Twilight of the Soldier Kings / Cabin Fever

The rule book arrived very promptly on Tuesday (I only ordered it Sunday night). Unsurprisingly, there is a lot more in it than I picked up from the videos. And I did make some mistakes in my trial game on Sunday. For a start I forgot to do the Wing Morale test which might have meant that my arbitrarily calling time might not have been needed. I might say some more on the rule nuances that give more of a flavour of Frederician warfare.

I'm conscious that I have a few rulesets I've been meaning to try. Tigers at Minsk for one (I know, I know Jon, but it's not been a year yet since I said I'd try them). Also Neil Thomas' WWII rules from Wargaming - An Introduction. And last but not least monsieur le comte de Foy's updated Prinz Eugen rules.

I also had a bit of a 'Mrs Smoker'* moment at the weekend and ordered some discounted books from Naval & Military Press that might have fitted into the category of books I'd borrow from the small local library but wouldn't normally buy. But like Mrs Smoker and her piston engine purchase, I bought them because they were a bargain. And it's lockdown and the libraries are still closed.

* Middle-aged wargamer makes Monty Python reference.

Sticking with the 18th century I bought Vol I of Between Scylla and Charybdis by Marco Pagan. I don't know why I didn't think to get Vol II while I was at it. I had a quick look through it. Nothing has immediately made me think "I must do the Saxon army of the 1740s" so I think there won't me an order going to Heroics and Ros just yet.

Then back to the 17th century for bios of Henry Morgan and the Duke of Monmouth. Now the Monmouth Rebellion has been an itch I have resisted scratching ever since I first read Marlborough as Military Commander back in the 1970s. It wouldn't be too difficult to 're-convert' those War of the League of Augsburg troopers with a quick paint job, I have plenty of pikemen and 'clubmen' so I'm part way there....

Then there is the Last Army: The Battle of Stow-on-the-Wold and the End of the Civil War in the Welsh Marches 1646, another of those regional specific offerings from Helion. The Morgan book should at least be different from what I normally read, but it comes with the biggest risk of inspiring a new project. 

Finally, I'm waiting for the delivery of the Army of Frederick the Great by Christopher Duffy (the recent imprint by Helion). My original copy is the equivalent of the shabby Old Fritz in his later years. Still wearing the old stained coat from his glory years. The dust jacket has tears in it, the spine is coming off and there is the odd paint stain (I know, sacrilege) and the thing smells damp from when I had to store my books in a wet garage. I read the second edition before, and I seem to remember some significant revisions Duffy made to his opinions on the Prussian light troops. If I get 43 years out of this copy like I have with the last, it will be money well spent.

God knows when I will read all this stuff. The Stow book will be read fairly soon no doubt, and I won't struggle to open up Fritz's Army. What I need is two weeks off somewhere warm with someone happy to sit around but be available for walks when I want company.