Partizan 2021

So finally I was able to go to a wargames show with real people, no daft Zoom images and to be honest it was extremely enjoyable. I can only apolgise to anyone who for whatever reason couldnt or wouldnt take the risk to meet people in a large hall. I had hoped to arrive in plenty of time as I was expecting a long queue. I was right about the queue but was a little late by my normal standards.Luckily it was a beautiful morning and a great day to take a long drive, well by UK standards. The organisers to take account of that Covid thing had opened all the fire doors etc which I hope they will continue with in the future because the place normally gets unbearably hot and smelly. Yesterday was a pleasure to walk around. I understand that punters were supposed to wear masks, but I wasnt aware of the request and I dont think the majority were aware either. To be honest I only wear a mask if Im going to see my doctor or if Im shopping in my local shop the rest of the time Ive wanted to feel as normal as possible, but I will apologise if I frightened anyone yesterday with my unmasked mug. Its never a pretty sight.

So the show itself? Well for me it was just great to be able to look at stuff, talk to wargamers I hadnt seen for a longtime and admire the games. And its fair to say the games deserved admiring for so many reasons. I must apologise that unless I personally knew the exhibitors I didnt get any details of the talented people who made a great effort to brighten up my day.

 Normally ie in the past I would have a standout favourite but at Partizan yesterday there were too many very good wargames in all scales and periods. If I was pressed my choice would be between the wonderful 60mm Ancient participation game using To the Strongest rules and...     

All the 60mm figures are Expeditionary Force from Singapore which arent cheap but in the flesh are quality. I actually looked at these several years ago but balked at the price. I really wish Id bitten the bullet they are beautiful when painted.

The elephants were Schleich toys which are very good models in their own right, repainted they look great.

Some Britains using the proper terrain for such figures, and yes there were proper shell firing guns.

Potentially my other best game and inevitably it was that annoying painting genius and all round really decent bloke, David Imrie. David and his collegus from Claymore Castings staged the Battle of Crecy.David is one of those really decent people who also is talented beyond what is fair.

                                          God how I wanted to examine each figure at a time. 

And my other best of show game, a 40mm Seven Years War game using self casts, chopped around figures and sheer hard work.

All the buildings were 3d printed in 40mm scale. They were absolutely top quality and is an example of the future as prices etc come down. Of course being a quality painter helps. Each building was in removable floors with proper interiors.

The two ships for the game apparantly were from a secondhand shop and then adapted.

                     The star fort again was a 3d printed piece that took days to download.

I was beginning to run out of superlatives and this Carthaginian/Roman ancient game was a beautiful game in its own right.   

I love elephants on a wargame. I always feel sorry for them knowing how kind they are in the main. These African elephants were perfect.

Of course the Perry Twins popped in with a game. Naturally they had hundreds of South American goodies.It is a colourful period and the figures were up to their normal brilliant standard.

The Grimsby club staged an eye-catching WW2 game, loved the ruined cinema with screen still playing.

Im not a big lover of hex battlefields but appreciate their uses. This Napoleonic game was very neat and had some quality figures on show.

                                                     Loved these Polish Lancers.
                                            

A game from the Sikh wars again with some quality painted figures, wargamers are extremely talented people.

                                                     Indian Wars done really well.

The gents from the Durham Wargames Club staged a WAB dark ages battle.I was itching to throw some dice in this game.

                             The Libyan campaign done in 1/72, some really decent tanks on show.

A very large scratch built scene from the Russian campaign in Germany, 1944/45. 

Scattered throughout the battlefield were little diorama's and odd figures telling a story.Really well executed. 

A really well staged medieval siege game in 28mm again with some lovely little vignettes.

I really enjoyed seeing several Seven Years War games on show with well painted figures and quality terrain.

                            An El Cid battle with boats and Herbert Lom dressed in black.

                                      The only Winter battle which was really well executed.

So there you have it. I can only apologise for the excessively large number of photographs but felt the games deserved being published. Oh and I did manage to spend only a small amount of money on figures and brushes so I was better disciplined than usual.

Finally.

 No new units for my blog this time. Im not totally certain why as I have done some painting but havent got around to actual basing them. But this weekend is a big day for me and many wargamers around the UK with Partizan returning. It must be nearly two years? since my last visit to a wargames show and it feels like an eternity.

 I dont go to buy much nowadays as I am one of those lucky people who have most of what I want but not enough of what I need. So no doubt my wallet will be getting a hammering. Wargames shows are more about lifting the spirits, admiring the skill and artistry of  other wargamers and generally becoming enthused again. Its also a time to bump into wargamers and chat about anything and everything associated with the hobby.

So yes I am looking forward to the day and only hope I dont repeat what I did several years ago and fail to arrive after I wrote of my car in a side on shunt. I remember I was fired up that day and writing a car off isnt a good way to finish the trip.

 So hopefully I will see people I havent seen for a longtime and avoid the ones I probably still owe money to.[just joking]

 See you there.

 

I feel like Keith Richard?

  I made mention of my podcast experience but didnt have a link available. I do now;

 https://kenrtai.podbean.com/e/episode-14-robbie-roddis-the-borgias-and-peter-gilder/

Please dont expect any amazing insightful ideas or facts, I must admit my memory has struggled due to lockdown so some recollections may be downright wrong.I did have some notes but even they were probably wrong. Sometimes I feel like Keith Richard's but dont have the excuse of drugs abuse.

John and I fought a cracking Never Mind the Billhooks game last week, using 240 points which dont sound a lot but actually is.I only used one large Irish ward backed up by the normal WOR troop types.I did however opt for some light cavalry having learned my lesson at Derby.They fought really well until they were annihilated.

I did use some ideas I had obtained from the Billhooks weekend such as linear units as opposed to blocks. I also used more gallowglass and kern.

The battle was a real toughie which was in the balance right up until the end when I had my commander killed with the remainder of his gallowglass.

I must admit my most effective units were levy archers, kern and my artillery. The levy shot really well and decimated John's retinue archers, as below.

                                       My levy archers being pushed forward by their betters.

The remnants of my cavalry were still able to charge into the backs of John's levy archers, they didnt last much longer when the shadowing enemy cavalry hit them.

And then back to my usual luck as I went  charge into the flank of John's billhook unit only to be stopped with an event card.They did fight the next move simply because they were hit in their flank.

Earl Kildare's ward, contained some hard hitting melee types that did fight well, even against some tough men at arms. Unfortunately I was slowly being out maneuvered as they fought.  

Its great to see we will be experiencing some wargames shows in the next couple of months and I am especially looking forward to Battleground which is a really friendly show. 

 

Warning, burbling clown is interviewed on respected podcast.

I failed to mention in my last post that I had taken part?? in a podcast courtesy of Yarkshire Games. Id very kindly been put forward by Colin Ashton as someone who might provide something interesting to say about wargaming. Im afraid poor Ken lost three hours of his life he will never get back. I was very impressed by the professional way Ken conducted the whole event and I never thought I would need to use my old media training. Needless to say I talked the legs of a donkey but hopefully Ken can edit the whole thing into something of interest. Its on you-tube I believe, just search Yarkshire Games.

I completed a right mix of figures these last few days in between putting part of my garden to bed for the Winter. First the Carnegie regiment of Scots.

I bought a few unpainted Macedonian cavalry from E Bay, I think they were Agema but dont quote me on that. They are very crisp sculpts and easy to paint.These will be added to my slowly building Successors which I hope to finish before I reach complete gagaism.

Ah yes, some more Kern. I didnt need them as I have enough but for completeness sake I painted a few foot archers. Not my best effort but acceptable I suppose.Skirmish archers in Billhooks arent very effective but being Kern they can melee if needed so are always handy.

Finally another unit of gallowglass. These are a mixture of Antediluvian Miniatures and Perry. They are compatible size wise. The Antediluvian figures are based on a Durer sketch from that time and are lovely figures, definitely recommended. The sculptor really made an accurate copy of the sketch with these figures, truly remarkable.

 

The Billhooks Bash Saturday 4th September 2021

 

Well braving the doom spreaders and Armageddon mongers I drove down to Derby at the weekend to take part in my first ever wargames tournament. Ive never actually taken part in any sort of competitive wargames tournament and to be very honest the Billhooks Bash was never meant to be that type of day.

I stayed in a Travelodge near the venue which was in a large industrial estate a matter of a 100 yards away. The venue was a Games Workshop club and shop which was very welcoming and well set out with tables. The tournament was organised by the most excellent Pete Harris. Peter did a great job of herding cats/wargamers to their places. Each army was 120 points with 10 points added for the main commander.  Nearby was three very decent pubs selling good beer and good food, and they had people in them at 5pm?

I thought I'd turn up with something a little different and pointed up the Earl of Kildare's Irish contingent that was slaughtered at Stokefield. Unfortunately I never considered any cavalry for my contingent and instead relied on Kern and Gallowglass. 
 

Peter planned three games per competitor, umpired by the Billhooks man himself, Andy Callan. It was interesting to see how other wargamers played their games and what they had included in their respective contingents.A favourite was light cavalry and veteran billmen, of the two the cavalry caused me the most trouble and in each of my three battles I faced cavalry with their own general. Effectively they could turn a flank easily. 

My first battle was against Ralph the new kid on the block. Ralph being much younger than me had been brought up on Warhammer 40K and it showed as he placed down company after company of archers and of course bloody light cavalry. My Irish did okay considering although my saving throws were hopeless and I failed to win any cards that could have helped me. I lost the battle by one token. A great introduction to the big boys league. 

Whilst in two of the battles I struggled to throw decent dice I did manage to do everything right in my second game. But in my last game I was given a lesson in how to save. When one scores 16 hits you expect to at least kill one man at arms. Well no actually. What are the chances of saving every hit?

Anyway in my second game I faced not only light cavalry but artillery as well. My Irish definitely dont like big guns. Luckily my opponent threw three ones when he fired the damned thing and it blew up! Id never seen this happen before and I must admit it was very funny.

 Even better I actually drew an event card which contained treachery and could be played against any enemy unit or block of units not under direct command. Again Id never seen this card before.

 I played this against a block of two archer units which firstly peppered the veteran billmen before charging to their destruction. I won the battle convincingly but attribute the victory more to good luck than my generalship.

My final game was a complete tactical disaster as my poor kern were shot to pieces by archers and hand-gunners. Of course I faced light cavalry which piled into my men at arms block led by Earl Kildare. One would think trained killers could handle light cavalry especially led by a tough leader. Well no actually, my saving was desperate, my killing was worse, and my ability to throw ones proved once again Im a freaking dice genius. Kildare fell, surrounded by his retainers and my battle was over.   

Peter arranged during lunch, yes lunch was also provided a painting competition. Mike Peters from Bristol rightly won the painting competition with a beautifully painted Lancasterian contingent led by the chap below. 

What can one say about the event. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole day. Yes I was exhausted, but the games were played in a brilliant attitude. There was banter, there was humour and there was a great feeling of pushing toy soldiers around tables. Peter has already talked of arranging another Billhooks Bash. Will I be going? Damn right I will.