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.