Post Salute 2014

Well Salute 2014 has been and gone. It was great to see and talk with the various vendors and old friends. Our Flames of War board did not win any prizes, but it did win a lot of plaudits from the punters. Wargames Illustrated came down to take photographs and Battlefront have invited us to attend the European Grand Tournament with the board later on in the year. Henry Hyde, editor of Miniature Wargames popped along too to take photographs, hopefully we may even appear in one of the magazines later this year.

As for loot...well I picked up some bases from Warbases (big heap of elliptical bases (cavalry) for my War of the Roses project). I also bought some spring/autumn tufts from Antenociti's Workshop, some A4 magnetised paper and a small collection of AWI miniatures from Peter Pig.

I haven't forgotten to post some pictures of our demo game, it's just a matter of time! I will also track the progress of the 15mm AWI project I am starting. What I can say is I have based my regiments, British and Continental on those units which fought at the Battle of Brandywine.

Salute 2014

I will be heading to Salute 2014. This time however My local wargames club is taking a game along. This is the first time the club has been represented at an event on the mainland in ten years. A couple of club stalwarts have been the driving force for the game, a 15mm WWII game using the popular Flames of War rule set.

You can see a preview of the game in earlier post on this blog. Richard and Glenn have expanded the Normandy terrain board and it is shaping up nicely. Other members are busily finishing off various units for the game but we are 75% ready to go.  It's looking like it's going to be a grand day out for us folk from Jersey!

As for my own projects I have a couple of irons in the fire. Currently I have a French Dystopian War fleet, an Empire of the Dead Kickstarter to paint. I have a strong feeling that I'll be picking up a few bits and pieces at Salute and then there's the War and Empire Kickstarter from Westwind to arrive later in May or June. If that's not enough I have my sister blog on the go highlighting my progress with my War of the Roses project.

I will post some pictures of the Salute board nearer the event.

A New Year Beckons

Well it's been quite along time since I posted anything on my ramblings. A lot has happened to me in the real world, most of it good I might add. With that in mind I may have more time to put up some posts!
My local club, The Jersey Privateers will be attending Salute this year and I am looking forward to it. It's a big day out for us financially, so we are going to make it a good one! I will post more on this later, possibly with some construction photos and a brief synopsis.

Napoleonic Reboot

I have been dabbling for a while with various projects. My Empire of the Dead will get a further look in when the models arrive from Westwind Games. The kick starter miniatures should arrive in September, hopefully.

However the other side focus I am looking into is Napoleonic wargaming. As space is an issue (I have too many 28mm miniatures) I am building my armies in 15mm. I have bought some Peninsular British as I like the variety of troops which fought in that theatre. The models are Blue Moon miniatures.

The miniatures themselves are pretty good value, although they do have a bit of excess flash. They are fairly easy to paint too. I am planning on building a couple of divisions, perhaps even a corp for the French. As for the rules of choice I'll be using Le Feu Sacré, by Too Fat Lardies. These rules handle corp sized games, require less miniatures per battalion and I like the fog of war aspect that the rules use.

I will post a British orbat soon. The first regiment is the 45th, Nottinghamshire regt.

Empire of the Dead

It's been an incredibly long time since I have posted any ramblings on this blog. My time has been taken up with other things, mainly my War of the Roses project. However, I was speaking to a friend the other day at a gaming session and we got talking about the Westwind game - Empire of the Dead. Currently there a few factions and the rule book but Westwind's Kickstarter campaign is going extremely well.

So I have purchased the core rule book, for now. I am looking forward to its arrival. Fortunately Bryce has all the factions we need for the time being and we will be using terrain I made several years ago for Mordheim. The terrain should lend itself to the game. I hope to take photos and I will attempt to write up a report of the game. I have also signed up for the Kickstarter campaign.

British Paras - Flames of War

I recently painted a batch of British Paratroopers for a friend of mine. He has a sizeable DAK force and an increasingly large Waffen SS army for Flames of War. However a 'stuff' load of Paras fell into his lap.

Our local wargames club haven't attended any kind of event for eight years, the last being Gamesday 2004 in Birmingham. So we decided to start small and attend a bi-annual show here in Jersey. For this show we Glenn and Richard Kelly put time in on building a new terrain board set in Normandy amongst the bocage. Simon Hewlett and GLenn provided the Germans and I painted up the British Paras. We were really pleased with results.

Currently I am painting some of the said Waffen SS infantry for Glenn whilst he concentrates on the armour. I will post some pics of the Germans once they are painted.

Astral Fists Space Marine Legion

 Although my major focus is on my War of the Roses project I am very occasionally working on my Astral Fist project. Fortunately I don't have to buy anything for this! All the models are sitting in the garage ready to be painted. I will post some WIP shots soon, but for now here is the paint scheme heavily inspired by their founding legion.

Confederate Regiments Pictures

Here are the pictures I promised a little while ago. I haven't painted any more regiments as of yet, but I will after Salute 2012 has come and gone.

Painting Table

Just to keep things ticking over on the blog I thought I would update with what's on my painting table. As I mentioned in my last post I have completed two regiments of Confederate infantry which I still haven't photographed! It should be remedied tomorrow night as we have a club meet and I will remember to take my camera along this time!

I am also working on my War of the Roses project, and I am painting up the Earl of Oxford and his retinue. I will post some photos on my other blog when I have finished the models.

I also have a commission to paint a stuff load of 15mm British Paras for a friend. I have undercoated them and am currently working on the flesh. With 15mm Flames of War infantry I tend to paint the models with flat colours and then use a wash over the top to add depth to the miniature. I must admit though, it is getting more challenging to paint 15mm miniatures. Must be my age!

Update 2012

Well things have been very quiet on this blog. Since my last post I have now returned to Jersey, sorted out a place to live with my wife, Andrea and pulled out all my stuff from storage. I have also managed to restart our club newsletter, Broadside, ably helped by my brother after some computer problems I have had. In fact I am currently using an old macmini, circa 2002/2003 to gain access to the internet!

Howver, I have been able to get some painting done. Last month I played a ACW game using a set of quick play rules. The game was entertaining but I was keen to use Blackpowder by Warlord Games. This Thursday I plan to do just that. For the game I'll be using regiments of 20 models (this will increase as more models are painted). In order to get enough models on the table I needed to paint up a few extra regiments. In the words of James over at the Olicanalad blog  I consider this a 'non-project'. For a definiton of what a non-project is go and check out his site, if you haven't already!

I have managed to get another club member hooked into the period and as we are both going to Salute  this year I am sure he'll be buying a few models. I will get a couple of photos of the new paint jobs up on the blog in the next few days.

I have two other major foci at the present. The first is two streamline my collection. To this end I'll be ebaying stuff and I will also be taking some stuff over to Salute to sell on the bring and buy. I have never used it so I'll see how it goes. The other focus is to start my War of the Roses collection. This is a huge project and although I have a loose plan I need to identify a definitve end date. You can find out how I progress with this project over on my other blog - The White Boar (www.jerseyprivateer2.blogspot.com).
Well that's all for now. I hope to post more regularly now that I am settled and having all my resources to hand.

WIP - Ogres

The first Ogre is nearly completed. All that remains is to finish the gear on his belt and his feet. I will complete the base when all the models are completed. As I have already mentioned in my previous post I am painting up the ogres in different state colours of the Empire. the first batch are from Talabecland.

Ogre Army - Beginnings

I have decided to build the ogre army with an 'Empire' theme in mind. I have bought one box of Ironguts and a Battalion box set to get me started. As I have already mentioned this is an exercise in modelling with green or grey stuff. As you can see I have based all of the Ogres using Gale Force 9 basing materials. I began with placing larger 'boulders, blocks etc'. Next I used the fine grit, followed by their medium grit to create a more interesting base. Once the models have been painted I will add dead/winter static grass, also made by Gale Force 9.

I have added greenstuff to three of the models so far. The first model has already been undercoated black. I decided that some of the ogres would have served in the far north of the Empire, either in Ostermark or Ostland. While others would have served in Averland or Talabecland. The Leadbelchers that come with the battalion box set will be painted up either in Nuln or Nordland colours.

The next step in the process is take six models and start to work on them as a batch. Meanwhile I will do a test paint on the undercoated model.

Something to fill my time

Well the paperwork is underway and I am hurrying up and waiting. Getting myself registered in NZ is a lengthy process and while I wait for forms to come in and go out again I have put myself to work on a fantasy project to keep me occupied.

I have bought an Ogre Battalion box set and an extra box of Ironguts. The purpose of this project is to develop my sculpting skills. I have already added greenstuff to two of the ironguts, giving them a northman look. I have stopped there for the time being while I refocus on the bases as I want to give them a uniform look.

As for the rest of the army I am going to think a little harder on the theme I use. Some ideas so far - Arabic - Saracen, Northmen - vikings or an Empire feel. I will post some pics in the next couple of days of the progress I have made.