Miniature Wargames review of Broadside

Yesterday I picked up my copy of Miniature Wargames magazine (issue 412) and was very pleased to see several photos of my Operation Caravan game that the Rejects put on back in June at Broadside. Editor John Treadaway was very complimentary about our game and the team effort that went into our overall presentation. 

Two photos of our demo game feature in the magazine.

A very nice write up from the Editor.

Issue 412 of the magazine.

I think all the Rejects that took part on the day will be pleased with this write up on what was already a successful demo and a great day.

War and Peace 2017

I've been to the War and Peace living history event, the largest gathering of military vehicles (outside of an army base) in the world. I had originally planned to go on Tuesday which was bathed in glorious sunshine but my work schedule changed and I ended up going today instead. Aside from one small rain shower its been a great day with an amazing array of military vehicles on display. As usual there were lots of excellently restored jeeps and trucks but also this sort of event also attracts several unique and very rare machines.

War and Peace also has one of the biggest Militaria markets and if you own a historic vehicle you can find pretty much anything here. Its a fascinating place to explore and its like walking though a museum where you can handle the exhibits and, if you have deep pockets, own a bit of history.

War and Peace is back at Paddock Wood in Kent

A Sherman that has been used as a range target

Evidence of multiple hits from modern penetrative 'darts' from discarding sabot rounds 

Inside the Model Marquee

A Bira Gun

A few items for sale...

Rear view of a CVRT recovery tank

Valentine DD Tank

Leopard MBT

Leopard Main Battle Tank

German Nebelwerfer 

SdKfz 2, better known as the Kettenkrad

A German filed repair of a halftrack

American armour

The M3 Stuart

Sherman with a cast hull

Another Sherman this time with a welded hull

Vietnam era American Artillery piece

Ford Carrier...I love these. I'll put this on my Christmas list...

A German Sturmgeschütz III

A very rare original Marder SPG built from a Czechoslovak 38t Hull.  

Two VW Kübelwagen taking part in a big battle reenactment

German AT Gun takes out an American Greyhound AC

American Half Track

Opel Blitz in German service.

The Leopard MBT

Bruce Crompton riding in a Russian T34

FV432 armoured personnel carrier

CVRT Recovery Tank

Dark Elf Warband for Frostgrave

I've spent a lot of time in recent weeks reading and researching the Anglo Zulu war and studying as many rule sets as I can find for this period. While this has been very useful and productive it hasn't resulted in any games or painted miniatures for me to report on...hence the relative scarcity of posts recently. However in the background I have been plugging away at my little side project putting together some Frostgrave warband's from my existing fantasy collection of miniatures. The first to be completed is this Dark Elf group. 

I have several more of these dark elves already painted in my collection so I can change the composition of this warband depending on how this lot perform. 

Lich!

Back to the Royal Engineers Museum

Over the weekend I went back to one of my favourite local military collections, the Royal Engineers Museum in Chatham. There are lots of reasons why this excellent museum is worth a visit and every time I go there I find something new. This time I went specifically to have a close look at their Zulu War collection but as usual I also spent a lot of time perusing the rest of the collection, particularly the Big exhibits outside. 

A Churchill AVRE Bridge Layer

One thing I would definitely recommend looking at is the Waterloo Map. This is Wellingtons actual campaign map covering the area of the Battle of Waterloo. The Museum now has an excellent interactive display table that tells the story of the Map and the Battle.

The Waterloo Map

An interactive display table tells the story of the map and the battle

An example of the graphics telling the story of the Battle.

  

Eventually I did make it round to the Zulu War display, the items I actually went to see. 

A Necklace made for Lt Col Durnford and presented to him by a Zulu Witch Doctor

A Zulu cow hide shield

Lt Chard's Webley .45 revolver used at Rorke's Drift

Zulu Knobkieries collected by Lt Chard during the Zulu War.

Bullet from  Martini-Henri Rifle found at Isandlwana

A Musket Ball recovered from the body of Lt Col Durnford at Isandlwana

I've been to this museum several times and more of my photo's can be seen here, here and here. The entrance fee is very reasonable and providing you are willing to sign up for Gift Aid the ticket lasts a whole year (including special events!). 

Frostgrave Terrain Conversions

Back in April I bought the Frostgrave rules and recently I decided that many of my old Dungeons and Dragons models could be easily converted to fit this setting. Today I started doing just that by adding some ice and snow effects to terrain pieces and figures that were originally painted for a decidedly warmer setting.

I have tried out a new product (well, new to me). Tamiya Diorama Texture Paint, in this case Snow Effect / White. This material is sort of like a paste that can be diluted with water but dries quite hard. This means it can be brushed onto a model with a little water to make it pliable and sticky. When the water dries off the finished effect is quite hard and durable and is therefore ideal for adding to bases or terrain pieces. I brushed it over existing painted 'grass' bases and over rock to simulate frost, with thicker clumps in recesses and on some flat areas to replicate snow that hadn't melted. One of the good things about this paint is that it can be applied over pretty much any surface, including previously dry layers of snow. This means its possible to add snow until you get the right look. 

Quite a lot of the 'fantasy' terrain I have can also be 'iced up' in this fashion. Old resin terrain that hasn't seen the light of day for many years is getting a new lease of life with just the addition of some snow.

The rocks and standing stones are from Ainsty Castings and are probably over 10 years old. Some of the broken pillars and fallen statutes are old Lord of the Rings terrain items by Games Workshop. 

I also started on a few figures just to see how the snow effect looked on these. I'm pretty happy with the finished result and will work through my remaining collection of fantasy models in the coming weeks.