Black Powder ... damp squib?- a revision.

Last Saturday saw 5 TWATS in the pub again- nothing unusual there Gaentle reader but after my previous strictures upon "Black Powder" Farmer Dave thought we'd have another Bash so putting down his sheep for the afternoon Dave brings along his splendid 10mm Malburian collection and along with Tom and Neal the Numbers elects to run a game using the aforementioned Black Powder. Big Andy grimaces at this point - perhaps even muttering the while into his pint. However in the event all went well. I'm forced to revise my opinion of the rules. Not the book you understand - which is still full of pointless guff and twaddle- but the rules themselves which, in the hands of chaps who have the patience to wade through aforesaid guff and twaddle, worked rather well. Massivly better than I expected. The armies helped, based the way they were - the set unit size- which I hate for 28mm games - is a boon for the smaller scales which are bytheir nature rather more impersonal Infantery were based in "Half Battalions"- so 2 to a battalion and cavalry in Squadrons so 1-3 in a British regiment depending upon strength at the time and place. See dave spelndid blog Northumbrian Wargamer- as my pics are locked inside my camera the USB lead having gone walkies! Nevertheless a fine time had by all and while I still have issues with the rules- too generic for a start- although Malburian it could have been any time in the first 75 years of the 18th century- the flow- despite the IGOUGO system was pretty good. So as the rules fill about a third of the book Black Powder is worth a tenner of anybody's money... pity its thirty quid !1

"Shinyloo" -an Occaisional Diversion

Now I'm not one of those single minded wargamer chappies who can start at one end of a silver mountain and with little painting arm going like a fiddlers elbow in the middle bit of the Bum of the Flytle bee paint an army to the exclusion of all else. One may admire these fellow doncha' know but they make you feel just a tad unconfortable- sipping their Ovaltine whilst they paint burning the misdnight oil to finish those Hoplites... One MAY admire but you wouldn't want to BE one- there are too many pubs, too many malt whiskies too much more world for that kind of malarkey. Which Gentle reader is merely a roundabot way of saying that even in Wargaming Terms I'm a bit if a Dilitante. I like doing different stuff.- So There. Which brings me to this small collection of figures. Picked up over the last few year in often shocking condition. It all started with a bundle of hard to find Minifigs 30mm figures - not common these days -separate arms and a bit fiddly.Then I aquired some Minot 30mm Grenadiers of the Guard and a few stadden Brits with a few Minot amongst them. What I thought to actually do with them. A retro look seemed obvious- Charge style Napoleonic? Possibly - so a little at a time I painted 'em up and gave them a gloss varnish- very unfashionably shiny- fine Blog that ! and no doubt an influence here

So here we see the Grenadiers- all Minot 30mm bar the Minifigs Officer. Could use some more of these- or indeed any Minot 30mm Napoleonics.

Here we see the Shiny Chasseurs- well the 1st 3 completed ones- the Officer is a Suren Murat somehat converted and - since the Chassuers were horseless I've use a mix of Stadden and Jacdaw horses. I have about another half dozen of these to do.

And here the French General - A suren figure on a Jacdaw horse. Needless to say there are Britsh too- though not so many yet- this is a very occaisional project as the mood takes me so to speak.

All Stadden here - except for the pair of wounded- Minots again. The cast flag was a painting excercise that I'd wanted to try for a while . I'm quite chuffed with the result.

Finally the british- reinforced by my only 2 Minot Highlanders are chareged by the shiny Chassuers. Oh- Shinyloo?- Its Waterloo only shinier !!

Look what I found- Part III

Well here we go again another box another army I'd sort of forgotten. To be honest "Army" is putting it a bit strong. There are a total of 73 painted 28mm figures- all Old Glory from the Wars of Religion range. Yes I knew I had them but not where or how many there were. Like quite a lot of the part armies and odd units that I've accunulated during 20 years in this business it tends to start with "Hmm New Range- better do a unit or two for the display case at shows and for some photos" Quite often that's as far as it gets. I've a list of units of various sorts for sale Many pro-painted that have done their duty and had their photos taken. Time permitting- and once I decide which ones can go the journey I'll post on here with pictures. I know I have Mycenaen and Trojan chariots I can say goodbye to and some Polish Winged Hussars. Like wise some Cowboys and Pirates- all of which have appeared on the OGUK website . However when it come to these lads I can't make my mind up

English troops of the mid 16th century. The Earl of Leicester took troops like this to help the Dutchagainst Spain.

Landsknect Musketeers of the 1560-80s period in very very silly trousers! According to Montluc you could here them coming a mile away- so they don't get to surprise you - startle Yes Appall possibly but not surpise ! Now as for other stuff I must sort out. I've a pro-painted 1st Maori Wars collection somewhere. Never been out of its box since I bought it 12 or so years ago ......

More Magnificence from Moscow!!

Here we see some of the up and coming figures from Drabant. A polosh Infantry Command set- with bagpiper no less. A Great Northern War Swedish cavalryman and- a slight departure this- a Britsh Infantryman of the 7 Years War

These are due for release soon and I'll have some of the others to catrch up with stockwise once I build up enough wants for a decent order. I'm sure you'll agree that these new figures are well up to the Drabant Standard.

Oh I do Like to be beside the seaside... and other thoughts.

So Gentle reade here we are a scant 48 hours before we leave for War Torn is (possibly not) sunny Scarborough wondering what sort of weekend it will turn out to be. Last year's show was small but still a laugh. This year promises to be much bigger with some large Demo games ansd several competitons. Scarborough is a pleasant Victorian seaside town- especially if you avoid the Kiss me quck hats and the candy floss. Hopefully this year I'll have chosen a better hotel. The Grand- last year is a fine building - though the food could be better- or atb least edible- but the worst thing about the grand was the average age of the rest of the clientele-about 157- the absolute nadir - amongst several low points was the noise of 200 septagenarians coach travellers masticating gummily at their porrige for breakfast. Gentle reader I fairly fled the scene- tripping over sundry Zimmer frames as modbility scooters as I fled. There but for the Grace of God !! However this year we are at a different hotel so all should be well. Rest assured that I shall in the fullness tell all!! The other night I was looking out some info I needed in old copies of Miniature Wargames- these early issues from the 1980s. Now if there ever was a "Golden Age" for me this was probably it. The hobby has grown past its infancy - there are a good selection of figure ranges and the writers are intelligent and don't treat theri readers as if they are 12 . Articles have information in them- though there are still turkeys!1 and eye candy is not the raison D'etre of the publication. There is an assumption that you dear reader can actually read and write yourself. Compare with todays magazines WI is all shazam Kapow eye candy for the hard of thinking. Battlegames still thinks its 1972- well the 1st 13 issues do which are the only ones I have - it may have changed since- Miniature Wargames is the only fully rounded magazine we have but it has of course changed as the hobby has changed. My question here is the chicken and egg one. Did Wargmaers become thicker so the mags responded to demand or did the magazines dumb down. Answers on the back of a ten pound note to ...

Getting my choppers out!

I have to say I'm a bit please with myself. Not in any major way but there I was taking some pics for various articles- as you do - well as I do and amonst several not bad sort of pics was this little cracker. What it depicts is a flight of 4 AlouetteIII helicopters in Rhodesian service flying over the bush sometime around 1975. To be precise there are 3 "G-cars" and one "K-car". The G-catrs have the twin .30 cal and the K-car a 20mm cannon. These are 1/100th scale- that 15mm for chaps who don't do scale- models from our "Lil'flyin choppers" range of post WW2 aircraft. Made by Paul Cotton- who also painted 'em they serve to move about my as yet unpainted Fireforce.

Stuff that gives you the right hump!!

When it comes to wargaming I'm a fiarly fastidious chap and as I walk about at shows or view the blogs/ read the magazine I still find that there are things that give me the right Hump. Mostly these are sins of ommission - worse when I commit 'em myself than when I see them on other tables or collections No1 Shyte basing!. This term covers a multitude of sins. Most obvious are those blokes who don't paint the bloody edges. Surely if you terrain your bases or even simply paint them one colour you paint the edges too- why leave them staring white- if you use mounting board- or plastic black if you use those nasty plastic bases? Surely you paint the edges to blend in - ish- with the table surface andor the rest of the base? Why have the edges sticking out like a politician at a Truth convention- (I was going to say like a Vicar in a knocking shop but you have to be so PC these days). It just looks odd and unfinished- ewven when the bases have been deliberately edged black. An off shoot of this is "Gloop dribble" - that of course is when your terrainig material dribbles over the edge of the base. Run around the edge of the stand with a blade too scrape the excess off or you'll get knobbly bits- even "whinnits" or possibly "klingons" - and yes its the base I'm talking about- Personal hygene I leave to each of you !! No2 Mixed basing - we've all seen this. Armies on the table where the basing for one side isn't the same- some units stick out like a sore thumb- choose you own similie this time. A few units like this on any given game can spoil the whole visual effect. No3 Paper Flags Now paper flags are fine thing I use them a fair bit but the number of times I've seen them both at shows and in the pages of magazines looking like supermarket price tags is amazing . Flags do not look like this . Animate the things even just a little bit but most of all PAINT THE BLOODY EDGES MAN!! The white edges on a colured flag reallly do get noticed. I've missed it enough times myself only to mutter and curse later on. So after tha little rantette- what gives you- Gentle reader- the right Hump ??