Friday 31 July 2015

Chain of Command Campaign Game in 1/48

Just a very quick entry this time with James' and Dave's ongoing Normandy Campaign in 1/48th- still a sight to behold:








Bye for now.

Tuesday 28 July 2015

Just Add Milliput....... Renedra Mud Hut

Hi,

Just a quickie to say that I last week I finished the Renedra Adobe Mud Hut plastic kit. Overall I was quote impressed by the kit although it did need some filling as you can see in the pics below. Next I plan on buying one or possibly two kits and doing some conversion work (one I have recovered my razor saw's from the Garage of Doom and /or moved house!).

Pics up of the painted article just as soon as the varnish has dried!

For now here's the kit bases and filled!





Bye for now



Thursday 16 July 2015

Plancenoit in 54mm and To the /Strongest Medieval Mayhem!

So, I've not got long to commit to this entry but I do have a few pics that I can show from a couple of the games at the club tonight. I'll try to return to the blog tomorrow and add a few details but in the mean time I'm just going to have to leave you with the pics! sorry about that.

EDIT: To the Stongest Game Ammendments Added:

OK, we lowered what archers needed to hit to a 6 card and limited the damage they could to to disorder on one activation and destruction on a second activation. you have to bear in mind that one doesn't always get a second activation. It worked well! I have a funny feeling that Simon  might see this as heresy but it did actually work quite well. We've got the game to finish next week and judging my Nigel's tactics (the very imitation of me when Jim trounced me!) it will all be over bar the plaudits come next Thurday at 10;30pm :>)

Plancenoit in 54mm









To the Stongest, Late Medieval Game




Chain of Command Jump Off Markers for North Africa?

I've just seen Matt of The Wargames Table Blog's excellent post on some beautifully subtle Chain of Command Jump Off Markers (Pic below)  and it set me to thinking...... I'm going to be doing my Chain of Command forces for the North African campaign using mainly Perry Miniatures and i wanted something just as subtle for my own Jump Off Points. It's easy to picture a burned out tank or a rusty piece of kit left to rot in the desert but they would in all likely hood be too large for the bases which have to be reasonably small from what I have gathered(?).

Matt's lovely Jump Off Point Markers:


I've been racking my poor brains and I just can't think of anything but sand!! I suppose I could have a discarded 3" Mortar but that seems like an awful waste of the rest of the pack. Would a rusty Universal Carrier fit? I just don't know at present......

I am open to ideas if anyone out there has any?

Bye for now.

New Wargames Standard, So Far, Not So Good!

Hi,

In one of my previous posts I outlined my ideas about painting up the beautifully sculpted and designed Iron Duke mini's to a wargames standard. Well, I decided to go one better and try a new style of painting, one that would be more suitable for 15mm painting than that of 28mm but it has the advantage that the mini's stand out more on the wargames table as they are usually viewed from arms length at least. So, how is this achievable?

Quite simple really, when painting 15mm mini's it is important to have bigger jumps in the highlighting process. Larger steps between hues. It makes the 15mm mini's look right if you're with me? Well, I've got to admit that, even though these figures are in the early stages of painting I'm quite disappointed in the overall look of the mini's ie that the stages are more staggered than they would normally be. I'll have to see if this improves later as more detail; I certainly hope that it does!! The other draw back to painting in this style is that it hasn't really saved me that much time as I'm not used to painting 28's in this manner so it's been a learning process. Personally, I think that I could be a lot more free with the brush and not worry too much about where a particular brushstroke lands. I know that this sounds counter intuitive but it's something that great emphasis is put on in Art Schools (unless you're the graphics type, which I'm not).

OK, time to bare all, let me know what you think?






I should add that this is not how I  normally paint and will not be how I paint my other projects nor indeed anyone else's mini's!!

Bye for now.

Sunday 12 July 2015

Clubbing it! American War of Independence and Chain of Command Action

This is a late entry that I mean't to put up on Thursday but somehow forgot to do it! I know..... silly me :>)

Two great games were being played at the club on Thursday gone, one the climax of the AWI action as a prelude to Guilford Courthouse and the other part of an ongoing Chain of Command campaign being played by James and Dave in 1/48 scale.

Jim and I were mean't to be playing To the Songest , Late Medieval but I was knackered and deferred the game until next week. Best thing to do really as I was just about conscious enough to take some pics of the two games I wasn't involved in.

These are the results:

Chain of Command 1/48 Scale:

















Climax of the AWI Battle:






Bye for now.

Thursday 9 July 2015

Claymore, 1st August 2015- Always a Great Show!

Hi,

I just thought I'd take the opportunity to stick in a quick add for my old club mates at SESWC who tirelessly run Claymore every year. This year the date lands of August 1st which is a great time for the show as he Scottish weather is usually something approaching it's best!

There's always a great selection of the big names in wargaming in terms of trading and with the likes of Barry Hilton and Dave Imrie who have put on great games in the past it's a show not to be missed really. I'm also (hopefully- I need to gently remind him) be staying with a mate who knows how to use a camera much better then I and will be picking up the tricks of the trade so's to speak. Not that my photography is bad, but it could really do with improving.


As I say, the show is usually excellent and it has the added bonus for me in that I'll be able to catch up with all my former SESWC club mates as well as others who's friendship I value a great deal from my eleven year stay in Edinburgh.

Hopefully see you there?

Bye for now.

Wednesday 8 July 2015

A Painting Mutiny! A Dilemma!

Hi,

I'm now in possession of all of the Iron Duke Indian Mutiny Miniatures (sold by Empress Miniatures) and I find myself in a bit of a dilemma. I want to get them painted and on the table top as soon as possible and as I've been carefully and methodically painting up my Sudan and NWF collections it leaves me with little time to paint anything else for myself.

Here are just a few of the miniatures in question:






I was thinking of going for a Wargames Standard on the Indian Mutiny troops in order to get them done as I already have well over 100 mini's to paint and with more releases just around the corner I'm going to be hard pressed to find the time to paint them.

The question on my min is really, do I 'Speed Paint' them (ie Wargames Standard) or do I go for my normal method of painting up the mini's and give them the paint job they deserve? I once painted up a 2500 point Justinian Byzantine WAB army in three weeks so I know I'm capable of painting quite quickly.

I was wondering what you guys and gals thought? Do I go for it or not? I'd love to hear what you all think so please drop me a line or leave a comment :>)

Here's a pic of some examples of what I can do when speed painting:







Bye for now.