Wargaming Joke No.17

Found on the Internet.

An Old Dog -A New Trick .

The other week I had to go into town to visit the dentist , to sweeten this trip I thought I would buy myself a new couple of brushes. I always use Windsor and Newton sable brushes from my local art shop and I was bemoaning the price of these - the young lady serving me suggested 'brush soap' to extend their life , I've heard of it but never used it - so I bought some and am pleasantly surprised how well it cleans them ,brings them to a point and hopefully preserves them  .

Ill Fated.

I thought I'd start painting the 40mm Indians - and my black undercoat spray can ran out after one spurt !!!! Blast ! - so I've had to manually undercoat them - how retro , takes me back  20 odd years ago  before spray cans .

"The Best Laid Schemes-

- of mice and men ofttimes gang awry" !

Well I haven't got my 40mm figures painted this week , visiting relatives (it being half-term) , a bad cold - well 'man flu' actually ! and what time I had left was used to get more of the 15mm AWI figures painted for somebody else . But with normality returning this week and my cold getting better I hope to make a start on them soon .

Peter Pig 15mm AWI American Generals , part of the painting commission I'm doing.

Fruits of my Labours.

Using the absence of my wife and dog at agility training (the dog being agile not my wife) - home casting is not helped with the presence of a bouncy dog ! - I thought I'd try out my new moulds . The first thing I had to do was take my gas cooker to pieces and clean the jets as I've not used it in the last six months , but I soon got into the swing of things .

I cut vents into the moulds to allow the metal to reach the ends of the rifles before I started . These moulds are some of the original Holger Erikson ones and pretty old, but I must admit I prefer these as they are full of character and cast easily .

I got these done very quickly and without any miss-casts - the Goddess of Home Casting smiled on me today ! . Now to get them cleaned up , based and undercoated.

The Moulds Arrive.

The moulds have arrived promptly from Prince August and I'm hoping to get some figures cast from them in the next few days .

Off at a Tangent.

You know how it is - your busy getting the backlog of 'need to paint' figures finished and concentrating on getting existing projects done when you come across a article/book/advert for something totally different and off you go at a tangent ! - the whole system goes to pot ! . This time I'm blaming (there must always be somebody else to blame) Ross MacFarlane of 'Battle Game of the Month'  http://gameofmonth.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/on-road-to-who-knows-where.html  , he's just put up a very interesting little battle set roughly in the French Indian Wars using his 40mm collection of figures - and not only that but included his own 'one page' set of rules for the period !  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Plm1B_ie47h-HXnlpze2tj_XgXHdWinTAov1Xbf1II4/edit  - Blast ! - that got me thinking !

Here we see 'Uncle' Toby Shandy with his manservant Corporal Trim and his faithful hound Charlie deep in discussion with Doctor Slop and Parson Yorick about the prospect of the upcoming campaign in 'New Hibernia' where the French and their dastardly Red Indian allies are causing no end of trouble and the likely involvement of Uncle Toby . This means in practical terms I have sent an order off to 'Prince August' for three of their rubber moulds for 'New Hibernian' natives - or Red Indians . Oh dear! I am the eternal 'Wargaming Butterfly' - but excited at the prospect of getting my 40mm SYW-ish collection on the table again ! .

Old Postcard With Toy Soldiers.

Found this old postcard on the Internet , not sure what it's about - Napoleon 2nd , toy soldiers and fort , Google Translate comes up with -

"Napoleon that great mom was a man of fame and err but I like Hollandsch country weatherman I'm still much more" - a mystery !?

A Northumbrian Interlude .

We've been on holiday to Northumberland staying in a rented apartment in Beadnel near Seahouses on the coast of the North Sea . Did lots of walking and the weather was brilliant with only about ten minutes of rain all week . (the weather back in Cumbria was abysmal - smug grin !). Above is a Photo of Dunstanburgh Castle immortalised by Turner .

Not one of his better known efforts .

Mrs 'K' looking windswept ! .

From the other direction .

Not one but two Medieval 'guarderobe' exits - you wouldn't want to stand here when they were in use !

Bit of geology proving the movement of the earth's crusts .

A WW2 pillbox overlooking the beach nearby . It has been cast in concrete using corrugated iron sheets as formers , there are numerous of these set along the coast in various degrees of repair (I believe they are now listed buildings and so protected by law) Charlie is included to give scale .

Further on our walk and away from the coast is this fine example - but facing away from the coast ! , presumably to cover the flat area of fields in case of a paratrooper or glider landings by the Germans .

This one has been made from sandbags filled with concrete and 'walled' together , Charlie is intrigued by this method of construction .

The view from inside looking over the potential landing sites.

Charlie exits from the outer side .

We also spent the day on Lindisfarne (Holy Island) , well as the tide comes in and cuts the island off twice a day - we had to ! . The weather was blustery but dry .

All the beaches in Northumberland are brilliant - but windswept ! , we walked completely around the island - very bracing !.

Lindisfarne Castle , very impressive .

Walking under the walls (no 'guarderobes' this time).

The castle looking like something out of 'The Lord of the Rings' . We had a very nice 'cream tea' in a café and I bought a bottle of Lindisfarne mead .

Part of the remains of the Priory , which had the dubious record of being the first site of a Viking raid , these remains are later Medieval - and closed for some strange reason !?.

A great holiday ! , the accommodation was excellent although we had problems getting the oven to work (our incompetence rather than a fault with the machine) , luckily there was a pub that did brilliant bar meals about fifty yards away so starvation was not an issue ! . I must admit I like Northumbria and it is somewhere if we ever moved house I would like to live.

Featherstoneian Seven Years War Rules (First Draft).

Here are the first draft of my Featherstoneian SYW Rules , there are bound to be spelling mistakes and things wrong with them , but I'm off to try them out with a small game to see how they play .