much ado about nothing

Imagination 2012...still here

2012-02-04T17:24:00.001-05:00

It seems as though months have passed since my last post...lo and behold, it's true. A major shift of focus in my life has had me absent from the hobby for the most part although I've still been paying attention to the comings and goings in the hobby. Most especially I was struck by Old Glory's and Crusader Miniatures' decision not to renew their manufacturing and distribution agreement for North America. I took full advantage of the remaining time before December 31 and ordered the rest of my planned ImagiNation collection, knowing full well I was in a deep painting funk and wouldn't touch them for a very long time. But the 40% discount was difficult to ignore. Luckily, I'm now set up for quite some time. And we won't talk about the WWII Fallschirmjaeger platoon I also ordered

So, having said all that, I've been able to generate a little more interest in the hobby over the last couple of weeks. Of course, this may be the result of my impending trip to Cold Wars in March. I'm hoping the trip will fully rekindle my hobby interest. In the last couple of weeks I've been able to finish the basing and standards for a couple of new ImagiNation units that were painted way back in October & November. The largest addition is the Regiment der Grenadiere Oettinger, my first unit for the Das Kasierreich, arch-enemy of Le Grand-Duche de Gourmandie.

Once again I apologize for the quality of the pictures. My trusty camera is on its last legs and must soon be relegated to the scrap heap.

Regiment der Grenadiere Oettinger. Crusader Miniatures painted by Karl Friedrich.

I particularly like the sapper on the right side of the picture. If you'd like to contact Karl about painting commissions, let me know and I can pass along his email address.

Regiment der Infanterie Kromabacher. Crusader Miniatures.

This is only the first division of the battalion. When finished it will have three divisions of eight figures each, plus command and a 3lb battalion gun and crew.

The might of Das Kaiserreich, as it stands so far.

And the breadth of power available to Le Grand-Duc de Gourmandie.

New things and a gift!

2011-11-11T15:07:00.001-05:00

Not to belabour the point but it seems this has become a monthly posting exercise. And as before, I've not been idle even though my gaming has been sparse. The ImagiNation project continues apace with the addition of several new units. At Council Fires (about which a post will follow soon), I contracted some painting out as an experiment to a local painter. I've heard good reviews of his work but I'll reserve naming him until I receive the first commission (don't wanna recommend someone without first seeing his work) and I check with him to be sure it's OK. Currently he's working on the first unit of Das Kaiserreich, Regiment der Grenadiere Oettinger, modeled on Prussian grenadiers with the very nice pointy caps!

Meanwhile, I've managed to finish up a couple of units and come closer to finishing the (first stage of) the forces of Gourmandie. You can see the photos below with some explanations but perhaps the most interesting development in the Grand Duchy of Gourmandie has been the raising of a new unit by the Grand Duke himself, Le Garde de Gourmandie (painted and gifted to me by my good friend Bob Lehman from Ohio). This is a small infantry unit recruited from the landed gentry, and sons of wealthy land-owners and businessmen. Not intended as merely a ceremonial unit, Le Garde has already been fielded once with the army of Le Marquis de Fromage, standing up well for its first time under fire.

Le Garde de Gourmandie.

Crusader Miniatures, painted by Bob Lehman (and gifted to yours truly with much thanks!)

Les Chasseurs de Chevrotin.

Crusader Miniatures, two divisions of chasseurs with command party in the center. These were painted with the dip method, which has not quite captured my imagination yet. I haven't given up on the technique for horse & musket armies yet. These figures took longer than they should have, I suspect because I was playing around with the technique. Once I discover the sequence that works for me, I believe it will shave my painting time significantly (without sacrificing quality).

Chef de Battlaion Henri LeSanglier, Chevalier de Merlot, accompanied by Capitaine Phillipe Dangereux, Seigneur de Chapeau Rouge and musician.

Les Grenadiers de Camembert.
Crusader Miniatures, three divisions of grenadiers with command party and led by Colonel Jean-Jacques LaPierre, Comte de Champagne (Front Rank figure). I didn't think I'd ever finish the last division of this battalion but I drove my way through them. Each of the three divisions has a different facing colour (red/buff/blue).

Le Comte de Champagne.

Behind him you can see the last division of the battalion finished with blue facings.

Shameless Plug!

2011-09-13T17:40:00.001-04:00

OK, yes, a shameless plug for Council Fires 2011.

For those of you who don't know yet, Council Fires has been resurrected and is taking place on October 1 at the Cambridge Newfoundland Club. You can see all the details here and follow us on Facebook here.

We now have eight vendors for your shopping pleasure, a full breadth of games and, of course, Vidal's smiling face as you walk in the door. For the astoundingly low price of $10.00 CAD (that would be $10.11 USD for our American cousins) you get a full day of gaming and emptying your wallet.

And I'd be happy to concoct excuses for your wife/girlfriend/boyfriend/significant other to explain the dip in your bank balance and/or your unexplained absence.

Remember, Playing with Toy Soldiers is Really Just Playing with Toy Soldiers.

Imagination Game and campaign thoughts

2011-09-08T13:43:00.005-04:00

I hosted a small ImagiNation game last weekend to give my Gourmandie troops a chance to stretch their legs. My friend John came by to partake of the toy soldier goodness. I decided to take Field of Battle out for a spin, something I hadn't done in a long time. If you look back through the Napoleonic posts on this blog, you'll see that I really gamed the hell out of these rules. My compatriots at MIGS and I played at least 100 games using Field of Battle and a couple of campaigns. But once I sold off my Napoleonic and War of 1812 collections, coupled with so much FoB gaming, I decided to take a step away from the rules. The game Sunday reminded me why I like these rules so much. They give quick results in the normal Piquet fashion, with lots of uncertainty and drama.

The good news is that my Gourmandie army was able to fight its first battle without a defeat. Now, I'm not saying I won...but a draw is at least not a defeat! Check out the pics below for a short synopsis of the game.

The forces of Gourmandie deploy for battle under the watchful eye of le Marquis de Fromage. Ordered to the border with Andalonia in order to face incursions by the army of Don Pedro, the intrepid Marquis has thought to be bold and make the first move. He has moved his small force to the town of San Miguel, a known Andalonian base, to try and draw out Don Pedro's army into a precipitate assault.

Don Pedro encourages his men to attack the brash move by Gourmandie. And yes, they do bear a remarkable resemblance to another of my collections...suspend your disbelief.

The first Andalonian units begin their assault on the Gourmandie line. Le Marquis' plan is coming together...really!

Andalonian lancers await the chance to pounce!

Les Grenadiers a Cheval Boursin move to support the artillery of the Gourmandie line.

While I haven't been too active on the painting front, I have been gaming and thinking and planning. One focus of late has been campaigning. This internal conversation was sparked by a recent external conversation with Daniel about his and his brother's prospects after graduation from RMC. Both will be posted about the country (or deployed abroad) and our chances of gaming together will be severely limited. To keep in gaming contact, I thought it would be interesting to play a campaign with them but there would be some significant challenges. We couldn't count on getting together to play out the tactical battles so the ability to solo game the battles or play them out with friends in our respective vicinities would be necessary. Fortunately, when Daniel, Michael and I build collections, we usually build both (or multiple) sides or factions. Unfortunately, we don't build the same collections. So, we could find ourselves in a situation where Michael is posted in New Brunswick with his 1/285 WWII and Modern collections (oh, and his spaceship fleets), Daniel is in Manitoba with his 28m WWI collection (and maybe a new 28mm Thirty Years War collection?), and I'm here in Ontario with 28mm Carlist Wars, 28mm WWII, and 28mm Imagination. What to do? It's clear we couldn't play a conventional campaign, such as WWII or horse and musket.We need a system that allows us to play a map campaign and fight the tactical battles in whatever genre, scale, or historical context we have available and choose at the time. So one battle initiated by Michael may be fought out by him and his local gaming group using 1/285 WWII and another battle initiated by Daniel may be solo-gamed by him using 28mm TYW. Bizarre? Perhaps, but the campaign system itself needs to be generic enough to accommodate different tactical battle possibilities. Perhaps a point system to translate from campaign map to any of the specific tactical rule sets? Or maybe only worrying about ensuring proper ratios between forces fighting a battle need be considered? The interesting thing to consider is how each campaign participant may look at the exercise. If the map and campaign system is handled properly, one player could see it as a WWII campaign, another as a horse and musket campaign. It wouldn't matter much really, I don't think, just a matter of perspective. Anyway, things to ponder...

Special Guest Blogger: Too Lazy To Get My Own Blog

2011-08-09T17:33:00.001-04:00

I, the youngest son of the respectable blogger, have decided to hijack this blog to showcase some of my newest work and incoherent ramblings.

I have had a very productive summer in terms of modelling. My 28mm WW1 collection has expanded exponentially over the last few months. Though I am not quite done the project, I am well over the halfway point having just finished the last batch of Canadian Corps troops this week. This leaves me with about 30 more German figures left to go, which will round out a full company for the dastardly Hun.

Without further ado, I shall provide you with some eye candy of my latest diabolical creations. Enjoy:

First off, I recently finished my last terrain board for my modular trench system. This board was half finished when I completed the rest of the project, and lay in that state until I finally got the motivation to complete it. I built it with building foundations sunk into the board, so that ruined buildings could be placed on top. I must give credit to Sydney Roundwood and his fantastic blog for inspiration. The effect is quite striking:

The center piece of the board in the beginning stages of construction. This are plaster bricks cast using Hirst Arts molds.

The same church, now with wooden planked floors and rubble. I lacked sufficient bricks to make the ruins more extensive, but I am happy with the end result.

Now with a portion of roof still intact. I chose to fortify the ruins with sand bags, as this church is only built to go on my modular trench system.

The finished product

One of the other buildings on the board.

What used to be a building

The stained glass was a fairly intricate detail to add. I cut thin plastic sheeting into rough shapes then glued each piece to the end of a pin which has been stuck into foam. I then painted each piece with a random selection of colours, making the colours lighter towards the edges. Realistically there probably would not be any stained glass left on a ruined church like this, especially after the pounding it must have taken but, it looks pretty!

Next, I have decided that I want to move my WW1 project beyond the trenches. To do this, the first thing I will need is some sort of grass matt. I am a big fan of the old GW felt gaming mats. My father (the author of this blog!) owns two of these which have served him well for many years. What I like about them the most is that they have a lot of texture, what I do not like is that they are too drab. They look fantastic, but I would like something with a bit more depth than your standard grass mat.

This desire for depth sent me on a trip to my local Fabricland store. I scoured the racks for any material or cloth that looked greenish or brownish with the texture I wanted. Alas I could not find exactly what I had pictured in my mind. However, I was able to find a roll of faux fur that had a fantastic texture to it.

Sadly, the colour was not precisely what I wanted. Taking inspiration from various other gamers before me, I chose to paint and texture this fabric myself. Firstly I sprayed the entire piece with watered down PVA glue, then sprinkled a dark green flocking. This helped to give it a green hue as well as to give it texture. Next I took a variety of green spray paints and sprayed the mat. I went from darker to lighter and painted in a mottled pattern. Once this was done, I sprayed it once again with watered down PVA and water. Onto this i sprinkled a medium green/brown static grass from Woodland Scenics. Once this was dry I was quite happy with the results:

The matt has lots of texture and depth as well as flexibility, allowing it to be placed on top of hills.

Next, I played a rather large game last night of Through the Mud and the Blood, the wonderful set of WW1 rules from Too Fat Lardies. If you have ever played any rules from Too Fat Lardies, you will understand the basic mechanics, which transfer quite easily to the period.

The scenario consisted of a large company sized attack by the Germans during their Spring Offensive of 1918. To fit this scenario (and the number of figures I have), I gave the germans smaller sections (6 men) as by the end of the Spring Offensive German manpower was running dangerously thin. The German force consisted of 2 small rifle platoons and a stormtrooper platoon, forming an understrength company. This force lacked heavy weapons, apart from a couple MG08/15 light machine guns. The Germans did however have a pair of massive A7V "tanks". The Canadian defenders were given a variety of infantry and heavy weapons, giving them less than 50 men against twice as many Huns.

To portray the then revolutionary stormtrooper tactics employed by the Germans during the Spring Offensive, I chose to give the Hun a unique objective. The Germans were not required to take or hold any specific terrain or objective, they merely needed to exit 6 of their 11 units off of the Canadian board edge. This reflects the fact that stormtrooper tactics were based around avoiding strongpoints, taking the path of least resistance, and penetrating as deeply as possible.

Luckily Johnny Canuck was able to halt the dastardly Hun's evil plans, winning the entire war for the Entente in the process. The Canadian gunners were able to knock out both A7Vs with their 18 pounder over open sights, while machine gunners mowed down wave after wave of Huns pouring across the wire. Obviously the German preparatory barrage was not effective enough, as the Canadian barbed wire entanglements were left largely intact, along with the defending Canucks.

Enough rambling, here are some pictures of the game:

The table before the game

Canadian mortars firing from the basement of the church

The 18 pounder turns to engage the German "tanks"

The 18 pounder finds itself a target at the other end of the table. Note the piper in the trench in front of the gun.

Gas masked German infantry advance under cover of Cyklop

German troops moving up a communication trench past the body of the comrade

German flammenwerfer engages Canadian bombers at close range

German MG08/15 team supporting the advance of Mephisto

Stormtroopers attempt to rush a Canadian Lewis Gun inside a fortified building

After destroying Cyklop, the gunners move on to Mephisto

Mid-summer Update

2011-08-01T12:27:00.000-04:00

So it seems this has become a monthly blog. Besides my normal lament that work seems to get fully in the way of my hobby, I seem also to have settled into a lengthy hobby ennui, at least in terms of painting. Not much to report there except a couple of experiments with the dip method. First, I tried out the method on a few Old Glory 28mm WWI Yanks and was quite pleased with the result. I had bought one pack of these figures with this experiment in mind. You can see the result below. Those with a keen eye (and who can see past the horrible photography) will notice that the green of the uniforms is a little too light and bright but this was a deliberate choice. I've always felt that the look of the figures at three feet is more important than at six inches (but that is, of course, just a personal opinion). Thus my choice to use a lighter green than was historically used. It provides a better representation at distance and also serves to give a better uniform to equipment contrast in this oh-so-drab period. I liked the result well enough that on my trip to Historicon last month, I picked up enough figures to finish an entire Yank platoon.

Old Glory 28mm Yanks.

Not my favourite sculpts but the price point is attractive and they have a certain charm of their own.

My second experiment was aimed at my ImagiNation project. Given the slow pace of painting lately, I was looking to pick up the speed on this project as well. I chose some Crusader Miniatures SYW Austrian light infantry that would make up les Chasseurs de Chevrotin in the the army of Gourmandie. Originally slated for green uniforms, I had a slight change of thought and bought sky blue primer for the experiment. After the prime coat, I blocked in the other colours then proceeded to dip. After the dip had dried and before I applied DullCote, I highlighted flesh and red trim. I think the result as seen below is quite good. If I were to notice anything with my failing eyes it would be that the blue perhaps needs a highlight. However, the speed of production far outweighs any slight reservations about results.

Chasseur de Chevrotin. 28mm Crusader Miniatures.

This regiment will eventually comprise two divisions of eight figures each, plus various command figures.

Besides these experiments with the dip method, I have played a few games, pictures of which can be seen below with short comments. Vidal and I also played a delightful game last week, of which I have no photographic evidence (probably a good thing since he once again gave me a good whuppin'). This was a Carlist Wars clash using ATKM rules and took place in my new permanent gaming room. We've been in our current house for four years and it's only been in the last month that I've taken the steps to get this room together (now that's just not proper commitment to the hobby, wot?).

The new permanent game room, shared with a 12-year old girl's botanical creations.

A couple shots of a WWI game played in Kingston recently with Daniel's superb game boards, 28mm figures and tanks!

A new addition to Daniel's WWI collection, one of two German tank kits found in the Flea Market at Historicon this year, with Daniel's usual fine brushwork. An almost completely useless vehicle but it will look damned sweet on the table!

Raycon 2011

2011-06-09T15:41:00.000-04:00

Damn, I see it's been almost two months since my last post (not counting Daniel's last hi-jack post, of course). It's not that I've been completely hobby-idle even though I've painted very little. I was able to finish up the last few details of my Imagination Régiment d'Infanterie Roquefort, adding a grenadier division and artillery limbers (see photos below). After that, work and life got in the way and my painting production came to a crashing halt. Gaming has also fallen off but I was able to make it to Raycon 2011 a couple of weeks ago. This is an annual gathering of friends hosted by Ray Martin at his cottage near Southampton (Ontario...not the UK version) for steaks, beer, wine...oh, and gaming. I was lucky to have both my sons join us this year, along with another cadet from Royal Military College. Michael, Daniel and Phil comported themselves within the traditions of a national military academic institution...yes, they drank, swore and generally acted like soldiers on leave (without the whoring, I might add). Vidal and I, older and wiser patrons of the hobby, were models of gentlemanly behaviour...I'm sure of it. The first day of Raycon was wet and miserable but we rigged up a tarp and set the tables up outside, as is the tradition. You can see some pics of us braving the Lake Huron spring weather below.

The forces of Gourmandie to date.

The grenadier division of Régiment d'Infanterie Roquefort, with their distinctive red hat lace (Crusader Miniatures).

The two battalion guns of Régiment d'Infanterie Roquefort (Crusader Miniatures), with limbers and ammunition wagons (Front Rank).

The outside set-up at Raycon 2011. It was a miserably cold day but we braved the weather for Daniel's fabulous WWI game.

Some random shots of Daniel's board and the game.

Vidal and Daniel pondering.

French infantry nervously await the German assault. They were gassed from their trenches before the wave of German grenadiers hit them. The French are the product of Phil's brush...his contribution to Daniel's megalomania.

Some additions for my 1:2400 WWI project, awaiting paint. Russian cruisers and battleships (GHQ).

Special Guest Blogger: They called me mad, but I did it!

2011-04-29T13:38:00.003-04:00

I, Daniel Hoyt, have once again hijacked this blog for my own devilish purposes. This time I am here to display the much awaited results of my four month mega terrain project monstrosity. They took many man-hours to finish, but they are finally complete. I present to the world, my 28mm First World War western front modular trench system. I apologize for the poor quality of the pics, they were taken with my iPhone.

Relief at last!

2011-04-20T22:56:00.001-04:00

Whew! I've got that familiar feeling of relief again. I've slogged my way through the last 10 figures of les Grenadiers à Cheval Boursin, bringing this cavalry unit up to 28 figures. While it looks very cool as a massed unit on the table, it has been a bit of a struggle for me to finish it. Besides my general lack of painting time and energy lately, I frankly just became tired of painting the same figure over and over. Not sure why this was the case with this unit. I was able to crank out 40+ of the same figure for my first ImagiNation infantry unit in record time without the same painting ennui. I think I'll take a break from cavalry for a while and concentrate on more infantry and guns. Next up, in fact, are some limbers for the battalion guns of Régiment d'Infanterie Roquefort and an ammunition wagon to supply them. After that, more Grenadiers de Camembert (in their sweet violet uniforms), then for something completely different, the WWI Russian Baltic fleet (not in 28mm, of course...though that would be mighty impressive).

Two views of the premier cavalry regiment of Le Grand-Duché de Gourmandie, les Grenadiers à Cheval Boursin (28 figures strong).

This unit consists of three squadrons, each with its own distinctive facing colour. The newest addition is 3e Escadron on the right of the regimental line (left side of the photo) in the violet facings. Out front is the command party led by Colonel Georges LeRoque, Comte de Villenveulle in his distinctive bronzed cuirass. His stand-off nature does little to endear him to his men, down upon whom he looks with disdain. This is is in stark contrast to the commander of 1er Escadron, Chef d'Escadron Phillipe Langeron (in the front rank, to the farthest right in the picture), a charismatic and popular man (except with his fellow high-born officers).

WWII: adding to the collection

2011-04-02T14:02:00.001-04:00

I know that sometime in the distant past I was happy to have finished my WWII 1940 "project in a box" but surprise of surprises...I'm moving onto a second box. Thus, it is soon to become a "project in two boxes." Damn, but I have no self-control. "Oooh, shiny! Must have 'em!"

And I put the blame for this squarely on the shoulders of Vidal and Martin. Perhaps blame is not quite the right word here. In the case of Vidal, he needs only show me a new toy or expose me to a new rule set or gaming genre and I inevitably get hooked. Martin Jensen (he of WGG Distribution), on the other hand has had a more direct and focused effect on my ability to withstand the "must buy the shiny new toy" syndrome. At Hotlead last weekend, his silky sales technique forced (yes, forced) me to purchase (entirely against my will) an entire Polish infantry platoon of Warlord Games figures. And then what does he do? He comes with Vidal on Monday to the Bramptonia Gaming Palace with his bright wit and easy smile to play what? WWII, of course! Oh, I see their evil and cunning plan. Don't think that I can't see what's going on here. Laugh and joke while we play and all the time planting the seed of WWII collecting firmly again in my psyche! (OK, I won't mention that two weeks earlier at Cold Wars I bought an entire British 1940 platoon from Crusader Miniatures)

And so, on to the Monday WWII game. Vidal commanded a reinforced platoon of German motorized infantry tasked with capturing and holding a key bridge from Martin's French force. Martin commanded a standard French infantry platoon with some armour support (assuming you categorize FT-17s as armour support). Rather than bore anyone with a lengthy AAR, I've included a couple of photos from the game below.

German infantry and armour advance in the face of fierce French resistance.

Crusader figures and AGNM Pz 38(t).

A French S-35 faces down a German Pz 38(t) and a StugIIIC in the distance. Surprisingly, despite quite a few armour hits, not a single AFV was destroyed in this game.

Vehicles from AGNM.

The game ended in a French victory since they still held the bridge as night approached (actually, the doorbell rang and the pizza arrived, thus ending the game). Highlights of the game? German pioneers completely clearing two houses filled with French troops in a single turn! That flammenwerfer is a nasty piece of equipment. And Martins' skillful use of terrain and resources to conduct a true defence in depth. He was able to disengage a portion of his first line (that part that hadn't been fired by the flammenwerfer) and withdraw to a second defensive line while the Germans were reorganizing after their initial attacks. It's not often I see a true defence in depth on the gaming table. Gamers tend to hold pieces of ground stubbornly without much thought to multiple lines of defence.

Thanks Vidal and Martin for great game! Martin is off home to Saudi Arabia later this month. Stay safe!

Hotlead 2011 & Cold Wars 2011

2011-03-27T16:23:00.001-04:00

I notice it's been almost three weeks since my last posting and judging from comments at Hotlead yesterday, I need to get caught up. Vidal and I attended Hotlead yesterday with our posse (thanks Shane and Andrew, but I think dark glasses would have served better) and I was pleasantly surprised by the number of people who told me they enjoyed the blog and were wondering about my recent dearth of posts. Thanks to all who expressed interest and all I can say is that my new job has very annoyingly jumped in the way of my hobby life. Surprisingly, it's not been a lack of time for hobby stuff (such as this blog) but a lack of brain power. The first four or five weeks of working again saw me brain dead in the evenings with little enough initiative to eat and find the TV remote let alone pick up a paint brush. Over the last couple of weeks I've started to get my brain power back to normal (no comments...Sean, I'm looking at you).

So, what's been up? Starting with the most recent, as I said we drove down to Stratford for Hotlead yesterday. This convention never disappoints. James and his crew put on a first-rate show that seems to be very well-attended. I'll make some more comments about Hotlead on the Council Fires blog but in short, kudos to James and the Hotlead staff for all their hard work.

Two weeks ago I took the low road down to Lancaster, PA for Cold Wars to help Ken at the ATKM booth. From the moment I walked into the lobby of the Lancaster Host and smelled the musty carpets (the same carpets, I suspect, I trod on 15-20 years ago), experienced the re-modeled rooms (yeah, that's funny), and tasted the heinous coffee served in the dealer hall, I realized that while it wasn't quite like the metaphorical "coming home," it was at least more like visiting a poor elderly aunt in her dimly lit and musty Victorian home: oddly comforting and yet disquieting at the same time.

Cold Wars proved to be a typically exhausting but highly pleasurable experience. Ken and I have the HMGS convention experience down to a fine art. Building and tearing down the booth has become a finely-tuned exercise and balancing sleep, work and cigars is often a challenge but always fun. Highlights of the show? Meeting up again with Bob and Matt Lehman from Ohio and co-hosting a huge 54mm War of 1812 game on Saturday night. I've included a couple of photos of the game here that I skimmed of off the ATKM site (thanks Ken!).

I received word yesterday that Bob and Matt will be bringing their 54mm goodness to Council Fires 2011!

Bob's terrain, as always, was superb. I believe we had a total of 48 units on the table, all in glorious 54mm! This battle was far larger than any historical 1812 battle, save perhaps New Orleans. Bob and Ken already have plans to host a massive 54mm Battle of Waterloo game in 2015 for the battle's anniversary and to showcase Ken's new Napoleonic figure range. I don't doubt for a moment Bob's enthusiasm for this project and especially his ability to pull it off. He's a painting machine! Thanks Bob and Matt for a great weekend!

Other points of note about Cold Wars? I thought their was marked decrease in attendance, at least from a dealer's perspective (note: I spent very little time in the games rooms during the peak hours). When I wandered the dealer hall, I never had to wait to get to a dealer's booth, I was never elbowed inadvertently, and the aisles were often empty enough to fire a cannon ball down.

This, of course, facilitated my shopping and I was able to fill my list (and more). I walked away with a bucket load of Crusader SYW figures from Old Glory to bolster my growing ImagiNation forces. From OG I also scooped up an entire British platoon for my WWII 1940 project (yeah, I know I said that project was finished but more of that anon). I also found a few GHQ 1:2400 WWI ships to fill in some holes in my squadron OBs (I'll say little about the new Russian fleet I also bought...).

Back to Hotlead for a moment to mention that this year saw the first appearance of WGG Distribution, a new distributor and vendor in Canada operated by Martin Jensen. It took very, very little convincing for Martin to talk me into buying an entire Warlord Games 1939 Polish platoon (I guess I'll need another box for this collection after all). Martin and Vidal are visiting the gaming palace here in Bramptonia this week for some gaming and Martin has promised to bring along some support teams and tankettes to bolster the Polish infantry. Can we see Polish lancers on the horizon? Look for a game report from this impending visit.

Last but not least for this posting, I haven't been completely idle at the painting desk of late (just slowed down). Today I finished the basing on the second squadron of the Grenadiers a Cheval Boursin, seen below.

2e Escadron, Grenadiers à Cheval Boursin

backed up by 1er Escadron and led by Chef d'Escadron Phillipe Langeron and his newly-arrived trumpeter. Front Rank figures.

A closer look at Chef d'Escadron Phillipe Langeron and the regimental trumpeter.

3e Escadron will be arriving soon from the depot, resplendent in their violet facings.

Council Fires Returns!

2011-03-05T12:39:00.005-05:00

It's time to reveal the mystery project to which I alluded in my last posting. I said then there was something on the horizon. Well, the ship has been stocked with supplies and has set sail to reach that horizon! The observant among you will have noticed a recent advertisement on TMP about a new gaming convention in Southern Ontario.

Click on the image below to find out more!

A couple of obviously demented hobby enthusiasts have decided to resurrect what seemed to be a long-dead convention experience. Last seen in 2000 (or was it 1999?), Council Fires was a cozy and friendly one-day event held in Paris, Ontario. The current iteration is slated for October 1, 2011 at the Cambridge Newfoundland Club. Unfortunately, there is no accompanying 18-hole golf course but the new venue has many more amenable features. In addition to 5,000+ square feet of gaming and vendor space, Council Fires sports a full-service bar, close proximity to restaurants and shopping (2 minutes away on foot), and the best hobby vendors in Ontario.

Why Cambridge? It was felt that a location somewhat equidistant from the vibrant gaming community in the London/Stratford area and the larger populated areas in the Hamilton-Toronto corridor would be best. The Cambridge Newfoundland Club is a couple km south of the Highway 401/Highway 24 junction in Cambridge and is easily accessible from anywhere along the 401 and 403 corridors.

Although it's only a one day convention, there will be a lot included in this seemingly limited time. There will be four gaming sessions, each four hours in length. How is this possible in one day? There will be two streams of gaming, running concurrently. Stream One will have a 0900-1300 and 1400-1800 game slots and Stream Two will see 1200-1600 and 1700-2100 slots.

You can follow the "comings and goings" of the convention organizers on the Council Fires blog or on Facebook (click images):

Council Fires is, as the banner says, an attempt to bring back the joy and nostalgia of playing with toy soldiers! So, bring your sense of humour, your camaraderie, and your joy of the hobby to Cambridge this fall!

And don't forget the other premier gaming event in southern Ontario, happening later this month, HotLead. Hope to see you there!

Carlist Wars scrap...and something on the horizon!

2011-02-22T21:47:00.000-05:00

I've been a little quiet on the painting front the last couple of weeks after a rather productive January. Starting a new job, I'm sure, has something to do with my declining output (sucks how a need to make a living gets in the way of one's hobbies). I've also been working on another hobby-related project of which I can say nothing as yet (sworn to secrecy and all). Look to TMP over the next few days to see what I'm talking about. Despite my slowed painting pace, I've been able to get in a few games while still puttering away at my painting desk.

One of these took place a couple of Fridays ago when Darek Choroszewski came by for a game of Sharp Practice with my Carlist Wars collection. Darek has purchased some figures to join in the recent ImagiNation craze and wanted to try Sharp Practice as an option to game with his soon-to-be army. We had a fun little scrap that hopefully inspired Darek to try more.

9th "Irish" BAL begin taking hits and shock points as they advance. My new attempt at magnetic Big Man labels can be seen in this photo.

Carlist cavalry hits BAL cavalry in the flank.

More Carlist cavalry bears down on a BAL rocket section.

Artillery and Grenadiers

2011-02-09T11:56:00.003-05:00

January and February have seen productive days at my painting desk, most likely because I'm trying to get as much finished as possible before starting my new job on Monday. I've been puttering away at my new ImagiNation project and you can see the net result below. Regiment Roquefort has been increased to five groups of eight figures each for a total of 40 figures (plus 8 command figures). I have also added this week the two 4lb battalion guns and crews and eight grenadier figures. Originally, the sixth group (or division) for Regiment Roquefort was to be made up of grenadiers but plans have changed. Crusader has no grenadier figures to even remotely match the "French with unfastened coats" I'm using for the musketeers. I had purchased eight Austrian grenadiers with bearskins and turnbacks with the idea of using them as the grenadier division of the regiment (note: these are small "d" divisions, tactical sub-groups of a battalion). Unfortunately, once I had them in my hands I realized how much different they would look beside the musketeers and decided instead to finish the regiment off with a sixth division of musketeers (currently on order).

What then to do with the grenadiers? My original plan was for the army of Gourmandie to have grenadier battalions made up of the combined divisions from the line regiments. Because the plan has changed, Gourmandie will have permanent grenadier battalions and I painted the first eight figures to represent the Grenadiers de Camembert.

L'armée du Grand-Duché de Gourmandie.

Included here are the five divisions of Regiment Roquefort, two battalion guns, the first division of the Grenadiers de Camembert (in violet) and the first squadron of the Grenadiers a Cheval Boursin.

All figures from Crusader (except a couple of mounted commanders) and flags by GMB.

Grenadiers de Camembert, 1er Division.

Artillerie de Regiment Roquefort.

Each of the two battalions of the regiment will field one of these guns to bolster its firepower. Winging their way from Front Rank are limbers and ammunition caissons to accompany these.

As is my wont with new projects, I have already begun planning an opposing army for Gourmandie. These will take the shape of Das Kaiserreich (The Empire), a loosely organized group of independent Germanic principalities and duchies, based vaguely on the Holy Roman Empire. I have ordered some infantry and cavalry to start this ImagiNation and hope in the next few months to host a game or two with the opposing armies.

Up next, more Grenadiers a Cheval Boursin...

Grenadiers à Cheval Boursin

2011-02-04T10:04:00.001-05:00

The latest addition to the forces of le Grand-Duché de Gourmandie are some fierce looking cavalry in the form of 1er Escadron, Grenadiers à Cheval Boursin. This is a three squadron regiment of regular cavalry that has the premier date of establishment and thus sits atop the seniority list. The regiment sports black cuirasses, bearskins and red coats but each squadron has a different facing colour: 1er Escadron (bleu); 2e Escadron (vert); 3e Escadron (violet).

1er Escadron, Grenadiers à Cheval Boursin led by Chef d'Escadron Phillipe Langeron. Front Rank figures.

From the rear...seems they have nowhere to go!

Chef d'Escadron Phillipe Langeron, a nouveau riche officer who is well-liked by his men (probably because of the ineffable charisma he exudes) but who is equally liked by the liquor merchants that follow the army!

Next up for le Grand-Duché de Gourmandie? The second battalion of Regiment d'Infanterie Roquefort (including the grenadier division) and two battalion guns.

WWII Campaigning

2011-02-01T13:53:00.000-05:00

Last week I purchased and downloaded the new offering from Too Fat Lardies called Platoon Forward. Rather than try to describe this product myself, I defer to the description on the TFL website:

Platoon Forward is a character based campaign system that allows you to add personality to your tactical level games. Written for Platoon Level games in the Second World War Platoon Forward focuses on the characters within your force. Its three sections allow the gamer to generate characters, to generate a wide range of scenarios and follow their force through a range of missions with a broad selection of events that can affect their performance on the battlefield. This is the perfect addition to solo games as the dynamic system presents the player with a hidden enemy and provides a huge variety of potential outcomes, keeping the games interesting and allowing the unexpected to occur. For full details see the interview with the author on the Lard Island News site: http://toofatlardies.co.uk/blog/. Platoon Forward is designed to bolt on to whatever set of WWII tactical level rules you are using and may be easily adjusted for squad or company level games.

My preferred WWII rule set of late has been Disposable Heroes from Iron Ivan Games and I've played a fair number of games with it. Those who know me also know that I'm a frustrated campaign gamer. By this I mean that I like to have the context in my games that campaigning provides but that I've always been searching for a campaign system that satisfies me (if that's possible). Over the years I've tinkered with various published campaign systems and even written a few of my own. I've run campaigns and played in them. Most are too much of something and too little of something else (and these somethings vary from gamer to gamer, genre to genre, and even day to day). As with my tactical rule sets, I much prefer these days simplicity and ease of play. But it's difficult to run a campaign that is both simple and easy to play and/or administrate. Platoon Forward may (and I stress "may") be the answer, at least for me. Platoon Forward has no map component as with a standard campaign system and instead allows me to track the performances of my units and their commanders regardless of the type of game. I can use the scenario generator provided or play any other scenario and just keep track of my force. My fellow gamers can use it to track their forces' performances as well but there is no requirement to synchronize our efforts.

For example, I may play several games with my 1940 German platoon and gain certain advantages and disadvantages for future battles. My platoon commander may forge a strong relationship with the company quartermaster sergeant and receive some extra squad weapons for a future battle. But maybe the battalion commander has taken notice of the platoon leader and wishes to accompany him in the platoon's next action. All well and good but the company commander doesn't particularly like my platoon leader. Maybe someone with a Russian infantry platoon wants to play a game against my Germans (hint, Steve). He can now start using the Platoon Forward system as is, despite the fact that I've already tracked my platoon through several actions. No need for synchronization of efforts. In fact, no need for him to use the system at all!

On Sunday at MIGS, John and I played a WWII game and I used the Platoon Forward system to track my German platoon. We used one of the simpler scenarios in the system. Unfortunately, the German platoon leader not only lost the action but his platoon sergeant was killed. An appeal to the company commander to promote a deserving squad leader (and in-game event caused the platoon leader to "notice" one of his squad leaders) to the empty post proved fruitless despite the fact that both are former enlisted men promoted from the ranks and thus have a mutual basis for understanding. Seems the company commander has his own agenda. The request was denied and a new platoon sergeant was brought in from another unit. This may not seem a problem on the face of it but the two are diametric opposites. The new platoon sergeant is a tried combat veteran of cheery disposition (and his combat leadership rating is higher than his new platoon commander's...surely a source of future friction?). The platoon commander is a corrupt bastard whose motivation is fueled by a hatred of all things in officer-land, despite his rank (he was, after all, promoted from the ranks and doesn't quite fit the traditional Prussian aristocratic officer mold) and is jealous of his authority. Fortunately, the platoon leader also had a chance meeting with the commander of the armour component of the Kampfgruppe. This proved more useful and a strong bond was formed. This may may be useful in the future when the reckless temperament of my platoon leader gets him into a pickle and he needs some local armour support.

So, just enough context to make our games a bit more interesting...

WWI Germans are such dips!

2011-01-23T16:35:00.001-05:00

Daniel has just sent me these photos of his new Old Glory WWI Germans, painted using the Army Painter dip method. Damn but they look good!

ImagiNation: Rgt Roquefort

2011-01-23T16:20:00.001-05:00

Today I finished up my first ImagiNation unit, 1er Battalion/Regiment d'Infanterie Roquefort. You can see the end result below. The battalion is composed of 24 musketeers and is accompanied by eight figures of the regimental command group (two standards, two drummers, two sergeants, and two officers on foot). Next up on the painting desk is the second battalion (including grenadiers) and two 3lb battalion guns with crews. I've also started cleaning the figures for my first cavalry regiment, Les Grenadiers a Cheval Boursin.

1er Battalion, Regiment d'Infanterie Roquefort.

All Crusader figures except the Front Rank mounted colonel. Flags by GMB.

A closer shot of the regimental command party with the (white) Colonel's flag and the (red/white) Ordonnance standard.

Le Marquis de Fromage in his distinctive royal purple tunic.

As a finished unit, I'm quite pleased with Rgt Roquefort but I had some misgivings during the painting process. For some reason I couldn't quite get the red tunics to my satisfaction. Maybe I was too far into the proverbial forest to see the trees (or is that the other way around?). Anyway, once based and flagged, the red seems to look pretty good. I'm playing around with the idea of using Army Painter red primer on the next batch, blocking in the main colours then using the Army Painter dip. In fact, I had the cans in my hand the other day in a hobby shop, almost ready to buy them. But it would be such a radical departure from my current method that I hesitated and will continue to mull it over.

Quick Peeks!

2011-01-20T14:50:00.000-05:00

Some quick peeks at a couple of new projects. First up is Daniel's WWI 28mm mega-project, the terrain boards for which you can see under construction here. For Xmas, I gifted Daniel with a couple of British tanks from Old Glory and he's already finished the assembly and painting.

Apologies for the photo quality. These are from an iPhone text exchange a couple of days ago. Daniel or I will post some better pictures soon.

Here we have a Whippet, so-called because of its blazing speed.

And the real thing we found on a trip to Aberdeen a few years ago.

His Majesty's Land Ship Buttercup.

The name is sure to send tremors of fear down the spine of the dastardly Hun.

And again, the real thing at Aberdeen (displayed quite wonderfully by Diana).

And to kick off my new ImagiNation project, over the last two weeks I've painted the 1er Battalion, Regiment d'Infanterie Roquefort. These are without flags or finished bases but, I think, look quite nice regardless. This is just one battalion of 24 figures with assorted standard bearers, drummers and officers (all Crusader figures except the two mounted Front Rank officers). There will be another 24-figure battalion and a couple 4lb guns added in short order. Tucked up in the top right in the royal purple tunic is Le Marquis de Fromage.

1er Battalion, Regiment d'Infanterie Roquefort

Some musings about blogs and such...

2011-01-20T14:02:00.001-05:00

Before I start waxing philosophic about the hobby (blah, blah, blah), I have a couple of grainy photos of a game that Daniel and I played a couple of weeks ago. It was a chance to field my new German pioneer squad.

Daniel contemplating where to best deploy the flammenwerfer team.

Half of the German pioneer squad clustered around its transport (or are they hiding like the cowards they were?)

OK, eye-candy out of the way (despite its lack of photo quality). I've been thinking much lately about wargaming and hobby blogs, why we create and follow them. The latter is easy, at least for me. Reading others' blogs gives me inspiration, ideas and a sense of my relative place in the hobby. Besides ogling figures and terrain, keeping up with the plethora of blogs out there can help me put my own efforts into perspective. How does my painting stack up against the average...or the best? How do my games look compared to others? Thats' not the only reason, of course. I like to read painting and terrian-making tips to see if I can glean any useful information. What I don't like is lengthy game reports (especially if they don't have pictures) but maybe that's just me.

What gives me pause to think is why I do it myself. Why did I create this blog and why do I continue it? So far, I find the answer is in three parts:

1) showing off
2) soliciting opinions (closely tied to #1)
3) keeping track of my own efforts

Showing off is an integral part of the hobby, at least my hobby. And there's nothing wrong with celebrating one's own accomplishments (as long it doesn't slide into over-weening hubris, of course). Now I'm perfectly aware that for many in the hobby, aesthetic awareness is not high on their list of hobby necessities. That's OK...to each his own, as they say, but not for me. There's something special about going to a game with friends and pulling out a box with my latest painted figures to show off. And I like very much being on the other side of that as well. Seeing others' achievements gives that peculiar thrill unique to most modelling hobbies. Creating a blog was a natural extension of this. Rather than showing up at a friend's house with painted figures in hand, I can now open the virtual figure box and show them off here.

Soliciting opinions is also a reason for my blogging. Of course, this is really just an extension of showing off. Why would one exhibit one's efforts if not to solicit opinions. Far too often, I think, the purpose is to solicit praise. That's fine, as long as one is ready for the criticism as well. Of course, offering constructive criticism of another's paint jobs is like walking on egg shells and most of us avoid it altogether. A quick anecdote to show the minefield one can walk into in this regard:

I few years ago I had invited a new group of gamers to my house for some games. At one of these gatherings, a new friend walked in and proudly opened a box of newly-painted 1/285 WWII infantry. They were mounted on GW 20mm square plastic bases. I can't recall the quality of the paint jobs (which is irrelevant to the story anyway...and besides, I can't see figures that small) but I do remember the basing. There were three or four figures per base and there were some patches of flock covering about one third of the base area. Otherwise the bases were just the bare black plastic. Quite innocently and with the intention of showing praise, I said, "Good job. They'll look great when you finish the basing." I immediately saw my mistake when the guy's eye's dropped and his face showed real disappointment. Turns out, the bases were finished. Ooops!

So you can probably see my trepidation when I say a blog is intended, at least in part, to solicit praise (and/or criticism). The more I add to this blog, the more I realize its other intrinsic value as a diary of sorts. I find it extremely helpful in keeping track of my projects and my intentions for them. I usually have a number of things on the go and often I can't remember what I had intended for certain figures or terrain items. I didn't grow up in a pink-frilled bedroom, sitting on the bed faithfully writing my diary (my apologies to all those very manly men who did that and are living relatively well-adjusted adult lives). But maybe I wanted to, maybe. And now that I've started the ImagiNation project, using the blog as a means of keeping track of uniform ideas and rules suggestions is invaluable.

OK, enough rambling. Next up, some thoughts about tracking my ImagiNation progress and the first painted unit.

ImagiNation Campaigning - Part Deux

2011-01-05T10:39:00.000-05:00

Before I continue on with the ImagiNation campaigning ideas, I've noticed the New Years blogger trend of reviewing painting output for the past year. I was curious to see how many figures I had painted in 2010 and came up with these numbers:

28mm cavalry/mounted: 49

28mm infantry: 282

15mm infantry: 48

According to my long-dead painting points idea (see here), that amounts to 404 points (or just a tad over one point per day for the whole year). I recognize that I don't pump out figures at the rate of some gamers but I'm quite happy with these numbers. Besides, these numbers don't take into account terrain items and the 28mm WWII vehicles I've added.

Moving on...

To compliment the ImagiNation Campaigning ideas I presented here, I've put together some ideas for the naval portion of the project. These are based upon my current preferred Age of Sail rule set, Kiss Me, Hardy from Too Fat Lardies. Take a gander:

IMAGINATION CAMPAIGNING

NAVAL FORCES

Note: Full understanding of these naval campaigning ideas requires knowledge of Kiss Me, Hardy but most of them can be easily understood regardless.

CREW QUALITY

Most crews begin as Landlubbers and Poor Sailors. It is recommended that one squadron of up to three ships begin as Sans Cullottes. As they accumulate experience, winning or losing their battles and capturing or sinking enemy vessels, they will change in the way that they see themselves and this will gradually change the way that they behave on the tabletop. Crews are categorised according to their experience, gunnery skills, and seamanship.

A crew is rated according to its Class and Quality. As stated, most begin their Class as Landlubbers but crew Quality is variable within each Class level.

Normally, a crew must participate in at least two actions at its current Quality level to be eligible to advance to the next highest Quality level. When this happens, roll 1d6: on a 5-6 the crew is advanced to the next Quality level (within its Class strictures). If unsuccessful, roll 1d6 after each subsequent action, adding +1 for each subsequent action fought. Advancing to the next Class level follows the same rule, except a 6 must be rolled on 1d6. When a crew advances its Class level, it retains its current Quality level. It is entirely possible to advance a crew’s Class and Quality levels simultaneously.

(Note: Particularly notable achievements may allow players to advance a crew’s Class and/or Quality level ahead of schedule, if all participants agree).

Crew Class	Crew Quality
Landlubbers	These crews have seen little or no time at sea, let alone in action with an enemy. They have no positive factors assigned automatically, will fire at a minus, and are more likely to strike. When building/creating a new vessel/crew, roll 1d20: 1-10 =Average (poor sailors; poor shots after first broadside) 11-20 = Poor (poor sailors; poor shots at all times; cowardly; foul-bottomed) Note: Elite not permitted
Sans Cullotes	These crews have seen some action but are not as professional as Jolly Jack Tars. Elite crews under this category have taken the opportunity to train boarders and develop a cohesive and enthusiastic unit. Average crews have no automatic extra characteristics but can purchase any using the points system. It is quite possible that vessels operating under this system will be ‘cowardly lubbers’, and a fair proportion will be poor sailors, unable to sail in tight formation. When building/creating a new vessel/crew, roll 1d20 (ignore this roll if the crew is advancing from a lower Class): 1-4 = Elite (boarding party; determined) 5-15 = Average (no modifications) 16-20 = Poor (poor firing after first broadside; poor sailors; cowardly)
Jolly Jack Tars	These crews attempt to close with the enemy as soon as possible and are well-trained and experienced in rapid fire. To reflect this in the rules, these crews have an improved fire factor at point blank and short range. Ships with this characteristic are manned by experienced sailors and officered by professionals with a firm control over their crew. They will automatically assemble boarding and counter boarding parties when necessary, and may count as ‘fervently determined’. These ships are not automatically fast sailors, and in fact, due to extreme service at sea, may be ‘foul bottomed’. No crews in this Class can be ‘cowardly lubbers.’ When building/creating a new vessel/crew, roll 1d20 (ignore this roll if the crew is advancing from a lower Class): 1-13 = Elite (double shot at close range; boarding party; fervently determined) 14-18 = Average (double shot at close range; boarding party; determined) 19-20 = Poor (boarding party; determined)

THE SIZE OF YOUR PURSE

Bonus features for ships and/or crews may be purchased as per Kiss Me, Hardy.

ENHANCE YOUR FLEET

As your fleet fights its battles it will, you hope, gain some victories; with these come Victory Points that may be used to enhance your fleet in several ways. How these points are achieved is listed below.

Result	Points
Your objectives are achieved and your enemy is obliged to withdraw	2
Your objective is achieved, but you are forced to withdraw	1
You failed to achieve your objective	0
Your fleet flagship was sunk or captured	-1
75% or more of your force was sunk or captured	-2

The points are awarded to the fleet as a whole, not to the various elements within the fleet. This serves as the basic model for gaining Victory Points. Some scenarios may have variations on this theme. These points may be spent as follows:

Enhancement	Points
Advance a crew to its next Class Level without a die roll (assuming it has otherwise satisfied the requirements for such an advancement)	4
Advance a crew to its next Quality Level without a die roll (assuming it has otherwise satisfied the requirements for such an advancement)	3
Improve Initial Broadside: adds one dice per deck for the initial broadside on either side of the vessel and is in addition to any other gunnery characteristics	1
Give a crew/ship the Fast Sailor trait: such vessels may double the lowest die score thrown when that vessel moves, or half it if a minus die	1
Give a crew/ship the Determined trait: crews with this characteristic are less likely to strike and therefore can add 10% on to any throw made on the striking table	1
Give a crew/ship the Fervently Determined trait: crews with this characteristic may add 20% to any throw made on the striking table.	2
Give a crew/ship the Boarding Party trait: vessels with this characteristic may double the lowest die thrown in a boarding action	1
Remove a crew’s Cowardly Lubbers trait	2
Remove a ship’s Foul Bottom trait	1
Remove a crew’s Poor Sailors trait	2

FLEET DETERIORATION

Negative things may also happen to your crews/ships if they perform badly in a battle.

Roll 1d6 for every ship/crew that had its squadron flagship sunk or captured during a battle. On a roll of 6, the unit is downgraded one Quality level. Add +1 to the roll for every other ship/crew in the squadron that was also sunk or captured. Add +1 to the roll if the fleet flagship was sunk or captured. If the fleet flagship was sunk or captured, all ships of the fleet present at the battle must make this roll. If a crew is downgraded to a Quality level that includes the Poor Sailors trait, ignore the latter.

If a ship is sunk, it is obviously removed from the fleet list. A new ship can be built but must begin at the Landlubbers Class level.

If a ship is captured, it can be added to the enemy's fleet list and appropriately renamed (and the model surrendered as well). The new crew for this vessel must begin at Landlubbers Class level.

Imagination Campaigning

2011-01-01T21:24:00.001-05:00

And now, back to our regularly scheduled program...

In between cleaning up the sample Crusader figures I ordered for myself as a Xmas present and designing their new uniforms (see here), I've been puttering around with a way to improve the quality of our forces as we play with them. Vidal and I agreed early on that all units would begin our little project with the lowest troop quality allowed in our rules of choice and work their way up through campaigning and fighting. It just so happens that recently Too Fat Lardies produced an American Civil War companion rule set to Sharp Practice called Terrible Sharp Sword which contains some interesting ideas for creating your forces and improving unit qualities as you game with them. Below is a distillation of these ideas with a few of my own added in. I hold no pretensions of originality (in fact, I have lifted much of it word-for-word from Terrible Sharp Sword) and these are just a first draft intended to be a starting point. You may notice that, as with most TFL products, not every eventuality has been catered for. A fair amount of gentlemanly agreement and fair-minded play is required. Besides, these are just a framework or set of guidelines. Enough rambling...

Note: Full understanding of these campaigning ideas requires knowledge of Sharp Practice but lacking that, most of them can be easily understood regardless.

IMAGINATION CAMPAIGNING

TROOP QUALITY

All units begin as Poor. As they accumulate experience, winning or losing their battles, they will change in the way that they see themselves, and this will gradually change the way that they behave on the tabletop. Troops are categorised according to how much time they have spent in the field. Although most groups/units begin as Poor troops, skirmish and designated guard troops begin as Regular troops.

A unit must participate in at least two actions at its current quality level to be eligible to advance to the next highest Troop Quality level. When this happens, roll 1d6: on a 5-6 the unit is advanced to the next quality level. If unsuccessful, roll 1d6 after each subsequent action, adding +1 for each subsequent action fought. (Note: Particularly notable achievements may allow players to advance a unit’s quality level ahead of schedule, if all participants agree).

Troop Quality	Effect
Poor	Poor troops are just seeing the elephant. They will tend to have lower Status officers and NCOs and lower standards of drill and musketry. That said, they are more likely to stand up to some punishment better than Good or Elite troops due to their inexperience. Poor troops ignore the first point of Shock received in Fisticuffs. If they win in Fisticuffs they must pursue a defeated enemy, attempting to close to engage in Fisticuffs on their next activation. This will break any Formation they are in. Big Men hit by musket fire from Poor troops will roll with a -1 on the appropriate chart. Skirmish troops may never be Poor.
Regular	Regular troops have seen some action and are more knowledgeable in the ways of war. They may choose to pursue an enemy defeated in Fisticuffs but if they do so, any Formation they are in will be broken. Regular troops may never have more than a +1 musketry bonus. Skirmish and guard troops may never be lower than Regular.
Good	Good troops may achieve a +1 or even +2 in musketry and may be aggressive in Fisticuffs. Big Men hit by musket fire from Good troops will roll with a +1 on the appropriate chart. Good troops pursuing an enemy defeated in Fisticuffs may retain their Formation.
Elite	Elite troops are veterans really past their best. They are experienced troops and by now they should have good officers and NCOs and have a number of benefits; however, they are more interested in self-preservation than heroics. Elite troops automatically get a +1 in musketry (in addition to any other bonuses but may not exceed +2). It requires two Initiatives from a Big Man to get them to charge into Fisticuffs. They will never add fervour in Fisticuffs (except by using a Bonus Card) and will never pursue an enemy defeated in Fisticuffs. Big Men hit by musket fire from Elite troops will roll with a +2 on the appropriate chart.

AGGRESSION

Roll 1d6 for each unit. On a 6 or more these troops are Aggressive. Add +1 to the die roll if the troop type is considered naturally Aggressive (i.e. cossack-like mercenaries from the Eastern provinces, some light troops).

BIG MEN

One Big Man is allowed per two Groups in a unit, rounding up for any odd numbers (recommended group size = eight figures). Of course, with Big Men we are not representing all of the officers and NCOs present, just the ones who are competent enough to have a positive impact on the battlefield. To reflect the variability between units, roll 1d6. On a 1, reduce the number of Big Men by one; on a 6 you add an extra one; otherwise, no change. To determine the status of the Big Men in each unit, consult the chart below. All ranks refer to a standard regimental organization but may be adjusted to national differences as required.

Big Man	Details
First	The first Big Man is always the regimental colonel (or equivalent). Give him a suitable name and roll 1d6. On 1-4 he is a Status II Big Man, on a 5 or 6 he is Status III.
Second	This Big Man is a Chef de Battalion (or equivalent) or Captain. Again, a suitable name will help, then roll 1d6. On a 1 or 2 he is a Status I Big Man, on 3-6 he is Status II.
Third	This is always a junior officer (i.e. Lieutenant). On a roll of 1-4 he has a Status of I, on a 5 or 6 his Status is II.
Fourth	Roll 1d6 to see what rank this man holds. On a 1-4 he is a Senior NCO (i.e. Sergeant); roll for his status as for the Third Big Man. One a 5 or 6 he is a junior officer; roll for his Status as for the Second Big Man, with a -1 on the die.
Fifth and subsequent	If you already have two junior officers, this Big Man is automatically a Sergeant. If you have two Sergeants already then roll 1d6. On 1-3 he is a Sergeant, on 4-6 a junior officer. Roll for Status as above depending on his rank with a -1 on the die.

Each Big Man may be fleshed out by using the normal characteristics rules in Sharp Practice.

BIG MEN CASUALTIES

For each Big Man who is badly wounded roll 1d6 at the end of the game. On a 6 the Big Man will be returned to the unit for the next game. Each subsequent time this is tested for, add +1 to the roll for each game played in the Big Man’s absence.

A Big Man who is lightly wounded will be available for the next game and be restored to his normal Status level.

If a Big Man is killed a more junior ranking Big Man may be promoted to fill the vacant role (or be appointed by the regimental colonel or reigning monarch, of course). In this case one of the Privates may be promoted to Sergeant with a Status I.

If a Big Man is absent from the force due to wounds one Private may be promoted from the ranks to become a Status I Sergeant after the battle; however, this man must return to the ranks once the Big Man returns unless other vacancies appear in the meantime.

ENHANCE YOUR FORCE

As your force fights its battles it will, you hope, gain some victories; with these come Victory Points that may be used to enhance your force in several ways. How these points are achieved is listed below.

Result	Points
Your objectives are achieved and your enemy is obliged to withdraw from the field	2
Your objective is achieved, but your enemy controls the field of battle	1
You failed to achieve your objective	0

The points are awarded to the force as a whole, not to the various elements within the force. This serves as the basic model for gaining Victory Points. Some scenarios may have variations on this theme. These points may be spent as follows:

Enhancement	Points
Advance a unit to its next Quality Level without a die roll (assuming it has otherwise satisfied the requirements for such an advancement)	4
Increase a Big Man’s Status by one level	3
Add an extra Status Level I Big Man to a unit (NCO or officer)	2
Apply +1/die musketry bonus to a unit (maximum +2 per unit)	2
Add +1 to a unit’s Quality Level advancement roll	1
Acquire the unit commander a telescope	1

FORCE DETERIORATION

Negative things may also happen to your units if they perform badly in a battle.

Roll 1d6 for every unit that had at least one constituent group rout during a battle. On a roll of 6, the unit is downgraded one troop quality level. Add +1 to the roll for every constituent group in the unit that also routed (over and above the first).

A unit that has all of its Big Men killed or badly wounded in a single battle is automatically downgraded one troop quality level.

If a unit suffers 50% casualties in battle, roll 1d6. On a roll of 6, the unit is downgraded one troop quality level. Add +1 to the roll for every 10% casualties suffered over and above the initial 50%.

Special Guest Blogger: Don't Try This at Home, Kids!

2010-12-30T23:31:00.002-05:00

Happy Thursday ladies and gentlegeeks. It is I, the prodigal second born offspring of the recalcitrant author of this publication. I have shanghaied this scripture for my own devious purposes. As some of you may or may not know, I am known for being somewhat extravagant in my modelling escapades, and my current adventure is no different.

I seek to model the exploits of the illustrious Canadian Corps during the later stages of the Great War on the Western Front, in all its muddy, bloody, grimy filth. Months ago, I received several packs of Old Glory First World War Germans and British. I at once set to work completing these wonderful figures as prototypes and I was quite happy with the results:

Stormtrooper Hun, complete with camouflage sturmhelm


Johnny Canuck going over the top

After completing this initial batch of Canucks and Huns, I spent the next few months pondering what sort of battlefield they would combat over. I initially considered modelling the Hundred Days campaign. For any of you historic laymen, this was the period during the autumn of 1918 wherein the Canadian Corps and the rest of the Allied armies advanced at an astronomical pace. The attraction of this option is that the terrain would not be the depressing mud and drudge of the trenches, but the quaint farmland of northern France. I disgarded this thought as quickly as it came to mind. Trenches are much cooler [Dave: cooler? really? no, really?].

I decided upon a total of eight 2'x2' terrain boards. The attraction of terrain boards is that the trenches can be dug down into them, rather than standing up awkwardly upon the tabletop. I slated this gargantuan task to be completed over my Christmas break, when I would be able to utilize the facilities of a certain elderly gentleman [Dave: ouch, that hurts!].

Pristine trenches awaiting destruction

Now, the actual construction of this behemoth project. I cut the trench pieces out of 1" insulation foam, and then glued this onto another slice of aforementioned foam. This allowed me to go deep into the bowels of my miniature trench-scape to place dugouts, craters, and tunnels. This double foam combination became a ply with MDF particle board on the bottom, creating a much more durable terrain board.

The attraction of trench warfare is the churned up, shell shattered battle-scape, but it also the largest challenge. How does one create a modular terrain board system out of foam that is naturally rigid? How does one create chaos out of order?

The answer is FIRE!!!

My trusty sidekick and I proceeded to use a diabolically curious combination of spray paint, blow torch, and soup ladle to create the lunar-like no-man's-land of 1918.

Our "souper" heated ladle

The fumes were completely harmless, I swear.

Next time, I delve into the art of smegma-ing the trench boards to create a realistic smeg-tastic no-man's-land!

The Principality of Gourmandy

2010-12-23T18:47:00.001-05:00

So, I'm off to the races with my new Imagination, the Principality of Gourmandy. I've been puttering about with some coats of arms and uniforms for the first few units. Check 'em out!

Gourmandy
(caseus vita est)

The premier military man in the principality and all-round bon vivant:

Jean Lafitte Roquefort, Général le Marquis de Fromage
(personal motto: “la vie n'est rien sans fromage”

Régiment d’Infanterie Roquefort
(Colonel: Phillipe Grand-Nez, Comte de Roquefort)

Régiment d’Infanterie Camembert

Dragons de Brie

Chasseurs de Chevrotin

The Year in Review...such a cliché

2010-12-23T14:46:00.001-05:00

In the spirit of a number of other gaming blogs, I've been looking back over the past year of my hobby and into the the new year. In 2010 I was able to complete a few projects and start others. The biggest accomplishment was finishing my 28mm First Carlist Wars project that had been ongoing for a couple of years. Also on the list of accomplishments is my 28mm WWII project, made up of a 1940 German infantry platoon and supports and a counterpart French platoon. I have plans to add on to this but more of that anon. The WWII project in particular I'm proud of since it was begun and finished all in the same calendar year. 2010 also saw a fond farewell to my extensive 28mm Napoleonic and War of 1812 collections. These well-used projects raised some much-needed cash and gave my the hobby breathing space that comes with divesting oneself of a large collection. Unlike some gamers, I've really had no qualms about ridding myself of collections. I always think of projects and collections as learning vehicles. By this I mean that every project I learn something new, whether a new painting or basing technique or new storage and transportation ideas. The Napoleonic collection in particular had been an ongoing effort for a number of years and showed (at least to me) the varying stages of painting and basing developments. Every project, I seem to inch a little closer to a goal I cannot quite articulate: not perfection, since I'm a guy and only women can aspire to that. But at the very least a level of consistency within a collection in terms of painting and basing.

In 2010 I also clarified how I plan to approach new projects in the future with my Project in a Box theory. In a nutshell, this is a pre-planned collection that can be easily transported in one case. Speaking with Michael yesterday about these smaller projects, we realized I actually now have two categories of gaming projects: 1) The Large or Major projects, such as the 28mm Carlist Wars or 28mm WWII fit into the Project in a Box category; 2) smaller projects (in terms of figure scale or sheer bulk), such as 1:2400 WWI naval or 1:6000 WWII naval, are, according to Michael's idea, Pocket Projects. This is a perfect term for an undertaking that is much smaller in size and concept and can almost literally be carried in a pocket (granted, a large pocket).

So what's on tap for 2011? I've been hunting around for a new large project and I think I've found it: 28mm Imaginations. Vidal and I began this conversation a month or so ago and it seems to have hit a nerve with others as well. You can see some earlier ramblings about this possibility here. This will be my Project in a Box for 2011 (and probably well beyond). My current thinking is to base figures individually (as per my Carlist Wars project) in "groups" of eight figures to play with Sharp Practice. My end goal in terms of a unit is six "groups" of eight figures with a six-figure command group and a mounted colonel (oh, and I can't forget the four-figure battalion gun crew). That makes 59 figures per regiment/battalion! And cavalry will be similarly grandiose (24+ figures I think). Here's another blog with a good photo of what this may look like: Phil's Warcabinet. I'll be blogging more about this as 2011 comes along.

In the spirit of starting this project, I found a command figure in my seemingly bottomless desk drawers and painted him up as the mounted colonel of my first infantry regiment.

Phillipe Grand-Nez, Comte de Roquefort

What else is up for 2011? I think an addition to my 28mm WWII project in the form of some British help to my 1940 French. Of course, this would require a new "box" and the British would only fill half of it. I guess I may have to revive the idea of a Fallschirmjaeger platoon as well (grinning mischievously). I guess this would qualify as the larger Project in a Box.

As far as Pocket Projects go, I received from Litko last week the bases for my 1:6000 WWII project so that should be started ( and perhaps finished) some time over the Xmas holidays. Another may be something completely different for me, a self-professed died-in-the-wool historical gamer (Imagination gaming notwithstanding). How does Dystopian Wars sound? Take a look here. We'll see. Next thing you know I'll be building space ship fleets! Now that's just crazy talk!

Thanks all for reading my ramblings over the past year during which I passed over the 10,000 hit mark. Wow!

Merry Christmas and Happy Yule!

28mm 1940 German Motorized infantry

2010-12-14T14:32:00.001-05:00

Although the vast majority of German infantry in 1940 (and indeed throughout the war) got around by the centuries-old expedient of boot leather, I decided I would motorize my German platoon. I opted for truck-borne infantry rather than putting them in halftracks, since the latter were even less common. Besides, when we are playing games that are meant to simulate the sharp end of the stick, infantry transport becomes as much eye-candy as anything else. I'm definitely of the school of thought that even panzer grenadiers with armoured halftracks didn't drive the damned things hell-bent-for-leather into the face of the enemy, guns a'blazin'! Once the infantry was engaged closely with the enemy (and probably, more often than not, even before the shooting started in earnest), the transport (whether trucks or halftracks) became, at best, a base of fire and/or a rally point. This despite the penchant for gamers to unload their infantry and advance on the enemy with the halftrack-mounted MGs grinding forward with them.

To mount my infantry platoon, I turned to a number of different manufacturers. I picked up some Opel Blitz trucks from Army Group North Miniatures and a Horch staff car from Company B. The trucks are the usual AGNM high quality pieces; sturdy and easily assembled and painted. The Company B staff car, while wonderfully rendered and cast, was somewhat less sturdy than the AGNM vehicles. One of the side panels was broken in transit and required some judicious repair work. But for that, the model is quite a beautiful piece and will hold my platoon command quite nicely.

A couple of shots of the new trucks and Horch staff car. The latter will have a crew once I get them off of my painting desk. The StugIIIC in the foreground is an AGNM piece.

For my soon-to-be-painted pioneer squad, I chose the JTFM Sdkfz 251/7C. This is the pioneer version with the bridging pieces mounted on top. I thought this would be a good way to differentiate this squad from the others and provide it with a bit more protection (given that it will probably be given the tougher assignments).

The JTFM Sd 251/C pioneer halftrack. Until I looked at this photo, I hadn't noticed two things: I didn't finish painting the MG34 and the Dullcote seems to have left some white particles on the surface of the vehicle. I didn't notice them while I was handling it so maybe it's just the photo.

Recently, I was also able to purchase two PzIIIG tanks to supplement my armoured force. These mount the short 50mm gun. Granted, they shouldn't really be fielded with my 1940 Germans but if I were ever to face a 1941 Russian force, then they could give me a much-needed boost from my Pz38(t)s and PzIIs. I chose for these the AGNM models over the JTFM versions. I find the former to be sturdier and less fiddly to assemble (a function of the fewer parts and the one-piece hull/track casting).

AGNM PzIIIGs. These are quite nice models and come with extra stowage and tools to attach as one sees fit.

Also added was another Sd10 halftrack to help tow about my guns. I found in one of my desk drawers an extra Pak36 AT gun and a 75mm infantry gun. Both of these I mounted as limbered without the crews (which I didn't have anyway).

Pak36 AT guns and 75mm IG towed by Sd10 halftracks. These will also have crews...eventually.

Next up for this project? hmmmmm.....nothing!

Do you have an ImagiNation?

2010-11-28T16:56:00.000-05:00

For those not conversant with the idea of ImagiNation wargaming, shame on you! Essentially, a fictitious world is created, armies are built, uniforms developed, personalities formed and histories written. These nations or principalities can be geographically fictitious or based on historical countries. More often than not it seems that the mid-18th century is chosen for the historical genre of such ImagiNations but I have seem some set in 19th c. colonial periods, the ancient world, and even World War II. You can see a great example of this type of 18th century Imagination here or here.

So, why am I spouting off about this? I've contemplated this sort of project often over the years and, in fact, I did make a sortie into it once before. A number of years ago I built a 28mm fictitious Marlburian army, based on the French army of the period but with units named only after French cheeses, led by the Marquis de Fromage. The uniforms were based on contemporary fashions but with my own colour choices. Unfortunately, I could find no opponent to delve into this world of ImagiNations with me and I ended up selling the entire collection. Not so now! I'm working on persuading another interested party in pursuing this type of project again, at least on a limited basis to start. And nothing has been decided, even if we're really going to go forward with it. But it's fun to dream and plan.

28mm Marlburian Imagination forces from a long-gone collection.

The Crusader SYW figures sold by Old Glory (and sold with the OG Army 40% discount) look quite inviting and would probably form the basis of a collection. During some down time at work today, I began to develop some uniform schemes for the first units in my army. I haven't even come up with a suitably tongue-in-cheek name for my nation/principality yet but it's premiere commander will be, of course, Le Marquis de Fromage!

Regiment Roquefort

Regiment Camembert

Grenadiers de Boursin

Cuirassiers de Brie

New Arrivals

2010-11-27T18:54:00.000-05:00

I've been rather quiet on the gaming front of late, not regularly attending MIGS nor sitting at my painting desk. I've been fortunate enough to procure a very short-term contract for some work at York University. This fortunate event has a down-side: my hobby has reluctantly had to take a back seat. This whole working for a living thing sucks! On the bright side (for my hobby, at least), the contract is finished next week so I should be able to catch up on some projects on my desk over the Christmas holidays.

On the slate are a number of 1/56 vehicles for my WWII Germans along with some new guns for both the Germans and the French. Also to be tackled soon is the new 1:6000 naval collection. In fact, I received my order from Magister Militum yesterday, a mere 13 days after ordering. In a very small box (see picture below) were well packed Figurehead 1:6000 WWII ships. In fact, in that tiny box were more than 40 ships; enough to fill out the entire order of battle for Cape Matapan (I believe the largest naval battle of WWII in the Mediterranean). I'm waiting now for my custom cut bases from Litko. These will be of the same general style as for my 1:2400 WWI naval project but somewhat smaller. I have yet to decide whether to paint the bases or render them in Photoshop and print them on label paper. The former would probably be the easiest since I have already figured out the process for the WWI collection.

And soon to be discussed, the possibility of the notion of maybe, perhaps delving into the intriguing world of 18th century ImagiNations! More of that anon...

1:6000 WWII Naval

2010-11-13T14:39:00.000-05:00

I received last week from the ever-friendly and helpful Ron P a bag full of Hallmark 1:6000 WWII boats. Thanks to Ron, the number of models I need to order for the Battle of Cape Matapan OB has been severely lessened. Thanks again Ron!

Littorio class Italian battleships.

My first impression when opening the package was, "Holy crap! These are damned tiny!" My second impression (after I put on my spectacles) was, "How do they get all the detail that small?" The largest ship in the batch is the Italian battleship Vittorio Veneto that measures in at a astounding 35mm long! How am I ever going to paint these? Of course, also on the question list is how to base them. The ships come with bases into which the ships fit, with molded waves. Very cool, but very small. Even with the bases the models are far too small for my stubby fingers to move about efficiently (and we won't even talk about Michael's bulbous bear paws!). So I need to devise a basing system that is easier to handle and looks good. My first thought is to emulate my WWI 1:2400 ship basing, but with slightly smaller bases. Probably the best way to go. But I found an interesting basing idea here and I've included a photo from the site below. I like the way the graphics have been rendered and produced on a printer then attached to the base. The ship model is then placed on the "water." More to think on!

A New Project?

2010-11-03T10:47:00.000-04:00

I've been rather quiet on the production front of late. I'm in one of my occasional painting slumps (of which I'm sure most of you are familiar) but I haven't been completely idle. I have, as always, continued gaming and you can see a few pics of a recent game below. I've also been spending some time with planning, reading and research. Of particular interest to me of late has been the Mediterranean naval campaigns of WWII, specifically the Battle of Matapan in 1941 (you can see a short synopsis here). I have gamed in the WWII naval genre before using Victory at Sea but was unimpressed. In those games, we were using US and Japanese fleets and the action devolved into air power games. The naval aspect was definitely subsumed into the more uninteresting (at least to me) management of air assets. The Mediterranean campaigns between the Royal Navy and the Regia Marina seem to offer scope for capital ship engagements with limited air power resources (the Royal Navy had only one small carrier at Matapan and the Italians used only land-based bombers). The relatively small and self-contained scope of the operating theatre also appeals for campaign gaming.

So, having (perhaps) chosen a new project, what scale? GHQ offers a comprehensive WWII range that has incredible detail and would seem to be the first choice. But I have happened upon the Hallmark range of 1:6000 ships (yes, that's three zeroes!) and I'm currently contemplating these little beauties (that you can see here to the left). While they have less detail than their larger GHQ 1:2400 cousins (duh!), they make up for that in their relative price point. The Hallmark ships are five or six times cheaper per ship than GHQ. The smaller scale has other advantages: 1) less storage space is needed; 2) a smaller playing surface is needed; 3) alternatively, the same space as needed for larger scales could be used...this would make for a more visually realistic (sic) playing surface, especially if aircraft carriers are involved.

What else is happening? The in-laws are preparing for their annual six-month Florida sojourn, leaving the basement en-suite apartment empty for the winter. I will again be transforming it into a temporary gaming room and workshop. There will be, of course, a gaming table but this time round I plan to also use the space for some larger terrain projects. Daniel plans to start on his WWI trench boards during his Christmas break and I would like to get a start on my new WWII buildings. Should make a lovely mess!

We played a 1940 scenario with Disposable Heroes on Sunday at MIGS. I hosted the game for two new and interested parties: Mark and Steve #2. Thanks guys for attending! I decided on a simple attack-defend scenario to introduce the new guys to the rules. You can see the central terrain feature in the picture above. Some of you may recognize this bridge from many WWII games in the past. Many a British paratrooper has given his all to defend (or capture) this bridge.

The German attack quickly received a serious blow. A French S-35 took its first shot of the game and destroyed Steve #1's brand-spanking-new Neubaufahrzeug, a three-turreted German tank of extremely limted production-run, deployed during the Norway campaign (note: Before anyone mentions that this tank never appeared in the 1940 France campaign, it should be obvious from what I just wrote that I'm fully aware and don't really care!).

The last moves of the game saw German panzer grenadiers assaulting the bridge under the cover of a smoke screen. The Germans eventually took the bridge in the waning moments, earning a marginal victory (there were still substantial French forces intact and nearby).

WWII Buildings

2010-10-18T13:07:00.002-04:00

I don't usually make two posts back-to-back but I thought that since I had the camera out, I'd snap a pic of my next terrain project. While rooting around in some of my boxes at the club, I pleased to find some O-scale railroad buildings (yes it was aYule-like surprise there too!). I had bought these many years ago with the intention of adding them to my former WWII terrain collection. These are the perfect scale for 28mm skirmish gaming and will allow us to get out of the countryside and into some more urban-like game settings. The non-red and white buildings are all modular, meaning that the floors are interchangeable. They will need to be roughed up a bit and the signs changed (probably to French, given the 1940 focus of my collection). I'd also like to experiment with making them bomb-damaged. The red and white garage on top is an O-scale snap-together kit that will serve well in my French town. Anyone know where to get in-scale garage fuel pumps of the period?

I'll try and post in-progress photos of this project. Stay tuned....

The Spanish Fleet Has Arrived!

2010-10-18T12:07:00.007-04:00

While I've bumming around between major projects, I've been trying to clean up a few other small ones that are either partly finished or never started. My 1/2400 Napoleonic naval is one of the latter. Vidal had talked me into purchasing the Spanish fleet for Trafalgar from Old Glory more than a year ago (see an earlier post for a picture of the unpainted ships). It wasn't til recently when he hosted a small game with his ships that I thought seriously of painting mine. Well, they're finished and itching to unleash the 136-gun behemoth that is Santissima Trinidad. This fleet also boasts three other first rate ships: Principe de Asturias (112), Sanata Anna (112), and Rayo (100). While these huge ships may seem impressive, the wretched state of training and seamanship in the Spanish navy at the time means that I'll have some serious trouble beating up on Vidal's Royal Navy dogs. At least my captains go into battle nattily dressed (at least in my mind's eye). The ships also tend to be somewhat more colourfully appointed than their English counterparts.

The Spanish fleet as fought at Trafalgar. The four first rates are on the right of the front line in the picture. The massive 136-gun Santissima Trinidad is farthest right.

On the WWII front, I attended MIGSCON on Saturday and was able to pick up a few accessories for my 28mm WWII forces. I found enough AGNM Opel Blitz trucks to motorize my German platoon and I also picked up two Pzkpfw IIIs with the 50mm gun. One of the latter is actually Alex's (which I will paint for him as I do my own). I also purchased a pioneer halftrack for my upcoming German engineer squad. This is only a single squad of 10 figures, meant as an add-on for my German platoon for specific scenarios.

Aside from my MIGSCON purchases, a thorough searching of various drawers and boxes in and around my painting desk yielded some other surprises. I now have in my painting queue (besides the aforementioned vehicles and engineer squad), another Pak36 37mm AT gun and 75mm infantry gun. The plan is to mount these on separate bases in limbered mode to replace my current crewed models when in towed configuration. Hiding away in one drawer was a Pzkpfw IVF2. This model has the 75mm L43 gun with the earlier conical (or ball-like) muzzle brake. Looking at the AGNM site, I noticed that this model is not listed. The model I have may be from a test batch that Vince may have run a few years ago. If that's true, it's odd that they're not offered for sale.

And maybe I could persuade Alex to take the Pz IV in exchange for his Pz III (allowing me to build the PzIIIs with short and long 50mm guns respectively...hmmmm, Alex, are you reading this? The Pz IV would go well with your later war Germans!).

My desk drawers have been a bit Yule-like of late since I also found very nice models of a Pak38 50mm AT gun and a Sig33 150mm Infantry gun, both from AGNM. The former should give my German infantry a bit of added punch should they run into any Russian armour in the future (seems likely, given Steve's armour output). The SIG33 will probably have little tactical use in our games but could make a nice scenario-driven objective or just look damned mean and dirty on the table.

Pak38 50mm AT gun from AGNM.

SIG33 150mm infantry gun from AGNM.

Two Projects Finished!

2010-09-24T17:29:00.004-04:00

"Ha," you laugh derisively! "There is no such thing as a finished gaming project. You'll always be adding on to it."

This may be true but in the context of how I had originally planned these two projects, they are FINISHED! Besides, there's only so much room in the damn boxes. For those who don't know, my new approach is to make the project fit the box (see here). In an odd twist, I finished both projects in the same week (that was not planned). This week I was able to finish applying helmet decals to the rest of my 1940 German platoon and base them up. I also finished some reinforcements for my Carlist Wars armies. These were some add-ons to already existing units to bring them up to my standard unit sizes in multiples of six.

A couple shots of the 1940 project, as originally planned. On the left, a platoon of German infantry with support weapons and a couple platoons of armoured vehicles. On the right, their French counterparts. All figures are from Crusader (except a few gun crew figures from Bolt Action).

Although the 1940 stuff seen here is truly finished as planned, there seems to be a fair bit of room left over in the case. Hmmmm, what to do? I think that case is just calling out for some Fallshirmjaegers! Or some Tommies!

"Whoa, pardner!" you sputter. "Didn't you just get through telling me you were finished?"

"My collection, my rules!" I justify.

"Hypocrite!" spills from your gob.

"Who are you? My wife? Have another glass of wine."

The Isabellino army; cavalry in the rear, and British Auxiliary Legion to the fore.

The Carlist Army of the Centre, led by Don Cabrera (in the white coat).

Now this project can really and truly said to be finished. I have absolutely no room left in the case. And don't tell me to buy another case. Geez, that would constitute another project. Hmmmm.......

new additions

2010-09-16T10:31:00.005-04:00

I ventured to Cambridge last night to play with Vidal's little boats. Specifically, these tiny ships were 1/2400 scale Napoleonic from Old Glory. Vidal talked me into picking up the Spanish fleet for Trafalgar some time ago (a year or more?) and they've been patiently sitting on a shelf beside my desk since then (Vidal has the British fleet). We used Kiss Me Hardy rules from Richard Clarke at Too Fat Lardies, fast becoming my favourite rule developer and publisher. The rules are pretty fast-paced and bloody (meaning we didn't have to wait long for the fun stuff to happen) and use the familiar Lardies card deck. After the game, I came home and pulled out my (as yet) unpainted Spanish ships and started the planning process. Why is it that every time I go to Vidal's house to game, I come home with a new project brewing? 28mm Carlist Wars with Sharp Practice, 28mm WWII with Disposable Heroes, and now Napoleonic ships? Damn, but I have no self-control.

The Spanish fleet straight out of the box.

These models have several redeeming qualities. First, they are one-piece castings with bases included. This cuts down considerably on preparation time. Some may see the one-piece models as a detraction because of the way the masts and rigging are solid slabs of metal. True, as seen in their naked state, they seem a little bit chunky and crude but some judicious painting can resolve this issue relatively easily. Second, as part of the one-piece casting, the base is sculpted with waves etc. This eliminates completely the need to source and apply bases and spackle for the waves. Third, the small scale makes playing larger battles feasible, even on the dining room table. So, I'm off to clean these little boats up and start painting the sides in Spanish blood red. They need to look as scary as possible cuz the Spaniards sure as hell weren't the top o' the pile!

I was also able to finish up a few support teams for my 28mm 1940 Germans. I found I had enough helmet decals left to finish these up while waiting for the next batch from Company B.

These support teams should give my German platoon a bit of extra punch: 2 x 50mm mortar teams (on the left), 2 x Anti-tank rifle teams (right and center), and 1 x 81mm mortar team. Crusader Miniatures.

A close-up of the 81mm mortar team.

1940 German infantry

2010-09-14T12:29:00.004-04:00

After some unusual prevarication, I've finally finished up some of my 28mm 1940 German infantry. By prevarication, I don't mean I have been putting off painting them. Far from that, in fact. I have actually finished painting all 60+ figures in a fairly short time but I'm waiting on some helmet decals as the last addition (more of that anon). My hesitation or quibbling was directed upon uniform colours and details. You'd think that WWII German infantry would be fairly easy to paint. In my first first 28mm WWII collection, I had over 100 German figures; but that collection is long gone. In that attempt, I had concentrated on late WWII. This time around I've chosen 1940 and the German tunics (especially) are of a different colour than later. In fact, they were quite green compared to their other gear and later war uniform items. I spent more time than normal painting test figures and experimenting with paints and washes. I finally settled on a colour set that pleased my eye (and that's the final test, after all). I think I more closely approximated the colours in the Osprey volume on German infantry, seen here:

I also had to spend some time on the helmet decals I had acquired from Company B (see them here). In the early war, German infantry sported the tri-colour shield on the right side of the helmet and the German eagle on the other side. Strictly speaking, these had been removed or painted over by the 1940 campaign but I plan to eventually raise a Polish force for some 1939 gaming and the anomaly of tri-colours in 1940 is easily accepted (by me, at least). The Company B decals are quite small and thus fiddly to apply but I think they're worth the effort.

You can see the results of my efforts below. There are two squads and a platoon command here. Coming up (as soon as I get the next batch of decals in the mail) will be the third squad, a recon section, and some various support teams.

Platoon command and two squads, some 30 figures. All figures by Crusader Miniatures.

The platoon commander (with pistol)and his senior NCO (with SMG). I decided to model the platoon Fledwebel in peaked cap. Although unusual, NCOs sometimes did wear this headgear using this option sets him apart from the other SMG-wielding squad leaders.

The tri-colour helmet decals can be seen here. The are actually slightly over-sized but if they were in exact scale, they'd be almost impossible to apply.

And on the opposite side, the German eagle decals. There's no way in Hades I'd be able to reproduce these with a paint brush.

Carlist Wars Fight at MIGS

2010-09-08T18:21:00.006-04:00

Last Friday I was able to rope a few friends into playing with my Carlist Wars collection at the local clubhouse (MIGS). Again we tried a more open field battle using Sharp Practice with, I think, favourable results. The game sported perhaps 160 figures and was completed in three and a half hours with four players. I think we've become relatively conversant with the rules and a mini-campaign may be on the horizon. Thanks to Steve for taking the photos below!

Initial deployments.
The Isabellino force on the left, comprised mainly of the British and French Legions, and the Carlists on the right. The French Foreign Legion in the left foreground would go on to see some heavy fighting in this battle. Most of the Carlist infantry is made up of regional battalions of 18 figures each, divided into a formed group of 12 and a skirmish group of six. Carlist cavalry can be seen in right background approaching the Isabellino left flank and the BAL rocket battery stationed there.

Initial deployments from the other flank.
The fields and trees were made (quite well) by Steve Thomson (you can see his blog here).

The Isabellino left flank was held by BAL rockets and lancers. The Carlist cavalry made a bee-line for these isolated units and drove back the lancers, seen here regrouping behind the rockets, which have just loosed another (useless) volley at their antagonists. The Carlist lancers went on to rout the rocketeers before being bounced themselves by the revived BAL lancers (led by a Level III Big Man, no less!).

The game at its midpoint.
The grain field in the center of the frame has caught alight and has become a no-man's land for all. This impassable obstruction caused a host of problems for both sides. The Isabellino gun in the left center has unlimbered and begun to fire on the Carlist infantry but the burning field has limited its range of vision and usefulness. The fight for the rocket battery can be seen in the center-left background.

Disposable Heroes...1940

2010-08-19T13:24:00.006-04:00

As I mentioned in my post of yesterday, I haven't been idle, even though my painting output has gone down considerably of late. We played a game of Disposable Heroes last weekend and I've posted some piccies below. Also below are some shots of a Wings of War game we played recently with Daniel's new balloon. WoW is a great way to while away a couple of hours with minimal cerebral activity and maximum gaming fun!

German Pak36 anti-tank gun waiting a furious onslaught of French FT-17s (yeah, like that's possible).

French R-35 backs up the infantry. Daniel spent some extra effort customizing this AGNM vehicle to have the commander sitting out the rear turret hatch.

Another shot of the R-35, with commander studiously surveying the German positions.

French FT-17s awaiting the command to charge!

French NCO directs his section.

A couple shots of our recent Wings of War battle.

Painting Funk! Gone!

2010-08-18T19:32:00.006-04:00

I've noticed that it's been a few weeks since I've last posted. While I've been in a bit of a painting funk (a normal cyclical occurrence), I haven't been completely idle. I've been able to play a few games of Disposable Heroes with my growing 28mm 1940 collection. And before resting from the paintbrush, I had 90% finished a few additions to my Carlist Wars project. Luckily for my motivation, Vidal and I scheduled time to play with the collection today and that forced me to get back at my desk and add the finishing touches this week (mainly basing). Vidal was also able to add to his force with a new Carlist artillery piece and crew (Vidal, if you're reading this, I somehow lost the photo you sent...I meant to post it here). Without further ado, you can see some pics of the new Carlist Wars figures below along with some shots from the game today. As an added bonus, there is something completely different at the end of the post!

I now have some armed clergy to harangue my Carlist troops. My particular favourite is the priest with the cross upheld in one hand and drawn sword in the other! (Perry Miniatures)

And to inhabit and give life to my Spanish village, a selection of civilians. I finally found a use for purple ink! (Perry Miniatures)

British Auxiliary Legion rockets.
These bad boys have questionable tactical value in a game but are damned sexy and are fun to play with! In this game of Sharp Practice, they were able to give 10 shock points to a Carlist cavalry unit with just one rocket (for those who don't have the context, that's alot!). (Perry Miniatures)

Another shot of the rocket battery with BAL infantry deployed alongside.

British Auxiliary Legion lancers. A mighty fine looking unit that lived up to the age-old gaming tradition of running ignominiously in their tabletop debut.

A look along the Isabellino lines at the beginning of the game. As usual, once we started playing, I forgot to take any more pictures of the action.

Another look, this time along the Carlist main battle line. I decided to try Sharp Practice with a more open field battle this time. It worked quite well and we had a fairly definitive conclusion in four hours with about 250 figures, all individually based. Not bad methinks!

The inhabitants of the town prepare to leave before the battle starts. A servant pours a drink for the Don and his mother before they embark. In the background, an armed monk patrols the church precinct.

I've decided to add a few vignettes to my collection and among them is this roadside shrine. The basic piece in this is a Christmas ornament, heavily modified. The walls are chopped up from Games Workshop leftovers and the figures from the Perry Miniatures civilian and armed clergy packs. In the foreground, a priest bestows his blessings on a monk. In the left background, a woman shows reverence at the shrine.

A close-up of that devout reverence.

And as mentioned above, something new! Michael and Daniel arrived home on leave last week and Daniel promptly showed a desire to pick up a paint brush. I wasn't slow to throw a figure into his hand! He volunteered to paint a sample from the Perry Miniatures War of Roses figures I received recently. This may even be enough to get me assembling and painting the plastic bowmen! You can see Daniel's handiwork below (the young Paduan has outstripped his master).

Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, "The Kingmaker."

Blitzkrieg!

2010-07-21T21:57:00.010-04:00

I have some new additions to one of collections this time around but first a milestone of sorts. This is my 100th post since beginning the blog in May 2009. By my calculations, that's one post every four days or so. Whodathunkit? I only noticed this because a fellow blogger mentioned the same milestone for his blog on TMP.

So, onto the new additions. Although I'm in the home stretch for painting my Carlist Wars collection (only 30 figures to go), I've been inspired of late to carry on with my 28mm WWII 1940 project (you can see an earlier post here). A couple of weeks ago, as I was preparing to leave for Historicon, I received two separate Crusader figure orders in the post. One contained the figures to finish off my French platoon (one squad plus rifle grenadiers for all the squads) and the other more substantial order brought me an entire German platoon with support weapons. As you can see from the pictures I lifted from the Crusader site, these are the same sculpting style as my French (one of the requirements for my new projects...keeping the style consistent, if possible). The ironic thing about the German batch is that I had made the order several weeks before Historicon when I thought I wasn't going down. By the time I had made the decision to attend the show, Old Glory had already shipped the order. I could have saved the shipping costs...oh well.

I haven't yet put any of these new figures on the painting desk as I've been finishing off some Carlist Wars additions (coming soon to a blog near you) and the WWII vehicles in the photos below. These I've also had packed away for a number of years, unpainted and neglected. As I was waiting for my Crusader figures to arrive and since we've playing more WWII lately, I decided to pull them out and slap some paint on them to add some variety to my future German platoon. All are superb models from Army Group North Miniatures in Toronto.

Sturmgeschutz IIIC.
This guy will provide some close-in HE support for my German platoon.

Some transport for my support weapons teams. The Opel Blitz truck can tow the Pak 36 anti-tank gun and/or carry the mortar teams. The Sdkfz 10 (1 ton) I can see pulling the 75mm infantry gun. In game terms, these will be eye-candy for the most part. Disposable Heroes games tend to be close-in, infantry-centric affairs where support weapons find a safe place to deploy and remain there for the relatively short duration of the action.

And some heavier armour to face off against the French R-35s and S-35s. This is my new medium armour platoon comprised of one Pz IVD and two Pz 38(t)s. This group will add some much-needed weight to my light platoon (see it here). The Pz 38(t) is one of my favourite tanks of the war, mainly because of its look. Something about all those sharp angles and rivets!

Historicon 2010

2010-07-15T13:57:00.008-04:00

I was able to make it down to Historicon again this year. The decision was made relatively last-minute to go down and help out Ken at the All the King's Men Toy Soldiers booth. I met up with Ken on Wednesday at the Valley Forge Convention Center to construct the booth. After some pre-show concerns about loading/un-loading concerns, the unload was a breeze and the set-up quick and easy (as was the pack-up on Sunday...dealer hall closed at noon and we were packed up and driving away at 12:35!). There are a number of conversations on TMP about the facility so I won't bore anyone here with details. Suffice to say that the convention center was well-lit, well-air conditioned, and clean. The hotel rooms were a definite step up from the Lancaster Host and the only minor quibble about the place would be the reliability of the elevators. I suspect that, given the obvious superiority of the facility over the Lancaster Host, most of the angst and bad comments I've noticed on-line are rooted more in an aversion to or fear of change than in any real-world negatives.

Ken and I had a great show, of course, and we were able to meet up with old friends and customers. Working a trader booth can be tiring but it's worth it, at the very least, to have an opportunity to talk gaming all day long with willing participants! And the drinks and cigars were pretty good too! My thanks again to Ken for making the trip possible and enjoyable (even if I apparently can't do Beer Math).

We also were able to see number of great looking games, but one in particular caught my eye. This was hosted by Architects of War on their own terrain and run by no less personages than John Stallard of Warlord Games and the Perry brothers. The terrain was spectacular and the figures quite nice (they were all Perry figures, after all). The gun-fire smoke even had blinking LED lights inside and a soundtrack with the sound of cannon and musket fire was playing in the background. You can see the lights in the (admittedly very bad Crackberry) video below:

The lovely Spanish village occupying one end of the board. This entire building complex was raffled off at the end of the show. Unfortunately, the right person didn't win!

Spectacular sculpting around the bridge!

Small military encampment. This is a good example of how the little things can bring a game to life, even if they have no direct bearing on the playing of the game.

Village square.

Small garden: again, a good example of how little things can bring character to a game.

I didn't spot this one until a second pass-by. A proposal in action!

A simple haystack/manure pile. This is minimalism at its best!

One last photo of a different game. This one is a Carlist Wars set-up using Black Powder rules. Another nice Spanish town but I found the boards rather drab. I have an issue with all games set in the Iberian Peninsula depicted with brown, drab terrain. But that's a rant for another time!

Lanceros de Tortosa

2010-06-22T21:45:00.004-04:00

I've been able over the last couple of weeks to add four new groups to my Carlist Wars collection although I haven't posted pictures of two of them since they are just add-ons to two of my 12-figure Carlist infantry units, making them 18 figures each. These additions push the collection over the 230 mark. I only have about 40 figures left to paint and then the planned project is completed.

First up are the Lanceros de Tortosa. I chose these because of the unique sky-blue tunics and red facings. Finishing this unit I found myself in a conundrum I'm sure is familiar to many figure painters. I spent some time and effort equipping these figures with the fiddly but very nice lance pennons from the Adolfo Ramos collection. I thought that these really set off the unit but as I checked my painting notes, I noticed that the pennons were supposed to be red-yellow-red. Damn, I thought...do I leave them? Probably nobody would be the wiser. Or do I rip 'em off and get the proper type? So I went back to the source and was somewhat mollified to find that it said "pennons may have been red-yellow-red" (Conrad Cairns, A Savage and Romantic War, Spain 1833-1840). OK, I thought, I can live with the ambiguity. But as I was reading the passage I came upon another note which I had obviously missed or (more likely) chose to omit when I was originally researching the uniforms of this unit. Apparently, they were supposed to have brass shoulder scales. This issue was actually much easier to deal with, since you can see from the picture below that the figures don`t have shoulder scales. In fact, to my knowledge, Carlist cavalry figures aren`t available with them. Besides, justifying their absence would be easier in a conflict in which there was a decided dearth of adherence to regulations.

I wonder how often these types of compromises are made by gamers. Quite often, I suspect. Of course, there was no need to confess the ambiguities. It would have been unlikely that I would have been confronted with someone calling me on it. And if someone were to do such a thing in one of my hosted games....well, those who know me well enough also know what my reaction would be.

Lanceros de Tortosa. Perry Miniatures with Adolfo Ramos lance pennons.

The second batch is made up of Carlist guerrilleros (or they could simply be poorly-equipped infantry). These are a motley bunch and took a bit longer to paint than their regular infantry brethren. They are akin to ACW confederates in this way. More variation in colours and types of clothing and equipment makes for more time switching paints. These are some of the Perry brothers best figures in the Carlist Wars line and they are led by a suitably heroic Big Man (waving his sword in the center of the frame). I must devise a suitably tongue-in-cheek name for this fellow!

Carlist guerilleros. Perry Miniatures with Adolfo Ramos flag.

Up next some additions to the British Auxiliary Legion in the form of lancers and rockets!

Weekend Gaming

2010-06-14T11:05:00.006-04:00

I was able to play two games this weekend at MIGS. First up on Friday was an opportunity to put out my entire Carlist War collection. There wasn't much to the scenario, beyond wresting control of a small village from a force of outnumbered Carlists. Thanks to Alex, Steve and AJ for an enjoyable game! Some random pictures below (from Steve's camera!):

Tortosa infantry await the assault of the French and British legions.

Aragon infantry on the other side of the village, also waiting to be attacked.

A force of Cristino infantry and artillery approach the village: Marines (blue uniforms) in the foreground with a guard unit beside them.

Carlist cavalry in reserve.

The British Auxiliary Legion deploys to attack the village with the French Foreign Legion backing them up.

Second up, on Sunday, was the first test of my 1940 French force using Disposable Heroes rules, accompanied by Steve and John (thx guys!). We had scrounged together some German infantry from around the club to to go with my German armour and face the French. An understrength French platoon with one R-35 in support was tasked with blunting a German attempt to take an important crossroad. The Germans attacked with a full-strength platoon and some light armour in support. Unfortunately (for the Germans at least), the French were more than a match for the Germans.

German infantry and smoking armoured car in the foreground. The French hold the village at the centre of the photo. The R-35 that hit the ill-fated armoured car sits behind a hedge just to the left of the village. The roof of the stone building has been removed to access the stubborn French defenders within.

The view from the other side. German infantry approach the village from the left. A German Pak 36 anti-tank gun has deployed in the woods on the left and is drawing a bead on the French tank on the opposite side of the village (and ultimately missed its mark!).

Carlist mountain gun

2010-06-11T14:58:00.004-04:00

At the risk of boring everyone to distraction, I've added yet another unit to my Carlist army for the First Carlist War project: this time around a mountain gun and crew to give the Carlists a bit of extra punch. These were small 3 or 4 lbers that could be broken down easily and transported by mule over rough terrain. I've used two Perry Miniatures codes for this gun team, deployed and packed on mules. I'll use all four mules when the gun is packed up and probably keep around the ones with the gun packed aboard even when the gun is deployed. I'm sure this group will look great struggling over rough terrain and deploying where Cristino cavalry can't get at them.

The gun team with gun deployed and ammunition mule close to hand.

The gun packed on mules and ready for transport.

The red boinas (large berets) are quite distinctive and set these fellas apart from their Northern army brothers.

1940 French support

2010-06-07T14:00:00.005-04:00

It's been a busy couple weeks in the hobby for me. I attended Torcan and Raycon a week ago and received my hotly anticipated Perry order on Monday last. I had run out of Carlist War figures to paint and had mis-timed my order. Usually I try to get my orders here before running out of stock but there was unexpected benefit from the wait. During the three weeks that I was waiting for the Carlist figures, I pulled out my 1940 French and started to work on them (you can see some of them here). Nothing unusual about that. What caught me by surprise was the spark it ignited in me again for World War II gaming. Those who know me also know that I sold off a fairly large 28mm WWII collection some years ago. I had played a lot of games with various rule sets and, frankly, had burned out on the period/genre. Over the last five or six years since the sale, I've been waiting patiently for the interest to return. When I pulled out the Frenchies and put brush to figure the park was re-lit! Yesterday, Steve, John and I played a game of Disposable Heroes at the club on Steve's fabulous terrain (of which we neglected to take any pictures at all...doh!) and this has just fed the flames for me. Admittedly, we played with the modern supplement, so not exactly WWII (but close enough to add fuel to the fire). So the first addition (of two) to my collections over the last week are some support teams for my French platoon and the beginning of the platoon command.

French infantry platoon command, missing the platoon sergeant and rifle grenadier (Crusader figures).

French 80mm mortar team (Crusader figures).

French HMG (Crusader figures).

French 25mm AT gun team (Crusader figures).

Second up are more Carlist infantry for my FCW project, this time of a Valencia battalion. Not considered to be the best of Don Cabrera's troops, there were nonetheless "light and agile and useful for sudden attacks and skirmishing" (The First Carlist War, Conrad Cairns).

I chose to model this Valencia unit in the greatcoats more common to the Northern Army but not unseen with Don Cabrera's forces. I've also mixed in a few with red trousers. This will hopefully help distinguish them from the Aragon and Tortosa troops.

Next up for the Carlist Wars: more Carlist cavalry (this time in sky-blue tunics), a Carlist mountain gun, and more Carlist skirmishers.

Raycon 2010

2010-06-03T12:45:00.000-04:00

Saturday and Sunday last, aside from attending Torcan, the IPMS model show in Toronto, I trekked north with Vidal to Southampton on the shores of Lake Huron for Raycon 2010. Raycon is small private annual gaming weekend held at a cottage owned by Ray Martin, world-renowned journalist and philanthropist. I've been unable to attend the last couple of Raycons so Vidal and I were eager to get away for the weekend and bask in the glory of our hobby. We arrived on Saturday to a steak dinner being prepared and we quickly settled into the meal and the attendant wine. The evening was spent spinning the usual hobby yarns and imbibing.

Saturday's sunset over the lake. What a great setting for a gaming weekend! Cigars and wine anyone?

Sunday morning we set up the tables outside on the lawn and I broke out my Carlist War collection. With the soft breeze wafting off the lake, we played a spirited game of Sharp Practice in the sunshine. As you can see from the photos of the game below, the colours really "pop" in the natural light.

A general view of the table. We had a small village in the center of the table defended by a Carlist force intent on getting their booty away from the attacking Cristinos. They had loaded the valuables from the church in three ox carts (in front of the church in the center of the photo) and were trying to get them off-table.

Cristino line cavalry prepare for a charge (which was ultimately unsuccessful).

Cristino light cavalry penetrate into the town after massacring a Carlist infantry detachment blocking the road. This was the decisive action of the day!

Another shot of the Cristino light cavalry backed up by British rifles near the bridge.

Carlist infantry awaiting the Cristino assault on the town.

Carlist skirmishers use the high ground to snipe at Cristino cavalry that have approached too closely.

Aragon battalion defending a stone wall. It was this unit that was crushed by the Cristino light cavalry (the green-coated unit in the photos above). The round of Fisticuffs that resulted from the charge of the cavalry saw a record 35 dice rolled by the cavalry commander (and with only six component figures!).

Project in a Box

2010-06-02T12:25:00.000-04:00

Following on from my thoughts of how to approach a new project (click here for that post), I've had several discussions with friends about refining the process. In that earlier blog, the defining criteria to look at when contemplating a new project were:

manufacturer (do I have a yen for a particular range of figures?)
cost (the "stay away from Foundry" factor)
scope (how many figures do I need?)
familiarity (how much research is necessary?)
uniqueness ("there can be only one")
basing (does it really matter?)

As I've been plugging away at my Carlist war project (the big order arrived a few days ago!), I've been thinking about how to transport the figures. I had already made the decision to magnetize the bases and find a metal toolbox that would fit the collection. Luckily, I was able to find what I think is the perfect box for the collection. It's an all-metal toolbox with hinged open top and two sliding drawers. This box will easily fit all the figures for both armies in this collection (about 300 figures). Having bought the case, I realized that I had actually gone about it ass-backwards. As with most gamers with most projects, I usually build the project first and then try to find a box or boxes to contain it. I realize now that this is actually counter-productive, at least within the context of my new project parameters. Rather than paint then find the box, why not find a box that fits the necessary criteria and build the project to fit the case? This also has another somewhat un-planned result: it limits the size of the project (assuming I keep it to one case). In the case of the box in these photos, I think I've found a good case to house almost any project that fits my new project criteria.

So, what are the criteria for the project case?

1) metal construction (to house the magnetized figure bases)

2) drawers or hinged top deep enough to accommodate standard bearers, cavalry, pikemen, etc.

3) smooth drawer pulls (to avoid jiggles that will upset figures)

4) solid construction that will take some abuse, if necessary

5) top handle...this is particularly important since side handles are a nuisance for me

The case I chose meets all of the criteria but of course I'm sure there are many others and the choice would be reliant upon a gamer's personal preferences. Note: If anyone is interested, the case I chose I found at Lowe's for $45.00 CAD.

The toolbox of choice. It measures 20" wide x 9" deep x 12" high.

The hinged lid open to show the Carlist War infantry. There is ample vertical space to house the standards and bayonets.

The bottom drawer houses cavalry, commanders and various artillery pieces and wagons, again with ample vertical space.

If there is any drawback to this particular case, it is its weight. Without the figures it is a substantial lift (in the context of figure cases). With the contents it is quite heavy but this also produces another effect (besides me grunting and groaning when I pick it up). When it's sitting on the floor or on a table it is difficult to move or jostle so does help to protect the figures in a way. It also is less prone to jumping about in the back of my truck while driving.

Now I just need another one for my WWII project!

Hobby Shop Questions

2010-06-02T10:11:00.004-04:00

This past Saturday, I slipped out of the normal bounds of wargaming pursuits and attended a model show (no, not that kind of model!). My friend Jeff pulled me down to the big city to Torcan, the local show of the IPMS Toronto and Peel Scale Modelers group. Held at the CNIB building, this was small show by even Ontario wargaming convention standards. Like our cons, it had its contingent of vendors, of which more in a moment. In the same hall were the model competition displays. I must admit to some simple awe when I saw some of the entries. I've scattered some pics of some of them here, taken with my Crackberry (so of dubious quality).

Besides the competition entries, what really struck me was a conversation I had with a couple of vendors. These were young guys (under thirty, I think, thus "young") that ran a small hobby shop in Toronto. They carry the usual suspects of GW, FoW, plastic models etc. In our conversation I mentioned The Hobby Kingdom in Burlington and was met by blank stares. I then mentioned another shop, newly opened on the Queensway near Islington. They had not heard of these shops (the second in the same city as their own) and this is where my confusion is rooted. Forgive me for some sort of misguided thoughts of relatively intelligent market awareness, but if I were to own a shop that catered to a very small niche market such as modeling or wargaming, I'd make it my business to know everything about every competition shop within at least 100 km. I'd want to know everything! Where are they? Who are the owners? What is their focus? What do they sell? What is their price structure and how does it compare to mine? How and where do they advertise? And I'd want to keep my information up-to-date. To give these young guys the benefit of the doubt, perhaps they hadn't had time to scope out the new shop on The Queensway. But The Hobby Kingdom has been open for business for several years. Sure its in a different city perhaps 40 km away and probably not a direct competition but much can be learned from watching other similar operations. And to make it even more confusing, they didn't seem the least bit interested in either of these shops as I talked about them. To each his own....

Of special note was this 1/6th scale Tiger (yes, that's GI Joe scale!) with scratch-built interior. Wow!

something completely different

2010-05-13T15:39:00.013-04:00

From the long forgotten ashes of an abandoned project rises the Phoenix of 1940! As many know, some years ago I had built up a respectable 28mm WWII collection (upwards of 400 figures, 50 vehicles, and countless terrain pieces). You can see some photos of it scattered about here. After having fought a crap-load of games with this collection, I did what seems to be a pattern for me: I sold it all! OK, not quite all of it. Just before I decided to part ways with the collection, Daniel and I had begun the sub-project of 1940 France. We hadn't moved much further than assembling a few vehicles and guns and purchasing a platoon's worth of French from Crusader. Rather than move them out the door with the rest of the collection, I decided to keep these for some future incentive. That incentive seems to have been long in coming (5 years?). Recently, Vidal and I have been trying out a few WWII rule sets with his 15mm and 20mm collections. We seem finally to have hit on one that we both like, Disposable Heroes & Coffin for Seven Brothers (quite the mouthful) by Iron Ivan Games. So, as I've been waiting (impatiently) for my Perry Carlist Wars figures to arrive, I pulled out a squad of Frenchies and started working on them. The results are below, along with some shots of the previously started 1940 collection.

A platoon of 1940 French infantry, minus a rifle grenadier (Crusader Miniatures) and backed up by a Somua 35 (Army Group North Miniatures).

A closer shot of the Crusader French. As with the last batch of Carlist figures, I used the Army Painter matt sealer and it leaves a noticeable sheen that I'm not happy with.

Platoon sergeant, front and center.

The French 1940 uniform is really quite drab (but aren't most WWII uniforms?). Makes them easier to paint though.

AGNM French Panhard armoured cars. These show my first attempts at airbrushed camouflage.

AGNM French R-35s. Daniel decided to paint these in the unusual but not unknown blue-grey colour scheme to take a break from the camo schemes on his other French tanks (below).

Brigade Games French FT-17s. Daniel has done a great job on the tri-colour French camouflage on these WWI-era tanks.

A closer shot of the S-35 from AGNM and painted by Daniel.

German 75mm infantry gun. AGNM gun with Bolt Action crew.

German 37mm anti-tank gun. AGNM gun with Bolt Action crew.

German Sd222 armoured cars. AGNM models.

German light tank platoon with one command Pz IIf and three Pz Ib tanks.

All in all a good little start to the project. I have two more squads, a platoon command and some support weapons for the French infantry and some vehicles for the Germans. Now if I could just get Vidal to paint some Germans!

Don Carlos et al

2010-05-13T11:10:00.005-04:00

While waiting for my next Perry order to arrive, I've been finishing up some command figures. First up is Don Carlos, after whom the Carlist movement was named (and, by extension, the conflict itself). When King Ferdinand VII of Spain died on September 26, 1833, his wife Cristina was made regent on behalf of their infant daughter Isabella (hence the name for the movement, Cristino or Isabellino). Don Carlos, brother of Ferdinand, opted to believe that he should succeed his brother rather than the infant Isabella and he chose to fight for his perceived rights as King Carlos V. For a good synopsis of the war, see here.

Don Carlos in his familiar black overcoat.
I've switched to Army Painter matt sealer and it seems to give a bit of a sheen to the figures that is emphasized by the photography. Not sure I'm sold on this product yet. I may have to put a coat of Dullcote over it.

I've also painted up some infantry command figures for my Carlist army, in anticipation of the infantry coming in my next order.

Many of the Carlist standards were simple patriotic slogans on a white background:
"Viva la Religion, Viva Carlos V" and " Carlos V Rey Absoluto." These are some of the exquisite Adolfo Ramos flags.

And finally, a small vignette. With my latest issue of Battlegames magazine, I received two of the new plastic Perry Napoleonic French dismounted dragoons. After seeing these beautiful figures, and since I've been inspired somewhat of late by the vignette work of Der Alte Fritz on his blog, I decided to create a small cavalry piquet vignette for my Carlist project. The uniforms and equipment on these figures very closely resemble those used by Isabellino line cavalry units. The only serious exceptions were the lapels or plastrons on the tunics and the tall riding boots. Quick reference to Cairn's The First Carlist War 1833-1840 showed that Isabellino cavalry in the early years of the war still wore the tall boots and an all blue (or turqui) uniform. This is in contrast to the later yellow uniform and trousers (without tall riding boots). I had to carve off the lapels but fortunately there were only two figures to deal with. I used an extra Perry horse and replaced the arm on one figure with the separate bugler's arm from the Carlist metal command pack. The most difficult conversion work was in modelling the reins in the bugler's hands. I carved the reins off of the horse and replaced with brown needlepoint thread soaked in a glue/water mix (a fiddly business).

Isabellino cavalry piquet.
For the most part, this stand will just be window dressing for the table but there is provision in Sharp Practice for the use of sentries and piquets.

I've finally run out of Carlist Wars figures and I continue to eagerly await my Perry order!

Practical Painting

2010-05-07T10:26:00.004-04:00

I've been asked a few times of late about my painting technique; not so much about how I put paint to figures, but the more particularly about the way I prepare my figures for painting. So, following on a recent trend in the gaming blog world, I thought I'd show a few shots of my painting desk. I'm lucky to have one of the bedrooms of our house given over completely to a painting and computer room (the latter half of which I share with my ever-patient wife). There is nothing particularly revolutionary about my painting set-up in general. You can see all of the usual suspects that inhabit most painters' desks: paint racks, drawers full of figures and other paraphernalia, brushes, tools, etc.

My painting desk. This is an old IKEA corner office desk with various wooden IKEA cabinets for storage.

The computer desk, as you can see, fills the adjacent corner of the room. This allows me easy and quick access to music, email, etc. I can also have painting guide images on the screen for easy reference, if necessary.

Two things, I think, set it apart from others. First, the lighting: I use three adjustable goose-neck lamps with daylight bulbs. Why three lamps? If only one is used, as I often see elsewhere, there is a strong potential for shadows when painting. I used to find that a single lamp created shadows on one side of a figure while painting. I had read an illuminating (?) article about photographing miniatures that advocated multiple light sources to mitigate the effect of shadows and thought to try it for painting as well. Because I have three lamps shining from different angles, I rarely (if ever) have any dark unlit areas when I'm working at the desk. As my eyes continue to fail me, I need all the help I can get!

Second, I use racks to hold my figures. Most painters mount their figures on something to allow painting without touching the figure. I've seen small wooden blocks, plastic bottle/jar caps, cardboard, etc. I've tried most of these in the past but I find them a nuisance. If I want to move my painting around the figure I have two choices. I can twist my wrist to accommodate or put down the figure and pick it back up again after having spun it about. I borrowed the painting rack idea from a friend many years ago. I mount my unpainted figures on 1/2" diameter dowels with a hot glue gun (so they can be easily and quickly popped off). The dowels sit in a rack, simply constructed of 1"'x 3" pine with holes drilled to hold the 6" long dowels. Six inches seems to be the ideal length: if longer, they catch on my wrist; shorter, they don't sit comfortably in my palm. The dowels allow me to easily hold the figure for painting. Because the holder is round, I can spin the figure in one hand without ever having to put it down while painting. I simply roll the dowel in my palm and fingers to access the entire figure.

Three of my painting racks. You can easily see how rough the construction is. I'm not particularly concerned with perfect angles and cuts. I can build one of these racks in about 20 minutes with the right materials to hand.

A closer look at the construction (cheap pine, carpenters' glue and a few small nails). The holes are drilled in upper and lower decks to accommodate the dowels. You may notice the last dowel on the right is on a bit of an angle because I misaligned the upper and lower holes. Oh well...it still serves its purpose.

One of the dowels in my palm. You can see how easy it is to simply spin the dowel and gain access to all parts of the figure.

The racks also allow me to prime the figures easily. I clean and attach the figures at the desk, then carry the entire rack down to the garage for the spray prime (you can see many years of black primer accumulated on the racks). When the figures are finished, I can then take them back to the garage for their coating of spray sealer. As you can see, the racks are not precisely built, and nor do they need to be. My first experiments with building these took far too long because I was too worried about getting all the measurements and cuts correct. This is just not necessary. It will soon be covered in paint etc so there's no need to make a perfect little rack. One key to the design, though, is enough room between holes to allow mounted figures to sit atop the dowels without banging into one another (mine ar 2" apart and staggered to maximize the available space). You'll also notice that I have more than one rack. Usually, these are filled with figures in various stages of production. Just happened that I took these photos when the racks were pretty much empty (except for some 28mm WWII French). The racks sit to the side of my painting area. When I want a particular group, I simply lift that particular rack to the painting area under the lamps. I don't have to worry about moving a host of figures singly mounted on cardboard or some such material. The painting area is also left clear for other work when I'm not painting.

Thus, the grand design!

End of an Era

2010-05-04T10:35:00.004-04:00

More specifically, it's the end of a collection. I've just sold a large portion of my 28mm Napoleonic collection. The Austrian and Prussian armies have gone as whole lots and and the majority of my French army as well. I've kept two portions of the French army, however. The Wurttemburg contingent of four battalions and two batteries and two Westphalian cuirassier units are staying put. These I can use to contribute to any Napoleonic games at the club. Secondly, I kept some Front Rank commanders, artillerists, legere and Guard cavalry for possible use in Sharp Practice games. This will require some re-basing to single stands for the semi-skirmish genre but that is for the future. I've also kept my entire War of 1812 collection, which includes size-able British and American armies.

Unlike some gamers, I have no real issues with selling collections. The emotional attachment is relatively minimal and the transaction is mostly a cost-benefit analysis for me. I'm realistic enough to know that I'll never get back what a collection is actually worth so I take what I think is reasonable. I also take into account the buyer and his location, especially with large collections. I could probably get more for some collections if I sold them on eBay etc but the hassle of shipping is trumped by selling to a local buyer (which is the case with this sale). I'll take slightly less for the convenience of delivering the collection locally. In the case of these Napoleonics, I've had several years of enjoyment from them and its time to move on. Kinda' like girlfriends in high-school...meet, enjoy, move on!

So farewell to the Irish and Swiss regiments! We've had a merry time....

Rummage Sale 3

2010-05-03T17:29:00.004-04:00

A smaller lot this time around: 28mm French Napoleonic Old Guard. I'd like to sell both these units as one lot (and thus there is no unit price). There are 32 figures for $128.00 USD.

Old Guard Grenadiers & Chasseurs (32 figures: Foundry)

Old Guard Grenadiers (16 figures: Foundry)

Old Guard Chasseurs (16 figures: Foundry)

Rummage Sale 2

2010-05-03T17:13:00.005-04:00

Continuing from my last post, here is the next collection up for sale. As with the Sudan collection, I'd like to sell it as a lot rather than individual figures or units. Of course, I'm not averse to selling them by the unit but the per figure price is lower if the entire collection is purchased (plus the bonus figures...see below!). I'll accept PayPal payments or cash, if you're local. For those who don't know, I'm located in Canada, near Toronto, and shipping will be at cost (i.e. you want it fast, it'll cost you more).

54mm War of Independence (the American sort)

Below each photo there is a description of the figures and the unit cost. In total there are 36 foot figures and 1 gun. The total of the unit prices is $360.00 USD. If the collection is bought as a whole, $320.00 USD (plus the bonus gift in the last photo).

Continental Line (14 figures: All the King's Men Toy Soldiers) $140.00

British Light Infantry (8 figures: All the King's Men Toy Soldiers) $80.00

Pennsylvania Light Infantry (8 figures: All the King's Men Toy Soldiers) $80.00

Continental Artillery (6 figures + 1 gun: ATKM and CTS conversions) $60.00

Conte Continentals $30.00. If you buy the entire AWI collection, these are gratis.

Rummage Sale!

2010-05-03T16:28:00.011-04:00

I've been rummaging about in my seemingly never-ending pile of gaming boxes and I've decided to get rid of a couple of projects that have never been finished. You'll see pictures in this and the next post of 54mm Sudan and 54mm AWI collections. Both are relatively small collections and I'd like to sell them as whole lots rather than individual figures or units. Of course, I'm not averse to selling them by the unit but the per figure price is lower if the entire collection is purchased. I'll accept PayPal payments or cash, if you're local. For those who don't know, I'm located in Canada, near Toronto, and shipping will be at cost (i.e. you want it fast, it'll cost you more).

54mm Sudan

Below each photo there is a description of the figures and the unit cost. In total there are 49 foot figures, 2 guns and 7 cavalry. The total of the unit prices is $595.00 USD. If the collection is bought as a whole, $525.00 USD (plus the bonus gift in the last photo).

British line (8 figures: Armies in Plastic) $80.00

Royal Marine Light Infantry (8 figures: Armies in Plastic) $80.00

British artillery (6 crew + gatling gun) $60.00
These are conversions from the talented hands of Ken Cliffe of All the King's Men Toy Soldiers.

Marine Artillery (6 crew + gatling gun) $60.00

Again, conversions by Ken Cliffe.

Cavalry (3 British lancers + 3 Bengal lancers + 1 cmd) $105.00
These are conversions using CTS French Napoleonic dragoon bodies as a base to work from and AIP heads. The Bengal officer is a metal rider, the origin of which I can't remember. The horses are from CTS on ATKM metal bases. These were created before AiP brought out their British and Bengal lancer boxes.

Ansar warriors (10 warriors + 1 standard bearer: Armies in Plastic) $110.00

Ansar riflemen (10 riflemen: Armies in Plastic) $100.00

French Foreign Legion (9 figures: Armies in Plastic) If you buy the entire Sudan collection, this unit is gratis (even though it's not really a Sudan Wars unit).

Carlist War commanders

2010-05-03T15:52:00.006-04:00

I always come to this point in a project eventually. That is, when I've run out of figures to paint. That could either be because the project is (for the most part) finished or because I'm somewhere between figure orders/purchases. In the case of my First Carlist War project, it's the latter. As can be seen by most recent posts, I've been on a Carlist War streak of late and I've finished up the figures I bought at HotLead and Cold Wars more quickly than I had anticipated. So, I have no units to paint for either army and I must wait until I order some more. What I do have left to work on are command figures and various other vignette-type pieces. As with most of my projects, these sorts of things are left to the last or to a time when I'm sans figurines. Frustrated by a lack of new units to paint for my growing Carlist army, I turned last week to some command figures and other assorted paraphernalia.

Three new officers for my Cristino army (all Perry Miniatures, of course).

General Zumalacarregui, commander of Don Carlos' Northern Army. Yes, that's his real name (no, I didn't make it up). Kudos to anyone who can pronounce it properly!

Don Ramon Cabrera, commander of the Army of the Center, wearing his familiar white overcoat.

Cabrera again: I used a couple of extra command figures for this command vignette. The horse holder is an infantry bugler with the horn removed. The flag is Cabrera's personal standard from the Adolfo Ramos collection.

A beautiful carriage for some lovely Contessa! I bought this beauty for $10.00 at a convention last year (thanks Ron!) with visions of running scenarios where my heroic Cristino officers rescue the damsel in distress from the dastardly Carlists! I'm not even sure of the carriage manufacturer. The horses that came with it were far too small so I replaced them with two from the Perry Miniatures French Napoleonic caisson team (more of them anon). Meanwhile, I'm on an active search for suitable 1830s Spain aristocrat figures to go with this carriage.

Perry Miniatures artillery caisson for my Cristino artillery. The pack comes with a four horse team but I used the front pair for the carriage above.

Front Rank ox-drawn ammunition wagon. I had originally bought this to go with my Napoleonic Spanish artillery battery but thought it would do well with my FCW collection instead.

Cristino artillery piece with all its assorted vehicles in support.

RMC weekend

2010-04-26T09:50:00.005-04:00

Made the trip up to Kingston on the weekend, this time with Diana. She wanted to see her brothers' school and we thought we'd get some gaming in at the same time. Saturday night we played a spirited game with Daniel's cowboys. Some random shots of the cowboy game and the RMC campus below taken with my Crackberry (so they're a little fuzzy).

Daniel, Diana & Michael in front of the Mackenzie Building at RMC.

A new tank commander for the Canadian army?

A very bad shot of Daniel's new stagecoach (from Old Glory) racing down the main street of Deadwood.

A shot across the main street of Deadwood with the new stables in the center background.

New Carlists!

2010-04-19T18:42:00.006-04:00

Seems I've come to the end of my Carlist Wars purchases from Cold Wars and Hotlead. The two units I've just finished (see below) bring my Carlist army up to 30+ figures, still only one third of the Isabellinos. Looks like another Perry Miniatures order is on the horizon. Meanwhile, I can finish painting the Carlist and Isabellino mounted command figures that have been patiently waiting on my desk for a few months.

In keeping with my desire to model the Army of the Center (to compliment Vidal's Army of the North), the first unit up is infantry of Aragon. There were nine or ten battalions of these troops in Don Cabrera's army and said to be extremely tough and rigidly disciplined.

Aragon infantry. Perry Minatures.

Next up, some Carlist cavalry. These are Aragon lancers, quite flashy in their green tunics and red boinas (the big, doughnut berets). I particularly like the reversed colours of the trumpeter.

Aragon lancers. Perry Miniatures with Adolfo Ramos flag.

I think the next purchases for this army will be some artillery, another unit of lancers, and irregular infantry. Onwards....!