It’s quite something to be in the presence of someone who not only is passionate about their favourite subject, but also whose expertise is in an area about which you know almost nothing.
Battlechat 89 bears witness to just such an occasion, and I am not ashamed to admit that I learned a great deal during the making of this show!
You can tell that there’s a huge amount going on here, not just because the show is over 2 hours long, but also from the list of resources in the notes below. The Balkan Military History website alone is one of the most extraordinary resources ever put together by a wargamer for the benefit of others, and I thoroughly recommend that you spend time trawling its articles and following its links.
Quite apart from his profound knowledge of an area of Europe that is often overlooked, and the passion with which he describes the sweep of the region’s military history, Dave has also been a wargamer for more than 50 years, and we were able to share some fond ‘old school’ memories as well as discuss some of the more recent developments in the hobby. His extraordinary collection boasts more than 24,000 miniatures in various scales, and they are not just Balkan armies! He is also the secretary of the Glasgow & District Wargaming Society and regales us with some interesting tales of both demo and participation games that he has helped to stage over many years.
This will, I promise you, be a show to make you sit up and listen, so prime your ears for some fascinating stuff!
Henry
Dave’s blog, The Balkan Wargamer
The Balkan Military History website
History of the Balkans (Wikipedia)
Zog I of Albania (Wikipedia)
Siege of Ragusa (Wikipedia)
The Glasgow & District Wargaming Society
Chasing the Soft Underbelly (Helion & Co)
Eagles Over the Alps by Christopher Duffy (Helion & Co)
The Dover Amendments to the WRG Ancients Rules on the Vintage Wargaming blog
George Gush’s Renaissance Warfare online (Airfix Magazine articles)
Cover of the George Gush book mentioned in the podcast
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