The civil war within the Civil War still makes me angry. Even though I wasn't there and don't have much 'skin in the game'. What the Commintern/Stalin did rankles with me.
It almost seems as if they were happier to lose the war than admit that they needed the assistance of political parties that had 'impure' ideologies. A truly perverse attitude and totally in keeping with Stalin's paranoia.
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The First Rule of Wargaming and the Spirit of the Wargame
The First Rule:
‘Nothing can be done contrary to what could or would be done in actual war.'
- From 'The Rules of the Naval War Game' by Fred T Jane
The Spirit of the Wargame:
‘Wargames are played, for the most part, without the supervision of an umpire. The game relies on the integrity of the individual players to show consideration for other players and to abide by the rules. All players should conduct themselves in a disciplined manner, demonstrating courtesy and sportsmanship at all times, irrespective of how competitive they may be. This is the spirit of the wargame.’
- Adapted from 'The Spirit of the Game' in 'The Rules of Golf' as published by the R&A Ltd.
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*Ratisbon Campaign Day 2*
*17 September 1813 – Southern Germany – Day 2*
The French attack Bad Abbach
7th French army – retreat to Dingolfing
8th Frenc...
Father’s Day and Grandfather’s Day 2026
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Father’s Day is always a toy soldier day for me, as I associate my late Dad
so much with our shared interest in toy soldiers. Although hollow-cast lead
fig...
Back To The Baltic
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With the ships all labelled up and still to hand after my game on Thursday
I had another go at my Scanian War scenario yesterday afternoon. I went a
litt...
Village people etc
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A visitor to Portharthur shares the time of day with a local fisherman.
The local policeman looks at the closed shop with a mix of grave concern
and puz...
Broadside show 2026: From Strength to Strength
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Like approximately 700 other gamers, I went along to the Broadside show at
Gillingham, Kent last Saturday, and I had a thoroughly pleasant day there!
Fo...
Sedgemoor or less
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Gary Sheffield (yes, that Gary Sheffield) contacted me about the progress
of "From Pike to Bayonet" as he is interested in using them for late 17th
centu...
Air War revisited
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There was a certain degree of chatter on the WhatsApp group about SPIs
'Air War'. I did play it a few times at the University wargames club in the
early...
North American Campaign - interlude - minelaying
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This little campaign is loosely based on events in the Spanish American
War and Russo Japanese War. As a test of the Funny Little Fleets
pre-dreadnough...
The First Encounter
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*Well*..... its been "*one of those*" weeks, well, two weeks to be honest.
(*it's June! Spring is easing into summer and there's planting and mowing
and...
Portable Aspern-Essling, 21 May, 1809
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The battlefield: Aspern on the left, and Essling in the distance
The infantry of Massena's IV Corps about to occupy the villages
This is my 'Portable' rend...
Collection of model TRIANG Ships.
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Bob Cordery has inspired me with his collection of Triang Minis Ship
models. I've ordered two ships- HMS Tobruk and HMS Decoy. I'll keep my eye
out for t...
Little steps - weekend progress
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After another busy week at work, I managed to get a little done (as well as
fitting in a VWC meeting).
Caesar's War progress has been partly derailed by ...
The Jutland Enigma
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*Something from Google Jutland related!*
It just goes to show that you are never too old to learn something new! Way
back in 2016, I spent a significant a...
Battle of Britain Campaign - Turns 4 and 5
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This weekend it was time to clear the American War of Independence armies
from the tabletop and prepare for a game of Blood Red Skies as part of my
ongoi...
Knights made in France by CBG Mignot
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Part of the Sandown Park plunder were these two knights made in France by
CBG Mignot. The paper label on the plinth helpfully tells us that this is
Fran...
D-Day - Juno & Sword
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*The lads getting stuck in at Utah Beach & the American Airborne landings. *
In 2014, Days of Wonder published the absolutely massive D-Day expansion ...
Campaigns 135 – D-Day Through German Eyes
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21 PzD Assault Pioneers and Recce Battalions form a rearguard to allow 192
PgR to withdraw. The 3rd (British) Infantry Division (3 (Br) ID) formed a
reargu...
Edmund's Civil War Marines
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I recently found another set of Edmund's Toy Soldiers at a reasonable
price. This set is Civil War US Marines in dress uniforms.
Marines brought to lif...
Nice books!
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I have had these books on my desk for some time, I find them fascinating
and they are both well thumbed and worth a quick review.
*1. Battlegroup!*
T...
Is it really inertia to stick to what you like
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There was an interesting post on TMP (which I still occasionally read) the
other day about whether people have too much inertia to rebase for new
rul...
A New Alliance
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The recent invasions by the Midlish armies, have led to a new coalition of
the weaker, less aggressive peoples. On the eastern border of the
Midlands, ...
Wild West Town Tabletop Shootout
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I recently acquired a collection of 1960’s era wooden Old West Buildings
made by Hausser Elastolin. The idea was to marry them with some 1970’s
Timpo Sw...
Return to the Hobby
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It has been quite a while since I last posted here. When I started my tool
truck business back in 2021, most of my hobby time disappeared almost
overnigh...
WW2 ‘German’ Don Cossacks
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I've had these in stock for a while now and as I may have work for them in
a forthcoming game it was clearly time to paint them!
They're certainly a co...
Forest Dragon 3D Sculpts
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A Christmas pressie to myself ...
... and on the inside.
Not the best presentation with their packaging.
Contents are revealed.
Can you tell what the...
Winter Break: A Beary Simple Wargame
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*A Beary Simple Wargame *made it out of the box today. My daughter set out
the terrain while I cleaned up lunch and we played while the boys took
their...
Warp Speed into 2025
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The last year has been quite challenging. I suffered a stroke in November
2023 and have spent the last year or so in recovery. I'm not there yet, but
do...
Update and WIP
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[image: Merry christmas wallpaper design]
Well, it certainly has been eventful, this year. Shortly after my last
post, far too long ago, some things...
Blog Closing…
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This blog will be closing down on 1st July. I have a fairly expensive
hosting package that I no longer need as I am only running Black Hat and
selling pain...
New Accessions – tidying up …
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So, 3 items under the camera … Chris gave me a P&G SU-76i quite a while
ago, and I’ve been meaning to get round to it … the SU-122 I did years ago.
It’s a ...
Solo Play Testing
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The next Seven Years Wargame with the "Usual Suspects" has moved to the
right by a couple of weeks. One of our group, who has been unavailable for
a few ...
Warplan 5/5 Campaign System
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I'm afraid I couldn't find a way to reproduce the snazzy double headed
arrow in 5/5 in the text so will have to do with this instead.
Warplan 5/5 came o...
Take the High Ground
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“Take the high ground”. These were Captain Scarlett’s latest orders in the
ongoing campaign to repel the Teutonians from Albionia’s green and pleasant
lan...
Initial...
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...deployments.
Seconds out...first two rounds, of 15. In the Blue corner (US invaders):
On the right flank, a unit of US Regulars, an artillery battery, a...
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.
The civil war within the Civil War still makes me angry. Even though I wasn't there and don't have much 'skin in the game'. What the Commintern/Stalin did rankles with me.
ReplyDeleteNundanket,
DeleteIt almost seems as if they were happier to lose the war than admit that they needed the assistance of political parties that had 'impure' ideologies. A truly perverse attitude and totally in keeping with Stalin's paranoia.
All the best,
Bob