Simple Barges

I have always had an intention to create some simple functional barges for my armies ever since seeing one in Charles Grants "The Wargame" . So at long last ,after 30 odd years, I've got round to creating some. They are built to a specific size to take exactly two bases of troops (12 figures) with space at front/back for crew and possibly guns.

Construction was relatively simple. I used foamcore rather than balsa as I have a plentiful supply, the bow and stern posts are just scraps of balsa and the sides are thin card, the sort from the back of pads. I picked some that was as thick as possible while still being flexible. Hopefully the pictures give a sufficient idea of the construction.

Why build them now? Well my Frundsberg solo game is just at a stage where a river crossing using barges is about to be fought.

Saxon Frei-Husaren von Schill

As we got the last of today's sunshine I manged to get a picture of my latest unit for my imagi-nation the Frundsberg Frei Stadt and will act as the Frei Husaren Korps Von Wettin. They are based on the Saxon Frei-Husaren von Schill and will be used as such in normal SYW games.

These are the old Revell SYW Prussian hussars and these particular figures have been sitting half started for over ten years.

Vapa 2010

Had a good day over in York at the Varnartak show, it seems to get better every year, except this year there were a couple of problems that upset a few people. There was a major queue to book in on the B&B and the turn out too large compared to the hard parking available some some people ended up parking in a field that became a swamp, this was partly due to a lot of locals turning up for football as well.

I didn't buy much, but there were some nice demo games, the Ilkley Lads had once of their usual crusade games (link) and I spotted a nice mosque in the corner, just the inspiration I need for building one for the SOTCW Rif game this summer.

Then there was a large League of Ausburg period game that had a lot of nice modelling but the figures didn't seem to move all day.

On the Lance & Longbow stand due to a technical hitch we ended up with a medieval sea battle again.

I slipped away to the bar at lunchtime to meet up with the guys from this summers big game and have a chat.

Acquisitions:

• Ready to Roll - British Crusader AA and an Italian Camionetta Desertica, both bits I've been too late to buy from Colin Rumsford in the past. Heard a few bits about the next Rapid Fire book covering Monty in North Africa, so something to look forward to.
• Some left over Zvezda Turkish Janissaries and cavalry from Twmas on the Trading Department, just enough to complete some more units.
• I picked up the Pegasus small Russian houses on the B&B, I really like these, they are very useful across a lot of periods

Links to some nice photos by James of the Society of Gentlemen Gamers

• Crusader game
• Pavia (renaissance)
• Magnesia (ancients)
• WW2 game

Off to Vapa

Early start tomorrow as I head off to Vapanartak in York for my first show of the year. I'll be on the Lance and Longbow stand most of the time, except when I'm spending money or meeting up with the guys at from the big game at the bar!!.

Please pop by and say hello if you see me

Stugs

The first of my Minimi vehicles are this pair of early war Sturmgeshutz III, plus two support vehicles a Sdkfz 252 Munitionskraftwagen (Ammunition carrier) and a Sdkfz 253 Beobachtungskraftwagen (observation vehicle)

As I mentioned previously these were made to order as Minimi vehicles normally have a thick base, however Lewis at Minimi will cast the models with as little base as possible. Once I received them I was impressed by how little base was left on so it didin't take too long to remove it with a minidrill. I wouldn't recommend doing it by hand as the resin is quite brittle and you could break part of the model by accident.

On the Workbench - February 2010

Well my first item this month is my Minimi vehicles as I've bought a minidrill at last, so expect to see these fairly soon. I then have some items for my solo campaign an eight figure unit of hussars based on the Saxon Frei-Husaren von Schill and some barges. Finally a horde of Russian Civil war figures for my Red Army, these will mainly be Strelets, probably with some head swaps with the Hat WW1 Russian Heavy Weapons set.

Through the Marches

For a change we travelled down to Bath through the Marches so we could bag a couple of English Heritage castles en-route, just as well we did as on our return we found on off road works up the M6.

First stop was Stokesay, a fortified manor house, the unfortunate part was that the impressive gatehouse was undergoing restoration. Built in 1281 it nicely reflects the period of transition from castle to manor house

The second Goodrich was quite a contrast as it was very much a classic idea of a castle built on a rock spur overlooking the river Wye. The effect was enhanced by strong winds and snow shower just as we reached it and we sheltered from the blizzard in the gateway listening to the audio tour. From then on the weather improved and we left in bright sunshine It is certainly well worth a visit, especially for the ascent of the keep up very uneven steep and dark winding stairs.

Once in Bath I attempted to do some research in the Reference Library on the battle of Lansdown. In my late teens I spent days in the Reference Library, then in Queens Square, as they had an extensive military section, but all this seems to have disappeared, and they didn't even have a book on Landsdown in the collection, except at Frome(why there?). I found a few bits but I'll have to use Interlibrary loan to find more.