Thursday, November 24

SHQ ECW 20mm

Took the opportunity at Warfare to check out the SHQ figures [clicky] more carefully.. click on the picture for a humongous version... 😀


4 infantry (£3) or 3 cavalry (£5, including horses) in a pack..

ECW01 Pikemen in Breastplate and Tassets with Morrion Helmet, Marching
ECW02 Pikemen in Breastplate and Tassets with Morrion Helmet, Order Y Pike
ECW03 Pikemen in Breastplate and Tassets with Morrion Helmet, Advance Y Pike
ECW04 Pikemen in Breastplate and Tassets with Morrion Helmet, Charge Y Pike
ECW05 Pikemen in Breastplate and Tassets with Morrion Helmet, Marching Helmet on Back
ECW08 Pikemen in Breastplate and Tassets with Cabacete Helmet, Marching
ECW09 Pikemen in Breastplate and Tassets with Cabacete Helmet, Order Y Pike
ECW10 Pikemen in Breastplate and Tassets with Cabacete Helmet, Advance Y Pike
ECW11 Pikemen in Breastplate and Tassets with Cabacete Helmet, Charge Y Pike
ECW15 Pikemen in Breastplate and Tassets with 16th Century Helmet, Marching
ECW16 Pikemen in Breastplate and Tassets with 16th Century Helmet, Order Y Pike
ECW17 Pikemen in Breastplate and Tassets with 16th Century Helmet, Advance Y Pike
ECW18 Pikemen in Breastplate and Tassets with 16th Century Helmet, Charge Y Pike
ECW22 Pikemen in Breastplate with Morion Helmet, Marching
ECW23 Pikemen in Breastplate with Morion Helmet, Order Y Pike
ECW24 Pikemen in Breastplate with Morion Helmet, Advance Y Pike
ECW25 Pikemen in Breastplate with Morion Helmet, Charge Y Pike
ECW27 Pikemen in Breastplate with Morion Helmet, Marching with Helmet on Back
ECW29 Pikemen in Breastplate with Cabacete Helmet, Marching
ECW30 Pikemen in Breastplate with Cabacete Helmet, Order Y Pike
ECW31 Pikemen in Breastplate with Cabacete Helmet, Advance Y Pike
ECW32 Pikemen in Breastplate with Cabacete Helmet, Charge Y Pike
ECW36 Pikemen in Breastplate with 16th Century Helmet, Marching
ECW37 Pikemen in Breastplate with 16th Century Helmet, Order Y Pike
ECW38 Pikemen in Breastplate with 16th Century Helmet, Advance Y Pike
ECW39 Pikemen in Breastplate with 16th Century Helmet, Charge Y Pike
ECW40 Highland Scots in Kilt with Broadsword, Advancing
ECW41 Highland Scots in Kilt with Broadsword, Charging
ECW51 Lowland Scots Musketeers with Rest, Marching
ECW52 Lowland Scots Musketeers with Rest, Loading
ECW53 Lowland Scots Musketeers with Rest, Firing
ECW54 Lowland Scots Musketeers with Rest, At Present
ECW57 Lowland Scots Musketeers without Rest, Marching
ECW58 Lowland Scots Musketeers without Rest, Loading
ECW59 Lowland Scots Musketeers without Rest, Firing
ECW60 Lowland Scots Musketeers without Rest, At the Present
ECW64 Musketeer in Soft Hat with Rest, Marching
ECW65 Musketeer in Soft Hat with Rest, Loading
ECW66 Musketeer in Soft Hat with Rest, Firing
ECW67 Musketeer in Soft Hat with Rest, At the Present
ECW70 Musketeer in Montero with Rest, Marching
ECW71 Musketeer in Montero with Rest, Loading
ECW72 Musketeer in Montero with Rest, Loading
ECW73 Musketeer in Montero with Rest, At the Present
ECW76 Musketeer in Woolly Hat with Rest, Marching
ECW77 Musketeer in Woolly Hat with Rest, Loading
ECW78 Musketeer in Woolly Hat with Rest, Firing
ECW79 Musketeer in Woolly Hat with Rest, At Rest
ECW82 Musketeer No Hat with Rest, Marching
ECW83 Musketeer No Hat with Rest, Loading
ECW84 Musketeer No Hat with Rest, Firing
ECW85 Musketeer No Hat with Rest, At the Present
ECW88 Musketeer in Soft Hat without Rest, Marching
ECW89 Musketeer in Soft Hat without Rest, Loading
ECW90 Musketeer in Soft Hat without Rest, Firing
ECW91 Musketeer in Soft Hat without Rest, At the Present
ECW94 Musketeer in Montero without Rest, Marching
ECW95 Musketeer in Montero without Rest, Loading
ECW96 Musketeer in Montero without Rest, Firing
ECW97 Musketeer in Montero without Rest, At the Present
ECW98 Command, Standing
ECW104 Command, Advancing
ECW107 Aristocrat Officers (x4)
ECW115 Musketeer in Woolly Hat without Rest, Marching
ECW116 Musketeer in Woolly Hat without Rest, Loading
ECW117 Musketeer in Woolly Hat without Rest, Firing
ECW118 Musketeer in Woolly Hat without Rest, At the Present
ECWA1 Artillery Crew £2.75
ECW108 Artillery Officers (x4)
ECWG1 Medium Gun £2.25

Cavalry

ECWC03 Cavalry in Breastplate and Lobster Helmet, Command
ECWC04 Cavalry in Breastplate and Lobster Helmet, At Rest
ECWC05 Cavalry in Breastplate and Lobster Helmet, Charging
ECWC12 Cavalry in Buff Coat and Lobster Helmet, Command
ECWC13 Cavalry in Buff Coat and Lobster Helmet, At Rest
ECWC14 Cavalry in Buff Coat and Lobster Helmet, Charging
ECWC22 Dragoons, Command
ECWC23 Dragoons, At Rest
ECWC24 Dragoons, Charging
ECWC32 Cavalry in Buff Coat and Soft Hat, Command
ECWC33 Cavalry in Buff Coat and Soft Hat, At Rest
ECWC34 Cavalry in Buff Coat and Soft Hat, Charging
ECWC42 Cavalry in Breastplate and Soft Hat, Command
ECWC43 Cavalry in Breastplate and Soft Hat, At Rest
ECWC44 Cavalry in Breastplate and Soft Hat, Charging

Tuesday, November 22

Warfare 2016

The morning after arriving back from Cyprus the night before found me at oh crack sparrow fa*t picking up DG for our annual trip to Warfare..  talk about timing.. 😀

A quick trip up (must have been the nattering!) found us at the show by 10:30 only to find all the parking meters in the Rivermead car park were knackered... so free parking..  result!!

Downbeat show for me this year - maybe it was a touch of jet lag (?), but I found it very quiet..  overhearing the traders, they were saying the same, but that it had also been mental on Saturday and all in all the few I heard were saying it had been a good show for them.. quite surprised not to see Peter Pig there (looking at my old posts they sometimes only do the Saturday so it may be that was the case here), as I was going to take the opportunity to have another look at their English Civil War range but other than that there was a good turnout of traders...  nothing took my fancy, so no goodies bought, so on with the games...   poor year this year but in the time-honoured fashion, in reverse order...

Third..

A Napoleonic demo game (I think, as there was no one at the table to ask, all the time I was there).. not a huge fan of teddy bear fur for terrain, but the figures were pleasing, and I like the period..


Some information boards indicated that this was set during the war of the fifth coalition somewhere in Eastern Europe.. from memory this was a fictional encounter between Austria and Bavaria.


Not a huge fan of movement trays..  it implies the rules use figure removal to track casualties (who knows..  no one to ask...) and I much prefer tracking casualties and leaving the figures on the table I spent so much time and effort butchering...  err, painting..


This was the rules/lists/book they were demo'ing...


Second..

Not a specific club game, and not a demo, just two guys (Steve Deeprose and a mate apparently) who turned up to put a game on for the fun of it.. bravo..  Napoleon in Egypt.

I first saw this game back in 2013 [clicky] but it is still a fascination to me...  if I was ever to start a Napoleonic project I think this would be it...


Love it..  so much colour



First..

I have no idea who was putting this on, but it was the stand out game for this years show in my humble opinion..  this was a Chain of Command game set in the the Ardennes/Battle of the Bulge, and presented by Earlswood Wargames Club...  modelling of the very highest order...


Makes you feel cold just looking at it..


...what impressed was the little touchs..  and the fact they were actually playing the game, and having fun...







Superb...  so a good show, but could do better on the demo game front..

Saturday, November 19

I have been to... Paphos Castle

Steve the Wargamer has taken the current Mrs Steve the Wargamer for some much-needed warmth and sun in Cyprus* it seemed foolish therefore not to also visit the local object of military interest..  

* to be hideously recommended by the way..  my first trip to Cyprus, but hot sun and 25' in mid November and only four and a bit hours from the UK is a wonderful thing...  not my last trip I would suspect..

So..  not a major fortification but some interesting history, and well worth the two and half euro a head entry..

From Wiki which sums it up nicely..

"It was originally built as a Byzantine fort to protect the harbour. It was then rebuilt by the Lusignans in the thirteenth century after being destroyed in the earthquake of 1222. In 1570 it was dismantled by the Venetians. After capturing the island, the Ottomans restored and strengthened it. Throughout the ages it has seen many uses. It has served as a fortress, a prison and even a warehouse for salt during the British occupation of the island".

It's a totally dominating position, no record of it ever having seen action as far as I know though.. I was quite surprised at how late it was built (Byzantine) given that Pathos was the seat of the Roman Pro Consul in charge of Cyprus (there is a separate archaeological exhibit covering his villa and surrounding buildings that is also worth going to..  simply superb mosaics, and the size of the palace/villa is stunning) .. maybe the Byzantines built on a yet to be found Roman structure??

Either way there were originally two towers and a connecting wall, only this tower/castle remains, and the ruins of the second are further along the sea wall..


Pleasingly solid..


I suspect feeling still runs high over the continuing partition of the island as the (Turkish; dating from the Mameluke occupation) inscription above the entrance looked to have been covered up..



It reminded me very much of a church inside..


This area was used as a mosque in the Mameluke period..


Upper ramparts..


Crenellations for 12 guns bought in by the Turks, and taken with them when the British (re)occupied the island.




A convoluted history... they refer to the Franks which gives an indication of what is meant by Lusignan in the wiki entry...  these were a branch of a French ruling family in the 3rd Crusade days who were given the island by Richard the Lionheart who had originally conquered it while on his way to the Holy Land, sold it to the Templar's, who then mismanaged the island to the point that they asked Richard to take it back following revolt by the local population.

Guy of Lusignan was the husband of Queen Sibylla the hereditary Queen of Jerusalem - which is as good an excuse as any for a gratuitous picture of Eva Green as said Sibylla - but was universally disliked and on her death needed to be moved "sideways" but without losing face - Cyprus was the answer..  a kingdom, but in revolt, so Richard killed two birds with one stone... 




...and the remains of the second tower..




...well worth an hour of anyone's time..

Sunday, November 6

Pass the parcel...

Never once have I got over the (stupid?) pleasure I get when a parcel of goodies arrives on  the doormat.. and this one was no different...

Especially as I knew I had some samples of the Les Higgins figures coming from Old John [clicky]


Getting excited now..


Blimey didn't expect that many?!


Wow!


Bloody double wow!


More detailed look when I have time to put them under the magnifying light, but firstly, the figures are superb, so...  elegant, and second, I'm overwhelmed with the generosity..  I recommend a visit to the web site [clicky] wholeheartedly...