EditorialKevin Croskery
This current issue of Despatch is a month late for which I apologise. A backlog of DIY, weekend visitors and work commitments all combined to make this issue late. I will still endeavour to produce four issues for the year. Needless to say, my gaming slowed down dramatically over the period but should now begin to pick up. Paul Ayres and I are still at Computer War in Europe; it is early summer 1943 and his Allies have now landed in France while I have pulled back in the east to give my Germans some breathing space. There is going to be a long hard battle to Berlin…. Leslie King and I started GMT’s invasion Norway since the last Despatch. As the German player, I have adopted a conservative approach with the German navy, so landings have been made only around the Oslo area and the navy will stay in port until the Allied submarine menace disappears. Not taking Narvik in the first wave is a risk but we will have to see how the game pans out. There is a new venue for the southern con this year. From what Chris reports, it seems like the ideal venue. Most inconsiderately, my brother has decided to get married on that weekend in Birmingham so I will not be at the gaming weekend. It was a close decision…... In the middle of July, my friend Paul and I went to the War & Peace show at the Hop Farm in Kent. For anyone with an interest in military vehicles this is the venue to get to . This was our first visit as holidays tended to coincide.It was amazing. We were not prepared for the sheer size and diversity of the show. We reckoned that there was enough equipment to put a mechanized division together, and nearly all of it was in working order. The highlight for us was the Churchill VII in working order. There are only three running examples in the world, this privately owned example, a X LT in Ireland and one in Bovington (I think…). It has a very distinctive sound , very different to other tanks. Other vehicles at the show were an M60, Chieftain, Centurion AVRE, T72, Shermans, M18, Hetzer, Sd Kfz 251, M3 halftrack, Sherman BARV. It was the 50th anniversary of the Ferret and there were about that number of examples in the arena. Jeeps, hundreds of Jeeps! Most of the vehicle operators were in period uniforms, even down to a squad of WWII Russians with the correct haircut. We stood by the side of the entrance to the arena and watched all these vehicles roar past. It was awesome. As we were looking at Churchill doing it’s thing in the arena I turned around and a squad of fully armed East Germans walked past. Further away, an mg post of the Afrika Korps lounged around. To their left a platoon of Wehrmacht stood on parade while their officer received a medal. Down on the road a convoy of jeeps roared by…. There is also a funfair at the show for the kids (although driving the mini “tank” is the best fun) and plenty of articles for sale. Want to buy a Bren gun and tripod for £175? Or a Ferret scout car for £7500? A jeep maybe……. |