Quick Friday morning game .

 

Well we have got the decorating done (for now !?) and having cleared off all the detritus that had gathered on my table I quickly set up a small 2D AWI game and I invited my wargaming colleague 'S' the "enfant terrible" of wargaming round for a Friday morning game.

The inital set up , I started with a force of three American militia and some Riflemen hidden in the woods - I would be reinforced by a couple of Continental Line battalions .'S' had four Line Battalions , Artillery and a few Light Infantry.

'S' advanced quickly to get into contact before my reinforcements arrived . Unfortunatly my Militia proved rather brittle and one by one fled the field .

Just as the Militia exited the field my Continentals arrived and counter attacked driving the British first line back ! - but the damage had been done with half  my army in flight, I conceded the game ! . The game was played using a simple free set of rules by Andy Callan which gave a quick fun game . We hope to link these games together in a loose informal campaign .

Hesse-Cassel Lieb Regiment.

Well I've buckled down and got the AWI regiment finished, didn't take long once I got started . The figures are Kallistra 12mm and it is the Hesse Cassel Lieb Regiment , not the best photo I'm afraid .(click on photo to enlarge)

What's On The Painting Tray .

Well I have lots of figures that need painting , some more relevant than others - BUT being a wargaming / painting butterfly I go off at tangents - so spurning the worthier projects I've been painting Warhammer 40K Sci Fi for a project myself and 'A' are doing (more to follow) and some 12mm AWI Hessians which have been waiting 6 months to get finished .

I've got to be in the humour to paint these small figures as they are fiddly , I usually paint them in groups of eight (one base) , here they are blue tacked to a craft lolly stick .

Here they are done , it doesn't take long once I get into the mind-set . I use dabs of colour leaving plenty of black undercoat to act as shadow , these are painted to look okay at arms length .

The 'Corner of Shame' - the figures I should have been painting , start on them next week - probably .

Dabbling !

Back from the hols only to find problems with the Internet/phone system (oh ! the temptation to smash inanimate objects to smithereens !) and back to painting . I have lots to do but felt the need to dabble in a couple of periods which have been dormant for a while rather than something worthy . The above are Warrior Monks from 'Warlord' in 28mm for my 'Test Of Honour' project which scratched my itch for something fancy in 28mm .

The next is to start the Hessian Leib-Regiment in 10mm from 'Kallistra' for my AWI collection , this is more worthy as they have been undercoated and awaiting paint for over six month , ah ! the life of a 'wargaming butterfly' . Just noticed that both sets of figures need their bases finishing . Hopefully I will get back to a semblance of order in my painting schedule in a week or so.

10mm Hessian Grenadiers.

I've got my first two units of the Hessian contingent for my British AWI army finished , I always find it a bit daunting photographing small scale figures . Here are the Grenadier Regt. Von Rall.

This unit was unique in that the entire unit wore Grenadier mitres , just the sort of thing that attracts wargamers to paint them . Unfortunately the historical regiment was captured at the disastrous  Battle of Trenton.

The next is a composite battalion comprising the grenadier companies of the Hessian Regts. Prince Carl, Von Donop, Von Trumbach and Wutginau .

That's a total of seventy two figures , which once I got into a rhythm of painting them didn't take to long . I'm ready to go back to painting something a bit larger now though !.

From One Extreme To The Other.

This weekend I ended up painting from both ends of the figure scales . On the left a 54mm figure for my collection of WW1 pilots purchased off EBay and painted  in the 'Toy Soldier' style and on the right 12mm Hessian Grenadiers from 'Kallistra' for my AWI project .

I haven't done much with my 12mm American War of Independence recently , but 'Kallistra' have just added Hessians to their range and I had been awaiting these to expand my British forces . You shouldn't really photograph these tiny figures so close as I think they are best viewed 'en masse ' and I will post more photos when I get a battalion finished .

Pre Christmas Game .

Had a Pre-Christmas game with 'A' this week as he's away in places foreign over the Festive period . (the 40 mm SYW-ish game promised is to follow) We decided on 10mm AWI  and to use the successful 'Black Powder' rules . Here is the initial set up British on the far left - Americans to the right holding the hill .

The American battle lines - militia in the front and the Continentals in the second line.

My American Dragoons charge the 4th Foote in an attempt to hold up 'A's attack on the left - this worked quite well but unfortunately it was the high point of my game as things went down hill from then on .

'A' uses the purpose made measuring stick to plot his next move.The little flag markers record the Staff Rating of the Generals .

My cavalry is forced to retreat and 'A' managed to roll up my left flank .

The British artillery which wreaked havoc in the American Militia . A good game even though I lost , the rules worked well and allowed us to fight the battle in a couple of hours even with the usual chit-chat and cups of tea . The figures are 10mm (well really 12mm) from Kallistra.

  

Little Battles.

My wargaming colleague 'A' called round the other night and we got to try out my 10mm American War of Independence figures , the lack of suitable terrain will be have to improved in the future.

The British battle line , regulars in the front line and Provincial Loyalists in the rear one . As usual I forgot to record the action once things heated up .

The view from the rear of the American lines . I managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory as after early successes my army moral crumbled .We used 'A's adaptions for Black Powder - which worked well.(click on photos to enlarge)

10mm Provincial Regiment.

Got this British Provincial Tory regiment done , I used some of Kalistras 'Southern Style' infantry in the uncocked hat and overalls . They are the Royal Regiment of New York , which wore green coats with a mixture of different facing colours .

My 10mm American Army For The AWI.

This is my American army as it stands , in the front row is a unit of Pennsylvania riflemen , then 2 units of Militia and finally in the rear a unit of Continental Foot . To the right is the CinC and a mounted Brigadier . I have a gun to paint and some Light Dragoons . I will be painting up some more Continental regiments and perhaps some more Riflemen . 

My 10mm AWI Army - So Far.

Been busy beavering away at my new 10mm American War of Independence figures by Kallistra . Above and below is my British army so far completed - in the front 2 units of Light Companies with command base . Next the CinC and a Brigadier , then the 29th Foot and finally at the back the 5th Foot . More infantry to come and a gun and some cavalry . I will be using Black Powder rules for this period.