Monday 30 October 2023

Inspiration and Inflation

Had a shortish walk with the Margravina on Sunday morning, during rain-showers. We parked up near Ham House by the Thames and walked round the front of the main building before heading down to the riverside, then a circuit round Petersham and back to the car in Ham Street (see map below). 


Couldn't resist this map. It reminded me of the type of map found in the Lord of the Rings, or 17th/18th century maps. Like a lot of old maps, north isn't at the top: it's on the left. I think this may stem from the old tradition of having east at the top, i.e. the direction of Jerusalem.  Incidentally, rock and jazz fans, the eyot near Twickenham is Eel Pie Island. 

This map rekindled thoughts of an imaginary battle/mini-campaign in this area.

Ham House, river frontage. Classic Jacobean mansion. I've searched for suitable models in 6mm scale without success.

Looking up towards Richmond Hill

Marble Hill House, across the Thames on the left or Middlesex Bank. This is not far from Walpole's house at Strawberry Hill

Slightly out of focus, but I couldn't resist this pic of a gig(?).  This was spotted from nearby Count Stephen Ouvaroff's bench, mentioned in a previous walking post.

Star and Garter House (formerly the Star and Garter Home, for disable veterans). Now redeveloped as apartments, each with a 7-figure pricetag.

Gate to the grounds at Ham House


Amazing what you discover on foot. Intriguing why the Luftwaffe were bombing that area, although Hawker famously had its factory and HQ a few miles upstream in north Kingston.

Avenue looking to the west front of Ham House

Before getting back to the car we stopped off in Ham to have a look in the punningly named German delicatessen 'Hansel and Pretzl'.

After lunch, and 'The Man Who Never Was', the Margravina said she wanted to go to a garden centre, not 2 English miles from the Schloß, that she had never visited. If you knew the Margravina you would be astounded by this piece of news. A slightly disappointing place from a horticultural point of view, but we found evidence of shocking inflation in the genus Olea europaea.  Three and a half years ago we bought an old olive tree from another garden centre. Originally priced at £750, we got it on sale for something like £2-250.

We saw this specimen, and others like it. Priced £1650! Gulp!! I made some comment like "No wonder people are stealing them." Then realising a member of staff was nearby, I added, "from olive groves".

Then this size, similar size to our olive........£3250. OMFG!

To restore my faith, I recalled a purchase I made on Saturday. £20 in Lidl. Phew! I think I might recover.

Wednesday 18 October 2023

One door closes……

….another opens.

A suitable subtitle for this post might be “the importance of checking the calendar”. Another would be “Serendipity”.

A correspondent of this bloggist asked whether I would be attending SELWG on 15th October. Sunday just gone. “No”, said this bloggist. “I’m taking the oldest of the 17 year olds to a Uni open day.” Despite said open day being on SATURDAY 14th and not Saturday 15th. Other plans were made for Sunday 15th, thinking it was going to be the 16th. Confused? Welcome to my mind.

When I figured out (thanks to various other bloggers) that SELWG was on Sunday it was too late. Getting this wrong was obviously the ‘door closing’. The ‘door opening’ was spending the time in the company of the Margravina. My regular reader will have noted how uxorious I can be. The plan was to park up in or near a place called Petersham (a picturesque’village’ between the Upon-Thameses of Kingston and Richmond) then walk into Richmond to purchase one pair boots, walking, Margravina, for the use of.

Superfluous, gratuitous shot of a boat that almost looks like one of the bateaux of North America.

We walked along the river until we got to Water Lane and headed towards the main shopping street where the aforementioned footwear could be purchased. 100 paces up Water Lane stands a branch of the Curzon cinema chain. For non-UK readers, Curzon is a chain of picture houses that tends to show films on the slightly more ‘art house’ side of the range. The programme for Sunday included The Great Escaper, 45 minutes after we passed the cinema. As this was a film I’d planned to look out for we bought tickets, nipped up the road to complete the planned purchase, drink a coffee and return to watch the film.

And what a cracking film it was. Based on a true story of a 90 year old veteran of Overlord who, in 2014 having missed the chance to go on an organised trip, made his own way to Normandy for the 70th anniversary commemorations. In the course of this he had “15 minutes of fame”. The script, the acting (Michael Caine and the late Glenda Jackson in their last film, and the supporting actors*), the cinematography were all great. Flashbacks sensitively handled. Those of you into WWII, and in particular the work of James Holland, will be pleased by the appearance of the Sherwood Rangers in the D-Day flashbacks. It was at that intersection of the Venn Diagram of this bloggist’s interests and those of his spouse. Perfect. I don’t normally do this, but I will in this case……go to see it. And if you do, take someone whose hand you can hold.

* including John Stride


Despite all that, walking back along the river I couldn’t resist pointing out that ‘the bus to Dover was heading the wrong way along Hove seafront’. Not a single button was counted in that moment of pedantry.

Postscript:

Look it's not just me saying this. James Holland and Al Murray raved about this film in a recent episode of We Have Ways of Making You Talk. They also had an interesting talk with the director and writer, which gives you more of a clue as to what was real and what was imagined in the plot. https://wehavewayspod.com/episodes/

Monday 9 October 2023

Marischal Lore II Bridges

I finished the book on James Keith (Nothing But My Sword by Sam Coull) and a very good read it was too, if a little slow at first. There is a lot of useful background on Scottish society & political power in the 17th century, and the role of the Earls Marischal (i.e. Keith's family). It then moves on to cover the Keiths' involvement in the Jacobite uprisings in 1715 and 1719, then exile in France and Spain where the Jacobites were used by the Bourbons as pawns in their rivalry with Great Britain. Keith eventually moves on to Russia where he climbs through the ranks to become a key subordinate of Field Marshall Münnich (a German officer) in the wars against the Ottomans, and Field Marshall Peter Lacy in the War of the Hats (Swedish war in the 1740s).  Lacy was one of the Wild Geese who fled Ireland during the Williamite War and father of the future Austrian Field Marshal Franz Moritz von Lacy (Lacy senior had married into the Baltic German nobility).

As an aside, Keith's brother George, erstwhile Earl Marischal, had a falling out with some of the main drivers of the 45 and the Bonnie Prince himself and stood aloof from the Stuart attempt to re-take the throne. In his letters to James, George explained he'd been sidelined from discussions by his fellow Jacobites and the Prince, and that he'd come to realise that the French and Spanish were never going to commit enough resources to the cause. George said that the Bourbon monarchies were just using the prospect of risings to distract the British. His final reason was that he thought the plot was doomed to failure.

Coull takes you through the Prussian campaigns of the SYW, including the battles of Lobositz, Rossbach and Hochkirch where Keith played a key part. The last named, didn't end well, but the Scotsman earned himself a place in the Pantheon of Prussian heroes. He also ended up (probably) the only man to have statues erected in his honour in both Berlin and Peterhead.

One thing that lets the book down, in my opinion, is the starting chapter. It 'fictionalises' an event from James' boyhood - you know the kind of thing, 'the weather was turning colder and the farmhands were bringing in the kine, when the hooves of a visitors horse could be heard on the approach to the castle. The boy stopped and stared.....'. Boll***s! That's not history! There's probably never any contemporary account  that gives this kind of detail. Fortunately I persevered and this twaddle stopped in the first chapter. I read a biography of Maria Theresa that was full of this type of stuff. Awful! Keep it to novels!

Despite that, a good read overall - Coull's writing style is very easy and reading the book is a pleasure. It isn't in slightest academic (a strength and a weakness). I'd recommend it to anyone with an interest in the Jacobites, Russia's wars of the 18th century and the SYW. 

*********

Then on to the second book. Zweybrücken in Command: the Reichsarmee in the Campaign of 1758, translated and edited by Neil Cogswell. This is more of a curate's egg of a book. It is actually a campaign diary of the year 1758, told from the perspective of someone (believed to be) in the headquarters of the Reichsarmee. This was the army that was involved the year before in the debacle of Rossbach. Very much seen as the whipping boys of the SYW. The Zweybrücken of the title is Prince Friedrich Michael Prinz von Pfalz-Zweybrücken-Birkenfeld, Commandant-General of the Reicshsarmee. Young Fritz (for he was only 34 at the time) stood 6 foot 6 and won the affection of the Empress by converting to Catholicism in the 1740s. Smart boy. Fritzi was member of the Wittelsbach family (i.e. the dynasty that ruled Bavaria). I'm sure none of this had anything to do with his appointment to the command.

There are several orders of battle (including troop returns) and lots of maps of camps dotted throughout the book. In addition there are lots of accounts of skirmishes and small actions, and at least one siege. I have only got to mid-September so I have a way to go yet. Fritz's main opponent is Prince Henry, the Old Fritz (i.e. Frederick the Great). A lot of the campaign is jockeying for position, each force sending off detachments to seize particular places or interdict enemy supplies. There is lots for the wargamer to feed on if you want to game the Kleine Krieg and battles of a few thousand men. In other words, good inspiration for Old School games. 

As well as the Reichsarmee, Zweybrücken is also leant troops from the Austrian army under the command of Serbelloni and that rising star Hadik. 

My gripe is that Young Fritz isn't really much of an actor in the diary. Mostly the account states things like General X or Colonel Y with a force of abc grenadiers marched to TownZ. Herr Two Bridges doesn't seem to be dishing out many orders. He doesn't seem to be in command. It all seems to happen magically. Or maybe he's just too posh to give orders. I'm sure Zeybrücken was there, handling his command wisely, not exposing his potentially fragile troops to open battle, edging Henry out of a position here and a position there. But the book title does come across as a bit misleading about the contents.

As a source, the diary is very partisan. Probably typical for the period. The Reichsarmee  appears markedly different from the ragtag mob of reluctant warriors that appeared in the 1757 campaign. No doubt there were genuine improvements (and there were always some units, like the Hessen-Darmstadt Infantry, who were recognised as being good the previous year). But virtually every account of encounters with the Prussians result in wins for the Reichstruppen and with casualties massively in their favour, and everyone on the Reichs side performs splendidly. To be fair, Prince Henry was not given the best troops Prussia had to spare (with disproportionate numbers of fusileer regiments and Freikorps) but by the Nth AAR it all begins to smell a bit fishy.

As I mentioned above, I'm approaching the last quarter of the year, and presumably the climax of the campaigning season. With the Imperialists edge closer, will Dresden fall?

Tuesday 3 October 2023

Frederician wargames

Reading Sam Coull’s biography of James Keith this evening, I came across what to me was a startling revelation.

During the peace between the Wars of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years War, Keith had been recruited by Frederick II of Prussia. Keith was appointed Feldmarschall, rather in the way that football managers or top players move from club to club, across Europe. In fact Coull hints that there might have been more to it than a straight resignation from Romanov St Petersburg FC and suspiciously swift signing by Hohenzollern Berlin. Was this a case of ‘tapping up’?

Apparently Keith was a bit of a spendthrift (undermining the Scottish stereotype) and used to absent himself from court whilst he waited for the next pay day. And there followed the following (unsourced) passage:

One wonders what rules (if any) were used in these games, or was it free Kriegspiel? Did they play on a table or on the floor like HG Wells? Was this an opportunity for F the G to play out his nascent Oblique Attack? I like to think of Keith stretched out in the ground with his paper armies when the King arrived. I also suspect that Old Fritz would have refused to be bound by rules. He would surely have broken them if there were any.

This is the first reference I have ever seen to Frederick playing wargames. Admittedly I’ve only read one general biography of him, but surely it would have been mentioned.

POSTSCRIPT 

Neil kindly found a reference to other Wargaming in the Frederician period, which I’d forgotten. It concerns Giuseppe Gorani, a young noble at school in Milan, then part of the Austrian empire. Gorani went on in 1757 to serve in the Austrian infantry regiment Andlau. Here is the relevant passage of Christopher Duffy’s Instrument of War, Emperor’s Press, Rosemont Il, 2000

An interesting question has just occurred to me (apart from asking if the lead shot was melted down to make the figures or used to knock them over). Where did Gorani get his ideas from about how to make toy soldiers and canon? Does this suggest the practice was more widespread?


Many thanks to Neil for ferreting it out.

Sunday 1 October 2023

Rationalising

''Rationalising" is one of those euphemisms that emerged in the 80s for 'cuts' and it is in that sense that I am thinking right now. I don't have a massive inventory of toy soldiers, and I have been thinking about expanding it. My first thought is always to look at 'the lead mountain' to see what I can do there before I can justify to myself more spending.

I've worked through my 6mm SYW pile to the point where I don't have enough for any more units. Just a few odds and sods. The ECW 'pile' is similar. I have a few civilians and some petardiers. And some officers, drummers and the odd pikeman, but nothing to make a unit out of. The AWI collection has nothing whatsoever, unpainted. I'll say that again. "The AWI collection has nothing whatsoever unpainted".

Then there's the Napoleonics. Again, nothing to paint. There are various painted figures, donated by Tony 'Max Foy', which could be based up into a unit. It might require some re-painting. But here's the thing, I haven't gamed with them in 3 years. I have an Anglo-Portuguese-Spanish army and a late war Prussian army. But no French, save the aforementioned painted loose figures. I could look at the viability of re-painting the Prussians. Obviously the biggest issue is the shape of the shakos (and all with covers on), and the flat caps amongst the Landwehr. Food for thought. If I decide not to do that I will seriously think about moving the collection on.


No./base

No. Bases

Napoleonics



Baccus infantry

24-28

63

Baccus cavalry

9

24

Baccus artillery

1 gun

16*

Baccus generals

1

55

* about half with limber teams.


Finally there's the WWII Finns and Soviets. Again, I hardly use these. There are a lot more unpainted models here. I sorted through them, catalogued them and decided what I would definitely keep and paint, and what was genuinely surplus. The surplus will definitely be moved on one way or another. Comment below if you're interested.

Description

# Figures/heavy weapon teams/vehicles

Cat.No. (packs are not necessarily full)

Make

Soviets in winter coats and fur hats

40

?

Magister Militum?

Finnish senior officers in coats and winter hats

4

Fin 2

Pendraken

Soviet officers various hats

10

W258?

Magister Militum

Soviet LMG team (teams of 2

9

W257

Magister Militum

Soviet light mortar teams (bases of 2)

4

W251

Magister Militum

Soviet LMG teams of 2

7

?

Magister Militum?

Soviet heavy mortars (teams of 3)

2

W256

Magister Militum

Soviet Naval infantry

11

SV19?

Pendraken?

Soviet MMG teams of 2

7

W252

Magister Militum

RCW Red Army inf in Budyanovka

23

RCW1

Pendraken

Soviet AT guns (teams of 3)

2

SV17

Pendraken

Soviet early war light tank

3

?

?

Soviet T28

1

?

?

Soviet BT7

1

?

Pendraken?

Soviet KV1

2

?

Pendraken?

Finns in winter coats

37

?

?

Finns in Summer uniforms

35

?

?

Finnish MMG (team of 2)

2

?

?

Finnish heavy mortars (teams of 3)

2

?

?

Finnish AT gun (team of 3)

1

?

?

Finnish AT gun (team of 3)

1

?

?

I was originally thinking of the Winter War, which is why I've got some of the earlier AFVs and RCW infantry, but the thought of creating all those leafless broad leaf trees put me off! Most of the Soviets are in  post-1940 kit.

Oh, I nearly forgot. In the interests of full disclosure, I do have various samples of Punic War, Colonial and late C17th pikemen unpainted. The latter for the 'bateaux project' I mentioned a while back.

Postscript

I 'discovered' that I also have a pack (50) of Pathan infantry and a pack (20) of Tartar cavalry bought from H&R many years ago for an 18th century Ottoman project that never got off the ground. [Now there's a thought]. Also some Prussian grenadiers and  some Austrian grenadiers. Collectively nearly enough for a battalion of grenadiers (based on pennies for use as markers in my home brewed rules). But which nationality? I seem to have enough Prussian, Austrian and Anglo-Hanoverian grenadiers. Options include:

  • Rochow Fusileers (Saxon) would involve cutting mitres down, but they have nice green coats. Fought with the French.
  • Saxon converged grenadiers - white coats with mitres for a change!
  • Reichsarmee combined grenadier battalion (which could be a mixture of bluecoats in mitres and whitecaps in bearskins!). Think they may have only combined grenadiers later in the war.
  • Something from the WAS like Piedmontese or Spanish (assuming they had grenadier battalions), but they'd be odd ones out.
I also have c.40 mounted officers, also based on pennies as 'markers'. These could be 'converted' into cavalry of some description. Enough for 2 'brigades'.