JJ's Refurbished Wargames Room

 

I reckon just like every dedicated painter has their studio the dedicated wargamer has their wargaming room, and a quick search of the net will reveal the different types of rooms we in the hobby like to create that I think reflects much about its creator; and my room is an important place where I gather inspiration to develop planned projects and where I journal my time in the hobby as well as a place to celebrate good times playing with friends and enjoying their company in games that create memories.

The Talavera Project was the first opportunity to use the room as intended with multiple big games shared with friends and family whilst raising money for charity.

Of course unless you are in the hobby to make money as a business, a dedicated hobby room might be seen as a bit of a luxury, but then it could be argued that a games room is comparable to those who like to follow a sport, such as football, spending serious cash as season ticket holders and following their team across the country and often beyond, or the golf fans paying serious money for clubs and kit, together with golfclub membership and travel to events and tournaments.

Over the years the room has seen lots of great games and good times, but the tired décor needed refreshing along with other improvements to space, lighting and comfort.

Like many hobbies and past-times, the cost of entry has risen over the years, but I would argue the pleasure of indulging in historical wargaming is far more accessible than many others and a wargames room is just one aspect that a hobbyist might aspire to along with the figure collections we aim to build over time.

All the storage under the table was placed on it in preparation for its storage in other rooms during the refit.

As other house improvements took precedence over the years, my hobby room was put at the bottom of the list for decorating and refreshing but as the old saying goes 'everything comes to those that wait', and the room finally arrived at the top of the list with 'Senior Management' or should I say Carolyn, finally signing off on the project, with the work commencing between Xmas and New Year to clear my room in preparation for its facelift.

Old cloths and metal tins were destined for new homes in my determination to only have what was needed put back in the room once the refit was complete.

It is simply quite amazing how much 'stuff' can be acquired in thirty odd years in this hobby which is the time my room has been in commission and how space becomes a premium, but with changes in our accommodation needs as sons qualified from university, left home and got homes of their own, the potential to relocate items just placed in my room for want of a better alternative presented itself, as well as an opportunity to get shot of stuff no longer required.

With my table dismantled and relocated to the sun lounge, the old gas fire was removed and the stripping of walls could commence.

The clearing of the room which included furniture, table, stuff from under the table, gas fire and radiator removal, took a few days, which included rearranging other rooms to store items that would be returned, but once the redecorating was finished, with the first job on the list being to strip the walls of its old wall paper, repair dinks in the plaster and have the electrician remove all the lights in readiness for a new ceiling. 

The walls are stripped and cleaned ready for the next step, a visit from the 'sparky'. 

The plasterer did an excellent job skimming the new ceiling, and once the plaster had dried over a weekend the electrician returned to fit the new ceiling spot lights together with extra plug points and a whizzy new blue tooth light switch control at the other end of the room something I had planned after years of having to go from one end to the other simply to put the lights on or off.

The wall light fittings have gone, a new ceiling is up drying and made ready for my new spot lights.

My room has no windows, relying on the room lights and daylight from the doors at either end for its lighting which makes it a perfect snug or dining area as probably originally intended back in 1936, but was not very good for taking pictures of toy soldiers, ships and other exotic models as well as making it easy for senior players with declining visual abilities (I include myself in that broad description) to be able to easily identify what they are looking at across the table.

The open door gives a hint as to how important
getting the room's lighting sorted was.

Thus the new no-shadow, daylight spot lighting with two lines of four lights strategically placed over the table for maximum effect was going to be an important new addition to the room.

Once the ceiling and electrics were finished, my darling wife who is a dab-hand with a wallpaper brush and roller got on with refreshing things with a suitably light pattern wall paper that as well as complimenting the fittings would also add to the lighting effect I was after, and this was followed by the removal of the aged carpet and a new one fitted in its place, all ready for the furnishings and table to be restored.

Book cases covered from plaster drips.

Below is the first pictures I took of my new accommodation back in late February once the final pictures had been hung and everything was as it was intended, with the picture below illustrating the improved space on either side of the table, now unencumbered with an old gas fire.

Dah-Dah! Hey-presto, a new-look JJ's Wargames Room.

With both ends of my room clear of terrain storage units, now relocated to the utility room next door for easy access when required, and the large terrain pieces and table cloths stored under the table, I now have acres of space around the table, and that feeling of clutter has been erased forever.

Model collections boxed, accessible and most importantly labelled, so I know where everything is.

All figure and model collections are either in the display cabinets or boxed with labels to aid finding stuff when required, and I now have my work desk completely refurbished to my hobby requirements for work on the computer compiling blog posts and gaming materials, plus a large screen close by for playing a bit of game ambiance with videos and sound as well as a visual display for players if doing anything computer moderated.

The new TV monitor is in place near my desk, display cabinets are grouped closer on one wall to provide more space on that side of the room for players, and more figure storage is arranged in the corner.

The old original fireplace makes a nice centre piece to the room and can accommodate a suitably large piece of artwork on the wall above, with options to change the look as required and as seen below the Duke of Wellington and one of Le Marchant's Heavy Dragoons together with a piece of rock picked up from the Salamanca battlefield retain their place on the mantlepiece either side of the carriage clock, alongside my exquisite model of Christopher Lee, memorable for his role as Saruman in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, a model that returned with us from our trip to the the Wētā Workshop in New Zealand.

The original fire place is now covered allowing more room for players on that side and additionally continues to forms a nice centre piece to the room

As well as the models and terrain, my library has had a makeover with current reading occupying the shelves in my room for ready access when planning games and collections, that sees the rest of the book and rules collection relocated ready for easy moving back to the room library as required, because I'm sure I'm not alone, finding myself suddenly reinspired to start work on something new every now and then and needing the appropriate books to hand to start the process.

Current reading has been sorted and books arranged by theme and priority indicated by being within easy reach from my desk.

Yet more figure storage, boxed and labelled

Whilst the majority of the figure collections are safely stored in various storage boxes, I have retained the display cabinets beloved by most wargamers for showing figures and models that capture what our hobby is all about; and so I have put a bit of the eye-candy in them to add to the ambiance of the room and for showing to non-wargaming friends, somewhat bemused by our daft pastime, the artwork and research that goes into our unique table-top recreation of history.

The figure cabinets host selections from my Romano-Dacian, AWI and 1:700 Age of Sail collections, with space to accommodate some planned additions.

Dacian and Sarmatian Cavalry

You can't beat massed Romans for a bit of eye-candy.

From experience display cabinets work best with the larger scale figure and model collections and so my Romano-Dacians, AWI, Wars of the Roses, all soon to be added too in the coming months, together with a selection from the Age of Sail collection take centre piece and their presence helps to spur me on with those planned additions to those collections that has been occupying my mind whilst anticipating my room coming back online.

That's unless you have lots of 36-figure massed Dacian warbands waving falxs.

A bit of AWI to herald warfare in the Age of Reason.

And of course the Earl of Warwick stares across at my desk to remind me to get on with the WOTR collection

With the 220th anniversary of Trafalgar this year,
the ships are going to be a big part of 2025.

The picture below captures my desk flipped down and ready to go and an area in the house that has received a new lease of life now I have my room sorted out to my requirements, and a place where I just love to read, write and conjure up ideas for future games.

My creative cockpit, where ideas come together and games get typed
up along with other stuff.

The choice and placement of pictures around the room took a while to decide on, and I have erred on the maxim, 'less is more' by making good use of the open wall space created by the removal of storage cabinets and digging out options from my small collection of artworks that will allow me to rotate pictures on display, rather like the British Museum does with its collection of artefacts, but on a slightly more moderate scale, that sees the return of my Robert Taylor limited print from 1990, entitled 'Combat over London', produced for the 50th anniversary year of the Battle of Britain and signed by three Luftwaffe and three RAF aces, depicting a 92 Squadron Spitfire passing an Me109 of JG-2 in high altitude combat over London in September 1940.

Robert Taylor's 'Combat over London' takes centre stage at the 'players end' where portraits of those involved in making the games happen, are photographed to record their part in the fun my room will host in future.

With space at this end of the table and with such a stunning piece of artwork behind I plan to use this area to record players in games in my new room going forward.

For the 50th anniversary year of the Battle of Britain these prints were signed by three Luftwaffe and three RAF aces in 1990.

One important aspect I was keen to remedy was the comfort for my guests when gathered in the room to play and so part of the refurb was the plan to replace the rather robust wooden bar stools that had served their time but that were in urgent need of replacement with a more comfortable option that sees my set of new stools nicely upholstered for my friends and with an up and down leaver to adjust the height for simply kicking back and enjoying the table and the ambiance of the room, likely sipping a suitable beverage.

New levels of comfort, with my new upholstered, adjustable bar stools,
which are really comfy and a plush new carpet.

The room is pretty much ready to go and I plan to add some additional shelving to facilitate the placement of refreshment glasses, mugs and nibble plates, aspects that reveal themselves once a room has seen past service as this one has, and my new green table cloth covering may well enjoy a meeting with the iron at some time.

However, focus now turns to clearing out more potential space in the loft as Carolyn and I look to lighten our lives with that refreshing liberating feel of less stuff, and I look forward to getting back to the paint desk after my enforced absence during the recent upheaval.

As always, more anon.

JJ

AWI Fun with British Grenadier! - Paul's 60th Birthday Bash.

It seems to me that the hobby of wargaming and the very sociable requirement of having friends of a like mind who enjoy pushing groups of model soldiers about on a large table, readily facilitates celebrating special days in ones life, such as the occasional 60th Birthday celebration, when it is just fun doing just that and last weekend saw such a day as I and a group of pals met over at Chez Paul for his birthday to enjoy a large casual game of British Grenadier and a large set-to in the former colonies.

Our 12' x 5' table setup for the day with the respective forces ready to go, Americans and French on the left, British on the right.

 

On arrival at Paul's we were led into the back garden towards Paul's 'Bunker' where we found a 12' x 5' table all set up together with various commands of British, French and American troops, courtesy of Ian and Lawrence who organised our day and the marshalling of the respective armies; and seeing Ian go the extra mile with gloriously printed orders of battles together with mission objectives for the army and its respective commanders all with a wax seal attached for the 'eyes only' of each commander involved, whilst Lawrence had been busy painting up extra Brits to complete our respective orders of battle just prior to our big day.

This set up to our game meant that although the respective army commanders would have specific goals with victory point objectives attached to them, their respective brigade commanders might have their own goals and VPs that might interfere with them carrying out their bosses commands to the letter as they attempted to give precedence to their own objectives - what fun.

1st Marquess Cornwallis on his 60th birthday

So the commands were randomly diced for and I had the pleasure of assuming the role of General George Washington C-in-C of an American army looking to end the war once and for all by marching south to intercept a British army under Cornwallis and combined with French allies bring him to a decisive battle, and it just so happened that birthday-boy was General Cornwallis, the most feared British commander in the American colonies.

Cornwallis' brigade head down the road to the American supply depot.

Our rules for the game were 'British Grenadier' by Eclaireur, a set I have together with some of the very handy scenario books, but a rule set I have never played for one reason or another and so it would prove to be of added interest to see them in action, particularly with a large game such as this with up to four brigades of four to six units each on the table.

American Continentals and rifleman search the supply depot for a missing military chest whilst preparing to defend the position from Cornwallis' advancing redcoats.

Washington's objectives were reasonably straight forward, beat the British army under Cornwallis, whilst getting a few other jobs ticked off the list such as capturing the nearby fortified town and port, top right of the table as seen above, to searching a supply depot, directly above, for a military chest stollen by miscreants in the army and needed to pay the troops this month or suffer a drop in morale during this current battle.

Two battalions of Continentals shake out into line, the one to the left carrying a disruption from some British ranging artillery fire.

Similarly Cornwallis was eager to see the destruction of the Americans and their French allies, with British brigade commanders busy fulfilling their objectives as well as dealing with the enemy, that saw the British brigade holding the fortified port take the time needed for the French and their accompany artillery train to approach the stockade to happily loot the down for valuables that would render the British brigade commander valuable VP.

Hessians and Indians prepare to advance on the American centre

The game structure sees opposing C-in-C's rolling opposed dice to see which side would have the initiative to move and fire first in each round of play, with moving preceding firing, and then followed by a rally phase that would see respective units and commanders attempting to remove disruptions from units seen marked with the red-yellow and green triangles indicting up to three (red) disrupts being carried. 

Any further disruptions after three would incur figures lost and of course disruptions carried when firing or engaging in combat would affect detrimentally the factors used to resolve such encounters.

The Americans in the centre start to form up in and around the town

More British including highlanders push forward through the woods near the British centre.

In the early phases of play as the opposing sides manoeuvred to get into effective range for shooting and charges, players took the opportunity to fulfil their other missions as mentioned, before potential combat distracted them from such activity, and enemy interference was generally restricted to long range artillery attacks.

The local port, to the brim with British troops, busy looting the houses and store rooms

One such mission saw General Washington ride into the local town on his base edge to talk with the mayor and persuade him of the merits of supporting the Patriot cause in the upcoming struggle outside his town.

This task however proved more problematic than was anticipated, especially as Washington was accompanied by a brigade of Continentals to assure the locals that their security was uppermost in the general's mind.

The French push forward with their artillery train.

The mayor proved very obstinate in the negotiations that followed, he pointing out that his position required the general to consult with him first before marching troops into his town, and after several turns of fruitless talk, the town declared for the King and locals started taking pot-shots at the troops, which required a robust return of musketry to drive the towns folk into their houses and desist from their attacks.

Cornwallis attacks the American depot, met by American riflemen

Meanwhile, as Washington was somewhat busy, Cornwallis closed in of the American supply depot as the Americans searched in vain for their missing military chest, but fortunately for them the riflemen and a nearby unit of continentals occupying a wood delivered the approaching redcoats a punishing volley of musketry and rifle fire inflicting three disrupts in the first exchanges, quickly followed in the next with five casualties and narrowly missing wounding or killing Cornwallis himself, attached as he was to the lead unit.

The British allied Indians charge across open ground towards the town beyond

The Americans around the town prepare to greet the Indians

All across the line elements of both forces were closing to musketry range as the British centre advanced skirmishers and Indians to harass the Americans in and around the town, themselves busy fending off irate townsfolk, whilst on the American left flank the French columns laboriously advanced on the port under British skirmish fire, dragging their guns forward in support, as the British garrison busied itself looting the port.

As the French close in, the British desist form their looting activities and prepare to defend the stockade.

Virginia Continentals and legionary cavalry support the French advance.

Both sides had an additional brigade marching in support to join the fun and the British were first to have their additional troops available choosing to hold them in reserve until their presence was determined by the current action resolving on the table.

The British in the woods push forward in support of the port garrison.

The opposing lines are now fully deployed, with the first combats breaking out across the front.

A couple of turns later the American reserves turned up, and Washington immediately moved them onto the table to support the troops holing the depot and coming under increasing pressure from Cornwallis as they had to commit their whole brigade to defending the position, forgoing further searches for the military chest.

Negotiations have broken down in the town and the mayor incites locals to attack the American garrison

All was not lost for the American cause though, as Washington's brigade in the town repelled the attacks of the townsfolk driving them to take cover in their homes with a few well directed volleys, and the arriving brigade coming up in support of the supply depot garrison managed to find the military chest after a couple of searches, which freed it up to lend a hand with the fight to repel the British.

Continentals come up in support of the riflemen pushed back from the picket fence at the depot.

Those Indians kept on coming!

The first serious exchanges of fire break out near the port

British volleys greet the French outside the stockade.

Sadly I had to leave early as we had a friend down for the weekend and I was cooking dinner, but it was all to fight for when I departed and I gather later that a few of the chaps were picking things up the next day.

Out team for the day - left to right
Vince, Ian, Bob, Paul, John, Lawrence, Steve M. and JJ

Needless to say it was much fun spending time with the chaps and celebrating Paul's birthday and thanks to Vince, Ian, Bob, Paul, John, Lawrence and Steve for all the chat and play during our game, with a picture of us all, including 'Yours Truly' as a reminder of the day.

More anon

JJ