Club admin and selling Warhammer Great War

Been a hobby bureaucrat today - various bits of club organising (like booking for our Marston Moor all day Pike and Shotte game on the 6th October - ping me if interested), and putting some stuff on eBay.

Specifically, these two.

Warhammer: Great War

Over the Top

I will sell to a follower if you make me a reasonable offer, otherwise bid away and good luck.

US National WW1 Memorial and Museum, Kansas City

Paid the above a visit yesterday with Lardie Dave C and his lovely fiancée K.

Excellent place with very friendly and knowledgeable volunteers and some very evocative displays. Covers the whole of WW1, not just the USA’s involvement, with uniforms, loads of artillery pieces, a DH2 hanging from the ceiling....

Recommended if you’re anywhere within several hours drive, and Dave is a gracious host (and RJ’s BBQ was awesome).

French tank with Dave for scale

“They Shall Not Grow Old”

Rather delighted to notice that Peter Jackson’s World War I documentary was on the flight over to the states today.

I’m definitely counting watching it as part of my hobby streak: fascinating and moving stuff. 

Amiens 1918 narrow gauge layout/diorama

Couldn't resist this when I saw it, either. It's an 009 (or in wargames terms, 20mm figure scale (aka 1:76/4mm to the foot), 9mm/2'3"gauge) layout representing a WW1 trench railway in 1918, built by Calum Willcox, a.k.a. SDJR7F88 on YouTube.

The figures are from W^D Models delightfully characterful range. The Mk1 is the classic Airfix kit, while the MkIV and Whippet are Emhar kits, the 18" howitzer (front left of the layout) and tractor are Roden, and the refuelling truck is Skala. The big gun dead centre is a 9.2" howitzer, and it's an A Wilkinson 3D print. Can't find out on his series of videos what the B-type 'bus is - I'm guessing it's either W^D or the Airfix kit, (Edit: and I'm wrong, it's a Corgi from the WW1 Centernary Collection.)

Really rather fabulous, I think. Lovely attention to detail, and clearly lots of thought gone into the staging of each vignette.

Would you like to see something like this on display at a wargames show?

Somme 100th Anniversary

My good friend Tim-the-builder, playing the trumpet for Lincoln's Somme memorial.

https://www.facebook.com/bbclincolnshire/videos/10153872125069403/

The Great War

Well, you were going to get an unboxing series on the PSC Great War box which arrived today (OK, it arrived Tuesday but I only picked it up from the sorting office today) but my camera's flat, the wife has nicked the iPad charger and my iPad's flat, and my iPhone camera needs to go back to Apple as its autofocus has stopped working....

... so you'll have to wait. :(

Also. watch out for a fun announcement for an upcoming Meeples episode :D

Kickstarter watch - PSC's The Great War

An interesting one to wake up to this morning. Plastic Soldier Company have announced a Kickstarter for a Command and Colours Great War variant - link at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1992455033/the-great-war-0

It looks rather interesting - not the least the new range of plastic 15mm British and German troops to go with it. I have pledged - after all, it's a boardgame, so my New Year pledge doesn't count ;) will be interested to see how the figures compare to the Battlefront ones. 

It was twenty five years ago today...

...that the final episode of one of the BBC's best comedy series ever aired.

Despite one of our Government Ministers making a complete ass of himself over it, this still ranks as one of the most powerful pieces about the First World War in mainstream TV.

Part of the reason it works, I think, is the contrast between the silliness that Blackadder was famous for, and that end scene. But an even larger part is that we've watched and laughed with that dysfunctional bunch of soldiers for the whole series... they are, in an odd way, ours.

Cricketers in Wartime - WW1 - Trent Bridge

Not only are Sky picking up on the WW1 connection, the BBC have a whole pile of pieces on sport and WW1 in their 'Home Front' series...

The beginning of the war

I lit a candle last night, and was profoundly moved by the service at Westminster Abbey, especially the performance of Vaughan Williams' "Lark Ascending", which I thought was absolutely stunning, played by (BBC Young Musician of the Year 2002) Jennifer Pike.

Anne and I were talking about the World War 1 poets we'd covered at our respective schools... I was surprised to discover that, despite being sure I'd read some of Seigfried Sassoon, I couldn't remember any... so I spent a fair chunk of the rest of the evening reading some.

So herewith, to rectify that:

Trench Duty 

Shaken from sleep, and numbed and scarce awake,
Out in the trench with three hours' watch to take,
I blunder through the splashing mirk; and then
Hear the gruff muttering voices of the men
Crouching in cabins candle-chinked with light.
Hark! There's the big bombardment on our right
Rumbling and bumping; and the dark's a glare
Of flickering horror in the sectors where
We raid the Boche; men waiting, stiff and chilled,
Or crawling on their bellies through the wire.
What? Stretcher-bearers wanted? Some one killed?"
Five minutes ago I heard a sniper fire:
Why did he do it?... Starlight overhead —
Blank stars. I'm wide-awake; and some chap's dead.

Cricketers in Wartime: WW1

I notice with delight that Sky have been picking up on the cricketers in wartime theme for one of their lunchtime features, especially with the centenary of WW1 coming up.

Enjoy this 7 min feature on Colin Blythe and AEJ Collins - two cricketers who lost their lives in the First World War.

Blythe was a Kent and England fast bowler who was killed on the railway line near Passchendale by random shellfire in 1917. Collins made the highest ever recorded individual score in cricket, 628 not out as a 13 year old schoolboy. He never played first-class cricket, but was killed during the First Battle of Ypres in 1914.

Flames of War WWI reviews

The first reviews of the Battlefront WW1 stuff are out, courtesy of WWPD (unsurprisingly) and Model Dads.

• WWPD Sneak Peek: Great War - The Overview...
• WWPD Sneak Peek: Great War - The Army Lists...
• the Model Dads' video review

Sadly, these reviews only cover the extra rules tweaks, but they do contain some nice pics of the figures, which do look promising. All I need now is to find a nice set of company-level WW1 rules.

"Centenary: Words and Music of the Great War"

As some of you may be aware, one of my other major hobbies is music, both playing and listening. I love it when I can tie my hobbies together (wargaming and photography being a major one, as is wargaming and writing). Hence I was more than a bit pleased when this popped up on my radar:

"Centenary: Words And Music Of The Great War" is an album by roots/folk group Show of Hands (who, if you're at all into folk you really owe it to yourself to check out), with Jim Carter (Downton Abbey) and Imelda Staunton. The band provide the music, the actors readings of World War 1 inspired poems, both familiar and less so.

My copy's on its way. I fail to see how, given the people behind it, it will be anything short of awesome.

Battlefront, WW1

I note with interest that Battlefront have - I think the best phrase is snuck in, with as let little fanfare, an announcement for August for, wait for it...

... Flames of War "Great War".

Yes, really.

Reading between the lines, it does appear to suffer a little from Battlefront's desire to turn everything into a tank battle, but (as someone who probably owns more BF figures and vehicles - at a rough guess about 8-900 and 100 respectively, even if over half are unpainted - than most FoW gamers), I'm interested to see what the figures come out like.

The rules are coming out in the August Wargames Illustrated, and I'll certainly give them a once over, but if I do succumb to the figures, I'd be going for "Through The Mud And Blood" or Warhammer Historical's "Great War" rules.

And yes, this is post #750...

Some light reading...

Not a review, as I only bought them today. Just a heads up that Tesco has a bunch of books at 2 for £7 which may be of interest (and actually works out just cheaper than Amazon if you like physical books). There's probably more of these worth a grab, and at least in Tesco you can flick through a book before buying...

Book three of the Tancred series by James Aitcheson, which I'm pretty sure I have the first two sitting in my unread pile.

(Yes. It's a bad sign when you can't remember what's in your unread pile!)



Another take on the origins of WW1, this time by the ubiquitous Max Hastings.

I'll be interested to compare it to the AJP Taylor "War By Timetable"...

And finally, book one of Conn Iggulden's War of the Roses series - I know some people are dubious about the quality of his research, but I do occasionally just enjoy a rattling good yarn, and they're great for working up campaign backstories when you're a drama-loving old hack like me :D

I already have this from Amazon.

BBC History magazine - Vikings and WW1 Days

For those of you in the UK, and not (like I will be) planning on being sound asleep (as I'll have landed at 0730 on Saturday)...

If you're around the Bristol area, BBC History magazine are putting on a series of talks about the Vikings and WW1. They do cost £60/£70 to get in (including lunch) but they do look rather interesting.

Sat March 15 - Vikings Day:

• Janina Ramirez - The Vikings as ‘Other’: Are ‘They’ In Fact ‘Us’?
• Philip Parker - Ruling without Kings: State and Society in Viking Iceland
• Gareth Williams - Ships and Society in the Viking Age
• Dr Ryan Lavelle - Fighting the Vikings: War and Peace in Viking-Age Britain
• Judith Jesch - Treasures of the Sword-Trees: Viking Poets and Poetry

Sun March 16 - First World War Day:

• Mark Bostridge -1914: England’s Fateful Year
• Margaret MacMillan - Accidental or Inevitable? The Outbreak of the First World War
• Dr Nick Lloyd - Hundred Days: The End of the Great War
• David Reynolds - The Long Shadow: The Great War and the Twentieth Century
• Panel debate/Q&A

WW1 diaries placed online by National Archives, Arthur's letters

For Sidney Roundwood, and anyone else interested in WW1 history and wargaming.

Via the BBC:

Diaries from British soldiers describing life on the frontline during World War One are being published online by the National Archives.

Events from the outbreak of war in 1914 to the departure of troops from Flanders and France were recorded in official diaries of each military unit.

About 1.5 million diary pages are held by the National Archives and a fifth have been digitised so far.

The diaries are linked from here.

Also popping up today is a site called 'Arthur's Letters', a complete archive of letters home from the front by Arthur Dease, a volunteer ambulance driver under the French Red Cross, to his mother. Some fascinating reading.

The origins of WW1 revisited

For those of you who enjoyed my review of AJP Taylor's "War By Timeline", or even, heaven forbid, bought a copy, I have a further recommendation for you.

Dan Carlin produces a series of podcasts called "Hardcore Histories" - they're usually about three hours long, often multipart. Dan's American, and... the best way to describe him I think is very intense. He does have a fine ear for telling a story, though, and some quite sharp insights into history.

The current episode is entitled Blueprint for Armageddon I, and is (one would assume from the "I") part I of a series about the origins of WW1. I'm about 45 mins into it on my daily commute, and I'm finding it a fascinating companion to the AJP Taylor book. See what you think - you may enjoy it.

"Tell Them Of Us"

"Tell Them Of Us" is an upcoming film set in World War One. To quote the description from their Facebook page:

This is a film to mark the anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War in 2014. It is the story of Thimbleby war memorial - the genesis of a beautiful and moving film. It is a story both unique and universal; it is the story of two brothers…

A great deal of effort seems to be going into this - authentic hand-knitted clothing where needed, for example. I have a personal interest in this film as, apart from anything else, the music is being written by my friends (and sometime bandmates) Tim and Annie Walker.

Looking forward to seeing more.

WW1's Tunnels of Death: The Big Dig

Ok - how did I fail to notice this was on????

A two part Channel 5 documentary that combines two of my favourite subjects - military history and archaeology. A very very big archaeological dig on a massive trench system in the vicinity of Messines, scene of some very heavy fighting in 1917 and the detonation of some massive mines.

Some of the finds are stunning - shells with time fuzes, incredible trench earthworks, stashes of German grenades....

Part 1 is available online here.
Part 2 is available online here.
(You probably have to be in the UK.)