RSS FeedAngus Konstam is an author and historian - visit his website at
www.anguskonstam.com or e-mail him at anguskonstam@aol.com
He's a member of the Orkney Wargames Club, which meets in Kirkwall on Thursday evenings.
See their Facebook page for more info.
Campaigns in Central Asia, c.1919-25 For those of you unfamiliar with the Back of Beyond idea, the name comes from a rules supplement to Chris Peers’ Contemptible Little Armies. Back of Beyond was a set of army lists and a campaign system which allowed players to recreate events which played out in Central Asia during
Oars de Combat…. Renaissance Galleys in the Journal This great new project came about thanks to a surprise delivery. My wargaming buddy Dave Imrie went to Salute 2015, and I met up with him a week later. It seems he met up with a Californian called Thomas Foss at the show – the creative genius
Let’s give Boney a damned good thrashing! Napoleonic Wars in the Journal It began with a false start. Wargaming pals badgered me into trying the period, and in the end I opted for the British in the Peninsula. I painted up the 3rd Foot (“The Buffs”), but then the project ran out of steam. I
Skulking around in the woods I’m not usually a great fan of skirmish games, but that’s the best level to treat this offshoot of the Seven Years War. Forget the few big battles and sieges such as Quebec and Louisbourg – the real wargaming potential of this conflict is found in the struggle in the
This is arguably my favourite period. Many many years ago I wrote a couple of Osprey books on The Russian Army of the Seven Years War. I suppose then it was inevitable that I would get sucked into gaming the period. Funnily enough, though the Russians were my first Seven Years War (SYW) army, I
This period came about thanks to a book deal. Once I signed the contract for Jutland I thought I might as well game the battle, as well as write about it. I must have forgotten just how many ships were involved – and how much of my book advance would land up in the coffers
I really love this period thanks to the novels of Patrick O’Brian, but the thought of all that rigging always put me off it. Then, along came a new club project. One day, someone suggested refighting Trafalgar using 1/1200 scale ships, and the guys all thought this was a great idea. Better still, some people
All of my wargame figures are 28mm – a scale that lends itself well to big battalions, and to periods with pretty uniforms. This is the exception – a period which I game in 10mm. It came about as part of a club project back in Edinburgh. Someone suggested gaming the Franco-Prussian War, 10mm was
I really love this period. One of the first Osprey books I ever wrote was Pavia 1525. I studied Italian Renaissance history at university, and my Masters dissertation was about Renaissance artillery -albeit guns used at sea. However, my actual foray into the wargaming of the Italian Wars was recent. Like so many projects, it
I wasn’t sure what to call this period. Ideas were “Medieval”, “Early Medieval”, “Late Viking” or “The Norse Age”, but not of these really fitted the bill. In the end I opted for the catch-all of “The Dark Ages”. I know it’s academically out of date, but for wargamers its got more resonance than any
