Galicia 1914-15: The Great Fortress of Przemyśl

In the autumn of 1914, just a month into the First World War, the Russian Army laid siege to the multi-ethnic fortress-city of Przemyśl, the Habsburg Empire’s main stronghold in the east. The Habsburg Field Army had been bloodied and routed in immense clashes on the borders, and Przemyśl, with its obsolete defences and garrison of 130,000 terrified middle-aged reservists, was in those critical weeks all that stood in the path of a Russian invasion of Central Europe.” Here’s some great videos on this (little known in the west) key fortress and the pair of sieges it underwent that singlehandedly probably prevented the complete destruction and collapse of Austro-Hungary within the first weeks (and later first few months) of World War I…

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False Memory: What We ‘Know’ About WW1

There are many myths around the British Army in World War I, the old “Lions led by Donkeys” being the first of them, such as Alan Clark claiming to quote it from a German general’s remark. But in fact he just made that up (and in truth it was actually first used by the French about the British in the Crimean War). Furthermore things such as portrayed in Black Adder Goes Forth where British Generals are completely incompetent public school boy types who live it up in comfort in chateaus miles behind the lines, while sending their men off to their deaths, are just nonsensical and don’t align with historical evidence. While there may well have been one or two real generals like this, the actual majority, and the truth, is likely far from that (you can just look at the casualty rate of senior British Officers commanding Divisions and above for example).

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Giants Of The Sky Swoop In

They have landed! The Wings of Glory Giants of the Sky Kickstarter Bundle, with 2 each of the Handley-Page O/400 and the Zeppelin Staaken R.VI bombers (from World War I). They are impressive models and very very large, the might be 1/144th scale, but… they are very imposing. Continue reading “Giants Of The Sky Swoop In”

Peter Jackson’s Gallipoli 1915 Exhibit

Over the past months over 100 New Zealand wargamers have been painting 5,000 miniature soldiers for a huge diorama of the Battle of Chunuk Bair for the forthcoming The Great War Exhibition in Wellington. This is part of an ANZAC commemorative project put together by Sir Peter Jackson who has over the past years commissioned the Perry Brothers to sculpt and cast the 54mm scale figures for this. In 2015 a large posse of New Zealand Wargamers were then recruited to paint this huge mountain of lead in time for the ANZAC Day 2015 (25 April) commemorations. Continue reading “Peter Jackson’s Gallipoli 1915 Exhibit”

‘Lest We Forget’ Exhibit Papatoetoe

I previously posted about Nick Papadopoulos quest for 1/72 scale figures & human volunteers to help complete ANZAC Day 2015 exhibits he was working on – Nick managed to get the figures he needed and with some hard work complete his dioramas. Continue reading “‘Lest We Forget’ Exhibit Papatoetoe”

WW1 Vehicle Parade

In Wellington today they held a WW1 commemorative parade in recognition of ANZAC Day (25 April). Present were 13 authentic vintage WW1 vehicles from the private collection of Sir Peter Jackson, as well as horse drawn artillery & ordnance, actors and re-enactors in period uniform, and more… Continue reading “WW1 Vehicle Parade”

Urgently Wanted: 1/72 HäT WW1 Figures

Nick Papadopoulos of Papatoetoe in Auckland is currently in the process of mustering 1/72nd scale figures to produce two dioramas to display on behalf of the Papatoetoe Historical Society for the 100th anniversary of the ANZAC landings. The dioramas will be a ‘Gallipoli Battle Scene‘ and ‘A Generic Western Front Trench Scene‘. To make these dioramas Nick is utilising HäT WW1 Figures – HOWEVER HäT are out of stock of some key packs so Nick needs help! He’s also looking for people to help him get the project completed as soon as possible (I presume by 25 April 2015)! Continue reading “Urgently Wanted: 1/72 HäT WW1 Figures”

Dogfight over Peepinghtohm 1917

Great video from West Tokyo Wargamers of a World War I aerial game using the Wings of War (now Wings of Glory) game and miniatures!

 

1866 And All That

1866 And All That is the blog of well known New Zealand Wargamer & Sculptor Mark Strachan. Mark has been involved in Historical wargaming since 1972. He is most well known as the sculptor behind many (or most) of the figures and/or models produced by the now defunct New Zealand wargaming manufacturer Military Miniatures (the business eventually ceased operating as Military Miniatures, but then morphed into the current Battlefront/Flames of War business). Many a New Zealand Wargamer has buildings, terrain (rivers, roads, scenery), or figures, designed by Mark in their collection. Continue reading “1866 And All That”

Chitty Chitty Bus Bus!

A month or two ago I was lucky enough to pick up this Corgi Transport Through The Ages collectors set from a wargamer in Australia. It is a Limited Edition Military Transport Set consisting of an A.E.C. Omnibus and a Model-T Ford Ambulance. They are nominally about 1/56th scale so in theory ideal for 28mm figures and will be ideal for use with my World War I forces in the Middle East & Africa (ANZACs & Colonial British) and the Ambulance should be useful for the Eastern Front too (for my Russians). The bus is actually from Flanders 1914 and the BEF but I’m sure I can fudge it into some scenarios in other theatres somewhere! Perhaps the Russians had omnibuses?

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Najewitz Modellbau Buildings Arrive

Over the past 18 months I’ve regularly looked at the models buildings and wagons (and the Berlin Tram) by Najewitz Modellbau in Germany – they look fantastic in the photos and I’ve always been keen to take the plunge – however the description of the material has always had me a bit wary – the wagons & tram and some of the smaller scale buildings being laser cut Finnpappe which they describe as “…no word for it in English dictionary is a product made of ground wood pulp. To say it is cardboard is the wrong title for it. It´s more similar to MDF, quasi ‘MDF-light’.” However the larger 1/72nd and 28mm buildings are kitsets of a resin material, the type isn’t clearly specified on the website – but I took the plunge recently and ended up ordering a selection of the 1/72nd scale buildings…

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More 20mm Eastern Front Buildings

Following on from my order from Lancer Miniatures I previously posted about, as mentioned I had ordered buildings from several other manufacturers as well, and my order from Area 9 arrived a couple of days after the Lancer one. Area 9 is a comparatively new manufacturer that’s started up in 2010 – in fact I only stumbled over them a couple of months ago thanks to a post on the Crisis In Alcovia blog earlier this year! They have some very nice looking stuff, and in the 20mm range I couldn’t resist ordering one each of their three buildings, and an assortment of wooden paling fences…

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