Dry Brushing Miniatures

       In a recent post on Battle Game of the Month, Ross MacFarlane painted some Scruby N gauge figures. As I recently bought a large lot of Scrubys, this post was of great interest to me. When one looks at Ross's paint job, you can't help but be impressed with his work.

    In his post he mentions that he primes the figures white. While on vacation I brought some of my N gauge figures to paint if I had the time. All I did do was get a coat of white primer on them.  In the past when working with smaller figures (15mm and under), I would prime them black then dry brush the colors onto them. With the painted Scruby's they seemed to have have been primed in white, and that's the way I figured I would continue with them. After putting on the primer, I realized just how many spots I missed. It started me thinking of going back to black, as it is easier to see spots I missed.

   I decided to try a few to see if priming black and drying brushing on the main colors. For me this is the best option. I don't have the skill to do the fine detail painting Mr. MacFarlane did with his figures.

The 6 figures on the left were already painted when I received them; the 6 on the right are the figures I primed black then dry brushed on the colors. I find this system easiest for me.

One Hour Wargame Pike & Shot Game

     At the beginning of December I had planned to try a Pike & Shot OHW war-game using some Peter Laing Renaissance figures that Ross Macfarlane, of Battle Game of the Month fame, gave me. They were figures I really wanted to use but I know little of the Renaissance period. After reading a couple of articles about the French Wars of Religion 1562-1598 in old Practical Wargamer magazines, I got the idea of using Neil Thomas' ONE HOUR WARGAME rules. I would base the Peter Laing figures using blue tack on plastic bases. The figures wouldn't be painted, I would just mark the units on the bases.

   The week before Christmas, the husband of the niece we visit in Maryland called us. He informed us that our niece, who had been battling cancer, wasn't expected to make it until Christmas. We left 2 hours after the call. We spent her last day with her, along with her husband, son, and one of her sisters. She went peacefully surrounded by her family. We stayed in Maryland until her service was held. We arrived home the day before Christmas Eve. Life is just starting to get back to normal. Needless to say, I forgot completely about this project. When I got home and went to my work area, I found the Peter Laing figures on the desk. I decided once things calmed down I would get this project done.

   I finally got the figures based, reread the rules and decided to get a game in today. I didn't have a 3' by 3' space, so I used a 2' by 2' board. I cut the movement in half; the bases were half the recommended size for the game so it seemed right to cut the movement in half. I used the second scenario in OHW; the goal being to seize a hill and crossroads.

The Imperial army is on the left, the Royal army on the right. The Imperial army consists of 3 infantry units, 1 unit of swordsmen, and 2 cavalry units. The Royal army has 3 infantry units, 2 Reiter units, and 1 cavalry units. The Imperial army, with only 3 units armed with firearms, want to close quickly with the Royalists.

The Royal Reiter unit, lower right, fires on the Imperial cavalry closing in on them . They score 6 hits, but run out of ammunition.

On both flanks the Imperial cavalry close in on the Reiters, negating their firepower.

The Royal cavalry sweeps down off the hill and hits the Imperial cavalry in the flank( upper part of photo). The cavalry rolls a 5, which is doubled. Along with the hits from the Reiters, they are eliminated.

Closeup of the Royal cavalry attack.

The Royal cavalry swings around behind the Imperial line. The Imperial swordsmen  swing around to attack the  cavalry.

The Reiters  hit the swordsmen in the flank. The swordsmen are overrun.

Closeup of the swordsmen fighting the cavalry.

The Imperial cavalry eliminate the Reiters and turn on a Royalist infantry unit. In the upper left the Royalist cavalry attacks an Imperial infantry unit.

The Imperial cavalry eliminates the infantry unit and the Imperial infantry in the upper center eliminates a Royalist infantry unit.

The Imperial and Royalist cavalry attacks each other in the center of the field.

The Royalist cavalry and infantry defeat the Imperial cavalry and infantry. Only one Imperial infantry unit is left  fighting against the Royalist Reiters.

Close up of the last imperial infantry unit holding off the Royal Reiters. It also shows the quickie basing I did for this game. At this point I called the game. If it did go on the Royalists would have launched a flank attack, which in this game proved devastating.

This was the first time I used the rules.If you have never played the period or just want to try a period out, these rules would be a good start. I find when you play solo games, having some form of retreat rules makes for a more unpredictable game. As for being a ONE HOUR WARGAME, even with the basing of the figures and taking pictures and keeping rosters, the project from start to finish took about 2 hours. I assume that OHW means the game lasts an hour; it certainly lived up to it's name. And if in the future I want a one off game that I don't want to spend too much time on, this would be a good option to use.

The Attention Span of a Goldfish

     On my job I spend a good part of the day driving by myself. I therefore listen to a lot of talk radio. This week one show mentioned that scientists believe that the average American, with all our technology, have less of an attention span of a goldfish; the goldfish having an attention span of 9 seconds as opposed to the average American attention span of 8 seconds. Why do I bring this up? My Austrian Army stands almost completed; I have started yet another project! No, not making molds or basing armies for ONE HOUR WARGAMES.  I have started sorting figures for a possible English Civil War war-game.  I recently received my copy of Neil Thomas' WARGAMES: AN INTRODUCTION and find myself thinking of a Pike and Shot war-game. However, besides the ECW,  Mr. Thomas gives the make up of several different Pike & Shot armies.  What's more, Ross Macfarlane gave me a sizable collection of Peter Laing Renaissance figures. However, my knowledge  of Renaissance armies is almost non existent.
     I had found myself laughing at the scientists; as mentioned above I now believe they are on to something. This is a three day weekend for me. My wife and I are going camping. Hopefully I can figure what I want to do next.  I fought a war-game last weekend (the second of my mini campaign); perhaps when we come back Monday I can get a report on the game done.

The start of the newest war-game.

Homecasting Takes Blood, Sweat, and Tears

      One of the truly inspiring blogs I go to is Battle Game of the Month by Ross MacFarlane.  Among my favorite molds are the Zinnbrigade line, which are Imperial German figures. Mr. Macfarlane converts these figures to different armies and periods.  Someday I hope to be able to achieve the same results as his.

       I did get some 40mm heads with an odd lot of toy soldiers at one time and made a mold of the heads. I converted some Zinnbrigade figures into British Guards, using the heads. After seeing the latest conversions at Battle Game of the Month, I decided to make a mold of the marching Guardsman I had made.

    The mold was completed, however when making the mold the rifle in the master broke. I tried to position it so when the second half was poured, the rifle would be in the right place. Unfortunately, it moved and the rifle is all wrong. I decided to just remove the rifle at the shoulder and drill a hole to which I would put a piece of wire to represent the barrel. As I was casting, in between pouring I was cutting up old figures to melt down. While doing so I managed to cut a large chuck of skin out of one of my fingers; hence the blood, sweat and tears!

The finished figure out of the mold. The mistake with the rifle is clear in this picture.

One of the figures with his new rifle at the start of the painting process.

The bandage on the middle finger is for where I cut the chuck out. The bandage on the index figure is where I stabbed myself with an Xacto blade while trying to bore a starter hole for drilling out the rifle barrel.