The Positive Impact of Largesse

Ancient Britons - chariots, skirmishers with cavalry and the all important warbands in the rear

How outrageously good are they?

Late Romans - the legions ready to do battle

So there is the full panoply of the Late Roman army - six bases of the legion, including the C in C, four bases of auxiliaries flanking the artillery and two cavalry units - light on the left and the heavies on the right/

This is not the post I expected to be writing - sadly my naval encounter will need to wait an extra day or so - but it is a post that has given me an enormous amount to think about!

Indulge me a little, if you will, as this personal history is relevant to this post but it will help to things into context. 

When Irregular Miniatures first launched their 2mm range (back in the 1980s I recall) I was hugely excited at the prospect of the potential these models would have. I remember buying substantial amounts of the horse and musket range along with ancients when these came out - at the time I was still on the end of my WRG 6th edition adventures - but never really had a clear idea of what I was going to do with them. Was it a step too far for the mainstream? Possibly - but for me the seed had been sown. 

Anyways, fast forward to the current century and I have continued to dabble in the 2mm and 3mm world which means in my case buying stuff, doing nothing with it for one reason or another and then selling it on. Having said that I still have a bag of Peter Pig ACW figures from their Hammerin’ Iron range that are looking for some TLC at some point….

The seemingly monotonous round of buying stuff, hanging on to it for six months or so and then offloading it showed little sign of abating but the 3mm stuff still lurked in the collection - unloved but promised to better things at some point. 

The ‘some point’ was running an idea past that all round good guy and brush master extraordinaire Lee - as in A figure painting therapy project

Some time ago I approached him with an idea about painting some ACW stuff for me for the naval project. The idea was to use the Peter Pig troops for the land side in support of the ships. Anyways, we bounced a few emails around but for reasons too boring to discuss it never happened. We stayed in contact though and like many other bloggers I have really enjoyed seeing his various painting projects and just staying in touch.

Imagine my surprise then when a cryptic message from Lee arrived earlier in the week telling me that a package was en route and arrived yesterday - the contents of which you can see above.

So, a pair of DBA armies - Late Roman and Ancient Briton in 3mm. What can I say? Where to start?

The two armies are quite incredible to look at - Lee’s skill with a paintbrush is very much at the Olympian level of awesomeness - and the models really ‘pop’ off the bases. They are recognisable as what they should be and the only thing I will do will be to add them to a slightly thicker base for ease of handling.        

The figures themselves are from the range produced by Oddzial Ozmy and available from Magister Militum in the UK. There is also a whole world of other periods covered in this scale and the models themselves are outstanding.

So what does all this mean then? Well for one thing the use of 2mm and 3mm armies has certainly come along leaps and bounds since those early days of Irregular Miniatures. We now have dedicated rule sets for the scale - Strength and Honour for ancients springs to mind, their game at salute was incredible to look at - and it seems that more and more gamers are looking long and hard at the scale. Ray Rousell , a dyed in the wool 28 and 15mm gamer,  has been busy beavering away with some 2mm armies for the battle of Almansa 1707 and they look outstanding - his rules of choice being Volley and Bayonet. There are many others in the blogosphere that have dabbled or are dabbling in these smaller scales so to speak so the scales seem to be easing into the mainstream alongside their larger counterparts.

Seeing the armies that Lee very generously sent me ‘up close and personal’ has really given me a lot to think about along with the pang of regret at all the stuff I had in this scale that has long gone! I need to dig out the Peter Pig ACW blocks and have a mess around with them methinks! Packing a base with small figures certainly helps to make the twelve elements of a DBA army look rather more like a real army as the pictures above show.

My sincerest thanks to Lee for this incredible gift - there will certainly be some DBA games in the near future - and for showing me just how good these models can be made to look. He does work on a commission basis but currently has, unsurprisingly given the quality of his painting, a pretty full order book for the next century or so so I consider myself to be doubly fortunate!

Cheers Lee, I owe you a beer or two!

Back in the Building Business….Part 3

Look at me using solely acrylic paints for a model - who would have thought given my notoriously antiquated painting technique! I have to say that Vallejo Iraqi Sand is an incredibly versatile colour!

I had hoped to have made rather more progress with the fort but a couple of things conspired to use up the available time I had. To begin with I really struggled to settle on a colour scheme for the fort. Originally I was going to go with overall white but that felt a little on the stark side som instead I opted for Vallejo Iraqi Sand - which is quite appropriate considering whom this particular piece of real estate belongs to - and has done for some time!

Not in the picture are the gun barrels and flagstaff which have had their two coats of black and so are ready to be cut to size and mounted once the fort is finished.

The scenario the fort will be featuring in has been drafted, along with the damage charts and indeed, has also been written up as far as it can go short of the refight itself but I have hit a slight snag that will delay things slightly. However, despite this minor setback I intend fighting the scenario using a couple of ideas that will be featuring in due course in Developing the Portable Ironclads Wargame as soon as is practical.

The slight snag referred to was the arrival in the post today of something that has, for me, completely changed how I look at using figures on the table top. 

More of this, with pictures, in my next post.

Back in the Building Business….Part 2

The gun barrels are added after painting and I only realised that I had not drilled out the hole for the flagpole when I uploaded the picture!

This afternoon was blizzard of chopping up bits of balsa wood and sticking (an unsticking) card with the result you see above. I shall be sealing the model this evening and undercoating tomorrow. Painting will the work of a single session and once finished the gun barrels and all important flagpole can be added. I have a specific scenario in mind for this model and am planning to fight the action over next weekend. No clues other than the fact that a fort will be appearing….

Back in the Building Business

A Jenga block special

Note the Confederate original - the design was, ahem, designed to be quick and easy to build and purely representational….

An angled view - the new model will be rather like a popular 1970s confectionary….

For reasons that are obscure even by my standards you can see what the next model on the tray is. This is based very loosely on my previous version for the Confederates that featured in The Portable Ironclads Wargame. No clues but this new model is for an altogether more exotic locale….

Thus far it is mere bricks and mortar with the detailing, artillery and the all important ensign to follow. It is for a specific scenario I have in mind that will NOT be featuring in Developing the Portable Ironclads Wargame but certainly has a historical background but probably not as far back as you might think….

Tomorrow will see the detail added prior to painting. In truth the model is really easy to put together but I had a few other things to take care of today so am pacing myself. The scenario that goes with will be something rather special though…. :-)

Developing the Portable Ironclads Wargame….Part 4

H.M.S. Superb, sister ship to the Turkish Messudieh

The pace has picked up a little and so I have been able to complete a couple of outstanding items in respect of the next instalment of The Portable Ironclads Wargame. As mentioned previously, there will be a selection of optional rules that players can use to not as their taste dictates. There are also going to be a couple of alternative systems included - these were trialled during the testing phase of the rules but for one reason or another did not make the published version. 

A selection of Turkish ironclads - I really must get round to the rest of the fleet at some point….

In a slight change of direction I shall be including ironclad actions beyond the American Civil War so hopefully it will appeal to a wider audience. There will be a couple of historical scenarios included as well as something a little different. No details on any of this as yet - mainly because as usual there are some moving parts that need to be aligned - but it will be scratching a particular itch and also acknowledging a personal debt of gratitude.

In the meantime though, some designs need to be designed for our friends at Warbases to work their MDF magic on as I am going back into the ship building business once again.

Can’t wait!

Napoleon, Bobby Lee and Mustangs

P38 at the top escorted by (from left to right) a FW190D (“Dora”), a FW190A and a Me109G (“Gustav”)

Today saw the arrival of the 1:300th aircraft I ordered from Heroics and Ros so my 1944 “Over the Reich” set up has all that I need for the board game Mustangs. As mentioned previously they are organised in flight of four and for the US I have P38s, P47s and P51s - the latter two having the ‘bubble’ canopy so are both ‘D’ variants. The Luftwaffe are rather better served - purely so as to extend the choice - and so have Me109G, FW190As and Ds and of course, the Me262. There is a fan made control card for a Me163 if I wanted….

Blasts from the past - 2004 to be exact - and yes, the light strip on the right hand side of the box lid to Bobby Lee is ‘Sunning’ - the scourge of book collections everywhere!

I also took delivery of a couple of old boardgames that were both still in shrink wrap and with the blocks unlabelled - Napoleon which covers the 1815 campaign and Bobby Lee which covers the American Civil War in the East. There is a companion game - Sam Grant - that covers the war in the West which, if I am honest, would have been of greater interest but hey ho - I will certainly be able to use it anyway. Both of these games came to me from a chap that used to run an online gaming business but had given it up some years ago. When he did he held on to some stock and has gradually been disposing of the same. The boxes are a little storage bashed but the contents are fine. 

The back of the boxes. Napoleon uses a ‘point to point’ movement system whilst Bobby Lee uses far more conventional hexes.

I used to own a copy of Napoleon but this was passed on many years ago during one of my periodic (and usually dangerous) reorganisations. It is now here to stay though, mainly because the later 4th edition of the game (mine is the 3rd) changed the order of battle somewhat. The big advantage of the 3rd edition is that each block is a division which translates well into the Portable Napoleonic Wargame. For both games, Napoleon and Bobby Lee, I have some plans for….

In other news….

I am getting a small order together for Warbases of some bespoke items. For the most part they are related to the ACW collection but there is something else in the mix - more of which later.

And finally, Remember….

The force will be with you, always….

Developing the Portable Ironclads Wargame….Part 3

Confederate ships looking for trouble in Mobile Bay. 

Aside from my recent galley flirtation, coupled with an aerial and Plains War distraction, I have been quietly beavering away on the follow up volume to the Portable Ironclads Wargame. The expanded ship specs for the American Civil War have been completed so now I am chipping away at the optional rules. I will also be including some ideas for scenarios inspired by a selection of historical actions and, as mentioned previously, an after action report will certainly feature.

At present I am exploring an optional movement whereby opposing ships are moved alternatively based on the initiative roll. The rationale behind this is that it would better represent the seemingly chaotic ‘Pell-mell’ nature of many ACW naval battles. Early days yet and as a concept it is not without its challenges.

Nothing new on the shipbuilding front although I shall be resuming production in the next few days - the C.S.S. Tennessee is not going to build itself!