Happy New Year

Let me begin by wishing you all the very best for the New Year. It’s been such a long time since I last updated this blog, that it’s hard to remember precisely what I’ve been doing, but I’ll certainly give it a try.

As far as the magazine is concerned, it’s hard for me to believe that it has now reached issue 20. I think there are quite a few people out there who never imagined that it would reach this milestone — and neither did I! It would be foolish of me to pretend that the journey has been easy, but I hope that you would agree with me that it has been worthwhile.

Some of the things that I have become involved with outside the magazine have taken on a life of their own, particularly my involvement with Neil Shuck and his Meeples and Miniatures podcast. Our View from the Veranda chats now seem to attract more than 1000 listeners each time, and plenty of feedback on Neil’s blog. I have to confess that it is also great fun to do, and as you can imagine, it’s not hard for someone like me to sit and talk for two hours!

As far as my own wargaming is concerned, it’s been a mixed year. Many of you may throw up your hands in horror to learn that the most recent gaming I have been doing has been with Games Workshop Lord of the Rings miniatures. Just before Christmas, my godson Edward’s mother, a fan of the Lord of the Rings books and films herself, introduced him and his elder sister to the Peter Jackson movies. Unsurprisingly, this had a powerful effect on young Edward’s imagination. Shortly thereafter, he was taken to Wargames Heaven in Brighton, where he spotted the Games Workshop Mines of Moria boxed set, and of course fell in love with it. I’m sure you’ve already guessed that his Christmas present was assured!

My most recent project therefore involved assembling and painting the miniatures and scenery in the Mines of Moria set, as you can see in the photos below (which were taken in the middle of the night after just finishing the task, so I’m afraid they’re not quite as crisp as I would have liked). This actually made a very pleasant change, and suited me as a finite project that I could complete in a relatively short time frame. I have to admit that I did work three or four very late nights to make sure that Edward could receive his gift on time, but I feel that the results were very pleasing and the sight of the eight-year-old’s beaming face made it all worthwhile.

I used what has become my standard technique to complete this project, starting with a black undercoat, followed by a base colour, mid tone, a highlight, and finally, where necessary, a wash using the new Citadel washes. (Devlan Mud, Gryphonne Sepia and Badab Black seem to be the ones most frequently in need of replenishment.) After varnishing the figures, the bases were coated with PVA, then dipped into some coarse sand, the precise mixture of which has evolved over several years as different grades of sand and small stones have been added. Normally, given sufficient time, I would have applied a wash of dark brown followed by highlights to this groundwork, but time was pressing and the results seemed fine without this extra labour. The base texturing was completed with the addition of some Games Workshop grass flock in small patches. Finally, I painted the outer rim of the bases Scorched Brown.

The Mines of Moria boxed set after just finishing them in time for Christmas

Pippin and Frodo closest; Gimli, Aragorn and Gandalf behind

Frodo and Merry in front; Aragorn, Gandalf and Boromir behind.

Sam and Pippin in front; Legolas, Gimli and Aragorn behind.

Moria goblins with the cave troll behind; doorway and Balin's tomb.

Legolas and Sam, with Gimli behind

Sam takes pride of place

Annie and I spent a very pleasant day on 29th of December with my godson and his family. Between those times when the dining table was required for the normal domestic purpose of eating, Edward and I battled for several happy hours in the mines of Moria, with his fellowship hacking my goblins and cave troll to pieces! The rules were somewhat familiar to me, as they form the basis of Warhammer Historical’s Legends of the old West and Legends of the High Seas rules. Some of you may balk at their simplistic mechanisms, but they play very effectively and are great fun. My one complaint is the “in the way” rule, which simply seems out of sequence. The rules say that you roll to hit your target, and only then roll again to find out whether your missile has in fact struck an intervening obstacle. I prefer to reverse her this, so that the “in the way” dice roll is made first — only if this is made successfully do I then proceed to carry out the hit calculation.

I’ve just added a couple of Dark Riders to this collection (these are metal, of course, as opposed to the plastic miniatures in the Mines of Moria boxed set). It was a challenge to convey effective and subtle highlighting on what are effectively just black figures!

A pack of GW LotR Black Riders painted up, one on foot, one on horseback

Another view of those Black Riders

Other recent highlights have included a trip to Nottingham, where I was able to conduct interviews with Rick Priestley and John Stallard of Warlord Games together, and then with the Perry Twins. We also managed, of course, to fit in some socializing, and also a game of Black Powder at Alan Perry’s house. This took the form of an American War of Independence game, based on one of the Table Top Teasers which has appeared in the magazine: “plunder and pillage”. The game was great fun, and featured hundreds of beautiful Perry miniatures on a beautiful scenic table which measured approximately 12′ x 6′. John, Rick and I played the part of the rampaging British; Michael, together with Stephen May played the defending Americans. The game swung back and forth for about three hours, until we British had to admit defeat! You can hear my views of the Black Powder rules on the View from the Veranda podcast.

Alan Perry (left), John Stallard and Rick Priestley see the funny side of one of Michael Perry's quips.

Another frisson of excitement has been caused by the arrival of the brand-new edition of Blitzkrieg Commander this Christmas. Sporting a very smart grey cover, it looks as though Pete Jones has done another exemplary job at creating a set of rules that are clearly laid out, attractive, and easy to follow. I haven’t yet had a chance to read them in great detail, but given their heritage, I am quite certain that they will provide a terrific game. I have nearly finished painting my GHQ 1/300 scale British, Italian and German forces, so I hope to be able to bring you a first battle report soon.

You may recall that some time ago, I started work on some 6mm Greek and Persian armies for Warmaster Ancients games. Well, now I’m going right back to that rules system’s roots, because one of the guys who works at Wargames Heaven is a keen Warmaster fantasy player, and he’s persuaded me to meet with him for occasional games. We had a fun game a few weeks ago using his Orc and Empire armies, but I see this as the ideal opportunity to rekindle my interest in one of the daftest armies from the Warhammer world: the Skaven. So, as a little Christmas present to myself, I invested in a few packs of figures from Games Workshop’s Specialist Games division, which can only be ordered via their website. Their Warmaster figures are approximately 10mm size, which makes for some very weenie rats indeed! I am particularly impressed by the tiny Doomwheel, which I can’t wait to see rumbling into action! (As an aside, Guy will be stocking 10mm historical miniatures at the shop, so expect to see an explosion of Warmaster Historical gaming in the neighbourhood.)

But perhaps the most exciting development of all is the rekindling of my Wars of the Faltenian Succession. This conflict, dormant for so long, is being brought back to life with the help of some new friends. Will Townshend, Paul Brook and Brian Glazebrook are now in the process of discovering the extent of my madness! Instead of being a combatant in the new campaign, I am in fact umpiring it. Following the conclusion of hostilities between Faltenland and Prunkland, the focus of attention now shifts to the west, where the Kingdom of Grenouisse has fixed its gaze upon the small but wealthy coastal state of Granprix. Faltenland is much bigger and potentially more powerful than either of them, but is still licking its wounds. Will Queen Ingrid deem it necessary to instruct her new Field Marshal, Erich von Bachwinkl, to intervene? Will the rapacious King Raoul of Grenouisse succeed in annexing tiny Granprix? Or will feisty Duke Zigor give him the surprise of his life — with such deep pockets, he can afford to hire the very finest mercenaries the continent has to offer.

That’s as much detail as I’m going to give you now, but rest assured that ‘The Grenouissian Intermezzo’ will feature in future issues of the magazine as well as here on the blog.

During the autumn, I hit something of a painting block. As happens to many of us, I simply felt rather stale and couldn’t muster any energy to paint the large battalions of marching musketeers that will, for example, be required for some of the games that are bound to arise in the new campaign. With that old adage that a change is as good as a rest ringing in my ears, I decided to take a detour into some of those items which will add character and (quite literally) background to our games. As you can see below, this involved the recruitment of some flora and fauna, as well as a shepherd, to the cause! it just so happened that Foundry had sent me one of their periodic special offers, so I took the opportunity to invest in a flock of sheep and some woodland animals, including bears, boars, deer and foxes. Habitat would be provided by some new wooded areas, based on old CDs in a similar fashion to the jungle pieces created by Diane Sutherland in a previous issue of Battlegames. I had a bag of Heller fir trees of various sizes which, once mounted four to a disc and terrained, look rather effective.

Woods on CDs, and Foundry sheep, shepherd, dog and wild bears

Behind you! Doh!

For the new year, I have plenty to work on. Of course, issue 21 is now beginning its production phase and will be with the printers later this month; but I also have the not inconsiderable task of finishing the book I have been commissioned to write by Pen & Sword! I’m due to hand over the manuscript at the end of April, so please forgive me if I seek seclusion from time to time so that I can meet this monumental deadline.

Anyhow, until next time, I wish you all good health, peace and prosperity for 2010.

Wargamers’ cheese

This post has been inspired by conversations I’ve had lately with my good friend Guy Hancock, who is in the process of opening a wargames shop in central Brighton. (At the moment, he’s trading online – see Wargames Heaven). This was also raised during my conversation with Neil Shuck in our View from the Veranda podcast and a recent comment on an online forum.

In short, we have all pondered the fact that presenting wargamers with lots of choice might be affecting the ability of companies to sell to them effectively.

The marketplace is like a kaleidoscope: wherever you look, it fragments into a thousand different periods, scales, rulesets.

It explains the dominance of big fantasy/sci-fi companies like GW: Keep It Simple, Stupid. If the player buys the products, they have also bought into The System. The downside is that this approach can produce a monoculture that brings the average, anarchistic historical gamer to a state of near hysteria!

Let’s face it, even when you think that a group of gamers has settled on a ruleset, whenever did you hear of them not tinkering with the rules to suit their own interpretations?

Dealing with wargamers is like herding cats. So what is a manufacturer in our hobby to do?

To use a smelly metaphor, it’s like cheese. There are hundreds of varieties of cheese from all around the world, and each of us has our favourites. There are even a huge number of different makers of, say, cheddar cheese, all competing for attention.

From time to time, I’ll buy a different cheese, just to see what it’s like. If I like it, I’ll buy it again.

I suppose that if I were to run a dairy making cheese, the best I can hope for is that my cheese is on the shelves alongside the others, and that I’ve done everything I possibly can to make sure that my cheese is attractive and well packaged, so as to get noticed by the customer. If I can get a famous cheese-lover to taste and review my cheese in a prominent publication like Fromage Monthly or Battlecheese, then that can help sway people’s opinion so that they might at least give it a try.

Now sometimes, I have to confess, I have bought cheese that I don’t really need, and it has gone smelly and had to be thrown out. I have also bought Gorgonzola for a dinner party, only to find that everybody else has moved on to Camembert without telling me, and I’ve been left with a mound of surplus cheese.

But I still like the cheese, and I carry on buying it, because I can’t help myself, even if the cheese isn’t good for me, is too expensive and makes me fat.

My name’s Henry and I’m a cheeseaholic.

Now, that’s enough cheese for the time being, but in my experience, most wargamers are, shall we say, prone to a certain amount of obsessive behaviour, and will quite happily keep buying figures (and books), whether there’s any likelihood of them finally being used in anger or not. Projects come and go, some blossom into memorable experiences and others fall by the wayside. The more conscientious types may organise the casualties and sell them off at Bring & Buy stands or on eBay, but many more suffer the creaking floorboards of accumulated failures stoically, its tiny metal and plastic casualties consigned to cardboard coffins on the shelves.

But that won’t stop me, ahem, I mean them, from buying even more. Heck, they may even order some figures, only to wrinkle their brow when they arrive and realise that, somewhere in a box under the stairs, they may already actually own some of these very figures…

I don’t know the answer, other than to note that one man’s rubbish heap is another man’s horde of treasure.

Or cheese.

As Monty Python said so memorably, “Blessed are the cheesemakers.”

Amen to that.

Pass the pickle.

Getting there the fustest with the mostest…

Since Salute (Saturday 28th March), I can’t quite believe how busy I’ve been, and yet I have also managed to cram in three games in under two weeks.

I won’t bore you with my recollections of Salute here, but suffice it to say that I didn’t manage to take a single photo of the show. Not one! I lugged my camera and bits bag around with me all day, but found myself having non-stop conversations and meetings. Rather like a chain smoker, it was only when the doors finally closed that I realised that I had over-indulged the vocal chords. Still, it was very rewarding, with a couple of potential new advertisers and, though I can’t discuss it at present, a probable book deal with a publisher. As ever, it was also extremely gratifying to have met and chatted with a host of Battlegames readers, and my thanks to all who took the time and trouble to come up and say “hello”.

It would also be churlish of me not to mention Andrew Hubback and his lovely wife Colette of Miniature Wargames who were at the show, launching their revamped magazine. My compliments to Andrew for the improvements he has made to the hobby’s veteran title, and my best wishes for the future.

After the show, I drove up to Suffolk, to the home of Major General (Retired) K J Drewienkiewicz CMG, (mercifully known simply as DZ or John to his friends!), who had invited me to participate in a gaming sleepover with himself and a group of his good wargaming chums. This fine fellowship turned out to include Battlegames stalwart Brigadier (Retired) Charles S Grant, who greeted me with his usual good humour. I was also delighted to meet Andrew Brentnall, Bob Carter, Tom Hutchinson, Adam Poole and his son Otto, and finally DZ’s own son Peter.

Saturday night was a very sociable affair. After a fine dinner provided by DZ’s lovely wife Christine, we repaired to the lounge and were plied with single malts and I was encouraged to have my first ever game of Command & Colors Ancients, with CSG as my opponent.

Quite apart from my curiosity about the game (and I seem to recall Neil Shuck enthusing about the system on his Meeples & Miniatures podcast), the visual aspect had been enhanced no end by Andrew Brentnall, who had substituted beautifully-painted 6mm miniatures for the standard counters. With the edges of their bases cleverly colour-coded to indicate the requisite troop types (light, heavy, medium, warband etc.), they were a delight to use. Sadly, that evening was also a picture-free zone!

The scenario was Magnesia, and I commanded the Seleucids against Charles’ Romans. I was impressed with the clever, card-driven system and equally innovative combat method using specially-marked dice. Suffice it to say that we had a highly entertaining encounter lasting around an hour, I suppose, at the end of which I managed to emerge the victor, having crushed the Roman centre.

The following day started early (after the clocks going forward an hour as well, I really did feel as though I’d been woken by reveille!) and the game to be played, having been kept secret by umpires DZ and Andrew up to that point, was revealed in all its glory. The American Civil War, Brandy Station, 1863, the biggest cavalry battle of the war.

I should perhaps explain that DZ is blessed with a free-standing games room housed in what he calls “The Bothy” in his back garden. Rather more commodious than a mere shed, this edifice houses his wonderful collection and wargames table. His favourite periods seem to number just two: the American Civil War and the end of the Dark Ages and onset of feudalism, namely Saxons and Normans. The latter collection uses 28mm figures, but his enormous ACW setup uses 15mm miniatures.

Brandy Station in DZ's "Bothy". From left to right: Bob Carter (just in photo); Charles Grant; Adam Poole (photographer); DZ himself; Tom Hutchinson; Andrew Brentnall; Dave Hathaway.

I managed to grab a few photos during an extremely hectic day, from which you can see that DZ also boasts some lovely terrain. A great deal of it was made for him by Keith Warren of Realistic Modelling Services. One of the stars of the layout was the zig-zag rail fencing: for every intact section, DZ also had a demolished version for when it had been pushed over by troops too lazy to vault it! He also wanted to demonstrate that he could do likewise for sections of corn (maize) fields, but the players studiously avoided fields “…where the corn is as high as an elephant’s eye” all day long. Marvellous!

To cut to the chase, I was thrown into the ranks of the Confederacy, along with CSG and Bob Carter. The game began at dawn, with our men asleep in their tents as the Union forces splashed across the Rappanhannock to the East. With umpires like DZ and Andrew Brentnall in charge (ably assisted by Otto, whilst his father played the role of The Press, turning up at inopportune moments with camera and notebook in hand, just like the real thing) you can bet that the commanders on both sides were tested to the absolute limit! The Union forces were commanded by Tom Hutchinson, Peter Drewienkiewicz and new arrival for the day, Dave Hathaway. And to complete my weekend of new gaming experiences, the rules used were Fire and Fury, a novelty for me. DZ and Andrew, as keen ACW gamers, had made their own regimental-level adaptations, and an ‘official’ regimental level version, called “America’s Wars”,  is also now available to download on the Web, with the printed version to follow soon.

My role was that of WHF Lee on the left flank, facing the might of Buford (Tom Hutchinson). In reality, WHF Lee was ill with rheumatism on the day, but for the game, he was restored to the ranks. With only four units at my disposal (2nd north Carolina, 9th, 10th and 13th Virginia, all cavalry), I wondered what on earth I might be able to achieve other than a glorious defeat. Well, let’s see.

To my right, holding the centre in an exposed forward position, was Charles Grant, with Jones’ Brigade (6th, 7th, 11th, 12th and 35th Virginia cavalry) and Chew’s Artillery brigade (Breathed’s, McGregor’s, Chew’s and Moorman’s batteries — Hart’s battery was deemed missing for the day). On our right flank, separated from Charles by the Culpeper Road and the railway line, was Bob Carter with Hampton’s Brigade (Cobb’s Georgia Legion, Jeff Davis’ Mississippi Legion, Phillip’s Georgia Legion, 1st North Carolina cavalry and the 1st and 2nd South Carolina cavalry).

Forward of our right flank, near the Rappanhannock, was Robertson’s Brigade of 1st Maryland, with the 4th and 5th North Carolina regiments. These were umpire-controlled.

In reserve was Munford’s Brigade of the 1st, 2nd,  3rd and 4th Virginia regiments. In the real battle, he had taken over WHF Lee’s brigade; in our game, he was simply an obstinate and elusive reserve who remained off-table for most of the day!

Our objective was to protect the Carolina Road leading West at all costs. General JEB Stuart’s headquarters was located atop Fleetwood Hill, running roughly North-South along the rear of our position. Without specific orders from my Commander-in-Chief General Lee, or his lieutenant JEB Stuart (in fact orders had been sent for me to withdraw, but they didn’t arrive until move 12 or thereabouts, by which time Stuart had changed his mind and sent me fresh orders to continue doing precisely what I was already doing!), my troops finally awoke to see blue-coated cavalry and artillery pouring towards my flank in huge numbers, and heard Jones’ forces to my right engaged in heavy fighting. I decided that the best way to help him extricate his exposed forces was to attack in as aggressive a manner as I could, in order to stall the Union advance and force them to commit forces to my flank that he might otherwise use to threaten the route heading South-West, through the heart of our position. Little did I know the storm I was to call down upon my fragile forces!

Charles Grant's brigade roused and the artillery being extricated from danger around St James' Church

Just like a real battle, my recollection of the day’s events outside my own sphere of influence is sketchy at best, but I do know that Charles managed to extricate his artillery in a most skilful manner, sending them back to eventually unlimber again in a covering position atop Fleetwood Hill. One battery was left behind to buy time, but they managed to do most dreadful execution to the onrushing bluecoats, giving them a decidedly bloody nose. Charles’ cavalry also did extremely well, covering the retreating artillery and charging repeatedly around the St James’ Church area to blunt the Union advance in the centre before moving back to cover the St James’ Church Road at the foot of Fleetwood Hill.

As for Bob Carter and our right flank, I can say very little other than I believe he stuck to his task in a most steadfast manner against growing odds and the machinations of umpire Andrew Brentnall whose sparkling intellect supplied him with a biting wit and a plethora of cunning devices to trap the unwary, including bosky terrain that concealed all manner of surprises to unwary troops!

For my part, I ordered the largest of my regiments to move straight forward from its encampment on the extreme left flank towards the settlement of Cunningham, attacking targets of opportunity along the way. By so doing, I hoped it would buy time for the rest of the brigade to organise itself (it did), and grab the attention of Buford’s large force that seemed, to my horror, to be growing every move. In fact, this part worked a treat; as the Virginians appeared around the corner of Yew Hill to their front, Tom Hutchinson took them very seriously indeed and chose to halt his forces alongside the settlement and on the road, unlimbering a large battery of artillery and opening fire on the oncoming greycoats.

Meanwhile, the 13th and 10th Virginia cavalry mounted up and headed up the road towards their nemesis, now gathering in great force to the East. The 2nd North Carolina followed up to their left, initially lining the stone wall, but they soon realised that their place was in direct support of their fellows in the open space between the road and the woods that formed the right flank of my brigade.

What followed still seems something of a blur, but can be divided into two, distinct parts: the ‘death ride’ of the 9th Virginia on my left; and the ‘ride to glory’ of the 13th Virginia on my right, who were awarded the nickname of “The Lucky 13th” by the end of the day.

The 9th Virginia begin their death or glory charge

Having been spotted by the Union artillery, the 9th Virginia soon came under effective fire. Their advance was hindered by the walls of an enclosure that lay between them and their tormentors, but I realised that they just had to press on and attempt to come to grips with the gunners. As the distance closed, I had to grit my teeth but, at last, they came within charge range and summoned the courage to press home their attack at the very moment, unfortunately, when the Union commander had some of his best dice luck of the game. The poor 9th Virginia were scythed down by a terrible volley of canister, and their broken and bloody bodies littered the ground beneath the very muzzles of the guns. General Buford opposite me grunted in satisfaction, but though I swore  at the loss of so many men, I knew they had done their job and pinned the enemy in place for several moves.

13th Virginia (furthest right), flanked by 10th Virginia and supported by 2nd North Carolina, just moments before the first bluecoat cavalry crashed into them. The bodies of their comrades of 9th Virginia litter the ground before the Union guns to the left of the picture.

To my right, the 13th and 10th Virginia steeled themselves for the inevitable onslaught, and it wasn’t long in coming as a wave of bluecoat cavalry crashed home — and bounced! The Confederate cavalry fought with the fury of ten men each, and as melee followed melee, the unthinkable became possible. Inch by inch, charge after charge, and the Union troopers were forced back. The 13th Virginia won nine, yes, nine melees in a row! By the end of the game (move 18), these exhausted and bloodied warriors were unbeaten, and had forced the Union cavalry back almost to Green’s Mill Road. The 10th Virginia, doing their best to emulate this incredible feat, were also making steady headway against their opponents on the road. The 2nd North Carolina were unengaged until the last couple of moves!

All the way, all the way, all the way back! The triumphant 13th Virginia with no less than three enemy regiments cowering against the woods after a thorough thrashing!

Now, it must be said that in the combat phases, I was blessed with above-average dice rolls, but this was not the case with my brigade orders. Meanwhile, poor Tom Hutchinson opposite me had, perhaps, a few below-average rolls in these melees, but I think it would be false modesty to say my success was all down to the luck of the dice. I love cavalry, and have always enjoyed using this arm in my games in what I feel is the proper manner: aggressively and with a degree of coup d’oueil, that instinctive seizing of the moment that is difficult to describe but which you instantly recognise when you see it. It is, in itself, a form of calculated risk. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t and you pay a terrible price. The poor 9th Virginia might have been basking in glory if the Union gunners had been abandoned by Lady Luck, but instead, horse steak was on the menu that day. On the other hand, the 13th Virginia might have been annihilated and scattered by the overwhelming odds, but they followed up every little success and pressed home every advantage until the tide turned in their favour. Success is won by many single sword-strokes.

Anyway, that’s enough for tonight. I’ll report on the other two games I’ve played recently — another ACW encounter and a Table Top Teaser with Old Schooler Graham Knight and a host of Spencer Smiths — very soon. Goodnight!

Now what’s he up to? North African campaign?

This category has been lurking in the background for ages, and I’ve finally got something to put in it! So, what brought this on?

Last Saturday afternoon, Dan Mersey paid me a visit. As it happens, he’s a bit of a Blitzkrieg Commander fan himself.

Many moons ago — seriously, it must be over two years now — I bought a couple of GHQ “Combat Command” boxes from Magister Militum at a show in Rheindalen in Germany, for no other reason, really, than that the tiny 1/285 models were exquisite. I got the Italian armoured combat team 1941 and Commonwealth Western Desert 1941. And they’ve sat on a shelf ever since.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, I attended the Cavalier show in Tonbridge in Kent, where I again found Richard and Zoë of Magister Militum well-stocked with GHQ micro-armour. As well as a couple of other bits — of which, more later — I came away with two more boxes: Commonwealth Western Desert 1940 (it’s the Matildas, Staghounds and Vickers tankettes that did it!); and Afrika Korps 1941.

Well, as if I don’t have enough on my plate already, I ordered some MDF bases from Warbases and started gluing. Before I knew what had happened, I had cleaned up, stuck together and mounted the lot! And now, after a bit of a flurry of activity, they have been spray undercoated with Army Painter colour (Skeleton Bone for the Brits, Desert Yellow followed by a light dusting of the Skeleton Bone for the Germans and Italians) and given an initial wash of GW Devlan Mud.

My GHQ Blitzkrieg Commander forces take shape

Before I’d even undercoated these, Dan and I had a terrific little game to refresh my memory about the Warmaster-derived rules. Within five minutes, I’d remembered the basic mechanisms and was sending my A13 Cruiser tanks whizzing around the flanks of his lumbering M13/40s. I’d only played once before, again a long time ago, with rule-writer Pete Jones himself, so it’s a testament to his hard work that the rules are so instantly playable.

BKC is not, of course, to everyone’s taste, as it involves command activation systems and buckets’o'dice, but I have to say that I’ve become a bit of a convert to the Warmaster concepts over the last year or so. This has been reinforced not only by my foray into Warmaster Ancients (yes, I know, sorry Mr Berry but those Greeks and Persians are still not finished yet! Blame Dan for being a traitor and sidling off into 15mm…), but also by a trip to Warlord Games HQ where I, along with others, was treated to a preview game of the forthcoming Black Powder rules written by Rick Priestley and Jervis Johnson and feeling, not surprisingly, quite ‘Warmaster-y’.

To answer some fundamental questions you might have:

Why 1/285? Because they are small, comparatively cheap, easily stored, quick to paint, allow a good game in a small area or a huge game on a big table, and yet are amazingly attractive, jewel-like miniatures. I’m constantly amazed by the quality of GHQ sculpting.

Why Western Desert? Blame Don Featherstone, probably, and my dad. I was brought up to believe that the ‘purest’ theatre in WW2 was North Africa, and Rommel probably one of the greatest generals of all time. And that quirky British armour, the Long Range Desert Group, the DAK (the Pz III with the long 50mm gun is, for some reason, one of my all-time favourite tanks) and, of course, the Italians! (I have an especial fondness for their lovely AB-41 armoured car and ‘Sahariana’ vehicle.) What’s not to like?

Why based? With models this small, it’s sensible! Also, the various base sizes denote their differing functions at a glance. For example, all tanks and transport are mounted on 20 x 40mm, recce on 30 x 30mm, deployed artillery on 40 x 30mm and so on. The command stands are circular, with 40mm diameter for HQs and 50mm for the CO. FAOs are on 30mm diameter. Infantry and support weapons like mortars and HMGs are all on 40 x 20mm — yes, the same size base as armour but turned 90 degrees.

Why do they all look brown? Because the Army Painter primer turned out to have a slightly ‘dusty’ consistency, and the normally well-behaved GW Devlan Mud wash didn’t behave as expected! On every other occasion I’ve used them, these GW washes contract beautifully into the cracks, fissures and folds of the model to give a naturalistic shade/highlight effect, but the surface of the undercoat was obviously just too granular in some way, and so everything just looks rather muddy. Not to worry, a quick dry-brushed highlight will sort that. then I’ll add a little flesh to faces, arms and legs, brown for wooden bits, gunmetal and silver where needed, some rust colour to tracks and some charcoal black for tyres. A quick varnish, then a bit of base scenicking and the job’s a good ‘un.

Aren’t you going to micro-detail these and add that fancy Caunter Colour paint scheme to the British tanks? No! I have enough trouble getting a life as it is!

That’s enough for now. I’ll post a few more pics when they’re finished, which shouldn’t be long, then it’s back to the American Civil War. Roger and I have set the date for our first game, Friday 3rd April, just after Salute, so there’s plenty more news to come.

Goodnight!

Oh, sorry, what’s that? What’s the other thing I bought from Magister Militum?

Errr, ummm, just a handful —or two —of GHQ 1/1200 Napoleonic ships to use with Trafalgar…

Butterfly? Who, me? 

Back from the Front

I imagine that most people will have missed this short programme made my Jeremy Paxman for BBC News24. One World: Back from the Front is a short but very moving and enlightening piece, interviewing three recent Veterans about their experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But for me, it reinforced precisely why I launched the Battlegames Combat Stress Appeal, as at least one of the interviewees is clearly a potential candidate for precisely the kind of help that Combat Stress are struggling to provide.

So forgive me for adding this sobering note to the blog, but I do encourage you to spare half an hour to see it whilst it’s still available on iPlayer until Sunday 1st February. You might then feel inclined to pop over to our JustGiving Battlegames Combat Stress Appeal online appeal page to pop a few coins into the collection tin, so to speak, but that’s up to you.

STOP PRESS
I have just been sent the news that you can now use PayPal to make donations on the JustGiving website as well as credit cards. Just click the ‘Donate Now’ button and follow the simple instructions.

Hear ye, hear ye!

And now for something completely different… No, it’s not Henry veering off on yet another tangential project, it’s an appearance on Neil Shuck’s Meeples and Miniatures podcast.

I have been ’sponsoring’ this podcast for a while now, which in effect has just meant giving words of encouragement and advice from time to time and furnishing him with a silly advertisement for Battlegames on his regular show. But recently, he contacted me and asked if I would consent to being interviewed to give a review of 2008 from an industry insider’s perspective, which of course I was delighted to do.

The comments that this episode of his show (number 45) has received in the last couple of days seem to indicate that I didn’t make a complete *rse of myself, so perhaps you might like to pop over and have a listen for about an hour, as Neil and I shoot the breeze about the great and the good and the not so good things that the hobby experienced last year.

Neil has also very kindly invited me to contribute a regular short slot entitled something like “The view from the verandah”, where I can talk about the magazine and what I’ve been up to, so if you can tolerate my blather, you’ll have plenty of listening to do in future.

You can also listen to all of Neil’s previous shows online or via iTunes. Bear in mind that Neil does this show, on his own initiative, purely out of enthusiasm for the hobby, with no financial recompense, which I think is a tremendous contribution for which he should be applauded. As a “thank you” to Neil, you’ll be seeing his show advertised in Battlegames on a regular basis.

Neil’s podcasts are wide-ranging, as he has extremely diverse interests that cover historical miniatures gaming, board gaming, fantasy and science fiction, and he gives cogent and honest opinions about everything he turns his hand to, so I heartily recommend his show.

So, pop over to Meeples and Miniatures and happy listening!

I’m alive!

Okay, that’s probably a bit dramatic, but after more than five weeks of the gammy leg thing, compounded by tearing the calf muscle on the way to the bathroom a week ago (how unglamorous can you get?) as a result of having rested it so much, the gradual easing of pain to mere discomfort feels, believe me, like something of a rebirth.

First of all, let me say another huge “thank you” to the dozens of people who sent very kind “get well” messages, including a surprising number who are or have been fellow sufferers of cellulitis. Your support means a great deal to me and has certainly helped me to cope with this affliction in better spirits than would otherwise have been the case.

Secondly, I can confirm that despite the setback, the Table Top Teasers Special Edition made it to the printers just before Christmas, and is at the finishers right now, so should be with me within the next day or two [latest update: it's just arrived!], so all those of you who have waited patiently whilst I sat on your money will be rewarded with your copies as soon as I can humanly manage to get them in the post to you. The rest of you, get your orders in now here!

The British & Hessian attack on the Yorktown defences

Next, I’ve already started work on issue 16, which will head off to the printers in a couple of weeks time, and it’s packed with goodies, including some shots taken at the South Mimms Yorktown/Waterloo extravaganza organised by Dave Brown and “Eclaireur”, about whom I just want to say a few words, especially since he has provided a wonderful scenario article for the forthcoming issue based on the Yorktown game.

I normally have no truck with those who want to use a pseudonym for their articles, feeling that it is often a symptom of silliness at best, or pretentiousness and pomposity at worst. However, in this instance, many of us already know who Eclaireur really is, and many others would recognise him instantly from his work with a major British TV channel. It is in fact for this reason that his wargaming articles cannot be published under his real name: he has contractual obligations about the kind of work he is seen to be doing, and sadly, his employers are not as enlightened about our hobby as we might wish them to be, even though I am sure that it could well be thought to be remarkably relevant to his work.

Having met and spent some time with the man many call simply “Ec”, I have found him to be every inch the charming and intelligent chap I expected him to be, and therefore have no hesitation in respecting his wish for confidentiality, and I would simply ask that those others who know the man behind the mask do likewise.

The South Mimms Waterloo game, seen from the British left

I have, incidentally, also asked Dave Brown to put something together about the Waterloo game from that weekend. Played with, quite literally, thousands of beautifully-painted 15mm miniatures by two teams of players passionate about the outcome, it was magnificent to witness. Again, here’s just a little photographic tease! Waterloo is one of those iconic battles which arouses passions on all three sides (British/Allied, Prussian and French), and the pressure on the game organiser is to produce something which recreates something of that cliff-hanging feeling amongst the players and onlookers. Well, this event rose to the occasion admirably, the tension was palpable all weekend and, just as in the real thing, the outcome was far from certain until the very end of the second day of play. A near run thing indeed! You’ll have to wait to read about what happened in more detail, but it should be a humdinger of an article when finished.

Finally, I’ve managed – at long last – make a start on one of my new projects (as if I needed another!) Those Perry American Civil War plastics that I put together for the Recce review a couple of months ago have been nagging at me to slap some paint on them, and a couple of other things have conspired to make me take the plunge.

First of all, Charles S Grant’s The War Game Companion described in some detail the fun had by him and his father in the early days as they pitched Reb against Yankee in many a fun encounter, which got me yearning for the days of my youth when I had more than 1,000 Airfix ACW figures, including many conversions, nicely painted and based. I fought many an epic battle with my old school chum David Cox and others across an 8′ x 4′ table set up in the dining room of my Mum’s house back in the 1970s. Foolishly, I sold the lot for what seems like sixpence many years ago when I set off for university.

Then I discovered that my Fantasy & Sci-Fi Editor Roger Smith has been harbouring a secret interest in the ACW, and the arrival of the Perry plastics has proved to be the tipping point for him. No mere man of words, Roger has invested real cash and now has the beginnings of a Confederate force set to take on my Union troops.

And finally, having spent some time with the Perry twins, they’re just such nice guys and loaded with talent that their enthusiasm has rubbed off on me. They have a range of metal figures that round out the plastics nicely, and the more time I have spent with the miniatures, the more I have grown to like the anatomy, animation and character of the figures.

There are some tantalising gaps, of course. Where are the zouaves?! Not to be deterred, I’ve decided that they will form my first conversion project, prompting me to dig out that Green Stuff and those sculpting tools that have been lying around for ages, and this may well form the basis of an article for the magazine, a record of either triumph or disaster!

Anyway, I decided to start with some basic infantry, cavalry, artillery and a senior officer, so the project begins with this clutch of units as they would have appeared in 1863, at the time of Gettysburg, in fact. Roger and I decided to go for this mid-war period because the opposing armies had more or less achieved parity: the corners had been knocked off the often raw and frightened city boys from the North, and the cocky, veteran units of Lee’s army had taken a few knocks and were starting to feel the pinch.

My first recruits for the Army of the Potomac, Reynold’s 1st Corps, Wadsworth’s 1st Division, Cutler’s Brigade, are the 76th New York infantry; and from Gamble’s Brigade of Doubleday’s 3rd Division come the 8th New York cavalry. There’s also a 3″ Ordnance rifle battery, and to command them I’m painting a brigadier-level leader on a dapple grey mount.

So, to finish up, here are a few pics of my very crowded painting table – and yes, those are still Zulus jostling for attention in the background! I’m using a combination of Foundry and GW/Citadel acrylics, and those gorgeous new Citadel washes, which have proved their worth beyond any doubt on the horses and flesh. And no, I’m not doing eyes on the figures: these will be painted to decent wargames standard, on the basis that at this scale, you wouldn’t be able to see the eyes, and my name is not amongst the award-winning painting glitterati capable of microscopic detail!

My cluttered painting table

Perry plastic ACW infantry fleshed but not dressed!

The uncomfortably perched cavalry await their clothes

Dapple grey horse (metal) with bay plastic troop horses

The artillery crew have just got their skin

Right, it’s back to work for me, so I’ll see you next time!

Sell your what?

No, cellulitis. That’s what I’ve got, with a touch of thrombosis thrown in for free. And no, that’s not cellulite, either, the spongy, pitted skin that larger ladies of a certain age often suffer from. I’ve encountered so much ignorance about this condition – and indeed, I knew nothing about it myself before I became a sufferer – that I’ve decided to explain precisely what I’m going through, in the hope that if you ever recognise any of the symptoms in yourself or a loved one, you will seek medical help immediately.

My left leg. The line was drawn around the infection by the doctors.

Cellulitis is a potentially very dangerous bacterial infection, usually caused by a tiny puncture of the skin, or athlete’s foot, where the skin cracks and bacteria can enter. I don’t have athlete’s foot, which leaves the mysterious, microscopic injury. The effects, however, are far from microscopic. My temperature shot up to nearly 40 degrees, and my CRP (blood infection count) peaked at over 200 (it should be 5 or less – yes, five). I spent two days with uncontrollable shivering and fevers (like a very bad case of ‘flu) and felt pretty bloody awful, I can tell you. My GP visited me at home, then sent me straight down to A&E for intravenus antibiotics, which continued for four days, followed by an extended course of oral antibiotics. I’ve also been into hospital for regular blood tests to check that the battle against the infection is being won. Until my GP pointed out the connection, I had assumed I’d come down with some kind of virus and suffered a leg injury separately.

My left ankle showing the swelling and discolouration

For those with an interest and strong constitution, I’ve included a couple of photos of my leg taken last week: in fact, the redness and swelling subsequently got worse, and early this week there were fears that I may also have developed thrombosis in the knee, which swelled up to the size of a volleyball. Fortunately, ultrasound scans revealed that there were no dangerous blood clots.

Apart from the initial feverishness, which has largely subsided thank goodness, the main symptom is a constant throbbing and soreness, like a combination of bruising and sunburn, when at rest. The main problem, however, is that whenever you have been resting, as prescribed, with the leg elevated, and then go to stand up, it feels like you’ve just plunged your leg into hot coals, an intense and searing pain that can reduce even a big, butch feller like me to tears. It is at its worst in the evening and at night.

TTT special

The doctors tell me that with luck, the infection itself should be beaten by the end of this week, but the swelling in the leg and associated pain may take until Christmas to recede, which is not what a grumpy, impatient patient like me wants to hear! Being a driven, self-employed publisher, this is all a bit of a nightmare, because I’m having to striclty ration the amount of time I spend at the keyboard. Because of the intricacy of the design and layout work I do for the magazine (and the Table Top Teaser Special currently in production), a laptop is no substitute for my monster 23-inch Mac screen, so I’m inevitably a little behind my planned schedule. I had hoped that the TTT book would have been with the printers on Monday just gone, but I’m afraid it will now be next Monday. I’ll keep you posted if the celulitis flares up and causes any further delays.

Meanwhile, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to those many well-wishers who have sent kind “get well” messages which have, in the nicest possible way, added to the mountainous backlog of emails that I am making every effort to catch up on. To those wags who imagine that I’ve suddenly got an opportunity to deal with all that unpainted lead, I need to remind them that if I can’t sit at the computer to work, then I can’t sit to paint either! Trying to paint when flat on one’s back leads, in my experience, to messy results, and it’s the work at the computer, not the painting, that pays the bills…

With luck, the next blog entry will be altogether more cheerful, but until then, I’ve got work to do!

Your wargaming preferences

WordPress have just introduced a new facility for creating polls, so I thought I’d plunge straight in during a coffee break from creating issue 15 of the magazine and try it out. So, please tick as many boxes as apply to you, and with luck we should end up with some interesting feedback about just what gamers are getting up to out there.

Right, back to the grindstone!

 

A new category for feedback

As a short interlude before continuing the Fontendorf game report, I have introduced a new category of posting on the blog for comments received via email and otherwise relating specifically to particular articles in the magazine that I think readers might find useful.

Issue 14 seems to have been very well received indeed, with Bob Barnetson’s calm and reasoned article on figure piracy and Barry Hilton’s suggestions for rapid painting techniques receiving particular praise.

One reader, Steve Burt, went a step further, adding some suggestions of his own:

“I very much enjoyed this (and the whole issue, in fact), but I was surprised that Barry didn’t say anything about undercoats in colours other than black or white, and nor did he mention the best base texturing material.

Some years ago I switched over to a sandy brown undercoat (I use Liquitex Bronze Yellow), followed by a burnt umber wash. Not only does this show detail on the casting in a way not possible with black or white, but it does not dull colours down as black does, and missed areas look like wood/leather so do not stand out like a white undercoat.

Indeed, for Dark Age figures, you can just paint flesh and shields and the figure is pretty much usable on the table straight away.

I notice that Barry seems to favour model paints; I personally find artists’ acrylics better quality and cheaper, especially for things like undercoats. The Liquitex medium viscosity range (now renamed soft body) are fluid, so don’t need to be diluted like the tube paints; they come in little squeezy bottles.

For plastic figures I find that acrylic paint from a tube is perfect; it covers the plastics and shrinks slightly on drying to form a skin, perfect for further paint. It’s much easier than using PVA in my experience.

Finally, Barry should also have a look in an art shop for his basing material. Acrylic texture paste is clear (so can be mixed with whatever colour you wish), dries slightly flexible, does not shrink or crack, and does not cause warping. The plain clear texture gel is perfect for water effects. The various sand textures are great for basing.

Thanks for a great issue, and I hope the tips above are of some use to others.”

I forwarded his comments to Barry, adding:

I am copying this reply to Barry, who I’m certain will appreciate the feedback and excellent ideas, and will find a home for them on the Battlegames website. And, of course, I’m going to try them out myself! I’m sure we have all noticed, of course, the recent publicity by Army Painter who prescribe coloured undercoat sprays, chosen according to the final colour scheme of your army, though it would seem very strange to me to undercoat an army of plastic legionaries with silver! (Though Bob Barnetson, as you will have noticed from his previous article, probably wouldn’t bat an eyelid as he often doesn’t undercoat metal figures at all.)

Barry replied:

Yes, thank you both. Interesting ideas, Steve. I too have experimented with different colour undercoats including blue, tan and grey. My article was mainly focusing on a very pragmatic comparison of a particular figure type and differing production methods so I kept the writing frame quite tight. I suppose if Henry had wanted a few extra pages I may have been able to oblige! Hope the omissions did not spoil your enjoyment too much.

I’m quite certain that everyone realises that a contributor has to focus on one particular aspect when writing and article — otherwise, it quickly becomes a book! I personally found Barry’s piece incredibly valuable, especially since I am embarking on a couple of major projects myself, a view shared by reader (and previous contributor) Ian Allen:

Barry Hilton’s painting article was particularly interesting as I’d recently been agonizing over not painting figures ‘properly’ any more, but my 15mm C18th look good on the table en masse from a sensible distance even though they are just flat painted, no highlights etc. I think that for skirmishing type games, more time should be taken to make each figure look as good as possible, as with my “Thrilling Tales!” collection, but for massed troops and units a simpler approach works well.

Steve Burt then sent a postscript to his earlier email:

Actually I should have said that black is a very good undercoat colour for figures which are mostly armoured, such as cataphracts or medieval knights. I just find brown tones better with most other figures. The ‘undercoat in main uniform colour’ trick is one I’ve used with success for WW2 figures. I did experiment with no undercoat a while back, but was disappointed with the results.

Anyway, if you’ve got any thoughts to add, then by all means leave comments of your own below. I find that there are as many painting techniques as there are wargamers, but that a piece like Barry’s has value in challenging us all to think about why we paint the way we do, forcing us to consider the results we achieve relative to the time and effort invested. I know that I’ll be making some changes! In the final analysis, we have to simply consider whether we are happy with what we achieve, and if so, that’s the most we can ask.