2021 Plans

Afghan reinforcements for TMWWBK

There are old projects I'd like to return to including my 15mm Elizabethan English and Irish for Irregular Wars and my 10mm Chinese Warlord armies for Red Actions. And there are new things I'd like to progress, particularly my 28mm Ardennes armies for Chain of Command. I've also been thinking of extending my 28mm Elizabethan collection in an Irish direction (using the Hoka Hey Timeline figures), albeit a duplication of the above Irregular Wars project at a different scale. Yes, I am fond of 'Celtic' armies.

However, my time and psychological energy is limited, so I decided to continue my immediate focus on undercoating and putting initial washes on my least complete 28mm Rampant armies as these jobs won't require too much thought or planning and can be fitted in at odd moments, including at night during bouts of insomnia.

I'll also continue the slow but steady collection of 28mm Russian Civil War figures as this requires only hitting the buy button once a month.

Once I've got all the newer Rampant armies to a minimally acceptable (to me) level I'll probably finish the bases on the fully painted ones which will complete them. Apart from minor repairs, additions and paint improvements, I will then have the following completed armies:

Lion Rampant
Late Saxons and Vikings
Swiss and Burgundians
Feudal

Rebels and Patriots
American War of Independence
American Civil War

The Men Who Would Be Kings
British
Zulus
Afghans
Egyptians

The next priority will be to finish the 6mm Thirty Years War armies for Tilly's Very Bad Day, including the application of brush-bristle pike replacements. That will hopefully be complete by the end of June in anticipation of a resumption of gaming.

I'll then concentrate on proper painting of the remaining Rampant armies. These are:

The Pikeman's Lament
Border Reivers, Garrison troops, Tudor rebels
1671 Buccaneers and Spanish

Rebels and Patriots
1798 Irish Rebellion

Dragon Rampant
Elves
Trolls (Orcs)
Goblins
Halflings
Aegean Bronze Age
Nordic Bronze Age
Fantasy extensions to Lion Rampant armies.

The Men Who Would Be Kings (variant)
Russian Civil War (still being collected)

The 1798 armies are already part painted, but there's a huge amount of work in completing the rest, hence my 'play now, paint as I go' approach. At least I am confident enough of this year's fancies to describe them as plans.

2020 - the year that was cancelled

Bought yesterday - the bristles are for
6mm Thirty Years War pikes.

Although I'd expected to get a lot of painting done during the Plague Year, things didn't turn out that way because of other distractions and circumstances. In the first half of the year I did make considerable progress with painting my 6mm Thirty Years War armies for Tilly's Very Bad Day and I also made some progress with my all too numerous 28mm Rampant armies which I wanted to bring to a level where I could put any of them on the table even though they would not be 'fully painted'.

This essentially meant basing, adding filler to the bases, undercoating and adding an initial wash in the dominant costume colour. They would not be pretty, but they would be identifiable and distinguishable. I will reiterate yet again that I am committed to further painting before any given army is brought out again. I should also stress that some of my Rampant armies are already painted.

Well, I did get all the relevant armies sorted, cleaned-up and based, and I applied filler to the vast majority of those requiring it. That’s as far as I got but it was some sort of achievement. Before everything went pear-shaped I also managed 4 games - one of Lion Rampant and three of Rebels & Patriots.

I wasn't initially affected by the ennui that other wargame bloggers reported but I'm beginning to feel rather demoralised since they closed the coffee shops, pubs and restaurants even though there was no evidence they were spreading infection. They provided a little relief in a year when social and hobby activity has been closed down. Endless walks are fine in spring, summer and autumn but less attractive in the bleak midwinter.

Thirty Years War 6mm progress 11: The Foot

The Foot bases are particularly packed and dark so I needed to optimise the use of light/bright colours. These artificially vibrant colours are intended to make the blocks pop - shocking close up but more visible further away.

Swedish Pike-and-Shot and Commanded Shot. These represent ethnic Swedes and German Protestants in Swedish service. Scots in Swedish service are in hodden grey and blue bonnets (front rank, centre). The Swedes have a higher proportion of shot than the Spanish, Catholic-Imperialists and Saxons. This will be more obvious when I replace the pikes.

My painting reference has been Steven Thomas’s series of uniform articles on Balagan, but my painting inspiration has been the 2mm (!) armies on Roundwood's World. Yes, a 2mm approach to painting 6mm figures is quite enough for me.

Spanish Pike-and-Shot. The drummers are picked out in yellow so I can quickly identify the blocks.

Swedish blocks (i.e. ethnic Swedes or Germans in Swedish service) and Saxons are uniformed  but the Catholic-Imperialists and Spanish are not, though the latter are distinguished by particular use of red and yellow.

Catholic-Imperialist Pike-and-Shot and Commanded Shot. Here the drummers are all in red.

Most of the coats don’t really show unless you view the blocks at eye level. Once again it’s the headgear that stands out.

Saxon pike-and-shot - awaiting uniform information. Steven Thomas is painting his own Saxons at the moment and will be publishing uniform guidance in due course.

Flags will be attached to dress pins. Pikes will be brush bristles in a natural brown colour, but I'll have to wait on the Coronavirus emergency before I can go out and shop for brush-heads.

I'll be adding a little more detail to Foot and Horse over the next few days. Then they'll be put back in storage so that next month I can move on to working on my many Rampant armies...

Thirty Years War 6mm progress 10: Croats, Dragoons, Cannons and Commanders

Spaced out in comparison to figures on other bases, the Croats, Dragoons, Cannons and Commanders demand a fuller and more conventional approach to painting. The bases photographed here aren't necessarily finished but the general impression they give isn't going to change much.

Croat Light Cavalry

The Baccus figures used for the Croats aren’t exactly correct but give the right impression and will do. I cut away some of the lances to represent firearms, but if you look closely you can see anachronistic bow-cases. However, I will insist that all viewers maintain social distance. At 2 metres the problem disappears, a small compensation for the end of normal life.

Swedish Dragoons

The Dragoons are my favourite figures and I have created the bases as little dioramas in contrast to the massed ranks of the Horse and Foot. It’s tricky to get the paintbrush in, but there are only a few of these bases to do.

Some generic Guns

The Cannons are what they are. Not much else to be done on these.

Some generic commanders

The Commanders are like other mounted figures of various types - Cavalier, Roundhead or Cuirassier style. In theory I could attempt to complete the Commanders to a higher standard but it would only raise expectations. The trick is to make the whole army look good enough at a glance.

These bases have more room for static grass and maybe some other foliage. This will detract from the meagre painting and greatly add to realism.

Thirty Years War 6mm progress 9: Arquebusiers and Swedish Horse

Arquebusiers (using Baccus mounted Dragoon figures).
The vivid green sleeves pop close up but generally the
addition of sleeves is underwhelming.

Having made good progress in March on my 6mm Thirty Years War armies for Tilly's Very Bad Day I decided to devote April to the same project.

Next up for attention were the mounted Arquebusiers and Swedish Horse. While there is no foreseeable prospect of using them in a normal game, painting is a good therapy in these troubled times.

The Arquebusiers are particularly closely packed which makes access difficult. Another way to look at that, however, is that those awkward areas are naturally in shadow and so don't need to be painted!

The main downside of not painting something is that it's not contributing to the overall lightening of the blocks. Other than that it's part and parcel of the approach I've adopted.

Another problem - and this is nothing to do with crowding - is the the surface available to be painted. Given the areas that are intended to be left brown (straps, accoutrements, small arms) and the shadow between them, there is very little figure left to paint - basically just the sleeves and that is a very small area.

At this stage I'm wondering if block painting, especially when combined with pre-basing, works better with 10mm figures because there is more area to paint. With 6mm it may be better to give the figures an overall 'end' colour.

Commanders, Swedish Horse and Arquebusiers.
Hats off to the addition of hats. Bits of horse, hats
and, of course, the bases are really all that
shows at a distance, and, therefore, all that's
worth painting!

Anyway, back to the job in hand. When painted the sleeves hardly showed. I got completely bored with this lack of impact and decided to move on to the hats. As expected, these really stood out and lifted the blocks immensely.

So, let me once again evaluate the painting approach with regard to these particular figures...

They had a pinpoint dab of flesh for the faces which took hardly any time at all, some tiny dabs of colour for the sleeves which required a bit more care and effort because of access, and a bigger but easy application of colour to the hats which were painted with 2-3 brushstrokes.

All in all a good effect IMO was achieved for an extremely economical effort. I can and will add more detail to lighten the blocks, but it will hardly be seen. Whatever more I do the blocks are not going to end up looking very different from the way they look now.

Thirty Years War 6mm progress 8: Cuirassiers

First major use of a magnifying glass
which I found helpful in this instance.

In accordance with my plan for 'Getting in Sync' I decided to devote each month to painting/playing a particular game (or series of games). With the great lockdown the playing part has dropped out of the picture, but I am otherwise keeping to the single monthly focus.

It’s April now but I’m still reporting March’s progress and March was devoted to my 6mm Thirty Years War armies for Tilly’s Very Bad Day. Steven Thomas of Balagan has finished development of TVBD for now but I've yet to finish the painting, let alone play a game.

After the horses I decided to focus on the Cuirassiers who are wearing three-quarters armour. Armour was blackened in the Thirty Years War and I used gunmetal to represent this because these figures are only 6mm and I want to give the figure blocks as much lift as possible given the overall dark brown base coat. Silver is reserved for swords etc.

Thanks to the texturing and painting of the ground and the deep shadow, I think these figures look very 'realistic' despite having only two colours (horseflesh and Gunmetal) added to each figure.

Thirty Years War 6mm progress 7: Faces

Faces: Visible from 15" at a low angle.

When it came to adding detail to these 6mm Thirty Years War figures, I had to think long and hard about the painting sequence. After horse flesh the most prominent features are hats and other headgear, but these are easy to access and best left till later. There is, therefore, some tension between wanting to cover the most prominent features and needing to paint the more awkward areas first.

My friend Ian had already established to my satisfaction that it wasn't worth painting hands on 6mm figures. I thought I might take this a stage further and dodge painting faces. As an experiment I painted - well, dabbed - faces on a couple of blocks as as experiment and then placed these at various 'tabletop' distances to see what could actually be seen.

At a distance the faces did show as specs of lightness, but close up they didn't show because with the higher viewing angle the faces were obscured by the broad-brimmed hats. How ironic!

Anyway, I decided I would paint faces where I could. The figures fell into three categories:

• Cuirassiers, Lobster-pot wearers, Horse trumpeters and Foot 'shooters' either didn't have faces or enough exposed face to be painted.
• The front-rank pike-and-shot block figures got faces but the rear ranks were inaccessible. That reflected the limitation of basing before painting and cramming the figures together. Many will consider this unacceptable, but I expect the hats and other headgear will detract from the omission and that it will not be detectable at normal playing distance.
• Other Horse, Dragoons and Artillerymen did get faces.

Thirty Years War 6mm progress 6: The horses

Not Thiry Years War and not 6mm, but indicative
of what actually shows up in smaller scales.

Since last Monday 'social distancing' has restricted outdoor activity to walks with the dog and provided an unprecedented opportunity for painting. Last month was 1798, this month it's the Thirty Years War.

I've now started to paint the actual figures, but rather than show you that straight away I'd like you to look at the picture (right) of my 10mm American Civil War figures.

This photo was taken during a game and shows what figure detail is actually visible. In fact, the photo is a bit of a close-up so please sit back.

What you can see is little more than the ground around the figures and  their hats. Some other bits do show up but only if they are very light and contrast with the dark brown. For my 6mm TYW figure blocks I am taking this lesson further by committing myself to painting only the bits that will show up.

The main purpose of adding any further paint is not to indulge the individual figures as would be the case with larger scales and other approaches, but just to contrast with and lighten each figure block as a whole.

The other thing to point out is that there is no preconceived end point. I will add paint/detail only until the blocks 'look painted' from a distance. I must also keep in mind that 6mm figures require much lighter and brighter colours in any event, and this is particularly so with the dark brown background approach.

Now let's look at some 6mm TYW figures. I'm prioritising the horses because after the ground the horses represent the largest and most significant area of paint.

Swedish Horse: the chestnuts are painted with Coat d'Arms Chestnut Horse Tone brightened with Burnt Orange. The brush shown is a Number 1 size but it's too small and requires too many dabs. I subsequently switched to a Number 3.

Without making it too obvious, I thought I'd also use horse colours to further distinguish the three types of horse, i.e. Cuirassiers, (Swedish) Horsemen and Arquebusiers. The photo above shows the Swedish Horse with some Chestnuts added. This was inspired by the Swedish folk art Dala horse toys.

The Cuirassiers will have a lot of dark armour so I decided to paint them in light colours (Greys, Light Bays) for contrast. The Arquebusiers would be fairly colourful so they were to retain the basic Charred Brown coat representing Dark Bays.This plan was somewhat modified.

I had originally intended to leave most horses in the dark brown base coat but as painting proceeded I realised that the blocks looked better if all the horses were overpainted with lighter colours.

The Coat d'Arms horse tone colours are all a bit on the dark side and need lightening for this particular project. Simply adding white is not necessarily the answer. I should research this question properly but the quickest solution is to imagine what a lighter version would look like and then pick a ready-made colour that matches that perception.

All horse colours completed and the sun is shining.

All the horseflesh is now picked out but the blocks still look too dark. I am thus relying on coats, armour and headgear to add further brightness.

On the plus side I should point out that at this scale and using this overall technique, each individual horse needed only one colour. Apart from the flank figures, the front rank required only head, front legs and the top of the back to be painted. The rear rank required paint only on the head and hind-quarters.

This was very economical in terms of time and effort, though I do confess that at my age it's quite difficult to see the detail on such small figures and this has made me wonder whether I should do another 6mm army. I do have a magnifying glass...perhaps I should try to use it.

Preparing to play 'Tilly’s Very Bad Day'

I was planning to play Tilly’s Very Bad Day for the first time later this month, but that prospect has receded into the distant future thanks to the rapid spread of Covid-19 and the impending great lockdown. Most people seem to have already gone into voluntary isolation here in the UK. Ticking one of the vulnerable boxes (age) I have also begun to become more cautious.

Anyway, remaining calm and carrying on, I've made a checklist of things to take. Simon Jones has a great scheme for organising playing aids but I haven’t got round to that yet.

The 6mm figure bases are currently being painted and will need to be stripped from their painting bases if they are not finished, but what else will I actually need?

Mat. I'm planning a small game initially. A 3' mat would be ideal for 60mm base frontages but the nearest I currently have is 4' square. I have, however, ordered a 3' one and it should be here long before the end of the Coronavirus crisis.

Scenery. Little of my scenery conforms exactly to the measurements for Small, Medium (the default) and Large pieces as defined in the rules, but I think they are near enough. I have a BUA, hill, woods, an enclosed field, physically flat fields masquerading as fields in season, areas of rough ground, felt templates and trees for woods, streams, roads and, should I care to deploy it, a river.

Measures. I've made some card rulers going up to 8 TUM (240mm in my case) which cover movement and small-arms shooting. As artillery range is unlimited, tape measures don't seem to be needed.

Cardboard Markers. Artwork is very usefully provided in the rules.

Cotton Wool to show units that have fired/moved. Almost forgot that.

Dice. At least three different colours required. 6 of each for each player should cover it.

The Rules. Two printed copies.

QRS. None as yet. I'll get a better idea if one would be useful after playing.

This translates as:

3 TUFF boxes of TYW figures
1 Mat (3' x 3')
6mm Scenery
TUM Rulers
Cardboard Markers
Cotton Wool
Dice
TVBD Rules
[QRS]

Perhaps a 'what-you-need-to-play' section would be useful in the rules themselves.

Thirty Years War 6mm progress 5: drybrushing the bases

I had to patch the basic dark brown coat twice as a result of my mistake in using a white gesso undercoat instead of a black one. I am repeating this as a penance and to sear it into my brain for next time. White undercoats are appropriate for figures that are going to be painted with washes but not for block painting.

The next step was to dry-brush the ground, avoiding the figures as far as possible. The recipe - in fact the whole base-before-painting approach - came originally from Nik Harwood and is executed with successive applications of the following Citadel colours: (1) Mournfang Brown (formerly Calthan Brown), (2) Zamesi Desert (formerly Bubonic Brown), and (3) Ushabti Bone (formerly Bleached Bone).

The Mournfang Brown barely shows but it’s probably important in achieving the overall effect. Owing to the closeness of the figures I'm applying the dry brushing only to the outer rim of these figure blocks.

I assume these names mean something in the Games Workshop universe. I was helped in tracing the name changes by this very useful colour chart.

The Zamesi Desert is a strong mustard colour up close but after applying it the bases then look sort of greenish from a distance.

Using four colours just for the ground may seem excessive but the ground is going to be the most important area after the dark brown shadow between the ranks of figures. Lightening the ground makes a major contribution towards lightening the whole figure block.

Finally, the Ushabti Bone lightens the overall effect. The Croat Light Cavalry, the Dragoons (above), the Cannons and the Commanders are looser and require some paint between the figures.

With this amount of dry brushing to do I'm not being particularly careful. I'll be adding patches of 2mm Static Grass later in the process and this will cover any unsightly 'splodges'.

With this stage done I think the bases are already beginning to suggest how economical and effective this ultra-minimal approach is going to be.

2020 Projects

It's more fun to look ahead than look back, and I thus take much more pleasure in outlining my plans for 2020 than reviewing what happened in 2019. Once again I'll be brief and to the point. This year I want to concentrate on three areas and these are going to be my personal priority for both painting and gaming. Because this spread is so much more focused than in the recent years, I feel emboldened to use words like 'projects' and 'plans' rather than just 'interests'.

1. Rampant games

Rampant games remain central to my gaming preference, especially as new armies are ready to be put on the table (if only based and undercoated).

Warbands/companies I’m currently working on include:

• 28mm Border Reivers, and Buccaneers and Spanish, for The Pikeman’s Lament.
• 28mm 1798 Irish Rebels and Militia for Rebels and Patriots.
• 28mm Elf, Troll (Orc), Goblin, Halfling, Nordic Bronze Age and Aegean Bronze Age warbands for Dragon Rampant.

There are also some bits and pieces I'm adding to historical armies to create Men of the North and Arthurian Romance Dragon Rampant warbands. I also have a force of 28mm Feudals which I will be diverting to DR, but I'm still trying to think of magical elements to add that would be in character. Even Fantasy needs to be authentic!

Besides those I also have Dark Age and Late Medieval Armies for Lion Rampant, AWI and ACW armies for Rebels and Patriots and British, Zulu, Afghan and Egyptian armies for The Men Who Would Be Kings. Rampant games are also popular with other club members including Chris who has French and Indian Wars for RAP, Ian who has British and Mahdists and Bernard who has Boxer Rebellion for TMWWBK, and Simon who is working on Wars of the Roses in 10mm for LR.

2. Tilly’s Very Bad Day

I’ve been helping to proof-read Steven Thomas's Tilly's Very Bad Day rules as they are being developed, but I really want to start playing them myself.

My 6mm Thirty Years War armies are still being painted but I based them first precisely so I could put them on the table straight away.

As with other 'base-before-painting' and 'play-while-painting' projects, I promise to do more painting before reusing them in a game.

A new version of the rules is imminent so as soon as that is published and I have digested it I'll be attempting to arrange a game.

3. Chain of Command (CoC)

I planned to get into Chain of Command in 2018 but never got round to it.

I have the rules and markers and a collection of 28mm US and German Ardennes (Battle of the Bulge) figures which are based and undercoated. I also have some ready-painted diecast AFVs and some scenery.

I started the Ardennes project at the beginning of 2008, before CoC was published. It's frightening how much time has passed!

Like Crossfire, CoC is highly innovative, specifically in the pre-combat patrol sequence and the way in which forces pop-up at jump-off points. It may take some grasping but I think it's going to be fun.

I'm currently studying the rules, watching online videos, sorting out figures and planning additional scenery. More anon.

Thirty Years War 6mm progress 4: the main colour

An impressive array, but further patching is needed because of the white undercoat and inconsistent mixing and application of the brown paint.

I wet painted the figure blocks (including the bases) with Vallejo Charred Brown. This may be thin paint but it's not supposed to be a wash. Controlling the consistency of the paint is a bit hit and miss. However you mix it, it tends to separate and to dry out.

The brown needs to be solid as it will be the finished colour of at least 50% of the figure blocks. This brown functions as the base colour of the ground, the shadow between the ranks of figures and any and all parts of the figures which I don't subsequently paint with any other colour.

The blocks may be only 60mm x 30mm but given the indentations represented by the figures and the sand on the bases, they have a very large surface area and positively drink paint. Getting 100% coverage is vital. I don't want any white spots in the middle of an area which is supposed to be deep shadow. The blocks therefore have to be touched up in good light.

It was at this point that I realised I should have undercoated in black gesso according to the original ‘recipe’. Had I done so, covering the undercoat completely wouldn’t be so important. As it was it took quite a lot of time to eliminate any white spots and I still have to go over the blocks again as the brown is a bit thin in places. I am currently awaiting a new supply of Charred Brown!

I know some people may think that basing before painting is a little eccentric, but had I painted the figures first I would not have been able to get at the ground between them given the way in which they are so packed together.

Thirty Years War 6mm progress 3: undercoating

Cannon and Commander: a black undercoat
would have been better...

Since my last report I snipped off all the pikes and improved the bases that had gaps in the texturing. I then used a scalpel to scrape off any sand that had got onto the figures.

Having completed the texturing of the bases I glued the guns in place. That wasn't done until this stage because the crew had bases needing to be hidden by the filler but the guns just sit on top.

I then applied a 50% solution of white gesso undercoat entirely covering the figures and bases and touched this up in good light. White on metal is not always easy to see in the middle of a 6mm pike block, but I expect the coverage was at least 95%.

Using white was a mistake. I should have used black gesso. It would have been easier to see against the bare metal and easier to cover in the next stage.

That concluded the preparation stage. The next stage is painting.

Thirty Years War 6mm progress 2: Curse of the bendy pikes

Bendy pikes.

I levelled the bases with Tetrion filler and then textured them with thinned PVA and fine sand. In larger scales I’d have brought this right up and around the feet of the figures to hide the integral figure bases, but for most of these unit bases I was able only to run the filler and sand around the outside border. This means that the figure bases still show on the insides as in the photo of some Swedish Horsemen below. The photo actually makes the gaps look accessible but I think I would have got Tetrion and PVA on the figures if I'd tried to texture in between them.

There’s not much I can do about it, and I’m hoping the gaps will be lost in the deep brown shadows which will which will be be basis of figures, unit base and all.

At this stage I had to think seriously about the pikes. I hate bendy pikes even more than exposed figure bases. Indeed, I’ve even ‘campaigned’ against cast pikes on 6mm (Baccus) and 10mm (Pendraken) figures in favour of separate wire pikes, but it drew little support from other punters. For some time it completely held me back from doing a pike army in 6mm or 10mm, but how could I be right and everyone else wrong? 

All Tetrioned and sanded.

 I had very serious reservations about the thin, fragile pikes on the 6mm Baccus figures but I gave them the benefit of the doubt. Well, I should have trusted my instincts. Despite my best attempts to straighten the pikes and to avoid touching them, the simple process of basing, undercoating and general handling has already proved to me that they are a total disaster. And this is nothing to the bashing they are going to get in use on the table. They are going to end up looking like floppy spaghetti prior to eventually breaking off.

Swedish Horsemen: Untextured gaps to be lost in shadow...

I now realise I have no choice but to snip all the pikes and replace them later. Snipping will be easy but replacing them is going to be fiddly and time-consuming. I'm inclined to snip them now which will give me a little better access to paint the pikemen, even though my painting will be minimal in the extreme and may come as a shock to some readers! I’ll then fit the flags attached to dress pins and finally replace the pikes with brown brush bristles. It can be done as shown here.

The pikes have been niggling me. Having made this decision I am feeling a lot more positive about this project.

Thirty Years War 6mm progress

Swedish pike-and-shot, Swedish horsemen, Detached shot, Cuirassiers,
Dragoons, German pike-and-shot, Croats, Arquebusiers.

I've based all the figures I had for Steven Thomas's Tilly's Very Bad Day. The the photo shows most of them (except for Commanders and Cannons), but it was only about half of what I need. Baccus was closed for renovation so I had to wait a while before placing a third order.

The bases are 60mm x 30mm MDF and steel, and the figures were glued on with PVA which gave me plenty of time to manipulate them into position. PVA is hardly the best glue for metal, but I've found it adequate for small scale figures. The figures are not perfectly aligned. This was deliberate.

Thirty Years War 6mm basing: Commanders, Cannons and Dragoons

Commanders and Cannons

I had originally intended to put three mounted figures on Commander bases but sometimes less is more and I think two figures actually looks better.

Cannons were one of the easiest basing decisions and will be represented by a single Saker and 4 crew. The officer and the figure with the linstock will be positioned behind the cannon and the figures with sponge and cannonball in front.

Dragoons

Dragoons were the most challenging decision. Dragoon bases represent the same number of men as Horse bases, but cramming the same number of figures onto a base just doesn't work.

I think the best way of representing Dragoons is to have a skirmish line at the front, with a horse-holder and horses positioned behind. This would look better if the bases were deeper, but I don't intend to do that so it's a question of doing the best I can in the limited space.

I need 3 units of Dragoons in total and I happen to have one packet of Baccus dismounted Dragoon figures, so I decided to split the packet between them and this just about provides a reasonable look. However, I think the skirmishers would look better with perhaps two or three more figures so I'll just have to get some more.

Thirty Years War 6mm basing: Horse and Light Horse

Original plan for Horse

Original plan for Light Horse

These photos show my original plans for Horse and Croat Light Horse. The top one shows 24 mounted figures which is in the correct ratio to the 48 figures I'm using on Pike+shot bases. The bottom one shows 16 Light Horse.

I had second thoughts about these ideas. I didn't think it was really necessary to use 24 figures for Horse, and I also felt that the Light Horse base looked a little overcrowded. I also thought it would be useful to use (subtly) different numbers to indicate Arquebusiers, Cuirassiers or Swedish Horseman. So I'm now planning to use 20 figures for Arquebusiers,  18 for Cuirassiers, 16 for Swedish Horsemen and 12 or 14 for Croats.

The Croats are acually  'Unarmoured Cavalry' (GNP08) from Baccus's Great Northern War Polish range. I understand that TYW Croats had a proportion of lancers but most would be pistol-armed so most of the spears need to be snipped.

Thirty Years War 6mm basing: Non-Swedish Pike+shot and Commanded Shot

German and Spanish Pike+shot

The non-Swedish Pike+shot units include Imperialist, Catholic League, Spanish and other German Foot fighting against the Swedes as well as Germans allied to the Swedes, but not regiments of German origin under Swedish command which I'm treating as Swedes!

These are going to have the same overall numbers as a Swedish Pike+shot unit, but I'm giving them a higher proportion of pikemen. The proportion isn't necessarily historically accurate but there are only so many ways to juggle 48 figures. It's all about giving an impression.

The front rank will be armoured pikemen and the shot will have a number of helmeted figures. This will make them look a little more armoured than the Swedes.

Commanded Shot

The Commanded Shot bases represent the same number of men as a Pike+shot units but I thought that 48 Musketeers would look a bit boring so I decided to use three ranks of Musketeers with four command figures at the back. It's useful with these small scale figures to provide some visual clues to distinguish unit types at a distance. Swedish Shot will include figures in Monmouth caps.

Thirty Years War 6mm basing: Swedish Pike+shot

A test base of Swedish Pike+shot sitting temporarily
on Blu-Tac. Command strip forms second row of
the pikes.

I've been looking forward to receiving my first orders of Baccus 6mm figures for the Tilly's Very Bad Day Thirty Years War project, not least because I wanted to see how many figures I'd actually end up putting on a 60mm x 30mm base.

But firstly let me say that the Baccus figures are very nice and remarkably well detailed for their scale. I'm no fan of cast pikes, however, and hope that enough layers of paint and varnish will provide a little protection for them against floppy spaghetti syndrome.

First up to consider, and most importantly, were the Pike+shot units. As my friend Ian pointed out, it's good to have the pikes looking really solid and I can't see that being achieved without having them at least four deep and roughly square. (There's enough room to have five ranks but that would probably an unnecessary extravagance.)

A slightly more aerial view. For the Swedes, some figures
in Monmouth caps will be mixed in.

Historically ensigns were placed somewhere behind the front ranks. With four ranks of figures, I can have the command strip with the ensigns as the second rank.

There isn't enough room to have any supernumeries standing outside the ranks. In theory these could look good, but I think you would need vastly more figures in rank to prevent the extra figures from over-balancing them.

Thirty Years War: Updated unit plans for Tilly's Very Bad Day

In order to help develop some scenarios for Tilly's Very Bad Day and to better identity the units I need to model, I've been spending a lot of time analysing the Orders of Battle given in William P Guthrie's Battles of the Thirty Years War: From White Mountain to Nordlingen, 1618-1635. This turned out to be very time-consuming but somebody had to do it, and I had a pressing interest in narrowing down what additional figures I needed to get.
I picked three battles from the Swedish period for which details are quite complete and readily available:

Breitenfeldt 1631
Lützen 1632
Nördlingen 1634

I've forwarded the results of this research to TVBD author Steven Thomas, and am looking forward to seeing scenarios produced in due course.

For the Catholic-Imperialists, Guthrie sometimes lists units as Cuirassiers or Arquebusiers but often just describes them as "CR" (Cavaly Regiments). For these, it was necessary to make an estimate so we took the numbers and apportioned them to Cuirassiers and Arquebusiers in a 2:1 ratio.

The other big surprise of this exercise was the discovery that most of the 'Swedish' Horse were not Swedish Horsemen, but German Cuirassiers and Arquebusiers - the same sort of cavalry to be found in the opposing armies.

The revised requirements now look like this.

Commanders    11
German Cuirassiers    14
Swedish Horsemen    3
German Arquebusiers     7
Croats    2
German Dragoons    2
German Pike-and-Shot    17
Swedish Pike-and-Shot    9
German Commanded Shot    1
Swedish Commanded Shot    2
Cannon    8
Spanish Cuirassiers    2
Spanish Arquebusiers    1
Spanish Dragoons    1
Spanish Pike-and-Shot    6

My two initial Baccus orders are now on the way so I should soon be able to make a decision about how many figures per base.

New Version

Tilly's Very Bad Day is being continually updated and has now reached version 1.3. It remains downloadable from the same page https://balagan.info/download-tillys-very-bad-day-fast-play-rules-for-the-30-years-war .