So this is more an ideas in progress rather than even a work in progress post.
Packaging Polystyrene blocks kicked this idea off
Having just been on a late Roman figure painting jaunt this summer and despite having numerous castles yet to be built I somehow returned to a theme of Roman city walls “would be nice”. I think it was propelled by the guardsmen diorama where I made a card backdrop.
All sorts of ideas have led to experiments The internet has plenty of gatehouses Colchester’s almost unique 4 arch gateway – I do like the red brick courses……And at the east coast end of Hadrian’s wall but on the south side of the Tyne river is Arbeia
So plenty to inspire and cajole me into trying out some homespun walls. Of course I could just buy off the shelf or made to print ones but it is of course the creativity element that’s being sought here.
I have opted for some crenellations and a ready supply of thick corrugated cardboard is the experiment hereDove grey dry brushed over a light grey and then a very light dusting of dry white on top. The roughness comes from the polystyrene plus some indenting with a cuticle manicure pusher! Then tissue paper glued over with pva followed by the paint regime.
And those brick courses which it turns out were most definitely a later Roman idea which among other things could sustain the wall better during earthquakes!
I decided I would experiment with discrete strips of coursing made from cornflake card
So here is some wall testing for the look of the thing.
My main miniature scale is 1/72 or 20 to 25mm (because scale creep has a very long history). So I am not in the current mainstream 28mm (whatever that height that means anyway) or 15mm (another much varied war gamers scale).
28mm dominates the supply chain these days while 6-15mm seems to be prospering as a counterpoint – skirmish versus mass battles?
The ubiquitous 1/72 “do it all” scale is now largely unloved by gamers although the modelling fraternity still love it for aeroplanes, ships, vehicles and railways.
I have a soft spot for the “ubiquitous” scale and therefore trawl the supply chain accordingly.
Sadly metallics in the 20mm to sub 25mm are in decline – quite simply sculpting and casting in metal is an art and craft which you don’t start doing at the drop of a hat.
The mainstay of this production industry is not getting any younger and of course 3d printing from digital models inevitably looks the modern progressive thing to do if your starting out as a maker in this hobby
Many of the 20-25mm small metal casting businesses revolve around one of two key people and when they stop working there is often no one else to take on the business.
My current figure collection includes
B and B miniatures
SHQ
Irregular Miniatures
Warrior Miniatures
Frontline
B and B miniatures shut up shop a couple of years ago. They had one of the few extensive ranges for Franco Prussian forces in 20mm.
I should have bought more when I did but did not see the writing on the wall.
SHQ sold out to grubbies tanks who will cast some ranges to order – notably for me Kennington although I always liked the WW2 ranges.
Ian Kay at Irregular hung up his working gear this spring after 45 years. His vast range of figures in so many scales will be a loss to many gamers. I believe the 2/6mm ranges live on through a former employee taking the plunge.
Warrior miniatures run out of Glasgow by John in his 80’s has been on hold due to poor health but he did restart in 2025 only to find he needed to rework his manufacturing to make things possible. Since the June announcement I think things have gone quiet again.
Frontline and IT UK closed its doors this spring as well. I have some of their very nice ww2 vehicles.
As I have a broad tolerance on scale and indeed figure matches I can still access ranges to support my gaming, notably using injection moulded plastics sold as toys back in the fifties and sixties.
Yet today they produce some outstanding miniatures for gaming. Even so this industry has seen rocky times with Hat Miniatures seemingly stopping production at one point – think warlord just stopping – you get the picture.
Right now I am painting 1/72 metal medievals from Tumbling Dice. They come with separate shield and some separate heads. Casting is crisp with no flash and minimal mould lines – a fiver gets you 8 foot but I buy the discount packs where you get an army for 70 quid.
In the pic are some SHQ crusaders mounted in the middle and foot in foreground while some Caesar 1/72 plastics are at the right rear of the picture. Tumbling dice 1250 era mounted blue/yellow plus foot with large kite shields are to be seen middle left.
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!
I have just discovered that Ron Kay of Irregular Miniatures has died at the age of 98. He was full time on the team until 93, casting figures for all us hobbyists. He carried on as a part time member of the team still handling the big and complex castings. “Hats off” as they say.
I did not know Ron personally but seem to remember him at the Irregular stand at wargames shows.
I can do best by sharing some of my Irregular Miniatures collection and sending my condolences to Ian Kay and the Irregular family.
Irregular have provided me with some great 20mm figures that helped me build my 1848 forces.
1848 Danish Infantry repurposed from Irregulars colonial range1848 Duchy of Parma artillery Duchy of Modena Dragoons which were Neapolitan Dragoons 1848 Rumanian infantry which were ww1 Austrians 1848 Roman Legion which were ww1 Austrians Colonial British posing as 1848 Danes1848 Garibaldeans in red and blue shirtsNeapolitans posing as 1848 French1864 Dane’s which were ww1 Austrians 1850 Dane’s which were ww1 Austrians Grand Duchy of Tuscany Infantry repurposed from the colonial range
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.
I just missed the end of AHPC15 with some 1848 era artillery.
Rather than park them like last year I decided to get these Properly finished.
Three types of artillery on showI have added to my Danish artillery Irregular miniatures bell shako British do good service as Dane’s of the 1840’sGuns were different to the Russian 1850’s version.Full complement with earlier model to fore.These are 1848 Duchy of ParmaSame manufacturer as the Dane’s Same guns as the Dane’s B and B Miniatures provided these chaps posing as 1848 Schleswig Holstein rebels. They are actually 1870 Prussians One 4 pounder horse gun and one 6 pounder field gun both rifled breechloaders But it’s hard work getting pickelhaubes for the 1840’s and the figures come with the guns – waste not want not. At three feet I can live with the difference.
Ralph Weavers’ book on the Hungarian Army of 1848/49 was my source for this unit or rather legion. They represent the Romanian or Rumanian legion who fought for the Hungarian side in the war for independence. The Austrians crushed the rebellion as they saw it but the empire was diminished.
The Romanian troops came from ethnically Romanian areas that ultimately became Hungarian ruled in the Transylvanian region after World War One ended the Austrian Empire.
Again I have used Austrian World War One infantry turning a blind eye to ammunition pouches etc.
The flag is homemade and again it suffered some bleeding when pva coated.
A trim of the peaked cap and a paint job gives me what I wanted. The fact is I bought these Austrians speculatively during lock down when I was in the hunt for capped infantry. The 1840’s is a difficult period to model as you often get the right hats with the wrong uniforms or vice versa!
World War One era figure ranges are useful if you ignore the equipment errors.
The uniform was a bluey purple so I tried contrast paints and was very happy with result.
Again I used Ralph’s text to help me decide on uniform details – the flag says Justice Fraternity.
This basically clears the decks for two painting challenges. AHPC15 started last Friday and “paint what you got” starts Boxing Day. They finish 21st March and 28th February respectively so will keep me occupied.
The Wargaming Erratic 