Battle of Quatre Bras 16 June 1815

Hello there! I have forced myself to ne sociable recently and attended a game at the New Buckenham Historical wargames Club. 

They gamed the Battle of Quatre Bras, after recently gaming Waterloo earlier in the year.

I was unable to attend the start of the game on the Friday evening but was at the Saturday part up until 7pm on the evening of the battle. ere is an overall view of the battle field viewing from over the Bossu wood in the foreground and the crossroads in the distance on the left.

Here is a view of the cross roads from the Allied side of the field.

The buildings representing the farm building on the cross roads was a 3d print supplied by a club member.

Here are some of the Nassau troops defending the buildings.

French columns had a hard fought battle against, originally the Highlanders and then the Dutch Belgians, but the French finally took the out lying buildings and the cross roads. 

French chasseurs had some luck taking out an Allied artillery battery during the game.

Here are some wider photos to show the number of figures on display.

And some of the smaller vignettes present as well.

As mentioned earlier the farm building were a 3D print. While it looked impressive from a distance  on closed inspection the engrained lines typical of some printed items were very clear. Although I am no expert on 3D print, I know some are better than others. On saying that I am currently refurbishing some 3D print to try and 'lose' this grainy finish from them. 

After a very to and fro game the French started to overwhelm the Allied forces.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable game and was well worth attending. There was a very inspiring visual spectacle to be seen by all.

With further photos on the New Buckenham Facebook page here.

Battle of Gloucester Point 3rd October 1781

Hello There! I have managed a visit to my local wargames club and played a great game of AWI. This game was put on by Chris and was thoroughly enjoyable. 

The table was not massive and the game was a good way of showing gamers that you do not need to have a massive game with loads of figure to have an enjoyable and challenging game.

The scenario was a foraging party of British were retiring back to their lines and were discovered by a Franco American force which had almost caught them up. the wagons were under guard and a mixed Loyalist cavalry and British infantry force was hurrying the forage back to their lines.

The cavalry also comprised of a small unit of 17th Light Dragoons.

The baggage train was an eclectic mix and something that I would like to add to my own collection.

The British lines also had an artillery position which during the actual battle took no part in the action and so for the purposes of the game was 'Fluff' However during our refight the artillery played a prominent part.

The initial engagement consisted of a cavalry battle when the French Lazuns Legion caught up with Banastre Tarletons Loyalists. This ended when after a number of melee rounds, which saw the Loyalists pushed back, Tarleton was wounded and the French took the entire unit prisoner as they surrendered.

As the baggage train moved off the table the two Virginia Battalions moved to the centre of the table t engage the British. They put up a good attack, considering they were militia but eventually broke leaving the wagons to escape off the board.

The rules used were a club set which were modified from the Bruce Quarrie Napoleonic rules from the 1980's. These were written when some of the club members attended the Coltishall Cowards Wargames Club in the 1990's. 

Further photos of te game are on the Club Facebook page here.

MAFVA Show 2025

Hello There! I decided to get out of the house for a while and the MAFVA show was about an hours drive away.

I have not been to this show since it was at the Duxford Military Vehicle display and coincided with the book fair.

I was very pleased and surprised to find a much bigger show than I was expecting. Spread across a large sports area and other rooms, including an upstairs area with a bring and buy sale. 

The first club who had their models on display, had a very wide range of desert vehicles which was a good presentation of some lesser known or seen axis vehicles.

The diorama back ground was from a matchbox kit. I like the way the desert round was represented.

This was a partially scratch built and the source vehicle was the matchbox Krupp Protz.

I have a coupe of 'Diana' in my DAK forces. The pictures I have seen include a number on the chassis next to the driver and a small elephant motif on the rear fender

An Sdkfz 254. This was present in the desert and used as a scout car.

An addition to the wide range of German ambulances. I did not see what make or mark this was.

I was told that this is an SHQ model. I have not seen this in their catalogue and it is a large model. I wonder if it is still available from the Grubby tanks list, or where the SHQ range will go when Andy Grubb retires next year?

The fascines on this model appeared to be made of individual lengths of bass broom bristles. The figure was an AB miniature.

Another AVRE made from a combination of an Airfix and Matchbox kit.

There were some lovely Desert Air Force aircraft. The Airfix Kittyhawk was one of the first model kits I ever made.

I would love to learn how to use an airbrush to this level and create a mottled camouflage pattern.

I liked the idea of having a background story to some of the models that were on display. This was a great idea from the Brampton club.

This was a very different idea to use the Airfix tank transporter for!

Here was another combination of desert vehicles, this time using 28mm figures.

I also have a Deacon in 20mm which requires decals and a crew. This photo was to remind me!

This was a very detailed figure and was a change from the normal selection of models that were on display.

Almost hidden away in a side room was a further group of model clubs displays. As I have a proposed project for the Aegean conflict in 1943 I liked seeing this selection of vessels.

The aircraft on the back was so small and well detailed!

And finally a further selection of desert vehicles.

Overall this was a great surprise to see a wide range of suppliers that you do not normally see at wargames shows. Also they were very helpful. I was expecting a much smaller show as I was comparing it to the Duxford show. It was a pleasant surprise! Well worth a visit next year!