Whats on the work bench? – Page 12

Why are you still playing Black Powder?

Redcoats!

I had intended to write an updated guide to batch painting British Napoleonic figures based around my latest project, the 28th North Gloucestershire Regiment. I’ve even gone so far as to make some step by step videos that I hope to post. However, rather than jump right in to the painting, I thought that I would first give some context and background to my project. I’ve been prompted by the number of questions that constantly appear on the social media feeds and forums that I subscribe to, as much as anything else and I hope that the series of posts will be useful to newcomers to the hobby.

I think that veterans in the hobby forget just how difficult and daunting it is for newcomers to get into this strange hobby of collecting and painting Napoleonic figures, or for that matter, any period of history. There is so much material out there and whilst the internet makes it easier to access this material, there is a lot of conflicting advice and some very forthright views that can be counter productive. I hope that the following helps although I am conscious that I am just adding my own forthright views to the mix!

To be clear, I have decided that I am painting and collecting 28mm war games figures to be used primarily to ‘play’ wargames with my friends using Black Powder rules. So before you even buy a pack of figures you need to decide what scale figures you are going to use and what rules set you will use. A good place to start would be to talk to the people that you intend to wargame with and see what rules sets they are using.

Why Black Powder?

When I first came back to the historical side of the hobby, following a long period spent playing Sci Fi games, I was looking for a rules set that I could easily learn and play. I actually started with Sharp Practice version one. This had two attractions. First of all you don’t need that many figures to start gaming. Indeed, I started with just 24 Victrix figures. Most importantly, there were a couple of guys at the local club who were playing Sharp practice and they helped to explain the rules and provide some extra figures when I needed them. Additionally, the rules had a certain charm, humour and playability about them that resulted in a great game, time after time.

Stand fast the 27th

However, as my army grew, I was looking for something that would allow me to field a brigade or division. Black powder happened to be published at that time. It was and still is, one of the best looking rules sets out there. It was also easily readable and obviously designed for the joy of playing rather than simply trying to recreate every drill tactic and nuance of the Napoleonic era. In fact, it’s not even a rule set specifically set in the Napoleonic era, more of a general guide to playing war games in the whole of the ‘Black powder’ era. Brilliant! I would only need to learn one basic set of rules and I could be gaming the AWI or fighting Zulus a hundred or so years later. Even better, it was co written by Rick Priestly and Jervis Johnson and those two know more than a thing or two about not only how to write a rules set but also how to set the right tone.

We are playing a game!

In a recent blog I mentioned that I was part of a demonstration game at a Napoleonic Day in, of all places, Bingham. Most of the people that visited were ‘non wargamers’ and were fascinated by the spectacle of so many model soldiers on the table. The game was very loosely based on the Battle of Quatre Bras and most of the figures were representative of the combatants present during the battle. That is about as close as I have come to refighting a historical battle. Most of the games that I play are at the White Hart pub on a reasonably sized table, covered in a battlemat with a few bits of scenery placed around. Occasionally, we set up a scenario, a river crossing or delayed deployment of troops being the two easiest but rarely is the game based on a real battle.

The Quatre Bras Demo game

Back to the Demo game. The visitors were intrigued to know just what we were doing. We replied ‘we’re playing a game with Napoleonic soldiers representing the playing pieces’. I don’t think that they believed us. They wanted it to be more serious than that. Some of them eventually got it. This was a group of friends enjoying each others company whilst playing with toy soldiers set in an historical context. That’s all it needs to be. If you want a competitive tournament game, there are much better rules sets out there. If you are looking to recreate the minutiae of detail of what may have actually happened in a battle, you may be better off joining a re enactment group. That way you get to trudge around the fields & mud for real. The good news is that you wont get shot…

However, the Black Powder rules provide you with a great introduction to Historical wargaming with simple rules to learn and an emphasis on enjoying the game.

Table top General directs his troops!

Next Question…

Once you have decided on a rules set, some of the decisions are then made for you. What scale of figures do I use? Black powder is designed for 28mm but will work with most scales including 1/72nd scale or 15mm. I like 28mm scale. There’s a fantastic range and choice of figures out there in 28mm, both in plastic and metal. If you prefer something else, go for it. Again, I suspect that you will need to consult with your existing or prospective gaming buddies. If they are already using 20mm figures it makes sense to join them. But, I don’t think that you will go far wrong with 28mm.

Basing is a thorny subject – but guidance appears in the rules and I’ll pass on my advice in this series of articles later.

So, how many figures do you need in a unit? Again, the answer is in the rules set. A normal unit is 24 figures but this isn’t as rigid as you may think. We often use half sized units to play big games on smaller tables. The only important issue is that there should be some parity with your opponent. I’ll pass on my thoughts on this in a later blog when I cover basing.

Load Canister!

The really BIG question!

What army are you going to build? To a certain extent this is the most difficult decision that you may have to make. Are you going to be collecting British, French, Austrian, Russian, Prussian, or one of the myriad of other Napoleonic states that were involved in the conflict. This decision is further complicated by having then to choose a campaign period. In my opinion, as far as the wargaming goes, it doesn’t matter. We happily play games where Pennisular British fight Waterloo Prussians. We have even had a Mexican unit on the table!

It’s a difficult decision, because once you have committed, you will be painting an army and that will be a long term project. To be fair, there’s no reason why you cant have a pick & mix army with a unit from every nation. However, when it comes to research and collecting an army, I think that it will help if you have a common thread running through it. You don’t have to pick the ‘best’ army either. For many years of the Napoleonic period, the French were in the ascendancy and could beat all comers. At the other end of the scale, the Spanish Army, although potent on their day, don’t enjoy the same reputation in battle – they do have some lovely uniforms though! The beauty of Black powder is that the rules aren’t precious about this. There are some optional rules that you can give certain qualities one to army over another but there is nothing to stop you playing a ‘vanilla’ rules game where Spanish troops happily face, say, Russians on equal terms. Not realistic? It doesn’t bother me. As I keep repeating, the wargame is the social side of the hobby. It’s the chance to get those lovingly painted troops onto the table and see if the dice are kind enough to let you win a battle.

Charge!

In conclusion

If you are looking to start collecting and painting troops to wargame in the Napoleonic period, my advice is to start with the Black powder rules set. That is what my wargaming army is based on and whenever I start to paint a new unit, it is with these rules in mind. It means that I am clear about how many figures I need to make a unit, how to base them and what they will do in the game. Next week, I’ll explain how I research how to paint my figures. Regardless of which rules set that you do choose, I hope that you enjoy your gaming with your buddies as much as I do!

Incidentally, the pictures used in this blog were supplied by Wargames Illustrated. The figures are from my own collection and they will feature in issue 345, the theme being Wellington and the Napoleonic period. Which leads me to an after thought. I’m a great fan of Wargames Illustrated (and was long before they accepted my article) – if you are thinking of entering the hobby, go and get yourself a copy of the magazine! it’s a great way to get an overview of what is happening in the hobby and I still think that the physical magazine is better than flicking through the interweb!

You can get your copy of Black Powder Here:

BLACK POWDER

You can get the Waterloo starter set here:

Waterloo Starter Set

You can get Wargames Illustrated magazine here:

War Games Illustrated

A Test of Will Power…

I believe the technical term in wargames circles for unbridled enthusiasm on the release of a new game or product is ‘frothing’. With all the product that crosses my desk, you would think that I am immune from such a condition but I’m afraid I am just as likely to get excited about new releases as ever. Of course, we are entering the peak ‘New Release Season’ as manufacturers and designers get ready to launch their new products at Salute down in London, so there is plenty to froth about.

Three forthcoming releases have caught my attention. Unfortunately for me, none of them are from periods that I already have troops for and so whether I actually get to play the games will be another matter. That said, for now I’m happy to dream about painting the miniatures that I may never actually own…

New from Warlord Games, Test of Honour

First up is the new game from Warlord, Test of Honour, a skirmish game involving Samurai Warriors and their retinue. Warlord have been very clever in marketing this game in that it involves repackaging the Wargames Factory plastics that they have recently acquired. If you would just like to have a look at the rules, they are available as a free, yes, free download from the warlord games web store. Just click this link to go there:

TEST OF HONOUR RULES

The game isn’t actually released until late March and of course, Arcane Scenery will be stocking it – watch out for our special offers around launch time! Having the rules will give you some idea of whether the game is for you.

I mentioned that the miniatures are the repackaged Wargames Factory figures but it being a Warlord release they have supplemented the plastics with some very nice metal sculpts, an example of which is shown above. I know that plastics in general and the Wargames Factory figures in particular are not to everyone’s cup of (green) tea but once assembled and painted, the models do look very nice. I am particularly taken by the Archers and the Cavalry.

Test Of Honour Mounted Samurai

Of course, Samurai are a bit of a speciality subject and not everyone is going to want to refight the sort of skirmishes that you see on the big screen where the Samurai warrior can take out a group of enemy in three moves whilst barely twitching an eyebrow. You either like this stylised ritual approach to combat or not. I suspect it is a bit of a marmite subject for wargamers. That said, I find myself drawn in two directions. I really admire the discipline, tradition and self sacrifice shown by the Samurai whilst acknowledging that such a regime would drive me mad! I reckon that a group of English Longbow men would have sorted out the Samurai as effectively as they dealt with the French without all that messing around – now there’s a sentence to start an argument…

Samurai Armour is just beautiful!

Of course, the other attraction is the beautiful arms and armour of the figures and the colours and designs used on the armour and clothing. I suspect that in attempting to paint these figures I will be stretching both my eyesight and painting skills but the thought of having a small Samurai band in my show case is too much of a temptation. Just to prove the point, once I had seen the release details of Test of Honour, I was inspired to dig out the only Japanese figures in my lead mountain and get painting! I have three ninja figures that I acquired sometime ago from Northstar games and so I thought that I would give these a lick of paint.

Northstar Ninja!

Ninja aren’t exactly representative of the Samurai that I have been frothing over but they are close enough. I decided to paint one in traditional blacks and greys, the other in Reds. The third I am still thinking about! It’s got me in the mood to paint more Japanese warriors, whether Samurai, ninja or the humble foot soldiers of various types. It will be a nice change from my Napoleonics for sure! The fact that I need only paint 6 to 20 models to be playing Test Of Honour is a big draw. If it grabs me the way that I think it might I can gradually add to my Samurai entourage!

Now what colour should I paint the third one?

There are of course other Japanese rules sets out there if you fancy a change yourself, and of course plenty of figures for sale. Two recent releases spring to mind,

DAISHO

Written by Craig Cartmell and Charles Murton, this is also a skirmish rules set for mythical Japan.

RONIN

Is part of the Osprey series of Skirmish rules and is supported by some beautifully sculpted figures produced by Northstar.

Of course, if you are going to jump into this period, you will need some scenery and I would suggest you look no further than the Sarissa Precision range of

JAPANESE BUILDINGS

and also very useful, the

FAR EAST RANGE

I think though ,the attraction of getting everything in a box, rules, dice, figures, cards, scenarios is too attractive a proposition to miss out on so I will be adding Test of Honour to my repertoire of games – I’ve just got to persuade a couple of my gaming buddies to join in!

I did mention three games that had caught my eye. The other two? Well I’ll cover those in a future blog but here’s a clue, one involves Africa and the other, some spooky goings on out West…

Cazadores follow up.

The finished set of cazadores.

After completing my first ‘test shot’ with the cazadores, I have now finished the pack of 8 metal Cazadores figures from Warlord games. I decided to keep to my original plan of block paint and quick shade rather than painting in the 3 colour shade, midtone and highlight that is often used. In the main, I am painting for the wargames table and I am attempting to build units rather than finish individual figures to a high standard. So the quick shade method for my rank and file troops works very well both in terms of time spent and results.

These kneeling Cazadores are my favourites from the pack!

I am very impressed with the sculpts of the figures in the warlord set. The troops in the kneeling poses are particularly good and I could see them forming a nice little vignette if painted and based nicely. It also became apparent to me that a lot of thought had gone into making these figures. It hadn’t been immediately clear that in fact warlord had supplied four figures with muskets and four with baker rifles in the pack. It was only when I came to paint them that I realised the differences in the figures. The models with Baker rifles have the powder flask and the additional cartridge pouch on their belts. They also are carrying the sword bayonet and the strap work is slightly different. Of course the real give away was the Baker rifle itself. Very nicely modelled with the brass plate in the stock and slightly shorter than the muskets.

Skirmishing in cover.

And so after praising just how good these models are, a bit of a moan. Why don’t Warlord explain exactly what is in the blister? Now I know that it is impractical to include painting instructions and detail regarding the equipment within the blister itself but why not have the information on the web site. Somebody in Warlord has gone to a great deal of trouble to research these models before they were sculpted. Furthermore, the figures have been superbly painted for the web site – the painter has obviously done his research. Could that not be added either to the pack description on the website or in the form of a short article linked to the web page? To be fair, Warlord are no worse in this respect and better than most other manufacturers when it comes to packaging and selling their metal figures but I hope it is something that perhaps they could look at.

Cazadore skirmish line

I followed up on some of the improvements that I noted in my last article and I am a bit happier with the results. Of course, the figures always look better when based properly. I have filed off the number on the shako and replaced the sculpted five with a painted seven as my ‘men’ are from the 7th battalion. As I thought, the shoulder straps should be brown with black piping. I have also painted the black piping around the cuffs to make this stand out. The yellow cuffs have been a problem. Yellow is a very difficult colour as the paint tends to be under pigmented. I used a sand undercoat and then painted the yellow over. To be fair, although it isn’t as bright as I would like for the wargames table, it is probably accurate on a soldiers uniform that has seen a bit of service!

Cazadores advance!

I have also painted the plumes of the figures with muskets in green and the ones carrying the Baker rifles, the elite Tiradores, in black. There is some confusion on my part as to what colour the epaulette’s should be. Certainly before 1810 they would match the plumes and so in the main be green. However, the Osprey book has put doubt in my mind as to whether that was true after 1810 for the new battalions. So after painting some green I just reverted to all black and repainted them. I’m not sure that it shows…

They’ve all got black epaulettes!

I also painted the cord for the powder horn in white. I dont think that this is accurate but it helps to define the riflemen from the musketeers and adds a bit of detail to the figures. I know, after all the research to get things right why deliberately be inaccurate. I like to think of it as artistic licence but I know that it will annoy the purists!

With the first 8 figures complete, there is an Officer and Bugler still on the work bench to add to the unit. That will give me in wargaming terms a ‘small unit’, ideal for skirmishing and harrying the enemy. I think that I will build the full battalion of 24 figures in time. I will need another baker rifle armed Tiradore and the rest will need to be musketeers or command to get the ratios approximately right. That said, I’m in no rush and if something catches my eye, I can always expand the unit in the future. For all of my initial misgivings about the drab uniform, I actually quite enjoyed painting them.

To see my previous article with details of the paints used, click here:

Cazadores Test Shot

If you would like to buy some of your own Cazadores, they are only available direct from the warlord site here:

Portuguese Cacadores

Bits and Pieces.

No, the title is not referring to the famous Dave Clark Five hit, although that comment dates me and helps to establish the reason for my slower progress this week. Yes, it was my sixtieth birthday this weekend and so I spent a long weekend away with the family at Centre Parcs to celebrate. This meant that much of my hobby time was otherwise used and so very little has moved across the work bench to the completion stage.

Trent Miniatures Sherry Casks

I have been tinkering with some other little projects in what spare time that I have had. One of these was to paint a set of the Trent Miniatures Sherry casks. Don’t ask me why, although they sort of fit into the Portuguese/Peninsular theme that has been running through my hobby recently. Trent used to produce these in metal but have moved to resin. The detail on the barrels is much sharper and I just fancied painting these. No doubt they will find a home in a future diorama or even in Little Bingham, my fictional town on my wargames table.

Little Bingham

Talking of which, I have also been working on a couple of new citizens for the town. They are not quite finished and need basing and a final highlight but they should be ready this weekend.

Little Bingham towns folk.

Yet more unfinished work is the Standard bearer for the Footsore Pict chief that I have already completed. The standard bearer is waiting for his standard and then I can get them both based ready for a future Saga battle!

Pict Standard bearer.

As if all of that wasn’t enough, Danny, Editor of Wargames Illustrated, had asked me to paint a Front Rank British Napoleonic figure for comparison purposes in a forthcoming article. As usual, he is needed urgently for the magazine deadline so everything else was pushed back. Again, he is not quite finished but needs a final highlight and basing to be ready for Monday.

Front Rank British Napoleonic Infantry

I hope to have a bit of spare time this coming weekend and at least finish off these side projects. Then it will be back to the Cazadores. As for my Birthday, well I have been spoilt rotten and the family have given me some superb presents…you will hear more in my coming articles!

If you would like to purchase the Trent Miniatures Barrels, or indeed, any of the range, click here:

TRENT MINIATURES

If you would like to buy the Footsore Pict Chief and standard bearer, you can find the Footsore range here:

FOOTSORE MINIATURES

I paint all my miniatures with Vallejo paints:

VALLEJO PAINTS

The Front Rank figure is only available direct from them here:

FRONTRANK FIGURES

The civilians are available from:

REBOUBT ENTERPRISES

Cazadores Test Shot

Having now finished my Portuguese Line Infantry Brigade, I thought that I would add some Cazadores to act as skirmishers. Warlord games make quite a nice pack with a separate officer and bugler also available. My Line infantry regiments were the 11th and 23rd, so a quick check showed that it was the 7th Regiment of Cazadores that were often brigaded with them in battle and they certainly fought together at Salamanca. So painting a few Cazadores shouldn’t take too long.

Before, I go any further, I apologise for the incorrect spelling of Cazadores. I can’t get my computer keyboard to produce the Spanish soft ‘C’ symbol!

Osprey Portuguese Army part 2

Some quick research using my Osprey ‘Portuguese Army of the Napoleonic Wars part 2’ confirmed that the 7th regiment was formed after July 1811, when the number of Cazadore regiments was doubled. The uniforms were dark brown jacket and trousers with black cords and black buttons. Equipment was as the usual infantry kit except that the belts were black rather than white. Facings varied by regiment. The 7th is shown as having black collars with yellow cuffs. The Picture on the cover of the book is close enough – the 6th regiment shown, having a yellow collar rather than black.

Wargames_Illustrated_277

There is also a very good article in WI issue 277 from November 2010. If you haven’t got this back copy, it is now OOP. However, if you do subscribe to WI, the content is available in the ‘vault’. This article was helpful with the history and structure of the Cazadores Battalions. Of interest to me was that 4 companies in a battalion were armed with Brown Bess Muskets, only one with the deadlier Baker rifle. Furthermore, it was this elite company that had black epaulets and plume as opposed to the other 4 companies that were green.

In truth, I really need to do some more research, and think about how I would depict the troops on the wargames table. The problem was I was itching to get on and paint the figures that I had on the workbench. I decided to clean them up and undercoat them and then paint just one as a test figure. I was also undecided whether to go for a quick paint and dip job or to put some extra work in.

first cazadore painted as a test.

As it was, the quick paint and dip job won for now! I sprayed the unit in Army Painter Leather Brown. I decided to use Vallejo dark flesh for the skin – it’s hot in Portugal! Then it was simply black for the straps etc, Iraqi sand for the food bag, pastel blue for the water bottle and Flat Yellow for the cuffs. I didn’t even bother to repaint the brown undercoat, just retouched it with Flat Earth where I had been careless. The final touches included, brass for the belt plates & other detail, steel for the musket and I used Leather Brown for the water bottle strap and Chocolate Brown for the Musket woodwork.

The model was then painted with Army painter Dark tone quick shade and when dry, sprayed with the Army Painter anti shine. To be honest, I’m not sure whether I’m happy with the finish or not. It all looks… well… a bit drab and brown! The picture of the figure in a more scenic setting helps.

Cazadore advances through cover.

There’s a couple of things that I think that I need to look at though. First of all, as the uniform is so drab that the face needs to be painted properly with a bit more attention to bringing out the detail. I also think that the black needs a gentle highlight on the edges of the equipment. The figure also needs another coat of matt spray – I tend to be careful and under use the matt spray as it can be so temperamental. Oh! and another thing – the plate on the front of the helmet should show the Regiment number. It’s been sculpted as a bit of a squiggle. I might just file this off and repaint a 7 in the correct place. The cuffs could do with a clearer black line to represent the piping and the yellow could be brighter. Finally, I think that I have painted the shoulder straps incorrectly in black when they should have been left as brown with black piping…

Perhaps, this wont be a quick job after all.

Take your Pict!

Yes, I know that I am supposed to be finishing those last 12 Portuguese on the work bench but distractions abound. None more so than the new Picts that Footsore will be releasing later this month. In preparation for the launch, they have been busy casting stock this week and as the casting room is practically in the same building as Arcane, it’s pretty difficult to resist being nosey and having a look at the figures as they are cast. I really liked the look of the new Pict Warlord. I had seen the first pictures on the Footsore web store and he was just as good in the flesh, or more accurately , metal.

Great excitement as the Footsore Picts molds arrive on site!

You can imagine the conversation…

Me , drooling, ‘Ooh, he looks really nice!’

That nice Mr Hobday, ‘Would you like one to paint?’

Me, ‘yes please!’ Snatching it out of Andy’s hand and galloping back to my unit with the treasure!

Well, that was this Monday and as I am not a hoarder when it comes to figures, I accepted Andy’s generosity as I wanted to paint the figure and not just to add it to a lead mountain in my garage. To be fair, as hinted at in my last blog article, I am happy to be distracted from churning out units for my Napoleonic Black powder army and the Pict Warlord was something different.

Move over you Portuguese, a new kid is in town!

I’m afraid I didn’t do too much in the way of research when it came to deciding on the colour scheme. I had been planning a fairly basic tartan and was thinking along the lines of a green/blue scheme but Bill Thornhill, the talented sculptor behind Footsore, had already used these colours, so I looked for something different. I used the easy way to get some ideas – a quick search on Google images gave me some inspiration. An increasingly useful tool for me is the Pinterest Site. A quick search on here also revealed some interesting subjects. The beauty of Pinterest is that you can create your own set of reference pictures – I don’t yet have a board for Picts but my Dark Age Irish and Celts has a few useful pictures. In the end I decided to go for something a bit different and perhaps not entirely realistic but I wanted my warlord to stand out on the battlefield.

So in Monday nights session, I cleaned up the model and primed him with Army Painter Matt Black spray.

Tuesday evening, I block painted the model. I use Vallejo model colour paints .

Dark Flesh 927, Face & hands; Steel 864 Chain mail, sword & helmet; 871, Leather Brown & 940 Saddle brown for the belts & accessories; 981 Orange brown for the hair; 801 Brass for buckles etc; 814 burnt red for the cloak. The Warlords tunic was painted in Vallejo beige 70917. I like this colour as it has quite a bit of yellow in it but is about right for dark age cloth. Once the figure was block painted, I used army painter ink to shade the colours. I used the Black or strong tone over the chain mail & Steel. Everything else got a wash of dark tone, or brown.

Last night I set too and tried to get the model finished. This involves re painting over the inked bits using the original colours to set the mid tone and I used the following paints as highlights, sometimes in combination: 819 Iraqi sand; 820 Off white; 877 Gold Brown; 996 gold; 997 Silver; 955 flesh; 947 Red. It’s pretty straight forward what was used over what colour but I do tend to improvise…

Footsore Pict warlord with shield – still on painting base!

To get the tartan effect on the cloak it was just a matter of painting a chequer board pattern using first of all 899 dark Prussian blue and then painting inside the lines with 961 Sky blue. From a distance it all looks nice – close up you can see my hand isn’t quite as steady as it could be and perhaps my eyes aren’t as sharp as they were but it will do for me. I should also admit to being slightly red/green colour blind so what may look garish to you looks beautifully blended to me! I was a bit lazy when it came to shading and highlighting the tartan design – I didn’t do it! It does look a bit unnatural but at least it stands out! I should perhaps give it a light ink wash but for now I’ll leave it be.

For the shield, I went for a simple design. I wanted to finish the figure in time for today’s blog. So I used a black red 70859 background and painted a simple pattern on it – dots and lines. So that is my Pict warlord finished for now. I say for now, as I need to base him and to do that I will need to finish the banner man that comes with him. The other issue is that when I see the close up pictures, there are clearly some errors that could do with tidying up… I think that I’ll go back to the Portuguese first!

Footsore Pict Warlord temporarily at home in a DeeZee stone circle.

So one warlord awaits his retinue – it will follow, I quite fancy some cavalry and I might just borrow some of my Irish warband to make up the numbers whilst I think about it.

If you are interested in building your own Pict war band, as soon as they are released we will be stocking them here:

Footsore Miniatures

If you would like to get some more ideas and hints on how to build and paint your models, please visit:

Footsore face book page

Bill has put up some really useful videos full of hints and tips on how to get the best out of your figures.

So, Where was I…?

Christmas and the New Year Holidays have come and gone and despite succumbing to the current version of ‘Man Flu’ that is doing the rounds, I have made some progess with my various projects. This blog entry is really a round up of some of these, with a few photographs to show the state of play and to clear my mind for the next round of painting and gaming.

My Portuguese Brigade is taking shape.

First up those pesky Portuguese! Well not really pesky but in committing to paint a full brigade of these troops, they have dominated my painting desk for the last couple of months. I am now at the stage where I have completed 72 figures, or three battalions with a further 12 just needing to be based and the final 12 halfway through painting.

The final 12 figures are on the painting desk.

I shouldn’t really be too hard on myself in terms of progress. I am about a week away from completing 96 figures. In addition to that I have painted two mounted officers, giving me a total of 98 new figures for my collection. On reflection, not a bad achievement as I now have a core for a future Peninsular Army.

Officer commanding the 11th Line Regiment

If you have missed previous blog articles on how and why I have chosen this Brigade please follow this link back to the last article, which does explain how I decided to construct the units in the brigade.

Officer commanding the 23rd Line Regiment

You will notice that I have added some British Officers as they were often attached to the Portuguese Battalions. There is also a couple of Sappers. I have used a bit of licence when it comes to the two Sappers in the Brigade. The only reference that I could find for these came from a picture that I found on Pinterest. To visit my Portuguese pinterest board, click on this link.

Command section, 11th Penamacor Regiment.

I have already prepared the next part of the Portuguese project, another 10 Cacadores to use as Skirmishers. The good news is that they have brown uniforms, so I can take a break from painting blue for a while.

Cacadores ready for priming

All the figures are from Warlord games with the exception of a few of the Portuguese line infantry & command , which are Victrix metals, now available I think, from Brigade games in the States.

28th North Gloucestershires ready for painting!

Also lurking in the back ground is a prepared and primed Battalion of British infantry for the Waterloo period – they will be the next in the queue after the Cacadores but I am going to try a slightly different approach to painting this unit. I will still complete them as a batch paint job but rather than get bogged down with another long project, I intend to ‘dip in and out’ of painting these whilst getting on with some other less time consuming subjects.

Saga Bases textured

My other project that is now complete is my Irish Saga war band. I had been playing with using some simple Saga movement trays and finally got to texturing these to help them blend in with the figure bases. It was one of those small jobs that kept getting put to one side but well worth the 10 minutes or so that it took. I think that I may well gradually move all of my Saga Warbands into these, if nothing else than to make transporting them easier. The texturing was simply done using my favourite Vallejo Dark Earth Paste, painted & dry brushed with a chocolate brown/Iraqi Sand mix and some green scatter added on top.

Sarissa Precision Grain Store

I’ve also finished another Sarissa Precision Dark Age Building – the grain store. I’ve added some extra details using match sticks and the Vallejo dark earth paste as ‘daube’. I have covered how I detailed the Sarissa buildings in a previous post and to read more, click here. I now have four buildings for my Saga settlement.

Trent Miniatures Sherry Casks

And so that pretty much brings me up to date. The only other small project on the go is to finish painting a set of Sherry casks from Trent Miniatures. To be honest, I’m not sure what I intend to do with these. I just thought that they were nice replicas and I fancied having a go at trying some new techniques in painting wood, so they are a bit of an experiment. It is this sort of project that I hope to shoe-horn in between painting some of the larger units that I would like to complete my Napoleonic collection.

I am off to play my first Black powder game of the year tonight, so I am now fully back into the swing of my hobby. If the coming year is as productive as last year, it will be a fun year!

A Review of the Year Part 2

To continue with my wargaming year, the latter half of the year was as much about gaming as it was painting. In July, inspired as much by my attendance at the Wargames Illustrated Saga Iron man day as by the fantastic Footsore figures, I decided to paint a new War Band – Dark Age Irish. The Iron Man day at WI HQ was great fun and despite my poor results, I had a great time. If there is anyone out there thinking of attending one of these events, I would thoroughly recommend that you do so. The atmosphere is very relaxed thanks to the hosting skill of Dan Falconbridge, WI head man, and it is an ideal opportunity to try out something new. I think that Congo, Deadmans Hand and Frostgrave are just some of the events set for this coming year.

Irish Slingers ready for action

August continued with the focus on gaming. The club had decided to add ‘Muskets and Tomahawks’ to our gaming repertoire. However, as we had mixed success with this rules set, Andy Callan came up with one of his rules amalgamations, ‘Sharp Tomahawks’ or ‘Rules for old war gamers with short attention Spans’. I’ll repeat the link to the condensed rules here:

Sharp Tomahawks

Please feel free to print them off and use them for your own games.

Skirmishers engage at the woods edge in a game of ‘Sharp Tomahawks’

In September, I made good progress with the Irish Warband as well as fitting in a short break ‘Up North’ to visit Hadrians Wall, Lindisfarne Island and other iconic Castles in the area. Great inspiration for more games of Saga!

Irish warriors ready for battle

By October, I had finished my Irish warband, including making some scenery for my Saga games and had re started work on Napoleonic Portuguese.

Brian Boru surveys the battlefield.

My Irish War band consists of 51 figures, all of the Footsore Irish! I thought that the sculpts were so nice that I might as well paint the lot. Looking forward, I can see the same thing being repeated for either the late Romans ( If we ever do see the new Saga supplement Aetius & Arthur) or AngloSaxons. I really enjoy playing Saga, it’s just a struggle to get my gaming buddies to join in!

The finished dark age house, complete with new owner.

In November, the Portuguese took over the painting desk as I committed to finishing the brigade, some 96 troops in total. Unfortunately, I didn’t quite get there but I do have 72 finished now! I did also get to see my article published in WI!

Painting Portuguese article

And so as we come to the end of the year, I am finishing off those last 24 Portuguese as well as a couple of mounted officers. My tally for the year is just shy of 200 painted figures. If you include horses as separate figures, it’s just over that! I’ve played well over 50 games, including Black Powder, Saga, Lion Rampant, Sharp Practice, Muskets and Tomahawks, Sharp Tomahawks, Chain of Command and The Men who Would be Kings, visited at least a dozen museums or historical sites, completed a distance learning course on the Battle of Agincourt and I have not counted the books, magazines and internet articles that I have read.

23rd Ameida Regiment take shape.

All in all, I’m quite happy with the enjoyment that my hobby has given me and I can only hope that the same is true of my customers and friends that are part of this hobby that we call wargaming. So Once again, I would like to wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas and of course, a Happy New Year. I mentioned last week that there was a bonus for those who bothered to read the blog. If you do decide to shop at Arcane Scenery and Models over the Festive period, please enter the code blog2016 when you go through checkout. You will get 10% off of your purchase as well as the usual free postage worldwide. There are some exclusions, we can only post aerosols to limited locations in the UK and some of the woodland scenic products are banned for export to Australia, New Zealand and Japan but you still have another 5000 or so lines to choose from! Of course, feel free to pass the code on to your gaming buddies – the code will work until mid January 2017. Once again, Merry Christmas!

I forgot to mention that I painted the goats…Goats in a manger is about as Christmassy as it gets here…

A Review of the Year

Before you are put off by the title, this will be a Brexit, Trump, Sport and Dead Rock Star free zone, which I suspect will make it unique amongst reviews of the year. Mind you, there is a danger that it will read like one of those round robins that you sometimes get in Christmas Cards. I just thought that it would be worth reflecting on what I have achieved this year in my Hobby and perhaps it will help anybody reading this to reflect on their own achievments. I do find that writing a blog helps to keep me on track with my hobby and whenever I am feeling jaded, the thought of writing the blog spurs me on. I must enjoy it – I have written 48 blog entries so far this year, so I should hit 50 by the end of the year.

Napoleon & his Guard

Strangely, for me, I started the year with a French Napoleonic subject, Napoleons Coach. I have no intention of ever painting a Napoleonic French Army, but this model from Warlord Games caught my eye. I think that the figures are beautifully sculpted and the piece makes a nice addition to my display Cabinet! I like making these mini diorama pieces and I hope that in the coming year, I will spend a bit more time on this sort of project. I already have my eye on my next display piece, the new Napoleonic boat from Perry Miniatures:

The latest from Perry Miniatures!

Talking of Perry Miniatures, my next project was the Perry’s British Napoleonic Dragoons boxed set. I completed these as the British 11th Light Dragoons for my Waterloo army.

11th Light Dragoons

Looking to the future, I hope to finish two other regiments to complete the brigade but I suspect they are on the distant horizon..

February saw slow progress as regards painting but our Wargaming group did stage a ‘mega battle’, the Retreat From Bitteburg. These battles are an opportunity to put all of our ‘toys’ on the table and fight for a full day rather than the usual club evening battle that we conduct. The battle ended in a French Victory and inspired me to try and put together a campaign for the club. It didn’t quite work out but I haven’t yet abandoned the idea.

The Scots Greys prepare to charge

In March, I completed yet another British Napoleonic Infantry battalion, the 32nd Foot. The intention is to build the 5th Infantry Division, with the 28th North Gloucester and the 79th Camerons.

First Battalion 32nd Regiment ‘Cornwall’ ready for duty!

I have actually started the 28th but they will feature in a future blog!

And so into April, which despite being a busy month with us attending Salute in London, I put together a small Vignette, my Campaign General, Sir Sydney Ruff- Diamond.

Sir Sydney Ruff- Diamond watches on as Private James Riddles rebukes the French!

As well as Sir Sydney, I also knocked out some Snow bears as a little project for DeeZee;

The finished Snow Bears

May saw a change of direction. Inspired by reading a book about the Napoleonic campaigns in the Caribbean, I painted another batch of troops for this theatre. This time it was a company of 14 Maroons from Trent Miniatures. Who knows, may be this year I will get to play a Caribbean themed game!

Maroon skirmishers

At the start of the Summer, June seemed to be a bit of a flat month in regards to painting but in reality I had several projects on the go. I started my Portuguese Infantry for the Wargames Illustrated article that I was writing, the Dark Age Irish were under way. In reality, it was quite a productive month and I was ready for my weeks holiday in the beautiful island of Skiathos.

11th Penamacor Regiment

So that was the first half of the year over. In the next blog post, I’ll show you what I have been up to in the last part of the year and for those reader(s) that do stay with it, there will be a little bonus at the end…

Merry Christmas!

Painting War

Marvellous! Just as you finish a project ( my Irish Warband) along comes the ideal publication that would have helped get an even better result. I’m talking about the release of the latest magazine in the Painting War series, ‘Dark Ages’. If you haven’t come across this series before, then I think that you are missing out. Each magazine, or more accurately, bookazine, takes a particular subject and using a guest artist, shows you how to paint a series of models. They have previously covered WW2 German army, French Napoleonics, WW2 US and Japanese Forces, British Napoleonics, The Spanish Civil War, Feudal Japan and now the Dark Ages. You can see the range here:

Painting War Magazines

The Dark Ages Magazine is by Alberto Mateos. It starts with a general painting guide and some basic techniques before covering general subjects such as how to paint skin, hair, fabric (including tartan), Armour, shields, flags, horses, accessories and even terrain. All of these subjects are referenced against the colours the artist has used and have clear step by step instructions. That’s just the first half of the mag! In the second part, there are 39 tutorials showing you how to paint individual figures, practically all of which are taken from the Saga Warbands. Most of the figures used are from either the Gripping Beast or Crusader ranges but of course, the techniques are applicable to any suitable Dark Age model. An example page is shown below:

With so many practical examples of how to paint your Dark Age army, you really cant be lost for inspiration or ideas. There’s one other clever idea. A colour reference chart in the centre of the magazine. So if you want to know how to paint Lambs skin, turn to page 63, not sure how to paint Red hair, turn to page 70, Scottish tartan – Page 20 – you get the idea and it’s very useful. So it’s another title that I will be adding to my reference library and I thoroughly recommend it for yours. If you would like a copy, just click here:

Painting War – Dark Ages

Meanwhile, back at the work bench, the Portuguese are slowly coming along.

Portuguese on the workbench

I am at stage 5 out of 8 in my batch painting process, with the red piping to complete before tidying up, and painting the details – brass plates, buttons etc.

Red Piping done. Brass & other details to complete

I think that I will struggle to get both Battalions completed in November but given a good couple of sessions, these boys should be ready for basing next week.

Stay Focused…Portuguse and Panzers

I don’t know about you but when I embark on a long project, I find it very difficult to stay on track. The Portuguese being a case in point. I have rather ambitiously decided to batch paint 24 models in one go to complete the 23rd Ameida Regiment before going onto the next 24 to complete the 11th Penamacor. That will give me the bulk of the Brigade that fought under Stubbs as part of Coles division at Salamanca and Vitoria. According to the little research that I have done so far, they were supported by the 7th Cacadores as well as a Battery of 5 6pounders & a 5.5 inch howitzer. All in all, a tidy little force once I have them completed.

step two in batch painting

So the 24 figures are assembled, primed and on the painting bench and I am at ‘step 2’ in my batch painting process. The flesh, hats and boots are done and the dark blue uniforms are coming along. I’ve built my two English officers. One is a Warlord Peninsular officer, the other a Victrix figure that I have put together from various bits.

British Officers attached to the Regiment.

I’ve also used a couple of the field caps rather than shakos for two of the troops to add a bit of variety.

Portuguese infantry in field caps

But as you can see I am a long way from completing these first 24 figures which brings me back to my opening statement. As I am working my way through these figures my mind and eye is wandering and I am constantly being drawn in other directions. This next part of my blog might sound like an advert but I am genuinely impressed with the Zvezda ‘Art of War’ range. The tanks and APC’s are all produced in 1/100th scale and just look superb when built. We have recently received the King Tiger from Zvezda, which started me drooling but this week the Sturmtiger arrived as well. It looks a lovely little model and at £2.99, whats the harm in getting one….

Tempted by the Sturmtiger!

Come on now, I bet that there are loads of wargamers out there that have fancied making a little collection of all the German tanks and the variants just for fun. Well I certainly have – a nice sequence from the Panzer I through to the King Tiger, all sat on my desk, the evolution of the Panzer! Maybe I’ll mount them on a card like a sort of family tree. It’s almost possible to do this now with the range available from Zvezda. So far, I have resisted, as there lies madness BUT maybe I will just treat myself to a bit of something different once this batch of Portuguese are finished and based!

The Portuguese Project Progresses

11th Penamacor Regiment

If you read last weeks blog, complete with upside down pictures (Now correct if you read this on a PC but still upside down on an mobile device…) you will know that I have committed to paint a Portuguese Brigade from the latter stages of the Peninsular War. I have spent a little bit more time researching the structure of Portuguese units and as with details of the uniforms, there is a bit of contradictory evidence out there.

The best information that I could find is as follows:

A Portuguese Infantry regiment consists of a small cadre of Head Quarters staff and two battalions of Infantry. The Battalions were composed of 5 companies of men, four of which were Fusiliers and one being a Grenadier Company. I am indebted to a contributor on TMP who has given the detail for the composition of the regiment based on a translation of the actual 1810 regulations:

A regiment composes a headquarters staff, and two battalions, each of five companies, one of grenadiers and four of fusiliers.

The detail which goes on from this shows the entire 36 personnel establishment for the Headquarters, identifying 24 regimental headquarters staff (including medical and musicians) plus 6 staff for each of two battalions of 1 major, 1 adjutant, 1 quartermaster, 1 sergeant major, 1 quartermaster sergeant and 1 standard bearer.

The detail then shows the structure for each company of 4 officers, 6 sergeants, 140 corporals and soldiers and 2 drummers (a total of 152 per company).

When it came to the distribution of the flags, it seems that they had one King’s colour and one Regimental colour per Regiment. It is generally assumed that the 1st battalion carried the King’s colour and the 2nd battalion carried the Regimental colour.

This information is confirmed elsewhere, although different versions and strengths for the Companies are also given. As usual, I tend to go with the set of ‘facts’ that best fit my purpose, which is to produce a set of figures for the wargames table in general and units for Black Powder rules specifically.

Command Group 11th regiment

So, as I had previously decided, with 5 companies of 152 men per company, it seems that the theoretical battalion strength would be about 750 men, making it similar in size to a British battalion. In which case, a unit of 24 men will be about right for my Black Powder units. The composition of my Battalion units do not worry me unduly when it comes to representing individual companies or officers present. I know that some wargamers get hung up on whether they should use say, one figure for 20 men, but that all falls apart when it comes to the officers, ensigns, musicians and NCO’s. So long as these are represented in some way, I’m happy!

23rd Almeida Regiment – nearly complete.

One final thought to add into the mix is that during the re construction of the Portuguese Infantry force undertaken by William Beresford, a small number of British officers and Sergeants were transferred into the Portuguese Army. This meant that there was at least one British officer at the top of the regimental command structure. On 6th July 1811 there were approximately three British officers in each of the battalions.

23rd Almeida Command Group – basing not quite complete.

With all of the above in mind, my task is now to complete the modelling and painting of a typical Portuguese Brigade. As I have previously painted 24 figures for the 11th Penamacor Regiment and I am about to complete the 23rd Ameida Regiment it is just a question of adding another 24 to each Regiment to bring them up to strength. At first I was somewhat daunted by the thought of committing to this task but armed with the above information I felt that I had to complete the brigade as it would have appeared at Salamaca and other subsequent battles.

The battalion expands

The good news is that there are some opportunities for adding a bit of variety. The obvious being to include a British officer with each battalion. I’ve also challenged myself to have this part of the project complete by the end of November. In next weeks blog, I’ll add some more detail to the composition of my brigade and perhaps add some detail of the Brigades exploits in the Peninsular.

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Category Archives: Whats on the work bench?

Why are you still playing Black Powder?

BLACK POWDER

Waterloo Starter Set

War Games Illustrated

A Test of Will Power…

Cazadores follow up.

Cazadores Test Shot

Portuguese Cacadores

Bits and Pieces.

Cazadores Test Shot

Take your Pict!

Footsore Miniatures

Footsore face book page

So, Where was I…?

A Review of the Year Part 2

Sharp Tomahawks

A Review of the Year

Painting War

Painting War Magazines

Painting War – Dark Ages

Stay Focused…Portuguse and Panzers

The Portuguese Project Progresses

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