Alcohol Induced Rambling

  Yesterday I used a new mold of Peter Laing ACW figures with kepis. While pouring the figures I made a new hill using foam insulation.

   After dinner tonight I started painting the new figures using militia uniforms as inspiration. I also painted the new hill with green paint. Now, while painting at night I'll have a couple of glasses of wine. I must admit that that tonight I overindulged. And while disappointed with the militia uniforms, the Peter Laing figures look pretty good with the traditional Union uniforms.

   I wanted to see if figures could stand on my new hill. I tried different figures on the hill, and I'm happy with the results. I even took some photos, which I set up using 1st gen Minifigs AWI.

I used Bunker Hill for the idea behind these photos.

Back to the Drawing Board

       I have been having second thoughts of my foam war-game board. The river and road strips tend to roll up. I decided to go back to a wooden board, at least for the time being. I painted it a brighter green that matches the foam I used.

      Recently I bought some 30mm Semi Flat Bavarians; some band figures and Bavarian Infantrymen. They are a nice addition to the growing collection of semi flats.

The newly painted board with a couple of Zouaves for example.

The 30mm Bavarian band.

The Bavarian infantry

An extra figure that came with the order; a 20mm semi flat knight.

Portable Wargame

When  I went camping a couple of weeks ago, the first day I was on my own, my wife having to work that day. At the last minute I decided to try a portable war-game.  I packed up my homecast Austrian figures, some French WW1 figures, and a few pieces of landscaping and dice. In the end I used matchsticks for measuring.

Above are some pictures of the action. Both sides hit the enemy's right flank. In the end French élan won the day. Each turn there was an intuitive roll. Only 4 units could be activated.  I used short and long range fire. Short range was full strength, long distance half, rounded up. The pictures were taken with my cell phone and I had trouble transferring the pictures to my computer, so the pictures are scrambled and doesn't show the action in correct order. I do know my home cast Austrian army lost their first battle. 

Kit Bashed Figure

For my newest mold, I took one ECW Minifigs body, and added a head from another Minifigs 1st gen figure. I plan to use it as a King Phillips War colonial figure.

The masters ready for molding.

Painting on a thin layer of rubber onto the figures. I waited for a couple of minutes before adding more rubber.

Another layer of rubber painted on.

Pouring the rest of the rubber into the mold. Once cured I use petroleum jelly on as a mold release,  then  pour the second half of the mold.

The finished figures.

New Army Plans and New Figures

      Right before going camping last weekend, I had got the 3 Neil Thomas wargames books I had ordered. The long weekend of camping gave me time to go through the books. While I am not necessarily going to use the rules, his army lists are going to be of big use. With the different war-game rules I use, such as BATTLE CRY, C&C; NAPOLEONICS, BATTLELORE, and MEMOIR OF BATTLE, his 8 unit armies are just right for these games. With 4 man infantry units, 3 man cavalry units, and 1 gun with 2 men crews, using his army lists it would only take 34 figures to make a ECW Royalist Army, and the New Model Army would take 43 figures. Of course not all the figures would be used but that many figures are not beyond my painting skills.

   I received my new rubber for making molds. After some thought I decided that the first mold would be Minifigs 1st generation woodland Indian and Hessian grenadier. I tried some new ideas making the mold, which I think made better figures.

Two samples from the new mold. Only one figure went back into the pot. Hopefully the new method will work as well with Peter Laing figures.

Shiak-Brookshire War: Ambush at Needmore

     General Gillingham and the Brookshire Army quickly regrouped after their defeat at Edgewood Crossing. The army reached Needmore. The town itself was too small to provide for the army. Gillingham kept three of the units with the least causalities and ordered the rest to press on to Grafton, the next town on the turnpike. Besides the three infantry units at Needmore, there was another artillery battery which was moving forward to join Gillinghams' command. With this force he would use them as an "Army of Observation" to watch the Shiak army.
    Gillingham was expecting the Shiak Army to retreat, as it had done in the past. He was sadly mistaken. After resting for a day, scouts reported that the Shiak Army was on the move and heading towards Needmore.  As the sun sat that day, the Shiak Army started forming before Needmore.  General Gillingham sent a courier to Grafton with the order for the rest of the army to return to Needmore. However, General Loring had his cavalry scouring the countryside, and captured the rider.   The Shiak Army, instead of attacking right away, went into encampment. General Loring wanted his troops fresh for the battle and now, with the captured rider, knew he wasn't facing the whole army.
     It became apparent to Gillingham that his messenger didn't get through that night. He decided to launch an attack before the Shiak army could launch theirs.

The Brookshire infantry worked their way through the woods on the Shiak left flank. The artillery stayed in Needmore to support the attack. Early the next morning as the Shiak Army was forming up for the assault on Needmore, the Brookshire Army attacked.

The attack went well at first, causing one unit to retreat and hitting one battery.

The assault continued roll up the Shiak left.

The leftmost Shiak unit was destroyed.

Things were looking good for the Brookshire army.

However, General Loring rallied his troops and managed to blunt the attack.

The Shiak army now formed a battle line, and started to cause heavy losses to the Brookshire forces.

The Shiak army now started to counter attack.

The Brookshire losses continued to mount. The tide of battle changed.

The Shiak attack won the day; Needmore fell to the Shiak army and General Gillingham almost became a prisoner.

This game I tried to use stay with Neil Thomas' scenario. The Shiak army couldn't respond until the third turn. The scenario was from ONE HOUR WARGAMES: Scenario 22: Ambush.

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.

Preparing for the Next Batch of Molds

     This week the new order of rubber came in for molds. Now comes the hard part; deciding which figures to mold. I have a drawer set aside in which I put figures that are high on my mold making list. While most people would concentrate on making figures for the most current project, I find myself thinking of figures that I only have one copy. Below are 4 figures that are strong contenders for the first mold.

Minifigs Prussian Grenadier, Highland grenadier, woodland indian, and Peter Laing naval officer ( who could also pass for a thin Napoleon).

New Projects Considered

     The last few days I've been doing some work on my Austrian Army. I've got 4 infantry units and 2 cavalry units just about finished. I plan to cast some more infantry figures in the next couple of days. After finishing the infantry figures, they were put aside in a group.  They looked pretty impressive  in a group. It started me thinking of maybe making based armies with 12 man infantry regiments, 9 man cavalry regiments, and batteries with a gun and 4 man crews. In the last week I have bought 2 lots of 1st generation Minifigs French cavalry, enough for several regiments if based as mentioned above. I also came across several packages of Empire Miniatures French infantry still in their original packs, along with one of Austrian grenadiers. Each pack has 24 figures in them.  Of course, it would be hard to open those packages after all these years. However, I also have several hundred Heritage Napoleonettes that could be used to form the armies.

   I also have been rethinking my "battlefield". While the foam works ok, it tends to separate during the games. I think I will go back to a board, and try using tape for roads and rivers as other people do.

   I have received my first new Neil Thomas book, WARGAMING:AN INTRODUCTION.  Just looking through it, the book will be of value just based on his suggestions  for different army makeups. It's a shame he skipped several periods of time as far as the armies are concerned; however, perhaps he plans more detailed books to cover those periods (such as horse & musket 18th century).

My home cast Austrian Army. One cavalry unit is actually painted with late 19th-early 20th century uniforms; however, I like those uniforms and it is my army, so....

One of the unopened packs mentioned. This pack includes the command figures, so this would be an ideal set to base.

This is a pack of French skirmishers, again with command figures.

Here is the pack of Austrian grenadiers; again with command.

This pack is just of 24 infantry advancing.

I have also placed an order for new rubber for mold making. While I have a few figures already planned for molding,  if this project proceeds, my current plans might change.