Sewerby Hall Napoleonic Reenactment.

Last weekend, after a grand day at Scarborough Castle on the Saturday, on the Sunday we went to Sewerby Hall near Bridlington...not a bad sort of pad to be at...

It has an animal collection, the cutest of which were these penguins, which were surprisingly vocal.

But the main event was that it was a Napoleonic Reenactment day, put on by the 68th Durham Light Infantry, and the 21st Regiment de Ligne. They had camped over, with followers, baggage and so on, and really looked the part. The red jackets are actually (so I was told) still made by the same firm which made the originals..and contrary to what I've read somewhere, they weren't waterproof.


A chap of the 95th..

And a French Howitzer, surprising how large it was really. To say nothing of this Gunners hat..

Sadly they didn't fire it., but did give an interesting talk on the practicalities of firing it. In the French camp it was muster time.

And then time for a parade and a swift march about.

Whilst in the British camp, as befits our character, things were a lot more casual and laid back.

The conversation went along the lines of,"Eee, tha' sees them Frenchies are getting all worked up"..."Ah, damn their eyes"..

Battle was soon joined, and even with only twenty muskets firing, it soon created a fair old smoke cloud. With a few thousand going at it, I'd imagine you'd soon be in darkness. Makes you wonder about musketry ranges after a few rounds had been fired.

When the Brits got sorted after their initial surprise, they threw out a skirmish screen whilst the line reformed.

The French came on in column, with lots of "Allez" and "Vive la France" and suchlike. The audience got involved, and gave them a bit of verbal, "Oi Frenchie, get off our land"..as the lady was about 85, they politely ignored her, and she thoroughly enjoyed herself. I'm sure there's few AB poses in this picture..

After a bit of tooing and froing, lots of bangs and smoke, it was decided that the French had won the day...which brought on more verbal from the aforementioned lady, until she wore herself out. A march past followed..

By the French, then some 'baggage', then the Brits.

The French being the victors, did a circuit of the grounds. And they certainly weren't stopping for anyone who got in the way. Arrogant bunch of cheese eating surrender monkeys! (They were actually very pleasant and happy to take time to talk whilst in camp).

By happy coincidence, the coastguard came out to play too.

It was a nice sunny day, and it's always good to see the uniforms, equipment, and to chat away with people who really know their stuff and so on.

Wartime Weekend at Scarborough Castle and a Pencil Sharpner.

This weekend has been a bonus..as well as having sunshine, it's been WW2 weekend at Scarborough Castle and Napoleonic Weekend at nearby Sewerby Hall! Total joy. WW2 at the Castle was a nice friendly affair and I just wish I'd remembered to change the batteries on my camera. (Duffush!!). Never mind, it was enjoyable anyway, and we got to handle the weaponry-it's surprising how heavy some of it is. I wouldn't like to run very far with an MG34 in my mitts. There was the usual 'battle display', and that showed just how loud guns are..which scared a fair few people present. Top of the day was a fly by of a Dakota...which was very quiet as it came up. One thing I noticed, was that some of the 'Germans' seemed to have Sten SMG's, but with the magazine underneath..I asked, and apparently it was an MP3/008 (?)...German made in 1944/5, as a copy of the basic Sten. Never seen one of them before, you learn something every day eh. All in all, a pleasant day was had.
Whilst in the Castle shop, I found this pencil sharpener, for a mere £2..I thought, hmm, painted up, that could be used in a future game..maybe with those Crusader 20mm plastics eh..
Oh, and a late welcome to Giles Allison and Astri, who've recently signed up as 'Followers'..Giles runs an excellent Blog called Tarleton's Quarter which is well worth a look at, and Astri seems to have a fair selection of Blogs too..welcome to both, hope you enjoy and look forward to seeing more of your wonderful AWI games Giles.

GdB Game, and Elvington Wargames Show .

We put on a GdB game at the Elvington Show, on the Sunday, under the banner name of "Yorkshire Coast Wargamers", which is our newish name for our own loose association of wargamers who game together at each others houses and at shows. Things change and time moves on, so we thought a new name was in order. (Don't worry Norman and Leo, it does stretch as far North as Newcastle and as far West as Wales!) As said, we are a loose association, and so there is no official type club structure and whatnot, we're just into wargaming. If you're on or around the Yorkshire Coast and want to broaden your gaming contacts, feel free to get in touch.. mphillips611@aol.com ..and we'll arrange a game or three, at yours or ours, or at a show- Willing to travel, must have good sense of humor, pints and pies a possibility, no long term commitment required....
Back to the game though! A good day was had by all I reckon. We put out a flyer explaining that the game was 'The Defence of La Haye Saint, Waterloo 18/06/1815' and so on, using TSS terrain, Old Glory 10mm figures, and GdB rules. There were seven of us altogether, Mrs P and MiniP, Richie, Alex and Jordan, and Norman, who came all the way from Newcastle-and much appreciated too. Setting up was swift and easy, and parking was nearby too, all well organised by the chaps who run the event. To the pictures..
Richie commanded the French, and painted & based his own Napoleon just the night before..The French columns lined up ready to advance..

As the Allies, commanded by Norman, casually awaited the onslaught.

The French quickly overran the LHS orchard,and prepared to attack the main farmhouse, defended by the KGL.

As another Brigade, supported by Cavalry, piled into Bylandts DutchBelgic troops.

On their right flank, the Allies launched the Household Brigade at the supporting Cuirassiers and a fierce melee followed.

Now I'd just gone off for a pie when this happened...The French took LHS at the first assault! Maybe the KGL had burned too many doors the night before.

Meanwhile, Bylandts Brigade was getting a proper thumping, and Farmer de'Palmer decided it was time to move out for a while.

The French pretty much made mincemeat of the Dutch, before reorganising for an assault on the ridgeline itself, defended by staunch British troops behind hedges.

At this critical point, Alex decided to yabber to a pleasant chap from America,

and in the face of adversity, Norman maintained his rakish, swashbuckling and Devil-may-care composure..

So, the French had taken LHS, and duly evicted the remaining KGL troops from the garden. 'Ass kickin' was how Jordan described it.

The Dutch, having cleared off into the woods for tea and scones, had (thankfully) left a gap for the Union Brigade to pile on through, just as the French Btns were reforming..and in they went, scattering the skirmishers and heading for the columns..

The HouseHold Cavalry, having sent the Cuirassiers on their way, returned to trample on a French Btn..

..as the Union Brigade did pretty much the same on the other side of LHS too.

In the centre, despite having taken LHS early on, the French attack faltered in the face of musketry and cannister fire, and didn't get beyond the farmhouse itself.

The British line held the high ground still. Hurrah!

However, the scenario was that the French needed to take LHS and weaken the British centre if possible, in order to allow for the upcoming mass Guard and Cavalry advance..(must get painting for that one)..so in that respect, it was decided that it was a French victory. Without smugness from Richie or tears from Norman, we packed up and headed into York, and had an Italian before heading for home. All in all, a really good weekend was had. I was so pooped I couldn't even make it to the pub on Sunday.
Here's some pictures of the rest of the show, there were some class games on, and some nice and varied trader stands. I picked up two cheap 10mmECW armies, Richie picked up a large amount of plastic figures, and more besides.
Here's me Dad..

An excellent backdrop!

A really good looking game by the TotalBattleMiniatures chaps..they make and sell the terrain and buildings too. And for what they are, they aren't expensive either.

A large raid on St Naizzare game, this was spectacular to see.

A WW2 bash..

And a beach landing...how many LC's!

They were all of a good high quality, and clearly a lot of effort had gone into putting them on.

So there we are. As usual, there was a fair bit of yabbering done, and it was good to chat on with some gents from Redcar and Northallerton in particular. Our thanks to the Show organisers, for a smashing weekend of gaming and enjoyment.

Elvington WW2 Weekend Pictures..

It was Elvington WW2 weekend, 9/10th May, near York, and it was well worth the visit. Here's a selection of photos taken, there was an awful lot of military vehicles, reenactors, and a wargames show too. The whole thing had a really pleasant and friendly atmosphere, the exhibitors were more than willing to take the time to talk about their displays. The food was good too! This is an annual event, so if you're up this way next year, make a point of calling in. We did the show on the Saturday, and put on a wargame on the Sunday.

No idea why the Minor was there, but it looked good.

The wargames show was held in a hangar, and had a good variety of stalls. And being an Air Museum, a few planes too.

Some reenactors dressed as civilians, they looked and talked the part.

Around the stalls there was a fair selection of replica and deactivated weapons for sale. Oddly, you need a reenactor/actors licence to buy a replica, but not a deactivated. This pair were around £400 each I think. I was thinking of one in the front garden, but sadly, Mrs P said, "No".

Ah, a Peeler stall!

There were a few WW1 enactors too.

A fine selection of bombs in one hanger, the one on the left is a 'Tallboy'...it was huge.

Some of the reenactors kit...

Apparently a few people gave the 'Germans' some verbal grief, though to be fair their recruiting poster did make it clear that they were only reenacting.

A walk inside this Dakota was fun too.

These two chaps were brilliant, really living the part.

That was Saturday, a grand day out. There was an awful lot more to see than these pictures, and the Spitfire fly by was great. I'll put the wargame part on a different post I think.