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 also a wargamer and a former member of the South East Scotland Wargames Club, which meets in Edinburgh on Thursday evenings.
See
I can remember the very day when I was first hooked by this period. When I was about twelve I went on a school trip to Edinburgh Castle, and for me the highlight was the Scottish War Museum. In it was the usual collection of uniforms, weapons and mementos, but what really too my
Queen Victoria’s Little Wars, The Men Who Would be Kings, 28mm This was an attack and defence game, with the Boers dug in around the hamlet of Witkerk (“White Church”) in the Transvaal. The British appeared out of the veldt to the north. The hamlet lay just north of a ford over the Mizinyathe River.
Queen Victoria’s Little Wars, The Men Who Would Be Kings, 28mm This week we were off to the Khyber Pass, for a small skirmish game set in the North-West Frontier. This involved a British attack on a fort, Ali Masjid, which had recently been overrun by the Afridis in a surprise attack. In fact all
Queen Victoria’s Little Wars, Black Powder, 28mm We were off to the Sudan this week, or rather the Sudanese-Egyptian border. The premise was that the Mahdi hadn’t died the previous year, but was spared the typhus that killed him thanks to a “miracle cure” medicine. His stash was stolen though, by a British agent, and
Queen Victoria’s Little Wars, The Men Who Would be Kings, 28mm We were going to do a big Sudan game this evening, but various things conspired to foil the scheme. So, we scaled things back, kept the game in the same period, and moved it 2,500 miles to the north west. This one was set
Queen Victoria’s Little Wars, The Men who would be Kings, 28mm We were off to South Africa this week, for a small three player game set in the Second Boer War. The British objective was to capture De Jager’s Drift (ford), the only place for miles where British guns and wagons could cross the Buffalo
Queen Victoria’s Little Wars, The Men Who Would be Kings, 28mm This week was a strange one at the club, with most of the usual suspects either unable to come in, or else playing other things. So, it was left to German Michael and I to do something quick and simple. He’d wanted to run
Queen Victoria’s Little Wars, The Men Who Would Be Kings, 28mm I never planned to wargame the Boer War. Sure, I found it interesting enough, but I always thought the thing pretty dull to wargame, especially the big battles. My mistake, of course, was to buy a “sample pack” of Old Glory Boers recently. Then,
Queen Victoria’s Little Wars, The Men who would be Kings, 28mm This week, by popular demand, we transported ourselves to the North-West Frontier of the British Raj, for another encounter between the British Empire and the wily Pathans. This was an ambush scenario, with the British column plodding its way up the Tirah valley, only
Queen Victoria’s Little Wars, Bonny Blue Flag (Homegrown Rules), 28mm A weekend of Indian Mutiny wargaming isn’t complete without a beleaguered residency and a relief force struggling to reach it before the defences are overcome. That then, is exactly what this Sunday game was all about, played out during the latest League of Gentlemen Wargamers’
Queen Victoria’s Little Wars, Muskets & Tomahawks, 28mm This weekend was the spring gathering of the League of Gentlemen Wargamers, which means we were up in Kirriemuir, a small town about 90 minutes drive north of Edinburgh. The weekend was divided into two parts. On the Saturday, we played a bunch of skirmish games, using
