Vulcan Aircraft Display

Went to the GreatYorkshire Airshow on Saturday at the Church Fenton airfield.  The Vulcan put on a great display, one of a final handful before it is sadly permanently retired from flying.  Turn the speakers up and enjoy the sound of those four Rolls-Royce Olympus engines :)
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WW2 - Automatic Weapons: American vs German

For those with an interest in WW2 this quite an interesting video I came across on U-Tube.
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Spotted a flaw in the argument at the end regards to the manning though on the MGs, and the rate of fire vs accuracy argument.  

Picture Of The Week - No 46 - Shermans

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Comment:  This weeks picture shows a couple of WW2 British Shermans.  The one on the left being a Firefly, the one of the right being armed with a 105mm.  Main points of interest in the picture are:
a)   Track extenders fitted to assist with mobility over soft ground, and
b)   All the extra track hanging off the vehicles for extra protection.

Ancients Game

For no particular reason I've been lax in posting updates to this Blog, need to give myself a talking to a I feel ! LOL  Been doing lots of gaming, just lacked the writing inspiration to burst into print about them.  Anyway, at the club on Thursday six of us had a game of 28mm ancients using the Hail Caesar rules.  The scenario (devised by John Savage) was a Roman baggage train in Britain being ambushed by the oppressed populace.  Our group is still very much learning this rule-set, but found overall that it gave quite an acceptable result on the table-top.   I've been sufficiently inspired to order the rule book from Warlord and am just waiting on it turning up.

Here's a few pics from the game (all the beautifully painted figures are Johns).

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Yorkshire Wartime Experience - 2015

Went to the Yorkshire Wartime Experience on Saturday.  Took the truck over arriving around mid morning.  With over 450 vehicles on-site, 40 plus trade stands and the same number of re-enactment groups, there was lots to see :)
Here's a few photos from the day, and a some video footage (not all mine):
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My CCKW 352.
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I was fascinated to have a close look at an Opel Blitz, the German equivalent to my CCKW.
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More headroom in the back than in mine.
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Interesting twin spring arrangement.  Cable brakes though, not good !
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Myself and a genuine Marder III.
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This MACK truck is huge, and makes the CCKW look small.  They were used for towing large artillery pieces like the Long Tom.  This particular example was used by the British army post-war and had an engine conversion to a 12 litre diesel engine and power steering added.


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Battle of Waterloo – Summary, Analysis and Assessment for the 200th Anniversary

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Came across a good article about the battle on the Armchair General site - Link.  Certainly worth a read.
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Shocking Visualization of World War II Fatalities

Comment:  This makes for thought provoking viewing...
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The Fallen of World War II from Neil Halloran on Vimeo.

Orc Can Can

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Comment: Quite fun bit of video :)
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The trains that saved soldiers in WW1

The mass casualties of World War One called for evacuation of the wounded on a scale never seen before. It could never have been managed without ambulance trains. York's National Railway Museum is currently transforming a railway carriage of the time into an ambulance, ahead of an exhibition in summer 2016 marking the centenary of the busiest day of ambulance train traffic - during the Battle of the Somme. Watch how moving these mobile hospitals - up to a third of a mile long - saved soldiers' lives.  Link
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Play By E-Mail Games (PBeM) - LORDS Of CONQUEST

For those interested in PBeM games, LORDS Of CONQUEST is an interesting site to check out: Link
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War Thunder - Trailer

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Comment:  A good trailer for the 'War Thunder' PC game.
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Picture Of The Week - No 45 - Window

During WW2 to confuse the German radar during bombing raids we used to drop an early form of chaff, code named 'Window' - basically it's shredded tinfoil.  I'd read about this, but never seen any until a couple of weeks back at the old Melbourne Airfield.
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Military Vehicle Events - 'Crank Up' and 'Battlegroup North'

April and May have seen two military vehicle events in this part of the world.  Firstly there was the 'Crank Up' event staged by the Yorkshire Group of the Military Vehicle Trust which is when we all meet  up at Cliffords Tower in York for the first meet up of the year.  Fortunately the weather gods were reasonably kind to us, and it didn't rain.  Best turn-out ever with over 90 vehicles in attendance.
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It was after this event that I started with this strange noise from the trucks off-side front wheel.  Going to have the wheel off next month to investigate what it might be.  Ideas at the moment range from a stretched wheel nut, to a broken spring, it's very strange...

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On the 9/10th May I went along to a second event, this time at Elvington Airfield for the 'Battlegroup North' event.  A Sherman tank was along for the event, and I managed to get the truck and it together for a pic.
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I was helping crew a British 25pdr field gun, and did two shoots with it, myself in charge of the ammo box.
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Here's a pic below I took of the gun in action crewed by my old friend Chris Jenkins and his two sons, Graham and Gareth.
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28mm Napoleonics At The Harrogate Wargames Club

Its been a little while since I've posted on the Blog, so this is the first of a few posts (not necessarily in chronological order) to bring things up to date.
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Last night at the club we played 28mm Napoleonics using the Black Powder rules.  We've been kind of caught up in the enthusiasm for the 200th anniversary of Waterloo and several of our group (namely Theo and John S) have been painting away furiously.  We've also been invited by the Royal Armouries at Leeds to put on a demonstration game on 13/14th June, so that has brought into sharp focus the need to get some more painting done.

Last night was meant to recreate part of the battle with the iconic La Haye Sainte as the centre-piece.  It was the largest number of figures we have fielded to date and certainly gave a great feel to the game.  We ran out of time before reaching a conclusion, but thoroughly enjoyed ourselves anyway.

Here's a selection of photos.  None of the figures photo'd close up are mine I have to admit, I think most are John Savages.  As normal his painting standard makes the rest of us lesser mortals feel inadequate...  LOL
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The Allied forces line up for battle.
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The French...
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French line infantry up close.
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Part of 'The Thin Red Line' :)
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British Riflemen.
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Kings German Legion.
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French Cavalry make their presence felt early on.
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The battle in the centre.  Gavin aggressively moved a British cannon up ahead of the main, where it did nothing (bad dice rolls) and was promptly overrun by the French Infantry.
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Main battle on the left flank (of the Allied line)
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200,000 Views

The counter clicked over today, and recorded that there had been over 200,000 page views of the Blog since I started it in 2007.  Thanks to all those who have visited and also posted contributions.
Keep well everyone
Ian  

Picture Of The Week - No 44 - CCKW Nest

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Comment:  This weeks picture was taken by a guy who owns a CCKW truck like myself.  He's been storing the vehicle outside, and went to move it after it had been stood for a while.  Fortunately he went to check under the bonnet before starting the engine.  That nest is right up against that fan blade...
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STAR WARS 7 - The Force Awaken Trailer #2

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Simply couldn't resist posting this :)
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Picture Of The Week - No 43 - Gaming

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The Tapestry

The Tapestry is an interesting web site dedicated to the SAGA rules.  Well worth a look.  Link
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Warhammer: This is the Way the World Ends

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This is an interesting article in pastemagazine.com about the direction GW is taking Warhammer. Worth a read...  Link
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SAGA tournament iMovie trailer

SAGA tournament iMovie trailer
Posted by Scott McKenzie on Monday, 6 April 2015

SAGA - Byzantine Vangarian Guard

Having recently been smitten by the SAGA system bug, this last Thursday was an opportunity to dust off some very old (for the most part badly painted as well) figures stored deep within my loft.  In the 1980s John Savage ran a medieval campaign which prompted many of our gaming group to invest in armies to use with the Lance rule set.  Myself I invested in a Byzantine army.  Some years later around 2002 this army after some re-basing and re-organisation was used for several large WAB games.  Now in 2015 the figures are being used again ! :)  Being such a noob to the rules and still very unfamiliar with the Byzantine battleboard I decided to keep things easy for myself and opted for the simplest possible army I could come up with.

1 x Warlord - Emperor Basileus  (mounted)
2 x Units if Heathguard (8 men in each) - Vangarian Guard with their trade-mark double-handed axes.
The battleboard gives a total of 15 order options, depending on troop mix.  By restricting myself to the selection above, only 5 of the 15 were open to me.



So how did I do, I hear you ask.  Well the answer is 'fine thanks'.  I locked horns with Theo and Anglo Saxon warband in what was a slightly chaotic but enjoyable 6 player game.
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Basically I got lucky in that Theo was very restricted space wise on an over-crowded table, plus I screwed up with the rules and in retrospect realise that I awarded myself some bonus hits with the Strategikon order that I shouldn't have (not all troops were within Short).  Against an enemy with more movement and or missile weapons I think I would struggle badly with this unit mix, so I'll be thinking of a different set-up for this next week.
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16 Spitfires Flying Together The Sound of Victory

16 Spitfires Flying Together The Sound of Victory " Goosebumps "
Posted by NASV.org - Veteran Support Center on Sunday, 4 May 2014

Comment: Awesome sound !

Humour - WHAT CAUSES ARTHRITIS?

WHAT CAUSES ARTHRITIS?

A drunk man who smelled of beer sat down on a subway next to a priest. The man's tie was stained, his face was plastered with red lipstick, and a half-empty bottle of gin was sticking out of his torn coat pocket.

He opened his newspaper and began reading. After a few minutes the man turned to the priest and asked, "Say Father, what causes arthritis?"

The priest replies, "My Son, it's caused by loose living, being with cheap, wicked women, too much alcohol, contempt for your fellow man, sleeping around with prostitutes and lack of a bath."

The drunk muttered in response, "Well, I'll be damned”, Then returned to his paper.

The priest, thinking about what he had said, nudged the man and apologized. "I'm very sorry. I didn't mean to come on so strong. How long have you had arthritis?"

The drunk answered, "I don't have it, Father. I was just reading here that the Pope does."

Battle of Waterloo: Cambridge University Library uncovers rarely seen treasures

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The 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo is being marked with an exhibition of records rarely seen by the public at Cambridge University Library.  See the full article on the BBC website: Link.
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Daylight Savings

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Comment:  This is totally brilliant, and very apt, as here in the UK the clocks change tonight.
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Picture Of the Week - No 42 - King Tiger Traffic Jam

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Comment: Spotted this pic on Facebook.  Not something you see everyday when your driving along...
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15mm Sci-Fi Game - AAR

Umpired a 15mm Sci-Fi game at the Harrogate Wargames Club on Thursday night.  Gavin, Mark and Simon attacking against John, Mick and Chris in defence.  Rules used - FUBAR Expanded 15mm Sci-Fi.

The attackers had a Hvy Grav tank and 5 Walkers + 2 Armoured Inf Squads and 1 x Power Armour squad against the defenders 2 x Heavy Grav Tanks, a Armoured Grav Flyer, couple of scout vehicles and several squads of Inf with ATGW teams scattered amongst them.
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(Walkers all by made by Critical Mass Games as are a couple of the tanks.  I Grav tank by GZG, as are most of the Infantry and wheeled vehicles. Flying Grav Jet tank by Blade Miniatures)
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An engaging game with an early exchange of Railgun rounds seeing one of Gavs Walkers knocked out and one of Marks damaged (seen below with Railgun KO'd) .
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A further exchange saw both Simon and Chris losing their Grav tanks with my new Walker 'Vera' in action for the first time.
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'Vera' piloted by Jayne

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Mark brought his Power Armour Infantry up through the wood (seen below) and along with the damaged walker chewed out the opposing Infantry and then jump-packed into the town.
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Micks wheeled scout vehicles getting destroyed in the process as Marks armoured Infantry advanced as well.
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Gavin chewed up some Infantry and then moved his other Walker up.
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Johns reserve squad kept its head down amongst the rocks supporting the flying grav jet.
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Gavin then jumped 'Vera' into close proximity to Johns surviving Grav tank, but this brave effort to breach the enemy line was in vain as John made his Initiative role and then destroyed her. 
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At that point we called an end to proceedings.  With regard a result, I judged a slight edge to be have been with Gav, Simon and Mark at the end.   A good game overall :)

Post game notes/thoughts:
1.  A slight tweak to the rules explaining Line of Sight (LoS) with regards to looking in and out of woods is required.
2.  The Infantry ATGW groups should have a +1 sight bonus to hit.

Microfighters Lego Star Wars

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Comment:  This is great fun :)
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Star Wars Battlefront - E3 2014 Teaser Trailer - Eurogamer

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Comment: This looks good !
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All About That Bass - Postmodern Jukebox European Tour Version

I don't normally post music on this wargaming Blog, but this is a terrific version of the well known song 'All About The Bass' and definitely worth a listen :)
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15mm Sci-Fi Walker Photo Shoot

Felt inspired at the weekend to break out some terrain and take a few staged shots of my 15mm Sc-Fi Walker collection.
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