On the workbench - July 2025

Well June has been quite a month and my painting effort has been concentrated on our local pub rather that figures.

So there has been little progress and I am working on:

• Work on "El Cid" figures to modify my existing Crusader armies to Spain - well underway and I've nearly finished painting the figures
• Islands for Naval Games - well underway
• Start assembling the 28mm "Gangs of Rome" figures - still unstarted
• Bystanders for "What a Cowboy" - slowly being painted
• WSS Danish Sjaellandske Cuirassiers - Now ready to be painted
• Two units each of Austrian and German Cuirassiers - with the arrival of new figures I have sorted out a rough plan to progress.
• Start up the FDM printer - not yet done as I never seem to have a clear period to get started
• Restart the resin printer - as per the FDM printer
• If possible start on a US Army platoon for Nam 68

Mid month I hope to visit family in Wiltshire and get to the Attack show at Devizes.

Recent purchases

With the arrival of some new sets from Strelets, it was time to top up the stash.

So my plans for using them are from right to left:

• The Orion figures will provide some well needed figures to create a US Army and USMC platoon for Nam68 to replace my old Esci.
• The Chinese will add a bit of colour to any WW2 Burma or "Back of Beyond" game.
• The WSS Duch will become exactly that, a brigade of Dutch Foot
• Holy Roman Empire Grenadiers will boost my existing Austrian Foot
• The WSS British Cavalry were intended to boost my French Line Cavalry but somehow I only bought one packet instead of two
• Similarly the SYW (Jacobite) British Infantry should have been two packets, but the intention was to use a pair of these two items to make up the order to give free postage, but something went wrong

So I've already started on another top up list

Dutch Line Infantry for Trebian

Bunker Hill 1775 refight

Followng Phalanx the Gentlemen Pensioners gathered in Salford to refight the battle of Bunker Hill 1775. I was Prescott, one of the rebel commanders, commanding the defence of the front and south face main redoubt. The rules used were a modified Rebels and Loyalists (?), which all of us apart from the umpires were unfamiliar with.

The British on the move

The British threatening the redoubt, my command is the front facing off a feint attack

The assault rolls in, and the British Grenadiers break in on the weaker northern side

Overall a historicl ending with the British taking Breeds Hill with heavy losses, especially on their southern flans.

An enjoyable days gaming before friends had to depart to the various poimts of the compass.

Phalanx 2025

A big day for the Beacon Club as we had two games at the show, Dave & Owen's Post D-Day bash and Si's battle of Arsuf put on for the Lance & Longbow Society. So to start here is Si's version of Arsuf 1191 AD Richard the Lionheart's victory over Saladin.

Ready for the off, with Saladin catching Richard on the march.

Mid point of the first game with the Crusaders under pressure

We managed to play two games over the days with Richard just managing to win both.

Now onto Dave and Owen's game which won best in show

Well done guys

Now other things that caught my eye, like these well painted crusaders and saracens by the LWA

Our neighbouring game was the Italian Wars

A nice looking WW2 jungle game

Fuentes de Oñoro 1810

WW2 action in Greece 1941 with Rapid Fire

Sassanid and Byzantine

My limited booty, the Dewotine will become a Vichy version and the two Panzer 38(t)'s will replace a plan to print a few more. The 28mm Hoplites was very much an impulse buy to go with my gangs of Rome, but couldn't be passed up at £5 for 34 figures, the Krupp Protz will just go in the stash for now.

Overall a great day out with not too far to travel

Sopwith Camel

The second of my aircraft for the Wargames Forum April 30 Day Group Build was an Esci Sopwith Camel. I applied quite a simple paint job so I can use it for operations in the Middle East.

There were no decals with the kit so I use some left over WW2 versions

Fokker D VII

I constructed the kit for the Wargames Forum April 30 Day Group Build. As it turned out that was the easier part as I then had to paint the little Fokker! Now completed.

Another problem was sourcing a replacement prop, I ended up using a couple of WW2 propellor blades of the correct size fixed to a circular piece of plastic rod

The underside reveals the real painting problem and the screw used to fix the aircraft to the magnet on the stand.

Napoleonic British Cavalry for the Peninsula

Well that's the two units of British Napoleonic Cavalry created out of the HaT Napoleonic statrter pack each of eight figures.

The 16th Light Dragoons were based up for skirmish games such as Rebels and Patriots, Sharp Practice, etc and the basing matches my Peninsula skirmish figures.

The heavy cavalry is the 4th "Queen's Own" Dragoons, but this time based to fit in with the bulk of my Napoleonic figures. Although the moulding of HaT figures has improved the plastic is still quite flexible