Joy of Six Countdown 6

Another new release from Baccus and again they are French, NFR35 Animated French Infantry £6.60 for 96 figures. I have mixed them in with standard infantry so the twenty strips of animated guys will be fleshed out over around fifteen battalions.

1st Battalion and from the front all three look like normal units. Of course you can use the pack to make up four battalions of twenty four figures and be very animated.

Spot the animated chap :-) next lot I will file away the shako cords and pompoms and the lot will have covers in place.

2nd Battalion sporting a Fanion, even the correct colour LOL. I still have to paint up lots and lots of battalions to make up the right number but also need to snip off the eagles.

Closer shot of this fellow, note he is a different pose to the previous one. I should work out how many Battalions of French I have painted all together, over the last four years it's been rather a lot.

The 3rd Battalion brings up the rear with it's splendid red colour, will Lee take it off me over the coming weekend?

The nearest figures in the two rear lines are part of the animated set, again different poses to the two prior, the front one of the two wearing a fatigue cap. 

All three together, I have to say that whilst it would be easy to label the set as a gimmick I really like the opportunity to slip a few abstract figures on to the base and once I get some of the casualty figures these will also find their way onto the bases as well.

Joy of Six Countdown 7

OK this time next week I will be slumped in my armchair reflecting in a job well done (I hope!) and wondering how I will manage to get all the photos and words onto my blog and Facebook without actually expending any more energy.

So with that in mind I thought it would be good to do a countdown to the big day and why not start with a snap shot of the last figures I need to paint for our game?

These guys are painted but need basing, that should happen by Wednesday if all goes well. These are part of the new Baccus playset My Little Ogre NFR37 £10.00 I have yet to paint up the dismounted part of the set with the tents and famous seated Napoleon with foot on drum. No need for Waterloo but I will paint up in the next month or so for the sake of completion.

I have just about everything finished though I still need to type up and print out then attach all the unit labels but I also have work I want to finish for others for the day. Good job all the Leven items are all finished.

Lee has also been cracking on as he has finished the boards without further assistance (hindrance?) from me so these will need loading up and bringing over on Sunday with his half of the troops. Now it's less than a week away I am starting to feel the buzz building, really looking forward to the doors opening, just hope we are finished up with the setting up LOL

Friday Quiz 5

Here we have another five questions for your historical enjoyment

1. What disability severely reduced King John of Bohemia's fighting efficiency at Crecy?

2. What did Sargent Patrick Masterson call the Eagle he captured at the Battle of Barrosa on 5th March?

3. What did the Boer term kriegsraad mean?

4. What famous battle eclipsed the Battle of Hürtgen Forest?

5. Why was the Canadian Gerald Bull, mysteriously killed in March 1990 important to the Gulf War?

As usual I did not do so well with only two correct, will you beat that?

Answers.

1. He was blind!

2. He called it their Cuckoo

3. A meeting of heads of commandos to discuss tactics before a battle.

4. The Battle of the Bulge

5. He designed the Iraqi super gun and other military pieces

Next weeks quiz will be somehow linked to the Joy of Six, more on that next Friday.

June Jumble

What a month June was, my worst production in over three years. It was no coincidence that it also coincided with my starting the new job that mixes long hours, long journey time and working eleven out of fourteen days. However things are settling into a routine and for the next couple of weeks at least I can make use of having Wednesdays off whilst the kids are at school. 

So before I go into what I painted I thought I may as well come clean on some of what I received this month. I received three packs of figures from Commission Figurines, French Infantry, Cavalry and Artillery. These are 6mm MDF figures that are a close size match to Baccus.

The artillery look like they will be fun to assemble, that's a job for latter this week. The cavalry look easier though I have yet to prep them and so more on them later.

Close up of the infantry, there is some detail picked out for you though more detail needs adding. I have actually painted up a battalion this afternoon whilst waiting for Hougoumont's ornamental garden to dry. More on that when it's finished. They are quick and easy to paint and again more in an upcoming post.

I also had the chance to buy some old Chariot Miniatures Hoplites at a very good price so grabbed them building back up my 15mm stock piles.

In the same offer was a bunch of Persian cavalry and as I would be looking for more of these at some point took the opportunity to snag a bargain. So on a month of low production I managed to get figures in all three major scales, oh dear...........

6mm

Whilst I added ten battalions to my pile in May I at least managed to paint up four in June so the overall trend is downwards still.

No command has been painted in June so remains on Plus 15, Boney and a few mates NEED painting in the next few days so at least that will start to drop.

I managed to paint up one cavalry regiment but remain Plus 9 overall so post JoS will see my cavalry get more attention.

All other 6mm remains the same and will do so for a while yet I fear.

6mm commissions only four buildings have been painted up but I have a chunk of Steve's half finished and even more for Lee put aside till after JoS then that category should see good reduction.

15mm

Infantry Plus 62 and cavalry Plus 46 (thirty one additions) but overall since starting the tally they are actually down on total numbers.

20mm 

Remains Plus 96 infantry and Plus 6 cavalry, need to get back to doing these as I hope to get to use them when it comes round to our Christmas game round at Kev's.

28mm

If you thought my 6mm was out of control take a look at these numbers. 

Infantry a further Plus 9 in June so Plus 80 in total and fortunately only Plus 4 for the cavalry.

On a positive note I don't see me buying much in July and my painting time has increased allowing me to get on with part painted projects. July tally should look better than June's and with Project Waterloo getting out the door I hope to be in position to both play the actual game and painting up other projects.

Building Of The Week - Small Medieval House

MED15 A Small Medieval House is yet to be released by Leven Miniatures along with another addition to the Medieval range, so when these two are released that range will stand at sixteen buildings, not too shabby eh?

The building comprises of a raised dwelling area with an outbuilding attached. I have painted up the roof with wooden tiles.

Mike mixes up the materials nicely with this model. Rounded stones set in mortar for the base and cut stone for the steps then the usual treatment of wood and rendering for the walls and finally his signature individual tiles for the roof.

I am guessing these may be shown at The Joy Of Six if Mike has space on his stand. That is if I remember to take them LOL.

Joy of Six and Project Waterloo

Just two weeks to go till the Joy of Six in Sheffield and it's getting really real now. The show starts at the typical 10am whilst we can get entry from 7.30 to unload the game which in turn means a 6am alarm call to take advantage of the two and a half hour set up period.

The trader list is very impressive for the 6mm wargamer but other scales are catered for a little.

Baccus - arguably the most influential and certainly the biggest hitter in 6mm.

Commission Miniatures - MDF buildings 6mm up to 28mm and 6mm figures!

Cosy Dice - Dice, dice bags, counters and more.

Heroics and Ross - One of the longest running 6mm suppliers and has been the go to guys for WWII and Modern for most of the UK's gamers.

Leven Miniatures - There first show and the most prolific of 6mm building releases. Now have the largest range of 6mm buildings in the world!

Rapier Miniatures - 6mm and 28mm, the 6mm includes Greek Myths for something different.

Total Battle Miniatures - Another large range of buildings, from 6-28mm, recently released their small footprint Waterloo buildings.

Timecast - Again another fine producer of  buildings, 6mm, 10mm and 15mm. They also supply 15mm figures and lots of scenic items.

Wargames Emporium - have been part of this one day event way back to it's previous name and wider show. Whilst not a 6mm supplier as such it remains an important part of the trader mix and brings a very welcome mix of items.

Games wise there are seventeen games booked for the day and ours is not the biggest one! Though I am glad to say that it's another Napoleonic game, Ligny which promises to be rather good on the eye.

Still to be done for our game is a few more trees, say 50 or so. Napoleon is still not dressed for the battle and the biggest thing left is the ornamental garden. I start that on Tuesday and hopefully will have it finished by the following Wednesday.

I am also frantically painting up three battalions of Highlanders, 27 skirmish bases of 4 figures to try and deliver for JoS as well as a Bunch of the Commission Miniatures again to be ready for JoS. I just have another two days off between now and then so I can see a few late nights between now and the show.

My Son is really getting excited and is looking forward to getting to look at all the other games and traders, not sure if he has any money left though ;-)

Friday Quiz 4

Mixing it up a bit by increasing the number of questions to six, see how you go.

1. At Which battle did Joan of Arc exhort her commanders to attack the English with the following words "You have spurs, use them" ?

2. What was the Land Pattern Musket better known as?

3. President Abraham Lincoln's remark, "I can't spare this man. He fights", concerned which Union general?

4. Who was the first British Secretary of State for Defence?

5. What is the main difference between a PIAT and a Bazooka?

 I knew two of these, so better than last week but not great LOL

Can you do better? Just answer in the comments section and name any sources you used if indeed you needed to.

Answers.

1. Patay (1429)

2. Brown Bess

3. General Ulysses S Grant

4. Duncan Sandys

5. The PIAT ammunition was propelled by a heavy duty spring whilst the Bazookas was propelled as a rocket.

Some good answers again and a few that made me chuckle :-)