Moroccan Adventure

 

Work has unexpectedly taken me to Morocco. It's not necessarily a trip I had planned to take. Whenever I travel I look for military history related sites: battlefields, museums, wargaming stores, etc. 

While I have found some spare time to investigate various landmarks (some with some interesting historical stories behind them), I haven't really encountered much in the way of wargaming fodder.

I brought with me Conrad Cairn's wargaming guide to the Carlist War (Side Note: I met Conrad at Claymore last year and he is an incredibly friendly person, an interaction that will ne a cherished memory) and that got me thinking about a Spanish theme to a Moroccan wargaming venture... specifically the Spanish Civil War. The Moroccan Regulares of Franco's Army of Africa were heavily involved in the conflict and were considered some of the elite troops for the Nationalist cause. 

I had already dipped my toe in the SCW waters when I began (but didn't finish) a 10mm Italian CTV infantry company to fight against the International Brigade in scenarios based on the Battle of Guadalajara (1937). 

In fact, I even had primed and began to paint some International Brigade infantry as well. Those are still languishing on a popsicle stick someplace in my hobby storage....they have little crude dabs of grey and brown on them and look quite rough at the moment, but I digress.... A bit of research revealed that the Moroccan Regulares fought the International Brigade at the Battle of Jarama about a month or so before the Battle of Guadalajara. In fact the very lovely wargaming blog Baber on Wargames has an excellent scenario posted for an action between the British battalion of the International Brigade and some Moroccan Nationalists during the battle of Jarama.

With this idea in mind, I placed an order for some 10mm Moroccans in winter kit from Pendraken. Of course this means that I really need to paint up those idealistic fighters from the International Brigade and since the CTV are nearly complete, I might as well paint them up too...

UPDATE: Since posting this on the blog, I also purchased a few old Osprey books on the SCW forces and another on foreign volunteers in the SCW. I also stumbled upon a few good blog posts with painting guides and color plates to aid in painting the Regulares and other factions. 

A Chilean Detour...

I don't often travel for work, although the opportunity is always there I try to avoid it as much as possible. Sometimes, I can not avoid it....as I was making significant progress with my 6mm Killiecrankie project, an unavoidable work trip would require me to Santiago, Chile for 3 days. It would be a whirlwind of meetings but I wanted to make it worth my while in terms of my hobby and passion of wargaming miniatures and military history. 

Prior to the trip, I targeted two museums I would try to visit: Museo Histórico y Militar de Chile (Chilean Military History Museum) and Fundación Museo Guerra del Pacífico (Museum of the War of the Pacific). 

On the second day of the trip, I made a rather difficult trip to the Chilean Military History Museum. 

The museum was in a barracks style building and had displays beginning with the indigenous populations and their contact with conquistadors and covering up to 1970s or 1980s. 

My primary interests were the Wars of Independence (I have partially painted armies in 15mm) and the War of the Pacific (partially painted armies in 10mm and babies navies in 1/2400). 

Throughout the museum there were awesome dioramas of battle scenes. The figures ranged between something similar to HO scale all the way up to 54mm or so. In the picture above, the diorama is a clash between conquistadors and the indigenous tribes. 

The museum also had displays of mannequins in uniforms which were quite interesting. These two fellows are from the War of Independence wearimg various fatigue caps. 

I believe this is a diorama of the battle of Chacubuco (1817). In this battle the Patriot forces of San Martin defeated a Royalist army. 

This is a diorama of the Battle of Rancagua during the early years of the war of independence (1814 perhaps), in this battle the Royalist forces were victorious. 

This rather interesting diorama is the battle of Yungay in 1839 from the wars of confederation. I have to admit I don't know much about this period of conflict. 

There were some nice exhibits of the War of the Pacific which showcased weapons and uniforms. On display were a helmet and cuirass from the Bolivian cuirassiers which was interesting to see. 

The museum had a video presentation for the War of the Pacific but I didn't have time to watch it. Since it was quickly approaching the closing time for the museum, I walked through the later sections a little more quickly and snapped photos. 

The museum touched upon some civil wars or revolts and WW1 and WW2. There was a full-size replica of a German trench and also of cross-cut M3 Stuart tank. 

The museum appeared to finish up with military equipment from the 1970s and 80s as well as an expedition to Antarctica. 

On the way back to my hotel, I stopped off at Palacio de la Moneda which is the presidential palace. A coworker and I discussed the 1973 coup which ousted Salvador Allende from power and saw a siege of the Chilean Presidential Palace. We had both saw the movie Civil War on the 9 hour flight to Chile and we remarked on the irony of seeing that movie and it's final scene and walking by Palacio de la Moneda. 

Time wouldn't permit a visit to Fundación Museo Guerra del Pacífico which is a shame..much like Southeast Texas and the battlefield site of Palo Alto, I don't anticipate coming back to this part of the world again. However, my mind has gone to my unfinished projects for the South American Wars of Independence and The War of the Pacific. While I may never revisit this corner of the world again, I can at least revisit these projects.

Claymore 2024

As mentioned in previous posts, I had scheduled a vacation to Scotland centered around attending the Edinburgh Royal Military Tattoo. The other big event I planned to attend would be the Claymore Convention held at Edinburgh College. 

I had a wonderful time, it was very interesting to see the difference between the UK shows and the American conventions. I was really blown away by the friendliness of all the vendors and fellows I chatted with at the flea market and around the games. 

I also had an opportunity to meet some people behind the miniatures and rules I have loved for decades. 

Beautiful displays of Baccus' 6mm offerings in the image above. I ended up placing three orders for pickup from Peter Berry, but the real prize was to finally have a chat with the friendly man I have been ordering from for the past quarter century or so! Peter was as much of a gentleman in person as he has been over email. 

Another notable I was able to meet was Leon from Pendraken (figures seen above). If you follow this blog, you are probably aware that I participate in the Pendraken painting competition most years. I have been a fan of the Pendraken ranges for decades and it was an absolute honor to discuss the hobby and other topics with Leon. I have never really had an interest in the Korean War but I ended up purchasing Chinese and Americans in winter gear...perhaps I can base them with a wintry snow effect...

These are some of Barry Hilton's 1/4800 gems for WW1 naval gaming. While I didn't pick up any of these, Barry was nice enough to sell me a sample pack of his 1/2400 Anglo Dutch Wars ships. These are absolute gems with so many unique and distinctive designs for specific ships of the war. 

Conrad Cairns is subject matter expert when it comes to the Carlist Wars. I am a proud owner of his wargaming guides from both Perry and Helion. In the picture above, you can see some of his brilliant 28mm Carlist figures. It was a real treat to chat with Conrad. After the convention, I realized Conrad also wrote "African Knights" which dealt with the militaries of African kingdoms like Sokoto and Bornu...I wish I had asked him about that..

I spent quite a bit of money and was happy to do so.  Here are some photos of other games I saw in the few hours spent at the convention.

I believe this warship was part of game involving 28mm figures and the siege of Havana or something. Absolutely brilliant stuff.  UPDATE: I was mistaken in my description, this beautiful setup was titled "Descent on the French Coast" and was a Seven Years War display game set up by some gentlemen to honor the memory of their friend and fellow gamer who passed away. I can think of no better way to honor a friend than this. Stunning tribute. My thoughts and prayers to Stuart, his friends and loved ones. 

10mm demo game of Test of Resolve...really neat stuff! The fellows responsible for these rules have recently released a Hundred Years War variant. Since I have already purchased their original War of the Roses set, I decided to purchase this new release. As appealing as the 10mm stuff is, I do have quite a bit of 15mm HYW lead sitting around from an abandoned project.

A really nice looking 15mm refight of the battle of Breitenfield. The use of flooring mats for a game mat was really neat idea.

Early WW1 grand tactical game using 10mm figures (Pendraken I believe). I think it was the battle of the Marne.

Flags of War was showing off a new rules and range called Border Wars that looked like a skirmish style game to fight border reiver actions on a 4x4 gaming area. Similar to Grey for Now games Test of Honour, units were prepackaged with unit cards and such. The ruleset looked to be impressive as well. 

Anyway, I look forward to visiting other UK/European wargaming shows in the future...Peter Berry did say I should attend Joy of Six sometime!

Balls Bluff Visit

On the weekends, my two dogs wake up like they are shot out of a cannon. If I don't get them exercised and worm out early, they will be harassing me for the rest of the day. 

This morning, I drove a bit to Balls Bluff (Virginia) Battlefield Park. It's a place that both I and my dogs have explored countless times. Back in 1861, a few months after the first Battle of Manassas, those grounds witnessed an interesting battle (large skirmish perhaps) when a Union force crossed the Potomac River on a reconnaissance in force with less than stellar results. 

Confederate forces quickly responded and drove the Union soldiers off the steep bluffs and back into the river. A US Senator, Edward Baker, died in the battle while leading troops from his native California. 

I've always toyed with the idea of wargaming the action. I have ACW armies in 10mm that I could use Years back I speed painted armies for a Longstreet project with my gaming buddy Frank. Incidentally, Frank's rebel forces were based on the Army of Northern Virginia. I think the biggest hurdle to refight it on the tabletop is recreating the undulating terrain and the steep bluffs along the river. 

Apparently there's a board game that allows players to recreate the battle in 2D. The game has pretty decent reviews, perhaps I will just try to find a copy of the boardgame. 

 

Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma Visits

At the end of August, I was notified by my employer that I'd be spending the month of September in McAllen, Texas. I didn't have much time to pack but I managed to bring some miniatures to prep for painting and some history/gaming books. 

If you follow this blog, you are aware that I have collected and painted the American and Mexican armies in 10mm for the battle of Palo Alto. The figures for these armies are exclusively from Bill Moreno's "So Far From God" range. The figures really are little gems and it's the only 10mm range for the Mexican American War (and a very comprehensive one at that).

I decided that I'd might make this work trip a bit more worthwhile and visit the battlefields of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma whenever I had a day off. As I researched my trip, my thoughts went back to Bill Moreno and his range of miniatures. I had known that earlier in the year he was dealing with an illness. Trying to learn how he was progressing, I was very saddened to learn of Bill's passing. I had also recently suffered the loss of someone very close to me; I decided that I would make the trip to Palo Alto in honor of Bill. I had only met him once but had communicated will him quite a bit via email every time I placed an order for miniatures (which was quite often). 

Okay, back to trip...after an uneventful drive across some incredibly flat lands between McAllen and Palo Alto, I arrived at the battlefield site. The visitor center was pretty small with a tiny gift shop and a few displays and exhibits.

Entrance to the National Park Service visitor center.

Uniforms of the opposing armies.

Some of the cannon balls and shot.

Small arms and swords.

A sample of the cordgrass that covers the battleground. The grass blades can be razor sharp.

An interesting discovery in the back of the Audio Visual room (where they play a 15 minute video covering the story behind the battles) was a display with some 15mm figures, a boardgame hex map of the battle and a copy of Buck Surdu's Santa Anna Rules! Buck's rules for the Mexican American War were the first set I picked up to game the war. I had previously started projects in 28mm and 15mm only to abandon them and settle on 10mm.

Buck Surdu's Santa Anna Rules in all of their glory!

Closeup of some of the 15mm figures, I couldn't make out the manufacturer...perhaps old Frontier, MiniFigs or Musket Miniatures?

More of the figures as well as some cavalry themed dioramas also in 15mm.

Closeup of the dioramas depicting what appear to be US dragoons, Mexican Line cavalry and some Rancheros.

I was really quite taken back by how inhospitable the lands were. Signs were in abundance warning visitors to stay on the pathways because of rattlesnakes, additionally the sharp blades of the cordgrass and prickly thorns of the shrubs were a danger as well.

On this September day, the sun was in full effect and the temperature was about 104. The battle was fought in May but I was also wearing breathable cotton and synthetics while the soldiers that marched into battle wore less forgiving attire.

I walked from the visitor center along the pathway to the Mexican lines and over to the partially covered overlook. As I walked the battlefield alone, my mind went to Bill and my departed wife. I hoped that both were there with me to see what I was seeing. As I thought of them, a cool breeze gave me some relief from the oppressive heat and I knew I was not alone which made me happy. I decided discretion was the better part of honor and opted not to walk to the further American lines. Instead I retreated back to air conditioning of the visitor's center where I purchased some souvenirs..

Before heading back to my hotel in McAllen, I decided to stop off at Resaca de la Palma which was about 5 miles south of Palo Alto. The National Park Service employee at Palo Alto forewarned me that there wasn't much left of the battlefield and there was no visitor center. When I arrived after a brief drive, I spent about 10 minutes there. I was impressed with the density of the chaparral that lined small bodies of water (which weren't really visible), after a few pictures I departed and returned to McAllen.

Dense chaparral located at the Resaca de la Palma battlefield site.

A cannon on display outside of the restrooms located at Resaca de la Palma.

I probably only spent a couple of hours at the two battlefield sites, I was glad I visited them. I'm not sure that I will ever be back here again and I have spent many hours collecting, painting and gaming with miniatures representing the two armies that fought on these lands almost 200 years ago. Walking those grounds filled my mind with gaming ideas to better represent the feel of the battle but it also filled my mind with thoughts of Bill and my wife. 

 

Visit to Denmark

I had the opportunity to travel with family to Denmark this past month. I was very excited for the the vacation and made sure my plans included some wargaming and military history stops. The first place on my list was Kastellet.

Kastellet was a 17th century fortification guarding Copenhagen. It featured heavily in the Battle of Copenhagen.

Its more of a park now, but the star design is still prominent along with the moats. It makes for a nice stroll and you can get some good visuals about how the English fleet approached the Danish fleet.

After Kastellet, we had lunch at Cafe Petersbourg. Its one of the oldest cafes in the city and is situated where the old Russian consulate was housed.From there we made a quick pit stop to Faraos Cigarer, the only wargaming shop I could find in the city. I was pretty impressed by the size of the shop. There were alot of boardgames and included your more common miniature ranges (Flames of War, Infinity, GW, Reaper Bones) and alot of paints and scenery items. I had to get something there so I bought a slightly overpriced boardgame called "The Grizzled". Its a co-op game set during WW1, the object is to survive the war. Cool!

Next up was Trelleborg, located on the other side of Zeeland in Slagelse. It is the site of the ruins from an old stone fort built by Harold Bluetooth (a noted Viking and the inspiration for the name of "bluetooth" technology). In addition to the stone fort, there were some replica Viking buildings and a small museum and gift shop.

Some replica armor on display, there was also a section that allowed visitors to try on chainmail, helms, shields and Viking replica clothing. I have those photos but they are much too embarrassing to share.

This was the replica Great Hall. Truly amazing, I walked in and sat on the throne. I felt like I was Ragnar Lothbrok ruling Kategat. I was informed by the nice woman working the museum shop that a group who still followed the old Norse gods would come out here for rituals.

Here is a model showing the layout of the stone fort.

Entrance to the stone fort, I am almost 6 feet tall and only came up about to about 2/3 of the stones on the sides. Truly massive.

 Standing atop the fort's walls. The stones laid out withing show the footprints of the buildings.

A well endowed Viking statue...The trip to Trelleborg really made me want to rush back home and break out my Baueda 15mm Viking army with Great Hall (still unpainted and in original packaging) and paint them up. I left the shop with some trinket souvenirs to hand out to coworkers and some mead for me...

My final hobby-related stop was the Danish Royal Arsenal Museum. I have to say I was blown away and I think any wargamer would be for all of the eye candy. Check it out below:

Some very early artillery pieces, I believe these were from the 16th century. You can see the museum shop in the background.

I believe this was a gatling gun...but I could be wrong.

A Danish armored vehicle which was destroyed by an IED in Afghanistan. They brought it back to Denmark and placed it on display. It left me awed. All of the occupants survived.

A ship model on display. I only included one picture of these but there were probably several hundred from the 17th century to modern ships. Truly awesome stuff.

The museum also had several dioramas of famous sea battles involving the Danes. The above photo was from a 17th century naval battle between the Swedes and Danes.

Look at these models! I think this was a Dutch/Dane fleet against Swedes. I believe the display claimed they were 1/1250 or something but they looked closer to 1/3000. The ships had rigging and everything. I couldn't tell if they were paper or carved or what, but they were amazing.

Another fortification and city, I think this was Copenhagen from the 17th century featuring Kastellet.

I believe this is a depiction of a naval battle involving Niels Juel, the great Danish admiral, but I could be mistaken.

 Battle of Copenhagen with the Danes on the left.

This was an interesting diorama depicting Danish gunboat galleys trying to attack a British ship of the Line. As I recall, the battle was a draw.

Damaged Danish galley, the victim of grapeshot.

Under represented in my photos but not in the museum were collections of arms, armor and uniforms. The displays included digital displays that allowed you to learn more about the specific pieces.The displays ranged from 15th century armor to 21st century uniforms...all associated with Danish military history.

Some cool flintlocks and matchlocks on display. There was even a small samurai armor collection! I ended up buying some English language booklets on the 1st and 2nd Schleswig Wars as well as a biography of Niels Juel. It makes me want to break out my 10mm Schleswig War collections and resume those projects in addition to my 17th century naval ships...That about wraps it up. Visiting Copenhagen was a great experience. Friendly people, great food and awesome places to visit.