ndcblog
eldannardoWork, work, work. I guess I should be thankful that I have a full time job during a recession, but I’ve had very little time to myself lately. It is school holidays and I’m still trundling into work every day… there is something distinctly unfair about that!
So what have I achieved? Rebasing! A whole two units. That’s it, no real extra painting except to finish off my Marlburian foot guards. There is a Warmachine Wroughthammer Rockram just sitting there staring at me at the moment. Oh well, this is what I have done:
Dan and I played some FoG when he came down a fortnight ago. We liked it. We liked it a lot. We decided to rejig our Arthurian armies , which means rebasing and more painting! Here is one of my battlegroups of 8 Medium Infantry elelments, all rebased and ready. I’m using my new fiels grass and hobby tac. At first it all seemed very easy – then I got a smidgen of hobby tac on my fingers. What a pain in the arse that was! It seemed that no matter how hard I scrubbed, the field grass did not want to let me go. Patients and being absolutely meticulous is in order if I am not to lose my sanity with the rebasing. It does look good I think.
I decided that 4 figures to a base looked far to sparse, but I didn’t want to reduce the base sizes. So the answer was obviously to cram more figures onto the bases. My plan is to base all of the Marlburians up for the Beneath the Lily Banners rules by Barry Hilton, but not necessarily to use these. I really like Mark Sim’s Rank and File rules, but they don’t really work with anything less than 4 bases to a unit. So, the answer is to combine 2 battalions into a manoeuvre unit. This works great with the French and Dutch regiments, but means that the British battalions will combine 2 different regiments. The partner of the 1st Foot Guards will be the 2nd Foot Guards in order to keepthe whole unit elite.
I’ve just ordered more French and some Austrians(because I have so much time to paint them), so I will have 12 battalions a side (6 manoeuvre units – or regiments), 4 cavalry (2 units) and 2 artillery. I aim to increase the amount of cavalry in the future too, but one step at a time.
I’ve decided to focus on the following, and to try to complete a project every week:
- Punic Wars Mid-Republican Romans 15mm Field of Glory
- Arthurian Post-Roman British 28mm Field of Glory
- Wars of the Roses Yorkists 15mm Field of Glory
- English Civil War Parliamentarian and Royalist 28mm 1644
- Marlburian Confederate and French 15mm Rank and File
- World War One British and German 28mm Rules of Engagement
- World War Two German 15mm Flames of War
- World War Two US, Soviet and German 28mm Rules of Engagement
- Science Fiction Chaos Space Marines, Orks 28mm Warhammer 40,000
- Fantasy Chaos Warriors 28mm Warhammer Fantasy
- Fantasy Mercenaries 28mm Warmachine
Everything else takes a back seat until these are complete – well, that is the plan du jour. It will be almost impossible to stick to it with my butterfly-like tendencies.
Nate
Due 19th July – Marlburian French Infantry Battalion
I took some photos of the Marlburians and while I had the camera out I thought I’d capture some of the Warmachine figs that I’ve finished too.
Here they are – first up the Grundback gunners. I had a tragic moment getting these guys out of the cabinet. One of them hit the concrete in the shed and shattered. I glued him back together about 3 minutes before taking this photo. See if you can work out which one it was!
Ahhh, got the lighting right for these boys – the first unit of the Hammerfall High Shield Gun Corps:
Finally, an Ogrun Bokur, a bodyguard for Gorten Grundback.
That’s it for now.
Nate
Here is a snapshot of the new Marlburians that I have been working on. They are 15mm Lancashire games, but they are actually closer to 20mm than anything. A decent size means that the detail is relatively accessible with a paint brush.
I’ve sorted out an Anglo-Dutch and French army for the 1644 rules of around 1250 points. When these are all painted I will look at expanding to a 2000 point force. Infantry battalions are 20-24 figures strong, and the cavalry units are 10-12 figures strong. I looked long and hard at Principles of War, but in the end, I wanted units with a bit more heft to them. I’m already planning to use 1644 for the English Civil War, so not having to learn a new rules system appealed. They were originally written by Rick Priestly for the War of Spanish Succession and then amended for ECW, so I’m sure they will play alright. There is also the familiarity and ease of understanding of Rick’s rules for me. So the decision is made. And now, without further ado:
More as soon as the whole unit is finished!
Nate
Filed under: Wargaming works in progress
A month since the last update and nothing . Well, I’ve painted some more Warmachine, but I don’t want to post them until they are all finished. It is a funny thing, but I’d rather unveil them all in a single post where they can all be examined together. I’m still probably a month off that post.
I have taken possession of the 15mm Marlburian. I’m looking at using Principles of War as my mainstay ruleset, and have sorted out my French and Allies into army lists as suggested. I’m a bit miffed at the lack of flexibility in the army lists, but I’ll play with them as I see fit. My first Marlburian unit (the British 1st Foot Guards of course) will be up here within the week. Overall I’m very pleased with the Lancashire Games figures.
Hopefully another post soon,
Nate
Hot off the painting table, here is my completed army for DBA I/29b Philistine 1099-600BC:
And here are a couple of close-ups:
So now that they are complete, onto the next project – a 50 point force for Warmachine v.2. I’ve already painted some more Hammerfall handgunners, and Alexia and 6 Risen are due for the paintbrush this week. If I can keep up a steady pace, I should have them all completed by the end of May.
There are other projects beckoning though: Two 6mm armies for DBN – French and Russian; and 15mm Marlburian Allied and French armies for Beneath the Lily Banners. I’m looking at getting these from Lancashire Games. This will be followed up by a couple of Napoleonic ships for the Warhammer Trafalgar rules and a 6mm Anglo-Portuguese army for DBN. That should be the last of the ‘big’ projects for this year.
The decision to go with 15mm Marlburian is threefold. The first is economic. I can completely buy two armies for the same price as half of one 28mm army. The second is speed. I can paint 15mm three to four times faster than 28mm, which means I can be gaming within a reasonable space of time. Third is that I found that really enjoyed painting the 15mm Philistines, and found previous 15mm armies to be a similar experience. 28s can be enjoyable if there is no pressure to paint up a lot of them, and Marlburian would require this. I’ve purchased and painted a Williamite Anglo-Dutch army from Lancashire (long since sold), and really like there figures, so no worries there, then. I’m looking forward to them.
I’m just sorting out some Napoleonic Austrian and French 6mm figures that fellow Rotorua Irregular John purchased. They’ll be based up for DBN as well. DBN will be my army level game for Naps, whilst the 28mm have been sorted out this weekend for Sharp Practice. Now I just have to paint some of this stuff!
Nate
I took out the trial subscription to Ancient Warfare magazine just to see what it would be like. This is 6 months (3 issues) for 10.65 Euros. It seemed like a good price for a trial so away I went. Having received my first issue this week, what do I think? Excellent. I already have Bob Bennet and Mike Roberts’ book on the Wars of the Diadochi, and thoroughly enjoyed it. As such, a lot of this was not new to me. However, without that background there is a wealth of information here for a newcomer to the period.
A walk through the contents first up gives a very good overview of the period by Bennet and Roberts. This is followed by a very interesting piece on fortification in the Successor period focusing on Philon of Byzantium. Next is a biography of Demetrius Poliorcetes by Pat Wheatley. This is a competent overview, although there was nothing new here for me after having read Bennet and Roberts. After this Joseph Pietrykowski looks at the Macedonian military machine and its employment by the Successors. I found this very useful as a wargamer. Next is a description of the battle of Gabiene by Micale Park. This is a competent and torough article well illustrated with two clear battle maps.
An archaeological report on Sarissa finds, an article on Gladiators, a reconstruction of a naval carpenter from the excavations at Herculaneum and an article on Vegetius are next. Finally there are reviews and a description of the picture on the front cover rounds out the magazine.
There is certainly a lot here, and the magazine does a fantastic job of bringing current scholarship to the fore in a readable way. There is obviously a pattern for the articles, and the idea of devoting half of the magazine to a particular topic is a good one. What I loved about it was its aesthetic quality. The magazine is all in colour, chock full of diagrams, photographs and full page colour plates. I’m no expert on the ancient world but I do have a lively interest and consider myself well read in the area. So for a magazine to grip me and teach me something new rather than rehash the same old information, as some Military History magazines do, is a pleasurable rarity. My final verdict? When my trial subscription ends I will take out out a full subscription. Alongside Battlegames, it is the best magazine I have found in a long time.
My second review is of the Osprey fortification series volume on Maori fortifications. There had been some eyebrow raising on various fora over this book as the author is Ian Knight, a respected British historian, but someone seldom associated with scholarship on the NZ Wars. I have to say that he has done an admirable job in putting this book together. He begins with pre-European pa (hillforts), goes on to speak about the development of the gun-fighting pa during the Musket Wars, and then the subsequent use of pa in the New Zealand Wars of the 1840s-60s.
The text is evenly balanced in that it avoids falling into one side or the other on the revisionist debates surrounding this conflict. This is probably the advantage of distance that Ian Knight has. His narrative is clear and unbogged by controversies. Given the size of the volume and the audience, this is a good thing.
The only real problem with this book is that being solely about fortification it can’t look at raiding tactics, the political context or strategic plans and options of the commanders in any detail. An elite or campaign volume on the New Zealand Wars would be appreciated as an accompaniment. For wargamers, the Northern War, the Waikato War and the campaigns of Titokowaru and Te Kooti beg for closer attention, to provide more uniform detail and potential scenarios.
What the book does do, though, is give the fantastic Osprey treatment to an aspect of the NZ Wars. The plates by Adam Hook are excellent, and the colour photos and diagrams complement the text perfectly. There is enough here to whet the appetite and to come up with various scenarios for several periods of New Zealand history. My hope is that the book sells well, that accompanying Osprey volumes will appear, and that the war will begin to attract more attention amongst wargamers.
Nate
Just got back from NATCON yesterday. Three days solid of playing Napoleonics. I was borrowing an army off the unpire, Russell, to use with his First Volley rules. These are very much in the style of the ‘Grand Manner’ rules, with very large battalions.
Russ gave me 1813 Austrians to play. They were mostly militia and 2nd Class troops with a couple of good cavalry regiments thrown in. I was beaten in the first two games by Andrew’s 1805 Russians and Mark’s 1812 Franco-Swiss. Then on Saturday I was trounced by Paul’s 1812 Russians and Kevin’s 1813 Italian- Wurtemburgers. I have to say by that stage I was feeling a bit down on the poor old Austrians. They seemed to be scared of their own shadows and the 6 pounder artillery was getting thrashed by bigger guns on a consistent basis. But the four games had given me a good understanding of the rules, and an insight to the army I was using.
The fifth game was an extra long one on Sunday was against Simon’s Saxons. I’d worked out a pattern for deployment that could see me get the most out of my cavalry brigade, and realised that using the militia as cannon fodder was probably a good idea, as retreating militia didn’t give the same disadvantages to morale as a retreating 2nd class unit.
The game was played at a leisurely pace, as both Simon and I are rather new to the rules and we wanted to make sure we understood them to the best of our ability. The game consisted of Simon launching a huge cavalry offensive on my left flank while I made an attack on the right with my infantry. There was a big gap in Simon’s centre which my dragoons exploited, but they just didn’t have enough time in the end to do the damage which they might have done. Simon’s Guard Zastrow Cuirassiers smacshed themselves against my 2nd class squares, but depsite the inability of the squares to do any dmage with volley fire, the squares stood firm. The 6 pdrs managed to get within canister range of Simon’s artillery, and whilst he was masked by his own troops, I let rip. It was the first triumph for the Austrian artillery all weekend!
In the end time was against us and a count up of victory points showed that the Austrians had won. Despite enjoying the whole weekend, the last game did contribute to an overall positive feeling from the competition. I’m not sure of the final points tally, but I’d be pretty sure that I was placed 6th in a field of 6. Without the last game, I probably would have been 7th! But placings wasn’t the rationale for playing – it was all about learning the First Volley rules so that the Rotorua Irregulars could play them and start to use a standard rules-set that would work when travelling to other climes. At the same time I had some good games with a great bunch of guys who played in a fantastic spirit. I’ve now determined to build a French force for First Volley, and look forward to future games with the ‘Mid-Island Mercenaries’ (as Kevin called them)!
(Sorry there are no photos, I forgot my camera!)
Nate
First up – the 2 Victrix British battalions have had their flank companies added and are now complete. Here they are in all of their glory:
And a closer shot of the flank companies. Yes I’m aware that they are meant to be on either side of the battalion like the French are, but I got them quite a bit after the centre companies, and I wasn’t going to rebase everything!
Next up, another step in the direction of a 500 point Warmachine force – Gorten Grundback, my warcaster:
Finally, a side project of sorts. I’ve always wanted to wargame the New Zealand Wars, and even had a pile of Old Glory figs painted up at one stage. But I was so annoyed at the fact that they were not particularly accurate, I sold them all off.
I purchased some Eureka miniatures British Imperial troops and Colonial militia a couple of years ago. They have just sat there, but I am now determined to use them for a game based on Legends of the Old West. So I have put together my first unit – 9 figures of British Infantry.
Generally I am pleased with how they turned out. However, there was one serious flaw. I used Citadel Midnight Blue as a base coat for the figures, and it worked well for the blue areas, but lifted through the white and the grey! It is visible in these photos. I have painted over these areas since varnishing the figure, but it is nearly impossible to eliminate this purple pigmentation. I’m severely disappointed, and have resolved never to use GW paints again! It isn’t too much of a resolution ,as I pretty much use vallejo for everything now, but don’t have a deep blue-black. I’ll order one tomorrow.
The other NZ Wars figure that I’ve painted up is a conversion from a Perry Miniatures plastic American Civil War figure. I’ve used Green stuff to give him a Pork Pie cap, and cartridge pouch. I think he has come out quite well. He needs a few touch ups, as I’ve painted him very quickly to see if the Green stuff additions work:
Since this photo I’ve tidied up the paint spills and flattened the forage cap down to give a sharper angle. I think he came out OK and fits in quite well with the other figures. He will be the first of a converted company to fight alongside the Eureka figs. I’ll probably look to have 3 units of British Regulars, one of militia, and some artillery. I might even have a go at some olonial Defence Force Cavalry. I still have 11 Maori left over from the Old Glory days and will probably add to these . 20 or so should be about right. My thinking is to get the Old Glory Militia pack, as these give some more variety in dress.
Nate
Filed under: Wargaming
I’m not posting anywhere near as much as I would like lately. I can’t wait for the holidays!
There are a few things that have caught my eye (or ear) and that I am likely to lavish my hard-earned cash on this year. First up is Mark Copplestone’s new ‘The Glory of the Sun’ range. I love Mark’s figures. He says that this will be a small range, but so long as it includes, pike, shot, horse, guns and generals – then I am in! Here’s a few pics provided on the Steve Dean Painting forum:
All I can say is WOW!
Next up, Victrix have released their pre-1812 box of French. Now I’m not fickle in any way (yeah, right), but these look fantastic. Odds are that the Perry French might just have to go to be replaced by these new chaps! Again, pictures are from the Steve Dean painting forum:
I’m hoping that I can sell my painted Perrys for enough that I can break even. There is a belief out there that plastic will not have any resale value – we will have to wait and see.
To fight with, I will undoubtedly be downloading the PDF of the new Rank and File rules from Crusader miniatures.
Filed under: Napoleonics, Wargaming, Wargaming works in progress, Warmachine
To start off, I said that I was going to post a battle report from our DBA game in the last post. Unfortunately the pictures turned out quite dull, so I’ve abandoned that goal. This week I have made a point of doing an hour of painting every night, and have finished the 12 Victrix British that I had been working on for the last month or so. Napoleonics are labour intensive to paint but look so good when finished! This latest battalion is the 28th Gloucesters with their lovely yellow facings. I now have 8 more figures undercoated and ready to go, which will be the flank companies for the 2 battalions that I have already finished. when they are done (hopefully by next weekend), I will put up a post of the completed British battalions.
After that, I will be starting the Vistula Legion lancers, as I plan to paint 2 battalions from both sides, then a support choice, then 2 battalions again as a regular pattern. I plan to chip away at the Napoleonics steadily throughout this year.
As stated before, the next combined project for Dan and I is Warmachine. I have a Mercenary force, he has Cygnar. My Mercs are heavily Rhulic, and the plan is eventually to be able to field an entirely Rhulic army, now that the Horgenhold Guard have been released and can add some variety to the troops choices. I painted a Hammerfall High Shield soldier in grey a couple of years ago. Then I painted the Ghordson Driller in khaki, and then Durgan Madhammer in khaki. So I went back to the Hammerfall guys and decided to go with a ‘WWI British Tommy’ theme. After painting the first figure, here are the results:
And another view showing the Hammerfall Shieldsman to the side:
The scheme is nice and simple – Vallejo khaki for armour plate and British Uniform for the uniform. Webbing is buff.
I’ve bought the Too Fat Lardies rules for Through the Mud and the Blood. All of their rules get quite positive reviews on TMP, so I thought I’d splash out the 7 quid (hardly a major dent in the wargaming finances) and see. Initial skim through is positive, but I’m not sure about having to make a deck of cards. I like the idea of a card driven system, but it is actually making them that I’m not so sure about, as I am a perfectionist and making stunning cards could seriously cut into figure painting time!
To finish off this post, a couple of photos of the painted Napoleonics in action, fighting it out over a bridge:
The 1st battalion 18th Regiment crosses the bridge, supported by the second battalion at the river’s edge.
The 54th West Norfolk battalion trades volleys with the French.
That’s all for now. I’ll try and have something interesting next time!
Nate
