King Henry V

So it's the final days of the challenge and two entries to go for me. Here's one that is very near and dear to me:

King Henry V

of England

Actually this figure has been lying on my lead pile for ages. I've bought it a while ago when I saw that wonderful sculpt by Alan Perry but I didn't find the time to paint it. But since Henry V by Kenneth Branagh is one of my - if not just my - favourite movie I always regretted not paying attention to it.

Now after our ACW project came to a temporary end I took the time to splash some paint onto Harry. The figure is part of Perry Miniatures' AO01 set from their Agincourt range. He's a mounted 28mm figures of two parts: Horse and Harry. Since I didn't like the original horse delivered with my set I changed it to a more 'royal' breed with nicer horse tack.

Focussing on the single miniature was pure joy again. The sculpt is tremendously detailed and Alan even managed to work out an indication of Harry's coat of arms. Thus it was difficult but at least possible to paint his surcoat properly. I hope you like my humble piece of work.

Last but not least let me deliver the two scenes I watched / listened to over and over while painting this figure:

That's it for now. Besides: God for England, Harry and Saint George!!

Union Troops for Tactica

Main part of my winter efforts were troops for our presentation game at Tactica in Hamburg in February. Namely ACW Union troops. Somehow I didn't manage to post the units step by step so I'll present them all in one go now.

Infantry

For our game we needed several units of Union infantry. So I promised my friend Holger to deliver two 24 men units respectively four units of 12 figures. One of the units was painted before the Painting Challenge started but the other was to enter and leave the painting table around Christmas. Here it is:

The unit is made of 24 figures from the Perry Miniatures plastic boxes. Here obviously mainly skirmishing poses from box ACW120. Of course it's a bunch of work to clean and assemble all those parts but they deliver a wonderful variety of combinations to create unique units.

Two bases carry the colours. One the Union flag and one the regimental flag. They are by top-notch flag maker GMB Designs who delivers some of the best flags on the market. I decided to split the colours to have them truely in the centre of the unit when fielding all six bases. When using two 12 men units then each of them keeps one flag. To my mind that looks better than having two flags in a smallish unit of three bases.

The whole unit is based with for figures per 40mm x 40mm base. Somehow that took root as our standard basing for Blackpowder games.

Artillery

Every infantry brigade need a certain amount of artillery support. Thus I prepared three guns and four crew men per piece.

Two of the guns were based properly and with its crew properly attached to the base. The figures and guns are again by Perry Miniatures and come from their excellent plastic box. It contains enough parts to build three guns, three limbers and 18 crew. It is also versatile enough to produce either Union or Confederate artillery.

With the describtion from the leavlet it's possible to build figures according to the ACW artillery drill which I did more or less.

The third battery is kind of unfinished. The gun itself is painted as the other pieces are but the crew is kind of substitute. All four figures are completely painted but actually they are the remaining crewmen of the first two guns. They are meant to operate the limbers but in this time of dearth they were ordered to handle the third gun. Thus they haven't been based yet...

Command Vignettes

Those reliable Yanks needed some commanding officers of course. For our game I had the honour and pleasure to deliver a brigade commander and a divisional commander. The first one was made from the plastic sprue that the Perrys deliver when ordering Blackpowder 2 from them:

Actually I wanted to give him a standard bearer aside but then I noticed that this plastic figure is significantly smaller then the metal cavalry figures. Thus he had to stay on his own and I mounted him on a rund 40mm base. Nevertheless it's a wonderful frame. It has enough parts to build a Union or Confederate officer and has a large variety of options. Additionally it's compatible with the plastic boxes delivering even more options. For this very special incarnation of a Union colonel I used the plastic figure as a base, assembled another head and made shoulder straps and collar from greenstuff. Actually the figure comes with seperate plastic shoulder straps but I cut them when I tried to loosen them from the sprue so I had to sculpt new ones.

However our division needed a commander so I made another base representing this honourable officer:

Here we have three mounted soldiers. All by Perry Miniatures as well: One mounted general, a standard bearer and a trumpeter. The officer comes from one of the mounted generals sets while the soldiers are actually cavalrymen in sack coates. From my humble point suitable enough for an escort.

This time the flag isn't by GMB. It's rather a product of yours truely himself because he forgot to order the correct standard and didn't realise it until it was too late. Thus there was no other way then printing the flag by himself. Anyway I'm rather satisfied with the result.

Summary

Well that's it. In addition to the priorly painted unit all the stuff I brought to Tactica and main project this winter:

• 24 men unit of infantry. Flags by GMB only glued to shape and edges repainted. Whole unit based on 40mm x 40mm bases with four figures per base.
• 3 artillery pieces and 12 crewmen. Two guns with crew based on scenic bases, one gun and four crewmen unbased.
• 1 mounted brigade commander. Based on 40mm round base. Multi-part plastic figure with converted head. Collar and rank insignia resculpted with greenstuff.
• 3 men divisional command vignette. Three mounted figures. Standard self-made. Based on an oval base of 100mm x 50mm

Having finished those in time really made me happy and maybe kind of proud. Although my club fellows brought more figures by far, it was the largest amount of figures I provided to a presentation game until now. We'll set up ACW for another small convention in Germany again and I'm looking forward to seeing my Yanks on the field again. In Hamburg they earned their stripes and helped to win the day twice.

This blog needs a doctor... John Watson at your service!

It's far too long since I posted some lines here. Maybe a last attempt to bring this blog to live again...

At Tactica 2018 some fellows and me presented a participation game featuring the 2nd Anglo-Afghan War. To decorate the battlefield we wanted some vignette which lead me to the humble piece.

Since I've already added a detachment of the 66th Regiment of Foot (the unlucky Berkshire regiment) it was a no-brainer that I had to add Dr Watson as well (in the introduction of "A Study in Scarlet" it's mentioned that Watson served with the 66th and was wounded during the battle of Maiwand).

The vignette is based on the excellent hospital set which Perry Miniatures have in their Sudan range. After consulting a couple of reference books and an interesting conversation with sculptor Michael Perry who is very studied regarding the mentioned conflict I realized that the only real hindrance might be the helmets and the characteristic puggree. Luckily in their NWF plastic set there is an officer’s head with a cap bearing a 66 (for the 66th Regiment) which I put on Watson’s body after removing the given pit helmet. Although the neck looks a bit strange I’m rather satisfied with my humble conversion work.

The stretcher bearer who's standing by had the puggree just grinded away slightly. Then I painted it khaki to resemble the helmets with the iconic covers.

As usual I employed mostly Vallejo Model colours as well as the splendid set of skin colours Wargames Foundry is offering. Finally I added a coat of matt varnish and a couple of grass tufts and a couple of pieces of clump foliage.

Cheers
Stefan

Rowing Boat with 13 men crew and 26 infantry passengers

Another humble contribution for our February show game in Hamburg was one of the rowing boats Perry Miniatures released last autumn. It a pretty piece sculpted by Alan Perry to represent a Napoleonic British rowing boat used for several landing operations during the campaigns in Flanders, Egypt, Denmark and Spain as well as in the whole Carribean area:

The boat itself is a two part resin kit with six rowing seamen attached already. In addition there's a supplemantary set of six further seaman and a coxswain giving it a crew of 13 Royal Navy seamen.

However the boats were meant to transport troops so troops were needed to man the 28mm equivalent as well. For this purpose Alan created two sets of sitting redcoats which fits perfectly on the boat's benches. One of the set comes with 18 soldiers joint to thress or fours while the other contains eight solitary figures to supply bow and stern with brave Brits. Altogether the boat has a complete 26 figure infantry unit in addition to the 13 men Navy crew!

Painting the boat was a rather unusual experience. The Navy figures were pretty much business as usual. Although seated the rowers were complete figure that I painted more or less like any other 28mm miniature. But the strung readcoats were a challenge. On the one hand the missing feet made the surface to paint smaller which should cause time saving. But on the other hands the details were much more difficult to reach causing loos of time. After all I presume painting these chaps caught sligtly less time then painting 18 standing figures.

The solitary figures of course went in the normal manner. Especially the officers are wonderful sculpts wearing the top hat which feeld iconic for the early campaign especially the campaign in Egypt. For that reason I decided to use the 'old' pre-1801 colours. It is doubtful whether the units at Aboukir carried these or whether they had received new colours with the Irish Saint Andrew's cross early enough. Since I wanted to use the wonderful colours by GMB again I opted for the oldish version since the newer (Peninsular) version is already bearing the battle honour for Egypt.

On our table we had three of these boats in addition to two further rowing boats by Britannia and a British gunboat I built from Laserdreamworks nice lasercut kit.

Unfortunately the boat itself isn't appropriate as an entry since I started working on it before the challenge started. During late summer last year I assembled and painted the hull but didn't manage to complete my work.

During challenge time I reworked the cabin, created the mast and painted three artillery pieces for it. At least the guns might find consideration here.

Well... That's it for now. Of course my share of the Curtgeld project which Michael A., Sander and I executed mutually is pending but this will be brought to your attention by our most appreciated fellow Michael. Yours truly is working on a couple (ten...) T-72 tanks in 15mm but they'll not be finished until our challenge time runs out.

66th Rgt. of Foot finished... For now.

A while ago I presented a review of the British infantry plastics for 1877-1885 by Perry Miniatures and my first painted figures from the set (here). As some of you might remember I wanted to have a unit of those splendid figures painted as members of the 66th Regiment of Foot that fought a heroic battle near Maiwand on 27th July 1880. So here we go:

More 72nd Highlanders

After a lot of zombies here is a post about a historical theatre of war again. Finally my unit of 72nd Highlanders fills the ranks having nine brave Scotsmen ready for action now. This meaning that yours truly managed to finish six new figures by now:

AWI British - 6pdr gun finished

Lately I finished a set of Perry AWI figures: AW105 - British Royal Artillery aiming 6pdr

72nd Highlanders for NWF - First trio finished

During the last days I kept working on the first batch of my NWF 72nd Highlanders. 'First batch' actually means five figures but I've got some work to do on the sergeant and the drummer. So here are the leading officer and two privates:

Three men finished... Nine to go.

Tactica-Part 1 - Our tables and some special guests

Tactica 2015 was an awesome event. The show celebrated its 10th anniversary and the organisers got well deserved congratulations and presents from all around and everyone was in good mood. Thus it was a remarkable event in general but there were unique tables present as well.

During the two days I took far more than 100 pictures from which I'll present the best 50 here on the blog. But I'll split them into two posts: One today featuring the two games we brought to Hamburg and tomorrow or overmorrow some photos of the other tables.

So White Death to begin with:
After our game about Napoleon's retreat 1812  found a lot of recognition last year we decided to bring it again. Of course with a new table and new scenarios. This year we brought a 5m (about 15 ft.) table which represented Berezina River and its two banks:

Our table with a game running on the Eastern banks of Berezina River.

Looking westbound we installed a scene which showed the village Studjanka and the ersatz bridge the French built there. The streets of the village are absolutely overcrowded and dozens of stragglers were stupling towards the bridge. Actually this scene wasn't meant to be part of the game but it seemed to please the spectators very much:

Studjanka...

Hopeless stragglers.

On the Western banks there was a small cottage around which the last French cuirassiers gathered. On this part of the table it was the players' mission to detain the Russian attackers of Admiral Chichagov to buy enough time to allow a successful cavalry charge.

French cuirassiers gathering...

During the two days of the convention we had about seven games so about two dozens of players were able to join us for a game. Most of them seemed to have enjoyed the rules we designed and literally all were riveted by the collection of material we brought to Hamburg. Most of it from Bernhard's unique collection but with some additions of our club fellows Heinz, Holger and Michael as well as from me.

The first game running...

One of the highlights of the show was Saturday afternoon. A nice couple from Nottingham joined us for a game and so I had the great pleasure to participate a game with Michael and Alan Perry. Two really ordinary, sober and incredibly nice guys. Honestly a great pleasure to meet them again after I made their acquaintance last year and a very good game that we played together:

Bernhard, the twins and me.

Bernhard explaining the scenario... Yet they are in the mood for joking...

While my forces advance on the right flank, Alan and Michael attack the Russian center and left wing.

Some reinforcements: The last of the allied light cavalry on their way to the "Death Charge"

But the Perrys didn't come lonely from the UK. They brought two equally kind comerades. Sculpting hero Aly Morrison and master painter Peter Dennis. Especially Aly proved his patience when he explained me what new range he is working on. A miniature range for French forces in the 1820s for what he called "the war nobody knows" - The Franco-Spanish War of 1823. In addition he brought some greens of additions to his Crimean War range:

Aly working in his 1823 range.

1820s French army greens

Crimean War Frenchmen

Along with those three sculpters came Peter Dennis the master painter who is responsible for a lot of cover arts on wargaming boxes and for some Osprey illustrations as well. He was busy and very focused on his work all the time but a nice and polite fellow anyway. It was fascinating to see his paintings come to life over the day and on Sunday morning I had the honour to serve as a model for him. Well... I only had to pretend to hold a pencil like a drumstick but a nice experience anyway.

Peter Dennis working on the cover art for the Perrys' next plastic box "British Napoleonic Light Dragoons"

Four artists working... Michael and Alan on their 54mm figures for the ANZAC / Turk project.

Painted samples of the new Perry War of the Roses light cavalry - Awesome!

And one of the sprues... Interesting options!

But besides those well known guys some celebrities from the Lead Adventure Forum showed up. Some of the well-known moderators showed up and granted us the unexpected pleasure to make their personal acquaintance:

Richard (Cpt. Blood) chatting with our club fellow Michael (Admiral Benbow)

Captain Blood brought some of his excellently painted miniatures and presented them in on of the glass cabinets in the entrance hall. Unfortunately the lighting was rather poor but it was difficult to avert my gaze from his colourful creations:

On Sunday my visit in Hamburg received its second highlight when the LAF boys showed up for the second time and obviously were a bit idle. So we set up another game of White Death spontaneously and the trio delivered itself up to the Russian forces coming from the West. Those pleasant-natured gentlemen were very patient with my humble English and my fainting voice and we spent some great time. As Professor Witchheimer last year and Admiral Benbow always these fellows appeared as very fair and pleasant players. It was awesome to make their personal acquaintance and to see once more were the edges of our virtual world are: No social network can completely replace a real game with real fellows and real dice.

Me in illustrious company: Dr. the Viking, Malamute and Cpt. Blood

But besides White Death our club brought a dungeon which inhabited a course for Squigghopper race. The awesome board was built by our club fellow Georg with Hirstarts castings and used an improved version of the Squigghopper rules Games Workshop published a couple of years ago.

The game was pure fun and more than 50 visitors joined Georg and Kalle for a game or two or even more. Through the grapewine I heard that already there were challenges declared and gauntlets thrown down for next year's Tactica show.

After all it was an awesome weekend with my wargaming friends and a lot of nice fellows showing up in Hamburg. It was one of the rare occasions to make new acquaintance or revive older ones. Thus I can't wait to set sail for Tactica 2016...

During the next days I'll post the pictures I took of other table. Some real outstanding pieces of art so stay tuned !