In Distant Lands Part 2

The last time I was in Banff was 22 years ago and it has changed a bit. Back then I remember it as a quaint town with a selection of quality gift stores with a respectable range of products, and some nice cafes. Today there are dozens of places all selling the same products and an unending array of places to eat, many much the same - burgers and fries or pizza. Although the place it is not as highly priced as I might have thought.

All that said the place has that pleasant alpine feel, as you would expect from a ski town, with many of the buildings in the Swiss alpine style. 

We managed to do most of the touristy things, including the gondola ride (the chap at the front desk told us 'oh you'll need to book because the queues will be large but I can help you with that' but we chose to ignore him and simply took the bus there, the queue was not large, we bought our tickets and were at the top in half an hour, despite the large school group and the English tour group that arrived at the same time as us).

Looking up the cable car to the summit

Looking back on Banff from the halfway point.

The summit was shrouded in cloud, but it didn't stop us from walking out along the wooden walkway out to where the gamma ray recording station stood. It was a pleasant walk in the cool air and by the time we started to walk back the cloud had begun to dissipate and we could see the town below.

The gamma ray research staton before  the cloud completely shrouded it

The gamma ray research  station.

The town from the summit after the clouds began to dissipate 

Dinner that evening was at an Indian restaurant called Zyka...oh my God that was beautiful food...if you ever find yourself in Banff and you appreciate Indian food that is tasty and fragrant rather than just hot and spicy, you are doing yourself a serious disservice if you don't go to this place.

Thursday saw us leave Banff. It was a gorgeously sunny but cool day. We had thought of taking a helicopter ride and with such great weather it seemed a shame not to, so we checked if places were available, which they were, and we drove off to the heliport at Canmore. With clear skies, a gentle wind and a significantly lighter wallet we set off on a fabulous flight through the valleys and over the crests of the Rockies. It seems that we picked the right moment because the pilot said that the building clouds indicated a change coming, doubting that there would be any flying for the afternoon.

With the buzz from that flight still in our systems we got in the road again to Lake Louise. This is the luxury part of our trip and had booked two nights at the Chateau Fairmont on the lakefront. What a stunning place this is. I had rather hoped that the spring thaw would have melted the lake ice to show us the famous pale blue hue that alpine lakes have, but not to be. We had arrived early so while our room was being readied we walked along the foreshore and basked in the mid-day sun just taking in the view.

The view from the room ...

...  and with the sun setting...

...and the sunrise.

Today is a lazy day of walking, eating and drinking before heading to the cousins tomorrow.

In Distant Lands

Well the figures, brushes and paints are packed away. The wine stock is secured so that the house sitter isn't tempted and on Saturday evening we flew off to the northeast...quite a way northeast actually...fourteen flying hours in fact...close to Stew and Jonathan. I use the term 'close' loosely because Vancouver is a damn sight closer to California and Washington than Auckland is.

We had planned (and paid for) this trip  2019 - a return to my homeland to visit family we haven't seen for 22 years - for  travel in 2020 and then the plague hit. So now that all the travel restrictions have been restored (albeit that airfares and hotel prices remain high). I had booked a Hyundai Elantra rental car but was rather pleased when they gave me a Audi Quattro A5 because they didn't have another vehicle with a SatNav available - it  makes driving on the opposite side of the road quite bearable!

The planned trip began with a road trip from Vancouver to Banff, with overnight stays at Hope (in a motel so dodgy that we expected to find the taped outline of a body on the floor) and Rossland enroute. We were a little alarmed to hear on our arrival from my cousin that there were floods in Southern British Columbia, the area were due to drive through two days later. Thankfully the floods, while they were evident in some areas, did not close the roads or affect our travel, although some pockets of rain did limit what we could see in a couple of places.

There are only a few pictures here as the chief photographer was using the DSLR camera, for which I don't have an iPad adaptor.

A road stop in the EC Manning Provincial Park

The Spotted Lake just west of Osoyoos. An unusual small alkali lake where pockets of different minerals pool and cause the spotted appearance. 

The morning view from our room at the Red Mountain Resort near Rossland.

Above and below, another roadside stop in the Kootenays.

Above and below the views on the drive near Windermere, just before the rain struck

The United Church in Banff, with Tunnel Mountain behind.

More Austrians

If I was a sci-fi geek it would probably make some smart comment about May the Fourth, but I am not - in fact I think I have only ever watched one Star Wars film all the way through - so I won't.

Finished over the weekend and based up yesterday is the Second Battalion, Regiment Freiherr von Zach, Number 15. 

This is the penultimate battalion in this collection. The third battalion, and the last infantry unit of this collection is on the painting table now. All that remains after that unit is completed is a hussar regiment.

War in the Peninsular

With stormy weather threatening our city again, we gathered for our regular Sunday game. This time it was a Peninsular War action with the 21 French battalions supported by four regiments of dragoons and eight batteries attacking an allied army of seven British, six Portuguese and nine Spanish infantry battalions,  three small units of British light dragoons, two regiments of Spanish dragoons and six batteries (four batteries and two Spanish).

I had planned to pull together a game based on Albuera, but real world pressures of the last week conspired against me and instead I pulled a scenario together at the last moment. The terrain was simply set up with a significant town in the centre of the table with two long ridges either side. The Allied army set up first with the Portuguese in and to the immediate left of the town, with one battalion on the churchyard. The Spanish were on the left flank and the British the right.

The French deployed with two brigades against the British and one opposite the town.

The French right brigade made a bee line for the churchyard while the centre made straight for the British, hoping to draw them into a fight on the ridge while the remaining brigade turned the British right.

Meanwhile the Spanish, with no French directly in front of them, moved to turn the French right flank, but the fact than half of their infantry was rated raw made their progress slow, although in their colourful uniforms they looked rather smart.

The first attempt at break into the churchyard was repulsed and while the French tried to reform for a fresh attack they were attacked by some British light dragoons. The cavalry drove off one battalion before being stopped by a French square. 

In the French centre a battalion fell on the flank of a Portuguese battalion and destroyed it, before pushing on against the unit of rifles occupying one of the houses in the village.

The French in front of the churchyard recovered and tried in vain to storm it again.

In the French centre the British came forward in an attack. The resulting combats swayed too and fro with neither side gaining an advantage.

The French dragoons tried to drive off the Spanish dragoons, but were driven back themselves.

Things were turned badly for the French in the centre and right and soon they would collapse, but on their left the third French brigade finally got into the fight seriously damaging the British force. The French cavalry swung around the flank, smashing two batteries.

 

The Spanish and Portuguese forces, with no enemy in front of them, closed in around the town and with with two of the French brigades destroyed, victory went to the allies. 

And with that we left sunny Spain and went back into the rain and wind.

An Addition to the Library

The recent release of the Ottoman Napoleonic figures by the Perrys stirred up up my desire to expand the Ottoman Turks that are allies for my British in Egypt army. That expansion has always been an intention, but the only manufacturer up to now with a broad range of figures has been Brigade Games, but with an eye watering landed cost of more than $NZ90.00 for an eighteen figure unit, I had delayed the expansion indefinitely. But with the Perry coming into the market the price for the same sized unit is a little under $NZ41.00 and with an expected broader range of figures, things are looking a bit more promising. There is even the potential to look at using the Turks against the Russians in the Caucuses.

However, before I launch into a whole new project, I will wait an see how the range develops, but in the meantime I placed an order for a book from Caliver Books that I have been considering for some time, Chris Flaherty's "The Napoleonic Ottoman Army". It took a while to get here, due to the inefficiencies of the post-COVID postal systems, but now I have it.

In large format it is a beautifully presented book with hundreds of colour illustrations that provide all the uniform details needed by a wargamer to paint Ottoman figures.

My only complaint is the lack of organisation of the content. Maybe it is that in my professional life I edit and publish aviation documentation that has to be clear, precise and have a logical flow, but in this book (and many other similar books for that matter) there is a need to flick confusingly to and fro across many pages to find the details of what is a confusing subject to begin with. Often at the end of your search you are even more confused. Nonetheless it is a starting point.