Army Completion

Last weekend saw the completion of my FOG Carthaginian army when I finished off the last two cavalry battlegroups and the command bases. This brought the total of completed figures to 188 infantry and 46 cavalry.

The battlegroup shown above is a unit of Spanish cavalry. I painted two similar units to provide a strong cavalry force in my army.

The picture above shows the three command bases for the army. To make him stand out a little I painted him mounted on a palamino (although the picture doesn't give a good view of this).

Now the Carthaginians are done its on to the next set of unpainted figures. I,ve still got a lot of stuff still to do so there's plenty of choice.

Ship Ahoy

Something a little different this week as far as completed paint jobs go. In a complete change of period its back to the American Civil War for a little riverine action. I bought the ships three years ago at the World Wargames show at Derby. The models themselves are 1/600th scale Peter Pig models. They are beautiful little models and the range has a myriad assortment of weird looking vessels. It appears that the concept of the time was take anything that floated and strap on any wood, steel plate and bales of cotton you just happened to have lying around.  The ship shown at the top is the USS Monitor.

The picture above shows three examples of the kind of vessels the Union forces could use. They are from left to right the USS Cairo, USS Benton and the USS Essex.

The picture above shows the Confederate opposition. From left to right the CSS Arkansas, CSS Albemarle and CSS Tuscaloosa.

  Painting the ships was probably one of the quickest paint jobs I,ve done. The wooden parts of the ships were painted  with Khemri Brown washed over with Devlan Mud. The hulls and smokestacks were then painted black. I know the colour schemes aren't probably accurate but they suffice for my purposes. In a little over a day I managed to paint 13 ships more than enough to give both side a decent fleet. Anyway it,s back to Carthaginians next as I need to get my army finished before its first outing.   

More Completed Carthaginians

Another two units of Carthaginians have left the painting table. The first is a 4 base unit of heavy cavalry with the second being a 6 base unit of Spanish infantry. This brings the total of completed figures to 188 infantry and 24 cavalry. With their completion it only leaves a further 2 cavalry units and 3 General bases to paint to complete the army (only 22 figures).

Carthaginian Reinforcements

More figures have left the painting bench to reinforce my Carthaginian army. This time a further two infantry and one cavalry unit. The cavalry is another 4 base battlegroup of Numidian Light Cavalry. The infantry consists of 4 bases of Libyan skirmishers and an6 base battlegroup of Spanish Mercenary Scutarii. This brings the total of completed figures to 170 infantry and 16 cavalry.

With these figures completed the bulk of the Carthagiinian army is done. It only remains to paint up one unit of Spanish Scutarii (6 bases of 3 figures), three units of heavy cavalry (each 4 bases of 2 figures) and three command bases (each with 2 figures).

Celtiberians

Another battlegroup has left the painting table. This time it's a 6 base unit of Celtiberians for my Carthaginian army. Another 18 figures done (total now 146 infantry, 8 cavalry).

Numidian Light Horse

My latest completed figures have left the painting table and this time its a battlegroup of Numidian Light Horse for my Carthaginian FOG army.

The figures are from the Crusader Miniatures Numidian range.

As can be seen from the picture I,ve completed another batch of the Crusader Carthaginians. I,ve done a further two, six base battlegroups (a total of 36 figures) for Field of Glory. To give a bit of variation in the units I gave these battlegroups a unit colour scheme. In this case a light blue for one, green for the other. This will help distinguish units on the tabletop.This brings the total of completed figures up to 128, still plenty to go however. I might start on some cavalry next just for a change.

28mm Carthaginians

As I just completed these Carthaginians I thought I'd add a couple of close ups showing a base of reular infantry as well as the command base.

Latest Carthaginians

Today see's the completion of another 18 figures from my lead mountain, bringing the running total up to 92 figures. The figures shown in the picture are 28mm Carthaginians from Crusader Miniatures Punic Wars range. They have been based for Field of Glory on a 60mm x 20mm base. Although the rules call for 4 figures to a base for heavy infantry I prefer to use only three figures. This is down to two reasons. The first is because of the figure size. I find it easier to fit 3 figures on a base rather than 4. The second reason is cost, it's cheaper buying 18 figures for a six base unit than having to buy 24.

Latest Completed Figures

Today sees the completion of another 11 figures, bringing the current total to 74. The figures come from Musketeer Miniatures Inter War Period range. They are members of the British Union of Fascist and are intended for use with A Very British Civil War. The three figures shown in the picture are a senior officer and two NCO's. One is carrying a Lewis gun, while the other carries a Bergmann smg. Musketeer only do a couple of packs of the Fascists (the remainder being generic riflemen and a standard bearer) they also do several workers and civilian militia types who can bulk up the numbers. Their regular army range can also be used as either allies or enemies of Moseley's blackshirted minions.

As I mentioned the Fascists are intended for use with A Very British Civil War. This isn't a rules set, rather it's a sourcebook published by Solway Crafts and Miniatures. It's basic premise is that in 1936 King Edward VIII refused to abdicate over his relationship with the American divorcee Wallace Simpson. This leads to a constitutional crisis which results in Edward asking Sir Oswald Moseley leader of the British Union of Fascists to form a goverment. Once this happens there's a major split in the country with towns and cities declaring loyalty or opposition o the King. As well as this you have Scotland declaring itself a Republic. The sourcebook itself provides a lot of good background information which will allow you to create your own loyalist or rebel forces, the only limit being your imagination. For anyone looking for a change from the run of the mill World War II games this provides a a superb alternative.

Its been a week since I last posted, but in the interim more figures have left the painting table. As can be seen I've finished the first squad for by British for Secrets of the Third Reich (SOTR) as well as a member of the British Union of Fascists for a Very English Civil War. (ECW2). With their completion it brings the total of completed figures since the 25/04/09 up to 63. Not bad but still plenty to go. Next to go on the painting table is probably 28mm Carthaginians for FOG.

I recently bought a new digital camera (Canon Ixus 95), this is much better than my old camera, the zoom facility being just one of the better options it has. The pictures above were taken with the new camera. From top to bottom they show part of a British infantry squad, a battlegroup of Libyan skirmishers, a British Fascist infantryman and a British sergeant with a sten gun.

Latest Completed Figures

As can be seen from the picture, another set of figures has left the painting table. In this case its 16 Libyan skirmishers (Light Foot) for Field of Glory. The figures are from Crusader Miniatures ancients range. The figures themselves are well cast and come with seperate spears and shields. Detail on them is good which makes them very easy to paint. They are based 2 figures to a 60mm x 30mm base which gives me the option of using them as one 8 base unit or two four base units.

With the completion of the Libyans this brings the total of completed figures since I started my blog to 51. Still plenty more to paint though.

Carronade 09

Today I attended the Carronade wargames show in Falkirk. The show had something for everyone with over 30 traders as well as several demonstration and participation games on show. Of those games two stood out for me. The first was a 28mm demo of the 1743 Battle of Amstenoy, the second a 28mm British Civil War 1938.
The Amstenoy demo was impressive due to the large number of beautifully painted figures on show. The British Civil War game looked good not just for the figures, but the terrain which included a very nice armoured train .
As with all wargames shows there's always plenty of shiny new things to tempt you. Unfortunately for me my Lead Mountain has increased as a result. The first purchase was 34 6mm sci fi vehicles from Reiver. They are going towards my army for Future War Commander. My second lead purchase was twelve 28mm Fascists for us with A Very British Civil War.

First Brits Finished

Although it's only a small command group of five figures, I've finished my fist batch of British Infantry for Secrets of the Third Reich. I decided to base them on hex bases rather than the standard circular base as I wanted to have some indication as to the figures facing when on the board. The basic colour shceme is Vallejo English Uniform (70921) for the battledress, Vallejo Khaki (70988) for the webbing, pouches and gaiters, with Vallejo Light Grey (70990) for the body armour. Over this I applied a wash of Games Workshop Devlan Mud to provide shading, with a light drybrush to finish. Overall I'm quite pleased with the final result and hope my first rifle squad will turn out as good.

Next on the Painting Table

As I just finished painting 2 units of Bavarians, I decided to sort out whats next in the painting queue. To give a bit of variety I decided to paint several units for different periods. To complete the infantry for my Bavarian army I've primed the last two infantry battalions and the dismounted dragoons. For my 28mm Carthaginian army I've primed up two units of skirmishers and for my World War Two British a five man command unit. This gives a total of six units containing fifty seven figures.

Off the Painting Table

Well, having picked up my paintbrush I,ve finally got some figures finished. As a result my Bavarian Army for Beneath the Lily Banners now has another three battalions completed (a total of 36 figures). This now gives me eight infantry battalions. Apart from one unit all the figures are from the Front Rank War of Spanish Succession range.

My first blog

This is my fist tentative step into the world of blogging. Thanks must go to Bryan Scott for getting me into this. As he said if he could do it then any one can do it. Having seen his blog I have been tempted to have a go.

My main hobby is Wargaming, I want my blog to record all aspects of it. At present like most wargamers I have the ubiqitous 'Lead Mountain' of unpainted figures. I now think the time has come to knuckle down and get these figures painted. At present they fall into the following catagories.



1. 28mm Marlburian Bavarian Army for Beneath the Lily Banners.

2. 28mm Carthaginian Army for Field of Glory.

3. 28mm World War II German Infantry for Rules of Engagement.

4. 28mm British Infantry for Secrets of the Third Reich.