Monday 21 March 2016

The Battle of Leipzig 18th/20th March 2016


Well I'm just back from my birthday present from my long suffering wife. She kindly obtained a position at the Donald Featherstone Memorial Weekend at the Wargames Holiday Centre.
 I have wanted to attend the weekend ever since its inception, and when I saw it was intended to refight the Battle of Leipzig, there was no holding me back. As Henry Hyde of Miniature Wargames has a very big input into the weekend, it would be extremely churlish of me to steal his thunder, especially as there will be a printed article in the magazine. Henry [ as he is known to his acquaintances] also created a live feed? and tweet also? where the weekend can be viewed.
                                             
                                             

 What I will say was it was an extremely enjoyable weekend, with wargamers from all walks of life getting together to have some real fun. I finally met Dave Brown of General de Brigade fame, who supplied a new set of Napoleonic rules to try out on us, and I hope he took some notice of what I advised he changed in the draft. Actually the rules were very easy to pick up, and I must admit I had worried that we would be using Gilder's Grand Manner rules, which I really didnt enjoy, ever.


 As for the battle, I think I was at my most dynamic, well apart from the series of ones I managed to throw at some very important times. Luckily I redeemed myself by some brilliant tactical decisions which I shared with everyone present.
 I managed to blag one of my favourite commands, ie the Saxon heavy cavalry, painted for Peter Gilder by Mark Allen. The photographs do not do them justice. The Austrians above were some of the many I had to face, they were so very impressive, en masse.

 Probably my finest moment, when I sent my Saxons, against the Russian Guard artillery.[ I wont say what happened here, read the article. ] I wont say who won either.

                                     
 An added bonus was being able to talk to several players who knew Peter Gilder, and had been able to buy various units from the Holiday Centre prior to it moving.
 Mark Freeth, the owner of the centre, who was a perfect host,was also a mine of information regarding the Gilder era. Clearly  I would thoroughly recommend any wargamer who loves wargaming to make the pilgrimage to the centre. This was by far the best of my several visits. A wonderful, but very very tiring weekend.


                Below are a few eye candy shots from the weekend, Gilder's innovation at its best I think.
 Henry Hyde has now put some of his many photographs up on his account at,  https://facebook.com/MiniatureWargames









22 comments:

  1. A veritable feast for the eyes! I hope one day to make it to the WHC myself. How interesting (understatement of the year) that you were able to talk to several people who knew Peter Gilder. Reason enough to visit the Centre.

    Best Regards,

    Stokes

    ReplyDelete
  2. Stokes,
    I would recommend the centre anyway, but with the added incentive of being for Donald Featherstone's memorial its a no brainer really.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Robbie,

    Lovely stuff! Hard to pick a favourite from those images, possibly the Russian Uhlans? or maybe the Saxons? Gilder style Cav very hard to beat.

    Fantastic to see these pics, wish there was a lot more of this sort of thing available online.

    Thanks

    John

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. John,
      Ive added a link to Henry Hyde's Facebook account that has loads of images.

      Delete
  4. I enjoyed watching the updates that Henry posted through the weekend. quite a spectacle.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was a very good weekend Paul, but knackering. I kept forgetting to sit down, which catches up after a while.

      Delete
  5. Wonderful, wonderful stuff. Big Napoleonic games don't get any bigger or better than Leipzig!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Its a battle I have always wanted to fight, and Mark Freeth and Dave Brown created a really good set up to reflect the problems of both sides.

      Delete
  6. Spectacular and most impressive pictures, thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Phil,
      When Ive been to the centre before I tended to just sit looking at the units that I had seen as a younged wargamer. Sadly most have moved on, but ther replacements are very very nice, and there are still some of the original collection to drool over.

      Delete
  7. Nice account Robbie and thanks for the pictures and link to FB. Glad you enjoyed it.
    Chris

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chris,
      It was a very good weekend, very tiring but enjoyable.

      Delete
  8. Classic WHC ...

    Nice to see some of the lads I painted again too... The Russian Uhlans

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dave,
      You should be proud of the unit, I dont normally photograph the enemy, but they were a great unit.

      Delete
  9. Hi Robbie,glad you enjoyed the week-end,and photo's look great.If you're going down next year,can Brian and I have a lift down with you?
    johnc(william)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. John,
      I went by train, but if you are seriously interested for next year, then I am certain we can sort something out.

      Delete
    2. Nice of you to offer to pay for us!!
      johnc(william)

      Delete
    3. Nice of you to offer to pay for us!!
      johnc(william)

      Delete
  10. Glad to get plenty of notice John as my Dinner Jacket stinks of Moth Balls and my Mess Dress seems to have shrunk a bit!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brian,
      I was struggling to get into a decent pair of pants, so I wouldnt worry too much.

      Delete

My 6mm Napoleonic set up.

My 6mm Napoleonic set up.
Austria 1809.

Austrian Hussars

Austrian Hussars
Hinchliffe figures

Austrian Grenzer

Austrian Grenzer
Austrian Grenzer

Smoggycon 2013

Smoggycon 2013
Smoggycon 2013

Smoggycon 2012

Smoggycon 2012
Smoggycon 2012

Smoogycon 2009

Smoogycon 2009
My French getting another beating