Tag: Irregular miniatures

A Plan of Sorts

First up, I normally plan my wargames activities in darkest December during the lull in UK shows.

This summer I began thinking that perhaps the football season cycle is now more attractive?

I tend to stop gaming and painting in spring as the outdoors beckons. This kind of coincides with the football season ending climax in early May.

And as football returns and autumn beckons my thoughts tend to turn towards indoor interests.

Ok so this summer I did do quite a bit of scenery work courtesy of Dave Stones season of scenery challenge.

Plenty of long in the tooth scenery pieces got some attention-this resin one dates from 1970’s according to its makers mark!

https://wargamesculptorsblog.blogspot.com/2024/09/put-one-foot-infront-of-other.html?m=1

That however, seemed to reinforce summer as a break.

So if this is now to be the start of my wargames season what’s on the cards for the next twelve months?

Well firstly probably the plan will fail! With that out of the way what might be done if it succeeds?

Painting wise I feel it will be more mid 19th century forces.

Some more obscure units are likely – Jutland sharpshooters 1848

Also nearly mechanised feels like it will get an outing.

My pontoon bridge but John at just needs varnish provided the armour!

Brief summer spells of interest in ancient and renaissance plus Wild West periods have fizzled out in 2024 and I can’t see that changing into 2025.

I guess one wild card could be sci fi which has gained some traction in recent years.

The painting table is more likely to see guns rather than spears it would seem.

Gaming wise I think it will revolve around campaigns and again currently mid 19th century wins out along with nearly mechanised.

Nothing like a map to get the campaign spirit moving

I hope to go to the Other Partizan which I missed last year especially as I missed Partizan this year. Oh and I should manage two out of Battleground, Fiasco and Recon.

Recon will be the last at Pudsey civic hall as the property is being sold off.

And just maybe online painting/modelling challenges will figure given both AHPC14 and season of scenery have seen my output of painting and making increase and diversify.

Testing out a quick build Italian hilltop town for grid gaming during season of scenery challenge

Purchases wise the war chest has been thin of late more because I have what I need so it follows the figure mountain and scenery pit are full.

Books wise purchases have trailed off since 2023. Although 2034 gave me a surprise. But that’s another post.

If I do buy it is more likely targeted. For example I would like some more Irregular Miniatures bell shako infantry as well as some garibaldi men.

Well that seems like the bones of a plan. We will see……

Happy Wargaming.

Mid 19th Century Wargaming miniatures painting wargaming

1st Schleswig Holstein War – Royal Danish Army uniforms 1848

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 8th Jun 2024
2 Comments on 1st Schleswig Holstein War – Royal Danish Army uniforms 1848

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.

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.

Other elements of the army – Artillery and Engineers kept the older kit for longer.

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.

Tags 1/72, 1/72 metals, 1/72 plastics, 20-25mm, hat 1/72, hat miniatures, Irregular miniatures, mid 19th century wargames, miniature figures, miniatures painting, painting figures, painting miniatures, strelets, strelets 1/72, Vienna Treaty Wars, VTW1848, wargames, wargaming, Wargaming Nineteenth Century Europe

wargame shows wargaming

Vapnartak 2024

Well suddenly VAP was here and then gone for another year.

I turned up early and got in quick and did a rapid recce including the bring and buy.

I managed one participation game in the end, collected some preordered figures, bought some stuff I had not planned to, but did want, and chatted quite a bit.

The show seemed as busy as last year but maybe emptied out a bit quicker? These thoughts are subjective as it depends what your doing and when – you don’t notice stuff going on if your immersed in a game or a conversation.

Overall I had a good VAP24 and the queue seemed to move promptly at ten with plenty of attendants present: Last year there was a slow ticket purchase process which delayed entry obviously causing a deal of grief for the punters.

The reenactment vikings entertained the front of the queue – not sure it was appreciated as people often use the queue time to chat. It was a neat idea though.

Onto my purchases

Ubiquitous pendraken bases and some neat spears

I kept meaning to buy some extra road and of the flexible kind – these are from early war miniatures

At Irregular miniatures I picked up my preorder of two packs of colonial British in bell shakos which will give two battalions each of Danish infantry 1848 and a Tuscan regiment along with some 1848 danish artillery in bell shakos

I participated in the Lance and Longbow Society game – this time it was 1177 and the crusades. Modified Lion Rampant and 1/72 plastics in abundance. It was fun.

Lance and longbow society game – Saladin attempts to halt Baldwin, but it was not his day. Loads of 1/72 plastic miniatures on display and no heavy lifting!

I went with three gamers. We puzzled about whether the show was busy or different compared to other years. It felt like another transitional VAP reflecting hobby developments.

This Venice game shows how scenery quality has really been transformed by the industry offerings in the hands of talented wargamers

2022 felt the benefit of post covid and lockdown ending while 2023 felt that some changes were afoot. In 2023 we said goodbye to the likes of SHQ Miniatures and Magister Militum (in the past MM had been a significant stand at VAP).

Harrogate Wargames’s club offered the battle of ferrybridge – a wars of the roses action in 28mm

It felt though that there were less games this time. The normally crowded ground floor had some big spaces, mainly around the York Club game tables.

Then again it felt like more use had been made of the upper floors to give people more space for circulation. Frankly in previous virtual scrums were a big deterrent in reaching some traders.

Overall this extra room was a really good thing. And accessibility was improved as a result.

1866 kepis in Europe – once again Garibaldi is up against papal forces and losing?

I reckon there were 65 tables all up this year (all types of activity) compared to 57 in 2022 but it seemed many were smaller offerings: For example Helion Books were absent. But their space was used by a smaller vendor.

And the bring and buy seemed to have less turnover – I went at the beginning and some sellers were still there much later on.

Which ever way you cut it VAP is still a great show to meet the hobby, throw dice and make some sound buys.

Roll on VAP2024.

miniatures painting wargaming

It’s VAP week

Last week York was inundated with cameras as its annual flood season reached its peak.

Anyway if in doubt get a coffee. You can view Irregular Miniatures figures in the gifts section at the Alma cafe on copper gate

And Irregular Miniatures will be at VAP on the racecourse site so here are some of my buys over the last few years.

I use the 20mm ranges with extra washer bases to compliment my plastics which are typically 2mm taller.

Last but not least danish artillery for 1848 although the piece is suspiciously looking a later rifled version – based up these 20mm chaps have no problem with their plastic cousins

The last photo also shows one of my entries into AHPC14!

Mid 19th Century Wargaming Vienna Treaty Wars wargame rules wargaming

The Battle of Oeversee 1864

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 28th Apr 2023
4 Comments on The Battle of Oeversee 1864

Neil Thomas offered this battle as an example of a small action using his mini battle setting. His rules assumed a 2’x 2′ or 600mm square. So thats board game sized.

His rules say you do not need to rebase. Always a positive these days.

I have a mixture of units – a result of my lock down era painting activity tending to paint what I fancied than worrying about actual armies!

The action is straightforward – the Danes are retreating and use a bottleneck on the key route north towards Jutland. The Danish rearguard are buying time for their main forces to retreat to their last defence line in Schlieswig – the Duppel fortifications.

Their opponent was the geographic “Empire” effectively still the Holy Roman Empire but now really the German Confederation post Waterloo with Austrian and Prussian interference/support.

In this case the Austrians were attacking the rearguard.

The Danish Rearguard

Infantry Unit A
Infantry Unit B
Infantry Unit C
Infantry Unit D
Artillery Battery E

The Artillery was Bronze Rifled while the Infantry were all Levy in loose order armed with rifled muskets.

The Danish troops are all deployed in the bottleneck.

The Austrians Attack starting at the river line comprise

9th Hussars – Average
Artillery – 2 batteries both with bronze rifled cannon

Their main forces arrive from move 1 on the main road

Jaeger Infantry unit – elite, rifled musket, loose order
Skirmishers – elite, rifled musket

On moves 2 & 3 the following units arrive via the same southern road access

Infantry Unit 6 – move 2 – average, rifled musket, loose order
Infantry Unit 7 – move 3 – average, rifled musket, loose order
Infantry Unit 8 – move 3 – average, rifled musket, loose order

Battle Narrative

With the objective to clear all danish forces from the road (at least 12cm from the road) essentially the Austrians simply went through the Front Door.

They had 10 moves to do it in with a win lose outcome and no draw.

Special Rules as suggested by Neil Thomas were used

Colonel Muller personal leadership of the Danes means any one unit at the start of any turn can be elite.
The Danish Artillery were quite ineffectual so get half the nortmal values in defence and attack
The Austrians fresh from rough handling by the French in 1859 adopt bayonet charges in preference to distance firefights. They stay in column the whole game and can charge without restriction (no unit base quantity advantage required)

Some shots of the action

The stream has no effect on movement except Artillery must use the bridge. The town can be accessed only by Infantry. The lake is impassable to all troops while infantry can move through the wood.

The Danish front line are in line and not moving, supported by more mobile Column units behind. If infantry want to move in Neil Thomas’ rules they must be in column.

Note in this game I chose not to field the woeful Danish Artillery ( i.e. I forgot to place them on the board!)

An Austrian victory seemed to confirm Neil Thomas’ view that history repeats itself with his suggested set up. In his notes he offers several options to up the defence capability of the Danes.

In this case a very narrow Danish Victory suggests a well thought out scenario by Neil Thomas. Generally I have found Neil Thomas scenarios are fun to play because they tend to lead to a lot of action and no quick outcomes. So although asymmetrical in set up they seem to be well balanced games.

Footnote:

The Figures are Irregular Miniatures and Hat for the Danish

Elsewhere in the photographs the regular Austrian Infantry on show are Waterloo1815 1859 Austrians in their white coats – in 1864 it was bitter winter weather so soldiers actually fought in their greatcoats.

Neil Thomas offers the mini game as a quick affair and it certainly was. Lots of enjoyment from a two foot square, scenery, dice and some figures.

metal miniatures miniatures painting wargaming

The Painting Pedestal 23c – Danish Infantry 1864

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 20th Apr 2023
6 Comments on The Painting Pedestal 23c – Danish Infantry 1864

Another batch of World War 1 Austrian Infantry became this unit of Danish. Irregular Miniatures are the source of these nicely sculpted figures.

You can see previous posts here

Now the Danish are up against the Prussians yet their uniforms will not save them from defeat and the loss of Holstein and a great chunk of Schlieswig.

Had Britain taken more notice of the Schlieswig Holstein Question consequences, maybe 80 subsequent years of Teutonic misery across Europe might have been avoided.

Back to the figures – its a paint job with the caps being cut down at the front. To match my typically 24 mm 1/72 figures I based these with a washer beneath them as Irregular sell them as 20mm and use thin base metal. Some of the figures sport a black greatcoat.

Next up some cavalry.

Tags 1/72 metals, 20mm metals, danish infantry, Irregular miniatures, painting figures, painting miniatures, the painting pedestal, the schlieswig holstein question, Vienna Treaty Wars, wargames, wargaming

metal miniatures miniatures painting wargaming

The Painting Pedestal 23b – 1850 Danish Infantry

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 19th Apr 2023
2 Comments on The Painting Pedestal 23b – 1850 Danish Infantry

I bought some Austrian WW1 infantry from Irregular Miniatures – I thought they might work for mid 19th century forces. The peaked cap was my interest. The lower leg bindings were not desired and the baggy trousers equally did not look promising. Also the front peaks were a bit obvious.

I put them aside way back in 2020.

And then just before Xmas 2022 I had another look and decided they might work as fill in for my mid 19th century Danish tests.

In this case I had a go at painting away the errors. The only mods were to slice off the hat top and add a sliver of tapered plastic. One original test with a tall “wood” mod cap can also be seen!

Here are some 1850 infantry fresh from defeating their German adversaries.

At the start of the war the Infantry sported Red tunics and Bell Shakoes. My previous post for such a unit is here.

Tags 1/72 metals, 20mm metals, danish infantry, Irregular miniatures, miniature figures, painting figures, painting miniatures, the painting pedestal, the schlieswig holstein question, Vienna Treaty Wars, wargames, wargaming

miniatures painting Vienna Treaty Wars wargaming

The Painting Pedestal 22h Austrian Artillery

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 19th Dec 2022
1 Comment on The Painting Pedestal 22h Austrian Artillery

This Austrian Artillery Battery works for the 1st and 2nd Italian Independence Wars of 1848/49 and 1859/60 respectively. We are still in muzzle loading smoothbore territory but with rifling growing in popularity.

This time I opted for individually based figures.

Previously I had based some of them for Piquet Field of Battle rules.

The artillery pieces are Irregular Miniatures Russian guns.

Tags 1/72 plastics, 1850 Austrians, austrian artillery, austrians, austrians 1859, irregular crimean russian artillery, Irregular miniatures, The Austrian Army, Vienna Treaty Wars, wargames, wargaming, wars of the italian unification, Waterloo 1815 1859 Austrians

Mythical Realms new additions wargame shows wargaming

You win some you lose some

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 8th Nov 2022
6 Comments on You win some you lose some

I made it to the Other Partizan, so thats three trips to Newark in 2022 (hammerhead, partizan and the other partizan). I missed Fiasco in Leeds last week owing to calendar congestion – real life intervened. Fiasco has been one of my most regular show trips.

Hopefully I will make it to Recon at Pudsey in December.

I find all these shows different and maybe most people give Recon only a nod. It is a really great show – ok so the foot fall will be a lot less – but remember quantity does not always equate to quality.

Recon not only has good carparking on site, its also just 5 minutes from the national rail network – strikes permitting. It has all the facilities you need under one roof with more eateries nearby in town. The show itself is well laid out and has a variety of traders and gamers and a well run bring and buy.

I found another gamer had reported their visit to Fiasco, The Balkan Wargamer. I follow them as they often write interesting book reviews with a good mix of posts about figures and gaming. Well balanced and thought out.

Mixed views and yes the current location is not naturally lit. Mind you I was sunshine dazzled at Partizan.

You win some you lose some!

I plan to return next year.

As a kind of subsitute for missing Fiasco I indulged the High Street buying two wargame magazines in one go! Talk about pushing the boat out – you don’t get change from a tenner anymore.

I reckon magazine prices track a different cost inflation curve to wargames figures anyway and probably always have.

Three national magazines were sold at the WHSmith store – where I bought mine. I took Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy (WSS) plus Wargames Illustrated (WI). Miniature Wargames (MW) was the third option.

I tend to buy WSS and occasionally buy certain themed WI. I rarely buy MW now, I enjoyed Battlegames so did follow it into MW. Even when most of that DNA was gone I found their Table Top Gaming angles of interest. Ultimately MW does not offer me more than either WSS or WI. So thats that I guess.

You win some you lose some!

Like the Times Illustrated* WI is the king of the image. And I do think if you value the printed word alongside relevant images then WSS is the best of the bunch. Of course they are all up against the behemoth of “online” so have to push large amounts of advertising. Anyone who can reflect on Wargames history knows that magazines were always loaded with adverts – it was and is a frail business model and buyers want that info anyway – even today when all that info is available free, in tons of gigabits. That data mountain is a problem and just maybe one reason why magazines still offer value as a “data consolidator”.

What did I get for my money?

WSS offered up a Dark Age Britain and Arthur theme and profiled the second edition of Dan Mersey’s Lion Rampant. Plus you get a lot of regular features including quite a few opinion pieces.

I thought it might restart some interest in previous adventures (Dux Brittaniarum, Shieldwalls) – I am not sure though.

WI majored on Twisted History which is apparently the new name for fictious historical wargaming or imaginations wargaming even. To cover every genre and time period, perhaps Twisted History might catch on as it has no baggage or rather has not already been claimed.

I quite like the idea of a generic term for taking history and twisting it. – except that is what historians do any way, don’t they? ok many are trying to untwist twisted history. Crikey I am confused now.

One reference point is Richard III (recently even the subject of a film without a single battle scene). Despite the discovery of his body and the dismissal of many myths created by the Tudors (history goes to the victors of course) you can still consume lots of now baseless Tudor tradition.

Ever Twisting Twisted History………maybe it will catch on.

And into the bargain of not attending a show I did some kit bashing and figure mods. These tell you that 19th century gaming is still on my mind.

*The Post title image is from a Times Illustrated large format publication about the British Royal Family. WI is simply continuing a great tradition of image!

Here is another .

Tags 1/72 metals, 20mm metals, Crimea, heller models, Irregular miniatures, steamships, twisted history, Victoria's Wars, wargame shows, wargames, wargaming

metal miniatures miniatures painting Vienna Treaty Wars wargaming

The Painting Pedestal: 22d – 1848 Tuscan Infantry

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 17th Jun 2022
1 Comment on The Painting Pedestal: 22d – 1848 Tuscan Infantry

In 1848 the Tuscan Army headed north with other contingents to join Piedmont in expelling Austria from the Italian Peninsula.

Their uniform was really a throwback to Napoleonic times. Unlike some other troops the soldiers wore a Shako – bell shaped. With white tunics and blue trousers there was a nod to Austrian influence.

Like the Danish Infantry in Painting Pedestal 22c, these figures are 20mm metals from Irregular Miniatures. They are sold under their Colonial range as Regular British Infantry serving in India.

This unit is part of an occasional series that aims to paint many of the units described in Osprey Men At Arms No. 520 Armies of the Italian Wars of Unification 1848-1870 (2).

The flag is homemade using dried out lens wipe paper and permanent marker pens – very quick. Well the Tuscan rebels like most had to rustle up their armies in quick time.

Tags basing miniatures, Irregular miniatures, mid 19th century wargames, miniature figures, miniatures painting, osprey MAA 520, painting figures, painting miniatures, Tuscany 1848, Vienna Treaty Wars, wargaming, Wargaming Nineteenth Century Europe, wars of italian unification, wars of the italian unification