Steve's Fieldworks-DFW Irregulars

54mm Mounted Completed

2010-11-11T16:52:00.003-06:00

All the King's Men 54mm British General
War of 1812

Here's a pic of the All the King's Men British War of 1812 officer. First attempt at 54mm faces.

Lessons Learned:

Paint the face with a lighter "flesh color". This guy looks a little North African or Middle Eastern for a Brit in the field.
Decide whether to paint or not paint the eyes. I don't have a consistent method yet and don't like the raccoon look or the zombie eyes unless I'm painting zombies or zombettes

What did I like?

Easy to paint
Figure took highlight and lowlighting well
Plastic Horse took my "oil rubbed" finish well

What didn't I like?

Officer was thin..almost like a flat. Cool figure but just too emaciated in proportion to his legs and too "long" for the size of the horse

Here you have it!.

New Wargaming Tangent-54mm!

2010-11-03T10:28:00.002-05:00

I went to a Warhammer Ancients Battles tournament in Kansas City years ago and saw a superb game put on by Keith van Pelt and the Lion's Den gaming group in 54mm. I was struck by detail, terrain and just cool scale.

I've finally gotten my fill of 25/28mm figures for a while and decided "what the hay" to go for the gold and start painting 54mm. Picked up some All The King's Men Figures. They look good. I've painted the officer's horse this week. The figures actually work up well using the techniques I've used for years. Am still re-learning how to paint eyes. I quit doing that when all the eyes of a unit I painted for a guy mysteriously were cross-eyed. All in the painter's perspective eh?

Keep checking back as I post "in progress" pictures. I am impressed with the ATKM line so far but have discovered Irregular Miniatures' 54mm line. They're more expensive so my jury's still out. Does Silver Eagle Miniatures still carry Irregular Miniatures here in the US? Don't know.

'Ere we go" down the black hole that is yet another toy soldier collection. I'm an addict...are you?

Warlord ECW Cavalry Finished FINALLY!

2010-02-18T20:39:00.010-06:00

I finally got the Warlord plastic cavalry done. I've had several requests for a painting process. Here's what works and has worked for me for about 30+ years. I'll include pics in the article as appropriate. I've got a spare GMB flag that will go on the unit. I'll post it up over the weekend!

Painting Process-Warlord ECW 28mm Cavalry

1. Primer: White Rustoleum Flat-It works and has for the past 25+ years. The primer needs to dry at least 24 hours. Any less means pulling the paint and primer off exposing the gray plastic.

2. Wash the sprues with dish washing solution to get the mold release/oils off of them. Another step I don't have to do with metal figures. If you don't do this, don't be upset when the primer “rubs off” and the gray plastic is exposed.

3.I have a standard painting process I have used for the past 20+ years that works for horses
Windsor and Newton Artisan Water Based Oil Paints:
-Colors:
-Payne's Gray
-Ivory Black
-Burnt Umber
-Raw Umber
-Burnt Sienna

4. I “glop” the paint on the primed horse and let it dry about 5 minutes. Take the square of foam and pull the paint off the figure until you get the desired finish. This is the “art form” so you'll need to practice. I usually will complete 24-100 horses in a sitting. It goes better if you put in a “B-Grade” 1950's Sci-Fi movie. :)

5. Leave the riders on the horse and let them dry 24 hours. If you're in a hurry or running late in getting “that unit” done, this is NOT the technique for you.

6. Paint the horse tack black. I don't paint horse tack colors unless it's an irregular unit or an ancients unit. Black horse tack is a personal choice but looks better to me when the unit is en masse on the table top. It's a personal choice and has worked for me for years especially with Napoleonic cavalry units

7. Block paint the riders. I have found that these colors work best with this system:
-Vallejo Buff-coats
-Vallejo Red-Base color for horse blanket
-Crown Golden Yellow for blanket edges (found at Asel Art Stores or via website)
-Vallejo Game Color Dwarf Skin for base facial color
-Reaper Pure Black-Masters Series-Best Black I've ever used. Better coverage than Vallejo. Has a shaker piece in the bottle. Vallejo does not
-Vallejo Red Leather-Boots, gloves, pistola casesstirrups-vary the usage between figures for variety
-Vallejo Game Color Snake Leather-Boots, pistola cases-vary the usage between figures
for variety
-Vallejo Orange Brown-leather highlighting and a hat or two
-Vallejo Cork Brown-a hat or two
-Vallejo Russian Green-A hat
-Vallejo Brass-sword hilts, bridle tack (I like to distinguish between stirrups and bridle tack)
-Vallejo Gunmetal Grey-Apply over a black under coat-Light drybrush and stipple into armor where appropriate
-Ral Partha Ogre Dark Brown (OOP-I had some made at Sherwyn Williams-a pint)-hair,
mustaches, gloves, boots, horse's hooves. This is one of my favorite colors because when drybrushed with Vallejo Orange Brown, it just works for leather colors without going through multiple hoops with washes.
-Howard Hues' Old Concrete-I use this tone as my drybrush for horse tails, manes, and clothing (if needed)
-Vallejo White-dotting horse's eyes. I paint horse eyes black and touch them with a dot of white. Any other technique looks like the horse has human eyes. That looks stupid.

8. After block painting the figures, I use a LIGHT BRUSHED COAT of Minwax Royal Walnut Polyshade. I don't “dip” the figure. It is too much. A light coat works just fine. When finished, let the figures dry 24 hours. Clean your brush with Turpenoid Odorless Thinner. It works and won't piss your spouse off because of the smell.

9. Spray the figures with Floquil Flat or Testor's Dull-Cote. Let dry 30 minutes or so. Any less and the dull varnish will crap out your paint brush.

Basing the Figures:

1. Cut bases to your rules set basing conventions. I use Mat-Board purchased from Hobby Lobby. I don't use thick balsa, it looks like crap and amateurish. Matboard accentuates the figure rather than draws the eye to the crappy looking thick green painted base.

2. I magnetize my bases before gluing the figures down to the base. I purchase 100' rolls of adhesive backed magnet material from a local supply. It runs about $1.60/running foot but lasts me years. I use metal lined paper boxes. Get roof flashing from Home Depot and cut it to fit with a paper cutter. Paper boxes are a lot cheaper than purchasing custom whatever boxes.

3. Glue the figures down to the cut down bases. Use whatever you like best.

4. Paint the bases with Vallejo Game Color Beasty Brown. Let dry. Leave them on a metal piece to keep them from curling up. They're magnetic right?

5. Once dry, dilute Elmer's Glue to a 50/50 solution, paint it on the base and dip the base into a mixture of Woodland Scenics Medium and Fine Brown Ballast. I bought a large version at Hobbytown, USA.

6. Let dry 24 hours (longer if you live in a highly humid area) and then drybrush the ballast with Vallejo Iraqui Sand. Don't drybrush too wet..nor too dry....it's something you need to practice.

7. Mix another 50/50 Elmer's Glue and water and paint in diagonal stripes and spots on the base. I like to make sure that the bases actually work with one another so I tend to keep the grass simple. While the glue is wet, sprinkle Green Static Grass on the glued areas. Gently blow on the grass areas to “set” the static grass. Get your mind out of the gutter ok? Set down to dry 24 hours.

8. Repaint any of the edges of the bases with Vallejo Game Color Beasty Brown to clean up the bases for final play.

9. You're ready to go! Enjoy your cavalry and may all your rolls NOT be “run of the mill”.

Comparison of Warlord to Old Glory, Dixon, Renegade Cavalry

Originally, I was not very impressed with the Warlord cavalry compared to figures already in my collection. I had already painted 120+ cavalry and wanted to give this company a fair shake. Here's what I think once I had finished the cavalry and got it ready for the game table.

Overall Quality: A-/B+

I am ok with these figures from a quality standpoint. They go together well and don't have a lot of fiddly pieces to break off and need regluing during painting. I use TENAX liquid instead of a “superglue” or “traditional tube glue”. TENAX welds the seams together so they're not as noticable.

Horses: A-
The horses are ok. Not as animated as Old Glory or Renegade but ok in a more traditional toy soldier view. I am used to being able to bend horse heads to provide a bit of variety in a unit. I didn't spend the money for these figures to cut them up nor do I have the patience to use filler like a car body shop if I did. The horses were rather bland in comparison to Old Glory with two animation styles. Again, I do understand they ARE plastic.
The pistol cases are separate from the horse model. This is a pain in the posterior and a time waster in construction of the unit. They also pop off while painting and are a source of irritation for we older, less patient painters. This is a little thing but given the price of the box set, should be a non-issue.

Riders: B+
The riders are all in buff coats and have breast and back plates with some having tassets. I'm ok with some figures having plate but all of them? I'm just a geek so I painted some of the figures in coat only for variety. I also painted different color sleeves instead of a full buff coat on all the figures. I know that's probably a-historic but I got bored quickly with the idea of all buff on all figures.
The riders all have flat heads with a small bit of hair on the neck. The flat heads get covered with either a couple of floppy hats or a pot-helm. There are way too many lobster pot helmets for this unit. I prefer a greater variety and tend to mix and match from multiple bags of Old Glory figures. Can't do that with this box set. Also, if you pick up the figure to look at it, you can see the gap between the hair and the helmet. Another sticking point that should have been fixed pre-release. Lastly, the cornet has a flag pole that just looks out of scale. I like HOW it looks but it's way too tall for the figure and horse. Makes the cornet look dinky in comparison. To each their own right?

Conclusion:
I will stick with Old Glory and other metal figures as I am a old fashioned wargamer. These figures are good for folks that are getting started in historicals or want to supplement a collection with a less (?) expensive option. (I'm no math guy but I don't think these figures are less expensive than what I have purchased on Ebay). Would I buy more plastic ECW figures? I don't think so at this point. I would if Warlord put more “bitz” on the sprues ala GW to give more variety to heads, hats, pistol arms, sword arms and/or dare I say it...a warhammer arm. That would raise the price however. I have another beef with Warlord. Please ditch the bases and improve the flags. I don't need the bases as I cut my own for my specific rules set and the flags are poor relations to the GMB flags I use for all my collection. I would pay more if Warlord would include some quality flags. This cheapens the overall feel for the box set in my opinion.

Warlord ECW Cavalry Finally Completed

2010-02-14T21:28:00.002-06:00

I've finally completed the Warlord plastic ECW cavalry. I'll take some pics in the AM and walk through the basing process on the blog at the same time. Sorry to have taken so long but my Lego League Robotics team took a 1st place championship award and made the finals in several other categories. Am currently up to my ankles in alligators with the High School Robotics team. I got to paint because of the record 14" snowstorm we had here in Red Oak (a suburb of DFW). Keep checking back and thanks for the patience of all in this project.

Warlord ECW Cavalry and Extra General Project Begins

2010-01-18T12:31:00.008-06:00

I finally slogged my way through a unit of 28mm 1st Crusade Saracens for my Kingdom of Heaven project (definitely another post subject) and am starting to work on the ECW Cavalry box set and General from Warlord.

On first blush, the cavalry looks interesting and don't have all the fiddly parts that fat wargamer's fingers tend to pop off during a game. I was a little disappointed in the flat heads that force me to either give them a hat or a lobster helmet. I didn't spend $30.00 for the set to just have two options. I don't have the patience nor talent to sculpt tops of heads, nor do I want to take the time to cut and paste heads left over from the Pike and Shotte set; so that's a "half-point off" for detail in my book so far. Never can please a wargamer right?
The horses look a little plain without much character but we'll see once they've got some paint on them. It's probably because they are plastic. There's just something not crisp about the horse. Can't put my fingers on it yet. It must be my bias about metal miniatures. Who knows/cares right? Just paint 'em.
My initial reaction to the general is in a previous post. I'll close now by getting back to work. Keep checking back, I'll be posting progress and tidbits on what works painting wise with these figures. I tend to paint fast so please drop me a line if you don't understand a process or I confuse what I'm doing.

Is the Warlord Essex General Worth the $9.00 USD?

2010-01-10T17:26:00.003-06:00

Gees...I began rummaging through the Warlord stuff I got from the spousal "Ms. Claus" and my jaw dropped when I noticed the price tag on the Warlord ECW General Essex figure. $9.00 USD? This is GW pricing. This guy has no special magic powers, no extra power weapons, just a floppy hat, some "lobster armor" and a horse that wasn't quite inspiring. The figure was cast in a brittle metal with some cleaning points that had to be trimmed down on the horse as well as cleaning out the neck/reins area. This is not usually an issue but at $9.00 USD, I expect more quality.
I'm probably not going to purchase any more Warlord metal figures unless the price comes down about $4.00 USD to $5.00, the metal isn't the brittle stuff that won't last over time interacting with fat wargaming fingers, and could be purchased in a box set of generals as per their plastics.
I guarantee my Essex will look better than the gallery picture from Warlord. That is a perfect example of "wargaming standard". arrghh....at least they could have painted the damn miniature to look good. It's an omen folks! :)

New Version of Berthier Campaign Software is out

2010-01-06T21:25:00.002-06:00

There's a new version of Berthier Campaign Software out. Click on the title to take you to the download site. I'm not familiar with the software but I'd sure like to play a campaign. Our group never has done an actual campaign. Guess that's because we're a little A.D.H.D. Anyway here's the link to it here as well:
http://delyall.tripod.com/berthier/berthier.html

Beer and Pretzels Napoleonics at the Bavarian Grill

2009-12-30T11:50:00.004-06:00

We met at a great German restaurant on Tuesday, December 29th for an end of the year "beer and pretzels" Napoleonic game. Click on the Title for a small gallery. Here's a after action report.

The French were composed of two divisions/two brigades/6 battalions of infantry, a heavy cavalry brigade (2 Cuirassier), divisional and reserve artillery and...wait for it....two battalions of Imperial Guard. We don't normally bring the Guard on the table for moral reasons (I'd complain and whine if they were played of course). The French were opposed by an Austrian division augmented by Kurassier and Dragoon regiments.

French divisions advanced upon the central hill dominated by an old stone church. If we play this again, we definitely need a Wursthaus or a Biergartenhaus. The game was punctuated by copious amounts of Pauliner and Dunkelbrau so details of each individual melee won't be remembered by this author.

French forces set up a divisional battery on the right flank and in the center. These batteries swept the field of the Austrian first line and exposed the weakness of the Austrian position on the right flank. The French right flank commander (me) held a brigade in reserve supporting the artillery. This would prove to be semi-prudent as the Austrians were "sneaking" through a wood and were unseen until they approached and attacked the divisional batteries.

Austrian Forces set up in two lines across the table with a defense of a walled farm on the left and a concentration to their right. Austrian horse was in reserve. The Austrian commander (Clay) was lucky enough to get them on the table on turn 3 while the French cavalry commander was still eating breakfast. They proceeded to do a general advance while the French were making merry, consuming Pauliner and chuckling to themselves about the Austrians advancing in the same old way...we have to meet them in the same old way.

After a brief lunch break (and more Pauliner, Dunkelbrau and several rounds of Apfel Korn), the battle was resumed in earnest. The French pressed the Austrians on the right flank punctuated by the removal of double handfuls of Austrian infantry that ventured in front of the divisional batteries. The Austrians stopped the French advanced on "Church Hill" cold with a combination of 6pdr batteries and supporting infantry. Austrian cavalry began to sweep the French left flank. The cuirassier division finally arrived and promptly was plonked in the center as a central reserve.

A perfect storm developed on the French right flank as the cuirassiers were moved into a position to work over the Austrian infantry. The horse was supported by the remnants of the French right flank artillery and several fresh infantry battalions . The Austrians went into battalion masse at the sight of the heavy horse. The French commander brought up the artillery and infantry and promptly routed the masse by fire. This left the path clear for the heavies to sweep the field of the remaining Austrian infantry which unfortunately did not move into masse. The horse swept the flank of the Austrians. It was game over on the right and time for another beer!

On the French left flank, the Austrians were pressing the veteran infantry but they were in square. Causalities were high and the personal morale of the divisional commander was rocky. The Imperial Guard were committed to the center to take the 'Church Hill". Mission accomplished! The Austrians announced SQP and we all finished our beers on the table. Game, set and match to the French!

Our total bill included 10 shots of Apfel Korn (we finished the bar's bottle), over 10 pints of Pauliner and Dunkelbrau. Check out the bill on the gallery if you don't believe it!

The game was definitely a hard fought action and actually a close run thing for the Austrians. The venue was great! The food...hell...good as usual! If you live in the DFW area, you should definitely be a part of our "Biergarten Series". I'm looking forward to the next game....a Franco Prussian game in 15mm using "Died for Glory" rules. It will be a "pay-back game" for the Prussians in this one!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Keep those dice on the table and your car outa' the ditch!

1941 Barbrossa-15mm Flames of War 2

2009-12-21T09:38:00.003-06:00

We put on a multi-company Early War 1941 Barbarossa game at the Rat PalaceIII on Sunday. The Russians cobbled together a company of infantry and an "ersatz" company of T26s, T60s, T28s, and T35 "land battleships" and tried a local counterattack on two German infrantry companies supported by a platoon of Pz28s and a smattering of Stug IIIs with "short 75s".

The Russians "came on in the same old style" and the Germans "met them in the same old style"....105 and 150mm artillery knocking big holes in the Russian conscript infantry.
The Russians destroyed both German infantry companies but at a cost of both the infantry and the armor companies. The Germans held their armor in reserve and destroyed the remaining Russian armor.

The counter-attack was bloody for both sides and decisive as usual as are most of our Early War games. The game came down to the last platoon and company morale. Game over....Germans win!

if you're not playing FoW Early War, you should give it a try. Games are up close and personal rather than long distance shooting matches and 'uber-power gamer" tanks. We had a great game!

Here's a gallery link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pilum40/sets/72157622918805499/show/

Black Friday After Thanksgiving Napoleonics Game

2009-11-29T12:36:00.023-06:00

Battle Report: (Please click on the title for the full gallery)

One of the DFW Irregulars' traditions is to play a post Thanksgiving Day game on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Most of us are and have been “hitched” for years; this game gives the best excuse for not doing the spousal shopping task as the commercialized Christmas season “opens” for business on that Friday as well. We decided on a Napoleonic game using Clay's “home brew-NINJA rules”. These rules have taken what we like best about several sets and melded together for a cool little set of rules that are simple yet subtle.

I set up the table in a 6'x12' configuration and put several farms, Botond House, Sandy's Mill, and a ruined medieval chapel in the mix. Allen Eldridge (The Terrain Guy-www.theterrainguy.com) brought me a new box of his new “Pin a Trees” to supplement my collection. His tree line is varied in color and contains deciduous and pine trees in the “railroad tree style”. They go pretty well with the natural trees I made with real twigs and such and were a lot easier (for me) to get to the table. Highly recommended! So highly I bought 68 of them and have ordered another 68!

We like to put figures on the table. We've got the space so why not!? Here's how the forces broke down.

Orders of Battle:

Russians:
The Russian force consisted of
23 Battalions of infantry (12 figure battalions)
3 Regiments of Dragoons (12 figure regiments)
1 Regiment of Kurassier (12 figure regiment)

1 Regiment of Hussars (12 figure regiment)
6 medium guns (4 crew per gun)

2 heavy guns (4 crew per gun)

Prussians:

The Russians were backed up by Prussians. This army is a classic Hinchcliffe army from the late 70s-early 80s. It was painted by Jim Cooper, originally owned by David Jones

and gifted to Clay.

It was cool to see this army on the table again. It consisted of: three

regiments of three

battalions (9 Battalions x 12 figures each plus each regiment had attached Jaegers. One regiment was Landwher (Conscript). One battery of guns. The three regiments of cavalry didn’t show…. (3 x 12 figure Regiments)-they never made their activiation rolls for the entire battle. That was pivotal.

Figure Totals: (No the table didn't collapse)

Russians:
Infantry: 22 battalions x 12 figures= 264 figures

Cavalry: 5 regiments x 12 figures= 60 figures

Artillery: 6 guns (4 crew per gun)=24 figures

6 Generals

Prussians:

Infantry: 9 battalions=120 infantry
Artillery: 4 guns with 16 crew
Cavalry: 3 regiments x 12 figures=Did Not Show*
3 generals

Allied Totals:

Infantry: 384 figures
Cavalry: 60 figures on table-paper strength 96 figures

Artillery: 10 guns, 40 crew

9 Generals including Tsar Alexander

Clay sent me the OB strengths in figures for the French and Bavarians. Thanks Clay!

French and Bavarian Infantry:

420 infantry

96 cavalry

16 artillery models and 54 crew

10 Generals (of this total, the Bavarians had 60 infantry, 2 guns and 8 crew)

Total Figures on the table:

Infantry: 804 figures
Cavalry: 156 figures
Artillery: 26 models and 94 crew

I got to see my old, trusty Heavy Cavalry Division consisting of the 2^nd Carabiners (1812 uniform-12 figure Regiment),

Westfalian Kurassiers (they're over 25+ years old and have never been on the table!-12 figure Regiment), Baden Dragoons (12 figure regiment), 5^th Cuirassier (French-25+year old Hinchcliffe Foremost 12 figure regiment) on the table again. That was cool!

French forces concentrated in the center of the table supported by a “mini-grande batterie” of medium and heavy guns.

They proceeded to press the Russian forces in the center. The Russians held stolidly for several hours (in real time) but were pressed back by the numbers of French. Botond House and the famous (at least to us) “Three Tittie Fountain” were taken by French leg ere.

On the flank, it was a hard pressed issue as the French advance slowed under a press of Russian conscript infantry. The French “converged heavy cavalry division” arrived on the flank and the Russians began to get nervous. Their cavalry had not made an appearance.

The mini-grande batterie made the Prussian advance untenable as it literally paved a “lane of death” through the Prussian ranks. The Prussian general lamented frequently on the tardiness of his cavalry. He had three regiments in reserve that could not seem to find the battlefield. Their non-appearance was pivotal in the battle. (No picture due to lack of physical presence) :)

French Heavy Cavalry division II was sitting in reserve and was not called upon to exploit the holes in the Russian lines. This game was a sluggo match with the pretty boys on pretty horses watching the action take place.

The Russians under Bob Hall were slowly grinding down the French. It seemed as if the French were like kicking an anthill; the more we “whacked”; the more strode down the road. Bob held the line and launched local counterattacks to keep the French from completely splitting the field in two.

Steve M. launched his Grenadiers (4 battalions) that made up his second line on the mid-left flank. These Grenadiers hit an elite French battalion and both battalions explod

ed in heavy causalities. Our game's combat system is simple, you fight a percentage of dice per figure depending on your morale grade. Elites fight 1 dice per 1 figure. The Russians hit the French with 8 causalities out of 12 figures. The French hit back with 9 causalities out of 12 figures. Both sides were staggered but both sides passed morale. Steve Bidwell kept the pressure on the Russians all day and captured a battery of medium guns. He received a battlefield honor for doing so, crewed the Russian guns with French infantry and TURNED the gun back upon the Russian Grenadiers. Bob and Steve looked at each other and knew it was going to be “one of those days”.

Scott kept the Prussians from advancing while Allen pressed the attack in the center. It seemed as if the French would not get stopped from splitting the Russian/Prussian forces. Steve Bidwell knocked a hole in the Russian flank with a Westfalian (?) kurassier charge that swept two battalions from the field. The Russian cavalry arrived and a standoff ensued on the left flank. Steve took the Kurassiers and Hussars (“The Crabs”) and moved them to shore up the center of the Russian flank. It was devoid of infantry at this point.

A hole developed in the French center between the first and second lines, exposing the French grande-batterie. Steve decided to stake the battle on taking out those guns. The “Crabs” (a job for Hussars or Chasseurs right?) took on the job, rolled their charge distance dice (normal movement + 2D6) and came up about two inches short of reaching the guns.

Steve's personal morale was broken at that point. A glorious try but as we all know “almost is only good enough for hand grenades and machine guns”.

The game was called as the Russians literally had nothing but several decimated infantry batallions, a battery of heavy guns, a shot up regiment of Hussars, and the Russian cavalry that sat on its collective saddles on the left flank keeping the French from sweeping the flank. A French victory on its way to Moscova!

Good game to all!

If you are interested in playing Napoleonics or other historical games in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, please drop us a line. We've been around for over 25+ years as a viable game group and play various periods of historical, and some non-historical games as well. Drop me a line: pilum40@sbcglobal.net

Renaissance Break-Earthworks/Fieldworks

2009-11-27T21:32:00.004-06:00

Renaissance Break!
I put this Italian Wars period field works set together a couple of years ago. I used GW Empire figures as I was building a Warhammer Fantasy Battles Dogs of War army. As all things GW go, I outgrew that silliness and kept most of the figures. They work well for Pavia period artillery and crew. I'm upgrading the crew, gonnes but keeping the general design for general Renaissance, Thirty Years War and ECW usage.

Warlord ECW Artillery and Emplacement

2009-11-15T19:41:00.010-06:00

I've been working on a Warlord 28 (?) ECW Saker box set lately. Here's how it went together and a little bit on how I put artillery pieces on my game table.

I painted the figures and gun model separately. The gun was made of resin and went together pretty well. No major mold issues were found on the model. The crew was flashy but no more than Old Glory. There were some weird pointy bits of flash that needed to be cut off. If they weren't, they'd tear up my Scharff paintbrushes.
I built the wood field works pieces from balsa. It went together easily and takes paint well. The gabions were a mix of Dixon and a resin set I picked up from a friend of mine. I liked the variance in "plashing". It made the emplacement different from the others in my ECW collection. I base coated the gabions with an old shade of Polly-S Ogre Dark Brown. I use this color for most undercoats requiring a deep brown with a flat hue. I always prime my figures white. I use Rustoleum Flat White primer. I don't mess around with anything else.

I use Minwax Polyshade Urethane when I want to add depth and seal pieces for the war game table. Some people use a "dip method". I find that to be tedious and messy.
My method is a little bit cleaner. I use a flat brush and paint a light coat on the pieces I want to stain. It really works well using this method. I clean my brushes with Turpenoid Odorless Turpentine. It definitely can be used indoors without spousal dissent.

My groundwork process has been adapted from Clarence Harrison (Quindia Studios). My complete ECW collection is done in this style. It's simple, easy to do and looks good on the table. I first paint the base with Vallejo Beasty Brown. I also paint the bases of the figures. I use hot glue to put the figures on the base. It works and works well. I use a thinned down Elmer's Glue (50-50 mix) to hold the ballast on the base. I use a mix of medium brown and fine brown ballast by Woodland Scenics. Let the ballast dry and then glue down some medium and fine rocks from Woodland Scenics. I also put a coat of Flat Finish on the base and figures after doing some dry brushing on the wood pieces. I used Vallejo Cobra Brown highlighted with Vallejo Iraqi Sand on the edges to bring out the highlights.

I added ballast to the gabions as well to keep some consistency for the emplacement. The Warlord figures are well animated and really do make the diorama work. I'm sure someone will pick nits on the colors but I wasn't there so I'll use the ole' artiste's eye!

Completing the model was pretty fun. My standard basing highlights are:
Dry brush Vallejo Iraqi Sand over the dark brown ballast. Painting the base before putting the ballast down tends to help with any areas that didn't work with the thinned down Elmer's glue.
I use an additional thinned down Elmer's glue solution to put down static grass in random areas. I know that the emplacements were probably similar to the trenches of WW1 in terms of mud, mess and torn up ground. I use the static grass to break up the colors of the emplacement. The rocks are painted Vallejo Basalt Grey. They are highlighted with Vallejo's Light Grey and then highlighted yet again with a light touch of Liquitex Medium white. Don't ask me why I use white but it just looks good to me and draws the eye to the emplacement.

Here's a pic of the completed Warlord Saker box set. It's expensive in comparison to Old Glory but the figures and project turned out well. It was fun to do....Recommended for those that putting an ECW collection together

Sniper Emplacement Update

2009-10-20T21:26:00.004-05:00

Got the emplacement primed and the "wood works" base coated. The light brown stuff is Vallejo Pumice I tinted Iraqi Tan for my 1st Crusade project. This stuff is really cool. I've used Elmer's Wood Putty for years but this stuff just kicks its butt. One of my friends gave me the wicker works and the "pie shaped" gabion. It just looked the part.

Here's the emplacement with a coat of Vallejo's Game Color-Beasty Brown. This is the base coat I've used with the ECW collection to date. I bought about 24 bottles. Guess I'm the dummy and should have had Home Depot mix me a quart right? Nah, I'm just a slut to keep wargaming vendors in business. Just like the First Consul in Washington, I'm just spreading the wealth around a little. :) One of my friends gave me the resin pieces. He said he got them via E-Bay. If any one's interested; I'll drop him a line and see from whom he purchased. They really look nice. I've got a bunch so field works (get it?) will be next after King Chas I (pre ax man) gets painted. It just seems that this project goes on forever!

I should have the sniper emplacement done over the weekend. I'll bring out my gun emplacement over the weekend too. It's taken from Funken's Renaissance book and contains hand built fascines, lots of mud, some funny bits and will get re-crewed with ECW gunners and ECW period ordinance.

Keep checkin' back...and keep yourself outa' the ditch! It's supposed to be a gully washer here in Big D on Wednesday-Thursday.

Warlord Sniper and Arty update

2009-10-18T12:21:00.003-05:00

I've finished the sniper and artillery crew figures. Am slogging together a mini diorama for the sniper. What have I noticed? The Warlord metal figures are definitely smaller than OG and have some weird sharp edges and points where the sleeves or cuffs are. I had to clean them up a little better than any Dixon but not as much as OG. The metal is more brittle than OG or Dixon. They may work as a unit but again; will NOT mix with OG. There's just a large size differential! Will post pics later today.

Warlord Artillery on the way-The Sniper too!

2009-10-13T19:59:00.003-05:00

I've put the base coats on the Warlord artillery gunners and sniper. Will get a coat of Minwax on them, highlight and then get them based. Whew...all I have left in this project is to get the King's diorama and entourage completed. I'll paint up another Warlord infantry regiment before Millenium Con in Austin and use up the box. My plan is to give away any of the spare stuff left on the sprues. Drop me a line and I'll try to get them to you when I'm completed.

Saturday Update-Finally..A Head to Head Comparison

2009-10-10T14:02:00.005-05:00

Dang...you woulda' thought that I was having a root canal by the length of time it has taken me to get this far on this unit. Geez...it's only 16 or so figures. The picture on the right is where the unit is at this point. I've put together a head to head gallery at Flickr. Please click here or on the title to take you to the gallery.

ALL THE BLUE FIGURES ARE WARLORD MINIATURES. THEY ARE THE MINIATURES WITH THE IN PROGRESS BASES AS IN THE INSET PICTURE

The unit is being based at this point. I've borrowed (stolen in a gamer's fashion) Clarence Harrison's basing style. It's simple and once it's dry is robust for fat war gamer fingers, dropping on the table, etc. This unit needs another24 hours for the basing sand and rocks to dry. I won't paint them until Monday afternoon at the least. I use Clarence's formula to the T. The bases get painted with Vallejo's Beasty Brown (I won't waste money on crappy GW paints-ever), let dry, painted again with a diluted Elmer's School Glue mix and dipped into mix of Medium and Light Woodland Scenics ballast (brown). The brown paint makes the places in which the ballast didn't stick invisible unless close. I then use a bright green static grass (again NOT GW) to work in on the bases. Clarence advised me to use a camouflage type of pattern so multiple bases go together well. Again, advise well taken to heart! It works and looks good.

Let's take a few moments to discuss head to head how Warlord compares to Old Glory, Dixon, Renegade, and Perry figures on the game table. As previously blogged, the Warlord figures look consistent with the other manufacturers on the game table. That's OK with me since I've got more to paint out of the box set. The OG figures are curiously chunkier than the Warlord (a little more well fed perchance?) and are a tad easier to paint. As has been blogged before, both sets of miniatures take my "git 'er done and don't Richard around with the project" style of painting. This may disturb more sedate and organized painters but; it works and looks PDG on my game table. Has for years!

In my opinion, Warlord figures will not mix well with OG, Dixon, nor Renegade but should mix quite well with Perry since these figures are on the scrawny side of 28mm anyway. I will paint another regiment or so plus some F'Lorne Hope to add to the collection. They do look fine when built into solely Warlord units. Funny how that works eh? It's a vast British conspiracy right? The Warlord figures just don't have the deep "cuts" (folds?) necessary for producing large amounts of contrasts on the figures. I'm not disappointed but probably just lazy...I would rather not do the Dallimore glop and paint every single musculature like a Rubens painting. I want to get things started, get things done and have units look good on the table in a reasonable time frame. Putting Warlord figures together is an extra time irritant for me. I knew that going into this mini-project. Would I buy more? I don't know. I want to see their cavalry just to see if I can paint plastic horses using my 30+ year old oil rub method. Hope Rustoleum primer sticks to horse's butts like it did to the musketeers.

For an inexpensive (relative term in any hobby) way for gamers to get started or add units quickly to an existing collection; Warlord ECW figures may be something to consider. I'm an old school lead junky and like the weight of figures on the table. I'd also paint Warlord figures if I was doing a demo game in which I didn't want my primary collection to get abused by fat, stinky war gamers with greasy hands from eating at Mickey D's.

We have a news spot here in Dallas called "Deal or Dud". I'd rate these figures a deal but if they don't get painted and still played....their OWNER is a DUD!

Wednesday Update

2009-10-07T20:09:00.007-05:00

Am plonking along on this little project. I've completed the base coat colors for the regiment and have brushed on a light coat of Minwax Royal Walnut stain.

Here's a list of the colors I used for the regiment. Only Vallejo acrylic paints were used.

Face:Beige Red
Hats: various shades of Beasty Brown (Game Color), Tan, Orange Brown, Saddle Brown, Red Brown.
Feathers: One was painted with...get this...Ral Partha Gold Yellow. I STILL have about 6 bottles of the old stuff. Hasn't crapped out on me yet. I've got to go to Sherwyn-Williams and get a pint made up since I can't get it anymore. The fifer's feather (say that five times fast) was painted with some Liquitex Medium Viscosity Red. I had the tube laying around, found it under a pile of crap and said..hmm...oughta work!
Uniform Coats: Prussian Dark Blue
Cuffs: Liquitex Medium Viscosity White. Another ancient bottle of paint. It's a 4 oz. bottle and I've had it for years. I think it's majic and refills itself sometimes.
Pants: Some Prussian Dark Blue, British Tan, Yellow Ochre, Russian Green, Medium Sea Gray IIRC. I don't worry much and just paint them where they lay.
Shoes: Various browns..see above and add some Snakesomething Game Color. It's a weird in between light and dark brown. Pretty cool color. I've used it a lot for the ECW project for belts, shoes, horse tack, horse hooves, horse tails, etc. You should buy a bottle and give it a go.
Socks: Light grey, Howard Hues (uh huh...more classic paint) Concrete and an odd color just to not stay bored!
Armor: I use a bastardized Dallimore technique of Black base coat, Vallejo Brassy Brass first dry brush, Vallejo Oily Steel for highlights. This works great with a light coat of Minwax!

Overall, so far so good. I'm still not overly in love with these figures. I like figures that are "cut" deeper with more relief. That type of figure just fits my style.

I had high humidity-white finish-itis tonight. I sprayed the unit with Floquil Figure Flat (yeah..I've still got 12 cans) and didn't pass the "stupid test". I know better than to spray figures flat and leave them out when the humidity is high. No worries, I resprayed them and brought them inside. Uh huh...my spouse has gone to the other side of the house, my dog doesn't love me and I'm sure my feeble senior's mind is getting fried by the fumes. At least the unit is getting painted right?

I paint by the unit and don't dick around painting one figure at a time. Life's too short not to throw figures on the table. My technique is simple:

Hot glue the figures on strips of cardboard about three fingers wide. I don't touch the figures, the cardboard is more comfortable than trying to paint on stupid Popsicle sticks and is cheap in "mass quantities".
Block paint the figure
Light coat of Minwax Royal Walnut (NOT A DIP..DIPPPING SUCKS!)
Highlight the figures with a traditional highlighting technique. I use a mix of Foundry's glop on each highlight method and a softer complimentary color highlight. I don't know...I paint by the seat of my pants! Whatever fits the figure works for me and they turn out cool for the table.

I should be done with the unit tonight and will get them hot glued (it's a standing joke in my gaming group) to stands. I'll take pics on Thursday and suffer the slings and arrows of not having them based. I know there are several folks that want to see just the size differential and could not give a rat's behind about how they were painted. Well...you'll just have to wait until Thursday won't you!

Warlord ECW Under Construction Update

2009-10-06T21:54:00.003-05:00

I've finished the basic tones painting on the entire regiment (16 figures). I've just brushed on some Minwax Royal Walnut stain. I don't want to argue the merits or demerits of Minwax. I don't dip my figures and the light brush coat seals, shades and gives the figure the tone that I want and like. They should be dry enough to flat coat and the highlights will be painted (face, flesh, highlights, any lowlights as well).

Keep checking back, I'll have some pics Wednesday night and definitely will put them side to side with my OG/Dixon/Perry stuff. They're pretty big...larger than the Renegade officers I've got in several regiments. We'll see, my jury's still out and it's weird to work with figures that don't weigh anything.

Warlord Plastics Part 1

2009-09-28T16:43:00.007-05:00

I finally got around to getting out the Warlord plastic ECW box set on Sunday, 9/27/2009. I'll blog a "blow by blow" on how they paint up, my opinions (based upon 30+ years of wargaming and painting experience), how they stack up to my other infantry regiments (a mix of Old Glory, Dixon, Renegade, and Perry).

My regiments are 16 figures strong. I know others play larger regiments and some single based (Warhammer ECW?) figures. I play Might of Arms ECW. It is a variant of Bob Bryant's Might of Arms rules I put together because I liked the system and my gaming group understood the mechanics. I'm not going to waste a lot of time espousing/explaining why I use them. Just suffice it that I like them. Period. End of Story. Now to the figures!!!

The plastic that is used is the equivalent to most Games Workshop plastics I have built in the past. It's not gunky, soft nor does it feel or look cheap. Most of figures have a minimum of flash and mold lines. I was able to trim up some of the mold lines but; they just aren't a problem. The figures remind me a lot of GW plastics in the way they go together and the chunky "Imperial Guard-like" features such as the face and hands. I chalk that up to plastic figures.

It took me the better part of an afternoon to put these figures together. I figure that's because I'm a klutz or just a schmo that is used to working with metal figures. It was a little off putting however because I'd much rather be painting than
assembling. Will quit whining...I bought them to see how they worked so there! There were a few variants in hats, arms and the way weapons were carried. A couple of things that bothered me was the length of the arquebus in relation to the figure plus the modeling of the musketeer's hands. They look rather large in comparison to the rest of the figure. The pikemen are OK but the tassel thing on the end of the plastic pikes is a distraction. I wasn't there to know if it was historically accurate, so; I'll just paint it and shut up. I'm not hip to plastic pikes or flag poles so my jury's still out on how they will fare in a fat war gamer environment.

I've decided to clip off most of the bases as they are pretty large. I also will leave a couple in the original size to see if they'll take basing a little better.

Over all, I'm OK with these figures so far. They're a far sight less fiddly than Victrix. I almost swore off experimenting with ANY plastic figures because of THAT experience. For war gaming, these figures should do just fine. What are they? Inexpensive, and a fast way to build a regiment or two from a single box. In fact, I'm planning on painting two regiments and using the rest as a "Forlorn Hope" (fodder). I wish that Warlord would have packed 48-64 figures to a box set. That would fit my thinking...more figures on the table is better!

Above is the sniper from the "specialist" blister pack. I know Might of Arms doesn't have any way that this guy can fit in but; I'm going to build some "event cards" into the game to spice it up a bit. This guy WILL get his shot! There's another figure in the blister pack that looks like he's holding some type of instrument, firebox or something nasty with which to determine who "is or who is not a witch" Now, all I need for that one is a pond and some rope.

Keep checking back, I'll post up in progress pics and comments on how this mini-project is going. Now, what I REALLY REALLY want is some decent two winged Polish Hussars. I've got some TAG figures but they're only single winged and the distributor my vendor uses is hit or miss. Alright...I digress...I'm done for this episode.

I'm Ready to Run and Play A Fall ECW Campaign

2009-09-19T17:22:00.003-05:00

I've been kicking around doing an ECW campaign for several months since completing the first phase of the ECW project. I've read my old copy of 1644 (the red cover version) and the recent Warhammer ECW rules. Both have a mini-campaign included.

My thinking is to use K.I.S.S. as the guiding force for this campaign. I don't want to get into long and drawn out sieges. My main aim is to get the collection on the table and fight field battles. I like the simpler map campaign but want to include a little flavor to the campaign like Scots intrusions/duplicity and the same duplicity of the guys down south of Scotland. I'm not sure how many players I'll get. I figure maybe 1 or 2 players at most. Our group frankly doesn't know the English Civil War, is not very motivated by pike & shotte period. I don't know if I should go ahead and build the campaign or keep looking for some better campaign systems. I've got Grant's Programmed Wargames Scenarios, Wargaming Pike and Shot, and that crappy Napoleonic Campaign book by Hoplite Research.

I want to not fall into these traps:

Long, drawn out campaign season. That kills campaigns
Complex economics. Players want to put toys on the table and not be bankers IMHO
Sieges. I would rather fight a field battle outside a city rather than waste an evening trying to reduce a city and then attack it. Just a personal preference
Painting more figures. I've done enough and want to concentrate more on painting vignettes, preachers, bishops, and artillery emplacements. I don't think any of our group will paint ECW other than Cameron (painting Scots). We'll see..am not holding my breath however

Any pearls o' wisdom on putting a quick ECW campaign season together would be appreciated.

ACW Labor Day Bash!

2009-09-09T21:16:00.004-05:00

I took a break from ECW project to play a larger scale ACW game on Labor Day. We called it the Labor Day Bash! We put on the classic Fire and Fury scenario 'Hooker's Attack". We had seven 7 players and put over 276 infantry stands on the 12x6 table. We played until the 10:30 AM turn and left the game up in the Rat Palace III for conclusion. The figures pictured were painted by Eric Wood, Clay Smith, Allen Eldridge, and Steve Miller. A great day was had by all.

Several requests have been made via TMP to see the Rat Palace and the terrain we play upon. You'll need to go through the slide show. We're blessed with great terrain, a super venue, patient spouses and a solid group! Enjoy the show and the Rat Palace II!! If you want to see a larger pic set, click on the title; it will take you directly to Flicker show.

I thought Plastic ECW Figures Would Be Cheaper

2009-08-10T20:59:00.001-05:00

I bought a box of Warlord ECW Pike and Shot on Saturday at Area 51 hobby shop. I also picked up a Warlord Medium Artillery set. On a lark, I picked up a Xyston 15mm army box to see if I could still paint 15s? Walked out $100 lighter.
I thought that the plastic stuff was going to SAVE me money. Guess not. I've never paid $27.00 for one gun and 4 crew. Total BS. That gun model is going to my collection instead of on the wargame table. Way too expensive for everyday gaming.

Rant over now!

ECW Project Virtually Completed!

2009-08-08T07:42:00.002-05:00

I'm down to the barrel scrapin' on the ECW project. I've got two units of Folorn Hope (1 per side) to get done. It shouldn't take long. There's only going to be 12 figs in the units. I'm going to paint them with multicolored jackets to represent "volunteers" for the Folorn Hopes. The last painting task is to paint the Royalist officers and King Chuck I. Almost there!

NEXT PROJECT??? Finish out the Saracens for my 1st Crusade collection. The Franks are already done. Just need to get spears, pennants and flags together.

MILLER'S STUPID QUESTION FOR THE DAY:
I want to paint "silks". I remember an Armory line of "silk paints". Does Armory still produce this paint? If not, will Vallejo's metallic addition work to make a silk color? Any pearls 'o wisdom would be appreciated.

Now...on with the next project. Galleries will follow.

ECW Might of Arms at Skirmish '09 and at the Rat Palace

2009-07-23T09:32:00.005-05:00

Gallery Link Here

I put on a Might of Arms variant for ECW at Skirmish '09 Games Day and at home last night. The games played smoothly. MoA is a quickly learned, easily taught, bloody, fast play set of rules for Ancients penned by Bob Bryant. I adapted the rules for ECW because of those reasons. As a result, multi-player games played on my 8x6 standard gaming table can be played to conclusion in less than 2.5 hours.

Skirmish 09 game was no exception to this rule. The rules were taken up by the players (most of whom had never played either ECW nor MoA) and were going strong in two game turns. I didn't get to see the result as I had an emergency and went to the E.R. in the middle of the game. The game looked quite even with the Royalist forces giving the Parliamentary forces a drubbing from fire. I've dumbed down the cavalry factors and adjusted cavalry charge ranges to simulate the differences between trotters and gallopers. The melee factors for cavalry have been adjusted to compensate for the "gentry" vs. the "proles". Some people would like to see more detail. The beauty of the rules is its simplicity but subtlety.

Last night's game was also fast and furious (in a 17th century sort of way). Both sides deployed a single battle line supported by two flanks of horse. I didn't say anything but was looking for a second line as reserves and also to provide supporting fire. The Royalist cavalry swept the Roundhead Train'd Band cavalry from the field in short order and exposed the flank of the Parliamentary battle line. The Parliamentary player turned a brigada to face the threat and came under a pummeling from artillery. It seemed as if the Roundheads were in trouble! Things are not always what they seem when playing MoA! The center and right flank were hotly contested with push of pike combined with laying on of musket butts. Both sides wore each other down over several turns. Again, neither side had a second line. No reserves would prove to be a tipping point. The left flank was the hero flank. Hesselrig's Lobsters were struck in the rear as they attempted to charge the flank of an unsupported Royalist regiment. They then turned and hammered the Parliamentary cavalry. I've included a -1 for facing Cuirassiers/Lobsters(not the crustacean variety). It worked just fine in this instance. The Parliamentary cavalry commander took a pistola shotte to the cabeza and promptly fell off his horse. The rest of the cavalry took morale tests and did not leave the table. The weight of numbers began to take toll on the beleaguered Lobsters. Being worn down and shaken, they could not stand. Their rout began the cascading morale effect for which MoA is known. Units began to go shaken on both sides as multiple morale tests weakened their resolve. The center push of pike was decided when shaken units on both sides began to fail morale and were removed from the table. Look for the blank area in the middle where the center used to be. The fight was tooth and tong! Both sides wore each other out and both sides left the table en masse. At the end of the day, the Royalists held the field with cavalry while the Parliamentary forces were whittled down to a shaken artillery unit and a shaken infantry unit. Terms were struck and the Parliamentary forces were allowed to leave the field with full honors. Such is the fortuna of war!

What did I learn from both these battles?

I need to paint more figures! (Duh). I've got 6 regiments of foote per side and 6 regiments of horse per side.
The game needs a mechanic to "add weight" into melees. I want to add regiments of horse and pack them into melee so I can get a visual scrum. I'm thinking that players should be able to add regiments into the fight (not getting charge bonus) on the second/subsequent turn of melee. This would add weight of numbers. On the flip side, MoA cavalry melees are usually sharp and relatively conclusive quickly. My jury's still out and will need more games to see.
Larger table space. 8x6 is fine for a two person game. The cavalry is free wheeling in this game. I will move to a 12x6 or 16x6 for multi-player games. Again, need to paint more figures.
Limiting terrain. I need to consistently use the terrain rules and use more hedges, enclosures, rock walls, etc. I'm of two minds about it however; in my historian's mind, terrain was found that suited the armies rather than hindered movement. My table is 3D, players should be able to see what is what and how the terrain may limit movement. I played these two games to test the rules however and kept the ancillary stuff out. I wanted to get to conclusion and see if people liked the game.
GMB Flags are the BEST! They set my collection to the next level! Worth the $100+! My cavalry guidons will follow. This will be cool...highly recommended!

Order of Battle: Royalist
4 Regiments of Foote-2 muskets per pike (18 figs per regiment)
6 Regiments of Horse-Various grades-including one Lobster regiment because it was painted
2 Medium Gonnes
1 Galloper (light) Gonne-I have the model and made up the rule for it. Gotta' get it on the table!
1 Dragoon Regiment (8 figs mounted and dismounts)

Order of Battle: Parliamentary
4 Regiments of Foote-2 muskets per pike (18 figs per regiment)
6 Regiments of Horse (9 figs per regiment)
2 Medium Gonnes
1 Dragoon Regiment (8 figs mounted and dismounts)

Might of Arms ECW Game

2009-07-03T11:43:00.003-05:00

I've run out of time trying to fix Victory without Quarter for multi-player games at Skirmish 09 Games Day next weekend in Plano, Texas www.dfwirregulars.com . Steve Bidwell and Scott White were gracious enough to come down to the Rat Palace III and work through a mod. of Bob Bryant's rules-Might of Arms. MoA is our ancients game of choice and an ECW variant was on the Yahoo Groups files. We tweaked the melee and shooting modifiers and came up with a crackin' multi player game that's easy to teach, learn and plays well.
I have not given up on Victory without Quarter and will tweak/play it in smaller games after Skirmish.
Will update the gallery next weekend. I've finally completed:
11 Regiments of Foote (18 figs per regiment)
96 Horse
6Medium Gonnes
2 Light or Galloper Gonnes
2 Regiments of Dragoons (8 figs per regiment)
Command figures
It's been a hectic six months to get this done....but it's done and ready to play.

Next project...star forts and field works!

After Action Report Battle of Montgomery 1644

2009-06-21T13:50:00.002-05:00

Click the Title to see the AAR Gallery!

We played our first Victory without Quarter game yesterday as advertised. The game was visually enjoyable for me since it has been a long six months to get things to this point. We played the battle as a four player game. The game's ebb and flow seemed to be OK and the rules conventions were "old school" with a sprinkling of Warhammer Historicals to add a bit of flavor.

We found some major glitches and holes with the rules. Instead of griping about them publicly and on multiple list-servs, we tweaked them to fit our gaming group's style of play and to make this rules set viable in a convention setting. The game was apparently written for a 1v1 game on a small 6x4 table. We modified the rules to accommodate up to 6 persons (that's all my current collection will support) and a minimum table size of 8x6 (my standard gaming table in my gaming house). The rules now support simultaneous movement instead of moving unit by unit, standardized cavalry formations, cavalry melee process, removal of units after routing (ala Might of Arms) and fast resolution of tabletop events.

Please take a few moments to have a look at the after action report below to see what the issues were and how we resolved them.

After Action Report

Steve Miller

We played VwQ yesterday and some major design and playability kludges came up during the game. They are not in any order but most if not all affect the way the game is played and player’s perceptions (most critical at this juncture before Skirmish 09 Games Day) of the period and game. The headings below are the areas of concern.

Movement

Apparently this game was designed for a 6x4 table. We found the movement rates a little slow on my 8x6. If you play on a larger table (recommended because of the basing and modern “25mm” figure size) use these movement rates:

Type	Old Movement	New Movement Rate
Foote	4”	6”
Horse	8”	12”
Cuirassier	6”	8”
Limbered Light Gonnes	6”	8”
Officer	12”	12” (no change)
Courier	3D6	3D6 (no change)
Charging Gallopers	16”	16” (no change)
Charging Trotters	12”	12” (no change)
Charging Cuirassier	9”	10”
Rough Terrain	No change
Cross Linear Obstacle	No change
Use same formation movements	No change

Movement System (Card Deck) and Army Organization Changes

We found that persons that were unfamiliar with the period or just wanted to try the game had a hard time deciphering the card/name system. More importantly in a multi-player game (4-6+) drawing individual cards and moving by the unit produced a slow game where the majority of players had nothing to do for a period of time. This is ok for a 1v1 but not advantageous for multiplayer or convention type games. We switched to a simple card deck with a corresponding numbered OB for both sides. “Aces” and “face cards” were the commanders with numbered cards by suit (red=Royalist, black=Parliament) for the units. Reload, Artillery and Event Cards remain in the game as they provide action and some flavor. My advice is to purchase a cheap set of cards from the Dollar Store and build a game deck using cut and paste.

Organization/Simultaneous Movement

Armies should be divided into wings and players given a roster card in the following manner:

Side: Royalist/Parliamentary Center

Brigadier: Sgt. Major Smythe-Fruit Bat

Lifeguard Cuirassiers-Sir Thomas More
Miller’s Foote-trained
Smyths’ Dragoons-raw

Wings should be as evenly divided as possible; giving each player enough units to enjoy the game. Given the size of my collection right now, 4-5 units per player maximum is all they will get. If players want more, they can paint more and contribute to the “cause”.

When a card is turned, ALL players on a side may give an order to a unit corresponding with that number (Left Wing #1, Center #1, and Right Wing #1). If the card turned is a commander, the commander still gives orders to a unit. If it is the CIC, he still retains his ability to give orders. Again, doing simultaneous movement per side speeds the game play. Cards are taken out of the pile as units rout and are destroyed. Simpler system, faster play.

End of Turn Card Procedure Changes

When the E.O.T. card is turned, all the cards PLAYED in a turn get shuffled and placed on the bottom of the deck. NON played cards in a turn get placed on the top of the deck. The E.O.T. card gets placed in the bottom part of the stack (should be done by ref or by various players during the game for fair play purposes).

Labels for Units

Labels for units (figures on table) should correspond to the OB given to the player. For example:

Chas I Lifeguard (veteran gallopers)

Events

As previously stated, event cards stay the same. The event process is slimmed down in this fashion:

When an event card is turned, turn the next card, consult the roster number for the unit or commander involved, roll 1D6 and then consult the table. Events happen now; again producing results for the players. In a convention game, events should be controlled by the game master/referee. Every event should not be bad nor should it always benefit players to keep player interest. In home games, play the chart as written.

Cavalry Organization and Melee (A huge problem with our game)

We standardized the size of regiments at 4 stands because that’s what my collection will support.
We ditched saving throws totally. They were just another dice throw that slowed down games.
To Hit has been modified to:
Horse hit on a 4+ (hit Cuirassiers on a 5+) This is easier to remember plus cuirassiers seldom were seen on the ECW battlefield due to their cost. There were only two regiments in the ECW. Both were raised by Parliament.
Melee has been changed to an MOA format. We fight until we get a winner and loser. Losers test morale, pass=continued melee, fail=rout 3D6, pursuit=3D6 (may check morale to NOT pursue).

Melee Flowchart

Round 1: Front Rank only fights
Determine winner/loser
Loser tests Morale-Fail?=Rout-Pass? Get pushed back 2”, Continue Melee

Round 2: All stands fight
Determine winner/loser routs 3D6
Loser tests Morale, Fail?=Rout 3D6, Winner tests not to pursue 3D6 or choosing pursuit. If losers caught? Destroyed. Pick ‘em up.

Melee Tie?
Both sides test morale, pass? Continue next round, Fail? Losers rout 3D6, pursuers may test morale to NOT pursue, if fail or choose pursuit? 3D6. If losers caught? Destroyed. Pick ‘em up!

Melees are fought across the table simultaneously and resolved simultaneously. Makes the ebb and flow faster with all players participating.

Flanks:

This is not discussed in the rules. I am undecided at this point. One option is to allow one stand to fight at a -1 disadvantage. The other option (much more unforgiving/draconic) is that units hit in the flank do not fight back. This is common in most horse and musket rules and would punish a player for making a stupid mistake of exposing their flanks. I am leaning toward the “no fight back” to speed play in multiplayer games.

Shooting into a Melee?

This is not discussed in the rules. To keep balance, no shooting into a melee is allowed. This represents the chance of shooting your own teammates. That would be stupid to play and just plain dumb.

End of Turn Card “Housecleaning Process”

Routing and shaken units outside of 8” of enemy must test morale when the end of turn card is turned.

Routers and shaken pass? They move up a level to shaken and “steady status” respectively
Routers fail? Pick ‘em up
Shaken fail? Rout 2D6 for infantry, check next turn if they are still on table (if not charged, forced to take morale, or EOT card turned again). Become routers-subject to failure rule next EOT if not rallied

Rallying Units

Units may attempt to rally if outside of 8” of enemy. Routers fail? Take ‘em off. Shaken only? Pass a morale test and upgrade status to “steady”

Saving Rolls for Infantry and Artillery

We ditched the saving rolls to give a more decisive result faster. Saving rolls are a useless step in the process of moving the game along for players. We retained the “to hit” modifiers. It’s tough enough to hit at medium or long range for both infantry and artillery. That works for my simple mind. Again, 1v1 games on a smaller table may want to use this convention if so desired. I will not.

Army Break Point

An army that loses 50% or more of their units sues for terms and quits the field. (Game over). I would rather use the Koenig Krieg army break point rule but I can’t find my copy presently. It works better but for now, a static break point percentage works for me.

Quick Sheet and Event Chart

I am in the process of modifying the quick sheet to condense it to 1 page front and back. The Event chart will be modified ditching the 10s dice roll and using 1D6 when an event is turned for a particular arm…i.e.: Event card turned, unit identified, roll the dice.

1st Victory without Quarter Game Saturday!

2009-06-16T20:34:00.002-05:00

I've finally painted enough figures to try out the rules! Am putting on the Battle of Montgomery-1644 (Book 2 ECW scenarios-Caliver)on Saturday. Stay tuned, will post up how the rules play and a gallery (of course).

Sealed Knot Uniform Links

2009-06-06T13:55:00.003-05:00

I've put the current version of the Sealed Knot UK ECW uniform color links in the links section. Here they are again! This is what I'm using for my ECW foote. Highly recommended!

Royalist
Parliament

ECW Project Milestone-Five Months!

2009-06-02T23:04:00.003-05:00

It's been a couple of months since I last posted on the ECW project. Been in the hospital and getting classes done for the summer break.

Ok...here's what I've got done to date...I started this project in January, 2009.
96 Heavy Cavalry-Old Glory, Dixon, Foundry
24 Cuirassiers-Foundry, Old Glory (yeah I know there were only two regiments-I've got 'em both-they're fun to paint!)
24 Dragoons with Dismounts (12 each for both sides)
8 Artillery Pieces (in field works)
10 Reload Markers (musketeers reloading)
8 Hit Markers (dead guys)

Am working on the infantry now. My goal is to get 10 regiments of foote (18 figs/regiment)done in the next two weeks. The goal is to have the army done, play a couple of games and get the rules down before our annual Skirmish '09 Games Day on July 11, 2009. It can happen. It's good to have a summer break.

Click the title or click here for the ECW gallery.

More Pics From Petit Brioche-1940

2009-05-26T18:20:00.004-05:00

Clay took some nice pics of our 1940 France game on Sunday. Several questions were asked about the map. I'm thinking one can get a better idea of our table with these pics than with a simple map. Our terrain is 3D rather than felt, wedding cake hills or hexes. All the pieces are interchangable and are indexed.

CLAY'S PICS

Thanks Clay!

Another question came up about the Soumas. The Early War FoW French list has an attached tank platoon as a support choice for the Fusiliers/Dragons. That's the place in which I put them. I hosed my friends again (they continue to indulge me) by using some H35s for recce/light cavalry tanks because I didn't know where to get AMR35s. Now I do, that will be remedied.

Anyway, hope this help clear up some of the questions...perhaps generate some more?

Petit Brioche-1940

2009-05-25T07:57:00.002-05:00

My favorite Flames of War game is France 1940. We played a smaller scale game on Sunday. Forces: French DCM Companie versus a Boche Schutzenkompanie. The French held a series of entrenched positions supported by a platoon of Souma S-35s. The Germans were quicker and faster and well supported by artillery. The French were out tubed and out shot.

The game was fun and followed history. Blitzkrieg versus French WW1 mindset. The Germans blew through the French lines with relative impunity taking acceptable losses.

Thanks to Clay and Scott for indulging my FoW fancy. Early war is the best period for Flames of War. Anyone can lumber around in Tigers, JS3s, etc. It takes brass huevos to play tinclad armor and trained infantry (French). If you missed this game, you missed a good time!

Below is the situation and scenario sheet given to the players. Try it, you'll like it!

Le' Petit Brioche

1940-Somewhere in France
On the Road to Calais

DFWIrregulars

May, 2006

General Situation:

The French General Staff is in total disarray since the Germans punched through the Ardennes. A firebrand named Erwin Rommel is reported to have split the BEF and the French Northern Corps and is moving rapidly toward Calais. The Staff's indecision has cost valuable time and has also scattered meager armored resources throughout France. If the Germans reach Calais, the battle for France is over as the government and people of France are despondent and weary of defeat.

German Objective:

Take and hold the strategic crossroads town of Le' Petit Brioche for follow on forces racing to Calais. You have 12 game turns to accomplish your mission. Rommel is in command. His special magic powers apply in this game.

French Objective:

Hold the strategic crossroads town of Le' Petit Brioche for 12 game turns to give Northern Corps time to reorganize the Calais line.

Forces:

German:

You've been given command of an ersatz schuztenkompanie. You may call upon a reduced Panzerkompanie as follow on reserves. (1 HQ-2 Early MkIVs, 3 Lt Panzer Platoons-3 Pz38Ts) after turn 2 as per FoW rules. You have 3 dedicated Luftwaffe sorties for your mission. Use them wisely

French:
You've been given command of one of the last intact Escradron de Fusiliers company. Your infantry is all Metropolitan and may entrench on a roll of 3+

You may hold up to ½ of your force in reserve. You've been ordered to NOT fortify the town as it's destruction would swing public opinion rapidly towards defeatism and surrender.

Battle of Gettysburg-10mm

2009-05-17T10:11:00.002-05:00

We played a cool Gettysburg game at Allen Eldridge's place yesterday. The game was in 10mm with the entire battlefield represented. We played the 1st and 2nd day but ran out of steam (we're old farts) to play the 3rd day.

Hats off to Allen! Great game, easy to learn, fun to play. Here's the URL to Clay's gallery of the game. Enjoy!

http://mysite.verizon.net/krista.smith/Gettysburg.htm

Play it again Sam-FoW Interlude

2009-04-18T21:59:00.004-05:00

I've not posted in a while, work and health have gotten in the way. I watched the History Channel's "Patton 360" and got a wild hair in my nose for a quickie FoW throw down. I hadn't played any games on my new Terrain Guy Mat so it was a double opportunity to take a break from the ECW obsessive compulsive project and throw some bones.

I didn't want Clay and Steve Bidwell to "have to play" my 1940 French as Vichy French so I put in a couple of DAK companies. We kept the game down to 1000 points per player (4 players) so we would have some drivin' space. My Terrain Guy mat is only 8x6 so we played on a smaller table for a change. That part was different and gave folks some walk around room in the Rat Palace III. The 8x6 is large enough for a casual game but frankly is way too small for my tastes when playing much of anything else. I like to use all the table space available (16x6) whenever possible. I'm one of the "old schoolers" that relishes the sight of the table drooping in the center from the weight of the lead on the table!

The Allies started their run for the airfield (off table) and promptly lost their light screen. The Amis and Brits sent their attack in piecemeal and were chewed up and spat out by the "Goimans".

Good game and a good break.

A little work done over the weekend and tonight plus a stupid artillery question

2009-03-31T00:23:00.002-05:00

I've finished 24 of the next 36 cavalry and will start basing them this week. Am glad I started with the cavalry instead of the infantry. Didn't think that a goal of 96 cavalry would be that big of a deal since I'm used to painting masses of Napoleonic cavalry. I MUST be getting old or more easily distracted. Lots of Copa Mundial qualifier games on this weekend. I got to see the Wayne Rooney show Sunday. Looked down and the second group of 12 cavalry were still sitting there on the painting table. Worked tonight during the Argentina-Venezuela rout. It was the Messi-Tevez show tonight. Argentina looks pretty tough in the midfield and striker areas but their defense is getting a little long in the tooth. Am waiting for Brasil-Argentina qualifier to see what these guys are really made of. Maradona or not, Argentina looks to be the team to beat in 2010 right now.

I did finish 6 anti-papist generals (Old Glory general pack), picked up 40 "clubmen" off of Ebay, got them in tonight-didn't open the box yet. Want to get that cavalry DONE before starting the pop off the base/touch up/repaint and rebase them project. They're all "old school Minipig" so they'll be ugly pieces of crap on the table together. Hopefully they won't last long in the scenario I've got picked for Skirmish '09.

Will post up pics of the generals this week. They've got their sand bases glued down so that will take 24-36 hours to dry then drybrush, then static grass them. One annoying thing about OG general sets is the name plate for each figure. Makes the figure look cool but they're just annoying and take up base space. Oh well, they 're done.

Artillery question for you more knowlegible folks. Were all ECW gun batteries emplaced before battles or did they actually use light guns as did Gustavus Adolphus? I've built some cool emplacements and just wanted to know if I could get away with some non-emplaced guns like behind earthworks (hasty fieldworks, etc.) and out in the open. One school of thought is that I should do them the way I want to...none of us were there. The other school is to read the frakking artillery manual for the period. Any sources help around? Caliver Press? The Perry Bros.?

I'm going to bed. The quarter sized hailstorm just rolled my fat arse outa' bed. Gotta' 0530 wake up call in the AM and it's 1236 now. Nothing like teaching with no sleep. Guess I can always make them read the book...NOT!

ECW Cavalry Progress Update

2009-03-17T15:42:00.005-05:00

I'm making some progress on the ECW project. Finished the first 34 cavalry, another Foundry limber set and got two SUPERB buildings from Sandy Botond. Click on the title for a Flickr slideshow.
My painting and photography don't hold a candle to Clarence Harrison's but they'll do just fine IMHO. Am still stoked on the project. Am still actively looking for more ECW cavalry via Bartertown and TMP.

Sandy Botond's Super Work!

2009-03-17T15:28:00.005-05:00

Here's the first shots of Botond House and Barn for the ECW, Horse and Musket Period taken from the Rat Palace III.

These are hand made, no resin structures or slop painting here.

Thanks Sandy! This is what makes the Rat Palace THE gaming venue in the DFW area!

Botond House Close Up

The Botond House is perfect for larger scale
28/whatever mm figures.

Barn

Spring Break-Some Project Breathing Space

2009-03-16T08:31:00.002-05:00

It's Spring Break. Got a week of relative peace to catch my breath and get paint on figs. I've finished the first load of cavalry. Turns out it there were 34 figs. Victory without Quarter calls for 12 figure units so I've got almost three regiments based and ready to play. Am waiting for my GMB flags. I went ahead and bought one of each of their cavalry flags so I can easily change them out as needed. Have heard they're great...waiting to find out!

I received a box from Sandy Botond in Katy, Texas over the weekend. I took a group of students to San Antonio for a Robotics competition so I've not opened it YET. If this is what I think it is, you may be able to hear a Tejas yell from your home.

I'll post pictures later today! Keep checking back

Battle of Schweinkopf-Day Two-Put off for Two Weeks

2009-03-08T18:04:00.002-05:00

We're putting off the second day of the battle for two weeks. I've got work obligations next weekend...I'm taking a group of students to a Robotics competition in San Antonio. Hey...even a BAD day in San Antonio is a GREAT day!
Am working on my ECW cavalry. Work has been a time grabber. I'm almost done with the first36 horse...am working until I get 96 figures completed. Then the foote!

Battle of Schweinkopf-Day One

2009-03-02T20:40:00.012-06:00

We put out the word for Napoleonics last week and fought the first day of the Battle of Schweinkopf at the Rat Palace III in Red Oak. Glad to be back in business playing after several months of forced inactivity. Thank goodness the heater was finally working like it should. We use Clay's "Ninja Rules" and they work great! Good Job Clay!
Our Napoleonic armies represent a cross section of wargaming history. We have scads of "old school" Hinchcliffe, Minifig, infantry, artillery and cavalry. We've got Peter Guilder, Ed Phillips, Jim Cooper and Cleve Burton painted armies and figures on the table. We both started gaming when Hinchcliffe figures were the "gold standard. We now have Old Glory, Front Rank and Mirliton figures in the armies. We've got some great armies painted by some of the legends of the hobby. We definitely are blessed!

Now, step in the "way-back machine" and let's visit the first day of the Battle of Schweinkopf!

The Battle of Schweinkopf cannot be found in the battle reports of Soult, Napoleon, Archduke Charles nor the reports of either Tsar Alexander or Bagration. This was a "battle by mistake" as both armies were on the move looking for fresh fodder, German spirits and available Germans of the female persuasion.

Day One:
The French deployed along the road to Schweinkopf anchoring their line alongside a pig farm. Apparently the odor d' piggie didn't bother the swarthy French at all. They snuggled right up and awaited the Austrians. The Russians were content to move their artillery and commence a preliminary bombardment of the French on top of the rise to their front. Bagration's comment was noted as "these conscripts are fresh from the Ukraine, let them see the artillery before tasting a whiff of grape".

The Austrians did not hesitate and launched a double envelopment on the right flank, pushing the French from the pig farm. The Russians continued their bombardment due to a message from the Russian cavalry commander saying his brigade was delayed due to some bad sauerbraten and too much pilsner

Eventually the tardy Russian cavalry commander reported on the field with 3 regiments of Dragoons, 1 regiment of Cuirassiers and the elite Tsarina's Hussars, known lovingly as the "crabby hussars".

Bagration ordered the cavalry to immediately eliminate the pesky French Light Cavalry that was slowing the advance of the left wing. The cavalry battles were a wash with numerous French and Russian casualities for little tactical gain. A dust cloud in the distance announced the arrival of the French Heavies: Cuirassiers and Horse Grenadiers.

The center and right flank was hotly contested with the French taking hard causalities. The Austrians and Russians could not break the French line. We ended the first day with "huzzahs" and threats in a gentlemanly fashion.

The battle will take a siesta until next week. The game's afoot and the forces are deep into the fray!

Stay tuned!

Cavalry on the way!

2009-02-24T20:38:00.002-06:00

I painted 24 Heavy Cavalry and 3 Renegade Cuirassiers (Lobsters) over the weekend. Only 12 more to do in this bunch. Picked up a cool OG Artillery deal and another bag of OG Cavalry (I think they're command...I definitely can use them.
Am getting rather frustrated at the lack of information on standards carried by some regiments. I'm using Folorn Hope set of ECW scenarios and some of the flags and regiments just can't be found. I've also got Ede-Barnett's old Flags of the ECW paperback from the Stone Age. Can't seem to find them in there either. Where's the disconnect? Guess it's because it's been over 367 years since these forces were in the field.
I'm outa' here. Gotta' get an instructional presentation done.

ECW Buildings On The Way, Cavalry Questions, and Clubmen

2009-02-14T14:45:00.012-06:00

My good friend Sandy Botond (from Houston..oops..I meant Katy, Texas) has constructed several buildings for the ECW project for me.
Here's pic of the farmhouse. I'm really looking forward to getting these buildings onto the table. I'll need to pick up some Foundry civilians and appropriate animals (sheep and herding dogs) to make this complete..

Here is a picture of the windmill that Sandy has built for the ECW game. This will look great not only with ECW but with SYW and my extensive 25/8mm Napoleonic collection.

Being an American and Texan, I don't have a good mental concept of an enclosure. I've Googled some pictures and it seems as if enclosures look a lot like hedgerow country in Normandy. Any help would be appreciated. The same question applies to field stone walls. Kinda' a weird question but living in upper New York state as a kid, we used to play and make forts out of stones found on field walls. We were always told these walls were constructed because the farmers didn't have a place to store the stones they turned/cleared when plowing.
Here is a snap of the pub Sandy built for me. I'm keeping the name of the pub close to the vest. We've got a few good names in mind however! :)

Cavalry pictures will be forthcoming this weekend. They're progressing quite well. Everything I've read points in the direction that cavalry units had no "uniform" appearance other than the sash each side wore early in the war. I'm not painting these units with uniform sleeves, etc. but am painting them with buff coat and sleeves. I'm planning on building the ensigns to where I can interchange flags. I should be able to use each stand interchangeably.

Now...to those club men. Where can I get club men? Should I just use farmers, civilian rioting mobsters, guys with pitchforks and torches (ala Frankenstein movies) or what. I'm just full o' preguntas today. Any help would be appreciated.

Can you paint this many horses in 1 hour 45 min?

2009-02-08T21:31:00.002-06:00

Got busy tonight and oil rubbed over 30+ in 1 hour 45 min. No record but this process definitely beats the hell out of basecoating, washing, waiting for the wash to dry, it looks like crap because it muddies up the color, do it over, get pissed off because it never works like "they say" on the boards or in the wargaming mags.

Yep...I'd never go back to the old fashioned way of painting horses.

Should have this cavalry finished out in the next 10 days or so.

ECW Painting Progress To Date

2009-02-07T19:53:00.013-06:00

Here is a little painting progress on the ECW project to date. My photography skills are not very highly honed so these will have to do. My camera is an old Sony 2.1 megapixel monster. It works and is paid for so that's what I use.

As I've blogged before, my collection is a combination of OG, Foundry, Renegade and whatever strikes my fancy via Bartertown and EBay I also recommend Lead and Dice. It's a pretty cool site that apparently does the searching on EBay for specific periods and types of miniatures.

Below is a down and dirty gallery of some various and sundry ECW units and subjects. All were taken in the Rat Palace III. It's my game house in Red Oak, Texas. I've got a 16x6 table with over 200-2'x2' terrain squares. They are completely indexed and fit together superbly. The Rat Palace is a great place to play. It has spousal amenities such as an adjacent pool, hot tub/spa room , multiple patios, adjoining cabana and covered arbor. I'm pretty blessed that's for sure. Anyway, keep checking back for ECW army progress. As posted below, the first 3 units of cavalry are primed and on the painting block.

Gallery Stuff

Typical ECW Planning by Committee

Artillery Line

Red Dragoons

Lobsters

Lumbering Limber
More Lobsters

Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em

Last Artillery Shot..'bout time eh?

Painting Horses-The First 30+

2009-02-07T16:34:00.005-06:00

I'm ready to oil rub the first batch of horses over the weekend. I like building armies "cavalry first" since they are the most complex in this period due to the non-uniformity of each unit. I'm sure someone out there in the blogosphere would like to know what the hell "oil rubbed horses" means? It's not pornographic nor does the process violate any laws of the great State of Tejas. Here's a quickie overview of the process. I don't use ANY other method. I've got a copy of Dallimore's book on how to "blob paint" dang near anything. My horse painting process is similar but different. I like the results and have for over 20+ years. They're consistent and look good on the game table. No junk is allowed on my game table in Dallas.
Step 1: Prime 'em right-Use Rustoleum Flat White (not White primer). I don't care that GW does this and others do that. All I know is that I can produce a stunning horse miniature using this process.
Step 2: Glue the riders on the horse. Don't waste time nor "richard" around with silly rider holders, gluing onto nails or other time wasters. I like to get busy and get done so I can see my cavalry rout off the table with regularity. That's why my gaming buds do not allow me to USE what I have painted if we are gaming on the same side.
Step 3: Hot Glue the complete cavalry miniature on strips of cardboard and prime 'em. I do this because I don't like handling figures whist painting them. It's also a good use for all those cardboard boxes that seem to pop up around the house. Cut 'em up and use them! Once glued, I prime the complete figure.
Step 4: Glop Aklyd Oil paint onto the horse and let dry for about 5 minutes. Aklyds are water soluable oil paint. They clean up with water and your hands won't look like you washed in grease for a week. These paints don't have the Turpentine Stank either. That means you can do your horse painting "thang" and the spouse won't have her knickers in a knot about the stanky work area. Doesn't mean you'll get lucky but....hey...one never knows right?
Step 5: Pull the oil paint off the horse with a small piece of foam rubber. I bought an "egg crate mattress topper" from the local WalMart. I've had it for over 5 years. I cut off what I need for a project, cut it into 2-3 finger sized cubes and get to pullin'. This phase goes best with an old B-Sci Fi movie like "Them" or "Earth vs. the Flying Saucers". Don't ask me why. I have no idea!
Step 6: Put 'em outside to dry for 24 hours. It works best in the hot Tejas summer but I'm ok with leaving them out in winter too as long as it's dry. If it is raining like living in Seattle or in London, put them inside. They won't stink up the place and your spouse, significant other or whatever really can't gripe...well..maybe a little. Don't worry about the time factor, Aklyd paints dry where old skool oil paints do not. I just like to do other stuff (drink, watch grass grow, teach school) while these figures are drying
Step 7: Get to paintin'...time's a wastin'! I paint the horses with variations of browns with an occasional Grey and or Black for "texture". I don't paint white horses. That's just for amateurs that are too lazy to paint horses correctly. Paint horse manes, tails and hooves with a dark brown. I still use a Polly-S shade called Ogre Dark Brown. It's not made anymore that I know of and I had a couple of pints made at Home D'Pot about 5 years ago. It's still good after all those years. I drybrush the mane and tail with Howard Hues Concrete. That brings out the striations in the casting. If you don't want to do that don't...I'm just more than a little weird about horse painting.
paint the horse's eyes Black rather than the goofy white then black. Look at a horse and you can't see the whites of their eyes. Dot the eye with a small dot of white. You pick the place on the eye to draw attention to the horse's face. Some really good painters paint the mouth of the horse with a flesh color. I don't do that because every time I do, it looks like the horse is giving everyone a crap-eating grin. If you're good enough to do that, please feel free. I'm just into getting my project done and on the table. My cavalry still looks better than 99% of the crap I've seen over the years. This system works. Try it...you won't go back to slop painting, applying stupid washes that muck up the original color, glob on highlights so the horse looks like a Picasso painting or other techniques that ensure your figures look "wargame table top quality" (like crap).
Step 8: Final finish your figures with Floquil Flat or Testors Dull Coat. I've tried using Minwax over oil painted horses. Take a look at the dragoons. My jury's still out. I like a brighter looking figure but that's just because my eyes are getting dull.

How many figures do I paint at one time? I usually paint 20-30 cavalry at one time. I used to do more than that but that's about all I want to deal with at my advanced paternal age.

I'm posting up some pics of the project to date. Keep checking and let me know what you think. I've only got 120 cavalry to paint so it shouldn't take too long.

Artillery Moving Foward

2009-02-05T20:17:00.007-06:00

The project is moving forward. I've constructed the wooden "supports", added the static grass and "slopped in" some different ballast and medium rocks.

The "supports" got painted with Vallejo's Game Color Cobra Leather (stupid name). I couldn't stay away and Minwax'd the supports. They look good and will look better when they're highlighted. The plan is to add some cannon balls-double ought buckshot shot works just fine for that chore. Still need to find some 25/8mm buckets or small barrels. They can always be added later. Sometimes too much on a stand can detract from the model IMHO. The basing took a little more time than I thought; I've posted before that I'm used to Vallejo's PumiceThis is a fun project so far.

I'll post up some pictures of the project on some of the terrain over the weekend. Bear with me on the pics...I just took them while the models were on a piece of sheet steel, illuminated by my painting lamp.

I'm stoked!

Project in Progress

Artillery In Progress

2009-02-03T20:57:00.004-06:00

I picked up this mortar and crew off of Ebay recently. Thanks to Allen Eldridge-www.terrainguy.com for making the gabions available. I don't have a clue if the mortar should be bronze, iron, brass or like the old joke "what would a bell made of shite sound like? Dung! Any help would be appreciated. I also just had to take more pics of the artillery park.

Making progress. I've painted four artillery emplacements and am shamelessly copying Clarence Harrison's ideas for emplacements. I did find an easy way to build the artillery "boards". Found a Plastruct(?) architectural piece to work. Cut it, primed and painted it. After drying, I laid on a coat of Minwax Golden Walnut to give it "texture". Ok...ok...I Minwax everything so sue me!

I'm adding some more roughage and some static grass in strategic places. I'm fighting the feeling of adding a command stand with the artillery captains standing under a tree but I'm losing the battle at this point. Am also painting an artillery train guard for each side. I picked up 24 Renegade musketeers from a seller on Bartertown. They'll work just fine as "firelock" guards.

If you didn't take advantage of the Wargames LLC Dixon sale, you really missed the boat. Got my miniscule order today. Now the commands for the infantry can get completed.

Please feel free to post your thoughts and comments as this project moves forward.

Victory without Quarter!

Dragoons, Lobsters and Artillery

2009-01-31T15:51:00.002-06:00

I've completed the Dragoons for both sides. Painted mounted and dismounted Dragoons. They're Old Glory I've also painted up two stands of Lobsters. I've received a "tres" of Renegade Miniatures' Lobsters in a trade. They're pretty large in comparison to the Dixon and Old Glory I have. I'm planning on making them work. The figures are sweet and will paint nicely.

Have been trading and picking up stuff via Bartertown, Ebay, and The Miniatures Page. Have collected approximately 90+ cavalry. My original plan was to paint 48 cavalry per side. That will give me 4 units of 12 per side. I'm painting them with removable flags to use for both sides.

After looking and looking at Clarence Harrison's ECW artillery positions, I've started building mine "just like Clarence's". In this case, imitation IS the most sincere form of flattery. His stuff is super! I won't come close to his artistic touch but will have some super looking artillery! Thanks Clarence for the inspiration. Thanks to Allen Eldridge-The Terrain Guy www.terrainguy.com

Clarence's artillery emplacements sport a wooden "floor" support. I figure Clarence probably built them from balsa since he's a true artist. Being a war gamer, I went to Hobbytown, found some Plastruct flat siding. Cut the sheets to fit, primed and painted them. More than one way to skin a cat. I'm really just a lazy fat bastard!

I've co-opted another DFWIrregular to join up in the 17th century chaosium. He's putting together Scots. That will be cool since the Scots provided regiments to both sides during "the unpleasantness" Hopefully he will post here as well on his progress. I do want to thank him for building the cards we're going to need to play Victory without Quarter. I'm looking forward to seeing some of his pictures as his project takes shape.

Later....I've gotta' go work on artillery batteries.

Starting the ECW Journey

2009-01-04T00:41:00.002-06:00

I've started the ECW project by deciding upon:

The Rules: "Victory without Quarter"
Scale: 25/28mm
Figures: Old Glory, Foundry, Dixon, and others
Numbers per side to start-5 regiments of Foote, 4 Regiments of Horse, 1 Dragoon Regiment. I've painted 6 artillery pieces of varying sizes and 1 artillery limber. Lots to do, but this is going to be fun.