Leven Miniatures Giveaway Drawn

Thanks to everyone who entered this giveaway but most of all to Mick from Leven Miniatures for offering the prizes. I have even waited till the afternoon so no risk of being mistaken as a April Fool  :-)

Talking of fools, this is the image of the Leven mill, the one used on the giveaway was from Baccus, sorry the mistake was all mine.

Watch out for a post coming soon regarding some of the new buildings from Leven, I have been working away and should have a couple finished in the next day or so, they do look good!

So with no more messing around the two winners are Leif Eriksson and The Miniatures Man, each of you have £10 to spend on the Leven Website and I will pay postage of up to £5 so take advantage and load up your orders. Well done and enjoy, I look forward to seeing your results.

Can the winners electronically send me your names and address you can find me ian underscore willey at hotmail dot com. The underscore is the dash but with the shift pressed so should look something like 

random_name etc etc. Just leave a comment below if your struggling.

Talking of winning I won a giveaway of my own, ran by Michael across at 28mm Victorian Warfare. See below for the prize, I think my son will be rather happy with this, so thanks a lot Michael, your a gent.

Don't forget the other five giveaways are live till each has been up for seven days so feel free to join in and make a comment in the relevant giveaway. Bad luck for all those that missed out on this one but with still five to go you could yet lucky yet.

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.