Natholeon
eldannardoFirst 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
Filed under: Wargaming
Dan and I played a few games this weekend, and also managed to fit in going to see Watchmen. The movie was fantastic, even if some simpletoin in the back row kept laughing at Dr Manhatten’s penis. First time, ok, but EVERY time? Gimme a break and grow up.
Anyway, we played a game of DBA, Alexandrian Macedonian vs Later Archaemenid Persian. Went well. Verywell for the Persians, who won, but it was a very near thing. I took heaps of photos for a battle report, but haven’t had time to go through and play with them, so here is a taster and there will be more in a later post:
Some Wings of War and some 40K:
Dan is just finishing off his Space Wolves for the National Convention in Hamilton in a month’s time, and I’m slowly finishing off my second battalion of Napoleonic Brits.
We’ve agreed that next on the agenda is 500 points of Warmachine, followed by our 15mm Field of Glory armies. Dan has Carthaginians and I have Romans. We’ve also decided to give the Iron Ivan Games Price of Glory rules a crack, as our last games of Great War have been, shall we say, disappointing.
Back to the paint brush
Nate
I’ve been very quiet on the blog lately, mostly because I have been so busy with other things. But a question on TMP about converting Victrix Brits into Portuguese caught my attention. I have scraped a few figs and prepared them to be Portuguese, but they aren’t due to be painted until after I’ve done 4 battalions each of French and British.
But as the request was there, I thought I’d make myself do some painting and practise a Portuguese figure to see how it would turn out. Here is the result:
I used a craft knife to remove the tufts on the shoulders, the lace from the front of the tunic, the brass shako plate and the lace on the cuffs. I could have used green stuff to create raised buttons and the new brass shako plate, but decided it could be painted on instead. The uniform isthat of the 20th Line regiment as found in the Histofig plate http://empire.histofig.com/-Portugal-.html .
Please remember that this is a rushed figure (wargames standard). I just wanted to see if the conversion came off without green stuff. I think yes. But you can judge for yourself.
Nate
