Sunny day in the garden

 It was mild today and we worked a little on tidying up the garden post winter. Working towards the garden railway taking off this year...

I only asked

 I was early at the Virtual Wargames Club last week, I asked a casual question about a set of rules I had found on the shelf way at the back and that was the start! My kind and knowledgable  expert extolled the virtues of “Danger Close” rules from Empress Miniatures to me and I discovered they were only two pages long! I had always thought that Modern meant mammoth tomes filled with charts and the need for mathematics well beyond me. How wrong I was ! By the end of the club meeting I had ordered the rules and some fascinating Bundeswehr figures arrayed in weaponry and systems beyond my ken. Here they are

 

“IdZ-ES (Infanterist der Zukunft-Infantryman of the future, also know as Gladius

Heads glued on and undercoated. But how to get my head round a new period? True the family all enjoy watching “ Our Girl” but that doesn’t make one an expert.  My German fellows have  something called Gladius , it’s all very complicated. I am looking for reading suggestions for a way into this all. I am going to use imaginations for the Modern Period as I feel more comfortable about gaming it this way. So it is the present day in a Europe fragmented into small small countries that form a successor to the Holy Roman Empire.  Squad level, few figures standard European terrain with a quaint feel as those are the buildings I own. Half timbered , countryside not urban. Now I need to find out how to pain5 these chaps , help!!!

   

Projects

 

 

Projects on the go currently, Napoleonic Portable Wargame and Avalon Bleeding. A small foray into modern  infantry warfare beginning too. I was taken by figures and 2A4 page rules . More about this anon..

Grading the Napoleonic troops.

  I use a simple colour code for the units/ commanders - White is Average, Purple is for Elite Units and Good Commanders. Finally Green for Poor. It is easy to see the grade of a unit at a glance. See examples in photo below-

Personalising the Napoleonic Armies

 I have been naming the regiments and commanders today. I have used numbers and places significant to me for the Albion Army and for the Heideland Army places related to the country. Commanders and units to be graded tomorrow. I forgot to print labels for the cavalry, artillery and one infantry regiment. I will remedy that tomorrow also. Here they are on the workbench-

Brown paper packages tied up with... favourite things

 I haven’t seen R in forty years or so. We had got back in contact and hoped to catch up over coffee, however that was not to be. He had hoped to give me some figures when we met up but in the light of things posted them instead. Here are some splendidly packaged flats and medieval knights. A fascinating mix of great figures old and new. Thanks R for your kindness and I look forward to that coffee which is beginning to look like a possibility around a corner or two.

Any help identifying the figures would be gratefully received . Here they are in resplendent packaging too- 

Base fellows

 The Napoleonic Portable Wargame bases arrived from Warbases this morning. I went for 3mm thickness and rounded corners. Here they are with the glue waiting to be dry before I can paint the bases and varnish them finally-

 

Projects on the go

 

 

I have a number of projects on the go which are represented by these on the painting table this morning. My two inch mortar group is ready to send off to my regular opponents for Friday’s game, the Platoon was sent this morning. The 25mm Napoleonic figures are ready for the bases which I hope will arrive tomorrow. This will allow me to base the figures, varnish them and get them onto a Portable Wargame battle. I am finding my War of 1812 American Militia quite hard to paint. They are 60mm Expeditionary forces and lovely figures. I feel I am not quite doing them justice. Not sure whether to go with a glossy toy soldier look or a Matt realistic one. What do you think?

Something old and something new

 I got this book back in my twenties and got it off the shelf today to try and answer some organisational points for my current Napoleonic project. I had forgotten how much I had written in the frontispiece and end piece and stuck various o of b s in too complete with the number of figures needed at one to twenty figure ratios. I can’t recall if any of these got off the ground or not. 

Currently enjoying this BBC Sounds podcast on the A to Z of psychedelic music. The presenters are engaging and knowledgeable and at times it is all a tad Spinal Tap but makes great listening. Definitely recommended. I enjoyed hearing about the Incredible String Band in particular, an old favourite of mine. It can’t be that many years ago I saw Mike Heron in concert in Edinburgh, he was terrific.

Baked in a soldier pie...

 Well actually I am using an old pie dish to steep figures in boiling water to remove old basing material. I then remove the detritus with pliers and finger nails. The figures are placed on a radiator prior to varnishing and eventual basing.

Yesterday had another enjoyable game set in the Very British Civil War using the platoon level Went the Day well rules. It ended in a draw. We are getting familiar with the system and next time will add vehicles and tanks. Here are a picture of the game -

Land Ironclads and some splendid pictures!

 An interesting article https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/hg-wells-land-ironclads-fictional-tanks/ 

Three pictures now that I found which have a Little Wars vibe. A super one from 1932 with Mr Churchill. Bicycle riding lancers, how could one resist such an image and a final leviathan of a newspaper article-

 A dreich Friday in the Duchy saw me getting Napoleonic figures ready for rebasing and gloss varnishing. Final touches were done to my VBCW Von Rosen Platoon of Swedish Volunteers prior to sending to my regular opponent’s house for our weekly games. The Platoon has an anti tank rifle as a support weapon and a mortar team has been ordered.

Funny Little tank riders or a Wellsian super weapon!

 

A new powerful and secret weapon...

 Made this 1/32 wooden tank this week from a purchase from Bovington Tank Museum. Looking forward to seeing it in action very soon...

Revolting Hannover or Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge

 Been looking at Uniforms from Hannover and reading about Prince Adolphus. Wondered if there was a game in the Viceroy of Hannover going rogue and setting up himself as an independent king. My figures would do for Hanoverian and British forces without too much fudging. I am wondering about an expedition to Hannover to put down a potential usurped throne? Here are the prints and one of the Prince himself! As ever let me know what you think...

 

The Battle of Maldon fought via Zoom using dbv rules...

 

After the ice

 In the country halt on the embryonic garden railway the weather testers ( figures painted and varnish spending winter outdoors to see how it affects them) are glad the snow has receded. Time for them to share a pipe smoke or two, drink strong tea and catch up with each other...

A Very Regency Civil War or rebasing figures with a view to a game..

 I am taking the chance to rebase and sort some old Napoleonic troops I got off eBay some time ago. They are all British, mainly Minifigs or Hinchcliffe with a few other makes. I want to use them with The Portable Napoleonic Wargame rules-

 

 

I have enough for gaming with and have no desire to spend money on French opponents. So what I am wondering about is a Very Regency Civil War..

I am looking for a backstory which will work up to 1820 or so. As ever all suggestions very welcome. Let’s see what we can come up with...

 

A recommended read.

  I preordered this book in August and it has now been published. I bought it particularly for the protagonist’s service with the Danish Army in the last years of the 18th Century and into the Napoleonic period. The book is excellent filled with detail and potential scenarios for games. The AWI material is the main part of the book and is well worth reading by enthusiasts of that conflict. All in all a great read which I would recommend to anyone interested in the wars of the period and light infantry tactics as well.