Sunday, 1 February 2026

Action at Dinkelhof

Saxe-Jarlsberg troops with the grenadier regiment from Munkasse have taken up position in the the town of Dinkelhof in a narrrow valley sided by woods.. They are blocking the advance of the approaching Noverre army.  The Noverre commander sends a troops on ahead of the main body to take the town.

---oXo---

Early morning at Dinkelhof, troops have stood too, after scouts reported an enemy column approaching along the road....

Saxe-Jarlsberg troops in Dinkelhof stand to at the barricades....
The Munkasse grenadiers move up into position as some Saxe-Jarlsberg uhlans trot across to join the rest of their regiment...
The Noverre columns moves onwards...
and start to deploy 
they are soon in place ....
The Saxe-Jarlsberg uhlans wait for orders ...
A brief encounter, half the uhlans break up a squadron of Noverre dragoons who rout ....
The uhlans don't pursue and trot back to reform...
The Noverre commander plugs the gap in his line with some infantry... just as they get in place the Sax-Jarlsberg uhlans charge straight into the Noverre Claire regiment....
Noverre regiment Navarre steps forward and exchanges musket fire at long range with the Munkasse grenadiers - the Noverre musket fire is ineffective, but the Munkasse grenadiers' volley rips through the opposition and the Noverre troops will fall back...
The Noverre Clare infantry fire at the charging Saxe-Jarlsberg uhlans, but the volley is very ragged and has little effect, the melee goes badly for the Noverre unit which breaks and routs....
The Saxe-Jarlsberg uhlans follow through and charge into Noverre regiment Bentheim still in column of march, they get ridden through ...
they break and rout.....following the Noverre Claire regiment back down the road ... 

The Saxe-Jarlsberg uhlans trot back to reform...
With insufficient troops to carry on the fight, the Noverre commander orders a withdrawal.

a victory for Saxe-Jarlsberg ....

---oXo---

Notes:

  • Scenario: based on 'The Post House' from Table Top Teasers: The Return Volume 1 by Charles S. Grant.
  • Tried out 'Honours of War' rules for this game.
  • At the critical moment the Noverre musketry proved to be useless; dice throws lowest (1) and minimal effect.  On the other hand the Saxe-Jarlsberg uhlans threw an almighty 6 for their melee effect and the Noverre infantry a dismal 1 - end result a ride through and straight into a Noverre regiment in column - game over !

Saturday, 24 January 2026

More about RatMan.....

The Pfeifer residence, on the edge of Wittenberg.....  


The Pfeifer family are wealthy merchants (originally from Hamelin), who made their fortune from the lucrative 'Pickled Pepper' fad in the early 18th century; they have since diversified - now dealing and selling a large range of spices.

Peter Pfeifer alway had an affinity with animals; after being bitten by one of Georg Cantors experimental rats at an exhibition of the Royal Society he developed 'rat sense' and found he could communicate with rats. Having rescued the large rats from Georg Cantors laboratory - he developed his rat communication skills and became Rat Man hunting ne'er-do-wells and miscreants. Making sure the town patrol found them and placed them in jail.

Peter Pfeifer has just returned from the city by sedan chair; his loyal man servant Albert meets him and informs him all has been prepared ...

They go down to the cellar and out via a passage to the large storage room under the stables to the Rat Lair; Peter puts on his disguise as Rat Man and prepares for some crime fighting with his mischief of faithful rats...

Rat Man and the rats leave by another passage and move into the alleyways, searching for miscreants ....

Saturday, 17 January 2026

New Grenadier unit....

The Wittenberg army receives a new addition - the converged grenadiers of the Saxony regiments Rochow, Graf Bruhul, Zu Fuss and Konigen. 


Infantry regiments Graf Bruhul, Zu Fuss and Konigen are in the painting queue


Sunday, 4 January 2026

Looking Back to last year, whats up for next year....

2025 Highlights 

A selection of pictures from blog posts of games, army review and projects from the periods I game. I've done it as a slide show in the format of a PDF...

(file https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hQb9TGqNuPohCTzfyVwLsO1Vx7Aj9gWr/view?usp=sharing )

2026 Upcoming..

The main projects for the coming year (at the moment 😀 ) will be ...

  • I'll be continuing with my 40mm 17C Cossack army project.
  • There will be more games for the 18C campaign of Munkasse & Saxe-Jarlsberg versus the Duchy of Noverre.
  • The 18C 28mm Wittenberg army will have additional infantry and cavalry added (and some older units repurposed via the 'melty pot of doom').
  • I'll be tinkering with my 40mm Samurai armies to improve the Hatamoto (commanders mounted & foot).
There will be more game reports shared as they are played (Medieval, Vikings, WW1 East Africa).

Sunday, 28 December 2025

Who was that ?

Late afternoon in down-town Wittenberg, the notorious cutpurse and robber Armin Salzer, known as "Mr Snatch" was up to no good. "I say you ! Give me back my purse !" exclaimed a well-to-do man, as Mr Snatch made off with his money...

as Mr Snatch ran round the next corner and was confronted by a strange man - "Get out of my way" he shouted;  the man said "No" very menacingly....
Who do you think you are ? said Mr Snatch
"I'M RATMAN"

Mr Snatch didn't like the look of him at all and took a step back...
Even less so when more very large rats appeared ....
Mr Snatch made a run for it with the Rat man and his rats following...
......... Mr Snatch ran right into the town patrol and was arrested...

One of the patrol tried to catch Ratman, but he disappeared into a side alley....

Who is Ratman ? Will he be seen again ?

Friday, 26 December 2025

Xmas Goodies...

A delightful read for the holiday period... The Wargamers Annual

I'll probably use some the scenarios in this new set of Tabletop Teasers in my current upcoming set of campaign games.
Something for inspiration for my African colonial games; rules plus lots of info including unit types and compositions of native and colonial troops.

Tuesday, 23 December 2025

Merry Xmas ....


A Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year to All