Hello from Manchester

[Morty]

Thanks for the add. I have recently retired and am getting stuck in to a new project - European wars of 1848 to 1878. I have never used 10mm before but am finding it perfect for this period.

[Steve J]

Welcome on board and you've chosen a great period to game. Looking forward to see what rules you plan to use, what armies you choose etc.

[mollinary]

Welcome indeed! 10mm is a great choice for this period, as the Pendraken ranges are second go none.

[Ithoriel]

Welcome, Morty, to the warm, wonderful, if occasionally weird world of the Pendraken forum.

Lots of supportive and knowledgeable people here so feel free to ask questions.

Thread derailment is a common phenomenon here, if it happens before you receive a sensible answer cough politely and draw attention back to the OP

Cheers!

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Well I suppose some 'as to live in Manchester !! Hi and enjoy. 

[Morty]

Thank you for your kind welcome. In terms of rules I've looked at

1871
Age of Valor
Bloody Big Battles
Black Powder

Any recommendations?

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Hello and welcome

[Leon]

Hi Morty, welcome to the Forum!

[mollinary]

Thank you for your kind welcome. In terms of rules I've looked at

1871
Age of Valor
Bloody Big Battles
Black Powder

Any recommendations?

A good collection there. As is so often the case, it depends what exactly you are looking for from a set of rules, and what size actions you wish to play. Two other sets which might be worth considering, if you like simple and elegant mechanisms, for big battles, are the old, but still good, 'Volley and Bayonet' by the great Frank Chadwick, and 'To the Last Gaiter Button' by one of our esteemed forum members, Bernie Ganley. 

[Techno]

...and a very warm welcome from me, too ! 

Cheers - Phil

[paulr]

Welcome

I'm also a fan of Volley & Bayonet

Bloody Big Battles seems to be very popular and the author is also an esteemed forum member

[d_Guy]

Welcome Morty of Manchester, pull up a chair.

[Steve J]

Bloody Big Battles gets my vote. Elegant rules that allow you to fight big battles in 2-3 hours. Plenty of online support as well with loads of free scenarios.

[Orcs]

Welcome to the Fold. Retired - I am jealous, but good luck to you

Mind you some would say I am semi retired now due to the time off I get by working shifts

[FierceKitty]

New members are a cheering sight. Wilkommen, bienvenue, hello.

[pierre the shy]

Welcome from NZ Morty.

I haven't played much mid C19th stuff but add another vote for Volley & Bayonet....really good for AWI and Napoleonics.

Cheers
Peter

[Chris Pringle]

Hi Morty,

Congratulations on your retirement. May it be a long and happy one with plenty of good friends and good gaming.

Good luck with finding the ruleset that suits your taste and your gaming circle. Meanwhile if you want some 1848 reading this summer, let me shamelessly recommend this:
https://www.helion.co.uk/military-history-books/hungary-1848-the-winter-campaign.php?sid=1120fbae5faaaa46756d161be883eaae&fbclid=IwAR27p6I9UcYMfMzC0V5T1PyBaaEiQOGJlh2PjzCVTv899hbpug9OBGhfIFM

A conflict for which, not coincidentally, there is already a bunch of BBB scenarios freely available ...

Chris

Bloody Big BATTLES!
https://groups.io/g/bloodybigbattles
http://bloodybigbattles.blogspot.com/

[fsn]

Welcome Marty.

Picture ... when you've got some figures painted, please.

You'll find this place full of the skilled and the knowledgeable, and all willing to share.  Also very friendly and encouraging. Occasionally silly.

Post often!

[Morty]

Thank you all again. A warm welcome indeed. It seems some of you are the very people who's stuff has inspired me to take up this period. There really is a wealth of very well thought out and researched material available. My first inspiration was a chance purchase of the two "Wargaming In History" books on the 1866 war. I love the ambition of that whole wargaming project.

Chris Pringle - thank you for letting me know about your new book on the Hungarian war which looks right up my street. There seems to be very little in English about the huge events of 1848etc. By the way, I love your scenarios for BBB and the time and thought that has gone into making them. This is also true for the Age of Valor and 1871 systems.

As I am sure is true for many of you, understanding the history is at the core of what I want to do. I have spent most of my hobby time in the past with Ancients and WW2 and part of the appeal of getting into this new period is that I knew bugger all about it. I have a pile of books that I am going through to get me started with an overview of the major wars and events of the mid nineteenth century in Europe. These are;

AJP Taylor The Struggle For Mastery In Europe
Gordon - The Battle Of Koniggratz
Barry -The Road To Koniggratz
Pocock - Bitter Victory
Howard - The Franco Prussian War
Barry - War In the East
Von Herbert - The Defence Of Plevna

The big gaps are the Crimean war and Italian war of 1859 where I am struggling to find good general accounts in English. Any recommendations would be great?

Trying to upload a picture of my efforts so far but seems the file is too big. I will have another go when I am at my laptop

Cheers

Morty

Can anyone recommend a good introductory work on the Crimean war

[mollinary]

Hi again Morty,

I am glad you enjoyed the 1866 books, John Dz (Hardfast, on this forum, albeit occasionally) and I had a great time researching, battlefield walking, playing and writing them.  John will also be leading a battlefield tour in July of the main Franco-Prussian War battlefields. I have done this a couple of times, but I am going again simply because it is so much fun, and the fields help explain so much about the battles. State of preservation is generally quite remarkable. 

For 1859 I thoroughly recommend Bruce Weigle's 1859 rule book. Not only for its scenarios, which cover all the main engagements for the war, but also for the simply magnificent detailed bibliography, which is not only comprehensive, but also contains his own excellent analysis of the pros and cons of the books covered.

Andrew