Category: wargaming

wargaming is everything from gaming on the table top with dice, painting figures, reading history, collecting figures, scenery and rules through to geography, politics, art, crafts and imaginative writing……..

Categories
Mythical Realms wargaming

Painting Pedestal 23X: unexpected visitors – episode 2

In part 1 we encountered 1940’s action between Americans and Russians on some unknown wargames table………………..

Osteen and Yashin briefly discussed the situation….. “who the hell are those guys Yashin?” “Lieutenant Osteen your guess is as good as mine – they appeared from nowhere and started shooting”……..

Just then a bloompf – “what the………..Drabowsky report!” Luis Drabowsky scrambled across to his Lieutenant, right now he could not get used to rubbing shoulders with these Rushkies: OK so they had fought the common enemy but now it was 1946 and a deteriorating stand off existed between the former allies.

Meanwhile Senior Lieutenant Gregori Yashin rushed over to one of his squads led by Sergei Petrov. “What was that? that noise Petrov?” “Senior Lieutenant the enemy have some sort of energy weapon – there was muzzle flash and then an unusual airburst – our men were dazed but that is all…..” Yashin nodded then ordered Petrov to organise the right flank with his new american comrades.

“We will make good communists of you Johncheeses yet” laughed Junior Sergeant Eduard Kachalin – Sergeant Wes Lefebvre was about to respond when fire erupted all along the line, “Kachalin, it looks like we will have to delay our discussion!”. The two men scuttled off to organise their squads.

The fighting was quick and one sided, the renewed allies withdrew from the edge of town as their new common enemy forged towards them.

As Osteen withdrew in the centre he met Kachalin, one of the good english speakers amongst the Russians………”Hey Kachalin where is Yashin?”, ” Kachalin between gasps “Lieutenant, he fell, they got him,,,,, he stood no chance” – Osteen – “damn, damn these monsters……..”

Captain Parker repeated his statement again “yes sir we have been attacked by a superior enemy – we have retreated from sector 6, repeat we have retreated from sector 6…………the russians? the russians are with us sir………….I can explain sir, no sir they fought with us, sir, sir……..”. “Yes Lieutenant Osteen is one of my best men – solid and dependable………..yes sir I know this hard to take………….no this is not, I repeat not a russian trick………”

“Damn it Barnes where is that link to Osteen?” Sergeant Barnes groaned – “nothing sir, nought, zilch……”

The noise of guns and other weapons invaded Captain Frank Parker’s mind – then he realised they were for real.

“Roseborough call up the jeeps we are moving, Barnes radio we are pulling back to sector Y zone 3A”

Just then a massive noise erupted near Parker/Roseborough and Barnes.

They rose dazed but uninjured. Nearby others were not so lucky.

Later in sector Y zone 3A Parker listened …..”so you see sir its an ASF situation with probably a RIM aspect……….”, “cut the crap Kouffax – give it to me in words……” Kouffax took a deep breath and continued ” Well sir it looks like an ASFI, I mean an Any Scale Figure incursion and involves Rogue Injection Moulded forces…..” meaning what exactly?” – Parker being now completed exhausted by the whole mess. Joe Kouffax took another breath, “well sir we have contacted OTO…” stop stop! “what/who is OTO” – Parker was exasperated. “well sir he is the One to One scale operator, we think there has been a WTMU, I mean a wargames table mix up”. Parker was lost for words as the line went dead………..

Barnes was incredulous “so Sir we were fighting the wrong forces? they were in the wrong place – sorta like a time travel event? and this OTO guy, he sorted it all out……….”

Parker gazed at the sky “…….Barnes……….yes, yes for gods sake if you like………anyway it is all SNAFU”. “Barnes get me Osteen on the line I want to know he got those new Russian friends off his back, that they are on their side of the line….”

Categories
wargame shows wargaming

The Other Partizan Newark 2023

On an unseasonally warm October Sunday I journeyed to Newark for the second Partizan show of the year.

It was busy – I am on the hard road by the other show building on the site – the car park was as full as I have seen it. Being a tin shed, in the distance – hot weather is not ideal – but the organisers had lots of fans and did a good job on ventilation.
Traffic was light so I got there early and decided to get some fresh air for half an hour before opening time: I queued. Upside of queuing was I got to see the demo games pretty much people free
I think this was Shrewsbury wargames club – in this case I was too early 🙂 just sheep grazing…..
mind you something is brewing in town
nice moated castle

I toured the demos before checking out HLBSCo for some plastic figure possibilities – I drew a blank.

Earnest discussions at the 1/72 table – Mr John Kersey I presume – all set for some boxing antics chinese style
Boondock Sayntes provided an impressive display
I am not sure which club this was – they did the biscotti wars – offering samples to enjoy – given its Garibaldi on the table you can guess the variety. These are Piedmontese troops
The scenery was eye catching and this was a well laid out participation game by Chesterfield I think.
Again I failed to note the club but I always like a balloon
lots of small vignettes as well
I think this is Grimsby Club with an impressive medieval encounter
Gangs of Rome participation game with some nice colour in the buildings
Like a Stonewall WGC offered up a Neil Thomas rules normans encounter – again participation plus you can also sense we were at capacity for layout and access space
A good display siege at the end of the gaming area

Simon of MeG is publishing a renaissance ruleset in 2024 (ReG?) and put on a demo he devoted some time to our conversation which I appreciated – I also liked the 30 year old hinchliffe figures below. It will be interesting to see the time spread and also focus of this rule set.

Chris at Northampton battlefields society – joe ekins takes out 3 tigers participation
Going to Partizan – Operation Totalise

https://notquitemechanised.wordpress.com/2023/10/05/going-to-partizan-operation-totalise/

never take an untried new phone to a show – I had plenty of wrong focus results – the new phone seemed to have a mind of its own………the trees are in focus though! Which is a pity as I liked this ACW encounter
ReG flyer
General Sikorski was the freebie this year.
Not sure when he will get some paint.
It was an enjoyable show
And seemed fuller than last year
all set for May 2024?

Overall I enjoyed this partizan although somehow I think I prefer the May offering-not sure why?

I also missed the 1848 Hungarian war table, never went back to biscotti for some sharp practice or go for the boxing although I did chat with quite a few people perhaps more than I normally do – that I think is a good thing in these testing times.

Categories
miniatures painting wargaming

The painting pedestal 23e: pickelhaubes

With the Painting Pedestal hiatus showing no sign of being over its back to some promised 19th century troops for some light relief.

Here are some new figures I painted up to be part of my German Confederation force of 1848/49. They represent the Lippe contingent. I used Hat ww1 infantry and just tried a paint job alteration – clearly the short rifle is an obvious period error while the pickelhaube is the later squashed variety.

my standard 40mm square bases of 3 figures arranged for a Piquet Field of Battle Battalion

I am quite pleased with the paint job especially how the pickelhaube does not appear so squashed when highlighted with the brass finish spike and reinforcing strips.

I have gone for a grass finish on these bases – I used a fine sawdust brand – Javis I think?
Bases still get the games workshop pva/birdgrit solution and then 3 layer brown, ochre and yellow/white paint job.
I like the poses although again the revolver armed officer is a bit premature for 1848/49 period.
The confederation carried tricolour rosettes which i have enlarged so they can be seen and I have just painted over the jack boot which is never shown at this time. Again at wargame distance you don’t really notice.
Alongside my Parma infantry of 1851 the helmet shape is noticeable. Yet again at wargame distance its all fine.
The Pickelhaube was quite the fashion mid century – Russians and of course the British all followed the Prussian style just like the Duchy of Parma.
All I need now is a whole rake of these from the different states……………..

Right now Hat seem to have ceased/reduced production and whether these figures will reappear is anyones guess

Next on the Painting Pedestal statistically should be more mid 19th century figures but right now it’s back to the future as they say – hang on to your hats 23x part 2 beckons.

Categories
wargaming

Painting Pedestal 23X: unexpected visitors – episode 1

Lieutenant Osteen’s voice crackled over the airwaves.”……the ruskies – their rushing us…..”/ Captain Parker cut in “kill them Lieutenant, take them out – thats an order” / Lt. Osteen “……but sir their not even trying to fight their just crazy running at us…….”/ Cpt. Parker “it is a Ruskie rooze……..take ’em out – over and out!”.

“Damn it, Barnes what the hell is up with Osteen?”. Sergeant Barnes groaned, Osteen as usual had to complicate matters – shoot first ask questions later was the Barnes approach – it had kept him alive after all…..

Capt. Parker stomped out of the command tent.

Lieutenant Osteen’s voice cackled again on the radio, “Lt. Osteen reporting – russian troops have surrendered to us, repeat russian troops have surrendered to us…….”. “What the……” Sgt.Barnes began before Lt Osteen again “We are under attack – who the hell are these Yashin……..” the line fell dead but not before Yashin could be heard by Barnes responding………….. “Captain, Captain, Captaiiiiiiiinnnn Parker” – Barnes raced out the tent.

Meanwhile on the front line………

What is going on? Its only a painting pedestal after all……….
Categories
wargames blog wargaming

Blog Influences 1

I thought about posting on the most influential blogs I have encountered in my gaming. It sort of sounded pompous. And when I thought about it the number is simply incredible anyway.

So I have settled for “Blog Influences”. In a time when “Influencers” are continuously big news it is quite strange to think that a few decades ago we had as much influencing going on but more through dominant communication organisations – the most obvious being newspapers and tv channels not to mention the ever present advertisers of the pre internet age. In a way we have always had influencers, they have simply changed shape, of course methods and their sheer numbers are now off the page.

My first influence then, which to choose? When I thought about it the big influence has been the one which set me off on my own blogging journey.

Blog Influence No1 is ironically the Battlegames Printed Magazine published by Henry Hyde and specifically an article by Greg Horne concerning a beginners guide to blogging (published around 2006) and referencing his “Duchy of Alzheim” blog. At the time I read the article and looked at the blog and thought ok – interesting, very interesting, but right now I just want to paint and game……..this blogging lark would be a distraction and consume precious hobby time.

Battlegames was eventually subsumed into Miniature Wargames Magazine and ultimately Henry went on to running his own successful Digital Platform.

Battlegames Magazine itself took me back into wargames fully by 2009, after over a decade tinkering with solo 15mm DBA campaigns. Not long after taking Battlegames regularly – around 2011 – I descended back into the land of 1/72 plastics which of course is another story. Low cost wargaming seemed appropriate at that time. Although you could say I was expanding from 600mm square 15mm figures at 12 elements a side gaming, towards bigger tables and potentially bigger armies! It is true I had acquired more space for my gaming.

I also remember back then encountering a wargamer at a show saying they were ditching 15mm for larger scales because of their failing eyesight. Maybe that thought stuck? Anyway I think 15mm always felt too much like a compromise. And I have not been drawn into 28mm which would be logical if eyesight were my sole issue concerning size/scale.

It took me another 13 years to actually blog myself but “hey-ho” better late than never. In the meantime blogging bit me as a consumer and my gaming has never been the same since. And it has been more fulfilling as a result.

So there you go – No1 of possibly a new post series.

Categories
Mid 19th Century Wargaming miniatures painting wargaming

Buildings Blast – some C19th figures used

My “Buildings Blast” post about two games I fought after setting up most of my buildings scenery covered a What a Tanker game and then a mid C19th game between Austrians and Piedmontese.

The tanks in use were the usual suspects, however the C19th game included several units which were converted – head swops or using different paint jobs.

Here are some of the units that were in play.

For 1859 Piedmontese I basically used these Hat ACW Infantry Firing, a paint job adaption. Crucially the kepi gradually replaced the tapered stove pipe in Piedmont/Sardinian Armies between 1848 and 1870 so ACW sets are a good source for these forces and require little adaption. And at a squint can cover Danish troops in their German wars 1848-1864, but thats another story.
Hat Napoleonic Russian Militia were simply painted as Milan Civil Guard. A couple of figures had flat hats created to replace their busby like hats. The Flag is a home made effort using artists acrylic pens on dried out glasses cleaner material. Yep some “value” glasses cleaner wipes don’t have a long shelf life – and I have packets of them! However oddly they are a bit like tough crepe paper so of course ended up in the hobby spares box.

…….in the foreground my “topiary hedges are on show“

The biggest conversion on show was my 1849 Piedmontese or Sardinians – rapidly expanded infantry were sent into battle with simple frockcoats and larger red tapered shakoes. (the regulars had double breasted frockcoats and smaller tapered stove pipe hats). I used Hat marching ACW union troops and took the Shakoes and back packs from Hat Dutch Napoleonic Infantry.
These lancers are circa early 1970’s Minifigs – conversion is in my “minds eye” to some Piedmont Lancers who of course did not wear green! or had combs on the helmets, red on their pennants……oh well its amazing what you can forgive.

The cobbled street comes from Coritani (Magnetic Displays Ltd).

These figures are Strelets 1877 Russian Artillery posing as french artillery circa 1850. The “piece” is I think a Zvezda item from their Great Northern Wars range
These trusty Hussars date from the 1970’s and are French Napoleonic. They regularly turn up as Austrian Hussars in my games.
The river is from S&A Scenics and the bridge is a laser wood cut kit from 4ground

4ground and S&A Scenics Links

My last unit on show is the 1860 British Legion – that sailed to Sicily with Garibaldi’s Mediterranean Invasion Army. The figures are Strelets Russian Turkish war of 1877 Russians in summer uniform.

Even in these days of a truly massive games market the more obscure historical events being modelled benefit from some conversion and adaption in order to capture the flavour of uniforms.

Categories
Scenery wargaming

Scenery season challenge 2023

Well David Stones’ challenge finally got this piece of scenery done. Credit really goes to john@justneedsvarnish who alerted me to this challenge plus Frank tank rants who suggested that posting about fabulous pro-cycling scenery ought to translate into building some stuff!

Either way I finally completed this 2021 model. Better late than never as the saying goes.

Final touches were a ochre (rowney acrylic tube) whitened (MP Paints) dry brush to suggest some sun bleaching plus a bit of black (MP Paints) in the mix to dry brush the base area suggesting dirt.

Then some gamers grass (2mm summer green tufts) and an ancient pot of games workshop grit to finish the base.

Of course the unbelievably extravagant archway and door are round the back!

Thanks to John, Frank and Dave, I now have a new piece of terrain to use and enjoy.

out of the archive for john just needs varnish, looks like knife work and maybe not cutting before stripping outer card layers.

For those who made it this far…………….

Leaning tower of Parma! For scale here are some 1/72 miniatures – new kids on the block 1848 German Confederacy no less……….which can also double as Rifleman from Duchy of Parma 1851.

You can guess whats next on the Painting Table.

Finally, the question is, whether this will now lead to some more scenery making on my part?

Categories
Scenery wargaming

The Painting Pedestal 23f – the tower

A combination of Frank tank rats and john just add varnish have propelled me finally to do some scenery.

A 2021 lockdown tower knocked up in a day and then nothing…….

This subject was started back in April 2021 – I was motivated by john just add varnish and his excellent scratch builds.

It’s all card/plain and corrugated, uhu and some judicious glue gun work finished with some fine silver sand and pva. The ubiquitous laser cut bases came in useful

And just for the hell of it I registered this week to join scenery season challenge……

It’s still a work in progress…….

Just need some more dry brush on walls and maybe roof. Then some groundwork oh and door – it’s endless work in progress 😀
Categories
Mid 19th Century Wargaming wargame rules wargaming

Third Battle of Oeversee 1864

In the third battle of Oeversee – a Neil Thomas scenario, the same forces were deployed but slightly differently. Would these minor changes have an impact? The Danes were only very slightly forward and the Austrians attacked in multiple columns.

9th Hussars taking hits while the Artillery has an immediate impact on the Bell shako regiment
The 9th Hussars are dispersed by the blue kepi regiment while the artillery continue to dismay the Bell Shako regiment
The Elite Jaeger charged home suffer terrible losses
in the melee they lost more men and broke
The Danish Artillery deployed on the road with Regular Austrian Battalions green and red/orange taking hits
Three battalions charge home – the Austrians adopted charge home tactics after 1859 war with France.
The kepi Regiment are driven back
The Artillery are overrun – things are collapsing for the Danish
Only the rump of the Bell Shako Regiment survives
The Red Shako Regiment are able to dispatch the red infantry battalion before Austrian the artillery shatter them.
The Austrian battalions pursue the Blue Kepi Regiment destroying them
Now just the rear Danish line remains – sky blue kepi regiment and the dark blue kepi regiment
Alas the Elite Skirmishers have again worked their way round to take take these forces in the rear.
The Austrians charge home and sweep away the sky blue kepi regiment
Next the Orange Battalion takes on the Dark Blue Kepi Regiment
They are soon dispatched
Game over within the time limit – the Austrians have met the objective and no Danes are left on the road. Soon the Imperial Forces will resume their march towards Jutland.

This was a quicker game and the Austrians were not delayed so much as in the previous two games. Crucially the Austrians attacked in force early.

The First battle of Oeversee 1864

https://wordpress.com/post/thewargamingerratic.home.blog/6201

The Second battle of Oeversee 1864

https://wordpress.com/post/thewargamingerratic.home.blog/6232

I do think the three games show there is some subtlety in Neil Thomas’ rules and they repay attention to his design thinking which is comprehensive in achieving such brevity in the mechanisms.

My only issue is that for my bases the “4 in column” for a column look wrong so I may well switch to 2×2 although for the small scenarios like this one might need tweaking.

Categories
miniatures painting wargaming

Tangent – Crash Test Dummies

What are 28mm figures good for? Well if your a 1/72 figure follower then they are fantastic to paint!

Or rather in my case to experiment with. Recently Wargames Illustrated ran a contrast paints article while Wargames Soldiers and Strategy dealt with slap chop.

I have been edging towards these products simply because I bought a load on impulse. This is normal behaviour for an Erratic: A solution looking for a problem.

The problem has been I could not bring myself to use them in anger on my 1/72, 20-25mm figures without knowing their possibilities for me including my failures. Clearly they have been a great success for others.

And then there was the Wargames Illustrated article on “what a cowboy”, next minute I dug out some Dixon and Blue Moon figures from the dim and distant past, gathering dust in the great figure vault.

And then “ping” what if I experimented with these new paints and methods (new for me) on these figures?

They were definitely bought at Triples in Sheffield but around 2011!!! I think that means they were on the back burner……..

Anyway this is as far as I got and maybe I might not get much further – back on the painting table……

Big turf out and a surprising number of figures – they were already based and undercoated white. I sloshed cheap burnt sienna over them….
I realised some were prohibition era gangsters while I also found a couple of freebies – Rasputin and Karl Marx. I primed these black. I then did some slap chop white dusting – at least I used a stolen make up brush on the gangsters……it worked quite nicely. Need to buy some.
And then I simply ignored all the video and magazine advice I had gathered recently and got paint on the figures! Which was very pleasing. Note the appalling slap chop white work on Mr red hats arm – never mind.

Well this Tangent may develop or simply become another Icarus episode in the world of the wargaming erratic.