Today was Stand To at the Locomotion Railway Museum in Shildon. It was also the inaugural game for the full Ottoman Turkish Army.
Its hard to classify Stand To as a Wargames Show in the true sense of the word, given that entrance is free [yes free] the majority of people who attend the museum, are usually there to see the trains, there is usually only a small number of traders and the venue is well lit and warm. [ The last bit is a bit of playful devilishness by me] But actually I think the place is a very good venue because it is very well lit, the parking is good, and free, the cafe is also well run, although not the cheapest and the place does have stuff to see, ie very large trains.
The set up I chose was a battle between the forces of the Republic of Venice against the invading Ottoman Turks, during their war in Greece. The war ended with the Venetians losing a lot of their colonies. The rules used were Pike and Shotte, which fairly rattle along and take very little to pick up again after a long lay off.
I have to admit that John, Neil and Colin did most of the actual fighting whilst I attempted to give out handouts and explain history to young people who didnt have much idea about, well history. It wasn't that they weren't interested, because they were, its just that they don't have a grounding in a lot of subjects such as history and geography. Still I think we did okay, and the public were genuinely interested in what we were doing.
The Turks are a difficult army to use, but also can be difficult to fight. John managed very well, me personally spent a lot of time being peppered with arrows by Akinji. The intention was for the game to be colourful, and hopefully interesting, without being taken too seriously by the players. I think we managed that.
The centre comprising the Janissarys, finally got to move, but only when the battle was already over for the Turks.
I had to include the photograph below, as it showed the extent of Neil's dice throwing when his Spahis faced down a unit of Venetian mercenary gendarmes. No hits there. His unit duly fled after being bowled over. More bother for them 50 virgins.
My command figure, which managed to 'blunder several times. So nothing new in that then. Anyway, I hope any person who attend the museum enjoyed what they saw, and hopefully the organisers can build on what they have started.
