Pootling along again...

All trips abroad take some preparation and I'm just beginning mine. In the meantime I've completed a few more hedges for the club, and a Flames of War US army company (less the integral bazooka teams). My thoughts haven't strayed that far from the 18th Century though. I intend to buy some RSM 95 figures to make up the First Brigade of the Hetzenberg army, the attached artillery battery and probably the Guard battery too. With so much else going on, I'm afraid the ImagiNation has had to take a back seat for a while.

The Times they are a Changin'...

So, the reason why my ImagiNations have gone quiet for a while is this - I have the delightful prospect of moving to the USA to be with my girlfriend and to work. This will take place soon, but in the meantime I have a couple of decades' worth of wargames material to take into account. Not everything I have is of current interest to me nor likely to be. Some things will remain in my collection - Hetzenberg and the nascent Margravate armies. A lot of stuff will have to go. It's wayyy too expensive to transport or ship.

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First up on the sale block. Some time ago I aquired a heap of Front Rank early 1990's vintage Napoleonic/Republican French in 25mm. These are now for sale here under the Bring & Buy section. Prices are given, any reasonable offers accepted.

Pootling along...

One of the many discoveries I made when clearing out my workshed was a trio of Old Glory "Command Decision" packs, WW2 15mm miniatures, specifically US army riflemen and command. They were part of a consignment of a store's bankrupt stock I got years ago. As this discovery coincides with the club's interest in Flames of War, I decided to put them to use.

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I must admit, painting modern figures is much easier than most other periods! Using just the basic pigments of US olive drab, field brown, some highlights and a sepia ink wash I've completed an entire platoon today. It won't take long to do the basework, and they'll be ready to take the field.

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Of course they'll then be faced with the inevitable defeat/rout/annihilation that befalls all newly-completed wargames units in their first game! Is it just me that this happens to? I don't think so! This may be a wargamers' urban myth, but it happened at the New Buckenham club's ACW game to Guns at Gettysburg rules on Friday. My new 19th Indiana Union regiment was broken and sent packing within moments of arriving in the firing line. All the other Union units behaved admirably (helped by an incredible number of "box-car" rolls - 12 on 2d6). They're a nice set of rules, quick and easy to grasp. I should have a couple more units ready by the next game, so I'll see how they perform...

Partizan 2008 & Theatiki.

The club's visit to Newark's Partizan show was a success. It was surprisingly busy; I guess most of us were thinking people would be pulling in their horns when it came to buying wargames material due to the much touted "credit crunch." Instead, it seemed the crowded halls of Kelham were filled with people determined to spend while they could.

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I don't think there was a single trader who didn't have a throng three-deep at his/her stand, at least in the first half of the day. Certainly the folks from Cambridgeshire who make nice hand-crafted buildings for 25/28mm figures profited from the New Buckenham club's visit. We bought a sizable quantity of buildings from them, leaving their table looking rather bare!

Nigel Higgins of Anglia Models displayed a nice and very tempting range of 28mm Spanish Civil War figures. Old Glory were present with some superb WW1 and WW2 aircraft from their "Li'l Flying Fokkers" range in 15mm, just right for the popular Flames of War rules set.

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The games themselves were many and varied. A Mexican-American War of 1848 caught my eye, with its gorgeous uniforms. A Spanish Peninsula game featuring a naval landing party saw the deployment of two splendid and sizeable vessels attacking a port, all in 28mm. Other games featured a mediaeval seige complete with trebuchet and early cannon, a long and dangerous-looking bronze tube under a mantlet.

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All in all, a very successful event, and one I'm sure to visit again, possibly later this year at "the other Partizan."

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This year sees a number of re-enactment events in celebration of the French-Indian War 250th Anniversary. One of the best is "The Gathering on the Theatiki," near Bourbonnais, Illinois, on the weekend 12th - 13th July. As I'll be in the US at that time, I'm hoping to join my fellow soldiers of the 78th (Simon Frazer's) Highlanders in their struggle for supremacy against the French. There'll be numerous events based on those times, and several dozen merchants on Traders' Row. Anyone in the neighborhood is welcome to stop by to visit the 18th century.

Partizan 2008.

The New Buckenham club fought a moderate-sized early English Civil War battle last night. The objective was to capture and control a small village with a bridge by nightfall.

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I was one of the two Royalist generals, and commanded the left wing. The ground wasn't really suitable for cavalry but I deployed them in the best area I could find on my flank, and forded the river to engage the Parliamentarian infantry there. For once my dice rolls weren't infallibly awful and I managed to push across the river, destroying an enemy regiment occupying the village churchyard in the process.

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My cavalry engaged another infantry regiment lined up behind one of my shiny new hedges. Maybe I made them too well, for the initial exchange of pistol and musket fire failed to damage either party! I destroyed the regiment at the cost of two of mine, and lost the last cavalry regiment in a prolonged fight with a single élite Parliamentarian one. They bought enough time for my infantry brigade to deploy in the village, although night fell before a decisive result was obtained.

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Tomorrow I shall be off to "Partizan," the Newark wargames show. I went for the first time last September and enjoyed it. It's a large venue, easy to reach, with a good spread of traders and games.

Hedges.

A couple of pictures of the completed hedges.
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I finished a total of 30 inches of the hedge sections in three days, including allowing the paint etc. to dry. Each piece is 5 inches long. I'm planning to make a few more sections with small trees growing in them and a number t-section pieces to represent the corners of fields, just for the sake of completeness.

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Figures-wise, I did a bit of soul-searching and have decided to restrict the armies of Hetzenberg and Dunkeldorf-Pfuhl to one brigade each with a cavalry regiment and attached artillery. This will be enough to field a decent-sized action. More units will be added, time and circumstances permitting.

Pootling along...

Nothing much doing this week, beyond clearing yet more of my workshed now the weather has improved. Once I could clear a patch of workbench I began making a batch of hedgerow sections suitable for use either as bocage in 15mm or ordinary hedges in 25/28mm. We found ourselves rather short of these at the club so having the materials to hand (and needing the space using them would free-up!) I set-to.

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Basic construction is two thin strips of scrap 4mm ply, 5 inches long glued in parallel to another shorter length set vertically, forming an upside-down T shape in cross-section. The sides are filled with a paste composed of PVA, spackle powder and Eberhard Arts powdered papiermaché. This dries quite quickly and is hard enough to survive most casual wargames use.

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The hedge material itself is rubberized horsehair, torn into rough strips 1 1/2 inches wide, which is folded over the upright section and glued in place. A hot-glue gun would be best for this, although I used impact adhesive. A dark green rattlecan paint at close range gave the basic coat to the foilage and filled the interior. While this is still wet a lighter green is sprayed over at a longer range to give a light shading, before scenic flock is dusted over all, ensuring the sides are covered as well. Tap off the excess, and paint the lower part in varied shades of green and brown to represent the hedge banks.

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I'll post a few pictures tomorrow of the work in progress.