Rowes Brigade compleated

 Still working with the Baccus miniatures 6mm War of Spanish Succession Here we have 3 more units which represent the three remaining units which make up the brigade.

In order they are "Sir Clifton's Regiment of foot" with red facings as with all the units flags to be added when I purchase them as they are commercially available from the manufacturer.




"Scots Fusiliers" commanded by Brigadier General Archibald Rowe. They carried no regimental colours but did carry the kings colours into battle. Red cuffs but yellow facings. I must confess the small mitres were a guess for colours, but I thought the yellow most appropriate. At 6mm (1/300th scale) it hardly matters anyway as I know my players will just identify them by the yellow stripes on the lower edge on their tunics. I felt the need to put the yellow stripes on to distinguish them from the above unit.


"Earl of Bath's regiment of foot." As you can see these have yellow cuffs which the Scots fusiliers do not have. Commanded by Lieutenant General William North.

All three units have a little bit of touching up to do but they are sufficiently finished to box up and put away until I get the flags.

The Final picture is of the complete Brigade. Five foot units each of about 580 men (some slightly larger and some less). As ever there are more units to do, but this makes Rowe's Brigade of the Blenheim Column which was commanded by Lieutenant General John, 1st Baron Cutts of Gowran.

I shall continue to grow this army intermittently but not immediately. So expect some updates in the future. Tomorrow (Sunday) I will be running a game at Skirmish wargames show in Sidcup Kent a small friendly show  with about 25 traders many of which deal in plastic toy soldiers for toy soldier collectors as opposed to wargamers. It is however local and as such worth the time and effort. I will do a show report on Monday. Until then take care have fun and treat yourself to some chocolate...... you know you want to!

All the best Clint

2 Viking APC's

I have finally managed to get round to these two Viking APC's for my Afghanistan game. I know and fully except that such a modern conflict is not to everyone's liking and that is your choice and I respect you for it. For those newer members of the blog this was a game I put on about 2 years ago.

Here is a link VIKING APC to a wiki of the vehicles in real life. I add it because this vehicle is not typically seen on news footage. That being the case it is possible that you may not be aware of them. I am not sure if they are currently serving with the Royal Marines in Afghanistan (2013) but as the game was set in 2008 prior to the change in rules of engagement I am informed that they were present at that time.

The terrain is from the game mentioned above. This is just one of the boards but it shows a variety of cover opportunities from crop fields and mud-brick walls to fully functional compounds. These boards might be getting another lease of life over the winter months, but now is not the time or place to talk about it as I have to check with a couple of people over the weekend to see if the idea has legs.

Anyway both these Vikings are from Grubby Tanks (GRUBBY) formally part of the Britannia Miniatures range. They are resin single part castings and thus require no real assembly. They do come with 2 crew and a machine gun and gun shield in white metal as well as a  hatch cover for the rear top hatch. I did one with hatch open and one buttoned up. This gave me the greater variety.  The only7 disappointment I had with these was that the boxes and bags moulded to the top of the passenger compartment. The disappointment only comes because they were exactly the same. If they were not cast in the same one piece resin It would have been easy to add items to more personalise the vehicles. Should I get another of these I will, which I am tempted to do as it would then allow me to transport a platoon of troops, I will add extra baggage and tarps to create some variety. And that is my only quibble with these vehicles. Other than a Chinook helicopter kit I have waiting to be started that should finish all my forces for the Afghanistan game. I have no idea if I will ever make the Chinook and if I do where I will keep it so do not expect it to feature in the near future.

Thanks for reading, I hope you found something of interest. I will post again on Saturday but for now I feel the need to go back to the painting table and do some 6mm stuff! Cheers Guys talk soon.

Another 3 Pinkertons.

I promise this is my last 3 Pinkertons. Again by Artizan Designs these are another three in their Wild West range. All very nicely cast and sculpted with a few light mould lines and very little flash. Despite my photography you can see that I have settled on a very limited palette of colours in order to unify the figures. They are totally in keeping with the other figures I have done and should now give me enough figures in dusters or long coats to satisfy my usual players at least in the short term. Given the long coats it was a very quick painting exercise as the coats did tend to conceal a lot of detail beneath. Which meant that once the coat was painted very little extra work needed to be done. Just the kind of figure I like. Overall reasonably happy with the results, they could have been better but by crickey they could have come out so much worse. So I'll settle for that.

One of my players wants more Mexican Bandit types and I am happy to say I do have some to paint up, but not quite yet. Not that I pander to their whims I have myself noted my lack of those types of characters in my cowboy figures box which has lead me to purchase them but as yet not open the blister pack. With luck I can get them done by Christmas as I have a few other things I want to do first.

Talking of which one of the guys at the wargames club has gifted me some 10mm Samurai figures. (very nice of him). I am now looking for a good set of rules for this period if anyone knows of any. I would be looking for a simple set to play big battles with (ok starting with small battles and working up!)  I have looked at the Peter Pig set but they seem to leave me cold and seem very much in the same vein as "Bloody Barons" his War of the Roses rule set. And thus I feel it would be the same meat but with different gravy! Hail Ceaser/Black Powder is about the feel I want but more focused on the Period and less generic. So If you have any suggestions I would be delighted to hear them. If not I may have to write my own, you have been warned!

That's it for today. Talk soon all the Best Clint.

Amazon

Nope nothing to do with online retail! It is a lot to do with the latest figure I have managed to bash out. Again a Reaper Miniature in 28mm she is considerably more slender than the male barbarians but to my mind better proportioned more realistic and in a fantastically dynamic pose.

It would have been very obvious to paint her with blonde hair but I went for a dark brown simply because I felt the blonde option was far too clichéd. Also if you actually look around a class of 10 year olds you will see just how rare a natural blonde really is. I don't know about you but "bottle blonds" don't fit my idea of barbarians! Far to Hollywood!

I want to mention the chainmail bikini again completely Hollywood and more a sculptors fantasy than a historical reality. I can proudly boast that I have known a woman with a chainmail bikini many many years ago and that it was reputably "not very comfortable" I'll let you use your imagination as I feel sure it will be totally accurate. And did require it's very own gambeson!

I went for a very stylised shield design. It did take me a while to work out a suitable horse design. I had decided on a horse motif as I wanted something more feminine than most of the shield designs you would normally see. No Axes or Scorpions or the like and by equal measure I did not want anything completely girlie! I did recall (either rightly or wrongly) that the Skythian women did used to fight and it is speculated that is where the Greeks came across the idea of warrior women. I also remember reading that the Skythians had a fondness for red leather. Which did inform me of the shield colours.

Overall as a fantasy figure I must say I do like her as long as we can forget the history and clothing inaccuracies. She will definitely find a place along side the other male barbarians I have painted in the last couple of months.

I have overtime every day this week so I have no idea how much painting will get done so I will sign off now and rush straight to the paining table and try to get something finished. Until Tuesday take care paint figures roll dice have fun and generally enjoy yourself. All the best Clint

Those magnificent Dwarves intheir flying machines....

 No excuses but it has been a struggle to get anything done this week. None the less I did finish 2 Dwarf Gyrocopters. These are from Kallistra and part of my very slowly growing 10mm dwarf army. I did buy a job lot of blisters about 3 years ago. Buying them as a job lot I did not get too much say in the contents typically it had a little of everything odd and "exciting" but not the best selection of core troop types. There were some of course but then there were also a couple of packets like these!

In most fantasy wargames settings dwarfs have technology of some sort to counter the fact that they have no spell casters. All my life I have steered clear of collecting dwarf armies for this reason. I have nothing against them just that I felt that if you did not want to use magic you might as well not play fantasy games and stick to ancients. I am at long last coming round to having Dwarves and actually quite like them not I am getting older. Perhaps I feel I have more in common with them!

Anyway these are painted in blues to fit into the rest of the army which is still small in number but I do have a couple more blisters to paint up so I suspect they will get a little larger. By the time I do get them done of course it is doubtful that I will have an opponent at the club, but such is the speed of my painting and the fact that I get side-tracked so easily. Oh well I may have to think of an opposing army for them myself!

I have the day off tomorrow so I hope to get some painting done then. I have several things started but nothing near completion. I have overtime all next week so time to think but not so much to paint. My current thinking projects are about the show game for Broadside 2014, about creating a set of rules for Samurai wargames (I have yet to find a set I like, but you can anticipate some Japanese figures in the near future) and about other wargames ideas which both flit into and out of focus on a daily basis!

so until Sunday take care, have some fun and I look forward to seeing you soon. Best Wishes Clint

MHWC Open Day

As well as the zombie wild west game on Sunday, on Saturday I went along to the Milton Hundreds Wargames Clubs open day. I know what you are thinking where is the Milton Hundreds? Well for those of you who don't live within 5 miles of them it's the Sittingbourne club.  Not sure why they think Milton Hundreds Wargames club sounds better than Sittingbourne wargames club but as the founder and president is a local history buff I have always fallen asleep when he replies to that question. Anyway what follows is a very quick report.


The first game through the door was a "Rapid Fire" late war game set around the Germans trying to escape the Falaise Gap. A very enjoyable fast moving to watch. Simon the games organiser always puts on a very well structured game well thought out and balanced. The Germans started one side of the river with their escape route over the other side. The inevitable fighting over bridges and fords was to take place all day. Overall as WW2 games go a very nice game to watch. Phil and Alex as the Allies and  Steve and American Bob the Axis.

Keep scrolling down there are a few more games to get through.

 The next game by Richard, Gary and Clive was a WRG 6th edition ancients game. I did have a good chat with Richard and Gary who used to be in the Rainham club (the club I go to). I think on a technicality Richard is still the Rainham club President as we have never voted in a new one! Yes we are that organised! We are still going though after all we don't need titles and to get all official. Anyway back to the Game Gary and Richard are very traditional wargames as demonstrated by their choice of rules and the age of the lead on the table. Absolutely nothing wrong with old rules and armies and it does demonstrate a wide spectrum of activities at the club so it is good to show such diversity.

The next game was put on by the Maidstone Wargames club, who were there as guests of MHWC. Several Maidstone players are members of the Sittingbourne club so they do have very strong links. Crickey the Sittingbourne club even consider me a member! As you can see this is an W-Wing bash and they had told me they would do a different space game later in the day. "Starmada" I think they said but I can't be sure.

 Additionally to the games being played they had s number of tables set up ready to go. Again to show some of the diverse games that are sometime put on at the club.

Saga. Nuff said.



This was an odd one! Speaking to Mark the MHWC secretary he did admit the game was set up for 3 musketeers, but he realised that he had no suitable figures for the game when he got it to the hall so placed a few Dr Who figures into place to make the display more interesting. What was VERY flattering is that I was later told that the buildings and scenery were purchased after I put on a 3 Musketeer game on at their club 2 years ago. I have promised to return (hopefully later this year) and run it again as it was a giggle!


 A wild west setup. I do Know they sometimes do put on a game set in this period and as you all should know I am very interested in this type of game. Everyone needs to play wild west games they are just so much fun.

 

 The other game they had set up and ready to go was a WW1 game using "To the Last Man" rules by Chris Peers. Belgium's attacking a German position. With very smart Belgium Cavalry and a couple of Belgium WW1 armoured cars, all well painted by Mark (as mentioned above). I wanted to get a tutorial for these rules and that was one of the reasons for me going. However Mark (secretary) and Alan (club President) were too busy meeting and greeting and making trips to the refreshments that the Women's Institute had supplied. I must say I did enjoy the sausage roll for 30p so I can see why they made more than one trip while I was there!









Lastly for today here is the nessercary "loot" picture. Armourfast supplied some free tanks and I was invited to take a couple. As the choice was either Cruisers or Jadpanthers I took 2 Cruisers as I do not think I have ever owned any of these tanks for my entire life! The two magazines were 50p each and gave me something to read on the train going home.

That's todays post I should have some figures ready for the next post on Friday. Thanks for reading and I hope to see you soon.

Ah before I go, I have just noticed I have tipped the 100 followers. I am both humbled and flattered by your presence and would like to say how much I appreciate every one of you.  I do not do any giveaways or competitions to try to attract more followers. This is very deliberate it means you are here because you want to be and not for any greed or freebies which makes you all far more valued to me than I would feel had you just joined in the  hope of getting something for nothing!

Cheers All I appreciate it! Best wishes Clint

Ths town aint big enough!

 I have had a roller coaster of a weekend. I will do a post on Wednesday about the Milton Hundreds open day and the things I walked out with (Swag, loot and freebies.) I will not do a post about my sisters marital problems but that is deffinitly the down part of the roller coaster and It meant that I was not able to sort out the Wild Zombie West game as well as I would have liked. But enough excuses I can hear you saying get on with it.

So getting on with it. I told the players the situation. Which is to say that they were all travelling by stage coach and during the day they were unable to change the horses as the way station was a grizzly sight and everyone was dead and partially eaten by animals and the horses had escaped the corral and so they had all been rushed into town with the current horses covered in sweat and close to collapse. Thus all the players arrived on foot in the same location at this stage unaware of the zombie apocalypse.

It was dark, the lights were out and the stage coach horses ready to collapse so most of the players headed to the saloon even though no lights were on and on one was in the streets. Two players (Fat Pedro and Randy Cockspur) decided they would look elsewhere and for go the temptations of liquor!

Figures started to emerge onto the street and amble towards the players from all directions. Getting closer Deacon realised that these were some sort of abomination from the pit and fired a scatter gun at the shamblers knocking them down but not killing them. "Preacher"  and Manco went into the saloon and still failed to identify the two figures inside as being undead. They were promptly attacked. Gary Winchester loitered outside and tried to peer into the shadowy gloom as figure moved closer. " were clearly not quite human but the third looked convincing enough in the dark. Warm Leg Bob identified a walker and plugged it with his sixgun out side the saloon.

Pedro was moving towards the Sherriff's office he had a machete and being Mexican he had an extra clue from the name of the town ( Negro de la ciudad de cabra) while Randy Cockspur decided that late night shopping was the thing that made most sense to his limited thinking lumberjack and he looted some cans of peaches from the general store.

Meanwhile back at the saloon Manco had been attacked and bitten and Preacher also attacked had managed to fight the rotter off. Three zeds had closed in on Mr Winchester and while he was able to survive the combat it did result in him running for an alley way trying to put some distance between the growing numbers and himself. Eventually he manages a fighting retreat and slays two zombies but takes a bite to his torso for his trouble. Preacher scrambles out of the saloon and kicks the swing doors knocking the pursuing zeds flat. As a clump of figures they reform at the other side of the street. Randy continues his supermarket sweep and stuffs a pistol into his jacket and Pedro finding the law office/jail empty helps himself to a carbine and some ammunition. But all over the board the zombies are closing in. Players decide that there is little to be gained firing weapons randomly each time rousing more of the biters and decide the best plan is to get out alive.

Each of the bitten players had to roll d6 each activation and on a 6 they would collapse and start to turn. So each turn the rest looked on hopefully! (Yes that is my club for you). They both kept rolling 5's but not once did either of them get a six! CURSES.

Warm Leg and Deacon headed west down the street concentrating on distance and not shooting until Warm Leg made it the first to exit the board, followed moments later by Deacon. Both alive unhurt and un bitten!

A bitten Gary Winchester escaped the board North East having skirted buildings and avoided any further zombies by dodges rather than gunfire. Manco also bitten headed due east third off of the board but in danger of infection from a bitten left arm. Preacher went south a bit more ragged than he started but otherwise in good health. Randy climbed out the back window of the store after a series of melees where he wielded his lumberjack axe against unarmed zeds. It lasted a long time often fighting 2 zombies at the same time but eventually he clambered through the window and left the town south westerly direction the only player with food for the following day.

The window at the back of the jail had bars so he was forced to exit onto the main street into the sight of the zombies. Which then gave chase. The zombies with guns had a 1 in 6 chance of remembering they had fire arms but if one fired they all would remember. Until now they had not managed to get a 6. But now as 3 gun zombies came into range they suddenly remembered. two missed but the guy with the shotgun hit and while I rolled a 1 for damage the shotgun did knock Pedro off of his feet. This allowed them to get closer. These gun zombies could so easily mobbed him at this stage, but instead they rolled a 6 again and decided to shoot and not move. All three missed and Pedro managed to escape the town South south west in direction.

The game was not a complete shambles but there was so much I could and should have done better If I'd had a little more time to prepare. Not being overly critical but I did have to wing it a bit here and there because I forgot the rules and some of the charts and tables. I took the stance just to keep it going rather than look everything up. And being very self critical I know I did not give all the players the best game.

Still looking to the future I can see several improvements I need to make and with a bit more preparation I can see the idea working out.

I will post a report about the Milton Hundreds Wargames club open Day on Wednesday. Until then take care and have some fun Clint

A fist ful of Zombies,

New Recruits

The Horde so far!

 Good morning. In the last couple of days I have managed to source and paint 5 additional zombie gunfighters. Again these are Wargames Foundry figures and thus they are all duplicates of figures already painted. As can be clearly seen there are only 5. The pack would normally contain 7 figures but as they were a gift from a friend it would be churlish in the extreme to whine about it. Let us be blunt when it comes to lead all donations are VERY gratefully received. So thanks Matt, he's not a blogger or known to my club but we go back years and he used to ref "Deadlands RPG" and these are the left overs. I have never played "Deadlands" as I was not living in the same part of the world at the time.

The second picture shows the horde at this stage. It is quite meagre at this time but it is slowly growing and increasing. As mentioned previously I will be using my normal 20th Century horde zombies just to bulk out the ranks and create much more of a threat. My players will already have been looking at the tufts on the bases. This is because I activate zombies in two separate phases Those with "tufts" on the base and those without. This system came about when it became apparent that players were waiting for the zombies to move and then move just far enough away not to get eaten. By having two separate activations it makes it harder for the players to act in this way. Both activations are random as are individual players so usually one or more players will act between the zombie activations.

That's todays painting. I shall be travelling to the Milton Hundreds Wargames Club Open day today (yes I will take some snaps) and The club Wild West Zombie game tomorrow so a busy games weekend for me. So with luck I will post the AAR on Monday and the open day report on Wednesday. At least that is the plan! take acre and chat again soon. Best wishes Clint.

Western Gunfight Zombies.

 Some of you will know I am planning a Western Zombie Game for the club on Sunday, the rest of you have just found out! That being the case I thought I should start painting a few more zombies. Most zombies in the game will be my "normal" horde zombies but I thought to add a few more zombies toting weapons and dressed in period clothes. They will of course function slightly differently in the game. The top two pictures are freshly painted "Foundry" castings and the Third picture has two zombies which have been shown before, just included for completeness.

7 figures to a pack armed and dressed with a variety of weapons and clothing. Quite obviously they can be used for any Victorian era setting but are most suitable as wild/weird West figures because one of them is wearing chaps. 5 are pistol armed including a couple of heavy pistols. 1 has a rifle and the other a double barrelled shotgun. They all look suitably zombie like in both pose and facial grimace. While Foundry only do 1 pack different colours on the clothing should or the skin tone should allow for enough variety especially if the figures in the same poses are on different parts of the Table.

I hope to get the opportunity either today or tomorrow to give the rules I shall be using for the game on my dedicated zombie blog (28 Dice Later ). I do not update it very often and am not looking for followers or page views as it is mostly for club and ZBA interaction.

I shall do another post on this blog on Saturday. Until then take care enjoy a quiet few days and with luck talk soon. All the best Clint.

Hakan the barbarian.

 And today's offering is a Barbarian figure by "Reaper Miniatures". I have only managed to get one figure painted in the last couple of days. Oh well!

HAKAN, BARBARIAN OF HEIMDA is the name on the pack. Obviously the figure is ridiculously muscled but we have to expect that from figures portraying barbarians. As such another exercise in painting flesh. Clearly fantasy figure, well just look at that weapon and tell me anyone could seriously wield it is such a manner. No I thought not! Still part of fantasy is always a bit larger than life, so not a serious problem as far as I am concerned.     Originally I purchased him while looking to put on a Conan game. While never intended to be Conan himself I did think to use him as a supporting cast member. I do have a couple more to fit in with this game idea so you may get to see them soon, Indeed one is on the paint table at present.

With luck I hope to have more than 1 figure to show in 2 days time. So Until then take care and enjoy yourself.  And hope to see you soon.

Pinkertons

The three figures are from the Artizan range of Wild West miniature. The actual pack was AWW025 Pinkerton Detectives 1. Each was a joy to paint and will suit any Western or Victorian game. Yes even a game with zombies werewolves and other such things that go bump in the night. The Out House is another building by Tim Wade at Frontline Wargaming. I am not sure if it is still available as he seems to has stopped producing his Western Buildings now that companies are producing laser cut wooden ones. Personally I think this is a same the resin ones do not require assembly and being heavier are less prone to movement on the table top (which should not happen but we all know it does!)

 Ok each in turn.

The first one is armed with a single pistol. I went for grey hair and bear as I wanted the figure to appear as a grizzeled veteran. There is a mended tear/rip in his duster on the right leg hinting that he would rather spend his money elsewhere than on fancy duds. And yet his grey bowler hat does appear new. Maybe either the coat is lucky or the hat is new and he would rather have town clothes than country clothes.  Whatever his story is I painted him with the name "Warm Leg Bob" in my mind as that is the name given to me by one of the players in my series of planned games in the Zombie Wild west!

 The next figure Not intended for the Weird West is one of the few figure I have for this period who is wearing spectacles. Rather than painting them black or blue I decided that red-pink was exactly the right colour. The rose tinted spectacles will help with the glare of the sun and give the figure a very specific character. Spurs can be seen below the brown duster and the '73 Winchester rifle makes me think he's been tracking down don heinous villains out in the old west. This is one of the joys of this period all the figures are very characterful and as you paint them you make your own story up as you go. Obviously who ever picks him up and commands the figure on the table can and probably will make up their own reasons for the clothes and armaments.

Lastly for today probably the figure I liked the most prior to painting. (Now of course I like them all). This detective has obviously spent some money on duds and gives the appearance of only wanting the best of things. The hat the coat the bow tie all look new and in good condition and while he also has spurs on the fact that he wars a monocle suggests he's more used to a civilised setting. Finishing his look is a gold watch chain and gold monocle chain which hopefully should make it look like his the most successful Pinkerton of the three.

That's it for today. As you can tell I have really enjoyed painting these three and I think they will add considerably to my growing Wild West setup. there are of course more to follow and with luck and a bit of work they should be ready for Tuesday's next blog post. So until them take care and have fun. All the best Clint.

Crocs and Trolleys.

As my self imposed "figure fast" draws to a close on Saturday I do not see myself heading into a "Figure Feast". So first up today is the second Croc from Michael over at 28mm Victorian Warfare who sent me them to flesh out my TAR7AN game, which I really do need to spend some more time finishing. I had one finished before so here is the second one as well, both together. So one very small step closer and again my thanks to the gentleman Michael. Thank you Sir very much appreciated.





Obviously these are not at all related to the crocs, except that they might be considered as articulated if coupled together. These are very well priced at £5 for the set. Ainsty Castings.  (the link will take you to the right page.) On the Ainsty site these trolley Cart train is painted silver. While I did like the silver look as being very science fiction or Spy-Fi I wanted these to stand out on the table top and yet still fit into either setting. As a result I went for a bright yellow main colour with a series of red, brown and a very very dilute black washes. The black applied only into the joins on the cylinder tanks but quite heavy on the grey trolley bases. Given the boldness of the cylinder tanks I settled on a simple grey for the wheeled bases which carry the cylinders as I wanted the tanks to be the focus and not the wheeled bases. I have no immediate use for them but in any science fiction setting or scale I am sure they will get some game action. As we all know cover is cover and a welcome  addition in pretty much on every tabletop game. I must say for the price these really are a good addition and I am strongly considering getting more.

Thanks for reading today. Next update will be on Sunday. So until later take care have fun and blog like crazy! All the best Clint.