Adventures on the Wargames Table

War & Conquest is here! Huzzah! What better way to celebrate the launch of these splendid rules than by re-fighting one of the many battles that must have raged across Britain in the middle years of the 1st Century. Rome bringing the shining light of Empire to the fog shrouded shores of Britannia! Rob suggested that I bring my Roman army along to the Bristol Big'Uns club at Iron Acton to tackle the rampaging Celtic horde of fellow WAC-er Dave. How could I refuse? The plan was for Rob and I to join forces whilst Dave and yet another WAC-er, John, gathered the Britons for battle. But on the night, another chap (Mike) came along so Rob graciously agreed to GM the game. I should point out that War & Conquest does not require an umpire, but as with many wargames, having an umpire to ensure the smooth flow of the game, take pictures, make tea, laugh at poor dice rolling, etc, is a bonus. Myself and Mike divided our forces approximately in half, whilst John acted in a more...

More painted models! I've really enjoyed painting these chaps. They'll either be used as a specific Signal Staff or they'll be added to the command groups, depending upon the scenario, army list, etc. Anyway, here they are. I've very much followed the examples in the rulebook(s) in terms of colours, i.e the blue and white bands and flags. Here's the chaps on the field telephone. I particularly liked the (vitreous enamel) cup of tea! Fly, " Speckled Jim ", fly! From another angle Looks like it's Wuthering Heights by semaphore ... !? Only 14 more figures to go to complete my 1,000pt BEF force.

Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy issue 58 is available! As you can see from the cover pic above, the theme of this issue is Napoleonics. OK, so it's not my favourite Napoleonic era, i.e. the Peninsular war, but it's all still very interesting stuff, with lots of lovely pictures to admire and inspire. It's not all about 'Boney' though. Details of the contents can be found here . This is rapidly becoming my favourite wargaming magazine. I'd really like Guy and team to do a Great War themed issue - preferrably 1917-18. Perhaps I should write an article? Hmmm ... maybe not ... publishing has strict deadlines. As Douglas Adams said - "I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound as they fly by". Just ask my boss! ;o) Get your copy now! :o)

As mentioned in my previous post, I've been painting a Great War Miniatures Mk IV Male Tank for my BEF. All pictures are clickable. It was surprisngly simple to paint and I'm quite pleased with the results. Here's my recipe. Black undercoat (make sure you cover any little gaps!) Base coat all the green/brown areas with GW Charadon Granite. Highlight these areas by heavily drybrushing with Foundry Drab shade. The heavier effect is best achieved by several successive lighter applications of paint. Apply a very light second highlight (with a large, soft brush) of Foundry Drab mid. Tidy up the remaining black areas, i.e. the tracks and exhaust, etc Tracks and HMGs are just given a very light drybrush of GW Boltgun Metal. The exhaust was painted using Foundry Tan shade, followed Foundry Tan mid. The tank number and name are just painted in white. I was pleased with the 'A17' on the flanks, but a little disappointed with the lettering for the tank name...

Another year whooshes past! Where do they go and why do they seem to be passing faster? It's probably my age ;o) At the start of the year I set out my grand plans and yet again I've managed to largely ignore them. So what are my thoughts for the last year or so in terms of gaming? First the good bits... Shows I've managed two this year. Penarth way back in January and then my first ever Salute in April. Thoroughly enjoyed them both and got a real gaming boost from each show. I would definitely recommend trying to get to some shows each year. Try make a list of purchases, or pre-order, to save you impulse buying all sorts of stuff. Events In March, Scarab Miniatures ran a one day Great War event near Nottingham. We made it in to a family weekend away and a splendid time was had by all. The event itself was superb fun both in terms of the games, and being able to meet some fellow WW1 gaming enthusiasts. With Scarab now re-located rather closer to the South West I ho...

As you can see from the photo below, all of the block painting has been completed for the rest of my Saxon warband, but I've still got to get them dipped and matt varnished (and based!). However, the weather has been so cold and wet recently that I've been unwilling to risk the dip/varnish going cloudy. So, they'll have to wait for some better weather. In the meantime I shall be turning my attention to this.   I picked up this Mk IV up at the Great War gaming day earlier this year so it's high time it was built and painted. I think it will make a nice holiday season project. This year we're not planning the usual mad dash around the relatives. Instead we'll be spending most of the hols at home. I also hope to slop a bit more paint on these fellows. I may also look at making some barrage blasts similar, perhaps, to those splendid models made by Orange Dave (see earlier post). His top tip was to use CD's as they're ...

OK, so nothing's actually finished yet, but I thought you might be interested to see how they're coming along. Here's the initial 4 point warband. The Warlord in the centre, flanked by his hearthguard with (ghostly) rabble behind. A closer shot of the Warlord and the right wing. And the left wing. As you can see the Warlord and Hearthguard are ready for the dip, but as it's rather smelly I'll wait until I've done the Warriors then dip the whole lot in one go. The figures are Gripping Beast plastics (Warlord and Hearthguard) and Musketeer (Warriors). In fact, the Warriors are actually from the Early Saxon range but I'll give them mostly larger shields so they'll be fine for 9th-11th century warriors. More progress soon I hope.