I got distracted yesterday – the last day of “paint what you got”. Instead of knuckling down with some final painting I legged it to Newark for Hammerhead. That’s Newark, Lincolnshire, old England.
Anyway I did finish a few more pieces although there is no “painting portrait” show as such.
Lots of figures!
Only joking – that’s a hammerhead participation game.
The reality
So “Paint what you got” has been very productive with a lot of miniatures stuck in the paint queue making it over the line.
I finally finished B & B miniatures Prussian limber. 20mm Franco Prussian war figures. Sadly the business shut its doors last year I think?
Then there are 3 wagons from Irregular Miniatures 20mm ranges – I think these were all ACW. I have a couple Hat miniatures ww1 French artillery men on them.
In the background two types of cavalry but from the same company. Strelets are a Ukrainian company who make plastic injection figures.
I quite pleased with the cavalry as they look a bit brutal in the raw plastic
In this case the figures are from their Crimean War series – British Dragoons and Russian Lancers.
I had only minor tweaks to the models before a paint job transformed them to 1848 Prussian Dragoons and Lancers
The lancers are 5th Westfalia
The dragoons are 3rd Neumark
I have a very good funcken uniform book for 19th century European armies. It covers the transition from coatees and shakoes to frock coats and casque type helmets.
*the phrase last knockings as well as knocking off at the end of the day relate to the end of something – a task, process or activity and completion.
Last year I started some posting ideas around bits of things which did not really make a post but when combined with others could justify a post in their own right.
After the first two fragments of 2025 things sorted of dried up a bit. Or rather my focus was on specific miniatures or gaming posts.
I am going to have another try this year and ironically the first driver is the same as last years – magazines. And with further irony the second idea mimics fragment 25/2 – books.
However to kick off 2026 fragments I am going to mention painting challenges. These have kind of taken over my painting activities to the extent that three define my painting year.
First up is “paint what you got”. Now this challenge by Dave Stone works for me because it drives me to dig out what I have either half painted or abandoned. It has proved its worth.
This challenge has caused problems in that it got my ideas flowing and instead of reducing the lead mountain I ended up scratch building models during the challenge as the “themes” caught my imagination.
On the positive side I have found a use for those magazine freebies and indulged in my recycled household junk heaps to create spacecraft.
Klim class Intra planetary trader from AHPC15
I also think it propelled me into painting a background for my model displays – retiring the painting pedestal in favour of the painting portrait. In fact I even produced a sci-fi background last year.
Ahpc invariably overruns well into spring so now absorbs about half my painting year!
The third challenge is Dave Stones scenery season which runs over the summer. Or in my case summer into autumn. This has proven a godsend as scenery production was nil and an ever increasing list of kits, models or ideas were tying me up in knots.
So AHPC16 is upon us – well the 21st December is storming towards me far too fast.
In previous years – well the last two to be exact – first year I started preparing on the 21st way too late and then last year did prepare one primed unit beforehand but held off having a plan before knowing about the themes which then derailed me with a sci fi bug.
I found I was doing stuff (deciding about theme models or simply digging out figures to clean and prime) but not actually painting colour – much before the January deadline loomed into view!
So this year I started my plan in November!
And I have primed some of the planned pieces.
And I decided to ignore the theme and just see what came along.
And lucky me this years three themed pieces have fallen nicely into place within my plan.
Declining Empire should see some planned 1848 Hungarians appear
Childhood toy memory fortunately gets the wild geese treatment from the 1700’s
And rebels hopefully will see some Covenanters appear before the various deadlines
Alas last years failed star of my show might fail to appear yet again. As its anniversary related this is a constant theme – I started my 28mm stoke field armies in 2015……still not much progress ten years on!
And now I have scenery options nudging their way into my plan.
I was hoping to get some more Fauxterre 1930 kit done.
Then there were the 1848 Hanoverians, 1848 Neapolitans, 1700 French Dragoons, 1848 Roman infantry all crying out to be on the plan – the list goes on and on.
Way too much of course for this painting snail, which having done a plan shows so well. It means the exercise has proved its worth already.
However real life is very very busy right now so I might fail on all fronts!
The thing about one hour wargames is it’s genuinely “pick up” attraction. If you want to throw dice, move figures and get that war game with a purpose feeling for minimal preparation, then I find it’s a winner.
Yes, the mechanisms are abstract but you have to compromise somewhere and Neil Thomas rules generally offer that blend of compromises I like.
In the first game the Royalists held the hill with some rookie blues and grays in actionThe royalists divide their forces to hold both enemy objectives The royalists include this new blue unitRoyalist artillery hold the town road The royalists are none other than DanesDanish volunteer horse make up the royalist cavalryMore Dane’s this time by HatStrelets Danish Royalist GuardsEverything hung on the defence of the town
Rebel forces enter the fray
A mixed brigade of cavalry The rebels mass their infantry before the town The royalists are caught outThe rebels quickly assault the town The royalists seek to outflank the rebel attackThe rebel cavalry attack the rookie blues royalists
Rebel victory
The rebel attack on the town is overwhelmingThe rebel cavalry destroy the royalist right wing infantry The rebel cavalry move on the second objective – the hillThe royalist defence stiffens around the town The rebel cavalry are destroyed Rebel infantry struggle in the townThe royalist cavalry rush to aid their compatriots in the town but it is too late
So the second battle ends in Royalist defeat. It’s all square and all to play for…..
The royalists needed to escape through the town and up the great road……
Rebels held the river line woods The rebel cavalry brigade – lucky toys and hat miniatures Irregular miniatures garibaldeansMore irregular miniatures garibaldeansStrelets rebel sharpshooters hold the town roadThe royalists pour forwards The royalists choose the remote river crossings on their left wing to make progress The royalists are peppered by the rebel skirmishers The royalists attack the townThe royalist left wing cavalry lead the way The rebels abandon the river line The royalists begin to make progress The rebel cavalry are swept awayThe rebels are fleeing pell mell Some royalists race up the great road The royalist cavalry take a beating getting to close to formed infantry The royalist cavalry break The last few royalist units must make good their escape up the great roadAgain the rebel infantry shoot well The last royalist infantry are driven away
And so victory to the rebels in the action and also the short campaign.
Today of course saw the end of 3 days of fighting at Gettysburg – the great Union victory which along with the capture of Vicksburg saw the war finally turn against the Confederate Southern States.
The figures are hat Nassau Napoleonic infantry. 1/72 or 20mm plastics.
I picked them because they have the nearest shako look for the Dane’s bell shako.
I have started to use a furled flag approach as invariably my flag production does not match my figure painting!
I could do some head swops to get other sets in on the act but wanted to try a straight paint job here to see if I liked the result.
The basing is my standard 40mm square mdf with budgie grit pva then 3 colour brown, ochre and yellow/white highlights. As it’s nearly spring the grass is dead tufts from gamers grass over Javis sawdust green.
My first entry into the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge No15 were figures left over from last years challenge. They were primed but that was it.
So having a LIMBO section in this years theme of the Divine Comedy by Dante was most helpful.
The figures were Hat 1806 Prussian Hussars repurposed as 1848 Prussian Hussars. Fortunately the Prussians in 1848 were going going all new with frock coats and pickelhaubes but also retro with flugelmutzes!
The Football season properly got underway this weekend (although the hard workers were already on their second weekend) after the summer break and it kind of gels with my view of the wargaming calendar year.
My off season is spring and summer. Well yes I know there are lots of wargamers who are of the 24/7 variety and make up the engine room of this fine hobby.
I am much more the peripheral player – wargaming fits in with lots of other activities. In summer I like to get out in the daylight and enjoy the warm rays of sunshine – not too warm though!
So it occurred to me the other day that it was odd that I might post a plan for the year at the turn of the year. Yes thats when many other things get planned and reflected upon – makes sense to do the wargame planning stuff at the same time in those dark months.
The reality is that my transfer season (= all those painting plans or rules/gaming period changes) and this disruption really happens between May and August. And thats because as my painting tails of in Spring my mind starts wandering.
Looking back I have noticed Summer has been quite fruitful for projects going awry and new ideas popping up.
I mentioned earlier those 24/7 wargamers. Well even if I dont paint much in Spring and Summer I do tend to read and that is the devil in my wargaming. Or rather it is the seed point for another idea or ideas.
What has seeded this summer?
Back in early spring I was on a roll (no pun intended!) painting, well inspired by the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge XIV.
Trojan horse…..
My main project – Schleswig Holstein Wars were well served yet also some new material like a kit airplane – first in decades, retro citadel fantasy figures, gameshow freebies and even a magazine WW2 freebie figure Sci Fi carve up.
And then the finale posting by Karl at AHPCXIV featured a trojan horse. How apt, as it drove the Bronze Age front and square into my wargames thinking.
Soon I had the books out, which rules, which figures to paint, heck which scale? I am the sad possessor of 15mm and 1/72 chariot armies none of which are complete – in the case of 15mm not even started……
Scale – not a chariot in sight….25mm subs for those non existent 15mm chariots – in dba cavalry or chariots it matters not!High water mark of this summers Bronze Age push!
In the end I managed a strip or two of Assyrians undercoated and then opted for my version of 2mm armies. A successful campaign with DBA using a previous mapped world followed and then nothing.
Back to reading again. Suddenly William the chivalrous knight sprung upon me – I got all medieval and then it passed: And so did the book.
A great period for heraldic colour
The same happened to my wild west thoughts.
The cowboys got as far as the rockery before getting shot to pieces…..
The season of scenery challenge popped up. and I briefly made progress on a long overdue Italian hilltop town.
And then the Pike and Shot 16th century erupted with books on history, rules and uniforms spilling out of cupboards. A whole set of stockpiled figures got cleaned, reading progressed and rules were contemplated. Taking a lead from my Bronze Age moment I created some 0mm, yes 0mm armies for the Italian Wars – France versus Spain. I had intended them for testing rules including Pike and Shot by Warlord but bailed out using Neil Thomas Wargaming an Introduction instead – Pike and Shot Rules. These are easy and simple to use.
A promising start with 0mm scale armies to test a myriad of pike and shot era wargames rules including warlords pike and shot soon petered out….
One wargame later and dust started to gather on the abandoned field – no second game.
The pike and shot did get washed and desprued but alas that was it…..
So you see spring and summer has been properly, my fragmented wargames season. Its not an “off season” or indeed a “low season” but its definitely a season of sorts.
And its still going on………….pretty much what you would expect from a wargaming erratic I guess.
The Royal Danish Army of 1848 was characteristically mid 19th century in dress. It still had a napoleonic uniform as such, yet things like the peaked cap and Hungarian kepi had begun to change the look. Pantaloons were noticeably full length and trouser like.
1848 line infantry in bell shakoes
At the start of the war infantry uniforms were red tunics and bright blue trousers. Uniform regulations for 1848 planned a change to essentially all dark blue clothing complete with a bright blue kepi.
1849 line infantry in Hungarian kepi’s, new tunic but old knapsacks
The regulations crept in although the kepi was so popular – soldiers often threw away their bell shaped shakoes in the field.
Light infantry in the flat cap
Other elements of the army – Artillery and Engineers kept the older kit for longer.
Danish field artillery in 1848 uniform
The Cavalry had largely reduced to the Dragoon in combless metal crested helmet (a fashionable trend) while the Hussars wore a small tapered shako. Dragoons wore red tunics and bright blue trousers, the Hussars wore all pale blue.
The Rebel forces in the Schlieswig Holstein War comprised local pro german forces including those who had served in the Royal Danish Army. To these were added many volunteers alongside their numerous allies.
Saxon allies to the rebellion
The rebel cause had wide spread support from states within greater germany at this time “the Confederation – in its post Napoleonic form”. Notable were Prussia but also Saxony and Hanover. Austria was a significant objector and refused to become involved. Although they did apparently send rocket troop batteries.
Initially Rebel uniforms were a mix of Danish, improvised and various state uniforms. Later the Schleswig Holstein regular Rebel forces obtained a more distinct uniform for themselves.
Prussia was a stout ally to the rebels initially before signing the first peace treaty, the federation itself refused to sign it – you get fascinating politics during this war
This makes the war fascinating in terms of uniform, lots of german states still preserved a distinct character in their uniforms while fashions were still a mix of the Napoleonic coupled with more recent french led fashions such as the kepi. The Pickelhaube (invented in Russia and made a success by Prussia) and the Frockcoat (from the dresscoat of Napoleonic times) were now noticeably popular in german states. The classic mid to late century Prussian uniform dates from the 1840’s.
Another Prussian line battalion
The smaller flat top tapered shako was in wide use long before it identified again with this time British Crimean troops or indeed the Rifleman of Prussia who kept it till world war one.
Oldenburg line infantry sent by the federation
Therefore Armies comprised troops still wearing napoleonic uniform alongside others who would not look out of place in the American Civil War 13 years later and even subsequent conflicts.
Pauls Bods is a blog that celebrates 1/72 plastic wargames figures. Yet it is so much more because Paul as an ace modeller who can turn even unpromising sculpts into fantastic pieces of the wargamers art.
His head, body and everything else swops are inspiring.
He also has a great sense of humour which appears often in his creations.
The headline image is of my own work prompted by Paul’s bods. Taking a leaf from his book I painted some mini art medieval cavalry that were given a searingly negative plastic soldier review.
Here are some posts highlighting the range of his work.
The Wargaming Erratic 