Play it again Sam-FoW Interlude

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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!

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

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?

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.