Month: December 2020

Quiz Night 02-12-2020 – Man of Kent or Kentish Man ?

Tony F takes his turn in the quizmaster’s chair with a locally based set of questions – answers in a few days time.

1A) – Which pair of brothers led the Anglo-Saxon forces at the Battle of Aylesford in AD.455 ?
1B) – Hengist and Horsa and are reputed to have landed in Kent at Ebbsfleet, near Pegwell Bay; which other famous invader is said to have come ashore in the same place 400 years earlier?


2A) – What is this famous North Kent landmark ?
2B) – What is it the remains of ?


3A) – Name this castle.
3B) – Who was responsible for its construction ?


4A) – During the siege of Rochester Castle in 1215, what was used to fire the props where the castle had been undermined, causing one of the towers to collapse ?
4B) – The collapsed tower was subsequently rebuilt, but not as originally constructed – how did it differ?


5A) and 5B) – Name the commanders of the respective forces in the Battle of Maidstone (1648).


6A) – Name the first warship to be built at Sheerness Dockyard in 1693.
6B) – Name the last Royal Navy vessel to be built at Chatham Dockyard, completed in 1962.


7A) – What defensive structure was built on Romney Marsh between 1804 and 1809 ?
7B) – How did the iconic Kentish defensive symbol, the Martello Tower, get its name?


8A) – Garrison Point Fort (above) and Cliffe Fort were both fitted with a particular type of weapon in 1890 – what was that ?
8B) – One of the Royal Navy’s main airship stations was in north Kent – where was it located ?


9A) – What’s the name of this type of radar installation ?
9B) – Sound mirrors were effectively the precursors to radar, and a number were built on the Kent coast between the wars. To increase their effectiveness, a number of new operators were recruited, all with a particular characteristic – what was that ?


10A) – Name this famous aircraft, built on the banks of the Medway at Borstal.


10B) – What type of tank is this ? A battalion of them was allocated to the defence of Fortress Maidstone in 1940-41.


11A) – What links the Walmington-on-Sea platoon in Dad’s Army directly to Kent?
11B) – Where was the final overseas deployment of the Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment, when they fought against the EOKA rebels ?


12A) – Which Imperial Admiral lived in this house in Whitstable?
12B) – What famous science-fiction author was born in and spent much of his life in Kent, and set parts of some of his books in the county, including a balloon landing on Dymchurch beach?

Work in Progress Wednesday

It was troopers and gaming aids for this Wednesday.

Steve finally managed to get around to rebasing some troopers, as Steve himself says “A while ago I decided to strip and re-paint some EM4 plastic colonial marines. I also cut away the old guns and bought some replacements.

EM4 Plastic Troopers with Weapon Swaps

John L has also been painting troopers in the form of a group of Spetsnaz he actually won in a Zona Alfa competition.

Footsore America Spetsnaz

And finally this week Tony F has created for himself some stat trackers for Lord of the Rings.

Lord of the Rings Stat Trackers

Tony explains these far better than I could: “I’ve made some gaming aids for Lord of the Rings games; these are stats trackers to record the special abilities of heroes and commanders using small D6. The original was 3D printed and then I’ve made moulds and cast them up in resin. The lettering and army badges are raised to make them easy to paint. I’ve painted some in appropriate colours for each army, and I’ve painted the ‘W’ for Wounds in red to differentiate it from the ‘W’ for Will (the other stats are Might and Fate).”

It will be interesting to see how these work. Tony is still looking at how to add the heroes name to the tracker.

Chickamauga – 1863

Stephen takes a break from his War of the Roses games to revisit the American Civil War…

I fancied an ACW game, and since I had a scenario for Chickamauga already written out for play at the club (whenever that will be) I decided I’d have a solo game and give it a go.

I don’t have enough models to do the whole of Chickamauga so I decided to concentrate on one small part – the Confederate attempt to outflank the Union left on 19 September. This would be a challenging battlefield – nearly all wooded! Normally a piece of felt on the table indicates woodland, but not this time – the felt indicated open spaces. Everything else was woodland, so would be difficult going and all engagements would be at close range. So a potentially deadly battlefield (as indeed it was, both historically and in my re-fight).

The objective was simple – the Confederates had to get a brigade on the opposite side of Lafayette Road and take fewer casualties than the Union. The Union had to stop them. During the course of the battle fresh brigades would arrive on both sides.

Let’s see how it played out…

Brannen holds the river

The Union won the initiative in the early rounds, allowing them to dictate the course of the battle. I pulled Croxton’s brigade back – he was on his own, far forward, at the junctions of Alexander Bridge Road and Walker’s Road and staring down two Confederate divisions on his own. But on the next turn I realised I’d made a mistake – an uncontested advance is just what the Confederates wanted, so I decided to push him back forward to stall the Confederates and to bring up Baird’s Union division and Turchin’s brigade (and feed in the rest of Reynold’s division when it arrived). This would hold the Confederates back.

The Confederates advance on the road

Up on Reed Bridge Road Pegram set up his artillery and got his cavalry ready for a charge against the Union line. In hindsight I should have dismounted the cavalry, but I was carried away by the romance of a cavalry charge. Whilst the cavalry got ready Pegram’s artillery started a duel with the Union artillery to soften them up before the cavalry went in with their sabres.

Confederate corps commander, Leonidas Polk, along with Cheatham’s division arrived on table in the area of Alexander Bridge Road, meaning that flank was heavily loaded against the Union. Liddell’s division led the Confederate advance and with bayonets fixed and a wild rebel yell they charged Croxton and Turchin. Surprisingly, they were bounced back – the Confederate charge didn’t go in.

The Confederates go in

Inspired by the infantry’s zeal the Confederate cavalry did likewise, and charged in. The effect was just the same – repelled by the Union line.

The Cavalry go in

Meanwhile, to the south (the Union right flank) Baird’s division still moved up slowly. This was caused by the need to keep the artillery in line with the foot brigades.

Baird’s Division moves slowly

Further south, as the rest of Reynold’s division came on, they found themselves all that stood in the way of two aggressive Confederate divisions.

Battle for the right flank

Wilder’s cavalry brigade launched a daring and foolish charge against the Confederates – outflanked and outnumbered they were shot down and cut down.

Confederate numbers start to tell

It started to dawn on the Union that the right flank was looking very weak with not much (a lone artillery battery) between the confederates and Lafayette Road. Further north, Brannen’s division held firm against Pegram and Forrest. Pegram’s cavalry had taken a mauling so were pulled back and Forrest’s infantry were pushed forward.

The right flank opens up

Baird’s slow advance actually paid off here because he hadn’t moved too far forward and was able to pull back Starkweather’s brigade and an artillery battery into an enfilading position to try and do something about the Confederates who realised how close they were to victory with little to stop them securing Lafayette Road with a mad dash.

Wright’s brigade is sacrificed

Starkweather’s repositioning proved successful. The Confederates had used Wright’s brigade to screen Jackson’s brigade’s dash for the winning line. But Wright took a hell of a pounding and paid the price – his brigade was obliterated and routed off the field. Sure enough, Jackson had made it to Lafayette Road, but the Confederates had taken quite a few casualties and lacked the oomph to assert control over the road.

Too little too late

In the end it was a historical outcome – the Confederates moved on Lafayette Road but didn’t have the manpower to completely take it. Further north, the Union troops held firm and stopped Forrest’s advance. Neither side could really claim a convincing win at this stage (the full battle went on into the 20th Sept and would ultimately be a Confederate victory).

Paintbrush Maintenance

I’ll be the first to admit, I treat my paintbrushes very badly. I buy cheap and hammer them until they are no longer usable. It’s a bad habit that I really need to change.

Then while glancing through YouTube I came across a video on repairing brushes on a a Channel called Midwinter Minis and thought I should really give that a go. Fellow club members had mentioned ways to clean brushes before but I needed something for poorly treated ones.

The first surprise was in digging out all my paint brushes I discovered no less than 57! This is what they looked like.

The Used and Abused of the Paintbrush World

The method for cleaning was very simple, first was to apply some washing up liquid. While doing this stage I started off just swishing the paintbrush in the liquid but then found myself massaging the liquid into the brush more which seemed to work better.

Washing Up Liquid then Hot Water and Vinegar, Finally Drying on a Cloth

Then the brushes are put into boiling water that contains vinegar to wash off the soap. Finally to then dry the brush by drawing it across a cloth. While doing this I rotated the brush to help a new point form.

Before and After Using this Technique

I took a before and after photo of a selection of my brushes to see if this cleaning method made any difference. As you can see I had a degree of success with this. I managed to get a good point on quite a few of the brushes while for others it made absolutely no difference.

I’m being somewhat unfair with the flat brush in the middle as it did clean up nicely, but there were still lots of bristles that didn’t straighten.

Rescued at least Half of my Brushes

The end result was at least half of my brushes improving back to a point or close to. The technique did also suggest using a hair wax to get a point but I didn’t have any of that (or hair!), but I might revisit that idea at some point.

Here’s hoping cleaning my brushes will restore my lost painting mojo at the moment.

 

Work in Progress Wednesday

Another Wednesday and the club has picked up the pace again.

First up Steve has a real mixed bag, starting off with some dinosaurs originally intended for a Valley of Gwanji type game. Then we have some Templars.

Templars for Outremer

and finally after bemoaning a lack of miniatures to paint Steve presented the start of a new 6mm sci-fi force from Brigade Models.

New 6mm army on the way

Next we have Marcus making some progress on some more Dreadball miniatures.

Nemion Spheres team

In a rare display of what’s on his workbench Phil shows us the start of a rather substantial burial mound in the works.

The start of a huge burial mound

Any finally a bit more paint daubing from Andy on his assortment of Dark Ages miniatures.

Bit of colour for the Dark Ages

Good to see progress continuing and new projects starting. Which reminds me I need to get back to that dungeon I’ve been putting off for 17 years!