New post added- lots of pics and a little history too:

http://lajourney-bedford.blogspot.com/

Hope you enjoy it.

Darrell.

Hi Gents,

I’ve just begun putting together a blog La Journee devoted to The Battle of Verneuil 17 August 1424, one of the most important and bloodiest yet misunderstood battles of the HYW.

There are no pics of miniatures up yet- this will be remedied later today- but there is an introduction and later, time permitting, there will be a more in depth view of the events leading up to one of the most ferocious struggles to take place during what we now dub the Hundred Years War.

You will be able to follow the blog through the normal means – unlike this poor blog you are now reading!

In the meantime please feel free to browse:

http://lajourney-bedford.blogspot.com/

Cheers,
Darrell.

So, following on from trying out Fire and Fury Regimental I got a real go at trying out Johnny Reb III- I was even allowed my own command- a decision that the Fed High command would rue.

Generally speaking, the rules are a bit of a complicated departure from the simple mechanisms of Fire and Fury, however by the end of the evening it was clear that the rules were nearer to the mark in terms of results of ACW combat. There were clear gains to be made from making the right moves at the right time and this is something that is perhaps lacking in F&F Regimental (still a good ruleset in it’s own right).

Here’s the carnage:

I have been lucky enough to be in print in this months Wargames Illustrated:

Dan has done an exceptional job in producing some nice pics of my HYW English that put my meagre photography skills to shame. Also, alongside the pics of my army are some lovely pics of Dave Andrews ‘Early’ HYW archers that are a bit special. It is a bit of an honour to have my stuff on the same page as modelling primo Dave Andrews- over the years I’ve always looked at his armiesover the years and thought “Wow! I wish I could do that!”

Also, at the risk of sounding like I’m blowing my own trumpet, I did the Longbowman Step-by-Step in the mag too. It was quite a lot of fun although I was a little apprehensive about seeing my work in print- all needless worry in the end as thanks to Dan et al the article has come out very well indeed.

Darrell.

Our game of Regimental Fire and Fury concluded Thursday gone with the Yankies hilding desperatley onto the centre whilst the Feds took both flanks. All that was left for the forces of Lincoln was to make a fighting withdrawl……

Great game  We’ll be trying out the same scenario with Johnny Reb next week so expect a full report. In the meantime, here’s a few pics of the game- all the miniatures are from the collection of Paul Douglas:

Bill Millin, made famous as the piper in Lord Lovat’s Commando unit during the D-day Landings and the Relief of Pegasus Bridge has died at the age of 88. 

Very sad news indeed.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/19/d-day-piper-dies-war

A fitting tribute to the man and other members of our armed forces involved in the fighting on that Longest Day and after for the liberation of Europe:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xd8oy1_a-tribute-to-bill-millin-2010_news

I put these together a while back to add to the units of men-at-arms and archers etc for the photoshoot for Wargames Illustrated this month- an issue dedicated to the Longbowman.

These mini’s have been part of a unit that I decided looked a little too thread bare so I’ve rebased them and they will be used to spruce up the table top and to act as casualty markers in games like Impetus.

I thought that there may be some interest here so without further ado….

You can see all three in the Vignette section of the Gallery here.

Hope you enjoy them.

Darrell.

According to the listings of my posts it appear that July was a lean month as far as wargaming goes for yours truly. Actually this was not the case as I was really buisy painting and dealing with other real life issues. I did manage to sneek in a game of Crossfire played in 28mm! Yep, you heard me right.

I’ve been a member of the Durham club for a few months now and I have to say that I have been very much impressed with the games that I have taken part in. At the moment we’re trying out Regimental Fire and Fury and I should have some pics of the game we are embroiled in posted up here on Thurday evening or Friday morning. In the meantime I’ll leave you with some snaps of the Crossfire game…..

A month or so ago an idea was floated around The Steve Dean Forum about members doing a painting swap- the idea being that you sent a mini to the guy or gal below you and they sent one to the guy/gal above. The idea was popular and there have been some really great pics posted of late, a link later on.

I sent Rafael one of the new Arab Conquest mini’s from Essex (nice they are too!) and he returned it quickly and I was so pleased with the results that I said to myslf that I ought to post something about it on my blog. Naturally that was a few weeks ago- so without further ado, here’s the pics i took of Rafaels work:

I sent Artmasters mini back a week or so ago and got a very positive response but I understand that he’s very buisy at the mo so I may have to wait for a pic. I would have done it myself but I was buisy too :O)

You can see the rest of the painted models from other folk here (well worth a look!):

http://www.sdean-forum.co.uk/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=22807

Hope you enjoy thepics on both the SDF and my website too :O)

Darrell.