"Cassell's History of the War in the Soudan"

..."apologies" for the dearth of posts this year to date...  well...  actually, not an apology as such, just a statement I'm too damn busy to post... 😏

What I did spot however was the following on one of the excellent series of posts [clicky] that construes this years "Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge".. no not the awesome (as the young people say) paint job on the Camel Corps, but the reference to a text I'd not come across before, "Cassell's History of the War in the Soudan".

Written by James Grant, and published in 1885, its available as a free download in multiple formats here [clicky] and is chock full of original sources.. fill yer boots...

"Britannia" - a review..

Difficult to believe that this is the fourteenth book in the series, but there is every evidence that Scarrow is getting better and better a s a writer..  some of the early ones were a little "clunky" at times, but this one is very polished, and well written..

I'll admit to wondering if there's very much more Scarrow can wring out of his unlikely pair of hero's, they've been all over the Empire in the previous 14 books, including Rome for a few of them, they've had political machinations, spying, fighting in the desert against the Palmyrans, but for the last few books they're back where the series started off in Roman Britain, in AD 52....

Caratacus has been captured and imprisoned, but now the Druids are providing the focus of the British tribal opposition to Rome.
The acting governor, Legate Quintatus, is due to leave for another posting and comes up with the idea of a lightning strike at the centre of the Druid resistance (the Island of Mona, or Anglesy) in the dead of winter, and the Blood Crows - the Thracian auxiliary cavalry unit commanded by Cato - are called upon to spearhead the attack.

Before they can leave though, Macro is wounded, and forced to remain behind as garrison commander of a frontier fort. While Cato scouts for the Roman army and faces his own battles and skirmishes, at the fort, Macro discovers that the Roman army is in danger from a second British army that they are not aware of, and which is planning to attack them while they are focussed on the British forces defending Mona. He leaves with a small party and eventually rejoins the main force with his news which at first is ignored, but then proven right.

Cue the later part of the book which shows that the Roman Imperial army was not a complete stranger to defeat. In this case in the depths of winter a retreat back to the Roman frontier, in the wilds of Wales, in the middle of a freezing winter, with little or no supplies...   reminded me of Bonaparte's retreat from Moscow. Some excellent battle scenes especially his description of Roman artillery in action...

Cracking stuff..  8/10.

2015 Review

Still not really a person for doing this kind of stuff on my wargaming blog as this is the retreat. It's where I come to get away from the results orientated, text driven, target fixated, email sapping, meeting focussed, real world I (currently) occupy 😁

Still, as I sit here in the garage, cigar in hand (hence the garage) with a glass of Lincoln Green Brewery's "Tuck" on the side (a superb dark chocolatey, slightly tart, porter style ale) which was an unexpected and excellent Christmas present from the rell'ies in Nottingham, and while I 'look forward' with dread to a return to the grindstone tomorrow after a full week and a bit off the following should be seen as a joining up of the threads, and a bringing to a close of the last year...

So how did I do against my expectations [clicky]??

I've got to say it wasn't a brilliant year, but definitely a step up from the year before. Having said that, however, this is still a hobby, not a job, and I come here to relax not stress, and I still managed a fair number of good things, with a definite up turn towards the end of the year... I (still) only get so much "me time", and I invest a fair amount of that in my boat, can't see that changing in 2016 to be honest...

So the painting totals for the year turned out at 73; I started well and ended well, but let's not mention the middle of the year 😁. Much much better than 2014's twelve points, but still not up to the heady heights of 2013....

With the exception of these guys, and a few trucks, it was a bit of a Sudanese year...

• 2/1/15 - British army rifle platoon 3rd section - WWII - 12 foot, 15mm @ 1 pts/foot - 12 pts total
• 25/1/15 - Dervish sword and spear men - Colonial -19 foot, 15mm @ 1 pts/foot - 19 pts total  
• 1/2/15 - Matador Trucks - WWII - 2 trucks, 15mm @ 4 pts/vehicle - 8 pts total
• 25/10/15 - Bengal Lancers - Colonial - 8 cavalry, 15mm @ 2 pts/cavalry - 16 pts total 
• 22/11/15 - Sikh Infantry - Colonial - 18 infantry, 15mm @ 1 pts/foot - 18 pts total

69 posts last year (c/w 68 in 2014, 84 in '13, 85, in '12) which is OK given the general level of engagement in the hobby in the last year (I'm surprised I was so prolific - it didn't seem like it at times...) what was a bit of a surprise is that 1 of my top 10 posts of "all time" (by page views) were written during 2015... (my chunter about 'taste' [clicky] and the lack of it in the hobby ... it's a fine line we tread, so why cr*p in our own nest is - still - my view)...

Nine table top games this year (c/w only three last year); I said I wanted to do something about the appalling lack of time pushing the little metal men around and I did... two things made a difference, first and mostly the "One Hour Wargames" book (which has been the best £10 I ever spent - oodles of small and immensely playable scenario's), and secondly, Skype.

Annexation of Chiraz - Game #5 - The Defence of Cressay - Game - Part 1 and Part 2
John Corrigan Memorial Game - "Bridge Defence" - Set Up & Game
"One Hour Wargames" - Scenario 1 - Pitched Battle (1) - The Game
"One Hour Wargames" - Scenario 2 - "Pitched Battle (2)" - The Game
"One Hour Wargames" - Scenario 3 - "Control the River" - The Game
"One Hour Wargames" - Scenario 4 - "Take the High Ground" - The Game
"One Hour Wargames" - Scenario 4 - "Take the High Ground" - revisited...
"One Hour Wargames" - Scenario 5 - "Bridgehead" - Set up & Game
"One Hour Wargames" - Scenario 6 - "Flank Attack (1)" - Set up & Game 


I work long hours, and I still find it very difficult at times to summon up the enthusiasm to set the table up when it's much easier to open a beer, light a cigar, and read a good book, but there is something about those short, small engagements that meet my requirement every time...

Speaking of which, 46 books were read last year, compared with 48 in 2014 so there's a definite feeling that was what I was mostly doing... favourite books this year? Fiction would be "Rumours of War" by Mallinson (the scene where they have to kill their horses after the retreat from Corunna is still seared on my memory). For non-fiction "Destructive and Formidable" by David Blackmore [clicky] an absolute blinder of a book made even more enjoyable as a result of the comments and conversation from my fellow bloggers afterwards - it's what the Internet is supposed to be about... I'd also add honourable mentions for the two Laurie Lee books about his experiences in Spain just before and during the Spanish Civil War...

The worst book without a doubt was...

...utter tripe...  "Dreadful.. far fetched and poorly characterised - put it down half way through - life is too short...." I wrote.. errr, no holding back now, Steve.... 😏

No resolutions were made (or will be made), no targets were set (or will be set), no projects defined (or will..... you get the picture), so once again I can report that all targets and goals were achieved ...! Hurrah!! 😁👏

This year??

Well I intend painting more this year (it would be difficult to paint less) but high on my list this year is a couple of re-basing projects - for the Sudan and AWI collections.. work has already started on the Sudan collection

I'm also overdue another game with DG - wanted to fit one in over the Christmas break but time got away from me..

Then Salute is just over the horizon, and the days are already getting longer - soon be summer!

Happy New Year to all my reader - may the dice roll as required, and your brushes always keep a sharp tip...

Christmas New Year hiatus/catch up...

In to the 'dog days' of Christmas here at Chez Steve the Wargamer and I have the week off... 😏

The Christmas haul was good, mostly self funded from various vouchers requested, and gratefully received...  the two Arnold titles are novella's by the way ("short books" to you and I) and stupidly cheap for your Kindle - less than a pint* for a good read...  the Kydd book is an absolute bargain though, three books for the price of pint...   I'm well into the 'Prince's Gambit' at the moment (which chronologically takes place just before the Marston Moor book) and it is well worth the money spent...

* as in beer...  currently about £3.70 in the posh south of England.. 😵



...but the current Mrs Steve the Wargamer did come up trumps with the following surprise...

...concert footage from the Floyd "Pulse" Tour back in the day (she was pregnant at the time with our eldest ...  who is now 20! Gah!!! Where did that time go???) Looking forward to seeing it immensely..

Elsewhere - Steve the Wargamer is not a huge television watcher these days - not enough time (and usually bolleaux on there anyway) but I do wholeheartedly recommend "Dickensian" [clicky] if you get the chance (and for those in the UK it's all on catch up) - what an absolute diamond of an idea - imagine the characters in all of Dickens's books existing in a single story line, and what would happen...  imagination running wild at it's very best by the writers....  the Scrooge depiction, and Fagin, are spot on... hideously recommended, and the BBC at it's very best...

I'd also recommend "And Then There Were None" [clicky] which is another BBC drama, this time of the well known Agatha Christie...  3 episodes and it's edge of your seat stuff..  brilliant actors, good script, fantastic film work, looking forward to episode 3 tonight very much as I have no idea "who dun it"

On the war-gaming front, yesterday I repaired to the loft (where the "stuff" is 😀) and embarked on the first of two fairly major projects I have in mind for this coming year, which is to re-base the Sudan and AWI collections..

The AWI collection because it is now over 25 years since I first based them, and some of them are looking a little sad and threadbare - I also have a view to change the base style so that more information is available on top of the stand (name of unit, and perhaps some basic rule stats?? etc)..

The Sudan collection because I have grown increasingly un-enamoured of the 6 to a base for the infantry - they're too cramped - so I am moving to four to a base, and also taking the opportunity to standardise the basing material, and move to MDF bases..

"Dunkirk: Fight to the Last Man" - a review..

..not too many posts lately, like everyone else mostly just too busy with work, visits by visitors, and the general run up to Christmas...

I have however just finished this, which was recommended to me as a good general history of the Fall of France in 1940 (a particular interest of mine), in addition to being almost the definitive account of the 'rescue' of the British Expeditionary Force from the beaches of Dunkirk...

It's a big old book (with very small print), so it took some time to get through - the copy I had was a second/revised version, and Montefiore has extensively updated the book,  and included quite a lot of additional/new information as a result of subsequent research.. having said that it only cost me £3.50 new (from our local Tesco's) so I'd say that classes it as an absolute bargain!

So having said all that, what do you get? 720 odd pages, of which I conservatively estimate 50% is personal testimony (from personal, and unit war diaries, reports, court testimony, etc) from those involved int he actual battle - the book is primarily a British perspective so most of this personal experience is from the British point of view..   I was reminded throughout this book of the time I read Alistair Horne's book on the same period [clicky] - they are both equally readable, and as I've always preferred the Richard Holmes approach to military history (personal viewpoints to the fore), absolutely fascinating at times, but they were both also quite hugely depressing...!

When push comes to shove, France was lost due to unpreparedness, stupidity (in some cases), and a monumental collapse in morale on the part of the French (for various and multitudinous reasons) and 600+ pages of that is going to get you down in the end. More than anything though what comes through is the fighting spirit of the British troops (and to be fair some of the French), all they wanted was an even chance to have a go at the Germans, but what they got until Dunkirk was an endless succession of withdrawals and retreats as they time after time found their flanks abandoned by other troops..  when they did get chance to fight (and the stand out is the tank lead counter attack at Arras) they had the ability even this early in the war to scare the Germans mightily..

Once the British got to Dunkirk, it was the sacrifice and fighting ability of a comparatively small rear guard force that then allowed the majority of the army to escape (almost 340,000 men, mostly British, were rescued through Operation Dynamo [clicky] as the British code named it)..

What did interest me however, was the slightly/more unknown story of what happened after Dunkirk, when the British launched Operation Aerial [clicky] which recovered a further 190,000 troops from the western Channel ports (St Nazaire primarily)...  stunning!

Brilliant book, perhaps a litle too detached to make it stand out?? Well worth a read, but the Horne book shaves it for me..  8/10