Over the weekend I’ve been making progress with the flocking of the bases of my Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War collection, and I should finish all the renovated and rebased figures and vehicles before my radiotherapy starts.
What I have realised is that I still have loads of figures and vehicles that still need to be renovated and/or repainted and/or re-based, and depending upon how I feel during my treatment, I might have a go at dealing with them so that the collection is ready to be used.
Whatever I do, I have a few other wargame-related tasks to perform over the next two months, and they may well have to take precedence. In the meantime, here are some of the photographs of Lionel Tarr’s battles that first inspired me to want to wargame the Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War.
Great images Bob. I always loved these pictures, though as a child I never spotted the Airfix Country Inn models playing a supporting role in the siege of Stalingrad - a testament to Wargaming ingenuity.
ReplyDeleteHope the treatment doesn't slow down progress too much.
Maudlin Jack Tar,
DeleteThere are several other Airfix Trackside models ‘hiding’ in the photos, including the shop & flat and the church.
I’m hoping that my treatment won’t leave me too tired to do anything wargame-related …
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob
ReplyDeleteI have a vague memory of reading about a long running WW2 campaign with similar photos in Don Featherstone's Wargamers Newsletter. I was not particularly interested as I was only into the Napoleonic period. But I do recall that the name mentioned was Lionel Tarr, and the photos above immediately reminded me of that long forgotten article. Strange thing memory, particularly as you get older !
Thistlebarrow,
DeleteLionel Tarr fought the war between Russian and the Axis right up until it reached Stalingrad … and possibly beyond.
Most of his wargaming was done solo, but at one stage he did involve other participants in the fighting using a system called RETASOL (REavely TArr SOLo). It was devised by Lionel Tarr and Charles Reavely, a former British Army soldier, and was featured in Donald Featherstone’s book entitled SOLO WARGAMING.
All the best,
Bob
It's always a thrill to see some of the tables the big boys come up with for their games. Even with their anachronisms, they're always impressive.
ReplyDeletePaint me a light shade of envious green.
Your line of thought regarding your projects vs treatment is a good one; cautiously ambitious. Keep calm and game on.
Mr. Pavone,
DeleteIt’s sobering to realise that Lionel Tarr was fighting his solo wargames sixty years ago!
Initially he used homemade tanks made from wood and Plaster-of-Paris, but these were gradually replaced with tanks, vehicles, and artillery from ROCO and Roskopf and figures made by Airfix and Autheniticast. Because he couldn’t get hold of Russian figures, he used first generation Airfix British Infantry with their backpacks replaced with blanket rolls made from Plasticene that was hardened using banana oil!
Until I’ve undergone a few days of treatment, I’ll have no idea if I’ll suffer from side effects, so having a project that I can work on when the mood takes me will be cathartic and in no way stressful.
All the best,
Bob
Bob -
ReplyDeleteLionel Tarr had a way with dramatic town and cityscapes, did he not? I first saw these pics nearly 50 years ago, and still admire their layout. Speaking of Stalingrad, I've lately been reading Antony Beevor's book on that subject, and thinking of revisiting my WW2 project(s) myself...
Here's hoping that you can ride out the radiotherapy and get the projects completed that you want to complete!
Cheers,
Ion
Archduke Piccolo (Ion),
DeleteI understand that Lionel Tarr’s blocks of flats were made from cardboard and had internal floors and no back wall so that his toy soldiers could fight from one floor to another.
Beevor’s books on Stalingrad and Berlin are both excellent, and I’ve re-read both of them over the past year.
My current flocking project has made me realise just how big my Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War collection is … and there’s still a huge number of unpainted and as-yet-to-be-renovated figures and vehicles in various storage boxes. There’s certainly enough to keep me busy for some time to come.
All the best,
Bob
Gosh I do remember seeing these pictures as a kid (almost a teenager) and thinking .. is this really possible? .. it caught my imagination .. but it took me a while to really find teh hobby in my twenties
ReplyDeleteGeordie an Exiled FoG,
DeleteIn many ways I found those early black and white photographs more inspiring than the ones you can see in modern magazine. I always felt that with a bit of effort I could have produced similar-looking tabletops to that shown in the earlier photographs but more modern painting and terrain is just too complex for me to emulate.
All the best,
Bob
Totally agree
ReplyDeleteGeordie an Exile FoG,
Delete👍
All the best,
Bob