Paddy Fields (Part 1)

It does not happen often but this morning I awoke and felt like making terrain. And as I am working on my 20mm Vietnam Conflict collection (I even sent for shinnies and Plastics yesterday) it made sense to me to think about terrain for that. As I already own enough jungle foliage and village huts the next thing was going to be some Paddy fields. These should be easy! Yeah famous last words I know it and yet I keep telling myself! One day I may believe the truth before it hits me up the head...

 So I found a spare piece of board, in this case 6mm MDF (Medium Density Fibreboard). Yes I know it's a little think for what I need and hardboard would be better yet it was quick to source and easy to work (There's that "Easy" word again!)

 So I marked out what I wanted with regard to Field shape. Settling on 3 or 4 (depends how you picky you are about counting) sizes and shapes. I spent a happy 35 minutes up the shed with a jigsaw.

Then rounded of the corners and sanded them smooth and removed any bumps to create the basic field shapes. I do realise that these will be proud on the table top and that real water does not do that, but for gaming purposes these will be flooded fields and should represent the terrain and as long as people are not stupid ( I will be running a book on the first person to comment) they should serve.

There are of course a few more steps to go but the basic roughing out of field shapes is now done. While at this stage they are fairly regular each field being separate they can be arranged in less than regular patterns to represent the flooded paddy fields of a small hamlet! The joy is that once made they should be OK for all scales from 10mm-28mm.

That's it for today as my Vietnam project gets a little bit closer to complete!

Thanks For looking and Painted figures on Saturday.

Cheers Guys.

More 10mm Samruai

While at the Cavalier show I was able to pick up some more Pendraken 10mm Samurai from Second City games. They were a mixed bunch probably left over from someone else's collection. So together with my "Odds and Sods" I cobbled them together to make a few more stands.

As my two agmies are currently matched I have decided to make a Green force. Which I can use as an ally of either of my other armies. Not a large allied force as there are only 7 stands of infantry. And 2 of those stands may actually join my main armies as by checking the pose and the catalogue number it identifies them as Samurai with Naginata.  The issue being that the Naginata in question seem to have very short handles and to my untrained and now squinting eye look more like No Dachi (2 handed swords). So I may be better off pretending that is what they are.

4 of the Cavalry stands are already put aside for my other armies but the 5th one can belong to the allies. It just balances everything up nicely this way.

The last 2 figures are Samurai mounted separately as messengers. It is quite possible that when they do deliver new orders they may get ignored entirely as the lord in charge of that section arrogantly chooses to do his own thing.

These were also painted as part of the Analogue painting challenge but I just did not get round to posting them on my blog during the challenge.

The VERY good news is that I have started to paint already, currently working on Battle-tech mechs. Just to do something for me and to keep it light.

Thanks for looking and with any luck another post come Monday.

Take care watch the rugby and have some fun with a paintbrush in your hand.

All the best Clint

10mm Sams

Well long time blog members will remember that I have been painting 10mm samurai on and off for a few years. It has been 10 months since I painted any. So yes here are a few more before I get the Paint Monkey to paint some more 28mm figures for Matt.

So here they are 10mm Pendraken Mounted Samurai armed with Yari. 13 in all and I have yet to do the sashimono back banners. Clearly these are destined for my red army. 4 Bases of 3 figures and a single figure on a 20mm square base to represent a general. I have an equal about to still do for my blue/grey army. They will be about the last of my figures done and there will be 2 armies (or else).

Thanks for looking today. I hope you are all well and happy take care and with luck, see you all soon. All the best Clint

Well I am not going to make a big thing of it but the illness persists in the family. One person gets better and another gets worse.

These are a bit rough but they are now finished. Well not really rough, but I have put the sashimi back banners some place and I could not find them and then the photos came out a bit blurred. But they will add to my growing Samurai armies and will fit in perfectly.

I have pre-ordered some more Samurai from Pendraken ready to pick up on Saturday at Salute but only an additional 2 packs so not as many as I could possibly get. Just enough to keep the project rolling along.

So today we have another 12 Samurai with Naginata mounted and ready for battle. These will bolster my Red Samurai army and bring them to a similar level to my grey Army. I am not far of having sufficient for a battle now, no wargames army is ever really finished but this is now approaching critical mass. And I will anticipate getting a game in quite soon. In fact I am planning one in about a month, give or take.

So Now I am writing the rules. Going for a very simple set based on DBA but that could all change as it is not yet written in stone.

Thanks for looking today. I have a spare hour so I may get to make some fudge done ready for the traders at Salute.

I am hoping to get another one or two more posts in before the big day. So with luck talk to you soon.
All the best Clint

Samurai Red Bowmen.

Well it was only a matter of time. So here are my next lot of 10mm Pendraken Samurai. 7 stands each of 4 figures. I was trying for 8 stands but with missing figure it was easier to do 7 bases for now and sort out the last base of archers when I can find the absent without leave.

Anyway you should know by now these will be for my red army which is slowly growing. I expect a game or two in the coming months, unless I get distracted.... ooh look shinies! Yeah I know It's likely to happen. But until it does I will continue as I am just preparing for Salute.

More 10mm Sams. and BROADSIDE news,

 My latest additions to Curt's Analogue Painting Challenge netted me an additional 24 points. Comprising of 12 mounted Samurai with three to a base. These are clearly destined to become part of my RED Samurai army. 3 figures to a base and 4 bases to a unit.

Not really a whole lot more to say about them really except perhaps that unlike my previous samurai they have all been painted in the same red armour. Historically there are several commanders who dressed there armies in Red so the uniform appearance is a little different for me with Samurai rank figures as opposed to ashigaru which always look better in a uniform.

BROADSIDE NEWS: The Swallows Leisure Centre, the venue for the last two years has at short notice decided that we cannot use one of the halls (the Wyvern Hall). They have not provided us with an alternative so the show this year will need to fit in a single hall. As we have already paid for the advertising in magazines and on flyers it is too late this year to seek an alternative venue. Consequently space will be tight, about 70% of what we have had for the last two years. One of the ways we are getting round this issue is that we are having to limit the size of the display games to 4'x6'. We have sent out emails to all the clubs concerned and informed them of this new situation and have been very pleasantly surprised with both the promptness of their replies and their understanding. Needless to say it is not ideal for any concerned, but we are getting there. It is possible that we shall look at alternative venues for next year. Chatham Dockyard has been suggested but at present nothing has been decided.

Well that is it for today. Thanks for reading  this blog and hope you found something of interest here.

All the best Clint

10mm Peasants Samurai Period

 This was my latest addition the Curt's Analogue Painting challenge. 32 Peasant archers. 16 for the Red army and 16 for the blue army. Which doubles my Peasant archers for both armies. Unless I get any more as a gift I cannot see me buying any more of them as I want the battles I have in my head to be more about Samurai and Ashigaru. That said I may get some other peasant figures maybe with polearms or hand weapons, perhaps even Arquibus but not with bows.

Anyway from the challenge point of view this has taken me to 144 points out of my target of 600 so about 1/4 of the way there in about 10 days. That being the case I am considering raising my total. I will hold fire on that just yet, and see how things go along. But you heard it hear first. I have already submitted my next entry, although I do not think it will gain very many points as it is just a single 28mm figure. But every little helps and as it is the Wild Bunch entry fee it did need to be done sooner rather than later.

On the Christmas pressie front I did not fair all that well unless you count socks in which case it was fantastic but for wargames, not so much. I did get three books and 3 decent paint brushes so it could have been much worse. So definitely no complaints. I am now going to crack on with painting my next entry with a view to submitting it on Friday.

Next update should be on Saturday. So until then take care have fun and maybe treat yourself in the Boxing-day Sales if Santa has not delivered exactly what you wanted. All the best Clint

Post Script: On Christmas Day I noticed that we clipped the 50k page views. So a big thank you to everyone for popping by. I do appreciate every page view and every comment form every member or lurker.

Seasons greetings

I would like to wish all the blog members as well as casual Browsers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year. I would like to extend that greeting to all who are close to you as well.

The Picture to the right made me chuckle so I hope it puts a smile on your face as well. And let's all hope this does not happen to Santa!

Right That's the non wargaming bit done, now onto the important stuff. I am still painting away for Curt's Challenge and will be sending a few pics in today for his "Non Combatants" bonus round in the desperate attempt to get an extra 50 points. Needless to say until he publishes them on his blog I am reluctant to put any piccies up here.

Oh Ok just one and not one I will be sending him then.

It's a wide shot so you can't see any detail at all really. But at least you will get some strange idea. The buggy and the landscape have both been seen on this blog before so we are only really looking at the 2 Crooked Dice Astronauts in the foreground. They were a joy to paint and I thoroughly enjoyed doing them even if it was mostly shades of off white. (5 in all, but you can't tell with my photography!) In fact I must say they were a right pain to photograph as the white tended to bleed out no matter what type of background I put them on.
Elsewhere on the painting table I have some more 10mm Samurai figures which just need basing. No Pictures of them until they are ready but I will try to get them finished and set out to Curt by this time tomorrow. Only 32 this time, but it is still a substantial amount of points......well 32 points to be fair.

After that I am not sure what I will tackle next, Maybe some Arabs but not totally sure. Talking of Arabs lest time I posted I mentioned a hankering for some colonial wargaming. Well it would make sense to me to use these Arabs and do some Rif War or Earlier Beau Jest type colonial wargaming. I have already got the terrain in both 1/300th and 1/72nd scale so it kind of makes sense to me. Still enough of this waffling on the brushes are calling. So until next time, take care and see you all soon.

Best wishes Clint

Started and first points.

 Well I am off the mark. As many of you will already know I have put my first submission in to Curt at analogue-hobbies and gained 48 points. 1 point for each of the 48 Ashigaru (Light feet). There are a total of 12 stands each of four figures in two different uniforms to represent two different armies. Regular reads will no doubt remember me starting these armies and yes I still have a lot more of these troops to paint. I have now filled one A4 box file and am starting to put figures in a second one. I estimate that I have about another 1/2 a box file of unpainted before I need to purchase any more. But they are on my list so I think a further purchase will be desirable

. As mentioned on Curts Challenge I use a very simple technique to paint 10mm figures. After a white undercoat I block in the base colours, then apply a heavy dark was and finally highlight the blocked colours to lift them and make them more vibrant. This Painting style is quick and effective, but will not win a painting competition. It does pass the 2 foot rule though and looks pretty good on the wargames table which is all you really want with 10mm figures.
 
 I am very happy to have made my first submission to the challenge and gotten off of the ZERO start level. I can now start to chip away at my 600 point total.

Work in progress for the challenge has me painting several things at once. Currently I am painting the figure for Curt's entry fee. Having said that I am about to start painting an alternative and make the final decision when they are both finished. The one I don't use will be given to the first of the 600 club to reach that lofty goal. Obviously should I reach the summit first it will go into my collection. (Very small chance of that).

I was going to paint some wild west Cancan dancers for the "Non Combatants" bonus round, but I am sorry to say I have changed my mind and am now going to do some Crooked Dice Astronoughts as they are unarmed apart from an offensive clipboard (the pen is mightier than the sword) and some device which bears a passing resemblance to a sonic screwdriver. I also have a donkey about to be primed which I rediscovered last night. Everyone needs a pack mule and as such it is a very versatile figure. Additionally I am about to prep some more 10mm Samurai (probably peasant archers, but not sure yet, Maybe more Ashigaru I will not know until I get to my work bench.)

I will also start painting some figures for the Arab Revolt. So as you can see there is a lot in progress, but not so much to show at the moment.

Finally before I go for today I am feeling like creating a colonial army (well 2 as they will need an opponent), so I am very open to suggestions as to what conflict to recreate. I will not be looking for a skirmish game but a big battle game, although not the Sudan. The reason not the Sudan is simply because another club member has already covered that quite extensively.

Anyway thanks for reading, I hope you found something of interest. I hope to post again on Sunday with any luck, so I had best get the brushes busy today. All the best Clint.

Challenge WIP (1)

 I have been slowly working away at Curt's 4th Annual Painting Challenge. While I have not made a submission just yet I am getting close and Hope to finish these this afternoon, All I really need to do is to get the bases dried, painted and a few clumps of foliage and we can call them done. As you can see there are 12 stands each of 4 Ashigaru armed with Naginata. Two in my new read colour scheme and an additional one in the alternative blue/grey of my existing force. Needless to say they are Pendraken Miniatures and are essencially the same as you have seen on this blog before. But the idea is to use the painting challenge to encourage me to paint and make headway into my lead mountain. As opposed to starting new projects.

Well that was the plan until I got an email last night inviting the Rainham club to put a game on at a local show on the 16th March 2014. As this is the day after the challenge finishes I will have to start painting for that game in the next few weeks. This will also mean making a couple of terrain boards as well. While I have them planned in my mind it will all take time and effort and draw me away from the Challenge and especially the bonus rounds. Still this is not a complaint as it will just mean I will try to get various things done for the bonus rounds a little earlier that I had anticipated.

That's todays update. As noted above these should appear on Curt's Blog very soon ( Link ). Thanks for looking and feel free to comment here or on Curt's blog as you want.

All the best Clint

Samurai Opponents Started

I have just finished (literally 30 minutes ago) the first batch of Ashigaru for my opposing Samurai army. I have decided to create a Red themed opposing force. Some of you may be thinking about Yamagata Masakage ( LINK ) as I write red down in association with Samurai but the truth is that I just wanted a contrasting colour from the previous force. So being honest there is no big grand master plan.

 As you can see there are eight bases of teppo (Arquebus) armed Ashigaru (light Foot) based and ready to take the field.  Again I went for a very simple Mon on the Sashimono back banners, two white circles on a red field. I probably could have made a more complex and accurate Mon, but this one really is sufficient for the task.

Thanks for looking today, Next update should be on Sunday. All the best Clint

More 10mm Samurai.

 Yes more 10mm Samurai. To be honest I am about half way through now! Although I will no doubt be tempted to buy some more. So expect this to continue for a few more weeks. I will intersperse it with a few other things to stop you and myself from getting bored by seeing the same thing over and over again. And I would expect some bright spark to think it was all the same figures each few weeks. Darn why did I type that I could have gotten away with it most likely! No doubt Jo (Zabadak) would have cottoned on pretty quickly he does seem to have a suspicious mind!

 That said I will need to start thinking about getting a bigger box for them as the one I am using is now full. That can only be a good thing.

So Today we have a unit of mounted Samurai armed with bows. I have split the troop types by weapons as well as social class (Samurai, Ashigaru and peasant). This is clear and deliberate as opposed to lumping them all together in one amorphous mass. As you can see with the mounted it is 3 figures to a base and as with the infantry, 4 bases to a unit. I still have not found the set of rules I would most like so am very strongly considering making up my own.

Clearly there are more back banners than I have managed to put on units previously this is to reflect the mounted nature of the troops. I should put more back banners on all the troops, but due to their fiddly nature and my lack of patience I have been remiss in doing so.

Finally these figures go on sale by Crooked Dice tomorrow. (1st November). So fair warning I am about to get sidetracked and start some St. Trinnian's, erhm I mean St Searle's Girls shenanigans very soon afterwards. Yes they are 28mm figures and my down time at work has already created the scenario and adapted the rules. So all I have to do is buy them, paint them and build the scenery and bob's your uncle! So knowing me probably finished about 2 years later assuming I rush!

Thanks for tuning in today. With luck it was not too boring. More again in 2 days time. So until then, take care have fun and if you do anything I wouldn't please don't mention it !

Cheers Clint

Samurai Cannon (10mm)

 While Cannons were used in sieges they were a lot less common on the open battlefields of the Sengoku Jidai (Warring Sates Period). Which is not to say they were never used just not very often in comparison to other troop types. They were mostly used in siege warfare. Both attacking and defending castles.

Given the relative scarcity I have at this stage only painted 2 cannons for this force. (2 more will go to the opposition once I get them going). Pendraken miniatures make 2 different styles of cannon for their 10mm samurai range. Coming in a mixed pack so you get some of each. It is fair to think of this diversity of models as being as accurate as I wish to go on this project. The Crew all dressed as ashiguru in the same uniforms as before come in 3 posses.

Finally I have included the first force so far as a group picture. Needless to say there is as always a lot more to add and another force to add. I am currently trying colour schemes out on sample figures, so expect to see some soon, maybe very soon. I know I want them to have a red as a base colour and have tried 4 variants it just comes down to selecting one and then getting some done!


Thanks for looking it today. Next update in 2 days time, no idea what I will get done by then as several things on the painting table. So until Thursday, take care and have fun. All the best Clint

Ashigaru with Naginata

Yet more for my Samurai army. Today 8 stands of Ashigaru with Nagaiata. These I think will be the main troop type of the armies. I will as you already know have a variety of troop types, peasents, Ahigaru and Samuari as well as a variety of weapons. As yet I do not have any figures with spears (Yari) but I will be adding some as the time goes on as historically they were more common. For now as I am using up figures I already have and not spending any money and placing orders. As with all the others they are by Pendraken Miniatures

Not a huge amount more to say about them but it is getting to the point where I will be able to show a group shot of the first army so far.

Thanks for looking. Teacher's strike today so looking after my nephew so cutting this short and looking after him.

More again soon. Take care talk soon Best wishes Clint.

The Army Grows.

Slowly ever slowly I am growing the 10mm Samurai army. Today are 2 more units of Samurai. I say unit as I am thinking od 4 stands as being a unit and no other reason, I could equally say another 8 stands. As with all the others they continue to be by Pendraken Miniatures simply because it avoids compatibility issues such as scale creep and sculpting style. Observant people will note that two banners have a red stripe at the banner base and two do not. This allows me to identify units within an army quite quickly and has nothing to do with historical accuracy.

They are two separate units I promise! Clearly they are all in the same pose but that just makes it easier to identify what they are armed with. When I start a second force I will keep all the armour as red as Il Nomasa did. I will no doubt talk more about that when I do them. The army is starting to come together now and once I do a few more units a whole army shot will no doubt be in order. At the moment though there are still not sufficient to warrant it.

Some of you will know I am not a huge believer in KICKSTARTERS. I can and do see a place for them but I also feel that there are just too many of them, and yet yesterday I made a small pledge to my second one! Only $30 before we get to involved in jeering at me and saying "I told you so!" As I do not trawl the kickstarters looking for projects I was actually on the companies home page checking out their products and happened to notice the kickstarter. HERE it is if anyone cares to see where my money has gone. It has a mere 9 hours left to run and the stretch goals are not so massive to attract anyone particularly, However as a fan of Science Fiction in general and the Alien Films in particular I felt it purposeful to support them. Way way way in the future I can see myself doing an ALIENS game but that is at least 1 year and probably 2 before I get that far. I really do have far to much to do with these Samurai before I get carried away with other ideas.

And that's Wednesdays update, the next one will be Friday. I hope to have my week 2 Zombtober figure done by then. As I will not be able to post it on Sunday due to SELWG. So with luck on Friday something 28mm to show. Until then take care have fun and paint a zombie or two! All the best Clint.

Inspiration and background (1)

I forgot my Camera! What! What has that got to do with inspiration and background? Clint you have lost it! I would normally do a club AAR on Sunday after club but as I forgot my camera it might not be a very good AAR so I am back talking about Samurai!

Many of you will know I live in Gillingham in Kent. What many of you will not realise is that Gillingham is twinned with a couple of Japanese towns. Yes I know most towns have a twin town but why has Gillingham been twined with towns in Japan? You will have noticed the book and DVD on the right. That's a big clue. Change all the names and this book was pretty much a true story, obviously adapted into a story and then TV series. The lead character in this story is "John Blackthorne" who was based on "Will Adams". And "Will Adams" was born in Gillingham. ( Click HERE for the wiki!).

The Will Adams Monument on the A2

Antony J Bryant in the osprey Campaign book "Sekigahara" hi-lights this connection and goes on to say that the Shogun book has the political setting about right. Thus we have a local history link to my current wargaming interest. In fact I would say more than local history as it does link to the Far East and that can hardly be considered local.

One of the plaques on the monument.

While the monument was erected in 1934 and the events go back circa 1600 AD until the towns were twinned most people in this area were unaware of this person. More recently however roads, roundabouts and medical centres have all taken the Will Adams name. So growing up I was not made aware of this local hero. Typically English understatement the town did not celebrate and hardly acknowledge William Adams. Personally I think we could do with a grander monument and perhaps a small visitor centre, nothing too fancy perhaps a permanent display in a local museum. (There are no museums in Gillingham we ain't very cultural here!)

OK enough of the waffle and back to the wargaming. So I thought to post this to show that some background to wargaming need not be all stuffy and involve much reading. And indeed can have local and international overtones.Obviously I am reading around the subject as well as re-reading "Shogun" by James Cavell for the third time ( you can see by the cover it has been read a few times already, and I got it second hand as well). It is a most excellent book and TV series and I would recommend it without hesitation even if you are not interested in wargaming with Samurai. For me it is very gratifying to have such a strong local link and to think that "Will Adams" was the FIRST western Samurai!

I should have some more painted figures by the time Wednesday comes around for my next post. I had anticipated a game report today so I had nothing varnished and ready to photograph. So until Wednesday when I will do my next update I hope you found something of interest here today. Not very wargaming I'll have to admit, but I think it is of interest and with luck I hope you do too.

Best Wishes Clint.

















Yet More 10mm Samuari.

 As you can see I am still working on my 10mm Samurai armies (not even half way yet!) So if you are not bored by them yet I think you will be by then end.

Today we have two more units a Samurai foot unit all carrying swords. It is a shame they are all in the same pose, I would have liked some variety but as I only have one type of samurai I am limited to what I can do. In the future I will buy different packs that way the army will look more vibrant.


The second unit is another 4 bases of Ashigaru Arquibusiers. Painted exactly the same way as before they have a very uniform look. For Ashigaru I prefer a uniform look all in the same pose and all painted the same way. On the table top they all like they belong, yes I will do a group shot another time, but I need to do a few more units before it will look worthwhile.

I have several other things part painted so with luck I might have something different to show next time. 10mm 15mm and 28mm including historical and zombies. I will not predict what will be next though it will all depend on what I feel like in the next few days.

So until Friday when I do my next update take care, have fun and get some paint on some figures.

Best wishes Clint

The peasants are revolting!

 I am sure it is little surprise to anyone that here are a few more 10mm Samurai figures from Pendraken . This time peasants with bows. No back banners this time but a single Samurai figure in each unit. The Samurai figure is to designate a command stand should I need one as I don't see too many peasants of this period being all that inclined to get involved in any battles without a little encouragement. I might be wrong in this regard of course but as I was 2 figures short of my ideal this seems to solve the problem in the easiest way.

You may have already noticed that one group has blue/grey hats and the other group has brown/tan hats. Again this is just to simplify the identification as I do intend to have one army predominatly in grey/blue (as the Ashigaru of the last blog post) and one army in red/brown. These colours will not extend to the actual samurai figures as they will have clan Mons on the Sashimo back banners sufficient to identify them.

The last Picture shows both units together just because someone would be bound to ask. When I get a few more units done I will do a group shot of the whole army but at present there are not enough completed to warrant a picture of that nature.

My next scheduled update would be Sunday but as I shall be visiting "Posties Rejects" on that day I might have to wait until Tuesday to get back on the schedule. OR I might do a very brief TAR7AN board update early Sunday morning it all depends on what time I get up what the boar is drying out like and if the weather is any good. Mostly it depends on if I can be bothered.

So until next time take care and hope to see you soon. Cheers Clint