French Old Guard Artillery - New Adler 6mm Figures

When I say new, I really mean fairly new as they actually came out towards the end of last year. As late as Triples I was not aware I needed these as I may have mentioned before LOL. So here we have four guns and limbers from Adler and below is my thoughts.

I need two batteries of Guard Horse Artillery for the Quatre Bras game even though they are very unlikely to make the table before it's time to pack away. Worse still it's quite possible they will not be needed for Waterloo as Lee is fielding the Guard and may well have them covered. Oh well it's a start on my Guard that I will be doing at some point anyway.

The guns are fiddly to assemble and I know Lee prefers the Baccus whole cast guns for this very reason. I have to agree that Lee does have a point, though I did not find it too difficult and rather like the extra wheels you get that allow you to add them to bases or even farm yards etc.

The one thing that seems wrong is the width of the carriage though it could be historically correct and visually wrong like ECW felt hats are the opposite. Still the detail is top notch and can be painted in as required.

The crew figures are nice with the four usual poses, I think I should also have bought some of the command figures so as to have a drummer getting in the way on the odd base. Something to consider for the next lot.

The picture above gives a better view of the width of the carriage and I would welcome views on if this is correct or should I cut the axles even shorter?

Have I ever mentioned that horses tack is not my chosen pastime? So this is close to my idea of hell, well not that bad but I was sure glad to get to the other side of painting them for sure.

I moved the three riders around so I have different looking teams, not that I expect that to be picked up without a mention but it floats my boat.

Limber and gun. The limber crews wore a different colour blue to the gunners, I am glad I realised that before painting them! All told I am rather pleased with how they cam out and can recommend them to all you French Guard fans. The sculpts are reasonably clean, yes some clean up work is required but not to much. I did loose two tails from the horses, one my fault the other before I had actually started to clean them up.

This brings to an end the figures needed for Quatre Bras and now I can move onto the book work, the labelling and boxing of the figures. I am rather proud that all the figures fielded by me will have all been painted by me as it could be considered a fully finalised project. Of course it's really just the start but I will try to ignore that for a day or three.

Blasts From The Past Part 1

I have used this old photo once before but it's a great introduction to another series of posts I am planning to do. The idea came to me whilst I was lying in bed half awake but not really wanting to get out of bed and not actually having to either. By the way I am the good looking one at the front of the group of young gamers and it's 1/76 scale WWII using my railway board as a battlefield. We got a lot of fun out of that board and the plastic figures and tanks.

I was 16 at this time and the rules we used were hand written half ideas though it was about this time we went to the Table Top Games rules Firefly that happened to play great, I wonder if I still have them somewhere and if they were that good after all?

That's more or less the idea, revisit old times, old rules, almost forgotten periods and systems and how I see them today. Funny looking at the photo I was the oldest by two - three years, of the four of us the only one not still gaming is Andy at the back. He stopped a few years after the photo was taken and died just two years ago. Rolf (the patch of brown hair) still I believe roleplays whilst Steve went to the dark side and plays 40K or was still doing so when Maelstrom Games was still in existence.

First ever proper wargame for me was with the plastic WWII though I had used my Airfix Napoleonic Le Haye Saint battle set as some form of wargame before I really got a real idea on how to do it after watching an old TV program showing grown men doing the same.

Though the first ever Wargames I played were actually board games, first was Gun's of August by AH quickly followed by Siege and Cry Havoc which to a lad of 15 is a real exciting step. This actually lead to my first metal figures from Irregular Miniatures.

I decided to replace the cardboard figures with metal ones and at Derby Wargames Show (at the Assembly Rooms) and each time I bought one figure Ian Key gave me a second one. I ended up spending the majority of my spending money in dribs and drabs that day.

Ian's generosity gained traction as I ended up buying my first full army from him, this being a 25mm English Medieval army, though it was never destined to be finished as I moved onto easier projects (where have we heard that before?).

Before I moved on though I did buy at the age of seventeen WRG 6th Edition Ancient Rules, rules that were to sit unplayed for too many years after a poor attempt at getting a game with Steve above. That though is another post for another week.

The Recollections of Rifleman Harris Book Review

It would be fair to assume I had either given up on reading or doing book reviews on the blog but in reality it's been a mix of reading the wrong books and just not getting round to it. Expect a bit of a rush as I catch up with some of the books I should have reviewed.

Some of you may remember that I won a blog-giveaway some months ago ran by Loki on his excellent blog Lokis Great Hall. I collected the book (and a bonus second book at Blog Con two). It's a fairly slim book running to just 128 pages including the index but excluding the forward by Christopher Hibbert. The pages are not exactly filled with tiny text either so you can be sure it will rattle along at a fair pace.

Whilst most readers of this blog will not need introducing to Benjamin Harris a few will not be aware that this is the man Rifleman Harris from the Richard Sharpe books. Harris was made one of the Battalions cobblers and as such was often made to repair the boots and belts of his comrades even after long marches where all that was wanted was sleep!

Hibbert in the introduction points out that he has made no attempt to correct a few mistake is the original manuscript but also points out how well Harris had managed to remember the events that he recalled so many years later. Indeed praise should also be given to Henry Curling who took down what Harris as accurately as is assumed.

For the Napoleonic fan and indeed those of Sharpe it's an interesting book for sure, though I would disagree that it's essential or even all that important as it really does not fill in gaps others books may have failed to fill. Not that I think it's not worth reading, indeed if you have an interest in the period, especially early Peninsular then this is well worth reading and it does add some colour to the works dealing with the wider view. This after all is an account of one man, not privy the bigger picture and unable to distinguish the truth from what he did hear. Despite all this what you do get is a great insight to what the common soldier was expected to go through and what he thought of such. Whilst Harris would not have had much of an education he still was obviously quite intelligent. Not only could he spin a good tale he was able to keep it in context much of the time. 

For such a short book he still manages to start being somewhat repetitive which in my mind adds to the account as it shows the level of mundane that takes over the troops lives when on both active and garrison duty. The retreats Harris was involved in are testament to this, Rifles lead the advance and take up the rear in retreat, something that Harris tells with a mix of pride and a sense of unfairness.

The book has had a good number of published versions through the years a testament to it's timeless appeal. The version of the book I own is on Amazon.co.uk for £10.00 new or from £0.01p second hand. Well worth the cover price but if your just wanting to read and be done then take the cheaper option. A different version not edited is also available on the Kindle for £3.20

Very Old Terrain Pieces.

I have had these trees from just about the start of my wargaming, that is I suspect thirty years give or take a year. However very few had been even given a basic base job but finally pushed by The Joy of Six I have finally got round to it.

The assorted bases are what I have stuck them to over the years. Just card with a whole bored into it, miliput for the odd shaped ones from the days you could only get the grey stuff. A few are held in place buy glue from my gluegun and this gives a satisfying trunk.

Here we have my recent addition included to give an idea on how I would use some of these if we do indeed use them in the display game. I will make up more of these and see how they look against the mass of smaller trees. If they don't look right at least I have some trees for my 15mm Ancients and ECW.

Lastly with some of the new troops to give them scale. I am really pleased to finally get these fully finished and able to get used. This bunch and the ones Lee owns gives us a reasonable amount of trees but I can see us getting a few more just to be sure. Anyway other battles will need more I am sure.

Baccus New French Line Lancer NFR14

As I mentioned yesterday the next post was going to be the new Baccus French Line Lancer figures from pack NFR14 and again it was a joy to prep and paint them.

I did not mention prep for the Guard cavalry mostly down to the fact there was so little to do. The same can be said for the Lancers which had minimum file work.

I have painted up this regiment as the 5th Lancers as these fought at Quatre Bras along with the 6th. Interestingly the trumpeter does not have a reversed uniform making for a quicker paint.

Painting up two regiments at the same time is the way to go as I was able to do the four different colours of brown without being stop start. Actually I think it's best to do four or even six at the horse painting stage! Lots of detail though I forgot the straps across the shoulder!!!

The saddle cloth edges were a bit of a challenge as they are scalloped really nice touch as it helps make the figures. I still have the other four regiments awaiting painting and I also have a few Adler Lancers as well so I should be able to represent almost all the Lancer Regiments by the time I am finished.

So now I have finished all the available French Cavalry I have to say I am happy with the results and that the upgrade on the originals was well worth waiting for. Also I really like the size difference between the lights and the heavies, a real nice touch. I would have liked more poses though it's a relatively small quibble. Yes I still prefer the look of the Adler but I would not kick these off the table and in danger of being a bore, these are so much better for a long campaign.

Baccus NFR12 French Elite Light Cavalry

Good intentions are, well good. That is unless they happen to lead to hell I suppose. In this case the good intention was to buy the last two of the current cavalry releases slightly late with the expected next lot of French infantry. Unfortunately that did not happen as the looked for infantry have been delayed but hopefully they will be available at The Joy of Six. So I delayed and delayed the purchasing of the French cavalry until well until they were no longer really new. Triples was where I bought these guys and I even got them painted up in not to a slow pace though I did not get them based till last night as I wanted to base them at the same time as my new Guard Artillery to save some time, yes ironic I know.

So these are the new Baccus NFR12 French Elite Light Cavalry or 1st Regiment de Chasseurs de la Garde and is one of the last two cavalry regiments for our Quatre Bras game that will have been played out at the Joy of Six show in less than four weeks (eeeek!!). These are rather very nice and I found them to be a nicer figure to work on than the previous new releases by Baccus. Not that I am giving those disrespect, I just found these nicer.

I am still not sold on the standard bearer well the standard but can live with them. Love the moustache that is sculptured which demand attention. These are really colourful chaps and I again went with a black base colour which speeded up the process a little.

These have the typical Baccus upright pose that adds to the speed of painting and robustness of the figures and it has to be said that at typical wargaming distance looks more or less the same as the Adler equivalent. Though close up such as this the multi pose comes into play with the Adler. The important detail is all there and a handy brush can make these look really cool. These colours really suit the scale and so these boys will stand out on the table. Not convinced they will get into the game though at JoS as they are fairly late arrivals but at least they can be placed at the back of the table awaiting their turn at bat.

You can't see the braids on the photo but they are there, honest. These are my new favourite of the new Baccus releases and that includes the next lot up on the blog the regular Lancers. I still have four of these bases worth of figures to paint up at some point but as Lee is covering the Guard at Waterloo they will have to sit waiting for a few years I fear, a real shame as they deserve to get painted.

Eurogame in The Works Again

It seems that The Works is not just picking up Eurogames on the odd occasion and selling them in their UK stores. I went to the local Outlet Shopping Centre on Thursday and found they had had a large stock delivered. This is great news as they happened to have a range of about ten more titles and whilst these are obviously surplus stock or Reo Grande they have included a number of good games two of which I grabbed.

Bean Trader is based on Bohnanza or The Bean Game which we play with the kids and they really do get the idea and the days of easy wins are for the most part in the past. Bean Trader seems to be something similar but with what seems to be more control on how your beans will run but trading remains a major part of the game.

Priests of Ra is also a stand alone board game that is based on a prior successful game, this time simply Ra but looks to possibly have more game play than the original. I would have bought more but I will get these two on the table Sunday and see how we go. It's great that the kids have our love of board games and whilst I do not tend to report the games here we do get a few sessions a month with the kids and it always leaves them wanting more. 

Both these games were £9.99 each as was the majority of the others, none more expensive but the card games or small board based games were £7.99

We called in the Mansfield store which had a few of the new ones and on the clearance shelf was another game I had looked at before but this was just £1.99 so maybe just maybe we will get a go at Strozzi as well. Cath thinks they are ready to have a go at Settlers of Catan though our version is in German so maybe a little help will be required.

For anyone wanting to play a game or three with their kids but just can't face another game of Monopoly (though played by the official rules it's not bad) should try one of the Eurogames, their is a good spread of ages though my 7 and 9 year olds are now playing age 12+ and are fine with them once a few turns have been played through. We must have 50+ titles and it will be great teaching some of the old classics to them. 

Check Your Six AAT Attack on the Airfield

It's been a very light year so far for wargaming, with about three games played prior to this game and none at all against Matt so it was great to get a game in with Matt again. Check Your Six does not really feel like a typical game for me and tends to get far more laughter than say Fields of Glory Ancients game. Not that I don't play to win because I do but it just is a lighter experience I think.

This is a follow on from the December game where I had took a pounding failing to take out the Radar protecting this sector. As such I was expecting to go into this game with a disadvantage and on finding three Spitfires and three Hurricanes it certainly looked that way as I had just two ME109's and two ME110's with a pair each of Dornier's and Heinkel's that needed to now bomb the airfield.

Now CY6 is a fairly bloody game and you don't come out of a mixed melee like the one above without a fair few holes in your planes. The only good news is that the Spitfires were actually Defiant's though the bad news was that they were in great position to fire at my plane.

Well the good news was that whilst the Brits landed a few shots (less than they should have) the structure of the bombers was so strong none of the hits turned into damage. However I failed to even hit a single plane but overall such a result is a win for me.

 The following turn I had two Defiant's dead for rights though I wanted to make sure so fired both my ME110's at the same target, guns and cannons needing 4 and 5 on 2D6 for a hit, both missed by one for a frustrating close call. Matt missed with all of his as well so at least we were on evens.

The low odds shot the next turn though caused superstructure damage to my Ace ME110 plane fired on by either a Green or Skilled pilot Defiant so meaning that would one would have to tread lightly. One of my Veteran 109's took an engine hit but he did deserve damage as he ended up slap bang in front of a Hurricane. The Defiant's were just moving out of the battle area and thus out of the fight as they could not get back in time to take on my bombers as they set their sites on the airfield.

Whilst I was rolling really bad for shooting, most being well below the required magic numbers I was rolling almost faultlessly for damage. One of the Dornier's needed something like seven and I rolled ten for instance. Unfortunately this was a double five that turns into a special hit, "Don't roll" was Matt's last words before double one landed! OK pilot dead, aircrew roll to take control which I think was a seven. I rolled somewhat below this and the very first loss was registered. That's about 5-6 turns into the game and unheard of, especially when considering the number of shots we had taken and the close proximity of the planes. The other Dornier was tagged but not too bad. I had elected to go round the clouds in the hope of getting to the target that bit quicker. The clouds being the white hexagons that actually look better in the flesh.

I had been diving each turn for a few turns to gain the extra one hex distance which is a big bonus when you move at only two hexes per turn. By this point I had been under fire from the heavy AA for a few turns and now the lights started to give out some fire which so far had been totally ineffective.

The Defiant's were not the only planes being left behind as I had managed to fail to keep up with the Hurricanes and thus was playing catchup, well all but the ME109 with engine damage as it could only move two hexes a turn as well.

The rear Dornier was then taken out but that was expected as it was just trying to hold the Hurricanes off the two heavier Heinkel's. I was starting to move into position to start being a problem for the chasing Hurricanes.

One turn to go and one bomber finally took a superstructure hit and the other was racked by the Hurricane behind it losing an engine. The other Hurricane had pulled an Immelmann as he would end up in the same hex as both bombers in that last turn and promptly dispatched one of my 109's. 

Now I had to survive the last round of AA fire and two Hurricanes fire, somehow I managed to survive all this and drop my bombs. The first bomber failed to hit it's mark, possibly as his comrade was also dropping it's bombs at the same time but from directly above him!! This second bomber was a better shot but not by much as he managed to do light rather than heavy damage. Sure the runway was out of commission for a bit but it would be up and running the following day.

I had only one plane without damage so it's debatable that much of my force would have made it back across the channel though one of the Hurricanes had used up it's ammo taking down the 109.

I only scored a total of two hits all evening and Matt shrugged them off, though both of these were from single MG's so not exactly killer material. 

It's proof of a gun game though when this does not matter and the fun remains turned up to eleven. After the game we had a natter for about half an hour which is always fun as it's a mix of what we are doing in our projects with a little old time memories mixed in for spice.

Prussian Commanders - Adler 6mm

Another 6mm post, sorry but seems these will be coming on strong for a while as I shift some lead. Though I do have a few 28mm posts as well to come. These are rather splendid Adler Miniatures and lovely to paint up.

I was really short of Prussian command bases for my Naps but these will give them a shot in the arm. I will still need to do some more for the Waterloo game but at least now we can start testing the Prussian army lists. In fact as long as I don't need any Cuirassiers I should be able to use the Prussians for up to fairly large games now. I do have some Cuirassier figures, enough for about four regiments but they will only get painted up when I either need them for a game or after the Waterloo lot are all done. 

This base having three figures on it represents a Corp Command base. Just love the figure with the map, took a lot of will power not to paint a A-Z on the cover. Seems the guy in green is sure of the way to go.

On the other hand maybe it's that way, I wonder which Corp he should be in charge of? As typical with Adler these are great detailed figures and the extra effort is well worth putting in when it's the command.

A command base with one of the spare guns from Blog-Con, one wheel shown off the cannon. Really helps to add to the feel of battle I think and you will see more of these bits and bobs turning up on bases until I have used up all the spares.

The two figure command bases command the Divisions within the Corp so are more numerous and as such these are the ones I need to do more of. This one gets a busted limber but the missing wheel is no where to be seen.

I really like this base as one of the commanders is rather lacking in the hair department. Also he is quite interesting with one had cupping his mouth as he shouts and the other holding his hat. Very nice indeed.

These Prussians do love their pointing don't they? I did one commander in a red jacket having seen an image of such a uniform after doing a search, not sure how accurate it is though. I have loads more figures so can fit some more in between other projects when I wish.

I really do like Adler and yes I often then say about the delicate nature or the figures and need to clean up rather a lot but if you are willing to do this and put the extra effort in painting them up you can be rewarded with good looking figures. I have seen many a 15mm figure with less detail!

First Tree - It's Big

Not wanting to wait, I rushed into building two trees. One with the bush foliage and a second with the hair infused material. Both by Woodland Scenic's but whilst the bush one looked more realistic it held just small clumps of leaves so would not look right. On the other hand both really look tall against 6mm figures compared with the usual tree's. These could easily be 15mm small trees. But what do you guys think, please be fully honest as it's not too late to get more of the usual size.

Also what do you think, is it worth continuing and doing another 20 plus? I think I won't need all 57 for this game, so maybe make up so many and then if we need more make even more. I have also seen another way of making them but not sure they will either suit 6mm or take the strain of regular use though would be fine for a one off display game.

I do plan to dry brush the trunks to get a better tree like colour and finish as at the moment it screams out plastic a little too much. I am leaning towards hidden in a forest of trees they will be OK but if not then I still have time to sort things out.

I have the Guard Artillery and Limbers on the painting table at the moment and these should be finished before the week is out. This will have all my figures painted with four weeks to go, though I still have to label and store them ready for the game but I hope to get that done next week. Last up will be boxing up the trees and buildings for the game. Can't believe it's less than five weeks to the game. Lee has done 17 battalions of British (34 flags!!!) but still has a and flagging  to go. I can see an afternoon/evening spent chatting and flagging on the cards, not a bad way to pass the time as I don't mind that job and can take pleasure from watching Lee who hates it LOL.

Fathers Day Gifts and Joy of Six/Baccus Open Day

It's that day of the year again where countless pairs of socks booze and slippers are handed over by smiling sons and daughters. Well not in our house it's not. Two of the six Sharpe books I don't own was a nice addition as I am in the process of reading through the whole series so good timing. As I don't eat chocolate it was great to get the Caramac. There was two packs of three but me and the kids saw the end of the first pack, just to check the quality you understand.

Last up was the Tree Armatures, enough to make 57 deciduous trees that I want to get done for the game in exactly 5 weeks time! Ian is going to be a busy boy all right.

Yes only five weeks to go until we will be putting on the display game that is just a taster of the Waterloo game we hope to have ready in less than a year. I booked Lee and myself in on the Baccus Open Day and the Curry for that evening. Should be a real fun day though I can't get the image of Lee bent over the table in the restaurant with a load of flags whilst I have a similar pose with bits of trees spread around my curry.

Anyone interested in attending the Baccus Open Day click here, it's very informative and lots of fun. Seeing Peter supply a coffee and a chocolate biscuit out of his own pocket is worth going alone LOL.

Adler Old Guard Artillery Arrive.

Got back from London he other day to a small buff envelope. Inside was an even smaller order from Adler of just four gun's crews and limbers for the French Guard. They are needed for the Quatre Bras game and an unwelcome surprise when talking to Lee that neither of us had them as the figures are fairly newly released as in about ten months ago. Having only just picked up an Adler order at Triples last month it did feel a bit like a fail. I need to get these painted up in the next 4-5 weeks as Joy of Six is just around the corner. I also need to finish two French cavalry regiments but at least those just need painting as of last night.

On the other hand, Lee is flagging, well he should be! You see Lee hates attaching small paper flags to small figures, shame then he has the British who need two a battalion LOL. He has said he will get a good session in tomorrow, you can bet I will be getting in touch to check how many he has done and mock him no matter what the answer, it's what friends are for.

Post Triples I started to think about how my attitude to funding my hobby has taken a bit of a diversion, seems I am in the red for the Wargames Neutral and whilst I will get a shot in the arm funds wise when I get to sell some of the Winter War stuff I wonder if I will ever go back to total funding?

With that in mind I made up yet another little spreadsheet that chartered the figures bought against painted from May onwards. The idea being to halt the worrying situation of increasing size of ones mountain and should I hope stop the shameful growth :-) So once a month expect something like this to be published.

May saw an increase of twelve regiments to the mountain for the painting of just three so I go into June with a PLUS 9 which will take a few months to work off. I also bought six battalions of Infantry but balanced that with the French Infantry I had painted.

Whilst I will mention figures painted in excess to bought the balance will not be carried forward each month so I don't have a pot of done figures to count against purchases. This should help to REDUCE the mountain, I know heresy! 

May was an incomplete month of calculations, June though does not look good at the moment and with the Baccus open day and Joy of Six in July I have doubts this will look good for a while yet.

Burn and A Nice Guy

Lets start with the nice guy the good man that is Gary Amos has made me sons weekend and beyond with some very nice painted figures for his Anglo Danes. 

I have based them on 2p's ready for when I base up his whole force. It also helps him pick up the figures without having to touch the figures themselves. As you can see they are most excellent.

I am not sure which manufacturer they are possibly Griping Beast? but they sure are nice looking sculps and have been given a great paint job.

I love the brush control that Gary has managed on these boys and the metal effects are really top notch. I can't tell you how pleased my Son was when he got these. He spent a lot of the weekend coming back and back to have a look at them. We will need to get a force finished soon so I can have a game with him for sure.

These have great poses and will form the heart of his best trained troops just so they can be in at it in the end more often than not.

Another well turned shield what can I say? He now has a bunch more that Gary had already sent cleaned up and primed and both of us will spend time over this weekend working on our saga armies I have 2 points worth on my paint desk so had better get on with them.

This one is his favourite of the three and I can see why. Lee also is building up his own Anglo Danes so I can see a few sessions over at Lee's with my son in for the session, that's fine and dandy with me.

So a very big thank you to Gary as the gifts from Gary and Loki are really appreciated by both small and big kid alike and will add to our fun of wargaming together. Now just waiting to see if the daughter will come along wanting a faction of her own LOL.

As for the burn, been at a trade show at London since Monday been a great show and has been a success for us and as I got back really late last night I have been rather pooped but looking forward to getting some paint on a few figures tonight and back at the blog.

More Bang for my Prussian's - Project Waterloo

Well my last post brought on a lot of comments so thanks to all that commented and some nice long ones too. I have changed one line as I had not made it clear I had moved back to the part time painting services so apologies to all the full time ones for being unclear.

All I have done here is base the guns and crews as these are the last of the painted Prussians that Dave handed over at Blog Con 1 back in October  (I think). All told it was ten serviceable guns but only enough to give each gun a crew of three. Half the guns have a ammo box built on the gun, I think this marks them as British supplied guns.

The other five are the normal Prussian gun. In both sets I have an howitzer which fits in nice. This gives me a total of ten more guns with just another ten needed for the Project Waterloo establishment. These ten are Adler and I have more unpainted Adler in my to paint box along with another eight Baccus so I won't need to buy any more for a while.

I am not too precious about getting on with them though it won't be that long before I will need to average a gun a month to have them ready. Expect me doing them in one or two batches once all the cavalry is painted or at least when they are almost done with.

Of course I will need limbers for the Horse Artillery and was fortunate to have enough bits to make up four bases, though three of them just have a two horse team. I again have teams of unpainted and will do a few more even though they are at this point going to be in excess of what is required.

I still have two limbers without horses and four guns without crews, these will find their way onto other bases just to add a little interest to the overall look. 

So from here on in it will be all my work again, still plenty to get finished but I have far more boxes ticked than need ticking, so I must be winning. I have had to send in a small order to Adler for Guard Horse Artillery as I need four guns and limbers for Joy of Six so these will be on the bench real soon with about seven weeks to go.