The die is cast

MESSYGAMER ROOM

2009-11-20T21:55:00.000Z

Another great podcast on wargaming and boardgames. West Virgina boys Mike and Marshall tell it like it is.

http://messygameroom.libsyn.com/index.php?post_category=podcasts

D6 GENERATION PODCAST

2009-09-17T21:25:00.002+01:00

Topical, controversial, and entertaining conversation about miniature war games, board games, and other topics near and dear to gamer's hearts. Do your ears a favour and give these guy's a listen.

http://www.thed6generation.com/

MODERN DAY AFRICA

2009-08-03T19:17:00.003+01:00

French troops deploy ready for combat. Figures from Cyril, Green Machine Gamers Kildare.

FREE FRENCH

2009-07-18T21:46:00.004+01:00

Some Free French figures from Cyril, a member of the Green Machine Gamers in Kildare.

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE

2009-06-26T19:23:00.005+01:00

The photo's above show Russian figures from the recent Ambush Alley Ireland event. The models are from Britannia's 20mm range. The game was set in Afghanistan with the Russian paratroopers and mechanised infantry attacking a heavily defended Afghan village.

SEARCH AND DESTROY

2009-06-23T21:25:00.015+01:00

HUE LIA -PEU BON -SOUTH VIETNAM 1967
All photographs were taken at Ambush Alley Ireland Day.

AMBUSH ALLEY IRELAND DAY

2009-06-21T21:52:00.008+01:00

A few club members traveled to county Kildare this weekend to participate in the Ambush Alley Ireland day. We had a great day out, when I got home at 12pm that night howerever I did feel like the models above, shattered. A big thanks to Thomas, Cyril, Skip, Brian and Ruardhi of the Newbridge wargames club who hosted the event. Special thanks to Piers,Skip and Cyril for running the games.

Their were two Ambush Alley games, one set in Afghanistan, one in Iraq and a couple of demos of Ambush Valley (Vietnam version of Ambush Alley) at the event. It really was a fun day out, I hope to post a few picture's on the blog over the next week or two.

The guys in Kildare have a great forum which can be found at:

http://www.guildwargamers.com/

THUREOPHOROI

2009-06-14T20:40:00.007+01:00

My 10mm Successor army continues to grow with the addition of some Thureophoroi.

The Thureophoroi were a type of infantry soldier, common in the 3rd to 1st Century BCE, who carried a large oval shield called a thureos which had a type of metal strip boss and a central spine. They were armed with a long thrusting spear, javelins and a sword. They also usually wore an iron or bronze Macedonian helmet. The thureos was probably originally an adapted form of Celtic shield. It has been suggested that the thureos was brought to Greece after Pyrrhus of Epirus' campaigns in Italy.

Thureophoroi were usually distinguished from both skirmishers and the phalanx and seem to have operated in a role intermediate between the two types. They often supported light troops and seemed to have been capable of operating in a similar manner to peltasts. The Thureophoroi were well suited to the tactical needs of smaller states, mainly border defense. They were mobile and could rapidly advance over varied terrain. According to Plutarch, they could fight as skirmishers and then fall back, assume spears and tighten the ranks, forming a phalanx.

Figures: 10mm Magister militum

MEDIEVAL WARFARE

2009-06-06T21:09:00.004+01:00

Some pic's from Paul McConnell's 28mm Medieval figures, which were on display at this months club meeting.

GREEK CAVALRY

2009-05-26T21:34:00.009+01:00

Photograph's show 10mm Tarantine Cavalry. The Seleucid and Epirus armies of the successor kingdoms found gainful employed for these troops after the death of Alexander the Great.

Originally the cavalry of the army of the Greek city of Tarantas (Tarentum) in Magna Graecia, they were renowned for their peculiar battle tactics. They were the only cavalry of the Graeco-Roman world to employ pure, advanced skirmishing tactics, called the Tarantine Circle. They were unarmored and normally equipped with shield and javelins, which they hurled at the enemy, evading any attempt to engage in close combat. In the Hellenistic era, we have numerous references to Tarantine units, even in the armies of the eastern Macedonian empires, but unfortunately no definite account of their equipment or their tactical use.

Figures: 10mm Magister Militum

HORSE ARCHERS 10mm

2009-05-04T20:43:00.007+01:00

I am currently basing figures for my 10mm Successor Army. Above are photographs of horse archers. The Seleucid Empire incorporated native troops with various expertise's into their armies. The eastern part of their empire provided horse archers including Parthians,Dahae and Bactrians.

Figures : Magister Militum

Scale : 10mm

Walhalla

2009-04-19T11:40:00.005+01:00

Walhalla, my very own wargamer's paradise. Walhalla is a take on Valhalla which in Norse mythology was a majestic, enormous hall (I wish) ruled over by the god Odin. It was to here that the fallen warriors travelled to upon death.

The loft of my newly built garage is to become my 19 foot by 12 foot personnel battle HQ. It is from here that I hope to fight my way through the month's and year's ahead. As you can see it is not yet finished, hopefully it will be operational in June.

PRITZKER MILITARY PODCAST

2009-04-11T19:48:00.004+01:00

The Pritzker Military Library is a research library for the study of military history in Chicago. The collection of the Pritzker Military Library includes over 25,000 books, periodicals, videos, artwork, posters, and rare military ephemera. The library produces podcasts which include interviews with U.S. Congressional Medal of Honor recipients. Discussions with retired military figures and talks given by military authors on their new books.

The Pritzker Podcast archive can be found at :

http://feeds2.feedburner.com/pmlfeed/

HOW IT ALL STARTED

2009-04-05T19:58:00.005+01:00

C.F Wesencraft's book Practical Wargaming,

This was the book I stumbled across in my local library aged 11 or 12. It triggered an interest in wargaming which I still hold over 25 years later. The book published in the early 70's provided the reader with playable rules covering the history of warfare. I used small plastic figure's on my parents living room floor to command the armies of Lee, Hannibal, and Napoleon. I fought epic battles and bloody wars. Today I still fight such battles and like then still enjoy a fantastic hobby..

AMBUSH ALLEY

2009-03-20T20:19:00.001Z

A few more pic's from the clubs Ambush Alley game.

IVAN & FRIENDS

2009-03-16T19:42:00.006Z

Some more photographs from last months Russian front game.

TANK KILLER

2009-03-08T20:44:00.014Z

A tank killer lies in wait. These photographs were taken during a WWII eastern front game held at the clubs monthly meeting. Figures and vehicle are from Paul McConnell's collection. Paul has written a set of rules "No Prisoners!" which he is currently fine turning and play testing. The rules will cover the period from the Spanish Civil war to WWII.

The Self propelled gun in the picture is the Nashorn. The Nashorn (German for rhinoceros) was one of the most effective anti-tank guns deployed during World War II. Its tungsten round was capable of penetrating 190 mm of rolled armour at a distance of 1,000 m. The gun's tremendous performance enabled the Nashorn to engage enemy tanks while staying out of range themselves. Though only lightly armoured and with a high profile, it stayed in service until the end of the war.

SOUNDS FAMILAR

2009-03-07T21:04:00.011Z

Chopper goes down in an East African shanty town.

I played my first game of Ambush Alley at the clubs monthly bash. Ambush Alley is a modern miniature wargame that allows players to recreate the intense counter-insurgency actions in an urban environment. It is a really enjoyable, fast paced game, with an intuitive easy to understand game mechanism. The game can be played at any scale from 15mm up. 15mm scenarios call for a 2’x2’ table, while 28mm games only require a 4’x4’ table. Ambush Alley is accessible for those on a tight budget as few scenarios require more than ten figures for the Regular force and a dozen or so for the Insurgents.
FIGURES : Peter Pig & Old Glory
RULES: Ambush Alley
PAINTER: Glen Seymore

THE SAXON STORIES

2009-03-03T19:44:00.001Z

The Last Kingdom is the first book in 'The Saxon Stories' series by Bernard Cornwell. The series follows the wars between King Alfred the Great and the Danes or Vikings. The Last Kingdom focuses on Uhtred's upbringing and early adulthood. The book begins when Uhtred marches with his father to war against the Danes at the age of ten. He links his destiny to the Sceadugenga or "Shadow-Walkers".

To listen to the author discuss this book, go to the link below and click on Bernard Cornwell on the listen again section:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/bookclub/

PODTASTIC HARDCORE HISTORY

2009-02-24T21:19:00.001Z

In "Hardcore History" Dan Carlin brings the past alive. Was Alexander the Great as bad a person as Adolf Hitler? What would Apaches with modern weapons be like? Will our modern civilization ever fall like civilizations from past eras?. Ear candy for all us podcast junkies.

http://www.dancarlin.com/disp.php/hh

POINT 2 POINT PODCAST

2009-01-07T20:45:00.001Z

Point 2 Point is a great podcast about board wargaming hosted by Jason and Scott. They discuss and review wargames as well as interviewing game industry insiders and board game creators.

http://point2point.libsyn.com/index.php?post_category=podcasts

Cold War

2008-11-22T21:15:00.011Z

Set in 1980's Germany this battle between Russian and British foe's, went to the wire. The Red Army finally took the nuclear reactor outside Bonn after stiff opposition from the English armour & infantry. NATO air superiority over the battlefield failed to halt the assault due to poor weather conditions and the over running of ground air support positions.

Rules - Blitzkrieg Commander.

Figures - 6mm Heroics and Ros \ Skytracks, all figures painted by Dave Bruce.

AK47

2008-11-22T20:54:00.007Z

Some photographs from a modern wargame. This scenario was set in the Liberian border and pitched peace keeping special forces against attacking rebel troops. The defenders easily repulsed the poorly lead and ill trained rebels. The United Nations later identified many of the causalities amongst the insurgents as boy soldiers.

Rules - AK47
Figures - 15mm Peter Pig painted by Mark Waters

SPAIN 1812

2008-11-02T21:25:00.019Z

Light troops defend against a determined French assault.

Charge!

French troops come ever onwards.

Spanish troops defend the river bank.

Over view of the battlefield.

This months meeting of Omagh wargame club featured a 10mm Napoleonic battle. Superior French forces clashed with retreating English and Spanish troops. Wellington's troops came of best and were able to retreat in good order due largely to the efforts of his Spanish allies and clever placing of light troops. These light troops harassed and delayed the chasing French, causing consternation to the French commanders and many casualties amongst their men.

This battle was organised and umpired by Dave "the" Bruce who supervised the game to his usual exacting standards.

FIGURES : Flashing Blade / Pendraken 10mm.

RULES : Arthurs Eagles, Written by Dave Bruce.

OMAGH WARGAMES CLUB

2008-10-04T19:23:00.013+01:00

Macedonian Phalanx

Macedonian Skirmishers

I took part in a five player game of Diplomacy at this months Omagh wargame's meeting. Diplomacy is a strategic board game created by Allan B. Calhamer in 1954. Its main distinction from most board wargames is negotiation: Players spend much of their time forming (and betraying) alliances with other players. Set in Europe just before the beginning of World War One, Diplomacy is played by up to seven players, each controlling the armed forces (armies -fleets) of a major European power. Each player aims to move his or her units - and defeat those of others - to win possession of a majority of strategic cities and provinces marked as "supply centers" on the map; these supply centers allow players who control them to produce more units. First to control 18 supply centers wins.

I had a lot of fun with this game, a real head wrecker. I believe the majority of those who took part enjoyed the game and are keen to have another go in the near future.

Some useful links for Diplomacy rules and map downloads can be found below.

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=ah/prod/diplomacy
http://www.diplom.org/index.py

Play Diplomacy online.

http://www.playdipl%20omacy.com/

Also at the club this week the first outing for Field of Glory's ancients rule set. A few picture's of the game between Republican Romans and Alexanders Macedonians can be seen above. All figures are plastic from the HAT and Zvezda ranges. I believe Alexander claimed the victory.