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 Napoleonic Wars, The Shadow of the Eagles, 28mm This week’s game was chosen after a message from Keith Flint, the author of these rules (and Honours of War, or Seven Years War set). Keith and his wife were holidaying in Orkney, and he asked if he could meet up. We were delighted to oblige,
The French & Indian Wars, Rebels and Patriots, 28mm This was going to be a three-cornered game, and turned into a four player one. Newcomer Tom appeared, and was duly made the chief of the Abenaki village of Muddisquoi. the idea was, the French and the British were gearing up for a new season of
The Seven Years War, Honours of War, 28mm With only two of us available for a game this week, we skipped the club, and instead we gamed at my place over the weekend. As Sean 2 has now finished the second of his Prussian battalions, we staged a small game which involved them, along with
Modern Wars, Seven Days to the River Rhine, 10mm This was something of a new departure. It began when I picked up a copy of these rules on a whim, after reading a few good reviews. I wasn’t that fussed about “The Cold War gone hot” theme, but the rules’ Facebook group had an interesting
Pre-Dreadnought Naval, Perfidious Albion, 1/100 scale You’ll search long and hard for anything about this battle in the history books. It was, of course, a made-up affair, based around my eclectic collection of hand-built pre-dreadnought models. In this alternative history scrap, in 1905-06 France and Imperial Russia were both at war with Imperial Germany, and
The Back of Beyond, The Men who would be Kings, 28mm This little game, entitled (according to Google Translate) means “The Rival Tanks” in Usbeki, was all about tinkering with our house rules. You see, we’ve adapted this excellent little colonial set of rules for The Back of Beyond, and so we need bolt-on rules
The Age of Fighting Sail, Far Distant Ships, 1/1200 scale This game was set during Nelson’s chase of Villeneuve to the West Indies in May and June 1805 – a few months before Trafalgar. This was largely because Sean 1’s sea mat was Caribbean blue… Anyway, in this game the two Seans played the French,
The Seven Years War, Honours of War, 28mm This week we did something a little different. As an Easter treat the wargame club hired the hall for all of Saturday. So, this gave us the chance to play a larger game than on a normal club night, where you only have about three hours of
The Napoleonic War, Shadow of the Eagles, 28mm With just Sean 1 and I available for a game this week, and as he wanted to play a Napoleonic game, we scaled things back. This clash involved a small mixed division per side of six infantry battalions, in two small brigades. They were supported by a
The Second World War, Chain of Command, 28mm This was another week where we didn’t make it to the club. As two of our regulars were either working or sick, Sean 2 and I changed our plans. Instead of the long trip into town, we played a small Chain of Command game at my place.
The English Civil War, For King & Parliament, 28mm The two Seans wanted an English Civil War game this week, but we kept it small as time was short. As there were three of us, then two had to be on one side. Both Seans opted for the Royalists, I prefer the Parliamentarians, so that
The Seven Years War, Honours of War, 28mm This was another week when due to work our usual foursome was reduced t just two. Again, as we both lived near each other, 15 miles from the town, we decided to game in my kitchen rather than go into the club. So, as Sean 2 is
The Roman World, To the Strongest, 28mm We hadn’t played an Ancient game for ages, so we decided to run a small one, to remind us of the rules. As bad weather made the trip into town a little dicey, Sean 2 and I decided to play the game at my house. Due to the
The Back of Beyond, The Men who would be Kings, 28mm This week we had a visitor – my old chum Peter Marshall – which was an excellent excuse to run a multi-player Back of Beyond game. The 6 x 6 foot table was covered in buildings, representing Tashkent. the town was divided into the
The Seven Years War, Honours of War, 28mm We missed last week’s club game de to the weather – getting into town involves crossing storm-lashed causeways – The Churchill Barriers. So, Sean 2 and I made up for this by having a wee game at my place. We opted for a Seven Years War clash.
Modern Wars, Cold War Commander 2, 1/300 scale Well, this was something different. For some strange reason a couple of the guys in the Orkney club have a thing for 1/300 scale tanks. Sean 1 had even built up a “Cold War Gone Hot” West German Bundeswehr force, c.1985, but never raised their Soviet opponents.
The Napoleonic Wars, Black Powder, 28mm We wanted a simple but challenging game this week, so I delved into Grant & Asquith’s “Scenarios for all Ages” for inspiration. They had one that was perfect: “A Vital Bridgehead”. In our version, the French were trying to get across the Bobr River, while engineers were rigging the
