Satan's been too good to me

Hard to figure out where to start on this one. Still stuck in a WTF feeling, to be honest. Because Satan has been scary this year. Very scary.

Now, I've been gifted by Satan before and the stuff's been good. Very good at times. But never has the Dark Lord come under my skin. Let's look at the list:

• I have been wearing my love for Lovecraftian horror on my sleave, so perhaps the Victorian Fantasy link is not the toughest to make.

• Similarly, I have made it very clear that I've written a book on the Waterloo campaign. So gifting me Lachouque's famous Anatomy of Glory looks a safe gift. Beautiful edition. But then again, how did Satan know I didn't have it already?

• The issue of the Journal of Military History on the War of 1812. If you read this blog, you might have noticed I have an interest in this period. Brilliant find and very useful for my future research on this period.

• The same with Sinews of War on US army logistics: somehow Satan must know that I have Thompson's Lifeblood of War, van Creveld's Supplying War and Lynn's Feeding Mars on my shelf. 

• Herre's history of the period 1890-1925 connects to my interest in Germany in the period (stemming from my PhD research), and neatly teases me on my pursuit to find a copy of Pflugk-Harttung's history of the 1815 campaign. Satan knows how to wrap it in gold.

• What Jane Austen knew and Charles Dickens Ate: well, I have this soft spot for 19th century London, but it needs some digging on this blog. This book gives good background on 19th century British (high) society.

• A historical atlas of Polish history: obviously Satan knows I like history. To say I have a soft spot for Poland would be driving it too far, but I definitely have a (private) Polish connection. You have to be Satan to know, though. Scary? Yes, deeply so.

• And to top all this: three series of Ren & Stimpy! That I love them is not a complete secret. But scary? Very much so!

So while these gifts are all beautiful and perfectly chosen, I'm left with that uncomfortable feeling that Satan is, well, all-knowing. And I've got to admit that part of the scary thing is that Satan told me there would be a third package. I must imagine that will contain something related to my childhood, or a lost and forgotten love. I shudder at the thought.

Picking up

Yesterday was a good day. Returning to Crisis in Antwerp after three years it was great to meet many old friends and acquaintances. The most flattering meeting was with Sidney Roundwood, one of the most friendly and supportive people I’ve come across, who said he missed my blog posts. It is the best kind of compliment you can get and so here I am. I guess it’s mostly about getting back into the habit.

What have I been up to this year? I’ve mostly worked on the American War of Independence. This was the theme for the third painting project by the Dutch Miniature Wargames facebook group, which culminated in a day of battles late last August.

This marked my return to the painting table in the first sustained campaign in ages. I painted over a hundred miniatures since the start of this year, which is impressive enough for me. Of course I fell for the temptation of buying more, even after the project has ‘officially’ended.

Why, would you ask? Because despite my initial determination to stick to painting and not read any books on the subject, the opposite has happened. I’ve become enchanted by North American warfare in the long 18^th century (1700-1815), a unique mix of colonial rivalry, indigenous resistance and civil war.

You can see my descent into madness over the course of a couple of blog posts that I made on the Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy blog, which I will reproduce here in the coming weeks. I think the breaking point really occurred when I diverted from the AWI into the War of 1812 and several Indian Wars in this period. So I will be painting and reading on this a lot more in the coming months.

But I’ve also done my share of board gaming, including the annual trip to Essen. I’m digging through my book and game collections to make room. And there is the lure of new projects. Enough to talk about, I'd say.

NYR 2014, the Reckoning

So I've been meaning to look back on 2014, which was a crap year in many ways but also one that may make 2015 one of the best. How did I do with my gaming New Year's Resolutions for 2014?

The Book: I wanted to get 85% of it done, so most of the writing by December. That didn't happen, but 70% was good enough, and next time I can do it more efficiently.

Books read: that proved a serious challenge but I feel I came very close taken all the articles I also read during this period. I had hoped to use Goodreads to keep track of all my reading but it is no good when it comes to old and non-English books. I just didn't feel like adding those manually.

Books bought: I banned myself from buying new books on subjects other than Waterloo and was pretty consistent. What I did buy were some books by people I know personally and a bunch of new Ospreys (which were allowed, I think).

I organised one megagame which was the side project. It pained me a lot not to put on a megagame later in the year when invited to, but it was a wise decision.

New games played: I came a long way, even including the one game I bought last year. But past October my focus and priority shifted to other things.

Old games removed: ditto. Just didn't get round to it.

Essen games played: I managed to play all the Essen 2013 games before Spiel 2014! I have also played quite a few of the games I bough last year.

Shifting focus also impacted on books I wanted to remove. I picked quite a few from my shelves but I didn't get rid of them, so they are still in stacks on my floor.

Lead pile reduction: I gifted my German 1940 paratroopers, which have found the best possible home as they've been painted and used in the brilliant Ypenburg demo game.

Finally, I rationed myself to one blog post per week but went way over that, which is fine.

Next post I will look at my aspirations for 2015 (yes I know it's long started).

Tell Me: Should I Review For Osprey?

A few weeks ago, Osprey advertised they are seeking bloggers and reviewers that wish to receive Osprey books to review.

I guess I would be qualified (by their not too demanding standards) because I already read lots of Ospreys and have published over a dozen reviews on this blog and commented on a bunch more on Goodreads.  What makes it an extremely tempting offer is that the coming months will see quite a few interesting volumes, from Malplaquet to Quatre Bras and Waterloo (not a very great distance in Euclidian space).

There might be a point of being forced to read books that I wouldn't read otherwise, but I think I could get over that.

The biggest issue is of course whether I can maintain my independent opinion in the face of receiving free books. I would be open about which books I have received for free, of course. But warning your audience is not always enough.

I have been quite critical of some Osprey publications, especially its anglocentrism and I think I would continue to be, but it might dull my edge. In fact, my critical approach might also be a reason for Osprey not to send me any books, but that would be a telling decision on what it seeks to achieve. For that reason, it would be interesting just to try.

But I'd like to know what you think. How do you approach reviews where you know the author has received a free copy? Would it also affect what you think of reviews that were written about books I paid for? And do you think I should let myself in with this at all?

NYR update March

Not often that I acquire so much stuff in a coop game #teamplayer

Board games: failed. I bought 8 Minute Empire. And didn't play any of my games. Played some games, though, in three sessions: Eldritch Horror, Civ, Carcassonne, Bohnanza and Koehandel/(You're Bluffing). But I will need to pick up the pace of playing my own games, with 8 Minute Empire a requirement.

Miniatures: I bought a Panther model for a friend and a Buffalo amphibious craft plus jeep for my US Chain of Command force. So that's all within remit. René has informed me the miniatures are as good as done (all 143 of them) and I'm looking forward to playing with them. Next task is to pick a fight to try it out.

Good thing is that I actually did some assembling and painting.

No new projects started.

Blogging is still at a low although I´ve managed to get some interest on the post about Wexy and my modelling exploits. It´s enough.

Will post my past month's reading in a separate post later.

NYR update February

The book: again a considerable amount of reading, which is encouraging. I started the month with a big splash of online orders, which have almost all arrived by now. Some of these I have read immediately, like Officieren Aan Het Woord, The Unwanted Revolution, In the Wake of Napoleon, Hell Upon Water and Napoleon and Berlin.

Two books picked up cheaply at a second hand stall

I also picked up two Ospreys on Napoleon´s headquarters and general staff. There was the odd non-Napoleonic book bought, mostly second hand as promised: one on El Cid, three on WWI and French WWII aces from the translated Osprey series.

February was meager in terms of gaming. I missed two sessions (one of A Study in Emerald and one of Civilization), so I’m not happy with that at all. But at least I got some nice stuff played: Tales of the Arabian Nights, Concordia, In the Name of the Rose and Set. None of my new acquisitions, though. No games bought. Not tempted.

No minis bought, although I ordered bases for the American WWII infantry that René is painting for me.

I did 10 blog posts, mainly book reviews, but also a fairly popular one on why it matters to wargamers what happens to Games Workshop. I still have to finish one on the differences and similarities between Napoleon’s 1814 and 1815 campaigns. After finishing Leggiere’s The Fall of Napoleon, I’m sure there is something in there.

The Cid book rekindled the smouldering interest I picked up last year in Spain for the Reconquista period (which is about Christians fighting Christians and Muslims fighting Muslims as much as fighting each other). So I’ve added it to the shortlist of projects I might pick up after Waterloo.

All in all again quite a good month from the perspective of my resolutions.

As far as non-gaming NYR: I got a new bike. Spring has officially started!

NYR update January

What's up with my new year's resolutions? Doing reasonably well, actually.

Sometimes it feels like Ospreys don't really count as books

1. The Book. Done considerable reading, but not everything I had wished to do in January. But 11 of which 5 Ospreys is not a bad score (distracted? sometimes). I´ve written loads of notes and over two dozen pages, but it needs a lot of footnoting. So I continue in February with what I had set out for January: 1814 books and the Dutch army and economy. Been thinking a lot about the (dis)similarities between 1814 and 1815. Obviously, Napoleon carried his experiences of the previous campaign with him after he returned and this guided some of his decisions, both politically and militarily. Another point is the difference between the military careers of Willem I and Willem II (and their brothers, both named Frederik).

We've also got the basic framework set up, a possible third author and rough planning. That all needs to be detailed, but the essence is that I need to finish as much as possible on my chapter about the mobilisation before summer. It seems doable, and my partner knows what he´s doing. He´s got maybe 15,000 copies sold in two months, after all. Yes, you read that right.


2. No games bought. Five games played, of which three out of my collection I had never played before. That drives up my played share up from half to 53% (games have popped up over the last weeks from the most unusual places). Good going.

Mag Blasting!

3. No minis bought. It was easier to ignore all kinds of temptations knowing there was a ban.


4. Bought hardly any books, only Napoleonics. My wishlists is still growing but books, even 2nd hand, aren't always cheap. There´s always the library!


5. Did 17 blog posts, which is high by my standards and much higher than my goal of a weekly update. Linking my Goodreads reviews straight to my blog helps.


6. No new projects started. Just musing the post 1815 options. That mostly means considering which projects I would pick up again. And South American wars of independence. Been looking out for that one a long time.


So overall a good month gaming related.  Don´t expect this rate in February, though. Fewer books and games and so fewer posts as well.

But it was satisfying to have over 4,000 hits this month (and cross the 40,000 all time). My post on Andrew Bamford's Bold and Ambitious Enterprise did very well, but I think Uffindel's Napoleon 1814 actually deserves a bit more love, so check that one out if you haven't yet.

Followers: 50 reasons to be a happy blogger #6

Lets start off with one of my most loyal followers:

From the days I could still do some graphic stuff

Michiel Schwartzenberg. The world's #1 expert on the Recovery of Allied Prisoners of War and Internees (RAPWI) and would have been follower #1 if he could be arsed to find out how to set up a google account. Travelling companion to Ieper, Colchester, London, Munster, Muiden, Brussels, Grevelingen, St Winnoxbergen etc etc.  Chum extraordinaire


#46 Sofie Vandersmissen of Sofie's Paint blog. Very skilled painter and modeler! Depressingly so for talentless me. Mostly fantasy.

#47 Mario Morrhaye of Miniaturen Maken Met Mario. Not surprisingly, as skilled at painting and modeling as Sofie. Mainly fantasy mini's, but Mario has taken on historical miniatures recently.

#48 Paul Hedges of Paul´s Bods. Because following me on networkedblogs is not enough!

#49 JKM . Because following me on networkedblogs is not enough! So see here

#50 and latest addition: Monty Luhmann aka Twin Cities Gamer. An uncharacteristically disciplined painter, with no lead mountain to speak of!

ps I try to do my best to provide correct background info on my followers, but I sometimes make mistakes. If I have made a mistake in your bio, please let me know (eg in the comments) and I´ll fix it.

Followers: 45 Reasons To Be A Happy Blogger #5

In the meantime we have had 6 new followers! Apparently my report on Crisis lured in a few new people.

#40 Donogh MacCarty, a fellow blogger on Land War in Asia, with an ongoing fantasy rpg and a postapocalyptic campaign.

#41 Remco de Groot, who blogs on miniatures in the broadest sense as well as Napoleonics in particular and also is involved in the organisation of the Dutch FIGZ convention.

#42 Robbie3rodiss. Sorry Robbie, I have very little to go on, so please tell me more about who you are and what you.

#43 Andrew "Loki" Saunders, excellent painter and one of the guys behind Bloggers for Charity (a worthy cause and booked for Crisis 2014)

#44 Tomsche, returning from his wargaming sabbatical and blogging at Societa de archeologia e cimeli

#45 Peter Bonami, an avid follower of blogs on all kinds of wargaming, but most of all painted figures!

This also a good moment to thank my followers on Facebook/Networkedblogs (an easy way to follow me):

Nick Luft. If brains were sexy, his one would melt the Arctic. He doesn't mind sharing his thoughts on a wide range of topics and pictures and is a great host and conversationalist

Diederick van de Walle. Latin Lover. And Great Friend. Named Most Promising Politician of 2014 for three consecutive years.

Richard Hands. Roleplayer, megagamer, medieval history buff and popular culture treasure trove. When he talks, I listen

Jan Kees Mol. Repressed wargamer, history buff and prove that all cynicist are secretly romantics. I sometimes wake up at night thinking he is shouting at me from the goal


Barbara Mounier. Old schoolmate, witty and smart. Handy guide to Germany, books and plain talking.

Tony Mcnally,  firmly in the now when it comes to military matters, with an particular interest in the homefront

Paul Hedges of Paul´s Bods. He likes to get medieval, and he likes it in 1/72 plastic

Ray Roussell, of Don't Throw A One, and Francis Lee, aka The Angry Lurker, two of Posties Rejects and the guys behind Ray & Fran's 20 hilarious questions


ps I try to do my best to provide correct background info on my followers, but I sometimes make mistakes. If I have made a mistake in your bio, please let me know (eg in the comments) and I´ll fix it.

A Wasted Crisis?

So yesterday I had a wasted Crisis, but in the positive sense of the word: three Leffe Blond got me quite happy in the late afternoon. But it was mostly talking to some people I had been looking forward to meet.

Leo explaining the Samurai game to Bert and Jan-Willem

First of all, I had great time in the car with Dick, Michel and Hans, discussing games and possible purchases. Dick, thanks for the lift! At the TFL stand I finally met Sidney Roundwood, who was very generous in more than one way. Can´t wait to get to the UK once more. There's a not so flattering pic of us on the Pijlie's blog. That post is a nice reflection on Crisis as well.

At the well attended meeting with members of the Dutch Miniature Wargames facebook group, I spoke to Julius, who will be off to Turkey for four years. And Fred, who's just moved to Amersfoort. I finally  handed René the copy of Okko I promised him a year ago. It was good to see Leo, Arvid, Jan-Willem, Bert and Joop having so much fun at the Samurai participation game at the Karawansaray stand.

Arvid on the right, also in explanatory mode.
Joop on the left composing a Haiku

Gerrit told me about the differences between paper, wood and resin buildings. Duncan had noticed my purchase of Haïtian revolutionaries and maroons and was demanding a follow up article. Jasper divulged that the book on the Duke of Alva that I'm looking forward will be presented in Madrid in three weeks to to one of his offspring. The most awesome news I got was that Neil had taken two young kids into his care. A very brave and very admirable thing to do!

I spent much of the afternoon getting to know Mats and Jos in the bar. Discussion ranged from maroons to 17th century flags to the Hoeken & Kabeljauwen to public relations and the raising of somebody else's kids. We seemed to agree on the 'state of the hobby' which is characterised by many willing to create valuable things for nothing and many willing to pay too much for very little. Think of the brilliant stuff put online for (almost) free and the prices people are willing to pay for GW stuff.

That is not a market in which many people can make a living. For most of the miniature manufacturers, rules designers and small publishers it is more a work of love in their spare time rather than a good living. The hourly 'wages' are only acceptable because it is something they love doing and the recognition they get from buyers and players. That also means that their web shops are occasionally badly done, that they have no presence on social media, that you can only pay cash at their stands. All of that costs them customers.

Some small shops will keep coming and going. Occasionally one will rise above the amateurism and take a significant slice of the pie, like Fantasy Flight and Z-Man in boardgames or Battlefront in miniatures. But Mats was right when he raised questions on the long term future of wargaming if miniature manufacturers, writers and publishers fail to link up to the experiences of new generations of gamers.  It's not lethal to the hobby I guess, but the Golden Age we seem to experience right now, might be one that doesn't last forever.

A better look at the beautiful table

This blog is characteristically short of images. I just didn't take many as I spent more time talking that walking aroudn. You can see all the pretty stuff at the blogs of Little Lions and Paint In.

Never Waste A Good Crisis!

It's been a few years since I've been to Crisis in Antwerp, or any wargames convention, but I am looking forward to this one.

I look forward to meeting people. I don't see my club members in Delft too often lately, so I need to catch up. I will also look forward to play in Peter & Petra's new demo game, or at least have a look.

But Sidney Roundwood will be there, and I look forward to meeting him in person, as well as Stefan of Monty's Caravan.

There will also be a meetup of the Dutch Miniature Wargaming facebook page, so in case you hadn't heared about it, come and have a chat at 13.30 hours at the Karawansary booth.

Anyone not listed above who follows this blog or wants to shake hands for the heck of it, gimme a shout in the comments.

Puppet Wars minis painted and demoed by the guys
next to the Wyrd Miniatures booth at Spiel

Oh yes... games...

I was hoping to score some 20mm US WWII minis, but that seems not so much of an option. I also hope to pick up some Darkest Africa stuff from Foundry for my maroon project. Maybe some books on the Napoleonic wars, eg Stephen Summerfield's books on the Prussians.What about some steam punk minis? Or a reasonably priced copy of Puppet Wars?

Of course I could let myself be persuaded into joining whatever new project boils up among my fellow Murphy's Heroes.  You can see where this is going...

Followers: 39 Reasons To Be A Happy Blogger #4

Continuing the honours list of my followers:


#16 Millsy, ´Mad wargamer´ with an interest in Dark Ages and GW; blogger at Canister & Grape

#15  Phil Broeders, convincingly backs up his claim of dedication to all kinds of wargaming at The Wargaming Site

#14 Mik, of Mik´s Minis where he shows there are no bounds to creativity when it comes to wargaming. Fantasy, scifi, Lego, historical etc etc

#13  Ian Willey of the Blog With No Name, who indeed manages to get the better of me most of the time with his series of Terribly Obscure Wars

#12 Jim Hale, the man with more blogs than split personalities (I hope), Arlequin's Wargames, War of Burgundian Succession, Brush Fire Wars, France d'Abord, La Carretera de la Muerte, Dark City, contributing as well to the Interbellum blog on imagi-nations

#11 Erwin Blonk, smart guy, fantasy wargamer, music fan, dad, in no particular order

#10 The Frontline Gamer. Blogging in a class of his own, with his Sunday Sermons providing me with some weekend's reflection.

#9 Bert van Hal of Little Lions Wargaming blog. He plays WH fantasy, 18th century, and is interested in much more...

Followers: 39 Reasons To Be A Happy Blogger #3

Well, since I've started to celebrate my followers, I've picked up a new one every week, so let's keep going!Newly enlisted #39 is Peter, who blogs at Comes Britanniae and Oldhammer Fantasy Battle  (yes, that's an interest in Arthurian warfare, but also fantasy and Napoleonics).Welcome Peter, hope we can inspire you on reentry from your hiatus.

and continue the countdown to my most loyal followers:

#24 Jim Duncan, wargamer. Blogs about Ancients, SciFi, WWII, with an special interest in Too Fat Lardies rules.

#23 Michael Peterson, aka the Mad Padre, with a great interest in Platoon Forward (a campaign system for WWII skirmish games), which I awarded one of my five Liebster Awards.

#22 Barks, an Australian blogger with an interest in colonial, ancients and fantasy warfare. Plus some Ameritrash boardgaming

#21 Sidney Roundwood. Roundwood´s World is a nice combination of eye candy (WWI French Verdun project) and great insights into participation games.

#20 Aaron, (taken from his blog roll) is an avid miniature wargamers with a wide interest.

#19 Christopher, aka Axebreaker. Blogs at Bunker Hill about ACW, Dark Ages and 18th century wargaming (and more). Nice brushwork as well..

#18 Sapper Joe, blogs at  ...Wargaming Toys. With some interesting insights into wars of decolonisation, modern and pulp miniatures and cheap kindle books(!).

#17 MiniMike, who shares his Ministories but especially the eye candy.