The League of Augsburg

The hard fighting Danish contingent in action

 .....what happened to those Danish troops from  the Dronningens and Oldenburgske regiments that did not make it to Ireland to fight against King James and win glory at The Boyne, Aughrim and Limerick?

Danes in the Mourne Mountains

King Christian V of Denmark appeared to be a lot of things. Headstrong, avaricious, possibly not very bright. When he...

The Battle of Bear Bay, Spitsbergen 1693

I have just completed the latest video which focuses on gaming with French privateers during the Nine Years War. Even if you are a landlubber this touches your interest as these corsairs captured hundreds of Danish troops bound for Ireland and many were pressed into service in the Royale Danois. 

The video features one of the most unusual naval battles in...

We can't let today pass without featuring some Irish action from the Nine Years War on the blog. So I thought the best way to pay tribute to the theatre and the fighting men which has given me the most stimulation to understand the period in the last thirty years was to simply create a photo montage of action and inspiration in Ireland from the League of Augsburg..

Happy St Patrick's day to...

Scenario 3 Trial by Fire!

I have finished my intensive activities around the Battle of Vågen 1665 and am duty bound to report that from an English perspective, it is the equivalent of setting your computer AI to Extreme Difficulty level. Three iterations of the battle - the historical, an amended order of battle including some heavier English units which were present but dicnot participate in the...

1664 VOC Return Fleet from Batavia value of cargo: £500,000,000: The 'Mark'.

In my relentless quest to create more wargaming collateral I turned to an action which has long fascinated me - The Battle of Vågen which took place during the 2nd Anglo Dutch War. Vågen is not actually a place, it is the harbour area of the town of Bergen in Norway. A Dutch East India Spice fleet which had avoided passing...

The Bonnets o' Bonnie Dundee!

The Battle of Killiecrankie, July 27th 1689 is of enduring interest to me. It has all of the romanticism of a Hollywood mini series. A hero, who was long seen as a traitor and villain by his co-religionists and had both the sobriquet of Bluddy Clavers and Bonnie Dundee. A fractious army held together by the strength of his personality and that of other giant human...

My end of year game this year was novel for a two main reasons.  Firstly, it was out of period - An English Civil War era, full scale naval battle. Secondly, my battle report is not being delivered in the traditional way. 

I have chosen to create a 15 minute video battle report. It has taken quite some time to create but I am trying to set myself a new level of aspiration. I wanted it to be as...

The climax of Fleurus is one of the larger scenarios. Orbat is from the the previous chapter- Walcourt.

When pulling together the content for A Taste of Victory!I had some choices to make. I am bothered by rehashing as an activity. Often when a subject is covered by various authors the same topics get hit again and again. This means when deeper research or enquiry need to take place, the same old...

With Talon and Claw has proven very popular in printed form and now that it has been available for 15 months, I am releasing it in pdf format at Hi-Resolution.

For those unfamiliar with the book - it is a guide to Wargaming the Great Northern War 1700-1721 and the Eastern Wars involving the Ottoman Empire between 1660 and 1730. 

It contains, supplementary rules for Swedes, Ottomans, Poles and Steppe...

Guardie Regiment of Savoy

Friend of the Blog Dino, lives in one of the most beautiful parts of the world - Tuscany. He has told me he was born a Roman and moved north. He also told me he served in the regiment which descended from the Savoy Guards. That's a lot of Italy for one man - don't be so selfish Dino, share more! :)

The Guards from the back. A view the enemy would not see!

As he also helped...

I am delighted to share some gaming experiences from Jeff Shaw involving the Dutch and Portuguese in the mid 17th century. That gives us an opportunity to cover Canada, Brazil, The Arabian Gulf and  India in a single post!

Portuguese and Spanish in Dutch Brazil - Jeff's cracking looking game!

Fellow enthusiast Jeff has been busy adapting 4Playscenarios which was precisely why I created them in the...