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 Age of Fighting Sail, Post Captain, 1/1200 scale Two naval games back to back is a rarity. To be fair, in between, during the whole Christmas and New Year period, the wargame club here has been closed. In fact its still shut, thanks to Covid, although with luck that’ll change soon. So, this game
The Cod War, Cod War! , 1/1200 scale With just two of us available for a game this week – the last game of the year – we decided to play something entertaining, indulgent and involving ships. The Cod War seemed a perfect fit. After all, in this season of peace and goodwill, what could
Queen Victoria’s Little Wars, The Men Who Would Be Kings, 28mm As we hadn’t played a colonial game for a while we visited the North-West Frontier this evening. The game involved a powerful British Imperial force driving up the Zhob Valley, in an attempt top capture the fort at Hindu Bagh. It had been held
The English Civil War, For King & Parliament, 28mm This little game saw a return to Yorkshire, and the continuing fictional clash between the Royalist Earl of Doncaster and the Parliamentarian Earl of Scunthorpe. This time, it was all about a Parliamentarian siege train. The Earl of Doncaster was besieging Barnard Castle, but to breach
The Back of Beyond, Setting the East Ablaze!, 28mm It’s been too long. Remind me not to leave it so long between “The Back of Beyond” games. They’re just so much fun. This was a small game though, as there were just three of us. So, I made it a “quest”, shamelessly stealing the scenario
The Eastern Renaissance, The Pikeman’s Lament, 28mm For this game we needed three players, and had the luxury of five. This large-scale skirmish was all about plunder, and was set in the Cossack Revolt of 1648. During the fighting, both the Poles and the Cossacks learned that in the village of Zhytomir there was cattle
Bismarck’s Wars, Field of Battle, 10mm Recently, a care package arrived from my pal Gerry. In it was a pile of unpainted 10mm figures, including enough for an Austrian Corps. So, thanks to him, I could expand my Franco-Prussian kit into another war. This then, was the inaugural game of my new Austrians. I opted
The Age of Sail, Fighting Sail, 1/1200 scale As it was 21st October – Trafalgar Day – there was only one type of game we could play. So, I dug out my Age of Sail ships, and Gyles, Mally, Sean and I took to the high seas. In theory this clash was set amid the
The French & Indian War, Rebels and Patriots, 28mm This week, as Sean requested it, we played a French & Indian War game. As there were just three of us we opted for a scenario where there was a disparity in numbers. In the rules, one scenario involves an attack on an artillery battery, with
The Age of Chivalry, Lion Rampant, 28mm Lindsay bought a couple of new mats this week, and so for this medieval romp I suggested she use the green one. They bizarrely describe it as “forest green”, but frankly it looks more like undried pot – hence the name of the battlefield – the field of
WWII Coastal Forces, Narrow Seas, 1/600 scale We were all at sea this week, a mile or so off the Suffolk coast. Yes, back by popular demand, we staged a small Coastal Forces game this week. The idea was, a group of four E-Boats were lurking off Orford Ness – not far from the Sutton
The American Civil War – Rebels and Patriots – 28mm We decided to change the pace this week, and stage a large skirmish game using Osprey’s Rebels and Patriots rules. I mainly use these for French & Indian War games, but during lockdown Lindsay talked everyone into building up small skirmish forces for the American
The Seven Years War, Field of Battle, 28mm This was another in our recent games where we try to get our collective heads around Piquet’s Field of Battle rules. Our last 28mm foray was into the Napoleonic era, but for this we moved it back into the Seven Years War. It was a small clash
The Spanish Civil War, Chain of Command, 28mm This week we were off to sunny Spain, and a Chain of Command game involving more than one platoon a side, set in the Spanish Civil War. We usually abbreviate that to “Big Spanish CoC”. This one was an attack – defence game, set in the Guadalajara
The Napoleonic Wars, Field of Battle, 28mm This week’s game was a continuation of our dabbling in Piquet – Field of Battle. So, it was very much a learning curve game, with Mally and I commanding the French on one side, while Sean and newcomer Graham played the Russians. It was loosely based on the
Bismarck’s Wars, Field of Battle, 10mm We had something of a change of scale this week. Newcomer Bob had just bought a copy of the new 3rd edition of Piquet’ – Field of Battle. So, we decided to try them out. Now, I’ve used these rules a few times before, but only with 10mm figures,
The English Civil War, For King & Parliament, 28mm This week saw a return to Yorkshire, and the fictitious struggle between the Royalist Earl of Doncaster and the Parliamentarian Earl of Rotherham. The latest clash took place not far from the last, on the outskirts of Doncaster. The battlefield had a few scattered fields and
