The Trojan Wars Project, The Great Sorting

        Having been beavering away painting the Trojan Wares minis it never occurred to me just how they would be organized into units. As I was now approaching the end off the project I decided to sit down and organize the units for basing. I only have eight archers and eight chariots left to paint so I figured that I could sort the rest into units and start basing the minis. I dug out all the painted minis and laid them out on the game table, I was mildly surprised at how many I have actually painted. I began grouping the spearmen into units of eight. I placed them on a base and decided that they looked awfully sparse so I re-organized them into tens. This gave a satisfyingly dense-looking unit. Then I sorted officers, musicians and standard bearers into the formations.

 

my high-tech method of organizing minis, 

lay bases on the table and pile the minis on the bases,

 not the sort of thing a proper quartermaster would approve of but it works for me. 

 

 

 

the additional archers will be incorporated into the spear units, 

the unpainted chariots will form four more units (when I finally get assembled and painted)

        I interpreted the descriptions of some of the units differently from the units listed in the rules book. Research shows that archers were often incorporated into the spear units so I added a few in the back row of the bases, that way I can treat the units as Heavy Infantry Warriors or Heavy Infantry with Missiles under the rules. I also decided that I would treat the Myrmidons as loose order troops (Peltasts under our modification of the rules)  that were Drilled, Fearsome and Brutal to reflect Homer's depiction of their impact on the fighting.

        While basing the minis I left a gap in the middle of the back rank so the when a general joins the unit the miniatures can be placed on the base. I'm not sure if I am going to dedicate chariots models to generals, they take up a huge amount of space on the tabletop not to mention the cost of the models!

 

Walk like an Egyptian, putting paint on Wargames Atlantic's 28mm Egyptian Infantry

        Having finished painting a batch of 1/600 boats for a friend I still didn't have the energy to tackle the pile of chariots necessary to finish my Trojan Wars project. I cast about looking for an excuse not to confront my chariot dilemma and spotted the box of Egyptian infantry from Wargames Atlantic. "I'll just build one of each to see how well they go together", I thought to myself......then this happened.

 

 

yep, I painted the whole box, there were four spares of each type,

 they will have to wait for the second box to be painted before they get based

Ship Happens, Part X 1/600 Warrior and some ACW ironclads

        On occasion I will undertake to assemble/paint items for friends of mine. In this case I was painting some ship models for Drew. I was interested mainly because they were mostly Thoroughbred Models ACW ironclads; a product line cast with such precision that they are simply a joy to build (as far as painting goes I just have to figure out how many shades of black I can come up with). The one standout was a resin print of the HMS Warrior, a ship that pre-dated our Civil War and which was built from the ground up as an iron-hulled and armored warship by the worlds preeminent naval; power Great Britain.  As such she was a very different vessel, cleaner and more graceful than the practical American ships.

 

the resin masts were frightfully weak so I added some standing rigging to give them a chance 

 

 

then (because self-control is foreign to me) I added some running rigging, just enough to hint at it 

 

then I got back to actual fighting ships and whipped up some ACW ironclads 

 

       After this little side track I have to get back to my Trojan Wars project, having failed to complete that by the end of Summer as I had promised myself. Ten more chariots....just the thought of it makes me sad!

Cheap flexible river

       The Housemartin came to me needing a five-foot long river for a game he wished to present at Pro or Con. I dug around in my terrain pile looking for a suitable river model. Finding nothing to match the need, and not having done a terrain item in a while, I decided to make one. I based my model on a section of Eco Rug as it is cheap, strong and doesn't fray or tear. I needed a flexible material to build up the riverbank and create texture for both the shore and the river. My answer is cheap water-soluble latex caulk. It is flexible, paint-able and easy to to work with. I cut a length of Eco-Rug about eight inches wide with an irregular edge, I then marked the center and laid out a 4 inch wide river that wandered along the length of the piece. You can follow the step-by-step below.

 

 

I got mine at Lowe's for three bucks a tube,

 you can source yours as you like 

 

Ship Happens, Part IX 1/600 USS Susquehanna; or making the Bambu earn its keep Part II

 

        A little while ago R.U.P. brought his ACW naval rules over for a test-run. We used my 1/600 models and had a most enjoyable evening. This, of course, got me thinking about adding to my collection of ACW ships. Checking online for the prices of metal models nearly caused an aneurysm.  I retreated into the idea of scratchbuilding some models when the thought occurred to me that I own a 3d printer and there might be some STLs floating about on the internet that I could put to use.

        Lo and behold! There are more than a few. One particularly generous fellow that goes by the moniker R_A_T_ offers sets of Union or Confederate ships free of charge. I downloaded several of his designs and set to work printing them in 1/600 scale. In about six hours I had more models than I can paint this week but I decided to give the Susquehanna a try. I replaced the bowsprit with a bit of wire but all the rest is 3d printed. I rather like the result.

 

 

28mm Egyptian Infantry from Wargames Atlantic

 

Midgard and The Problem of Peltasts

       Having played well over a hundred games of Midgard in the past eighteen months our group has run into a number of questions that cannot be properly addressed within the letter of the rulebook. Primarily the way that the rules group troops into only two types of order; close order and skirmish order. Either packed shoulder-to-shoulder or scattered in a free-flowing cloud. The sort of dispersed order that many historical formations employed to move rapidly, or cope with rugged terrain, can't be properly modeled. Thracians, Celts, Spaniards and the specifically organized peltasts from the Greek military tradition cannot be reflected within the rules. After trying various tweaks we gave up and decided to step outside the letter of the rules and concoct a new troop type. 

        To try to make a unit that behaves the way that the historical prototypes did with the attendant abilities and limitations. They should be terrain insensitive, but still have the ability to fight close-formed troops with some hope of success. To model the lower number of troops in the space their stamina would have to be lower. We struggled to make as few changes to the rules, and to use existing rules as much as possible to model the abilities of these troops. After play-testing we decided to modify the points as well. In the end we came up with the following.

       First reduce the points cost by two. Then reduce the stamina to three. Last endow them with the Agile trait, but only in the forward movement aspect (see sketch below). You can enter this as a trait in the  Midgard Force Builder software by using the Settings and  entering the Custom Unit Traits with the Trait of Peltasts a point reduction of two and the entering the Description of "Gain Agile, lose one Stamina".  Please note that you will have to manually modify the printout of your list because there is no facility in the Force Builder to reduce the Stamina to three. Each troop type keeps all its available Traits such as armor upgrades or characteristics like Brutal or Drilled

  

       These troops use the Agile trait when moving to the side or forward, any movement behind the rear of the base is restricted and use the 1/2 Spear-throw move stick. They DO NOT have the ability to Evade and cannot pass through formed units. They shoot at the end of the turn with the other formed troops.

 

      We have found that these changes effectively model the behavior of the historical troops without any major overhaul of the rules. The unit can maneuver over terrain, still posses significant fighting power and lack the staying power of denser formations. Observations and feedback are welcome.
 

25 Years ago today; Never Forgive, Never Forget

The Trojan Wars Grind

        If it wasn't for the fact that the box of minis is almost empty I might have given up by now. What started as a "fun side-trip" has turned into a serious trudge (mostly because of those wretched boars-tusk helmets) that is rapidly sucking the fun out of the enterprise. Yet I persist! All that remains is a few archers and a half-dozen or so chariots. Anyway, enough of my grouchy ruminations, I have completed the latest batch of Bronze-Age warriors and they are happy to meet you.

 

please excuse the tatty looking painting sticks, it was around 1am when I got these done

 and didn't have the energy to pop them off the stick and rank them up for photos 

Ship Happens, Part VIII Thoroughbred Miniatures CSS Charleston

        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!

 

Trojan Heroes, painting the Foundry Myceneans and Minoans 28mm minis

        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.

 

a combination of large heavy shields and tiny bases 

meant that I couldn't line them up for the usual "mug-shots"

 

my biggest concern is that they are very much more animated than the spearmen

 and will look out of place in the sedate ranks of the formation 

Painting the Trench Crusade Stosstruppen

 

 

you've met these guys before

 

 

       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.

 

I'm still up in the air about blood-spatter on the bladed weapons 

 

they might need another pass with the black-wash 

 

next up will be the  Prussian Stosstruppen Warband

somewhere in The Vault I have some largish Balkankruze from WW1 tank kits, 

they would look great on the shields, dig I must
 

Upcoming Gaming Convention, Pro-Or-Con 2026, September 26th in Westland Michigan

 

        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. 

Send in the Cavalry! 28mm U.S. Cavalry from Great Escape Games

 

       I got this set courtesy of Michigan Toy Soldier for this review.  Completing their Wild West collection Great Escape Games has released dismounted U.S. Cavalry. This set compliments the earlier Mounted U.S. Cavalry (and neatly includes the same selection of faces so that you can build mounted and dismounted versions of your characters). Compared to other manufacturers Great Escape doesn't release a lot of sets of miniatures, but when they do, it is something to pay attention to. Inside the box you will find ten multi-part miniatures with a good selection of heads  as well as a wide selection of weapons. Enough pistols and carbines are provided so that you can arm all of your miniatures alike if you choose. Of course there is a sword-armed hand, somebody has to be in charge and nothing says "I'm the Boss" like a sword. Included is a trumpet equipped arm as well as a loyal dog (does every military unit try to adopt a dog at one point or another?)

 

       The minis themselves are cast in the common medium gray plastic with no flash and nearly no mold-lines. The detailing is sharply defined and the proportions and posing is well done. The minis appear a bit thick around the ankles which may come from the style of boot worn at the time or the sculptor strengthening the miniature to avoid breakage. The holsters are all loose, three of the minis have cartridge belts but there is no trace of cartridge boxes for rifle ammunition. The figures are mounted on small puddle bases.

 

 

cover art is pretty good 

Les femmes fatales 28mm Wargames Atlantic Partisans 2: French Resistance Women

 

the front of the box 

some painting ideas 

       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.

More Chariots, now with Dendra Panoply

       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 .

 

the Dendra panoply on display at Archaeological Museum of Nafplion

Come, up with you now, climb aboard my chariot! 28mm Trojan Wars chariots

       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.

 

 

if it's shiny you have gone far enough, a little extra texture also helps the glue hold 

"...so many long-haired Acheans swarmed across the plain..." The first full batch of Bronze-Age spearmen

        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.  

 

these might be "later Trojans" I might just use them as Myrmidons 

A dark-drawn wall of sheilds, festooned with spears.....the first of the Trojan heavy spearmen

        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.

 

 

the long spears promise to be a bother for both storage and basing 

 

the cow-hide shields remind me of Zulu warriors 

 

the sculptor was kind enough to include a post on the arm of the mini

 and corresponding hole in the back of the shield to help ensure a solid joint 

thank-you from the bottom of my heart! 

 

Heroes of Ancient Troy, or....stop Hectoring me!

        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.

 

the boars-tusk helmets were a bit of a pain to paint 

 

as with all  Perry Bothers sculpts the posing and proportions are excellent 

 

 

if a more erudite reader can give names to these lads I will happily update this entry 

 

 

I'm not sure if the greaves are cloth-covered metal, 

or just canvas gaiters to protect the wearer from local thorny shrubs 

either way I think they look cool 

Happy Birthday to the United States of America

   I hope everyone has a wonderful Fourth of July. 
Please avoid blowing off any fingers! 

Breed's Hill and it's earthwork

        I finished up painting the earthwork for R.U.P.'s Battle of Bunker Hill game and then cut the green board for placing under the gaming mat. The little earthwork turned out OK. I had to resist painting grass onto it as it was dug in the hours preceding the battle there would have been little time for grass to grow over it.

 

I only learned after the fact that there was no timber in the  earthwork

A great chance to lend a helping hand; 45th National Veterans Wheelchair Games, July 9-14

       Anybody in the Detroit Metro area feel like lending a hand to wheelchair bound vets? Here is your chance, this coming weekend the National Veterans Wheelchair Games will be taking place at several venues around Detroit. There is a need for volunteers to lend a helping hand to our injured veterans, they gave so much, they deserve a little payback from "we he people" that they were serving. No experience necessary! Just a willingness to give up a little of your time for those who lost the ability to walk protecting us. 

       You can follow this link to the volunteer page 

To far-off Ilium we shall travel

        Another batch of Foundry Trojan Wars light troops, this time javelinmen. These were a bit of as bother to paint as they were mostly, or completely, naked. Skin tones are a pain and I tried to hurry things along by using a wash, this which settled rather unevenly. After a quick touch-up I pressed on and got them completed and based.

 

aside from the skin tone issue painting the boars tooth helmet was a bit tiresome

This is a hill I am willing to die on !

 

 

 

       Some time ago Rich Uncle Pat decided to dive into the American Revolutionary War via the Warlord Epic Scale minis. He has spent the last many months laboriously painting the forces for the Battle of Bunker Hill (what better way to start a new period than with the very first real battle of the conflict). As he is approaching completion of that job I offered to build the terrain that he might need. I am currently painting the buildings that came with the minis but, if we are to refight the Battle of Bunker hill, it seemed incumbent upon us to have a hill (I was actually warming up to build the whole peninsular but that idea got shot down). To my dismay I found out that R.U.P. intended to place the hills underneath the game mat. That left only the redoubt thrown up by the Patriot forces on Breed's Hill. This I was allowed to build.

       For a small battle that was so well documented there is a bewildering assortment of maps of the fight. Precious few agree on the size, shape or exact placement of the significant terrain features, Happily they do agree on shape and approximate size of the simple earthwork that crowned Breed's Hill on the fateful day.

       Some fiddling had to be dome to accommodate the Warlord bases but in the end R.U.P. was able to provide a plan of the work. I rubbed my hands with glee and dusted off my trusted friend, Proxxie. The earthworks could be easily made with blueboard, but where am I to find a supply of logs for the inner face of the fort? Spaghetti noodles are thin round and straight!

Troy, at last

 

       It seems many centuries ago that Foundry began issuing their Trojan Wars range. They were delightful figures; well proportioned, active and accurately detailed. I bought them as they arrived in dribs and drabs at my local brick and mortar, fully intending to field an army for the (then current) WRG Ancients rules. Things being what they are my gnat-like attention span meant that something new and shiny came along and I was distracted. The Trojans were shuffled off into a box and packed into the Mountain of Shame under the "Someday" heading. Soon they were forgotten and dust covered. That is until recently; finding my box of soldiers still patiently waiting after all these decades rekindled my interest and I resolved that this would be their summer to get painted and be committed to battle!

 

scarcely a host of warriors, but it's a start!

two bases of Light Infantry with bows, 12 points each under Midgard rules 

 

Biblical Diversions

 

 

looks like a used war-cart lot, somewhere in the Tigris valley 2300BC 

 

       The Housemartin has been acquiring minis through Ebay for some time now. Recently he got some Early Bronze Age minis that included a single example of a war-cart and some strange saddle-wagon. He was unable to find sources to supply additional figures so he turned to me.  He has known me for far too long and knows that I am susceptible to a scratch-building challenge so he asked if I could knock together some additional vehicles for him. Of course I fell victim to the idea. Through the magic of 3-d printing I was saved the tedium of making over a dozen wheels and I was able to find some STLs of donkeys and zebras to provide a method of locomotion for the needed carts. That being done the carts were a simple thing to make and I got them squared away in an afternoon.

 

horse too small to ride?

asses to mean to try riding?

put a saddle on a log and make the contentious beasts drag you around! 

 

the fresh coat of Modge-Podge makes it a bit difficult to see

sorry about that 

 

 

then there is the fleet of war-carts 

I would never have managed to get a dozen wheels the same size without a printer

those wheels in the back of two of them are just to balance the model,

without them the wire harness tips the model nose-down 

 

angry, mean and barely domesticated,

 the asses were probably the most dangerous part of the ensemble!