First blows...

... the Union line:

Through the woods in column, with the artillery battery making good progress down the high road. Then out into the sunlight, and manoeuvring into line for a volley or two then a charge, to take advantage of the weight of numbers.  But the Rebels are entrenched and waiting, and the first throw is: 

Followed by hits from the centre Rebel regiment, the Rebel artillery and the company accompanying it. Bad news for the boys in blue:

You can see why the 'empty battlefield' became the norm as the ACW drew on, and on...

Matchbox...

... Readers of this blog will, of course, be more than familiar with the 1970s military vehicles and aircraft produced by the English firm, Matchbox. And, I guess, a good few of you will be just as familiar with the die cast vehicles that, originally, came in little boxes that were ... just like matchboxes. The British newspaper, The Daily Telegraph (a 'not quite sure how Tory a newspaper we are' newspaper) had a feature on the 60th birthday of Matchbox recently that is well worth a look at - the photos are here. The actual newspaper included a little about a fine chap in Northamptonshire (a 'gentleman's county') who has around 11,000 Matchbox vehicles. I don't have 11,000, but I do have most of the ones I was bought in the 1960s, and, this is the important bit, they are currently played with by my grandson. Here are a few of my childhood favourites that I picked out of the sandpit (old basin filled with sand) this evening:

No: 11, Taylor Jumbo Crane, and No: 6 Euclid dump truck. I loved these two, and I was actually able to see cranes just like No:11 driving down the Dock Road in Liverpool, where my father was manager of a dockside pub. You will notice that the hook is a bit distorted - by the baby teeth that no longer exist in my aged head!

A bit bigger than the original Matchbox size, a Matchbox King Size No:13 Ready-Mix Concrete truck. The windscreen is cracked, but the simple mechanism that turns the drum still works.

These toys are 50 years old, have been played with by three generations of children, and will probably make a fourth (and, God willing, I may live to see that).

Chatanooga...

.... ready for the Rattle of Dice.

The newly reinforced Army Blue, oh, ok, US Army, battle line:

7th New York Volunteer Zouaves on the left of the line; stretching into the distance are another Zouave regiment (NY Fire Guard ?), a battery of field artillery, and two regular regiments.

Another overview of the line. The balloon back chair on the right, incidentally, probably dates back to the 1870s - a few years after the conflict - and I sit on it to eat my breakfast!

But what is the objective? And who is waiting?

Army Gray, aka the Army of the Confederate States of America. Three regiments of foot, and a battery of 12 pdrs. Ready and waiting...

And the goal ? Control of the railroad. The US forces have eight moves to take the line that can be seen. This is going to be a hard fought one.

On the general theme, I caught a news item on the BBC website recently about two memorials to Britons that fought in the American Civil War/War Between the States that are due to be unveiled. Stupidly, I didn't take a note of where exactly, or when. Also, I have a confused memory (well, I was at work) that the figure for Britons in the war was 300,000 - can this be the case? Does any reader know?


On a more restful note, my shady, ragged, tree filled, rose scented garden is luxuriating in the heat, but those masters of harshness - cacti - are showing the rest up with this sort of display:

Stunning. High temperatures, little moisture, sun, and the flowers are amazing, weird, and to the English eye, alien. Mind you, as the bad man said (to paraphrase) in The Third Man, the Borgias gave us the Renaissance. And The Third Man has to be one of the finest films ever, with Orson Welles before his decline, screenplay by the personally nauseous GG, music by a Hungarian busker, and at a time of Europe's humbling. And the, of its time, Anglo-Americanism (Americo-Anglicanism?), with the naive, decent, child like cowboy Yank, supported by world weary, decent, established middle class officer, and loyal to death, decent British non-com. And it was true - the only books my 1940s/50s soldier father read were by Zane Grey. 'The Stars in Texas...' what are the words to the tune...?

More...

... Toy Soldier glory in gloss, and more rattlin' dice on the way.

I've finished the reinforcements for my 42mm ACW armies (see earlier posts), so another game of Rattling Dice is on the way. I'd ordered a regiment of Zouaves from Irregular Miniatures of York, then spent a good deal of time wondering how to paint them. They've ended up like this:

I decided on an imaginary uniform, thinking that it would do nicely for either side, and, indeed, for other real and imagined 19th Century tussles. So, I happily set to with blue, plus purple trimmings...

Yet, as I painted away, something began to stir in the muddy recesses of my brain. A quick check in Philip Haythornthwaite's book, and, yes, I was actually painting up a New York Volunteer Zouave unit! Oh, well, they look fine.

I also made an addition to the artillery of each side; very nice figures, combining a real toy soldier look with decently rendered uniforms:

And, finally, a couple of officers and colour bearers:

The dice will rattle soon...

Work...

... has taken me to:

No, not the 1960s, but the City of Dortmund. An ancient city, but one that was broken and rebuilt, in fire and flame, three times in the modern period. First by economic restructuring, then by Allied aerial bombing, then, once more, by economic restructuring. So, instead of a permanent, industrial, coal and steel smog covering the city, now, as you can see above, there are blue skies.

I was only there for a few days, but between work commitments I was able to find, firstly, a decent toy and model shop, where, among the complicated, highly detailed modern 1:87s, I found this gem:

T54 in all its mass-produced splendour, in plastic, in 1:87. Now, of course, on seeing this little Minitanks machine I was riven with guilt - what had become of my old style Bay of Pigs project ?! I know that the Fidelistas didn't have T54s at the time, but it brought the BoP back to mind, and I decided there and then to stick to 'old style' in spirit as well as fact and deploy the T54 alongside the Minitanks JS3 that I already have. 

I was also able to spend several hours in a beautiful park - the Westfallen Park - where the marvellous Romantic planting (so different from the classical formality of French-influenced Continental gardens) made me feel pleased that my own tiny garden matched this Romanticism so well:

But that was not all, as there is also a small, but very pleasant Alpine corner in the Westfallen Park:

On returning home, I promptly ordered some Edelweiss (above) for my own garden.

And, plenty of stone troughs, of which, not being a rich man, I can only dream.

Hopefully, I will return to Dortmund.

Steam...

... from 'The Rattle of Dice':

'Steam Engines move 18" by rail or 6" cross country. If moving cross country roll as if detached [...]'

While looking for something totally unrelated to toy soldiers, I found this:

A beautiful Lledo model. A steam lorry, to be found on British roads right up to the Second World War. I've one or two others hiding in my loft. I would love to field them on the wargames table, but I just know that I couldn't respray and dirty down. Well, I suppose I could just go the whole toy soldier hog and field them as they are, in pristine, commercial glory.

4th July

Greetings to American readers on this 4th July.