It was good to see a 'large' battle being played out with a wide selection of miniatures representing Germans v's Russians. 
Once again everyone it was nice to meet and chat with gamers willing to interrupt their game to talk about the rules they were using.
This was a busy table with lost going on and lots of little details that made this fun to watch and look at. 
This table won two awards at Salute 09 and deservedly so. The attention to detail is outstanding.
The assault of the gun emplacements at Brécourt Manor by the 101st Airborne is often cited as a classic example of small unit tactics against a superior force.
As well as being pleasure to look at the guys running this game were very friendly and willing to chat about some of the details of the table.
I have to say I'm both excited and humbled that this blog has attracted so much attention over its first six months. I never expected such a good reception for my daily ramblings. Thanks to everyone that has visited but especially the Subscribers (the backbone of the blog) who's regular comments and feedback have helped (and will continue to help) shape this little corner of cyberspace.
May your dice always roll high (or low, depending on the rules).
BigLee
The game took less than 10 minutes to play and the rules were pretty simple but resulted in a quick paced and exciting 'Bomb Run' towards the The Möhne Dam.
This was actually a cut down version of the game as presented at Salute, the table being shorter by a few sections dues to lack of space. But that didn't detract from the fun of the game or the impressive scope of the table with 1/72 scale Lancaster's zooming towards their target.
I bought two Osprey reference books - The Panzer Divisions (Men-at-Arms series) and Panzer Crewmen 1939-45 (Warrior Series) - from Lanchester Books. I also found a rare copy of Germany's Panzers in WWII by Jentz & Doyle (Schiffer 2001). Following on from my recent purchase of the Flames of War Rules I picked up the Cobra source book for wargaming the Normandy Breakout. 
I'm off to Rampage today so expect to see some pictures tomorrow onwards.
This is my Great Uncle (my Nan's brother) Alfred Boniface, and he served somewhere during WWI. I don't have a service number or even a firm date for these pictures although various family members say they think they date to around c.1918. 
Now family legend say he served in South Africa during the Boar War. That's clearly wrong as he would have been just a child at the time so I'm guessing they mean WWI. Some of the pictures - such as the picture of the marching unit below - seem to have a more tropical look about it. 
I know very little about the British Army's activities outside of Europe during this period and with so little to go on these pictures remain something of an enigma and I hate a mystery. So the question is can anyone identify the regiment and maybe make an educated guess as to where he was stationed?
"There are reports of a wild animal in Paeonia called the Bonasus, which has the mane of a horse, but in all other respects resembles a bull; its horns are curved back in such a manner as to be of no use for fighting, and it is said that because of this it saves itself by running away, meanwhile emitting a trail of dung that sometimes covers a distance of as much as three furlongs, contact with which scorches pursuers like a sort of fire." [Pliny - Natural History, Book 8, 16]
The Bonnacon is also mentioned in a number of medieval Bestiary’s including a fully-illustrated Latin manuscript currently held at the Bibliothèque Nationale. This creature is also described in the famous Aberdeen Bestiary, written and illustrated in England about 1200 AD, and is considered to be one of the best examples of its type. This document describes the Bonnacon as an Asian beast whose head is like a bull but with horns curled inwards. Also referred to as the Bonasus or Bonacon, medieval illustrations of the beast’s skin are almost always depicted as reddish in colour and lacking any signs of hair. As in previous descriptions this beast expels burning dung when threatened and the illustration in this Bestiary shows the wise hunter protecting himself with his shield. 
One hundred and fifty years ago today (1859) the Swiss businessman Henri Dunant witnessed the aftermath of the Battle of Solferino in Italy and set in motion a chain of events that eventually lead to the formation of the Red Cross.
Milliput works by mixing equal parts of the two different colour putty's together for about 4-5 minutes depending on the size your using. I tend to employ a ‘folding’ technique to avoid streaking and uneven mixing of the putty. Basically squish two balls of putty together into a flattened oblong. Then fold in half and squeeze flat again before folding again. Continue this process for a few minutes or until you have a uniform colour.
Always mix a little more putty than you need and keep the excess after you have finished sculpting or filling gaps. This extra piece serves as a way of testing the strength of the cure as it will set at the same rate as the material you used in your project. Once cured the beauty of this material is that it can be drilled, filed and even sanded while still retaining its adhesive properties and bonding strength.
Published to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Normandy campaign, Panzers in Normandy is a detailed study of the German panzer regiments in 1944 as seen from the German side. The book first details the composition of the 1944 model of the panzer regiment, its equipment and personnel. The second half of the book then discusses the seventeen panzer units which saw service in Normandy. Interestingly it was research for this book which resulted in the discovery of the location of the grave of the most famous panzer commander of them all. Formerly listed as missing in action, the author of this book discovered the last resting place of the victor of Villiers-Bocage, Michael Wittmann.
Built in the Thames estuary and operated by the Royal Navy they were designed to deter and report back on any German attempts to lay mines by aircraft in this important shipping channel. As well as extending radar coverage in the Estuary the Army Forts also provided anti aircraft fire. Each of these AA forts carried four QF 3.75 inch guns and two Bofors 40 mm guns. During the war the forts shot down 22 aircraft and about 30 flying bombs. (Source Wikipedia)
Being a gamer geek I looked at the model and thought this would make a great table for a fictional WWII SS-Jäger Battalion (German Commando) attack on the fort. Somehow I doubt if the Museum of Docklands will let me borrow their display... 
There is a ton of material available to read and download on the Internet and hundreds, if not thousands, of books on the battle and on the men involved. I own a few myself but its the personal stories that I have always found more fascinating and these were best illustrated for me by two items in two different museums.
The Royal Engineers Museum in Chatham contains Wellingtons map of the battlefield. This map comes complete with annotations and notes made days before the battle when the Duke surveyed the site and decided this would make a good place for a holding action against the "little dictator". More poignantly the map also still bares the bloodstains of Wellingtons Chief of Staff , Sir William de Lancey, who later died from wounds sustained that fateful day.
First off I should say that I don’t think it should be called a "Theory" - it would dignify this pseudo scientific hogwash with the trappings of legitimacy - especially as this myth is still perpetrated to this day by Internet kooks and shysters. However there was a time when the idea that the Earth had an inhabited inner world did not seem so ludicrous.
The Hollow Earth concept is an ancient one, and for many centuries made some sort of sense as the home of Hell, Svartalfheim, Hades or other subterranean realms. The idea had many proponents even into more modern times, including Edmund Halley on 1692, and even (in part) prompted the19th century US Polar expedition of 1838-1842. 
I hasten to add (in case my players are reading this) I’m not using this idea in my game but it would make a great game in its own right. Indeed Exile Studios produced the ENnie nominated Roleplaying game Hollow Earth Expedition in 2007. HEX is set in the 1930s where secret societies and villainous organizations (including the Thule Society) have a vested interest in the Hollow Earth. As usual my game design research has lead me on a major tangent away from its original focus, and I don't think that's such a bad thing. In fact I'd go so far as to say this is one of my favorite things about game design and writing: you never know where you'll end up.
This Tiger Tank was at the Military Odyssey living history event last year. I'm not sure if this is an original tank - I had read that there were no working Tigers outside of a museum - but it certainly looked the part.
As always I used Vallejo Game Colour paints and started with my customary Black undercoat. I then used a slightly darkened Ultramarine Blue (#22) as a base coat highlighting with successive coats of Ultramarine Blue lightened with Electric Blue (#23). I then used a wash of Night Blue (#19) and Black to add shading to those areas not in direct sunlight. I finished off the armour with a dilute (10:1) Skin Wash (#72093) on the lower legs to give the impression of dirt and weathering. I also used the Skin Wash, this time undiluted, to create a rusting around the bolts in the manhole cover.I have been looking through my digital albums and found this short film from the 2007 War and Peace Show. It caught my attention because I have just got a 15mm M10 Tank model for the Flames of War game.
My main memory of this Living History event was the mud. It had been raining heavily for days and the whole site was a quagmire.
Not my best work but certainly good enough for a game. 
