Thursday 22 September 2022

Painting update and a little more ‘local’ History

Feel like I have been painting lots of bits recently rather than any full units, that trend will change soon I suspect.

Completed this week some much needed AWI artillery support, I picked these up at the Edinburgh show recently, the idea being the Caisson and munition wagon can double up as limbers or play as nice terrain when needed. I also chose to individually base three of the figures giving some flexibility 
This means they can if needed man the extra artillery piece. Although I already have quite a lot of artillery so not sure if they will be needed.
A small purchase of eBay as I had already picked up some of their larger guns, some of these may well be painted up as Austrians

I was also away again last weekend with my Daughter and we visited a number of interesting sites
First up the Gilnockie Tower. Once falling down then repaired as a house now repurposed as a visitor attraction and small museum. The tower is reputed to be the ancestral home of the Armstrong clan and more specifically the original home of the infamous Johnnie Armstrong an infamous reiver eventually killed by the king
It is only small but nicely put together audio tour, some interesting displays and of course much of the discussion is about the Reiver way of life.
Some replica armour etc. I have of course thought many times about collecting. Some reiver types for skirmishing. What with it being fairly local, I’m holding off for now.
We visited the Sir John Malcom monument 
I have since read a little more detail and considering getting one of his books, a classic ‘British’ adventurer served with the Wellesleys in India before moving into deplomacy as a career in the east.
Day two we visited Orchardton Tower , sadly not currently open to the public but apparently a rare example of a round tower house
Finally Burnswark Roman fort near to Lockerbie, Surprisingly there is quite a lot written about this which I’m not going to repeat here, if you are interested just Google it.
Suffice to say the Iron Age fort seen below (not my aerial shot) has Roman forts on both sides. There are two schools of thought, either it was a training camp for training new soldiers or perhaps more excitingly it does represent an actual siege during the attempted invasion of Scotland. The obvious round mounds have been identified as Ballista firing platforms.
It is quite exciting to picture the siege in place with Pictish warriors hemmed in on top of the hill the Roman commander ordering the two forts to be built to prevent escape and then the ballistas being placed and the final assault. The battle scene in gladiator comes to mind 
This is a reconstruction picture but it is quite easy and accessible on the ground.

Well that’s it for now hopefully some gaming this weekend 👍


24 comments:

  1. Clever mounting for the limber crews. Fascinating rievers photos & the Roman forts...just icing on the cake.

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    1. Thanks Joe, I was really impressed by the Roman forts given they were built getting on for 2000 years ago

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  2. Two fine looking limbers, Matt. Since your retirement, not only will get time for more painting but also wear out hiking boots more quickly. Wonderful travelogue.

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    1. Not so much painting at the moment, my wife seems to have found me lots of jobs to do !

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  3. Splendid additions there Matt. As ever your travelogue and photos are most interesting and informative.

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    1. Thanks Phil a visit to Burnswark is worth it if travelling north

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  4. It's always interesting reading your about your visits to these historical sites and the background is always appreciated. I have never heard of Burnswark fort or a potential Roman siege.

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    1. Thanks Lawrence we are lucky to be surrounded by history here 😀

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  5. Lovely limbers there and very useful as mentioned. Great scenery and localish history to you too, with the towers of interest to me for some planned Jacobite terrain in the future.

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    1. Thanks Steve the Gilnockie tower is particularly good example and would make a nice model

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  6. Nice new additions to the AWI collection Matt. As you know I always enjoy your landscape and history trip pictures.

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  7. You do get around Matt, interesting history.

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    1. Thanks George surrounded by history here 👍

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  8. Nice looking limbers for he AWI.
    Cool little history jaunt as well and lucky you to have it all do easily accessible. The UK has all the coolest history. 😀

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    1. Thanks stew we certainly have a lot of history, I’ll not get into a debate about where is the coolest 🤔

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  9. Really great new work and thank you so much for a little bit of history!
    Best regards

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    1. Thanks Michal more history and painting to come 👍

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  10. Some nice figures Matt and the father/daughter trip looks fun (I don't think my daughter would enjoy that kind of thing, though!) Gilknockie Tower is pretty famous, it pops up in lots of accounts of Reiver goings on - and of course you should be investing in a few figures for skirmish gaming - Hokahey do great Reiver "family" sets, and Colonel Bill also has a rather nice range!

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    1. Thanks Keith yes I have looked at the Hokahey figures before…..but I really don’t need another project at the moment 🤔

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  11. I've always fancied doing a border reiver skirmish game, be great if you did! Nice adaptable limbers and good looking terrain, pretty sure it was a training site when you look into it, but no one csn entirely prove it either way!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thanks Iain , I have read some of the internet stuff on Burnswark and there is a fairly good u tube video. The juries out at the moment the training camp theories are fairly old. I’m going with my gut which tells me at some point the assault was a real one !

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  12. Lovely toys Matt…
    And cracking scenic photos… There are so many nice historical sights along the border.
    I particularly like Smailholm Tower near Kelso.

    All the best. Aly

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    1. Thanks Aly all this history and inspiration for wargaming on my doorstep !

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