjYhrGEiEyv_r_bLYvw/s3303/20231218_104346.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2893" data-original-width="3303" height="560" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO8RzMnd2jfgXwxuGTj94pN337pBc-IwTNP-avnr8SV4u7BJ6oklIq44N9E21hcjyx-IN7IBjNlGcieudZCSte-r0q3VgbvnhGdCeI_0jlV-e87kEInscSytL3NvK3TyqWbdlcxrL3IWKEG-8NQ6-1_2cbbaNbSO_BjYhrGEiEyv_r_bLYvw/w640-h560/20231218_104346.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>Like this..</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzcfQggYBX9yOffRprUY6bWZX0ZTnjpCGS-a_0UCSw13KwvviRNXFsGQMHTJMytL0ks6hoZqTTnPtQNdQxtXerKRrSHaNXiEMKeTYbJ86Xe2wdhRo9rppSpmD60MmbsMGEZVM7DWeU-6i06YPWYFoeTCsWJ2LoyXQUCRvx0Sc09phD1VvX-g/s214/knightwing-pn002-n-scale-girder-bridge-12865-p.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="129" data-original-width="214" height="129" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzcfQggYBX9yOffRprUY6bWZX0ZTnjpCGS-a_0UCSw13KwvviRNXFsGQMHTJMytL0ks6hoZqTTnPtQNdQxtXerKRrSHaNXiEMKeTYbJ86Xe2wdhRo9rppSpmD60MmbsMGEZVM7DWeU-6i06YPWYFoeTCsWJ2LoyXQUCRvx0Sc09phD1VvX-g/s1600/knightwing-pn002-n-scale-girder-bridge-12865-p.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><br /><div>I'll be using it f or my 15mm WW2 skirmish stuff, so a double span will be way over the top... what I'm thinking of doing is a single span, with a lower support structure... should be fun...<br /><p></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ </p>
<p> Laters, as the young people are want to say...</p>
</div></div>Steve-the-Wargamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07077311120172727690noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33041938.post-79173539790094452062024-01-01T12:00:00.708+00:002024-01-01T12:00:00.145+00:002023.. a review...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a4Svvc7EA5s/XCog-2yL2VI/AAAAAAAAO8A/d-0lWCEghEsed_ceyyIwnS3c3S1SxgotgCLcBGAs/s1600/book.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="177" data-original-width="284" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a4Svvc7EA5s/XCog-2yL2VI/AAAAAAAAO8A/d-0lWCEghEsed_ceyyIwnS3c3S1SxgotgCLcBGAs/s1600/book.jpg" /></a>
</div>
<p>
By way of assuring my reader that I really haven't shuffled off this mortal
coil ... as we say every year... "here we go again"...😁
</p>
<p>
I'm still (still) not really a 'blowing the trumpet', 'review your triumphs',
etc etc type of person (I leave that to the business corporate types I used to
work with), but like my 'end of the year' review on
<a href="https://hurley20sparrow.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">the sailing blog</a>
it is kind of nice to cast my eyes over the year gone, and remind myself of
the ups and (this year, mostly) downs.... and besides everyone else is doing
the same thing... <br />
<br />
So by way of a joining up of the threads, and a bringing to a close of the
last year, let's push on...<br />
<br />
First, how did I do against
<a href="https://steve-the-wargamer.blogspot.com/2022/12/2022-review.html" target="_blank">my expectations [clicky]</a>?? Note: I <b>never, ever, </b>make 'resolutions', just 'set
expectations', and thus when I inevitably fail to meet them yet again, it is
not too demoralising or depressing an event.. 😏<br />
<br /><i>1/. Play more games..</i><br />
</p>
<dd>
Poor... there were three table top games in 2023.. c/w these in previous
years..
</dd>
<dd>
<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width: 300px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">2022</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">5</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">2021</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">2020</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">2019</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">4</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">2018</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">2017</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">8</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</dd>
<dd>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
ECW - "Hatch End" - from a scenario I found in an old copy
of <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/Wargames_Journal" target="_blank">Wargames Journal magazine [clicky]</a> - setup is
<a href="https://steve-the-wargamer.blogspot.com/2023/02/firing-into-brown-26-archives-hatch-end.html" target="_blank">here [clicky] </a>and game
<a href="https://steve-the-wargamer.blogspot.com/2023/02/firing-into-brown-27-hatch-end-game.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here [clicky]</a>
</li>
</ul>
</dd>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGZuIXCIz6ZwD7zGfk_o_Ye2EmsPDvB7kliOvXu35HNLBtYg0dIW9GzL0MKJNhZqbaPW4Z7EtFmDzNK6EU_x6q7Ft8ghaJwt9qWtOlfqFYRkqW66txPsVKj18L1XwDRthh4Gsu7-kdObqDxsyihlrWvfY6E5TqdmNQwcEdJVNMvJXwZJ0/s640/P1020127.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="342" data-original-width="640" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGZuIXCIz6ZwD7zGfk_o_Ye2EmsPDvB7kliOvXu35HNLBtYg0dIW9GzL0MKJNhZqbaPW4Z7EtFmDzNK6EU_x6q7Ft8ghaJwt9qWtOlfqFYRkqW66txPsVKj18L1XwDRthh4Gsu7-kdObqDxsyihlrWvfY6E5TqdmNQwcEdJVNMvJXwZJ0/w640-h342/P1020127.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<ul>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: left;">
Western skirmish - "Skirmish at Long Bute Farm"<a href="https://steve-the-wargamer.blogspot.com/2023/03/firing-into-brown-28-skirmish-at-long.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">
[clicky]</a>
</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">
ECW - "Battle of Grimpen Mire"
<a href="https://steve-the-wargamer.blogspot.com/2023/11/firing-into-brown-29-battle-of-grimpen.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[clicky]</a>
</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">
WW2 - Western desert - no pictures or report, and not counted, as it was
a a bit of a damp squib all told. I played using the new version of
Blitzkrieg Commander, but as sometimes happens with these rules, on move
one the British armour moved forward to take a hull down position, and
the Italians then passed 5 separate command rolls on their armour, and
blew them to pieces.. game over move 2.. 😒
</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<dd>
<div style="text-align: left;">
.. DG and I were also playing the Bunker Hill scenario from the Rebels and
Redcoats board game at the beginning of the year, exchanging moves via
Dropbox and email. We last played this in 2005 and this time the game ended
in an honourable draw.. we'd forgotten why we hadn't played it in as
long as we had, once we re-discovered the rule book.. 😏
</div>
</dd>
<dd>
<p style="text-align: left;"></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0OclKakNXf_BcEB7xDDumI1DbSnB8Jnjb19MXx0fJwuKUEhPf75LGM8JdWbwC0ZGyTtIpNR9HlB7uO-p58S1qDSxSBy_AlXGYOmptHeOIq7xUDWOGlRKcKy5LwecVWHFmg0kmfDBUyNa0Sv7a4_eWN-Xig2eUiM76VayU76sYfY2CPW8/s800/pic52007.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="581" data-original-width="800" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0OclKakNXf_BcEB7xDDumI1DbSnB8Jnjb19MXx0fJwuKUEhPf75LGM8JdWbwC0ZGyTtIpNR9HlB7uO-p58S1qDSxSBy_AlXGYOmptHeOIq7xUDWOGlRKcKy5LwecVWHFmg0kmfDBUyNa0Sv7a4_eWN-Xig2eUiM76VayU76sYfY2CPW8/s320/pic52007.webp" width="320" /></a>
</div>
<p></p>
</dd>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
We're also playing 'Scenario: No. 23 from "One Hour Wargames"' - 'Defence in
Depth' using the trusty and not rusty AWI Rues by Will McNally, with <a href="http://www.keyfocus.net/battlechroniclercom/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Battle Chronicler</a>
to exchange move files - the game is currently in hiatus as DG's PC's exploded
(or at least stop working) and he's currently sourcing a replacement
</ol>
<i><span>2/. Blog more</span></i><br />
<dd>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
</dd>
<dd>
<div style="text-align: left;">Abject failure..</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
</dd>
<dd>
<div style="text-align: left;">
While it is very noticeable that the hey day of Blogger has now long gone -
other platforms, new year diary syndrome, ennui, "can't be bothered", call
it what you will, the sheer quantity of blogs is now much less than
it was, and I am no different.. blogging takes a fair amount of effort,
and sometimes it's just easier to put up a 3 line entry on Farcebook, or
Twitter/X, or in my case do nothing....
</div>
</dd>
<dd>
<p style="text-align: left;">
That said, I'm happy with Blogger, I like to write and it suits my ordered
mind, but I do need creative inputs to prompt posts, and as much as I have
an array of interests, this is primarily a wargaming blog and I simply
wasn't feeling it in 2022... I do like my new format of weekly posts based
on a variety of inputs, it reflects my various interests (books/beer/local
history occasional game reports/painted output etcetc) - if no one knows
where the title comes from by the way, "Firing into the Brown" was a regular
section in Wargamers Newsletter, where Don got to put random snippets that
had caught his eye in the publication period.. always something
interesting there..
</p>
</dd>
<dd>
<p style="text-align: left;">
Anyhoo, there were 11 posts including this one in 2023, which compares as
follows
</p>
</dd>
<dd>
<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width: 300px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">2022</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">25</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">2021</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">21</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">2020</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">32</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">2019</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">49</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">2018</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">35</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">2017</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">45</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">2016</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">58</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">2015</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">69</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">2014</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">68</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">2013</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">84</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">2012</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">85</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p style="text-align: left;">
... which is is atrocious, and the downward trend is noticeable but having
said that this year marked the 17th Anniversary of the first ever blog
post here on the "Random Musings" so I'm still here, and as I said at the time, where the hell
did those years go???! 😱
</p>
</dd>
<div>
<i>3/. Try to keep up my painting efforts..</i><br />
<dd><br /></dd>
<dd>
I would say I did "very poorly" with this one - my
painting months tend to be the beginning and end of the sailing season, I did 46
points worth this year which compares with
</dd>
<dd><br /></dd>
<dd>
<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width: 500px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">2022</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">100</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">2021</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">200</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">2020</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">253 <span style="font-size: x-small;">(ECW project still kicking)</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">2019</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">
294 <span style="font-size: x-small;">(ECW project kicked off)
</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">2018</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">82</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">2017</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">78</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">2016</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">8</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</dd>
<dd><br /></dd>
<dd>
... not even close, not even a sniff of the cigar humidor... a definite fall
off in painting efforts, in fact, given most of last years points were for
rebasing, I realised out that Thomas Ballard's were the first
<b>new </b>troops I'd painted in something like two years.. improvement
needed!
</dd>
<dd><br /></dd>
<dd>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width: 100%;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">Date (click to go to post)</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="40%">Item description</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="15%">Period</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="15%">Make</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="12%">Scale</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">Points Value/Total Pts</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://steve-the-wargamer.blogspot.com/2023/12/firing-into-brown-32-thomas-ballards.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">4/12</a>
</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">
Thomas Ballard's Regiment of Foot
</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">ECW</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">Peter Pig/Iron Fist</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">15mm</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">24@1pt for 24 points</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://steve-the-wargamer.blogspot.com/2023/12/firing-into-brown-33-brown-cowboys-and.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">16/12</a>
</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">
Five cowboys, wagon leader, and wagon with four horses
</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">Western</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">Peter Pig</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">15mm</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">6@1pt, 1@3pt, 4@2pt for 17pts</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://steve-the-wargamer.blogspot.com/2023/12/firing-into-brown-34-christmas-last-of.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">23/12</a>
</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">Five more cowboys</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">Western</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">Peter Pig</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">15mm</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">5@1pt for 5pts</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>Total to date: 46 points </b>(100 from 2022 to beat)<br />
</div>
</dd>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i><br /></i>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i>4/. Continue reading more non-fiction... </i>
</div>
<dd><br /></dd>
<dd style="text-align: left;">
If I did nothing else in 2023, I <b>did</b> read (just as well, as I wasn't
blogging here!)... thank goodness for books...
</dd>
<dd style="text-align: left;"><br /></dd>
<dd style="text-align: left;">
One more title than last year, but the quality was extraordinary I thought. There are three ten's in the list, two of them plus's.. difficult decision to decide between them (the Sherwood Foresters book is also 'un-putdownable') but Malta GC takes
it this year....<br />
</dd>
<dd style="text-align: left;"><br /></dd>
<dd style="text-align: left;">
For this coming year I already have Len Deighton's book on "Blitzkrieg" on
the go - this is an analysis of German armoured operational doctrine from
the rise of Hitler to the fall of France.. old, but still gold..
</dd>
<dd>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div>
<br />
<div></div>
</div>
</div>
<table border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="25%">Book</td>
<td>
<center>Comments</center>
</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="10%">Score (out of 10)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
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</div>
</div>
</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">
I've always wanted to know a little more about Eugene than the
bare basics that you tend to pick up as part of the accounts
dealing with the better known Marlborough. I was aware that
Marlborough had a huge amount of respect and trust for him, I was
aware of his involvement at Blenheim, I was aware that he was
widely accepted to be one of the great generals of his age, but
know little more than that really.. So when James Falkner comes
along with a book on the man, I bought it as soon as it was
published (from memory I think I pre-ordered).. Falkner is a good
read, I particularly recommend his other books "Marlborough's War
Machine" and "Great and Glorious Days: Marlborough's Battles,
1704-09" plus the two smaller Battleground books on Blenheim and
Ramillies. So how was it? Well, I have to say I was a little
disappointed but I'll start with the good I know a lot more about
the man now than I did before, and in particular about his
campaigns in the East against the Ottoman Turks. I understand a
whole lot more about how big the Austrian Empire was at this point
(they included huge tracts of the Balkans and Italy as part of the
Empire) but also how fragile they were, there was never enough
money to fully fund the campaigns Eugene undertook in Italy and
the Balkans. His armies seemed to trust and like him - despite
almost always being in arrears of pay, poorly clothed and fed, he
managed to keep his polyglot armies of Austrian and German troops
in the field far longer than you would normally expect. He was
undoubtedly a military genius, having that ability to move troops
quickly to the enemies weak point before the enemy even knows they
have moved. What you don't get in the book though is a flavour of
the actual man, and what he was like, he's almost an enigma and
there are few first person accounts of what kind of a man he
actually was, but in Falkners favour I think a lot of that is down
to the man himself.. from what you read, he was not the outgoing
socialite that Marlborough was - I get the distinct impression
that this was a man dedicated to his trade, a bit of a loner
socially(?), capable but not comfortable at court, happier with
his army on campaign, never married (though there were rumours
that he had a long term relationship) and died a bachelor with a
large library at a good age. Recommended though..
</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">8</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
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</div>
</div>
</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">
Probably would have been better calling this Quatre Bras, which
was a battle in it's own right, rather than Waterloo part 1, but,
there's an argument either way... this was part of the
Osprey COVID free giveaway they did during the first lockdown, and
I remember being very grateful for their action as I picked up a
half dozen free titles, but I've only just got round to this one.
So, standard Campaign format, OOB's, thumbnail portraits of the
opposing commanders, battle, and maps of each of the key
stages.. did I learn anything new? Not really, though the
Price of Orange comes out better in this volume than he does
elsewhere.. Was it clearly laid out for someone coming fresh
to the battle, unequivocal "Yes". The prose is a little errr,
'dated' in places (no idea why it's a 2014 publication) but it was
an interesting read on a piecemeal, feed them in as they arrive,
kind of battle..
</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">8</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
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</div>
</div>
</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">
The story of one tank regiments war from D-Day to the Fall of
Berlin.. utterly brilliant - a unit history full of first
person accounts of the crews of the Sherman's and Firefly's of the
Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry (being a territorial regiment as opposed
to regulars) the regiment had what I think are a number of unique
distinctions, they were definitely a bunch of characters the like
of which you were unlikely to find in a regular regiment - but
their strengths when combined into a fighting force were
formidable. Throughout WW2 they fought in three roles, they
started the war in Palestine as cavalry, were converted to
artillery in time for the desert war (and were at Tobruk in that
role) before being converted to the armoured formation they
continued to the end of the war.. the book touches on these
earlier roles but only in as much as it reflects on their
deployment in France and Germany - the change of mind set and
tactics required to switch from their methods in the wide open
desert to the enclosed bocage f Normandy is fascinating..
stunning book.. also the first book I've read where we have
multiple first hand accounts of what it was like to fight in a
Sherman, and despite their reputation the crews were generally
favourably inclined (they were fast, mechanically reliable, but
the thing they liked most was the rate of fire).. very much
recommended.. whether you're a tank head or not..
</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">10</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
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</div>
</div>
</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">
Stunning - Holland is swiftly becoming a favourite military
historian as he has a very easy, readable, style. For this one he
covers the events immediately before and just up to the Falaise
Gap campaign. He touches on all branches of the campaign, all
levels of seniority from tank drivers and privates to Eisenhower.
Discusses planning, supply, and how in his opinion, despite the
supreme efforts of all branches of the armies involved, it was
overwhelming and crushing air superiority that in the end was the
telling difference, along with the Allies logistics ability in
replacing tanks and armoured vehicles..
</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">10+</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
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</div>
</div>
</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">
One of the books Black quotes as a source for the stories he uses
in the Harry Gilmour books was this one by James Holland - and on
a whim while in town I spotted it in Waterstone's while
browsing, so bought it. SO pleased I did - the book is riveting
and is my third "10 plus" of the year - it tells the story of the
siege of Malta through the many eyes of both combatants and
civilians engaged in the conflict. Nurses, pilots, soldiers, anti
aircraft gunners, submariners, admin staff, entertainers, but also
lots and lots of civilians having to live their lives in hellish
conditions. The books is divided chronologically, and cover each
of the phases of the siege (roughly, attacked by Italians, then
Germans, then left alone for a bit, before being attacked heavily
by the Germans) covering the air war, the vital importance of air
cover for both defensive and offensive reasons, the submarines (of
course), and the role of Malta not just as an island in the
Mediterranean, but as the base for vital Allied operations against
first, Rommel, and secondly when that campaign was won, the second
front against Sicily. Absolutely wonderful - can't recommend it
enough..
</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">10+</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div style="text-align: left;"></div>
</dd>
<i><div style="text-align: left;">
<i><br /></i></div></i><i><div style="text-align: left;">
<i>5/. Salute, Colours and/or Warfare...</i>
</div></i>
<dd style="text-align: left;">
<br />
</dd>
<dd style="text-align: left;">
Didn't make any of them.. worse, I had no inclination to go, and wasn't bothered I'd missed them either... 😏
</dd>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<dd style="text-align: left;">
What drives my interest and
participation in a wargame show is different to others I suspect.. I
am not a social gamer, I prefer solo or the good company of DG, I have a
minute lead mountain as I paint for specific units in specific projects, so there is no butterfly to
satisfy, mail order is orders of magnitude better than it was in the old
days, etc etc etc..</dd>
<dd style="text-align: left;"><br /></dd>
<dd style="text-align: left;">
I suspect I will probably never go to Salute again, purely because of the
sheer costs of attending; Colours and Warfare are possible if DG is up for
it, but I won't go on my own, and for DG it's a long way to come..
</dd>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span>6/. <i>Tangmere visit</i></span>
</div>
<div>
<dd><br /></dd>
<dd style="text-align: left;">
Done! Grandson and I had a cracking day out (Gromit 😀) earlier this
summer - very much recommended and staffed by some very knowledgeable
and friendly volunteers..
</dd>
<dd style="text-align: left;"><br /></dd>
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<tbody>
<tr>
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</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;">English Electric Lightning.. mucking HUGE!!</span>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<dd style="text-align: left;"><br /></dd>
<span><div style="text-align: left;">
<i>7/. Edgehill walk...</i></div></span>
</div>
<div>
<dd>.</dd>
<dd style="text-align: left;">
..still not done, but as I am now (supposedly) retired and have a shed
load of time available (apparently), this one must be nearer the front
burner's, surely!? On balance this one is closer to completion this year than any previous one's..</dd>
<dd style="text-align: left;"><br /></dd>
<span><div style="text-align: left;">
<i>8/. Spend less time on Facebook - it's wasted time, and it's too
easy to lose an hour that I could use doing something else</i>
</div></span>
</div>
<div>
<dd><br /></dd>
<dd style="text-align: left;">
...funny how you change your focus when your horizon's close in to the
computer/virtual reality as a result of pandemics and what have you - all the events/things I would have going to were not happening, and shifted to virtual.. so
Farcebok became a ways and means of keeping in touch rather than trite
entertainment.. and tbh, with my lack of interest in attending shows then the 'soshul meeja' [sic] platforms are kind of doing the same thing for me.. </dd>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i><br /></i>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i>9/. Lose 3 stone - fed up being a fat bastard...</i>
</div>
<dd>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
</dd>
<dd>
<div style="text-align: left;">
A partial success.. as of this point in time, two days after the Christmas
blow out, 32 pounds lost in the previous year.. 😏 I feel better for it, I am fitter, walking more - I'll continue next year..</div></dd>
</div>
<div></div>
<p></p>
<div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">
...there you go... you may beg to differ, but as it is my blog I can once
again report that <b>all (achievable) targets and goals were achieved</b> ...! Hurrah!! </div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
In summary?? I've got to say that on the personal front 2023 was a
significantly better year, than previous one's.. the weather in the summer
was on the whole, stonkingly good.. lots and lots of time spent either on
my boat, or other peoples boats, but the downside was that the loft was
unbearably hot and stuffy, and yet again my wargaming hobby pulled back
and retrenched on books and reading - sitting in my hammock chair
under a tree with a book, or drifting with the wind with fishing rod in hand on the boat, was far more attractive! 😁
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
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<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
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</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;">Stuffy loft, or out on the boat with a fishing rod.... difficult... let me think about it.. 😏</span>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>On the (wargaming) hobby front</b> I'll say it was another poor year... no
Salute/Colours/Warfare with DG, a massive dose of wargamers block (pffft..
it happens..) but on the plus side there were a lot of good books..
</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
…apropos of absolutely nothing (I only have the number as I like to put
reviews on the blog), 69 books were read in 2023, compared with </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width: 300px;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">2022</td><td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">40</td></tr><tr><td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">2021</td><td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">51</td></tr><tr><td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">2020</td><td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">63</td></tr><tr><td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">2019</td><td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">55</td></tr><tr><td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">2018</td><td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">43</td></tr><tr><td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">2017</td><td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">52</td></tr><tr><td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">2016</td><td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">54</td></tr><tr><td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">2015</td><td style="text-align: center;" width="50%">46</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">... so despite distractions aplenty I had a
<u>massively </u>enjoyable reading year.. also interesting to see the
effect retirement has had in the 'up tick' this year 😁
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Favourite fiction books this year? Well these were my 'perfect 10's' of the year
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Awesome, a new Robert Harris! The imagined narrative documents one
of the greatest manhunts in history, specifically the search for two
Puritan army officers who were signatories to the death warrant of
Charles I. Following the Restoration (of Charles II) Parliament
passed the Act of Oblivion (more properly The Indemnity and Oblivion
Act) which was intended to draw the line under the Civil
War/Cromwellian Commonwealth, and pardoned all parties who had acted
against the Crown, with the exception of the Regicides who had
signed the warrant or contributed to the death of Charles. Most of
these regicides were already dead, but a significant number remained
who were arrested and executed (hung drawn and quartered) -
they even dug up the corpse of Cromwell and beheaded him. The book
though is about two of the regicides who escaped capture and fled to
seventeeth-century New England. Fantastic - my first 10 of the
year...
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I've mentioned before how much I like Nevil Shute's books - he may
be considered slightly old fashioned these days, but he is what I
call a "story teller" - he writes big books with compelling, page
turning, addictive stories and this one is no exception, and is my
first 10+ of the year. Set during and after the Second World war,
the book tells the story of Janet Prentice, a 20'ish year old girl
who on the outbreak of the war joins the WRNS where she trains in
ordnance maintenance (Oerlikons especially) - the book is about her
time in the service, what she did, what her life was like, love,
death, what we would now call PTSD, tragedy, and told through the
recollections of the many people she worked, lived and served
with... very much recommended.<br />
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<span style="text-align: left;">10+</span>
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<td>I enjoyed this one... set in the immediate aftermath of
the war, Bernie has a job as the concierge for a n upmarket hotel in
Cap d'Antibes when he is recognised and approached by an old
adversary from the war.. the guy is a serial blackmailer
focussing specifically on homosexuals, and has a scheme to blackmail
local writer W. Somerset Maughan who has a villa in the area. It
then starts to get very cloudy, as Maughan, as well as being a
recognised author, worked for the secret services during the war,
and was acquainted with Philby, Burgess, McLean and Blunt..
excellent..
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<td style="text-align: center;">10</td>
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Stunning... 72 hours from the first person perspective of a
convoy escort commander, mid Atlantic, and under attack by U Boats..
this was filmed fairly recently as "Greyhound" with Tom Hanks, but
as good as the film was the book is amazing. Exhaustion, grit,
confidence, self questioning, determination, and the sheer
physicality of fighting an unseen enemy for almost 3 days..
having to coordinate a task force of four destroyers to both attack
the enemy while still defending the convoy.. and the very
likelihood of attacks being pressed so hard that convoy escorts
could run out of depth charges, and indeed fuel.. just
excellent...
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<td style="text-align: center;">10</td>
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Start of a holiday in Greece and the Kindle was loaded!! 😀 Back to
my circumnavigation with Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin..
just love these books, the humour, the historical background, the
stories, the characters, simply beyond compare good.. Jack has
been reinstated on the navy list following the uncovering of the
conspiracy that had lead to him being struck off, but also coupled
with his brilliant success in command of a privateer. Along
with his old friend Dr Maturin they are given secret orders by
the Admiralty for a mission to southern waters.. excellent!
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14th book in the series, and Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin begin
it stranded on an uninhabited island in the Dutch East Indies,
attacked by ferocious Malay pirates. They contrive their escape, but
after a stay in Batavia and a change of ship (the aforementioned
"Nutmeg of Consolation" or "Njutmeg" to the crew), they are caught
up in a night chase in dangerous tidal waters and then embroiled in
political and other conflicts in the penal settlements of New South
Wales.
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Jack finally finds himself re-united with his ship, the Surprise
(which has been away on a separate mission under the command of the
trustworthy, Pullings), but out of touch with his crew. Sailing away
from the hated Australian prison colonies, pondering on middle age
and sexual frustration he soon becomes aware to his astonishment
that the Surprise has a stranger aboard, Clarissa Oakes, who has
stowed away with one of the masters mates. Brilliant book,
describing so well the many conflicting emotions, temptations, and
difficulties of sailing with an attractive female on a sailing ship
in the middle of the ocean and how even unwittingly Clarissa strikes
divisions and jealousies in the officers, not the least because of
her tragic upbringing ...
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<td style="text-align: center;">10</td>
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Set in South America where Maturin has finally been able to get to
in pursuit of the secret mission he was given two books before, the
story opens with Surprise in pursuit of a privateer sailing under
American colours through the Great South Sea. Stephen's mission is
to set the revolutionary tinder in South America ablaze but given
they are under the government of Spain, at the time a British ally,
the mission is fraught with danger... throw in the nascent was with
the United States, and the picture is far from clear. The
descriptions of Stephen's travel's through Peru are stunning..
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<td style="text-align: center;">10</td>
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Jack Aubrey's long service is at last rewarded: he is promoted to
the rank of Commodore and given a squadron of ships to command. His
mission is twofold -- to make a large dent in the slave trade off
the coast of Africa and, on his return, to intercept a French fleet
set for Bantry Bay with a cargo of weapons for the disaffected among
the Irish. Taking eighteen ships in the campaign against the slavers
(where Maturin catches, but survives, yellow fever) Aubrey and his
small fleet then manage to catch the French off Ireland
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<td style="text-align: center;">10</td>
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The book starts with news that Diana, Maturins wife, has been killed
in a carriage accident. He re-joins the squadron at Madeira after
burying her.<br /><br />Aubrey's squadron meets at Gibraltar with
Admiral Lord Keith, who orders him first to defend a convoy of
merchant ship, and then to proceed to the Adriatic Sea to destroy
any new ships being built to support Napoleon. Maturin, learns of a
plot to send sufficient gold through Algiers to fund Muslim
mercenaries who would block the Russian forces from joining those of
the other allies<br /><br />Aubrey's squadron is successful in
defending the convoy and proceeds toward the Adriatic,
stopping at various ports to learn of the French situation. Near
Porte di Spalato they meet a French frigate, whose captain, like so
many, does not want to declare for Napoleon but fears he will win. A
plan to bribe disgruntled dockworkers with gold to burn new French
ships along the coast, is hugely effective and completes the second
mission he has been given.<br /><br />In Algiers, Maturin meets the
Consul and the Dey's Vizier at Kasbah, the Dey's palace. While
hunting, Maturin saves the Dey's life from an attacking lion but
that doesn't stop the Dey from acting to order the gold for the
mercenaries to be shipped as soon as possible. Maturin discovers his
duplicity and re-joins Aubrey in Port Mahon, with Admiral Fanshawe,
they agree Aubrey needs to pursue the xebec.<br /><br />The Surprise
lies in wait in the Straits of Gibraltar based on information
received and in the subsequent battle, Bonden is killed (I quite
literally had to put the book down when I saw it - so sudden, with
no notice, and a giant of a character is gone). After a long
pursuit, the xebec hides at Cranc (Crab) island, where Surprise
unable to follow the galley into the shallow lagoon, blocks the
exit. A gun from the Surprise is hoisted up a cliff, where it can
fire unopposed on the galley. The galley's crew, seeing the
situation is hopeless, surrender.<br /><br />Returning victorious to
Gibraltar, the Surprise sees the town exploding fireworks, and
learns that Napoleon has been beaten at Waterloo. The gold is shared
out in Gibraltar as prize money, and Aubrey is ordered to Chile.
</td>
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<td>
Last one in this series as sadly the author died just before this
book was released..<br /><br />Set in Berlin in 1928, during the
dying days of the Weimar Republic shortly before Hitler and the
Nazis came to power, it is about Bernie's first cases for the Kripo
(the criminal investigation department of the German police).<br /><br />Bernie
is a young detective working in Vice when he gets a summons from
Bernard Weiss, Chief of Berlin's Criminal Police. He invites Bernie
to join KIA - Criminal Inspection A - the supervisory body for all
homicide investigation in Kripo.<br /><br />Bernie's first case is
to investigate the Silesian Station killings - four prostitutes
murdered in as many weeks. All of them have been hit over the head
with a hammer and then scalped with a sharp knife, but he hardly has
time to acquaint himself with the case notes, than another
prostitute is murdered. Until now, no one has shown much interest in
these victims - but the girl's father runs Berlin's foremost
criminal ring, and he's prepared to go to extreme lengths to find
his daughter's killer.<br /><br />Then a second series of murders
begins - of crippled wartime veterans who beg in the city's streets.
It seems that someone is determined to clean up Berlin of anyone
less than perfect.<br />
</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">10</td>
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<td>
First book in a stunning series featuring the Naval career of Harry
Gilmour, a young and naïve ex-student who joins the Navy at the
start of WW2 as RNVR. The books are about what it must have been
like to serve in the wartime Navy as a volunteer, and very much the
newcomer.<br /><br />His first ship is a battleship engaged in the
offensive in Norway, 1940 where his inexperience leads to
allegations of neglect/inattention during battle. Thankfully, he
receives excellent advice from another officer and ends up doing an
advanced navigation course which in turn results in him joining "The
Trade" as submariners call their branch of the Navy. <br /><br />This
book covers in fantastic detail life in a WW2 era submarine, in
combat conditions, and is utterly and completely recommended..
</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">10</td>
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Harry has passed the "Perisher" and is given his own submarine at
last but has been assigned to a submarine flotilla commanded by his
old skipper - a man who has sworn to destroy him and his career as a
result of Harry's knowledge of his role in the sinking of his first
submarine while drunk. The truth about his old skipper is beginning
to get out there, though, and in a Royal Navy still largely
divided between regular and volunteer, Harry has made some
strong friends...
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Last in the series - it's 1944, and Lieutenant Harry Gilmour is
recovering in Beirut from wounds received in an ill-fated British
campaign to seize the Greek Islands. After four years at sea, he is
expecting a shore job as his next appointment but is given urgent
command of HM Submarine Saraband. His new command has just arrived
there en route to the Indian Ocean and the war against Japan, but
there’s been trouble on board, ‘Conduct prejudicial to naval
discipline,’ and the skipper and first lieutenant have been
summarily removed. Harry has to pick up the pieces of a sullen,
uncooperative crew, while navigating Japanese convoy routes through
the shallow, treacherous waters of the Malay Archipelago. There,
endless, sweltering hunts for targets through the island chains
leave Saraband’s crew even more exhausted and demoralised.
</td>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
..so an absolutely outstanding year for good stories and so difficult to
choose a favourite, so I won't.. but what I will say is that the Harry Gilmour and Jack Aubrey/master and Commander series are both utterly excellent, and 'Requiem for a Wren' was totally evocative of a period and time now long gone. For Gilmour/Aubrey, in
both cases it was my second 'circumnavigation' (ie. re-read of the series), and I have no
doubt there'll be a third...books are like mates, you want to keep seeing them, and err, taking them down the pub.. 😁</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The <strike>worst</strike> lowest scoring book was still better than
anything I could write, so I refuse to comment here on it.. authors
work long hours, and they don't need someone like me who has never created
a book, to 'diss' their efforts..
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
This year?? Well I <b>intend </b>to keep pretty much the same expectations (with some exceptions/<span style="color: red;">additions</span>)! Fingers crossed... </div>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li style="text-align: left;">play more games</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">blog more - there I said it.. <br /></li>
<li style="text-align: left;">
try to keep up my painting efforts..
</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">
continue reading more non-fiction... it is the heart and core of the
hobby..
</li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">
Complete the documentation of the
<a href="https://steve-the-wargamer.blogspot.com/search/label/Hilsea%20Lines" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Hilsea Lines</a>
</span></li>
<li><span style="color: red;">I'd like to walk the circumference of the Chichester city walls</span></li><li><span style="color: red;">Visit HMS Alliance at the submarine museum in Gosport</span></li>
<li style="text-align: left;">
Edgehill walk - unlikely but if we don't aim, we don't even shoot...
(just call me Confucius the Wargamer....)
</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">
Spend slightly less time on Facebook - it's too easy to lose an hour
that I could use doing something else
</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">
Continue losing some weight - fed up being a fat bastard...
<a href="http://steve-the-wargamer.blogspot.com/2015/01/2014-review.html" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L6DizDiCosk/Ujr_VPxjwoI/AAAAAAAAHZI/b1SBH7H93w4/s1600/smiley.gif" style="color: black;" /></a>
</li>
</ol>
So finally,<b> Happy New Year</b> to all my reader - may the dice roll as
required, your brushes always keep a sharp tip, the beer be hoppy and
bright, and the books all page turners... oh, and your water pot never
dry out.. 😃<br />
</div>
</div>
<p></p>
Steve-the-Wargamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07077311120172727690noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33041938.post-68488605130924316572023-12-23T12:00:00.285+00:002023-12-23T12:00:00.129+00:00"Firing into the Brown" #34 - Christmas, last of the cowboys, and a public chortle..<div>
<p>
<span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;"><i>"So Carnehan weeds out the pick of his men, and sets the two of the
Army to show them drill and at the end of two weeks the men can
manoeuvre about as well as Volunteers. So he marches with the Chief to a
great big plain on the top of a mountain, and the Chiefs men rushes into
a village and takes it; we three Martinis
<b>firing into the brown </b>of the enemy".</i></span>
</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Kipling "The Man Who Would Be King"</i></span>
</p>
</div>
<span style="text-align: left;">Time for another update..</span>
<div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Here's the last of the cowboys, including the promised picture of Pancho - he's the one on the left in the following..</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-L9J9uw1b2zTfF9vJzSsTA3DmL7Tyiwvsd-4V3JMJLYkWo00T_sL-10uPG_vs3hXm6LX6YeNyHIGgUXLzWDyWFZqp_M6UYZfme28atGTo1VNsl7m1CJg7H23xfT6BelUobFDp5QFxE3W_Gz-13Dl72dAUSjjFgfnEuKBoiBV2qnCO1mturw/s2417/P1020181.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1333" data-original-width="2417" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-L9J9uw1b2zTfF9vJzSsTA3DmL7Tyiwvsd-4V3JMJLYkWo00T_sL-10uPG_vs3hXm6LX6YeNyHIGgUXLzWDyWFZqp_M6UYZfme28atGTo1VNsl7m1CJg7H23xfT6BelUobFDp5QFxE3W_Gz-13Dl72dAUSjjFgfnEuKBoiBV2qnCO1mturw/w640-h352/P1020181.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;">Pancho (front left) and the Moustache Brothers... 😀</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJmMPR5S-GNNTkQugszg4sQOYd00BiTycJVyn7gJA8Jj6qLntQlTxMXJ4Io7AUvxfy2bWeLwWK4DKQ_TcBsNpK0uOCW2f2U-GUqspk9CgbloDqI7eH_beaJ8udSCOWwPC30WLlI655U3Rfq9R01UD3PvL_G4ilhkyYqbVfGEhy62NSEI1Afw/s1569/P1020177.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1569" data-original-width="1441" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJmMPR5S-GNNTkQugszg4sQOYd00BiTycJVyn7gJA8Jj6qLntQlTxMXJ4Io7AUvxfy2bWeLwWK4DKQ_TcBsNpK0uOCW2f2U-GUqspk9CgbloDqI7eH_beaJ8udSCOWwPC30WLlI655U3Rfq9R01UD3PvL_G4ilhkyYqbVfGEhy62NSEI1Afw/w588-h640/P1020177.jpg" width="588" /></a></div><div><br /></div>"Drop them or I shoot!"<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic8_6kbD6n7x07Ks_yoiDnrM_hyphenhyphenHSIB3WQchqzZ81Tan2n0JIia3UfT6QGknHU1iKoQ58xBJmqdVFnij9WVydKig2AT1pk9ET0IK0b-Z_dOYczvYMQhIys34OU6UAnVjw_whkLdSb18eK8zTWKc7D5cxx-Igr8VxfRCdvNWP8bcAoL40XR-g/s1838/P1020178.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1488" data-original-width="1838" height="518" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic8_6kbD6n7x07Ks_yoiDnrM_hyphenhyphenHSIB3WQchqzZ81Tan2n0JIia3UfT6QGknHU1iKoQ58xBJmqdVFnij9WVydKig2AT1pk9ET0IK0b-Z_dOYczvYMQhIys34OU6UAnVjw_whkLdSb18eK8zTWKc7D5cxx-Igr8VxfRCdvNWP8bcAoL40XR-g/w640-h518/P1020178.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsYgx2M98BJ7H3YmRZxG2ZwZvPnR9AV0eiH9oAUJrRdncAdVEmHs5EtEhJhz1Sr0AqTEfkA6Ee2Jm68fNwhcfRUUUo64xwJxoUQbiKBUI1KjTq2OBjEjkd6G_l34w4nSg0DyNURN6OSWaQ-g3jk8pFu0TY64InMpECtdYAMBlQZIA7ov6cOQ/s2363/P1020179.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1398" data-original-width="2363" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsYgx2M98BJ7H3YmRZxG2ZwZvPnR9AV0eiH9oAUJrRdncAdVEmHs5EtEhJhz1Sr0AqTEfkA6Ee2Jm68fNwhcfRUUUo64xwJxoUQbiKBUI1KjTq2OBjEjkd6G_l34w4nSg0DyNURN6OSWaQ-g3jk8pFu0TY64InMpECtdYAMBlQZIA7ov6cOQ/w640-h378/P1020179.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>..I am very much looking forward to getting these on the table for a gunfight - perhaps between Christmas and New Year.. </div><div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div>
<p>Speaking of which, "A Merry Christmas!" to all my reader.. and by way of a festive snippet...
🎄
</p>
<p>
This Christmas pudding is believed to be the last surviving from a batch of
1,000 sent to sailors and Royal Marines serving on the front during the Boer
War at Christmas in 1900.
</p>
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</div>
<p>The puddings were commissioned from London confectioner Peek, Frean and Co., by Dame Agnes Weston, known as Aggie, a philanthropist known for her kindness to sailors, and intended as a morale booster for for the sailors and marines on the front line. </p><p>Aggie is best known for setting up rest homes (hostels) for sailors to stay
in when in port – somewhere to help them avoid the temptations of drink and sex, in fact she campaigned actively against the evils of alcohol (they reckon one in six matelots
abstained from the daily rum ration, and even beer, as a result of her
campaign).
</p>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAB8H4oCr6GyI66Ufyw3fZ1gWp_QnfzVDBPJfqOyObjD47vLHC-mRni58FHhkFr7MIYfyQ-kw8RRd0RuP5UKW-FrfeLEy8Tva05yRUjDgmM5XXKna2flL8wx3edjFWRr730M5ykBhHePZFNzoO9D-9iFp_Z_wgZV0zavgZrj442E33bdDFeg/s810/408803337_759448136209343_8013835606139789188_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="810" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAB8H4oCr6GyI66Ufyw3fZ1gWp_QnfzVDBPJfqOyObjD47vLHC-mRni58FHhkFr7MIYfyQ-kw8RRd0RuP5UKW-FrfeLEy8Tva05yRUjDgmM5XXKna2flL8wx3edjFWRr730M5ykBhHePZFNzoO9D-9iFp_Z_wgZV0zavgZrj442E33bdDFeg/w640-h426/408803337_759448136209343_8013835606139789188_n.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<p>
Any how, no one knows how this tin came to survive... it either never made it to
South Africa, or it was brought back by its recipient, but either way it was
found at the back of a cupboard in a home in Poole in 2011 (I reckon I have a
jar of Marmite at the back of mine of about the same age 😀) and
loaned to the Royal Navy Museum in Portsmouth’s historic dockyard; its
curators believe it’s the oldest Christmas pudding in the world.
</p>
<p>
Not sure I'd want to eat it after 120 years – despite “high-class ingredients
only” inside apparently – but the tin still features instructions for
preparation, as well as a message which reads: “For the Naval Brigade, In the
Front, With Miss Weston's Best Christmas & New Year, 1900, Wishes.”
</p>
<p>
<a href="https://www.aggies.org.uk/about-aggie-weston" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The charity she set up [clicky]</a>
in 1876 still helps sailors and their families today.
</p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfGl0la7QkgNxx_LgP-zF0faR3M64VdGDvoLoHKaluh5iP8Lvj5dCP9QN2H3R-Qmb57CzkQfRBQjXcvPkaU8N57AOuQlN61zD6S5n5ZNtdiw794qfjVdVzFnGkyw6bhgKiQoFTNQwA7rcNoiRqlT3DjBp3-7_d-hOYj0Z2oLtooq298AAY6Q/s640/Capture.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfGl0la7QkgNxx_LgP-zF0faR3M64VdGDvoLoHKaluh5iP8Lvj5dCP9QN2H3R-Qmb57CzkQfRBQjXcvPkaU8N57AOuQlN61zD6S5n5ZNtdiw794qfjVdVzFnGkyw6bhgKiQoFTNQwA7rcNoiRqlT3DjBp3-7_d-hOYj0Z2oLtooq298AAY6Q/w480-h640/Capture.JPG" width="480" /></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;">The lady herself, bless her.. when she died, she was buried
with full naval honours <br />(the first time that such an honour had
been accorded to a woman) 👏</span>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ </p>
<p><u>Beer of the <strike>Week</strike> <b>Year</b>..</u></p>
<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjStkZhxvPRzkqzkdA5N1I4dmzMcUeI0c0CabQ9l7fbXSrWHuJ6WlTCoUrBHeK4n-_9OtquLcVqEZqDYyuvaVh6tUxLlBHKeapEyQegGB5c1vVMhQgC5901cHsEtiq7pAZky5_4dM4X_S8mqsEBCN7xT4cfs0Bo7HZowR0nzu8IrSLQDc4K5g/s480/Nuttycombe-RCHPitchfork2023.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="360" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjStkZhxvPRzkqzkdA5N1I4dmzMcUeI0c0CabQ9l7fbXSrWHuJ6WlTCoUrBHeK4n-_9OtquLcVqEZqDYyuvaVh6tUxLlBHKeapEyQegGB5c1vVMhQgC5901cHsEtiq7pAZky5_4dM4X_S8mqsEBCN7xT4cfs0Bo7HZowR0nzu8IrSLQDc4K5g/s320/Nuttycombe-RCHPitchfork2023.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>Bit of brewing history.. so years ago this stuff was brewed by a brewery called RCH (the beers name, by the way, commemorates the basic weaponry carried by rebels in the Monmouth Rebellion of 1685). <p></p><p>Unhappily RCH closed it's doors in 2017, but happily the beers were continued to be brewed by a new brewery also called Pitchfork after the flagship ale - unfortunately they then had to close their doors earlier this year. </p><p>It's a tough old market for brewers... costs have sky rocketed.. to say I was gutted at the thought of no more Pitchfork ale is an understatement. When the receivers went in I almost drove the 300 odd miles to get a few boxes of the bankrupt stock to keep me going!</p><p>Then <a href="https://nuttycombebrewery.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Nuttycombe Brewery</a> enter the scene - they are a new brewery (2022) that started up in the premises of another brewery that had closed down (Cotleigh) purely to make sure the Cotleigh beers continued - when Pitchfork closed down they also picked up the RCH/Pitchfork portfolio of beers... </p><p>...and so it was that as I walked slightly despondently to my favourite pub in Bath this week, where I'd sunk gallons of Pitchfork over the years, you can imagine how gob smacking surprised I was to see it advertised on the board outside...</p><p>The stuff is glorious, it is golden, hoppy, sweet'ish, but with an almost tangy aftertaste - it's not rocket fuel, and I could drink it all day and never get bored.. this one's an 11/10.. 🍻</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ </p>
<p style="text-align: left;">
..finally, lest anyone believe that Dickens was not possessed of a cracking sense of
humour, let me leave you with this nugget from the excellent "Dombey and Son"
(this years Christmas Dickens)..
</p>
<p></p>
<dd> <i>Mrs MacStinger resorted to a great distance every Sunday morning, to
attend the ministry of the Reverend Melchisedech Howler </i>[now there's a quintessential Dickensian name..😂]<i>,
who, having been one day discharged from the West India Docks on a
false suspicion (got up expressly against him by the general enemy) of
screwing gimlets into puncheons, and applying his lips to the orifice </i>[😆]<i>, had
announced the destruction of the world for that day two years, at ten in
the morning, and opened a front parlour for the reception of ladies and
gentlemen of the Ranting persuasion, upon whom, on the first occasion of
their assemblage, the admonitions of the Reverend Melchisedech had
produced so powerful an effect, that, in their rapturous performance of a
sacred jig </i>[😂]<i>, which closed the service, the whole flock broke through into a
kitchen below, and disabled a mangle belonging to one of the fold.</i></dd>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Pure and utter comedy gold.. I'm not ashamed to say I chortled out loud.. unfortunately I was in the pub at the time, so
probably not my best moment.. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ </p>
<p> Laters, as the young people are want to say... and enjoy the day between now, and then.. 🎅</p>
</div>Steve-the-Wargamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07077311120172727690noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33041938.post-73851266331167829282023-12-16T12:00:00.194+00:002023-12-16T12:00:00.135+00:00"Firing into the Brown" #33 - Brown, Cowboys, and beer 'natch<div>
<p>
<span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;"><i>"So Carnehan weeds out the pick of his men, and sets the two of the
Army to show them drill and at the end of two weeks the men can
manoeuvre about as well as Volunteers. So he marches with the Chief to a
great big plain on the top of a mountain, and the Chiefs men rushes into
a village and takes it; we three Martinis
<b>firing into the brown </b>of the enemy".</i></span>
</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Kipling "The Man Who Would Be King"</i></span>
</p>
</div>
<span style="text-align: left;">Time for another update..</span>
<div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div>
<p></p>
<p>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh28X4csG6gspbQZdg-zGhq5L-xJpgyLuKU5lqQj_wZDjOpsu4VBhpH2cYxirFhINH5O_WkfzvCv-mJaWkrAEPwM0CzmHCzLwmjqUbQav1m6YBGJF4Iw6BQy-Gk1sa5vaBZbO5jJjKKKC_Jr__28zOKanGCJSgSzGzvlos6PNxvOGXys2piKQ/s600/81n87iXlB0L._AC_UL600_SR600,600_.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh28X4csG6gspbQZdg-zGhq5L-xJpgyLuKU5lqQj_wZDjOpsu4VBhpH2cYxirFhINH5O_WkfzvCv-mJaWkrAEPwM0CzmHCzLwmjqUbQav1m6YBGJF4Iw6BQy-Gk1sa5vaBZbO5jJjKKKC_Jr__28zOKanGCJSgSzGzvlos6PNxvOGXys2piKQ/w200-h200/81n87iXlB0L._AC_UL600_SR600,600_.jpg" width="200" /></a>
</p>
Not a one for putting a lot of fiction book reviews here in the main blog; they
tend to live over their on the left in the Book Reviews page, but I thought this
one was worth a bit of focus...
<p></p>
<p>
I must have first read this when I was a young teenager, probably because it
was written by the "same bloke wot wrote Hornblower" (sic) but what I'd
forgotten was how good it was... so the premise is that a young sailor,
the sole survivor of a British cruiser destroyed by a German surface raider in
WW1, is rescued by his enemies, but then escapes from the ship while it is undergoing urgent repairs received in the battle, and then seeks to
delay it's departure at whatever the cost to himself.
</p>
<p>
But it is far more than that - it's also about his life and all the influences on it, how he came to be conceived, about
his indomitable mother, about the vicissitudes of life, about a father he
never knows, and most of all it is about Forester's love and admiration for
the Royal Navy, all which helps to explain his actions and why he is doing it..
bit boys own now, old fashioned undoubtedly, but I thought it was a lovely read..
</p>
<p>Giving this one a 9/10</p>
<div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div>
<p>The cowboys are done... first batch here..</p><p>Wagon... a nice model this, and comes with four horses and the guy to lead them</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia4KQYSspLcP5q8uD9SHPsXCO4vq3eGVpElVlWeR_HFdldrt6AyZWQaEgWNOSLVbW1JWy2Ta0WoRRtUYwq6dIcotFrE6wfpSIAyZ4cnG9SVUuVF9NvBTVV67GGWeKD-kZVTBusVEkoiFDwv6z-CyeKy4U3O64EGdmggFLjglhS_vAKa5l_jQ/s3672/Dsc01222.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2754" data-original-width="3672" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia4KQYSspLcP5q8uD9SHPsXCO4vq3eGVpElVlWeR_HFdldrt6AyZWQaEgWNOSLVbW1JWy2Ta0WoRRtUYwq6dIcotFrE6wfpSIAyZ4cnG9SVUuVF9NvBTVV67GGWeKD-kZVTBusVEkoiFDwv6z-CyeKy4U3O64EGdmggFLjglhS_vAKa5l_jQ/w640-h480/Dsc01222.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Very pleasing.. can see this one featuring in any number of scenario's - rob the wagon, hide behind the wagon, supply wagon, hide in the wagon, destroy the wagon, etcetc<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh68HMwBgpDDOJcWdS1YC2mgCftZUUi5kdVOWwS8sYa5Hvnb5W7yATvTREo0LAaybdBCj_pIK-B42kLpi4fHR9UAHbhyphenhyphen8fNslySxfDzCSWU6Dpk6Nlj2Qhj7VDUda45Q6SNuZPj1RgEKhsae6g-AIhTuoX1Su6ceEObt4n7bb3Drvs2uSKeOw/s3672/Dsc01223.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2754" data-original-width="3672" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh68HMwBgpDDOJcWdS1YC2mgCftZUUi5kdVOWwS8sYa5Hvnb5W7yATvTREo0LAaybdBCj_pIK-B42kLpi4fHR9UAHbhyphenhyphen8fNslySxfDzCSWU6Dpk6Nlj2Qhj7VDUda45Q6SNuZPj1RgEKhsae6g-AIhTuoX1Su6ceEObt4n7bb3Drvs2uSKeOw/w640-h480/Dsc01223.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Now the first selection of hired guns, cow pokes, innocent townsmen, gun slingers, outlaws and lawmen</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx-JHhik_873JbeNDHJaZimZSdRz2XBb1eVq8FqxjV0Gv4q1Ozq_ZJbFWt62ZZWSw1hXYR8EbLRRWD38xxcJ9FALyLYOuF8m5f_CgE2fCqYbPwJ-4Khei3Qq2TjloTbsg3Lw3UWodgiYbjG1b4o0hyphenhyphenLBMCnriA6Pgl5NS-pL1nOBLNWaVJzQ/s3600/Dsc01224.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1934" data-original-width="3600" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx-JHhik_873JbeNDHJaZimZSdRz2XBb1eVq8FqxjV0Gv4q1Ozq_ZJbFWt62ZZWSw1hXYR8EbLRRWD38xxcJ9FALyLYOuF8m5f_CgE2fCqYbPwJ-4Khei3Qq2TjloTbsg3Lw3UWodgiYbjG1b4o0hyphenhyphenLBMCnriA6Pgl5NS-pL1nOBLNWaVJzQ/w640-h344/Dsc01224.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Love the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duster_%28clothing%29" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">dusters </a>(long light coats worn to protect against sun and dust/sand) - guy on the right has a double barrel (he'll be 'Doc').. the one in the front middle is going to be 'Sneaky Pete' for the gun he's hiding.. 😏</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjht6Q2TtuzAzBfocmLQbfFlSYW_elVFrBHFZjgiBsfBd_Xybzb2g1aqhVs4fhyMNvQwTxHriL729iXgMJUW5tczc8Zcxki50hK-6Vpo6syAS4O8sjdluo_o-32MUO6dk2lDX1EKZLZzDJph_ZZLE_WQHbUTI8fQ2D-VryqVicBEowyeY3KXQ/s3458/Dsc01225.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1921" data-original-width="3458" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjht6Q2TtuzAzBfocmLQbfFlSYW_elVFrBHFZjgiBsfBd_Xybzb2g1aqhVs4fhyMNvQwTxHriL729iXgMJUW5tczc8Zcxki50hK-6Vpo6syAS4O8sjdluo_o-32MUO6dk2lDX1EKZLZzDJph_ZZLE_WQHbUTI8fQ2D-VryqVicBEowyeY3KXQ/w640-h356/Dsc01225.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>"Standoff!"..</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZFZt_INXoSi9Sm-AvPZvnPO-VVyPdi2WKgyxdn_Pf-KG-uiGsWhnfvxuWEW6oeqGiD96XfZsOJ9YTZ86wPtuTcfpdjh60b-79xNaHfYfdcSs1M62GriEnBRm7BTQacCr2lPPKMI69xjOmDN0uq4Y8eugbojEEPBNCmp6S2B5jqUi3Mvr_pg/s3462/Dsc01226.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1979" data-original-width="3462" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZFZt_INXoSi9Sm-AvPZvnPO-VVyPdi2WKgyxdn_Pf-KG-uiGsWhnfvxuWEW6oeqGiD96XfZsOJ9YTZ86wPtuTcfpdjh60b-79xNaHfYfdcSs1M62GriEnBRm7BTQacCr2lPPKMI69xjOmDN0uq4Y8eugbojEEPBNCmp6S2B5jqUi3Mvr_pg/w640-h366/Dsc01226.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>"Did you see which way they went?"</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgznq-ptDW92hmFLU5HZ2SLBtVCbyxdJGNRGvjcR6xFk7aRfP7A2pQaikcUp8_LI71UZ0mucFhT5KkiPv7RpB_GjQDlkrS8TtJlKOfrMy4ZSQoUbREeQ9Qcf5JdyX69rNDTAq-jVLotvIVd_YG7DjXNaYqOk5PP747zT9JoxGljUmzE8HouDw/s3255/Dsc01227.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2633" data-original-width="3255" height="518" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgznq-ptDW92hmFLU5HZ2SLBtVCbyxdJGNRGvjcR6xFk7aRfP7A2pQaikcUp8_LI71UZ0mucFhT5KkiPv7RpB_GjQDlkrS8TtJlKOfrMy4ZSQoUbREeQ9Qcf5JdyX69rNDTAq-jVLotvIVd_YG7DjXNaYqOk5PP747zT9JoxGljUmzE8HouDw/w640-h518/Dsc01227.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Uh oh.. 😀</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj71FhvUIgo8RnD0J7dyX2dHyGeBxAJb8B8wOh2Nt1Xi65BCAHuJRcWJS7kHjKJZYeuua9Wau9L4aN7Hk-nIShcJygro9F0QQMY3mo1uH_3o_HqWeanmvjLX9uNtCLR-T-j8V6__8tL-Hf0kGxMd42v2JM_ZbXHTKEOoptCEeWfWG2H7PH5Rw/s3537/Dsc01228.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2456" data-original-width="3537" height="444" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj71FhvUIgo8RnD0J7dyX2dHyGeBxAJb8B8wOh2Nt1Xi65BCAHuJRcWJS7kHjKJZYeuua9Wau9L4aN7Hk-nIShcJygro9F0QQMY3mo1uH_3o_HqWeanmvjLX9uNtCLR-T-j8V6__8tL-Hf0kGxMd42v2JM_ZbXHTKEOoptCEeWfWG2H7PH5Rw/w640-h444/Dsc01228.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>More anon, including my favourite of the lot.. 'Pancho'.. 😁</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p>
<p><u>Beer of the Week:</u></p>
<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHydUZLYHWh01ntF1ezvct2YSpY13y8_oZQykiQ7GWrsvDaIwcxwa-GVw9QGvBaVbkcE-vINZnIEF8jxCZfr6b-jzBADXME6e-akmXvg725CFxmg1jYgSDIY0Cad7zoi-Txuoc2YEeKqBrj1rZ1nDLiVWq8kF_nIzsh-Hw6X4Vc8xpRiu-oA/s500/beer-5513_e2163_hd.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="408" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHydUZLYHWh01ntF1ezvct2YSpY13y8_oZQykiQ7GWrsvDaIwcxwa-GVw9QGvBaVbkcE-vINZnIEF8jxCZfr6b-jzBADXME6e-akmXvg725CFxmg1jYgSDIY0Cad7zoi-Txuoc2YEeKqBrj1rZ1nDLiVWq8kF_nIzsh-Hw6X4Vc8xpRiu-oA/w163-h200/beer-5513_e2163_hd.jpeg" width="163" /></a></div>We've seen mention of this one before on the blog, but in a week of otherwise quietness (on the beer front anyway) this was my standout beer of the week (new rule - bottles don't count from here on in, got to be a beer drunk in a pub)..<p></p><p>Was out for a walk with the current Mrs Steve the Wargamer and the gang of reprobates known as the Jolly Boys* (and their current partners) this week, and we had cause to re-hydrate at the most excellent <a href="https://hawkleyinn.co.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Hawkley Inn [clicky]</a> when what should see upon the pumps, but this oft bottle drunk beer, that is rarely seen on draught.. we almost bit their arm off, except Rodders (the leader of the Jolly Boys) who decided on "Pressed Rat and Warthog" (and yes that is a <a href="https://thefoxinnfoxcorner.com/triple-fff-brewery-pressed-rat-warthog-2/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">beer [clicky] </a>as well as a song by the excellent Cream)</p><p>While I can't for the life of me understand why the draught is a whole 1% weaker than the bottled version (it'll be to do with excise/duty and beer strength undoubtedly), in truth it loses little in the translation - ours were fresh as a daisy, golden, full of bitter/grapefruit flavour (Citra hops without a doubt), and dangerously drinkable..</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l6TwpT92ApA/XKmr0AOY0gI/AAAAAAAAPd8/bFw3AgkDOooE8MG_PoqGPz4BZXgVyZ1QgCLcBGAs/s1600/Dsc01032.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1054" data-original-width="1600" height="422" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l6TwpT92ApA/XKmr0AOY0gI/AAAAAAAAPd8/bFw3AgkDOooE8MG_PoqGPz4BZXgVyZ1QgCLcBGAs/w640-h422/Dsc01032.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;">..top left... this one dates back to 2019 so it's been a staple for a while.. 😏</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Cheers!</p><p>*the Jolly Boys are the bunch I sail with in the summer..</p>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p>
<p>Laters, as the young people are want to say...</p>
</div>Steve-the-Wargamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07077311120172727690noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33041938.post-32285179214209035102023-12-09T12:00:00.182+00:002023-12-10T07:40:30.375+00:00"Firing into the Brown" #32 - Thomas Ballard's Regiment of Foote completed, Dickens, beer and stuff..<div>
<p>
<span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;"><i>"So Carnehan weeds out the pick of his men, and sets the two of the
Army to show them drill and at the end of two weeks the men can
manoeuvre about as well as Volunteers. So he marches with the Chief to a
great big plain on the top of a mountain, and the Chiefs men rushes into
a village and takes it; we three Martinis
<b>firing into the brown </b>of the enemy".</i></span>
</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Kipling "The Man Who Would Be King"</i></span>
</p>
</div>
<span style="text-align: left;">Time for another update..</span>
<div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div>
<p></p>
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</div>
Thomas Ballard's regiment have now been based and flagged.. job done..
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Considering that they were the first little metal men to receive the tender
ministrations of my paint brush since March the year before last, I'm
reasonably happy with these.. the paint brushes hadn't fallen apart, and
the paints were still vaguely liquid!
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
These were painted using my usual technique - black primer, damp brush all
over with white, and then start blocking in colours... rather than
normal paint I use inks wherever possible (as they self shade when you have
the black primer/white dampbrush combo). I then apply washes over
any normal paints to dirty them down - these guys are supposed to look like
they are on campaign, not the parade ground.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Washes, b.t.w, were venerable bottles of Games Workshop 'flesh wash', 'armour
wash', and some newer ones from Vallejo in the form of Umber and Sepia 'Game
Wash'.
</div>
<div>
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</div>
<br />So there you have them - Thomas Ballard's Regiment - as present at the
Battle of Edgehill - painted December 2023 - 24 figures - mostly Peter Pig
with a leavening of Steel Fist (officer/drummer/ensign and the kneeling
musketeer)
<p></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ </p>
<p>
That time of the year again, my regular reader will know that as Christmas
approaches it is my want to read a Charles Dickens book, so it's Dickens
time again!
</p>
<p>Here's the 'Christmas Dickens' timeline to date...</p>
<p></p>
<ul>
<li>2013 - "David Copperfield" (9/10)</li>
<li>2014 - "Nicholas Nickleby" (exceptional)</li>
<li>2015 - "Oliver Twist" (8/10)</li>
<li>2016 - "The Old Curiosity Shop" (7/10)</li>
<li>2017 - "A Tale of Two Cities" (7/10) and "A Christmas Carol" (9/10)</li>
<li>2018 - "Great Expectations" (10/10)</li>
<li>2019 - "Bleak House" (8/10)</li>
<li>2020 - "Little Dorrit" (retired hurt - no score 😏)</li>
<li>2021 - "Our Mutual Friend" (8/10)</li>
<li>2022 - "Pickwick Papers" - brilliant... (9/10)</li>
<li>2023 - "Dombey and Son" - stay tuned for a review...<br /></li>
</ul>
<p>
My top four Dickens novels so far would be "David Copperfield", "Nicholas
Nickleby", "Great Expectations" and last year's absolute joy, "Pickwick
Papers" - <strike>"worst"</strike> (it's Dickens for goodness sake, how can
there be a worse?), 'least enjoyed', was without a doubt "Little Dorrit"
which was mawkish beyond extreme, but of which my opinion seems to be at
odds with most other people - I may have to have another go at some point,
as Dickens 'only' wrote 15 novels, and I've now read 11 (and a bit) of
them...
</p>
<p>
This years Dickens, however, will be "Dombey and Son", of which I know
nothing of the story, so a bit of a voyage of discovery...
</p>
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</div>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ </p>
<p><u>Beer of the week:</u></p><p>..not had the opportunity to try this before but a couple of pints yesterday
confirmed my initial view that this is a lovely pint.. clean
tasting, very fresh golden ale brewed with green East Kent Goldings
hops as soon as they are picked... kind of a Beaujolais nouveau of the beer
world.. I'll give this one a 7/10.. 😀🍻
</p>
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</div>
<p style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ </p>
<p>Laters, as the young people are want to say...</p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
</div>
Steve-the-Wargamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07077311120172727690noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33041938.post-76492094238316929832023-12-02T12:00:00.399+00:002023-12-02T12:00:00.130+00:00"Firing into the Brown" #31 - "You cowboy", Thomas Ballard's Regiment of Foote, and an anniversary...<div>
<p>
<span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;"><i>"So Carnehan weeds out the pick of his men, and sets the two of the
Army to show them drill and at the end of two weeks the men can
manoeuvre about as well as Volunteers. So he marches with the Chief to a
great big plain on the top of a mountain, and the Chiefs men rushes into
a village and takes it; we three Martinis
<b>firing into the brown </b>of the enemy".</i></span>
</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Kipling "The Man Who Would Be King"</i></span>
</p>
</div>
<span style="text-align: left;">Time for another update..</span>
<div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div>
<p>Been a while, but little metal men have appeared in the manse..</p>
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</div>
<div><br /></div>
Cowboys!🤠
<div>
<br />
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<br />
<div><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">...and a wagon.. 😀</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrUwawz_Od30kyrclF7AEYtzmctV_hdHLIHHp8TznjBQlnXTB5ln-y8mvNgkj9ZweFPvV0KNCYQhiO28c8s3sjck0iVST47zxolk32tNbd6nM6wQlZRDFaLvyYP61Fzw3HR_cmSaPzZy2AT9BXznwSlJScg-RfIzXyofO6_zy_o-CmSp356A/s4000/20231123_103215.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrUwawz_Od30kyrclF7AEYtzmctV_hdHLIHHp8TznjBQlnXTB5ln-y8mvNgkj9ZweFPvV0KNCYQhiO28c8s3sjck0iVST47zxolk32tNbd6nM6wQlZRDFaLvyYP61Fzw3HR_cmSaPzZy2AT9BXznwSlJScg-RfIzXyofO6_zy_o-CmSp356A/w640-h480/20231123_103215.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<div><br /></div>
Very much enjoyed the little set-to at
<a href="https://steve-the-wargamer.blogspot.com/2023/03/firing-into-brown-28-skirmish-at-long.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Long Bute Farm [clicky]</a>, and promised that for the next set-to I'd try the 2nd Edition rules, but in
order to do that I wanted some pukka cowboys rather than my ACW
stand-in's... I've gone 15mm thinking they would fit my existing
Sudan/desert terrain as I have a feeling, I'd like to set these games
somewhere on the Mexican border (and indeed one of these bags does indeed
feature some Mexican bandoleros!)
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Not painting all of them, just enough for four or five a-side.. a
selection are already mounted on pennies, the wagon constructed, all of them
undercoated and ready for the brush...
</div>
<div>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ </p>
<p style="text-align: left;"></p>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5sVbTbB-3ZXJc50Ivmb1hYpjgdetNg2acnVZMk84DlCvvAKkl-d-sKSsngT-Er1gVz_1rzQz0W7drXvw9iuVDA6VFv_0O_D0a1zLAkCWNv5S9BtG6L5VJBquMRcuh_PtUXsOeux-DsJ4uefDvIzJLdaHgtJCDYMbt5DmjROmHXb5SkbCJeg/s558/Capture.JPG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="558" data-original-width="391" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5sVbTbB-3ZXJc50Ivmb1hYpjgdetNg2acnVZMk84DlCvvAKkl-d-sKSsngT-Er1gVz_1rzQz0W7drXvw9iuVDA6VFv_0O_D0a1zLAkCWNv5S9BtG6L5VJBquMRcuh_PtUXsOeux-DsJ4uefDvIzJLdaHgtJCDYMbt5DmjROmHXb5SkbCJeg/s320/Capture.JPG" width="224" /></a>
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<span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;">From the freely available online<br /> Osprey Elite -
"Soldiers<br /> of the English Civil War 1: Infantry"<br /> link
in the ECW Project Blog</span>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Couldn't help noticing the other day while playing the
<a href="https://steve-the-wargamer.blogspot.com/2023/11/firing-into-brown-29-battle-of-grimpen.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ECW game </a>that the two sides of the project are currently slightly unbalanced as the
Royalists have six regiments of foot completed, whilst the Parliamentarian
army only has five.. time to remedy that!
<p></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">
Looking at the order of battle for Edgehill that I am using as my "starter
for ten", I picked Thomas Ballard's Regiment, purely because I had only
painted one other regiment in the brigade..
</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">
My main source for information on the battles, leaders, and regiments of the
British Civil Wars is the BCW site, but I've noticed that it is currently unavailable so have had to revert to the last scanned copy of the site on the Wayback machine.. I hope the owner is OK, as the site is an absolute gold mine of information.. link in the ECW Project page has been updated to take you to the saved version of the website, by the way..</p><p style="text-align: left;">There's not a huge amount of information available about either Sir Thomas Ballard, or indeed his regiment, and that's mostly because the regiment (and him to an extent!) were a bit of a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-hit_wonder" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">one hit wonder</a>..</p><p style="text-align: left;">The old Sealed Knot website for the reenactment of the regiment was good for the history, though - link here:</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130626044658/http://www.thomasballards.co.uk/page11.htm">Col Thomas Ballards - Ballards in the Civil War (archive.org)</a>
</p>
<p>So, to summarise the information there, it seems: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Thomas Ballard was born in 1600, and was the 3rd (and only surviving) son of
Henry Ballard.</li><li>The family lived in Southwell near
Nottingham/Newark, and also owned property in Lincolnshire. That becomes important later..</li><li>He served under Lord Grandison in The Bishops War, and there is mention (but little documentary evidence) that he also served abroad in the 30 Years War.</li><li>I think it probable that he did serve though, as Parliament saw him experienced enough to appoint him to command and recruit a regiment (one of five) for
service in Ireland, following the rebellion there in the spring of 1642. Only
one was actually sent abroad, and the others (including Ballard's) were incorporated into the
Parliament army at the start of the war.</li><li>Ballard's apparently were under strength and
marched later than the other regiments, but by October the
regiment was complete and had joined the Earl of Essex's army in the
Worcester area. </li><li>At this time Ballard was appointed Sergeant-Major General of
Foot (similar I guess to Brigadier) and had command of four regiments - his own, Essex's foot, <a href="https://steve-the-wargamer.blogspot.com/2019/05/lord-brookes-regiment-of-foote-dyers.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lord
Brooke's</a> and Denzil Holles' totalling 3604 men excluding officers. Ballard's numbered 776 men and 33 officers with the men formed
into 10 companies. </li><li>At Edgehill. Ballard's brigade was in reserve, positioned on the left centre
of the army, behind Charles Essex's brigade. 600 musketeers from the brigade were detached to the
left flank to counter Royalist dragoons (200 of these were from Ballard's). Royalist cavalry charges on both
flanks routed the Parliamentary horse and must have had a devastating effect on
these musketeers as there was no no pike support. </li></ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZsF5Ik-We4ud-QGsu7Q4JTiJ9wQJnaXwzksz2yWSZ1unacPfHAgfGSwao2U84YFJ3nucuG5UgjYUXTPqRJLa4pABikoIpjPexW1nCGguLpsW9ro5zp0XQ1M6mmUU6K5bfkdjldoHU2zb8aDS23ly7G4mdyxuX8ba0Ofy66Lxj1T0_uZ6iGg/s870/Edgehill%20-%20Ballard.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="537" data-original-width="870" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZsF5Ik-We4ud-QGsu7Q4JTiJ9wQJnaXwzksz2yWSZ1unacPfHAgfGSwao2U84YFJ3nucuG5UgjYUXTPqRJLa4pABikoIpjPexW1nCGguLpsW9ro5zp0XQ1M6mmUU6K5bfkdjldoHU2zb8aDS23ly7G4mdyxuX8ba0Ofy66Lxj1T0_uZ6iGg/w640-h396/Edgehill%20-%20Ballard.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Rattled by both the defeat of their cavalry and pressure from the Royalist foot, the
brigade in front of Ballard's broke and ran but despite this, Ballard's four
regiments stood firm and engaged the opposing foot, helped by two
regiments of Parliament cavalry that had been in reserve - this turned the course of the battle.</li><li>The battle ended in a stalemate, but the losses suffered by Thomas Ballard's Regiment were dreadful - the
brigade as a whole is estimated to have lost approximately 40% of it's strength. but Ballard's lost
nearly 45%; 776 men down to 439 - two company commanders had been lost and two companies formerly of
80 men were down to 19 and 15 each.</li><li>There are no further records of the regiment participating in any major actions as the reduced unit was relegated to a Garrison unit and in in Aug 1643 Thomas Ballard himself left to take up a command in the Midlands and the regiment was taken over by it's Lt-Col, Francis Martyn. From May 1644 to October 1645 the regiment formed the garrison of Aylesbury. A few of the officers seem to have been continued in pay until spring 1646. . </li><li>Ballard himself fell from favour after the attack on Newark failed. Some accounts have it that he did
not pursue the attack as fiercely as he might because he still had friends in Newark (told you that was pertinent.. 😁). It is believed that he subsequently left
England (he apparently applied for a pass to do so from Parliament) and may
have been buried in Rouen, France or emigrated to America (where there were
several Ballard's amongst the early settlers despite it not being a common
name) or even joined Henry Morgan in Jamaica (!).</li></ul><p></p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimBFDWuP_oQMGqAlzL3X3qenJ7Axbsaf2WIprB3PDdAHpUKgKTC_q3FuUfpPWswITPZG-wDotouP5E5xflJxt7KiRbOGZ1mhmS-cOBo3ZiubRoh5lIPceeVkmtWjvr_S6TkbwrCxrJNosawrZeha_BPTsRlKFV8stIn-aJMmCGyqWssUUK9Q/s2419/20231201_102050.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1492" data-original-width="2419" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimBFDWuP_oQMGqAlzL3X3qenJ7Axbsaf2WIprB3PDdAHpUKgKTC_q3FuUfpPWswITPZG-wDotouP5E5xflJxt7KiRbOGZ1mhmS-cOBo3ZiubRoh5lIPceeVkmtWjvr_S6TkbwrCxrJNosawrZeha_BPTsRlKFV8stIn-aJMmCGyqWssUUK9Q/w640-h394/20231201_102050.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;">Painted - not yet based - bear with..</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>From The Cromwell Association Online Directory of Parliamentarian Army
Officers:</p>
<p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>Thomas Ballard Colonel of a regiment of foot in the earl of Essex’s Army
from or by 12 Aug. 1642. On 6 Jan. 1643 he was paid a month’s salary as
colonel of a brigade from 9 Dec. 1642, and as colonel of a regiment and
captain of a company from 24 Dec. Ballard was still colonel as late as 31
July 1643; however, he left in the summer to campaign instead in the
Midlands and the regiment had passed to Francis Martyn by 25 Aug. 1643.
References: TNA, SP28/1a/66, SP28/5/39, SP28/8/224, SP28/9/187.</i></li></ul>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ </p><p style="text-align: left;">...and the Anniversary?? Well the 27th November just gone, marked the 17th Anniversary of the first ever blog post here on the "Random Musings".. where the hell did those years go???! 😱</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"></p>
<p>Laters, as the young people are want to say...</p>
<p></p>
</div>
Steve-the-Wargamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07077311120172727690noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33041938.post-47405717438687013732023-11-25T12:00:00.111+00:002023-11-25T12:00:00.133+00:00"Firing into the Brown" #30 - Malta GC, Volunteer Reviews and a Sally Port<div>
<p>
<span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;"><i>"So Carnehan weeds out the pick of his men, and sets the two of the
Army to show them drill and at the end of two weeks the men can
manoeuvre about as well as Volunteers. So he marches with the Chief to a
great big plain on the top of a mountain, and the Chiefs men rushes into
a village and takes it; we three Martinis
<b>firing into the brown </b>of the enemy".</i></span>
</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Kipling "The Man Who Would Be King"</i></span>
</p>
</div>
<span style="text-align: left;">Time for another update..</span>
<div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div>
<p></p>
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</div>
Just finished a very enjoyable 2nd circumnavigation of the "Harry Gilmour"
series, which is a fictionalised account of the life of a young guy in the RNVR
in WW2 serving in submarines (very much recommended by the way).. for a couple of the books the submarine
he's on is assigned to the near legendary
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10th_Submarine_Flotilla#Second_World_War" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">10th Submarine Flotilla [clicky]</a>, who were based at Malta.
<p></p>
<p>
One of the books (David) Black the author quotes as a source for the stories
he uses in the Harry Gilmour books was this one by James Holland - and on a
whim while in town I spotted it in Waterstone's while browsing, and bought it.
</p>
<p><b>
SO</b> pleased I did - the book is riveting and is my third "10 plus" of the year
- it tells the story of the siege of Malta through the many eyes of both
combatants (of both sides) and civilians engaged in the conflict. Nurses,
pilots, soldiers, anti aircraft gunners, submariners, admin staff,
entertainers, but also lots and lots of civilians having to live their lives
in hellish conditions.
</p>
<p>
The book is divided chronologically, and covers each of the phases of the
siege (which in order very roughly were, being attacked by Italians, then the
Germans, then left alone for a bit while the Germans were busy with
Barbarossa, before being attacked heavily by the Germans again) and covers the
air war, the vital importance of air cover for both defensive and offensive
reasons, the submarines (of course), and the role of Malta not just as an
island in the Mediterranean, but as the base for vital Allied operations
against first, Rommel in Libya, and secondly when that campaign was won, the
second front against Sicily.
</p>
<p>
Absolutely wonderful - can't recommend it enough.. Steve the Wargamer
rates this one as 10+
</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ </p>
<p></p>
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</div>
<p></p>
<p>
Little more on the Lines.. this is the Sally Port (in blue on the
map above), a 6-foot-wide (1.8 m) and 8-foot-high (2.4 m) tunnel built
through the West centre curtain to act as a sally port ie. a protected entry
or exit to the fortification, to save the garrison having to go the whole way
round every time they needed to go to either front or rear of the Lines..
</p>
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</div>
<p>
Those door hinges are serious pieces of ironmongery - the gates would have
been significant. The tunnel has regular passing points built in to the sides.
</p>
<p></p>
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</div>
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More background reading... <a href="https://www.portsmouth.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/development-and-planning-hilsea-lines-guidelines.pdf" rel="nofollow" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">Development and Planning Document - Portsmouth Council
(portsmouth.gov.uk)</a>
</div>
<p style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ </p>
<p>Couple of fascinating contemporary prints featuring the Lines.. this time from the The Easter Monday Volunteer Review in 1868. 'Nother fascinating rabbit hole by the way, as I knew nothing about these annual events.. </p><p>The Reviews were begun in 1861, and basically were a military exercise in how quickly volunteer troops (later these would be designated Territorial) could be concentrated in a single spot. Reviews were held in different venues, including Brighton, Dover, Guildford, Portsmouth, Tring, and Dunstable. Each “review” consisted of a march, a sham fight, and rifle shooting. </p>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_4xgTlCkCpsFkXV_JFu2jtEzQquZU6hoZVCrUOVmBVUTGUSJpABW9LW3pDVVWW3kIk5ERtSpxMx5xjPZBCQMV6YfevT64n4v864hM1nMJsskalrR7qPwLi5q4qz9nMzZaXw65CvkRDGIKE4PK9DK0Iyym4ALoPKCMFvNSMuP744s1areA4g/s1178/hilsea%201.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="811" data-original-width="1178" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_4xgTlCkCpsFkXV_JFu2jtEzQquZU6hoZVCrUOVmBVUTGUSJpABW9LW3pDVVWW3kIk5ERtSpxMx5xjPZBCQMV6YfevT64n4v864hM1nMJsskalrR7qPwLi5q4qz9nMzZaXw65CvkRDGIKE4PK9DK0Iyym4ALoPKCMFvNSMuP744s1areA4g/w640-h440/hilsea%201.JPG" width="640" /></a>
</td>
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<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;">"The Volunteer Review at Portsmouth: The First Hants Engineer
Volunteers Constructing a Barrel-Pier Bridge for the Sortie at Hilsea
Lines 1868" (c) Alamy</span>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br /><div>The Lines (albeit slightly stylised) can be seen in the background of the picture above, so this perspective would be from the north side of either the Creek, or more likely the moat, but in that slightly "epic" depiction the London Evening News was want to show! 😏</div><div><br /></div><div>Picture following was from the same event, but this time taken from the Lines looking North and is a better depiction as you can see the separation between moat and creek, and up on the hill in the far distance one of the Palmerston Forts, built to negate the technological advances in artillery that had already rendered the Lines obsolete militarily by the time they'd been finished..<br /><div><br />
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<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWDXr_RONCPL9eOuxQ4bJdAoZo3zE_UwDZCCDYixyHRSgpjBznxNx80c44cZ1sxQiAWkpKBoDyYTRgyduMN__FikTJHGinSUcd3HqpfX-d9q0alIDwIrNLkW9pqoLds6EwcixUaZ7S-3O1VISELoaREbI1dw4G3CtXCuY9fLa-NE7Af7vXEA/s1500/91SoimvLybL._AC_SL1500_.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #800180;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1058" data-original-width="1500" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWDXr_RONCPL9eOuxQ4bJdAoZo3zE_UwDZCCDYixyHRSgpjBznxNx80c44cZ1sxQiAWkpKBoDyYTRgyduMN__FikTJHGinSUcd3HqpfX-d9q0alIDwIrNLkW9pqoLds6EwcixUaZ7S-3O1VISELoaREbI1dw4G3CtXCuY9fLa-NE7Af7vXEA/w640-h452/91SoimvLybL._AC_SL1500_.jpg" width="640" /></span></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;">The Volunteer Review at Portsmouth, the Sortie from Hilsea Lines
(engraving) by English School, (19th century); Illustration for The
Illustrated London News, 25 April 1868.</span>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table><br /><div>
Not an event where they just went through the motions.. these exercises were highly regarded. “The whole affair was regarded with importance as demonstrating the efficiency of the Volunteer force, which behaved itself admirably,” said Edward Farr in The History of England. </div><div><br /></div><div>The reviews were discontinued in 1878, largely because of the 1871 Bank Holidays Act, which gave the railroads enough civilian traffic on Easter Mondays to refuse to transport the Volunteers, who up to then travelled at a significant discount.</div><div><br /></div><div>Fascinating, eh? 😀<br /><p style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ </p>
<p></p>
<p> Laters, as the young people are want to say...</p>
</div></div></div>Steve-the-Wargamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07077311120172727690noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33041938.post-49105890462050679392023-11-19T07:31:00.004+00:002024-02-14T11:04:45.376+00:00"Firing into the Brown" #29 - "Battle of Grimpen Mire" (OHW #24), and the Lines<div>
<p>
<span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;"><i>"So Carnehan weeds out the pick of his men, and sets the two of the
Army to show them drill and at the end of two weeks the men can
manoeuvre about as well as Volunteers. So he marches with the Chief to a
great big plain on the top of a mountain, and the Chiefs men rushes into
a village and takes it; we three Martini's
<b>firing into the brown </b>of the enemy".</i></span>
</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Kipling "The Man Who Would Be King"</i></span>
</p>
</div>
<span style="text-align: left;">Time for another update.. and about bleeding time too.. eight months
since the last one, foresooth!</span>
<div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div>
<p></p>
I suppose it behoves me to at least apologise to my reader (you know who you
are, Jim 😄) for my prolonged absence but what can I say - I was busy
elsewhere, the wargame mojo left me for a while (well at least the desire to
apply paint to little metal men, and set up tables for games anyway - reading
in the subject however, was unaffected), it was my first summer as a retired
person, so the
<a href="https://hurley20sparrow.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">boat</a>, and
<a href="https://steve-the-wargamer.blogspot.com/2021/07/alive-and-kicking.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gertrude</a> played a significant part in my absence - the weather (for the first
part of it anyway) was glorious, and inconducive to sitting in a stuffy
loft...
<div><br /></div>
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</div>
<div>
<p>Clearly however, the mojo is now stirring.. 😏</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
</p>
<p></p>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEB4Qz_9gor6ocrXv2caOGvh5j1lOvpC7sSTSJV3ZDcF6E0TVQumET5Tts1SwE2fSqcEtG9ivGDxPi_AaJVHSI0PFMjnfM2P0Zc6sEGZGs_e-6A6SGpr0rDIYyl7q-A_3RxxA6gu0yGtUv-ikTOOvu1wg-Fja9SUOCsjcISZmjJRUxc6-XAg/s415/Capture.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="361" data-original-width="415" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEB4Qz_9gor6ocrXv2caOGvh5j1lOvpC7sSTSJV3ZDcF6E0TVQumET5Tts1SwE2fSqcEtG9ivGDxPi_AaJVHSI0PFMjnfM2P0Zc6sEGZGs_e-6A6SGpr0rDIYyl7q-A_3RxxA6gu0yGtUv-ikTOOvu1wg-Fja9SUOCsjcISZmjJRUxc6-XAg/w200-h174/Capture.JPG" width="200" /></a>
</div>
Based on scenario #24 in Neil Thomas's "One Hour Wargames" I thought it long
overdue to get the English Civil War little metal men out for a run..
last game was February..
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
The scenario posits that one army is trying to clear enemy control from a
major road that provides them with both supply and communication. The fly in
the ointment though is that while they have superiority in force, their
ability to use those forces is constrained by the fact that there is terrain
either side of the road that is impassable/unavailable to
them...
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
West of the road is a dense wood that not only have they have not managed to
reconnoitre, but of which they have intelligence it is hard going, and not
passable. Meanwhile, East of the road is Grimpen Mire*, a supposedly
bottomless marsh of sucking water and soft mud providing no footing or
passage for any troops. There only routes north to south then, are via the
road, or on either flank.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
For this scenario, the Royalists (all regular quality troops) are the
attacker and comprise four regiments of foot, one regiment of horse
("galloper") and a regiment of dragoons. Parliament (also all regular)
comprises three regiments of foot, and regiment of dragoons. Both
sides were rolled for on the random tables in "One Hour Wargames",
substituting "skirmishers" for dragoons
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Parliament starts the game with all units on the table but is allowed to
have one of them deployed in the woods - following shows the position at
move one with the Royalist attackers just appearing at top..
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Parliament has deployed its dragoons in the wood (a logical choice I
thought), but as the winning condition for the game is to have a unit within
6" of it at the end of 15 moves they have deployed all three regiments of
foot to withstand any Royalist attempt to drive them off.
</div>
<div> </div>
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</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The Royalists (following) are pushing all their foot down the road - column
of march where necessary to move quickly. They gave sent their cavalry and
dragoons down the east and west flanks. Parliament is turning their flank
foot regiments to face the threat. Blue dice is the move counter so this is
turn 3..
</div>
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</div>
<div><br /></div>
"Boom!" - following - and the muskets of both sides open fire as the
Parliamentary dragoons and Sir Charles Gerard's Regiment of Foote exchange
fire.. to the left John Belasyse's Regiment of Foote [blue flag] and Colonel
Thomas Blagge's Regiment [St George flag] have taken advantage of the dragoons
being otherwise occupied, to slip past..
<div>
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</div>
<div><br /></div>
It is all too much or the Parliamentary Dragoons (following picture) and
after a couple of diabolical morale checks they re seen here routing from
the field (bottom right) the Parliamentary commander desperately trying to
rally them..
</div>
<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTBUZbfjspprx0UEzPDTx5lPxrP_EXfse3nAuAVw5ja9ghud37_xs3UZysxYs-QHCRfA1amvDq1_qA2BSi4rZJ71UmigtbopGOw0ABhQkdAw1apll6tRiEAN1D0aCNM0q5ba7ZyKsl6e7yW6joTYdEbtl33iLa6kid6wAV8RAUI5APIYS_JQ/s1827/P1020153.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1128" data-original-width="1827" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTBUZbfjspprx0UEzPDTx5lPxrP_EXfse3nAuAVw5ja9ghud37_xs3UZysxYs-QHCRfA1amvDq1_qA2BSi4rZJ71UmigtbopGOw0ABhQkdAw1apll6tRiEAN1D0aCNM0q5ba7ZyKsl6e7yW6joTYdEbtl33iLa6kid6wAV8RAUI5APIYS_JQ/w640-h396/P1020153.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<div><br /></div>
It's about turn 9 from memory, and in the centre John Belasyse's Regiment
(blue flag) have come to close quarter fighting with <span style="background-color: #fdfaf0; font-family: Lora, serif; font-size: 16px;">Colonel Charles Essex’s Regiment</span> (yellow flag - musketry only - neither regiment could get the
ascendancy to close to push of pike), no room on either flank for
overlaps..
</div>
<div>
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</div>
<div><br /></div>
..the Royalists are 'cab ranking' their foot regiments to maintain pressure
in the event Belayse's break.
</div>
<div>
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</div>
<div><br /></div>
Here you go - following - we suddenly went back to 197'pffft... 😆
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Crunch point of the battle - turn 11 - on the right Lord Wharton's
regiment have formed stand of pike to receive horse but as is always the way
the horse swerved and targeted Lord Mandeville's Regiment on the left
where the Dragoons had dismounted and were providing flank support..
it was all too much for Mandeville's and they break and stream away past
Wharton's..
</div>
<div>
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</div>
<div><br /></div>
Move 13 - following - and I think it safe to say that the Royalists
are in the ascendancy.. for Parliament Gerard's have finally broken
but not before first having sent Belayse's off with a flea in their ear..
happily the Royalists already have a replacement to feed into the mincer in
the form of Sir William Pennyman's Regiment, who finish them off
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Mandeville's (blue) continue to rout to the right/East accompanied by
Gerrard's - all hopes for Parliament are now pinned on Lord Wharton's
regiment (green flag) who stand like a rock - pikes ready to receive horse,
but looking worriedly at Pennyman's - they have yellow dice so they're
already shaken, but so are the Royalist horse - can they pull it off??
<i>Can they last two turns</i>??
</div>
<div>
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</div>
<div><br /></div>
Final move of the game - following - and no they couldn't... they
managed to see off the Royalist horse but the continued pressure from
Pennyman's - with flank support provided again by the dismounted dragoons
was in the end too much, and they break and rout ...
</div>
<div>
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</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>...pursued by Pennyman's (following).. </div>
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</div>
<br />
<div>Royalist mission accomplished - <i>just in time</i>!</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div><u>Post match analysis</u>..</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
Very close and enjoyable game even solo - and the scenario delivered
exactly what it promised it would, a four foot table width is reduced
to little less than 9" total available 'advancing room' for the
attacker.. very clever..
</li>
<li>
I realised after I'd started the game that terrain placement is key to
the game - with only one unit allowed in the woods, it was
theoretically possible for the Parliamentary dragoons to just sit in
the woods out of range of muskets, but within 6"of the road to meet
the victory requirement.. such games'manship is of course is
beyond contempt, below the salt, and unthinkable to any of my reader..
</li>
<li>* thanks Sherlock.. 😀</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
</p>
<p></p>Since the completion of the little local history project based on the <a href="https://steve-the-wargamer.blogspot.com/search/label/Canal" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Portsmouth canal [clicky]</a> which I enjoyed immensely, the next local history investigation is the old <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilsea_Lines#The_current_lines" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Hilsea Lines [clicky]</a> an 18th/19th-century fortification built between roughly 1858 and 1871 to protect the northern approach to Portsea Island/Portsmouth (not generally known that Portsmouth is built on an island, by the by) but more importantly to protect the key naval base... the lines were rendered obsolete by advances in artillery technology even before they were completed, and never saw actual action, not even in WW2 where you might have expected a significant anti aircraft presence, but where I suspect the lines would have been too far away from the dockyard to provide meaningful cover.. bit of geography may help here:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK5f4dGn6IlogSbkvFsCBoFd_fOrJdxfijVuZyINJInF-KarD29EiUU85v_-PTlfW0gtXGMhBSrOcHgrKFXkWEr4SS-6Xz4153tteaL_zVBtbUgKu0nfQ21xD-S7NeoV1uhQqqDj0Qk58rBDm-2b19ADYIjaSmadwltjl2owDsGBjmMxyVlw/s778/Capture.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="778" data-original-width="764" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK5f4dGn6IlogSbkvFsCBoFd_fOrJdxfijVuZyINJInF-KarD29EiUU85v_-PTlfW0gtXGMhBSrOcHgrKFXkWEr4SS-6Xz4153tteaL_zVBtbUgKu0nfQ21xD-S7NeoV1uhQqqDj0Qk58rBDm-2b19ADYIjaSmadwltjl2owDsGBjmMxyVlw/w628-h640/Capture.JPG" width="628" /></a></div><br /><div>Portsea island.. the Lines are highlighted, dockyard circled..</div><div><br /></div><div>As always, the bogeyman causing the huge expenditure was fear of invasion by the French under Napoleon III - this amble concerns the central section - Bastion 3, specifically - see following - but over this winter I'll go and check the other sections as well, if Gertrude is willing..</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimTlrmz-rXmVvcSPEOrhcrp4m8UF7tsurAsdiS5tZNKHdzl5t23rSBlgvfjy05iIZcPGhaIjyhWzlfV59wfl9_Jf-AiOxkbdGQ5ewopds4ftn5juu8reepA6RBCkVj1nFa1KFgRmFBJ8xJpu0rIUF7cqwEwzwtvsThnJz9r387dEPqMrx7og/s4000/20230923_145716.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="4000" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimTlrmz-rXmVvcSPEOrhcrp4m8UF7tsurAsdiS5tZNKHdzl5t23rSBlgvfjy05iIZcPGhaIjyhWzlfV59wfl9_Jf-AiOxkbdGQ5ewopds4ftn5juu8reepA6RBCkVj1nFa1KFgRmFBJ8xJpu0rIUF7cqwEwzwtvsThnJz9r387dEPqMrx7og/w640-h288/20230923_145716.jpg" width="640" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div>Bastion 3 following.. these are the casemates - so this would be behind/south'ish of the gun line which would be firing from the other/north side, connected to these, internally, inside the mound.. </div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitd4O3g2GBcR0_98Dbzi90bA5YVrXlmc5wry5NRvzc76ab4cxjDClTFDQgvpvLr6lH6MNbZUG66GkTDmvfg_QVA8HDn7VQT9ZBcDQpPe5JFDpTbsVRO7OviUYTR1jeBjfQhp3nNCr1CVL7_b_xLIJ3SP-Wy55xkip7ub8FUOYRQ2gD-MpMPA/s3234/20230923_145648.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="3234" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitd4O3g2GBcR0_98Dbzi90bA5YVrXlmc5wry5NRvzc76ab4cxjDClTFDQgvpvLr6lH6MNbZUG66GkTDmvfg_QVA8HDn7VQT9ZBcDQpPe5JFDpTbsVRO7OviUYTR1jeBjfQhp3nNCr1CVL7_b_xLIJ3SP-Wy55xkip7ub8FUOYRQ2gD-MpMPA/w640-h356/20230923_145648.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFhtfK8rdn5FfYM8iOOTOpoxSnGHeceQkXUI42T_nGI7rJasNp1w4TxBX-OIwM6qZHaiJ8o_L8M9oUJsuPrV6A4pSbKVxZtU3yoiZAnf1Dnu-3ZYltScMgzgBAVILTV7Qslvs_3h4XFVNlpw2cgQlPecbXRt_jrJ4RyHJl6oAZwqDUGdtiuA/s4000/20230923_145528.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="1800" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFhtfK8rdn5FfYM8iOOTOpoxSnGHeceQkXUI42T_nGI7rJasNp1w4TxBX-OIwM6qZHaiJ8o_L8M9oUJsuPrV6A4pSbKVxZtU3yoiZAnf1Dnu-3ZYltScMgzgBAVILTV7Qslvs_3h4XFVNlpw2cgQlPecbXRt_jrJ4RyHJl6oAZwqDUGdtiuA/w288-h640/20230923_145528.jpg" width="288" /></a></div><div><br /></div>This is very descriptive; helps understanding of the construction and design.. </div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvoseKH-BmqKAAlZ4pculsPyaUEeC_hbq3UAbz4wT8CATSYVRhsbdkvlov3Is2JKr3aoPj-eSi1qhqqjMxQY3s45Z0101_H4q_Zxhu7ewl8KZjidSgp_92zB1s2SsmFDtW_BZbV6tZhX3Yl99zuqYGxEFRtKe72FXY8zXfA83b_243iA-yYg/s860/Capture.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="535" data-original-width="860" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvoseKH-BmqKAAlZ4pculsPyaUEeC_hbq3UAbz4wT8CATSYVRhsbdkvlov3Is2JKr3aoPj-eSi1qhqqjMxQY3s45Z0101_H4q_Zxhu7ewl8KZjidSgp_92zB1s2SsmFDtW_BZbV6tZhX3Yl99zuqYGxEFRtKe72FXY8zXfA83b_243iA-yYg/w640-h398/Capture.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /></div><div>Other direction to the first picture .. so approximately 10 casemates in total in this bastion..</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3toYAatPH92SmJNuPG0PSwaQKfkrVixjp3OOEAjKEvLj0M7g2qsF_5eRwXvOkNztuUFXTjG0OXoMNUmNva8MRJTnmjoftnLXtloSGlQv742SG3SBYbwkmeZQbqMvjUMJEoO5FPSRVsZ-27YU9XtzIHwkg8-qst7WaZUhW4R6AqvY9x2DExg/s2120/20230923_145516.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2120" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3toYAatPH92SmJNuPG0PSwaQKfkrVixjp3OOEAjKEvLj0M7g2qsF_5eRwXvOkNztuUFXTjG0OXoMNUmNva8MRJTnmjoftnLXtloSGlQv742SG3SBYbwkmeZQbqMvjUMJEoO5FPSRVsZ-27YU9XtzIHwkg8-qst7WaZUhW4R6AqvY9x2DExg/w640-h348/20230923_145516.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Artillery store entrance I think.. </div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnwf3xEzB1_3K-rK0AUh-8iMYrnwnKOJLysXH4Ssk1xjC8nDRkjEvF4-gSmjRsczBaILszG-zvz7t51m1bPleCus6d8W4icFEz0a3TPKE_6zDlRo8PFZAIDFsypmfc-tTDBmnH6ce6R9CNaNFkfxnOZ3YGTSXd_Qmit6rG2BLH3bHvG-_l0A/s2560/20230923_145507.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2560" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnwf3xEzB1_3K-rK0AUh-8iMYrnwnKOJLysXH4Ssk1xjC8nDRkjEvF4-gSmjRsczBaILszG-zvz7t51m1bPleCus6d8W4icFEz0a3TPKE_6zDlRo8PFZAIDFsypmfc-tTDBmnH6ce6R9CNaNFkfxnOZ3YGTSXd_Qmit6rG2BLH3bHvG-_l0A/w640-h288/20230923_145507.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /></div><div>Stay tuned - this will be a slow'ish burner - I have details on the sallyport, but the other bastions I plan to visit over the winter..<br /><p></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
</p>
<p></p>
<p>
Laters, as the young people are want to say... and hopefully
not so long this time!
</p>
<p></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Steve-the-Wargamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07077311120172727690noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33041938.post-73445094877206845772023-03-07T12:13:00.001+00:002023-03-07T12:13:17.884+00:00"Firing into the Brown" #28 - "Skirmish at Long Bute Farm" game, Wargamers Newsletter, and stuff..<div>
<p>
<span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;"><i>"So Carnehan weeds out the pick of his men, and sets the two of the
Army to show them drill and at the end of two weeks the men can
manoeuvre about as well as Volunteers. So he marches with the Chief to a
great big plain on the top of a mountain, and the Chiefs men rushes into
a village and takes it; we three Martinis
<b>firing into the brown </b>of the enemy".</i></span>
</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Kipling "The Man Who Would Be King"</i></span>
</p>
</div>
<span style="text-align: left;">Time for another update.. really enjoyed this one..</span>
<div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div>
<p></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTDerINSGm9U8u4xbfj1n0DBd6GA6EGdykBLeJB4mgwnddmfLbDSpT3sAUGg80KuLfivgENjgqf-iLoyPwWcQe2GsMgKEUElgKZJFCRerU4aigVH-jVnzE8Eo3Pdr_cnjOLvxOEJHAxXnd3UcfAmicdHKk7r7jgimpmmaj2eS2oPrNiqA/s1207/1970-wg-cover.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1207" data-original-width="958" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTDerINSGm9U8u4xbfj1n0DBd6GA6EGdykBLeJB4mgwnddmfLbDSpT3sAUGg80KuLfivgENjgqf-iLoyPwWcQe2GsMgKEUElgKZJFCRerU4aigVH-jVnzE8Eo3Pdr_cnjOLvxOEJHAxXnd3UcfAmicdHKk7r7jgimpmmaj2eS2oPrNiqA/s320/1970-wg-cover.jpg" width="254" /></a>
</div>
Back when I was a (considerably) younger Steve The Wargamer I played a lot, and
I mean quite a lot, of western gunfight games using the simply stunning set of
skirmish rules published by the Bristol Wargame Group of Steve Curtis, Mike
Blake and Ian Colwill.
<p></p>
<p>
I think I first came across them in the pages of the Wargamers Newsletter, as
for a while Don had a series of articles called the 'Skirmish Line' which
these guys wrote - the first one featured in about
<a href="https://www.fourcats.co.uk/mags/files/WGN-135-Jun-73.pdf" target="_blank">June '73 [clicky]</a>, and for a while round that time I was also going to my local wargame club
where these also featured heavily.
</p>
<p>
Being short of dosh at that impecunious age, I slavishly copied out the entire
set of rules (they would have been the v2 ones) by hand!
</p>
<p>
All of these games I documented in a spare school exercise book entitled "The
Annals of Cedar Gulch", as such was the name of my imaginary and troubled town
in the dead-lands of some unnamed territory, pray to any passing herd of cows,
steers, buffalo's, Indians (sorry, "First Americans"), cowboys, posses or bad
men.. glorious stuff... I even had a background tape of spaghetti
western film theme's on cassette for added atmosphere.. 😁
</p>
<p>
So it was that when when someone on Facebook offered up a job lot of old rules
a couple of years ago, and they included among them the v1 and v2 rules, I bit
their arm off, but they then sat on my shelf ever since, quietly murmuring in
my ear every time I passed them that 'it really was time for them to hit the
table again'... until now! So I present to you (and in as close to
that eye catching original font as those guys used to use as I could find on
Blogger.. 😏)........
</p>
<p>
<u><span style="font-family: verdana;">Skirmish at Long Bute Farm</span></u>
</p>
<p>
<span style="font-family: verdana;">In the long hot summer of '62 the war is but a year old, and the now (long
forgotten) town of Cedar Gulch, which was located in one of the contested
counties on the edge of the State, has found itself almost on the front line
of the war between the States.</span>
</p>
<p>
<span style="font-family: verdana;">Long Bute Farm lies just outside town, but even closer to the contested
border area....</span>
</p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRKrMX3uJjUr0FPWgTdZEJDz1kbpr5shan2V0H9duoTbSIE2Af55X-HeY9WHH7GY7vFgeu9pnNqfqSyJmo6Xi-q-6OZ0vZ_MrJPjie9dp04cQgjfYp7OTgH1d2ynUV16_SHj3XkgiW83nnayCT6Md6UZ5B1p7O8ZFk6NQe1ROfB5Rse0s/s638/41DF09F5-1DD8-B71B-0B32BF2D874AFEE8.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="339" data-original-width="638" height="341" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRKrMX3uJjUr0FPWgTdZEJDz1kbpr5shan2V0H9duoTbSIE2Af55X-HeY9WHH7GY7vFgeu9pnNqfqSyJmo6Xi-q-6OZ0vZ_MrJPjie9dp04cQgjfYp7OTgH1d2ynUV16_SHj3XkgiW83nnayCT6Md6UZ5B1p7O8ZFk6NQe1ROfB5Rse0s/w640-h341/41DF09F5-1DD8-B71B-0B32BF2D874AFEE8.jpg" width="640" /></a></span>
</div>
<p></p>
<p>
<span style="font-family: verdana;">The farm is abandoned (a fallout from the war, as the Father and older sons
have gone to fight for the Union, leaving the mother and smaller children to
go and live with her sister, who lives in a far safer location), but with
crops uncollected, and some livestock still present, it's a sure target for
any passing Union or Confederate foraging patrol. </span>
</p>
<p>
<span style="font-family: verdana;">So it was that one warm and sunny day, two groups of men in different
uniforms happened upon each other, and as the carbine shots rang out, the
skirmish at Long Bute Farm unfolded, and the following is an account of the
action..</span>
</p>
<p>
<span style="font-family: verdana;">The Union patrol of three men, comprised Corp, Seth and Zack - Corp being
the NCO leading the group. On the Confederate side a similar sized group
were lead by Zeke (also an NCO), with Robbie and Buck in
support. </span>
</p>
<p>
<span style="font-family: verdana;">All the men are troopers from two cavalry regiments who have been out on
patrol reconnoitering for signs of the enemy, but are currently bivouacked
nearby - given the unofficial nature of their activities (they are out
foraging for the pot) they are dismounted, but are armed with their
traditional weapon, the single shot Sharps Carbine, in addition they each
have the almost universal fighting knife.</span>
</p>
<p></p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKEZn8rZuf0CoqRgge_Ae7VImGSUZATWvc_SgffKMJSyD9uN-YyLFPyQgyAqaq8DHeVgOYEb_mllzL7iq7Cy9khMSw7gVrAYB2gYbi2Oi91a9joaDT30Kz9bjZNkzYL5Hqp6-FBaRu6YAGtnCXXyzKGyVPb_mvudyNPNM1LxxJR7yG-E4/s434/Capture.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="434" data-original-width="286" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKEZn8rZuf0CoqRgge_Ae7VImGSUZATWvc_SgffKMJSyD9uN-YyLFPyQgyAqaq8DHeVgOYEb_mllzL7iq7Cy9khMSw7gVrAYB2gYbi2Oi91a9joaDT30Kz9bjZNkzYL5Hqp6-FBaRu6YAGtnCXXyzKGyVPb_mvudyNPNM1LxxJR7yG-E4/w422-h640/Capture.JPG" width="422" /></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;">NCO's classed as professional, troopers are average, P is for pistol
skill which they don't need, R is their basic rifle skill, N is for
"nerves" and in essence is their starting morale - equal forces as I
wanted to be able to test the rules</span>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p></p>
<p>
<span style="font-family: verdana;">The two patrols arrive at diametrically opposite corners of the table, and
quickly deploy into cover loading their carbines as they move.</span>
</p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgimdaIhHpG2K4nRoGADwA_-u217lE-w-TVmJk2Aa3YbylJ8R_kuO92lq6O31nnEsPqGRZOJOmQAPOaSGyI4t9TxCWu4yrom7iIepgy2uRNfwy3tpKuLUnaXvxjNPWH1eeMWSu-HAlYoV0vHVsHDH4Fy8ZLhQlvZLig8qnNk4cOSrwj76I/s468/Capture.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="434" data-original-width="468" height="371" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgimdaIhHpG2K4nRoGADwA_-u217lE-w-TVmJk2Aa3YbylJ8R_kuO92lq6O31nnEsPqGRZOJOmQAPOaSGyI4t9TxCWu4yrom7iIepgy2uRNfwy3tpKuLUnaXvxjNPWH1eeMWSu-HAlYoV0vHVsHDH4Fy8ZLhQlvZLig8qnNk4cOSrwj76I/w400-h371/Capture.JPG" width="400" /></a></span>
</div>
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><u>Move 1:</u></span>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbtXRvDSGq7AmbfzXNPOwfmXNlQLBeTWwHSLPtvz6jyIWVB2uVlQbbuHBv5lcXGdLky5_ECASx6nIh5CO4enAXUmDwU0T66DaWtxmgIJeoG0PqWeyT8S0YgdSyFTiGCbU7vnANygSPk5HI0cdt6EzU93gMyimIKtpFhtiTyWZ57k4yUro/s1145/20230305_140302.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="872" data-original-width="1145" height="488" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbtXRvDSGq7AmbfzXNPOwfmXNlQLBeTWwHSLPtvz6jyIWVB2uVlQbbuHBv5lcXGdLky5_ECASx6nIh5CO4enAXUmDwU0T66DaWtxmgIJeoG0PqWeyT8S0YgdSyFTiGCbU7vnANygSPk5HI0cdt6EzU93gMyimIKtpFhtiTyWZ57k4yUro/w640-h488/20230305_140302.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<p></p>
<p>
<span style="font-family: verdana;">Corp orders Seth and Zack to rush the farm house, as the farm house covers
their quick advance from the Confederate patrol he has spotted across the
way. No shots are fired by them, as for the same reason they have cover,
they also have no targets. </span>
</p>
<p>
<span style="font-family: verdana;">Corp opts to remain in cover behind the scrub as he has a fairly clear line
of site to Robbie, who is also in cover, but at the end of the Confederate
skirmish line. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Zeke and Buck use the same tactics as Seth and Zack, and also rush forward
using the farm for cover, but branch left and right as Buck is looking to
get a flanking advantage. They leave Robbie behind to cover
them. </span>
</p>
<p>
<span style="font-family: verdana;">Taking aim at each other it is Robbie who's quicker however, and spinning
round and dropping to the floor, Corp falls, grasping hold of his injured
right arm.</span>
</p>
<p>
<i><span style="color: #800180; font-family: arial;">Bit of rule mechanicals to show how the narrative was arrived
at.... game moves in the Western Gunfight Wargame Rules are
divided into 3 phases, all moves are simultaneous, and although you plot
your movement first, you don't complete it until after firing - so for
this move, other than Corp and Robbie, everyone will complete their
movement and end up where they want to be as no one is fired upon. In the
firing part of the move, Corp opts to do aimed fire which gives bonuses in
firing factors, but can only hit in phase 3, whereas Robbie snap shoots
banking on being able to hit quicker than that - and so it was.... Robbie
hits in phase 2.. Corp's arm is useless for the rest of the game, he and
his now useless rifle (you can't use one with only one arm) drop to the
floor <b>before </b>he gets his shot off..</span>
</i>
</p>
<p>
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><u>Move 2:</u> </span>
</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1JCPYwUKXQ-QFkIuPq2q5lvafwUNUGHoYNfPhXqTIrL3w3mv4Do6LeJ6H5tWOPg8v_-ChlOZ_Nz4h2EMAUUkeR-DYhuqonyochszhhrb2-ruIcWCs_n3H0xE5__ngsJrbYttiMkA6vgj0dDZKgSrLdJsd9-6_43FL6bv-sA1wLoAOBN4/s1124/20230305_150557.jpg" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: italic; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1124" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1JCPYwUKXQ-QFkIuPq2q5lvafwUNUGHoYNfPhXqTIrL3w3mv4Do6LeJ6H5tWOPg8v_-ChlOZ_Nz4h2EMAUUkeR-DYhuqonyochszhhrb2-ruIcWCs_n3H0xE5__ngsJrbYttiMkA6vgj0dDZKgSrLdJsd9-6_43FL6bv-sA1wLoAOBN4/w640-h512/20230305_150557.jpg" width="640" /></a></span>
</p>
<p>
<span style="font-family: verdana;">With Corp down, Seth and Zack decide to move round the corner of the farm
house to take on Zeke together, the farm house itself covers half their
advance, and both of them fire as Zeke comes in sight; Zeke naturally
returns fire, but can only fire at one of them, so chooses Zack as his
target. In the fusillade of shots that follow, it is Zack that doubles over grabbing his arm before dropping to the floor.. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Seth's shot meanwhile has gone wide, and he stares wildly at the enemy corporal
deciding what he needs to do next..</span></p>
<p>
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: arial;">Bit more rule mechanicals to show how this narrative was arrived
at.... in the firing all three opted to snap shoot as clearly time
was of the essence, but with two against one I was kind of expecting a
different outcome to the one that transpired.. in summary though,
all three shots went off, but Zeke's hit in phase 2, Zack's in phase 3,
and Seth's shot discombobulated only a passing crow... the fact that
Zack and Seth were moving, while Zeke was stationary was the defining
difference..</span></i></span>
</p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Buck runs to the corner of the farm in the hope of taking Seth and Zack in the flank, but by the time he arrives they have moved round the corner and are out of sight.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">While Corp gets back to his feet cursing the wound in his arm and 'the luck of the devil some Reb's have', he reaches for his fighting knife - he'll not be able to use the carbine again today, and indeed for some time. Across the other side of the farm, Robbie moves forward to the cover recently vacated by Buck.</span></p><p>
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><u>Move 3: </u></span>
</p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: verdana; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1WjwAtvB66ErNmclqtKUVg6zMf6dOMSTcna1kggRHYWFpMBdtP7E8_jLx-tgwtrFGxobwx45blD-bRiObfCai_lFyP9sSf3a1dvuHUg0wC5z3Rl9wYs97hM9XTGUfIRSAbh7KERj92Xh7r7sotp24k6fy-0ym2viHw4lcjTBxiCqdRP4/s1134/20230305_172636.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1134" height="506" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1WjwAtvB66ErNmclqtKUVg6zMf6dOMSTcna1kggRHYWFpMBdtP7E8_jLx-tgwtrFGxobwx45blD-bRiObfCai_lFyP9sSf3a1dvuHUg0wC5z3Rl9wYs97hM9XTGUfIRSAbh7KERj92Xh7r7sotp24k6fy-0ym2viHw4lcjTBxiCqdRP4/w640-h506/20230305_172636.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;">You may notice the clear map pins - I use them to show the position
of the character as they move - in this case Corp - he is in phase 1
position, middle in is phase 2, last pin is phase 3</span>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>
<span style="font-family: verdana;">Corp is now on his feet, and surveying the farm see's Zack on his
back, </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">holding his arm </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">and</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">clearly in pain... right or wrong he decides to go to his aid. R</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">unning forward, Corp aims for the corner of the house where the downed body
of Zack can clearly be seen - he's looking to save what little he can from
what appears to be a complete and total FUBAR - "damn these, Rebs"</span>
</p>
<p>
<span style="font-family: verdana;">As Corp breaks cover, moving fast, Buck fires from the corner of the farm,
and hits him again in the arm Corp collapses </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">to the ground and </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">into the shrub </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">with a second wound.</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> Robbie has paused to reload, or he would have fired as well. Corp
drops to the ground. </span>
</p>
<p>
<span style="font-family: verdana;">At the farm house </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">while Zack climbs groggily to his feet, shaking his head and clutching his
arm, </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Zeke drops his now empty carbine and takes a swing at Seth who returns the
blow - neither man lands a telling hit, and they crouch ready to fight on.</span>
</p>
<p>
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><i><span style="color: #800180; font-family: arial;">Bit more rule mechanicals... in the firing, only Buck needed to
worry as no one else was able to, either due to needing to reload, no
line of sight or wounded... even though he was running, because of the
range, his shot was good for a phase 1 hit. The hand to hand engagement
resulted in a blow from each man that cancelled out..</span></i></span>
</p>
<p></p>
<p>
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><u>Move 4:</u> </span>
</p>
<p>
<span style="font-family: verdana;">The Confederate patrol is doing alright, but all is not yet over..</span>
</p>
<p>
<span style="font-family: verdana;">At the farm, Buck moves round the back reloading his carbine at the same
time - he can hear Zeke calling for help. </span>
</p>
<p>
<span style="font-family: verdana;">Zack, now back on his feet, pulls his knife
<i><span style="color: #800180;">(taking 2 phases)</span></i> and moves to
attack Zeke
<span style="color: #800180; font-style: italic;">(move for 1 phase) </span>in concert with Seth.</span>
</p>
<p>
<span style="font-family: verdana;">Robbie, now reloaded, has seen Corp drop, and breaking cover runs towards
his last sighting of him with the intent of either taking him prisoner, or
finishing him off if he declines the offer!</span>
</p>
<p>
<span style="font-family: verdana;">Behind the shack, Seth and Zeke continue to square off and on this occasion
Zeke's hit is of sufficient force to knock out Seth.</span>
</p>
<p></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio_0qkSS2ciUiWCn3BcH5leuFUULuorwU9QJF2Qym945wt--Srvkve2ygdEmTwgnkEmZjijKxD5pjPpSlDTJJXdN1yZhdzkNuod3G5IpCfk1VzjozFu3zIRZbYI_HdJdufXW7YDqIlnV-D06jA6EVmdtIqJcfE0KGQGb789uWbuq45LcM/s1142/20230306_121916.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="897" data-original-width="1142" height="502" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio_0qkSS2ciUiWCn3BcH5leuFUULuorwU9QJF2Qym945wt--Srvkve2ygdEmTwgnkEmZjijKxD5pjPpSlDTJJXdN1yZhdzkNuod3G5IpCfk1VzjozFu3zIRZbYI_HdJdufXW7YDqIlnV-D06jA6EVmdtIqJcfE0KGQGb789uWbuq45LcM/w640-h502/20230306_121916.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<u style="font-family: verdana;"><p><u>Move 5:</u> </p></u>
<p></p>
<p>
<span style="font-family: verdana;">The Union patrol have had it - seeing Seth knocked out, </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Zack,</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">rather than attack, runs to the nearest friendly cover. Corp kneels down
and moves further into the scrub - enough's enough!</span>
</p>
<p></p>
<p>
<span style="font-family: verdana;">Zeke takes the opportunity to draw breath and reload his carbine.
Meanwhile, just as he comes round the corner of the farm building,
Buck see's Zack make a break for the cover and fires off a quick shot
dropping him before he gets to cover.</span>
</p>
<p>
<span style="font-family: verdana;">Robbie, approaching the last place he'd seen Corp, slows to a walk and
shouts out for him to come out with his hands up. Corp tells him to 'go to
hell', but slowly get's to his feet with his hands in the air - he's a
realist and knows when it's over </span>
</p>
<p>
<span><i><span style="color: #800180; font-family: arial;">Bit more rule mechanicals... as part of the game move all
participants take a nerve test at the end of each move, and in this case
both Zack and Corp failed, primarily as a result of the number of
wounds each had taken (2 each), and the fact that Seth was knocked out
and therefore not available as support... the nerve test result at
the end of each move is carried </span></i></span><span style="color: #800180; font-family: arial;"><i>forward, and is a clever way to track the ups and downs of the game
in a cumulative way..</i></span>
</p>
<p><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhygDxs4GoZ7EiBpLHk1uP_MW4-4579g5p1glo36t8fRHNshXNewCVWBpnlIW_IWgbznHS11am9xBR9Tpd_XKMpgS1wUgdFizjltSj_YPRxfgl-JlrdrU2YTacJ7UAZnPiM8LQgNi22ne8cun7fLC3SIj3XGch0Y0AUxrqN-M0_MHxI9IQ/s1060/20230306_123327.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1060" height="542" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhygDxs4GoZ7EiBpLHk1uP_MW4-4579g5p1glo36t8fRHNshXNewCVWBpnlIW_IWgbznHS11am9xBR9Tpd_XKMpgS1wUgdFizjltSj_YPRxfgl-JlrdrU2YTacJ7UAZnPiM8LQgNi22ne8cun7fLC3SIj3XGch0Y0AUxrqN-M0_MHxI9IQ/w640-h542/20230306_123327.jpg" width="640" /></a></span>
</div>
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><u><p><u>Move 6:</u></p></u></span>
<p>
<span style="font-family: verdana;">Game over - Buck moves to cover Zack and tie him up, Zeke does the same to
Seth before emptying a bucket of water in his face to bring him round.
Robbie escorts Corp back to the farm..</span>
</p>
<p>
<span style="font-family: verdana;">Pausing only to liberate a couple of hens and a sack of corn, the trio head
back to the regiment, prisoners in tow ready to be handed over for further
questioning.</span>
</p>
<div><u>Post match analysis:</u></div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
stupid really, but I can't tell you how much I enjoyed that little push
around with half a dozen (yeah, unpainted.. mea culpa, mea maxima
culpa 😏) figures on a two foot table - but what a narrative it delivered,
and what a mental picture it painted of six slightly scruffy, campaign
hardened soldiers meeting somewhere between the front lines in search of
nothing more than a good chicken dinner...
</li>
<li>
for this little run out I used the version 1 rules, they're slightly
simpler and only contain the rules and methods for pistols and Winchester
repeater rifles - I mocked up the rules for the carbines which was easy
enough to do. For the next game I will be using the expanded version 2
rules, if only because it will once again allow me to arm one of my little
dudes with a LeMat revolver again. 😁<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiNwyo-mfEAvbA9yzh4aj_DxiE8FEjFlHReLaJsKW64K60FmBPj4Cunb2_AVG13bOBUx7RWBXwsZ-zEVChbTgpQX7V1HVrQ7byzQEBB3cHbsw7El49lItWrsEn7LAlyJmV-B6ic5KZcnZxM9PZtn81kXqFDakyeyStrzz_QdcppqRBar4/s800/G1021-LEMAT-1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiNwyo-mfEAvbA9yzh4aj_DxiE8FEjFlHReLaJsKW64K60FmBPj4Cunb2_AVG13bOBUx7RWBXwsZ-zEVChbTgpQX7V1HVrQ7byzQEBB3cHbsw7El49lItWrsEn7LAlyJmV-B6ic5KZcnZxM9PZtn81kXqFDakyeyStrzz_QdcppqRBar4/s320/G1021-LEMAT-1.jpg" width="320" /></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;">Le Mat pistol.. 9 shot cylinder firing normal bullets,
but the thing underneath is a shotgun barrel firing buckshot! I
can see Zeke carrying one of these, as the Confederacy took
delivery of 1500 of them during the war.. more
here.. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LeMat_Revolver">LeMat Revolver [clicky]</a></span>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
As I mentioned - I'd forgotten how effective the nerve rules were - they
really track the ebb and flow of the action/skirmish on the individual
character, and in some case (like Corp and Zack) drives the next action
the character has to take ('surrender' and 'run' in our case)
</li>
<li>
I very much recommend this as a read - he argues (quite effectively I
thought) that the Western Skirmish Wargame Rules could quite possibly have
been the first ever RPG.. <a href="http://playingattheworld.blogspot.com/2021/02/western-gunfight-1970-first-rpg.html">Playing at the World: Western Gunfight (1970): the First RPG?
[clicky]</a>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<p style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ </p>
<p>
The above also reminds me that I have been entirely remiss in not better
advertising the availability of the following, which is quite possibly the
best source of online content from the Wargamers Newsletter
<b>anywhere</b>... I was a party to scanning a number of the magazines
and adding them to the archive, but John (Haines) has done an amazing job of
putting these together and I am ABOLUTELY sure he would be beholden to
anyone who has a copy of the few issues he's missing..
</p>
</div>
<div>
<a href="https://www.fourcats.co.uk/mags/">Magazines (fourcats.co.uk)</a>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
...there is an index for the contents of the Newsletter on the Vintage
Wargming page.. link 'ere..
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/8c9h0n6a4l68bbf/Wargamer%27s%20Newsletter%20Index%20-%20Vintage%20Wargaming.xlsx?dl=0">Wargamer's Newsletter Index - Vintage Wargaming.xlsx (dropbox.com)</a>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>...utter wargaming gold...</div>
<p style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ </p>
<p> Laters, as the young people are want to say...</p>
<p></p>
Steve-the-Wargamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07077311120172727690noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33041938.post-4796631491744550892023-02-18T16:38:00.003+00:002023-12-01T10:49:23.334+00:00"Firing into the Brown" #27 - "Hatch End" - game<div>
<p>
<span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;"><i>"So Carnehan weeds out the pick of his men, and sets the two of the
Army to show them drill and at the end of two weeks the men can
manoeuvre about as well as Volunteers. So he marches with the Chief to a
great big plain on the top of a mountain, and the Chiefs men rushes into
a village and takes it; we three Martinis
<b>firing into the brown </b>of the enemy".</i></span>
</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Kipling "The Man Who Would Be King"</i></span>
</p>
</div>
<span style="text-align: left;">Time for another update..</span>
<div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div>
<p>As promised, a review of the game I mentioned in the last post...</p>
<p>
First off here's a couple of scans of the magazine article that prompted the
game (along with random arcane scribbles added by myself as I worked out how
to randomize the arrival of the reinforcements for solo play.. 😁)
</p>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaCqaCWVWobz9l0d21LUcWDUNLCG0FkIscI_t4NGPyaEWasa-DuQpLzaY6Q1A6B4D3n0MTRtm8XmXE6W61QYRxXGhPVShaG71CKcEe1vZ629pp58-uPZW3h64HHx1KhqKWaGxJgVP-ma9xq1v_q_QtBevuMs7qqle5y5KRmWguvfsHFEM/s1155/1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="1" data-original-height="1155" data-original-width="825" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaCqaCWVWobz9l0d21LUcWDUNLCG0FkIscI_t4NGPyaEWasa-DuQpLzaY6Q1A6B4D3n0MTRtm8XmXE6W61QYRxXGhPVShaG71CKcEe1vZ629pp58-uPZW3h64HHx1KhqKWaGxJgVP-ma9xq1v_q_QtBevuMs7qqle5y5KRmWguvfsHFEM/w458-h640/1.jpg" width="458" /></a>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
Clicking on any of the pictures, by the way, should "embig'en" in a pleasing
manner..
<div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRr0PN4dh7_mFQB53XtloaaDVJtJkp4pO1TwyQkhyeXUfQHRD-yl88Q-YEoOyFhWr5rTnBV9o1T1mLc8eAMq7PTM_5PozDYKFaDWTu4ecSQ7a8kQckaRB5eEPR7FsnMpOI5icmchjRz4N2rudmK68nj9YbI_dAtw9i2cLzeaROSZIbLKQ/s1147/2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="1" data-original-height="1147" data-original-width="810" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRr0PN4dh7_mFQB53XtloaaDVJtJkp4pO1TwyQkhyeXUfQHRD-yl88Q-YEoOyFhWr5rTnBV9o1T1mLc8eAMq7PTM_5PozDYKFaDWTu4ecSQ7a8kQckaRB5eEPR7FsnMpOI5icmchjRz4N2rudmK68nj9YbI_dAtw9i2cLzeaROSZIbLKQ/w452-h640/2.jpg" width="452" /></a>
</div>
<br />Which translated to the table top as:
</div>
<div><br /></div>
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</div>
<br />
<div>
OOB was as per the previous
<a href="https://steve-the-wargamer.blogspot.com/2023/02/firing-into-brown-26-archives-hatch-end.html" target="_blank">post [clicky]</a>
so without further ado - on to the game..
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>Move 1:</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Parliament start the game deployed (as per the scenario setup), but the
Royalist advance guard (their horse) have just arrived..
</div>
<div><br /></div>
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<div><br /></div>
They've got orders to attack immediately, and these Parliamentary foot are
practically licking their lips at the thought of poking the nice horses with
their long sharp pointy things..😁 The regiment in the middle (purple flag
- Brookes) is an elite/veteran regiment, the other two are regulars..
<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGZuIXCIz6ZwD7zGfk_o_Ye2EmsPDvB7kliOvXu35HNLBtYg0dIW9GzL0MKJNhZqbaPW4Z7EtFmDzNK6EU_x6q7Ft8ghaJwt9qWtOlfqFYRkqW66txPsVKj18L1XwDRthh4Gsu7-kdObqDxsyihlrWvfY6E5TqdmNQwcEdJVNMvJXwZJ0/s1725/P1020127.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="923" data-original-width="1725" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGZuIXCIz6ZwD7zGfk_o_Ye2EmsPDvB7kliOvXu35HNLBtYg0dIW9GzL0MKJNhZqbaPW4Z7EtFmDzNK6EU_x6q7Ft8ghaJwt9qWtOlfqFYRkqW66txPsVKj18L1XwDRthh4Gsu7-kdObqDxsyihlrWvfY6E5TqdmNQwcEdJVNMvJXwZJ0/w640-h342/P1020127.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
Move 2:
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
More cavalry arriving (following) and the Parliamentary foot are
starting to change formation to 'stand of pike' to receive horse..
</div>
<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQUhUCiCzTappch7WsAm9H9mXE9WuuErwELv4WL8IPYFOa0iji-lz0EmdPyuhSDt_5knA8GCmzCIwFTXhAe_oW0NH2Qah85US-5SAFuRudm5gasH8_LZcVZVVqrgmgrHCxbDkhWWufURm-b03RsdjtmayV1czWm4B-KTF9QmXS5xrHybo/s2000/P1020128.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="943" data-original-width="2000" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQUhUCiCzTappch7WsAm9H9mXE9WuuErwELv4WL8IPYFOa0iji-lz0EmdPyuhSDt_5knA8GCmzCIwFTXhAe_oW0NH2Qah85US-5SAFuRudm5gasH8_LZcVZVVqrgmgrHCxbDkhWWufURm-b03RsdjtmayV1czWm4B-KTF9QmXS5xrHybo/w640-h302/P1020128.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
In a quite astonishing stroke of luck the Parliamentary horse throw high and
return on this move as well - these are Dragoons..
</div>
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</div>
<div><br /></div>
Move 3:
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
The Royalist foot (following) lead by the guns are beginning to arrive.. one
regiment of horse is about to engage the blue regiment, behind them another
regiment of horse is milling about mid change from column to line (they
flunked the dice roll required 😏)
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9poC1Wou3XWzt5wki9Rwen3cQukTzJLNurII4upXtXgrLaeqPzlD6n8v4xRzjEH_qpXGHRPURXTzi4AzMRgTKaXddI-cHw5ZEY-4r-1qGrn85Wai9yDyAcroobjWl3NA5x7zCTMlFwYN-9HKUL3NZzdwgb8GO7rmlzC7bx_-xwQ7OUC8/s1896/P1020131.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="661" data-original-width="1896" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9poC1Wou3XWzt5wki9Rwen3cQukTzJLNurII4upXtXgrLaeqPzlD6n8v4xRzjEH_qpXGHRPURXTzi4AzMRgTKaXddI-cHw5ZEY-4r-1qGrn85Wai9yDyAcroobjWl3NA5x7zCTMlFwYN-9HKUL3NZzdwgb8GO7rmlzC7bx_-xwQ7OUC8/w640-h224/P1020131.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
Move 4:
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
First blood - Parliamentary artillery and musketry stop the Royalist cavalry
in their tracks.. despite what the scenario would have you believe this
is not a simple task the Royalists have.. I was convinced at this point
that they were going to get tonked!
</div>
<div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_hd9m1M_8qUGUNZwWUnqqgMJYFieZnQkacB6tEvLrAB146mPVBnaHxhiUojrg-ig38F4lSTIwbXBVfS7ulPfH5aHjP_m_TKmqcpjHsthF0B86x2OyAvXldnC7fsR11LshcBKdBTyOgXIWgOh61xWr0-RXbrgt7edXN6beDHLPUUuabVo/s1967/P1020132.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1309" data-original-width="1967" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_hd9m1M_8qUGUNZwWUnqqgMJYFieZnQkacB6tEvLrAB146mPVBnaHxhiUojrg-ig38F4lSTIwbXBVfS7ulPfH5aHjP_m_TKmqcpjHsthF0B86x2OyAvXldnC7fsR11LshcBKdBTyOgXIWgOh61xWr0-RXbrgt7edXN6beDHLPUUuabVo/w640-h426/P1020132.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
Move 5:
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
More Royalist foot arriving (following) - the cavalry battle on the Royalist
right continues.. the rest of the Parliamentary horse has come back and
all four regiments are beginning to deploy into line..
</div>
<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDJGPM7YvQMyqsbeFIN8vVSY45JUruMq5paonltwrGUP7x5wHNlFnHdOp8T8fcsWhsR0hbXnGY8ls9KUD-2anTgOZVwsWaa1kBzlV0QDjDXOmBDSYEQ_ct-MjlNJHPBkNS1qx4E9riukiPmUUsbZhxmOLc4r1rvF3OoQEk0-wL7q0jo34/s2000/P1020134.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="676" data-original-width="2000" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDJGPM7YvQMyqsbeFIN8vVSY45JUruMq5paonltwrGUP7x5wHNlFnHdOp8T8fcsWhsR0hbXnGY8ls9KUD-2anTgOZVwsWaa1kBzlV0QDjDXOmBDSYEQ_ct-MjlNJHPBkNS1qx4E9riukiPmUUsbZhxmOLc4r1rvF3OoQEk0-wL7q0jo34/w640-h216/P1020134.JPG" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
Closer view of the Royalist arrivals.. at this point the unengaged
Parliamentary foot are inching forward to cramp the Royalist style
</div>
<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaAPtikuMHtjp5kYIwaL46BrvcujsFiDsR3w3TkOhrsuLgkYdvLZZ6glZsyGk9CyUcFKcdgUKbEc9st97xNxemmEiHoMhLw4D6WJ1fl1G7M9No3byCs5nOTIhicjwuc6UV4aY79k2v7YaJVGE8xGF2fCu7iy5ngoplhVATNhYMdrOGTps/s1952/P1020135.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="906" data-original-width="1952" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaAPtikuMHtjp5kYIwaL46BrvcujsFiDsR3w3TkOhrsuLgkYdvLZZ6glZsyGk9CyUcFKcdgUKbEc9st97xNxemmEiHoMhLw4D6WJ1fl1G7M9No3byCs5nOTIhicjwuc6UV4aY79k2v7YaJVGE8xGF2fCu7iy5ngoplhVATNhYMdrOGTps/w640-h298/P1020135.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
Move 7'ish:
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
BOOM! General engagement along the line as the Royalist foot and horse finally
get within musket range - that yellow flag regiment are novice/recruits and
are getting handled roughly by the cuirassiers to their front - little do they
know it's going to get worse as they have not yet changed formation to receive
horse..
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
All is not going the Royalist way however, as at least one of their regiments
has been sent packing by the Dragoons (red dice = rout)
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrBm0T6XYG3rt-qv8-Liuz4y7kQ4u-PZAlTiIAyQhj8Symz2JDZnQWIm6HybEjuAp-Yw-dN-F74BY8zkHe1h6qLW25Uo2cRvIm-E46TIkav-TlLSGaA1IlloGOmJDUuiPnA1zH3eNp9XI95wSLtTV7nBqrTC87VLCxRWf2fY0DikdCvcE/s1880/P1020138.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1302" data-original-width="1880" height="444" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrBm0T6XYG3rt-qv8-Liuz4y7kQ4u-PZAlTiIAyQhj8Symz2JDZnQWIm6HybEjuAp-Yw-dN-F74BY8zkHe1h6qLW25Uo2cRvIm-E46TIkav-TlLSGaA1IlloGOmJDUuiPnA1zH3eNp9XI95wSLtTV7nBqrTC87VLCxRWf2fY0DikdCvcE/w640-h444/P1020138.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
"For the King!" .... John Belasyse's Regiment of Foote are so keen to 'get in'
they haven't yet even deployed..
</div>
<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnREbGy6hYFl2pJFIwr8V6l81k0w3vudI1ApGN8KZ3rXWqw667oZ3O3VQN84mF73X7Yj5rIHV4gzO3-AbR_qf_pix5pG5RJuuuPrKre18LA4_1HJzLMtSyKhwgLSXmw4SyslzfZID98VJHfYIM7X0ZzWOqteeJeDi55QvkxbmaSlJTaWk/s2000/P1020139.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnREbGy6hYFl2pJFIwr8V6l81k0w3vudI1ApGN8KZ3rXWqw667oZ3O3VQN84mF73X7Yj5rIHV4gzO3-AbR_qf_pix5pG5RJuuuPrKre18LA4_1HJzLMtSyKhwgLSXmw4SyslzfZID98VJHfYIM7X0ZzWOqteeJeDi55QvkxbmaSlJTaWk/w640-h480/P1020139.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
...and then the incredible happens (as it occasionally does) - the
Parliamentary line collapses with failed morale throw after failed morale
throw.. they retire along the line (following).. the Royalist
cuirassiers are in a dangerous position (flanked by the dismounted Dragoons)
and need to get out of there..
</div>
<div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib-WfUffZL8Gd_xH9lsbQTzqbyYXWJWvKSsPyjLmh2IjvO1GEW8gpKQDfGGXySs7RR4ekOHK3215amD0GlVX4w3TX5O9d-vUFA7RP2NL-1YV2r1oCIdGd-AokOXh2Kiy-kVOrfIumb5l_CEB0q8ale400C-OjAQwS86ChlxgJNhGLsqhM/s1875/P1020142.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="976" data-original-width="1875" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib-WfUffZL8Gd_xH9lsbQTzqbyYXWJWvKSsPyjLmh2IjvO1GEW8gpKQDfGGXySs7RR4ekOHK3215amD0GlVX4w3TX5O9d-vUFA7RP2NL-1YV2r1oCIdGd-AokOXh2Kiy-kVOrfIumb5l_CEB0q8ale400C-OjAQwS86ChlxgJNhGLsqhM/w640-h334/P1020142.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
Better view - musket smoke covers the battle field... that cavalry
battle on the right flank still continues!
</div>
<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYBDCuJXU1CaNEFkp046iaOYfUOkhKpiOvN0ghNhB6tFu4_jBnCVFwFF0sgNdzYimAr6mUK3sTfd-_N9A4Gq9lODg706QO8KtLNSAX1iwxYBdXt83hWLB3KwXbQQlmPvj9RKYdCm-57WGYzwbcWUU5U3jDHBN8aC-_zuH2GCCT8TkXqa8/s2000/P1020143.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1202" data-original-width="2000" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYBDCuJXU1CaNEFkp046iaOYfUOkhKpiOvN0ghNhB6tFu4_jBnCVFwFF0sgNdzYimAr6mUK3sTfd-_N9A4Gq9lODg706QO8KtLNSAX1iwxYBdXt83hWLB3KwXbQQlmPvj9RKYdCm-57WGYzwbcWUU5U3jDHBN8aC-_zuH2GCCT8TkXqa8/w640-h384/P1020143.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Some moves later and it is clear (following) that the Parliamentary foot has
shot its bolt, and largely legged it.. the Royalist cuirassiers
charged the Yellow flag regiment, and treated then so roughly they routed
from the field..
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Bottom of picture - wonder of wonders - Royalist reinforcements have arrived
(threw two 6's on two dice in one roll!) but have gone to 'stand of pike' in
the face of the Parliamentary cavalry which is largely intact and
undamaged...
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLBMNDMrIKHhhtpYfnbD2RofNywHm50qDvji4026J5SQAaOt3Q_jh4HVMhNpX699J_D899wa4bL5LyONkLlF1fvSGlh6GumjaYpDd1pC4aXRAilog_8AGmGnGZIBoXxZdLYw3ZvuLNgTarwSfjFKNjmEqAoeSEwe0ZovW2NVMGLCIKymc/s1822/P1020144.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1023" data-original-width="1822" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLBMNDMrIKHhhtpYfnbD2RofNywHm50qDvji4026J5SQAaOt3Q_jh4HVMhNpX699J_D899wa4bL5LyONkLlF1fvSGlh6GumjaYpDd1pC4aXRAilog_8AGmGnGZIBoXxZdLYw3ZvuLNgTarwSfjFKNjmEqAoeSEwe0ZovW2NVMGLCIKymc/w640-h360/P1020144.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
The Royalist foot is withdrawing slowly (top right following) covered by
their artillery and their remaining horse.. Parliament is trying get
one of their cavalry regiments round the flank (same corner as the gun) so
as to slow everything down
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirT1gu1lb4VJc60LXxZ4C_s-_XHLEmp7vm7SXP6sZjfJl_6oabv_3yZ3SvjM3JWohQlwt7x-nVR7Pt71aokH8fS5wVz3s9nUxcV3-74t9WgclzJgaTXYm6GQkBZA_NZmQXYeUMwkxDQ_ioXGjj8O4iMxhsXesXBYBUeWJGDYSwqjYn4dU/s1490/P1020145.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1235" data-original-width="1490" height="530" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirT1gu1lb4VJc60LXxZ4C_s-_XHLEmp7vm7SXP6sZjfJl_6oabv_3yZ3SvjM3JWohQlwt7x-nVR7Pt71aokH8fS5wVz3s9nUxcV3-74t9WgclzJgaTXYm6GQkBZA_NZmQXYeUMwkxDQ_ioXGjj8O4iMxhsXesXBYBUeWJGDYSwqjYn4dU/w640-h530/P1020145.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>...but (following) - they are stopped in a hail of grape - and that's where I
called a halt to the game.. </div><div><br />Right or wrong I called it a draw.. fairly equal
casualties, fairly equal losses in units, and the Parliamentary forces were
clearly going to gave to leave the area soon due to the loss of 60-70% of their
foot..
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYah_YYeGzNwWybAkwaLIIHaJeLOBso9p6U2NGFR1LfZdC5NVjDlv3qemaiHl5JApsFov4o_Bav1ecB_FiZFHeSPCZat1WLEDsViJAA1F_qCS4LRJ6L81glAwXxg2tSRTubz1sv3TQC_QyyklY_XpnG7F-fLS1rw5Mr1x1HG5vBjA8W3U/s1281/P1020146.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1220" data-original-width="1281" height="610" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYah_YYeGzNwWybAkwaLIIHaJeLOBso9p6U2NGFR1LfZdC5NVjDlv3qemaiHl5JApsFov4o_Bav1ecB_FiZFHeSPCZat1WLEDsViJAA1F_qCS4LRJ6L81glAwXxg2tSRTubz1sv3TQC_QyyklY_XpnG7F-fLS1rw5Mr1x1HG5vBjA8W3U/w640-h610/P1020146.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<div>
<p>Great fun, and much much closer than I thought due to the amazing collapse of the Parliamentary foot...</p><p>Sir Thomas Bagshot will ride again.. 😁</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
</p>
<p> Laters, as the young people are want to say...</p>
</div>
</div>
Steve-the-Wargamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07077311120172727690noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33041938.post-13468412770437323012023-02-12T08:55:00.003+00:002023-12-01T10:50:40.186+00:00"Firing into the Brown" #26 - archives, "Hatch End" and stuff..<div>
<p>
<span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;"><i>"So Carnehan weeds out the pick of his men, and sets the two of the
Army to show them drill and at the end of two weeks the men can
manoeuvre about as well as Volunteers. So he marches with the Chief to a
great big plain on the top of a mountain, and the Chiefs men rushes into
a village and takes it; we three Martinis
<b>firing into the brown </b>of the enemy".</i></span>
</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Kipling "The Man Who Would Be King"</i></span>
</p>
</div>
<span style="text-align: left;">Time for another update..</span><div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">
Retirement with time on my hands, and a bout of crappy weather in the UK
(non-stop rain, cold, rain. cold and repeat) has seen me in the loft tidying,
and chucking stuff out... going forward then, some of the more interesting
bits and pieces will find their way here... well interesting to me
anyway....
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
First off the chocks then, "Databooklet No. 6" from Military Modelling in
December 1981 and written by the inestimable Peter Gilder...
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
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</div>
<br />
<div>
Difficult to believe how much a of a boon these little pamphlets were in the
pre-Interweb days - in general the Internet wasn't even up and running until 2
years after this, and it would take years before it became the font of all the
stuff useful (and un-useful!) that it is today... so bottom line -
that's why I kept it to throw away 42 years later... 😁
</div>
<p style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ </p>
<p style="text-align: left;">
Way too long since I had the little metal men out for a jaunt, so whilst
engaged in the same clearing out session that unearthed the above, I found a
scenario in an old
<a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/Wargames_Journal" target="_blank">Wargames Journal magazine [clicky]</a>
- it was a sample issue, so I'm guessing I picked it up at one of the wargame
shows back in the day, and as Board Game Geek reckons it started with issue 1
in November 2005 I'm going to guess I picked it up at Salute that year (that's
so long ago they were still at the Olympia venue!)
</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">
Anyway - a fairly unexceptional scenario but for some reason it caught my
imagination and I decided to use it as an excuse to the get the English Civil
War guys out.. they have been in their storage boxes <b>far </b>too long..</p><p class="MsoNormal"><u>Scenario Notes:</u></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><ul><li>Parliament is on the table at the start with the exception of their cavalry - this is a Parliamentary incursion into an area sympathetic to the Royalist cause, so they have garrisoned and looted (err.. "requisitioned supplies needed for the war effort"...) the village, seen top centre in the picture. Their cavalry are off forging for further supplies.. they will arrive back sometime up to turn 4 dependent on dice throw, and will appear at the far end of the road leading left/right in the picture following.</li><li>The Royalists arrive in two tranches - cavalry advance guard first on turn 1, the rest of the troops from turn 3.</li><li>Royalist reinforcements <u>may</u> arrive from turn 6 - throw a D6 and on a 6 there is then a 1:6 chance of one infantry unit or one cavalry unit arriving... the odds are stacked against any Royalist reinforcements arriving.. 😀</li><li>The Royalist commander is a bit of a buffoon, and in an 'all fired hurry', and the cavalry arrive on table with orders to attack immediately, even if it is a fully formed infantry regiment with pikes set.. 😏</li></ul>
<p style="text-align: left;">
Stay turned for battle report and a ton of pictures - but in the meanwhile
here's the table with the opening move taking place.....
</p>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipr545RMgHYWSSDbfVUWMC4euGIStiggzq6KYryFcUIKbKDXgfs4-UXPOcVp08bbJr23FWEXCheIxMlLxHPcTYRmSAAWZcFDCLhUxaaPDUJv7AVbl5rxz1PeH_mlRIFSbnIRDaBYBYIP9Sq2aAmZZ2_9ChdkNIhgoNZ6DFSENYLv1bsh4/s1891/P1020126.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="742" data-original-width="1891" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipr545RMgHYWSSDbfVUWMC4euGIStiggzq6KYryFcUIKbKDXgfs4-UXPOcVp08bbJr23FWEXCheIxMlLxHPcTYRmSAAWZcFDCLhUxaaPDUJv7AVbl5rxz1PeH_mlRIFSbnIRDaBYBYIP9Sq2aAmZZ2_9ChdkNIhgoNZ6DFSENYLv1bsh4/w640-h252/P1020126.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;">
Royalist advance guard arriving right.. Parliamentary infantry (top)
deployed, but redeploying to face the threat...
</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">OOB as follows:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Royalist/Attacker:</u><o:p></o:p></p><table border="1" bordercolor="#d9d9d9" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="width: 100%px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 22.62%;" width="22%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;"><b>Unit</b></p>
</td>
<td style="width: 19.98%;" width="19%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;"><b>Notes/Type</b></p>
</td>
<td style="width: 13.76%;" width="13%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;"><b>Morale</b></p>
</td>
<td colspan="7" style="width: 43.66%;" width="43%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">
<b>SP’s</b>
</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 22.62%;" width="22%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Gun 1</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 19.98%;" width="19%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Medium (Saker)</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 13.76%;" width="13%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">0</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">6</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">5</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">4</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">3</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">2</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">1</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 6.2%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">skull</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 22.62%;" width="22%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Gun 2</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 19.98%;" width="19%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Medium (Saker)</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 13.76%;" width="13%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">0</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">6</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">5</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">4</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">3</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">2</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">1</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 6.2%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">skull</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 22.62%;" width="22%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Pennyman’s</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 19.98%;" width="19%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Regular/Steady</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 13.76%;" width="13%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">+1</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">5</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">4</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">3</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">2</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">1</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.2%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">skull</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 22.62%;" width="22%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Blagge’s</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 19.98%;" width="19%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Regular/Steady</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 13.76%;" width="13%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">+1</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">5</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">4</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">3</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">2</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">1</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.2%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">skull</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 22.62%;" width="22%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Belayse’s</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 19.98%;" width="19%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Regular/Steady</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 13.76%;" width="13%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">+1</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">5</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">4</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">3</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">2</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">1</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.2%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">skull</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); width: 22.62%;" width="22%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Grandison’s</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 19.98%;" width="19%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Trotter</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 13.76%;" width="13%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">+1</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">6</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">5</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">4</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">3</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">2</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">1</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.2%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">skull</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); width: 22.62%;" width="22%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Byron’s</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 19.98%;" width="19%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Trotter</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 13.76%;" width="13%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">+1</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">6</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">5</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">4</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">3</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">2</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">1</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.2%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">skull</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); width: 22.62%;" width="22%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">King’s Life Guard</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 19.98%;" width="19%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Cuirassier</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 13.76%;" width="13%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">+2</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">6</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">5</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">4</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">3</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">2</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">1</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.2%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">skull</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); width: 22.62%;" width="22%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Carnarvon’s</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 19.98%;" width="19%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Galloper</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 13.76%;" width="13%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">+1</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">6</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">5</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">4</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">3</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">2</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">1</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.2%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">skull</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="10" style="width: 100%;" width="100%">
<p>
<b>Reinforcements:</b>
</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 22.62%;" width="22%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Gerard’s</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 19.98%;" width="19%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Regular/Steady</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 13.76%;" width="13%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">+1</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">5</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">4</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">3</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">2</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">1</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.2%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">skull</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); width: 22.62%;" width="22%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">'tba'</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 19.98%;" width="19%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Dragoons</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 13.76%;" width="13%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">+1</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">6</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">5</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">4</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">3</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">2</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">1</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.2%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">skull</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><u>Parliament/Defender:</u></p>
<table border="1" bordercolor="#d9d9d9" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="0cm 5.4pt width: 100%px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 22.62%;" width="22%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;"><b>Unit</b></p>
</td>
<td style="width: 19.98%;" width="19%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;"><b>Notes/Type</b></p>
</td>
<td style="width: 13.76%;" width="13%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;"><b>Morale</b></p>
</td>
<td colspan="7" style="width: 43.66%;" width="43%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">
<b>SP’s</b><b><span style="font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></b>
</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 22.62%;" width="22%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Gun 1</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 19.98%;" width="19%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Light (Falconette)</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 13.76%;" width="13%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">0</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">6</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">5</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">4</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">3</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">2</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">1</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 6.2%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">skull</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 22.62%;" width="22%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Gun 2</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 19.98%;" width="19%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Light (Falconette)</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 13.76%;" width="13%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">0</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">6</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">5</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">4</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">3</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">2</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">1</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(229, 223, 236); width: 6.2%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">skull</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 22.62%;" width="22%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Brooke's</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 19.98%;" width="19%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Veteran</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 13.76%;" width="13%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">+2</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">6</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">5</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">4</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">3</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">2</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">1</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.2%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">skull</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 22.62%;" width="22%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Wharton’s</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 19.98%;" width="19%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Regular/Steady</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 13.76%;" width="13%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">+1</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">6</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">5</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">4</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">3</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">2</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">1</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.2%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">skull</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 22.62%;" width="22%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Mandeville’s</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 19.98%;" width="19%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Regular/Steady</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 13.76%;" width="13%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">+1</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">6</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">5</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">4</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">3</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">2</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">1</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.2%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">skull</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 22.62%;" width="22%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Cholmley’s</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 19.98%;" width="19%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Regular/Steady</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 13.76%;" width="13%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">+1</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">6</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">5</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">4</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">3</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">2</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">1</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.2%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">skull</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 22.62%;" width="22%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Essex’s</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 19.98%;" width="19%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Recruits</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 13.76%;" width="13%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">-1</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">6</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">5</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">4</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">3</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">2</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">1</p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.2%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">skull</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); width: 22.62%;" width="22%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Innes’s*</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 19.98%;" width="19%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Dragoon</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 13.76%;" width="13%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">0</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">6</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">5</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">4</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">3</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">2</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">1</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.2%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">skull</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); width: 22.62%;" width="22%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Wardlawe’s</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 19.98%;" width="19%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Dragoon</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 13.76%;" width="13%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">0</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">6</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">5</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">4</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">3</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">2</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">1</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.2%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">skull</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); width: 22.62%;" width="22%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Fielding’s</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 19.98%;" width="19%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Trotter</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 13.76%;" width="13%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">+1</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">6</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">5</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">4</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">3</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">2</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">1</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.2%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">skull</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); width: 22.62%;" width="22%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Gramson’s</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 19.98%;" width="19%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">Trotter</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 13.76%;" width="13%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">+1</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">6</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">5</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">4</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">3</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">2</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.24%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">1</p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(218, 238, 243); padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 6.2%;" width="6%">
<p align="center" class="text-align: center;">skull</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>
</p><p>*Using Royalist dragoons as a proxy/stand-in</p><p>Stay tuned..</p><p></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ </p>
<p> Laters, as the young people are want to say...</p>
<p></p>
</div>Steve-the-Wargamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07077311120172727690noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33041938.post-67335064309457189782023-01-18T11:13:00.000+00:002023-01-18T11:13:53.722+00:00"Firing into the Brown" #25 - Dickens and stuff..<div>
<p>
<span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;"><i>"So Carnehan weeds out the pick of his men, and sets the two of the
Army to show them drill and at the end of two weeks the men can
manoeuvre about as well as Volunteers. So he marches with the Chief to a
great big plain on the top of a mountain, and the Chiefs men rushes into
a village and takes it; we three Martinis
<b>firing into the brown </b>of the enemy".</i></span>
</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Kipling "The Man Who Would Be King"</i></span>
</p>
</div>
<span style="text-align: left;">Time for the first update of the new year.. at which point it would be
rude not to say 'Happy New Year!' to all my reader..</span>
<div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>
<table border="1">
<tbody>
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<td style="text-align: center;">
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</div>
</td>
<td>
This years Christmas Dickens... what an absolute delight - automatically
one of my top four Dickens novels (along with Copperfield, Nickleby and
Expectations). Mr. Pickwick is an independently wealthy gentlemen with a
group of close friends who are all members of a private club of which Mr
Pickwick is chairman. The club meets to eat, drink and tell stories, and
agree that Pickwick and his friends should travel, gathering stories so
that they may enjoy them. We then get 57 chapters of delightful
adventures, misadventures, 3rd party stories, marriages, debtor prisons,
romances, court actions and everything he and his friends get involved
with, along with a cast of friends, enemies, hangers on and
incidentals... favourites? Sam Weller and his Dad of
course.. stupendous!
</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="6%">9</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ </p>
<p></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMNZMkJRaxzNlvk-mgaosOQ4JqIkXS5Gcec3i9Hw8k6_d6k3jrL5oPKph4F7cCA4CaPg504oueL28LkYIk07gmrPb6DvlNPwdh9kdLzNxJZRCbb3hdLJSsuR3twwnH1645QUlKXa59_su_MH4YukOo1XTO6nK2-wWYg10k5Zg5h16mlWo/s855/Capture.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="1" data-original-height="693" data-original-width="855" height="518" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMNZMkJRaxzNlvk-mgaosOQ4JqIkXS5Gcec3i9Hw8k6_d6k3jrL5oPKph4F7cCA4CaPg504oueL28LkYIk07gmrPb6DvlNPwdh9kdLzNxJZRCbb3hdLJSsuR3twwnH1645QUlKXa59_su_MH4YukOo1XTO6nK2-wWYg10k5Zg5h16mlWo/w640-h518/Capture.JPG" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<br />
<span style="text-align: left;">As mentioned in the end of year review - not all is dormant on the wargame
front as DG and I are taking a leisurely stroll through one of the scenario's
in volume 1 of the Rebels and Recoats game series.. Bunker Hill.</span>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
We're up to move 4 and I am playing the British (red).. my first wave of
assault troops are ashore and holding their own, but DG is attacking
vigorously...<br />
<p></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ </p>
<p></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div>
<br />My first non-fiction of the year has just been completed... with a deep and abiding interest in the War for the Spanish Succession, I've always wanted to know a little more about Eugene than the bare basics that you tend to pick up as part of the accounts dealing with the better known Marlborough.</div><div><br /></div><div>I was aware that Marlborough had a huge amount of respect and trust for him, I was aware of his involvement at Blenheim, I was aware that he was widely accepted to be one of the great generals of his age, but know little more than that really..</div><div><br /></div><div>So when James Falkner comes along with a book on the man, I bought it as soon as it was published (from memory I think I pre-ordered).. Falkner is a good read, I particularly recommend his other books "Marlborough's War Machine" and "Great and Glorious Days: Marlborough's Battles, 1704-09" plus the two smaller Battleground books on Blenheim and Ramillies.</div><div><br /></div><div>So how was it? Well, I have to say I was a <b>little </b>disappointed but I'll start with the good</div><div><br /></div><div>I know a lot more about the man now than I did before, and in particular about his campaigns in the East against the Ottoman Turks. I understand a whole lot more about how big the Austrian Empire was at this point (they included huge tracts of the Balkans and Italy as part of the Empire) but also how fragile they were, there was never enough money to fully fund the campaigns Eugene undertook in Italy and the Balkans.</div><div><br /></div><div>His armies seemed to trust and like him - despite almost always being in arrears of pay, poorly clothed and fed, he managed to keep his polyglot armies of Austrian and German troops in the field far longer than you would normally expect.</div><div><br /></div><div>He was undoubtedly a military genius, having that ability to move troops quickly to the enemies weak point before the enemy even knows they have moved.</div><div><br /></div><div>What you don't get in the book though is a flavour of the actual man, and what he was like, he's almost an enigma and there are few first person accounts of what kind of a man he actually was, but in Falkners favour I think a lot of that is down to the man himself.. from what you read, he was not the outgoing socialite that Marlborough was - I get the distinct impression that this was a man dedicated to his trade, a bit of a loner socially(?), capable but not comfortable at court, happier with his army on campaign, never married (though there were rumours that he had a long term relationship) and died a bachelor with a large library at a good age.</div><div><br /></div><div>Recommended though - 8/10</div><div><p></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ </p>
<p> Laters, as the young people are want to say...</p>
</div>
Steve-the-Wargamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07077311120172727690noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33041938.post-9484258191077403502022-12-31T18:00:00.002+00:002022-12-31T18:00:00.171+00:002022.. a review...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a4Svvc7EA5s/XCog-2yL2VI/AAAAAAAAO8A/d-0lWCEghEsed_ceyyIwnS3c3S1SxgotgCLcBGAs/s1600/book.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="177" data-original-width="284" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a4Svvc7EA5s/XCog-2yL2VI/AAAAAAAAO8A/d-0lWCEghEsed_ceyyIwnS3c3S1SxgotgCLcBGAs/s1600/book.jpg" /></a>
</div>
<p>
By way of assuring my reader that I really haven't shuffled off this mortal
coil ... as we say every year... "here we go again"...😁
</p>
<p>
I'm still (still) not really a 'blowing the trumpet', 'review your triumphs',
etc etc type of person (I leave that to the business corporate types I used to
work with), but like my 'end of the year' review on
<a href="https://hurley20sparrow.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">the sailing blog</a>
it is kind of nice to cast my eyes over the year gone, and remind myself of
the ups and (this year, mostly) downs.... and besides everyone else is doing
the same thing... <br />
<br />
So by way of a joining up of the threads, and a bringing to a close of the
last year, let's push on...<br />
<br />
First, how did I do against
<a href="https://steve-the-wargamer.blogspot.com/2021/12/2021-review.html" target="_blank">my expectations [clicky]</a>?? Note: I <b>never, ever, </b>make 'resolutions', just 'set
expectations', and thus when I inevitably fail to meet them yet again, it is
not too demoralising or depressing an event..<br />
<br /><i>1/. Play more games..</i><br />
</p>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
Slight victory... there were five table top games in 2022 (c/w two in 2021,
three in 2020, four in 2019, six in 2018, and eight in 2017) which is both
atrocious and still a downwards trend;
</ol>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
ACW - <a href="https://steve-the-wargamer.blogspot.com/2022/01/weekly-musings-1-acw-mini-game.html" target="_blank">
"mini game" [clicky]</a> inspired by a scenario I first saw on Norm's <a href="http://battlefieldswarriors.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">blog [clicky]</a>..
</li>
<li>
ACW (Naval) -
<a href="https://steve-the-wargamer.blogspot.com/2022/01/firing-into-brown-3-riverine-encounter.html" target="_blank">"Riverine Action" [clicky] </a>- Confederate attempt to force a river passage
</li>
<li>
ACW (Naval) -
<a href="https://steve-the-wargamer.blogspot.com/2022/02/firing-into-brown-6-chattanooga-is.html" target="_blank">"Hunt the Chattanooga" [clicky]</a>
triumphant conclusion to a very entertaining min campaign first
recommended to my by regular reader Jim - available
<a href="https://steve-the-wargamer.blogspot.com/2022/02/firing-into-brown-6-chattanooga-is.html" target="_blank">here [clicky]</a>for very few pennies, and very much worth it..
</li>
<li>
ACW (Naval) - more "<a href="https://steve-the-wargamer.blogspot.com/2022/11/firing-into-brown-23-riverine-action.html" target="_blank">riverine action [clicky]</a>"
</li>
<li>
AWI - John Corrigan Memorial game 2022 -
<a href="https://steve-the-wargamer.blogspot.com/2022/08/firing-into-brown-19-jc-memorial-game.html" target="_blank">"Spare Your Reserves" [clicky]</a> scenario detail is<a href="https://steve-the-wargamer.blogspot.com/2022/08/firing-into-brown-18-books-jc-memorial.html" target="_blank">
here [clicky] </a>which came originally from an idea on this
<a href="https://bravefusiliers.blogspot.com/2022/06/spare-your-reserves.html" target="_blank">blog [clicky]</a>
</li>
</ul>
</ol>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjphfaAktjPCITUSYKl_0bJqaMaV7rLdcNX_uRYMUeDp7Q9Ou5jZ79O_qxlswYzX8-6-rDtf2Qza0ll37ItTKgXSphrtQp1x_GW0nxR4IhcJvxbUeuivaZX1pZ6B6IWw8tNX1yX9uJQzsno9kCML05H2UiwW1wBGIYkoq-gdTPmfJZ4CGo/s640/P1020112.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="402" data-original-width="640" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjphfaAktjPCITUSYKl_0bJqaMaV7rLdcNX_uRYMUeDp7Q9Ou5jZ79O_qxlswYzX8-6-rDtf2Qza0ll37ItTKgXSphrtQp1x_GW0nxR4IhcJvxbUeuivaZX1pZ6B6IWw8tNX1yX9uJQzsno9kCML05H2UiwW1wBGIYkoq-gdTPmfJZ4CGo/w640-h402/P1020112.JPG" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
.. DG and I are also currently playing the Bunker Hill scenario from the
Rebels and Redcoats board game, exchanging moves via Dropbox and email. We
last played this in 2005!
</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;">
<p style="text-align: left;"></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div>
<p></p>
</blockquote>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
But all in all - green shoots of growth showing, I think...
</ol>
<i>2/. Blog more</i>
<div>
<i><br /></i>
</div>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
It is very noticeable that the hey day of Blogger has now long gone - other
platforms, new year diary syndrome, ennui, can't be bothered, call it what
you will but the sheer quantity of blogs is now much less than it was,
and I am no different.. blogging takes a fair amount of effort, and
sometimes it's just easier to put up a 3 line entry on Farcebook, or
Twitter....
</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;">
<p style="text-align: left;">
Anyhoo, there were 25 posts including this one in 2022 (c/w
21posts in 2021, 32 in 2020, 49 in 2019, 35 in 2018, 45 in 2017, 58 in 2016,
69 in 2015, 68 in 2014, 84 in '13, 85, in '12) which is is better but the
downward trend is back on again.
</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;">
<p style="text-align: left;">
I'm happy with Blogger, I like to write and it suits my ordered mind, but I
need creative inputs to prompt posts, and I wasn't feeling it in 2022...
</p>
</blockquote>
<div>
<i>3/. Try to keep up my painting efforts..</i><br />
<ol>
I would say I did "poorly" with this one - as is usual with me, my painting
months are beginning and end of the sailing season, there's 100 points worth
here which compares with 200 points in 2021 and 253 points in 2020... not
even close, not even a sniff of the cigar humidor... a definite fall off in
painting efforts in the second half of the year where normally I might
expect to pick up after the sailing finishes.. improvement needed!
</ol>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width: 100%;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">Date (click to go to post)</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="40%">Item description</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="15%">Period</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="15%">Make</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="12%">Scale</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">Points Value/Total Pts</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://steve-the-wargamer.blogspot.com/2022/01/weekly-musings-2-acw-rules-thoughts.html" target="_blank">14/1/22</a>
</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">WWII French rebasing</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">WW2</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">n/a</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">15mm</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">5@2 for 10 Pts</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://steve-the-wargamer.blogspot.com/2022/03/firing-into-brown-9-books-blitzkrieg.html" target="_blank">4/3/22</a>
</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">WWII German rebasing</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">WW2</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">Peter Pig<br /></td>
<td style="text-align: center;">15mm</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">37@1 and 14@2 for 65pts</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://steve-the-wargamer.blogspot.com/2022/03/firing-into-brown-11-blitzkrieg-and.html" target="_blank">18/3/22</a>
</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">
Royal Italien rebased and reflagged<br />
</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">WSS</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">Warrior</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">15mm</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">
24@1, plus 1 for the flag, for 25pts
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Total to date: 100 points </b>(200 from 2021 to beat)
</div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i><br /></i>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i>4/. continue reading more non-fiction... </i>
</div>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
If I did nothing else in 2022 I did read (just as well, as I wasn't
blogging!)... thank goodness for books...
</ol>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
Half the number I read last year, and the quality was not as good I
thought, though there was one of my 10's in the list.. despite it's
venerable age (published 1951!), Brickhill takes it this year....<br />
</ol>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
For this coming year I already have James Holland's book "Brothers in
Arms: By Tank to Germany" waiting and ready - this is an operational
history of the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry regiment from D-Day to VE
Day.. looking forward to it
</ol>
<ol>
<br />
<table border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
<center>Book</center>
</td>
<td>
<center>Comments</center>
</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="10%">Score (out of 10)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
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</div>
</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">
<p>
Been waiting to read this one for an age - probably from the
first time I saw that it had been published as I am a bit of a
Hastings fan boy, and I'm not sure I've read a duff one by him..
</p>
<p>
Pedestal was the code name for the operation to send a relief
convoy to Malta in 1942, and this history was a bit of an eye
opener measured against what I thought I knew already..
</p>
<p>So what did I take away from this??</p>
<p>
First , in 1942 the Royal Navy was nowhere near as accomplished
as they were to become in the sphere of anti submarine
warfare.. ASDIC was coming on line, but the in depth
courses that taught the escort commanders how to tackle the
submarine threat were some way in the future - the book is
replete with examples of how the ships were just not used in the
right way, and how exposed convoys and ships were at this time
of the war to submarine attack.. in perhaps the luckiest
night for submarines in WW2 an Italian commander sank an oil
tanker, and the German U73 sank the aircraft carrier Eagle..
</p>
<p>
Second, ground to air (or in this case sea to air) coordination
was also in it's infancy - despite having successfully offloaded
almost 50 Spitfires to Malta, the lack of coordination between
Malta and the convoy resulted in huge gaps in air cover for the
convoy..
</p>
<p>
Three, British carrier born aircraft of the period were woefully
under powered and under spec when compared with the enemies they
were expected to take on in the air - the carriers had
Hurricanes and Fairey Fulmars/Albacores, when what they needed
was Spitfires.. the carriers themselves were wooden decked
(little or no armour plating) and lacked the ability to get lots
of planes into the air at the same time
</p>
<p>
Forth, convoy coordination/communication was also in it's
infancy, the Royal Navy put together a convoy comprising fast
modern merchant ships (all of them were capable of 16 knots) but
once the attacks started going in (by submarine, aircraft, and
gunboats) most communication appears to have been by Aldiss
light as it was quicker and safer than transmitting in plain
English..
</p>
<p>
Fifth, as in the Napoleonic wars, the British navy needed
destroyers (frigates) by the score - they were the maids of all
work; fast, well armed for their size.. the Navy sent a
number of cruisers as convoy escort, but they were almost a
liability, requiring more protection themselves than the support
they provided, ditto the aircraft carriers - there almost
seemed a palpable relief when the point was reached on the
convoy when the capital ships could be sent back to Gibraltar
</p>
<p>
All in all then a HUGE undertaking, and Hastings does touch on
the multitude of views as to whether the action, and the
casualties , were justified, but I tend towards his view, and
also Churchill's that it was absolutely the right thing to do,
and the right time to do it...
</p>
<p>
A warts and all history treating each side to an equal review of
their good and bad, tactics, personal performance of the
offensive forces.. my overwhelming opinion at the end of
it was huge respect for the merchant seamen who got those ships
to Malta, and the clear indication that the Navy were ready to
learn from the mistakes. Good read..
</p>
</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">9</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
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</div>
</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">
<p>
A very readable history of the Battle of France from the start
of 'Fall Gelb' ('Case Yellow' - the first part of the assault -
ie. "hold in place on the Belgian flank while the Panzers swung
through the Ardennes and round the other flank" or as Captain
Mainwaring called it, "a typical shabby Nazi trick" 😁) to the
end of 'Fall Rot' ('Case Red' - the breakthrough, defeat, and
occupation of France)
</p>
<p>
There are no surprises here - the author covers it all (very
well), but the editors, book designers and whatever have done
him no favours by promising all the snake oil on the cover.. so
what we DO have is a clear and concise account of the failings
of the French army (operationally, tactically, mentally welded
to their fortresses, and the concept of the positional battle,
completely unable to react as quickly as they needed to), and we
have the Germans, flushed from success in Poland where they have
learned hard lessons on the actual field of battle, and with
leaders like Guderian, Manstein and Rommel, absolutely
overflowing with confidence in the new Panzer arm, trying
desperately to persuade the more conservative elements to let
them do what was planned, and eventually succeeding.
</p>
<p>
An excellent book, the descriptions of the condition of the
German tank troops and panzer grenadiers after being awake for
days at a time was gripping.
</p>
Very good but short on "myths".. <br />
</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">8</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div>
</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">
A Pan 70th Anniversary edition.. and I reckon I must have
first read this about 50 years ago.. probably because I had
just read his other well known book "Escape or Die" which I had
enjoyed enormously and as a result was looking for more of his
books..
<p>
Unlike "Chastise" which I read last year, this book is more an
operational history of the squadron than an exhaustive look at
the Dams raid.. in fact the raid only takes up about a
third of the book, as the rest of it covers events after the
raid, and how 617 Squadron became a special operations squadron
known for their fantastic ability to drop bombs from
considerable heights into very small area's (one of the
bomb-aimers in 617 had an
<b>average</b> of dropping a bomb within 70 yards of a target,
which given this was pre-laser is astonishing!)
</p>
<p>
The squadron had a very close relationship with Barnes Wallis
who is best known as the inventor of the bouncing bomb, but who
also designed and invented the Grand Slam and Tall Boy bombs
(and also the Wellington bomber, by the by).. known as
'earthquake bombs' they were massive (10 and 6 tons
respectively) designed to bury themselves deep underground, and
explode on a delayed fuse causing shock tremors to destroy the
target..
</p>
617 were the specialists in dropping these with pin point
accuracy, and focused on the U Boat pens, the rocket sites, and
enemy concentration sites (marshaling yards, bridges, viaducts,
etc). Brilliant!<br />
</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">10</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div>
</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;"><i>"You are so crooked, Dickie, that if you swallowed a nail,
you would shit a corkscrew". (Mountbatten according to a quote
ascribed to Field Marshal Sir Gerald Templer, the former Chief
of the Imperial General Staff </i>😮<i>) </i><br /></span><br />Excellent book, well argued, and yet I still remain in
slightly mixed minds about what the real purpose of the raid was
.. <br /><br />Bishop's narrative (which is brilliant - well worth
a read) would have you believe that Mountbatten was a charismatic
but vanity driven commander without any innate military skill who
was looking for something he could pin first, his colours to, and
secondly the colours of the clandestine organisation he led at
that time, to.. He was a man desperately in need of a victory and
the approbation that came with it.. along the way there are a cast
of characters great and good who weren't going to get in the way
of this "mission", until in the end the incredibly 5,000 brave
boys of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division were thrown on to
beaches where 3,367 were killed, wounded or taken prisoner, a
casualty rate of 68 percent.... <br /><br />A catalogue of
disasters..
<br />
<ul>
<li>
Montgomery (to my mind) as one of the early generals in charge
of planning eventually washed his hands and sloped his
shoulders and went off to the desert without a backward
glance, despite clearly having misgivings
</li>
<li>
the Canadian commanders were so desperate to get their troops
into a fight after years of training and no action, they
accepted the plan as given them.
</li>
<li>
The Navy wouldn't commit the capital ships that everyone knew
were needed to provide the offensive preparatory barrage (and
I don't believe that was a wrong decision given what later
transpired)
</li>
<li>
the cloak of secrecy was such no one would take the chance of
getting a spy into Dieppe to actually see what was waiting for
them, and if they had they would have seen the depth of
preparation the Germans had put in place - not because they
were expecting this raid in specific, but as part of their
general level of preparedness..
</li>
</ul>
<br />What I remain in mixed minds about is whether the raid
really was a preparation for a future D-Day, or whether that was
just the justification for the bloodshed that had ensued - that
everyone told everyone so many times afterwards that was the prime
reason for the raid, that in the end even the men who planned it,
believed it.. <br /><br />I think I am in less mixed mind that
whether that was the actual purpose or not, one thing that did
come out of it was some very, very valuable lessons were learned,
that were acted on later in the war in both Normandy, and
Italy/Tunisia.. Sobering.. "go, Canada!"..
</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">9</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</ol>
<i><div style="text-align: left;">
<i>5/. Salute, Colours and/or Warfare...</i>
</div></i>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
Didn't make any of them.. Salute in April was cancelled, Colours I
think DG was busy elsewhere, and I was on holiday when Warfare was on..
</ol>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
Did I miss them?? Have to say, 'not really' - there have been some truly
excellent thinking men's blogs on the subject of wargame shows, and
whether they have a future (thinking
<a href="https://independentwargamesgroup.blogspot.com/2022/12/wargames-shows-and-how-to-suck-eggs.html" target="_blank">this one [clicky]</a>
and a retailers view
<a href="http://gloriouslittlesoldiers.blogspot.com/2014/05/are-wargames-shows-dying-breed.html" target="_blank">here [clicky]</a>), but what drives my interest and participation in a wargame show is
different to others I suspect.. I am not a social gamer, I prefer
solo or the good company of DG, I have a minute lead mountain as I paint
to order so there is no butterfly to satisfy, mail order is orders of
magnitude better than it was in the old days, etcetcetc
</ol>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
I suspect I will probably never go to Salute again, purely because of the
sheer costs of attending; Colours and Warfare are possible if DG is up for
it, but I won't go on my own..
</ol>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span>6/. <i>Tangmere visit</i></span>
</div>
<div>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
...still to do... it has re-opened following COVID, but is
currently closed for the winter layoff.
</ol>
<span><div style="text-align: left;">
<i>7/. Edgehill walk - unlikely but if we don't aim, we don't even
shoot... (just call me Confucius the Wargamer....)</i>
</div></span>
</div>
<div>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
...I am now retired and have a shed load of time available (apparently),
so this one is now move towards the front burner's!
</ol>
<span><div style="text-align: left;">
<i>8/. Spend less time on Facebook - it's wasted time, and it's too
easy to lose an hour that I could use doing something else</i>
</div></span>
</div>
<div>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
...funny how you change your focus when your horizon's close in to the
computer/virtual reality - all the events/things I would have been
trying to do were not happening, and shifted to virtual.. so
Farcebok became a ways and means of keeping in touch rather than trite
entertainment..
</ol>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i><span>9/. Lose 3 stone - fed up being a fat bastard...</span></i>
</div>
<ol>
<div style="text-align: left;">Abject fail... 😏</div>
</ol>
<span><div style="text-align: left;">
<i>10/. HMS Victory - been years since I last went ..</i>
</div></span>
</div>
<div>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
Completed.... grandson and I had a lovely day in Portsmouth's
historic dockyard with a visit on board the day that the scaffolding and
covers were going on ready for a root and branch refurb...
</ol>
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</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div>
</div>
<p></p>
<div style="text-align: left;">
...there you go... you may beg to differ, but as it is my blog I can once
again report that
<b>all (achievable) targets and goals were achieved</b> ...!
Hurrah!!
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
In summary?? I've got to say that on the personal front 2022 was not the
best year, and neither was 2021 or 2020..
</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
Not in any priority at all..... work continued to gobble up increasing
amounts of what used to be down time, and a change of work location added
an hour to my commute time. BUT, I retired end August so I am very much
hoping this is no longer an excuse going forward.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
There was also this in July..
<div>
<br />
<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
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</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption">
<span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;">Result of a small contretemps with the ground when I came
off Gertrude, my electric bike..<br />..rest easy she came
off considerably better than I did.</span><span>. 😀</span>
<div><br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div>...and this in August...</div>
<div><br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy9Ug1EaMhnqskKd95ipPWRHw8ssteCPytL_4fJO7-mz1WNpRX2YgPY3NH6X-co2gqkLIPGLRBSJvyM2EojzTJCVbuGzCWm7K9yLW7gwKqCozl_0ZN5ql-chSErXJull8sD-8jEj-9ht2LUKWZLtAjW7kokLj1Xo7RLDk3VIQGXPLUP1NVUeND2xo/s275/download.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy9Ug1EaMhnqskKd95ipPWRHw8ssteCPytL_4fJO7-mz1WNpRX2YgPY3NH6X-co2gqkLIPGLRBSJvyM2EojzTJCVbuGzCWm7K9yLW7gwKqCozl_0ZN5ql-chSErXJull8sD-8jEj-9ht2LUKWZLtAjW7kokLj1Xo7RLDk3VIQGXPLUP1NVUeND2xo/w400-h266/download.jpg" width="400" /></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;">..bye bye 48 hours I'll never get back (where I just slept
and took paracetamol's alternately)..<br />but
thankfully, <b>very</b> thankfully, that was about
it for me.. "trust in the science", damn right..</span>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
...but also a stupidly warm/hot summer that made being in the loft
unbearable - and made sitting in my new hammock chair under a tree
with a book far more attractive! 😁
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><br /></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>On the hobby front</b> I'll say it was a poor year... no
Salute/Colours/Warfare with DG, a massive dose of wargamers block (pffft..
it happens..) but on the plus side a lot of good books..
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
...apropos of absolutely nothing (I only have the number as I like to put
reviews on the blog), 40 books were read in 2022, compared with 51 in '21,
63 in '20, 55 in '19, 43 in '18, 52 in '17, 54 in '16, and 46 in '15
- despite distractions aplenty I had a <u>hugely </u>enjoyable reading year..
some of them were huge which I think accounts for the downturn in numbers, be
interesting to see what effect retirement has on that...</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">Favourite books this year? Fiction - these were my 'perfect 10's' of the year</div>
<p></p>
<div>
<table border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
<center>Book</center>
</td>
<td>
<center>Comments</center>
</td>
<td style="text-align: center;" width="10%">Score (out of 10)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx5OqKO3H1oF6X7JeC0KqKVCUwvr27wUNo80_SdXdsty0uxKU4Ph_8YvICKsAdLuoOKue9s6oCR3ZyRTdIYIsGgRaz5m6zZVXraSAJOx5vv3YBJQsNRimzkRUr0esGKyzBDNLwlLgRuZ_PiaeHzbS1GkuiQ2z3xB2IVD6xRVR9OWZKTgY/s485/611FydFQDGL.SX316.SY480._SL500_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="485" data-original-width="316" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx5OqKO3H1oF6X7JeC0KqKVCUwvr27wUNo80_SdXdsty0uxKU4Ph_8YvICKsAdLuoOKue9s6oCR3ZyRTdIYIsGgRaz5m6zZVXraSAJOx5vv3YBJQsNRimzkRUr0esGKyzBDNLwlLgRuZ_PiaeHzbS1GkuiQ2z3xB2IVD6xRVR9OWZKTgY/w130-h200/611FydFQDGL.SX316.SY480._SL500_.jpg" width="130" /></a>
</div>
</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">
A long time ago this
series of books by Arthur Ransome featuring the Swallows and the
Amazons kick started a sailing hobby that has lasted the better
part of 50 years for me - I would say Ransome has been as
influential on me as Featherstone! So in this, the fourth in the
series we are introduced for the first time to Dick and Dorothea
Callum who will provide an ongoing story line through the books.
It is winter in the lake district, snow and ice all over, the lake
is freezing, and Dick and Dorothea have been sent to spend the
holidays with their mothers old nurse. While there they make
friends with the Walker's (the Swallows) and the Blackett's (the
Amazons) and despite the lack of boats embark on an "arctic"
adventure featuring skates, sledges, storms, feasts... just
brilliant.. <br />
</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">10</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8NgkVZy9EbUoevEk-C-u9HXXNKUOqhPFIBRitfdyVUFdzbTKzI_S5FEDWy2uhhmYdK5t2yxSxy0DalwiEL29uMyniauLN6Ys3mlrXh6Sn6l8yS19rDXQ3ykqcC9Rf2jwAs1_BdyWoc8chn6gGHNBcj1GedqOnlgd5-CgTZSHL_B4DUCs/s485/51fwgaclcvL.SX316.SY480._SL500_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="485" data-original-width="316" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8NgkVZy9EbUoevEk-C-u9HXXNKUOqhPFIBRitfdyVUFdzbTKzI_S5FEDWy2uhhmYdK5t2yxSxy0DalwiEL29uMyniauLN6Ys3mlrXh6Sn6l8yS19rDXQ3ykqcC9Rf2jwAs1_BdyWoc8chn6gGHNBcj1GedqOnlgd5-CgTZSHL_B4DUCs/w130-h200/51fwgaclcvL.SX316.SY480._SL500_.jpg" width="130" /></a>
</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">
The one that started it all off - a methodical, incisive,
practical, checklist on how to (almost) assassinate a world
leader. I have read this book a dozen times and it never fails to
suck you in, even when you know he is not going to succeed, he
really is not the nicest of people (probably a clinically defined
psychopath), and his mission is in support of some unpleasant
people. It is stunning, what a story... really must watch
the film again soon (the Zinnemann/Fox one, not that pile of sh*te
with Bruce Willis in it)<br />
</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">10</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div>
</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">
Aubrey fans call reading the entire series a circumnavigation, and
this is my second circumnavigation and the books continue to be
just shy of genius.. seriously if you've never read any, you
must - they are unique, the stories gripping, the atmosphere,
life, doings of the regency Royal Navy described with pin sharp
detail. I love them... deep in legal issues, Aubrey asks for any
command until his promised new frigate is ready, and is given
command of an old 74, the Worcester, a poor and shoddy example of
the British builders art she is falling to pieces.. working
her up to readiness she joins the blockade off Toulon but is soon
detached for independent service in support of diplomatic
overtures to the Turks. Following a brisk engagement Worcester is
largely condemned and Aubrey is given command of Surprise with a
picked crew as her captain was killed in the same
engagement.. there follows a momentous and bloody battle
against large Turkish frigate as only O'Brien can describe -
stunning...<br />
</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">10</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div>
</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">
Jack - still in charge of Surprise - is given an urgent mission to
intercept a heavy French Frigate that is looking to break into the
south Pacific and interrupt the whaling trade - this is the book
that was mostly used for the film, and bloody good it is as well,
as the Surprises battle with the thought there is a Jonah on board
as the French privateer foils them at every turn.. brilliant..
</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">10</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghaxsVrS9MgpcYSUzE3FbzE_s1xseYap3-5S6r7FY9cpMiMcVvEgtRAO03kj1fimnhG5YPJTjxnol-lk1g3aLdQE5GWdyJQVmPZRVZCAyKiQCaD9Nh97z-j71smC93T6S4w_UngbFOjdaTccu51EkNyPPgl3dtM0TwKO7idHCgDjXFMS8/s500/51Wok9roecL.SX316.SY480._SL500_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="315" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghaxsVrS9MgpcYSUzE3FbzE_s1xseYap3-5S6r7FY9cpMiMcVvEgtRAO03kj1fimnhG5YPJTjxnol-lk1g3aLdQE5GWdyJQVmPZRVZCAyKiQCaD9Nh97z-j71smC93T6S4w_UngbFOjdaTccu51EkNyPPgl3dtM0TwKO7idHCgDjXFMS8/w126-h200/51Wok9roecL.SX316.SY480._SL500_.jpg" width="126" /></a>
</div>
</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">
With the very sad news of the death of Hilary Mantel earlier this
year I thought it more than time that I finally got round to
reading her tour de force novelisation of the life of Thomas
Cromwell - probably more popularly known as Henry VIII's "hatchet
man" but so much more than that as we find out in this the first
of the trilogy... This book deals with the burgoning birth
of the Protestant church, and the quite extraordinary lengths
Cromwell had to go through in order to secure and legitimise
Henry's divorce from Katherine (of Aragon) and marriage to Anne
(Boleyn) - much like the best story tellers, the book is utterly
immersive - it really does feel like you are there in the court of
Henry VIII with all the favouritism, wealth, treachery, gossip and
manoeuvring that would mean - outstanding, extraordinary even, and
it's clear that Mantel would have been more than happy to sit down
with a glass of wine with Cromwell.. 😊 My first 10+ of the
year...
</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">10+</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGiORbyen0FS-DW2JLY3H4Fyb7x_znN_T0l9ne-qVt6EkWG6KRnFfopTBMWZN_5pbd-MUgUh6TTy1iygH8gjPAnDdmEZ5Rbz1pxVAHKZiFNKQt-hkftvNsfJAJojRJ19RcErGV6osn2xO0thAKhjI-99cWPjSVyVT1LmoGfPlzhz7HNW8/s489/51c08hKvKML.SX316.SY480._SL500_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="489" data-original-width="316" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGiORbyen0FS-DW2JLY3H4Fyb7x_znN_T0l9ne-qVt6EkWG6KRnFfopTBMWZN_5pbd-MUgUh6TTy1iygH8gjPAnDdmEZ5Rbz1pxVAHKZiFNKQt-hkftvNsfJAJojRJ19RcErGV6osn2xO0thAKhjI-99cWPjSVyVT1LmoGfPlzhz7HNW8/w129-h200/51c08hKvKML.SX316.SY480._SL500_.jpg" width="129" /></a>
</div>
</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">
Henry is married to the "Boleyn woman" but the cracks are already
beginning to show - she's given him a child, but it's a girl
(Elizabeth I to be), and Anne is making Henry's life a misery with
her demands for preference for the Boleyn family, and the
de-legitimisation of Katherine and his other daughter (Mary). The
stress and strain on Anne of trying to bring forth another full
pregnancy (she has at least one miscarriage), and more importantly
a boy, is brought to life with frightening detail until in the end
Henry again comes to Cromwell to request his assistance in getting
rid of her for whatever legitimate and legal reason he can come up
with in order that he can marry Jane Seymour - chosen purely
because of her very opposite nature to Anne. Anne's date with the
<a href="https://hforhistory.co.uk/h-for-history-posts/2017/05/22/anne-boleyn-19th-may-1536-alison-weir/" target="_blank">French executioner</a>
was almost pre-ordained once Cromwell started to dig up the
"facts" - brilliant!
</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">10</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMMJlUrW2LDsx7xCRrQrR6uklyii52zc3W1rB_BurNCBmsZD67CE-B_9X7Dv3TDeT86wyKqNKsyVxrOmvmSTpQEod8G7aIdHoemF3h4Zy21u02Hwl-6mZKpysNSgmn3ECU9U2tluyJ37X_gRBwDFPGIRRMkQH-TAUlP_5VDPrNIek4KC8/s485/51lRmv1DchS.SX316.SY480._SL500_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="485" data-original-width="316" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMMJlUrW2LDsx7xCRrQrR6uklyii52zc3W1rB_BurNCBmsZD67CE-B_9X7Dv3TDeT86wyKqNKsyVxrOmvmSTpQEod8G7aIdHoemF3h4Zy21u02Hwl-6mZKpysNSgmn3ECU9U2tluyJ37X_gRBwDFPGIRRMkQH-TAUlP_5VDPrNIek4KC8/w130-h200/51lRmv1DchS.SX316.SY480._SL500_.jpg" width="130" /></a>
</div>
</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">
...and so we come to the final chapter, quite literally, in this
novelisation of the life of Thomas Cromwell. At the end the of the
second volume after a lot of hard work gathering and
cross-checking evidence, Cromwell had seen Anne Boleyn executed
leaving Henry free to marry Jane Seymour, which he does at the
start of this third and final book - will Henry finally attain the
male successor he is so desperate for? At this point in his life
Henry is becoming increasingly unhealthy, a leg injury has
developed into an open ulcerous would which affects his ability to
exercise, and his usual appetite sees him gaining weight. His
marriage to Jane is happy, and Henry soon sees her pregnant and
she gives birth to a boy (Edward VII) but she dies following the
complicated childbirth, and it is at this point that Cromwell's
star finally begins to dim... his choice for Henry's next
bride is Anne of Cleeves. The marriage is a disaster and Henry
blames Cromwell - the marriage is annulled, and in the political
manoeuvring following it, Cromwell finds himself isolated, and
even more so in the light of the fact that Henry has his eye on
Catherine Howard, the niece of his greatest enemy at court,
Norfolk. Cromwell is arrested, charged, attainted, and then
beheaded... all this against a background of the dissolution
of the monastery's, the birth pains of the British Protestantism
(Henry yo-yo'd constantly between Catholicism and flavours of
Protestantism)... simply stunning.. my second 10+ of
this year
</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">10+</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: left;">..so an absolutely outstanding year for good stories - out of those, it
was a no brainer, and the three Mantel books take it.. so sad that it took her death to make me finally pick the books up, but they are utterly and completely brilliant, very long, but I recommend them completely and unequivocally as a gateway to immerse yourself in what it was like to live in the court of Henry VIII in later Tudor England, seen from the first person perspective of Thomas Cromwell... sublime..</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The <strike>worst</strike> lowest scoring book was still better
than anything I could write, so I refuse to comment here on it..
authors work long hours, and they don't need someone like me who has
never created a book, to 'diss' their efforts..
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
This year?? Well I <b>intend </b>to keep exactly the same expectations!
Fingers crossed...
</div>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: left;">play more games</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">blog more - there I said it.. <br /></li>
<li style="text-align: left;">
try to keep up my painting efforts..
</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">
continue reading more non-fiction... it is the heart and core of the
hobby..
</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">
Salute, Colours and/or Warfare??<br />
</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">Tangmere visit</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">
Edgehill walk - unlikely but if we don't aim, we don't even shoot...
(just call me Confucius the Wargamer....)
</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">
Spend less time on Facebook - it's wasted time, and it's too easy to
lose an hour that I could use doing something else
</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">
losing some weight - fed up being a fat bastard...
<a href="http://steve-the-wargamer.blogspot.com/2015/01/2014-review.html" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L6DizDiCosk/Ujr_VPxjwoI/AAAAAAAAHZI/b1SBH7H93w4/s1600/smiley.gif" style="color: black;" /></a></li>
</ol>
So finally,<b> Happy New Year</b> to all my reader - may the dice roll as
required, your brushes always keep a sharp tip, the beer be hoppy and
bright, and the books all page turners... <br />
</div>
</div>
</div>
Steve-the-Wargamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07077311120172727690noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33041938.post-63304506451338729112022-12-11T18:18:00.002+00:002023-12-04T11:42:50.818+00:00"Firing into the Brown" #24 - Schellenberg, Dickens, Christine and stuff..<div>
<p>
<span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;"><i>"So Carnehan weeds out the pick of his men, and sets the two of the
Army to show them drill and at the end of two weeks the men can
manoeuvre about as well as Volunteers. So he marches with the Chief to a
great big plain on the top of a mountain, and the Chiefs men rushes into
a village and takes it; we three Martinis
<b>firing into the brown </b>of the enemy".</i></span>
</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Kipling "The Man Who Would Be King"</i></span>
</p>
</div>
<span style="text-align: left;">Time for another update..</span>
<div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div>
<p>
Was tidying up in the 'loft of war' the other day and found some old Military
Modelling's that I'd clearly bought in a bring and buy at some long forgotten
show - probably as part of my search for the complete run of Tabletop Teasers (often used to pick up bundles of mags, often containing just one issue of Practical Wargamer I needed),
but anyway, and by the by, I thought this article was lovely (and also close
to the heart, being one of my favourite wargaming periods).. a fitting
example of the work of two of the hobbies, sadly gone, greats...
</p>
<p>Clicking on them should embiggen pleasingly..</p>
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</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqYNcatijO8UgqgGKbCs-iEFMbBmPr9btjW0RSTGHqIsj_53i7hg9pdl7L4ReN3czGlT9s0rG3Y81Tc3cSCu2MSweIk_cKYh6QydPkzpQzyWOQjiZvAAFWwTY81H78SCmbtpPYufv8NLV_Sq-mG8LtwVdVRlBxT6LXSnSXvM0niGD2PAw/s2338/Pg%203.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2338" data-original-width="1700" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqYNcatijO8UgqgGKbCs-iEFMbBmPr9btjW0RSTGHqIsj_53i7hg9pdl7L4ReN3czGlT9s0rG3Y81Tc3cSCu2MSweIk_cKYh6QydPkzpQzyWOQjiZvAAFWwTY81H78SCmbtpPYufv8NLV_Sq-mG8LtwVdVRlBxT6LXSnSXvM0niGD2PAw/w466-h640/Pg%203.jpg" width="466" /></a>
</div>
<p style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ </p>
<p>That time of the year again, it's Dickens time! Here's the Christmas Dickens timeline to date...</p>
<p></p>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>2013 - "David Copperfield" (9/10)</li>
<li>2014 - "Nicholas Nickleby" (exceptional)</li>
<li>2015 - "Oliver Twist" (8/10)</li>
<li>2016 - "The Old Curiosity Shop" (7/10)</li>
<li>2017 - "A Tale of Two Cities" (7/10) and "A Christmas Carol" (9/10)</li>
<li>2018 - "Great Expectations" (10/10)</li>
<li>2019 - "Bleak House" (8/10)</li>
<li>2020 - "Little Dorrit" (retired hurt - no score 😏)</li>
<li>2021 - "Our Mutual Friend" (8/10)</li>
<li><b>2022 - "Pickwick Papers" - promising so far!</b></li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ </p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSP_4WMT3Jz5sOY4wuwkDm28iGutCU8bZs-9BtoYaPG13jI2qZrH3vPKICrUqpFlaq6CVd0M55Azz59zcf2Yyl_RN4HY_8LS4AUgaqUTdkzhKwmKOEbDX1i2NkHhI8K2DWzOtlkZcVbiSwa9uzwpSfXk7EFCkE4vjjlUyRnXaOrb3XiNM/s1547/download.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1547" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSP_4WMT3Jz5sOY4wuwkDm28iGutCU8bZs-9BtoYaPG13jI2qZrH3vPKICrUqpFlaq6CVd0M55Azz59zcf2Yyl_RN4HY_8LS4AUgaqUTdkzhKwmKOEbDX1i2NkHhI8K2DWzOtlkZcVbiSwa9uzwpSfXk7EFCkE4vjjlUyRnXaOrb3XiNM/w496-h640/download.jpg" width="496" /></a></div><p>Beginning to feel a little like obituary corner... but after the sad news of Wilko's passing, there came the even sadder news of Christine McVie's death... 😒</p><p>Everyone knows something she's sung in a hugely long and talented career - but for me it was always the stuff she did for Fleetwood Mac, and for me, while everyone else in the 6th Form testosterone swamp was swooning over Stevie Nicks, I always thought she was gorgeous.. 😊</p><p>The following is a live recording of her doing "Songbird" with the Mac - no pictures, somewhat fittingly, just her astonishing vocals... another good one gone... 😕</p><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ROJWS7KRtns" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div><p></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ </p>
<p>Laters, as the young people are want to say...</p>
Steve-the-Wargamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07077311120172727690noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33041938.post-64190104950007883232022-11-25T09:40:00.002+00:002022-11-25T09:50:38.987+00:00"Firing into the Brown" #23 - Riverine action, Wilko and stuff..<div>
<p>
<span style="color: #800180; font-size: x-small;"
><i
>"So Carnehan weeds out the pick of his men, and sets the two of the
Army to show them drill and at the end of two weeks the men can
manoeuvre about as well as Volunteers. So he marches with the Chief to a
great big plain on the top of a mountain, and the Chiefs men rushes into
a village and takes it; we three Martinis
<b>firing into the brown </b>of the enemy".</i
></span
>
</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"
><i>Kipling "The Man Who Would Be King"</i></span
>
</p>
</div>
<span style="text-align: left;">Time for another update..</span>
<div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div>
<p>
Lord above, he's only gone and fought a wargame... the first since February in
fact, if I am to believe my somewhat archaic filing and labeling system... 😏
</p>
<p>
Somewhere up the Chippewa (a northern tributary of the Mississippi river),
Confederate army engineers are busy building a shore battery in order to stop
any further incursions by the Union navy, who up until that time have had
almost free rein to raid and interrupt supplies and trade from the surrounding
area desperately required by the Confederacy.
</p>
<p>
While the engineers are busy with their construction, the Confederates have
deployed four armed ships (cotton and tin clads mostly) to provide protection
and blockade from any Union counterattack, which is expected at any time, as
clearly from the Union perspective the battery cannot be allowed to commission
and cause further offensive operations to be delayed or indeed cease.
</p>
<p>
Time is of the essence as the batteries are not yet completed or equipped, so
the Union command scrambles to throw an offensive force together as quickly as
possible, in the end comprising a smaller gunboat, a side wheeler, but as
fleet command, a powerful monitor.
</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a
href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiTBzyakhIOXa8dwsnZikFldTrDnDA3tllVifkaqiM5BvifKTdK0PUjUMO-NjIN6kDmT6__W2SqhqQQnZlc5ssmV_NycNM8Eewg8EjoYyKY8B6th4ezV64IiNtdDH1ruNZ6j-PaS11gYKhYpn7873Sm2XqgajZxjt3hSy7Bo3vDHRsuXo/s1356/P1020118.jpg"
style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"
><img
border="0"
data-original-height="1134"
data-original-width="1356"
height="535"
src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiTBzyakhIOXa8dwsnZikFldTrDnDA3tllVifkaqiM5BvifKTdK0PUjUMO-NjIN6kDmT6__W2SqhqQQnZlc5ssmV_NycNM8Eewg8EjoYyKY8B6th4ezV64IiNtdDH1ruNZ6j-PaS11gYKhYpn7873Sm2XqgajZxjt3hSy7Bo3vDHRsuXo/w640-h535/P1020118.jpg"
width="640"
/></a>
</div>
<p>
The Union forces enter from the top of the table, Confederate forces are
already on the table as pictured (above), they are anchored fore and aft so as
to sit broadside to the flow of the river (NB. the anchors can be dropped with
no impact/delay to their ability to manoeuvre). The batteries under
construction can be seen to the right...
</p>
<p>
Move 1: Union win the initiative and get four actions; Confederates go second
and have one..
</p>
<p>
Piling on steam the Union commander orders the fleet to close the range and
concentrate all firing on one ship at a time - with some success the Union
ships open fire as one and inflict four hits on the rightmost Confederate
casemate gunboat. They use the rest of their initiative to close the range and
in the case of the monitor, reload.
</p>
<p>
The Confederates are up against it - they may have numbers, but that armoured
monitor is going to be a tough nut to crack. The Confederate commander orders
his ships to open fire, but unlike the Union commander, each ship targets its
opposite number - fire from the middle sidewheeler screams across the water
towards the monitor only to bounce off like they're throwing melons.
Confederate fire is disappointing - the only damage scored (three hits)
is on the right most Union ship where a lucky shot also causes engine damage.
</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a
href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNzJHhpWj1eEoFlPnm0lkWzcexDbAbI8MVbYkvP_vE6Uj7xTVHsB8k2xq4q1qww-SWu0V3B6cFRUSU0zxdE_jegClUK39AsPSaaf6E1BYKs4tcTSoyKraXo8UYSo1uVzRVYWmpAfmSrxJdJRsN28WALxqn1hc6Y0yvqAWMizMmKGwgolk/s1854/P1020119.jpg"
style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"
><img
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src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNzJHhpWj1eEoFlPnm0lkWzcexDbAbI8MVbYkvP_vE6Uj7xTVHsB8k2xq4q1qww-SWu0V3B6cFRUSU0zxdE_jegClUK39AsPSaaf6E1BYKs4tcTSoyKraXo8UYSo1uVzRVYWmpAfmSrxJdJRsN28WALxqn1hc6Y0yvqAWMizMmKGwgolk/w640-h450/P1020119.jpg"
width="640"
/></a>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>
<p>
Move 2: Confederates Union win the initiative and get three actions;
Union go second and have four...
</p>
<p>
Confederate fire continues to be disappointing, all guns blazing but no hits
on any of the Union ships - the Confederate gun boat is piling on the steam in
order to get a better and closer angle of attack on the Monitor.
</p>
<p>
Union fire continues to be effective - fire from one of the Tinclads and the
Monitor (who throws box cars!) reduces the rightmost Confederate casemate
gunboat to a floating wreck, but their flag still flies. Pausing only to
reload the monitors heavy guns the entire fleet continues to close the gap.
</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a
href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAHKpcFTqPetimtFvLpYDTAYMDXtQszJn0BUoDhGqsje7M8NiJuf3VQGpSd2c2W5kq4TB0HNHeJRYR7j7jDehXz0OFJGsz-uMNn5rjO1PUzSXBvDbpE6swfTaCqqwNSHi7-q74W3XKXvT1bK8-VlPxij4FM3S8rbVr5rBXmYn5qR9kDF0/s2000/P1020120.jpg"
style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"
><img
border="0"
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height="300"
src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAHKpcFTqPetimtFvLpYDTAYMDXtQszJn0BUoDhGqsje7M8NiJuf3VQGpSd2c2W5kq4TB0HNHeJRYR7j7jDehXz0OFJGsz-uMNn5rjO1PUzSXBvDbpE6swfTaCqqwNSHi7-q74W3XKXvT1bK8-VlPxij4FM3S8rbVr5rBXmYn5qR9kDF0/w400-h300/P1020120.jpg"
width="400"
/></a>
</div>
<p></p>
<p>
It's fairly clear at this point that the Confederates have nothing that can
damage the monitor - unless they can get a lucky hit...
</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a
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style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"
><img
border="0"
data-original-height="1060"
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height="348"
src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi11MAspcansngn-QMo20MjBhGS6Yb1MsupdyeqV1d8EXIgseIpaP1md0kddbq668y_RP2grMUod-e26nuhipxwdqsWHvXezEQZ8tLjzsDpv-EwCzXatc6WwBLDMlnFFY7ChPrpMFYvc_9Jsg_YYjJ1nLB-L4KwCCEZpudbGum-tC3b6NQ/w640-h348/P1020121.jpg"
width="640"
/></a>
</div>
<p>
Move 3: Union win the initiative and get three actions; Confederates go second
and have one..
</p>
<p>
Union fire is heavy but just for once lacklustre - scoring hits on the gunboat
and what was the middle of the three tin clads - none of them causing any
special damage - Confederate return fire however is "lucky", they score their
first hit on the monitor but have had to throw everything but the kitchen sink
to get that.
</p>
<p>
It is clear to the Confederates that they have lost this engagement unless
they can pull something out of the hat in the next turn.
</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a
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><img
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width="640"
/></a>
</div>
<p>
Move 4: Union win the initiative and get four actions; Confederates go second
and have three...
</p>
<p>
End game for the Confederates - the monitor opens fire on the gunboat reducing
it to little more than a hulk - they pass their strike test however but being
forced to break off scarper for the shallows and escape, hopefully to fight
another day but only after a long stay in a Confederate shipyard. The other
Confederate hulk is not so lucky and strikes to the enemy.
</p>
<p>
Having seen the way the engagement is going the Confederate commander in chief
orders the two remaining ships to drop their fore anchors swinging their bows
downstream - they pile on steam and escape but not without two last parting
shots neither of which does any damage... sums up the Confederates day
really!
</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a
href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs6WjyF-SF0rQ-TrRBoHmhGasVOU63skJ1lfVkHlTW1RirOg9MyfZ3uU2OsUjBwtEJbSIZyQT2wYrzBFPPdJXvFXYkOjVd6XOgmXtvq0ilyj-3bPZwMBXYKJUVy9a2zeckIaZqn9DD8dT39Gzum6cPvkwUZIHN80wrcvB2o6ghyl4LfjY/s1242/P1020123.jpg"
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><img
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data-original-height="1242"
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width="548"
/></a>
</div>
<p>
Fun little encounter but just goes to show how a monitor can swing the odds
(even without the diabolically awful dice the Confederates got!) 😏
</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a
href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQOOYX79cjs3w9CIShlF0PLPy3fGzNOJQlG_tWW9ObYk6rTGyP2YTPldJnYVwKzRRo_WUPKOXDlFubxNHhUTHviH02AlcI0nVcDeflO-gF64P4hdaIpP7LzFw6Uzin5hnQXf_Ppk9z1rSwvCHIvlAZHVidgKsfgaq-wa8ZqE3dYEAx-TE/s1864/P1020124.jpg"
style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"
><img
border="0"
data-original-height="641"
data-original-width="1864"
height="138"
src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQOOYX79cjs3w9CIShlF0PLPy3fGzNOJQlG_tWW9ObYk6rTGyP2YTPldJnYVwKzRRo_WUPKOXDlFubxNHhUTHviH02AlcI0nVcDeflO-gF64P4hdaIpP7LzFw6Uzin5hnQXf_Ppk9z1rSwvCHIvlAZHVidgKsfgaq-wa8ZqE3dYEAx-TE/w400-h138/P1020124.jpg"
width="400"
/></a>
</div>
<p></p>
<div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div>
<p>Pffft.... with the news about Wilko Johnson's death, another good one's gone... 😕</p>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe
allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture"
allowfullscreen=""
frameborder="0"
height="315"
src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/e1VwjWXefFs"
title="YouTube video player"
width="560"
></iframe>
</div>
<p>
There'll not be another one like him... but what a presence, and what
brilliant tunes... saw him twice, once <b>way </b>back in the day
with Dr. Feelgood, and later (2005) with his own band (they were on with The
Hamsters and John Otway which was some line up!), in fact I seem to remember
offering to buy him a pint when I found myself standing next to him and the
band at the bar in one of the intervals.. . he declined... 😀
</p>
<div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div>
<div><br /></div>
Fresh back from a week on a sunbed in Cyprus where I completed the Hilary Mantel
tour de force on the life of Thomas Cromwell - simply stunning - there are no
words for how good I thought this was... read it...
seriously... READ IT!<br /><br />
<table border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<a
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</div>
</td>
<td>
...and so we come to the final chapter, quite literally, in this
novelisation of the life of Thomas Cromwell. At the end the of the
second volume after a lot of hard work gathering and cross-checking
evidence, Cromwell had seen Anne Boleyn executed leaving Henry free to
marry Jane Seymour, which he does at the start of this third and final
book - will Henry finally attain the male successor he is so desperate
for? At this point in his life Henry is becoming increasingly unhealthy,
a leg injury has developed into an open ulcerous would which affects his
ability to exercise, and his usual appetite sees him gaining weight. His
marriage to Jane is happy, and Henry soon sees her pregnant and she
gives birth to a boy (Edward VII) but she dies following the complicated
childbirth, and it is at this point that Cromwell's star finally begins
to dim... his choice for Henry's next bride is Anne of Cleeves.
The marriage is a disaster and Henry blames Cromwell - the marriage is
annulled, and in the political manoeuvring following it, Cromwell finds
himself isolated, and even more so in the light of the fact that Henry
has his eye on Catherine Howard, the niece of his greatest enemy at
court, Norfolk. Cromwell is arrested, charged, attainted, and then
beheaded... all this against a background of the dissolution of
the monastery's, the birth pains of the British Protestantism (Henry
yo-yo'd constantly between Catholicism and flavours of
Protestantism)... simply stunning.. my second 10+ of this
year
</td>
<td style="text-align: center;width: 10%">10+</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div>
<p>Laters, as the young people are want to say...</p>
Steve-the-Wargamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07077311120172727690noreply@blogger.com4