Happy Christmas and a Peaceful, Prosperous New Year

The First Christmas at Longwood House, St Helena, 1815. The Emperor gets a traditional Christmas Pudding and card from Wellington

Happy Christmas to everyone

Jonathan

Corunna for Boxing Day

With the Christmas Bank Holiday ahead the Corunna game is set for Boxing Day (26th December). This will be a team Jones affair with both my sons Tom and Will taking the roles of General Sir John Moore and Marshall Nicholas Soult.

The 42nd Black Watch Highlanders on the attack at Corunna

The scenario will capture the fighting that occurred on the British right flank as the French attempted to turn it and cut in behind the position, and the rules will be Carnage & Glory II.

The map for the scenario

The table looking along the French ridge towards Elvina

The other end of the French position with the Monelos River in the foreground

The view from the British ridge and right flank

The road into Elvina from Sir John Moore's position

Sir John Moore and his Army

Marshall Soult and the French Army

 

Needless to say, I will post a full report on proceedings following the game. So if you are in need of a little light relief from the festivities check in to see how the game turns out.

Brandywine Mini-Campaign - Cyberboard Module

As mentioned in my post last week, when I had time in Spain to play with some ideas, I had put together a Cyberboard module to play the Brandywine Mini Campaign using the map and counters provided by Messrs Barnetson and McFarlane in their Two for Tea AWI scenarios.
Boardgame Geek Link

If you haven't used Cyberboard before, don't be scared, it really is a useful tool for wargamers who want to run map campaigns without having to prepare paper maps and counters.
The Cyberboard link is in my links tabs on the right.

The following pictures are screen shots of the module up and running on my laptop.

Just place the module folder in the Cyberboard folder and search for it when the program asks what you want to play. There are full instructions for using Cyberboard in the software, trust me it's easy.

By clicking on the Cyberboard Play icon, this is the screen you are presented with.

By clicking "New Game" the system identifies the gsn file that has the game set up ready to play

When you click on the gsn file this is the opening screen shot of the game

When you open the game you will see that the game pieces are in position and the time gone marker is in place. When you right click on any marker you have the option to turn it over. You can group select markers to move them as a group. It's all very whizzy!

To make the module complete I have posted the scenario rules in the module so you can access them whilst using the system rather than referring to a paper based set or pdf copy.

Screen shot with markers moved to new positions, with Howe making his flank move

If you are reporting back on moves in the game there is a "capture map" tool in the program which allows you to paste pictures of the set up.

As always, this module is free and is available for you to download in "My resources and downloads" section. I hope you find this useful, let me know if you use it and how it goes.

HMAS Perth needs your help

I picked up on a message on TMP that the wreck and war grave of HMAS Perth is unprotected and is being subjected to desecration and damage due to various activities, one such being the placing of a large floating salvage crane on the wreck.

The Crew of HMAS Perth

I am amazed that this wreck is not a registered war grave, and that it has to take a petition to get the Australian government to do something about it. These young men died fighting against tyranny and were protecting the freedom and privileges that many of us take for granted.

The HMAS Perth was sunk by the Imperial Japanese Navy on March 1st, 1942 in the Sunda Strait, between Sumatra and Java.

The scenarios in "Four Against Japan" by Len Heinz in my scenarios links cover the actions of HMAS Perth as part of the ill fated ABDA command and their battles in the Java Sea.

An excellent site giving more information about the ship and showing pictures of the wreck can be found here
http://www.perthone.com/perth.htm

A history of the ship and details of her loss can be found here
The Loss of HMAS Perth


If like me you feel inclined to support the petition to the Australian Prime Minister, The Hon. Tony Abbott, then please sign up to Michelle Todd's petition.
Petition to the Australian Prime Minister

Sunshine, Good News and Cartagena History

The weather on Wednesday took a turn for the better and we were able to enjoy some festive sunshine, together with some excellent news.

Will, my youngest son, passed his university interview and has been accepted for medical school, next summer exam results permitting.

The pool in the sunshine, not a cloud to be seen. Not quite warm enough for a dip, well not for me.

Having Festive Fun. Front row, Yours Truly, Aimée (Will’s girlfriend), Will, back row Carolyn (Mrs JJ), Teresa (Mrs JJ’s sister)

Today, Thursday, was spent soaking up the history and culture that is Cartagena, where we visited the fantastic 1^st Century Roman Theatre. The archaeology first revealed in the mid 80’s has gradually been restored as a public monument and museum to the grandeur of this imposing Roman building and also explores the changes in the city under Byzantine, Moorish and later times. The church left standing on the corner of the theatre acts as an entrance to the site showing the various walls that were built under the building during the time the theatre fell into disuse. The church was bombed during the Spanish Civil War and is a monument in its own right, being the last city to surrender to General Franco’s troops and was a major Republican stronghold throughout the war.

Roman Theatre - 1st Century BC

The stage area in the theatre. The pillars at the back with the people on the stage give an idea of the scale of the building

A lunch of Tapas was followed by a trip to the Castillo de la Concepcion (Castle of the Conception) a medieval castle that surmounts the highest hill in the city that itself has been recently restored as a museum and display of the evolution of the city during the Moorish and early Christian periods. The views from the top give a great panorama of the key historical sites in the city. Next to the keep stands a bust of Hasdrubal Barca, the Carthaginian General who was the founder of the city back in 227BC.

Amphitheatre

Cartagena is like the counterpart to Plymouth back home in Devon, with both cities having a long history associated with their respective country’s navies and today the Spanish Navy still have a major base in the port, together with a very interesting naval museum. The city lays claim to the first electric powered submarine invented and designed by Isaac Peral and launched in 1888. The vessel has been taken in under cover at the museum.

Caitarranas

Castillo de los Moros

San Jose Hill and Punic Rampart

Low flyer

We were feeling quite tired after these visits and still have lots of other sites to see the next time we’re in town. Cartagena is a lovely city and well worth visiting if you have the chance

Will contemplating forgoing a career in medicine and joining the Spanish Navy

War Games and Flamingos in Spain

This week we are taking a short break in Murcia in Spain. We have had a house down there for a few years now and it is a lovely part of the world to relax in prior to getting together with family and friends over Christmas.

While I am away the painting goes on hold, and with no Internet access in the house my ability to communicate on the net is slightly limited. The good news is that the nearby bar has complimentary Internet access and so I can catch up on things every now and then, whilst sipping their very nice hot chocolate.

Much fun was had at the Devon Wargames Group last Saturday as we held our annual Christmas Big Game, a “King James vs King Billy Beneath the Lilly Banners Match Up” with Chas and Vince fielding their 28mm collections and everyone in the club taking part. The rules are very good, capturing the feel of that particular early horse & musket era and allowing a large game like that to run along easily with players unfamiliar with them soon able to get competent with the system. I have toyed with the idea of building some War of Spanish Succession (WSS) forces and these rules would be very much top of my list. I managed to post a full report of the game with many pictures taken of the toys. My role in the game was not insignificant as I assumed the role of traitor to Prince William’s cause and succeeded in completely messing up the left flank and centre of his lines.

My cavalry fight each other in our club game last Saturday. See the report to find out why.

Whilst away I like to take the enforced time away from the paint desk to play with other war game ideas and to read generally. I have been playing with another computer rules set, “The Great Captains” by Computer Strategies designed by Mr Clinton Reilly. The rules cover the early to mid horse & musket era (WSS, Seven Years War, AWI) and as with his other period sets come with a campaign system. 

It is the campaign system that Clinton is looking to upgrade and has invited mine and others feedback on changes he has incorporated and will add based on that feedback. It is early days at the moment but I did set up and run solo a little campaign based on operations around Boston in 1775 as General Gage et al attempted to maintain the city as a base for future operations against the rebels. With the said rebels attempting to grab sites around the city to set up gun positions for batteries using cannon captured from the British at Fort Ticonderoga. A good test of the system as I had little garrisons of minute men set up in the small towns together with an American field army and the British in Boston trying to ferry troops out to different areas to secure high ground overlooking the city.

The program allows the player to paste a copy of any map he wishes to use and, with the help of a grid superimposed on to it, define particular areas of terrain, flat plain, hilly, mountains, sea and swampy. These terrain definitions impact on supply and movement. In addition supply depots of various sizes and defence can be identified allowing for bases of operation to be set up. However these definitions would benefit from additions and my play test this week, and the notes I made confirm this and when I can get near an Internet access I will copy off my notes to Clinton.

My mini campaign map that I have been trying things out with

In addition to “The Great Captains”, I have taken a mini campaign system made available on the net by Bruce McFarlane Bob Barnetson which using their fast play rules for the AWI “Two for Tea” allows players to pre manoeuvre the armies at Brandywine prior to setting up the table top battle. I have always fancied using this set up but with my own rules. In addition, rather than a paper based map and counters, I have put the whole thing into Cyberboard to keep things much easier to use and will make it available as a download in my collection of freebies. 

The Brandywine campaign map for Cyberboard

As with our break in the summer to Sri Lanka, I thought you might like to see some pictures of the area and wildlife, as this part of Spain is really beautiful and a popular holiday destination. At this time of year the coastal salt flats are home to some amazing bird life, including visitors from Africa. We were lucky to find these Flamingos the other day, happy to ignore us as we took these pictures. It’s great to see them in the wild and particularly when they are in flight as they must be the most ungainly bird you will ever see in the air with the large floppy wing span and trailing legs counter balanced by a beak that looks just a little bit too big.

A little bit of winter sun in Murcia, Spain

Keeping warm on the beach

The flamingos were doing what they do best, eating and looking cool. I couldn't help thinking about the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland about to play croquet, whilst photographing these guys.

3rd (East Kent) Foot, The Buffs

You can't really run a scenario about the Crossing of the Douro without including the 3rd Foot in your collection of figures. This battalion played a key role in the battle being the lead battalion to cross the river and occupy the Bishop's Seminary ahead of the rest of the brigade following behind. As a buff faced battalion it is distinguished by buff, rather than white, belts and straps.

The following text on the history of this famous regiment is quoted from
http://www.kentfallen.com/PDF%20reports/BUFFS%20DATES.pdf

"The 3rd Regiment received its nickname of "The Buffs" because it had been issued 'buff coats'- armour made of soft leather - first when it served abroad in Holland and later when it was a Maritime Regiment of Foot. It was later given buff-coloured facings and waistcoats to distinguish itself from those of other regiments and had their leather equipment in buff rather than dyed the traditional white".

"The Buffs obtained the name of "The Buffs" officially in 1744 while on campaign in the Low Countries. The 3rd Regiment was then under the command of Lieutenant-General Thomas Howard. At the same time, the 19th Regiment of Foot were commanded by a colonel named The Honourable Sir Charles Howard. In order to avoid confusion (because regiments were then named after their colonels, which would have made them both Howard's Regiment of Foot), the regiments took the colours of their facings as part of their names - the 19th Foot became the Green Howards, while the 3rd Foot became Howard's Buffs, eventually being shortened to simply The Buffs".

The Battle Honours for the 1st Battalion in the Peninsular War form an illustrious list:
Douro (1809)
Talavera (1809)
Albuera (1811)
Vittoria (1813)
Pyrenees (1813)
Nivelle (1813)
Nive (1813)
Orthes (1814)
Toulouse (1814)
Peninsula (1808 - 1813)

My battalion is composed of figures from the Xan range except for the Colonel who is AB. The flags are from GMB.