Wednesday 28 July 2021

Unboxing a French Chateau

This 15mm MDF French Chateau is made by Sarissa Precision. I painted it 'on the sprue' and then built it following the very clear instructions included in the pack. The build was relatively simple, even for someone with little experience in building MDF models. I had a slight struggle with the Dormer windows but I think that was more to do with my ham-fisted approach than the model itself. It's worth keeping a small file handy to smooth the occasional uneven surface or tight-fitting joint. I'd also recommend using rubber bands to hold joints tight while the glue sets....all standard stuff when constructing MDF models. 


 
This is a great looking model and worth taking your time over. I'm really pleased with the finished model and I'm sure it will feature in many games in the future, either as general terrain or as an objective or strongpoint in its own right.

The instructions are clear and the build was very simple.

I painted the parts 'on the sprue' for a cleaner finish. 

The completed model will grace my table for many years.... this is as close as I am ever likely to get to owning a French Chateau! 


I hope you enjoyed the video and as usual, I'd ask that if you did, please like, subscribe and share...and of course leave some comments either here or on my youtube channel Miniature Adventures

Sunday 25 July 2021

Wargamers do it in inches

Why do Wargamers cling to the use of Inches to measure movement and range? Many rues systems now use metric measurement but for some, this is heresy and has no place on the games table. I on the other hand will switch between Imperial and Metric measurement as the need arises depending on the scale of figures I am using and the size of the table on which I will be playing.



As always I'd love to hear what you think about such heretical behaviour. Please leave your comments below, or on my Youtube Channel Miniature Adventures. If you enjoyed the video please like, subscribe and share. 

Stay safe, keep gaming and of course, keep rolling high! 

Wednesday 21 July 2021

Unboxing a V-1 Flying Bomb

Today's video is just a short one looking at my latest purchase from eBay. This is the Battlefront V-1 that originally came in the Open Fire starter box for Flames of War. I didn't want the box but I'd always liked the rocket model and I found one on its own being sold on eBay so I snapped it up. The launch ramp is a bit short but it will still make a nice bit of interesting terrain or an objective in my Chain of Command games. 




Sunday 18 July 2021

Wargamer Spouces

Probably the most undervalued asset of any wargamer is their spouse, partner or significant other. Their cooperation, tolerance and support make our hobby easier. An uncooperative one will make life a lot more difficult.


If you found the video interesting and have a story of your own to tell, please leave a comment here or on my channel Miniature Adventures. And if you enjoyed this content please like, subscribe and share. 

Wednesday 14 July 2021

Biggin Hill Memorial Museum: The Strongest link

On Sunday I had a belated, but much anticipated, 'fathers day' trip out to the Biggin Hill Memorial Museum. The Museum tells the story of RAF Biggin Hill, one of the most famous airfields of the Battle of Britain, through the personal experiences of those who served there. Despite being just a 45-minute drive from my home, I haven't been here before so this was a real treat for me. We did try to visit last year but of course, it was shut due to Covid restrictions, but now that museums are open again it was back on my list of places to visit in 2021. 



Sunday 11 July 2021

One to One Scale Painting

I need to do some DIY in my house and I'm not happy about it. Painting in 1:1 scale is not nearly as much fun as painting in 6mm or 15mm or 28mm. And while I consider myself a competent model builder the same can't be said of the many full-scale projects that need to be done in my old house.




I will be getting a few modelling projects done over the next few weeks, but progress will likely be slower. Such is life, it is what it is. Sometimes real life has to be attended to...and my little metal men will still be there when I get back to the games table. 

Wednesday 7 July 2021

Back in the Shed-o-War - A video AAR

Sunday was a big day because Posties Rejects got back together in the Shed-o-War. Actually, only three of us could make it so with Postie himself as Umpire there were just four of us, but given we haven't had a face to face game in 484 days none of us was complaining. One of the expected players couldn't make it unexpectedly so our eponymous leader had to make some last-minute adjustments and Ray ended up playing the Austrians on his own... a big task with all those regiments to move. Consequently, the game went on late into the evening long after we would normally have called it a day. None of us minded though (despite the heat inside the shed) because we all had a years worth of wargaming absence to make up for. 

The game was a massive Napoleonic clash between the French and Austrians. It was a fictional what-if game set the day before Wagram. If we had had more players there were even more divisions to come on the table but as it was we were pretty busy with the stuff we had at the start of the game. 

French - IV Corp - Marchal Massena
1st Division - Legrand
       1st Battalion - 26th Legere & 18th Line and Light Gun
       2nd Battalion - 1st Baden Grossherzog, 2nd Baden Erbgrossherzog, Baden Jagers & Light gun
2nd Division - Carra St Cyr
       3rd Battalion - 24th Legare (elite)       
       4th Battalion - 4th Line, 46th Line and Light Gun
       5th Battalion - Hesse - Darmstadt  - Leib-Garde, Leib Garde Fusiliers, Leib Rgt, 1st Leib Fusiliers & Light Gun
3rd Division - Molitov
       6th Battalion - 2nd Line, 16th Line & Light Gun
       7th Battalion - 37th Line, 67th Line & Light Gun   
4th Division - Boudet
       8th Battalion - 3rd Legere (Elite) & Heavy Gun
       9th Battalion - 56th Line & 93rd Line and Light Gun
5th Light Cavalry Division - Lasalle 
       10th Battalion - 13th & 24th Chasseurs a Cheval Line & Horse Artillery
       11th Battalion - 8th Hussars & 16th Chasseurs a Cheval
       12th Baden Light Dragoons, Hesse-Darmstadt Chevau-Leger Rgt
(Reserves - Didn't Arrive: 1st Heavy Cavalry Division & Imperial (Young) Guard)

Austrians - III Corp - Kolowrat 
1st Division - Vukassovich
       1st Battalion - Lobkowitz Jagers, 2nd Schwartzenberg Uhlans & Horse Artillery
       2nd Battalion - 7th Schroder, 56th Wenzel Colleredo & Light Gun
       3rd Battalion - Prague Landwehr, 1st Beraun Landwehr, 2nd Beraun Landwehr & Light Gun
2nd Division - St Julien
       4th Battalion - 1st Kaiser, 12th Manfredini, 23rd Wurzburg & Light Gun
       5th Battalion - 20th Kaunitz, 38th Wurttemberg & Light Gun
3rd Division - Kotlulinsky
       6th Battalion - 39th Duka, 60th Gyular & Light Gun
       7th Battalion - 31st Benjovszky, 51st Splenyr, 3rd/4th Vienna Vol, 3rd Moravian Vol & lt Gun
       8th Battalion - 8th Kienmayer Hussars, 6th Grenz Rgt, 7th Grenz Rgt
2nd Combined Cavalry Division - Schwarzenberg
       12th Battalion - 6th Rosenberg Chevaulegers, 3rd Knesevich Dragoons (Elite)
       13th Battalion - 6th Blankenstein Hussars, 3rd O'Reilly Chavaulegers & Horse Artillery
Reserves (Arrived Late) Grenadier Division - Steyier
       14th Battalion - Hahn, Hromada, Legrand, Demontant & Berger Rgts (Elite)
(Reserves - Didn't Arrive: 1st Heavy Cavalry Division)


Now I'm known for not being a big Napoleonic gamer. I love the look of the period, and Posties collection is to-die-for, but I haven't had a lot of luck in those games I have played. This time however I really enjoyed the game, felt that I didn't mess up and had more than my fair share of luck with the dice. So while my divisions on the left of the French line were a bit of a sideshow to the main battle, I felt I probably had a more satisfying game than Surjit did as the commander. He was pretty much forced to conform to the deployment that Stuart had laid out and was constrained by the terrain so he had little room for manoeuvre. I, on the other hand, seemed to have plenty of scope for movement, especially after the opening cavalry clash was concluded (largely in my favour it has to be said). 

I decided to have a go at doing a video AAR for this game, which was probably a mistake because filming and concentrating on a complex game are not compatible! I ended up with an hours worth of snippets of film and no real 'theme' to them. Also, a lot of the stuff I shot was too shaky to be watchable on the screen so I couldn't use it. Lesson learned though, next time I'll try to be more organised and will use a mini tripod while filming and hopefully it will be better. I've still put together a short video so if you have ten minutes please click the link below or pop over to my channel Miniature Adventures to watch this and other videos. 



After nine hours of play, we had to draw things to a close, but could easily have played on for another nine hours if we had had the energy! We called it a drawer and everyone went home happy having had a good fight and some good banter across the games table.

Sunday 4 July 2021

The Fog of War

If a general is doing his job correctly his orders given before and during the battle will play a decisive role in achieving the desired victory. But this aspect is often overlooked or oversimplified on the games table, reducing orders to a series of fixed actions that form the phases of a battle. But when orders are placed central to command and control in a game they can often lead to some unexpected results. The Fog of War can creep in and keeping control can be much harder than expected... and a lot more fun.


Please check out the Guest Blog that Richard wrote to describe the game.