The Works

Just a quick heads up for UK based (or visiting) boardgamers. The Works who are a discount bookshop have up for sale 20 or so different titles of games from Rio Grande and Queens Games all of which are £7.99 each. The games range from War of the Ring:The Dual (yes LotR's) two player to the large Euro's any one who have seen Rio Grande will recognise. Now these games are not the El Grande etc. end of their catalogue but some of them have good scores on BoardgameGeek so it's worth checking them out. They also have them on sale on their website but the range is much smaller.

I Picked up a couple, one for the kids and the other for the wife and plan to raid them again after Christmas as Cath would not buy me one.

Saka Horse Archers

I wanted to show off the 12 Saka 15mm horse archers that I finished painting last night. I could not wait till after they have been based as they are being mixed in with 22 other mixed horse archers which gives the battle groups a more irregular feel. Once based I will throw some more pics on as well as pics of the Persian HC that I have rebased and the Agema HC that I finished painting last week. No more painting for me till the 20th though, no Sir, until then it will be clean and spray, clean and spray.

I really like the pose and I think these are Museum Miniatures but in honesty I am not sure as I picked them up off e-bay a couple of weeks ago as I was short by two figures for the maximum. A few casting issues between them though. About half of them are missing the end of their feet (one and sometimes both) whilst two figures have a gap in the bow, a real shame when the figures overall are really good, maybe this was the reason for selling them.

Each figure is painted different which added a little to the time but not as much as expected. One thing I missed until half way through painting is the lack of reins which was a surprise. Still it was one less bit to paint right at the end. I blue tack my figures to bottle tops to aid painting, some 6mm go on lolly sticks. The kids step up to the challenge when ever I need either.

Another close shot and to be honest they do look better a little further away, but not to shoddy. These are now glued to their bases and awaiting the first stage of flocking.

Last close up, this time the other side of the figure, no side arm on these guys and the main difference between them and the others is the rug rather than cloth to sit on. These really add to the mix I have and are in the top three of 6 or more poses I have within the group. Looking forward to finishing them and getting them all snapped. I still plan to continue rebasing the Persians each time I come to base up a Macedonian unit as I have loads yet to do but already I have way more than the basic army done. Over the next week I hope to get a practice game in, my game with Barry has been postponed and Christmas will get in the way of some opportunities but at some point I will get these and others on a table. I have a game with Matt over the holiday period booked, just need a day but not what we will play as yet. Watch out for the next lot of pics!

Of Mice and men

OK OK I stole the title, but it does seem kind of right. Blog hopping as I do I found on one of my favorite blogs details of a painting competition I could enter and not only that but possibly hold my head high. No not a contest you have to be blind to join but one that is not based on quality of painting but amount you paint! Whilst I am not too shabby with my painting I am not in the league of some of the guys who run blogs so this contest was of interest. With a little digging I son wound that a friendly rivalry was going between not just this great blog I follow but another I really like as well. Great, I can have some of that! So over I go to the blog Analogue-Hobbies to check it out only to find it in the process of accepting the last entry. A quick sign up attempt and e-mail to confirm interest and lucky me I got in (20th entry). Well one more guy from Spain got in behind me so now we have 21 and that will be it.

The idea is that we have to paint as many figures as possible between 20th December and 20th March with points assigned based on size and a little fudging by the Judge for any reason he feels apply, which is reasonable enough given the shenanigans we wargamers are known for. Also we have to paint one of his figures for him, in this case a viking which I will look forward to doing for sure. The rules are fairly straight forward, figures can be cleaned and primed but no painting should have been started and have to be finished, that is based to count. We just send in a pic or three as we complete our figures and basically rib each other silly (well that's my plan). So since the joining I have been painting myself silly, after all I was about half way into 12 Saka horse archers and have 34 to base as well as a few Persian HC, well these are now all painted and the start of basing has been done. This time tomorrow they will be done and dusted.

Good Luck to my opponents and I am sure when the paint settles we will have all had the most fun and nearly as important a few more figures painted than otherwise.

Field of Glory go Napoleonic

Osprey/Slitherine will be releasing a set of Napoleonic rules to compliment their Ancients and Renaissance sets. These will be released in March of next year (in time for me Birthday). I could not get much from the website but it will use Battle Groups and mentions correct formations so I assume it will really be more directed at 15mm and larger, possibly 10mm but not block based 6mm. It will be interesting to see what comes from these rules and how they differ from The Ancients, but then again I have yet to get the Renaissance rules for my ECW army and don't feel any rush, first I need to get the Ancients down.

The rules are listed at £25 and can be pre-ordered via the Osprey Website.

The Battle of Foz d'Arouce, Preview.

Newstead Abby May 2011

The French under Ney, are being forced out of Portugal by Wellington's combined Anglo-Portuguese army. Late in the afternoon Wellington caught up with Ney as he was trying to get his army over the Rio Ceira at a small town of Foz d'Arouce. Normally this could be done via the bridge and the ford but due to the heavy rain the use of the ford is only possible by the Cavalry.

The French are drawn up ready to fight it out but are outnumbered and several regiments are already disorganised and have taken a pounding in the retreat so their combat effectiveness has been reduced. I as Nay will have to try and balance force preservation with the ability to hold the west bank of the river. Night is not far off but I am not sure this will be much help once battle is joined. Wellington (Barry) will try and drive my troops into the river smashing my force as I try to have one foot on either side of the river. Already outnumbered this really does no seem the smart thing to do but I am told this was not Nay's brightest day.

Rather than the normal fight till you destroy your opponents army, this battle can be won by the side taking the hardest pounding if they play it right and go after Victory Points.

These are:-

Each side gets

2 VP's for an enemy unit routed off board

2VP for control of the farm of Poisao,

2VP for control of the town of Foz d'Arouce

2VP for controlling the ford

2VP for controlling the bridge

The French

1VP for each unit on the at start side of the river.

Allied

5VP no French on the at start side of the river

5VP for each Allied unit on the opposite back of the river.

A nice set of conflicting VP's that rather force the French players hand and make him at least stand and fight for part of the battle. The scenario idea is lifted from the board game Fuentes De Onoro 1811 and is the first scenario from the game. It comes with 3 battles (about 6-7 scenarios) over three maps. I choose this one as it's the smallest and seems easy to port across. The boardgame is produced by the French Company VaeVictis in both English and French and the company have a solid reputation. The game is next week so you won't have to wait too long for the result. Polemos rules will be used for the game itself so these get another airing.

French Dragoons Enter The Battle

I like many have a tendency not to like painting horses and 6mm horses are no better, well were no better. Seems the time since I last painted horses and now I have grown to not really worry about it. Better still when it came to painting these guys I actually enjoyed it, possibly the time pressure being much reduced and the expectation of using them in a coming game have all added to the fun, whatever I have to say I enjoyed painting these and have 2 regiments of Hussars on the table waiting their turn. Above is the 19th Dragoons all ready for action

The figures are 4 Regiments of Baccus and 2 of Irregular Miniatures I had left over. I will compare them towards the end of the post.

All six regiments lined up on a hill awaiting orders to fight their first battle. Until now all I had finished was the five Hussars and six Lancer units, still got to paint up the Cuirassiers and for these I have 4 each of Baccus and Irregular so they are some way back on the list as in a pinch I can use some of the Prussians if really forced.

Two of the Baccus Regiments, the 19th and the 28th Dragons. I have painted the collars, turnbacks and rolls (over the ammunition boxes to the rear of the saddle) to fit specific Regiments. France had rather a lot of these Regiments so I have plenty to go at when I expand further.

The 23rd managed to get in the frame twice, this time sharing with the 13th. The 23rd is one of the two Irregular units.

Now the 23rd share the stage with the 30th, both Irregular which means the only time the 7th gets in on the photo shoot is the compare pics below, oh well at least they will get Battle shots.

Compare the Dragoon.Com. On the left we have the Irregular and the right Baccus. The Baccus are to start off slightly larger and more filled out figure which helps to give more detail to the figure. Also what needs mentioning the Irregular are somewhat old castings I have had for 15+ years whilst the Baccus were probably cast in the last few months. This in fact favours the Irregular because their molds unless replaced in the last few years were showing their age and I know at least one guy who has taken figures back to them after buying them at a con due to the heavy flash and poor detail. Still £ for £ they are really a great price but even looking at the price of Baccus since the price rise they are a fair price for what you get.

The Irregular being on a base of 4 figures facing forwards means both the sculpting and painting options are reduced. The feet of Irregular horses are all joined together whilst the Baccus are 4 legged creatures and what's more they stand on their own 4 feet! This also means that when basing they are nice and regimental, lovely straight lines and all. Great if that's what you want, not so good if you like a more realistic wave line. Talking of Regimental, the lack of any pose other than musket raised leaves me a little cold. No Trumpeter, no Officer, no character and that's where they really start to lag behind for me. Then add the extra detail of Baccus (some of the detail on the Irregular is painted on where it is obvious on the Baccus figure forcing you to include it. It was a joy to paint them, glad I don't have 20+ regiments to paint at a time as they really do demand the attention and pay you back in spades for the effort.

So is it worth the extra money for Baccus? Yes on almost every level is my answer. Sure if you are starting out and you get the better cast Irregular it's a start and can help decide if 6mm Naps is for you. Painted weel like my Prussians then really they are as good as you will ever need, but not as good as you may ever want. Of course if you can start with a small force and work your way up I would say skip Irregular as you may well find yourself replacing what you have spent the time and money painting, whats more don't expect a good return on selling them as most are on the Baccus wagon and those that are not are as much Adler as any other.

More from Mr Postman and other stuff.

I bid and won a couple more E-Bay lots. These are a pair of Heroics and Ross wagons in 6mm for my Naps which are under the rules I am using at the moment are no more than battlefield furniture but were such a bargain I just had to go for it. These are already undercoated and if I had not already painted a bunch of horses would have been done straight away, but they remain on the painting table so may jump the cue yet.

The other item I bid and won was 12 Saka 15mm Horse Archers that I got for a little over the price of one pack. These are great looking miniatures. I needed just two more figures to complete my Persian LC allowance and as I have just de-based the rest of them ready for conversion to FoG I will paint all 12 up and mix in these figures with the rest giving me a yet more varied group. This is great as I already have about 6 different figures and with a few conversions already in place I will have 10 different poses over 24 figures. This will leave me with 5 bases more than I need which I will hold onto for now but possibly sell on or trade them off for other unpainted led.

E-Bay. Well the slingers were watched by 6 guys but none of them bid on them so they go to the back of the cupboard until the next convention and may well try to get rid on the bring and buy, shame as at £7 starting bid I had hopes to off load, anyone want them for that, just get in touch.

Met a couple of friends yesterday in London, one on his way back home to Australia, he very nicely gave me a Napoleonic board game that he picked up in Paris. Not only does it look a good game that I will try out in the coming weeks but I have to come up with a scenario for my Naps game with Barry and this game may well supply some inspiration for the game. Double value that one.