Bohemian palaces, castles and Salute 2015

After a monstrously busy month at work, it took a few days off before I had the mood to blog again. This was helped today by a decent stroll in the park at the end of my road, where they also happened to be holding a rather nice food and wine fair.

The good thing about the park, is that apart from having stunning views of Prague, it happens to hold a late Renaissance gem in the form of the Belvedere Hunting Palace/ Summer Palace (the photo of which I took this afternoon above). It really is one of my favourite buildings in Prague, and could equally be at home in Florence or Sienna, such is the grace of its design. It's considered to be one of the purest forms of Renaissence architecture north of the Alps. Anyway, it was a perfect spot to spend a few hours with the family over good food and wine.

I also managed to get out to another smart little 17th century chateau, at Mnisek Pod Brdy, about 30km southwest of the city. It was rebuilt in 1656 by a retired Imperial general after the 30 Years war (having been burnt to the ground by the Swedish Army in 1639).

 

To top that I also managed to climb up to Karstejn Castle, which is another giant fortress just beyond the edge of the city, on the Beroun River.

This gothic pile, was significantly altered in 19th Century, so it's not too certain if it's current state reflects any historical reality. It is very large though.

The view from the ramparts is quite good, looking down on the village as it winds down to the river. The village itself has many decent watering holes, perfect on a hot day.

I did of course manage to get to Salute in London. Plenty has been written about the show on other blogs (including the Bloggers meetup), so I'm just posting up a few shots of my favourite games.

For me two games really stood out. Firstly it was the South American Wars of Liberation game by South London Warlords. The Battle of Araure (which had a lovely write up in the show programme as well). Really a cracking and realistic display. It caught my attention for obvious reasons, and

I'll write more about this over on the Orinoco Miniatures blog...

It was also great to finally meet John Fletcher, with whom I share a great interest in the period. A very nice chap indeed to talk to.

 

The other game was I believe the show winner. The gargantuan display of the Battle of Fort George by the Essex Gamesters and Ron Ringrose (and his spectacular ships).

I ended my Salute weekend quite pleasantly, with a few hours digging around Foyles bookshop, topped off by some quiet Sunday pints in a favourite London haunt - The French House; De Gaulle quite liked it as well...

What can we expect in 2015

Well January flew by in a flash. I thought I would have a brief review of 2014 already posted up by now. Needless to say, 2014 turned out different to plans. Lots of things didn't get off the ground, blogging slowed to a halt, and painting virtually evaporated. Though there were a few positives, such as Chain of Command, which proved to be a great discovery, along with getting a British and (soon to be) Soviet platoons painted up late in the day.

The Analogue Painting challenge was entered, with a less ambitious target, though even that may prove elusive, given the hours I'm putting in at work. A few entries have gone in already with more on the way.

The good news though is that I now have another large batch of figures for Orinoco miniatures ready for release (peasant militia, and more Gran Colombians). With these and a few ancillary packs soon to be completed, I hope to have all the figures to put on a key battle from the Wars of Liberation (below you can see the very first preview of some of the new figures).

Putting on the Battle of Ayacucho is the ultimate aim, but for this year it will probably be one of the smaller battles in the north for the liberation of either Venezuela, or New Granada/Colombia.

In regard to battlefields visits, I did manage one very interesting walk during a short working holiday to Crete in September (that is, the family were on the beach, while I sat in the apartment and worked). I'll get round to writing it up, along with several overdue posts on other battlefields I've visited (including Vimeiro, Bussaco, Rolica, as well as the Italian front battlefields from WW1).

I also paid a visit to the Hussite's main town of Tabor, and actually got to bump into a bunch of them celebrating their 600th anniversary in Prague! (Indeed the Hussites are alive and well in Bohemia. Thankfully time has mellowed them a tad, so all we saw was some small Hussite jazz ensemble, which was a very absurd moment.)

On the up side, the stalwarts that are the Prague Wargames Club, proved to be as reliable as ever, and a constant source of new ideas and hobby inspiration. From a humble start back in 2003 when myself and a friend (Nick Dorell) tried to kick off a few games at a small table in a local hobby shop, we now have nearly 30 members, and a permanent clubhouse.
Plenty of games were held during the year, my personal favourites being some Mud and Blood battles from 1914 (the "Race to the Sea" scenario). 

Also, it was great fun getting to grips with Chain of Command; really and excellent set of rules.

The large summer Napoleonic game was also a winner. The good news is that we will attempt most of the Waterloo battle in 15mm using the "General de Brigade" rules in the summer.

So plans for what's left of 2015, well a house move is still on the cards, as are more figures for my Orinoco range. The Auterlitz/Slavkov battle may yet see the light of day in a smaller format, as with the South American Liberation Wars battle. Certainly more games would be welcome, especially Chain of Command. I'm also intrigued by the recent WW1 adaptation of these rules, and scenarios for the Kaiserschlacht campaign of 1918. As for more blogging, let's hope.

As usual, we'll be going on our annual pilgrimage to Salute again this year with other from the Prague Club. Salute 2014 was excellent, and the bloggers meet up as enjoyable as ever. So obviously I'm looking forward meeting some of you again this year at Salute.

Salute 2013

Bloody Lobsters again!

After a 2 year hiatus, an expanded squad from the Prague Wargamers Club reached the shores of Salute. Through an orgy of frenzied shoppers, I managed to sneak in a few snaps of some nice games indeed. Details can be found at length in all the other blogs written about the day (I'm sure I'll eventually work out who put on what games).

The social highlight of the day was of course meeting up with fellow bloggers, and it was especially nice to meet "Sidney" (Roundwood's World), Fran (The Angry Lurker) and Ray "Sand bags" Rousell (Don't Throw a 1), as well as other members of Posties Rejects and many other bloggers (there were a lot at the meet). Again, I can't emphasize enough how many of my favourite bloggers have been a great inspiration for getting in to new periods, and getting on with painting the lead. I think blogging in general has been a real boost for the hobby.

Anyway, first up in the nice games sweepstakes was this impressive Peninsular War scenario in 54mm game put on by Victrix. It seems that 54mm (or even 40mm) is the new 28mm, whatever that means; it's a bit like 'black is the new yellow...' Very nice display, though gaming in this scale requires the prior purchase of a large mansion, with attached stables and gaming hall...

There was, as with my last visit in 2011, a Very British Civil War display game. Now this is all very silly/alternative history stuff, but very nicely presented . Still, all I could think of when looking at it was "the Trumpton Riots...." (who remembers that song ;-)

One of the 2 or 3 games which I thought upped the standard on the day was the 40mm Alamo game put on by Gringo 40's. Great terrain and buildings, and the same high standard with the figures. The Alamo church itself was spot on (I should know as I've stood in the original).

One of a number of American Civil War games on the day. This one was notable as the terrain of Little Round Top looked quite nice.

A very large World War 2 display game based in Normandy 1944. The details of the town were the winner here, as was some of the scenery, especially the river. Unfortunately WW2 tanks and figures are not actually that appealing to look at for me (damn that camouflage, give some redcoats anytime).

 

The other big winner of the day was the enormous Waterloo game. When I walked towards this thing (for how else could one describe such a spectacle), I thought "well, that looks like an interesting 15mm display." Oh, how wrong; the table was stuffed to the gills with nicely painted 28mm figures, thousands of the little devils. Now more than a few were still in stovepipe shakos, but this is easy to forgive when you appreciate the full game, along with accurate models of the two farms. No surprise really that it was the show winner (or so I have been told).

 

 

The wee Corsican himself handing out a few cooking tips...

In terms of the other game that had a touch of the "wow" factor, it had to be the siege/battle in Medieval Japan put on by Oshiro Model Terrain. Not crowded with figures as the Waterloo game, but full of a nicely created Japanese town.

The other game that caught my eye was a nice quirky game around the siege of Troy, put on by the Tin Soldiers of Antwerp. Again, a very nice display game, and the members from the Antwerp club a truly a nice and friendly bunch of people; top marks!

Where's Helen???

 

As the frenzied shopping showed no signs of abating, I joined in, and left for Prague, bag stuffed with some nice Front Rank reinforcements and a stack of Perry Plastic Austrians for our upcoming Austerlitz game, some Monmouth Rebels from Reiver castings to double as Vendee Rebels, French Consular Guard from Trent Miniatures, British Napoleonic Royal Marines from Grubby Tanks/Britannia, and that lovely 28mm Dutch windmill and some bridges from Grand Manner. New Perry Plastic AWI British and Gripping Beast Dark Age Warriors soaked up the last few Shekels.

Salute is also great for books and rules and general inspiration for projects beyond the current lead mountains, so purchases below have them lined up for me. The next three for end year, start of next, are below (though they will most likely keep me going through all of 2014), wish me luck...: