Colours 2009..

This weekend was one of my favourite wargame shows, "Colours" at Newbury race course, and better yet DG was down for a visit so he could go as well...

I had no specific shopping list for this show - I'm beginning to find that I do more painting during the cooler months so I've not been using paints and the like.. nonetheless there were a few things that I'm looking out for and I think I managed to fulfil those requirements (for a change!)

With the painting season upon me, and the "Raid on St Michel" campaign about to kick off though, I was aware that I may be one or two units short so first stop was the Peter Pig stand for some more bases.. I know I can make them myself much cheaper but at only £3 a bag of ready made one's, I can't be bothered! 😀

The rest of the afternoon was spent browsing - first stop was the Newline Designs stand to gave a look at their ACW range in the flesh - I know, I know, I'd put that project on hold, but fairly recent activity in the ACW direction at John Preece's blog (see here) had re-lit the fires... the latest idea is derived from the fact that I would like to be able to re-use my AWI terrain and scenery rather than have to buy new, so that means bigger than 15mm, John is using Kennington miniatures, but the as an alternative the Newline range are also 20mm and very advantageously priced... if you go for the unit packs, or better still what they call a bargain pack (100 foot), then the figures are approximately 36-38p each for foot which is quite astonishing! I've picked up some samples which I'll be painting over the next few days to see how they come up but initial impressions are that they are very nice.. these are from the Newline site:



I was also looking for rules suitable for the period, which has continued to be a bit of a bug in the progress of the project - I'd like to try something different as I use derivations of the Will McNally rules for most other periods, and although I like them very much (otherwise I wouldn't use them quite as much as I do!) it would be nice to try something else.. I wanted to try something really "old school" but nothing in that line really caught my fancy, I had hopes of Mr Lincoln's War for a time but they have failed to grab me (in fact I must hoik them out and try pushing some bases around to see if I've changed my mind) so this weekend I was doing some reading at the various sellers..

Anywho, to bring this interminable ramble to an end I came home with "Guns at Gettysburg", having looked at:

~ the Polemos set - too high a level - regimental sized bases (not surprising given these are sold by Baccus!)
~ "House Divided" the Esprit de Corps derivative for the American Civil by Trevor Halsall; almost, almost, got interested but the layout is dreadful... and I couldn't cope with all the references...
~ "They Couldn't Shoot an Elephant" by the Too Fat Lardies - DG bought this one so we can do a comparison...

...interestingly enough, Matt (over at the Waterloo to Mons blog) has also mentioned another set ("Rank and File" from Crusader) that I didn't see yesterday, but which sound interesting... see here I'll have to check them out.

...and that was it on the purchase front - now for some games... so in my usual way, in reverse order, my games of the show were:

3rd

This massive game was put on by the Skirmish Wargames group, all of this was 54mm/1:35 scale, and included some simply gigantic Stuka's and other aircraft - very nice looking game:






...and just to show how big it was - a little film'ette..



2nd:

In second place was this game based on the capture of "Primosole Bridge" on 14th July 1943, as part of Operation Husky the allied invasion of Sicily. Lovely looking game for which they were using "Crossfire". Those who have played Crossfire before will understand what all the patch work fields are about..

Interestingly this group had the same opinion of the vehicle part of the rules as DG and I had when we played it - they've replaced it with some from Battlefront (if I remember correctly) but they also mentioned there's a version 2 of Crossfire coming out soon...

Nice bunch of people though - late on a Sunday afternoon and they were still willing to have a chat...





1st:

..and the winner is....

This was a bit of a no brainer for me - what a lovely looking game - all in 25mm - this was out on by Thames Valley Wargamers. They were using "Forlorn Hope" as the rules, but with modified artillery to make them more effective.. nice looking game indeed - I especially like the horse holder for the Dragoons in the house yard..




...and there you have it - Colours 2009 in a nutshell.. An enjoyable day out, but I have to say that DG and I both thought it was a little flat this year, there seemed to be enough people (though the car park was not quite as full as I remember it last year) but the overall vibe was a little quiet. The games were OK (see above) but I had to look harder to find my top 3... traders didn't seem to busy (??), and the bring and buy was uninspiring this year...

...would I go again?? Of course I will, it's still a brilliant day out, and anyway, "use it or lose it"....😏

I have been to... the "Camel" beaches - Operation Dragoon

The first of my battlefield visit posts from the recent holidays; these are the pictures from landing area used by the American 36th infantry division as part of Operation Dragoon - the allied invasion of southern France in WWII..

The division were assigned a number of beaches, collectively known as "Camel", to land on including what was supposed to be the main landing area - "Red" beach - at Frejus. In the end, for good operational reasons ("Red" beach was aptly named, and 'hot' to say the least..) and a brave decision by the beach commander, the vast majority of the division was landed on "Green" beach at Dramont..

So without further ado here are my pictures impressions from my visit to "Green" beach at Dramont...

The beach is easily accessible from the main road to Cannes, and lies just east of St. Raphael - being the Cote d'Azure the main function of the beach these days is "pleasure" so there's a decent car park, and on the day I went, plenty of parking on the side of the main road..

When you walk across the road some steps take you to a big plaza:



On the beach side of the plaza there are some monuments commemorating specific men in the operation and a landing craft left over from the invasion - I wanted to have a look inside, but the deck is completely enclosed... all in all the landing craft is in good condition for it's age, and shows little age deterioration. In fact, given the propensity for graffiti in France, the whole area is very well looked after..









Walking through the plaza you then go down some steep steps (about a 100 yard drop over a 100 yard distance - so a sharp decline and would have given problems on the day) through a wooded area before you arrive at the beach to a considerably different view on the day I went, to to the one 60 odd years before!!

This one was taken at the far eastern end of the beach looking westward towards to cape; around this cape lies St. Raphael and Frejus - the "red" beaches.. behind me is a large cliff/promontary which these days has a light house or radio station on top...



This shows the kind of beach terrain they would have had - unusually for this area it's stones rather than sand ... I bought away a small pebble and it reminds me of pumice...



This castle sits on a small island just off the eastern end of the beach - none of my research or reading indicates that it played any significant part in the landing but I wouldn't mind owning it!



Last of all a small movie - this shows the proposed "Red" landing beach, before panning southwards past St Raphael, to the cape at the end, around which Dramont sits.. you can see the hilly nature of the terrain behind St. Raphael - the allies fought their way across this to secure Frejus by nightfall on the day of the landing..

Cavendarian diplomat has arrived...

...and no sooner is he here than he's in hot water!

Full report to come...

The campaign ends..

..and with a crash and a wallop the AWI campaign that DG and I have been fighting for almost a year and a half now, came to an end when I requested a surrender in the Battle of Camsix (which you may remember me reporting on before I went away on holiday (last move is here))...

The positions were as follows:

The following should help with identifying units referred to:

DG was down that weekend so we took the opportunity to transfer the game from the virtual table top (using Battle Chronicler) to the physical table top to complete, and true to form we had it finished in about an hour or so...

My apologies as the game was some time ago and the memory is not as good as it was (nor ever has been!) so the details are slightly sketchy but DG's troops were in excellent form (as were mine) and he came on in grand style with an all out assault... the attached pictures give a view..

Later in the battle and the Brunswickers of the Prinz Ludwig regiment have now crossed the bridge and are in my rear area - nothing to stop them due to the continued pressure from the front.. it was nicely done I have to admit!In the foreground as part of that frontal assault the 33rd Foot are crossing the earthwork taking bloody mayhem and cold Sheffield steel to the valiant troops of the 2nd New York regiment, who, for the time being at least have managed to stop them in their tracks with a well aimed volley (see the yellow marker indicating they are shaken)

Right flank of the British front and the Hessians are trying their level best to get at the American artillery who have managed to stop them in their tracks for the time being, but are swiftly about to caught up in a European sandwich..

Anyway - numbers counted in the end (as both sides fought honourably) and I was finally forced to surrender as it was clear that I no longer had the troop numbers to put up a good fight.. in a campaign situation, with nowhere to withdraw to, and no troops to retreat with it was a no brainer - I put up a good fight against greater numbers, delayed him, caused casualties that in a historical context he would find more difficult to replace than I will, but nonetheless lost.. I give DG the joy of his victory!!


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So what's coming up??

On the wargaming front the evenings are beginning to close in and I have a growing urge to pick up a paint brush, on Sunday this weekend I have the annual visit to Colours (which I'll take a camera to), and on Monday DG is coming round for the first game in the "Raid on St Michel" campaign... looking forward to all of it immensely!

On the sailing front, the weekend after next is the Southampton International Boatshow - looking forward to seeing if there are any bargains, but little'un and I definitely want one of these:

..or perhaps one of these for when SWMBO is onboard..


...and in March...?? I have tickets to see Jethro Tull (again) - woohoo....!!


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On the sailing front with the season's close almost upon us (where did it go!!) littlest'un and I had a brilliant day out on Sunday. Having had an additional weeks holiday after we got back from France with the intention of being able to go sailing a few times, the weather during the week had been dreadful - so on the eve of my return to work this was the last and only opportunity.

We took full benefit of a spring tide and had a good 4 to 4.5 hours of cruising ending up well into the Thorney channel (for those who know Chichester Harbour this is one of the offshoots from the main Bosham channel..) - furthest we've been yet, I think..

Winds were stronger than before (tail end of a very windy week all round), grey skies, but when we got to the Bosham channel the sun came out with the flask of tea... serendipity!!

With only a couple of weeks to go before the boats come off the water, thoughts are now turning to the first "overnight'er".... oh, and it'd be nice to see the mileage hit three figures this year..

Distance: 13 miles (95 miles year to date)
Wind: Moderate (Force 3, mostly force 4)

He's back from holiday...

Unfortunately....😏

Brilliant time had by the entire crew (I think) with temperatures regularly in the 34'C plus range, usually 38' and on one memorable day 44'C! Azure skies, sunshine, white beaches, turquoise sea, smashing..... sigh... back now though... temperatures are half what they were, and it's been raining... still on the plus side at least the curry's are better!

Way too hot to delve into my carefully selected holiday wargaming kit this time round - which was a shame... but I did get a whole load of reading done amongst which these two are probably the most pertinent to this blog...

First off - a book that Fire at Will [click here] passed on to me a Salute this year...

Cadogan is a bit of a hero of mine (given my interest in the period) following a big post on him back in 2007 (blimey!) (click here) but have to say that this book was a little disappointing - Will had already told me that he'd thought it a little pedestrian, and although I finished it quite quickly, it didn't tell me much about the man that I didn't already know.. so I'd agree.

The first two thirds of the book were more about Marlborough than Cadogan. Given the relationship between the two this is not surprising I suppose, but it seemed a little bit of an opportunity lost to me - I was under the constant impression that the research was a little shallow, nothing that seemed to bring the man to life, though there is no doubt that the author has a restrained admiration for Cadogan...

There is the usual discussion about backhanders and how "honest" Cadogan and Marlborough were with the public purse - the same stuff that was trotted out at the time in the efforts to disgrace both men... no doubts in my mind that they did make a little money on the side (speculation, and insider trading, I'd guess you'd call it these days...) but it doesn't deflect in any way from the fact that most men of power in those days were equally involved, and doesn't deflect from the fact both these men were hugely talented, brave, resourceful and immensely clever individuals...

As I sat thinking on the recliner (with a French ale) after I finished the book, I thought that I'd like to pass this book on (unless Will wants it back!) so if you fancy reading it - leave me a comment with an email I can contact you at, and I'll post it on free - but here's the deal - when you've read it you have to send me a review, and then send it on to someone else..

Steve the Wargamer rates this one as a five out of ten - but I'd be interested in other peoples views...

The second book, however, was outstanding!!

I've been a huge fan of Beevor for ages - I started with "Crete", moved on to "Stalingrad", and then read "Berlin the Downfall" last year - I have to say that this book is well up to standard and is an outstandingly easy read...

Up until now my vote for a good overall book on D-Day would probably have been Max Hastings "Overlord" or even Cornelius Ryan's book that they made into "The Longest Day" (ah... memories of the young Sean Connery shoving handfuls of cotton wool in his ears because of the noise coming from Lovatt's piper!) but I have no hesitation now in recommending this one instead...

Scope is from just before D-Day to to the fall of Paris so covers the invasion itself, the Caen battles (Operation Goodwood, Epsom, etc), Patton's tank drive into western France, and the closing of the Falaise gap.

Beevor is very good on personal history (I particularly enjoyed the story about a bunch of German pioneers who were ordered towards Normandy from southern France, were separated from their parent unit early on, and how they managed to make their way north - in a captured Citroen with a cask of calvados in the boot - before finally ending up as part of the German forces defending Paris!) but he's also very good on the politics and the personalities of the main players, and on the Allied side helps very much to explain what an outstanding job Ike did keeping the whole thing together and on the road when all the key players seemed to have their own agenda's...and yes, he does the same for the German side equally as well.

All in all the picture I came away with was of immense bravery on both sides, the brutality of the fighting (especially between the Canadians and the SS around Caen), the totality of allied air power and what a huge bonus that was, and the importance of propaganda on the German side in maintaining their resistance (one of the young SS prisoners asked his US captors whether the damage from the bombing of New York was very great...)

Huge book, massively easy to read, un-putdownable in my case, Steve the Wargamer gives this one a 9.5 out of 10...

That's it for now - still catching up on all the blog activity while I was away (Flanderkin Serjeant [click here] has been particularly and very interestingly busy in my absence!) but look out for posts in the near future on battlefields visited while I was away (I made it to the Operation Dragoon beach I wanted to visit, and on the way back also had an extended look around Pegasus bridge!), and I owe DG a write up on the final battle in the AWI campaign.

Coming up in the near future I have the Southampton Boatshow, and then Colours [click here] on the weekend of the 12th and 13th - hopefully DG and I will also get a game in that weekend, and hopefully it will be the first battle in a new campaign as I've managed to persuade DG to have a go at Charles Grant and Phil Olley's "Raid on St Michel" ...

Phew.... time for a rest ....off to have a lunchtime sandwich on the boat, and perhaps a spot of fishing (too windy to sail)....