Waterloo, 2017, using Shako II

We had prepared this game for 2015 and presented it at the two local conventions, but we never actually played the full game, so it was high-time to do so.  All 28mm figures using Shako II rules.  French won....again!

ME buildings finally play-ready

It took me a long time to get these painted, but I am quite happy with the 15 buildings I produced using the wooden drawers from the dollar shop.  At the moment they are bing used for a 20mm WWII game (Safi, 1942, from the RF original rulebook).  I will be using these, however, for 28mm Sudan and NWF battles.  Indeed, I have ordered a bunch of the Perry and Tiger miniatures Afghan regulars and hope to present a game using these in 2018.

A little more done on the buildings...

I added a few more details and then textured the buildings using the old glue and sand approach.  So quick and easy.  I have since base-painted all the buildings using my usual mis-tinted latex house paint.  At about $5 per gallon in all the colours usually needed for terrain, I really don't understand why anyone would pay for custom mixed paint, or even worse, use super expensive hobby paint for terrain projects or basing.

Sudan Buildings

It has been a while since I did some work on my colonial collection.  I have prepped loads of figures for all the campaigns I play, but little else has been done.  Well I finally got going on some new Sudan/Middle-Eastern buildings using little drawer sets from the dollar store. I still have a long way to go on these, but the basic 'slugs' are taking form.  Here are a couple of shots:

The basic approach will be very Ian Weekley.  Of course, mine will be simple, durable, game friendly but I hope also evocative.

Good ol' Hinchliffe Figures

Back in the late 70s and 80s you were either a Minifigs fan or collected Hinchliffe.  Well, I was the latter and have long embraced the aesthetic principles applied to our hobby of the late Peter Gilder (designer of Hinchcliffe and Connoisseur figures).  I still use lots of the Foremost range of horses and many of the Napoleonics ranges still are worth considering.  

For a couple of my armies I decided to go with the old figures still nicely cast by Hinds Ltd..  One of these is a Byzantine army.  Recently I painted 4 units (72 figures) of heavy infantry and decided to give these simple figures a reasonably complex shield design: a simplified icon of the Virgin Mary.

Here are a couple of pictures of the painting process.  I am always horrified by close ups of my painting, but again, these are unfinished, so have mercy.  En masse they look quite effective and are not stickers!

And again, Armati

We have been playing a lot of Armati to the detriment of other periods including colonials!  Fear not, I will be getting back to BFE soon.  Indeed, I am working on the WWI version and have French on the painting table right now.  In the meantime, here are a few more pictures of our last game: Byzantines vs. Carolingians meeting somewhere around the northern Mediterranean...

Some recent Armati action

When we are too busy to create scenarios (which we do for colonials, Napoleonics, WWII and other periods) we frequently end up playing Armati.  It is a delightful game, fast, clear, and we have dozens of armies to choose from, all in glorious 28mm.  Here are some pictures of the last couple of game evenings.

Back from Enfilade in Seattle/Tacoma/Olympia, Washington

A couple of weeks ago, a big Canadian contingent went to Enfilade, the US convention south of Seattle in Olympia, the state capital.  This was a really fantastic convention drawing people from the entire west coast.  We noticed that the quality of the terrain and figure collections was superb and there were some really fun participation games.  Of particular note was a huge 10mm Omaha beach game with homegrown rules, lots of action and all the vehicles, LCs and ships custom made on a 3D printer.  Impressive stuff.

It is alway gratifying to see some of the games that I have been involved in developing being presented.  Shako 2 and Armati 2 were being played (not just by us -- we did a couple of Armati games).  I was particularly impressed by the Shako game played on a large scale with 20mm figures. As 28mm figures get ever bigger, it is refreshing to see 20mm.  They look elegant, can be seen (15mm and smaller are too small although can be effective for certain kinds of rules and games) and therefore strike a very nice balance.  I note that John Ray (The military gentleman) is developing a range of SYW figures in 20mm.  I am tempted.

On the BFE front, we presented a WWI game representing part of Vimy Ridge.  My buddy Thomas Moore made a fantastic set of trench terrain boards and the game went really well.  We are still developing the BFE Great War rules and it has a way to go, but so far really good.

The only down side of the weekend was that I had a massive head cold that limited my will to live.  Thankfully the excitement of seeing such wonderful games and presenting a couple of them with enthusiastic players kept me going.

Cheers,
Chris

Battle of Lutzen, 1632

A few shots from last weeks game.

Ancients with Armati

We have played Armati since before it was published and never grow tired of it.  I am looking forward to trying To the Strongest! but Armati keeps us coming back to ancients through to the early modern period.  Here are a few pictures from our latest game, Palmyrans against Romans (early Imperial figures acting as 3rd century types).

A little more work on terrain for several projects

Like most of us, I assume, I work on several projects at once.  I suppose that is the pleasure and frustration with this hobby that there are so many possibilities but so little time to satisfy them all.  I know that some are good at ploughing through a single project at a time.  I am not. So, I am building windmills for a Lutzen 1632 scenario, the defences at Rorke's Drift, and also couldn't resist the Warbases Pegasus bridge model that turns out to work well for 20mm.  Suppose this is the very definition of unfocused.

Here are a few pictures

Still here

Yes, I am still here and gaming.  However, I am more in prep mode for colonials than actually pushing lead.  I sold much of my Imperial forces in order to expand and upgrade them.  I now have loads of unpainted Connoisseur (Bicorne) Sudan infantry.  They are prepped and based, but need to be 'dressed'.  This will take me  a while.

My Zulu War collection is more stable and I am finally finishing my defences for Rorke's Drift.  The Redoubt Miniatures set is very useful and the wagons are particularly nice.  This won't take me long and then I will post pictures of the finished set-up.  The image below is an old one....

In terms of other periods, I am doing a lot of Renaissance gaming and also prepping more WWII terrain for my D-Day and other amphibious operations using Rapid Fire.

Too many games and too little time!

Happy New Year!

Survived the Christmas holiday and now getting back the usual routines including a bit of hobby time.  Since moving last year I have had a load of different projects on the go and none seem to get finished.  So, I am trying to be a bit more focused and at the top of the list is getting my WWII ships, boats and landing craft finished so that I can finally play Omaha (Rapid Fire) and a few other amphibious games.  Here are a few snaps of my latest ships with several others already nestled in their boxes waiting for D-Day.  I'll be turning my attention back to colonials soon as I really want to put on Rorke's Drift again before the month is over.  I also have a complete set of walls to finish for my Sudan collection...


All the boats are 20mm from different manufactures.