Normandy Game

Hello There! Here is another game played at the New Buckenham Historical Wargamers Club recently. This used 10mm figures along with a number of buildings, some of which you may recognise from the collection of building from the Battle of Waterloo.

Here is the overall table and the Britsh were attacking from the left, across the board towards the German defences.

The painting on the building was highly effective. I have painted some of these for a wargaming friend and can vouch that these are very well detailed and almost 'paint themselves'!

Here is another Waterloo building.

The buildings also fit very well with the figures used.

This was the rules used. I know very little about these, but the game appeared to run smoothly.

Some of the buildings had a few contemporary posters for the period. 

Commando Game

Hello There! While escaping from some family commitments, for a little while, I managed to visit the wargames club and take some quick photos of the commando game which was being run.

It was played using 28mm figures and Bolt Action rules. Here is the overall view of the table. The commandoes had to get from the far side of the table and sabotage the railway station before the end of the game. 

I have been considering making a train and wagons for years but have never got around to it. There are plenty of damaged models or stand in trains and wagons at the local model railway shop and I have a few old Dalpol models in the stash of shame. These examples from a fellow wargamer have pushed this project forward somewhat.

Also a scratch built bridge. This reminded me of the Slaters Plasticard that I also have in the plasticard stash. A basic construction but highly effective.

Between the commandoes starting point and the railway station was a few building. On the far left is the ubiquitous Hovels damaged building. The others are scratch built.

Here is the rear of the railway station. The German player had a machine gun in the top window which caused the Commandoes a lot of problems.

The figures were very well painted.

The Germans entered along the bridge at the side of the board.

The railway bridge was also scratch built. It is very stimulating to see the work of other wargamers.

The train was painted black and dry brushed.

Here is a close up of the Hovels building.

Obviously the commandoes had not read the fieldcraft book which began, 'Dont bunch up'!

The River was plaster and multiple coats of paint and marine varnish.

I have started to make some trees from rubberised horse hair, but prising the horse hair out to make a much less dense tree, before I flocked it.

Various pieces of 'fluff' were also present.

The game was very popular and was enjoyable, for all of the players. Further photos can be found here.

Minster Gate Bookshop Revisited

Hello There! The day before I visited Vapnartak 2026, I had a tour around York and revisited the Minster Gate Book Shop again.

Again there was a noticeable change in the stock in the History and Military History sections.

After a while I walked away with the following.

While these subjects are not my usual interests for less than four pounds each I added these to the collection.

I have a few publications on the Roman Army and I had a look through this and felt it would be a useful addition. Also the Towton book was also interesting, especially as we passed the battlefield on the way home.

I originally had a creeping feeling that I had this already but thankfully I was incorrect.

I have a small force of  Resistance, which could be the basis of a good game. I do not have anything specific on this subject so was pleased to find his. Also another couple of additions concerning Normandy. This time from the German and British perspective.

This last item came from an Oxfam shop on the high street. It was hidden behind a number of other books and not easy to find. I already have the first part and this concentrates on the large Capital ships in the Kriegsmarine, some destroyers which were formally from other nations and an errata from volume one.

DAK photoshoot on the Desert Terrain

Hello There! I took the opportunity to photograph some of my DAK desert forces.

I have various plans to add to my desert collection, but I do have to start from the 'bottom up' and complete the terrain first.

I had airbrushed some dust clouds to put behind vehicles many years ago. I used some of them in the last Bir Hacheim game I put on, but I feel I need quite a few more for my first game in the cabin.

I made a large number of explosion markers in a number of variations and these go well with these models.

The commander on this model is an AB figure. A splendid figures which fits very well here.

I hope to use these explosion markers for mortar fire and to show hits on vehicles.

After Christmas I shall add some more photos of Commonwealth forces.

MAFVA Show 2025

Hello There! I decided to get out of the house for a while and the MAFVA show was about an hours drive away.

I have not been to this show since it was at the Duxford Military Vehicle display and coincided with the book fair.

I was very pleased and surprised to find a much bigger show than I was expecting. Spread across a large sports area and other rooms, including an upstairs area with a bring and buy sale. 

The first club who had their models on display, had a very wide range of desert vehicles which was a good presentation of some lesser known or seen axis vehicles.

The diorama back ground was from a matchbox kit. I like the way the desert round was represented.

This was a partially scratch built and the source vehicle was the matchbox Krupp Protz.

I have a coupe of 'Diana' in my DAK forces. The pictures I have seen include a number on the chassis next to the driver and a small elephant motif on the rear fender

An Sdkfz 254. This was present in the desert and used as a scout car.

An addition to the wide range of German ambulances. I did not see what make or mark this was.

I was told that this is an SHQ model. I have not seen this in their catalogue and it is a large model. I wonder if it is still available from the Grubby tanks list, or where the SHQ range will go when Andy Grubb retires next year?

The fascines on this model appeared to be made of individual lengths of bass broom bristles. The figure was an AB miniature.

Another AVRE made from a combination of an Airfix and Matchbox kit.

There were some lovely Desert Air Force aircraft. The Airfix Kittyhawk was one of the first model kits I ever made.

I would love to learn how to use an airbrush to this level and create a mottled camouflage pattern.

I liked the idea of having a background story to some of the models that were on display. This was a great idea from the Brampton club.

This was a very different idea to use the Airfix tank transporter for!

Here was another combination of desert vehicles, this time using 28mm figures.

I also have a Deacon in 20mm which requires decals and a crew. This photo was to remind me!

This was a very detailed figure and was a change from the normal selection of models that were on display.

Almost hidden away in a side room was a further group of model clubs displays. As I have a proposed project for the Aegean conflict in 1943 I liked seeing this selection of vessels.

The aircraft on the back was so small and well detailed!

And finally a further selection of desert vehicles.

Overall this was a great surprise to see a wide range of suppliers that you do not normally see at wargames shows. Also they were very helpful. I was expecting a much smaller show as I was comparing it to the Duxford show. It was a pleasant surprise! Well worth a visit next year!