Adventures on the Wargames Table

As you’ll no doubt have noticed, I’ve painted quite a lot of figures for ACW over the last few months, so I needed to paint something slightly different.  These two figures were a bit of a treat! Both figures are lovely Front Rank sculpts.  The lady on the left is a Non Player Character figure whilst the Caçadore is a test figure for a colour scheme I had in mind - the main uniform colour is Foundry Spearshaft, collar and cuffs are Foundry Bavarian Cornflower Blue. One of the many joys of SP2 is being able to include a variety of NPC figures (often with humorous names) be they bumbling civilians, mad scientists, ladies in need of rescue from foreign bounders, enemy spies, bounders in need of rescue from foreign ladies, friendly spies, exploring officers, minor royalty, politicians, traders, etc.  The list is potentially huge and adds an extra narrative element that really brings the game alive.  Plus, if you’re running a game it gives you as the GM something extra to...

My Sharp Practice models have been on the shelf for a little while as I’ve been heavily into WW2, primarily our North African games.  But the other day I just fancied painting something that wasn’t green/grey or sand coloured.  My Anglo-Portuguese army is coming along well so I thought I’d try painting a few of my French figures from Front Rank. Getting these ready would be handy as I have friends who want to play regular Peninsular games, others who like the Russian theatre and yet others who have suggested a campaign with British naval forces (indeed one splendid fellow has written a whole campaign booklet!).  So getting these on the table would give me plenty of options for glorious victory ... or a “ deferred victory situation ” as sometimes happens 🤣 I wanted this force to have a slightly weather beaten, on campaign sort of look so I thought I’d try my base coat, wash and highlight technique.  Most of the figures are wearing greatcoats as again I like the...

Crikey! Real Life (tm) has been rather hectic recently...  When I haven't been working towards crazy deadlines I've been out having heaps of fun with my lovely girlfriend Sarah.  Anyway, I've managed to squeeze in a bit of brush time and fancied painting something a bit different. The figures are Front Rank miniatures - beautiful sculpts!  The resin fountain is by Grand Manner and the church is from Charlie Foxtrot Models . Painting Napoleonic figures has always been a slow process for me as I tend to get bogged down with lots of details.  So with these I've tried a slightly different approach. The flesh is painted in the usual Foundry triad but most of the rest of the figure is just block painted or given a very quick single highlight.  I decided that lots of highlights and details are just lost when you're actually playing and viewing the figures from several feet away.  A friend (thanks Paul) suggested I follow the old adage of "faces, bases...

My first full group of painted figures for my Anlgo-Portuguese army! Six Portuguese Partisans armed to the teeth and ready to hunt the French. They're all from Front Rank's superb partisan/guerrilla range. Movement tray by Charlie Foxtrot . They're all painted in a range of mainly Foundry colours; the complimentary triads make it far easier than messing about mixing shades. I've painted each of them with an item (usually a sash around the waist) in Foundry Royal Purple as this is the colour of their partisan band. The basing is a mix of small stones and grit/sand given a base of Americana Honey Brown then highlighted with VMC 847 Dark Sand then Foundry Boneyard light. Colonel Bill's Winter Grass along with a few arid looking tufts of longer grass and some small pieces of Woodland Scenics clump foliage finish it off nicely. Next will be their leader, the infamous Açougueiro - "The Butcher" and an irascible little holy man on a do...