Blandford books

 I’ve made reference in posts to several of the Blandford series of books over the years.  I have mine gathered in one shelf within easy reach of my painting table.  Here are all 43 of them, inevitably sharing space with various terrain bits and a few figures, including a 1/32 gorilla.  Don’t ask.  

I used to have rather more but I’ve hung on only to the military(ish) stuff.  I gave the car and rail related books to a local RMBI care home which particularly wanted books on these subjects for a couple of residents. 

To save your eyes I also photographed the books in batches.  Let me know in a comment if you’d like to see more of any particular volume. All but three are hardbacks and I don’t think more than half a dozen were bought new. 

This pair were the first Blandfords I owned - from c1980.   One still wears it’s price tag - £3.75 - though I suspect it was actually cheaper. 

As to picking a favourite, that’s always going to be tricky.  This one, however, is a particularly well-thumbed tome, containing as it does all manner of outlandish stuff!

I mean, what sort of maniac would build anything like this?

Two evenings at Waterloo - part 2

 As the second evening of action commenced the Prussians arrived from the French right.  This finally galvanised Ney into action.

An overview of the mess.  The Allied right is being hard pressed by the French - but can the Prussians save the day?

By now Wellington was rushing troops from left to right (from his point of view) as the Dutch evaporated.

The Prussians began to edge round Ney's flank...

...and the morale chits were stacking up.

At this point I suggested that both sides consult their victory conditions.  For the French this meant having two units on the north edge of the board within 6 inches of the road to the north.

Napoleon and a pair of Guard units managed to achieve this.  

It can now be revealed that the Emperor's true objective was less the road to Brussels and more the cheap wine on sale at the Carrefour supermarket which these days is situated just off the board to the north.  Truly then have I trod in the Emperor's footsteps....

Two evenings at Waterloo - part 1

 A few weeks ago I ran Waterloo as a remote game for six players over two evenings.  This was prompted by the discovery on Wargames Vault of Evening Napoleon by Alex Trumier.  I think the download set me back about £5.

I had played through a few turns of a game some months previously and so was completely confident* that all would go smoothly.  Above is the table setup with the French deployed - the playing area is 2x2 feet!  Toys were all from my collection of 15mm.

The Cast List:

Wellington - Tim C

Picton - Pete

Prince of Orange - Mark

Napoleon - Simon

Ney - Jerry

Grouchy - Martin (he was away on holiday...)

Blucher - John

and of course...

Sergei Bondarchuk - Tim G

Both sides are now deployed.  The dark brown area marks the lower slopes of Mont St. Jean, the green hills the top of the ridge line.  The three built up areas are (from left) Hougoumont, La Haye Sainte and Plancenoit.  The coloured counters at this time mark the deployment/arrival areas of the Allied (yellow), French (green) and Prussian (red) armies.  In subsequent photos the markers are morale chits.  Nasty things.

The initial French assault on MSJ.  The Guard are following up.

French cavalry on the right.  They were strangely inactive in the early part of the game.

The armies getting stuck in.  By now Wellington is about to send the Dutch/Belgian Div to his right flank.

The Emperor wondering if it's time to commit the Guard.

A desperate British cavalry attack on French artillery.

The Prince of Orange (top left) leads his men in person.

Morale chits continue to proliferate!

Cavalry aside, the French force was by now fully committed.  So who would show up first - Blucher or Grouchy?

Berezina 1812 part 3 - Finishing the French

As the casualties mount up the remnants of the Grand Armee trudge wearily westward.

These Bavarians were thinking wistfully of home.

Some of the French huddle behind a wrecked wagon as the Russians closed in. Cossacks from the rear....

...and infantry from the front.  More of this in a bit.

The overall look by now was one of carnage.

The French rearguard were eventually overcome by the Russians.

Remember the French infantry cowering behind the wagons?  As the Russian infantry charged the French were helpfully struck by artillery.  French artillery, that is....

The end - and probably the enduring image of the game - Cossacks plundering another wagon. Only one wagon escaped!

Berezina 1812 part 2 - Fighting the French

Back in the frozen wastes of Holy Russia, the French infantry battalion skulking in this ruined monastery is losing men to desertion. The chaps who run off into the snow and don’t freeze fall victim to either wolves or Cossacks. In as far as there’s a difference...

Speaking of Cossacks, here come more of ‘em!

An unhappy juxtaposition of 1/32 figures and 1/1 feet!

The Cossacks had plenty of opportunity to plunder undefended wagons.

Helpfully, they also overran a French battery in the village.

The sight of frozen French deserters in the snow was particularly poignant.

Ian’s bit of the Russian steamroller grinds forward.

For artillery fire we used polystyrene ‘cannon balls’ fired from Britains cannon. Entertainingly, an enterprising Russian musketeer skewered one on his bayonet. Tough lot, these Russians!  Mike  - he of Black Hat figures - fired the shot in question and poses here proudly with the result of his marksmanship.

Coming soon - part the last.