Blood and Iron

Normal service will resume shortly

2011-09-06T22:34:00.002+01:00

Hi all
some explanations for my enforced absence may be required. I have not posted anything for the last 6 months or so as i had to pack up all my painting and gaming things to allow me to focus on a couple of imporntant things happening in my life at the minute.
one of those things has now been resolved as i was awarded my PhD today! 3 1/2 years of my life has finally been completed and signed off by the powers that be, some good times, some not so good, lots of long hours in the lab and on the weekend for less pay than my old job but maybe it was worth it. it has after all allowed me to get another job also working long hours for less pay than i used to get! The up side to this is that i will now be free to concentrate on gaming.....oh hang on a minute i said 2 things didn't i!
the second thing is my impending exams in september, these are pretty big things and if i pass them will never have to take an exam again in my life, which at the age of 33 would be no bad thing! Once this is also out of the way gaming will come to the fore again properly.
to date i have managed to keep sane by lots of wish listing and a bit of roleplay gaming. speaking of which my firts foray into Cthulu is working out well although i understand from the more experienced RPGs that soon i will be a gibbering wreck, in the game at least!
then other major thing is i am perfectly justified in treating myself to something when i finish these things, so looks like a brigade of Perry ACW Zouaves to me!
will keep you posted

back in the game

2011-09-06T22:34:00.001+01:00

a long interlude but things are back to normal now

Random pics to show i am still alive

2011-02-28T20:59:00.002Z

Just a couple of pics which have been hanging around for a while. Both Foundry models, a chasseur d'afrique in manteau and a Guard Carabinier Officer i had kicking around. Both pieces will be more scenic that gaming models although the officer might look nice hanging aroound the command tent

Busy Busy Busy

2011-01-20T20:49:00.003Z

sorry for lack of posts, i hope that you all hada great christmas and new year. despite my best ontentions i have done no painting for over a month, in fact nearly 2months due to family and work commitments. Unfortunatly this is not going to get better for at least another fortnight so, posts will be thin on the ground for a while, but i hope to be up to speed again in february
andy

merry christmas

2010-12-22T09:06:00.003Z

ive been busy over december with work and snowy weather and so painting has had to take a back seat.
hopefully the next few weeks should see some posts coming up
Merry christmas and a happy new year
heres to painting time over the holiday

1866-1870 prussian line infantry

2010-11-21T13:40:00.004Z

Some Foundry 1870 prussian i have finally got around to basing, been painted for a couple of years. also they now have a flag attached. The flag is one of the beautiful Helion ones for IR24 to be precise. Unfortunately it is larger than the old foundry standrad poles and so a bit of canabilisation had to be done to keep the streamers and finial and replace the staff. not a perfect result as the flag does not now come up to the base of the finial but the best i could do. Maybe could ahve separated the streamers but would have had to have a less attractive top to the flag pole then. Anyway
next up will be an ECW saker cannon now completed

ECW marksman

2010-11-21T13:37:00.002Z

just a single model today, a warlord miniatures ECW marksman. im sure these were not very common in the ECW but due to their persistance in warhammer ECW and 1644 rulesets may explain their must have potential. dressed as a simple red coated parliamentarian

Breaking news!

2010-11-02T17:58:00.002Z

The Helion website has just announced that North Star Miniatures will be selling the helion 1866 range from now on. There is also a wish for the range to be developed further in the future, hopefully to complement the new Great War Miniatures crimean range they also stock. However, this may be just wishful thinking on my part. Anyway it is good news that these fine models will still be available. Although it is a great shame to see that Duncan has been unable to complete the range as he would have wished.

French Line Infantry 1870

2010-10-25T16:32:00.004+01:00

I thought i would do a quick unit of FPW figures as it is meant to be the main focus of this blog even if i do get distracted quite often. These are Foundry models from the late 80s which i bought a while back in one of their 20% sales which bring the price down to a respectable level. I never by models from them unless in a sale as £11 for 6/8 models (or 3/4 cav) is just a bit too much for me. Despite their age these models are still some of the best and largest range of 28mm FPW models available (see previous grumbles about paucity of 28mm new models, excellent helion excepted).
Most of the models are in the standard charging poses with a few sergeants etc chucked in to break up the monotony. all are uniformed in the imperial phase outfits of greatcoat and epualettes. Interestingly the greatcoat was worn exclusively by the line infantry instead of the tunique a practice that apparently began in colonial conflcits in N. africa, where the temperature changes from hot days to freezing nights. Only one sergeant and the officer wear the tunique. Also i have painted the officer in an extremely dark uniform, virtually black, as officers presumably to show off their wealth and the quality of their clothes wore a much darker hue of the standard tunique with officers braid
Finally something i try to do on my french is add a few long service chevrons (upwards pointing chevrons on left upper arm only, coloured gold for sergeants and red for corporals and soldiers) and rank markers (single inner to outer upwards bar on both lower arms two gold sergeant major, single gold sergeant, 2 red corporal, 1 red private 1st class)
i normally have units of 16 models representing a full strength battalion of 600 men in 1870 (1 model=50men) although as you can see i painted 7 bases this time, theres no reason for this, i just had the models to hand and did them all together, c'est la vie. I have been looking to go back to trying the fire and fury mod fire and furia francese by nick dorell of the wyre wargames group http://www.wfgamers.org.uk/ as i realised i need to start playing again or this really does become a peculiar hobby. On the same not i have gone through and checked out what 15mm FPW models i have and so you may see some updates on these in the future as i try to organise them and finish off some units to use for fire and fury

AWI Generals (2)

2010-10-18T09:00:00.004+01:00

these are the other 2 generals from the Perry miniatures american generals pack. Both are in standard uniform and look quite nice i think. one in a more standard and dignified officer pose whilst the other is leaning over his horse encouraging his men with a flourish of his hat! i like to think that this one is Benedict Arnold maybe at Quebec, so maybe i should have painted him in the red british uniform he wore in the early years of the war, oh well.
i did have a bit of an issue with these as for some strange reason they both have sashes which dont seem to be a feature of officers dress in any of the books i have. so after much deliberation i chose to paint them red, just as this always seems like an officer sort of colour, maybe becasue im british. my reasoning being that pale blue was apparently reserved for the commander in chief i.e. washington, and its likely that the american army would have aped the british with so many having served in both armies

French Garde Mobile

2010-10-18T08:24:00.007+01:00

Ah the much maligned French Garde Mobile, often put down as a poor substitute for the regular army of Napoleon III but rarely remembered that they kept the war going for a full 5 months after the capitulation at Sedan. What they may have lacked in training and equipment, they made up for in motivation and numbers, with the French armies of the later/republican war often putting as many if not more men in the field than their German counterparts.
These are Foundry models which as ive said before, i am not a huge fan of these days as i think they are really dated in pose etc. having said that the mixture of poses i have used in this unit, mostly because they happpened to be the models i had, give a less uniform appearance which i think suits the garde mobile look.
actually thes mobile are very well equiped with the short tunique without epaulettes (as dispensed with by the republic, probably due to cost rather than imperial connotations, as they brought them back after the war i think), most have full kit and all have chassepot rifles with bayonets. I have painted them all in the standard pre-war mobile uniform of blue tunique with grey trousers with a large red side stripe, although trousers would have varied a lot even with garance red trousers being supplied to some units. i actually painted these models some years ago but have just rebased them on my standard base sizes 40x40mm. i used to base all my models individually but ive grown up since then and multi bases are so much more useful
next up will be an emplaced ECW saker (my last artillery for the ECW), FPW French regular infantry and hopefully when they arrive i will make a start on some more 1866 austrian infantry and hussars

AWI General

2010-10-08T16:44:00.003+01:00

This is the first of 3 AWI American Generals i have been painting, the other 2 are in more traditional dress and will follow next week. The model is a perry miniature and looks great and unorthodox in his hunting shirt looking back to encourage his men. all in all a lovely model and a pleasure to paint, although i do think his horse looks a little small, this seems to be a constant issue with model makers. ive seen 1 or 2 horses and it constantly amazes me how large they are expecially the type of thoroughbred that a wealthy american general could afford.

Arch enemies

2010-10-08T16:15:00.007+01:00

well not exactly arch enemies as Oliver Cromwell, albeit a rising parliamentarian and puritan star, was only just coming to prominence whilst Charlie was still fighting for his kingdom.
Oliver Cromwell was an MP from Huntington, Cambridgeshire who raised a troop of cavalry early in the war and came to be second in command of the New Model Army under Sir Thomas Fairfax at the end of the war. Cromwells main rise to power came after the 1st civil war when parliament was looking for proven military leaders who were willing to take the war and parliaments control to Ireland and Scotland, both of these posting were refused by fairfax leaving Cromwell with the opportunity to step up to the highest military position, he would later become Lord Protector (Britains only ever dictator). Oliver cromwell was a signatory on charlies death warrant, unlike fairfax who refused to sign and left public office.
These models are Foundry with a Perry ADC for charles. These models have been painted for about 8 years so you might spot the change in style between the foundry and the perry models. As part of my slow converting of lead into a fully completed army (is there such a thing) i had been painting and rebasing my entire ECW army and it is almost done, one or two cannon and specials to do, plus 2 units of warlord plastics that i got the other year. Having read a bit more recently about the wars after a long absence from my book collection i do have an idea of getting some troops for the Irish and Scots campaigns too. Another thing for the list.

First 1866 Austrians

2010-09-28T19:16:00.007+01:00

Oh its been a while. this is the first post in 2 months!!!!
a combination of work, homelife and a small holiday have meant there has been virtually no time for painting let alone gaming. having said that i have started regular boardgaming every week with some friends, which has led onto some roleplay which should start next week.
on the painting front the last week or 2 have been mildly productive and the most exciting thing for me is that i have finally completed my 1866 austrians. These are 28mm models from Helion and personally i love them, the much quoted largeness of these models is actually only a minor thing as i would keep units separate anyway on the tabletop. besides this from a personal point of view although i love the perry twins models the fact that one of the most comprehensive ranges available for the franco-prussian war etc. is their range from the mid 80s which looks really quite dated and static now compared to some of the other metal and plastic models currently available. The tragedy is that i have recently seen on matts blog that Helion are not going to develop the 1866 range any more and are looking to sell. this is a tragedy but unfortunately i am as much to blame as anyone else as whilst i have loved painting these models i have not yet bought anymore (this will change tonight) and as such am one of those who claim to love the models but dont put their money where there mouth is. The reason is due to the massive implications of new baby, busy job, finishing a PhD, financial insecurity and self imposed wargaming purchasing abstinance.
anyway i have painted these models as the KuK IR23 with are the same as every other austrian unit but with red facings. I would have got them done sooner but i always seem to take ages when i am learning how to paint a new uniform. i think i have managed an ok result though even if it did take me an age. the Helion flag really creates the perfect effect and draws the eye away from my mediocre painting
anyway, next up will be a few things some rebased FPW models and ECW generals

American Militia

2010-07-29T08:09:00.004+01:00

here is my final AWI unit for a while, mainly because i have not bought anymore at the minute. i intend to return to the AWI in the future to add more militia units, some cavalry etc. but for now due to financial constraints i will be trying desperatly not to buy any new figures instead working through my lead backlog
anyway, this unit has been painted to represent a Pennsylvania militia unit with some men outfitted in nice new uniforms whilst others are having to make do with their own clothes. obviously the officers are well dressed. i did toy with the idea of one officer being dressed in a continental blue uniform but decided agaiinst it in the end
next up on the work table are 1866 austrians i have been looking forward to these for ages and cant wait to finally get them started. some awi generals (not a unit so dont count) some more WotR bows and billmen, oliver cromwell and king charles and some WW2 15mm british bren gun carriers

Wars of the Roses Bowmen & Bills (2)

2010-07-25T19:27:00.002+01:00

as usual a bit slow on the painting front this post, but have manegd to complete another small set of perry plastic bowmen and billmen.
i have painted most in the livery of Edward IV (York) as this will allow me to use them in most of the major battles of the middle portion of the wars
finally i have undercoated and based my 1866 austrians and have nearly finished my final (for now) unit of awi militia. so as long as work doesnt get in the way too much should have these up quite soon

Wars of the Roses Bowmen (1)

2010-07-11T19:42:00.006+01:00

at last here are the first of my Perry Plastic Wars of the Roses figures. I have been fascinated by the wars that engulfed the British Isles in the mid and late 15th Century.
In brief the wars focused on the maschinations of the powerful faction under Richard of York (The Yorkists)and the royal favourites of Queen Margaret such as the Montagu family, Beauforts and the Northern Barons the Percys (The Lancastrians). The king Henry VI was a weak and almost certainly mentally unstable man who was used as a pawn by all the factions, including his wife, to justify their claims to the throne. The war raged on and off for 30 years from 1453 to 1487 before finally ending with the defeat of Richard III (York) by Henry Tudor who then became King Henry VII.
The perry models are , as usual, fantasticly detailed for plastics, how they manage to get so much detail on them is unbelievable. they are a dream to paint too being very simple but also with great texture to pick out the mail and hauberks etc. The models come in a variety of standing and advancing poses which have a variety of head and arm choices to make them either billmen or bowmen. Also included are 4 models in full harness to be used as command figures or men at arms. a standard bearer arm and herald are also included to complete the command models.I have based the models individually as i think it is likely that for some time these are going to be a side interest only for me, although the continued release of new perry metals and the plastic crossbowmen/pikemen box for european armies/mercenaries might tempt me

Next up are my first 1866 Helion Hungarian infantry. i love these models and have been dying to paint them for ages but other things have got in the way. i hope to have a unit of 20 painted fairly soon and then i can justify getting some more especially as helion now have free shipping and unit deals all of which make them even more attractive. Also to be completed will be some more WotR Billmen, my last militia unit for the AWI and some ECW odds and sods. Finally i am dusting off my Flames of War in time for the release of the Early war/Blitzkreig supplement which is out in August

Alnwick Castle, Northumberland

2010-06-29T20:18:00.008+01:00

Alnwick castle is the historical and current seat of the Percy family, who were given the property in 1309. The castle now includes a lovely set of gardens and the state rooms all included in a rather expensive ticket price. The set up is very similar to warwick castle but in my opinion not quite upto their standards, having said that it was a very nice day.
I wish a bit more could have been made of the sieges and history involved with the castle and Percys. i did struggle to find information on how the castle had evolved over time and the role of differnet lords in the events of their times. The castle was besieged by the scots in 1093 and 1174 which resulted in the death and capture of the scottish king respectively! a further attack by scottish raiders did partially cature the castle and lead to the rescue of prisoners in 1577.
The difficulty with some of the acces to history may have something to do with the Percys always being on the wrong side of the crown whether it be because of assisting the dethronement of Richard II and the crowning of Henry IV, Henry Hotspur rebelling and dying at Shrewsbury 1403, supporting the lancastrian cause and losing two heads of the family at 1st St. Albans (second earl) and Towton (third earl), followed by a third (the fourth earl) killed by peasants about tax collection (following his standing idle during Bosworth and not supporting Richard III) or conspiring with the gunpowder plotters.
They do have a good area for kids where you can dress as a knight or lady etc overlooked by a rather dramaic statue of Henry (Hotspur) Percy. I have always suspected that Hotspur was an arrogant aggressive probably not very likeable man and this model does seem to get some of this over.
Anyway not a bad day out and i suppose any cost is fair when you think how much these places must cost to run.

warkworth castle, northumberland

2010-06-22T20:45:00.007+01:00

this is the first post from my recent holiday in Northumberland which for those of you who havent been there is absolutely gorgeous. we stayed about 30 miles north of newcastle, just north of the old county capital of alnwick. our little trip was helped by some fantastic weather that led to me getting burnt, although we did take especial care of little izzy, whose now 7 months.
My lovely wife was kind enough to allow me to drag her around several castles and i will post them up over time in amongst models as and when they are done.
Warkworth castle was built in the mid 12th century probably on the site of a previous anglo-saxon estate, and then a wooden norman castle.
the castle was initially described as 'feeble' leadint o the population of the town being massacred during a scottish raid in 1174. later robert fitz roger took over and rebuilt the core of the present castle between 1199 and 1214 leading to the later description of a 'noble castle'. robert was acptured at stirling in 1297 leading to the castle being taken into the crown control.
Edward III granted the castle to Henry Percy, second lord Percy, a main land owner in Northumberland. The percy family became the major leaders in the North of England and became so powerful that they challenged to king on a variety of occasions

The wars of the roses
instead of covering everything about the castle, which i strongly advise you to visit, i will instead focus the next part on the wars of the roses, which since growing up near Bosworth battlefield in leicestershire have always held a special place for me.
By now we are onto Henry, the second earl of Northumberland, who was killed at 1st St. Albans 1455. he was swiftly followed by his son, also Henry, the third earl, who was killed at Towton 1461
in 1462 the Percy/lancastrian stonghold of Northumberland was subdued by Edward IVs kingmaker Richard Neville, earl of Warwick. he used Warkworth as his headquarters whilst undertaking sieges of the Lancestrian castles of Alnwick, Dunstanburgh and Bamburgh (all of which i will cover another time). The castle was later given to Richard Nevilles brother John, lord Montagu but then returned to Henry Percy, the fourth earl in 1471.

the castle
this castle has so many interesting faetures it is difficult to list them all but the spectacular layout of the keep with its home comforts such as a central light well, more serving areas, sluices and garderobes than most castles suggest the main role was influence rather than military.
the bailey is also amazing in that it has some beutifully preserved stonework showing the Percy lion which is hugely ornate. having said that there is no doubting the fact that like all castles the main effect is to intimidate by showing off the wealth and power of the owner

2010-06-06T20:58:00.002+01:00

i have not posted or some time which is partly due to my being so busy with work and homelife but also an element of lethargy on my own part both with painting and then posting the results of this work.
here i have posted a collection of 3 small units of charging rebel infantry from the american civil war. these are a mixture of foundry and perry miniatures
the great thing about painting rebs is that you dont have to follow any particular dress code as the supply of these troops was so haphazard that pretty much anything goes. having said that i have painted them with the idea of representing Hoods division at gettysburg. the 3 regiments shown are the 3rd arkansas, 15th alabama and 4th texas
i have decided rather than painting random models and units of the civil war to focus on a particular battle or part of a battle and as such have picked the fighting for little round top on day 2 of the battle of gettysburg. the reasoning for this is that i have an affinity for this battle due to my being for several years a memeber of a reenactment society portraying the 20th maine regiment. anyway as usual with this conflict painting models for a particular battle does not preclude you from using them in any other battle that takes your fancy

finally the next post will be 2 continental regts from the AWI, wars of the roses infnatry, ACW artillery for the union and rebs and some holiday snaps of castles i intend to visit in northumbria next week, if the wife lets me :)

ECW saker

2010-04-22T20:23:00.003+01:00

just a quick post as have been so busy with work recently
anyway this is a Warlord games Saker model with specialist artillerist lining up the gun
i like the ECW as nearly all units can be interchanged between both sides, as the uniforms were virtually identical. only certain flags and units are specific for particular sides

fort pulaski, savannah, georgia

2010-04-07T20:59:00.008+01:00

back in the old UK now though so will endevour to unload more models as completed, next up for completion will be a brigade of confederate infantry and some AWI american riflemen and minutemen
on the american theme whilst on holiday in orlando, florida we were able to visit some relatives in savannah, georgia, only a 4 hour drive away. Savannah is a beutiful city which unlike nearly all the other US cities ive visited maintains a feel of the old colonial times, with the old mansion houses, cotton exchange and warehouses and helped significantly by the eerie feeling created by the spanish moss clinging to the trees

whilst there i was able to visit Fort Pulaski a fortification from the ACW era named after count casimir pulaski revolutionary war hero who was killed during the siege of savnnah in 1779. The fort was begun in 1829 and took 18 years to build was what deemed to be the height of military engineering. The fort was never garrisoned until the secession of georgia in 1861 when it was occupied by georgia state troops before being handed over to the confederate army.
the fort covered the only waterway approach to savannah sitting between the savannah river and south pass on cockspur island, therfore safe from infantry attack. as part of Burnsides operations along the coast to isolate the confederacy by naval blockade.
Col Charles Olmstead occupied the fort with 384 men whilst the Union forces led by captain Quincy A. Gillmore spent 2 months hauling 36 mortars and cannon (including 10 rifled cannon, 5 of which were 30lb parrotts) into 11 batteries on the nearby Tybee island before opening a bombardment of the fort on 10th April 1862. the bombardment lasted just 30 hours before a breech opened (the newer bricks in one of the pictures show were the extent of the breech) threatening the main magazine forcing Col Olmstead to sue for terms. Gillmore was breveted Brigadier General for his actions.
The destruction of a state of the art fort in such a short time highlighted the massive change in defensive tactics caused by the introduction of rifled artillery which allowed increased range and destructive potential (smoothbore artillery would have been effectively out of range due to the surrounding water).

French Turco Battalion

2010-03-12T21:00:00.002Z

This will be my last post for a little while as too busy with work. Here again are some models i painted a while ago, these ones about a year ago.
anyway as usual this is a full strength battalion of 16 models (800 men) consisting of north african/algerian troops and ncos with french officers. The men are dressed in their traditional dress of baggy trousers, short zouave jackets and fez. The dress for the turcos and zouaves was virtually identical except for the colours used which were dark blue with red piping for the zouaves and sky blue with yellow piping for the turcos

Bavarian Artillery 1870

2010-03-06T10:08:00.004Z

here are 2 bavarian guns i painted quite a while ago for my franco-prussian war collection. again they are foundry casts and i agree with matt that these are some of their best models. i dont have a lot of bavarians but i might get the few infantry i have painted up soon as well
anyway both guns appear to be 6lb guns although with the steel krupp guns its very difficult to spot any difference between the 6 and 9lb fieldguns anyway
the artillery crews are dressed in their dark blue uniforms which differ from the infantrys cornflower blue (i did paint 4 batteries of 15mm ones in sky blue once before i realised, presumbly this reflects the dirtier job these guns are expected to perform and theirfore keeping their uniforms more presentable

3rd East Prussian Cuirassier Regt

2010-02-27T18:28:00.005Z

here are some foundry cuirassiers i painted back in June. I have painted them as the 3rd East Prussian Regt with their traditional white waffenrocks and sky blue facings. I chose this regt for no particular reason other than i liked the facings, simple as that. otherwise the cuirassier regts were all similarly dressed.
i have done a very minor conversion for the trumpeter model as foundry dont make any for the germans. I simply used a perry plastic trumpeters arm from their ACW cavalry boxed set
as stated previously i use a 1 figure = 50 men ratio. so this 12 model regt = a 600 man full strength regt
also i should explain how i base my models, i use a 50 x 50mm base for 2 cavalry men and 40 x 40mm for 4 infantrymen. i tend to glue my models to the base add the premixed plaster allow to dry, then i add sand mix and glue this on ebfore undercoating the whole in black. i know that this can sometimes make the finer details of uniforms difficult to get to but generally especially for 19th century models it is not a major issue and allows me to paint quicker than doing each model individually and then basing them

French Dragoons 1870

2010-02-21T18:04:00.002Z

At last here are my first FPW figures in about 9 months.
i thought to get back in the swing of it i would do a relatively simple unit so french dragoons came top of the list.
i use the ratio 50 men to a figure for all my FPW units so a regt of cavalry for france or prussia will be 12 figures (600 men). A French battalion of 16 figs (800 men) or a Prussian battalion of 20 figs (1000 men)

The dragoons were quite easy to paint really although i must admit i hate painting cavalry as i really do find painting horses boring. although it is a necessary burden to get all those really nice units done. i havent done any socks or flashes on the horses mainly im sorry to say because i couldnt be bothered. i might add some at a later date if i feel like it.
a note on the models, these are foundry models which i quite like but i have t admit they are starting to look a little tired compared to some of the brilliant stuff that is coming out these days, especially from helion and the perry twins etc. i wasnt a 100 per cent sure whether the dragoon officer should have silver or gold epaulettes. i went for silver in the end based upon an old foundry painting guide but i dont know how acurate this really is
anyway it was good to do some FPW stuff again and i think i will have to put some more effort into some more, probably some prussian infantry and prussian hussars would be next.

4th new york continental infantry regt

2010-02-14T19:32:00.005Z

finally uploaded are the 4th new york in their resplendent white uniforms, coouldnt let an american unit of the awi look too neat so have added a wounded character and a variety of different tricorne variants. i just dont believe that a new nation could have clothed its troops consistently well except for thje initial enrollment. any campaigning would have shown up the flaws in a new commissariat immediately
i had a bit of trouble getting this regt to look right, i find it difficult to get the right mix for white uniforms. eventually i kept it simple with an undercoat of black followed by a vallejo stone grey coat then covered with 1-2 coats of pure white. i thought about adding more weathering to the lower legs etc, but decided against it in the end. they may a look a little stark but they will form a great contrast with the rest of the blue coated continentals

next up will be the french francoprussian dragoons, riders done just need to do the horses followed by all the other things i mentioned in the last post. unless i get distarcted again!!!!!!
aside from painting i have been reading the rules of engagement set for ww2, i have plenty of german wehrmacht and ss in 28mm and hope to take these against hals american soon. on the face of it these rules look very familiar as they incorporate many elements of warhammer and flames of war, both sets of which i have used a lot. i hope they will live up to my expectations as i have been looking for a goos playing set of ww2 rules for some time

so much for new years resolutions

2010-01-31T21:08:00.006Z

well not done very well on the resolutions, which is probably typical
anyway at last have posted again
not a huge amount to say except to update on how things are going on the painting front.
first off painting wise have been really rubbish but have succeeded in rebasing an entire ECW army which took most of the winter. i have a few things to finish for them such as a saker gun and a couple of command bases
next up are the usual 4 battalions of AWI contientals and militia (2 of both) and 3 regts of ACW rebs charging.
i have also based and put together the 40 models (for £15 i might state) from perry which i have to say despite being a bit fiddly to put together, they took me over a week in between baby cuddles and work. however they are beautiful models with plenty of range of character whihc i have based individually for now, but any further sets i get will be based on 40 x 40mm bases to use in larger scale wargames
also due to a regt of french dragoons which i have been stimulated to paint by matts repeated superb brushwork.
hand in hand with this goes the new delivery that arrived on saturday which was a battalion of beautiful austro-hungarians from helion. these are the first i have bought despite drooling over the figures they produce for some time. again matts constant updated website (better than mine) has inspired me to branch out from the franco-prussian war. i will be basing these as a 20 man unit (ratio 1:50) to give a regular 1000man battalion. i hope that i will be able to paint these fairly quickly (although on past form that may not be the case).
finally i wanted to advertise one of my christmas presents from the lovely wife. This is the book by andre jouineau part of the LRT editions range in France. this book is labelled as number 1 so hopefully that means they will be expanding the range to cover other elements of the army of Napoleon III. this first volume covers the grenadiers and voltiguers of the garde. at 64 pages with 55 colour plates in the now familiar computerised format covering all ranks and troop types. overall i am very impressed with this book it is produced in a very clear format with clear illustrations to help the wargamer and painter. however the most fantastic feature of this book is the fact that it is written in both french and english, allowing for a clear understanding of the complex details often part of military history books. for those interested the book is available for £18.50 from caliver books. ISBN 9782917747049

New years resolutions

2010-01-01T18:41:00.002Z

well a good christmas and new year was had by all. some nice things were in my stocking (mostly bought by myself on the behalf of relatives)
new arrivals included a box of the lovely new Perry miniatures wars of the roses platics, the new Battlefront vietnam range, some lovely pre-painted rivers and a few books, including the 1859 ruleset from bruce weigle and the new garde imperiale grenadier and voltiguer book by andre jounieu.
so with the new year it is customary to make some resolutions, so here we go
1. complete projects before starting new ones (although as far as i am concerned no army etc is ever totally complete)
2. make a concerted effort to dig into the lead mountain
3. game more often, including going to wigan wargamers club whenever possible
all this obviously has to fit in around a fulltime job and 6 week old baby but hopefully i will be able to achieve some of these goals

American 3lb Artillery

2009-12-23T23:40:00.003Z

this is my first completed american artillery piece
it is a foundry piece and i have chosen to give it a 3lb gun barrel
i have painted them in a rather traditional manner and they have obviously benefitted from an efficient quartermaster as they have very dapper uniforms including gold braid around the brim of the tricorne. future gun crews will be in a much more rough and ready attire

Merry christmas to all
andy

3rd New York Continental Infantry

2009-12-11T21:23:00.003Z

this is my first AWI american unit and i have painted them as the 3rd New York continental infantry regt. i have painted them as a slightly mixed bag with some smart and some wearing the ubiquitous hunting shirt. i am quite please with how they have come out, even if i still need to get some more lovely flags from mr graeme black
next up will be an american 3pdr and the 4th New York in their rather snappy white uniforms with red facings

ACW skirmishers

2009-11-28T22:33:00.002Z

these are some of the ACW skirmishers i have been painting up over the last few weeks. for GAG it is quite common to have them deployed and many of the published scenarios require 6-18 of them. the rules allow skirmishers to be based individually with a small gap between each model, but in my opinion it is unimportant how they are based as long as the effect is correct. this allows some interesting dioramas.
the models used are a mixture of foundry and perry miniatures, most of the prone miniatures i picked up at phalanx a few years ago.

i tend to paint my rebs in batches using a palette of 2 greys and about 6 browns, which i hope gives a suitably random assortment of clothing that i expect the rebs would have had. i also add in occasional union trousers and canteens. despite the fact that there are numerous recorded accounts of rebs wearing union blue jackets, i have so far veered away from using them on the tabletop as i suspect that much like in real life it would lead to confusion.

in a couple of the dioramas i have used rendera plastic fence sections which are conveniently broken down and give a very dramatic positioning for skirmishers
most of the models are rebs as i posted the union ones a few weeks ago

next on the list of things to do will be some AWI continental infantry and ECW cannon

Battle of Hanover Court House

2009-11-16T19:39:00.024Z

The Battle of Hanover Court House, 27th May 1862 - Scenario Book 3

The other week i played my first game of Guns at Gettysburg (GaG) in about a year. i had originally played about 2 games which had ironed out most of the gliches in learning a new ruleset, but as usual a layoff meant that had to virtually start from scratch again

The battle of hanover court house took place as Brig Gen Porters V corp extended north of Maj Gen McClellans army to allow the movement of reinforcements as part of the penisula campaign, at Peakes crossing (a railway station) confederate forces under Col Branch were defeated. However, the defeat of Maj Gen Nathaniel Banks in the Shendoah by Jackson required the reallocation of reinforcements that Porters movement was supposed to make possible

Porter initially pushed toward Hanover court house leaving a small body of troops at peakes crossing. Col Branch mistakenly thought these were the only Union troops in the area and rashly attacked achieving some initial success before Union reinforcements arrived and pushed the confederates from the field leaving over 200 rebel dead and 700 captured for a loss of 350 men

our refight involved me with the rebels and mike taking the Union forces. the scneraio requires a timescale of 8 turns for the confederates to rout or break the union forces, consisting of a single brigade with reinforcements. therefore i tried to be as aggresive as possible and kept my brigade on assault orders throughout the game. most infantry were deployed in line with a single large unit 12thNC in column hoping to punch a hole in the union centre. The union brigade remained on hold orders throughout

initally the confederate attack was sluggish as the large number of woods slowed movement until the troops were able to break into the second field opposite the union troops and engage in musketry fire. the main casualties at this point fell upon the 18th NC which i had rather rashly pushed into the battleline unsupported to face the fire of the 44th and 25th NY regts and a battery of parrots and on the union side by the loss of the 2nd maine which had also unwisely been pushed forward to occupy the Kinney house

further advances by the rebels succeeded in developing the battle line as the union reinforcements arrived on turn 4. the stalemate was broken by the assault of the 12th NC in column into the 25th NY which had since run out of ammo and which after 2 rounds of combat broke and fled to the rear on turn 7

the final turn saw further losses and both sides taking a brigade morale check which both passed resulting in a Union victory

Overall this game was very enjoyable despite coming up against a few things in the rules that i must reread. the timescale was tight but with a bit of extra planning the reb advance could have been swifter. The union player in this scenario has an easier role as the course of the battle is dictated by the rebs battle plan. overall though it was an enjoyable game and a nice introduction to GaG also apart from lots of woods not too much scenery was required

Sorry for the lateness

2009-10-23T20:44:00.012+01:00

its been several weeks since my last post and im sorry for that but since getting back to the UK i have been busy back at work and decorating for the impending new addition to the family
i have managed to get some new stuff and up running and im showing them here today.
first up are some ACW union skirmishers, they will hopefully be followed by some confederate skirmishers and some diorama/skirmisher models too.

i tend to treat most of my figures these days purely on the need to get figures to a gaming standard as quickly as possible as i have so little time to paint now. Therefore i have stopped painting eyes etc. for all but main characters etc. these figures still need to be varnished and the bases flocked before they are completely finished. next on the list of items to do will be some AWI american milita and continentals and ECW cannon. I will also try to post up some older figures including franco-prussian models etc.

As you may have noticed i am not too familiar with photographing my models which is a relatively new experience for me. also despite my best efforts i am still struggling with photobucket. hopefully i will resolve all these issues by the next post

Leaving The USA

2009-09-28T03:04:00.000+01:00

well after 6 months living and working in New Haven, Connecticut i will be returning to the UK in 4 days time. Whilst i have had a great time here the impending delivery of my first child is a much better reason to return to the UK than work.

The other downside to being away from home has been the lack of opportunities to paint and game. i have tried to keep up with things by doing plenty of background historical reading, including 3 ACW books, a russian civil war book and an AWI book. also i recently received some great looking woodland indians from conquest miniatures which i am really looking forward to painting when i return home.

finally on my return i will start posting some of my collection of figures online for you to peruse. Initially i will probably start with Franco-prussian and ACW figures as i am in the process of rebasing a significant portion of models from other periods

Fort Ticonderoga and Crown Point

2009-09-15T03:29:00.001+01:00

In July i had the opportunity to travel to Vermont, USA for a relaxing holiday with my wife. After spending 2 days in the north of the state and around Burlington, a small city i would recommend anyone to visit for its relaxed college atmosphere and beautiful lake champlain, i was able to convince my wife that on our travels back to Connecticut that it would be great to stop and visit Fort Ticonderoga just over the water in New York state.

On the way south to Ticonderoga, we crossed lake champlain at crown point another important fort of the 1750s. The French built Fort St. Frederic on this site in the 1730s to control the lower reaches of Lake Champlain from the British and to overawe the native indians. This building included an immense stone tower more in keepiong with a medieval city than a frontier fort. As British aspirations on lake champlain increased the French realised the weakness of the fort to modern cannons and destroyed the fort at the approach of a British invasion force under Gen. Sir Jeffrey Amherst in 1759. The British immediately recognised the importance of this area for control of the lake and began construction of their own fort at Crown Point.
The fort was built in the typical Vauban style of the period with a central parade ground and mess buildings and a series of blockhouses and redoubts beyond the walls of the fort to protect the landward side. The fort was garrisoned weakly in the american war of indepence and was captured and used as a base for Gen. Benedict Arnolds campaign on the lake. With the loss of the American fleet at the battle of Valcour Island in 1776, the fort was abandoned. Despite a fire in 1773 destroying a large amount of the buildings inside the fort the walls and stone officers and soldiers quarters are still standing. A stroll around the walls is well worth the time. A small amount of remains from Fort St. Frederic can also be seen.

Travelling a few miles further south you come to Fort Ticonderoga. This impressively intact fort was begun by the French in 1755 and completed as Fort Carillon in 1758. The fort was attacked twice by the British in the Frecn Indian war. The first assault resulted in the catastrophic British defeat at the Battle of Carillon, 1758. Gen. James Abercrombie launched an unprepared assault against extensive abatis and field works placed by Gen. Montcalm some distance from the fort. The later siege resulted in the capture of the fort largely intact in 1759.

During the American Revolution (1775) a token garrison of British troops was captured along with large numbers of guns by Gen. Bendict Arnold, local hero Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys. The guns were removed by Henry Knox through terrible winter weather to Boston where they formed the beginnings of the continental army's artillery.

The fort and the overlooking hill of Mount Independence were captured by the British in 1777 as part of Gen. John Burgoynes Saratoga campaign. Following the defeat of the British at Bemis Heights both Ticonderoga and Crown point were abandoned.

Today the fort is a well preserved tourist attraction, combining as it does key elements and characters from American Revolutionary history. some of the galleries are open and several have been restored to how they would have looked in the 1770s. During the summer a series of fife and drum and historical re-enactments occur.

Washington DC

2009-09-05T18:08:00.000+01:00

Back in June i had the opportunity to visit Washington DC with the wife and whilst there i was able to drag her around all the famous monuments including a fantastic trip across the Potomac river to Arlington National Military Cemetary and former residence of General Robert E. Lee of ACW fame.

Amongst the landmarks are the Capitol building, seat of the US congress. Work began in 1795 leading to both wings being completed by the time of the war of 1812. In August 1814 British troops partially burnt the building. Further work resulted in the completion of the central rotunda in 1864 during the civil war.

The White house was begun in 1792 and has housed every US president since John Adams. It was completed in 1800 and like the capitol building partially burnt during the British occupation of Washington in 1814.
Ford's theatre (now a museum) has been

The Lincoln memorial stands at the end of west end of the national mall. It was originally commisioned in 1867 but work did not begin until 1914 and it was not completed until 1922. A Greek style front was based upon the Temple of Zeus. Inside sits a white marble depiction of Abraham Lincoln.

To either side of Lincoln are inscribed the key speeches of his presidency; the gettysburg address and the 2nd inauguration speech. Personally i found this monument one of the most moving in the whole of Washington, principally i think for the high moral ideals yet practical reasoning of Lincoln. Behind the monument is the bridge across the potomac to Arlington cemetery. Everything in this city is spread out so bring good walking shoes.

The cemetery was proposed by Quartermaster General Meigs in 1864 during the ACW. Meigs had recently lost his own son in the conflict and a national cemetery on the land of General Lee who had originally been offered command of the Northern forces was thought by many to be appropriate.

The cemetery has a wellcome centre which provides paper maps, which are generally useful listing some of the more famous incumbents, but actually finding their graves is a little more difficult. Key military incumbents include Maj Gen Phil Sheriden, Abner Doubleday not to mention numerous service personnel from the AWI onwards, including a separate section containing soldiers of the confederate states.

Other more recent conflicts are obviously represented by a significant array of monuments both in the cemetery and throughout Washington DC. Personally i found the most striking to be the US marine corps (Iwo Jima), for its sheer size and spectacle, and the Korean War monument for the gentle beauty of the simplistic yet moving platoon models.

first post

2009-08-29T02:20:00.000+01:00

this is the first post on my new blog so i will give you a bit of background about what i am working on at any particular time
i have a variety of interests but an overriding theme has been the franco-prussian war of 1870-71 which i have had a fascination with since seeing the figures of alan and michael Perry now produced by Foundry when i was about 12 years old. since then i have developed other waragming interests ranging from ancient rome to WW2 via the ECW, AWI, ACW etc. My wargaming introduction came, like a lot of people of my generation, from Games Workshop and Citadel Miniatures in the 1980s and whilst this may be sacriligous to many die hard historical gamers it certainly allowed me to develop an interest in miniature gaming that i certainly wouldnt have been able to get into otherwise. Nowadays i own virtually no fantasy figures having moved virtually completely to historical gaming, but i still hold an interest in the rich background of both GWs warhammer and 40k worlds.
i mainly game with 28mm miniatures but also have a fair collection of 15mm figures and have recently made a slight foray into 6mm napoleonics. mainly i prefer 28mm figures as i usually end up doing more painting than gaming and enjoy the visual character of 28mm figures particularly those produced by my favourite sculpters such as the Perry twins. Over time you will be able to see my work as it is produced, and please feel free to comment