Broadside Show 2026

I have managed to go to my second wargame show of the year, with a trip down the old A2 to Gillingham for the “Broadside show” run by the Milton Hundred Wargames Club. I managed to get to the Medway Park Sports Centre a bit earlier this time as Last year there was not any space to park. The journey only takes me about half an hour and in the sunshine, it puts you in a good mood.

Once in the hall I was really surprised on how the hall was packed. This show seems to get better and better each year. So I do my usual thing of going around the trade stands first and although there were many, a couple had not turned up?  There was plenty to see. But I had notice that there were more 3D printed sellers there, thing of the future I guess. The hall was nice to walk around and not too hot as in previous years. Once I had done that I walked around the for sale tables which had books, models and bits of terrain, and there were plenty if them there. There were many demonstration /participation games. With the wargaming tables, a good mixture of things. A big display of the D-Day landings as shown at Salute this year. The Postie Rejects with the “Best of the Show” Retreat from Russia 1812. So I have taken a couple of pictures for you from other games. It was a great show and it’s nice to see how this little show has grown over a short period of time. 

"Polish Blizkrieg"
Deal Wargames Association

"Malplaquet 1709"
Hailsham Wargames Club

"Battle of Berezina 1812"
Posties Rejects

This was a great show for me as I managed to buy a few things this time. The hedge row and two corners are from Debris of War, which I usually but from. Good value for money. At last 1-72 figures were back and so I brought another box of HaTs 8105 French Limbers. (been wanting these for years)

I would like to draw your attention to the 1812 The Retreat from Russia - A Battle chronicle Wargame written and produced by Paul Brook, Lee Hadley and Ray Rousell. They are part of the wargame group Posties Rejects, which you can see from the pictures above. It has taken them 2 long years to produce the rules and the book through play testing. What a achievement by all concerned. The book has coloured photos and colourful diagrams.

Watching the game unfold, to see the French trying to hold off the Russians and to get back over the two pontoon bridges, was fun to watch. I can not wait to read the rules and to look at a couple of scenarios included in the book.

If you would like to purchase a copy, you can contact Lee Hadley via Big Lee’s ‘Miniature Adventure’s’ blmablog.com or Ray at onelover-ray.blogspot.com

Salute 53

On Saturday 11th April I went to my first wargame show of the year, SALUTE 53  run by the "South London Warlords". After a chilly start to the day I arrived at Excel London in just over half an hour. There was no queue when I arrived at 10.50 am, collected my goodie bag and set off looking around the trade stands. I must admit that I have never seen so many people at the show, so it was a great start to the day.

Once again the trade stands had everything you needed for our great hobby, but I did notice a hell of a lot of 3D companies that have been set up over the year. The trade stands were all very busy but I kept getting battered by people and their bloody backpacks. I feel like that I am getting out of touch with wargaming as once again, there were no 20mm plastic figures on sale. All nearly 28mm now. Once I had finished with the traders, I then turned my attention to the games. There were some fantastic layouts this year and plenty of demonstration/participation games.

I would like to salute to all the ladies who came along with their partners and there were plenty of kids as well, making kits or painting figures. They all looked like they were having fun. A great family day out.

I met up with the bloggers at 1pm and it was great to catch up with most of them that I was able to chat to. Sorry if I missed you. With my back now aching, I sat down and had lunch. I did manage to spend some of the coppers in the war chest and brought some bases from “Warbase” and a nice piece of terrain from someone? Purchased my first ever wargaming mat from “Deep-Cut Studio”

I had a really enjoyable day at Salute the best for many a year. I left the venue around 2.15pm knackered but happy. Roll on for the next wargming show. Here are a few pictures that I managed to take this year.

Milton Hundreds Wargame Club
"The Longest Day Sword Beach"

A Few Bits and the Hobby
"Italy 1944"

International Toy Soldier Club
"Men of Lead! Invasion 1897"

To The Strongest
"Lust for Glory"
Marlborough Wras

My Stash

Celebrating 18 Years of Blogging

 

Today my blog is 18 years old. When I started this blog to record my wargaming days, I was hoping that it would inspier me to do more in the hobby. Well the truth is I have failed to do what I wanted this blog to do. When I was made redundant back in April 2014, I thought that I would have plenty of time to go full pelt into the hobby, but life has very much got in the way too much.

I had hoped that my painted figures would be through the roof by now, but I have not finished any units for over 5 years now. I have 2 units that are half done, so I have plenty to do now. By now I was also hoping to have some DIY terrain made, but space is not available for me to do so. My little wargame cupboard is full of painted/unpainted figures, terrain, bits and bobs from wargaming shows. So this year things will have to change (fingers crossed)

Due to owning a very small house, I am now thinking of a wargaming shed at the bottom of the garden. This would have to be well insulated so my little men do not freeze to death and fall apart, or come to think of it, myself.  I would love to have electrics fitted, but that really depends on cost at the moment.

So if your one of my followers or you have just happen to find me, then I really appreciate your time. Let’s hope that this year my blog will be a lot better to view for you.

Vegetable Patch

 

I bought this off eBay a few weeks ago now. The item can be a vegetable patch or allotment plate and it came from Howard Scenic Supplies.  I have purchased from Mike before and it was a reasonable price with very quick delivery.  As you can see from the picture, that you can have any combination you wish as they are separate bases from the main base.  I know that I could of done this myself, but at least it gives me a template for future projects.

Why have I purchased it? Well I hope to get my Airfix Le Haye Sainte up and running. I have been collecting bits and pieces for it for years now and I think that I am ready to do the project soon.

www.howardscenicsupplies.co.uk

Cannon Ball Stacks

 

Cannon Ball Stack

Now I know that there are a lot of gamers out there that like their gaming table to be neat and tidy. I must admit that I am one of them gamers, but I have never seen my idea at any wargame shows or on wargaming blogs, So I hope that I am unique with this project. The idea was to show when the gun was in action or not. With the cannon ball stacks by the gun means that it is in action or without the stacks, the gun was damaged or out of action. Way back in the mid to late 70s, I made some small cannon ball stacks for my artillery. At that time I did not have many guns, so I made just the five to scatter around the table. 

Old stacks

These were made of old finishing lead weights which was given to me back in the 70’s from someone that gave up fishing. I came across these some time ago, while I was looking through my wargaming cupboard and thought that while my painting mojo is dry, that it might get me back into my hobby by doing some small projects that I have in mind. 

Old and New ones based

As you are unable to get the old lead weights now, due to the lead poisoning, I purchased some 3mm metal spacer beads from a craft shop while on holiday last year. These are just the right size and here they are all glued with PVA on their 20mm MDF bases. Once based and painted and flocked, they really came out well for my scatter terrain. Now I can use bigger beads for the howitzers.

All finished

Happy New Year from the General

 

I would like to wish my 13 followers and all wargamers around the world a very 

Happy New Year.

Well, yet another year has been and gone, so I am hoping that I can finally sit down now and start to paint once again, as I have said before, that some of my figures just need finishing off. 

I also hope to go to some wargaming shows over the year, and really hope that we will start to see some more production of new figures coming out in 2026 for the Waterloo period. So please keep looking at this blog. Knowing that people have been looking over the year with no productivity. I am sure that we can have a much better year with my blog.

Merry Christmas from the General

 

As we near yet another end of year, once again my output for painting figures is a big ZERO.  Saying that though, I have painted up all of the 23 horses for the Scot Greys but still no troopers finished. They are still waiting their final paint check. Unfortunately it’s now five years without producing any completed painted figures. Why does life get in the way?

There has been some good news in the plastic model world of late, and that is that Linear-A are going to release their French Engineers box number 024 very soon, which has got me a bit excited, but still no sign of any new Napoleonic figures for the 1815 period from HaT. Fingers crossed for the New Year then.

I will try and sort myself out once again in the New Year and get these Dragoon figures done that have been sitting around for years now. Still have loads of things to put on this blog but once again they need just finishing off. So I hope that things will improve at my end soon.

With the people that have taken a look at my blog over the years. Last year I had just over 113,000+ views and this year we are up to 201,000+ 

So wherever you are in the world, I would like to say many thanks for taking a look at my blog.

 I hope that you have 

A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

Broadside Games Show 2025

Today I went to my second wargame show of the year, with another trip down the A2 to Gillingham, Kent for the Broadside Games Show run by the Milton Hundred Wargames Club.  

When I reached the Medway Park Sports Centre which only takes me about half an hour to get there, the car park was full once again as there was yet another college Sport’s day plus a swimming competition, but I did manage to find a parking spot which was very lucky.

The venue was right at the back of the sports centre and once again it was easy to find your way there. I paid my £4 entry fee, which I must say is a really good deal still, and entered the hall. This was just after 11am and it did seem busy. With the collapse of the SELWG shows, maybe people are now paying attention to this show.

The first thing for me was to look around the trade stands and there was plenty on offer for buyers. Although there were no 20mm plastic soldiers on sale like Salute this year. After a quick walk around the trade stands, I visited the Posties Rejects with their Battle of “Rivoli, 1797”. A battle between the Austrian’s and the French. Here are a couple of pictures of that game. 

The Rules are from “Volley and Bayonet - Road to Glory, and the figures 6mm Commission Figurines, which I believe are all painted by Richard (great work) 

There seems to be a lot of 3D printing companies out in force these days, but most do sci-fi stuff. I found that little room with hot/cold drinks machines and a few tables to have lunch in. Once finished, I went back into the hall and started to look around at the tables layout. There were quiet a number of demonstration games this year  which is always great to see. Even the area where people were selling their second-hand goods looked bigger.

There were loads of wargaming and participation games tables on show a total of 34, some small and some large games. One of them I have already seen at Salute, “Berlin 1945” from the Retired Wargamers Reloaded. Love this table/terrain, so here are a few more pictures of that. 

I went back to the Posties to see how the battle was going. It was nice to see and to talk to Ray Rousell, Big Lee and the rest of the group. It’s always nice to chat with these fine fellows. I had a great time at the show I even brought some Hedges (2pkts) and Vegetable strips from Debris of War out of the old war chest. Returned home just after 3pm on a beautiful summers day. Here is another picture of one of the other games at the show.

"Bridge over La Vie 1944" Shepway Wargamers Club

Salute 52

On Saturday 12^th April I went to my first wargaming show of the year, to “SALUTE 52” at Excel London run by South London Warlords.

It was a lovely sunny spring day as I set off for the show and arrived at 10.50 am, collected my goodie bag and set off looking around the trade stands. The first thing that hit me was the amount of people that had turned out for the event, which was really nice to see.

The trade stands had about everything you needed for your hobby, but once again no trader had anything for us out of date, 1/76 plastic figure collectors/gamers. Although I had some cash in the war chest to spend, I brought it all back home with me. Never seen so many dice of different shapes and colours though?

After lunch I met up with the bloggers at 1 pm and it was great to catch up with most of them that I was able to chat to. Sorry if I missed you.

Around the hall there were many games and a hell of a lot of participation games which were well attended. The only problem for me was that there were not many historical games but loads of sci-fi and fantasy ones again being played. I take my hat off to all of the gamers who made their tables look like museum model layouts. I was lucky enough to see Rifleman Harris from the TV series “Sharpe” 

Rifleman Harris Then

Now

So here are a couple of photographs that I took at Salute this year, not many I know, I should of taken more.

"Caen 1944" Joe Bilton

Not Known

79th Highlanders

"Berlin 1945" Retired Wargamers Reloaded

                                               

To the Strongest-Louis Quatorzes Wars

"Zeppelin" Hornchurch Wargames Club

It was a good show and I will be going back next year, but before that there is “Broadside” in June.

Horses finished at last

 

Here is my last batch of the Scots Greys horses which bringing the total to 23. It’s been quite a challenged to pick up the brush again since late October. I really admire the work that people put in to their model figures on here, but these will do just fine for me being a solo player. I can now concentrate on the first batch of 6 troopers which are nearly done, so still very much WIP but well over due.

Happy New Year from the General

 

I would like to wish my followers and all wargamers around the world a very 

Happy New Year.

Well yet another year has been and gone in a flash once again, so I hope that I can finally sit down now and start to paint once again, as I have said before, that some of my figures just need finishing off. 

I hope once again to go to some wargaming shows over the year and really hope, that we will start to see some more production of new figures coming out from HaT. 

Christmas Goodies

 

I know it's just a little bit too late to post this, but I did get a couple of items for my hobby from my family this year. 

They are the from Sarissa Precision "Waterloo 20mm Windmill (H207) and a couple of 

Hornby, Scatter grass (Dark Green) packets.

So am a happy general, but hope that you all had a great Christmas.

Merry Christmas From The General

 

As we near yet another end of year, once again my output for painting figures is a big fat ZERO. But saying that, I have painted up 16 horses for the Scot Greys but no troopers so far. They are still waiting their final paint check. Also the last batch of horses are also well under way. Unfortunately is now four years without producing any completed painted figures.

There has been some good news in the plastic model world of late, and that is that HaT are back up and running, well sort of which has got me a bit excited, but still no sign of new Napoleonic figures for the 1815 period.

I shall sort myself out once again next year and try to get these Dragoon figures done that have been sitting around for years now. Still have loads of things to put on this blog but once again they need just finishing off a final read over. So I hope that things will improve at my end.

With the people that have taken a look at my blog over the years. Last year I had just over 108,000+ views this year we are up to 133,000+ 

So where ever you are in the world I would like to say, I hope that you have 

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS

 

Marshals and Generals

 FRENCH GENERAL

Portrait by Charles-Philippe Larviere, 1843

Jean-Baptiste Drouet, 

Comte d'Erlon

 Born: 29 July 1765 - Reims, 

Marne, France

Died: 25 January1844 - Paris, France

 Rank: General

 

D'Erlon was born in Reims on 29 July 1765. His father and grandfather were carpenters, and he trained to be a locksmith.

D'Erlon entered the army as a private in 1782 and was discharged after 5 years’ of service. He re-entered the army again in 1792 where he served as a corporal in the pre-revolutionary army, serving with the chasseurs from Reims and joined the Army of the North. In 1793 Drouet was with the Army of the Moselle when he finally elected to captain the following year. In 1794, in Reims, d'Erlon married Marie-Anne de Rousseau (died 1828), daughter of a banker, whom he got to know through Marie-Jeanne (Rousseau) the wife of his brother Jean-François Drouet. They had 3 children together.

From 1794 to 1796 he was aide-de-camp to General Lefebvre. In 1799 he was promoted to brigadier general, and fought under André Masséna in Switzerland.

He continued his service in many of the battles in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, including the Battle of Hohenlinden (3rd December 1800, in which he was wounded), the Hanover region (earning him promotion to major general in 1803). As a general of division, he took part in Napoleon's campaigns at the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805 and Jena in 1806. 

On Napoleon’s return from exile he made him a peer of France, and gave him command of the 1st Corps, which formed part of the Army of the North. 

On 16 June during the first major engagements of  Waterloo campaign of 1815, due to conflicting orders his Corps spent most of the day on the Old Roman Road marching and counter-marching between the battles of Quatre Bras and Ligny  without taking part in either battles. Had Drouet d'Erlon's corps been present at either battle it might have changed the outcome of the following days and possibly the war.

Two days later at the Battle of Waterloo, his corps saw plenty of action in the battle, where he distinguished himself and his men taking the farm, La Haye Sainte.

It was his Corps in column formation which attacked the Allied centre right from La Haye Sainte to Papelotte at 13:30 and was stopped by Picton's Peninsular War veterans, and then attacked in the flanks by the British heavy cavalry. He retreated with the rest of the French army and fought in the closing operations around Paris. After the surrender of Napoleon, he was proscribed by the Bourbons, d'Erlon entered exile in Munich, before he finally settled down in Bayreuth in Germany, where he opened a café and inn. Back in France he was condemned to death by a trial in absentia. Finally in 1825 he was pardoned by Charles X and he returned to France but was retired. After Louis Philippe came to power in 1830, Drouet d'Erlon resumed his military career. In 1831 he became a Peer of France and in 1843 he was made a Marshal of France.

From 1837 he resumed his command of the 12th Division in Nantes, a position he held until 1843 when he moved to Paris to retire and was granted the title Marshal of France on 9 April 1843. He died on 25 January of the following year in Paris.

His monument in Reims, France

It's That Time again

 

Yup, another year older. I would like to thank my family for this years birthday presents, which I must admit I have wanted for some time now.

It’s a “Static grass flocking applicator kit”. It comes with the applicator, brush and some dark green static grass fiber bag. I also received some “Summer Grass” from Scenics.

With these goodies, I am hoping in the future months, as winter is coming, to do some terrain pieces. What about my dragoons I hear you say, they are coming along nicely and I hope to have the first batch done soon, if life will let me. 

More Grey's

Still very much WIP but here we go with my second batch of horses for the Royal Scots Greys (2nd Dragoons) The one with the blue bottle top is for the trumpeter and I'm still going with the mixed greys. Total horses painted now 16 out of 23. I know that they will never win any painting competitions, but as it’s only me who is going to see them, it doesn’t really matter. I like them anyway. Back to painting, but my next post of these will be of the troopers, all 6 of them.

Back in the Saddle

 

Finally after a period of 4 years, here are my first batch of horses for the Royal Scots Greys (2nd Dragoons) I usually paint all the horses first and then the troopers when I paint my cavalry units, why? I don’t know, but I thought I would change that and paint them in batches of six, but here’s nine of them. The Horses are from the old Esci set and although there are some errors with horses/troopers, they will still fit in nicely with the rest of the heavy cavalry that I plan to paint up. These are the first completed batch since 5th August 2020. I don’t know why, but I did not feel the urge to paint since then although I have picked up the brush now and then. I decided not to paint all the horses the same colour as most wargamers do, so I have mixed them up a little. Really pleased how these have now come out. Still let’s hope that I can continue in finishing these off as they have been hanging around for far too long.

Broadside Games Show 2024

For my second wargame show of the year, yesterday it was another trip down the A2 to Gillingham, Kent for the Broadside Games Show run by the Milton Hundred Wargames Club.  

When I reached the Medway Park Sports Centre which only takes me about half an hour to get there, the car park was full as there was yet another college Sport’s day on plus a funrun day in the park next to the sports centre. I managed to find a parking spot which took me nearly 15 minutes to find one, and it was free to park. The venue was right at the back of the sports centre and it was easy to find your way there. I paid my £4 entry fee, which I must say is a really good deal, and entered the hall. This was around 11.40am and it seemed really busy.

The first thing for me was to look around the trade stands and there was plenty to offer buyers. After I could nto find any 20mm plastic soldiers on sale at Salute I found a stand that sold mostly plastic figures, called 1-72 Model Figures, so out came my short shopping list, but there were none of the Hat 1/72nd figures that I wanted. Oh well. After a quick walk around the trade stands, I visited the Posties Rejects with their Battle of “Croix-de-Bouquets, 1792”. A unknown battle between the revolutionary black slaves and the French. A interesting battle and the game was planed by Ray Rousell in which he made all of the terrain and painted all of the figures. Here are a couple of pictures of that game.

The Village

I found a little room with hot/cold drinks machines and a few tables to sit. So I had my lunch inside this year as it did not look all that good outside. Once finished I went back into the hall and started to look around at the tables layout. There were a hand full of demonstration games and a nice area where people were selling their second-hand goods. There were 18 wargaming tables on show, some really small and a couple of large games this year.  I went back to the Posties to see how the battle was going. It was nice to see and to talk to Ray, Big Lee and the rest of the group. They even had cake there made by Sparky. I had a time at the show even though I did not buy anything. Returned home about 3.30pm. If you have not been there, may be you should try it out next year. Here are some pictures of the other games.

"DORNIER DOWN"
The Shepway Wargamers

"PEGASUS BRIDGE"
The Retired Wargamers Reloaded Group

"A CROWN OF THORNS"
Deal Wargames Association