Nimitz

Simon, as the more experienced gamer, commanded four ships of the RN while Lee took the Hipper and Königsberg.  I had the Scharnhorst and Leipzig. The models are Lees.  It had been a while since I last participated in a game of Nimitz, but it quickly came back to me.

The German fleet sailing in from the right.

If you look closely two ships are facing the wrong way,

always a challenge with this scale.

The Royal Navy ably represented by the somewhat lumbering Queen Elizabeth.

The fleets engage at long range.

The two British light cruisers have sailed off

 leaving their heavier sisters to face the full German force.

The Hipper has been sunk and the Scharnhorst seems unable to hit anything.

Note: The cotton puffs are meant to denote speed.

The more puffs the slower which is a bit challenging

 as when you are out of puff it meant you were going fast

 which I suppose has some kind of logic to it.

After another German ship is sunk,

the Scharnhorst and Leipzig bravely flee.

Only the HMS Blackpool received any serious damage.

The HMS Clacton was unscathed due to the daring-do of its famous commander.

Railways of the World - Epic Finish

Six players for this session which had a very exciting climax.

Richard - Yellow

Simon - Green

Mark - Black

Jeff - Red

Stefan - Purple

Peter - Blue

AAR by Richard

Thanks for playing today. It turned out to be a very exciting photo

finish. It was neck and neck between Jeff and I for a while and then

Mark made a big move late game getting the delivery bonus for Duluth to

shoot into contention with the final turn to come. Everyone was tightly

clustered for most of the game except for Simon who lagged behind. But

there was a cunning plan in play which no-one saw coming.

Well done to Simon for almost pulling off a miraculous literally come

from behind victory scoring 24 points in the final calculations for

completing 3 Major Lines.

This game was good in that it showed the importance of the Major Lines,

which hadn't been pursued by anyone in the last game. So another thing

to keep in mind other than just deliveries.

Whilst negative play can sometimes be counter productive, there is

certainly a place for some careful blocking particularly if someone is

trying to complete a major line. Some of us might well have thought

about the value of blocking Simon and his quest for a major line (with

the benefit of hindsight), but Simon did it very well though with being

so far back, no-one was really paying much attention to him and he

nearly pulled it off.

Speaking of negative play, I was pleased to finally not be the Villain

for once, with Mark taking over that mantle for this game when he

brutally shut down Jeff for a couple of turns. Did he really need to be

that aggressive on turn 1? I think we can call him the Robber Baron, for

this game at least.

With a lot of other maps (Western USA, Mexico, Canada, Australia and the

associated special rules and features for those maps) and possibly

playing the Trans-Continental scenario, there is more to explore with

this series. Something to look forward to in the future.

Walking the Pyrenees 1996

Found them!  It took me a while but here are the photos from a tour of the Pyrenees I did with Midas Tours back in 1996.

The memorial at San Sebastian

View of San Sebastian from the Citadel.

Old city and hill where allied artillery was located.

New city.

The village of Sorauren.

The French attacked from the right.

Steep and in those days less trees.

The battlefield of Sorauren (fought 28 July 1813).

The French attack down the hills in front.

Photo taken from the Allied position.

The battlefield of Maya (fought 25 July 1813)

This was where I found a musket ball.

On the way to Roncesvalles (fought 25 July 1813).

Roncesvalles battlefield.

The French advance along this ridge, which had incredibly steep sides almost immediately to the left and right of this photo, was held up by British troops deployed in the rocks ahead.

The French advance in part was along the Camino de Santiago.

Modern day pilgrims seem to have abandoned their crosses.

Vera from the bridge where Wellington was almost captured.

?

The French attacked here and were repulsed by the Spanish holding the hill in the centre of this photo.

"The Spanish General Freire won a s creditable defensive victory along the crest of the San Marcial hill,

about a mile south of and parallel to the frontier river" (the Bidasoa) Page 167 Military Dress of the Peninsula War by Martin Windrow & Gerry Embleton.

La Rhune

Postcard.  In the background is La Rhune.

Postcard. Col D'Ibardin with a view of the coast.

Postcard

"Vue generale - Point Saint Barbe"

Postcard of the beach at Saint Jean de Luz

"La plage, dans le fond la Rhune (905m)"

XXX

Postcard Vera de Bidasoa and Col D'Ibardin

Postcard Le Pays Basque : La Rhune

Postcard Saint Jean de Luz : Cote Basque

Postcard Le Pays Basque

Photo taken on 25 September 1996.

Walk from Col d'Ibardin to Biriatou along the northern side of the Bidasoa.

Same walk.

View of Saint Jean de Luz during the walk.

View from La Rhune.

Train at the top of La Rhune.

We walked down the ridge in front.

View of St Jean de Luz in the distance.

Another view of St Jean de Luz, but from a redoubt this time.

A redoubt.

Redoubt stonework.

Bridge

Bayonne

Chateau on the St Pierre battlefield

Commemorative and explanatory sign panel.

Sadly I failed to put any notes to this photo. 

Guard's cemetery.

Guard's cemetery.

Corner of a foreign field, near Bayonne.

It was thirty years ago and it was certainly a highlight of my travels.  I would love to do something similar and can only hope I will have the opportunity.

Torpedoes and Tides - Making a Beginning Twice

The first game of the Making a Beginning scenario pitted Simon in command of the returning S-Boots against Stephen with three MGB out for revenge.

The S-Boots spot the Britishers and make a sharp turn to starboard.

Unfortunately, this means the S-Boots are silhouetted by the moon

and one is immediately sunk.

The remaining S-Boot is hit and set on fire but did manage to get in at least one shot.

However, the S-Boot couldn't survive the combined fire power of the three MGBs.

For the second game we repeated the scenario, but Simon took over the MGBs and I commanded the S-Boots.

The S-Boots make a dash for home.

They are making good progress.

But the MGBs are closing in.

The S-Boots engage the leading MGB.

But the MGBs close in and smother one of the S-Boots in well aimed shots, causing it to sink.

The MGBs score hits on the remaining S-Boot as it flees to safety.

Another excellent game.  It's time to start thinking of a campaign (which is provided by the rules).