Janissaries of the Sun King

 A Frenchmen in any other coat would be as dastardly

To recap - my regular opponent General Gorman and I are marching from Dublin to the site of the Boyne battlefield. This is a distance of fifty kilometres as they measure such things on the continent.

We are men of portly habit and this is not something we would have undertaken lightly.

However, last year a wargaming chum of ours lost a child, Kathryn. She lived for eleven days and brought great joy into her parents life.   She was cared for in Temple Street Children's Hospital, which for reasons that baffle me doesn't have all the equipment it needs. During Kathryn's stay in Temple Street, she was hooked up to a monitor, a piece of equipment that costs €20,000 and that lasts for five years.

Young Gorman and I have managed to raise €3,500 in sponsorship for our Boyne walk. We're hoping to raise a little more than that in the final furlong.

Should you wish to check our bona fides or donate securely you may do so here.

 What has this to do with the Boyne, you ask? Nothing much really - it was a place that we picked because we could probably walk there in a day. It's also one of the more signicant battles that has taken place in Ireland and to be honest, there may have been alcohol consumed while we were discussing this course of action.

Shocked? I know, we're an abstimeous pair. I can only suppose that Gorman had a touch to much of the sherry trifle at the church fete.

Not content with walking there, we raised additional sponsorship by promising to carry a wargame of the battle with us and play it on our arrival. The troops above, painted by Krisztian Takacs, are for this game and they will be representing the French infantry of James II army.

The figures themselves are from Irregular miniatures and will be for sale along with the rest of the collection once the walk is over and I will be boring you with further pictures for quite some time.

We are doing everything in our power to raise additional funds, so if you have any ideas do let us know.

For those of you who'd like to see how our training has been going you can see some pictures here.