My recent cruise gave me time to think about what I hope to do during 2026, and I will be sharing this with my regular blog readers over the coming months.
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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.
WIP 138 – Reducing Base Proliferation
-
Going back over old orbats, and looking at what we actually put onto the
table in games has given rise to an opportunity to clean up and combine
some of th...
Battle Of The Red-Mouthed Gun Revisited
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A few years ago I used Galleys & Galleons to do a refight of the battle of
Kepuwaha’ula’ula or The Red-Mouthed Gun, fought off the coast of Hawaii in
179...
More from White Tower Miniatures
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There's a lot more to White Tower Miniatures than the new Mexican
Revolution range, Matthew also brought along enough of his "Legends of the
West" range...
More leaders pt 2 - Russian
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In my WW2 leadership drive the Russians were the ones in the worst
situation. My 15mm Russians are mainly from the PSC Russian infantry and
heavy weapon...
Inspirational Photo of an IS2 (pair) - Berlin 1945
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A friend posted this photograph and I am totally entranced by it. I am
pretty sure it is, as he stated Berlin 1945 (although I stand open to
corrections). ...
Laketown
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I’ve been working on figures for Laketown from the Hobbit.
I liked the vibe of the costumes from The Hobbit film but had no desire to
use the official fi...
What happened?!
-
Early this year I posted a run-down on armies and navies finished off
during the course of 2025. Although I have added a few little items since -
e.g. th...
Aliwal Again
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I ran Sir Harry Smith's "battle without a mistake" back in January, using
tweaked Neil Thomas 19th century rules. I can't say it was a great success.
Sin...
Boot Sale Bargains - For a Change!
-
*A couple of useful paperbacks for the collection - £1 each - and I may
look to acquire hardback versions in due course. *
Yesterday, Laurel and I braved...
Road Blocks Can Be A Problem
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There is an old army saying "*Fastest with the most-est*" but having
studied military history, planning, and keeping a reserve, can also help a
General ...
Cordoba Campaign – Day Seven
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*15 September 1813 – Southern Spain – Day 7*
French occupy Cordoba and win campaign
13 French Army occupy Muriano
14 French Army occupy Cordoba
15 French...
STAR TREK Figures.
-
I've ordered some 28mm STAR TREK figures as sculpted by Mike Broadbent -
the figures are coming from Drew at 'Slave2Gaming'. Really looking forward
to t...
Star Wars Rebel Snow Troopers more 54mm conversions
-
More figure conversions and head swaps changing German Paratroops into
German Mountain Troops and vice versa, then more ‘Carry on Converting’,
making six m...
Box Inserts
-
There has been a fair amount of discussion about storage solutions on
blogs recently and I am no different in trying the find the perfect
solution for s...
Collaborative Campaign Year 16: Part 6
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The Year of the Garrulous Ram concludes with a further battle between the
Picenians and Allies of the Cyraenian Tetrapolis. (Text and Pictures kindly
pr...
What more Gauls? Or, how many Gauls is enough?
-
As may be gathered from the title post, the focus on completion has been
the Gauls painted previously who have been based and put in the storage
boxes (w...
Where did you get those HaTs?
-
A slight hobby hiatus occurred last week, while we took a short break in
sunny ( but breezy!) Great Yarmouth. I didn't particularly seek out
military hi...
Hannibal!
-
I recently received a nice package from Second Chance Games, Hold the Line:
Hannibal by Worthington Games. I pre-ordered many months ago. The box
weig...
Hex Acrylic Templates
-
I am a big fan of Archduke Piccolo's Napoleonic campaigns, and have been
thinking of trying to use his rules for a game. While leaning towards using
2...
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...
Reading, Painting, Sikhs, Turtles & Salute.
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One of the things that I noticed last year is that I barely read anymore.
Between work and children, I rarely get time to just sit down and
appreciat...
A Festive Surprise
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The Midlish plan was to surprise the Valdurians, spoil their New Year's Eve
and Day and make up for all of their defeats over the last decade......
But...
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
-
[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…
-
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 …
-
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
-
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
-
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...
-
...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.
Happy New Year
ReplyDeleteRob Young,
DeleteA Happy New Year to you too!
All the best,
Bob
A good new year to you and yours
ReplyDeleteThe Good Soldier Svjek,
DeleteMay I wish you and your family a great New Year.
All the best,
Bob
Happy New Year to you, too, Bob. 👍🏼
ReplyDeleteMartin S.,
DeleteMay reciprocate and wish you and your family a great 2026.
All the best,
Bob
Happy New Year to you BOB and Sue- may 2026 be a great year for you both.
ReplyDeleteKev Robertson (Kev),
DeleteI wish both of you a very Happy and Healthy New Year.
All the best,
Bob
Happy New Year Bob, and best wishes for 2026
ReplyDeleteMaudlin Jack Tar,
DeleteWishing you and your family a wonderful 2026.
All the best,
Bob
And a Happy New Year to you both too :)
ReplyDeleteLee.
Lee,
DeleteMay I reciprocate, and wish you and your family a wonderful New Year.
All the best,
Bob
Happy New Year to you and yours Bob.
ReplyDeleteJim
Jim Duncan (Jim),
DeleteI hope that you and your family have a wonderful and healthy New Year.
All the best,
Bob
Happy new year!
ReplyDeleteMark Cordone,
DeleteMay I wish you and your family a Happy New Year.
All the best,
Bob
And the very same to you Bob!
ReplyDeleteNickN,
DeleteI’d like to wish you and your family a great New Year.
All the best,
Bob
Happy New Year to you and Sue and everyone!
ReplyDeleteWe can only hope this year will be an improvement over last year in some ways!
Fitz-Badger,
DeleteMay I wish you and your family a wonderful New Year, and - in the words of the song - hope that ‘things can only get better’.
All the best,
Bob
A good new year to you and yours Bob, hopefully it will be a good one for us all.
ReplyDeleteDonnie McGibbon,
DeleteI wish you an and your family a great New Year … and hope that the world will be a better and safer place for us all.
All the best,
Bob
HNY, Bob! Here's to lots of games in 2026
ReplyDeleteGary S,
DeleteMay I wish you and your family a wonderful New Year … and look forward to lots of games in the next year.
All the best,
Bob
Happy new year bob, I'm looking forward to another year of your blog
ReplyDeleteMr. Pavone,
DeleteAnd a Happy New Year to you too!
My recent cruise gave me time to think about what I hope to do during 2026, and I will be sharing this with my regular blog readers over the coming months.
All the best,
Bob