Parthian light infantry

The Hat Parthian cavalry came with a few light infantry with shield/javelin and bow. I'm not sure how I will use them in what is essentially a mounted army, but I painted them so I had the choice is needed.  The main problem is that as they are add ons to the mounted sets there is only one pose of each, which makes very boring irregular skirmishing units.

Mig 3

My second Hobbyboss Aircraft was a Russian Mig 3 one of the mainstays of the VVS in the early part of the war.  As provided in the kit I assembled it as one used by Aleksandr Pokryshkin the second leading Soviet ace of the war with 59 official victories

Hawker Hurricane Mk IIc

One of my Xmas presents was the Hobbyboss model of the Hawker Hurricane Mark IIc.  This is a later version with the four 20mm cannons.  The only problem with the Hobbyboss kits is that they are modelled with the undercarriage lowered and I prefer flying versions.  Therefore I had a little bit of extra work to remodel the door flaps closed.  I also decided to paint it in Western Desert colours as I will only be using it in games involving ground support and there was little of this action in North West Europe during the period when it was in significant use.

M3A1 half tracks

My final purchase of 2008 was a brace of Italeri fast build half tracks.  I was uncertain as to whether to bother or not as most of my WW2 armies are 1/76.  However someone over on the Society of Gentlemen Gamers posted up a comparison of the vehicles and they are almost the same as my Airfix ones.  They assembled really quickly and produced an excellent vehicle.  I decide to use these ones to provide some extra protection for my Russian Recce troops.

Pak 40

Along with the Fujimi PanzerJager I was a Pak 40, which seems a bit out of place as a Pak 36 or 38 would be more appropriate for the early war.  I still had some left over late war crew from the Pegasus infantry gun so I put them together.  The only obvious mismatch is the size of the round as the pak 40 round is almost 1 metre long.

Behind the gun are a number of Eidai Kubelwagens, I am leaving them at this stage until needed as I haven't finally decided whether they will be used in the desert or Europe.

Krupp Protze

Finished this batch of extra early war Germans on Christmas Day, but this has been the first chance to take pictures. I bought a pair of Eidai Krupp protze a few months back, as I need them as tows for my 37mm's. The reason for the purchase was that the Matchbox set only provides the truck version and not the protz (limber) version. Unfortunately only one complete kit was available, but some parts from another set were included and this included the protz part. Since I had two unassembled Matchbox kits I decided to fit the Eidai protz parts to them. It turned out the Eidai kit was larger and I ended up having to trim down the parts to fit and in retrospect it would have been easier to have scratch built the parts. The other unfortunate part was that I copied the Eidai model so I have incorrectly modelled the rear of the vehicle.

Front row left and right the converted Protz and centre the Eidai truck version.

Rear row a additional Panzer IV plus a reconditioned old model (both Airfix) and a Panzer Jaeger I (Fujimi)

I still need to add some crews to the vehicles.

Russian m/c combos

A recent WW2 game required me to have a Russian Recce Company equiped with motorcycle combinations, During the game they did not move so I didn't need to deploy some German combos that I had ready. I found that the Eidai Krupp protze set had a combo in it so I basically painted them up as Russian in case I need a unit again.

The moulding of the figures is pretty poor as can be seen above, particularly the arms of the driver, which are very spindley. The motorcycles themselves are not too bad.

Merry Christmas

Well, after all the anticipation it was a good Christmas for presents.  The dominant theme this year was aircraft, plus a scattering of goodies for other periods.

• Revell Me 110
  
• Hobbyboss MIG 3
  
• Hobbyboss Hurricane
  
• Airfix Auster (I need this for the SOTCW game next summer)
  
• HaT Chariots & Warrior Queen (not sure exactly how to use three warrior queens!)
  
• HaT Mounted Infantry (at long last a chance to upgrade my Airfix conversions)
  
• The Battle of Paoli by Thomas J. McGuire
  
• Gods & Generals DVD
  
• Osprey Campaign - Austerlitz, Aspern/Wagram & Lutzen/Bautzen (should fire up my Napoleonics again)

I hope everyone else did as well

Will

Polish commanders

These are from the Zvezda Polish Hussar set, the central group is the actual command group provided and he will take over as the overall commander of my Poles.  The other two are just ordinary hussars but based as commanders.  I added some extra bits to fill up the bases with an Orion Janissary and a war dog from the Revell Conquistadore set

I've still got a few more bits to finish painting and I hope I'll have a clean slate by the end of the year

Revolting peasants

or rather Strelets Medieval Levy 1, again picked up on the B&B at Derby, they'll provide the suitable knight bait to go with my medieval armies.

quite a nice set, but took a while to paint as they were irregularly coloured.

More Macedonian lights

I picked up a mixed bag of Macedonian light infantry at Derby, it comprised both Zvezda and Hat figures.  I hadn't bought the Zvezda figures before as they were included with the phalangites, which I had plenty already.  The front row is all Zvezda figures and they are very nice figures, the only item I felt was wrong was the helmet crests on the standing archers, which seemed rather over the top, so I cut many of them off and re-attached one to a kneeling archer.

Apologies for the quality of the images as I was forced to take them in artificial light

Warboot at Manchester

Had an unusual day out on Sunday, it was the equivalent of a car boot sale for wargamers called Warboot and organised by the Manchester Area Wargames Society. There were 21 tables available to rent and I booked one for the Deeside Defenders. Access was easy, just a short drive off the M60, the only real issue was the limited parking. I didn't have any problem as I arrived early enough, but the sight of a large empty office car park nearby was a bit galling.

There were certainly plenty of bargains, especially if you were into Fantasy, Flames of War or Boardgames. All the tables were booked, but some remained empty, this included one for one of the main enthusiasts for the event. Attendance was low, maybe because of the fog, maybe due to wargamers spouses insisting on going Xmas shopping, or just because it was a new event.

I broke even, managing to reduce my stock slightly but finding enough bits to buy.

Will I participate again? Certainly, it was a much better atmosphere than the normal scrum at a B&B. It made us wonder about adopting a more formal approach like this for Gauntlet.

Recon 2008

Back across the Pennines for another show, this time Recon at Pudsey, near Leeds. This was my first visit and it seemed much more laid back than the bigger show at the Royal Armouries. Not as many traders and games, but lots of friendly people to talk to. Yet again it was Marignano 1515, its last outing and for the Swiss a conspicuous success as with the dice gods smiling on them they stormed across the ditch and eliminated most of Bourbon's command before Francis and the french reserves got into play.

On the purchasing front, I bought very little, as I had to avoid items on my Xmas list, so

• An Airfix Emergency set from the B&B - I need an ambulance for the next big game
• The Mars GNW Swedish Infantry- I got tempted by the range of poses
• Strelets Turkopoles - extras for my Teutonic order army and at a pinch could be used as HYW mounted archers.

I also continued the sale of items from my stash that I have convinced myself that I'll never get around to needing/painting

The real temptation was the new buildings from Total Battle Miniatures as they were demonstrating their new black powder building range with a Napoleonic game. Luckily for my wallet it was 15mm rather than 20mm.

On the workbench - Dec 08

Another year has almost flown by, so I really ought to look back at my plans and progress against them.

Anyway I am now shifting tack and plan to work on the following

• 1 x Panzer IV (early war)
  
• 2 x Krupp Boxer protze
  
• 3 x Kubelwagen
• 1 x Panzer III (Matchbox, I wish I could get more)
• A collection of various Greek light infantry
• Some Polish Hussar and Austrian commanders for 1683
• Strelets Medieval Levy
• Some Frundsberg flying artillery (a fun project)

Other activities are preparing for Recon at Leeds this Saturday and then Warboot in Manchester a week on Sunday. Oh and of course Xmas.

GNW/SYW Swedish Infantry

I completed all three units at the same time, even though I started them in series, as once I'd finished with one colour I just continued on the next. Just must have been in a good painting mood this week.

So the net result is three very fine looking unit, but the picture had to be taken in artificial light so it doesn't do them justice. I expect that given their blue coats they will end up fighting beside the Prussians against the Austrians (supported by the French)

From front to back the units are Skaraborg, Jonkopings and Vasterbotta.

Apart from finding some suitable commanders I consider this army now completed!

(Well maybe if I discover details of the Böhnens Fribataljon I might add those.)

Austrian Commanders

After completing the cavalry I realised that I had no commanders for my Austrian forces, so after some searching around I put these together.

The mounted generals are all Revell SYW Austrian Dragoon Officers with spare bicorne heads added from the HaT Napoleonic Austrian Dragoons set. These really fitted a treat as I found the other bicorne heads I had from the French infantry (Hat and Italeri) were far too large. The foot figures are from the Strelets Allied Allied Chiefs of Staff (2) set.

Notes from Romain over on The Guild picking up on various flaws in my depicting of a Austrian general's uniform

The hats are perfect!! So are the plumes! Well done indeed!!!

If you allow me a couple of comments for your info:

Austrian generals of the period had no lapels on their coats (only gold lace, Feldmarschälle had embroidery), and the vest was always red (red being the colour for the generalship) with the same lace. Moreover the neckcloth was definitely black by that time.

Generals would always wear white wigs (regs!).

According to original regulations we dug up, generals did not carry pistols, as they were not supposed to fight! I was very surprised when I learned this (pleasantly mind you)! It spared me the costs to buy a pair and have holsters made. However, all 4 corners of the shabraque would sport embroidered cyphers (emperor's initials and crown).

If you are interested, I can post a couple of pics I have from our reenactments. My uniform was designed for Marengo, where coats had changed from the collarless (open) version of the XVIIIth to either standing collar with coat buttoned (one central row) and no lace except for the cuffs, or still open (and heavily laced) with standing-drooping collar (which is the version I chose).

In the field, most generals would wear the Oberrock. The colour would be close to pike-grey (blueish-grey) or kornblumenblau (light blue).

As generals would buy their uniform from their own money, they seem to have used the opportunity to choose their own "style" within the limits (or outside).

The best example for this is probably the coat preserved in the HGM reputedly worn by Napoleon when he sneaked out in 1814. It sports a standing-drooping collar (a bit outdated ) AND 2 rows of buttons (like the Oberrock) which is totally out of regs!!

Black Prince

At Derby, on impulse, I picked up a set of Zvezda HYW English Knights on the B&B. Included in the figures was a model of Edward, the "Black Prince" The heraldry was all moulded on so the figure couldn't be used for anyone else. Luckily I need a commander for my Hundred Years War English, and this is just the character.
I changed my usual style of block painting over to a black undercoat then dry-brushing progressively silver, then white, then yellow, before touching up the blue and red areas. Overall it has certainly brought out the heraldry well.

Wikipedia details on the Black Prince

Austrian Revolutionary cavalry

I have continued with the production of troops for the French Revolutionary wars in Italy with a couple more cavalry regiments for the Austrians. This time I've added the Liechtenstein Hussars and one of my ficticious Frundsberg units.



The Hussars are a bit of a composite as they are Italeri French Hussars on British Light Dragoon horses, but they are quite close to the original style. The Liechtenstein Hussars fought in Italy at Marengo.

The Frundsberg Light Dragoons are a straight painting conversion of the Italeri British Light Dragoons. I did buy a few to many of these, but this is an excellent use of the spare figures.

All I need to sort now is the artillery, who wore a similar coat to the infantry with a corsehut.

DAK AT team

For those interested in the basing the base colour was coffee, highlighted a slightly more yellow version of pale stone and very small blobs of a darker static grass.

The 37mm Pak36 is from Matchbox along with a couple of hard plastic figures from their kits. The last figure is from the Revell DAK set.

Will

GNW/SYW Swedish Hussars & Artillery

Continuing on the Swedish theme, here are the Swedish Blau Hussars from the SYW using the now rare Revell figures. In front are the Swedish gunners in their GNW uniform (it became blue for the SYW). The guns are some Austrian ones I had been painting for my WSS Austrian Army so I don't have to use my TYW ones (it's the same model though). I've sorted a couple of guns out for the SYW, which I will paint in blue/green as per the Napoleonic period gun colour, but I'm not sure I could justify using that colout for the GNW.

Next in this era will be the infantry.

Will

Basing - my approach

None of my approach is new, I've just copied the work of others, but as requested several times, here is my approach. The unit being based is the SYW Swedish Blau Hussars, plus a few other bits.

Step 1 glue the figures down to a base. I'm still using mounting card and fixing the figures using a hot glue gun

Step 2 I paint neat PVA all over the base and then dip in in my sand/crushed kitty litter mix.

Step 3 Brush off all the loose basing material. A lot of the larger bits come off at this stage and might leave a bare area, if so just repeat step 2 on the area.
Then paint dilute PVA over the whole base, this ensures the basing material is firmly fixed

Step 4 - apply the base colour for the terrain. for most of my figures I use a chocolate brown colour, normally using a tester pot of ordinary emulsion paint and diluting enough so it flows easily. This is just slopped onto the base just being carefully where it meets the figure

Step 5 - Highlighting the surface. This is the step where I have the most difficulty with ordinary emulsion paint, some of them just will not dry-brush, but I haven't found out how to distinguish which is which. Normally I use a dry-stone colour for the highlight

Step 6 (Final) Once the dry brushing is dry, it's back to the neat PVA again, added in a random pattern and then the base is dipped into static grass and left to dry.

Notes

1) For infantry units where the base is quite cluttered I quite often paint and texture the figures based before gluing the figures onto the mounting card as it is easier (and safer) than trying to do it all in one step.

2) Make sure that you leave adequate time for drying between the stages I normally leave about 4 hours plus

3) Make sure all gloss and metallic surfaces are completely dry before starting otherwise the basing material gets attracted to them. In order to show the steps I left painting the swords until after I finished basing

4) Crushed kitty litter is produced by putting ordinary kitty litter in a plastic bag and hitting it with a wooden mallet or similar until it is sufficiently fine.

I hope this helps

Will

GNW/SYW Swedish Cavalry

A couple of units produced from the excellent Zvezda Swedish Dragoons of Charles XII. Out of the 18 figures in the set I produced one dragoon regiment, one cavalry, a general and a separate vignette.

Basically the cavalry unit (right) comprised all the figures waving swords, while the dragoons were made up of the remainder including the dismounted figures which I was not sure about, but they came out OK.

I'm not sure exactly how I'll use them, as I don't plan to do the Great Northern War (at present) but they will fit in OK with my SYW armies. As for uniforms I'll try and paint them as generically as possible for both periods. The cavalry is the Sodra Skanska regiment, which I discovered (after painting) had also been painted by Phil Olley, so I expect it to perform well.

Catching up

Well, I managed to complete quite a few units over the last couple of days, first off is a small number of Vietnamese civilians I painted using the Orion boxers, I found during a recent game that I didn't have any potential "targets" though one of the US players manage to waste another player's figure despite queries of "are you sure?"

I had some Lithuanians light infantry for my Teutonic order army, so they are now finished, but I'd like some more, but not enough to buy another packet of Zvezda Lithuanian Knights.

Finally, Macedonian Prodromoi. I had been searching for these guys, part came via a trade, and the rest via a lucky purchase on the B&B at Derby. Now I just seem to have Zvezda and Hat Macedonian Cavalry to spare.

Plus units over on the Frundsberg blog

Will

On the Workbench - November 2008

Time for a quick reflection, Xmas is approaching rapidly and I need to get my wish list circulated around the family. In general creating this is reasonably successful as I usually get a few bits off the list and I avoid getting bits I don't need/want. What I try to do is slacken off on the purchasing so there's enough on the list.

Over the last month, I've gained enough Zvezda Great Northern Wars Swedes to make 3 regiments plus I've already enough cavalry for 2 regiments, so my plan is to create a brigade each of SYW'ish Swedish. The third regiment of cavalry will be from my stash of Revell SYW Prussian Hussars, probably as the Blue Hussars. I just need a good online reference to check the uniforms before I start(*).

Other plans

• Finish the cavalry to support the Austrians in Italy in the Revolution, they now just need basing
• Paint up a Frundsberg Light Dragoon Regiment to support the Austrians (I'll probably add a unit of Austrian Hussars to go with them)
• Base up the Macedonian Prodromoi and Teutonic Order Light Infantry
• As a background task I'll get started on the Strelets Medieval Levy 1

Will

* Swedish lace wars sites found so far

Leuthen Journal - unfortunately not enough definition on the prints to read the text
Kronoskaf - has details of the infantry uniforms
Svenska regementen under indelningsverkets dagar - unfortunately in Swedish
Royalfig - has flags

Medieval Britain

They've been drifting along for a while with the odd figure or colour being painted when I remember, but finally here's the completed collection. All the figures come from Strelets Medieval Britain set.

Foreground someone being knighted and the heralds, behind a rather menacing cowled monk and a relaxed group of Men at Arms.

Casualties of war bodies being dragged of the battlefield and an archer finishing off a fallen knight

Casualty clearing station

Execution

A great collection and will brighten up the rear areas of my armies.

Will

Prussian Landwehr Cavalry

It's been a while since I produced any Napoleonics, so once I received a few Hat Prussian Dragoons (I still need more) I painted these two units, both Silesian Landwehr Cavalry. The one to the left the 3rd Regiment, unusual in having a polish lancer uniform, presumably from captured stocks. The other is the 2nd Regiment in a fairly orthodox uniform.

For the 3rd I used the Esci Polish Lancers and the 2nd used the Hat Prussian Dragoons. Both units along with the 1st Silesian were in the same brigade at Waterloo, but during 1813 they were individually attached to infantry brigades in the army of Silesia.

Will

For Martin

Just in case I don't manage to update the blog with my latest figures before tomorrow's club meeting here's a taster.

Will

Fiasco Show

A great day out to the Fiasco show in Leeds on Sunday. I was with the Lance & Longbow Society again and the game this time was Marignano 1515. The third replay I've been involved in and in this one the Swiss gave their best performance. I played French and I consistently rolled low pip dice for the two forward commands until later in the game when the pattern changed. The picture below shows the intact Swiss columns about to cross the ditch.

The show was smaller than before with everything confined to the main hall. There were some other interesting games, but I didn't manage to take any other photos since the battery on my camera was playing up. Hopefully one of the many friends I met will post some and I'll then add a link.

The high point was returning home with more money than I started as I managed to sell most of a large box of old/spare figures, and the new figures I would have bought were not available yet.

Will

More HYW English Bowmen

I've now repainted the rest of the old Airfix bowmen, this time from the Sheriff of Nottingham set. I started with 30 figures, but lost 2 due to the dreaded brittle plastic disease. I'll normally be using them as Light Heavy Infantry, and the smaller unit may well be used with the Teutonic Order hence the simple white surcoat and red cross. The other unit was given a Strelets standard bearer and after some hunting through old Hobilars I found the flag for Sir John Fastoff.

Makes quite a nice change to see my old figures repainted, but the problem is the size of the stash, so do I repaint/rebase units or paint new?

Anyway, now on to a variety of cavalry units, while I finish the Medieval Britain set

Will

HYW English

A touch of "something old, something new" this time. I have repainted some very old Airfix "Robin Hood" bowmen, adding in some more I acquired over the years plus a few Strelets figures I got for Xmas.

They will form the core of my Hundred Years War English army and provide bow contingents to others such as my Teutonic Order army.

Will

Turkish Victory in Sidedeestan‏

From the Baku Chronicle 1919, all the news that's fit to print and more.

After a couple of attempts Turkish forces operating in Sidedeestan captured two wagonloads of important papers from a White Russian force preparing to hand them over to the British. For his exploits Bolukbashi Allak Bullak expects to be promoted to Bimbashi.

The White commander Major Birkoff complained about being picked on by all three enemy forces and the lack of British support. In his report he claimed "We were robbed" Imperial HQ is very concerned about the loss of the papers.

Kevanski, the Red Commander, caused considerable damage to the Whites, but his conscripts lost heavily in a partisan ambush. Commissar Smirnoff observing his actions said that his performance did not achieve revolutionary standards and that he would be watched for any revisionist behaviour, especially given excuses "like my cards didn't turn up"

Major Shawly-Wight kept firm possession of the town of Nothguorb, and ensured his command was kept intact despite Turkish provocation. There are rumours that some of the Indian officers are calling their commander Shawly-Cautious.

The Partisans were also successful killing many Reds and Whites for minimal losses, unfortunately their commander Mehmet Arkus was killed by a lucky shot from the Whites.The Turkish troops are reportedly heading back to their base on the shore of the Caspian with their loot, pursued by the Reds and Whites.

---------------------------------
The game was a variant of the wagon train scenario I remember as a table top teaser many years ago. The Whites had to escort the wagons across the longest length of the table corner to corner. In the farthest was the town occupied by the British, their allies. Arriving in the nearest corner to the Whites was the Reds intent on killing anyone. In the corner nearest the British were the Turkish with mixed aims capturing the wagons and/or the town. In between were the partisans, nominally allied with the Turks, but more interested in loot.

Forces

Whites: 1 Coloured (officer) coy; 2 plastoon coys; 1 cossack sq; 1 HMG; 2 wagons
Reds: 2 regular coys; 2 conscript coys; 1 HMG; 1 cavalry sq
Partisans: 2 coys rated similar to red partizans
Turks: 2 infantry coys; 1 cavalry sq; 1HMG; 1 gun
British: 1 British coy; 1 Indian coy; 1 Indian sq; 1 HMG; 1 gun

A five player game, played at the club last Thursday. The rules were a variant on Red Actions with each units activated on the turn of its card. A clever officer card allowed "Clever officers" to take their action earlier (or later) when the card came up.

Successful trip to Derby

A great day out to the Derby show yesterday, as usual at the moment you found me on the Lance & Longbow society stand. This time the game was the battle of Lincoln 1141 Here is a view of the action taken from the walls showing the furious fighting over the teddy bear fur. King Stephen's forces to the right, the Duke of Gloucester's to the left.

I had quite a successful foray to the B&B picking up quite a bit for the stash

• A mixed bag of HaT Alexander's Light Infantry & Zvezda Greek Infantry (I'm sure I need a few more lights)
• Two bags of Hat Macedonian Cavalry mixed with Italeri Macedonian Cavalry (should give me some more prodromoi, round off a couple of other units, and possibly use some for Successor Agema)
• Italeri AWI British Light cavalry (Complete impluse since I already have one set to upgrade my AWI American cavalry)
• Zvezda English Knights of the HYW (As I'm working on the HYW these looked too nice to pass over)
• Strelets-R Medieval Levy 1 (I need some scruffy types to back up the knights etc.)
• Zvezda Russian Infantry Of Peter The Great (2 packs) I was debating increasing my Marlboroughian forces so finding these persuaded me - they'll probably become German infantry in blue.
• Strelets-R Swedish Infantry of Charles XII (I always like strelets for the variety of poses allowing bases to become dioramas - so these will provide another regiment)
• Matchbox Panzer III (Hurrah, I've been looking for more of these for a while)
• Airfix Panzer IV (I need another short barrelled one for some early war scenarios, I'll try and model it as an earlier version than the F1)

I also picked up from traders

• Zvezda Polish Hussars (a cheap box and I really want the command figures)
• Fujimi Panzerjaeger I (again like the Pz IV needed for early war scenarios, It was nice to see Fujimi back on sale again)
• The latest WSS with the theme of Ligney by Barry Hilton, a battle I always intend to refight.

There were lots of traders and the venue is great with easy access and parking, natural light, far better than the old Civic Centre (shows how long it was since I was last at the show)

On a second foray back to the B&B I ran into Andy Callan racking through the plastics, both of us agreeing on the pleasures of rummaging and finding that long desired set going cheap. One of other great pleasures of shows is running into old wargaming opponents, like Andy, from other parts of the country.

Probably the next show I'll be at will be Leeds

The first details of our local Gauntlet show are now up on our upgraded Deeside Defenders website

Will

Zvezda Swedish dragoons

I was in my local Modelzone today and saw they had the new Zvezda figures, so I got a packet hoping they would be usable with the rest of my SYW army, that's made up of Revell figures. Unfortunately they are huge. If the PSR sizing is used the the Revell Austrian Dragoons are 24mm and the Zvezda Swedish Dragoons are 27mm. Here are a couple of comparison pictures.

Although the Zvezda cavalryman is substantially larger, the horse is actually slightly smaller highlighted by swapping the mounts.

The Zvezda sculpting is excellent as always and I'm left wondering if I can somehow use the figures without the size difference being too noticeable

Will

On the workbench - October 2008

Well the HYW archers are well in progress but they will still take quite a bit of time before they're finished. Other items I plan to work on are

• Two units of Prussian Landwehr Cavalry - one unit will be the 3rd Silesian (using polish lancer figures) and the other I haven't decided yet, but will use the Hat Prussian Dragoon figures.
• Two units of "Austrian" Dragoons for the Revolutionary wars, one will be Austrian Dragoons in Bicorne and the other will be a Frundsberg regiment.
• A background job, just adding colours when I feel inclined (or remember) is the Strelets Medieval Britain set (the source of the bishop in a previous blog)
• Finally, another set of ACW limber horses and riders. Typically as I put the newly completed limbers away, I found another painted limber in the bow without a horse team.

The 3rd Silesian Landwehr Cavalry link comes from the Mont St Jean site, a most amazing resource for those interested in the armies at Waterloo.

Will

ACW Limbers

Whenever possible I paint limbers to go with my artillery and with plastics it's always an economic option, but it does mean that I often end up with plenty of spare gunners. To go with the artillery painted earlier, here are the matching limbers, all using the old Airfix American Civil War figures.
During preparation a couple of horses snapped showing their age, this is something that occasionally happens, but I've never found a definate cause. Since all plastic is UV unstable over time one possible cause is that the figures have been left in daylight for a considerable period, but this doesn't explain many of my own old figures that this happens to as they are stored away in dark boxes in cupboards.

Will

The Bishop

This figure was started along with my Teutonic Order to provide some motivational support in their crusade against the heathens, but was slightly delayed. It's one of the "personality" figures from the Strelets medieval Britain set. I can see it appearing in quite a few games.

Over on my Frundsberg blog I've added a new unit for the Revolutionary wars

Will

I'm back

I took a last minute holiday in Austria and I'm now back attempting to catch up.

I've got around to updating my Frundsberg pages and started a new AWI scenario - Gloucester Point breakout

While away I caught up with some of my backlog of reading including the Ospreys on New York 1776 and Philadelphia 1777, so expect some more scenarios in the next month or so.

Will

Teutonic Order - infantry

My infantry represents the main foot component of the order comprising 1/3 spears and 2/3 crossbowmen. The maximum I'm allowed for 6th is 36 figures, so there are plenty of points left for the cavalry. In front of the foot is two wedges of dismounted knights, useful if I end up with bad terrain.
The majority of the figures are from the excellent Livonian knights pack, plus quite a number of crossbowmen from the Revell/Accurate pack

I still have a few light troops (e.g local native militia) to finish, but I'm waiting to find some suitable figures to make up the numbers.

Will

Teutonic Order - cavalry

Now for my latest army the Teutonic Order all based for WRG 6th. This covers the period from 1201 to 1466AD and the forces of the Order outside Outremer up until their subjugation by Poland.

I started with just a single box of Italeri/Zvezda Knights, but gained a lot more last year by trading. The Italeri figures are all knights and although a cooperation with Zvezda they are typical Italeri sculpts. As part of the trade I gained some of the Zvezda Livonian knights and these are far superior and include foot figures as well.

In the picture above are seven wedges of Teutonic/Livonian/Crusader Knights (EHK), backed up by five units of Brother/Crusader Sargents.

On the left two wedges of Livonians, if I hadn't had so many Teutonic Knight figures I would have got more of these

A wedge of Crusader knights - made up of Strelets mounted sargents on the Teutonic knights horses. This enabled me to mount more of the Sargent looking Teutonic Knights onto the Strelets horses.

The Teutonic Knights themselves in four wedges. My originals had been based with snow patches (made of perlite) but it didn't look right and worse when they were deployed on normal green cloth (or a white one).

The flags came from Dansk Figurspilsforenings a very useful site for flags

Will

On the Workbench - September 2008

Well, there's not much planned at the moment, so I'll update this post as I decide. That said, there a rather large horde of Teutonic knights on the bench that are approaching completion over the next week.. I had thought that I needed more Bitish gunners for the Bemis Heights scenario, but I remembered that I had some old spare SYW Prussian gunners so these will be fine.

The main thing I'm considering is about starting is Hundred Years War English, this would be a combination of new figures plus reworking of some very old poor figures.

Will

ACW Artillery

Well I got bored of all the white with the Teutonic knights and decided to do something different. I found in the last few games of Fire and Fury that I was short of artillery, so I picked up some second hand Airfix, some were already painted so they were given a spray of oven cleaner to remove the paint. Although all my ACW figures are based with green scatter, I decided to continue with upgrading the basing for these.
The artillery colour should be olive green, but I've continued with the same grey that I've used since the beginnings of my ACW collection, I can't remember how I came to use the colour.

Hopefully within the next week the Teutonic knights will be completed.

Will