Adventures on the Wargames Table

To celebrate the occasion of his birthday, chum Steve (along with Simon) arranged a huge game of Black Powder - no less than the Battle of Waterloo! This would be my first game of Black Powder ... and wow what a game! Each side had 5-6 players so commands were allocated by a lottery. I drew General D'Erlon, so the 5 divisions of the mighty 1st Corps (42 battalions of infantry, 8 batteries of guns and 4 regiments of cavalry!) were under my command. That's more than 8,000 figures (20mm plastics) on a 24' x 12' (7.32m x 3.66m) "E" shaped table. A view, from the Allied ridge of La Haye Saint and the 95th Rifles in the sand-pit. Hello Sharpe! In the background you can see my 1st Corps, starting at the road and extending east across to the far right French flank. A view along the Allied lines. The little chits of paper behind the units were essential notes of what division/brigade each unit belonged to. The ridge opposite the centre of 1st Corps ...

A unexpected day off has given me the opportunity to complete my Austro-Hungarian Romfell armoured car! Here it is, along with some troops giving directions and cheering. This is also my entry for the third bonus round of the Painting Challenge which has a theme of vehicles; so that's 15 points for the vehicle itself and an extra 50 points for the bonus! I've really enjoyed painting this and plan to add another with a commander peering out of the hatch. Scarab have an excellent A/H officer with binoculars in one of the HMG packs that would be ideal. The painting recipe was:- White undercoat Solid basecoat of Foundry Granite mid Light wash of thinned GW Devlan mud (now Agrax Earthshade?) Further (less thinned) Devlan mud wash to pick out all the rivets/bolts and other little features. Drybrush with basecoat taking care not to obscure the weathering from the washes! Final very light drybrush of Foundry Granite light just to pick out the edges. Tyres - black then Fou...

After a great start to the Painting Challenge things here at the Wargames Table rather ground to a halt due to the so-called 'holidays'. Anyway, starting to get back in to the swing of things and - more importantly - starting to get the brushes going again! Here's a few work in progress shots of stuff currently on the painting table. As you can see, it all has a very 'Great War' theme. This is the 1st Corps Romfell kit. Great model, good quality and easy to build. As I type it's now sitting on the desk undercoated and ready to go! By the way ... if you want to see a truly spiffing example of a fully painted (different) vehicle then check out Sidney's recent post on his blog about Mata Hari ... Stunning ... I was totally lost for words!!! The rest of my first A/H Stormtrooper platoon. Note the fearsome flame-thrower! Right! Must get on.

Here are Thorin and Company from GW's Escape from Goblin Town boxed set. They were supposed to a be Christmas present for my small people, however they were slightly delayed on the painting table! Fortunately we have a tradition in our family of a second round of gift giving either on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day. So guess ... what? These made it in to the second round!! (Almost) Balin, Bilbo and Thorin. Rear view. Gloin, Bifur and Dwalin. Rear view. Kili and Fili. Rear view. Dori, Ori and Bombur. Rear view. Oin, Bofur and Nori. Rear view. Gandalf and Radagast. Rear view. Look out for more adventures from Middle Earth in future posts! BTW - as I effectively started these way back at the beginning of December (with only one colour!) then they cannot count towards my painting challenge total. Grrr!