Christmas Painting; Inspector Poirot and Miss Marple

I decided that in lieu of handing out Christmas cards to my Mum and Dad where I spent my Christmas this year I'd do a spot of painting for them instead. I wasn't sure of the response that I'd get, a little unorthodox for my folks but they were both bowled over and very happy to get such "unusual Christmas Cards"! Phew :>)

They were painted in a bit of a rush as they had to be ready for Christmas day and I started them at about 12 noon on Christmas Eve! luckily I'd already thought of doing the basing and had an idea of what I wanted in terms of the look. I went for a simple gravel path, the sort of thing that might be old road of yesteryear or the gravel path leading up to a Stately Home. anyway, you get the picture :>)

I broke my cardinal rule of missing out the gloss varnish stage and sprayed on the matte coat at 1am X-mas day knowing that they would be dry enough to handle the next day.

This was for my Dad:

My Mum's 'card' tomorrow!

Bye for now.

Christmas Painting; Truce

This piece was part of the Steve Dean Form Painting Swap where names are drawn from a hat, presently by me, miniatures are then swapped with a partner who paints up the mini for you.

In this event Angel aka ONIRIA, his forum name, wanted me to choose something for him and I decided to go for what I think I remember as a Partizan Freebie, the Christmas Truce Tommy Footballer.

I had him ready on boxing day but I had to allow for glossing and then matting down the latter of which is not an exact science as many a painter will bemoan! 

I've got to admit that I was tempted to paint the base a lighter colour to make the khaki sing out a little but in the end it wouldn't really be fitting as many a British soldier died on the ground represented and it just did not seem like a fitting tribute (of course I do not discount all the other nationalities too!)

Here's the results....

More Christmas Painting Very Soon!

Christmas Clearout; TAG Tudor & Foundry Afghans

Part Four of my Christmas Clearout:

Buyer Pays Postage. If it's a single or indeed a few mini's I'll endeavour to get them in as flat a package as possible to keep the costs down if you're within the UK.

Payment via Paypal. 

I'm happy to post Worldwide but would ask the buyer to pay for Overseas Signed For postal costs or be willing to accept the loss if the package becomes lost in the post upon receipt of a Proof of Posting slip that I always get from the Post Office.

If you're interested please email me at:

darrell.hindley@googlemail.com

All mini's are mint (they came as freebies [except Landsknecht] at X-mas)

Prices are above the pics of the miniatures:

Wargames Foundry North West Frontier: Afghan- £3.

Pro-Gloria Landsknecht with Pig!- £2.

The Assault Group Tudor Freebies, Mary, Henry VIII and Tudor Standard Bearer- £6 Pending

Bye for now.

Christmas Clearout Continues...F/S Real Vintage Marauder and Citadel Miniatures

Prices Reduced

Part three of my Christmas Cleanout.....

Buyer Pays for Postage. If it's s single miniature I'll try to get it in an ordinary envelope with a bit of bubble wrap for UK buyers.

Payment via Paypal.

I'm happy to post Worldwide but I would ask for the buyer to pay for Overseas Signed For or be willing to accept the loss if the package is lost in the post upon receipt of the Proof of Posting slip.

If you're interested in anything please e-mail me at:

darrell.hindley@googlemail.com

Prices are above the pictures of the miniatures.

Vintage Citadel Dead Fighter being Eaten by Worms! - £4

 Vintage Citadel Fight/Ranger with Bow - £3.

 Black Orc Standard Bearer - £3

Citadel Norse - £2

 Citadel Original Lord of the Rings Legolas - £2

 Citadel Goblin Archer - £2

 Citadel Siege Engineer - £2

Thanks for looking,

Bye for now.

Haggis Rampant Campagn; Hammer and Anvil

Thursday gone saw Mike and I team up again as the (somewhat vulnerable) Islemen but this time taking on Jim and Neil with their English. The scenario was to be Hammer and Anvil, a situation that the Islemen and their lack of armour are not superbly equipped to deal with when facing archery and Mounted Men at Arms.. However, the tabletop was covered in woods and thus we were not too disheartened as we would be able to make use of the woods, hopefully inducing the knights into a Wild Charge, having them stuck in the woods and bringing them into melee with our Fierce Foot and possibly reducing their prowess by loosing missile after missile with our Bidowers. 

I should add that the aim of the scenario was for Mike and I to move our troops off two diagonal sections approx 18" across on the opposite corners of the table. We played the scenario out with split retinues of roughly 12 points a piece.

Islemen Left Flank (My Troops):

Our Right Flank- Mike's Set Up:

Jim's Deplyment (English):

(I seem to have neglected to take a pic of Neil's deployment of his English but they were to come on just behind us more or less to  Mike's rear!)

 

The Tabletop at the Start of the Game:

Jim's English archers took up position on the hilltop blocking our way to the table opposite edge.

Mike's Islemen move forward. mine decide that discretion is the better form of valour and stay put (ie I failed to activate a single unit. Not ideal when you have a burly unit of Mounted Men at Arms hammering onto the tabletop in the English turn Two!

"Thus come the English, with full power upon us" (to be read out aloud in Medieval Scots!). Neil's English Sergeants huff and puff trying to keep up with the Mounted Men at Arms!

The horrible result of bad dice activation rolls and Fierce Foot having to deal with the 'eavies! Mike's Fierce foot timidly retreat after receiving a mauling.

Just about the only unit that I managed to activate makes a mad dash for the opposite side of the hill to the English Mounted Men at Arms!

Jim's deploys his English Longbowmen as he awaits the arrival of any survivors Mike and I may have after Neil's Mounted Men at Arms have finished ravaging behind our lines.

Mike, who was receiving more than his fair share of 'Islemen luck' (TM) managed to get his Foot Men at Arms and a unit of Bidowers to a wood where neither Neil nor Jim could reach him. Probably not in time anyway!

A unit of my Timid, oops sorry, Fierce Foot that seemed destined to stay exactly where they started the game!

One of my Bidower Units, seeing the carnage behind decide to leg it off the table. This counts as a route which plays into Neil and Jim's hands in terms of victory conditions but as we roll for casualties after each game in a season (random number of games) it seemed the better option to live to fight another day rather than face Neil's Mounted Horrors!

Prior to the early exit of the above unit of Bidowers I had feigned running off the board with my two units of Bidowers, a ruse that was to actually prove useful as Jim stayed his hand in moving the English Longbowmen over to my side of the board just long enough.....

And how they ran....

And ran.....

And ran.... all the way to our objective, the corner of the table. The result being one unit of Bidowers off the table at exit point and one Glory Point to me! Doesn't sound like a lot? Well, I'm in negative equity as far as glory points are concerned so it was a moment to savour for me :>)

Mike also managed to get his Bidowers off the table at the requisite exit points but with the units that had routed, voluntarily or deliberately we lost the game by four Glory Points which Jim and Neil. A but of a slow game but looking back it was more fun than it seemed when I kept failing (and failing again) my activation rolls for my entire force! 

So, with a random number of raids left in the season I'm determinded to stick to the ethos of the Islemen list, ie lots of light troop types (Bidowers, Fierce Foot) and probably only one unit of men at arms. I've got a unit of the rather beautiful Claymore Castings Highland Archers primed, undercoated and ready to paint but I'm going to try to finish of the Fierce Foot and Bodowers first- I've still got 24 models to go! Thanks Thoth that the Gripping Beast British and Welsh Kingdoms miniatures don't make bad substitutes for the Highlanders!

Bye for now.

Haggis Rampant Campaign Game II; Blood Fued

Thursday gone saw the resumption of our Haggis Rampant Campaign. This time it was Mike and I, with our Islemen Retinues facing off against up Sweary Nige's(TM) English. We rolled for the level of the raid and again for the scenario which turned out to be Blood Fued! Excellent I thought, the perfect scenario to get my leader, who carried the stigma of the Insipid trait killed off and have a chance to roll for something decent! Not so, Nige had to kill me leader to gain the full glory points and I had to try to stay alive! Just my luck, or was it? 

Mike's boast was to get one of his units off Nige's table edge but my Insipid Lord was to prove to be deliciously aggressive in the particular game. Not that I wanted him to die of course- oh no ;>)

Here is Nige English Deployment:

And that of us Raggedy Islemen:

Nige moved his Mounted Men at Arms down our left flank aggressively at speed in order to bring my Men at Arms and ultimately my leader to force of arms. It was no surprise that my Fierce Foot with their Fleet Footed ability were to head to the woods to try and entice his Mounted Troops into a ( very silly) Wild Charge in order for them to get stuck in the woods fighting a losing battle. This kind of backfired as my Fierce Foot proved to be apathetic and rather tame in failing their activation rolls twice and steadfastly refusing to move from the spot! Luckily I had rolled for my Men at Arms on Foot prior to rolling for my Fierce Foot and they were able to get into a position where they could 'block' Nige's Mounted Men at Arms. Or were they moving there quite deliberately in order to get their (damn) Insipid Lord into a hopefully fatal challenge? We will never know ;)

Meanwhile Mike moved his troops up the table on our right flank hoping to get into a position where he could proudly boast that he's run across the table width ways!

On Nige's next turn he continued his aggressive tactics racing his Men at Arms in front of his (Death Ray) Longbowmen for the latter to take up position where they could launch their devastating volleys. His Men at Arms were now within 12" and it would have been rude of me (if not insipid!) not to follow up his aggressive moves with equally chivalrous behaviour. Thus it was that Thomas de Thunbe, my lord, challenged him to trail by combat. Nige got three hits on me and I managed only one. One dead Thomas de Thumbe was the result. Was I unhappy? Not really LOL :>)

So, with the game effectively over half way between Turn Two; Nige had deservedly gained his full Glory, Mike never had a chance to make it across the table and I was in negative equity with Glory Points again! I now hold the esteemed title of having the lowest score in glory, not only with the Scots who have certainly suffered the "slings and arrows of misfortune" against their English protagonists but of both the English and the Scots! anyone who's smart can see that I've got a little bit of work to do! 

Mike heading up our right flank:

One of the proudest moments, aside from getting rid of Thomas de Thumbe was rolling 11 hits with my Fierce Foot on Nige's Mounted Men at Arms who scored only one hit! Slowly but surely my Feirce Foot eliminated Nige's Men at Arms until his lord was dead. It must at this point be pointed out that this counted for nothing as the game was over half way through the first turn! 

Nice pics though ;>)

Bye for now.