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.
The Tour of Denmark
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[image: Visiting Aalborg Garnisons Museum, Aalborg Marinemuseum,
Bunkermuseet på Hanstholm, Oksbøl Panser og Artilleri museum, Modelbane
Hadsten and Bangs...
Plunder from the Plastic Warrior Show 2026
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I usually take a lot of photos at the Plastic Warrior show, particularly
the more unusual items that turn up, partly to share information and images
for...
Tarting up the Panzer Is
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As I was refreshing my early war German armour I thought I'd have a look
at my old Panzer Is. Originally I thought I'd replace them with 3D prints
like ...
Turrets and Other Bits
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*The first of five boxes worth of laser cut MDF bits and pieces used in my
warship models*
As part of my return to scratch building ironclad warships, I ...
Themed evening x 3
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Continuing with the summer theme of doing themed evenings (?) we were back
in SHQ for more 20mm DBA. This time the armies were themed round Early
Achaeme...
Game on
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Finally getting a chance to try these rules out-
The Roman point of view. Four skirmishers, three spear, one archer and one
mixed camel/infantry counting...
Boardgames
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I realise it's been a bit quiet here the past week or so. Part of this is
that I didn't get a game organised last Thursday, so there was no club game
to ...
Having a Clearout
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I am having a clearout of boardgame, rules and figures that I am not using
in order to concentrate on the bigger collections.
There is a listing here:...
Preparing For Battle
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The Oberhilse army has reorganized although a few battalions of volunteers
and a few squadrons of cavalry are not yet ready to take the field.
While the ...
Waterloo Campaign 2.0 - concluded
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We begin the action at dawn of 18 June 1815, with the realisation that I
omitted at one point to take some pictures. This is likely to cause
confusion i...
21 September 1813 - Battle of Ratisbon
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*Campaign Map*
8th Bavarian army, commanded by Marshal Mortier, attack Ratisbon
2nd Austrian army, commanded by General Klenau, defend Ratisbon
The B...
Progress - Celtic muster
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This week I managed to get some more Celts done - some were with Contrast
Paint on white or grey and some black undercoat with normal acrylics - I
had to...
My GNOME Ornament.
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I've ordered a GNOME Couple ornament. It measures 4" wide and 5" tall. It
will look really good on my shelf.
I did want to find a whole batch f Gnome mi...
Some painting, terrain, and a second hand find
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This week I managed to finish painting a unit of Highlanders for my
Anglo-Zulu War project. These figures, other than the officer, are nicely
converted o...
Prepping for Aspern Essling & Eggmuhl
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We're hoping to do Aspern Essling and Eggmuhl next month, which has meant
that I've been doing some quick work bringing the Austrian collection up to
sp...
Plodding through the heat: Keeping on re-basing
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It won't be a surprise to anyone in the UK, but it has been exceptionally
hot here in the past few weeks. and that has slowed down pretty much all
activ...
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...
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...
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 …
-
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.
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