3 hours ago
Tuesday, 20 March 2012
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My favourite blogs
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Tolkien about Heroic Fantasy - *“One game to bring them in….and in the expansion, bind them!” The 1st edition base game and the Battles of the Third Age expansion* Some time ago I a...
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Pax Brittanica - Back in the mid 1980s, Victory Games were an innovative challenger to the dominance of Avalon Hill and SPI in the boardgames world, and published a numb...
7 hours ago -
One hour skirmish Wargame rules - I forgot to post this link to a video l found a great introduction to the rules. Here it is - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FQndt7Jk9wo8 hours ago
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The Civil War Begins... - The battle lines drawn upon a battle plain not far from Massilia. Optimates - Pompeians - in the foreground The growing hostility between the rival claima...
14 hours ago -
Another physical book read: "An Ordinary Soldier" by Doug Beattie - Afghanistan 2006 - This certainly was a read from the "sharp end" of Afghanistan combat with a spoiler alert, after surviving and thinking that is it for Captain Beattie he...
16 hours ago -
Warfare 2024 - The Day Went Well - On Saturday just gone I was fortunate enough to spend the day at *Warfare 2024 *wargaming show, run by the Wargames Association of Reading, at Farnborou...
22 hours ago -
Matchbox Challenge Ideas - On the Duchy of Tradgardland and Man of Tin blogs, there has been an ongoing challenge to fit a wargame into a matchbox. It made me think of what I woul...
22 hours ago -
Auld Lang Syne (pictures added) - **Now with more pictures! Yesterday was most enjoyable day with 5 *old*...long time... friends. Four of us played with our host's 25mm Minifig ECW figure...
23 hours ago -
The Brontes, Tiny Books and A Wargame In A Wee Matchbox challenge? - Flight of Fantasy: Wouldn’t it be great if the Bronte Wargame or RPG Rules were finally found at last tucked away in one of their tiny handwritten books? W...1 day ago
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Joining the Matchbox Challenge (Part 1) - Two wargaming blogs I enjoy following, Man of Tin and The Duchy of Tradgardland, have been discussing a design challenge to create a wargame that fits in...
1 day ago
About Me
- Robert (Bob) Cordery
- I have been wargaming for as long as I can remember. One of the first toys that I was bought was a wooden fort that was garrisoned by assorted lead soldiers ... and I have never looked back! The first wargames book I bought was CHARGE! (although I had taken out [and repeatedly read] Donald Featherstone's WAR GAMES book beforehand [and many thanks to John Curry for republishing it!]). My first 20mm figures were the good old Airfix Guards Infantry and Band (in shocking pink!), soon followed by others as they were released, and by 1968, when I bought my first metal Hinton Hunt 20mm figures, I had a large collection of World War II figures, tanks, guns, and aircraft. I was a founder member of WARGAME DEVELOPMENTS and have been the treasurer and membership secretary ever since. I have also organised – along with Tim Gow - the annual conference (COW – Conference of Wargamers) for more that fifteen years. My main interests are wargaming any wars from 1850 onwards, although I have a special interest in Colonial, the Spanish Civil War, and World War II wargaming. I also have a special interest in wargames that use square or hex grids for movement and weapon ranges.
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteLove the Torpedo Boat! Seriously though, they are all really fine looking and my next visit to Hobby craft is likely to be an expensive one!
All the best,
DC
David Crook,
ReplyDeleteI must admit that it looks better now that it has been painted.
Seen alongside the other ships, it looks in keeping with them in terms of size.
Good luck when you visit Hobbycraft!
All the best,
Bob
Chunky - and brilliant!
ReplyDeleteTo the high seas* and beyond!
ReplyDelete*or lawn....
Looking good!
ReplyDeletePhil Broeders,
ReplyDeleteAre you commenting about the fleet or me?
All the best,
Bob
Tim Gow,
ReplyDelete... Or large floor?
All the best,
Bob
Ross Mac,
ReplyDeleteMany thanks!
All the best,
Bob
Bob
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff!
PD
These are brilliant. There was a book about wargaming that had a battle fought between 2 imagi-nations with wood built ships that I always wanted to replicate.
ReplyDeleteThink I'll join the crowd and head down to Hobbycraft....
Peter Douglas,
ReplyDeleteMany thanks!
All the best,
Bob
Telemachus,
ReplyDeleteI am intrigued by your comment, and I would be grateful for more information about the book. I remember a battle with wooden ships being featured in Donald Featherstone's book about naval war games, and I wondered if this is the one you are describing.
All the best,
Bob
PS. I think that I should have bought shares in Hobbycraft!
Shares in Hobbycraft, yes but shares in my company, no. I'm working from home today and since I wrote about it I had to find the book I was thinking about so have spent the last hour rooting around for it.....
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed Donald Featherstone's book and has a battle report between the 'Empire of Scandinavia' and the 'Empire of the Baltic' as well as a how-to-build section on a wooden HMS Temeraire.
Ben
They look great, Bob. And I concur, the torpedo boat came out just fine.
ReplyDeleteI too would like to hear about this book with the naval war of imagi-nations.
Regards,
Steve
Telemachus,
ReplyDeleteMy record of buying shares is not a good one. I bought shares in Carnival Corporation & PLC just days before the Costa Concordia disaster wiped out about 25% of the company's share value!
After your comment I also went off to look for Donald Featherstone's book ... and have spent an enjoyable time reading through the relevant chapter.
All the best,
Bob
Corporal_Trim (Steve),
ReplyDeleteI was not sure that the torpedo boat was going to 'fit' in with the others whilst I was building it ... but once it was finished and painted I knew I was on to a winner!
The book is Donald Featherstone's NAVAL WAR GAMES, and the chapter that Telemachus was describing is number 13, 'Late Nineteenth Century'. It features a battle between the 'Empire of Scandinavia' (whose fleet comprises the battleships Denmark, Sweden, Hotspur*, and Huascar*) and the 'Empire of the Baltic' (whose fleet comprises the battleships Latvia, Lithuania, Devastation*, and Dreadnought*, plus the screw sloop Crown Prince).
The battle ended in a draw, with both sides down to two battleships each.
All the best,
Bob
*These ships were based on the prototypes after which they were named. All the other ships were generic designs.
Continuing my efforts not to do any work. The Featherstone book contains some great ideas about valuing the ships.
ReplyDeleteI remember that years ago when I was a member of the Naval Wargames Society I chatted with one of the other members about building wooden ships and adding metal armour strips to them.
The ship would be weighed and the speed would be dependent on the weight plus the modifier of what power it had (2 engines = 2 funnels etc) and the defence value by the thickness of the armour.
Like so many projects nothing came of it until I found this blog...
Bob,
ReplyDeleteYour ships look good . . . but I would like to make a couple of suggestions as to your painting.
First, for ease of recognition (and in the case of Pre-Dreads, reality), I would suggest painting the two fleets differently . . . light grey and dark grey would help distinguish them (and certainly aid with torpedo boat recognition).
Also I would suggest painting the main decks in a "wood" colour . . . and again, choose different deck colours for your different fleets.
Not only would this help new players keep things straight, it will also aid in pre- and post-game sorting of fleets.
Finally, you might want to write the name of each ship on the bottom of model . . . yes, it will be hidden, but it will help you once you have large fleets . . . and you KNOW that you will, don't you, Bob?
-- Jeff
Telemachus,
ReplyDeleteSorry to have put you off your work!
The concept you are talking about sounds familiar, but I am not sure where I have heard or read about it before.
If you do develop this idea yourself, please let me know.
All the best,
Bob
Bluebear Jeff,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the suggestion. As it happens I do intend to paint the ships I am building in different paint schemes to distinguish each side from the other.
I have now found a suitable colour to paint the decks of the larger ships ... Bleached Bone. This seems to combine the right levels of white and cream I have seen on the clean decks of ships I have travelled on. That said, some of the ships have had decks that were very light cream/grey. I suppose it depends on the type and age of the wood they have used.
I will certainly be naming all my ships in due course, and painting the name underneath makes a lot of sense.
All the best,
Bob
A fine fleet by any standard!
ReplyDeleteDon M,
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your kind comment.
All the best,
Bob
A very impressive display Bob?
ReplyDeleteIs there a garden game a brewing?
Conrad Kinch,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind comment.
I have plans for a large floor game that might easily be fought out on a lawn as well.
All the best,
Bob