Wanders around the Metropolis

It's been a quiet month on the blogging front. Partly because of the recent hostilities in North America, sorry, I mean the World Cup. But with Argentina's antics, including during and after the final, the gap between sport and violence was very thin at times.

Reading

No games or painting or modelling in the Schloß, but I have been reading. Firstly, Reed Browning's The War of the Austrian Succession, leant to me by Neil Patterson. I enjoyed it more than I expected (Neil didn't oversell the book!). A very good introduction to the subject. Then I picked up Henry Hyde's Wargaming Campaigns, which I'm about 3/4 of the way through. It contains a lot of useful information, but I feel that a bit of pruning would help - if for no other reason than it would make it less of a work out to hold. So far I haven't found a lot that I will use in my campaigns. The suggestions tend to be admin heavy. There's a lot on the process rather than concentrating on the effects. But that's probably because the author is into creating a rich narrative. One thing I will probably do is introduce more weather effects in my campaigns.

Hounslow Heath

Back in the real world I've been on a few walks. At the end of June Lincolnshire Tom and I went on a combined walk with the Battlefields Trust and Hounslow Local History Society. The subject was the Military and Aviation History of Hounslow Heath. This was very enjoyable and informative.

Not much physical evidence of the military history survives. Barrack Road is one vestigial sign. There are old barrack buildings remaining but the site is boarded off for re-development.

Random shot of the heath. Not far from here is the River Crane Walk and that goes past an old Shot Tower. Or at least that's what it is labelled as. The guide said recent historiography has cast doubt on its purpose.

Seen on the Hounslow walk. Can't remember what variety of moth/butterfly these will turn into.

On the way home one evening in June I noticed that mountains had sprung up in the direction of Kingston-upon-Thames. They were gone not long after.

The Odyssey

Saturday just gone, saw the Margravina and I venture into London to see the Odyssey. We could have seen it at a local cinema but I fancied a wander around some of my old stomping grounds so we went to the Curzon* at the Brunswick Centre. The film was good, overall, but a couple of things niggled. One was that the makers couldn't resist adding bits to the story. It's only been around 3,000 years so it obviously needs a bit of re-writing to help it survive. I don't think I'm spoiling the plot if I mention them. There was a whole new piece about young boy who volunteered to go to the war. That added time, so out went one of the key points in Odysseus' journey to the Underworld - his talk with Achilles. I get having to cut things to fit into the budget, but not when they add a load of new things in not in the story. There was another change too, concerning Calypso. I had a similar reaction to the Hobbit.

* The Renoir, as was.

There was also a tendency to treat the audience as a bit dense and forgetful. Something about the Law of Zeus (I forget exactly, it only got mentioned in every other scene). I also, pedantically pointed out to the M that at a couple of points, the crew were rowing wearing their helmets and body armour (not in a war scene). 

On the positive side, there were a couple of decent innovations. One concerned rumours of the Sea Peoples. The other was the way Circe turned Odysseus' crew into pigs.  Overall, I would recommend seeing the film.

I enjoyed our foray into that area of London. We had to walk from Farringdon Road near the old Mount Pleasant Post Office site because the buses were on diversion. Like a lot of London this area has been gentrified. Back in the 90s I'd ventured over that way a few times and it was a bit grimy. It's still not pristine in parts but it feels very different. One thing that helps is the lack of diesel vehicles trundling around, as well as the redevelopment work. We wandered over to the cinema past a few of my old stomping grounds (code for pub visits) and it rekindled the desire to go back again. One thing I'd like to visit, and haven't before is the Foundling Museum off Coram's Fields. I was able to point out my old office (some so-and-so had left the window open!)

Like the Mount Pleasant area, the Brunswick Centre has become somewhat gentrified since I was last in the area. The site underwent a major refurbishment a few years ago. And there's now even a Waitrose! Something that was definitely not likely in the 90s. I wonder if the old 70s council flats are still social housing or if there's been 'social cleansing' too.  On the positive side, the place looked a lot more vibrant.

The M suggested walking back down to Waterloo rather than catching the bus back, so we had a pleasant stroll down past Queen Square, Boswell Street, Red Lion Square, Lincolns Inn, down between the LSE buildings, the Aldwich, Strand, Embankment and Waterloo Bridge.

                                    Plaque at Red Lion Square

One of the buildings at the LSE. Romans invented shopping trolleys?

 

St Mary le Strand. Now 150 yards from the river, before the Embankment was built in the 19th century, the Strand was the beach front of the Thames. Hence the name.

The Curiosity Cabinet on the Strand. Part of Kings College London (a second university just metres from LSE).

The defunct Aldwich tube station on Surrey Street. It is now part of the London transport Museum. Also on the to-do list.

St Paul's Cathedral from Waterloo Bridge.

The view west from Waterloo bridge

Looking back east from the bridge.

The City

Overall a grand afternoon out and 12,500 steps logged.

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?

Palate cleansing and progress

Before I get onto the update on my task list, here are a few piccies from a recent perambulation in the park.

I was trying to snap the trees but after taking this I noticed how the Margravina looks to be leaning back at a very difficult angle as though a giant modeller had bent a 'civilian' figure back on its base.

Those dots in the middle ground are people performing the ritual of seeing how close they can get to large wild mammals (the dark smudges they're surrounding). Noted anthropologist Graf von Nundanket believes it is the 'fossilised', bloodless remnant of the hunter-gatherer age, whereby instead of flint arrowheads, the hunters surround and shoot the prey with cameras.

It was not quite 4 seasons in a day, it never got cold enough for winter.

And now for the toys.

Bar a few 'units' worth of skirmishers, I have all the Greeks and Persians based. About half have only just had the sand applied. Those spare skirmishers might stay un-rebased as I don't think I need so many.  There's also 32 close order, round-shielded, pointy stick wielding chaps in the Persian box to re-base. I think they were probably something like Ionian Greeks tribute/mercenaries. I'm minded to do a little re-painting to make them into Spartans. If you have enough line fusiliers, you're allowed to have some Garde Imperiale.

The finished Perisan massed archers left. And right, oplites, undress of em. Back left, Persian heavy infantry, lights, cavalry and chariots. Rear right Greek psiloi, peltasts and cavalry, plus some more hoplites.

Finally, a bit of nod to Max Foy's 'Hooptedoodles'. Messrs Heroics and Ros despatched (most of*) my order. I got several e-mails from Royal Mail reporting on their progress to the Schloß. Delivery expected between 10:15 and 14:15 on Saturday. The time slot came and went and shortly after I saw an e-mail saying it had been delivered. The tracking portal showed a photo of the local Pat pushing the small package through.....not my letter box. No house number was visible so off I trotted to find a matching door down my street (about 100 houses) looking for doors that matched the one in the photo. Of course I chose the wrong direction. After exhausting the houses to the left as you look at the house, and the nearby street with a similar name to mine (easy mistake, but no number as high as mine), I went right. 

After a careful bit of matching the door colour, what was visible of the door window, letter box shape and colour, mucky marks on the door etc....of course it was the first house on the right! No house number visible on the house so nothing to indicate why Postman Pat would pick that house. Now I can understand a busy postie, under modern management pressures to do more for less, being (a) overworked; or (b) a half-arsed, workshy 'erbert (take your pick) might push a bundle of items into one letterbox and inadvertently include my small package. But Pat in this case, carefully took a photo of said package going into said door, on its own. How the flip do you do something as intentional as posting a package whilst photographing the act to prove delivery, without the intentionality of actually checking the address on the package matched the address of the house?

* Ironically, the part of the order not despatched (poplar trees) was the item that I wanted to order in the first place. The rest were ordered as sort of a mixture of 'take advantage of free postage over a certain value' and a notion of starting an Early Modern Ottoman army.

Lots of Eastern European/Eurasian types that might be similar enough to 'the Dreaded Turk'. And some pieces for the Western European train. The marching gunners in the gun teams look like musketeers with sloped arms. They might just get roped into padding out another unit.

Tentative Order	Job
1	Finish river pieces
2	Check stock of magnetic paper and bases
3	Paint houses
4	Order storage boxes
5	Paint walls
6	Paint and base trees
7	Rebase Greeks and Persians 70%
8	Flag SYW figures (French priority)
9	Try Alala!
10	Try Siege Works rules
11	Paint wagons and gun teams
12	Decide what to do with SYW odds and sods
13	Paint petard crews etc
14	Prepare New Year Campaign
15	Paint sheep
16	Paint pack animals
17	Paint villagers (6 and 10mm)
18	Make fortress
19	Ottoman painting guide
20	Order Irregular Ottoman army
21	Paint Ottomans
22	Run ECW siege campaign
23	Make AWI boats
24	Maybe rebase some Romans
25	Build & paint sailing ships

Oh well. Onwards and upwards as they say.

Out at odd times

Some pics from a recent trip to La Safor, an area in the south of Valencia Province. Mostly of the town of Gandía. These are from the 'old town' area where nearly every building was photogenic. Blogger has uploaded the photos in reverse order, not that they are in any order that matters anyway. Most of them were taken during the quiet siesta hours so there are few people around.

Excerpt from Vicent Andres Edellés, 20th century Valencian poet.
You will assume the voice of a people,
And it will be the voice of your people,
And you will be forever, a people.

Plaque in Valencian to local poet and knight, Ausiàs March. Rough translation:  

Love, love, I have cut (myself) a garment 

from your cloth, dressing my spirit.

More March. Taken from the wall opposite the lines by Edellés.

This reminds me I need to order some Cypress trees for my Italian battles.

Local boy made good. Francesc de Borja, 4th Duke of Gandía. The family are better known to history as 'the Borgias', two of whom became popes. Franny went one better and was canonised. Not sure how much it means given the family's track record.

How the mighty have fallen. From popes and saints to opticians?! Surely the most Gaudiesque shopfront I have seen outside Barcelona.

More detail from the optician's shopfront.

The Lesser-Spotted Margravina enjoying the vista above.

Out on the coast where we were staying, there was a thunder storm late one night. I could see flashes of lightning from the balcony so I walked round to the sea wall and sat taking videos and photos of the sky hoping to catch the lightning. This one came out looking apocalyptic or the scene from the Ten Commandments when the Red Sea was split asunder.

It was actually darker than it appears when I tool this. Bar the blue box on the right it looks like an oasis scene in Lawrence of Arabia or Ice Cold in Alex.

Another Biblical movie shot.

Late night walk along the prom. The lights in the left middle distance are reflections of the lamps on the right I think.

On the last day we met one of the neighbours in the same apartment block. A Frenchman by the name of Juan. The Margravina had previously read that a lot of locals emigrated to France in the 20th century and (they or their descendants) frequently return on holiday. Juan told us that he had inherited the flat from his father who had bought it after returning to Spain many years after going in to exile. The father fought on the Republican side and left in 1939. I'd love to have found out more.

Adéu!