Painting a pair of Warlords Black Seas Brigs

 

after priming I glued the hull and deck together

   

     I really don't have a need for these or any real reason to be painting them right now but they are such nice models that I couldn't help myself. 

The Royal Army of Ferndalia, The Iron Fist of Peter II

His Royal Highness, Peter II "The Famished"   rank 5

The five Dukes of the Kingdom,  rank 4
      Bertram "The Hard", Ivan "The Bitter", Oswald "The Cunning", Nathan "The Drunk",
       and Stephen "The Jovial"

Five Generals of the common blood, rank 3

The Royal Guards
      Lifgard til Hest
          Modern Horse, Elite, Determined, Veterans
      Lifgard til Fonds
           Modern Squadron, Elite, Veterans , Reinforced

The Army of the People
   The Foot
       Line troops, 6 x Modern Squadron, Veterans
       New Line troops, 4 x Modern Squadron
       Draftee Line troops, 4 x Modern Squadron, Raw
       Uitlanders, 4 x Modern Squadron, Mercenaries
       Fusiliers of the Line,  8x Shot Companies, Musket
       Grenadiers of the Line, 6x Melee Company, Veteran, Brave, Mob
   The Horse
       Horse Arquebusiers, 6x Mounted Arquebusiers, Pistol 
       Line Horse, 8x Modern Horse, Determined, Veterans
       Light Horse, 4x Light Horse, Fearless, Veteran,  Arquebus
       Dragoons, 8x Dragoons, Veterans
   The Train of Artillery
      6x Light Batteries, Veteran, Regimental guns, Leather
      4x Heavy Batteries, Veteran, Large, Mortar, Horses 

Warlords Games Black Seas boat models

 

I'm a sucker for this sort of thing

      Well, I fell for it again; Wargames Illustrated had a boat model attached to the cover of the mag and then I noticed that there were two different models randomly inserted into the bag. Of course I poked through until I found one of each, I'm like that. As with the Cruel Seas models these are very well executed kits, cleanly cast and full of detail. Let's take a look......

Free Stuff for Wargamers, the 15mm Edition Vol I ALL ITEMS CLAIMED

      Greeted with an absolute wall of silence from my wargaming pals I have begun splitting up the mountain of 15mm lead into specific lots. I don't care to subdivide these as it is my idea that I don't want to have odds and ends lying about and the way that I'm organizing the lots provides a core for an army. I can only afford to ship to folks in the Continental U.S. (sorry lads, I'm not in control of postal rates). For our overseas friends if there is something that you absolutely MUST have contact me in the comments and we can work out overseas shipping. As always the first one with the time-stamped comment gets the item. So, with no further ado......

CLAIMED  Lot #1  Some odd chariots, I haven't a clue where or when I got these, one Egyptian model and a Minifigs pack of two Celtic chariots I will split these up.

Just a Tease.....

15mm figures, fahsans uv 'em

     Having disposed of the excess mirco-scale stuff that has been crowding the workshop I have moved on to the 15mm size stuff. The other night I sorted through my unpainted 15mm minis and bagged them up by period. My gaming buddies get first pass at the pile but I doubt they will take much. This mountain is the Biblical through Colonial periods. After this lot has cleared off I will get started on the Great War and later piles.

Quarterly Review 2019 Q3 (On time even!)

     Well, I am happy to report that it has been a productive summer. The sweltering heat has kept me in my basement workshop and I have been enjoying wargaming again. For starters I think that I have hit an all-time high of having played 28 games in the last quarter, exceeding (barely) an average of two a week. I published a set of rules for French and Indian Wars, a heavily modified set of  One Hour Wargames rules for Napoleonics (along with army lists for the campaign in Spain) and have discovered (hat -tip to Joe) a fast and fun set of rules for the Pike and Shot era (something that I have been searching for over the last thirty years!).  

      These new rules, Tercio (free set here), caused me to do something that I have never done in the forty-five years that I have been wargaming; rebase an army. So far I have rebased over 220 figures and will, by the time I'm finished, have rebased over 1200. The discovery of these rules has caused me to re-invent an old Pike and Shot era campaign but having lost the maps and notes I had to reconstruct it from memory. This brought about a brand new continent and map along with the four great empires that will be squabbling across it. I have had jolly fun creating the countries and erratic personalities that rule them.

      In the workshop I have built four 28mm bridges, a base for a Playmobil Colesium, and a 28mm Dark Ages tower complete with base and interior. This last item lead to another first; tiling a roof with individual tiles in the manner of Ian Weekly of Battlements fame, a project that wasn't nearly as traumatic as I feared it might be.

       I posted three book reviews, three more fort walk-arounds, four after action reports and attended (and reviewed) one convention; Pro or Con 2019.  Overall I made 56 posts to the blog and took in over 150 comments (which are always welcome)

       Finally, but far from least important, I got my painting mojo back and managed to paint a dozen 28mm St Petersburg Dragoons over the course of a couple of days.

      All in all a most satisfactory summer.

Convention Review Pro Or Con 2019

         I had the great pleasure of attending this year's Pro or Con wargaming convention. As has proved in the past this was a laid-back and fun show with some really attractive games on display. I was without my usual assistant and roving reporter J&R so I am sure that a few games got missed (I was also running a game in the second session). The flea market was up to its usual standards and I walked away with a few new (to me) gems.

Horns of Hattin

 

Rod Cain returned with his Triumph rules and an absolutely gorgeous Horns of Hattin game

St. Petersburg Dragoons 28mm Lace Wars

 

not bad for one day's work

      After almost a year since I last painted any Lace Wars figures I picked up my paintbrush and got to work. These fine fellows, the Saint Petersburg Dragoons, have been waiting patiently in a box since I finished the Lifgarden til Hest back in October of 2018. It seems that re-basing my 15mm Renaissance Scots has awakened my desire to paint. At last!

The Royal Army of the House of Bon-Bon, Order of Battle

the "Five Ancient Ones" parade with some of the cavalry

      Louis The Ravenous is proud of his army and navy and lavishes them with attention and funding. Perhaps the best equipped troops on the continent the army of Freedonia lacks for nothing. Pride of place is taken by the Royal Guards but the Ancient Regiments are just behind in honor and reputation. Even the lowly freshly-recruited battalions are fully accoutered. This vast and powerful force has many tasks; guarding the frontiers, suppressing the perennially rebellious northwestern provinces and manning the colonies as well as internal security.

       Please note that the troop descriptions are for Tercio rules by  Liber Militum

Book Review, Armies of the Italian Wars of Unification 1848-70 (1)

MAA512

Armies of the Italian Wars of Unification 1848-70 (1)

Piedmont and the Two Sicilies

Author, Gabriele Esposito

Illustrator Giuseppe Rava

ISBN 978-1-4728-1949-9

      I have to confess that I was excited when I saw this title. The Italian Wars have always been fascinating to me; the interplay of politics, royal conservatism, royal progressivism, outside occupation and influence, and outright revolution all occurring on the Italian Peninsula over the space of a few years would make an incredible backdrop for a Diplomacy style game. This slim volume puts a face on two of the armies involved in this epic conflict, Peidmont and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Delightfully lacking the usual horrible maps, this volume also dispenses with the multi-page chronology that afflicts too many Men at Arms volumes and concentrates on describing the organization and dress of the listed armies. This it does handsomely!

        Gabriele Esposito details the state of constant flux that the armies of both nations struggled with are evident in the near yearly reorganization and uniform changes. All of this information is conveyed in a concise and easily understood manner. Both nations battled with internal divisions, financial restraints as well as manpower issues and shifting alliances. Along the way they produced some of the most stylish military dress ever seen (I am left to wonder where they found the time). These uniforms are superbly illustrated with period artwork and photographs and brought to vibrant life by the brilliant drawings of Guiseppe Rava. 

      I have the second edition on order and am avidly looking forward to reading it.

      If your are interested in the wars of the "Long Peace" this is an excellent addition. If you enjoy  beautifully executed artwork this is a volume to own for that reason alone.

Very Highly Recommended

The Thirty Course War, The nations align for war

     Apologies to all for not posting recently, I was out of town for a bit. The characters have been posted but not the models for the armies they are about to lead (aside from Boozonia, that is). All of the forces will be built upon my collection of 30YW/ECW figures that I collected and painted MANY years ago. This force is almost exclusively Minifigs, back in the day when a 15mm figure WAS 15mm and Minifigs was cutting edge (yes, I'm really that old). It is a rather large collection and allows me to field a fairly huge force without too many compromises.

     All that aside I have decided that each of the four major powers in Epicurea will be modeled after an historical army. The Boozonians, as already explained, are based on the Scots. The Ferndalians will be based on the Swedes of Gustavus Adolphus and the Freedonians on the army of a very young Louis XIV. The splintered realm of Gluttonia will be split between the Proper Meal faction who will be represented by Spanish and the Small Platers will have the Hapsburg Imperialists carrying their banners.

       The Mindorans were Japanese Samurai in the first iteration of the campaign but I loaned some of the figures out and never got them back so some amendments will have to be made. The Nylians are new; I'm thinking that Ottomans would be a good fit and a nice difference from the Western style armies that have been included so far, I will have to see. The Frozonians (if they fail to stay loyal to Ferndalia) will be Petrine Russians while the Nordlanders will be ECW era British

Meet the Army of Boozonia

     The force is built upon the idea of a combined Lowland and highland force from about 1650AD. Using the army lists provided in Tercio rule and the Kingdoms supplement I constructed a force that blends the different nature of both forces into a (hopefully) coherent whole. The Lowlanders provide the fire base of artillery and steady musketry while the Highland forces are the shock element.

recruiting is still under way