JJ's Wargames Year End Review, 2025 and The Plan for the New Year Ahead, 2026.

 

Well I don't know about you, but I'm not quite sure where that year went! I know it seems to be a truism that the older one gets, time seems to speed up anyway, from very young childhood when the odd hour in the back seat of the car could seem interminable, prompting the usual exclamation of 'are we there yet?' from my younger sister and me, to now when the days seem to simply fly by.

The last age-of-sail models completed in 2025 saw this pair of French brigs added to the Trafalgar collection in April, using some rather fine 3D printed hulls from Henry Turner to better represent these two vessels in my Trafalgar 220 project for 2025.

Not only that but when you get to a certain age you start to realise that you likely have more yesterdays than tomorrows so you'd better get on with things while you can still see straight and the dribbling isn't thinning the paint too much. 

'the plan changes on first contact with the enemy'.
At the start of the year I posted my completed Enterprise class frigate using a 3D print from Simon Mann, and building up plans to commence the Nile Collection. However four years exposure to super glue putting multiple ship models together, fully rigged had finally irritated my nasal passages enough to convince me that now was a good time for a change of plan. So in April 'The World got Turned Upside Down' with the recommenced work on the American War of Independence collection in anticipation of the 250th anniversary of the American Declaration of Independence in 2026.

The other aspect of the planning I tend to do, so as to avoid reeling of another year and thinking that there goes another opportunity to indulge the passion in this particular theme and collection, or to play that certain battle scenario that I'd always said I wanted to do, always based on the maxim;

'fail to plan, plan to fail', 

However, having a plan is all very well but it is important to remember and to keep in mind the other truism and indeed military maxim that should be emblazoned on the heart of every historical wargamer; 

'the plan changes on first contact with the enemy'.

So it seems that these themes seemed to have influenced my past year, and I find myself looking back to my previous Year End Review with a bit of a rye smile, in that the plan certainly changed, and with good reason, but also very much with an eye on 'the better get on with it' theme that I touched on in that review when looking at other projects I had in mind, still to be completed but at the time still very much on the back-burner.

Vince's arquebusiers built in February 2025 made a refreshing change from rigging 1:700 ships, together with a more colourful change of palette, that and relearning old skills of painting 28mm figures.

Four years of age-of-sail ship building and exposure to super glue fumes was causing my nose irritation and that, and the pleasure I had in putting together a unit of Arquebusiers for my mate Vince for a planned Pavia refight, convinced me that 2025 required a new theme despite the plan to build a Battle of the Nile collection of models, hence in April of this year my AWI collection returned front and centre as my new project, ready to get some battles run in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the American Declaration of Independence in 2026.

The Trafalgar 220 project got a great warm-up game at Exeter Legionary in May as the Trafalgar collection took centre stage for 2025, to culminate in a two day anniversary game with the NWS at Yeovilton in October. This was the first time we used Far Distant Ships with over seventy models on the table and the rules worked marvellously for this size of game.

Of course I still had some important age of sail games I wanted to run, this year being the 220th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar, and I was enjoying working up David Manley's Far Distant Ships (FDS) Fleet Battle rules that we used successfully in 2024 to run the Battle of Camperdown. 

The culmination of the Trafalgar 220 project with a two day anniversary game with the NWS at Yeovilton in October. Great fun, and a fitting way to honour the Immortal Memory.

The fun with ships continued throughout 2025 with my good friend Captain Steve introducing me and I suspect many others to the delights of yet more age-of-sail fun with his series of games recreating the Anglo-Dutch Wars using his glorious collection of 1:1200 Langton models and a fitting tribute in the year that Rod Langton, who had a great influence on my own hobby, retired from trading. Thank you Rod for your contribution to the hobby of historical wargaming and age of sail gaming in particular.

Captain Steve's marvellous collection of Anglo-Dutch Wars 1:1200 Langton models, featured regularly in 2025 and received great feedback with his series of AAR's and fleet reviews.

My year with the ships concluded in November when the Devon Wargames Group and friends gathered at the Fleet Air Arm Museum for a weekend of wargaming and socialising, and during which I ran the Battle of Cape Finisterre 1805 otherwise known as Calder's Action, again using Far Distant Ships.

Battle of Cape Finisterre 1805 otherwise known as Calder's Action played at the FAA Yeovilton in November with the DWG and friends.

So for the foreseeable the ships will step back from my focus for the next few years as I turn my attention to 'The World Turned Upside Down’, but I'm rather hoping to indulge the itch every now and then, perhaps with a bit of Anglo-Dutch fun with Steve, and some small ship actions that I have a mind to work through, with the collection of frigates and brigs completed too date, more anon.

Perhaps one of the most enjoyable highlights of 2025 for me was a project long in the planning that reached a successful conclusion in March as the carpet went down and the new furnishings went in to my refurbished wargames room.

My oasis of contemplation and planning with books and figure collections close at hand to inspire other collections and projects.

My room is an oasis of contemplation and planning with books and figure collections close at hand to inspire other collections and projects, and I intend to feature more games in it in the forthcoming months with friends.

The Portuguese capital, Lisbon, provided the first port of call this year, a place I had longed to visit in the wake of my Talavera and Peninsular War project a few years previously and a wonderful venue for history buffs.

Another theme of the blog that also inspires my hobby and I hope entertains others is the occasional little and big trips as JJ's goes on Tour to various places and explore a bit of history along with the other delights of cuisine, culture and scenery that new places have to offer.

A glorious model of the Portuguese 44-gun Principe da Beira, built in 1774 on display in the Lisbon Maritime Museum.

In February Carolyn and I got a bit of winter sun and flew down to Lisbon for a few days before catching a train north to Porto.

Lisbon saw JJ's maintain the maritime theme as Carolyn and I got onto the water of the River Tagus to see Lisbon from a different angle and absorb more of her historic waterfront.

Portugal is a lovely country to visit and we have always enjoyed ourselves on previous visits, with this trip enabling me to tick off some really important historic venues along the way as well as enjoying the odd piece of Piri Piri Chicken.

Porto was one of the venues we weren't able to include in the big 2019 tour of Peninsular Battle sites, and given that the Crossing of the Douro was a major game I had worked on previously, I was really keen to see the place and how close our tabletop fight had captured the layout of the town.

Travelling up the river on a repurposed port-wine barge and past the monastery to see the actual beach from where the 3rd (buffs) set off to take possession of the seminary on the opposite bank was a real thrill.

'More than half the Buffs had passed, and the Seminary was beginning to be adequately manned . . . '
One of our several refights of the Battle of Porto back in 2014, and eleven years later I got to see the real thing.

The rearward facing wall of the Seminary and the slope behind up which the troops from Hill's brigade climbed from the river.

Across from the Seminary, and where our boat turned about to take us back to Villa Nova, the beach from which Hill's brigade boarded their barges to make the hazardous crossing to the Seminary can clearly be seen today below the hights of Avintes.

Hill's brigade, crossing the Douro, 12th May 1809.
'In a quarter of an hour the first vessel was over, and a subaltern and twenty-five men rushed up into the empty enclosure of the Seminary, and closed the big iron gate opening into the Vallongo road, which formed its only land-exit. The men from the other barges were just behind: they set themselves to lining the garden wall and to piling up wood and earth against it, in order to give themselves a standing-place from which they could fire over the coping.'

The travel fun continued with a proper summer break in Kefalonia and Ithaca during which I managed to get to visit the Homeric residence of King Odysseus as well as experiencing my first minor earthquake!

The view of the Ionian Sea from the Palace of Odysseus in Ithaca, identified in 2010, and likely looking from Penelope's former window

The year culminated with a long anticipated trip to Stockholm and Sweden in November to celebrate Carolyn's significant birthday and soak up a bit of Swedish culture that included a visit to the world famous Vasa Museum.

The Vasa Museum was a place I had long looked forward to visiting and surpassed 
all my expectations. Well up there with some of the best museums I have had the
pleasure of seeing.

Alongside the trips other adventures have continued to feature such as my regular calendar of show dates that this year included Partizan in May, Attack in July and Colours in September.

The Yarkshire Gamer presented Germantown at Partizan which given my current project work immediately grabbed my attention.

Bill Gaskin's Seven Year's War Game was a real treat at this year's Partizan

Steve L, Tom and Mr Steve enjoying the vista of Bill Gaskin's Seven Years War game at Partizan.

'By God sir, those really are regulars!'

This very nicely turned out Pacific Air War 1:700 participation game, seen at Attack in the summer, caught my eye.

An unexpected flypast of WWII warbirds coincided with our visit to Colours this year. A marvellous bonus to the day.

Dave Brown's Waterloo game was a real treat for the eye at this year's Colours show.

In April I laid out my plans to recommence work on my AWI collection that saw some of my previously produced units for my Mohawk Valley project get an upgrade to be included in The World Turned Upside Down project designed to look at fighting large and small battle scenarios from the American War up and down the thirteen colonies with a view towards producing games to coincide with the upcoming 250th anniversary of the American Declaration of Independence next year.

My first upgraded unit were these generic brown uniformed Continentals showing off the low profile sabot bases from Supreme Littleness Designs and the battalion arrangements around three, four, five and six similarly sized sabots to easily flex units for different scenarios, sometimes carrying colours and other times not.

Since the first unit of Continentals, three units of militia, and another five units of Continentals have followed alongside British light infantry, and six battalions of British regulars to join my couple of guns, Hessian Jagers and six mounted officers with another unit of Continentals and British regulars to be showcased in the New Year. giving me a firm foundation of a collection as we head off into 2026.

The 35th Foot was one of my first new British regular regiments to join the collection and participated in my test battle, 'The Battle of Telegraph Hill' played at the DWG in June this year using Rise and Fight Again rules from Stand to Games.

The club game organised with my pal Jack was an opportunity to reacquaint myself with the delights of Rise and Fight Again (R&FA) as well as getting to envisage the kind of game I am hoping to produce with this collection.

 'The Battle of Telegraph Hill' played at the DWG in June this year using Rise and Fight Again rules from Stand to Games.

In addition to using R&FA I have also been in contact with Nigel Marsh, creator of Carnage & Glory II that Steve and I had so much fun with when playing the Talavera Peninsular War collection and I aim to get up to speed with the Seven Years War set that will also work for AWI.

Thanks to the help from Nigel Marsh to update my C&G II playing system from its last incarnation that I was using back in 2018 for my Talavera project, I'm really looking forward to getting the AWI version of the rules up and running in my future games for those of us who enjoy the amazing wargaming simulation C&G produces. If you are unfamiliar with the rules you will find fifty odd posts in my links in the right hand column demonstrating why I love playing Carnage and Glory.
Carnage and Glory II

The plan I started to layout in my post back in April has developed in the succeeding months since those first thoughts started to crystalise in my minds eye.

JJ's Wargames - New Work on my American War of Independence Collection.

In that post I very much saw the 16-figure, four base battalion/regiment being the core formation of the collection with the sabot basing arrangement facilitating flexing in and out of that arrangement for larger and smaller scale scenarios, an aspect that typifies battles in the AWI with forces ranging from the tens of thousands to the tens of hundreds.

That vision is still a core principle to my collection but I have started to work on a more variable battalion look for my big-battle set up of the 12-figure to 24-figure arrangement to cater for battalions of anything from 250 to 400 men plus.

I now have the complete set of British Grenadier Scenario books

I now have the complete set of British Grenadier Scenario books and it is interesting to see a similar evolution in them with the original book very much focussed on a 1:20 big battle scale and as the inclusion of smaller actions in later books became more common, 1:15, 1:10 and even 1:5 figure to men ratios crept in, to no detriment to the original rules and their concept.

Cornwallis's Attack as laid out on Jemima Fawr's Miniature Wargames Blog and providing inspiration for my own plan.
https://www.jemimafawr.co.uk/2025/06/05/the-battle-of-the-brandywine-1777-refight-again/

These scenario ideas will be games I intend to run on my table as stand alone scenarios as the collection develops to cater for them, with a focus at present on building the American and British units for the two Brandywine scenarios, Cornwallis's Attack and Knyphausen's Battle in time for a 250th anniversary game in 2027.

Most of my army is styled towards Howe's Philadelphia Campaign, but other specific look-units will follow for other theatres within the wider continent.

The look of my current forces are very much focussed towards Howe's Philadelphia Campaign and will cater for actions fought throughout the continent with a plan to develop additional forces for a more specific look such as the Saratoga and Mohawk campaigns and some specific units that will create a very 'Southern' look for actions fought in the Carolinas.

My visit to Colours in September 2025 allowed me to add to the terrain collection to be constructed in 2026.

Alongside the figure collection I have amassed a collection of buildings and terrain, mostly mdf offerings, but some resin ones that will need constructing in the coming months.

My ideas for developing a campaign system around the great boardgame Washington's War, is also developing alongside my new collection.

As well as stand-alone scenario games I am keen to develop my ideas with the boardgame Washington's War, which Steve and I have played to death and have never grown tired of, as every game seems to produce one very different from another, and we have both mused over transferring the battles it produces to the tabletop, with all the political and strategic narrative the game creates.

An example of my own army generator using ideas from The World Turned Upside Down, from Wargame Vault, but redesigned around Washington's War.

I have so far developed an army and commander generator based on the maximum 3:2 force structure outlined in my April post and have a battle-terrain generator in draft which I intend to adjust to accommodate my terrain collection as it grows.

The similarly named campaign system to my own current project is a ready to go AWI campaign game 
from Real Time Wargames and available on Wargames Vault.
Real Time Wargames

As an aside to my campaign aspirations, if you are of a similar mind, I recently discovered a really great campaign module for the AWI ready to play, that has provided ideas for my own efforts with Washington's War and is available in PDF from Wargames Vault.

The campaign map in The World Turned Upside Down can be printed in two A3 or four A4 sections, and the game comes complete with counters and campaign rules.

I'm really excited about my current core project and am looking forward to showcasing new units, terrain and games as and when the collection allows, whilst also continuing with the blog to present other wargames and history related stuff, alongside the occasional JJ's on Tour diversion, that I think you might find interesting.

Alongside my project work and the continuation of the blog, I'm also looking forward to more family time in the year ahead as I have become a Grandpa, to my granddaughter Robin, and have a family wedding to look forward to in May 2026. 

The Devon Wargames Group and friends at this year's Clotted Lard.

After having had the honour of forty-five years chairing the Devon Wargames Group, since its formation back in 1981, I have decided to step down at the end of April, and return to the 'back benches' as I reckon that amount of time is long-enough for anyone and with the club now boasting some forty odd members, a solid team of club officers leading the way, and with a good number of folks younger than me, with ideas of their own to develop, it's time for the club to explore new avenues in wargaming which I hope will be the future.

So one way or another I expect 2026 to be a year of great change and new horizons and I am very excited for the future.

I wish you all a very happy New Year in 2026, and as always, more anon.

JJ

JJ's Wargames Year End Review, 2024 and The Plan for the New Year Ahead, 2025

 

Wow, where has that year just gone! It is a truism of life that the older we get the faster time seems to speed up, and where as before there seemed to be years ahead to do all the things I wanted to do in the hobby, that seems less and less of a luxury and I feel more and more compelled to get focussed and less and less content with simply flitting between the latest new shiny set of toys and new rules, with often the latter not turning out to be all that new after all.

Collections to be started or concluded, but not just yet.
The Romano Dacians are over half way completed, the AWI Mohawks less so and the Wars of the Roses and ECW remain to be started, although I built Warwick's band a few years ago to test out some ideas, the rest of the figures are still waiting for the love.

Thus my habit of deep-dives on a particular theme or era seems likely to be the norm for JJ's Wargames for the foreseeable, with my ambition, God willing, to conclude my collection of Age of Sail models and play some very iconic battles and actions with them, before turning to share the love on some other collections that are an as yet an unfulfilled or incomplete passion, namely my Roman-Dacians, my AWI Mohawks and my Wars of the Roses, and who knows, with a fair wind and an able body, then maybe an English Civil War adventure to finish with.

Our big trip to the other side of the globe in 2022-2023 took an amazing and very special four months out of the normal wargaming calendar that has seen 2024 as a period of catch-up on projects started before we went away. In addition I aim to conclude my series of posts covering that trip in the first quarter of 2025 picking up the account from my last post in September looking at the Darwin Aviation Museum. 

As illustrated above, my series of posts covering Carolyn's and my big adventure in 2022-2023, has seen a year of consolidation on projects in 2024 that were planned or started before we went away together with a return to a more normal routine than the previous year that featured a tertial spent living out of a suitcase; and with my last post back in September about the trip, looking at the Darwin Aviation Museum, I plan to conclude matters with a post looking at the Darwin Military Museum in the New Year before finishing things off with the final leg of the trip that ended in Singapore in February 2023.

So as usual, before turning to the plan for 2025, I will take a look at the previous year of 2024, the previous plan and the hobby activity posted about here on the blog.

Work commenced early in 2024 on working up a new set of rules for my fleet action games, Far Distant Ships (FDS), which I intended to use with my interpretation of the Battle of Camperdown, and saw myself, Jack and Mike playtesting here at Chez JJ.
JJ's Wargames - Battle of Camperdown, The Leeward Division Attacks

As outlined in my plan for 2024 the focus of activity was to be centred around continuing the emphasis on producing an entertaining blog illustrating the stuff I find interesting and enjoyable in the hobby, with the Battle of Camperdown project front and centre that would see me working up a new set of Age of Sail rules for my big battle/fleet action games to run alongside Kiss Me Hardy (KMH) and To Covet Glory (TCG) for my smaller squadron and single ship actions. 

Myself, Mike and Jack getting to grips with Far Distant Ships (FDS) in January 2024

The project to build the two fleets for Camperdown would recommence with Post Number Six in March 2024 with the completion of Leijden 68-guns, Wassenaer 64-guns and Batavier 56-guns and conclude in August with Post Number Fourteen looking at the last six models, the British 16-gun sloop, Martin, and the Batavian-Dutch 16-gun brigs, Galatée, Daphné, Ajax and Atalante and the aviso Het Hassje.

Leijden 68-guns, Wassenaer 64-guns and Batavier 56-guns 

The project would see an additional twenty six models added to it between February and August 2024 alongside other builds, enabling some playtest games to be run on the lead up to the full battle being played in October 2024 at the NWS Meeting at Yeovilton.

Two of the last six models built to finish the fleets for Camperdown, the 16-gun British sloop, Martin and the 6-gun Batavian Dutch aviso (dispatch or advice boat) Het Hassje.

With the Camperdown collection finished I was also able to present a review of the two fleets seen together for the first time, and illustrate the new gaming materials to run fleet actions using FDS

Battle of Camperdown Fleet Review August 2024
JJ's Wargames - Battle of Camperdown, Fleet Review

New materials for running fleet actions with FDS included new signal books, range sticks, fleet management cards and ship status markers. I have really enjoyed the games FDS produces for these big fleet action games.

There is nothing quite like the feeling gained with finishing a project that has consumed over a year's worth of work to complete and it was fun planning and anticipating the games ahead whilst taking the closeups below of the two fleets for my Fleet Review Post.

The culmination of this project would see me running a new scenario for Kiss Me Hardy, 'Nailing the Colours' recreating the attack by Duncan's Windward Division in the battle and played at this year's Clotted Lard, together with a rendition of the full battle played with the Naval Wargames Society at the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovilton.

Nailing the Colours, played at Clotted Lard in September 2024
Devon Wargames Group - Clotted Lard 2024

The table setup to play 'Nailing the Colours' at this year's Clotted Lard - a link to the pdf of the scenario can be found in the link below
JJ's Wargames - Nailing the Colours, Battle of the Vanguards

JJ Wargames - Naval Wargames Society Weekend 2024

The Battle of Camperdown Team - NWS Meeting Yeovilton 2024

Alongside the Camperdown Project, work continued to build a collection of other models designed to facilitate my working up a set of Small Squadron and Single Ship Actions gleaned from the glorious works of William James and his Naval History of Great Britain, for which I have completed the writing up of one hundred scenarios this month, for use with KMH and TCG, but designed to be easily adapted for other rule sets if preferred, with playtesting looking to be a theme for the New Year ahead.

JJ's Wargames - All at Sea, Scenarios for Light Squadrons and Single Ships

The layout for each scenario is based on the idea of starting the sequence of play as a 'Meeting' or 'Chase' setup with the opportunity for the game to change to the other should a player decide to run from a Meeting turning the situation into a Chace or by a twist of fate suddenly getting the upper hand in a Chace to decide to turn and fight a damaged pursuer.

With the setup comes a points weighting of the combatants, in terms of the vessels they have, the situation they find themselves in and the damages and losses suffered and inflicted to gauge the level of victory or defeat, always able to make a comparison with the historical outcome.

   

Scenario 1 of One Hundred Small Squadron and Single Ship Actions adapted from William James' Naval History of Great Britain, I have composed for use with KMH and TCG.

My intention in 2025 is to edit the collection and start running some playtests of the ideas written into them with the range of actions that James recounts offering the historical wargamer a very special insight into the challenges faced by the respective commanders of the vessels involved, trying to identify the enemy and then decide whether to run or to fight, with the addition of other situations such as cutting out operations and actions at anchor all adding to the mix, and likely requiring some additional terrain building such as that constructed for my Bantry Bay game in 2023.

The Bantry Bay game in 2023 was my first venture in constructing coastal terrain for my age of sail games and the Small Squadron and Single Ship Actions presents additional opportunities to construct suitably aesthetic coastlines to go with shore batteries, gunboats and anchored ships.

With the advent of a growing collection of 3D prints of specific ship types becoming available to compliment the range from Warlord Games, the opportunity to produce very specific ships that capture the look of their historical counterparts mentioned in James' history allows for a more compelling look to these games on the table, where the individual ships are much more apparent than in a fleet action.

JJ's Wargames - HM Brig Speedy and the Xebec Frigate El Gamo

Thus in May of this year I embarked on putting together some of these 3D printed models supplied by Only Games from the catalogue of Turner Miniatures, with the addition of masts, sails and other fittings from the Warlord range of plastic models that saw two very specific vessels built for one of the scenarios I had compiled, namely the famous action between HM Brig Speedy and the Spanish Xebec Frigate, El Gamo fought on the 6th May 1801.

The French frigate La Coquille 
JJ's Wargames - French Frigate La Coquille

HMS Glatton
JJ's Wargames - HMS Glatton

La Virginie
JJ's Wargames - French Frigate La Virginie

Unité
JJ's Wargames - French Frigate Unité

Magicienne
JJ's Wargames - French Frigate Magicienne

French 16-gun brig Vigilant
JJ's Wargames - French Brig Vigilant

USS Constellation
JJ's Wargames - USS Constellation

All these specific models will coincide with the completion of the scenario collection together with specific ship record sheets for each, for use with KMH or TCG, and at some stage I will compose a list of the models used that will work for the ships featured in each action.

The ship record sheet for USS Constellation designed for Scenarios Nos. 73 and 86
for the actions versus the French frigates Insugente and Vengeance 

HM Cutter Entreprenante
JJ's Wargames. HM Cutter Entreprenante

In the process of adding these new 3D prints I also indulged in some more scratch building with the addition of a French privateer lugger built alongside my interpretation of the RN Lugger Speculator for the Camperdown collection, and did a detailed post looking at the build using the hull of the Warlord Schooner, link below.

The RN Lugger Speculator and my French privateer.
JJ's Wargames - Let's Build a Lugger

Finally, as far as the All at Sea focus of the blog is concerned, this year also saw the commencement of my 'Revenge in the Name of Honour' collection of War of 1812 models that has started with a look at the key frigate actions that captured the imagination of both the British and American public from this period, with a plan going forward, and with more appropriate models becoming available, to include the under the rate vessels for both the open-sea and great-lakes actions.

The Macedonian in action with the United States - Derek Gardner

The naval war of 1812 is a very separate and distinct theme from the Napoleonic naval war that Britain
fought against France and her other naval allies and has always been on my agenda to include a specific collection of models to facilitate the playing of the actions from it.

The USS United States and HMS Macedonian kicked off the Revenge collection of War of 1812 models in November.
JJ's Wargames - USS United States

HMS Macedonian
JJ's Wargames - HMS Macedonian

The All at Sea theme of the blog this year has seen the addition of forty new models as part of the Camperdown project, the Light Squadron collection and the Revenge 1812 project, finished off with a proof of concept build of my French 74-gun ship at anchor to prepare my ideas for the next big fleet build in 2025, namely a collection to facilitate the Battle of the Nile and First Algeciras with both French and British models at anchor to be a part of those games.

My new generic French 74 at anchor, alongside the Lorient model built earlier, part of the plan build in 2025.
JJ's Wargames - All at Sea, Battles of Nile and Algeciras

In addition to my own stuff I have managed to include some work for friends with a naval enthusiasm that saw some 17th century 1/1200 Dutch fireships featured this month, and four 1:700 merchantmen and Indiamen built for Jack and his son Charlie, to be featured in a new post for 2025.

Fireships for Xmas saw me finishing off 2024 with work for friends collections.
JJ's Wargames - Fireships for Xmas

Other activities have also featured here on JJ's with the Wargame Show circuit featured with a trip up to Partizan in May of this year, which combined with the sunny weather, great games and convivial company of Steve M and Mr Steve.

JJ's Wargames - Partizan Wargames Show 2024

The other show to feature was from the other end of the year with a trip up to Newbury Racecourse in September to visit Colours, celebrating their 50th Anniversary.

JJ's Wargames - Colours 2024

The show circuit was somewhat curtailed this year compared with previous given that the February, July and October were taken up with holidays and a significant wedding, but I shared the fun Carolyn and I had in Madeira and Iceland this year, two very different Atlantic Ocean, volcanic islands, with very distinctive history, culture, scenery and food.

JJ's Wargames - Madeira 2024

JJ's Wargames - Iceland, Land of Fire & Ice 2024

In addition to holidays and the odd wedding, a few other adventures took time out from the show circuit and were featured here on the blog, namely the special 'Legion Life in the Roman Army' exhibition presented by the British Museum in London, a visit to the Newark Air Museum and their collection of Cold War military and civil aircraft, a day out on the historic Paddle Steamer Waverley in the Bristol Channel, and a visit to the historic ship building village of Buckler's Hard in the New Forest, a place where several of the ships, seen as models here on the blog, were built.

JJ's Wargames - The British Museum, Legion Life in the Roman Army

JJ's Wargames - Paddle Steamer Waverley

JJ's Wargames - Bucklers Hard

JJ's Wargames - Newark Air Museum

These activities combined with a few posts covering games with friends formed the digest of activities in and around my hobby for 2025 with one glaring omission from a normal year on JJ's, namly my book review section for which I posted my most recent review back in November 2023, looking at 'The Frontier Sea' by Dave Watson, covering the Napoleonic Wars in and around the Adriatic Sea.

JJ's Wargames -The Frontier Sea, Book Review

I should say my reading habit has been somewhat taken up in the last twelve months with what I would call personal developmental reading, coupled with constant dipping in and out of several reference sources for my All at Sea project work, with little or no time for some new books I intend to highlight here on JJ's when finished.

I have some ideas about the book review side of hobby reading to look to include a wider scan over my library as a whole, which includes many tomes from a few years back, some now probably out of print and available only second hand but well worth obtaining none the less.

At this juncture I suppose I should turn my attention to plans for JJ's Wargames in 2025 and likely themes to feature over the next twelve months.

Will, Ben and Tom in my Wargaming Room with the Romano-Dacian collection on the table in 2019

The first big thing happening to JJ's Wargames in 2025 is that my Wargames Room is getting a much needed and postponed 'face-lift decorating job' done on it in January, which is long overdue and intended to add more comfort, space and better lighting to my home hobby area. This work will see a new ceiling with recessed lights running the length of the room on both sides, new carpet, wall paper and comfortable stools together with additional shelving and the removal of the old gas fire which will make moving around the table so much easier than now.

My table coming together in 2013 with the help of Tom. The eleven years of gaming on it have been much fun, but I'm hoping to use the time my room gets during its rebuild to do a similar upgrade to my table with a few alterations and refurbs to complete the overall refit.
JJ's Wargames - New Wargames Table 2013

Work has commenced to empty the room of stuff prior to the plasterer and electrician moving in in the New Year, and the six weeks of upheaval will put model making on hold as space is given over to models that formerly occupied my room. 

The first job for the New Year is emptying my wargames room in preparation for its 'face-lift' - more anon.

The display cabinets along with the table will be coming out and this is the last time those wall lights will be on show.

So I will use this time to complete several pieces of outstanding work that will include additional rule tweaks to KMH/TCG, new materials for running my small squadron/single ship scenarios and the final editing of the scenario collection, whilst I intend to use the time on the blog to finish off my outstanding series of posts from Australia and Singapore together with other wargames related posts planned for the start of the year. 

The content of the blog is set to continue pretty much as always, with a post a week on hobby activities, associated travel, shows and other stuff to vary the diet of reading here on JJ's, with a focus on the project build for the Nile collection and bringing my Light Squadron Scenario Collection to completion with some play testing of ideas in the new look Wargames Room.

The year will also include pulling together another big Trafalgar game in 2025 in commemoration of the 220th anniversary of the battle using Far Distant Ships in time for the Naval Wargames Society Meeting at Yeovilton.

These activities have put on hold my ideas about shifting the age of sail focus into the American War of Independence era as previously mentioned in last years plan, but never say never.

As the old DJ's used to say, 'a rave from the grave' with a JJ's Wargames theme from previous years very much focussed on Wellington's early years in the Peninsular War, with the Battle of Oporto seen here. 

Additionally one other planned adventure in February will give me an opportunity to reacquaint myself with Wellington's time in the Peninsular and I hope to have some interesting material to post about then.

I have a feeling the New Year is likely to be a rather turbulent one away from the hobby, and so even more than in other times the creative pleasure that historical wargaming, and its associated activities offers, will be a very important relief from all the other noise going on and I hope JJ's Wargames might provide a bit of a sanctuary to those of us who enjoy this rather unique pastime.

I'm really looking forward to 2025 with much anticipation for the wargaming year ahead and I will close by wishing everyone a very happy, peaceful and exciting New Year.

JJ