Adventures on the Wargames Table

I’ve been intending to add one of these splendid kits to my collection for some time. Good mate Colin and I were watching the Sharpe series after a busy weekend of gaming when he said he fancied making a kit based on the chapel in the little town of Torrecastro where Sharpe and his men raise the gonfalon of Santiago. He began furiously sketching out plans and designs whilst I supplied tea and biscuits and, if I recall correctly, got on with some ironing! Anyway, here it is. My earlier efforts with a CFM church painted for a friend can can be found here , including the painting recipe. Only slight changes were giving the entire church a coat of textured masonry paint (for better texture) and swapping Foundry Boneyard light for Americana Bleached Sand. For extra interest I’ve added a little “shrine” using a small piece of resin from Hovels. I may add some clump foliage to represent a creeper growing up the stonework. One feature of the kit that Colin was keen to include was being able to...

Grand Manner produce some very characterful resin scenery. I especially like this bread oven. Painted for friend, this piece has been completed as per all of my other pantile scenery. Handy for WW2 Italy, Crete, etc, plus Peninsular Napoleonics. Thanks for looking!

We’re very excited here at the table about these new pantile kits! They’ll be perfect for our games of Sharp Practice in Spain and Portugal, and Chain of Command or Bolt Action in Crete, Sicily and Italy, plus Silver Cutlass in the West Indies. First up is Pantile Carthouse 2 . I plan to build mine as a small roadside or waterfront tavern. A few barrels and a simple sign (and perhaps a figure representing a lady of “negotiable virtue”) will complete the look nicely. Charlie Foxtrot have stock of the splendid Debris of War barrels so that’s that sorted. Next is Pantile House 5 . This will be ideal as a more up-market residence. I can picture Captain Horatio Longshaft RN keeping a careful eye on the harbour from the top balcony. More about him when Silver Cutlass weighs anchor! Here is Pantile House 7 . Another splendid residence. I particularly like the bricked up “folly” doorway. A couple of these, maybe leaving out a storey on one, will be ideal for giving a little town in Italy a mor...

They say you should build bridges not walls, but my bridge kit is still on order so walls it is for now ... plus a few other bits!  These splendid pieces are from Hovels, at a good price too.  They’ll complement my Charlie Foxtrot walls very nicely.  The resin required minimal prep and had only a very few tiny air bubbles which were trivial to fill.  Highly recommended! The painting recipe was Americana Honey Brown on the walls, Americana Terracotta on the tiles, followed by GW Agrax Earthshade. Highlight using Americana Honey Brown, Americana Fawn, VMC Dark Sand, Foundry Boneyard Light. The tiles were simply the original colour followed by a highlight with some VMC Dark Sand mixed in.  Base is Americana Honey Brown, VMC Tan Yellow then VMC Dark Sand followed by Colonel Bill's Winter Static Grass and some clump foliage. This covered well is from the Waterloo Papelotte Farm range but, with suitable paint on the roof, I think it blends in nicely. These ar...

Painting and gaming has been a bit thin on the ground recently, due in the main to illness.  However, I'm on the mend now thank goodness, so I recently decided to do a little photo session with my Napoleonic terrain and figures.  These are mainly aimed at playing Sharp Practice in the Peninsular War, although the buildings will also see service in WW2 for Crete and Italy using both Bolt Action and Chain of Command.  I was looking to create a new banner for the blog and photoshop-whizz Colin was kind enough to do a little bit of magic to replace the 'bookcase & armchair background' with some sky. The majority of the buildings are from the superb Charlie Foxtrot Models pantile range, with extras from Grand Manner and some scratch-builds too.  Scatter terrain and animals are from Hovels, Redoubt, Warbases, Warlord, Debris of War, etc.  My good friend George has picked up some Last Valley horsehair style trees for me which I think will suit the terrain very wel...

Our miniature landscapes need, in my opinion, to look a little ‘lived in’ to get the most from our games.  Given that many of our battles are set in rural, or at least semi rural, areas then some suitable livestock are an obvious choice.  So, I’ve painted some. These are from Redoubt (cows and pigs) and Warbases (rabbits).  Bases from Charlie Foxtrot Models. Here are a few closer shots. I felt that painting the cows the usual black and white would limit them to a European setting, tho I may be wrong.  A bit of Googling resulted in me opting for a more generic looking scheme of pale brown and creamy off white.  This is Foundry Buff Leather and Foundry Boneyard, respectively.  Want to add another couple of bases.  These could just as easily be objective tokens in scenarios such as foraging raids too. Again Google helped choose this reddish brown scheme for the piggies.  This is Foundry Spearshaft. Just for fun, I wanted some rabbits!  Foundry B...

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...

Here's the scatter terrain items I've been working on recently.  Various manufacturers such as Hovels, Debris of War, Redoubt, 4Ground, Alternative Armies, Ainsty, etc. I've also re-purposed some old bits of K&M hedge I've had since my Warhammer days.  Simply repainted the bases and gave them a slightly dusty look. Last but not least, some broken wall sections and a couple of the Javis resin gates. That'll do for the time-being 🤔 although I do have a couple more Charlie Foxtrot pantile kits ... 😉

Continuing with the Mediterranean theme, here's a little farm using mainly Charlie Foxtrot kits.  These are Pantile House 1 and Stables . The smaller thatched building is from Hovels, as are the barrels and water trough.  The walls are Javis scenics dry stone walling. The photos aren't the best I've done but the light recently has been a bit rubbish for photography! Here's a couple of closer pics of the stables.  The wood is mostly painted as follows: brown or black spray undercoat, Americana Dark Chocolate, Milk Chocolate, Honey Brown. Here's the farmhouse. They're not quite as "white" as they appear here and were all painted as per the scheme for the recently posted Hermitage. I had these walls knocking about in the scenic bits box so thought I'd give them a 'Mediterranean makeover'.  The capping stone on the post is painted in the same manner as the pantile roofs and I think this really helps tie them in with the buildings. ...