Tidy Up

I've added a couple of blogs and a few more links over to the side.

Some of the links are fairly old content but still relevant for the 6mm hobby, especially with some very nice pictures and battle reports for you to enjoy.

Somme 3 - Timecast order for trenches, redoubts and ruined villages and farms.

At the request of Nick, here is the list of items I have ordered from Timecast

13/GW1	WW1 Trench Line (2 x 12") (Unpainted)	6
13/GW2	WW1 Trench Line (2 x 6") (Unpainted)	4
13/GW3	WW1 Trench Line (2 x 3") (Unpainted)	2
13/GW4	WW1 Trench Line Inside Curve (2) (Unpainted)	3
13/GW5	WW1 Trench Line Outside Curve (2) (Unpainted)	3
13/GW6	WW1 Comunication Trench (2 x 12") (Unpainted)	2
13/GW7	WW1 Trench Junctions (2) (Unpainted)	2
13/GW8	Shell Cratered Ground (4) (Unpainted)	1
13/GW9	WW1 Trench Line with Machine Gun Pillboxes (2)	1
13/GW11	Ruined Villages (2) (Unpainted)	3

13/002	WW2 Soviet Fortifications (Unpainted)	1
6/012	Damaged Houses (2) (Unpainted)	1
6/013	Ruined Buildings (4) (Unpainted)	1

The WW2 Soviet fortifications are to actually represent the Schwaben Redoubt. I'm fairly sure that was a tip from Robert Dunlop who puts on the excellent huge GWSH games at Joy of Six.

From what I have read, the Schwaben Redoubt had a frontage of around 500 yards so two sections of this should be a decent representation.

As previousley stated, I have a pack of the shelled ground with me to test out my painting on them. I'll get some pictures up as soon as possible. And once the order arrives, I'll lay it all out on my table to see what is what.

More soon...

Somme 2 - Quick update

I had a nice drive over to Timecast today. It's only half an hour away in Shrewsbury and I wanted to see their trenches before buying. More importantly, I wanted to get the right number of curves and straights to cover essentially 16 feet of table.

I met Mark in the workshop who kindly took me through my requirements and discussed things like what bits I need for the redoubts, Mouquet Farm and Thiepval itself. I was also given some tips on how to paint the latex pieces which will come in very handy when it comes time paint them up.

I came away with a sample of their shelled ground along qwith some the Coat D'Arms super wash and one of the brushes that Timecast sell. I placed my order which will take 2-3 weeks to sort out. I suppose there is a chance it may be ready for Joy of Six, but not an issue if it isn't.

Once I have it, I intend to lay it out on my table to bet some idea of how the table will set up. Research is ongoing into the battle. It is amazing that no matter how much you read around a subject, there is always more to learn.

For instance, I have never really looked at local connections to the battle. I am currently researching family on my mum's side who lived in Salford at the time, with at least 3 brothers (my mum's uncle's) who were of an age to serve. Salford sent several Pals battalions to France and at least 2 of them served in the Thiepval sector. Something to look into further I think.

Also the town in the Staffordshire Moorlands where I went to high school has an interesting connection to the battle. The 46th North Midland Division were close to Fonquevillers on 26th June 1916 and targeted Gommecourt. Attached to the division was the Old Leek Battery who had orders for the 26th as follows: 

"V Day – Wire cutting and Registration Under orders to cut a lane 60 yards wide between enemy 1st and 2nd trenches. 700 rounds per gun allocated"

 This is a picture of the battery. I'm unsure of the location, whether it's in France or at home in Leek.

This is an interesting picture, as men from the battery source horses from the locals in the nearby village of Endon.I know this place very well as the building in the background is the Plough public house which still stands today on the A53 between Stoke on Trent and Leek.

These images and the information I have gleaned so far are from here which is the website of the Nicholson Memorial which still stands proudly in Leek town centre over looking the main street through the town. Well worth a check and although the battery served to the north of Thiepval, they shall form part of my ongoing research.

More soon...

10 Interesting facts about the fighting around Thiepval that you didn't know you didn't know.

1. Thiepval was the 6th largest village in the Somme region, consisting of 93 houses pre-1914.
2. The 7 day bombardment leading up to the 1st July destroyed the village, but created a perfect defensible position for the Germans who were able to create excellent machine gun positions from which they were able to enfilade the advancing 36th Ulster Division. One of these posts was named 'Thiepval Fort'.
3. The Ulster Division named other German strong points 'Lurgan', 'Strabane', 'Duncannon' and 'Lisnakith'.
4. The area around the Thiepval Chateau (site of the Thiepval Memorial) was tunred into a mound of reddish brick rubble and the gardens were turned into shell holes.
5. It was the task of the 32nd Division to take Thiepval. But as soon as they rose from their trenches at 07:30hrs they were hit by machine gun fire. The 16th Northumberland Fusiliers followed a football kicked by a famous footballer.
6. The Ulster Division advanced under cover of smoke fired by 4" Stokes Mortars, as well as the intensity of the allied bombardment. They reached the first line of German trenches with little problems, but on attempting to move towards the Schwaben Redoubt they took fire from German artillery as well as flanking fire from Thiepval cemetary. and then the rear as Germans rose from the cellars from within Thiepval itself.
7. The failure of 32nd Division to push on towards Thiepval, left the right flank of the Ulster Division vulnerable.
8. In the afternoon of the attack, 11th Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers reached the crucifix to the north east of Thiepval cemetery and the 9th Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers reached the Schwaben Redoubt but struggled to maintain their hold with Thiepval still in German hands.
9. The Ulster Division were awarded two V.C.'s for their part in the attack. Private W F McFadzean (14th Royal Irish Rifles) was awarded the V.C. for throwing himself on a box of bombs that had been dropped dislodging the pins from two of them. He saved the lives of several men from his unit in doing so. Temp. Captain E N F Bell (9th Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers) was in command of a trench mortar battery, but advanced with the infantry in the attack. On four occassions he took it upon himself to single handedly attack German positions with his pistol and grenades and clear the way for the Regiment to advance. When out of bombs he stood tall shooting his rifle at the advancing enemy. He was killed rallying infantry parties which had lost officers.
10. On 2nd July 1916, the Ulster Division was taken out of the line having suffered 5,500 casualties.

This is what it's all about.

When I first started to become interested in the American Civil War back in the late 80's, I picked up the Golden Book of the American Civil War, published I think by American Heritage.

Inside, as well as a great narrative of the events leading up to the war and throughout it's course, there were several pictures like the one above. I studied these intently, not only for the story it was telling of the particular battle it represented, but also for the look of the ground the little men were fighting over. To my eyes, it was basically a painting of what a wargame could look like.

I think it looks to me like a 6mm game in action, with the rolling terrain and the movement of troops depicted just as if they were on 60mmx30mm bases! Maybe it's just me, but I have always wanted to use these as an inspiration to recreate an American Civil War battle that had the look and feel of these pictures.

The Somme 1

Here we have both the scenario map from the Great War Spearhead (GWSH) 2 rule book depicting  the Thiepval area, and the modern day Google map covering roughly the same area.

It's always interesting to me how many people throw down a mat, cloth or terrain boards that are predominately green. Of course I have no idea just how field boundaries altered post war, or for that matter what crops were grown at the time.

I'd wager that the crops haven't altered much. What ever grew here pre-war probably was similar to what is grown on those same fields today. 

The area around Thiepval wood, west of the modern day hamlet of Thiepval would appear to have been renewed and replanted with obvious pathways. The map from the GWSH book certainly appears to show a much smaller area of woodland. How accurate this is only further research will tell. 

What would appear to be accurate is that as you move east from Hamel, the ground falls away to a valley where the River Ancre flows before rising again as you move further east through Thiepval towards Mouquet Farm.

I have found a great online resource for trench maps that cover this area, going as far to have the names of the trench lines and where the communication lines ran. 

Saint Pierre Divion, to the very northern edge of the GWSH map isn't clearly evident on the Google map but is there. It is a very small hamlet of just a few buildings. Again, evident on the drawn map but not the Google map is the Schwaben Feste, or Schwaben Redoubt. It is properly located along a lane running north west from the Route de Grandcourt, further on past the copse of trees at that junction.

I have yet to locate the Zollern or Stuff Redoubts sitting on the German third line of trenches that run north from Mouquet Farm.

My intention for the game next year is to have the table be as accurate as I possibly can get it whilst remaining playable as a wargame. A considerable order for trenches is being prepared for submission to Timecast along with some of their other useful latex scenery pieces.

I have some time on Thursday and Friday to at last take a look at the figures I purchased at Phalanx from Baccus. I may even put some paint on them. I stocked up on some Nut Brown and Peat Brown inks from Hobbycraft. This stuff is often called magic in a jar for 6mm painters. I have used it before and it certainly works!

Okay, hopefully more updates later in the week.

More soon...

Interest from Russia

It seems this blog has been viewed more in Russia than in the UK.

Hello to my Russian readers!

The Question That Never Gets Answered And is Rarely Asked.

I went to Phalanx in St Helens today.

It's a show I have been to many times over the years, but not for 3 years or so now. The first thing that hit me was the yellow lighting that took some getting used to as I wandered around the various stalls. I met some friends from one of my local clubs who were playing a Seven Years War large scale skirmish across I lovely fleecy blanket. There was a chariot racing game which looked good fun. Other than that I can't actually recall what games were on show.

Traders were the typical fair of original content producers such as Baccus and the ever more present re-sellers, pushing Warlord/GW/Mortal Gods/Flames of War/other ubiquitous products. Although now I think about it, I saw a crush at the ABC Brushes stand and forgot to go back to them. Damn.

I bumped into Janice Sother and Bob Aspland (he was kind of a big deal on the Warhammer scene15-20 years ago!). Had a lovely chat about life, the universe and everything in between. I also spoke with Matt, Nial and Reece on the Pit stand. The BEST of the resellers to my mind offering a whopping 20% discount on any product over £10. They also sell Mantic Games products which I am in love with and get my fantasy/sci fi kick from.

Realised fairly late on that the Pit were selling the most hyped pots of paint in the history of pots of paint. However they only had brown left. So, leaving at around 2pm, I popped into Crewe G.W. on the way home and picked up 4 pots plus the magic spray paint to go with it. Testing begins when my daughter is in bed and my wife has gone to work.

So what has any of this to do with Gods Own Scale you might ask. Nothing, up to this point, other than to say I am still around. I am still in the hobby. But I  haven't managed to complete a single project in GOS since the last meaningful blog post a few years ago. There has been several occasions where I forgot about the blog altogether and when it did pop into my mind I considered deleting it.

I'm glad I didn't though. First of all there is the early stages of my research into my Blenheim Blitz project on here and I think I might just have another go at it! Secondly, although there wasn't a lot of content here, I'm actually quite fond of what there is.

Although I remain a passionate amateur historian, my interest in historical gaming dived into a rut that I just couldn't escape from. I had cornered myself by playing one companies rules using that companies figures despite not actually enjoying the direction they were taking with recent releases. Not a criticism of the company, but the rules and games that they were producing didn't tickle my fancy so to speak. And yet I continued supporting them out of a brand loyalty I suppose.

With the way the country is going with political, social and economic division and uncertainty over the future, real world gaming just held no appeal for some time. Hence my escape into fantastical worlds. Coupled with some significant trauma and consequent psychological issues, Mantic Games allowed me release and freedom to get lost in plain old fun games set in non-sensical settings where Goblins and ray guns rule the day. And long may that continue.

However, back to the purpose of this lengthy quick post. I have had an abiding interest in the Great War for close on 30 years now. It started when I first joined my local wargames club in 1989, playing large ACW battles using Dixon Miniatures and computer based rules that ran on a Spectrum 128K (!). Around that table were some real personalities, some of whom are friends to this day.

Two of them in particular, fostered the interest in the Great War. George Hughes, who was an ex Guardsman and at the time was Governor of Nottingham Prison. He was a bon viveur, raconteur extraordinaire, and incorrigible cheat on the wargames table :-). The other was Geoff White who at the time was a Chief Inspector in Staffordshire Police (he retired as Detective Chief Superintendent and my boss!). Both were incredibly knowledgeable about the war and took annual trips over to Belgium and France with a mini bus full of fellow enthusiasts. In fact George had been going across to stay in Ypres since the early 1970's.

It was a moment of great pride and privilege when I was invited on the trip along with other young club members, Tom and John Barlow. Over the following few years, Tom and I would squeeze into the back of the old minibus, driven by Micky Ferns (retired Fire Officer) along with other members of the party which included at least 3 retired Superintendents, a Doctor and a solicitor. As a young in service PC at the time, I felt in hallowed company! John would make his own way due to work comittments.

We would always stay at a B&B on a farm in De Klijte just outside Ypres. Micky would then drive us into Ypres for the 8pm Last Post ceremony every night before we moved onto the evenings liquid festivities. During the day we would tour the area, travelling as far as the Somme, the field of Agincourt and Waterloo over the years. But always back to Ypres for 8pm. George had a way with words where we would be standing in a muddy field on a grey wet morning, pointing to some landmark or the horizon, describing what happened in minute detail, painting pictures for his us in our minds eye.

All of the party had their own area of interest. I remember listening avidly to Geoff and Pete Lawton (another Detective Chief Superintendent!) as they would discuss certain aspects of the war, hoping one day I would be as knowledgeable as them.

It was always November when we went over, coinciding with the Remembrance Day commemorations. It was always a special time as in the days leading up to the 11th, you would see military bands, various associations linked to the war, scout groups and dignitaries around the town as they prepared themselves for the day. The 11th was an up and out early day to beat the rush to get a decent spot beneath the Menin Gate. George and Mickey had a tradition every year where at the laying of wreaths by the VIP's they would somehow always sneak on the end of the line to lay their own wreath with the others. Another proud moment came when Tom, John and I were invited to lay the wreath on behalf of the group - a sure sign of acceptance.

I miss those trips. George passed away 3 years ago. His funeral took place whilst I was on holiday and co-incidentally in Ypres with my family. I raised a glass to him and stood proudly for the last post ceremony that night. But I was sorry to miss the funeral, which was attended by many of the old boys from our trips. Micky has gone too. But my memories of those days tramping across muddy fields, avoiding the iron harvest at the road sides and then drinking into the small hours are some of the fondest I have.

What these trips gave me, on top of those memories, is a passion for the war. It is difficult to put into words my thirst for knowledge on the subject. I consume vast amounts of literature on it every year. I listen to podcasts, watch videos on YouTube, research varied aspects on-line. There is always something new to discover or learn. I have a Great Uncle whose name is on the Tyne Cot memorial, but I know very little about him as that side of the family was estranged prior to me being born and my dear old Grandad was always reluctant to discuss him for reasons I never discovered. I've yet to research him, almost out of respect for my Grandads wishes. But I may relent in time.

Of late I have become more and more fascinated with the Somme. It's not an area I have visited that often, maybe half a dozen times. With the centenary 3 years ago it came more into my thoughts. There was the expected publication of a couple of books, one of which by Hugh Sebag-Montefiore is a firm favourite of mine. In fact, whilst in Crewe today, I picked up the paperback edition simply because it has a new forward in it by the author. There was a series of television programmes about the battle, some better than others.

Why it grabbed me so much I can't say. Visiting the Thiepval memorial is as somber as it is inspiring. But then so is Tyne Cot, or the Menin Gate. Or half a dozen other smaller yet no less significant memorials. The new museum that has been built is incredible. The simple act of driving along the Albert - Bapaume (the D929 in modern parlance) Road, seeing signs for Cambrai, Arras, Amiens and a dozen other names sends a shiver down my spine. Then, rising up from the flat land of yellow and green fields on the horizon, you start to see the familiar shape of the stepped arch coming into view.

The thought of what that edifice of brick and stone represents is almost beyond comprehension. Not just the fact that there are over 72,000 names inscribed on it's walls of soldiers who fell and have no known grave. The monument raises up 140 feet into the air. The scale is of it is breath taking. But then so was the scale of the battle it commemorates. Nearly 60,000 British and Dominion casualties. In one day. Of them, nearly 20,000 dead. In one day. The battle started at 07:30hrs on 1st July 1916. By the time it ended in November of that year, over a million men from both sides were dead.

How and why this tragedy occurred is an answer that will never be answered satisfactorily. Generations of historians have put forward their case. The popular myth of lions led by donkeys is too trite to capture the reality of what happened. The answers are far more complex and nuanced than any single phrase can capture.

Take the case of the 1st Newfoundland Regiment. They had travelled half way around the world to fight for King and Country. Their first action was to step out of their jump off trenches on the morning of 1st July 1916. 780 officers and men strode forward into a hail of bullets. Within around 30 minutes, they were cut down. 110 survived, only 68 of which were available for roll call the following day. Every single officer was a casualty. As Peter Barton, the historian said, it is doubtful any one them saw a German that day.

It is stories like this, and many more, that make me keep returning to the subject to try and understand a bit more.

So, from a wargaming perspective, I am planning on using Great War Spearhead 2 to re fight part of the battle, in particular, the area around Thiepval. The scenario in the GWSH book is quite achievable for a slow grow project with the aim of displaying it at the Joy of 6 show in July 2020. I spoke to Peter Berry briefly about it today and he tells me others are planning games already for next year and this years show hasn't happened yet! That's in 3 weeks time. Unfortunately it looks like I am working at the moment. But if you're free get along to it, details here

I'll end this short post but look for what I hope to be monthly updates as I progress. I purchased a division of British and Germans to make a start today. 2 more British divisions required for the scenario and then a 6'x4' table to populate. Easy!

More soon...

Tempus fugit.

Maybe this time, I can keep this thing going.