Monday 30 December 2019

Next year's challenge .


So I've signed up for the forthcoming year's challenge , I've done 1,170.1 miles this year , was hoping for 1,200 - but Christmas , the weather and a bug has prevented that . It's about 50 miles more than last year (2018) so I'm happy with it . Now Christmas is out of the way I hope to get back to gaming and painting again and have been giving some thoughts on what I want to concentrate on and achieve in the coming months .

Monday 23 December 2019

Sunday 22 December 2019

Lookin back , moving forward .



At this time of year I look back on my blog to see what I've done , this year is dominated by the arrival of 'A Gentlemen's War' and my addiction to 'Command and Colors' . AGW has been played a lot and has seen me expand my 40mm armies to fit the organisation used in the rules and also the building of a new one - my 'Army of the Sublime Porte' , it has become my 'go too' set of rules and I like their simplicity and solo adaptability . C&C was a bit of a surprise , I don't do boardgames (especially after loosing ALL of my counters for the Confederate army whilst playing a Gettysburg boardgame against 'B' many years ago !) , but the rules system and the clever use of chunky blocks has entranced me and I love playing the Ancient version and have recently moved on to the Napoleonic one . The games are quick to set up with historical scenarios and play well , even solo. I've also started playing Featherstone's ancient rules using 'flats' , this project has somewhat been put on hold, but I will return to it next year as I do like the challenge of painting flats . My Jacobite project has been more or less finished and I must start playing some more games with them . As for next year I have several things I want to pursue and will be putting these up soon .




Saturday 21 December 2019

Wednesday 18 December 2019

Nearly done .


Well I've just finished off my last two units of the Government army for my '45' project , above is 'Hamilton's Regiment of Dragoons' (14th) . It's just about a year since I started this collection and I'm somewhat amazed that I've got it done .


Hamilton's was at Prestonpans were it fled with the other British cavalry when the Highlanders charged . It didn't perform much better at Falkirk I'm afraid either . The figures are 1/72nd scale Strelets and were originally 'Dragoons of Peter the Great' from the Great Northern War range . 


The final British Regiment of Foot is 'Thomas Murray's ' (46th) it was at Prestonpans were most of its troops were captured by the Jacobites when the British army routed . I hope to put on a Prestonpans re fight in the New Year . I'm always a bit sad when I come to the end of a project as I've enjoyed painting these up immensely , I have odds and sods to paint up such as dismounted figures for Hamilton's Dragoons and some transport waggons but will get them done in 2020 .


I do like plastic 20mm 1/72nd scale figures (a somewhat forgotten scale I think) . I must now start thinking about next years project !? .




Friday 13 December 2019

Wargaming humour No. 23



                     Suddenly they realised they had been playing the morale rules all wrong !

Tuesday 10 December 2019

Bashi Bazooks of the Sublime Porte .


This is one of the last units I will be doing (for the time being)  for my Balkans War Army of the Sublime Porte , they are the Bashi Bazooks irregular cavalry useful for scouting but perhaps not for front line battle roles - in their first battle they were ordered to charge a fleeing enemy and failed their morale roll and left the table .


Here they leave on a patrol lead by a senior officer . The figures are of course 42mm Irregular Miniatures , the mounted officer is a semi-flat figure bought off eBay , he was snapped off his base and needed pinning to a new one , I think I have managed to hide the repairs quite well and although perhaps originally a Russian figure I have painted him as an officer of the Sublime Porte.


Tuesday 3 December 2019

Christmas comes early .


I've been selling things on eBay and when I saw that the  Command & Colors Napoleonic base game was being re-issued I thought I'd better spend some of the money and get a copy quickly when I saw one . The thing I have noticed since I started playing and buying C&C board games is that some of them don't seem to be on sale long and disappear till the next print run which could be in a couple of years or more . Having bought it I was going to save it for Christmas BUT being an adult (I do class myself as an adult ignoring the frequent childish lapses) I decided to open it and start stickering up the wooden blocks ready for 'A' calling round for one of our 'gentlemen that lunch' games this week .

Friday 29 November 2019

A frosty morning walk .


Sorry for the lack of content of late , we've been on holiday to the Peak District , the weather was not bad - for November, however everything was very wet under foot  and most of our walks were through inches of mud . Back to normal now and my wife dropped me (and the dog) off this morning on her way to work and we walked home via Sizergh fell . Here is Charlie posing on a prehistoric burial mound - it was very very frosty ! .


Here we see another poor photo of the burial mound - I always wonder why my wife is less than impressed by these REALLY interesting landscape features dismissing them as "another one of your bumps in the grass" *- probably cos she's a girl !? .


Charlie pauses in his pursuit of rabbits when he realises I am stopping for breakfast.


It was a rather crushed toast and peanut butter sandwich and two broken digestive biscuits washed down by black tea - I did share with him .


The sun rises .


and a little higher .


Sizergh Castle peeps through the trees , originally a pele tower 14th century I think . 


This walk I seem to have a thing about sunrises , out of the sun it was freezing . 


Glad it was frosty at least it froze the mud . 


Your correspondent with seasonal embellishment (I need longer arms for a convincing 'selfie' ) . Busy cleaning up lots of figures ready for painting , more about this next post.
*I should post some of my very interesting photos of these - that would be fun wouldn't it ?










Thursday 21 November 2019

40mm Courtisan .


I have created a Mistress for my General of the Sublime Porte , dressed in a suitable Eastern garb (or rather not ) . The figure is a Irregular Miniature 42mm nude figures with trousers and yashmak added with 'green stuff' . 


Here she joins the entourage of Omar Saharif Pasha - I do hope the weather remains clement as she doesn't seem dressed for a cold snap. 


Monday 18 November 2019

A problem solved .


I've been puzzling how to depict this chance card when it is drawn and allocated to a unit in 'A Gentleman's War' . I didn't want to have to provide a representative figure for each army , then I thought - boxing gloves ! . I modelled some from 'green stuff' mounted them on a base and painted and varnished it . Now when this card is drawn the base is put by the unit and they get the resultant advantages.

Thursday 14 November 2019

Wargaming from the Silver Screen .


Shamelessly appropriated off Facebook (thanks Shrewsbury Wargaming Club) , I did go and see the film in 1974  but can't remember much about it other than the Gettysburg wargame .



Saturday 9 November 2019

Last of the bunch .


Finally finished off my 'Unlikely Allies' box , here is the Devote Monk .


The Watchman with his lantern 


And last but not least the Tea House Hostess , she was a challenge to paint, I've always found it difficult to paint female figures convincingly and rather delicate Japanese ones especially so . Her face took a couple of goes to get right .


The whole box set finished , it has taken me a week , but I have enjoyed the experience immensely - so different from painting uniformed units of all the same figures and uniform . 




Wednesday 6 November 2019

Four more 'Unlikely Allies'


Been painting more figures from my new 'Test Of Honour' box , here we have a Ashigaru deserter looking rather dishevelled and a Blacksmith .


A Wise old man (or is he a Ninja ?) and a Ronin marksman . These are rather nice models full of character and I'm enjoying painting them and when they are done I hope to incorporate them in a scenario for 'Test of Honour'.




Sunday 3 November 2019

Well I did it !


Well this morning I completed my 1000 mile challenge on a rather damp and dismal day , luckily this year I had my wife to take the obligatory photograph of myself and Charlie who has walked most of them with me . Will carry on counting - can I do 1200 miles this year ?  we will see. 

Thursday 31 October 2019

A work in progress and a change in painting style .


After painting lots of O.S. 42mm and plastic Jacobite figures I felt like a change so I decided on some Samurai personality figures . There is a newish box of figures for 'Test of Honour' call 'Unlikely Allies' and this figure is the Clan Envoy , I have shamelessly pinched the colour scheme from the box art as I can never think of convincing coloured clothing for Japanese figures . I used my wet palette and Liquitex artist acrylics to paint him . I going to paint the others up in the next week or so and I am liking the change of painting style and pace . 



Monday 28 October 2019

Goverment Grenadier Companies .


I've painted up the Grenadier figures for my British Government Regiments of Foot . The figures are plastic 1/72nd 'Red Box' figures , my project is the Battle of Prestonpans but I'm also going to do some "what if " scenarios and there is evidence that later on in the campaign the Duke of Cumberland combined the Grenadiers together as was the practise on the Continent which these figures represent . 


They are from the regiments of (L to R) Lascelle's , Thos. Murray's , Lee's and Guise's . I have only one battalion to paint now to complete the Foot for my British army. 


Friday 25 October 2019

Buddhist building work.


I've had this 'Sarissa' mdf temple gateway building for over a year and have been putting off building it as it looks very complicated , however having a bit of 'Test of Honour' renaissance I though I'd give it a go . The above model took an entire day of labour and enough bad language to last an careful man a year . I thought I'd be clever and spray some of the wood work before punching them out for building . 


The interior walls are grey card and were awkward to add and fitting the upper storey was the devil .


The roof structure was easier to assemble .


The roof is made from grey card which has to be bent to fit the rafters .


This proved easier than I thought , I use superglue to glue things together , I make sure I dry run things before gluing them .


The finished roof , there are some minor tweaks to do but I want to leave it overnight to set properly .


One thing I discovered is if you get superglue on your finger your mobile phone finger reorganisation won't recognise it ! .


The finished structure - very impressive . The red paint needs touching up and the base and roof tiles want a coat of paint but that's about all.


A close up of the gate entrance with a couple of monks for scale . I'm pleased to have got it done but wouldn't want to repeat it in a hurry .









Sunday 20 October 2019

Dag Tufekcileri .


I've been painting some more figures for my 40mm (Turkish) Sublime Porte to combat my other Balkans war Imaginations . These are the dreaded Dag Tufekcileri , rile armed irregulars which will count as Light Infantry sharpshooters using 'A Gentleman's War' . They are of course Irregular 42mm and I think they are listed as Janissary in campaign uniform (?) . They are in action in a game taking place even as we speak (as it were) and not shinning with martial prowess - newly painted figure syndrome . 

Thursday 17 October 2019

Wargaming humour No.28 .


The author muses if he needs more figures ? (of course he does !) (not sure if I could carry a sailor suit off ?)