Legion Irlandaise (Napoleon's Irish Legion) 1803 - 1815

I wanted to finish the painting challenge with this unit but ran out of time. So they ended up being the first figures painted after the end of the challenge. Ever since reading the Wargames Illustrated Peninsular Special I have wanted to paint up these guys. Established on the 31st August 1803 the the aim of these troops being used for the Invasion of Ireland with the hope that the Irish population would then see the landings as a liberation rather than invasion. Once a landing was no longer feasible (thanks British Navy) the one battalion strong regiment needed other employment and expansion to convert from a mostly political force to a fighting formation. Original recruits and first expansion was mostly from Irish and Scottish ex-patriots from the Jacobite rebellion who's families also had been forced to leave Ireland. Prisoner of war camps also proved to be a fertile recruiting ground especially amongst Irish press ganged into the navy. Polish and German recruits also helped flesh out the regiment and whilst orders were in French, native tongs tended to win out the rest of the time.

The uniform was a distinctive green cut in the style of Light Infantry with yellow collar, lapels, cuffs and turnbacks. All other equipment was standard light infantry issue. They had their own eagle and the flag had the inscription "NAPOLEON EMPEREUR DES FRANCAIS A LA LEGION IRLANDAIS" on the one side and a large harp with the motto "L'INDEPENDENCE D'IRLANDE" on the other side.

It took till 1807 before the regiment were to be involved in action, the first battalion was sent to Walcheren Island to reinforce the troops already stationed there. Here rather than fighting the British they found themselves fighting the "Walcheren fever" a form of malaria. 

In early 1809 the regiment was renamed the 3d Rediment Etranger (Irlandaise) though the original name continued to be used most of the time. July 30th of this year the first battalion finally got to show it's metal when the British landed forces landed on Walcheren Island. The French forces put up a spirited defence before being forced back to Flushing. On 1st August the British attacked the perimeter of Flushing with the Irish taking heavy casualties but standing their ground. From the 3rd to 13th of August they occupied a forward position in the defensive line fighting small actions almost daily.  On the 13th a major assault started with attacks on all the forward positions and whilst some of the other regiments fell back into the town the Irish continued to stand firm even once their commanding officer (Captain William Lawless) was struck by a musket ball just below the eye with the ball lodging below his ear. He was carried off to receive treatment surviving the ordeal.

By the evening of the following day it was apparent the town would fall and a truce was called with the garrison surrendering the following day and being shipped off to England and captivity. However some men evaded the British and captivity. The wounded Captain Lawless and a Lt. Terrence O'Reilly were amoungst these men, Lawless in no fit state to escape was taken to a friends house (Dr. Mokey) and once healed they finally made their escape, taking their Eagle with them!

The 2nd Battalion was also proving it's worth in Spain having been sent there in late 1807. In 1808 Murat marched into Madrid starting a war that was to last till 1813. The battalion was present just outside Madrid when the city rose up against the French and was involved in the fighting there.  From here the battalion was ordered to garrison Burgos and construct a fort. Here they performed the usual duties of a occupation force including skirmishers with the Spanish Guerrillas. 

March 1810 saw the battalion assigned to Junot's 8th Corps of the Army of Portugal. The first real action was the siege of Astorga  in the North West of Spain. In the storming of the town the Irish performed well, a detachment captured a house just beyond the breach and held it through the night. The rest of the battalion was also involved in heavy fighting and took heavy causalities, the Spanish surrendered the following morning.

Further action included the siege of Almedia, the invasion of Portugal including the battles of Bussaco and Fuentes de Onor. By December 1811 the battalion was a shadow of it's former self through continual attrition. The Battalion was paraded for the last time in Spain with the 120 officers, sergeants, corporals and drummers being sent to Holland to be reformed and reinforced. The remaining privates were folded into another regiment to continue fighting in Spain.

The regiment was lucky enough to miss out on the 1812 campaign in Russia but would further distinguish itself through it's final years and was heavily engaged against the Prussians and in each engagement fought well. They were however not used in the 100 days campaign but was still disbanded on 28th September 1815 with the officers being discharged along with other ranks though NCO's and other ranks that wished to stay on were incorporated into the newly forming Royal Foreign Regiment was forming.

So quite a colourful history to match their uniforms. Shame that until the dark days of 1813 the regiment was not utilised as a whole. Whilst it seemed to continually to suffer high casualties a ready supply of willing recruits kept it in fighting order. I see this regiment as having a high morale and cohesion with a fair firepower. I really like the look of this base and it will add a nice splash of colour when ever I get to use them.

Arena Rex Giveaway

The Ides has passed! The Kickstarter for Arena Rex has begun, and all of us at Red Republic Games are really excited about the support we've received. We also want to support The Blog With No Name and their great historical content! All you have to do is

Add a comment below to be added to the draw. As in all the giveaways you can enter this one as well as any of the others.  Winning one giveaway still allows you the chance to win any of the others.

We'll ship it out with a resin base, an activation token, and a 4"x6" art card. Good luck

The image above is a painted version of the 35mm resin figure up for grabs, you will of course have to paint it! A tutorial is here.I am actually rather excited about this kickstarter and plan to be in on it. The first stretch goal is less than $5000 away which will entail an extra free mini included in two of the commitment levels (five figure and ten figure levels). If you buy into the kickstarter you get to pick which mini's you get so straight from the off you get to customise your gladiator school. Backers get the rules including a sneak preview via the playtesters version as a PDF. I think this will allow you to make informed choices on which Gladiators will suit your style of play. So far they offer fourteen basic level glads (Field of Mars) four Fields of Jupiter and a pair from the Fields of Titan's. Each higher field comes at a higher price but this is due to the size of the figures rather than a pay more to have a better chance of winning play. Though I would say that if you were the only one to have a higher level Glad I would expect you to have an advantage. As further support is gained more choices are released. 

It's also possible to select more figures beyond your level of support (as well as any stretch goal rewards) and other extras are being offered and added to as time goes on. The dice at $10 for ten is calling me as they look cool and since when do you have enough dice. 

So you have a week to get in on the act for this giveaway and 22 days left to join the kickstarter. As for the other giveaways they are starting to tick down, the Leven Miniatures offer is drawn in two days so if you fancy those 6mm and 10mm buildings you had best get your skates on and the others will sfollow suit quickly.

Confederate Infantry Going on E-bay?

Close up Time

After five days of giveaway posts I thought I should do a post with some figures in it. This lot was supposed to be a quick set of points in the challenge but ended up taking as long as any of the Napoleonic figures I have recently done. Seems if you want a quick dash best stick to the Union.

Formation 1

These are four units of 24 figures each, I have mixed them up a little with pale blue trousers for most with the odd brown or grey pair thrown in.

Formation 2

The flags and figures are Baccus and were for the most part really crisp, I can fully recommend them as the vast majority need next to no prep work.

Formation 3.

These are destined for e-bay either on Saturday or Sunday unless someone here want's them. I was given the figures by Matt for painting up some of his figures and figured I could do a reasonable job on them and turn a few coins. 

Formation 4.

All are based on 30x60mm bases (Warbases to be exact), and based to the new system which all new armies will have from this point on. 

Formation 5.

I will be putting them on e-bay for £20 a formation for 1-3 and £5 each for the skirmish screens plus actual cost of postage. Typically £18 is the going rate but that tends to be a worse job with the painting OK and basing a little below this standard but the flags tend to be just stuck on like starched undies. It takes a little more effort to get the wind swept look but I think it makes all the difference. I think I beat the £10 guys in all categories so hope to get £20 at least. However anyone here want any of them, I will offer them up for £18 for 1-3 and 4-5 at £4 per formation. All plus postage at cost. 

If you want any just leave a comment to that effect stating which you would like. First come first serve. I will either post them on E-bay sometime tomorrow or Sunday depending on how much time I have to spare.

Sniper Reminder Giveaway

Another ASL themed giveaway, this time it's a pair of my Sniper Reminders. The idea is that you place the little chap next to the board setting the number to your SAN and with it being there as a prompt catch all your sniper activations. Well that's the theory, though I think for some they act as good luck charms. 

The lucky winner will be sent pictures of all the Snipers I have painted up and possibly all the ones I still have yet to paint and they can choose two from the lot. 

If your not an ASL player but fancy a pair of 28mm WWII figures then you can enter, just let me know if you don't need the base on and I can remove the figure allowing you to base up to the rest of your troops.

So this is the fifth giveaway, now we just have tomorrows Red Republic Games giveaway to follow. Sunday will just be a normal post followed by the winner draws, these will be done the evening of the relevant day the giveaway was launched and allows last minute jump in's though once I start drawing up the names that will be that. 

So if you want in on this one, the previous four or tomorrows giveaway, or indeed all of them, you just need to be a follower and leave a comment in the post of those that interest and your in the draw. Winning one does not remove you from the draw for other prizes so feel free to go for it.

The figures shown in the post are not the full choice and some of these figures may already have gone, correct images will be supplied to the winner.

Rosemary & Co. Brushes Giveaway

It's another day so it must be another Giveaway and it is, it is. Actually it will be two giveaways of four Rosemary & Co. brushes. I wish to thank Rosemary for backing this giveaway with two sets of brushes that retail at £16.55 for each of the four sets offered.

Not just any brushes though these are the Pure Kolinsky Red Sable Series 33 brushes. Rosemary & Co. have supplied two sets of four brushes size 1 through 4 so this giveaway is aimed at the 54 and 28mm sized figure painter (to balance the 6mm Leven Buildings we started with). Though if either set are one by 15mm painters I will order a couple of the smaller brushes to go with them, yes I'm all heart.

When I came back to the hobby around 18 months ago I bought the triangular Red Sable Kolinsky Creative Models and felt they lasted a fair amount of time given the hours I was using them for. But the bristle wear was always problematic and hairs would come loose even from a early stage. My mother who is a real painter (snigger) had a Rosemary & Co. catalogue and passed it over. Originally I was not sure which to go for so I bought a few Series 401 Sable Blend and the sexier but more expensive black handled Series 33 Kolinsky Red Sable. The price difference was quite steep with what I was at the time sitting between the two. I was hoping the cheaper blended brushes would do the job.

Postage was actually cheaper than calling at the local games store as it's just £1 delivered to the UK. Speed of delivery was very quick, I received updates all the way along, very professional. The brushes (and all since) was delivered in a small jiffy bag, the brushes in a sealed plastic bag in a reinforced card sleeve with the tips covered with the usual plastic collar. 

It was immediately clear that series 33 was a better quality brush, the handles being a better shape and the weight of the series 33 was noticeably heavier. This was backed up by the fact that the series 401 tips tended to curl within a few weeks of use. To help remedy this pour just boiled water into a cup or other container and dip the bristles in for just two seconds, remove and re-point this can extend the life of such brushes.

Given that I have been unable to work for 20 odd months paying more for brushes is a no no, but the thing is series 33 brushes may cost more than the ones I was already using but the life span of them was so much longer. In fact so much so that given good care they can last many hundreds of hours. I have just finished the three month panting challenge and estimate I painted for over seven hundred hours (yes really) and all on the same three brushes, I have just bought replacements though I am still using the old ones as they still have some life left in them.

So it's fair to say I am a fan, as with many things if you treat them well they last longer, the very fact that we are using them to paint metal figures really adds to the wear and tear. If used on good paper with good paints you get years of use out of them. For us it's a much shorter shelf life but we can extend it with care.

If you want a crack at this giveaway then just like the others before, you need to be a follower and you have to leave a comment below for this giveaway. Feel free to have a go at as many as you like, winning one will not mean you can't win another so go for as many as you can use.

So far we have on offer 6mm Leven Miniatures buildings, 2x 3D snipers sets, £20 to spend with any company that you can find to take money off me and now 2x sets of brushes, each set would cost you £16.55 so well worth getting these great brushes.

£20 To Spend Giveaway

Today's giveaway is £20 or it's value in $ or Euro etc. to spend in an online store- figure supplier etc. of your choice. That's right, you pick where you want to spend it and what you want to spend it on. As long as the store will take payment from me you get some guilt free shopping. This is an excellent way to get those rules you were thinking about, get a start on that new army or just top up your paint or varnish supplies. Even use it towards a magazine subscription, the wargames world is your oyster. 

Obviously your purchase is not limited to the value of £20 but my part in it is  ;-) Feel free to spend as much as you want, I'm good that way. Now the giveaway has been a little bit slower than I expected so I expect the lot of you to help me spend this dosh so as always just leave a comment in the post to be entered in the draw, can be anything but I fancy a laugh so why not tell a joke? Man (or woman) just write what you please, I just want to give some money away!

As always, taking part in one giveaway does NOT stop you taking part in another. Feel free to join in them all. If you win one you are still in the draw for the other five. 

If you run a blog, please pimp this giveaway, the more the merrier. 

I also am running all giveaways on both my blogs but you get entered just the once, not per blog.

Good luck and don't forget I have already started the Leven Miniatures 6mm buildings and 3D ASL Snipers giveaways and still to come are the Rosemary & Co brushes, 28mm Sniper Reminders and Red Republic Games, Arena Rex 35mm Gladiator miniature giveaway. So if you missed the first two don't worry you can still put your name down till they have been up a full week.

3D Sniper Reminder Giveaway

The second Giveaway will be ASL themed, this being a set of three Sniper Reminders. One each of American, German and Russian, these replace the cardboard sniper's that come with the game. If ASL is not your thing but you just want the mini's then feel free to enter.

Above is an example of the German and Russian figures, the ones received may be of a different pose. The figures are Forged In Battle with the bases custom made by Warbases for me. 

As always you need to be a follower to join in, if you are not yet it's simple to do. Along the right hand side is a black/grey box that expands when you hover the mouse on it. Click on the bottom button (labelled subscribe) and follow the instructions . 

Just leave a comment and your in the draw, if you run a blog please supply a back link. You have till 2nd of April to be included in the draw.

I have six draws to do all told with one a day, you can enter as many as you wish, winning one does not stop you being entered in any of the others so if you like all six go for it. I have two lots of these to give away.

Blog Giveaway Leven Miniatures

GEN10 Stone Watermill

Mick at Leven Miniatures was very quick to support this giveaway and rather generous with the offer of £20 worth of free buildings to the lucky followers that have their names drawn from the hat. I will stand the postage upto £5 per winner, if it's above that you will need to pay the extra, so if you take the opportunity to buy more buildings than your £10 then some of the postage if not all will fall to me so have some fun with this.  Leven produce a wealth of 6mm buildings spanning lots periods from Viking to Modern Day with lots between. One of the things I like so much about Leven is that the range is mushrooming with new products coming out all the time.

One of my favourite Leven buildings is this watermill, at just £2.00 each it's fantastic value and whilst it should be stone can be painted up as brick as I have done here. The level of detail is excellent with the detail crisp and deep allowing you to mix dry brushing and washes to great effect. It's worth nipping over to the site to check out the gallery were some other painters have done these buildings more justice than I have. 

The following is a brief history of Leven Miniatures and a bit of what makes Mick tick.

Back in the 1970's I spent much of my spare time with friends working on battle orders for various active war games I was involved with, both as referee and player.

It was during this period that we decided to expand our small 3' x 3' board to an 8' x 8' board consisting of interchangeable 2' x 2' panels. The board layout was improved from a flat board painted green to contoured boards with roads, rivers, hillsides and even a port area. The buildings at this time were simply cardboard squares cut out and placed on the board to denote the location, and the type of building was simply written on the card. After a time we progressed to painted wooden blocks.

Eventually, I found a supplier of resin buildings at 6mm scale and purchased a few. This was all very well, but on an 8 foot square board, we found we needed dozens of buildings to make the diorama look believable, and the shop-bought models were way more than we could afford. I improved on the wooden blocks to make them look more realistic, but I was still not satisfied with their appearance, and I decided that I would attempt to remake the buildings along the lines of the one's we had bought, so using cardboard to face the wooden blocks I cut out the doors and windows etc. Finally, once I had improved my models I progressed to making rubber moulds and resin casts.

When I left the area, I packed up all my war-gaming stuff, and it stayed in my loft for years. By that time, computers were providing excellent wargame simulations, so that was the route I took.

When I decided to clear out my entire collection in 2011, I put them all on eBay. Both the vehicles (over 4,000 of them), and the buildings went very well, and I realised that there was still a market for them. I trawled the internet for what was available and found that availability in 6mm scale was still relatively limited, so I made a couple of new buildings of my own to test the market. After that, and being RAF biased, I decided to produce a range of airfield & military buildings, and put these out to see what happened, and basically, I'm still doing it.

MED01 £2.00

From the medieval range is this lovely Post Windmill, the range comprises of eight items at present including a new addition.

NOR02 £2.00

Above is a Normandy town house, part of a new range that has 4 different two or three story houses helping you build up a nice village for your Normandy battles.

FAR02 £2.00

A really nice stables that I have ordered for myself just this weekend gone, the buildings are a mix of old and modern styles so it's possible to mix and match.

GEN13 £2.00

OK I am betting you did not expect a lighthouse did you? well it's actually one of two available! So it should not come as a surprise that he also has a Pit Head and winding house as well. Don't beleive me? It's item IND20 in the industrial section.

GEN04 £3.00

I can't look at the cinema without seeing streams of 6mm zombies pouring out, do I need help? No just someone to supply me with the zombies.

MIL13b £3.00

The military section runs to 28 buildings though mostly for airfields which should be no surprise given the nature of how this business has taken off (pun intended). 

So the important bit if you want to be in it to win it. It's almost as simple as leaving a comment below and you get put in the hat, see below for the small print but that's the gist of it.

1. You must be a follower.

2. If you run a blog please also post about it on your blog with a link to the giveaway.

3. You have till I get up on Monday 1st of April when I will draw the lucky winners.

4. Entry in this giveaway does not stop you entering others.

5. If you win one giveaway you are still able to win any of the others so enter as many as you wish, see 6. though.

6. Please only enter draws that you will actually want, in the case of suppliers they are giving away their products and I would hate it to go to someone who will not paint these up and use them.

7. Even if you don't win but go on to order from Leven Miniatures would you please mention your interest was increased by the giveaway, I want Mick to know if he gained extra sales from his support and it will help with a future article I wish to write.

So a whole week to get commenting and and worked up about all the giveaways coming, pop back tomorrow for giveaway 2.

Project Waterloo and Blog Giveaway

The first month is coming towards it's end and as I am short of primer (a couple of can's are on order) it is very likely I will fall behind of schedule for Cavalry, guns, limbers and command in this the first month. Now this sounds bad, but in fact just painting up one of each of these would supply a few months worth of my target as I have such a long period to get these doe in. I will not become complacent though and you can expect April to supply a several of each if I get the chance.

The infantry is a different matter though, I have painted up 12 battalions providing three regiments, though I have painted these up as regiments that were involved in the 100 days campaign but not those actually at Waterloo. The idea being that these can be used if I do not get all the actual regiments done but as I will need more than the Waterloo force for other campaigns it's not a worry that I will find myself with a few spare.

All three regiments are Baccus figures and were really easy to paint, though the time to paint was actually longer than painting the French equivalents which was a surprise. On the picture above you can see the drummer has the white/red facings on his shoulders which adds a nice touch to what for drummers is a rather drab uniform. So many other nations having alternative colour schemes for their drummers. The blanket roll was the reason for the slower pace of painting which I found was a slower process that the white cross-belts of the French. 

Three of the four regiments has the correct flags for the regiment they are depicting, this one being the 2nd Line Regiment 1st Pomerania. All three battalions are present with the fusilier battalion without a flag which is accurate. I did consider giving them a flag as this looks better but decided to go historical instead.

Next up is the 8th Line Regiment Leib much the same as the one above, I have mixed in line and column formations as my rules (and most others) deal with the actual formation abstractly. 

The 9th Line Regiment Colberg, each regiment has a number then in some cases a second number and a Prussian district. This is where the regiment is based and or recruited from. with the second number required if that district has more than one Regiment based there.

The 14th Reserve Line Regiment Third of Pomerania, this regiment has no official flags but like many others is suspected to have carried unofficial ones. It's pure conjecture as to which flags were carried so I went with a little bit of colour. The facings denote what area the regiment comes from, these being red, white and yellow so a nice touch of colour. All four of these have standard infantry acting as skirmishers but most would have Jagers which you will see with future regiments.

DON'T FORGET THE SIX DAY BLOG GIVEAWAY STARTS TOMORROW.

Sir Thomas Aston's Regiment of Horse

Born 29th September 1600 in Shropshire died 24th March 1645 from a fever complicated by a head wound  gained whilst trying to escape captivity in Stafford. Sat in the Commons in the Short Parliament.

Sir Thomas Aston was active from the beginning of the 1st Civil War recruiting his regiment of horse from September 1642 by the time of the battle of Edgehill (23rd Oct 1642) it numbered at least three troops (number involved in the battle). 1643 saw a number of known actions the biggest being 1st Newbury 20th September 1643. But prior to this he was in command at two minor battles Middlewhich 13th March losing to Waller who also captured two cannon. The other battle was near Macclesfield this time against Brerton  and it's possible this was in late December but the information is confused as a Colonel Ashton was involved at this battle and was fighting for Parliament. What ever the date and actual location this was another defeat for Aston (unlike the battle involving Ashton).

Aston was captured in a skirmish in Staffordshire (date and even YEAR unknown) I suspect 1644 as by 1645 the north was already lost to the King with most of the action being in the South. This is also backed up by the fact that his regiment of horse was active at the 1st Battle of Newbury as mentioned above. I doubt it would have been sent back north given the Kings need of experienced cavalry at that point. He tried to escape from prison in Stafford but a soldier caught him and struck him on the head bringing n the fever. It seems he must have been a brave man as from the information given he was already weakened from several wounds from previous combat.

His regiment can be used in battles in the North up to mid 1643  but post then should be part of the Oxford Army and it's quite likely it was part of the Cropredy campaign but being away from it's recruiting ground it's likely that it's strength would be diminished unless it was strengthened with independent troops of horse.

These are Matt's 15mm Museum Miniatures that he will be basing for FoG:R I went with blue coats as they were at Oxford during the equipping period prior to Newbury. I used an old Revo cornet but had to free hand it on the trumpeters banner which I was pleased with the result. I quite liked the figures, mostly accurate though I would have liked a mix of headdress to reflect reality.

Here we have the same regiment but in 6mm, the cornet this time is in green, I blame it on the fact that on painting this one I had not picked out an old flag.

And from above. This now gives me two regiments of cavalry three of foot, two mounted and three dismounted dragoons and a pair of guns. Some way off what will be needed to play a game but they are coming on. I have three regiments of foote to do for Matt so I will at least get three more infantry painted up.

3rd Annual Painting Challenge Has Ended.

Well it ended a little over 24 hours ago but I was worn out with the end run charge that saw me break through my second target of 2000 points. Anyone interested in looking at all the entries can find Curt's blog Analogue Hobbies here.

The great thing is that you can go over there and pick out your favourite submission and vote on it with the submission that gets the largest vote getting a prize. This is no easy task as some of the work is so inspirational and the standard is seriously high. If you have a hour or two to spare to feast your eyes on some of the best painting done in the last three months then I recommend that you click on the link and relax into figure heaven. 

So the numbers I had expected to do more 28mm and 15mm than I actually did but made up for this with a 6mm charge.

Thirty Three 25/28mm Foot

Thirty Three 20mm Cavalry

Three 20mm Elephants

Forty 15mm Cavalry

One Hundred and Thirty Seven 15mm Infantry

Two Hundred and Forty Nine 6mm Cavalry

One Thousand Six Hundred and Six 6mm Infantry

Eighteen 6mm guns each with four crew

Four Limbers

I have now started work on some of the Spanish 6mm buildings for a short break in painting figures but waiting on my desk with the aim to be started before getting deep into next week is the three 15mm ECW foote regiments with their 6mm equivalents. 

To follow these I have the last of the French allied infantry in 6mm and the command I did not finish before. I also in 6mm have all the Prussians I received recently, now all sorted and ready. Waiting prep I have the Roman's that I plan to start sometime very soon as they have been neglected and this needs rectifying. 

The end of the Painting Challenge will herald a return to the more varied mix of posts with Terribly Obscure coming back and a more varied mix of other subjects. Thanks for bearing with this, though I still have quite a few more posts to bring to a close the figures painted to date.

I did finish a few projects. The Numidian Impetus army was finished near the start of the Challenge and then sold at York. Matt's WSS army was pained from start to finish within the challenge as was the 3D sniper project. Though I will probably add the odd figure to the mix I won't do much more on this.

I failed to reach a few targets though. I still have a lot of the Macedonian's left unpainted which would have reduced the lead pile a fair amount. The Spanish Ulcer despite needing just a little effort remains to be finished. I did not even touch some of the prepped figures from the Sniper Reminder box (Partisans)  but none of this is a major issue.

I also got to try out a few new techniques, the basing which will be used on all future projects whilst I will continue basing the rest the same as before. The painting style for Matt's WSS is a lot faster than my normal style and I will continue with this for some of my future projects.

I don't know how Curt did it but he managed to hold the whole thing together. 47 signed up for this with 45 actually sending in submissions with over 400 in total! So hats off and a big thank you.

Hobbit Style Birthday

Well I did want to get this up yesterday but what with all the painting and cake eating and what not I just did not have the time. I have been planning this for the last couple of months as I have always liked the idea from the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings where rather than getting presents on your birthday you give them out. I have been working with a few of the hobby suppliers and have come up with a series of giveaways that will start next week. Details of who has agreed at this point below. But before I do I thought it only fair to pimp one of the many giveaways that are going off right now, I am talking in this case of Sippin' On Paint Water which at this point is offering his second Easter Basket giveaway. Head over in a minute to join in but first 'ave at it with mine.

Leven Miniatures has kindly donated a cash sum value of their very nice 6mm Resin Buildings, and me original review right here. If your into 6mm from Medieval through ultra modern you will something you will need so keep an eye out for this.

Rosemary & Co. will be supplying a lucky follower with some of their great Series 33 brushes again reviewed here. Just to add to the review I have painted over 2,000 figures with the same four brushes in the last three months and they are still going strong (well ones tattered but what do you want?)

Red Republic Games have offered a casting of the first figure cast in resin along with a resin base, activation token and 4" x 6" Art Card. See the resent post on these guys here.

Me, myself and I will be offering;-

£20 (or equivalent) gift that can be spent at any online shop you like and I can get to take money off me. 

2 x Sniper Reminders for the ASL fans

3 x 3d Snipers from the Russian, American and German stash I have.

It's possible I will get a few more sorted before this starts rolling next week, but I already have a couple of suppliers who want to get involved later in the year. 

So the rules are the same as always, you have to be a follower and leave a comment on the actual individual post when I post the actual giveaway. You can enter as many as you wish but I just ask that you only go for any you actually would make use of or would love to own. If you run a blog then post a link to any giveaway you put yourself down for. 

And last of all, if you use any of these companies post seeing them on the giveaway please mention it to them, part of the idea is to prove to suppliers that making use of blogs for new product news, promotions and offers is a very cheap and useful tool. As such I would love to get as much feedback to them as possible. Same goes for any post you see here or any other blog, if you see an item on a blog then go on to buy it, mention the blog as the source of your interest. That's how I ended up buying buildings from Leven Miniatures, Phil at The Wargaming Site posted about them.

So come Monday you will be getting some good reasons for popping in for a visit. Feel free to comment here but remember only comments on the actual prize posts will count.

Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday to Me!

Ah joy of joy's it's that day again. Seems to come round just about once a year if I have worked it out correctly. Most years have seen ASL get the lions share of the stash but this year only one item could be tentatively linked to the game of games. This being Tarawa: A Hell of a Way to Die, recommended to me in relation to a blog post of mine. I've just had time for a brief flick through so far but look forward to immersing myself in this at some point.

1812 was reviewed on another blog (sorry I can't remember who rated this) but looking forward to coming to grips with it. Sticking with the Napoleonic theme I have lots of Caramac, er I mean Adler Prussians and yes I do mean a lot supplied by Gran, Mum and Sister. These will keep me busy till Triples though that won't stop me ordering the new Baccus French way before then, well as soon as they are available which may or may not be in just two weeks.

My Nephew and Niece got me the mug, not sure what they are trying to say. I will use this mug next time I am crushing my Nephew at ASL just to make a point.

My wife though gave me exactly what I wanted, the gift of time. Because she is such a star I have spent most of today at the painting desk and will do the same tomorrow, just so I can get my last entry into the challenge which should tip the 2000 point target I set when I knew I would make my original total. Anyway got to dash, it's really difficult sucking trifle through a straw and painting at the same time but I WILL get the hang of it.

Arena Rex Kickstarter Launched

Yesterday Red Republic Games launched Arena Rex Kickstarter project that has caught my attention. It is based on Gladiatorial combat but mixes a little bit of fantasy with history. This of course will immediately turn away some from the project and for me sends up a few warning flags. Handled right and it's going to add to the game not detract, too heavy and balance and believability can be lost. To this point only the one figure has been sculpted to my knowledge and six have been given away in recent giveaways that Arena Rex have used to try and increase interest in their new venture. Well it seems to have worked given that in about 24 hours they have already secured $26,444 and have a further 36 days to go.

The figures are 35mm and cast in resin, this combination means a higher price than your standard 28mm metal historical figure but the first finished model I can attest to looking gorgeous. Standard figures are expected to retail at $23 but can be bought through pledges at $17 so a fair saving. 218 people obviously think it's a good offer and are already pledged. I am still on the fence a little right now, I need to know that at least one other local opponent will also go for these to make it worth while. The good news is that you don't need many figures to play, indeed I am sure you could just use normal figures but I feel you would loose some of the atmosphere. So far not a great deal has been released about the game but it has a presence on Facebook as well so more should flow as time goes on. What I gather from watching the video is that the actual combat system is as they say streamlined but detailed. 

Not that all you get is a selection of miniatures at $17 each. If for instance you back this at the $55 level you get to pick three mini's from the basic level plus five favour dice, a token per figure, game cards and a printed rule book. But you will also get a PDFS of the Playtest rules allowing you to not only see the rules before release but give feedback. Already someone has suggested a thumbs up/down die for the campaign rules which they have mocked up. They are close to unlocking the next stretch goal, yet another figure and it's for this that they seem to be needing the kickstarter the most. The more money they raise the more of the proposed figures can be sent for sculpting. 

So take a look if this sort of thing interests you and maybe, just maybe meet you in the arena.

The Friday Quiz 7

Answers should be added on Sunday, no slacking this week!
Questions 1-2 are  Ancient to 1600, 3-4 are 1600-1914, 5-6 are Post 1914 and 7 is all my own.

1. Who was Lysander?

2. Who Commanded the English Fleet that fought the Spanish Armada?

3. In the 17th Century, what was King Philips War?

4. Name the commander of Rorke's Drift garrison during the battle?

5. Which two Latin American countries contributed forces to Allied operations in WWII?

6. What was the Argentine flagship in the Falklands War?

7. Parliamentarian troops were scornfully called Roundheads in the ECW but who were the Roundheads that the name was taken from?

OK lets see how many have a go and how you do.

Sir Robert Howard's Dragoons

Sir Robert Howard's Dragoons was never a large regiment consisting of just two troops one commanded by Captain Richard Catesby from Warwickshire and a possible relative to the Gunpowder Plotter whilst the other troop was commanded by Captain Lewknor. The only known recorded engagement for this regiment was the storming of Bristol in 1643 when they were attached to Washington's Regiment but it's a fair bet that they were also involved in the Cropredy. Most Royalist Dragoon Regiments were lacking in men and or mounts so it is not really an issue to base a regiment for the wargames table on such a small regiment as most were just as bad with some even worse!

Over the next month or so I will be painting up a number of Royalist Oxford Army Regiments and I will start here with those poor old boys the Dragoons.

Here we have the mounted 15mm figures, only four as these are for FoG:R and most of the figures will be dismounted. so four bases will have a single mounted figure to show they are indeed Dragoons. However I don't have that problem in 6mm

Here we have one of the two bases of my dismounted dragoons, I got carried away. This is not really a problem as I can change the turnbacks colour on one base and I have yet another dragoon regiment.

Here we have the 15mm dismounted boys in felt hats. Of course in reality very few felt hats were in England at the time and these were rather expensive. However I do feel that some version of brimmed hat would have been worn, possibly leather? To many contemporary images show a brimmed hat exen on some common soldiers. 

Here are the even more historically inaccurate Lobster Pot  helmets. Yes they were worn but they would not have been worn by 50% of a dragoon regiment, only by some of the officers, cornets and maybe the odd rich volunteer though these normally were in the cavalry and a few fought in the infantry. The 15mm are Museum Miniatures and are larger than the typical MM figure which in the case of the mounted is a bit of a shame as the horses are just too large for Dragoons to have a hope of keeping them. They would be mounted on nags IF they were lucky enough to get any at all.

 The flags are pure conjecture as is the green facing. Howard's Dragoons were thought to have worn red which is a good guess given they are part of the Oxford army where red and blue were the main uniform colours throughout the late campaigns.  These are also the first troops I have based up by using Lee's basing system (nothing new as many do it this way) but new to me.

Project Waterloo

Lee was over earlier collecting his part of an order I had placed with Adler, mostly Russians as it happens but still the main influence on this post. Well part of his order was the final bits of his French Guard so that helped.

As has been mentioned Lee and myself are looking to do the Battle of Waterloo on and around the 200th Anniversary of the actual battle. Lets be clear, this will not be a display game nor participation game, no it's going to be a US game. Not that either of us expect or hope that it will just be the pair of us, we want some mates to be involved though the figures in play will be either mine or Lee's unless something changes. Lee is planning on making up some new terrain boards specially for the battle and has already started work on modifying available buildings for some of the key fought over locations and I have to say doing a credible job with the Leven Buildings I have seen so far.

Between us we have a fair amount of French but still need a lot more, especially cavalry. The British are almost done but the allied contingents are very sparse and in some cases none existent at this point but Lee will be sorting these out. As for the Prussians I got that look from him when I showed him the Twelve Battalions in the process of inking, not because these represent a four month target done in the first twelve days but rather the comment I made stating these of course were not at Waterloo but were at the other battles just prior. A mix of sympathy and loathing best describes his look. But when all is said and done I have the flags for these guys  :-)

Well in fact these could be used as any of the regular line regiments if I choose to not worry about the flags though the real reason to do these as the none Waterloo regiments is that I have had the idea that all the Prussians in the battle will be Adler. This is still possible but having now seen the Adler Prussian castings against the painted Baccus I am starting t think I may well just go along with a mix of the two as the Baccus infantry do rather look good, much better than the current French which are the only Baccus Napoleonic figures I have painted to date. What it does do though is really make me excited about the soon to be released Baccus new look French, something of a blessing given the amount I am bound to be painting over the next two years!

Anyway as I was saying, I now have a bunch of Adler Prussians and will be getting these started around the end of March as they have to be handed over to the family who are buying them for me for my Birthday. Usually I get money for me to spend post the day but this year I will be getting to unwrap them. It's one of the Infantry packs and four or five cavalry packs including a number of regiments that were not actually at Waterloo that will still get painted up between now and when I will not need them. Well I have not forgotten about my Borodino project that I will continue to add to as time goes on, nor have I forgotten about the Peninsular even though that has nothing to do with these Prussians.

So expect regular(ish) updates on both Lee's and my progress and how we stand time wise as the months tick by. As yet Lee has no actual plan of what needs doing per month but that will not be an issue as I suspect other than the Guard all his troops will enter his house just needing basing and flagging (cheat!!) my real concern is working out exactly how many French units need to be painted and adding these to my Prussian list. The Prussians will not be an issue as even if we go for the whole campaign I can easily keep ahead of the schedule with one painting session a week. Lee does not as yet have a lot of French so I am expecting a fairly high quantity of units being required. 

Funding has to be the last word, well the first as well. This has been covered rather nicely between Birthday gifts and the sale of my Irregular French and Prussians. The sale alone netted me £350 so my wargames neutral is safe and sound.