The biggest baddest brightest wargamers of Amsterdam celebrated their 10th birthday!

Gepost op door JurjenB in Club News

We tried to hide it, but we couldn’t: we were too happy. In March 2014 two wargamers, one with a beard, one bald, (none of them was female) organized an Open Wargame Day in Amsterdam that was the start of the now famous 70-member club the Amsterdam6shooters. Here’s an impression of our FIRST club meeting ever, in 2014:

We expected just a few, the happy few, a band of brothers. One modest game day per month. We were too modest.

In March, in the same club building, we had a great day again. We have weekly club days on Saturday or Sunday, and often an extra Thursday. We’re a proud mixed group of happy social wargamers who play historical wargames and 40K. No WAAC-players. Lot of club terrain. Great bar inside. We visit conventions and give demonstrations. Most important: WE HAVE FUN. Every time.

Here’s a video impression of our March anniversary. In the grimdark clubhouse, there’s only smiles!

Project Waterloo: The buildings

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       As referenced in the first post of this series, 28  or even 15mm budlings would not work for this game, so I wound up using 10mm “Batlescale” models from Total Battle Miniatures in the U.K. Like my beloved 28 mm buildings by Hovels, these use a sort of forced perspective the preserves the overall look of the building while deceasing its footprint on the gaming table. 

As you can see, the models are very well sculpted and cast.

The price was reasonable, as was the shipping cost (a rarity now days!).  They arrived across the pond pretty quickly, and were very well packed to protect the resin. 

As you can see, it fits very nicely within a single 6″ grid square. 

The model comes in 2 sections that fit together perfectly.  This one is Fichermont.

Here’s the next complex. 

Once again, it fits well onto the 6″ grid. 

The two sections again fit together perfectly. 

This is of course the key LaHaye Sainte farm complex. 

Here’s the third model of the set (you can buy them all separately, but I figured I might as well get the whole range). 

This pone is all one piece. 

It is once again a great fit for the 6″ grid. 

This model is La  Belle Alliance Inn.

Another two part model.

Great sculpting and casting once again. 

Once again, the size is well suited to the useage. 

This one is the Pappelotte Farm complex.

I trust most readers would recognize the last of the models as the Hougoumont Chateau.

This one is cast in three pieces. 

It could occupy 4 boxes… 

or just 2 – one for the Chateau and one for the walled gardens. 

Here’s how I painted up Fichermont. 

I wanted each complex to have a somewhat distinct scheme, so I went with the non historical red tiled roof for this one. 

Much dry brushing over an initial coat of black spray paint. 

Here is La Bell Alliance. 

I used a very differenct scheme for this complex.

I may add another dry brushing to the foliage. 

All ready for the arrival of the Emperor!

Here is LaHaye Sainte. 

I went with light grey stone work and dark blue grey roofing.

Altogether a formidable structure to assault!

Next up is the Pappelotte Farm complex.

I went with a lighter grey for the stonework and the roof to make it readily distinguishable from LaHaye Sainte.

A formidable defensive position once again. 

Last but hardly least is Hougoumont. 

I went with the red brick version of the famous Chateau. 

The actual gardens were much larger in comparison to the buildings; that’s and advantage in this circumstance, though!

Control of Hougoumont and La Haye Sainte will be among the victory conditions. 

Vive l’Empereur!

The buildings can be supplied pre-painted; here’s La  Belle Alliance from the Total Battle Miniatures website.

La Haye Sainte

Pappelotte
Fichermont

Hougoumont

All very nice, but I am, quite content with my own versions!

Cataphracts #2

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Here’s the second unit of Byzantine Cataphracts.

These are Old Glory figures again. 

They will likely serve as Palmyran or Sassanid for my two Historicon games. 

As metal castings, these are very “heavy” cavalry indeed!
These will be the last armored horsemen for the next 3 months at least. Napoleonics will be the kings of the painting table between now and Historicon. 

Project Waterloo: Genesis

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     Shortly after Historicon 2024 games registration opened, John Spiess approached me on behalf of HMGS Next Gen, asking me if I’d be interested in running a series of games for HMGS Next Gen in Lancaster this year. The games would be held in the Foyer outside the Dealer hall, so very prime space for visibility. The theme for Historicon this year is “Historicon goes to the Movies”. I knew that I would want top do a Napoleonic game, but the rules needed to be simple, with a conclusion rendered in 2 hours. Rifleman Harris would also be appearing at the convention, so the battle of Waterloo was the obvious choice. Oddly enough, in 55+ years of Wargaming, the bulk of it Napoleonic, I’ve never run played in a game based upon Waterloo. Well, OK we did the entire 100 Days as a Campaign in a Day back circa 2025, and Ligny that years well, but that’s not really the same thing at all.

    The game woukld be run three times, with a 1 hour break in between each game. In addition, it would be a walk up game; no preregistration. The target audience would be youth and Novice gamers, although by no means limited to same. Given that, a gridded board was a must, and I figured some variation of Neil Thomas’s “One Hour Wargames” might be the most suitable rules. 

    The next issue would be terrain. The buildings at Waterloo, particularly Hougoumont and La Haye Sainte, and couldn’t easily be substituted for with other pieces. We were  also limited to a 6 x 10 foot long table (I am hoping we may be able to modify that to  5 x12 feet at the show, but no guarantees). Any model of Hougoumont, in particular, that was in anything near 25 mm scale would be huge, and occupy 1/3 to 1/2 of the Battlefield!  OK, so how about 15 mm?  It turns out hey would also be enormous (There was one forced perspective 15 version that might have worked, but unfortunately the owner has been indisposed and was not taking orders.  That lead to finding a 10 mm version that would fit the bill (more about that in a future post)

    Next, how about a scenario? Although crucial to the outcome of the battle, form a game standpoint, I knew I could not include the Prussians. If Napoleon doesn’t defeat Wellington by a certain point, the default is an Allied victory with Blucher’s arrival. At the excellent Hexes and Miniatures site I found a scenario for just this situation for a hexed version of Sam Mustafa’s Blucher rules at: https://storage.googleapis.com/wzukusers/user-19028574/documents/1d47dce8e2d841c89274f9eb11582147/Waterloo.pdf

    The scenario requires less than 30 units a side – enough to still be quite a spectacle, but still doable and leaving the players 10 or less units each to command. Finally, I plan to use quotes form the movie for “chance cards” to be played during the game. Thus the game was registered through HMGS Next Gen as “Waterloo in Two”. There is still a lot to do for the game, but I am making excellent progress on all aspects. 

Knights of the Roses #2

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Some more “Wars of the Roses” Knights for potential use in the Historicon Crecy game. 

The “Vert and Or” banding on the lances makes them look vaguely Reptilian!

During the WotR itself, heavily armored men like this usually fought dismounted instead. 

They make an impressive show regardless!