Warlord ECW Cavalry and Extra General Project Begins

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.