Adventures on the Wargames Table

The latest bonus round for the Painting Challenge is themed as Casualties, so here are some for my Great War Austrians. and I have a bunch of regular troops on the go but they're not quite ready yet. This lot takes me to just over 300pts so still some way to go!

Just a quick post to say what a splendid bunch of people they are at Warbases ! Here's a picture (of a selection!) from a recent batch of bases I received for my Dux Bellorum gaming project. The two on the top right are regular 6x2 formation 20mm move trays, these are for my Shieldwall formations. The two on the top left are Skirmisher movement trays with five 20x20mm inserts. The others are Warrior movement trays with nine inserts for 20x20mm bases. The two latter types of tray were custom made for me. Warbases communication with customers is ace; polite and prompt. The prices are very reasonable and delivery is swift. Add to that a good product and you can see why I think they're a great outfit. Highly recommended!

Wow! These figures are sublime ... wonderful ... superb! King Arthur, his banner bearer and two packs of his knights. Ok, we all know that "King" Arthur never really existed and perhaps the source of his legend is really the combined exploits of several powerful warriors in 5th century Britain, but we also know that it would be jolly good fun to include the Big Man in our games. Can't wait to get some of these figures! :o)

Crumbs! It's been a bit slow on the gaming/painting front recently due to things like work, being poorly, etc. But here at last are my first ever Age of Arthur Late Romans. These are from Musketeer and are (IMHO) some of the nicest figures I've had the pleasure of painting. Shields are from LBMS naturally. These are my entry for the Heroic Group bonus round for the Painting Challenge ... and about time too as I'm rather slipping behind schedule! They will also form the command group for my Foot Companions in my Romano-British army for Dux Bellorum ... more on that subject in later posts. I painted them in a similar style to the Saxons/Vikings I've done before, i.e. block colours and dip/wash, but I added some highlights before applying the wash, however they've rather been lost. Depending upon how the unit looks when complete I may go back and add some extra highlights - but they'll do for now.

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.