The start of another year, and another painting diary thread. I'm already up on the last couple of years by starting in January!
Thanks to the new forum's improved search function I was easily able to find all the previous annals on this topic - and spent an enjoyable time re-reading 2012's ramblings. Well it was enjoyable until it dawned on me that 2012 was 10 years ago :o @-) Not quite sure how that has happened. Does this this make this edition the 10th anniversary one (or is that next year)?
One thing that hasn't changed since 2012 is that my Late Era Roman and my Orc armies are both still languishing at the bottom of the lead pile. Not quite sure what it will take to get these two painted.
Anyway, on with current activities.
Foam Cutting
For Christmas I got a hot wire foam cutter, and have already had a play and made some 'walls' to be the base of bocage sections and some more wadi side sections for the desert.
(https://i.imgur.com/QU3UqTy.jpg)
Bocage sections - from pink foam, painted brown, covered in sand, a bit more brown and then flocked. Various straight and corner sections, and one destroyed one. There is a bit of variety in width - they seemed to get wider as I made more - but I think I will aim for more narrower ones in the next batch.
When I started on these the plan was to use the resin hedge sections I have to sit on top of these - but I am now wondering if I should just add clump foliage to these?
(https://i.imgur.com/56krJWY.jpg)
Wadi sections - I made a couple more straight sections and two ends, to add to the six or so I already have. These were incredibly quick to cut with the hot wire cutter - unlike the originals which were made from two layers of foam board cut down to give the sloped edge.
I will also make some more trench sections for WWI. But am also interested in other ideas to cut, at the minute the foam I have is 10mm thick, in two large sheets (approx 2x4') so I have plenty of area, if not so much height.
Sengoku Casualties
Painted these up a little while ago, but got them based while I was working on the above
(https://i.imgur.com/AxhSJUA.jpg)
These use both the Samurai and Ashigaru figures - where the number of casualties to be recorded is quite low (per unit) then I like to use figures rather than small dice.
Good start to the year
Wot he sed :)
Thanks both
Some of my other Christmas loot was some MDF buildings from Pendraken
6mm Sci-Fi mag-lev mono-rail
(https://i.imgur.com/734SFF4.jpg)
These were very easy to build, just some basic colours added so far. Next step is to weather them up.
I've been thinking about getting these for a while, and am glad I did. I'll probably get a couple more packs to give a decent length of track and do some curves in the other direction. And probably cut one up to make some damaged pieces.
Arabic Style Buildings
(https://i.imgur.com/E5zqEV0.jpg)[
These were a lot more fiddly to build - as the order and orientation of the pieces mattered - these could do with some instructions.
Just an initial coat of sand coloured paint - mainly to cover the cut edges. Going to need to do a bit more filling of the joint pegs - thought I'd filled these already, but no they need a bit more filler.
The good start continues :)
Kill Team - Tau vs Harlequins
Hosted a remote game of 40k Kill Team on Friday night, Harlequins vs Tau
(https://i.imgur.com/uCsmEAH.jpg)
Here the Tau have charged in and dealt lots of damage to the Tau - both charging ones had managed to kill the Tau operative they had charged then shot up another. Harlequins get 3 activations in KT, most others only get 2. The downside is they only have short range shooting (6"), but they have flip belts which let them ignore terrain when moving. Tau have lots of guns which have long range and hit hard.
(https://i.imgur.com/SUwrqNF.jpg)
A bit later, more Harlequins have charged in - and killed more Tau - it was all very one sided at this stage. The Harlequins were dodging shooting all over the place whilst using their mobility to get into combat where they totally outclass the Tau.
(https://i.imgur.com/LlmDNnZ.jpg)
The last few Tau holed up - not only where they being killed, they were failing to claim VPs from the objectives. Final score was 11VP to 5VP
Not quite sure what went so wrong for the Tau. In fact it was so one-side I did a solo replay the next day.
Different tactics for the Tau - moving to two sides at the start of the turn, then getting units up high, once they had targets. This made a difference as they then where able to start shooting and hitting Harlequins - Harlequin saves were still good, but there were far more shots heading in their direction.
(https://i.imgur.com/16iGxv4.jpg)
In this replay the result was completely reversed, with the Tau only loosing 1 figure, and killing many Harlequins. I only played 2 turns as it was so one sided!
I'd also painted up one of the ruined wall terrain pieces by this time! Nice quick and easy paint job.
Close up of the storage tank terrain piece - added some detailing / weathering to the basic grey
(https://i.imgur.com/oDD0kJD.jpg)
Figures and terrain are great!
Scenario maybe not so much so?
Is that soft drinks can acting as storage?
Superb! 8)
Thanks both
QuoteFigures and terrain are great!
Scenario maybe not so much so?
Is that soft drinks can acting as storage?
The scenario is pretty basic, 4 VP locations that can be activated each turn to score a point. 1 close to each deployment zone, and the other two evenly spread along the mid-line. I think there were a couple of problems, firstly players not that familiar with the forces and rules, so missing some things to do. And also having a game with two such different forces facing off, seems to end-up with very different results.
I've borrowed some Tyranids from a mate so have another force available. I also have a lot of options for the Tau - this was an attempt at going numbers heavy.
Yes, the storage terrain uses a drinks can - its a MDF kit from war bases, that you add your own can to. I've got another one that uses 3 of them.
Pegasus Gothic Ruins
Been painting these up over the last week or so, nice easy big brush project (28mm sized). Quite pleased with how they have come out.
(https://i.imgur.com/752uzi9.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/fxmO5VZ.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/A5E1VOV.jpg)
I've got quite a lot of pieces made from these Pegasus Gothic parts - not really sure how many sets I had to start with, at least one each of the ruins and the standard ones, but probably two of the standard sets.
I've got two fairly small buildings - 1 section wide and 2 long - which are going to get painted up next.
And this beast of a building...
(https://i.imgur.com/OUGpBeQ.jpg)
It was built to be a large church type building - but given its size and lack of interior interest, it rarely gets on the table.
Very nice!
Great start to the year so far
Thanks both
Irregular Wars - Volunteers
Played a game of Irregular Wars on Friday evening - Swedish vs Imperials
My leader was not best suited to battle, being Enthusiastic, Rash and Impetuous. This meant he rode forward from his troops at the start of the game, was twice as likely to die in melee and lost 1 point on initiative rolls.
His unit was rather isolated in the village - and survived rather longer than expected (at least one of those turns was down to some rule mid-remembering by me, oops) not that it made any real difference to the out come
(https://i.imgur.com/IXTu6sM.jpg)
Having played I've painted up some more troops today - 4 units in a day is what I like about 10mm :)
(https://i.imgur.com/D0wtvpf.jpg)
These are to make units of Volunteers - who are locally raised units mainly shot armed but with some melee ability. They are a right mix of figures to give the look.
At the front are some WWI German casualty figures
Looks good
Very nice
:-bd =D> :-bd
Thanks chaps! Good to have got some 10mm figures painted again
1914 Meeting Engagement ITLSUs
Back to some early war WWI on Friday night - 2 remote players, with me moving the figures around
Teaser picture from mid/late game - might do a battle report
(https://i.imgur.com/DxFBTlK.jpg)
Another great game of ITLSU - enough friction from activations to stop things going to plan - and a lot of WWI feel to the game.
Gothic Church Buildings
To go with the large corner pieces I painted the other week, I've done some detailing on a couple of small crypt style 28mm gothic buildings.
The right one seems to be resistant to dry brushing - 2 or 3 goes at highlighting the edges and it still seems rather too subtle. But good enough for terrain!
(https://i.imgur.com/7fwfkwW.jpg)
And currently in progress are more 10mm for Irregular Wars - some ships crew and some more volunteers.
Also got the first batch of volunteers, the German casualties and some Ashigarui teppo based up - photos to follow once the basing is finished.
Quote from: fred. on 31 January 2022, 05:37:05 PM1914 Meeting Engagement ITLSUs
Back to some early war WWI on Friday night - 2 remote players, with me moving the figures around
Teaser picture from mid/late game - might do a battle report
(https://i.imgur.com/DxFBTlK.jpg)
Another great game of ITLSU - enough friction from activations to stop things going to plan - and a lot of WWI feel to the game.
I recognise those Pendraken fences the artillery is deployed behind Fred.
ITLSU does give a good WW 1 atmosphere doesn't it? Must get another game or two organised over here once we've finished our current ABDA naval campaign.
Turned into a night action judging by the background? ;)
Indeed they are the Pendraken fences - really out to sort the bases out on them. If I'd thought I could have done them last night when I had the glue and sand out!!
Nearly all our games are 'night actions' - as Friday evening is our main gaming time slot
:-bd =D> :-bd for both
That right hand building is really resisting the dry brush ~X(
And yes we should organise some ITLSU games :)
Good looking game there Forbes
Thanks both.
I'm going to be a bit cheeky and promote my wife's hobby that she is starting to move to a business]which can be found at http://www.Etsy.com/uk/shop/ISCHIOCrafts (http://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ISCHIOCrafts) where she has jewellery and decorations with sparkle and shine!
Work in Progress
First up are some ships crews for Irregular Wars
(https://i.imgur.com/GRbM7gU.jpg)
These are a mix of the new Pirates and a few Indian Mutiny codes (plus probably some others). At the front are a few WWII French HMGs
Awaiting Flock
(https://i.imgur.com/IbKRRh2.jpg)
Even more variety of troops awaiting flock
From the back
Volunteers for Irregular Wars
WWI German casualties
Ashigaru shot
British Paras
Posting a bit stalled - so here's a quick photo!
(https://i.imgur.com/ebAq2BD.jpg)
Various figures I've been working on over the last couple of weeks.
Oh no, one of the guys in the front middle is already a casualty! Looking good so far though
;D
:-bd =D> :-bd
QuoteOh no, one of the guys in the front middle is already a casualty! Looking good so far though
Man down! Fortunately just plonked in place so far.
Thanks both
I have a couple of bags of pirates in the queue.
Please to see yours Fred, a nice inspiration/reference.
QuoteI have a couple of bags of pirates in the queue.
Please to see yours Fred, a nice inspiration/reference.
Yes, I got the pirates a while ago, and they have been languishing in the big box of Renaissance figures. They are very nice sculpts and paint up very well. I went for a big variation in skin tones on these ones - I'll get a better picture when they are based, rather than hiding on the back row.
O Group - 1940 - Arras
We have been playing O group fairly regularly the last few weeks - and I've not been doing too well at writing up games and posting them!
This week it was a scenario based on the British counter attack into the flank of 7th Pz Div near Arras. It is an interesting scenario - were the British start at full strength, with 2 Matalida IIs, 4 Matalida Is and 2 companies of infantry.
The German defenders (red) are 3 companies of infantry and 2 x Pak 36 3.7cm AT guns. With some armour and better AT support available as reinforcements from turn 4. Neither side has an artillery support.
(https://i.imgur.com/qsTESKZ.jpg)
As the defender, I wasn't too sure what I wanted to do early on. As I couldn't do much against the infantry tanks with their heavy armour. I pushed an infantry platoon into the farm on the far left and hid in woods mainly!
The British (blue) pushed their armour forward in the middle, and the right they hadn't deployed too far towards the camera - I assume a deliberate concentration of force. And then that company was hesitant 3 out of 4 turns (this is a statistical fluke as you roll 9 order dice, if you get 3+ 1s, then a company is hesitant, and then you roll to see which of the 3 is hesitant).
This meant I tried pushing forward a bit on that flank - but in the end my platoon was caught in the open and pinned. My mortars were unavailable on the 4 turns I tried to call them - poor dice as it as a 7+ on 2d6 to call them in - this is a scenario rule to reflect the chaotic nature of this encounter battle). The British mortars were far more available - but fortunately not too effective.
The British attacked my platoon in the farm, pinning them, then on a second assault with Matalida Is in support caused loads of casualties and took the farm.
In the centre I deployed a Pak 36, but its shooting dice where awful - when they needed to be very good to overcome the gun / armour differential.
We are only part way into the game - and are going to pick up it again next week.
Looking good so far
Basing
For some reason basing always takes me a long time to get to. But then really doesn't take that long to do.
Flocked about 35 bases and got sand on another 15 this evening
(https://i.imgur.com/aVnAO8q.jpg)
Ashigaru shot and Volunteers for Irregular Wars
(https://i.imgur.com/x0X7Vwj.jpg)
British Para combat patrols for O group and French HMGs
(https://i.imgur.com/jtE7ePv.jpg)
Pirates, more Volunteers and Japanese peasant bows. At the back some WWI German casualty markers.
Looking good
Great stuff!
Liked the kill team stuff! i'm sitting with octarius in the backlog, and am awaiting delivery of calnath and nachmund, so definately up my alley at the moment!
Cheers Peter
We enjoyed Kill Team a lot. Good rules, small forces. Lots of fun.
All looking good Forbes
Thanks Will
Got the final 15 or so bases flocked this evening
(https://i.imgur.com/wBf3Ai9.jpg)
Pirates in front, Volunteers at the back
(https://i.imgur.com/1574lWj.jpg)
Japanese peasant bowmen
Also had 3 bases of French HMGs, but they evaded the camera ;)
V cool Forbes
Ditto ! :-bd
Nice stuff
Thanks chaps - remembered to use a light onto the front of the figures - makes the photos rather better!
It does indeed :)
Battle of Edgehill
As I had some time off work, and had a day free from family commitments, it was a chance to get in a big game! We decided to go with ECW as we hadn't had these figures out for a while, and the For King and Parliament Rules. We used the Battle of Edgehill scenario from Big Red Bat Games - but had to cut it down a bit, as it is huge in size, 27x12 boxes. Even going with 12cm squares, I could only get 20x10 on my 8' x 4' table. So we lost the dragoons on the flanks, and one brigade from the middle of the battlefield.
This was a good job as we only just had enough figures as it was - and this was figures from 4 people, even though only 2 of us where playing today.
Here is a view of deployments down the table, Royalists on the left, Parliament on the right
(https://i.imgur.com/MVk72bg.jpg)
Same time, but a view from behind Parliaments lines
(https://i.imgur.com/H4lHpFR.jpg)
Royalist cavalry don't hang around (at least on this flank) and get stuck in - although not very effectually.
(https://i.imgur.com/BG9ejGV.jpg)
A couple of turns in, and a general Royalist advance has happened
(https://i.imgur.com/9K2VCHs.jpg)
Mid-game - the cavalry on the far left have pretty much wiped each other out - one unit of Parliamentarian horse has pursued through and is threatening the Royalist guns. In the centre the foot are engaged all along the line, with both sides accumulating disorder
(https://i.imgur.com/9UqwS2F.jpg)
Towards the end - the Parliamentarians have turned the left flank of the foot battle. On both flanks the cavalry have pretty much fought each other out. On the far right (out of picture) my two small units of cuirassier have made a nuisance of themselves finishing off damaged units
(https://i.imgur.com/NWlHT1B.jpg)
In the end a Parliamentarian victory - but very close - we were both down to our last 5-6 victory tokens, from a starting point of around 40. But I managed to rout the last couple of units I needed to break the Royalist army.
I took a good 5-6 hours to play out - not least as we had both forgotten huge amounts of the rules and had to keep checking things. Not helped by half-remembering rules (which were sometimes from other games) which meant we had to check things again.
Great to get a big game in, and a face-to-face one!
Quote from: Ithoriel on 09 January 2022, 09:35:41 PMIs that soft drinks can acting as storage?
I recognise this as a Warbases product.
:-bd =D> :-bd =D>
Nice looking game Fred :-bd
Most of the FK&P games that we play usually end up being reasonably close affairs, with one side or the other doing something spectacular enough to pick up the final few victory chits.
>:< =D> =D>
Though they beat him 99 times, yet he is King still...
Great looking game Fred. Those ones that come down to the last chits are always the most exciting. I actually started painting some ECW cavalry yesterday that have languished unloved for a few months. Must be on the same wavelength.
What a superb game!
Thanks guys
QuoteNice looking game Fred :-bd
Most of the FK&P games that we play usually end up being reasonably close affairs, with one side or the other doing something spectacular enough to pick up the final few victory chits.
Cheers Pierre
This game felt like it became a slog for the foot battalia to inflict enough hits on each other.
The scenario starts with a chequer board deployment - and I tried to keep my troops arrayed like this - rather than just gathering them all up into a firing line! And it did seem to work as it meant that I had reserves available.
O Group - France 1940
Played the 5th scenario from the O Group 1940 booklet. This was an attack by the Royal Welsh Fusiliers on elements of SS Germania (at this point in the war the SS divisions were nowhere near as well equipped and organised as later in the war).
The Welsh were trying to take the town, or the canal bridges
(https://i.imgur.com/dWO71QN.jpg)
Early on, the Welsh attack is heading away from the camera (frontages in red). They have concentrated their forces on the centre and right - which is a good approach in O Group as the defender needs to cover everywhere, but the attacker can concentrate their forces. The Germans have a couple of platoons forward (blue) to act as blockers, but these are getting pinned. Long range fire from German MGs and mortars is doing most of the damage.
(https://i.imgur.com/koOiBk2.jpg)
The end of the game. The Welsh have made good progress on the right flank, but in the centre they have suffered heavy casualties (12) with one company all but wiped out, and the left had one having suffered casualties too. This was enough to bring them to their break point. Germans had suffered a fair amount of casualties (7), but weren't that close to their break point.
The Welsh ended up with several platoons in the centre pinned down and were repeatedly hit with mortars and MG fire. I even managed to call in a Divisional Heavy Howitzer strike with my one artillery fire mission. Which fired with 10d6 against its first target (twice as many dice as a mortar strike) but the Welsh had hugged the dirt and took very few casualties from what I had hoped would be devastating fire power!
Another good game - was a pure infantry fit. Feels a tough ask for the attacker as they have to really take on the enemy in the town to achieve their victory conditions. And while they did a good attempt at concentration of force, it did leave them vulnerable to counter fire, as they were largely in the open.
Great report
Looks like an interesting game :)
Would the left have provided a bit more of a covered approach to the town, with the field and two woods :-\
Thanks both
I think the problem with the left was that the Germans held a farm as well as the town. So probably more defensive cover, even if a little more cover for the attacker
I did wonder about the farm, if it was only weakly held hopefully it could be taken quickly
If the Germans reinforced it that would have reduced the strength in the town...
If... the magic word of wargaming ;D
Another lovely looking game Fred :-bd
Do you find O Group covers battalion per side sized games well?
I presume you are using 10mm figures for your games, do you think 6mm stuff would work OK for these rules?....got a shedload of 6mm WW2 stuff based up for Spearhead :-\ @-)
Just looking!!......really........got too much on the go already.
QuoteAnother lovely looking game Fred :-bd
Do you find O Group covers battalion per side sized games well?
I presume you are using 10mm figures for your games, do you think 6mm stuff would work OK for these rules?....got a shedload of 6mm WW2 stuff based up for Spearhead :-\ @-)
Just looking!!......really........got too much on the go already.
Hi Pierre - sorry completely missed your reply.
Glad you like the look of the game, thanks!
Yes, O Group gives a good game, and it is around a battalion involved. But I think we rarely have had a battalion on the table, between the deployment mechanism and the limited orders available per turn, it tends to just be a 1 or 2 companies deployed, with a bit of support. And this is perhaps where it suffers a bit, as it does feel a bit of a small game (or I just have too many figures and tanks I want to get on the table).
Yes, we've played in 10mm. But 6mm would work fine, infantry operate as a 3 stand platoon with no need to worry about the individual stands. You need a small number of HMG or IATW stands.
Haven't played much over the last few weeks - mainly down to people being busy with other things. But have got a couple of games in over the last week or so
Massive Epic Game - Squats vs Tau
This was a double blast from the past, getting the Epic models on the table, and being able to play a game during the day on a Saturday - like the days before kids!
(https://i.imgur.com/7b5ayFR.jpg)
For King and Parliament - ECW
And last night for a complete change of pace - we played FKaP, as we had enjoyed the game a month or so ago. Went with a much smaller scenario from the Big Red Bat fictional scenario book. Was a great game, a lot of tension due to smaller number of units involved.
(https://i.imgur.com/sPBKpCI.jpg)
Back to the old GW grass mat, which is marked up with a grid - so not as photogenic as the Deep Cut printed one!
Both look excellent !!
Love the monorail/elevated rail on the Epic table - nice buildings :)
Top looking games
Thanks chaps! :)
QuoteLove the monorail/elevated rail on the Epic table - nice buildings :)
The monorail is from Red Vectors via Pendraken- a really simple to build kit and it looks great. Not sure it has much in game purpose but helps with the futuristic look!
The buildings are from Brigade and have great detailing which a few block colours and a bit of a dry brush bring out nicely.
Dang, the monorail is Red Vectors? And I just ordered CWC-II, I might have thrown one in if I knew!
Quote from: toxicpixie on 28 May 2022, 02:55:02 PMDang, the monorail is Red Vectors? And I just ordered CWC-II, I might have thrown one in if I knew!
Shoot me an email if you want those adding in, no worries.
QuoteDang, the monorail is Red Vectors? And I just ordered CWC-II, I might have thrown one in if I knew!
Are you planning on a
Red Dawn-type scenario, set in North Haverbrook?
Quote from: toxicpixie on 28 May 2022, 02:55:02 PMDang, the monorail is Red Vectors? And I just ordered CWC-II, I might have thrown one in if I knew!
Quote from: Leon on 28 May 2022, 02:57:22 PMShoot me an email if you want those adding in, no worries.
Done! Ta :)
I'm feeling like I've missed out on a commission deal here :'( ;D ;)
Quote from: fred. on 28 May 2022, 04:17:06 PMI'm feeling like I've missed out on a commission deal here :'( ;D ;)
If we go down that route... it'll be a proper circular firing squad :D
:-bd =D> :-bd
Great looking games
Irregular Wars - Hollanders vs Sengoku Japanese
I put together a fairly short notice game last night - as with bank holidays didn't initially think anyone was free for a game. Back to a remote game - but with a small Irregular Wars game it works well enough.
Went with a new force - Hollanders, representing the VOC aka the Dutch East Indies Company skirmishing with Sengoku era Japanese - perhaps over some unpaid debts for guns?
The Hollanders let me field some of the fairly recently painted Volunteers and Ships crews. Alongside some Samuari fighting against their country-men. Both sides rolled pretty low for variable troop numbers, and also took some small unit selections, so the armies fielded were pretty small. Pretty much all the figures are Pendraken.
(https://i.imgur.com/vCktI2Y.jpg)
Initial deployment, Hollanders on the left. In the pre-game Disease and mis-haps phase, the Japanese came off worst, with two units suffering virulent disease, two of their Ashigaru shot advancing into the open, and their Samurai cavalry being bribed to find something better to do! My Hollanders suffered a bit less from disease, had one of my Samurai units advance towards the enemy shot, and on the far side my Ships' crew enthusiastically advanced!
We then played several swirling violent turns - with no photos as I was too involved in the game!
(https://i.imgur.com/nTLEXQg.jpg)
The End - only one Japanese unit left - with lots of the Hollenders surrounding them. My single unit of cavalry while not doing what I was expecting it to do (skirmish and shoot) used its mobility to get in several flank or rear charges at critical points, which often leads to broken units. These rules have a morale rule that puts wounds on units near a friend who breaks - and when there is a bunch of damaged units that can prove critical.
The final telling moment was when my leader charged into the combat with the two Samuari who had been fighting two of my units for several turns, and managed to inflict the final two wounds to break both of them, which also caused at least one other friendly unit to break.
As always with Irregular Wars a fun and brutal game!
Fun wee game by the look of it
Looks good
Thanks both- yes an enjoyable smaller game. And at the smaller end of Irregular Wars games too
Looks like a fun game and an interesting matchup, thanks for sharing :)
QuoteLooks like a fun game and an interesting matchup, thanks for sharing :)
Thanks
Not entirely sure how likely it was historically - but seems at least plausible!
For King and Parliament (FKaP)
This week we went forward 100 years or so in time, and returned to good ol' Blighty. Played scenario 2 from the Marlowe to Maidenhythe fictional scenario book. Figures are nearly all Pendraken.
Parliamentarian forces furthest from the camera attacking the Royalists across two commons, hence the lack of terrain on much of the table. A fairly asymmetric battle, with Parliment just having 3 units of horse, but having better quality foot and a unit of guns.
The Royalists have a lot of cavalry (7 IIRC) but limited foot, and what they have is poor quality with a low amount of shot.
Parliament's forces pushed ahead initially, and maintained a good battle line. On the right flank a Royalist Forlorn Hope garrisoned the village, but these were shot out pretty easily by the two Parliamentarian regiments. Artillery fire was smoke and noise, but to no effect.
Parliament's cavalry surged ahead on the left flank, to engage the Royalist cavalry. The initial charge by the Parliamentarian Dutch Horse saw them coming of worse against the smaller Royalist units. The Royalist cavalry then charged back in - and broke 2 of the 3 enemy cavalry units!!
(https://i.imgur.com/rGH8XUG.jpg)
General Grey (under a saltaire banner for no good reason) decided he needed to join his remaining unit of Horse to sweep away the distrupted Foote unit in-front of them. This didn't go to plan! The pikes of the foot proved too steady and Grey himself was killed! (In game terms this was highly unlikely - the foot had 3 x 20% chance to hit, and managed 1 hit, the cavalry unit saved, but the General with an 80% save chance failed, then managed to roll badly on the Wounded chart, and was seriously wounded, so removed from the game 40% chance of this happening).
(https://i.imgur.com/R8fd0Bt.jpg)
This left Parliament really struggling from a Morale perspective having lost 10 of their 14 medals - the Royalsist had only lost 3 by this stage.
There was now a fairly ineffective infantry fire fight in the centre. Both sides taking the odd disruption but nothing significant.
(https://i.imgur.com/KxxdU1k.jpg)
On the right flank the Royalist horse had pursed the fleeing Parliamentarian horse, and where brought under control once they reached the hedges, but where unable to get turned back around to return to the fight.
On the left flank the Royalist cavalry advanced, and turned to be able to move into the flank of the Parlimentarians. Parliaments infantry on the left occupied the village, but struggled to move much beyond the hedges.
This left a hanging flank - which the cavalry charged into (although as I write this I wonder if we missed a rule here, as the cavalry went through an enemy Zone of Control - the unit in the village - and I think they should have had to stop when entering this). With 10 attacks on an already damaged unit, this was a fairly predictable result.
(https://i.imgur.com/39gSsZP.jpg)
In the infantry fire-fight somehow the poorer Royalist troops prevailed shooting off two enemy units!
All in all a rather decisive (and quick) Royalist victory.
Very nice, don't often see cards used for it in smaller scales (I've generally gone chits for activation then cards or dice for combat), what frontage are your ECW units? They look damn fine all lined up like that.
Thanks - the units are 120mm frontage (3 x 40mm square bases) The movement trays are a little bit wider.
The cards are some quite small ones, I guess about quarter size, that I got 6 packs off eBay for about £5. I think they are normally sold to go in party gift bags.
:-bd =D> :-bd
You're right Fred, that horse couldn't ride across the front of the occupied village
Thanks for confirming Paul. Strange how I missed it last night - as it was a remote game I was the mover of figures so wasn't playing a side so should have picked this up. Probably wasn't material as I think 3 units were killed in that turn to break the Parliamentarians
This makes it 2-0 to the King!
From the conversation on another thread about live projects I thought a little photo of my desk would be informative (even just for me to inform me of what I've got going on)
(https://i.imgur.com/ZiBiiyH.jpg)
Napoleonics
British Dragoons, Infantry & Commanders
French Dragoons and commanders
ECW
Scots pike and shot unit
Epic 6mm
Tyranid bio-titan (just one the others are for painting and basing guides)
Tyranid genestealers (still in bag)
Squat mole mortars and crew
Spaceport builds (painting touch up)
Monorail (MDF)
Boxer Rebellion (28mm)
Japanese Marines
Sailors (bought painted just need basing)
Renaissance
Black Band - pike, guns, gendarmes and command - probably the most figures
Empire Command base - a small repair job
Lots of bags of stuff hiding at the back
Japanese Peasant Archers
WWI/WW2
European Houses
6 headings
15 different forces/terrain
ECW Scots Pike
Think these guys are pretty much painted now
(https://i.imgur.com/KjPL3Kt.jpg)
Superb!
Very nice Fred.....I recognise those figures, got a few myself ;)
Thanks both - they can move onto the basing stage - and perhaps I'll get a few of the others based up at the same time.
Lots of stuff that needs finishing - so that should be the next focus.
Very nice. I hadn't realised cataloguing live projects had been "a thing", but I've been doing the same myself over the past little while (in line with clearing out my hobby space and trying to organise things a bit better). Must be something in the air.
Thanks
if cataloging projects is down to something in the air its a bit worrying, as it started with Nobby, and he's in Runcorn !!
Basing
Got a right mix of figures based up this afternoon.
(https://i.imgur.com/q7XyLuO.jpg)
These will join a similar number I based a couple of weeks ago, so lots of flocking needed next!
Looking very good Forbes
Cheers Will
Glue dried. So got some dry brushing done. So finally ready for flock
(https://i.imgur.com/OZeEJdF.jpg)
So the above figures are still waiting to be flocked :(
But I've been painting another project.
Peninsular Buildings
I picked up a couple more Peninsular buildings when I visited Pendraken at the start of the month. And have now got some paint on all of them, mainly roofs and windows.
(https://i.imgur.com/H9iCaLx.jpg)
The tile roofs were painted using a mix of 3 GW Contrast paints - which seems to have worked pretty well - the above is a single coat over a very light grey base coat. The 3 colours are Skeleton Horde, Blood Angel Red, Iyadaran Yellow, in a very roughly 3:2:1 ratio. But I did vary the red and yellow to give some variation in roof colours.
I've got some infantry and cavalry on the go as well
(https://i.imgur.com/jizm7Jp.jpg)
And quite a lot awaiting attention - which is a bit worrying as this was meant to be a small skirmish project. But its too easy to add another bag of figures which gives another unit or two.
(https://i.imgur.com/Amoikab.jpg)
Those buildings really look the part
Wot mmcv sed :)
Quote...
And quite a lot awaiting attention - which is a bit worrying as this was meant to be a small skirmish project. But its too easy to add another bag of figures which gives another unit or two.
...
My recent Indian order suffered a bit of creep as well ;)
As I worked through my planning the number of figures only ever went up ;D
QuoteThose buildings really look the part
Thanks. I'm pleased with how they have come out for fairly low effort
QuoteWot mmcv sed :)
My recent Indian order suffered a bit of creep as well ;)
As I worked through my planning the number of figures only ever went up ;D
You do have a bit more of an excuse when the figures have to travel to the other side of the world!
Not entirely sure where all of the last 6 weeks has gone! The last few weeks were a trip overseas, followed by Covid, but that leaves a gap at the start of August...
Basing
Finally got these figures finished - its taken a while to get them through all the stages.
The whole random lot!
(https://i.imgur.com/j1wJBBZ.jpg)
28mm Japanese Marines and Sailors
(https://i.imgur.com/t2UKFJl.jpg)
These are for Boxer Rebellion era games, the sailors were bought painted and have just had a bit of a tidy up and a rebase.
Epic Scale Tyranids and Squats
(https://i.imgur.com/cNTGyKc.jpg)
Giant stompy Tyranid bio-titans, and tiny Squat mole mortars
10mm Landsknechts and Feudal Japanese
(https://i.imgur.com/93KBvbv.jpg)
Finally some 10mm Warmonger Miniatures Landsknechts painted as Black Band. At the back left some Samurai era Japanese peasants with bows, and to the right some Scots for the ECW
:-bd =D> :-bd
An eclectic mix ;)
I like that you've matched the Biotitans to the Landsknectes, so they form a coherent force :D
Good stuff!
Very impressive set of work Sir
Great work there and such a mix of different projects too 8) .
Thanks all. Good to get these finished!
'Eclectic' is a good word - 'too many projects' is probably also true. There are just too many interesting periods and figures and rules. Even if I get all the different projects painted, getting them on the table is a challenge.
QuoteI like that you've matched the Biotitans to the Landsknectes, so they form a coherent force :D
An interesting observation, and one I'd not spotted myself, I think of the Tyranids as Red and White, whilst the Landsknechts are Red and Black. Of course both are Red, Black and White. I think some of not thinking of them together perhaps indicates the artificial rails we put around subjects, even ones as broad as Fantasy or Sci-Fi. To me adding a dragon or some Ogres to the Landsknechts would seem fine, but adding a bio-titan seems wrong - I'm not entirely sure why. I've seen WWII tanks painted up in totally novel paint schemes for use in an imaginary game setting - and this to me is quite jarring.
Do look good
Nice mix, looking good
It's odd, isn't it, how colour choices break things in your brain?!
Seeing captured 109's in RAF schemes, or captured Spits in Luftwaffle schemes is a brain bending moment!
And landsknecte with Ogres is very Warhammer so feels fine, but marching alongside the Terrasque is wierd, for sure.
But why shouldn't the clerics/wizards/geomancers summon fantasy-Godzilla, and your kingdom even reference that in their heraldry and uniform?
Thanks mmcv and Kermit ;)
QuoteIt's odd, isn't it, how colour choices break things in your brain?!
Seeing captured 109's in RAF schemes, or captured Spits in Luftwaffle schemes is a brain bending moment!
And landsknecte with Ogres is very Warhammer so feels fine, but marching alongside the Terrasque is wierd, for sure.
But why shouldn't the clerics/wizards/geomancers summon fantasy-Godzilla, and your kingdom even reference that in their heraldry and uniform?
Indeed why shouldn't they. I think it is interesting that for Fantasy and Sci Fi we have our own internal constraints and feel of what is right or what is allowable. I think with some of the GW models they have such a strong place in their system's mythos that moving them out of that is often jarring as too many people see them for their intended role. Some of the Ancient Greek monsters seem much more portable between settings perhaps as they have been used and re-used so many times over history.
Sharp Practise 2 - First Game
One of my gaming buds had bought Sharp Practise so we want to play a game of it! I'd been tempted by the Peninsular range when it launched, and had painted up a few units for Rebels and Patriots (the horse and musket variant of Lion Rampant). These units where close to what is needed for SP2, so we were able to get a game sorted fairly quickly.
The main difference on unit size is that R&P uses 12s, whereas SP2 uses multiples of 8, but 3x8 and 2x12 are both 24 so it wasn't a big problem. Also SP2 needs more leaders than R&P which did mean a bit of re-basing and shuffling around.
Generally 1 pack of Pendraken figures gets you a unit in SP2 - although for cavalry you do need a couple more figures.
On to the game.
British forces (me) had 12 riflemen with a Level 3 leader, and a Level 1 sergeant, and a 16 man line infantry unit with a level 2 leader.
The dastardly French had a 24 man line infantry unit, with a Level 3 leader, and a Level 1 sergeant, who they choose to deploy as 2 x 12 men. And a 16 man Dragoon unit with a Level 2 leader
The French choose the far side of the table as I had setup the terrain. Deployment points were randomly assigned to thirds of the table by the scenario. The French in the middle, the British on the right.
Activation in SP2 is card based, with each leader having an activation card, along with 4 command cards, which can be used for a variety of things, which included 2 to activate a unit directly, and 4 to give a bonus activation to a leader. There is an end-of turn card too, with command cards being able to be used to activate any units that haven't activated at this time.
The French activated first and started deploying their infantry in line behind the villa. The British Rifles deployed - as trained skirmishers, and being equipped with rifles (rather than muskets) they get a lot of special rules. The first is they get to deploy 12" from the DP, rather than 6" for other infantry.
The French Dragoons deployed to the right of their DP (as cavalry they are able to deploy further)
The rifles made advantage of their bonus movement as skirmishers and their 1 Command Card bonus movement to move 3d6" into the village and take up firing positions. The French lines struggled forward.
The British Line infantry deployed to the right flank.
The Dragoons moved rapidly to the right
The first volley from the Rifles caused a lot of damage to the slowly advance French line troops, including wounding their Leader
The French Dragoons had moved pretty quickly to the right hand side, and then were able to charge through the wood, to attack the British Line. This seemed a little odd, but we let it play through, for a future check of the rules. After working through the long table of dice adds and subtractions we ended up as a fairly even fight. With fairly even results - the French lost by 1 casualty and had to withdraw back to the other side of the wood.
(https://i.imgur.com/ulgpD9i.jpg)
The Rifles moved around the village and shot up the Dragoons milling around in the open. Adding a lot of shock but few casualties.
Throughout the game the rifles took good advantage of their extra movement, and made good use of the Sharp Practice special ability, which lets them reload for two command cards (given they have rifles which take two actions to reload, this was really useful).
The second French line unit made much better progress up to the tree line, than the first one, which continually rolled low for movement.
The British concentrated their fire on the Dragoons, driving them back, and putting on a lot of shock if not that many more casualties (this was down to dice rolls as I stopped getting sixes).
This kept giving the French rolls on the 'When Bad Things Happen' table which caused a steady reduction in morale.
The second French infantry unit got into firing position but at long range vs the Rifles in cover they were pretty ineffectual. And the return fire from both British units really started to cut them down.
(https://i.imgur.com/6FNNlHt.jpg)
In the end a decisive British victory from a morale perspective, with the British being at 10, only having lost 1, and the French down to 0.
Overall
Probably mixed feelings.
There are a lot of rules to SP2 - so not sure we got everything right - but I think we played most key things as written.
The French player didn't make great use of command cards. Then again as the British player I mainly used them for 'Sharp Practice' The command cards have a lot of uses, so I think it will take practice to become familiar with these and use them at the right time
Movement is quite slow - at 1d6 per activation - knowing when to use options to improve this is important. Early game a Level 3 leader can get his men to run, which generates 1 shock, but he has enough command initiatives to rally this straight off.
The sergeant with my Rifles did nothing all game - he would have been more useful with the line infantry, where he could have rallied some shock off. Not sure if this was just happenstance for this game or not.
Rifles armed skirmishers are very good - but they are very expensive points wise, twice the cost of line infantry unit, and smaller too. But their mobility and range offsets them being outnumbered. They are very good in R&P too - perhaps better than in SP2.
A nice, interesting AAR. Thanks.
I do NOT need another period/ set of rules/ pile of figures to paint
I don't need another period/ set of rules/ pile of figures to paint
I probably don't need another period/ set of rules/ pile of figures to paint
I possibly don't need another period/ set of rules/ pile of figures to paint
I quite fancy another period/ set of rules/ pile of figures to paint
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
QuoteA nice, interesting AAR. Thanks.
I do NOT need another period/ set of rules/ pile of figures to paint
I don't need another period/ set of rules/ pile of figures to paint
I probably don't need another period/ set of rules/ pile of figures to paint
I possibly don't need another period/ set of rules/ pile of figures to paint
I quite fancy another period/ set of rules/ pile of figures to paint
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Thanks!
I know what you mean - I've avoided painting & collecting Naps for 30+ years - yet these figures called out to me. And I've really enjoyed painting them - but I can't really see me painting armies for this period. But skirmish forces give you the freedom to paint up all sorts of different units. You won't use them on the same table, but does avoid the need to paint up dozens of battalions of line infantry!
Quote from: Ithoriel on 25 September 2022, 12:02:08 PMA nice, interesting AAR. Thanks.
I do NOT need another period/ set of rules/ pile of figures to paint
I don't need another period/ set of rules/ pile of figures to paint
I probably don't need another period/ set of rules/ pile of figures to paint
I possibly don't need another period/ set of rules/ pile of figures to paint
I quite fancy another period/ set of rules/ pile of figures to paint
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Oh yes you do......
QuoteI know what you mean - I've avoided painting & collecting Naps for 30+ years - yet these figures called out to me. And I've really enjoyed painting them - but I can't really see me painting armies for this period. But skirmish forces give you the freedom to paint up all sorts of different units. You won't use them on the same table, but does avoid the need to paint up dozens of battalions of line infantry!
Aye, no interest in Naps from me for ~20 years, but now I suddenly find myself being attracted (thank you, C.S.Forester) just as the new Valour & Fortitude rules appear.
Your game looks very good.
I'd be interested to see more write ups like this.
I've read through the Sharpe Practice rules:
Interesting, and very similar to Chain of Command from the same publisher.
Struggling to really visualise play, I found 4 (maybe more) videoed play throughs with rules explained.
This really helps to understand what's going on.
I did leave the videos with the impression that it's all about the skirmish troops.
In each case, small agile companies of skirmishers danced around bigger units of formed troops and nibbled them to death like gunpowder piranhas.
The formed troops never quite seemed able to muster the facing and commands to deliver the crashing volley they needed.
This left me a bit reticent to buy and paint 2 more armies, when the games might prove rather samey.
QuoteYour game looks very good.
Thanks Raider
QuoteI'd be interested to see more write ups like this.
I've read through the Sharpe Practice rules:
Interesting, and very similar to Chain of Command from the same publisher.
Struggling to really visualise play, I found 4 (maybe more) videoed play throughs with rules explained.
This really helps to understand what's going on.
I did leave the videos with the impression that it's all about the skirmish troops.
In each case, small agile companies of skirmishers danced around bigger units of formed troops and nibbled them to death like gunpowder piranhas.
The formed troops never quite seemed able to muster the facing and commands to deliver the crashing volley they needed.
This left me a bit reticent to buy and paint 2 more armies, when the games might prove rather samey.
Thanks Steve. I too struggled to find a good video explaining the game - but the ones I did see helped me think about things I had read. Many of the Lardie games have common elements. The big difference to CoC is the cards vs the dice for activation, with CoC giving the player a bit more choice. But the command cards do change this (and in this way they are similar to If the Lord Spares Us). But command initiatives are common between SP and CoC.
Will be interesting to see how other games go, skirmishers seem to be good from this first one. But they are low on numbers so a couple of good volleys will cause them problems. It is worth noting that in Rebels and Patriots 95th Rifles were very strong too.
Full Spectrum Dominance
Played a new set of rules this week - FSD - which is still in beta. But even for a beta it is very polished and well presented set of rules - there is clearly a lot of graphic design talent within the team producing the rules.
We played with The Tech vs the Enlisted using the 'Until the Last Bit' scenario, where there are three comms towers across the middle of the table, that need capturing and controlling - the middle one can be destroyed to end the game early. There are also 4 other one-time objectives.
For the Tech we used Epic Tau models, and for the Enlisted, the Imperial Guard - and those proxies probably give a good flavour of the two lists. Using typical 60pt forces. First impression is that you don't get many models on the table! As a first game we focused on units and only went with 2 or 3 characters or support options each. We used 1DU = 10cm, which is slightly longer than the recommended 1DU = 3" for 6mm models on 1" bases - but makes the maths much easier!
The activation mechanic is key to the game - you get 8d6 which you use to both activate units, and to operate their special abilities (mostly more powerful shooting). This activation mechanism is similar to Saga - but without the need for special dice!
Some units have a Command ability which lets them activate other units that are close by. The Enlisted have a special army rule that lets them do this in a cascading format - which we missed, as well as thinking the command range was shorter - so we definitely short-changed the Enlisted here.
(https://i.imgur.com/vJVKRuS.jpg)
The three buildings with the blue domed roofs are the main objectives, the blue beads are the secondary ones. This is around the end of turn 1, both sides have deployed their unit and moved them up into cover - neither side trying to get an objective yet.
Troops deploy in Waves - in this scenario it is 30 pts (50%) on turn 1, then a further 10pts each turn. So you can see that half a force isn't that many troops - certainly not compared with Epic. Unit cards can be seen at the back, where they have dice these are marked against a special ability.
In turn 2 I managed to control the right hand tower, which gain me 1 victory card, and then as I held the most objectives s (1-0) I got a second victory card. Victory cards are interesting (in a good way) in FSD most have two options, a hold the card and get 3-5 VPs, and a second option that lets you do something rule-breaking in the game, but then you only get 0-2 VPs. This is a good mechanism.
I also lost one of my stronger Mechs in this turn when it advanced to the middle objective and took out a tank with its Power Fist - but then was counter charged by infantry who through some lucky dice rolls killed it. On further reading of the rules the infantry should have had a better chance as they were effectively in Close Combat range, so this was probably a much more likely result than we first thought.
Turn 3 so a lot of shooting from both sides - we found that infantry in hard cover at long range, are well protected from other infantry fire. But the high powered shooting of major units can blast them out pretty effectively. A Soft Target special rule has been introduced to counter this - but I've not seen which units get this. I managed to grab the right hand tower - which gave me a victory card for claiming it, and another for having the most objectives. At this point I was up 4-0 on victory cards.
(https://i.imgur.com/X1HWAEn.jpg)
This is around turn 4 - in the foreground is my Gun Platform - this was a very tough unit, with strong shooting too (this unit has been seriously nerfed in the next version of the rules) Just on the left hand edge of the photo is my Thales Fighter which was very strong offensively - as it can roll 6d8 for its rocket attacks or 4d8 for shooting with ignore cover.
In the centre the main objective tower was contested - and even though my infantry were in the open the Enlisted couldn't bring enough firepower to bear on them to kill them (they also had very good armour as droids - a d10 IIRC).
At this point I used one of my Victory cards to cancel the activation of the Enlisted's general - this character can activate a lot of units, and gets to roll 4 activation dice - so this really brought the enlisted's turn to a bit of a grinding halt. Given where I was with victory cards it seemed worth the 2 VPs.
The Enlisted managed to capture the left hand tower after bringing a tank round and killing off my droids on that flank and capturing a secondary objective. But on the left the Tech were dominant, capturing the town (getting a secondary objective as part of this), and killing a couple of tanks - this let them put lots of pressure on the central objective that remained contested.
At this point the unit count was very much in the Tech's favour, so we called the game at the end of turn 5, as it was getting late.
Overall FSD is a very interesting game - as a player you certainly need to think and plan - the start of each turn tended to take a while as we looked at our activation dice and worked out where they would be useful, and which we might want to re-roll. There is an AD pool of 12, but you only get 8 new each turn - trying to save a few on cards over turns is important, but limits what you can do in that turn - an interesting decision point.
The Enlisted felt a lot weaker than the Tech - the Tech seemed to roll a lot of d10s, the Tech lots of d6s and d8s. We did make a mess of the Enlisted's special rule around command - which would have freed up AD for them.
We weren't sure about the way the scenario awarded VPs - as it seemed that getting extra cards for controlling the most objectives each turn, quickly snowballed - but perhaps there is a need to contest objectives to prevent the opponent from doing this - we did get the objective control rules wrong to start with - as we thought infantry need an action to control an objective, but that is only the case for vehicles and mechs.
The core shooting and save mechanic is straight forward and makes sense straight away.
Certainly interested in playing again - gives a much more thinky and tactical game than Epic - but on the flip side you get far fewer models on the table - this was probably 10% (at most) of each of the armies we have.
A unit builder would be good to be able to build forces for the existing Epic armies we have (Marines, Squats and Tyranids) Tau, IG and Orks probably map to the 3 factions that already exist.
Sharp Practice - second game
Got the Napoleonic figures out again this week - with a new French victim, sorry player!
Used the same forces as the first game, the British with 2 groups of 95th Rifles, and 2 groups of Line Infantry - a compact but powerful force. The French had 4 groups of line infantry, which were split into 2 formations, and 2 groups of Dragoons. Both sides had the same leaders, 1 each of level 3, 2 and 1.
They scenario was one where the French had to sweep up the table to capture some livestock to replenish their provisions. The British had to disrupt them. The British deployment was delayed - each time their senior leader's card was drawn 2d6 were rolled, and once a cumulative total of 14 was reached then British leaders could start to deploy off their cards.
(https://i.imgur.com/6gDBVyj.jpg)
The French deploy getting all 3 of their leader cards drawn and as their were no British on the table, they get a 6" bonus deployment distance.
(https://i.imgur.com/TymweSB.jpg)
The French continue to sweep forward (well other than on the right). They had 4 command cards available to were able to conduct a second activation in the centre with their senior leader. I was fortunate with the delayed advance mechanism with my senior leader card coming out in both the first turns, and rolling double 6 on the first pull. So my line infantry have deployed on to the table.
(https://i.imgur.com/0bPHXEK.jpg)
Things started to happen in this turn. The French secured the goats in the right hand farm, and in the main village, with the infantry their deploying to the front of the village. The Dragoons moved past the goats by the church going for the chickens by the wood - but didn't quite get there.
The 95th Rifles detachment deployed - initially behind the wood, then moving to the gap to engage the Dragoons - causing a few casualties - but enough to make their commander pull them back. The British infantry eventually made it to the front of the wood, after a number of very poor movement rolls. They took a volley from the French which wasn't as effective as it could have been.
(https://i.imgur.com/HJBDHf8.jpg)
The 95th were able to get another round of shooting off agains the Dragoons, who moved into the wood to get out of LoS. A random event was generated which saw the 95th obscured by the smoke from their own firing. The British in the wood and the French in the village exchanged more fire, but to low effect. The other French infantry moved up to the village.
(https://i.imgur.com/c2pxAaK.jpg)
The 95th made use of their extra movement (and possibly a command card) to redeploy round the wood. The Dragoons came back out of the wood to capture the chickens...
In the centre casualties were accumulating on the French, but due to the hard cover weren't taking much shock, they weren't getting their commander's card drawn so weren't shooting back too much. The second French infantry unit moved around the village.
(https://i.imgur.com/WGwiFgH.jpg)
I took a bold move with the 95th to move to the side of the village, right near the French to further shoot up the Dragoons in the open - this was effective causing casualties and shock forcing them to fall back (although they were happy enough with this as they pulled back with their chickens!)
(https://i.imgur.com/GRUyGAU.jpg)
The 95th continued their bold endeavours and charged the depleted French in the village - and smashed them! The couple of survivors retreated back away. This had quite an impact on french force morale.
The second French infantry unit was faffing about moving back over the wall. whilst the Dragoons snagged the goats, and continued to fall back.
(https://i.imgur.com/lkqAagU.jpg)
The British advance, the French retreat with their loot. The shack in the farm caught fire from the French musketry (another random event)
(https://i.imgur.com/7CKJyeB.jpg)
The British continue to advance, routing the last Frenchman from the central force. The French captain was able to join the other unit, as they continue to fall back. The Dragoons had fallen back off table.
The French had recovered 3 lots of provisions - and need to roll equal or under this number to have captured sufficient for their needs - naturally they choose this moment to roll a 6! French force morale was down to 2, the British where still at their starting 10.
A very different scenario - to start with it was all going the French way, with good deployment and rapid movement to secure the provisions. But the British shooting was just far more effective than the French. The British have the Sharp Practice special rule which lets a unit reload for two command cards - this is great for the Rifles who would normally take 2 actions to reload. This keeps up their rate of fire, which is more effective than that of musket armed infantry.
The Rifles are expensive - twice the cost of Line Infantry, and for 2 fewer men. But they are so effective with a suite of special rules. I've got some more British troops painted - but am waiting on bases - so hopefully in the next game can try something different - and now have enough French to hopefully mix up their forces a bit too.
:-bd =D> :-bd
Thanks Paul
Cracking game there! One of those sets of rules that I feel you need to play often to really get the nuances to allow you to get the most out of the game.
Thanks Steve. Yes SP does feel it needs some playing, and then re-reading of the rules to get on top of it.
Still not sure how much more it offers over the simpler Rebels and Patriots - but will continue with SP for now, as we have the hang of the core mechanics. It is the effective use of the command cards which feels harder for the French player, for the British player using them in pairs for Sharp Practice (free reload) is the obvious use.
Just shows the range of the Napoleonic period. You have 30-40 figures and a great game; my latest had about 900 figures per side and as a game has a totally different feel.
Very true - I might have scraped 80 figures on the table - but its still a tiny fraction of your game!
I've avoid Napoleonics as a period for several decades - not really sure why - as way back when I was still just playing with toy soldiers (rather than using rules to play with toy soldiers, a subtle but important distinction) I had Napoleonic Britains figures and a friend's dad had a big collection of Napoleonic Ospreys and figures (I have no idea if he gamed with them or just painted - they always seemed rather off limits to us kids). But once I started gaming, it was Fantasy and WWII that interested me.
So its only recently that I've started buying and painting Naps (largely on the back of the Pendraken Peninsular range) and I'm enjoying painting small units of around 15 to 30 figures - not least as this lets me paint different units, and I'm not getting bogged down in 100s of line infantry that need painting.
But I do like a big game - tends to be Fantasy ones with our group where we all have very large collections of figures. But WWII and Sci Fi can also let us get a lot of models on the table.
Pendraken order dispatch email :D :D 8)
QuotePendraken order dispatch email :D :D 8)
Order arrived today! Yeah!!
Forgot to take an unboxing photo - so some organising gone on already
(https://i.imgur.com/LLyfDnJ.jpg)
And a WIP photo
(https://i.imgur.com/TZal7Eo.jpg)
Excellent, always good to see a package arrive safely!
Blimey that's fast work Fred - looks like 6 painting sticks worth of stuff largely painted up on the day it arrives ;)
QuoteExcellent, always good to see a package arrive safely!
Indeed was a bit worried with the postal strikes - even survived the postie putting it through the letter box, as daughter was later to college today so hadn't unlocked the porch
QuoteBlimey that's fast work Fred - looks like 6 painting sticks worth of stuff largely painted up on the day it arrives ;)
;D What's the phrase - 'here's one I prepared earlier'
Got a good number of figures based this afternoon- it is a time consuming process - it's taken around 2 hrs to do these (around 125 figures)
(https://i.imgur.com/LGG6Fty.jpg)
Harfoots and Istari? :)
Or Old West and Peninsular War?
Very nice, whatever.
QuoteHarfoots and Istari? :)
Or Old West and Peninsular War?
Very nice, whatever.
Much as the first idea appeals, the second is much closer (along with a few Zulus who were painted an age ago but not based)
Peninsular Portuguese and Spanish
Got some photos taken this afternoon, first up Spanish Guerrillas
(https://i.imgur.com/WXnhWDI.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/v5zDUKR.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/RZFFNJr.jpg)
Portuguese Cacadores
(https://i.imgur.com/8G9fG5r.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/rzcpHJk.jpg)
Dammit! I can see me wanting to get some Portuguese now. >:( I have a weakness for a well turned Cacadore. :-[
Very nice figures.
:-bd =D> :-bd
Thanks both.
fsn you know you need some Portuguese- I've got some line infantry to add to these, though I have some more cavalry to paint up first
Peninsular French
I've also expanded my French forces, first up Dragoons - still need to paint a few more of these to fit with Sharp Practice's 8 man groups. Would also be good to have some dismounted figures, but I can't spot any appropriate ones.
(https://i.imgur.com/m7Lnu5Q.jpg)
Line Infantry - 3 groups of 8 - I've got another 8 still to paint, no idea why they didn't get painted with these ones
(https://i.imgur.com/ZmQD9Bh.jpg)
A reprise of the Voltigeiur
(https://i.imgur.com/4hq5bZ5.jpg)
The whole French force
(https://i.imgur.com/wMtLerx.jpg)
Next up for the French are some Hussars, as well as a few extras for the above.
Its certainlydifferent, but like it! 8)
I see some nice looking Peninsular buildings in the background as well!
QuoteIts certainlydifferent, but like it! 8)
Slightly confused by this comment Will!
QuoteI see some nice looking Peninsular buildings in the background as well!
Indeed! Although only half-painted so just lurking in the background as set dressing for now
Just used to seeing ordered ranks of Napoleonics,nice to see a different take on a unit.
QuoteJust used to seeing ordered ranks of Napoleonics,nice to see a different take on a unit.
The basing started with Rebels and Patriots and its 3,2, 1 style basing, which I really liked the look of, and the chunky feel of the 3 model cavalry units.
It's carried over fine to SP2. Most of the photos of SP games show single based figures on round bases, then on rectangular movement trays. I've not got round to movement trays - not even sure they are needed.
Peninsular British
Last batch of photos of the current finish troops, the good old British red coats (and green)
(https://i.imgur.com/JfgAYUp.jpg)
Light Infantry - flank company
(https://i.imgur.com/Det3gsZ.jpg)
Not sure when they will use their colours in Sharp Practice but had the flags and the figure, so why not!
Casualty markers
(https://i.imgur.com/NWbDWHg.jpg)
Dragoon Guards
(https://i.imgur.com/gd8UdV6.jpg)
I'm gathering that by this point British Dragoons where Dragoons in name only, and really didn't want to dismount.
Senior Officers
(https://i.imgur.com/Eob4JQj.jpg)
All the troops - including the 95th Rifles painted up some time ago
(https://i.imgur.com/L8ZFO1S.jpg)
Work in Progress
Got a couple of colours added tonight- first painting in about a week
(https://i.imgur.com/CZeQr15.jpg)
Lovely Fred, look forwards to seeing them in action. 8)
Thanks Will
A question for the group - are there any figures for dismounted French Dragoons?
Dismounted French Dragoons, there were(?) I have some for my 1870 French but I thought there were from the WWI figures, but now don't see them there.
(https://39.cdn.ekm.net/ekmps/shops/89204c/images/-n-f33-n-dismounted-dragoons-15-2995-dv-p.jpg?v=2E205C6E-CE00-47C7-A81F-089E97922395)
Are you thinking of F33? WWI French dismounted dragoons?
Yes, that's it.
I have those in my WWI French army - do you think they work for 1810?
The jackets seem a lot simpler than the Napoleonic era ones
Maybe. They worked for 1870.
Found my dismounted WWI dragoons. They will be close enough I think. I'd painted mine with helmet covers to match the mounted ones.
But the website photos have them in shiny helmets. The helmets don't have quite as big a point to the crest - which might be noticeable. The figures have an ammo pouch on their back which is good.
And cuffs and facings can just be painted in.
Unless anyone has found anything else in a range these will do.
Just catching up here, great stuff, loving the peninsular troops.
Christmas Books
I got a good few wargaming related books for Christmas (Amazon wishlist makes this easy, and if I remember to add things early enough they can even be a bit of a surprise!)
(https://i.imgur.com/OWg5rZX.jpg)
Some inspiration for expanding our WWI games Eastwards - perhaps influenced by the upcoming new Russo-Japanese war figures...
Xenos Rampant - this is a very impressive book - much bigger than the blue book Rampant games. Not had much chance to read it yet (nor any of the others)
Ooh, let us know how you get on with the Mike Lambo book.
I've looked at those before, but not yet committed any funds.
QuoteOoh, let us know how you get on with the Mike Lambo book.
I've looked at those before, but not yet committed any funds.
Will do - they get good reviews - but only had a quick flick through yesterday. I'm not sure if I will play them as counter games directly from the books, or using figures and terrain. The first will be quicker to put together, but the second will be more pleasing visually.
Ooo, another Xenos Rampant! Osprey must be taking it in on those :)
I really want to get mine read and get on Table, a fine choice :)
Big Fantasy Game - Dogs of War vs Lizardmen
Just some initial photos - might do more of a bat rep tomorrow
(https://i.imgur.com/6CAlj7d.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/LP47f2c.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/fFavELw.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/Pb94euD.jpg)
Was great to get the fantasy figures out on the table again, they haven't had too many outings recently.
Love it. Warmaster rules?
QuoteLove it. Warmaster rules?
Indeed it does :D
Superb looking game. Looking forward to an AAR if you can manage one.
QuoteLove it. Warmaster rules?
Thanks. A Warmaster variant with double sized units, and just one round of combat - generally speeds things up and removes a lot of the melee fiddlyness
Had 2v2 players, each with a 4k army. Started setting up around 10, and finished by 3. Including a break for lunch. Good to get in a longer game.
QuoteIndeed it does :D
Superb looking game. Looking forward to an AAR if you can manage one.
I see what you did there!
Thanks - good to fill the table with toys!
:-bd =D> :-bd
Empire Rebasing and new Ogres
Been doing some rebasing of my GW Warmaster Empire figures recently- moving from 40x20mm bases to 40x40mm ones. Mostly this has been pretty straightforward as the strips of figures come off pretty easily. Also took the opportunity to tidy up paint and make units a bit more consistent.
These are the latest batch - mainly artillery and another unit of Halberdiers
(https://i.imgur.com/y2Q1gvu.jpg)
Blackgate Ogres
Got another 3 stands of these guys painted up - thought they might be needed for the game earlier this week but I already had plenty of expensive troops!
(https://i.imgur.com/lAhZhTG.jpg)
I do like these figures and there were quick to paint up so I really should get on with the remaining few.
Tasty! The halberds look great en mass, and the snow on the Ogres is a nice touch :)
QuoteTasty! The halberds look great en mass, and the snow on the Ogres is a nice touch :)
Thanks - I'm pleased with how the halberdiers look like this - its not really any different to how there were, but it seems to work better!
I don't recall why my Ogre army is snow based, but it does give them a good look
Lovely job Forbes
Quote from: fred. on 30 December 2022, 06:38:04 PMThanks - I'm pleased with how the halberdiers look like this - its not really any different to how there were, but it seems to work better!
I don't recall why my Ogre army is snow based, but it does give them a good look
Yeah, something about snow basing makes it pop nicely!
Halberds - I think it's just the sheet *heft* of the unit!
Summary of 2022
I don't often write these - but inspired by a few others' recaps, I have had a look through what I did in the year, not least to remind myself what happened this year.
Gaming
This is been fairly regular for much of the year, with Friday evenings continuing to be the standard gaming slot. There was a bit of break in the summer due to holidays and then being ill with Covid. I did manage to host 3 full-day games, which is good and its always nice to be able to play a bigger game without worrying about needing to finish for a time. Feels that this year I have hosted far more games, I'm only seeing photos from a couple of games I went to, which is unusual. Games have been a mix of remote and in-person. Most games have been 2-3 people with few 4 player ones, and I don't think any larger ones - which all feels a Covid legacy.
Rules & Periods
O Group - battalion level WWII rules probably - these were the most played rules of the year, with most of the games being France 1940 ones following the campaign supplement. These were new rules that took a bit of getting into, but once we understood them they flow well and give a good WWII feel to the game. Probably the only negative is that they give a fairly small game - and I have loads of WWII models to get on the table. No great painting done (or needed for WWII) mainly rebasing of figures to provide patrol markers and MGs on smaller bases. Whilst it was good to get the French on the table, there are so many more WWII figures sat in boxes awating a game. Thinking about some more Rommel perhaps, or back to BKC just to allow big games.
If the Lord Spares Us - WWI divisional level rules. Only got one outing this year after a lot of play in 2021. Have been looking at Russian figures, either WWI or RCW, and my mate has painted up late war French so I think these will get more table time in 2023
Fistful of Lead - Cowboy Skrimish (28mm) - this hasn't had too many outings this year but we got a couple of linked games in late in the year. We had been looking at these as a generic skirmish set - and I have most of the rules, but we haven't got the fantasy or Sci Fi games on the table.
Sharpe Practice - Napoleonic large skimish game. With the new Peninsular figures arriving and getting painted a set of rules was needed. I had played a bit of Rebels and Patriots, but it didn't really grip in any great way. So we gave Sharpe Practice a go - its large skirmish with 3-4 units on a side, each reperesenting around a platoon. Gave some very interesting and evocative games. I got a lot more figures painted to give more options on the table. After having avoided Napoleonics for decades I've really enjoyed dipping my toe in with this project. Also got a lot of buildings painted up.
For King and Parliament - English Civil War army level game. In looking back over photos of games, I realised that I had played quite a few game of FKaP this year. We played a number from a fictional scenario book, and a big all day game of Edgehill too. FKaP allways gives a fun game, which can often be over quite quickly - or in the case of our last 4 player game take for ever due to the inability of either of the infantry commanders to inflict casualties on the enemy! Painted up a couple more units for this period, but no great painting progress.
Irregular Wars - IW is a Renaissance era small battle ruleset and has been a long-time favourite - it gets plus points for quick setup and flexibility of forces. I now have lots of figures that can be used for these rules as well as others. This tended to be used as a pick-up game when we hadn't planned properly! Painting wise got a number of units painted up - mainly European ones, Adventurers or Irregulars, and Prates / Ships crews. Which are useful units to round out a number of forces.
Fantasy - allways a core 'period' for me with multiple armies painted up, and others waiting in the painting queue. We tried a couple of new rulesets, but while some of them seemed promising to start with we found holes in them fairly quickly. Towards the end of the year we have revisited Warmaster - with a tweaked version and played a couple of big games with those rules. Which seem to work pretty well. Which is good as getting these armies back on the table will be good. Painted up quite a lot of my Warmonger Landsknechts which are very nice figures and have been languishing in the lead pile for too long. Lots of rebasing done primarily of my Empire troops to move them over to 40x40mm bases for both WM XL and Hordes of War.
Sci-Fi - lots of different things tried in this 'period'.
Kill Team skirmish game were played early on, I do like this as a system, a definite improvement from v1 of the rules. And plenty of detail to the army lists.
Full Spectrum Dominance - played the beta of this - I quite enjoyed the game and looking forward to the full version being published soon. I'd probably like more models on the table but definitely an intersting game.
Epic Varient - I think only one big game of Epic in the year, but always good to get the table filled with tiny Sci-fi tanks!
Star Wars - using Mantic Firefight rules and 3d printed models - a mate's project that I got to play - seems to work pretty well and great to see two entirely new armies on the table
That was a longer and more varied list than I was expecting!
I think Napoleonics in the Penninsular would count as the major project of the year, both from the amount of figures painted, and the number of games played.
But behind that there are a number jostling for runner-up spot. And writing up the above as reminded me of a few that only got the odd run-out. And there were some games like In Her Majesties Name that despite buying the updated rules, and additional figures for never even got close to the table.
Not sure what will be a focus for 2023.
WWI Russia certianly seems likely. More WWI games - and painting up more of the figures I have. More WWII games, more Fantasy games. More time for gaming!
By Milady's dimpled ankle! That's a lot of games!
QuoteBy Milady's dimpled ankle! That's a lot of games!
It does seem that way when listed out all together! I wonder if I have done more gaming than painting this year? It's hard to compare them.
QuoteHalberds - I think it's just the sheet *heft* of the unit!
Realised I hadn't shared this photo of my Empire army - which was pre the recent rebasing. Had to do a bit of a count up and realised the army had grown!
(https://i.imgur.com/By6PuqH.jpg)
Quote(https://i.imgur.com/By6PuqH.jpg)
Oh my, that's an impressive size!
On the re-basing - the artillery certainly looks much better on the 40x40 bases.
:o just a few then ;)
:-bd =D> :-bd
Thanks both - feel I should do some actual counting of figures - as I have no idea how many figures make up this army. There are around 350 halberdiers for starters...