Lochnagar Crater -Great War tour Pt2

 This is the largest crater on the western front .It was one of sixteen mines detonated on July 1st and was intended to remove a German strongpoint in this area.The tunneling was started by the 185th Tunneling Company and on detonation contained 60,000lbs of explosive. At the time spotter aircraft in the area reported the debris from the explosion rose to a hieght of approximately 5000ft .Many of the Great war craters have been filled in and toprevent this happening in 1979 an English man Richard Dunning bought the crater in order to preserve the sight.
Today the crater measues 300ft across and 90 ft deep

Vimy Ridge -Great War Tour PT1

Memorial to the missing

 I recently spent some time touring Belgium and France taking over 200 Pics of Great War battlefields ,monuments and Cemertery's  so I thought I would Share some of the Pics

German Trench the couple in the distance are in the Canadian trenches

 Over 2 days in April 1917 the Canadians captured Vimy Ridge to enable the offensive at Arras to begin , Today the crater scarred site is home to preserved trenches of both sides ,the sandbags were filled with concrete to allow a lasting reminder of the fierce fighting. At the summit of the Ridge ,known as Hill 145 is the huge Canadian memorial to the missing bearing the names of 11.285 canadian soldiers.

Canadian trench showing fire step

German Trench and Fire step

Mother Canada looking for her lost son's

Perfect view of the zig zag trench work

The Falklands :Triples after show report

The Argentinians wait for another drubbing 

The game was a generic Falklands scenario which was played about 14 times over the weekend ,with a British victory every game ,everyone seemed to enjoy the game and we had lots of people stop by to ask questions about the rules .

Tim Gows excellent game

The show its self was fun as always ,Saturday was definitely the busiest which gave me a chance to join in Tim Gows superb Wargames Development  game on the Sunday ,Tims a real nice guy if you have not yet visited his blog Mega Blitz and more,you must do so (link on the right ) .

Most importantly we raised a nice amount for the Royal British Legion and I must thank our hosts Sheffield Wargames Society for their generous donation , and of course everyone else who donated over the weekend especially John & Elaine my fellow pointmen everything on the table was down to john ,the paperwork was  down to Elaine  I just sat there and looked pretty ?  and Shawn  Peggy and Rob of Ambush Alley games who make this all possible.

Sheffield Triples 2012

Just to confirm our table at Sheffield Triples ,We will be almost in our usual spot still in the main Hall on Table M .In the programme we are listed as British Legion Charity Game Ambush Alley ,not exactly as we put it but it got the main detail there . All three of our pointman team will be there on Saturday and two of us on Sunday its a Falklands participation game so please pop over and join in or just say hello 

Force on Force official tournament -update

Hi not had that many confirm by email yet that you want to take part ,although had a lot of interest so still not been able to confirm too much so giving a cut off entry date for 31st May 2012 then I will confirm everything and remember if at this point you cant make the date set please don't worry .

Date :                            TBC (june or july )
Venue :                          Sheffield have 3 venues on offer will depend on numbers.
Type :                            knock out ,number of rounds dependent on numbers taking part.

Size &type of Forces :   Again depends on numbers but 1st round will be Infantry only one or two sections for regulars ,all games will be a generic regular force against insurgents. 1st round at least will be played as both sides against same opponent.I.E you will play both regulars and then insurgents against same player.

Scale : if you can supply both forces and scenery then anything 10,15 ,20 25 or 28mm .

What do I need from you : an email containing ,name ,what forces you have available ,scale and if June or july is best for you.

Will it cost me to enter  : Yes a small donation (made on the day)which will go to the Royal British Legion and again if we get large numbers a small room hire charge (in total no more than £5.00.)

Prizes: Yes at the moment a few collectable bits from Ambush Alley games ,Caps ,Keychains ,15mm collectable figure plus winners certificates and I'm in disscussion with a couple of sponsers so maybe more .

Age: No real age limit we have a couple of juniors registered but not enough to run a junior only tournament so no age restrictions .

Rules : of course Osprey edition FOF , any tournament amendments will be sent to everyone prior to the games. At least 2 or 3 pointmen will be there and their decisions will be final ,decisions will be made on fair play and within the rules remember this is for fun .

More soon. Plesae pop and see us at Triples with any questions

lots to catch up on

Pavia

Hi illness again (and work) slowed me down a bit ,but over the next week I will put up a update on the FOF tournament ,plus some updates on my sudden painting spree but for now a few pics of one of my recent days out.

Tiger Hunt

Vickers HMG

Boar Hunt

Joust

Samurai

1st Para Brigade

On a recent walk I spotted this memorial ,almost on my doorstep at Hardwick Hall ,I never realised this bit of history happened in this area.

The 1st Para Brigade was formed in September 1941, under the command of Brigadier Richard Gale, with its headquarters based at Hardwick Hall, near Chesterfield in Derbyshire. It was Britain's first true parachute unit. Initially the Brigade comprised of just three battalions, but a fourth was added in January 1942. However in July of that year, the 4th Battalion was released to help form the basis of the 2nd Para Brigade.

Official Force on Force Tournament

Ambush Alley Games Official Tournament

2012

A official Force on Force Tournament will be held in Sheffield during the summer (JUNE-JULY) To Determine the number of “knockout” rounds, Venues ETC  we need to know who is interested in taking part .

THE BASIC BITS , we will be looking at a 3 or four round knockout type tournament ,there will be a small entry fee to cover venue costs any profits will go to The Royal British Legion ,there will be small prizes for the later stage participants  with the winner receiving some official Ambush Alley Goodies ,a baseball cap a keychain and a 15mm ltd edition figure Plus a certificate proudly announcing you as the winner of the 1^st Tournament , and maybe some more things as well .

The basic planning has been done but to finalise things I need to know numbers, so with no commitment at this stage if you are interested please either email me, or put down the following on paper and hand to John Grayson at the Thursday night meetings of the Sheffield and Rotherham war games Club or to John at the War games Emporium in Orchard Square please mark for the attention of Richard Holden

What I need to know if you are interested:

1. Do you own an Insurgent or regular force suitable for modern period 2000 onwards if so what scale 

2. Which month is best for you June or July and Saturday or Sunday?

3. Would you be interested in a Tomorrows War Tournament?

E-Mail    Hrichard77@aol.com

Battle of Britain Memorial Flight

One of my recent days out involved a day in Lincolnshire and a visit to the BBMF visitors cenre.A highly recommenmded visit it was as well ,Free parking where most days you are treated to a free airshow by Connigsby's home based Typhoon's ,entry to the centre is free as well it contains some intresting items and as a fully stocked model shop But the highlight was the BBMF Hanger tour this carrie's a small charge but gets you into the working hanger with a very good tour guide .You get up close to the Historic aircraft and get some amazing facts about each one ,with its full history plus the history of the aircraft it is painted up as for this years shows.Really fantastic day plus you are really close to Woodhall Spa so its a must to see the amazing Dambusters memorial and visit some of the Haunts of those heroic guys.The Bomb Markings on the Lanc represent =Yellow raids on Germany -Red runs on Berlin and the Ice cream cones raids on Italy