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 .

Featherstone SYW Old School.

 I've had more thoughts on 'Featherstoning' my Seven Years War figures . My Spencer Smith O.S. SYW figures were built for Grant's rules in big battalions and I think to convert them to a Featherstone adaption the units only need to be about 24 figures and 2 officers .

The task would be to alter the existing Featherstone Horse and Musket rules to make them more 'in period' . Here we see the Austro-Hungarian Regiment 'Count Joseph Esterhazy' redeployed as a 24 figure unit with 2 officers .

The Austrian Staff meet and are enthused by the prospect of getting used more on the table top .

The Austrian General Scarlotti meets with the British General Sir Toby Beltcher to discuss the alterations to the rules . Will be giving the subject some thought over the next few weeks , I want to keep the basic mechanisms but alter them slightly to reflect the period . Off on holiday soon so will take the oppertunity to get my ideas down on paper. 

Old School Some Thoughts

I was thinking whilst walking the dog ( I do my best thinking while walking the dog) about what Old School means to me , I know peoples opinions vary on this subject , so this is just my thoughts -  Old style figures - Spencer Smith, Mini Figs, Hinchliffe etc which are painted in bright colours and coated with a high gloss varnish (modern Perry figures would not work with this style) . Single based figures - I like to knock my figures over when they become casualties and leave them on the table so the flow of the action can be traced by the fallen . Simple terrain - old Merit plastic trees , stepped hills and simple buildings . Rules I can remember in my head ! - Featherstone type or 'Charge' , these I realise are very luck orientated but I like them . I was wondering if I could use my collection of Spencer Smith Seven Years War figures for Featherstone Horse and Musket ? - where's the dog - I need to do more thinking !

O.S FPW Battle - The Conclusion.

The Jaegers keep pushing the French Chasseurs De Pied back causing them to take morale tests - which they kept failing (the French rolled very badly all game) and the Prussian Dragoons move up in support.

The French reinforcements deploy on the other flank and engage the enemy.

Skirting the fallen cavalry the Prussians move up , overseen by their CinC .

Another attempt at an atmospheric photo of the French Infantry.

An overview of the battlefield . I hadn't a plan when I started this battle , I just thought I'd see what happened - the one thing I did do was roll for the number of turns , which was to be eight . I think it's very important when using Featherstone type rules to set a time limit on the battle as you can end up with three men on one side fighting the surviving two figures on the other.

The French High Command are distracted from the matter in hand !.

With the light falling the two reinforcement forces settle for a long range fire fight .

The battle drew to a close , casualties were about the same - 14 infantry and 7 cavalry for the French and 15 infantry and 5 cavalry for the Prussians. But the French Advance Brigade retired from the battlefield so I think it was a marginal Prussian victory . I enjoyed the game and it had everything an O.S. game should have I think - Single figures painted and high glossed in a 'Toy Soldier' style , simple terrain and a set of rules I can remember in my head .

Old School Franco-Prussian War Game.

Both sides moved up and deployed their forces , the French Chasseurs D Africa charged the Prussian Dragoons , whilst the infantry opened fire on each other .

The Prussian's dice roll ! - bad news in any set of rules for their opponents .

Both sides caused high casualties , but the French lost and retired .

A French Cantinierie tends the wounded - I allow French units with a Cantinierie to re-roll one wounded dice . Messing about with photo shop to get that O.S. look.

The French cavalry retreat two moves distance and this forces the infantry to test their morale because of a flanking unit retiring - which they fail and fall back over the hill.

The Prussian Jaegers follow them up as two more Prussian infantry units arrive as reinforcements . (I was dicing for reinforcements and arrival point).

The French fail their rally test and fall back again taking more casualties from the pursuing Jaegers.

French reinforcements finally arrive .

An atmospheric close up of the French moving onto the table .

The Chasseurs De Pied have to take another morale test and failing it fall back again , things are not going well for the French today ! .

The Jaegers commanded by General Bratwurzte move forward in pursuit of the retreating French . Part two of the battle to follow .........

The Wargaming Table Reclaimed ! .

I've finally got my wargaming room back in order - well as near as it ever will be and was pondering which game to play on the table now that it is not covered with boxes and rubbish . Now in the privacy of my own home I have the habit of keeping a book beside the toilet to peruse whilst enthroned - as it were - many people do the crossword or read the newspaper , 'A' has a stack of wargaming magazines in his bathroom . (I believe the above photo has the dubious honour of being a first in the world of wargaming blogging in portraying a toilet bowl - the lid down for decencies sake ) I was looking at Donald Featherstone's "Tackle Model Soldiers This Way" (published 1963) and on the front cover it has a photo of a gun and crew by the grandly named 'Swedish African Engineers ' (Spencer Smith) ACW range converted to French FPW artillery. This got me thinking that I haven't played with my O.S FPW figures for a while , so .........

I set up the terrain for a meeting engagement between two advance guard forces , each of a cavalry regiment and a light infantry unit (only on the O.S. table top does such symmetry of forces exist) . I diced for the entry points of the forces and set them up .

The French force of the Chasseurs D Africa and a unit of Chasseurs De Pied are under the command of the dashing Brigadier Gerrard .

The Prussian force of Dragoons and Jaegers is commanded by General Bratwurzte of the Uhlans .

The day being warm the French troops are lucky enough to receive a refreshing drink from their Cantinierie . Further reports of the battle and no references to the water closet to follow ..........