The Brit,TheYankandTheHobby, Salute 2017

This week Andy has been off to Salute, head over to the facebook group to see all the pictures as you listen in. I've sorted them into gallery by manufacture, so you can see all the things I managed to get round to viewing.

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Sash and Sabre 25mm American Civil War Union infantry review

For our latest episode of The Brit the Yank and the Hobby, we covered the Battle of Spotsylvania.

Naturally this involved a bit of reading and being absorbing American Civil War history, so I decided to finish off some figure I started painting years ago. The figures in question are a couple of packs from American manufacturer Sash and Sabre Castings that I acquired a few years ago. 

For the purposes of this review, I'm looking at sets US1 Federal Infantry Command Advancing (right shoulder shift), and US2a Federal Infantry Advancing (right shoulder shift). I'm assembling my regiments in blocks of 20, with figures based on penny size bases and with movement trays from Warbases. 

Each pack contains 10 figures in a sealed bag, with all models for the most part being very cleanly cast and only a minimum amount of flash, and with mould lines in sensible places and east to access.  Each pack of 10 consists of unique poses and sculpts, so within a regiment of 20 figures each one is different, although not so much as to break the unity of the complete formation. 

Uniforms and equipment are very nicely sculpted, with some nice anatomy and facial expressions. I particularly like the mugs hanging from the figures water bottles, and shapes of the straps across the chest, really does give the models a very natural look. 

I don't have any comparative pics as these are the first ACW figures painted for my own collection, however having worked with most other ranges they seem to size best with the likes of Perry and Foundry. 

Paints used were Vallejo Prussian Blue for the tunic, Sky Blue for the trousers, and Black Grey for the equipment. shading was carried out using a combination of Army Painter inks, sing blue for the trousers, strong tone on the equipment, and a mix of soft tone and blue tone for the tunics. 

Flags came from Flags of War, and had some weathering applied by me.  In this instance the flags represent the colours of the 28th Pennsylvania.

I'm a big fan of this range, and at $14.50 for ten models, or £10 when ordered through Old Glory in the UK, represent excellent value for money. The range is extensive  and thoroughly worth checking out. 

As ever you can see more of my work at Volley Fire Painting Service, and you can come over to The Brit  The Yank and The Hobby Podcast for some history and gaming chat. 

Waterloo Game

To commemorate the bicentennial anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo my Bro Jay and I have been planning a big game of Black Powder to coincide with the anniversary at his pub the Marquis of Lorne in Gillingham, Kent. Unfortunately due to work and time constraints I wasn't able to get enough figures done so we decided to do a series of linked skirmish games using the Musket and Tomahawk rules.

We played 4 games, in total, first was the recreation of the French attack at Hougamont Farm, The second was the French cavalry attacks. Third game was the British advance, and the final game was the Prussian attack on Plancenoit. Initially the campaign was going to be 3 games, so I had only drawn up scenarios for the first 3 games with victory points towards the campaign progression, so haven't included the final Plancenoit battle in the outcome.

 I had intended to add Hannoverians and Nassau forces, as well as more French of various types, however was unable to get these finished in time, so our games were very much a British versus French affair.

Hougamont

This battle saw us set up the farm complex in the top center of the 6x4 board we would be using for all 4 games. This scenario required the French to break into the courtyard of Hougamont and remain there for an entire turn. The British would win if they managed to prevent this. 

 

The winner would receive 2 Victory points towards the campaign total. I had 2 units of riflemen, and 2 units of light infantry in the complex, and had to hold out against recycling waves of small units of French Line, Chasseurs and Grenadiers for 8 turns.

 On the 4th turn the British forces were reinforced with some more Guards infantry. This was a very hard fought battle, we both forgot to take note of just how many casualties but the sharp shooters on the roof took a heavy toll on the French.

Towards the end of the battle the French did break into the farm complex, but were cut down. They nearly broke in a second time, but were driven back at the very last minute with a few short range musket volleys. If we had played another turn or two the outcome may have been different, but ultimately it was a victory for the British!

2 Victory Points to British!

Charge!

This scenario pitched waves of French cavalry (Lancers as that was all we had) attacking the British Squares and guns. We ruled that the squares couldn't move, and could only fire from each facing. The melee rules in M&T are a little weak with regards to cavalry, so we left those as they were. Victory points in this scenario were awarded with 1 point being awarded for each gun destroyed or square broken. To break a square the cavalry had to kill an entire facing. Conversely British forces recieved a victory point for each gun and square surviving at the end of turn 6. The French took a lot of casualties, but were ultimately able to break one square, and see off the crews of both guns. The final British square was too much for them though, and they were finally driven off.

3 Victory Points to the French, and 1 for the British!

The British Advance

This was intended to be the final battle of our linked scenarios, however we ended up playing one further game after this. 

 The scenario this time was for the both forces to score points for destroying the opposing forces units, and bonus points for being in their deployment zone. 1 Victory point was awarded per unit destroyed, and 2 additional points for having a unit in within 12 inches of the opposing players table edge. 

 Forces involved were 4 ten man line units, 2 5 man rifle units and 2 5 man light units for for the British, against 2 10 man line units, a 12 man line unit, a command unit, and a small unit each of grenadiers and chasseurs for the French, as well as some lancers.

Jay had possibly the worst luck with dice I have ever seen in all my years of gaming, whereas mine was spectacular, this combined to allow the British to annihilate the French for minimal casualties. 

7 Victory points to the British, The French, Erm...

Plancenoit

We had a bit of time left and a new player, so decided to do a small, plancenoitish game, with 2 units of 10 Prussian Line against 12 French Line, 4 Grenadiers and 4 Chasseurs. This used a similar scenario to the Hougamont game, except the Prussians weren't going to be recycled. 

They had to get to the centre of Plancenoit and then hold it for a turn, with 2 Victory points being awarded to the Prussians if they managed it, and to the French if they managed to defend.This was another very bloody game that came right down to the wire, ultimatly though the French Chasseurs managed to drive off the Prussians, and that was the end of the game.

2 Points to the French!

Total Victory Points for the campaign

10 points to the British and allies, 5 for the French.

 

This was a very fun series of linked games, and I urge anyone to give it a go, even if it requires thinking outside the box a little As ever you can see more of my work here at Volley Fire Painting service and if your in Kent and are interested in having a game in a pub, drop Jay a message at The Marquis of Lorne Ale house

The Legion! 28mm French Foreign Legion

I've recently finished these French Foreign Legion and Tauregs for my mates over at Colonel Bills.

I was asked to paint these figures up to go on Colonel Bills stand at Salute next weekend, as he will be stocking the range. 

From the words of Colonel Bill himself 'All the figs come in packs of 4. The foot are £6 per pack and the mounted £9. There are one or two accessories, such as weapon packs etc. There is also a Laurel and Hardy set and a Beau Geste character set. I if anyone wants to pre order for Salute, and get our 10% pre order discount, if they contact me directly I will sort everything out' Colonel Bill can be contacted via their website here Colonel Bills. 

The figures were exceptionally well cast, and are also full of character. This isn't a period I'd normally be interested in, but however these are nice figures, I particularly liked the skirmishing Legionaries actually. First thing that struck me after I had stopped thinking (giggling),about Carry on Follow that Camel Was how good these would be for skimish and pulp adventure gaming, I could see myself getting some of these to use for stuff like In Her Majesties Name too.

All in all, great figures, and worth checking out! 

Figures were painted with Vallejo Prussian Blue for the tunics and robes with army painter blue ink for shading, before mixing increasing amounts of Prussian blue with white for the highlights.

 The white colours were done using Vallejo Off white as a base, and then using army painter soft tone to shade them, before working up in layers from deck tan to pure white.

Bases were done using Games Workshop Agrellan Earth, and various static grasses acquired on my roaming at shows.

As ever you can see more of my work at Volley Fire Painting Service

Warlord Games 95th Rifles

Tonight I present the next part of my Napoleonic forces for a Waterloo game to mark the bicentenary of the battle.

In the interests of full disclosure these figures were very kindly provided by for me by Warlord to review, however I shall be as unbiased as ever! 

When these figures were first released my first thought was 'Do we really need more 95th figures?' As they have to be one of the most represented regiments in the wargaming world. Having seen the models in person now I've come to really love them as being full of character and charm, and I shall explain why. 

 The set includes 14 figures and 1 dog. I have added an extra rifleman from the freebie figure included with Warlords Waterloo supplement for Black Powder to give me 3 stands of 5 figures.

The set includes 10 different poses, and features an officer, sergeant and bugler. the other poses I believe are a random mix and to my eye all look very natural. I'd have liked a kneeling or standing loading pose rather than the figure preparing to fit his bayonet, however the model is nicely sculpted none the less.

 

The models are all one piece castings and have a minimum of flash. All faces are in Warlords slightly exaggerated style, which although not to everyone's taste I'm very fond of personally, as to my eye it makes the character of the models shine out from a few feet distance. All personal equipment appears accurate, and I particularly liked the hang of the slings of the Baker Rifles. Detail is very crisp with no deformities or mold slippage. 

In terms of size the figures are chunkier than the Perrys and Victrix, though don't look too out of place when placed near them. Naturally the figures fit perfectly with Warlords British Line figures! 

To paint my Riflemen I used Vallejo Game Colour Dark Green as a good match to rifle green, and built up colour using layers of strong tone inks, green inks, and layered highlights. Bases are Warbases movement trays, and each figure stands on a penny within the trays.

In summary, does the world need more 28mm 95th? Maybe not, but these are outstanding figures that are a joy to paint! As always more of my work can be seen here at Volley Fire Painting Services More of Warlords models can be seen here http://www.warlordgames.com/

28mm Coldstream Guards from Warlord Games

Happy new year everyone! 

Here's my first completed project for 2015, a regiment of Coldstream Guards to use in a game Jay and myself are planning at the Marquis of Lorne in Gillingham to mark the 200th anniversary of the battle of Waterloo.

These figures are Warlord Games British Waterloo infantry set. for £20 you get 11 flags, 30 plastic 3 piece marching figures and 6 metal officer/character types including an officer, a drummer, two ensigns, a sergeant and a pioneer. Each plastic sprue contains 5 figures with separate heads and packs. The heads are full of character, and include a few extras to allow you some variety.

Models are very cleanly molded and only have minimal flash. I've used half the set to make the Coldstreams, and will use the rest plus an extra Warlord metal command pack to make the Scots Guards for my Brigade of Guards. 

 

The figures are nicely sized, and fit well with the Victrix line. I believe they also fit well alongside the Perry range, however I need to get some of their plastic British to really compare them. 

When painting these my main goal was to do as simple a paint job as possible, that also looked striking.

 

 As such I sprayed the figures with grey auto primer, then picked out the tunics with Vallejo deep red, the belts and lace with Vallejo Sand yellow, the facings with dark sea blue and all the black parts with black grey. Muskets were painted flat earth and gun metal. The model was then given a wash of strong tone ink from army painter, then highlights were painted on using Scarlet for the tunics. I mixed white into the scarlet for the men, and yellow into the scarlet for the officers uniforms. This was done to show the difference in quality between the officers and mens uniforms.

When highlighting a figure I start by painting the base tone colour back on, the gradually mix increasing amounts of a lightening tone to create a graduated later, and repeat this processed adding more and more highlights up to the level required.

For basing these figures I used Warbases movement trays and based each figure on a 1 pence piece. To texture the bases I used Vallejo Dark Earth texture paint, then added various shades of green static grass. to add some more interest and add to the character of the muddy fields of Waterloo I added some puddles of dirty water to some bases, and added some mud to the legs of each man.

I'm extremely impressed with these figures and will be using Warlord for the bulk of my Waterloo force. I also have a box of their 95th Rifles which was very kindly sent to me by Warlord to review. If I wasn't currently struck down by plague these would be painted too.

As ever more of my work can be seen here Volley Fire Painting