Sign up for an Email alert (and next game news)

In my previous post about the 28th-foot-for-quatre-bras I also mentioned a problem I've noticed about the lack of updating of alerts in other wargamers' blogs, who have kindly added "Not just old school wargaming" to their favourites list.

I've probably been missing a trick all these years but only just found out I could add a gadget to my side bar to enable interested readers to sign up to email alerts.  So now it is there ("Follow by Email") and has been tested and so I urge any of you who want to be regular readers to sign up and that way you won't have to rely on links from other blogs, nor checking back to see if I'm still here!

Rather to my surprise, and slight disappointment, but just to reassure anyone concerned I don't actually get to see who has signed up, nor get your email address, so please be sure to comment or email me if you want me to know or have something to say.

Thanks

And I don't like posting without putting at least one picture in, so here are a few of the next game table set up. This is in a couple of weeks time and will be an 1815 fictitious defence of some hills and bridges by a Dutch Belgian force, expecting reinforcements against a slighter larger French army. It will be a final small scale test of Rank and File rules with our amendments for Quatre Bras and then we have a two day test game scheduled in May to try out a multiplayer scenario.  The main event will be over a weekend in September.

If you think this looks similar to our Spittelwitz  game then you are right. Although the hills, river, bridges and roads remain we have juggled with the woods, buildings and camp, and added some fields. It will be a very different game as the French are attacking from the left hand side and the DBs defending the hill line and village, which is now being called Kaaskerke.

Sign up to be sure not to miss the report, and photos of Kevin's lovely 28mm Napoleonic figures :-)

Chris

PS. I think I have just fixed the alert problem mentioned at the start!

28th Foot for Quatre Bras

Not many blog posts lately but I haven't been idle!
Kevin, James and I have been working on test games and rebasing and repainting the 2015 Waterloo armies so we can refight Quatre Bras later this year at 1:20 scale. I'm way behind blogging on that activity but this one is just a quickie.  Today I finished the 28th Foot - the North Gloucestershire Regiment, which I bagged on the orbat as they are the local regiment.  But of course being the cheapskate wargamer that I am they were not bought new, instead I have been reviewing the figures in my big (180 strong) Luneburg Battalion from La Haye Sainte at 1:3 scale and finding new uses for them. For the original painting effort please see 188-in-one-go.

Nearly 100 of them are being smartened up for use as the Luneburg and Grubenhagen Light Field battalions, including a batch of optional skirmisher bases. However I realised that the 28th were one of the few regiments still wearing the old stovepipe shako and most of my Luneburg originals are British Light infantry or Peninsular figures so the headgear is right even if other details are not quite.

So on to the pics, with a little more explanation along the way.

Due to the eclectic mix of figures in my Luneburg 188 it proved difficult to find
24 line figures all the same, so I've gone for those which look similar from wargame distance

Rank and File rules use attrition with base removal.  In order to leave
some semblance of carnage on the tabletop we are all trying to make enough
casualty figures to replace each lost base with a figure or other debris. Most of my casualties are converted Victrix plastic.

Each "wing" of the battalion uses figures from a different manufacturer,
 one at least I think is Foundry. Some have correct British line battalion black
leather backpacks and the other a kind of leather roll worn vertically.
Haythornthwaite's "Uniforms at Waterloo" says some companies in the 28th
still used French hide knapsacks captured at Alexandria, so I reckon I can get away with it!

The superb flags are GMB but given special treatment and flagstaff
tops and cords by Kevin East; given to me as a birthday present.
Many thanks Kevin, just the job to raise morale 

The only new figures are the command company, all from my spares box. 

The "colour guards" are Perry Hanoverian light infantry and the officers 

British Light Infantry, again Perry I think. The drummer is converted from

 a Perry Hanoverian bugler whose right arm I had to completely remodel and add 

musicians lace. A plastic Victrix drum is suspended by paper straps with staples cut 

down for drumsticks.

Problem with Blog Alerts

Over the years I have relied a lot on traffic linking from other wargaming blogs, where readers see that I have updated my blog while they are visiting another. Thank you to all those bloggers who have included "Not Just Old School Wargaming" in your favourites list. However, that alert system - where it shows a photo and timing, seems to have stuck on a posting I made about 4 or 5 months ago. I've looked at all the settings which seem to be right, and I tried deleting the offending post but it still shows! If you click on the Blog title you go to my current posting, but if you click on the thumbnail pic or the post title you go to the one I have deleted and then need to click on Home to get the latest.

What is worse is that I suspect a lot of people are totally ignorant that I have posted anything since September 2016 so may not visit me at all now!

So, unless anyone knows a magic cure they can tell me, the only thing I can think of is if those of you bloggers who display a photo and timing of my blog can delete me and then reload me it might kickstart again and show the latest. Those who just show the Blog title in their list there is no problem.

Thank you for your understanding

Chris G