On the painting tray .

The strange thing  is I've found that over the last week  I've been so busy with gardening and  domesticity  that I've got very little painting done. I have got various bits of basing done and cleaned up and glued various models but today was the first time I've actually sat down and painted anything. I wanted to expand my Mexican Cavalry for my Tex-Mex Sharp Practise games , so I'm in the process of painting up another 6 Dragoons . The problem is trying to match them up to the existing ones which were painted about 10 years ago - the new on the left , the existing one on the right . Of course my matt black spray can ran out as soon as I started trying to undercoat them so I had to finish them off by hand . I've always liked the Mexican army uniforms which contrast with the civilian dress of the Texians . 

The Duke of Marlborough

In response to Matt on his 'Waterloo to Mons' blog 

      http://waterlootomons.blogspot.com/2020/03/so-who-is-your-favourite-commander.html
I would like to nominate John Churchill Duke of Marlborough , a great tactician , diplomat and opportunist even when saddled will health problems and a difficult wife ,  . Brought Britain onto the world stage for the first time with his brilliant campaigns . His career ended in controversy and disgrace and his character was flawed but this makes him more human to me - Good Old Corporal John !

An Ebay purchase .

I got this the other day off Ebay , a slim volume printed in March 1981 by Terry Wise , Athena Books . Think they are more or less the same as the original book but with suggestions for the Jacobite Rebellion , French -Indians wars and Napoleonics . 

On the gardening front I've moved the sundial back to it's original position . It was move a couple of years ago because the dog found he could balance himself on top of it and leap over the fence into the neighbours garden to get the bread she threw out for the birds . We now have a taller fence and being older he is less inclined to such things .

Setting it up the sundial, the bezel (?) should point North .

Yes that's about the right time ! , hopefully a bit more wargaming related stuff tomorrow as the weather although fine has got bitterly cold with a strong North wind so I'm less inclined to the garden .

Change of pace .

Having cleared the table of the last game I wanted to do something quick and simple so I set up a Napoleonic C&C game . I'm working my way through the base game which is the Peninsular war and this is Corunna , not as visually pleasing as O.S. toy soldiers but I'm busy outside in the garden because the weather is nice and I can play the odd move now and again .

I'm hacking the back hedge down to half size to make it easier to cut without needing steps and the present flock of chickens don't seem inclined to try and fly over it . The problem is it's quite hard going and I'm having to chop it up very small so it will fit in the recycling wheelie bin and now due the crisis the 'green' bin collection has been cancelled so I'm wondering if I can burn the rest without annoying the neighbours ? .

The present flock , they have just started laying again - they like the nice weather as much as us . They are incredibly untidy creatures and if let loose in a garden will wreak havoc , I've been throwing all the weeds and grass into their run as I'm tidying the garden and they love scratching about in it - but scatter it everywhere . 

AGM SYW-ish game (part3)

The game is coming to a close and the French manage to activate the Regt. D Roi who charge and overrun the Allied battery and capturing the guns .

The next card turned was the sixth Joker so ending the game . 

The stricken field , nearest the camera the French have taken the hill and captured the battery . In the centre the Allies hold the church and village and in the distance they are preparing to counterattack the Swiss . I think I must give the game to the French , the capture of the Allied guns sealed the day for them .  Both sides lost heavily with the French Regt Bearn and the Nassau Saarbruck heavy cavalry taking the most casualties . On the Allied side the 20th Foote and the Prussian Hussars took the most hits as well as the artillery being lost .Using the Colonels as 'brigadiers' under the rules worked well as regiments could move together . Towards the end of the game both sides ran out of cards held in hand which stopped them reacting to situations (the Prussian Hussars not being able to counter charge) . I enjoyed playing it , now to tidy up and think of what next to do . 

PANIC buying !

When this pandemic was starting to kick off I thought "have I got enough hobby stuff to self isolate ?" - well unpainted figures ? - think I have enough to last me a long while , but I then thought - paints etc . I normally buy my brushes and paints from an art and craft shop in town but I suspect they will be shut by now so I went on eBay . 3 new sable brushes (I've tried the modern synthetic ones and find them rubbish) 2 tubes of glue for fixing figures to base etc , a new jar of Acrylic gloss (the old one I've had for years has finally died on me ) I usually use yacht varnish and have a new tin of it but the acrylic is for smaller non-OS figures and finally a new box of artist acrylic paints , I've started using these paints a lot as they remain useable on my wet palette and my old ones are running out . I've finished my AGM SYW-ish game and will be posting the end of the game tomorrow . Was awake at 5.30 so got up and took the dog for a walk (he wondered what was happening!) , never saw a soul (not surprising) but a beautiful morning with a hint of frost . My wife has declared 'Spring Cleaning' , so it maybe the afternoon before any of the above get used . 

It hasn't got this bad YET …….

AGM SYW-ish game (part 2)

Using their last card in hand the French heavy cavalry charge the Prussian Hussars , who being disordered and having already activated cannot respond - oh dear !

They are cut to ribbons and flee - but they did manage to cause a couple of casualties on the French who decided rather than follow up they will retire .

On the other flank the British 20th Foote retires away from the advancing Swiss .

On the French left the Regiment D' Roi advance swiftly (some high dice rolling for movement there) and bear down on the Allied artillery on the hill .

The 18th Foote see off the French Regiment Bearn in the centre with heavy casualties .

The Brunswick Regiment Von Zastrow moves across to shore up the Allied left . I had hoped to get this game finish today , but real life has intervened in the form of hedge cutting and house work but the game will end when the next joker is drawn (night falls) , so that should be tomorrow . I'm wondering which game to play next , but think it will be Old School - I'm in that frame of mind at the moment .

Harvested from the interweb .

A short intermission ......

I'm going to try and do a post per day on this blog , some of it trivial , some of it rubbish, but it will be interesting to look back on in this moment of history . I am finishing off the AGM SYW-ish battle,the final part will appear tomorrow I hope , off now to take the dog out for a walk - keeping a safe distance from people,living rurally this hopefully will not be a problem . My wife is upstairs doing some training on line using something called 'Zoom' (!?) and from the language things are not going well with technology - better go see if I can help ! ...

PS it wasn't techo problem - it was one of the cats with a dead mouse - which my wife hates - the mouse that is not the cat - although he isn't in her good books at the  moment !

SYW-ish AGM battle (part 1)

The battle and my bad back are both ongoing , here we see the 20th Foote advancing to the left of the church as a company of the Royal Irish enter the church yard . In the background the French Swiss Castellas Regiment advance supported by the Chasseurs de Granpre . The problem with this game is going to be whilst leaning over the table moving figures and getting engrossed in the action my back stiffens up and 'sets' , which then has me walking about like Quasimodo for the next half hour .

The British infantry charge the French Chasseurs and are driven off with heavy casualties , another company piles in and drive the Chasseurs off , but the Swiss advance quickly and open fire at close range, causing heavy casualties and force the British to retire .

On the other flank the French heavy cavalry charge the Royal Irish right hand company but are routed with heavy casualties .

In the centre The French Regt Bearn attack the church but are routed and the centre company of the 18th push the French back . I'm about half way through the game and both sides are about even with casualties , more to follow ......

SYW-ish 'A Gentleman's War' game .

I've decided to give SYW-ish  AGM a proper try out by setting up this big battle . Whilst the rest of the world is going down with flu I've got sciatica and last night I had trouble sleeping so I got up and set out this game , each side has 14 units and I just set up the units via dice throws and then adjusted them to look logical .

The Allies are under General 'Fatty' Cumberland , initially you deal out six cards - one side getting black the other red - he got five of them ! , It reflects his great tactical skills he thinks (I believe luck has more to do with it) . Foot regiments are made up of  3 units which can make a 'brigade' move when commanded by their mounted Colonels . The coins are stacked ready near the General to mark when a unit has been activated.

General Count Fru-Fru with his paltry one card , however he has the dubious assistance of Voltaire seen here pointing out the faults in the Allied deployment . Each side has 3 Regiments of foot (9 units) 2 cavalry and 2 guns . 

The British line , 18th Foote (Royal Irish) nearest the camera to it's left the 20th Foote . I usually time the game by the number of Jokers drawn , this one will end on the sixth Joker . Will report on the first moves soon ....

Fetaland Riflemen .

Got the six semi-flat 40mm homecast Saxon Jaegers painted up , I've had to add the rifle slings with nylon twine as I couldn't get them to cast properly .

They are very semi-flat indeed but I'm not bothered by that , They have a lot of detail on them and have painted up well .

They will be joining the Army of Fetaland as a unit of sharpshooters under the 'A Gentleman's War' rules counting as skirmishers and good shots .

Wargaming humour No.27

                     Again shamelessly plundered from Facebook .

Pimping my game .

I've started using 'A Gentleman's War' with my SYW-ish 40mm figures, when I play with my Balkans Imaginations I use Victorian pennies and a Russian pack of cards to play the game  and add flavour . However I've been thinking I needed different markers for the 18th century , I found a pack of Swedish (?) playing cards which look suitably antique , I happened to pass our local 'The Works' and noticed they had on display a children's 'Pirate Adventure set' which came with a eye patch , a treasure map and best of all some pirate money which will do for markers for my SYW games . I have discarded the eyepatch , but may investigate the map further .

1809 Campaign using Command & Colors .

Having got the Austrian expansion to the C&C Napoleonic box 'A' and myself have decided to play through the 1809 campaign . I will be keeping a running score of the 'Victory Banners' for each game to see who ultimately wins campaign . 'A' is playing the French , the Austrians by yours truly .

The first battle is a small one in Northern Italy , historically the Austrians won . However I lost 5-1 ! getting most of my cavalry killed as well as my C in C . 

CAMPAIGN SCORE 

FRENCH - 5

AUSTRIANS - 1

Wargaming humour No. 43

Once again shamelessly copied from Facebook .