Crikey

It`s been a while,too long in fact,but what with work and family life etc. the hobby`s had to take a back seat.
Anyway,where am i up to?Well none of my self-imposed targets for the year have been met,so,i`m not setting any for next year,although i can see Great War Minis new Crimean War range getting a great deal of attention.I attended Recon in Pudsey last Saturday and enjoyed myself very much,some great games were on show and it was very busy-good news for the hobby.I bought the latest "Grant-Olley" offering "The Annexation of Chiraz" and found it compulsive reading,in fact,i`ve already drawn up plans to transport it 113 years into the future and set it in 1868 using Helions "1866 war" range and Eureka`s "Tyroleans" for the civillian population of Chiraz.
To be honest not much has caught my imagination recently,i await Helions new releases with happy anticipation and really can`t wait for next years Crimeans from Great War,but other than that there`s not much going on,i`m tempted by Empress` Zulu war colonial cavalry,but the thought of painting about 400 Zulus leaves me cold,maybe i`ll just concentrate on what i`ve got for now and wait for a really attractive late 16th-mid 17th century Eastern European range to be released in 28mm(sorry TAG-no offence meant).

cheers,Andy

Many moons ago!

Back when i was at college ,in fact,i remember reading the "Military Modelling Annual" circa 1983 and i was very taken with an article about a skirmish game set in America in the 1750`s during the French and Indian wars.Now,i don`t have much interest in the FIW,but i remember thinking about setting the game in mid 17th century Ukraine and having a fort garrisoned by Poles or registered Cossacks attacked by rebel Cossacks supported by Tartars.At the time the only 28mm range available for this was the one by Essex minis and to be honest there wasn`t a great deal of variety in the figs available.
Now,earlier today,as i was killing time before setting off to work i was flicking through my back issues of "Battlegames" when i came upon Stuart Asquith`s article about an attack on a fort in the FIW and i got to thinking about TAG`S ranges of 17th century Poles,Cossacks and Tartars.I`m very tempted to make a serious investment in time and figures in this period and TAG make a very very extensive range,the figs are very well detailed and they don`t charge postage,which is all very well and good,but really all that armour and all those horses,but here`s a small project with only a few Tartar cavalry to worry about,my initial plans would require:
44 Cossack infantry
12 cossack cavalry
8 Tartar infantry
12 Tartar cavalry
and for the defenders:
12 Polish infantry
8 Wybraniecka infantry
4 command figs
4 Registered Cossack infantry
and maybe a small gun.
Small enough forces to start with,but i could expand to include relief forces and in time build up a Muscovite garrison and move the game further east,we`ll see how it goes.
My next purchases will be some Russians,Turks and Bulgarians from Outpost to paint up as test figs for the war of 1877-78.
I`ve got up to the equipment stage of my Hungarian inf and i expect to finish them off over the next couple of days and the prepare the next six for painting on Wednesday.I`ve got an early start in the morning so i`d best get off to bed.

cheeers,Andy

Renaissance

I don`t know why,but i`ve got the painting bug at the minute and i`ve actually painted three days running.The lucky recipients of all this attention are six Helion Austro-Hungarian infantrymen and whilst six may not be a very high number of figs it`s good for me.I`m hoping to finish them tomorrow and then start another six on Monday(although i do go back to work on Monday).
As i said earlier i don`t know why i`ve got this urge to paint,maybe it`s the realisation that if i don`t get a sizeable number of figs painted soon i`m never going to get to game anything,also with the release of a very nice range of 28mm figs for the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-78,just imagine Bulgarians and Rumanians fighting against the Turks,and i believe there`s talk of a range of 28mm figs for the Hungarian uprising of 1848 in the offing(from Great War Miniatures no less) I need to get my skates on.

cheers,Andy

Imagi-"Nation"

Whilst perusing the internet i happened upon The Miniatures Page and as usual i had a look at the new releases therein and i was really taken with the new range of Tyroleans released by Eureka minis of Australia.Now these figs are intended for the first decade of the nineteenth century to do battle with Napoleonic French and Bavarians,as i have very little interest in Naps i immediately stated to think of other uses for them.
I assume that Tyrolean dress stayed pretty much the same for most of the 19th century so i`m going to buy some figs paint `em up and use them as irregulars/rebels but i`m going to put them in a later 19th century setting,the 1860`s to be more precise,and use the Helion Austrians and Germans as opposition,obviously this never happened in real life,but i have been thinking about setting my later 19th century games in imaginary lands,basing the armies on their German and Austrian counterparts.
One thing i have a problem with are suitable names for the protagonists,the common way seems to be to use the names of German beers,so we could have "Bakalar"(that`s a Czech one),or "Zwiec"(that`s a Polish one) it`s something i`m going to have to work on.
Anyway, i have decided on a name for the area inhabited by the "Tyroleans" and it`s going to be the "LechMark" with a principal town of "Koneigstadt" and several smaller towns and villages and the population will be organised along the lines of the Scottish clans-should be interesting,i`ll post more when i know more.

cheers,Andy

Hussars

The Austrian hussars from Helion arrived today and they are beautiful figs.I`ve bought the 2 "skirmishing" packs,the "casualties" pack and the command in reserve pack,i`m going to paint some as the 14th regiment,but i`m going to paint some to represent the other regiments,which ones i`m not too sure yet,and make up some vignettes and skirmishing bases.When i buy a full regiment of figs the first will be painted as the 14th and will consist of 3 command figures and 15 rank and file(12 troopers and 3 ncos).The question is will they be charging or in reserve?

cheers,Andy

The ASHES come home

What a fantastic display from the England cricket team,a truly worthy win,we`ve been the best team this series and the result is a fair one,and we`ve done it without Freddie or KP enough said,Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad we salute you!Johnathon Trott,you are English despite your accent.
Belgian infantry are still number one on the painting table,but i`m wondering about chasseur a pied uniforms and the exact colour of "Marengo Grey"although the sources say it varied.
I`m still waiting for my Austro-Hungarian hussars from Helion,but they`ll be here soon,i hope,and the uniform will be for the 14th regiment,nice red trousers.

cheers,Andy.

Belgians,Belgians,Belgians!

Not only did i recieve the first pack of GWM WW1 Belgian infantry,then 3 days later the first pack of carbiniers turn up,so at the minute,what with the cricket finishing a couple of days early,i`m painting up one of each to get the colours right.The line infantry are pretty straightforward with very dark blue overcoats and grey-blue trousers,but according to the Osprey book,the carbiniers` dark green coats were actually black and their "marengo grey"trousers varied in shade.So i`ve gone with the Foundry "Russian Green"palette for the coats(it`s a green shade of black,i know what i mean) and i`m using the "Granite"palette for the trousers,it`s a brownish shade of grey and it looks right to me,so i`m happy.At the moment i`ve only painted the coats and trousers so the figs still look very dark,but once i get some flesh on them they should start to brighten up.
I`ve just finished watching "Mongol"so i`ve now got the urge to go and buy some TAG Tartars and start dabbling in 17th century Eastern Europe again,maybe one day?

cheers,Andy