WW1 28mm Figures

Well, I have been completely taken in by the Great War and I have been ordering sample figures from anyone I can find who sells 28mm figures for this conflict. My newest order has been placed with Scarab Miniatures Limited (http://scarabminiatures.com/). Thus far they only offer Austro-Hungarians but they appear to be planning Italians, Russians, and other nationalities sometime in the future. I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of these fellows and I will give a review of some of the various figure lines that I have gotten samples from soon.

Fresh troops for the Emperor

Here is a shot of the newest battalion for Davout's Corps at Wagram
Painting done by Rex Blackwell of Rex Painting Service - all I had to do was base them up and put the flag in the Eagle Bearers hand and presto!

WW1 Wargaming in Palestine

We finally got to have a go at a largish WW1 game using Price of Glory rules this past weekend. Scott Pasha (see his blog), he who leads us off the beaten path, ran a game set in Palestine featuring Germans, Turks, and some native tribesmen pitted against some British Territorial units. I took some photos but they aren't very good - but I never let that stop me.

Here is a picture taken from the vantage point of the German Asienkorps area of deployment.













This picture shows the rapid advance of 3 sections of Indian Lancers, look out!












Here is a later battle shot from just behind the advancing Turkish lines. The area just to the front of the Turks was the scene of a cavalry battle between the Indian Lancers and a section of Turkish cavalry. The Turkish cavalry was destroyed in the melee and the Indian cavalry was shot up by Turkish Infantry fire and was forced to retire.

Alex deploys his giant army

Here is a shot of my nephew deploying his "allied" army before crushing my feeble force from our game in August. He likes to look in from time to time and be reminded of his many victories over me.

See, I am doing something...

Here is some proof that I am working on my WW1 collection. These dusty soldiers are seen in a couple of work-in-progress pictures. Since the picture was taken this batch of Old Glory Germans have been mounted on bases but the bases have not been flocked yet - I am a great procrastinator! I have 'finished' two full sections of riflemen for the Price of Glory rules system. I am looking forward to having enough sections to stage a game soon.

How I lose

This is another shot of my nephew Alexander the Great. In this shot he is busy describing how his massive army is going to crush my pathetic force. It was a tough lesson for me to learn...

Check out Scott's Blog

Scott has a blog on his gaming projects over at...

http://scottpasha.blogspot.com/

A new area of expense... ahem interest

My wargaming pal Scott lured me into doing something with my long standing curiosity about WWI/The Great War/The War to End All Wars... So I have taken the plunge and begun doing a bit of reading, collecting, and painting troops so we can wargame this fascinating era.

For once I have a plan (sort of) for what I wish to collect before I just purchasing figures willy nilly. We will see if I can stick to my plans - I have my doubts. First up will be French (I gotta collect French troops - call me misguided, sick, or whatever...) and Germans. I have completed a small smattering of Old Glory Germans and I have to say they aren't bad looking figures. As soon as I have properly based them I shall have to snap and share a few pics.

Meanwhile check out a new WWI movie that looks positively inspirational:
http://www.passchendaelethemovie.com/Canada_In_The_Great_War/behind_the_scenes.html

More Colonials

The British gunboat Safiah moving downstream against the native right flank.

Colonial Urban Warfare

Here we look along the native lines from the right flank towards the center and left. In the central area is the open ground that was the scene of a mad charge by a Highland unit and later the scene of a monumental cavalry charge by over eager British and Indian Lancer units. In the end the British ran out of troops before we did...

Colonialism is an ugly business

Yesterday, our gaming club played a scenario set in Colonial Rantoul. This fictional region is modeled on the regions fought over by the European powers in the later 1800s. Here you will see British, French, Germans, Italians, Beduins, Tuaregs, Sudanese, Zulus, Indians, Egyptians, and many other groups pitted against one another in our ongoing campaigns. I commanded on the native right wing as we defended our Holy city from British attack. As usual, the British sent in the Territorials first so that none of the "real" soldiers would suffer too much... but this time it didn't work! The natives fared well since we stayed hidden in forts and towns to avoid the superior British firepower!

Nephew beats Uncle in Wargame

This photo shows the key to the battle - an outhouse. Alex determined that this must be my headquarters and spent considerable firepower on blowing it high into the air. In this picture we see it flying about 1.4 scale miles over our battlefield. Fortunately, it landed in an open area and missed my fleeing troops...

Nephew beats Uncle in Wargame

The LOSER

The winner!

Nephew wins again

General Alexander the Great

For those of you scoring at home it is now Alex 2 and Uncle ... never had a chance!

Never pick a fight with a craftier general! This obvious axiom was proven again today when my young nephew outfoxed me on another battlefield. His motley collection of WW2 Germans, Americans, 8th Army, and Imperial Japanese troops easily wiped out my inferior force of Civil War era Union Infantry and artillery. He began laying his trap by raiding my wargame closet to get a nice bit of earthworks to hide his soldiers in. I knew I was in trouble already...

When the battle was joined I quickly learned that this kid can roll the dice like nobody else can. He never misses and his men usually move twice as fast as my guys do. It looks like I am going to have to get rid of these fancy metal figures and go to a bag of Plastic Armymen if I want to have a chance.

Sanford and Sons Painting Table

Here is a view of the junkpile that is my painting table. As you can see I am not partial to one paint brand and I can't focus on just one project. In the foreground is a pair of Blue Moon (?) Cowboys that are part of the Old Glory Army giveaway program standing next to a pair of Redoubt French Foreign Legion officers that have been on my paint table for more than 5 years. Behind them are the finished mounts for a Front Rank French Dragoon Regiment who are patiently awaiting the completion of the riders.

What a mess!

Acre (kind of): Napoleon in Egypt Game

The above picture is of the final moments of the Maltese Legion, read on to learn the story...

We recently had another 25mm Napoleonics game, using the General de Brigade rules, that featured Napoleon's Campaigns in Egypt and the Holy Land (NIE from now on!). It was a "what if" scenario that pondered the burning question of what might have happened to the French troops besieging Acre had been attacked in strength while Napoleon was off fighting at Mt. Tabor? The short answer... nothing good!

A brief recap of the game...

For those who missed it... A quick re-cap of the "Turkish" sortie to sack the artillery batteries that were bombarding the city of Acre. While Eddie (future Marshal of the Empire Lannes) solidly held the French right wing I (ill-fated General de Division Reynier) held the center and left of the French line. While engaging the British (hey, where did they come from?) in the center and a Turkish infantry brigade on our left I chose to IGNORE a small cavalry brigade of Turkish lancers as they moved around our left flank. "Mon ami, they are ze rabble and can do us no harm." Within a few turns the Turks stormed both of our batteries and began to grind on the hapless French infantry standing, solidly/stupidly, to hold the central mine entrance and the left wing. After trading ineffective musketry for a while I was suddenly confronted with Pasha Kennedy's cavalry poised in my central rear area with assault orders... uh oh. No problem says I - after all, a good shot when they charge in will empty a few saddles and that will likely run them off. (Insert NFL films dramatic background music and voice over here) What happened next was a charge for the ages. The cavalry charged, got shot, passed morale (ah darn - no problem though,they suck... right?) and charged home. Upon impact the cavalry rolls double sixes (mon ami, I am not liking zis suddenly) which doubles all casualties. Lets see, the sudden loss of 95% of the Maltese Legion in one melee with another cavalry unit bearing down on those few (un)fortunate survivors looks... well, not good. Suddenly the French center has evaporated under the combined firepower of two British units (yeah, I know, the giant unit was just Swiss) and the hammer blow of the bloodthirsty Ottoman cavalry.With things looking bleak for the French, Lannes decided to fortify his position in the village and leave the hapless brigade on the far left to find its own way out of the Turkish horde. All in all, the Frenchies got a harsh beating. Reynier had lots of 'splaining to do when Napoleon got back from his excursion in the countryside while Lannes could point out that his units were intact and ready for action (butt kisser).

Thats what happened as I saw it (just before I got knocked on the head andplayed dead until the Turks left).

The one gaming opponent I cannot beat

This is my nephew Alex. We play wargames using a variety of plastic and metal soldiers from many different eras (often all mixed together!) and he ALWAYS wins. His tactics are flawless and his dice rolling is uncanny. I hope that with more practice, deeper tactical studies, and some better luck on my behalf I may yet find a way to beat this guy!

Col. Ferguson's Grave at King's Mountain

Col. Ferguson's (British/Loyalist commander) gravesite. The Patriots are said to have piled stones on his grave to make sure he stayed in the ground...

Fresh from Vacation!

Well I'm just back from vacation having gone to the beach for a few days. I also attempted to make another visit to Ft Sumter in Charleston but the weather wasn't cooporative and I missed the ferry boat out to the fort by 10 minutes! Maybe next time...

I got to see one of my favorite bands, Rush, in concert in Charlotte NC and it was a great show!

I did get to make a brief visit to the King's Mountain battlefield in upstate South Carolina. It was, as always, eerie to walk the ridgeline as it was so quiet and peaceful - so unlike the day must have been during the battle.

Back to painting and preparing for upcoming games...!!!

New ACW Rules

We recently played a new set of rules for the ACW called Guns at Gettysburg. They are based on the General de Brigade rules system and seem to work well for 25mm scale gaming. This means I will soon be busy remounting my small 25mm ACW collection for these new rules. I will try to have lots of solvent handy to unglue my fingers as I get into this project!

Painting Progress Update

Well, I had high hopes for the speed of my paintbrushes in declaring my 2008 painting goals. To my amazement I have kept pace... so far. Now to be honest, I have counted miniatures that I have had painted for me by others in my totals but they are my painted figures so I count 'em!

Some of what has been completed in 2008:

25mm Front Rank Napoleonic French Dragoons
25mm (Old) Bicorne Napoleonic French Cuirassiers
25mm Front Rank Napoleonic Polish Lancers of the Imperial Guard
15mm ACW buildings x3
25mm Middle Eastern Adobe-Style Houses x2
15mm SYW Austrian Infantry (6 Battalions)
15mm Stone Mtn Confederate Supply Train
25mm Wild West Gunfighters
25mm Mexican Peasants
25mm Napoleonic French Generals


Currently in the works:
25mm Front Rank Napoleonic French Dragoons
15mm Vauban Star Fort
25mm Wild West Gunfighters
25mm Mexican Peasants
25mm Old Glory WW1 Germans (Western Front)

A Modest Proposal

I buy miniatures. I paint miniatures. Sadly, I buy many, many, many more miniatures than I paint! My goal this year is to paint 365 25mm miniatures. Sounds easy, right? It would be simple if I weren't slow, indecisive, and easily distracted! But I am not going to let those issues stop me from reaching my goal.

The rules:
25mm Cavalry count as 2 figs
15mm Cavalry count as 1 fig
25mm Infantry count as 1 fig
15mm Infantry count as .5 fig
25mm Artillery pieces count as 2 figs
15mm Artillery pieces count as 1 fig

Boats, buildings, and everything else count as 5 figs regardless of scale!

Sounds like time to abandon full dress uniforms and go for drab plain overcoats and natives in simple garb to bulk up my painted totals!

Will you join me in taking up the challenge!

Lost Passwords

I lost my password and that makes it pretty hard to do any updates! After a bit of digging I (obviously!) have found it so my sporadic posts can resume!