Legacy of the Rorkes Drift Heroes.

I put a stop  on wargaming presents this year so I could get through my mountain of zulu war stuff for next years British Legion Games , but Elaine my partner bought me the 10 volume set of Legacy books by Kris Wheatley the story of the lesser known defenders of Rorkes Drift .The research started with one of her own ancestors Caleb Wood and this developed into this 10 book set ,on recent visit to Ruddington cemetery  , the Nottinghamshire graveyard with 3 Rorkes Drift defenders graves we popped into the local museum and Elaine got the complete set of books and hid them away for santa .I have only skimmed through them but already hooked some really fascinating stories of the little known heroes and their mixed fortunes after the battle .  I will do a more in depth review as I finish each volume .Find out more here  http://www.rorkesdriftlegacy.com/index.html

The 3 Defenders graves at Ruddington

The books 

Raffle draw

A great day at the War Games Emporium for our raffle draw ,I would like to thank John and all the staff at the Emporium for not only giving us a place to hold the draw but also selling tickets as well ,a massive thanks to all the sponsors listed below and to every one who bought tickets and to all the forum organisers that allowed me to advertise our event . To John Grayson and Steven Holden for their help today Of course our biggest thanks to our service men and women and to the Royal British Legion .


Flags of War   - Gift Vouchers
Sheffield War Games Society   -Triples Tickets
Underfire Miniatures -20mm Figures
Ambush Alley Games -Loads of prizes inc Books ,15mm Miniatures etc.
Gripping Beast -Rule Book
Empress Miniatures -28mm Figures
Brigade Models -28mm WW1
Tim Gow- Books
Warlord Games -28mm Figures and Vehicles
Dashing Dice Games _ a massive starter set of everything
Rogue Miniatures -28mm Figures
RH Models _20mm Figures
Elheim _ Gift Voucher
Diplomatist Books -Gift Voucher
Plastic Soldier Company - 20mm Vehicles.
Crooked Dice -2 prizes of stater set vouchers
S&S -£20. voucher
Dear Tony Blair blog spot  -Figures 
Dave Parsons-Painting voucher 
Nexus Miniatures -assortment of resin and metal figures 

Nexus miniatures 

Some of the prizes

more of the prizes

Some of the lucky winners 

I will inform the on line winners with in the next couple of days of what they have won . 

almost on us

Well the day of the raffle is almost here and prizes are still arriving the box of goodies from Dashing Dice Games arrived today  ,a box full of goodies the rules and all the figures you need to play Witch Finder General . Nexus miniatures have posted their full range of limited edition spies to us so eagerly waiting for them . Looking forward to seeing you all at the Emporium on Saturday

Nexus miniatures raffle donation

Nexus Miniatures a small UK company have donated a full set of their Limited run Resin Figures ,the Post Office has struck again losing yet another parcel but Nexus have kindly popped another set in the post  visit Nexus web store a       thttp://www.nexus-miniatures.co.uk/about

Raffle prizes even more .....

A nice prizes donation from Dave at Dear Tony Blair Blogspot   2 of his amazingly funny Tony & Mags the evil dwarfs and a the unreleased White Dwarf "derek the troll" . Please visit Daves blog
http://deartonyblair.blogspot.co.uk   to have a look at his stuff and more pics of Tony and Mag ,the pic below I borrowed from his blog .The winner of this prize will have it sent direct from Dave .

Mags & Tony -I am sure I know them ?

 Raffle tickets are still on sale 50p each the draw takes place at the War Games Emporium on 13th Dec .

The full list of sponsors is now :

Flags of War   - Gift Vouchers
Sheffield War Games Society   -Triples Tickets
Underfire Miniatures -20mm Figures
Ambush Alley Games -Loads of prizes inc Books ,15mm Miniatures etc.
Gripping Beast -Rule Book
Empress Miniatures -28mm Figures
Brigade Models -28mm WW1
Tim Gow- Books
Warlord Games -28mm Figures and Vehicles
Dashing Dice Games _ a massive starter set of everything
Rogue Miniatures -28mm Figures
RH Models _20mm Figures
Elheim _ Gift Voucher
Diplomatist Books -Gift Voucher
Plastic Soldier Company - 20mm Vehicles.
Crooked Dice -2 prizes of stater set vouchers
S&S -£20. voucher
Dear Tony Blair blog spot  -Figures 
Dave Parsons-Painting voucher 

Even more prizes

Shaun at S&S had sent me a parcel of goodies but our great Post Office has managed to lose it but Shaun has stepped up and donated a £20 gift voucher in replacement ,so the lucky winner can choose some of the fantastic products from the S&S webstore ( S&S products only not armour fast etc.) a very small selection of which are shown below . Most of my B.A.O.R and Warpact vehicles are from S&S as well and there are plenty of pics on this blog .

More Raffle Prizes

More amazing prizes ,this time from Crooked Dice and 2 lucky winners will get a starter set of their choice . There are a few to choose from made for the fantastic 7TV game but suitable for any game really ,here are some pics from the Crooked dice web store to wet your appetite

Danger 5

Department X (that bloke in the middle looks familiar ?

Shiva 

Lots more on the web store take a look . http://www.crooked-dice.co.uk/wp/

Raffle update -nearly there .

Less than 2 weeks to the draw (13th December ) so here's an update of the very generous sponsors whose prizes I have received already . They are in no particular order and full details of each prize can be found in earlier posts there is just so much to list in full detail. Tickets are still on sale at the War Games Emporium in Sheffield and on line at   http://www.bmycharity.com/RHminievents    and will be on sale at the shop until 11.55 on the day of the draw and on line till the 12th Dec.

Prizes received so far :

Flags of War   - Gift Vouchers
Sheffield War Games Society   -Triples Tickets
Underfire Miniatures -20mm Figures
Ambush Alley Games -Loads of prizes inc Books ,15mm Miniatures etc.
Gripping Beast -Rule Book
Empress Miniatures -28mm Figures
Brigade Models -28mm WW1
Tim Gow- Books
Warlord Games -28mm Figures and Vehicles
Dashing Dice Games _ a massive starter set of everything
Rogue Miniatures -28mm Figures
RH Models _20mm Figures
Elheim _ Gift Voucher
Diplomatist Books -Gift Voucher
Plastic Soldier Company - 20mm Vehicles.

There may still be more on the way and I will keep updates going to the last moment  ,Tickets are 50p each and every penny goes to the Royal British Legion who do an amazing job .

A big thank you to all the amazing people who have donated prizes , To the War Games Emporium Sheffield for their help selling tickets and giving us a place to hold the draw and to every one who has purchased tickets . A special thanks to all those that have made the ultimate sacrifice so we can live free .

Lest we forget .

Raffle update -underfire Miniatures Prize

Another great prize has arrived this time from Bill at Underfire Miniatures ,as always Bill has supported us by sending a nice selection of his wonderful 20mm Figures this time his 20mm Helmand British .They are beautiful figures which can be seen in better detail than my picture by following the link to Bill's web site which is in the our sponsors section.

Over the weekend I had a couple more promises of prize donations so this is looking as being the best year yet ,so keep buying those tickets .

Zulu Project W.I.P

Empress Miniatures waiting to be based 

 Just a few quick snaps of various bits from my Zulu project ,some how forgot to take one of the 70 Zulu's which are sat under coated waiting for my attention .

A Warlord plastic for comparison 

Mounted Induna 

More of the Barricades for Rorke's Drift . 

Rorkes Drift Survivors still together

After my trip to see Robert Jones VC 's Grave I thought I would start tracking down the final resting places of the other heroes of this epic struggle who made it back home. I was amazed to find that a small village graveyard less than an hours drive from my home had not one but three graves of Rorke's Drift veterans . Caleb Wood , Robert Tongue and James Marshall are all buried very close together in the Grave yard at Ruddington in Nottinghamshire .

Robert Tongue

Caleb Wood

James Marshall buried with his Wife .

All three head stones were replaced and rededicated in recent years and are on the top left hand side of the cemetery as you enter ,there are also number of other military Graves and the near by church has a lovely war memorial dedicated to the locals who died in the 1st ,2nd and Korean wars

Zulu's ..thousands of em , well 38 any way

My first zulu regiment a white shielded unit representing the INDHLONDHLO that fought at Rorke's Drift .The unit is 32 figures strong based on 1p coins and put in sabot movement trays ,there is also a 6 figure strong skirmish/firearm  unit based in the same way . The figures are a mix of Empress metal and Warlord Games and War games Factory plastics ,they all mix in very well . I painted them very basically as I have a few hundred to paint and hope they look good en masse .

U-Su-Thu 

the first unit of many

The Skirmish Unit 

Ambush Alley -a little piece of history

Having had more time to look at the prizes sent by Peggy and Shawn at AAG I realise we have been sent a little bit of gaming history ,a print copy of Ambush Alley original rules I have never seen these before and even better they have a little inscription inside from Shawn . As well as this there are loads of goodies up for grabs ,books ,Tomorrows war figures just to much to mention have a look at the pics below and buy those tickets ,support a good cause and have a chance of owning a bit of AAG history .

Plus loads of prizes from other sponsors tickets 50p each .

Raffle update more prizes .

Ambush Alley Games have sent a superb box full of loads of prizes jam packed full of products from them selves and other companies , books ,figures ,loads of AAG goodies such as tape measures and order counters  ,so the following amazing people have sent prizes so far and I still have some promised donations we are waiting for so it can only get better so buy those tickets to be in with a chance to win some of these great prizes from .

Ambush Alley Games
Gripping Beast
Plastic Soldier Company
Empress Miniatures
Brigade Models
Tim Gow
Warlord
Dashing Dice Games
Rogue Miniatures
RH models
Elheim
Diplomatist Books
Sheffield War Games Society
Flags of War


Tickets on sale at the War Games Emporium Sheffield and on line at
 http://www.bmycharity.com/RHminievents  the minimum donation I am afraid is £5.00 however if you do this I will give you £5.50 worth of numbers . Once you have donated email at
Hrichard77@aol.com and tell me your name and amount donated and once it is confirmed I will send you the numbers by return and will post on here any winners and inform you by email and discuss getting the prize to you . 

All Proceeds to the Royal British Legion. 

More raffle prizes

Hi just a quick update in my rush last time I forgot to say that Sheffield War Games Society have donated 4 entry tickets to next years Sheffield Triples the long running war games show ,and Ambush Alley Games have sent a AAG mystery box even I don't know whats in it ,at the moment its half way here from America so maybe some hints next week . Best of all another new sponsor for this year Flags of war  who have generously donated 2 prizes of £10.00 vouchers to spend on their great range of flags and banners ,check out the site to see the massive range.

Raffle prize update

A bit behind with stuff I was rushed into hospital last monday and got out yesterday , Although not up to doing a lot thought I would update some of the prizes I have received so far.

The latest saga book from Gripping Beast , a box set from PSC and a bag of figures from Empress

Brigade Models 1914 Belgians

Donated by Tim Gow

From Warlord

Assorted figures from Rogue Miniatures

3 Prizes fromRH 2009SAS ,Spanish Civil War and insurgents





Add to these a £20. voucher from Elheim and a £15. voucher from Diplomatist books and the stunning witch finder General starter from Dashing Dice and we have some fantastic prizes with more promised.