RSS FeedAngus Konstam is an author and historian - visit his website at
www.anguskonstam.com or e-mail him at anguskonstam@aol.com
He's a member of the Orkney Wargames Club, which meets in Kirkwall on Thursday evenings.
See their Facebook page for more info.
The Roman World, To the Strongest, 28mm It’s been ages since we played an Ancients game, so .. by popular acclaim, I give you this small but decisive scrap, set near Tongeren, in the north-east corner of modern-day Belgium. In this little fracas, Sean 1 played the Gallic ruler Picanmix, while Sean 2 was the
The Back of Beyond, The Men Who Would be Kings, 28mm This week’s game saw the inauguration of Sean 2’s new battle mat, which for obvious reasons was duly dubbed “the mould mat”. So, apologies if these pictures look a little – er – garish! Anyway, this saw a three-cornered contest in Tajikistan, close to
Modern Wars, Cold War Commander 2, 6mm This is written by Sean Lisle – aka “Sean 2”; Every few weeks Angus attends a meeting elsewhere on a usual Thursday game night so Sean 1 and I (Sean 2) explore the Cold War Commander ruleset which, as the title suggests, simulates mechanised warfare in the Cold War
Bismarck’s Wars, Fire & Fury, 10mm We were stuck again. Yet another “hoolie” was blowing, and the Churchill Barriers were closed. So, with a game at the club off the cards, Sean 2 came round for a game in my kitchen instead. As it was so windy we didn’t bother bringing in the 6×4 table
Ironclads, Sail & Steam Navies, 1/600 scale I missed the club night game this week thanks to Storm Babet. Both Sean 2 and I have to cross causeways – the Churchill Barriers – to get to town, and they were closed, with waves crashing over them. Fortunately, he was able to come round on Sunday,
The Seven Years War, Honours of War, 28mm This week we returned to what’s probably my favourite period, and a small club-night clash near a village somewhere in High Germany. So far, Sean 1 has raised a Prussian infantry brigade of four battalions. So, they formed the core of the Allied force, backed up by
Modern Wars, Cold War Commander 2, 1/300 scale This week – like I do every month – I had to miss a club night, due to a veterans’ meeting, the RNA. Fortunately, this month Sean 2 stepped up to the plate, and offered to do the blog, reporting on the game the two Seans played
The Second World War, Iron Cross, 10mm I called this meeting engagement “first clash” because that’s exactly what it was – the first tabletop encounter in a new project. Recently, Sean 2 and I decided to collect some World War 2 toys in 10mm, as we’d enjoyed our recent Arab-Israeli games in the scale. The
Bismarck’s Wars, Fire & Fury, 10mm We had a Franco-Prussian game this week, with a little under a Corps a side. It was based on the Battle of Colombey-Nouilly (or Borny-Colombey), fought outside Metz in August 1870. The French were on the defensive, and their aim was to hold off an impetuous Prussian assault, buying
The English Civil War, For King & Parliament, 28mm We returned to Yorkshire this week, and the continued struggle between the Earl of Doncaster and the Earl of Rotherham. This small set piece battle was set a few miles east of Doncaster. I say set piece, ’cause both sides had small, matched forces. My alter
The Second World War, Chain of Command, 28mm Over the past few months, while we’ve been playing games set in the Pacific we’ve tended to focus on the Buna campaign in New Guinea. So, this one is set on the track leading to Buna, where it skirts the Girua River. The Americans, played by Sean
The Napoleonic Wars, Shadow of the Eagles, 28mm Unusually, I’m going to start with two apologies. First, my tardiness in posting blogs. the thing is, I’ve been wrapped up putting the finishing touches to a book, The Pirate Menace, and that’s taken up all of my time. Secondly, thanks to Sean 2 for some of
Queen Victoria’s Little Wars, The Men Who Would Be Kings, 28mm This one was set in the Boer war, amid the campaigning around Ladysmith. The British had withdrawn, leaving the area occupied by the Boers. However, a couple of wagons containing the regimental whisky supplies had bogged down, and Colonel Potts ordered their immediate recovery.
The Age of Fighting Sail, Kiss Me Hardy, 1/1200 scale We were all at sea this week, playing a fun-looking scenario from the Lard Magazine 2021. A French squadron of four ships-of-the-line was on its way from Nice to Calvi in Corsica, when it stopped to take on water in the Iles d’ Hyères, off
The Age of Chivalry, Lion Rampant, 28mm I hadn’t played these rules for a while. Since then I’ve expanded my armies – mainly the under-strength French one – and of course a new version of the rules came out. They’re the ones we used for this game – Lion Rampant 2. To be honest there
The Seven Years War, Honours of War, 28mm I didn’t go to the club this week as I had a meeting in town, but fortunately Sean 2 came out for a game over the weekend. He wanted to use his newly-completed brigade of Prussians, and so I was happy to oblige. the game was a
The Spanish Civil War, Chain of Command, 28mm With none of us able to attend the wargame club this week, Sean 2 and I staged a small Spanish Civil War skirmish in my house over the weekend. This was a standard Chain of Command scenario, using the very straightforward amendments for this particular war. In
