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.
Campaigns in Central Asia, c.1919-25 For those of you unfamiliar with the Back of Beyond idea, the name comes from a rules supplement to Chris Peers’ Contemptible Little Armies. Back of Beyond was a set of army lists and a campaign system which allowed players to recreate events which played out in Central Asia during
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 Back of Beyond, The Men Who Would be Kings, 28mm We planned a multi-player Back of Beyond affair for our pre-Christmas game, but one player had to back out. So, I came up with a three player game instead. The inspiration was this cartoon entitled “Save me from my friends”, with a voracious Russian
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 Back of Beyond, Setting the East Ablaze!, 28mm This game was an almost forgotten pleasure – gathering with a few friends to shuffle lead. Of course, we had to do it while adhering to all the Covid rules, but it was a joy nonetheless. As I got to choose what we played, I settled
The Back of Beyond, Setting the East Ablaze, 28mm This, strangely, was my last proper wargame before the lockdown. It was a get-together of the League of Gentlemen Wargamers, who meet up in Kirriemuir in north-eastern Scotland three times a year. This game will probably be our last until the end of the year. Anyway,
The Back of Beyond, Setting the East Ablaze, 28mm First of all, let me apologise for taking almost four weeks to post this. I had a fire in the flat, and it’s taken me that long to start getting back on track. I was pretty busy. Then I hit technical problems, such as where in
The Back of Beyond, Setting the East Ablaze, 28mm By popular demand we staged another multi-player Back of Beyond game this week. It’s a “period” you can’t take too seriously, and this makes it an ideal pre-Christmas game. So, this one was set in the mean streets of Tashkent, and featured eight players – two
The Back of Beyond Setting the East Ablaze 28mm Its been almost a year since our last “Back of Beyond” game. That’s pretty stupid, as every time I play the period I enjoy it so much I land up wondering why we don’t play it more often. Games are always hugely enjoyable, and are often
The Back of Beyond, Setting the East Ablaze, 28mm We’d been planning to stage a “Back of Beyond” game for some time, but for various reasons we had to postpone it. This week we finally got it together. The scenario was a weird one, as you’d expect from this “period”. The premise was that the
The Back of Beyond, Setting the East Ablaze, 28mm By popular consent we returned to The Back of Beyond again. Actually, that’s not quite accurate – while we used our Back of Beyond toys, for once the game wasn’t set in Central Asia, but rather in the Ukraine. Essentially it was an excuse for Bart
