Toy Soldiers in Art No.6

 

Mrs K laying the artillery on target,  pinched from 'A Gentlemen's War ' on Facebook 

The Clash at Kutzdorf - redux

 

About 3 weeks ago I had to cancel and take down the  next battle in my ongoing 'Snakes & Ladders' 7YW campaign and having returned from holiday I've reset it  and have played it through to a conclusion.

The Prussians have to drive the Austrians from the ridge (nearest the camera) and having the advantage of appearing on the flank .

The Prussian advance was slowed by the Austrians being able to play a Strategy Card .

The Austrians moved the left flank Infantry Brigade to block the Prussian advance .

The Austrian Cavalry fared badly under heavy Artillery fire and had to withdraw - luckily the Austrian C-in C was able to play another Strategy Card to rally them .

Rather surprisingly the Prussian Frei-Korps managed to rout the right hand Austrian unit , however they where counterattacked and driven back into the woods and by the time they had rallied the game was over.

The Prussians tried to bring their Cavalry up to turn the Austrian left but they where thwarted by a Austrian Battalion who managed to turn to the flank and drive them off.

Apologies for the poor picture quality of the later photos - they were taken in the evening and my lighting in the room is not brilliant . I play my games over 12 moves and then evening falls - this is the end positions of the armies , both sides had taken similar casualties but the Austrian still held the ridge and another Prussian attack I think would have failed - so victory was given to the Austrians . We will have to see how this affects the overall campaign in the next posting.

Mr and Mrs Walker take a holiday -part 2

 

We popped in to Beverly to have a look around the 15th century Minster - a fine looking building .

The only problem was we had to go inside singularly as the other dog sat outside - Charlie moaned the whole time - he doesn't like us being separated whilst on holiday, plus he has no regard for Medieval architecture .

We were lucky enough to see the Gaia exhibition which as been doing the rounds all over the UK .

We also visited the Humber Bridge , when it was opened in 1981 it was the longest single span bridge in the world - it's now the 20th !

Mr and Mrs Walker view the bridge - even Mrs W was impressed !

The only military aspect of the holiday was coming across this pillbox on a golf course near Flamburgh Head 

Side view with dog for scale - a good holiday overall !

Mr and Mrs Walker take a holiday.

 

We've been on holiday staying near Beverly in East Yorkshire . The weather although blustery was mainly dry and we missed Storm Agnes . One of the walks we did was around the deserted Medieval village of Wharram Percy which was hit by the Black Death and finally deserted with the introduction of sheep farming .

The village church which is the only thing still standing nestles in one of the wolds or valleys , I last visited the site about 30 years ago when the archaeological digs on the village were still taking place.

We were accompanied by Mr and Mrs Walker , here seen viewing the church which was still in use in the 18th century.

Reg Walker was very enthusiastic to the see the church interior , Mrs Walker less so .

Some of the carved heads on the arches 

This one has seen better times.

I especially like this one of a woman in a wimple headdress(?)

A rather grim looking man on this one.There is probably a technical term for these types of carvings but I can't remember it.

The author and faithful hound in the Churchyard .

An artists impression of the village in it's heyday (circa1300).

Sadly apart from the church and a few grassy mounds nothing is visible now , but still a magical place I think.

The 'Goodies' for Slaine , fresh off the painting tray.

 

Two heroes for the 'goodies' side - King Gann and Queen Niamh (I believe they are not a wedded couple) once again with out of proportion weaponary so beloved of the Fantasy genre - but fun to paint.

Three Warriors of the Earth Tribes with slightly more modest weapons.

And finally from the painting tray, these dramatic Earth Tribe Warriors , I have played the odd game using the Warlord 'Slaine' rules but with a more of a assortment of figures I must give them another go and report back how they play.

Slaine - Baddies from the painting tray .

 

Catching up with my painting backlog - here are some of the 'baddies' from the Warlord 'Slaine' fantasy game , we see Megrim the Sorceress up to no good invoking something nasty . True to all fantasy figures her henchmen have extra large weapons and shields ! 

Here are three more nasties with some sort of repeating crossbows . I've enjoyed painting these figures they are very statuesque and take paint very well and have been a bit of light relief from painting uniformed rank and file figures. (click on photos to enlarge)

Caucasus Cossacks for the Back of Beyond.

Another bunch of Russians that have been painted for a while and never yet seen the tabletop yet . I must have had them for about 15 years so it was about time the had paint applied .