And now, as they say, for something completely different. We live in a quiet village, pretty much the one horse, one street kind. Out for a quiet walk on a sunny Sunday, we came across what has to be one of the most unusual pastimes: agricultural petrol and diesel combustion engines enthusiasts at their annual gathering! There must have been over a hundred, all sizes, various functions. And everyone there seemed to be having an enjoyable time. I took a good selection of photographs. It was a pleasure to see other people having such an in-depth interest in something unusual and showing lots of skill and patience in repairing and running such engines. The majority were made by Petter, no longer a functioning company, but there were some other makes as well. Google it for more information. I shall be interested to see how many hits I get for this post!
Monday, 20 October 2025
Tuesday, 14 October 2025
Wimpfen May 1622 Sun King version
Having recovered somewhat from the dreaded bug, I thought I would try a small game. I decided it would be a good idea to see what sort of Sun King game I could do just using the dining room table surface - 5 feet by 3 feet. Looking around for a battle to adapt, I chose Wimpfen, from the Thirty Years War, which places one side on the defensive and the other on the offensive, a rather straightforward game for someone playing solo. The defence - hold your fieldworks, counterattack if possible; attack - take the fieldworks, or make them untenable. So with the French on the defence and the Allies - Dutch and Imperialists - on the attack, I set out the two sides, trying to get an approximate ratio of foot, horse and artillery according to the armies on the day, as well as the most significant terrain. I do not have loads of wagons with swivel guns and very light cannons, as there was on the day, so I just used my fieldworks and gave the defence a bonus for close range fire. As you can see, the French had four foot regiments, one medium battery, and three horse regiments (each two squadrons), while the Dutch/Imperialists had six foot regiments, two horse regiments (each two squadrons), one Croat squadron (off table to start), and one Kürassier regiment (three squadrons), with two off table medium artillery batteries firing overhead, they being on a hill at the battle itself. As always, North Star 1672 figures, with a few Wargame Miniatures, and the rules this time were a fast play version I devised of Mr. Gush's WRG Renaissance Rules. I have added subtitles to some of the pictures to show the game unfolding.