Meta tags:
description=The Independent Wargames Group,a regular blog about wargaming, military history, wargames reviews, views and everything to do with model toy soldiers.;

Headings (most frequently used words):

miniatures, blog, to, jackdaw, 2025, 6mm, aut, the, french, rsm, wargamer, february, 2026, my, austrian, subscribe, independent, wargames, group, interview, with, monday, thursday, friday, smoggycon, cesar, nihil, for, gilder, archive, figures, syw, of, hinchliffe, and, unabridged, tuesday, 24, january, 30, may, 11, april, 10, march, napoleonic, set, up, hussars, grenzer, 2013, 2012, smoogycon, 2009, contact, form, total, pageviews, sister, hopefully, good, read, renaissance, wargamers, homage, peter, search, this, pginthegrandmanner, blogspot, com, featured, post, popular, posts, translate, nostalgic, whim, about, me, battle, scene, napoleonics, pages, list, followers, labels, at, his, best, eureka, willie, hungarians, carthaginians, breton, volunteers, commander, ducal, lancers, seven, years, war, austrians, grenadiers, france, command, cavalry, opc, infantry, cuirassiers, ian, kay, irregular, some, quick, thoughts, future, is, greyish, charlie, wesencraft, author, great, man, part, two, mardi, gras, tonic, everyone, goodbye, all, that,

Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (445), and (256), was (193), that (126), wargaming (65), for (65), but (59), with (56), had (55), you (55), have (45), battle (43), very (40), february (39), his (38), were (38), about (38), #january (36), march (35), all (35), one (35), april (32), may (32), #wargames (32), they (32), would (31), november (30), charlie (29), december (28), august (28), september (28), october (28), well (28), john (28), figures (27), some (27), rules (27), june (26), july (26), from (26), did (26), this (25), there (25), are (25), been (24), ian (23), who (23), also (22), know (22), like (22), which (21), what (21), good (21), great (21), not (20), really (20), when (20), again (19), just (19), wargamers (19), them (19), still (19), how (19), 2025 (18), wargamer (18), david (18), war (17), game (17), thought (17), never (17), actually (17), history (16), book (16), then (16), got (16), donald (16), remember (16), down (15), armies (15), will (15), could (15), because (15), battles (14), people (14), two (14), said (14), wonderful (14), him (14), series (14), wanted (14), french (13), over (13), can (13), being (13), first (13), comments (13), wargame (13), anyway (13), after (13), regiment (12), miniatures (12), years (12), 6mm (12), other (12), out (12), think (12), new (12), time (12), interview (12), their (12), 2026 (11), where (11), books (11), has (11), show (11), thing (11), collection (11), enough (11), met (11), more (11), model (11), blog (10), now (10), should (10), posts (10), set (10), games (10), used (10), your (10), received (10), around (10), week (9), little (9), published (9), soldiers (9), things (9), group (9), hobby (9), took (9), always (9), using (9), its (9), back (9), year (9), few (9), york (9), wasn (9), sold (9), don (9), featherstone (9), only (9), battlefields (9), each (9), wrote (9), practical (9), didn (9), made (9), old (8), troops (8), into (8), independentwargamesgroup (8), lucky (8), young (8), idea (8), even (8), hopefully (8), get (8), whilst (8), peter (8), before (8), posted (8), world (8), too (8), day (8), big (8), lovely (8), must (8), friend (8), charles (8), wesencraft (8), realised (8), came (8), meet (8), television (8), beautiful (8), night (8), asked (8), invited (8), duncan (8), austrian (7), hinchliffe (7), syw (7), irregular (7), napoleonic (7), stuff (7), independent (7), home (7), life (7), take (7), through (7), particular (7), sadly (7), three (7), poor (7), atom (7), research (7), lot (7), wars (7), say (7), civil (7), quite (7), especially (7), make (7), away (7), bit (7), person (7), period (7), want (7), convention (7), these (7), local (7), understand (7), castle (7), created (7), rsm (6), jackdaw (6), seven (6), gilder (6), best (6), quick (6), metal (6), stuart (6), general (6), view (6), copy (6), magazine (6), many (6), see (6), found (6), name (6), off (6), collections (6), wife (6), historical (6), come (6), tell (6), every (6), battlefield (6), several (6), man (6), favourite (6), later (6), film (6), place (6), accepted (6), find (6), chap (6), newcastle (6), duke (6), blenheim (6), russian (6), our (6), artillery (5), kay (5), painting (5), school (5), times (5), discovered (5), age (5), point (5), right (5), doesn (5), look (5), read (5), decided (5), last (5), reading (5), better (5), another (5), ideas (5), early (5), 1980 (5), top (5), however (5), although (5), use (5), done (5), looked (5), saw (5), finally (5), those (5), yes (5), generous (5), end (5), actual (5), fought (5), chandler (5), written (5), military (5), terry (5), both (5), meeting (5), organised (5), walk (5), didnt (5), braithwaite (5), otterburn (5), help (5), fight (5), nothing (5), started (5), refight (5), hard (5), certain (5), decent (5), smaller (5), borodino (5), such (5), paint (5), cavalry (4), 2012 (4), 2013 (4), 2015 (4), thoughts (4), originally (4), toy (4), models (4), list (4), blogspot (4), com (4), certainly (4), future (4), aim (4), believe (4), seem (4), black (4), powder (4), weekend (4), small (4), post (4), subscribe (4), aut (4), while (4), moved (4), enjoy (4), smoggycon (4), thursday (4), selling (4), much (4), definitely (4), full (4), talking (4), table (4), painted (4), move (4), quickly (4), english (4), monday (4), any (4), usual (4), ever (4), huge (4), feel (4), army (4), box (4), famous (4), clearly (4), friday (4), writing (4), went (4), most (4), present (4), waterloo (4), fire (4), became (4), having (4), result (4), given (4), mine (4), happened (4), something (4), turned (4), same (4), company (4), close (4), call (4), unfortunately (4), wrong (4), gave (4), bob (4), nice (4), producer (4), six (4), course (4), ended (4), she (4), write (4), events (4), pike (4), musket (4), various (4), american (4), knew (4), here (4), days (4), sent (4), part (4), hall (4), perhaps (4), left (4), university (4), kindly (4), naturally (4), provide (4), play (4), father (4), village (4), tents (4), service (4), enjoyable (4), obituary (4), simply (4), sculpted (4), ranges (4), garde (3), infantry (3), command (3), grenzer (3), 2009 (3), 2019 (3), vintage (3), room (3), problem (3), stand (3), british (3), asquith (3), dont (3), without (3), able (3), pupils (3), late (3), way (3), opinion (3), released (3), honours (3), admit (3), plastic (3), changed (3), review (3), manage (3), finish (3), ago (3), contained (3), version (3), total (3), photographs (3), sit (3), getting (3), money (3), put (3), numbers (3), number (3), real (3), needs (3), true (3), experience (3), once (3), hail (3), prior (3), enjoyed (3), regret (3), until (3), taking (3), excellent (3), exciting (3), america (3), probably (3), ones (3), interesting (3), managed (3), fascinating (3), detail (3), understood (3), join (3), fun (3), buy (3), towards (3), throw (3), dice (3), played (3), chess (3), amazing (3), wise (3), supposed (3), instead (3), called (3), tyne (3), tees (3), flodden (3), finished (3), gun (3), younger (3), north (3), since (3), somewhere (3), republic (3), start (3), independence (3), funny (3), reason (3), began (3), luckily (3), newsletter (3), second (3), stayed (3), told (3), brack (3), odd (3), create (3), build (3), rang (3), built (3), lectures (3), students (3), author (3), figure (3), harold (3), airfix (3), fame (3), morning (3), next (3), though (3), order (3), plan (3), travelling (3), importantly (3), round (3), important (3), why (3), felt (3), brief (3), aware (3), gush (3), ecw (3), 25mm (3), rule (3), dad (3), units (3), strips (3), simple (2), cuirassiers (2), royal (2), hussars (2), heavy (2), grenadiers (2), commander (2), introduction (2), 2010 (2), 2011 (2), 2014 (2), 2016 (2), 2017 (2), 2018 (2), 2020 (2), 2021 (2), 2022 (2), 2023 (2), 2024 (2), archive (2), update (2), campaign (2), break (2), project (2), grand (2), slowly (2), 28mm (2), brigade (2), acw (2), lead (2), firing (2), 101 (2), napoleonics (2), scene (2), wargamingtheborgias (2), honestly (2), state (2), pretty (2), financial (2), boy (2), teacher (2), loved (2), convey (2), enthusiasm (2), mature (2), sometimes (2), become (2), drama (2), type (2), afternoon (2), collect (2), laid (2), bed (2), magazines (2), tend (2), latest (2), discuss (2), moving (2), balance (2), wtf (2), greyish (2), popular (2), cesar (2), nihil (2), paul (2), stevenson (2), article (2), miniature (2), conducted (2), unabridged (2), featured (2), renaissance (2), journal (2), views (2), prejudices (2), nationwide (2), wide (2), iwg (2), adopted (2), response (2), dominant (2), appears (2), somewhat (2), golden (2), rantings (2), less (2), legs (2), 00pm (2), noticed (2), tabletop (2), sales (2), area (2), quality (2), honest (2), club (2), involved (2), strange (2), different (2), trade (2), busy (2), hadn (2), travel (2), hand (2), promise (2), struggle (2), couple (2), westerhope (2), imagine (2), mean (2), weren (2), couldn (2), seemed (2), birthday (2), anyone (2), mardi (2), gras (2), open (2), mind (2), god (2), south (2), ceasar (2), lost (2), let (2), hugely (2), ancient (2), brigadier (2), seen (2), whatever (2), means (2), under (2), entire (2), price (2), fault (2), hope (2), regarding (2), everyone (2), passing (2), thinking (2), thank (2), thanks (2), kept (2), personalities (2), helped (2), influential (2), walked (2), job (2), gettysberg (2), malborough (2), churchill (2), lose (2), twice (2), wearing (2), personality (2), deal (2), moment (2), presented (2), excessive (2), afraid (2), fantasy (2), zulu (2), least (2), malburian (2), ask (2), questions (2), fury (2), based (2), shouldn (2), secondary (2), currently (2), 1970 (2), role (2), serious (2), easily (2), pieces (2), learn (2), knowledgeable (2), companions (2), reference (2), christmas (2), card (2), paddy (2), griffiths (2), men (2), wanting (2), attend (2), arranged (2), annual (2), run (2), shot (2), hilarious (2), work (2), hero (2), talk (2), newburn (2), titled (2), pilot (2), add (2), hospital (2), telephone (2), scripts (2), caesar (2), recently (2), battleground (2), curry (2), available (2), sounds (2), shaped (2), leading (2), publishers (2), shame (2), further (2), playing (2), act (2), hurt (2), presentation (2), affair (2), isn (2), matter (2), commentary (2), whole (2), benburg (2), yellow (2), ford (2), historian (2), visited (2), described (2), followed (2), fit (2), united (2), states (2), minds (2), rest (2), arnold (2), society (2), receiving (2), pence (2), presenting (2), impressive (2), centre (2), pete (2), between (2), feet (2), services (2), cheap (2), won (2), palace (2), commemorate (2), mistake (2), far (2), five (2), speak (2), church (2), concerned (2), 500 (2), fell (2), scale (2), floor (2), picked (2), someone (2), speech (2), dinner (2), house (2), attended (2), woolworths (2), sure (2), bloke (2), living (2), attending (2), months (2), moves (2), during (2), neighbour (2), ammunition (2), walls (2), grew (2), hill (2), push (2), valhalla (2), tented (2), needed (2), erect (2), sir (2), commanding (2), officer (2), wales (2), administrator (2), national (2), trained (2), fighting (2), eventually (2), barracks (2), durham (2), fact (2), alive (2), case (2), tony (2), grant (2), individual (2), basically (2), original (2), 1990 (2), havent (2), size (2), change (2), ive (2), shows (2), suffer (2), pillage (2), politics (2), choice (2), easier (2), main (2), unpainted (2), midguard (2), epic (2), tuesday (2), knights (2), anything (2), 54mm (2), revolution (2), skilled (2), potential (2), theme, powered, blogger, modena, bavaria, lorraine, corse, opc, officers, servant, marshal, saxe, train, france, ligne, austrians, ducal, lancers, breton, volunteers, carthaginians, hungarians, soubise, swiss, willie, arquebussiers, grassin, eureka, cuirssiers, labels, followers, timeless, traveller, miscellany, warplan, system, santa, helper, unfashionably, shiny, spring, report, episode, return, mad, guru, dining, rose, detector, nyudrev, chronicles, anhalt, zerbst, ready, glossing, duchy, stollen, margravinate, huhnerland, electorate, kopf, schlager, sculpting, footguards, low, flame, saxon, dog, hooptedoodle, 497, garden, prometheus, aspic, mooching, aboot, pauly, wauly, fpw, 1870, 1st, reshaping, generic, wss, colours, simon, miller, appointment, transfers, maverick, casting, season, gardens, dbsyw, fontenoy, ilkley, mughal, mutineers, highlanders, glorious, tribute, classic, sassanid, commanders, carry, dale, pettygree, goes, emmaus, campaigns, germania, month, brown, warships, submarines, horse, rustling, steve, random, musings, pages, uns, complete, profile, forget, check, forty, dismal, threatened, inspired, subject, base, 1960, hobbies, redundant, 21st, century, taught, schools, worry, colour, adventure, concerns, inspire, rewarding, deep, nostalgic, whim, translate, spiel, gamers, direction, dashed, sorting, office, parcel, pleased, digby, smith, osprey, keith, flint, excited, inexpensive, specific, encounter, amended, trawling, courier, fall, asleep, invariably, min, profits, amongst, changers, occurred, firmament, pla, changes, bet, stress, worst, unavailable, alexandria, rifles, louisiana, eveni, pginthegrandmanner, search, http, petergilderalifeinwargaming, homage, sister, pageviews, email, message, contact, form, beating, smoogycon, austria, 1809, older, draw, conclusions, previous, mass, survived, talked, tucked, wild, lives, usually, mobbed, large, lads, clamped, traders, exploiting, might, quieter, buying, ken, yarkshire, italian, gents, improved, smooth, entry, queuing, respects, granted, cylinders, stands, dave, thomas, cracked, smile, yet, xenos, rampant, sell, killing, birds, stone, wobble, bumping, posse, nasty, gang, balaclavas, justify, trojan, already, gone, leave, control, strictly, sensible, thin, goodbye, celebrations, orleans, recommend, final, need, energy, ability, hold, drink, anymore, locals, charming, bless, lifetime, knackered, ill, following, turmoil, cancelled, flights, etc, buggered, cracking, blunders, entertaining, give, happier, note, release, brilliant, naked, fanatics, chariots, worse, charge, disappeared, atlantic, bad, sale, bay, lofty, title, rodiss, naively, reasonable, hoped, pricing, temptation, buck, requested, messages, former, tonic, informed, legendary, pioneer, planning, inspiration, england, grow, country, toured, known, americans, preserving, multi, player, makes, holds, problems, side, overcame, obstacles, serviced, boots, particularly, enjoying, companion, weapons, members, regimental, mainly, mike, fisher, hexagons, tactics, knowing, afford, laughing, pensioner, achieved, purpose, charts, aspect, agree, spoil, gives, within, broad, outline, preferred, accurate, often, than, genuine, hostility, opponent, wells, thousand, individuals, stated, universal, edited, rate, worth, silly, hat, proposing, hats, colonel, delegates, coming, invites, missendon, abbey, invite, conference, ridiculous, stage, constantly, slightly, together, cartoon, suppose, frank, silent, jerky, speed, heavens, knows, johnson, weatherman, 55pm, ten, included, pinkie, lines, professional, career, dvd, four, filmed, hit, neither, cheat, insisted, smoke, blown, nerves, anxiety, attack, fainting, taken, prepare, record, vicar, daughter, swore, trooper, appalled, watching, ladies, heard, blue, asking, portray, cannae, hannibal, julius, page, foolscap, tyneside, council, input, iconic, produced, defunct, contacted, widely, manuscript, filed, try, terrific, steps, freedom, describe, description, braddock, massacre, key, consider, hotspur, douglas, stuck, traffic, route, event, scots, positioned, viewing, brawl, fortunately, badly, 1988, conduct, marched, test, gathering, irish, blathering, fly, ireland, making, museums, near, keen, amateur, totally, notice, visit, spain, portugal, rome, greece, footsteps, alexander, asia, minor, travelled, wonderfully, preserved, study, obscure, material, fad, peers, seller, central, library, stolen, complement, saying, benedict, classed, traitor, letter, gentleman, amazed, 1500, copies, royalties, publisher, says, critical, chapters, recovery, returned, bedroom, nurse, cheeky, beggar, bring, load, hernia, operation, remain, convalescent, recover, novices, decide, explains, musical, reputation, baptism, fist, region, nevilles, cross, masters, regalia, sword, pointer, president, lecture, barnard, public, active, groups, reopening, visitor, cullodon, field, scottish, arbeia, roman, fort, prudhoe, fulwell, windmill, aydon, corbridge, commissions, stirling, bridge, modelling, items, berry, opening, enthusiastic, van, trekked, fill, gaps, section, upset, apologetic, exhibition, building, skills, foot, sections, plywood, filled, baccus, offered, 2004, going, placing, positions, exactly, rib, bearing, none, wargamed, female, student, german, deliver, half, hour, saturday, running, higham, lake, district, gentle, incredibly, fondly, abiding, memory, onion, sticking, account, putting, phrase, generals, remind, faux, pas, marshals, scrabbling, looking, damned, voice, boomed, showing, audience, dramatically, dropping, penultimate, arrows, striking, microphone, gods, hastings, 1966, tremendous, whenever, neville, dickenson, east, paying, duly, thanked, trough, edge, causalities, ingenious, digressing, responded, telling, outside, town, 00am, everywhere, drove, southampton, pick, whose, garrison, friendship, strangely, completely, accident, function, converting, jack, scruby, tried, desperate, notes, slept, pub, somehow, inexplicably, eclectic, mix, britain, fighter, bohemian, giving, nephew, melted, catapult, devised, defending, attacking, pencils, love, parents, fascinated, castles, holiday, derbyshire, sick, pushing, chair, journey, truly, exists, functions, bald, grey, haired, chaps, wonder, behold, chairman, joined, yourself, ordered, obtain, bell, absolutely, erected, blew, lent, sight, 000, arriving, soon, expect, drawn, arrivals, scout, incident, unfair, entailed, forces, organising, social, sports, typically, fourteen, anti, aircraft, defend, commissioned, lieutenant, reliable, pounder, fifth, ending, mons, onto, deepcut, commission, 1947, conscripted, education, degree, architecture, obviously, born, 1928, shields, county, hexham, grammar, ado, reader, 1974, 1975, classics, works, relevance, missing, difference, path, attributed, bringing, masses, bath, irrepressible, persons, foundation, trying, authors, associate, intelligent, modest, guy, runkee, recorded, press, deserved, internet, poorer, writer, thinker, human, lesson, doggedness, struggling, sum, appropriate, repost, story, personally, ranks, listen, joy, 1989, spoken, quietly, refighting, queried, depressing, realisation, wish, doubt, wants, majority, enter, heads, suddenly, bugger, guys, panzer, super, powerful, ancillary, characters, importance, resume, current, crop, interest, nowadays, bosh, except, own, illustrated, okay, spoke, polite, fellas, agreed, format, passed, media, shortly, entered, coutts, canny, evening, loss, george, influence, detailed, deserves, apologise, lack, seeing, blame, justified, extent, reality, genius, latter, ambition, win, pressures, cost, forcing, prices, shrinking, hence, horizon, struck, focefully, healthy, producded, resin, improving, qualitity, expotentially, nots, text, whats, below, tally, worklife, factor, hadnt, face, sensation, whether, personal, reasons, wouldnt, analysing, brush, desire, sort, virtually, introducded, midgard, examples, narratives, stories, suffered, ensconsed, learning, curve, thankfully, sng, worked, actuually, accept, finance, raise, funds, reluctantly, massive, equally, precious, necessary, isnt, useful, generally, doubts, hurtled, faced, answer, ignore, prove, felicitations, noticeable, trends, hours, issue, bigger, effort, brushes, purchased, kick, loosely, crying, becomes, established, realise, becoming, happy, types, materials, marvel, resins, vikings, chose, bloody, crux, roses, completed, rebel, opted, tweaked, recommended, ratings, subjective, emperor, inconsistent, generalship, washington, sets, revolutionaries, defining, opposed, periods, mechanisms, losing, attempt, alternate, doing, 100, heraldry, broke, strip, piece, mounted, died, owe, phenomenon, talent, contributing, annoying, turn, growing, business, continued, performing, bands, performs, lies, diagnosed, long, standing, debilitating, condition, 40mm, soldier, stylised, justice, success, rightly, 1999, spanish, quaint, converted, chapel, laden, passion, float, boat, backpacks, uniforms, enormous, austerlitz, friedland, wagram, leipzig, unit, sculptor, historic, buildings, 200, plus, terrain, boards, trees, sheep, ponds, hooked, churning, ancients, supply, vast, amounts, mention, fantastic, mail, overseen, projects, ians, squadron, thats, inviting, community, hunwick, follower, embraced, introduced, 5mm, range, owned, heroic, ros, masse, beginning, undoubted, talents, sculpt, invested, 15mm, hanging, ladle, retiring, retired, stall, accessories, silversmith, stepped, red, divisions, 1987,

Text of the page (random words):
buy in a box he also sculpted a beautiful 54mm french revolution chess set that lies unpainted somewhere in a box when ian was diagnosed with a long standing debilitating condition he began to create his beautiful 40mm and 54mm toy soldier ranges they are beautiful stylised figures and i wanted some until i realised i couldn t do them justice i know his toy soldiers were a huge success and rightly so ian is one of those annoying people who can turn his hand to anything and while growing his business continued performing with various bands i know he still performs wargamers owe a lot to ian his dad and irregular miniatures a small company that grew the 6mm phenomenon thanks ian for all your wonderful hard work talent and contributing to our hobby posted by independentwargamesgroup at tuesday february 24 2026 7 comments monday 9 february 2026 some quick thoughts i have some time to post and should update what im doing basically its losing nothing new there really john and i attempt to get one battle a week and we alternate between midguard using john s lovely armies pillage and then hail caesar or black powder isn t it strange how we now speak of rule mechanisms as defining our wargames as opposed to actual periods there was a time it would be 25mm or 28mm napoleonics or some such thing but now its the actual rules and nothing wrong with that especially when the rules really add to the games john recently completed painting our epic armies for the war of independence this was actually the one game i ve won being a rebel i naturally opted for the american revolutionaries the new tweaked black powder rules in the epic sets are very good i m not certain about their recommended general ratings but i did like the washington rules regarding his inconsistent generalship but its all subjective look at the emperor and his off days last week i chose to fight the wars of the roses using midguard god was that bloody and yes i lost again it didn t matter because it was such an enjoyable game and that s the crux play hard and enjoy it in an effort to take up the brushes again i purchased an unpainted 3d chess set in the hope it would kick start things the pieces loosely based on vikings are beautiful and crying out for a decent paint job the more 3d becomes established the more i realise that metal is becoming the choice of more mature wargamers whilst younger ie under 50 are happy with all types of materials i still like metal to be honest but i marvel at the quality of plastic and the new resins one thing very noticeable is that the trends are for smaller games that take only a few hours to play again ive no issue with that especially when the game is really enjoyable john and i still tend to push the size of the armies when fighting the new rule books we just like bigger armies posted by independentwargamesgroup at monday february 09 2026 5 comments thursday 1 january 2026 good morning and felicitations on the first day of 2026 i felt that i should type something in my main blog to 1 prove i was alive 2 i am still a wargamer 3 because i wanted to put down some thoughts about 2025 my last post was back in may 2025 and at that time i faced a lot of questions that i needed to answer or simply ignore 2025 became the year that i wanted to actually become useful again that is generally and had nothing to do with wargaming in fact i had serious doubts about my future in wargaming as i hurtled towards the big 70 in order to finance my main aim for 2025 i had to raise some funds and reluctantly sold my lovely 25mm english civil wars collections i was in several minds about which one of my collections to lose it could have been my massive syw collection my acw collection or several smaller but equally precious smaller collections but it was my ecw collection that went it hurt but was necessary as politics even local ones isnt cheap did i regret sng the ecw collection that i had worked so hard to build of course i did but needs must and now that i know it is actuually being used its a little easier to accept so by may 2025 i was ensconsed in local politics and that has been a huge learning curve and took up a great deal of my time but i dont regret the choice thankfully but wargaming suffered not the games because i made certain i was able to get a game virtually every week with john who introducded me to the world of midgard and later pillage both have been hugely enjoyable and are examples of well thought out wargame rules that provide a fun game but also great narratives and stories what did suffer was my painting i havent picked up a brush since may 2025 not because i didnt have time but simply because i had no desire to paint a figure of any sort i hadnt felt like that since the very early 1980 s every wargamer will face the same sensation eventually whether because of personal or financial reasons but in my case i didnt see the point of painting more figures that i simply wouldnt use perhaps it was a result of selling my ecw collections its not important now and there is no point analysing something that could change again very quickly another thing that did suffer was me attending wargames shows in the end i managed three which is well below my usual tally sadly worklife balance was a big factor the shows i attended i enjoyed not because of the trade not because of the games but because of the wargamers i met ive just noticed there are a lot of nots in the text whats that about anyway here we are in 2026 and a big birthday on the horizon will that change things hopefully not one thing that struck me focefully is the healthy state of the hobby the rules being producded provide some excellent games the figures especially the resin and plastic ones are improving in qualitity expotentially unfortunately the pressures on our cost of living are forcing prices up and shrinking the size of armies and collections hence the smaller games being popular perhaps one ambition i do have is i would actually like to win a game in 2026 as i havent come close all of 2025 i should blame my dice and i would be justified to a certain extent but the reality is im just not a very good general or john is a wargaming genius i think its the latter i must apologise for the lack of photographs my poor pc is on its last legs and needs a good seeing to 2025 saw the loss of another influential wargamer and all round decent man george gush sadly there was no decent obituary of gush who was a huge influence on me and john in the 1980 s with his wonderful renaissance rules and books perhaps someone will provide a detailed obituary of mr gush he deserves one posted by independentwargamesgroup at thursday january 01 2026 20 comments friday 30 may 2025 the future is greyish wtf good evening it s been a very busy may but sadly very little to do with wargaming in april shortly after i discovered charlie wesencraft had entered valhalla i got a call from the john coutts of westerhope fame who was canny close to charlie john was concerned that wargamers would not be aware that charlie had passed away and asked me if i would do a brief obituary for the wargames media ie one of the magazines so other wargamers would be aware well i finally found time this week and rang up wargames illustrated to ask them if it was okay i spoke to a couple of lovely polite fellas who agreed they could find a place for a brief obituary of charlie although it didnt really fit in their usual magazine format that was great except through no fault of their own they weren t aware of who charlie actually was it got me thinking after i had given them a brief resume of who charlie was and what he had done for the hobby i realised that the current crop of wargamers really have no interest in when how and why wargaming came about because like most things nowadays it s not important to them all they want is to play a game paint a few figures and then go home bosh military history is only ancillary to their wargaming wargaming history and the wonderful characters who created the hobby really are of no importance to them just get some figures on the table bugger the history oh look those guys are panzer grenadiers so must be super powerful i suddenly felt very very old which of course i am i ve no doubt there will be the odd and i mean odd younger wargamer who actually wants to know about these people but for the majority it doesn t even enter their heads i think i understand why at least i feel i understand but it doesn t make it any better well for me it doesn t so with that depressing realisation i wish you well posted by independentwargamesgroup at friday may 30 2025 11 comments friday 11 april 2025 charlie wesencraft author wargamer and great man it was with great regret that i was informed of the passing of the legendary wargaming pioneer and friend charles wesencraft over the weekend charlie was 97 years of age but was still planning and thinking of wargaming until the end charlie for me personally ranks up there with charles grant and donald featherstone for his services to wargaming but also and probably more importantly charlie was a really great bloke funny enjoyable to listen to and just a joy to be around i first met charlie in 1989 when i invited him to my 6mm refight of the battle of blenheim he very kindly turned up even though we had only spoken by telephone and just quietly got on with refighting the battle practical wargamer march april 1990 he never queried the rules john and i used he just accepted his command after that i invited charlie to the refight again in 6mm of the battle of borodino where as a russian charlie gave me a lesson in russian doggedness i was struggling to sum up how important charlie was to wargaming and then i thought it appropriate to repost my 2015 posts when i was lucky enough to sit down with the great man and let him tell his wonderful story all i will say is it s a poorer wargaming world without charles charlie wesencraft writer thinker and all round decent human being the unabridged interview with a wargamer a while ago paul stevenson published an article in miniature wargames which contained a version of an interview that i conducted with the great charles wesencraft i know a lot of wargamers don t actually buy the wargaming press so i thought this deserved to be on the internet the full version was never used so leading on from my talk with tony runkee i thought it would be nice to have charlie s interview recorded in full on my blog so here s the original interview with a wargamer sometimes in life one is lucky enough to meet and associate with a person who you find to be fascinating funny intelligent modest and basically an all round good guy wargaming has been very lucky in that several of the people who can be attributed with bringing the hobby to the masses were just such people the late great donald featherstone tony bath charles grant and the irrepressible brigadier peter young were just such persons each one in their individual way laid the foundation for the present wargaming scene through their individual writing a new wargamer could feel the enthusiasm each was trying to convey more importantly in my view the way these authors wrote made the hobby seem not only the right thing to do but also a good place to want to be one name is missing from the list of what really should be a british wargaming hall of fame and that is charles wesencraft charles was the author of two wargaming books that certainly in my case made a big difference to how i set out on the wargaming path practical wargaming published 1974 and with pike and musket published 1975 are in my opinion wargaming classics both books are again available through the good works of john curry and both still have relevance in this day and age most importantly and certainly from charles view is the fact that he is still very much alive and still wargaming anyway without further ado i would like to take our reader to an interview with a wargamer rr charlie you were born in 1928 in south shields which was then in county durham you went to hexham grammar school and from there to newcastle university cw i never actually finished my university education though i was taking a degree in architecture but i realised that i just wasn t good enough i did however learn to make scale models which obviously has helped me later in life rr so what did you do after university cw well in 1947 i was conscripted into the army to do my national service i was originally with the fighting fifth infantry regiment in newcastle eventually ending up at the mons barracks and then onto deepcut barracks where i received my commission i was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the artillery and trained on the reliable 25 pounder typically after fourteen months i was sent to the 99 heavy anti aircraft regiment to defend wales for whatever reason i became the administrator for the regiment organising social events sports events and such rr what was it like cw i loved the army and if i hadn t met my wife to be i would probably have stayed in the forces it would have been very unfair if i had stayed as the life would have entailed travelling around the world and my wife had trained as a teacher so at the end of my service i left rr so what was national service like for a young officer cw i can remember clearly meeting my commanding officer in wales in my new role as administrator for the regiment the incident went something like this wesencraft i understand you used to be a boy scout yes sir so you will know all about tents then yes sir well we have 20 000 soldiers arriving very soon so i expect you to have a plan drawn up to house these arrivals so by the next morning i had created a beautiful plan of the tented village needed for these troops the plan was accepted and i was ordered to erect the tented village however i was only able to obtain three soldiers to help erect the tents unfortunately the tents were all bell tents which i knew absolutely nothing about we erected two in a day but these blew away during the night luckily my c o kindly lent me the entire regiment after that to build the village it was an impressive sight rr you clearly enjoyed yourself cw it was a great life so after i left the army i joined the ta for three years i am currently chairman of the 101 artillery regiment here in newcastle i can truly say valhalla exists should you ever attend one of our functions the number of bald or grey haired chaps is a wonder to behold rr what started you on your journey into wargaming cw i think it all started when i was three rr three cw we were on holiday in derbyshire and my father was clearly sick of pushing me around in the push chair so he said charlie if you walk up this hill you may find a castle at the top even then i was fascinated by castles sure enough my father was right at the top of the hill was a wonderful castle so when christmas came my parents gave me a model castle and soldiers my father dev...