Black Powder

Selling and getting out

2012-01-07T15:27:00.002Z

Hello all! Apologies for the lack of updates but the reality is, I haven't done anything in the hobby for over a year. I've not really had the time or space to keep getting men out to paint. I've had so much on this year with my last year at University and job hunting. Additionally, I simply can't afford to keep on with the hobby. I have hundreds if not thousands of pounds worth of hobby materials that I ideally need to sell to keep living.

If anyone is interested in helping me out, please get in touch. I have a variety of periods from ancients to moderns including a vast amount of American Revolution figures which need shifting. I also have a number of model buildings which would be for sale. Drop me a comment if you're interested.

I'll try and post more of a inventory list and price structure soon but it will be very reasonable.

Thanks!

Eddie.

Exciting discovery!

2011-06-25T19:11:00.004+01:00

As I mentioned in my previous post, it was whilst walking around inside the 'Rout Yard' or earth fort situated outside the walls of Bolingbroke Castle that I made a rather exciting discovery.

Littered with bits of pottery and broken glass, the floor of the 'Rout Yard' was a treasure trove for the amateur archaeologist. It was in the top layer of soil that I found the clay pipe pictured below.

I knew that clay pipes were common during the time of the English Civil War and, given the Rout Yard's history, I immediately thought that this particular pipe could have been used and discarded during the siege of the Castle. The pipe is quite detailed and as you can see, it features a raised image of a tankard of beer (clay pipes were often sold in drinking establishments such as pubs). However, after conducting some research, I can date the pipe at 1860 which is several hundred years after a the siege which is a shame. Still, it's the first time I've found such a thing and in such good condition. I regularly find small sections of the white piping that forms the tube leading up to the 'bowl' in my garden, but I've never found a more complete piece.

The picture above was taken by Dave Hitchborne (contact.dave.hitchborne@gmail.com) and shows the inside of the Rout Yard. It was after looking through an album of his photos of the Castle and its grounds that I found out that shortly before my visit to the Castle, the 'moat' had been dredged and the silt was deposited in the Rout Yard. This meant that all the bits of pottery, glass and the clay pipe I found had been resting at the bottom of the series of small ponds that surround the Castle for the last hundred and fifty years! It was very interesting to find this out and helped put the last piece in the jigsaw in the history of this little clay pipe (unfortunately not from the time of the Civil War though).

Bolingbroke Castle visit

2011-06-22T12:03:00.009+01:00

Bolingbroke Castle, located in Lincolnshire, was built in about 1220-30 by the then Earl of Lincoln, Ranulph de Blundevil, a powerful Norman baron. By the time of the Civil War in the mid-17^th century, the castle was in decay but was rebuilt by the Royalists to make it sufficiently strong to pose a threat to the Parliamentarian forces in the county and was held until the Parliamentary victory in 1643 at the Battle of Winceby, three miles to the north. When the Parliamentary forces moved out, they deliberately ruined the castle to deny its use to the Royalist cause. Over the years, stone was robbed and used in local building projects, the site eventually becoming nothing more than a grassy mound until its excavation in the mid-20^th century by English Heritage.

I took the following pictures of the site last year when I made the short trip from Lincoln to Bolingbroke one warm summer's day.

This is how the Castle would have looked at the height of its power in the 13th century, with a moat 90 feet wide coming right up to the walls.

This photo (taken from the same viewpoint as the illustration above) shows all that remains of the castle - the brick base of the once impressive walls. The mown causeway in front of you marks the line of the drawbridge.

This photo is taken looking slightly to the left of the previous picture (you can still see the information panel and causeway, leading up to the Castle entrance). It shows the marshy area which now surrounds the Castle where the moat would have been.

This photo, taken of an illustration on one of the information panels, shows what the Castle would have looked like when it was built in the 13th century. As you can see, it was quite impressive! It is, however, unlikely to have looked quite as impressive during the time of the Civil War as it was in a state of decay at this point.

This aerial photograph shows the Castle on the right, and the dark green ring around it is the marshy area which marks the extent of the moat. The earthwork on the left, known as the 'Rout Yard', is thought to be an earth fort built during the Civil War and played a part in the siege of the Castle in 1643. Recent academic study has however made claims that this was in fact used as a fish pond when the Castle was permanently occupied.

This photo shows the earthwork (in the centre of the photo) taken from the walls of the Castle and it was whilst walking around inside the earthwork that I made an exciting discovery...

A couple of updates today.

2011-06-22T11:49:00.002+01:00

Just a quick heads up that I will be making a couple of updates to the site throughout this afternoon. I will upload a couple of pics of a trip I made to Bolingbroke Castle last year, the site of a siege and battle in the English Civil War. I'll then upload a more detailed account of the battle followed by a post containing pictures of a reenactment of the battle from the summer of 2009.

In addition, I'll post a few photos of an exciting find I made whilst walking the ground of the Castle!

Coming up this week

2011-06-20T08:30:00.003+01:00

Here's what you can expect to see right here on this blog over the coming week:

1. Several historical articles about the type of weaponry and tactics during the English Civil War

2. My own research into the clothing worn by both sides during the conflict including a discussion on the development of armour and other forms of protection throughout the Civil War's duration and a clearing up of several common mistakes made when painting Civil War troops.

3. Modelling and painting tips

4. And by the weekend, expect to see some pictures of my first attempts at painting pikemen in 15mm!

Where have I been?!

2011-05-26T09:57:00.002+01:00

The answer to that is, in the library. I'm in my last year at University over here in England and I finished my degree last week! But I've had an awful lot of work to do and so war gaming has taken a back seat. I now that I have a bit more free time, I can get back to my projects in the evenings rather than spending them in a building with no natural light!

So, what have I got planned for the coming months? Well, for starters, I will be putting on an ECW game in 28mm with Paul Darnell this coming Sunday at the Partizan show in Kelham Hall, near Newark. If you want to come and talk to me, I'll be at the Touching History table wearing an AWI militia t-shirt (which is a light blue colour) but you may find me loitering around Steve Jones' AWI game, trying to get him to let me have a go on the dice!

I've also ordered a few ECW figures in 15mm from Peter Pig as a test for what could be a big project. Since I've been working on my Ambush Alley moderns project, I've realised 15mm may be the way to go for speed painting large numbers of figures quickly and getting them on the gaming table (as I much prefer gaming to painting, but I do like my figures to look nice!). So I'll be test painting these figures (I bought a mixture of cavalry and infantry packs to get a good range) over the next few months and will post my results up here. As I will most likely be moving to a small, cramped flat somewhere in London in the near future, I wont have space for war gaming supplies and so a project which doesn't take up much room will be essential. I'm not sure what I'll do with my larger scale figures but it's likely that I will have to sell at least some of them. I have an awful lot of money tied up in them and they take up a lot of space (currently the bottom of my wardrobe and a small chest of drawers!). I've always wanted to write a set of rules for ECW either in 28mm or 15mm and so that's my other aim for the summer and I've been researching fighting techniques, tactics and weaponry over the last few days.

Summer Aims:

1. Write a set of rules for the English Civil War for use in 15mm war games.
2. Paint up a couple of regiments of infantry and cavalry
3. Make/paint a few bits of terrain
4. Play test!

I'd also like to finish off the Americans and their Humvees for my Ambush Alley games and I can see that getting done over the next few months in addition to the ECW troops.

I'd also like to thank those who have chosen to follow the blog whilst I've been away (there has been about 10 I think) despite there being no recent posts.

USMC WIP 2

2010-12-17T14:57:00.007Z

I've just textured the Marines' bases and thought I'd do a quick update. It took me about half an hour to texture all the bases with tile grout which I didn't think was too bad considering I'd never done it before! I think they're looking good so far and can't wait for them to dry so I can crack on with the painting. It takes around 24 hours for the grout to dry hard so I've got a bit of time to wait but once dry, I will make sure all parts of the model are painted black before dry brushing some grey onto the areas I want to be black/dark (guns, flak jackets, webbing, etc) before focussing on the flesh and camo.

This is the black tile grout I bought on the recommendation of David Imrie (Saxon Dog). He didn't recommend this specific brand, merely that it be black tile grout. I picked up this large tub from B&Q for around £10 which should last me a long time! I hope the fact it's 'waterproof' doesn't affect the glueing of sand and dry-brushing of the base later in the process.

This is the tool I used to apply the grout. It is part of the modelling tool kit sold by Wargames Foundry. I used the larger 'spoon' end to pick up a pea-sized amount of grout and then spread it on the base. I used the pointy end to add some texture or spread it around between the legs where necessary.

This is a close up of the 1st Squad Sergeant showing the basing and fantastic detail put into every Peter Pig model. Once the model is fully painted, patches of fine sand will be glued onto the base and then dry brushed with various colours. Once this is dry, static grass and silflor tufts will be applied to bring the base and the model to life.

USMC WIP 1

2010-12-17T13:24:00.004Z

As part of my Ambush Alley/modern project I want the main Western force to be the Americans (not sure which period/uniforms to go for yet). I have quite a large number of figures and more than enough to create an entire platoon. The figures below represent the 1st Squad of that platoon which is made up of Fire Team Alpha, Bravo and Charlie and a Sergeant (top). 1st Squad will be mounted in three Humvees which I'm currently waiting on Irishserb to deliver.

I've realised it's cheaper to mount the 15mm figures on real money as opposed to wood or metal washers so I've based these on English pennies and undercoated them in black (this needs a little bit of touching up in some areas). I also plan to use a black putty filler on the bases before I begin to paint the marines.

The keen eyed of you will notice that I've added another two figures and they are the two AT4 gunners at the front. As this Squad is large enough to game with when finished, I wanted a few heavy weapons to be able to be interchanged into various fire-teams based on the scenario.

Ambush Alley allows each player to only field a handful of troops for each game which makes it perfect for a non-prolific painter like myself! So, my primary aim is to finish these Americans and their mounts before finishing off the technicals and a rebel force to wage war against!

New project - 15mm Moderns

2010-12-15T12:57:00.004Z

Just thought I'd update you on a new project I'm working on. I picked up a few packs of Peter Pig 15mm moderns a couple of weeks ago and am going to have a crack at painting them up. I've never painted anything smaller than 28mm before so this could be interesting! However, if all goes well, it could open up a whole new world of wargamming and finally allow me to recreate larger engagements such as the American Civil War and Napoleonic conflicts on a scale large enough to do justice to the immense nature of the conflicts.

Here are a few Toyota 'technicals' which I plan to play around with and do a bit of conversion on.

Here's the current WIP of the cars in the 'shop' as the Americans would say! Glue drying and 'green stuff' setting are just some of the things that can be seen in this pic. I've converted the car on the right to have a different gunner on the back and have changed the angle of the MG to suit the figure. The car on the left will have a number of troops mounted in the back hitching a ride and firing as they go. It should be an exciting project and one which can include a lot of character and personality.

After these are completed, I'll work on a few of my Americans. Make sure to check back of the next few days to see the progress.

Field Marshall Montgomery meets a relative!

2010-11-02T12:26:00.006Z

I was going through some boxes that have been stored under my bed and came across this photograph. It was given to me by my Great Grandmother or 'Granny' as she was affectionately known, some years ago (she's since sadly passed away). It shows her brother, Harry, with Field Marshall Montgomery, head of British operations during the Second World War. Harry is the chap who appears just above the nurse dressed all in white, posing for the sneaky photograph.

Here's the photograph previously mentioned. Harry, who I think would be my Great Great Uncle, served in the Medical Corps during the war but I know very little else about him. He was one of 6 or 7 brothers who were in service during the war but I can't remember anything my Granny told me about them.

The photograph was sent back to his father during the war and this photo shows what was written on the rear. In case you can't make out the handwriting, it reads:

Dear Pop,

Here you are - a

picture of Monty AND your

sour-faced son - all for yourself.

Best wishes

Harry

It's a fascinating piece of history and I'm proud to be in possession of it after all these years. My Granny gave it to me when she learnt of my boyhood fascination with all things WWII and I've kept it safe in a photo album ever since. It was damaged when I received it but I've managed to keep it in the same condition as when I got it and I hope to keep it for many years to come.

Yorktown T-Shirt

2010-10-22T00:25:00.002+01:00

I thought I'd post a picture of the t-shirt I've just won in an online auction. As you can see, it has the word 'Yorktown' and a picture of a Continental infantry man on the front, most likely paying tribute to the combined American and French victory over the British in 1781 at the Siege of Yorktown.

I look forward to receiving it and it will take pride of place in my wardrobe. It will be used as my 'wargaming' tee. Atleast, for gaming in the Americas.

This picture shows a close up of the detail.

LCpl Hugh Ross, Seaforth Highlanders

2010-10-19T11:03:00.003+01:00

I've spent the last few months researching the soldier listed above who died on the 10th May 1915 during one of the many actions of the First World War. The reason I'm so interested in this soldier is because he is my Great Great Grandfather and at the time of his death he was aged 21 which is how old I'll be on the 10th May of next year (although this isn't my birthday).

My search began during a visit to the Imperial War Museum in London where I found his service record. This gave his full title - Lance Corporal Hugh Ross of the 4th Bn. Seaforth Highlanders and his number - 1810. It also gives his date of death as the 10th May 1915, aged 21 years. No other information is given as the free service offered by the Imperial War Museum is meant to merely act as a starting place for further research.

His date of birth is unknown to me but at a guess he was born around 1894. My next aim is to try and find his individual service record which should show where, when and with which unit he served during his time in the army. Unfortunately many of the records who his regiment were destroyed during WWII but if I'm lucky, the National Archives will still keep a copy of his record.

I received an email back from the Highlanders Museum up in Scotland who keep certain records including the War Diary of the 4th Bn and a general history of the Bn written at the time. According to the researcher, there is no mention of a LCpl Hugh Ross but there is a Sergeant Hugh Ross written about on the 9th May, a day of heavy casualties for the Bn. This entry was written about an action that happened at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle whose objective was to capture Aubers Ridge at which I'm sure the Hugh Ross I'm related to died in. Interestingly, the researcher at the Highlanders Museum states that the 4th Bn Seaforth Highlanders weren't serving on the line on the 10th May, the date of his death, so he suspects LCpl Ross may have died the following day of injuries sustained during the battle. He also suggests that LCpl Ross and Sergeant Ross might be the same person as many NCOs died during the battle and LCpl Ross could have been handed a short-lived promotion but this is a long shot and may be difficult to prove.

My next step will involve searching for Hugh Ross' service record from the National Archives and to continue my dialogue with the researcher from the Highlanders Museum to try and discover more about the action of the 4th Bn Seaforth Highlanders on the 9th and 10th May 1915. I will also try and confirm whether or not LCpl and Sergeant Hugh Ross are the same or different persons.

This is an ongoing project to discover more about members of my family who served their country during the First and Second World Wars and I will continually revisit this over the coming year. Please let me know if you found or would find something like this interesting and if you're new to the blog, sign up and 'follow' it or leave a comment!

Update

2010-10-17T12:45:00.002+01:00

I thought I'd just give you an update on what's going on with me at the minute and apologise for the lack of recent updates!

Some of you may know that I'm still a young chap and am still at University. As this is my final year I have a lot of work and subsequently my hobbies will have to suffer - especially being separated from all your paints and figures by a 90 minute train journey! But don't worry, I've been keeping up with historical reading and so expect a few articles in the coming weeks on various subject matters including the American Revolution and the British intervention in the Sudan. They'll also be a few pictures of some terrain pieces I worked on before I went off to University and a few buildings made for me by Paul Darnell.

Thanks for your continued interest in my hobby and a big welcome to the three new followers who have taken the time to follow this blog over the weekend.

South Staffordshire Regiment - uniform help needed

2010-09-14T10:21:00.003+01:00

I'm currently painting up a few test figures for my Sudan project in the colours of the South Staffordshire regiment and wanted your opinion on their trousers.

Below are two images, both from the Perry Miniatures website which demonstrate the uniform worn by the South Staffordshire regiment during their time in the Sudan. As you can see, the trousers are two different shades of grey, a lighter and a darker, but I wondered which you preferred?

Currently, the figures I'm painting are wearing the lighter shade on the left but could just as easily be given darker trousers such as those on the right.

Please let me know your opinions by leaving a comment. Thanks!

The Battle of Olite - Partizan 5th September

2010-09-11T09:34:00.008+01:00

Here are a selection of photos of the demo game I helped put on with Paul of Touching History. It's centered around the Spanish town of Olite, Navarre, at the end of Napoleon's campaign in Spain. Captain Aubergine (me) had been tasked with protecting the road to the North, covering the retreat of Napoleon's armies but spied an opportunity to snatch a last minute victory from the allies and regain some lost pride for the French. Now follows some photos of the game, all taken by me except for two which were taken by Paul, and a sort of battle report (annotations of the pictures follow below each one - they are also clickable).

This picture shows the game's initial set up. The town is held by a small detachment of the 95th rifles and a horde of Spanish guerillas who are defending the bridge. My small skirmish force is at the other end of the board, near the barn.

My scouts had reported a strong defensive position held by the Spanish on the other side of the bridge, so in light of this, I chose to advance through the fields to my right to attempt to enter into the town via the unguarded ford...

...I should have known better than to have expected the 95th to leave such a strategically important location unguarded and as I advanced through the field came under heavy fire from the British sharpshooters, losing two in the heated exchange. The 95th pulled back across the river to take up defensive positions with my light company is pursuit.

The 95th opened fire on my light company from across the river before they could get into position but only scored one kill, the rest of their shots ricocheting of the low stone wall before them. My French company returned fire and killed three riflemen, forcing their retreat (picture by Paul Darnell).

As the 95th pulled back (once again) on the left hand side of this photo, Captain Aubergine (me) ordered his fusiliers and grenadiers to advance in force and storm the heavily defended bridge, supported by another company of lights. Aubergine's tactic of 'Guerre de Foudre' or 'lightning war' was again very successful and the speed and efficiency with which they advanced took the Spanish defenders by surprise as the French steamrollered over the bridge and into the town. Those that weren't killed in the initial assault broke and ran back to the market in the centre of town (picture by Paul Darnell).

This photo shows Lieutenant J. Cousteau of the light company triumphantly leading his men along a side road after forcing the 95th to retreat. There were a number of snipers dotted around the town and no less than 8 or 9 shots were taken at my Lieutenant but none so much as left a scratch! He's a very lucky man. Had Sharpe, Hagman or any of the others been there on the day, Lieutenant Cousteau's life may have been more endangered!

Here is one of the snipers previously mentioned but his efforts didn't amount to much on the day.

It ended in a heroic victory for the French but could have ended very differently if Paul's dice throwing had been better (he must have averaged ones and twos the whole day!) or had the French reinforcements arrived in more spaced out intervals. Paul and I have however agreed to stage a refight so it could go very differently for the French (here's hoping it doesn't).

Expect a couple more photos of the game over the next week or two, along with some of a few other games at the show. Also expect to see some pictures of how my Sudan project is coming along!

The Battle of Charlotte - Partizan 5th September

2010-09-05T16:17:00.005+01:00

I had a fantastic time putting on my first demo game at Partizan in Kelham Hall and really enjoyed my day. I've just been looking through my photos and I took quite a lot! It'll take me some time to go through them all and write a proper battle report of our Napoleonic game but that will come in the next few days, along with a few photos of some of the other games I saw whilst I was there.

Firstly, I'd like to show you some photos I took of the 'Battle of Charlotte', an American War of Independence engagement put on by Steve Jones of paintingshed (his blog is definitely worth a look!). You can read more about the scenario on his blog.

At about 9:30, half an hour before the show opened, I noticed the light pouring into the hall and beautifully dappling across the game board. I rushed over to his table and starting snapping away and got a couple of great photos! They look very realistic and it looks almost like the sun is bursting through the clouds. The main hall at Partizan is well known for being poorly lit and some of my photos of my own game didn't come out too well but these look great.

The American militia advance towards the British line whilst some sharp shooters protect the neighboring farmhouse from attack.

The morning light reveals the American position along the edge of the wheat field.

Some American militia hold off the British advance further down the line. However, the rail fence offers little protection from the British muskets!

Steve made all the terrain himself and also converted a few Hovells buildings to his own specification. As far as I know, he also painted all the figures but please correct me if I'm wrong. It was a very impressive board with some wonderfully painted miniatures on it. I'll post a few more photos of the whole board in a subsequent post.

You can find Steve's blog at - http://paintingshed.blogspot.com/

Partizan Reminder

2010-09-04T20:01:00.005+01:00

Just a little reminder that I will be putting on my first game at the Partizan Show at Kelham Hall in Newark tomorrow (Sunday 5th September). Doors are 10am - 4pm and I think it's £4 for adults and £2 for concessions.

It's a Spanish Peninsular Napoleonic game which features 3 companies of French pitted against Sharpe and his rifles (assisted by some pesky Spanish Guerillas). I'll be in command of the French and Paul Darnell of Touching History will be in charge of the combined allied force. The photo at the top of this post shows the terrain we will be gaming on!

In this photo, my mighty French force is advancing along an exposed road, open to fire from Sharpe and his 95th rifles (hopefully they wont be as accurate as they're famous for in tomorrow's game!)

Another French force advance towards the town using the cover of the farmer's fields and a low stone wall to avoid the fire coming from the guerillas holed up in the town.

I think our game will be in the main hall so it should be easy to find. I should also be easy to find if you fancy a chat! Just look for the young looking chap next to the game and that'll probably be me - I'll have a checked shirt on if it's any help.

I'll post pictures of most of the games on show at Partizan throughout this coming week along with photos of our game and a battle report. I look forward to meeting those of you who visit the table and fancy a chat.

Partizan - 5th September, Newark

2010-08-20T07:22:00.004+01:00

I'll putting on my first ever demo game with Paul of Touching History at next month's Partizan which takes places at Kelham Hall, Newark, on the 5th September.

The game is set in 1813 on the Spanish Peninsular, during the Napoleonic Wars. France are all but defeated in Spain and their main force is on the retreat. However, 3 companies of the 45th have been posted to the small town of Olite with orders to defend it and hold Wolf Pass, the road to the North. I am in command of the French and will be trying to resist the advance of a unit of the 95th rifles, aided by a large band of Guerillas.

The French skirmish with some pesky Guerillas on the rocky slopes of the Spanish countryside.

The photo above shows half of the terrain Paul has made for the game and it looks beautiful! I'm so excited for the game and hope I can bring some honour back to the French after a series of humiliating defeats. Viva La France!

I hope to see you there.

These pictures come from Paul's fantastic site - Touching History

For more information on the upcoming Partizan show, click to view their website - Partizan

British 6pdr WIP (3)

2010-06-22T11:06:00.003+01:00

I wasn't happy with how the cannon looked as I mentioned in my post yesterday and have decided to add a coat of Army Painter's 'Dark Tone'. This was in response to AD's comment on the last post, informing me the metal should be very dark (almost black). I have to admit, I went off a mixture of sources for the painting style, primarily from the way other bloggers have painted similar models or those models on the Perry site which seem to vary from a very bright silver to almost black (or silver with 'black lining').

I think it looks quite good after being 'dipped'. I used a brush to paint the dip onto the metal areas and removed any that settled on the lighter wooden areas. This was to darken the silver and add a black line around the outside of it. It will be varnished again once the model has dried (around 24 hours after application). I think it looks quite good like it is now (I couldn't bare another re-paint!) and will look even better once based and the crew have been added.

Once again, please leave your thoughts and feelings as a comment on this post as they are invaluable to the project, other gamers and myself.

British 6pdr WIP (2)

2010-06-21T18:56:00.003+01:00

Here's the completed British 6pdr. It's been painted and varnished, no dip this time on the advice of Giles Allison. I'm fairly pleased with it but I have to say, the metal seems a little too light (not sure whether the dip would have made it darker and shaded it).

What do you think? Do you think I should leave it like it is or try and dip it to shade down the very light coloured metal (not sure if the latter will work though)?

It might look better once it's been based and the crew added but I'm not entirely happy.

Visitor Numbers Rocket!

2010-06-21T10:15:00.002+01:00

In the last week, I've had an additional 9 'followers' for the blog (an increase of almost 100%) and I wanted to find out why. I use Stat Counter to monitor traffic coming to each of my three blogs and I logged on to check my viewing figures and this is what I found:

As you can see, from an average of about 15 unique visitors a day, I received almost 200 in one day! With Stat Counter, you can see what users typed in to Google to get to your site, or from what web URL their arrived at your site from. I followed one URL which cropped up many times and I followed it back to a link on the TMP message boards where a user (Tango01) had linked to my blog in one of his posts and I'd like to thank him for doing so!

Feel free to link to my posts or blog directly if you like my work and want to share it with others, such as other users on TMP for instance - I'm more than happy for you to do that!

Barrels and Sacks

2010-06-19T14:27:00.002+01:00

Just finished a couple of Hovels barrels and have started work on a couple of other scenic pieces. These were filed and then washed in soapy water with a tooth brush before undercoating with black spray paint. Once dry, these get several layers of dry-brushing until they look realistic enough for the gaming table!

From the photo above, you will notice that two of the barrels have the same colours whereas the third (right) has been dry-brushed with another, slightly lighter, tone for variation. I'm very pleased with these, my first resin scenic pieces, as I think they look very realistic and wouldn't look out of place on a professionally made gaming board.

Here's a shot of a couple of other items also from Hovels that I'm painting up. It's quite difficult dry-brushing so I've mounted them on lots of different items so I don't have to actually hold the crates and sacks etc whilst I'm painting them. Some of these items include a glue stick, wine bottle top, pencil and spray paint tops!

After these come the AWI farm house and barn that I also purchased from Hovels.

If you have any advice or questions, please leave a comment. If you like what you see here and would like to be notified of future posts, please 'follow' my blog.

Reinforcements have arrived!

2010-06-16T13:16:00.003+01:00

Whilst I'm waiting on paint to dry I thought I'd do a little update. I came home to find this on the door mat and knew that my reinforcements had arrived!

Once again, VERY quick service from Perry (ordered on Monday, arrived on Wednesday) and all in very appropriate packaging. So, here's what arrived in the post:

This now completes the purchase of my British and Hessian army with the addition of some Jaegers, Musketeers and some separate command figures to make a brigadier stand for the Hessian brigade. You may also notice some American riflemen in the top left of the photo. These will form the beginnings of my American army. I'm just waiting on some paint before I can make a start on any of these but I'm got plenty to be getting on with including the British and some of the hovels models I recently received and some terrain for the battlefield.

The Pledge

2010-06-11T18:05:00.006+01:00

I've got to be realistic with what I can physically paint and by when so I've set myself a few targets. Firstly, I estimate the Bunker Hill project to take me two years in all to complete, figures for both British and American forces and a high quality terrain board to go with it. In the shorter term, I aim to put on a game at Christmas with my Dad, cousins and uncle who're coming to spend it with us. In order to complete this ,I aim to create a smaller force of perhaps a Brigade or two for each side with which to put on a smaller skirmish scenario, inspired by some of the scenarios in the British Grenadier books. And it is here that I'm going to commit myself and make 'The Pledge' and detail what I going to paint any by when.

British Grenadiers assault Bunker Hill (Breeds Hill)

My first goals are to complete a small British force comprising of both British and Hessians. Below is a plan of what I aim to finish by the end of August/September.

British:

- Brigadier/CinC

- Unit of 20 musketeers

- Unit of 16 Grenadiers

- One model 6pdr w/ crew

Hessians:

- Unit of 18 musketeers

- Unit of 8 Jaegers

I think this is a reasonable target, given the amount of time I have and I would like to add an additional unit of British musketeers and a brigadier for the Hessian contingent but I'll have to see how it goes. Wish me luck!

British 6pdr WIP (1)

2010-06-10T18:19:00.004+01:00

Here's a shot of my British 6pdr I'm working on. It's not quite finished yet but I've dry brushed the chassis and gun barrel (I'll need to do this again as I've got a bit of blue on it) and just have the metal left to do. I'm also debating whether or not to use the Army Painter dip to add a bit of shading to it. As I've found in the past, dry-brushing does still show up after the AP is applied so I may give it a go. It will hopefully add a bit of depth and realism to the model. What do you think? If you have any suggestions or recommendations please leave a comment at the foot of this post.

Below are two of the three part-completed crew. I've painted the flesh, coats and dry-brushed their ropes (I may make these slightly lighter in colour depending on the feedback I get). I'm a little worried about whether or not the blue of the coats is right. It seems a little too blue, as in the primary colour blue. Should look OK if I dip it with the dark tone and make it a little darker.

I'm hoping to have this painted and based by the weekend. That reminds me, I still need to order some more paint to paint the base with and get some more scatter material!

Please let me know what you think and leave any comments or suggestions below.

Tough Northerner

2010-06-04T17:23:00.002+01:00

Here's a picture of one of the 'workers militia' I varnished this morning from Musketeer Miniatures. He could be used in Very British Civil War games and other engagements during the 1930s and 40s. This is part of one of my many other projects but this one is currently on an indefinite hiatus.

I thought you might like to see it as he's got a gun! Also because he was painted using the Army Painter 'dip' technique. This one however wasn't highlighted after the dip, just varnished.

Expect an AWI update on either Sunday or Monday.

Clinton's Brigade at Bunker Hill and Partizan!

2010-06-01T09:29:00.006+01:00

Here's a quick update of what I've been working on this weekend. I've been filing and trimming and I can hardly make out my own finger prints anymore! I've tried to be as systematic as possible when it comes to this project and so am working on a single brigade at a time. Hopefully these smaller targets will make the larger one not seem so daunting! First up - Clinton's Brigade.

This is a shot of how I'd like to base the brigade commander, Clinton. This is one of the standard infantry bases. I want to mount him like this because, if you assault fixed positions in 'British Grenadier', you need your Brigadier to be attached to your unit in order to rally off 'disruption points' or else your unit will run!

This is how he will look at the end of the 2nd Marines. Seamlessly blending in at the end of the line and looking rather good wouldn't you agree? Brigadiers are meant to be based singly, but I always like to add a little drama to a base (the guy at the front of the base is almost saying "What took you so long, sir?" and Clinton is replying "Well, I'm bloody well here now aren't I. Let's just get on with it").

This photo shows Clinton's Brigade; Clinton himself on the left, then the 63rd and then the 2nd Marines. Each unit contains 20 miniatures.

I aim to paint four figures in an evening, meaning I can complete a unit in a week (allowing for basing at the weekends) but we'll see how long that lasts!

In other news, it was Partizan at Kelham Hall in Newark on Sunday (arguably one of the best wargames shows out there). I picked up a tin of the 'dark tone' Army Painter as Secundus (Iron Mitten) recommends it for highlighting the red coats of the British so I can now get underway with my ambitious project! I have also purchased some tree stumps for use on bases as scenic pieces from the very friendly people at Redoubt Enterprises.

I took my camera to the show but stupidly forgot to take any photos (there were some great games there!). I also forgot to pick up a few packs of command figures and other bits and bobs from the Perrys. D'oh! I did however meet Paul Darnell of Touching History fame who was a lovely chap and gave me lots of hints and tips for when I come to making the terrain boards for the project. I also wanted to meet Steve Jones of paintingshed as he'd sent me a very helpful email the week before, giving me step by step instructions of how he made his terrain boards. Unfortunately, Sunday lunch was waiting and I had to rush off. Sorry Steve!

Bunker Hill Terrain Project

2010-05-22T10:56:00.007+01:00

As I'll eventually be re-fighting the battle of Bunker Hill, I'll need some terrain. I've decided to try and recreate the battlefield as closely to how it originally looked as I can. I've done a bit of research and found a couple of images of what the redoubt and battlefield looked like at the time. Hopefully this will aid you if you want to recreate it too and may save you some time! Any posts with anything to do with the terrain project will be tagged the same, making it easier to find related posts. Each image is annotated below.

This image supposedly shows the layout of the redoubt which sat on Bunker Hill (it's unclear whether they actually mean Breed's Hill as they were often confused with each other as the fighting actually look place here and not on Bunker Hill). From all other sources I've read, this looks a little too elaborate for the earthworks which topped Breed's Hill. The redoubt and other defences were hastily erected and seem to consist of a mostly square redoubt with fleches so I'm inclined to ignore this image as it doesn't seem to fit the accounts.

This image is the most interesting and arguably the most historically accurate. Whilst showing the positioning of all the units and location of key features such as roads, the militia's defenses, brick kilns and marsh, it also shows where the British artillery was located and on which areas of the battlefield they were firing. This is represented by the lines which cross the map. It shows the cannon on Copps Hill across the river firing on the Redoubt and the 12 pdrs on Morton's Hill firing on the rail fence and the breastwork. You can also see the ships of the Navy and where they shelled. This image also gives a clear view of the defenses and redoubt, clearly showing the fleches on one side of the redoubt. This is probably how I will recreate the battlefield.

This image shows the possible shape of the defenses but doesn't show any fleches. It does however show the first attack and initial battle plan which was to try and flank the defenders and envelop them.

This image shows more of the same; the location of the forces and the relation of each terrain piece to the other (I didn't realise quite how far back the rail fence was from the redoubt!). The numbers of troops involved and each side's losses and included at the bottom of the map.

I want to include as much detail as I can in regards to the specific location of certain terrain pieces in relation to the others and make sure I include things like the roads, brick works, marsh and elevation as well of the most important terrain piece - the redoubt! I bought Paul Darnell's Touching History terrain-making guides which will prove very useful when starting out and I look forward to getting underway with this! I hope this post has been useful to you and has provided you with some interesting reading material!

Interesting viewing

2010-05-15T21:59:00.005+01:00

For those of you who are interested in British history and that of the English Civil War in particular, if you tune in to Channel 4 at 5:30pm tomorrow (Sunday 16th May), you'll be able to view a Time Team special on the siege of Hopton Castle in Shropshire.

This photo (Copyright 2006, Lawson Clout) shows the castle, where 28 Parliamentarians held out against a force of five hundred Royalists for two weeks before being tricked into surrendering in exchange for their lives - only to be slaughtered as they left the building. In the programme, presented by Tony Robinson, the team uncover evidence of three fierce battles and search for the final resting place of the massacred defenders.

This programme should make for some very interesting Sunday afternoon viewing and will shed some light on this little known but intriguing Civil War encounter.

Sudan Project

2010-05-07T17:38:00.008+01:00

Inspired once again by the work of another (Paul Darnell at Touching History), I've bought a couple of packs of British Infantry in the Sudan from Perry Miniatures. I've always wanted to do something in the colonial era ever since watching Zulu as a kid and thought The Sudan, rather than South Africa, gave me more flexible options such as wider range of troop types, tactics and opponents.

The packs I bought (pictures below) will form the start of a small British army I have planned and this will be expanded once these are painted up. I have already thought of a scenario. These British are suprised and caught out side of their camp and so have to form up in ranks to hold off the Mahdist horde. I also want to have a small town which is garrisoned by Naval and native allied troops which has come under attack from the Mahdist forces and possibly some cavalry action somewhere.

The photos below come direct from Perry's website and show the packs of British I bought. Cost me about £32 I think and that included (super speedy) postage and packaging.

This is the command pack. Some will be stood with the volleying firing line and others with the rear guard and throughout the makeshift defences.

These two packs will form the volley-firing firing line which will unleash volley after volley upon the Mahdist hordes. Can't wait to get started on these and use cotton wool on the gaming table!

This is what my British forces will look like, in the traditional Red tunic. I've done some research and it would be historically accurate to still use these tunics for the Sudan. These figures will defend the part of the perimeter which isn't under attack as guards, evenly spaced out.

This was a very interesting pack which features a stretcher team and a makeshift 'hospital' of sorts which I just had to have to add a little drama and realism to the game I'm planning.

With the plastic Mahdists the Perry brothers and currently producing for sale in a couple of months, I should be able to create a large native force at a much reduced rate than currently available through their metal range.

Dip technique - 28mm Renegade ECW Pikeman

2010-04-08T13:42:00.005+01:00

Here is my first attempt at trying to recreate the dip-highlight technique pioneered by Saxon Dog on an ECW pikeman from Renegade Miniatures. I feel I've done well and managed to paint a figure of a similar standard to that achieved by Mr Dog by highlighting after a layer of Army Painter or 'dip' was applied.

The base colours are blocked in and the dip is then lightly brushed over the figure and left to dry for 24 hours (this drying time is of vital importance! If not left to dry, the dip will crack when varnished). Once dried, the lighter colours are essentially painted over rather than highlighted, only leaving the recesses with the darker original colour (this is shown pretty well on the second photo on the satchel strap). A coat of matte varnish is then applied to finish the miniature. I only highlighted the buff and yellow as the dip made them look very muddy. The highlighting had little effect on the dark trousers so I decided not to bother.

The key to using the dip, I feel, is to use as few colours as possible. As you can see, I used the same colour for the buff coat as for the satchel and the sword attachment/strap. I found I was using too many colours for my AWI infantry and this didn't really work well with the dip so I may try and minimise on colours, sacrificing a little historical accuracy for a better aesthetic effect on these figures.

Feel free to leave any thoughts or suggestions and I'll get back to you.

WIP shot - Pikeman

2010-04-01T16:55:00.004+01:00

This pic shows the test figure I was working on a few days ago. He's a Renegade miniature with a pike from Foundry I think. Didn't take too long to paint. He's been blocked in and dipped. He now just needs highlighting post-dip in a way similar to the technique Saxon Dog uses and then matte varnished.

On a 60mm base of pike, there will be 5 pikemen, a drummer and a flag bearer. There will be 6 musketeers on each of the two remaining bases that will make up a unit.

The picture doesn't really do the figure justice and is only half-finished. Expect more photos next week when the whole base should be finished and i'll have made a start on the musketeers.

Feel free to leave your thoughts and comments and I'll get back to you.

English Civil War Project

2010-03-14T10:38:00.003Z

Photo: Jeff Parker, English Civil War Society

Inspired by a recent visit to the Royal Armouries museum in Leeds and the rather incredible blog of Saxon Dog, my Dad and I decided to have a go at a small English Civil War project. Nothing too big, just a couple of units on each side, just enough to capture the feel of the period.

There's a lot of ECW history in the area, being so close to Newark and Grantham and then there's the siege of Lincoln Castle which is just down the road. It didn't last very long, the besieging forces blew a hole in the wall with their canons and the defenders surrendered immediately!

I have 4 regiment packs from Renegade Miniatures, each costing £11.95 for 24 metal figures! A bargain in my eyes. To buy the same number of figures for one regiment from another manufacturer such as Bicorne Miniatures would have cost me as much as the four packs from Renegade. I think I prefer the sculpts of the Bicorne models ever so slightly but cost always wins in my books, unfortunately. I do have a unit of 9 cavalry figures from Bicorne, as they are much better than those available from Renegade by a long way.

I will be trying to get as much of this project completed in my Easter holidays but before I do that, I need your help! I wondered if anyone could recommend any ECW rules? I would one day love to write my own rules for the period but that takes time! I also need to know how best to base my figures. The unit packs from Renegade include 4 command figures, 6 pikemen and 14 musketeers but I can't really work out how best to base them. One idea I had was to decrease the size of the units to 20 and base the figures on 60x60 bases with 6 on one, and 7 on the other two. That sound OK? The problem will come when a rule set is chosen and if this doesn't really fit.

Any help anyone could offer would be greatly appreciated!

Bunker Hill Project

2010-01-08T19:23:00.004Z

Seeing this post some time ago on the blog Tarleton's Quarter really inspired me to get into gaming the AWI period and helped to give me more of a focus for this project.

I bought a copy of the 'British Grenadier' rules which Giles uses (these seem to be very popular with a lot of other AWI players too) which includes a number of scenarios, one of which allows the recreation of the battle of Bunker Hill, originally fought on 17th June 1775 using a 1:20 scale.

This post will list all the figures I need to recreate the battle and I will keep coming back to it to cross off each unit as it is bought and painted.

British Forces
2nd Marines [~~Purchased~~/Painted]
28th Foot [~~Purchased~~/Painted]
43rd Foot [~~Purchased~~/Painted]
52nd Foot [~~Purchased~~/Painted]
63rd Foot [Purchased/Painted]
Light Infantry [Purchased/Painted]
Grenadiers [~~Purchased~~/Painted]
Royal Artillery 6 pdrs [~~Purchased~~/Painted]
Royal Artillery 12 pdrs [Purchased/Painted]

American Forces
1st Militia [~~Purchased~~/Painted]
2nd Militia [~~Purchased~~/Painted]
3rd Militia [~~Purchased~~/Painted]
Skirmishers [Purchased/Painted]
3 pdr gun [Purchased/Painted]
4th Militia [Purchased/Painted]
5th Militia [Purchased/Painted]
6th Militia [Purchased/Painted]

Welcome!

2010-01-08T18:58:00.001Z

This blog was created with the intention of documenting my foray into 18th Century wargaming from WAB Ancients. I intend to refight battles from the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745 and the American War of Independence in 1775 using the 'British Grenadier' rules.

My first aim is to build two opposing armies for the Bunker Hill scenario in the 'British Grenadier' rule book which should give me a good base of figures to push on with and play some of the others listed in the rule book.

The blog will be updated regularly with pictures of completed units, vignettes, battle reports and anything else modeling/wargaming related.

Please 'follow' the blog to keep up to date with what's happening and feel free to leave comments/feedback as I'm eager to know what you think.