Hooptedoodle #450 - Babet Takes Out the Hedge

 Wild weather here - Storm Babet passing through - should be with us until sometime tomorrow. As ever, one mustn't complain - there are dreadful tales of flooding and injury coming from around the country. I send my best wishes to anyone who is affected.

Apart from having been awake all night with the noise, we have limited damage, but the gales have flattened a section of my big hedge. We'll decide what needs to be done about it once the place stops moving about. Yes, it's a Leylandii, and only a maniac would have a Leylandii hedge of this height, but I inherited it. Since 2000 it has cost me thousands of pounds keeping it under control, and also a number of heavy-duty disputes with my neighbour.

 

The hedge was planted (I believe) in 1985. The occupier of my house at that time was plagued by a neighbour, armed with binoculars, watching his wife sunbathing. This was the infamous Roland, now long dead and consigned to local folklore, so I think of it as Roland's Hedge

 

 

You will appreciate that I was not happy about the proximity to my car, which is always parked in some random spot on the drive. I assume that Nature chooses the section of the hedge at random too

 

The hedge trees are about 5 to 6 inches thick; these particular trees have been dead for a few years, and it is evident that they have snapped off below ground, being rotten

 

 

It's too wet and filthy to tell yet, but it is just possible that my car is undamaged - it may not even be scratched. The serious bits of the hedge missed it by about 8 inches, and it has just been caught by outlying twigs

 

 

So I appreciate that I've been very lucky. I moved the car to a safer spot, away from the hedge. While I was looking for such a spot, I became very aware of the possibility of Babet going on to flatten full-size trees, or even the odd stone wall. The sound I could hear above the organ-chord of the wind may have been the gods laughing at my efforts

Hooptedoodle #449 - Another New Garden Visitor

 Some excitement this morning - never seen one before, but we have dozens of Redwings in the Whitebeam trees at the edge of the wood this morning, noisily stripping off the berries.

It's pretty dark - we've had biblical rain for a day and a half, it doesn't look like stopping soon, and the birds are hyperactive, so a decent photo is out of the question at the moment. They are probably passing through; if not I'll try again when it brightens up.

In the interim, here is someone else's photo. They are a member of the thrush family, turdus iliacus, usually only seen in the UK in Winter, it says on the RSPB site. It also says that they often forage in mixed flocks with Fieldfares, so maybe we have some other new visitors as well.

Hooptedoodle #448 - Once Again, Nature Attempts to Play with My Head

 An odd time of year, as the Autumn rolls in, and one feature of this here on the farm is that there are rapid changes in the wildlife - especially insect and invertebrate life. We have a house joke here, which is "the crop of the day"; one day, especially if it is sunny after a period of wet weather, the garden may suddenly be full of large moths, or perhaps swarms of bluebottles, or little flies sitting on the whitewashed walls, enjoying the sun's warmth. They are gone by the following day - all tiny cogs in Nature's wondrous machinery.

A few years ago, I got a bit of a fright when mysterious signs appeared on the Velux window in the attic, but it turned out it was simply the track of a couple of slugs (or maybe just one slug?) across the outside of the window. I published a post on this at the time. 

It's happened again. Keep calm. This is this morning's edition.

Since I observe that my previous slug-writing post was almost exactly this time of year, I was less alarmed when a similar sign appeared on the same window; I now know what caused it, this must obviously be the time of year when slugs start hiking around roof-windows, but if it comes back later to complete the drawing from 2019 I shall become very worried indeed. I'm keeping my eyes open.

Last night we also suddenly had a load of very noisy, very vigorous houseflies whizzing about in the upstairs bathroom. Another seasonal crop. They were bouncing off the tiled walls and the mirror - not recommended at all. I don't care for these chaps; one or two can be ignored - they won't live long anyway - but a whole gang of them is too much, and is likely to upset the Contesse. They almost certainly have hatched out in the loft area above the bathroom, probably on Monday when it was warm, and have got in through the small gaps in the bathroom ceiling around the halogen lighting. Whatever the back-story, they were unwelcome [I would be reluctant to create a nuisance in their bathroom, for example, though there might be some philosophical debate about whose bathroom we are discussing here], and, though I am not enthusiastic about chemical warfare, I shut them in overnight with a short burst of Raid insecticide. [Sorry about this - I am not proud about it]

This morning I went into the upstairs bathroom at about 10am, to see how the chaps were getting on. I regret I did not manage to get a photo, but there were 8 flies lying dead on the tiled floor, which is not unexpected. The thing which raised the hairs on the back of my neck a bit was that they were in a straight line. If I'd had a metre rule handy in the bathroom (I didn't) I could have proved it, but they were dead straight - not evenly spaced, but straight.

Now this really does get your mind racing. Another warning from the other side? In fact, it's not much of a puzzle (I am very relieved to report). The poor flies, suitably unwell from their exposure to the spray, must have been drawn to the window (another roof Velux) as the sun rose this morning, presumably buzzed their last up there, and as they died they slid down and fell in a line which was parallel to the bottom of the window frame.

So that's all right then. Nothing strange to worry about at all. It was weird while it lasted, though. 

WSS: Battle of Oberglauheim - 1704

 I posted a note about setting up the field for this game (click here). Subsequently I spent an evening experimenting with some tweaks to the solo version of my rules (which went moderately well), and then had the pleasure of a Zoom game with Mark, the Jolly Broom Man.

 

This is a screenshot from Zoom; you can't count the buttons, but you can see enough to get an idea what's happening

As discussed previously, this is very closely based on the Battle of Blenheim, but it is definitely not the actual B of B, since the world is full of knowledgeable students of this very battle, and I would very justifiably be taken to task for my ham-fisted effort if it were.

First comment is that I was surprised by the number of units on such a compact front, and by the fact that both armies used so much cavalry in their front lines; I double-checked, and it seems that this is correct. This may have much to do with the fact that the French originally did not intend to contest the field, and the Allied army arrived in a set of parallel columns, some of which were cavalry. Anyway, I left it as it was, and decided just to go for it. Because of the size of the game, we spread the action over two evening sessions.

Again, because the action is so dense, there was little scope for exciting strategic manoeuvres or surprise attacks, so we expected a lot of attritional fighting, with the occasional significant morale collapse to enliven things. The outline of the action is quickly described, so let's start off with a complete spoiler:

On the Allied left, Lord Cutts' infantry assault on the (fortified) village of Blindheim made little progress, the French had huge reserves behind this position, so both sides took massive casualties in this area, but the French held on. There were 2 Victory Points available to the Allies if they took the entire village, but there was no chance. Charles Churchill's regiment (The Buffs) briefly fought their way into the place, but were promptly chased out again.

In the centre, both sides put together a mighty cavalry conflict. Initially the Bavarian cuirassiers rather battered their Austrian equivalents, but the Austrians pulled back to recover, the Bavarians were reinforced by French cavalry, the Austrians by British, and this action surged backwards and forwards throughout the day.

On the Allied right, the Austrian foot advanced, after some delay, against the Bavarians, who were established in some woods. This never really developed into anything decisive.

The armies ground each other down - there were a few surprises; amazingly, no General officers were lost on either side. The final surprise was that the Gendarmérie de France (King Louis' elite cavalry) were heavily repulsed by the Hessen-Kassel regiment Erbprinz, and were so shaken by the experience that they decided not to bother returning to the action. We do not know just what effect this episode had on the overall French morale, but it secured the 14th VP needed for an Allied victory.

Notional awards for outstanding unit and/or Leader? The performance of the French infantry at Blindheim was excellent, considering the tricky situation they started from. Bavarian cavalry was also very good, and their General Arco was always in the thick of the action, encouraging his troopers and steadying them in moments of stress. If we had an award for the outstanding name of the day, I would nominate the Furst von Holstein-Beck, whose family was obviously named after two bottles of beer.

 

This view is borrowed from the "set-up" post, to show the initial positions

 

The French got busy, pushing forward in the area around Blindheim, not least to clear some space for all the reserves they had crammed in behind the village

 

Bavarian cavalry (this side) have early involvement with their Austrian opposite numbers, and had the edge initially

 

Lord Cutts was surprised to have the French pushing forward out of the earthworks at Blindheim, very aggressive

 

Austrian cavalry wait for some support from the British - they look outmatched as things stand

 

Generals Cutts and Chas Churchill push forward to the breastwork at Blindheim; the unit nearest the camera is the Foot Guards - they were very disappointed to have so little success against the battered unit of dismounted dragoons who were holding the redoubt at this time

 

The Elector's Bavarian infantry hold the flank in the woods

 

So the Austrians across the table advance to meet them

 

The bloodbath continues at Blindheim

 

The struggle between Blindheim and Unterglauheim continued, and spaces were appearing as units were eliminated

 

Delays in the centre, as both sides work to bring up reinforcements

 

The swans are still on their pond; perhaps they are deaf? Whatever, they probably are now

 

A collector's item - the Elector brings forward some of his infantry

 

Now the cavalry reserves are arriving in the centre; British behind the Austrian cuirassiers on the far side, French behind the Bavarians near the camera

 

General view at the end of the first evening session. Things were starting to fizzle out around Blindheim, the cavalry action in the centre was building up again, and Bavarian and Austrian infantry were scrapping indecisively in the woods at  the far end of the table. The score at this point was 9-7 to the Allies, with 14 required for the win.

 

Things definitely fairly quiet around Blindheim, with the French in control there

 

The centre - heating up, but some of the units are below strength (4 white counters and you're out)

 

Not to be outdone, Prince Eugene is in the action too, bringing up the Austrian foot

 

Holstein-Beck with the Hessian contingent. Same again, please, barman

 

British infantry on their last legs at Blindheim, but the French are almost fought to a standstill here, too

 

The clincher; the Allies played a "Give Them the Cold Steel" card, which gives units a bonus dice in action this turn, and one result was that these little chaps routed and eliminated the Gendarmérie de France, a fine effort which made the score 14-12 to the Allies, and the game was over.

 

A lot of soldiers have been lost - a hard day's fighting

 

Over on the French left, there is still very little happening, apart from the Elector and Eugene posing for the official artists. Having said which, Marlborough kept a good distance between himself and the fighting all day.

 

It wasn't visible on either Zoom camera, but the faithful scoreboard keeps the tally, so it's official

My affectionate thanks to the JBM for his stamina and courage throughout the two sessions. It was a bit of a marathon, which we expected, but it was a test after all, and I am very pleased to record that the rules handled the big battle with no problems (apart from the occasional memory failure on my part).

 

 

Hooptedoodle #447 - Levelling-Down - A Word of Comfort from Tommy

 A couple of days ago I was having a beer with my friend Tommy, and, inevitably, conversation moved on to Gloom and Doom, which must eventually replace the Lion and the Unicorn as national symbols in British heraldry.

Topic in question was the (predictable) demise of HS2, the wonderful hi-tech new railway link to be built connecting London and the North of England. [There are claims that part of the infrastructure development for the North is so that people who are stupid enough to live in those parts can travel more quickly and reliably between, say, Manchester and Leeds; this is completely incorrect - if there is any objective at all, apart from personal glory and wealth for the champions, it is to enable Northerners to travel more efficiently to London, which is really all that matters.]

We drifted smoothly on to the fraught topic of Levelling-Up, which is something loosely associated with a government commitment to Northerners who unexpectedly voted Tory in 2019, to invest in the North and try to drag it at least a little bit out of the 19th Century. I knew I should have put a bet on it, but it seems that we can't afford it after all. 

Drat. 

Bad break.

Theories about why this could have happened are numerous and of varying quality, but it seems that Geography and Economics may not feature strongly on the syllabus at Eton after all, and private enterprise finds it very hard to say no when public money is mentioned.

Tommy did have one positive thought to add. He reckons that there is a ray of hope; Levelling-Up is still a viable possibilility, though it will now be known as Levelling-Down. It is becoming clear that it is going to be easier and cheaper to trash the South East than try to develop the North. That should be a vote winner, I would guess. 

I shall follow this with interest.

WSS: Battle of Oberglauheim - set up

 Over the next few days I am going to fight the battle of Oberglauheim. Today and tomorrow the intention is that I should use it as a scenario to work on my beta-test solo version of Corporal John. On Tuesday (if I'm spared) the plan is to engage an actual opponent via the wonders of Zoom. Exciting.

Enthusiasts will observe that this is very similar to Blenheim - not quite, but similar. I mean, you know I have to attempt this. It is specifically not Blenheim, to keep the I-Think-You'll-Find Brigade at arm's length. I have reduced the ground scale to about 2/3 and the numbers of units to 1/4. If it were Blenheim, the big blue section of the terrain would be a bend in the Danube.

Yes, I realise this is a log jam; my understanding is that this was a feature of the actual battle [of Oberglauheim, naturally], and I wish to see what happens. There will be more on this topic shortly.

 

Initial situation, seen from behind the Allied left flank

 

...from behind the Allied right...

 

...from behind the French left...

...and from behind the French right, with a bit of Danube and the village of Blindheim in the foreground

 

One of my favourite terrain features - please do not disturb the swans

 

Although they are the defending side, the French have a small advantage in numbers; they have also been busy digging some defences around the villages of Blindheim...

 

...and Oberglauheim [note that Anne Hathaway's cottage has been imported into Bavaria for the delight of the British troops]. Marshal Marsin is on the pale horse.

 

 

The French defensive position looks as though they will take some beating, but there are flaws - for a start, they have a big infantry reserve crammed in behind Blindheim - this will be tricky to bring into action

 

Lord Cutts ready with the big British infantry attack on the left flank

 

Here's a rare sighting of some blue-unformed Hessen-Kassel troops, in the Allied centre