It's been a while, but we do have some new releases on their way.

One thing that has been missing from my weekly updates of late is new of new and planned releases from Baccus.   That’s not to say that we don’t have some nice new goodies our collective sleeves, more a case that at this time of the year, we are diverting our attention to getting the Joy of Six underway.  However, we do have some things to share, but first, the magic number, which stands at #32252. 

We will have lots of nice new goodies to release at this year’s Joy of Six and we’ll be giving details of these in the days leading up to the show.  Looking at the list has made me realise that, by coincidence, they are very heavily slanted to the 20th century.  Personally, I much prefer painting subjects with a palette that contains more than khaki, olive drab and field grey, so I will be the first to reassure you all that the earlier years have not been forgotten.

Showing on a Youtube channel near you!

The next Lens update is by way of a YouTube video showing the hows and whys of assembling and basing a big battalia unit.   If continue my occasional series of, ‘How not to make videos for YouTube’, and highlights all the cardinal errors that can be made in a few short minutes.

For those of you brave enough, the link is here https://youtu.be/OCJcTrt8qfU

If nothing else, you get to see the Baccus Uff-Puff in action!

Baccus needs You!

I will start off with an apology, due to an attack of the Unforeseen Circumstances, there is no magic number this week.  Normal service will be resumed in seven days’ time.

As I type this there is just one month to the day before this year’s Joy of Six.   As part of this year’s event, Baccus will have the first outing of our 6mm game of the Battle of Lens 1648. 

It's not far away now - Joy of Six 2025

There are just five weeks to go before the Joy of Six 2025.   But before we get into that, it is time for this week’s magic order number which currently stands at #32126.  

So, what is all the fuss about?   Well, if you pop along to www.joysofsix.co.uk you will find out for yourself.  Can’t be bothered to click?   Then let me fill you in on what the weekend can offer.

Lens 1648 - Update number 2

So why did we choose the Battle of Lens?

Well, to start with it is notable for being was the last major battle of the Thirty Years War.  It also fitted our criteria in terms of size of forces and the layout of what will become the game table.   The French army mustered some 16,000 men, the Spanish 18,000.   These figures translated nicely to the gaming bases at the scale we had chosen.   The battlefield itself is the real life equivalent of a simple gaming mat; no relief, no pesky rivers or streams, no major settlements and no real tree cover.   As I have to build the gaming board with my very limited skills this was a gift from Heaven!

This week, it's all about the Joy of Six

Hello one and all.  This week it’s all about the Joy of Six 2025, which is just under two months away.   But first, it’s this week’s magic order number, which stands at #31953. 

We’ve just updated the Joy of Six website, www.joysofsix.co.uk where you will find an up to date list of games and traders.  We’ve got an amazing line up of games.   We don’t know how they do it, but each year the exhibitors manage to put on something more spectacular than the previous year.   They move the bar on, ‘Excellence’ up a notch every 12 months. 

Baccus 6mm Presents - Lens 1648....

Over the past few years, my long term collaborator, Derek, and I have had the ambition to stage a game using our Big Based Battalia units.   We’d always wanted to do battle from the Thirty Years War, and after a lot of research, Derek found the ideal one for us.   It wasn’t too big, too small and the scenery needed was practical for my limited modelling skills.   As a result, we are pleased to present to you, the Battle of Lens.

The Battle of Lens (20 August 1648) was the last major battle of the Thirty Years War (1618-1648).   It is typical of the changing nature of European politics of the period, that war which started with one set of German Catholic states fighting another set of Protestant German states in Bohemia, should conclude with a Catholic French army defeating a Catholic Spanish army in northern France!

I’ll flesh out the historical side of the battle in future posts, but for the moment, it’s time to talk about the game itself.   It will be a participation game, so you get the chance to push the lovely big based units around the table.   We will be using a variant of our very popular, ‘Old Trousers’ rules, which are simple but do present the players with some tricky decision making.   The aim will be for each game to last 30-40 minutes, so we can fit in a few sessions during the day.

There will be regular updates leading up the Joy of Six.  If nothing else this means that I really have to get my finger out and get some work done!

The April Baccus Golden Ticket winner is…

…one of our many American customers, Kevin Woods.   

You can see him here clutching his precious Golden Ticket.  As he puts it, ‘Many thanks. I feel like Charlie from Willy Wonka. As I set out to explore 6mm figures, the name Baccus came up many times, so I thought I would give them a try. The quality, selection, and price are all exceptional. The Golden Ticket is an incredible offer;  the only problem is deciding how to spend it.’

Kevin now gets a voucher for £60 of Baccus goodies.  If you want to enter this month’s draw, it really is very simple.  Just place an order with us for items to the value of £60 or more, and you are in with a chance.  Couldn’t be simpler and the odds are good!

Dazed and Confused – but we do have a magic number…

Hi all, apart from being a brilliant classic rock track, it also pretty well sums up last weekend for the Baccus team, as the usual set of ‘technical issues’ meant that the shopping cart wasn’t set correctly to run our 10% off sale.   Although we have since fixed this, we’ve spent a good chunk of last week contacting customers who ordered over this period and correcting the problems.  

We’ve just about sorted things now, but it’s fairly obvious that a lot of people couldn’t place an order or were confused as to why the discounted prices weren’t in place.   As a result, we are extending the sale period over the weekend of 10th and 11th May, so if you want to take advantage of the offer, all prices on the Baccus shopping cart have been reduced by 10% until the morning of Monday 12th May.

Phew!   In all the excitement, we’ve still managed to sort out a magic number, which this week stands at #31834.

Spring Sale time!

As you all should know by now, Lindy has taken over the Baccus admin, and so has been in charge of laboriously changing every single price code on our system following the recent price increase.

However, the Sun is shining, the bees are buzzing, the buds are budding, the trees are blossoming and gloomy old winter is definitely behind us. To mark the general feeling of things getting a wee bit brighter, and to get my own back  on Lindy, we are having a short but sweet sale.