Yes, I know I've still got a couple of parts on the refight of Eckmuhl to blog, and thanks to those who've reminded me it's wanted. However I just want to give a quick taste of all the wargaming stuff that has kept me away from blogging for nearly 6 months (!). Please read to the end to see an invitation to join some of us for a game at Oakridge in the heart of The Cotswolds (not those chic fringes that are too near that London!) Very Soon.....
The "problem" (is an excess of actual wargaming a problem?) stemmed from wanting to use the basics of my nicely sculpted Eckmuhl table for lots of other games too. Building the Eckmuhl terrain last year
Many will have seen my first go was two 28mm SYW games in Feb and March (Battle of Hohenburg).
After that in April I wanted to try to get my 10/12mm World War Two Russians and Germans out and imagined the terrain could be a variation of real events on the German approach to Stalingrad. I called it the Battle of Hill 118. Paul B and Dillon Browne were up for trying out my "Seb's Soldiers WW2" rules , which were sort of fit for purpose but converting rules for a 7 year old to suit two knowledgeable wargamer adults was not 100% successful. Here's a taste anyway.
Around this time Paul B made me aware he had a very nice collection of 15mm , mostly Blue Moon I believe, for the American Civil War. At my suggestion he agreed to put on a game if I remodelled the terrain to resemble an offshoot of the Shenandoah Valley for the 1862 campaign. Paul called in The Battle of Grenton and introduced me to the "Flames in the South" rules which uses practically entirely black and red dice (imagine for most things Red Die = Good, Black Die = Bad - like old school 4,5 or 6 better than 1, 2 or 3). Various activities require different numbers of red or black dice results. Combined with a token system for Generals' interventions, and some minor chance cards for variety it gave a very fun, yet realistic feeling game. We were joined by another Cheltenham resident , but newcomer to my Oakridge den, Iain S. See what you think of the look:
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| Lots of blinds to start with |
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| Iain is an eager wargamer and quick learner |
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| Well into it now |
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| Stonewall Jackson (without the beard) points to the scene of his success |
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| Still a lot of Yankees on the ridge to frighten with my rebel yell! |
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| Near the end - Union left flank is totally crumbling in the foreground |
Could it have been because my Confederates won in fairly spectacular fashion (no disrespect intended for Iain , my plan was sound and I was lucky at the right times) that I got a bit excited afterwards? But we both enjoyed the rules and the troops (and the terrain) and I was inspired to think I might relieve my ACW refights from the 6mm days of c1995 to 2010 and so I'm now the possessor of around 700 or more ex Ebay, painted ACW figures to get ready to join Paul B's for something much bigger next year.
Iain had come to me, as a relatively near neighbour, who could help his revived wargaming post retirement surge, and introduce him to the joys of "Honours of War" for his recently acquired large SYW armies. First he needed a training scenario. As luck would have it Dinos had the very thing needing testing with a genuine newbie, in planning for his next HoW scenario book. So I used parts of my 28mm collection and the southern part of the old Eckmuhl battlefield as a 6 x 4 area for "Attack and Defence". I've agreed not to blog that till Dinos has published the book, so keep watching this space.
But I can show you the next game and I really enjoyed redesigning the table for this one. Not using the two feet nearest the window but reinstating the marshy valley from Eckmuhl with a couple of ponds too, for good measure. I also was relatively fresh from our holiday in the Baltic States in May. I was completely enamoured by Tallinn, Estonia - various hilltop church spires and castle towers joined up by almost complete Medieval city walls - I just had to have a bit of that, and so got the gloop out afresh to blend in city walls on a steep slope for gun batteries and ecclesiastical building boundaries! As stated, Iain has wonderful 15mm SYW armies and we used most of his Austrians and Prussians here. I looked at history and mucked about with a campaign in Saxony in October 1758 where the town of Lobauburg was passed through by Daun's Army shadowing Frederick's over the Lobauerberg mountain. I set the scene for an imaginary Prussian holding action on the Lobauerberg.
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| Hot action on the table and it was hot in the room too! |
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| Much to discuss near the end of the action. Iain's Prussians had lost a lot but held firm. |
That was mid-July. For mid August in my exhausting re-modelling schedule, it was back up the scale to
28mm and two more of Paul's magnificent collections. For this one he asked me to transport us to a supposedly Merrie England of 1654, where King Charles still battled on, aided by Prince Rupert and the Duke of Buckingham, with French Royal Army mercenaries too. They faced a combined enemy of mostly English Parliamentarians but with Allies from the Orange Protestants of The Low Countries, all under Sir William Waller. Two collections because his
ECW armies were mixed in very successfully with those of the Franco-Dutch wars of the 1670s. The scene was the rural villages of Tumpington and Brewood, with
Tumpington Manor being one objective, but dismembering the opposing army was more important. Paul used "An Uncivil Affair" rules - the ECW variant of the aforementioned red dice, black dice system. Iain S. and I were the Royalists facing Dillon Browne's Roundheads with those austere and dour Dutchmen to help 😊.
The glowering, serious expressions were not typical, yet this was a game with many challenges for us all (I was King Charles) and with many hard nosed charges by both sides. It was an "Uncivil Affair" in name only and we all found it enjoyable and satisfying. Maybe another one next year. (No captions for this set as, inexplicably to me, Blogger joined all the photos and deletes one photo if I try to write a caption!)
And now for The Invitation
I hope you haven't been bored by all the variations on essentially the same tabletop as we have another one this coming weekend - but very different. James Fergusson asked for a chance to refight a Peninsular War battle. So I've remodelled bits of it to make the two famous hills at one end and extend the long ridge at the other and we are all set to refight Albuera 1811 on Sunday 13th September at 1:50 figure/man scale and have the whole 5km battlefield in our 10 foot x 6 version. So around 1500 x 15mm figures mainly from James' collection but also Richard Newcombe is contributing, and I'm filling some gaps from my cabinet too. This is the one where Beresford commanded a joint British and Portuguese army with the Spanish working in close alliance (for once!) and used the terrain to try to thwart Marshal Soult breaking through to the Siege of Badajoz.
We have 5 players and two umpires but really
need a sixth player to balance out on the French side. If you fancy joining us for the day and can get to Oakridge Lynch, halfway between Stroud and Cirencester, in Gloucestershire, then please email me (
Chris Gregg) as soon as you can. I'll send anyone serious the precise location and rules and scenario info. We will be using my Napoleonic version of HoW called
Abensberg to Wagram (A2W) which has just a few changes since Eckmuhl and here is a link to the current documents
A2W 2026 version
Meanwhile here is a taste of that Peninsular stye battlefield:
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| Not many features compared with all the foregoing. Bare hills (in reality covered with arable farmland) mostly dried up river and streams, some key roads to squabble over, Albuera village and adjoining orchards, and olive groves with small grape vines |
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| 3D printed buildings make up an interesting Albuera which should feature prominently in the game |
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| A boring photo, but those open hills should give plenty of tactical and strategic scope for a good wargame |
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| So have a look at some figures - not in any way placed for the battle just for bit of scale and atmosphere. Each tactical unit is brigade size or an artillery battery |
I hope you've found this snapshot of my last 6 months interesting. I intend to blog each in much more detail as time permits. And we haven't finished with it yet! JP of Youtube channel fame is back and he plans to organise one of his famous 28mm
Napoleonic games on yet another variation in mid October.
best wishes
