The Ladies of the WI.

A couple of weeks back now Phil made an order to Footsore Miniatures for some reinforcements for the Dark Ages game he has in development and was kind enough to add my small order to it. I acquired the two packs of WI figures and the female sniper team from the Interwar range for my VBCW collection. After labouring over the caisson set featured in the previous post I thought the ladies of the Tettenhall WI would be a different challenge and here they all are, under their own banner crafted by Pete Barfield of course ~

I named the leader Nora, a close examination of her stockings might reveal why, so I suppose the colour bearer must be Ivy ~

A little local colour in the form of a Beatties shopping bag and a ‘WI’ identification marking on a steel helmet, Eadie and Glenda ~

That just leaves us with Pearl and Marina. I hope you’ve managed to work the origin of the names out now ~

That leaves just the two women of the sniper team ~

I hope this little local flavour to my VBCW game meets with your approval. Now it’s on to the AWI and a five piece British command vignette I’ve made from surplus Wargames Foundry figures.

French Horse Artillery ~ limbers and a caisson

Back in the depths of last winter Colin Ashton, of the blog Carryings On Up The Dale, and I compiled a joint order from Eureka Miniatures in Australia to be collected from Salute by Colin. Not only did we avoid the crippling postage but we also enjoyed a generous discount due to the size of the joint order. I duly collected my part of the order from Colin in May at Carronade and only now is it all finally ready for the tabletop with the completion of the caisson and horse team ~

I decided not to paint the six Horse Artillery gunners which come as riders for the caisson as we usually deploy the caisson minus horse team behind the gun battery in action, with the two limbers and caisson horse team further behind still. We’ve found this better represents the ground taken up by an Artillery battery in action on the tabletop.

Still no prospect of a game this month in GHQ, due to a combination of ongoing health issues and redecoration after the summer water leak. At least the new dinning room ceiling looks good! 

‘Bloody Ban’ and George’s teeth...

A few years ago now Sue and I were staying with our friend Joe Moore in Woodbridge,Va, just outside Washington DC. As Mount Vernon, Washington’s home, was just up the road - in American terms that is - we decided we must visit it and see the iconic home of the First President of the independent USA. It was well worth the wait in the long queue to enter, not least because of the American families we were able to talk with as the queue slowly advanced. As you move through the various buildings and rooms guides are always on hand. For Brits reading this think National Trust room guides, only under 65 and much more friendly and helpful! The grounds themselves overlook the river and it was very peaceful sitting on the veranda/terrace and taking in the view. There’s also a museum and shop of course, and it was in the former that I saw one surviving set of the three sets of  George Washington’s false teeth!

Of course my American AWI army already has a Mounted George Washington from Front Rank but when Dan gave me the new Giants in Miniature which Matt had sculpted for Wargames Illustrated I knew I would have a second version in my collection. This is the result, a second Command base comprising the man himself and two figures, from Foundry, from the Commander in Chief’s Guard. I added a signpost from Warbases, opting to paint the bird perched on its top to represent a Cardinal, and make it seem more American I hoped!

The second addition to the AWI collection comes in the form of a Front Rank British Legion Cavalry officer which in our games will represent Tarleton himself. I have both Mounted and Infantry figures for Tarleton’s Legion, so ‘Bloody Ban’ himself was a natural addition when I decided on the expansion programme for the game.

While I was in the AWI groove I ordered some new flags from GMB Designs for my new units in the British and American armies. I plan to reflag the older units also using existing stock from GMB and the former free downloads from Clarence Harrison, now sold by Barry Hilton.

Mutton Chop 1938 British Infantry

Whilst gaming here in GHQ and elsewhere has been severely curtailed these last few weeks I have managed a little more useful activity on the painting front. Most recently I’ve been working on the new 1938 British infantry from Mutton Chop for my VBCW collection. I bought one of each pack on release, so I had 12 riflemen, including NCOs, two 2 man Light Machine Gun teams - one Lewis Gun, one Bren Gun - and the MMG team of 3 figures and the gun for a total of 20 pieces. when the command pack is available I shall add that to the mix.

Now, either my eyesight is deteriorating markedly or the sculpting/molding/casting needs some comment as I found some of the detail on the figures very soft, especially the strapping on the webbing equipment and the buckles. But, as they are viewed from several feet away on the table they are more than good enough I feel for me.

I’ve also added another standard bearer to the VBCW collection, as usual from the Footsore range, as Pete Barfield - Ace Bloke 1st Class - made me a flag for the Wolverhampton branch of the National Union of Railwaymen so I can field a unit from Oxley Sidings along with my armoured train I was gifted by Colin Ashton. Watch this space as they say.

I’ve also added one figure to my Wars of the French Revolution project, a Boot Hill Mexican Colonel who is now a French General! As he was sculpted by Matt he’ll fit right in with my collection of Trent Miniatures.

On the painting desk now I have a Front Rank Tarleton Legion officer who will be ‘Bloody Ban’ himself in my AWI games. Waiting patiently in the queue are the Eureka FRW French Horse Artillery caisson set, the caisson at least has its green foundation colour on; the Wargames Illustrated Giants in Miniature George Washington, together with two Foundry figures and a Warbases road sign; and finally, four British AWI figures from Foundry to make a Command vignette. That will see me into December I think...

By Way of a Trial...

...we played a small game today in GHQ using Version 1 of Phil’s modifications to Neil Thomas’ Ancient and Medieval Wargames rules, entitled Warfare in the Age of Arthur! We used bases from my own Late Roman collection, counting each single base as three for game purposes. This is marked by the red dice you see with every unit. Each side had a General and a Noble Sub-Commander who can join in combat, adding dice to the total, but who may then suffer wounds or even die! Such events reduce the force morale as does the loss of each unit after all three bases are ‘killed’. These character bases also have command radii, meaning that a force which looses its cohesion, that is has units beyond the immediate control of the command characters, find it harder to move. Movement is by modified numbers of Dx6 and fighting/firing and saving throws are as per the rules as written.
The first picture shows the Saxon Force after Turn 1. They consist of one base of Hearth Guard, four bases of Warriors and one base of skirmishers with bows.

The second picture shows the Romans after Turn 1. They muster one base of Roman Remnants, two bases of Warriors, two bases of Militia and one of skirmishers with bows. The Arthurian general is Mounted and thus enjoys a Dx6 movement bonas over the Foot characters/Commanders.

The Third picture taken later in the game centres on combat between the Saxon Hearth Guard and the Roman Remnants. The Arthurian General has joined the Combat, adding three Dx6 to the units own three Dx6. This negates the Saxons own bonus in the first round of combat, as they get an extra dice per base in that round only. So, six dice for each side. In subsequent rounds the Arthurian enjoy six dice to the Hearth Guards three, unless a Saxon Character/Commander joins the combat.

In the game the Roman Remnants defeated the Saxon Hearth Guard but were in turn attacked by a unit of Saxon Warriors and so we’re unable to exploit their initial success. Elsewhere another group of Warriors defeated the Militia and killed the Noble Character. Skirmish bow fire proved largely ineffective due to poor dice throws on both sides, the Arthurian going four turns without a single hit!

The last picture shows the battle at its height with the Saxon Warriors holding the advantage on a wide front, the yellow dice showing bases lost in Arthurian units as well as losses to remaining bases, clearly three to the nearest Arthurian unit.

In all the game lasted a little under two hours with the adaptions and additions mostly securing our joint approval. Near the end losses of units on both sides and wounds inflicted on Character/Commanders had reduced both sides Force Morale to 2 - from 8 for the Saxons and 6 for the Arthurians. With the result in the balance the death of the Arthurian Noble Character in combat with Saxon Warriors saw victory handed to the battered Saxons.

We shall have a second run through next Monday over at Phil’s all being well. The Force Morale by the way we lifted from the Two Fat Lardies’ Dux Brittaniarum rules. We shall add some pre battle additional factors next year when our campaign at Phil’s gets underway, drawn in the main from the ideas in Lion Rampant. Our hybrid rules will naturally evolve, indeed I doubt Phil will ever stop tinkering! Now, for me it’s back to Mutton Chop 1938 British infantry and for Phil to rebasing more Saxons and Romans for next week! 

The infamous ‘Lead Lump’!

As you can’t fail to have noticed there has not been much noteworthy activity here in GHQ, at least not of the sort which might be mentioned in polite society or in front of the servants! What little painting I have managed this week has already featured in the previous post and current progress on the Mutton Chop 1938 British infantry has not progressed very far as yet. So, I thought I might give the old ‘Lead Lump’ an airing and reveal to passing interest what I hope to be painting up over the next eight months or so. Of course it’s all for existing projects and is an eclectic mix, as you might deduce from the long list of labels!

Unusually for me nothing has been in the queue for all that long a time. Probably the longest waiting are my three Union infantry from Dixon Miniatures which I bought earlier in the year from Spirit Games over in Burton-on-Trent. There are also a few dismounted cavalrymen too, somewhere.

Staying with the American theme there are several units for both the Rebels and the Crown waiting their moment in the sun. They are mainly from Foundry of course and will raise the strength of both sides to something more suited to our Black Powder games. Apart from three new guns and crew, which Phil is painting for me, there are two Militia units and two Continental units for the Rebels, while for the British there are two regular Infantry Regiments and some Light Infantry. There are also some Perry Miniatures 16th Light Dragoons, including the rather nice piquet duty set. As I was given the Washington figure from Dan at WI, sculpted by Matt of course, I’ve made up a small command base featuring him. That will probably be quite high up the queue for painting this month!

As will be my last element for the French Horse Artillery in our Wars of the French Revolution games, the Eureka Miniatures caisson and horse team set. I’ll leave off the riders though for now as the two groups of three gunners look awkward to paint and I don’t currently feel up to the challenge. Anyway, when the battery is deployed for action we remove the horses’ base and position the caisson just behind the guns, so leaving the gunners in situ on the caisson would look odd to say the least. I’ve also got more Trent Miniatures’ figures for the project in the form of French Hussars and Chasseurs, but they are way down the ‘to paint’ list at present.

For our 1938 -1940 games; the VBCW in Wolverhampton & South Staffordshire, the Blandings setting for 1940 and the less fanciful general Operation Zeelowe games, I have some Foundry Wehrmacht figures and some Warlord Games BEF figures.

When I see it all laid out like this it really doesn’t seem so daunting I find. I don’t much feel up to sustained painting yet but a little cleaning up and spray undercoating might get done when I’m back from the Doc’s later. Tootle Pip! David