Saxe Lancers.

Due to ill health, yet again I have struggled to get much painting done. I was able however to complete the basing of my Saxe Lancers which were painted for me by Tony Runkee. Tony is a real gentleman and is modest of his painting ability. I look forward to finally putting a face to the voice at York in a couple of weeks time.Im not certain of the lancers effectiveness, but they will make a colourful unit anyway.

A Critique of the French Army of the War of Austrian Succession.

In an effort to pep up my blog I thought I would give a frank review of one of the books I received at Christmas 2014. To be honest I only started reading this book last night, but managed to get in an hours reading so I feel qualified to comment on the matters that I feel are relevant.
 I dont know David Wilson but do have quite a few miniatures that he designed and which were sold under the Jackdaw label. I like the figures which clearly are greatly influenced by the Willie ranges.
 Mr Wilson clearly knows his stuff as regards the French army in the 1740 period.
 This book reflects this. He has attempted to provide an accurate description of the uniforms worn by the French Army and for that I have no complaints. In fact I applaud him for writing this book.
The book is not cheap costing a hefty £48.50 p from Caliver Books.
 I like the drawings that he has provided, although I would have liked more especially of the Foreign and Light regiments.
 My chief criticisms of the book are the poor and perhaps non existent proof reading of the book.Scattered throughout the book are typos and spelling mistakes.
My second and main criticism is the very poor sentence construction which litters the book.
 If I did not know otherwise I would have thought the book had been written by a Frenchman who had a poor grasp of English and not vice versa.

For example;...........
 '' For even though all commands & service was in the French language, at least for the French national regiments,and this since the times of Francois 1st [ Ordanance of Villers Coteret ]there were still some six different spoken & written languages as well as several strong dialects spoken in France,even today,with the exception that now most of these French peoples also speak French,this was not the case in the 18th Century''.

 Perhaps its me, and I admit I did not have a university education but I found this and many other sentences throughout this book damned nearly impossible to understand. The other gripe I have is the use of & for the word and. What is this about.
 From the short history that David Wilson has provided about himself he was born when punctuation and sentence construction were still taught ie, the 1960's onwards.
I know that I sound like Victor Meldrew, but at nearly £50.00 a shot I expect a book to be a pleasurable experience, I do not expect to be losing patience with the contents due to piss poor writing.
 Mr Wilson clearly knows his subject, he also has been able to gain access to primary sources which have not been used before. His actual descriptions of the regiments are good, although additional sketches would have been nice. But the actual book is in my opinion let down by shoddy proof reading and the inability of the author to write clear and concise sentences.
 Would I buy it if I knew what I know now?
Yes, but only if it was £20.00 cheaper & properly proof read.  5/10 must try harder.

Deux Ponts, done.

 Just to prove that I havent been totally sitting on my backside over the Christmas holidays I have finally finished my first regiment of Black Hussar figures. I have painted them as the Regiment Deux Ponts.

 I thought I would take a photograph of four regiments from my foreign contingent of the French Army. The cavalry are a squadron of Saxe Lancers these were painted by Tony Runkee.

Nostradamus 2015

I suppose it is usual to look back on the year that has just finished, to assess what if anything has been achieved in that time by me. But as I sit here in front of my PC listening to the gale howling outside I think personally it would be a bit more interesting if I reviewed 2014 from how war gaming from a purely subjective view was last year and how I see things going this year.
 So nailing my predictions and views firmly to the mast, here goes;
 It seems to me that the trend will continue with smaller ie. skirmish type games. By smaller I mean the actual number of figures used. It perfectly suits the manufacturers of Steam Punk, The Back of Beyond, Saga, Donnybrook etc. if this was to continue, and I suppose it makes sense to war gamers that they can buy, paint and play these games whilst spending less on the hobby.
 For war gamers who want big games I believe that 6mm and 10mm will continue to sell well, as will that old favourite 15mm.
 I can't see a let up in the release of new plastic ranges in the various scales, given the success and quality of the products on offer. Of course the the release of a range of 6mm plastic war games figures, which seems pretty logical to me, would be the ultimate heresy to some war gamers.
 However given the quality of the plastic figures currently on offer, if I had the money I would be sorely tempted to give the project a go, especially if a quality Napoleonic range could be created.
 Anyway period wise, I think it's a given that Napoleonics will be very popular this year, given that it is the anniversary of the 100 days campaign.
 I expect that some one will release a specific set of rules for the campaign,no doubt in a glossy format with lots of colour photographs of figures from the usual suspects. On thing for certain is that the rules will be in the £30- £40 range. Or is that just the cynic in me peeking out.
  Products wise, I hope the Perry twins will return to their European Wars range and fill in a couple of gaps, ie French mounted archers, some specific Spanish types both mounted and on foot, and an organ gun and crew.
 Having initially supported the Indegogo project for the landsnecht range from Pro Gloria, I cant wait for their release now that Warlord have taken the range over.
 Being from the hippie era, I worry about the growth of such companies, but by the same token I know that the company have the wherewithal to actually produce the range.
 A bit hypocritical of me I suppose.
 I would like to see less MDF buildings being released. I know they are practical, especially the ones that have ready printed features on them, but personally I just find them bland, and a tad smelly.
 I also think that their cost has been rising so their attraction is lessening even more.
  Wargames Magazine wise, I honestly think one of the big three will go the journey.
   Again this is only my personal opinion, but if Miniature Wargames doesn't sort itself out I think it will lose out. Saying that, I am not that impressed with the Wargames Illustrated overall, and feel that the company has backed itself into a corner which has led them to publishing a magazine that is frankly very predictable.[ Fur coat and no knickers springs to mind]  
     So those are my predictions for 2015, so really no change overall.
Hopes wise, I do hope that some enterprising person will attempt to re vamp the format of the wargames show and perhaps make the event more than just a trade affair. I have been wittering on about this for sometime and I honestly think that there is some mileage in making a show a bit more than what they are now.
 Lets be right there has been little to no change since the 1960's.
  No actually these shows offered more in some respects. Perhaps its time for a re think on how many shows are actually put on each year, but God knows how you could organise that, given the nature of wargamers.
               Now my list of 2014; [again only my opinion]
Best Wargames Show;  York 2014.
Best New Rules;  A bit of a cheat here, Black Powder Rebellion.
Best Wargames Book; A Military Gentleman by John Ray.
Worst Wargames Book; Mega Wargames by Ron Ringrose et al.
Best Wargames figures; Seven Years War French Fusiliers,  Black Hussar of Germany.
Most Improved range of wargames Products;  Wargames Factory
 Biggest Disappointment wargames wise of 2014, The none release of French Gendarmes by Pro Gloria.

So what does 2015 hold for me wargames wise. Well hopefully I will be well enough to enjoy Salute.
 I cant wait for Graham of Crann Tara fame releasing his Fitz James Horse.
 I hope to complete my Seven Years War armies, and finally say enough is enough.
 Aspiration wise, I would like to complete the sale of several armies that I no longer require, I would also like to rationalize my wargames terrain and shrink the number of boards I have by a lot, before the bedroom ceiling falls in.
 I would also like to re vamp my Waterloo terrain and stage the battle both at a show and as a game.
 Apart from that, just to be able to continue to participate in this wonderful hobby.