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.