IABSM AAR: Belgium 1944
/Here a set of pcitures taken from the IABSM Facebook Group showing moments from Rod Redden’s latest game. It’s Belgium 1944, and 11th Armoured Division with 1st Airborne support takes on 2nd SS Division.
More Classical Indians
/I’ve had a chance to paint up another couple of longbow bases for the Classical Indians.
These are 15mm figures from Museum Miniatures “Z” range, and very nice they are too. I’ve painted them with GW Contrast Paints, and mounted them as elements of vehicle bases from Warbases. Most of the basing materials come from Boontown.
The fleshtone comes from a 50:50 mix of Cygor Brown and Fyreslayer Flesh. I’m getting more confident with mixing the Contrast paints now.
One more base of longbowmen to go, and then on to the Maiden Guard.
IABSM AAR: Poland 1944
/Over the last couple of weeks, Des Darkin has been playing out an excellent looking game of I Ain’t Been Shot Mum on the IABSM Facebook Group.
I say IABSM, but Des has actually been playing using his variant I Ain’t Been CoC’d Mum Yet, which uses dice rather than card activation. That variant is available in the Lard 2019 Magazine.
Click on the picture below to a full AAR, combining the four posts that Des made as he played through the game…
TTS AAR: Romans vs Sumerians
/With lockdown back upon us and Daughter #1’s boyfriend back at University, my only potential opponent for a battle was Daughter #2. A little bit of gentle arm-twisting persuaded her to abandon the questionable delights of K-Pop YouTube videos and join me in the wargaming room for a game of To The Strongest.
I wanted to use two of my newest armies: the Sumerians and the Marian Romans. I politely gave her the choice, thinking she was bound to go for the Sumerians with their exciting four-onager chariots, axemen etc, but instead she chose the more space-invader like Romans. I felt a little disappointed here, as I’d wanted to play them, especially as I know hoe good they are. Competitive Dad? Well, you have to take your victories where you can!
Both sides deployed. The Sumerians looked their usual impressive selves: the blocks of citizen spearmen supported by light infantry; the aforementioned chariots; and three units of axemen or archers.
The Romans, under the so-called Beardless Pro-Consul, looked a little ragged by comparison, which just shows that appearances can be deceptive:
The Game
Both sides opened the battle by advancing forward smartly.
In the centre, my heavy chariots headed straight for the oncoming Romans, hoping to hit them whilst they were deployed with gaps in their battle line. Apparently not all my chariot units were equally keen on getting stuck in, so there were holes in my line too, but I didn’t think this was a problem as I reckoned that being mounted meant that any stragglers would catch up fast.
On my right flank, some equites saggiarii tried to sneak past my flank, but were blocked and eventually destroyed by my lights:
On my left, however, two units of Gallic Cavalry had a bit more room to play with, getting past my flank, and causing me (along with some Cretan archers) huge problems for the rest of the battle.
Note the Gallic horse right out on the right of the picture. They have got past my flank and forced me to deploy my reserve to face them.
Back to the centre, and the two lines came together with a mighty crash. Unfortunately, the mighty crash mostly involved smashing chariots as, using their excellent manoeuvrability, the Roman legionaries snapped into an unbroken and pilum-toting line of heavy infantry. Who new Daughter #2 knew what she was doing!
I pulled back in an attempt to re-organise but, of course, this just gave the Romans a chance to reorganise themselves and to then slam forward once more, again using their quality and agility to always be in the right place at the right time with the right units. I tell you, if you can’t get round the flank of the Romans (which I had singularly failed to do) then you are in big trouble: the Roman mincing machine makes, er, mincemeat out of anything it faces!
Here’s a series of pictures showing what happened in the centre:
I did have a couple of light units pushing past the Roman left flank but all that happened was that one double cohort of legionaries swung neatly sideways to face them, and without the help of the other light unit (who had been previously occupied in finishing off the horse archers) I was not going to get anywhere anytime soon.
But it was on my left flank that I was most in trouble.
I had managed to get my reserve into play in order to head off one lot of Gauls from rolling me up but, just at the critical moment, luck deserted me, and two of my brigades drew consecutive Aces at the start of their activations.
This left me unable to get anything done, and the Gauls closed in, hitting my blocking force from both front and back:
And that, really, was that: my left collapsed, my centre crumpled and I haemorrhaged coins faster than you can say “bloody Romans”!
Aftermath
A great game of To The Strongest despite my somewhat embarrassing defeat! Showcased how good the Romans can be in a straight up fight where their flanks are safe.
First of the Classical Indians
/Regular visitors will know that I consoled myself for the pain of the new lockdown (no training, no wargaming) with the purchase of new 15mm Ancients army to be used with To The Strongest.
The army I chose was Museum Miniatures relatively new “Z” range of Classical Indians: the “Z” means that they were CAD designed rather than being sculpted. I’ve been really happy with my “Z” Sumerians, really happy with the “Z” Greeks, so after painting a Baueda Marian Roman army, I was very much looking forward to the “Z” Indians.
And I was right to do so.
They are a dream to paint. The detail is excellent, and they take the paint really easily. These first two units, both of longbowmen, were each completed in a day (one Saturday, one Sunday) and I could have fitted a third in if I’d really tried.
I decided to break away from the way all my other Ancients armies are based (to the old Vis Bellica basing) and go with what had worked really well for my English Civil War armies: one element per unit on a nice big base.
I also decided to go a bit mad with the basing. I usually shove a layer of GW basing material on then dry brush a light shade on top, with flock or a tuft or two for decoration. Here, however, I went for it in a big way: same basing material and dry brush, but with patches of little stones pushed into the basing material before its dry (with watered down PVC on top to hold the stones in place). Then I added three different types of tuft, and two different type of flock roughly mixed together. I think it looks quite good.
To give you everything, these are 15mm Museum Miniatures Classical Indian longbowmen with infantry command. They are painted with GW Contrast Paints, with the excellent fleshtone achieved by with a 50/50 mix of Fyreslayer Flesh and Cygor Brown. The base is from Warbases (a vehicle base) with the flock etc from a variety of suppliers.
I’m quite happy with these, and looking forward to doing the rest.
Painting Challenge Update & More Deliveries
/Time for a Painting Challenge update, and some of you have been using the new lockdown wisely!
Check out the individual galleries for a complete look at what’s been submitted over the last couple of weeks, but here’s some highlights:
Keep them coming: only a few weeks until the end of the year and thus the end of this year’s Challenge.
More Deliveries
Those of you who are regular readers will know that I ordered a whole load of lockdown supplies on the first Sunday of the new restrictions, and we’ve been keeping tabs on how the eight or so people I ordered from have been doing.
Wayland Games were the next supplier to deliver, coming in in sixth place with an envelope containing basing materials and flock. It’s all still pretty impressive stuff as I can remember the time when it was “allow 28 days for delivery” and you were lucky if it arrived then!
So far, therefore, we have:
1. Boontown (3 days)
2. Warbases (4 days)
3. Magister Militum (5 days)
4= Games Workshop (6 days)
4= Museum Miniatures (6 days)
6. Wayland Games (10 days)
IABSM AAR: Battle for Mount Ormel
/Here’s a great battle report from Dan Albrecht and friends, first published on the IABSM Facebook Group.
The game is taken from the Falaise Firestorm scenanario book from Skirmish Campaigns, and involves action around Mount Ormel in the Falaise Gap.
Click on the pic below to see all:
ECW Limbers
/After playing quite a few games of For King & Parliament, I realised that I could really do with a couple of bases to represent limbered, and therefore still capable of moving, artillery bases.
For my 19thC and WW2 armies, I don’t usually bother with anything fancy: just a limber and team that I can place behind the deployed gun model, but the way that I have based my ECW troops in elements required a little more…especially as limbered guns are long as opposed to wide.
As you can see from the picture, above, I decided to use my special Warbases double-deep vehicle bases and create mini vignettes: each of the two artillery pieces that will deploy supported by a couple of ammo wagons.
The guns, ammo wagons, carters and teams all came from the Hallmark range via Magister Militum, with a few spare Peter Pig artillerymen scattered around the base to dress it up a bit. The command figures are from Hallmark as well.
The size of the base makes a really substantial feature for the table, and suits how slow artillery in FK&P is to get into position and deploy.
Can’t wait to try them out, but that will have to wait until after lockdown…!
GW Contrast Paints & my ECW Collection/More Deliveries
/Squadpainter, in his kind comment yesterday, asked which GW Contrast paints I used when painting my 15mm ECW collection. That sounds like a good excuse for a post, so here’s a list of what I used…
Undercoat: I favour the Grey Seer over the Wraithbone only because I don’t think you get as much show-through on the weaker colours, but I use either dependent on supplies! It’s expensive compared to the car primers from Halfords that I used to use, but does take the Contrast Paints superbly. Pay the extra: it’s worth it.
Note that Contrast Paints are not actually paints, but more glazes. This means that they are comparatively fragile and painted figures really do need a coat of varnish before hitting the table.
Skintones: There are three fleshtones in the range, I use Darkoath Flesh for caucasian skin.
Uniforms & Hats
I used colours from across the entire range. Some of my units are in bright, fancy uniforms; some use more muted colours.
The buttons at the back are not separately painted: it’s how the Contrast Paint works.
I found the best red to use was Fleshtearers Red; I found the worst green was Militarum Green. Creed Camo is a nice green; and all the greys and blues are lovely. Nazdreg Yellow is a surprising choice, but works very well.
I never really got on with Apothecary White: I generally ended up having to drybrush a standard acrylic white over an Apothecary White to get the effect I wanted. I do know that Apothecary White works really well for larger figures, so maybe it’s just the way I paint 15s that is the problem.
Hodder Grey: the uniform coats of my Scots Covenantors are nearly all Space Wolves Grey, with Ultramarine Blue bonnets. Trousers etc differ.
Note the jerkins
Jerkins: Aggaros Dunes makes a great colour for the ubiquitous, sleeveless leather jerkin.
Smocks & Leggings: Skeleton Horde makes a good off-white colour for faded linens.
Boots & Shoes: all are Wyldwood.
Equipment
All wood: I use Goregrunta Fur for anything wooden. Pike handles, muskets, limbers etc.
All leather: Snakebite Leather.
Horses
I have two types of standard brown horse. Both use Cygor Brown diluted 50/50 with Technical Contrast Medium. One type of standard brown horse then gets the legs up to the knee, mane and tail painted black; the other just has the mane and tail painted black, with an odd number of standard acrylic white socks and a standard acrylic white star or blaze on the forehead.
Black horses use Black Templar, with a standard acrylic black mane and tail, and then an uneven number of standard acrylic white socks and a standard acrylic white star or blaze on the forehead. Be warned, Black Templar is fairly fragile, and will easily be scraped off, so a little care when handling painted-but-not-yet-varnished horses is required.
Dun horses can be achieved with Aggaras Dunes, with legs up to the knee, mane and tail painted black.
Just make sure they aren’t wearing jerkins!
Hopefully that will give you a head start on which colours to use.
More Deliveries
The story so far: a load of lockdown loot ordered from eight different manufacturers/suppliers last Sunday. On Wednesday, Boontown won the race to be the first to deliver, and on Thursday the ever-reliable Warbases came in second.
Today we can add three more to the list. Yesterday Magister Militum delivered me some more ECW figures from their Hallmark range; and today we have a tie for 4th place with a re-stock in paints from Games Workshop, and the raw lead for my new Classical Indian army from Museum Miniatures.
Not mine: picture from the Museum Miniatures website. Now that I have seen them in the lead, I can confirm that they are truly lovely figures.
So far, therefore, we have:
1. Boontown (3 days)
2. Warbases (4 days)
3. Magister Militum (5 days)
4= Games Workshop (6 days)
4= Museum Miniatures (6 days)
Still pretty impressive stuff!
More Scottish Pike/Warbases Deliver!
/Here’s another unit for my 15mm ECW Scots Covenanter army: a second pike-only battalia.
The fine-looking pikemen are from the Hallmark range via Magister Militum; and the command figures are Peter Pig. These are painted mainly with GW Contrast Paints, with just the metalwork being normal acrylics.
As regards everything else, the flag is a custom order from Maverick, the pikes are from Northstar, the heather is from Boontown (see yesterday’s post for more) , the base is from Warbases (see below for more), and the flock is from Hobby Round.
Warbases Deliver!
The story so far: a load of lockdown loot ordered from eight different manufacturers/suppliers last Sunday. On Wednesday, Boontown won the race to be the first to deliver, and yesterday the ever-reliable Warbases came in second with my order of vehicle bases (which I use for 15mm elements such as the pike, above) and a packet of command bases.
So far, therefore, we have:
Boontown (3 days)
Warbases (4 days)
Pretty impressive stuff!
Boontown Delivers!
/I mentioned in my last post that as we are all facing another lockdown month without wargaming, I had consoled myself by buying a new 15mm army to paint along with a general re-stocking of materials. I made purchases from about eight different manufacturers/suppliers in all, and thought it would be interesting to see who’s package arrived first.
Well the clear winner is Boon Town Metals: basing materials ordered Sunday afternoon, box arrived today, Wednesday morning.
Boon Town Metals offer a range of 15mm sci-fi figures (I have their sci-fi Dwarf Clansmen) and a range of basing materials, including the “tufts” you can see above, which I what I had ordered.
The tufts are excellent quality, and there is currently free delivery available as well. I have, by the way, found the best way to use them is combined with flock i.e. to cover the area to be flocked with glue, then put your tufts down on top of the glue, then put your flock on. That stops accidentally gluing flock onto the tufts.
Anyhow, visit the site: a wide selection of good quality basing materials is on offer.
Painting Challenge/New Lockdown
/I’m not very happy with the news that the UK is about to go into another lockdown. No martial arts clubs open, no wargamers allowed to travel/visit to game and, what’s worse, daughter#1’s boyfriend is stuck up in Edinburgh and also unavailable to either hold the pads or play a wargame!
It may also put the final nail in the coffin of a load of businesses, maybe even the one I work for. When I said I wanted more time to train and game, I hadn’t meant it quite like that!
The only good news is that I used the announcement as an excuse to order another 15mm army to console myself. I’ve gone with Museum Miniatures CAD designed Classical Indians. I loved their CAD designed (what they call their “Z” ranges) Sumerians, so if the Indians have the same quality of sculpt and cast, I shall be very happy indeed. That meant, of course, that I had to re-stock on all my paint and basing supplies, as you can’t guarantee what can be available in lockdown. Forget hoarding toilet paper, I’m stocking up on Stirland Mud and summer flock!
We could all do with a bit of pre-lockdown inspiration, so here’s a selection of this week’s entries into the Painting Challenge. Full collection in the individual galleries (see the NAVBAR), but these give you an idea of the quality and quantity of what’s been submitted.
So, my fellow wargamers, grit your teeth and gird your loins: it’s only a month. Let’s see how much we can all paint in that time…
Scottish Lancers
/I’ve finally had a chance to finish a unit that’s been sitting on the painting table for almost a week: a unit of Scottish Lancers for my ECW Covenantor army.
The main body figures are from Khurasan’s ECW Scots & Irish range, painted mainly with GW Contrast Paints. The two command figures are Peter Pig. The flag is a custom design from Maverick. As I didn’t have a command figure holding a flag, and wrapping it around one of the lancers looked weird, I decided to have the chap on the left waving a cut-down version!
The unit is based for For King & Parliament on a Warbases vehicle base. The purple heather is from Boontown.
I also managed to paint up a Colonel’s command base for the troops: a couple of figures from Peter Pig:
These were painted in the same way as the Lancers, above.
IABSM AAR: Operation Compass #13: Bardia III
/Here’s another I Ain’t Been Shot Mum battle report from the A Wargamer in Cyprus blog. It’s another adaptation of one of the scenarios from the Operation Compass scenario pack: a third scenario from the Australian assault on the Italian fortress of Bardia.
16th Australian Infantry Brigade are within the Italian perimeter and have made some progress against a fairly irresolute defence. The Aussies have followed a wadi and discovered a second line of Italian defences ready for them. Click on the picture below to see what happens next:
FK&P AAR: Cock Marsh
/After the battle for Cookham Moor, the Parliamentarians have retreated in some disarray: falling back to a position where their rear and one flank is protected by the river Thames.
This protection, however, forms two sides of a potential cage, so the Royalists have hurried forward to do battle again, knowing that if the Roundheads break, there is nowhere, at least on two sides, for them to run.
Could this finally be the decisive battle that both sides have been seeking?
The Field of Battle
The action takes place on Cock Marsh: a bleak, wind-swept area of open ground between Winter Hill and the Thames. The lower slope of Winter Hill borders the south side of the battlefield. The north and part of the east side of the battlefield are bordered by the Thames i.e. impassable terrain. Any unit that is forced off-table into the Thames is lost.
The main part of the tabletop consists of moorland separated by hedgerows and the odd patch of trees. All hedgerows count as linear rough terrain. All wooded squares count as rough terrain. There are two Iron Age burial mounds on the Parliamentarian side of the field.
The Game
Postscript
I’d like to say that my (extremely heavy) defeat was all my fault, but that would be to underplay John’s skill at exploiting my errors.
I am now writing out one hundred times "Do not throw away your cavalry on a frontal charge against even or worse odds” whilst Sit Christopher and his surviving men drag themselves out of the water on the far side of the river!
A great game of For King & Parliament despite my defeat: 150 points a side played out in just over 90 minutes.
Robert Avery
Painting Challenge: Latest Update
/Lots of entries from the “hard core” of Painting Challenge participants…so let’s see if those of you who don’t submit very often can get organised and send in your entries. After all, it will soon be Christmas and the end of the Challenge for another year!
Make sure you visit the individual galleries (links above in the NavBar) but here’s a selection from today’s entries:
Pike Only Battalia
/To round out my ECW forces, I thought I’d better have some pike-only battalia and, as my Scots need a bit of a boost, I thought I’d make them Scottish.
The main body of the unit is pikemen from Hallmark Figures via Magister Militum. The three command chaps are from Peter Pig. They are painted mostly with GW Contrast paints, and mounted as a For King & Parliament element on a “vehicle base” from Warbases. The pikes are from North Star, the flag is a custom order from Maverick, and the heather is from Boontown.
IABSM AAR: Anzio 'Wildcat to Whale' #02: Carroceto
/Here’s a great I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum AAR from Tim Whitworth and his friends at The War Room featuring the second scenario from the Anzio ‘Wildcat to Whale’ scenario pack.
At dawn on 25th January 1944, the Guards Brigade, headed by Number 1 Company of the Grenadiers and with Shermans from one squadron of 46th Royal Tank Regiment (crewed mainly by Welshmen from Liverpool) in support headed back towards Aprilia. Using the embankment of the disused railway line (the “Bowling Alley”) as their start point, they first had to take Carroceto.
Click on the picture below to see how they did…
IABSM AAR: Operation Goodwood Day 2
/Here’s a great little battle report from Julian Whippy and friends, taken from the IABSM Facebook Group, featuring a game they managed to put on despite the current COVID restrictions.
Click on the picture below to see all:
More Dutch Horse
/This weekend I finally had the chance to get back to the painting table and polish off another unit of “Dutch” horse for my 15mm ECW collection.
The figures are Hallmark from Magister Militum, painted with GW Contrast Paints.
As with all my ECW figures, I mounted them as a For King & Parliament element on a Warbases Vehicle Base. They are lovely and chunky to move around the tabletop, but I am somewhat terrified of dropping one!
Whilst I was waiting for the paint to dry between colours on the above, I also managed to paint a command base for my Scots Covenantor force. Here I used the Peter Pig special Scots pack of ensign, preacher and dog and a Hallmark gentleman command figure.
I must remember to brush off the spider’s web before photographing!
These came out quite well, and I do love the preacher. One thing I must remember to do, however, is to brush off the bits of errant spider’s web that the varnish picks up when I’m spraying in the garage before photographing the figures. It comes off easily, but you can barely see it in normal light…or at least that’s my excuse.
Onto some pike-only units now.
