Author: jamie

Wargames Holiday Centre – Rome at War Weekend

Here at the Wargames Holiday Centre we like to put historical epics and this time we have come up wth a real treat for all you Ancients lovers out there. We have teamed up with Simon Miller of “BigRedBat Blog” fame to present a fantastic weekend of Iconic battles or Rome.

Simon Miller has one of the UK’s largest collections of 28mm ancients miniatures. He has tied up with the Wargames Holiday Centre to present a weekend of ancient gaming, on the theme of “Rome at War”.

The rules used will be Simon’s “To the Strongest!”, copies of which will be provided in advance but which can be quickly picked up on the day. The rules retain all the flavour of ancient warfare, and enable very large battles to be fought, at an exciting fast pace.

The four games have been picked to represent the diverse nature of the challenges faced by the Roman army during the Empire. All of the players will be able to play each of the four games at least once, over the weekend.

Game 1 Chaeronea 86 BC “The Last Phalanx”

(1400 minis: 4-6 players)

Sulla’s battle-hardened legions clash with the last recorded phalanx of ancient history, under Mithridates of Pontus’ general Archelaus. Will the Pontic scythed chariots disrupt the Roman line? Can the phalanx withstand a hail of roman pila?

Game 2 Ruspina 46BC- “Skirmish in the Desert “

(600 minis, 2-4 players)

Caesar, invading Pompeian Africa in , is desperately of supplies. He is leading a force three legions of recruits to seek supplies, when sudden appearance of a vast dust cloud indicates the approach of a large enemy army, including many elephants…

Game 3 First Bedriacum 69AD- “Brother vs. Brother, Father vs. Son”

(1150 minis, 4-6 players)

Early in the Civil War of 69 AD, a large Roman force of legionaries drawn from the Rhine garrisons, under Caecina and Valens, marches south into Italy. The Emperor Otho’s forces, including gladiators and ex-marines march north to meet them and a massive battle takes place near Bedriacum.

Game 4 Count Theodosius vs. the Barbarian Conspiracy 368 AD

(450 minis, 2 players)

Betrayed by the garrison of Hadrian’s Wall, much of Britannia is under the heel Pictish, Scottish, Saxon and other invaders. A field army, led by Count Theodosius, has crossed from Gaul and is marching north to restore order, when it sights the banners of the Picts and Saxons, fluttering on a ridge ahead.

All this on one weekend….book to now to avoid disappoinment, these games are phenomenally popular!

Toward the end of November last year I played host to a bunch of lads who came along as part of the General de brigade weekend. Salamanca was the choice of battle this time and there was certainly a lot of Troops on the table. We played it with a ratio of one to one Battalion wise….that is a lot of troops!

The opening of the Battle followed a historical thread with the French hit hard at the head of the column. This proved to be a real tough nut for the French but they held on.

The Battle was really hard fought, the Allies smashed into the leading French Columns, who initially. looked like collapsing! The lead battalions fell back rapidly but some stern defence by this following up ensured that the French could turn to face the Allied lines and give them a dose of their own medicine.

All Connoisseur Miniatures figures here, the range is a very broad and widely varied range. The site also includes other manufacturers such as Bicorne and Firing Line Miniatures. I have to say that Firing Line have an excellent range of French and their allies in their stock, they come with separate heads, which really allows some great flexibility.

Volleys were exchanged along the lines.

The Allied position was quite flexible, with a good deal kept in reserve while still applying decent pressure.

Eventually the quality began to tell! The British attacks were causing heavy casualties on the French lines!

The Hinge in the French Line was pressed mercilessly by the British, although the French efforts in opening this up were exemplary! The French troops pluckily fought on with mounting casualties. Hats off to the lads from Devon that were pressing the Allied line in this effort!

One of my favourites, just for the character! New flags and a lick of varnish had these boys holding the line in the face of adversity.

The pressure on the leading French divisions was relentless all weekend, at one point we had to utilise the shelf system here to transfer the boards into the gap between the tables to help establish what was going on!

This shows the Allied line in the distance which the French were advancing into!

One of the nicest battalions of British Guards, Front Rank Miniatures painted by the very talented One man and his brushes Flags are all GMB Designs

Well I hope you all like it! This year Mr Brown is thinking of a WWII battle, stand by for updates!

It is with great pleasure that I can announce that the first Don Featherstone Annual Tribute will take place over the weekend of 21st-23rd March 2014.

The event, initially proposed by his great friend Ron Miles, is designed to commemorate Donald Featherstone and the remarkable contribution he made to the hobby of miniatures wargaming over a period spanning six decades. Whilst the event honours Don, the organisers do not wish it to be at all sombre or mournful – quite the opposite. Don is remembered as being irrepressibly cheerful and upbeat, and very much a gentleman who managed to get along with everybody he met. Our hope, therefore, is that the weekend will be tremendous, light-hearted fun for all concerned.

The Featherstone Annual Tribute

This spirit will be recognised by the annual award of The Featherstone Trophy (see photo above), generously donated by Ron Miles. The recipient of this magnificent glassware, decided by the votes of the participants themselves over the weekend, together with input from the judges, will be the person who is felt to have conducted themselves with the greatest generosity of spirit and gentlemanly (or, indeed, gentlewomanly) conduct during the event.

After the presentation, the name of the winner will be engraved on the Trophy which, for safe-keeping, will remain at the WHC. The winner, however, will also be presented with an exclusive vignette to take home, commissioned from the finest figure sculptors and painted by talented, professional brushmen. The vignette will be different each year, but depicting subject matter from Don’s favourite wargaming periods or even, indeed, the man himself, giving as wide a range of craftsmen as possible the opportunity to show off their skills, an aspect of which Don would have approved. More details of the vignette will follow.

The event and the winner of the Trophy will be publicised every year in the pages of this very magazine, which is where you will also find the booking details at the appropriate time. The organisers have the final say in the choice of the game offered and the specific details of the weekend, though of course we will welcome feedback from those that atttend.

We are delighted that for the inaugural year of this event,The Featherstone Trophy will be presented by Don’s daughter Jane, and we are grateful for her blessing the event. Part of the ‘spirit’ of the weekend is to ensure that Don’s legacy is never forgotten, and to this end there will be a jacket and tie dinner held on the Saturday evening, for which we have secured excellent rates to make it affordable to all. At this dinner, we shall encourage discussion about Donald Featherstone and his contribution to the hobby, and to this end a guest speaker will give a short talk after dessert. Again, we count ourselves as extremely fortunate that for this first event, the speaker will be Don’s great friend Dr Christopher Scott, who travelled the world with Don, visiting battlefields and wargames shows, and whose larder of anecdotes and recollections is fully stocked!

Please note that ONLY TWELVE PLACES ARE AVAILABLE FOR THIS EXCLUSIVE WEEKEND which will be allocated on a first-come, first served basis.