Rockit

 Matt Hancock may have been a lousy Health Secretary, but his dad is a top jazz pianist.

I saw him in 1983 or 1984 at the Hammersmith Odeon and my main memory of that night is of the legs from the video above dancing across the stage. 

And Lo, There Was Wargaming

"Horror is the removal of masks" - Robert Bloch 

After a not-so-short break, three suitably masked men gathered last night to push some toy soldiers around a table.

We played Peninsular Napoleonics, using - it goes without saying - a completely rewritten set of rules. I like the way movement works, I'm not sure that I have yet got my head round the way morale will pan out in practice, and the great skirmish dilemma seems to have been resolved by essentially ignoring it whilst still incorporating the aesthetics.

A good time was had by all.

PotCVIpouri

It's the fifteen hundredth post of the blog. I did consider doing something special to celebrate this milestone, but after 1,499 resolutely unspecial posts there didn't seem much point. Having said that, one post in particular seems to have caught someone's imagination. For the last couple of weeks this report from four years ago featuring nothing but photos of farm animals and, oh yes, some ladies tug-of-war has been getting a dozen or so views every day. There are some strange people out there.  

In common with the great majority of those previous editions, I have no wargaming related activity on which to report. The excuse this time is that the Casa Epictetus has been undergoing some roofing work. 

Colourful, but somehow still tasteful

I am very pleased, however, to be able to report that I have been to the opera, and indoors to boot. Opera North returned to live performance after more than a year with a special production of Fidelio, chosen because it is, of course, about freedom, and so would suitably mark the end of restrictions. 

Obviously they had more faith in the government than I did. Be that as it may, it was excellent. And if opera is back, can wargaming be far behind?

North Cape 1943

The dull roots of face-to-face wargaming could soon be stirred by the spring rain of antibodies in the bloodstream; or, equally possibly, June may turn out to be the cruellest month. While we wait, the warm weather has meant that there has been nothing happening in the annexe. The newly expanded and manned fort still awaits the attacking force to form up outside it. I have however read another book.

The Imperial War Museum recently posted a short video on their YouTube channel about the sinking of the Scharnhorst, which understandably enough focussed on the role played by HMS Belfast. I didn't previously know much (anything at all really) about the action and a quick search showed that Osprey had published a book written by Angus Konstam on the subject late last year. The standard Osprey format actually suits WWII naval battles rather well: there are a limited number of participants doing a finite number of things over a short period, and the reader doesn't end up feeling that important information has had to be omitted for the sake of space.

I found it a good read and can recommend it should anyone else find themselves suddenly struck by this fairly niche interest. It is lavishly illustrated, as you would expect, with illustrations, photographs and maps. Regarding the last, I suffered my usual confusion when studying them, but strongly suspect that is due to my well-known problems with spatial awareness rather than any inherent fault in the book. The usual proof-reading problems that plague books on military history are present, but in a fairly small way. The Royal Navy divided the ships involved in the operation into two groups, rather imaginatively designated Force 1 and Force 2. On a number of occasions the text reads Force 1 when from the context it is quite clearly referring to Force 2; so clearly in fact that it doesn't present any real problems. And you would have thought that someone involved in the book's production would have known the difference between a baron and a baronet.

A Slightly Larger Fort

 It's been a thin time hobby-wise recently, but there has been a low level of background activity going on, most of which can be seen in the photo below.

I've added two extra bastions on the table edge, originally to ensure that all the walls were flanked by two sets of fortress guns. In the last run-through I found that I had to restrict the besiegers to attacking the front two walls in order to avoid them having an entirely artificial advantage. Increasing the number of bastions may also make the game go more quickly, due to the way that the forces are built up in the rules. I shall return to this shortly, or if not shortly then at least eventually.

The other new additions are the ravelins now shielding the walls. I have taken quite a liberty with historical accuracy with these, in the interests of fitting everything in to the space available. They should be at a much sharper angle, but to reflect that, and to also allow them to contain my existing artillery bases, would mean their footprint, and therefore that of the covered way, extending way out; which in turn would push the first parallel back off the table. Near enough is good enough. 

Let's have a song on that theme from the aptly named 'Dodgy':

Bloodied Banners

 It's time for another book review. It makes a pleasant change to be able to say that this one gets an unequivocal thumbs up. The book in question - "Bloodied Banners: Martial Display on the Medieval Battlefield" by Robert W. Jones - isn't new, having first been published in 2010. I was keen to read it at the time, but was quite a lot less keen on the £50 price tag of the hardback. I have now managed to pick up the paperback for a fraction of that price.

Dr Jones is a historian, for those who set great store by these things, and the book contains footnotes galore referring us to primary and secondary sources, including the full version of translated text in the original language in case anyone wants to challenge his grasp of Norman French. He still manages a lightness of touch though; one of the quotations he uses to introduce each chapter comes from Terry Pratchett. The author covers a pretty full range of visual display: arms and armour are considered alongside heraldry, banners, badges and religious images. He also includes a chapter on aural display: drums, trumpets and the like. I found his approach both comprehensive in scope and nuanced in conclusion. Whilst he is big on psychology and symbolism, he doesn't lose sight of the implications for what warriors of the time actually did in practice. And he doesn't stop there; there are several comments as to where the lingering effects of medieval practice can be seen in the seventeenth century and later.

He begins and ends with the sad tale of Sir John Chandos at Lussac in 1369. Apparently he dismounted and strode alone towards the French proclaiming "I am John Chandos: look at me well and, if God please, we will now put to proof your great deeds of arms which are so renowned". Unfortunately for him he then tripped over his surcoat - on which were emblazoned his coat of arms so that everyone would know it was him who was performing great deeds - and a Frenchman struck him with his lance while he was lying on the ground and killed him. God, presumably, did not so please.