Brief notes…
Started into gaming with Panzerblitz (AH) 1969 as a young lad.
Miniature collection started in 1971….to date the painted collection numbers into the tens of thousands+…generally in the larger 25/28mm scale. Napoleonic 25/28mm collection alone almost at 25,000 painted miniatures from all nations, the major powers, including the Ottomans down to the smallest 1790’s Reichsarmee city states. Some 15mm miniature collections for TYW, ECW and ACW armies. Lastly have a large WWII 20mm Flames of War (FOW Ver3.0 MRB) based collection, and some 1/3000 modern naval.
All started with a Victoria Station (London) news vendor purchase (in 1971) of John Tunstill’s booklet “Discovering Wargames”. Was travelling from London to Hastings on the southern coast of England. Book cover below:
Periods of interest include; Ancients to Dark ages (25/28mm using WAB 2.0 or Clash of Empires (COE), 15mm for TYW, ECW, and ACW. Horse and Musket period well covered with WSS & some SYW (25mm), French Revolution to late Napoleonic wars (25/28mm), Other favorite periods are WWI (Wings of War 1/144th), WWII 20mm or 1/72nd using core FOW Ver3.0 MRB rules / many supplements, and finally, a collection of 1/3000 modern naval.
Terrain collections to match the requirements for period battles from B.C. to the modern era. Check out the AAR blog reports for photos of the terrain and miniatures in action.
Wargamerabbit himself commanding Ottomans at Gaza 1799. Seem to like his Ottoman armies. So different from the typical European armies.
WR discuss the American team strategy during Roncey Pocket Normandy 1944 FoW scenario. Tabletop for Flames of War using WR’s 20mm WWII collection.
Team Fez aka Ottoman… Daniel (son) and WR.
WR playing Ottomans again. Battle of Aboukir 1799. French Republican battle with the early Bonaparte in command.
Home gaming warren located in Northridge or Northern Los Angeles county, California USA. Complete gaming arrangement, from miniatures to terrain for the tabletop.
WR has fast transport for arriving at the game in style, on time and ready for action. Plenty of space for armies, terrain and drafted fellow gamer. VP & member of local Simi Valley Corvette club: http://www.simivalleycorvettes.com
aka the “Big Carrot”
After the battle… WR, like the commanders of the period, enjoys the grand ballroom dance scene. Avid social dancer with the ladies.
If interested in joining the WR at one of his Northridge warren gaming events….either COE (28mm), WAB, FOW(20mm), or Napoleonics (25/28mm), just email or call WR (Michael) at the phone or email address below.
WR aka Michael
(818) 742 5228 cell. Call or text me if interested in playing games. Don’t be shy…..grab your marshal’s baton. Don’t forget to leave a voice message or type a text message as I will be unfamiliar to your phone number.
mrverity58 (at) yahoo.com [Note: Replace the (at) with the @ symbol if sending email.] Use a subject line so I can identify your interest quickly while reading my email.
Wargamerabbit 
Hello WR
Gregg here Fred and myself will be there on Saturday. Cam you email a address to me so i can mapquest it . please add me to email list.
Greg,
I forwarded information on Sat’s game to you direct and Bob, the game host. WR
Hi guys, my name is Bill Pavely, i live in Tunbridge Wells Kent, England. I have been very interested in some of the COE games! Myself and a few of the lads play COE all the time , so if you would like the odd game pictures from us, that would be great! We also play Flames of War a lot. We usually play 2500 pts of COE, and 2000pts of FOW. The Early war games are much more fun, as nothing is immune to the enemy!!! All the best for now.
Bill,
Always interested in COE gaming, including photos. Our COE games tend towards a larger format of team vs. team of players, using 4-6k in points. FOW is another area of fun gaming, but I use a 20mm or 1/72 scale for my miniature collections. Creates a different game overall, the artillery not as effective and the assaults have smaller numbers involved in the rounds of action. Still, very enjoyable.
Email address on my About the WR page.
Michael aka WR
Thanks for the reply chaps! I will try and send you some pictures of our games from the last few months! we tend to use only 2500 pts. as a rule at the moment, but we may be doing some bigger games later. In the near future, i am organizing my friends to all do an Crusades army, around 1250 A.D. We will be getting started after the summer, so i can send more pics as and when!!!! All the best for now,Bill.
Hi Michael, Will be visiting my son Erik and wife Shelley in San Pedro July 22nd August 7th.
I posted on TMP and you replied re getting in contact.
my email is warlord@es.co.nz
Please email your contact phone number and email address and I will endeavour to make contact after arriving in LA.
I hear that there is a heat wave of record breaking proportions in California at the moment, here in Christchurch New Zealand at the moment it is 40F ( 5C) with sleet. Glad we have a log burner..
Cheers
Brian
Brian,
Its not winter here…… email sent.
I just did a walk from Imbaba to Beshtil (modern Anglicizations of the place names). Started right where Bon’s men forced the Egyptians (Arabs, Albanians, and Mamluks) into the Nile. Got to Vial’s left “flank” and frontline, didn’t get near Dugua’s position, but I caught a cab to Beshtil and walked to Desaix’s position and right up to where Reynier repelled the big charge. A little street there lines up perfectly with his front line. Must have been piles of dead there.
I’ve downloaded some maps from as much as 50 years before and after the battle. What I’ve learned doesn’t have a lot to do with my walk, but here goes.
The reason that that Vial marched so far ahead of the other squares is to get ahead of the flanking fire from Imbaba. It seems the Imbaba battery was lacking mostly in modern mounts, probably using old naval guns that were unwieldy and could be shot only straight forward. I’m quite sure Imbaba and Reynier’s division were well out of range of those guns. Also for Desaix’s column was the fact that the first Mamluke charge was a feint to the center and Dugua. These two facts allowed Desaix to remain in column until late and quickly make it into the village of Beshtil. One thing I was curious about was the ammunition the French artillery used, and I read it was grapeshot, just as Napoleon had famously used on the mobs in Paris years before. The only way I know for mounted cav to break into a three or four-deep line of confident infantry is by hitting it in column or a three-deep line themselves. The Mamlukes, despite their individual skill probably had none of that kind of discipline. They were perfect targets for grapeshot.
Here’s the crux: none of this was as important as the river portion. Number One: the river floods in the third week of August. No wonder Napoleon force-marched his men to Cairo! They had to take it before the flood, and I mean those floods went for miles in all directions on the west (Napoleon’s side) of the river, not so much on the eastern Cairo side, because it’s higher, which is why Cairo is where it is. Number Two there seem to have been two natural fords: one at Imbaba and one at Giza. That’s why the forts were there. Why Ibrahim Bey didn’t cross at the Giza ford is hard to explain until you realize that Peree’s gunboats would have chopped them to pieces during the crossing. I’m sure the Mamlukes’ Greek sailors weren’t too keen to fight Peree after his victory downriver a week earlier. That, to me, is why it fell apart for the Mamluks.
There are good French maps of the area from fifty years beforehand, and Napoleon certainly knew what he was getting into. Ibrahim Bey probably planned on being able to cross the river at one of his fortified fords and join battle along with the rest of the army. The Mamlukes wanted to cover the Nile from both sides just in case. The position of the city seems to have been designed with that in mind: allowing one force to occupy the invader for long enough to let the rest of the army ford and join battle on whichever side of the river it was on. The problem with that design is that it was something like six hundred years old by the time Napoleon showed up. Ibrahim Bey wasn’t expecting to be outgunned from the water!
Hello, Where in No. Los Angeles are you located? I live in Reseda.
Dennis,
Winnetka in the San Fernando Valley. Just west of Reseda and toward Pierce college.
Michael aka WR
Hello Michael, Would like to come to one of your events. I have been a collector and painter for fifty years. Dennis Morley
Dennis, …. and all others in the local region of the game warren (Northern Los Angeles),
Always welcome to join in. Planning possible small historical napoleonc game next Sunday (Jan 28th). Thinking of running my recently posted Arronches 1801 scenario for a test drive. Will send out email broadcast to group at beginning of week if my time stays open. Michael
Hi Michael, spotted your Sardinia-Piedmont 1796 army and was wondering where you sourced the flags? I have been searching all the main providers but not found anything so far. Eureka Miniatures are releasing a new range covering this period so I am building a new army.
Thanks, Garry
Garry,
My flags came from the two sources. First source was the internet site on the Italian text Sardinia / Piedmont army at: http://www.bandieresabaude.it/index1.html
the secord source is a large four volume book set on the Kingdom of Two Sicilies/ Naples covering the period 1790-1860 eras. the flags are scattered in volume one and some in volume two…. and match the standards and flags found on the above internet site.
If interested, I still have the standards / flags on MS old fashioned .doc file page which you could size as needed. Michael aka WR