My Last Post for November 2022

 It's just a bit of a tidy up tonight - a couple of 20mm SCW crews that have been sitting in the painting queue for far too long, plus a couple of gun crews

Minairons Nationalist gun crew with HaT field gun

Minairons Nationalist mortar and crew

Minairons Republican gin crew with HaT field gun

And finally, below, a Minairons Republican mortar crew

Hope you enjoyed these - I might do an "Army Parade" of the SCW collection in the next few days.

A Birthday Bash

 Today, Sun 27 November, a select band foregathered at Julian's residence to mark another birthday for our gaming mate. Around 10am start with a 3pm finish, during which time we played three games of the WWI aerial combat system "Wings of Glory" using Julian's extensive collection of lovely 1/144 scale pre coloured aircraft (I think he may have every single one!) over three specially produced neoprene gaming mats.

This is mostly just a pictorial record of the two pre-lunch and one post lunch games - too many things happen too quickly for me to attempt any kind of running commentary!

The three playing mats, front line trenches between two "rear araes"

The first combat of the first game...

....which was the Dawn Patrol scenario - three Brits v four Krauts

Each player could "win" by either travelling over the enemy trench system then making it back to their own end of the table alive,.....

.....or by shooting down an enemy plane!

The famous moment when Nick turned over his casualty card to reveal his plane had exploded!

Surprisingly, give odds of 4:3 PLUS the German aircraft being generally better in this early war era, we Brits (Mark, Chris and I) won the first game

These are pics of the second scenario - both sides had to escort a larger reconnaissance plane to the far end of the table where it would fly over a specified target, take photos, then return to the friendly end of the table 

I controlled the British recce plane, as well as one of the fighter escorts

This time, my colleagues were less successful, and although I made it to the target and got the pix, I succumbed to the combined hits inflicted by a swarm of enemy fighters as I turned for home....

Entre Acte

A rather splendid luncheon, accompanied by Prosecco, Rose, Pinot Noir AND Sparkling Water.

Then, it was back to the war

We changed sides so now Chris, Mark, Barry and I were the dreaded Bosch

My new command, a later war Roland fighter, was apparently one of the best

The Knights of the Air close with each other

I was out of this game quite quickly as the result of an unfortunate explosion!

I think at the end, there were three Bris against a lone German plane, operated by Chris

And then, I think, Chris either blew up, or his pilot was killed by a lucky shot!

Very simple rules and a nice change from the usual fare.

Happy Birthday Julian and thanks for an enjoyable day!

Die Kaiserlich-königliche Armee in Review - Part 3

Tonight, the third and final instalment of our Austrian Napoleonic Parade - and it's the time for cavalry and artillery. 

Many fewer regiments - cavalry are, after all, like their historical counterparts, considerably more expensive to raise (not to mention painting the horses - we have had THAT discussion previously!). The majority of the figures this time are Old Glory, although there are a few Sash and Sabre in there too.

Uhlan Regiment 1 (Merveldt) with yellow Czapka. All four Uhlan (lancer) regiments were uniformed the same, the only distinction they had was the colour of the top part of their Polish style headwear.

Uhlan Regiment 3 (Archduke Charles) with red Czapka. Both of these units are Old Glory figures.

Next up are two regiments of hussars, again using OG figures. The first is Hussar Regiment 2 (Archduke Joseph) sporting red shako and light blue jacket and breeches.

A couple of close ups 

Second is Hussar Regiment 4 (Vecsy) in blue shako, green jacket and red breeches.

Next is a regiment of "Cheveaux Legere, followed by a dragoon regiment. These are Sash and Sabre figures. As far as I can figure out, Cheveaux Legere and Dragoon regiments seem to be interchangeable - several of them seemed to start off the Napoleonic period as dragoons, become cheveaux legere...and then changed back again, and likewise dragoon regiments. It's not even a uniform thing, as both types seem to have worn either white or green coats - most confusing!

This, then is the Cheveaux Legere Regiment 1 (Kaiser) with white coats and red facings

And this is the Dragoon Regiment 4 (Levenehr) in green coats with yellow facings

Lastly (for the donkey wallopers) are two regiments of Old Glory Kuirassiers

Kuirassier Regiment 1 (Kaiser) in white uniforms faced red

Kuirassier Regiment (Lethringen) in white faced dark blue

Finally, the gunners. The first four guns and crews are Sash and Sabre (I think. It's all a very long time ago now!)

The second batch of four with the distinctly smaller guns are Old Glory

And last but not least for the Austrians, their big boss - Old Glory figures.

I like to think of this as Archduke Charles, who was, according to Herr Wikipedia..."Austrian archduke, field marshal, army reformer, and military theoretician who was one of the few Allied commanders capable of defeating the French generals of the Napoleonic period." A pity I am not able to replicate that ability on the wargaming table ....so far!

And just a couple of images on one of the sources of information on regimental names and distinctions.

I have found this a really great book, lavishly illustrated, with as much detail as I require for wargaming purposes and I think, purchased for NZ$40 (£20) about a decade ago. (I also have a similar volume by the same author on uniforms of the Nineteenth Century)

Data on the different Grenz Regiments

Ditto on Hussar Regiments

The inspiration for one of my two units of hussars!

And finally, for anyone sick to the back teeth of seeing all our pictures of sunny New Zealand, here is the kind of weather we have been experiencing for the last week, and, apparently, also have in store for another few days to come!

Thanks for dropping by and please, do leave a comment - I only count comments, not views!