Heavy Metal Weekend 2019

That is … tanks and armour, of course … a wargames and simulations weekend organised for likeminded enthusiasts at the Defence Academy from time to time.

We did several matrix games on modern warfare themes, a Defence Procurement exercise, a ‘Footfall’ rescue mission, a team mission on the computer simulation they use for officer training – and clambering on tanks (there was also another group computer simulation on the starship Artemis but I had to leave before that final session in order to do some heritage guiding back in Northamptonshire).

(why it’s called ‘Heavy Metal’ …)

Plus piracy in the Renaissance Mediterranean and a Western Gunfight … and I took down the Northamptonshire Battlefields Society‘s Edgcote 1460 game (armoured warfare – just of a different era … ).

(amongst other things we managed to solve the Iran sanctions crisis – see those smiley faces starting to appear!)

One weekend, 10 games, 6 different game designers, from tabletop figures to computer simulations … from the Medieval World to Outer Space … and tanks …

(the gunfight had some interesting mechanisms gave a fun game, lovely card buildings and cut-out figures)

But as this is my 20th Century blog, I’ll show you some Heavy Metal (quite a bit of which is post 20th Century, of course, but it’s otherwise fully on message) …

Name that tank (or fighting vehicle)!

Now that’s a mighty big beast …

There’s a lot of ordnance around …

… and examples of what it can do …

(gratifying to know we retain the ability to blast holes in reinforced concrete)

The piracy game had us all following a decision track but making different decisions along the way.  And picking up consequently different scores.  I didn’t trust the Venetians so did OK.

In the Officer Training rescue mission (First Person Shooter) I didn’t do quite so well.  I was having a lot of issues adapting to the controls (I’m not a computer gamer)  … I did eventually get to the objective, went (literally) nose-to-nose with the last terrorist … only to have no bullets left and all my spare mags used.  Whatever else I did, I needed to have saved the last burst for him.

Edgcote

I will update this blog with a link to the ancient and medieval stuff once it has been written up (for those of you who want more of this one), but, off theme here, here’s a some flavour …

Robin of Redesdale faced the earl of Pembroke across the little river that flows through Danesmoor a few miles from Banbury.  It is the decisive battle of the 1469 rebellion.  The Northerners have their showdown with William Herbert’s royalist army from Raglan.

(Herbert mounts up his retinue and charges across the watercourse into Redesdale’s lines)

It’s a 28mm reconstruction and the play-through uses an adapted version of Hail Caesar.

We played it twice with 2 very different outcomes.  The first game saw both sides’ reinforcements slow to materialise, something of a ‘score-draw’ as the earl of Devon failed to engage for the royalists and Herbert’s attempted flank attack was beaten back with some losses.

In the second game the action moved at a brisker pace, both sides’ rearlines were up quickly … Herbert charged the rebel centre and seemed to have them on the ropes – but he failed to follow up.  And, shortly after, John clapham turned up on his flank with the rabble from Northampton under their wild rat banner.  They aren’t history’s finest but they were good enough on the day to swing the balance and Herbert’s army quickly went from ragged to routed in a couple more turns.

Many thanks to my players for a cracking game.

Here’s a link to some more on Edgcote …

Here’s a fuller report on the Edgcote games …

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Museums and Collections: NAM and Delapre

A couple of visits worthy of mention over the last few months …

Just before Christmas I was down at the National Army Museum in Chelsea – worthy of a blog entry in itself.

It’s a mixture of traditional exhibits from almost anywhere and anytime with more up-to-date and politically correct meditations on the nature and impact of conflict.

And a timeline of the British Army, of course …

Whilst I was there, in addition to the permanent collection, there was an fascinating exhibition of military art … tracking the history and themes through time.  Very much what I have been doing though much of it more modern than my current topics.

Here’s a look at the detail in this massive and meticulous scene from the Raj …

… and a classic example of lost commander pathos …

These are scenes intended to convey the meaning and emotion of the event – not to be taken as a ‘photographic’ record of the event.

Waterloo Uncovered

For the toy soldier enthusiast, of course, one of the prime exhibits will always be Siborne’s Waterloo.

… and, indeed, Waterloo was the purpose of my visit: TV’s Dr Tony Pollard (2 Men in a Trench; Nazi Megastructures etc.) is closely involved in Waterloo Uncovered – the archaeological project for combat veterans (follow the link) and had organised a meeting to launch/trial an idea for a massive wargame.

Here’s me. the Perrys and a few others from the team trying out a conventionally sized wargame.

… with obvious exceptions, most were not wargamers, so this was to see if reconstructing the battle with model soldiers would actually work for them as well as to kick off Tony’s dream of an impossibly big version.

You may well have read about this in WSS, but the plan is to recreate the battle as a Guinness Book of Records attempt at Glasgow University on the anniversary next year …

Delapre Abbey

(a scene from the opening festivities at Delapre Abbey)

Finally a brief word on the progress at Delapre Abbey in Northampton.   It is mostly out of the P.B.Eye-Candy period but will go nicely with my Museums thread and is now open to the public.

It is an immaculately refurbished country house on the original site of the nunnery beside which the battle of Northampton was fought – and features Battlefield Rooms in which I and colleagues at Northampton Battlefields Society were able to make an input.

Although there will inevitably be disappointments, a new battlefield interpretation facility is something to praise to the rafters – so here’s a brief look …

The best book on the battle remains Mike’s volume published by the battlefields society.  You can get it from us at an event or at Amazon (perversely not from the Museum shop – which is a whole other story) …

Apologies if WordPress mailed out the link before I completed the revisions – that happens sometimes.

Links:

The National Army Museum

Waterloo Uncovered

Delapre Abbey

Northampton Battlefields Society

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Battlefield Society exhibits at Abington Park Museum

Readers of this blog will probably prefer Abington Park to Northampton’s main municipal museum … the latter is full of shoes, the former houses the Northamptonshire Regiment and Yeomanry collections (and more leather collections but not shoes) … so it has plenty of military exhibits and dioramas.

I was invited to put on a display of model soldiers and a battlefield model for Northampton Battlefields Society for the museum’s Collectors Day …

So the display was necessarily medieval in theme, with an array of Bosworth figures as the centrepiece in addition to the 1460 battle.

But I also included all the common scales from 2mm to 90mm and historical figures from Ancient Egypt to World War Two … planes, boats and ships as well as figures … and of course plenty of flats.

(a sample of Yesthatphil’s collection displayed at Abington Park Museum’s Collectors Day)

… indeed the display included a good many pieces that have been featured on P.B.Eye-Candy …

My partially scratchbuilt model of Antonov’s flying tank (featured here) was a source of fascination to many of the hundreds of visitors who came by during the day … (I’m very glad I took it along) …

The knowledge of many of the visitors was quite a surprise … (some recognised the big TB2 bomber … one even mentioned to me Christie’s light tank and his idea of adding wings to it … ) … Others, of course, were amazed the glider wasn’t something out of an H.G.Wells story.

(Antonov’s Flying tank)

(scene from the battle of Northampton)

The Collectors Day was a ‘one off’ (although the feedback was very positive so the museum are thinking of doing it all again next year).   The regimental displays are there all year and are well worth a visit in their own right – especially if you have relatives and/or ancestors who served with Northamptonshire’s local units …

Here’s a quick look at some of the permanent displays which include lots of WWII and 20th century material …

… and a series of (mostly 1:72) pretty good dioramas …

Abington Park Museum is a traditional style museum which focusses on exhibits in glass cases more than on electronic gizmos and interactive interpretation …

… and it has plenty of interesting stuff on display.  Check the link above if you are in Northampton with a free afternoon.

Meanwhile, my thanks to the management and staff for being accommodating hosts and to the visitors who supported the event and stopped for a chat …

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A Soldier display at Kettering Museum

Just closing at Kettering Museum, Kettering Collects is an exhibition looking at the history and potential of collecting –  from the philanthropic amateurs whose collections have passed into public ownership as today’s Museums and Galleries … to how museums work and what motivates today’s collectors.

One of the rooms showcases 4 sample exhibits from the collections of  local enthusiasts … pop-up books, Jack Daniels souvenirs and memorabilia, die-cast cars and, of course, toy soldiers.

I was delighted that my collection made the cut and so had to work out how to fill the cabinet I had been allocated.

(Kettering Collects at the Manor House Museum)

The challenge, of course, was to distill what I have so it shows toy soldier collecting to best advantage, demonstrates the full breadth of military interests and, of course, reflects what I like (in the end, it is my story to tell).

Fortunately, my collection is very diverse and covers many of the important periods of history in most of the popular collector/wargame scales.   So even if it was only to be a few figures, I wanted to get something of everything in.

But I think, all along, 3 components struck me as essential … some old Britains plastics (because my wargaming story starts with them); my Bosworth Wars of the Roses 54mm figures (as they are local and topical as well as quite eye-catching) … and some of  the former Deryck Guyler 30mm flats collection (as they are so collectible – and these are the figures that put the Society of Ancients in my mind when I saw them on Blue Peter as a youngster) …

(Britains/Herald Gordon Highlanders – my first wargame soldiers – and still looking good after nearly 50 years service)

(in  front of the obelisk and Sphinx … Egyptian War Chariots – 30mm flats originally part of Deryck Guyler’s collection)

(more flats in the background, Bosworth 54s to the left – Henry Tudor and William Stanley – 15mm Goths in front)

I managed to include, from the ancient world Egyptians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans and Goths;  HYW  and WotR medievals; the New Model at Naseby; some sample Marlburian, Napoleonic and Colonial figures … plus a Tiger, a T55 and a Humvee to bring us almost up to date.

The figures I chose included 2mm, 6mm, 10mm, 15mm, 20mm, 28mm, 30mm flats, 54mm and 90mm.   Inevitably, me being the exhibitor, the majority were 10s, 15s, flats and 54s.

(6mm Colonial and Marlburians figures between – Left – 2mm Romans – and – Right – 10mm Sarmatians)

(10mm Carthaginians between 15mm ECW and 30mm Ancient Egyptian flats)

(15mm 20th Cent vehicles in front of ancients and a stand of 20mm Napoleonics)

(Centre picture, some of the 90mm plastic figures I used in the show version of my Anno Domino game ‘Greyhounds in the Slips’)

This is the last weekend before I get my toys back after 3 months on show.   Although I had had plenty of positive feedback, I dropped by the Museum, yesterday, just  to reassure myself  that everything was still looking good – and arrange for the reboxing.

*******

Yes, I was pleased.

We went for the ‘more is more’ approach because of the space available and the style of the exhibition, and I really do hope that some of the constant flow of youngsters they take through the Museum will find in it the sort of bug that I got from seeing Deryck’s figures and discovering Charge! all those years ago.

For those who like to worry over the supposed greying of their hobby, all I can say is you cannot make people play wargames or collect toy soldiers (and nobody made us do it all those years ago) … what you can do is get your collections out there at shows, fairs, Museum exhibitions and the like, so today’s youngsters can see them and be inspired by them.

Remember, the purveyors of cheap thrills, mind addling video games and junk hobbies will always ensure that their wares are shown to the market and with as much razzmatazz and gloss as the advertising buck can deliver – so if wargaming and toy soldier collecting are to have a chance, we have to get them on show too.

Many thanks to Ellie and the team at the Manor House Museum for giving me the chance  to put mine on show.

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Plassenburg Zinnfiguren Museum, Kulmbach

Perched above the brewing town of Kulmbach,  Plassenburg castle houses the biggest tin soldier museum in the world, with a claimed 300,000 or so figures in the collection.  The 4 floors cover most periods of history from ancients to the mid 20th Century, and there are plenty of examples of early toy soldiers.

(More info)

Take the bus from the Stadthalle – it takes barely 5 minutes to get up to the top and only costs a few Euros.

Although the collection tells its story mostly with traditional German 30mm flats, round figures and other scales and styles are represented.

The big collections are from the 18th Century and Napoleonics, but much more is mixed in – including a room devoted to early North America.

A few photos can never do such a vast collection justice – but I will attempt to give pictorial impression by way of a review/taste:

(the museum was obviously busy all day – zinnfiguren clearly appeal to a big audience)

(early figures of different styles)

(do click on the pictures for a closer look)

(wartime German toy soldiers)

(Hyde figures camel corps)

Some of the figures are individual items on their glass shelves, or lined up in imaginary units, some are displayed as composed vignetes either on plinths or in light boxes …

… whilst most of the rooms have vast dioramas featuring thousands of figures recreating famous battles from military history.

(Prussian infantry drills modelled one-to-one)

The Age of Napoleon

(Crossing the Berezina)

The Age of Der Alte Fritz

… including the famous Battle of Leuthen diorama

A few other items

(North Eastern Indians)

(The Battle of Pavia 1525)

(a scene from the Niebelungenleid)

(a cleverly posed boxed Pirate scene)

(Aztecs and Conquistadors)

Of course, the military collection includes airplanes, tanks, vehicles, balloons and ships …

I cannot recommend the Plassenburg soldier museum highly enough.  The were several other exhibitions in the castle when we visited, from regional history, the story of the castle in the Peasants uprisings, an art show, and the ‘Army of Frederick the Great’ (which boasted a splendid collection of flags and weapons), all of them would generally be worth an hour or so – but (if you share my tastes) the soldier museum is simply without parallel.   Entry to the soldier museum was a modest €4.00 (or available packaged with other exhibitions)

(central courtyard at Plassenburg – the shop and ticket office is in the far corner, the Zinnfiguren Museum opposite on the right)

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WWII at History Live! 2013

This is an addendum to my general report on the event (Ancients on the Move/History Live!)

If you are like me, you will like pictures of military vehicles and Kit!   And I wouldn’t want to disappoint!

(this old Citroen truck was being pressed into service towing a Nebelwerfer rocket mortar)

(Gulaschkanone: I’m building a 15mm one as an admin/log stand for some German infantry, so a chance to get a look was welcome)

(some useful details, perhaps)

(happily, this young lad does not seem bothered by issues of political correctness)

(OK … I like pictures of nurses …) …

(… and motorcycles …)

(… and jeeps with guns …)

There was, of course, a full range of displays and enthusiasts to explain them …

… and there was a Bolt Action game in the wargames tent … OK, 28mm, skirmish-type, warlord-type but that’s what they do … and the Russians seemed to like it almost as much as icecream …

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War Games – talk and review

I wasn’t sure which blog best suited this post, but as much of the exhibition content relates to 20th Century experience, I’m putting it here.

Some P.B.Eye-Candy regulars will have seen that the V&A/Museum of Childhood has just opened an exhibition on War Games – and that there was also lecture scheduled at the South Ken end of the organisation …

Well, a prior engagement meant I would be in town, so I went along.

My visit started at the Victoria & Albert Museum for the lunchtime talk by curators Sarah Wood and Ieuan Hopkins who looked at how toy manufacturers have responded to changing attitudes towards war, and the impact war can have on children’s play.  On what was a beautiful summer’s day in London, the majority were outside, enjoying the sun …

(early June … and a rare beautiful day at the V&A)

… but for the few braving the indoors, there was a fascinating explanation about how the exhibition was put together and some highlights of what was there.    The curators were candid about society’s underlying concerns over war toys and their influence on young minds … but clear that the evidence is at best equivocal: children explore what they see in the adult world around them, and that has always included war.

Children denied toy guns use conveniently shaped sticks instead (whether they grow up pacifists it is perhaps too early to say) …

Then again, there is no doubt that governments like to influence everyone, children included, in times of war – and the exhibition promised some great examples.

‘El Teb’ flats play set

There was a fascinating section on how quickly (cynically?) war toys follow real military events and technical developments … OK, I was aware of growing up with Cold War toys in the 60s (Dinky toy missile transporters and the like) but hadn’t realised that toy tanks were already on the market in 1916 (no sooner had you read about them in the papers, than the manufacturers had the toys in the shops!).   That wondeful EL Teb flats set was in production before all the troops came home.

I am also grateful to Sarah and Ieuan for taking the time to chat afterwards and share some of their ‘insider’ tips on looking after toy collections (and how they balance display and conservation) …

… and so, suitably briefed, it was off to Bethnal Green …

Now I have to own up that this was my first visit to the Museum of Childhood – and I have to say I was very impressed.   They have got a lot of stuff … and I like museums that have got a lot of stuff.  In a kind of old fashioned way, it is high on things to look at and low on telling you what to make of them.

toys old and new, sublime and ridiculous …

Now I should say that the exhibition itself is not a wargames expo, nor is it a history of the wargames figure (so I should not mislead you – if you want that, you want a show like Partizan or a Museum like the Cumbria venture …), but it is a well considered and well-researched look at how war is represented in toys and models and how playing at war has been a constant part of childhood.

The selection of games and toy soldiers and military models is well judged and includes both gems and old favourites … The Napoleonic period ‘Game of Besieging’ is a new one on me … yes, another form of ‘fox and geese’, but a great find …

The game of Besieging 1800-1825

… and I did not know that round the world yachtsman Sir Francis Chichester designed a navigational game ‘Pin Point the Bomber’ in 1942 (‘… the players are given clues as to their location and must combine these with using a compass and other navigational tools to pinpoint the the location of the bomber on the map’)

(early tank toy; ‘Little Wars’; Escape from Colditz; Pin Point the Bomber)

There were Action Men (GI Joe), Airfix kits and the Johnny 7 ‘one man army’ plastic toy gun ….

I thought the portrait dolls of Roberts and of Kitchener were great exhibits, so too the familiar Hitler puppet, and I really enjoyed the playful main captions built as giant aircraft model sprues.  All in all, a well judged appreciation of games of war, war toys and playing soldiers.

It is not a big exhibition, and would suit a lunchtime, I think.   Well worth visiting if you are in London (it runs until March 2014).

I might finish with a quote from one of the information boards (Playing at War) …

‘War play is controversial.  It is actively discouraged by many parents and teachers as it is thought to encourage aggression.  But aggressive play, a type of active play, is not the same as real aggression, in which a child intends to harm.

Research questioning whether war play and aggression are linked is inconclusive.  fears that they are may come from personal beliefs and assumptions influenced by the pacifist and feminist movements of the last fifty years.   Arguably war play can also bring benefits.  It can also help them distinguish good from bad and right from wrong.  It can help them to explore their feelings and understanding of an often violent adult world.’

*******

Society, of course, does not always encourage us to respect our enemies.  That’s an entirely different topic.  Get those Japs was a darts game.

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Visiting the D-Day Museum, Portsmouth

The first weekend of March saw the Society of Ancients‘s annual Armati-by-the-Sea wargames tournament in Bournemouth … after which it has become a tradition to make a group visit to a south coast military museum or heritage attraction.   Some travel for the event from overseas (so not everyone’s transport arrangements are completed on the Sunday evening) …

This year, we drove round to Portsmouth, and the D-Day Museum (link)

Children playing on the 3.7″ AA gun

Signposting to the Museum isn’t that great – but it is on Southsea seafront, so you genuinely can’t miss it (drive along the seafront and take the entrance by the AA gun and the Churchill Crocodile).    There is a pay-and-display carpark (and, as at Spring 2013, 3hrs cost £3.50, adult entrance to the Museum £6.50 each).

Overlord: the battle for Caen

The Museum is not that big, but has a fair number of exhibits, and as a unique attraction, houses the famous Overlord Tapestry (actually patchwork embroidery) created as a memorial celebration in imitation of the Bayeux Tapestry from 1,000 years earlier.

I include a picture of the superb panel depicting the battle for Caen (my favourite).    Click it for a bigger image.  The Overlord Tapestry has a special place for my family as it was rescued from mothballing by Whitbreads, who put on display at their then headquarters in Chiswell Street.    Although no more than a curiosity, military buffs with needlecraft enthusiasts in their households may find it makes the D-Day Museum an outing that will be of interest for all the family.

D-Day Museum … bigger stuff

By mixing the bigger D-Day story (explaining the war itself) with the history of Portsmouth at war, the museum finds quite a bit to say for itself, and follows that style where you wind through corridors of exhibition cases and display panels which guide you through the topic.   I thought most of them were pretty good, the panel information was useful, and the cases were fascinatingly full of objects.

The Map Room at Southwick House

My favourite of the life-size reconstructions is the Map Room at Southwick House (Southwick House) … it’s pretty convincing, yes, but it also begs to be put into action as the control board for the D-Day megagame (or is that just me?) …

Omaha Beach

There are a large number of smaller cases displaying models, sometimes built to illustrate parts of the story (so, e.g. a fascinating model of one of the Mulberry components), sometimes displaying donated collections of variable interest.    Amongst these was a small Omaha Beach diorama built as a project by servicemen at Headley Court (good on them) …

Model displays

A lot of this was around the same quality you would see at your local wargames show, but I quite liked the some of the aircraft (it gets you thinking …):

Of course, it is the big stuff that is a real attraction with these places, and you’d have to say that D-Day, Portsmouth, could do with a bit more of it … they have a Churchill, Sherman and a 3.7 outside, and (notably) some jeeps, a Dingo, a DUKW, a Sherman BARV and a Higgins Boat inside.   That’s about it (The Tank Museum it isn’t!).

Churchill Crocodile

I did enjoy being able to walk into the Higgins boat.   Having spoken at length to one of the many who were delivered to Normandy that way many years ago, I shouldn’t have been surprised.   Even so, they’re not big, and they don’t feel very secure.    It is almost impossible to imagine being in one pitching and rolling in a rough sea, waiting for the machine guns to open up.   Sobering.

Disappointingly, the book shop was a bit short on related military books (I do like to bump museum revenues by spending money in their shops, but, even with a will, it was hard to find anything here*), and we had intended to have lunch if they had a cafe (which they didn’t) … We’d have been happier with a better ‘retail end’, and would probably have increased our spending by around £20/head had they given us the opportunity.

That said, I have to add that I enjoyed visiting the D-Day Museum and am glad I stayed over ‘the extra day’.   I would certainly recommend it to anyone already visiting the south coast, or who wants to see the Overlord Tapestry anyway.    Those considering a trip from further afield … yes, it’s worth a visit – just bear in mind it isn’t a big one (it took us around 2 hrs at a leisurely pace).

I’d also add that it seems to do a good job with Schools … there was a school party in when we walked around, and another de-bussing as we were leaving (so it felt quite busy, for a Monday morning in March!)…

Positives: good informative displays and well thought-out exhibits; easy to find (if poorly sign-posted); first time I’ve stood in a Higgins boat; clearly gets plenty of youngsters in (who seemed to be having fun).   Negatives: could be bigger; you have to pay to park; book shop hasn’t got much military history stock; no cafe …

more big stuff: Canadian built Sherman

*I did get a small book on the Mulberry system, which was ‘on message’, at least …

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Cold War Missile Base

These are some pictures from a photographic workshop field trip organised by The Alfred East Gallery in Kettering to the remnants of RAF Harrington‘s nuclear launch pads (formerly Harrington had been home to the 8th Airforce’s Carpetbaggers operation in WWII).

The Museum is well worth a visit … I used the arts workshop as an opportunity to explore something of the airfield itself, (whilst possibly learning something about the employment of the camera) …

(the WWII war memorial)

Harrington was one of the bases selected for Project Emily, the deployment of the Thor intermediate range ballistic missile (Britain’s nuclear deterent).  They were brought to full readiness during the Cuban Missile crisis.   Harrington Museum has more information.

The base has now returned to farm land and dog walking, but the more sinister relics of her secret history lie crumbling in the landscape.

Playgrounds of War is photographer Gina Glover’s take on this material.   It was illuminating for a blog snapper like me to explore the site with photography buffs and professionals.  Most of their pictures were not at all like mine!

Thor missile negotiating Rothwell en route to Harrington

(the shot of the RAF test firing is not Harrington I should add)

Playgrounds of War is on at the Alfred East Gallery, Kettering, until 17th November.

The main runway is rough land between the cornfields, and is where the launch pads were sited when the base was converted over to the Thor programme.

Getting your bearings

What’s there, now?

Three concrete installations, each of a pair of blast shields either side of a track pointing East which used to accommodate a rolling hanger inside which the missile sat in readiness.

From an overcast start, it turned into a beautiful day for taking pictures.

The photographers were finding all sorts of detritus to zoom in on ..

(photographic field trip in full swing)

I later saw some of these truly startling and intense images in the afternoon’s gallery session.   An eye-opener in the most literal sense.

(looking South from the middle installation)

This modest bung plugs the hole where the electric cables that would have initiated launch connected up into the missile

Back towards the Western perimeter there are reinforced bays containing the warhead and electronics stores …

(the hard standings now being the foundations for immense hay stacks, of course)

Meanwhile, I was being encouraged to get with the programme 🙂 …

I found this field trip well worth the time and effort.  Not unlike a battlefield walk, but taken with a group which experiences the landscape in an entirely different way – just as fascinated by it as military historians … just not always by the same bits of it …

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Jubliee Parades …

This one’s for Chris and Don …

Soviet Jubilee Parade

This is the NQM/Megablitz early Red Army Mechanised Corps I’ve been working on (just the vehicles, but with some of its later upgrades thrown in …)…  Still plenty of work to do but it could hold a little corner of the battlefield, I think.

Not to be outdone, Wilhelm von Apell invited his friends over for a quick photo …

The teeth of von Kleist’s 1st Panzer Armee

22 PZ and some asscoiated vehicles.  Even fewer real tanks!  Unfortunately I am in the midst of other projects, so I don’t have the space to get the infantry out at this stage (so we’ll have to content ourselves with drive by parades!) …

http://notquitemechanised.wordpress.com/2012/06/07/the-unofficial-nqm-jubilee-parade-continued/

President Boyo gets in on the act (of course!)

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