sabato 23 luglio 2022

French Indian wars - Attack to the Fort - July 16, 2022

Last Saturday my mates played a scenario set during the French Indian wars.

It was a generic scenario not linked to a specific historical battle. It was an easy “assault to the fort” but they decided to play it two times … or better … they decided to play a first scenario in which the English troops were the besieging force and another one in which it was the contrary … this time the French were forced to defense. For this reason Ezio prepared two different banners.


For a French fort or ...


... an English fort ... it depends ...


A battle in Canada cannot be a real battle without a river and some canoes 




My mates spent a day playing this two scenarios ... below some Canadians and Indians that are approaching ...




... a last look before to play a new scenario


In the second battle the French troops had to defend ...



... and English forces are eager to conquer the fort



In both games the besieged win



sabato 2 luglio 2022

John Frost, Elliot "Roy" Urquhartand and Allison "Digby" Tatham-Warter - Red Devils commanders

Time ago I painted some Warlord Games miniatures to complete my collection of British airborne troops. I decided to take the British Airborne Characters blister: Frost, Urquhart and Tatham-Warter ... 

I knew some of them for my keen of history and also for the old movie ... "A Bridge too far" ... and it was a plaesure to paint them 

Major-General John Frost is a famous English officer for a lot of operations ... Op. Biting, North Africa, Sicily and so on ... even if he is best known for being the leader of the small group of Red Devils that arrived at Arnhem bridge during Market-Garden Operation


Warlord games decided to represent Johh Frost with his hunting horn that he used to call all the member of his unit ... I can imagine him into the action between the roads of Arnhem


Frost was captured after days of resistance and held as prisoner of war in at Spangenberg castle. He was liberated in March 1945 by USA troops

Another important Red Devils command was Major General Robert Elliot "Roy" Urquhart ... He was the General Officer Commander of 1st Ariborne Division. The unit that suffered severe casualties in the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944


He was portrayed by Sean Connery in the 1977 movie ''A Bridge Too Far" and so I tried to take a picture similar to one of movie scene

The last miniature of the box was Major Allison "Digby" Tatham-Warter ... member of the 2nd  parachute battalion ... he was famous for his umbrella



During Arnhem battle he  disabled a German armoured car with his umbrella, incapacitating the driver by shoving the umbrella through the car's observational slit and poking the driver in the eye. The took an umbrella during war operations as a means of identification because he had trouble remembering passwords and felt that anyone who saw him with it would think taht "only a bloody fool of an Englishman" would carry it into the battle.