Friday 11 November 2011

Photos from the Trenches of Death Diksmuide

Hopefully this will work and attached are some pictures of the preserved Trenches of Death at Diksmuide.



Wednesday 9 November 2011

Crisis Show at Antwerp

What a fantastic show last weekend at Antwerp. The organisers, Tin Soldiers of Antwerp, really do pull out all the stops to make it one of the best shows on the circuit, and deserve loads of praise and thanks for all their hard work. And with a new venue next year it promises to be even better!

We really enjoyed ourselves at the show and met some very nice people. It was good to talk to everyone who came to say hi to us and discuss the set, the figures, the vehicles and so on. In fact lots of people asked me where the vehicles came from: the buses were by Keil Kraft, as was the steam lorry and one of the ambulances (although that was really a GWR parcel delivery lorry!) the Vauxhall Prince was a bootfair purchase (I bought 6 cars for £1.00) and the wagon came from Convoy Models. The observation balloon was by Roseplane, a vac-form kit that went out of production in the 80s but there are still some around if you scour e-Bay often enough! Buying the kit was one thing, putting it together quite another!

On the Sunday after the show, on the way back to the ferry, we went to Diksmuide to see the Yser Front and the Belgian "trenches of death". This is quite a forgotten area of the Front that gets overlooked by it's more popular cousins at Ypres and the Somme but if you ever get the chance you should go and see it. On a misty morning in November there was nothing more evocative of the war than walking round the preserved trenches right by the Yser - at times the Germans were just 7 metres away from the Belgian trenches.

If I can work out how to post photos on this blog I'll put some up of the trenches!

Thursday 27 October 2011

Legion wargames show

Well I'm just getting ready to take the game down to the Legion show at Sandwich this Sunday, and then of course the exciting trip the week after to Crisis at Antwerp.

We are a bit shorthanded in the team for Sunday (in fact it's entirely possible that I'll be there on my own!) but as they say the show must go on! Hopefully I'll be able to get everything packed into the car on Saturday night and then it will just be a case of get up and go! If any of you are at the show do stop by and say hi, even if I am looking a little harrassed!

Monday 10 October 2011

Where the Poppies Grow is Out Now!!

Well this is my first post - and first ever blog! - about our new and exciting WW1 wargames rules Crush the Kaiser! This is the overall title of the series, the first volume of which is called Where the Poppies Grow and covers the war on the Western Front 1916-18. Our aim is to eventually cover the whole of the war from14-18 on every front and in the air, as well as the Russian Civil War.

The rules are designed to be fast play and are battalion/brigade level so you can easily and quickly build up forces or use your existing figures. There's no specific figure scale as they are suitable for most - my collection is mainly 20mm and 28mm and the rules work well with both of these but we have also done a game in 10mm and that went really well!

We are just ordinary wargamers with a passion for realistic but playable rule sets and felt there was a gap in WW1 at this level as other sets cover skirmish games or a more strategic, divisional level. By pitching the rules at battalion and brigade (or regimental) level we've been able to bring in some of the best known features of WW1 such as barrage fire, gas, mines and aircraft but still keep the game fun. Yes, WW1 games can be fun, as long as you don't mind losing a figure or two!

We will have a website of our own very shortly but in the meantime you can keep in touch with me through our Crush the Kaiser Facebook page and through this blog, which I'll try to keep up to date as much as I can. The rules will be available from traders at the SELWG wargames show at Crystal Palace London this Sunday (16 October) and from us through email on crushthekaiser[at]yahoo.co.uk

I really hope you like them!