Gus Murchie Memorial Game - Devon Wargames Group

Yesterday was spent in the company of the chaps from the Devon Wargames Group as we celebrated the end of the club year with one big game, this time using Chain of Command and their 1940 lists to recreate the battles that typified the German invasion of France in May 1940.

I took time out from actually playing to move around the six tables we had up and running to capture the day in pictures and video clips as we gathered at mid morning and played through to the end of the afternoon.

Days like this are special and great fun and, for those of us who knew him, a nice way to remember our old mate Gus who though not with us, was very much with us, enjoying all the fun and laughs.

If you would like to see a report of the day, then just follow the link to the club blog.

Gus Murchie Memorial Game 2019 - Devon Wargames Group

All at Sea - Rigging Tutorial

The illustrious 'Billy Ruffian', HMS Bellerophon of 74 guns, showing off her stays, backstays, lifts, braces and sheets. It's time to have fun with rigging!

Following my recent posts looking at the Black Seas range of model ships I am building, in a series entitled 'All at Sea', and based on the feedback received, I thought it would be useful to look at the subject of rigging the models, which seems to be a source of complexity that puts some wargamers off collecting these models and bringing them to the table.

All at Sea - Another Project

All at Sea - Strange Sail in Sight

If that is you and you would like to know how to take rigging these kits a bit further than that outlined in the Warlord 'Black Seas' rule book, but perhaps think it's too complicated and not worth worrying about, as certain video reviewers of these kits would like to convince you, but you still think the effect 'looks cool' and perhaps 'if they can, then so can I ', then read on.

If you couldn't care less and are happy just sticking these things together and hopefully slapping some paint on them, please read on and let me see if I can convince you to have a go at this; and if you are not interested in the age of sail and are mildly irritated that I am taking up blog space discussing it, feel free to check in when there is something you find more interesting to read, as this post is definitely not for you.

If you have never rigged a model age of sail ship before, all this talk of stays, sheets, lifts etc can seem a bit daunting and dare I say leave one 'all at sea', and as always, there are plenty of people around, who can't do it, who will tell you not to bother; which is a shame, because it's really straight forward and adds a lot to the look of the model which, in my opinion, is a key attribute of tabletop wargaming, the look or aesthetic of the game, otherwise we might as well just play boardgames!

Oh and on that controversial note, I love boardgaming as well, its just that I don't agree with the  group of hobby commentators that describe tabletop models as just tokens or counters. Sorry chaps, they may be that to you but not everyone, and I know the difference as, I suspect, does everyone else.

Any ability and skill in modelling I have developed over the years has been, in part, down to the time others have spent with me sharing their knowledge and skills and so this is just a case of 'sharing the love' and hopefully passing on what I think is a pretty straightforward modelling technique that can take any of these model ships you build to another level and hopefully add to your enjoyment of playing with them.

Rod Langton's guide book on this subject and more is well worth getting hold of

A no finer example of someone prepared to take time and share their knowledge with fellow enthusiasts is Rod Langton who has been in the business of producing fantastic models, rules and books for the age of sail enthusiast for years now.

I have had the pleasure of chatting with Rod at various shows, in the days when he had just started up his business and used to hand out the free leaflets you see below, later improved upon by the very nice guide book he produced later, as seen above.

This was how we learned about rigging model kits back in the day, before the Internet, mobile phones and global warming!

We are not producing a museum model here, but instead a nice looking model for the wargames table and thus looking to achieve enough of a look that fools the eye into thinking it is seeing the fully rigged out ship when in fact all we are doing, as the Langton book above explains, is

' ... showing the lifts, braces and sheets of the running rigging. Lifts were the lines from the masts to the yard arms. Braces were taken from the yard arms to the next mast in order to be able to trim the sails to the wind. Sheets were used to haul on the lower part of the sail.'

My Langton collection in action in this Suffren v Hughes, Battle of Providien game, run at the Devon Wargames Group in 2014
https://devonwargames.blogspot.com/search/label/Battle%20of%20Providien

I had a bit of a smile to myself, when looking at my old leaflet in my archive, or pile of rubbish as Carolyn calls it, to find the illustration Rod drew for me when explaining how to put on the running rigging with my collection of Langton British and French ships, and indeed this little drawing is what I worked from when I first started rigging ships, which some members of the Devon Wargames Group reckon was about the time Nelson fell.

See what I mean about pre-Internet! I should have got Rod to sign this!

As you might have guessed, I would recommend getting a copy of Rod's book as it includes pretty much all of what I am covering here plus more things, such as painting guides, modelling techniques that are useful whatever scale of ship you are modelling and a good grounding on the different parts that went to make up ships of this period.

http://www.rodlangton.com/

My rigging kit, and all that you will need to get started.

The standing rigging all done on one of the British 74's, showing where to start first

As I have been putting my models together I have been taking a series of pictures that cover the process I use, in the sequence I follow, so that you always start and end up at the same place with each model.

Another shot from the guide illustrating the route plan of the various lines

That means standing rigging first, running rigging by mast starting with the mizzen and ending with the bowsprit sail sets and finally ensigns and pennants.

The joys of British running rigging on the mizzen mast

The standing rigging is standard among the different nations ships but, as you will see, the first part of the briefing focuses on British ships for illustrating running rigging, where the Royal Navy rigged their mizzen and main masts differently to other nations.

Moving on to the main mast, 'ship shape, and Bristol fashion'.

My word Horatio, I think we're done!

For the other nations, I have used the Constitution to illustrate the arrangement and hopefully the guide will be clear, but you never know, and I myself have sometimes come away confused with other attempts at this subject, so will try to clear up any confusions here on the blog, via questions and comments.

Ah the joys of foreign rigging, just when you thought you had this thing well and truly understood.

The key things to consider in mastering this process are:

• Learning to judge how tight to draw a thread without bending or distorting the mast or yard and causing another line that was originally taught to become slack because of the pull you have produced in a different direction. I have learnt that doing some lines last, particularly the top mast lines of the standing rigging, enables me to better judge their tightness after the others are in place.
• Don't worry about the odd bit of superglue misting up the original paintwork as you can normally go back and cover that up with a bit of repainting.

My next rigging job - Three French 74's awaiting their share of the love.

Anyway I hope this will help those interested and you can download the PDF in the link below and it will be in My Resources and Downloads section in the right-hand bar.

JJ's Wargames - Rigging Tutorial

Happy rigging

JJ

The Battle of Tewkesbury 1471 - A Guided Battlefield Walk

Battle of Tewkesbury by Graham Turner

I come from an age when being mildly criticised didn’t involve me running immediately to HR for emergency counselling and then taking six months off with stress so I am able to accept that sometimes people are right when they say that I don’t get around to doing things as rapidly as I should. You see, back in July 2017 when I attended the Tewkesbury Medieval Festival and then put a report about it on the blog I admit to saying that I would definitely go back later that year and do the full guided battlefield walk and then tell you all what it was like.

https://jjwargames.blogspot.com/2017/07/tewkesbury-medieval-festival-july-89th.html

Well here I am on a sunny Sunday Autumnal afternoon two years later wondering if I am at the right location as the heaving mass of history buffs are nowhere to be seen but then I spot what turns out to be Richard the guide who is patiently waiting at the entrance to the Abbey and once the word spreads around that I am in town we are shortly joined by four others.

Meeting up point for the Walk

For those of you so inclined you can follow this walk on Google maps using the satellite view. Find Tewkesbury Abbey and then go to the small car park at its eastern side; the starting point is the car park off Gander Lane under a very large tree at the entrance to the Abbey.

We set off down the road to one of the two small bridges that cross a stream called the Swilgate, this runs from the Avon (which very shortly joins with the Severn) then around the Abbey and off to the east, it will eventually form one of the boundaries to the battlefield. The Abbey is sited on a slight rise between the Avon and the Swilgate.

Of course nowadays the Swilgate is much less imposing than it would have been in medieval times but I hope that in the photo you will see later on which will show the second of the two bridges that cross it, you will get some indication of what it may have originally looked like along its length.

Now an apology, I realise that this blog has a reputation for bringing you bridge fanatics some of the hottest bridge pictures available but I forgot to take one of Gander Bridge but be assured its virtually identical to the Holme Bridge; these two small bridges would have been the only way into the town from this side at the time of the battle however I suspect they would have been quite a good deal more picturesque than their current drab modern day versions, one we were told even had a primitive drawbridge of sorts, I think it was this one but to be honest I have forgotten what Richard said.

Tewkesbury Abbey from the Vineyards

We walked down Gander Lane and entered the large green area known as The Vineyards, it was in this area in 1471 that Margaret’s exhausted army straggled into after their tiring march desperately trying to keep ahead of the pursuing Edward IV, the nobles of course would have started to have their tents pitched in the vineyards but the bulk of the troops who were mainly infantry would have kept arriving for many more hours to come.

“ The day was very hot, and both the Lancastrians and Edward's pursuing army were exhausted. The Lancastrians were forced to abandon some of their artillery, which was captured by Yorkist reinforcements following from Gloucester. 

At Tewkesbury the tired Lancastrians halted for the night. Most of their army were footmen and unable to continue further without rest, and even the mounted troops were weary.”

Edward stopped for the night about two to three miles to the south-west at Treddington, the Lancastrians realised that they would not be able to get their entire army into Tewkesbury over these two small bridges without Edward falling onto their rear so they had to stand and fight.

We walked up the field to a monument, set up in 1932 supposedly marking the site of the battle in the Vineyard fields , it also manages to incorrectly position Holme castle on the same site but apart from these two minor points, it is a nice monument even if totally useless in its purpose.

From there we walked up a small lane past the cemetery until we reached Abbots road, many of the houses around this area have large heraldic flags displayed which show the coats of arms of some of the participants of the battle, the householders pay a small fee to have them each year and there is a small plaque which gives some history of the relevant person. If you zoom into close up street mode then you can see some examples at the corner of Gloucester /Abbots road

Turning right onto Gloucester road we walked up until we reached the entrance to the few remaining empty fields where the battle took place, this area is known as the Gastons.

The Gaston Fields, looking towards Gupsill Manor and the Lancastrian centre

If you briefly zoom back out then you will see Gupsill Manor (Gobes Hall) marked on the map, this would have been the centre of the Lancastrian lines along with the old Iron Age earthworks now called ‘Margaret’s camp’ . The Earl of Devon’s forces making up the Lancastrian left wing would have run up to the returning arm of the Swilgate.

A handout from Richard showing the position of the battle and the two armies, PH is Gupsil Manor 

which is now a pub, OP is Margaret’s camp. I forget what GH marks.

The two fields we went into would have been the extreme left as we look at it on the map (or the Lancastrian right) and would have been where Somerset’s forces were deployed. They were positioned in the field behind the horizontal hedge, this hedge has been dated to the correct period so with a few minor changes that is what was there at the time.

Horizontal hedge still in its original location

“The main strength of the Lancastrians' position was provided by the ground in front, which was broken up by hedges, woods, embankments and "evil lanes". This was especially true on their right. A stream, the Colnbrook, flowed through his position, making some of the ground difficult to traverse.”

Although much reduced the Colnbrook still runs along the ‘Yorkist’ side of the hedge and this was the main thing I took away from this battlefield walk, even after all these years, I wouldn’t want to have tried to fight my way over that hedge line.

The Colnbrook stream running along the horizontal hedge on the Yorkist side

Looking over the hedge to the south, Richard pointed out the raised area where the Yorkists left wing would have deployed.

After enduring both arrow and cannon fire, Somerset eventually moved over the hedges and attacked.

The building you can see is Gupsill manor, from Lincoln Green lane

“The Lancastrians attempted to return the fire, but their artillery was inferior to the Yorkists’ and cannon had been lost to a raiding party led by the Yorkist governor of the Gloucester garrison as the Lancastrian army straggled away from the city. Somerset resolved to escape from the Yorkist barrage by launching a flank attack on Gloucester’s division.”

The Dear park from Lincoln Green Lane

We then walked the short distance into Lincoln Green Lane , bordering this lane is the Deer park (now Tewkesbury Park) where Edward had earlier stationed 200 mounted Spearmen. These troops charged into Somerset’s flank and rear whilst he was heavily engaged with Gloucester, his battle collapsed and fled the field, shortly followed by the rest of the army.

Walking down Lincoln Green Lane and looking back on Google maps you can clearly see a long enclosed field , this and the more famous Bloody Meadow across the road is an old Drovers field called a Slinget and is in fact one long field not two. This was an area just outside of a town when upon their arrival the various herds of animals would be kept.  The sides would be banked and there would be limited access , it didn’t help that on the other side was the deer park which was also designed to stop animals getting out. This then was probably not the best place to run away into.

Bloody Meadow, Richard the guide on the far right, note the banking on both sides

 Bloody Meadow part 2

“Somerset's battle was routed, and his surviving troops tried to escape across the Severn. Most were cut down as they fled. The long meadow astride the Colnbrook leading down to the river is known to this day as "Bloody Meadow"

Battlefield trail plaque at the entrance to the 2nd field

The old sign pre technology

We turned right following Lincoln Green Lane and into Bloody Meadow until we came to a gate which lead into what Google maps says is YMCA playing field. At the end of this near the buildings is where Holme castle would have been, the ground is raised here but whatever was there, probably a medieval manor house had already disappeared by the time of the battle however it was mentioned by the guide that a windmill was more than likely here and was supposedly where Margaret watched the battle, hope she had good eyesight. More thoughts on Holme castle in the link

http://www.gatehouse-gazetteer.info/English%20sites/1244.html

Now the UK scheduled monuments records show Holme castle in the Vineyards, I have no idea which is right so make of it what you will, Holme Bridge which we are just about to arrive at is near the windmill site.

Another view of the Deer park from Holme Castle

Whilst standing next to the display board at Holme Castle/Windmill hill, which I conveniently forgot to photograph, Richard expanded on the story about Lord Wenlock. In any battle report you read, Somerset is supposed to have ridden up to Wenlock who was commanding the centre and killed him.

“Somerset galloped up to Wenlock, commanding the centre, and demanded to know why Wenlock had failed to support him. According to legend he did not wait for an answer but dashed out Wenlock's brains with a battleaxe before seeking sanctuary in the Abbey." 

Richard went on to account several conflicting reports that took place many years later involving the redeeming of Wenlock’s treasure and other odd happenings suggesting that he may have possibly survived . I even found a pamphlet on the subject on Amazon but it is suspiciously not available.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tewkesbury-Occasional-publication-Worcestershire-Archaeological/dp/B0184X0Z8G

We than cut through the woods and joined Lower Lode Lane, walking up it until we rejoined Gloucester Road. Here is Holme Bridge which crosses the Swilgate and was the other way into Tewkesbury, hopefully you will get a better idea of what sort of barrier the Swilgate may have been in earlier times from my photo. Next it was up through the car park heading for Victoria gardens and Tewkesbury Mill.

 The Swilgate at Holme Bridge, the sides are much steeper here

As promised, looking back at Holme Bridge, we came from the right entrance where the signposts are

“As its morale collapsed, the rest of the Lancastrian army tried to flee, but the Swilgate became a deadly barrier. Many who succeeded in crossing it converged on a mill south of the town of Tewkesbury and a weir in the town itself, where there were crossings over the Avon. Here, too, many drowned or were killed by their pursuers.”

However we didn’t go to the mill and weir , instead it was round the corner back towards the abbey. Back outside the abbey again, we stopped to allow Richard to sum up all that happened after the battle, the Lancastrian nobles and knights who sought sanctuary inside (not that it did them any good), Margaret’s capture a few days later and then her life in France afterwards and finally he went over who was buried in the various tombs in the Abbey. Unfortunately there was a religious service taking place at the time so we got a map instead.

Tewkesbury abbey burials supplied by Richard the guide

The whole tour took around two hours (not helped by some idiot asking lots of questions) and was completely free of charge although voluntary contributions to the Tewkesbury battlefield society were graciously accepted.

An excellent afternoon well spent and Richard was a brilliant guide , he does this every month purely as a volunteer . I have linked their walk schedule below.

http://tewkesbury.org.uk/events-walks/

Much of this account is what I recall from the guide’s explanation and from the display boards around the route, the quotes are mainly from Wikipedia.

This has been a day out with Mr Steve.

All at Sea - Strange Sail in Sight

My three British 74's join the frigate to form my first squadron

Well if the feedback I've had from my last post is anything to go by, this project to build a collection from the Warlord Black Seas range of 1:700th model ships, is something that a lot of others are getting into or thinking about and just need a nudge 'to pull the trigger' as the saying goes.

https://jjwargames.blogspot.com/2019/11/all-at-sea-another-project.html

As mentioned in my last post, I had three British 74's and the USS Constitution on the painting desk at the time of writing and they have now joined the collection, with three French 74's awaiting some work with the brush to follow them.

The box of three plastic 74's were great fun to put together and with the option of three different stern quarters and four different figureheads really allow the modeler to individualise each ship with them and a slightly different paint scheme to give the ships their own character.

Not only that but the inclusion of different tones of sail set with one being darker than the other also helps to break up the uniformity of look without losing the potential of producing a British looking fleet versus a Spanish or French one.

Rigging the models has continued to be a learning curve as plastic masts with all their ability to bend under any tension means you have to learn how tight you can draw the thread in any particular direction without distorting masts or bowsprit; and that tension drawn in another direction can cause previously taught lines to suddenly look slack.

That said, I am pleased with the overall look and shape of the models when rigged and together in large numbers should create a very good look of ships battling away in this period that is captured in the contemporary marine artwork.

With the look of my British ships organised and one that will be carried forward with additional models, I am now turning my attention to producing a slightly different look for the other fleets I intend working on.

So to get some practice and to provide some fearsome opposition for my British light forces I set about building the Constitution whose size requires her being put on a 74 sized base.

The size of the ship becomes even more pronounced when seen up against the British 38 and the model is covered in detail that allows the look of this ship to be readily captured.

In time I will add some of the smaller US frigates such as Chesapeake and Essex so that I can play some of the classic 1812 encounters and I hope Warlord will produce a nice little sloop of war to complete the range of ships available to the US Navy.

On researching the look of my Constitution I turned to several sites featuring representations of the ship in various larger scales and it seems everyone has there own opinion on how the ship would have looked.

So not entirely content with the Warlord rendition, I think they have produced an attractive model and I enjoyed capturing the detail they have created on her stern gallery, which makes it clear which ship this is.

As mentioned, I am now focused on the French collection and three more 74's to try and get done before the Xmas break, plus my battery holders turned up this week, all the way from China, so now I can start work on my LED flashing gunfire smoke markers.

Hopefully these pictures of my two frigates going at it should give you an idea of the look I am after, except with the added drama of intermittent yellow flashes amid the white plumes of cordite smoke.

I am still working on the rigging tutorial and have taken pictures during the construction of these models to illustrate the technique used and will add some of the French ships to complete it, but in the meantime have put together a short video outlining the painting of these models together with some other recommendations re books and tools that will help in the process.

As is probably obvious, I am having a whale of a time putting these models together, and I get the impression others would like to as well but are put off by a perceived complexity in the build process.

All I can say is you will only know by having a go with a few models and finding the techniques that work for you and if you like the look I have achieved and want some guidance then drop me a comment on the blog and I will try to help, or check out what others are doing, as there are plenty of examples out there at the moment.

More anon
JJ