David Bickley's Wargames Blog

The occasional ramblings of an average gamer, journeyman painter, indifferent modeller, games designer, sometime writer for Wargames Illustrated and host of games in GHQ.



Thursday, 3 August 2023

The First Roosian Battalion

After what seemed like an age I can finally say that all the figures for the first battalion of the Crimean War Roosian infantry were completed before I left to go 'oop north'. Once I had found a colour set I was visually pleased with and sorted my painting order and rhythm the figures were a joy to work with. They will win no prizes but I'm confident at gaming distance in GHQ they will pass muster! Anyway you can decide for yourselves I'm quite sure. First then, the new base of figures to complete the battalion's three base structure ~

Now the view I've been most anticipating while sloshing the paint about, the whole battalion drawn up in line for your inspection ~

Sometimes while I've been working through this battalion I've hit a period when I was waiting for the PVA glue to harden off after fixing figures to the MDF hexes I use to hold them steady while I splosh paint on them. To avoid wasting painting time opportunity I've a number of mounted officer figures to portray commanders or ADCs. Here's a Roosian figure I've completed as a bonus ~

That was it then figure painting wise until I'm back from our trip 'oop north' and a much anticipated visit to Claymore to meet Kevin and my myriad chums from north of the waall. It's been five years since I was last able to visit the show so I'm really looking forward to Saturday morning.


Wednesday, 2 August 2023

Queen Victoria's Little Lead Heroes.

As I mentioned the British elements of the prodigal collection in the previous post I thought I would take a few photos to illustrate them ~

"Forward the Light Brigade!"
Scarlett's doughty Heavy Brigade.
The Royal Horse Artillery complete with limber set.
The Royal Artillery, also with limber set, 9lb, 24lb & mortar.
Royal Naval artillery and shore party. From HMS Pinafore perhaps?
A mini Highland Brigade ~ Sutherland Highlanders & Highland Light Infantry.
The two units with yellow facing colours I could cannibalise to form one larger 24 figure regiment. To the front is the 33rd.
Rifle Brigade, 23rd & 4th regiments.
Two Command Stands.
My first thoughts are centred around, "If I keep those then that's a shed load of rebasing somewhere down the line!" Mind, any decision is someway off in the future I think, bar the Foot Guards which are definitely surplus to requirements. Anyone interested?


Monday, 31 July 2023

Should I be killing the Fatted Calf?

Well, as I indicated in my previous blog submission, I am now once again, and I must stress completely unexpectedly, the owner of a decent sized Crimean War collection. The figures of course are all from Wargames Foundry's range, all sculpted by the Perrys, and painted by me back in the mists of time, probably the early to mid 1980's. As such of course they are both on the small side and painted in a different style when compared to current standards and would not readily mix within a unit to my thinking. However, in distinct units I foresee no issue. As I'm sure some of my regulars will readily recall, my view is that in the heat of battle no one will really notice differences, nor care I'd hope. Anyway, the prodigal collection as it was returned to its spiritual home ~

I've spent quite some time sitting in GHQ getting reacquainted with the whole collection and have formed a preliminary judgement on the fate of the various elements. 

First off, and a no brainer to boot, I'll keep all the cavalry and artillery. They are distinct elements in a game and so can stand alone comfortably alongside their new stouter relations. Besides which it will save a shedload of roubles as now I can field representative formations for both the Light and Heavy Brigades as well as the obvious Roossian cavalry elements of Hussars, Lancers, Dragoons and Cossacks. Another obvious gain is the British RHA which Great War Miniatures does not have in its range as on the North Star site. Here's a quick peak at the Roosian cavalry, four units each of twelve figures, together with the Roosian artillery ~

Turning now to consider the infantry elements of the collection reveals a less certain outcome. I seem to have settled on 16 figures or so in a unit back then while the new units are 24 figures for the British and 30ish for the Roosians. It seems to me that reorganising the Roosians into larger units will be possible, but with some wastage sadly inevitable. As I hope the picture shows I can depict another four battalion infantry regiment together with an understrength Rifle battalion in support ~

Whereas for the British element consolidation looks unlikely without serious repainting of facing colours. Certainly there are some British infantry I can definitely move on in the form of 40 or so Foot Guards  complete with Brigade command as the new element already includes the first two of three units making up the Guards Brigade. I'll leave it for now, more on the British part of the collection in a future post.

Saturday, 29 July 2023

Roosian infantry expanding

 In more ways than one, but more on that in due course. Firstly though, the second base of infantry for my first Roosian infantry battalion are now completed. These have taken me longer than I hoped largely due to two figures deciding to pop off their 'painting hexes' and needing to be reglued. The PVA seemed to take an age to harden off as it was a humid morning. They are finished now though, so here they are ~

As before I've added a from above shot of the base and another of the two bases together to give a sense of the three rank appearance ~

Now, when coming to address the matter of the second source of expansion I'm almost lost for words. Jon came by on Friday morning and unexpectedly returned my original Foundry Crimean War collection which I had traded for a 15mm Peninsular War collection back in the midst of time. That the trade had not concluded in no way reflects on Jon's integrity, simply put he and I were the victims of circumstances beyond our control. I now have potentially a larger Crimean War collection than I'd banked on. More on this later in the week.

Wednesday, 26 July 2023

"Normandie!"

Something of a rarity here in GHQ, a Rapid Fire! WWII game using my 20mm collection of figures, vehicles and buildings. Set in late June 1944 the game saw the Germans, commanded by the veteran von Bikkel, defending two villages (each 5 VPs) and one town (10 VPs). The Germans win if the score is 10-10 at the end of the game {Turn 12} and they still have viable defensive forces in action, otherwise Brigadier Lord Rawnsley claims the win. Firstly then the German forces' dispositions at the outset of the game ~

The first village is lightly defended and it transpired is fated to fall to a determined assault early in the game.
The main town is lightly defended at the game's outset. Von Bikkel is confident Rawnsley will not get that far!!!
Hans von Bikkel's HQ attempting to coordinate the German defence and hold off Rawnsley's assault for 12 Turns. 
A battery of 150mm artillery are the main German firepower. Despite the best efforts of observers all along the Front they would prove woefully ineffective as the game unfolded.
A company of three Panzer IVs are the Germans main armour, though two are out of fuel unknown to the enemy.
Germans are dug in all along the low wooded ridge supported by infantry guns with a company of two Stugs available if needed.
The second village is defended by more German infantry and blocks the approach towards the main town.

Turning now to the unfolding action over the 12 Turns. The British force comprising two lorried infantry Battalions, a Priest battery, part of the Guards Armoured Brigade with Stuarts, Cromwells and a Firefly, and a company of Churchills enter at numerous points along their baseline. They also can call on one bombing run from a Mitchell with three medium bombs ~
An opening artillery barrage from the Germans' 150mm battery managed to destroy just one lorry and inflict 2 casualties! An omen of what was to follow, if only I'd known...
While Rawnsley's force envelops the first lightly defended village on his left his main thrust is against the second more heavily defended village. Capturing this objective took several turns as the defenders put up stout resistance.
A lone Panzer IV faces off against the Sherman Firefly and inflicts Heavy Damage.
The Firefly is then destroyed in the following turn but it's companion Cromwells will exact revenge when they force the Panzer crew to abandon their tank.
The second village falls at last in Turn 9 to Lord Rawnsley's troops after prolonged fighting when its defenders come under heavy fire from two directions.
The Mitchell makes its final approach to the German held town as anti-aircraft small arms fire fails to deter the heroic crew!
All along the Front the British are finally advancing with the Germans very much on the back foot by Turn 11.
The Mitchell finally adds to the Germans' woe in the last turn by wiping out von Bikkel's HQ with a direct hit! A resounding British win as they hold the two villages and have seen the Germans' morale shattered when their HQ is destroyed!
The 'Butcher's Bill' you ask? German losses amounted to 55 infantry, one Stug and one Panzer IV, British losses to 15 infantry and one Firefly, with a further one Priest and one Stuart suffering Heavy Damage.
The Field Hospital treating the casualties from both forces. You may notice the chaplain's sad duty extends to those who lost their lives.
With the conclusion of this game things in GHQ will be quiet for almost a month until Paul makes the trip up for the postponed Punic War game. I am heading up north to take in Claymore in Edinburgh, for the first time in four or five years I think. On the way home I hope to visit chum George in Warton while I stay near Carnforth. Hopefully my hand and eye will benefit from a break in painting for a couple of weeks! 


Monday, 24 July 2023

Ivan has friends.

As the heading says, Ivan has some friends now that I've finished the first base of Russian infantry. The next 4 figures are underway too and will join with the mounted officer I've previously shown on the second base. For the greatcoats I've settled on using three Foundry triads: Stone {mid & light} for officers; Rich Butternut {shade, mid & light} and British Uniform Brown {mid & light} for the rank and file. Using just two shades on each figure has given me four colour looks for those figures helping I hope to elevate the Roosians from merely dull! No doubt you will have a view on my approach ~

I've included this fourth picture taken from above the base to hopefully better illustrate my approach to suggesting three ranks of Roosian infantry while keeping down the cost of figures needed for the project. I think you will get a clearer idea when all three bases of the Battalion are completed ~

My target is to finish this first battalion by the end of this month before we head off for some northern R&R. As we have two of our grandchildren staying for part of that time this target is a tad more ambitious than it looks, but I hope to get there. After the break I hope I shall be refreshed and ready to tackle the second Russian infantry battalion and possibly their first 12lb gun and crew. 

Saturday, 22 July 2023

The Coldstream Guards join the Guards Brigade.

 The final figures to complete the third base of the Coldstream Guards have been finished and so here, without more waffle, are the second Guards regiment of the three which will make up the Guards Brigade ~

The figures are from Great War Miniatures via North Star, as are the flags, while the bases are from Warbases as ever. Now that two regiment are completed along with the Brigade Command stand I feel as if the project is properly underway. The third regiment of the Brigade, the Grenadier Guards, are not in the painting queue as yet. After some Roosian infantry I'll hope to finish the remaining bases of the Royal Scots, seen in an earlier blog entry of course. Meanwhile, here are the Guards on the tabletop battlefield here in GHQ ~

As I write this though the first Roosian infantry Battalion are under the brush and progressing at a decent rate. More on them in due course when I've at least a completed base of figures to show. Mind, there seems little interest in this project outside of folk I'm pleased to call friends and so this may become a bit of self indulgent recording. To balance that though, the Blogosphere seems rather quieter overall than it should be, even given that it's 'Summer' here in Blighty.