One Hour Wargame with Warmaster

 I have been trying to figure a way to use my Warmaster figures without using Warmaster rules. One Hour Wargames seem like a good option, although the lack of retreat rules bugs me. 

I did find on two other blogs, Projects and Procrastination and Grid based wargaming-but not always, that added retreat rules for OHW that are simple that seem they would work well with the rules. As the Projects and Procrastination rules were for fantasy, I decided to try his rules first.   I decided to use 1 Warmaster base to represent one unit. I put color dots on the base to identify the unit. To keep track of hits, I used a roster instead of on-board markers. Units were marked with red, white and blue dots. This proved a bit confusing as the elf army had both infantry and archers with the same color marking. This lead to me marking the wrong unit taking damage. I was happy with the retreat rules; the elves having 3 units breaking and retreating off the board. The retreat rules made for a more fluid game, which is what I'm looking for.

A couple of moves into the game, with Goblins on left and Elves on right.

Using these rules and a grid board there was more room for maneuvering and flank attacks.

In the end the Elves lost three units, and although they still had a couple of strong units, decided to save what was left of the army.

New Model Paints

      Sometimes I just go to Ebay and check on certain figures I want, especially if they are figures that could used in current projects. One such figure line is original  Citadel Warmaster Araby Army figures. I came across  a large lot of these figures overseas. The bids were still low enough that I ended up placing a bid on them.

   With 16 minutes to go I was winning the figures. As I was out with the wife shopping, I could not keep a close watch on the bidding, and in the end lost. However, I did see an original Citadel  Undead Starter Army for a reasonable price. The box was open but complete, with many of the pieces primed white. As the Undead in the set are skeletons, I decided to reprime them black, then drybrush them white.

   Most of the paints I use are hobby acrylics from the local big craft stores. The paints are on the thick side and as they get older they get really thick. I had to thin it down with water to cover the figures.

    As I was driving at work the next day listening to Youtube, I decided to see what wargamers used for paints. One name kept coming up; Vallejo Paints. Many years ago while working on a Napoleonic wargame, I bought some paints from the company that I was ordering from. Incredibly almost all those paints are still usable.  That night I went on Amazon. I found a set of Vallejo paints with 16 basic colors for around $26. While listening about painting figures, I found out that there is a particular brush designed for drybrushing. I found a nice set of brushes that include 3 drybrushes. This is my largest purchase of painting supplies expressively for painting miniatures.

 I received  the packages a couple of days ago. I was hoping to try them out this weekend; unfortunately the envelope the brushes came in was crushed,, and the bristles  of the brushes were bent, along with at least one ferrule. One thing I will give Amazon credit for is their return  policy. I immediately went on line to get the problem resolved.  My new brushes are due to arrive  tomorrow (hopefully in a box!) and I can drop the damaged package off and not have to deal with wrapping it all up again.

The Vallejo paint set. 

The container the paintbrushes came in. The bristles were in the crushed part.