Progress on painting.

Just put the last stroke of paint on my Square Bashing 1914 French. I started them in January but have had a long hiatus since April. There are around 14 Infantry units, 9 guns, 8 MGs plus associated command and dead. I still have a unit of Dragoons to start. I am tempted to build a small contingent of Belgians maybe 3 Infantry units, 3 Mgs, a couple of guns and maybe a Cavalry unit. But lots to do in the mean time. In a small departure from Peter Pig games I took advantage of a sale at Alternative Armies and purchased a Human and an Orc army for Hordes of the Things. Once the French are done I will get these done in quick time. Results to follow. This weekend sees me back in Weymouth for a PBI competition at the Weymouth Warlords club. As per usual I am staying with Martin and attending the Levellers club on the Friday, most likely to brush away the PBI cobwebs. I will be taking my 1944 U.S. army as usual. A small report will put on here on my return. I have a real desire to get a Fields of Glory army finished at some point. I have the figures in Early Imperial Romans and Germans from Peter Pig and have two units of Romans done. If I could just dedicate some time to them I could get them finished in no time. Also nearing completion are my U.S. troops to fight Ade’s Mexicans in 1846-8 action. Diverse tastes or what! More soon.

Battles in the Age of Weymouth

In late July a merry band of wargamers met in a church hall in Weymouth to recreate battles from the Sengoku period.

For once I wasn't the furthest travelled. That went to Kevan Gunn seen here in the yellow.

This is a picture of my attack on Chris Cunninghams Daimyo sitting pretty in his Maku. Chris cleverly put his large mounted Hatomoto unit in front of me which was akin to a brick wall.

Not sure whose playing here but it looks like a good game!

An overview of the hall.

A nice picture of a game in progress on Peter Pigs lovely scenary board. This gives you a good idea of how a game looks.

Stewart in the red 'Levellers' shirt organised the day. For the second year running, he won. It's all down to the Ikko Ikki. Stewart is trying to look humble. Martin is still in shock from my diabolical tactics when he partnered me in the last game.

The Band of Brothers

A great days gaming which Lisa and myself turned into a weekend staying in a picturesque village of Piddletrenthide.

Stewart organised a great day with no hitches and lots of smiles and laughs. Looking forward to the next one.

Weymouth Battle Day

Ralph Ashdown with his trophy. Well done Ralph!

Friday saw me travelling down to the south coast for the Peter Pig Battle Day in Weymouth. AK47 Reloaded was the order of the day. Martin at Peter Pig had kindly agreed to put me up for the night and take me down to the 'Levellers' club night for a warm up game.

On arrival Martin greeted me and we settled down to some wargames chat, before the arrival of Rob Roriston for some tea with the rest of the Goddard family, Julie, Rachel and Grace. Following this we took the short drive to the club where two games of Reloaded were played to blow away any cobwebs. Myself and Martin took on Paul and Lee. Having performed poorly in the pregame we found ourselves with very few on table forces, but managed to hold on to the objectives somehow and won the game despite Lee's attack helicopters causing havoc for Martins armour.

We left our stuff at the club ready for the following day where battle would commence in the Church next door. It was again back to Martins for more shooting the breeze over a cup of tea. I also got to look at a pre-release copy of Washingtons Army. Unlike recent RFCM rules they will be spiral bound which I think is a good idea for the longevity of the book. It was then bed with a 7.30 alarm call, breakfast and then back down the road to the Church.

The Peter Pig Battle Days are organised by Stewart Meecham in Weymouth or Miles Milton in Bournemouth. Both have a similar passion to me for friendly games where there is no emphasis on crushing your opponent , just a fun few hours rolling dice and pushing around toy soldiers.

Although only a handful of us were there, it didn't matter a jot. For me so long as I play a couple or three games, preferably against different opponents in the right spirit, it doesn't matter whether 6 or 60 turn up. In fact the more people that turn up, the more stress for the organiser!

Anyway some pretty pictures of the games.

A nice day had by all. I came 6th which is some kind of record for me. I think my first top ten finish in one of these things!

Ralph was a deserved winner even if he did shoot my militia in the back as they were running away! We had a great game in the true spirit of RFCM games. My game against Miles was much closer and could of gone either way. Miles will tell you he won 39 points to 35, but the book say it was a stalemate and I'm sticking with that! Again played in a spirit, just how it should be.

We had a lovely dinner too, fish and chips for me. I think with less chatting and more urgency we could have fitted three games in but, in hindsight, two was enough and allowed me to get on the road early enough to get home around 8pm. So well done to Ralph for winning and Stewart for organising and the Goddard family for putting me up. Certainly as long as these events are run I will support them.