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).
Continue reading “False Memory: What We ‘Know’ About WW1”Category: Talk In The Trenches
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”
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?
Continue reading “Chitty Chitty Bus Bus!”World War I & Related Conflicts
While the origins of World War I (know at the time as “The” Great War) lie back in the latter part of the 19th Century from a wargaming perspective it really begins with the two Balkan Wars (in 1912-13), although the Russo-Japanese War (in 1904-1905) is also nominally part of this period; while the latter saw the first significant use of modern ‘Dreadnought’ style warships with a few large guns in rotating turrets, the former was the immediate forerunner to the out break of WWI and occurred in land warfare terms after the culmination of about 30 years of continuous major improvements in Weapons (Pistols, Rifles, Machine-Guns, Quick Firing Artillery, etc).
Wargaming Scales
Figure scales are expressed two ways, either as a simple measurement, e.g. 25mm, defining how high a figure of a normal man or woman stands or as a ratio, e.g. 1/48th, defining how big a model vehicle, vessel, aircraft, or construction is in relation to the real thing. The emphasis here is on the former classification with the latter provided where possible as an approximate comparison.
Continue reading “Wargaming Scales”Brief History Of Wargaming
The following is a brief history of modern wargaming told in quotes from various wargaming books & authors:
“It was in Europe that the early forms of wargaming gradually took on a more sophisticated appearance. During the Seventeenth Century several variations on the basic game of chess were introduced. During the Eighteenth Century a number of games were introduced into France which departed from the idea of pieces and which used series of cards designed to impart basic military knowledge to the players. Also, at about this time, silver model soldiers were being used at the French Court to instruct the future king, Louis XIV, in the art of war” – David Nash (Wargames – 1974).
Continue reading “Brief History Of Wargaming”Wargaming Periods
Periods are the “Eras” or “Level of Technology” present for wargaming. Having a Greek Army of 300 BC facing a Russian Army of 1944 AD is obviously quite a mismatch and both armies need quite different sets of rules to control how they perform. Hence we have “Periods” in which armies all operated in similar ways, or with similar weapons, and can be ‘played’ using a common set of rules.
Continue reading “Wargaming Periods”