Three In One

SOME 20 years ago I received, as an incentive, I believe, for renewing my membership of the Pike & Shot Society, a modestly sized booklet of Renaissance military texts.

Inside were extracts from three publications: a diary of the French 1684 siege of the city of Luxembourg, the London Gazette of July 1705, and letters from a junior officer in Marlborough's army (whether any of these date from the Renaissance is a moot point).

The fact it has taken me two decades to get round to reading the booklet suggests, correctly, that the subject matters were not of great interest to me.

Nevertheless, having at last opened it and dived in, I am glad I did, and I finished it, which is more than I can say for some books.

Handsome cover - fairly interesting contents

Slingshot 358

THE May/June edition of the Society of Ancient's journal has a lot of wargaming battle reports.

But the article that stands out for me is Adrian Nayler's on what appear to be votive figurines of Roman allied soldiers.

The cover shows a 12.3cm bronze, which Nayler reckons "almost certainly represents" an Etruscan

In many ways I should have found the wargaming articles more interesting, but I found them very difficult to follow - more captioned photos and/or maps required!

Taking Stock IV

Camelry

Painted specifically for a Midianite army, but can serve with any force that employed Arab camelry.

Taking Stock III

Egyptians

Left-to-right: a unit of close-order archers, three squadrons of chariots, Sherden, two units of marines (bows in front, spears behind) and three units of spearmen.

Under Neil Thomas's rules in Ancient & Medieval Wargaming a New Kingdom Egyptian army (1200-800 BC) consists of 1-3 squadrons of chariots, 2-4 units of biblical infantry armed with spears, 1-2 units of close-order archers and a maximum of one unit of Sherden.

The 10 units I have painted mean I can field any combination allowed under Thomas's rules.

Taking Stock II

My Hebrew forces

From left-to-right are two units of slingers, six units of auxiliaries, five squadrons of chariots and two units of javelinmen.

Under Neil Thomas's rules in Ancient & Medieval Wargaming, a pre-Solomon Israelite army consists of one-to-two units each of elite auxiliaries (Simeonites and/or Ephraimites), average javelinmen (Gaddites and/or Issacharites) and average slingers (Benjaminites).

In addition the army has two-to-four units of average auxiliaries (other seven tribes).

Solomon's army receives an extra choice in the shape of one-to-three squadrons of chariots.

Post-Solomonic Hebrew armies of both Israel and Judah are considered by Thomas to have "lost their cutting edge," and so use his Canaanite and Philistine list (armies that I have not recruited yet).

Taking Stock

MY 10mm biblical project is making slow, but steady, progress.

I recently put in an order for more figures, and think it is time to take stock of what I have painted so far.

Assyrians - organised for Neil Thomas's biblical rules in Ancient & Medieval Wargaming

On the left are three units of mixed spears and bows; in the centre are two units of close-order archers with, behind them, close-order cavalry; on the right are two units of spearmen.

They are meant to be Assyrians, but could just as easily fight for Babylon, with at least some of the units being suitable for other ancient armies from biblical times.

In Thomas's rules the suggested list for a New Assyrian Imperial Army (750-610 BC) is as follows (remembering that his armies always consist of eight units, and that I use different terminology).

Unit type - Number of units

Heavy chariots: 1-2

Close-order cavalry: 1-2

Close-order infantry: 2-4

Auxiliary infantry: 2-4

Close-order archers: 0-2

Clearly my collection is missing chariots, but, as will become clear in a later post, I have more than enough chariots for my Hebrew forces, and they can easily pass as Assyrian.

Indeed, such chariots featured prominently in the Egypt-v-Assyria battle I fought against my regular wargaming opponent in February.

Old Bregenz

I RECENTLY drew attention to Germany's Timber-Frame Road, which runs more than 1,800 miles from the Elbe river in the north to Bodensee (Lake Constance) in the south.

Bregenz is on the lake, but on the southern Austrian shore, and so is not part of the official road.

But it also has timber-frame houses, and not just in the historic upper town, as these examples from the lower town show.

Arias & Airships

BREGENZ today is best-known as a tourist destination, especially for German-speakers.

One of its attractions is that since 1946 it has hosted opera on the world's largest 'floating' opera stage, in Lake Constance (Bodensee in German).

The particular opera is changed every two years, with 2024 and 2025 seeing Der Freischütz (The Marksman).

The stage being finalised for this year's summer season

It looks so much more attractive in sunny weather than with a cloudy sky, as this post from less than a week earlier shows.

Recent Bregenz operas

Across the border in Germany, but also on the lake, is the town of Friedrichshafen, home of the Zeppelin.

Modern versions of the airship still fly, and can be ridden in, although when I last checked a few years ago a short flight cost about 300 euros.

A Zeppelin can just be seen against the sky in the distance

Bregenz Commemorative Plaque

BACK in Bregenz I spotted a plaque dedicated in 1988 on the 50th anniversary of the anschluss that saw Austria taken over by Nazi Germany and incorporated directly into the Third Reich.

The top part of the inscription, above names of some of those killed, roughly translates as: in memory of fellow citizens of Bregenz who lost their lives as victims of National Socialist tyranny from 1938-1945

Lindau War Memorial

I WAS not looking for war memorials in Lindau, but I did come across one, and it turned out to be for what is generally known in the English-speaking world as the Franco-Prussian War.*

The plaque roughly translates as: in honour of those from Lindau who did not return from the 1870-1871 war with France

*I do not claim most people have heard of the conflict, but that is what it is usually called by those who have (rather than the arguably more accurate Franco-German War).