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, 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 The British had withdrawn, leaving the area occupied by the Boers.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
The Back of Beyond, The Men who Would be Kings, 28mm We revisited the Back of Beyond this week This was a border clash, fought just south of Termez, near the Russian-Afghan border, just south of Termez in Uzbekistan. the Bolsheviks were planning an invasion by their “Army of God”, led by Indian communists. To
The Napoleonic Wars, Waiting for Bonaparte, 28mm At the weekend I boarded the overnight ferry to Aberdeen, then drove down to Kirriemuir, to take part in the latest League of Gentlemen Wargamers game. A couple of times a year the town’s Girl Guide hut is taken over by a group of ageing me, playing with
The Seven Years War, Honours of War, 28mm This week’s game was loosely based on the Battle of Emsdorf, fought in July 1760 in the western theatre. We took some liberties to fit it into a club night game, and replaced some units with others – mainly to fit in Sean 2’s new brigade of
Mary Queen of Scots’ Wars, The Pikeman’s Lament, 28mm It’s been a while since we’ve gamed this period. So, we returned to the Marian Civil War in 16th century Scotland, and a skirmish between forces loyal to the Queen let by the Earl of Rothes (Sean 2) and forces in rebellion against her, under the
World War 2 Naval, General Quarters 3, 1/2400 scale We were all at sea this week, somewhere off the Norwegian coast. The game was set in mid April 1940, and was loosely based on historic forces in the area, rather than a real engagement. The premise was that the Germans were busy landing troops at
Modern Wars (Yom Kippur, 1973), Seven Days to the River Rhine, 10mm This was my second game with these rules – and the first for two of us – Nick and Sean 1. Still, they’re very straightforward, and easy to pick up. In this one – a meeting engagement set in the opening days of
The English Civil War, For King & Parliament, 28mm We’re back in South Yorkshire, for another instalment ion our fictitious clash for the county. In this one, both the Earl of Doncaster’s Royalists and the Earl of Rotherham’s Parliamentarians were in the field, and clashed near Conisbrough, midway between the two towns. This was just
Bismarck’s Wars, Fire & Fury, 10mm We opted for a 10mm game set in the Franco-Prussian War this week, in glorious 10mm. there were only three of us playing this evening – others had other commitments (it being a lovely summer’s evening in Orkney). So, Sean 1 took charge of the French, while Sean 2
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
