Monday, 10 January 2011
Sunday, 9 January 2011
Champagne Charlies
These chaps are the rank and file of the cavalry for my Praetorian guard cavalry elements; champagne corks seem an appropriate temporary base for these. I'll eventually have 2 units of 6, as the cavalry detachments of the two 24-man cohorts I have planned. I may eventually end up with 3.
I've just taken advantage of a clear and sunny London day to gloss lacquer them. It'll be a while before the unit gets finished, because the command figures I ordered from Black Tree Designs (in September, grrr) still haven't arrived. I've chased and ordered some more.
I know, somewhere, I have another 3-4 dozen Black Tree cavalry, but can I find the blighters? I've been scouring the lead mountain, but so far to no avail...
Wednesday, 5 January 2011
Theme for 2011- Early Imperial Rome
I've given some more though to what I'm going to paint this year, after the French Indo China, Ancient Germans/Laager and Marian Romans that I've previously mentioned as Q1 objectives. I've decided to concentrate on Early Imperial Romans, because:-
- I have a lot of EIR units part painted, that I should be able to finish relatively quickly
- I also have a huge amount of unpainted EIR lead so it will save me money
- I really like EIRs and want to run a campaign; my favourite Roman text is Tacitus' Histories
- They would look great for a big display game, in 2012
Tuesday, 4 January 2011
Command and Colors Napoleonics
I played my first game of Command and Colors Napoleonics, tonight. Now, I don't even particularly LIKE Napoleonics as a period, but I was very impressed with this game. If you've played Command and Colors (Ancients), you can pick up the rules inside 15 minutes; yet, at the same time, the game play is different enough to give variety (my initial feeling is that the system is even better than the Ancients version). Also the cards and the blocks are beautiful, which helps to make it a pleasure to play. My impressions may be slightly coloured by the fact that I won, and drank half a bottle of a very fine French wine in the process!
Two things that I preferred about Napoleonics, compared to Command and Colors (Ancients), are that the impact of generals seems to be rather reduced (I've always thought them too effective in the latter), and that units become less effective as they suffer casualties. I would have imagined that this latter feature would slow the game down, but it doesn't. Artillery adds an interesting extra element to the game, and can combine with infantry and cavalry to deliver powerful attacks. Richard Borg has given different nationalities of troops,different characteristics, which adds a nice flavour.
Two things that I preferred about Napoleonics, compared to Command and Colors (Ancients), are that the impact of generals seems to be rather reduced (I've always thought them too effective in the latter), and that units become less effective as they suffer casualties. I would have imagined that this latter feature would slow the game down, but it doesn't. Artillery adds an interesting extra element to the game, and can combine with infantry and cavalry to deliver powerful attacks. Richard Borg has given different nationalities of troops,different characteristics, which adds a nice flavour.
You can order it from here or your FLGS. RTB, if you are reading this, you now have no excuse for getting your minis on a gaming table! ;-)
Monday, 3 January 2011
Furor Teutonicus!
These Foundry and Black Tree Ancient German figures were painted for me by Nick Speller, who certainly did a fine job! He paints irregulars far better than I can. I based them. All the pictures are clickable.
Of course, they'll only be seen from behind, when advancing!
Here are their leaders, Silo and Italicus.
This old man, shaking his fist, is my favourite figure...
...but I also really like the big guy, front and centre here.
Thanks Nick!
Of course, they'll only be seen from behind, when advancing!
Here are their leaders, Silo and Italicus.
This old man, shaking his fist, is my favourite figure...
...but I also really like the big guy, front and centre here.
Thanks Nick!
Sunday, 2 January 2011
New Year's Honours
I just heard that this blog won the Figureblogotheque English Language Best Blog of the Year award for 2010, and would like to thank all those who voted for it! Merci beaucoup! I'm delighted to have won it.
If you don't know FiggyBloggy (my affectionate nickname for it) it is a blog roll of wargaming blogs, which is run by my good friend Greg Privat, in France. I visit it, from time to time, to see what new wargaming blogs are out there; it is particularly good for foreign language blogs. A good portion of the traffic to this blog comes frome there, and if you have a blog it is a pretty good idea to list it there.
What a nice start to the New Year!
Confessions of a Basing Nazi Part 5
Here's the (almost) finished base from my previous post. One can see the line of the crack between the two halves, but it is pretty well disguised and looks natural. I was going to post the picture of the unit, but have decided, on reflection, to put a bit more Silflor on the bases, tonight.
Friday, 31 December 2010
Confessions of a Basing Nazi Part 4
This is a reprise of my (very very occasional) series on basing 28mm miniatures, and this post is about a trick I've come up with to speed up basing double-depth elements.
I find that double depth elements are very time consuming to base, because it is very hard to get the brush or palette knife into the space between the two ranks of figures. Moreover, sometimes paint or gunk gets onto the finished figures which then need retouching. Yet as the number of miniatures I own increases, I find that I want to base more and more miniatures this way, because they are quicker to deploy and move on the table.
Above are some of the splendid Foundry/Black Tree German figures that Nick has painted for me. I've done very little too them aside from painting the bases to match the eventual colour of the earth that will surround them, and to varnish them. I've arranged them on six 60x30 magnetic bases of my own manufacture.
In the above closeup, you can see that I like to position some of the bases so that the figures straddle both bases; this looks natural, and has practical value at a later stage. I also like to use irregular numbers of miniatures, when possible. The miniatures are stuck in place with wood glue, which dries relatively slowly and gives one time to move them around to get the most attractive arrangement.
Next, place the two bases next to each other on a magnetic surface, and cover each with your basing compound; I use a mix I've made up, that I call BigRedBatGunk (n.b. there is a square of tinplate under the bases in the photo). Then add a little extra gunk along the top of the seam to disguise it. It will then appear something like the above; the magnets hold the bases in place whilst the gunk dries like concrete.
And, once the gunk has dried, the two bases can be snapped apart, as above, leaving an irregular line along the break. I then paint the two half-elements, separately. Once fully painted, the two bases can be stuck back together along the edge with superglue, and this rough join is very much harder to see than a straight line would be; in fact virtually invisible. Any figures straddling the join (as above) help to make it stronger. I'll show the finished bases in a later post.
Tuesday, 28 December 2010
On the Painting Table for Q1 2011
I’ve been planning what to do in the first quarter of the year, up to Salute. After Salute, I hope to collaborate on a very big project for Salute 2012, which will take up much of my time.
Mini Marian Legion: I bought 30-odd painted minis on eBay, and Nick is going to paint up another 40-50, which will give me the 80 minis I need for another 80-man mini legion of 10 x 8 man cohorts. This is the representative scale we used for the game with Simon MacDowell, and if I can get 7 or 8 such legions finished (and hopefully get friends like Nick and Dr Simon to muster a couple more), then I could run a tidy little campaign using Simon’s rules to fight the battles.
Wagon Laager: This was a project that I started in January 2009, and which has been “resting” since then. I need to finish prepping the 50-odd figures that will “man” the laager and send them off to Nick, who is superb at painting Celts and Germans. I’ll then paint the wagons and base the minis into them. I’ve not seen a big wagon laager in 28mm so this will hopefully be fairly unique.
Indo China: I’m very keen to finish the above weapons company, which will give me a complete Viet Minh battalion, together with another company or two of French, and the rules I’m trying to write. After this I’ve loads of tanks, trucks, guns and half tracks to do... I like the 20mm stuff as one can fit a little bit of modelling into the odd spare half-hour.
Odds and Ends: I need to varnish and base the Germans on my painting table, and the EIR cavalry. Frustratingly, I realised last night that I’ve only painted 9 EIR cavalry, and need to paint 3 more command figures. Still the 9 are coming on nicely. They are actually really nice minis... some of the BTD stuff is really OK.
So that's me sorted for Q1 2011! Plenty to do... I wonder whether I’ll be able to stick with my plan?
Saturday, 25 December 2010
Merry Xmas!
We wish you a Merry Christmas,
We wish you a Merry Christmas,
We wish you a Merry Christmas,
And a Happy New Year!
I hope that you, and your family enjoy a fabulous Christmas and that everyone has received lots of lovely new toys!
Oddly, the advent of Christmas has started me obsessing about painting some more Early Imperial Romans. Must be something to do with all the Nativity stories. ;-)
Cheers, Simon
We wish you a Merry Christmas,
We wish you a Merry Christmas,
And a Happy New Year!
I hope that you, and your family enjoy a fabulous Christmas and that everyone has received lots of lovely new toys!
Oddly, the advent of Christmas has started me obsessing about painting some more Early Imperial Romans. Must be something to do with all the Nativity stories. ;-)
Cheers, Simon
Wednesday, 22 December 2010
Snow Stops Play!
I know that living in Britain we are supposed to have a variety of interesting weather types, but recently it has been getting a bit daft; between the short days, cold, snow and rain I've not been able to spray varnish or prime anything! Unfinished projects are piling up all around me. Here are just a few of the things I'm currently not finishing...
Above are my first 2 dozen Ancient Germans (mix of Foundry and Black Tree), beautifully painted for me by Nick Speller. I am making a few tiny tweaks to them; for example, I've painted nipples on them. You wouldn't think you'd miss nipps on a 28mm mini, but they really set them off. I also paint the bases and put a highlight along the sword edges. Once I get them lacquered, I can think about matt varnishing and basing.
Above are my third company of Viet Minh, awaiting a couple of coats matt spray varnish. Just off camera behind them are the support company, awaiting spray primer.
Here are the cavalry figures to go with the horses I finished... back in September!
I've also been assembling 1/72 plastic kits for the Indo China project. Some of there are terribly time consuming, once you start to slap on stowage and suchlike. I've not finished any yet, but have at least half-a-dozen on the go.
Finally, yesterday, whilst getting out the Xmas decorations, I stumbled across another long-forgotten box of unpainted Viet Minh and a whole lot of resin terrain, including bunkers; an early Xmas present!. And on that topic, if I don't get to post again before Xmas, I hope you all have a great one!
Sunday, 12 December 2010
Broken Biscuits Repaired
I've finished a company of Viet Minh (mentioned in this earlier post), assembled from figures that were broken back in the late 1980s. All the minis were cut off at the waist and dug into "foxholes" of greenstuff with greenstuff sandbags, and broken weapons were replaced.
I'm really pleased with the way they came out! At some stage I may buy more minis and do another company or two. I'm now rather past half way towards being able to field my battalion; mostly just need to do the support weapons.
Sunday, 5 December 2010
Not a Coventry Armoured Car
This is a Matchbox Humber II that I'm using as a proxy for the Coventry armoured cars, that the French used in Indo China. I've painted it as a vehicle of the 5eme Cuirassiers "Royal Pologne"; I struggled with the heraldry on the doors, but the number plates (second photo) are bang on!
It's very nice change to be learning how to paint vehicles, again. I've bought an excellent book by Steven Zaloga, which is proving invaluable. I don't need to paint to masterclass standards, just tabletop, but it is great to see how an expert does it! He has a whole chapter on Olive Drab. Last time I was painting tanks, everyone just used dark green!
In 1952 the Cuirassiers changed over to US M8 armoured cars, and I will certainly be painting some of those, in due course.
Saturday, 4 December 2010
Broken Biscuit Battalion
I mentioned in a previous post how dropped and broke a fair sized army of Viet Minh back in the 1980's. I've always felt sad about these poor crippled soldiers, and the time has finally come to restore them! In the below photo, the figures broken off at the ankles have been planted in clumps of greenstuff "grass". This gives each of them a pretty strong base. I've mixed in a few new Miniatures brought from the ever efficient Tony at ERM. When they are all painted, I'll disguise the clumps with Silflor.
Below are the "hard" cases; these broke off at the waist, and some lost their rifles. I've dug them into slit trenches, and replaced missing weapons with wire.
These will be really convenient when I need to depict dug-in Viet Minh troops, and I'll paint them over the next week.
Monday, 29 November 2010
Somewhere in Tonkin...
2 companies of French Colonial Infantry cross a dusty field, supported by some medium machine guns and a mortar, somewhere in Tonkin (French Indochina), c. 1953.
These are my recently reconditioned 20mm Platoon20 French Indo-China War infantry. The paint jobs are a bit basic but they look good from about 30cm away, so who cares! They are organised in 2 companies of 2 platoons each (apparently the French adopted this organisation because of a lack of men and junior officers).
I've gone with a representative scale of 1:4. Next I need to paint a second company of Viet Minh so that they have someone to fight, and a hex-based rule system. I am hoping that I'll be able to get a relatively simple system working; somehting more complex than Memoir '44, but simpler than Tide of Iron, and with local flavour.
Sunday, 28 November 2010
French Indo China WIP
These are the first of my French forces for Indo China; not quite finished, yet. They represent around half of an understrength battalion; 2 companies each with 2 4-squad platoons, and some heavy weapons. I'll take a proper photo when they are finished, later this week.
They are more survivors of the miniatures I dropped from a great height around 20 years ago. By the time they are finished they'll have been larely repainted and rebased; they should look a lot better than they did originally! Most of the miniatures are Platoon 20, and the armoured car is a 1/76 Matchbox Humber which will be proxying as a Coventry armoured car (as used in Indo China).
Sunday, 21 November 2010
Somewhere near Utica...
Yesterday Simon MacDowall very kindly showed my friend Ian and I his Civitates Bellatorum rules. We used them to play a game using most of my Republican Romans and Numidian Allies.
Above is a long shot of the battlefield. We diced for command of the armies, and I got the scruffier but rather more numerous superior Pompeian/Numidian forces, on the left. The better drilled, armoured and more enthusiastic Caesarian forces are drawn up on the right, with their German cavalry on the wings.
The game started with a bang as (above) I threw my right wing cavalry forward in an attempt to win the battle on the wings before the superior Caesarian legionaries won it in the centre. Not completely grasping the rules, I went a bit too far forward!
Caesar's well motivated German mercenaries promptly charged, chasing my bridle-less Numidians away, and smashing straight into Juba's Spanish bodyguard, who had become slightly fatigued by their aapid advance. They first routed the elite guards, and, to add insult to injury, caught them in the pursuit and annihilated them! By the end of the first turn most of my right wing cavalry were dead or on the way back to Numidia.
I quickly created a Plan B; win in the centre before I lose on the flanks! Above, the elephants are cranked into action.
Above, the Germans prepare to rally back as the elephants hit the Caesarian's skirmish screen. Juba (left foreground) prepares to dash to the relative safety of his surviving infantry. At this juncture we retired to the "Maid of Muswell" for a stirrup cup!
Upon my return form the "Maid", well fortified, I launched a general attack (with out, however, any great conviction as to it's ultimate success). On the left, my Numidians rode forward and showered their opponents with javelins. On the right my surviving elephant broke through the skirmish screen and began a long duel with the left-most of the three Caesarian legions.
Above are shown the centres, just before the moment of impact. You can see that my legions were drawn up in 3 lines, with the opponents (with as much frontage to cover but fewer troops) are only formed up two deep.
Nellie (above in background) remained locked in combat with the enemy legion for 3 or 4 turns, forcing it to do a line exchange and buying me valuable time by delaying its advance!
Nellie was posthumously awarded the Dicken medal!
Combat becomes general along the line... in the foreground a unit of Germans become a Numidian sandwich.
Above, Pompeian reserves press forward into the fray (a lovely photo form Simon MacDowall). The superior depth of the Pompeian formations largely negated the superior quality and training of the Caesarians.
And finally we ran out of time (above). All the reserves had been committed, and most of the troops were on the verge of becoming shaken. The general consensus was the at the Pompeians had the advantage because their surviving cavalry had the advantage on the wings, and because they were about to break the right-hand Caesarian legion, but there really wasn't very much in it.
We all agreed that the rules gave an exciting and realistic-feeling game; I'm definitely up for playing it again! I definitely recommend trying the rules which are available as a free download from Simon's site.
Friday, 19 November 2010
And now, both together; a 1:1 Quingenary Cohort
Long ago it occurred to me that 2 x 240 man 1:20 "legions", added together, would give me the same number of figures (480) as in a maximum strength quingenary Roman cohort.
I don't think we know, for sure, how many ranks this would have formed up in; presumably 4, 6 or 8. These are draw up 8 deep. The photo does give some impression as to how much space a cohort must have taken up on the battlefield, and how imposing it must have looked to a tribesman from the backwoods!
Now if I just had another 4,320 miniatures... oddly, I could just about fit an entire 1:1 legion on my table, as the legion would be around 4 metres wide (assuming that there were decent intervals between the cohorts). There's a thought...
Thursday, 18 November 2010
My other legion is pro-painted
This is my original, First legion.
Unlike the first legion, I had nothing at all to do with painting these. It was painted for me by a chap called Phil Hart, and have seen a good deal of action over the past few years!
On Saturday, I'll be using all my Caesarians, and Nick Speller's too, in a game with Simon MacDowell of Legio fame. Should be fun...
Wednesday, 17 November 2010
Second Legion Completed!
For some time I've been in the process of raising my Second, or levy legion, and I'm delighted to say that it is finally ready for action!
My concept is that the legion has been raised in haste during an emergency, and equipped with a mixture of shields and equipment recently drawn from civic armouries. Around half of the figures are unarmoured. They are in looser order than my other legion, and I think of them as being less well drilled. The picture is clickable.
The legion includes 243 figures; mostly Foundry (or Companion) Caesarians with a few nice Aventines and a couple of Crusaders. The majority of the figures were painted by my friend Nick Speller (thanks Nick!), and the remainder are from various eBay purchases, or painted by me. I varnished and based everything (and I can tell you that there's a lot of Silfor on those bases!).
Above is the legion from the front. I went with a mixture of red and off-white colours to bind everything together. A few of the shields have slogans painted on them; I intend to paint some more on later.
Above is a picture of the First Cohort. Most of the figures in this unit came from a single eBay purchase, and I decided to retain the pretty shield designs.
I'm really pleased with these, and look forward to gaming with them on Saturday. I'll have some more interesting posts over the the next few days...
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