To take a break from all these figures I decided to relax a bit a build/paint one of the many excellent Thoroughbred Models ACW ships. I am happy to report that they are back in production after a recent hiatus! These are always a delight to assemble as the casting is without equal and the design of the models makes assembly a breeze. Not to mention that the ultra imaginative paint-jobs most ACW ships got also makes painting a simple process.
Behold the CSS Charleston in all her glory!
Not really the heroes of Troy, I got these guys in a bulk-buy on Ebay and it seems that they are a mixtures of three different sets. I intend to use them as foot generals and as a unit of Myrmidons and, assuming there are enough left over, leaders mixed into units of spearmen. These are delightful sculpts (from the Perry brothers, if memory serves) but marred by casting flaws and a couple of short-shots that I had to remedy. All the same they painted up pretty well.
I reviewed these minis back in April when they were released but haven't gotten around to assembling/painting until now (which, by the way, is a rather fast turnaround time for my painting schedule which often runs to decades). Of course I struggled with assembly, not because of parts fit or lack of instructions mind you, just my endless fascination with the huge variety of poses that are possible. The vast selection of weapons was another distraction. But, in the end, they were assembled and marched off to the spray-booth for priming. I had decided early-on that they would be painted fairly closely to Great War Germans rather than the rather garish schemes posited on the box artwork. Muted bluish gray and natural leather were at the top of the list.
they would look great on the shields, dig I must
One of Metro Detroit's premiere wargaming events returns to kick off the Fall season on Saturday, September 26th. Pro or Con has long been a staple of the local gaming environment here in southeast Michigan and has always been a fun show. Participation games are the main fare mostly comprised of historical miniatures events but by no means is it a purist event. One low entry fee gains you access to joining games, the retailers, the raffle and the extensive Flea Market. The mood is laid-back and friendly. Gaming runs from 9am to 11pm in three sessions.
You can check out a list of games and pre-register through Table-Top Events
I will be running a (largish) Midgard game set in central Europe in the 1300s.
I just picked these up from Michigan Toy Soldier. We now have the "better half" of the French Partisans in hand. Wargames Atlantic has released the second part of their Resistance fighters series and it is a handy set! It is titled French Resistance Women but I am willing to bet that they would do well as Dutch, Belgian, or Danish. Careful choice of which figure to use as well as attention to how they are armed could easily extend these minis into Poland or even move them temporally to earlier and later conflicts (Spanish Civil War, Irish War of Independence or the chaos in eastern Europe after the Great War) or into gangster scenarios as well.
The minis are all conventionally dressed, no pseudo-uniforms or high fashion outfits here. The figures are well sculpted with good proportions and reasonable poses. The clothing drapes over the figure convincingly. This is a well-armed band of heroines, enough SMGs are provided to give every mini one; other weapons vary from open hands to rifles, with a choice of revolvers, or semi-auto pistols and a viscous-looking knife as well. Of course there is a hyper-abundance of heads with a wide choice of hairstyles and headgear. The faces are excellent with clear expressions and delicate features.
The molding work is up to the usual excellent standards we have come to expect from Wargames Atlantic; medium gray plastic, with no flash and only the faintest of mold-lines. The figures are cast without puddle bases.
Having a shortage of time last week and next I decided against taking on another forty-plus figure painting binge and instead grabbed another batch of chariots. As much as I don't like the extra work in assembly and basing, the much lower figure count speeds the process and gives me a sense of accomplishment. This batch has two warriors equipped in the "Dendra Panoply", the full-length armor suit named after the nearly complete armor found in the tomb at Dendra Greece in 1960. Although it looks clumsy tests conducted with replica suits of armor and volunteers from the Greek military showed that it really is quite functional .
Having grown tired of painting infantry I turned to the Bronze Ages equivalent of knights; chariots! In most game systems they are either wildly overpowered or just a poor substitute for light cavalry. Midgard they can function as hard-hitting, but fragile, fast-movers. Depending on how you arm the crew they are a missile base or can charge home (preferably against the flank or rear of an already occupied opponent). The historical record is unclear as to how they were employed in Bronze Age Greece. I prefer to think of them as skirmishing knights that also acted as transports for the heroes who engaged in individual combat. Either way they need paint and basing.
So often I have seen chariot models popping off of bases. I don't care to do things twice so I worked out a method of securing my models that has held up across decades. Most important is that you are gluing the metal, not the painted metal, the bare metal. Even with commercial grade primer things will fall apart if you try gluing to paint. I get this by using a sanding board to strip the bottom of the wheels to shiny metal.
I was satisfied with my first small test sample of spearmen so I went ahead and spent hours cleaning up a larg(ish) batch of spearmen for a "mass-painting event". Unfortunately the prep work took a huge amount of time. I always loved the sculpting that the Perry brothers did for Foundry but the actual castings left a lot to be desired. Flash, mold-lines in hard to reach places, vent sprues, and short-shots meant that I spent many hours with these lads before they were ready for primer (which instantly revealed all the places that still needed work). I hope that the current production is better than these ancient castings.
That being said they were fun to paint. Lots of colorful clothing and those wild boar's-tusk helmets were a great change of pace from the uniforms of later ages.
This is a small test-batch before I start mass-painting the rest of the foot. I wanted to get a feel for the minis before diving in. I honestly was surprised at the difference between these (admittedly OLD ) minis and modern plastics. It seems that the millimeter has undergone considerable expansion in the intervening years as these lads are significantly smaller that the last batch of plastics I painted. I also noticed that the detail, while present, is both finer and a bit foggy compared to plastic kits.
That said they turned out OK. I haven't based them yet as I wish to get the whole lot painted before I commit to basing the models.
I'm still plugging away at the Trojan War stuff. This time it is the Heroes (don't ask me to identify them, I'm a bit rusty on my Bronze-Age mythical heroes). There was a nice variety to these, they all came with tiny swords to glue into their hands but some just looked more natural holding a spear. They would have made a nice looking unit if I had based them up for Midgard but I decided that I might just as well use them as leader figures, so they landed on pennies instead of a multi-base.
