The desperate fate of Swiss tourism…….

If you want a successful tourist industry then don’t have a peaceful history!

It’s funny what a New Year’s Day does to the wargamer’s mind. Whilst mere mortals consider such issues as weight loss, financial targets and promises of marital fidelity (oops!), none of these need to concern the true gamer. New Year holidays meant an opportunity to crush a German bridgehead with ISUs and a Star Wars dogfight to enter 2015 in fine style.

If you remember my initial aim was to get organised and this set my mind towards thinking about how I started in this hobby and why I got drawn into the seventeenth century. February 1980 seems a long time ago now but to me that year meant Model Soldier magazine and an article entitled “Lutzen and the death of a king”. Those two pages of closely typed print introduced me to the heroic Gustavus and the see-saw battle of the Thirty Years War. The period had everything; heavily armoured cuirassiers, massive guns and heroes a plenty. Whilst other teenagers might be discussing Lacoste or Fila knitwear, or throwing stones at the moon in Caerphilly, I had found the amazing illustrations of “European Weapons and warfare” by Eduard  Wagner and I was hooked………..

What follows will hopefully set the structure for the blog i.e. a brief outline of progress so far, followed by updates on progress. My first project is to complete an early Royalist army for the English Civil War. As with most civil wars, the disadvantage to the gamer is that both sides have access to the same technology, fighting styles and tactics. But, the ECW’s redeeming feature is that the period still resonates throughout our country. The period allows one to easily visit the actual places mentioned in the reading. With a little imagination, and if the local public school pupils are on lunch break , it isn’t difficult to imagine rampaging Cavaliers terrorising the high street of Marlborough. On a recent visit to Burford, I found that cowering soldiery had actually hid under the local Boots the chemist. Indeed, the graffiti left by captured Levellers is still to be seen carved into the font.

Still to be heard ranting!
D Sheppard

The next post will contain my plan for the wargames army and a few notes on its construction.

Wishing you all a very happy and peaceful New Year!