Repaint, Rebase, Repurpose! (15mm)

Firstly I must apologise. It is just very DULL here and I am unable to take any decent pics, despite 3 separate attempts. So this is the best of a bad bunch.

Secondly 2 skirmish stands for my Viking force in Longships. Very old figures with at least 3 coats of paint Probably (much) more. 3 Minifigs and 1 2 dragons for those that are really interested all purchased some 40+ years ago originally. Not much to say as they all very old and very nasty but Vikings did not ever have a lot of skirmishers and these are 14 points out of the 400 max I am allowed so I probably will rather use more spear carrying force and less skirmishers.

In the rules Skirmishers are an annoying distraction. Many forces Like the Irish or the Scotts don't even need to pay points for them. But Vikings have to and to be honest they are annoying but don't cause too much pain to the enemy so are generally best left until you get a cavalry unit to ride them down. Oh yeah Vikings don't use much cavalry! I suspect you can see the cunning flaw in that plan.






3rdly (am I making up words again) a change of project. Here are Modern Russians.  Again 15mm. I was in two minds about selling these on eBay. Instead I have rebased and re-paint, and they are now repurposed.

Starting with the "regular" soldiers I now have 3 bases of Professional quality troops. While you may hope that all your troops are of this quality in the bush wars of Africa (At least in the AK 47 rules) these are actually very rare troops. So rare in fact that I have NEVER used any professional quality troops! They are all armed with Assault rifles (AKs as it happens) some even with underslung grenade launchers. In the rules Profesional quality troops are good but the points cost makes them VERY limiting. They are also my only troops that have helmets!


 Along with Assault rifle armed troops I now have 4 bases armed with RPGs (Rocket Propelled Grenades). As in the rules you asre limited to 2 stands per unit I have enough for 2 units. Also in the rules they can act as "Normal" professional quality troops they will all do double duty as riflemen. As the points value is exactly the same Most (if not all) AK players buy these first for a unit as it just makes more sense to do so.


The RPG is a common sight in news footage but realistically they should be a little more rare. But just as camera-men in modern times like to take pics of RPGs a similar parallel can be drawn with WW2 camera-men liking to take pics of TANKS, which were actually a lot less common that most wargamers think.

Next up I have 4 stands of LMGs. Now the points cost means I am probably not going to use these much unless I use them as Riflemen., but as the rest were revitalised it made sense to do these as well. You never know It is possible to have a unit promoted a grade temporarily for a battle so it is possible they may get used a lot. Well one can dream can't one!

The last 2 pics is of all the professional troops together. I have slim hopes of getting them all on the table at one time, but you never know stranger things have happened in my wargaming pastime. That being the case I will keep my fingers crossed.

The modern Russians are team Yankee figures and it is a single pack now used as AK-47 figures. It works out a LOT cheaper to do this than to buy dedicated Peter Pig AK figures.

Now my AK 47 force is just about finished. By that I mean I have more than enough to play a game but there is always room for more and I do have my beady eyes on a few more acquisitions. But they an Wait until Selwg at the very least.

Thanks for looking today. My work bench is now clear so on with 28mm figs next! (Insert evil cackling as desired!)

Long Ships (2nd Unit)

Yes some more 15mm Vikings for my second unit in Longships. Longships in case you had forgotten is the Peter Pig game of the same name concerned with Viking/Anglo Saxon warfare.

As we only have 400 points here is another unit ( a small one). ! leader (compolury), 3 Un-armoured stands (again compulrory) and 3 Armoured stands. Only 7 stands in the unit but 3 armoured stands count this unit as superior!

A mixture of makes. Tabletop games, two Dragons, Minifigs and a few I just do not know. So if you do more power to you as I have no idea. But they are all 15mm in size. I do not mind some being taller then others after all we are all different in real life.

I went for a Blue and white shield colour scheme just to conveniently tell one unit apart from another and NOT being historically accurate. As this will count as a Superior unit I hope it will aquit itself quite well on the tabletop although I know a few bad dice rolls and the unit will flee. But this will be the standard unit composition of my force. At least until a few games in and I reserve the right to reassess te force when I see how it plays.

That's it for now. More 15m coming soon and some 28mm now started. Until next time take care and paint as much as you feel like.

Longships 1 (blue and orange)

Yes I have finally grasped the nettle and started my "Longships" force. Let me start by saying Longships is a se of rules by Peter Pig. Not the best set of rules but I have honestly played a LOT worse. Each force has to be 5 units (plus Skirmishers) and cannot be more than 400 points so you never need to paint far to many megalomaniac armies!

Each unit needs a leader @20 points x 5=100 points) each unit needs at least 3 Unarmoured stands.3x8 = 24 points (x5) totals 120.) So far you have spent 220 points out of the 400.  Therefore there are not so many choices.

On with the painted figures. These all come from my 40 year old Viking army so they are old figures. As such some will be saying I remember while others will be scratching their heads and saying "I have never seen... " Most of these figures are by TTG (Tabletop Games) at least 2 are Minifigs and one is Two Dragons. For those that really want to know.

I have painted them up with Blue and Orange shields so I can easily identify the units (and not historically accuracy). So a game convention and not one with any provenance!

Not the very best painted figures, but they will do for a game so further detail was not needed.

That is it for today. Thanks for looking and more again soon.

Saxon raid on Ireland

Saxons Raiding
and starting on the right

Matt played the Irish. he like playing the Irish in "Longships" and this time did not say Potato even once (that I heard), he said it a lot last time, it was his victory chant! Graham and me split the SaxonsLike wise as far as I recall we did not say "Sheep!" or "Wool" or even mead.

Saxon Skirmishers and
a Saxon unit
WE started with 4 Units the irish
started with 1.

I am afraid the game does not look very exciting at all. Graham is a lovely bloke but has less interest in how things look and more in how they work. Each to there own of course and that comment is not meant as a criticism at all.

When you fight the Irish in "Longships" they will have more skirmishers than you. You just have to accept that from the very beginning it's just a fact of life. They will also have on the whole LESS armour and larger units no matter which force you take.

First we had to find his army.
It kept moving
until we could eventually
3rd attempt pin him to a location.



When Matt settled on a location.
It was no surprise he was next
to a steep and rough Hill
Which I would have to fight my way up!



matts second Unit arrived very swiftly
In the town and bogged Grahames troops down
in a street to street house to house fight.

Rather than a frontal assault on the hill I went
to the side and attacked.
The Irish rolled remarkably well.



My Saxon unit was pretty much spent
And Matt was able to hold the hill.
Until very near the end and
I was able to send more troops
which both supported Grahames flank and the battle on the hill.

As the game ended. Both of matts units
fled the table.
But he had managed to Just bring 2 fresh units from
towns close by . It was anyone's game.
Matt looked physically the worse for wear,
Somewhat drained and weary.

















Victory points were added up. And despite the Saxons plundering a "Gift From GOD!" the final points tally was close. In the end it was a narrow Victory to Matt. he beat us by 11 Victory points. Which considering most games have about 30 points difference was quite close.

Congratulations Matt a worthy winner.

Despite loosing I still like the rules and am indeed trying to balance a force of my own. The problem being the want for heavily armoured troops against the need to keep the points down.

I shall try to get a good fighting force though and will show them as I go on this blog.

Mixed bag

Yes a mixed bag today. A REAL Mixed bag. Infract a liquorice allsorts type of post.

Let me explain. Matt dropped of some figures on Sunday and they are based and undercoated and I HOPE to show some in a few days. But this put me in a position where I was starting afresh with nothing ready to share on todays post.

BoB Back of Beyond.
Having looked at the prices of Trains on eBay suitable for BoB wargaming I was quite frankly alarmed. A single locomotive ranged from £30-500. (Plus postage). But this was for a train to go around a railway track. I found that a cheaper option was to go for a "STATIC" model, which in this instance cost £5.95 inc.
postage. Which if a far more acceptable price. The model is only a little bit smaller and once taken from the base (4 screws) and weathered shall I deem make a very acceptable wargames piece suitable for the Back of Beyond.

Roman Necromunda.
Well not quite but still a good set of rules and one that allows you to play ancient skirmish games quickly easily and with a minimal of fuss. Yeah but it's Fantasy...... Well yes it is but my argument would be it is true to what was believed at the time. Okay that is only partially true. It is a bit like saying that people today believe in ghosts or the Loch ness Monster or UFO's. And True some people do and everyone is entitled to their own beliefs. I am not going to criticise anyone for what they believe or don't believe.

Several differs types of "warband" are featured in the rules but any enemy of Rome could be featured if you were willing to do some background reading and approach the rules with an open mind.

If you want a review of the rules let me know. Personally I like what I read, but it does mean you have to have an open mind and or like Fantasy games.

Longships.
This project has come from the back burner to the front burner. Two Christmases ago my Secret Santa (Blogger) sent me some 15mm Peter pig figures. I have felt guilty ever since as I had not used them at all. As Tim (at the club) has 2 10mm WW1 Middle east armies nearly finished that project fell of the burner altogether. Which opened up some space. Some of you will be aware that I used to be in a Dark age Re-enactment group, as such I have an interest in this period. As such I did have a VERY old DBA army (I actually had 4 at one stage but only kept hold of one). Therefore I an repaimting and rebasing a force to sit in with the Peter Pig rules "Longships". I hasten to add than no new purchases are at present planned (Ok some are, but only loosely and no money has parted hands so far.

One of the good things about the Dark ages is that once you have an army it can be used for multiple opponents.  Seriously there is no difference in what a Viking wore or fought with or an Anglo Saxon, or Scots or Welsh or... you get the idea.

14/400. yes tis is 14 points from 400 needed for a game. The figures are old, very old, they are about 35 years old and were the first army I ever bought. Re-painted now . The two with bows are "Minifigs" the 2 with slings are "Tabletop games" (A company no longer in existence at all.) Each stand in the Peter pig rules is worth 7 points. They are skirmishers and a Viking army historically did not have many of them at all.

I will not flood the army lists with skirmishers but it is useful to have 1 skirmish unit if no more. Having NO skirmish units is I have found a disadvantage.

When I finish another unit I will tell you both the points of the unit and the total paints for the army. Remember it if out of 400. so as mentioned this is 14/400.

That is it for today more again soon. Matts crew next I hope.

As always any questions, comments or observations are welcomed.

Dux Britaniarum skirmishers.

Well the title says it all. In Dux Britaniarum missile troops do not play a major part. Nor Historically should they. A unit, this time 4 (and not 6) represents the young warriors perhaps on their first raid. maybe they are not considered strong or brave enough to be in a shield wall or in a main unit. But they still have a purpose they act as harassing and missile troops.

These are 28mm hard plastic dark age missile troops. I cannot tell you who makes them as they were bought unpainted/2nd hand on eBay. I have kept the coulours as realistic as possible and put patches where they have been repaired. Given that there was about 3 miles of thread in a tunic (I am told, not measured it myself) and they were often in a persons will when they died patching seems not only likely but also nessercary.

That is another unit finished for Dux Britaniarum. The smallest unit I grant you but it did need to be finished. One more warrior unit to go. (yes there will be a group photo when all are finished.

Now the painting table is "Almost" cleared I can start to look at the FFL again. More of that NEXT week, I am sure.

Another 6 troops (Dux Britaniarum)

Continuing the dark ages at least in my mind. here are the next 6 figures which makes a unit in Dux Britanium. just 2 units to go and one (the skirmishers is started.) these are warriors, which is a step up from levy but still not likely to set the world on fire. But as they have had to catch the boat from their own country and cross the water they are not too poorly as a unit. Again I stuck to easily dye-able colours and as many patches as to make them look feasible.

So they should mingle in quite well with the others. For convenience I went for plain red/brown shields just so the unit is easy to identify and NOT for any historical reasons.

 I have shown everything finished so far.

• 1leader (with dog)
• 1Champion
• 2 sub(lesser) leaders
• 2 units of 6 (16 shown) hearthguard warriors
• 2units of general warriors.

Still to come:

• 4-6 skirmishers
• 3rd unit of 6 Warriors
• Additional warriors to bulk out each unit.

No cavalry are planned as until they have lands of their own transporting horses is too much time and effort for this raiding force. It is possible they may have a cavalry unit in the future, but VERY unlikely. (Unless you buy me one... no I though not!)

Sorry no fancy back drop today I can gleefully say I have been distracted by an eBay find which was swiftly purchased. But I digress.

Enjoy Sunday I have a LOAD of painting to get finished now! best wishes Clint

Another unit. (Dark Ages)

I am of course talking about Dux Britaniarum where a unit starts as 6 figures. So yet a whole unit finished.  Why do I think this is strange when 12 figures could be 480 in Napoleonic wargames? I don't know.  NO whole army picks just yet. but one is planned but I still need to do 3 more units. (2 units of 6 and 1 unit of 4 Skirmishers). They have now all been purchased and indeed the next unit is already started.

I did not put them in the same order when taking the front and back photos but still I am sure you will forgive me. the colours are authentic, (Red Dyed with Madder (in real life) and Blue dyed with Brazil Wood (again in real life.) Most (BUT not all) colours could be dye in dark age Europe as long as you steer clear of PURPLE and dark colours. Also remember that paint and cloth dye are very different.

Well that is a quick post for today. More again soon. All the best Clint

FINISHED AND STARTED.

Yes that sounds like a music album title for a cheap band from the 60's) I apologise if this was an album title, but you get the idea.

Firstly here is the remains of my German Aeronef fleet. You may recall I forgot to paint one when I did the rest. so that has now been rectified.

They are Van 7 German patrol nefs. (LINK to shop) They came as part of the German starter fleet and are now painted and with the others. (still trying to sort out bases I am happy with.)
But they are done so nothing to worry about too much for now.

The bottom pic is some figures I sent off for from Gripping Beast. I must say the service was exemplary.  They arrived in their own card board box very fast indeed.

I have started the next unit and with luck I will finish them  pretty soon but not this weekend. Generally the figures are very good and well suited to Dux Britaniarum. Buying direct from the maker was cheaper than eBay as well So expect to see the first unit of 6 middle of next week. Over all I am excited to paint them and assembling them was a pleasure and not a chore.

Hopefully an AAR on Monday, until then take care have fun and paint like crazy if you get the chance.

NEW PROJECT ALERT

Well almost (sorry Joe ). Personally I did not like SAGA, I know many people did and that is great, but for me I could not get to grips with troops that could do something one turn and not do it the next. I am sure they could not have forgotten it in a space of 10 minutes. Anyway I like the period and setting and already have the figures (well some of them at least). Now Dux Britaniarum is currently played down the club so that makes sense as the "way to go!"

Dux Britaniarum is set about 500 years earlier than SAGA. This could be a problem is set later. But earlier the armour and weapons were pretty much the same. OK there is less chainmail and less Dane Axes and less hauberks, with almost no need to split he front for mounted knights. But there were more bearded axes and more Van Dyke mail shirts. (Get your wellies on if you want to get into the deep bullshit about exactly when and where they changed.... it was an evolution and not overnight at one battle)But generally it was similar if not exactly the same.


So I raked out my Saga Figures and started to have a look at what I could use and guess what!  Here they are!

From left to right
Lords champion. Full metal jacket, 2 weapons and a shield and ready to take on another champion if asked.
Lord (with hunting dog on base) Originally a SAGA Welsh lord, but quite happily acceptable for Dux Britaninarum
2 lesser/younger lords Nuff said really

 8 elite warriors for the Saxons. No one give me a hard time about the shields. I went for simple colour combinations so we could easily see who was in each unit. While it may not be historically correct it was something we did do in re-enactment so it is something I am happy to continue with.

As you can see there are 2 units of 8 figures each. While you only need 6 figures to make a unit the unit can increase to 8 figures in a campaign. Therefore it was easier to make the units 8 figures at this stage and not 6.

These troops could Be British or Saxon (only 1 unit for British), or at a REAL push Sub Romano British, but then we are stretching the figures a bit.

Rather than re-base I did stick with 20mm square bases it makes no real difference in the rules so no need to change them. All the figures are Gripping Beast and with the exception of the dog and the lord are plastic which makes them a cheap force to put together

I have already sent for the rest of the troops so that I may make either a British or a Saxon  force. While I shall not be able to field 2 forces I suspect there is anough players at the club who can already field a force so I am happy to just have one.

That's it. Thanks for looking today. I suspect it will be more 15mm Pacific war items in a few days time.

Longships Game.

Yesterday at the club Graham put on a game of Longships by Peter pig. So all the figures ands all the terrain belongs to Graham and he has to bring it all to the club. So none of these fancy set ups in your own home. Everything has to be portable!

There were a choice of armies (I did NOT get to choose but if I did I would not have picked a Dark Age Irish army. ) So Either Matt or Dick selected Irish and I teamed up with them. Opposite the enemy had selected a Scottish army, and on the day Bob (directly opposite me) Peter and Tim faced us.

We rolled the pregame and we were attacking. (Remember the Irish have many qualities in this period but having much armour was not one of them.

Irish at bottom of picture attacking the hills (That was were we would get the most victory points!). I was on the Right, Matt the Left and Dick was the centre.

Assaulting up hill from a stream with unarmoured troops. Well what can I say! things could be better. So not ideal.

Taking turns to set up units.
The Scotts occupy the hill
and would be hard to shift!

But as I was both the last to set up and the Irish moved first.
I threw caution to the wind
crossed the river and climbed the hill
In an area which was not defended.

And feeling bold immediately attacked!
And Miracle apon Miracles actually WON!

The Gratuitos picture of Tims Dice rolling
Uncharacteristically good on the day!

Matt buoyed on by the successful assault on his right also crossed the river.
The bad news is that Tim could roll dice this day.

Foolishly I press on with a depleted unit.
My luck holds and they rout a second unit.
But are in turn in a very bad shape at the end of it.

Bob's Cavalry arrive from off table.
A small unit of 5 bases.
It was 8 bases but he elected to bring them on early
before they were fully mustered.

My 2 units form up on the hill.
My peaseant/levy unit on the left and by battered and wounded unit on the right.

Bob charges the levy unit.
All of my weakest troops in the unit die (I had them at the front)
Yes cruel and heartless
But it left my more competent troops alive
After the first clash.

(This was not my tactic just me moving the wrong figures
and exposing my weaker troops and not fighting with my better troops in
the charge! OPPS!

But as the Dice gods smiled bobs Cavalry charge was blunted by my levy.
Yes he killed more than me,
BUT
I inflicted more hits (Which he mostly saved)
So the 5 bases of cavalry were reduced to 3 bases and being counted as a small unit in the game
routed from the table at the end of the turn.

Tim meanwhile had butchered Matt and Dick had butchered Tim. Peters troops had all fled, half from my endeavours and half from Dicks.

At the pack up when the game was over I was the only player with a credible force left. All Bobs Infantry and Cavalry had been destroyed by me. In fact the only troops the Scots had left were skirmish units (Good for harassing units but not able to fight ) Matt had also lost all the troops he had (apart from Skirmishers) Dick had 1/2 a unit left (Very badly wounded)  as well as some skirmishers and I had 2 units left (One very badly mauled) along with nearly all the skirmishers I started with.

So on the day the Irish beat the Scots 40 Victory points to 22 Victory points.
Which only meant a minor victory. So despite them having no troops left on the table not the raging and crushing victory we would all hope for (When we played) .

One of the best victories I have had in this game ever. Actually one of the better victories (from my perspective) I have ever had at the club. But because of the losses only a minor victory over all.

But most importantly a good fun game with some great chaps.

I will probably start to build a force for this game soon. So watch out for that. And While I would like a Carolingian Army for the game, it will almost deffinitly be either a Viking or Saxon army in 15mm as I already have a DBA Viking army. (DBA 1st Ed).