We were sort of warned NOT to go to Warwick castle. It sounded like it had a Renaissance fair vibe to it, with activities for small kids, etc. Since we have often enjoyed Renaissance fairs, we decided to give it a go.
Aa view of Warwick castle from the grounds
Docents provided interesting historical tours within the castle itself, which has been restored. The Duke of Warwick during the Wars of the Roses changed sides, making him the “kingmaker.” The castle tour, another multi-media presentation in one of the castles’ towers, and the narration and storyline for the jousting show all provided a brief history of the the Wars of the Roses.
Some of the armor and weapons on display within the castleThe banquet hall in Warwick castlePosing in front of a huge mirrorA stained-glass window in Warwick castleThe jousting show at Warwick castle, called the Wars of the Roses Re-enactment
The jousting show was quite good. It involved knights on horseback, dismounted combat, and even longbowmen. The show followed a narrative that provided a thumbnail history of the Wars of the Roses. Both at our Mediaeval feast in London and at Warwick castle seemed much more intense and realistic than similar shows we’ve seen at places like the Renaissance fair and Mediaeval Times. They were quite good.
A vie of Warwick castle from the bridge to the island area where we saw the jousting and the trebuchet demonstration
The castle is pretty much intact. We were able to wander the battlements. Many of the towers included displays and shows. This was not a plaster and chicken wire imitation!
Entering one of the "rear' entrances to Warwick castleSam and Tom goofing on the battlements. Tom bought a foam mace as a souvenir.A view from the top of the battlementsWe witnessed a very interesting trebuchet demonstration. This one had the large wheels that men would run within to crank the trebuchet. I've never seen one like this before.
After several hours at Warwick castle we bid farewell to the town of Warwick and headed for the South of England to be in position to see Bovington Tank Museum the next day.
We took a guided tour of the Cotswolds, a picturesque area of England that is one of the top Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in the world. The tour met us at the Morten-in-Marsh train station and took us to morning coffee at Secret Cottage, then around parts of the northeastern Cotswolds, back to Secret Cottage for lunch, more touring, and finally tea at Secret Cottage.
A view of Morten-in-Marsh
After another harrowing drive from Swindon, we arrived at Morten-in-Marsh with almost an hour to spare. While Tom and Sam slept in our car, Candy and took a short walk around the town.
Along high street (main street) in Morten-in-Marsh
The English seem to be able to have a manicured garden (yard) that also looks natural. It’s an art.
Church in downtown M0rten-in-Marsh along the high street.
Below are some views of byways and towns within the Cotswolds. The Secret Cottage tour took us to places where the large motor coaches do not go.
An example of a dry-laid wall made of Cotswolds stoneA manor home once occupied by the principle black powder plot conspirator (another conspirator was Guy Fawlkes) just around the corner from Secret Cottage
Claire, our tour guide, had lived in the US for five years with her husband, who was in the Royal Navy. She is also the etiquette lady in a talking portrait in the Harry Potter ride at Universal Studios.
The Secret CottagePolly in front of the breakfast spread she laid out for us
It was interesting to see how the owners of this house had trained their pair trees to grow along the walls.
...And a partridge near a pear treeThe Malt House
In this town, there were no pubs allowed by the lord of the manor, so this enterprising person brewed beer that the farm workers would buy on their way home from work.
Nick, the other tour guide, provided a great deal of interesting information about various areas of the Cotswolds.A view of the CotswoldsA portion of a picturesque town along the Eye riverSam has decided she would love to live in an area like the Cotswolds. Tom is not convinced.An old mill
The charity allotment behind an old church. Food grown here is brought to the church for the poor.Candy would like to make this our Summer home. For a mere 4 million pounds it can be yours.The lunch buffet at Secret Cottage. While all the food was terrific, the pasties and Scotch egg were especially good.
We finished the day by driving to the town of Hasely, near Warwick castle and walked around to see a church and manor house. The nearby pub was booked for the night, so we drove into the town of Warwick to have fish and chips at the Chip Shed. They were very, very good.
The church in the town of Hasely
Our rooms were the old coach house and stables. The proprietor was very nice. We recommend this bed and breakfast establishment.
For me, it’s not a family vacation without some old-time photos to commemorate the occasion. These were taken in a small studio across the street from Harrods in Knightsbridge, London.
Grenadier TomLady Sam her Earl GrayWhat a hunky dude!A typical evening at home for the Surdus.
For our family vacation this year, we chose to visit England. As many of you know, we first made sure that we got the kids to all 50 states. Then we visited Costa Rica last Summer. This Summer we visited England, beginning our journey with three days in London.
London City Hotel
After arriving in Heathrow, we took the express shuttle and two tube lines to our hotel. We rented a “flat” or apartment from the London City Hotel, the entrance of which was right next to the Borough underground stop.
A view from London Bridge
Despite feeling quite jet lagged, we determined to “power through” our first day. We began by walking past Borough Market and over London Bridge to visit St. Paul’s Cathedral.
At St. Paul’s we visited the crypts, the main floor, and climbed to the top of the dome.
A view of London from the top of St. Paul's
From St. Paul’s we went back to our hotel to check in and drop our bags in the room. Along the way we stopped in Borough Market for a snack. Tom and I split an excellent corned beef (salt beef) sandwich (on which cheese was melted with a blow torch) and some sort of mediterranean pasty thing with potato and onion while Sam and Candy split some kind of 22,000 calorie dessert.
An entrance to Borough Market
After dropping our bags in our hotel, we walked to the London Eye. Some think the Eye is a tourist attraction, but we all know it was an antenna used to attack the Earth by aliens whose plot was thwarted by Dr. Who.
The London EyeA view of London from the EyeAnother view of London from the Eye, including Big Ben, Parliament, and Whitehall.
After visiting the Eye, we stopped for dinner at the Sherlock Holmes pub. This pub features a room made to look like Holme’s study as described in the various stories. We ate traditional pub fare. The kids had their first (to my knowledge) hard cider.
We economized a bit at breakfast. Since our flat had a full kitchen, we purchased some muffins, Scotch egg, and falafel at a local Sainsbury’s store to heat up in the mornings.
Sam, Tom, and Candy in front of the Tower of London
We began the next day in London with a visit to the Tower of London and the Crown Jewels. I had seen the Crown Jewels over 30 years ago. The exhibit is MUCH more interesting and well displayed now. There is a bit of multimedia, but mostly the jewels and regalia are displayed nicely spaced, and they control access, so you can really see everything.
A handsome dude in front of the building housing the crown jewels.
We took in the crown jewels first thing, before the crowds formed. Then we latched onto a guided tour by one of the yeoman warders.
Our "Beefeater"
The Beefeater was very entertaining, and did a nice job of explaining elements of the Tower’s storied past.
My little Barbie at Harrods
After leaving the Tower we met my friend Simon and headed off to Knightsbridge. Candy, Sam, and Tom needed to see a “shopping palace,” like Harrods, which is in Knightsbridge. Before going into Harrods we stopped to have an old time photo taken. We spent about 45 minutes walking around Harrods. Then Simon took us to a pub, called the Grenadier, which we never would have found on our own. It was at one time the Mess of the Duke of Wellington. We then walked around Hyde Park for an hour or so and took a double-decker bus to Covent Garden.
Inside the Covent Garden market
There we met Simon’s football buddy for a light snack. We parted ways, so that Simon and his buddy could get to the ballet, and we walked around Covent Garden. While doing so, we ran into Julie Horton, who is Tommy’s unofficial sponsor at West Point. What a coincidence that we should run into her in a city of 5 million people 3000 miles from home.
Sam, Tom, Julie, and Candy in the Covent Garden market
After a short time shopping, we went to see showing number 26978 of The Mousetrap, the longest running play in history. This is an Agatha Christie story. I have seen it any times, but I wanted the family to see it. The kids, whose only theater experience is in high school productions, only went to humor me and thought they would be bored, but everyone enjoyed the play — and no one guessed whodunnit.
The Mousetrap
The next morning began with a tour of Buckingham Palace. The tour was quite good, and we all learned a great deal. It is self guided, but the audio guide is very easy to use and is informative.
The rear of Buckingham Palace
The tour exits into the palace garden — and a gift shop.
The "garden" at Buckingham Palace
Our next stop was to Baker Street to see the Sherlock Holmes museum. I have read all the Conan Doyle stories and enjoyed them. The “museum” is essentially a building made to look like Holmes’ and Watson’s quarters as described in the stories. It also has a nice gift shop.
Holme's studySamlock Holmes -- elementary!Dr. Tom Watson stupefied by Holme's deductions...... while Candy consorts with Dr. Moriarty
At this point we split up. Everyone wanted to see the Cabinet War Rooms, but I had just seen them a year ago. I wanted to see the National Army Museum, which was under renovation last time I was in London, and I hadn’t seen in 30 years. The family enjoyed the War Rooms; however, I was strongly disappointed in the National Army Museum.
Weapons displayed at the National Army Museum
Last time I was there, I found this museum to have more history and artifacts than the Imperial War Museum. I learned a great deal about the evolution of the British Army. After the renovation, much of the history has been replaced by political correctness. Displays ask questions like “should Britain have an Army,” “how should POWs be treated,” “should snipers be considered war criminals?” There were displays that emphasized the “diversity” of the soldiers in the British Army, talked about how the British Army has been an instrument of subjugating foreign populaces, etc. I don’t need more PC BS. I went there to learn history, and I was sorely disappointed. It is even worse than the military section of Smithsonian! If you have a chance, give this one a pass.
Churchill tank in the National Army Museum
Even this cool WWII tank simulator was broken. It was a very disappointing visit.
I linked back up with the family at Picadilly Circus for a leisurely walk up Regent Street and back to look at overpriced clothing. The high point along Regent Street for me is Hamley’s toy store, which makes FAO Schwartz look like a dimestore.
We were able to meet the queen at Hamley's
From Regent Street we took a combination of tube and walking to get to Ivory House at St. Catherine’s Docks for a mediaeval feast.
Awaiting dinner...Candy makes friends with horse-head woman
Between courses, we were entertained by singing, juggling, acrobatics, and swordplay.
A balancing act during our feast
Everyone felt that the feast was a little underwhelming. I enjoyed the food quite a bit. The food here is mostly familiar, but often has an interesting twist that I quite like. The food was served family style at ten-person tables. We had an interesting charcuterie tray, broccoli soup, and roasted check.
A short but very intense sword battle...
On the walk back to the hotel we passed the Tower lit up at night.
The Tower of London at night
Our final morning in London we checked out of our hotel and got on the water bus to Greenwich.
Sam and Candy on the water busThe Greenwich ObservatorySam, some handsome guy, and Tom standing in two time zones with both feet on either side of the prime meridian
On our return from Greenwich we walked across Tower Bridge and back to our hotel.
We grabbed our bags from the hotel, tubed it to Paddington Station, took a train to Reading, and hired a car. My adventure driving on the wrong side of road began in stressful way with navigatrix Candy sending me the wrong way down a one-way street during rush hour. The car we hired form Enterprise was a Ford Kuga. At the rental office we thought they were saying “cougar” with a British accent.
Half way to Swindon for the night we had a puncture (flat tire) along the motorway (interstate) and had to have the automobile club tow us off the highway and replace the tire. We eventually made it to our hotel in Swindon, ate dinner in a nice pub, and got to bed about 2330.
The game begins with the Americans deciding to shift their forces and mass on their left.
Last night at our club, I ran a Combat Patrol(TM): WWII South Pacific game using the rules from the soon-to-be-released supplement. It was a chance for a final play test of some of the rules before the release of the supplement in a couple of weeks. In particular, I wanted to test the vehicle-mounted flamethrower rules.
In this scenario, the Japanese held a string of bunkers in a jungle area. A U.S. Army platoon with a man-pack flamethrower and a Stuart flamethrower tank attacked to seize as many of the three bunkers as possible. The Japanese had a slightly under-strength platoon with an attached anti-tank gun and a medium machine-gun. They also occupied three bunkers and two sand-bagged emplacements.
Seeing that the Americans were shifting, a team of Japanese advances to outflank the American attack.
The Americans wisely decided that they should mass on one flank or the other, rather than attacking on a broad front. This left the Japanese anti-tank gun with few targets during the game. They might have gotten off a shot later in the game as the Americans advanced across the open area, but by then the Stuart had been knocked out.
After a bit of a slow movement, the Americans reached the edge of the jungle and prepared to advance across the open ground to the Japanese bunkers.
The Americans reached the edge of the jungle and were preparing to dash across an open area toward one of the Japanese positions. The first unit at the edge of the wood line was an American .30 cal machine-gun team, but before they could get it set up, they began taking effective fire from Japanese infantrymen in their right-most bunker.
The American machine-gun team was knocked out by rifle fire from one of the Japanese bunkers.A bunker at the edge of the jungle. I don't have any log bunkers yet, so I had to use these ETO-looking ones.
Seeing that they were being flanked, another Japanese team advanced from their original positions into a small jungle area in the middle of the table.
A Japanese team advances to interfere with the American attack. The sandbagged position protects the Japanese medium machine-gun team.
At this point the Stuart reached the edge of the wood line and fired on the Japanese machine-gun team in the sandbagged position. This was extreme range for the flamethrower. Two members of the machine-gun crew were killed in this attack.
The Japanese infantry team that advanced in the previous picture was equipped with a lunge mine. The South Pacific supplement includes a rule for Japanese suicide anti-tank attacks. The soldier with the lunge mine and another solider charged out and attacked the Stuart. The attack was successful. The player drew a card to determine where the tank was hit (the side of the hull) and the amount of penetration. Receiving a penetrating hit, the Japanese drew one more card to determine if the vehicle brewed up. It did. So after just one shot, the flame thrower tank was knocked out. Because this was an intentional suicide anti-tank attack, the Japanese figure became incapacitated immediately, but his unit did not accrue a morale marker.
The Stuart is knocked out by a lunge-mine suicide attack.
As the flamethrower tank was their most important weapon for reducing the Japanese-held bunkers, things began to look grim for the Americans. Fortunately they still had a man-packed flamethrower and some hand grenades.
Teams of American infantry advance.The Japanese in the right-most bunker with the roof removed. This was the focus of the American assault.The center of the table became a fur ball.
The remaining member of the machine-gun team fired a few shot before running out of ammunition. Although the Stuart was knocked out early, the fact that it suppressed the machine-gun team enabled the Americans to cross the open area with few casualties. The remaining member of the machine-gun team put up a good fight for a couple of activations, but eventually the Americans incapacitated him and moved past this position to get behind a Japanese bunker.
A closeup look at two Japanese in a small sand-bagged emplacement
About this time the Japanese realized they were out of position and needed to close with the Americans to slow their advance and keep them away from the bunkers. They declared a Banzai charge. In Combat Patrol(TM), there is a nice balance in Banzai charges so that they are interesting and effective without being too powerful. Once the charge begins, the Japanese draw two action cards for movement rather than one, giving them much greater speed; however, they do not receive any benefit of cover. The charge continues until a card is drawn from the Activation deck ending it. This could occur in the next turn or several turns later. The Japanese accrue morale markers, but they do not resolve them until the Banzai charge ends. In this game, the card ending the charge was drawn as the first card of the next turn, ending the charge earlier than expected. Still, it had the desired effect: the Japanese had closed with the Americans and slowed their advance on the bunkers.
In the meantime, the man-packed flamethrower advanced on the rightmost Japanese bunker, but when his team was taken under small arms fire, the operator was incapacitated. The Americans then made an attempt to drop a grenade into the bunker, but failed.
After overrunning the Japanese machine gunner, the Americans swarmed past this position and prepared to get behind two of the enemy bunkers.
At this point it was getting late, and the American attack had been spent. I declared the game a Japanese victory. It was a very fun scenario, and all agreed we need to try it again soon.
Geoff, Chris, Don, and Eric, HAWKs who won awards at Historicon 2017
We had four HAWKs win awards at Historicon 2017. Geoff won an award for this Lego pirate game for kids. Chris Johnson won an award for his American Civil War game for kids. Don won an award for his Battleground WWII game on our French village table. Eric won an award for his American Civil War game for kids.
There were several Combat Patrol(TM) games run at Historicon 2017.
French vs. Italians 1940
The first was a Thursday game run by Eric Schlegel set in southern France in 1940. It involved the Italians attacking the French. I only managed to get one poor picture of this game. You can see that the Italians had to advance across open ground to get to the French positions or slog through the woods. Despite some success on the Italian right flank, the game was judge a French victory.
Italians attack French positions in 1940.
The Bocage
I then ran two bocage games on Friday. Don and I set up the bocage table and then ran three games on it. I ran Combat Patrol(TM) in the morning and evening. In the afternoon Don used to table to run a game using “brand X” rules (Battleground WWII). In both of my scenarios the Germans were allowed hidden setup, and the Americans were tasked to clear the road. Unfortunately I was busy running the game and didn’t remember to take very many pictures. The ones I have don’t tell a coherent narrative, but you can at least see some eye candy.
An American halftrack has a bad day.Germans along a hedge row managed to knock out one or two American vehicles and withstand some infantry close assaults.
After the first scenario, every US vehicle had been knocked out, and the Germans had taken few casualties, so it was a decisive German victory.
Don's "brand X" game on the bocage table. This is the only long shot I took of the table that he and I used all day.American halftracks advancing during the second running of this scenario. The Pz II survived to the end of the game despite a jammed turret and repeated infantry close assaults. The Americans attacking the Pz II had no anti-tank weapons, so they were forced to try to throw grenades in the hatches, which is tricky business.A longer shot of the American advanceThe Sherman advances and the Pz. II drops back under close assault from American infantry.
The first running of this scenario was a decisive victory for the Germans. The Americans attacked across a wide front, weren’t very aggressive, and never were able to mass on a decisive point. The second instance was much closer. The Americans massed on the German right flank and enjoyed initial success. Then they got bogged down fighting for the farm house in the center of the table rather than bypassing it. The game was a marginal German victory.
Action around Pomme du Terre
We then set up a French village, called Pomme du Terre, and ran four games on it to amortize the effort of laying out all the buildings. We ran three Combat Patrol(TM) games on the terrain and one with “brand X.”
The town of Pomme du Terre being set up for four scenarios. The town is almost exclusively Crescent Root buildings with a Sally 4th corner cafe and flagstone road, and Battlefield Terrain Concepts trees.Another view of the town
1918
Duncan used the town for Germans vs. Americans in 1918. I was running one of the bocage games while this game was going on, so I only snapped two quick pictures. Apparently the American platoon was pretty badly shot up trying to take the town from the Germans.
In these pictures you can see that Duncan uses flat disks from Fantasy Flight Games to mark morale checks. You can also see that Duncan printed unit cards with colored circles on them. These circles corresponded to colors on the figures’ bases and made it easier for players to figure out which troops were theirs when the fighting got close.
1940
Saturday morning I ran a German assault to capture Pomme du Terre from the French in 1940. The French were supported by an AT gun and three FT-17s, only one of which was equipped with a gun rather than a machine-gun. There Germans were supported by two Pz. II’s
German infantry advances to the outskirts of the town.Advancing German armored supportClose cooperation between German armor and infantry. In this picture you can see the command dice on the units that are used in the Double Random (TM) activation mechanic used in Combat Patrol (TM).
The Germans advanced steadily through the town but then got bogged down trying to clear the town square. Had they advanced around either flank, rather than right up the middle, they might have gotten to the French AT gun and cleared the road. The result was a French victory. All the players seemed to really enjoy themselves.
1944
My second game in Pomme du Terre was an American attack on the town. It was more of a meeting engagement as the Germans weren’t prepositioned in the town, but the onus remained with the attacker to clear the road. The Germans had a Panzergrenadier platoon with halftracks, two Pz. IV’s and a Marder. The Americans had an armored infantry platoon with halftracks, a Sherman, an M-10, and a Stuart. The Americans had a bazooka as well as several captured Panzerfausts. The forces were of roughly equal size.
The Sherman advances
The Germans lost a Pz IV early in the game from a shot from the M-10. The Marder was knocked out by a long-range bazooka shot. On the other side of the table, the Germans got THREE shots off at the Sherman but rolled very poorly and didn’t knock it out. They did damage the main gun, turning it into a mobile machine-gun platform. The Americans handled their vehicles aggressively. The combination of the Sherman, M-10, and Stuart kept the remaining German Pz. IV busy but didn’t knock it out by the time the game ended.
Marder knocked out by a long-range bazooka shot
Both the American and German infantry advanced into the town and got into close quarters combat in and around the town square. Despite heavy casualties, neither side managed to get a clear upper hand.
The Sturt and a halftrack advance through the town
A funny moment came when, after the left-flank Pz. IV was knocked out, an American halftrack dashed around the flank, dodging Panzerfaust shots, and circled behind the Germans. Big surprise for Herman as their infantry started taking fire from three directions.
Though the Germans didn’t knock out any US vehicles, they did knock out the 75mm gun not he Sherman. The objective was for the Americans to control the road through town. They didn’t manage to do this by the time the game ended, so we called it a marginal German victory.
We had one player who struggled to get his head around the card mechanics of Combat Patrol(TM) and another who wanted to argue the ratings of guns and armor for some of the vehicles, but otherwise the weekend was a big success. Many new players had a chance to try Combat Patrol(TM), and several went down and bought copies from the dealer hall — or at least said they did. I also had quite a few players who came back from either previous conventions or from previous games this weekend. Every one of my games was completely full, and I even added a couple of extra players who really wanted to try the rules.
As usual, the Harford Area Weekly Kriegspielsers ran several games focusing on kids at Historicon. Below is a quick rundown on some of them.
Navies for Kids Giveaway
Buck Surdu ran a game in which a group of kids were given a box full of boats and other materials. They then chose sales for a stack of patterns and colored them. Then we helped them hot glue the sails to the masts. With a set of rules designed for this game, we ran a naval action pitting side A against side B. When the game was over, the kids took hope their two decorated boats, two more the assemble, rules, dice, measuring sticks, a sea cloth, and everything they would need to run the game at home for their buddies.
Some of the kids inspecting their suppliesDecorating sailsGetting help to hot glue the sails to their mastsWaiting patientlyThe game in full swingThe kids and their loot
Armies for Kids Giveaway
We worked all year through a series of club painting days and other events to build six complete sets of armies (one French and one Prussian) for a 15mm Franco-Prussian War giveaway. As in previous years, the kids played the game and then each went home with a French Army, a Prussian Army, terrain, dice, tape measures, and a ground cloth.
Some of the kids playing the FPW gameAnother view of the game in progressDuncan puts a set of figures back together after the game.Putting sets together to hand out to the kids.
Santa Duncan hands out lootDuncan and the six lucky kids
Chris Johnson’s Award-Winning ACW Kids’ Game
Chris was presented an award from the convention staff for this kids’ game.
Eric Schlegel’s Award-Winning ACW Kid’s Game
Duncan Adams’ Lionheart Game for Kids
Geoff Graff’s Award-Winning Lego Pirate Game for Kids
This has been a perennial favorite in the HAWKs rooms for many years. Geoff never fails to keep the kids entertained and engaged!
The game gets under way.You can tell that Geoff enjoys these games as much as the kidsA boat full of Lego pirates. The ship comes apart to reveal the lower decks.
The answer to my question, "Who had fun?"A happy Geoff and some happy kids -- or maybe that's redundant...
Chris Abbey at Sally 4th just published a very nice battle report on a Sea Lion game he ran with Combat Patrol from the Bolt Action scenario book. See the details here.
I completed a new demonstration video for Combat Patrol(TM) over the weekend. This one focuses on how to resolve grenades and high explosive attacks. It is visible on both the Combat Patrol(TM) Web page and on the Combat Patrol(TM) Facebook page.
