More thoughts on gaming

I've not blogged for a while as I'm having a crisis in gaming thoughts. I've recently written on here about my magpie nature and it's not really good for either completing projects or the wallet!

I've painted the second unit of perry 40mm French and tried something different. I read a while ago an article about a chap who under coats in white and then uses washes to build up the colours he wants. So this is what I did. I'd tried it before on some space marines for my son , with an ok result. With the large figures it was really satisfying to see the shading appearing as I put the layers on. There where some bits I used paint for, mainly the white, but there I tried to go for the foundry 3 colour approach. Then I topped it all off with a really dilute black ink wash just to give the outline of the various straps etc. I still need to varnish them and in this heat I might be able to spray varnish rather than paint it on which will be quicker!

Inspired by this I've under coated some landsknechts that I got initially for WHFB but increasingly I'm thinkng of doing the Italian wars as then I can use the perry plastic renaissance cavalry, and it should still double as an empire army if needed. I've heard that Rick Priestly is working on a fantasy version of hail Caeser so I may have a set of rules to use.

More magpie gaming

I've just finished painting some rohan figures which came as part of a job lot. You can tell they are Perry sculpts as the features are perfect and they take paint really well. Now I've got two units of 12 foot and a unit of 5 cavalry. They are very dark ages like and make me wonder if I could use them in Saga. A quick search online shows that I'm not the first to have these thoughts. There are lots of posts on the studio tomahawk forum discussing which battle boards to use. So I might have to paint up some more to get a 6 point unit. I think I can use the Gripping Beast Dark age warriors as levy, and perhaps mix in some of their Saxon Thegns as hearth guard.

Painting Table update

So although I assembled the modern British I've not got them to the table yet as I thought I'd clear out some minor projects first. That meant some 15mm SYW British from Old Glory that I got from eBay very cheaply. Sadly the mix of figures leaves a lot to be desired with too many grenadiers and command. There were only enought Fusileers for three stands so at the moment there are 3 bases of 8 castings to a regiment. One base is of grenadiers and one of commad leaving only one of Fusileers . They're based on 60x40 as are my ACW, so this might be my preferred basing for 15mm, although I stil am considering doing the West Wind Ancients on 40x20 or even 40x40 dependent on the army. That way I can match facings but represent blocks of troops better.

The other small project was the Dads Army set from Warlord for Bolt Action. I have to say it was the civilian figures that are the selling point of the set as I already have the Foundry versions in uniform. These are good castings and will be great for VBCW, and can pad out my Meibion Glendwyr forces.

Painting magpie

As i may have mentioned I'm trying to decide which scale and type of battle for Napoleonics. So far I've only painted the 40mm Perrys and have enjoyed doing it. I'm tempted to try using washes for the French I have left after an recent experiment on some space marines I found at the bottom of a pile. These were done for my youngest son who's decided he wants to an Ultramarines force like his big brother. I normally use a black undercoat but had read an article on a white undercoat then painted with the GW washes; so thought I'd give it a go. The results are ok but I'm not sure that they are any different than my normal way but I have grown to like the use iof a satin or gloss varnish then a matt over the top.

A local hobby shop had a sale and I managed to pick up 40 1:48 scale modem British for £25. Even though I hate building models these weren't too bad and are ok with my existing Taliban and Russians. They are a little bit taller and thinner but look ok on the table top which is the important thing. I'm just dreadeding doing the cammo, but after some success doing SS pea dot I'm hopeful it might be better than my previous attempts.

I've also managed to blitz my way through several packs of 15mm ACW limbers and guns, which I'm quite pround of. The more I do of the 15mm Old Glory or Blue Moon the more I like the scale. I can see the 10mm Napoleonics going on eBay at this rate. I've under coated them using the Army painter French Blue but have no great desire to progress beyond this stage. 

He's only gone and done it

After worrying about the scale to go for Napoleonics, I found myself converting some recent eBay earnings into more 40mm Perrys. Whilst on their website I treated myself to a copy of Mike Snook's book on the Sudan. So at some point this week another 10 each plus officers will arrive for the 40mm forces. This will give me 21 aside excellent for skirmishes.

I'm beginning to feel that 15-18 mm might be the correct scale for mass battle  Napoleonics. Although the Pendraken figures are beautiful I'm not sure that they'll give me the asthetic I'm looking for. I've tried multiple basing schemes and can't get the "look" I want, which is very frustrating as I'm not sure I know what it is, but I'll know it when I see it!

Tabletop sale

This past weekend I took the eldest lad to the tabletop sale at Lincombe barn in Bristol. The site was easy to find and well set out. We got there around 1030 so might have missed the real bargains but we were happy with what we found. I got 2 books from John Curry - Charlie Wesencrafts practical wargaming and a don Featherstone book on airborne ops. Also there were Chris Scott and Paul Wisken who I know from the Featherstone weekend. They were clearing out some stuff so I relieved them of an old hex and chit version of Sealion, and some NW frontier castings from Don Featherstones collection, painted by hd great man himself. Even if that had not been the case, at £15 for 150 castings it was a bargain! Tom used his pocket money to get some Chaos Terminators for his slow growing Alpha Legion. Just before we left I got chatting to Rob Broom of Scarab Miniatures and before I knew it if bought a copy of War and Conquest. 

As I've invested in the West Wind ancients kickstarter I'm looking for a go to set of rules. I had thought of using Hail Caeser but you can never have too many sets of rules can you? The thing that really sold me was the news that on the forums were rules for using WHFB figures in a varient Rob termed War and Sourcery! If this means I can use the WHFB armies that have sat gathering dust against my remaining ancients then it must be a good idea.

I have moved all the wargaming stuff into its new home of the shed. With the insulation in I think the price of being warm in winter will be playing with the doors open in summer. 

Painting continues and this week I have completed some more Spencer Smith artillery, as well as the French Perry Napoleonics. I have to say that althought I've not done much more than I would for a 28mm casting, I'm much more impressed with the results on the larger scale figure. The British are on the painting table and I found myself watching youtube videos of sharp practise. If I do go down this route then the main choice will be whether to use Sash and Sabre for the rank and file or stick with the Perrys. As I want to get the Sudan book whilst it's on offer I might get a couple of more Perry figures then decide.

More thoughts on Napoleonics

I've almost finished the 40mm Perrys, and I haven't found them much more difficult than 28mm. As they're slightly larger I've taken my time to experiment with the 3 colour method proposed by the likes of Kevin Dalimore. Well, sort of; I've taken the effort to do some highlights and washes whereas with a 28mm figure it's just base colours and dip. I'll try and post some photos to illustrate the difference.

I've tried arranging the 10mm army on various bases but I can't seem to be happy with them. 8 on a 40x20 base will make 2 stands per regiment ( 4 grenadiers, 4 voltagiers, and 8 line) but then do I include command in that 8 which will make a low number of line castings, or do I go down the route I've gone for the ACW with generic infantry stands and seperate command stands? Given the need for grenadiers and voltageurs I'm not sure this is ok. I'm still looking sideways at the Blue Moon 18mm, but resisting so far.

I did but some 15mm Mexican American war figures after listening to a podcast on this period and realising that I could do both sides with not a lot of figures.