Scots for Impetus Baroque and A Happy New Year!

These are from my on going Impetus Baroque ECW upgrade project I've been working on and talked about a couple posts ago here. This time they are Scots to compliment the English I already finished.

After the AHPC is finished I hope to get back onto this project again as I would really like to get a game in, but still short a few units. So other then a few small things for this I doubt I'll be back onto upgrading units until after March.

I would say 2017 was a moderately successful year with activity in the beginning and end but not much in between so I'm hoping 2018 will be more consistent in terms of painting and yes more gaming would also be nice.:-)

Goals for 2018:

-Complete enough F&IW figures for M&T and Sharp Practice
-Play some more Chain of Command both WWII and SCW
-Add to my SCW collection
-Finish the ECW upgrade project for Impetus Baroque
-Work on my Goths
-Start my Romano- British
-Get back onto my ACW project
-Add some more units to my AWI for some BP Rebellion scenario's
-Add more units to my Spanish Reconquista project for Impetus
- More terrain for North America and Spain

As always that list can easily change, but as of now that's what I'd like to see happen.

I wish everyone a very Happy New Year and may 2018 be a great year in the hobby!

Thanks for viewing!
Miniature company- TAG, Bicorne, Renegade

Spanish house and Merry Christmas!

I've started on my collection of Spanish buildings for my SCW project and needed to work out the color scheme template for the rest of the buildings.

I'm quite pleased with how it's turned out and look forward to getting started on the others. The paints I used were mostly craft paints with some Foundry and Vallejo as well plus my trusty MIG pigments.

This building is from GrandManner which is my favorite terrain building manufacturer as I just really like the style he does them in. Also they come with removable roofs which is very nice so you can place your figures in and build alternate roofing if you wish to get a different look. They come with a price tag, but I'm willing to pay for it. I'll also add buildings from other manufactures and maybe even do some of my own, but will for sure have a healthy amount of GrandManner.

Of  course I can use these buildings for other periods like Naps if I ever I do them which making terrain that works for this does add some motivation and even regions like Italy for say Italian Wars or WWII and even southern US/Mexico with some roof adaptations here and there.

The AHPC here is coming up soon and this year terrain will be allowed which I'm quite pleased about as I plan on entering some more Spanish buildings in it. I've always wanted terrain in the challenge, but were not allowed until now which is great!

If I don't get another post in before Christmas I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas to you and all your love ones and may your stockings be filled with lead!

Thanks foe viewing!
Miniature Company- GrandManner

Goths vs Romans a SAGA report

Well a report is bit of a stretch, but I had a SAGA game a few weeks ago with Nick using the Aetius and Arthur supplement. I took my Goths vs his Romans and a very fine game it was! The game was pretty close, but in the end the Goths managed to prevail. The pictures are not the very best as I'm still trying to come to grips with my camera plus I do need to add further lights in my room so as to light up the table evenly without darker sections. I only snapped some pictures from the early portion of the game and forgot to take more during the heat of battle, but should give you an idea the game itself.

The Romans!

The Goths!

So far we really enjoy Aetius and Arthur as we find the armies really well balanced and have enjoyed all the games so far.

As for some news I had a chance to play my first games of Sharp Practice at Crisis and Chain of command with Nick yesterday at my home and was just blown away by both systems!! So expect future projects in both of these!! Also I have more Baroque units I'll be posting soon, but must admit finding it hard to stay focused on that as I want to do some other things.

Thanks for viewing!

More ECW English for Baraque

The blues are here!

Just completed the upgrade renovations(skin, wood, straps,stocks, flags, basing etc.) on 4 new English regiments ready to go of my ECW project I acquired and talked about last post here. Also, added some more work to the uniforms here and there to round things out. This will bring my English up to 11 regiments of foot.  Again some rather quick pics, but I feel they turned out a bit better then the last sets.

Darker Blues

They are flying Rupert's royalist colors, but honestly I'll use them as needed depending on the game as other then the flags many units looked very similar from both sides up until the New model army arrived to give more distinction.

Lighter Blues

I'm really hoping to have the ECW renovations finished before the year is out as I'm pretty eager to try the game out. Some plastic Warlord got in the mix this time, but admit I really do prefer the metals of the others!

I have noticed several people coming back to the blogs which is nice!

I'll be moving on to the Scots foot blocks of units so get ready for some hodden gray and blue folks!:-My second post in a month I must be on a roll!:-)

Thanks for viewing!
Miniature Company- Bicorne, Renegade, TAG, Warlord 

Baraque ECW and Crisis

I'll be there for the first time and I hope to see many of you as well!

As any of my regular readers will know my blog has gone quite for awhile....well pretty much the whole summer in fact. I've been blogging for over 9 years now and while I've not been prolific I have been consistent with one or two posts a month on average, but for some reason I just ran out of gas. I expect things will return to normal. I haven't been completely idle and have been painting here and there, but just couldn't be bothered with taking pictures and writing things up I guess. I'll post some of the other painted projects I've done later.

Anyhow I thought I should share at least some of what I've been doing. While I still don't feel like setting up some studio pictures I thought I would show a progress report of a sort so the pictures were just quick ones without proper lighting, but still give one an idea of the project.

I'm advancing in years and have settled on the fact that I'm a slow painter and will just never be able to finish all the projects I want to do, so some compromises will need to be made if I want to see a particular period hit the table.  A few months ago a nicely painted ECW collection came up for sale at a very reasonable price and since I've been burning to play the new Impetus Baroque rules, but lacked the armies to do so I decided this was a opportunity not to be missed and purchased the collection. The collection consisted of both a complete English army and Scots army numbering some 600+ infantry 40 Cavalry, some artillery, commanders and a number of blisters of unpainted figures!

Lots of figures!

Upon receiving the package I was happy with what I purchased, but knew I would need to change a few things and put a little work into the figures to get them in the ballpark of what I wanted. Namely-

-Add extra highlights to the skin, hair, musket stocks, leather, sashes
-Repaint chipped paint and damages
-change the color of the pikes from a dark to light brown
-Repaint or in most cases replace flags with GMB ones
- Rebase everything for Impetus Baroque

No question this is proving very time consuming with the additions and changes, but nothing compared to if I had to start from scratch so I'm not in the least bit complaining! At one time I was thinking of going 10mm with ECW, but changed my mind and happy that I did. I will of course need to rebase my own personally painted ECW collection for Baroque which will add a further 100+ figures to this one.

The rule set I plan on using.

Anyhow here is some quick pics of the units I've completed with the transformation so far. Not the best pics I know, but enough to see what is happening.

The Reds

The Whites

The Greens( A mix of P&S and Shot)

I'm currently working on 4 bases of Blues which will see the English foot finished and then I'll move on to the Scots. I really enjoy putting everything on Impetus Baroque bases as I feel you can really give a sense of movement. Regiments tend to form up in somewhat imperfect lines which Baroque bases allow you to depict quite nicely.

So one can see I have been doing things, but haven't been reporting on it which I plan on fixing and going back to my regular posting schedules. 

As I mentioned at the header I'll be at Crisis this year which will be my first time so I'm looking forward to it even if my wallet isn't! I hope to meet a few of my fellow bloggers that I haven't met plus the ones I have! One of the things I like best in traveling to wargames conventions is talking to my friends about wargaming on the way and since this looks to be a long drive I'm sure we will get to cover many topics!

Miniature Company-Bicorne, Renegade, Warlord, TAG

Some Bolt Action US Para vs Fallschirmjager

Battlefield overview

 About two weeks ago Nick and Franz joined me for a game of Bolt Action2 at my house to give the new version another run through and it was a lot of fun. While I wouldn't call Bolt Action a simulation game it is fun to play and is ideal for pick up games. I suppose if we could play on a more regular basis we would take a closer look at Chain of Command as it looks like it's a superb system for campaign's, but Bolt Action works for us as it's easy to remember and play with our schedules.

Of course an American sniper was posted in the tower with mortar support in the courtyard.

FJ's advancing through a wooded section.

The only real complaint would probably be the snipers were made a bit too effective, but other then that the rules are pretty straightforward and the update to how aircraft are handled were particularly welcome as previously they were uber destructive. I also like the ability of leaders to command multiple squads depending on their rank which adds a whole new tactical layer to the game. Close combat is very decisive, bloody and quick and not something you generally you want to do unless you really need to or feel you will easily win.

FJ's moving through a field to close on the Americans holding the bridge.

Paras moving through the woods heading towards the bridge.

The game we played was "Hold until relieved" I think or something like that. Basically the Para's had to hold the bridge with a small contingent near the bridge and half their force coming on the first turn and the rest coming on in reserves with the Fallschirmjäger bringing everything on in the first turn. It was a slightly bigger battle then normal with about 2000 pts each side(we lifted armour restrictions to include 2 tanks instead of 1). We had to stop before the game finished, but it was pretty clear the Germans would have a tough time taking the bridge, but there was a slim chance so we called it a draw which technically gives it to US as they were last in control of the bridge. We do look forward to more games of BA and will even give it a try using SCW in addition to WWII gaming.

Nicks superbly painted Panzer IV and III under Franz's command holding the hill to support the German advance. However their excellent paint job didn't save them from a 76mm Sherman and Bazooka team!(He,he.he,he)

 The terrain and Para's were provided by myself and Nick got a chance to see his excellent newly made river, bridge, armour and Fallschirmjäger see some action. When playing WWII games I do like to include a lot of terrain to encourage troops to move around and not just hunker down and shoot. However, when you have elite troops fighting it does sometimes take a bit before casualties mount up so usually games will last for the full turns allotted.  

Fortress Para!

Another lovely vehicle by Nick, but this time a Greyhound which proved quite effective in the game.

I haven't posted for awhile as frankly I just haven't been painting much. This has a lot to do with trying to sort out which projects I want to continue painting in more labor intensive way and others were I want to get things done a bit more quickly using some of my faster methods. It also doesn't help that my back continues to give me problems which slows things down further.

FJ' vehicle approaching the bridge just prior to make a glorifying heroic charge across that left it a smoldering ruin in the end. Yes, once again another excellent addition of Nick's. I think your may be understanding who the gear head is in our group....:-) 

These para's holding the bridge pretty much had everything including the proverbial kitchen sink thrown at them and managed to hold on throughout the game albeit they probably dug holes big enough to park a tank in avoiding all the fire!

 Currently on the desk is some AWI and a mystery project to be reveled later either by units, groups or whole army which I haven't decided yet.:-)

Some FJ's who managed to bravely make it across the stream, but found it tough going on the other side once they did.

Thanks for viewing!