Of Young & Fogg, and Aromatherapy, and Other Things

Topic 1: Young & Fogg.

Here are a couple of well-known - nay, historic - wargaming photos from the days when the whole world was still black and white. What common element is in both these pictures?

Yes - well done at the back, there - the buildings are from a fondly remembered range marketed by Triang, which was most famous because they were made of rubber.

Clive, the celebrated Old Metal Detector himself, has a collection of these splendid little buildings, and there are some fine pictures on his blog [click here].

So who were Young & Fogg? Well, they were a firm specialising in the manufacture of rubber items, who were taken over by the Triang company in the late 1950s. The first result of this acquisition was a range of rubber buildings to suit Triang's Spot On range of 1/42 scale diecast vehicles (the range is attractively described here, on a link provided, once again, by Clive); shortly afterwards, the more famous, HO model-railway-sized Countryside Range appeared, which lent itself more comfortably to gaming scales.

I remember these very clearly - my model railway days were over when they appeared, but I was very taken with them - especially the church. I never had any. The most pleasing thing about them was that they didn't look like other model buildings - model buildings mostly had very straight corners and bright colours, and didn't really resemble proper houses. The Triang rubber houses had cheerfully quirky designs - Cotswolds meet the Brothers Grimm - and had a nicely distressed, rounded appearance. The one feature which was a problem in the long term, of course, was the material of which they were made. Rubber grows old and perishes. The reason you see so few of these on eBay is because they have mostly rotted and been throw away.

I acquired one of the churches last year, or maybe it was the year before, as a makeweight in a job lot purchase from eBay. It wasn't an important element in the purchase, and I was expecting it to be a wreck. It pretty much was a wreck, too.

The rubber had dried out and cracked and twisted - never mind - I stuck it at the back of a shelf somewhere and vaguely thought I might have another look at it some time.

Now this week, I came across the Donald Featherstone picture at the top of this post, and I thought, righto - let's have another look at that rubber church.

Well, it's pretty awful. It should probably just go in the dustbin. However, since I am a madman I did some online research, and it seems that rubber can be softened by immersion in various brews, and the strategic ingredient in these concoctions is Oil of Wintergreen. Hmmm.

Thinks (this should be read in Bluebottle's voice, from the Goon Shows):

(1) I could purchase some Oil of Wintergreen and maybe a few other cheap constituents, and I could stew my church in this for a while.

(2) It would lose it's paint, but when it was softened I could pack it with bits of wood and whatever else was needed to train it back into a church shape.

(3) Leave it to cure and then refinish.

(4) Be the envy of my chums (if I had any).

I'm not fired up into any state of fevered excitement. The first snag is that Oil of Wintergreen is not available in bath-sized containers, as far as I can see. It is prized in the purple world of aromatherapy [ah yes, quite so], and thus it retails in poncey little 10ml bottles, with an eyedropper and an art nouveau label. The prices are not amusing, either.

Which brings us up to date. Has any devoted collector of these rubber buildings ever attempted a makeover of this type? Any views or war narratives which might help?

All advice will be most welcome. In my heart I fear my little rubber church is, to use a technical term, knackered.

Topic 2: Who's this then?

Here are two Napoleonic-period British light infantry officers. Like me, you may feel that you have seen this pair appearing as a comedy act at a seaside theatre. The one on the left is clearly from Les Higgins, and he is there simply to provide a scale comparison. What is the one on the right? He is obviously one of André Maurois' Filifers. This casting is of a very gangly officer - one of his feet is interestingly strengthened by placing it in a clump of grass. I have some ideas about his origins, but would welcome some better informed views.

Any ideas?

Topic 3: Luddites' Cup - Inverted snobbery in the world of Tech.

Here at Chateau Foy we attempt to strike a balance between our love of the venerable traditions of our stately home and of our uncomplicated, rural life and the heady excitement of the rush of modern technology advance.

Overall, we probably tend to be just a little reactionary - I am subjected to much scorn from my son, for example, simply because I cannot see any point in being able to take photographs with my razor, nor watch movies on the tumble dryer. Some element of versatility in my assembled gadgetry is welcome, but I find too many examples of solutions in search of a problem to solve.

Now the Contesse has a Kindle Fire, which she uses to - any guesses? - yes, that's right - she uses it to read e-books. Good. It would, of course, be possible to distract herself while she was reading e-books, by also using it to check continually if she has any email - this is always a good way to avoid coming face to face with the exact dimensions of one's attention span. But she does not normally do this; however, the other night she decided to make use of the Fire's internet capability, and check her social media accounts. She received the warning screen shown below, with which we are delighted. This must get us straight through into the group stages of the European Luddites' Cup, surely?

What a fine achievement. Our son may be too ashamed ever to speak to us again, which is not an unattractive idea.

Talavera - (2) - The Game

Today Baron Stryker, Count Goya and I fought the Battle of Talavera, as promised in my last two posts. Of course it wasn't really the Battle of Talavera, it was just a game which had certain similarities. The set-up was mostly derived from a Commands & Colors user website scenario. I'm always a bit dubious about published scenarios - not that there is necessarily anything especially wrong with them. It's simply that, typically, they are designed to give both sides a fair chance of victory. In my experience, one of the risks then is that a closely balanced fight can develop into a slugfest, and little of interest happens until attrition has worn down one side or the other to a point where something decisive might become possible.

Definite signs of visiting generals - first session before lunch.

Looking along the field from the Allied left flank, at the outset. Spanish
battalion in the farm in the foreground.

Allied right, with the Spaniards defending Talavera

However, fear not - today we had an absolutely cracking game - it had everything. History was overturned yet again - the French won - just about. I was the unfortunate Cuesta, commander of the Spanish force, whom history has not remembered kindly. Typecasting again, I know. Stryker was an impressively dynamic Marshal Victor, Goya was Wellesley, with most of the work to do on the Allied side (since, historically, he had restricted the Spanish army to a defensive role, on the flanks) and with the constant frustration of not being able to bring enough force to bear where he needed it (as a direct consequence, so it serves him right!). We had a tweak in the rules: this was a battle of three armies - the British and Spanish could collaborate on the card play, but, since they had separate turns, could not co-ordinate any action directly. This worked out pretty well - by the time the battle was lost, The Spaniards still had more than enough troops to help turn the day, if they could only have been employed more usefully.

If this sounds like a gruelling session of frustration and frayed tempers, nothing could be further from the fact. The game had lots of movement - feint attacks, very exciting cavalry fights, astonishing, show-stopping volleys and even more astonishing complete misses - all conducted in a splendid spirit of enthusiasm and good humour.

The battle involved over 60 units - around 1100 castings - on a table of ten-and-a-half feet by five. We got properly started around 11:30am, and the game came to a clear conclusion at about 16:30 - and that included a sit-down lunch break of about an hour and a half, which is not bad going at all. The armies were tied on 12 Victory Points each near the end, but at the last Victor forced enough units onto the British-held ridge at the Cerro de Medellin to gain the necessary 3 bonus VPs, and it was a 15-12 win for the French. Very, very close - it really could have gone either way.

My thanks and sincere appreciation, as ever, go to my worthy collaborators. It was such a lot of fun that I didn't even mind about those deplorably streaky French dice rolls.

Well, maybe just a bit.

On the Allied right, Cuesta sees the German troops opposite starting a general
advance through the woods - this caused much alarm, but turned out to be a feint attack. 

In the centre, the key defensive point was the ridge at Cerro de Medellin - here three
companies of the 5/60th Rifles splash their way across the stream in front of
the ridge. They had a difficult day.

The French set about forming an attack here, but initially made slow progress.

Oops - a battalion of the Regimiento Ordenes Militares had the job of defending the
farm on the Allied left flank, but took fright with little real provocation, and
evacuated the place - these double retreats for the Spanish army really have the
boys running around! 

They were replaced by the Voltigeurs of King Joseph's Guard, who made a
much better job of things, and held the place for the rest of the day.

Credit where credit is due - the stand-out performance of the day came from
the French 15e Chasseurs à Cheval, who fought off all-comers on the French
right. They were still on the field at the end - battered but glorious. Special
mention in dispatches.

The French are still making little progress in the centre, as Wellesley brings
up the Coldstream Guards.

By this time, the Confederation troops opposite Cuesta have quietened down a
bit, so the Allied right flank has not very much going on.

But what's this? - Victor turns up some very heavy cards, and things start to happen.

Sudden, very rapid advance in the centre by the troops of Sebastiani and Lapisse.

Yes, this is looking serious.

To make sure their photo is in the report, the 15e Chasseurs pop up again,
this time on the end of the ridge, in order to (briefly) claim one of the bonus
VPs available. It didn't last, but the point was made.

The French suffer a few reverses in the centre, and the British defence of the
ridge looks secure for the moment, though losses are creeping up.

Suddenly, there is a rush of cavalry on the French right, near the farm. This is the
area where the British light cavalry fell down a ravine in the real battle, but
we didn't have anything like that.

What we did have was a sizeable clash of cavalry. All sorts of celebrity units - Vistula
lancers, KGL Hussars, even a unit of British Dragoon Guards. Very exciting.

The British cavalry was very successful initially, until they came up against
the dreaded 15e Chasseurs again, and everything stopped dead.

Over on the Allied right, Cuesta's infantry made a demonstration against the
Confederation boys in the woods. It didn't necessarily start off as a demonstration,
but it didn't go very well, so it became a demonstration quite quickly.

Victor appears to be calling down a thunderbolt on to Wellesley.

French now splashing through the stream, trying to get some purchase on the
ridge, and suddenly a few of the British defenders were dislodged. 12-12 in
VPs at this point - if the French can get 3 units on the ridge they've won the day.

Lots of desperate action from the Brits, while their Spanish allies are doing
very little on the flanks.

Here they come - the French are on the ridge, including - most impressively -
their astonishing charging foot artillery.

It no longer matters, but Cuesta is still disputing the woods on the right.

Heroically, but to no avail, Wellesley brings up the 16th Light Dragoons, his final throw.

But the French retain their foothold, and the battle is decided. Observe, if you will,
that two of the British generals are still on the border, and have never entered
the battlefield. Fane is in the foreground, Henry Campbell further away. The
French had two generals killed during the day; the British had two generals
who didn't turn up. Hmmm.

Over on the right, Cuesta's Spanish troops have kept the town of Talavera
safe and secure, which is exactly what they were ordered to do.

Opposite Cuesta the French forces look solid enough - Milhaud's heavy cavalry in
reserve and everything.

This photo to go to the Daily Mail, I think - and maybe Horse Guards -
Henry Campbell wondering if this was the right address - the game is over.

Talavera - (1) - The Set-Up

All ready for Saturday - Leval with the French left flank - Confederation troops
(Nassauers, Hessians, Frankfurters) with Milhaud's dragoons lurking in the
background (mostly off the table to start). Some minor tweaking of the
initial positions will, of course, be possible

I've now placed the troops on the table for Saturday, as per my slightly shrunk version of the scenario map. Because the scenario was written for an 11-hex-deep table, and I have only a 9-hex available, some units will start the battle on the border area - this is not part of the table itself, but units on the border may be ordered onto the table - prior to that they cannot do anything (since they are not really there). [Stryker and Goya are due to arrive around 11am on Saturday, so I'm trying to get everything ready for a brisk start.]

Wellesley was, in theory, the overall commander, but his relationship with the Spanish general, Cuesta, was not very reassuring. In his concern over the Spaniards' lack of facility in taking any kind of attacking role, Wellesley decided that they should take a defensive position, in front of the town of Talavera, and a redoubt was constructed to strengthen the position.

As the scenario notes (below) will explain, we have adopted an experimental rule for Saturday, to simulate this disconnected command for the Allies. The game, in a manner which will be familiar to veterans of Waddington's Campaign, has three players; we have, if you like, plumped for an IGO-UGO-HEGO system! It could end in tears of course, but it's certainly something different.

General view from behind Allied left flank. If you spot any fellows in 1812 hats in this
1809 battle, please award yourself a medal, but don't point it out - we know all about that.

From behind Allied right

Allied left, from an aeroplane behind their position. The main hill on this side of
the river is the Cerro de Medelllin, which is the site of MacKenzie's defence -
Wellesley with the red edging to his base. Spanish detachment in the farm on the left.

The Allied right, again from behind their position. To the right of the river, this
is the area to be defended by Cuesta's troops.

MacKenzie in position. 

Merlin with a mix-and-match command on the French right - King Joseph's
Guards, Vistula Lancers - all sorts.

What a Whopper! - enormous battalion of the Coldstream Foot Guards

Green cubes identify light troops - here's a detachment of 5/60th Rifles

Allied guns in the redoubt - the Allies cannot use the C&C Grand Battery rule, since
they are separate armies. 

Cuesta, in charge of the defence of Talavera town - he intends to show that
long-nosed English Lord a thing or two. (I'm to be Cuesta on Saturday - an
obvious choice, I'm sure you will agree)

Battle of Talavera - scenario notes heavily adapted from C&CN EPIC game

Preamble: Very roughly, the battlefield on the tabletop is about 3.5 miles wide, the armies are limited to the troops who were actually engaged - the number of distinct units is less than half of the historical OOBs, but our model units are very much overstrength on a figure scale basis - overall, the scenario works out at about half-scale.

(1) Rules and Game Format: C&CN, with Expansion #5-style Tactician Cards included - table size is 17 hexes by 9. To increase effective depth of the field, some units will start the game placed on the table border, behind the baseline. Units so placed cannot fight or offer support until they are moved onto the table - once they have marched onto the table, no units may use the border area.

(2) French army is

(a) Leval on the left - German troops - 2 bns Nassau, 2 bns Hesse Darmstadt, 1 bn Frankfort, 2 bns of converged voltigeurs (3 bases each) from that German division + 1 foot battery - total is 5LN 2LT 1FA 1LDR

(b) Behind Leval and along baseline to river - Milhaud with 5 regts Dragoons and 1 Horse battery - total is 5HC 1HA 1LDR

(c) On right flank, beyond stream, Merlin with Kings Guard Grenadiers (count as LN) and Guard Voltigeurs (count as LT) with 2 regts of Chass a Chev and Vistula Lancers - total is 1LN 1LT 1LNCR 2LC 1LDR

(d) In centre, Villatte, Sebastiani and Lapisse have the 4th Vistula plus 8 French line bns + 3 French light bns + 3 foot batteries - total is 9LN 3LT 3FA 3LDR

(e) Thus grand total for French army is

            15LN 6LT 5HC 2LC 1LNCR 4FA 1HA 6LDR

(f) All French units are of 4 blocks, except artillery units and converged LT units in the German Divn, which are each 3. The Germans and King's Guard count as French.

(g) Also - add Marshal Victor as CinC (ignore King Joseph?)

(3) Spanish Army is

(a) Bassecourt on left, with 2LN (of which 1 is in farm) 1LT 1LDR

(b) De Portago and Manglano on right have 5LN 2LT 3LC 2FA 2LDR

(c) Thus grand total for the Spanish army is

            7LN 3LT 3LC 2FA 3LDR

(d) Spanish units are all 4 blocks, except artillery and cavalry which are all 3.

(e) Also - add Cuesta as overall Spanish commander

(4) British Army is

(a) Left - Fane with 1 regt of Lt Dgns and 1st Huss KGL, plus 1 of Dragoons and 1 of Dgn Gds - total of 2LC 1HC 1GHC 1LDR

(b) on Cerro de Medellin and to the right of that, Mackenzie and Henry Campbell with 5th Bn KGL, 83rd Ft, 94th Ft, 24th Ft, 45th Ft (=5LN) + Coldstream Gds + a 4-block unit of converged lights + a 3-block unit of 5/60th + 2 Foot batteries - total is 1GG 5LN 1LT 1RL 2FA 2LDR

(c) Grand total for British is

            5LN 1LT 1RL 1GG 2LC 1HC 1GHC 2FA 3LDR

(d) British rifle unit, artillery and cavalry all 3 blocks, Foot Guards 5 blocks, all other infantry 4 blocks.

(e) Also - add Wellesley as CinC

Special "Talavera" Scenario rules

* Initial set-up uses the table border as an extra baseline - units placed there may only be ordered to join the battle, they can't fight and they can't offer support and they can't be attacked (they are not there!) - thereafter, the border hexes cannot be used in the game.

* Key issue for the Allied side is that Cuesta unable to co-operate fully with British army (though Wellesley is officially the CinC of the combined forces). Thus the game is tweaked for 3 armies - British and Spanish take separate turns - turn cycle is French (who start), then British, then Spanish.

* A Spanish general may enter a hex occupied by a British unit, but may not be attached to it, and may not provide support to British units - vice versa applies for British generals with Spanish units. Will be at risk if unit suffers loss; must leave as soon as possible.

* Spanish and British units may provide support for each other, though joint attacks are impossible.

* Objective bonus VPs: French get 1VP at start of move for each hex of Talavera occupied; French get 1VP at start of move for each hex of the Cerro de Medellin they occupy.

* Stream has no effect on combat - troops must stop when they enter it, but may move off normally next turn.

15 VP to win.

Turns and Card Play:

* French start; they get 7 Command Cards and 4 Tactician Cards; they can play 1 or 2 Command Cards in each turn; if they play 2 cards, at least 1 of these must be a Section Card (i.e. referring to a flank, or the centre) - if they have no Section cards, they may only play 1 Command Card. Cards are additive, but no unit may receive two simultaneous orders as a result. 

* British follow the French turn; they start with 5 Command Cards and 3 Tactician Cards. They may play only 1 Command Card in their turn.

* Spanish follow the British turn; they start with 4 Command Cards and 2 Tactician Cards. Like the British, they may play only 1 Command Card in their turn.

* Any commander (including the French) may, instead of taking his turn, replace 1 Command Card (unseen by other players) from his hand with a fresh one (again, unseen) from the Deck, but this REPLACES his turn (the "Scrabble Rule").

* Separation of Allied armies - The idea is that Wellesley and Cuesta have an advantage in that they can share their cards, but a disadvantage in that their tactical actions cannot be fully co-ordinated - in particular, a joint attack by British and Spanish troops becomes a tricky thing to arrange.

* Each general commands his own troops, but the card play is collaborative - at the end of each Spanish turn (after new cards have been taken to replace played cards), Allied generals may confer, and may transfer cards between their hands for the next cycle of turns. Only restriction is that neither army may finish up with less than 2 Command Cards (or they can't form a square). Tactician Cards can be divided up in any way Wellesley & Cuesta wish, but once the division is made each army is stuck with the cards they have until the end of the next Spanish turn.

* Cards when played only apply to each general's own army - reference on cards to "Command", as in "number of Command Cards in the hand" means "in the hand you currently hold" at any moment - not pooled, not original allocation (if different).

* The Command Card decks should be shuffled and re-initialised when so instructed by a played card, or when the cards run out, or when all generals agree it would improve the game.

QRS for Talavera - C&CN

Troop Types

Type	Move	Range	Fire	Moving fire	Melee	Notes
FRENCH
Infantry	1	2	bks	½ bks(rd up)	bks(+1 vs Inf)
Light Inf	1 / 2nb	2	bks+1	½ bks(up)+1	bks
Lt Cav	3	-	-	-	bks
Lancers	3	-	-	-	bks (reroll flag rolls)
Hvy Cav	2	-	-	-	bks+1
BRITISH
Infantry	1	2	bks+1	½ bks(rd up)	bks
Light Inf	1 / 2nb	2	bks+1	½ bks(rd up)+1	bks
Rifles	1 / 2nb	3	bks	½ bks(rd up)	bks (no sabres)
Ft Guards	1	2	bks+1	½ bks(rd up)+1	bks+1	Ignore 2 flags
Lt Cav	3	-	-	-	bks
Hvy Cav	2	-	-	-	bks+1
Gd Hvy Cav	2	-	-	-	bks+1	Ignore 2 flags
SPANISH
Infantry	1	2	bks	½ bks(dn)-1	bks (-1 if moving)	2 hx/flag
Light Inf	1 / 2nb	2	bks	½ bks(dn)	bks (-1 if moving)	2 hx/flag
Gds/Gren	1	2	bks	½ bks(dn)	bks+1	2 hx/flag; Ign 1 fl
Lt Cav	3	-	-	-	bks	2 hx/flag

Artillery (All Nations)

Type	Move	Melee	Standing Fire				Moving Fire
			2hx	3hx	4hx	5hx	2hx	3hx	4hx
Foot	1nb	4	3	2	1	1	-	-	-
Ft(1 bk)	1nb	3	2	1	1	-	-	-	-
Horse	1 / 2nb	3	2	1	1	-	2	1	-
Hrse(1bk)	1nb / 2nb	2	1	1	-	-	-	-	-

Choose to ignore 1 flag for each of: Leader present; 2 adjacent friends; terrain effect.

Every hex of retreat which cannot be completed – lose 1 block.

Spanish artillery suffer double retreats - ALL Spanish units do.

Terrain effects

Type		Movt	Inf	Cav	Art	Block LoS	Comment
Woods/Fields	into	Stop	-1	-2	-1	woods only
	out of	-	0	-2	-1		Only Lt Inf may enter & battle
Hill	up	-	-1	-1	0	Yes
	down	-	0	-1	0
	hill-to-hill	-	0/-1	0	0		-1 for ranged
Buildings	in	Stop	-2	-3	-1	Yes
	out	-	0	-3	-1		May not enter & battle
Earthworks	in	Stop	-1	-2	-1	No
	out	Stop	0	-2	0		Inf & Art ignore 1 flag
Stream or Fordable River	in	Stop	-1/0	-1/0	-1/0	No	-1 for melee
	out	-	-1	-1	-1		-1 for all
River/Marsh		n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	No	Prohibited
Bridge							Cancels river

Special Rule for Talavera - the stream requires units to stop as they enter, but has no other effect.