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| The hall in preparation for a days gaming. |
The months of planning, painting, detailing, co-ordinating and negotiating were over. The big day had arrived. Would it be the success we were looking for?
Apologies for my hiatus from posting, both on this blog and my Pyjamas in the Desert one, as this particular day had been absorbing much of my free time for several months.
With the 200th anniversary of The Battle of Waterloo on offer it was, in our humble opinion, the duty of the Npaoleonic Wargaming Society of Western Australia, to put on a day that would be worthy of such a momentus historical occurrence.
So what were we setting out to do.
The day had to be much more than just another NWS get together on a Saturday. It had to be a festival of the battle, wargaming and the entire Napoleonic period. To do this we had to put on attractive games, provide some information to the public and if they came, entertain, inform and provide refreshments for them so they would stay and ask as many questions as possible to generate some more interest in our wonderful hobby.
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| The fence at Fitzgerald Street - busy section. |
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| Corner of Charles Street and Scarborough Beach Road - Very busy intersection with notoriously slow lights. Perfect!! |
We set about informing the public of our planned day. Two 2.1 x 1.6 metre signs were commissioned and printed at a "mates rates" discount by one of our event sponsors. Scott is also a member of the North Perth Bowling Club and a great supporter of eccentrics.
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| With the legend himself Eoin Cameron on ABC Radio promoting the day. |
The next flurry of publicity was being invited to come in and talk about the 200th anniversary on air with Western Australia's number one radio show reaching out to over 800 000 people across our vast state every weekday morning. I took in a few assorted 28mm Napoleonic figures to help visualise was we do and it was the right move as the all were fascinated by the level of detail in the figures.
The shows producers, Fleur and Brad mentioned that if he found you boring he would be nice to you and you would be in and out in a couple of minutes. However if he liked the subject and yourself and felt he could develop some banter you may be on for up to five or six minutes.
All up with introductions and closing comments I think we were on for nearly eight minutes so Eoin obviously has excellent taste! Thank you ABC 720 Perth. The link to the audio is below so hopefully it works.
http://blogs.abc.net.au/wa/2015/06/the-battle-of-waterloo-in-miniature.html?site=perth&program=720_perth_breakfastThe plan for the day was as follows:
Club Treasurer and all round good guy Mark H was putting on the entire Battle of Waterloo using Napoleons Battle rules and his amazing terrain map. For more details please visit his excellent blog as linked below:
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| Marks Napoleons Battle table - looking splendid. |
http://onesidedminiaturewargamingdiscourse.blogspot.com.au/We in turn was putting on a 28 mm battle using the excellent General De Brigade rules by Dave Brown spread across two 12 foot by 6 foot tables detailing D'Erlon's attack against the allied position incorporating La Haye Sainte. For many additional details we are truly grateful to Barry Hilton from the League of Augsburg whose re-fight of this several years ago was a source of inspiration. Barry is the publisher of the wonderful "Republic to Empire" rules.
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| The West Table with Marty H and Stephen Y in deep discussion. Table aprons were a great success. |
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| Phil and Steve didn't quite get a chance to finish the terrain tiles but they looked the part. Will look great when the final blending of colours is complete. |
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| Raffle prizes on offer as well as a commissioned brochure. Thanks to all our friends at Advance for the donation of time and artwork as a sponsor of the event. |
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| Three French commanders, two of them woefully under-dressed, prepare for battle. |
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Kerry, Fiona, Chrissie and Julie working hard in the kitchen to keep the masses fed. Their friendly dispositions and work helped make the day such a wonderful "community" style day. Morning tea and a coffee for a gold coin donation was
a god -send of an idea! |
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| Elements of Bylandts Dutch-Belgian Brigade await the onslaught. |
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| Another view of the Dutch Militia |
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| Before the battle actually commenced the French Grand Battery were able to roll or his on Bylandts Brigade. Here you can see the shells dropping around them! |
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| Best's Hanoverians on the right flank. |
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| Best's Brigade drawn up in formation. |
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| The French advance on La Haye Sainte |
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| Kempts Brigade |
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| Part of the French Grand Battery. There young commander would have highs and lows...but those double sixes were deadly! |
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| French Old Guard 12 pounders. Had these for years and this was their first outing. Lovely. |
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| Packs Brigade supporting the Dutch. |
So here ends the first part of our event report. More to follow later in the week including our official visit from the Government of France to help officially open proceedings.
Bye for now.
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