Tanktober #31

We are closing out this year's Tanktober with this blast from the past of'Oberst Owen' and I posing with a classic Panzer more than a few years ago now - and she is a movie star no less!

Tanktober #30

The penultimate AFV for Tanktober - this time its a cheeky action shot submitted by Barks.
Thanks mate!

Tanktober #29

Tanktober #28

Look carefully...

Tanktober #27

Tanktober #26

600th Anniversary

Today is the 600th anniversary of the English Victory at the Battle of Agincourt



I managed to visit the battle site a decade or so ago

In December we will be visiting London and am looking forward to seeing this display:
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/oct/18/tower-of-london-agincourt-600-years-on-louvre

Tanktober #25

If you've been to this venue I think you'll recognise it immediately:

Tanktober #24

Tanktober #23

Light but not lightweight!

Tanktober #22

An unusual specimen!

England Expects that Every Man Shall Do His Duty

The famous hoist onboard Nelson's flagship HMS Victory

We interrupt the steady stream of Tanktober goodness (you can find today's entry here) to remember the 210th Anniversary of this great naval engagement and the death of Vice Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson who was fatally wounded during the battle.  Raise your glass "To the Immortal Memory"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Trafalgar

In the meantime HMS Victory, which remains the oldest commissioned warship in the world, has been restored to her 1805 colours and raised some eyebrows...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/11908365/Restored-HMS-Victory-raises-eyebrows-with-new-pink-shade.html

Tanktober #21

To mark the end of Tanktober week 3 we have another special guest submission, this time from my old gaming buddy "Oberst Owen".  This one is quite the challenge...

Tanktober #20

Cruel Necessity

I've been looking at this ECW boardgame from Victory Point Games for awhile now and finally ordered it this week.

In this solitaire game one plays the Parliamentarians and tries to balance a range of political, military and religious matters to try and wrest control of the country away from HM King Charles.  It clearly has quite an array of variables which impact those and failure in any one of them leads to defeat.  The 75 different event cards add a lot period flavour and deployability value too.

The tactical aspects are also of interest, but the game could clearly be used quite easily as a campaign system with the tactical battles resolved on the tabletop.  That might have a lot of promise actually, and one I'll put my mind to as I play the game and get a feel for it.

There are quite a few detailed reviews and playthroughs on YouTube.  I'll post my own thoughts here once I've given it a go.  The good news is that when you loose at this game, the Royalists triumph - yay!



http://www.victorypointgames.com/cruel-necessity.html

Tanktober #19

Movie Review: The Martian

Back in July I read the Andy Weir's book The Martian and posted a positive review of that here.
I went and saw the movie today and thought a follow up was warranted.

Ridley Scott has doen a great job with the film adaptation and stayed very true to the book.  At 2hr 22 min he had to cut a few of the challenges that Astronaut Mark Watney faces on the Red Planet, and he added a few scenes at the end which overall I think gave a better sense of closure to the story.

With only one exception, I thought the casting was very good and the characters.  Sean Bean doesn't even die in this movie, which makes a change for him.

Overall, a very good movie.  Read the book first and its even better.

Tanktober #18

A very distinctive AFV...

Tanktober #17

Only one previous owner...

Tanktober #16

Remember: bonus points are awarded for being first to correctly ID the tank AND pick the location.  The latter is a toughie for this one though...

ECW Uniforms

I recently found another useful article at Warlords Games, which depicts some of the ECW displays at the Combined Military Services Museum - here

The museum’s English Civil War collection is one of the finest in the country, with armour, swords, polearms, muskets and clothing from the period on display.

http://www.cmsm.co.uk/collections.php

Alan and I clearly need to find an excuse to go on an ECW pilgrimage to the UK I think...

Tanktober #15

Something special for Tanktober's half way point!
For those just joining in, feel free to go back and fill in your answers for previous entries to catchup

Tanktober #14

To celebrate the completion of the second week of Tanktober 2015, the ever dapper Dux Hormunculorum (the original creator of Tanktober BTW) has provided this submission.  Thanks mate, and you'll get credited one point in thanks!

Wargames Illustrated just posted this article at their website here.  Funnily enough I just ordered this last week and am waiting for it to arrive, so I shall add my own thoughts on this volume in due course.

An Alternative History of Britain: The English Civil War

Posted on 13/10/2015 by Mark // 0 Comments

By Timothy Venning, Pen & Sword Books Ltd., 2015 [ISBN: 9781473827820]

Reviewed by Robert Giglio

Excerpt from the back cover of the book:

“With hindsight, the victory of Parliamentarian forces over the Royalists in the English Civil War may seem inevitable, but this outcome was not a foregone conclusion. Timothy Venning explores many of the turning points and discusses how they might so easily have played out differently. The author analyses the plausible possibilities in each thread, throwing light on the role of chance and underlying factors in the real outcome, as well as what might easily have been different.”

Mr. Venning’s book follows his other titles in the ‘Alternative History’ genre, as he lays out very convincing details of how King Charles I and the Royalists could have won at various times during the years of the First English Civil War. Being a Cavalier myself, I wish it would have been so, and some things are quite plausible; yet, being a realist, I know there are aspects that just would not work. This discussion however, could go on for years (and has), though probably in the UK it does not rival the US’s more popular “If the South had won the American Civil War…”

The book is a very good read as the author convincingly points out situations where the Royalists could have tipped the scales militarily throughout the years of the Civil War. Other aspects are examined as well, such as the war in Ireland and the Royalists’ outcome there, as well as how circumstances could have favored Parliament and the New Model Army at different phases of the war.

For the wargamer, this book provides circumstances that could lead to theoretical battles at every phase of the war, since different outcomes presented are based on plausible possibilities. Of course, the easiest and simplest of these ‘what if’ scenarios to game would be those where a battle could have been fought a second day: second day of Edgehill; second day of First Newbury; second day of Second Newbury. Other scenarios might include: what if the King had retained the 2,000 odd veteran cavalry that were sent off with Lord Goring (in a huff) to the West prior to Naseby; alternately, what if the letter (orders) made it to Goring and he actually marched to join the King prior to the battle (which would’ve been a big help against Cromwell’s cavalry command on the Royalist left wing!). The possibilities are endless, and many are as nicely outlined in the book for the entire war.

While the book covers many ‘what if’ aspects of battles and campaigns, there are no orders of battle or such, so the wargamer would have to consult one of the myriad of books or scenarios of battles they want to refight or alter in order to play a ‘what if’ battle. However, this should be quite an easy task, as the English Civil War abounds with many books and scenarios detailing battles.

This book is recommended as a good read, since it provides some provoking thoughts about the battle possibilities. For creative wargamers, An Alternative History of Britain: The English Civil War, introduces a number of ‘what if’ battles to game.

Tanktober #13

Tanktober #12

A different angle this time, just to shift things about!

Tanktober #11

This one is for you Dux!

Tanktober #10

Bonus points Saturday - for additional scores:

* identify BOTH the tanks in the Background and the Foreground

* What was the common slang name given to the foreground Tank by its crews?

Tanktober #9

Be careful, you'll need the right model number this time...

Tanktober #9

Be careful, you'll need the right model number this time...

Tanktober #8

Something more vintage today:

Looking a bit younger again.  I wish I could do that trick...

7th Amnesiaversary Giveaway Winner!

A big hello and thanks to Millsy and Evan over at the Cannister and Grape blog. The boys recently ran a "7th Amnesiaversary Giveaway" to celebrate their blogversary. I was thrilled to be told I had won the GW Nurgle Chaos Lord prize and he is now destined to be a Star Player or a Chaos Warrior for one of Right Stuff's Blood Bowl teams.

Thanks Lads - very much appreciated!  Congrats on the blog milestone and I'm looking forward to many more years of fantastic eye candy there!

http://canisterandgrape.blogspot.com/2015/10/lucky-7-amnesiaversary-giveaway-winners.html?showComment=1444224825266#c1084645378368751378

"Star Quarterback Glorg Puscrusher"

PS If you are looking for today's Tanktober image look here

Tanktober #7

A week in and some good scores are racking up! If you've missed some along the way feel free to go back and do them now and the points will be credited - answers wont be published until Tanktober ends.

Here is the Tally thus far - some good leads but its still anyone's game.
Those bonus points really help out too :-)

Correct at time of graph generation - no responsibility taken for later entries not being reflected here :-)

Tanktober #6

Somewhere a little different today!

Hmmm...the Lad looks a bit smaller in this one!

Tanktober #5

Mixing it up a bit today.  My intention was to post only pics of tanks which I have personally visited, but the spirit of Tanktober is clearly contagious and I received this submission from Steve H from Firebase Ares blog.  Tanks a lot Steve!

Tanktober #4

Tanktober continues... (dont know whats going on? look here)

Tanktober #3

Tanktober competition Day 3 presents this very characterful beast (see here).

Just to be clear on scoring:
      1 point for correct identification of the vehicle
      1 point for doing so first
      1 point for identifying the location

You can go back and fill out any missed days at any time, so late-commers can catch up easily.

Tanktober #2

The Tanktober competition continues (see here) - feel free to go back and complete the previous entry also.  Good luck!

And with yours truly!

Tanktober Begins!

Happy Tanktober everyone!

Tanktober is a month to zealously promote tracked behemoths.  Hard to argue with that really!

As I have no ability to model or build tanks in my current condition, I will be dedicating my Tanktober homage activities this year to publishing pictures of tanks, but only those which I have personally taken.

The reciprocal challenge to you guys is to identify the tank pictured each day.
I'll keep a tally and whoever gets the most points over the month will win a prize!
Bonus points for being the first to get the right answer and/or the location :-)

We shall start with an easy one to get you going: