New Year's Morning Visitors

My daughter spotted these monsters in the back yard, and after I convinced myself they weren't a product of too much champagne last night, I managed to grab a few pictures. My guard dog Tucker, whose idea of guarding the house is to present her belly to any stranger that appears if she can manage to get out of her bed, summoned the energy to chase these hens out of the yard. Fortunately they landed next door and were gracious enough to let me photograph them.

How do you tell a hen from a tom anyway?

Mmmmmm, if only I'd grabbed my bow instead of the camera..... Not that I'd know what to do with it if I had. Besides, it's New Years Day. May they live long and prosper.

WWII German Fallscirmjager

I thought it might be a nice diversion over Christmas break to work on something other than DBx type figures, so I brought out some Fallschirmjager from WWII that I have been slowly collecting. My good friend Baxter Key from Wargames Inc manufactures these FAA figures, so every now and again I pick up a pack, especially when I'm feeling guilty for making him work on a Saturday so the rest of us can game. I also finally painted an Italieri King Tiger that has been primed in my ready box for quite some time. I've been thinking of trying the WWII skirmish game "Nuts", and now I'm ready to do so.

1/72 model kits can be a little hit and miss, but this one was quite a nice kit, and included the two drivers and tank commander which was a nice bonus. I gave the airbrush a rest on this one, as I have never really gotten very good at using it, and just brushed on the paint. I tried to keep the paint nice and thin, but heavy enough to provide good coverage (I used Polly S paints as they have great pigmentation even when thin), and the end result was pretty good.

I also painted up a Dragon kit of a jagdpanzer IV. This is a great kit, but I never did get the gun at a nice elevated level and the paint job was a bit to dark and heavy, but all in all, an acceptable job. I like to think of it as a well distressed model.

FAA Fallschirmjager engineers. I bought this pack thinking it was a rifle squad, but oops. I'm still glad I have them though and they are some really great figures in different and nicely animated poses.

The grunts: Three packs of assorted riflemen. Once again some very nice figures in great poses.

Heavy and medium MGs. The MMG in the prone position I based on two separate halves of an oval to facilitate taking casualties.

Pak 38 anti tank gun. It took a while to get this little booger together but the end result was good. I've always had difficulty gluing the pieces of FAA figures and guns together. I'll have to ask Baxter if he uses a special release agent or something. It could also be that I'm just lacking in patience. This was a fun diversion, but now on to the serious business of the Prussian 1806 Gendarmes of the Guard for DBN!

New DBN elements in 15 and 25mm

I have been working on a few DBN elements over the past couple of months and thought I would share the results. First up: The Old Guard - Chasseurs a Pied

I got these figures from a friend at a great price and trade, but unfortunately that means I really don't know what manufacturer these figures are from. I thought they were Foundry, but I've been told they're Dixon. In either case they were great figures. The figures were actually Grenadiers of the Imperial Guard, but I filed off the square cuffs and painted on the chevron cuffs, and used epoxy putty to cover up the bearskin plates. Most are in Campaign dress, but the NCO on the end decided to dress for the occasion, at least in his choice of headgear.

The flag is a free download from warflags, which I used as a template, over which I painted the flag just to add a greater vibrancy that I get from paint as opposed to inkjet prints. Note the pouch covers, which is a dead giveaway for the 1815 period.

These are some old Hinchcliffe figures that I got on ebay and represent a battery of horse artillery. This element was a real challenge. The figures were badly painted and I had to strip them completely and start again. The gun itself was a howitzer and the carriage was so poorly assembled I had to chissel out all the old glue, strip the paint and start over. The howitzer just looked goofy so, with apologies to a certain figure manufacturer, I made a plaster mold of a gun barrel and cast my own. (I don't feel too guilty about this as said manufacturer has waaay too much of my money) I had never tried to make a mold and cast my own lead, and though the results were acceptable, I don't think anyone has to worry about me becomming one of the dread figure pirates. It was fun to try at any rate.

The Perry's make the best figures out there as far as I can tell. They are a joy to paint and I have always been pleased with the result. Here is an element painted as the 1st line battalion of the Brunswick army in 1815. The flags are by GMB Designs.

Lastly I have some 15mm 1806 Prussian Dragoons by AB miniatures. These were fun to paint and almost complete my Prussian army.

It's a funny thing, but I think these figures almost look better form the back, which is a good thing, since as their general, I rarely get to see the front of the figures!

English Civil War - The New Model Army

Much to my chagrin I found myself sucked into painting an English Civil War (ECW) New Model Army, with a few additions so that it can be played as a Parliamentarian army as well. A good friend found the miniatures at a great price so I couldn't say no. The figures are 15mm Donnington sculpts, which though not award winners, actually paint up quite well. So far this army has only made it onto the field once, and are undefeated, but Prince Rupert and his goofy poodle are gunning for revenge.

The General element. He looks a little to dashing for Cromwell, so I will probably alter the banner a bit to make him represent Lord Fairfax.

The shot elements - two in red, and for the Parliamentarian addition, one in green and one in blue.

The supporting pike elements in the same colors.

The Dragoons

The new model knight elements which can be played as knights or as pistoliers.

Parliamentarian knights or pistoliers guarding the artillery.

The baggage train.

Cavalry and psiloi representing a forlorn hope.

A special thanks to Terry Webb for finding these figures and getting me interested in the ECW. Thanks also to Blake Radetzky at Pendraken USA for picking out some great figures for us and giving such a great deal and service.

HOTT 15mm Narnian Army ready for battle

Though not quite complete, I realized with the latest addition of the Fauns and hero element, I had enough elements to field the required 24 points. I still want to paint some Satyrs, especially shooters and blades, as well as a griffin (flyer), and possibly some manticores, but I may save them for an army of the White Witch, which will come sometime in the future. First I want to make an army of Telmarines for the Narnians to beat up on. At present the army consists of 3 knights (centaurs), 2 riders (centaurs), 1 beast (forest animals), 2 spear (fauns) 1 shooter (faun slingers), 1 magician (faun shaman), and 1 hero (Peter, Susan and Edmund - lucy being to young to take part in a battle), for a total of 26 possible points. Below are the latest additions. To see closeups of the other elements, just hit the Narnia label at the left of the screen.

The army arrayed

The contingent of Fauns - these are splendid figures from Splintered Light Miniatures

The Faun Shaman. The ring of stones are made with Sculptamold.

The heros - King Edmund on foot, High King Peter on horseback, and queen Susan. Edmund and Peter are Essex figures and Susan is a converted Vexilia figure for the Italian Condotta. Her expression is a bit more manly and aggresive than I would have liked, but the figure itself was an easy conversion. I simply added the dress (and breasts) with green stuff. From this angle she looks a bit more buxom than she really appears, which I tried to avoid, but with the expression on her face I wanted to make it clear that the figure was female. The human miniatures are a bit more slender in style than the fantasy figures, which actually was a fortuitous accident, as they are meant to represent children.

Brunswick and Saxon Additions

I have just finished an element of Brunswick Avant Garde in 25mm and the last addition to my 15mm Prussian 1806 army, the Saxon corp , is also complete:

Here are three views of the Brunswick Avant-Garde. This element is based on the uniforms of the light companies. There were also two Jager companies that wore similar uniforms of a lighter shade, and the running horse badge on their hats instead of the hunting horn. The hedge is made from foam covered in flock, and the boulder is made from a paper mache product called Scultamold. The figure are by Perry Miniatures and are absolutely exquisitely sculpted and cast.

Above are the Saxons who will accompany my 1806 Prussian army. I have four musket elements, foot artillery, and Hussars. I decided to paint the trim on the gun carriage as brass instead of iron painted yellow. Two primary sources depicted the cannon with the same color trim as was used for the barrel and gold trim on officer's uniforms and hats. I took this to mean that the trim was indeed brass. Expensive I know, but feasable for the beginning of the war before the economic shortages began. Close ups below:

Can't wait to field these guys and try them out in a game of DBN!!!

Saxons and Centaurs Oh My!

So my painting these days has been a bit eclectic. I have started the long slipery slide from historical to fantasy miniatures. Today I have some Narnians for a HOTT army, and waiting in the wings, as yet unseen, lurk the bugs and marines of the Star Ship Troopers. Not to fear however, my true love will always remain histprical gaming, and to that end I offer up pictures of my Saxon musket elements for DBN. Enjoy:

These are Eureka miniatures centaurs and though on the large size, more like 20mm, they are wonderful sculpts. I am using them with Splintered Lights beastlands range and their size should not be out of place. That's one of the nice things about fantasy. Who really knows how big a centaur should be?

These elements will play as knights, with the generals element in the center. I tried to pick Narnian themes for the shields, hence the lions and stylyzed antlers, as well as the pan pipes.

The archers and javelin armed centaurs will be classed as riders.

Now for a more serious subject: the Saxon line infantry regiments. I still have to look it up to be precise, but these are painted after the units present at the battle of Saalfield. I believe, the Clemmens, Elecktor and Xavier regiments. I usually hand paint my flags, but I decided to use the Napflag site this time, as there was so much detail in the saxon flags. I highlighted and shadowed the flags with gold paint and darker red shading for the red flag.

A frontal view...

and from the rear.

I opted to paint the saxons solid white and then wash with a diluted black ink to provide some shading. This did make for a very efficient method and the results, though not stunning, I found to be quite acceptable. The faces are a bit rough when enlarged to this degree, but in 15mm they actually look quite good.