End of Season / Drawing Progress

Saturday afternoons are now free for the next three months. Grimsby got knocked out of the playoffs on Friday night. We went out in a slightly disappointing way but the club has made progress over the last 12 months. 78 points versus 68 points last season and we reached the 4th round of both major cup competitions. Along the way we've had some great times, including THAT win at the end of August. A night that will live with me for the rest of my life. I'm sure my son will also be boring future generations with the tale long after I'm gone!

Just before kick off on That Night.

My mood was not helped on Saturday by Celtic beating Hearts in the last game of the season to take the SPL title. Not because I have any particular feeling for the Jam Tarts, but because, in common with many fans, I want to see the Old Firm stranglehold loosened. I have a feeling though that Hearts will be competitive again in the coming seasons and punch above their weight.

Happier memory.

*************************

So what of the drawing? Well I managed to grab some time between work and dinner to experiment a bit and I think now to actually make a proper start. The amount of good quality light in the early evening, despite the weather not being great, is a real help.

After dabbling around with slightly different dimensions I settled back on the original ones from my first version last week. With a minor tweak. The first job was to plot the overall shape of the fortress. I went for a 'decagon' with elongated sides. The shape joined up the apexes of what will become 12 bastions.

Getting the basic shape down. The points with circles will be the apexes of the bastions and the 10 sided shape will therefore represent the outside points of the enceinte. Beyond that there will be a ditch, possibly with ravelins and then the glacis.

Drawing in the bastions in accordance with the guidelines shown in Fire and Stone. The slight tweak mentioned above is that with the corner bastions I adjusted the re-entrant angle between the flank and the curtain wall so that it is less acute. This means the bastion gorge is wider than t would have been. Overall dimensions are 30 cm by 20cm. 2cm = 100 yards.

Once I've drawn the rest of the bastions I'll add in some gates. One main one and a couple of smaller ones. Then add the ravelins - at least to cover the gates. I think that will require more trial and error. On the finished model, I will also have detachable parts so I can split the walls and have a river.

As the overall scale is pretty true to the ground scale of the tactical rules, there isn't space for my normal base sizes along the walls and in the covered way. For that I plan to use guns and infantry figures from my spares box. I might even have a bash at making some guns on fortress carriages (the ones a bit like ships' gun carriages).

Post Script

I finished off the bastions and main walls, adding in ravelins where I want to place the main gates. As luck would have it, two railway tunnel entrances that I bought a few years ago are almost exactly the same width as the space between bastions on the long sides of the fortress. Also, I worked out roughly where I want the glacis to start and finish. The key question in my mind now is whether to place ravelins all the way round. At this scale they are quite small, so they will be fiddly to model. Once I've decided on that I can draw in the covered way.

Delays, walks and mags

Bit of a mixed post this. The Po Valley Campaign has been delayed owing to busy-ness. I'll get round to it no doubt, but first I have an on-line game tomorrow with the Three Daves hosted by Jonathan Freitag. 

Part of the delay was caused by going to the Grimsby games at Gillingham the previous Saturday (W 4-1), Cambridge on Tuesday (W 2-1) and watching on the Saturday on the tellybox just gone (a very satisfying 4-0 win over Swindon to secure a play-off spot with a game to spare). Whether we are ultimately successful in the playoffs remains to be seen, but we're making progress year by year so I'm philosophical about it. Tuesday's game was the most satisfying, probably because it was a much tougher game, with more jeopardy right to the end. It finished with a late, late winner which produced such a release of emotion that I think I'm now engaged to five different people I've never met before.

After the match on Saturday I entertained the Margravina with the rare treat of a walk during normal football time (our game was an early kick off). The M decided we should go to the Isabella Plantation in Richmond Park to see the Azaleas(?). Word must have gone out on the Facebooks because the World and his wife were there. People were queuing up to take photos, selfies and group pics in front of a particularly popular spot. Here's a few of mine.

Then Sunday we did a circuit on Wimbledon Common. Here's a few pics starting with a snap of the Beverley Brook with swarms of flies indicating how warm it has been lately.

The great thing about walking in new places is you make discoveries like this.

The KRR which grew out of the 60th (American) Regiment trained on Wimbledon Common

This plaque is on the Royal Wimbledon Golf Club's course. I assume some of the residual earthworks form part of the 'landscaping' for the course.

Eartheworks? close to the plaque

Lastly, thanks to a post by Bob Cordery of Wargaming Miscellany, I ordered a couple of back issues of a Spanish military history magazine. They arrived this morning. That should keep me going for months while I painstakingly translate the articles. Or I could just use the photo app on a translation tool, but where's the fun and learning in that?

Normal Service Has Been Resumed

After August's "Do Not Adjust Your TV Set" moment and September's Tuesday Wednesday Happy Jaze headline*, the metaphorical TVs in Grimsby, and its diaspora, were displaying the "Normal Service Has Been Resumed" message last night.

* For our American viewers, 'Wednesday' refers to Sheffield Wednesday Football Club. The game was played on a Tuesday.

A tanking by the Bees of Brentford was only to be expected. The idea of going all the way to the final, qualifying for Europe, and away trips to Almaty and Košice, were just the dreams of a deranged mind. Mine.

Today's chip wrapper.

But there was no crying into the beer. And the outcome led to a more wide-ranging conversation in the London pub afterwards than would have been the case if the improbable had happened. One old geezer (i.e. me) reminisced about the early days of Channel 4, and this little beaut of a film (which I watched again this evening on Prime).

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084459/

Potpourri

Bit of a mixed bag this post. Not much wargaming activity at the Schloß recently. I have however taken part in two remote games chez Freitag of the Battle of Fornovo, 1495. These were my first forays ever into the Italian Wars. 

The first was as part of the Italian league fighting the French, where my command (the left wing) got badly beaten up by a resurgent Napoleon Dave. For the 4th game in a row, my table top character was killed. The Italians came out ahead in a close fought game. If you haven't already pop over to Jon's blog for AARs and pictures of his wonderful Renaissance figures, here and here.

The second was in sole command of the French versus Ray, Surjit and Lee of Posties Reject renown. This game was decidedly not a close run thing. The Rejects played a canny game and I don't think the overall result would have changed even if I had better luck. And I took my personal record up to 5 games with my character being killed! Here's one of the previous occasions: https://mudbloodandsteel.blogspot.com/2024/04/the-king-is-dead-long-live-err.html Second time in a row my character has been killed in a campaign run by JBM. 

In terms of army and terrain preparation myself, not much has happened. (Notice the use of the passive voice, like a politician apologising, to disguise the fact it's me who hasn't done much). I sprayed one side of my 'battle cloth' to make it a bit lighter. Cans of spray paint don't go very far, especially when you're spraying outside. I bought a second can in Lidl at the weekend to do the other side.

Punic Wars. A couple of weeks ago I placed an order with Heroics & Ros for Romans and Carthaginians. I was beginning to wonder when they would arrive, and today I got confirmation that they have been posted. So they could be here by Saturday. 

I have a bit of 1:1 terrain making to complete first, however. I am helping the Margravina prepare a vegetable plot. She seems to have decided it would be wise to prepare for the collapse of commerce by turning over a large part of the Schloß' grounds to agriculture. The ground has been prepared and we are giving the wooden frames that will surround the veg patches a protective coat of paint, before laying weed control, filling the frames with earth and compost, and finally surrounding them with pathways of gravel.

On Saturday I will be going up to Salute for the first time in several years. I should be meeting up with David-in-Suffolk, the Ragged Soldier himself. That's not casting any nastursiums on his appearance by the way, it's his blog. Hopefully I'll be able to meet other bloggers in person too, particularly Posties Rejects.

A lot of my attention, and some of my time has been occupied with Grimsby Town's plight at the wrong end of the Football League. With 4 games to play, they could still be relegated (for the 3rd time in 14 years!). So if anyone was wondering how I could keep smiling through lots of poor dice rolls, I've had plenty of practice dealing with bad luck! Last month I had attended 3 games in close succession. This month I have tickets for 2 of the 4 games, Colchester on Tuesday night and Crawley on 27th. One of the benefits of reaching a certain age, is that ticket prices start to come down. Not everywhere, but Crawley is one such place where over 60s get in for £10.

Favourites to go down are Forest Green and Sutton. Selfishly, I would rather Colchester go down as the ground is awkward to get to, being out of town, and Sutton is a bus journey away for me.

Last night I managed to watch the 2017 version of Tuntematon Sotilas again. It really is one of the best war films out there. The storyline is believeable (the novel is largely based on the author's own experiences and other real events), the acting is superb, and not too many liberties are taken with the plot. Special effects and cinematography are also excellent. Highly recommended.

People who have seen All the Sins (Kaikki Synnit, a Nordic Noir TV series) might recognise Johannes Holopainen. He played the posh lieutenant Kariluoto in the war film and the detective in All the Sins.

Finally, here are a few pics from a trip with the Margravina to the south coast.

On the cliffs at Southbourne

Avon Beach, near Christchurch (Dorset)

Wonder what these could be? (cliffs above Avon Beach)

One of 3 explanatory panels. Seem to have lost the photos of the other two.

Outside the entrance to the former research establishment above. This fossil is about 1/2 metre across.

Isle of Wight can be just about seen at top left

Sentry post at ADRE

The grounds are now a nature reserve

Looking back down to the beach

Highcliffe Castle, a 19th century stately pile.

Looking back west towards Medford Spit and Hengistbury Head. By the time we got back to the carpark, that part of the beach was rammed - people are lazy. They won't walk far to get a nice spot on the beach. Lots of open water swimmers around - mostly women of a certain age and build. Suggesting that the Margravina would soon be old enough to join them was not the wisest thing I'd ever said.

Entrance to Christchurch Harbour

Aha!

View through the MG port

Vent in the roof of the pillbox

The place of History and the Unreliability of Eyewitnesses

Been a bit quiet lately, due to a mix of Real Life and Football*. The latter is clearly not part of the former, but it is sent to test us just in case Real Life isn't doing its job properly.**

I've always thought History was important. I'm probably biased in that, because I enjoy it as a subject, as I'm confident, so do you. However, this article argues, cogently, that it is even more important and immediate and vital than I'd given it credit for. And the US Department of Defense [sic.] seems to agree as it employs 300 PhD qualified historians at any one time!

https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/03/10/the-history-crisis-is-a-national-security-problem/ 

That is a staggering statistic. If I had to have a stab at a number, before reading the article, I'd say that the UK equivalent would be 1/2 dozen at most. Even after reading, I'd be in the low double digits. Anyway, plaudits to the US DoD.

* I've managed to attend 2 Grimsby games, and watch one on line in the last 8 days, and I should be at another on Saturday, due to the fixture computer throwing up 3 London/S.East games in 2 weeks. Last Saturday at Sutton United, was particularly pleasurable due to seeing MANY friends and acquaintances, both new and old. Some folk I know well or quite well and like, some I know quite well and don't particularly like, some I hardly know but they seem pleasant, others are just folk on 'nodding terms' (no idea of each other's names but we recognise each other). 'Mr Michael' (father of a buddy) was there with his fast growing grandsons. Also rewarding was seeing one of our loose collective of south east exiles (himself the son of an exile, never having lived in Grimsby) with his small son and friends. The ground being a bus journey away, it was easy to get them there. Apparently the boys, with no connection to Grimsby, love coming to these games because they have a sense of freedom that they can't get at say, Chelsea or Arsenal, even if they can get hold of £££ tickets. They were having a grand old time stood at the front by the barrier, chanting along with the crowd, slapping the goalscorer's hand as he ran past in celebration. Old school! This speaks of a desire to be part of a community. In the metropolis it is easy to feel unconnected.

** I mean, how is this a penalty to the yellow team?!

https://twitter.com/jamrobertspics/status/1766513065426592026?s=12&t=FTPg9pGSHEJC1fkAgEJiZQ 

 

A picturesque walk and a 3 city break

Last Sunday (3rd Sept) the Margravina and I took a walk and she suggested having a look at the Wey Navigation (links below). We took a picnic and decided to start at the Weybridge end where the waterway meets the Thames. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wey_and_Godalming_Navigations

https://ldwa.org.uk/ldp/members/show_path.php?path_name=Wey+Navigations

We only made it as far as a mill near Addlestone (maybe 2 miles) as it was so photogenic along the route we kept stopping to take photos. By the time we'd finished our picnic we decided to call it a day and walk back to the car. The high temperatures didn't help either. But we decided to go back and walk further when it's cooler. Maybe build up to walk all the way to Guildford and catch the train back.

Doorway at the side of an old bank in Weybridge

Ditto

Weir near the confluence of the Thames, the River Way and the Way Navigation

Another shot of the are of the confluence

Lock near the mouth of the navigation

And a historical explanation

Map of the whole waterway.

Mill at Coxes Lock. Presumably now apartments.

Another view of the mill. The lock is to the left. Behind the mill building in the centre lies mill pond. The mill race can be seen just between the lock and the building. Initially the mill worked iron, but due to complaints from a local member of the aristocracy it switched to corn milling.

One of the 17 year olds picked these from the garden and arranged them before their 'gathering' in the evening (after the Hastenbeck game). The decking needs a good clean!

**********

So, on to the weekend just passed. The 17 year olds wanted to go to the University of Leeds open day on Saturday. Happily, this coincided with Grimsby's game at Bradford. Also, my sister and brother-in-law had recently moved up from Somerset to Lincoln so it was a chance to see them on the Friday and break the journey. Once we got to Lincoln the utter failure of the car air-conditioning was soon forgotten. You'll appreciate why from the pictures below.

View looking left from the balcony at my sister's.

And the view looking right. Right on cue, bell-ringing practice commenced!

The eagle-eyed might spot the spire in the distance (not the nearest one). This is the Memorial Spire of the International Bomber Command Centre https://internationalbcc.co.uk/

Up early Saturday morning and off to the second city in our 'break', Leeds. An hour and a half later and I was dropping the 17 year olds off at the university. I didn't stop for a look around and headed straight for the third city on the trip, Bradford. By the time I'd found a decent parking spot, it was time to head into town to meet Offspring #1 who had come over from Liverpool. After a good catch up we walked back up to the football ground to meet up with my cousin and his daughter and another cousin's son who'd come over from Grimsby. We got to our seats a few minutes before the 12:30 kick-off. The Mariners' faithful were in fine voice, and, for much of the match, were given plenty to cheer about. The downside was a lack of ruthlessness, and eventually that was punished by a late equalising goal for the Bantams.

? building in Bradford city centre

View down Market St towards City Hall.

Some of the Grimsby fans in the Dallas Stand

The rest of the 1900 Grimsby fans, plus the scary looking mascot, Might Mariner, 'conducting' the crowd before kick off. Total attendance of 18,879, which is remarkable for a 4th tier game, that was televised live. Home fans sat in the sun in the two stands opposite. I must say, it was hospitable of the Bradfordians to give us the shady side on the hottest day of the year 😀.

If I'd had a bit more time (and energy), I'd have gone back to Leeds via Drighlinton to have a look at the battlefield of Adwalton Moor. So it was back to Leeds to pick up the 17year olds, and a fairly uneventful (but still ACless) drive back down the M1. Home by 8pm to complete a very full 28 hour trip.