Natholeon
eldannardoFolly, thy name is naval wargaming. I know NOTHING about sailing, except that you do it on the water and you need wind. Apart from that , I have a working knowledge of several naval battles, and like the look of ships. What more do you need?
I purchased the Warhammer Historical Trafalgar rules earlier this year, and was immediately impressed. I could play naval games with no idea of the finicky sailing detail that confuses me so much. So I have finally bought some ships. Everyone I have read raves about Langton minis. And I have to admit, they are very nice. But I am cheap, and this was always going to be a secondary project for me, so I bought 2 NavWar starter packs for a very reasonable sum. They arrived within a week of sending my fax, which is fantastic service seeing as I am on the other side of the world. I never fail to be impressed with English companies and Royal Mail.
The ships themselves were good. I’ve seen in the flesh Langtons and they are exceptionally detailed. NavWar, not so much, but then I want them to game, I’m not overly concerned with details and they come in less pieces than a Langton (I’m not big on constructing models… too much time that could be spent painting…).
Being a bright sunny day I thought I’d make my model outside in good light. Hmmm, well I’m just glad that I have some modelling nouse in order to compensate for losing my bowsprit through the cracks in the deck! I found that the rearmast (which one is that again?) wasn’t quite long enough. so I chopped it up and used a piece of florist’s wire to extend it’s length. I used a pin vice and drilled holes wherever the Trafalgar rigging guide told me to. I painted the hull and the sails seperately, and at about 9 o’clock at night I glued the model together and proceeded to rig the ship. Now, I think that I’ve already made it quite clear that I’m not looking for perfection here, but I do think that the rigging adds a lot to the look of the ship when finished. So what I wanted was some elementary rigging to make the ship look like it had some ropes somewhere. At 11 o’clock I put the last of the rigging on. In the morning I got up and had another look at the Trafalgar book and realised that I had done it rather wrong! However I had managed to rig my ship, it wasn’t the way that it was done back in the day. The worst thing was that having used superglue I couldn’t really fix it. So here it is, the flagship of the French fleet, painted and rigged for sailing under the ‘Nate’ system of sailing.
Bugger it, so long as it can trade a few shots with the bloody poms, that is all that matters. At least the ships will look better in the future.
Nate
I enjoyed the game that Dan and I had of Rules of Engagement so much that I made the completion of a German platoon for these rules a priority. I started painting these as SS, simply because of all the cool equipment that was available in the Army lists. I usually shun anything related to the SS, so these are an exception. I have enduring respect for the basic landser, though, and in 1944-45, these guys can fit into Das Heer OK. In fact, some of the support and command has been painted in everyday field grey to emphasise that point!
The comand squad with some ornery veterans of the Eastern Front. Equipped with captured PPSh SMGs as a badge of honour.
The full platoon of infantry. Pictured below are squads 1, 2 and 3
Above and below are the support sections – 2 HMGs and a mortar.
Specialist troops that can be merged into the infantry platoons, or in the case of the sniper and his mate, selected as a support choice.
Above and below are the PaK 40, all camouflaged and ready for an ambush. I have the first of the German tanks undercoated, but I’m going to borrow an airbrush to finish it off.
Nate
Well, after numerous changes of mind, I have finally settled on using 1644 as the rules for my Marlburian project. I’ve therefore had to start looking at 24 figure regiments. The intermediate plan is to have 8 infantry, 4 cavalry and 4 guns finished, enough for 1500 points a side. I’ve broken this down again into making sure that I have 4 regiments of foot, 2 cav and 2 guns per side completed first.
I’ve been painting figures in groups of 12 infantry or 6 cavalry to limit the boredom factor that I often find with painting too many of the same figure, so a lot of these pictures show the first half of regiments. All figures are Lancashire Games.
The Gardes Francaises
The German La Marck regiment
The Lyonnais Regiment. I have since worked out that the drummer shouldn’t be in the livery uniform, but in regimental colours. He will be repainted, but only after everything else is finished!)
The Gendarmerie – not a particularly good photo, as it is all front on and a little blurry.
The British Foot Guards. There is a limit of 20 figures in this regiment, so that is how many I have done. The individually based 19th and 20th men are on the right hand side. In order to make sure that they didn’t just fall over on terrain all the time, I have glued thin magnetic strip between the sidesof the elements. This works very well.
The rest of the British Infantry, in complete 24 figure battalions. Churchill’s regiment and Stanhope’s regiment featured.
The first of the Dutch are – German! The Brandenbourg Regiment in homage to my ancestry! Not sure about the Lancashire Games figs here, as the hat brim is perhaps too flat. My reading is that the sides were turned up, but I’m not too worried, as the flat hat really differentiates them.
I’m just working on the other 12 figures of the Gardes Francaises at the moment. Not pictured are the 24 figure Picardie Regiment, the Villequier Chevaux-Leger and the first 6 figures of Wyndham’s Horse.
I’m really enjoying the Marlburian project, and it is my priority for the rest of this year to get it finished. However, in about three weeks or so there will be a new baby on the scene, so we will have to see how far I get.
Nate
Filed under: Wargaming
It has been a hectic month or so, but we have finally sold our house and I’ve had some holiday time as well, so I’ve been able to catch up on a bit of painting and a few projects. So these posts will mostly be photos detailing my latest amount of work. I’m fully into the Marlburians at the moment, and hope to have them completed by the end of the year. So, in three seperate posts, here is what I’ve been up to.
Nate
