Centenaries

As the New Year beckons I usually start with a look at forthcoming centenaries. Mainly as inspiration for display games in the coming year.

I suspect the 500th anniversary of the Battle of Flodden 1513 will be the big UK centenary and we have started to think about it. Many figures already in GDWS member's collections, but we are going to need more pike armed Scots. You could include the battles of Novara, Spurs and La Motta of the same year. 

The Thirteen's were not big in the Balkans with the obvious exception of the continuing Balkan Wars. The Fall of Jannina and then Edirne signalled the end of the First Balkan War. But then the Bulgarian's kicked it all off again in June 1913. Jannina is a city well worth visiting and it has the period Fort Bezane as well.

 

Less well known is the Battle of Camurlu, near Sofia, fought on 5 July 1413 Between Musa and Mehmet I to decide which son of Bayezid I would unite the Ottomans. Mehmet won with Byzantine support. An excuse to get out lots of Ottomans is one I am unlikely to miss during the year.

On a medieval theme Louis the Bavarian defeated his cousin Frederick I of Austria at the Battle of Gamelsdorf in 1313. Or a chance to use the Spaniards again because Simon de Montfort beat Pedro II of Aragon at the Battle at Muret in 1213.

The Napoleonic Wars continue to generate a range of options. Vittoria, Leipzig and the Pyrenees to name a few. The War of 1812 continued with several interesting actions although I prefer the South American Wars of Liberation. Bolivar's invasion of Venezuela and the Battle of Barbula on 30 September 1813.

Cheating slightly, the ACW has a number of 150th anniversaries including Chancellorsville, Chickamauga and of course the big one, Gettysburg.

That should be enough to keep anyone busy!