Thursday 28 December 2023

Santa was good to me.

In the spirit of nostaga I thought an image of my refight of the Battle of Blenheim featuring the great Charles Wesencraft commanding the Austrians. A very young Neil Reidy probably laughing hysterically at some of the banter I would have been throwing at Charlie.

 Well felicitations and a Happy Christmas to one and all. One hopes that Santa was good to you and provided the necessary figures/paint/books etc,etc to carry on with this wonderful hobby.

Without attempting to sound like the rich kid when he is given a new Raleigh Chopper bike, I am very happy with the presents I received from my family. Even the oversized slippers are perfect for my poor feet. But the four wonderful books I have received from the overweight, rosy faced itinerant are perfect. Granted I did drop ridiculous hints via my Santa's list, but it seemed to work.

And the common theme, well in the main its nostalga. I have the original War Game Companion which was published originally in soft back so when it was announced it had been updated, I simply had to have the book.Like many of a certain age The War Game was the start of everything. Until I found this book I was lost and really struggling to understand what I was attempting to get into. But this book set me straight and was also a wonderful read. 

Next we have Charles Stewart Grant's Wargames Retrospective which was a great surprise. I cant wait to read this book and hopefully sink into a miasma of nostalga. Charles is a cracking bloke and writes in a form very similar to his father. Simply a no nonsense and readible form.

Then we have Tony Bath's Ancient Wargaming which contains chapters regarding his Hyboria campaign and who actually won. I have always been envious of this campaign which ran for several years and I dont think was ever bettered. I am lucky enough to own the original Campaign book and also one regarding the wargaming armies of Hyboria. The whole concept has always fascinated me.

Finaly I have a new book, yes I do like new stuff. An updated Hail Caesar supplement regarding the Romans. It should be up to the usual high standard and I cant wait to read it.

I was lucky enough to locate more early Slingshot magazines just before Christmas that have gone a little way to completing my collection, although I still need? the very early years and also the elusive 1970 booklets. Anyway included in one of the magazines was a small article about recommended fictional ancient historical novels. As a consequence I bought these two books from ABE UK. The novels were written by Rex Warner, a professor specialising in Greek and Roman history. I liked both books. They arent Alfred Duggan quality but do offer up another viewpoint regarding Caesar.Definately worth a punt if one likes ancient fiction.

   


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