MINATURES ON A GRID: BAROQUE BATTLES PUBLISHED

I am pleased to announce, dear readers, that I have completed the rules and associated materials for my Thirty Years War based miniatures on a grid system Baroque Battles. The whole shebang can be had on the updated Miniatures on a Grid content page of this blog. Completing this project ranks up there with finishing off that long anticipated last unit in a major wargame army.

For those just arriving, this is a system that I've been using to run games for the last decade or so. The complete system is posted for download on the above-mentioned content page, so I won't repeat all of that here. For those looking for a description of the game, I recommend reading my introduction to the rules (okay, there is one link in this post, but it has context!).
In this post, I'll give some sneek peeks into what is available in the package, aside from the rules and player reference sheets (as usual, you may clix pix for Big Pix)...

Information on how I configured my miniatures (6mm figs).

A complete sets of cards to support play, two samples of which are above (a sheet of Commanders and a Sheet of Tactical Cards).

Two Scenarios: Lutzen (pictured above) and a generic "tournament" style scenario.

A complete set of desktop publishable paper "miniatures"--for a quick start or for "board game" style play in smaller spaces (or both!).  

A tutorial on making the gridded game mat.

A set of handy game markers

Even graphics for the card back patterns (for those who really want the full experience)

And some other stuff, I'm sure.

This is what I've been grinding away at for the last few weeks and something that I've wanted to get done for some time. Getting this heavy-duty project done marks the first step towards the emphasis for this year, completing this and other partially done projects on this page. I hope that it will be of interest.  

At this point, dear reader, I redirect your attention to the Miniatures on a Grid Content page to find all the components.

Excelsior!

FETCH ME A TRUMPETER!

Officer Writing a Letter: Gerard Borch (Old Master Picture Gallery Dresden). Yorck Project public domain image found on Wikimedia Commons

You may be wondering at the title of this post. In my reading of the fascinating memoirs of the Sieur du Pontis, who served as an officer in the French Army through much of the 17th Century (during the times of Henry IV, Louis XIII, and Louis XIV), I stumbled across an interesting tidbit. Trumpeters were used as couriers and messengers, hence the title of this post (which is a snippet from among the anecdotes in the memoir). This makes perfect sense when you think about it. Trumpeters,  dressed in the livery of their regiments, were very much like heralds--and they had to be doing something when their units were in barracks and they weren't out tootling.  At some point, I'll be doing an e-books for antiquarians on this memoir, but for now, we'll leave it off at that. Thus, here is the message that this virtual courier brings...

Regarding the several-weeks' lapse in blogovation here, dear readers, I wanted to drop a line to let you know that it wasn't for lack of hobby related activity--quite the contrary. Energies have instead been directed in following through on something I had long intended (and mentioned in my year end post)--fleshing out my miniatures on a grid system in a share-able form.

Given that I have been running games with this system for years, I thought that I was closer to having a finished product than I actually was. I should have known better: what project ever proves to be less involved than anticipated?  Nevertheless, I have been beavering away at it for several hours per day for the last two weeks now, and have cracked all the major hurdles and produced all the necessary components.  The end is in sight! I expect to have a complete system posted here within two weeks.

   Excelsior!

PAST TO PRESENT: IN WHICH ARAM BAKSHIAN JR REVIEWS "CHARGE!"

Detail of the cartoon found in the review of Charge from the 1968 Vedette, Journal of the National Capital Military Collectors, Vol 4, No 5/6. Oct/Dec. (As usual, clix pix for Big Pix)

In this post, dear reader, we go on an offshoot of my e-books for antiquarians series. Still in bookish territory, we delve into Ed M's hobby archives for material. Found at the intersection of my bibliophile and hobby interests are my several and sundry collections of vintage wargame publications: complete sets of the Courier, Potomac Wargamers Review (eg, PW Review), Midwest Wargamers Association Newsletter (otherwise known as MWAN), a goodly number of Jack Scruby's Table Top Talks, a smattering of Pat Condray's Armchair General, a few International Wargamers, and a hefty load of Donald Featherstone's Wargamers Newsletter--and a few others.  These are among the more well known wargaming publications.  

In this blog post, however, I will shew something from a lesser known magazine. To whit, The Vedette, Journal of the National Capital Military Collectors.  This was a membership newsletter/magazine for military figure painters/collectors that ran from the early 1960s (the first issue I have is from 1965) to 1978.  In a moment of Kismet, I happened on a goodly stack of these in a box under a flea market table at a wargame convention, priced at next to nothing (another sad case of a remnant of a deceased gamer's collection being moved along).  I  hadn't heard of the magazine, but upon perusing it,  I was immediately hooked.  I bought the collection and later proceeded to expand upon it on via ebay and the Antiquarian Book Exchange.  In its pre-internet days, the Vedette provided superb information on units, uniforms, military history, and hobby news of interest to its subscribers/members--and it also touched on the emerging hobby of wargaming. 

Cover of the Oct/Dec 1968 Vedette 

So, in this post, dear readers, I present two book reviews from the venerable Vedette: one of wargaming interest and one of historical interest.  I must add that the prose found in this publication is of a high standard. The contributors, such as Aram Bakshian, Jr (author of these particular pieces), were often accomplished professional men with wide experience, well versed in history, and often with publishing credentials.  I scanned these pieces hoping that they would expand sufficiently upon clicking to be readable.  However, they are also available via pdf  as an alternate. 

The first item is Aram Bakshian Jr's one-page review of Charge! (then newly released).  The 1968 sentiment seems very 2019, don't it?

The second piece  comes from the February 1968 Vedette.  It is a book review of Constantine Brown's The Coming Whirlwind. It reads as a remembrance of the author, a charming anecdotal summary of the book, and a wistful rumination on times past.  A worthy read all by itself.  There is also a very characteristic bonus historical bon mot after the review--the sort of thing often found in this publication.

Aside from their intrinsic value, these Vedettes have brought many interesting books and authors to my attention through their reviews and references.  As a matter of fact, I am looking forward to receiving my copy of Constantine Brown's Whirlwind as I type this (somehow, I had failed to order it sooner!).  

I hope this post proved of interest. If so, I'll continue to occasionally dip into my archives to do others. 

 Excelsior!