28mm medieval pikemen

I picked up some 28mm Black Tree Design spearmen at the club auction two weeks ago that Dave hand converted to pikemen. I decided to paint them up and add them to my 28mm DBA/HoTT French medieval army.

I thought they painted up quite easily, especially with a pre-established colour scheme for the army.

The also seemed to fit in well with the Zvezda plastic archers.

Up next: Tuesday is club night and I have a couple of projects sitting on the bench awaiting paint (15mm AWI and 28mm handgunners). I'm not sure which to tackle first and I've been distracted by playing Civilization IV on the computer.

15mm AWI Army

I managed to finish half of a 15mm DBHx AWI army this weekend. I'll get to the other half later this week. These are 15mm figures from the Age of Reason line produced by Old Glory USA. First up is a cannon with crew.

I then did six bases of continental line. The colours are a fictional and I need to find a flag for the command stand.

The quality of the figures is really quite impressive. Click on the picture below for a zoom. The faces have details more common for 25mm figures.

I also did four bases of state troops, again with a fictional colour scheme.

I have a bunch of dragoons, light troops and some militia to finish up. I wish I had a bit more pose variety but this was a trade and came with only the one bag of line.

Up next: Some 28mm medieval pike are drying on their bases. Then probably back to the rest of the AWI army. Then maybe back to some 28mm hand gunners for the medieval army--I'm not sure whether to use these as psiloi or base them up as units of shot for a very early DBA-RRR army.

28mm Misc

I've had several 28mm medieval and ancient bits awaiting some fine tuning and I moved three of them off the painting table today. First up was a siege engine for the IV/84 Burgundian Ordonnance army. The catapult is from Zvezda's 1/72 medieval siege engine kit while the trooper is a 28mm Zvezda fantasy figure.

The Zvezda siege engine kit is very useful and would work for either 1/72 or 28mm. The kit also contains a scorpion that I have recruited to my Roman army by adding a few Wargames Factory republican Romans. This will allow me to morph the Marian Romans (II/49) to Early Imperial Romans (II/56)

Finally, I worked up a hero general base for my Burgundian Ordonnance army if I want to use them with HoTT. These are Zvezda 28mm fantasy figures. The fellow on the left is holding a sword, the blade of which you are seeing edge on. This angle hows some of the folly of Zvezda's over-engineering of these figures.

Yes, you can give the guy any weapon you want but, by making us glue the blade and hilt to the handle of the sword, you are pretty much guaranteeing the damned things are going to be off-plumb in one direction or the other. I used sticky tack to hold this and took a lot of time to line it up but, short of some sort of jig, I can't see how I could get this one straighter. %#&$(*^@

Up next: I have half of a 15mm rebel (errr... patriot, sorry Dale) AWI army done and drying. I also have five bases of 28mm medieval pike almost painted--these will help my medievals morph a bit more. Thereafter, I might go back for more 15mm AWI. I also have a skeleton head I need to finish up for a fellow.

More 28mm HoTT/DBA camps

I was cleaning the basement last week (i.e., moving stuff from one pile to the next) and I unearthed an old 1/72 Airfix castle (I think Dave gave this to me but I wouldn't swear to that--might also be from Bruce?). Anyhow, I almost tossed it into the recycler and then though I could make some 28mm camps from this.

A few minutes of cutting and breaking and viola, two partial castles to use as camps. The camp pictures above and below (with some 28mm HaT Anglo-Danes conversions) is a legal DBA camp (as far as I can tell).

The camp pictured below is a legal HoTT camp (and could be used in DBA if you hung some of it over the edge of the board although I've never seen anyone at our club balk at a camp).

You can see a bit of damage on the left side of the picture below (late night cutting to make it fit on the base) that I need to fix. Maybe some climbing ivy. Also, I think these could use some troops to garrison them, although that reduces their utility.

Up next: I'm making slow progress on some 15mm DBHx AWI guys. I may push up some 28mm seige engine crews so I can complete those bases. Thereafter, who knows. There is quite a stack of 15mm armies to be done. And I won some 28mm medieval guys at the silent suction I may do quickly to morph my medieval army some more.

EWG Club Night

Last night was club night and, at one point, the body count was 16 which is a great turn out. We also ran our annual(ish) silent auction which raised about $365 to defray gaming fees. Not only were some folks lucky enough to win bids on new gaming stuff, Jonathan was just plain lucky:

Dave hosted a game of Black Powder Napoleonics for I don't know how many guys. Eight maybe? Helluva a game to watch! All in 1/72 plastics.

I played with Mark, Chen, Terry, and Devon in Bruce's gangster's adaptation of FUBAR. Here you can see the god guys about to get greased in game one. A dead simple system which seemed to work with no fiddling and little referencing.

And here are the baddies who had a rougher time of things in game two. A bit of an odd level of abstraction but might feel right in WW2 with multi-figure bases in each unit and area terrain.

Scott and Chris played a game of Twilight Struggle.

Up next: Some finished HoTT/DBA camps. And some 15mm AWI guys are on the painting table. Work will take me away the next few days so likely a larger update next week. I'm also sorting through my silent auction wins.

Age of Sail Ships

About four (?) years ago, I picked up a bunch of collectable ships (sold like baseball cards and then built) for the Pirates of the Spanish Main game. I ended up with about 45 ships that look like these.

Towards the end of my interest, several new varieties of ships (like the schooner below) also became available.

I based these up on steel. I gave several rule sets a try (including Bruce's homebrew "Steady as She Goes") but none quite recreate the fleet action that I wanted so I put these on a shelf. Rather unexpectedly, I came across another lot of about 45 ships and bought them on impulse. Many are similar to those above but some are from newer expansions to the game.

There are a couple of galleys with oars (pirate ships, by the look of them!). There are also a couple of junks (aptly named given the construction difficulties they pose).

Then there are some outriggers. And then things get pretty weird. For example, there are various sea monsters and ships with Captain Nemo-like inventions such as the "pincer" ship below with claws to hold its prey.

I built all of my new ships last night while watching the election results. While basing will take some time, it re-interested me in naval combat so I'm looking for a set of rules that would allow me to fight fleet actions. Suggestions most welcomed! I have downloaded GMT's Flying Colours rules to have a look through.

Up next: Some 28mm DBA/HoTT camps are done and drying. And I have a 15mm AWI DBHx army on the painting table (lord it is big!). And tonight is the club and our auction.

28mm Anglo-Dane DBA army

I completed a 28mm Anglo-Dane (III/71) DBA army this weekend using HaT Industries new(ish) line of 28mm El Cid hard plastics. This army below requires one box of heavy Spanish infantry and one box of light Spanish infantry and ran me $28. When the El Cid cavalry issue, it should be possible to morph this into various Frankish armies as well.

The big push this week was to get a bunch of 4Sp done. The light Spanish infantry box provided most of these.

As I noted in an earlier post, the figures aren't that great but you can improve them with painting and the price is right. The close up below is the result of a black undercoat, some careful block painting and a dip. It won't win a golden daemon (!!) but it is good enough for gaming.

I also did two bases of psiloi. The slinger figures are a mix bag. The rear pose is good. The front pose is the pits, showing off some of the weaknesses of one-piece sculpts.

I also did bases of 4Bw and a base of 4Cb. These were extra figures and allow the army to morph or will act as shooters in HoTT.

I've had a couple of questions of scaling. The picture below shows the HaT (centre) alongside GW Bretonnians (left) and Zvezda Empire (right). The height is the same--the big difference is the heft with the HaT being much more realistically proportioned. Sorry the picture is slightly blurry.

Up next: There is club night on Tuesday (with our annual silent auction). I have two 28mm camps in process--just need some basing work. And I have just spray primed a 15mm AWI army that I have for DBHx and have been dithering on for a year. Mark wants to try some gaming so I'll get these done. Also primered are the remaining figures needed for Roman and medieval siege machines.

AWI British Light Troops

Finishing off a commission, I completed 12 British Light Infantry with different facing colours for each unit.

I popped these in the mail this morning. Note that the customer is supplying his own banner.

I also finished a single figure of Tarleton.

The images I found on line suggested the horse hair crest on his helmet was black. But I suppose Dale could always paint it red if he wanted some contrast.

Up next: A 28mm Anglo-Saxon army is just drying now. And I should have a camp for them shortly thereafter. I've also had a couple of requests to discuss running a painting service (how do you do it, how do you price) so I might jot down some ideas on that. And club night is Tuesday and I have a spot in Bruce's gangster's game which I am quite excited about.

15mm Dragoons

As promised, some 15mm AWI Dragoons finally finished drying. These were very nice figures to paint once I got my eye into them.

Overall, this has been a nice little commission with enough diversity to keep it interesting.

There are still four bases of light infantry as well as a Tarleton figure to finish basing tonight and then this lot should go out the door on the weekend.

Up next: I finished painting the remaining 28mm Anglo-Danes I need for my DBA army. I will seal them tonight and should have them based by the weekend. I also cut up an old Airfix castle to form the basis of two 28mm HoTT/DBA camps. I will work on these next week--one for the Anglo-Danes and one for the medieval army. The next figures up are some 28mm Romans and medievals to crew the siege engines I have built and waiting.

Sons of Liberty

This small militia unit (the Sons of Liberty) is part of a 15mm AWI commission I'm working on (and just about done Dale!).

Overall nice figures, with two bases of advancing troops.

There is also a command base and a base of troops shooting.

Up next: Some based 15mm British dragoons are drying. And I have a group of British Light Infantry about to be based along with a mounted Tarleton. Hopefully these will be ready tomorrow! Thereafter some 28mm Anglo Danes should finish up. Then back to some more 15mm stuff.

Harold's Demise 1067 & 1068

We had our second night of the EDBAG 1066 Harold's Demise campaign last night and managed to move through both 1067 and 1068. At the beginning of the night, everything had come up Green Vikings!

Scottish Isles at Dublin, 2 prestige, 10 stands left.
Norse Irish at Limerick, 0 prestige, 4 stands left, vassal of the green Vikings until twice more defeated.
Pre-Feudal Scots at Trondheim, 0 prestige, 10 stands left, must return across the waters for winter (dice roll required).
Green Vikings at Hastings, 8 prestige, 8 stands left
White Vikings at Oslo (inactive), 0 prestige, 12 stands left.
Anglo Danes at Winchester, 0 prestige, 4 stands left, vassal of orange Normans until once more defeated.
Orange Normans at London, 1 prestige, 7 stands remaining
Blue Normans at Rouen, 0 prestige, 9 stands remaining

Then 1067 dawned and with it a global war against the poor Green Viking. What feckless allies I have! Basically everything went south in game one where the Green Viking took on the Orange Normans in Bayeaux and lost 6-0. Yes, six even odds combats lost in one turn. What an ass kicking. And so began the long retreat.

Some other stuff happened. The Irish managed to recover Dublin from the Scottish Islanders. The Blue Normans successfully besieged Bergen while the Pre-feudal Scots successfully besieged Trondheim. Woe to the absent White Viking, although Oslo held out against the depredations of the Blue Normans.

The beginning of 1068 saw a different board. The Orange Normans successfully besieged Hastings while the Anglo-Saxons successfully besieged London. Durham fell to the Scottish Islanders and by the end of the turn so did the Green Viking capitol of York (although Durham was recovered!). Alas, another loss to the Orange Normans on the field (added by the Scottish Islanders) meant the Norse Irish became free men. The Pre-feudal Scots and Blue Normans mixed it up twice in 1068 with a victory each.

By the end of 1068 the map looked like this:

The standings were:

Scottish Isles at York, 1 prestige, 9 stands left.
Norse Irish at Dublin, 0 prestige, 8 stands left.
Pre-Feudal Scots at Trondheim, 1 prestige, 6 stands left.
Green Vikings at Durham, 8 prestige, 4 stands left, vassal of the Scottish Isles until twice more defeated).
White Vikings at Oslo (inactive), 0 prestige, 12 stands left.
Anglo Danes at London, 0 prestige, ? stands left, vassal of orange Normans until once more defeated.
Orange Normans at Chester, 8 prestige, 7 stands remaining
Blue Normans at Bergen, ? prestige, ? stands remaining

I'll happily accept updates on stands remaining and prestige if my notes are incorrect.

2nd South Carolina

I finished a few more AWI guys last night for a commission. These figures are the 2nd South Carolina and are in 15mm.

Overall, very nice figures and I think the basing turned out pretty well too.

Up next: After a short vacation from painting (Canadian Thanksgiving), I will be back with more 15mm AWI, some 28mm Anglo-Danes, some 28m siege weapons (built and painted--just need to build some crew) and some action from the second night of the EDBAG campaign.

15mm AWI Over the Mountain Men

I finished up some more 15mm AWI guys for a commission. These 20 fellows are Over-the-Mountain-Men and are dressed in a mix of home spun and buckskin.

The figures are really quite nice and there are a few new poses since I painted another batch of these during the summer.

One of my favourites is this officer. I see that his rifle is a bit bent (not obvious at 100%, only in the enlargement).

I also quite like this fellow in buckskin.

Up next: I have another AWI unit with bases drying (2nd South Carolina) plus a bunch of other AWI guys (including Tarleton) on paint sticks with the flesh done. And I put together a second box of HaT 28mm El Cid Spanish which should give me just enough guys to finish an Anglo-Danish army. With good weather, I hope to spray prime these guys this morning on my coffee break. Things will be slow over the weekend but next Tuesday is the second round of the EDBAG 1066 Harold's Demise campaign.

Club Night October 5th

We had 12 guys out last night and four games ran. Jonathan and his son played a game of DBA (of which I did not get a good picture). Craig put on Castle Ravenloft, a new board game. I believe Terry, Justin, Andy, Bruce and Chen played this one.

Dave and Scott played another game of Empire.

Mark let me give DBA-RRR a try using some 15mm armies he touched up with army painter and rebased. I believe we played Cossacks v Poles with the Cossacks winning 2-1 (although one game was so close it could have gone either way). The fancy cavalry in the picture below died a lot in the evening.

Overall, I enjoyed DBA-RRR. A few minor differences from DBHx. I can't say I know enough about the Renaissance to know if it was a good simulation. But, over the three games, my appreciation of the subtleties increased. Mark's horse were deadly against my shot until I figured out how to use pike and distance shooting to keep him off me.

Up next: Some 15mm AWI units are drying.