Now for something out of left field,..

ABOVE: "GET YOUR OWN BLOODY HORSE HOT STUFF"!
Hi All
Now these pictures probably don't really belong on this Blog, but "Hey", there are some nice miniatures here.
First is Saint George and his epic struggle with the Dragon. I painted this model about 5 years ago I think. I bothed the Saint's eyes, but other than that he's OK I guess.



ABOVE: Raechel's Girls!
Next are some photos of some SHADOWFORGE Manga Girls my beautiful wife Raechel painted. What's so annoying is she picked up a brush about 6 years ago and knocked these out straight away. There she is, never painted before and she paints these.
I've been painting for about 33 years and I still can't paint this good.
Makes me want to punch her,...
BELOW: "TAXI"!

Below:
A figure she call's "RAECHEL" ('cause she look a little like her)

Finally.

Below is a Figure I painted whilst Raechel was a Staff Cadet.

Every now and then Raech paints up a few miniatures for me. Normally 'character' or 'Command' miniatures.

Bless her,...

Cheers!

One Can Never Have Too Much (GERMAN!) ARTILLERY!

ABOVE: Saxon Horse Artillery!
Hi All
Another quick post, (WOW, two in one afternoon)!
Here is some pictures of some Saxon, Bavarian and Westphalian artillery recently painted for me by my buddy Danl (of GUNNERS WARGAMING fame). I've based them for LASALLE! Miniatures are from the AB MINIATURES stable and obtained from Eureka Miniatures.
BELOW: Bavarian Foot and Horse Gunners and their "Dogs Of War"!

BELOW: Napoleon's 'Daughters' with Westphalian Gunners 'Mein Gott'!.

Being a 'Gunner' myself, I just love the Guns!

Cheers & MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Trailape OUT!

Through The Mud and The Blood: WW1 Germans in 15mm

ABOVE: Some of my recently painted "BLUE MOON MINIATURES" WW1 Germans. A "Big Man (German Officer) and a HMG.
Hi All
Just a quick post to share some pictures of some recently purchased BLUE MOON Miniatures. I bought them from OLD GLORY in the US.
Long story short: My mate Stan and I decided to dabble in WW1, but what rules and scale?
We settled on TOO FAT LARDIES: "Throught The Mud and The Blood" rules, (as we both thought SHARP PRACTICE played really well, and I'm a big fan of their WW2 set, "I AIN'T BEEN SHOT MUM").
Next we settled on 15mm, as we both had plenty of terrain in that scale. Last choice to make was on figures.
With the release of BLUE MOON's excellent WW1 ramge, and the massive 40% discount from OLD GLORY it was a 'NO BRAINER'!
The added bonus is they are so easy to paint. Simply spray with "German Field Grey" (a Tamiya paint), touch up with a bit of flesh, green, brown and khaki. Next dip and spray with a 'anti-shine' varnish, flock and you're done.
I based the figs on old 1 cent pieces for the ordinary soldiers, and 2 cent pieces for the 'Big Men', (NCOs and Officers).
Though not spectacular results, I did get a Platoon of Germans on the table in record time!
BELOW: Jerries clear a town somewhere in Flanders,..



BELOW: Some of the BLUE MOON 15mm Germans base coated and based on old coins I had lying about.
I've included the pictures so you can see how nice these miniatures are. The Tanks are really nice, and I'll post pictures of some painted "LAND SHIPS" soon.

BELOW: An undercoated "BIG MAN" on a Aussie 2 Cent piece. What deeds of valour will he perform, (once painted)?

Feel free to leave a comment!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Trailape OUT!

Ancients: The ARMY PAINTER way!

Hi All
I thought I'd share some pictures of some ancients I've just knocked over using the ARMY PAINTER System of "base colours, dip and spray".

The results might not be up there with the likes of my mate Gunner Dunbar, (though that wasn't going to happen any time soon anyway); but they do produce acceptable wargaming units that won't cause me to feel embarrased when I put them on a table.

First some Romans.

(Above and Below): An OLD GLORY 28mm miniatures Caesar, from their "Caesar's Gallic Wars" range

BELOW: ESSEX Miniatures LATE Roman Cavalry

BELOW: A Foundry Miniatures Celt:

BELOW: 1st Corps Miniatures SLAVE REVOLT figures

BELOW: Some more 1st Corps miniatures

FINALLY: BIG BILLY, (named in honour of Billy Connolly)! A giant of a man. This chap is a FOUNDRY MINIATURES figure. Not the kind of fellow you'd want to bump into in a dark Gallic or British forest,..

Feel free to leave a comment!
Cheers!

My "TOO FAT LARDIES" projects

Above: A Fenlon Miniatures Union Soldier. The Only 28mm ACW figure in my collection; until recently!
With the purchase of a copy of Too Fat Lardies: TERRIBLE SHARP SWORD and SHARP PRACTICE I've launched into gaming the War Between the States. The figure was painted using the ARMY PAINTER system of "Base colours, Dip, and Spray".

Hi All
Well, I've started mustering the troops for my two new projects, namely WW1 and the American Civil War.
I'll be using TOO FAT LARDIES rules for both; "Through The Mud And The Blood" for WW1 and the SHARP PRACTICE expansion "TERRIBLE SHARP SWORD" for the ACW (obviously).
First I whipped out my OLD GLORY Army Card (40% OFF! WooooHooo), and purchased about 300 15mm WW1 British and German Infantry and about 6 tanks each; plus a swag of Heavy and Light MGs.
(I'll purchase the Artillery from either Peter Pig or QRF Miniatures, as Old Glory doesn't have any Artillery ready to go yet).

Ever since I saw the movie "THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE" (the version with "John Boy Walton" in it), I've had an interest in the American Civil War. The Movies "GLORY", "GETTYSBURG" and "GODS AND GENERALS" really cemented in my mind I had to get some Rebs and Yanks and "have at it".
For my 28mm ACW project I purchased my Artillery Pieces and Cassions from OLD GLORY; 6 Guns and 6 Cassions for about $19.20 per pack was just to good an offer to pass up. I also purchased an Old Glory 2nd Edition "Boxed Set" of Confederate "Firing Line", (38 miniatures for $22.80!!!). Hopefully they will arrive within the next couple of weeks.
In addition to the OLD GLORY stuff I also purchased some Perry Plastics:
108 Infantry and 12 Cavalry, all from WARLORDS GAMES in the form of their special "Infantry Brigade Deal". They arrived today!
With FREE POSTAGE and no VAT I got them for less than $76.00! I also purchased from MIND GAMES in Melbourne a can of ARMY PAINTER "Navy Blue" to spray my "Billy Yanks".
BELOW: The Warlord Games Infantry Brigade Deal and a Can of ARMY PAINTER Navy Blue


But I still needed to get some Perry Metals, so I also ordered:

1 x ACW28 Confederate Infantry in 'shell jackets' skirmishing
1x ACW29 Union Infantry in sack coats skirmishing
1 x ACW37 Confederate Infantry command running
2 x ACW38 Confederate Infantry in ‘shell jackets’ running, right shoulder shift
1 x ACW39 Confederate Infantry command standing
1 x ACW40 Union infantry command in sack coats standing

So that gives me about 200 Infantry, 12 Cavalry and 6 Guns and Limbers / Cassions.

Now, I'm aiming to have per "side" about 150 infantry, 12 Cavalry and 3 Guns (and 12-15 Gunners) per side.
I also will need about 3 mounted Officers and Dismounted Cavalry at a 1:1 Ratio to mounted; (so that's 9 Dismounted Troopers "fighting" and 3 horse holders with 12 horses per side).

With that in mind my next order from the PERRY's will be :

1 x ACW3 Union Generals mounted
2 x ACW7 Dismounted Union cavalry skirmishing
1 x ACW8 Dismounted Confederate cavalry skirmishing
1 x ACW9 Union horse holder, plus 4 horses
1 x ACW10 Confederate horse holder, plus 4 horses

And just to add som e variety, and to provide the gunners for my OLD GLORY Artillery Peices I'll get the following miniatures from SASH AND SABER

1 x CS10 Horse Holder and 4 horses

1 x US10 Horse Holder and 4 horses

1 x US3 Federal Artillerists

1 x CS3 Confederate Artillerists

That should take care of my Dismounted Cavalry and Gunners!

All I will need then to finish my mounted arm is 12 "Mounted" Cavalry, (either another box of Perry Plastics or maybe some SASH AND SABER metals)

That leaves me to russel up the last of the infantry and 3 more Mounted Officers.
Hmmmmm,.... do I go with the OLD GLORY 2nd Edition Box sets ( about 3 boxes ought to do it), or a mix of Perry Plastics and Metals?

Maybe a mix of Perry Metals and OG2nd Ed!?
Or, maybe some Sash and Saber metals,....
This isn't going to be easy.
Cheers

What's Next

Hi!

Well, I've not had time to scratch my butt let alone add anything to my blogs of late. That should change soon. In two weeks time I begin a two and a half month break from work. Tons of stuff to do around the house, but also more time for painting and (solo?) gaming.

So what's next?

Well, I've got plans to paint up the last of my 18mm AB miniatures! I say "last", and by that I mean "for now".

French Curassiers and Dragoons, Brunswick Infantry, and 1806 Saxons.

Also, more (lots more) of 28mm Eureka, Victrix and Perry Napoleonics and OLD GLORY, Perry and Eureka "Age Of Reason / American Revolution" figs. OH, and some Minden Miniatures French Artillery.

Then of course there is a swag of 15mm BLUE MOON World War One (WWI) Germans and Brits on their way from the god 'ol US of A to paint up. Then I can start playing "THROUGH THE MUD & THE BLOOD", (MaD).

Which leads nicely into a rave about TOO FAT LARDIES and their awesome rules.

Their rules, such as MaD, "SHARP PRACTICE" (SP), "I AINT BEEN SHOT MUM" (IABSM) and "KISS ME HARDY" (KmH) really are fantastic. I'll be downloading their latest offering, "TERRIBLE SHARP SWORD" (TSS) tonight.

Consequently the PERRY's can expect a HUGE order for some of their cracking good ACW figures.

Check out their BLOG : LARD ISLAND NEWS! (Highly recommended regardless if you have a hankering for all things "Lardy" or not).

Anyway, enough for now, I must go undercoat some 28mm Foundry TROJANS for my TROJAN WAR Project,...

Now for something completely different,..

Hi
Just so you can see I'm not all "Napoleonic", here is some other recently completed work.
Below: Two recently completed battalions for my Imagi-Nation.

Miniatures are from the EUREKA MINIATURES "Age Of Reason" 28mm range.
Flags are by MAVERICK MODELS, and designed by me.

BELOW: Another Giant I've just finished for my daughter's Warhammer Fantasy Collection. I got him 2nd hand, did a bit of a re-paint and replaced his hands / weapons. A good result I think,..

"AAARRRRRRGGGGHHHHH!, me crush little man,.."!!!

Cheers

AAR: Final Push at La Santa Haya!

Hi All
Long time between blogs, but finally got something to share. Last week a mate of mine and I played a scenario straight out of the Lasalle rule book: "FINAL PUSH AT LA HAIE SAINTE". Obviously the scenario is based on the closing moments of the Battle of Waterloo. Unfortunatly for me, my British are based on the Peninsular Campaign, NOT The 100 Days. Consequently Mark and I fought "The Final Push at La Santa Haya".
The ORBATs were as follows:
The Brit OOB was:
1 x Battalion 95th Rifles
2 x "English" Battalions (32nd Foot and 52nd "Light")
2 x KGL Battalions
2 x Dragoons (should be KGL Lt Dragoons, but we used Heavies)
1 x Med RA Battery (should have been Rockets, but I only have Guns)
FRENCH OOB was:
4 x Line Battalions of the 8th Ligne Regt
3 x Light Battalions of the 13th Legere Regt
1 x MED Horse Battery
2 x Cuirassiers (large). One Regt was a Carabinier Regt. The Scenario has these as NORMAL sized units. For some reason I made them LARGE,.... (oooops)


ABOVE: The French 8th Ligne Battalions Advance
BELOW:The French 13th Legere Battalions step off, with the Horse Artillery deploying in the background.

BELOW: The KGL Battalions deploy behind the sunken road, with the Royal Artillery Battery between the two Infantry unis. Behind them are the two Dragoon Regiments.

BELOW: The 95th Rifles deployed in the tree lined sunken road.

BELOW: A British 52nd Light Infantry Battalion deployed beside the lads from the 95th.

BELOW: The KGL and RA Battery await the advancing French Ligne Battalions.

BELOW: The French Horse Artillery Open Fire on the British left flank. Their fire was rather telling all game! BON! Most of their fire fell on the 32nd Foot, but some roundshot bounced through onto the Dragoons redeploying.

BELOW: Mark moves one of his Dragoon Regiments to support his left flank. The fact they were out of command for much of the game hampered their ability to rally off disruption they suffered from bounce through fire sustained as the carried out this redeployment from the British Right Flank to their Left flank. Notice the DISR markers on the 32nd,...

BELOW: The British CinC positioned behind the 95th. "I say, those Frog guns are doing some harm,.."!

BELOW: The KGL Battalions and RA Battery let loose on the French Line Battalions. The RA Battery fired poorly, (must have been the gauling fire from the French skirmish screen,..). The "German" Infanrty did some execution however.

BELOW: Volley's smash into the flower of French youth, as seen from the French side.

BELOW: The far right KGL Battalion CHARGES one of the French Ligne Battalions. The Germans were repelled, but rallied and fired a devastating volley that broke the Frogs.

BELOW: The decisive moment of the game. The Dragoons CHARGE the 1st Battalion of the French 8th Ligne Regt. The Battalion formed square,and the nearby Carabiniers counter-charged the Dragoons! Thanks to some spectacular dice rolling the French heavies broke the British Dragoons!

BELOW: CHARGE!!!

BELOW: As the Cavalry clash, the infantry blaze away!

BELOW: The 1st Battalion (with Tricolour and Eagle), 8th Ligne form Line from Square as the Carabiniers head for the Brit Artillery!. The remnants of the far left French battalion are seen staggering about,... ("sob")

BELOW: As seen from above.

BELOW: The Carabiniers crash over the RA Battery.

BELOW: The French Cuirassiers threaten the British 32nd Foot (now in Square) as the KGL Battalion on thier right try and hold off two battalions from the 8th Ligne.

BELOW: The 95th facing the French "lights".

ABOVE: Last photo from the game. 32nd in Square. Not long after the two French Battalions swept away the KGL battalion. Game over for the Brits who failed their moral test.

Game time: 2.5 hours.

Result: Lots of Fun!

Feel free to leave a comment!

Cheers.