French Indian Wars British Mounted Officer - 28mm

This is another little gem I picked up at this year's Derby World Wargames. It comes from AW Miniatiures extensive and ever growing 28mm range (http://www.awminiatures.co.uk/) They're great figures and comparable to Front Rank in both size and detail. A quick glance at the website reveals they've also released their range of Zulu Wars models too (which includes an awesome "Rorke's Drift Victoria Cross Character Set"!). Aside from this period and FiW they also produce an Indian Mutiny range and 15mm Napoleonic Peninsular War.

Late Crusader Commander and Standard Bearer - 28mm

These are both slightly converted figures using Fireforge Mounted Sergeants and Conquest Games Norman Knights boxed sets. They were mainly leftover from the haul I bought from the Triples Bring n Buy and thought they'd be perfect for playing Lion Rampant or Crescent and Cross. The standard isn't historically accurate and was made simply to fit the general colour scheme I'd chosen. After reading some background history on the Crusades I was aware of the vast amount of those knights who "took the cross", enough to guess that there was likely a huge array of different banners and standards on each campaign.

The paint I used was a Vallejo Flat Blue and Vallejo Flat Yellow, after which I used a Citadel Agrax Earth Shade ink wash. Lastly I added some White to the original colours to produce a highlight.

28mm Napoleonic Game 1814

Today's big Napoleonic game was based around a scenario in the Black Powder Rulebook - A Russian and Prussian Army making a fighting withdrawl towards a bridge held by a small force of French (actually Neopolitans) and pursued by a French allied force also consisting of Italians and Polish. Myself and Ian played the French with Simon and Lawrence in the role of the quarry. The rules we used were Barry Hilton's rather excellent Republic to Empire.

At first glance the French would have seemed to be at a considerable advantage, but it quickly became apparent we were going to have our problems. One thing being the large Russian battery placed across the centre of the table and a regiment of cavalry hovering each side. Another was the huge amount of Russian Jaegers facing Ian ready to pot shot at us as we filed out of the streets of the nearby town to form up for any attack.

True to expectations the buzz of cannonballs and crack of musketry rolled across our front as the first French regiments appeared on open ground. Luckily the huge Russian battery only managed two hits on our Westphalian's due to some bad dice rolling, and the Russian Jaeger's were also not racking up enough hits to stall the attack. On the far side near the bridge our Neopolitans were watching from behind their barricades as the Russians started to make for the escape route.

On the French left their Cavalry division were collecting behind a hill ready to launch themselves at a Prussian battery and an attached Infantry brigade. The hope for us was that the Cavalry would stampede enough of the enemy to create a bottleneck at the bridge behind, then we could bring up the guns and infantry to fire into the mass. In practice this was only half successful with the Polish Lancers charging and decimating the Prussian gunners just after they'd fired their cannons at a French regiment nearer the town but a hussar regiment pulling up sharp as the Prussian infantry managed to form square. The latter managed to hold on as a Prussian cavalry regiment then bounced into the French horses sending them reeling away. The Polish were also charged by Russian dragoons but standing their ground a large melee flared up with both both sides suffering heavy casualties. Another success was scored by the cavalry however when the French Chasseur a Cheval regiment ran down the Russian artillery crews in the centre when their fire was distracted by Italians advancing on their left. Further on this side of the field Ian was rolling forward and charging successfully against Russian units (including those pesky Jaegers). On the reverse near the bridge the Neopolitans had cut down as many of the Russians and Prussians as they could, but were finally succumbing to superior numbers. The first enemy units were getting across the bridge but a Russian morale test on the enemy left caused many units to start breaking. So in conclusion, a handful of Russians made their escape but not enough to give them a victory.

The view from the barricades

Russian Jaegers

Coming through the town with the Russians waiting outside

Italian Brigade with Cavalry in front

Zombicide miniatures...

Last week my copy of the Zombicide board game turned up, and once opened it was a delight to see how much time and effort had gone into the presentation. Really high quality gaming tiles, fantastic illustrations...and these nicely done zombie figures. I'd already seen online how the company were producing sets of paints for those eager to cover up the plain grey plastic gaming pieces - but to my surprise it was actually my partner's suggestion that we spend an afternoon painting them all. I knew she was a big zombie movie/book/etc fan, so it undoubtedly ticked all the right boxes. My efforts are at the top (ok. I did go slightly wild with the blood!) and hers are underneath. I particularly love the 'runner' zombie she did, and also how quickly she grasped ink washes to pick out the detail.......hmm, now to entice her to paint up a few of those Perry Napoleonics I have!....

Königstiger - 20mm Skytrex

I recently bought a fair amount of assorted unpainted figures from a friend whose neighbour was having a clearout. The first lot included a box of 20mm WW2 vehicles of various makes and nationalities. I decided the first to be painted would be this Konigstiger, which we deduced was probably an old Skytrex model. Being completely metal it had some real weight to it! (as compared to most mixed resin/metal models around these days).

I must say I had a lot of pleasure in restoring some of these older figures and getting them painted up as they had originally intended to be. I know quite a few folks would critique 70's and 80's sculpts whilst extolling the superiority of more modern manufacturers, but being a somewhat older fellow I've a certain nostalgia for the early stuff. I must say it's always great to see things like early Skytrex or Essex models still in use at Wargames Shows or Club events - adequately holding their own and still much loved by those who own them.

Anyway, back to the Konigstiger. I decided on an Ardennes style camo job which involved a GW blue/grey (Ulthan?) undercoat combined with a Vallejo German Camo Beige and Vallejo Dark Bluegrey. The tracks were painted in Vallejo German Grey then covered with patches of Vallejo Light Mud.

King Richard III and WotR Archers 28mm

The first photo was taken at our Club night last week when we decided to put on a brief Wars of the Roses game for the benefit of the guys visiting from Wargames Illustrated Magazine. Both the Command Stand and the infantry were finished only a couple of hours before the game started, so I was feeling slightly under pressure. As it is I didn't think they were my best paint jobs to date - but for some reason the other attendees said otherwise! Richard III and his standard bearer are both Front Rank figures, whilst the Archers are all Perry Miniatures plastics. Those others in the background were lent to us courtesy of Rich Keenan. Nice figures with lots of character, poses etc but we'd no clue what make they were!

The game itself was a mix of tragedy and comedy, with myself getting bored of defensive tactics and pounding down off the hill to meet Dave and Paul's Lancastrians (bad idea).

I'm aware most of my posts have been museum's or days out recently, but rest assured behind the scenes I've been painting away like an absolute madman. All in a bold attempt to reduce the lead mountain accumulated from two previous wargames shows (Triples and Derby World wargames). So expect more updates very soon.