Author: World2Dave

It’s Been a While..

February was a pretty hopeless month in hobby terms, too much of everything else got in the way and I don’t seem to have got much done. That said, I’ve not been entirely idle.

Basing up a decent-sized batch of 6mm Franco-Prussian War figures to paint for a big game took quite a bit of time, and wasn’t very photogenic. However, I’ve started to get through the painting now, although the deadline is looming faster than I can wield the brush and a friend has kindly come to the rescue with some stand-ins in case I need them.

I have finished some French batteries and a general, pics below, plus some Bavarian jager and infantry. More artillery tonight, and then on to some further command groups.

I did take a quick picture of some units on a terrain board, to give the visiting players a heads-up on what to expect and to explain some of the keys concepts of the rules I use (Realtime Wargames’ To the Last Gaiter Button)..
After this weekend, with back-to-back 4-player games there will be plenty to post about, so I’ll be sure to take lots of photos.

The Grenadier Guard

The Medetian Grenadier Guard, that is.

Following on from an earlier post where I mentioned the figures making up this unit, I have now finished the regimental standard and the bases, so they’re ready for the parade ground. This is a ’30’ figure regiment, although there are actually only 29 of them. For Sharp Practice it will provide 2 groups of 12 elite infantry. At Ayton they’ll probably be brigaded with the 1st Grenadiers, who look pretty much the same except for black equipment straps/crossbelts.

These are Victrix Old Guard Chasseurs (which my existing Medetian infantry are based on – albeit most of those have Tyrolean hat head conversions). I bought them on ebay, already painted by a talented chap who turned out to be quite local. I then altered some of the colours; trousers, epaulettes, tassels and some equipment. The flag template was designed in MS Excel, printed out and highlighted.

They’re based singly on washers for Sharp Practice, but for Ayton they’ll be on magnetised group bases for convenience and to fit in with the rules, as shown here. The separate officers and NCOs are Big Men for Sharp Practice but add a bit of style to the main unit.

 

 

A Visit To Foundry

Taking Goat Major’s advice I recently popped into Foundry’s new premises and shop at East Stoke near Newark. I needed a few figures (seriously, about a dozen) and hearing good things about their location and hospitality I thought I’d drop in on my way past.

I was welcomed and looked after with a coffee by Mick, who it turned out I knew through a forum we both frequent. Although I haven’t previously owned so much as a single Foundry figure, naturally I’d been aware of them over the years, and more recently heard about and seen the restoration of many of their old ranges. One thing you can be sure of with Foundry is plenty of choice – 13,000 packs I think(!?). The stocked racks go on for room after room and I suspect that if you haven’t done your research online beforehand you could easily be there all day. There are worse ways to lose track of time though, I guess 🙂

I just wanted some naval and other artillery crew types and their Crimean range was perfect. They’re not the cheapest, and these days might be a little smaller than most ’28s’, but I was very happy to pick up exactly what I needed.

So now I own some Foundry figs, and I’d better get going on them as the May event is approaching! I’ll post pics when they’re done.

We Are Sailing

Basing your otherwise finished figures can take an age, can’t it? Even so, I finally got round to completing this merry bunch of Medetian naval types.

They’re a pretty eclectic lot – a mixture of Perry, Mutineer and Victrix figures. Although they’re from a variety of actual historical periods they’ll all be taking part in the Medetian expedition into the back of beyond at the Ayton gathering in May. Let’s just hope there’s a river! I’m trusting you Iain!!

While the gatling gun and anyone in a pith/pipe helmet is clearly going to have limited future use, the others will be able to take part in my post-Napoleonic setting using the Sharp Practice rules. Now I just need to finish the small marine contingent, and I have a plan in motion for some stout sailors to go ashore with them. Oh, and the previously tried, tested and calamitous rocket battery is being handed over to the navy to operate, so there are some crew to paint for that.

It occurred to me that my rocket launchers are painted in two shades of blue, which is appropriate considering that ‘blue on blue’ is their likely contribution to the battles at Ayton. I’d just like to apologise in advance to any allies who’re on the receiving end…

The Byzarbian Queen

Steaming (slowly, no doubt) into view below is the most recent addition to the Grand Duke of Medetia’s glorious navy, the colonial steam boat Byzarbian Queen.

This is a very nice and simple to put together MDF model from Sarissa Precision, which I ordered via ebay for a tenner; great value in my opinion. It all came laser cut on two A4 sheets of MDF. Everything went together very easily and even the thinnest parts like the awning supports seem robust enough to survive regular handling.

I gave the hull a coat of white, the boiler is in gunmetal and the awning received white and Medetian-blue stripes for a bit of colour. It was a very quick paint job as you can appreciate! I’ll add a flag at some point too.

I decided to leave the awning structure and the mast removable, for ease storage and to allow easier access to deck space for figures. It’ll hold about a dozen of my 19th century guys on their 20mm round bases, but will normally just be crewed by the three naval types you see in the pictures. These are a mix – Perry officer conning the vessel from the foredeck, Mutineer Miniatures Bosun’s mate (with shouldered monkey) at the tiller and another Mutineer figure taking the roll of flustered engineer.

I have a few more nautical coves to finish, along with the rest of my marines. Then they’ll need a mission somewhere!

 

 

A Bit of Painting

Although posts have been a bit thin on the ground so far in 2015, I have managed to get back to the painting table.

These are the last of a unit of 30 Medetian Grenadiers, that I’ve been converting a few at a time with a partial re-paint over the last few months. I bought them on eBay as French Imperial Guard Chasseurs (which is of course what the figures are – by Victrix) and have modified things like their trousers, epaulettes and drums, plus some equipment and tassels, etc. A fair bit of work in reality, but I was starting with nicely painted figures and it was a lot quicker than doing them myself from scratch.

They will muster as the Ducal Guard Grenadier regiment, differing from my other Grenadier regiment by having white cross belts (well, there was no way I was going to re-paint that lot!)

The worst bit was getting them off their plastic bases, to which they’d been stuck with full-on bonding cement. No breakages, but lots of cutting and cursing! Never again..

The mounted officer is a Perry figure, who’s going to double up as a Big Man in Sharp Practice games and as a Brigadier in big battles like the one coming up in Ayton in May. The nearest drummer is also actually a Perry, as I needed one more figure to bring the unit up to strength.

I’ve also got a number of other items and batches on the go, one being some carbine-armed Sipahis to go with my existing lance-armed unit, as a second rank or as a separate detachment. These are RSM figures, based as light cavalry for use with both my 18th and 19th century Medetian/Fleurian armies. As they’re fairly simple figures and widely spaced on the bases, I’ll be painting them assembled and in situ. It should work – I did the lancers this way and they’re in 3s!

More soon, thanks for popping in.

Final 2014 Activities

It’s been 6mm clipping and basing time here, with my Franco-Prussian War armies’ (modest) expansion now underway. I’ve changed the intended orders of battle several times, trying to work out the best balance of forces for the pencilled in multi-player game and for the collection itself going forward. Working with a number of spare figures I’ve devised a decent ’rounding out’ of my current forces which involves a minimum of new purchases and, most importantly, a minimum of painting. Laziness can be cost-effective!

The armies, French and Prussian/Bavarian, are based and organised for To the Last Gaiter Button by Realtime Wargames. I aim to have 2 corps per side, for a 4 player game. This will represent over 100,000 men in total and allow a fairly large battle to be played out.

Work in progress:

So that’s it for my 2014 wargaming, which I’ve enjoyed immensely. I’ve also got a lot out of maintaining the blog, and especially from all the comments people have made – they’ve been much appreciated. I need to get cracking again during January. I have a number of projects on the go at the moment, and a couple of deadlines to meet for games in the first part of the year. I need to set up and play a game too, so I’ll have a think about what this might be over a New Year’s Eve beer.

Happy New Year to everyone who’s dropped in this year, and I hope you do so again in 2015. Cheers!

All Quiet on the Medetian Front

It’s been a very quiet hobby month, as illustrated by the lack of posts recently. Work and other commitments have taken up most of my time and energy and I’ve struggled to get back to either the painting board or gaming table. Hopefully this weekend will see a turnaround.

I have managed to do some hobby thinking however, in place of actual activity! It’s getting to the time when people start laying out their plans, realistic or otherwise, for the coming year; painting, gaming, modelling, etc. I’ve contributed to one forum thread already and here’s an initial plan for where my priorities will (probably!) lie for 2015..

Games and get togethers:

  • More home-and-away games with Goat Major, hopefully a continuing mix of Sharp Practice, 17th century skirmish and, with any luck, a return to Chain of Command (hint, hint)
  • A group weekend with some forum pals, hosted between me and GM; more Sharp Practice and possibly a Corps-per-player FPW battle in 6mm
  • A BIG battle at John Ray’s as part of his post-7YW campaign. I’ll be commanding a sumptuous horde of Austrians and allies against wily Old Fritz himself. Can’t wait!
  • The ‘A Military Gentlemen’ forum group multi-player game at Partizan, which is going to be amazing and hopefully provide an excellent social weekend too
  • The annual Ayton weekend in May; 19th century massed madness in the desert, followed by massed madness in the pub
  • Just maybe, another autumn group gaming weekend if we manage to rally ourselves to plan one
  • On the home front my plans are for:
    • more Sharp Practice
    • another 18th century solo battle
    • some 15mm ancients and fantasy
    • at least one 6mm Renaissance game, but hopefully a mini-campaign
    • a return to the inter-war naval scene
All the above represents a lot of gaming, and an increase on this year’s achievements (which weren’t bad either). As far as I’m concerned that’s the way I want my hobby to be, so roll on 2015!
Painting ‘plan’ next..

Medetian Bersaglieri Leaders

Recently finished: two leader figures for my post-Napoleonic Medetian light infantry – the Bersaglieri. These troops effectively count the same as British Riflemen in Sharp Practice games, and very effective they are too.

I use Front Rank Austrian Jager figures, as they have the appropriate headgear for my early 19th century Medetians. These two are an officer (Lieutenant Verdicchio) and a sergeant (Rigato), based as Big Men for the rules. The sergeant does actually have a face, I just struggled to get any decent light onto the front of the figure for this quick photo shoot!

 

This leaves just 20 more rank and file to do next year sometime…

Dragoons on Parade

It’s taken a few weeks to get around to finishing the basing of the second Fleurian Dragoon regiment (Wurttemberg), but I’ve finally finished. These are Minden Miniatures, painted for me by the very talented James Roach. I do paint most of my own figures but every now and then it’s nice to accelerate the finish rate by having someone else contribute to the collection. I’m hoping to have another arrival by the end of the year too..

I posted about these figures when they arrived last month, here: Link

So now that they’re based up they’ve had their first trot out, and joined their brigade partners (the Rutowski Dragoons) for some gentle evolutions under the watchful eye of their commander, Le Comte de Malbec.