The League of Augsburg

Assurance versus Constant Reformation 1649

 I am very pleased to announce the release of the first 4Play scenario packs specifically designed for Mad for War. There are 16 packs which will be released over the next few weeks but the first batch of four is a nice cross section of some of the different conflicts of the late 17th century which will be covered by the series.

The Commonwealth Fleet

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...

 I have uploaded a easy guide to movement and turning which should oil the wheels for those Admirals now finding their sea legs.

You can find it here:

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...

I was asked to deliver a talk on the merits of the 17th century as a wargaming opportunity yesterday evening for the Phoenix Wargames Club of Glasgow, Scotland. I happily agreed to that and was rather surprised to see attendees from Kent, Holland and Texas also on the Zoom dashboard. I thought it was a wee local thing for West of Scotland gamers but of course the internet makes us all local!

What I...

Brederode versus James 1652

I have been working furiously on preparing a whoe series of Mad for War support materials including tutorial videos dealing with all of the main aspects of the rules in short 3-6 minute bites. These will begin appearing on the League of Augsburg YouTube channel soon. In advance of that, I have completed a slightly longer walk through battle report as a video. 

It features...

I have made a Battle of The Boyne video focusing on how to get the most from the wargaming opportunities presented by this iconic battle.

It features information on the armies, features some tabletop examples and offers tips on how to set up your own games.

I am still experimenting with the format for videos but am trying very hard to keep both my mug and my mits out of shot! I don't like either in...

Apparently sharks die if they stop swimming. I don't know if that is true but it is an interesting thought. As a trained metallurgist, I do know that if you let a blast furnace cool down too much, it is 'gubbed'. And then I realized that I need to find the next project or.....

Of course, Clarence and I are well advanced with Mad for War,  but the 4Play scenarios combined with the proof of concept...

I have been working on these behind the scenes to get them ready for release before Christmas. The first is the missing #18. As many blog members are collecting the series, a few of the sharp eyed had noticed that this number was missing from the sequence and had asked about it. 

I had partially finished it during the last release but held it over to make a few tweaks. Here it is at last. The first...

This has been a productive year. Helion have released Every bullet has its billet exactly on time. Congratulations to Charles and his team for delivering the goods on time and to the right quality.

I received my author's copies by the Saturday lunchtime post and am very happy to report that the product is very much up to expectation. The finishing is very nice. layout easy on the eye and the...