Not what I expected to see today!

I spent a large part of today finishing off the house clearing task that I started on Tuesday. As usual I made a couple of trips to the Havering Land Reuse and Recycling Centre in Gerpins Lane, near Upminster, Essex ... but today my first trip was made memorable by what I saw whilst I was there ... a Goodyear Blimp taking off!

Just across the fields from the Land Reuse and Recycling Centre is Damyns Hall Aerodrome, and it appears that a Goodyear Blimp is currently operating from there and making flights over London. This is not the first time that the aerodrome has been the base for lighter-than-aircraft. In 2008 a Zeppelin NT07 airship (registered as D-LZNT) took sightseers on flights over London for six weeks, and it was also based at Damyns Hall.

Damyns Hall Aerodrome is a private airfield, and it started life as a simple airstrip for micro light aircraft. As a teenager I can remember sitting in the garden of the family home listening to these tiny aircraft buzzing overhead. Since 2004 it has been developed so that its grass runways can handle most single-engined aircraft types, and its proximity to London and the M25 motorway make it an ideal site for airships taking sightseers on trips over London and the south east of England.

Incidentally, Damyns Hall Aerodrome is also the location for the annual Military & Flying Machines show that is organised by Essex Area of the Military Vehicle Trust. I have yet to go to one of the shows (it always seems to coincide with the dates that I am on a cruise!), but I understand that it attracts a lot of interest. This year there were over 350 military vehicles on show (including 22 armoured vehicles) and a flypast by a B17 Flying Fortress ('Sally B') accompanied by two P51D Mustangs. In addition there were a Spitfire ('Spirit of Kent'), a Bf108, a Harvard, a Jungmann, and a Jungmeister on show as well as a Fieseler Storch.

I must try not to miss next year's show!

The Battle of the Cherro Rico road

The following battle was the second engagement of the 1820 Cordeguayan Civil War. It was fought using my collection of Del Prado 25/28mm Napoleonic wargames figures, and the rules were the latest draft of my PORTABLE WARGAME 2 wargames rules.

Scenario
General Branco's Constitutionalist Army was finally assembled. It comprised:

• English Infantry (British Legion)
• Scottish Infantry (British Legion)
• The Rifles (British Legion)
• British Artillery (British Legion)
• 1st (Northern) Cavalry
• 2nd (Northern) Cavalry
• 3rd (Southern) Cavalry
• 4th (Southern) Cavalry
• 1st (Northern) Artillery
• 2nd (Southern) Artillery
• 1st (Northern) Infantry
• 2nd Northern) Infantry
• 3rd (Northern) Infantry
• 4th (Southern) Infantry
• 5th (Southern) Infantry
• 6th (Southern) Infantry

The Constitutionalist Army had encamped astride the main road from the capital, Ciudad Santa Maria (previously Ciudad Cordeguay and recently renamed in honour of President-for-Life General Santa Maria), to the mining town of Cerro Rico.

News of this had reached the ears of President-for-Life General Santa Maria (the leader of the Presidential Army), and he saw it as an opportunity to destroy at a single stroke the only serious opposition to his 'lawful' regime. The units that had suffered serious losses during the the Battle of the Bridge over the Rio Blanco had been brought back up to full strength, and he felt confident enough to move his army forward to attack the Constitutionalists before they could advance upon Ciudad Santa Maria. His army included:

• 1st Presidential Guard Infantry
• 2nd Presidential Guard Infantry
• Presidential Guard Foot Artillery
• 1st Cuirassiers
• 2nd Cuirassiers
• 3rd Lancers
• 4th Carabineers
• 5th Hussars
• 1st Foot Artillery
• 2nd Foot Artillery
• 1st Regular Infantry
• 2nd Regular Infantry
• 3rd Regular Infantry
• 4th Regular Infantry
• 5th Regular Infantry
• 6th Militia Infantry
• 7th Militia Infantry
• 8th Militia Infantry
• 9th Militia Infantry
• 10th Militia Infantry

Turn 1
The Constitutionalist Army was encamped astride the main road, and had deployed to make the best use of the ground and whatever cover there was.

The British Legion had thrown up fieldworks in front of their positions in the centre and on the right. The Constitutionalist left flank was protected by a dense forest that was impassable to everyone except the local peasants.

The Presidential Army was formed up with the Regular and Reserve Infantry in a double line in the centre. The 1st and 2nd Artillery Units were stationed on either flank of the Infantry, and the Cavalry was positioned on the left to threaten the open end of the Constitutionalist line. The Presidential Guard remained in reserve, and General Santa Maria positioned himself where he thought that he would have the best view of the forthcoming battle.

The only Unit that was capable of firing at an enemy Unit was the Presidential 2nd Artillery Unit, which fired at the British Legion Rifles. The cannon fire had no effect as the fieldworks afforded the Rifles sufficient protection from it.

Turn 2
The Presidential 2nd Artillery Unit fired at the Rifles for a second time ... but yet again they were unable to inflict any damage.

The Presidential Army had the initiative this turn, and began by moving their Cavalry Units forward to threaten the Constitutionalist forces to their front. The first line of the Presidential Infantry (which was made up of the Regular Infantry Units) moved forward. The second line, which was the Reserve Infantry Units, followed this advance, accompanied by the 1st Artillery Unit.

The Constitutionalist reply was swift ... and deadly! The Rifles fired at the Presidential 1st Cuirassiers Unit, and emptied so many saddles that the Unit ceased to exist as an effective fighting unit.

The Constitutionalists chose not to move any of their Units as they felt that their position gave them an advantage over the Presidential Army.

Turn 3
The Presidential 2nd Artillery Unit fired yet again at the Rifles but were unable to inflict any casualties on them.

In return, the British Legion’s Artillery Unit fired at the Presidential 3rd Regular Infantry Unit – which was destroyed – and the 1st (Northern) Artillery Unit shot the 4th Carabineers Unit to pieces with very accurate cannon fire.

The Presidential Army again had the initiative, and began by charging the right wing of the Constitutionalist Army with the majority of their Cavalry Units. The 3rd Lancers hit the Constitutionalist 3rd (Northern) Infantry Unit with such force the latter dissolved and the survivors fled from the battlefield.

The 3rd Lancers continued their attack by swinging through ninety degrees and attacking the 2nd (Northern) Infantry Unit in the flank.

The latter turned out to be made of sterner stuff than the 3rd (Northern) Infantry Unit, and after a stiff fight they beat off the 3rd Lancers, who withdrew and took no further part in the battle.

It was then the turn of the Presidential 2nd Cuirassiers to charge the 2nd (Northern) Infantry Unit.

The Cuirassier Unit had obviously lost some of its momentum charging uphill, and although it dispersed the 2nd (Northern) Infantry Unit, they only managed it by exhausting themselves to the point where they were unable to fight any more that day.

The remaining Presidential Cavalry Unit – the 5th Hussars – did not charge the remaining Constitutionalist forces on the hill to its front. Instead it moved forward so as to threaten their flank.

The remainder of the Presidential Army continued its inexorable advance.

This movement brought the Presidential 1st Regular Infantry Unit into range of the British Legion's Rifle Unit ...

... whose devastating gunfire destroyed the Presidential Infantry Unit.

The only movement the Constitutionalists undertook was to turn the 1st (Northern) Artillery and 3rd (Northern) Infantry Units to face the threat from the 5th Hussars.

Turn 4
The Constitutionalist 1st (Northern) Artillery Unit fired at the 5th Hussars and forced them to disperse, thus leaving the Presidential Army with no effective Cavalry Units on the field of battle. The British Artillery Unit failed to inflict any damage on the Presidential 2nd Regular Infantry Unit, and the Constitutionalist 2nd (Southern) Artillery Unit was equally unsuccessful when they fired at the 5th Regular Infantry Unit.

The Constitutionalists had the initiative, and other than turning the 3rd (Northern) Infantry Unit back to face the bulk of the Presidential Army, none of its Units moved or fired.

The front rank of the Presidential Army now moved forward into musket range, and fired at the British Legion's position, but to no effect.

Turn 5
The Constitutionalist Artillery fired at the oncoming Presidential Army. The British Legion Artillery Unit’s fire swept away the 2nd Regular Infantry Unit, but the Constitutionalist 2nd (Southern) Artillery Unit had no luck when it engaged the 5th Regular Infantry Unit.

The Presidential Army had the initiative, and its front line of troops swept forward to engage the Constitutionalist forces. The Presidential 4th Regular Infantry Unit fought hand-to-hand with the British Legion's Scottish Infantry Unit, but failed to dislodge the latter and paid the price for their failure.

The 5th Regular Infantry Unit had more success as it was able to attack the Scottish Infantry Unit's flank. Both sides fought well ... too well, as both ceased to be effective fighting Units as a result.

The Presidential Reserve Infantry Units had now moved up, and the 6th Militia Infantry Unit engaged the British Legion's Rifles with musket fire. They were unable to cause any casualties on the Rifles, who returned fire as initiative had now passed the Constitutionalist side. They were, however, equally unable to hit their target.

Now that the Constitutionalists were able to fire, the English Infantry Unit of the British Legion opened fire on the Presidential 6th Militia Infantry Unit, which was destroyed.

At this point President-for-Life General Santa Maria's nerve broke, and he ordered his Presidential Guard Units to cover his withdrawal ... which they did. The remainder of his army fought on as best they could, but without their Commander-in-Chief their morale soon broke, and all along the battlefront individuals and then whole Units began to surrender. The Civil War looked as if it were over ... but was it?

Notes and Conclusions
The battle was also fought on a 15 square x 15 square grid, with books under the cloth to create the hills that the Constitutionalist Army occupied.

This was – like its predecessor – a fun battle to fight although the outcome was again affected by the run of good luck with their dice throws that that the Constitutionalists enjoyed.

The changes that were incorporated into the most recent draft of the rules did improve the game from my point of view. There is still some room for improvement, but this has more to do with trying to include a method of grading Units than any need to make drastic changes to the basic mechanisms.

I have been to ... the Havering Land Reuse and Recycling Centre

To redress the balance of my most recent 'I have been to ...' blog entries (which all seem to be an excuse for me to write about the cruises my wife and I go on), I thought that I ought to mention where I have spent part of my day today ... the Havering Land Reuse and Recycling Centre.

This is situated in the unusually named 'Gerpins Lane', and is a wonderful example of its type. As one drives in, one is met by a 'jobsworth' who checks to see if you have the right to use the centre. If you have, you are admitted; if you do not, they charge you £10.00 per carload of rubbish.

Luckily I had proof that the rubbish I was disposing of/recycling was local, and therefore I did not have to pay. I then drove around the various different areas within the centre, disposing of the rubbish into the appropriate bins or adding it to the existing piles in the various storage/processing buildings.

Most of the rubbish I was getting rid of was not recyclable, and that will have to be buried in a landfill site somewhere.

So why was I spending my time in such an exotic location when I could have been play-testing the latest draft of my PORTABLE WARGAME 2 rules? The answer is very simple; I was trying to get rid of the last of the more portable (and unwanted) stuff from my father's house before the furniture can be removed.

My links with 'Gerpins Lane' go back a long time ... a very long time. When I was a teenager, the site was part of a farm to which I used to deliver newspapers. It was one of several farms on my delivery route and – if my memory is correct – it was the furthest away from my starting point. The farm had a guard dog ... and the guard dog did not like delivery boys! I had several 'run ins' with the dog, culminating in it biting through the back tyre of my bicycle whilst I was trying to get away from it! Needless to say, that was the last time I delivered newspapers to the farm, and not long afterward I got myself another part-time job in a nice new supermarket.

The guard dog is long gone … as is the farm, but I will have to go back to ‘Gerpins Lane’ again soon as I did not quite finish the task of clearing my father’s house. However that task can wait; I have a set of wargames rules to play-test … and with a bit of luck I might actually manage to do that tomorrow!

Nugget 246

The latest issue of THE NUGGET (N246) was emailed to me by the editor last weekend, and I shall be taking it to the printers this morning. With a bit of luck I should be able to collect it next by Friday and get it posted out to members by Saturday. It should then be with members of Wargame Developments by early next week.

I will make the PDF versions of THE NUGGET and THE NUGGET COLOUR SUPPLEMENT available for all members to download from the Wargame Developments website as soon as I can after THE NUGGET has been posted.

This is the last THE NUGGET of the subscription year and it will include a renewal form for everyone who has not yet resubscribed. If you have not already resubscribed, you can do so by post (please make cheques payable to WARGAME DEVELOPMENTS) or via the PayPal button on the Wargame Developments website.

And what did you do today?

Today was the first real day of my retirement from teaching ... and I have not had time to think because I have had so much to do!

Firstly, I sorted out my accounts. Not a long job, but one that has to be done each month ... and one that should really have been done last week.

Secondly, I wrote a very long and detailed letter of complaint to the local planning inspectors.

Some three years ago my next door neighbour put a balustrade around the edge of the flat roof on his ground floor extension. This was specifically forbidden under the terms of the planning permission given by the local council … but he still went ahead and did it. This now means that anyone who goes onto the roof (which is now a de facto balcony) can look straight into the rear first floor bedroom of our house. I politely asked him to remove the balustrade … but he refused, citing Health and Safety regulations ‘in case someone had to work on the roof’ as the reason why he had put it up. I checked with the Health and Safety Executive, and they told me that there was no requirement for such a balustrade.

I then wrote to my neighbour requesting that he remove the offending structure and warning him that I would be notifying the local council planning enforcement team about what he had done… and my letter was ignored. I finally spoke to him, and he gave me a verbal agreement to remove the balustrade ‘as soon as I have the time’.

Six months later it was still there.

I then reported the matter to the local council planning enforcement team, and was told that they would get back to me as soon as they could.

They did not.

I contacted them again in July 2010, and this time they acknowledged my report with a letter. The letter had a caveat that such matters took time for them to investigate, but that it was being dealt with.

Another six months went by, but nothing seemed to have been done, so I contacted them again. All I got was a copy of their original letter. I tried contacting them by telephone, but all I talked to was the team’s voicemail system, and none of my requests for a return ‘phone call were heeded.

Today I had had enough. I took several pictures of the offending structure, and sent them – with an accompanying letter and copies of the original planning permission and detailed elevation drawings of the extension without a balustrade – to the local council planning enforcement team. I have set them a deadline of ten working days to get back to me otherwise I intend to take the matter to a higher authority. Hopefully this might actually get them to do something … but somehow I doubt it.

A short aside: Since my neighbour – who happens to be a builder – erected the balustrade, he has also built a wooden office and created a small builders yard at the end of his garden. This has been done without planning permission as the area is zoned as residential only. He has further compounded this by starting work on a single storey extension to the bungalow he also owns on the plot of land on the other side of his garden. As far as I can find out, this has also been done without planning permission.

Having vented my spleen, I then went to the local branch of my bank to arrange an interview about my mortgage. I expected that this would take a matter of minutes. It did … thirty five of them! First I had to queue to talk to someone about what I wanted to do. I then had to sit in the waiting area whilst they tried to find someone else to deal with me. Eventually they did … but then the computerised appointments system would not work! In the end I did manage to arrange an appointment for next Friday. I only hope that they do not keep me waiting as long next time.

After lunch I completed a ten-page application form to become a part-time examination invigilator at a local school. (My wife thinks that it will be good for me to earn some pocket money doing this sort of work … and who am I to argue!) This was actually longer than any of the forms I ever had to complete for a teaching job (including my application to become a Deputy Headteacher), and included details of my schooling right back to 1961! Just getting all the necessary information together and filling in the form took over two hours so I hope that it will be worth it in the end.

So that was my first day of retirement. Busy or what? And I had no time to even think about wargaming, let alone do any!

I hope tomorrow is going to be a bit more relaxing, but somehow I don’t think that it will be.

I don't have to go to work tomorrow!

It is Sunday evening, and my wife has just been getting her work bag ready ... and it has just hit me that although tomorrow is the first Monday in September (the traditional first day of the new school year in England), I am not going to have to go to work!

I knew that this day was going to come, but somehow I had not realised how different I was going to feel when it did. I have not been sleeping too well for the past few days, but this has been due to my summer cold and not the growing mixture of anticipation and anxiety at what the new term would bring that I felt in previous years. I am now retired from full-time teaching, and have the rest of my life to look forward to. I have plenty of things to occupy my time with ... but I have yet to fully accept that. I suspect that the next few days are going to be a bit of a learning curve for me ... and that I am going to find out that life after work can be as fulfilling and interesting as it was when I was a full-time worker.

Prorsum et sursum! (This is my old college motto, and it means Onwards and upwards!)

The Soviet Soldier

I am not absolutely sure when I started to collect my first Soviet World War II wargames army, but I suspect that it was very soon after I bought my copy of Charles Grant's book, BATTLE: PRACTICAL WARGAMING. The Airfix Russian figures formed the basis of one of his armies, and I followed suit.

Since that early beginning I have continued to collect and model Soviet World War II wargames armies, but this time using metal figures alongside my plastic (and sometimes metal) vehicles and artillery. My first large-scale attempt was designed to be used with GDW's COMMAND DECISION rules although I later switched over to using them with Chris Kemp's NOT QUITE MECHANISED rules. This army was eventually passed on to Tim Gow (for a very reasonable price!), and a 'new' Soviet Army was raised and used to fight MEGABLITZ battles.

One thing that I learned very early on was that painting wargames figures in Soviet uniforms could be done quite quickly. Only a very small palette of colours was needed, and a basic paint job could easily be enhanced with a wash of Nut Brown ink.

Recently (if you call three or four years recent!) I have not done much work on my Soviet World War II wargames army although the advent of several new ranges of figures has made the prospect very tempting. Therefore it is not surprising that the arrival of a book entitled THE SOVIET SOLDIER OF WORLD WAR TWO (written by Philippe Rio and published in an English language edition by Historie & Collections (ISBN 978 2 35250 100 8]) in the post on Saturday has reignited my interest in adding some more units to my existing Soviet World War II wargames army.

This book is an excellent source of information and photographs of both real and recreated Soviet Army uniforms, and I am very pleased that I now own a copy.

Feeling better ... and remembering AutoREALM

After a restless night's sleep, both my wife and I woke up feeling slightly better this morning ... which is just as well, as we have to do the weekly visit to the supermarket today to make sure we have something to eat and drink. Last night, whilst I was in that state just between being awake and being asleep, I suddenly remembered that I had read or seen a review of a freeware vector graphics program that had been developed by gamers so that they could produce maps, dungeon plans etc for their games.

The name 'AutoREALM' stuck in my head, and this morning I searched for it ... and found it! I have now downloaded the program, and have found that it is actually quite easy to use once you have spent a bit of time mastering it.

N.B. The link to Andy Gryc's Official AutoRealm website does not go anywhere, but the program can be downloaded via the link on the left-hand sidebar.

Amongst its features, users can select the type of graph paper they want to use for their map or plan and the size of each graph square or hex. Users can also create their own symbols and shapes to use, and then store them in a file so that they can 'click and drag' them onto maps and plans in the future. In the example shown below, I have created some six-hex shapes that correspond to the basic elements of the Hexon II system. This took me only a matter of minutes to do ... and I can easily recreate shapes and symbols for all the Hexon II terrain items that I have in my collection.

AutoREALM might not be the best way to create my imagi-world map ... but it will be very useful for creating battlefield maps for future wargames.

Still under the weather

Despite having had an early night and nearly twelve hours sleep, neither my wife or I feel any better today; in fact, we both feel rather worse that we did yesterday.

As a result, all the things we had planned for today have had to be put back at least until tomorrow, and that includes my play-test of the PORTABLE WARGAME 2 rules.

Ah, the joys of a summer cold!

Under the weather

My wife and I had nothing planned for today ... which is just as well as both of us woke up with summer colds. It is one of those irritating colds that leave you with a runny nose, a headache, and feeling generally lethargic.

I did manage to do a bit of work on my imagi-world map and to process a number of COW2012 bookings, but the planned play-test of the latest draft of my PORTABLE WARGAME 2 rules did not take place as I just did not feel up to it. Hopefully I will feel a bit better tomorrow, and that I will be able to run the play-test. If I do, I will write a suitably detailed and illustrated blog entry.