Leven Miniatures Soon to be Released Middle East/Egyptian Range

I was give eighteen buildings by Mike to paint at Joy of Six and have recently finally finished them all. As per usual they were good castings to work on and as they are all the same finish batch painted them for a quicker result.

Given the number of buildings I will just do group images in this post and save the individual shots for later.All will work with the current ranges though these are more ancient than the original range/

This collection tends to be a little more complex than the original range with less square buildings. The range includes temples but also more left field items such as a boat yard and even a potters workshop.

You can check out Levens facebook page here for any updates and whilst they are not yet on the site you can contact Mike for ordering information.

Not many suppliers of wargames buildings start a range with such depth, eighteen buildings as an add on for a range is something to shout about and I can't praise Mike enough for such commitment to his projects.

Many of the buildings have courtyards with tiled floors. I did think about painting some of these with lots of colour but decided that would detract from the look Mike was after.

I will certainly be buying some of these buildings for my 6mm Ancient project to mix in with the other buildings I already have. I just need to get a few of the buildings I picked up for me at Joy of Six painted before I do, otherwise I will feel the pangs of guilt. Or not......

Chatter Behind The Bike Sheds - No Wolrds For Me

This is how I thought I would feel but I am more shrug. I have found shows more difficult since The Boy has got into gaming and wants to go to them. It almost seems like work to try and balance doing my stuff and getting the most out of a visit for my son. The fact that he waits patiently as I AGAIN stop and chat for twenty minutes as we nip to the next game he wants to play etc just makes me feel worse. Balancing the desire to chat with mates, supervising The Boy's purchasers and games as well as my own retail needs does make it difficult. 

Not making a show I have been looking forward to for months and not really being too bothered is a bit of a shock. Especially as I thought I was going to make it with no problem not having worked out my rota properly. The Boy is OK with it, I did say he may still be able to go with Lee but he is happy to have a game or two with me when I get home from work on Sunday.

I of course will miss the chance to catch up with a few mates which is the only part I can't manage to substitute via the net, however I will try and make sure I get to York being the next probable show for me. 

It does beg the question are shows losing their attraction to me other than the obvious face to face meet ups that normally only happen at such shows and if so is it the same for others?

Whilst I did have some good ideas on what I planned to buy I have so many figures  (over 5,000) that I won't miss out and even do myself a favour by not going. Get the lead pile a bit more under control. However below is a list of sorts of what I would have been looking at getting.

15mm Ancients 

I was certainly going to buy a couple of packs of Forged In Battle Alexandrian phalanxes, enough to give me three more pike blocks, even though I don't actually need any more blocks. I would also get some command which I probably could do with. I still have a few blocks worth of unpainted figures that I still have yet to paint.

I was NOT going to buy any more Magister Militum companion cavalry. I still have two units worth from the last Worlds waiting for me to paint. These should get painted in the upcoming Analogue Painting Challenge at which point I will need to decide if I want more cavalry and if so who from.

6mm Ancients

I have six units of Persian cavalry to paint up (108 figures) a few units of Thracian infantry (about 96 figures) and four phalanx (400 figures) clearly I need more, lots more. 

With Lee pushing his Romans I will be further building the Macedonian army. I would have picked up another four or six phalanxes and possibly another three units of cavalry. 

The Persians still need a lot of help to get up to a large enough army to face the Macedonians as they already stand. For this I would have added some more Persian cavalry, most likely the heavier options and some Satraps. I now have six Hoplite units so for infantry I would have gone after levy bow and javelin armed troops.

15mm SYW

The other main and fairly fresh project would see me dropping a few pounds the way of Old Glory or Timecast for more cavalry. I have plenty of infantry awaiting painting, two Lancashire Games battle packs untouched but cavalry wise I just have the unpainted I have used in a few games that need de-basing and painting up. Command and Artillery I have a plenty.

The Boy needs more of everything but he is happy with what he has till we get a few games in. He should be more excited once I have his Blue Moon dragoons finished (current project)

6mm Napoleonic's

Can I seriously consider buying more? The bulk of the 5,000 is indeed 6mm Napoleonic. Well true I do have rather a lot but the Polish need some command and these I need to order from Adler for picking up from a show. So this will now have to be Triples if he travels to that show, or mail order if not. Either way I have plenty to keep me busy for now.

I do plan to get back to painting up more of the Prussians and even more of the French at some point. At the moment the 6mm Ancients and 15mm SYW are absorbing most of my painting time.

And that's it, I stocked up with bases some time ago so am good to go and now I have Thursdays off from work can nip over to Mansfield if I am running low on the odd bottle of paint. So anyone who is going to the Worlds please keep an eye on Lee and remind him he still has SOME space in the shed!

Arena Rex Gladiator

Finally got around to painting up another Red Republic Games figure from the Kickstarter I backed a few years ago. I really do need to get on with these as I really like the figures and it will be great to actually play a few games. 

This figure is Marcus Furius sculptured by Patrick Masson and is a resin 32mm Figure. Whilst the game is mostly based on Roman Gladiatorial combat some of the factions are more at home in a mix of fantasy and mythic genres this figure is actually mostly a historical one.

Not the best photo's really as the detail looks a bit soft but in reality the sculps are very detailed as you would expect from resin. At $17.50 obviously you would expect good quality and Red Republic do deliver.

I continue to base on a plain black base but wanted to be a bit funky so trimmed the shield and stuck it to the base to look like it had been wedged in the sand of the arena, despite the lack of said sand.

Unlike many Kickstarters from fledgling companies Red Republic Games have continued to release more figures to the range growing the possible combinations to the range and looks to be a stable supplier. Having not actually playing the game post playtest I can't really comment on how the rules shake out. Hopefully when I get a fourth figure finished I can give the rules a try, you never know it might even get me painting more of the figures I have waiting to get on the painting table.

SYW Prussian Converged Grenadiers 1/23rd by Old Glory

I've managed two games with these figures and still not managed to get them on the blog so thought I should make time for them. These are the Old Glory figures provided by Timecast and a bag of approximately 50 figures including command cost £15.

I have actually started a second battalion but moved onto other figures so will have to get those finished in the next few weeks or so. Just like the Prussian line battalions painted before these are really nice and well detailed figures. A pack of fifty give enough figures for us to put together three battalions by using a couple of mounted figures in the mix. This is in part because we have received more than the stated 50 figures so may fall short in a future pack.

Each battalion comprises of three bases of six figures each for eighteen in total. The mix of poses make the unit look more interesting but slows down painting a bit. By only painting one battalion at a time it has got a unit done fairly quickly though batch painting makes better use of ones painting time.

Using three bases like this allow us to make use of line and column. If these were Napoleonic's we would have to have four bases so be able to do squares but fortunately this is not a requirement in the SYW. This now gives me six battalions of infantry, I have been working on a couple of light infantry battalions so will be turning my attention to a few cavalry regiments and two more command bases.

The 1/23rd Converged Grenadiers wore the same uniforms except the piping on the mitres so look the same from the front. The next battalion will have more differences so will be a bit more tricky to paint but look more rewarding.

Being the grenadier companies from two regiments they do not carry a standard of their own. At a later date I will paint up a couple of regular Grenadier battalions and these will have standards to fly. I could in fact just paint up a few extra command bases to allow a lower cost grouping but I doubt I will take that route. If time gets tight then I may consider it.

These are Blue Moon as supplied by Old Glory UK and are French Scomberg Dragoons and a pack of French Generals for The Boy. I now have them cleaned up and primed and will be the next figures of his I will be painting up. Before I start these I want to get some more 6mm command and cavalry done for my Alexandrian army painted up. These were also prepped yesterday. 

Secret Santa and Project Z

A quick mention that Secret Santa is up again, this is the fifth year it has been run and if you run a blog and want in just click here.

I am running a post apoplectic roleplay campaign with our roleplaying group with a bit of a difference. That being the players actually go through the whole breaking down stage. 

It is set many months after Brexit after a fall out with a Trump lead America. American military bases have been reinforced and tensions are high with some British civilians killed in clashes with US troops as demonstrations become violent. 

Things get worse as several cases of Rabies break out across mainland UK. The government acts quickly to contain the outbreaks and whilst this seems to be helping it's not without controversial acts. 

It's at this point that the players have gotten involved. I wanted fairly cheap miniatures to get the game started so opted for a pack each of Warlord Games Project Z survivors. Each player is playing a version of themselves so it's a bit raw when bad things happen. To reinforce this uncomfortable feeling I am painting up their characters to have something in common with the players themselves. I start with what for me is the easiest, James loves his American Football and has worn his Hines Ward shirt almost to tatters.

I went with urban combat trousers as he used to have a pair of rural ones but I felt that urban would look better with the rest of his get up.

The brush work is anything but perfect but supplies a good enough job for me. He even has a Steeler cap on, perfect for a die hard fan that's about to er.. die.

I struggled a bit with putting the figure together and found them much more fiddly than the Gripping Beast Vikings I have put together previously but I am happy with the result so can't grumble.

A Call To Arms? No A Call To Santa!!!!!

Yep it's that time of year again where Cath gets me organised and I set out the welcome mat for all budding Secret Santa's again. Last year was another bumper year with the highest number taking part so far so I hope we will again have a great response this time round.

For those not familiar with our Secret Santa the idea is that each person who joins in will send a wargames related present with a value of £15 or equivalent and return receive the same. Cath runs this for me meaning I get to play along too. 

For inspiration you can take a look at your targets blog or Cath can get a wish list or ideas for you. The present needs to be with your target in time for Christmas hence the early start. It's well worth considering buying for your target in their own country where possible so as to cut down your postage cost. 

So are you up for it?

Been a Long Time...........

This is either a Led Zep post or at least something Lead related. Well a little bit of lead and a whole lot more resin.

I actually finished painting these buildings weeks ago and had done most of the work on the tiles that they are based on. Then I kind of forgot about it for a week or two. All three buildings are from the Leven Miniatures medieval range. 

I wanted to paint up a larger farm tile that could be used for my ECW army with a view of using it for Napoleonic's without it being too much of a stretch. The farm I had in mind would have a hedge and water filled trench, nothing as grand as a moat but something that would make crossing the hedge somewhat of a problem.

The building in the foreground is MED16 Medieval Town House £2.60 here it represents the original farmhouse that has now been reduced to use by the farmhands whilst the country gentleman farmer now resides in MED12 Medieval Manor House at £3.00. 

The last building on the tile is MED15 Small Medieval Cottage £2.60 but works so very well as a storehouse. I have followed my usual basing system adding some of the Baccus figures from a mix of civilian sets. Can you spot the rather excellent Perfect 6 scenic items? I have added a mix of creates, barrels and sacks to the base to give the look of a working farm. The health & safety boys and girls won't be happy I can tell you.

I added a couple of bunches of rushes to the water to make it a bit more interesting. The water itself is layers of PVA and Army Painter intermixed with brushing's of paint to try and give the appearance of depth. Not a bad result but I am sure it would have come off better with the use of water products,

A better view of some of the Perfect Six scatter terrain. A horse is tethered near the hedge helping itself to a free meal!

The lady of the house stands at the front door looking for a man to boss around, one guy is trying to make himself invisible behind his mattock, I don't care for his chances.

Meanwhile slightly hidden is a poor fellow loading the wagon before gathering the horses ready to head off to the market. If he gets a move on he may get away before the first soldiers descend on the farm.

In all three cases I have painted the buildings at least once, indeed all three examples are on Mikes website. The original MED15 Small Medieval Cottage was done with wooden tiles whilst on my version I have used slate, both styles work well giving it a different look each time.

The hedge is simply Olive Green Bushes from Woodland Scenics glued in place with good old PVA. I am currently well on my way to painting up a whole new range for Leven and hope to have them finished if not blogged by the weekend.

Third Black Powder Game

I was over at Lee's again last Friday playing our third game of SYW Blackpowder and it was another fun game. We have increased the number of units available, me by painting them, Lee not so much. He has bought yet more figures so will have a rather nice collection of Russians and Austrians. The Russians I think are up to 20 battalions of infantry but Lee has had little time to get behind a paint brush so I am safe for the time being.

Neither of us have enough cavalry to have more than one big brigade or two small fragile ones so we both set up our cavalry on the one flank, a clash is in the making.

My right flank is protected by a woods and a cornfield. Both of us would make a play for that field though in retrospect it would have been better for me to position myself behind it.

A view showing both forces, mine is on the right. Lee has one division of Grenadiers, this is the first game we are using the special abilities of the troops, though not all of them were called into play.

I moved first but critically my cavalry refused to budge, after the previous game where my cavalry had a torrid time this did not give me much confidence.

However on my right flank I started with three moves that saw me take the wheat field and make use of the woods to secure my flank. One battalion is still in march column whilst Lee is running two battalions around the woods.

Lee charges in with his cavalry whilst I counter charge. I win the battle between the hussars even though Lee got to re-roll all missed dice. He took three casualties to my one and becomes shaken. Obviously painting the figures helps. The clash of our heavies leaves a couple of casualties each but Lee is considered the winner as he has support.

Lee then attacks two of my battalions of my right most brigade getting a bit of a thumping on the left hand one. Lee was more trying to break the rules to see what happens more than win the game. Here he had the supports  but not the dice.

On the extreme right the melee is a draw even though I had the support, though the fault was my dice rolling this time!

Just to the left of this melee we were both enjoying hot work with a battalion each shaken but my advantage is being supported by artillery.

The melee kept on going for a number of rounds but I was slowly taking advantage of not being shaken or disordered. My one supporting unit remained supporting my right hand battalion so that I was now winning both melee's. Lee was failing to manage to get a third battalion in to plug the gap.

However Lee was making his presence felt as he brought the two battalions around the woods. I was just not making a dint in them whilst I was slowly taking casualties.

Then a bad roll and I was down a battalion, that hurt, yes I could plug the gap but it was a very poor roll and such things often come back to hurt you.

Lee managed to bring my right hand battalion into shaken status to join his. By now this melee should have been finished but I could not quite finish him off.

On the other side of the line I remained in the driving seat and was finally rewarded with the destruction of the Austrian Battalion.

The cavalry battle was far more one sided with his hussars broken and his dragoons all shaken. Only one of my Cuirassier regiments was shaken, otherwise I was almost untouched.

On my right flank Lee shakes out his two battalions and failing to inflict a single casualty in return my flank protecting battalion breaks leaving my right flank hanging in the air.

It just got worse, after finally forcing the attacking battalion to retreat Lee's artillery broke my battalion before I had a chance to reduce their loss level. Again I rolled really low so it was disappointing turn of events.

Another view from my left flank, the grey white line behind the wheat fields is Austrian and clearly shows I have a problem.

At this point my right hand brigade was broken and Lee just needs to swing round to attack my centre. I need to do something fast. Lee still has his Grenadier brigade so I know I have a tough fight ahead.

Fortunately I broke Lee's cavalry brigade and started to move them over to protect my centre. Thinking about it I would have been better to have thrown all I had against Lee's centre sweeping my cavalry behind the Grenadier line and thus attacking them from front and rear at the same time.

The last two regiments that are to move to the centre took a bit more time to organise forcing the front two regiments to halt (retiring infantry also got in the way). One cuirassier regiment stayed to threaten the grenadiers flank.

The cavalry and one battalion cover my centre, these would have fell back giving Lee the field. It looked so much to be going my way. But on the bright side from the minor loss I have a idea I think will work well. Just need to try it out tonight, wish me luck.