A Busy Summer

I have not been too busy with the blog over the past two months, but I have been busy nonetheless.

The Wyrley Retinue had planned to cover Verdun in some form for next year's game, with next year being the 100th anniversary and all. But Nephew Nick was lukewarm, not being a fan of anything post-musket, so alternatives were sought. As he had built several Perry plastic late 15th Century figures, and I already had a number of Swiss and Burgundian units, that is what we altered our plans to.

Now comes the unfortunate bit...
1) Nephew Nick has painted none of the Perry figures. He was going to do an Italian contingent for the Burgundians.
2) I checked out the games line-up for Partizan 2 on 6th September only to discover Dave Andrews (of Games Workshop fame) and his pals were doing........the Burgundian Wars!

"So what!" you cry.

These guys are serious players. Anyone who has seen any of their work either in the flesh or in various magazine features cannot help but be amazed by the quality of what they do.

Trepidation? Demoralisation? Inspiration?

All three, and more "-ations" besides no doubt!!!

I may trot along to Partizan for a look but I am certain we would have a lot to live up to with our game, so I am not sure if seeing it their work in the flesh is a good idea! To continue or not to continue, that is the question.

Hmmm.

Anyway, here are a few work in progress shots of some of the stuff I have done over the Summer. There is a lot more which I will show in due course. I will even finish these!

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The second of three large (32 figure) pike blocks I have painted this Summer, this one hailing from Berne. Mainly Perry plastics, but with Old Glory standard bearers and officer in blue hat (third rank centre) and an Essex drummer.

The Perry European Mercenaries box contains 40 figures including 4 command in full armour - the outer two figures here, with different weapon options.

Some of the basic infantry figures, with parts from each of the different boxed sets inter-changeable.

Front Rank halberdiers I have had lying around for a while. These will be married up with some of the original halberdier figures I painted years ago.

Close up

And again.

And some opposition made from the Perry Wars of the Roses infantry set. I needed eight archers to give me three units to "Pike & Shotte" rule requirements.

Close up

Something I found a little odd was the lack of quivers for their arrows. They come with little bundles of arrows and parts to show arrows thrust into the ground.

The Reason I Went To Partizan (mostly)

Apart from getting the figures I ordered from Old Glory for my Bannockburn-era project, the main reason I went to Partizan was to see the advertised League of Augsburg game.

I missed the Derby show last year, but went to the 2011 show with the express intention of seeing their game there, but missed it, shoe-horned as it was into some side room. I have seen their outings in the flesh only a few times, but have always been impressed with the scenic basing of the figures, the colour and scale of the game, the vignettes, their promotion of their game and the all round look of the things they do. I love the look of the 1690 period, and will one day complete my own offerings, so sit back and (hopefully) enjoy a selection of the photos I took of their game at Partizan.

Note: the quality of the photos is variable and owes a lot to the venue, with its random lighting, milling punters and close confines causing weird shadows in unexpected places. I have tried to select the best.......A better camera might help, as would a modicum of photographic talent. Maybe one day I will have both.

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The Huguenots brigade. I believe the flags are the ones produced by Warfare Miniatures based on Clarence Harrison's work.

Bellew's Regiment, one I wish to add to my own Jacobites.

Massed Catholic horse.

And more still.

Protestant Horse.

I have always had a thing for windmills!

Some Danes.

Somewhere in "sunny" Ireland. Anyone who has ever been there will know it is anything but most of the time!!!

Magpie that I am, I was drawn to the distinctive flags of this regiment. I was informed it was John Lacey's.

I was also told that this was the Earl of Westmeath's.

The same Danes as before from a slightly different angle.



Partizan

It has been two weeks in the making, but I have now decided to write up my thoughts on the Partizan show held at Newark (UK, not New Jersey) on 2nd June.

What has taken so long?

Well, I know these particular shows are very well regarded, but...........

The venue looks superb, being held in an old theological college (I think), but these things were not meant for wargames shows and credit card machines. The very useful map was just that though, very useful, so I do not think I missed much if anything (though I did have to go round twice before I found the League of Augsburg game I wanted to catch).

I felt a little sorry for the likes of Baccus and Caliver Books who were shoe-horned into a couple of rooms away from the main events, but that is one of the "issues" with the venue.

The range of traders was pretty decent, but, alas, it struck a discordant note to find that even some major names would not take cards!!!!! Do they think royalty such as I carry money??????? They were probably onto something, however, as both Old Glory and 1st Corps took an age to take my details due to the serious delays in reception throughout the venue. Business well done in the end though.

Then there were the cramped conditions. I found myself tip-toeing around some of the games for fear of a random nudge depositing half a dozen well-painted, unsuspecting 28mm infantry onto the carpet. Note to self: do NOT wear knitwear to this event and do NOT bend closely over any of the tables.

Then there are the usual bio-hazard wargamers for whom deodorant is the symbol of the Anti-Christ.

Finally, Newark (UK still, I have not gone trans-Atlantic mid-post) is not the easiest of places to access from sunny Staffordshire, at least not after the A38 is left behind in favour of single carriageway slowness.

But that's the "bad".

The games were often good-looking affairs and some people even spoke.
There were some unusual subjects on offer.
The range of traders was decent and encompassed many I had neither seen nor heard of before. (Sorry to Lancer Miniatures - I was looking to get some WW1 armoured cars, but spent out too soon).
The atmosphere was one of fun and fevered activity, with many wargames top brass chatting away with sundry individuals - Henry Hyde, Guy Bowers, James Morris, various GW officionadoes (name dropper, I know).

Will I return? Probably, but I suspect I will not become a regular.
Did I get what I was after? Largely. Old Glory did some business on the Anglo-Scots front, 1st Corps the same, Caliver did not have the latest "Wargaming in History" in stock, but I did get some RCW rules I had my eye on. Last but not least, I got to sample some of the gorgeous flag sheets by Clarence Harrison on sale with Warfare Miniatures. The highlight of the show was obtaining the Nassau-Saarbrucken-Ottweiler flag, or at least a very creditable conjecture on what it may have looked like.

Now for some pics.

The Venue - Kelham Hall

Three shots of the Carlist War game staged by the Lincoln club

Sneaky Japanese hiding an HMG in their dug out. Very naughty.

Top lads from 14th army. Hurrah!

Those dastardly Japanese taking some well-aimed shell fire.

Raphia, 217BC.

More Raphia. Not sure who put some of these games on....

A very tasty Victorian sci-fi affair. League of Gentlemen Anti-Alchemists???

And a detail shot of the same.

Korean War in 28mm - very different.

MASH helicopters!!!

Dastardly and sneaky Chinese.

Very nice looking sci-fi game using Ainsty Casting bits and pieces. I always liked their "pipe farms".

Indian Mutiny skirmish.

 I have loads more photos, but I think you have an idea.

One thing I will do is publish the League of Augsburg ones separately, as I took loads. It might just kick-start my own collection.

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