"Les pinceaux de la guerre"

The La Bricole is holding a painting competition. This is a small but growing forum of devotees of the Les Guerres Napoléoniennes. The rules are here and all are invited to compete, the deadline for entry is the 25th January and the final submission has to be in March 31.

Some Prussians

Adolf Northen

Finally got around to painting some troops, getting them photographed and uploaded them to the blog. The last Napoleonics I painted were some French Carabiniers back in March. Now back though and have painted several battalions over the last couple of months. I am planning to do the Warhammer twelve scenario Waterloo campaign over the next two and half years, hoping to finish by June 2015. Not sure about the ruleset yet, but I liked what I have seen so far with the Warhammer Waterloo rules. 

Bone idle you say...Not true

My friend Curt at Analogue Hobbies up there in Saskatchewan, has announced the 2nd Annual Winter Painting Challenge and I suspect it will be quite an event. Last year's contest was well attended but this year promises to be something different. Contestants are flocking from all over the world including Canada, here in New England, the British Isles, the EC and I hear even the Antipodes. Rules can be found on Curt's blog and all painters of honour are invited.

The Blue Puttees-Armistice Day 2011

I try to avoid non wargaming posts, but today is a day that I was taught to commemorate from a very young age. Being a Newfoundlander, my father instilled in me the importance of this date and July 1 (Memorial Day in Newfoundland) to remember and honour the 10% of the Newfoundland population who were killed during the First World War.

Warhammer Waterloo Playtest-The Basics

I decided to have a little go at these new Napoleonic rules. I have tried most of the new sets and these certainly look interesting. I am a new gamer with very little experience, so I am not a good judge of the accuracy of the simulation of real combat as provided by a ruleset. I do however feel comfortable assessing  the clarity of the rules and the ease of applying the mechanic. 

Warhammer Waterloo

I got the Warhammer Waterloo book yesterday. It has been recently half price and all I can really say is wow...........and buy it! The book is beautiful, production values are first class and tons of information. There are 288 pages of full colour beauty. The actual rules take up less then a 60 pages, depending on what you consider as rules. The rules themselves are very well laid out and illustrated with multiple diagrammes (as good as Lasalle). Organization is quite clear.

Off on a Tangent......Yet Again

I believe, I can blame it on painting the WWII figures. They were all just shades of brown and although I used multiple interesting named colours, really when you got down to it they were brown.....yellow brown, red brown, green brown, black brown, etc. I think you get the point!

I was sitting down at the table looking forward to getting back into painting Napoleonics, I have more than a dozen battalions of Prussians to paint. I had a look... pink facings good, but I now realised it was going to be all blue and grey, should I use Prussian Blue or Prussian Dark Blue! What about the purple, red and yellow pots of paint that are sitting on the shelf drying out.

A Long Pause......

I believe this might of been the longest period I have gone without posting to my blog. My last post was in late August, just before I left to go to Montreal to bring my son Simon to University. I was there for 9 days and actually tripled my experience of gaming with an opponent who was not myself. It was a great visit, but alas my abilities as a General still appear to be lacking. It has been flat out since I got back to Massachusetts, and this has been the first I really have had a chance to sit down, upload some photos and write a post. 

Four Months of Work!

I thought I would reflect back on the last 4 months. I decided sometime in May to start a new era, I also was curious about trying to paint a smaller size figure. As you know, I decided to go with WWII in 15 mm. My goal was to be able to host a WWII game at the end of the summer. I had settled on the North African theatre; so I had to do some rudimentary research, come up with an OB and a scenario as well as doing up a terrain and paint the figures and vehicles on both sides. I started painting around mid May.

Tunisian Terrain

For my upcoming WWII game, I had to build some terrain that would simulate the Tunisian landscape. The terrain had to be portable, I am driving to Montreal and we are planning to play the game in a hotel room. I quickly got fixated on something in the mountains in the south western part of the country. I wanted a fairly simple but varied terrain that would not stress our first go at the Rapid Fire rules. I suspect that the North African dessert is pretty featureless and there would not be too many places to hide. The whole process was also a discovery for me in how to model a dessert terrain with some hills. I usually model hills into the terrain tiles, but this was not really going to be an option as the pieces had to be portable.

Evolving WWII Tunisian Scenario

I have been industriously painting and terraining for my upcoming Rapid Fire WWII game in Montreal at the end of the month. Only 10 little figures left to paint, and the terrain is pretty well done. The scenario itself has evolved, so I thought I would update you on my progress.

Long Range Dessert Group

It has been quite some time since I have posted. Was on vacation (hooked my first salmon!) and have been working everyday (the American people's appetite for medical care knows no bounds). At the same time, I have been working diligently on my upcoming WWII game in Montreal. Pretty well have the terrain and most of the figures done. Still playing around with the OB for the scenario, but more on that later. I have got quite a bit of British and Commonwealth painted and hope to update my OB to the left soon, but I thought I should make one more post before the end of the month.

Somewhere in les Monts des Ksours (Tunisia Early 1943)

This will be my initial stab at a North African scenario, which involves advance elements of the 8th Army and the LRDG searching for an oasis just south of Matmâta Hills. This is a small fictional action that takes place within the larger action of the Allied attempts to flank the Mareth Line.

Some Necessary Corrections

After the Panzerschreck debacle, I thought I would show that I can learn so I am posting some photos of the "schreck" posed correctly as a stereoscopic range finder with the FlaK 36 crew.

A Nice Gift

Imagine my surprise when I got up this morning and found a nicely wrapped box on my painting table. What was inside was also very nice.

DAK: Elements of the 15. Panzerdivision

Finally I have had a chance to take some photographs to show what I have been working on over the last 6 weeks. I have been using Battlefront and Forged in Battle miniatures and vehicles. Generally both are quite acceptable, but Battlefront (FoW) certainly has some minor problems with quality control.

WWII: Further thoughts on a ruleset

This is a thinking out loud post. I have now received 2 other rulesets and have had a chance to look through them. I have some pressure to go with a set in the short term as myself and Iannick at Clash of Empires are planning to have our first WWII game at the end of August. WWII gaming is completely unknown to both of us and I have tasked myself with the scenario, rules and figures. 

100,000 pageviews and a new blog title!

AFRIKA

Well the poll has been completed, and although my personal preference is to have 2 blogs (like Robert at Serrez les Rangs!, I was quite excited about the actual design), I can see how this could be quite confusing, so I will go with one. Many thanks to the 42 people who voted, and I really appreciate all personal comments and encouragements. I have decided to set up my WWII links and information to the left and the Napoleonic information to the right of my blog. Nice and orderly!

A New Direction

I have decided that maybe I should take a little break from 28 mm Napoleonics. I have play tested 4 different rulesets over the last couple of years and have painted up multiple units. My next planned major project will be Plancenoit and I will need to paint up 4-5 regiments of French Cavalry as well as some Horse artillery. The big job though will be the IV Prussian Korps which requires 18 infantry battalions, 12 cavalry regiments and 9 artillery batteries, it is enough to take my breath away, as I have really have none of this done. I also need to see how the plastic figure availability evolves, as this is a lot of figures. 


Time to take a little breather......need to do something different. I also want to learn how to use an airbrush. I thought seriously about doing Romans, Crusaders or the Japanese Waring States, all very tempting. Lots of great figures out there and some new nice rulesets.


But I said to myself is that really different, and I said no it is not! I also wanted to try to paint some smaller figures and maybe something a little less complex. The thought of tanks excited me!

WWII seemed to fit the bill, I did quite a lot of research and have settled on 15 mm figures and the North African theatre, I always liked those 50's films about Rommel and the Desert Rats. In the last month, I have painted a few vehicles and some little men (I was shocked at how small 15 mm figures are), all of which I will chronicle in a new series of posts. 


So that brings me to a question, should I start a different blog which is devoted to my WWII adventures or should I blend the WWII posts into my Wargaming in 28mm blog. I have noticed some of you have used the Poll widget, so I said why not ask the readers. Very simple question, should I run one or two blogs, I would really appreciate your advice. Please see the Poll to the upper right. Many thanks for your responses.


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La Haie Sainte: A Black Powder AAR

For the OB and derivation of the scenario, please see this earlier post.

A Reluctant Participant

Oscar Wilde said "there is only on thing in life worse than being talked about and that is not being talked about".

I have tried to avoid this chain blogpost, but I suppose I will have to participate after being nominated by 4 other blogists. I certainly appreciate the honour.

Many thanks to:

Curt at Analogue Hobbies

Miles at Lair of the Ubergeek

Rosbif at Monsieur le Rosbif & Johnny Frog

Rafa at Project Leipzig (1813)

Well, I believe, I am supposed to tell 7 things about myself, so here we go:

1. I am from Newfoundland, born and bred, and we ARE the chosen!

2. I am employed as an Emergency Physician and yes I am told it is just like "ER"

3. I am married with 2 children, who have turned my hair grey, they claim it to be the job!

4. My wife is wonderful, and asks me each day what the soldiermen (you all) are up to.

5. My wife is a psychiatric NP, so I am monitored closely for any signs of instability!

6. I have two cats, both black, called Bull and Young Tiff (I live in Salem by the way)

7. My other activities are fly fishing, road cycling and le menu dégustation, somewhat mutually exclusive pursuits, but I have been able to engage in all three in a 24 hour period.

Who do I nominate? Well I suppose I will break the chain as all chains should be broken! If I was indeed to nominate someone it would certainly include all those fantastic blogists listed to your right. You are all first class, and I look forward to your updates on a daily basis.

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1/1er Régiment de Grenadiers à Pied de la Garde

Many times, I have heard reference to the fact that gamers tend to paint the elite units of armies first and only paint the rank and file later. I have tried to control myself because I wanted to paint the Old Guard for sometime. Well after painting 19 battalions of French infantry, I did not feel it unreasonable to reward myself. I have had these Victrix figures sitting around since well before Christmas. They were assembled for me by kind gamer in London, Martin Aaron. I believe I had 5 or 6 boxes to assemble and I just was not keen to do it myself. Way too fiddlely for me to do, so Martin stepped in and did them for me. It was very appreciated and he did a great job.

La Haie Sainte: A Black Powder Playtest

Another update to this post. For those who have already have had a look scroll down to the black print for the play test update.

I have been thinking about this scenario for a while now, and although I enjoy painting and adding to my armies, every now and then I need a game. I have also been quite busy changing the terrain surface on my terrain boards, but that is pretty well done now (a separate post documenting my experience will come), so it is time to move on.

1er Régiment de Carabiniers

For my La Haie Sainte project, I needed 2 regiments of Cuirassiers and I do have plans to do a second. But as an aside, I said to myself let's paint just one figure as those red-plumed fellows. Well I could not stop and here we are. I believe I enjoyed painting this cavalry unit more than any previous, I may even expand it to 12, but we will have to see. I have 8 more figures left from my second Perry box of heavy cavalry and they are slated to become the 1er Régiment de Cuirassiers. I have said it before, but I will say it again, these are first rate figures and I endorse them without reservation. 

I believe I got most of the uniform and the horses right, although I do note that the plume on the helmet of the trumpeter in the above sketch is white, might change it after more research. 

British Foot Artillery

I recently finished 3 stands of artillery to make up 2 batteries of British artillery. One stand is Front Rank and the other two are Perry. I must say I like the Perry figures more and more and they really lend themselves to my painting technique. I use GW Fenris Grey for the cannon carriages, maybe if I had my time back I would have gone with a more grey colour rather than blue, but these are fifth and sixth battery of British or allied artillery I have painted and I am not going to start again. The Perry figures are actually marketed as Hanoverian artillery (BH 12), but I do not believe there is any difference.

Hanoverian unit to the right and British to the left.

I actually plan to buy 2 Perry Howitzers (BH47) and make a second unit of Hanoverians, this time with a howitzer and 2 cannons each.

I believe I will add one further battery of RHA and try to stop there. My artillery for the my Anglo-Portuguese army will then include 1 battery of Portuguese FA (Redoubt), 2 batteries of RHA (1 Redoubt and 1 Perry), 3 batteries of British/Hanoverian (1 Front Rank and 2 Perry) and a battery of RHA Rocket Corps with 4 stands. I have one limber done and another ready to go and I also plan to paint up those nice Perry (BH 49) mounted Artillery commanders.


If anyone has a link to a nice print of British artillery please sent it on as I like to post a print at the beginning of each blog entry and I could not find one.


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A Nice Gesture

A couple of months ago on the Fighting Talk forum, I saw a post that offered some painted Dutch-Belgians for a minimal cost. Apparently a gamer had run out of room and wanted to get rid. I was quite interested as I am trying to build up my Waterloo armies, so I jumped. Unfortunately, I was late and someone else snapped them up.

The original poster, Dashing Blade, emailed me though and offered to give me a couple of battalions of French Infantry, of which he had no need! All he asked was that a make a donation to a military service fund. He then sent them at his own cost from the UK to the US. He was very guarded about who he was, although he admitted his name was Ian and I suspect he is from Lancashire. 

I was able to get 3 French battalions from the lot with an addition of a few figures of my own. Dashing Blade had painted them in a campaign style, something that I never had attempted. Certainly his style was quite different than mine, but they are very nice indeed. 

Well here they are re-based, I decided to flag them as battle weary 4e, 5e and 6e battalions. Here they are looking down the barrels of a battery of British artillery.

Enormous variability in the uniforms, truly ragged.

The chefs de batallion with the 4e and 5e were painted by me as well as six of the command and elite figures.

Look at those striped trousers!

Very generous and much appreciated, thank you Dashing Blade.

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Heavy Dragoons (The Heavies!)

Been a bit slow to post recently, but I have been busy. For my La Haye Sainte scenario, I needed a large Lasalle unit of British Heavies. My favorite part of the film Waterloo is when Wellington tells Uxbridge "now is the time for the heavy cavalry".

I thought a nice unit would be the Union brigade under the ill fated Ponsonby.

Lasalle requires 6 bases for a large cavalry unit, and I usually go with each base representing a squadron.  The Union Brigade was made up of 9 squadrons or around 1000 troopers at Waterloo, so her are 2 of the 3 regiments, I need to order the Northern British (Scots Greys) figures. These represent the 1st (Royals) and the 6th (Inniskillings) regiments.

I used the midtown AP here, I thought it would be better on the red than the black pigment. The horses were done with various Inks and Washes from Vallejo and Games Workshop. I like how the horses came out.

Information on the uniforms of the British cavalry can be found here. I know of course that British Heavy Dragoons wore helmets at Waterloo, but I wanted bicorns.......

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