Major Percy throwing the spoils of war at the Prince Regent's feet.
I found this on the Guardian website recently: Hugh Grant reading the Duke of Wellington's Waterloo dispatch as delivered to the Prince Regent by Major Harry Percy of the duke's staff.
Hearing it read out in a plummy voice really adds atmosphere that reading it yourself can't quite convey, especially when recounting the casualties.
Yes, it's that time of year again; Little Wars 2015 in Melbourne is on again tomorrow. I'll be going again with La Petite Rosbif #2 to sample the games and wares on offer. Besides the Melbourne session tomorrow and the Adelaide event in July, there's now a new event in Canberra in November. So for everyone in SE Australia, there's an event for you. No excuses now!
Thanks to Millsy of the excellent Canister and Grape blog, I'm the winner of this fine book! He recently celebrated his 100,000th visitor mark with a generous giveaway competition and I was lucky enough to score a prize.
It's a biography of Mithradates IV of Pontus, one of the Rome's most implacable enemies in the late Republican era. Who knows? It might spawn another wargaming project!
Just a little reminder to all of you in the vicinity of Melbourne on the 1st of June to come on down to South Eastern Australia's premier wargames show. Even Adelaide is getting its turn this year later in July!
Jonathan Freitag over at the Palouse Wargaming Journal is celebrating his blog's 1st anniversary with a book giveaway - dashed decent of him, I say! Many happy returns, Jonathon, and may there be many more.
It's an excellent blog with a wide range of historical figures on display. I must (shamefully) admit to not visiting more often and hope to remedy that in the future!
He has a range of books on offer, mainly devoted to the Napoleonic and ECW periods, but also one on the ACW and one on general military history. If none of the books grabs your fancy, he's also open to negotiation for a sample from his lead mountain!
Please visit his blog, become a follower (if you're not already) and sign up for the giveaway, or just revel in his wargaming adventures!
The Russian military has always been adept at marching because of the sheer vastness of the country. Getting from A to B in most periods of Russian history meant that the average Russian army, whether Imperial or Soviet, needed to march long distances. Think of the long march on Paris 1812-1814, or the march on Berlin, 1942-1945.
In crossing these vast distances the Russian armies have had their marching songs which helped them to maintain a steady march rate that ate up the miles as they crossed Europe in between savage battles. One of their favourite tunes was a song whose origin is lost in the mists of time. Some say it was derived from the ravings of a demented monk, others from the alcohol fuelled delirium of a particularly hated officer. Whatever its origins, it became the basis of a popular children's cartoon once a couple of American animators heard its nonsensical lyrics.
WTF? Is this final proof of the corrupting influence of US cultural imperialism? And why are there so many different units marching to the same silliness? Is it some sort of Russian military craze? Have they spent too long in the snowy cold of Siberia and collectively gone doolally?
Anyway, I shall be recommending my opponents in our upcoming Borodino game to send their troops forward with this song on their lips. We'll have to see if there's any footage of French troops marching to the Simpsons theme, or Italians marching to Kimba the While Lion....
On another tangent, Ian over at the Blog With No Name is having a competition with the prize a £20 sterling giveaway competition. He will pay 20 quid at the online store of your choice for whatever you want to buy. Of course, if you want to spend more than that, you can. He's not averse to some silliness himself and is asking for respondents to tell him a joke. I don't think it's a condition of entry and hopefully he's not basing the winner on the quality of the joke, otherwise I'm screwed!
Apparently this video has been kicking around various forums (fora?) for a while, but it came to my attention courtesy of Robert (Benevolent Chastiser of Serfs) of La Bricole forum and Serrez les Rangs blog fame. It shows a recreation of a Napoleonic cavalry charge performed by the cavalry of the French Republican Guard circa 1970 (when your humble correspondent was but a wee babe in arms!).
There is a commentary, but it's in French so some of my francophone friends might be able to tell me what is said! It's a very interesting view of how a cavalry charge may have looked from the start. I was impressed by the noise of the trumpeters, as I never really really thought of the volume generated, but I suppose that's accurate as they trumpet tunes indicated various commands that needed to be heard by everyone.
I also liked the aerial shots showing how ragged the line becomes once full speed was reached.
Speaking of La Bricole, there is now another painting challenge being run; this time to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Salamanca. The form it takes this time is to create a small vignette of command figures or morale markers etc. I still haven't entered, but may still yet dive in with a command stand for my Naval landing party!
Another member of the La Bricole family, Kawe (aka Schrumpfkopf of Grossbeeren 1813) has started an online shop selling quirky 28mm figures for wargaming, dioramas etc. He's bypassed the usual infantry marching, charging, firing etc. to concentrate on the more unusual, including Prussian medical services (including ambulance), French engineers in full armour and kilt-clad Highlanders showing everyone what's under their kilts! All the figures are sculpted by the talented and prolific Paul Hicks.
Click the image below to go to the store. There's also a link in the sidebar in the retailers section.
