JJ's Wargames Year End Review, 2019 & The Plan for the New Year Ahead, 2020

The end of another year in wargaming is the time to take stock of the fun had, plans achieved, or not, and more importantly what's next in the year ahead.

The latter activity rather implies a bit of scoping out towards the horizon and making plans based on the conclusions arrived at from ones observations; apologies for a rather contrived way to explain the picture heading up this year's review, from the great film 'Master & Commander' which given my recent activities with all things 'Age of Sail' seemed an appropriate theme to start with.

It's interesting to look back to the previous year's review and to remember what the 'then me' was looking forward to and how I envisaged my activities would be going forward.

I note with interest that my personal circumstances were very much in transition as I got used to a new routine with my retirement from full time employment and the opportunity that change created to focus a lot more on aspects of the hobby and other life aspirations that I had not had the time to give them when working.

Those aspirations included focus on the work to build my 28mm ancient collection and a new collection of terrain items together with looking forward to a holiday touring Peninsular War battlefields that I had wanted to do for a very long time.

Something I hadn't anticipated fully was my table being 'hors de combat' for nine months in 2019, and it's great to have things back to normal with 2020 to come.

As always and as predicted other life requirements filled the void left by not having to maintain a full time job that caused some modification to what I thought I might be doing in 2019, which primarily centred around the completion of some key house improvements to compliment my new found circumstances; that saw the addition of a new kitchen, new sun lounge and a refurbished utility room in which I normally store my 'to do' wargames stuff that had to come out and sit patiently upon my table during the refit.

Thus as mentioned in the Xmas game report with Tom, Will and Ben playing with the Romano-Dacian collection, the games room saw little action this year, but is now back and hopefully available to play some more games in 2020.

So as usual I begin this post with a look back on the activities in 2019 before considering what the plan is for the New Year and what you might expect to see here on the blog.

As laid out earlier in the life of JJ's Wargames, I decided I wanted the blog to serve as a personal journal of my time in the hobby and the friends I like to play wargames with, as well as being a magazine style blog with plenty of historical and wargaming content to interest the general reader.

The final set of blog stats for 2019

That intent remains and it is great that with over one million hits in six years, achieved this year, it seems a lot of people are interested enough to come and have a look even when you discount all the bot crawler hits that infest the web and confuse any attempt to accurately assess this aspect; better still a lot of people keep coming back to the blog and comment on posts, and a great community of regular followers has developed which only adds to the fun of doing this.

So based on the fact that it seems a lot of people like what happens here on the blog the intent is to keep on doing what we do, but better, and looking to do other things that will keep the content as fresh and as interesting as time will permit.

The historical input to the wargaming that gets featured here on the blog has always been an important aspect of the content, reflected in the book reviews and reports on historical places of interest that compliment our hobby.

Books reviewed in 2019

I have to admit to some other fictional reading invading my historical reading time this year but, between myself and Mr Steve, I like to think that the numbers of books reviewed is more than made up for by the quality of books included, that made for some easy titles to recommend.

In addition a lot of my reading time was devoted to identifying the key books I was planning to take with me to Spain and Portugal this year and that accompanied me on the trip securely packed in a plastic RUB to keep them safe and secure on the journey. All the books I used as reference are included on the relevant posts that I did covering that trip and include the two Peninsular War titles above that were new additions to my library.

Some of the places visited this year and posted about - Offas Dyke, Montgomery Castle, Shrewsbury, Berlin, Dorchester's Roman town house and the Cartagena gun battery in Spain.

Alongside the reading I was lucky to be able to take the time this year to visit some extraordinary places that were also posted about on the blog.

It was great fun to pick up where we left off in 2018 with my old mate Mr Steve joining me on two walks and journeys, one to Offas Dyke, the battlefields of Shrewsbury, Montgomery and Mortimer's Cross, as well as Montgomery Castle and the Welsh Marcher borderlands and another later in the year exploring parts of Dorset that included Hod Hill, Maiden Castle, and Dorchester.

In addition Carolyn and I took time exploring sites close to our home in Murcia including Roman and Carthaginian Cartagena and the Spanish Civil War naval gun batteries close to the city and later with a visit just last month to Berlin to see Will and the historic parts of this famous European capital.

Some of the stand out games I played this year - Battle of Pinhoe-Dux Bellorum, Chain of Command 'Let's Go' Campaign, Gettysburg First Day-Fire & Fury 2nd Ed., Target for Tonight Campaign, The Big Dux Bellorum at Wargames Foundry and Tom Ben and Will playing Augustus to Aurelian to finish the year off on a high.

Despite having my wargaming room out of commission, I was still able to indulge myself in some great games this year, attending all but one of the Devon Wargame Group club meetings and able to play in two campaigns, Chain of Command and Target for Tonight.

In addition I really enjoyed the Gettysburg game at another friends place, Steve L, playing the new version of Fire and Fury, and I finally got to game a local battle, the Battle of Pinhoe 1001 AD where I walked the battlefield and organised a Dux Bellorum refight at the DWG meeting in February.

Our regular trip to Partizan in May was accompanied by a big Dux Bellorum game at Wargames Foundry which was great fun, and it was a real treat to have Will, Tom and Ben playing Augustus to Aurelian on my table for the first time this year.

Shows attended in 2019

Another key aspect of the wargaming year is attending shows and reporting back on hopefully some of the best games in the hobby.

Although I attended fewer shows this year, much fun was had at the ones featured and it was great to be invited by the organisers of Salute to come and have a look at perhaps the flagship show in the hobby, after my last visit back in 2013.

It was a real treat to include interviews with some top notch traders such as Victrix, Battlefront, Oshiro Model Terrain and Warbases as well as being able to feature some great games and new products that have been launched since the show. The Salute team continue to do a first rate job in bringing a first rate show to the hobby.

Alongside Salute, I reported on Crusade, Colours and Partizan with some great games and other items featured, and also the Devon Wargames Group's very own showcase day in association with the Too Fat Lardies, 'Clotted Lard', that ran eight excellent games and raised £400 for the veterans charity Combat Stress.

Terrain started at the close of 2018

As far as my own hobby work this year, the work picked up from 2018 with important additions to my 28mm terrain collection with new trees, rivers, hills, breached fortress wall sections, and my Roman watch-tower as well as other scatter items

28mm Terrain Build started 2019

With the terrain items added, I turned my attention to adding enough troops to the Romano-Dacians to create two new divisions of four units plus commanders and casualties, before deciding to take a break from sandals, spears and shields with work on a collection I have long had in mind to start, namely my AWI Mohawk Valley collection.

The first half of 2019 continued the work with the Romano-Dacian collection with some major additions to my core collection

The really great thing about enjoying the painting and modelling side of the hobby is the fun in just picking up a new set of figures or models, putting them together, if required, and working out how to turn them from an interesting piece of metal or plastic into a recognisable addition to a new collection.

I think this year I have rediscovered some of that pure enjoyment of serendipity, after a long period of painting to a specific theme.

That said, discipline is required to get anywhere with the hobby and I don't foresee any other collections being started until major progress has been made with those currently on the go.

As mid-year approached I decided to refresh my pallet and start work on my 28mm AWI Mohawk Valley collection for Sharp Practice II

The ship modelling has been a great distraction and has refreshed my memory on skill sets I haven't used since working on my Langton collection of ships in the early nineties. I am planning to continue with these going into the new year so that I can try out some rule sets with this larger scale of model.

The launch of Warlord Games Black Seas range of 1:700th Age of Sail ships has rekindled my interest in this era and theme and work started on this new collection last month.

One this collection has reached the target for the number of ships to be built this year, I plan to turn my attention back to the AWI, before ending the year with some further additions to the Romano-Dacians.

Alongside the figure collections I am also planning to add yet more terrain items to keep the tables I am able to produce as interesting as possible.

Some of Mr Steve's travel posts from 2019 

One of the best aspects of wargaming is the friends you make in the hobby, many of whom stay with you for years, and I am really lucky to have made such friends who share a common interest and who make it fun to do.

My friend and blog correspondent Mr Steve is one such person and he has regularly contributed some great posts to JJ's Wargames over the years its been running, covering books and places he has visited that has added variety and insights and 2019 has been a 'bumper year' with some great reports ranging from the dark ages, the middle ages through to a follow up on our visit earlier this year to hear Ian Knight talking about the 140th anniversary of the Zulu War with a visit to the South Wales Borderers Regimental museum.

Ian Knight speaking at the National Army Museum earlier this year about the Zulu War and commemorating the 140th Anniversary.

Perhaps the standout hobby memories for me in 2019 are two events, both associated with my first love, the Peninsular War.

In January I was really happy to announce the result of two years work resulting in the publication of O'er the Hills, a scenario book designed around the Napoleonic rule set Over the Hills from Stand to Games.

O'er the Hill's Scenario Book - My first stand out memory for 2019

Thank you to everyone who supported the project, it was great fun to do, and  I hope it will provide some fun for those wanting to wargame this very interesting period in the Peninsular War.

Finally, perhaps as big a moment for me in 2019, was boarding the ferry at Portsmouth this summer to begin a three week holiday touring some of the key battlefield and sieges of the Peninsular War, that enabled me to walk in the footsteps of the veterans who fought it for real, and brought so many tabletop encounters to vivid reality when walking the actual ground.

My Peninsular War Battlefield Tour 2019 - A fantastic experience, made even better by being able to record it and share the memories here on JJ's Wargames with other like minds.

There we are, another year over and what a fantastic year, and definitely one to remember.

I have to say that the thought of retirement back in 2018 created ideas of so much time to do so many things, which had been put on hold for a lot of years. If this last eighteen months is to go by, there still isn't enough time in the day to get everything done and long may it remain so.

The hobby is the best it has ever been and I hope JJ's Wargames can make a small contribution to encouraging more and more people to get involved and join in the fun.

So with that in mind what are the plans for 2020 and a new decade?

As mentioned I am really keen to create a core collection around the 1:700th ships and I have a mind to take that collection into a major new project in the next few years, with a plan build that will see a continual addition to the collection.

Some of the new models awaiting some attention in 2020

Following that early work I will then return to the AWI collection as Sharp Practice will allow me to field games with a relatively small collection of figures with the added benefit of having terrain items for my ancient collection that will facilitate war in North America.

Of course I have some North American buildings and terrain items that I intend to add which will bring that theatre specific theme to the table.

Now the Romano-Dacians have a solid core to the collection I will add a few specific units later this year and aim to get some more games up and running before the end of it, and perhaps look to the new rules from the Too Fat Lardies 'Infamy' to try out with them.

In addition to the collections mentioned, I am halfway through a Target for Tonight campaign recreating the first month of the Battle of Berlin, and the next four games will be concluded at the Devon Wargames Group, starting next week with game five to be played.

We are creating a campaign module around the rules and will hopefully have something to share once the eight games have been played.

With regard to other key parts of JJ's Wargames, Mr Steve and I will continue to recommend good books to read and share our adventures on the walking path amid the riches of British history and some of the best pubs in the world.

In addition you can look forward to seeing the usual mix of show reports together with some of the best games to be seen in the hobby.

Finally the year will end with Carolyn and me taking a very long trip during which I will be looking to share some new adventures from the other side of the globe, but that is still in the planning stage and I look forward to sharing more about that in the New Year.

Speaking of which, may I wish everyone a very happy 2020 and all the best for a brand new decade ahead.

See you all on the other side, and looking forward to another year in the hobby

JJ

JJ's Wargames 2018 Look Back and 2019 Plans

Last year's plan was all about construction and planning for a new campaign. This year has been all about starting the march towards fulfilling the ambition of those plans 

Here we are again at the end of another year, my sixth in the history of the blog, and the end of another wargaming year gives a moment for reflection on what has been achieved or not in the year just gone and some pause for thought on the plans for the new year.

If you are interested in seeing the results of this review process from last year I attach the link to the post.

https://jjwargames.blogspot.com/2017/12/jjs-look-back-on-2017-and-plans-for-2018.html

I like to use these moments of review and planning as an opportunity to self appraise and to record for posterity what it is exactly that I am setting out to do in the next twelve months and did I carry out what I said I was going to do in the plan for the year just gone.

As each year goes by and knowing that none of us are getting any younger I am keen to make sure that I make the best use of the time I have available and to start doing the projects and having the adventures that I have always wanted to do accepting that life, work, family and other equally important activities compete for that finite amount of time and inevitably force a compromise.

However in my professional life I have learnt and come to understand that to fail to plan is a sure fire way to plan to fail and that to write down what it is you intend doing and then working your plan is what makes the difference between success or failure. Of course every plan changes on first contact with the enemy, as all wargamers know, but it is far better, in my experience, to have a plan that can be changed to accommodate new circumstances than absolutely no plan at all.

One aspect of that equation changed for me early in 2018 when the opportunity was presented for me  to retire from my professional life and start to allow me to rearrange my time commitments to those things that I wanted to give a priority to that simply earning a living hadn't allowed in previous years.

That said, life and family responsibilities still often have a superior claim to my time, just ask Carolyn if you are struggling with that concept, but I now have a lot more scope to start focusing on personal projects which include the things I like to do around this daft but thoroughly enjoyable hobby.

So with that rather longer preamble let me take a look at what I said I was planning to do this time last year and what came of those plans.

The 'O'er the Hills' project was very much 'front and centre' of my activities in the early part of 2018 

At the end of 2017 I was celebrating the culmination of the Talavera project and shifting the Napoleonic focus on to a project that I had been planning with the chaps from Stand to Games, Adrian McWalter and Quinton Dalton to put together a scenario book capturing a series of games covering the first two years of British involvement in the Peninsular War from 1808 to 1809 that culminated with the Battle of Talavera, using 'Over the Hills' Napoleonic rules.

That planned work started as soon as Talavera 208 finished in the autumn of last year and Steve M and I started to play-test each of the scenarios starting with the Talavera ones, given that the table was in situ ready to go.

One thing I was very keen to do was to make sure that each game was play tested and that Steve and I got to review the set up and play, thus allowing adjustments to the final write up as we went through them and making sure they worked with the rules.

In addition I was also working on putting other parts of the book together and getting picture rights permissions organised whilst also sharing the pictures of the test games and design ideas that lay behind each scenario on the blog, which produced some interesting discussions on certain forums as I was pushed to share more details that I could at the time, as the book was still in development.

That project reached its conclusion this autumn when the book raised over the KickStarter funding of £1500 and is due out soon from the printers.

Thank you to everyone that got involved to support the book and to Ady and Quinton who are two very nice gentlemen and equally keen enthusiasts for the hobby.

I would also thank Nigel Marsh and my friends in the Carnage & Glory community for ideas gleaned from the excellent games we enjoyed playing, many of the scenarios using C&GII and an equally great set of rules.

My first 28mm collection - Vikings and Saxons designed around Dux Bellorum

The other project that was occupying my attention in the first part of 2018 was getting a collection of Dark Age figures put together to allow me to indulge my intention of getting in some games of Dux Bellorum written by Dan Mersey.

These are a great set of rules and really fun to play and I haven't played a lot of games with my new collection mainly because my table was in transition this year and I still needed to build up my 28mm terrain collection, but both Saxon and Viking forces were out on the table during our big Dux Bel game that the DWG played at Wargames Foundry during our visit to Partizan in May.

My figures in action in May at Wargames Foundry during our 'Big' Dux Bellorum game

With the conclusion of the O'er the Hills game play and work on the Dux Bellorum collection I was then able to start to bring my attention to the key project for 2018, namely the creation of the Romano-Dacian collection of 28mm figures together with new terrain and table mat.

Some of the Dacian units added to the collection in 2018

The plan for this work centred around building an initial collection of units for both sides that would allow the playing of one of the scenarios selected from the Warlord Games campaign book, with a secondary plan of bringing the game together in time for the first Lardy Day to be held at the Devon Wargames Group, namely 'Clotted Lard'.

The first game featuring the new Romano-Dacians run this August at the DWG

That plan had to change due to a few unforeseen challenges but the first trial game using all but a couple of units was run in August and reported on the DWG blog and my lack of suitable terrain shows but the game was a good test of the rules and it was fun getting the figures out on the table at last.

Cavalry units added to both collections

The move to working in 28mm has been great fun and I really enjoy the scale and the opportunities it presents to develop the character in each unit.

The Romans have also been bolstered by additional units

Of course my test game revealed the glaring need to address my lack of suitable terrain which was covered in a recent post that explained that the terrain was in a queue of considerations including loft and wargaming room adjustments to create space for the change in scale.

That situation resolved itself this autumn and the first terrain items were constructed ready to go on table with my new mat acquired from Tiny Wargames and providing a fresh new look to the table to accompany the new collection.

Major additions made to the terrain collection including a lot of trees and scatter terrain that will allow me to produce more and better games in 2019

Of course alongside the Romano-Dacian work, other smaller projects vied for inclusion as a summer game in North Devon required some German Falschirmjager and a certain commander of the Walmington Home Guard to be prepared and Steve M had asked me to complete the work done previously on his FIW 28mm collection of 60th Foot by putting together some artillery units, Colour-Party ensigns and general officers, plus the annual Gus Murchie club game required some US Cavalry and Plains Indians, so these to were built into the plan.

Other smaller projects worked on in 2018

Looking back, I am really pleased with the progress made and the directional shift into a new scale with two collections up and running and with the terrain collection started, a solid foundation achieved for further progress going into 2019.

The new WWII Battle of Britain table cloth laid out after ironing to remove any unsightly creases

I also mentioned aspirations to progress my Naval and WWII air collections and those have not progressed much further (what did I say about plans changing on first contact with the enemy, which in this case was time?), other than the acquiring of a sea and air mat from Tiny Wargames in January that are now ironed  and ready to be used on my new table set up now that the wargames room has been reorganised.

That said the Battle of Britain collection is ready to be played with and I would hope to get some Bag the Hun games organised in 2019 (time permitting).

Books reviewed this year by Mr Steve and myself

The other aspect of my plans for 2018 was to continue to develop the blog and its content furthering the idea of making it a magazine style read with a mix of content that supports the hobby of historical wargaming.

Thus the book reviews by myself and Mr Steve continue to get a good response and both Steve and I strive to give an honest appraisal of each book, coming as we do, as long standing historical wargamers used to reading to inform our gaming and the books we have selected very much reflect that approach.

My own reviews have not been as extensive this year as in previous ones due to my recent inclusion of several historical fiction reads that now include all of Anthony Riches series of Empire books, both of Adrian Goldsworthy's novels centred around Vindolanda and more recently my reading of J.R.R. Tolkien's 'The Simarallion' , 'The Hobbit' and now just having started 'The Lord of the Rings' a series of books I had always intended to read and with retirement presenting an opportunity to do so and enjoy.

The Butser Ancient Farm featured as one of the first big trips of 2018 and Carolyn and I thoroughly enjoyed the experimental archaeology on view not to to mention the highly entertaining groups of school children being 'cat herded' by their respective class teachers

The other content on the blog that seems to be a favourite for many are the posts covering visits to historical sites and presentations that I have always found inspiring and equally informing to my wargaming.

There is nothing quite like walking and seeing a battlefield or seeing up close military kit and hardware for gaining a better understanding of the impact terrain and weapons could have on the warriors we try to recreate on the tabletop.

Chalke Valley Book Festival visit in the glorious summer weather we enjoyed this year and the amazing Fred Glover age 92, bottom left

In addition hearing the accounts from veterans such as Fred Glover, former paratrooper with 6th Airborne who gave his account of landing in a glider on the Merville Battery in the early morning of 6th June 1944 was a real honour and privilege to hear and a highlight of  2018, seeing the veteran soldier get a standing round of applause from the audience.

The English Civil War featured large in 2018 with the visit to The Boot Inn, Chester, a real highlight

My additional free time this year meant that Carolyn and I could indulge ourselves by visiting more interesting historical parts of the UK including Cirencester and Roman villas in Gloucestershire, the last battle of the English Civil War at Stow on the Wold, a wedding anniversary trip up to wonderful Chester, the Roman headquarters base of Legion XX Valeria Victrix, and Royalist garrison city during the English Civil War that saw me enjoy a pint of the good stuff in the amazing time capsule that is The Boot Inn established 1643, finished off with a visit to the Roman town of Wroxeter on the way home.

Carolyn had a warm welcome from the Romans garrisoning Deva Victrix as well as enjoying our trip to Cirencester earlier in the year

Once the Dacians, Germans and Sarmatians are finished I can quite easily see a large number of those glorious Victix Ancient Britons joining the collection following the inspiration I have garnered soaking up the history of Roman Britain this year.

Chester was an amazing place to visit and was a highlight of 2018

Another great trip included into the resumé and one long in the planning was our August visit to Londinium primarily to allow us to watch the Indians playing England in the Test match at Lords and Carolyn's first visit to the Head-Quarters of Cricket, but also to discover the treasures of Roman London.

Sadly our day of cricket was a complete wash out, but the Roman part of the expedition lived up to all the expectations and more.

Roman London was really special and partly made up for not seeing any cricket at Lords

Two new expeditions added greatly to the content on the blog as Mr Steve and I put together a plan to start walking some interesting parts of the country and finding out if our minds were in better physical shape than our legs.

So in the first half of the year and taking advantage of the stunning weather we enjoyed in 2018, Steve and I walked part of the the oldest road in Britain, 'The Ridgeway' following in the footsteps of people living in this island over the last two millennia.

The Ridgeway walk earlier this year with Me Steve was a real pleasure if a stiff test for the legs and feet

We then followed that first walk up with a second expedition to Steve's home ground on the South Wales border and a visit to the Lordship of the Three Castles, Skenfrith, White and Grosmont Castles, topped off with visits to Raglan castle and Caerwent Roman market town of the Silures tribe.

The Three Castles Walk in September was a real treat if a little testing when getting to that final mile of walking on day one

Finally the show content on JJ's has always been a popular part of the blog and I really enjoy reporting on the games that really inspire me in this great hobby.

My usual list of shows featured this year, as with last, with the inclusion of a Continental expedition this year to Antwerp in November which allowed me to treat Carolyn to a birthday abroad and to allow me to check out a show that I had been very much looking forward to visiting, namely 'Crisis', hosted by the Tin Soldiers of Antwerp.

Shows have always formed a big part of my wargaming year and the inclusion of Crisis added yet more to the fun

I have to say that 2018 has been a fantastic year for me and I have achieved pretty much all I set out to do and more and have thoroughly enjoyed the hobby and the company of like-minded friends.

Not only that but the time has been well spent in preparing the ground for me to play some games with a growing collection of figures in some periods that I have long looked forward to getting stuck into and at a time which is often described as a 'Golden One' for the hobby, a theory, as one who has been involved in the hobby for over forty years, I have to entirely agree with.

The Plans for 2019
So what have I got in mind to achieve in the new year and what is it that causes me to look forward to 2019 with such anticipation.

I think the first thing that occurs to me is that whereas at the start of 2018 I was still producing a lot of work and games around the 18mm Napoleonic collection and looking forward to making the transition into the 28mm collections, that phase is complete and well behind me and now a significant amount of time, particularly given my new circumstances, is now earmarked for work to start to conclude the building of the Romano-Dacian collection and to turn my attention to some games that I am planning to put together with them.

In particular this will look to see the addition of the following units, with, as you will see, some already completed and a list of scenarios that this additional work will allow me to model:

JJ’s Scenario Plan – 2019
Next Phase – Battle of Tarpae, Fortress Assault, Relieve the Fort, Ambush (Scenarios adapted from the Warlord Games Dacian Campaign supplement to Hail Caesar).

Romans

Praetorian Cohort – 18 figs
Legionary Cohort – 18 figs
Legionary Cohort – 18 figs
Auxiliary Cohort – 18 figs
Auxiliary Archers – 8 figs
Auxiliary Archers – 8 figs
German Warband – 36 figs
German Warband – 36 figs
German Cavalry – 8 figs
German Cavalry – 8 figs
Aux Lt Cavalry (Numidian) – 6 figs
Auxiliary Med Cavalry – 10 figs
Scorpio
Roman Tents

Dacians

Warband – 38 figs
Warband – 38 figs
Warband – 38 figs
Warband – 38 figs
Warband – 38 figs
Warband – 38 figs
Sarmatian Cataphracts x 6 figs
Sarmatian Cataphracts x 6 figs
Sarmatian Light Cavalry x 6 figs
Sarmatian Horse Archers x 6 figs
Sarmatian Horse Archers x 6 figs
Sarmatian Horse Archers x 6 figs
Sarmatian Baggage Wagons
Sarmatian Baggage Wagons

Alongside this core work will be further additions to the terrain collection with some extra river sections and improvements to the Roman city wall built earlier in the year plus some ideas about scratch building some damaged sections of wall.

Additionally I am keen to get a selection of modular hills constructed to add yet more variety to the tables I will be able to produce.

Oh and just in case you were thinking that I had forgotten my first real love, The Peninsular War, I will be embarking on a big driving trip to Spain next year that will see Carolyn and I taking the car over to Santander and driving from the north to the south of the country to our home in in Mercia.

This trip will see us stopping off along the way to visit Corunna, following the route of Sir John Moore's retreat to include Cacabelos, Benavente, Sahagun, then down to Salamanca, Cuidad Rodrigo where we will be staying in the castle which is a Parador hotel, before moving to the hotel fort at Fort Concepcion and taking in the various actions along the Coa frontier and the fortress at Almeida.

Cuidad Rodrigo

From there we will be going into Portugal to visit Busacco and the retreat route of Marshal Massena via Pombal, Sabugal and Redhina up to Fuentes de Onoro. Then it is off to Talavera, Badajoz, Albuera and a number of other sites close by before moving further south via Bailen and the famous Spanish victory.

Almeida

Finally on the return journey north we will be checking out Burgos and Vitoria before catching the ferry back to 'Blighty'

The trip will give an opportunity to inform on some further planned scenarios for Over the Hills which will look to cover the middle and later years of the campaigns of the Duke of Wellington between 1810 to 1814.

These two major projects will form the core of next years focus for JJ's Wargames and will give me lots to write about here on the blog alongside the other posts regular followers have come to expect.



In addition to this activity I am keen to look at visiting different shows, particularly further north with shows that I have never visited but am keen to see and I have an invitation to report back on next year's Salute which I am hoping to include once I have confirmed some accommodation in my plans.

Mr Steve and I are also hoping to get some further ideas for future walking expeditions firmed up and Carolyn and I are working up plans to cover off some other interesting historical venues to visit.

So there we are, a busy new year ahead with work planned designed to consolidate that already done and with enough time allowed away from the painting desk to get in some fun games, interesting trips and informed reading and writing.

As always, I wish everyone an equally exciting and fulfilling 2019 in the hobby and every encouragement with your own projects

Onward and Upwards

JJ

JJ's Look Back on 2017 and Plans for 2018

As the Emperor Trajan demonstrated, successful projects are all about planning and preparation in a methodical step by step approach

I can't believe how quickly it seems time moves on with another year gone and another to look forward to.

JJ's Wargames has been and will, I hope, continue to be a magazine style blog in the spirit of the great Wargaming monthly journals that so characterised the hobby back in the times when plastics were Airfix, that didn't hold the paint, and variable pose figures were either soldiers holding muskets as if they were putting their umbrellas up to the order "present brollies!" or nothing - ah happy days, who needs all this variety and choice?

So in the spirit of that kind of blog I have looked to develop a mix of posts covering a wide range of subjects that I, (that's why it's called JJ's Wargames) and I hope other wargamers, might find an interesting read alongside an ongoing theme designed to provide continuity and a demonstration of the way I like to plan and build wargaming projects that is by no means unique but I hope none the less interesting to follow.

I write this review and preview in great anticipation, unlike any of the previous annual posts because I know there are great changes afoot which will impact hugely on the plans outlined here and I am really excited about the implications for future wargaming projects that I hope to show here on JJ's.

However, let's not get ahead of ourselves here and, as usual, take a look at what has happened in the last twelve months and consider the good and not so good aspects of 2017 in light of all the stuff promised in 2016.

2017 Review
It was only as I was working my way through the posts for this year pulling out pictures to include for this review that I realised  not only how much of what was promised in my 2016 plan had been carried through but how much extra activity on top of that had been covered; and so to stop this post going into a two parter, and no one wants that, including me, I started putting the following collages together that help capture the things covered here on JJ's this year.

Great fun with Talavera this year - Thanks to all involved for making it one to remember

Of course the dominant theme for the last few years reached a crescendo in 2017 when in the company of friends and with a much wider audience of those who have followed this monster as it grew here on JJ's, Talavera 208 was all I had hoped for and more, with all three games providing six days of entertainment and with the project raising £1,103.52 in support of Combat Stress.

The star of my 2017 wargaming was the Talavera table

After having invested three years putting the collection together it was such fun finally getting the thing out on the table and not only having fun, raising money for a worthy cause but also getting some really revealing insights about the challenges facing Wellesley and Joseph during this pivotal battle of the Peninsular War.

I had always wanted to fight this particular battle in the 'grand manner', Peter Gilder style ever since reading about it in my early teens and picturing the array of gaudy uniforms under a hot Spanish sun battling for the ascendancy in the Tagus Valley.

I can finally cross Talavera off the 'bucket list' and always have the memories from 2017 to look back on.

Books reviewed on JJ's in 2017

The book reviews have continued on into 2017 with nine titles reviewed by myself and Mr Steve, four titles down on our output for 2016, but I think there have been a lot of activities happening that have certainly interrupted my normal reading routine, not to mention the three other novels from the Anthony Riches series, 'Empire' that I have read since my review of 'The Wolfs Gold' back in October.

That said I have always been a firm believer in quality rather than quantity and the book reviews are a really good way of, not only highlighting the historical books that both Steve and I have read from a wargamers perspective, but, certainly from my perspective and I suspect Steve's as well, really helping to cement the understanding we have gained from those books in our own minds when working out how best to summarise the content for you the reader. So everyone's a winner.

Certainly your feedback and comments have been very positive and with Mr Steve's continued input will be a permanent fixture on the blog.

The four away shows attended this year

Wargame shows have always been a series of highlights in the calendar for me and I find them a great way of immersing myself in the hobby, sharing time with like folks who share a common passion. I always learn new things at all the shows I go to and always come away with inspiration and ideas for games of my own.

This year saw a new addition to the calendar with our trip up to Newark in May to visit the first of the two Partizan shows.

In the company of the chaps from the DWG we decided to make a weekend of it by travelling up on the Saturday to spend time gaming at Wargames Foundry, plus taking in the sites before attending the show on the Sunday.

We had a blast of a weekend and have pencilled in this show for 2018 which looks likely to become a bit of a regular thing.

As well as the four 'away' shows, the Devon Wargames Group also put on two games at the Legionary show in Exeter in May, where I was able to play-test the Casa de Salinas scenario for the Over the Hills rule set, part of a collection of games we are putting together specifically for the rules.

As well as attending Partizan we also got to visit some of the sites and took in a game at Foundry

Despite the lack of further visits to battlefield in Devon, a feature I am determined to rectify in 2018, this year has been a bumper year for battlefield touring and I have managed to take in a few places I had not visited before. In addition I have been able to combine them with visits to some amazing museums and have had great pleasure sharing them here on JJ's.

Perhaps Oxford could be described as the cockpit of England with so much history to take in on our long weekend

The English Civil War has figured large on the battlefield visit list with trips to Edghill, Cropredy Bridge, Lagport and Marston Moor. Along with those I posted on trips to Towton, Stamford Bridge, Fulford, Boxtel, Eindhoven and Nijmegan.

We had an amazing trip to York, like Oxford in the south, the very centre of the history in the north of England

The museum visits have been really special this year with an emphasis on including items associated with upcoming themes here on JJ's so a real thrill to see the Roman, Viking and Saxon collections in York, and likewise the amazing Roman collections in Nijmegan, Xanten and Haltern on our holiday in Holland.

Great inspiration from the museum visits this summer in Holland and Germany

Our summer holiday in Holland was particularly special as I haven't been back to this country since visiting as a child with my parents back in the seventies.

The Market Garden sites really only touched the tip of the iceberg, with so much more for future visits 

As well as the ancient history of the area I was very interested in tracing my father's footsteps from more recent times and in particular visits to his former CO, Captain Good's grave site in Belgium and an opportunity to stand on the spot in Eindhoven, with his grandsons Tom and Will, where he parked up seventy three years previously on his way up to Nijmegan during the Arnhem Campaign - a really special memory.

The journey along 'Hell's Highway' to Eindhoven was very special

Alongside the games, book reviews. visits to shows, museums and battlefields there has been a gradual shift in emphasis with regard to the painting with the other projects mentioned in the plans from the 2016 review taking a front and centre position.

This changes saw the Talavera collection finished off in the first quarter of 2017 in time for the first game in June and with a slight pause to allow for games and holidays consuming a lot of the hobby time the shift to the new 28mm collections of Dark Age figures and my Romano-Dacians.

In addition I have also managed to include work for friends collections and special games organised with the club where certain figures have been requested.

The move to 28mm this year has been so relaxing for my old eyes!

It really has been a vintage year in the hobby and I have so many memories to treasure from it that it is hard to imagine it being topped, but the hobby is all about what will you do next, not what you did yesterday, and I, like most wargamers, are always planning and thinking about other great games to play and collections to build.

So where are things going in 2018?

2018 Plan
Well as the header to this post subtly hinted at, the construction process for the next big JJ's Wargame Campaign is underway with Trajan's and possibly Domitian's invasion of Dacia and a collection of 28mm figures designed to model the conflict.

As has been outlined previously, the rules I intend to use for these games will be Phil Hendry's "Augustus to Aurelian" and as with my Napoleonics I will build the collection in corresponding groups of Romans and Dacians to allow for small games to be played on the journey to a collection allowing for bigger ones.

I have a time and place in mind to roll out the larger game sometime in September, but that is Top Secret at the moment with all to be revealed in the new year. The other caveat to that plan is that it could enable the association with Combat Stress to continue and the raising of monies to support their great work.

The collection grew a little over Xmas with a present from Tom of the new Roman Auxiliary Infantry from Victrix and I will be looking to get more of these chaps together with the Victrix cavalry due out early 2018.

The shift in scale and era requires a bit of a 'terrain build' project to commence in the new year with a plan to add scatter terrain, new trees and a range of buildings and defensive works.

As the collection grows the plan will develop to build in further 'Enemies of Rome' including more Roman troops to allow Rome to do what is does best, civil war.

With the additional 28mm terrain items I decided that a smaller collection of Dark Ages figures should commence ahead of the shift from Napoleonics into Romano-Dacians and with the next figures to showcase being my Viking Hirdmen am well on the way to getting this mini-project complete to be able to start some games in the first half of next year, time permitting.

The Devon Wargames Group forms a big part of my wargaming hobby and has grown dramatically in the last two years. The really nice aspect of that growth is that we now have more people interested in an ever wider diet of historical periods and scale that allows one the opportunity to try out different games and rule sets as well as enjoying the social aspect of our hobby.

This year at the club I have showcased some games using an old set of rules 'Target for Tonight' recreating the night bombing campaign of Bomber Command. It has allowed me to dig out an old game and collection that I had filed away but, with new players interested in developing the game further, has given me thoughts to expand the collection and develop the rules this year.

The club and myself have also invested in a collection of new terrain mats from Tiny Wargames and I have included a new 'Battle of Britain' mat to further develop my collection of 1/300th aircraft and scenarios from the battle using 'Bag the Hun' from the Lardies, which is an excellent set of rules.

The Napoleonic theme will continue on into the early part of 2018 as Steve M and I work on a project to put together an early Peninsular War collection of scenarios covering the first two years of British involvement in the conflict, 1808-09 which has produced a series of game reports covered here and on the Devon Wargames Group blog using 'Over the Hills' rules.

This project has been a labour of love exploring what this set of rules can do when modelling historical scenarios and we are looking to share the results of that work later in 2018.

The clue to that Spanish engagement lies in the picture

In addition I am looking to put together another scenario looking at a particular Spanish engagement. This is in very early planning but I will start thinking about the game and how to model it in January after the holiday.

The aim is that the Napoleonic collection will progress slowly in the background to the other main themes with a view to starting the next focus in that theme later, with the collection that is built forming the core to develop future Peninsular War games.

Finally one particular project that has been waiting for some TLC has been my interest in the Age of Sail. When I talk of AOS I refer principally to the late 18th century when Britain's enemies at sea were a more formidable prospect that during the later early 19th century and of course that refers to large naval encounters rather than the smaller ship to ship affairs of the War of 1812.

I have a new sea mat on order and some ideas about developing some games in this arena so, time permitting, I am hoping to start work on this project at different times during 2018. With my new mat will also come the opportunity to get the WWII naval collection back up and running so that may allow another itch to get scratched.

As well as my own projects going forward I have other work in the pipeline including some figures to add to Steve M's French Indian War collection and a certain Dad's Army personality together with a bunch of fanatical Falschirmjagers for a planned game at Chez Chas next summer.

Hopefully then you can look forward to a shmorgishborg of games, figures and themes, and I see the forthcoming year as being very much one of transition and change but looking to lay the foundations for some great future games and collections which I look forward to sharing the progress of along with all the other content that has become a regular feature here on JJ's Wargames.

I wish everyone a great 2018 and every encouragement with your own wargaming projects

JJ