I find that it really helps my projects to have a target date for them to aim at, and what could be a better target than taking the project to one of the UKs biggest shows.
The 22nd April 2023 will be the 50th Salute show put on by the South London Warlords. As it has been for the last few years, Salute will be held at the ExCeL Centre in the heart of London’s docklands. The Friends of General Haig will be putting on two demo games. One will be my 1627 Dirschau / Tczew game, in 28mm, pitting Gustav Adolph’s Swedes against Hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski’s Poles & Lithuanians. The other game will be a Modern 15mm game set in the Middle East (more details to come later!).
Tickets for the show are up for sale here: https://www.seetickets.com/event/salute-50/excel/2379926
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| Massed Polish cavalry. |
Any followers of the blog will be aware that I have been working on the armies for the 1627 Dirschau / Tczew game for a couple of years already, so not too much more to do on the figures. I’m expecting to finish the Swedish army this year, and then complete the Poles, with a crescendo of Hussars, in the New Year.
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| Swedish infantry under attack. |
Plans for the terrain are also underway. Here is an outline of the terrain requirements:
- The overall battlefield will be based on a new fur mat that I am making. The basic shape of 12’ x 6’ is now stuck together, and there is some shaving and painting left to do.
- At one end of the battlefield will be the edge of the walled town of Dirschau / Tczew, further defended by earthworks that also encompass the Swedish camp. The town and earthworks will be using resin models that need to be painted.
- At the other end of the battle field there will be an earthwork fortified camp for the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth army. More resin earthworks along with ‘camp clutter’ required here.
- There will be two small villages to be added, and also a large area of marsh to be worked out.
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| Working out terrain placement. |
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| The tricky job of connecting length of fur together. |
As you can see, plenty to keep me busy! I will continue to provide updates here as the project progresses.
Until next time!
Andy @ The Friends of General Haig (FoGH)
I've just added a small group of Haiduk Guard to my troops but have to admit I've never yet painted a winged hussar. My father did and I think he wrote a piece about them for the BMSS magazine back in the 60s! So maybe one day I'll tackle a squadron. Yours look splendid.
ReplyDeleteStephen
Many thanks, Stephen! Winged Hussars are one of those wargaming ambitions that I was really happy to eventually tick off. I will need some more for next April though.
DeleteA splendid project. I really look forward to seeing the camps and all the scatter you have planned; it is the kind of thing that really adds atmosphere to the table and brings it to life.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Codsticker! I think that I almost like the scatter etc. more than the troops. I blame Barry Hilton (@ LoA) for getting me hooked on it 😀.
DeleteThat looks very interesting.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Michal 👍.
DeleteThis will be great...even if a few teddy's have to go through winter with less fur! The mat will look great especially with the colourful armies. I agree that a deadline is a useful motivator to get the troops involved...lol
ReplyDeleteCheers, GW 👍. Plenty to do!
DeleteSuperb, I do love winged Hussars and plan to attend Salute next April
ReplyDeleteThanks, Matthew👍. Look forward to seeing you there. There should be plenty of hussars on show 😀.
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