A Bridge to Far

Well… what an amazing weekend I’ve just had, today was even better than yesterday. What was special about today is some people came and found me out after seeing the first post on the blog! It makes all the years I’ve been doing this hobby blog well worth it. I even got to meet ‘Two Sheds Fred’, which was great, because I had brought some of his terrain pieces to use in the game. 

The layout of the table was a clever ‘S’ bend so players could get to all the terrain. It also looked quite different and helped pull people over to the game.

Heavy armour rolls towards the bridge to crush anything in its path. These were a real hard nut to crack and were held off until the last. The heavy armour could be stopped with concentrated fire but the odds were high. Better hope that Royalist column hurries up or all will be lost.

I realised in my last post I hadn’t taken any pictures of the amazing terrain that group model maker had created. His name is Richard Brown and he uses very clever materials to create simple, yet stunning effects.

Dragoons exchange fire across the river into the neighbouring parliamentarian fortification.

We also had a civil war props table, it looks a bit bare here as the musket etc had been packed away. These tables are always a great draw for kids and it’s always fun to stick a hat on them for a photo.

A close up of some of the injured Dragoons holding out against the mounting forces of Parliament.

It was interesting to see the many outcomes to the games. Many ended true to the historical events, while others totally rewrote them!

“Well, I always thought it was a bridge to far…”

A recce force of Round heads thunders towards the bridge to test the strength of the enemy. 

Royalist Dragoons hold out doggedly.

Parliamentary troops dig in and prepare to hold the second bridge at all costs.

The tattered Royalist standard flies definitely over the shattered remains of the inn.

The relief column pushes on trying to reach their beleaguered comrades.

 

The band of brothers. A weekend of hard fighting but with rich rewards at the end. The game won silver for the participation category which was a great end to a brilliant weekend. Most of us had gone out on the town and enjoyed the ales in a local pub. Much fun was had, even if we had to pay for it the next day, but like true veterans we fought on to the very last!

 The award is a lovely looking piece, a dragon in the middle of a glass block. I was doubly pleased as I was the one who got to take it home to keep. 

I love the little details on Richard’s bridge, the little trowel on the mortar board and the stones etc. Lovely tiny details, very easily overlooked at that scale. A real work of art! The final block is put onto the bridge to finish it off!