1985 - one of Jans scratch built models
Shortly
after our second visit to Peter Gilder’s WHC I retired from the army and we
moved to Salisbury in Wiltshire. This
involved moving and finding a new house.
We were determined to have sufficient space for a wargames room, and
were delighted to find a house with a large, stand alone brick garage. It would be large enough to hold a 12x6 foot
wargames table and have space for shelves for all of our model soldiers and
scenery.
It
took a few months to convert the garage to an all year wargames room, and we
were delighted with the final result.
We wanted a similar, though much smaller, table to the WHC. So I modelled about 20 scenic squares each
2x2 foot.
By
now I had sufficient model soldiers to provide both armies for large battles,
and with the games room ready we wanted to contact other wargamers in the
Salisbury area. We placed ads in the
local shops and notified the nearby Larkhill and Tidworth garrisons. I even contacted the local newspaper and I
was impressed that they sent a reporter and photographer and put a full page
article in the next issue.
1986 Salisbury Old Guard
We
had a very good response, including many from the army serving on nearby
Salisbury Plain. We were particularly pleased that Alison, our first and last female member, was one of the first to attend. We met for an evening
game once a week. I would set up the
table and usually act as umpire.
The
games were always Napoleonic, and I tried to make them as even as
possible. We usually had 6 to 8
players, but it worked best with two teams of 3. Each
player would then have an area 4 foot wide.
I would brief both teams, and each player would have their own
objective. Games were always friendly,
though it was not unknown for tempers to get a little heated.
I
had learned from my visits to WHC how important it was to have a non playing
umpire to keep the game flowing and to resolve problems quickly. We used In The Grand Manner rules, and I soon
found the difficult of using rules written by someone else. With such constant use of the same rules all
players became very proficient with them, and many played to their weakness. I quite understand why this would happen, but
it did make my task of umpire very difficult.
Each week I would have to make a decision where the rules were not
clear. I kept a record of major decisions, but even
so would often be held to account many weeks, or months, later. I quickly found that each time I amended the
rules to meet resolve a problem not covered that amendment would create many
more problems in the future. And I would
often have to try to justify two decisions perhaps months apart.
The
club would run for almost 20 years, and would meet every week except for short
breaks for summer and Christmas holidays.
The members would change over the years, particularly the military who
would get posted regularly. I was always
very impressed how loyal they were, and how they would turn up in all
weathers. Despite my best efforts it
could be quite uncomfortable in the winter months.
