Counters, blocks or 2mm?

Painting all the armies I'd like to have for all the rules I'd like to play is too demanding on time and space, if not pocket, and I find myself thinking more and more about counters, wooden blocks or Irregular Miniatures' 2mm strips.

I began with making some counters for Maurice (pictured above). Counters are very cheap and straightforward. I adapted some top-downs from the Junior General website and printed the designs onto labels which were then cut with a scalpel and applied to smart laser-cut MDF bases from Pendraken.

Square Bashing 2012 - Second Game

I played a second 'Quick Game' of the new Square Bashing 2012 rules, this time against a different opponent. It was another attempt to learn the rules and try things out, rather than to play competitively. At least that's my excuse. I played the British attackers against a German defence. This time the defending army was more balanced (more infantry, less artillery).

My opponent was quick to pick up the rules and to play them to maximum advantage! By placing the transverse road (and thus the crossroads objective) in Row 4, the defender was able to incorporate the other objectives into his Row 3 defensive line. My opponent was also struck, as I was in my first game,  by the amount of scenery. I find this a good aspect, adding to the realism, the game play and the aesthetics.

19th Century Grand Tactical wargaming

In almost 50 years of wargaming (with a 10 year break) I can't remember ever attempting to refight an actual historical battle. This is mainly because most classic wargame rules deal with battalion level tactics, and it is difficult or even impossible to gather together enough figures or find enough space to recreate the whole of a major historical battle. The problem worsens with the historical growth in the size of armies.

1632	Lutzen	19,000 v 27,000
1704	Blenheim	52,000 v 56,000
1757	Leuthen	35,000 v 60,000
1815	Waterloo	68,000 + 50,000 v 72,000
1865	Gettysburg	95,000 v 75,000
1866	Koeniggratz	278,000 v 271,0000

Square Bashing 2012

I played my first game of Peter Pig's new Square Bashing 2012 rules using the Quick Game option and my Pendraken 10mm 1918 British and German armies. The new version is very clearly and attractively presented and the game went smoothly despite this being a first attempt.

Following placement of the objectives and other scenery, my opponent deployed the German attackers fairly evenly with cavalry and a tank unit in the centre. My fewer British defenders formed a thin front line backed up with a central reserve. This thin khaki line seemed  considerably thinner after the depletions phase.

10mm ACW - basing before painting

My last post described using a white undercoat, washes and a stain to paint 20th Century figures. For my more colourful 10mm 1690 armies I spot painted over a black undercoat, but I find it increasingly difficult to see detail on a dark surface. More recently I have also experimented with the method very ably demonstrated by Nik Harwood (http://nikharwood.pbworks.com) in which figures are based first and then given a dark brown undercoat, followed by spot painting of the bits you can see/reach. I am using this approach for my 10mm ACW armies currently under the paint brush. It works, but I found it rather like painting through a keyhole so I doubt if I will use it again.

Figures based but not painted. They are a mixture of UK Minifigs and Pendraken (old range). The idea was that I could start using them in games, but 10mm muskets and bayonets are a bit fragile without reinforcement with paint and Ardcoat.

Painting and basing 20thC miniatures with washes

This is another article from my old website and describes how I paint and base 20th Century figures using washes over a white undercoat and then staining. Most of the figures I've painted in recent years have been 20th Century with drab uniforms, and I think this approach works well for that era.

This article shows 10mm and 15mm figures. I also used the same technique on my 28mm IWI figures. I'm not sure whether it's applicable to earlier, more colourful, periods. I did start painting some 15mm ECW figures along these lines but the project stalled so I don't know what the outcome will be.

Some 15mm Peter Pig figures are 'Blu-Takked' to tongue depressors (giant lolly/popsicle sticks) prior to spray undercoating. These particular figures are Moorish Regulares being added to my Spanish Civil War armies which I use with Crossfire rules. The figures on each stick are identical. This greatly speeds up painting.

Making 10mm (N Scale) bocage

I'm reposting an article about making bocage that originally appeared on my old website. Bocage is a French word for the thick country hedges that characterise parts of Normandy and were a major feature of the Normandy Campaign in 1944, particularly in the west where the Americans fought. The landscape in the east, around Caen, included bocage but was more varied. This item shows how I made bocage for my N Scale (10mm/12 mm) armies but the dimensions can easily be scaled up.


Materials

DAS Modelling Clay (500 gms makes about 20 hedges)
MDF Bases 15mm x 100mm
Natural twigs from a real tree or bush
Tetrion filler
Sand and ballast mix
Earth-coloured emulsion
Woodland Scenics 'Static Grass'
Woodland Scenics 'Hob-E-Tac glue'
Woodland Scenics 'Underbrush Clump-Foliage' (predominantly Medium Green and Dark Green, with some Light Green and Forest Green)
Woodland Scenics Foliage Clusters (various greens to represent different types of tree)
Woodland Scenics 'Scenic Cement'

28mm IWI conversions with Greenstuff

When I first started collecting 28mm miniatures for my Irish War of Independence project I didn't have enough figures for the Republican side so I pressed these Empress Miniatures Spanish Civil War Assaltos to which I added overcoats and bandoliers using Greenstuff. I wouldn't want to model hundreds of figures in this way, but it's certainly an option for 'skirmish level' forces.

28mm Irish War of Independence

After a very long haul and in between showers of rain I finally managed to Ardcoat my 28mm Irish War of Independence figures. These pictures show most of them. The core figures are Musketeer but they have been supplemented by others, notably Canon Fodder, and some conversions. They aren't going to win any painting competitions but they took long enough to do as it was. The figures are going to be used with the FUBAR skirmish rules. I hope to post some pictures of a game in due course.

Auxiliaries. The CO is sporting a leather coat and shotgun. Lewis guns in the rear. The building is a scratch-built barn made from foamboard with stone cladding from Antenociti's Workshop.